Chapter 7 Blood Stains the Winged Serpent Lake

The winged serpent opened its massive maw and directly sprayed liquid like water arrows. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The black-glowing venom instantly enveloped Ji Ning, but Ji Ning didn't dodge at all. With his left hand, he executed the 'Watertight' technique with the Northmoon sword, diverting the venom aside, where it landed on the winged serpent's own body.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~ The scales on the winged serpent's body were immediately burned, but then the venom seeped into its body and was absorbed by it.

Ji Ning diverted the venom with his left hand while thrusting his right sword straight at the winged serpent's head!

The sword was like flowing light!

Whoosh!

This thrust, infused with the essence of Watertight, startled the great demon winged serpent. It hurriedly twisted its head aside.

'Watertight!' Ji Ning's eyes flashed coldly. 'Pierce Stone!!!'

The sword light stabbed in from the side of the huge serpent head, penetrated the scales, then scraped along the edge of the winged serpent's skull and emerged. Through the wound, the white bone of the skull could faintly be seen, and large amounts of dark green blood splattered from the wound.

'You wounded me?' The old winged serpent demon was completely frenzied. It raised its head violently, its massive scale-and-bone wings sweeping toward Ji Ning, and its tail coiled around him. For a moment, it was like a demon gone mad, churning the lake water around them into turmoil.

Ji Ning held his twin swords, moving like a phantom: 'Not only will I wound you, I'll kill you!'

Though the old winged serpent demon was shocked by Ji Ning's displayed sword technique and power, it still couldn't believe that it, a thousand-year-old demon, would be defeated by a mere human child. Not to mention that Ji Ning had killed its most beloved child, Crimsonmang... At this moment, the old winged serpent demon had only one thought—kill Ji Ning!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

The lake water churned. The massive scale-and-bone wings and the elusive serpent tail madly attacked. In this lake, the domain of water tribes, the old winged serpent demon was like a tiger with wings.

Ji Ning, however, met every move with a countermove. His sword light flashed, leaving wound after wound on the serpent's tail and wings.

'Impossible!'

'How can you defeat me!'

'Die! Die! Die! I want you dead!' The old winged serpent demon was completely insane.

Ji Ning fought fiercely with it. With a glance, a water lotus leaf and a fire lotus leaf materialized out of thin air, appearing above and below the serpent's head, sandwiching it. As the water and fire lotus leaves slowly rotated in opposite directions, the old winged serpent demon howled, its scales beginning to crack: 'Freeze!'

A layer of frost quickly formed on its head, and with a violent shake, the water and fire lotus leaves scattered.

...

The battle raged in the depths of the lake, and none of the lesser water demons dared approach.

The dark green blood flowing from the large wounds on the old winged serpent demon dyed the surrounding lake water green.

On the lake surface.

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue, both clad in white fur, stood on the lake. The entire lake surface was now shaking violently, as if a great water monster was stirring in the depths.

'Such a commotion.' Ji Yichuan's eyes lit up.

Yuchi Xue nodded: 'It seems Ning'er is putting a lot of pressure on that old winged serpent demon, or else there wouldn't be such a stir. Look, the lake water is turning green, and there are many dead fish and shrimp.' Indeed, floating fish and shrimp appeared in the surging, shaking lake water, evidently poisoned.

Ji Yichuan sniffed: 'It's the old winged serpent demon's blood. Its blood is highly toxic; even diluted by the lake water, it can kill ordinary fish and shrimp.'

'So much blood loss.' Yuchi Xue smiled even more. 'Ning'er's strength has improved greatly.'

'Mm, making a Xiantian circle-level old demon bleed this much is indeed impressive.' Ji Yichuan was also looking forward to it.

...

The old winged serpent demon had used every trick, but still couldn't wound Ji Ning. Instead, its body was covered with large wounds left by Ji Ning's sharp Northmoon swords.

'After I broke through to Xiantian circle, in the territory ruled by the Ji clan, only a few are stronger than me—all famous names. How could this Ji Ning be so strong? I'm afraid even Ji Lie is no match for this Ji Ning now.' After its frenzy, the old winged serpent demon calmed down and began to think of retreat.

Ji Ning's displayed strength alarmed it.

As an old demon, its body was naturally tough... A Xiantian late-stage Qi Refiner's sword strike probably couldn't even pierce its scales. But Ji Ning's sword was incredibly sharp! A slash left a large wound, a thrust left a big hole.

