Chapter 21: The Death Formation!

Jiang Ning stared blankly at the major peaks of the Idle Clouds Sect before him. He stood on a cliff called the Cliff of Enlightenment. As countless silver threads fell, the main peaks seemed to form a mysterious pattern in his eyes. The terrain’s veins became instantly clear—a colossal formation made up of one hundred and eight main summits!

“All the formations are interconnected… What kind of formation is this?” Jiang Ning was deeply shocked, sensing a strange, sinister aura slowly condensing throughout the Idle Clouds Sect.

He had studied the formation he seized from Zhao Feng, which enabled him to recognize this grand terrain formation. Yet, though the formations’ origins were linked, he could not discern its nature. He merely felt an uncanny, chilling energy making even his immortal spirit body recoil. This was no Cliff of Enlightenment, but a place of extraordinary peril!

A chill ran down his spine.

“Junior Brother Jiang Ning?” Lin Qian seemed puzzled as she watched Jiang Ning frozen in place, his aura barely restrained.

“Have you perhaps noticed something, Junior Brother Jiang Ning?” Only now did Jiang Ning come to his senses. The instant he sensed the formation, he almost withdrew instinctively.

“As the sun sets, I felt a passing insight. But Senior Sister Lin Qian, why do you ask… Is there truly something unusual here?” he countered, masking his earlier shock.

Now it was Lin Qian who fell silent.

Jiang Ning was surprised. Could Lin Qian know something about this? Having spent so long in the Idle Clouds Sect, perhaps she was privy to certain secrets—like the bizarre terrain formation before him that made him want to flee. Surely Lin Qian knew.

After all, it was she who brought him here.

The Cliff of Enlightenment was nothing more than an ordinary place in the sect. Each scenic peak bore its own unique name. One did not truly gain enlightenment just by standing here. Ordinary inner sect disciples rarely visited such places, and even if they did, few could sense the strange formation in the terrain.

Lin Qian sighed softly, her graceful silhouette enchanting. Her violet robes, bathed in the twilight, floated ethereally like celestial garments.

“The Mark of the Great Dao…”

She suddenly uttered these words, sending a shiver through Jiang Ning.

“The art of concealing one's aura—I truly cannot give it to you, nor should I give it to you.” She turned with a charming smile. “Perhaps, Junior Brother Jiang Ning, when we have time, we could go see the world outside together…”

With that, before Jiang Ning could reply, her figure vanished, riding a rainbow across the sky and piercing the heavens beneath the setting sun.

This time, Jiang Ning did not follow.

He stared at her fleeting silhouette, lost in thought.

…

“Jiang Ning, I challenge you!”

Lin Qian had scarcely left when a hot-headed inner sect disciple emerged, eager to pick a fight. Several others rushed toward the Cliff of Enlightenment.

“I don’t believe you truly have the strength to defeat Senior Brother Wang Shuo in a single move! I challenge you too!”

“Yes, we all challenge you!”

Many appeared, some with genuine strength, having reached the fourth or fifth stage of the Opening Realm. They had been harboring resentment these days.

“Jiang Ning, you’re just a toad lusting after a swan!”

Zhang Yanli was among them, shamelessly shouting her taunts.

“Don’t think your status as a direct disciple lets you harass Senior Sister Lin Qian endlessly!”

With her stirring the crowd, everyone chimed in.

Jiang Ning had always kept a low profile, mistaken for a useless talent, and even now, despite revealing some strength, many refused to believe it, suspecting some hidden secret.

“Jiang Ning, accept my challenge!” Even Zhang Zebing appeared. After entering the inner court and the sect’s baptism, he had reached the Opening Realm. Previously, he was rejected by Jiang Ning in public, who conceded defeat, leaving him with lingering obsession.

He was desperate for a duel with Jiang Ning, lest it leave a flaw in his cultivation heart.

Jiang Ning ignored them.

He had no patience for such trivial jealousies. His gaze pierced through them all, falling upon the sect’s terrain formation.

Boom!

In that moment, Jiang Ning’s spiritual energy began to circulate of its own accord. He stared intently at the mountain formations, his eyes stinging as he tried to unravel the workings of the formation.

But he did not notice—

As his spiritual energy flowed, the power of the bloodline he first absorbed in his dantian was also stirred by the grand formation before him, rumbling through his body!

Those seeking to challenge him suddenly felt an invisible pressure descend upon them!

“Is this… the pressure of a difference in cultivation?”

It was as if a great mountain had fallen from the heavens, pressing invisibly upon everyone’s head, or as if a vast hand of spiritual energy, radiating myriad auras, suppressed everyone present!

They were all utterly astonished!

Hiss—

The weaker ones spat blood on the spot and collapsed!

Others, too, felt the pressure at the same moment, gritting their teeth to endure.

But in truth, this was not pressure from a difference in cultivation.

Jiang Ning had reached the tenth stage of the Opening Realm, with his aura withdrawn and a unique, perfected microcosmic cycle within his body—there would be no pressure from cultivation alone.

The true source of the pressure was the suppression from the grade of his bloodline!

A bloodline of high quality was worlds apart from ordinary ones. Though Jiang Ning had not fully evolved his bloodline, its power was stirred, flowing through his body, naturally exerting a corresponding pressure.

Jiang Ning was utterly focused, gazing at the distant mountain formation as if seeing through the vastness below.

“This is a death formation!”

Though his knowledge of formations was shallow, the overwhelming aura of death was unmistakable. With the little understanding he had gained, he could still sense it!

“What is being suppressed here? Why is the aura of corpses so thick? The one hundred and eight main peaks are clearly the formation’s anchors, linking to the palaces suspended in the air!”

“The entire Idle Clouds Sect is a death formation!”

His eyes stung; the next moment, he closed them, breaking the connection and letting the pressure dissipate. He mounted a rainbow and departed.

“Lin Qian’s words weren’t an invitation to soar side by side. Her suggestion that we see the world outside together was a warning—I must leave at once!”

“I can no longer stay in the Idle Clouds Sect!”

Jiang Ning was filled with terror.

Meanwhile, those who had sought to challenge him felt a sudden release from the pressure, as if the ground had vanished beneath their feet.

Hiss—

Unable to withstand the abrupt change, some coughed blood again, breaking into a cold sweat as their hearts trembled.

Zhang Liyan was utterly terrified, coughing blood repeatedly, her will too weak, her face pale as death.

Zhang Zebing’s expression was deeply conflicted. Everyone fell into silence.

To them, Jiang Ning had done nothing.

He merely stood there, gazing forward, emanating what they thought was cultivation pressure.

It was a total suppression.

From beginning to end, Jiang Ning had not spoken a word. In the end, he simply ignored them and departed atop a rainbow.

It was a silent disdain for the strength of everyone present.