Chapter 40: Ji Ning and the Heartforce General

"The formations and restrictions of Black Lotus Imperial City are no longer a threat." Void Immortal said with a smile.

"Mm." Mistrock Star Lord nodded. "Everyone, the seven thousand Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals are already fighting. Now it's our turn. Black Lotus and the other five are inside the city, unable to evade my starlight. Everything proceeds according to the plan."

"Good."

"Let's go."

"Kill."

Each of these World Gods and Chaos Immortals revealed killing intent.

…

"Ji Ning, dispatch a squad from your Ancestral Gods to protect Immortal Floatingkeeper." Mistrock Star Lord's command echoed in Ji Ning's ears.

Boom~~~

A torrent of icy blades howled toward him. Ji Ning, now ten thousand miles tall, wielded two divine swords, slashing them apart. The many formations and restrictions within Black Lotus Imperial City had been triggered, launching all kinds of attacks wildly at their seven thousand Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals.

"Yes, Star Lord." Ji Ning immediately acknowledged, then transmitted: "Captain Food Mountain, lead your squad of one hundred and ten Ancestral Gods to protect Immortal Floatingkeeper."

Ji Ning commanded nine squads in total; the squad led by Ancestral God Food Mountain was closest to Floatingkeeper the Chaos Immortal.

"Understood."

Immediately, over a hundred Ancestral Gods converged, surrounding Floatingkeeper the Chaos Immortal.

"Follow me." Floatingkeeper stood on a massive formation diagram that swirled with four-colored light, its power terrifying. Food Mountain and the other hundred-plus Ancestral Gods dispersed around him, ready to intercept any attacks from the formations and restrictions of Black Lotus Imperial City.

Ji Ning and his thousand Ancestral Gods—

Though scattered, some protecting Chaos Immortals, others in various corners of the city, they remained as one.

A grand formation like the 'Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation' could be maintained even when expanded to the size of a Chaos World. Of course, if it expanded further... the distance would become too great, and the formation would fail.

"Whoosh." "Whoosh." "Whoosh."...

The nine World-level experts split into six teams, each surrounded by over a hundred Ancestral Gods for protection. They charged toward the six World-level experts of the Black Lotus Empire.

…

Inside Black Lotus Imperial City.

The World-level experts of both sides clashed.

"Flying Roc." Mistrock Star Lord, handsome in his starry robes, stared coldly at the distant green-eyed old man. The old man held a pagoda-shaped treasure that emitted the howls of countless living beings—a terrifying, sinful cry that would shatter the minds of weaker beings.

"Mistrock Star Lord?" Flying Roc Immortal, pagoda in hand, sneered as he looked at the black-robed, black-haired man beside Mistrock Star Lord. "Two coming at me together? You flatter me."

"Flying Roc." Blackmist World God said calmly, "You die today."

"Oh, is that so?" Flying Roc Immortal sneered and waved his hand. Suddenly, a group of figures appeared behind him—a full thousand Ancestral Gods, each radiating world ripples, as if one entity.

"Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation?" Mistrock Star Lord's expression changed.

He hadn't expected Flying Roc Immortal to have a 'Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation' of a thousand Ancestral Gods. This complicated matters. Everyone knew the formation excelled at resistance and entanglement. He and Blackmist World God together could handle Flying Roc easily. Alone, a Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation wasn't hard either. But Flying Roc combined with the formation... that was troublesome.

"Hm?" Mistrock Star Lord frowned. His starlight, permeating everywhere, detected that Black Lotus God-Emperor also had an extra Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation.

"Two Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formations?" Mistrock Star Lord was startled.

"Everyone be careful... the Black Lotus Empire has two Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formations. One protects Black Lotus God-Emperor, the other protects Flying Roc Immortal." Mistrock Star Lord transmitted.

"How is that possible?"

"How do they have two formations?"

"Was our attack on the Black Lotus Empire leaked in advance?"

"Impossible. If it had leaked, the Black Lotus Empire would have spared no expense to buy more formations, not just two squads."

"If not leaked... they normally have two formations?"

The World-level experts of Mistrock's side exchanged transmissions, all on high alert.

Everyone knew well what a Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation meant.

