Chapter 3 Life and Death

In the courtyard, Ji Yichuan was wielding a cyan longsword, chopping at a wooden stake. He practiced the basic sword forms—chop, thrust, flick, slash, sweep, and point—without using much force, leaving only shallow marks on the stake's surface.

Beside him, his wife Yuchi Xue held an earthenware jar, sometimes smiling as she watched her husband practice swordsmanship, sometimes watering pots of flowers.

"Hmm?" Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue both turned to look in one direction. The couple sensed a disturbance in the air currents.

"It's from Dragon Castle."

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue leaped onto the roof with a whoosh, gazing into the distance toward Dragon Castle.

Dragon Castle was built in a secluded part of the inner city, about two li from the couple's residence.

What they saw was...

Above Dragon Castle hovered a massive winged serpent, its scaled, bony wings spread as if to cover the entire castle. On the castle, a bloodstained, one-armed youth darted about, while a huge serpent tail lashed toward him like lightning.

Yuchi Xue's eyes instantly reddened, and she let out a piercing, anguished cry: "Ning'er!"

The distance was too great.

There was no time!

"Beast!" Ji Yichuan's eyes burned with fury. He swung his cyan longsword fiercely. With a whoosh, a dazzling cyan sword light shot forth, over a hundred zhang long, even slightly larger than the winged serpent itself. It streaked across the sky, slashing toward the serpent.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

In an instant, the winged serpent's tail lashed out dozens of times. The entire Dragon Castle exploded and collapsed, sending countless stones flying. Blood splattered from the many servants, guards, and Ji clan members living in and around the castle, causing heavy casualties. Even the demon beasts in their dens were caught in the blast and died.

...

Just as Ji Ning had escaped the cage, the massive serpent tail came lashing toward him.

Ji Ning knew that the Golden Thread Armor was like paper before this winged serpent monster. His own divine demon body, only at the Xiantian limit, would likely be smashed into pulp in an instant.

"No."

A fierce unwillingness surged in Ji Ning's heart. In this life, he had a healthy body, parents who loved him, and the chance to control his own destiny on the path of immortality. He had trained diligently until now... everything had just begun. He truly could not accept this!

"Dodge!" Ji Ning exerted all his strength to execute the Windshadow Step.

Faster, faster, a little faster!

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

The wind howled!

Whoosh! Ji Ning's figure also howled through the air!

"Bang!" The serpent tail struck fiercely, grazing Ji Ning and slamming into the solid rock of Dragon Castle. The entire castle trembled, rocks flew, and dust and debris filled the air.

"Dodged?" The winged serpent with crimson vertical pupils growled. "You were lucky once. Can you dodge again?"

Bang!

The tail struck again!

But Ji Ning was like a leaf, drifting with the wind, flowing like the breeze, shadowing the movement. The tail missed him again, smashing into Dragon Castle.

"Impossible." The winged serpent grew enraged.

It was a great demon that had cultivated for a thousand years, reaching the late Xiantian lifeform stage—far stronger than ordinary early Xiantian lifeform demons. Killing a human youth should have been effortless, just as it had easily slaughtered thousands of tribesmen from the Golden Saber Tribe.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!! The winged serpent lashed its tail wildly, its wings also striking. The entire Dragon Castle shook and collapsed, sending rocks flying. Many servants and Black Armor Guards were caught and killed...

"Die, die, die." The winged serpent grew frantic.

A maddening chill spread, the temperature plummeting, instantly freezing some servants to death.

Black toxic gas spread, poisoning the Houtian lifeforms one by one.

But Ji Ning, amidst the dust, continued to dodge each time.

The cold could freeze a Houtian perfection Qi Refiner to death, but Ji Ning, who cultivated the first divine demon technique, had a body over a hundred times stronger than a Houtian perfection Qi Refiner. The widespread cold and poison could not harm him.

"Like wind, like shadow."

"Windshadow Step."

"This is the Windshadow Step, the true Windshadow Step." Ji Ning was completely immersed. Facing the massive tail lashing at him again and again, and the scaled, bony wings sweeping down, he flowed with the power of the wind in heaven and earth, borrowing its strength and even the opponent's—the winged serpent's—power, drifting and dodging time and again.

Like a shadow, the winged serpent could never strike him.

Like a breeze brushing the face, Ji Ning's figure dodged with such gentle ease, like a leaf under a gentle breeze.

"Unity of Heaven and Man!"

"This youth has actually reached the Unity of Heaven and Man realm, his footwork achieving that state?" The ferocious, overbearing winged serpent old demon finally confirmed it. This human youth, who had killed its child, had reached the Unity of Heaven and Man realm—a state it, a thousand-year-old demon, had never attained.

Unity of Heaven and Man!

Generally, Zifu cultivators were at the Unity of Heaven and Man realm, and some powerful Xiantian lifeforms also reached it.

Humans were naturally more insightful than demons!

Only some divine beasts could match human insight.

"Damn it." The winged serpent old demon realized it could not kill this human youth quickly.

"Beast!"

