Chapter 29: The Mighty Warriors

In this gray, hazy space there was nothing else. Ji Ning trod upon the gray gaseous ground as if it were solid earth.

"Where exactly is the trial of the Divine Abilities Hall?" Ji Ning swept his gaze around, when suddenly with a "whoosh" sound, a massive black stele appeared out of nowhere and landed on the ground. This black stele was densely covered with about a hundred divine demon characters.

"Use the power of the divine demon!"

"Choose any weapon beside you."

"Go and slaughter!"

"Divine abilities are the ultimate techniques of slaughter."

"The more mighty warriors you slay, the more powerful the divine abilities you will obtain. If you slay too few, you won't even get the seventh divine ability. The seven divine abilities... are right there. Slaughter wildly to your heart's content. When you fall and your body shatters, the trial of the Divine Abilities Hall will be considered over."

Looking at the divine demon characters on the stele, a huge long table appeared out of thin air not far from the black stele. On the table were laid out a vast number of weapons: hundreds of swords, hundreds of sabers, hundreds of spears, hundreds of staffs... densely packed weapons piled on the table.

"Truly choose any I wish." Ji Ning was astonished at the sheer quantity of weapons.

Ji Ning dared not hesitate.

Swish! Swish!

He immediately picked up two longswords of the same size and length as the Northmoon swords.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning hesitated slightly. "Just using sword techniques and the Rainwater Sword Domain doesn't consume much of my mental energy."

Immediately, many of the thinner longswords on the table flew up—nine swords in total. In this trial, the yellow-furred bear had only said that qi-refining methods were forbidden. The soul, however, was inherent to all living beings; his powerful soul's divine sense could not be considered a qi-refining method.

"Though my divine sense controls these nine swords with somewhat weaker power, they can still serve as assistance." Ji Ning thought to himself.

In this battle...

He had to do his utmost to obtain a higher divine ability. Even if he obtained the sixth or seventh, he might not be able to kill Immortal Xu Li with them. The most fatal thing was that neither the yellow-furred bear nor the black stele had told him how many kills were needed for the third divine ability, or how many for the first.

...

Just as Ji Ning had chosen his swords, the gray gas in the surrounding void began to rapidly condense, forming humanoid creatures.

"This is!" Ji Ning's heart tightened.

These humanoid creatures were all very sturdy, with three eyes full of ferocity. They were nearly naked, only wearing loincloths or aprons around their waists. Each had some flab on their bodies and carried weapons—some great axes, some long staffs, some large hammers.

Their breathing was like thunder, their footsteps made the earth tremble, and their entire bodies exuded a surging, murderous aura.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of these humanoid monsters had condensed from all directions.

"Are these the 'mighty warriors' mentioned on the black stele?" Ji Ning was startled. He had read many books, and some legends recorded that under certain great powers there were 'mighty warriors'—laborers like gate-guarding warriors, cauldron-bearing warriors, mountain-guarding warriors, even mountain-carrying warriors, sea-treading warriors...

Their names varied with their tasks, and of course their strength differed greatly.

According to legend, mighty warriors were generally not living beings but servants with simple intelligence created by great powers. Of course, if some powerful individuals chose to serve under a great power and willingly took the title of 'mighty warrior,' that was also possible. But ordinary, numerous mighty warriors were not considered living beings.

"Kill!"

"Kill!" The hundreds of fierce warriors, wielding weapons, stepped on the mist and turned into a gale, charging directly at Ji Ning.

They shouted the divine demon word for 'kill,' their three ferocious eyes locked on Ji Ning, and their speed was astonishing—in an instant, they crossed a hundred zhang to reach him.

"Die!"

Rain began to fall, drizzling down, covering an area of several hundred zhang.

The raindrops instantly became sharp as knives, slicing into the warriors. Infused with the mysteries of the Dao, these raindrops were immensely powerful. The warriors howled one after another, cut to pieces, then turned into mist and vanished.

In the distance, more warriors were still condensing, even more than before.

"Kill." Ji Ning did not hesitate, controlling the rain to slaughter the warriors.

The Rainwater Sword Domain was a domain of the Dao, his own comprehension of the Dao.

The rain was gathered from the power of heaven and earth.

This could not be considered a qi-refining method.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning's expression changed slightly. "The warriors are growing stronger—faster, tougher, and even their axe and hammer techniques are improving."

Killing these warriors through the Rainwater Sword Domain had become noticeably harder.

...

In this gray space, warriors continuously condensed, and Ji Ning, relying on the Rainwater Sword Domain, slaughtered them in large numbers. In just five breaths, he had killed over a dozen waves, numbering thousands of warriors.

"Chi chi chi..."

The rain cut into the warriors' sturdy bodies, leaving scars, but could no longer kill them.

"The Rainwater Sword Domain alone is not enough." Ji Ning's eyes flashed with a sharp light. First, blooming water-fire lotuses condensed from the rain around him. These huge, blooming lotuses madly shredded the warriors, who tried to block and dodge with their weapons, but some still fell.

