The Desolate Era

by S.H.A aifu

Fate had never been kind to Ji Ning. Wracked by illnesses and infirm his entire life on Earth, Ning knew early on that he would die as a teenager. What he didn’t know was that there really was such a thing as life after death, and that the universe was a far larger place than he thought. A lucky twist of fate (one of the few in Ning’s life) meant that Ning was reborn into a world o

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 22 – Heaven's Moat

According to what JiNing and the others had planned, the four 'protectors' would first make their attempts, followed by Skyfire Brightshore. Only then would the retainers Su Youji, World Goddess Skywolf, and Chaos Immortal Swallowback make their attempts.

"I'll go next. I'm still quite confident in my chances." Firesurge revealed a smile. Because he had a cold and forbidding aura to begin with, his smile looked rather sinister.

"Alright." Ning and Greatjoy nodded, then watched as Firesurge walked over towards the chains, then stepped onto them.

The gazes of Ji Ning, Greatjoy, Skyfire, the retainers, Daolord Owlbath, and the twelve other World-level cultivators were all focused on this youth dressed in deep blue robes as he advanced through the chains.

"The Prime Reaches. I have to enter them." A terrifying, baleful aura could be seen in Firesurge's eyes. "Nothing and no one will stop me."

Firesurge's path of cultivation had been a path filled with many setbacks and pitfalls. When he had been a weak mortal cultivator, he had lived in a world that had been controlled by ten mighty demonic sects! The demonic sects were filled with guile, treachery, and internecine murder. Every single powerful expert rose to power by trampling across the corpses of others… and Firesurge became the most powerful cultivator of this entire mortal world.

He had continued his path without remorse, eventually entering the greater primordial chaos and then being recruited into the Palace of Kindwater of the Twelve Palaces of Brightshore.

And now, he had been given the chance to join Ning and the others and adventure through the Genesis Lands of this Archaeus region in this alternate universe.

"I had to use every scrap of power I had, but was just barely able to claw my way into fourth place." Firesurge strode forwards as waves buffeted the area around him. "Solewind, Greatjoy, Darknorth… all three of them are somewhat stronger than me, to say nothing of the most dazzling figures of the Brightshore Kingdom, Bertulu and Eastcult!"

"I'm going to surpass them. I'm going to surpass all cultivators!"

Firesurge felt a certain degree of urgency in this regard. Prince Greatjoy was the strongest of the four, Solewind was the most unfathomable and mysterious, and Darknorth's sword-intent domain was incredibly tough to deal with. Even worse, Darknorth's offensive sword-arts had become so powerful that even Firesurge shivered when he saw them.

Why had the gap between him and his colleagues grown so large?

"Kill!"

"Break!"

Firesurge advanced through the thousand kilometer long primessence chains, crushing his way through all of the wraiths that tried to oppose him.

"How dominating."

"Incredible."

"He's plowing through them in an even more brutal manner than Solewind did."

Ning, Greatjoy, and the others all smiled as they praised him. As for Daolord Owlbath and the other twelve, they just stared intently.

Four hundred kilometers. Five hundred. Six hundred…

Firesurge had experienced numerous setbacks in life in order to reach his current level, and he thus possessed an incredible mind and heart. He was also very close to the others in combat power, and thus he was able to forcibly disperse the wraiths with his attacks.

"Eh?"

Just past the seven hundred kilometer mark, Firesurge suddenly slowed down dramatically. The smiles quickly disappeared from the faces of Ji Ning and Greatjoy.

"Not good!" Ning was rather worried.

The distant Waterlord Firesurge was now moving slower and slower. He was still wiping out the attacking wraiths, but Ning and the others could clearly tell that something was hampering his combat performance. It seemed as though he was struggling to maintain focus.

"AAARGH!" Waterlord Firesurge let out a frustrated yell, then turned and left. He retreated at high speeds, needing only a few seconds to escape the chains.

He had an ugly, savage look on his face, and his eyes were filled with rage and resentment.

"Brother Firesurge," Ning called out.

"Firesurge, if we fail the first time, we can try a second or a third time," Greatjoy said consolingly.

Firesurge took a deep breath, taking control of his emotions. He nodded towards Ning and the others.

In truth, Ning and Greatjoy understand why Firesurge was so unhappy right now. If you failed the first time, you would probably fail the next hundred times as well unless you made significant gains in power or in mental fortitude. Firesurge hadn't even been able to make it to the eight hundred kilometer mark! He had more than two hundred kilometers to go if he wished to make it to the Prime Reaches. His chances were extremely low.

"Be careful, the two of you. The primessence chains are extremely difficult to deal with," Firesurge said.

"I'm amazed at how nettlesome they are."

"Mm."

Ning and Greatjoy both felt a great sense of pressure. Firesurge was still the fourth strongest World-level cultivator of the Twelve Kingdoms of Brightshore, if one excluded Bertulu and Eastcult; he definitely was a monstrously talented man! For him to have failed meant the primessence chains were far more difficult to deal with than any of them had expected.

"Your performance was incredible, my young friend Firesurge." Daolord Owlbath was still eating and drinking in a leisurely fashion, and he grinned as he called out, "To be able to make it nearly eight hundred kilometers on the primessence chains is an absolutely incredible feat. Although all of the World-level cultivators here in the Genesis Lands are quite formidable, the vast majority are stymied at the five hundred kilometer mark."

Firesurge's failure worried not just Ning and Greatjoy, it worried Skyfire Brightshore even more. This prince of the Brightshore Kingdom was comparable to Firesurge in power, but as for his heart and his willpower? He was probably a bit inferior to even those three retainers. Even the invisible willpower trial which was applied to all entrants into the Genesis Lands had made him feel quite miserable.

"Darknorth, let me give it a try next." Greatjoy's eyes were filled with a terrifying desire to do battle. He walked straight towards the primessence chains then began to advance forwards. Ning and the others simply watched silently from behind.

Solewind had drifted through the chains like a calm, unflappable spring breeze.

Firesurge had fought his way through the chains while radiating a powerful aura of murder.

As for Greatjoy, he crushed his way through with absolute power as he advanced in a truly imposing fashion.

"These young fellows are all quite incredible." Daolord Owlbath blinked. "This Greatjoy guy has already made it past the eight hundred kilometer mark. Uh… and that's the nine hundred kilometer mark."

Prince Greatjoy was clearly performing better than Firesurge had as he cruised through the first nine hundred kilometers. However, at this point he gradually began to slow down as well, and a solemn look appeared on his face. His entire body began to radiate with golden light as he continued to advance in a stable manner.

Ning and the others began to grow nervous as they watched.

"Master." The armor-clad World Goddess Skywolf normally had a perpetually icy look on her fair features, but now a look of worry had appeared.

Although the wraiths were quite powerful, Prince Greatjoy still found it quite easy to deal with them. And yet… his movements were growing slower and slower.

Finally, at the nine hundred and twenty kilometer mark, he came to a halt. He stood there, easily deflecting the wraiths but unable to advance any further.

"Ugh." A soft sigh… then Prince Greatjoy also turned and left, not hesitating in the slightest.

Peerless geniuses like them knew when they had to go all-out and when they had to be cautious! If you tried to force yourself past your limits in a place like this, you would most likely fall into that abyss and be destroyed in body and truesoul alike.

Prince Greatjoy walked back with a slight frown on his forehead, as though he was lost in thought.

"Heh heh." Prince Greatjoy glanced at the cultivators in front of him, then began to chuckle . "When Solewind made it across, I figured the the primessence chains couldn't be that tough. Who would've thought that the next two would both fail, myself included?"

"Brother Greatjoy, you made it much farther than I did," Firesurge said.

"A failure is still just a failure." Prince Greatjoy shook his head, then looked at Ning. "Darknorth, these primessence chains are incredibly strange. You have to be careful not to let yourself be ensnared in those illusions. The reason why I didn't dare to advance any further was because I realized that I had already reached my limits. If I advanced any further, I would've been ensnared by those illusions and would've been completely unable to deal with the other dangers facing me."

Ning nodded.

Solewind was a Heartforce Cultivator and thus was the best-equipped to deal with this issue. That was why he had been able to cruise through with ease. Alas, Firesurge and Greatjoy had both failed despite being incredibly talented figures.

As for Daolord Owlbath and the other twelve World-level cultivators, they sighed with amazement. Although Greatjoy and Firesurge had both failed, they had both made it incredibly far.

"Firesurge and I will probably wander through the various places in the outer reaches of the Genesis Lands. We'll only come back here if we are able to grow significantly more powerful." Greatjoy looked at Ning. "Darknorth, I wouldn't mind having you by my side as we wander through the outer reaches."

"You might not mind, but I sure as hell would." Ning laughed. "I still want to wander the Prime Reaches alongside Solewind. The poor guy will be lonely if he has to go through that place by himself."

Laughing, Ning strode confidently towards the primessence chains.

"Be careful, Master." The Flamefairy Su Youji was quite worried. She knew her own limits and knew that she probably stood no chance of making it into the inner reaches, but she truly hoped that Ji Ning would.

The Prime Reaches was a place which even the Eternal Emperors of this universe wished to enter, and it was also the place which had completely transformed the master of the Church of Annihilation.

Rumble…

Ning advanced through the primessence chains as electric light and watery light surged out of his body. The seven types of Dao lightning and Dao water formed an awe-inspiring Yin-Yang Sword Domain around him which furiously repelled and slew all enemies in range of him. The attacking wraiths were all ground to dust before even getting close to him.

The way in which Ning was advancing through the chains was even more lofty and imposing than Solewind's. His Yin-Yang Sword Domain truly was the perfect weapon for dealing with group attacks!

"The Prime Reaches…" Ning stared forwards at the other end of the chains, where the inner reaches lay.

He had fought so hard for this chance, and in the end he had been able to make it into the Genesis Lands of this alternate universe. Was he going to fail now, at the very last moment?

There was a huge difference between the outer reaches and the inner reaches!

"Brother Solewind, just wait a moment for me," Ning called out, his eyes brimming with the intent to do battle. His Yin-Yang Sword Domain swirled around him as he continuously advanced through the long primessence chains.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 23 – The Inner Reaches

As soon as Ji Ning stepped onto the primessence chains, he could sense an invisible web of power wash over him. He felt as though a strange melody was playing nonstop within his sea of consciousness. Still, Ning was no ordinary World-level cultivator. He was able to easily ignore a disruptive influence on this level.

He walked forward through the chains, moving tremendously fast, and as he did the various ghosts began to flicker towards him from afar, throwing themselves at Ning. Alas, Ning's Yin-Yang Sword Domain stretched out to encompass an area of eight hundred kilometers. As soon as the wraiths charged into his domain, they were instantly ground into nothingness. Ning's Yin-Yang Sword Domain was capable of slaying even Daolords of the First Step, much less mere wraiths!

"Eh? The invisible power covering the primessence chains seems to be growing stronger and stronger." Ning continuously advanced towards the inner reaches, and the sound of the melody grew increasingly loud as well. The melody was constantly distracting him, despite his best efforts. It sang of a peerlessly beautiful maiden, of endless treasures, of the ineffable Hegemon, of the warmth of family, of the undying ardor of love, of the deep, warm-blooded feelings which friends and brothers shared with each other…

It was an absolute delight. It told him that if he truly fell into the song and allowed himself to be intoxicated by it, that he would have all of these things and more.

The alluring power of the song grew stronger and stronger.

"Eight hundred kilometers. Nine hundred kilometers! He's hit the nine hundred kilometer mark. Darknorth is way too strong." Daolord Owlbat stared wide-eyed in shock. "He's merely using a domain, but he's still able to crush all of those wraiths. He hasn't even used any actual techniques at all."

Su Youji and the others watched nervously as well.

"He hit the nine hundred mark?" Firesurge watched quietly. Of the four geniuses of the Twelve Palaces, both Ji Ning and Greatjoy had made it past the nine hundred kilometer mark. Firesurge, however, hadn't even made it to the eight hundred mark!

"Brother Darknorth's sword-intent domain truly is formidable." Prince Greatjoy smiled. "His domain alone is enough for him to defeat all of the attacking wraiths."

The Yin-Yang Sword Domain was a Supreme Dao, after all, and this one in particular was terrifyingly strong due to it having been formed by seven types of Dao lightning and Dao water. In terms of raw power, it was only slightly weaker than the killer attacks of Greatjoy and Solewind!

In addition, the wraiths focused on attacking en masse. The Yin-Yang Sword Domain was literally developed for the express purpose of defeating massed attackers! In addition, it had been easy for all four of them to deal with the wraiths; none of them had been forced to show their true power. All four of them were comparable to Daolords of the Second Step. Clearing, the trial of the primessence chains didn't place too heavy an emphasis on raw power; so long as you were comparable to a strong Daolord of the First Step, you'd be able to handle the wraiths.

"Nine hundred twenty. Nine hundred thirty. Nine hundred forty. Nine hundred fifty…" Su Youji counted softly to herself.

Everyone was watching with bated breath. Was yet another member of the group about to pass through the primessence chains?

Prince Greatjoy fell silent. He simply watched as Ning advanced farther than he did.

The invisible power covering the primessence chains weren't completely focused on Ji Ning in specific. It would be more accurate to say that the primessence chains were innately filled with a mysterious power which naturally emanated outwards, resulting in them affecting Ning.

The closer Ning moved to the inner reaches, the stronger the power released by the primessence chains became.

The melody grew more and more drifting and abstruse as it sought to seduce Ning into its flows. In fact, Ning could almost see a series of illusory worlds appear before him. If he stopped fighting back against them for just a single instant, he would instantly be drawn into those illusory worlds and lose himself within them.

Nine hundred eighty. Nine hundred ninety…

Ning continued to advance. Although the illusory melody was taking a firmer and firmer grip over his mind and soul, he still continued to steadfastly defend against its intrusions. He had just a single thought in his mind – he wanted to keep focused on his goal of making it to the end of the primessence chains.

"Ah?!"

"Is he really going to make it into the inner reaches?"

"So close. So close!"

Daolord Owlbath and the others stared in astonishment, as did Prince Greatjoy and Firesurge. As for Su Youji, she was the most nervous of them all as she stared unblinkingly at the domain-ensconced white-robed youth.

Finally…

Ning took one final step and broke past the bewildering force covering the primessence chains. The furious wraiths did their best to try to stop him, but they were completely unable to go through the Yin-Yang Sword Domain and touch Ning in the slightest.

"Whew." Ning couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when he took that final step and entered the inner reaches. He then dismissed his Yin-Yang Sword Domain.

"The Prime Reaches…" As soon as Ning stepped onto the other side, he could sense a surge of invisible power rush towards him from the ground. The surge of power warmed him, feeling almost like the embrace of a mother.

Ning was secretly speechless. Then again, the Prime Reaches was the most central location of the Genesis Lands. Even the prime essences of this universe were located here. Even the strangest of phenomena were to be expected of here.

"Congratulations, Darknorth." Heartlord Solewind had stepped backwards to avoid the Yin-Yang Sword Domain, but he now grinned as he advanced to move next to Ning.

"That was far too close for comfort. But, I made it." Ning smiled.

"It is incredible that you were able to make it this far, brother Darknorth. The primessence chains truly do have an incredibly strong mental alluring affect," Solewind sighed.

Ning nodded.

The effect was indeed quite strong. Still, Ning knew that he had one particular advantage over all three of the others! Greatjoy, Solewind, and Firesurge were fairly 'normal' World-level cultivators. In battle, they could instantly unleash a level of power comparable to that of Daolords of the Second Step, but it was all thanks to their secret arts, divine abilities, and insights into the Dao.

In the end, their power was built off of World-level divine power and Immortal energy.

Ning, however, was different!

He had the power of the azureflower mist energy, which was equivalent to Daolord-level energy. It had nourished his soul, making it comparable to the soul of a Daolord of the First Step! As a result, it was incredibliy difficult to shake Ning's soul and cause him to be trapped within an illusion. Ning's mental fortitude was actually merely on par with Prince Greatjoy's, but his soul was far stronger. As a result, he was naturally able to do what Greatjoy could not.

Skyfire Brightshore was a prince of the Brightshore Kingdom, a living being on the same level of power as the Ancient cultivators, Bertulu, or Waterwalker. They were amongst the most elite races of living creatures, giving them souls that were incredibly strong and essentially on par with Ning's azureflower-reinforced soul.

Kilostar was another example. He had trained in the [Thousand Bodies Sutra, and so his divine body was comparable to a Daolord's, as was his soul.

It was incredibly rare for a World-level cultivator to have a Daolord-level soul. Solewind was a Heartforce Cultivator, and so he had certain special techniques which could be used to strengthen the soul, but in the end he was still not nearly as strong in this regard as Ning and Bertulu were. As for Greatjoy and Firesurge, they were somewhat weaker in this regard as well.

"The only reason I made it through was because I have the azureflower mist energy sustaining and strengthening my soul. Heartlord Solewind, however, made it through with ease. He really lives up to his reputation as the one and only Heartlord of the Heartforce Palace," Ning mused to himself in praise.

Ning's gaze shifted towards the inner reaches. Previously, when he had been in the outer reaches, he could see that there was an enormous world here but was unable to make out any details at all. Now, however…

"Eh?" Ning frowned.

It was as scene of chaos and decay.

The ground was littered with enormous gouges, holes, and craters. Clearly, they had been left behind ancient powers who had battled against each other! These were marks that had been left behind by swords and sabers.

Far off in the distance, he saw a series of badly damaged mountain ranges… as well as a series of towering, massive corpses that emanated ripples of terrifying power.

"These corpses…?" Ning stared at them. Every single corpse emanated ripples of incredible power that were just as strong as the aura which Lord Woodflower had emanated.

"Are these all Eternal Emperors?" Ning mused. "It seems this place, the birthplace of the universe, is actually a battlefield. But why the hell are there so many Eternal Emperors here?"

Eternal Emperors were incredibly rare and few in number. Based on what Ning and the others had learned, this was true even here in this alternate universe. In the Endless Territories, the Brightshore Kingdom only had a few Eternal Emperors total! But here in the Prime Reaches, Ning was able to see at least twelve of this corpses which emanated auras of terrifying power. All of them had to be Eternal Emperor level corpses.

And these were only the ones he could see right now. Most likely, the Prime Reaches held far more corpses within it. No wonder so many Eternal Emperors of the Church of Annihilation had come here. No wonder the master of the Church of Annihilation had been able to skyrocket in power after entering this place.

"I, Ji Ning, am blessed to be able to be able to enter a place like this." Ning felt a great surge of joy swell in his heart. Those ten thousand years of arduous travel and those multiple scrapes with death… right now, Ning felt as though everything was worth it.

"Skyfire is starting as well," Solewind said.

Ning calmed himself down, turning to stare at the other end of the primessence chains.

Skyfire Brightshore had moved onto the primessence chains as well. Although his soul was comparable to Ning's in strength, his mental fortitude was incredibly weak. In the end, he simply hadn't experienced enough. Most likely, even an average World-level cultivator who had risen to power in the mortal world and experienced all of its trials and tribulations would have a far stronger mind and heart than he did.

In the end, Skyfire Brightshore was brought to a quick halt. He managed to move close to the five hundred kilometer mark, but in the end was forced to retreat. A look of disappointment was on his face. He hadn't even been able to make it to the five hundred kilometer mark! Even if he was able to somehow become much mentally tougher, he probably still would have very little chance of traversing these primessence chains.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 24 – Thirty-Five Corpses

"I have zero chance. I'm not even close to meeting the mark." Skyfire Brightshore left the primessence chains, then shook his head ruefully.

"Don't let yourself feel too depressed about this. At least the two of us will keep you company, right?" Prince Greatjoy laughed.

"Solewind is a Heartforce Cultivator, remember?" Firesurge sent him a mental message of consolation. "As for Darknorth, he joined the Twelve Palaces just a short while ago but quickly rose to become the second-ranked expert in our trials. His rate of improvement is absolutely ridiculous. It's not surprising that the two fo them were able to make it into the inner reaches."

Skyfire nodded. Moments later, Prince Greatjoy nodded as well. Although he was an incredibly proud man, he had to admit that Ji Ning's rate of improvement really was fast.

"If I fall one step behind, I'll always be behind." Firesurge frowned.

"Haha, let's not get depressed." Prince Greatjoy was in a fine mood. "In the end, lucky encounters and karmic blessings might be useful, but cultivation is ultimately up to yourself and your own efforts! They are in the inner reaches while we are in the outer reaches, but we won't necessarily fall behind them!"

"Right. In fact, we might actually overtake them." Firesurge nodded as well.

However, they all knew that they were just pumping themselves up and encouraging themselves. They all understood that the inner reaches had far more opportunities hidden within them than the outer reaches did, and both Solewind and Darknorth were just as talented as the three of them. There was no way they wouldn't improve even further!

Prince Greatjoy's retainer, 'World Goddess Skywolf', also gave the primessence chains a try. In the end, she was forced to come to a halt at around five hundred kilometers.

Flamefairy Su Youji actually managed to make it close to the six hundred kilometer mark. Clearly, she was quite skilled at defending against illusions, as that was her own path as well. Alas, in the end she simply hadn't reached a high enough level of skill in this Dao.

Solewind's retainer, Chaos Immortal Swallowback, actually managed to make it all the way to the nine hundred and ten kilometer mark! This badly shocked Ning and all the other spectators. Who would've thought that he would be able to make it this far?! This was almost as far as Prince Greatjoy himself had made it, and was a far stronger performance than Waterlord Firesurge's!

Of course, in an actual battle he was far from being a match for Prince Greatjoy, Firesurge, or Skyfire. In the field of resisting illusions, however, he was clearly a very strong contender.

"Solewind and Darknorth, the two of you can stay in the inner reaches. We'll wander the outer reaches. Don't end up weaker than us by the next time we meet!" Prince Greatjoy laughed from afar, his voice rippling through space and making it to the other side of the chains.

"We'll part ways here. The two of you better not disappoint me!" A stubborn, intense light gleamed in Firesurge's eyes.

As for Su Youji, she stared at Ji Ning from afar.

Chaos Immortal Swallowback did the same towards his own master, Heartlord Solewind.

The two parties separated, heading off in different directions.

Prince Greatjoy and the others depart, beginning their journey through the various mysterious regions of the outer reaches. There, they would search for their own karmic blessings and opportunities. As for Ning and Solewind, they began their true journey into the Prime Reaches.

"Incredible."

"Crazy strong."

"Where the hell did these World-level cultivators come from?" The twelve spectators and Daolord Owlbath were all utterly amazed. They had been wandering the outer reaches for many years now, and dreamed of being able to make it past the primessence chains. They knew exactly how hard it was for one to be able to actually overcome the chains… but just now, two of the eight World-level cultivators in that group, the ones named 'Solewind' and 'Darknorth', had actually succeeded. Two others had made it past the nine hundred kilometer mark!

"Absolutely amazing."

"Given how extraordinarily strong their hearts and souls are, they must be under the tutelage of a truly extraordinary power."

"No ordinary school could possibly hand over eight Archaeus medallions at once." They couldn't help but continue to chatter in amazement, having firmly engraved the names and faces of Ning and the others in their minds.

Ning and Solewind gave the primessence chains a final glance. Prince Greatjoy and the others had already flown away.

"Let's go," Solewind said." "Once we leave the Prime Reaches, we'll meet with them again."

"Right." Ning nodded. He had left a message-talisman with Su Youji. Once they left the inner reaches, he would be able to locate her with ease, thanks to his connection to that talisman. Most likely, Solewind had left behind something similar with his own retainer, Chaos Immortal Swallowback.

The world of the inner reaches was aw orld that was roughly a billion kilometers in size. This wasn't exactly small, but for cultivators of their power it wasn't exactly large either.

This place was filled with an aura of utterly immense power. All flight was impossible here, and it was impossible for one to scan the area using godsense or chaosense, much less engage in spatial teleportation! The only option was to rely on one's two feet. Thankfully, the two fo them were able to walk quite quickly, moving far faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos.

"This place is an ancient battlefield." As Ning and Solewind advanced through this world, they moved towards the peak of a mountain, then came to a halt and surveyed the entirety of the inner reaches.

As far as the eye could see, the earth was littered with trenches, gouges, canyons, crater, and rubble. This was a ruined, destroyed world. Look at that terrifying gorge over there, filled with an utterly terrifying sword-intent that was so strong that Ning could hardly breathe. The strength and intensity of that sword-intent was so great that it was definitely the most powerful sword-intent Ning had ever encountered.

Even the most powerful sword-strike of Emperor Mirrorsnow was significantly weaker compared to the sword-intent radiating from that great gorge.

Awe-inspiring sword-intent.

Bounding saber-intent.

Billowing plumes of watery light.

Chaotic fields of spacetime.

The entire world of the inner reaches was filled with the scars of battle. If you could recognize a a leopard's spots, you'd know you were looking at a leopard. Just by looking at the remaining scars, Ning was able to imagine how incredibly powerful the major powers who left the scars behind were.

"So many corpses… and almost all of them are 540,000 meters tall," Solewind said in amazement.

"From our position atop this mountain, I can see at least twenty-six corpses." Ning stared from afar as well. Due to the nearby mountains blocking off his vision as well as the tremendous power throbbing within this world, Ning wasn't able to bend light and see far beyond the surrounding mountains. In a 'normal' place, he would be able to see everything for countless kilometers around him, even if he was inside a completely sealed-off edifice.

Alas… this place was different.

"They look like cultivators, but all of their corpses are 540,000 meters tall. Some of them are even larger! Those are probably the special lifeforms," Ning said.

"All of them should be at the Eternal Emperor level," Solewind evaluated.

A divinity's height was one way to measure their power.

Ning and the others had reached the limits of power possible for World Gods, with a total of 36,000 godgems in their bodies. As for the Dao-tree within their Jindan chaos regions, the trees were 108,000 meters tall. Their true personal height was also roughly 108,000 meters tall! Many of the great powers were born as ordinary mortals who were merely a few meters tall, and thus they were accustomed to using those heights in their 'normal' form. As a result, in both the Endless Territories as well as this alternate universe, most people stayed at a 'normal' height of just a few meters.

Even the princes of the Brightshore Kingdom whose true bodies were the size of chaos stars would generally stay in a form where they were roughly on par with Ji Ning in size.

The absolute hard limit for World-level cultivators was 108,000 meters.

The absolute limit for Daolords was 540,000 meters.

Reaching this height meant that you had reached the Verge of the Daomerge. One you succeeded in your Daomerge, your divine body would remain 540,000 meters tall and be comprised of 540,000 godgems. The difference was… upon succeeding in the Daomerge, the 'Dao' within those godgems would gain true eternity, making your divine body both perfect and eternal as well.

Ning and Solewind continued to advance through the Prime Eaches, carefully analyzing everything.

The two of them quickly discovered two Daolords and three World-level cultivators in the inner reaches! The world was just a billion kilometers in size, after all. They were able to quickly scan through the entire place, and they discovered a total of thirty-five corpses of incredible antiquity. Each corpse emanated an aura of tremendous power that carried a scent of eternity.

"Thirty-five Eternal Emperors died here?" Solewind and Ning both felt breathless.

It must be understood that even the Brightshore Kingdom only had a few Eternal Emperors, and the number of Eternal Emperors belonging to the Aeonian Kingdom could be counted on one hand. In general, Eternal Emperors were incredibly rare.

Thirty-five Eternal Emperors… this was an incredible, terrifying figure. And yet, such a powerful force of cultivators had silently died in this place, leaving behind few traces of their passing.

"Eternal Emperors are truly eternal existences. If they die, they die because others killed them. But in normal battles, a fatal end should result in their divine bodies being destroyed. Their bodies are in perfect shape, and all of them seem quite peaceful. Some were standing, some were sitting… it seems as though they welcomed death peacefully." Solewind had a solemn look on his face as he sent, "I can't even imagine what level of power is needed to cause thirty-five Eternal Emperors to silently, peacefully pass away into death."

Ning nodded. This truly was a terrifying thought.

"This place gave birth to the entire universe, after all," Ning sent mentally. "There will always be secrets which we will never know the answers to. We are still too weak and know too little."

"Mm." Solewind nodded.

"We've gone through this entire world. It really is filled with many opportunities, but all of them were left behind by these thirty-five ancient powers. We haven't found the prime essences of this universe at all," Ning sent.

"We are too weak. We probably aren't able to find or locate them," Solewind sent. "Let us do the same as those two Daolords and World-level cultivators are doing. Let us search for the legacies left behind by those thirty-five major powers."

"Alright." Ning nodded.

The thirty-five ancient corpses had prepared for and welcomed death in a very calm manner, and they had left behind all of their treasures.

Those who were bound to them by destiny would gain access to those treasures.

Every single one of the deceased major powers was terrifyingly strong. Three of them were particularly terrifying, and the aura emanating from their corpses was so strong that Ning felt certain that they were comparable to that of the almighty Hegemon, who Ning had met in person.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 25 – Three Great Leaders

Both Ji Ning and Solewind kept a cautious watch as they advanced through the world of the inner reaches.

"Brother Darknorth, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Heartlord Solewind suddenly stared at one of the corpses in front of them, a corpse that was seated in the lotus position and emanating an aura of faint golden light. The awesome aura emanating from that corpse was boundlessly majestic, and it would forever be an aura of true eternity. A total of sixteen treasures had been placed before that corpse, and each of the sixteen radiated extraordinary power.

"Are you talking about how the corpses are divided up into three groups?" Ning asked.

"Right." Heartlord Solewind nodded. "The thirty-five corpses here seem to be divided up into three groups, each of which had a leader. This corpse before us, the one radiating golden light… it is one of the leaders. I have the feeling that he was a Heartforce Cultivator who gained eternity through that path."

Ning revealed a shocked look. "A Heartforce Cultivator? Are you sure about this?"

"I'm absolutely sure." Solewind's eyes were flickering with excitement as he stared at the glowing golden corpse.

Ning couldn't help but feel truly stunned, because Heartforce Cultivators truly were incredibly rare. The entire Heartforce Palace only had a few Daolords. For a Heartforce Cultivator to become an Eternal Emperor… Ning had never even heard of such a figure. And yet, seated right before him was the corpse of an Eternal Emperor who was aHeartforce Cultivator.

Rumble…

Ning and Solewind couldn't help but walk towards that seated corpse. Suddenly, a series of invisible ripples swept outwards and brushed past the two of them.

"Eh?" Ning suddenly sensed a powerful force push back at him, making it impossible for him to move forward by a single step.

"It seems as though there are no ties of destiny between this ancient power and myself." Ning smiled.

Solewind, however, suffered no impediments at all. He glanced at Ning. "Brother Darknorth, although there are thirty-five other corpses here, I've already decided that I'm going to choose this one and give it a try."

"If you've made up your mind… all I can say is, be careful." Ning nodded.

All thirty-five of these ancient powers had peacefully welcomed death, leaving behind all of their treasures and legacies.

If you wanted to acquire them, you would have to overcome the trials and challenges they had laid out! These trials were extremely dangerous, and some were even lethal. Daolord Owlbath had long ago warned them that many entered the inner reaches and then died there, never to return.

"He is one of the three leaders within the inner reaches, and the only Eternal Emperor who was also a Heartforce Cultivator." Heartlord Solewind stared at the towering, seated figure with a blazing look in his eyes. "No one in the Heartforce Palace has ever been able to become an Eternal Emperor through heartforce. Now that I've finally found someone who was able to do this… I'll risk everything I have. If I can learn some of the techniques this ancient power used, I might have a shot at gaining eternity in the future as well."

Ning nodded.

Heartforce Cultivators had the most difficult path of all! The Sword Palace, Spacetime Palace, and other palaces all had cultivators who were able to become Eternal Emperors. The Heartforce Palace was the only palace which had never produced a single one. In fact, the entire concept was unheard of.

And yet… here in the inner reaches of the Genesis Lands of this alternate universe, they had discovered the corpse of a deceased Heartforce Cultivator who had reached that level.

"I'm heading over there." Solewind looked at Ning. "Be careful."

"Mm." Ning nodded.

Heartlord Solewind began to move forwards once more. Whoosh! A rippling wave of spacetime swept past Solewind, causing him to completely disappear.

Ning stood there for a brief moment. Sensing that the powerful barrier in front of him was not going to disappear, he chose to turn and leave. He was still very weak in terms of heartforce; clearly, he didn't meet the minimum threshold this deceased figure had left behind for those who wished to acquire his treasures.

Ning advanced by himself through the inner reaches. The more he inspected those thirty-five corpses, the more he got the feeling that they did indeed belong to three different factions.

As for the three most powerful corpses, they had auras of incredible might that were absolutely on par with the almighty Hegemon's.

"The second leader." Ning stared at an enormous four-legged beast that had a pair of curved horns on its head. Its aura was filled with the intent of endless annihilation, and just looking at the beast made Ning's heart clench. Even in death, its eyes seemed cold, lofty, and proud. This was a creature who was unwilling to bow its head to anyone. Behind it were five Eternal Emperors that looked like its retainers.

"The third leader." After walking forwards for a long period of time, Ning raised his head and stared at the third leader. What he saw caused his eyes to light up. This third leader was a sword-wielder!

He saw a towering man standing there, both hands clenched around an enormous greatsword that was a deep blue color. The hilt of the sword was pressed against his chest while the tip leaned against ground. The man himself stood there like the pillar which could hold up an entire world! He had a distant gaze in his dead, peaceful eyes. Anyone who looked at him would get the feeling that he would probably be able to survive even the annihilation of the universe itself.

And yet… this grandmaster of the Dao of the Sword, a man who emanated an incredibly dense and heavy aura of sword-intent… had died here as well.

Behind him stood two other men. One was a white-robed man with a smile on his face who carried three swords on his back; a violet sword, a golden sword, and a white sword. He stood there, emanating an aura of ephemeral grace, and his invisible aura of sword-intent seemed similarly ephemeral.

The other man was dressed in azure armor and had a mask on his face, revealing only a pair of eyes that were filled with hatred. Behind him there were nine enormous blood-colored swords that had been plunged into the earth, and every single sword carried an incredibly powerful aura of murder.

"The greatsword-wielding leader was able to convince two other Eternal Emperors of the Dao of the Sword to stand behind him as they died. The three of them had to be incredibly close friends or family," Ning mused.

An absolutely overwhelming amount of power could be used to cause other major powers to serve you, much as how the Eternal Emperors of the Brightshore kingdom all served the almighty Hegemon. But when everyone knew that death was certain… continued servitude was no longer contingent on mere power alone.

If you knew you were going to die but still chose to stand behind someone, it most likely meant that you felt tremendous amounts of affection for that person.

"Eh?" Ning's gaze suddenly shifted to a nearby mountain range, located quite close to the three towering masters of the Dao of the Sword. The entire side of the mountain range had been completely carved flat, and the surface was filled with multiple paintings of that greatsword-wielding man. There were paintings of him in battle, paintings of him smiling, and even paintings of him drinking wine in a leisurely manner.

There were a total of nineteen of these paintings, and Ning could sense the deep emotions that had been infused into every stroke. There was an intense sense of longing and wistfulness in those paintings which hadn't lessened at all despite the passage of countless years. Clearly, the artist truly missed the greatsword-wielding expert very much.

"Who painted this?" Ning mused. "It seems as though the artist had an extremely close relationship to the deceased."

"Later, I'll definitely have to go take a closer look at him." Ning glanced at the greatsword-wielding expert.

It must be understood that the greatsword-wielding expert was one of the three dead leaders. When Ning looked at him, Ning could sense an aura that was not one whit inferior to that of the almighty Hegemon's! The two other Eternal Emperors stood directly behind the greatsword-wielder, and the trials the three had left behind were actually linked as well. If Ning moved just a little bit closer, he would be drawn into a danger-filled trial grounds.

Ning had tested things out already. When he moved closer to the corpses, he hadn't been pushed back by any invisible surges of power… but he knew that if moved any further in that direction, he would immediately be drawn into a world of trials.

"They really did leave behind quite a few treasures." Ning couldn't help but sigh.

For one, the greatsword which the leader was leaning on emanated an aura of incredible density and ponderance. Ning felt certain that this sword had to be a Universe treasure! The weapons which the two experts behind him were wielding were comparatively weaker, but they also had other treasures which had been placed next to their corpses.

As for the leader himself, there was a total of twelve treasures which had been placed in front of him.

Thirty-five corpses, three of which belonged to experts of the Dao of the Sword.

Still, Ning was in no rush. He continued his explorations, moving to investigate the other corpses. He even spent a bit of time inspecting the scars of battle, because he was already gaining some insights from what he had seen thus far.

Whooooosh.

The canyon wind howled through the mountains, carrying with it a mysterious, ancient aura.

"The wind." Ning stood there in the center of the canyon, eyes shut as he focused on everything around him.

The world here was distorted and shattered, and spacetime itself was in disarray. Ning had entered this world, which was nothing more than something created accidentally due to the battles between those major powers. It wasn't an actual trial-world, and so it wasn't that dangerous.

Ning strode through the distorted fields of spacetime, avoiding the most dangerous places as he continuously meditated on everything he saw.

"Is this the nature of spacetime?" Ning murmured softly.

Fire blazed throughout this area. There was the corpse of a major power seated in the lotus position, and everything around him for a million kilometers was bathed in endless flames.

This major power had died long ago, but his Dao was eternal. As a result, it continuously attracted and drew in flames from the surrounding world, causing the conflagration to burn perpetually.

Ning stepped into the flames.

The closer he moved towards that major power, the hotter the flames burned. As Ning walked through the flames, he could sense a hint of an eternal Dao of fire which whispered through the tendrils of fire. Ning was able to learn much as he carefully attuned himself to each flickering flame.

"Fire…" Ning murmured to himself.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 26 – Shadowless Sword-Intent

Time flowed on.

Ji Ning continued his journey through the world of the Prime Reaches, going through the various battlefields and scars that had been left upon the land.

