The Price of a Perfect Foundation

Ji Ning had already reached the ‘Domain of the Dao’ level, and his highest accomplishment happened to be in the path of Water, one of the Five Elements. Naturally, comprehending the Waterflood Manual was effortless for him. Although he had only just begun to study it, he had already thoroughly analyzed the Zifu volume of the Waterflood Manual, and had even comprehended more than half of the Wanxiang volume.

This meant that Ji Ning could theoretically train all the way to the Wanxiang Adept stage in one go, provided that he had sufficient Primordial Liquid to supply him.

“Rumble…”

The lake of Yuan power within his Zifu slowly revolved. The rotation of the lake water was very slow, but it grew faster as it approached the bottom. The deepest point of his Zifu lake, the very source, was an incredibly powerful vortex. As the amount of Yuan power in the lake continued to increase, the force of the vortex there also grew stronger and stronger.

The source became deeper and deeper.

The Yuan power being born there became purer and purer as well.

After cultivating for nearly an hour…

“Boom~~~” With a tremor that shook his entire Zifu space, the source of the vast Yuan power lake underwent another transformation. The purity of his Yuan power skyrocketed once more.

“Zifu perfected.”

Within the vast Zifu space, the majestic lake was still slowly expanding. However, the ‘quality’ of this Yuan power had already reached the absolute limits of the Zifu Disciple stage. It could not be improved any further. It could only continue to accumulate and expand in terms of raw quantity.

…

Within the quiet room, under the hazy light of the luminous pearls, Ji Ning opened his eyes from his cross-legged position on the jade bed. He glanced at the emerald-green jade bottle placed on the ground before him and nodded slightly to himself. “I consumed about eighty jin of Primordial Liquid to reach the Zifu Perfection stage in a single burst. But to go from Zifu Perfection to the Wanxiang stage and acquire a top-tier projection… the amount of Primordial Liquid needed is terrifying.”

The Wanxiang stage was a very special realm.

Some Wanxiang Adepts had projections that were merely countless brilliant stars.

Others, such as Mu Xiao and Xu Li, had projections that included brilliant stars and a bright moon. That was why their Wanxiang technique had manifested as a giant hand of moonlight.

However…

The legends spoke of a supreme top-tier projection: one where billions of stars, a bright moon, and a blazing sun all appeared simultaneously. Only by having such a top-tier projection could a cultivator, when reaching the Wanxiang Perfection stage, nurture the scene of ‘a Moon Rabbit emerging from the moon, a Golden Crow appearing from the sun’ within their projection.

The appearance of the Moon Rabbit and the Golden Crow represented a perfected foundation. This was the ‘foundation for becoming a Celestial Immortal’. Without reaching this step, it was completely impossible to ever become a Celestial Immortal.

But how did one obtain a top-tier projection?

The key was to accumulate and expand the Zifu lake during the Zifu stage. This Zifu lake was the root of everything. The deeper and vaster the Zifu lake, the deeper one’s Yuan power reserves. The resulting projection would be correspondingly more astonishing.

“With some inferior techniques, the Zifu lake is both shallow and small,” Ji Ning mused. “Once they reach the Zifu Perfection stage, their lake can’t be expanded any further. They don’t even have a chance to become a Wanxiang Adept.” In his own Ji Clan, that was the case. Their techniques were too poor, causing their Zifu lakes to be too weak at their foundation, so that they could not even break through to form a projection!

The Starlight projection was the worst.

The Moonlight projection was a step higher.

The Sun-Moon projection was considered top-tier.

Only when one reached the Wanxiang Perfection stage and the Moon Rabbit and Golden Crow appeared within their projection would their foundation be considered perfect.

“According to the notes of the Black-White College disciples recorded in the Waterflood Manual,” Ji Ning pondered, “once one reaches Zifu Perfection, if they absorb five hundred jin of Primordial Liquid to break through, they will obtain the Sun-Moon projection. If they absorb eight hundred jin of Primordial Liquid to break through to the Wanxiang stage, then when they reach the Wanxiang Perfection stage, a Golden Crow and Moon Rabbit will appear within their projection.”

This was the benefit of a major sect. The experiences of one’s predecessors let the later generations know exactly what to do.

Fortunately, this was an Immortal-ranked Ki Refining technique. If it were a lesser technique, even if one had boundless Primordial Liquid, they could not refine it.

…

After spending an hour training to reach Zifu Perfection, Ji Ning waved his hand and produced the Little Five Elements Sword Manual. For the top-tier major sects, when it came to important inner disciples, training was this simple. Once one’s realm was sufficient, the sect would allow them to save as much time as possible, spending it on comprehending the Dao, studying sword arts, and divine abilities.

“Sword arts!” Ji Ning’s eyes gleamed with greed.

Ever since he had reached the Domain of the Dao, his realm was too high, making the sword art manuals of the Ji Clan useless to him.

For a true Sword Immortal… a profound and broad sword art could allow them to unleash extraordinary combat power. Even though he was merely at the Domain of the Dao level, studying a sword art would allow him to comprehend sword arts at a realm even higher than his own.

“The Little Five Elements Sword Manual! One of the top five sword arts of the Black-White College, profound enough for even Immortals to study.”

A single sword art manual was valued at a price close to that of a divine ability. This alone showed how powerful it was.

Ji Ning gently opened the pages.

He extended his finger, forming a sword-finger, and began to practice the techniques. This quiet room was built by the Black-White College specifically for closed-door cultivation by its formal disciples. Its protective formations were linked to the grand formation of the entire Black-White College. Even if he practiced his techniques here, unless he were an Immortal, there was no way he could cause any damage to the room.

“Shhh.”

“Hiss.”

Ji Ning read and practiced simultaneously, completely immersed in the sword art.

