Chapter Sixteen: The Confrontation

Ji Jiu Huo, Granny Ying, and others had long regarded Ji Ning as the future pillar of the Ji clan! Naturally, they had long ago let Ji Ning review the intelligence on the Zifu cultivators and some ancient Zifu monsters of the various major powers in Swallow Mountain. Ji Ning was very clear... this Dong Ziqi was a Zifu Disciple at the Perfect stage, and having come from a sect, his techniques were far superior to those of the native tribes of Swallow Mountain. Dong Ziqi's strongest technique was the 'Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation'!

Unlike ordinary formations that required advance preparation, this Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation was somewhat like his own 'Lesser Thousand Swords Formation'—it could be deployed with a single thought. Perhaps in terms of level it was not as formidable as his Lesser Thousand Swords Formation, but the man himself was a Zifu Disciple at the Perfect stage. When paired with such a formation, he could probably even contend with a newly突破ed Wanxiang Adept. He was not someone like Bo Zishan, who could only rely on the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner.

"It's rare to see you, Brother Ziqi." Ji Jiu Huo humbly lowered his posture. "I wonder what brings Brother Ziqi here?"

"Ji Jiu Huo."

The five Zifu cultivators on the cloth curtain all landed on the ground. They swept their gazes over the Ji clan members, their eyes looking down from above, clearly not taking the Ji clan seriously. This made Ji Ning and the others feel a trace of anger in their hearts, but they understood... they had to endure.

"Your Ji clan's territory is truly a blessed land, actually having a vein of elemental ore." Dong Ziqi's cold, gloomy eyes stared at Ji Jiu Huo. "If it weren't for the violent fluctuations in the natural energy earlier, we wouldn't have known about it. Hmph, your Ji clan has probably been secretly mining quite a bit of elemental ore, haven't you? Quite bold."

Anger could not help but appear in the eyes of the Ji clan members, but Ji Jiu Huo transmitted via elemental energy, shouting, "Everyone, hold back!"

"Our Ji clan only just found out about it." Ji Jiu Huo still wore a smile on his face as he faced Dong Ziqi.

"Just found out?" Dong Ziqi swept his gaze over the Ji clan's side. "Have you determined the scale of this elemental ore vein?"

"Not yet." Ji Jiu Huo shook his head. "We only know that this elemental ore vein is a rich mine."

Dong Ziqi said coldly, "Since you don't know, let me tell you. This elemental ore vein is a rich mine, and it's a full four thousand li in circumference and over three hundred li deep! With such a large-scale elemental ore vein, your tiny Ji clan simply doesn't have the ability to swallow it. Swallowing it will choke you to death!"

"No matter." Ji Jiu Huo laughed. "Our Ji clan can, at worst, transfer this elemental ore vein to the Grand Xia Dynasty. Then our Ji clan will get thirty percent, and the Grand Xia Dynasty will get seventy percent. Moreover, our Ji clan will gain the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty, so we won't be afraid of anything."

Dong Ziqi's pupils contracted.

These natives!

Although they were not from a sect and had only reached the Zifu stage after nearly four hundred years of cultivation, living so long had made them extremely slick. No matter how aggressively he had acted before, Ji Jiu Huo still wore a full smile. But when it came to the crucial point, he directly brought up the matter that worried the Snowdragon Mountain most.

"I'm telling you!" Dong Ziqi's voice was icy cold. "The Snowdragon Mountain wants this elemental ore vein! Don't threaten me here. Threaten me... and the Ji clan will only face annihilation!"

Ji Jiu Huo's expression changed.

The other clan members, including Granny Ying, also felt both anger and anxiety. Ji Ning, too, was filled with pent-up fury. Clearly, according to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this elemental ore vein belonged to their Ji clan! Yet these people from Snowdragon Mountain came over and directly tried to take it by force, and were being so overbearing.

"Brother Ziqi." Ji Jiu Huo suppressed his anger.

