“Describe all of his abilities to me in detail,” Daolord Shaka said. He wouldn’t agree to a request like this lightly; he had to first see what sort of abilities this Daolord of the Second Step possessed.

“I’ll narrate to them to you.” Since Daolord Kongsan was asking this man to help out, it wasn’t appropriate for him to hold anything back. He gave a quick explanation, then continued, “Don’t worry, big brother Shaka. I also have the feeling that he probably has a significant background, given how talented he is. To be safe, we should first capture him and then see if anyone comes to save him. If an Emperor comes for him, we’ll ransom him for a pretty price. If no one comes from him, we’ll just kill him.”

Daolord Shaka nodded. “Alright.” Neither of the two were the cowardly, trouble-fearing type. Kongsan was a core member of the Dao Alliance, while Daolord Shaka was a high-level member of the Aberrants. The kid might have powerful backers, but so did they. The only reason they were planning to capture Ning first was to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

“I’ll agree to help you here,” Daolord Shaka said.

“Thank you, big brother Shaka.” Daolord Kongsan was delighted.

Swoosh! Daolord Shaka instantly transformed into a streak of light that disappeared into the skies as it hastened towards the grand sealing formation.

……

Within the sealing formation. Daolord Shaka continued to chase after the fleeing Ji Ning as the two continuously exchanged attacks against each other.

“He can’t do anything to me.” Ning was extremely clear-headed despite the battle’s progression. “Daolord Kongsan himself knows this quite well. He won’t just let things drag out like this; he must be coming up with a plan! But it won’t matter what he has up his sleeve; I won’t let him do as he wishes.”

“Mm.” Ning immediately sent a mental message, “Send word to the Brightshore Kingdom right away that I am in a grand sealing formation outside Skywood City and am being pursued and attacked by Daolord Kongsan. I would like to ask the fellow Daoists of the Brightshore Kingdom to help out. The duration of this request is a single day.”

“Yes, Master.” The alien World-level retainer who had with Ning this entire time immediately acknowledged the order. This retainer had another clone in the Brightshore Kingdom, and so was able to make the report almost immediately. Moments later, the Brightshore Kingdom sent word to every single Daolord and Emperor within its ranks.

In truth, in recent years Ning had received quite a few distress calls as well, but they were all too far away from him. This time, for example, Ning himself had said that the duration of his request was a single day! If others couldn’t make it here within a single day, there was no point to them even coming. If they were too far away, they would only find at the end of their long journey that the matter had come to an end long ago.

“But asking for the Brightshore Kingdom to help out is just a precaution,” Ning mused. “In the end, it doesn’t have that many Daolords. The number of Daolords it has who can deal with Kongsan are even fewer. Although this is one of the eight Sacred Cities and there should be quite a few members of the Brightshore Kingdom here, it’s hard to say if there are any who can match Kongsan.”

“I suppose I’ll have to wait and see. If there’s nothing I can do, I’ll use up the Hegemon’s Dao-seal,” Ning mused. You always had to have a backup plan.

The Dao of the Sword was an offensive Dao, and so the Sword Hegemon’s Dao-seal possessed terrifying offensive power. Even Eternal Emperors would deeply desire an item of such incredible value. However, the path of cultivation was a long one, and this affair with Daolord Kongsan might be nothing more than a minor bump in this long road. Ning wasn’t willing to use up his Dao-seal unless absolutely necessary.

But of course… if it WAS absolutely necessary, then he would simply use it! Once he used it up, he would win all of the treasures which Daolord Kongsan possessed. However, in Ning’s eyes not even all of the combined treasures Daolord Kongsan possessed were as important as his Hegemon’s Dao-seal.

A short while later…

“Hahaha!” Daolord Kongsan suddenly began to laugh. “Let’s see how much longer you can keep fleeing, kid.” Ning’s face tightened. Daolord Kongsan suddenly pointed off into the distance. Instantly, a golden figure flew through the distant barrier, followed by the barrier once more being sealed shut.

The golden figure was that of a handsome, golden-haired man dressed in golden armor. He glanced at Ning curiously, then slowly shook his head and said, “Kid, it’s quite rare and impressive for a Daolord of the Second Step to be as strong as you are. What a true pity.”

“Please help me, big brother Shaka, in capturing him,” Daolord Kongsan said.

“Shaka?” Ning’s face turned pale. “Daolord Shaka of the Aberrants?”

Daolord Shaka was an incredibly famous Daolord of the Aberrants, and that fame came from his incredible speed. He was one of those figures who could go more than a hundred times faster than the speed of light! In speed alone, he was superior to the vast majority of Eternal Emperors. And, as an Aberrant, he was incredibly fast and powerful in close combat as well.”

“It seems I’ll have to use the Hegemon’s Dao-seal after all.” A sharp light flashed through Ning’s eyes.

