Chapter 38: Fierce Battle

"What a terrifying blade." Ji Ning felt as if the nine secret arts he controlled, surging like a torrent, were about to be cleaved in two by that single strike. "But my secret arts are formless by nature!"

Drawing a blade to cut water only makes it flow more.

Ji Ning's nine secret arts—lightning, divine wind, divine fire, void, and so on—were all formless energies that could change shape at will.

Under that dreadful blade, the torrent of nine secret arts, which had been like a raging river, split into two halves. Even after splitting, their power remained undiminished. Two dragon-like sword beams still lunged straight at Lord Kunsa.

"Not good." Lord Kunsa's expression changed, and the black mist around him instantly swelled, becoming extremely dense.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft..."

The sword beams transformed from the nine secret arts could shift in a thousand ways. In an instant, they turned into eighteen sword beams, each surging fiercely. With the sword intent of 'Ultimate Sword Dao: Blooddrop,' they forcibly pierced through the black mist! In truth, Ji Ning's nine secret arts were far stronger than Lord Kunsa's dark secret arts, so breaking through was effortless.

"Heavenrend!" The moment the eighteen sword beams pierced the black mist, they suddenly changed, each like a whip of water, and struck Lord Kunsa's body with savage force.

Ever since comprehending the Ultimate Sword Dao,

Ji Ning had perfectly fused all sword schools together. What seemed like the gentlest of methods could unleash the most狂暴 sword intent.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom~~~"

The eighteen sword beams alternated between yin and yang, and also carried the wild fury of Heavenrend.

In an instant, Lord Kunsa transformed into darkness. The sword beams rampaged freely, causing his dark body to tremble slightly, but he easily withstood them.

"Impressive secret arts. Sword intent runs rampant, seeping into every crack." A human face appeared in the endless darkness, and he sneered.

"Seeping into every crack indeed."

Ji Ning, from afar, said, "Secret arts are formless by nature, like flowing water, so of course they seep into every crack. But precisely because they are formless... the power of these sword strikes is not great enough."

A water whip, whether thrusting or lashing,

is certainly less powerful than a true divine weapon used for thrusting or lashing. Divine weapons are hard and sharp.

"Ultimate Sword Dao: Yin-Yang." Ji Ning's gaze turned cold.

Rumble~~~

Instantly, the energy of the nine secret arts surged and churned over a range of a hundred million li, alternating yin and yang, madly stirring every inch of that area. Even though he had transformed into darkness, Lord Kunsa still felt the terror of this 'Yin-Yang Sword Intent Domain,' which pressed and bound him from every direction.

"Damn it." Lord Kunsa felt as if he were trapped in a quagmire. Ji Ning's secret arts were too strong, present everywhere, leaving no way to block them. At least Lord Kunsa's secret art treasures could not fully obstruct them.

"I hoped to use the nine secret arts to at least seriously wound him, if not kill him. But as expected of Lord Kunsa, who is nearly immortal—I couldn't even harm him." Ji Ning sighed inwardly. This was already his strongest move; all he could do was suppress his opponent.

In the end, his realm was too low.

His Ultimate Sword Dao was formidable, but he was only a one-step Daolord.

Take Lord Wanshan, a grandmaster of formations. His realm was far higher than Ji Ning's. With the same nine secret arts, combined with his terrifying formations, their power would be vastly greater.

...

Ji Ning sighed inwardly, unaware of how furious and shocked Lord Kunsa was. He, a rebel Daolord who roamed boundless territories, was actually being humiliated by a two-step Daolord today.

"Ah!"

A low, deep roar suddenly erupted from the endless darkness.

The dark light rapidly coalesced, vaguely revealing a black figure whose aura surged dramatically. He held a huge curved blade.

"Kid, forcing me to use my ultimate move—you can be proud of yourself."

"Die."

The blurry black figure instantly flew toward Ji Ning, and the massive curved blade in his hand slashed down at him.

This slash froze time and space.

This slash brimmed with murderous intent that soared to the heavens.

This slash sent a terrifying killing intent across infinite distance, directly crashing into Ji Ning's body and attacking his soul.

On the bow of the distant black flying ship, Ji Ning felt that dreadful killing intent assault his soul.

"Hmph!" In his sea of consciousness,

Ji Ning's soul let out a furious snort. The killing intent surged like a violent tide, but his soul remained unmoved.

