The Weight of a Token

The debate had raged since ancient times: roam freely and live a carefree life, or give up most of one’s freedom in exchange for the top-tier techniques and secret arts. There had never been a definitive answer.

Ji Ning was unmoved because he already had the divine abilities, secret arts, and techniques of the Black-White College.

“The Grand Xia Dynasty keeps dangling bait, trying every possible way to get some Yinglong Guards to become Inner Guards,” Ji Ning mused to himself. “The most insidious part is that the Dynasty never uses force. It’s all voluntary! Those who join can’t blame anyone else. Truly brilliant methods.”

“Everyone.”

Daoist Yulan’s voice rang out, clear and commanding. “Becoming a Yinglong Guard also brings blessings to your tribe. You are permitted to designate a territory of ten thousand li square within your tribe’s lands. For as long as you live, this territory shall be under the absolute protection of the Yinglong Guard. No power on earth would dare to invade it—not even the Marquis of Anchan himself!”

Ji Ning smiled. He had heard this from Immortal Muciao back when he was a child.

“Even if you should die, this territory will still be protected for a full thousand years.” A sudden smile bloomed on Daoist Yulan’s face, beautiful as a hundred flowers opening. “If you become a full Inner Guard of the Yinglong Guard… even if you die, your tribe’s territory will be protected for a full ten thousand years!”

“Ten thousand years?” Ji Ning was startled.

“Ten thousand years of peace?”

“With that much time to quietly nurture talent, any tribe would be able to produce true experts.”

“Ten thousand years?”

The books hadn’t mentioned this. Aside from those who already knew, most of the new Yinglong Guards were absolutely stunned by the revelation.

“You may join the Inner Guard of the Yinglong Guard at any time,” Daoist Yulan said, turning around. “Come. Let us go and designate the territories for your tribes.”

They proceeded to an ancient hall. Each new Yinglong Guard entered to mark their territory.

“The Ji Clan, Ten Thousand Swords City.” Ji Ning took up a brush, dipped it lightly, and pressed the tip down on the map. Then, using Ten Thousand Swords City as the center, he drew a circle roughly ten thousand li across. It barely managed to include the four prefectural cities of the East, South, West, and North.

The old man seated at the desk nodded, rolled up the beast-hide map Ji Ning had drawn, and tucked it away. At the same time, he handed Ji Ning a token. “Take this. Have a cultivator of at least the Zifu Disciple level refine it through blood-bonding, then hang it before the gates of the City Lord’s manor in Ten Thousand Swords City.”

Ji Ning accepted the token and left the ancient hall.

One after another, the new Guards entered and exited, all designating territories for their tribes. A few independent cultivators who had no tribe or territory simply skipped the matter.

“You may join the Inner Guard at any time.”

A lotus leaf appeared beneath Daoist Yulan’s feet, and she rose into the air. Her voice still echoed through the hall. “For now, do as you please. But remember… you are all now One-Claw Yinglong Guards. You must complete one Karmic Merit mission every ten years. This is your duty as a Yinglong Guard. If you fail to do so, you will be seized and forced to fulfill it. Should you still fail to complete it, you will be expelled from the Guard.”

Her voice was still lingering in midair as Daoist Yulan stepped on her lotus leaf, drifting gracefully toward the mist-shrouded peaks in the distance.

“Senior apprentice-brother, what should we do now?” Mu Northson asked.

“What can we do?” Ji Ning shook his head. “The Yinglong Guard headquarters has an enormous collection of scriptures and techniques, but they can only be exchanged for Karmic Merit. We don’t have a single point of Merit right now. Best we go accept a mission quickly, complete it, so the Guard won’t come bothering us. Let’s take a mission first, then head to Anchan City to sell off all the spoils we got from Mount Yujue Wasteland.”

Mu Northson grinned. “Right.”

“Let’s go.”

A small green snake coiled around Ji Ning’s wrist. Behind him followed a massive white hound, and at his side was his junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson.

In just a few moments, the two had accepted their missions.

“Back to Anchan City!”

Ji Ning, Mu Northson, the Whitewater Hound, and Qingqing all boarded the dragon-headed warship, which quickly tore through the air, speeding into the clouds.

“Senior apprentice-brother, these missions don’t seem all that hard,” Mu Northson said. “If you ask me, we should be picking the twenty-Merit or thirty-Merit missions. The two of us working together would be a match for almost any Wanxiang Adept out there!”

“Stay humble,” Ji Ning said dryly. “If we ran into senior apprentice-brother Bloodshadow, senior apprentice-brother Sanpang, or senior apprentice-brother Flamesaint… would we stand a chance against any of them?”

Mu Northson opened his mouth, then closed it.

They really wouldn’t.

Those were cultivators who had fully comprehended an entire Dao—they were on par with Primal Daoists!

Ji Ning continued, “Don’t think that just because we’ve killed a few Wanxiang Adepts and a few Wanxiang great demons, we’re invincible. Besides, the two missions we picked are both ten-Merit missions. Once we finish them, we’ll be free and clear for a hundred years.”

“True. A hundred years of freedom is plenty,” Mu Northson agreed, nodding. Then he gritted his teeth. “I never knew, before setting foot in the Military Affairs Hall, that this land held so many evildoers. All kinds of monsters.”

“Hmm.” Ji Ning’s eyes flickered with killing intent.

The Military Affairs Hall was filled with missions. The vast majority were for executing those with heavy Karmic sin. The ‘sin’ here was judged by the Heavenly Dao itself—great sinners were weighed down by an aura of boundless evil. Killing these sinners increased the Grand Xia Dynasty’s destiny. Naturally, the Grand Xia Dynasty kept at it year after year, never ceasing.

