Chapter 10: Murderous Intent

"Impossible, he cannot be a celestial god or true immortal. If he were to undergo tribulation, there is no way he could have concealed it from the Myriad Gates." The twelve surviving celestial immortals, including Purple Grass Celestial Immortal, scattered in panic. Ji Ning's overwhelming strength led them to believe he must be at the level of a celestial god or true immortal, but that couldn't be right!

Impossible!

Ji Ning had the Eighty-Nine Arcane Art to conceal his immortal aura, but as long as he underwent tribulation, there was absolutely no way he could hide it from the Myriad Gates! In fact, it could be said that no living being in the Three Realms could undergo tribulation without the Myriad Gates knowing!

"Ah!" A fleeing celestial immortal with a large beard manipulated a giant gourd to block, but under the sword finger, the gourd was sent flying, and he was directly slain, his body destroyed and his Dao extinguished.

"How can Ji Ning be this strong?" Another celestial immortal let out a furious, anguished roar, only to be annihilated by the sword finger that spanned heaven and earth.

"The intelligence was wrong, wrong!"

"How could this be!"

"I refuse to accept this."

These celestial immortals were all elites of the Myriad Gates. Every time they acted, they relied on accurate intelligence. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. A mistake of this magnitude had never happened before! At their level, such a huge error would likely cost them their lives!

Ji Ning manifested three heads and six arms, sending six sword fingers against six celestial immortals. However, this time, he only used the Star Picking Hand and supplemented it with Sword Force. With his strength at the seventeenth level of the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens, executing the fourth level of the Star Picking Hand was already at the pinnacle of celestial immortals. Adding Sword Force made it comparable to a Unity celestial immortal.

In other words... Ji Ning's six sword fingers were like six Unity celestial immortals.

Now that the enemy's formation had collapsed and they were all fleeing, there was no need to use his heartforce. The consumption of heartforce was too great; each full-powered sword finger cost one-fifteenth of his total, allowing only fifteen uses. Ji Ning naturally had to reserve it for critical moments.

"Hmph." Ji Ning's eyes flashed with cold light as he killed without mercy.

The six sword fingers instantly slew five celestial immortals, but one sword finger aimed at a woman failed.

"Oh?" Ji Ning glanced at the woman in surprise.

A dense layer of green light had appeared around the woman, protecting her and blocking the sword finger.

"Too powerful, the intelligence was completely wrong." Purple Grass Celestial Immortal shuddered in fear. At the same time, two messenger talismans and a Dao talisman appeared in her hand. The Dao talisman was a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman, but activating it required time. Given Ji Ning's attack speed, that brief moment would be enough for him to strike over a dozen times.

Crack! Crack!

Crushing the messenger talismans was quick. Purple Grass Celestial Immortal immediately crushed the talismans given to her by two powerful figures who could save her now.

She held a special status in the Myriad Gates, protected by several major figures. Besides the extraordinary celestial immortals like Crowblack Celestial Immortal, there were also two celestial gods and true immortals: the Myriad Gates Gate Lord and her brother-in-law, 'Floating Splendor True Immortal'.

...

In the distant Fifth World.

In a majestic hall, the Myriad Gates Gate Lord, the Myriad Demons Cave Cave Lord, and the Bloodcloud Hall Hall Master were watching a large number of water mirrors floating in midair. The water mirrors displayed scenes from various locations, all battle scenes detected by pure yang treasures in the Grand Xia world and transmitted here.

Most of the images shifted between different places, but over a dozen water mirrors showed unchanging scenes. These water mirrors were monitoring battles with the purpose of 'killing'.

"Not good."

"An accident has occurred at Anchan City."

"It's Ji Ning."

The three leaders' expressions changed drastically as they looked at one of the water mirrors. It showed a youth breaking through the air, his sword finger sweeping across heaven and earth, directly breaking the Turtle-Snake Formation. The youth's cold face and chillingly sharp aura... even the silver-white gleam on his sword finger made them tremble.

"Ji Ning's aura is far more terrifying than eighteen years ago."

"On his sword finger... is that Sword Force?"

"Has he comprehended the Sword Dao?"

The three leaders were all shaken. They had long guessed that after surviving the karmic fire, Ji Ning's strength would increase somewhat. But that was the Realm of Silence, where one could not sense the Dao. Logically, Ji Ning should not have improved much in the Dao. Moreover, since he hadn't undergone tribulation, his strength increase should have been limited. But the facts slapped them in the face!

They never imagined that Ji Ning could comprehend the method of using heartforce on his own!

"Green Fox, what should we do?" The Myriad Demons Cave Cave Lord and the Bloodcloud Hall Hall Master both looked at the Myriad Gates Gate Lord.

The woman in green robes said softly, "The defeat is certain, beyond recovery. But Purple Grass has the backing of Floating Splendor True Immortal. When faced with mortal danger, she must have crushed the talisman Floating Splendor gave her. I believe Floating Splendor will act to save her. With him going, that's enough. What I'm thinking now is... what should we do about this Ji Ning?"

"Ji Ning..." The man in fiery red robes and the gaunt old man both frowned.

"I long suspected he might become an obstacle to our conquest of Grand Xia, but I never expected him to be this powerful without undergoing tribulation. Once he undergoes tribulation and becomes a celestial god, what then?" The woman in green robes shook her head. "I really don't know who his master is, to have trained such a prodigy."

The birth of a peerless prodigy requires not only innate talent but also a good master. Little did they know that behind Ji Ning stood the most mysterious Daofather in the Three Realms, 'Patriarch Subhuti', and the supernally powerful divine ability of the deceased Three Calamities Daoist, 'Star Picking Hand', which shook the Three Realms!

