Chapter 13: The Black-Robed Dao Lord

"Beiming, thanks." Tianhuo Mangya and Huojin Shuijun both looked gratefully at Ji Ning. If Ji Ning had been a step slower, the two of them would have lost their lives. Their strength was relatively the weakest among the five.

"Brother Beiming, when that black shadow appeared and captured the puppet, it said it would only help you once?" Prince Qinghuan quickly asked. "We resolved one puppet this time, but this puppet should be considered at the strength of a three-step Dao Lord. Its master is unlikely to be the Dao Lord we killed earlier. There might be another Dao Lord hidden in this cave. If we can't even handle his puppet, once that Dao Lord makes a move, we'll truly be in danger."

Ji Ning and the others all understood this.

Although they had resolved the puppet and escaped with their lives, breathing a sigh of relief, the threat had not yet been lifted. But Ji Ning and the others knew that fear was useless. If there was indeed a more terrifying Dao Lord, they were now inside his cave, on his turf, and could only face him.

"Yes, only once," Ji Ning nodded. "My master said he couldn't let me develop a dependency when encountering danger... so he would only help me once."

Qinghuan, Feng Yi, and the others all nodded. They could understand.

There were still three puppets, but Ji Ning didn't mention them. At least he had some trump cards left to deal with danger.

"Tianhuo, you're a member of the imperial clan. Don't you have any life-saving measures? If you had been a bit slower just now, you would have died." Qinghuan looked at Tianhuo Mangya. As they spoke, the surrounding space was isolated, and their world projections were meticulously probing. No divine sense or heartforce could penetrate.

Tianhuo Mangya smiled bitterly. "What does being a member of the imperial clan matter? I had just entered Mangya Kingdom not long ago when the Dominator sent me to explore the ancient ruins... Since it's an adventure, naturally he didn't give me any life-saving items. If you have something to rely on, it's not an adventure but a pleasure trip. So I really don't have any life-saving trump cards."

Ji Ning and the others felt a chill in their hearts.

It was very difficult to obtain powerful life-saving trump cards. Ji Ning only learned about the four servant puppets after becoming a disciple of Emperor Xuejian. Probably the other disciples of Emperor Xuejian wouldn't leak this information either.

The more powerful a puppet, the more expensive it was. A puppet comparable to the brink of Daomerge was priceless. In the entire Sword Palace, over countless ages, only a handful had been accumulated. Wan Shen Dao Lord was a master of artificing, and in his entire life, he had only refined one such puppet, and he absolutely refused to sell it. After all, such absolutely loyal and powerful puppets were rare and hard to come by!

Emperor Xuejian had only one, and in the end, he exchanged it for forty peak three-step Dao Lord puppets, which he left to his personal disciples.

Thus, powerful puppets were truly hard to obtain. On the other hand, weaker ones, such as those at the strength of two-step or one-step Dao Lords, were much more numerous. In any of the twelve palaces, there were plenty of Dao Lord-level puppets.

Ji Ning and the others all believed that the one most likely to have heaven-defying life-saving trump cards was Tianhuo Mangya. After all, behind Tianhuo Mangya stood the most powerful great Dominator of the entire endless territory. If the great Dominator let a little slip through his fingers, the trump cards he bestowed would be terrifying enough. Unfortunately, Tianhuo Mangya's answer disappointed them.

"Alas, this is a big problem. The shield puppet earlier was probably at the strength of a three-step Dao Lord. Such puppets are very precious. Its master is likely a Dao Lord on the brink of Daomerge," Prince Qinghuan said worriedly.

...

The cave world of the Xuejian Diagram.

Ji Ning's divine power avatar descended.

"Four of you," Ji Ning looked at the assassin, the fisherman, the golden-robed emperor, and the swordsman before him.

"Can you help me refine this puppet?" Ji Ning looked at the captured shield-and-battle-axe puppet. Although this puppet was far inferior to the ones left by Emperor Xuejian, it was still at the strength of a three-step Dao Lord. It could completely overwhelm Ji Ning and the other four, sweeping them away in an extremely short time.

But this time, Ji Ning had cheated by releasing an even more terrifying puppet—the 'Assassin'.

"Even if we bind it for you, you won't be able to refine it," the golden-robed emperor shook his head. "We can only trap it and prevent it from struggling. But it's not an ordinary puppet. Your divine power is only at the World-level. You can't forcibly penetrate its body and erase its original master's imprint."

Ji Ning nodded. He had thought these four servant puppets might have some method.

