Chapter 24: The Abyss Battle

The crystalline whiskers of the blue-white scaled monster drifted, its dark yellow eyes fixed on Ji Ning, filled with murderous intent.

Ji Ning, also gripping the rock wall with one arm, faced the blue-white scaled monster.

The two stared at each other.

"I don't want to be your enemy," Ji Ning said.

"Die~~~" The blue-white scaled monster suddenly roared, and with a whoosh, its tail lashed out. The strike was so fast that Ji Ning's expression changed at the sight.

Ji Ning immediately swung out five arms, all executing sword techniques, creating what seemed like five black holes that pulled and diverted, trying to neutralize the impact.

"Boom~~~"

The terrifying impact made Ji Ning's divine body tremble, slamming him into the rock wall behind him, which cracked open with a loud sound. Fortunately, Ji Ning wore a Chaos-grade armor, his divine body was formidable, and the power of the blue flower mist clung to him, allowing him to withstand it. But this exchange made Ji Ning realize that his opponent was stronger than him!

Since the nine layers of restrictions had merged and the blue flower space appeared, Ji Ning believed his strength and speed rivaled those of a World God, or at least were very close.

Yet this monster before him... with a single lash of its tail, it completely overpowered him.

"Die, die, die." The blue-white monster charged madly, its claws slashing.

"Go."

Ji Ning, like a giant spider, quickly climbed the rock wall to dodge, sometimes moving left, sometimes right, sometimes blocking, sometimes using the force.

"Rip." The claws scraped across the rock wall, leaving a crack.

The tail lashed, making the rock wall tremble.

Ji Ning was completely on the defensive.

"Eh?"

"It seems this monster isn't that strong after all." After dozens of exchanges, Ji Ning gradually realized, "It's just stronger, faster, and its claws are sharper. Apart from that, it seems to have no insight into the 'Dao.' With such a powerful body, its fighting is so crude."

It was also because the power of the blue flower mist enhanced him, narrowing the gap between their bodies. If Ji Ning had encountered this monster when he was first sucked into the cave, before the nine layers of restrictions merged, no matter how high his realm, he would have been killed by a single tail lash!

"I can't keep entangled with him like this. If it goes on too long, once my blue flower mist power is exhausted, it's over." After just a short fight, one drop of blue flower power had already been consumed in the blue flower space, startling Ji Ning.

"You can't kill me," Ji Ning shouted.

"You, die." The blue-white scaled monster was still utterly frenzied.

Ji Ning, however, had a warblade appear in his hand—one of the Daoist divine weapons he had picked up earlier and already refined. In terms of sheer power, it was even stronger than the divine sword Violet Light Qiong, which had yet to be repaired.

"Get out of my way." Ji Ning erupted.

A sword has two edges.

A blade has a single edge.

Yet the tip of this warblade was also extremely sharp, so techniques like chopping, thrusting, and slashing could still be executed, though it was more suited for wild and ferocious moves.

"Heaven-Collapse Strike."

Ji Ning gripped the blade with both hands, his divine power and the strength of the blueflower mist fully exploding as he raised it high and angrily slashed at the blue-white scaled monster before him.

The Heaven-Collapse Strike was the most ferocious technique, yet it was the one in Ji Ning's sword arts best suited for execution through a warblade. After years of comprehending the 'Second Stance of the Nameless Sword Art,' the killing intent in Ji Ning's Heaven-Collapse Strike had grown even denser. With one strike unleashed, Ji Ning, taking advantage of his higher position and aided by the headwind, slashed down. The blade light, faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos, left the blue-white scaled monster no chance to dodge.

"Roar." It swung its sharp claws with great confidence.

A massive blade light like a crescent moon, however, evaded the claws and struck its scaly body.

Boom~~~

The blue-white scaled monster was sent flying backward, scales scattering, crashing into the nearby rock walls and pillars with a thunderous rumble, causing the rock walls to tremble and several cracks to appear.

In terms of sheer momentum, with the aid of this warblade, the power Ji Ning unleashed was even greater than that of the blue-white scaled monster. It was simply that this monster was too stupid—despite possessing a body even more formidable than a World God's, the strength it displayed was merely at the threshold level of a World God. This was because its realm was far, far too low.

