Chapter 18 Ji Ning Battles Tong Yu (Part 2)

The rain pattered down, drifting and scattering.

Tong Yu's entire body was covered in a layer of golden light, like a golden-armored demon god. His eyes themselves held a tangible golden light, and his very breathing caused the surroundings to tremble.

Chi! Chi! Chi!

The previously gentle rain suddenly turned sharp as knives, countless raindrops madly slicing toward the giant Tong Yu. The hazy golden light flowing on the giant Tong Yu's surface easily blocked the rain. As he swept his gaze around, a sudden ripple startled him, and without hesitation he threw a punch!

A golden fist the size of a cartwheel directly struck a thread of fine rain, which was actually the transformed sword-light of the Small Thousand Sword Formation.

His fist wore a black glove, but at this moment a hazy golden light covered the fist; only on close inspection could one see the layer of gloves beneath the golden light.

His strongest magic treasure was this pair of gloves!

With a loud bang, the giant Tong Yu was jolted back a step. His foot stomping the ground caused the earth to tremble and crack apart.

"What a Ji Ning!" The giant Tong Yu's pupils contracted. That thread of fine rain actually possessed such formidable power, definitely at the level of a Wanxiang Adept. No wonder it had been able to kill off that entire group of Zifu Disciples earlier.

"Impressive."

"He actually made Senior Apprentice-Brother Tong Yu take a step back."

The hearts of the other Zifu Disciples instantly tightened. They understood that this Ji Ning was probably not far behind their Senior Apprentice-Brother Tong Yu.

"Are you Tong Yu?" A clear, cold voice rang out. From afar, within the black mist, a massive dragon tail began to slowly move closer. In the midst of the dragon tail was a youth dressed in animal hide, holding a long sword in each hand. Around him, lotuses bloomed in profusion, constantly opening. Surrounded by water-fire lotuses, he walked over.

"Ji Ning!" The giant Tong Yu also stared at this youth. From those blooming lotuses, he sensed an extremely profound mystery. He vaguely understood that this youth's comprehension of the Dao was probably even deeper than his own.

Monster!

Only sixteen years old, yet his comprehension of the Dao was already so unfathomable.

...

Ji Ning strolled over, holding the Northsong swords in his hands. But the moment he saw Tong Yu, he was also startled. A towering body two stories high, radiating golden light, and that intangible, powerful demonic god aura made him feel somewhat oppressed. He estimated that he only reached up to the other's knee.

"So this is the Heaven Earth Transformation?" Ji Ning thought to himself. He had heard of this divine ability long ago; it could be called the most famous divine ability.

Divine abilities were precious and rare.

Generally, only the most顶尖 tribes, sects, and schools possessed them. But most of what they had was the 'Heaven Earth Transformation'! Even within the Yinglong Guard, this divine ability was the most famous. As the most widely circulated divine ability, the difficulty of learning it was naturally somewhat lower.

But that doesn't mean the Heaven Earth Transformation is weak! This divine ability has a low threshold, but when cultivated to a high level, it can truly be called a great divine ability! Legend has it that when ancient demon gods fought, they loved to use the Heaven Earth Transformation—with a single shake of the body, they would become a hundred zhang tall, a thousand zhang tall, or even ten thousand zhang tall.

With such a majestic demonic god body, picking up a mountain range thousands of li long was like picking up a straw; stirring up rivers and seas was like taking a bath!

One can see the might of this divine ability...

Of course, those are all ancient legends, as distant as the legend of Hou Yi shooting down the suns!

"Ji Ning." Suddenly a gentle voice sounded.

The giant Tong Yu, who was about to fight, was startled. Ji Ning also looked toward the source. Inside the black-light pagoda, there was a man in simple animal hide with disheveled hair, smiling at Ji Ning: "You have extraordinary talent, astonishing aptitude, and what's more valuable is that you achieved your current level in an ordinary native tribe. You are a rare rough gem, even more precious than that yuan stone mine."

Ji Ning frowned.

The giant Tong Yu was startled, and the other Zifu Disciples were also slightly stunned.

"If you are willing, I am willing to swear an oath to guarantee your entry into my Snow Dragon Mountain sect," Nong Zidao said with a smile. "With your talent, you will definitely become the most core, most important 'inheritance disciple' of the sect. Upon entry, your status will not be inferior to Wanxiang Adepts. My Snow Dragon Mountain will spare no effort to nurture you, making you a true top-tier expert. Becoming a Primal Daoist in the future... is not an empty dream!"

The giant Tong Yu was taken aback, then said in a low voice, "Ji Ning, since Junior Apprentice-Brother Zidao is willing to swear an oath, you can rest assured. If you join my Snow Dragon Mountain, past matters will naturally be overlooked. If you don't join... then I can't blame you for being ruthless!"

Ji Ning was surprised.

Recruiting him into Snow Dragon Mountain?

"I killed so many of your disciples, and you still want me to join?" Ji Ning said coldly.

"Those disciples died, so be it," Nong Zidao shook his head. "You are different from them. Mediocre Zifu Disciples, my Snow Dragon Mountain has plenty. But your talent, your current realm... it's truly unprecedented in my experience. As long as I recommend you, the Primal Daoists of my Snow Dragon Mountain will surely compete to take you as a disciple."

