Chapter 13: Zifu Disciple

"Kill me."

"Even as a ghost, I won't let you off."

"Ah."

"No, no, no."

Standing within this great formation of endless black mist, Ji Ning could faintly hear all sorts of sounds, as if many people were suffering terrible torment. He thought to himself in alarm, "They're frantically buying large numbers of slaves, even controlling some tribal chieftains to start tribal wars to get slaves—what exactly are they trying to do!"

"Regardless, I have to break out first." Ji Ning looked around solemnly, then with a whoosh dashed forward, covering over a li. Then he turned and ran, retreated, leaped... Within the mist-filled formation, Ji Ning moved quickly for a while, but no matter where he went, black mist and yin energy filled his vision.

"Not good." Ji Ning's expression changed slightly. "This isn't an ordinary maze formation. I moved that fast and kept changing direction, yet the formation remained perfectly stable. The one controlling this formation is probably not a Xiantian lifeform."

In the past month of tracking, Ji Ning had also spent time studying the "Nine Volumes on Formations" and had gained some insights. Although he couldn't easily break the formation before him, he could still tell... that this was far from simple formations like the Yin-Yang Two Qi Formation; it was a rather profound formation. The formation-flag treasure bearing such a formation could be considered a graded magic treasure.

A graded magic treasure—a Xiantian lifeform couldn't refine it.

"An existence at the level of a Wanxiang Adept, acting in a place like Yanshan, wouldn't be petty. Most likely... the one who set up this formation should be a Zifu Disciple, probably one skilled in poison." Ji Ning quickly made a judgment based on what he had encountered earlier.

...

"Little human child, I'm coming for you." A shrill laugh echoed through the endless black mist.

Ji Ning stood still, while around his body appeared three water-lotus leaves and three fire-lotus leaves. The two layers of leaves began to slowly rotate around Ji Ning in opposite directions...

"Hahaha!" A sinister laugh reverberated.

Swish!

A shadow suddenly darted out from the black mist, straight at Ji Ning, but when the shadow saw Ji Ning protected by the water and fire lotus leaves, it hesitated.

"Hmph." Ji Ning's eyes flashed with a fierce light. He lunged forward, his Northcliff Sword turning into a streak of fire as he executed 'Lightning Spark', cleaving the shadow in two.

Whoosh~~~

The shadow instantly turned into mist, drifting back and condensing into a strange beast. The beast was faintly visible in the black mist, impossible to see clearly.

"This isn't some little human child; it's a human Xiantian lifeform who has cultivated for who knows how many years!" The shrill voice came from the mist, spreading far away. "This human probably broke through to Xiantian in his youth, which is why he looks so young. And he has protective lotus flowers—those might be a magic treasure."

From another distant place came a clear, cold voice: "If he's not a Zifu Disciple, it's a trivial matter. Just kill him."

"Leave it to me." The beast, faintly visible in the mist, said directly.

Ji Ning's expression changed slightly.

'If he's not a Zifu Disciple, it's a trivial matter'—to say that, this great formation was probably indeed set up by a Zifu Disciple. And the one who just attacked was merely a demonic beast, likely a spirit beast under that Zifu Disciple's command.

"My master says," the beast in the mist slowly shifted positions, appearing here and there, "that when roaming outside, the smaller a human looks, the harder they are to deal with. Seems those words are true now... but you've met me!"

Ji Ning stood calmly.

Once one steps into Xiantian lifeform, one is no longer mortal; one's appearance barely changes. Only when nearing the end of one's lifespan does one age rapidly. Thus, elderly Xiantian lifeforms are mostly over a hundred. Ji Yichuan, for instance, first became famous in Yanshan, then went out adventuring for years, and later returned with his wife. Now nearly fifty, he still looks as young as in his youth. If a Xiantian lifeform looks like a child, it means they became Xiantian as a child.

The younger one looks, the harder to deal with.

Some immortals might even appear as children.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Suddenly, three black rays shot toward Ji Ning, but when they hit the water and fire lotus leaves that spun like flower buds protecting him, they barely penetrated the first layer and were blocked by the second.

A huge black shadow also charged out from the mist, its massive claws reaching for Ji Ning's head.

"Clang!" Ji Ning's sword flashed, blocking the claw, and he sidestepped away.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning frowned as he looked. It was a beast resembling a leopard, but Ji Ning couldn't immediately identify it. With so many mixed bloodlines, strange variants often appeared. This beast looked somewhat like a Han beast but had a more slender body. It stared at Ji Ning, its tail swaying, with rings of black bone spikes along it—a whip-like tail that could strike a person no less painfully than a magic treasure whip.

