"Don't think of escaping!" The Bi'An Tiger roared furiously, while at the same time chasing after Ji Ning on water at high speed. But with each step, waves exploded beneath his feet. After all, it had yet to reach the 'one with the world' level. It had to rely on its released monstrous energy to forcibly walk atop the water. In addition, it was only a land-based beast to begin with. Naturally, its running speed was even slower!
Actually, even in the mountains, the forests, or the plains, its speed would probably still be slightly lower than Ning's, much less now, on water! It could only watch as Ning quickly escaped.
"Grrrr." The Bi'An Tiger could only return. Staring at that ferocious battle going on within that massive formation, the Azure Skysnake King, occasionally expanding while occasionally contracting, the tiger mused, "How can this Azure Skysnake possibly resist the magical formation? No matter how long it struggles, in the end, it will have to submit!"
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The formation called upon the natural power of the world and had unimaginable strength!
This Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation's power was far beyond the ability of the Azure Skysnake to resist.
"Hahaha…." Ironwood Zhan stood atop the water, pointing at the distant enormous emerald snake, which was currently entangled by those countless streams of black and white energy. "Azure Skysnake, now that you have fallen into my formation, no matter how much you struggle, it is useless. Best obediently surrender and acknowledge me as master. That way, you'll suffer a bit less!"
"Groooowl." The Azure Skysnake raised its head, roaring with fury.
"You don't submit?" Although Zhan didn't understand, he could sense the Azure Skysnake's fury and enmity. He immediately laughed coldly, "Azure Skysnake, in this boundless world, it is the human race which is truly in charge! It is the Grand Xia Dynasty who has unified this land! No matter how powerful you are, Godbeast, what can you really do? Even if I release you, others will come to capture you. I think you had best obediently submit to me!"
Ironwood Zhan was speaking nonstop.
But no matter what he said, the Azure Skysnake didn't pay attention to him, causing Zhan to truly grow angry. "Fine, then. I want to watch and see…if your bones are tougher, or if my Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation is tougher!"
"Crackle…" Black and white energy streams were wildly wrapping about it like a millstone, grinding the Azure Skysnake's scales to the point of shattering, with its jade blood staining the water below. But this scale-ripping, flesh-tearing pain couldn't make the Azure Skysnake lower its proud head in the slightest.
Shua!
The Azure Skysnake suddenly shrank to the thickness of a finger, temporarily escaping the entanglement of the black and white energy streams, but immediately afterwards, the energy streams once more wildly wrapped around it.
The energy continued to dissipate and reform without end! How arduous would it be to avoid these energy streams?
"Aaaaargh!" The finger-thick, miniature Azure Skysnake let out a fierce cry, suddenly transforming to an enormous size once again, even larger than Serpentwing! Sometimes large, sometimes small, it continuously struggled. Only in this way would it be able to reduce the amount of time the Yin Yang energy streams ground down upon it. After all, that grinding sensation truly, truly was painful.
At the same time the little Azure Skysnake was struggling, it was repeatedly trying to pounce towards Zhan as well. But the power of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation was simply too great, not giving it the slightest chance to draw near Zhan.
Struggling repeatedly, the wounds on its body grew greater and greater. Its scales were shattered, and its jade blood leaked out.
"Yaaaaaaa!"
"Yaaaaaaa!"
One fierce cry after another.
The Azure Skysnake King was still struggling. As a monstrous beast, it was incomparably arrogant. How could it submit to this human in front of it? If it was a human Zifu Disciple, perhaps the Azure Skysnake would have been willing to lower its head, but this Ironwood Zhan wasn't qualified.
"Huh?" After a long time, Zhan began to frown.
"How is it still struggling?" Zhan stared at the Azure Skysnake, still incomparably wild despite being badly injured and being covered in wounds. "Although only part of the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation's power has been released, if it keeps on acting like this, it will be ground to death by the Yin Yang Twin Energy Formation! Can it be that it would rather die than submit to me?"
