Chapter 77

Bosizhan swept his gaze around, looking at the area covered in ice and the scorched ground, and the numerous corpses, especially the innate spirit soldiers among them, which made his heart twitch with pain. These were all his subordinates. To refine the evil artifact conceived in sin, he needed a large number of subordinates to torture people and some powerful ones to capture innate spirits.

"All destroyed." Bosizhan looked at Ji Ning with a cold, sinister gaze. "My disciples and servants have all been killed by you. I have spent a long time cultivating a large number of ghosts, and they were about to succeed. It was you who forced me to stop. I, Bosizhan, have never suffered such a great loss at the hands of a mere child! I will not treat you kindly; I will make you taste the torment of your soul!"

"He is a Zifu Cultivator."

"He is a Zifu Cultivator."

Among the thousands of Dao soldiers, many were still shouting in fear.

"Are you a Zifu Cultivator?" Bosizhan stared at Ji Ning. His evil artifact was only a half-finished product, and this time it was interrupted due to Ji Ning. With just that half-finished artifact, Bosizhan was considered one of the top Zifu Cultivators. However, according to what he heard from his disciples, Ji Ning was merely an eleven or twelve-year-old boy within the Ji Clan.

An eleven or twelve-year-old boy, a Zifu Cultivator?

If it were true, Bosizhan would be wary. To become a Zifu Cultivator at such a young age, there must have been some extraordinary encounter, and he might have some hidden cards.

"Zifu Cultivator? I am not a Zifu Cultivator, do you believe me?" Ji Ning said coldly.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a small boat appeared under Bosizhan's feet, and he instantly flew to a distance, increasing the gap between him and Ji Ning. Wearing a black robe, Bosizhan looked at Ji Ning with a cold, sinister gaze. He had already regarded Ji Ning as an equal opponent, so he immediately increased the distance.

Cultivators are also divided into different categories. Those who practice the divine and demonic body refinement prefer close combat, while others who control artifacts, poisons, and puppets prefer to maintain a distance and then use their skills, as getting too close is very dangerous. Bosizhan preferred to use poisons and artifacts.

"Bang." A black claw attacked Ji Ning from behind.

Ji Ning's feathered wings flapped, and he immediately dodged, while the wind generated by the black claw tore the ground. The black-haired zombie roared and chased after Ji Ning.

"Bosizhan, die!" While dodging the black-haired zombie, Ji Ning also summoned over four hundred sword artifacts. Each sword artifact emitted a faint white light under Ji Ning's control.

"Indeed, there's no need to force it; just guide the flow. By leading the key points of the Small Thousand Sword Formation... controlling the Small Thousand Sword Formation becomes much easier." Ji Ning had previously been studying the formation and had not thoroughly tested the 'Fifth Layer of the Small Thousand Sword Formation.' Although he had used it in the Water Mansion, it was too strenuous.

Now, Ji Ning found it much easier, and as he continued to experiment, the four hundred and five sword artifacts became more agile, and Ji Ning's divine sense became more relaxed in controlling them.

"Artifacts!" Bosizhan, standing on the boat, saw this and his face changed. "He can control artifacts to fly, he is indeed a Zifu Cultivator! So many sword artifacts... most of them are probably unranked artifacts, but the combined power of so many unranked artifacts must be considerable."

"Roar~~~" The black-haired zombie roared and chased after Ji Ning, attacking repeatedly.

Ji Ning, relying on the Wind Wing Escape Technique, dodged flexibly. In a life-and-death battle, one must make the best use of one's strengths. The black-haired zombie was clearly immensely strong and indestructible; fighting it would be foolish... Ji Ning understood that this black-haired zombie was likely raised by Bosizhan. As long as he killed Bosizhan, the black-haired zombie would no longer be a threat.

"Fifth Layer of the Small Thousand Sword Formation." Ji Ning continuously controlled the numerous floating sword artifacts, quickly becoming familiar with the intricacies of the Small Thousand Sword Formation, making it easier to control.

"Go!" Ji Ning's eyes flashed with a fierce light, looking at Bosizhan in the distance.

A wavy sword beam condensed in front of him and shot out like lightning, leaving a faint trail in the air as it directly pierced toward Bosizhan, who was standing on the boat. In Bosizhan's hand, a duster artifact had already appeared. Seeing this, he immediately waved the duster, which transformed into three thousand white threads, entangling the incoming sword beam.

Whether it was the boat or the duster, both were ranked artifacts, with considerable power.