While doing so, Ning came to realize that there were actually thirty-nine different types of scars! It must be understood that even Eternal Emperors who had gained eternity through the Dao of the Sword would all have followed different paths and interpreted their Daos in unique, special ways. Thus, there were differences in the 'Dao vestiges' they left behind through their attacks, making it fairly simple to differentiate the scars and markings into multiple 'types'.

"Thirty-nine? There are thirty-five deceased major powers, and they match up to thirty-five of the Dao vestiges left behind. But there are four types of scars which don't match up to anyone." Ning was rather amazed by this, as he had discovered something else as well. "The Daos of those three leaders are all awesome and overwhelming, filled with inconceivable force. But one of the four types of Dao vestiges can be found everywhere, even though it seems plain and unremarkable. I spent more than three hundred years inspecting this place before I realized how terrifying it is."

Most likely, that particular Dao vestige belonged to the Dao of Primordial Chaos. It seemed very ordinary, but when you truly delved deep into it you would realize that it had surpassed the level which those three leaders were at.

"In the battle that was fought, there was someone who was even more powerful than those three leaders." Ning was truly stunned. He could sense that those three leaders should have been on par with the almighty Hegemon himself; even if they were weaker, they wouldn't have been weaker by much. But this fourth figure… Ning had the feeling that he had actually surpassed the almighty Hegemon.

"There's always a mountain taller than the 'tallest' you've seen."

Ning shook his head. "But what in the world happened here, within the Genesis Lands of this universe?" Ning couldn't help but sigh. Moments later, his eyes lit up. "Still… as far as I'm concerned, this is an enormous present for me!"

Ning had spent quite a bit of his time and energy on attuning to the various different Dao vestiges that had been left behind, especially the strongest vestige of a Dao of Primordial Chaos. Every so often, he would nap at the top of a mountain. At other times, he would sit down in the lotus position next to a river, listening to its waters gurgle. He would walk through an icy land of snow, then occasionally drift within the waters of a lake… and just like that, 6913 years went past.

"There's a certain type of a sword in this world. It is unfathomable and inscrutable, traceless and untrackable. The moment it appears is the moment when the enemy shall perish."

Ning revealed a smile as he drew out Violetjewel, then struck out with it.

Whoosh.

Both Ning and his sword both completely vanished, becoming truly traceless and untrackable.

It wasn't a spatial teleportation. It wasn't a secret art of some sort. Just like that… Ning vanished.

Pop! Three thousand meters away, Ning suddenly reappeared as his sword chopped downwards towards a mental target.

"What type of a sword can truly be described as traceless and untrackable? An invisible sword, a sword you cannot see or sense at all. This type of sword is the most difficult sword to defend against." A smile was on Ning's face as he turned his gaze towards the corpses of the ancient powers that were off in the distance, then bowed deeply in gratitude and respect. "Thank you, seniors. I have finally developed the sword-intent of my 'Shadowless' stance."

[Brightmoon] sword-art, Shadowless stance.

In the past, when Ning used this stance, he would use various omnipresent Daos to greatly enhance the speed of his strikes. For example, if he was in a windy area he would borrow the power of the wind itself, while if he was in a sunny area he would borrow the power of light. He could even borrow the power of the spatial ripples which filled almost every place.

Because this was a technique which borrowed the power of various different Daos, Ning's Shadowless stance was truly ghostly and inscrutable, allowing it to fluctuate and speed up in odd ways, giving it tremendous power.

However… his stance had never been able to improve to reach the same level which his Yin-Yang sword-intent and his Blood Drop sword-intent were at.

Only after coming to the inner reaches and seeing all the Dao vestiges left behind by many Eternal Emperors, especially the vestiges related to the deceptively simple and yet overwhelmingly powerful Dao of Primordial Chaos, had Ning suddenly realized the truth.

"What does 'Shadowless' even mean? It isn't about borrowing from the power of all things around it; it means to truly become one with all things.

"There's no way a sword can truly 'vanish', but when it becomes one with all things around it will become completely indetectable to any enemies.

"When the weather is windy, it can transform into a gust of wind.

"When it is bright, it can transform into a streak of light.

"When it is in space, it can transform into a spatial ripple.

"Every single part of a universe, no matter where, is subject to the influence and power of the prime essences of that universe. If my sword can completely merge into those things, it'll naturally become truly shadowless and invisible." Ning finally realized what his true goal for his 'Shadowless' stance should be.

And so, after having spent 6913 years in the inner reaches meditating on the various different Dao vestiges, he was finally able to develop a completely new Shadowless stance.

Ning's body was as tough as a magic treasure. Just like his sword, it could also merge into all things. After both he and his sword did so, his attacks became even faster and even more ghostly than before.

"At present, I can just barely merge my sword into its surroundings. Although it cannot be seen, it can still be detected through godsense," Ning mused to himself. "As my skill in this stance improves, I'll be able to truly make it one with all things, making it so that not even godsense will be able to detect it. Only then will this stance be truly deadly."

The Dao was present in all places. One day, his Shadowless stance would also be in all places.

A sword which not even godsense could detect, a sword which you would only see when it suddenly plunged into your skull… how terrifying such a sword would be! But of course, actually reaching this level would be very difficult.

"If I can train this technique to the apex, it will become truly shadowless and formless, capable of appearing anywhere. Alas… I'm still far, far away from that stage." Ning knew how far he still had to go. In fact, he had actually witnessed someone else who had succeeded in this goal – the major power who wielded the Dao of Primordial Chaos. The primordial chaos encompassed all Daos. The reason why it had taken Ning so long to discover that this major power was even stronger than those three leaders was precisely because this power's Dao of Primordial Dao was nigh-invisible, having seamlessly integrated all the other Dao vestiges into it.

Only after carefully inspecting the inner reaches for many years did he come to this shocking realization!

As for that major power… he had infused all things into his Dao, making it almost indetectable by even godsense or heartforce. One could only discover it through other means.

Of the [Brightmoon] sword-art, Ning now had three complete sword-intents; the Blood Drop sword-intent, the Yin-Yang sword-intent, and the new Shadowless sword-intent.

Although the Shadowless sword-intent had a weakness in that it could be detectable through godsense, strictly speaking this wasn't really a weakness. How many Daolords could make themselves undetectable to godsense, after all? Because the Shadowless sword-intent could be merged into all things and all Daos, it was now even faster and even more inscrutable than before. This made it far more powerful, and it had been fundamentally transformed, allowing it to skyrocket to the same level as that of the Blood Drop sword-intent.

"Whew." As Ning walked through the world of the inner reaches, he'd occasionally disappear without a single sound, then reappear a few hundred thousand kilometers away.

This was how he 'walked'. He had incorporated his training in the Shadowless stance into his way of walking.

"If I didn't have the chance to meditate on the Dao vestiges left behind by so many Eternal Emperors, it would've taken me at least a hundred million years to master this stance," Ning mused. The other four of the five stances of [Brightmoon] required meditation and sudden epiphanies, while the Shadowless stance required Ning to broaden his horizons and gain many new experiences. Thanks to the many Dao vestiges left behind by the Eternal Emperors in this world, Ning managed to comprehend his enhanced stance far more quickly than before.

Every single Dao which Ning possessed would become a Supreme Dao. For instance, his attacking Daos included the Blood Drop sword-intent and the Shadowless sword-intent.

The Blood Drop sword-intent, at its peak, would allow Ning to annihilate all obstacles in his path. Space… time… nothing would be able to par his sword, which would reach incalculable levels of power.

The Shadowless sword-intent, at its peak, would make it so that the enemy would be completely incapable of locating Ning before dying.

"I've now developed three of the five true stances of [Brightmoon]. The Soleheart stance and the Heavenbreaker stance are left," Ning mused. The Soleheart stance would be a defensive Dao, whereas the Heavenbreaker stance would be another offensive Dao. Each of the stances would be fundamentally different from the three which had come before.

"Here I am." Ning continuously disappearing and reappeared as he advanced at high speeds. He was now moving even faster than his previous maximum speed.

This movement skill of his could be described as the 'Shadowless' evasion skill. Most likely, the large majority of Daolords would be unable to catch up to Ning in pure speed. This was why Supreme Daos were so terrifying! Each and every Supreme Dao was utterly unearthly in power. Even if you only came up with one of them, you would definitely become a truly terrifying Daolord in the future.

"The leaders?" Ning stood there, head upraised as he stared at the three sword-wielding figures off in the distance.

In front was the muscular man who was gripping that enormous deep blue greatsword. Behind him was the white-robed man who was carrying a violet sword, a golden sword, and a white sword on his back, and to the side of the white-robed man was the terrifying man who had plunged nine blood-colored swords into the ground before him.

These were the only three experts of the Dao of the Sword who were within the Inner Reaches.

"Three seniors." Ning bowed respectfully. He felt tremendous veneration towards these experts who had reached such heights in the Dao of the Sword.

Ning began to move forwards. Soon, he could sense a series of invisible ripples spread over his body. If he advanced any further, he would be swept away and taken to the trial grounds. Many dazzling geniuses and Daolords had perished within these trials.

"My opportunity is right before me. How can I possibly shrink back from it?" Ning didn't hesitate at all as he took one more step forwards.

Whoooosh.

He was completely enveloped by those invisible ripples. This time, Ning didn't use his Shadowless evasion-art. Instead, he truly disappeared into thin air, having been teleported into the trial-world which had been left behind by these three powers.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 27 – The Abyss of Fiends

At the same time as Ji Ning was entering the trial-world left behind by the three grandmasters of the Dao of the Sword, something else was happening in the outer reaches of the Genesis Lands.

This was region of complete darkness. Only a single source of light could be seen – a solitary figure who stood there, emanating an aura of golden light. This was Prince Greatjoy.

A series of ripples emanated outwards from him, causing spacetime to continuously fluctuate. Even though he had yet to strike, it was evident that the aura of power surrounding him was significantly greater than it had been in the past. He had reached a brand new level.

"True freedom and free will. From this day forth… I, Greatjoy, have truly reached the peak. I am no longer any weaker than Bertulu or Eastcult." Prince Greatjoy revealed a smile.

When he had journeyed with the others to the primessence chains, Ji Ning and Solewind had managed to pass while he had failed.

Prince Greatjoy was an incredibly proud figure. He accepted his loss with seemingly good grace, but in reality a seed of resentment had been buried deep within his heart that day. Now, he had finally managed to perfectly merge his offensive Dao and his defensive Dao together, resulting in him growing more powerful yet again.

Prior to this, only two members of the World-level cultivators of the Twelve Palaces of the Brightshore Kingdom had been able to reach this level – Bertulu and Eastcult. Now, Greatjoy had joined their ranks!

"The level I have reached is the true apex of power for any World-level cultivator." Prince Greatjoy nodded slowly. "Now, it no longer matters what mysteries or marvels the Prime Reaches contain. There is nothing that can result in me improving much more. However, I still want to pay a visit to that place. Perhaps I might acquire a few special treasures that will be of use to me once I become a Daolord in the future."

If he was back home in the Brightshore Kingdom, he probably would've made some simple preparations then immediately broke through to become a Daolord. However, if he did so here in the alternate universe, he would never be able to go back home again.

Prince Greatjoy had two Supreme Daos. He had now merged them together in a perfect fashion, resulting in him reaching the apex of power.

Heartlord Solewind continued to experience many life-and-death trials within the trial-world left behind by the Heartforce Cultivator leader.

As for Ji Ning? He had just entered the trial-world of those three grandmasters of the Dao of the Sword.

Ning could sense an invisible surge of power spread out and cover him, instantly warping him away.

"Eh?" When he could once again make out his surroundings, he was rather startled.

The area around him was filled with living creatures, as far as the eye could see. He could even make out a giant citadel off in the distance, a citadel that emanated an aura of utterly breathtaking power. Although it didn't affect Ning too much, normal World-level cultivators wouldn't be able to resist the aura at all.

"What's this?" Ning's gaze suddenly fell upon a seemingly-ordinary rock nearby.

This rock was a very ordinary one… but all of a sudden, a series of golden characters began to fly out from within it, as well as a map.

"The Abyss of Fiends has a thirty-six layered world. It was created as a trial ground by three grandmasters of the Dao of the Sword. The twelfth layer, the twenty-fourth layer, and the thirty-sixth layer all have exit tunnels. These are the only ways out, the only ways by which you can leave and return to the Genesis Lands.

"Remember this. Only the strong will win what they desire."

The golden words and the map levitated there in the air for a moment, then quickly disappeared.

Ning turned his gaze while sweeping out with his godsense to scan the area for a billion kilometers around him. The only building in this area was that towering citadel, and the citadel was filled with ten million cultivators, with the three strongest being a trio of World-level cultivators. Those three World-level cultivators were bold, heroic figures, but when they sensed Ning's godsense lock onto them they were horribly frightened.

What powerful godsense!

It must be understood that many years ago, when Ning had visited the Eastsmoke branch of the Bluegrace Sect, he had been able to use his godsense to simultaneously crush the godsenses of more than three hundred other World-level cultivators.

"The three grandmasters died countless years ago, but there are still so many living creatures here within the world they left behind to test their would-be heirs," Ning mused. The reason why he had scanned the area was because he could tell that the restrictive spells covering the citadel didn't seem to be all that powerful.

Whoosh. Ning took a step forward, then completely disappeared.

"Who did that godsense belong to?! It was ridiculously strong. This world is a trillion kilometers in size, but there aren't many with godsense on that level." A golden-robed elder was seated in the lotus position, a frown on his face.

Whoosh.

A white-robed youth suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the seat located next to him. The youth sat there calmly as he stared at the golden-robed expert.

"You…" The golden-robed elder was horrified as he stared at the white-robed youth. "Y-you…"

He was a World-level cultivator! He was someone who stood at the very peak of power within this world. And yet, this youth was powerful enough to appear next to him without him even noticing?

"I have a few questions," Ning said..

"Please ask them, senior." The golden-robed elder's heart was quivering in fear.

"I hope you will not try to lie to me. If you lie… you should be able to guess what will happen," Ning said.

The golden-robed elder hurriedly smiled. "Senior, if you wished to kil me you could probably do so with a flick of your fingers. This junior would never dare to deceive you or hide anything from you."

Ning nodded. "I ask you this – have you heard of the Abyss of Fiends?"

"The Abyss of Fiends? I have, of course I have." The golden-robed elder gave Ning a curious look. Logically speaking, every top-level expert in this world should know about the Abyss of Fiends.

Ning's gaze hardened.

The golden-robed elder said hurriedly, "This world of ours is a trillion kilometers in size, and powerful experts are as common as the clouds. Many experts have been born over the course of countless years, but the most powerful figures have always been the terrifying devils of the Abyss of Fiends. According to the stories, there are a total of thirty-six levels to the Abyss of Fiends. Countless devils live in that place, and some of them are so incredibly strong that they are honored with the tile of 'fiendlord'."

"Every single chaos cycle, a large number of devils will charge forth from the Abyss of Fiends under the guidance of a fiendlord and sweep through this world. When this happens, all of the experts within this world must join together if they wish to withstand the assault. But of course, sometimes we will fail. In any case, the devils will have to retreat back into the Abyss of Fiends after a brief period of time."

Ning frowned. "fiendlord?"

Know thy enemy and know thyself; only then would you be the victor in every battle. The reason why Ning had come to interrogate this local expert was because he wanted to learn more regarding this Abyss of Fiends. This was at trial-world established by three Eternal Emperors, after all, and one of them was on the same level of power as the almighty Hegemon himself. There was no such thing as being too cautious.

"According to the legends, the first twelve layers of the Abyss only hold a single fiendlord. Starting from the thirteenth level, each level shall have many fiendlords within them. The fiendlords are extremely powerful, and it is easy for them to kill us." The golden-robed elder sighed. "As for what the final twelve levels hold… that is a mystery to us all."

Ning nodded slowly, as if enlightened.

This world was merely a trillion kilometers in size. After some detailed questioning, Ning came to understand that the strongest experts here were merely are the World level. Those who reached the Daolord level would all vanish without a trace.

"The Abyss of Fiends?" Ning stood at the peak of a mountain, staring off into the distance towards the great black abyss, a circular hole in the earth that was a million kilometers in circumference. The abyss was so deep that there was no way one could see to its bottom. The only thing one could sense was that terrifyingly baleful aura emanating from it.

"So this is the trial which the grandmasters left behind?" Ning revealed a hint of a smile. These so-called 'trials' were actually processes of elimination. Major powers were all incredibly proud figures, and thus ordinary cultivators were not qualified to even attempt to peek at their treasures. It must be understood that any of the treasures left behind by Hegemon-level figures would assuredly be valuable beyond price.

"I wonder if I, Ji Ning, will be found worth by the three grandmasters." Ning transformed into as treak of sword-light, then flew out while using a hint of the Blood Drop sword-intent. The streak of sword-light instantly charged into the Abyss of Fiends.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A black mist wafted outwards from this place, carrying strange spatial ripples with it.

"Eh?" Ning soon arrived at the first level of the Abyss of Fiends. This first level was a world of volcanos, lava, and endless amounts of blazing light.

Ning swept out with his godsense but wasn't too worried. The first twelve levels only held a single fiendlord, after all. Even the local World-level cultivators would often come adventuring through the first level.

"This leve is roughly ten billion kilometers in size and constitutes a world unto itself. It has more than three hundred devils, each of which has the aura of an ordinary World-level cultivator." Ning's hands tightened around his sword, Violetjewel.

"Someone has come from the World Above!"

"He actually dares to intrude into our world, the Abyss of Fiends?!"

"Kill him!"

When Ning stretched out with his godsense it instantly attracted the attention of some of the nearby devils, causing them to charge towards Ning. These fiends all belonged to the same race, a race with grayish-black skin, veiny wings, and a pair of sharp claws that glimmered with metallic light. These devils were able to easily surpass the limits of the Heavenly Daos when flying, and the invisible aura of power surrounding them was quite great.

Ning swept the area with his gaze… and his gaze transformed into swords!

A series of sword-intents burst forth, transforming into an enormous Yin-Yang Sword Domain that was like a terrifying grindstone that easily ground away all of the attacking devils. The attacking devils were utterly terrified – this foe was actually able to kill them with just his sword-intent alone?!

Ning, however, was quite calm. These little devils weren't even worthy of him using his Dao lightning or Dao water. Using his intent alone to form the Yin-Yang Sword Domain resulted in a domain which had perhaps only 10%-20% of his full power, but it was enough to effortlessly wipe through these opponents.

Rumble…

The terrifying sword-intent washed out wantonly, easily annihilating all invading devils.

Ning continued to fly downwards, passing through the ground and another layer of black mist before arriving at the second level of the Abyss of Fiends.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 28 – Death Approaches

Ji Ning charged through one level after another, easily battling his way all the way down to the twelfth level. Thus far, he hadn't even needed to draw his sword; his Yin-Yang Sword Domain was enough to sweep through all obstacles.

"Level twelve."

Ning stood atop a hill and was staring off into the distance.

The twelfth level of the Abyss of Fiends was a world of dark-red earth and dark-red mountains. Even the rivers were dark-red in color. The only thing that was different was a pitch-black whirlpool that could be seen off in the distance. The whirlpool was enormous in size and emanated powerful spatial ripples.

"Is that a teleportation tunnel?" Ning recognized it right away. This was a spatial corridor that would allow the user to safely pass through it and leave this place. However… was he supposed to leave before he even encountered any fortunes or opportunities? Ning certainly wasn't willing to resign himself to such a thing!

Ning knew very well that someone making it to the twelfth level meant nothing to those three grandmasters of the sword. Forget about Ji Ning; even some of the local World-level cultivators were able to make it to this level! As Ning had travelled downwards, he had discovered quite a few magic treasures left behind by the locals who had challenged this place.

"This is the twelfth level. There should be a fiendlord here. Supposedly, large groups of fiendlords roam the deeper depths of the Abyss of Fiends, and every chaos cycle there will be a fiendlord who will lead the devils out of the Abyss to assault the world outside. However… since they are often defeated, I imagine that the so-called fiendlords aren't that powerful either." Ning revealed a smile. He really didn't hold these fiendlords in any regard. He spread out his godsense once more, using it to instantly encompass the entire twelfth level.

Once his godsense spread out, it immediately startled awake the devils on this level as well as an extremely powerful devil… the so-called fiendlord.

A short period of time passed, enough for a kettle of tea to be boiled.

Boom! Ning's sword stabbed through the dark-red skin of a gigantic devil. Previously, the devils all had grayish-black skins. This particular devil was much larger and had dark-red skin; it was a fiendlord!

"Graa… graa…" The fiendlord's throat had been pierced through, but it continued to make those strange yelping sounds as it swiped its sharp claws towards Ning, seeking to dismember him.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The divine sword in Ning's hands sliced out out in a series of bizarre arcs of sword-light, splitting the fiendlord with three strikes. However, the fiendlord's body then quickly reformed and healed and it let out a furious roar as it once more charged towards Ning. Every single punch and kick it unleashed was filled with incredible power that caused its own body to tremble. Clearly, it didn't have extremely fine, minute control over its power.

Ning, for example, was capable of easily crushing and annihilating the power contained within entire chaosworlds. He was completely surrounded by his sword-light, and none of the power was able to escape at all.

Slash! Sword-light flashed out, resulting in the fiendlord being bisected at the waist once more.

And so, just like that…

Ning first used his Yin-Yang Sword Domain, then his Blood Drop stance, then the Shadowless stance, then his other techniques to repeatedly dominate and clobber the fiendlord for nearly a full hour. Although this was a creature which was born for battle, it had been dominated so effortlessly and rurthlessly that after a full hour, it finally knew fear and chose to flee.

It wasn't too hard to kill a fiendlord, but to frighten it so much that it would flee for its life? This wasn't easy!

"Mm. This fiendlord's body is fairly tough, probably comparable to that of a Daolord of the Second Step." Ning nodded slightly. "However… it has an incredibly low level of insight into the Dao. Any random World-level cultivator would be far superior to him in this regard."

After testing out the fiendlord several times, Ning realized that although a single fiendlord would pose no threat to other monstrously talented World-level cultivators like Prince Greatjoy, in sufficient numbers they would still be dangerous. This was because they had bodies comparable to Daolords of the Second Step, which meant their attack power was dangerously high. Their weakness lay in the fact that their attacks were a bit clumsy and easy to dodge, but with enough attacks they could bury you in a storm of strikes which would be very difficult to deal with.

Still, since Ning had his Yin-Yang Sword Domain as well as seven types of Dao lightning and Dao water, it would be much easier for him to deal with massed fiendlords.

"Time to go." Bathed in sword-light, Ning began to fly downwards.

Boom!

He easily traversed the ground beneath him, passing through yet another world-membrane and reaching the thirteenth level of the Abyss of Fiends. This was a blood-red world which emanated an endless stench of blood and an alluring aura which sought to guide the hearts of any cultivators here in descending into madness.

Ning's godsense quickly spread out to cover this world. This world only had eight living creatures, all of which were fiendlords.

"GWAAAR!"

"Kill!"

"Kill him!"

The eight fiendlords were all located in separate regions of this world, but they all now flew straight towards Ning. In his previous battle against a single fiendlord, Ning had thoroughly dominated it for nearly a full hour before it chose to flee. This was a testament to how ferocious and savage these creatures truly were.

"How weak." Ning held them in no regard at all, easily defeating one of the nearest fiendlords as he flew down towards the fourteenth level.

He continued to fly down one level at a time. His Yin-Yang Sword Domain ensured that these fiendlords were unable to pose any threat to him whatsoever.

Soon, Ning reached the nineteenth level.

Ning had thought that he would go through this level quite easily as well, but when he noticed that this level had an Eternal weapon within it, he immediately knew that things wouldn't be that easy.

"The first thirteen levels held quite a few treasures left behind by deceased cultivators, but those cultivators were probably all locals. At best, their weapons were mostly Dao weapons. From the fourteenth level to the eighteenth level, I saw no treasures at all." Ning had a solemn look on his face. "But the nineteenth level actually has an Eternal weapon."

There was no way these locals could possibly forge an Eternal weapon.

Ning scanned the level warily with his godsense. This level merely had nineteen of this fiendlords. It didn't seem to be all that different from the seventeenth level.

WHOOOSH!

Suddenly, an aura of power burst forth from deep within the ground, so powerful as to cause even Ning to be slightly shaken.

He saw the ground split apart, far off in the distance, as a figure suddenly sprang out. This figure was dressed in azure armor and had a mask on, with only his cold eyes being visible behind them. On his back, he was carrying a total of nine blood-colored swords.

"You…" Ning's face turned pale.

He had seen those three grandmasters of the sword in the outside world. The strongest had been comparable to the almighty Hegemon, the towering man who had been wielding that deep-blue greatsword. The other two had been his friends or retainers, and one of them looked exactly identical to the man who had just appeared, except the 'original' version had plunged those nine blood-colored swords into the ground.

"If you can slay me, you will win the nine treasures which Master left behind. Those nine swords accompanied Master for countless years and possess such extraordinary power that they are incredibly close to Universe treasures in power. Even if you do not wish to use them and choose to sell them off… every single sword will fetch you at least fifty million cubes of chaos nectar. If you sell them off as a set, they will be of incalculable value," the azure-armored figure said coldly.

Those nine swords were indeed incredibly valuable… but Ning didn't feel the slightest bit of avarice at all. The entire time, he stared unblinkingly at the azure-armored figure in an incredibly serious manner.

Although the figure spoke of his 'Master', the terrifying aura of the sword-intent residing within his body was absolutely identical to that of the deceased grandmaster outside! Their auras were auras of murder and slaughter, but exalted to a level that surpassed Ning's current level by unfathomable amounts. In fact… Ning felt certain that this was what the sword-intent of a true Eternal Emperor would feel like!

"I'm just at the World level. To be able to beat the fiendlords is one thing, but this guy seems to have a terrifyingly high level of insight into the Dao." Ning had already manifested his [Three Heads, Six Arms, and he gripped his six Eternal swords as he waited solemnly.

"Do not be afraid. These nine swords on my back are not the actual swords which Master used; they are nothing more than nine Dao weapons which Master casually forged before his death." The azure-armored figure walked towards Ning, every step echoing with his killing intent. His every movement felt like the crash of armies and chariots, filled with murder and such despair that even Ning felt breathless.

Ning understood how deadly this would be. Anyone capable of passing the primessence chains and entering the Prime Reaches would be a genius amongst geniuses… but judging from the nineteen Eternal weapons and various storage treasures, more than one person had perished here! And no wonder… this opponent was absolutely terrifying.

"If you slay me, you'll earn those nine swords which Master used," the azure-armored figure urged.

Ning's eyes grew colder and colder. When he had arrived in this world, he had seen that those nine blood-colored swords had been plunged deep into the ground. No one was able to take those swords away! In other words… there had never been any World-level cultivator capable of killing this azure-armored figure!

Rumble…

Ning's eyes were like ice. Ignoring all else, he instantly unleashed his dazzling Dao lightning and Dao water, transforming them into enormous swords that furiously swept out, instantly turning a region of ten thousand kilometers around him into a terrifying, desolate wasteland of the Dao of the Sword.

As for the azure-armored figures, he didn't seem to see or hear any of this at all as he continued to walk towards Ning's direction, towards that wasteland filled with nothing but swords.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 29 – A Fortune

"My Yin-Yang Sword Domain is one of my best killing techniques. Let's see how it does first." Ji Ning wanted to use his domain to test his opponent out first.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The azure-armored figure suddenly manifested a total of nine arms that reached out and drew those nine blood-colored swords. The nine swords suddenly began to vibrate slightly, in doing so somehow coming together to naturally form a layer of strange sword-light which served as a rippling barrier around him. He slowly strode forwards, delving deeper and deeper into the area of effect of Ning's domain.

The sword-light barrier formed by those nine swords were able to easily pierce through Ning's Yin-Yang Sword Domain, almost as if they were fish moving through water.

"W-what…" Ning was in control of the domain, but he felt as though his opponent was as slippery as an eel, making it impossible for him to land a true attack against him.

"He isn't all that strong; most likely, he's not even at the World level of power. The problem is that he has a ridiculously high level of insight." Ning was able to clearly make out every movement the opponent made, but Ning truly found it difficult to understand how those nine swords resonated together to form a rippling barrier of sword-light.

This was a Sword Dao of the Eternal Emperor level. It must be understood that in the Brightshore Kingdom, the Sword Palace didn't have a single living Eternal Emperor!

"What should I do? How should I deal with him?" Ning was growing rather nervous.

He could sense his opponent wasn't all that strong, which was what he had expected; if his opponent had the insights of an Eternal Emperor and the strength of a Daolord, there was no way Ning would be able to stand a chance against him! And yet… while Ning was as fast and as stronger as a Daolord of the First Step, he still felt as though he was completely unable to land any blows against this weaker opponent.

This was the most frustrating part of battling someone who had a higher level of insight than yourself. You might be strong, but you'd have no way of making use of that strength. As for your opponent, he would be able to make his attacks a thousand times more effective than they had any right to be.

"Your Sword Dao domain is actually able to slow me down a bit." The azure-armored figure continued to advance calmly as he spoke. "It isn't bad, actually. However… if this is all you have, you aren't even close to being qualified to win Master's treasures. Better for you to die instead."

He clearly could've advanced quite quickly, but he instead chose to advance at a steady gait.

"Eh?" A flash of light went off inside Ning's head as he stared at the rippling barrier of sword-light… but a moment later, the insight vanished.

They were ten thousand kilometers apart. Although the azure-armored figure walked rather slowly, he reached Ning in just ten short seconds.

"Kill!"

The killing intent in his eyes exploded as all nine of his blood-colored swords began to move.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

The nine swords struck out in a consecutive, orderly fashion, carrying a beautiful but strange rhythm. As the nine swords simultaneously struck out towards Ning, they suddenly transformed into a single enormous blood-colored greatsword. Clearly, the nine had joined together to become one, resulting in them becoming dramatically more powerful as well.

Clang!

Ning emptied his mind of all other thoughts as he used his six Violetjewels to executed the 'Soleheart' stance, transforming the six swords into six black holes which he used to defend against the attack.

Bang!

Ning's defenses were instantly splintered and destroyed by the clash. He was immediately blown backwards and sent flying, a deep gouge appearing in the earth. This gouge was tens of thousands of kilometers long and many dozens of meters deep.

Ning's face was rather ashen. Not even Greatjoy, Solewind, or any of the others would be able to crush him in such a manner.

"Unacceptable. I have to counter-attack! If I just let him hammer away at me, I'll definitely lose this battle." With a swoosh, Ning transformed into a streak of light and charged forwards, his Yin-Yang Sword Domain once more covering the area.

Faced with the Yin-Yang Sword Domain, the azure-armored figure once more used the nine blood-colored swords he was wielding to form a protective barrier of sword-light that easily protected him from the domain. He raised his head, giving Ning a cold look.

Ning's eyes actually lit up. "Although he's able to resist my domain, he's now moving much slower than before. I, however, am still moving at my normal speed." Ning immediately transformed into as treak of light that once more shot out towards the azure-armored figure.

Swish!

When Ning had charged to within just ninety meters of the azure-arored figure, he suddenly vanished without a trace. Even his sword had completely vanished.

[Brightmoon] sword-art, Shadowless stance!

Tchtchtchtch… streaks of sword-light appeared, hidden within the Yin-Yang Sword Domain and completely undetectable. They flew out as chops, slashes, and hacks as they struck out towards the azure-armored figure.

"Mm?" The azure-armored figure raised an eyebrow as the nine swords in his hands trembled slightly.

The protective barrier of sword-light surrounding him began to oscillate, whittling away at the power of Ning's strikes before completely dispersing them.

Whoosh.

While defending against Ning's attack, the azure-armored figure immediately launched an attack of his own as he once more struck out towards Ning.

"Time to run." Ning did his best to defend while retreating.

"Hahaha…" This time, he was able to retreat with ease. Ning revealed a look of delight. "If I seize the initiative to attack him, he'll have to focus his efforts on defending against me. When he switches to attacks, he'll be just a hair too slow and I'll be able to withdraw. I can't let a foe like this seize the initiative in a battle."

Ning began to attack furiously.

Shadowless sword-intent! It was incredibly ghostly and unpredictable, but the rippling layers of sword-light surrounding the man were still able to block all of Ning's attacks, even though they shook while doing so.

Blood Drop sword-intent! These attacks possessed incredible penetrative power, but it was a straightforward and above-boarod attack that the opponent could prepare for.

"Attack!"

"Dodge."

Ning clashed against this expert repeatedly. A chance to duel someone who had an Eternal Emperor level of insight in the Dao of the Sword was incredibly valuable

For some strange reason, Ning continued to feel as though a spark of inspiration was floating deep within his mind… but alas, he remained unable to locate it no matter what he did. Now, the more he battled against the opponent, the more he felt as though he was vaguely touching upon it.

"Are these all the techniques you have?" The azure-armored man suddenly said.

Ning was slightly startled.

"How boring. You haven't even been able to truly merge your offensive Dao into your defensive Dao." The azure-armored figure let out a sigh.

Whoosh! He finally made his move.

This was the first time the azure-armored figure's speed suddenly and dramatically increased. The nine blood-colored swords surrounding him transformed into a curtain of sword-light, and the man himself transformed into an enormous sword. If he previously moved through Ning's domain like a fish moving through water, he was now like a sword that simply smashed through the domain with terrifying speed. He pounced at Ning, moving far faster than Ning himself could. There was no way Ning could dodge at all. Only now did he realize that his opponent hadn't used anything close to his real power earlier.

"Chop!" The azure-armored man and his nine swords, in the form of an enormous greatsword, sliced downwards through the air and chopped directly towards Ning.

Ning had no other choices; all he could do was do his best to block the attack.

Bang!

The world seemed to break apart.

Ning was completely blown backwards. His six Eternal weapons were completely unable to defend against this attack, and all of his stances collapsed at first contact. In fact, two of his Violetjewels were actually knocked out of his grip and sent flying.

Rumble…

The ground beneath him shuddered as everything within a region of several hundred thousand kilometers was reduced to dust by the shockwave ripples.

Ning lay there in the giant crater, his fingers twitching numbly. He had been able to just barely keep a hold over four of his Eternal weapons. The other two had been knocked flying.

"Receive my second chop!" The azure-armored figure said coldly.

But Ning actually had a look of delight on his face… because he had finally realized what that elusive flash of inspiration was. "The sword… in the end, you can't hold up a house on a single pillar of wood. It needs to be part of a whole…"

"Haha… so that's how it is! I'm most skilled in defense, but my Soleheart stance has been trapped in a bottleneck for some time now. I've come up with two offensive Supreme Daos, but I haven't been able to truly upgrade my Soleheart stance. Haha…" Ning laughed. His talent for defensive techniques was extremely high, and so he had reached a bottleneck a long time ago during his journeys through the alternate universe.

His offensive techniques had improved nonstop, to the point where he had developed two Supreme Daos for them. And yet, his Soleheart stance had come to a screeching halt.

When Ning first saw his opponent utilize that barrier of sword-light, he had the vague feeling that he had stumbled into a tremendous stroke of luck. Alas, he wasn't able to truly grasp what he was seeing. As the battle progressed, Ning finally was able to do so.

"A single chopstick can be easily snapped in half. An entire bundle of chopsticks is almost impossible to chop." Ning couldn't help but laugh at himself. Sometimes, this was how things worked. Once you were able to see through to the true nature of things, you couldn't help but marvel at how simple the principle was.

The reason why Ning's Soleheart stance wasn't truly able to evolve into a Supreme Dao was because his Soleheart stance was a single-target defensive technique. Ning would use each of his swords to defend, and was able to use a maximum of six swords in this manner at the six time. Each of the six swords worked independently. Of course there was a limit to how much power they could unleash! True, they were cooperating to a certain extent and in the past, Ning had thought that they were working 'as one', but now he realized he was wrong. When he saw his opponent use that defensive sword-art, he realized what it truly meant to be working 'as one'!

He had to do the same thing, to truly fuse everything together. His opponent's nine blood-colored swords were able to easily merge together to form that barrier of sword-light. When his opponent chose to attack, they were able to easily merge together into an enormous greatsword.

That was what 'working as one' truly meant!

"Soleheart stance."

Ning's hand swept out, causing the two Eternal swords that had been knocked out of his hands to come flying back to him at high speed.

The six Eternal swords moved simultaneously, each of them exerting the Soleheart stance and beginning to link together. Slowly, the six Eternal swords began to transform and harmonize little by little. Ning had personally watched his opponent use a similar technique and had clashed against him multiple times, allowing Ning to learn some of the key elements. To truly merge the stances together wasn't as simple as to have all six swords use the exact same stance. Rather, they had to be responsible for different parts of it.

This was much like how a 'complete' man would have a nose, a mouth, two eyes, and other body parts.

Ning furiously pulled backwards, doing his best to stay away from his opponent as he tested this new idea out.

BOOM! Ning's six swords suddenly transformed into a single black hole that completely surrounded Ning, and at the edges of the black hole there was something that looked like a rippling barrier.

"This is the true Soleheart stance. This is finally something worth of being described as a Supreme Dao of defense." Ning revealed a smile. His Yin-Yang Sword Domain was superb at dealing with groups of attackers, but the Soleheart stance was much better for dealing with a single foe of tremendous power!

Ning had finally comprehended and mastered his Soleheart sword-intent, the fourth sword-intent of his five stances of [Brightmoon]!

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 30 – Stop Him!

"Chop!" The azure-armored youth transformed into an enormous streak of sword-light, forcibly shattering a path through Ji Ning's Yin-Yang Sword Domain. Ning couldn't help but feel a sense of despair when he gazed upon the sword-light. This was what happened when there was a tremendous disparity in insight and comprehension. The sword-intent of an Eternal Emperor… this really was completely unfair.

Although Ning was mentally shaken, he was still able to stay calm and alert as he unleashed his six swords into the Soleheart sword-intent he had just developed.

Whooooooosh.

It was like a peacock spreading its feathers, or like leaves swirling in the wind. The six swords moved in unison like a perfect whole, naturally coming together to form a terrifying black hole, with each of the swords playing a specific role in the black hole's creation.