Zhan gritted his teeth. With a thought, he caused the black and white energy streams binding the Azure Skysnake to begin to dissipate.
"Azure Skysnake!" Zhan pointed at the wounded, exhausted Diremonster. "I relied on the formation to suppress you, so most likely, you aren't convinced! Then you and I shall do battle. I won't rely on the assistance of the formation…as long as you can defeat me, I will release you. But if you lose, then you'll submit to me. Agreed?"
"Yaaaaaa!"
The Azure Skysnake let out a few vicious sounds, then transformed to a length of ten or so meters. This was the most powerful form it could transform into. And then, it pounced towards Zhan!
"Hmph." A long black whip appeared out of nowhere in Ironwood Zhan's right hand. The whip had multiple natural-growing sharp nails embedded into it. This long black whip was the magic treasure, "Blackwood Vinewhip". It was one of the famous magic treasures of the Ironwood clan. With a powerful whipping motion, he sent the whip towards the Azure Skysnake, and it transformed into an enormous black blur.
Shua! Shua!
The Azure Skysnake rapidly dodged, managing to move past this whip.
"Huahuahua…" Ironwood Zhan continued to brandish the long whip in his hand. The whip spun in circle upon circle, covering the skies in countless enveloping circles towards the Azure Skysnake. And then, with a ripping sound, the Azure Skysnake lost yet another piece of scale and flesh from its body.
"Sssssssssssss." The Azure Skysnake let out a furious hiss. Despite being wounded, it still pounced forward.
Zhan only smiled coldly, continuing to brandish his Blackwood Vinewhip. This wasn't the first time for him to fight against the Azure Skysnake. He was an expert at using the whip, and was completely able to counter the Azure Skysnake's agility! However, the Azure Skysnake was capable of fleeing very quickly. In the past, Zhan wasn't able to do anything about it, but now that the Azure Skysnake was trapped within the formation, there was nowhere for it to run.
"What do you think?" Zhan stood there, long whip dancing, with each whipping blow containing a power capable of cracking a small mountain, causing the Azure Skysnake's body to crack open on multiple locations. "My strength is greater than yours. You had best obediently submit."
"Pa!"
The magic treasure's slammed against its body. Given that Zhan himself was a late-stage Xiantian expert, he was completely capable of suppressing it.
"Swoosh!"
This time, as it dodged past through dancing long whip, the Azure Skysnake suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared a few dozen meters away.
Ironwood Zhan was astonished, but immediately afterwards, his face changed greatly.
"Sssssss…" The Azure Skysnake called out in excitement, while at the same time, with every single slithering motion of its body, it seemed to teleport dozens of meters, if not even farther.
"Die!" Ironwood Zhan's face was ferocious, and he seemed to have gone insane.
Rumble….
The formation shuddered, and large amounts of black and white energy vicious slammed down towards the Azure Skysnake, but the Azure Skysnake only glanced icily at Ironwood Zhan, then disappeared with another slither.
"Bang!" The black and white energy collided, transforming into large amounts of chaotic energy.
"Damnable!" Ironwood Zhan howled madly, fists waving furiously. "Damnable!!!"
"Void Blink! Void Blink!" Ironwood Zhan's face was ferocious, and his eyes were red and insane. "This Azure Skysnake is actually capable of using Void Blink. Right. It is due to that child of the Ji clan. That child of the Ji clan has battled against the Azure Skysnake repeatedly…it must be that this has caused the Azure Skysnake to improve, allowing it to reach the 'one with the world' level and be able to utilize the Void Blink!"
Ironwood Zhan was utterly enraged.
Although there was only a single Azure Skysnake in the Swallow Mountain area, there were quite a few in the boundless territory ruled over by the Grand Xia Dynasty. Thus, Ironwood Zhan knew very well how powerful Azure Skysnakes were, which was why he so desperately wanted to tame this one.
