Chapter 25: The Demon Kings Flee for Their Lives

“Flee!”

“How can this human be so formidable?”

The demon kings were terrified and despairing.

Among them, only their leader, the ‘Golden Fur Bear Demon King,’ could withstand Ji Ning’s attacks; the other demon kings relied on mutual assistance to delay as much as possible, but facing Ji Ning’s terrifying ‘Plow Heaven Sword Formation’ and his ferocious close-quarters combat, a single misstep meant death.

“Whoosh.” A streak of blood-red light appeared in midair, and the Zhu Yan Demon King swiftly fled into the distance.

“Go.” A gust of wind arose, but six twisted sword scars appeared in the sky, directly enveloping the wind, slaying the Three-Eyed Demon King who was trying to escape within it.

…

They had truly hit a wall of iron.

The Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu had not expected this human, ‘Immortal Beiming,’ to possess such terrifying strength. If the twelve demon kings could have perfectly formed the ‘Flying Bear Formation,’ they could have absolutely suppressed Ji Ning. But from the start, the Firewing Demon King had been killed by a scheme, forcing them to fight separately.

And Ji Ning’s strength was simply too great.

For instance, Ji Ning’s second true body cultivated the Grand Dao Ancestor’s qi-refining technique, the *Beiming Scripture*, and was at the late Return to Void stage; his elemental power was comparable to that of the late Senior Beixing. His sword technique realm was also comparable. Importantly, Ji Ning possessed an entire set of immortal-grade top-quality flying swords, the ‘Plow Heaven Sword Formation,’ and the matching *Plow Heaven* sword technique.

Thus, the strength of his second true body was even a level above that of Senior Beixing in his time!

Although Ji Ning’s true body was slightly weaker, it was exceptionally fierce when wielding the Thousandbull Sword, and as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he was unafraid of injury; being stabbed was a minor matter, while those loose immortal demon kings dared not engage Ji Ning’s true body in close combat.

…

One attacked from afar, with overwhelming power surpassing every demon king.

The other fought in close quarters, while the other demon kings were all loose immortals.

The combination of the two trampled the eleven demon kings, who could not form their formation, forcing them to die or flee one by one.

“Immortal Beiming.” The Golden Fur Bear Demon King stood in midair, his voice booming, “What great enmity do we, the Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu, have with you, that you would scheme against us like this?”

At this point, how could the Golden Fur Bear Demon King not see that Ji Ning had deliberately plotted against them?

From the start, he had deliberately shown weakness, even hiding the power of the Thousandbull Sword while being besieged, still feigning weakness to probe his opponents’ methods, then suddenly erupted, instantly slaying three demon kings, throwing the demon kings into chaos and disadvantage… This Immortal Beiming pressed step by step, clearly intending from the beginning to kill all Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu!

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

On the distant horizon, three streaks of light had vanished.

Ji Ning shook his head lightly: “Even being so careful, I only killed eight.” He had only one true body and one second true body, while the enemy was far more numerous. When they chose to flee one by one, each with formidable escape techniques, Ji Ning was destined to be unable to kill them all.

The Golden Fur Bear Demon King was so angry he could spit blood—only killed eight?

“Slash!” Ji Ning’s gaze fell on the distant Golden Fur Bear Demon King.

Swish~~~

Nine twisted sword scars streaked across the sky, converging and falling upon the Golden Fur Bear Demon King. The ninety-nine orb treasures floating around the Golden Fur Bear Demon King were incredibly profound, arranged in inner, middle, and outer layers… forming a tight defense that barely blocked Ji Ning’s sword light.

“Don’t waste your effort. I have fought over a dozen Celestial Immortals, and none could do anything to me.” The Golden Fur Bear Demon King’s voice boomed lowly, “Tell me, why did you want to kill my brothers?”

“Brothers?” Ji Ning shook his head. “Golden Fur Bear Demon King, among the twelve demon kings, the others are all burdened with karma, even bearing blood light of karma that spreads for hundreds of feet. Only you have very little karma, merely some black turbid qi clinging to you. You are not the same type as them.”

The Golden Fur Bear Demon King nodded lightly: “Yes, you are right. They are more blind, more foolish, more insane. I am more clear-headed than them. They face the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations… and are utterly despairing, so they care not about karma. But I know that the greater the karma, the more powerful the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. I want to live longer, so naturally I do not let heavy karma cling to me.”

“But they were my subordinates, the subordinates I used to rule the Dongliu region, and now you have destroyed all this.” The Golden Fur Bear Demon King said lowly, “I do not wish to be your enemy, but I want to understand—why did you kill them?”

“Because…” Ji Ning smiled, “of karma!”

The Golden Fur Bear Demon King suddenly realized: “I understand. You want to kill those with heavy karma to gain merit. With more merit, it will help when you face your tribulation in the future.”

“No.” Ji Ning said with a smile, “Because this is my master’s test for me.”

“Hmm?” The Golden Fur Bear Demon King was startled.

“I must kill ten great sinners—that is the test.” Ji Ning said.

The Golden Fur Bear Demon King was dumbfounded: “You, what sect are you from, to have such a test? And with your strength, who dares to test you? Could it be a Pure Yang True Immortal or a Heavenly God?”

“You need not worry about that. Let me ask you, how do you think my strength compares to a Celestial Immortal?” Ji Ning asked. This Golden Fur Bear Demon King had fought over a dozen Celestial Immortals, so he should have an accurate assessment.

