Chapter 8: The Great Demon God Cixiu

"Ji Ning, the Northming Sword Immortal? I seem to have heard of him." The foreign mighty one leaned back on his throne, chin in hand, muttering. Then his eyes lit up. "Ah, I remember now. He's said to be the fastest-rising genius in the Three Realms today, with talent no less than Houyi's. If my memory serves, the intelligence from the Voidgate Sect says his true body has been destroyed, and only his second incarnation lives."

"Second incarnation... How enviable. Those mortal lives grow step by step, yet have the chance to condense a second incarnation. But we, gods and demons born from chaos, don't even have that opportunity." The foreign mighty one shook his head with a sigh.

"How could those mortals compare to you, master?" One of the six golden-armored figures, a red-bearded old man, quickly chimed in.

"Hahaha..." The foreign mighty one laughed heartily, the sound echoing through the hall.

When the laughter subsided, the foreign mighty one looked down at the kneeling Youji Imperial Sovereign. "Youji, you say Ji Ning has the strength of a True God or Dao Ancestor? Isn't he just a third-rate True Immortal? Such inferior True Immortals—there are countless in the endless chaos."

"Three of my clansmen were killed by this Ji Ning. The last one, before dying, transmitted the scene he saw back to our clan's homeland." Youji Imperial Sovereign said respectfully.

"The scene he saw?" The foreign mighty one grew curious. "Let me see."

"Yes!" Youji Imperial Sovereign replied respectfully. He pointed into the void beside him, and a scene appeared. In it, three gray-robed foreigners were suddenly pierced by a black lightning serpent that flashed through them. The serpent was so fast that although the three sensed danger and tried to flee, they couldn't escape.

The black lightning serpent merely flickered.

Of the three gray-robed foreigners pierced, two died instantly, and the third was severely wounded. A white-robed youth materialized, reaching out his hand to perform a soul-search on the third foreigner, but the gray-robed one immediately committed suicide.

"So fast." The foreign mighty one's eyes lit up. He laughed, "Those fools at the Voidgate Sect said Ji Ning's true body was dead. He used the Nine-Angle Lightning Serpent escape technique—that technique requires a divine demon body to control. Clearly, his true body isn't dead. The mighty Voidgate Sect can't even handle such a simple matter."

"Indeed, he's not dead." A golden-armored one-armed man below frowned. "And to instantly kill three Celestial Gods while using the Nine-Angle Lightning Serpent technique—he didn't use a sword but his fingers to execute sword arts... That sword art... formidable, formidable."

Youji Imperial Sovereign below also said, "The Blade Lord is correct. In the Three Realms, Ji Ning is considered the supreme swordsman, said to have reached the fourth level of sword force, with sword speed surpassing the limits of the Heavenly Dao."

Of the six servants under the foreign mighty one, Youji Imperial Sovereign truly admired only this one-armed man.

"No." The golden-armored one-armed man shook his head. "While executing the Nine-Angle Lightning Serpent technique, he maintained such effortless swordplay—his sword is so perfectly rounded that it's beyond what the fourth level of sword force can achieve. I suspect... he may have reached the fifth level of sword force."

"What!"

"The fifth level of sword force?"

"How is that possible?"

The other golden-armored figures exclaimed, and Youji Imperial Sovereign was also shocked.

The foreign mighty one above frowned slightly and looked at the golden-armored one-armed man. "Blade, are you sure?"

"It's just my speculation. After all, he executed his sword art too quickly, while using the Nine-Angle Lightning Serpent technique. I couldn't see clearly, so it's only a guess." The golden-armored one-armed man fell silent.

The foreign mighty one pondered for a while.

These six subordinates were ones he had recruited while roaming the endless chaos. Among them, the one-armed man 'Blade' had chosen to follow him out of gratitude, even calling him master—this was the only servant the foreign mighty one respected. As for the others, he treated them as he pleased.

Since arriving at the Ancient Ruins, he had easily subdued the foreign mighty ones here, including the top ones like Youji Imperial Sovereign.

"Since Blade dares to say so, it might be true." The foreign mighty one thought to himself.

