Chapter 21: The Lake of the Zifu

When a strand of sword light from Ji Ning's Small Thousand Sword Formation stabbed toward her, the slender He Xing's expression changed drastically: "Such terrifying sword light! No time to hesitate!" Her green hair suddenly burst with dazzling green light, and her entire body was faintly covered in a green light screen. The strand of sword light that had just pierced through the protective golden light struck the green light screen, which trembled, its surface faintly showing twisted runes, but ultimately shattered with a bang.

The remaining trace of sword light was already very weak, too weak to pierce He Xing's protective dharma robe.

"Big brother! The talisman bestowed by our master was broken in a single strike." He Xing said urgently.

Too terrifying.

The power of this strand of sword light was probably close to a casual strike from a Wanxiang Adept, and even the talisman given by their master could only withstand one blow.

"Little sister, let's fight with our lives." He Fang gritted his teeth. "Don't harbor any illusions of luck. We must be desperate to have a glimmer of hope."

"Mm." He Xing nodded.

Both siblings had a look of determination in their eyes. Their auras suddenly surged, and a layer of blood light appeared on their skin.

"Forbidden arts!" Ji Jiuhuo, Ji Ning, Granny Ying, and the old servant A Xing, who were besieging them from afar, all changed expression.

Forbidden arts...

Generally refer to taboo techniques that burn lifespan and the like, requiring a huge price. Once performed, it is extremely difficult to make up for it. Because the cost is great, strength soars after using forbidden arts.

"You want to kill us? Come on!"

"Come on!"

After using forbidden arts, He Fang and He Xing's eyes were filled with madness.

"They are cornered beasts now." Ji Jiuhuo sent a mental message. "Although we are besieging them, they are still Zifu Disciples and have used forbidden arts. If we are careless, one of us might die. We must be careful; the advantage is on our side. Better to give up an opportunity than to risk our lives. We just need to find one chance to kill them."

"Mm." Granny Ying squinted.

The old servant A Xing just stared at the distant He siblings, controlling his large hammer.

Ji Ning sent out a second strand of sword light.

The four joined forces!

They frantically besieged the He siblings. Among the five Zifu Disciples, the He siblings were actually average in strength, ranking after Dong Ziqi and Mu Si! Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, and old servant A Xing were all old fellows who had lived nearly four hundred years; these three were actually much stronger than the siblings. Not to mention the monstrous Ji Ning!

Only after using forbidden arts could the He siblings barely withstand the siege of the four.

"Despicable and cunning Ji clan." He Fang and He Xing cursed madly while controlling their magic treasures to defend. Because they had used forbidden arts, the power of their magic treasures increased significantly—especially the water screen that flew out of the clay pot, which could actually block the sword light of Ji Ning's Small Thousand Sword Formation!

Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

The opponent was a Zifu Disciple, while he himself only had Xiantian perfect-grade true essence. Being able to force the opponent to use forbidden arts across a grade was enough for the Small Thousand Sword Formation to be proud.

"Big brother, that Ji Ning is too strong." He Xing's eyes showed despair. "I can only barely block him with all my strength."

"I'm about to collapse here too." He Fang was simultaneously blocking the other three.

Suddenly—

Both He Fang and He Xing simultaneously produced a black-light talisman in their hands, instantly activating them. The two talismans transformed into dozens of black lights, attacking Ji Jiuhuo and the other three in an instant! Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, and old servant A Xing were greatly alarmed and quickly used their techniques to block, while Ji Ning held his twin swords, with water and fire lotuses spinning before him.

"Bang bang bang." Those black lights directly pierced through the water and fire lotuses but were blocked by Ji Ning's Beiming swords.

Ji Ning was forced back six heavy steps, cracking the ground beneath him.

"Impressive." Ji Ning glanced at his abdomen, which had a hole shot through it, but in the blink of an eye, the abdominal muscles rapidly grew back, leaving not even a scar.

