The Invitation to the Dao Debate Palace

The towering Dao Debate Palace sat perched atop the mountain peak, faint figures visible within its halls.

The Dao Debate Palace… had always been the favorite gathering place for the disciples of the Black-White College. These genius disciples, all of them deeply proud at their core, often came here to spar.

Swoosh!

A streak of light flew out from the gates of the Dao Debate Palace. Soon after, a blue-robed maiden came flying out as well.

“Junior apprentice-brother Twowood, junior apprentice-brother Twowood.” The blue-robed maiden stepped atop a giant flower basket, rapidly chasing after him from behind.

“Senior apprentice-sister Donglin, why are you still chasing after me?” Mu Northson stood atop his azure dragon construct, his shy face now marked with anger. “Wasn’t this all a deliberate setup?”

The blue-robed maiden, Donglin, shook her head. “Junior apprentice-brother Twowood, you really can’t blame the other senior apprentice-brothers and sisters. In our Black-White College… over these endless years, every time a new disciple enters, they get a thorough lesson in the Dao Debate Palace. It’s already become a tradition. Although no school regulation codifies it, it has been passed down generation after generation.”

“A lesson for new disciples?” Mu Northson’s eyes widened. “If it was really just a lesson, why did they pretend to be evenly matched with me at first?”

“Only by teaching you this way will the lesson run deep, so that you never forget it,” Donglin said. “It also lets you understand that there are always heavens beyond the heavens, and people beyond people. To be honest, when I first entered the school, I suffered the same loss. Generation after generation, it’s the same way—letting the newly arrived junior apprentice-brothers and sisters eat a bit of a defeat, to polish away their arrogance. The senior elders of the school tacitly permit it.”

Mu Northson understood the reasoning, but after all, he was only fourteen years old. The two sparring battles he had just fought had cost him two hundred Black-White Pearls and twenty jin of Primordial Liquid. Although it was a minor wager, it had already made his heart ache.

Mu Northson clasped his hands. “Senior apprentice-sister, you had already subtly hinted at it earlier. It was my own recklessness. But there’s no need for any further words of advice.”

Swoosh!

Mu Northson immediately flew away atop his azure dragon construct.

“Alas.” Donglin watched Mu Northson leave and shook her head. She had gone to invite Mu Northson earlier, and the brief interaction had made her develop a favorable impression of this junior apprentice-brother. But because this was a tradition… she couldn’t openly stop it in the Dao Debate Palace. The most she could do was offer a subtle hint. Fortunately, he had only lost two battles before stopping.

If he had continued to lose, the losses would have been even more severe.

…

“There are heavens beyond the heavens. There are people beyond people!” Mu Northson sat on the rooftop of one of the pavilions within his estate, a jade wine flask in his hand.

He tilted his head back and drank.

“Cough. Cough.” He drank too fiercely and immediately began to cough.

“I can’t be so careless in the future.” Mu Northson gradually sobered up. He had managed to enter the Black-White College at the age of fourteen. Since childhood, he had never encountered an opponent on his own level. This pride… was what had driven him to spar with those senior apprentice-brothers and sisters. Even knowing they were stronger, he still believed himself to be outstanding.

Inside the quiet chamber of Northmoon Peak, Ji Ning was completely immersed in the ‘Lesser Five Elements Sword Manual’.

The Lesser Five Elements Sword Manual was divided into the ‘Metal Chapter’, ‘Wood Chapter’, ‘Water Chapter’, ‘Fire Chapter’, ‘Earth Chapter’, ‘Two Forms Chapter’, ‘Three Powers Chapter’, ‘Four Images Chapter’, and ‘Five Elements Chapter’—a total of nine major chapters.

Each chapter progressed from the shallow to the profound.

The shallow techniques… were not even as good as the ‘Silk Rain Forms Threads’ which he himself had created.

The profound techniques… were on the level of Celestial Immortal-level sword arts!

Ji Ning carefully studied the ‘Water Chapter’, ‘Fire Chapter’, and ‘Wind Chapter’. He had already achieved considerable depth on these three Daos. As for Metal and Earth… he was still severely lacking and naturally wouldn’t waste his energy on them.

“Drizzling Rain!”

Ji Ning let out a soft shout, pointing forward with his right sword-finger. Instantly, countless raindrops appeared in midair. These raindrops were like meteorites, bombarding the area ahead of them. They smashed directly against the walls of the quiet chamber. A faint layer of rippling light appeared on the walls, shimmering with profound and layered runic patterns.

“I’ve mastered it.” A look of delight appeared on Ji Ning’s face. “This technique is even stronger than my Silk Rain Forms Threads.”

