Chapter 31: Revisiting the Quya Mountains

Bang bang bang~~~~

Ji Ning's bare chest was struck again and again by top-grade immortal flying swords, yet not even a white mark was left. Though he was knocked back each time, he still returned to his original position.

"Plow Heaven's Black Water Line!"

Ji Ning in black Daoist robes erupted fully, unleashing the most powerful move from the current 'Plow Heaven'. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—sword scars traced curves through the air, and even a river appeared where the scars passed. The nine river phantoms in the air converged like 'a hundred rivers flowing into the sea'.

They transformed into a surging black river!

This surging black river, along with the nine Plow Heaven swords, simultaneously struck Ji Ning's chest.

"Boom!"

This time, Ji Ning's true body couldn't hold steady. He involuntarily flew backward, then slammed into the wall with a bang. He steadied himself with his hands against the wall and landed firmly.

Ji Ning looked down and saw that the skin on his chest still showed no trace of injury.

"Excellent divine ability, excellent divine ability!" Ji Ning felt exhilarated.

Hadn't he left the Grand Xia world over thirty years ago to learn some real skills to bring back? Now he had learned them!

The Eight-Nine Arcane Art was known as 'the number one divine ability in the Three Realms below the True God level'. The top powers of the Three Realms had once joined forces to create a great divine ability that would allow a True God's divine body to rival 'Pangu's'. Though they failed to create the ideal 'Twelfth Cycle', even just the Ninth Cycle was impressive enough.

After all, he was still very weak now, far from becoming a Celestial Immortal, let alone a True God—that was an endless distance away. Even if this divine ability truly had Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Cycles, he wouldn't be able to cultivate them.

"With the divine ability accomplished, I'll go explore the Quya Mountains again!" Ji Ning immediately rose, and beast hides appeared on his body.

…

Ji Ning walked out of the immortal mansion and casually put it away.

"Master, where are you going?" Qingya Xiaoyu was about to return to the mansion.

"I'm going to the lower realm for a few days," Ji Ning instructed. "If your Aunt Qing and Grandpa Bai ask, tell them the same."

"Yes." Qingya Xiaoyu obediently replied.

Ji Ning left alone. When he reached the outside of the Immortal Palace,

"Junior apprentice-brother, junior apprentice-brother." The white-robed Silvermoon senior apprentice-brother, fanning himself, walked over with a smile. "Seeing you so spirited, you must have reached the third cycle of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, right?"

"Exactly." Ji Ning nodded.

The Eight-Nine Arcane Art had only two difficulties: one was the slightly harder initial enlightenment to comprehend the 'Seventy-Two Transformations,' and the other was the need for a large number of treasures to refine the body after entering the gate. Ji Ning had long since entered the gate, and with the hundred immortal-grade supreme elixirs he had obtained earlier, he naturally completed it in one go.

"How many immortal elixirs did you consume?" Silvermoon asked curiously.

"Ninety-nine," Ji Ning said with a smile.

"Oh, so you almost didn't have enough," Silvermoon nodded. "Junior apprentice-brother, you must work hard and repay me with treasures as soon as possible."

"Certainly," Ji Ning nodded. "Junior apprentice-brother still has matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

"Go on, go on," Silvermoon said with a smile, watching Ji Ning leave.

Silvermoon shook his head and felt immensely pleased: "I, Silvermoon, am truly clever. I gave little junior apprentice-brother a hundred immortal elixirs, and I can leisurely wander, and in the blink of an eye, ten thousand years will pass. Little junior apprentice-brother still needs to repay me a hundred immortal elixirs! My immortal elixirs are not a single one less—I get back exactly what I gave—and I also gained dozens of immortal-grade treasures, and little junior apprentice-brother owes me a favor."

In truth, these treasures meant little to a Celestial God like him, but the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from doing such a 'clever thing' was what Silvermoon enjoyed most.

...

Xieyue Grand World, Xingzhou.

Deep within the Quya Mountains, outside the Thunder Forbidden Zone, two figures sat. One was the Golden-haired Bear Demon King, and the other was a young man in a loose Daoist robe with eyes like stars.

