Chapter 20: Trapped

The bearded man and the Eastwood Sect leader walked side by side, swift as lightning, and soon arrived at the region where the Bashe was located.

"Woo."

The bearded man marveled at the scene before him. The ten-thousand-mile river seemed alive, rampaging and crashing wantonly. The mountains, canyons, and forests could not withstand the river's impact and were instantly shattered. Yet the 'Bashe' surrounded by the ten-thousand-mile river was instead wildly arrogant, clearly the river only slightly restrained it.

"Di Jiu, need my help?" the bearded man called out loudly, his voice resonating through heaven and earth under the transmission of yuan power.

"Set up the formation, don't let Ji Ning escape," the thousand-zhang Bashe roared.

"Rest assured!" the bearded man said with a smile, then glanced at the Eastwood Sect leader beside him. "This small matter, no problem, right?"

"You can rest assured, my lord," the Eastwood Sect leader quickly replied respectfully.

In the distance, the thousand-zhang Bashe suddenly opened its gaping maw. Pfft—a figure was spat out, precisely the three-headed, six-armed giant youth. Ji Ning tumbled through the high air, then stood in midair, holding six divine swords, laughing heartily: "It seems you only have such means. Earlier you said even a Celestial Immortal ancestor would die entering, but didn't I come out just fine?"

…

As soon as Ji Ning emerged, he noticed the formation around him.

The formation enveloped the area, making it impossible to probe with divine sense.

"Candle Dragon's Eye." Ji Ning's eyes lit up with candlelight as he looked in all directions, but he could only see a thousand li around him at most. Because mist shrouded the surroundings, blocking all light. Even the 'Candle Dragon's Eye' could not probe further. Without such a divine ability, he might only see a single li.

Whoosh—

The distant Bashe hovered in midair, its golden eyes fixed on Ji Ning, speaking in human tongue: "Ji Ning, today you will surely die."

"Big talk," Ji Ning sneered.

"You are trapped in the formation, can you escape?" the Bashe growled. "Even if you have a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, with us joining forces, you won't be able to teleport away."

Ji Ning stood in midair, pondering.

So-called Dao-seals and strange treasures—none are absolutely invincible.

For example, a 'Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal' is a life-saving treasure for Zifu cultivators and primal beings. It can instantly teleport ten thousand li. But when using a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal, if the space is oscillating due to violent battle or if space is sealed, the seal cannot be activated!

The same principle applies.

The Greater Teleportation Dao-seal also has limitations!

The Greater Teleportation Dao-seal indeed has strong escape ability, even able to 'teleport' from one world to another. But when actually using it, activating the seal's power causes oneself to resonate with space. At this time, one fears being attacked with extreme force that interferes with the 'seal's power,' interrupting the teleportation!

Weak interference, the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal can ignore.

For example, ordinary Daoists and even Sanxian cannot shake the 'power of the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal' even with their attacks. So for Daoists and Return to Void Earth Immortals and Sanxian, the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal is a life-saving treasure.

Strong interference, then teleportation is impossible.

For instance, at the Celestial Immortal level, a Celestial Immortal's attack can shake the power of the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal!

True Immortals and Celestial Gods can even reduce the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to powder!

Dao Ancestors? The Greater Teleportation Dao-seal is a complete joke before a Dao Ancestor.

…

Earlier, Ji Ning was inside the Bashe's body, subject to attack at any time.

And the enemy's attacks were at the Celestial Immortal level—enough to shake the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal.

"If pushed to the extreme, I can directly hide in my portable immortal mansion. Although my portable immortal mansion's defense is not strong, it can still withstand attacks for one or two breaths. That time is enough for me to activate the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal and escape! But doing so means abandoning this portable immortal mansion." Ji Ning felt pained.

This portable immortal mansion was a free gift from the yellow-furred bear, used to hide the 'Water Mansion.'

But in terms of value alone, the portable immortal mansion was even slightly superior to the 'Golden Light Immortal Mansion' he gave to his cousin, likely worth ten million catties of liquid yuan!

To escape, he would need to sacrifice the 'portable immortal mansion' and the 'Greater Teleportation Dao-seal.' Ji Ning would not choose this path unless it was the last resort.

…

"Old Han, activate the formation's power to attack Ji Ning," the Bashe roared. "He has protective treasures, but when their power is exhausted, let's see how long he can hold out."

"Haha, good."

Han Da, watching from afar, laughed loudly in response, then instructed the Eastwood Sect leader beside him, "Make your move, use all means, and show those trash from the Blood Cloud Tower."

"Yes." The Eastwood Sect leader replied respectfully.

This mountain range was the lair of the Eastwood Sect, naturally layered with many formations built over generations. As the sect leader, the Eastwood Sect leader could activate them! But the more terrifying formations set up by the mysterious force of the Celestial Immortal ancestor 'Silver Armor General' were unknown to the Eastwood Sect leader.

But against ordinary enemies, the Eastwood Sect's original formations were sufficient.

"Ashen Divine Fire!" The Eastwood Sect leader immediately brought out his sect's truly powerful means.

Immediately, the tens-of-thousands-of-li formation began to draw upon the power of heaven and earth. A massive amount of fire power gathered, transformed by the formation, and in midair, wisps of dark red flames appeared, as if they might go out at any moment. Wisps of dark red flames appeared everywhere, quickly forming a flame phoenix.