Creating techniques could only produce techniques at one’s own level of insight.

But by learning, one could learn techniques that were slightly above one’s own level.

“Water, Fire, and Wind. From these three chapters, I’ve already learned a total of seven sword stances. They are a marked improvement over my own self-created techniques, but the increase in my overall strength is still not obvious enough.” Ji Ning immediately opened the book in front of him, flipping to the ‘Two Forms Chapter’. “It seems I need to combine my insights into these different ‘Daos’ together to create an explosive, multiplicative increase in power.”

The Two Forms Chapter contained a total of eighty-nine sword stances.

For example, Two Forms sword stances formed by combining Wind and Fire; Two Forms sword stances formed by combining Earth and Fire; Two Forms sword stances formed by combining Metal and Earth.

In short, any sword stance formed by combining the mysteries of two different Daos was categorized in the ‘Two Forms Chapter’.

Combining different Daos would indeed cause their power to superimpose and explode outward, elevating one’s strength by a full level! This was the art of the sword. Some Ki Refining cultivators… relying on powerful flying-sword formations and sword arts, could completely kill Fiendgod Body Refining experts of the same level who possessed divine abilities.

When sword art reached its apex, it was in no way inferior to divine abilities.

A full half hour later.

Whoosh!

Ji Ning waved his right sword-finger, and instantly a streak of azure flame sword-light cut through the air. It seemed to tear space itself apart as it smashed directly into the stone wall, causing the layered runic patterns on the rippling light to appear once more.

“I’ve mastered it. The Two Forms Azure Flame Sword!” A look of delight immediately appeared on Ji Ning’s face.

The Two Forms Azure Flame Sword combined a part of the True Meaning of Water with the True Meaning of Fire to form a single sword-strike.

The power of this sword-strike far surpassed Ji Ning’s previous strongest technique, ‘Drizzling Rain’, to say nothing of the ‘Silk Rain Forms Threads’ he had created back in the Yan Mountains. This was the power formed by combining and superimposing two different True Meanings of the Dao! The reason he was able to train so quickly was also due to Ji Ning’s already high level of insight into the ‘Dao’, his deep foundation, and the fact that he had previously comprehended the ‘Black-White Diagram’. He already had some understanding of how to combine Daos in his heart, and so it was only natural that he could comprehend it in half an hour. This was called achieving success when conditions were ripe.

…

Ji Ning flipped to another new section. “The Three Powers Chapter!”

The Three Powers Chapter contained a total of ninety-two sword stances.

There were Three Powers sword stances formed by Earth, Metal, and Fire. There were Three Powers sword stances formed by Wind, Metal, and Earth.

As for Ji Ning, he could only comprehend and study one small category within it—the Three Powers sword stances formed by the combination of Wind, Water, and Fire. There were only eight such sword stances in total.

Night had already fallen by the time Ji Ning finally walked out of the quiet chamber, feeling delighted.

“I spent over ten years in the Yan Mountains, and even once comprehended the Dao within the Starseizing Palace of the water estate… but I never had access to any truly powerful sword arts. Now that I have the ‘Lesser Five Elements Sword Manual’, I truly feel like a tiger who has grown wings.” Ji Ning laughed with pleasure. Such a wonderful feeling. It was truly wonderful. This feeling of learning one powerful sword art after another was truly wonderful!

“For now, I’ve already learned two sword stances from the Two Forms Chapter.”

“And from the Three Powers Chapter, I’ve also learned a single sword stance.”

Ji Ning smiled.

The Three Powers Chapter involved combining three True Meanings of the Dao. The multiplicative increase in power from this was geometric! Fortunately, during his previous enlightenment before the Black-White Diagram, Ji Ning had already reached a bottleneck in his usage of the ‘Water-Fire Lotus’. With this foundation, he had been able to comprehend a single powerful sword stance from the Three Powers Chapter in just two short hours—the Three Powers Lotus Sword!

The Three Powers Lotus Sword shared the same principle as Ji Ning’s ‘Water-Fire Lotus’, but was even more profound and sharp!

It was precisely because the two were interconnected that Ji Ning was able to comprehend it.

“My sword arts will probably be hard to improve further in the short term.” Ji Ning understood this. After all, he only had some comprehension of three of the five elements, and could at most comprehend the Three Powers Chapter. He was completely unable to comprehend the Four Images Chapter or the Five Elements Chapter.

…

Within a single day, his Ki Refining had advanced from the early Zifu stage to the perfected Zifu stage. His sword arts had climbed two or three levels in succession. He had learned the powerful sword stance ‘Three Powers Lotus Sword’ from the Lesser Five Elements Sword Manual, reaching his current limit. All of this naturally filled Ji Ning’s heart with incomparable delight.

