Chapter 18: Mad Howls

The white mist in this bottle was the essence extracted from a corpse fiend, taking the form of vapor. Once it touched the body, it would rapidly erode the flesh until nothing remained but a pool of water! Even the senior apprentice brother himself, who had already reached the perfection of the innate stage, had to rely on an antidote to withstand it. And the young man before him was clearly inferior in strength, and from what he knew, this young master Ji Ning had only recently broken through to the innate stage.

"No matter how monstrous a genius you are, your divine demon body training is probably far inferior to mine. Even I can't withstand it; you're certainly doomed." The black-robed man watched expectantly.

Ji Ning's expression changed. Like master, like disciple! He had already judged earlier that the Zifu cultivator was likely skilled in poison use, and now this black-robed fellow was equally adept at it.

The white mist corroded him, and Ji Ning felt a numbing sensation instantly spread through his body.

"Hold on!" Ji Ning's Chiming divine power surged within him, and the powerful vitality of his divine demon body fought to expel the poison.

"Die!" Ji Ning struggled to suppress and expel the corpse fiend essence within him while simultaneously flapping the magic treasure wings on his back, shooting forth like a gale, straight at the black-robed man lying on the ground. Whether or not he could expel the corpse fiend essence, he had to kill this man first. Otherwise, if he died from the poison while his enemy still lived, how unwilling he would be!

"Haha, the harder you move, the faster you die." The black-robed man, gripping his six-edged long staff, rumbled across the ground, each step making the earth tremble—he was clearly using all his strength. "Die!" He raised his six-edged staff high, as if a mountain were crashing down, and smashed it toward Ji Ning.

Swish! Swish! Using the Windwing Evasion technique, Ji Ning moved like a ghost, swiftly arcing around to attack the black-robed man from the side.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Ji Ning pounced fiercely. The black-robed man's long staff shifted slightly to meet him. They had clashed many times and knew each other's terror. The black-robed man was immensely strong, while Ji Ning's swordplay was exquisite and he wielded twin swords.

Thud!

A stone the size of a head, which had been lying nearby, suddenly flew up with lightning speed and smashed directly into the black-robed man's head. Because the distance was so short and the stone came from behind him—the black-robed man had no eyes in the back of his head—by the time he faintly sensed the disturbance in the air, it was too late!

"Bang!" Under Ji Ning's divine will, the stone moved with astonishing speed, as if a late-stage innate divine demon body cultivator were gripping it and smashing it with all his might into the man's head.

The stone shattered.

Blood flowed from the black-robed man's head, and he staggered.

"Clang!" "Shriek!"

Two sword flashes appeared: one blocked the six-edged staff, while the other pierced straight through the black-robed man's face, emerging from the back of his head, bringing with it a trace of brain matter and blood.

Bang!

The force contained in the six-edged staff still sent Ji Ning stumbling back several steps, naturally pulling out his long sword. At the black-robed man's brow was a hole that could no longer close. Even Ji Ning would be dead if his head were pierced through a vital point.

"You, you..." The powerful vitality of his divine demon body allowed the black-robed man a shred of life. He stared at Ji Ning, struggling to speak. "You..."

Then his entire body fell backward, causing the ground to shake.

"Huff, huff, huff." Ji Ning stood there, his breathing somewhat ragged. He stared at the corpse before him, understanding that the man had died unwilling and confused. The senior apprentice brother had probably been bewildered even in death, wondering why his head had suddenly been attacked from behind. Who had struck from behind?

Divine will was Ji Ning's killing move.

Once used, if it failed to kill the enemy, the enemy could immediately escape using a talisman of evasion, and even the Zifu cultivator would learn of his divine will technique. So he either didn't use it, or used it to kill.

Earlier, Ji Ning had been locked in fierce combat with him, but because he was poisoned and couldn't afford to delay, he had used his divine will to manipulate the stone.

Their strength was nearly equal; in a life-or-death battle, not even the slightest mistake was allowed. The stone, with immense force, smashed into his head, completely disrupting his staff technique, making it impossible for him to defend against Ji Ning's unpredictable swordplay. The result was that Ji Ning pierced through his skull with a single sword strike.

"Hahaha..." Ji Ning laughed, threw back his head, and howled. "Come on! I'll kill anyone who comes, as many as they send! Hahaha..."

At this moment, Ji Ning was utterly frenzied.

Trapped in a desperate situation, his clansmen imprisoned, with little hope of survival, Ji Ning had naturally become more manic. Killing a powerful enemy brought him immense satisfaction.

