Chapter 32: Corpse of a Godfiend

At the entrance of the gorge there were still some flowers and grass, but as soon as Ji Ning entered the gorge, he felt an inexplicable tremor in his heart.

"Die!"

An ancient roar struck at Ji Ning's soul.

Endless terrifying killing intent surged like waves, wave after wave. Ji Ning immediately visualized the Nuwa Painting, and the 'Nuwa Idol' appeared in his soul, stabilizing it greatly. Having spent so many years at Mount Fangcun, Ji Ning knew well that the Nuwa Painting, a visualization method passed down from Nuwa's lineage, possessed boundless life force. Even if the soul was severely wounded, visualizing the Nuwa Painting could quickly restore it. It was a renowned visualization method in the ancient Pangu World.

In the ninth level of the Immortal Palace at Mount Fangcun, there was the visualization method 'Nuwa Painting', a top-tier means for nurturing, restoring, and resisting attacks on the soul.

"This is?" Ji Ning quickly came to his senses and immediately saw the scene in the great gorge.

Because of the mist shrouding it,

Ji Ning could only see a distance of one or two li. In the distance, a humanoid creature lay motionless. From Ji Ning's position, he could only roughly see two legs and an abdomen; the thighs, as if cast from rock, were a full hundred zhang long.

"The death aura is so dense; it should be dead. It looks to be several hundred zhang tall. With such a physique, it's probably a godfiend," Ji Ning speculated inwardly.

This treasure ground was mysterious and abnormal; divine sense could not probe it. Ji Ning's inferences were all speculative.

"Die."

"Die."

"Die."

Endless killing intent surged from the massive godfiend corpse, assaulting Ji Ning's soul. Especially as Ji Ning gradually advanced and approached the corpse, the killing intent's impact grew stronger, forcing Ji Ning to visualize the Nuwa Painting to resist.

"Even the residual killing intent from a corpse forces me to visualize the Nuwa Painting to resist. If it were alive, it could probably kill me with ease." Ji Ning's original soul had long been split in two; if he counted the soul in his 'Second Soul', it was actually split into three parts!

One part of the soul was in the Second Soul.

One part of the soul was in the original body's primordial spirit.

Another part of the soul was completely fused with the original body's flesh, with every bit of blood and flesh containing a trace of soul. Only at this level of the 'Divine Body Refining Path' could one split off some flesh and blood to form a clone.

For anyone who cultivated both Qi Refining and Divine Body Refining, at the Primordial Spirit stage, the soul must be split in two.

One part merges with the flesh, the other merges with the primordial spirit.

Now, under the assault of killing intent, Ji Ning's original body's primordial spirit felt strained, but the Divine Body Refining was not afraid at all, because the soul body was intertwined with every bit of flesh and blood, making it extremely stable. Especially since Ji Ning had now cultivated the 'Eight Nine Mysteries', even if the killing intent were a hundred or a thousand times stronger, it could not harm this divine body.

...

Ji Ning advanced step by step, deliberately circling around the massive godfiend corpse, gradually closing in.

Finally, he saw clearly.

The godfiend corpse had skin of a bluish-gray, like rock. Its face was ancient, and its body bore many wounds. The black armor it wore was cracked, and beside it lay two fiery red arrows and a black greatbow with a broken string.

"I didn't expect you to make it here. A little fellow at the early Void Refining stage with such skills—impressive, impressive." A sharp, thin voice sounded.

Ji Ning looked toward the sound and saw a black-robed youth sitting in a corner of the gorge wall.

"Do you know Silvermoon Celestial Immortal?" Ji Ning suddenly asked. This black-robed youth, able to reach this place, was likely at least a Celestial Immortal. Many Celestial Immortals in the Crescent Moon Major World had probably taken refuge under Mount Fangcun. If he was indeed a fellow disciple, things might be easier.

"Silvermoon Celestial Immortal? Hmph, a Celestial Immortal? I've never heard of him." The black-robed youth sat there, looking at Ji Ning. "Kid, it seems you have a big background, knowing even a Celestial Immortal. But in this treasure ground, no matter who you know, it's useless. To get the treasures, it all depends on skill."

Ji Ning judged inwardly that this black-robed youth was probably not from the Mount Fangcun lineage.

Earlier, when he had passed the lightning forbidden zone, even the Unbounded Celestial Immortal outside had guessed he was from Mount Fangcun, but this black-robed youth showed no reaction.

"In the Crescent Moon Major World, there are still quite a few Celestial Immortals who haven't taken refuge under Mount Fangcun, and some don't even know about Mount Fangcun," Ji Ning thought.

"Kid, you've only passed two forbidden zones. There's still one last forbidden zone. And I'll warn you—the treasures on that godfiend corpse aren't so easy to take." The black-robed youth sat leisurely, as if wanting to see Ji Ning make a fool of himself.

Ji Ning looked at the black-robed youth: "I've come to take the treasure, and you're not going to stop me?"

"How can I stop you? Even the lightning forbidden zone couldn't harm your body in the slightest. You freak, even if I attacked, it would just be a waste of magic power. If I had a binding-type magic treasure, I could tie you up, but unfortunately, I don't." The black-robed youth said helplessly.