As the saying goes, the master leads you in, but cultivation depends on the individual. However, first the master must lead you in. Ji Ning was indeed a peerless sword immortal prodigy, but without the 'Star Picking Hand' divine ability, he would not have become such a monster. Without Houyi's Archery Art, he probably could not have comprehended the method of using heartforce. In that case, he would have been merely a very powerful sword immortal. Of course, master and individual complement each other, both indispensable. Several people had the chance to learn the Star Picking Hand, and many learned Houyi's Archery Art, but who among them achieved what Ji Ning did?

...

Unbelievable.

Tonghe Celestial Immortal had narrowly escaped death, and was also shaken by Ji Ning. For a moment, his heart was filled with complex, indescribable emotions.

"Where do you think you're going!" Tonghe Celestial Immortal quickly came to his senses and roared, immediately controlling the Juexian Sword to slay the fleeing celestial immortals.

Yu Wei and Dian Cai Immortal, who had caught up from behind, were also stunned.

They were both shocked and delighted.

What shocked them was... Ji Ning's terrifying strength! Too strong!

What delighted them was... the stronger Ji Ning was, the better!

The situation had reversed in an instant. From the eighteen celestial immortals besieging and tormenting Tonghe Celestial Immortal, they had become the ones hunting down those celestial immortals.

"Kill."

Ji Ning showed no mercy. At the start, a single full-force sword-finger had swept across six celestial immortals, and then he killed five more. Now only seven celestial immortals remained alive.

Three Heads, Six Arms! Star-Picking Hand!

Six sword-fingers streaked across the sky, sweeping in all directions.

"Die." Tonghe Celestial Immortal also controlled the Juexian Sword, hunting down the rest.

"The great tribulation has come. Yesterday I killed others; today others kill me." A gaunt celestial immortal closed his eyes as his magic treasures flew away, his gaze calm. In this tribulation sweeping the Three Realms, even Ji Ning, Tonghe Celestial Immortal, and Yu Wei were prepared to die.

Thus, they had to seize every opportunity to weaken the enemy without any mercy.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

One by one, celestial immortals fell. One of Ji Ning's six sword-fingers still struck toward Zicao Celestial Immortal.

"Boom~~~" The green light on Zicao Celestial Immortal's body withstood it again, but trembled visibly.

This time, however, Ji Ning's six sword-fingers only killed three celestial immortals. Besides Zicao Celestial Immortal, two others also survived.

"I must live, must live." A triangular-eyed celestial immortal's face twisted, his gaze terrifying. A celestial mansion appeared out of thin air around him, and he vanished.

Another celestial immortal also hid inside a celestial mansion.

"Kill."

That Juexian Sword also slew one celestial immortal.

In an instant...

Of the eighteen celestial immortals in midair, only three remained: Zicao Celestial Immortal and the two who had hidden in celestial mansions.

"Fools." Zicao Celestial Immortal cursed inwardly. Their intelligence was detailed; it had recorded that when Ji Ning killed two celestial immortals of the Shaoyin clan, one was 'Golden Bell Celestial Immortal,' and that divine bell had fallen into Ji Ning's hands. Now that Anchan City was in danger, unless Ji Ning was stupid, he would have lent that divine bell to his Dao companion or master. That divine bell could suppress them.

"Senior apprentice-sister." Ji Ning transmitted his voice.

"Collect." Yu Wei waved her hand, and a divine bell flew out. It rapidly expanded, like a small mountain peak suspended in the air, its bottom space twisting. The two celestial mansions were drawn in without resistance, and the bell shrank back into Yu Wei's hand.

Ji Ning smiled.

This divine bell was a clan-protecting treasure of the Shaoyin clan. Aside from the Realm-Boundary Tower, this bell was the most important. But pure yang magic treasures could only be used by celestial immortals. Since Anchan City was about to face danger, and the great tribulation had come, how could Ji Ning only care about himself? He naturally sought to enhance the strength of those important to him, so he gave the bell to Yu Wei.

The two celestial immortals had hidden in their mansions to buy time to use Greater Teleportation talismans.

If Ji Ning and the others hadn't had the divine bell to suppress them, they might have escaped, because the mansions couldn't be broken—they were life-saving treasures of the two celestial immortals, quite formidable. But since Ji Ning and the others had the divine bell, the moment the two celestial immortals hid in their mansions, the mansions themselves offered no resistance and were easily drawn into the bell. Inside the bell, all space was sealed; once suppressed, escape was impossible.

That was why Zicao Celestial Immortal called them fools.

But how could those two celestial immortals not know this? In a desperate situation, they were simply gambling. They gambled that Ji Ning was selfish and hadn't given the divine bell to anyone else.

...

"Only you remain." Ji Ning's gaze fell on Zicao Celestial Immortal. Six sword-fingers simultaneously streaked across the sky, descending upon Zicao Celestial Immortal. Though described slowly, their exchange was lightning-fast.

"You can't kill me!" Zicao Celestial Immortal was terrified. How could he outrun the sword-fingers?

Six sword-fingers spanned heaven and earth, piercing through the void, coming from all directions at once.

"Stop!"

A roar infused with pure yang法力.

Boom!

As the sealing formation outside shattered with a crash, the roar echoed in the ears of Ji Ning and the others.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!!!!" Six sword-fingers struck Zicao Celestial Immortal simultaneously. The green light barrier could no longer withstand it and shattered. Under the thousand-zhang-long six sword-fingers, Zicao Celestial Immortal was reduced to dust, his body destroyed and his Dao extinguished!