Chapter 55: Bowing One's Head

The God King explained to Lord Huanshu: "Ji Ning's wife was named Yu Wei, one of the countless spies our Myriad Realms placed in the Nuwa Camp. Ji Ning and Yu Wei shared a deep bond. I once ordered Yu Wei to kill Ji Ning, but she defied the order! That was when I first harbored the intent to kill her, yet I spared her because of the impending calamity and the rarity of talent... During the Crimsonbright Realm war, Yu Wei rendered some service, and I brought back her soul. At that time, Ji Ning's heartforce had reached the fourth stage, and he had even reversed the outcome of the Crimsonbright Realm war. Seeing his extraordinary talent and his deep love for Yu Wei, I forced a choice upon him: if he sided with our Myriad Realms, Yu Wei would be reunited with him, his family and clan would be protected, and we would bestow treasures and teach him divine abilities. If he remained in the Nuwa Camp, I would cast Yu Wei into the Endless Hell."

"And Ji Ning chose the Nuwa Camp," said the God King.

Lord Huanshu nodded.

The two camps were locked in a war of survival. The God King's actions were not something he could criticize, for the God King was the nominal leader of the Myriad Realms and had the authority to decide such minor matters.

At the same time, the God King sent a mental message to the major powers on his side, briefly explaining the situation.

Given his status, no one could object to his handling of the matter.

"It seems your judgment was correct. This Ji Ning is indeed remarkable, and as you thought, his bond with that Yu Wei is truly deep," said Lord Huanshu. "Now that he has acquired this escape art, though he is still a minor figure, he has become a major headache. Think carefully about how to deal with this trouble."

The God King nodded, his eyes dark and gloomy.

Forced into this corner by Ji Ning, the God King burned with endless fury inside. Yet no matter how angry he was, he dared not act directly. In terms of strength, he was not at the very pinnacle of the Three Realms. Whether it was his own side's Lord Huanshu, Lord Wanmo, or the enemy's Suirenshi, Shennongshi, Lord Sanqing, and others, all were absolutely above him.

...

Sitting on the roof of a palace, a green-robed man held a gourd of wine, half-drunk, gazing into the distance. He sighed softly: "That little fellow from the Immortal Fate Gathering in the Grand Xia world back then has now grown to such a level. He can stir up the entire Three Realms, giving the Myriad Realms a headache, and they can do nothing to him. I once thought he would become a sword immortal, but who would have guessed he would surpass my expectations."

At that Immortal Fate Gathering, Lü Dongbin had taken a liking to no one but Ji Ning. He had even personally asked the Xia Emperor to let him take Ji Ning as his disciple.

Though he failed to take Ji Ning as a disciple—because he sensed something amiss at the time—he instead took Ji Ning's Dao-companion, Yu Wei, as his disciple.

"Alas, my disciple's fortune was thin, and in the end, I could not change her fate," Lü Dongbin shook his head. "That God King of the Myriad Realms is a disciple of the Heartlord, skilled at beguiling hearts, making my disciple so loyal to him. But now I hear she has been cast into the Endless Hell."

"But..."

"If Yu Wei knew that Ji Ning, for her sake, would go to war against the Myriad Realms and slaughter across the Three Realms..."

Lü Dongbin shook his head and sighed.

He had the greatest sympathy for lovers. When he traveled the Three Realms, he was even called the Old Man Under the Moon, because he delighted in bringing lovers together. Moreover, Ji Ning and Yu Wei—one was a sword immortal he greatly admired, the other his own disciple. But their fate was not something he, Lü Dongbin, could change.

"Waging war against the vast Myriad Realms... I hope you achieve your wish." Lü Dongbin tilted his head back and drank again.

...

In a small world, inside the imperial kitchen of a palace.

A coughing old eunuch sat there, legs crossed, while a young eunuch massaged and attended to him.

"Eunuch, try this crispy heart cake," the head eunuch of the kitchen said obsequiously, placing a plate before the old eunuch.

"Mm, not bad," the old eunuch nodded in praise.

Suddenly, he frowned.

"All of you, leave. Let me be alone for a while," the old eunuch ordered.

"Yes, yes, yes." The surrounding eunuchs respectfully withdrew, leaving only the old eunuch.

The old eunuch's gaze pierced through the void, seeing in a distant major world the ten-thousand-zhang demon god Ji Ning, who was destroying a stronghold of the Myriad Realms. He muttered softly: "I gave him a copy of the 'Heart Sutra' back then, but I never expected the lad to grow so fast. Now, below the level of True God Daofather, it seems no one can do anything to him."

"What a freak, a freak."

"Judging by the trend... maybe he really can become a True God Daofather," the eunuch muttered. "And this escape art, tsk tsk, I wonder where it came from."

...

The Thunder God Major World.

On a floating mountain, the majestic Thunder God Heavenly Sovereign opened his eyes, his mind-sense piercing through the void to observe the rampaging demon god Ji Ning.

"Nine-Pronged Lightning Serpent?"

The Thunder God Heavenly Sovereign frowned.

"He actually has such an art. When he came to ask me for the Nine-Pronged Lightning Serpent, was it for this art?" The Thunder God Heavenly Sovereign was certainly covetous; he too wished to learn this art. With the Nine-Pronged Lightning Serpent escape art, given his strength, his chances of survival in the calamity would increase tenfold or a hundredfold. As for Ji Ning, even with the Rahu Formation, he would still be killed if he encountered the Heavenly Gods and True Immortals of the Myriad Realms!

