Chapter 12: No Way Out

After using the Heaven Earth Avatar and Three Heads Six Arms techniques, Ji Ning's strength surged dramatically, allowing him to barely hold his own against the siege of ten black-cloaked warriors. But this endurance came at the cost of continuously consuming divine power.

"He can still hold on?" The distant purple-cloaked warrior frowned and immediately ordered, "First Squad, capture that alien."

"Yes."

With a chorus of acknowledgments, a full ninety towering black-cloaked warriors flew toward Ji Ning, causing his expression to change drastically: "They won't give me even a single chance. How can I withstand a hundred Celestial Immortals?" Although the enemies before him fought in close combat, meaning he only had to deal with a few opponents at any moment,

they clearly possessed some mysterious joint technique; the more warriors there were, the stronger each black-cloaked warrior became.

"Senior Big Bear, what now?" Ji Ning asked urgently, "Is there any other way? If I hide in the Water Mansion, can I escape this calamity?"

"It's useless," the yellow-furred bear said anxiously and helplessly, "If you hide in the Water Mansion, the mansion will be exposed... Although ordinary Sanxian and Celestial Immortals cannot forcibly refine me, some truly powerful beings can. After all, I am just a先天 spirit-treasure. I believe the master of this so-called Broken Horn World has at least the strength of a Pure Yang True Immortal."

Ji Ning's heart felt bitter.

Indeed.

Whether it was the team that appeared or the vast formation spanning tens of millions of li, it would be strange if the strongest in the Broken Horn World wasn't at the Pure Yang True Immortal level! Once one reached that level, they could forcibly refine the 'Zhaixing Mansion'.

"Hiding means death! Not hiding also means death!" Ji Ning could think of no solution at all.

"Now we can only hope that your master, Patriarch Bodhi, can find you," said the yellow-furred bear. "Your master dreams across the Three Realms, but this place is no longer within the Three Realms. Many Heavenly Daos do not exist here; only the Chaos Heavenly Dao covers this place. Your master probably cannot sense this."

Ji Ning was stunned.

His only hope was his master, Patriarch Bodhi! The patriarch's power was immense, and only he could save him at this moment. But the bear was right—this was the Realm of Extinction in the ancient ruins world. Even if Patriarch Bodhi was extremely powerful, what could he do if he couldn't find him?

"Am I, Ji Ning, to die here?" Ji Ning felt unwilling. "Senior apprentice-sister, she took Patriarch Lü as her master; we agreed to meet again! Father, mother, I haven't seen how their reincarnations are doing! And Earth... I haven't gone to see Earth yet..."

He couldn't accept it.

He really couldn't accept it.

"If only I had left my second true body at Yanshan," Ji Ning regretted deeply. Unfortunately, during the battle with the Shaoyin clan, he had brought his second true body along. He had always believed that with the Water Mansion and the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, escape was possible. Who would have thought that the descent of karmic fire would prevent him from even fleeing, sending him into a dead end?

"Is this truly where I meet my end?"

The ninety black-cloaked warriors joined the original ten, forming a battle formation. Their aura grew even stronger as they directly besieged Ji Ning.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

After just a few exchanges, Ji Ning, who had seemed indestructible, suddenly shattered, and some of his flesh turned to ash under the blades.

"What's happening?" The hundred besieging black-cloaked warriors were stunned.

The distant commander shouted, "The Mother Queen orders: even if this alien turns to fragments, gather every piece, not even a speck of dust may be left. He won't die so easily."

"Yes."

Immediately, the bewildered black-cloaked warriors were filled with fighting spirit. The Mother Queen herself had given orders! They felt boundless honor. This was the void; a sweep of their divine will could catch even a speck of dust.

"Damn it."

Whoosh.

In the distance, a human figure coalesced—it was Ji Ning, his eyes red. His Eight-Nine Arcane Art could not be broken by these warriors, who were only at the Celestial Immortal level. He had deliberately shattered his divine body, concentrating most of his divine power into a single strand of flesh, which through the Eight-Nine Arcane Art turned into a speck of flying ash.

Unfortunately, the enemy seemed well aware of his methods and gave him no chance.

"He really didn't die."

"He didn't die even after shattering like that?"

"We die if our core shatters, but he doesn't die even after shattering like that. This is terrifying." The black-cloaked warriors secretly transmitted messages to each other, all shocked. Both his invulnerable body and his ability to survive such shattering made them uneasy.

What a fearsome race.

...

"Senior apprentice-sister, your junior brother has failed his promise!"

"Father, mother..."

"Master..."

Images flashed through Ji Ning's mind.

The senior apprentice-sister who hid everything in her heart but became his Dao-companion before countless onlookers at the Immortal Destiny Convention...

The seemingly cold but warm-hearted master, Immortal Diancai...

