What are you doing?

The wind howled, whistling through the trees and rustling leaves. In the dark, distant mountains and forests, it sounded like a woman was laughing and crying.

This was no longer the Ning Family Manor in the old mountains, but a crucial path at the foot of Manfeng Mountain.

The bonfire still burned, but its red flames emanated a strange blackness, as if the fire itself had been dyed black by the moonlight.

Ning Xuan stood up. The Beast Slaying Saber in his hand, nearly ten feet long, lifted slightly, revealing the tent behind him.

Where his eldest brother should have been resting, there was no one.

He sheathed his saber, lowered his gaze, and strolled through the surroundings.

To no one's surprise, everyone had vanished.

The black moon hung high in the sky, and dawn was approaching. This was a nightmare, a nightmare akin to an endless hell, a nightmare where failing to refine the scroll meant instant death and utter annihilation of the soul.

He casually placed a finger on his brow, summoning his killing intent.

Instantly, a line of information appeared:

[One of Nine]

Ning Xuan blinked.

[One of Nine] meant that this time, he only had nine reincarnations, one less than last time.

What could have caused this?

Soon, he dismissed the question from his mind. For him, there was no answer, and any speculation was a waste of time, a futile delusion.

He silently recited again: "Summon, Heavenly Demon Scroll."

There was no response.

The "Mountain Crashing Bear" Heavenly Demon Scroll did not appear, as if it had vanished into thin air.

He wasn't surprised by this.

He had already sensed it when he attempted to summon the scroll.

He could only summon one scroll at a time.

The process of refining a scroll was essentially stripping the Heavenly Demon's power and transferring it to oneself, which was a form of summoning in itself.

Therefore, within the nightmare world, he could not summon any additional scrolls.

However, it didn't matter.

Compared to his first time entering the nightmare, Ning Xuan was much more composed.

He began to quickly and skillfully search for any usable items or treasures.

After all, last time, the Heavy Rain Pear Blossom Needles and the rapid-fire crossbow had been of great help.

Soon, he had gathered more items than last time, but there were no treasures used by Daoists, nor his elder brother's Celestial Master Seal.

Still, it wasn't surprising. The "Celestial Master Seal," despite its name, was likely not a physical object but a power condensed from within oneself.

Quickly, Ning Xuan laid out everything with some potency, excluding the soldier's crossbow, shield, and spear.

One, Four Generations Together.

This was a uniquely designed throwing dart, composed of a great-grandparent dart, several grandparent darts, parent darts, and grandchild needles.

When thrown, this dart would explode upon impact with any target, splitting into many secondary darts. These secondary darts would then split again, and the parent darts would split into a dense swarm of grandchild needles.

If a shield-wielding person faced this dart, the first impact would be on the shield. The second impact would unleash more darts that would bypass the shield and hit the shielded warrior behind it.

If this dart entered a human body, it would instantly explode within, releasing a multitude of even more hidden weapons.

Ning Xuan had heard his Master Zhang mention "Four Generations Together." Master Zhang seemed deeply impressed, even fearful, of the dart's viciousness, so he had spoken of it at length, allowing Ning Xuan to recognize it.

Ning Xuan believed that if he encountered this dart, he could certainly evade it with his speed and reflexes, preventing the opponent from hitting him. But if he were hit by this dart inside a cage, he would likely be in grave danger. This was because the Swallow's Cry Qi he had comprehended was merely a form of energy, not the "body-protecting aura" found in novels that traversed space and time.

Even if he relied on his physique to withstand it, as long as some of the exploding darts hit his eyes, nose, or ears, it would be enough to severely injure him.

"Four Generations Together" was a level above the "Heavy Rain Pear Blossom Needles" in terms of its complexity and projectile power.

If Ning Xuan had possessed "Four Generations Together" when facing the Mountain Crashing Bear Yao, he could have simply tried to shoot the dart into the bear's eye, and perhaps he could have directly seized at least thirty percent of its power.

Two, Many Children and Grandchildren.

This was a large black box.

Ning Xuan hadn't heard about this item from Master Zhang, but rather from the Young Master Liu of the Wealthy Merchant Guild during a banquet.

Young Master Liu had boasted, "My strength is like Many Children and Grandchildren."

Ning Xuan had curiously asked, "What do you mean, 'like Many Children and Grandchildren' strong?"

Liu Shirong then told him that in the Western Regions, a peculiar, wicked, and lewd individual had created a terrifying mechanical hidden weapon. Once deployed, it would cause heaven and earth to collapse, unleashing a continuous barrage of various hidden weapons, capable of annihilating an entire town, leaving no survivors except the wielder. Even hiding indoors was useless, as these hidden weapons included armor-piercing arrows with immense force, capable of directly penetrating walls.