Purchasing one formation cost roughly three hundred square of Chaos Nectar! Ji Ning had sold many treasures to scrape together just over a hundred square, about the wealth of an ordinary World-level expert. Even some extremely powerful World-level experts might have treasures worth over five hundred square, but they usually spent it on artifacts, rarely spending three hundred square on a formation.

Across Mistrock Star.

Only Void Immortal, whose strength was unfathomable and who had wandered far, possessed one formation. The other eight World-level experts had none. Mistrock Star originally had three sets of Lesser Thousand Ancestral God/Immortal Formations, passed down through generations. This time, they had sold some treasures of the Mistrock Star lineage at great cost to acquire three more formations.

Seven formations total—six were the foundation of Mistrock Star's lineage, and one was borrowed from Void Immortal.

This showed how rare the formations were.

But the Black Lotus Empire?

The Black Lotus Empire was founded by Black Lotus God-Emperor himself, with little heritage. The other five World-level experts were temporary allies, none particularly remarkable, and none would be extravagant enough to buy a formation, as they didn't have a thousand Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal slaves.

So where did these two formations come from?

"None of the other World-level experts have a thousand Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal slaves."

"Only Black Lotus God-Emperor, though he doesn't have that many slaves, does have an army of several thousand Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals. He might have bought one formation. But how could he, who founded the Black Lotus Empire himself, afford two formations?" This made the nine World-level experts of Mistrock's side wary.

…

Black Lotus God-Emperor stood on a massive nine-petal black lotus.

The lotus spun, its leaves rippling.

Around him, a thousand Ancestral Gods formed a perimeter.

"Black Lotus, it seems we've underestimated you." Void Immortal, Sky Hydroxyl Immortal, and Goldencloud World God stood in midair, surrounded by a hundred Ancestral Gods who shielded them from the formation attacks.

Mistrock's side had nine World-level experts.

Three went after Black Lotus God-Emperor.

Two went after Flying Roc Immortal.

The rest fought one-on-one, aiming not to kill but to tie down.

"Since you've come to my territory, don't bother leaving." Black Lotus God-Emperor swept his gaze calmly. "Kill."

"Kill!" The thousand Ancestral Gods around him roared and charged.

…

Ji Ning could sense six massive disturbances across the city—the six battlefields of the World-level experts.

Fortunately, this was Black Lotus Imperial City.

Fortunately, the starlight of the legacy treasure 'Mistrock Star' suppressed everything.

Otherwise, with this level of battle, the entire Chaos World would have shattered long ago.

"We have it easy." Ji Ning and the other seven thousand Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals focused solely on battling the formations and restrictions.

"Boom~~~"

A bolt of purple-gold lightning-fire struck at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning slashed it apart with his sword.

The impact instantly dispersed; the intangible spacetime bore over ninety-nine percent of it, and the remaining was shared among the thousand Ancestral Gods.

"Whoosh." Ji Ning flew in another direction. As the core of a Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation, as long as he was within the city, it didn't affect the formation. Ordinary Ancestral Gods were assigned to specific areas, but the core had no fixed zone.

"The Star Lord is truly formidable."

Ji Ning wandered, suppressing the formation's power. After observing two World-level battlefields, he finally reached Mistrock Star Lord's.

Mistrock Star Lord blazed brilliantly.

Countless rays of starlight radiated from him, making him an emperor surrounded by stars.

He alone suppressed Flying Roc Immortal and the thousand Ancestral Gods. Blackmist World God assisted, but Flying Roc, with his floating pagoda, and the thousand Ancestral Gods held on. The 'Lesser Thousand Ancestral God Formation' excelled at entanglement and resistance.

"Hm?" Ji Ning suddenly froze.

Among the thousand Ancestral Gods, a gray-robed, black-haired old man also saw Ji Ning.

Their eyes met.

Sparks seemed to fly.

"Source Elder?" Ji Ning had long received detailed intelligence on the Heartforce General, including his appearance. He recognized him instantly, and that gaze made him utterly certain—it was Source Elder!

"Ji Ning?" The Heartforce General saw a blurry figure of an Ancestral God from Mistrock's side in the distance. Recognizing the face, his heart trembled.