Chapter 8: First Contact

"Could it be part of the ancient ruin world?" Ji Ning immediately thought. After all, the ancient ruin world couldn't be a perfect circle or square; this ruined continent had raised and sunken areas. It was normal for a piece of land to suddenly appear and be seen by him.

"Regardless, I must not get close."

"The ancient ruin world is extremely dangerous. Even True Gods and Dao Ancestors dare not trespass. I'd better stay far away." Ji Ning was self-aware. Although protected by the Eighty-Nine Arcane Arts, he dared not recklessly charge in.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning immediately began to move away from that continent, increasing the distance between himself and the land.

Though curious about the ancient ruin world, Ji Ning understood that curiosity kills the cat.

…

In the dark void, millions of miles away from Ji Ning, a hidden outpost lay concealed, completely invisible to the naked eye.

Inside the outpost.

Eighteen tall warriors with blue-black scales and blood-red curved horns sat on their respective thrones, all floating. They sat silently, their golden eyes fixed on the image displayed on a giant mirror in midair. It showed Ji Ning flying alone. At that moment, after using the Candle Dragon's Eye, he began to fly away, intending to distance himself from that land.

"The alien is starting to flee."

"Could he have detected our probing?"

"Probably not. We've never seen this alien before. He's not from our neighbor, the Curved Gut World, nor from the Seven Gods World." The eighteen tall warriors spoke calmly in the divine demon language.

"This void is the territory of our Broken Horn World. Even if spies from our neighbors, the Curved Gut World or the Seven Gods World, were sent, they wouldn't fly in so boldly. Besides, his appearance is strange—his skin is so delicate, and his body is so small."

"Could he be a spy from some unknown world?"

They discussed among themselves.

Suddenly, among the eighteen thrones, the warrior sitting at the back, on the highest seat, wearing a black cape, spoke loudly: "Without a doubt, this alien that has appeared is one we've never seen before, nor is he from our neighboring worlds. As for where he comes from, we'll know once we capture him alive."

"Lord Warden, as you've seen, this alien can survive the void storms without any external aid, relying solely on his body to withstand them. Despite his delicate skin and small size, I suspect none of us can match him in physical strength alone," a warrior said.

"At least we have intelligence," the highest-ranking warrior in the black cape said. "Balo, take a group of children to probe this alien's capabilities. Capture him alive if possible; if not, at least find out his strengths and weaknesses. This alien is currently in the void jurisdiction under our outpost's control. Other outposts are surely watching—don't let them laugh at us."

"Yes."

The tall warrior named Balo rose and walked out of the hall.

Each of these tall warriors was a thousand zhang tall, like a mountain. In their eyes, Ji Ning was tiny. But they knew well that their neighbors, the Curved Gut World and the Seven Gods World, were not to be trifled with. An alien who could travel such a great distance was probably no pushover either.

…

In the silent dark void, Ji Ning continued flying, having increased his distance from the distant land by another million miles. He was completely unaware that a void ship, invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by divine sense, was only six thousand miles away.

The ship was a hundred miles long. Inside the cabin, the warrior with blue-black scales and blood-red curved horns, Balo, sat on a throne. Below him stood warriors with similar blue-black scales and even large scaly wings, but their eyes were blood-red. They stood silently.

"My children," Balo said.

"Master," the ten tall warriors below replied respectfully. At first glance, they resembled Balo, but they had an extra pair of wings and lacked the curved horns on their heads.

"Go, capture that alien alive. If you can't, retreat. Remember, don't kill him." Balo stroked his chin. "He likely holds secrets. We must capture him alive to learn them."

"Yes."

The ten blood-eyed warriors replied respectfully.

"Also, the next void storm is twelve sectors away. Make sure to return before it hits," Balo instructed. His children dared not resist the void storms here, millions of miles from land, where the storms were still quite powerful.

The hatch opened.

The ten blood-eyed warriors flew out one by one. The tallest were a thousand zhang, the shortest eight hundred zhang.

…

"Hmm?" Ji Ning, who had been flying through the void, suddenly turned his head. Candlelight burned in his eyes. The void ship had been exposed when its hatch opened. The tall warriors with blue-black scales, huge wings, and blood-red eyes all broke through the air, moving at astonishing speed.

"Life?" Ji Ning was startled.

In the past half year, he had never encountered any life in the Extinction Void. Now, a ship had appeared, and ten powerful demon-like beings had emerged.

"There should be no life in the Extinction Void. So..." Ji Ning's heart tightened. "These beings likely entered the void from the ancient ruin world."

The ancient ruin world was vast. Perhaps some life existed on its fringes, and from there, they could enter the endless void. But the void tides were too strong. According to the guesses of Luo Hou Bow and the Yellow-haired Bear, only True Gods and Dao Ancestors could fly out of the Extinction Void.

