Chapter 34: Lying in Wait

"Here he comes, big brother. Let me test him." The Nine-Headed Lion, like a mountain range, charged straight ahead, crashing into everything in its path—Pangu battle formations, Yinglongs, and Xing Tian deities alike—all sent stumbling backward.

Though the second of the three great demon gods of Tunlong Mountain, the horn-broken divine dragon, was more agile, on the battlefield it was clearly more strained, not as fast as the seemingly clumsy Nine-Headed Lion.

Ji Ning felt a faint tremor in the space around him. His gaze swept over and noticed the Nine-Headed Lion charging toward him. Startled, he thought, "Is that it? The strongest of the three great demon gods of Tunlong Mountain, the Nine-Headed Lion?"

The Nine-Headed Lion was a divine beast.

It was the only one among the three demon gods with the noblest bloodline, comparable to divine beasts like the Nine-Tailed Fox and the Five Elements Peacock.

It was usually low-key and inconspicuous, but in terms of strength, it was the strongest of the three demon gods. Across the entire Three Realms, this Nine-Headed Lion ranked among the very top. Compared to Lü Dongbin, it was roughly equal—though Lü Dongbin was a qi refiner, while the Nine-Headed Lion cultivated both divine body and qi, putting Lü at an inherent disadvantage.

"I've heard his strength is on par with Patriarch Lü's." Ji Ning did not dare to be careless.

"Well done, third brother!" The golden-feathered divine eagle in the air was overjoyed.

The Nine-Headed Lion stomped across the earth, charging toward Ji Ning, while the horde of demonic beasts and gods of the Fraternal Gate all made way.

Ji Ning, holding two shields, did not dodge at all.

"I want to see just how strong the top-tier combat power among Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals really is." Ji Ning's battle intent blazed. The Nine-Headed Lion, Red Snow Celestial, and Patriarch Lü were all at the pinnacle of Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals, very close to True Gods and Dao Ancestors. But Ji Ning, leading the Xing Tian deities, had never had a chance to fight Patriarch Lü or Red Snow Celestial.

Of course, Ji Ning's true body had fought Red Snow Celestial in the Water Mansion.

But Red Snow Celestial, as the leader of the Seven Celestials, praised even by Bodhi, was only a hair's breadth away from Dao Ancestor... Ji Ning's true body had challenged him and lost miserably.

However, on the battlefield, Ji Ning's second incarnation, a Pure Yang True Immortal wielding the power of the Xing Tian deity, was fully confident to fight.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

The earth trembled.

The Nine-Headed Lion charged straight at Ji Ning, and Ji Ning strode forward to meet it.

"Hmph." A fierce glint flashed in the Nine-Headed Lion's eyes. It lowered its head, and a layer of golden light appeared on its crown, as if the entire lion were plated in gold.

Ji Ning also crouched, holding his two shields, and braced himself to push forward.

Both were meeting force with force.

The Nine-Headed Lion was a divine beast renowned for its strength, and this 'Tun Mountain Great Sage' had a profound understanding of the Dao, making it even more formidable.

As for Ji Ning's strength, it went without saying—on the battlefield, he had already crushed many powerful foes on the Fraternal Gate side.

"Boom!!!"

The Nine-Headed Lion felt a surge of immense power wash over it—pure, overwhelming strength with no technique at all. It was forced to stagger backward. Shocked, it quickly used its movement technique, warping space around it, retreating a full thousand li in an instant. Yet its retreat was like a teleportation art, leaving no opening for attack.

"So strong." Ji Ning also felt a strange vibration.

It wasn't pure brute force, but a kind of tremor.

Like the vibration of an earthquake, hard to resist. Ji Ning immediately understood why his own divine demon legions—whether Pangu battle formations, Yinglong formations, or Xing Tian deities—had all been shaken back. And the Nine-Headed Lion kept charging, seemingly without much effort.

Because this was actually a profound technique.

Though the Xing Tian deity Ji Ning was immensely strong, he still had to retreat three steps to dissipate the vibration.

"What great strength!" The Nine-Headed Lion laughed from afar, its voice echoing across the battlefield. "Come, again!"

"As if I'm afraid of you!" The Xing Tian deity Ji Ning met it head-on.

Boom—boom—

Ji Ning and the Nine-Headed Lion clashed again and again on the battlefield. Each time, Ji Ning only retreated two or three steps, while the Nine-Headed Lion, despite its profound Dao arts—the earth beneath it warping, space twisting—was ultimately outmatched in strength, forcing it to flicker across a thousand li each time.

"Third brother, if we three brothers join forces to form the Three-Eyed Celestial, can we be sure to kill this Ji Ning?" The golden-feathered divine eagle, entangled by Emperor Xia and others, transmitted mentally.

"Third brother, my brother and I are waiting for your command." The horn-broken divine dragon also flew nearby, ready to join forces at any moment.

The three great demon gods of Tunlong Mountain could form a formation to become a 'Three-Eyed Celestial'.

The true leader of this Three-Eyed Celestial was the strongest of the three brothers, the Nine-Headed Lion. This was similar to the Seven Celestials of Star Picking Manor, who formed the 'Seven Radiance Celestial' with Red Snow Celestial as the leader—since Red Snow Celestial and the Nine-Headed Lion were each the most accomplished in Dao and strongest in battle within their groups.