Ning Xuan curiously asked, "This clearly leads to no descendants, why call it Many Children and Grandchildren?"

Liu Shirong replied, "Because he was a lewd person, he gave it that name, meaning to unleash so many at once. Understand?"

Ning Xuan was speechless.

However, he had truly found this "Many Children and Grandchildren" today.

He weighed it.

Good heavens, this chest must weigh over two hundred pounds. Carrying it on his back was like carrying a pig.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Although there were other things left, like poisons, they were not worth mentioning compared to the first two.

Ning Xuan slung the "Many Children and Grandchildren" onto his back, placed the "Four Generations Together" in his arms, and then took out the poison to meticulously coat the Beast Slaying Saber.

Then, he took a deep breath and began to measure the area of this nightmare.

He did not rely on past experience.

Last time, in the Manor, the nightmare area was just the size of the Manor. Passing through it would return him to the starting point.

This time, he would not so readily assume the same.

At the very least, he had to try.

Soon, he had explored an area the size of a Manor.

He continued to explore.

One mile.

Two miles.

Three miles.

It still didn't end. He still hadn't crossed the "boundary."

Just as Ning Xuan was about to explore further, he suddenly noticed that dawn had broken. This dawn was much earlier than the last time in the Manor, much, much earlier.

The black moon disappeared, and a pale, scorching sun exploded with light on the horizon, casting a pale white light like a fireball.

In an instant, the dark, oppressive forest and mountains turned a deathly white.

Ning Xuan's body tensed immediately, and his fingers tightened around the Beast Slaying Saber.

He stood in an open space, scanning his surroundings vigilantly, preparing for a great battle.

He was no longer the same as he was at the beginning; he would not timidly hide in the rockery anymore.

Suddenly, he felt something watching him.

He quickly scanned his surroundings.

Nothing!

Then, a thunderous roar came from above him.

"Little one, are you looking for me?"

Ning Xuan didn't even look. He directly activated the mechanism of "Many Children and Grandchildren," and countless arrows began to shoot upwards and outwards with a whizzing and thudding sound.

Only then did he tilt his head back, his gaze quickly following the sound.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!!

Endless impacts rang out, and then fell back down.

Above him was a Bodhisattva, hunched over and looking down at him.

The Bodhisattva was ten zhang tall!

Its entire body glowed, its Buddha head had spiral curls like blue lotuses, its face was like a full moon, a white curl between its brows, and its lips held a greedy smile, saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth.

The mechanism of "Many Children and Grandchildren" shot towards the Bodhisattva, but it couldn't harm it in the slightest. It was like a torrential downpour that couldn't even wet clothes.

The arrows scattered in all directions upon impact with the Bodhisattva's glowing body, sinking deep into the earth. Even hard giant rocks were deeply pierced, showing the immense power of these projectiles.

Ning Xuan did not hesitate and flung "Four Generations Together" out.

The vicious flying darts instantly struck the Bodhisattva's golden body, bounced off, split into father darts, then bounced again, splitting into son darts, followed by an endless stream of fine needles. They were like countless bouncing spiders.

The golden-bodied Bodhisattva remained unmoved, looking down at him with great interest, and then asked in a voice that was neither smiling nor frowning, "What are you doing?"

Its large hand slowly descended from the sky.

Ning Xuan suddenly understood.

Manfeng Mountain was preparing for a banquet.

And he had just run headfirst into the host of the feast.

Ning Xuan's heart pounded like never before.

However, he still took a deep breath. It was time to see what he was made of.

He drew his poisoned Beast Slaying Saber, looked at the hand that was gradually filling his vision, and roared, startling the swallows, his saber light ferocious.

Die!!

The moment he collided with the Bodhisattva's great hand, Ning Xuan felt excruciating pain throughout his body, as if an ordinary person had slammed headfirst into a solid pillar, instantly knocking him unconscious.

The great hand casually picked him up, pinching him between two fingers. It shook him, dislodging the Beast Slaying Saber from his grip and various poisons, then slowly lifted him higher.

The Bodhisattva opened its great maw.

Snap.

The fingers loosened.

He fell downwards.

He was jolted awake by intense pain.

He felt tiny, sharp teeth gnawing at his body, bite by bite, small nibbles.

He opened his eyes, only to discover he couldn't see anything.

His eyes burned with pain.

That thing had eaten his eyeballs first!!

"So bitter."

"So bitter, hahahaha!"

"Hahahahahahaha!!"

Addendum: I'm currently traveling with my family, but mostly they're out having fun while I stay in the hotel. I'll be heading to the train station soon and won't arrive until evening.

The second update today will likely be quite late because even after I get to the hotel, I'll need to rest and recover before I can slowly start writing.

My apologies, my apologies!