Chapter 17: The Perfect Rahu Bow

The red-haired demon god's strength made Ji Ning tremble with fear. He was too powerful. That spear... was like a nightmare. No matter how Ji Ning formed his hands into sword fingers and executed his sword techniques, the opponent's spear effortlessly broke through them. At the same time, the spear would either sweep, chop, or thrust straight at him!

In short, Ji Ning was completely at a disadvantage!

The spear was like a dragon, like a water deity, containing boundless profundities. Ji Ning was like a target.

"No more fighting, no more fighting." The red-haired demon god finally stopped, shaking his head and sighing. "I lost."

"Senior Red Snow, you are clearly much stronger than me..." Ji Ning stopped mid-sentence, understanding.

It must be that the other's divine power had been exhausted!

"Every time your palm blocked my spear, the recoil force forced me to consume a large amount of divine power." The red-haired demon god looked at Ji Ning and said with emotion, "The Finger of the Seven Stars divine ability is indeed formidable. This avatar of mine contains too little divine power... After being struck by your Finger of the Seven Stars more than ten times, my divine power couldn't hold out."

"If it were your true body, Senior, I'm afraid one move would have killed me," Ji Ning said. Although his body was strong, the red-haired demon god's spear attacks were even fiercer than those of the 'Infatuated Heart Celestial Immortal' of the Shaoyin clan. Ji Ning could feel that when the spear tip struck his body, it almost pierced through. In fact, white spots had already appeared on his skin! If the red-haired demon god's true body were here, it would probably be able to destroy his physical body directly! Fortunately, he had cultivated to the fourth stage of the Finger of the Seven Stars this time. If he had been weaker before the breakthrough, the red-haired demon god's divine power might not have been exhausted, but Ji Ning's divine power would have been.

Once divine power was exhausted and he couldn't use divine abilities, Ji Ning would still lose!

"Lost is lost." The red-haired demon god looked at Ji Ning with a smile. "I heard you've been cultivating for less than a hundred years?"

"Yes," Ji Ning nodded.

But in his heart, he was wondering: Why did the yellow-haired bear tell this Celestial Immortal everything?

"In less than a hundred years, your sword technique is quite good," the red-haired demon god praised.

"In front of you, Senior, I can only use my three heads and six arms, enlarge my palms like small shields, and desperately block your spear," Ji Ning shook his head, feeling ashamed. Using his palms as shields, they were still easily broken through time and again. The gap was too great.

"Haha, I already grasped several Daos in the ancient era, let alone now. If your sword technique weren't strong, it probably wouldn't have consumed much of my divine power," the red-haired demon god sighed. "Your sword technique is quite good at defense."

Ji Ning smiled.

Of course, he had comprehended the most in the 'Water' aspect. Since childhood, his sword technique had been good at defense.

"Cultivate well and become a Celestial Immortal soon!" The red-haired demon god smiled. "Otherwise, you won't be able to make those fellows submit loyally." With that, he vanished into nothingness.

"Submit loyally?" Ji Ning murmured to himself.

...

Ji Ning arrived at the main hall of the Water Mansion.

"Congratulations on passing the ninth level," the yellow-haired bear said with a smile.

But Ji Ning frowned. "Red Snow Celestial Immortal—who is he?"

The yellow-haired bear paused, then said calmly, "He was a Celestial Immortal under Master's command back then... You don't need to ask about these things. Your strength is too weak now. In the 'Great Xia World,' one of the Three Thousand Major Worlds, you walk with caution at every step. You're not qualified to meddle in the major powers of the Three Realms. I can only tell you this: The Three Realms are not as simple as you usually know. Even Patriarch Subhuti won't tell you until your strength is truly formidable. When you're weak, it's better to know less. Knowing too much can get you killed. The methods of the truly mighty figures in the Three Realms are beyond your imagination now. Even Master was nothing in the great calamity back then. Even Patriarch Subhuti, who was stronger than Master, dared not join the battle... What are you, then?"

