Chapter 15 The Truth

Twenty-seven golden-armored soldiers thrust their gleaming golden spears simultaneously, carrying boundless might as they stabbed at Ji Ning! The fifty-four golden-armored soldiers behind them also held their spears, ready to take over at any moment.

"There must be a flaw, there must be a chance for survival. If they truly were immortal, they'd wear me down to death." Ji Ning, holding the Northmoon swords in both hands, charged straight ahead, swift as the wind. Clang! Clang! Clang!!! The Northmoon swords clashed with the spears as Ji Ning parried and charged into the midst of the golden-armored soldiers.

"Fall back!"

"Attack!"

The first twenty-seven golden-armored soldiers retreated in unison, while the fifty-four formed a larger encirclement, trapping Ji Ning like a turtle in a jar.

"Could it be?" Ji Ning frowned.

"Water-Fire Lotus!" Ji Ning willed it.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~

Eight pairs of Water-Fire Lotuses appeared around him, each pair composed of a water lotus leaf and a fire lotus leaf. Because this technique embodied the true meaning of the Dao, even Ji Ning had to exert himself fully; manifesting eight pairs while multitasking was already quite strenuous.

"Crack crack crack~~~" The eight pairs of Water-Fire Lotuses spun like millstones, grinding down and enveloping sixteen golden-armored soldiers. The soldiers scrambled to dodge, but one by one their bodies cracked under the pressure.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

The golden-armored soldiers, enraged, roared and bypassed the Water-Fire Lotuses to attack Ji Ning.

Ji Ning, wielding the Northmoon swords like a fierce tiger, his sword shadows like fire, instantly cleaved a golden-armored soldier into three pieces. The severed body quickly reconnected, and the soldier roared again as it continued to fight Ji Ning.

"So that's it, so that's it." Ji Ning was exhilarated and laughed heartily. "Your so-called immortality is just a bluff. Every time you're injured, your strength decreases. Haha, let's see how long you can hold out."

Earlier, when the eighty-one golden-armored soldiers formed a formation to besiege him, Ji Ning noticed during his parries that their power had diminished slightly. Though the reduction wasn't much, Ji Ning's perception was keen enough to detect it.

So Ji Ning simultaneously manipulated eight pairs of Water-Fire Lotuses, severely wounding sixteen golden-armored soldiers.

When they clashed again, Ji Ning found that the soldiers' power had weakened even further.

"The eighty-one golden-armored soldiers are like one entity. If one is severely wounded, the others all suffer." Ji Ning thought. "Moreover, these soldiers are formed from golden liquid, with no vital points. I just need to keep wounding them, draining their magical power until they eventually dissipate."

"Kill!"

The golden-armored soldiers fought fearlessly.

Ji Ning, while maneuvering the eight pairs of Water-Fire Lotuses to repeatedly envelop and crush the soldiers, also wielded the Northmoon swords to dodge and strike. He noticed that piercing their bodies with his swords weakened them slowly, while the Water-Fire Lotuses crushed them more effectively.

…

It was a protracted battle.

"Boom!" One by one, the golden-armored soldiers exploded into nothingness, and all eighty-one vanished.

Ji Ning let out a long sigh and withdrew the Water-Fire Lotuses.

"Too, too troublesome."

"Without the Water-Fire Lotus technique, I might have been worn down to death." Ji Ning sensed the Crimsonbright divine power within him and sighed. He had only about half of his divine power left, and that was thanks to his cultivation of the "Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens," which gave him an exceptionally abundant reserve.

In this battle, he relied mainly on the Water-Fire Lotuses to repeatedly crush the soldiers, while using only the Crimsonbright divine power and the two Northmoon swords for self-defense. Even so, half his divine power was consumed.

Ji Ning glanced behind him. Some of the corpses there had been reduced to ashes by the battle, while others remained.

"Those who died here were probably mostly worn down to death." Ji Ning thought. "Even I, a divine-body cultivator skilled in prolonged battles, found it so taxing. How could those purely qi-refining Xiantian lifeforms possibly survive?"

Whoosh~~~

The mist at both ends of the corridor slowly dissipated.

Ji Ning cautiously advanced to the corner of the corridor. He didn't proceed further but looked down the other side of the corridor, where he saw more corpses.

"More corpses. It seems the next corridor is just as dangerous. I wonder how many dangers this ancient relic holds." Ji Ning's heart trembled. "And those who died there must have passed the eighty-one golden-armored soldiers."

"Come."

Ji Ning stared at the corpses on the other side and noticed that only one of the most intact corpses still had armor and weapons. He immediately used his divine will to pull that corpse and its treasures over.

"Those who made it to the next corridor must have many treasures." Ji Ning examined the corpse. It was tall, about a zhang in height. The most likely storage treasure was the arm guard on its arm bone. Ji Ning quickly took it and refined it. "Indeed, a storage treasure."

