Chapter 21 The Victory Feast

A vast crowd followed the side path to a magnificent hall.

Inside the hall, long tables were arranged in rows, and along the sides were rows of musical instruments.

"This must be where Immortal Wujiang and his demon subordinates gathered for feasts and entertainment when he was still alive," Shaoyan Nong said with a laugh. "These tables and pillars are exquisitely carved—every piece is extraordinary."

Ji Ning and the others nodded. They could easily imagine the scene from countless ages past, when great demons sat behind these tables, drinking and making merry.

"And that is where Immortal Wujiang once sat," Shaoyan Nong said, pointing to the head of the hall.

At the head of the hall was the most ornate table, with an intricately carved screen behind it. On either side of the screen stood bronze lamps.

"That bronze lamp is the central hub of this Wujiang Hall," Shaoyan Nong said, pointing to a Zifu Disciple. "You, go over to that bronze lamp."

"Yes."

These Zifu Disciples were all death warriors; their minds had long been trained to obey only their master's commands. If their master ordered them to die, they would not hesitate in the slightest.

As the Zifu Disciple walked toward the head of the hall—

"Boom!"

The entire hall transformed. Ji Ning and the others found themselves in a beautiful peach blossom garden, surrounded by peach trees, the ground covered in petals.

"Careful, it's an illusion," Xiangliu Fang shouted.

"I knew this main hall, the Wujiang Hall, wouldn't be so easy to take," Shaoyan Nong said coldly. With Uncle Fang present, he was not flustered. A formation that had existed for untold ages, with no true master controlling it, could at most unleash a tenth of its power.

"Form the formation."

Ji Ning, Mu Zishuo, Jiulian, Yu Wei, and Cangjiang Zhenren immediately formed the Five Elements Five Directions Formation.

Everyone was on high alert.

"This illusion formation is very powerful; even divine sense cannot penetrate it," Cangjiang Zhenren said. "And I faintly sense that this illusion formation is stronger than the one we encountered in the Treasure Hall."

"It seems to be gathering Azurewood Divine Thunder within the illusion," Ji Ning said, frowning.

"It seems you know something about formations," Xiangliu Fang said, glancing at Ji Ning from beside Shaoyan Nong. He said calmly, "This great formation draws on the power of the sun, using wood as a conduit to generate Azurewood Divine Thunder... Though no one is presiding over it, the power of the Azurewood Divine Thunder should not be underestimated. It will take me some time to break this formation. In the meantime, you all will have to fend for yourselves."

Ji Ning and the other four huddled close together, ready to face the Azurewood Divine Thunder at any moment. They dared not run recklessly; running blindly in an illusion was suicide.

"What... what should I do?" Xue Hongyi's heart raced, but she gritted her teeth and waited, maintaining her composure.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, three bolts of azure lightning struck down simultaneously, heading straight for Shaoyan Nong.

"Someone is controlling the formation?" Xiangliu Fang exclaimed in shock.

"How could someone be controlling the formation?" Shaoyan Nong, standing beside him, also panicked.

Whoosh!

Xiangliu Fang stretched out his hand, which expanded like a dark cloud blotting out the sky, and met the three lightning bolts. Boom, boom, boom—the lightning struck his enormous palm. Though the palm sank slightly and the skin split, with arcs of lightning dancing across it, he withstood the attack completely.

"Haha, rest assured, young master," Xiangliu Fang said with a laugh after receiving the lightning. "Immortal Wujiang has been dead for over a hundred million years. There can't be any living beings in this hall. What could be alive are puppets, and ordinary puppets have only simple intelligence. At most, they can activate the formation; they lack the ability to control it. After all, a formation of this level is very complex, and without the methods passed down by Immortal Wujiang, they cannot manipulate it."

"If I'm not mistaken, there should be a powerful puppet in this hall, one that contains the soul of a living being. This puppet would have high intelligence and be skilled at controlling formations. Immortal Wujiang might have trusted it enough to teach it the control methods," Xiangliu Fang continued. "Unfortunately, it's just a puppet, with no primal energy of its own. At best, it can unleash twenty or thirty percent of the formation's power."

As Xiangliu Fang spoke loudly, bolts of lightning struck down from the sky one after another.

Xiangliu Fang alone withstood them all.

Ji Ning and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Xiangliu Fang's guess was likely correct. To truly control a formation required consuming primal energy. If an immortal used their primal energy to control the formation, its power would greatly increase. But a puppet had no primal energy at all; even if it could preside over the formation, it could only enhance its power slightly.

"Humans, you are not the immortal's disciples. Trespassing into Wujiang Hall is a capital offense!" An angry voice rang out in the peach blossom garden.

"Capital offense? Just you? If I'm not mistaken, you're at most barely comparable to an ordinary Sanxian," Xiangliu Fang sneered. "With strength like that, you're far from my match."

As soon as he finished speaking,

Xiangliu Fang let out a sudden roar: "Break for me!"

Suddenly, Xiangliu Fang's two massive hands swept outward with a roar, the fingers of each hand transforming into great serpents. Ten great snakes instantly seized hold of some point in the void and clenched fiercely. The entire operation of the illusion formation seemed to be 'strangled,' and the peach blossom garden trembled and blurred, then completely dissipated.