Boom!

The azure-armored figure's terrifying sword-light chopped directly against that black hole. Tchtchtch!!! Ning poured all of his power, comparable to that of a Daolord of the First Step, into his new Soleheart sword-intent, allowing it to unleash a simply terrifying level of force that furiously ground away at his opponent's stance.

BANG!

His opponent's sword-light began to shudder and twist as it immediately began to fall in power, causing the azure-armored figure to become visible once more. At this moment, the azure-armored figure didn't hesitate at all, immediately choosing to retreat at high speeds.

The figure stood there in the distance, staring at Ning with some surprise.

"I succeeded. This… this is the true Soleheart stance." Ning's heart was filled with joy. This was the true Soleheart stance he had wanted all along. Six swords striking out in unison, as if they were a part of a single, indivisible whole. If he fought anyone on the same level of power as him, he would be able to completely shut down their attacks.

Even those who were stronger than him and who had a higher level of insight into the Dao would see their attacks dramatically weakened by this defensive technique.

"Hmph." The distant azure-armored figure let out a cold snort. "Don't get too smug. You were only able to block me once thus far. Now… take a look at my third chop!"

Although the azure-armored figure was quite physically weak, his sword-arts were at a terrifyingly high level. Ning had to use all of his power to deal with every single strike, and as a result he was able to increasingly perfect his Soleheart stance.

The two battled for the amount of time needed to boil a kettle of tea, but the azure-armored figure was still unable to do anything to Ning.

"Hey kid. Tell me your name." The distant azure-armored figure suddenly spoke out in an icy voice.

"I am Darknorth." Ning smiled as he spoke. He was naturally in a wonderful mood, now that he had developed a new sword-intent.

"Darknorth? Mm. You've reached the apex of perfection when it comes to defensive prowess," the azure-armored figure said. "When you have that sword-intent domain active and spread out, I have to first endure its power if I wish to attack you. This distracts me, resulting in me only being able to unleash 60%-70% of my full power."

Ning laughed.

His Yin-Yang Sword Domain was highly suited for dealing with group attacks! However, if Ning was dealing with just a single opponent, it would also be highly effective in entrapping and slowing that opponent down, making it so that the opponent's power lessened! The azure-armored figure needed to constantly ward off the domain via his sword-arts, and so in battle he was completely unable to unleash his full, peak power.

"And your close-combat defensive skills are also quite formidable. When you combine the two… even I am not able to defeat you." The azure-armored figure nodded. "I can't kill you. You may leave now."

"Leave?" Ning was startled.

The azure-armored figure glanced sideways at Ning, his cold eyes the only thing visible behind that mask he wore. 'I can't stop you, which means you can proceed to the next level."

"Then what about the nine swords which your master left behind, senior?" Ning couldn't help but ask this question. These were the swords left behind by an Eternal Emperor! Ning had witnessed for himself the terrible power which each sword contained; there was no way any ordinary Eternal weapon could possibly be a match for them. Moreover, when used together they would probably gain certain other special powers as well.

"You actually plan on taking my master's nine swords?" The azure-armored figure smirked.

"I certainly wouldn't decline them if you were willing to give them to me," Ning said with a laugh.

"As I said, if you kill me you will win the nine swords which Master left behind." The azure-armored figure continued coldly, "Although I can't kill you, you can't kill me either. This naturally means you are not worthy of acquiring Master's nine swords."

After speaking, the azure-armored figure dove into the ground, disappearing without a trace.

"That was fast." Ning couldn't help but laugh. "Was it really necessary for him to run away that fast? It's not like I'm able to take those swords away from him by force."

The azure-armored figure had truly been quite terrifying. His attacks were much stronger than Ning's, and he was significantly faster as well. Thankfully, Ning had the Yin-Yang Sword Domain and his Soleheart stance, two exceedingly strong defensive techniques, which he was able to use to ward off this tough foe. This was the reason why Ning had survived this trial.

"Time to go." Ning drilled the ground as well, passing through it to the next, deeper level and the abyss-world it contained.

Ning continued to go downwards through the levels of the Abyss of Fiends. The next few levels were quite simple, as he only had to deal with a few fiendlords. And so, just like that, he made it to the twenty-fourth level.

On the twenty-fourth level, he saw a prominently placed blood-colored estate. Before the estate stood the azure-armored figure, and there was an entire group of fiendlords which surrounded the estate, all of whom appeared to revere the azure-armored figure greatly.

"Greetings again, senior." Ning flew over then bowed towards the azure-armored figure.

"Mm." The azure-armored figure nodded, then pointed to an enormous vortex off in the distance. "That over there is the exit tunnel. You can pass through it to reach the outside world. For you to have made it to the twenty-fourth level is already quite impressive. If you choose to leave now, you'll earn one of my master's treasures as well as one of his sword-art legacies."

"A treasure?" Ning asked, "Is it one of the swords?"

"It is not." The azure-armored figure glanced sideways at Ning. "Those nine swords were my master's most important treasures, and they will be given to his true successor. You? I suppose you could just barely qualify as an honorary disciple. I'll give you one of the various random treasures which Master had on him."

Ning asked, "Senior, isn't it true that the Abyss of Fiends has a total of thirty-six levels? I'm only at the twenty-fourth level."

"What, you want to keep going downwards?" The azure-armored figure smiled coldly. "The lower levels are far more dangerous. Be satisfied with one of my master's treasures and a sword-art legacy."

Ning shook his head. He had experienced many hardships in order to travel to this alternate universe, including ten thousand years of wandering before even reaching the Genesi Lands! Was he supposed to just leave after merely becoming an honorary disciple of an Eternal Emperor? Ning would have agreed if the man had been willing to give him those nine swords, as a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush, but for one of the random treasures the Eternal Emperor had been carrying?

Ning had acquired an enormous amount of darkspace flamestones. He really didn't care about other treasures. In addition, Emperor Mirrorsnow had given Ning four incredibly valuable golems! The 'random' treasures of this deceased Eternal Emperor probably wouldn't be worth that much.

"I choose to continue," Ning said. "I'll head downwards now, senior."

Whoosh. Ning transformed into a streak of light and disappeared without a trace. His Shadowless evasion skill allowed him to easily pass downwards to the next level.

"This kid…" The azure-armored figure frowned as he watched Ning drill downwards. "He's too self-confident. He insists on going down a path of no return, and I can't even stop him."

Swoosh. The azure-armored figure immediately disappeared as well, moving far faster than Ning had.

The thirty-first level of the Abyss of Fiends.

This place was a place of incredible beauty, filled with singing birds and fragrant flowers. There were no devils here.

A white-robed man was seated at the peak of a towering mountain, a triad of gold-hilted, white-hilted, and violet-hilted swords on his back. He sat there in the lotus position, gazing upon this vast, beautiful world.

"Second brother." A voice rang out. Moments later, the azure-armored figure appeared out of nowhere.

"Third brother. Long time no see." The white-robed man smiled. "Why have you suddenly come to visit me?"

"I met this kid. He really is quite talented in the Dao of the Sword, and I did exactly as Master instructed. I held nothing back, but I still wasn't able to kill him." The azure-armored figure shook his head. "I had a good opinion of him. I felt the kid had a lot of potential, and was good enough to become one of my master's honorary disciples."

"Not even you could kill him?" The white-robed man revealed a smile. "Not bad! It is rare for us to encounter such a talented figure."

"But he insists on going deeper," the azure-armored man said impatiently. "He obviously doesn't care about becoming my master's honorary disciple!"

"I bet he'd listen to you if you were willing to give him those nine swords," the white-robed man teased.

The azure-armored figure said angrily, "All Master really had were those nine swords. I absolutely won't give them to anyone until I find the perfect successor for him. This kid isn't bad, but he's not even close to being the ideal candidate I've been hoping for."

The white-robed man shook his head. "Well, if he insists on going downwards… what am I supposed to do?"

"Stop him, second brother. Stop him and make him go back," the azure-armored figure said immediately. "The thirty-sixth level was left behind by the Hegemon personally, just before he died. You know how terrifyingly dangerous it is! Over the course of countless years, there have been a number of self-confident geniuses who refused to listen to me and insisted on going all the way down… and all of them died there."

When the white-robed man thought of the thirty-sixth level, he couldn't help but frown.

Their Hegemon had personally created that place. It was the most mysterious and most terrifying place in the entire Abyss.

Their Hegemon was such an incredibly strong figure that even their masters, those two Eternal Emperors of the Dao of the Sword, were willing to serve as his retainers.

"Ugh. I'll do my best to stop him, but if I fail… there'll be nothing else I can do," the white-robed man said.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 31 – Void Sword Realm

Ji Ning quickly fought his way to the thirty-first floor of the Abyss of Fiends.

"Eh?" Thus far, the Abyss had been a place filled with baleful auras and negative energy. Ning couldn't help but feel somewhat flabbergasted upon suddenly encountering a level that was filled with flowers and birds, a level which was almost like an otherworldly paradise.

Whoosh.

A white-robed man drifted towards Ning from afar, bearing three swords on his back; one violet-hilted, one gold-hilted, and one white-hilted. He emanated an ephemeral, drifting aura which was similar to that of the clouds in the sky.

A serious look immediately appeared on Ning's face. Him?

Three grandmasters of the Dao of the Sword had perished outside. The muscular man who wielded that deep blue greatsword was the leader, while the other two Eternal Emperors were his retainers. One was dressed in azure armor, while the other looked just like this white-robed man before Ning.

Appearance, bearing, sword-aura… everything was identical.

"Darknorth?" The white-robed man said.

"Greetings, senior." Ning bowed.

The white-robed man had a warm look in his eyes as he carefully scrutinized Ning, then smiled. "For you to be able to make it past my second brother means that you are probably quite strong. Unfortunately for you, I'm not my second brother."

As he spoke, he drew forth the violet sword and the golden sword from his back. As for the white sword, it automatically unsheathed itself and transformed into a streak of white light that floated next to him.

"Be careful, senior." Ning's body blurred as he manifested his [Three Heads, Six Arms, then drew his six Violetjewels.

Boom!

A fierce light flashed through Ning's eyes as his Dao lightning and Dao water immediately burst forth, roaring through the skies and covering an area of ten thousand kilometers around them. The white-robed man was standing fairly close to Ning and was naturally wrapped up within this as well. The lightning-water Yin-Yang Sword Domain possessed truly remarkable amounts of power, and it constantly launched attacks against that white-robed man.

The white-robed man just stood there, not moving at all. And yet, the blurry sword-light emanating from around his body was like a cloud or a mist that easily absorbed and repelled all oncoming attacks.

"Eh? Not good." Ning's heart sank. "The azure-armored man had needed to use those physical nine swords to form a barrier of sword-light to protect him from my domain, but this white-robed man… the light from his sword-intent alone is enough for him to easily defend against me. Clearly, his defensive prowess is far superior to the azure-armored man's."

Ning's guess was correct!

The azure-armored man's specialty lay in attack, in slaughter! Ning had two Supreme Daos of defense, the Yin-Yang Sword Domain and Soleheart sword-intent, and only by combining them was he able to withstand the onslaught. This was a testament to how ferocious the azure-armored man's attacks were.

By contrast, the white-robed man seemed much calmer and gentler.

"The Emperor Sword." The white-robed man instantly transformed into a streak of light as he chopped out towards Ning with the violet sword.

This was an ephemeral, unpredictable chop, but it was so fast that it caused Ning's heart to be gripped in ice. It was simply too fast. His opponent wasn't even as strong as an ordinary World God was, but his sword was simply incredibly fast.

Clang!

Ning hurriedly executed his Soleheart sword-intent, manifesting a black hole which had flickers of sword-light swiveling inside of it. He used this stance to defend against the opponent's chop. It was a good decision. The power contained within the black hole was simply too enormous, allowing it to block the opponent's lethal attack head-on.

"The Killsword." The white-robed man spoke out once more.

Whoosh. This time, he struck out with the golden sword which he wielded in his left hands. The sword carried an aura of incredible sharpness as it pierced straight towards Ning!

This stab was actually somewhat similar to Ning's own Blood Drop stance. However, it was a strike formed from the sword-intent of an Eternal Emperor. When the golden sword struck out, it carried an aura of such terrifying sharpness and destructive power that Ning couldn't help but shudder. However, Ning knew that although the sword-intent itself caused him to uncontrollably shake in fear, the person using it was so incredibly weak that he probably wasn't even at the World level in strength. This enormous disparity in physical power was enough to let Ning make a fight out of it.

Whoosh. He once more used the Soleheart stance to form that black hole. Sword-light once more swiveled and circled within that black hole, allowing him to once more forcibly block his opponent's terrifying attack.

"Your defensive techniques truly are incredible." The white-robed man shook his head and smiled. "As I expected… for you to be able to withstand my third brother means that my own attacks stand even less of a chance."

Although he was superior to his third brother in overall power, his third brother was still stronger in raw attack power.

"If you are able to defeat my third sword, I won't try to stop you," the white-robed man said. The violet sword and golden sword in his hands began to move at the same time… and as for the most important sword of all, that streak of white light that had been hovering around him? It instantly vanished without a trace.

Whoosh…

The violet sword and the golden sword emanated dazzling amounts of light, putting the sun in the skies to shame with their omnipresent radiance. It was like an enormous gauzy cloak of light had covered the entire world, completely covering Ji Ning within its perimeter.

"Break!" The Dao lightning and Dao water continued to rage around Ning, but himself disappeared without a trace as well. He had just used the Shadowless stance. When he next appeared, he was directly in front of that violet-golden gauze of light, and he furiously struck out with his six Violetjewels against the gauze.

Whoosh!

Six streaks of white light suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of the gauze, easily blocking Ning's attacks.

"Eh?" Ning felt as though he had just chopped down upon a cloud or a layer of mist. There was nothing for him to exert his power against.

"I refuse to believe it." Ning once more struck out with his Shadowless stance, launching another silent sneak-attack at another area. Alas, as soon as his attack was about to collide against the violet-golden canopy, streaks of white light once again appeared from the surface of the gauze. The white light was ethereal and ephemeral, giving Ning no way to exert his full force upon it, causing his attacks to fail repeatedly.

Ning was completely covered by that gauze canopy of violet-gold light, and the streaks of white light hidden within the canopy rendered Ning's attacks completely fruitless.

"Haha, well done, second brother! You were able to easily trap that young fellow." The azure-armored figure appeared off in the distance.

"If Master knew that I was using his most powerful killing technique, the Void Sword Realm to simply trap a foe… he'd probably be so insulted that he'd wipe me out." The white-robed man's figure appeared within the violet-golden canopy. When he used this technique, he completely merged himself into the canopy of light itself.

This was the Void Sword Realm, an extremely terrifying sword technique. It was definitely on par with Emperor Mirrorsnow's most powerful strike, the Heartseal stance. Alas, the white-robed figure was merely using it with Elder God level power, making it much weaker. It was just barely capable of trapping a genius like Ning, who was comparable to a Daolord of the Second Step! If an Eternal Emperor used this technique, the entire violet-gold canopy would become completely ethereal, and it would be simplicity itself to use this technique to cover an entire territory!

Swish.

Suddenly, an incomparably sharp streak of sword-light pierced out from within the violet-gold canopy.

"What?!" A hint of shock could be heard in the white-robed man's voice. "How could he be able to pierce through my Void Sword Realm?! Third brother, why does he have such a terrifyingly strong sword-art?" The white-robed man roared.

"Ah?! He does have an extremely strong sword-art that carries tremendous destructive, penetrative power," the azure-armored man said hurriedly. "Even I have to face that attack head-on in order to block it."

"Damn!" The white-robed man grew furious and frantic.

The Void Sword Realm created an ethereal world which was unmoved by raw power. It could completely absorb even the most savage of strikes! Although the Shadowless stance of Ning's [Brightmoon] sword-arts was rather strange, it simply wasn't strong enough to overcome the world's defenses. As for the Soleheart stance or the Yin-Yang Sword Domain, they were defensive techniques. But the Blood Drop stance… this was Ning's most penetrating attack of all.

Even if Ning did come up with a Heavenbreaker sword-intent in the future, his Blood Drop stance would still have the greatest penetrative power.

It was an attack which destroyed everything in its path, which pierced through all things which sought to bar its way!

The Void Sword Realm wasn't truly perfect and flawless. Perhaps only someone on the level of a Hegemon would be able to make it truly perfect… and its one weakness was to attacks that had tremendous penetrative power.

Whoosh!

After Ning discovered that his Blood Drop stance was the perfect counter to the violet-gold gauze before him, he struck out three times in a row. His stabs blasted a hole through the canopy before him, and he immediately transformed into a streak of light and flew out of that hole.

The enormous violet-gold canopy instantly disappeared, transforming back into that white-robed man. The three swords the man had been using all flew back into the sheaths he was carrying on his back.

The white-robed man stared at Ning, a complicated look in his gaze.

The Blood Drop stance truly was the perfect counter to the Void Sword Realm. But of course, at present Ning's Blood Drop stance was still rather raw and unpolished; the only reason it had succeeded was because the white-robed man's level of power was limited to the Elder God level. Still, if Ning ever reached the Eternal Emperor level and was able to upgrade his Blood Drop stance to that level as well, he would be able to use it to defeat the Void Sword Realm as used by the Eternal Emperor who had created it.

"There is a counter and a complement for every sword-art." The white-robed man sighed. "You were actually able to come up with a sword-art that perfectly countered mine. I truly don't know if this was a blessing or a curse for you."

"Darknorth." The distant azure-armored figure spoke out as well. "Both my second brother and I wish for you to stop here. You truly are quite talented. We really don't want to see you throwing your life away on the thirty-sixth floor."

"Throwing my life away?" Ning frowned.

The azure-armored man said, "Just listen to me. My sword-arts and my second brother's sword-arts all come from our respective masters. Although our masters were Eternal Emperors, they weren't at the Hegemon level. Master's sword-arts were never truly perfected, but the Hegemon's… his sword-arts were truly perfect and without flaw."

"You are skilled in defense, making it so that I can do nothing against you.

"Your sword-arts possess tremendous penetrative power, allowing you to defeat the Void Sword Realm.

"But if you were to go to the thirty-sixth level, you will realize that your sword-arts are all completely useless." The azure-armored man shook his head. "You'll die in despair! Over the course of countless ages, there have been quite a few monstrously talented World-level geniuses who were able to make it past myself and my second brother, but all of them died on the thirty-sixth floor."

Ning was stunned. What?! There had been multiple individuals who had made it past the azure-armored man and the white-robed man, only to die on the thirty-sixth level?

"I urge you to give up," the white-robed man said. "If you go back now, you can return to the exit tunnel on the twenty-fourth floor. I'll give you one of my own master's treasures as well! I'll also transmit my master's sword-arts legacy to you."

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 32 – The Thirty-Sixth Level of the Abyss of Fiends

The white-robed man also viewed Ji Ning with great favor. Although there had been other geniuses who had been able to make their way deep into the Abyss of Fiends, he could count on one hand the number of geniuses who had been able to force their way path both himself and his third brother.

Both he and his third brother wished for Ji Ning to become honorary disciples of their two masters.

"A treasure? And just 'honorary' disciple?" Ning asked.

"Yes." The white-robed man nodded. "According to master's instructions… he will accept one personal disciple and six honorary disciples. Although I like you, you aren't even close to meeting the standard necessary to become Master's personal disciple."

Ning felt rather disappointed. Still, he understood that because these three Eternal Emperors were already deceased, they would be extremely careful in selecting their legacy disciples. Emperor Mirrorsnow was still alive; even though he was taking on a total of ten personal disciples, every single disciple would only be given a set of four Daolord golems. These three Eternal Emperors, however, were giving all of their most important treasures to a single personal disciple.

"Can you at least tell me what the thirty-sixth level holds?" Ning asked.

"Our masters once followed and served our Hegemon," the azure-armored figure growled. "Do you know what the exalted title of 'Hegemon' means? It means that they are able to rule over all other things."

Ning nodded. Of course he knew. The Brightshore Kingdom had a Hegemon. His entire homeland of the Endless Territories only had three Hegemons in total!

"To inherit everything a Hegemon left behind… ahaha! I once encountered someone who was even more talented than you in the Dao of the Sword. He had perfectly merged his offenses and his defenses into a truly perfect whole." The azure-armored figure sighed. "I was willing to let him become my master's personal disciple, but he was too proud. He chose to go the thirty-sixth level instead."

Ning was stunned. Apparently, that genius of the Dao of the Sword was on the same level as Bertulu and Eastcult.

"But he still died on that level." The azure-armored figure shook his head.

"Give up." The white-robed man looked at Ning.

Ning stood there silently.

Should he give up? Even those more talented tham him had perished on the thirty-sixth level.

"A Hegemon's legacy lies there… the legacy of someone who was on the same level as the almighty Hegemon of the Brightshore Kingdom." Ning's eyes slowly began to blaze with resolve and a desire to fight. "Why have I left the Three Realms and braved the dangers of the Endless Territories? Why have I chosen to gon on so many deadly adventures? It is all for the sake of being able to bring her back to life! I dream of the day when the three of us… her, me, and Brightmoon… will once more be able to live together as a family."

Ning's deepest desire was to bring his entire family back again. It was this stubborn desire which kept him going, which made him strive so hard.

"To reverse the flows of spacetime and bring her back to life will be incredibly difficult. If I let myself be filled with fear, I probably won't be able to make it to the apex of power and won't be able to convince someone like the Hegemon to bring her back the life."

"What's more… even if I fail my attempt at the thirty-sixth level, I'll merely lose one of my clones. I can rebuild it eventually." All hesitation vanished from Ning's gaze.

He was going to charge straight down his path. No one would be able to stop him!

"Darknorth?" The white-robed man and the azure-armored figure both looked at Ning, awaiting his decision.

"Forgive me, seniors." Ning murmured softly, "I still wish to continue."

"What if you die? You won't regret it?" The white-robed man asked.

"No regrets," Ning replied. He then transformed into a streak of light and tore through the ground, diving through to the next level.

The azure-armored man and the white-robed man both let out long sighs as they watched Ning leave.

"I knew he would choose this path. Every single person who has developed their own Supreme Dao is filled with terrifyingly strong resolve," the white-robed man said.

In the end, fortuitous occurrences were external sources of power. When the strong rose to power, it was the stubborn will and resolve in their heart which drove them to continue forwards.

If you didn't have an almost insanely stubborn desire to accomplish a certain something, it was virtually impossible for you to be able to stand at the apex of power in this vast universe. Even if you were incredibly talented and had many tremendous strokes of luck, if you didn't have a terrifyingly amount of determination there was no way you'd be able to make it to the top.

An infatuation.

A desire.

A regret.

A longing.

All sorts of emotions could be transformed into a determined will.

"Ugh. He'll probably die on this path he has chosen. But if he doesn't die, he'll definitely become one of the most dazzlingly talented figures in this vast universe, someone who countless other cultivators will willingly submit to," the azure-armored figure said.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ning continued downwards through the various levels. These levels in the Abyss only contained fiendlords. In the end, Ning managed to make it all the way to the thirty-sixth level, the deepest level of the Abyss of Fiends.

Whoosh.

Ning stood there gracefully in midair, staring at this bottommost level of the Abyss of Fiends.

Gugugu…

This was a world of volcanos, and Ning was able to see three towering volcanos located in three different parts of this world. Each of the volcanos continuously belched out plumes of fire and lava which flowed out throughout this world. Due to the terrifying degree of heat, the bubbling lava would continue to bubble and hiss for a very long period of time before slowly solidifying into volcanic rock.

"Eh? Where's the exit tunnel? Why isn't there an exit tunnel on this level?" Ning was searching for the exit tunnel for this level, but was able to find nothing.

Suddenly, the earth began to tremble.

Ning immediately turned his gaze off into the distance. The vast earth, covered with flowing streams of lava, was shaking. Slowly, the earth began to split apart as an ancient, towering shrine began to gradually emerge from underground. The shrine was a deep blue color, and it was covered with strange diagrams. In front of the shrine stood a towering figure.

The towering figure stood there silently, hands clasped around a deep blue greatsword. He stared at Ning from afar, and his gaze alone made Ning feel as though an entire world was crashing down upon him. That stare alone made Ning feel as though this man was absolutely invincible.

"Him? His aura is absolutely identical to that Hegemon's aura." Ning remained very calm and composed.

"Another challenger has come?" The muscular man standing in front of the shrine glanced at Ning, his eyes extremely cold and calm. He said in a flat voice, "Kill him, children."

"Kill him, children." His deep voice boomed throughout every inch of this world, echoing again and again.

Ning was stunned upon hearing this. 'Children'? But it didn't seem as though the thirty-sixth level had any other living beings within it.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Three booming voices instantly burst forth from within the three towering volcanos.

Those massive volcanos actually began to move, and as they moved they quickly began to transform into similarly towering volcano titans! All three volcanos had transformed into three enormous volcano titans.

The three volcano titans had pitch-black forms, but Ning could sense the blazing, flaming power which filled their bodies. Their eyes were flowing pools of lava, and every single one of them seemed to possess the power of an enormous world. Just looking at them, Ning felt certain that they were far physically stronger than he was.

After the three volcano titans appeared, they first turned towards the distant, muscular, grim-faced man who stood in front of the shrine. All three went down to one knee.

The muscular man nodded.

"Kill!" Only then did the three volcano titans rise to their feet and charge towards Ning.

Their galloping paces caused the earth to tremble. They left enormous footsteps in the ground, and their glares made Ning feel rather startled.

"But so what if they are strong? From the looks of them, they are special lifeforms that were formed from or out of volcanos," Ning mused. "They are probably much weaker than me in terms of insights into the Dao."

Ning manifested three heads and six arms, then drew his six Eternal swords.

Rumble…

The seven streams of Dao water and Dao lightning all surged forth, filling an area of ten thousand kilometers with sword-light formed from lightning and water.

Boom! The volcano titan closest to Ning charged into Ning's Yin-Yang Sword Domain. Although sword-light repeatedly hacked down upon his volcanic form, the attacks were only able to leave behind a few white marks on its rocky skin. It barely paused at all, not slowed in the slightest as it continued to charge forwards with heavy steps.

Ning wanted to see exactly how physically strong these volcano titans were, and so he first chose to fight it in a head-on clash through using his most penetratively powerful attack, the Blood Drop stance.

Six streaks of sword-light shot out like an enormous meteor shower that shot out towards that terrifying stone hand.

Boom! The giant stone hand howled as it flew through the air. It crushed the six streaks of sword-light, then slammed directly onto Ning. This time, it was Ning who was knocked flying backwards like a meteor.

As Ning flew backwards, he forcibly twisted himself upright and landed on the ground. The earth shudder from the collision, caving in for an area of a million kilometers as an enormous basis suddenly appeared.

Ning rose to his feet, his face rather ashen.

"A single volcano titan is already this much stronger than me… and there are three? And these are just the 'children'?" Ning finally could sense that death was approaching. Finally, he realized why no one had ever been able to survive the thirty-sixth level.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 33 – The Five Sword-Intents of [Brightmoon]

"Kill!" The other two volcano titans howled as they charged forwards, each seeming just as valiant and mighty as the first. Their thunderous steps were as heavy as the mountains, but they moved faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos. Although each of their punches and strikes seemed rather ungainly to Ji Ning, they carried enough power to truly overmatch him.

"I refuse to believe I can't even take care of the three 'children'." Ning's body constantly blurred, disappearing and reappearing thanks to the Shadowless stance, and every so often he would rely on his superior agility to throw out rope treasures and other treasures to slow down his foes.

Using your strengths to attack your opponent's weaknesses. This was the way of combat!

The muscular, greatsword-wielding man continued to stand there in front of the distant shrine, a cold look in his eyes as he watched all this happen. Right at this moment, two new figures suddenly descended; the white-robed man and the azure-armored man.

"Big brother." The white-robed man and the azure-armored man both spoke out.

"Mm." The muscular man acknowledged them calmly.

"The kid's able to hold his own against the combined attacks of three volcano titans. He really isn't bad." The azure-armored figure glanced at the distant Ning, then smiled. "Big brother, would you agree that this kid is worth us spending some effort teaching?"

The muscular man said coldly, "Far from it. He's merely relying on a few defensive tricks to stay alive. Once my children unleash their ultimate attacks, he'll definitely die."

"Are you just going to watch him die?" The white-robed man asked hurriedly.

"He might've developed two offensive Supreme Daos and two defensive Supreme Daos, but so what?" The muscular man said coldly, "He hasn't been able to truly join them together… he's not even worth me giving advice to."

The azure-armored man and the white-robed man exchanged a glance, then shook their heads helplessly.

"Big brother, you really have set your expectations too high. Remember that guy, all those years ago, who had perfectly fused his offensive Dao and his defensive Dao? You ended up personally kill him!" The azure-armored man muttered.

"Hmph. That's because he was too stupid. I personally gave him pointers on what to do, but he still wasn't able to improve at all. He deserved to die." The muscular man continued, "And even if he did have a so-called flawless union of an offensive Supreme Dao and defensive Supreme Dao, what of it? It must be understood that advancing forwards on such a path is incredibly difficult. Each step will be taxing, and the final step of completing the Daomerge and gaining eternity will be unspeakably arduous."

"Over the course of countless years I've seen many dazzlingly talented figures who, as Daolords of the Fourth Step, were capable of killing weaker Eternal Emperors. Almost none of them, however, are capable of succeeding in their Daomerge and gaining the power of a Hegemon." The muscular man shook his head. "Master is already dead. He can only accept a single personal disciple and two honorary disciples. There's only three slots total. I have to be incredibly cautious when doling them out. Even an honorary disciple has to be both a perfect candidate as well as have a Dao which is very similar to my master's Dao. As for becoming a personal disciple? Only someone who can receive the acknowledgment of my master's Eternal weapon and make it voluntarily wish to serve him is qualified be given that position!"

"You really do have high expectations."

"Excessively high expectations."

The white-robed man and the azure armored man both shook their heads. After their masters had perished, they had only met a single genius who had been able to truly and perfectly merge an offensive Supreme Dao and a defensive Supreme Dao… and in the end, the muscular man had personally killed him! He hadn't even been willing to hand over a position of honorary disciple.

"Master decided to only accept two honorary disciples. I'm willing to bet that the personal disciples of the leader of the Church of Annihilation are given less than my master has prepared for his two honorary disciples," the muscular man said coldly.

In the end, the term 'disciple' was just a titular one. What really mattered was what the teacher and master had prepared! There was only so much a living Hegemon would give; there was no way he would bestow his most important treasures to someone else. Only a dead Hegemon would be so truly selfless as to hand over all of his treasures!

The three volcano titans stood in three different directions as they surrounded and attacked Ning. Ning no longer dared to face them head-on, as the volcano titans possessed overwhelming levels of brute strength. Worse, he was completely incapable of damaging their volcanic bodies. Not even his Blood Drop stance could punch through them! For now, he could only rely on his Soleheart sword-intent to buy himself some time. Ning also used his rope-type magic treasures to try and tie down one of the volcano titans. Ning believed this to be his only method for capturing and subduing them.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

They used the most elementary, simple of attacks. Sometimes, they would swing their giant rocky hands. Other times, they would raise their fists high in the air, then smash downwards towards the ground. Every so often, they would bring both arms to their chests, then make a sudden pushing motion towards Ning. The attacks were simple but filled with speed and savagery, causing Ning to be at a complete disadvantage in this fight.

"Mm. Although they use similar techniques, it seems as though there are some differences." Ning realized that there was something off with these three volcano titans. One of them was faster and more explosive while the second always attacked with both hands. As for the third, he was the slowest of the three; he would spend quite a bit of time building up power before each attack, but the attacks he unleashed were incomparably devastating.

"Although their attacks aren't exactly the same, they seem to share certain similarities." Ning was slowly mesmerized by the possibilities. From their attacks, he was able to see some of the things he himself had been searching for but unable to truly master.

Slowly, as the battle continued Ning began to gain a few insights into the various battle stances that the three volcano titans used. But of course, he was only able to gain a few. The three volcano titans were very crude in using these techniques, after all.

"The Heavenbreaker stance…"

Right now, the only stance remaining was the Heavenbreaker stance!

The five stances of [Brightmoon]. He had already developed Supreme Daos based on the other four stances. Only the Heavenbreaker stance was left.

The Heavenbreaker stance was the most ferocious of stances, containing truly wild and berserk levels of power. It used overwhelming power to crush all foes and was Ning's most physically powerful attack. It was the perfect solution for dealing with foes whose defenses simply couldn't be pierced through or penetrated.

The Shadowless stance focused on being fluctuating and unpredictable; this naturally caused the power of the actual attacks to be somewhat weaker.

The Blood Drop stance destroyed everything in its path, letting it pierce through all which would oppose it.

These two stances had both reached the apex in their respective fields… but both had made sacrifices in terms of total, raw power! Only by focusing in one area could one reach the apex in that area, after all.

The Heavenbreaker stance didn't have a terrifying penetrative ability, nor was it unpredictable in the slightest. It was simply an awesome, direct attack that contained the strongest levels of power possible.

"Mm… ah! Is that how it is?" Ning's battle against the three volcano titans grew increasingly frenzied, and he continued to secretly learn from their striking techniques.

This furious battle persisted for roughly the amount of time needed to boil a kettle of tea.

"Time for the final attack." The distant azure-armored figure and white-robed figure both let out soft sighs. They had grown accustomed to seeing this long ago. The strongest attack which these three volcano titans had was actually a single attack that was combined from three different attacks. Once they joined together to form the final attack, they would be able to unleash the most powerful killing strike they were capable of.

The power of that attack was terrifyingly great! If you did not have a truly perfect Dao, it was all but guaranteed that you would perish from it. And even if you did have a perfect Dao… it was likely that their 'big brother' would personally attack and kill you!

After battling furiously for the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, the movements of the three volcano titans suddenly changed.

"Eh?" Ning's face tightened slightly.

Whoosh! One of the volcano titans suddenly lifted up his enormous stone hands, preparing to slam downwards towards Ning. The second volcano titan slowly advanced, both hands in front of his chest as he prepared to make a shoving motion. The final volcano titan began to prepare to swing his arms towards Ning…

The rhythm of the battle had changed. The attacks of the three volcano titans had joined together to form a whole, and the power of their attacks actually began to rise.

Ning instantly understood what he was seeing. This was much like how he perfectly merged his six Eternal swords together when using the Soleheart sword-intent. In this moment, the three volcano titans had truly merged together, and the power of this attack would definitely be ten times greater than their previous ones. Ning had already been at a complete disadvantage. For their attack power to increase tenfold… he was going to get crushed!

"AH!" Ning's eyes suddenly lit up. "T-this… this is how the Heavenbreaker stance should be!" A look of wild joy suddenly appeared within his eyes as he stared at the three volcano titans.

In truth, the three volcano titans were using one of the techniques which the Hegemon had developed. This technique was 70%-80% similar to Ning's Heavenbreaker stance.

When Ning had watched and sparred with the volcano titans, he had gained a number of new insights. Given that his Heavenbreaker stance had already reached a bottleneck and only needed one final push to break through to a new level… once the three volcano titans joined forces, Ning suddenly understood it all.

A warhorse needed enough space to gallop before it could reach its maximum velocity.

A bow needed to be drawn to a full arc before it would reach maximum power.

Hints of the truth to this Dao could be seen throughout the mortal world.

The Heavenbreaker stance… if you wanted to release the full, terrifying level of power it contained, you would need to first build up power! For example, in archery you would build up power by drawing your bow… and then let it explode forth with its full might, like a volcano erupting! Only by building up enough might would you be able to unleash the full power of your attack! But just as importantly, the moment you unleashed your power had to be fast, fierce, and compressed into a short instant.

This… this was what a Heavenbreaker stance should look like.

"Heavenbreaker." Ning made his move. He raised all six of his arms high into the air, filling his Violetjewels with his divine power and causing them to instantly skyrocket in weight.

Ten times. Ten thousand times. A trillion times…

The six Violetjewels each became as heavy as a chaos star! This was approaching the maximum level of weight which Ning was currently able to control. The Heavenbreaker stance was ideally executed with extremely heavy weapons, such as the deep blue greatsword of the deceased Hegemon. That was actually an incredibly dense and unique weapon which was perfect for using the Heavenbreaker stance.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 34 – Sword Dao Samsara

Ji Ning's six Violetjewels all chopped towards his opponents at the same time, and as they moved forwards they crushed everything in their path, causing space itself to tremble and distort. They moved forwards in seemingly slow arcs, but their power only continued to grow until they reached a crescendo of might, then slammed head-on into the giant stone fists of a volcano titan.

The power now contained with every single one of Ning's six swords was stronger than when he previously used all six swords combined to execute the Blood Drop stance. This was the difference between the Heavenbreaker stance and the Blood Drop stance!

In terms of penetrative power, the Blood Drop stance was far superior to the Heavenbreaker stance… but it was still useless against these volcano titans, who had bodies that were comparable to precious treasures. But in terms of raw power, the Heavenbreaker stance was similarly far superior to the Blood Drop stance. It was perfect for head-on clashes!

BOOM!

The enormous volcanic body of the volcano titan shuddered violently, and he couldn't help but stumble back quite a few steps. Even his giant stone hands were visibly trembling.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Ning was clearly much faster and more agile than the volcano titans. He only had to deal with one of them each time.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions rang out as the towering volcano titans were knocked stumbling backwards one by one, thanks to Ning's overwhelming power. Although the volcano titans bellowed furiously and charged forwards repeatedly, Ning was able to beat them back each time. Ning was physically much smaller than them, but the power of his Heavenbreaker stance allowed him to completely outstrip them and shut them down.

"Eh?" An odd, surprised look appeared on the formerly emotionless face of the muscular, greatsword-wielding man who stood in front of the distant shrine.

"Is that…?!" The white-robed man and the azure-armored man next to him both revealed looks of joy.

