Chapter 13 The Winged Serpent's Lair

Ji Ning stood on the surface of the water, looking around.

All was silent, only the wind blowing across the lake stirred up layers of ripples.

"This great demon winged serpent is even more cautious and careful than I expected. Not only does it stay underwater the whole time, but even when I, its great enemy, appear, it dares not attack me." Ji Ning frowned.

Luring the great demon winged serpent out was very difficult!

Otherwise, the five prefectures of the Ji clan would not have been helpless against it. The news that Ji Ning had broken through to become a Xiantian lifeform was still a secret, known to very few. Naturally, the great demon winged serpent did not know. In its eyes, Ji Ning was probably still an eleven-year-old youth with strong movement techniques, no threat. Yet even so, it could resist the urge to come out and kill him.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning frowned slightly.

In the distance, some heads were faintly visible emerging on the lake surface.

"Little demons." A large bow appeared in Ji Ning's hand from thin air, the one he had obtained from Tiemu Zhan, and four arrows also appeared. He quickly drew and shot.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Four arrows tore through the air instantly, frightening the aquatic little demons who hurriedly dove to evade. But how fast were the arrows Ji Ning shot? Immediately, cries of agony rang out, and even a large fish tail slapped the water's surface, leaving behind a patch of blood. Then the little demons all dove deep.

"Great demon winged serpent," Ji Ning shouted, holding the large bow, "I never thought that you, a mighty demon, would be forced to only send out little demons. You make me despise you!"

"Ji Ning."

A low voice suddenly came from the bottom of the water.

Ji Ning's heart rejoiced; the winged serpent demon had finally spoken.

"Stop playing such despicable tricks. Do you think I don't know that your father and the others are hiding nearby?" The low voice came from the water's depths. "A mere Houtian brat like you, would you come to die?"

"Haha, Houtian?" Ji Ning laughed loudly, and a faint halo of light appeared around his body. At the same time, he casually pointed at the water's surface, and a sword beam shot directly from his fingertip, drilling into the deep water. "Open your snake eyes wide and see clearly!"

Bang!

The sword beam drilled into the deep water, causing a burst of turbulence.

"Splash..." A black figure a few li away slightly raised his head to look in this direction, his eyes full of shock. "Xiantian? You've already reached Xiantian?"

"Dare you fight?" Ji Ning shouted. "If you're worried about an ambush, you can pick any spot on the surface of this hundred-li Winged Serpent Lake, or on any island. You and I will fight. Do you dare or not?"

The great demon winged serpent gazed from afar at the youth standing on the water, hesitating.

Even if Ji Yichuan and the others were lying in ambush, how many places could they ambush?

"You humans are utterly treacherous. A youth like you has already become a Xiantian lifeform—how could the Ji clan let you come to die? There must be some scheme I don't know about." The great demon winged serpent instantly sank into the deep water, letting out a roar. "If you have the guts, come to the bottom of the water, and I will surely fight you a great battle. On the surface? I will never fall for that trap!"

Ji Ning on the surface cursed in anger: "Cowardly as a mouse!"

Swoosh!

Ji Ning turned and left in anger, stepping on the waves and quickly arriving at the island in the center of Winged Serpent Lake. He leaped directly onto the island.

"So cowardly." Ji Ning was at a loss for the moment. He was not arrogant enough to go directly to the bottom of the water and fight a water-dwelling great demon at the Xiantian perfection level.

...

Underwater.

"Great King, Great King, that human youth has gone to the island." Several little demons came to report.

"Gone to the island?" The black-clad man sat there, barely suppressing the fury in his heart.

"Father King, Yin Mang and the others are all on the island," a snake demon suddenly cried out anxiously.

"Yin Mang?"

The black-clad man was startled.

He remembered. Since the negotiations between Poison Dove Ridge and the five prefectures of the Ji clan, he had been extremely cautious, staying underwater the whole time, not even daring to go to his lair on the island. But his brood of children and some other little demons were not so cautious and often still went to the island. After all, in the past, that island was the true lair.

"How many? How many of my children are on the island?" the black-clad man roared.

"Probably only Yin Mang, but there are still several hundred other little demons," the snake demon quickly reported.

The black-clad man's face changed drastically. "Immediately send little demons to notify them, tell Yin Mang to come back quickly."

"Yes."

...

After all, Ji Ning was human. Standing on the water required constant mental effort to maintain unity with heaven and earth. Since he could not force the old winged serpent out for the time being, Ji Ning came directly to this island to rest for a while.

