Chapter 5 The Plum Blossom's Fragrance Assails the Nose

Tiemuzhan was as fast as a wisp of green smoke, fleeing in a flash, but at that moment, the trees ahead that had been growing well suddenly crashed down with a rumble, completely blocking his path. Some trees even flew directly toward him at high speed through the air.

"What's going on?" Tiemuzhan was greatly alarmed.

He fiercely swung the blackwood vine whip in his hand, turning it into an arc of flowing light that swept across the several trees flying toward him, like a saw cutting through them, splitting the trunks apart. But Tiemuzhan was also forced to slow down.

"Whoosh, whoosh~~"

From all directions, a large number of branches, leaves, tree trunks, and even large clumps of earth and rocks on the ground flew toward Tiemuzhan, crazily rushing at him.

"This, what is this?" Tiemuzhan was completely bewildered.

"Why are these rocks, branches, leaves, and trees all flying toward me?" Tiemuzhan had never heard of such a thing. Even a Zifu cultivator could only use their elemental power to control their own magic treasures, making them fly! A Zifu cultivator could not make ordinary objects fly at will.

A sky-covering mass of rocks and trees overwhelmed him, and Tiemuzhan's speed naturally plummeted.

"Tiemuzhan, you can't escape!" Ji Ning, also a streak of light from behind, shouted loudly.

"How are you doing this?" Tiemuzhan shouted as he curved in an arc, continuing to flee, trying to dodge these trees, but the surrounding earth, rocks, and trees still surged toward him, preventing him from running fast.

Ji Ning, however, grinned.

Yes.

This was his doing. Just now, after Tiemuzhan activated the 'Divine Travel Talisman' and 'Lightness Talisman,' he was about to escape. Naturally, Ji Ning was anxious! In that moment of anxiety, Ji Ning found that his intense mental fluctuations even caused the pond water and ground around him to tremble.

He clearly felt that his mind, like an invisible hand, could grasp all the objects around him—trees, earth, and everything else.

"Divine sense!" Ji Ning's heart surged with ecstasy.

As the soul grows stronger, various extraordinary phenomena appear.

Ordinary Zifu cultivators can multitask!

Ordinary Wanxiang Adepts manifest divine sense!

The Daoist of the Primordial Spirit opens the celestial eye and manifests divine consciousness!

Visualization techniques were extremely rare and mysterious; within the Ji clan, there was not even a mention of such methods! How to strengthen the soul? Generally, one would temper the will, comprehend the Dao, and when the physical body was enhanced, it would nourish the soul in return. Ji Ning, cultivating the visualization technique "Nuwa Diagram," had nearly reached a limit. Then, after a night of enlightenment, his comprehension of the Dao further benefited his soul.

After enlightenment, the heavens poured down water and fire, giving birth to a body of a primordial spirit. The strength of his physical body once again benefited his soul.

Unbeknownst to him, Ji Ning's soul had already crossed into the level of 'divine thought'! He only realized this when, in his urgency to prevent Tiemu Zhan from escaping, his thoughts materialized and affected the pool water and soil.

"You can't escape." Ji Ning directly used his divine thought to control objects, gathering trees, mud, and rocks to block all escape routes.

…

"Could it be that this Ji boy didn't do it, and there's some terrifying cultivator in the shadows helping him because of his talent?" Tiemu Zhan, unable to escape, grew anxious and panicked.

"Water-Fire Lotus!" Ji Ning's gaze sharpened.

A huge fiery lotus leaf hovered above Tiemu Zhan, while another large watery lotus leaf appeared beneath him. The two began to rotate slowly in opposite directions.

"Which senior might this be?" Tiemu Zhan shouted loudly, while a talisman appeared in his hand. The talisman instantly transformed into a golden guardian phantom that merged into his body, causing a faint golden light to appear on his skin. "I am a member of the Tiemu clan and have excellent relations with the Snowdragon Mountain."

"Stop struggling." Ji Ning had already arrived in the distance.

"Ji boy." The golden light on Tiemu Zhan's body trembled and seemed about to collapse. He quickly swung the blackwood vine whip in his hand. The whip elongated as it flew, directly lashing toward Ji Ning.

Ji Ning held a sword in each hand, moving like lightning.

"Swish!" His left hand executed the 'Watertight' technique with the Northsea sword. The blackwood vine whip, upon touching the sword, naturally coiled around the blade. But Ji Ning actively twisted his left sword, causing the whip to wrap around many times, and he even grabbed the whip with his left hand.

Swish!

Ji Ning's right-hand sword moved with extreme speed.

"Open!" Tiemu Zhan roared, straining to pull the blackwood vine whip, but he couldn't budge it. "No, I won't die here, I won't die at the hands of this Ji brat!" Sensing death approaching, Tiemu Zhan grew frantic and even let go of the whip.

Then he turned to flee again!

"Boom!" Under the slow grinding of the Water-Fire Lotus, the golden light on his body finally shattered and dispersed.

"Ah!" As the Water-Fire Lotus crushed him, Tiemu Zhan's outer garments turned to ashes, revealing a charred, blackened body. He let out a agonized scream.

“Whoosh!”