"Big brother, that Sword Dao… isn't that just like the Dao of the Hegemon, a Dao that overwhelms and crushes all foes in a straightforward manner?" The azure-armored man saif hurriedly, "Darknorth is a perfect fit for learning the Hegemon's Dao of the Sword."

The muscular man calmly shook his head. "Although he's developed five Supreme Daos, he hasn't been able to link them together in a perfect manner. He's not even qualified to become my master's honorary disciple."

The deceased Hegemon would only accept one personal disciple and two honorary disciples. Not even that now-deceased World-level genius who had perfectly fused an offensive Supreme Dao with a defensive Supreme Dao had been able to qualify as an honorary disciple. In fact, the muscular man had personally slaughtered him!

"Big brother, your requirements are too stringent. The Sword Dao this kid has come up with is extremely similar to that of the Hegemon's," the azure-armored man said frantically. "There are incredibly few such geniuses of the Dao of the Sword. If you kill him, who knows how long it will be before we encounter another one?"

"I'd rather have no successors at all than poor ones." The muscular man shook his head. "If I am to choose a successor, I will only choose a perfect one."

"A perfect one?"

"Big brother, you… ugh."

The white-robed man and the azure-armored man both shook their heads. But right then, both their bodies trembled. Even the muscular man was somewhat astonished as he stared at what was happening.

"What?!" The white-robed man and the azure-armored man called out this word at the same time.

"How could he have made yet another breakthough so quickly?" A look of true astonishment was on the muscular man's cold features as well.

After Ning developed the Heavenbreaker stance, he immediately found the battle against the three volcano titans was now much easier than before. Thanks to the Shadowless evasive skill and the Blood Drop evasive skill, he was far more agile than his opponents. Defending was inherently easier than attacking, but now his attacks carried crushing power as well.

It was an absolutely delightful feeling. But just as Ning was battling to his heart's content, he suddenly had the vague feeling that his five sword-intents could actually be linked together in some manner.

"Is this…" Ning suddenly realized that there were certain aspects of his five sword-intents that resonated with each other and attracted each other. They made up for each other's weaknesses, and in fact it could be said they all stemmed from the same source.

The Dao of the Sword…

Although it was awesomely vast, different aspects of it could lead to different directions of development. Ning's starting point was the essence of the sword itself, and he had divided it up into five different aspects that he believed included all types of sword-arts the Dao of the Sword could contain. His five aspects were the Blood Drop sword-intent, the Shadowless sword-intent, the Heavenbreaker sword-intent, the Yin-Yang sword-intent, and the Soleheart sword-intent. These five types of sword-intent, when separated thusly, truly did encompass all possible elements and aspects of all sword-arts.

These five types of sword-intents were, in truth, five parts of the complete Dao of the Sword.

When Ning had developed his first, second, third, and fourth sword-intents, he hadn't realized this. But now that he had developed his fifth sword-intent, this battle instantly caused him to realize that there were deep, inextricable connections between his five sword-intents.

"The five sword-intents can be completely joined together." And so, Ning naturally began to do just that.

He was unlike all other geniuses. Bertulu, Eastcult, Prince Greatjoy… they hadn't actually truly understood or mastered all aspects of their chosen paths.

Eastcult had merely come up with a single offensive Dao and a single defensive Dao. When he managed to join them together in a perfect manner, his power increased dramatically! But of course, joining together two Supreme Daos was incredibly difficult.

The same was true for Prince Greatjoy. He too had only comprehended a pair of Supreme Daos, eventually joining them together here in the Genesis Lands of this alternate universe.

As for Bertulu, he was a bit stronger than the other two, having mastered and joined together a trio of Supreme Daos.

But…

Imagine a porcelain plate which had been shattered into five bizarrely-shaped pieces. Eastcult and Greatjoy had merely mastered two of those pieces. Thanks to their tremendous intelligence and wisdom, they had managed to find a way to jam these two pieces together into a complete whole, albeit with great difficult, and use the joined pieces to form their Daos.

Bertulu had been able to take control over three pieces, and had also had to work incredibly hard to join them together.

But Ji Ning?

He had mastered all five pieces, allowing him a degree of understanding of every single aspect of the Dao of the Sword. It was as though he had acquired all five pieces of that shattered porcelain plate. He didn't need to waste time and effort finding out a way to make them fit together; they fit together in a natural manner, because they represented the five parts of the full Dao of the sword.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ning's sword… began to change. It was no longer limited to any specific stance.

Whoosh. He unleashed a sword that was almost invisible to the naked eye, a traceless and shadowless sword. And yet, when it appeared before the volcano titan it suddenly transformed into a swirling black hole of sword-light that dragged the volcano titan sideways. This had all happened too suddenly, and the volcano titan couldn't help but stumble off-balance.

It was like he was toying with a child.

Boom. Whoosh! Boom.

Ning strode amidst the three volcano titans, his five mighty sword-intents having joined together to form a cyclical sword-intent, a Samsara sword-intent. His five mighty sword-intents were like five wooden spokes that now came together to naturally form a perfect wheel! This naturally-forming cycle allowed the different types of sword-intent to mutually reinforce and strengthen each other.

For example, Ning could first initiate the Heavenbreaker sword-intent. Once he built up enough power, he could suddenly transform it all into his Blood Drop sword-intent, giving it an even more terrifying degree of penetrative power.

The Blood Drop sword-intent's incredible speed, in turn, could be transferred into the Heavenbreaker sword-intent, giving its ponderous strike a terrifying level of speed that only made it even more powerful than before.

Ning's five mighty sword-intents flowed in a perfect cycle. As the saying goes, where water flows a canal shall naturally form. Just like that, the five mighty sword-intents easily came together to form a perfect cycle, the Samsara sword-intent.

"Five Supreme Daos? Just like that, he merged them together?" The azure-armored man muttered to himself, "Don't you dare fight with me over him. Please oh please, don't fight with me over him. He's going to be my master's personal disciple!"

"Third brother, Darknorth didn't choose to leave when he reached the twenty-fourth floor. Clearly, he gave up the right to become your master's disciple. As per the rules that were set down, you are responsible for the first twenty-four floors while our big brother and I are responsible for the final twelve floors," the white-robed man said immediately. "Our big brother is incredibly strict when it comes to choosing a successor. So what if this kid has perfectly joined his Supreme Daos together? There's no way our big brother will be interested in him. So, I think the best solution is to have him become my master's personal disciple."

Countless aeons ago, those three grandmasters of the Dao of the Sword had perished. For endless years, the three of them had abided by the orders of their master and had waited here in the hopes of finding successors.

However… finding suitable successors was simply far too difficult. Although Ji Ning had displayed a certain degree of talent, none of the three had been truly impressed by him. He hadn't even been able to perfectly join any of his Supreme Daos together! Give him the treasures left behind by their Eternal Emperors masters? Preposterous!

But now, Ning had perfectly joined together FIVE different types of Supreme Daos! Looks of blazing desire instantly filled the eyes of the white-robed man and the azure-armored man. If looks could release energy, their gazes were so heated that Ji Ning would've instantly melted into a puddle.

"Hmph." The muscular man let out a cold snort.

"Big brother, I'm certain that there's no way someone as strict as you would be interested in him," the white-robed man said hurriedly.

"So what if he has five Supreme Daos? So what if he's perfectly joined them together? In the end, he's still nothing more than a World-level cultivator." The muscular man continued coldly, "The more difficult a Dao one choses, the more difficult the path a Samsara Daolord shall have. With each step, a Samsara Daolord must straddle the line between life and death. This is especially true with regards to the Daomerge. Every era has given birth to monstrously powerful Daolords, but how many of them have been able to gain eternity and become Hegemons? Don't be fooled by how talented this Darknorth kid seems to be; I'm afraid that he has almost no chance of succeeding in his Daomerge in the future."

There were many monstrously powerful Daolords; every single generation would give birth to a few. But…

Even the Endless Territories had only given birth to three Hegemons over the course of its entire history. The muscular man's words were spot-on; to succeed in the Daomerge and gain true eternity was simply far too difficult for these monstrously talented geniuses.

"So… don't be overly infatuated with him," the muscular man said coldly.

"In other words, big brother, you aren't interested in him, right?" The azure-armored man said.

"If that's the case, then he'll definitely become my master's personal disciple," the white-robed man said hurriedly.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 35 – A Clash

"I'm not finished talking!" The muscular man was rather irritated.

The azure-armored man and the white-robed man exchanged a glance, then the azure-armored man said, "Big brother, what are you saying? I thought you didn't care about this Darknorth kid. Are you seriously going to fight with us over him?"

"Big brother, I've memorized every single word you said just now," the white-robed man said.

It had been far too long. They had been waiting here per the orders of their respective masters for far, far too long. Ji Ning was the first one to truly drive them wild with excitement. Although there had been one person who had perfectly joined an offensive Supreme Dao with a defensive one, that was just two Daos. Moreover, that man's path wasn't really a good fit for the path their masters had chosen.

Ji Ning's Dao of the Sword, however, was a path which literally included everything. It included techniques meant for slaughter, such as the techniques of the azure-armored man's master. It included ephemeral and inscrutable techniques, such as those of the white-robed man's master. And it even included straightforward attacks of overwhelming power, such as the ones used by the muscular man's master, the greatsword-wielding Hegemon. Ning's Dao included everything and joined it all together perfectly! He was able to study any of their Daos!

"All I said was, don't be overly infatuated with him." The muscular man said coldly, "In addition, I'm not the one who will decide whether or not he'll be allowed to become my master's personal disciple. In the end, it will be up to the greatsword as to whether or not it accepts him as its master."

The azure-armored man and the white-robed man were both stunned. The greatsword… it held truly incalculable amounts of might within it. It was a Universe treasure! Even Eternal Emperors dreamed of acquiring such treasures, but alas, Universe treasures chose their wielders, not the other way around. If the treasure refused to acknowledge you, there was no way for you to bind it by force whatsoever.

"The only decision I can make is whether or not he qualifies to become my master's honorary disciple," the muscular man said. "The decision of who qualifies to become a personal disciple is up to the greatsword."

"What? You are planning to let him become an honorary disciple?" The azure-armored man and the white-robed man both ground their teeth in frustration.

"Big brother, weren't you saying how unworthy he…" The azure-armored man couldn't help but start muttering under his breath.

"Whether or not he can become an honorary disciple will depend on if he can survive my sword or not." As soon as the muscular man spoke these words… BOOM! He manifested a total of six arms, all six of which assumed a tightened grip over that single deep blue greatsword! But of course, this greatsword wasn't actually a Universe treasure, just a Dao weapon facsimile.

Swish!

The muscular man transformed into a streak of sword-light that tore through the skies, moving at an incredible pace of nearly five times the speed of light. It must be understood that normally speaking, only Daolords of the Fourth Step were able to attain such incredible speeds. But of course, different people with different Daos would have different areas of specialty. Ning's Blood Drop sword-art also allowed him to move at incredible speeds by using himself as a sword while using the Blood Drop sword-intent. This was the so-called Blood Drop evasion skill.

The Blood Drop evasion skill was Ning's fastest evasion skill. The Shadowless evasion skill was more unpredictable, but it was slightly slower. Ever since Ning had perfectly joined together his five Supreme Daos, his Blood Drop evasion skill had undergone a fundamental transformation, making it even faster and more explosive. In the past, he was roughly able to move at three times the speed of light. Now, he would be able to force his speed to a new limit of four times the speed of light.

"The five sword-intents of my Dao of the Sword have been joined together in a perfect manner, but my evasion skill is still inferior to his?" Ning had been utterly dominating those three volcano titans, but when he saw the muscular man fly towards him from afar he no longer dared to act complacently. He immediately used rope-type magic treasures to separately tie up all three volcano titans, ensuring that they wouldn't be able to disturb him.

"Receive a blow from my sword!" The muscular man's voice thundered through the skies, as did his distant sword-light. It transformed into a straight line that chopped downwards towards Ning with furious power. The entire world seemed to turn dark, leaving behind only that single terrifying sword-strike as it chopped downwards. Ning was actually completely unable to dodge this attack. His only choice was to defend against it.

Whoosh.

A black hole of sword-light spun out like a lotus flower in the darkness. It swiveled outwards and unleashed layers of power. For an instant, its swiveling movements became as explosively powerful as the Heavenbreaker stance; in the next instant, it would become as soft and ephemeral as the Shadowless stance.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The deep blue greatsword chopped straight down upon the black hole of sword-light, and the layers of swiveling 'petals' sought to transform into other sword-arts while furiously ablating the power of the oncoming attack.

"What a formidable defensive technique." The muscular man could sense that the offensive power of his deep blue greatsword was being slowly ablated, ground away, and deflected. It was as though it had been trapped within the cycle of Samsara, never to escape again.

"Break! Break! Break!" The muscular man remained quite calm. He held absolute faith in his master's Dao of the Sword.

No matter how tough you are, I'll break through with overwhelming power!

This was a Dao of overwhelming force!

BOOM!

Ning was knocked flying backwards. Even when he landed, he had to stumble five steps back before recovering his footing. He stared rather cautiously at the distant, muscular man.

"He blocked it! Ahaha! Just like that, he blocked our big brother's attack in a head-on collision. Absolutely incredible! That other poor bastard… he might've had a perfect fusion of his two Supreme Daos, but our big brother's sword smashed him straight into the ground." The distant azure-armored man couldn't help but sigh in amazement when he saw this.

The white-robed man said, "Darknorth has mastered five Supreme Daos, and he's joined them together in a Samsara-like cycle. His sword-arts have absolutely no flaws at all, and he's reached an incredibly high level in all five of his Supreme Daos. In terms of tenacity and toughness, Darknorth's Sword Dao is definitely the most tenacious and toughest Sword Dao there is."

"There are other geniuses whose Sword Daos involve the perfect fusions of Supreme Daos, but they all have flaws. Darknorth, however, is skilled in every area. If he was to battle against one of them, he would be able to attack their weaknesses." The azure-armored man sighed in approval. "Incredibly, absolutely incredible. He actually came up with five Supreme Sword Daos! If in the future he can become a Verge-level Daolord, he'll definitely stand a good chance of becoming the most powerful Daolord there is."

There was actually a ranking of monstrously powerful Daolords. In the Endless Territories, Palace Lord Dawnstar of the Twelve Palaces was one such Daolord. The major powers of the Brightshore Kingdom all believed that if Bertulu became a Verge-level Daolord, he would probably be comparable to Lord Dawnstar in power. Lord Dawnstar had once slain an Eternal Emperor with just three strikes of his saber… but despite that, he was only ranked as the second most powerful Daolord of the Endless Territories.

All of the most monstrously powerful Daolords had fused Supreme Daos together… but despite that, there were still differences in power amongst them!

"Mm." The white-robed man let out an approving sigh. "Very true. Unfortunately, we won't live to see that day."

The azure-armored man suddenly fell silent as well.

Strictly speaking, they weren't really living creatures. They also had to stay here perpetually for the sake of choosing suitable disciples for their masters. Although they were very willing to do this, they couldn't help but feel at least a little bit of yearning towards the vast world outside.

The muscular man's six hands were clenched around the hilt of that single greatsword. When he attacked, his savagery filled the skies. When he defended, he was as unshakable as a mountain.

Facing him in battle was like facing an enormous boulder that was crashing towards you. As it rolled down towards you, it would only increase in power. If you wanted to survive, you'd have to disrupt and shatter the terrifying momentum of his attacks! Fortunately, Ning had many varied techniques, and his ghostly, inscrutable Shadowless stance was able to repeatedly tie down the muscular man's movements.

"Enough." The muscular man suddenly came to a halt. Startled, Ning did the same thing.

This lengthy battle had been quite beneficial for him. The terrifying amount of pressure the muscular man had placed upon Ning had helped him learn how to use his sword-arts in a more effective and natural manner. The muscular man eclipsed Ning in both speed and strength. Although Ning's Dao of the Sword had many different techniques hidden within it, he was only just barely able to fight the man to a standstill.

"When my master was at the World level, he was probably slightly weaker than you are right now." The muscular man looked at Ning, then nodded slightly. "You are qualified to become my master's honorary disciple."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

"BIG BROTHER!"

Two furious howls rent the air.

The explosive howl of 'shut your mouth' had come from the azure-armored figure, while the one who had called out 'big brother' had come from the graceful, refined-looking white-robed man. The two immediately transformed into streaks of light that flew towards Ning. They had been keeping a close watch on this fight and had kept themselves carefully attuned to every little ripple. As soon as they heard their big brother speak to Ning, they became instantly enraged.

"Big brother, you go too far!" The white-robed man was a bit faster and as such was the first to arrive. After descending, he said angrily, "Didn't you say you weren't interested in Darknorth?"

"Darknorth." When the azure-armored figure landed, he stared intently at Ning. "Don't go be someone else's 'honorary' disciple. What's the point of being an 'honorary' disciple? The nine swords which my master left behind are all incredibly powerful. When they join together, they are all but invincible. Aside from the nine swords, I also have many other treasures which my master left behind for his personal disciple. As I see it, you are perfectly suited for becoming my master's personal disciple."

"Oh yeah? In terms of treasures, my master has even more treasures than yours!" The white-robed man said, "Darknorth, why don't you become my master's personal disciple instead? Our respective masters loved each other as brothers. The reason my master was ranked as the second brother was because he was second only to the Hegemon in power."

"YOU…!" The azure-armored figure was infuriated. Who would've thought that at a critical moment like this, when they were supposed to be working together against their elder brother, the white-robed man would've suddenly 'backstabbed' him?

"Don't blame me. I've waited far, far too long to help my master find a suitable disciple," the white-robed man said in an innocent, 'helpless' manner.

"Shut your faces!" The muscular man had an icy look on his face as he finally snapped out at them, unable to keep silent any longer. He then turned to look at Ning. "It'll be Darknorth's decision as to who he chooses."

To become the Hegemon's honorary disciple, or to become the personal disciple of one of the other two Eternal Emperors of the Sword? Who should he choose?

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 36 – The Hegemon's Treasures

Ji Ning couldn't help but feel his chest tighten as the three stared at him.

When both the white-robed man and the azure-armored man had attempted to stop him from progressing any further, Ning had already decided that he would need to be extremely careful in the thirty-sixth level of the Abyss of Fiends. Even those more powerful than him had perished here, after all. However, Ning was very confident in his defensive skills, and it wasn't like him to back down without a fight. He was willing to use this main clone of his to take on the risk of challenging the final level.

If he won, he would gain a tremendous fortune. And in the end… things had been much simpler than he had anticipated. Not only had he mastered his Heavenbreaker stance, he had almost automatically joined together the five sword-intents into a Samsara sword-intent!

In truth, it all made perfect sense. Ning had reached the bottleneck in all five stances of [Brightmoon] long ago. He had first broke through in the Yin-Yang stance back in the Sword Palace of the Brightshore Kingdom, then had broken through in the other four stances with increasing fluidity! The more he trained, the faster the breakthroughs came until finally, they all came together in a perfect whole – the Yin-Yang stance, the Blood Drop stance, the Shadowless stance, the Soleheart stance, and the Heavenbreaker stance!

"Senior." Ning looked at the muscular man. "I wonder if this junior qualifies to become the Hegemon's personal disciple?"

If he was going to choose, he would choose the best!

"Personal disciple?" The muscular man was startled, then let out a rare chuckle. "Quite ambitious, aren't we? However, if you wish to become the Hegemon's personal disciple you have to be acknowledged by his Universe treasure!"

"Has it refused to acknowledge me?" Ning asked.

"It hasn't said anything yet. Mm… how about this? I'll help you ask." The muscular man suddenly shut his eyes.

Back in the outside world of the inner reaches. The 540,000 meter tall corpse of the Hegemon had been silently standing there for countless years without moving. His two hands remained perpetually clenched around the hilt of that deep blue greatsword. Suddenly, a flicker of light appeared on the surface of the greatsword as the sword let out a keening sound.

Swoosh. A figure suddenly appeared in front of the three corpses of the grandmasters of the Dao of the Sword.

"What's going on? I'm sure I wasn't just imagining things. I'm sure I felt a ripple just now." A white-robed, silver-eyed man stared at the three corpses with a solemn look on his face. "Did something strange just happen?"

The thirty-sixth level of the Abyss of Fiends.

The three volcano titans had been released by Ning long ago and had returned to their respective positions, transforming into a trio of towering volcanos once more. Ji Ning, the white-robed man, and the azure-armored man stood there upon the devastated earth, staring at the muscular man. All three of them were rather nervous. If the Universe treasure was willing to accept Ning as its master, then there was no question what Ning's choice would be.

"I've asked it." The muscular man opened his eyes.

"And? How'd it go?" Ning asked. However, he had a bad feeling about what the answer would be. If the Universe treasure had truly accepted him as its master, there would probably be some certain, special signs that would appear.

The muscular man sighed. "Your understanding of the Dao of the Sword truly is perfect, and it does indeed include the path of cultivation which the Hegemon had walked! You have the most perfect Dao of the Sword that I have ever encountered. But… that sword told me that it doesn't like you."

"Doesn't… like me?" Ning was flabbergasted.

"Right. It just doesn't like you," the muscular man said. "It followed our master for countless years, and it likes people like Master himself; as vast and bold as the seas, and as deep and steady as the mountains. It doesn't like your type."

Ning was speechless.

So this was the reason the sword had no interest in him. Much like how a man might fall for a woman or vice versa, the Universe sword was only willing to accompany someone who it took a fancy towards! Clearly, the Hegemon had left a tremendous impact on it, making it strongly prefer cultivators who had the same type of personality as the Hegemon had.

"It seems that there are no ties of destiny between myself and that sword." Ning smiled and shook his head. If it didn't like him, there was nothing he could do. Although he was rather disappointed, he wasn't crushed by the refusal! It was extremely difficult to convince a Universe treasure to submit to you, after all. Even Eternal Emperors dreamed of acquiring Universe treasures. Ning had mentally prepared himself to be rejected by it.

Still… despite his mental preparations, deep within his heart he couldn't help but feel a sense of strong disappointment. "You don't like my type, eh? Don't like my type? I don't like you either!"

Still, Ning himself knew that these were nothing more than words of self-consolement. This was the closest he had ever gotten to acquiring an Universe treasure, after all.

"Don't be too disappointed, Darknorth," the white-robed man consoled.

"Its just a Universe treasure. Our big brother is very exacting, but that Universe treasure is even more exacting. It also has a weird temper," the azure-armored man said hurriedly. "I really think you should be my master's personal disciple instead."

"Darknorth, have you decided yet?" The muscular man asked.

Ning pondered for a moment. It seemed as though he would have to choose between being the Hegemon's honorary disciple or a personal disciple of one of the two retainer Eternal Emperors.

"Seniors, can you explain to me as to which treasures I'll be able to acquire if I become the Hegemon's honorary disciple or a personal disciple of your respective masters? What techniques I'll gain? If you can tell me a bit more, I'll be better equipped to make the right decision," Ning said.

"Makes sense."

"Alright, let me explain."

"Take a look first."

All three waved their hands. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The formerly empty and devastated ground before them became be filled with images of magic treasures, all of which looked to be quite extraordinarily.

"I'll go first." The azure-armored figure pointed at the levitating images of the nine blood-colored swords. "First of all, you'll gain these nine precious swords. They are incomparably mighty, and it is almost impossible to buy them under normal circumstances. You'll also gain this suit of armor, this gourd, and this banner. And of course, you'll also gain Master's sword-arts legacy as well as his secret arts, divine abilities, etc."

The majority of an Eternal Emperor's treasure trove lay before Ning. Ning couldn't help but be filled with many thoughts as he stared at them.

"My turn." The white-robed man began to narrate the treasures he had to offer as he pointed at the illusions of the violet-hilted, gold-hilted, and white-hilted swords, as well as the many other treasures he had.

The muscular man stood silently there in the rubble. Only after his second brother and third brother finished speaking did he say calmly, "I have two sets of treasures here for the two honorary disciples which Master is willing to accept. You can choose one of your liking."

"The first set includes fifty million cubes of chaos nectar! It also includes two Dao-seals which the Hegemon personally forged! It also has the sword which the Hegemon used prior to him acquiring his Universe treasure. This sword alone is worth just as much as the armaments which my second brother and my third brother have offered you. In addition, you'll also gain access to the complete sword-arts legacy which Master left behind, as well as his divine abilities and secret arts.

"The second set also includes fifty million cubes of chaos nectar, two Dao-seals which the Hegemon personally forged, and the suit of armor which the Hegemon wore when he was alive. This suit of armor has many marvelous properties, and it too is worth just as much as the armaments of his two retainers. In addition, you'll also gain access to the complete sword-arts legacy which Master left behind, as well as his divine abilities and secret arts."

After finishing his explanation, the muscular man fell silent.

The white-robed man and the azure-armored man both looked at Ning expectantly.

As for Ning, he carefully examined each of the levitating illusions. The white-robed man and the azure-armored man had treated him very well, but this involved a tremendous fortune for him. He absolutely could not treat this decision lightly.

The other two Eternal Emperors had left virtually all of their treasures to their personal disciples. The treasures were staggering in both number and value.

In terms of valuable treasures, the two Eternal Emperors had more. But! What the Hegemon had left behind would be more of use to him! It was highly likely that no one in all the Endless Territories was a match for the deceased Hegemon with regards to the Dao of the Sword. His sword-arts legacy was something which Ning would never have a chance to learn again. The Hegemon had successfully completed his Daomerge… his sword-arts would definitely be of enormous assistance to Ning as a valuable reference.

"The best treasures are the ones which suit you the best. In addition… I'd have to find a way to sell off the treasures of the other two Eternal Emperors. The Dao-seals and chaos nectar which the Hegemon left behind are of more immediate use to me." Ning nodded.

"Forgive me, seniors," Ning said apologetically.

The white-robed man and the azure-armored man both let out sighs, looking rather forlorn. The white-robed man shook his head and smiled. "The two of us suspected that this would be your answer. The complete sword-arts legacy of a Hegemon… both of us know exactly how alluring such a thing is to a cultivator of the Dao of the Sword."

The complete sword-arts legacy of a Hegemon of the Dao of the Sword was absolutely priceless.

You might be able to find a few grandmasters of the Dao of the Sword who were on the general level of Emperor Mirrorsnow, but where would you even begin to start a search for a Hegemon-level figure? Even after Ning became a Verge-level Daolord, no sum of money would be enough for him to locate such a complete sword-arts legacy.

"Congratulations, big brother."

"Big brother, you've finally found an honorary disciple for your master." The other two both expressed congratulations. They couldn't help but secretly sigh to themselves. The two of them and their big brother had waited for far too long for a successor. The only difference was that their big brother was even more exacting than they were.

It had been countless years, but their big brother had finally chosen an honorary disciple for the Hegemon! The Hegemon would only accept a total of two honorary disciples, which meant that his honorary disciples would be treated many times better than the personal disciples of Emperor Mirrorsnow were.

The sword which the Hegemon had once wielded, the suit of armor he had once worn… both were truly priceless.

"Darknorth." The muscular man's lips parted as he finally revealed a rare smile. "Follow me." He transformed into a streak of light and flew towards the distant shrine.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 37 – The Paragon of Pills

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The muscular man and Ji Ning advanced together into the shrine.

"Eh?" Inside the shrine, Ning saw lakes of flowing lava, next to which were strange trees that seemed to be made out of fine jade. Ning couldn't recognize where these trees came from.

Next to the lava lakes there was an ordinary-looking stone house, and there was a figure seated in the lotus position within the house. The figure sat there without moving, and from the looks of it had been there for countless chaos cycles already.

"Master." The muscular man walked over, then said respectfully, "I've chosen an honorary disciple for you."

Ning instantly realized that the figure seated in the lotus position within the stone house was most likely a fragment of the Hegemon's will and memories which the Hegemon had left behind prior to passing.

The seated figure suddenly opened his eyes, and his eyes shone in the darkness of the stone house like a pair of two vast transversal conduits. Ning was instantly lost within his gaze.

"My disciple… if in the future you succeed in the Daomerge and gain eternity, it is my wish that you repay the grace I shall show you today you unto the Paragon of Pills." A voice filled with complex emotions and frustration rang out from within the stone room.

Whoosh.

A streak of light instantly shot out of the seated figure and flew straight towards Ning. As soon as it touched Ning, it was instantly drawn straight into his body. As for the seated figure, it now seemed a bit dimmer and paler. Moments later, the door to the stone house rumbled shut.

Ning stood there, a series of images playing within his mind.

These images were of a muscular man who was training in sword-arts in his youth. It also included images of him becoming an Elder God, then a World God, then a Daolord, and finally an Eternal Emperor, as well as the many sword-arts involved…

The sword-arts started off weak, became stronger, and then completely surpassed Ning's imagination. This Hegemon had reached his level after perfectly joining together two Supreme Daos. Although this wasn't quite as impressive as what Ning had done, it wasn't that far off either.

He became a dazzling figure that gained true eternity, and was then given the respectful title of 'Hegemon'! Not even the most monstrously powerful of Daolords would dare to challenge an Eternal Emperor of such power. This was because he himself was already one of the most monstrously powerful of Daolords in his era. Now that he was an Eternal Emperor, he only became even more powerful than before.

"What a powerful sword." Ning's eyes were unfocused and intoxicated, and his thoughts were completely filled with images of inconceivably powerful sword-arts. Some possessed such incredible magic power that they seemed to surpass the limitations of the Dao itself.

A single strike of that sword could pass through the boundaries of spacetime and slay a foe who was a hundred territories away.

A single strike of that sword could cause spacetime itself to flow backwards, allowing the wielder to go back in time. Alas, it wasn't able to allow individuals who had perished in the past to be brought back to life.

The Prime Reaches of the Genesis Lands of the Archaeus region of the alternate universe. This was an incredibly mysterious place, and the thirty-five Eternal Emperors who had perished here weren't even the most important or most mysterious aspects to it.

The living Eternal Emperors didn't care too much about the deceased ones. At most, they'd display a bit of interest in the Universe treasures. What the living Eternal Emperors truly cared about were certain mysteries that were hidden within the prime essences of the universe! They were what had allowed the master of the Church of Annihilation to rise to power, becoming the number one expert of this entire universe and unifying it under his banner.

Whoosh.

A black gauzy figure flew through the skies, moving past the primessence chains that led from the outer reaches, then flying directly into the world of the inner reaches.

"What?!"

"How is that even possible?!"

"Isn't the only way into the inner reaches through traversing the primessence chains on foot?"

There were eighteen World-level cultivators and three Daolords standing at the outer reaches end of the primessence chains. One of those World-level cultivators was Waterlord Firesurge. Firesurge had also spent quite a bit of time wandering the outer reaches, and had also benefited greatly as a result of it. He felt that he had improved significantly, and so he wanted to once more test himself against the primessence chains. Alas, although this time he made it to the nine hundred kilometer mark, he still ended up failing.

"How can someone just fly across?" Waterlord Firesurge stared in disbelief at the gauze-clad figure that had just flown past them.

When the black, gauzy figure flew past them, it was as though spacetime itself had no hold over her whatsoever. She seemed to be drifting slowly, but in reality she moved so quickly that she almost instantly disappeared from the field of vision of the Daolords and the World-level cultivators.

"World-level cultivators and Daolords must tread the primessence chains. If not, they will be drawn into the abyss below and devoured. Only Eternal Emperors would dare to ignore the primessence chains and fly straight into the world of the inner reaches."

"Right. That had to have been an Eternal Emperor."

"Who was that Eternal Emperor?"

The Daolords and World-level cultivators quickly were able to guess at the status of that person. Eternal Emperors were incredibly rare and few in number. It must be understood that only two of them resided within the Genesis Lands, with one being Emperor Maniseal and the other being Emperor Northtree. That lithe figure that had flown past clearly belonged to neither of them.

"Which Eternal Emperor is it, then?"

"I've seen many people and many things, but I truly have no idea who that was. Could it be that a Daolord has recently completed his Daomerge and become a new Eternal Emperor? But once that happens, the news would quickly spread to the entirety of the Church of Annihilation." The Daolords and World-level cultivators continued to make their guesses, puzzled at what had just happened, but they all memorized the appearance of that black figure. They wanted to make sure that they remembered this was a person for them to never, ever offend.

The inner reaches. The thirty-five ancient corpses still lay scattered around this world.

The white-robed, silver-eyed man continued to stand there, silently inspecting the corpses of the three grandmasters of the sword. "I'm sure I sensed a special ripple just now… could it be that some of the legendary secrets of the prime essences are hidden here?"

The white-robed man carefully searched through every inch of the region. Anything involving the secrets of the prime essences was enough to drive any major power wild with lust. The Church of Annihilation was the perfect example of what it could bring. Who wouldn't go crazy for something like that?

Whoosh.

A gentle wind blew, and a figure appeared.

"What?!" The white-robed man was so badly shocked that even his face turned pale. "How could someone have appeared right next to me without me sensing anything at all?"

He was a Daolord of the Fourth Step, and an extremely famous one. He had once battled an Eternal Emperor for an extremely long period of time before fleeing. He was definitely strong enough to cause many other Daolords to sigh in amazement.

He slowly turned his head to stare at the nearby figure. Roughly thirty meters away stood a slender figure who was dressed in black gauzy clothes. She emanated an aura of endless coldness and purity, and she stood there as though she herself was the genesis source of this world. Everything around her seemed to naturally submit to her will! Here, she reigned supreme.

"Primordial Starqueen… the Paragon of Pills?" The white-robed man was so horrified that his heart shuddered with fear. He hurriedly fell to his knees with respect. "This junior greets you, Starqueen."

The highest ranking member in the Church of Annihilation was its leader and master, the one who had unified this entire universe. Second to him were the sixteen Starkings.

The sixteen Starkings were all unfathomably profound individuals, but the most powerful and mysterious members amongst their ranks were the ones known as the three Primordial Starkings! The reason why they were different from the other thirteen and were titled as 'primordial' was because they had been alive since the very birth of this universe.

The White Emperor was the teacher of the leader of the Church of Annihilation, and he was one of the three Primordial Starkings. As for the Paragon of Pills, she was also one of the three. She was an extremely mysterious figure who moved in mysterious ways and rarely revealed herself. It was very difficult for even Eternal Emperors to have a chance to meet with her. However, most of the high-status members of this universe all knew what she looked like.

She always dressed in black gauze and had a look of perpetual iciness about her. As for her features, they were forever be masked by a formless barrier of fog. There was no way to see her true features at all.

"What just happened here…" The black-garbed figure stared at the distant corpse of the greatsword-wielding man, complex emotions in her eyes. "Why did I suddenly feel as though something momentous happened?"

"Big brother… don't grow too impatient. Big brother, second brother, third brother… I'll reverse the flows of spacetime and bring all of you back to life…" The black-garbed figure murmured softly to herself. She had said these words far, far too many times. Her gaze was completely focused upon the muscular, greatsword-wielding man.

Suddenly, the look on her face changed. The aura around her began to ripple and rumble as well.

It must be understood that this place was the Prime Reaches of the Genesis Lands. This was no ordinary place! Ji Ning and the various Daolords weren't even able to fly about here, a testament to how powerful the various restrictive forces here were. And yet… just the slightest hint of startlement from the black-garbed figure was enough to cause the aura of the surrounding area to shake and rumble. All Daos were shaking, as though wishing to retreat from her.

Where I stand, all other Daos must bend the knee!

The white-robed man's heart shook with cold fear as he saw this. She lived up to her reputation as one of the three Primordial Starkings! In fact, according to the legends the only reason why the leader of the Church of Annihilation was able to rise to power was because the three Primordial Starkings had no interest in battle or power. The legends said that in reality, the three Primordial Starkings were just as powerful as their 'leader'.

Of course, those were just legends! The three Primordial Starkings, however, had indeed existed since the birth of this universe. This was why everyone believed that they knew the secrets held within it.

"What's going on? Everything was fine earlier. Nothing like this was happening." The white-robed man was puzzled.

As for the black-garbed figure, the Paragon of Pills, she stared at the treasures placed in front of the muscular man. Others, such as Daolords, might not be able to see anything, but her gaze easily pierced through the restrictive spells and allowed her to realize that a treasure was now missing from the pile.

"A treasure has disappeared? Who took it?" The Paragon turned to scan her surroundings, causing everything within the inner reaches to fall under her gaze.

"Tell me, what happened here?" The Paragon of Pills stared intently at the white-robed man.

"I…" The white-robed man truly had no idea as to what he should say.

Whoosh.

A handsome, white-robed youth who had a longsword on his back suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 38 – The Trileaf Realm

Ji Ning had left the Abyss of Fiends and returned to the inner reaches in a wonderful mood. But then…

"Eh?" Ning stared at the two figures in front of him. Although the white-robed, silver-eyed man had an extraordinary demeanor, Ning wasn't too surprised by his presence; the inner reaches of the Genesis Lands held quite a few Daolords of renown and power. But when he saw that slender, black-garbed figure… Ning couldn't help but feel a sense of shock in his heart.

He wasn't too far away from her, but Ning felt like a blind man groping for a flower within the mists. He couldn't see what she looked like; all he could sense was an aura of incredible coldness radiating from her, so cold that it burrowed deep into his soul and caused him to quiver.

"Who is this person?" Ning was shocked. "Not even Lord Woodflower of our Sword Palace is a match for her."

The black-garbed figure was staring at Ning as well, weighing him with a judging gaze. Her eyes seemed to see right through him and all of his secrets! Ning could sense that she was staring at him. It was a strange feeling; she was staring at him, but he couldn't see her at all.

"So it was you." The black-garbed figure suddenly spoke out, and her voice was just as cold and crisp as he had imagined it to be. Suddenly, she waved her sleeve.

Whoosh. Ning disappeared into thin air.

According to the rules of the Church of Annihilation, all violence was forbidden within the Genesis Lands. To forcibly abduct or teleport someone away was similarly forbidden. The nearby Daolord just stared blankly, not daring to make a sound. "Even if the leader of the Church of Annihilation found out about this, he probably wouldn't say anything."

The Paragon of Pills, one of the three Primordial Starkings… even if she chose to massacre everyone in the Genesis Lands, what of it?