Swish! Swish! Swish!...

Nine beams of sword light shot through the air—the nine swords controlled by Ji Ning's divine sense. Under his divine sense, each sword executed his strongest sword technique—'Threading Rain into Silk'! He had chosen only nine swords because controlling more with his divine sense would make it hard to execute such powerful techniques.

"Hua hua hua..." Like slicing melons and vegetables, the swords, though only at the Zifu early stage in raw power, were immensely deadly thanks to the sword technique and the Rainwater Sword Domain.

Sword light flashed, and large numbers of warriors were cut in half, then turned into mist.

With the Rainwater Sword Domain, water-fire lotuses, and divine sense-controlled swords, Ji Ning slaughtered the warriors at an astonishing speed.

...

Ji Ning had used the 'Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Talisman' to reach Serpentwing Lake and then entered the water mansion. In truth, it took very little time; the only slightly longer part was his conversation with the yellow-furred bear, still far less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

While Ji Ning was now slaughtering warriors in the Divine Abilities Hall space...

Oxhorn Mountain, halfway up.

"Yichuan, be careful on this trip." Ji Jiuhuo looked at Ji Yichuan. "Delay as much as possible. We only have five people left, and we need to hold out for nearly two more days. Even with your old ailment, try to last as long as you can."

"I understand." Ji Yichuan nodded.

He glanced at the Whitewater Hound beside him. The Whitewater Hound gently nudged Ji Yichuan, reluctant to part.

"Xiaobai." Ji Yichuan gently stroked the Whitewater Hound.

His parents had died early; the ones dearest to him were his wife, his son, and this brother-in-arms 'Xiaobai.' Xiaobai had been with him far longer than his wife or son.

Only Xiaobai would always follow him.

Adventuring together...

Even with death ahead, he never flinched.

"I'm going." Ji Yichuan lowered his head and gently kissed the Whitewater Hound's head.

Tears glistened in the Whitewater Hound's eyes.

Ji Yichuan then turned and rushed into the channel where the miasma had parted. The Whitewater Hound watched him leave... He wanted to accompany Ji Yichuan, but once Ji Yichuan used the forbidden technique, his strength would soar, and with the support of the Nether Dragon Locking Heaven Formation, he would be even more formidable. As a Xiantian圆满 spirit beast, he would only be a burden.

Knowing he was a burden, knowing the danger, he still came because he understood that his most important brother, 'Ji Yichuan,' was likely going to die this time. How could he not come?

"Whitewater Hound." Ji Jiuhuo spoke.

The Whitewater Hound turned to look at the clan leader, Ji Jiuhuo.

"Our Ji clan now has only five people left, barely enough to maintain the Nether Dragon Locking Heaven Formation." Ji Jiuhuo said. "Once Yichuan dies, only four will remain, and the formation can no longer maintain its peak power. I have a bottle of 'liquid essence' left by Ji Ning here. You can try to break through with it. If you succeed and become a Zifu great demon, after Yichuan dies, you can take his place."

Trapped in the sealing formation, no one could escape...

Since they were going to die, let it be a more glorious death.

"Roar." The Whitewater Hound nodded gently and took the jade bottle in his mouth.

Back then, Ji Ning had used about a third of the liquid essence to break through to Zifu and stabilize the early Zifu stage. He hadn't wasted the rest but left it with the clan leader.

The Whitewater Hound's eyes burned with desire. He wanted to break through, to help his master, his big brother, his most important family in this world.

...

Water Mansion, outside the Divine Abilities Hall, the black ox and the yellow-furred bear stood there.

"Alas!" The yellow-furred bear sighed.

"Big brother? What's wrong?" The black ox quickly asked.

"Just as I expected." The yellow-furred bear lamented. "This Ji Ning is the only one in endless ages who truly has a chance to obtain the divine ability techniques left by our master. His soul is powerful enough to control objects with divine sense, and his comprehension of the Dao is extremely high, reaching the domain level. With the Rainwater Sword Domain and divine sense control, he swept through, killing countless warriors. But now the warriors are getting stronger, and he's struggling more and more. Even with his own two swords, it's still very hard."

"If he waited another five years,"

"his Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens might reach the eighth or even ninth level. Given his rate of progress in Dao comprehension, in five years his insights would also advance by leaps and bounds."

"With a stronger divine body and higher Dao comprehension, he would have a real chance at obtaining our master's divine ability techniques. What a pity, what a pity."

The yellow-furred bear shook his head and sighed.

"Then he...?" The black ox asked worriedly.

"His slaughter speed is fast; in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he's killed tens of thousands of warriors. But from what I can see, even obtaining the third divine ability technique is uncertain." The yellow-furred bear shook his head. "As for the first divine ability technique, he's far from it. What a pity, what a pity. If he had waited another five years..."

"Yes, but he refused to wait five years." The black ox sighed as well.

...