Chapter 25: A Lakeside Residence

Ji Ning grabbed the ground, relieved that the wind beasts hadn't come out, and then turned his attention to look around.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning slowly stood up, astonished as he gazed in all directions.

In the vast gray sky, there were streaks of gray air currents crisscrossing high above. The bottomless cavern he had just escaped from also had a gray air current... Ji Ning understood that the gray air currents were actually gray wind; it was this gray wind that had sucked him and Prisonmaster Sword in earlier.

"Back then, when I was fighting Prisonmaster Sword, I must have triggered some restriction and was swept into that gale." Ji Ning carefully surveyed his surroundings. "And those wind beasts didn't dare come out, which means there's danger out here too."

This was a vast expanse of land.

Apart from some enormous caverns, one could also see land, valleys, and lakes.

Everything seemed peaceful!

But Ji Ning felt a chill in his heart. Ever since the nine layers of restrictions had merged into the blue flower mark, his perception of the 'source of destiny' had become very clear. He could see the fate of mortals at a glance, and now he also sensed an immense threat in the unseen, as if this peaceful land, valleys, and lakes were fraught with danger everywhere.

"What to do?" Ji Ning looked up at the sky and then in all directions. "Every direction holds great danger."

"Since danger is everywhere, and the cavern is full of wind beasts..."

"Forget it, I'll just pick a direction and trust my luck."

After thinking it over, Ji Ning steeled himself. Holding a warblade in one hand and a soft sword in the other, he began to advance cautiously. Every direction held great danger... so it made no difference which way he went.

...

Ji Ning walked from a barren plain onto grassland. Though he constantly sensed danger, his journey so far had been safe.

"Maybe I'll just walk right out of here," Ji Ning consoled himself.

"This lake is truly beautiful."

Gazing at the expanse of lake within the grassland ahead, it was as beautiful as the tears of a peerless beauty.

"I hope nothing dangerous suddenly emerges from this lake." Ji Ning's vigilance had never waned; he even had the Zhoutian Star Metal Pearls floating around him, hoping to detect danger early. Yet, when the gap in cultivation level was too great, even vigilance was useless.

"Whoosh!"

A ripple suddenly enveloped Ji Ning, and he felt the scene before him shift.

"What is this?" Ji Ning looked ahead. The beautiful lake was still there, but on its shore, a tranquil residence had appeared, radiating a powerful aura. The sense of threat made Ji Ning tremble.

"How could this be?"

Feeling the terrifying threat from the residence, Ji Ning wanted to retreat, but no matter how he moved, he could not leave the area within three li of the residence, as if space itself had been twisted here.

"In that case, let's go in and take a look," Ji Ning thought to himself. "The master who built this residence is far stronger than me. If he wanted to kill me, I wouldn't be able to escape."

He had no choice.

He could only walk forward and gently push; the courtyard gate opened.

Inside the courtyard were flower beds, grassy areas, and scattered houses. From one elegant house emanated an extremely powerful fluctuation, so Ji Ning headed toward it.

That elegant house had windows on three sides and a door on one side. The windows were wooden frames, making it easy to see inside.

"Hmm?"

Ji Ning vaguely saw a figure sitting cross-legged inside, startling him. Still, he walked to the front door of the elegant house.

Inside the house, an old man in a golden Daoist robe sat cross-legged on a cushion, holding a whisk in his hand, eyes closed. Beside him rested a nine-story pagoda.

His robe, whisk, cushion, and nine-story pagoda... all emitted an astonishingly powerful aura.

Especially the nine-story pagoda—its aura was so intense that it far surpassed any treasure Ji Ning had ever seen, rivaling even the divine sword Ziguang Qiong.

"The aura of that nine-story pagoda is ten or a hundred times stronger than this warblade. Back then, when the divine sword Ziguang Qiong had no master, it felt just like this." Ji Ning was shocked. "Could it be that this nine-story pagoda is a treasure beyond Dao weapons?"

