Chapter 25: Seventy-Two Flying Swords

Immortal Xu Li reached out his hand, and a great seal abruptly swelled and grew, like a tall wall charging at Ji Ning.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Bathed in fiery red light, Ji Ning’s wings merely fluttered once, tracing an arc as he evaded the seal and continued charging toward Immortal Xu Li.

“Go.” Immortal Xu Li manipulated the seal, which glowed with dense earthy yellow light, immediately turning to smash at Ji Ning again! The seal attacked Ji Ning repeatedly; after all, it was an Earth-ranked magic treasure, moving very fast in a straight line. But it was far less agile than Ji Ning.

Swish!

Ji Ning’s sword light flashed, turning into a streak of rain that ‘scraped’ against the edge of the seal. The seal went out of control and flew to one side, while Ji Ning once again traced an arc to shed the impact and closed in on Immortal Xu Li.

“Too fast, his speed is too fast, too agile.” Immortal Xu Li was shocked. In that brief moment, his Earth-ranked treasure and Ji Ning had exchanged several moves, yet even with his Earth-ranked treasure, Ji Ning had shaken him off with his movement technique.

“Go.”

Immortal Xu Li shouted, and a black rope appeared in his hand, emanating black qi. With a wave of his hand, the black rope rapidly expanded… becoming a rope over a hundred zhang long, like a giant serpent, coiling toward Ji Ning.

Earth-ranked treasure ‘Earth-Suppressing Seal’.

Earth-ranked treasure ‘Dark Serpent Rope’.

These were the two Earth-ranked treasures Immortal Xu Li relied on to travel the world—one hard, one soft, their combined power boundless. Usually, against weaker foes, he would simply crush them with the Earth-Suppressing Seal! But this time, he couldn’t hit Ji Ning, forcing him to unleash both killing moves.

“A rope?” Ji Ning looked at the hundred-zhang black rope coiling toward him, his expression shifting slightly.

“Trouble. That seal moves straight and can’t touch me, but this rope is best at trapping foes.” Ji Ning’s thoughts raced. “I absolutely must not let it bind me; once bound, I’ll lose for sure.”

In this battle, Ji Ning had gone all out from the start, using the divine ability Windwing Evasion to overwhelm his opponent with speed and agility and kill him!

But…

Immortal Xu Li stood still, merely unleashing two Earth-ranked treasures, and already made Ji Ning’s heart tremble.

“Water Walls!”

“Water-Fire Lotus!” Ji Ning’s thought moved, and the surrounding rain instantly transformed into spinning water walls. These layers of water walls, thin as cicada wings, were as sharp as blades, directly cutting through the oppressive moonlight, forming overlapping barriers.

At the same time, water-fire lotuses bloomed in the air around him, nine in total, at different positions, just enough to entangle the rope.

“Hmph, you think these tricks can block my treasure?” Immortal Xu Li sneered coldly.

The Dark Serpent Rope writhed madly. Puff puff puff puff!!!! Layers of water walls were smashed to pieces. Slap slap slap slap!!!! The water-fire lotuses were crushed as well. The power a Wanxiang Adept could unleash with an Earth-ranked treasure was far beyond what these water walls and lotuses could withstand.

But Ji Ning didn’t need to block them; he only needed to slow down the Dark Serpent Rope. If it slowed even a little, his Windwing Evasion divine ability would let him leave it behind.

“Swish!” “Swish!”

Rain filled the sky, water walls layered, lotuses blooming.

The Dark Serpent Rope and Earth-Suppressing Seal both sought to kill Ji Ning… but Ji Ning traced a winding path, like a zigzag bolt of lightning, flashing to appear before Immortal Xu Li.

“Let’s see how many Earth-ranked treasures you have.” Ji Ning’s Northriver sword swung, turning into a streak of rain, slicing toward Immortal Xu Li.

…

Nong Zidao and the others were completely stunned, not even daring to breathe. None of them had expected that monstrous Ji Ning genius to fight Immortal Xu Li head-on! Immortal Xu Li had already used two Earth-ranked treasures, yet still couldn’t subdue Ji Ning.

“Clearly, clearly before, he was about equal to Tong Yu.” Nong Zidao couldn’t believe what he saw. “How did Ji Ning’s speed suddenly skyrocket so much? Even with two Earth-ranked treasures, under the influence of the surrounding rain sword domain and water-fire lotuses, they can’t touch him.”

This speed was too fast!

“If he had been this fast when fighting Tong Yu, Tong Yu would have lost in one exchange.” Nong Zidao’s eyes held disbelief. “Did he just have a breakthrough?”

Monstrous.

Truly monstrous.

“Immortal Xu Li must win.”

“He must win.”

Lu Huang and the other Zifu cultivators silently prayed, because if Immortal Xu Li lost, he might escape with a minor teleportation talisman, but they would not.