He had only brought up the harshest measure earlier... to make the other side cautious, and then slowly negotiate terms. He hadn't expected that the other side wouldn't even consider negotiating slowly, but instead acted with extreme arrogance, bullying their weak Ji clan!

"This is Swallow Mountain." Ji Jiu Huo said solemnly. "The Snowdragon Mountain sect is a million li away, while our Ji clan, if we report this, the Grand Xia Dynasty's envoy will likely arrive in a few days, and we can then directly sign a transfer contract. In truth, our Ji clan has no great ambition; we only seek survival!"

"Survival?" Dong Ziqi sneered. "At least you know your place!"

Ji Jiu Huo said, "Snowdragon Mountain can send people to mine the vein. During the mining, our Ji clan will absolutely not cause any trouble. After you finish mining... you will all withdraw from our Ji clan's territory. As for the elemental ore, our Ji clan will not seek a single piece of it! Our Ji clan is willing to swear a Heavenly Oath with your Snowdragon Mountain!"

A Heavenly Oath...

It had no effect on mortals, but once one stepped onto the path of immortality and became a cultivator, no one dared to violate a Heavenly Oath.

"Oh?" Dong Ziqi hesitated.

The burly man beside him transmitted via elemental energy, "Brother Ziqi, these conditions are acceptable. We don't care much for the Ji clan's territory; the important thing is the elemental ore vein. Since the Ji clan is willing to let us mine the entire vein, as long as we set a Heavenly Oath... the Ji clan won't dare to break it."

"Foolish." The green-haired woman transmitted instead, "This is merely a delaying tactic of the Ji clan! The Ji clan wants to set a Heavenly Oath with our Snowdragon Mountain, but not with us few. The oaths we disciples swear are not enough; the sect's high-level members can still ignore us and destroy the Ji clan. He definitely wants our sect's high-level members to swear the oath. And by the time our message is sent back and the high-level members arrive... that time will be enough for the Ji clan to sign a contract with the Grand Xia Dynasty."

"Junior apprentice-sister speaks sense." The gray-robed man also transmitted in agreement.

Dong Ziqi nodded slightly.

The Ji clan, for their part, were waiting for a reply.

"You of the Ji clan and I of the Snow Dragon Mountain have sworn a Heavenly Oath. May I ask which person of the Snow Dragon Mountain you wish to swear the oath with?" Dong Ziqi looked at Ji Jiuhuo.

Ji Jiuhuo smiled: "Any Wanxiang Adept will do. Our Ji clan's fate is staked on this, so we must be cautious. The oath of a Zifu Disciple of Snow Dragon Mountain carries too little weight... we wouldn't dare trust it. I suspect you understand, Brother Ziqi, that a Zifu Disciple's oath doesn't bind the Snow Dragon Mountain sect much."

Dong Ziqi narrowed his eyes.

A Zifu Disciple? The sect could sacrifice one without hesitation.

But a Wanxiang Adept was different. There were only so many Wanxiang Adepts in the sect, and one who swore an oath did so on behalf of the sect! If the sect dared to sacrifice a Wanxiang Adept, wouldn't that chill the hearts of all other Wanxiang Adepts and Zifu Disciples? And for a mere yuan stone mine, it wasn't worth alienating all the Wanxiang Adepts in the sect. So having a Wanxiang Adept swear the oath was the most appropriate.

"Ji Jiuhuo!" Dong Ziqi said coldly, "You want a Wanxiang Adept to swear a Heavenly Oath with you? That's a high-level member of our sect, and the sect is a million miles away! By the time we send word and a Wanxiang Adept arrives, at least ten days to half a month will have passed! In that time, your Ji clan will probably have quietly signed a contract with the Grand Xia Dynasty!"

"Then..." Ji Jiuhuo was taken aback.

