Chapter 41

Iron Mu Zhan, swift as a wisp of green smoke, was fleeing, but at this moment, the large trees ahead suddenly crashed down one after another, completely blocking his path. Some of the trees even flew directly at Iron Mu Zhan from the air.

"What's happening?" Iron Mu Zhan was greatly alarmed.

He fiercely swung the black wood vine whip in his hand, forming a circular arc of light that sliced through the flying trees as if they were being cut by a saw, splitting the trunks of the trees. However, Iron Mu Zhan was forced to slow down.

"Rustle, rustle~~"

Branches, tree trunks, and even large clumps of soil and rocks from the ground flew from all directions, madly rushing towards Iron Mu Zhan.

"This, this is what's happening?" Iron Mu Zhan was completely stunned.

"How can rocks, branches, and trees fly towards me?" Iron Mu Zhan had never heard of such a thing. Even Purple Mansion cultivators could only control their magical treasures through their essence energy, making them fly! Purple Mansion cultivators couldn't make ordinary objects fly at will.

A vast number of rocks and trees covered the sky, and Iron Mu Zhan's speed naturally decreased sharply.

"Iron Mu Zhan, you can't escape!" Ji Ning, who was also flying as a stream of light from behind, shouted.

"How did you do that?" Iron Mu Zhan shouted while drawing an arc and continuing to flee, trying to avoid the trees. However, the soil, rocks, and trees still surged towards him, preventing him from running quickly.

Ji Ning, however, grinned.

Yes.

This was what he had done. After Iron Mu Zhan activated the 'Divine Travel Talisman' and 'Light Body Talisman,' he was about to escape. Ji Ning was naturally very anxious! In that moment of anxiety, Ji Ning found that his intense mental fluctuations even made the surrounding pond water and ground tremble.

He clearly felt that his will was like an invisible hand, capable of grabbing all the surrounding trees, soil, and other objects.

"Divine Sense!" Ji Ning was suddenly filled with joy.

As the soul becomes stronger, various phenomena appear.

Ordinary Purple Mansion cultivators can multitask!

Ordinary Ten Thousand Phenomena True Men can manifest Divine Sense!

Netherworld Daoists can open their Heavenly Eyes and reveal their divine consciousness!

Visualization techniques are very mysterious and rare. There was no such thing as visualization techniques in the Ji clan! To strengthen the soul, one generally had to hone their will, comprehend the Dao, and improve their physical body, which in turn nourished the soul! Ji Ning had almost reached the limit of his cultivation in the visualization technique 'Nüwa Diagram,' and after a night of Dao comprehension, his soul also benefited.

After comprehending the Dao, the innate divine and demonic body was conceived through the descent of water and fire from the heavens, and the strength of his physical body further benefited his soul.

Unconsciously, Ji Ning's soul had already crossed into the realm of 'Divine Sense.' He just didn't know it. When Iron Mu Zhan was about to escape, Ji Ning, in his anxiety, realized that his will had materialized and affected the pond water and soil.

"You can't escape." Ji Ning directly used his Divine Sense to control the trees, soil, and rocks, surrounding Iron Mu Zhan.

...

"Could it be that this Ji clan boy didn't do it, and there's some terrifying cultivator in the shadows helping him because of his high talent?" Iron Mu Zhan couldn't escape, and he was both anxious and panicked.

"Water and Fire Lotus!" Ji Ning's gaze sharpened.

A huge fire lotus leaf floated above Iron Mu Zhan, while a large water lotus leaf appeared below him. Both began to slowly rotate in opposite directions.

"Who is the senior?" Iron Mu Zhan shouted loudly, and a talisman appeared in his hand, instantly transforming into a golden shadow that merged into his body. A faint golden light appeared on his skin. "I am a descendant of the Iron Mu clan and have a very good relationship with Snow Dragon Mountain."

"Stop struggling." Ji Ning had already arrived from a distance.

"Ji clan boy." The golden light on Iron Mu Zhan's body was trembling and about to collapse. He fiercely swung the black wood vine whip in his hand, which rapidly extended and enveloped Ji Ning.

Ji Ning held his sword in both hands, moving as fast as lightning.

"Swish!" With his left hand, he wielded the Beiming Sword, executing a 'Waterproof' technique. The black wood vine whip naturally wrapped around the sword upon contact, but Ji Ning actively coiled his left-hand sword, making the black wood vine whip wrap around it many times. Even Ji Ning's left hand grabbed the black wood vine whip.

Whoosh!

Ji Ning's right-hand sword was even faster.

"Open!" Iron Mu Zhan roared, trying to pull the black wood vine whip, but he couldn't move it at all. "No, I won't die here, I won't die at the hands of this Ji clan boy!" Sensing the approach of death, Iron Mu Zhan became extremely frenzied and even let go of the black wood vine whip in his hand.

He then turned to continue fleeing!

"Bang!" Under the slow grinding of the Water and Fire Lotus, the golden light on his body finally shattered and dispersed.

