by RWX
True Immortal Gaudy took a deep breath. He didn’t want to make an enemy out of the Xia Emperor; after all, the Xia Emperor was an astonishing figure with tremendously powerful backers. The Xia Emperor possessed multiple powerful Protocosmic spirit-treasures and was extremely famous. Just now, he, Gaudy, had clearly severed this region from the surrounding dimension…but the Xia Emperor had forcibly torn through space and come through anyways. This was an ability that was similar to the power of the Worldhold Pagoda. To be able to ignore a spatial severing and forcibly tear a path to this place…clearly, the Xia Emperor had just used one of his Protocosmic spirit-treasures, the ‘Brightheart Lamp of One Thought’.
“All I want to do is kill that youth.” True Immortal Gaudy said coldly, “I can spare the other three!”
The Xia Emperor gave him a glance. “Get the f*ck out of my Grand Xia…IMMEDIATELY.”
Was this a joke? The whole reason he had come here was to protect Ji Ning.
“You…!” True Immortal Gaudy was furious. “Xiamang, today, I’m going to see for myself how powerful the descendants of the Primordial Imperial Clan like you are!” Instantly, a series of golden chains appeared around him. A total of nine golden chains appeared in total. One end of the chains seemed to sink off into the void of space, while the other wildly swept towards the Xia Emperor in a frenzied assault.
This was his true battle technique, a quiet, stealthy, insidious assault.
As for that giant black-white seal? It was faster to use the seal in attacking, and it was also more overbearing and dominating. He had wanted to just use it to smash open the protective formation and instantly crush Ning’s group.
“You dare put on a show in front of me with techniques like this?” The black-robed Xia Emperor let out a cold laugh. An enormous snow-white lotus appeared beneath his feet, blooming in every direction. It completely took over the surrounding area, blocking the nine insidious golden chains.
“Annihilate.” The Xia Emperor called this word out softly.
Last time, he had only unleashed a single golden stream of light. This time, three golden streams of light emerged, tearing through space and transforming into three golden roving dragons. These three golden dragons each had different auras; one of them seemed proud and brash, the second seemed sinister and cold, while the third seemed kind and gentle, as though it wasn’t a threat to anyone.
These three golden auras, each bearing a different aura, caused the distant True Immortal Gaudy to reveal a look of rage on his face.
“From life to death, all dreams vanish…everything is nothing but a garish, gaudy show!”
True Immortal Gaudy coldly barked out these words. Instantly, those nine golden chains around him began to weave about and dance. Space itself began to tremble and ripple like water.
Hiss….
The three golden dragons now noticeably found it much harder to fly after entering that region.
“Hmph.” The distant black-robed Xia Emperor’s face turned grim. He waved his hand, and a small clock appeared. As soon as this little black clock appeared…
Doooooong!
A crisp sound rang out.
BOOM!
True Immortal Gaudy immediately vomited out a mouthful of fresh blood. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Excellent. Excellent. Excellent! Xiamang, since you are determined to protect this kid, then from this day forward, we shall be irreconcilable enemies!”
“Just you?” The Xia Emperor smirked in a very disdainful manner.
“Wait and see. This brat will die. He definitely will die!” Savage madness was in True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes.
Whoosh.
True Immortal Gaudy immediately used a fleeing technique. It was simply too hard to block someone who had mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun from fleeing.
Even the Xia Emperor was only able to stand there and watch as he fled.
“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Celestial Immortal Unity, Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Ji Ning both flew over and hurriedly expressed thanks.
The Xia Emperor turned. He glanced at Ning and the other three, then said with a smile, “Good to see you are unharmed. Just now, I was watching the battle here through a magic treasure. When I saw Gaudy appear, I had a bad feeling. I was planning to Greater Teleport here, but who would’ve thought that he’d actually dimensionally sever this region off from the surrounding world? There was no way to teleport in at all! I had to forcibly tear a tunnel through space to come here. Fortunately, I made it in time. If I was just slightly slower…”
Ning and the others Ning now understood why the Xia Emperor had only managed to make it here at the last moment. Things had gotten to the point where Ning had already asked the seven Empyrean Gods to help out!