A powerful three-step Dao Lord-level puppet was right in front of him, ready for him to refine, but he couldn't do it. Unfortunately, his azureflower mist energy couldn't leave his body; otherwise, it might have had a chance.

"Let me ask you," Ji Ning's gaze fell on the puppet.

"Hmph," the burly puppet snorted coldly. "Kid, stop struggling. You five little ones are doomed. You have no idea who you've offended."

"Oh? Who have we offended?" Ji Ning sneered.

"Hmph hmph." The burly puppet swept his gaze around, flames burning in his eyes as he sneered. "There are some things I can't say. But these puppets of yours, though stronger than me, aren't that much stronger. Even if you send them all out, there's no hope at all. You won't even have the strength to resist."

Ji Ning sneered: "Oh, you mean the Dao Lord behind you?"

"You'll know soon enough." The burly puppet refused to speak further. There were secrets he dared not reveal. He had received strict orders, and as a puppet, he would never disobey.

Seeing this, Ji Ning grew even more worried.

Judging by the puppet's demeanor, he was absolutely confident. What gave him such confidence?

Were they really going to die here?

Ji Ning wasn't afraid. If he died, his avatar could cultivate back. Although he would lose six Eternal weapons, four powerful puppets, and all seven Daoist thunders and seven Daoist waters within his body... the loss was great, but at least he still had his life. As long as he lived, everything was possible.

As for Qinghuan, Feng Yi, Tianhuo Mangya, and Huojin, Ji Ning didn't know whether they had avatars. Such secrets were not easily divulged.

...

In the hall.

Although Ji Ning and the other four knew the danger, they could only face it.

"Break."

The five of them joined forces again and opened the stone door on the other side of the hall.

Rumble~~~ The huge stone door slowly pushed open.

"This..." Ji Ning and the others gasped. The deep green resentment aura, a hundred or a thousand times denser than what they had seen above the giant prison, had formed a liquid pool. In the deep green liquid pool, it swirled and flowed, dividing into over a hundred visible streams, all surrounding a huge, magnificent flower.

This flower had black leaves, very many. At a glance, Ji Ning and the others counted exactly a thousand black leaves, no more, no less, layered upon each other, giving off a strangely beautiful appearance.

Above the leaves was a breathtakingly beautiful flower. Its petals were colorful, emitting an enticing fragrance, dazzling and beautiful, radiating a faint colorful glow.

"Could it be that all this resentment was used to cultivate this single flower?" Ji Ning and the other four trembled at the sight.

The dense deep green resentment aura all converged into the pool, completely liquefied, then turned into over a hundred streams, very finely supplying nutrients to the flower.

"Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower?" Feng Yi Xinjun said softly.

"Can't the Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower only be born in natural environments?" Prince Qinghuan was also surprised. Ji Ning and the others all knew of the famous Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower in the endless territory. It was a material needed for 'refining' some powerful treasures, extremely expensive. One Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower cost about a million cubes of chaos nectar.

But according to what Ji Ning and the others knew, it could only be born in natural environments. Yet now, it seemed that some great power had deliberately cultivated it.

"Yes, this is a Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower." A voice sounded.

Ji Ning and the other four turned to look at the same time.

They saw black light gradually gathering in midair, and a faint black-robed figure slowly solidified into a black-robed Dao Lord.

The black-robed Dao Lord descended, looked at the Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower with fascination, then turned and swept his gaze over Ji Ning and the other four: "You five little ones, able to rival two-step Dao Lords at the World level, must have extraordinary backgrounds. Even my master would be reluctant to offend the great powers behind you."

Ji Ning and the other four felt a chill. The more casual this Dao Lord was, the more worried they became. Only when one had absolute superiority in strength could one be so casual.

"Since you're reluctant to offend, senior, why not let us leave? We swear an oath never to reveal anything about the Immortal Spirit Realm," Feng Yi said.

"Haven't you noticed? After entering the Immortal Spirit Realm, all contact with the outside world was cut off?" The black-robed Dao Lord looked at them with confusion. "Setting up such a grand formation to isolate all感应 is precisely to prevent you from leaking information. And seeing this Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower, don't you know who you've offended?"

Ji Ning and the other four blinked.

They really didn't know, because they were all from other universes.

"With such monstrous talent, your sects should be very powerful. Your sects should have informed you of the identities of the most powerful great beings of the Destruction Divine Court," the black-robed Dao Lord said, puzzled. "In the entire universe, the only one who can cultivate the Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower is my master, 'Emperor Sansilkworm'. Don't you even know that?"

...