"Alien."

"Alien."

Ten massive figures flew over, accompanied by divine sense transmissions.

"The divine demon language?" Ji Ning recognized it. Though complex and obscure, he had learned it long ago.

"Don't you understand?" The ten massive figures stared at Ji Ning as the ship approached, now only a thousand miles away.

Ji Ning did not respond, only watched them.

"Since he doesn't understand, capture him alive." One of the thousand-zhang blood-eyed warriors produced a long whip and lunged at Ji Ning.

"Stop," Ji Ning finally transmitted in the divine demon language.

The thousand-zhang blood-eyed warrior halted, a hint of mockery in his blood-red eyes: "So you do understand, alien."

"I just don't want to fight you," Ji Ning said.

"Then why did you trespass into the void of our Broken Horn World?" The blood-eyed warrior demanded. The other nine watched silently. Their mission was to capture the alien alive and probe his strengths, so they were willing to talk more.

The more they talked, the more they could learn.

"I stumbled in by accident," Ji Ning transmitted. "I have no intention of being your enemy."

"Stumbled in? Then come with us to see our master," the blood-eyed warrior said.

"I cannot go with you," Ji Ning shook his head.

No way.

He dared not recklessly approach the ancient ruin world, which held power that could destroy True Gods and Dao Ancestors.

"Then we'll have to take you by force." The ten blood-eyed warriors moved simultaneously. Five were a thousand zhang tall, and five were eight hundred zhang. The shorter, seemingly weaker ones opened their mouths and let out a silent roar.

Hummm~~~

An invisible wave instantly enveloped Ji Ning. He didn't know how to defend against such an attack.

"A mind-control technique?" Ji Ning realized immediately. But as a divine demon, his soul and divine body were completely fused, incredibly stable. Moreover, his Dao-heart had withstood karmic fire—how could such a mind-control technique affect him?

"Can't control him. His mind is strong."

"Bind him by force."

The five eight-hundred-zhang blood-eyed warriors transmitted.

"Alright."

The other five thousand-zhang warriors produced whips, each three thousand zhang long.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

The whips lashed through the void, closing in.

Ji Ning produced a Northmoon sword, not even using the Star Picking divine ability, and blocked the incoming whips.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" With consecutive impacts, Ji Ning blocked all five whips simultaneously.

"These five demon-like warriors have strength slightly less than mine without using divine abilities," Ji Ning noted. "They're roughly at the level of a Void Return divine demon."

Swoosh.

Ji Ning moved. Using the 'Nine Heavens Annihilating Wind' technique, though unable to draw on the power of heaven and earth, his speed was still remarkable. His Northmoon sword rapidly expanded to three hundred zhang—the enemies were huge, and a short sword couldn't harm them effectively.

Ji Ning flashed past the five warriors.

Five sword lights flashed.

The heads of the five thousand-zhang blood-eyed warriors flew off.

"Their bodies are tough, even stronger than a Void Return divine demon without divine abilities," Ji Ning felt. Though lacking the aid of heaven and earth, his sword technique far surpassed theirs—after all, the sword Dao was the art of using the sword.

"Eh?"

Ji Ning noticed with surprise.

Green blood spurted from the necks of the five thousand-zhang blood-eyed warriors. Their mouths opened and closed, then they floated in the void, lifeless.

"Dead?" Ji Ning was puzzled. "They're not divine demons." Like humans and demons, decapitation usually killed them, but killing a divine demon was far harder.

…

In the distant void ship, the horned warrior Balo watched and smiled: "Children, burn."

…

The five eight-hundred-zhang blood-eyed warriors in front of Ji Ning roared: "Damned alien!" A layer of green light appeared on their bodies, their aura surged, and they produced slender silver chains, swinging them at Ji Ning.

"Their aura has increased? Are they burning something?" Ji Ning wondered.

"Clang."

The chains clashed with Ji Ning's sword.

After just one collision, Ji Ning was knocked backward.

"Without divine abilities, I'm weaker than them now." Ji Ning immediately used the Nine Heavens Annihilating Wind, evading the five blood-eyed warriors, and five massive sword lights swept across their necks. His sword technique was far superior, and combined with his incredible speed, it was unstoppable.

These five blood-eyed warriors also fell, floating without any life.

…

In the void ship, the horned warrior Balo nodded slightly: "Strength at Earth-grade. Speed astonishing, at Heaven-grade. His sword technique is extremely high, also Heaven-grade. Of course, he might have a burst ability. He's no cannon fodder—definitely an elite. I wonder which world sent him alone to scout. But it's fine; he's not that powerful. A truly strong being would have killed those ten cannon fodder in one move. Hmm, back to the outpost. I've lost ten children; I'll need to hatch new ones."

Boom~~~

The void ship vanished into nothingness and quickly flew toward the outpost.

…