The Inheritance of the Starseizing Hand

The area around them was hazy. Ji Ning and the yellow-furred bear stood atop the mist, the previously twisted space and time now calm.

"That is…!" Ji Ning stared into the distance. At the far end of this endless misty void was a towering structure radiating blinding golden light, akin to an altar. From afar, countless layers of steps could be seen, leading directly to its peak.

"Still standing there dumbfounded?" The yellow-furred bear grabbed Ji Ning's arm and strode forward. Each step carried them several li, and the distant building grew clearer with every stride. The golden light blazed with increasing intensity, and an endless oppressive aura caused Ji Ning's heart to shudder.

Moments later.

Ji Ning arrived at the very base of the majestic altar. He craned his neck to look at the endless steps, which seemed to number in the thousands or tens of thousands, leading up to the summit.

"Go on." The yellow-furred bear also looked up at the peak of the altar. "Walk up the stairs one by one. Accept the divine ability inheritance left by my master."

"Alright." Ji Ning nodded.

Opportunity!

This was an incomparably precious opportunity. This divine ability method was left behind by a mighty figure of the Three Realms, an existence from after Pangu split Heaven and Earth apart! Once he learned it, he would surely be able to slay Xu Li the True Immortal and rescue his father and the others.

"Father, wait for your son just a moment longer." Ji Ning immediately stepped up onto the first stair.

The moment his foot landed—

BOOM!

It felt as though the heavens had collapsed and the earth had shattered. Ji Ning's entire soul seemed to ring with a great roar. In that instant, his right foot was planted on the step, and his entire being seemed to merge with the inheritance altar. A stream of ancient, profound information was transmitted directly into his soul, seeping into his memories.

The inheritance had begun.

Ji Ning had not expected that the inheritance would start the moment he set foot on the first step. Although caught off guard, he quickly immersed himself in the ancient stream of information being transmitted.

After a moment, he took a second step. More ancient information arrived.

Step by step. Another step. And another…

The profound mysteries, ancient and enduring, were transmitted into Ji Ning's soul piece by piece, allowing him to adapt gradually. If all the information of a truly supreme divine ability were to flood into his soul at once, even with Ji Ning's formidable soul, he would have been turned into an idiot.

"It's begun." The yellow-furred bear stood at the foot of the altar, watching Ji Ning ascend step by step. His gaze was incredibly complex—filled with excitement, anticipation, and a deep sense of nostalgia. "The divine ability method left by my master has finally found a successor."

"Master…"

"Are you still alive?" A faint glimmer of tears appeared in the yellow-furred bear's eyes.

In his heart, there was only one true master—the first master. The four subsequent masters, including Ji Ning, were merely successors chosen by the first master. But the second, third, and fourth masters had not even obtained the first divine ability. Naturally, they could not be considered true successors. Now, Ji Ning had finally begun to receive this divine ability.

"The master's successor." The yellow-furred bear's eyes grew distant, his thoughts drifting.

Back then, the first master had created this grotto and then departed without a trace. But the yellow-furred bear knew… the first master had gone to face a great calamity. It was precisely because even the first master had no absolute certainty of surviving that calamity that he had created this grotto, not wanting his proudest divine ability to be lost to the ages.

Endless years had passed…

The Three Realms had long been settled. The three thousand major worlds and the billions of minor worlds had all been born. But the master had never returned to this grotto. This filled the yellow-furred bear's heart with unease. Was the master still alive? Though worry gnawed at him, he still followed his master's orders, treating the search for a successor as his most important task.

…

Step after step.

On the towering altar stairs, Ji Ning continued upward. He walked for what seemed like an eternity before finally reaching the summit.

Ji Ning snapped back to awareness. The information regarding the ancient divine ability method had been fused into his soul through a special technique, like each character being branded into his consciousness. He could not forget it even if he wished, nor could anyone else steal it through soul-searching magic.

"Divine ability: the 'Starseizing Hand'." Ji Ning murmured to himself.

Vivid images appeared in his mind.

In an endless, vast void, a single hand stretched across billions of li. It pierced through space itself, directly grabbing a star in the void before casually crushing it to dust.

That same hand, a billion li long, swept downward. In the vast, roaring seas below, towering, majestic Fiendgod figures were directly smacked into oblivion.

That hand grasped an entire world. Within the world was trapped an ugly, flame-wreathed Fiendgod. With a gentle squeeze from the hand, the world shattered, and the Fiendgod perished.

…

"Beyond the Three Realms, in the endless void, there are two supreme stars: the Sunstar and the Taiyin Star. There are also other immensely powerful and majestic stars. These stars are so vast and mighty that even Celestial Immortals find them difficult to shake. Even the stray fragments that break off and fall through the endless void are precious materials for forging magic treasures. My master's divine ability was named 'Starseizing' to bear witness to its boundless might." The yellow-furred bear appeared beside him.

Ji Ning nodded softly.

Having accepted the inheritance of this divine ability, he understood clearly just how terrifying it was—a might that completely surpassed imagination. He also understood why the yellow-furred bear had been willing to let him delay for five years… even willing to let his father and family die, so that he could wait five years to learn this divine ability.

But fate had its own designs. Although Ji Ning had been determined to immediately charge through the Divine Ability Hall, he had still obtained this divine ability in the end.