The lofty master, Patriarch Bodhi, who watched the changes of the Three Realms...

And his ordinary parents of this life, who cared only for him, willing to forgo revenge if it meant their son could live well...

And his parents of the previous life—the father immersed in his career, the mother who always took care of him like a nanny...

And his junior brother, Sister Qiuye, Uncle Bai, Xiaoqing...

"Farewell!"

Dying here, even reincarnation would be impossible.

"Goodbye, my loved ones." Ji Ning looked at the hundred black-cloaked warriors surrounding him and the even more numerous enemies in the distance. His eyes were calm—a calm beyond madness, beyond coldness—an absolute stillness of mind, a perfect mastery of himself.

At that moment, Ji Ning's heartforce leaped directly from the second level, 'Iceheart,' to the third level, 'Dominion,' placing him among the top-tier archers of the Three Realms.

But heartforce was ethereal and could not help Ji Ning in his current predicament.

"You want me dead," Ji Ning said softly, "then I'll make you die!" This was his hometown language, which the enemies could not understand.

The six divine swords vanished.

"The swords are gone?"

"What's happening?"

The hundred black-cloaked warriors besieging him paused. They could see that Ji Ning was skilled with swords, yet this powerful swordsman had put away his blades. Was he surrendering?

"Pfft!"

Ji Ning's fingers formed a sword finger, suddenly extending three hundred zhang. With the full eruption of the fourth level of the Star-Picking Hand, his strength instantly soared to a terrifying degree. He directly knocked away a long shuttle and then, with a pfft, pierced through the chest of a black-cloaked warrior. With a mere flick of his finger, the warrior was split in two.

"What?" The distant purple-cloaked warrior's expression changed drastically. "How did his strength increase so much?"

Whoosh!

Pfft!

Chi!

Ji Ning ignored all attacks; his Eight-Nine Arcane Art body could withstand them. He only needed to resist some binding techniques. In the Three Realms, binding by powerful treasures would be hard to resist. But the warriors of the Broken Horn World only fought in close combat, so their binding methods were limited to chains, whips, and the like. Ji Ning, less than a zhang tall, was extremely agile among the hundred thousand-zhang-tall black-cloaked warriors, making it hard for them to bind him.

Although these black-cloaked warriors seemed strong, their bodies could not withstand Ji Ning's sword finger! Thus, in close combat, they were more easily torn apart.

"Dead?" Ji Ning was suddenly startled.

He had used various attacks—tearing, cutting, beheading—and had temporarily incapacitated twenty-five black-cloaked warriors, but they all recovered quickly. However, when he killed the twenty-sixth, its aura truly dissipated, and it died completely.

Ji Ning immediately recalled the battle: "Right, that green orb."

Every black-cloaked warrior had a green orb inside. Ji Ning had thought it was just an organ. The orbs were small—only one zhang in size within the thousand-zhang-tall warriors. He had not damaged the orbs of the first twenty-five, only that of the last one.

"Pfft."

"Rip."

To these black-cloaked warriors, Ji Ning was just a tiny speck, but his fingers, extending three hundred zhang, tore their bodies or pierced their chests to crush their cores. One by one, black-cloaked warriors fell, and vast amounts of baleful qi surged toward Ji Ning, coiling around him.

"Careful, he's found the core."

"He knows about the core."

"His fingers are terrifying, even stronger than his swords."

"Our weapons can't block them."

"His body is invulnerable."

"He's too small; we can't capture him with mass chains." The black-cloaked warriors were actually at a disadvantage.

If they were Celestial Immortals of the Three Realms, they could combine binding techniques to capture Ji Ning from afar. But these aliens only fought in close combat! Although they had killing moves in their battle formations, the Mother Queen had ordered them to capture the alien alive, so they dared not use lethal techniques for fear of killing Ji Ning.

"Hmph." The distant purple-cloaked warrior's face darkened. He saw two ways to deal with this small alien.

First, form a battle formation and use a killing move, as in wars with other worlds, to crush him. But that might kill the alien, violating the Mother Queen's order. The Mother Queen's command was paramount, even if their entire squad perished.

Second, engage him one-on-one or in small groups of three to five, using overwhelming strength to capture him.

"Move aside." The purple-cloaked warrior transformed into a purple beam of light.

"Here he comes." Ji Ning had kept a sliver of attention on him. The purple-cloaked warrior was the most threatening presence. When he burst into speed, Ji Ning's heart sank—this speed far exceeded what the warrior had casually shown before, absolutely surpassing Ji Ning's use of the Nine Heavens Oblivion Wind.

"The final battle before death?" Ji Ning felt no fear, his gaze utterly calm as he looked at the purple-cloaked warrior. "Even if I die, I'll drag you down with me!"