Chapter 21: Light Rain on Green Cliff

The prince, the second princess, and their attendants and guards on the long shuttle all had pale faces.

Anyone could see that this senior Beiming was truly enraged!

They were all cultivators themselves, naturally not fools, and understood that the little princess had schemed against this senior Beiming earlier. Senior Beiming was clearly helping them resist the Firewing Guard, yet the little princess stabbed him in the back... Such behavior was despised among both mortals and cultivators!

Of course, if Ji Ning had died, that would have been the end of it.

But Ji Ning did not die, and he came to attack. Facing Ji Ning, they were in the wrong! And moreover, they were terrified! Given the ways of cultivators, it was perfectly normal for Ji Ning to kill them all in a fit of rage.

Senior Beiming...

Beiming...

The prince and the second princess both spoke hurriedly, both tense and fearful.

They were wronged.

Previously, it was purely the little princess who acted on her own; they did not instigate it! As for the little princess's death, the prince and the second princess felt only a trace of helplessness but not much grief. Because along the way, far too many of their brothers and sisters had died, even their elders had all perished—they had developed enough resilience. And in terms of affection, the prince and the second princess were actually closer to each other.

"Whoosh." Ji Ning moved his mind, and a white-clad girl appeared out of thin air beside him—it was Qi Xiaoyu.

"Master." Qi Xiaoyu quickly said, "I saw the little princess she..."

Before she could finish, Qi Xiaoyu found herself inside the long shuttle and looked around in confusion.

"Disciple, take a good look." Ji Ning said coldly.

"Yes." Qi Xiaoyu replied respectfully.

"Senior Beiming, it really was just Ruhui acting on her own, wanting to make Senior delay those Firewing Guards longer." Qi Rufeng quickly said.

"It was all done by my little sister alone." The black-clad girl also hurriedly said.

Qi Xiaoyu watched silently. Earlier, when the Firewing Guards arrived, her master engaged them, and the Qi royal family fled. During the escape, the little princess threw out a formation—Qi Xiaoyu had seen it clearly. Having followed them for so many years, she knew very well how ruthless the little princess was, so she could roughly guess the truth!

Ji Ning looked at the prince and the second princess and said calmly, "I heard everything. You even said to let the Celestial Immortal behind me avenge me and kill the Firewing Demon King? Hmph... I don't want to kill people, but some people deserve to die!"

The prince and the second princess trembled.

"If you were truly behind this, you would die as well. If you weren't, I wouldn't implicate you." Ji Ning's gaze fell on the black-robed girl, and he directly activated the divine ability 'Mind Confusion Art.' The Mind Confusion Art of the Black-White College was not particularly formidable, but it couldn't withstand Ji Ning's powerful soul!

In an instant, the black-robed girl's eyes became vacant.

"Speak. Does the little princess's scheming against me have anything to do with you?" Ji Ning said calmly.

The black-robed girl's voice was flat and devoid of emotion: "It has nothing to do with me. Ruhui acted on her own. Although it could make Senior Beiming hold out a little longer, it might also bring great enemies to my Qi Kingdom's royal clan. If Senior Beiming's sect retaliates in the future, my Qi Kingdom's royal clan will likely suffer even more. Ruhui is too shortsighted..."

"What happened to me?" The black-robed girl regained consciousness, looking around in shock. She also recalled everything that had happened while under the Mind Confusion Art, and she stared at Ji Ning in terror.

The prince beside her looked somewhat pale.

"You." Ji Ning looked at the prince.

The prince gritted his teeth and said, "I never intended to harm Senior." As soon as he finished speaking, Prince Qi Rufeng's eyes also became vacant.

He too dully recounted the matter; indeed, he had not instigated it.

Qi Xiaoyu, standing nearby, breathed a silent sigh of relief. She still had good feelings toward the prince and the second princess.