"Quite a lot."

Inside were nearly a thousand treasures. Ji Ning could easily refine them all, but he found that none were even graded treasures.

"All ungraded." Ji Ning shook his head. "Though there are a thousand, their total value is probably less than one percent of the 'Myriad-League Evasion Talisman.'"

The Myriad-League Evasion Talisman was the treasure of the manor!

Even graded treasures could hardly compare to it...

"Time to rest." Ji Ning sat cross-legged, took out a bamboo tube, uncorked it, and drank. He also brought out some roasted meat and began to eat. "These long-dead fellows left storage treasures, but not a bit of food. Too much time has passed; any food would have turned to ash."

"These ungraded treasures are useless to me now."

"After all, a few treasures are enough for me." Ji Ning shook his head. For example, what use were hundreds of storage treasures? Could they increase his strength even a little? If he couldn't get out alive, the thousand ungraded treasures he'd obtained might be found by some later comer in the distant future.

…

Ji Ning sat there eating and drinking, in no hurry to move forward.

Meanwhile, his Crimsonbright divine power gradually recovered.

After eating and drinking, Ji Ning took out the storage treasures one by one and examined them. Occasionally, he found cultivation manuals and sword techniques. But most important esoteric texts were destroyed after learning to prevent their spread. So the books he found were mostly ordinary, not rare manuals.

Only one was comparable to the "Dripwater Sutra."

"An unexpected gain." Ji Ning smiled. Then he began to sift through the various oddities in the storage treasures, examining each one.

Clothing!

Utensils!

Playthings!

All sorts of strange items were taken out one by one. This process of searching for curios lifted his spirits.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning suddenly found a peculiar piece of tree bark. He was about to discard it when he saw the writing on it and his expression changed.

"Wudan, our tribe has just received news. The Immortal Juhua, who has existed since the Age of Gods and Demons and lived for millions of years, is openly taking disciples. Though Immortal Juhua is a loose immortal, having survived countless heavenly tribulations over millions of years, according to our chieftain, his strength is no less than that of a Celestial Immortal."

"Immortal Juhua has never taken disciples before. Even the Second Prince of the Xia Dynasty failed to become his disciple."

"The news of Immortal Juhua's open recruitment has already spread far and wide."

"Immortal Juhua has also publicly stated that his disciples must be divine-body cultivators, with strength at least at the Xiantian level and at most at the Zifu level. He will set up two corridors—one for Xiantian lifeforms and one for Zifu cultivators."

"Each corridor has three trials!"

"Those who survive all three trials will become Immortal Juhua's disciple!"

"Immortal Juhua will only take one disciple!"

"As for the location, Immortal Juhua has descended with his immortal mansion on Qianqiu Island in the Northmoon Sea, openly recruiting disciples. He will likely not leave until he finds a disciple. It takes over half a year to travel from here to Qianqiu Island in the distant Northmoon Sea. Hurry, or others will beat you to it. Wudan, I've given you the news. It's up to you whether to go."

"Shenrong Shui, inscribing."

…

Looking at the ancient tree bark in his hand, Ji Ning held his breath. "Shenrong clan? This bark must be from a Shenrong tree. No wonder such an ancient letter has survived to this day."

Shenrong wood never rots.

Valuable items are often stored in boxes made of Shenrong wood. The Shenrong tree is a specialty and symbol of the Shenrong clan, a truly powerful tribe far stronger than the Ji clan. It ranks among the top tribes on the endless lands ruled by the Xia Dynasty!

"Immortal Juhua?" Ji Ning frowned in thought. "Immortal Juhua openly recruited disciples. He existed since the Age of Gods and Demons and was millions of years old when he took disciples. But from the Age of Gods and Demons to now, eons have passed."

"That recruitment happened too long ago. Immortal Juhua is probably long dead." Ji Ning understood this.

Loose immortals must constantly endure the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. Surviving millions of years was already a miracle; how could he live until now?

"Then this water mansion..."

"Should be the immortal mansion where Immortal Juhua recruited disciples. The corridor I'm in now is probably one of the two recruitment corridors." Ji Ning thought.

Ji Ning looked at the distant corpses.

Though these corpses were divine-body cultivators, their preservation meant they hadn't died too long ago.

Clearly, this immortal mansion often teleported Xiantian divine-body cultivators or Zifu cultivators here. He was just another unlucky one.

"Immortal Juhua's recruitment conditions were extremely harsh, or he would have found a disciple long ago." Ji Ning thought. "The corridor has three trials. The first one forced me to rely on the Water-Fire Lotus to pass. The next two are probably even more dangerous. How can I get through?"

"Will I end up like them, dying and rotting here?" Ji Ning glanced at the distant corpses, holding his breath in contemplation.

…