"Ji Ning, if it weren't for you, we would have been injured by this alone, and one of us might even have died." Ji Jiuhuo felt a lingering fear. The black lights were too fast; once they pierced the body, the three of them were all Qi-refining practitioners and could easily die instantly.

Granny Ying also sent a mental message: "These two are indeed from a sect; they have many tricks. If we're not careful, we might fall. Let's increase the distance a bit; from farther away, we can respond more adequately."

"Mm." Ji Jiuhuo nodded. "They are almost at their limit. If we hold out a little longer, they will surely die."

Ji Ning frowned upon hearing this.

The three clan elders were all Qi-refining Zifu Disciples and dared not engage in close combat, because at close range some attacks were too fast to dodge and could easily kill. It was not wrong for them to keep their distance... but he himself was a Divine Body Refiner! How long would this delay last? A quick decision!

"Clan leader, leave it to me." Ji Ning sent a mental shout, and a pair of magic treasure wings appeared on his back. With a flap of the wings, Ji Ning shot forward like a soaring roc, instantly arriving before He Fang and He Xing.

"Be careful." Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, and old servant A Xing were startled, but knowing that Ji Ning was a Divine Body Refiner and had cultivated the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens, they were somewhat reassured.

"Well done." He Fang and He Xing were first startled, then overjoyed.

They had been holding back a bellyful of anger.

Ji Jiuhuo and the others were too cunning, deliberately keeping their distance and not giving them a chance to fight desperately! The siblings were completely suppressed, not daring to make any mistake; once they erred, they would be killed. But who could avoid mistakes forever? Just as they were despairing, Ji Ning charged in.

"Killing you would be worth it even if we die."

"The genius of the Ji clan."

The He siblings went mad, wanting to fight Ji Ning to the death.

Ji Ning, however, swooped in like a roc, arcing directly toward He Xing. His target was He Xing, who had already expended one protective treasure. In front of Ji Ning was a strand of sword light, and the Beiming sword in his hand executed his strongest sword technique—Rain of Silk into Thread!

"Pfft!"

The sword light flashed!

He Xing's beautiful head flew up, her eyes still filled with shock and disbelief.

"You, you..." He Fang beside her stared at Ji Ning.

There was a wound on Ji Ning's head, even crossing his brow, but it healed instantly. The reason he could kill Zifu Disciple He Xing in one exchange was not only because his swordsmanship far surpassed hers, but also because he used a mutual-destruction tactic, letting her sword stab him so he could kill her in one blow.

"You... have also reached the Zifu stage in Divine Body Refining?" He Fang couldn't believe it.

Divine Body Refining is much harder than Qi Refining.

Ji Ning had previously controlled the Small Thousand Sword Formation, clearly a Qi Refining technique, and he was only sixteen years old... He Fang and He Xing had thought that at his age, he had only opened the Zifu in Qi Refining! His Divine Body Refining probably hadn't opened the Zifu yet and should still be at the Xiantian lifeform stage. For ordinary Divine Body Refining techniques, the head is a vital point at the Xiantian stage; even the number one technique, the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens, only makes the whole body invulnerable at Xiantian perfection. So He Xing had wanted to risk it.

"Little sister." He Fang looked at the corpse on the ground and suddenly wailed, "Brother Ziqi, avenge us! Wipe out the Ji clan!!!"

"Retreat." Ji Ning's expression changed, and he flapped his magic treasure wings to pull back.

"Bang."

He Fang exploded.

His Zifu was like a huge lake, storing endless lake water—all liquefied yuan force! When He Fang detonated his Zifu, all the liquefied yuan force in the Zifu lake instantly vaporized, turning into a torrent of yuan force. He would rather blow up his body to vaporize all the liquefied yuan force at once, creating a terrifying amount of yuan force.

The surging, endless yuan force radiated in all directions! In an instant, the violent yuan force wave engulfed Ji Ning, who was retreating.

Rumble!!!

"Ji Ning!"

"Ji Ning!"

Ji Jiuhuo and the other two were greatly alarmed from afar.