Chapter 7: Yaksa

The Ruyi Spirit Snake Shuttle flew at high speed along the direction of the floating wooden bridge, but Ji Ning remained vigilant, always feeling that beneath the seemingly calm Moon Underwater Pool world lurked a terrible killing intent.

Deep in the seawater.

A humanoid creature, entirely emerald green, holding a steel trident, rapidly approached, vanishing into thin air at times and reappearing a hundred thousand li away in the sea. Soon it lurked quietly ahead of Ji Ning. Its dark red eyes gazed through the seawater at the shuttle speeding along the floating wooden bridge. It licked its face with a long tongue and muttered to itself, "Rare to encounter prey. Hope it's strong enough, or it'll be too boring."

"Here it comes."

"Kill."

The emerald green creature suddenly burst out of the seawater, turning into a streak of emerald light and charging straight at Ji Ning.

"Hm?" Ji Ning, who had been flying for a long time but never relaxed his guard, was startled. "It got this close without me noticing at all."

With candlelight in his eyes, under the Candle Dragon's Gaze, he clearly saw the opponent.

It was a sea creature resembling a yaksa, with a pair of dark red eyes full of ferocity. The steel trident in its hand thrust straight at Ji Ning.

"I'll catch it and take a look." Ji Ning reached out, his palm instantly expanding, blotting out the sky like a huge canopy covering the emerald yaksa. This was Ji Ning's Star Picking Hand divine ability. The yaksa sensed a great crisis and screamed in fury, "Break!"

"Eh, is the emerald yaksa speaking the language of the Nine Directions Chaos Country?" Ji Ning mused.

But his hand showed no mercy.

Boom~~~

Although the steel trident stabbed into his palm, the massive Star Picking Hand still grabbed the emerald yaksa in one grip. No matter how the yaksa struggled, it could not escape.

"Tell me, what is this world all about? And what about the thousands of Celestial Immortals who came before?" Ji Ning's hand held the opponent tightly as he coldly demanded.

"Hehe, didn't expect you to have some strength." The trapped emerald yaksa let out a piercing laugh, its dark red eyes scrutinizing Ji Ning. "Interesting, interesting. I haven't met a formidable opponent in a long time. To capture my clone in one move—that's more like it. Interesting."

"Clone?" Ji Ning was taken aback.

"Kid, this is just the beginning." The emerald yaksa grinned fiercely, then suddenly turned into a stream of water. The water quickly tried to escape from Ji Ning's grasp.

"Turning into water?" Ji Ning shouted coldly. "Even if you turn into a ghost, don't think you can escape."

Boom.

Another giant palm descended.

Ji Ning's left and right hands, like two massive dark clouds, slammed together fiercely! Boom~~~~ The stream of water caught between the two giant palms was completely annihilated, leaving only a piercing shriek echoing in the sky: "Hahaha, interesting, interesting."

Having killed the emerald yaksa, the white-robed youth stood on the Ruyi Spirit Snake Shuttle. The sea breeze blew, making his white robe flutter.

"From what the emerald yaksa said, that was just one of its clones? And it attacked me without warning. The reason I haven't encountered any Celestial Immortals—could they all be dead?" Ji Ning shuddered at the thought. That was thousands of Celestial Immortals! Although most were ordinary, there were also top-tier ones, some even stronger than Ji Ning!

Without relying on the Luohou Formation, Celestial Immortals like Red Snow, Silver Moon, and Golden Crow of the Fangcun Mountain lineage were not opponents Ji Ning could defeat. In direct combat, Ji Ning's 'Dao' was still lacking. Only if his Sword Force reached the fourth level would his frontal combat ability match theirs.

"I need to be more careful."

The Ruyi Spirit Snake Shuttle continued flying forward.

...

"Interesting, destroying one of my clones outright."

"Hahaha... it's been a while since I've faced such a strong opponent."

"The strong ones are more fun."

"Gagaga."

"Kill, kill, kill."

Emerald yaksas rushed from various sea areas ahead of Ji Ning, their piercing shrieks echoing through the sky. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ji Ning, riding the Ruyi Spirit Snake Shuttle, also heard the shrieks reverberating in the sky. Shrieks and strange laughs came from all over the ocean, clearly in great numbers.

"All gathering?" Ji Ning's eyes held candlelight as he looked around, even seeing through the seawater at the emerald yaksas below.

"So many." Ji Ning was shocked. His Candle Dragon's Gaze alone saw over a hundred yaksas. Although he had easily killed one earlier, that yaksa was actually at the Celestial Immortal level in strength. If there were enough of them, they could overwhelm him.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!!!! Seawater exploded everywhere. Around Ji Ning, emerald yaksas burst out of the water and stood on the surface, all staring at him with ferocious greed.

