Volume 9 - Chapter 35 (1/2)

“Eh?” The distant Daoist Snowplume’s face completely changed . Ning’s power was even greater than he had expected…but as one of the three Patriarchs of the sect, how could he just give up so easily?

Bang! Bang!

The sword-light of the Binary Diffraction Swords, which had been knocked flying back, suddenly increased tremendously in brilliance . One sword completely transformed into a Flood Dragon whose entire body glowed with blue light, while the other transformed into a Flood Dragon whose entire body glowed with golden light . These two Flood Dragons of sword-light were each three hundred meters long, and the scales on their body were clearly visible . The eyes of the double dragons were filled with a killing intent, as though they were alive!

The two Flood Dragons of sword-light, their power having explosively increased, let out earth-shaking draconic roars as they charged straight towards Ning .

Ji Ning, despite being thirty meters tall, felt pressure from this attack . The Darknorth Swords in his hands once more sliced out, as though preparing to chop apart the heavens themselves as they once more left that dazzling scar of sword-light in the skies .

BANG!

BANG!

Ning’s entire body trembled . He felt as though he had been struck by two giant mountains; he couldn’t help but be knocked back several steps by the collision .

“What a fellow . ” Ning wasn’t shocked; rather, he was delighted! The black wings on his back began to tremble as he used the Windwing Evasion…and for a moment, he seemed to be a ghost as he once more charged forward .

“Yin-Yang, Divide and Transform!”

The distant Daoist Snowplume’s face was extremely solemn as well . He now viewed Ning as a true, worthy opponent .

The azure Flood Dragon and the golden Flood Dragon of sword-light, high in the air, once more let out a series of earthshaking dragon roars as they wildly enveloped Ning with their attacks . As for Ning, the Darknorth Swords in his hands, he clashed against them repeatedly…and with each collision, the surrounding air blasted apart and distorted . Even the water of Serpentwing Lake below them began to distort, with troughs of many dozens of meters and massive waves of many hundreds of meters .

Even at a distance of ten kilometers, Ninefire, Truekeep, Granny Shadow, Autumn Leaf, and the others who were on Brightheart Island all felt a savage wind sweep towards them .

“What tremendous power . ”

“Ji Ning is actually this powerful . ”

Ninefire and the others were all speechless and stupefied .

The distant, thirty meter tall Ji Ning was like an exalted god of the heavens, battling against those two massive Flood Dragons!

“He’s actually able to battle a peak-stage Primal Daoist to a standstill?”

“That’s one of the three Patriarchs of Snowdragon Mountain!”

“Too strong . ”

“It’s only been ten-plus years since the battle at Oxhorn Mountain, but Ji Ning has advanced to such a level . If Yichuan were still alive, he would definitely be incomparably delighted . ” Ninefire and the others were both stunned and excited; after all, the incomparably dazzling figure before them was the ultimate expert of their Ji clan .

The Ji clan’s side was excited and animated .

Snowdragon Mountain’s side, however, was shocked and enraged .

Ning, who was battling in midair against the two Flood Dragons of sword-light, suddenly began to move in a different way; the extremely forceful and dynamic swordplay suddenly became incomparably reserved and stately .

Bang!

Bang!

The sword-light in the air seemed to have transformed into the light of the moon; it was incomparably soft . It also seemed like the caress of a lover…silently, soundless, the two Flood Dragons of sword-light began to crumble .

“What?!” Daoist Snowplume was shocked . This sword technique, ‘Yin-Yang, Divide and Transform’, was an extremely powerful one . And yet, even this technique was unable to resist Ning? Holding nothing back, he immediately unleashed the most powerful technique available to him: “Binary Commingling!”

Those two Flood Dragons of sword-light, on the verge of collapse, actually began to twist into each other, connecting into each other as though they were two living creatures bound into one body .

The commingling Flood Dragons of sword-light supported each other, reinforcing each other’s deficiencies and completely blocking Ning’s sword technique .

