Chapter 30: White Water Marsh Takes Form

In the gray void, one after another, warriors condensed. These warriors were fierce, brutal, and fearless, wielding weapons such as hammers, spears, and battle axes, and uttering the ancient divine-demon word 'kill' from their mouths.

Rain fell like a curtain.

Layers of water walls bound these warriors, but now the 'rain' of the Rainwater Sword Domain could no longer kill them; it could only try to bind and slow them.

With a 'chi!', 'hua!', 'pu!', nine sword beams danced through the air.

Some warriors died with their heads pierced, some were cut in two, and some were beheaded...

'Die.'

Ji Ning wielded twin swords, employing the divine ability 'Windwing Evasion'. Behind him, wings formed from Chi Ming divine power materialized. This was the true form of the Windwing Evasion technique! The Yuchi clan, to hide their possession of this divine ability, had ordered their clan disciples to wear magical artifact wings when using it, thus concealing the technique.

A true divine ability has no need for magical artifacts.

'Swoosh!' Ji Ning moved like a ghost, tracing an arc. Where his figure passed, the twin swords in his hands turned into two arcing sword beams.

Slash!

Two rows of warriors were directly cut in half, each dying instantly, then dissipating into mist.

'Kill.' Wherever Ji Ning passed with his twin swords, warriors fell one after another.

'It's getting harder, much harder.' Anxiety showed on Ji Ning's face. 'The Rainwater Sword Domain and the Water-Fire Lotus can no longer kill them. Using my divine sense to control the nine swords, each sword can only kill a single warrior.'

At the start, the nine swords controlled by divine sense could sweep through large groups.

Now each sword had to focus on killing one at a time.

Only my true body can kill a row at once.

...

Warriors kept dying, and in the gray void, even more powerful warriors continuously emerged. The newly born warriors had stronger auras and even fiercer killing intent.

Chi! Chi! Chi! The nine flying swords left wounds on the roaring warriors, but they still charged at Ji Ning.

'Finally.'

'This moment has finally come. These new warriors can no longer be killed by swords controlled by divine sense alone.' Ji Ning gritted his teeth, turning into a streak of light again and again, his twin swords howling as they slew rows of warriors. Now only the swords in his hands could still kill them.

After all, the power of swords controlled by divine sense was only equivalent to the early Zifu stage.

Ji Ning's divine-mortal body, however, was at the late Zifu stage—two minor realms stronger. The two swords in his hands were naturally sharper and more powerful.

'Kill.'

Ji Ning fought with all his might.

...

The yellow-furred bear outside the Divine Abilities Hall knew exactly what was happening inside.

'The final struggle.' The yellow-furred bear sighed. 'Ji Ning is about to lose.'

'About to lose?' The black ox asked quickly. 'Can he obtain the third divine ability?'

The yellow-furred bear shook his head. 'Still a bit short. Now his Rainwater Sword Domain, divine sense control, and other methods are useless. He can only rely on the two swords in his hands to kill. His swordsmanship is superb, especially with the twin swords aiding each other, so he can hold on a while longer. But whether he can obtain the third divine ability is very uncertain.'

'Alas.' The black ox was helpless.

'Soon, he'll be out soon.' The yellow-furred bear shook his head. 'Pity. He had great hope of obtaining the master's divine abilities.'

...

At the mountainside of Oxhorn Mountain.

Ji Jiuhuo constantly sensed everything within the great formation, concerned about two matters: Ji Yichuan's ambush on the Snowdragon Mountain group and the White Water Marsh's breakthrough.

'Yichuan is truly clever.' Ji Jiuhuo's eyes held a hint of smile, but also a trace of sorrow. 'His talent is far superior to Liu Zhen's. Back in the Northmoon Sea, he was already at the mid Zifu stage. If not for that disaster midway, he might be near Zifu perfection by now.'

Without a prodigy like Ji Ning, Ji Yichuan was indeed a rare genius of the Ji clan.

'This battle will be Yichuan's last.' Ji Jiuhuo watched, witnessing the most brilliant moment of Ji Yichuan's life.

Suddenly—

A powerful, profound aura appeared nearby, but quickly faded.

'White Water Marsh!' Ji Jiuhuo showed joy. 'He broke through? He broke through?'

The White Water Marsh was a divine beast known for its intelligence. Ji Yichuan had mentioned to Ji Jiuhuo that his brother 'White Water Marsh' was very clever and had a high realm. He had long met the requirements for breaking through to the Zifu level, but as a divine beast, he needed to accumulate more energy.

So Ji Jiuhuo had given the jade bottle to White Water Marsh, taking a gamble. Who would have thought it would succeed?

'Here he comes.' Ji Jiuhuo turned to look.

A man in white robes approached. He had long snow-white hair reaching his waist, and his face was strikingly similar to Ji Yichuan's. His eyes held a gentle warmth... If Ji Yichuan was a glacier of ten thousand years, exuding coldness, this man was like a spring breeze, making people feel亲切.

'White Water Marsh?' Ji Yichuan looked at the white-robed, white-haired man in surprise.

He knew that this was the divine beast White Water Marsh transformed, but he was amazed by his appearance. 'The face is born from the heart.' When great demons take human form, they cannot simply choose any appearance. Their form after transformation is beyond their control.