The Golden Fur Bear Demon King nodded: “You are a sword immortal, with extremely strong attacks. Especially your second true body, which reaches the mid-grade level of a Celestial Immortal.”

“As for your true body, it is relatively weaker, reaching the low-grade level of a Celestial Immortal. However, your true body should possess a very powerful immortal flying sword—that one sword is clearly much stronger than the other five. Although it is at the low-grade Celestial Immortal level, it has the advantage of being a Fiendgod Body Refiner.”

“For us, the Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu, if we could form the Flying Bear Formation, we could suppress you. But without that formation, we can only be defeated one by one. The other eleven are relatively weaker, still a bit short of Celestial Immortal level.” The Golden Fur Bear Demon King assessed.

Loose immortals can live for a hundred thousand years, three hundred thousand years, five hundred thousand years, seven hundred thousand years, nine hundred thousand years, a million years…

The longer they live, the more their strength soars.

Back in the Great Xia world, that Floating Cloud Immortal was only at the hundred-thousand-year level. These demon kings were at least at the five-hundred-thousand-year loose immortal level, the Golden Fur Bear Demon King had surpassed the million-year level, and Immortal Beixing was also at the million-year level. As for Immortal Juhua, he was at the multi-million-year level.

“Oh.” Ji Ning nodded, gaining a rough understanding of his own strength.

“Immortal Beiming, if you have business, you can come find me at Goldtop Mountain.” After saying this, the Golden Fur Bear Demon King transformed into a beam of golden light and whistled away.

…

Watching the Golden Fur Bear Demon King leave, Ji Ning murmured softly: “This Golden Fur Bear’s defense is truly formidable. Those ninety-nine spherical immortal treasures… a full set, must be invaluable. Pity, I can’t get my hands on them.”

“Hmm?” Suddenly thinking of something, Ji Ning took a step and returned to the top of the cliff.

The mountain peak had already been shaved off a layer.

Ji Ning waved his hand, and an immortal mansion appeared beside him. From within came Qingya Xiaoyu and the imperial clan of the Qi Kingdom, who now stood outside the mansion.

“What’s wrong?” The imperial clan members looked around in terror.

“Has that Senior Beiming died, and the immortal mansion fallen into the hands of the Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu, so we are now in the clutches of the demon kings?” The black-clad girl was also frightened.

Qingya Xiaoyu looked around worriedly, searching for her master’s figure.

Suddenly, they all froze.

Because they saw Ji Ning sitting by the cliff with a wine flask, leisurely drinking and gazing at the endless sea of clouds.

In the distant sea of clouds, countless monsters were fleeing in panic in all directions, none daring to provoke Ji Ning.

“Where are the monsters?” Qi Rufeng was stunned.

“This, this…” The black-clad girl was also dumbfounded.

“Master, master.” Qingya Xiaoyu ran to Ji Ning’s side. In the world of cultivators, the bond between master and disciple was very important; the saying “a teacher for a day is a father for life” was no joke. After all, the master’s grace in imparting the Dao was immense. Qingya Xiaoyu was very excited that her seemingly young master was still alive and well.

“Senior Beiming, what about the Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu?” Qi Rufeng couldn’t believe Ji Ning had the strength to repel them, and couldn’t help asking.

“Pity, I only killed eight.” Ji Ning shook his head and sighed.

“What?” Qi Rufeng’s eyes widened.

But Ji Ning paid him no mind, drinking wine and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Though in a good mood, he still felt regret. Because the test of the *Eight Nine Arcane Art* was to kill ten great sinners. Now he had only killed eight! He still needed two more. If he could have killed two more just now, he could have returned to Mount Fangcun to learn the *Eight Nine Arcane Art*. But now he had to stay here a while longer to find two more great sinners to kill.

“Senior Beiming, senior?” Qi Rufeng couldn’t help calling out.

“Master.” Qingya Xiaoyu also called softly, and couldn’t resist gently touching Ji Ning with her small hand.

Ji Ning turned his head.

Qingya Xiaoyu was also full of doubt, whispering: “Master said he killed eight, this, this…” As a Zifu cultivator, in her eyes, the Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu were lofty and mighty, ruling the entire Dongliu region. Her master saying he killed eight probably meant eight ordinary loose immortal old demons.

“Here.”

Ji Ning waved his hand casually, and instantly a number of immortal treasures appeared in midair. These were the treasures left by the eight demon kings who had died, each emitting powerful ripples.

Prince Qi Rufeng, with his keen eye, immediately stared wide-eyed. In the imperial palace, he had seen immortal treasures before, and now he couldn’t help exclaiming: “These, these, are all immortal treasures? So many immortal treasures? How can this be…”

“This set of immortal treasures!” Qi Rufeng suddenly stared at six suspended curved blades. Those six curved blades were the immortal treasures the Firewing Demon King had used when he massacred the Qi capital. Qi Rufeng could not forget the scene of those six curved blades slaughtering wantonly, with loose immortals dying one after another.

“This set belonged to the Firewing Demon King. The Firewing Demon King is dead.” Ji Ning said calmly, “Among the eight dead demon kings, he was one. According to my promise to you, I would protect you for a year or kill the Firewing Demon King. Now I have done it, and the promise is fulfilled. You can leave if you wish.”

After speaking, Ji Ning walked straight toward the immortal mansion and instructed: “Xiaoyu, come with me.”

“Yes, master.” Qingya Xiaoyu obediently followed Ji Ning inside.

The master and disciple entered the immortal mansion, while outside, the prince and princess stood dumbfounded for a long time.

…