“Rain Line?” Dong Ziqi murmured softly as well. The four Zifu Disciples behind him were still in a state of shock.


    “This Ji Ning is even more powerful than anticipated.” Ziqi pondered. “He’s only sixteen years old, but even junior apprentice-brother Muse is unable to take him down! Most likely, only I will be capable of killing him.” If he were to personally attack, he would have to use his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Once the formation appeared, then the two sides would fight to the death, and there would be no chance to salvage the situation.


    Dong Ziqi was very self-confident, but he also understood that the Ji n’s power wasn’t weak either. If they were really to fight against each other, his side would lose one or two of their five Zifu Disciples.


    If he could let the other side retreat in the face of encroaching difficulties, that would be for the best.


    “Ji Ning, formidable.”


    “Well done.”


    The Ji nsmen all looked towards Ning. “Are you alright?” Ji Yichuan looked at his son. Seeing that his son was unwounded, he rxed.


    “Dong Ziqi!” Granny Shadow said in a fierce voice. “What was the meaning of this? You suddenly attacked a member of our Ji n! All of us are present, and yet you still dare to behave so rashly.”


    “Your Snowdragon Mountain nsmen are too wild and unbridled.”


    The Ji nsmen were all very angry, but they still forced themselves not to attack. The opponents, after all, belonged to Snowdragon Mountain.


    “Hahaha...” Dong Ziqi justughed. “Sudden attack? That’s a nasty way to put it. My junior apprentice-brother simply heard long ago that your Ji n produced a genius with exceptional talents, and that even junior apprentice-brother Bei Zishan of our Snowdragon Mountain died in his hands. Today, when we saw this genius, he couldn’t help but feel his hands itch and want to have a little spar. What, can it be that a Zifu Disciple of our Snowdragon Mountain is forbidden from sparring with a member of your Ji n?”


    “You call that a spar?” Granny Shadow said in a fierce, hoarse voice.


    “Naturally.” Ziqi said. “And now, it seems that this genius of your Ji n is indeed formidable. He was able to break through the technique of my junior apprentice-brother. Admirable, admirable.”


    “You...” Granny Shadow felt a fiery rage build in her belly. She had lived for nearly four centuries, but had never been angered like this before. If she didn’t have other things holding her back, she would’ve attacked long ago, but for the sake of the rest of the Ji n, she had to endure it.


    A savage look shed past Ziqi’s eyes, and he snorted coldly. “Forget about sparring; even if we really killed that Ji Ning, what would your Ji n do about it?” Dong Ziqi’s cold, sinister eyes swept past this group of Ji nsmen, and a disdainful smile was ying at the corner of his lips, causing the Ji nsmen to feel all the more enraged.


    Swollen with arrogance!


    What Ziqi was doing was being swollen with arrogance, with the intention ofpletely suppressing the Ji nsmen!


    “Patriarch.” Truekeep was truly enraged now, and he shouted, “Our Ji n cannot let ourselves be so easily abused as this. I’d rather live and stand fighting rather than die kneeling. Our Ji n has made one concession after another, but Snowdragon Mountain just continues to advance and pressure us further. Do they really take our Ji n to be made out of mud, for them to mold as they please? Let’s go all out against them! Five of them came today. We are definitely going to make sure at least half of them die!”


    “Let’s go all out.”


    “Patriarch, let’s go all out.”


    “They refuse to give our Ji n a way out. We won’t let them live either.” Immediately, quite a few Ji nsmen egan to bellow with rage.


    This caused Dong Ziqi and his group of five to be slightly startled. Snowdragon Mountain was indeed mighty, but that was thanks to the main sect! The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain, by itself, was more powerful than the Ji n, true, but only to a certain point...after all, everyone only had ess to Zifu Disciple level fighters at most. If they really went all out, even if Snowdragon Mountain eradicated the Ji n, the losses to the Swallow Mountain branch would still be heavy.


    “Shut your mouths.” Ninefire turned and shouted mentally through his Ki, his voice reverberating within the ears of each member of the n.


    The nsmen all looked towards Ji Ninefire.


    .........


    “What are they discussing?” That muscr young man, Ju San, asked the other members of Snowdragon Mountain mentally.


    “These local bumpkins.” The gray-robed Muse sent back. “They are used to life in the tribes, where they would rather break than bend. If you force them too far, they’ll go all out...we gave them a bit too much pressure, and so they are beginning to fight back.”


    Dong Ziqi sent back confidently, “No need to worry. Ninefire is an old fellow who has lived for nearly four centuries. He is quite sly. He will remonstrate with and hold back those other nsmen.”


    .............


    The Ji nsmen were secretly speaking mentally to each other.