"Elder brother," the Golden-haired Bear Demon King said hurriedly, "this thunder is too difficult. Even with your Celestial Immortal strength, you've tried eight times. Just now, when we joined forces, we could only advance to about a hundred and sixty zhang before being struck by lightning and unable to move forward. This is already our limit. In my opinion, we should invite another Celestial Immortal."

"Idiot!"

The Daoist-robed youth frowned and glanced at the Golden-haired Bear Demon King. "Such a precious place—how can we let it leak out?"

"But we just watch helplessly? Elder brother, you know that the black-robed youth has already crossed the Thunder Forbidden Zone and entered the canyon. The longer we delay, the greater the chance that he will obtain the treasures," the Golden-haired Bear Demon King said.

Back then, Ji Ning had spoken with the black-robed youth, then gritted his teeth and gave up, leaving.

After Ji Ning gave up, the Golden-haired Bear Demon King had exhausted himself and finally broke through the first forbidden zone, but when he encountered the Thunder Forbidden Zone, despite his strong defenses, he could only advance to a hundred and twenty zhang before being unable to go further. He had been mocked by the 'black-robed youth' at that time. Worried that the treasures would fall into the black-robed youth's hands, the Golden-haired Bear Demon King quickly left the Quya Mountains to invite his friend, 'Ancestor Wuya.'

The two made a vow by the Heavenly Dao.

Once the treasures were obtained, they would split them equally. Ancestor Wuya, a Celestial Immortal, was stronger, while the Golden-haired Bear Demon King was weaker but knew the treasure's location.

"Now several people know about this treasure site. If it spreads further, we might not get the treasures at all," Ancestor Wuya shook his head. "You foolish bear, don't worry too much. The black-robed youth said there is a third forbidden zone in this treasure site, which should be true. If there were no third forbidden zone, he would have taken the treasure and left long ago. But he hasn't left, which means the third forbidden zone is very difficult. Since it's difficult, even if we find another Celestial Immortal, we might not succeed, and we'll risk leaking the information. It's better for us to take it slow."

"Mm," the Golden-haired Bear Demon King nodded.

"Let's both ponder further whether there is a better formation method to break through this Thunder Forbidden Zone," Ancestor Wuya said.

"Alright," the Golden-haired Bear Demon King nodded.

Just as they had been pondering for over an hour, sudden rumbles came from the region of endless pressure outside.

"An expert has arrived!" Wuyà Patriarch frowned, listening to the rumbles. "Advancing very fast—could news of the treasure site have leaked again?"

"That shouldn't be. The other two surviving Demon Kings of the Twelve of Dongliu, my brother and I have already threatened them, forcing them to swear Heavenly Oaths." Golden-furred Bear Demon King frowned. "As for that Northern Sea Immortal, he gave up over a year ago and hasn't returned since. Could it be... the Qi royal clan? But their strength is utterly insignificant..."

As they spoke—

Boom!

A figure burst out and landed on the ground.

It was a beast-skin-clad youth, holding a divine sword of immense power.

"Northern Sea Immortal?" Golden-furred Bear Demon King was stunned.

"Little fellow," Wuyà Patriarch frowned. "Who is your master?"

He had heard the tale from Golden-furred Bear Demon King, so he immediately guessed this was the Northern Sea Immortal. For someone at the early Void Return stage to possess such strength, his master must be extraordinary. Perhaps he was even from the same 'Mount Fangcun' as himself! But with so many disciples of Mount Fangcun, would a Celestial Immortal like him yield before such a treasure?

"Golden-furred Bear Demon King, is this your helper?" Ji Ning's gaze fell on Wuyà Patriarch, a green-robed youth with an extraordinary bearing.

"This is my elder brother, the Wandering Celestial Immortal, far stronger than I am," Golden-furred Bear Demon King said smugly.

"Celestial Immortal?"

Ji Ning was startled.

Wuyà Patriarch said, "Little fellow, I asked you a question. Who is your master?"

