Chapter 18 Invincible

The bolts of lightning in the sky instantly struck the water-fire lotus that enveloped Ji Ning and the others.

The water-fire lotus bloomed layer by layer, and the lightning destroyed three layers of lotus leaves before dissipating completely, unable to harm Ji Ning and his companion.

"It actually broke through three layers of lotus leaves." Ji Ning was secretly startled. Over the past three years, he had achieved the highest attainments in the Dao of Rainwater and the Dao of Blazing Fire. He often studied the Black-White Diagram... which allowed the water-fire lotus to maintain six layers of lotus leaves at the same time. If the enemy's power were doubled, it could break through.

Though surprised, Ji Ning gazed into the distance at the nine cyclone wheels that had struck first.

"Thorns Abound!"

The flying jade sword-light seemed to move very slowly, as if hindered by countless obstacles, struggling to penetrate layer after layer. Wherever this jade sword-light passed... Bei Hezhou, Jihe, Dong Yi, and the other Wanxiang Adepts could all sense it, and their expressions changed.

"Who said Ji Ning only excels in close combat!" The six of them, including Bei Hezhou, cursed inwardly.

The sword-light passed through, directly slicing apart the enveloping cold miasma.

Then this jade sword-light clashed with the nine cyclone wheels in the air.

"Rumble~~~" The nine cyclone wheels stirred up endless winds in the sky, forming a magic treasure formation to jointly besiege the jade sword-light. But the jade sword-light was too fast... though everyone could sense it, its speed surpassed every cyclone wheel.

After a brief thunderous roar, all nine cyclone wheels flew back, but the jade sword-light had become extremely dim.

"Pfft~~~"

Before the overwhelming three thousand white strands of the flywhisk, the jade sword-light dissipated.

"Impressive, he actually broke Dong Yi's 'Cold Miasma' and Xu Manquan's 'Wind Wheel Grand Formation'."

"His control of the sword-light is so formidable; how much more so in close combat?"

Bei Hezhou and the others were all shocked.

They did not know that Ji Ning was equally astonished: "The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation is already nearly the most powerful among Zifu-level techniques, and this is the second stance of the Three-Foot Sword. Yet it barely manages to fight two? It seems my foundation is too weak. Xu Manquan and Dong Yi are both Wanxiang Circle Perfection Adepts."

One of them used a cold miasma comparable to a divine ability, and the other used a magic treasure formation.

Both were Wanxiang Circle Perfection in strength. Their joint attack was broken by Ji Ning alone, which was already extraordinary.

"Serpent Swallows the Sky!"

"No Self, No Sword!"

Two black swimming serpents, head to tail, formed a large circle that directly covered the nine sword-lights. Under Bei Hezhou's control, the nine river-like sword-lights furiously attacked the serpent circle.

For a moment, they were locked in a stalemate.

"The two from the Black-White College are indeed formidable. Despite being so far behind in foundation, they can withstand our attacks." Dong Yi transmitted, "Everyone, strike with all your might and annihilate them."

"Kill."

"Kill."

Meng Liuqing, Nong San, and the others all exerted their utmost, not daring to slacken.

"Eh?" Ji Ning suddenly noticed that the pervasive gray气流 could subtly affect the soul. Though his own soul was strong and unaffected, his junior brother was not. Indeed, Mu Zishuo frowned, and the power of the black serpent puppet he controlled began to decline, his mind affected.

"Die."

A terrifying killing intent burst from Ji Ning's eyes.

In his sea of consciousness, his soul sat cross-legged, a cyan seal—the Soulshaker Seal—gathering before its chest. Powerful divine will, with the Soulshaker Seal as the core, was released, surging like rolling waves, layer upon layer, pushing outward.

It avoided Mu Zishuo, who was right beside him, and pressed outward, the rolling, powerful divine will instantly touching the six Wanxiang Adepts around them.

Like a long-accumulated tide suddenly crashing against a dike.

Boom!!!

The intense divine will erupted with unimaginable impact.

"How..." The Snowdragon Mountain Wanxiang Adept 'Dong Yi' felt the terrifying impact and was instantly terrified, then dazed.

"This..."

"I..."

One by one, the powerful Wanxiang Adepts, under the Soulshaker Art Ji Ning unleashed, all fell into a daze at the same moment.

In truth, the Soulshaker Art only shakes the soul and affects the enemy's strength; it generally does not cause them to fall into a dazed, confused state. But Ji Ning's soul had reached the 'divine sense' level, equivalent to a Primal Daoist using this technique, so it naturally left them all dazed.

The six began to fall downward.

"Kill!" Ji Ning willed it, and the jade sword-light formed by the ninth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation swept outward.

"Junior brother, strike now." Ji Ning also transmitted.

"Understood." Mu Zishuo also noticed the six Wanxiang Adepts suddenly falling into a dazed state.

The first to be struck by the jade sword's blade light was the leader, Bei Hezhou.

"Hum!" A layer of sword qi suddenly appeared on Bei Hezhou's body surface, extremely tough, and it managed to resist Ji Ning's jade sword attack.

"Protective sword qi?" Ji Ning was startled. "It must be a life-preserving item left by a senior of his sect."

