The Unity Water-Pearl and the Shadow Above Winged Serpent Lake

Ji Ning waved his hand again, causing another small mountain of treasures to appear beside him, along with some pouches. “These are the treasures left behind by that Fiendgod’s death.” The Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang had also once painstakingly cultivated a ‘Ki Refining technique,’ but unfortunately, this natural-born Fiendgod had terrible talent in Ki Refining. After many years, he had only managed to reach the Zifu stage. Later on, Xiangliu Fang simply couldn’t be bothered to cultivate anymore.

Having reached the Zifu stage, he could at least use storage-type magic treasures, which made Xiangliu Fang immensely happy! During the Fiendgod Era, many Fiendgods who hadn’t trained in Ki Refining simply carried their treasures on their backs or shoulders.

“That’s quite a lot.” The Black Ox sighed in amazement.

“Let me have a look.” The Yellow Bear’s gaze fell upon these treasures. Suddenly, the treasures from both small mountains all flew up, hovering in mid-air.

Whoooosh.

The treasures rapidly began to sort themselves. All the bottles and jars gathered together. All the strange items like Dao talismans and jade discs grouped together. A large number of magic treasures also gathered together.

Ji Ning watched as these treasures floated in mid-air, categorizing themselves. “I didn’t sense any ripples of magic power at all, yet all these treasures are floating. The methods of this aquatic palace’s artifact spirit are truly unfathomable.”

“These are spirit-pills. One bite and a broken arm or leg will heal. You’re a Fiendgod Body Refiner, so they’re useless to you. Sell them or give them to friends and family later.”

“This is poison powder… hard to gauge the potency, but it should be fairly good.”

“This bottle says ‘Drunken Immortal Pill,’ hmm? It’s extremely potent at inducing intoxication. I’d wager even an Earth Immortal would get drunk from it. There are only three pills.”

The Yellow Bear quickly examined each bottle and jar.

Soon, he pulled out two jade bottles. “Both of these jade bottles contain Primordial Liquid. Five thousand catties each, for a total of ten thousand catties of Primordial Liquid. This Shaoyan Nong carries ten thousand catties of Primordial Liquid on him. That’s quite a lot.” Generally speaking, unless they had an urgent need, most Immortal cultivators wouldn’t carry too much Primordial Liquid on them.

They usually spent it on purchasing magic treasures. Ten thousand catties of Primordial Liquid wasn’t much to Shaoyan Nong.

“He was probably worried that if he suddenly had an epiphany while outside, he’d need it to break through to the Primal Daoist stage,” Ji Ning said with a laugh. Ten thousand catties of Primordial Liquid was enough to break through to the Primal Daoist stage.

“You can’t use it,” the Yellow Bear shook his head. “You have to participate in the Immortal Feast Competition. You cannot break through to the Primal Daoist stage.”

Ji Ning nodded.

He understood this reasoning as well. The Immortal Feast Competition was held once every three hundred years. He couldn’t wait another three hundred years. So this Immortal Feast Competition was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. Fighting against so many geniuses of the same level would be a tempering experience with immeasurable, far-reaching consequences. Lacking strategic vision and chasing only temporary gratification would only lead to future suffering.

“These strange objects are pretty good too.”

“Oh? A Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman? This Shaoyan Nong had a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman too?” The Yellow Bear said in surprise. With a flick of his finger, a leaf covered in runic patterns flew over.

Ji Ning’s eyes lit up. “A Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman?”

Among the two protective treasures he had obtained in the aquatic palace, one was that black ring, and the other was a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman.

One was for offense, the other for defense and escape.

As long as one activated a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman, the power contained within the talisman would instantly wrap around them. Not even a Loose Immortal could break through it. Then, they could simply vanish… Even if space was sealed off, even if they were in a dead end, they could still teleport away! It could teleport them from another dimension all the way to the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world!

“So you have two Greater Teleportation Dao Talismans now.” The Yellow Bear flicked his finger casually, and the leaf flew toward Ji Ning, who chuckled and waved his hand to collect it.

