The Rain That Saw Through

The rain fell heavier and heavier, pouring down upon this region of Heaven and Earth. Ji Ning did not dodge, nor did he use his elemental ki to block it. He simply let the raindrops fall upon his body. He felt an unprecedented closeness to these raindrops, a sense of intimacy so profound that it made him lose himself within it.

Suddenly…

An inexplicable aura began to shroud Ji Ning. It was the aura of the Dao!

Ji Ning's entire being seemed to become an embodiment of the Dao itself.

"The Dao of Rainwater?" The yellow-furred bear and the black ox were both utterly astonished.

"He's actually comprehended it completely," the yellow-furred bear marveled. "Even though Ji Ning has made great progress at Serpentwing Lake these past ten years, and his insights into the Dao of Rainwater have run very deep, he was still a bit short of that final step. And comprehending the Dao is generally harder the closer you get to the finish line. What exactly happened to Ji Ning? It's as if his entire being has undergone a baptism. He was actually able to completely master the Dao of Rainwater in one go."

The black ox nodded. "He must have experienced something that had a great impact on him."

The rainwater dissipated. Ji Ning gazed up at the star-filled sky. He had also made progress in the Daos of Fiery Fire, Violent Wind, and the Sword. His Dao of the Sword, in particular, had reached the 'Domain of the Grand Dao' stage, and now, after his time in the Starseizing Hall, he had managed to consolidate and stabilize this level of enlightenment.

Finally, everything came to a halt.

"How long was I perceiving the Dao?" Ji Ning spoke.

"Not long at all. Only about half an hour," the yellow-furred bear said with a laugh. "But your progress in that half hour was tremendous. It was a completely smooth, continuous breakthrough."

Ji Ning was unprecedentedly calm. He revealed a faint smile. "I can feel my own progress. I have completely mastered the Dao of Rainwater, and I've even gained some minor insights into other Daos related to the 'Water' element."

"This is called 'learning by analogy'," the yellow-furred bear said. "Now that you've fully comprehended the Dao of Rainwater, you will naturally continue to advance in all aspects related to the 'Water' element. Side-branch insights are very normal. Unfortunately, although you've made progress in the Dao of Fiery Fire and the Dao of Violent Wind, you're still a bit short of completely mastering them."

Ji Ning nodded.

Of the three Daos, his mastery of the Dao of Rainwater was the earliest and deepest. His insights into the Dao of Fiery Fire were second only to the Dao of Rainwater, very close. He hadn't been able to completely master it this time, however. His Dao of Violent Wind lagged a bit behind the other two.

"I never imagined you would already grasp a 'Domain of the Grand Dao'," the yellow-furred bear said, looking at Ji Ning. "Sword Immortals are masters of offense. Reaching the Domain of the Grand Dao is a very clear boost to your combat power. Now that you've also mastered the Dao of Rainwater, you can completely integrate all your insights from the Dao of Rainwater into your Sword Dao."

The Sword Dao was a Dao of application.

One could use the Sword Dao to manifest all of their insights.

"Let me give it a try." Ji Ning smiled. He used his index and middle fingers to form a 'sword finger'.

Suddenly, rainwater appeared all around him. The rain misted down in every direction, but every single raindrop contained an utterly astonishing amount of power, to the point where the very space around him seemed to solidify. If it were an ordinary Wanxiang Adept, they would probably be unable to move an inch under this pressure. This was what happened when one mastered a complete Dao. One could use the power of the 'Dao' to exert control over the surrounding space and make it their own domain.

This technique was called 'Self-Created World'.

"Open." Ji Ning suddenly waved his sword finger.

Swish!

A watery sword-light streaked across the sky, leaving a trail in space that lingered for a long time without fading.

"What a marvelous sword-art! Truly marvelous!" the yellow-furred bear praised.

"It's far more than just 'marvelous.' Even most Loose Immortals are probably no match for this, and many Loose Immortals aren't even close to being on Ji Ning's level," the black ox exclaimed.