After all, his soul was comparable to that of a four-step Daolord, and his heartforce was already on the verge of reaching the sixth level. Once he stepped into the sixth level, he would truly become a heartforce cultivator! Among Daolords, over ninety-nine percent were not heartforce cultivators. This enormous advantage in heartforce gave Ji Ning extremely strong resistance in this regard.

Moreover, according to the intelligence Ji Ning had obtained, Lord Kunsa did have means to affect the soul, but they were merely influences—nothing too terrifying.

What Lord Kunsa excelled at most was still close-quarters combat!

"Oh?" Lord Kunsa, from afar, watched Ji Ning with both anxiety and anticipation.

"Lord Kunsa, with such paltry tricks, you think you can shake my soul?" Ji Ning sneered.

Lord Kunsa was greatly shocked.

Attacking the soul was indeed not his forte, but its power was not weak. He had thought that a mere two-step Daolord, even with a high realm in the Dao, would have a relatively weak 'soul,' making it a major weakness. An ordinary four-step Daolord, struck by this attack, would at least be dazed for a moment.

"You do have some tricks, kid. If you have the guts, don't run. Fight me up close." Lord Kunsa roared angrily as he flew toward Ji Ning.

"Haha, I'm only a two-step Daolord... and you want me to fight you up close? Have you no shame? If I break through to the three-step Daolord, I'd fight you up close even then." Ji Ning piloted the black flying ship, easily keeping his distance while controlling the nine secret arts, either binding or attacking, repeatedly dealing with Lord Kunsa.

Lord Kunsa was also seething with frustration.

One fled, the other pursued.

In the chase, they kept exchanging blows. Ji Ning had an absolute speed advantage and was completely at ease.

...

"At this rate, I can't do anything to this kid." Lord Kunsa thought, "If I'm not mistaken, the secret arts he's using should be the legendary nine secret arts created by Lord Wanshan."

He hadn't recognized them at first because he had never fought against them, but having seen descriptions of these nine secret arts in the 'Dharma Realm,' after fighting for so long, he had made a deduction.

"I wonder how a two-step Daolord managed to cultivate such terrifying secret arts." Lord Kunsa mused, "I've heard that to master these nine secret arts, one must have insights into lightning, divine wind, divine fire, and so on, and most importantly, one must be a grandmaster alchemist. Even those with slightly mediocre alchemical skills cannot cultivate the nine secret arts. Could this two-step Daolord be a grandmaster alchemist?"

Lord Kunsa was also secretly puzzled.

"If he is a grandmaster alchemist, he couldn't have figured it out on his own. He must have either received a powerful inheritance or has an extremely formidable master." After fighting until now, Lord Kunsa was wary of Ji Ning. This was definitely not one of those four-step Daolords he had killed in the past who were easy to bully.

"Regardless."

"First, capture him alive! If there really is some powerful figure behind him, hmph, I am a core member of the Dao Alliance. Not just anyone can threaten me. Then I'll negotiate properly, force him to swear a lifeblood oath, and let him go." Lord Kunsa thought, "If there's no great power behind him, then this kid is mine to toy with."

Whoosh.

Lord Kunsa's divine sense instantly pierced through the sealing formation and descended upon one of the more than a hundred thousand caves on the edge of Tianmu City. Among the Daolords living in seclusion here, besides Kunsa, there were several other terrifying old monsters.

"Brother Sijia." Lord Kunsa immediately sent a telepathic message, "I'm ashamed to say it, but it seems I'll have to ask Brother Sijia to help me this time, to catch that kid."

Inside that cave,

A handsome man with golden hair and golden armor sat cross-legged in the courtyard, gazing at the heavens. He appeared to be an ordinary cultivator, but in truth, he was an extremely terrifying special lifeform. Among the old monsters living in seclusion in Tianmu City, he was arguably the fastest. It was only because the Dao Alliance had an inclusive spirit that beings from the Mangya Kingdom, the special lifeform race, and even ancient cultivators could live peacefully within the Dao Alliance.

Only their mortal enemies, the Eternal Clan and the Dark Kingdom, were unwelcome in the Dao Alliance.

"Kunsa, that seems to be just a little two-step Daolord. You can't catch him?" A trace of purple light flickered in Lord Sijia's eyes.

"I really can't. This kid has too many tricks. I have to ask Brother Sijia for help." Lord Kunsa said.

...