"This island was previously the lair of the winged serpent." Ji Ning swept his gaze around. "For the past thousand years, this has been demon territory. Since I can't lure the winged serpent out, I'll first take a good look at this island!"

Ji Ning strolled along.

Each step was like riding the wind, drifting swiftly like a wisp of smoke. He walked along the muddy shore encircling the island. The island was about ten li in circumference, not small, and had some small hills, streams, and so on.

"Roar..." In the distance, a huge crimson crab about the size of a millstone brandished its large iron pincers, staring at Ji Ning.

"An aquatic little demon." Ji Ning kicked a stone, which flew with a whoosh and clanged against the crab demon's body, sending it tumbling several times until it lay still. Only after Ji Ning had walked far away did the crab turn over again, scuttling sideways quickly into the nearby lake water.

After all, this had been the lair where the winged serpent lived, and even though the serpent was not there now, many aquatic little demons still lived on the island. Seeing Ji Ning, some aquatic monsters wanted to attack. The weaker ones Ji Ning merely taught a lesson, but those at the Houtian perfection level he showed no mercy.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning suddenly saw, from afar, a silver serpent emerge from a huge cave, accompanied by other aquatic little demons several zhang in size.

These little demons were all quite large.

Probably all at Houtian perfection.

"Swoosh!" Ji Ning took a step and instantly shot forward.

"Quick, go."

"Go."

"That human youth is a Xiantian lifeform." These Houtian perfection little demons growled to each other, none attacking Ji Ning. They scattered and rushed swiftly toward the distant lake water.

Ji Ning produced the large bow and four arrows, drawing and shooting.

After shooting four arrows, another four arrows!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Wave after wave of arrows shot out...

Instantly, the more than ten largest Houtian perfection aquatic little demons were killed, while the weaker little demons managed to escape into the water.

"Ji Ning, you have killed another of my sons. I will surely kill you, surely kill you!" An angry, low roar came from the depths of the distant lake, leaving Ji Ning, who was standing at the cave entrance about to enter, quite startled.

"Killed another son? How many children does that old demon have?"

Ji Ning looked around in confusion. Among the Houtian perfection aquatic monsters he had killed with his bow, three were serpentine. Which one was its child? He did not know that the old winged serpent had originally had ninety-two children, but during their growth, many had been eaten by other monsters or killed by humans, leaving only sixteen alive.

Ji Ning had now killed two more.

But to the great demon winged serpent, the most beloved was still the Crimson Mang great serpent, which had divine demon blood.

"Old winged serpent, you only know how to shout. There might still be your children in this lair. I'll go in and kill them," Ji Ning shouted as he entered the cave.

...

This lair was where the winged serpent had lived for over a thousand years, deep and winding.

Ji Ning walked forward, holding the Northmoon sword.

Inside the cave, he often encountered aquatic monsters charging out, some ferocious, some bizarre. As soon as they saw the human youth, they treated him like a delicacy and all wanted to eat him. Ji Ning simply knocked aside the very weak little demons, not bothering whether they were killed or stunned.

But he did eliminate the Houtian perfection aquatic monsters.

"This lair is truly deep and unfathomable." Ji Ning followed the winding deep cave passage, going deeper and deeper. Suddenly, the space around him twisted, and in the dim cavern, a hazy, enormous shadow appeared abruptly—it was faintly the shadow of a bear's head. The huge phantom bear's head opened its mouth wide, and that enormous maw seemed to lead to another mysterious place.

Ji Ning's face changed drastically.

At the same time, he found himself unable to move, unable to advance or retreat.

"This, this... a relic!" The word instantly surfaced in Ji Ning's mind.

On this boundless land, from the age of divine demons to the present, countless powerful beings had emerged over endless years. There were countless immortal mansions, divine demon relics, and the like. Humans were spread across this land, and they often accidentally entered ancient divine demon relics, sometimes gaining benefits and rising.

But more often, they died in those immortal mansions, divine demon relics. Just from the books Ji Ning had read, there were records of many famous ancient relics that had devoured countless lives.

"I've encountered a relic. To live, I must live and get out, I must!" Ji Ning's heart burned with immense desire. He understood that against the relics of ancient powers and divine demons, a Xiantian like him had no power to resist at all. He could only submit and then find a way to escape.

The huge phantom bear's head directly swallowed Ji Ning in one gulp.

The phantom dissipated.

Ji Ning also vanished into thin air.

The passage of the Winged Serpent's lair was as calm as ever, as if nothing had happened.