Thankfully…he hadn’t had to waste that promise.
“Ji Ning, you have to be careful,” the Xia Emperor said. “Although I don’t why True Immortal Gaudy wanted to kill you that badly, I imagine that one of those Celestial Immortals you killed had a very close relationship with him. That’s why True Immortal Gaudy, normally so graceful and refined, went so berserk. If a Pure Yang True Immortal who has mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun wishes to kill you…it’s going to be quite dangerous.”
“I understand,” Ning said solemnly.
“However…the storm is about to hit. Compared to the storm, this level of danger is nothing.” The Xia Emperor continued, “The incoming tempest is growing increasingly terrifying. Here is my talisman; if you encounter any danger, just shatter it. As long as it isn’t a True God or a Daofather, I’m confident in being able to save you.”
The Xia Emperor, in terms of power, was slightly weaker than Lu Dongbin…but he had plenty of protective treasures, and so he would be able to stay alive even in the face of an assault by a True God or Daofather for a period of time.
“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Ning immediately accepted the talisman.
“Make your preparations.” The Xia Emperor raised his head to look at the sky. “After this probing period…I imagine the war that is going to sweep the entire Grand Xia shall finally begin. If you choose to remain here, you won’t be able to avoid it.” After finishing his words, the Xia Emperor took a single step forward, disappearing with a void blink.
Ning looked at the talisman in his hand, revealing a slight smile.
As he had thought.
Although his earlier battle against nine Youngflame clan Celestial Immortals had been fairly impressive, in the eyes of the likes of the Xia Emperor or Daofather Crimsonbright, he was still nothing more than a fairly excellent genius of the Three Realms. This time, however, Ning had truly showed his fierceness. Even in the Primordial Era, he would be considered a true monster amongst the Void-level elites. Although this would cause his enemies to be more wary of him, it also made the Xia Emperor and Daofather Crimsonbright care more about him as well.
And now, he had the Xia Emperor’s talisman in his hands, as well as the Xia Emperor’s promise: “If you encounter any danger, just shatter it. As long as it isn’t a True God or a Daofather, I’m confident in being able to save you.” This had clearly spelled out the Xia Emperor’s attitude towards him. It must be understood that not even Patriarch Subhuti had ever said something like this to Ning!
……
The Fifth World.
Within a towering palace. The Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall, and the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave were all present.
“AZUREFOX!”
An enraged bellow could be heard as True Immortal Gaudy charged in.
“Gaudy.” The azure-robed woman looked at him.
“Azurefox, why didn’t you intervene?! Just a moment…just one extra moment! That’s all I needed to save little sister Violetgrass!” True Immortal Gaudy was utterly enraged.
The azure-robed woman just shook her head. “Violetgrass shattered the talismans that you and I gave her. You’ve mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun, but I have not. Even if
I did go, I would’ve been slower than you!”
True Immortal Gaudy paused. Right. In his rage, he had forgotten this.
“I’m going to kill that brat.” A terrifying red light was glowing from True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes as he said with rage, “I want him dead!”
* * *
Book 17, Chapter 13 - Paying Respects To The Godking
“Ji Ning killed Violetgrass. I, too, want him dead.” The azure-robed woman said calmly from atop her throne, “I’ll arrange for you to have the chance you need to move against him. By relying on your mastery of Qiankun, I’m sure you’ll be able to kill Ji Ning.”
“Did you really think I’m as stupid as you seem to believe?” True Immortal Gaudy gave the azure-robed woman cold look. “The Xia Emperor moved to protect this brat; in fact, he even chose to ignore my threats. He clearly has made up his mind to protect the brat. This time, you sent many teams to attack many places throughout the entire world of the Grand Xia. Although the Xia Emperor has True Immortals and Celestial Immortals under his command, he had many places to worry about, and so he wasn’t able to summon too much of his power to deal with me. But if I were to make another move…his forces wouldn’t have to worry about defending his various commanderies. They’d probably join forces to trap me, then kill me!”
