Chapter 9: Why, Why!

Yu Tong felt despair. The youth before him was too terrifying; even his master, Can Yue Zhenren, had been directly slain... Especially the divine sense secret art just now, which he had personally experienced, plunging him into a brief dizziness. In the life-and-death struggle of cultivators, he knew all too well what a brief dizziness meant.

"Lord Yinglong Guard." Yu Tong was extremely anxious; he could clearly feel the towering murderous intent directed at him. "Have you made a mistake? I, Yu Tong, have always been unwilling to offend others and would never offend anyone. Lord Yinglong Guard, have you been deceived by someone? Killing me is not important, but letting the true culprit escape is a grave matter."

Yu Tong tried his utmost to persuade Ji Ning.

"Deceived?" Ji Ning smiled, a smile that chilled Yu Tong. Would his father and mother deceive him? And Uncle Bai, who had personally witnessed that scene back then, was right beside him. How could it be false?

"The true culprit is still at large, but you have been deceived into targeting me." Yu Tong spoke urgently.

Seeing Yu Tong's anxiety, panic, and unease, his desperate attempts to persuade, Ji Ning felt a surge of satisfaction. The more flustered and anxious this great enemy was, the more pained and desperate, the more satisfying it was!

"Father, mother, uncle, do you see?" Ji Ning said silently in his heart.

"This Yu Tong is just the first. They will all die in despair and regret, one by one." Ji Ning thought silently.

Seeing the coldness in Ji Ning's eyes intensify, Yu Tong grew even more anxious.

What to do?

What to do?

He had not yet truly become the sect leader of Snow Dragon Mountain; he had not yet shaken the world with his might. How could he die? Yu Tong's heart was filled with intense unwillingness. What he craved most was not to climb step by step with low-key schemes and strategies, but to make his name known throughout the world with absolute power, to be admired by countless people.

He had not yet truly erupted! The boundless earth had not yet heard of his fame!

"I must make a gamble!" Yu Tong felt as if he had fallen into the scene of an assassination attempt from his childhood, when it was also a matter of life and death. If the assassination succeeded, he would soar to the skies. If it failed, he would die without a burial place.

This time was the same.

If he escaped, he could ascend to heaven.

If he died, there would truly be no burial place.

"Junior apprentice-sister." Yu Tong looked at his junior apprentice-sister Yue Wei beside him and transmitted his voice, shouting, "Help me stop him, stop him at all costs." He trusted his junior apprentice-sister because he believed in his own methods. After long guidance, he had no doubt that if he told her to die for him, she would not hesitate.

Yue Wei's eyes reddened, filled with endless attachment.

"Now!" Yu Tong transmitted.

Swoosh!

Yue Wei flew directly toward Ji Ning, like a moth darting into a flame. Her Zifu lake began to surge violently, ready to detonate. Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes as she gazed reluctantly at Yu Tong and transmitted, "Senior apprentice-brother, I truly love you!"

Boom!

Around Ji Ning, water and fire lotuses swirled, containing earthly fire and cold sha. The power of the water-fire lotuses had now greatly increased... The self-destruction of a Zifu cultivator could not shake them.

"Senior apprentice-brother, I truly love you." The voice still echoed in his ears. Yu Tong's heart trembled, but he immediately suppressed the thought. He understood that his junior apprentice-sister's 'love' was merely a natural affection that arose after her very heart had been tamed. It was because her heart had been tamed that she was willing to die for him.

Was this love?

It was nothing but enslavement!

"Boom." As the self-destruction exploded, Yu Tong had already flashed away, fleeing into the distance. While fleeing, he produced an insect nest in his hand. "My children, go, stop them."

Mu Zishuo and the Whitewater Marsh stood by, merely watching without interfering.

Ji Ning, surrounded by water-fire lotuses, first withstood the woman's self-destruction, then faced the dense swarm of poisonous insects. But what greeted them was an enormous water-fire lotus. It was said that cold sha and earthly fire were comparable to a divine ability, and Ji Ning's water-fire lotus formed from cold sha and earthly fire was even more powerful.

With grinding force, countless poisonous insects turned to powder, none surviving even an instant.

In just a short while, the dense, sky-covering swarm of poisonous insects attacking Ji Ning was all reduced to ashes.

"Hahaha..." Yu Tong took this opportunity to flee into the distance and activated a maze formation. Instantly, the scenery around Yu Tong's location shifted, still within the maze formation's range.

"Hiding in a maze formation, do you think you can escape?" Ji Ning walked directly over.

Ji Ning appeared arrogant.

In reality, he was very cautious. His divine sense had long enveloped the surrounding hundred li, everything under control. If a Yuan Shen Daoist suddenly appeared, Ji Ning would not delay but would kill Yu Tong swiftly. But now, since no one interfered, he would slowly torment his enemy.

The hatred that had been suppressed in Ji Ning's heart for so long would not allow him to let the enemy die easily.

"What?" Yu Tong, inside the maze formation, watched in astonishment as Ji Ning entered the formation, completely unaffected by it, walking straight toward him.

"How can this be? Seal!" Yu Tong quickly activated another formation. This was his residence, so there were naturally many formations.