He felt just as fascinated as when he had first learned the One Hundred Eight Swords of Heaven and Earth as a child. Back then, his father had taught him. This time, Ji Ning was studying alone.

While Ji Ning was immersed in studying his sword art, inside a residence on one of the peaks of the Black-White College.

“Junior fellow apprentice Wenjian. Junior fellow apprentice Wenjian.” A voice rang out.

“Senior fellow apprentice Bu, please enter.”

A faint, cold voice emerged from the depths of the residence. Immediately, a blue-robed man with long hair drifted in. The Zifu Disciples and mortals within the residence all bowed respectfully. They were naturally incomparable to the formal disciples of the Black-White College.

“Senior fellow apprentice Bu, what business do you have with me?” A white-robed youth walked out. It was Yinxue Wenjian.

“Junior fellow apprentice Wenjian,” the blue-robed man said with a smile. “I heard that during this college’s disciple recruitment, the mountain grotto you were guarding was breached?”

Yinxue Wenjian’s face darkened.

This was a humiliation for him!

That time, Ji Ning had forced him to draw his sword formation to block the attack. As a proud individual, he naturally remembered it. That was precisely why he hadn’t attended the entry ceremony for Ji Ning and Mu Northson.

“Yes,” Yinxue Wenjian said coldly.

“Don’t get angry, junior fellow apprentice Wenjian,” the blue-robed man laughed. “Perhaps you don’t know yet… but that Ji Ning, because of his extraordinary talent, has already been accepted as a personal disciple by our college’s Diancai Immortal.”

Yinxue Wenjian’s face flickered with shock. “Diancai Immortal?”

Diancai Immortal was a Sword Immortal!

Yinxue Wenjian himself followed the path of the sword and had once yearned to become a disciple of Diancai Immortal. However, disciples who formally joined the sect were typically taken on by Primal Daoists. It was rare for someone to be directly accepted as a disciple by an Immortal. Over time, he had gotten used to it. He had thought it was normal not to be taken by Diancai Immortal. But now, this Ji Ning had actually become his disciple!

“So what if he has?” There was a sharp light in Yinxue Wenjian’s eyes. “In the end, one’s future strength depends on oneself.”

“True.” The blue-robed man nodded. “Cultivation is a personal matter. But junior fellow apprentice Wenjian, the reason you lost to Ji Ning last time was only because you could only use a single flying sword. Your true strength was never brought to bear.”

Yinxue Wenjian said nothing. In terms of strength, he truly considered himself far superior to that Ji Ning.

“As you know, junior fellow apprentice Wenjian,” the blue-robed man said with a smile, “Our Black-White College has an unspoken rule. New formal disciples are always ‘taught a lesson’ in the Dao Debate Palace.”

Yinxue Wenjian nodded.

Battles in the Dao Debate Palace were a very safe form of sparring. The formal disciples of the Black-White College enjoyed this type of combat immensely!

“The new disciples were all peerless geniuses in their past lives, accustomed to being arrogant. The battles in the Dao Debate Palace allow them to sober up, to understand that there is always a sky beyond the sky,” the blue-robed man said with a laugh. “I wonder if junior fellow apprentice Wenjian has any interest in helping the genius Ji Ning sober up a bit, to help him understand that within the Black-White College, he is merely an ordinary member.”

Yinxue Wenjian’s eyes lit up. After hesitating for a moment, he said coldly, “I will only fight Ji Ning!”

“There are several other junior fellow apprentices who wish to make a move too,” the blue-robed man laughed. “What we need to do now is to go and challenge Ji Ning and Mu Northson.”

…

Mu Northson was riding a cyan dragon puppet, tearing through the air and flying towards his own residence.

“The Black-White College truly lives up to its reputation.” Mu Northson thought about the puppet manual he had obtained, and his heart burned with passion. Countless techniques and methods he had imagined were all documented in detail in the puppet manual, making him utterly enthralled.

Whoosh.

Mu Northson descended from the sky on his cyan dragon puppet.

“Junior fellow apprentice Twinwood.” A blue-robed maiden was calling out from before his door.

“This elder female apprentice-sister is…?” Mu Northson recalled having seen this woman among the formal disciples at the entry ceremony. The memories of cultivators were astonishingly sharp; he naturally remembered those he had seen.

The blue-robed maiden smiled. “My name is Donglin. You can just call me elder female apprentice-sister Donglin.”

Mu Northson said happily, “I don’t even have a single servant here, so I must beg elder female apprentice-sister’s pardon for any discourtesy.”

Seeing this, the blue-robed maiden felt a flicker of goodwill towards Mu Northson. She said, “Junior fellow apprentice Twinwood, I am here to invite you to the Dao Debate Palace…”

“The Dao Debate Palace!” Mu Northson’s eyes immediately lit up.

He had read the Black-White College manual and knew that sparring in the Dao Debate Palace was a very safe form of combat. The battles there had nothing to do with Yuan power or magic treasures. They were purely a competition of each person’s comprehension of the ‘Dao’, and their skill in utilizing the ‘Dao’. That is why it was called ‘Debating the Dao’. Usually, there would be some small wagers, such as Black-White Pearls or Primordial Liquid.

“Sparring with senior and fellow apprentice-sisters is something this junior brother looks forward to,” Mu Northson said, a look of anticipation on his face.

“Then let’s go,” the blue-robed maiden said.

“Good.” Mu Northson’s eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

Every genius had their pride.

They had never met an opponent of a similar caliber in the past. Although they knew that the older disciples of the Black-White College were certainly extraordinary, they were still itching for a fight.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The blue-robed maiden and Mu Northson flew side-by-side into the sky, heading straight for the Dao Debate Palace. (To be continued…)