“Ning, child.” In the distance, the Whitewater Hound came bounding over, directly transmitting mentally, “Outside the estate, there is a formal disciple of the Black-White College who has come to visit. He has been waiting for quite some time.”

“A formal disciple? Here to see me?” Ji Ning was surprised.

Ji Ning quickly walked towards the gate. After all, he couldn’t be rude to a fellow disciple.

When he reached the entrance, he saw a green-robed man standing with his hands behind his back, leisurely gazing at the crescent moon in the sky. It seemed he sensed the footsteps, for he immediately turned his head to look, a smile appearing on his face. “Junior apprentice-brother Northmoon.”

“I wonder what senior apprentice-brother is called?” As soon as Ji Ning saw this person, he knew he was a fellow disciple. He had seen him in the main hall of the school.

“My name is Bu Ying.” The green-robed, long-haired man laughed. “My Daoist title is Yu Ying [Fishing Eagle].”

“What business does Senior Apprentice-Brother Bu have with me?” Ji Ning asked.

The green-robed man laughed heartily. “From your bearing in the main hall, and seeing that the Diancai Immortal has accepted you as his disciple… I felt that you must be extraordinarily talented. And so, a few fellow disciples are very eager to spar and exchange pointers with you.”

“Spar?” Ji Ning’s expression shifted. “Is it a spar in the Dao Debate Palace?”

“Right, the Dao Debate Palace.” The green-robed man laughed. “Debating the Dao in the Dao Debate Palace is indeed an elegant affair.”

Ji Ning’s mind stirred.

The Black-White book naturally contained records of the Dao Debate Palace. Sparring and exchanging pointers there had no risk to one’s life. It was also an activity greatly favored by the disciples of the Black-White College.

However… because he had long ago read the intelligence booklet given to him by Beishan Baiwei, Ji Ning also knew that there was a tradition in the Black-White College where newly joined disciples would be taught a lesson and suffer a loss in the Dao Debate Palace. The older disciples were happy to see this happen, firstly to sober up their new junior apprentice-brothers, and secondly because they themselves had suffered the same losses back in the day.

“Alright.” Ji Ning’s eyes lit up as he laughed. “I’ve also been wanting to spar with my fellow disciples.”

“Hahaha.” The green-robed man, Bu Ying, laughed heartily. “Let’s go, then. To the Dao Debate Palace.”

Immediately, the two of them mounted their magic treasures and swiftly rose into the air, heading towards the Dao Debate Palace.

…

Ji Ning and Bu Ying were flying through the night sky when, suddenly, a streak of light shot up from below in the distance.

“Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” A white-robed youth stepped atop an azure dragon construct as he flew up to meet them.

“Junior apprentice-brother Shuo?” Ji Ning was surprised. The Mu Northson before him reeked of alcohol. He didn’t know that Mu Northson had been drinking on his rooftop and had spotted Ji Ning and Bu Ying flying through the sky.

Mu Northson said urgently, “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, were you invited to the Dao Debate Palace…”

“Junior apprentice-brother Twowood.” The green-robed man, Bu Ying, frowned.

“Don’t you believe them,” Mu Northson said urgently. “They deliberately tricked you into coming so that you would lose Black-White Pearls and Primordial Liquid. I already lost to them. Don’t let them trick you too.” Mu Northson was clearly anxious, desperately hoping Ji Ning wouldn’t follow in his footsteps.

The green-robed man, Bu Ying, barked, “Junior apprentice-brother Twowood, in sparring at the Dao Debate Palace, there is always some sort of wager. There are winners and there are losers. What, are you saying that only you are supposed to win? If everyone wanted to win, then they shouldn’t go to the Dao Debate Palace at all.”

“Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” Mu Northson was frantic.

“Junior apprentice-brother Shuo.” Ji Ning stopped him. “There’s no need to say more. I have a clear head. If I lose, I can only blame myself for being inferior. But I, Ji Ning, am fairly confident.”

“Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, you!” Mu Northson was anxious.

“Let’s go.”

Ji Ning, who had long ago received the intelligence booklet, had a clear understanding of everything in his heart.

“I’ll go with you.” Mu Northson quickly spoke up. In his mind, he was simply thinking that if he stayed by Ji Ning’s side, he could try to persuade him and prevent Ji Ning from losing too badly.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The three of them rapidly flew towards the Dao Debate Palace. Soon, the towering ‘Dao Debate Palace’ perched within the mountain peak appeared in their vision. Ji Ning and the other two immediately dove down, flying towards that Dao Debate Palace.