Ji Ning smiled.

Most Primal Daoists were at the 'Domain of the Dao' stage.

Loose Immortals had generally mastered a complete Dao.

But Ji Ning had not only mastered a complete Dao, he had also reached the 'Domain of the Grand Dao' stage in the Sword Dao, which was even rarer than mastering a single complete Dao. The combination of these two things meant that, in terms of insight, he truly did surpass many Loose Immortals. But this only referred to ordinary Loose Immortals, not those from the Black-White College.

"Now that I've mastered a complete Dao, according to the school's rules, I can also make my breakthrough to become a Primal Daoist," Ji Ning said. "Furthermore, I killed a young master of a major tribe this time, and my harvest was great. I'm sure I have enough Primordial Liquid to break through to the Primal Daoist stage. However, I'm hesitating on whether or not to break through right now. I wanted to ask the two of you for your advice on what my next step should be."

The black ox had followed Celestial Immortal Juhua for a million years. His experience was naturally vast, and his perspective was very broad.

The yellow-furred bear had followed Daoist Threelives and was unfathomably deep. Ji Ning felt that he should ask them.

"Speak, then," the yellow-furred bear said.

"You killed the young master of a major tribe? Hurry up and tell us! Hurry!" the black ox said, brimming with anticipation.

Ji Ning nodded. "I was originally cultivating in peace on Brightheart Island at Serpentwing Lake. Just two days ago, a great ship appeared in the sky above Serpentwing Lake…" Ji Ning began to describe everything in great detail, from beginning to end. He even explained the background of Shao Yanong, the background of Nine Lotos, and everything else, so that these two old fellows would have enough reference material. He even told them about Yu Wei's suggestion to him regarding the Immortal Feast.

"This Shaoyan clan will definitely be hunting me down. What should I do now?" Ji Ning looked at the black ox and the yellow-furred bear.

"A clan that can become one of the top ten major clans in the Three Thousand Major Worlds definitely has a Celestial Immortal," the yellow-furred bear said. "And I'm sure it has more than one Celestial Immortal. Such a force is, indeed, far too powerful for you right now. Fortunately, the Grand Xia Dynasty has strict laws in place, which gives you a chance to struggle against them."

"The Shaoyan clan? I know of this clan," the black ox quickly said. "Back when Celestial Immortal Juhua was alive, he dealt with this clan. The Shaoyan clan is indeed at the forefront of powers in the Grand Xia imperial world. However, after the Grand Xia imperial clan unified the world, they needed to win over the various clans and nobles. Yet, once the world was settled, these very clans and nobles became a threat instead."

Ji Ning was startled.

"Actually, the Grand Xia imperial clan has been working hard to weaken the power of the other clans this entire time," the black ox quickly explained. "First, they built the Grand Xia cities, spreading them across the endless earth to increase their control. Then, they established the Yinglong Guard, spreading them throughout the world! They also secretly sowed discord to make the various tribes and sects fight amongst each other."

"Are the other tribes all fools, to be killing each other off?" Ji Ning asked, curious.

"You don't understand. This isn't a conspiracy; it's an open political ploy. This major world only has so much territory and so many treasures. Yet, there are so many tribes. What to do? The Grand Xia imperial clan secures what they want, then lets the various major powers fight over the rest. If you don't fight for it, your tribe won't have enough treasures. So, they have no choice but to fight, and fighting breeds resentment."

Ji Ning nodded.

"However, the Grand Xia imperial clan doesn't dare to directly attack its vassals, either," the black ox said. "Because if they attacked even one, it would make all the other vassals feel threatened. It might even cause the vassals to join forces in rebellion! That's why the Grand Xia imperial clan established a set of clear rules and regulations."

"As long as you don't violate these rules, the Grand Xia imperial clan will absolutely not make a move against you."

