Chapter 24: Tearing the Grand Formation

The Myriad Demon Realm.

"What, the leader level?" The Black-Robed Divine King found it hard to accept.

"Last time, didn't you say his sword force had broken through to the fifth level, and his strength was close to a leader? How long has it been, and now he's already at the leader level?" The Black-Robed Divine King felt a fire burning in his heart, extremely aggrieved. He shouted, "Wu Xiao, are you mistaken? Did you misjudge?"

Wu Xiao the Celestial Immortal, however, couldn't be bothered with the Black-Robed Divine King. Instead, he solemnly addressed the Lord of All Demons with respect: "Master, that Great Demon God Cixiu is furious. Ji Ning's strength is indisputably at the leader level. Master, what should we do now?"

"Indisputable?" The Black-Robed Divine King clenched his teeth upon hearing this.

Such hatred.

How could it be that a youth who had cultivated for less than a thousand years now stood at the pinnacle of the Three Realms, while he, a disciple of the Heart Demon Lord, the nominal leader of the Fraternity of No Return, had not reached that step?

"Foolish." The Demonhand Dao Ancestor glanced at the Black-Robed Divine King and sneered.

Hearing the word 'foolish,' the Black-Robed Divine King immediately snapped awake. He was one who manipulated hearts, yet this time he had been toyed with. The main reason was that he had watched Ji Ning grow, even suffering setbacks time and again, which he himself had 'bestowed' upon Ji Ning. Now that Ji Ning had reached the pinnacle of the Three Realms, he could be said to have 'contributed greatly.' How could the Black-Robed Divine King not feel stifled? But he was no ordinary mortal; he quickly regained his composure.

"Demon Lord, this Beiming has already reached the leader level. He cultivates too quickly; it's best to eliminate him as soon as possible." The Black-Robed Divine King said.

"I know." The Lord of All Demons frowned. "I heard that Houyi, Suiren, and a group of True Gods and Dao Ancestors have already set out. Even if we want to help, we have to enter the Golden River World and then fly slowly. We probably can't match Houyi's speed. We can't help... Wu Xiao, tell the Great Demon God Cixiu that we can't make it in time. There's no way; everything depends on him."

"Mm." Wu Xiao nodded.

"Also, tell him this." The Lord of All Demons instructed, "Kill as many as you can. It's best to kill Buddha Tathagata as quickly as possible."

"Yes." Wu Xiao replied respectfully.

The Lord of All Demons pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "The Nuwa camp's foundation is truly deep. They didn't even force out their hidden cards, yet out pops a Ji Ning... Cixiu the Great Demon God, hmph, a Chaos alien with ill intentions. Let him have a good fight with the Nuwa camp."

...

The Golden River World, outside the grand formation.

Fuxi looked at Ji Ning with surprise, but couldn't spare much time to talk. He quickly said, "No time for more words. That you broke through at this moment is heaven helping our side... Now, Tathagata's divine power has been greatly depleted, and he can't hold on much longer. We must break the formation immediately and go in to save him."

"This formation is very complex." Ji Ning looked at the formation before him.

"Mm." Fuxi nodded. "If I were to slowly decipher it, it would take about half an hour. By then, Tathagata would be long dead." Fuxi said, "Tathagata is very important to our side. If his true body is destroyed, our side will suffer greatly in the final battle. No matter what, we must save him."

"What do you need me to do?" Ji Ning quickly asked. Although he knew a bit about formations, compared to Fuxi, he was practically illiterate.

"For a formation to exist, the most important thing is stability." Fuxi said, "If a formation is not stable enough, it can easily collapse, after all, it relies on external forces."

Ji Ning nodded; he understood this principle.

"There." Fuxi pointed into the distance, and a stream of divine power flew out, encircling an area of the grand formation. "That is a key point in the formation's operation. I want you to do your utmost to tear open the formation, as much as you can... Use all your strength. When this operational point is greatly affected, the entire formation will be impacted, making it much easier for me to decipher."

"Mm." Ji Ning understood.

Ji Ning immediately stepped forward.

Whoosh.

His body instantly swelled, from an ordinary white-robed youth to a height of ten thousand zhang, and he manifested three heads and six arms. Ji Ning's six arms simultaneously reached out, and each palm revealed sharp sword light. Then he thrust fiercely, executing the 'Dripping Blood Style' from the Brightmoon Sword Art, faster than light, piercing into the grand formation.

The grand formation was extremely resilient. Ji Ning's six arms were inside it, facing a powerful repulsive force. This was a formation set up by the Great Demon God Cixiu to trap and kill Tathagata. Breaking it by force... no one in the Three Realms could do that.