Generally speaking, Diremonsters were capable of controlling water, or poison, or fire, or son on and so forth.
Even the likes of the Aquatic Rhino King and Serpentwing, non-Godbeast creatures, had this ability. But as a Godbeast, the Azure Skysnake King didn't have a special ability…
But actually, it still had something!
Only, the Azure Skysnake King's natural ability was simply too powerful. While it was at a low level of power, it wasn't capable of utilizing it. Much like how a normal monstrous beast wasn't capable of controlling water at the Houtian stage but was able to at the Xiantian stage, this Azure Skysnake King's natural ability had to do with the 'Void'. Even after it reached the Xiantian lifeform level, it still had to reach the 'one with the world' level before it was capable of instantly becoming one with the void, allowing it to utilize the Void Blink technique!
"Void Blink!" Ironwood Zhan ground his teeth. "A Azure Skysnake King capable of developing the Void Blink technique will quickly become incomparably powerful!"
The Void Blink…
This allowed the Azure Skysnake to be capable of going to some very secretive places, and even go steal some of the world's spirit fruits. This represented that its growing speed was about to enter a phase of explosive growth! Without question, this Azure Skysnake King was about to leave Eastmount Marsh and begin an adventuring journey. After all, only by going to other places would it be capable of acquiring more natural treasures and grow more rapidly in power. If it always stayed here comfortably, it would be a waste of its talent!
"Given the amount of hatred it bears me, in the future, when it returns to Swallow Mountain, it might come looking for me seeking revenge." Zhan was both furious and frightened.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!"
Ironwood Zhan bellowed in fury, the sound of his roars causing even the water to explode!
He was furious.
"All because of that Ji clan child!" Ironwood Zhan ground his teeth, filled with utter hatred.
If Ji Ning hadn't caused the Azure Skysnake King to advance so rapidly, how could it have suddenly made a breakthrough during this battle? Most likely, Zhan would have already tamed the Azure Skysnake. Now, he not only had been unable to tame it, he had also offended a powerful future enemy. The Azure Skysnake would definitely remember this grudge!
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The massive formation vanished. Ironwood Zhan collected all eight of the formation flags, then walked out atop the water, a sinister, shadowy look on his face.
"Master." The Bi'An Tiger transformed into a black-clothed man, flying over. Seeing the look on his master's face, he knew that the taming attempt had failed. He hurriedly said, "Master, don't be angry. This Azure Skysnake was simply too foolish. It was its own fault that Master killed it!"
"It didn't die!" Ironwood Zhan said coldly.
"It didn't die?!" The black-clothed was astonished. "Then it?"
Ironwood Zhan shook his head. "It actually managed to comprehend the Void Blink technique. It fled."
"Butbutbut…" The black-clothed man found it hard to believe as well. The Azure Skysnake had actually managed to comprehend the Void Blink technique at the critical juncture.
"All of it is the fault of that Ji clan child." Zhan said coldly. "His power was on par with the Azure Skysnake. After repeated battles, the Azure Skysnake has improved greatly. Thus, during this battle, it suddenly sensed the world, allowing it to become 'one with the void' and use the Void Blink technique! This Ji clan's child ruined everything. I will definitely strip his skin and rip his tendons. Otherwise, I won't be able to get rid of this fury in my heart!"
The black-clothed man nodded repeatedly. "Master, don't worry. Before this, I shot several of my back-spikes at him, which are stained with the 'Iceflower Liquid'. Some of the Iceflower Liquid has already gotten onto his body. As long as we release the Ice Wasp, we'll definitely be able to find him.
"Fine." Zhan withdrew a gray sack from his waist. Loosening the sack, a semi-translucent, gem-like wasp flew out at high speed.
"Pursue."
Zhan and the Bi'an Tiger followed behind the Ice Wasp at high speed.