A massive cyan sword light came slashing.

The winged serpent old demon swept its tail to meet the cyan sword light, unconcerned: "You, Ji Yichuan, think a sword light from two li away can harm me?"

Pfft!

Dark green blood sprayed, sizzling as it hit the ground, quickly corroding rock and black iron. The thick tail was nearly severed, barely hanging on.

"How can he be this strong?" The winged serpent old demon was terrified.

This number one expert of the Ji clan's Western Mansion was too fearsome.

"Whoosh!"

"I'll let you live for now!" The winged serpent old demon cast a reluctant glance at Ji Ning, then flapped its wings and shot into the air to flee.

"Beast!"

"Winged serpent, you dare break into our Ji clan's Western Mansion and still try to escape?"

"Die!"

From various directions in the inner city of the Ji clan's Western Mansion, angry shouts rang out. Dozens of Xiantian lifeforms, including Ji Lie and Ji Youyang, roared.

"Lend me the Blue Flame Bird." Ji Yichuan transformed into a streak of light, flying toward a large cyan bird with flames on its tail feathers, on which sat a woman in black robes.

"Yichuan, I'll go with you." The black-robed woman said hoarsely.

"Let's go."

Ji Yichuan glanced down, relieved to see his son in the ruins of Dragon Castle, but his fury flared at the sight of his son's severed arm and blood-soaked body.

"Whoosh!"

Ji Yichuan and the black-robed woman mounted the Blue Flame Bird and shot into the sky, pursuing the fleeing winged serpent old demon. The other Xiantian lifeforms of the Western Mansion roared in fury—a great demon daring to enter their inner city was like touching their reverse scale!

But human Xiantian lifeforms could not fly, so only Ji Yichuan and his companion rode the Blue Flame Bird to hunt the winged serpent.

...

Ji Ning remained immersed in the Unity of Heaven and Man state. He could sense the power of the wind, borrowing it to become as free as the wind itself. He could even borrow the force of the enemy's attacks, dodging like their shadow.

"Ah."

"Ah!"

Weak groans drew Ji Ning's attention. He looked around. Dragon Castle had become a pile of rubble. Many servants and Black Armor Guards lay dead—crushed, frozen, poisoned—all in horrific states.

The joy of reaching the Unity of Heaven and Man realm with the Windshadow Step faded.

Gritting his teeth, Ji Ning leaped into the ruins, kicked aside large stones, and soon found his severed left arm. He first stored the Northmoon Sword, still clutched in the left hand, into his Najing ring. Then, gripping the severed arm with his right hand, he pressed it against the shoulder wound, where blood had already stopped flowing.

"Connect well." Ji Ning aligned the arm, and the Golden Thread Armor extended, quickly covering the left arm and fixing it in place.

Even in his past life, severed fingers or arms could be reattached if done quickly.

And Ji Ning's body was like that of a divine demon. A severed arm could regrow in a few hours. Now, pressing the severed arm back, he could clearly feel the flesh and bones rapidly growing and reconnecting. They had already joined, though it would take a little while to fully heal.

"Ji Ning!" A slightly anxious voice called out.

Ji Ning looked up. An old man in dark red animal hide stood on the ruins—it was the mansion lord, Ji Youyang. Seeing Ji Ning unharmed, he sighed in relief: "Good, you're safe. Good."

"Ning'er!" A pained cry rang out.

Ji Ning ignored the mansion lord for a moment, leaping out of the ruins. He saw his mother rushing over, her face streaked with tears, her expression anguished.

"Mother." Ji Ning called out.

Yuchi Xue saw her son standing there unharmed and wept with joy. Ji Ning dashed to her side and embraced her. Yuchi Xue hugged him back: "Thank goodness, thank goodness. I was so scared. If something had happened to you, I wouldn't know what to do."

"Mother, I'm fine." Ji Ning said quickly.

"Your arm?" Yuchi Xue examined his left arm closely.

"It's fine, see." Ji Ning moved his left arm. The skin and bones had fully reconnected, and even the finer details were about eighty percent healed. It would likely be fully healed in a little while.

Yuchi Xue finally relaxed completely, knowing her son's divine demon body's regenerative power.

"What happened? How did that great demon from Winged Serpent Lake dare to attack our Ji clan's Western Mansion?" A deep voice rang out. Ji Lie, the old man with fiery red hair and a viper-like demeanor, strode over, his face full of anger. "That beast is asking for death. And find out immediately—how did it get into our Western Mansion?"

"It's very strange. Didn't that Winged Serpent Lake demon know this would completely enrage our Western Mansion?" A gaunt old man with a tumor on his forehead said coldly.

One by one, the Xiantian lifeforms gathered.

Seeing the ruins of Dragon Castle, the countless corpses and bloodstains, the dozens of Xiantian lifeforms all wore grim expressions. As rulers of this land, it had been a long time since a great demon dared to attack the Western Mansion. Every expert of the Western Mansion felt anger and humiliation.

"Damn it!"

"We must kill the Winged Serpent demon."

"Kill it."

...