Chapter 23: Terror

The 'Dao Tree' within Ji Ning's golden core chaos space was now over thirty thousand zhang tall, and his sword arts had reached an extremely high level. The six Eternal weapons, 'Ziguang Qiong', in his hands possessed terrifying power. With the power of the blueflower mist enhancing his body, Ji Ning's divine body was comparable to that of a First Step Dao Lord. And yet...

"Boom~~~"

Ji Ning stumbled backward, flying in reverse, but his sword technique remained unperturbed as he kept his eyes fixed on the distant golden strange bat.

"Its strength is too great," Ji Ning thought in shock. "Its combat skills are clearly mediocre, yet it still overwhelms me."

The golden strange bat spread its enormous wings, its gaze shifting into the distance. It noticed that among the ninety-plus cultivators battling its horde of children, the cultivators were gradually gaining the upper hand as the number of bats dwindled. This made the golden strange bat anxious.

"Hmph, I'll let you live a little longer." The golden strange bat's piercing voice rang out as it suddenly arced through the air, attempting to bypass Ji Ning and attack the other cultivators.

"What!"

"No!"

The other ninety-plus cultivators, who had been watching the battle, were all alarmed.

They had long noticed that the golden strange bat was extremely fast, but it was too proud. Earlier, it had stood motionless, allowing the three cultivators including Nineheart World God to attack it. And just now, it had been locked in a prolonged frontal battle with Ji Ning. Now, the golden strange bat was clearly impatient, abandoning its pride to bypass Ji Ning and kill the other cultivators.

"Don't flee!" Ji Ning bellowed. Lightning wings materialized behind him, and with a single flap, his speed skyrocketed.

"Stop!"

From Ji Ning's brow, a dazzling crimson-gold lightning bolt shot forth, its speed far surpassing that of the golden strange bat, striking the bat directly. This was the 'Nine Source Divine Thunder' that Ji Ning had cultivated.

"Crackle..." The crimson-gold lightning completely enveloped the golden strange bat. Though the bat's powerful body ignored the lightning, the binding force of the lightning was immense, like a peak World God desperately pulling at it, slightly slowing the bat's speed.

Ji Ning was already fast, at the Dao Lord level, and with the lightning wings, the speed gap between them was small. With the 'Nine Source Divine Thunder' restraining the bat, Ji Ning quickly caught up.

"Damn it!" The golden strange bat was furious.

"Good!"

"Brother Beiming, impressive!"

"Daoist Beiming, my respects."

Cheers and laughter came from the distance.

Ji Ning caught up to the golden strange bat, his six Eternal weapons like bloody evil dragons, madly attacking the bat and entangling it once more.

"Everyone, help out and quickly finish off the bats," Ji Ning called out with a smile.

"Alright!"

"These bats are easy to deal with."

"Everyone, hurry up. Brother Beiming is holding off the golden bat, and it's not easy." The cultivators, seeing hope of survival, did their utmost to slaughter the bats.

...

Ji Ning fought the golden strange bat one-on-one, releasing the Nine Source Divine Thunder to suppress his opponent. The full power of the divine thunder concentrated on the golden bat only slightly affected its speed, making Ji Ning marvel at the bat's formidable body.

"If I used the Yuanyi Water-Fire Gourd to release the Water-Fire Divine Thunder, it would be stronger than my Nine Source Divine Thunder," Ji Ning mused. "But probably only by one level, enough to give me the upper hand, but still very difficult to kill this golden bat."

The Yuanyi Water-Fire Gourd contained two Dao Divine Thunders.

Dao Divine Thunders could sweep away anything below the Dao Lord level! At most, they could kill a World God at perfection in one strike, perhaps slightly stronger than the 'Nine Source Divine Thunder' Ji Ning had painstakingly cultivated.

The two 'Dao Divine Thunders', combined as water and fire, were even more powerful. They could probably kill a peak World God in one strike, heavily wound beings beyond peak World God, and strongly bind a First Step Dao Lord. But the golden bat's physical strength was too great; its claws, teeth, and tail were comparable to Eternal weapons, while weaker parts like its belly and wings were comparable to Dao weapons. Ji Ning's swords could barely harm its body.

