Chapter 1814 - 161: Aftershock, the Heavenly King’s Astonishment!

At this moment, he felt the immense disparity between them.

A gap larger than a chasm or abyss.

This gap was so vast that it evoked waves of helplessness in his heart.

He felt that no matter how hard he chased, he could never catch up to that person’s shadow.

...

In the valley.

Yellow Heaven Taoist stood rooted, unmoving for a long time.

His gaze was fixed on the direction where Jiang Ning had disappeared, his expression calm, yet in those eyes flickered a complex light.

He did not turn around, but he already knew his disciples had returned to the valley.

The sound of footsteps softly echoed, and five figures respectfully stopped several feet behind him, none daring to interrupt.

A few breaths later.

Yellow Heaven Taoist exhaled lightly, his face revealing a deeply complex smile with admiration, fear, and appreciation.

"This child truly exceeded my expectations!!" His tone was filled with deep emotion.

Then, he turned around to look at the five Heavenly Kings behind him:

"You five, what do you think of the results of the earlier exchange?"

The five exchanged glances, bewildered, not knowing how to respond.

Finally, that young man cupped his hands, saying, "Disciple is ignorant, but from the exchange between Master and that King Luoshui, disciple could only sense the force of the primordial spirit collision, unable to judge superiority. However, that King Luoshui was able to retreat unscathed and leave such words! Disciple believes he was not at a disadvantage."

Yellow Heaven Taoist, upon hearing this, nodded gently:

"Correct."

As the words fell, the five were shocked like a storm surging in their hearts.

Their Sect Hierarch acknowledged it!

They knew exactly what this meant!

It meant that in that exchange they couldn’t comprehend, the young King Luoshui fought the Sect Hierarch to a draw!

Perhaps... it might not have been just a simple draw!!

"Master..." the young man couldn’t help but ask, "What level of power does that King Luoshui possess? Can he truly stand shoulder to shoulder with Master?"

Yellow Heaven Taoist was silent for a moment.

He slowly raised his head, gazing into the distant sky where Jiang Ning had vanished, his eyes profound and far-reaching: "His power... I cannot see through it."

Hearing this sentence, the five were once more shaken.

"Cannot see through"—these three words had not been heard from their Sect Hierarch in a long, long time.

At this moment, Yellow Heaven Taoist continued:

"In the primordial spirit collision earlier, his and my primordial spirit power were nearly evenly matched. His primordial spirit’s refinement, purity, vastness, and grandeur were no less than mine. If he takes another step forward, he might reach for a higher realm!"

"Moreover..." he paused, a deep emotion in his voice, "In the territory of this place, under the canopy of this grand array, he dared to strike at me without hesitation, without probing, directly, and boldly!"

"What does this indicate?"

He looked at the five, pausing for a moment, then continued, "It indicates he has ample confidence."

"He has confidence that even if I activate this array to its fullest, even if all hidden means in this valley are triggered, he could handle it with composure and retreat unscathed."

"Someone who dares to go all out in someone else’s domain is either insanely arrogant or possesses enough backing and cards."

"And clearly, he is the latter."

"To reach where he is now, how could he be a fool?"

"Though he has grown swiftly, the path to here could not have been without difficulty."

"The dangers along the way are endless!"

"Not a fool, then there’s only one possibility, he doesn’t fear me!"

At this point, Yellow Heaven Taoist took a deep breath, suppressing the surge in his heart, then spoke the last sentence.

"In this world, there are very few whom I cannot see through, and Jiang Ning of Luoshui not only makes me unable to see through him, but also makes me obscurely feel a deep fear!"

After that, he said no more.

At that moment, the five understood.

To make their Sect Hierarch feel fear was in itself an astounding evaluation of Jiang Ning.

...

In the valley, following Yellow Heaven Taoist’s words, a silence settled momentarily.

