Chapter 27: The Ancestor of Shaoyan

Above the abyssal canyon of the Chenyu Mountains, four figures appeared. The leader was a man in a golden robe with a single horn, his gaze dark and heavy as water. Behind him stood three figures: a bald, black-robed man, the 'Black Rain Celestial'; a golden-haired woman, the 'Golden Cloud Celestial'; and Xuanji Celestial.

The three celestials respectfully followed behind this ancestor.

Who is that horned man?

Isn't that Xuanji Ancestor? Why is Xuanji Ancestor standing so respectfully behind that man? The other two standing with Xuanji Ancestor are also equally respectful, and their auras seem very powerful—they should be at the celestial level.

The scattered immortals and earth immortals of the Shaoyan clan, watching from within the distant formation restrictions, were all somewhat bewildered.

Earlier, they had seen five celestials.

Now, they saw four more!

Xuanji the Celestial Immortal was known to them—a figure of extremely high status within the Shaoyan clan, and ordinarily they could occasionally come into contact with Ancestor Xuanji. But at this moment, Ancestor Xuanji stood respectfully behind that horned man, and the other two Celestial Immortals did the same. This forced countless thoughts to arise in their hearts.

"Could it be that the horned man is truly the strongest existence of my Shaoyan clan?"

"Before, there were five Celestial Immortals; now four more have come. Could it be that my Shaoyan clan has a total of nine Celestial Immortals? Is my Shaoyan clan actually this powerful? Or perhaps this horned man is not a Celestial Immortal, but a legendary Heavenly Immortal or True Immortal?"

All kinds of thoughts made the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Shaoyan clan watch with extreme tension.

......

The horned man in golden robes and the other three Celestial Immortals looked down from above. Deep within the abyssal gorge, they could see that fiery red copper pillar. Beside the fiery red copper pillar, five Celestial Immortals were attacking with all their might, trying their best to slow it down. As for the very bottom... the three-hundred-zhang giant Ji Ning, with six arms working simultaneously, was frantically pulling at the copper pillar.

"Touching my copper furnace—damnable." The horned man in golden robes's face darkened as he gave the order, "You all, make a move and press the copper pillar back down."

"Yes."

The three Celestial Immortals under his command—Golden Rain, Black Rain, and Mystic Mystery—all responded to the order and flew downward.

But the unicorned golden-robed man opened his mouth.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Three small black specks flew out, growing rapidly in the wind, and in an instant transformed into three terrifying monsters each ten thousand zhang in size. One was the armored alien insect with sixteen blade-like legs, another was a creature with an extremely thick hide, looking at first glance like a colossal rhinoceros, but with twelve pairs of wings on its back. The third monster was a venomous snake with swirling black patterns, so beautiful that on its head they formed a crown-like pattern.

The unicorned golden-robed man sat on the back of the winged rhinoceros, and the three ten-thousand-zhang monsters simultaneously charged downward like lightning.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Deep within the fiery red rock walls came a series of booming sounds.

Ji Ning, meanwhile, was frantically pulling on the enormous copper pillar. The pillar rapidly rose upward. The more he pulled out, the more dazzling the countless runic patterns on the endless fiery red rock walls beneath his feet became, flickering continuously, while the clanging sounds grew more frequent.

"Eh?" As he pulled, Ji Ning vaguely sensed that deep beneath the copper pillar, within the fiery red rock walls, a force was gradually growing stronger, as if a terrifying beast was struggling to push the pillar upward from below!

The more he pulled out,

the more powerful that deep, ancient force beneath the pillar became, pushing upward continuously, making it very easy for Ji Ning to pull the pillar.

"Don't bother with Ji Ning, it's useless," Heart's Desire Celestial Immortal urgently transmitted as he saw Mystic Mystery and the other two arrive. "Ji Ning is protected by the Eighty-Nine Arcane Art, we can't harm him. He's clinging to that copper pillar, and we can't do anything about him. Now we must stop the pillar from rising."

"Mm." The three arriving Celestial Immortals understood and immediately used their own methods to try to press the pillar down.

"Eh?"

The six-armed giant 'Ji Ning', three hundred zhang tall and over three thousand li away from the eight Celestial Immortals, looked up. Candlelight burned in his eyes, allowing him to see everything clearly. He saw Mystic Mystery and the other two join the fray, saw the three terrifying beasts flying downward, and saw the unicorned golden-robed man sitting on the back of the winged rhinoceros.

"More and more are coming," Ji Ning grinned. "The power of the Shaoyin clan is indeed formidable. No wonder they're one of the top ten ancient tribes in the Great Xia Dynasty. It seems I've really stirred up a hornet's nest this time—the Shaoyin clan is truly panicked."

Indeed, for the Shaoyin clan, ordinary clansmen were replaced every few hundred years. Mortals and cultivators were not that important to the tribe. Even if the entire Chenyu Mountain Range were wiped out, it would only be a loss of face for the tribe, with little impact on their strength. They still had two other lairs, and could quickly repopulate and reclaim the entire Chenyu Mountain Range.

Moreover, besides the three main lairs, the Shaoyin clan occupied many minor worlds, and their bloodline had long spread far and wide, so they had no fear of annihilation.

In truth, even destroying the Chenyu mountain range... that old ancestor might not be willing to come out.

But Ji Ning's activation of the Endless Furnace touched the very foundation of the Shaoyin clan, and this old ancestor could no longer hold back.