All comes from the heart!

Some demons appear cold after transformation, some domineering, some ugly, some seductive—all from the heart.

'His appearance is so similar to Yichuan's. Anyone who didn't know would think he was Yichuan's brother. This shows Yichuan's place in his heart.' Ji Jiuhuo thought. 'And his brow lacks the usual demonic戾气 and evil aura. Instead, it's very peaceful... Facing him feels like a spring breeze. It seems this White Water Marsh's Dao-heart is extraordinary.'

The divine beast White Water Marsh was known for its intelligence and learning ability. Legend said it had a trace of the bloodline of the ancient divine demon 'Bai Ze'.

As a divine beast, it usually had some special innate abilities. For example, the Voidserpent could traverse space. But the White Water Marsh had no such innate ability. If one had to name its talent, it was 'intelligence and learning ability'.

'Patriarch.' White Water Marsh looked at Ji Jiuhuo.

'White Water Marsh.' Ji Jiuhuo said. 'It is said that the White Water Marsh is extremely intelligent. Our Ji clan is now facing a desperate situation. Do you have any ideas?'

White Water Marsh divine beasts were common, but those reaching the Zifu level were rare. Ji Jiuhuo was seeing one for the first time.

'Trapped within a sealing formation, what can be done?' White Water Marsh shook his head gently. 'Only to fight.'

Ji Jiuhuo asked again, 'What are you skilled in?'

'I enjoy studying formations.' White Water Marsh said softly. 'Brother Yichuan once helped me collect some formation books, and Sister Xue also gave me some. I often study formations and have gained some insights.'

Ji Jiuhuo was somewhat disappointed.

Formations?

Now that the Ji clan had set up the Netherdragon Locking Heaven Formation, what use was White Water Marsh's knowledge of formations?

'I also have some ungraded formation flags, used for deducing formations in the past.' White Water Marsh said. 'Using these flags, placed around the Snowdragon Mountain group, I can complicate the underground energy veins, making it harder for Nong Zidao to deduce.'

'What!' Ji Jiuhuo was shocked.

'You, you can...' Ji Jiuhuo was completely stunned. An outsider might not understand the significance of White Water Marsh's words, but Ji Jiuhuo himself was skilled in formations. Different formations draw on celestial energy in different ways, distinct from each other. For example, the Black Mist Illusion Formation and the Netherdragon Locking Heaven Formation overlapped, but when Nong Zidao deduced, the Black Mist Illusion Formation did not affect him at all.

The two formations guided celestial energy in completely different ways, so naturally they didn't interfere.

To interfere...

One would need to make another formation's guidance of celestial energy similar to the Nether Mist Maze Formation, even mixing together.

Achieving this was no less difficult than破解 the Nether Mist Maze Formation.

'You?' Ji Jiuhuo stared at White Water Marsh in shock, then said excitedly, 'If you can do this, the Nether Mist Maze Formation will be much harder to break. Maybe we can delay them by two days.'

White Water Marsh's gaze was distant. 'Given Nong Zidao's speed in破解 the Dragonclaw Formation's nether mist, even with my interference, whether we can delay two days depends on luck.'

'I have some formation flags here. Do you need them?' Ji Jiuhuo asked quickly.

'It's only about guiding the underground energy veins, not fighting. Ungraded flags will do.' White Water Marsh said. 'And I've studied these ungraded flags longer, so I'm more familiar with them.'

'Good, go quickly.' Ji Jiuhuo was excited.

The white-robed, white-haired man walked along the path cleared by the nether mist, then his body shifted into mist and condensed back into the divine beast White Water Marsh. For demons, they were more accustomed to their original forms.

'Impressive, impressive.' Ji Jiuhuo's eyes held anticipation. 'It's said that the White Water Marsh is a divine beast known for intelligence. I didn't expect its achievements in formations to be so high.'

...

'Xiao Bai!' Ji Yichuan held a talisman, surprised to see a snow-white dog appear beside him. The dog quickly transformed into a white-robed, white-haired man.

'You broke through?' Ji Yichuan was both surprised and delighted. Looking at the man who resembled him so closely but had a gentler temperament, Ji Yichuan felt a deep sense of kinship—this was his brother, his brother in life and death.

White Water Marsh looked at Ji Yichuan, tears glistening in his eyes. 'This may be the last battle for you and me, big brother. In this battle, we fight side by side.'

'Good.' Ji Yichuan embraced White Water Marsh, unable to hold back tears. 'Side by side.'

White Water Marsh smiled.

Fighting and dying together with big brother... that was enough.

...

Inside the Divine Abilities Hall, in the gray void.

Chi!

Blood splattered. Only Ji Ning could bleed here; the warriors, when killed, turned into mist.

'Kill.' Ji Ning fought with all his might, his swords blocking a warrior's hammer, then thrusting forward to pierce the fat warrior's head. The warrior, holding a hammer and wearing a battle skirt, turned into mist.

'Kill!'

'Kill!' Ji Ning's eyes blazed with fire—the fire of determination.

But the surrounding warriors, each no weaker than Dong Ziqi, now allowed Ji Ning to kill only one at a time. Yet they surged forward, wave after wave, already threatening to drown him...

...