“In terms of profoundness of sword techniques, he is absolutely inferior to me . ” Ning knew this quite well . “However, the foundations of Daoist Snowplume are simply too strong…and those two Heaven-ranked swords are also exceptionally powerful . ”

The Darknorth Swords were Bloodforged weapons; the more one used them to kill, the more death-energy and baleful energy they would absorb and the more powerful they would become . However, during the past nine years, Ning hadn’t killed many people…and so these Darknorth Swords continued to be the equivalent of top-grade Earth-ranked magic treasures . Compared to the Binary Diffraction Swords, they were unfathomably weaker .

Ning’s superiority in sword techniques had cancelled out his inferiority in weaponry .

“I have to unleash the advantages of my Fiendgod body . ” Ning’s primary goal in this battle was to test his own ability; however, since the opponent’s pair of Binary Diffraction Swords had already unleashed a power which surpassed his most powerful sword techniques, he could no longer just use sword techniques to compete .

Swish!

Swish!

Instantly, the surrounding wind began to howl as Ning himself merged into a gust of wind, moving with ghostly speed as he charged directly towards Daoist Snowplume .

Nine years . Not only had he improved tremendously in using the Heavenly Transformation technique, his Windwing Evasion technique had also improved an astonishing amount . And now, he was unleashing his full power!

Daoist Snowplume was tremendously shocked, and hurriedly controlled the Binary Diffraction Swords to try and block Ning .

Clang! Clang!

Ning’s swordplay became even softer, only defending and not attacking . In the blink of an eye, he managed to charge towards Daoist Snowplume’s side .

“Not good . ” Daoist Snowplume was shocked; how could he dare fight against Ning in close combat? If Ning was struck by a sword, by relying on his Fiendgod body, he could almost instantly heal; if he, Daoist Snowplume, was struck by a sword, he would only be heavily wounded if he was lucky . If he wasn’t that lucky, he would truly perish!

Whoosh!

Daoist Snowplume immediately utilized his own evasive technique . A snowy white light flashed, and Daoist Snowplume immediately retreated back onto his warship .

“Master . ” Adept Xu Ke and the gray-robed man stared, astonished, at Daoist Snowplume, who had suddenly appeared in the midst . The two distant streaks of sword-light flew over as well; it was the Binary Diffraction Swords .

Daoist Snowplume’s face was incomparably unsightly to behold . He spoke out, “What a formidable Ji Ning . Sword Immortals live up to their reputation . Admirable, admirable!”

His voice was deep and it shook the heavens .

“Let’s go . ”

After Daoist Snowplume finished his words, that gigantic warship instantly soared away, quickly disappearing into the horizons .

Ning stood there in midair, watching Daoist Snowplume and the others depart . “Daoist Snowplume is quite a decisive fellow . He hadn’t even lost, but upon seeing that the current state of affairs was set in stone, he immediately retreated . ”

Ning had engaged in this battle, primarily to test his strength . Over the past nine years, his [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] had already reached the eleventh stage, and he had a body that was comparable to a peak Fiendgod Body Refiner . The main issue was that after advancing through one of the major stages, training in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] would become considerably harder; thus, in the past, every two or three years, Ning would advance by a stage . But from the tenth stage to the eleventh stage, Ning had spent six years!

Clearly, the amount of time he had spent was much more .

Still, at least his Fiendgod body was all but perfect, superior to the likes of Bloodshadow . In addition, he also had the divine ability, [Starseizing Hand]; upon using it, his power was no less than that of a peak Primal Daoist’s! And this was with his [Starseizing Hand] being only at the first cycle; if he were to train to the second cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], then the power would be even greater .

The training method of the [Starseizing Hand] was known as the [Six Cycles of the Starseizer] .

At the Zifu level, one could train in the first cycle .

At the Wanxiang level, one could train in the second cycle .

And so on and so forth .

However, training in the [Starseizing Hand] required a large amount of precious essences of the Five Elements . A large amount of external support was required . When Ning had trained in the first cycle in the underwater estate, he had used the Five Elements essence left behind by Daoist Threelives . Now, however, to train in the second cycle, Ning would have to go seek out the precious essences by himself . During the past nine years, although Ning had collected quite a few treasures, he was still far from having enough .