Or rather, it had no realm at all, relying only on the most instinctive means of attack.

"Owww~~~" The blue-white scaled monster, crashed against the rock wall, raised its head and let out an angry roar.

Its cry carried a strange fluctuation of wind.

Whoosh.

Carried by the headwind, it almost instantly spread to other areas.

In a distant, deep cave, a wind beast coiled up and sleeping soundly in the headwind raised its head and murmured softly, "Intruders?"

"Intruders?"

"Fu, having been born for too short a time, is still too weak. This little one guards the most peripheral and easiest area, yet it's already calling for help."

The wind beasts heard the sound.

Their auras varied in strength; some wind beasts even shook their heads and sighed.

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo~~~

The nine wind beasts closest to him transformed into flowing light, flying through the headwind as if fish in water... Ji Ning had previously seen the blue-white scaled monster flying against the headwind and had fled in terror, only to later discover during the fight that he could actually contend with it. These wind beasts, after all, were born from the headwind itself, which allowed them to fly freely within it.

…

"This body is too tough. My warblade only managed to chip a few scales?" After seeing the 'results' of his strike, Ji Ning immediately lost his desire to fight. In this dangerous place, he couldn't waste his 'Blueflower Mist Force' so recklessly; if it were exhausted, he would be finished.

"Go."

Ji Ning quickly climbed upward, instantly surging thousands of li.

"Flee?" The blue-white scaled monster continued its pursuit.

"What is that?"

As he fled upward, occasionally fending off the monster, Ji Ning suddenly noticed another streak of flowing light flying up from below.

"Another one?" Ji Ning was terrified.

"Go, go, go." Ji Ning was truly panicked. His four arms climbed frantically, with two occasionally striking out in fury at the wind beast chasing him. Each furious strike consumed a significant amount of Blueflower Mist Force, but the wind beast only suffered minor injuries and continued its relentless pursuit.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Ji Ning sped upward. "Only a few thousand li left to the exit above. Once I'm outside, free from the gray wind's influence, my flight speed will easily surpass the Heavenly Daolimit, and dealing with this monster will be much easier."

"Can't even handle one intruder?" Another streak of flowing light had arrived.

"Help me kill him." The original wind beast roared.

"Damn it."

Ji Ning gritted his teeth, for he saw yet another streak of flowing light chasing from deeper within the cave.

"How many monsters are there?" Ji Ning climbed rapidly while using two hands—one wielding the warblade to execute ferocious sword techniques, the other holding a token from which a soft sword flew out, another Dao divine weapon he had obtained.

For a time, the warblade unleashed fierce sword strikes.

The soft sword executed eerie and sinister techniques like 'Shadowless Form.'

His other four hands climbed frantically.

"Boom, boom."

"Kill."

The two wind beasts attacked him wildly. Ji Ning fought back while climbing rapidly upward. Just then, a third wind beast arrived.

"This, this, this." Ji Ning was now besieged by three wind beasts. What frustrated him most was that deep in the cave below, he saw two more streaks of flowing light, one of which was exceptionally fast—the fastest among the five wind beasts he had seen.

"If they surround me, I'm dead."

Ji Ning fought desperately.

Using two Dao divine weapons, he even leveraged their forces against each other, causing the three wind beasts to interfere with one another.

"Right above."

Ji Ning saw the bright opening above.

"Charge out."

Ji Ning also saw the fourth wind beast, the fastest one below, closing in.

"Bang."

Ji Ning deliberately took a claw strike.

Swoosh!

Using the impact, he instantly shot out of the opening.

"Roar~~~"

"Fu, you couldn't kill him, and you affected me."

"It's your fault for being stupid. I had him on the ropes alone; when you came, you were useless."

"Both of you, shut up."

"Three fools, all shut up." The fourth wind beast, who arrived last, roared, and the other three obediently fell silent.

The four wind beasts below looked up from the abyss, their dark yellow eyes filled with anger and wariness. They dared not fly out; this relic was too dangerous. Even they could only survive freely in certain areas of the Hundred Streams of Headwind, while many other places were death zones for them.

"Eh?" After flying out of the opening and avoiding the gray wind, Ji Ning landed on the ground and stared in surprise at the huge abyss opening in the distance. "They didn't come out? Whew, I managed to escape after all!"