"Still, you have managed to learn this divine ability." The yellow-furred bear looked at Ji Ning. "If your soul hadn't reached the 'Divine Sense' level, even after five years, you would only have had a possibility of obtaining the first divine ability… Even I didn't expect your soul to break through."

"Oh?" Ji Ning was surprised. "Was obtaining the first divine ability so difficult? I felt that after my soul broke through, I swept through everything, killing all the Fiendgod soldiers until none were left."

The yellow-furred bear shot Ji Ning a glance. "Without Divine Sense, even after five years, would your divine power have been enough to slaughter so many Fiendgod soldiers?"

Ji Ning was startled.

Right.

He had relied on his Divine Sense to control nearly a hundred flying swords in a sweeping massacre, consuming no divine power. But if he had relied on close combat without Divine Sense… the consumption of divine power would have been astonishing! During his trial in the Divine Ability Hall, by the later stages, his divine power had already fallen to less than twenty percent. And the Fiendgod soldiers had only grown stronger the further he went.

"Regardless, you have succeeded. You have obtained this divine ability." The yellow-furred bear pointed to a large meditation mat in the distance. "Go to that mat. Kneel and give thanks to my master."

"Alright." Ji Ning acknowledged.

The grace of teaching is as vast as the heavens.

Ji Ning walked forward, directly stepping onto the mat, and knelt down.

The moment he knelt—

At the far end of the altar's summit platform, directly in front of Ji Ning, a towering figure appeared. He was roughly a thousand zhang tall, with bronze-colored skin and a bald head. He wore only a simple beast-hide garment. His form was almost identical to a human's, save for one peculiarity: he only had one arm!

He had only a single right arm—no left arm.

The one-armed, towering figure gazed down at Ji Ning, a faint, pleased smile on his face. He spoke softly: "The divine ability has been bestowed. When you transcend the Heavenly Tribulation and become an Empyrean God, you may be considered a true disciple of me, Daofather Threelives. Do not be negligent. Do not sully my name." Then, the one-armed figure's right hand pointed lightly towards Ji Ning.

Whoosh.

Five streaks of multicolored light shot towards Ji Ning, and then the one-armed, towering figure directly dissipated.

A look of joy flashed across Ji Ning's face. He hurriedly sat down cross-legged. The five-colored radiance rapidly surged into his body, and gradually, waves of energy began to emanate from him.

"Master." The yellow-furred bear watched the one-armed, towering figure appear and then vanish. He murmured to himself, knowing that the figure was merely a technique left behind by his master. No matter who succeeded in obtaining the master's divine ability and came to the altar's summit, kneeling on the mat, the figure would appear.

Ji Ning's hands, now resting on his knees, were emitting a swirling, five-colored light. His hands had become like precious treasures.

The five-colored light spun, gradually merging into a chaotic, greyish hue.

"Shwaaa."

Everything fell silent. Ji Ning's hands returned to normal.

Ji Ning opened his eyes, looking down at the palms of his hands. With a thought, a circular, complex divine rune appeared in each palm. "The Starseizing Rune! The Six Cycles of Starseizing… the first cycle is complete." Then, the runes faded, becoming invisible to the naked eye.

Every divine ability requires a long period of cultivation to master; it does not happen overnight. Even the 'Heavenly Transformation' and 'Windwing Evasion' were divided into multiple stages.

The method for cultivating the 'Starseizing Hand' divine ability was called the 'Six Cycles of Starseizing'.

Only at the Fiendgod Body Refining Zifu level could the first cycle be trained. At the Wanxiang level, the second cycle could be trained. At the Primal level, the third cycle could be trained. …

Each time a Fiendgod Body Refiner broke through a major realm, they could train the next cycle. This divine ability placed an enormous burden on the divine body. If the divine body was not strong enough, it could not be cultivated.

"The divine ability 'Starseizing Hand' that you received is the original version of the technique." The yellow-furred bear appeared beside him. "Even if you were to reach the level of the first master, this divine ability would be sufficient for you. The 'Windwing Evasion' you practiced before was merely a simplified version."

"Simplified?" Ji Ning was astonished.

"Would the divine abilities that allowed the ancient Fiendgods to dominate the Three Realms be casually spread around?" The yellow-furred bear shook his head. "Shortly after Pangu split Heaven and Earth, there was an ancient Fiendgod who was a great Roc. It created a flight technique—a single flap of its wings would carry it a hundred thousand li. That flight technique was the true divine ability: the 'Garuda's Wings'! I suspect that some other mighty figure observed the Roc's flight, comprehended it for a long time, and then crafted the 'Windwing Evasion'."

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

So the 'Windwing Evasion' was merely a simplification of the 'Garuda's Wings'.

"If the original technique were to be transmitted as a book, it would take you decades just to read it." The yellow-furred bear said. "Even though my master branded the 'Starseizing Hand' directly into your soul, it took you several months just to memorize it. The true original version of a divine ability is not so easily recorded!"

"Walking those steps… took me several months?" Ji Ning was shocked.

"The outside world has only passed a single instant. You need not worry about your father." The yellow-furred bear said.

Ji Ning nodded, then spoke solemnly: "Senior, may I ask, who exactly is my master, 'Daofather Threelives'?" The one-armed, towering figure had only called himself Daofather Threelives; Ji Ning knew nothing else about him.