After they left, a green snake suddenly emerged atop the peaceful water. The green snake stared from afar, a look of hope in its eyes. After it had battled against Ji Ning so many times, the two of them were evenly matched for so long. In addition, Ning had helped contribute to it being able to break through to the 'one with the world' level of movement technique and comprehend the Void Blink technique. It felt some gratitude towards Ning.
"Ssssss…." The Azure Skysnake let out a soft sound. It hoped Ning would be able to escape. It had already done what it was capable of. After all, although right now, he had very formidable fleeing abilities, in terms of actual power, he was far from being Ironwood Zhan's match.
Ji Ning, relying on his 'one with the world' footwork technique, ran at high speed, as fast as the wind. After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he continued to flee at high speed, moving most likely over a thousand kilometers through the mountain forests before coming to a halt. Actually, by now, the Golden Crow [the Sun] had already completely sunk beneath the horizon. However, the eastern horizon was still very red, and there was still some light cast on the ground.
"Whew!" Ning wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I first ran three hundred kilometers on water, then another thousand kilometers on land. In addition, I was moving at my maximum speed. I've never run like this before. I didn't expect that even with a body like mine, I still ended up so sweaty." Ning usually could run for a thousand kilometers on Eastmount Marsh without sweating at all, but this time, he really had moved at his utmost speed.
Feeling exhausted, Ning slowly walked forward. There was a pool in front of him, and within the pool, there were a few floating lotus flowers. The flowers were not stained at all by the mud, and their stems were straight. The fragrance of the lotuses entered his nose, causing the exhausted Ning to let out a hint of a smile as he sat down next to the pool.
"I guess I managed to make it through that setback." Ning withdrew a bamboo reed with a flip of his hand. The reed was filled with clean water. Raising his head, he took two gulps.
"I wonder how the little green snake is doing." Ning sighed lightly. "Little green snake, don't blame me. I'm not able to help you either. Alas, I haven't reached the Xiantian level."
"Xiantian!"
Just thinking about this made Ning feel a hint of worry.
The [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], as the most powerful Fiendgod Body Refining method, was extremely powerful, but training it was simply too difficult. Even someone with his background found it so hard to breakthrough. 'Merge Yin and Yang, Fuse Fire and Water'. How was this accomplished?
"What do I need to do in order to break through?" Ning pondered bitterly.
Hu!
A gentle breeze blew by. The cool, summer night breeze was so comfortable. The breeze wafted through the lotus flowers in the pool. Some spun in place, first towards one direction, then towards the other.
Having reached the 'one with the world' level in the [Shadewind Steps], Ning naturally was able to mentally become one with the wind. When the wind blew past the lotus blossom, he could clearly sense…
"Huh?" Ning suddenly revealed a look of curiosity. "When the wind blows the lotus, it turns both left, then right!"
Ning suddenly felt as though he understood something.
"If a leaf is blown by the wind, it will be blown wildly without any rhythm at all!"
"If it was a small tree that was being blown down by the wind, it would only shake from left to right! That's because it doesn't have any enormous round leaves."
But when the lotus flower is blown upon, the petals of the lotus can turn left or turn right, cancelling out this force."
Raising his head, Ning stared at the sky. It wasn't completely dark yet, but in the skies, he could already faintly see the light of the moon. "The Golden Crow [Sun] falls, and the Moon Rabbit [Moon] rises!"
"Turn left, turn right!"
"Day and night. Because there is day, thus there is the concept of night!" Ning murmured to himself. "In a place of utter darkness, a tiny hint of light is incomparably brilliant! The left and right turns of the lotus petal allow it to cancel out the two contrasting spins, allowing it to cancel out the force of the wind and stay in place, unmoved."
Ning closed his eyes.
His spirit was already 'one with the world', and he became one with the wind and the lotus flowers in the pool.
He could faintly sense some sort of enormous Principle, which hid ancient secrets that had existed since the creation of the endless universe…this secret, was the Dao [The Way]! The wind held the Dao within it, and the Dao itself was vast and unknowable. But when the wind blew past the lotus flower…Ning was capable of seeing the shadow of the Dao flash through the lotus flowers. Capable of finding a hint of the movements and the true appearance of the Dao!