A drop of rainwater pierced through Tiemuzhan's forehead.

Then the water-fire lotus dissipated, and Ji Ning withdrew his sword, stepping back, silently watching the charred figure of Tiemuzhan standing before him.

Tiemuzhan's eyes were wide open, his eyebrows gone, and a bloody hole in his forehead. His eyes were filled with disbelief and rage; he never expected to die at the hands of a youth. Deep down, he resented the senior cultivator who had secretly hindered him. If not for that cultivator, he could have escaped.

“A cultivator?” Ji Ning murmured to himself, but excitement surged within him.

Finally!

He had finally become a Xiantian lifeform!

Even the renowned and powerful Tiemuzhan had come to die before him.

“Even reborn into the mortal world,” Ji Ning roared inwardly, “through my own efforts, I can still become a Xiantian lifeform! This is just the beginning, the beginning of my Ji Ning!”

His past life experiences and everything he had seen in this life

had given Ji Ning an insatiable desire for power, a longing to control his own destiny. He refused to be toyed with by others, nor by fate!

“This is just the beginning!” Ji Ning stepped forward, approached Tiemuzhan's corpse, and with a thought, a burst of flame erupted, instantly reducing Tiemuzhan to ashes, leaving only an armguard and the blackwood vine whip on the ground.

“Oh?”

The armguard and blackwood vine whip flew into Ji Ning's hands. He examined them closely. “This armguard is a storage treasure! The blackwood vine whip is also a treasure.”

“Hmm.” Ji Ning turned back.

He returned to the pond area and retrieved the eight formation flags of the Yin Yang Dual Qi Formation. The flags' surfaces were dim, yet they emitted waves of energy.

“Treasures and talismans require at least Qi Refining Xiantian to use.” Ji Ning stored them all in his nacrystal. “I need to first cultivate Qi Refining to Xiantian.”

…

Ji Ning cleaned up the area. As for the flood beast demon and Tiemuzhan, they had naturally turned to ash. Ji Ning continued to sit by the pond, meditating and cultivating, for he had a feeling that reaching Xiantian in Qi Refining would be very easy!

Late that night, after the battle!

Ji Ning still sat cross-legged by the pond. A drastic change was occurring in his dantian. Rumble! The originally powerful strands of inner energy, spinning at high speed, condensed into droplets. Droplets of true essence began to form, and mist automatically gathered around Ji Ning's body.

“And so I broke through.” Ji Ning smiled.

When he was in the womb, his meridians had been damaged, making it difficult to reach Xiantian through Qi Refining. However, after reaching the Xiantian realm with the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens, his entire body had been nurtured by the true fire and true water from the Sun Star and Moon Star, giving birth to a divine demon body. His entire physique had transformed from a mortal fetus to a divine demon body, and his meridians were completely renewed!

Now, Ji Ning's meridians were tough and perfect, without any damage. They were even tougher and wider than those of many Qi Refining Xiantian cultivators. Coupled with his high level of insight, the breakthrough came naturally.

“A storage treasure.” Ji Ning took out the armguard and infused it with his true essence. In just a moment, he had refined it.

“This storage treasure is different from a natural nacrystal.” Ji Ning sensed it and was overjoyed. The storage armguard contained a vast space, about dozens of zhang in diameter, shrouded in chaos. Inside were many items, such as clothes, food, and gold—common things.

The most precious were eight talismans! These were accumulated over Tiemuzhan's century of life. Today, he had used three talismans in one go, yet they still couldn't save him.

“Pity there are no other treasures.” Ji Ning shook his head, but it was expected. For a Xiantian lifeform to have two or three treasures was already quite good.

“The bow is not bad.”

Ji Ning flipped his hand and took out an ancient great bow from the storage treasure. “This should be the bow Tiemuzhan usually used. Now that I've entered Xiantian, I happen to need a good bow.”

Whoosh!

He exerted force, and the tremendous divine demon power acted on the bow, pulling it open.

“Good bow.” Ji Ning praised, then examined it closely. On the bow were two pictographic characters: “Jia Yong.” The name puzzled Ji Ning. “Probably the name of the bowyer.”

“As for the blackwood vine whip, I'll exchange it for a treasure when I return to West Prefecture City.” Ji Ning stored everything away, feeling extremely pleased. “Without enduring the bitter cold, how could the plum blossom smell so fragrant? I've been practicing swordsmanship since I was four, cultivating until now. With one breakthrough, I've truly entered a new world. I can finally smell the fragrance of the plum blossom.”

With this breakthrough, both his divine demon body refinement and Qi Refining had reached Xiantian.

Even his soul had reached the level of “divine sense.”

A night of enlightenment by the pond had allowed him to grasp a trace of the true meaning of the Dao and comprehend the ultimate technique “Water-Fire Lotus.”

“Oh, and there's this!” Ji Ning took a deep breath to calm himself completely, then solemnly took out the book his mother had given him. It was the most precious manual she owned, forbidding him from teaching it to other members of the Ji clan. She had told him he could only read it after becoming a Xiantian lifeform.

Ji Ning looked closely at the golden cover, on which were four large characters: “Wind Wings Evasion Art”!

Then, Ji Ning opened the book and began to read carefully.