'In a few more years, won't this Ji Ning be stronger than his father?' The resentment and hatred in the old winged serpent demon's heart quickly faded, replaced by fear. 'I can't fight such a freak. Better flee!'

Swoosh!

With a flick of its tail, a twist of its head, and a flap of its scale-and-bone wings, the old winged serpent demon prepared to flee.

'Old winged serpent demon, don't run!' Ji Ning, standing on the serpent's body, manipulated the water to form a channel while executing the Windwing Evasion technique, darting forward.

'I come and go as I please.' The old winged serpent demon roared, flicked its tail, and the lake water surged, a wave engulfing Ji Ning.

The old winged serpent demon couldn't help feeling a bit smug.

Control water to form an underwater channel? It was a water tribe demon and could also control water; destroying the channel was easy. It couldn't win in a fight, but could it not even escape?

'Hm?' The old winged serpent demon suddenly sensed a terrible threat from the unseen, and turned its head to look.

Behind it, Ji Ning hovered in the lake water, surrounded by a dense array of flying sword artifacts. Each sword artifact emitted a faint glow. The Xiantian true essence, transformed through over three hundred flying swords, condensed into a sword light that hovered before Ji Ning, flickering in and out.

'Artifacts? So many artifacts?' The old winged serpent demon was stunned.

Whoosh!

The sword light before Ji Ning flashed, instantly piercing hundreds of zhang. The old winged serpent demon felt the terrifying power of that sword light and tried to turn its head to dodge. But the sword light merely curved slightly in flight and still accurately stabbed into the center of the serpent's head.

Bang!

The sword light shot out from the back of the serpent's skull, bringing with it dark green blood and some brain matter.

'Ah!' The old winged serpent demon stared at Ji Ning in shock. 'It's a formation, for...'

'Dying by a sword formation, you should be content.' Ji Ning walked over directly, the lake water parting before him. The old winged serpent demon's eyes went completely dim, and its massive body began to slowly sink...

Thus died the old demon that had ruled the Winged Serpent Lake area for a thousand years!

Ji Ning watched the sinking corpse of the old winged serpent demon, his heart somewhat complex. It was this old demon that had attacked him in West Prefecture City, leading to a series of events. When he first set out to adventure, he had set the old winged serpent demon as his ultimate goal. Although the demon had broken through to Xiantian circle, he had still slain it!

'Collect.' Ji Ning grabbed the huge corpse of the old winged serpent demon and, with a thought, stored it directly into an empty storage artifact. Though the corpse was large, it could fit curled up. He had no shortage of storage artifacts—he had over a thousand.

'Time to go up.' Ji Ning looked up, the lake water parting automatically as he walked upward.

...

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue stood on the lake surface, waiting.

'No more noise?' Yuchi Xue looked at the gradually calming lake. 'There's no more movement below.'

'That old winged serpent demon probably can't do anything to Ji Ning,' Ji Yichuan said. 'So it should have retreated, and the battle has stopped.'

Yuchi Xue looked at her husband: 'Could it be that Ning'er killed the old demon?'

'Killed? In the lake, that old demon can fight or flee as it pleases. Defeating it is easy; killing it? Hard, very hard.' Ji Yichuan had personally fought the old winged serpent demon and shook his head. Then his eyes lit up as he looked into the distance. 'Look, Ji Ning is coming out.'

Yuchi Xue also looked.

In the distance was the island at the center of Winged Serpent Lake. White waves rose at the island's edge, parting to form a water path. A youth in animal skins was walking on the waves toward the island.

'Ning'er!' Yuchi Xue called out first.

...

As Ji Ning stepped onto the island's edge, a familiar voice reached his ears: 'Ning'er!'

'Mother?' Ji Ning was startled and turned to look.

In the distance, Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue, both in white animal skins, were swiftly walking on the water toward him. Ji Ning was both surprised and delighted.

Ji Yichuan and his wife stepped onto the island.

'Ning'er.' Yuchi Xue came over and took her son's hand, examining him closely.

'Don't worry. Even if Ji Ning is injured, his divine body training can heal him quickly.' Ji Yichuan turned to look at Ji Ning, satisfaction in his eyes. 'To be able to fight the Xiantian circle-level great demon winged serpent and force it to retreat—Ji Ning, you've improved even more than I expected.'

Ji Ning was startled and quickly said, 'Father, the great demon winged serpent has been slain by me.'