Ning quietly sat there in the lotus position by the side of the pool, completely lost in thought as he attentively meditated on the hint of the 'Dao' which he had sensed from the lotus flowers circular movements.
---------------------------
Comprehending the Dao was something that one could hope for but not ask for.
In that moment when his soul, his thoughts, the environment, and everything else all fused together, he was able to just barely touch a hint of the Dao. But in order to touch the Dao…the prerequisite was that one would first have to become 'one with the world'. Only after one's mind could completely become one with the world was one capable of touching the Eternal Dao.
"Huahuahua…" A stream of water slowly flowed through a small creek covered up by the wild grass.
"Gugugu!"
Night descended, and the forest was now filled with the croaking of frogs.
Slowly….
Rays of light began to surround Ning, still seated in the lotus position. First, some rays of watery light appeared, slowly forming one enormous lotus petal after another around him. One watery lotus petal after another surrounded Ning, currently blossoming while swaying gently in the breeze.
Immediately afterwards, dots of fiery light began to gather as well, forming into fiery lotus petals. These enormous lotus petals of flame also wrapped around Ning.
Two layers of lotus petals.
The first layer was of watery lotus petals. The second was of fiery lotus petals. Each layer had exactly three petals.
"Hu!" Fire and water intersected. A wind arose out of nowhere.
Huahuahua….
Between the two layers of lotus petals, a wind arose out of nowhere. The two layers of lotus petals began to swivel. The lower layer of watery lotus petals swiveled to the left, while the upper layer of fiery lotus petals were turning to the right! The two layers of lotus petals were completely turning in opposite directions…slowly, sluggishly, they rotated, but Ning himself didn't utilize any of his own strength at all.
Everything happened by nature.
"Swoosh!" A gray-furred wolf loped out from within the forests, its jade eyes focused on that distant, fur-clad youth. Only, those enormous lotus petals, multiple meters in size, which were surrounding that fur-clad youth made the wolf slightly confused. As a beast with low intelligence, however, its innate sense was telling it that those rotating petals of fire and water were nothing more than part of the world, just like the clouds…there was no need to pay attention to them.
The gray wolf bared its fangs, staring at the fur-clad youth.
It was very hungry!
The fur-clad youth was just sitting there without moving, as though he was asleep. He definitely wouldn't have the ability to fight back. In addition, the flesh of this youth seemed so tender and delectable. The gray wolf could already feel its saliva coming into its mouth.
It hesitated no more!
"Swoosh!" The gray wolf charged forward rapidly, pouncing forward with fangs bared, preparing to bite down on that fur-clad youth.
But as soon as it leapt within two meters of those layers of lotus petals…
"Boom!"
The wind created by those two layers of lotus petals contained within them a hint of the destructive force of the world. In an instant, it chopped that wolf into tiny pieces, with blood splattering everywhere, some seeping deep into the earth, while the rest flowed into the pool.
--------------------------------
Nightfall.
Ironwood Zhan and the Bi'an Tiger he commanded, in the former of a black-clothed man, were currently following behind that Ice Wasp as they traversed the mountain forests.
The Ice Wasp was just a wasp, after all. It wasn't an enormous flying beast, nor was it a Diremonster. One could imagine how much slower it was! It was far from being even a tenth as fast as Ning
"This child of the Ji clan really can run." Ironwood Zhan's face was gloomy and sinister. "After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he kept on fleeing…"
The black-clothed man said hurriedly, "Master, the Ice Hornet's flying speed is much slower. If this child of the Ji clan keeps running without stopping, all the way to one of the Prefectures of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan, we probably won't have any way to catch him."