"Impossible!" a cry of surprise rang out.

With the peach blossom garden gone, Ji Ning and the others once again saw the great hall and the rows of low tables.

"Close call, close call—I barely escaped with my life. Thank goodness that puppet was highly intelligent, knowing it had to kill Shaoyan Nong and focusing all its efforts on him. If those bolts of lightning had struck us instead, those five from the Black-White College might have survived, but I would have been in danger." Xue Hongyi felt as if great fortune was favoring him.

Earlier, when he and Buyou the Wanderer had faced the puppet's attack together, Buyou had died while he had been lucky to survive.

He had also been able to discover an Immortal-ranked magic treasure.

And now he had escaped another calamity.

Having escaped disaster repeatedly and even obtained an Immortal-ranked treasure—wasn't this a sign of fortune favoring him?

"The formation is broken." Xiangliu Fang swept his gaze across the hall and said calmly, "Everyone, do not panic. After all, the Immortal Wu Jiang was merely a Celestial Immortal, and his foundation was not deep enough. Being able to create a puppet barely comparable to a Loose Immortal was already remarkable. That puppet, if it didn't appear, fine; but since it did, it will be captured by me."

Shaoyan Nong also smiled and nodded, then instructed, "Those puppets are lurking in the Wu Jiang Hall. Don't go wandering around recklessly. If you encounter them, Uncle Fang won't be able to save you."

"How could we possibly run around and court death?" Xue Hongyi quickly said.

Ji Ning and the others exchanged glances...

Clearly, powerful puppets were lurking in the Wu Jiang Hall. They were not foolish and naturally would not wander about.

Xiangliu Fang and Shaoyan Nong walked to the main hall and began directly refining that bronze lamp.

"Haha, this is the final branch hall's central mechanism." Shaoyan Nong was immensely pleased. "Once I refine this branch hall's core, the entire immortal estate will be under my control. There are certainly some dangers in the Wu Jiang Hall, but we have no need to take risks. Once the estate is refined, those puppets will naturally lose."

Ji Ning and the others nodded.

"You all must be careful. Those puppets won't just watch me succeed in the refining; I'm afraid there will be sneak attacks," Shaoyan Nong said.

...

Eighteen ferocious and vicious Qiongqi puppets were watching the burly man in black armor who stood at their head. The black-armored man said in a low voice, "The one who just broke the formation should be a Fiendgod. His palms could become that large, and his fingers could turn into great serpents—only a true Fiendgod could do that. From this display, his strength is greater than mine."

"Chieftain, what should we do then?"

"They are refining the Wujiang Hall right now."

All the Qiongqi puppets were anxious.

"It will take them about an hour to fully refine the Wujiang Hall," the black-armored man said in a low voice. "We need to find a way... we must strike with one blow and kill that human protected by the god. From their conversation when they first entered, that human has already refined the other four halls of the immortal estate; this is the last one."

"Prepare to follow my orders." The black-armored man's cold eyes flickered with a chill.

......

A large group of Zifu cultivators were scattered around, and Ji Ning, Jiu Lian, Cangjiang Zhenren, Xue Hongyi, and the others were all on high alert, worried that the puppets might suddenly attack.

Sitting high up in the hall, refining the bronze lamp, Shaoyan Nong saw the tense atmosphere and frowned, shouting, "No need to be so nervous. It's just those puppets. If one comes, Uncle Fang will catch it. They've already lost."

Ji Ning and the others, including Xue Hongyi, secretly curled their lips.

True, Xiangliu Fang could kill any that came.

But the strongest of those puppets had combat power comparable to an ordinary Sanxian. If such a force suddenly charged in for a sneak attack, they might lose their lives if they weren't careful. After all, they didn't have Xiangliu Fang's personal protection.

"Someone," Shaoyan Nong called out, seeing that Ji Ning and the others were still on guard, and frowned, "Prepare the celebration feast."

Soon, the two female Zifu cultivators who stood close to Shaoyan Nong brought out fine wine and delicacies and began to set them up. In fact, during the two days of traveling from Yanshan's Yishe Lake to the immortal estate on the large ship, they had often feasted and drunk, so many fine wines and dishes had been prepared long ago.

Soon, every low table was laden with fine wine, spirit fruits, and delicacies.

Shaoyan Nong sat cross-legged, laughing as he raised his wine glass. He only needed to spare a sliver of his mind to refine the bronze lamp: "Everyone, don't be nervous. The outermost perimeter is guarded by my Zifu death warriors, who have formed a formation and can respond at any time. Even if a puppet charges in, the death warriors will deal with it first, giving you enough time to defend."

"Sit, all of you sit," Shaoyan Nong called out. Seeing that Ji Ning and the others were still hesitating, he shouted, "I told you to sit!"

Ji Ning and the others exchanged glances, then had no choice but to sit down one by one.

"That's more like it."

Shaoyan Nong laughed, "This time, all of you followed me into this Wujiang Immortal Estate, faced dangers several times, and have made no small contributions. But now it's the final moment. Once I refine this bronze lamp, everything will be accomplished. Although there are still a few puppets causing trouble, those puppets are nothing. Come, let us drink this cup first to celebrate obtaining so many treasures and refining this Wujiang Immortal Estate." With that, he raised the bronze wine cup adorned with flame patterns.