After making Ning disappear, the Paragon of Pills said calmly, "You may leave now."

"Yes." The silver-eyed man immediately assented respectfully, then fled at high speeds.

The Paragon of Pills raised her head, staring at the corpse of the muscular, greatsword-wielding man with an almost dazed look in her eyes. She seemed to forget about time itself as she just stared at him silently.

He had died. Died a long, long time ago. But his corpse looked just like it did when he was alive.

"Paragon of Pills." Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"Mm?" The black-garbed Paragon turned gracefully, sweeping the area behind her with her dazzling, bewitchingly beautiful eyes. Off in the distance stood a Daoist dressed in deep blue robes and a high crown. He was walking straight towards her.

"Maniseal." The Paragon's voice remained as cool as ever. "I hear you are quite talented. You've even managed to devise something known as a 'Lifeblood Dao-seal'?"

Emperor Maniseal was startled. Indeed, his greatest accomplishment in the Dao of Seals was the Lifeblood Dao-seal, but very few people knew of this. In the Church of Annihilation, the only Eternal Emperors who knew of this should've been the church's leader and the White Emperor. How was it that another one of the three Primordial Starkings, the Paragon of Pills, had found out as well?

"It seems you keep a close watch on things, Paragon." Emperor Maniseal nodded. "Then I imagine you also know why I have come here?"

"You wish to reverse the flows of spacetime to resurrect that disciple of yours?" The Paragon said.

"In terms of mastery over reversing spacetime, you are probably more skilled than anyone else in our universe," Emperor Maniseal said. "The leader of the Church and the White Emperor have made excessive demands of me. I have no other options, which is why I have come to speak to you and ask if you can consider reviving my disciple."

"I cannot save your disciple, but the leader of the Church can," the Paragon said coolly.

"Cannot save him?" Emperor Maniseal was stunned.

"To reverse the flows of spacetime and to bring back to life a being whose truesoul was extinguished… this is a violation of one of the grand Daos that sustains the entire universe," the Paragon said slowly. "The universe continues to advance towards the future, and so to reverse the flows of spacetime is to go against the will and destiny of the universe."

"The lord of the Church of Annihilation can borrow some of the power of the prime essences of our universe and so would be able to resist the backlash from the universe. I, however, cannot," the Paragon said.

A look of disappointment appeared on Emperor Maniseal's face.

"Didn't you say long ago that it was much easier to reverse spacetime and bring back to life those who were below the Eternal Emperor level?" Emperor Maniseal felt both impatient and heartbroken.

The Paragon of Pills gave him a cold glance. Emperor Maniseal's heart shook.

Long, long ago, the Paragon of Pills had already risen to stand at the very apex of this universe. Back then, the leader of the Church of Annihilation had yet to rise to power, and the mightiest figures in the universe were the three Primordial Starkings.

Back then, the Paragon of Pills had done everything she could, paid every price she could pay, to try and reverse the flows of spacetime so as to bring back her big brother. Alas… in the end, she had failed. She had suffered such an incredible backlash from the universe that she herself had nearly perished as well.

Gripped by despair, she had said to the other two Primordial Starkings, "It would be much simpler if I was trying to reverse the flows of spacetime for someone below the Eternal Emperor level. But to revive someone who has gained eternity… it is far, far too hard…"

After that, the Paragon of Pills had left by herself and disappeared for a long period of time. Later on, when the lord of the Church of Annihilation had risen to power and unified the universe, he had invited the sixteen Starkings to join his organization. It was only then that the Paragon of Pills had appeared once more.

"Do not try to reverse the flows of spacetime to revive your disciple. Aside from the lord of the Church of Annihilation, no one can accomplish this task." The Paragon's voice was chilly. "I… I cannot bring anyone back at all."

Emperor Fubo knew that he could no longer ask any more questions. This was the only female member of the three Primordial Starkings, and she was unfathomably strong. All three of the Primordial Starkings were on very good terms with each other. When the Paragon of Pills had sought to revive her brothers, the other two had sacrificed quite a bit in their attempts to help her succeed.

As a matter of face, reversing spacetime to revive someone was something of a taboo topic for the Paragon of Pills. The only reason she had been willing to tell Emperor Maniseal so much was because pitied him as someone who shared the same desires as her, due to his wish to bring his disciple back to life.

"Just now, I sensed that after you came here you abducted a young fellow," Emperor Maniseal said with a smile. "Is that young fellow your big brother's successor?"

"Maniseal." The Paragon gave Emperor Maniseal a hard glance. "I'm warning you right now that you are not to get involved in the affairs of juniors."

"I know that, of course! If there's anything you need, Paragon, you can just let me know. I'll do everything I can to assist." Emperor Maniseal smiled as he produced a strange jade seal that was a mixture of balck and white colors. "Consider this Dao-seal as my gift to that young fellow."

The Paragon glanced at it, the corners of her lips curving upwards slightly. She waved her hand, accepting the talisman.

"No need to send me off." The Paragon of Pills turned and gracefully departed.

Emperor Maniseal watched as the Paragon disappeared off into the distance, then revealed a hint of a smile. "The Hegemon of the Dao of the Sword… it has been countless years since he passed away. This should be his very first successor."

When the Hegemon had perished, he had set down certain restrictive spells around himself. No one from the outside would be able to see any changes, but those who were able to see through the restrictive spells would be able to see just how many treasures lay hidden behind them.

Long, long ago, the Paragon of Pills had first risen to fame due to her mastery over alchemy. This was why she was respectfully titled the Paragon of Pills. In this universe, she was publicly acclaimed as the number one alchemist, and no one had ever surpassed her in this regard. She was naturally far superior to her big brother in terms of restrictive spells, and so she was able to see through it with ease.

As for Emperor Maniseal, he was the undisputed number one master of the Dao of Seals. As a result, in mastery over restrictive spells at least, he was somewhat superior to the deceased Hegemon.

Both of them were able to see through the restrictive spells and note the number of remaining treasures. However, neither of them dared to take the treasures by force. If they did, they would suffer an attack from the power of the entire Prime Reaches… and the Prime Reaches was where the prime essences of the entire universe lay. This would represent a strike from the entire universe, a strike of incalculable power.

Ning was now within an estate-world. This world was merely a few hundred kilometers in size, and there was no way out of it.

"Why was I captured and brought to this place? That woman… did she act with malice in mind, or was she motivated by good intentions?" This had been completely unexpected. He hadn't even had the chance to celebrate the fact that he had become the Hegemon's honorary disciple and gained his treasures. Instead, he had almost instantly been abducted by this new power.

Someone actually dared to attack him within the inner reaches? That had to mean she was at least at the Eternal Emperor level.

"What will be, will be. Not like there's any way for me to avoid it." Ning understood that given how this major power had been able to abduct him without him being able to put up any resistance at all… there was no way he could fight back against her.

Whoosh.

Ning could sense himself being surrounded by an enormous surge of power. Moments later, the world around him changed.

"Where am I?" Ning stared up ahead. He was in an area of endless darkness. The only thing within this region was a strange, five-colored space bridge. Aside from this five-colored space bridge, there was nothing but darkness. As for Ning himself, he was standing atop the bridge. Next to him was that slender, black-garbed figure.

"We've already left the Archaeus region. Soon, we'll reach the Trileaf Realm." The black-garbed figure spoke out, and the five-colored space bridge beneath their feet was advancing through the darkness at incredible speeds.

They were travelling countless trillions of kilometers with every moment. They were moving far faster than Prince Greatjoy's teleporting abilities could handle.

"Left the Archaeus region?" Ning was flabbergasted. Weren't they in the Genesis Lands just now? He spent nearly ten thousand freaking years travelling through the Archaeus region and into the Genesis Lands. How the hell did the suddenly leave it in an instant? He felt as though it hadn't even been enough time to boil a kettle of tea. This level of speed was ridiculous.

"Senior, dare I ask… what exactly is this Trileaf Realm?" Ning asked.

"My place." The Paragon of Pills gave a calm response.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 39 – A Half-Month Loan

The five-colored space bridge continued to stretch off into the distance, easily traversing the boundaries of both space and time. Just a short while later, a world that looked like an Immortal's abode appeared before them, vast and beautiful.

"This place is the Trileaf Realm. Long ago, I chose a location within the Sea of Bitter Darkness and established a world within it. Ever since then, I have been living here." The Paragon of Pills said in a cold voice, "The Trileaf Realm is a fairly well-hidden place. You probably have never heard of it before today. In the future, you may visit whenever you so desire."

Ji Ning relaxed slightly. It seemed as though this mysterious major power was treating him quite well. "Senior, are you planning to let me leave this place?"

"Of course. Do you think you'll be able to succeed in your Daomerge and gain eternity just by sitting here instead of going out adventuring?" The Paragon glanced sideways at Ning. "Don't worry. I've brought you here for certain reasons. Once I'm finished, I'll naturally let you go on your way. In the future, you can enter and exit this place freely! Although it's quite difficult for outsiders to enter my Trileaf Realm, things are different for you. You are the disciple of my old friend, and you can thus be considered one of the juniors in my lineage."

Ji Ning said, "Thank you, senior." Only then was Ning in the mood to spend some time inspecting this Trileaf Realm. From the outside, it looked like an enormous world that was being held up by a trio of blooming leaves. This world was so vast that it was countless times greater than most of the land masses Ning had encountered thus far.

"Do you know why it is named the Trileaf Realm?" The Paragon of Pills suddenly asked.

"Is it because of those three enormous leaves that are holding up the world? Is that why it is named the Trileaf Realm?" Ning guessed.

The Paragon slowly shook her head, but she didn't explain.

Swoosh!

The Paragon led Ning to fly downwards into the beautiful fairyland world below them.

The Archaeus region. The Genesis Lands. The outer reaches.

A streak of fire suddenly flew out of a secret region. Su Youji was dressed in her usual fiery red robes, and her entire body was bathed in flames that were shaped like a bird of some sort.

"I can't sense Master's aura any longer. Why can't I sense his aura? I could sense that he was in the inner reaches just a short while ago." Su Youji stared towards the inner reaches, a look of restless unease in her eyes. In the moment that the Paragon pulled Ning away, Su Youji had lost her ability to sense Ning's location.

Ning had given her a message-talisman, and she had given him one of hers. Theoretically speaking, the two would be able to constantly sense where the other was located and could meet up whenever they chose.

"Why have I suddenly lost all contact with him? What should I do. What should I do?" Su Youji felt extremely uneasy. This uneasy feeling had actually caused her to give up adventuring through the secret region she had been in, and give up on her chances to acquire the treasures within that region.

Su Youji transformed into a streak of light, repeatedly teleporting forwards as she moved towards the inner reaches at high speeds.

A short while later.

"Firesurge!" A group of cultivators was clustered together at the outer reaches end of the primessence chains, and Waterlord Firesurge was with them.

"Fellow Daoist Firesurge." Su Youji immediately landed, then called out to him respectfully.

"Flamefairy?" Seeing her, Firesurge immediately rose to his feet and asked curiously, "Flamefairy, why have you come here? Judging from the worried look on your face… what exactly has happened?"

"It's my master." Su Youji said worriedly, "I can sense that Master vanished. I feel very uneasy, which is why I immediately came over here. Have you seen my master, fellow Daoist Firesurge?"

Firesurge shook his head. "I haven't seen Darknorth since he entered the inner reaches. Did you just say that you lost contact with him, all of a sudden?"

"Right." Su Youji nodded hurriedly. "But his message-talisman is still with me, and it's completely undamaged."

If Ning had died, then the message-talisman should've sensed it and then shattered apart.

"So the talisman isn't damaged, right?" Firesurge asked.

"It did not." Su Youji nodded.

"The world of the inner reaches is filled with many different dangers," Firesurge said. "This is, after all, the place where this entire universe was birthed. It is highly possible that Darknorth might have found himself trapped in some location which prevents anyone outside of it from contacting him. It is highly likely that your master is still alive. But of course, for it to be able to sever all contact means it is definitely an extraordinary location. It's also possible that your master…"

Su Youji's heart trembled. This was exactly what she was afraid of. Ji Ning had been in the inner reaches for many years now, and she had been able to sense his presence this entire time! The same was true for Heartlord Solewind and his own retainer, Chaos Immortal Swallowback. Now, even Prince Greatjoy had gone into the inner reaches, with his retainer World Goddess Skywolf able to sense his presence.

But now… all of a sudden, she could no longer sense where Ji Ning was! Something must've gone wrong!

"Wait a bit longer. From what I've heard, World-level cultivators generally won't spend too much time in the inner reaches," Firesurge said. "Let's just wait a few thousand more years and see if he ends up coming out."

"Alright." Su Youji nodded slowly. There was nothing else she could do. "Thank you, fellow Daoist Firesurge." Su Youji immediately chose a quiet corner and then sat down in the lotus position. Her mind was now restless, and she was in no mood to continue adventuring. Still… she had already made shockingly great gains during her previous adventures in the outer reaches.

"Master, you have to live." Su Youji's feelings towards Ning were very complex. Ning was extremely powerful, and he had also saved her on numerous occasions. She couldn't help but feel a sense of love and admiration for him, but she could also sense that he had someone else in his heart. As a result, Su Youji had always been hesitant and unable to voice her feelings for him.

Deep within the Sea of Bitter Darkness, there lay the Trileaf Realm.

A few ripples appeared in front of an ancient, pitch-black building. From the ripples emerged a pair of figures; the Paragon of Pills and Ji Ning.

"This is my estate." The Paragon of Pills spoke calmly as she advanced.

Ji Ning followed her from behind. Rather curious, he asked, "Senior, why is it that I don't see any other cultivators within this estate?" There wasn't even so much as a gateguard. This truly was quite odd.

"I prefer the peace and quiet. I dislike being disturbed by others," the Paragon said coolly.

"Oh." Ning nodded.

If any of the other major powers of the Trileaf Realm saw how their exalted, transcendent leader, the Paragon of Pills, was casually carrying on a conversation with a mere World-level cultivator, they would almost certainly be stupefied by this. The Paragon of Pills was famous for her cold indifference! She generally wouldn't even pay any attention to most Eternal Emperors.

The reason she chatted a bit with Emperor Maniseal was because he was very powerful as well as a person who was struggling hard to revive his beloved disciple. This was why the Paragon of Pills treated him differently.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

In front of them was an enormous pill cauldron. Next to the pill cauldron there was a vast lake that was a hundred kilometers in size, and above the lake there was a waterfall that thundered downwards towards it.

"Is that…" Ning stared at the lakes in utter astonishment. "Is th-th-th-that all chaos nectar?"

A hundred kilometer lake that was completely composed of chaos nectar? Ning was rather dazed. How much chaos nectar was that?!

"Do you understand alchemy?" The Paragon of Pills looked at Ning.

"I do not." Ning shook his head.

"If you did, you would understand. Chaos nectar is incredibly important to the creation of pills, and it is chaos nectar which gives our pills their various magical properties. Chaos nectar can give birth to life itself; in fact, it can give birth to all things. It is an indispensable part of alchemy," the Paragon said. "An exceedingly vast amount of chaos nectar is used up with the creation of every highly valuable pill. That's why I just went ahead and set up an entire lake of it here. It makes it easier for me to withdraw as much as I need when I engage in my alchemy."

Ning was secretly speechless. Although the deceased Hegemon had prepared fifty million cubes of chaos nectar for his honorary disciples, that sum couldn't even come close to the amount of chaos nectar in this hundred kilometer lake.

The Paragon of Pills continued to walk forwards. They quickly arrived at a stone dais before the enormous pill cauldron, whereupon she sat down in the lotus position and turned her gaze towards Ning.

"There's something I would ask of you," the Paragon of Pills said.

"Pray tell, senior." Ning nodded respectfully.

"I know that you have gained a legacy from the Hegemon. The Hegemon's suit of armor should be with you," the Paragon said.

Ning felt a great sense of shock. Even this was known to her?

"Yes." Ning didn't try to play any games with her at all. He immediately nodded.

"That suit of armor…" The Paragon hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Loan it to me for a month."

"Loan?" Ning was secretly speechless. If she wanted to take it from him, there would've been nothing he could do.

Ning willed it, and a streak of light immediately flew out from his body and coalesced within his hands into the form of an ancient, unadorned suit of armor. This suit of armor had an aura that was as deep and profound as that of a fathomless abyss. It was as though an enormous mountain was lying within Ning's palms.

When the Paragon of Pills saw that ancient suit of armor appear within Ning's palms, she couldn't help but tremble.

"Senior." Ning stretched his hand out, causing the ancient suit of armor to fly out towards her.

The Paragon of Pills slowly accepted the armor, placing it across her lap. She gently stroked it with her hands, her fingers shaking uncontrollably. She murmured something softly to herself, but Ning wasn't able to hear what she was saying at all.

"Can you tell me if the Hegemon told you anything when he transferred this legacy to you? Did he mention anyone?" The Paragon of Pills asked softly.

"The Hegemon did not say much to me. He only said a single thing." Ning didn't try to hide it at all. "He said: 'My disciple… if in the future you succeed in the Daomerge and gain eternity, it is my wish that you repay the grace I shall show you today you unto the Paragon of Pills.'"

Ning still had no idea that this black-garbed woman was the Paragon of Pills.

The Paragon's heart shook.

Two crystalline tears suddenly dripped down from her face. They landed on the suit of armor, then broke apart into many tiny fragments. However, the mist surrounding her made it impossible for Ning to see this at all.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 40 – [Seven Leafpill Chapters]

The Paragon of Pills was silent for a long moment. She then said, "I'm borrowing this suit of armor for half a month, but I will compensate you for it. I can agree to one request of yours, so long as it isn't too excessive. Think it over. Even if you ask for a golem as strong as a Daolord of the Fourth Step, I can make it happen. Once you decide, simply tell me what you desire."

Ji Ning felt a surge of joy in his heart. Loaning out the suit of armor brought with it such a high 'interest'? Senior, why don't you borrow it for nine or ten years instead? But of course, he didn't say that aloud.

"You'll only have a single opportunity to make such a request of me. Choose wisely," the Paragon said.

"Right." Ning nodded, lost in thought. What should he ask for? Treasures? But he already had the Hegemon's armor, fifty million cubes of chaos nectar, and the Hegemon's Dao-seals… asking for more treasure really wouldn't make that much of a difference to him. The only thing which really mattered would be something which would have a significant effect on his future growth.

"Senior." Ning's eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at the enormous nearby cauldron. "Given the enormous cauldron and this enormous custom-made lake of chaos nectar, I imagine you are highly skilled in the art of alchemy, right?"

"Right." The Paragon nodded. "In terms of alchemy… there is no one in this entire universe who is a match for me. Even in the art of creating golems, I would definitely rank in the top three."

Ning was badly startled by this. What a tremendous claim to make! Only someone who felt completely confident in their skills would dare to claim that no one else in the entire universe would be a match for them.

"Senior, if you are skilled in alchemy…" Ning nodded. "Can you transmit some alchemy techniques to me?"

"Alchemy techniques?" The Paragon looked at Ning. "In the world of alchemy, such techniques are generally considered secret and are never taught to outsiders. You wish to study alchemy?"

Ning shook his head, willing his Dao lightning and his Dao water to fly out from his body. "Please take a look at them, seinor. This junior has learned a certain secret art that can allow Dao lightning to join together in a marvelous fashion, almost like the formation of a new pill. When mastered, it will allow me to perfectly merge together nine types of Dao lightning into my 'Novessence Thunder'! It'll be so incredibly strong that I will be able to slay even Daolords of the Fourth Step with it. However, actually training in this secret art is incredibly difficult, and my understanding of the art of alchemy is too lacking."

"To use divine lightning as the ingredients for this secret art… the person who created this secret art can be considered as having gained a basic level of insight into the true art of alchemy." The Paragon of Pills nodded.

Ning was speechless. Daolord Allgod had only gained a 'basic level of insight' into alchemy? And the scary thing was… compared to this woman, who proclaimed herself to be the most talented alchemist in this entire universe, Daolord Allgod probably truly had indeed only gained a 'basic' understanding of alchemy.

"I almost never teach my alchemy techniques to others." The Paragon of Pills hesitated momentarily. She once more gently brushed her fingers against the armor in her lap, then said, "And to date, I've only taught it to my three disciples. Today, you shall be the fourth to receive my alchemy techniques. Remember – without my permission, you are not to teach it to outsiders. Anyone who spends even a little bit of time training in this technique will become an expert in alchemy, and will be at least as skilled as the person who created this secret art of yours. If you were to spend a bit of time and effort on my technique, you would be able to easily surpass him."

Ning was speechless once again. Surpass Daolord Allgod in the Dao of Alchemy?

"Memorize this." The Paragon of Pills waved her hand. Instantly, a deep-green rune that was shaped almost like a bamboo leaf flew out of her and towards Ning. As soon as it touched Ning, it instantly began to burrow its way into Ning's memories.

A long time later, the process finally came to an end. Everything was memorized.

A new technique was now present within Ning's mind. Its name was the [Seven Leafpill Chapters, and when Ning looked at it he felt as though he had been enlightened with perfect wisdom. The purest truths and the greatest of Daos could be described very simply. Just by reading through the technique once, Ning's insights into the Dao of Alchemy began to skyrocket. Most likely, he was now already comparable to World God Pillsaint in alchemy!

The reason for this was mainly because the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] were simply incredible. But of course, it was also because Ning himself had reached a high level of comprehension in his own Daos.

"B-but…" Ning stared at the Paragon of Pills, somewhat at a loss for words. "All this junior wished for was a few pill-making techniques."

"Just accept what you have been given," the Paragon instructed. "If you wish, you can spend the free time you have training in alchemy. It might help inspire you with regards to your swordplay as well."

"Understood," Ning said respectfully.

The [Seven Leafpill Chapters] constituted a very complete and perfect alchemy system. It included detailed explanations regarding countless marvelous objects, as well as many different ways by which one could concoct alchemical medicines. Pills like the Pseudo Samsara Pill were actually considered fairly common, low-level pills. The types of pill-making techniques which Ning had wanted for his [Novessence Thunder] technique merely constituted a small portion of what the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] contained.

The Paragon of Pills continued, "Now that you have accepted my techniques… in the future, if you meet people who are extremely skilled in alchemy, if you so choose you may transmit the very first chapter of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] to them on my behalf! If they are able to completely master the first chapter, you may then transmit the second chapter. If this person is able to master all three of the first chapters, send that person here to me. Remember – when you help me choose future disciples, you are only permitted to teach them the first three chapters. Although the first three chapters are profound and abstruse, they aren't as valuable as the other four. I have to meet any potential disciple in person and be the one to decide whether or not I will teach them those chapters."

"Understood," Ning said respectfully. "This junior has already sworn a lifeblood oath on it."

The Paragon of Pills slowly shook her head. Due to her connection to the deceased Hegemon, she treated Ning very differently from the way she treated anyone else. She didn't want to force Ning to swear any lifeblood oaths.

However… although she hadn't requested it of him, Ning knew what was the proper way to act. This was a truly shocking, earth-shaking technique. If he one day was to encounter a powerful foe who was able to forcibly soulscour him and steal this technique, then Ning truly would have done wrong by her! But of course, Ning also believed that there weren't many who would be capable of soulscouring him, especially since he would quickly break through to become a Daolord once he returned to the Endless Territories. By then, he would become even more powerful than he was now.

"Take this Dao-seal. This seal was gifted to you by Emperor Maniseal." The Paragon of Pills tossed a black-white seal made from jade over to him.

Ning accepted it, rather startled. "Emperor Maniseal asked you to give it to me? B-but… I don't even know him…" Ning was so startled that he forgot to respectfully address her as 'senior'.

"He doesn't know you, but he does know me," the Paragon of Pills said calmly. "This Dao-seal is fairly valuable. It is of no use to me, but it will be of great use to you. By giving you this Dao-seal, he has sown the seeds of good karma with me."

Ning felt even more puzzled. If he wanted to sow the seeds of good karma with you, why would he give a Dao-seal to me? What exactly was the connection between himself and this mysterious alchemist? Still… for even this woman to refer to this Dao-seal as 'fairly valuable' meant that it had to be truly extraordinary.

"Once you send your senses into this Dao-seal, you will know how it is used," the Paragon said.

"Oh. OH!. T-this…" Ning was shocked by what he uncovered. What a terrifying Dao-seal!

This Dao-seal was named the 'Lifeblood' Dao-seal. All one had to do was store a drop of blood within it, then hide it in a safe place. Once you perished, you would instantly be reborn from the Dao-seal and the drop of blood within it, no matter what how far away you had died! This… this was equivalent to an extra life!

Right now, Ning had multiple clones of his true body, true, but once he became a Daolord all of his true body's clones would have to merge together. By then, he would only have his true body and his Primaltwin. If his true body died after that, it would truly be dead. There would be no way to bring it back at all.

This Dao-seal represented a second life for a Daolord. If you died, you would be able to immediately come back to life. However, the inconceivable power hidden within this Dao-seal would be completely consumed after a single usage.

"This Dao-seal is simply incredible. It can actually offer a Daolord a second life!" Ning couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

What he didn't realize was that this was merely one of the early prototypes which Emperor Maniseal had created. Emperor Maniseal himself had Lifeblood Dao-seals which could give even Eternal Emperors a second chance at life! However, those Dao-seals were incredibly valuable; there was no way Emperor Maniseal would simply hand them out as gifts! All he wanted to do this time was to give Ning a gift and thus befriend the Paragon of Pills.

In the future, if he needed to ask her for help, it would be a bit easier for him. It must be understood that the Paragon of Pills truly had poured tremendous amounts of effort into learning the intricacies of reversing spacetime. In this respect, she truly was one of the most skilled experts of all.

"Whoosh." Suddenly, a golden-robed figure flew over towards them.

"Master." The golden-robed figure called out respectfully.

"This is my retainer." The Paragon glanced at Ning, then instructed, "Yuhong, lead Darknorth in finding a residence for himself. Also – you are not to reveal to anyone the relationship between the two of us!"

"Understood," the golden-robed elder said respectfully.

"Darknorth." The Paragon looked at Ning. "The Trileaf Realm has a total of five Eternal Emperors within it, and all five of them are my retainers. Spend some time exploring this realm. I trust it will be of some benefit to you! When you wish to leave, simply let Yuhong know and he will escort you away from here. As for the armor, I'll return it to you within half a month."

"Understood," Ning said, but he couldn't help but feel secretly stunned. Five Eternal Emperor retainers? Even the almighty Hegemon of the Brightshore Kingdom only had a few Eternal Emperors under his command, right? Was this person before him someone who was on the same level of power as the almighty Hegemon himself?

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 41 – Rapid Improvements

"Go," the Paragon of Pills instructed.

The golden-robed elder and Ji Ning both bowed respectfully, then departed.

As for the Paragon, she simply sat there in the lotus position, head lowered as she stared at the ancient armor. She murmured softly to herself, "Big brother…"

Long, long ago, the Paragon of Pills had personally fashioned this suit of armor, then given it to the person whom she loved the most, her 'big brother'. The Hegemon had worn it his entire life. Now, as she gently caressed the armor, she felt as though she could sense his presence.

The Paragon shut her eyes, then casually lay down on the ground and nestled her head against the ancient armor. Just like that… she fell asleep.

She was the only person in that entire ancient estate. It was deathly silent here. Without her permission, not even her retainers would dare to enter this place. Long, long ago, she had lived here alongside the Hegemon. Back then, their second brother and third brother had often teased the two of them for being such a pair of lovebird Dao-companions.

And now… she was the only one left.

After departing from the Paragon's estate, Ning was led away by Yuhong and the two teleported to an estate that was at the top of a mountain.

"This is my own residence." Daolord Yuhong smiled. "There are quite a few empty manors around here. Choose whichever one you like, Darknorth. Those three over there, the five over there, and also those two over there… all of them are empty."

Ning swept the area with his gaze, then pointed at a distant manor which was located halfway up a mountain. "That one."

"I'll arrange for some servants to go there. Just let me know if there's anything you need." Daolord Yuhong smiled. "I'm quite familiar with the Trileaf Realm."

"Dare I ask…" Ning suddenly asked something which had been puzzling him. "Who was that lady who brought me here to this place?"

"You don't even know what my master is named?" Daolord Yuhong was quite shocked. His master was an incredibly exalted figure. For her to personally bring a World-level cultivator like Darknorth to her residence meant that she viewed him in a very special way. How was it that this kid didn't even know what her name was?

"No idea. I didn't dare ask," Ning said.

"If you stay here in the Trileaf Realm long enough, you'll find out. It's not really a secret. Master was the one who created the entire Trileaf Realm," Daolord Yuhong said. "My master is one of the three Primordial Starkings of the Church of Annihilation, the Paragon of Pills."

Ning's eyes instantly bulged out. "P-P-Paragon of Pills?"

When the deceased Hegemon had transmitted his legacy to Ning, he had said: "My disciple… if in the future you succeed in the Daomerge and gain eternity, it is my wish that you repay the grace I shall show you today you unto the Paragon of Pills."

So the mysterious, powerful woman was actually the Paragon of Pills!

"No wonder she treated me in such a special manner," Ning mused. "The dead Hegemon and the Paragon of Pills clearly had a very special relationship! Both he and the other thirty-five Eternal Emperors all perished in the Prime Reaches of the Genesis Lands… I imagine the Paragon of Pills knows all the secrets behind their deaths."

"My master is extremely skilled in alchemy. In the Dao of Alchemy, she is the undisputed number one expert of our entire universe. The second-ranked figure has perhaps a tenth of Master's skills in alchemy. The ten most dazzlingly famous pills and medicines in this entire universe were all forged by Master," Daolord Yuhong said smugly. "You can imagine for yourself how incredibly talented my master is in the Dao of Alchemy."

"And that's not her only skill. Although she hasn't spent as much effort in artificing and golem-making, she still ranks as one of the top three experts in this universe." Daolord Yuhong suddenly added smugly, "Her retainer, 'Emperor Gonflame,' once studied the art of artificing under her. He has now surpassed her in this regard, and is considered the number one expert in artificing within our universe. When Master told you to go explore the Trileaf Realm, I'm sure that her true goal was for you to go pay a visit to Emperor Gonflame. Cultivators need to be able to acquire suitable weapons, after all. The weapons of others will never be a perfect fit for you; only a custom-forged weapon that was made for you personally will be an ideal fit."

Ning was secretly speechless. Clearly, the Trileaf Realm had a truly transcendent status within this universe.

The Paragon of Pills was this universe's foremost expert in alchemy. Her retainer, Emperor Gonflame, was its foremost expert in artificing.

But of course, although it had a transcendent status, what really mattered in the world of major powers was power itself! The lord of the Church of Annihilation had been able to unify his universe thanks to his overwhelmingly great power. Emperor Gonflame might be the number one artificer and weaponsmith, but he was still just a retainer. The reason why he and the other four Eternal Emperors were all willing to be retainers to the Paragon was because of her incredible strength! Similarly, the reason why Emperor Maniseal had gifted Ning a Dao-seal via the Paragon in order to befriend her was because of how strong she was.

"Where does Emperor Gonflame live?" Ning asked.

"Take a look over there." Daolord Yuhong pointed towards a distant inferno that towered through the heavens. The skies themselves were bathed a fiery red color. "That right there is Emperor Gonflame's residence. Go pay a visit when you have some free time."

Ning nodded. "Then I'll go back to my own residence for now."

"Come find me if there's anything you need." Daolord Yuhong smiled warmly. He certainly wouldn't dare to treat Ning in a negligent manner.

Ning immediately transformed into a streak of light as he flew towards his own estate.

The estate already had a number of servants within it. When they saw Ning descend from the skies, they all bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Master."

Ning nodded and smiled at them. "Carry on with your normal tasks. Do not disturb me unless I call for you."

"Yes, Master," they all acknowledged.

Ning immediately entered the estate. As he had descended, he had instantly sent out a stream of Immortal energy and bound the estate to him. Cultivators would only feel at ease if they were in complete control of the estate they were residing in! But of course, when Ning left he would naturally disperse the binding seal he had laid upon the estate.

Ning strode forwards through his estate.

Rumble… a stone door within the estate swung open.

Ning entered the room. Past the stone door was a circular stone disc that was covered with many divine runes. Ning immediately walked forwards, then sat down in the lotus position atop the stone disc. He could sense ripples of power emanate out from the disc to cover him and his heart, causing him to completely calm down. Moments later, the giant stone door swung shut once more.

This was the estate's meditation room.

"Let's take another look." Ning closed his eyes as he once more began to mentally read through the contents of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters]. He spent five full days in the careful reading process.

The [Seven Leafpill Chapters] provided a slow, systemized guide to the art of alchemy. However, Ning didn't need to actually concoct pills, as he mainly needed to learn certain alchemical methods to help him work on his [Novessence Thunder]. Althrough the alchemical techniques in the first three chapters were fairly formidable, they were nothing compared to what the final four chapters held! This was especially true for the alchemical techniques held within the seventh chapter. Those were truly incredible, and were most likely the techniques which the Paragon of Pills herself used.

Now that Ning had been able to develop five Supreme Daos and then join them together, he was able to learn technical skills like these quite quickly. Still, he was far from being at the level which the Paragon was at. He had to spend another five full days before he was able to just barely learn and understand the alchemy techniques contained within the seventh chapter.

"Although I've only learned half of it, if I used it to actually concoct pills I would be far more effective than if I used all the techniques of the first three chapters." Ning was in an excellent mood.

"Time to test out the [Novessence Thunder] and the [Novessence Water, I suppose." Ning could sense that he now had much more control over his lightning and water. The alchemical techniques which the Paragon of Pills had given him had improved his finesse more a thousand times over. No wonder the Paragon had said that if he spent some time and effort on it, it would be easy for him to surpass the creator of the [Novessence Thunder] in alchemical skill. This alchemical system, the [Seven Leafpill Chapters, truly was the most supremely sacred sutra of the Dao of Alchemy.

Ning shut his eyes and began to visualize his body.

Within his Jindan chaos region.

A towering Dao-tree that was 108,000 meters high was here. This tree symbolized Ning's insights into the Dao of the Sword. In truth, he could break through to the Daolord level whenever he wanted, allowing his Dao-tree to surpass that limit! Ning had actually already reached the World level in many different Daos, such as wind, fire, lightning, and space, but he hadn't been able to cause new Dao-trees to form for them within his Jindan chaos region.

Crackle! Boom!

The region was filled with flickering lightning essences and gushing water essences that bubbled with power.

"Arise." The azureflower mist energy spread out, easily taking control over two streaks of Dao lightning. These were the two easiest types of Dao lightning to control; Watersmoke Lightning and Firecloud Lightning.

"The [Seven Leafpill Chapters]…" Ning immediately began to use the Leafpill techniques. Slender threads of slender golden light began to appear, each thread filled with countless divine runes. The threads slowly manifested into a pair of enormous golden hands that gently grasped the two types of Dao lightning, then began to almost pinch them together with ease, continuously harmonizing them.

Slowly, the two streaks of Dao lightning began to transform. The fire and the water merged together, producing a single stream of deep azure lightning.

He had succeeded in merging two types of Dao lightning!

"Too easy." Ning himself was shocked at how easy it had felt. It had been as easy as breathing.

"I'll go straight to three types." Ning was brimming with confidence. Logically speaking, he should've first left behind a 'seed' for the dual-essence thunder, but he was so confident that he couldn't even be bothered to do so. He went straight to a tri-essence thunder.

One of the giant golden hands was gripping the bi-essence thunder, while the other golden hand picked up a strand of Earthfiend Lightning. The two quickly began to merge together…

Completing the tri-essence thunder was more than ten times as difficult as completing the bi-essence thunder.

Still… step by step, Ning managed to use the [Novessence Thunder] technique to finalize his tri-essence thunder! The tri-essence thunder was a streak of deep yellow lightning. When the lightning spread out, it contained so much power that it was clearly significantly than the seven types of Dao lightning and Dao water added together.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 42 – Quadressence Water

A full day passed in the blink of an eye.

For now, Ji Ning resided within a side pavilion within the estate. He just sat there, staring past the railing towards the beautiful scene of the Trileaf Realm outside.

Whoosh. Ning stretched out a finger, causing a strand of deep yellow lightning to jump out from his fingertip. It looked absolutely beautiful, but it contained terrifying amounts of power.

Ning then stretched out a second finger. From this finger, a thin stream of water came pouring out, swirling around his fingertip. The water emanated a beautiful, gemlike aura of green light, but its power was on a slightly lower level than that of the lightning. And yet, a powerful Daolord of the First Step who was touched by this stream of water would be instantly frozen into an ice statue. Even his truesoul would be frozen solid, then crumble into tiny bits.

This was the quadressence Dao water Ning had been able to create.

"Lightning is brutal and wild. To tame and control lightning is more difficult than taming and controlling water." Ning nodded slowly. "For now, creating tri-essence thunder is my limit. To master quadressence thunder is far too difficult."

Both the lightning and the water could go up to the 'novessence' level. However, the difficulty level would skyrocket with each additional essence. According to what Daolord Allgod had said, a Daolord of the First Step would be able to just barely master the tri-essence thunder. A Daolord of the Second Step had a chance to master the pentessence thunder, a Daolord of the Third Step might be able to master the heptessence thunder, while a Daolord of the Fourth Step would be able to master the complete Novessence Thunder! Ning was still merely at the World level. It was all thanks to the azureflower mist energy and the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] that he was able to master the tri-essence thunder.

"For now, my most powerful killing attack is once more the 'Yin-Yang Sword Domain'." Ning couldn't help but let out a laugh. This was clearly a defensive technique, but because of his upgrade powerful multi-essence Dao water and Dao lightning it was now his most powerful killing technique as well!

"Oh, right." Ning waved his hand, causing a figure to appear out of nowhere. It was World God Pillsaint, and he had a rather blank look on his face. He was dressed in loose red robes. A smear of grease could be seen on his red lips and his white teeth.