A long time elapsed before one of the Heavenly Kings spoke:

"Sect Hierarch, Jiang Ning has come today and subsequently retreated the great army of Five Mountains Prefecture’s Yellow Heaven Sect, shall we let go of Five Mountains Prefecture?"

Yellow Heaven Taoist’s gaze focused slightly: "I instructed Zhenyue and Fuhai not to rush the attack, to advance slowly, with intimidation as the primary focus. It is primarily to see under the new emperor, who in Great Xia would respond!"

"I never intended to conquer Five Mountains Prefecture; it was merely a probe."

"I just didn’t expect that the probe of Five Mountains Prefecture would invite such a figure."

"But the purpose was achieved, knowing the extraordinary nature of King Luoshui is enough!"

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly King who spoke previously asked again.

"Then Sect Hierarch, shall I send a message for Brother Zhenyue and Brother Fuhai to retreat?"

"Hmm!" Yellow Heaven Taoist nodded, indicating his approval.

...

On the other side.

Once Jiang Ning had completely left Xisha County, he transformed into a beam of rainbow light and landed on a mountain top.

Standing on the mountaintop, he gazed towards Xisha County, towards the direction where the battle had just taken place.

The brief exchange earlier was just probing.

It was a choice he made after careful consideration.

The moment he descended into the valley, he had already discerned the grand array covering the entire valley below.

Based on the surrounding terrain, he sensed that the valley’s topography and array pattern were based on the Innate Eight Trigrams, containing profound subtleties.

The array’s power had to be extremely strong.

From the subsequent conversation, from Yellow Heaven Taoist’s mouth, he verified his judgment.

Hence, when he struck, he only chose to wield the might of his primordial spirit.

He wanted to see, whether this Yellow Heaven Taoist had truly achieved the realm of a Primordial Spirit Immortal.

After all, standing at the peak of martial arts, besides himself, he hadn’t seen a second person.

Moreover, Yellow Heaven Taoist cultivated an extremely advanced method of concealment.

Even with his attainment of the Primordial Spirit Immortal realm, with that heightened perception, he could only detect the fluctuating and ceaseless aura within Yellow Heaven Taoist.

The subsequent probing proved the rumors true, that Yellow Heaven Taoist had indeed achieved the formidable state of a Primordial Spirit Immortal.

And the attainment of the Primordial Spirit Immortal realm greatly exceeded his expectations.

Its foundations were deep, and its accumulative capacity and depth were no less than his own.

The enduring collision of primordial spirits, Yellow Heaven Taoist was not at a disadvantage, matching him evenly.

From this point, he knew that this Yellow Heaven Taoist might have been the true second in the world before him.

Deeply hidden.

With such power, plus the grand array covering the entire valley, dispelled his thoughts of defeating Yellow Heaven Taoist.

In this valley, it was Yellow Heaven Taoist’s domain, the former second in the world, combined with the array, could he gauge how strong the power would be?

In that case, in his view, there was no need for risk.

Regardless of Yellow Heaven Taoist’s subsequent choices.

There would be no significant changes in the short term.

And his strength continued to grow rapidly, with hundreds of source points to digest on the panel.

Given time, he was confident he could possess far beyond his current power.

By then, dealing with these matters wouldn’t be too late.

After all, over the past half-year, even though Yellow Heaven Sect, taking Xisha County as the base for uprising, it acted as a righteous army, not harming the populace.

"Enough! I’ve thought too much!"

"The responsibility of the common people of the world is not on my shoulders!"

"I am not the ruler of Great Xia, why should I worry about the common people?"

"If in the future, my strength is sufficient, I can naturally help them live better."

"When impoverished, maintain integrity, when accomplished, help the world!"

"My current strength hasn’t reached that level!"

Thinking of these, Jiang Ning’s lips curled into a wry smile.

Then his figure flickered, instantly transforming into a black and white rainbow light, soaring into the sky, heading towards Five Mountains Prefecture, Sky City.

In just an instant, he disappeared into the horizon.

Leaving only a distinct trail of black and white rainbow light in the sky.