Ji Ning willed the Ruyi Spirit Snake Shuttle away. He had noticed that his shuttle was slower than these yaksas in water. Since that was the case, he could only fight, not escape.

"Five hundred and nineteen clones." Ji Ning produced two blood-colored divine swords. At this point, he had to rely on his swordsmanship.

"I don't wish to be your enemy." Ji Ning's gaze swept over the dense crowd of emerald yaksas.

"Hahaha, but kid, I want to kill you." All five hundred and nineteen yaksas spoke the same words simultaneously, their voices merging and capable of unsettling the Dao heart. "Be careful, or if you die by my hand, don't say I used tricks. I'm coming to kill you fair and square."

Ji Ning held his divine swords, even more cautious.

"Go."

Immediately, swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh... ten emerald yaksas, holding steel tridents, surrounded and attacked Ji Ning.

White-robed Ji Ning held two blood-colored divine swords. Suddenly, a killing intent flashed in his eyes, and the two swords turned into blurs.

Puchi, puchi, puchi...

One by one, the emerald yaksas were split in half. In one move, all ten were cut in two.

Shadowless Style of the Brightmoon Sword Art!

The most bizarre and swift Shadowless Style strikes from angles the enemy cannot anticipate, cleaving them in two. Clearly, these emerald yaksas could not withstand Ji Ning's swordsmanship.

"Hm?" Ji Ning's expression changed slightly. The bisected yaksas first turned into water streams, then each stream reformed into an emerald yaksa. The killing intent in the eyes of the five hundred and nineteen yaksas grew even more frenzied.

At the same moment, over five hundred yaksas charged at Ji Ning.

"Three Heads, Six Arms!" Ji Ning manifested three heads and six arms, holding six divine swords. Facing such a pervasive swarm of enemies, he dared not use the Grand Thousand Sword Formation.

Confronting the overwhelming onslaught of emerald yaksas, Ji Ning's six blood-colored swords turned into streaks of blood-red blurs. Too fast! The blurs surrounded him, blocking all incoming yaksas. Many were sliced apart and sent flying, only to reform intact.

Although they could reform after being cut, Ji Ning sensed that the yaksas he had killed were noticeably weaker.

Yet Ji Ning also felt threatened.

After all, there were too many enemies, each at the Celestial Immortal level. Even with his swordsmanship, occasionally a yaksa would strike his divine body. However, his body, cultivated through the Nine Cycles of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, was not easily damaged. If this continued, the enemy would likely collapse first. He was only using Three Heads, Six Arms, which consumed very little divine power. At the Celestial Immortal level, with a nearly perfect divine body, he could fight for months. If he used Star Picking Hand, his sustained combat time would shrink by a hundredfold.

"Damn it!!!" An angry roar echoed across the sky.

Over five hundred emerald yaksas flew backward simultaneously, hovering in midair, all furious. Then they quickly began colliding with each other, merging upon impact. The number of yaksas in the air decreased as they fused into fewer and fewer.

The fused yaksas first became deep green, then black, then dark gold. When the last two dark gold yaksas collided, they merged into a single golden yaksa, whose powerful aura made Ji Ning tremble.

This golden yaksa stood ten zhang tall, its aura nearly approaching that of a True God.

"To make me, the original body, come out, you're not bad. In all these years, over a thousand Celestial Immortals have died without ever seeing my original body." The golden yaksa said in a low voice.

"What? Over a thousand Celestial Immortals?" Ji Ning's heart trembled. Most of those thousands of Celestial Immortals were from the Nuwa Camp, especially those who entered during ancient times. Ji Ning had thought that if he could get out, he might find a way to bring out the thousands of Celestial Immortals from his side.

So...

So many had died at this yaksa's hands. Indeed, with over five hundred yaksas besieging, it was not easy to break through.

"But the Celestial Immortals who have died at the hands of my original body number over two thousand." The golden yaksa looked at Ji Ning. A flash of light appeared in its hand, revealing a very ancient steel trident, whose aura was clearly much stronger.

"You should be grateful to die at the hands of my original body." The golden yaksa grinned fiercely. "You all want the treasures left by my master—do you think it's that easy?"

Ji Ning's pupils contracted.

Master?

Ever since entering the Moon Underwater Pool world, Ji Ning had felt that this was a place created by some ancient mighty being. The floating wooden bridge spanning billions of li, blocking even mental power and heart force, seemed deliberately crafted. It didn't seem like a naturally evolved chaos.

"If you want treasures, trade your lives for them!" The golden yaksa laughed weirdly, then, holding the ancient steel trident, vanished with a swoosh, leaving a golden trail in the air as it appeared before Ji Ning. Too fast! Ji Ning could only swing his swords to block.

Boom~~~

Ji Ning was sent flying backward like a meteor. In that exchange, he understood: "Its strength is nearly that of a True God. No wonder over three thousand Celestial Immortals have died by its hand."