The ground was covered in gullies, deep pits, and rubble everywhere. Earlier, Ji Ning's swordplay had drawn upon the power of heaven and earth, and his opponent had been immensely strong, leaving the surroundings in ruins.

"Poison?" Ji Ning felt the corpse fiend essence gradually receding under the expulsion of his Chirming divine power and his body's natural vitality. "It seems it can't do much to my divine demon body."

Ji Ning was different from the black-robed senior apprentice brother.

The black-robed man couldn't withstand the poison... but Ji Ning cultivated the foremost divine demon body training method. His Chirming divine power was born from the fusion of lunar and solar forces, and his divine body was nurtured by true solar fire and true lunar water. In essence, it was far superior to other divine demon bodies.

"This black-robed man is clearly much stronger than the previous one. He probably holds a high position in this organization and might know some secrets of the formation." Ji Ning searched the black-robed senior apprentice brother's corpse, but unfortunately...

The Zifu cultivator himself wasn't skilled in formations; he had merely set up the formation mechanically. Ji Ning naturally found no information about the maze formation on his disciple.

"But he has quite a few talismans and jars on him." Ji Ning collected them all but had no time to examine the jars. For one, he dared not pull out the stoppers for fear of poison; for another, even if he looked, he wouldn't understand. The most important thing was to focus on studying the formation and improve his own formation skills to break it as soon as possible.

...

Inside the mountain belly.

Six elegantly dressed men and women were following the senior apprentice brother's orders, torturing the innate lifeforms.

"Haha, with our senior apprentice brother making a move, that Ji Ning is as good as dead."

"From what the senior apprentice brother said inside the formation, that Ji Ning seems to be a youth? Xiao Qi, you're almost thirty, right? Could that Ji Ning be younger than you?" The six men and women chatted among themselves.

Not far away, a bound, scarred bald man roared, "Young master Ji Ning of the Ji clan is only eleven or twelve years old this year. Compared to him, you're like earthworms on the ground compared to a divine dragon in the sky!"

"Shut up." A nearby servant immediately took a branding iron and pressed it against his body.

"Six fools! Still comparing yourselves to young master Ji Ning!"

"You're not even in the same league."

"Haha, almost thirty, comparing yourselves to young master Ji Ning—you're making my stomach hurt from laughing."

The nearly hundred innate lifeforms of Yanshan all shouted and jeered.

"Beat them, beat them!" The six men and women shouted angrily.

Suddenly—

"Come on! I'll kill anyone who comes, as many as they send! Hahaha..." The frenzied voice was filled with hysteria and utter madness.

"What!" The six men and women's expressions changed.

They were certain it wasn't the senior apprentice brother's voice. That could only be the trapped young master Ji Ning's voice.

"Could it be that the senior apprentice brother...?" They panicked. The senior apprentice brother was unquestionably the strongest among them; even without using many underhanded methods, his strength was formidable.

"Senior apprentice brother!"

"Senior apprentice brother!"

The six men and women called out, but their senior apprentice brother did not answer.

"If you want to find your senior apprentice brother, go to the underworld." A wild, arrogant voice came from afar.

"The senior apprentice brother is dead." The six men and women looked at each other, horror in their eyes.

"Killed by an eleven- or twelve-year-old youth."

"Only eleven or twelve, and he could kill our senior apprentice brother? Is there such a monster? Even in our sect, there's no such monster. Perhaps only the top tribes with legendary immortals have such prodigies." The six men and women were stunned. They had seen much of the world.

Their own sect was a major one.

But they had never seen someone so strong at eleven or twelve.

"Creeeak..." The iron plate in the center of the mountain belly's floor began to rotate, revealing a dark, deep hole. A faint green light emanated from the hole, and its chilling aura made the six men and women shiver.

"Gan'er!" The shrill voice trembled. "That Ji Ning killed Gan'er; he must die, must die!!!"

The six men and women's hearts trembled. As for the servants, they all cowered, knowing that when the old ancestor was angered, anything could happen.

"That Ji Ning is only eleven or twelve? Truly a monster. If he weren't an enemy, I would have recommended him to the sect. But he killed Gan'er! He must die!" The shrill voice was full of fury. "Xiao Qi, come in."

"Go in?" The handsome youth was startled.

He had never entered the underground chamber in the mountain belly; it was a forbidden area.

"Come in quickly." The shrill voice was filled with anger.

"Yes." The handsome youth dared not hesitate any longer. He swallowed hard, walked to the edge of the dark hole, and leaped into it.