"I think you'd better hand over the vassal token!" Dong Ziqi barked. "Hand over the vassal token of Ten Thousand Swords City to us! The Snow Dragon Mountain will continue to allow you to live in Ten Thousand Swords City, and the entire Ji clan will remain as before... Once we've finished mining the yuan stone vein, I will return the vassal token to you!"

Ji Jiuhuo grew anxious: "How can that be?"

"No way," Shadow Granny also said angrily. "The vassal token is the foundation of our Ji clan."

Ji Ning watched from the side.

These people from Snow Dragon Mountain were going too far! They spoke nicely about returning the vassal token in the future, but what if they didn't? And his Ji clan had already made a huge concession, willing to offer the entire yuan stone vein to Snow Dragon Mountain. Yet now Snow Dragon Mountain was acting as if they were doing a favor by taking the vassal token first and returning it later?

"Hmph." Ji Ning's expression was grim, and the other Ji clan members looked the same.

"Would our Snow Dragon Mountain bully a small clan like yours?" Dong Ziqi shouted.

"It seems Snow Dragon Mountain has bullied many tribes," Ji Jiuhuo retorted angrily. "Otherwise, how would there be a branch of Snow Dragon Mountain in our Yan Mountain!"

Dong Ziqi's expression changed.

Rebellion!

This Ji Jiuhuo was actually getting tough. He swept his gaze over the group of Ji clan members and noticed the youngest, most distinctive one—the youth in animal skins. He immediately transmitted via elemental energy: "Junior Brother Mu Si, the Ji clan has only a few Zifu Disciples, and the most promising is this Ji Ning. It's said that Bo Zishan was killed by him."

"Ji Ning." The gray-robed man also noticed the youth in animal skins among the opposition.

Ever since the battle between Ji Ning and Bo Zishan back then...

Ji Ning's reputation had long spread among the high-level powers of Yan Mountain. After all, many innate lifeforms from other tribes had returned and spread word that Ji Ning was terrifying, and that he was probably a Zifu Disciple! At just eleven or twelve years old, he was already a Zifu Disciple—what would he become in the future? The major powers had long been watching Ji Ning, and intelligence about him had been gathered in meticulous detail.

Every event from his childhood to now, his appearance, his habits... all had been collected clearly.

Among the entire Ji clan, Dong Ziqi cared about no one else except this Ji Ning. He wasn't afraid of the Ji Ning of now, but of the Ji Ning of the future! With such talent, Ji Ning would likely have no trouble breaking through to Wanxiang Adept.

"Junior Brother Mu Si, the most promising and threatening person in the Ji clan is this Ji Ning. The whole clan treats him like a treasure," Dong Ziqi transmitted. "He's still young, so his current skills probably aren't that strong. Bo Zishan was a fool; aside from the refined Ten Thousand Ghost Banner, which posed some threat, his own strength was mediocre. Moreover, that battle might have been more due to that Wanxiang Adept. Ji Ning's strength probably isn't too great."

"Junior Brother, you strike suddenly and capture Ji Ning! Once Ji Ning is in our hands, how would the Ji clan dare to defy Snow Dragon Mountain's orders?" Dong Ziqi transmitted. "Even if the unlikely happens—they truly disregard Ji Ning's life—then we kill Ji Ning. Without Ji Ning, the Ji clan poses no threat."

"Mm." The gray-robed man nodded.

Ji Ning was indeed a threat. No one feared the Ji Ning of now, but they feared the Ji Ning of the future.

"Junior Brother, if you suddenly unleash your spell, even I would suffer. Capturing Ji Ning should be no problem," Dong Ziqi transmitted. Although his own strength surpassed Junior Brother Mu Si's, he needed to first set up the Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Once his formation appeared, the Ji clan would be on high alert.

So a surprise attack was necessary—instant success! And Junior Brother Mu Si was the best choice.

"Leave it to me. I've recently made a breakthrough in this spell," Junior Brother Mu Si transmitted confidently.

"I'm counting on you, Junior Brother. Once we capture Ji Ning... we'll have the upper hand in everything," Dong Ziqi said.