Using a blade and using a sword share some commonalities; both are extremely adept at offense.

"If he truly has reached the fifth level of sword force?" The foreign mighty one looked at the scene replaying in midair—Ji Ning killing the three gray-robed foreigners. "To reach such a realm in less than a thousand years of cultivation is truly terrifying. Of course, Blade's speculation might be wrong. But regardless, to achieve this in such a short time, he indeed has the strength of a True God or Dao Ancestor."

"Interesting." The foreign mighty one smiled.

"Wuxiao." The foreign mighty one transmitted directly. "Come here."

...

In another hall of the fortress, the Celestial Immortal Wuxiao was leisurely drinking wine. He was the Voidgate Sect's liaison here this time. His body was a puppet; even if destroyed, he didn't care at all, so he remained relaxed and carefree.

"Coming."

Wuxiao picked up his wine jar and rose, walking out. Soon he arrived at the foreign mighty one's location, with no one stopping him along the way.

"Greetings, Great Demon God Cixiu." Celestial Immortal Wuxiao bowed with a smile.

"Every time I see you, I'm delighted." The foreign mighty one above smiled. "That fool Wanwu always had that stinky expression before me. If not for his many subordinates and those indestructible Wanwu Envoys, I would have killed him long ago. Though I didn't see how Wanwu died back then, seeing you—the spirit of his original artifact—still pleases me."

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao remained smiling, unperturbed.

He had been enslaved by the Voidgate Sect and become a servant of the Lord of All Demons. Such teasing from this great demon god meant nothing to him.

"You were once the artifact spirit of the Wuxiao Divine Cauldron. That fool Wanwu used the cauldron to refine puppet cores, and you learned it all. But now you're enslaved by the Voidgate Sect—is that interesting? I think you'd be better off defecting to me." The foreign mighty one said with a smile.

"You?" Celestial Immortal Wuxiao said nonchalantly, "I don't care. If you can defeat my master, the Lord of All Demons, I would gladly defect to you."

"The Lord of All Demons?" The foreign mighty one frowned.

A prodigy.

The Three Realms could indeed produce prodigies. The native Nuwa had managed to cultivate to World God—that was prodigious enough. And the Lord of All Demons, before a World God, could lead a group of strong ones to escape, evading even the World God's pursuit—that was even more prodigious. A World God completely transcends the limits of the Heavenly Dao, whether in speed or other aspects, yet he couldn't catch the Lord of All Demons. The strong ones of the Three Realms might not realize how terrifying this was, but the 'Great Demon God Cixiu,' who had roamed the endless chaos, knew very well that stepping into the World level was a fundamental improvement.

The gap between a Patriarch God and a World God was immense.

To make a World God unable to catch up meant that the 'Lord of All Demons' had reached an inconceivable level in his comprehension of the Dao.

Now, the two major camps in the Three Realms.

The Nuwa camp—Nuwa had left behind some techniques and methods before leaving, which made the foreign mighty one very wary.

As for the Voidgate Sect, what made him most wary was the Lord of All Demons.

Both sides made him cautious, which was why he had never attacked the Three Realms and had even agreed to ally with the Voidgate Sect.

"Enough of that." The foreign mighty one pointed at the scene replaying in midair. "Take a look."

Wuxiao turned to look, and his expression changed. The white-robed youth who had transformed into a black lightning serpent and was about to perform a soul-search—wasn't that Ji Ning?

"Ji Ning." Wuxiao's smile vanished, replaced by a grim face. "Nine-Angle Lightning Serpent? His true body isn't dead yet?"

"Noticed?"

The foreign mighty one chuckled. "Your Voidgate Sect said Ji Ning's true body was dead, with the Lord of All Demons, Demonhand Dao Ancestor, and several others attacking... But now, appearing in the Youji World seems to be Ji Ning's true body."

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao looked at the scene replaying in midair, suppressing the anger and hatred in his heart, and said in a low voice, "Great Demon God Cixiu, this is indeed our Voidgate Sect's mistake. I have reported this matter upward. I believe my master will soon issue orders."