But with the Nine-Pronged Lightning Serpent escape art, Ji Ning's survivability had skyrocketed. The Myriad Realms would need to dispatch over five thousand Heavenly Gods and True Immortals to deal with him, but mobilizing so many was no easy task.

This Nine-Pronged Lightning Serpent escape art...

Combined with fourth-stage heartforce, heartforce soul techniques, and the Rahu Formation, it had created such a freak as Ji Ning!

"This art of escape..." the Thunder God天尊 coveted it deeply.

...

Whether from Nüwa's camp or the Boundless Gate camp, all mighty beings had to admit that Ji Ning had become extremely difficult to deal with! With his current strength, he could very well force the entire Boundless Gate to change their strategy of infiltrating the Three Realms, abandoning their massive previous efforts!

"Heaven-Collapse Strike!"

The demon god Ji Ning's divine sword swelled tens of thousands of zhang and crashed downward like a heavenly pillar collapsing.

Boom~~~

The towering pagoda split open from the blow, and then the demon god Ji Ning's other five divine swords struck in succession. After just one round of strikes from the six swords, the lofty pagoda was reduced to rubble. All the formations, restrictions, and divine runes were destroyed. What had been painstakingly refined during construction was now easily demolished.

"Next." The demon god Ji Ning boarded the Void Boat again and headed to the next location.

"The Boundless Gate still won't bow their heads? Won't come to me? Fine, very well. I've only destroyed a little over a hundred major worlds so far. There's plenty more to come. Slowly, one by one, I'll destroy all your lairs in every major world." The demon god Ji Ning had no other thoughts, only one goal.

He must make the Boundless Gate submit.

...

Ji Ning's relentless destruction put immense pressure on the God King. Every moment wasted meant another major world's lair was destroyed. The God King's face grew darker as his mind raced, weighing options.

The illustrious Boundless Gate... represented the Boundless Chaos World. Could they really be forced to bow to a single Ji Ning? Where would their pride go?

But if they didn't submit, would they have to abandon their entire infiltration plan for the Three Realms? Changing strategy might not yield as good results as the current one.

Now that the calamity was upon them, determining the survival of the entire Boundless Gate, pride wasn't that important.

"Huff."

As the black-robed God King's mind churned, another figure appeared beside him.

Huanmu Master looked at the red-robed, green-haired giant beside him and smiled, "Wind Demon."

"Huanmu." The red-robed, green-haired man nodded slightly.

"Lord Demon." The God King quickly bowed respectfully.

This man, clad in a red robe with flowing green hair and a thick beard, his eyes faintly gleaming with green light, was the undisputed strongest and highest authority in the entire Boundless Gate camp. He was the savior of the Boundless Gate—the Myriad Demon Lord! Born from chaos itself.

Like the Heart Demon Lord, he was at the Ancestral God level. The Myriad Demon Lord was born mastering a single Heavenly Dao—the Wind Heavenly Dao!

The Heavenly Daos of the Boundless Chaos World were divided into Chaos, Heart, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind.

As an Ancestral Demon level being in the Boundless Chaos World, his status was naturally high, but he kept a low profile. It was only during the ancient war of destruction that he made a stunning debut! Nüwa had already reached the Pangu level, but the Myriad Demon Lord suddenly erupted, saving a large number of mighty beings and Celestial Immortals, then fled, with even Nüwa unable to catch him.

His final outburst convinced Nüwa's camp that this 'Myriad Demon Lord' was the deepest hidden card of the Boundless Gate, his strength the most unfathomable, and deemed him the strongest.

Indeed.

The Myriad Demon Lord presided over the 'Myriad Demon Realm,' which held many puppet secrets. Nüwa's camp tried every means but could not infiltrate it.

The God King was the nominal leader because the Myriad Demon Lord was unwilling to handle trivial matters.

The Myriad Demon Lord was the true highest authority.

"The calamity is what matters most. We need to survive." The Myriad Demon Lord looked at the God King and commanded.

"Yes." The God King replied respectfully.

The Myriad Demon Lord nodded and then vanished into thin air. What appeared was merely an avatar; his true body remained guarding the Myriad Demon Realm.

The God King's hesitation vanished. The Myriad Demon Lord's words made up his mind.

"Hmph." The God King suddenly sneered, "The Celestial Immortals of Nüwa's camp have begun to gather, as if waiting for us to mobilize our Celestial Immortals. Once we dispatch thousands of Celestial Immortals, Nüwa's camp will likely attack immediately. In the midst of the calamity, everyone is desperately vying for any advantage."

...

The demon god Ji Ning rode the Void Boat, moving from one major world to another. The Boundless Gate did not stop him, clearly aware that hundreds of Celestial Immortals could not catch Ji Ning, and they dared not mobilize more.

By a vast lake.

The island at the lake's center was already in ruins, and the demon god Ji Ning stood on the rubble.

"Ji Ning."

The surrounding world-force coalesced into a figure shrouded in a black robe. The demon god Ji Ning stared fixedly, recognizing him as the God King of the Boundless Gate. But it was merely an avatar formed by the God King, posing no threat.

"You win!" the black-robed God King said.