The Seamless Gate knew all along that the Xia Emperor had other Empyrean Gods or True Immortals by his side!
The Primordial Imperial Clan alone had sent three of them to follow the Xia Emperor. This was one of the reasons why the Xia Emperor’s word was absolute law in the Grand Xia! The likes of Kindwater clan had Empyrean Gods in their ranks, and as a major clan that existed back in the Primordial Era, they too had True Gods or Daofathers backing them! And yet, they still did not dare to struggle with the Xia Emperor for supremacy. This was why!
Even the Youngflame clan had one of the major clans of the Primordial Era behind them. However, the Ancestor of the Youngflame clan, ‘Youngflame Freak’, had fled from his own clan and refused to recognize the connection between his clan and that primordial clan.
The supreme clans of the world of the Grand Xia truly were not easy to deal with. If those countless clans joined together, not even the Xia Emperor would dare to try and suppress them all by force. He had to provide order for and benefits to everybody, sharing the world with them.
As for the Xiamang clan of the Xia Emperor…technically speaking, it was the most powerful clan in the entire world of the Grand Xia! They would be more than capable of annihilating a single True Immortal Gaudy.
“How can you possibly take revenge without taking on some risk?” The azure-robed woman said, “Can it be that you are giving up on vengeance for Violetgrass?”
A cold light flashed through True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes. Of course he wanted to kill Ji Ning!
However…everyone capable of becoming a Pure Yang True Immortal was an extraordinary figure. None of them were fools.
“Violetgrass followed you this entire time. You are in control of the full power of the Seamless Gate. It would be much easier for you to kill Ji Ning than it would be for me,” True Immortal Gaudy said coldly. “If you really do provide a good opportunity for me to act, I won’t mind taking it. But I absolutely have no intentions of trading my life for that brat’s.”
After speaking, True Immortal Gaudy turned and left.
The only figures left within the towering hall were the azure-robed woman and the two other leaders. They all raised their heads, continuing to look at the battle images being transmitted in.
“The Xia Emperor really has begun to send out his forces,” the azure-robed woman laughed.
“He naturally isn’t going to just watch as you kill his people,” the skinny elder said.
Time continued to pass.
The probing attacks of the two thousand teams were carried out lightning-fast. They began this night, and they quickly concluded as well.
The next day. The Golden Crow once more rose into the sky. It was as though nothing had happened.
However, in reality, the previous night the Seamless Gate had lost a total of sixty-nine Celestial Immortals and hundreds of Loose Immortals. The world of the Grand Xia had lost a total of seventy-three Celestial Immortals and dozens of Loose Immortals.
On a superficial level, the losses were equal. And in truth, this type of initial probing attack would always result in the attacker sustaining some casualties.
However, the biggest mistake the Seamless Gate made this time…occurred with Ji Ning! They had completely underestimated Ning’s strength, causing them to lose eighteen supreme Celestial Immortals. This loss alone, in all honesty, was worse than all their other losses combined. After all, there was quite a large difference between an ordinary Celestial Immortal and a supreme Celestial Immortal.
But of course…neither the Xia Emperor nor the Seamless Gate were too concerned about their losses from this exchange.
This was just a probe, after all, an initial clash. Both sides suffered only some superficial losses; neither had sustained an actual injury. Their most powerful forces hadn’t even moved! Only when the real war began would they began to battle against each other. When that happened…Celestial Immortals would be put through a meat grinder, and even True Immortals and Empyrean Gods would fall if they were not cautious. This was, after all, the most powerful world under the command of Daofather Crimsonbright!
Within that towering palace in the Fifth World.