A hazy ripple appeared, shielding him.

Whoosh.

A flash of sword light, and Ji Ning pierced through the sealing formation.

"Too weak." Ji Ning continued walking step by step.

"Teleport." Yu Tong held a precious minor teleportation talisman, trying to escape, but it was useless.

"The surrounding space has long been sealed." Ji Ning still walked over.

Yu Tong finally went mad, roaring, "What exactly do you want? The maze formation is useless against you, you easily annihilate the poisonous insects, you even killed my master with a single sword strike, and you sealed the void long ago... Your strength is so great, your planning so thorough. How have I offended you?"

A phantom appeared instantly, swift as lightning. A sword light stabbed directly into Yu Tong's abdomen at his dantian. One by one, his magic treasures fell off, only the robe on his body and the bracers on his arms remained. But he could no longer control them.

The sword was so fast that Yu Tong did not even have time to block.

"You, you!" Yu Tong's eyes widened.

"Your Zifu dantian has been destroyed by me." Ji Ning said calmly.

Yu Tong was terrified. The Zifu dantian, the foundation of his cultivation, destroyed? The moment his Zifu was destroyed, a feeling of weakness spread throughout his body, filling him with immense fear...

"Why don't you just kill me?" Yu Tong roared.

"Kill you?" Ji Ning shook his head. "Destroying your Zifu dantian is to prevent you from committing suicide."

If the Zifu were intact, he could easily detonate the Zifu lake.

But with the Zifu destroyed, Yu Tong became an ordinary person. Of course, his body, nourished by yuan power over a long time, was still strong, comparable to an ordinary Xiantian lifeform. Unfortunately, he could no longer use magic treasures, and in front of Ji Ning, he could not even commit suicide.

"Afraid I'll kill myself?" Yu Tong showed a look of terror. What kind of deep hatred would make someone not even allow him to commit suicide?

With Yu Tong's Zifu destroyed, the surrounding formations had long been deactivated.

Mu Zishuo and the Whitewater Marsh also walked over.

"Enjoy." Ji Ning smiled coldly. Yuan power quickly condensed in front of him into a glowing runic symbol. Seeing this runic symbol, Yu Tong thought of something and showed a look of terror. He turned to flee, but Ji Ning lightly pointed, and the runic symbol instantly shot into Yu Tong's body.

"No!" Yu Tong screamed, his skin and bones beginning to twist, his skin even turning red.

"Ah, ah."

Screams squeezed out of his throat.

Yu Tong, like a boiled shrimp, was completely red, lying on the ground and convulsing. Under his skin, it seemed countless insects were crawling; one could even see his skin starting to char and blacken.

"Heart-Burning Art?" Mu Zishuo was secretly shocked. This was a torture secret art recorded in the Dao Canon Hall of the Black-White College. Because it had little combat power, it could be viewed without Black-White pills.

Ji Ning had memorized it long ago.

He had memorized it back then... waiting to make these enemies taste this flavor! Taste the heart-burning flavor! He remembered the pain, despair, and endless hatred he felt when his father and mother left. He had long decided to take revenge!

"Tell me, tell me." Yu Tong hoarsely stared at Ji Ning, a crazed look in his eyes.

"You can still stay awake? Even with the soul of a Wanxiang Zhenren, staying awake is incredible." Ji Ning said coldly. "It seems your Dao-heart is stronger than I imagined."

"Why, why!" Yu Tong's red eyes were full of unwillingness.

Ji Ning looked at Uncle Bai beside him.

Uncle Bai instantly turned into mist, then transformed into a large snow-white dog.

"Yu Tong, do you still remember me?" The Whitewater Marsh looked at Yu Tong.

Yu Tong's pained eyes suddenly showed shock and unwillingness. A cultivator's memory was excellent. Because Uncle Bai was now a Wanxiang great demon and had taken human form, he had not recognized him. But when Uncle Bai transformed back to his original form, he immediately recalled that scene from back then...

"Young master, look, that little lady is quite pretty, isn't she? That appearance, that bearing... tsk tsk."

"Mm, not bad! And she looks pregnant... Hmm, I like it. You two go over and capture that little lady alive for me. But be careful; the two men beside her should be Zifu cultivators. Don't be careless and fail."

"Don't worry, young master."

"Young master, leave it to us. We'll definitely catch that little lady and bring her to you."

That scene back then, that great battle, was still fresh in his memory.

What he remembered most vividly was that both men risked their lives for that woman.

"Take my sister away quickly, go!"

"Xiao Bai, take her away!"

Both men had used forbidden arts and fought desperately.

In that battle, he and the other accomplice 'Shui Yi' were only at the Zifu Perfection stage, facing opponents using forbidden arts. Especially that woman's brother... his strength was exceptionally great. He managed to hold them both off, allowing the woman and the other severely wounded youth to escape.

But that woman's brother, in their anger, he and Shui Yi naturally killed him.

"They, they..." Yu Tong's body began to char, his red eyes fixed on Ji Ning.

"They were my father, mother, and uncle!" Ji Ning's eyes filled with tears, his voice low. "I am the child that woman was carrying at the time. I have come now... to take revenge!"