"Run all the way to one of the Five Prefectures?" Ironwood Zhan shook his head. "Too far. Eastmount Marsh is already at the borders of the Ji clan's territory. To run from the border to one of the Five Prefectures at once? That child of the Ji clan shouldn't run that far." Although he said this, in his heart, Zhan was worried as well. If Ning truly had run to any one of the Five Prefectures, no matter how confident Zhan was in his abilities, he wouldn't dare to charge into the lair of his enemies.
"We'll slowly pursue him."
Ironwood Zhan said. "Wherever the Iceflower Liquid passes by, it will leave that unique aroma. It won't dissipate for at least three days. We can't smell it, but the Ice Wasp can. As long as that child of the Ji clan doesn't flee to the Five Prefecture, he will die!"
"Right, he will die." The black-clothed man said hurriedly.
"He ruined everything for me, and caused me to have a powerful future foe." Ironwood Zhan could visualize that Azure Skysnake adventuring in the outside world through the usage of its Void Blink, becoming more powerful, reaching the Zifu level, then coming back to kill him…he couldn't help but feel fear, while at the same time, he hated Ji Ning even more. "I definitely have to personally tear his skin off and rend his tendons!"
"Right! Tear his skin, rip his tendons!" The black-clothed man ground his teeth as well.
-----------------------
The Golden Crow [Sun] was beginning to raise its head over the eastern skies. It was daybreak. Ironwood Zhan and the Bi'an Tiger under his command were still slowly pursuing. They had pursued for so long, both of them had bellies full of anger. This child of the Ji clan really was too cautious. After leaving Eastmount Marsh, he had actually fled for at least another thousand kilometers.
A Ice Wasp that flew for a thousand kilometers would be very tired as well. Fortunately, this Ice Wasp was a mutant.
"Master." The black-clothed man's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly pointed to the distant.
"Huh?" The also-tired Zhan turned to look in that direction. Instantly, he could make out an indistinct human figure at the distant side of a pool. This caused his mind to instantly wake up.
Ironwood Zhan's eyes lit up. He licked the corner of his lips, then said mentally, "Let's go take a look."
Between master and spirit beast, at a close distance, there was the ability to maintain psychic communications. As for the exact distance…it depended on how powerful their souls were. Generally speaking, a Xiantian lifeform and his spirit beast had to maintain a distance of ten meters if they wanted to be able to converse mentally.
The two carefully crept forward, trying not to make any noise.
But in truth, even if they made some noise, Zhan wasn't afraid. He was, after all, a late stage Xiantian expert. When running at full speed, he was a bit faster than even Ji Ning, and in addition, he carried on him a 'Divine Movement Seal' as well as a number of other ordinary Dao seals. How could he possibly allow Ning to escape?
"What an idiot. No matter how careful I am, I still am making some noise, but he didn't notice at all. He should be a Fiendgod Body Refiner. Logically speaking, he should have excellent senses. Hmph, hmph, he really has no experience at all. He's probably fallen asleep." Zhan laughed coldly. "All the better. It will make my life easier. Otherwise, I'd have to waste a Divine Movement Seal.
Ironwood Zhan and the black-clothed man continued moving forward.
Slowly…
They could make the person out clearly.
"What?" They were both stunned.
This was because the Sun had already risen by now. Under the light of the Sun, those enormous fiery lotus petals and the watery lotus petals appeared semi-translucent. After all, these lotus petals were not real lotus petals. They were formed by the energy of the world. Under the light of the sun, they instantly appeared semi-translucent.
The two layers of enormous lotus petals were still slowly swiveling in opposite directions, but contained within them a very strange rhythm. In the center of these two enormous layers of rotating lotus petals, Ning was seated there in the lotus position.
"What…what is this?" Zhan, although highly experienced, had never seen a sight like this. "Can it be that this is created from internal ki?"
"Still, even if he has broken through to the Xiantian lifeform stage, he is still only an early stage Xiantian. I imagine he doesn't have any magic treasures on him." A fierce look appeared on Zhan's face.
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