Ji Ning also knew the weakness of the Eight Nine Mysteries.

The Eight Nine Mysteries, even just the third level, made him extraordinarily tough. However, if he encountered binding-type treasures like ropes or demon-subduing pagodas that could tie him up or trap him, he would be in trouble. But he wasn't stupid; with a sword in hand, he could defend himself. Binding him was extremely difficult. Even if bound, it wouldn't kill him.

"Then I'll go take the treasure." Ji Ning said and began to approach the godfiend corpse.

When he got within about a hundred zhang,

Suddenly—

The black greatbow beside the godfiend corpse lit up. The bow had a broken string, but now endless surging world energy gathered on it, forming a bowstring of world energy and a fiery red arrow of world energy.

"Whoosh!" The black greatbow, without anyone controlling it, directly shot the arrow.

The arrow streaked through the air, fast as lightning, and reached Ji Ning in an instant.

"Block."

Ji Ning swung his arm, and the arrow struck his upper arm.

Boom~~~

The powerful impact sent Ji Ning flying backward, crashing into a distant rock wall. The wall rumbled and cracked, with large amounts of stone falling off. Ji Ning jumped down from the large pit in the wall.

"What a treasure." Ji Ning was not alarmed but delighted.

"You freak, you can even withstand that?" The distant black-robed youth was stunned.

Ji Ning was extremely excited, looking at the black greatbow gathering world energy: "It's gathering world energy, not a trace of magic power. Clearly, the 'artifact spirit' of the black greatbow is activating it on its own. Without a master, just the artifact itself has such power—this is simply unbelievable."

For example, the Green Silk Divine Fire Lamp back then could be forcibly seized by Xue Hongyi.

For example, the Thousandbull Sword, when Ji Ning was at the Wanxiang stage, could be forcibly taken using the Star Picking Hand.

Now, Ji Ning's strength was far greater than before, yet he was sent flying by a magic treasure's self-activated world energy!

"The Thousandbull Sword is an immortal-grade extreme treasure, nearly on par with a Pure Yang magic treasure. This greatbow... is at least a Pure Yang magic treasure. If it's Pure Yang, it's probably a high-grade or even top-grade Pure Yang treasure. Or it could be a先天灵宝!" Ji Ning made a quick judgment.

Just the artifact itself, without a master controlling it, had the power of a Celestial Immortal!

"That's right. That godfiend corpse has been dead for who knows how many ages, yet its residual killing intent is so terrifying. How could such a powerful being use a poor bow and arrow?" Ji Ning frowned. "But the black greatbow's string is broken, and the armor it wore is cracked. I wonder what kind of battle it went through, that even such powerful treasures were damaged. Even the godfiend lost its life, and the strangest thing is... after the godfiend died, its corpse remained!"

Note: A godfiend's soul is intertwined with its flesh and blood.

With a single drop of blood, it could generally regenerate from that drop!

Unless...

A top-tier great power completely annihilated all the soul intertwined with the godfiend's flesh and blood. Without the soul, the remaining flesh was useless.

"What a great battle that must have been." Ji Ning thought back to the calamity when the ancient Pangu World shattered. It was absolutely terrifying. Even Patriarch Subhuti dared not go at that time, and Sanxiao Daoist, after killing several godfiend Dao Ancestors, still fell.

"Regardless, this black greatbow and armor, though damaged, have such power without a master. They must be extraordinary treasures."

Ji Ning flipped his hand, and the Thousandbull Sword appeared in it.

Ji Ning advanced quickly, pressing forward.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" ...

The black greatbow directly drew and shot arrows; the bowstring and arrows were all formed from world energy, and fiery arrows attacked Ji Ning.

Ji Ning, however, executed his sword art.

For a time, sword light flowed like water, deflecting all the arrows of world energy aside. The sword art Ji Ning was using was one from the ninth level of the Immortal Palace, called 'Water of All Heavens', a sword art most skilled in defense.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~~~~

Suddenly, a large number of arrows shot out, sometimes ten at once, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of arrows were fired. But because of the speed, each arrow's power naturally weakened.

Ji Ning either blocked with the Thousandbull Sword or took the hits with his body.

"Kid, although your divine body is like a magic treasure, this is just an attack from a divine bow without a master. Withstanding it is no real skill. I'll tell you, when you get within ten zhang of the corpse, that's the third forbidden zone. Passing this third forbidden zone has nothing to do with your physical strength; your treasure-like body won't help you." The black-robed youth sat watching Ji Ning charge forward.

Charging forward under the rain of arrows,

When Ji Ning reached ten zhang from the godfiend corpse, the world energy gathered by the black greatbow dissipated, and it stopped attacking Ji Ning.

"Huff." Ji Ning took a deep breath. Being so close to the godfiend corpse, the invisible pressure made his heart tremble.

"The third forbidden zone?"

"Only by breaking through this third forbidden zone can I get the treasures." Ji Ning looked at the various treasures on the godfiend corpse; what he coveted most was still the black greatbow.

...