“That Shaoyan Nong was really unlucky, running into you. His soul was taken directly. He had a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman but never got the chance to use it.” The Yellow Bear continued his examination. “There are quite a few protective treasures here. A Vajra Body-Protecting Heavenly Pearl, a Heavenly Fire Gold Talisman, a Heaven-Escaping Shuttle… but these are all far inferior to the Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman.”

Shaoyan Nong had actually possessed three great protective treasures: the Freeze-Character Scroll, the Black-and-White Disc, and the Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman.

Two of them had been used up.

He had originally planned to refine the immortal estate and then sell the Dao-soldier monsters within it to his own clan in exchange for top-tier treasures. Unfortunately, he never got the chance.

“Big Brother, look, isn’t this a Unity Water-Pearl?” The Black Ox suddenly pointed at a watery, shimmering pearl among the mass of strange objects.

“A Unity Water-Pearl?” The Yellow Bear’s gaze followed, and his eyes lit up. He laughed heartily. “Little brat Ji Ning, it seems you really are fated to become a Primal Daoist. With this Unity Water-Pearl, you can cultivate a Primaltwin.”

Ji Ning exclaimed, “A Primaltwin?”

Ji Ning, of course, knew what a Primaltwin was. This was practically common knowledge among Immortal cultivators! The secret art for cultivating a Primaltwin was available to every disciple of the Black-White College; it didn’t even require Black-White Pearls to learn. It was one of those techniques everyone learned just in case. Unfortunately, out of a thousand Primal Daoists, perhaps not even one could successfully cultivate a Primaltwin!

Because the carrier was so hard to find!

When an Immortal cultivator broke through from Wanxiang to Primal, all the essence from the Wanxiang stars and the ocean of ki in their Violet Palace space would coalesce into a Tortoise-Serpent. At the same time, their soul would descend from the ‘Sea of Consciousness’ and directly enter this Tortoise-Serpent.

The fusion of the two created the Tortoise-Serpent Primal!

The Tortoise-Serpent was the carrier; the soul was the root. Only when the two were united as one did it become the Primal.

A Primaltwin required finding a carrier. With a carrier in hand, one would perform a secret art to split their soul in half. Half of the soul would remain in their original body. The other half would enter the other carrier, cultivating it into a Primaltwin.

“Right. This Unity Water-Pearl is like a naturally formed Violet Palace space.” The Yellow Bear chuckled. “You only need to separate a portion of your soul and send it inside. Then, you can gradually cultivate it, cultivating a Primaltwin! In the future, this Primaltwin of yours can even become an Earth Immortal, and even survive the tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal.”

Ji Ning had never even heard of the Unity Water-Pearl. Among the records in the Black-White College’s books, the most famous carrier for a Primaltwin was the ‘Mysterious Female Pearl.’

“How does it compare to the Mysterious Female Pearl?” Ji Ning asked.

“The Mysterious Female Pearl is too mediocre,” the Yellow Bear said. “The Unity Water-Pearl contains the quintessence of water. After your soul enters it and you cultivate a Primaltwin, the body you form will be condensed from the quintessence of water. From then on, when you comprehend a Dao related to the ‘Water’ element, it will be much easier. It seems fate has decreed that you will walk even further down the path of Water.”

The Dao of Rainwater was, after all, just a very minor branch of the ‘Water’ element of Heaven and Earth’s Five Elements.

“How is your soul? Can you execute the Primaltwin secret art?” the Yellow Bear asked.

Splitting the soul in half was very dangerous. The soul had to be strong enough. If it was too weak, splitting it in half would be suicide! That was why most cultivators waited until they had been a Primal Daoist for a very long time, or even until they were a returning-to-vacuity Earth Immortal, before cultivating a Primaltwin.

“My divine sense can reach a thousand li,” Ji Ning said.

“Mm. Among Primal Daoists, very few have souls comparable to yours. You can match a newly ascended Loose Immortal.” The Yellow Bear nodded. “You can split your soul in half.”

Ji Ning’s heart burned with excitement.

It was extremely rare to cultivate a Primaltwin at the Wanxiang stage. First, one’s soul had to be very strong. Second, one had to acquire a carrier like the ‘Unity Water-Pearl’ or ‘Mysterious Female Pearl.’ Out of a thousand reincarnated Immortals, perhaps only one would manage to cultivate a Primaltwin at the Wanxiang stage.