"Even eight Celestial Immortals can't stop me." Ji Ning continued to rapidly pull the copper pillar upward. In truth, the downward pressure from the eight Celestial Immortals was extremely strong, but now as the copper pillar rose, the force beneath it grew stronger and stronger, even reaching a level comparable to Ji Ning's own!

Thus, with the eight Celestial Immortals joining forces, Ji Ning actually found it easier than before.

"Boom!"

Of the three monsters that had flown down first, the enormous carapace venomous insect wrapped all sixteen of its legs around the fiery red copper pillar! To this ten-thousand-zhang-long carapace insect, the copper pillar, only ninety-nine zhang thick, seemed quite slender. As the terrifying insect exerted its strength, Ji Ning felt the copper pillar suddenly sink heavily!

"This monster is incredibly strong. If I didn't use my Three Heads, Six Arms technique, I probably couldn't match it in raw power." Ji Ning looked at the insect monster in surprise.

"Whoosh."

The ten-thousand-zhang black serpent also flew down, coiling around the fiery red copper pillar, adding a force no less than that of the previous insect. Ji Ning felt the weight increase further.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Ji Ning heard a series of booming sounds from deep within the fiery red rock wall beneath his feet, growing more intense. The force beneath the copper pillar was increasing, even surpassing Ji Ning's own. With this force aiding him, Ji Ning continued to pull the copper pillar upward!

"Roar~~~" The winged rhinoceros placed one of its front legs directly on the top of the copper pillar, causing the entire pillar to sink heavily.

"That winged rhinoceros monster's strength is even greater than that of the black serpent and the strange insect combined?" Ji Ning was startled. "Even with my six arms and the Star Picking Hand, I'd probably only be a match for this rhinoceros monster."

Ji Ning embraced the copper pillar.

He felt the force beneath the pillar growing more turbulent, nearly balancing the pressure from above. Ji Ning himself was the final weight tipping the scales.

"Pull it out!" Ji Ning exerted force with his six arms. Alone, he was worth about eight Celestial Immortals, matching the strength of the winged rhinoceros, the most powerful among the enemy forces.

"What!"

The horned golden-robed man on the back of the winged rhinoceros changed expression drastically. The Celestial Immortals under his command were all Qi Refiners, naturally at a disadvantage in a contest of raw power! But the three strange beasts under his command were far stronger. He had thought that with the appearance of the three beasts, they could easily suppress the situation.

...

In the West Sea of the Grand Xia world, within the hall of the outpost of the Servants of the Void.

"Hahaha, Poison-Disfigured Immortal has run into trouble now." Immortal Wu Xiao laughed heartily, waving his arms and legs in delight.

"That's the founder of the Shaoyin clan?" Zi Cao, standing beside him, looked curiously at the horned golden-robed man. Although she had heard of the Shaoyin clan's founder, she knew little about him.

Immortal Wu Xiao nodded with a smile: "Yes, he is the founder of the Shaoyin clan. Back in the ancient Primordial World, there was a very powerful tribe called the 'Divine Fire Clan,' which had a Dao Ancestor as its leader. This tribe was among the top of the human tribes. A woman from this tribe was raped by a Fiendgod and gave birth to a child with Fiendgod blood. This child was born ugly, more like a demon than a human. He was rejected by the tribe... He never considered himself a member of the Divine Fire Clan, left the tribe early, and later founded the Shaoyin clan himself!"

"This ugly child is the founder of the Shaoyin clan, 'Shaoyin Chou'—a truly eccentric, cautious, insidious, and cunning monster." Immortal Wu Xiao said in a low voice. "Although he is only a Celestial Immortal, even I would not want to be his enemy."

Zi Cao nodded slightly.

Of course she had heard the legends of the Poison-Disfigured Immortal.

In the Three Realms, those who could become Pure Yang True Immortals or True Gods were few. Figures like Patriarch Lü 'Lü Dongbin' were so formidable that even the Celestial Emperor had to treat them with respect. True Immortals and True Gods were extremely rare... Celestial Immortals were far more numerous. Among Celestial Immortals, there were some monstrously talented individuals who, though unable to break through to the True Immortal level, possessed reputations no less than those of True Immortals or True Gods.

Immortal Wu Xiao was one!

Poison-Disfigured Immortal was another!

"This Poison-Disfigured has many avatars, though each avatar's strength is quite ordinary." Immortal Wu Xiao sighed. "But because he has so many avatars, killing him is nearly impossible. The Poison-Disfigured who appeared here is just one of his avatars."

"Poison-Disfigured's own combat power is average, but his venomous insects are terrifying. His ability to raise venomous insects is among the top in the Three Realms. I wonder where he got his inheritance." Immortal Wu Xiao sighed. "These three venomous insects each have the combat power of a top-tier Celestial Immortal, and since they are not afraid of death, they are even more fearsome than ordinary Celestial Immortals. Even in the ancient Primordial World, the Poison-Disfigured Immortal was extremely troublesome. Killing him was very difficult unless a Dao Ancestor intervened and destroyed all his avatars. Even if some of his venomous insects died, he could still create other terrifying insects over time."

"So it's best to win the Poison-Disfigured Immortal over to the side of the Xia Emperor." Immortal Wu Xiao said. "That would be a great help."

...

The eccentric, cautious, insidious, and cunning horned golden-robed man looked down and saw that even the three venomous insects could not stop the copper pillar from rising further. He immediately became anxious and transmitted mentally: "Boy Ji Ning, if you don't want to die, stop right now!"

...