Ji Ning smiled but did not answer. Instead, he walked straight into the lightning forbidden zone.

Wuyà Patriarch frowned, but Ji Ning's calm demeanor made him suspect the youth had a formidable background. He said coldly, "Little fellow, this is the lightning forbidden zone. You must cross a full one hundred and eighty zhang to pass through. With your strength, you're far from enough."

Ji Ning had already stepped into the lightning forbidden zone.

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

Bolts of lightning struck directly at him, but Ji Ning remained calm, offering no resistance, letting the lightning hit his body.

"Divine demon body-tempering can only withstand the first ten zhang of the lightning forbidden zone," Wuyà Patriarch shook his head.

Ji Ning continued forward.

Ten zhang, twenty zhang, thirty zhang...

The lightning grew fiercer, but Ji Ning strolled as if taking a walk, letting the lightning strike him.

"This, this, this..." Wuyà Patriarch and Golden-furred Bear Demon King were dumbfounded.

Seventy zhang, eighty zhang, ninety zhang...

Ji Ning continued easily, the thick, bucket-sized lightning bolts crashing down with a roar, yet he felt as if he were being rinsed by rain, his skin tingling with comfort.

One hundred twenty zhang, one hundred thirty zhang, one hundred forty zhang...

Ji Ning simply walked on.

Even the black-clad youth at the canyon entrance stared in shock: "That beast-skin kid—it's only been a little over a year, and he's become this strong?"

One hundred sixty zhang, one hundred seventy zhang...

"This beast-skin robe of mine is a transformation of a top-grade Heaven-rank Dao robe. The robe itself is extremely flexible, adept at deflecting force, and its toughness rivals a low-grade Immortal-rank flying sword." Flying swords were too sharp—what is too hard breaks easily. In terms of withstanding attacks, a top-grade Heaven-rank Dao robe could indeed compare to a low-grade Immortal-rank flying sword.

Bathed in endless lightning, Ji Ning walked straight out of the one-hundred-eighty-zhang range, and the lightning vanished.

...

On the other side of the lightning forbidden zone, Wuyà Patriarch and Golden-furred Bear Demon King were completely stunned.

"Enduring with his body? This, this... at one hundred sixty zhang, it's already equal to a joint attack by my brother and me. At one hundred eighty zhang, it probably rivals a high-grade Celestial Immortal." Golden-furred Bear Demon King trembled. "A mere early Void Return cultivator, without even using a magic treasure, endures it with his body? This body is too..."

"Such a body is close to an Immortal-rank magic treasure." Wuyà Patriarch suddenly changed expression. As a disciple of Mount Fangcun and a Celestial Immortal, he could only think of one divine ability—the Eight Nine Mysteries, the foremost divine ability under the Three Realms.

"To reach such a level with the body at this stage can only be the Eight Nine Mysteries! And the Eight Nine Mysteries requires the Patriarch's personal disciple or the Patriarch's permission. Could he be a disciple taken by the Patriarch?" Thinking this, Wuyà Patriarch was terrified and sent a voice transmission to Ji Ning: "May I ask, Northern Sea Immortal, do you know Silvermoon Heavenly God?"

Silvermoon Heavenly God was the manager of the Immortal Palace, known to all disciples of Mount Fangcun.

"You know Senior Brother Silvermoon?" Ji Ning turned to look.

"Your junior Wuyà pays respects to Uncle-Master." Wuyà Patriarch quickly sent a respectful voice transmission. He did not doubt Ji Ning's identity, as outsiders could not enter the Crescent Moon Great World, and the Eight Nine Mysteries could not be faked.

Ji Ning was taken aback.

It was not surprising. Many who overcame the tribulation and became Celestial Immortals in the Crescent Moon Great World were taken into Mount Fangcun.

"Oh, we can talk more on Mount Fangcun when we have the chance." Ji Ning turned and walked toward the canyon. The black-clad youth at the entrance frowned and immediately turned back into the canyon.

Soon.

Ji Ning also entered the mist-shrouded canyon, where the terrifying fluctuations grew ever stronger.

......