"Let me ask you," Ji Ning suddenly said. "Was the destruction of Qi Xiaoyu's tribe arranged by your Qi Kingdom's royal clan?"

The black-robed girl's expression changed drastically.

Qi Xiaoyu also trembled, her eyes filled with fear and unease.

The prince said numbly and mechanically: "To ensure Qi Xiaoyu's absolute loyalty to our royal clan, she had to have no other recourse. Otherwise, her tribe would always be the most important to her... So the elders of the clan forced three innate great demons to attack that tribe. As for the two innate experts in the tribe, they were also schemed against by our clan's elders. Naturally, they couldn't hold out. The entire tribe scattered, and all of Qi Xiaoyu's relatives died. With no one left to rely on, the elders of our clan appeared to protect her. Naturally, she would be grateful and attached. Everything went as planned. Qi Xiaoyu became utterly loyal to our Qi Kingdom's royal clan. And ever since Qi Xiaoyu became a member of our royal clan, our luck has clearly improved. We've been hunted less often, and fewer elders have died..."

"No, no..." Qi Xiaoyu's face was covered in tears as she kept shaking her head.

Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

The main reason he had used the Mind Confusion Art this time was to ask about this matter. With Ji Ning's insight, he had naturally found the destruction of that tribe suspicious. Such a large tribe would not easily be attacked by great demons.

"As expected." Ji Ning nodded inwardly. Qi Xiaoyu's feelings for the Qi Kingdom's royal clan ran too deep. Ji Ning was worried that it might cause trouble later, so he wanted to clarify this matter as soon as possible.

"Always scheming against me, scheming against me." Qi Xiaoyu looked at the prince, her face pale. "What about my master? Was she also scheming against me?"

"Aunt Jiuhe opposed the original plan. She wanted to go to your tribe and take you as her disciple directly. But at that time, our royal clan was on the run, and everything had to be done in the best interest of our clan." Prince Qi Rufeng continued dully. "Aunt Jiuhe felt sorry for you, so she took you as her disciple, taught you, and doted on you the most. She even made some of the princes and princesses jealous."

Qi Xiaoyu felt a slight relief.

Of all the imperial clan of the Qi Kingdom, the one she was most grateful to was Master Jiuhe, the woman who had been like a mother to her.

She had cared for her, loved her.

Qi Xiaoyu could feel the deep affection. She had been taught by her master since childhood, so she remembered little of what had happened in the Qingya tribe back then, and her memories of her biological parents were also vague. Her feelings for 'Master Jiuhe', who had taught her, were actually the deepest, after all, they had spent the most time together.

Qi Xiaoyu was quite accurate in sensing others' goodwill, malice, concern, and hatred. She had always felt Master Jiuhe's love for her, which was why she was so grateful to the Qi Kingdom's imperial clan. Even when the leader of the Qi Kingdom's imperial clan had made her swear a Heavenly Dao oath, she had not hesitated at all.

"What's wrong?" Prince Qi Rufeng came to his senses and quickly recalled everything, his expression drastically changing.

He looked at Ji Ning in terror, then immediately looked at Qi Xiaoyu.

"Master Jiuhe... I can understand you. I don't blame you, I don't blame you." Qi Xiayu wept as she stared at the black-robed girl and the prince, gritting her teeth. "Your Qi Kingdom's imperial clan destroyed my hometown tribe and killed my family. But Master Jiuhe's kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain. From now on, I am called Qingya Xiaoyu. I have no further connection with your Qi clan."

"Master." Qingya Xiaoyu looked at Ji Ning, tears still in her eyes. "Thank you, Master, for making me see the truth, for not letting me remain in the dark forever. I want to be alone for a while now."

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded, and with a thought,

Whoosh.

Qi Xiaoyu was already taken into the随身 immortal mansion.

Ji Ning's gaze fell on the prince and princess.