Ji Ning was no longer the Ji Ning of the Three Realms era; his horizons had broadened considerably.

Chaos treasures were generally used by Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals.

Dao weapons were generally used by World-level cultivators.

Treasures beyond Dao weapons—like the divine sword Ziguang Qiong, like the pagoda before him—would drive World-level cultivators mad if taken out.

"His robe, flywhisk, and cattail mat—each is a Dao weapon, and each has an aura no weaker than this warblade." Ji Ning's eyes burned with desire. Setting aside everything else, the treasures displayed by the old man alone would be enough to drive World-level cultivators insane.

"But... is this old man already dead?"

Ji Ning sensed no life force from the old man, only the pressure emanating from his divine body.

"Let me try." Ji Ning retreated far away, then with a thought, a rope of innate spiritual treasure flew out. He dared not approach directly; there might be dangerous restrictions. Manipulating the rope, he sent it straight toward the nine-story pagoda. If he could get that mysterious pagoda, it would be worth it.

World-level cultivators would go mad for it. Back then, Northrest World God had only obtained it with the help of his fellow disciples from the Skylight Palace. If Ji Ning got it so easily, he would be incredibly lucky.

"Pfft—" As the innate spiritual treasure rope approached within three zhang of the old man, a wind suddenly arose around him. The wind brushed against the rope, and half of it instantly turned to powder.

Then, a line of text appeared in midair, each character glowing brightly.

"Fellow Daoist who breaks the Reverse Wind Formation may obtain my treasures."

Ji Ning watched, both eager and astonished.

Reverse Wind Formation?

What was its connection to the Reverse Wind Hundred Streams? Could this old man be the creator of the ancient ruins? If so, did he live in this courtyard? Ji Ning found it hard to believe.

"Dead and still leaving behind formations and restrictions." Ji Ning was troubled. He had grown much stronger, but he could barely damage innate spiritual treasures. Turning one to powder instantly was far beyond him.

"Let me try again."

With a thought, Ji Ning produced a great axe covered in divine runes—a top-grade Chaos treasure.

"A top-grade Chaos treasure... I don't believe you can destroy it." Ji Ning sent the axe flying with his divine power. It flew toward the seated old man. Again, as it neared the three-zhang mark, a wind arose. The wind scraped against the axe with a harsh screech.

But the axe remained intact, though it could not advance an inch.

"What's this?" Ji Ning felt an incredibly powerful force blocking him. Even with all his strength, he could not move the axe forward at all.

"Swoosh."

From the nine-story pagoda beside the seated old man, a stream of qi flew out and transformed into a black-robed boy.

"Stop trying. You're not even at the World level. What's the point?" the black-robed boy said impatiently.

"You..." Ji Ning was startled.

"A treasure spirit. Never seen one?" The black-robed boy glanced at the old man's corpse and said, "Don't covet this old man's treasures. Even if you could break the Reverse Wind Formation, you'd have to swear a lifeblood oath to fulfill his dying wish before you could get them. And breaking this formation... you'd probably need to reach the perfected World God level."

"Perfected World God level?" Ji Ning asked doubtfully. "May I ask what level this senior was?"

"He was a perfected World God too." The black-robed boy curled his lip. "But he was a servant of Reverse Wind Dao Lord. Reverse Wind Dao Lord gave him some treasures, including this Reverse Wind Formation. Even without an operator, breaking it is indeed very hard."

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

He could see that the dead World God's message—"Fellow Daoist who breaks the Reverse Wind Formation"—referred to the breaker as a fellow Daoist, implying that the breaker should be at least close to the old man's level.

"Alas, Reverse Wind Dao Lord died, and all his servants were buried with him. Buried with him, fine. But this old man was unwilling, and he trapped me here too." The black-robed boy shook his head and sighed. "Think of it—I, a treasure with a 'source,' trapped here for endless ages. What a waste."