Chapter 21: The Seventh Layer of the Crimson Brightness Nine Heavens

“True Person Xu Li?” Nong Zidao was greatly alarmed. As a key disciple of the Snowdragon Mountain, Nong Zidao was naturally familiar with True Person Xu Li, and he knew that this True Person Xu Li was not skilled in the art of ‘formation arrays’. In fact, most promising immortals were not adept at formations; they devoted more energy to cultivation, enlightenment, and magical treasures and spells.

“How long ago did the True Person leave?” Nong Zidao asked hurriedly.

“Just now, less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. They had just left when you, Brother Zidao, arrived,” Dong Fanyu replied.

Nong Zidao urgently instructed, “Remember, if any other Zifu cultivators arrive, they may go to Oxhorn Mountain, but you must warn them… they must not lightly enter the great formation there. Senior Brother Tong Yu and the others have all died inside.”

“I will surely warn the later arriving fellow disciples,” Dong Fanyu promised.

“Mm.” Nong Zidao had no time to say more. He immediately took control of his boat, which broke through the air and sped back toward Oxhorn Mountain.

…

Oxhorn Mountain.

Ji Jiuhuo and the others, while refining their magical treasures, also kept an eye on the outside of the great formation. From their elevated position, through the much thinner mist, they could see the distant wilderness at a glance.

“Of the large group of Zifu cultivators who came earlier, besides Nong Zidao, all the others are dead. This has also given our Ji clan two more Zifu spirit beasts.” Ji Liuzhen was refining a flying sword, his face full of joy. “The Snowdragon Mountain branches around Swallow Mountain are only so many. With so many dead, I doubt any formidable figures will come.”

“Mm.” Ji Jiuhuo nodded with a smile.

“Our Ji clan has hope,” Ying Popo sighed hoarsely.

According to common sense, their speculation was correct.

The envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty could arrive in two days. The Swallow Mountain branch simply couldn’t summon help from distant branches in time. At most, they could gather forty or fifty Zifu cultivators from the surrounding area, the most famous being Tong Yu and Nong Zidao. With one dead and the other fled, who else would dare enter?

The only option was to report to the sect, but the sect was far away. Before they could even receive the news, the Ji clan would already be under the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty.

“Thanks to Ji Ning,” Ji Jiuhuo sighed, looking at Ji Yichuan. “Yichuan, you have a good son.”

Ji Yichuan couldn’t help but smile. With such a son, how could he not be proud?

“Once this tribulation passes,” Ying Popo said hoarsely, “Ji Ning will surely leave our Ji clan to venture out. With his monstrous talent… he will likely be accepted as a disciple by some great power. Then what need to fear Snowdragon Mountain?”

“Ji Ning’s future is limitless,” Ji Liuzhen also remarked.

They were the absolute elites of the Ji clan, but compared to Ji Ning… they felt a vast gap.

“Someone’s coming,” Ji Jiuhuo suddenly shouted.

“What?”

Everyone was startled. They all peered through the thinning black mist and saw, in the distant sky, a sailboat flying through the air, with several cultivators gathered on it.

“Who is it?”

“None of them are familiar.”

“I recognize one. That short old man is a cultivator from the Huan clan. I’ve met him once. I don’t know his name.” Ji Jiuhuo and the others looked. There were eight Zifu cultivators on the sailboat, but they couldn’t name a single one; only Ji Jiuhuo recognized one.

Ji Liuzhen quickly asked, “What do we do? Should we call Ji Ning?”

“Ji Ning is cultivating inside the formation,” Ji Jiuhuo shook his head. “And there are only eight of them. No need to panic.”

…

The sailboat dove from the sky and vanished as it neared the ground. The eight people on the boat stepped down. Not far away stood a wooden puppet, its eyes glowing green, looking at them curiously.

“A puppet,” Lu Huang said quickly. “Uncle-Master, let me take a look.”

Lu Huang stepped forward, but before he could speak, the wooden puppet said, “Are you disciples of Snowdragon Mountain?”

“Yes,” Lu Huang nodded. True Person Xu Li and the others also approached. The wooden puppet obediently continued, “I am here on the orders of my master, Nong Zidao, to wait for later arrivals from Snowdragon Mountain. I am to tell you that my master, Nong Zidao, along with Tong Yu and the other eighteen Zifu cultivators, as well as two Zifu spirit beasts, have all entered the great formation.”

“Any other news?” True Person Xu Li pressed.

“Nothing else,” the wooden puppet shook its head.

“Has anyone come out?” True Person Xu Li frowned. “Did you feel any ground tremors?”

The wooden puppet said, “No one has come out. I felt a few ground tremors earlier, but now there are none.”

True Person Xu Li and the other seven changed expression. Some formations could block sound, but ground tremors from battle, transmitted through the earth, were hard to isolate. At least among mortal-rank formations, they had never heard of one that could block ground tremors.

“The earlier tremors indicated they fought several times. But now there are no tremors, and we have received news… that many Zifu cultivators, including Dong Ziqi, have had their life-tablets shattered.” True Person Xu Li said softly, “The most likely possibility is that they are dead.”

“True Person, what should we do?” The others looked at True Person Xu Li.

Among these seven, some had met True Person Xu Li on the road, while others had gathered at Snowdragon City.