…

“Ji Ning must win.” On the other side, Ji Jiuhuo and the others also prayed.

“Ji Ning and Immortal Xu Li are locked in a stalemate.” Ji Jiuhuo observed the battle through the Nether Dragon Locking Heaven Formation, speaking to Ji Yichuan beside him. “Immortal Xu Li has used two treasures, both extremely powerful. But Ji Ning’s speed is astonishing, unbelievably fast.”

Ji Jiuhuo narrated as he watched, while Ji Yichuan held his breath.

Tense.

This battle was the decisive one!

…

Facing Ji Ning, whom even two Earth-ranked treasures couldn’t stop, Immortal Xu Li suddenly roared: “Formation!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Seventy-two flying swords appeared out of thin air, each glowing with black light. They formed a circle around Immortal Xu Li, heavily guarding him.

“What.” Ji Ning, about to strike with his sword, was startled to see the flying swords before him, all turning into streaks of light and stabbing at him.

“Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!” Ji Ning held a Northriver sword in each hand, blocking nine flying sword attacks in quick succession, sending him flying backward, while the Dark Serpent Rope and Earth-Suppressing Seal closed in again.

Ji Ning’s wings fluttered, tracing an arc to evade.

The surrounding layers of rain and blooming lotuses hindered everything.

“How can this be!” Ji Ning’s expression changed as he stared at Immortal Xu Li, protected by the seventy-two flying swords.

“Seventy-two flying swords, each with power no less than my Northriver sword’s full strike.” Ji Ning had just used his full strength with the Northriver sword, and though his sword technique was exquisite, Immortal Xu Li’s flying swords were infused with mid-Wanxiang-level elemental power, only slightly inferior in realm to the Dao Domain.

Each flying sword alone was indeed comparable to Ji Ning’s full-powered Northriver sword strike.

“Hahaha…”

Immortal Xu Li laughed from afar. “Ji Ning, I’ve found your weakness. Using two Earth-ranked treasures against you was matching my weakness against your strength!”

“Though your speed is astonishing, you’re still a Zifu cultivator. I don’t need Earth-ranked treasures; these human-ranked flying swords alone are enough to deal with you.” Immortal Xu Li smiled. “And against someone as fast as you, the best tactic is to overwhelm you with many treasures.”

“With many treasures, your speed is neutralized.” Immortal Xu Li laughed.

Different opponents required different methods. In his usual fights with other Wanxiang Adepts, these flying swords were relatively weak, and he relied on Earth-ranked treasures to win. But against Ji Ning, human-ranked flying swords were sufficient.

“Return.” Immortal Xu Li smiled lightly. The great seal and black rope that had been chasing Ji Ning quickly flew back, circling around him.

“Go.” Immortal Xu Li pointed into the distance.

Whoosh!

Instantly, thirty-six flying swords shot through the air, attacking Ji Ning.

Though the layers of water walls and blooming lotuses tried to block them, the human-ranked flying swords, each as powerful as Tong Yu’s full strike, pierced through the obstacles. Though slowed, their numbers overwhelmed Ji Ning from all directions.

It was like thirty-six people attacking Ji Ning at once.

“Against you, quantity wins.” Immortal Xu Li was supremely confident.

…

Seeing the thirty-six flying swords coming, Ji Ning’s face changed. He used Windwing Evasion to pull away, while over six hundred flying swords appeared around him.

“Go!” Ji Ning’s face twisted with effort, pouring almost all his mental energy into the sword formation. The surrounding layers of water walls and blooming lotuses dissipated; his mental strength was already at its limit with the eighth level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation, unable to spare attention for the lotuses and walls.

Swish!

A strand of sword light quickly turned into a streak of rain, whistling toward Immortal Xu Li.

“Block.” Immortal Xu Li willed it, and the thirty-six flying swords chasing Ji Ning moved to intercept the rain. Bang! Three flying swords touched the rain, were blasted away, but the rain continued toward Immortal Xu Li.

“Oh?” Immortal Xu Li smiled. “Seems quite powerful.”

“Go.” Nine of the thirty-six flying swords beside him met it. Clang clang clang!!! After successive impacts, the rain finally dissipated.

Immortal Xu Li looked at Ji Ning and smiled lightly. “Your sword formation technique is indeed powerful. But… it’s still weaker than my Earth-ranked treasures. Even controlling these human-ranked flying swords, six are enough to fully block your sword formation’s sword light.”

“You’re dead.” Immortal Xu Li smiled confidently. “Kill.”

The thirty-six flying swords beside him also flew out, joining the thirty-six attacking Ji Ning.

“Eight-Nine Sword Formation! Kill!” A fierce light flashed in Immortal Xu Li’s eyes.

Boom!

The seventy-two flying swords instantly formed a huge arc, like an orderly army, all sword tips pointing at Ji Ning.

…