Fortunately, Fuxi hadn't asked Ji Ning to break the formation by force, but only to shake it with force! As long as it was shaken, Fuxi's deciphering would become far, far easier. Even just shaking it probably required the leader level.

"You all help Beiming." Fuxi quickly shouted, "Attack the area of the formation next to Beiming."

"Yes."

"Alright."

"Attack."

Immediately, Kua Fu's troops and Jade Cauldron's troops formed formations and launched wave after wave of attacks, each strike landing on the formation. The three human Great Abilities under Fuxi also joined the assault, but they stayed close to Fuxi, protecting him as he remained immersed in the formation.

"Hm?" Ji Ning immediately felt a slight easing of pressure. He gritted his teeth and let out a low roar.

Whoosh~~~

His six arms strained with all their might, barely tearing open a crack.

This crack was large enough for a person to enter, but entering would be useless, for the formation was fraught with dangers within; the entire formation had to be broken.

Fuxi, disregarding everything, swiftly worked to dismantle the formation.

...

Inside the formation.

Tathagata was on the verge of collapse, his divine power reduced to a mere ten percent.

"Where did these two alien leader Great Abilities come from? Their strength is so formidable. Truly a calamity. The true face of this catastrophe is gradually being revealed. I fear only at the very end will we understand the source of this disaster," Tathagata sighed inwardly. In the last great war of the primordial era, it was only at the end that they learned the Lord of All Things had orchestrated everything.

Now, the strength of the two alien leader Great Abilities that had already appeared filled Tathagata with worry.

His defenses were formidable.

In the Three Realms, even if three leader Great Abilities besieged him, he could hold out. But now, with only two alien leader Great Abilities attacking, he was nearly spent—clearly, the attacks of these two alien leader Great Abilities were terrifying, surpassing even the leaders of the Three Realms in power.

"Hm?" The Great Demon God Cixiu suddenly frowned. "How is the formation being broken..." He controlled the formation and clearly sensed one of its key points rapidly disintegrating. At this rate, it would soon collapse entirely.

"Master! Master!"

Three golden-armored men of the Water Cliff Clan appeared, and one of them quickly said, "That human, Beiming, has transformed into a giant a hundred thousand feet tall and is tearing at the formation with all his might, while Fuxi takes the opportunity to break it."

"Tearing the grand formation?" The Great Demon Cixiu immediately understood. A formation that wasn't stable enough was naturally much easier to破解. He promptly said, "Blade, you go at once and stop Ji Ning from disrupting the formation. Without Ji Ning's help, that Fuxi will take a long time to破解 the formation. As for this Tathagata, I can handle him alone. Given his rate of divine power consumption, he's probably almost spent."

"Alright." The golden-armored one-armed man didn't hesitate and nodded immediately.

Swoosh.

The golden-armored one-armed man swiftly departed, heading straight for Ji Ning.

The Great Demon Cixiu looked at the Tathagata, who sat cross-legged, and sneered, "Tathagata, it's useless for your human race to have an extra Beiming. Blade has gone... Ji Ning won't be able to help Fuxi. By the time Fuxi破解s the formation, you'll be long dead."

The Buddha Tathagata also employed many divine abilities, desperately resisting the Great Demon Cixiu.

Both the Great Demon Cixiu and Blade were extremely powerful—after all, they were Ancestral Gods! The Buddha Tathagata was only a True God and had to rely on many divine abilities and secret arts, as well as great techniques, to resist. Now that Blade had left, Tathagata was a bit more at ease, but his divine power was only one-tenth remaining, and death was near.

...

"Ha!" Ji Ning, now ten thousand feet tall, exerted force with his six arms. On his palms, seven-colored sword light swirled as he frantically tore at the grand formation.

"Beiming, be careful! The Tathagata said a foreign great power who uses a blade is coming." Kong Xiu quickly sent a voice transmission.

A single breath after Kong Xiu spoke.

Ji Ning saw a golden-armored one-armed figure. The figure also rapidly grew larger, becoming ten thousand feet tall. He was a cold-faced man who looked almost identical to a human. Holding a blade in one hand, he looked at Ji Ning, took a step, and was already there. Then he swung his blade, the blade light fierce and carrying irresistible might, directly slashing at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning had two choices.

One was to continue tearing the grand formation; the other was to give up tearing it and block this strike.

"Beiming!" From afar, Kua Fu, Kong Xiu, and Yuding Dao Ren, who had been helping, all cried out in alarm. The blade light had already reached Ji Ning, yet he was still desperately tearing at the formation, paying no heed to the strike.

"Clang!"

The sharp blade struck Ji Ning's divine body. His white robe shattered, and sparks flew from the skin on his chest, leaving a faint white mark but not even breaking the skin.

Ji Ning merely gave the golden-armored one-armed man a cold glance.