The leaders of the Seamless Gate, the Myriad Demons Cave, and Bloodcloud Hall had gathered here once more. After finalizing orders to their subordinates, they turned to the main topic of this meeting…Ji Ning.
“As I see it, Ji Ning has to die.” The man in the fiery red robes spoke in a booming voice. “He’s already a source of trouble for us. Once he overcomes his tribulation and becomes an Empyrean God…he won’t just be a source of trouble. He might cause our entire campaign against the Grand Xia to fail.”
The skinny elder sighed. “This person truly is too monstrous a genius, so monstrous that even I’m a bit frightened by him.”
“I agree that we need to kill him,” the azure-robed woman said. “This Ji Ning is protected by the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; killing him won’t be that easy. Our only choice is to first suppress and capture him, then come up with a way to kill him. But while we move to suppress him…I’m worried that his Daofather master will act.”
“Daofather?”
The faces of the other two leaders changed.
True Gods, Daofathers…the true rulers of the Three Realms. In addition, someone who could teach the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was definitely one of the most supreme of Daofathers. The mere thought of such a figure caused them to shudder.
“If we send Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to kill him, but they end up being killed by the Daofather when he saves Ji Ning…we’d end up having ‘lost both the wife and the soldiers’ [1. This idiom comes from a famous story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A general tried to honeytrap his enemy by offering his sister in marriage…but his sister actually fell in love with the enemy and ran off with him. Furious, the general sent soldiers to chase them back, but the soldiers ended up being ambushed and slaughtered. Thus the phrase, ‘losing both the wife and the soldiers’, became immortalized for describing a situation where you pay enormous, multiple costs without getting what you want.], the worst of both worlds.” The azure-robed woman sighed. “This is the most critical moment in our campaign against the Grand Xia. It’s not wise for us to act on too large a scale.”
“Azurefox, what do you think we should do?”
The other two both looked at her.
In terms of status, the three were equal. However, generally speaking the ones in charge of the Seamless Gate were more intelligent, which is why the Gatemaster was the one chosen for the subjugation of the major worlds, with the other two acting in a supporting role. If there were any internal squabbles, a report would be made to the higher-ups!
&n
bsp; “I think…we should report to this to the Godking!” The azure-robed woman said solemnly.
“The Godking?” The other two hesitated.
The red-robed man said with hesitating, “To bother the Godking for something like this…? To ask the Godking for help?”
“Although we can kill Ji Ning if we are willing to pay a high price…the paying of that price would have an impact on our ability to conduct the war against the Grand Xia.” The azure-robed woman said, “Our only choice is to report this to the Godking.”
“Mm.”
“Fine.”
The other two didn’t oppose this proposal. In truth, Azurefox could’ve made the report on her own; she was just letting them know as a form of respect. That way, the three would work together in greater harmony; the Myriad Demons Cave and the Bloodcloud Hall were extremely powerful as well, after all.
……
Within a silent room.
The azure-robed woman let a stick of incense. Instantly, the fragrance of the incense filled the entire room. The azure-robed woman slowly closed her eyes, sinking into a deep slumber.
Within a dream.
Azurefox appeared within a vast, dark region. At the center of this region, a massive throne that was more than thirty thousand meters long hovered in the air.
“Godking,” Azurefox called out reverently.
Instantly, a towering figure suddenly appeared atop the massive, levitating throne. This figure was dressed in black robes, but his eyes were like a mist that was able to commune with one’s very soul. He stared downwards at Azurefox, and she couldn’t help but shudder.
“What is it?” The figure atop the massive throne lightly tapped the armrest with a finger. A booming sound instantly rang out, reverberating throughout the dark region.
“Godking, your subordinate is on the verge of launching the attack against the Grand Xia. However, a new variable has appeared within the Grand Xia world…” Azurefox explained respectfully, “This variable will have a major impact. If your subordinate was to use the power of the Seamless Gate against it…it might negatively impact our mission of subjugating the Grand Xia. Thus, I’ve come to ask you, Godking, to decide for us.”