"Oh, Master." World God Pillsaint started to laugh when he saw Ning. "I was wondering what was going on. I was in the middle of a meal when the world around me suddenly changed."

"You might've been having fun stuffing your face with food, but I've been freaking out for quite some time now." Ning laughed. When he had been abducted by the Paragon of Pills, he truly had felt quite nervous. Thankfully, it had been a good thing in the end.

"What happened?" World God Pillsaint was rather puzzled as he scanned his surroundings. "And where are we? And right, where is Youji? Didn't you have a number of comrades travelling with you, Master? Why are you sitting here by yourself? Heeeey… and it seems as though you have some servants here as well."

Ning shook his head. "Good lord, you talk a lot. Just shut your mouth for a moment."

World God Pillsaint immediately fell silent.

"I asked you to come out because I wanted to bestow some good fortune upon you," Ning said.

"Good fortune?" World God Pillsaint was puzzled.

"Right. Don't fight back." As Ning spoke, he reached out with a finger and tapped Pillsaint on his forehead.

Ning directly transmitted the first chapter of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] directly into Pillsaint's mind. According to what the Paragon of Pills had said, Ning was at most permitted to transmit the first three chapters to certain people of his choosing! If Pillsaint was able to learn the first three chapters in a fairly short period of time, Ning would be permitted to bring Pillsaint before the Paragon, at which point he might earn a truly great opportunity for himself.

Ning had to do this right away. Once they went back to their own universe, it would most likely be close to impossible for them to return to this universe again.

A long while later…

"Wow. T-t-this is… this is absolutely inconceivable. Inconceivable! This is TRUE alchemy! Absolutely incredible! Compared to this, the crap I learned in the past can't even be called alchemy!" World God Pillsaint began to scream with excitement.

Ning couldn't help but start to laugh upon seeing this.

"This is simply marvelous! You can actually use alchemy like this?! A completely new world, a completely new Dao of Alchemy, has opened up before my eyes!" Pillsaint only grew increasingly excited as he spoke. He stared at Ning, his eyes blazing with excitement. "But Master… it seems as though you only transmitted part of a complete technique to me?"

"Yes, this is just the first chapter," Ning said.

"And the rest?" Pillsaint was extremely excited. Alchemy and pill-making was his area of specialty. He was already delirious with joy upon having received the first chapter of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters, a supreme, sacred manual for the Dao of Alchemy.

"After you fully master the first chapter, I'll naturally transmit the second chapter to you," Ning said.

"Second chapter? Does that mean there's also a third chapter? And a fourth chapter?" Pillsaint was so excited that his face had turned beet-red. "Who created this alchemy technique? My master was a Daolord who was extremely skilled in alchemy and quite famous, but compared to what you just transmitted to me… he is way, way, waaaay inferior! I insist on becoming apprenticed to the person who created this technique!"

Ning shook his head. "You might want to become that person's apprentice, but that person might not want to accept you. Calm down and focus on learning the technique I just transmitted to you, and you might have a chance in the future."

"Right, right!" Pillsaint nodded repeatedly.

"Master." Pillsaint suddenly fell to his knees, intending to kowtow.

Ning was stunned. He hurriedly lifted Pillsaint back up to his feet. "Pillsaint, what are you doing?!"

"Master, you might not understand what this alchemy technique represents. To me… this is a new path, a new Dao that leads to the greatest heights of my profession. This… this is the true Dao of Alchemy. I'll be able use it to become a Daolord… and perhaps rise to even greater heights." Pillsaint said gratefully, "I, Pillsaint, have no way of repaying you for your gift of the Dao…"

Ning nodded. "All you have to do is study hard."

This Dao of Alchemy led all the way to the Eternal Emperor level! By using this Dao, Pillsaint might very well become an Eternal Emperor himself.

Now that he saw a chance to become a Daolord, Pillsaint began to spend all of his time in frenzied study and training. Ning had merely memorized some of the pill-making techniques, but Pillsaint was thoroughly analyzing and studying every aspect of the technique. He even went as far as to try them out in actual pill-making. Pillsaint truly was quite talented in alchemy, but he never had a teacher as good as this. Although his previous master was quite talented, he was still significantly inferior to even the likes of Daolord Allgod, to say nothing of the Paragon of Pills.

Now that this opportunity had come before him, Pillsaint truly had a chance to soar into the heavens.

Ning knew very well that his foundation was still the Dao of the Sword! He was mainly going to make use of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] to learn more about alchemy. Pillsaint was his retainer; it would be of tremendous help to Ning if Pillsaint was to become an incredible grandmaster alchemist.

The day after transmitting the first chapter to Pillsaint, Ning departed from his estate and transformed into a streak of light which flew off into the distance.

"My name is Darknorth. Greetings, fellow Daoist."

"Greetings, fellow Daoist Darknorth."

Ning encountered quite a few World-level cultivators on his journey. On occasion, he even met a few Daolords.

The Trileaf Realm was an incredibly vast world, much like how the Brightshore Kingdom itself also contained countless living beings and cultivators.

"Emperor Gonflame?" Ning spent more than six hours flying and teleporting at top speed before finally reaching Emperor Gonflame's residence.

"This is the Emperor's residence. Outsidesr are not permitted to enter." Two novices were guarding the gates to the estate. They immediately barked at Ning upon seeing him fly over.

"This junior has heard of the Emperor's skill in artificing and thus has come to greet him. I wonder if I might be fortunate enough as to have an audience with him?" Ning asked.

"So you've come to purchase treasures?" One of the novices pointed off into the distance. "Enter from the side entrance. Someone will help take care of you. Don't you even know which door you are supposed to enter through? This here is the main entrance. Generally speaking, major powers who have come to meet with our Emperor will wait here as we send the message to him."

"Pardon me for my rudeness." Ning didn't really mind. He immediately flew towards the side entrance.

As for the two novices, they continued to stand there in front of the estate in a smug manner. Their master was the number one artificer in their entire universe. Quite a few people came to ask to meet him. Even Eternal Emperors came to request a meeting, to say nothing of Daolords. All of them had to first go through the novices. This naturally made them arrogant and dismissive towards a mere World-level cultivator.

"Gah? Are there so many treasures here that they stack them up in front of the entrance?" As Ning flew towards the side entrance, he couldn't help but feel shocked upon moving closer.

Although it was just the side entrance, it was still dozens of meters wide. There were quite a few servants there, as well as three treasures which hovered above the entrance. One was a pearl that glimmered with fiery light and which emanated faint ripples of might. The second was a white flower that emanated waves of white light, bringing a sense of peace and harmony to those who were bathed in it. The final treasure was a painting depicted a world of mountains and rivers.

"Fellow Daoist, have you come to purchase treasures?" In front of the door stood a female servant with unbound hair who emanated the aura of a Daolord. Most likely, she was a Daolord of the First Step, and she smiled at Ning as she spoke.

"I am." Ning nodded.

"Please enter, fellow Daoist. Any of the treasures you see inside are for sale." Although Ning was at the World level, the female servant didn't show discourtesy as a result of it. The treasures they had here were all for sale, and they were all items which Emperor Gonflame made in a casual manner when testing out certain ideas. Despite that, they were still items which would drive Daolords in the outside world utterly mad with desire.

Ning stepped into the residence, and things immediately changed. As soon as he passed through the doorway, it was as though he entered a vast expanse in outer space, filled with countless twinkling stars.

There were cultivators walking through this region of void-like space, as well as servants and attendants who were waiting on them. They strolled through the void, gesturing at the various stars. Every single 'star' was actually a treasure.

"This treasure costs three million? That's a bit too expensive, right? Can you lower the price a bit?"

"I'll buy this one!"

The Daolords here all acted in a very humble manner. Emperor Gonflame's store didn't hold any treasures which were less than a million cubes of chaos nectar, but what it did have drove countless cultivators mad with desire. As for the World-level cultivators… almost all of them only came for window shopping. They'd browse through the items but not buy them. They were really here just to expand their horizons.

When Ning entered this region of void-like space, the attendants all glanced at him. Although they all had courteous looks on their faces, in their hearts they muttered to themselves, "Ugh, another World-level cultivator, here to look but not to buy."

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 43 – Ji Ning's Sword

There were only so many attendants in the store, and the majority of them were busy accompanying the Daolords. As a result, Ji Ning was by himself after entering the place.

"Damned impressive." Ning stared at the many treasures in the void, all of which gleamed like shining stars. The very first treasure he took a close look at gave him a bad shock.

Every single treasure was protected by restrictive spells, which was why they glittered like stars from afar. By sending your senses out, you would be able to gain some detailed information regarding each treasure. As for this first one, it was a shuttle-type magic treasure.

"Woodfire Azuresun Shuttle. It takes three thousand years and ten thousand cubes of chaos nectar for it to be charged up. After it is charged up, it can be used a single time and unleash the power of a Daolord of the Fourth Step. The cost is eight million cubes of chaos nectar!"

"It can only be used once each time?" Ning was secretly speechless. "It seems you really can't predict the power of a Daolord just by looking at him. He might look weak, but have a ridiculous treasure like this. Thank goodness that treasures like this are ridiculously expensive."

Ji Ning went through one magic treasure after another. Ordinary Eternal weapons filled with sword-intent and saber-intent were fairly cheap; few of them could breach the million cube price range. The ones which Emperor Gonflame had put out for display all had certain special properties.

All the magic treasures here were special in some way, which was why they exceeded a million cubes in price.

"A Hearteater Clock. It contains a secret art of a Heartforce Cultivator Daolord of the Fourth Step. When activated, it can attack the enemy's mind and cause weaker enemy's to completely lose control. The price is fifty million cubes."

"This is insane." Ning was truly frightened by this treasure. He knew very well that in a life-and-death battle, to lose focus for even an instant could result in you dying and your Dao vanishing! This item was clearly described as having a secret art of a Daolord of the Fourth Step who was a Heartforce Cultivator. The power of the attack had to be extraordinary! For a non-Heartforce Cultivator to be able to suddenly unleash a heartforce attack of such power… this treasure was truly insane in power.

But the price was insane as well. Fifty million cubes? Very few Verge-level Daolords would be willing or able to buy such a thing.

There were evasive-type magic treasures that would allow you to instantly flee at a hundred times the speed of light.

There were formation-type treasures which, when used, would trap the opponent so thoroughly that it would be almost impossible for him to escape.

There was even a sword-formation formed from a total of 216 high-grade Eternal swords of extraordinary power. It was perfect for a Ki Refining Daolord of the Fourth Step, and the more powerful the Daolord was the more power the sword-formation could unleash.

There was also a particularly priceless sin-treasure which contained a total of 999 sinfiends. Every single sinfiend was comparable to a Daolord of the Third Step in might, and once this treasure was unleashed it could decimate ordinary Daolords of the Fourth Step. However, this treasure truly was 'priceless', in that you could only barter for it with Emperor Gonflame by using incredibly valuable treasures of your own.

After Ning saw this treasure, he mumbled to himself, "Once I merge my nine types of Dao lightning into my Novessence Thunder, I'll be able to wipe out Daolords of the Fourth Step as well. Even if thousands of sinfiends attack me, my lightning will be able to wipe them all out."

After finishing his viewings, he felt rather speechless. Still, the majority of these treasures weren't really useful to him, because he already had those five powerful golems! In addition, he would quickly become a Daolord upon returning to the Endless Territories. When that happened, his [Novessence Thunder] and his [Novessence Water] would rapidly grow in power. There really weren't that many treasures which would attract Ji Ning's interest.

The ones that did were way too expensive!

The cheapest of evasive treasures, for example, started at ten million cubes… and those only moved nine times faster than the speed of light. As for the ones which allowed you to flee at a hundred times the speed of light, they were similarly priceless and could only be procured through trading treasures of your own.

Ning stared at a distant treasure, his gaze rather distant. He murmured to himself, "This is what I really need."

It was exactly what he needed, and it was also something he could afford.

Off in the distance, a snow-white sword that emanated an aura of endless coldness could be seen hovering in the air. He sent out a slight strand of mental power and was able to immediately know what this sword did.

"A lifeblood weapon. The cultivator can pour all of his insights regarding his Sword Dao into this weapon to charge it with a Sword Dao quintessence. When you use a weapon which is perfectly aligned with your own Sword Dao, it will be able to unleash the most amount of power! You can use it to continuously perfect and upgrade your Sword Dao! In addition, lifeblood weapons are all created from incredibly precious materials and can grow alongside you. If your Sword Dao is strong enough and you feed it enough precious materials, then with a bit of luck you might very well give birth to a Universe weapon in the future. The price is thirty million cubes."

"So this is a lifeblood weapon," Ning murmured to himself. He had heard of them long ago, but not even the Sword Palace's Armaments Valley held any. lifeblood weapons were simply too rare; whenever a grandmaster artificer managed to finally produce one after an enormous amount of effort, other cultivators would immediately charge forwards to purchase it.

Lifeblood weapons were given that name because they truly became one with the cultivators who wielded them, and the quintessence within them would be created and formed by their wielders. But more importantly than that, they could also grow and become increasingly powerful!

They were the perfect weapons for cultivators, the weapons which could truly unleash a cultivator's maximum potential! If Ning used an 'ordinary' weapon, he would probably only be able to unleash 30% to 40% of the amount of power he could unleash if he was using his own lifeblood weapon! This was what made lifeblood weapons so powerful… and they could grow without any limitations.

Generally speaking, top-grade Eternal swords were the best weapons you could buy. But lifeblood weapons could continuously grow alongside you, growing more powerful as you yourself did. In the hands of others, it would perhaps merely be an ordinary top-grade Eternal weapon, but in the hands its true master, it would be countless times more powerful.

Almost all Eternal Emperors used lifeblood weapons… and if evolved and empowered to a sufficient degree, lifeblood weapons had a chance of transforming into Universe weapons!

"The Palace of the Sword is filled with sword cultivators, and whenever any of them discover a lifeblood weapon they will go crazy for it." Ning's gaze was blazing with eagerness. "Who would've thought I'd run into one such weapon here in this alternate universe?"

Lifeblood weapons could only truly fuse with their very first master. Once that first master perished, they would become nothing more than ordinary weapons.

"This is what I really need. My Sword Dao encompasses all aspects of all sword-arts. It is extremely difficult for me to find a sword which suits my Dao," Ning mused. "I need a lifeblood sword that will become as powerful as I myself will!"

"Fellow Daoist." Ning glanced at a nearby attendant and sent him a mental message. The Daolord attendant glanced back at him, puzzled. What did this World-level cultivator want?

"I need this lifeblood weapon," Ning sent.

"Lifeblood weapon?!" The distant attendant was badly shocked by this request. He hurriedly walked over, stepping through the void of space as he quickly arrived next to Ning. "Fellow Daoist." The attendant hurriedly smiled at Ning.

"Can you lower the price of this lifeblood weapon a bit?" Ning asked.

"If you are friends with the Emperor or perhaps know his senior disciples, they might cut you a deal. I'm just a lowly attendant; I don't have that authority," the attendant said. "This sword is a lifeblood weapon that was forged just a short while ago. If you wait just a bit longer, I imagine other sword cultivators would appear and immediately snatch it up."

Ning nodded. Sword cultivators were devoted to the sword. All you needed was one sword to be completely devoted to, then use it to destroy all other arts. Foes might use all sorts of strange techniques and spells, but when my sword emerges it shall shatter the heavens and crush the earth, wiping out all in its path! Ning's own Sword Dao was already quite terrifying. When matched with a suitable lifeblood weapon… that would be adding strength atop of strength.

Any sword cultivator would be willing to sacrifice all of his other treasures for the chance to acquire a lifeblood sword.

"Thirty million cubes…" Ning stared at that snow-white sword, emanating that aura of freezing cold. This truly was a painful price, as the deceased Hegemon had only given him fifty million cubes. His darkspace flamestone hoard was only worth ten million cubes.

"I'll buy it." Ning nodded.

"Please wait a moment. I'll go make a report," the attendant said. "I don't have the power to release the restrictive spells binding this lifeblood sword."

"Alright." Ning nodded in understanding. One couldn't be too careful with lifeblood swords. If someone was able to so much as touch them, the sword would be ruined for anyone else and become nothing more than an ordinary weapon. The first binding performed on a lifeblood weapon was critical, as only the first binding could be a true, complete one.

The attendant left to make his report. As for Ning, he just stared at the sword, murmuring to himself, "It'd be wonderful if I could acquire six lifeblood swords. I'd be even stronger." But of course, if anyone heard Ning's secret wish, they would probably laugh themselves to death. A single lifeblood sword was already a treasure of incalculable value. SIX of them? Who would even dare think of such a thing?

Just a short while later, the attendant reappeared. Only, he had a rather strange look on his face when he looked at Ning, almost as though he was looking at some sort of monster.

"Uh, Fellow Daoist." The attendant was noticeably more humble and respectful than he was previously. "Can you please follow me this way?"

"Eh?" Ning glanced at him.

The attendant sent mentally, "The Emperor has ordered for you to go meet him."

"The Emperor?" Ning was stunned.

"My Emperor, of course… which is to say, Emperor Gonflame," the attendant sent back. He was truly puzzled. Normally, it was other major powers who would attempt to request a meeting with Emperor Gonflame. Why was Emperor Gonflame actively inviting this young World-level cultivator?

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 44 – Emperor Gonflame

Emperor Gonflame wished to meet him? Ji Ning hesitated for a moment. He was nothing more than a World-level cultivator. There was probably only one possible reason why Emperor Gonflame wished to meet him in person…

The Paragon of Pills!

Emperor Gonflame was one of the retainers of the Paragon of Pills, while the Paragon had an extraordinarily close relationship with Ning's deceased Hegemon master. Most likely, she could be considered his master's wife, almost like a godmother.

"Lead the way," Ning said.

"Follow me." The attendant immediately led the way forwards, but in his heart he couldn't help but feel puzzled at what the relationship was between this young World-level cultivator and his Emperor was.

The attendant led Ning forwards. A short while later, it was an Emperor-level retainer who personally led the way for Ning.

A short while later, they reached an enormous, peaceful courtyard. There were two lakes within the courtyard, one of which was filled with a blazing, lava-like liquid. As for the second lake, it was filled with a freezing liquid that was so cold as to cause the surrounding area to be blanketed in frost. Between that blazing lake and the freezing lake was an ancient, stunted-looking tree that was nonetheless large in size.

Beneath the tree, there was a table, a chair, and a man.

The fiery-haired man's upper body was uncovered, and he sat there while weighing Ning with a judging look in his eyes.

"Emperor," the retainer said respectfully, "Darknorth has arrived."

"You may leave," Emperor Gonflame instructed. The retainer immediately withdrew, leaving behind only Ning and Emperor Gonflame.

"This junior greets you, Emperor." Ning bowed respectfully.

"No need to stand on ceremony with me, Darknorth. Come, sit." Emperor Gonflame smiled and gestured towards the seat opposite him. Seeing this, Ning followed his gesture and sat down.

"Have a taste. The wine here was delivered to me by the various Daolords who have asked me to help them create various treasures. I don't even know the names of half of the wine here, nor do I care. I've already spent countless amounts of effort researching and analyzing the properties of various materials and ingredients. I have no interest in doing the same for my food and wine as well," Emperor Gonflame said.

Ning nodded. "I can imagine how much effort it took for you to rise to the level of being the number one artificer of this entire universe."

"I actually happen to like being an artificer. When I followed Master, I was nothing more than one of her many disciples and retainers. I was a completely unremarkable figure." A reminiscent look was in Emperor Gonflame's eyes. "I was fairly slow in improving as a cultivator, but I really did like working as an artificer, and so I poured all of my efforts into this field instead. Who would've thought that I would end up becoming a Daolord of the Fourth Step, and then just naturally break through to become an Eternal Emperor? Only later did I realize that Master had been paying close attention to me in secret. She had helped guide me and assist me on numerous occasions without me even realizing it."

Ning couldn't help but secretly sigh. For Emperor Gonflame to have gained eternity was proof that if you truly devoted yourself to a particular trade or craft, you could make miracles happen! But of course, that was also only if you had a major power like the Paragon of Pills guiding your path. The Paragon was one of the three ancient Primordial Starkings who had existed since the birth of this universe, after all. Even though she didn't spend much time or effort on artificing, she still ranked as one of the top three in this universe. For her to help guide Emperor Gonflame in this was naturally quite simple for her.

If he had just blindly studied without having such a wise teacher, it was unlikely that he would've been able to gain eternity!

"I noticed you as soon as you arrived here." Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning.

"Huh?" Ning was startled.

"Mm. You weren't overwhelmed with desire despite seeing so many treasures placed before you. In the end, you chose a lifeblood weapon." Emperor Gonflame smiled and nodded. "Not bad. It seems you understand that in order to become a truly powerful figure, you still have to rely on your own power. To rely on strange curios and ancient artifacts… that path is a path which rarely leads to becoming truly unstoppable."

"You are a sword cultivator. The sword cultivators who truly were the dominant forces of their era all relied on the nothing more than the sword in their hands, or perhaps the powerful secret arts they might've come up with," Emperor Gonflame said.

Ning nodded, understanding what was being imparted. In the ancient library of the Sword Palace, he had seen quite a few secret arts and thus understood that many of the more powerful Daolords relied on mighty secrets arts they had developed. This was true for virtually all of the monstrously talented ones!

"The most terrifyingly powerful Daolords and Emperors all have their own unique techniques." Emperor Gonflame sighed. "Some Daolords have such powerful abilities that even I would rather keep my distance from them. For example, there is a Daolord I know named Daolord Otherpath who used his own Dao to create a truly unearthly secret art. He managed to completely merge himself into the Wugang Sea of Glass, something which naturally formed from the primordial chaos. After mastering the Wugang Glass Form, with but a thought he can transform into the vast sea of glass and sent it surging towards you. Upon being trapped by it… even someone like me would probably perish."

Ning was secretly speechless. Still, it made sense. Shortly after leaving the Three Realms, he had encountered Daolord Badlands. Although he was merely a Daolord of the Third Step, his Numerancy divination powers were simply too incredible. Whenever he divined that danger was near, he would immediately slink away, making it almost impossible to kill him. Even worse – if you offended him but were unable to kill him, he would be able to divine all sorts of ways to deal with you or act against your interests. This was why Daolord Badlands was actually quite a dangerous person.

"Those unearthly Daolords have all trained their own Daos to an absolute apex, giving them inconceivable amounts of power. Even worse, they all but seek out excuses to try and kill an Emperor so as to establish their reputations." Emperor Gonflame shook his head and sighed. "Gaining eternity is no easy feat, and yet the weaker Eternal Emperors are hunted down so mercilessly that they don't even dare to show their faces in the world."

Ning couldn't help but grin. The same was true in the Endless Territories. Daolord Allgod had chased Emperor Melobo across the entire universe, while Lord Dawnstar of the Saber Palace had once slain an Eternal Emperor with three blows of his saber! This was why there were so few Eternal Emperors around, with the surviving ones all figures of incredible strength. The three Hegemons of the Endless Territories were good examples, as was Emperor Mirrorsnow who was extremely skilled at staying alive. Emperor Trisilk was another figure who was also skilled at survival.

"Magic treasures, bah… one or two is enough. If you spend all your efforts on collecting magic treasures, you'll never make it too far!" Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning. "Although I am very wary of those monstrously strong Daolords, I have to say that they have chosen the correct path. If they succeed and gain eternity, they shall become Hegemons amongst emperors. They'll immediately be granted the position of 'Starking' within the Church of Annihilation, and they'll be incredibly strong ones at that."

Ning couldn't help but ask curiously, "Aren't all the Starkings of the Church of Annihilation at the Hegemon level?"

"No way. Impossible!" Emperor Gonflame shook his head. "They are simply strong Eternal Emperors who were chosen to become Starkings. If they were Hegemons, they wouldn't be 'chosen' as Starkings; they simply would BE Starkings. Take Emperor Maniseal for example; I heard he's ridiculously powerful in the Dao of Seals, but he's still a ways off from the Hegemon level."

"Or consider the three Primordial Starkings. They always had transcendent statuses, precisely because all three of them were Hegemons," Emperor Gonflame said.

"Oh." Ning nodded. So as he had expected, the Paragon of Pills was indeed a Hegemon.

"The Paragon of Pills is a truly incredible figure," Emperor Gonflame said. "According to the legends, she was a monster even back when she was merely a Daolord, capable of killing Eternal Emperors with ease. Only after gaining eternity did she become a Hegemon! However… there are no absolutes. The legends supposedly say that a long, long time ago, she wasn't a Hegemon. Only after training for many years as an Eternal Emperor did she reach the Hegemon level of power."

"Emperor Maniseal, in turn, was once an unremarkable Emperor who completely focused on his Dao of Seals. By now, he's become incredibly powerful." Emperor Gonflame chuckled. "After you become an Emperor, you can still slowly train your way up and become increasingly powerful, and you'll even have a shot at the Hegemon level. However… actually succeeding in this endeavor is far too difficult. Countless years have gone by, but the only person to succeed in doing so was the Paragon of Pills."

Ning was shocked. Back in the Brightshore Kingdom, he had heard that Hegemons were only created when the most powerful of Daolords gained eternity! He never would've imagined that the Paragon was actually an exception to the rule. It really was an axiom that the path of cultivation was a path where there would always be a 'final chance' given.

Emperor Gonflame chatted with Ning for quite some time, broadening Ning's horizons.

"Now, you want a lifeblood weapon, right?" Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning, then laughed. "That'll be easy. This is our very first meeting, and so I'll gift you with a lifeblood weapon as my first meeting gift to you."

"Wonderful." Ning revealed a look of delight.

He knew that there were differences amongst freshly-forged lifeblood weapons. Some might be incredibly heavy and would be suitable for ferocious stances such as his Heavenbreaker stance. Others might be a better fit for his Blood Drop stance or his Shadowless stance. But of course, lifeblood weapons could be continuously improved and altered. Even if the weapon didn't start off as a good fit, as more time passed it would become a better and better fit for its master!

But a lifeblood treasure which started off as a perfect fit would naturally grow powerful even faster. For the number one grandmaster artificer in this universe to personally forge a lifeblood weapon for himself… this truly was a rare opportunity.

"Emperor, please take a look at this." Ning immediately began to put his sword-arts on display. "My Sword Dao is composed of five separate Supreme Daos."

As Ning put his sword-arts on display, the watching Emperor Gonflame felt a sense of tremendous shock.

"W-what… you've even linked them together perfectly? This is something which includes all aspects of the entire Dao of the Sword!" Emperor Gonflame stared at Ning. If this kid continues to grow and develop, he'll definitely become not just a powerful Daolord, but one of the most monstrously powerful Daolords. He'll probably be able to kill some weaker Eternal Emperors with just one blow from his sword.

"Emperor." After finishing displaying his sword-arts, Ning looked towards Emperor Gonflame.

"Um…" Emperor Gonflame rubbed his chin. "Your lifeblood weapon would have to reach the apex of perfection in every single aspect. It won't be easy to make, and it'll require a lot of materials."

It would only cost him around ten million cubes of chaos nectar if he wished to make a lifeblood sword for an ordinary sword cultivator, and if he wished to sell it on the open market it would probably go for around twenty or thirty million cubes. But Darknorth's Sword Dao was a Dao which covered all types of sword-arts, a Dao which pursued true perfection. The materials alone would probably cost him thirty million cubes!

"Haha. Well, since I promised I'd forge you one, I'll forge you one." Emperor Gonflame laughed. "I won't go broke from just one weapon."

"Emperor," Ning suddenly said, "This junior has a rather… outrageous request."

"An outrageous request?" Emperor Gonflame laughed. "Don't be shy. Speak." He had just promised to give away thirty million cubes worth of precious materials. Right now, he was feeling quite generous and magnanimous.

"You've already seen this junior's sword-arts. To be honest… it'd be perfect if I had six lifeblood swords. In that case, my power would multiply many times over." Ning said hurriedly, "But of course, this junior wouldn't dare to ask you to gift me with six… if there's anything you need, just tell me and I will do my utmost to accomplish it. I also have some precious treasures and some chaos nectar. I definitely would never ask you to operate at a loss."

Ning truly did deeply desire six lifeblood weapons. He wanted six, no matter what it had to cost him. Given how much face Emperor Gonflame was giving him, he'd probably offer those six weapons at a very low cost. Logically speaking, Ning felt he should be able to afford it.

"SIX?!!?" Emperor Gonflame's eyes bulged out. "Six LIFEBLOOD weapons? Your request really is outrageous!"

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 45 – Some Interesting Information

"Just tell me how much you need, Emperor," Ji Ning said shamelessly. For a young World-level cultivator like himself to be shameless in front of an Eternal Emperor didn't really matter that much. If it meant acquiring six lifeblood weapons, a bit of thick-skinned shamelessness was nothing.

Emperor Gonflame was speechless. "Six lifeblood weapons. Let's put aside the amount of exhausting work that I'd have to put into it. Six lifeblood weapons… do you even know how much the materials alone would cost? Do you have any idea? You actually dare make the wild claim that you'd cover it?"

"How much would it cost, exactly?" Ning asked.

"To make customized swords for you? Your swords would be different from all other lifeblood weapons. Your Sword Dao encompasses all directions, which means that the lifeblood weapon also has to be truly perfect in every single aspect! The materials alone will probably cost at least three times as much as the materials needed for an 'ordinary' lifeblood weapon. It would take a total of thirty million cubes of chaos nectar. Six swords would cost a hundred and eighty million cubes!"

Emperor Gonflame suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably as he looked at Ning. "Fine, I promised to give you one for free, so you'll only have to compensate me a hundred and fifty million cubes. As for all of my time, effort, and labor… we'll just consider it as being on the house. Heh. Heh heh. You said you will make sure I'm not operating at a loss, right? Can you give me that much?"

Ning was speechless. He truly wasn't able to say a single word.

A hundred and fifty million cubes?

This was way, way…

Daolord Solesky of Vastheaven Palace was an extremely powerful Verge-level Daolord. In order to procure the assistance of Daolord Badlands, he had put together a collection of nearly twenty million cubes worth of chaos nectar, which represented virtually his entire treasure hoard. But of course, the treasures and weapons which he used in battle and which was part of his own 'true strength', he naturally didn't sell.

For most major powers, even if they sold off all of their most valuable treasures they still probably wouldn't be able to come up with a hundred million cubes!

"Weeeell?" Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning, then said teasingly, "Weren't you talking big, just now, about how you'd make it up to me?"

Ning was furiously racking his brain for ideas. What should he do? He had quite a few treasures, but he wasn't even close to a hundred and fifty million cubes worth of treasure. Emperor Gonflame wished to give the Paragon of Pills face and so was willing to gift him thirty million cubes of ingredients; this was already beyond generous. It must be remembered that when Emperor Gonflame had made that offer, he had only been planning on making an ordinary lifeblood weapon that would cost him around ten million cubes. Who would've thought that Ning's Sword Dao was this incredible? Emperor Gonflame couldn't go back on his words, and so had been so generous as to promise Ning an appropriate and even more expensive weapon.

But six? Even Ning himself felt that such a request went too far, and the Emperor probably wouldn't agree. Such a sum of wealth would cause even someone like Emperor Gonflame to feel heartache.

"Eh?!" A thought suddenly flashed through Ning's mind. "Emperor," Ning called out.

Emperor Gonflame had been enjoying the intensely awkward look on Ning's face. He couldn't help but feel curious upon hearing Ning call out to him. "What is it? Do you actually have enough treasure to make up for it?"

Ning did, of course, have enough treasure. The deceased Hegemon's suit of ancient armor alone was worth vastly more than six lifeblood weapons. That suit of armor had been labored over by the Paragon of Pills herself, and it truly was of inestimable value. There was nowhere and no way to buy a treasure like that! As for the two Dao-seals which the deceased Hegemon had given him, the deceased Hegemon had poured all of his effort into the creation of each Dao-seal. They similarly could not be found anywhere on any market, and they would indeed more than make up for the lifeblood weapons as well.

But Ning would never sell them, not unless he truly lost his mind. Ultimate trump cards like this simply were not to be sold.

"This junior has a bit of information to trade," Ning said. "I think… this bit of information should be worth a hundred and fifty million cubes of chaos nectar."

"Information? What sort of information could possibly be worth that much?" Emperor Gonflame was intrigued.

"Emperor," Ning said, "When this junior first entered the Archaeus region, I once accidentally encountered a place where I discovered an enormous, mountain-sized vein of darkspace flamestone. This mountain was more than a million kilometers in size."

Emperor Gonflame had been quite calm, but upon hearing the words 'million kilometers' he was completely stunned. He shot to his feet, staring at Ning with round eyes. "What did you just say? A million kilometers in size? A mountain of darkspace flamestone?"

"Yes." Ning nodded immediately.

"How rich is the vein?" Emperor Gonflame asked.

A 'vein' could mean many things. A 'vein' of ore in which ten thousand kilograms of rock held roughly one kilogram of pure ore would be considered a 'vein', but so too would a 'vein' in which a billion kilograms of rock held a kilogram of pure ore! The difference between the two, however, was enormous.

"Please take a look, Emperor." Ning waved his hand, causing a piece of ore to appear. This was one of the pieces of ore which the golem Moksha had mined.

"This ore…" Emperor Gonflame was instantly excited when he saw that piece of ore. He was a true grandmaster of artificing, and he could immediately tell right away that it came from an incredibly rich vein. "A million kilometers of this… I… I… I'm not strong enough to own such a mountain."

This mountain of ore was so large and valuable that someone like him truly wasn't qualified to claim ownership over it. In fact, Emperor Gonflame didn't even consider trying. He was a retainer of the Paragon of Pills, after all. There was no way he could hide something like this from her. And a mine of this size… if the Paragon of Pills claimed it, there would be no one who would dare to do anything to it.

"But there is something I must tell you. This mine already has an owner," Ning said.

"An owner?" Emperor Gonflame was stunned.

"Emperor Trisilk," Ning said.

Emperor Gonflame started to roar with laughter. "Ahahaha! Him? That poor, stupid bastard?" Right now, Emperor Trisilk truly was the most unfortunate Eternal Emperor in this entire universe. Emperor Maniseal was hunting him so relentlessly that he didn't dare to show his face anywhere."

"Come, follow me. Let us go meet with my master." Emperor Gonflame grabbed Ning, then stepped through the void and teleported out of his estate.

This truly was a piece of earth-shaking information. Even the Paragon of Pills was shocked upon hearing it, and she immediately led Ning and Emperor Gonflame away from the Trileaf Realm and towards the Archaeus region.

Whooosh.

The five-colored space bridge continuously soared into the distance. The Paragon, Ning, and Emperor Gonflame all stood there atop the bridge. Since Ning had fled from the Sacred Immortal Realm after they had destroyed the formation protecting it, he knew exactly where it was located. This made finding it much easier.

Rumble…

"Here we are."

The black-garbed Paragon put away her bridge, then stood there in the emptiness of space with Emperor Gonflame and Ji Ning by her side.

The blazing flames in this region weren't able to even move close to them. The Paragon, Emperor Gonflame, and Ning all stared through the void towards the towering mountain formed from fiery red rock.

"What an enormous vein of ore." Emperor Gonflame was truly stunned. "Although Darknorth told me about how large it is, actually seeing it is… wow. How could there be a mountain of darkspace flamestone as large as this?"

"It's too large. There's no way to teleport it away. Our only choice is to slowly mine it for its ore," the Paragon said softly. A mountain of ore like this… in this entire universe, the number of people who would dare claim it for their own could be counted on one hand. The Paragon was one of them! But of course, if someone else had been the first to discover it, she wouldn't have been in a good position to intervene either.

Whoever was the first to discover such a fortune would be the one to own it. This was a shared rule which the supreme powers all abided by.

But of course, if a puny Emperor like Emperor Trisilk was the first to find it, the supreme powers would've been in a position to take it away by force! This was much like how Hydragon Mountain of the Endless Territories had been forcibly occupied by the almighty Brightshore Hegemon.

"Trisilk, that idiot… he probably wanted to keep this mountain for himself." Emperor Gonflame snickered. "He never would've expected that Emperor Maniseal would chase after him like this. Poor bastard."

"Trisilk is a selfish, vicious person by nature. Of course he would want to keep this mountain for himself." The Paragon of Pills slowly shook her head. "However… right now, there's no one who can protect him. Maniseal has gone completely berserk. Even if the lord of the Church of Annihilation placed Trisilk under his personal protection, Trisilk would still have to perpetually stay within the lord's headquarters. He would never be able to leave it ever again. If Trisilk was to ever come out… given how furious Maniseal is, he'll definitely kill Trisilk.

Trisilk had been able to sense his disciple being killed and knew that the secret of his darkspace flamestone mine had been exposed. He was so terrified by this that he hid himself even more deeply! Right now, his nerves were completely frayed.

A berserk Maniseal truly was a terrifying person to behold. He had reached the true apex in the Dao of Seals. Although he was a bit weaker than the Paragon of Pills or the lord of the Church of Annihilation, neither of them would wish to make an enemy out of him! This was because neither of them felt confident that they would definitely be able to kill him.

"What an enormous mountain of ore. The Trileaf Realm will need to make good use of it and work hard to mine it." The Paragon nodded. "The value of this ore is truly incalculable. Gonflame, go ahead and help Darknorth forge those six lifeblood weapons. I'll provide all the materials you need! For us to gain such a mountain of ore at a cost of less than two hundred million cubes of chaos nectar… the more often something like this happens, the better."

"Alright." Emperor Gonflame laughed and nodded.

As for Ning, he couldn't help but secretly sigh to himself. In truth, neither he nor any of his fellows such as Solewind or Greatjoy had any designs on this mountain! This was because not even most Eternal Emperors would dare to lay claim over it! In addition, Emperor Trisilk already knew about this place, which meant others would definitely find out as well.

Thus, the number of people in this universe who could fearlessly and openly lay claim to it truly could be counted on just one hand. Ning, Greatjoy, and the others were all from another universe, and were mere World-level cultivators; there was no way they would ever have a chance to meet such supremely powerful figures! Even if they had such a chance, they wouldn't dare to act on it for fear of their true identities being exposed! What's more… for a weak figure like them to try and bargain with such supremely powerful figures might simply result in them being forcibly soulscoured.