Ji Ning had also heard from his parents that with his talent, becoming a disciple of a great power would be easy. Even the spirit of the Water Mansion had noticeably improved its attitude after he comprehended the Rainwater Sword Domain.

Sixteen years old, comprehending the Rainwater Sword Domain...

Such talent was indeed monstrous.

"The conflict between your Ji clan and my Snow Dragon Mountain only involves dead Snow Dragon Mountain disciples. Not a single member of your Ji clan has died within this formation. Presumably, you don't harbor deep hatred for my Snow Dragon Mountain," Nong Zidao continued. "With no enmity between us, and you being a native with an utterly clean background, and such monstrous talent, how could the sect not spare no effort to nurture you? In a few hundred years, it's not impossible for you to become the sect leader of my Snow Dragon Mountain."

The giant Tong Yu also spoke: "If you join my Snow Dragon Mountain, these are trivial matters. But if you don't join... your Ji clan has slaughtered so many of our disciples. For the sake of face, my Snow Dragon Mountain will eradicate your Ji clan. Think it over carefully."

"Consider it thoroughly," Nong Zidao added.

Two paths.

One: join, and you're family. The deaths of these people become a trivial matter—an inheritance disciple killing some outer disciples.

One: don't join. Killing so many disciples is a provocation against Snow Dragon Mountain.

"Hahaha..." Ji Ning laughed. How could he possibly join Snow Dragon Mountain? Earlier, Nong Zidao had said there was no enmity, a clean background, monstrous talent, and they would spare no effort to nurture him...

Loyalty is the first thing a sect considers when cultivating a disciple.

If they wanted to take him as an inheritance disciple, Snow Dragon Mountain would definitely investigate his background thoroughly. Then, the matter of Ji Yichuan and Yuwei Xue from back then would likely be uncovered! Snow Dragon Mountain had the great enmity of killing his mother and uncle... With such a grudge, no matter how high his talent, Snow Dragon Mountain would not dare to nurture him. Instead, they would eliminate him early to prevent a future calamity!

"Enough nonsense," Ji Ning shouted. "Don't try to sway me."

"Ji Ning, you..." Nong Zidao inside the black-light pagoda shook his head. "One wrong step, and everything goes wrong. It's not too late to join my Snow Dragon Mountain now."

"Kill!"

Ji Ning said no more.

Just the 'loyalty' check alone would doom him once they investigated. He would stick to his original plan: eliminate these fellows as soon as possible and delay until the Great Xia Dynasty's angel arrives. Once the angel came, with the Great Xia Dynasty's protection... Snow Dragon Mountain wouldn't dare to act even with a hundred guts; they would have to endure.

Given time... Snow Dragon Mountain? He would overturn it too!

"Then die!" The giant Tong Yu revealed a ferocious grin and stomped hard.

Rumble~~~

The earth trembled, countless fragments of stone and dust flew up. Amidst the dust and debris, there were also countless golden sand grains emitting light. These golden sand grains spun wildly, forming a huge vortex around the giant Tong Yu, while some of them madly surged toward Ji Ning.

This was the giant Tong Yu's commonly used magic treasure, 'Star Sand'!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" The giant Tong Yu himself stomped across the ground, leaving a huge golden afterimage as he charged directly toward Ji Ning.

"Hmph."

The rain around Ji Ning formed a tough water barrier. The transparent water barrier spun continuously... When those golden sand grains madly struck, they were blocked by the water barrier.

"Die!" A golden fist the size of a cartwheel smashed through the water barrier, and even the blooming water-fire lotuses were incredibly fragile before this punch.

"So fast." Ji Ning's expression changed slightly. The black feathered wings on his back flapped violently.

Divine Ability — Wind Wings Evasion!

Whoosh!

The golden fist directly crushed through the water-fire lotuses and passed through Ji Ning's body, but the giant Tong Yu showed no joy. Because what he had pierced was only an 'afterimage'. Ji Ning was too fast, too agile, and dodged instantly.

"It's useless. You can't escape." The giant Tong Yu took a step, the earth cracked, and he had already turned into a golden light charging to Ji Ning's front. His fist easily tore through the water barrier and water-fire lotuses.

"Too fast." Ji Ning was forced to dodge.

Whoosh~~~

After using the Wind Wings Evasion three times in succession, Ji Ning finally created some distance. He even discovered that in terms of straight-line speed, the giant Tong Yu was faster than him! After using the Heaven Earth Transformation to become huge, Tong Yu's speed and power had both increased astonishingly. Ji Ning dared not take a direct hit.

Because earlier, when he used the Small Thousand Sword Formation, the other had blocked it with a single punch, only stepping back one step. This showed the power of his fist.

Fortunately, with the Wind Wings Evasion, Ji Ning could hold an advantage in agility. Being smaller naturally made him more agile, while the giant Tong Yu's large size made him less flexible in turning and changing direction.

"Small Thousand Sword Formation." Immediately, over seven hundred flying swords floated around Ji Ning, but only about six hundred of them emitted a hazy white light. Ji Ning only activated the eighth layer of the Small Thousand Sword Formation.

A thread of sword-light condensed before his chest.

"Go."

"Go."

"Go!"

While dodging with the Wind Wings Evasion, Ji Ning sent out six sword-light threads in succession. As soon as they entered the rain, they turned into threads of fine rain... silent and soundless, attacking the giant Tong Yu from six directions.

...