Whoosh!

This hundred-zhang-long dark red flame phoenix flew directly toward Ji Ning. "Roar—" The Bashe also roared and charged at Ji Ning again. The Bashe's tail was terrifyingly powerful, and a number of immortal-ranked magic treasures flew out, along with powerful spells, all besieging Ji Ning.

"Ji Ning, this Ashen Divine Fire is formidable; even a Celestial Immortal dares not withstand it head-on. Even if you have protective treasures, how long can they last? When your protective treasures are exhausted, that is when you will fall," the Bashe said, attacking while speaking in human tongue to shake Ji Ning's resolve.

"Bring whatever you have. This Ashen Divine Fire can't do anything to me!" Ji Ning stood in midair, completely unconcerned.

As the dark red flame phoenix approached, a mass of flames quickly coiled around Ji Ning.

This Ashen Divine Fire only posed a great threat to qi cultivators and some divine demons with insufficient physical defense. It could probably burn through Earth-ranked magic treasures, but against Heaven-ranked magic treasures, it was difficult; at most, it could damage low-grade Heaven-ranked treasures. Better Heaven-ranked treasures could ignore the divine fire, let alone Ji Ning's divine demon body.

"Haha..." Ji Ning laughed, his whole body emitting a faint golden light.

This faint golden light was deliberately released by Ji Ning.

He wanted the enemy to think he had a 'protective treasure,' to hide his cultivation of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. Although with each attack he made, the Eight-Nine Arcane Art would inevitably be exposed, as long as the enemy misjudged his strength, he could use that to his advantage and annihilate them in one blow!

…

The Ashen Divine Fire scorched, the thousand-zhang Bashe besieged, immortal-ranked magic treasures transformed into great mountains, dragons and snakes, giant trees, along with other spells, heavenly fires, divine lights, and other means—all were directed at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning, meanwhile, let the ten-thousand-mile river surge, sweeping across all sides and suppressing them. At the same time, his sword light crisscrossed, sending treasures flying, acting arrogantly.

"Strange."

"My yuan power has been exhausted twice, and I've taken quite a few elixirs. How is Ji Ning still holding on?"

"How has his protective treasure lasted until now? The power of such treasures is usually infused by True Immortals or Celestial Gods; once exhausted, it's gone. How can he last so long?"

…

Han Da, who had been watching from the sidelines, frowned. "Your Eastwood Sect still has the Sevenfold Thunder Formation, right? Use it quickly."

The Eastwood Sect leader quickly replied, "Yes."

Immediately, dark clouds appeared above the formation, and lightning bolts struck down, all landing on Ji Ning.

"Haha, this lightning isn't even enough to tickle me!" The three-headed, six-armed Ji Ning stood in midair, surrounded by the ten-thousand-mile river, while flames scorched, heavenly thunder struck, the Bashe attacked, and treasures flew... Ji Ning was like a Buddha, his whole body radiating golden light, his sword light crisscrossing, easily blocking all means.

Han Da frowned. "Trouble."

"Is this all you've got? Usually, you're so arrogant before our Blood Cloud Tower. Now you have no way at all?" The white-robed youth inside the Bashe transmitted angrily.

"Hmph."

Han Da gritted his teeth, waved his hand, and a strange puppet appeared beside him. It was a cat-like beast puppet, with a body like a cat but three tails and a single eye. This beast puppet had four clawed feet, was about ten zhang long, and its back split open to reveal a passage. The bearded 'Han Da' flew directly into the puppet, and with a clicking sound, the passage on its back closed completely.

This puppet... was similar to treasure ships and such.

It could be controlled to attack or used to hide inside for protection—an extremely precious puppet.

"I don't believe that a kid who has cultivated for less than a hundred years can be this strong." The 'Three-Tailed Thunder God' puppet roared and transformed into a bolt of lightning, flying toward Ji Ning in the distance.

A streak of lightning arced through the high sky, charging at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning noticed it too. With his Candle Dragon's Eye burning, he saw clearly that it was a strange puppet. "Its power seems considerable. Even in my Black-White College, it would be hard to find such a powerful puppet. But unexpectedly, such a formidable puppet appears in this mysterious place."

"But although it's powerful, it's no match for me." To show his welcome, Ji Ning used the strongest of his six divine swords, the Thousand Bull Sword, to 'greet' it.

"Die!" The Three-Tailed Thunder God puppet swung its claws, as if with boundless force. The blade-like nails on its claws crackled with lightning, slashing fiercely at Ji Ning. Where the claws passed, space itself tore.

A sword light transformed into a black divine dragon, roaring as it met the claws.

Bang—

The Three-Tailed Thunder God beast was sent flying backward, then halted, and with another roar, attacked again.

No matter how frantically they besieged him, although Ji Ning's six fists occasionally could not match dozens of hands, and he was sometimes struck on his divine body, the faint golden light emanating from his body easily blocked all attacks without any damage. This made the enemy think that Ji Ning's 'protective treasure' was very special.

"Han Da, stop your madness. Ji Ning has too many tricks; we can't do anything to him. Quickly contact your master and have him think of something. If even you can't, then regardless of success or failure, our Blood Cloud Tower will have to use the last resort," the leader inside the Bashe, the white-robed blood-streaked man, transmitted.

"Alright, I'll notify my master." Han Da immediately transmitted in response.

…