The moment he was attacked, Bei Hezhou also woke up, and his face instantly showed terror.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The jade sword blade light of the Small Thousand Sword Formation struck three times in succession, directly breaking the protective sword qi. Bei Hezhou, who had just woken up and hadn't had time to control his magic treasure, was directly sliced in two by Ji Ning's sword.

"Chi chi chi~~~" Mu Zishuo's black snake ring also directly strangled the one called 'Ji He' to death. This Ji He actually had no protective items.

At this moment, the other four Wanxiang Adepts also woke up.

After all, they were Wanxiang late-stage and Wanxiang圆满 Adepts, with equally strong souls and firm Dao-hearts. Even if a Primal Daoist used the Soul-Shaking Art, it would only make them dazed for a moment at most.

"Not good, Ji He and Bei Hezhou are already dead."

"Let's go quickly."

"They know a powerful divine mind secret art."

The surviving Dong Yi, Meng Liuqing, Nong San, and Xu Manquan were so frightened that they fled in panic. In an instant, two of them had already died. This made them lose all will to fight... They understood that one of the two disciples of the Black-White College must possess a powerful divine mind secret art. But they were also extremely puzzled: although divine mind secret arts were rare, they were not invincible. Only with a powerful soul could one unleash a truly formidable divine mind secret art... These two had trained for a very short time; how could they be so powerful?

"Flee?" Ji Ning sneered coldly.

Boom~~~

A powerful divine mind, like rolling waves, crushed down again in all directions. Although the four who were about to flee were mentally prepared, they were still dazed by the impact of the powerful divine mind, and their speed sharply decreased.

"Junior apprentice-brother, kill them." Ji Ning, holding the Northmoon sword, charged directly at Dong Yi of the Snow Dragon Mountain. At the same time, he controlled the blade light of the Small Thousand Sword Formation to attack the one called Xu Manquan.

"Got it." Mu Zishuo's black snakes, which had been biting each other's tails to form a ring, instantly scattered and turned into two large snakes, attacking Nong San and Meng Liuqing respectively.

"Soul-Shaking Art!"

Ji Ning continuously used the Soul-Shaking Art, sending wave after wave of attacks at the four Wanxiang Adepts.

"Snow Dragon Mountain? Die!" The Northmoon sword in Ji Ning's hand turned into a streak of flowing light, slashing directly at Dong Yi.

"Bang!"

On Dong Yi's surface, black flowing light emerged, winding around him layer upon layer, like a cocoon protecting him.

"Bang!" Ji Ning struck again with his sword, but still could not cut through.

Under wave after wave of divine will assault, Dong Yi gritted his teeth, blood seeping from between them. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression mad. He felt like a drowning man submerged by tides of divine will, yet his powerful Dao-heart of cultivation made him crave survival.

"Burn!" Dong Yi barely maintained a sliver of clarity and executed the Blood Escape technique.

Whoosh!

In the high sky, a凄艳 blood-red streak of light appeared, vanishing into the distance in an instant.

"Whoosh~~" Xu Manquan, who was being pursued by the sword-light of Ji Ning's Small Thousand Sword Formation, barely kept his clarity but had no time to escape before being slain by the sword-light.

"One escaped." Ji Ning shook his head, waving his hand to collect the falling corpses from midair.

Ji Ning turned his head and saw Mu Zishuo flying over, who said helplessly, "Senior apprentice-brother, that Meng Liuqing got away. But I killed that Nong San."

"Six people, we killed four." Ji Ning smiled. "Not bad."

"Not bad? It's amazing." Mu Zishuo looked at Ji Ning in surprise. "Senior apprentice-brother, what technique did you just use? They looked dazed—must be some divine will secret art. Our Black-White College has only three secret arts: the Soulshaker Art, the Mindsealer Art, and the Soulslayer Art. Which one did you use?"

"The Soulshaker Art, of course." Ji Ning didn't hide it.

"Impressive, impressive. Senior apprentice-brother, your soul is at the divine sense level! The power of the Soulshaker Art is astonishing—it left them helpless. Actually, they were all quite strong; any one of them could match me." Mu Zishuo exclaimed. "I've just been cultivating for too short a time."

"Let's see what they left behind." Ji Ning said.

"Mm." Mu Zishuo was also full of anticipation.

The two first flew onto the dragon-headed warship. The slaves on the warship were still terrified, having no idea what had happened outside.

Ji Ning and the other paid them no heed and began to refine these storage treasures.

Although the four slain were all Wanxiang Adepts, their storage treasures were not all Earth-rank; three were Mortal-rank, and only one was Earth-rank. The rank of storage treasures didn't matter much, so few cultivators bothered to exchange them.

After refining for a while.

"Senior apprentice-brother, whose treasure is this? So much liquid elemental essence—this bottle must have five hundred catties!" Mu Zishuo exclaimed in delight upon discovering it.

Ji Ning was also pleased. Five hundred catties of liquid elemental essence was a lot. He quickly understood: "Probably someone who had reached the Wanxiang stage and was preparing to break through to the Primal Daoist. To break through to Primal Daoist, you need a huge accumulation of liquid elemental essence. Five hundred catties is just a fraction."

"Makes sense." Mu Zishuo nodded.

Ji Ning, however, grew expectant. Finding five hundred catties of liquid elemental essence in just one Wanxiang Adept's storage treasure—perhaps with this opportunity, he could break through to the Wanxiang Adept stage in one go!