“The first one was a cultivator who slaughtered ordinary mortals by the thousands to train his ‘Blood Hell Demon Eye.’ The second one raised a ‘Ghost Infant King’—I can’t even imagine how many babies he killed.” Mu Northson shook his head. “And these are just ten-Merit missions. Just imagine what the ten-thousand-Merit and million-Merit missions must be like… those are the true great demons, the terrifying existences that even the Grand Xia Dynasty finds difficult to handle. Heavy sin clings to them, yet they keep surviving the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations.”

Walking the righteous path required enlightenment. It required tempering the Dao-heart, step by step, one footprint at a time.

Walking the evil path was much faster.

True, it resulted in heavy Karmic sin, which made the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations more ferocious. But the evil path also dramatically boosted one’s power, making it easier to endure those tribulations.

Yet, those who walked the evil path might be mighty for a time, but their glory never lasted. When the time came to face the Heavenly Tribulation, those on the righteous path still had a chance to become Celestial Immortals, or at least Loose Immortals… but those on the evil path almost never succeeded in becoming Celestial Immortals. Even becoming Loose Immortals was vanishingly rare. The Heavenly Tribulation for evildoers was simply too terrifying!

“We’ve reached Anchan City.” Mu Northson looked down.

“Qingqing.” Ji Ning looked at the small green snake coiled around his wrist. “Give me half of your Ten-Thousand-Year Frost Ice.”

Whoosh.

The small green snake dissolved into a cloud of mist and coalesced into a green-robed young woman. Her eyes went wide, and she sputtered indignantly, “That’s mine, Master! I earned it! You—you—you robber! I was wrong about you! You used to be such an innocent, pure-hearted boy, and now you’ve become so ruthless! You don’t have a shred of—”

“Shut up!” Ji Ning barked, sighing inwardly. “You little miser. With that much one-thousand-year Frost Ice, you can’t possibly use it all. I’m helping you sell it at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain so I can exchange it for enough Primordial Liquid to boost your strength. Do you understand now?”

Qingqing blinked. She muttered, “Don’t you dare embezzle any of it.”

“You can come in with me and watch me exchange it for Primordial Liquid. Does that satisfy you?” Ji Ning said helplessly. This little Qing was far too stingy.

“Fine, take it.” Qingqing stretched out her small hand. Whoosh! A mountain of Ten-Thousand-Year Frost Ice appeared above her palm.

Mu Northson’s jaw dropped. He roared, “You little snake! You had this much Ten-Thousand-Year Frost Ice, and you only gave me a tiny piece? And I was so grateful to you!”

Qingqing didn’t even spare him a glance. She simply sliced the mountain of ice in half with her Yuan power. Storing half, she handed the other half to Ji Ning.

“Let’s go. To the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.”

The dragon-headed warship dove downward, heading straight for the vast, ancient city of Anchan.

Returning to Anchan City, both Ji Ning and Mu Northson felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. They had lived here for over three years, after all.

Half an hour later at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, they emerged.

“Yours.” Ji Ning handed a jade bottle to Qingqing.

Qingqing took it and carefully examined the contents. Inside was exactly five thousand three hundred jin of Primordial Liquid—the proceeds from selling the Ten-Thousand-Year Frost Ice. She nodded in satisfaction.

Ji Ning shook his head with a wry smile.

“Uncle White, this is for you.” Ji Ning handed another bottle to the Whitewater Hound, who had taken human form. He was dressed in white, with white hair—his face was a striking resemblance to Ji Ning’s own father, albeit softer and more kindly.

The Whitewater Hound took it and examined it, then was greatly shocked. There was fully eight thousand jin of Primordial Liquid inside! He hurriedly shook his head, transmitting mentally, “Ning, child. This much Primordial Liquid would greatly enhance your own strength. You shouldn’t waste it on me.”

“I still have six thousand jin left,” Ji Ning transmitted back. “Adding eight thousand jin or taking it away won’t make much of a difference to me. To reach the Primal Daoist stage, I’ll probably need tens of thousands of jin. And according to the tradition of our Black-White College, I must fully comprehend an entire Dao before I’m permitted to break through to the Primal stage. I’m still a long way from fully comprehending a complete Dao.

“It won’t help me much, but it will be a massive boon for you, Uncle White. Now that Qingqing is already a Wanxiang great demon, if you can increase your strength, you’ll be able to help me even more effectively.”

The Whitewater Hound hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

This time at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, Ji Ning had sold nearly everything he had acquired at Mount Yujue Wasteland, including Dong Yi’s life-saving treasure, the treasures of the Dragon Whale King, and even that great demon’s intrinsic magic treasure, which had fetched a high price. The Dragon Whale King’s intrinsic treasure—its two dragon whiskers—was far more valuable than an ordinary Heaven-ranked treasure.

Both Ji Ning and Mu Northson had come away with over ten thousand jin of Primordial Liquid each.

Mu Northson had bought quite a bit of raw materials.

Ji Ning had only bought a single bottle of ‘Fire Lotus Marrow,’ spending five hundred jin of Primordial Liquid. It was meant to nurture his ‘Golden Flame Earthfire.’

“Let’s go back to the Black-White College. Cultivating within the college is the most peaceful—no one will disturb us,” Ji Ning said.

“Right. We both need to go back and go into secluded meditation. We’ll train until we break through in one push.” Mu Northson was excited. “I should be able to reach Wanxiang Perfection. Senior apprentice-brother, you should be able to as well.” He had no idea that Ji Ning had given eight thousand jin of Primordial Liquid to Uncle White; he thought Ji Ning also had over ten thousand jin.

Ji Ning smiled. “Let’s go. Let’s cultivate together.”

And so, the two cultivators and two spirit-beasts made their way toward the Black-White College.