Due to their many concerns, none of them had ever dared to reveal this secret to anyone else upon leaving the Sacred Immortal Realm.

Ning, however, had a very special relationship with the Paragon of Pills. She had treated him very well, and had even transmitted her [Seven Leafpill Chapters] to him. It could be said that they were family, which was why Ning dared to tell her about this mountain. If it wasn't for their special relationship, Ning would've forever kept this information hidden deep within his memories!

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 46 – Only Ji Ning Remains

The Paragon of Pills, Emperor Gonflame, and Ji Ning all stared at that distant mountain of darkspace flamestone. This was one of the many marvels birthed from the primordial chaos in this universe!

"Darknorth." Emperor Gonflame suddenly said, "Six lifeblood weapons will take quite a bit of time. Even if I enter my estate and accelerate time, the smelting will still take tens of thousands of years. You'll have to wait."

Alchemy, artificing, seal-making, and other Daos all took enormous amounts of time. Major powers would generally carry out the process within estates that had temporal acceleration enchantments!

"Tens of thousands of years?" Ning laughed. "Then I'll just wait patiently for those six lifeblood weapons."

Tens of thousands of years. This could be said to be a long period of time, but it could also be said to be a short period of time.

When Ji Ning's group had originally come to this alternate universe, their journey to the Archaeus region alone had taken over ten thousand years! Even if he was still in the Genesis Lands, it would take well over ten thousand years to depart the Archaeus region and then start to head home. Given he was in the Trileaf Realm, he wouldn't need to traverse the Archaeus region. In that respect, he had saved some time.

"I wonder when Solewind, Greatjoy, and the others will leave the Genesis Lands," Ning murmured to himself within his residence in the Trileaf Realm.

As for Su Youji, she remained at the outer reaches side of the primessence chains, quietly waiting for Ning to return. Alas, it was guaranteed that she would never see him there!

Roughly six thousand years after Ning's 'abduction', Heartlord Solewind emerged from the inner reaches and walked back to the outer reaches via the chains.

"Brother Solewind." Firesurge and the others went to greet him.

"Master." Immortal Swallowback greeted him as well.

"Heartlord Solewind, have you seen my master?" Su Youji immediately asked.

"Darknorth? He entered the inner reaches alongside me. Later on, we separated and didn't meet again. What's wrong?" The bald Heartlord Solewind was still dressed in the same loose, fiery-red robes he had been dressed in thousands of years ago. He couldn't help but feel surprised by the question.

Su Youji immediately explained, "Six thousand years ago, I suddenly became unable to sense my master's presence, but his message-talisman is still intact."

"You can't sense him?" Solewind's face turned solemn as well. He had experienced many dangers within the world of the inner reaches and had nearly died as a result. In the end, though, he had survived and departed with a great fortune.

"The inner reaches are very difficult. It's possible that brother Darknorth is trapped within one of its danger zones." Heartlord Solewind was rather worried as well. "But… for there to be no news of him after six thousand years probably means that he really is in grave danger. Let's wait for a while longer. He might still be alive."

Another five thousand years went by.

By now, Prince Greatjoy had also returned from the inner reaches. He hadn't seen Ji Ning either. This made Su Youji even more disappointed and worried.

More than three thousand years went by. Skyfire Brightshore finally rejoined the others as well. And so… everyone but Ji Ning had returned. Prince Greatjoy, Heartlord Solewind, Waterlord Firesurge, Skyfire Brightshore, Immortal Swallowback, World Goddess Skywolf, Flamefairy Su Youji… they were all present.

"We were all fairly lucky to make it out in one piece, but… brother Darknorth has gone missing." Prince Greatjoy frowned.

"He's been missing for quite some time…" Firesurge slowly shook his head.

"My master is definitely alive," Su Youji said.

Skyfire Brightshore said, "But we can't just wait for him. He's already been missing for ten thousand years. If we just keep waiting like this, who knows how long we'll be here for? I think we should go back. If he's still alive, he'll go back as well once he comes out and realizes that we aren't here."

Solewind and Greatjoy exchanged glances. Their mission was chiefly to escort and protect Skyfire Brightshore! If Skyfire wished to go back, they really couldn't stop him.

"Flamefairy, what Skyfire says makes sense. If brother Darknorth is still alive, he'll go back on his own." Solewind looked at Su Youji.

"And there's no point to you waiting here by yourself," Greatjoy said. "And… given how Darknorth suddenly disappeared, it's also possible that he's already left the Genesis Lands. In fact, he might've already gone back."

"Gone back?" Su Youji stared. That… actually was possible. The Genesis Lands were filled with mysteries. It was entirely possible that some sort of special place might've teleported Ji Ning to another place in the universe. If that had actually happened, it wouldn't make sense for Ji Ning to slowly travel all the way through the Archaeus region a second time! The Archaeus region was simply too large. Even someone as skilled in the Dao of Spacetime as Prince Greatjoy would need nearly ten thousand years to traverse if. If Ji Ning wished to traverse it, it would take him far longer.

"Perhaps brother Darknorth really did encounter a special situation, resulting in him going back to our universe," Solewind said.

"Let's go."

"Let us return together. Darknorth is far stronger than you; he's entirely capable of making it back on his own."

"Flamefairy, we just might see Darknorth once we go back."

They all urged her to return with them.

In all honesty, the many centuries of waiting had taken their toll on the Flamefairy as well, making her feel increasingly nervous. She also felt that it was entirely possible that Ji Ning really had encountered a special event that resulted in him being thrust out of the Archaeus region, and so she immediately nodded. "Alright. Let's go back."

All seven of them had reaped great rewards within the Genesis Lands! This was also the reason why they felt certain that Ji Ning had probably encountered something special as well. In the Genesis Lands, everything truly was possible.

Prince Greatjoy, Heartlord Solewind, and the others spent merely three thousand years before they were able to reach the transversal conduit and return to the Endless Territories. Clearly, Prince Greatjoy's mastery over the Dao of Spacetime had increased dramatically, allowing them to travel much more quickly!

But upon returning to the Brightshore Kingdom, they found out that Ji Ning had yet to return! Su Youji was stunned by this news. She had no choice but to return to the Sword Palace of the Twelve Palaces and quietly wait there.

The alternate universe. The Trileaf Realm.

There was no way for Ning to reach out to Greatjoy and the others. All he could do was patiently wait for those six lifeblood weapons to be forged. Only then could he leave the Trileaf Realm and return to the Endless Territories.

In the end, he did have to go back. His family and his friends were all back there, as was the Three Realms.

Within Ning's estate-world.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. The waters of the ocean lapped against the sandy beaches, then receded again and again.

Ning sat there in the lotus position on the beach, his Immortal energy flowing as countless divine runes manifested around him. He was training in the pill-making techniques of the seventh chapter of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters].

Suddenly, a chubby figure flew over, a look of excitement on the man's face. "Master, I've already completely mastered the second chapter you bestowed upon me!" World God Pillsaint excitedly went straight towards Ning.

"Mm." Ning dispelled his Immortal energy, then looked at Pillsaint. "Then go ahead and produce a 'Thousand Songs' pill for me."

The Thousand Songs pill could be made very quickly, but it was a very complicated pill. It required fine control over a thousand different processes, each of which required tremendous skill and had exacting requirements. The first five chapters of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] all used the 'Thousand Songs' pill as a way to test whether or not someone had successfully mastered a particular chapter.

This time, the pill-making process took a total of two days. Pillsaint had always been talented in the Dao of Alchemy, but he was now at least ten times better than he had been prior to coming to the Trileaf Realm.

"Very well. I'll bestow the third chapter upon you. Do your best to master it. If you can master it… a true fortune might very well be awaiting you," Ning said.

"A true fortune? What type of fortune?" Pillsaint was quite curious. In recent years, he had been completely focused on training in alchemy within Ning's estate-world. He had never wandered the Trileaf Realm, and so he had never heard of the Paragon of Pills.

"No point telling you just now." Ning shook his head. Even if Pillsaint did master the third chapter, it was up to the Paragon of Pills as to whether or not she wished to teach him more.

The Paragon of Pills was an exalted figure with incredibly high expectations. All Ning could do was recommend potential apprentices to her. As to whether or not Pillsaint would be able to grasp this opportunity, that was completely up to him.

Swish. Ning waved his finger, tapping Pillsaint on his forehead and imparting the third chapter of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] to him.

"Absolutely incredible! The person who created this alchemy method is absolutely incredible. I've only been learning from it for a short period of time, but my improvements in the Dao of Alchemy have been ridiculously high. I can sense that if I make just a few more breakthroughs, I can become a Daolord whenever I choose." Pillsaint was extremely excited.

Ning warned softly, "Remember our oath!"

Pillsaint was stunned, then immediately nodded. Before returning to the Brightshore Kingdom, they absolutely could not afford to break through into the Daolord level.

Life in the Trileaf Realm was quite relaxed. Ning had never been this relaxed before.

In the past, he had been wholly focused on the Dao of the Sword, but he had now completely mastered and linked together his five different Supreme Sword Daos. He could now completely relax, and in fact he had the vague feeling that relaxing was the correct decision. This was why he spent all his time within his estate-world, where the flow of time was a hundred times faster than the 'normal' rate of time. Thus, tens of thousands of years in 'real' time translated into millions of years of accelerated time.

Thirty thousand years of 'real' time went past in the blink of an eye within the Trileaf Realm.

A wild wind was blowing through the estate-world today. The waves of the sea were rolling forwards, with Ning seated leisurely atop the waves, watching as they rose and fell. In the stormy skies, the silhouette of a single sword could be seen flickering through various different sword-arts.

"Eh?" Ning suddenly frowned. "My sword arts… I feel as though…"

Ning had spent over three million years relaxing in his estate-world after mastering and linking together his five Supreme Daos. Now, all of a sudden, Ning felt as though his sword-arts were still lacking in some manner.

"This… this still isn't the ultimate Dao of the Sword!" This thought suddenly flashed through Ning's mind. After three million years of training in sword-arts, he suddenly had this premonition. For people who had trained to this level, these premonitions were usually highly accurate.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 47 – Kindness and Gratitude

"I'm still missing something." Ji Ning frowned as he sat there atop the wave, the sword silhouette in the air continuing to execute sword-arts.

"It doesn't make sense. I've clearly mastered all five Supreme Daos and joined them together perfectly." Ning tested his sword-arts out repeatedly. "So why is it that I feel like I'm lacking something?"

"What exactly am I missing?"

Again and again and again, Ning used his sword to execute his various sword-arts.

"BAH!" He spent five nights and five days testing things out, only to make no improvements at all. Ning couldn't help but let out a rather frustrated howl, his voice reverberating within the skies of this estate-world. The wavy waters of the entire sea suddenly fell flat and turned completely still, almost as if it had been frozen in place. Not a single wave could be seen.

"Whew." Ning drew a long breath, allowing the frozen seas to return to normal and the waves to arise once more.

"Perhaps I'm being a bit too impatient," Ning murmured softly.

In truth, Ning was not to be blamed. He had felt certain that he had already found his strongest Supreme Daos, but now he suddenly had the feeling that his Sword Dao was still lacking in something. This meant his Supreme Dao wasn't actually 'supreme'. Of course he was irritated by this!

"To be able to notice flaws in my Sword Dao is a good thing. It's certainly better than not even realizing my own imperfection." Ning regained his normal calm. "I should focus on calmly meditating on my sword-arts again. Perhaps when enough time, I'll be able to naturally break through to the next level."

"My five Supreme Daos are already joined together perfectly. If I can make another breakthrough…" Ning was puzzled. "I've never even heard of something like this."

Bertulu, Eastcult, and the other monstrously talented geniuses all generally mastered multiple Supreme Daos, then fitted them together perfectly. This represented the utmost apex of power. This was what many major powers all believed to be true! Previously, Ning had believed it to be true as well… but now, he suddenly discovered that it wasn't necessarily the apex.

Ning spent even more of the coming years on his sword-arts, but of course he spent some time on the pill-making techniques of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] as well.

Soon, more than fifty thousand years had gone past since his initial entry into the Trileaf Realm.

"I've finally mastered it. How truly inconceivable! At the World level, I've actually managed to master the quadressence thunder."

Ning stood there at the peak of a mountain, his eyes flashing. Instantly, a streak of golden lightning shot out of him.

This bolt of golden lightning was filled with an aura of sharpness. This was Ning's newly created quadressence thunder! When Ning had first started to train in alchemy, he had been able to immediately master the tri-essence thunder and the quadressence water. Now that he had spent five million years of accelerated time training in alchemy, he had made tremendous strides in this field. In pill-making, Ning was superior to even Pillsaint. Pillsaint was still working on the third chapter, after all. Ning was working on the seventh chapter!

"Daolord Allgod once said that a Daolord of the First Step would have a chance at mastering the tri-essence thunder." Ning laughed. "I'm at the World level, but I've actually mastered the quadressence thunder. Haha…"

His azureflower mist energy was comparable to a Daolord's energy, and his pill-making arts were absolutely unearthly as well. This was why he was able to produce such miraculous results.

"Now, I have quadressence thunder and quadressence water." Ning willed them all to come out.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A dazzling bolt of golden lightning and a crystalline stream of jade green water instantly filled the skies, transforming into an incomparably terrifying domain of sword-intent! The Yin-Yang Sword Domain was now definitely Ning's most powerful killer attack. The quadressence thunder and the quadressence water could unleash ruinously powerful attacks that would heavily injure even Daolords of the Second Step. When they were used in this domain of sword-intent… they could actually wipe those second step Daolords out!

For now, Ning truly had reached his limit in terms of controlling lightning and water. He had no chance at all of completing pentessence water; most likely, he would have to first become a Daolord.

Roughly a thousand years passed after Ning had mastered his quadressence thunder.

"Master! Master! I've succeeded. I've succeeded!" World God Pillsaint came flying in search of Ning.

"Follow me." After ascertaining that Pillsaint had indeed completely mastered the third chapter, Ning immediately led Pillsaint out of his estate-world, taking him to pay a visit to the Paragon of Pills.

"Come in."

Ning couldn't help but shiver when he saw that dark, icy-cold estate. He couldn't help but sigh as well. Why did the Paragon have to live by herself in a place like this? Why?

As Ning lamented silently, he led Pillsaint into the estate.

The Paragon of Pills was seated in the lotus position before the enormous pill cauldron, her black gauzy robes spread across her and over the ground.

"Darknorth." The Paragon glanced at Ning, her gaze turning much gentler than before.

"Greetings, Paragon," Ning said respectfully. As for Pillsaint, he obediently fell to his knees and kowtowed.

"Sit," the Paragon instructed.

Although she told them to sit, in reality they merely sat on the ground in the lotus position as well. Pillsaint snuck a glance at the Paragon, but didn't dare to stare directly at her. He simply felt rather puzzled… he could clearly see her, but why was it that he kept on feeling as though he couldn't make out her features?

"Paragon," Ning said.

"If you don't mind, you can simply address me as 'Mistress'," the Paragon of Pills said.

"Mistress," Ning called out obediently. He already had a vague understanding of what the relationship between the Paragon and the deceased Hegemon had been like, and also understood how the Paragon felt about him as a result.

The Paragon of Pills nodded. "Have you brought this young fellow to me because of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters]?"

Ning nodded. "He is my retainer, World God Pillsaint. I have already transmitted the first three chapters to him, and he has mastered them all. That is why I have brought him here."

"Then refine a cauldron of Thousand Songs pills." The Paragon glanced at Pillsaint, her eyes quite calm. She didn't really care that much about so-called 'alchemy geniuses'; Hegemons rarely were very eager to take on new disciples. They themselves could live for countless years; why would they have to find people to teach their skills to?

Only truly exceptional geniuses that they also took a personal liking to would be accepted as disciples. She treated Ning in a very special manner, and as a result she held a certain fondness for those connected to him. This was why she was willing to give Pillsaint a chance.

"Yes." Pillsaint understood that this moment was a moment which could change his destiny. In truth, as soon as he saw that enormous lake of chaos nectar he had been rather stunned. He immediately began to work on refining pills.

Pillsaint was extremely careful, and his cauldron of pills was quite good.

"Not bad. Darknorth, how long did your retainer need in order to master the three chapters?" Pillsaint asked.

"He's been in my estate-world this entire time, where time moves a hundred times faster than normal. Thus… he should've spent more than five million 'accelerated' years," Ning answered honestly. Lying in front of a major power like her would be utterly stupid.

The Paragon of Pills frowned slightly. More than five million years to just learn three chapters? Given her standards, this was fairly slow! She generally only accepted the most elite of disciples, people like Bertulu or Ji Ning. Although Pillsaint was extremely talented in alchemy, he still wasn't quite at her mark.

"You can become one of my honorary disciples, I suppose." The Paragon said calmly, "I shall transmit the first six chapters of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] to you. Swear an oath to never disseminate it to others."

"Yes." Pillsaint was actually overjoyed. Being able to learn the first six chapters was already quite incredible.

The Paragon bestowed a golden medallion upon him, and it immediately merged into his body once he touched it, filling his mind with certain memories as well as forcing him to involuntarily swear a lifeblood oath. Clearly, the Paragon wasn't being nearly as gentle with him as she had been with Ning.

"Thank you, Master." After fully memorizing the technique, Pillsaint was absolutely delighted. He immediately kowtowed respectfully to express his gratitude.

The first six chapters alone would still allow Pillsaint to vastly outstrip Daolord Allgod in alchemy. Many of the pill formulas included within the first six chapters were actually pills which only Eternal Emperors could create.

As for the seventh chapter, it contained the Paragon's most elite techniques. She wouldn't casually teach it to outsiders.

"You are Darknorth's retainer, yes? Make sure you serve him loyally. If you betray him, do not blame me for showing you no mercy," the Paragon said.

"Your disciple understands," Pillsaint said respectfully. In truth, he could tell that this opportunity was most likely all thanks to the Paragon's relationship with Ji Ning.

"Thank you, Mistress." Ning felt gratitude as well. The Paragon of Pills truly did treat him well.

"Gonflame should be able to complete your lifeblood weapons within another ten thousand years." The Paragon looked at Ning. "My divinations are whispering to me that you probably leave upon acquiring those weapons."

"Yes." Ning nodded respectfully.

"My divinations indicate that once you leave, it will be a long, long time before the two of us ever meet again!" The Paragon said. "Thus… you must be very careful on your path of cultivation. If you encounter any serious issues, you can use my name to warn those who would harm you. It might be of some use. Also… true major powers have all types of abilities. Don't rely too much on any single type of life-saving measure."

"For example… my calculations indicate that you have a Primaltwin. However, certain major powers who wish to kill you can use certain karma techniques to completely annihilate your truesoul, be it that of your true body or your Primaltwin," the Paragon said. "Karma techniques are extremely formidable, and have effects similar to that of lifeblood oaths. They can follow those secret, hidden connections and wipe out the truesouls of all of your clones and bodies."

Ning couldn't help but feel speechless and amazed upon hearing this. Once a lifeblood oath was violated, all bodies would be annihilated, true… but there were actually attack techniques that could achieve the same results? This was utterly terrifying.

"In the future, you shall understand how powerful the 'major powers' truly are," the Paragon said. "Thus, you absolutely must be careful in your path of cultivation. That way, the two of us might have a chance to meet again in the future. You may go now. It won't be necessary for you to come and say farewell to me when you leave."

"Yes, Mistress." Ning respectfully fell to his knees, expressing his gratitude.

Although they had only met each other a few times, Ning could sense that the Paragon of Pills truly held nothing back from him and did not plot against him at all. She truly was doing what she thought was best for him.

In his mind, Ning viewed her as he would a close friend or a beloved senior. He silently memorized the kindnesses she had shown him. For now, though, he was still very weak. Repay her kindness? That was something for the distant future.

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Book 28, Archaeus Region, Chapter 48 – The Return

After bidding the Paragon farewell, Ji Ning couldn't help but feel slightly emotional. After this parting, who knew how long it would be for them to meet again? The Paragon of Pills lived in a different universe, after all. Ning would be living in the Endless Territories! Alas, he had to go back.

More than sixty thousand years after he had arrived in the Trileaf Realm, Emperor Gonflame sent a servant to carry a message to him.

"Emperor Gonflame wishes to meet me?" Ning revealed a look of joy.

"As soon as the Emperor left his estate-world, he immediately ordered me to come meet you, fellow Daoist." The extremely muscular azure-garbed Daolord continued, "Fellow Daoist, please follow me over right away."

"Yes, let's go right away." Ning had been waiting impatiently for some time now. He had spent more than sixty thousand years for the sake of this lifeblood weapon.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

Two streaks of light shot through the skies, heading straight towards Emperor Gonflame's palace.

Emperor Gonflame's estate was at the margins of the Trileaf Realm. However, there were many cultivators here. Emperor Gonflame's treasures were simply too alluring; even though most of the cultivators couldn't afford to actually by them, just having the chance to look at them was a chance for them to expand their horizons.

"Please come this way." The azure-garbed Daolord led Ning straight into the estate, and they soon arrived in a private courtyard.

"Master, I've brought Darknorth to you," the azure-robed Daolord said respectfully.

"You can go. Darknorth, come, sit." Emperor Gonflame was seated, a proud smile on his face. Each time he forged some treasures he particularly liked, he would always feel a bit smug. He always did enjoy forging treasures, and it was that genuine affection for his art, combined with his incredible talent as well as the guidance of the Paragon of Pills, which led him to become the number one artificer of this entire universe.

Ning suppressed his excitement and sat down.

"Look at you. I bet the only thing you care about right now are those swords." Emperor Gonflame started to laugh. "Alright, I'll stop teasing you. Look. These are your six lifeblood weapons." As he spoke, he waved his hand and caused a pitch-black scabbard to appear next to him, with six swords 'folded' together inside of it.

"One scabbard, six swords." Emperor Gonflame smiled. "You can carry all of them at the same time. Lifeblood weapons are unlike other weapons. These are freshly forged, and they don't even have Sword Dao quintessences withim them. They are completely fresh and blank slates; they don't even have sword-spirits yet. Thus, they'll be relying on you to pour your own Sword Dao into them to form their quintessences and give birth to their sword-spirits. How far they will be able to develop will be completely up to you."

Ning stared at the pitch-black scabbard hovering before him and the six swords within them. Ning waved his hand. Whoosh! Instantly, the six swords all flew out.

Every single sword seemed quite ordinary. The blades were very thin but also incredibly sharp.

"Bind them first." Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning. "You do know how to bind lifeblood swords, right?"

"Fill them with my own blood and nourish them with my own spirit, right?" Ning asked. He was a sword cultivator, after all. Although acquiring lifeblood weapons was quite difficult, he did know how one should bind one if one was lucky enough to acquire one.

"Right." Emperor Gonflame nodded. "Work hard and take care of those swords. As for the scabbard, you don't need to spend any effort on it. It's nothing more than an ordinary top-grade Eternal treasure, with no special properties. I just casually made it into a shape that fits the swords."

The scabbard and the six swords hovered in front of Ning. Ning stretched out his hand, a wound suddenly appearing within his palm. Blood immediately spurted out. Under Ning's control, the blood flew out in six streams and covered all six of those swords.

The six swords were all pitch-black in color. Like nursing babies, they absorbed Ning's fresh blood. The blood spread out over them like a spider web as more and more of it was absorbed into the swords.

To Ning, blood was nothing more than a manifestation of his divine power. After using up more than half of his divine power, his six swords were finally 'full'.

Whoosh. Ning sent out strands of his divine will towards those six swords. The six swords had absorbed much of Ning's blood, which contained both his divine power as well as tiny parts of his truesoul. As a result, the swords naturally wouldn't resist Ning's will, allowing it burrow deep within their 'bodies'.

Ning's divine will completely surrounded the six swords, almost like the embrace of a mother.

Slowly… the six swords began to change internally in a dramatic fashion, almost like how Pangu had been born from the primordial chaos. The six swords were already filled with Ning's blood. Now, under the guidance and nurturing power of Ning's soul and will, they began to gain sentience. In truth, this sentience was akin to that of a living being's; they would be intelligent, grow, and even cultivate independently. This was what the giant bear of Daoist Threelives' Starseizing Manor had done.

"Whoah."

"Wow."

"Ah."

One voice after another cried out as child-like figures began to appear from the surfaces of the six swords. Because of Ning's own soul and truesoul having influenced their creation, they were born looking like human children.

All of them seemed quite puzzled. As 'newborns' who had just come into existence, they didn't even know how to speak.

"Hello, kids." When Ning saw those six sword-spirits arise, he suddenly sensed a powerful sense of kinship towards them. In the past, whenever he had bound magic treasures he would be connected to them as well, but those were just ordinary connections. This time…

It was a feeling almost akin to when he had first seen his daughter Brightmoon. It was a connection that came from the deepest parts of his truesoul, a true connection on the most basic of levels. He felt almost like a father towards them! This was another reason why these weapons were referred to as 'lifeblood' weapons.

"Be good now." Ning smiled as he looked at the six of them. They all looked like babies, and all of them were completely naked. Ning laughed as he used his divine will to convey some information to them. In the end, they weren't mortal children; they grew and learned quite quickly. As soon as Ning sent them some information, they almost immediately learned how to speak.

"Master."

"Master!"

"Hey, so you are our master?"

The six young fellows all began to call out simultaneously.

Ning couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. Although they had quickly mastered the concept of language, it would take time for them to grow more intelligent. Right now, they were too young and too innocent.

"From this day forth, you will be ranked in accordance with how quickly you woke up. So you'll be number one, you'll be number two, you'll be number three…" Ning gave all of them rankings.

"Haha." Emperor Gonflame started to laugh. "Darknorth, have you started to view them as your own children?"

Ning was startled. They were just swords, right? But indeed, he had given them a 'birth order' as he might've given actual children.

"Many major powers will treat their lifeblood weapons as their own children." Emperor Gonflame sighed. "It isn't surprising at all. In the future, it'll be up to you to help them grow and become stronger. The relationship between you and your swords will only strengthen and deepen. A tiny number of incredible lifeblood weapons will break through to the Universe level, but those Universe treasures will still feel tremendous love and affection for their first master. This is why."

Ning nodded slowly. The Universe sword belonging to the deceased Hegemon of the sword refused to accept Ning, precisely because it wanted to choose someone whose personality was more similar to the Hegemon's.

"From this day forth, the six of them shall forever be by your side. They shall venture into battle by your side and brave danger with you," Emperor Gonflame said. "Treat them well."

"Understood." Ning looked at his six swords. This was the first time he truly felt as though his magic treasures were his family members.

"The six of you… you shall be called the Northbow swords," Ning said.

Northbow. North, because his own Daoist title was Darknorth. Bow, because 'Rainbowflame Fairy' was Yu Wei's Daoist title. His greatest ambition, his purpose behind wanting to become stronger and reach the apex, was in large part because he wanted to bring her back to life. If it hadn't been for her… even though he would still pursue the path of a cultivator, he wouldn't be as frenzied as he currently was.

With Northbow swords in hand, he would carve a grand path for himself through the thistles and thorns that filled the path of cultivation.

"Northbow swords? Then I'll be Boss Northbow."

"I like that name!"

"I'll be Northbow Three."

"I'll be Northbow Four!"

They all called out, one after the other. However… the final sword, 'Northbow Six', just shook his head and let out a disdainful snort.

Ning blinked, then started to laugh. He then sent out his will, causing his sword-intent to pour into the six swords. Ning's five Supreme Daos began to link together once more as his sword-intents joined together, coiling into the six swords and transforming into their quintessence cores.

Instantly, the auras of the six swords expanded dramatically. Their auras exploded outwards in an awe-inspiring fashion, and the six young fellows revealed looks of delight as well.

"Come in." Ning willed it, instantly causing all six swords to fly into the scabbard on his back.

"Right now, in terms of quality they are already comparable to top-grade Eternal weapons," Emperor Gonflame said. "However, they will continue to grow and advance towards the Universe level. Although it is incredibly difficult for lifeblood treasures to grow to become Universe treasures, they'll continue to strengthen as they grow. Thus, they'll need to consume various types of materials and ingredients. It'll be up to you to provide them."

"Understood." Ning smiled and nodded. "Helping raise them is part of my responsibilities."

"Haha, right. 'Raise' them well." Emperor Gonflame smiled as well.

"Emperor, I won't thank you because mere words will not suffice. I bid you farewell," Ning said gratefully.

"Mm." Emperor Gonflame nodded.

That very day, Ning had Daolord Yuhong guide him out of the Trileaf Realm.

"Here is a star map of our universe. Our Trileaf Realm has three spacetime tunnels that lead to three different parts of this universe," Daolord Yuhong explained.

Ning chose the tunnel that led to an exit closest to the place he had to go.

"Here's the spacetime tunnel which Master constructed. She is the only one capable of creating spacetime tunnels which traverse virtually the entirety of our universe." Daolord Yuhong pointed at the enormous, pitch-black vortex up ahead.

"Alright." Ning turned his head to stare off into the distance, then stepped into the black vortex.

At that very moment, a cold, black-garbed figure was standing outside the Paragon's estate. The black-garbed Paragon of Pills stared off into the distance. She was able to see the white-robed youth with the black scabbard on his back, and she watched as he stepped into the spacetime tunnel and departed her Trileaf Realm.

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Book 29, Daolord, Chapter 1 – Spacetime Disc

Rumble…

A streak of sword-light was flying through the transversal conduit.

Ji Ning flew incredibly fast when using the Blood Drop evasion skill, but the transversal conduit was simply too long. It had taken their group over three years to fly from the Brightshore Kingdom to the alternate universe. Still, by now Ning flew twice as fast as he had in the past.

"Here I am." When Ning saw the light up ahead, he couldn't help but reveal a look of delight as he darted towards it.

In the instant that he flew through, Ning could sense… Su Youji! He could also sense his other true body clone! He could also sense the Primaltwin which was safeguarding the Three Realms.

"I'm back." Ning laughed. He was home.

The Endless Territories. The Badlands Territory. An unremarkable chaos planet.

Whoosh.

A figure suddenly appeared on the surface of this chaos planet. It was yet another white-robed Ji Ning.

"I've benefited tremendously from this trip to the alternate universe. I've now perfectly joined five Supreme Daos together! Although I can sense that this isn't the true apex of the Dao of the Sword, I trust I'll soon be able to break through to that level." Ning had the feeling for some time now that he was very, very close to the true apex.

He had spent over six million accelerated years in the Trileaf Realm, and during that period of time this feeling had only grown stronger and stronger. It looked as though he hadn't improved at all, but in reality he had been slowly accumulating experience in his Sword Dao. When it reached a certain level, it would burst forth!

"If I wish to become a Daolord, I must become one with my clone first. It is time for my clone to head off to Vastheaven Palace." Ning smiled, then strode forwards. Whoosh! He instantly tore a hole in the space around him. By now, Ning's sword-intent alone was completely capable of tearing a spatial tunnel open for him, allowing him to enter a different spatial continuum and move even faster through space.

His true body and its clone would reunite at Vastheaven Palace!

The Brightshore Kingdom. The Sword Palace of the Twelve Palaces. Within an estate located at the very peak of one of the many awe-inspiring mountains in the Sword Palace.

This estate belonged to Ji Ning. Because Ning had yet to return, the gates to the estate remained barred firmly shut. Next to the estate there was a wooden house, with Flamefairy Su Youji having taken up temporary residence here.

Ever since she had returned from the alternate universe she had lived here, waiting for Ning.

"Master!" Su Youji had been meditating in the lotus position, but she suddenly opened her eyes, revealing a look of joy with them.

She could sense that Ji Ning had returned!

The lofty peak of a mountain. This was the other end of the transversal conduit. When Ning exited the conduit, he appeared here. Moments later, a snow-robed old man with six horns and a white beard suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Hegemon." Ning was in an extremely good mood due to having returned. When he saw the Hegemon suddenly appear, he couldn't help but be badly startled and hurriedly bow.

"You are back." The white-bearded elder had a smile on his face. "It is good that you are back. You were the last one to return from the alternate universe."

Ning was stunned. So Greatjoy, Solewind, and the others both returned as well.

"First, return the Archaeus medallion to me," the white-bearded elder said.

"Yes." Ning hurriedly produced the Archaeus medallion. It was now of no use to him, but the almighty Hegemon would be able to use it to allow other World-level cultivators to venture through the alternate universe in the future.

"Greatjoy, Solewind, and the others have already narrated what happened in the alternate universe to me. You once saved their lives, which is no small thing. As I said long ago, the better you perform, the heavier I shall reward you." The white-bearded man smiled. "And I heard that you even managed to enter the inner reaches of the Genesis Lands…"

"It was luck," Ning said.

"It wasn't luck. Solewind, you, and Greatjoy all managed to make it inside. In the future, I imagine that the three of you will be every bit the equal of Eastcult and Bertulu," the white-bearded elder said.

Ning was secretly surprised. So Greatjoy had made it into the inner reaches as well?

"This is a spacetime disc I created myself." The white-bearded elder produced a strange disc of mixed white and black colors. "Through using this spacetime disk, you can flee through spacetime in a dangerous situation. It contains the power of a secret art which I personally infused into it. However, it can only be used once. After you use it the energy within will be consumed, making it unusable."

As he spoke, he sent the strange disc towards Ning.

Ning was rather excited. Before going to the alternate universe, the almighty Hegemon had indeed said that if he provided assistance to Skyfire Brightshore, he would be richly rewarded upon his return. Still, he hadn't expected the reward to be so ample.

"Given my mastery over the Dao of Spacetime, there won't be many who can chase after you once you activate this spacetime disc." The almighty Hegemon was completely confident in his abilities. "Still, you have to be careful. Major powers have countless abilities at their disposal, and some are so strong that you won't even have a chance to use the disc. Thus, you still have to be careful."

"Understood," Ning said respectfully. Given how much Emperor Maniseal had doted on his disciple, he had most certainly provided his disciple with life-saving treasures. And yet, his disciple had still died by the hands of Emperor Trisilk.

"Hegemon, I wish to leave the Brightshore Kingdom for a time, but…" Ning said. Per the rules of the Brightshore Kingdom, one was generally permitted to leave only upon becoming a Daolord.

"Permission granted. Just go speak with Woodflower of your Sword Palace." The white-robed elder nodded. "Be careful when voyaging through the outside world. You can easily die, given how weak you still are. Enough. You can go now."

"Acknowledged." Ning bowed respectfully, then used the nearby spacetime tunnel to first travel back to the imperial palace, then head to the Sword Palace.

The white-bearded old man nodded slightly as he watched Ning leave. "These young fellows have all benefited quite a bit, and Darknorth has undergone a truly earthshaking transformation. Now, even I can only barely sense what his destiny will be like."

The Brightshore Kingdom's grand strategy lay in the production of elites! The Daolords of the Brightshore Kingdom were, on average, much stronger than those of the Dao Alliance. However, they were also much fewer in number! As for Ji Ning, Bertulu, Greatjoy, and the others, they were the elites of the elites, the cream of the crop! The Brightshore Kingdom would naturally protect them carefully.

Giving Ning a spacetime disc as a form of 'thanks' was just an excuse! Even if he didn't have this excuse, the Hegemon would've come up with another excuse to give this monstrously talented kid a protective treasure.

Ning stood there at the front entrance to the Sword Palace, staring at the beautiful, fiery-robed woman who stood at the other side of the entrance.

"Youji." Ning smiled.

"Master." Su Youji's eyes were brimming with tears. She had actually benefited greatly from her visit to the Genesis Lands, and she had improved significantly as well. She was at the point where she could become a Daolord whenever she wished. However, she was too worried about Ning. When she returned to the Sword Palace, she simply couldn't calm down and so she didn't make her breakthrough.

Now, at least, she saw Ji Ning once more.

"Look at yourself! Your master won't die that easily, you know." Ning grinned.

"I knew you had to believe. Firesurge and those other bastards said that you…" Su Youji revealed a brilliant smile.

Ning's gaze suddenly turned to someone who stood behind Su Youji.

"Ah. It seems I've disturbed the two of you." A figure emerged from behind Su Youji, a smile on his face.

"Senior apprentice-brother Woodflower," Ning immediately called out. The newcomer was indeed Lord Woodflower.

Lord Woodflower smiled as he looked at Ning. "I just learned from the Hegemon that you've returned. Solewind, Greatjoy, and the others all returned some time ago. You were the only one left. You really gave me a bad scare."

When Ning hadn't returned with the others, Woodflower really had been worried for quite some time.

"I'm back now, right?" Ning laughed.

"I imagine this trip was quite fruitful for you," Lord Woodflower said.

"Not bad." Ning grinned.

As far as treasures went, the deceased Hegemon had bestowed upon him a pair of Dao-seals, a suit of armor, and chaos nectar. The most precious treasures, of course, were those six lifeblood swords which Emperor Gonflame had labored over. Still… weapons and treasures, upon being bound, could have their auras restrained, making it so that outsiders couldn't tell how powerful they were. Not even the almighty Hegemon had noticed how extraordinary Ning's six swords and suit of armor were.

"As long as you benefited from it. When are you planning to become a Daolord?" Lord Woodflower asked.

"Soon. I need to make some further preparations," Ning said. "Right. Senior apprentice-brother, I'm planning to leave the Brightshore Kingdom on a trip."

"No problem." Lord Woodflower nodded. "If you are going to leave, follow me. We'll go light a heartlamp first."

"Alright." Ning nodded.

Heartlamps were lit through one's own truesoul. Generally speaking, one would be able to sense right away when its master perished. Once its master perished, the heartlamp would be extinguished as well. But of course, if you entered an alternate universe or some particularly dangerous ruins, it was possible that the connection to the heartlamp would be severed.

Still, heartlamps and truesoul towers were amongst the best of life-sensing equipment. The connection was almost as perfect as the connection between a true body and a clone. The more casually created items like life-tablets had a much smaller area of effectiveness.