The prince and princess were both helpless. Earlier, when they had been befuddled, they had thought it was merely an investigation into the plot against the little princess. They never expected that this senior Beiming would dig up the matter of the 'destruction of the Qingya tribe'. But since things had come to this point, they had no other thoughts, only hoping to stay alive.

"Since you had no intention of harming me, I naturally won't touch you. I will still keep my promise." Ji Ning said. "But before that, come with me to a place first."

With that, Ji Ning waved his hand and took both the Qi Kingdom's imperial clan and the long shuttle into his随身 immortal mansion.

Then Ji Ning stepped on the waves of the Evil Dragon River and quickly departed.

...

In just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

At the peak of a towering mountain, ripples appeared in the air, and a youth in beast hide materialized, then descended.

"Right here." The beast-hide youth nodded, then waved his hand, and an immortal mansion appeared beside him.

Inside the immortal mansion.

As Ji Ning entered, the prince and the second princess both hurriedly bowed respectfully. The prince even said, "Senior, this place is...?"

"You can go out, but it's best not to go too far. If you go too far, I can't guarantee your safety." Ji Ning said calmly. "This place is millions of li from where we were before. I believe that Fiery Wing Demon King will need some time to track you down. Rest well for now and prepare for the upcoming battle."

"Prepare for battle?" The prince and princess were startled.

"I killed hundreds of Fiery Wing Guards, including three scattered immortals and old demons. Do you think Fiery Wing Demon King will just let it go?" Ji Ning said calmly.

The prince and princess both shook their heads.

How could that be?

This Eastern River region was the domain of the twelve demon kings. How could Fiery Wing Demon King not be enraged when this senior Beiming dared to kill hundreds of Fiery Wing Guards? One must know that these Fiery Wing Guards were the most loyal to Fiery Wing Demon King. With so many dead this time, Fiery Wing Demon King would probably personally come to hunt them down.

"Fiery Wing Demon King is coming in person." The prince and the second princess were both nervous and uneasy. "And this senior Beiming still wants to fight?"

"Just how strong is he? Could it be that my earlier investigation was wrong, and he is not at the perfected Yuan Shen stage?"

The prince and princess's minds were in turmoil.

But Ji Ning had caught up with them in such a short time earlier. Logically, the Fiery Wing Guards would not have let Ji Ning go. So things were probably as Ji Ning said... all hundreds of Fiery Wing Guards had been killed.

"In that brief instant, to kill hundreds of Fiery Wing Guards, break the trapping formation, and catch up to us. Just how strong is this senior Beiming? Perhaps he really can fight Fiery Wing Demon King?" The prince and princess were filled with all kinds of chaotic thoughts.

...

Ji Ning, however, couldn't be bothered with them. He entered a secret chamber within the immortal mansion. Ripples appeared in the chamber, and Ji Ning stepped in, entering the Water Mansion.

"Fiery Wing Demon King's strength cannot be underestimated. I might even have to deal with other demon kings. Before that, I need to increase my strength a bit." Ji Ning thought to himself. "My true body, using the Three Heads and Six Arms technique, requires six flying swords. Three of them are the Beiming Swords, and the other three should preferably be immortal-grade flying swords."

He had the supreme-grade immortal-class 'Thousand Bull Sword', and back at the Immortal Fortune Convention, the Grand Xia Emperor had also bestowed upon him an immortal-grade low-grade flying sword.

Earlier, when he killed the three scattered immortals and old demons, he had also obtained two immortal-grade low-grade magic treasures, one of which was an immortal-grade low-grade flying sword.

"My true body should break through to the early Void Return stage as soon as possible. Only then can I better unleash the power of immortal-grade magic treasures." Ji Ning thought. The two immortal-grade low-grade flying swords had power comparable to the Beiming Swords, but the Thousand Bull Sword was what Ji Ning valued most! It was nearly as powerful as a Pure Yang magic treasure.

Immediately, Ji Ning entered a quiet room in the Water Mansion.

He began to cultivate using liquid essence...

...