"Moreover, the Yuanyi Water-Fire Gourd is a valuable treasure. I spent five hundred thousand cubes of chaos nectar to buy it. If I used it, the Dao Divine Thunder would be easily recognized, and the Yuanyi Water-Fire Gourd is a well-known Eternal treasure. Once recognized, when these cultivators reach the other side of the Dark Sea and spread the news, I'll be in trouble."

Though they were in the same boat now, a treasure worth five hundred thousand cubes of chaos nectar would tempt not only World Gods but even Lifeline Dao Lords. Ji Ning bought it as a trump card, to be used when his life was at stake, and also to aid in cultivating the lower chapter of the Nine Source Divine Thunder.

...

"Kill, kill, kill!"

"Haha, exhilarating!"

"Kill!"

With Ji Ning holding back the golden strange bat, the cultivators gained the upper hand, and the bats died in increasing numbers.

"Daoist Beiming, hold on a little longer. We'll come to support you soon."

"Coming right away."

The cultivators accelerated their slaughter.

The golden strange bat, constantly restrained, let out an angry, piercing shriek. Unable to bear it any longer, it roared, "Children, retreat! Retreat! We're leaving!"

"Boom~~~" The golden strange bat flapped its enormous wings, stirring up spatial turbulence, and swiftly fled into the distance.

The nine silver strange bats and the remaining black bats also fled in panic, all moving at great speed.

Ji Ning watched the golden strange bat disappear into the distance. He did not pursue, as chasing might lead to an attack by all the bats, and these bats were born in the Dark Sea, knowing it best. Pursuing might lead him into dangerous areas.

"It's over." Ji Ning sighed in relief. Making the bats retreat was a good outcome, as his goal was to reach Tiancang Territory, not to kill the golden bat.

...

On the flying ship.

All the cultivators returned to the flying ship, which began to accelerate.

"Brother Beiming, we owe you this time. Without you, we would have all died."

"Haha, I'm ashamed. I thought I was one of the strongest on this ship, but now I see Brother Beiming could defeat me in one move."

"On this ship, we actually encountered someone beyond peak World God. Rare, rare. Daoist Beiming, let me toast you."

Laughter filled the flying ship.

With the enhancement of the formation, someone beyond peak World God could match a First Step Dao Lord. So most believed Ji Ning was beyond peak World God. But they didn't know that Ji Ning's 'blueflower mist power' enhancement was far stronger than the formation's, making the formation's boost negligible.

Ji Ning naturally wouldn't reveal this, as it was his great secret.

"Without everyone, if I were surrounded by the golden bat and thousands of others, I would have died too." Ji Ning smiled and chatted with the other cultivators over drinks.

...

In the Dark Sea, spatial turbulence raged.

The flying ship carried ninety-eight cultivators at high speed. Inside, they drank and laughed, celebrating their survival. Just then...

"Whoosh~~~" A massive black hole, millions of miles wide, appeared in the spatial turbulence. From within, a head slowly emerged.

The head was enormous, millions of miles in size, its eyes like two blazing fire stars, looking down at the flying ship.

"What!"

"Heavens!"

"This is..."

The cultivators on the ship, still holding their wine cups, stared in terror. Even Ji Ning felt his truesoul tremble, sensing an overwhelming threat—the warning from the River of Destiny...

"Whoosh." The enormous head opened its mouth, forming a pitch-black spacetime passage. Even Ji Ning, the strongest among them, could not escape the suction despite flapping his lightning wings.

The entire flying ship was sucked in, along with all ninety-eight cultivators, into the dark spacetime passage.

Inside the passage, spacetime twisted.

Soon, the flying ship and the ninety-eight cultivators vanished into the mouth of the enormous head.

The head's two fire-star-like eyes scanned the surroundings, then slowly withdrew into the black hole, which closed, and the Dark Sea returned to normal.

But the flying ship carrying the ninety-eight cultivators had disappeared from the Dark Sea.