Chapter 11: Crisis of Divine Power

"No." Ji Ning looked at the large number of black-cloaked warriors constantly flying out of the distant hatch, startled. "The ones I fought earlier were blood-eyed warriors with scale wings. But these black-cloaked warriors... each has four arms, golden eyes, and blood-colored curved horns. Their appearance is completely different from before, and even their aura is vastly different."

If the ten enemies Ji Ning had slain earlier were cute kittens, then these black-cloaked warriors before him were like true fierce tigers!

"Over a thousand black-cloaked warriors in total." Ji Ning noticed that after the distant ship's hatch had spewed out over a thousand warriors, only after a long while did a purple-cloaked warrior emerge from the hatch. This purple-cloaked warrior looked identical to the black-cloaked ones in appearance, only his cloak was different, and his aura was vastly superior.

"Such a terrifying existence." Ji Ning suddenly felt a sense of suffocation.

The purple-cloaked warrior took just one step, leaving behind an afterimage, and his true body had already reached the front of the thousand black-cloaked warriors. This speed alone made Ji Ning's eyelids twitch; even if he used the divine ability 'Nine Heavens Obliterating Wind', his speed would not match this fellow's.

The intangible aura made Ji Ning feel pressure: "He is definitely stronger than any Celestial Immortal I have fought."

"Commander."

The thousand black-cloaked warriors all gazed fervently at their leader.

The purple-cloaked warrior, however, looked at Ji Ning with interest: "An alien, shaped like this, yet so small in stature. I have never seen or heard of such a thing."

"What to do, what to do now?" Ji Ning was extremely anxious. The tens of millions of miles were all covered by the grand formation, leaving him no escape. The forces sent by this Broken Horn World were terrifyingly powerful.

"The Void Tide is completely blocked by the third Void Ring, so everyone need not worry." The purple-cloaked warrior smiled. "Release the children and capture this alien alive."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Immediately, a thunderous sound, carried by powerful will, resounded through the void. At the same time, the thousand black-cloaked, curved-horn warriors all opened their mouths. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh... from each mouth flew ten small balls. In an instant, over ten thousand small balls appeared in the void. These balls instantly expanded upon reaching the void, soon becoming massive, scale-winged, blood-eyed warriors.

"Spit out from their mouths?" Ji Ning was stunned.

"Children, capture this alien alive." The purple-cloaked warrior gave the order.

"Yes."

Over ten thousand blood-eyed warriors all responded in unison. Then, half of them, who were slightly shorter, all opened their mouths and let out a silent roar. An invisible wave instantly surged toward Ji Ning. Ji Ning had experience; he knew these blood-eyed warriors excelled in soul-confusing techniques. Previously, only five blood-eyed warriors had used it, but this time over five thousand were doing so simultaneously.

The invisible wave was unavoidable; he could only endure it head-on!

"Clang, clang, clang~~"

Ji Ning felt his soul roar.

But Ji Ning, whose Iceheart Realm was nearly perfect, still withstood it.

"A strong soul." The purple-cloaked warrior nodded lightly.

"This alien does have some skill."

"Yes, although these children are expendable cannon fodder used in battle, with weak combat power, they can still be threatening in numbers. I wonder where this alien came from; he's quite strong."

The curved-horn, black-cloaked warriors also whispered among themselves.

...

The soul attack failed, and over ten thousand blood-eyed warriors took out their weapons and surged forward, covering the sky.

These enemies, barely comparable to Void-level divine power but lacking 'undying bodies', could be swept away by Ji Ning in a short time if he freely used divine abilities like 'Star Picking Hand' or 'Three Heads, Six Arms'. After all, without undying bodies, killing them was easy and simple. But Ji Ning dared not waste divine power recklessly.

The Star Picking Hand consumed too much divine power; once it was exhausted, he would have no means to struggle.

"I must rely only on my sword art."

Ji Ning held a Northmoon sword in each hand and extended them to three hundred zhang in length.

Swoosh!

Using the Nine Heavens Obliterating Wind divine ability, he instantly charged into the midst of the over ten thousand blood-eyed warriors. Then, he stopped using movement techniques and relied solely on his sword art. Shiiing, shiiing, shiiing~~~ Sword light flashed. Ji Ning's sword art was profoundly subtle, far beyond what these blood-eyed warriors could match. The three-hundred-zhang-long Northmoon swords repeatedly swept through the air, slicing through the heads of these blood-eyed warriors, sometimes even cutting them in half at the waist.

Whether their heads were cut off or they were severed at the waist, these blood-eyed warriors could not recover; each one died.

"Hmm? The sword art is truly subtle." The purple-cloaked warrior watched in surprise.

As a peerless sword immortal, even though Ji Ning could not sense the Dao of the Sword here or draw upon the power of heaven and earth, his sword technique remained exquisite.

"Children, burn." The purple-cloaked warrior spoke.

"Roar~~"

"Die."

"Alien."

Countless blood-eyed warriors roared, their bodies emitting a faint green light. Their speed and strength visibly increased as they frenziedly besieged Ji Ning.