    “Snowdragon Mountain has gone too far, true.” Ninefire sent mentally. “But no matter how arrogant they behave, we have to endure it. Or are we really going to fight against them?”


    “But Patriarch, we can sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty. By then, we would have the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and we would even receive thirty percent of this elemental ore mine.” A muscr member of the Ji n sent mentally.


    “Fool!” Ninefire sent back. “To sign a transfer agreement with the Grand Xia Dynasty, we must first make a report, at which point an Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty woulde to inspect this elemental ore mine. Only at the very end would a transfer agreement be signed! This process takes time. During the course of such a long period of time, our Ji n would most likely suffer the risk of annihtion!”


    “For the sake of thirty percent of an elemental ore mine, cause the entire n to fall into the risk of annihtion?” Ninefire shouted. “Foolishness, utter foolishness! And even if we truly do seed in signing a transfer agreement, resulting in the Grand Xia Dynasty protecting our Ji n for a thousand years...what about after that thousand years? By then, Snowdragon Mountain woulde to take revenge on our Ji n, and our n would still end up doomed. That’s why I would rather give this entire elemental ore mine to Snowdragon Mountain.”


    “But...”


    “This is too infuriating.”


    “Too...”


    The hearts of every Ji nsman burned with rage.


    “No matter how angry and unwilling to ept it we might feel, for the sake of the Ji n, we have to endure it all.” Ninefire sighed mentally to them. “As long as the Ji n can continue to exist and prosper, so what if we have to suffer some mistreatment?”


    “If you have to me someone, then me us for not being strong enough. This clearly is a stroke of luck bestowed upon us by the heavens, but we are unable to ept and make use of this elemental ore mine.” Ninefire looked towards Ning. “Ji Ning, you are the most incredible talent which our Ji n has ever produced, since the founding of the n. If you continue developing, even bing a Wanxiang Adept is virtually guaranteed.”


    All of the nsmen looked towards Ning, their eyes filled with hope and longing.


    Right.


    The hopes of the Ji n’s future rise to prominence rested on him! These Xiantian lifeforms of the Central Prefecture previously had held some doubts regarding Ning’s power, as prior to this, they had only heard rumors about him...but now, they had personally witnessed Ning reveal some of his power. He had even broken through the technique of a powerful Zifu Disciple expert of Snowdragon Mountain. Ning was only sixteen years old! When they thought of Ning’s potential, all of them were excited.


    “However, no matter how great a genius someone is, once he’s dead, he’s no longer a genius.” Ninefire looked at Ning. “For the sake of our Ji n, you must survive and live a long life.”


    Ning nodded gently.


    He thought of a person...the fourth master of the Aquatic Manor. Rampart. The man who, despite the presence of so manypetitors, had sessfully be the personal disciple of Immortal Juhua. There was no need to say anything about his talent...but he had died as a Wanxiang Adept.


    “We members of the Ji n will firmly remember the insults we have borne today.” Ninefire looked at every member of the n. “We have to grow strong. After we grow strong, others will not dare to insult us, look down on us.”


    “Right.” The nsmen all nodded, and Ning nodded as well.


    .....


    Dong Ziqi and his group of five Zifu Disciples just watched to the side. Watched as the group of Ji nsmen all forcibly restrained and swallowed the anger. Seeing the looks on their faces, they couldn’t help but snicker. This was something they had seen too many times. In the past, when they had acted on orders from the main sect, those minor tribes and ns had all been forced to bend their waists and lower their heads in the face of Snowdragon Mountain.


    “Dong Ziqi.” Ninefire turned his head to look towards Ziqi and the others.


    “Finished chatting?” Ziqi looked at Ninefire. “But Ninefire, let me tell you clearly that no matter what, you must hand over the official writ for the City of Ten Thousand Swords! If you don’t hand it over, then the destruction of your Ji n will be impending!”


    The members of the Ji n were barely able to restrain their rage, which was now painted upon their faces.


    They ‘had’ to hand over the official writ?


    Wasn’t this the same as forcing their Ji n to give up their territory?


    Ninefire clenched his teeth, his face ugly to behold. One word at a time, he ground out, “My Ji n can give up the official writ and leave thisnd! Thisnd will all belong to Snowdragon Mountain.”


    “What.”


    Everyone was stunned. Ning stared at the Patriarch in shock as well.


    Ninefire continued to speak, grinding each word out. “But your Snowdragon Mountain must give our Ji n an official writ as well, to give our Ji n a ce to resist! We’ll use the official writ for our City of Ten Thousand Swords in exchange for another official writ of argemandery city of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Our Ji n is willing to leave our homnd and depart.”