“Kid, I recommend you give up,” Daolord Shaka said calmly. He had absolute faith in his overwhelming speed.

“Kongsan! Stay your hand!” A cold shout rang out from afar, going through the barrier and reverberating within the world inside it. The people outside the formation were unable to see what was going on inside, but those inside it were able to see and hear what was happening outside with perfect clarity.

“Eh?” Daolord Kongsan and Daolord Shaka both looked outside, as did Ning. Two figures had appeared outside the formation. One was a skinny, white-haired, middle-aged man. The other was a muscular man with a giant greataxe on his back who had a single horn in the middle of his head.

“Kongsan, stay your hand. Release Darknorth!” The skinny, white-haired man said coldly.

“Daolord Soleman? Daolord Skyaxe?” Daolord Kongsan’s face tightened.

“Palace Lord Soleman?” Within the formation, Ning revealed a look of delight as well. Lord Soleman was the Vice Palace Lord of the Heartforce Palace! Other Daolords of the Fourth Step might be strong or weak, but every single one who was also a Heartforce Power possessed terrifying power. Daolord Soleman, as the Vice Palace Lord of the Heartforce Palace of the Brightshore Kingdom, was also an incredibly powerful figure whose name alone was enough to terrify countless cultivators. Heartforce Cultivator Daolords simply possessed far too many strange ways to kill people. Sometimes, a single glance from them was enough to slay.

As for Daolord Skyaxe, he wasn’t a member of the Brightshore Kingdom; he was probably just accompanying Daolord Soleman and so came over as well. However, Daolord Skyaxe was one of the most freakishly powerful of Daolords who had most likely devised and joined together multiple different Supreme Daos. He was ranked as the number five Daolord of this era in the Endless Territories.

“Darknorth? The kid over here?” Daolord Kongsan laughed coldly.

“Release him,” Daolord Soleman barked.

“Soleman, if I release him just because you told me to, I would have no face left,” Daolord Shaka said coldly.

“Daolord Soleman, Daolord Skyaxe, next to me is big brother Shaka,” Daolord Kongsan said. Soleman and Skyaxe were outside the formation and so weren’t able to see anything inside of it at all.

Although there was a ranking of power in the Endless Territories, ranks didn’t count for everything. For example, an incredibly powerful Daolord’s abilities might be perfectly countered by a lower-ranked Daolord’s abilities! Palace Lord Dawnstar might be in trouble if he encountered an ancient, incredibly powerful Eternal Emperor, but someone like Daolord Shaka would be able to escape thanks to his incredible speed. Everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses; those who stood at the very top ranks amongst Daolords all had their own pride and rarely submitted to others.

If Kongsan encountered Soleman and Skyaxe by himself… he was strong enough to stay alive, but he’d still feel trepidation. Now that Daolord Shaka, a Daolord even more powerful than himself, was by his side… he felt much more confidence.

“Soleman, Skyaxe, the two of you don’t have the right or the power to demand me to release this kid,” Daolord Shaka said.

“Attack!” Daolord Soleman was instantly enraged. “Break this formation apart!”

BOOM! The nearby Daolord Skyaxe was enraged as well. He immediately attacked, and when he did the world itself seemed to tremble, and even Skywood City itself seemed to turn dim. Endless yellow illusions filled the vast area surrounding Skywood City. Moments later, a terrifying greataxe struck out from within the yellow illusions and chopped downwards towards the grand sealing formation. In terms of using raw power to break apart formations, Daolord Soleman clearly wasn’t as strong as Daolord Skyaxe.

“What’s going on? What’s with this terrifying aura?” Quite a few cultivators within Skywood City were surprised by the commotion.

BOOM! The grand sealing formation shook a few times and a few ripples appeared on the surface of the barrier, but it managed to endure the blow.

“Hahaha! Daolord Skyaxe, if I was forced to fight you in combat I would have no choice but to turn tail and flee. It would be a joke, however, if you could overwhelm me even through these formations I’ve set down.” Daolord Kongsan’s voice echoed from within the formation.

“Damn.” Daolord Skyaxe was infuriated.

……

“They won’t be able to help you.” Daolord Kongsan turned his head to stare at Ning, still aboard his black vessel.

“If you aren’t willing to just surrender… then we’ll be forced to simply capture you alive. Let’s see what Soleman and Skyaxe can do about it. Last time we met in the Terror Starsea, he caused me to lose face. Does he really think I’ll just give way to him this time?” Daolord Shaka snickered, then transformed into a streak of light that instantly moved more than a hundred times the speed of light.

Aboard the black vessel, Ning let out a long sigh. “It seems I’ll have to use the Hegemon’s Dao-seal after all.” Murder flickered in Ning’s eyes.