"Ahh." Iron Mu Zhan's outer clothes turned to ashes as he was crushed by the Water and Fire Lotus, revealing his charred and blackened body. He let out a painful scream.

"Whoosh!"

A drop of rain pierced through Iron Mu Zhan's forehead.

The Water and Fire Lotus then dissipated, and Ji Ning stepped back, silently watching the charred Iron Mu Zhan standing in front of him.

Iron Mu Zhan's eyes were wide open, his eyebrows gone, and there was a bloody hole on his forehead. His eyes were filled with disbelief and anger. He never thought he would die at the hands of a young boy and resented the senior cultivator who had secretly obstructed him. If not for that cultivator, he could have escaped.

"Cultivator?" Ji Ning whispered to himself, his heart filled with indescribable excitement.

Finally!

He had finally become a Netherworld Being!

Even the famous and powerful 'Iron Mu Zhan' was doomed to die before him.

"Even if I was reborn in the human world!" Ji Ning roared in his heart, "I can still become a Netherworld Being through my own efforts! This is just the beginning, the beginning of my journey!"

His past experiences and what he had seen in this life made Ji Ning have an intense desire for strength, yearning to control his own destiny. He didn't want to be toyed with by others or by fate!

"This is just the beginning!" Ji Ning took a few steps forward, approaching Iron Mu Zhan's corpse. With a thought, a flame burst forth, instantly reducing Iron Mu Zhan to ashes, leaving only an arm guard and the black wood vine whip on the ground.

"Oh?"

The arm guard and the black wood vine whip flew into Ji Ning's hands. He carefully examined them. "This arm guard is a storage magical treasure! The black wood vine whip is also a magical treasure."

"Um." Ji Ning returned to the pond and collected the eight flags of the Yin-Yang Qi Array, which were quite dull but still emitted waves of energy.

"Magical treasures and talismans must be used by at least a Netherworld Being." Ji Ning stored these in his storage crystal. "I need to cultivate my qi to the Netherworld stage first."

...

After the battle, late at night!

Ji Ning was still sitting cross-legged by the pond. At this moment, a dramatic change was happening in his dantian. Boom! The originally strong internal energy, now rapidly rotating, condensed into liquid droplets. Drops of true essence began to form, and a mist of water vapor also automatically gathered around Ji Ning's body.

"I've broken through." Ji Ning smiled.

When he was in the womb, his meridians were damaged, making it difficult to reach the Netherworld stage through qi cultivation. However, after reaching the Netherworld stage with the 'Nine Heavens of Chiming,' Ji Ning's entire physical body was transformed by the true fire and true water from the Moon and Sun, giving him the body of a Netherworld Being. His entire body had undergone a transformation, from a mortal to a divine being, and his meridians were completely renewed!

Now, Ji Ning's meridians were tough and perfect, undamaged in the slightest. They were even tougher and wider than those of many Netherworld Beings! Combined with his high cultivation level, he naturally broke through smoothly.

"Storage magical treasure." Ji Ning took out the arm guard and began to infuse his true essence into it. In just a moment, he had refined it.

"This storage magical treasure is different from a natural storage crystal." Ji Ning was delighted. The storage arm guard contained a vast space, a chaotic area about a hundred feet in diameter. It also contained a large number of items, such as clothes, food, and gold, which were common.

The most precious were eight talismans! These were accumulated over a hundred years by Iron Mu Zhan. Today, he used three talismans in one go but still couldn't save his life.

"Too bad there are no other magical treasures." Ji Ning shook his head, but it was expected. A Netherworld Being having two or three magical treasures was already quite good.

"The bow is quite good."

Ji Ning flipped his hand and took out an ancient large bow from the storage magical treasure. "This should be the bow Iron Mu Zhan usually uses. After I reached the Netherworld stage, I was just lacking a good bow."

Whoosh!

With a force, the immense power of a divine being acted on the bow, and Ji Ning easily pulled it back.

"Good bow." Ji Ning praised, then carefully examined the large bow. There were two pictographic characters on the bow—'Jia Yong.' This name puzzled Ji Ning. "It's probably the name of the bowmaker."

"I'll take this black wood vine whip back to West Mansion City and exchange it for a magical treasure." Ji Ning put everything away, feeling extremely pleased. "No bitter cold, no fragrant plum blossoms. I started practicing the sword at four years old and have been cultivating until now. Breaking through in one day, I truly entered a new world. I can now smell the fragrant plum blossoms."

This breakthrough, both in divine body cultivation and qi cultivation, reached the Netherworld stage.

Even his divine soul reached the 'Divine Sense' level.

He comprehended the Dao by the pond and grasped a thread of true Dao, creating the 'Water and Fire Lotus' technique.

"Right, there's still this!" Ji Ning took a deep breath to calm himself completely, then solemnly took out the book his mother had given him, the most precious set of secret techniques she had, which she forbade him from teaching to anyone else in the Ji clan. She told him to read it only after becoming a Netherworld Being.

Ji Ning carefully looked at the golden cover, which had four large characters: 'Wind Wing Escape Technique'!

Then, Ji Ning opened the book and began to read it carefully.