Previously, a full nineteen Zifu cultivators and two Zifu spirit beasts had vanished silently into that great formation.

“We must not enter lightly,” True Person Xu Li said softly. “Nephew Nong Zidao is highly skilled in formations, even surpassing me. And Nephew Tong Yu has divine abilities, formidable combat power, and a strong divine body. The two of them went in together and now there’s no news. We absolutely must not enter lightly.”

The other seven nodded in agreement.

“First, I’ll try to break the formation by force,” True Person Xu Li said, looking at the distant Oxhorn Mountain. He flipped his hand, and a large seal appeared in his palm. The seal flew out, rapidly expanding until it was a hundred zhang in length and width, hovering high above Oxhorn Mountain.

“Fall!”

True Person Xu Li pointed into the distance.

Instantly, the sky changed. The bright sun vanished, and the sky turned pitch black, filled with countless shining stars. Among the stars hung a huge bright moon, from which a moonlight hand extended, grabbing the hundred-zhang seal.

Then it slammed downward!

Boom!

It struck directly into a patch of black mist at the foot of Oxhorn Mountain, causing the entire ground to tremble. Then the moonlight hand lifted the seal again.

…

Ji Jiuhuo and the others saw the sky change, the bright sun replaced by a starry sky, and exclaimed in shock, “A Wanxiang True Person!”

“How can there be a Wanxiang True Person? The other Snowdragon Mountain branches around Swallow Mountain are just branches. They only have Zifu cultivators. How could a Wanxiang True Person appear? Wanxiang True Persons are core members of the Snowdragon Mountain sect. Why would one be here?” Ji Liuzhen’s eyes widened.

Everyone in the Ji clan was stunned.

They couldn’t believe it.

“Quick, go to the sub-formations,” Ji Jiuhuo ordered. “That Wanxiang True Person is only using a seal from outside to break our formation—impossible. At such a distance, using his Wanxiang Dharma to cast spells, he can only exert ten percent of his power. With that strength, we can definitely hold him off by joining forces with the Netherdragon Locking Heaven Formation.”

“Should we call Ji Ning?” Ying Popo asked.

“No need. Earthdragon, follow my guidance to the northern position,” Ji Jiuhuo ordered. “From now on, you will temporarily act as the dragon tail formation hub of the Netherdragon Locking Heaven Formation.”

“Yes,” the green-armored giant replied.

When a demon beast first opens its Zifu, its internal energy becomes Zifu primal energy. This Earthdragon was at the Zifu Completion stage… his primal energy was even more abundant than Ji Ning’s!

…

“Fall!” True Person Xu Li pointed into the distance.

The hundred-zhang moonlight hand, gripping the seal, slammed down toward Oxhorn Mountain again. But this time, a dragon’s roar sounded, and a huge black dragon tail rose up. The black dragon tail was enormous, emerging from the black mist to meet the descending seal.

Bang!

The seal struck the dragon tail. The dragon tail trembled but held.

“A black dragon tail?” True Person Xu Li frowned. “It can block my dharma-casting…”

A cultivator’s control over a magical treasure has range limits. The farther the distance, the weaker the power. A Wanxiang True Person can use his ‘Wanxiang Dharma’ to cast spells over great distances, but the power is much weaker than close-range casting. For example, when True Person Mu Xiao prevented Bo Zishan from escaping, he used his Wanxiang Dharma to grab Bo Zishan’s Gu worms from a great distance.

“What formation is this?” True Person Xu Li frowned. “Just a few Zifu cultivators using a formation can block my dharma-casting. This formation…”

With his experience, he couldn’t identify the formation.

The other seven Zifu cultivators beside him were also puzzled and uneasy. That black dragon tail… what kind of formation was it?

…

Ji Jiuhuo and the others, using the Netherdragon formed by the formation, managed to block the seal, but they felt the strain.

“I wonder how Ji Ning’s cultivation is going. Maybe he’s at a critical moment,” Ji Jiuhuo thought anxiously, wanting to wake Ji Ning but afraid of disrupting his cultivation.

…

Inside the formation, netherworld energy filled the air.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged, completely immersed in the mysteries of yin-yang transformation. He analyzed continuously, reaching a state of self-forgetfulness in his deep insights. He hadn’t even noticed the slight tremors from the seal’s earlier strikes. The massive Netherdragon controlled by Ji Jiuhuo and the others surrounded the area, protecting Ji Ning.

“Yin does not leave yang.”

“Yang does not leave yin.”

“Even the soaring dragon must eventually regret; after the peak comes the trough…”

“Only through yin-yang transformation can they give birth to each other endlessly.” Ji Ning suddenly understood.

The Taiyin and Taiyang divine runes behind him blazed brightly, resonating with two enormous stars deep in the void, separated by countless layers of space. The Sun Star and Moon Star immediately sent down Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater, crossing endless worlds and voids, descending directly beside Ji Ning.

“Boom~~” “Boom~~” The surroundings turned into a world of water and fire.

A huge water-fire lotus formed a bud, completely enveloping Ji Ning. With Lunar Truewater and Solar Truefire as the core, it drew in vast water-fire power to form a giant water-fire flower that wrapped around Ji Ning, who became the stamen within.

Even True Person Xu Li and the group of Zifu cultivators on the wilderness could see the giant flower emerging from the black mist in the distance, its tip just poking out of the mist.

…