"But if you do violate them? The Grand Xia imperial clan will be like a shark that smells blood. They will mercilessly devour you." The black ox laughed. "As long as you hide within one of the Grand Xia cities, a Celestial Immortal of the Shaoyan clan would absolutely not dare to make a move against you. Because if he did, the Grand Xia imperial clan—who has been looking for a chance to weaken the feudal lords—would have a legitimate excuse. They would quickly send out a squad to exterminate that Celestial Immortal!"

"Now do you understand some of the unspoken rules of the entire Grand Xia imperial world?" The black ox looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning nodded.

The Grand Xia imperial clan and the feudal lords.

There were also many grudges and conflicts between the feudal lords. No wonder his senior apprentice-sister, Yu Wei, had told him to seek shelter under another feudal lord.

"That senior apprentice-sister, Yu Wei, of yours was absolutely right to tell you to participate in the Immortal Feast," the yellow-furred bear spoke up. "If you want to become a Celestial Immortal, or even a True God…"

"Senior, what is a 'True God'?" Ji Ning immediately asked.

He had never really understood what a True God was.

"A Loose Immortal at the Void stage who survives the Heavenly Tribulation becomes a free and unfettered Celestial Immortal."

"A Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Void stage who survives the Heavenly Tribulation becomes a True God!" the yellow-furred bear said. "Becoming a True God is ten times, a hundred times harder than becoming a Celestial Immortal."

Ji Ning was stunned. "Ten or a hundred times harder?"

Less than one in ten thousand Void-stage Earth Immortals would succeed in becoming a Celestial Immortal. And becoming a True God was even harder?

"That's because their combat power is completely different," the yellow-furred bear explained. "You mentioned earlier that you encountered a Fiendgod, a member of the Xiangliu clan. Even though he was only at the Primal level, he was comparable to a top-tier Loose Immortal."

"Right," Ji Ning nodded.

"A Fiendgod at the Void stage is completely capable of matching a Celestial Immortal."

"And a True God is completely capable of matching a True Immortal!" The yellow-furred bear looked at Ji Ning. "Do you understand now? Once you become a True God… you'll be considered a true expert even within the Three Realms! If you go up to the Heavenly Courts and want to join the Heavenly Court, the Celestial Emperor of the Heavenly Court would personally and warmly welcome you. He might even put you in charge of hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals."

Ji Ning blinked.

The Celestial Emperor of the Heavenly Court personally welcoming him? Having him command hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals?

"My master said that I wouldn't truly be counted as his disciple until I became a True God," Ji Ning couldn't help but say. "That's setting the bar far too high for me."

"Do you have any idea what sort of status and position master holds? He came into existence at the same time as Pangu and Nuwa… He is one of the most supreme and exalted experts in the entire Three Realms! For you to become a True God would mean you wouldn't shame his reputation." The yellow-furred bear said, "Let's not get off track. I said before that your senior apprentice-sister, Yu Wei, was absolutely right to tell you to go to the Immortal Feast. It's because reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, and traveling ten thousand miles is not as good as walking once through the boundary between life and death."

"The Immortal Feast will gather all the geniuses of this major world. It's even possible that geniuses from other major worlds will quietly sneak in to participate."

"It's just like raising poisonous insects."

"You put ten thousand poisonous bugs into a jar, let them kill and devour each other, and the last bug that results from this will be incomparably powerful. It's the same principle. The top few gents who are tempered through the Immortal Feast are certain to be extraordinary. This is a perfect opportunity for you to temper yourself. An extremely rare opportunity." The yellow-furred bear continued, "Oh, right. You said you killed Shao Yanong and obtained a huge amount of treasures. Take them out! Take all of them out and let me have a good look. Let's see if there's anything that can help you."

Ji Ning quickly waved his hand. "He had a truly enormous number of treasures. I just finished refining his storage treasures not long ago."

Some treasures were stored inside his Violet Palace, while others were inside his storage artifacts.

"Hua."

Instantly, a small mountain-like pile appeared on the ground. It was formed entirely from a huge number of treasures and magic artifacts.

"These are all of Shao Yanong's treasures and artifacts," Ji Ning said, pointing at the pile.