For the Immortal Feast Competition, one had to be ‘below the Primal stage’ to participate.

This was for fairness!

Even if Ji Ning cultivated a Primaltwin, his true body would still be at the Wanxiang stage. As long as he used his true body to compete, and didn’t involve his Primaltwin, it was perfectly allowed! Ji Ning had previously discussed the Immortal Feast Competition with Yu Wei, so of course, he knew some of its rules. Those who could cultivate a Primaltwin at the Wanxiang stage were geniuses among geniuses; they certainly wouldn’t be barred from the Immortal Feast Competition.

However, during the competition, only the true body was permitted to participate. The Primaltwin wasn’t even allowed to enter the arena!

“Hmm?” The Yellow Bear frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Ning asked.

“A Celestial Immortal has come to Winged Serpent Lake,” the Yellow Bear said.

“Celestial Immortal?” Ji Ning was shocked. “It must be the Shaoyan clan!”

“Don’t worry. I can detect him, but he can’t detect me.” The Yellow Bear said calmly. “I was forged by my master with boundless effort and painstaking care. There’s no one in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty who can discover me.”

Above Winged Serpent Lake.

The sky had grown dim. Nine flood dragons were pulling an immortal carriage through the air. Seated within the carriage was Ancestor Xuanji, with Featherpupalord attending to him at his side.

“This is the place Ji Ning has lived for years?” Ancestor Xuanji sent his will out, and everything within a radius of a hundred li was instantly revealed to him. Brightheart Island was completely empty, not a single person left. However, there were still people on boats crossing the lake, fleeing. They were, after all, only mortals, and Winged Serpent Lake was vast. Simply crossing by boat would take a long time.

“Flee?” A murderous look appeared in Ancestor Xuanji’s eyes. “Kill these mortals.”

“Kill them?” Featherpupalord hesitated.

The Heavenly Dao protected mortals. The karmic sin for an Immortal cultivator killing mortals was very great. Even Ancestor Xuanji, for all his bloodlust, didn’t want to personally kill these mortals. After all, being burdened with karmic sin would reduce one’s luck and fortune. With low luck, one would experience bad luck. If a Celestial Immortal had too much bad luck, they might even fall during some tribulation or battle.

“Still not moving?” Ancestor Xuanji glanced at Featherpupalord.

“As you command.” Featherpupalord gritted his teeth, then looked at the nine flood dragons pulling the carriage and communicated with them mentally. “Kill the mortals.”

Though the nine flood dragons were reluctant, they all opened their mouths.

Whoosh!

Nine streams of flame descended, instantly sweeping across the lake’s surface. The mortals on the boats were all terrified, and then they were turned to ash. Immediately, karmic sin descended, first dividing into nine threads to wrap around the nine flood dragons. Then, another portion of the sin wrapped itself around Featherpupalord. Finally, a very tiny amount of sin coiled around Ancestor Xuanji.

“Let’s go. To Ten Thousand Swords City.” Ancestor Xuanji gave the order. The nine flood dragons pulled the immortal carriage, and in an instant, they had arrived at Ten Thousand Swords City, thousands of li away.

Ten Thousand Swords City was still the same as ever.

Ancestor Xuanji probed it slightly, and his expression immediately changed. “So many Dao-soldier monsters? Hmph. That Ji Ning’s master, that sword immortal called Diancai, is also here?”

“Hmph.” Ancestor Xuanji was furious, but he knew he could do nothing to this Ten Thousand Swords City. He gave a cold order, “Ambush Squad. Spread the word. Set up surveillance in Ten Thousand Swords City, Western Prefecture City, and Winged Serpent Lake. This is Ji Ning’s tribe and homeland. I refuse to believe he will never return. Also, ask the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to keep a constant watch on Ji Ning. Once he is discovered, immediately notify my Shaoyan clan. No matter where he is hiding, as soon as we find him, we will send men to kill him.”

“Yes.” Featherpupalord respectfully accepted the order.