Ji Ning's pupils contracted, and he turned into a blur.

Windwing Evasion!

Whoosh!

Fast as lightning, he lunged at the beast. The great demonic beast's claws reached for Ji Ning.

"Dripping Water Pierces Stone!" A watery sword light flashed and vanished, faintly like a drop of water falling. The great demonic beast crashed to the ground with its momentum, rolling a few times before lying still. A large hole was in its head, blood and brains flowing out.

Ji Ning landed quietly, still holding his twin swords, watching his surroundings warily. He glanced at the beast: "Just a late Xiantian great demon!"

"Black Needle!"

"Black Needle!" From afar came the clear, cold voice calling out. "Did you kill the human? Black Needle, Black—"

Soon the clear voice fell silent.

"He didn't even know I killed the beast—so this beast isn't his spirit beast." Ji Ning realized that in these mountains, there wasn't just a single Zifu Disciple; it was likely a hidden force. But setting up and controlling this formation required at least a Zifu Disciple.

"Big trouble." Ji Ning hadn't expected that on the land of Yanshan, at the border between the Ji clan and the Tiemu clan, such a force lay hidden.

...

Inside the great formation, Ji Ning stood with his protective water and fire lotus flowers spinning around him, while his mind continuously studied the formation. Although the "Nine Volumes on Formations" was profound, and some diagrams were hard to memorize by force, Ji Ning had managed to memorize the first volume. Now he was devoting most of his mental energy to deducing it.

"I must break the formation. Trapped here, I can only let them do as they please." Ji Ning buried himself in deduction, while his ears caught the sounds of screams and bitter curses, as if a hell were hidden in the mountains.

...

At the West Prefecture City of the Ji clan, in the Drifting Snow Hall.

Ji Youyang sat high in the hall, with Ji Yichuan, Ji Lie, and others seated in order, all with heavy expressions.

"In the last ten days," Ji Youyang's voice was somewhat hoarse, his eyes red, "within the territories of our Ji clan's five prefectures, many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing! Neither seen alive nor dead!"

"Prefecture Lord, who is causing trouble in our Ji clan's territory?"

"Find them and wipe them out."

"I've been going crazy these days. My good brother—I must find him, rescue him."

Below, some Ji clan members couldn't help roaring.

Ji Lie, standing nearby, glared and rasped, "My son is also missing. We must find him, we must!" Then he looked at the Prefecture Lord on the dais. "Big brother, how many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing so far? And who is striking at our Ji clan? Have we found the culprit?"

"According to the latest news from the Ancestral Prefecture, as of today, a full twenty-three Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing." Ji Youyang shook his head. "And most are relatively powerful and famous Xiantian lifeforms! Among the commanders of the five prefectures, five have gone missing. As for traces, we've found nothing."

"This is a provocation against our Ji clan, a complete contempt for us." Ji Lie roared.

Ji Youyang's eyes were red: "The missing ones are all quite powerful—at least mid-stage Xiantian, some late-stage, even Xiantian Grandmasters! This is riding on our Ji clan's head and pissing in our faces! We must find the culprit! Even at great cost, we must destroy them!"

Ji Yichuan, sitting to the side, spoke up: "We should destroy them, but from my experience, this force likely has a Zifu Disciple backing them."

"Oh?" Everyone looked at Ji Yichuan.

Ji Yichuan had roamed outside, even gone to the North Sea, so his perspective was different.

Ji Yichuan continued: "There are two most likely possibilities. The first is some exiled tribe that lost its city and foundation, forced to wander... but the remnants of that tribe are relatively strong, so they want to start a war in Yanshan to seize a city."

With a city comes territory; only then does a tribe have a foundation.

"The second possibility is some fleeing cultivator. Some evil cultivators use souls and corpses to practice dark arts, etc. Capturing Xiantian lifeforms is because their souls are stronger, more suitable for practicing certain spells." Ji Yichuan said.

"Moreover, this disappearance of Xiantian lifeforms," Ji Yichuan said, "according to our Ji clan's intelligence, it's not just us. The neighboring Tiemu clan and the Bianhe clan have also had Xiantian lifeforms go missing. We just don't know how many they've lost. So arrogant—this force that has come to Yanshan is not weak. We must take revenge and rescue the missing Xiantian lifeforms, but we must not act rashly. First, we need to find out the enemy's strength, then make a plan to wipe them out in one fell swoop!"

The hall fell silent.