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Book 29, Daolord, Chapter 2 – Star Map

Ji Ning led Su Youji to follow Lord Woodflower into the Sword Palace. The Sword Palace had quite a few cultivators within it, but of course most were black-armored Daolords.

"Swordlord Darknorth has arrived."

"It's Swordlord Darknorth."

"That's Flamefairy Su Youji standing next to him."

"He's been gone for roughly eighty thousand years, right? I'm surprised that Lord Woodflower is actually welcoming him back personally."

"Eighty thousand years ago, all of the World-level geniuses of the Twelve Palaces who were acknowledged by the ancient pagodas were ordered to return, then challenged the Daolord Cloudworld. After that, Swordlord Darknorth, Prince Greatjoy, Heartlord Solewind, and Waterlord Firesurge all suddenly disappeared. I heard that they had all gained an incredible stroke of good fortune. Prince Greatjoy, Heartlord Solewind, and the others all returned together tens of thousands of years ago, as did Flamefairy Su Youji. I thought that Swordlord Darknorth must've died."

The black-armored Daolords all chatted amongst themselves, while the ones closer to Ning all called out in very modest manners, "Swordlord Darknorth."

Virtually all of the black-armored Daolords had reached that level through using Pseudo Samsara Pills. It was all but guaranteed that they would forever remain Daolords of the First Step. They thus didn't spend much time or effort on cultivation, and instead were filled with curiosity about the latest news and going ons.

When the almighty Hegemon had chosen Ning and the others, they were quickly able to deduce what was really happening. In truth, the Hegemon didn't really care that they knew some of the details; so long as the secret of the alternate universe was kept hidden, that was enough.

"Come on." Lord Woodflower led Ning towards an ancient pagoda. "Su Youji, you can wait outside."

"Understood." Su Youji obediently stood outside the pagoda, while Ji Ning entered.

The interior of the pagoda was simple and unadorned. Deep within it, atop a stone dais, there were a series of heartlamps that were lit. Heartlamps looked quite similar to lotus flowers in shape, and they contained sparks of truesoul flames. So long as the master remained alive, these flames would never die.

There were five levels to the stone dais. There were many heartlamps on the first level, well over two thousand. The second level had far fewer lamps, just sixteen in total. The third level only had eighty-two heartlamps, the fourth level had merely thirty-five heartlamps, and the fifth level only had two heartlamps.

"This stone dais has five levels. The first level is for Daolords of the First Step, the second is for Daolords of the Second Step, and so on and so forth. The fifth level is reserved for Eternal Emperors." Lord Woodflower looked at the two heartlamps on the fifth level, then let out a sigh. "Our Sword Palace has only given birth to a total of three Eternal Emperors. One has perished, while the other two are out adventuring…"

Ning nodded. The Sword Palace only had around a hundred 'real' Daolords. The reason why there were so many on the first level, with over two thousand heartlamps present, was because almost all of them were black-armored Daolords.

"Senior apprentice-brother, our Sword Palace actually has thirty-five Daolords of the Fourth Step?" Ning asked. The fourth step represented Verge-level Daolords; they definitely would be considered incredibly strong major powers.

"Think about Daolord Everstarter, who has been missing for countless chaos cycles. Do you think he is alive, or do you think he is dead?" Lord Woodflower looked at Ning. "The heartlamp remains lit because it cannot sense him, but whether or not he is actually still alive is hard to say."

Ning nodded. For example, if he had died in an alternate universe, there would've been no way to sense it.

"As for Daolords of the Fourth Step who we are certain are still alive, there are twenty-two of them," Lord Woodflower said. "The others, we simply cannot tell. Daolords of the Fourth Step are all searching for opportunities and fortunes that will assist them in their Daomerge. For the sake of their Daomerge, they will risk their lives and plunge into some truly deadly regions… and some of them will never return."

Ning couldn't help but sigh as well. Daolord Solesky was another example; for the sake of his Daomerge, he had chosen to brave the dangers of the Waveshift world.

"Alright. Come, set a heartlamp alight," Lord Woodflower said. "The normal rule is that only Daolords can leave. However, you are capable of becoming a Daolord whenever you choose, and so we won't force things. For now, we'll temporarily keep your heartlamp on the first level."

A dark, gloomy lotus-shaped heartlamp hovered before Ning. Ning stretched out a finger, sending out a stream of his soul into the heartlamp. Poof! The wick within the flower petals of the heartlamp instantly lit up. Ning could sense the strong connection which now existed between his truesoul and the blazing flames. It almost felt like one of his clones.

With but a thought, Ning sent the heartlamp flying to the borders of the first level of the stone dais, then set it down.

"After you become a Daolord, training will speed up significantly at first. It shouldn't take you too long to reach the second step! Reaching the third step will take a bit more time, while reaching the fourth step will be the most difficult of all." Lord Woodflower had a complicated look on his face as he said softly, "As for the Daomerge… it'll be up to luck."

Countless monstrously powerful Daolords had perished. Only a miniscule number became Eternal Emperors.

"However… failing in the Daomerge doesn't mean that much. To be able to roam the universe freely for 108,000 chaos cycles is enough." Lord Woodflower laughed. "If you stifle yourself and choose a weak Dao… even if you are lucky enough to become an Eternal Emperor, you'll live in perpetual fear of being killed by one of the powerful Daolords. Even if you live forever, that just means you'll be pitiful bug forever!"

Ning stared at the ancient, dispirited Lord Woodflower. Suddenly, he could sense a terrifying sword-intent emanate from the man's body. Ning couldn't help but nod.

To mortals, cultivators seemed to have unlimited lifespans; upon becoming a Celestial Immortal, it was said that your lifespan would be as long as that of the heavens themselves. However, in reality there was still a limit! Even entire chaosworlds and the heavens within them would eventually perish and be born anew. As for World-level cultivators and Daolords, they could at most live for 108,000 chaos cycles! They had to succeed in the Daomerge within this allotted time span.

If they did not complete their Daomerge, then when the time came they would perish. Thus… even the most powerful of Daolords could only live for 108,000 chaos cycles. This was why the Sword Palace had more than 80,000 powerful Daolords in its records, but only a hundred who were still alive.

Only by succeeding in the Daomerge would they gain true eternity. For the most powerful, such as the Hegemon, time flowed on in an endless stream but they remained at the very apex of the universe. The almighty Brightshore Hegemon had been alive for far longer than even the Twelve Palaces.

With the heartlamp lit, Ning left the pagoda.

Su Youji was waiting for him outside. There was actually a green-robed creature with hundreds of tentacles that served as hair and a pair of golden eyes.

"Greetings, Master." The green-robed creature immediately knelt down and called out with respect when he saw Ning emerge.

"And you are…?" Ning was puzzled.

"This is your servant," Lord Woodflower said. "A servant which the Brightshore Kingdom has prepared for you."

"The Brightshore Kingdom is giving me a servant? A World-level servant?" Ning was puzzled. What was the point of giving him a World-level servant?

Lord Woodflower said, "Don't underestimate his usefulness. He will be extremely important to you! Normally, only real Daolords of the Twelve Palaces will be given access to servants like him. Those black-armored Daolords never will. Every one of them is raised here within the Brightshore Kingdom and possesses both self-cloning abilities as well as incredibly powerful souls. Just one of his clones will accompany you, with another one remaining in the Brightshore Kingdom."

"Senior apprentice-brother, are you saying…?" Ning was starting to understand.

"Exactly so. He'll be used to send messages." Lord Woodflower looked at Ning. "If you you run into trouble and need to ask for rescue, you can tell him and his clone in the Brightshore Kingdom will be able to immediately report it to us! The Brightshore Kingdom will immediately spread the word to all of the Daolords and Eternal Emperors of the kingom who are in the Endless Territories. The ones closest to you will head to you as quickly as possible!" Lord Woodflower laughed.

Ning's eyes lit up. Absolutely incredible. To use a messenger relay of clones to ensure that the Daolords and Eternal Emperors of the Brightshore Kingdom were in constant contact was an effective way of maintaining communication.

"However, given how truly vast the Endless Territories are, generally speaking it would be difficult for an ordinary World God's clone to be able to sense past a thousand or so territories. Thus, the Brightshore Kingdom has arranged for this one to work with you. His soul is incredibly powerful," Lord Woodflower said.

Ning nodded in understanding. There was a limit to the distance at which a clone would be able to sense the presence of another clone. Elder God and Ancestral Immortal clones could only sense each other up to ten territories apart, whereas World-level clones would only function up to a thousand territories apart.

The so-called 'sensing' method was actually a type of soul resonance. Thus, the stronger the soul, the greater the distance at which the connection could be maintained! Take Ning as an example. Although he was merely at the World level, his soul was comparable to a Daolord's! As for these World-level cultivators who had been trained by the Brightshore Kingdom, they all had clones and souls which were far more powerful than that of ordinary World-level cultivators, allowing them to sense at a great distance as well.

"It is quite rare for World-level cultivators to have clones." Ning sighed with emotion. "Ones with such powerful souls are even more rare."

"The Brightshore Kingdom doesn't have that many Daolords. That's why we can afford to do this," Lord Woodflower said. "There's no way the Dao Alliance, for example, could do such a thing. Still, they have methods of their own… but of course, those methods are far slower than ours."

Ning nodded. The Brightshore Kingdom was able to transmit information at truly shocking speeds.

"When you wander through the outside world, the Brightshore Kingdom shall be the strongest shield available to you." Lord Woodflower smiled at Ning. "And all of the Daolords of the Brightshore Kingdom have sworn oaths from the day they joined to never engage in battle against each other."

Ning chuckled. When he had received the Sword Palace's medallion, he had also sworn a lifeblood oath. No members of any of the Twelve Palaces could kill each other.

"The major powers of the Brightshore Kingdom are extremely unified when wandering the outside world. If you encounter other Daolords of the Brightshore Kingdom who are in danger, you should help them as well." Lord Woodflower looked at Ning.

"Understood." Ning nodded.

"Right. This is the star map of all territories which are known to the Brightshore Kingdom." Lord Woodflower handed a rolled-up golden star map scroll to Ning.

Ning accepted it. Upon opening it, a look of shock instantly filled his face.

"Amazed, right? The Endless Territories are truly vast, and some of its danger zones are also truly massive. Many cannot even be fully mapped out." Lord Woodflower let out a sigh.

Ning stared, stunned, at the star map. Good heavens. This… this was far larger than the entire star map of the alternate universe!

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Book 29, Daolord, Chapter 3 – The Journey

The territories occupied by cultivators in the Endless Territories roughly made up around sixty to seventy percent the size of the alternate universe. However, there were many 'danger zones'.

For example, the region marked down as the 'Starsea of Worries' was considered the most dangerous location in all the Endless Territories. It had yet to be fully mapped out, but its known area alone already surpassed the entirety of the rest of the Endless Territories. It was incredibly dangerous, and less than one in ten thousand Daolords would survive a trip into it! Generally speaking, only incredibly powerful Daolords would be lucky enough to survive, and even the majority of Eternal Emperors who entered that place would perish.

The Starsea of Worries, in and of itself, was nearly comparable to the entire alternate universe in size. It was without a doubt the most dangerous place in the Endless Territories. The Endless Territories also had some other similar danger zones which were quite terrifying. Chances of entering and surviving were very slim.

"If we factor in those danger zones, the Endless Territories is far larger than the alternate universe." Ji Ning was rather stunned as he carefully read through the information the star map contained regarding the Endless Territories.

"Is that…" Ning's eyes narrowed as he saw an explanation of the six major forces within the Endless Territories.

The Dao Alliance was comprised of virtually all cultivators. It was an enormous behemoth that was also far-flung and dispersed. It had the most Daolords and Eternal Emperors, but it also had so many internecine disputes and took up so much territory that it had always operated under the principle of non-governance.

The Brightshore Kingdom was created by the almighty Hegemon Brightshore, one of the three mighty Hegemons of the Endless Territories!

The Aeonians consumed cultivators, using them as food. They were extremely unified and were incredibly powerful after being Awakened.

The 'special lifeforms'. They were the hundreds and thousands of strange, unique creatures who had been birthed by the primordial chaos. After Hegemon Windrain rose to power and established the Windrain Kingdom, it became a holy land for all special lifeforms and countless special lifeforms congregated there.

The Ancient cultivators comprised the most mysterious, secretive organization in all the Endless Territories. They were extremely few in number, but each and every one of them possessed incredible power. Their divine abilities and secret arts were powerful beyond measure, and they were led by Hegemon Netherlily.

The Dark Kingdom was comprised of cultivators who had migrated from outside the Endless Territories, and they ruled over the border territories.

"Much more complex than the alternate universe," Ning mused to himself.

"Junior apprentice-brother." Lord Woodflower smiled as he looked at Ning. "Surprised?"

"I never realized our many danger zones our Endless Territories possess, or that we actually have six major forces here," Ning said.

"There's no need for most World-level cultivators to know such things. The Endless Territories are simply too vast and filled with so many dangers that they would never make it far enough to find out," Lord Woodflower said. "You, however, are different. This is all information you'll need to know after you become a Daolord."

Ning nodded.

"As for the danger zones… some are almost infinitely large, especially the Starsea of Worries. Not even the almighty Hegemon has been able to fully explore them," Lord Woodflower said. "Honestly, the main things you need to keep in mind are those six major powers. The Brightshore Kingdom is rather aloof, and we are on fairly good terms with the Dao Alliance, the Aeonians, and the special lifeforms. We can be considered enemies of the Dark Kingdom, as they are foreigners, after all. But remember… we are mortal foes of the Ancient cultivators!"

"Mortal foes?" Ning was startled.

"Right." Lord Woodflower nodded somberly. "Thus, you need to be wary of them! But of course, you need to keep an eye out for the other organizations as well. The Dao Alliance, for example. It is so large and filled with so much internal struggles that it wouldn't surprise me if some of their major powers suddenly assaulted you. Same with the Aeonians; you are a cultivator, after all! Aeonians love eating Samsara Daolord cultivators."

"Alright. You know everything you need to know." Lord Woodflower looked at Ning. "In short… have a safe trip."

"Alright." Ning nodded heavily.

After accepting the servant, Ning led Su Youji in leaving the Sword Palace.

The Brightshore Kingdom was quite similar to the Trileaf Realm, in that it also had three spacetime tunnels.

"These three spacetime tunnels lead to three different parts of the Endless Territories, allowing our cultivators to waste as little time as possible when travelling." A black-lord Daolord guard who stood outside the tunnel smiled as he explained to Ning.

"Mm." Ning led Su Youji straight into the spacetime tunnel. In his heart, he couldn't help but muse that the Paragon of Pills and Hegemon Brightshore apparently were quite similar in their mastery over spacetime.

The Badlands Territory and Vastheaven Palace had originally seemed quite distant from one another, but if you looked at the star map of the Endless Territories you would realize that they actually belonged to the same general neighborhood! Given Ning's strength, a few hundred years would suffice for his clone to go from the Badlands Territory to Vastheaven Palace.

"We should be able to make it in around three or so centuries." Ning's true body would be able to move even faster; the spacetime tunnel would save him quite some time.

Swoosh.

A flying shuttle was hurtling through the void, with Ning, Su Youji, and World God Pillsaint within it.

"Master, what sort of a place is Vastheaven Palace?" Pillsaint asked curiously.

"A place I have to go. In fact, I'm technically a member of Vastheaven Palace as well," Ning said with a smile. Indeed. He had to reach that place before he could fulfill his lifeblood oath and return to the Three Realms. His Primaltwin had been protecting the Three Realms for quite some time now, but it had to remain physically outside within the primordial chaos just beyond it, unable to actually re-enter.

"Youji, Pillsaint, both of you have made tremendous gains. I imagine both of you can become Daolords now," Ning said.

"Yes." Su Youji nodded. "After I received the legacy of Feixian the Exalted but prior to visiting the Genesis Lands, I was already comparable to a supreme Chaos Immortal. Thanks to the opportunities the Genesis Lands gave me… even if I don't use any treasures at all, I am a transcendent Chaos Immortal."

Ning nodded. To reach that level only through the usage of Eternal weapons wasn't that impressive. If you were able to reach a transcendent level of power without needing to rely on magic treasures, you would probably be able to break through to the Daolord level whenever you wished.

"Thank you, Master, for that Archaeus medallion. Otherwise, I have no idea how long it would take for me to break through." Su Youji felt rather excited. She had never imagined that she would become a Daolord as well.

"I have to thank you as well, Master. If it wasn't for you, I can't even imagine how long it would take before my Dao of Alchemy would have reached its current level." Pillsaint was quite excited. "Flamefairy, I can become a Daolord whenever I wish as well."

Ning laughed. His two most worthy retainers were both able to become Daolords. This was truly pleasing to him.

"Right. Have Solewind, Greatjoy, and the others made their breakthroughs yet?" Ning asked.

"Ah! I was so happy to see you back that I forgot to tell you," Su Youji said. "Prince Greatjoy broke through to become a Daolord roughly three thousand years after our return! Just two years after that, Waterlord Firesurge became a Daolord as well! Another twelve thousand years after that, Solewind also become a Daolord."

Ning was startled. All of them became Daolords?

"Makes sense. They had reached their bottlenecks long ago; the only reason they held back was because they had made some gains in the Genesis Lands. Any further improvements would be incredibly difficult. I'm not surprised they broke through to become Daolords," Ning said.

"Master, when will you become a Daolord?" Su Youji asked curiously.

"Right!" Pillsaint was curious as well.

"It won't take too long," Ning said. No matter what, he had to reunite with his clone first. In addition… he could also dimly sense that there was still a slight flaw with his Sword Dao. He had the feeling that he was close to breaking through, but just needed one final stimulus.

"Since the two of you are both ready to become Daolords… how about this. Let's find a quiet, secluded place and have you two break through there," Ning said. "Or would you prefer to train for a bit longer and further solidify your foundations?"

"I solidified my foundation long ago. I was just waiting for you to come back, Master. I can break through whenever I wish; there's no need to wait any further." The Flamefairy smiled.

"I solidified my foundation back in the Trileaf Realm. I've been waiting to make my breakthrough," Pillsaint said. After acquiring the first six chapters of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters, he had spent roughly a million years in accelerated time training. That was how long it had taken for Ning to acquire thise six lifeblood weapons.

"If that's the case… hm. Let's just go over there." Ning willed it, and the flying ship quickly shifted into a different dimensional continuum, then landed on a quiet, desolate chaos planet. This chaos planet had no life on it at all, and its surface was a rocky one.

Ning waved his hand, causing an Immortal estate to descend upon the surface of this planet. With another thought, Ning activated the various layers of restrictive seals and spells on the estate, causing an aura of enormous yet subdued power to cover the entire planet. Anyone off in the distance would never be able to detect any hint of an aura from this chaos planet.

Breaking through to become a Daolord would cause an enormous disturbance. They had to do their best to dampen their auras and prevent themselves from being discovered, which would cause unnecessary trouble.

"Make your breakthroughs here. I'll stand guard for you," Ning said.

"Yes, Master." Both Pillsaint and Su Youji were rather excited and nervous. Although they were confident in their chances, breaking through to become a Daolord was an incredibly important event in the life of any cultivator.

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Book 29, Daolord, Chapter 4 – The Brothers of Vastheaven Palace

Ji Ning stood before the railings of the Immortal estate on this chaos planet, staring off into the starry void.

Boom!

Suddenly, a roiling aura of power rocketed into the skies, an aura which was powerful, vast, and utterly exalted. This was not an aura which a World-level cultivator could produce. Even for Ning, only the azureflower mist energy in his body could compare to this aura in power.

"A Daolord's aura." Ning smiled. "Pillsaint was the first to break through."

Breaking through from the World level to become a Daolord required the complete rebuilding of the body, which meant that there was naturally no way to keep one's aura hidden during the process. It would erupt with abandon. But of course, Ning had long ago set wards on this planet to prevent the Daolord ripples from spreading out.

Rumble…

A dense whirlpool of chaos energy began to form in the void above the planet. The enormous vortex of chaos energy centered around the planet, gathering in large amounts of chaos energy and then continuously transmitting it directly into Pillsaint and letting him make use of it.

A short while later, yet another Daolord aura erupted towards the heavens as the Flamefairy began to make her breakthrough as well. Soon, yet another vortex of chaos energy began to fill the void outside the world.

The enormous chaos vortexes swirled around this chaos planet. As for Ning, he just quietly stood guard in front of the estate. A disruption in the flow of chaos energy alone generally wouldn't attract the attention of major powers, because True Gods, True Immortals, Elder Gods, and Ancestral Immortals would cause similar phenomena when they made their breakthroughs. As a result, fluctuations in the flow of chaos energy was fairly common, and the ripples were also quite weak from a distance.

The breakthrough process took more than an entire day.

Swoosh. A chubby form suddenly rocketed into the skies, then landed before Ning. It was the chubby-face, white-teethed Pillsaint. Pillsaint's aura was now more natural but also more majestic. Just judging from auras alone, one would believe that he was significantly more powerful than Ning. He had already reached the Daolord level.

"Congratulations, Daolord Pillsaint." Ning smiled.

"I must thank you, Master. If it wasn't for you, I truly do not know how long it would've taken for me to become a Daolord. Or perhaps I might've never reached this level." Pillsaint was rather moved as well. He was far more talented in alchemy than he was in combat, but to become a true grandmaster alchemist was incredibly difficult. This time, thanks to Ning, he had been lucky enough to attract the attention of the Paragon of Pills in the alternate universe and be bestowed with her techniques, allowing him to find his own path.

The Paragon of Pills had given him the first six chapters, which could guide one directly to becoming an Eternal Emperor. Not even the Brightshore Kingdom had a comparable alchemical technique.

Only after being guided by an eminent master did Pillsaint know what path he should take. Without an eminent master, only a man of utterly dazzling talent, such as Ji Ning, Solewind, and the others, would be able to rely on his own thoughts and ideas to enter the Daolord level. But of course, this would still be much easier if you had many other legacies and techniques to learn from. If you were able to benefit from the wisdom and experience of your predecessors, you would be able to avoid some of their mistakes. If you wished to see far, you had to stand on the shoulders of giants.

Swoosh. Moments later, yet another figured flew into the heavens, her form ephemeral and bewitchingly beautiful. Dressed in fiery red robes, it was indeed Su Youji, and her beauty and aura of seduction was only even more intoxicating than before.

As someone who trained in the Dao of Charm and control, Su Youji's natural grace and charm was becoming increasingly amazing. A single glance from her would be enough to drive most World-level cultivators insane with love, causing them to be willing to sacrifice themselves for her.

"Master." Su Youji smiled as she looked at Ning, but she felt a bit disappointed when she saw how Ning's eyes still remained very calm and tranquil. She said with a hint of resignation, "I thought I'd be able to affect you a little bit. It seems your ability to resist mesmerization is extraordinarily powerful. As expected, given that you were able to go through the primessence chains."

"If you used your secret arts, I might be affected," Ning said with a laugh.

"I would never do that to you," Su Youji said.

In truth, Ning wasn't sure if he would be able to withstand her. She was now a Daolord, after all. If she used her mesmerization secret arts with her Daolord-level energy… she might not be able to take control over him, but it was likely that she would be able to affect him. She wasn't an ordinary Daolord, after all; she had trained in the legacy of Feixian the Exalted, a terrifyingly powerful Daolord. But of course, even if she was able to affect Ning, Ning would be able to summon his quadressence lightning and water with a thought, using them to easily extinguish Su Youji. The main problem was that the difference in power between them remained too vast!

The Dao of Charm was not a Dao suited to close combat; it was meant to control and beguile foes.

"Now that you are Daolords, everything has changed for you," Ning said. "With each step they take, Samsara Daolords walk between life and death. You have only taken the first step on your path! In the future, you must be even more careful and meticulous in your cultivation. I won't make any unreasonable requests of you, but I do expect the two of you to at least survive to reach the fourth step."

"Right." Pillsaint nodded.

"Failing in the Daomerge is one thing, but if I was to fail and die when breaking through to the second, third, or fourth steps… that would be a joke!" Su Youji was quite confident as well.

For Samsara Daolords, every single step they took was akin to groping for a path through the darkness!

Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, as well as World-level cultivators, would be able to sense the prime essences of the universe. The prime essence of the Dao of the Sword, for example, would emanate an aura with extremely detailed information regarding the Dao which would allow cultivators to safely train all the way up to the master-class as a World-level cultivator.

After that… you would be searching through the darkness. A single misplaced step would result in death.

The Daomerge at the end would prove to be the greatest trial. If your Dao held even the slightest of imperfections, there was no way it could gain true eternity. The only result would be you dying and your Dao vanishing. Not even the likes of Su Youji, Pillsaint, or Ning were confident in being able to succeed in the Daomerge. Their goal was to first do their best to become Daolords of the Fourth Step. If they couldn't even reach that level, they really would become the laughingstocks of the Brightshore Kingdom.

As for the Daomerge? They'd worry about that after actually reaching the fourth step.

Now that Su Youji and Pillsaint were Daolords, the journey before the trio would be even smoother sailing than before. Daolords were naturally a powerful deterrent to any would-be attackers, allowing them to easily travel for nearly three centuries in complete peace.

Slumberlake Star was a place with a spacetime transfer array.

Whoosh. The array suddenly lit up.

"The array was activated just a short while ago. Why is it being activated again so soon?" The Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who were responsible for overseeing this spacetime transfer array were all puzzled and mumbled to each other.

A short while later, three figures suddenly emerged from the spacetime transfer array. The trio consisted of Ji Ning, Pillsaint, and Su Youji.

When the three of them appeared and the Daolord auras of the latter two wafted outwards, the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were so terrified that they didn't dare say another word.

By now, there was no way Ning would choose to waste time in order to save a bit of travel expenses. They naturally chose to independently activate the arrays each time!

"We're fairly close to Vastheaven Palace by now. We should arrive in about half a year," Ning said with a laugh.

"Congratulations, Master." Su Youji smiled. "You've been waiting far too long for this day."

"Yes. It has been far too long." Ning nodded slowly. The reason he cared so much about going to Vastheaven Palace… was because he truly missed his mother and father.

Swoosh!

A flying vessel appeared out of nowhere. Ning and the others entered the vessel, which then speedily departed. They needed to fly for roughly half a month, then go through a natural spatial vortex to reach a more distant location. This was how travelling through the primordial chaos was. In truth, very little of the time was spent going through spacetime transfer arrays; the vast majority of the time was spent going through some rather problematic locations.

Rumble…

There was a chaos planet located within a region of primordial chaos that was fairly close to Slumberlake Star. A fierce fight was going on upon the surface of the planet, causing quite a significant disturbance.

"Eh?" Ning suddenly had a strange feeling. At his level of power, these feelings were generally quite accurate. "Stop!" Ning immediately brought his flying vessel to a halt and put it away.

"Master?" Pillsaint and Su Youji were both puzzled. Why had they suddenly come to a halt?

"Let's take a look up ahead," Ning said. "A battle seems to be occurring upon that chaos planet."

Pillsaint and Su Youji were both puzzled. A battle? So what? What was the point of watching? Still, neither would go against Ning's wishes. They immediately followed Ning in flying over.

Three World-level cultivators and a number of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were watching this battle from afar. This place was fairly close to Slumberlake Star, a spacetime transfer array, and so quite a few cultivators had come over to watch.

"Gentlemen, what is happening on that planet?" Ning walked over to them.

The watching cultivators all turned their heads, puzzled, towards Ning's group. They saw the white-robed youth, then saw the two figures behind him.

Daolords?!?!

"Greetings, Daolords." The three World-level cultivators were badly shocked. They hastily bowed.

"Daolords." The Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were quivering with fear.

Ning instructed, "Tell me about the battle going on upon that chaos planet." For him to feel an affinity for it meant there had to be some sort of a connection to himself.

One of the World-level cultivators, an elderly man, immediately said, "Right away, senior." He didn't dare act negligently towards this white-robed youth. The youth looked like a World-level cultivator, but the two Daolords were standing behind him. Clearly, this youth's background was extraordinary.

"That planet has a total of six World-level cultivators who are split up into two groups," the old man said.

"I can tell that there are two sides." Ning frowned. He was able to see from ten billion kilometers away that atop that chaos planet, there was a single World-level cultivator who was being assaulted by five others. He was just barely able to hold his own.

"On one side is the Clearwind Temple. The five of them are working together to kill a common foe, a World-level cultivator of their mortal enemy, 'Vastheaven Palace'." The old man hurriedly sped up his explanation.

Ning's face tightened. Vastheaven Palace? No wonder he sensed a connection!

"Hmph." Ning took a step forward, transforming into a streak of sword-light that tore through space. Through the Blood Drop evasion skill, he entered a different dimensional continuum as he charged towards that chaos planet at maximum speed. If one of the brothers of Vastheaven Palace ended up being bullied by others before his very eyes, what a joke that would be!

"Senior, t-that's Clearwind Temple!" The old man cried out in alarm. He could sense the killing intent radiating off Ning. Clearwind Temple was a force every bit the equal of Vastheaven Palace. For World-level cultivators, such organizations were unfathomably vast and powerful.

"Master!" Su Youji transformed into a streak of light as well. The nearby cultivators were all dazed when they heard her address him as 'Master'. What was going on? Why would a Daolord address a World-level cultivator as 'master'?

"So what if they belong to Clearwind Temple? Our master belongs to Vastheaven Palace!" Pillsaint emanated a killing aura as well as he too transformed into a streak of light.

The old man and the nearby World-level cultivators, Elder Gods, and Ancestral Immortals were all completely stunned.

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Book 29, Daolord, Chapter 5 – Darknorth of Vastheaven Palace

By the time Ji Ning emerged from the different dimensional continuum, he had already emerged directly outside that chaos planet.

The five World-level cultivators of Clearwind Temple who were surrounding and attacking that lone figure on the surface of the chaos planet immediately noticed the intruder. Their leader, a muscular and tall World-level cultivator, immediately barked out, "Clearwind Temple is in pursuit of a thief. Fellow Daoist, leave immediately!"

"Hmph." Ning let out a cold snort, immediately transforming into a streak of sword-light. He moved at four times the speed of light as he charged over at maximum speed.

As soon as Ning began to move, the World-level cultivators on the chaos planet were all shocked. Four times the speed of light? It must be understood that most World-level cultivators weren't even able to move at twice the speed of light, unless they specialized in certain speed-based secret arts. Daolords of the First Step could generally move at double the speed of light, Daolords of the Second Step could move at triple the speed of light, Daolords of the Third Step could move at quadruple the speed of light, and Daolords of the Fourth Step could move at quintuple the speed of light.

Of course, this was just the 'normal' speed. If you were skilled in evasive techniques or had a good evasion-type treasure, things would be completely different. Both, however, were extremely rare.

"How can a World-level cultivator move that fast? He must specialize in a movement art." The five World-level cultivators of Clearwind Temple immediately came to this conclusion.

"I am Darknorth of Vastheaven Palace!" Ning's cold, baleful voice instantly rang out within the air above the chaos planet, and it struck against the hearts of those five World-level cultivators like thunder, causing their faces to turn pale.

Vastheaven Palace? Not good!

"Is that brother Darknorth?" The belabored and surrounded azure-robed figure immediately called out loudly, "Careful, brother Darknorth! The five of them are not easy to deal with." He had heard of Darknorth before. Daolord Solesky's incarnation in Vastheaven Palace had told everyone of Darknorth, letting them know that they had gained a new brother whose name was Darknorth and who was just an Elder God.

"According to what big brother Solesky said, Darknorth is just an Elder God. But that doesn't seem to be right," the azure-robed man mused to himself.

"Stop him!"

"He belongs to Vastheaven Palace? Capture him as well and imprison them both into Blackwind Prison!"

"Attack!"

The five cultivators of Clearwind Temple, upon realizing that Ning was from Vastheaven Palace, immediately launched their attacks against him as well. Two of them continued their assaults on the azure-robed figure while the other three began to charge towards Ning.

"Hmph." Ning flew forwards like a streak of sword-light, not even drawing his black swords. He just gave them a cold look.

Boom!

It was as though the heavens themselves were collapsing! A terrifying, awesome sword-intent suddenly appeared on the surface of the chaos planet, crystallizing into streaks of sword-light. Countless streaks of sword-light descended upon the world as the five World-level cultivators stared upwards in terror. In the face of this boundless rain of sword-intent, the five were like nothing more than ants.

"How can he be this strong?"

"Impossible."

"This sword-intent…" The five World-level cultivators were completely stunned. For the sword-intent alone to be this strong… this man could wipe them out as easily as if they were ants. Utterly terrified, the five all produced white jade seals in their hands, then crushed them to beg for rescue. They didn't even think about fighting back; all they wanted to do was beg for aid.

Whoosh. The endless sword-intent crashed upon them like a wave, smothering and drowning all five of the World-level cultivators. The sword-intent was as soft as cotton, quickly wrapping around all five World-level cultivators. Ning then took out a gourd and opened it, allowing its opening to exert a tremendous sucking power. Swoosh! All five cultivators were instantly drawn inside.

With but a thought, Ning dismissed the sword-intent from the skies.

As far as Ning was concerned, these five World-level cultivators truly were like ants. The difference in power between him and them was simply enormous. Ning, however, didn't wish to be rash. He'd first capture them, then decide later whether or not to kill them.

"Brother Darknorth?" The azure-robed man stared blankly at Ning. He was rather dazed right now.

Big brother Solesky, didn't you say that brother Darknorth was just an Elder God? For him to have reached the World level was one thing. How did he become this powerful?! He didn't even have to attack; his sword-intent alone was enough to capture all five of those World-level cultivators. Two of them were supreme World Gods!

"My name is Eastherd." The azure-robed man suppressed his puzzlement as Ning walked towards him, then said, "Brother Darknorth, thank you for saving my life."

"Brother Eastherd, I just so happened to move past this area on my way to Vastheaven Palace." Ning smiled. "What, you've heard of me before?"

"I have." The azure-robed man nodded immediately. "Big brother Solesky told us about you long ago. He said that you are an Elder God who has close to a World God's level of power, and that you'd be making a breakthrough quite soon. But now… it seems that you have not only reached the World level, you are so powerful as to render me speechless."

Ning chuckled. Indeed. When he met Daolord Solesky, he was just an Elder God.

"Has big brother Solesky returned from the Waveshift world yet?" Ning immediately asked.

"Not yet." Eastherd shook his head and sighed. "He's still trapped in the Waveshift world, with his incarnation standing guard over Vastheaven Palace. His incarnation has mentioned you to us before. Ugh… the Waveshift world is an estate-world left behind by an Eternal Emperor, and Eternal Emperor Waveshift was no ordinary Eternal Emperor at that!"

Ning nodded.

The Waveshift world was one of the many danger zones of the Endless Territories. Quite a few Daolords of the Fourth Step had perished in that place, but a steady stream of them continued to enter it. This was because Emperor Waveshift had left behind certain incredible treasures within that place. Emperor Waveshift was no ordinary Emperor; he was incredibly skilled in the art of Numerancy, to the point of being acclaimed as the number one Numerancy diviner in all the Endless Territories.

Later, he had left to go out adventuring. His estate had become an ownerless item, with generations of Daolords venturing into it to seek out their fortunes. Daolord Badlands was also very skilled in Numerancy. He had even erected his own school within the Waveshift Everworld. There were many other major powers who felt certain that he must've received one of Emperor Waveshift's legacies.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

Two figures flew in from afar. They were Pillsaint and Su Youji. Although they were both Daolords, they were slower than Ning in both teleporting as well as raw flying speed.

"Two Daolords." Eastherd was badly shocked.

"Master, what happened to those people from Clearwind Temple?" Pillsaint asked.

"Master, you move too fast." Su Youji laughed.

Ning nodded, then looked at Eastherd. "Eastherd, let's leave immediately. This place is very close to Clearwind Temple's territory; it'll be dangerous for us to stay here too long."

Eastherd was stunned upon hearing these two Daolords address Ning as 'master'. Upon hearing Ning's words, he immediately nodded. "Right, right, right! Let's hurry up and leave."

"Let's go."

Ning produced his flying vessel, and all four of them immediately boarded it. The vessel quickly disappeared into the skies.

Aboard the flying vessel.

Eastherd stared at Pillsaint and Su Youji, then looked at Ning.

"Daolords?" Eastherd looked at Ning. "Brother Darknorth, these two Daolords are your retainers?"

"Is that really so surprising? My master can become a Daolord whenever he wishes. Even now, he's still much more powerful than the two of us," Pillsaint said.

"You haven't seen our master's true power yet," Su Youji said.

Eastherd was secretly speechless. But it was true; he really had seen nothing at all. Just now, Ning had merely exerted a bit of his sword-intent in order to capture the five foes. That couldn't even be considered a real attack.

"Brother Eastherd." Ning immediately asked, "How did you end up in a fight against Clearwind Temple, and on their territory?"

Clearwind Temple was located extremely close to the territory that battle had just taken place in. Vastheaven Palace, however, was still another eleven territories away. It'd still take them another half year to reach it.

Half a year wasn't a long period of time, given how long most cultivators lived for, but it wasn't exactly short either. Half a year was enough for you to die countless times in a life-and-death battle.

These two mighty sects were twelve territories away from each other. They had their own territories and nursed old grudges against each other; they could be considered mortal enemies.

"As for this matter, it has to do with one of my disciples." Eastherd shook his head. "Twenty thousand years ago, when I was wandering the outside world, I encountered a young fellow who was incredibly talented and also very kind-hearted. I took him on as my disciple and watched him grow, providing some occasional guidance in secret. Who would've thought that he would end up harvesting a treasure that would attract the attention and pursuit of Clearwind Temple? Of course I had to rescue him! But Clearwind Temple is very close to this place, and many World-level cultivators quickly came to aid their forces. That's why I ended up being surrounded and attacked by five of them at once. If it wasn't for you, brother Darknorth, I probably…"

Ning slowly nodded. "When I captured those five from Clearwind Temple, they all shattered jade talismans. Most likely, they were sending out a distress call."

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