“A divine body and divine abilities…with these two, I’m comparable to a peak Primal Daoist Ki Refiner,” Ning sighed to himself . “My swordplay has reached the fifth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], and is at a level even higher than his! But I’m at a disadvantage in terms of weapons…my Darknorth Swords cannot compare to his Binary Diffraction Swords . ”

The Binary Diffraction Swords even possessed some rudimentary sentience . Those two transformed Flood Dragons held a degree of sentience in their eyes…but it only made sense . After all, these were high-grade Heaven-ranked treasures . Upon reaching the higher ‘Immortal-ranked’ treasures, then a treasure spirit would emerge, such as the black bull of the underwater estate, which was the spirit of the Immortal-ranked magic treasure which Immortal Juhua had left behind .

“Master . ”

“Ji Ning . ”

“Young master…”

A distant group of people, riding on a leaf-type magic treasure, were flying towards them . Ninefire and the others were all in a state of delight and excitement .

Good heavens . That had been a peak Primal Daoist! He had actually been forced to retreat by Ji Ning . They could tell…that when fighting against Daoist Snowplume, Ning hadn’t been at the slightest disadvantage .

“My Ji clan is about to truly rise to prominence, to true prominence!” Ninefire roared with laughter . “Haha, I, Ji Ninefire, even at the moment of my death, will be satisfied . How many years…how many years! My Ji clan has finally produced such a figure! Ji Ning, I trust that soon, your name will be known throughout Stillwater Commandery!”

“Your name will be known throughout Stillwater Commandery . All of the major powers will known of you and will spread your fame . ” Truekeep was excited as well .

The Ji clan was merely a minor power, located in Swallow Mountain . And yet, it had produced someone like Ji Ning . Someone capable of forcing a Primal Daoist like Daoist Snowplume to voluntarily retreat…this battle could be described as the battle which truly established Ji Ning’s reputation . His fame would be spread throughout the region; after all, he hadn’t battled a mere middle-stage Primal Daoist, or an ordinary, unaffiliated practitioner . Daoist Snowplume was a truly formidable figure!

“It wasn’t bad . I didn’t achieve victory, after all,” Ning said . “That Daoist Snowplume is truly formidable as well; if I were to truly battle him, it’s hard to say who would win . ”

This was the truth .

It was true that Daoist Snowplume hadn’t really gone all out . Upon realizing that even his supreme technique, the ‘Binary Commingling’ was unable to do anything to Ning, he had immediately retreated . If this had been a true life-or-death battle, however, Daoist Snowplume wouldn’t have been so stingy in his usage of the skywater in his body; he would have wildly filled the skies with it as he attacked Ning, while also controlling flying swords to attack . Ning, in turn, wouldn’t have tried to avoid injuries and would have wildly fought back .

As a Fiendgod practitioner, for Ning, injuries were a minor thing . Thus, in a true life-or-death battle, Ning would’ve had a higher chance of victory! But that was just hypothetical; after all, no one knew what sort of treasures Daoist Snowplume carried with him .

“Master, don’t be so humble . You beat him into running away! You are a Fiendgod Body Refiner…I refuse to believe that he would dare fight with you to the death . When two combatants who are on par with each other fight, and when one is a Fiendgod Refiner while the other is a Ki Refiner, it will generally be the Ki Refiner who dies . ” Little Qing was incomparably excited .

Aboard the distant warship, soaring through the skies .

Daoist Snowplume could still feel his heart trembling . When a Fiendgod practitioner whose power was on par with his had charged straight towards him…that was like death sweeping directly for him . He had been so terrified, he had immediately used an evasive technique .

The nearby Adept Xu Ke and the gray-robed man didn’t even dare to make a sound .

“Disciple,” Daoist Snowplume said, looking at Adept Xu Ke, “Go and have your Xu clan immediately evacuate from Swallow Mountain . Ideally, avoid any and all trouble with the Ji clan in the future . Although Snowdragon Mountain doesn’t fear them, they don’t need to fear Snowdragon Mountain either . ”

“Yes,” Adept Xu Ke immediately said .

“Soon, the news of this battle will be spread throughout the entire Stillwater Commandery . ” Daoist Snowplume shook his head . “I truly didn’t expect…that I, Snowplume, would end up becoming a stepping stone for another’s rise to fame . ”

Book 9, Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake, Chapter 35 –Moving Out of Swallow Mountain.