But Ji Ning remained calm. He did not use any divine abilities; relying solely on his sword art, he continued to slay the blood-eyed warriors one after another. He even used his body as a weapon, letting it take the brunt of their axes and whips. Having cultivated the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art', Ji Ning, amidst the blood-eyed warriors, could use his body to absorb force!

Ji Ning was not worried about any harm to his body.

"Bang, bang, bang~~~" Ji Ning was sometimes sent flying by a great axe, sometimes knocked away by a long whip, sometimes blasted off by a thick staff...

But while being 'sent flying', his sword light flickered and drifted, causing the heads of many blood-eyed warriors to fly off as well.

...

In the endless darkness, three powerful wills were communicating.

"This human's body is quite strong."

"Yes, like a human magic treasure."

"This human's strength is probably only at the Celestial Immortal level. But his body is so tough; he must have cultivated some heaven-defying protective divine ability from the human race."

"It's best to capture him alive and study his body thoroughly. If we can glean some secrets of that divine ability from his body and make our sisters' bodies stronger, that would be even better."

...

Relying on the Eight-Nine Arcane Art's invulnerability and his subtle sword art, Ji Ning killed all ten thousand blood-eyed warriors in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. But he felt no excitement. From the smiles of the thousand curved-horn, black-cloaked warriors in the distance and the calmness of the purple-cloaked warrior, he understood that to this Broken Horn World, what he had just killed was probably nothing.

In fact...

It truly was nothing. Those were mere cannon fodder, not even considered the same race as the curved-horn warriors! To nurture a true kin required great cost and effort. But hatching such expendable cannon fodder was easy and cheap. Each curved-horn warrior could only control a limited number of cannon fodder; some had to die before more could be hatched.

"Being able to kill over ten thousand children shows you have some skill." The purple-cloaked warrior spoke. "Qu You, go test his abilities."

"Yes."

A black-cloaked warrior nodded, and four short swords appeared in his four hands simultaneously.

Ji Ning's heart tightened.

Knowing he had just killed over ten thousand blood-eyed warriors, they sent only one black-cloaked warrior?

"Hmph." The black-cloaked warrior moved, turning into a blur as he charged straight at Ji Ning.

"So fast." Ji Ning was somewhat unaccustomed to it. The blood-eyed warriors earlier were much slower. This black-cloaked warrior's speed was only slightly slower than Ji Ning's Nine Heavens Obliterating Wind, putting them on the same level. Being slightly slower had little effect.

Four icy short swords howled as they came.

Ji Ning's Northmoon swords met them.

"Clang, clang, clang~~~" A series of clashes. Ji Ning had the advantage in sword technique, while his opponent had the advantage of four hands.

But after just one exchange,

Ji Ning was sent flying backward.

"Such strength." Ji Ning's expression changed. He immediately shook his body, manifesting three heads and six arms.

"Three heads, six arms? Is this your true form?" The black-cloaked warrior was quite surprised, then grinned. "Interesting." He attacked again.

Wielding six divine swords, Ji Ning's sword art remained subtle. He still refrained from using the Star Picking Hand, as it consumed too much divine power, and the Broken Horn World's strength was unfathomable... It was better to 'show weakness to the enemy'. If he revealed his strongest techniques, the enemy would likely use even stronger means against him.

"Shiiing." A sword light from Ji Ning slashed across the black-cloaked warrior's body. Although the warrior retreated quickly, a large wound was opened on his abdomen, green blood flowing out. But in the blink of an eye, the wound healed.

"Healing?" Ji Ning was startled. "So they are indeed two different races. Those cannon fodder couldn't heal at all, but this black-cloaked warrior can regenerate."

With regenerative power, killing them would be much harder.

"Hmm?" The purple-cloaked warrior watching from afar spoke. "Qu You's squad, all of you go."

"Yes."

Immediately, nine more black-cloaked warriors flew over.

"Qu You, you're not up to it."

"Can't even take down one alien, and you got injured."

The nine black-cloaked warriors teased, but none of them held back. They quickly formed an encirclement, attacking Ji Ning from all sides, leaving him no room to evade.

"Boom~~~"

Ji Ning's body suddenly expanded, growing to a thousand zhang tall.

A thousand zhang was the limit of his Heaven Earth Transformation.

"What?" The ten black-cloaked warriors had been besieging a tiny speck, but that speck suddenly expanded to their size, startling them.

"So you can be this tall too. This must be your true form." Qu You exclaimed. "Three heads, six arms, as tall as us. This alien is quite strong."

But Ji Ning was anxious. The more divine abilities he used, the more divine power he consumed.

However, under the Heaven Earth Transformation, his strength and speed both skyrocketed!

"Each of these black-cloaked warriors is comparable to Golden Bell Celestial Immortal or Withered Tree Celestial Immortal. If more come, I'll have to use the Star Picking Hand. Once I use it, I'm close to being finished." Ji Ning was frantic. Divine power was consumed bit by bit and was hard to recover in a short time. But he still hadn't figured out how to escape.

No way to heaven, no door to earth.

...