"Chirp chirp chirp~~"

"Bad." Bosizhan's face changed as he controlled the duster. The three thousand white threads resisted the sword beam, and as they emitted light, they gradually weakened and dissipated the sword beam before it could reach Bosizhan. This made Ji Ning, who was watching from a distance, also change his expression. The power of the Fifth Layer of the Small Thousand Sword Formation was definitely significant. The Fourth Layer was already comparable to the power of a Zifu Cultivator using a ranked artifact, and the Fifth Layer was likely on par with some powerful early-stage Zifu Cultivators.

"Indeed, a Zifu Cultivator." Bosizhan looked at Ji Ning with a fierce expression and shouted, "So young and so monstrous, how can I let you live?"

Suddenly, a black, hive-like object appeared in Bosizhan's hand and rapidly grew to about ten feet tall, with numerous holes. A buzzing sound filled the air as golden insects emerged from the holes, quickly forming a massive swarm that surged toward Ji Ning.

"Poison insects." Ji Ning was startled and immediately condensed a sword beam in front of him. "Kill!"

Whoosh!

The sword beam shot out, slicing through the dense swarm of golden insects. With a series of chirping sounds, the sword beam cut through hundreds of insects before emerging from the swarm, now reduced to half its size. The sword beam then drew an arc and plunged back into the swarm, where it was quickly consumed, killing another few hundred insects.

"This won't work." While controlling his feathered wings to escape, Ji Ning immediately abandoned the idea of using the Small Thousand Sword Formation to deal with the insects.

The Small Thousand Sword Formation consumed too much true essence. He had already used the Fifth Layer twice and the Fourth Layer once. His innate true essence was now only about sixty to seventy percent left. The swarm of poison insects likely numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and one sword beam could only kill seven or eight hundred.

Even if his true essence were endless, he would only be able to release three sword beams before the insects reached him.

"Dead for sure." Bosizhan looked at Ji Ning.

"Water and Fire Lotus!"

Ji Ning shouted, and water lotus leaves and fire lotus leaves appeared around him, quickly merging into a bud-like structure that protected him.

"Three Water and Fire Lotus." Ji Ning exerted all his strength, with each Water and Fire Lotus consisting of three water lotus leaves and three fire lotus leaves. The large lotus enveloped the smaller ones, creating a layered defense with Ji Ning at the core, continuously using the Wind Wing Escape Technique.

The black-haired zombie was still chasing him, so Ji Ning dared not relax for a moment.

"Buzz buzz buzz~~" The dense swarm of poison insects finally surrounded Ji Ning, frantically trying to penetrate the Water and Fire Lotus. They easily passed through the first layer.

The six layers of the three Water and Fire Lotus were continuously rotating. As the insects tried to penetrate, they were gradually killed by the crushing force of the water and fire lotus leaves. However, they quickly regrouped and focused on one spot, pushing through the second, third, and fourth layers, though many insects died in the process.

"Protective technique containing the true meaning of the Dao! Where did Ji Ning learn this?" Bosizhan, watching his insects die in large numbers, felt a pang of pain and was also shocked. Techniques like this, which protect the body, are even more precious than sword techniques, and are difficult to learn even in his sect.

He didn't know that Ji Ning had created the technique himself.

"Through the sixth layer!" Ji Ning, holding the Beiming Sword, fiercely defended against the insects that had penetrated the sixth layer. The golden insects had tough shells that were hard to destroy. After defending against a few, one insect bit through his protective armor and took a vicious bite.

"Die." Ji Ning's Beiming Sword frantically killed the insects, and his wounds automatically healed.

"This can't go on. Although I can recover from the divine and demonic body refinement, the insects will keep coming... I will eventually be eaten clean." Ji Ning was anxious. "These insects are controlled by Bosizhan; I just need to kill him."

Ji Ning ignored the insects and prepared for a desperate attack.

"He has divine and demonic body refinement." Bosizhan, on the boat, could no longer wait, his face full of anger. "His body recovers incredibly fast, and he has that protective technique! If this continues, even if I can eat him, most of my precious insects will die. My artifact is not yet fully refined, but I can't wait any longer!"

Bosizhan flipped his hand, and a blood-red banner appeared, surrounded by a layer of black light, which was solidified sin!

As the banner appeared, the surrounding world seemed to darken.

"Ji Ning, die!" Bosizhan shook the banner.

"Bosizhan, die!" Ji Ning, protected by the three Water and Fire Lotus, roared. Around him, four hundred and eighty-six sword artifacts appeared, and in this desperate moment, Ji Ning pushed himself to his limits. Since the Fifth Layer of the Small Thousand Sword Formation couldn't kill the opponent, he had to use the Sixth Layer!

The blood-red banner shook!

The four hundred and eighty-six sword artifacts also floated, gradually emitting a faint white light!

...