Ji Ning said softly, "The ancient Pangu World shattered, hiding a great secret? Is what I've heard wrong?"

"What you know is what the Dao Ancestors wanted you to know. Don't ask anymore. Only when you become a True Immortal or Celestial Immortal will you be qualified to know. As for Celestial Immortals... the mighty ones can annihilate countless with a wave of their hand," the yellow-haired bear said. "Are you going to the Treasure Hall to choose treasures? You're not a Celestial Immortal now, so you can't use Pure Yang treasures."

"Choose, of course I'll choose!" Ji Ning said quickly.

"Rahu Bow."

Ji Ning called out in his mind.

Whoosh.

A black-robed youth appeared beside him.

"I'm going to get a bowstring for you. Tell me what kind of bowstring you want," Ji Ning said.

"Haha, finally getting me a bowstring?" The black-robed youth was overjoyed, then turned to the yellow-haired bear. "Big Bear, where's that scroll I wrote before?"

"Here." The yellow-haired bear waved his hand, and a scroll appeared in midair.

"Master, on this scroll I wrote three types of bowstrings that suit me well. Of course, their values vary. From low to high, there are three. Naturally, the higher the better," the black-robed youth said excitedly. "This divine bow... the bow body and bowstring are two parts. For a spirit treasure like me, the most important thing is the powerful bow body. Making the bowstring is much easier. The key is to store power and transmit the power of the bow body's formations to the greatest extent."

Ji Ning took the scroll, opened it, and said in surprise, "All fire-attributed bowstrings? Your bow body is water-attributed, right."

"One water, one fire; one bow, one string—only then can the power be great. Don't you remember when you found me in the Xieyue Major World, I drew in the power of heaven and earth to form flaming arrows? And the two arrows you found were also fire-attributed," the black-robed youth said.

"Got it." Ji Ning nodded with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll get you a top-notch bowstring."

...

At the headquarters of Tianbao Mountain, noon.

"Uncle Bai, is the list ready?" Ji Ning looked at the white-haired man in white across from him.

"It's been ready for a long time. Since we're dealing with the Shaoyin clan, we can't go easy," Uncle Bai said, handing Ji Ning a piece of beast hide.

Ji Ning looked down and nodded slightly.

Dealing with the Shaoyin clan...

Ji Ning had a plan in mind. Of course, plans couldn't keep up with changes. Since he didn't know the Shaoyin clan's trump cards, Ji Ning naturally prepared many methods.

"Ji Ning." A voice sounded.

A silver-haired man, Tianhu, walked in and said with a smile, "What good news do you have for me?"

"There is good news." Ji Ning smiled. "Let me show you something."

Whoosh.

Around Ji Ning, ten beads appeared out of thin air. One was water-green, and the other nine were fiery red. Each bead emitted an incredibly terrifying aura.

"These are..." Tianhu's eyes widened. "Could they be..."

"The One Qi Nine Yuan Beads!" Ji Ning nodded.

Tianhu swallowed hard, looking at Ji Ning in disbelief. The One Qi Nine Yuan Beads were a set of Pure Yang treasures, quite famous in the ancient Pangu World. They could transform into nine worlds. Hitting someone with one bead was like hitting them with a small world. Of course, that required unleashing the Pure Yang treasure's power to its fullest.

"I need a set of Immortal-grade top-quality Fuxi Staff Formation."

"Twenty Pure Yang top-grade spirit pills, or an equivalent amount of Pure Yang mid- or low-grade spirit pills."

"A bowstring and some cheap arrows listed on this scroll."

"And the strange items recorded on this beast hide."

Ji Ning handed over two pieces of beast hide.

He couldn't use Pure Yang treasures himself. By the time he could, his strength would probably be far greater than now, and his palms were already comparable to top-grade Pure Yang treasures. So of course he sold them to strengthen his own side!

"Ji Ning, you really..." Seeing the two pieces of beast hide, Tianhu's face turned pale. "You're asking too much."

"If the Xia Emperor is unwilling, I won't force it," Ji Ning said. "I can go to my senior fellow apprentices."