"Not sure," the Nine-Headed Lion transmitted. "This Ji Ning is very skilled at commanding the Xing Tian deity; his strength is too great. Even if we join forces to form the Three-Eyed Celestial, in a one-on-one fight, we could certainly kill him. But around us, there are a bunch of powerful experts from the Crimson Bright Territory who will harass us fiercely. Under such circumstances, the chance of killing Ji Ning is slim—less than thirty percent."

"Mm."

The golden-feathered divine eagle and the horn-broken divine dragon understood.

Indeed, to contain the fastest golden-feathered divine eagle, the Crimson Bright Territory had sent six Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals. Naturally, there were also a group of strong ones to contain the horn-broken divine dragon and the Nine-Headed Lion. When the Three-Eyed Celestial formed, this large group would naturally join Ji Ning to oppose it, making the chance of killing Ji Ning less than thirty percent.

"What a formidable Nine-Headed Lion," Ji Ning marveled as they fought. "One-on-one, it's only slightly at a disadvantage against me. And I'm a Pure Yang True Immortal leading three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand loose immortals. Incredible... If, as the intelligence says, the three demon gods of Tunlong Mountain join forces to become the 'Three-Eyed Celestial,' how strong would that be? One-on-one, I'd probably be killed quickly."

Ji Ning glanced around.

On the Crimson Bright Territory side, because the three demon gods had arrived, a large group of their own experts had also gathered here—five Yinglongs and six Xing Tian deities led by Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals.

Such was the threat posed by the three great demon gods of Tunlong Mountain.

...

Ink Bamboo Dao Ancestor, standing on the Fraternal Gate city wall, watched for a long time. Both sides had suffered considerable casualties and were still fighting fiercely. He spoke: "Retreat."

The voice echoed in the minds of all commanders on the Fraternal Gate side.

"Retreat."

"Go."

"Withdraw."

The Fraternal Gate forces quickly converged, linked up, and began a step-by-step retreat.

Soon, Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor on the Eight Dragon Cloud City frowned at the scene and also ordered, "Retreat and rest."

...

On the city wall of Eight Dragon Cloud City.

"Ji Ning, how were our losses this time? And the Fraternal Gate's?" Tonghe Celestial Immortal, Madman Celestial Immortal, Floating Dust Celestial Immortal, Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal, and Flying Rain Immortal gathered with Ji Ning. Having fought and died together for years, they were a close-knit group, always advancing and retreating together on the battlefield.

"Yes, on the battlefield we had no time to look elsewhere," Floating Dust Celestial Immortal pressed.

Ji Ning sighed. "Losses were heavy on both sides—probably around ten thousand Celestial Immortals each. I don't know the exact numbers; Emperor Xia should know."

"That many losses?"

"Not bad. The Fraternal Gate has more puppets, so matching their losses is decent."

"This is just the first skirmish. This territory war is insane."

They all sighed.

In the past, it was just a war for the Grand Xia world; now it was a territory war. Emperor Xia had once had just over ten thousand Celestial Immortals, and after fighting for so long, most still lived. But now, in a single skirmish, so many had died.

...

Fight one battle, rest a while. After some time, fight another, then rest again.

Such was the rhythm of territory wars.

Prolonged fighting drained mana, and if they kept fighting, they'd have to take immortal pills to replenish it—something neither side wanted. So after each long battle, they would stop and rest.

These seemingly simple exchanges resulted in relatively small losses.

But both sides were looking for an opportunity... Once it appeared, the seemingly stalemated battle would 'explode,' and then Celestial Immortals would die in droves, and even Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals would fall one by one. Note that after three battles, not a single Heavenly Immortal or True Immortal had died yet!

Even if a Pangu battle formation collapsed, the commanding Heavenly Immortal could easily escape.

With no Heavenly Immortals or True Immortals dead, the battle had not yet reached its critical moment.

...

A vast, dark world.

On the ten-thousand-foot throne suspended at the center of this world sat the God King, looking down.

"God King." A figure below knelt.

"This territory war has seen three battles. Ink Bamboo Dao Ancestor has roughly deduced the strength and hidden tricks of the Crimson Bright Territory. It's time for the final assault." The God King looked down at the kneeling figure. "You have lurked by Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's side for so long. Now is the time for you to truly strike."

"Your subordinate has been waiting for this day." The kneeling figure spoke respectfully, his voice full of longing.

"After this battle, your identity will naturally be exposed, and you can no longer stay in the Nuwa camp. Come directly to the Fraternal Gate. This time, you are the key. Do not disappoint me." said the God King.

The kneeling figure replied, "Your subordinate has lurked for endless ages for this moment! All the forbearance, all the disguise, has been for this moment of eruption. Even if I die, I will not let you down, God King."

"Good. Among my many children, you have always been outstanding. When you return to the Fraternal Gate this time, I will personally take you as my disciple and grant you the three innate spiritual treasures of the 'Void Sword Formation.'" said the God King.

Hearing the words 'Void Sword Formation,' the kneeling figure grew excited and said firmly, looking up, "God King, just watch."

The face he lifted...

Was none other than Evergreen Sword Immortal!

...