The Commandery Princess’s Summons

“Master, it must be because you became famous at the Treasure Competition Assembly!” Qingqing said by his side. “That’s why this Xiyue郡主 wants to see you.”

Ji Ning laughed as well.

At the Treasure Competition Assembly, he had purchased the Peacock Plume for five million jin of Primordial Liquid, and even Shaoyan Xiushui had ultimately backed down. This news would certainly spread quickly. It was within his expectations that some major tribes would come to meet him and try to win him over. However, the Treasure Competition Assembly was still ongoing, and Xiyue Commandery Princess had already sent an invitation… the effects of his ‘fame’ were spreading a bit too quickly.

“I wonder who this Xiyue Commandery Princess is?” Ji Ning asked.

“Xiyue Commandery Princess is of the Yan Estate,” Yu Qi explained.

“Yan Estate?” Ji Ning’s eyes lit up.

Ji Ning had purchased intelligence reports on the various major powers and important figures within the Grand Xia imperial capital from Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Among them, ‘Prince Yan’ was one such major figure.

Prince Yan was a Celestial Immortal who had just successfully overcome the Heavenly Tribulation!

This was a Celestial Immortal! Becoming a Celestial Immortal was far too difficult. Just by looking at the Black-White College, one could see this. The Black-White College had been passed down for countless eons. Within every ten thousand years, Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals were certain to appear. Over the endless years, how many Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals had been born? And yet, only a single Celestial Immortal had emerged!

This demonstrated that the ‘Heavenly Tribulation’ was an incredibly fearsome threshold. Countless geniuses, such as Immortal Beixing, and Celestial Immortal Juhua of the aquatic palace, had all failed.

Celestial Immortals were simply too rare!

Throughout the Grand Xia Dynasty, it was difficult for even a single Celestial Immortal to appear in a million years!

But in that million years, the Grand Xia Dynasty produced an astonishing number of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. The Shaoyan clan, for example, had over a thousand Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. Every few tens of thousands of years, or hundreds of thousands of years, a new batch of them would replace the old. Generation after generation, the number of ‘Ancestral Celestial Immortals’ that had been accumulated remained pitifully small.

Any Celestial Immortal Ancestor was the foundation of a clan!

Even to the Grand Xia royal clan, the Xiamang clan, a single Celestial Immortal Ancestor was still extremely precious. For a clan like the Grand Xia royal clan, which ruled an entire major world, the number of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals was terrifyingly high. As such, their statuses were quite ordinary. But if one of these Earth Immortals managed to break through and become a ‘Celestial Immortal’, the Grand Xia royal clan would immediately enfeoff them as a Prince, bestow a mansion, grant Immortal treasures, grant… in short, upon achieving Celestial Immortal status within the Grand Xia royal clan, one’s status would skyrocket!

A million years was seldom enough to produce one…

Prince Yan was the most recent Celestial Immortal.

“The Yan Estate…” Ji Ning nodded to himself.

“Xiyue Commandery Princess is Prince Yan’s only remaining family,” Yu Qi said, lowering his voice. “Prince Yan dotes on Xiyue Commandery Princess immensely. Even the Golden Armored Imperial Guards bestowed by His Imperial Majesty are all under Xiyue Commandery Princess’s command. He even gave her two azure luan divine beasts to pull her celestial carriage. Those two azure luans have extremely noble bloodlines. Although they are only at the Primal level, each one possesses combat power comparable to a top-tier Loose Immortal. As for the Golden Armored Imperial Guards, they are the elite of the Grand Xia imperial guard; the weakest among them is a Primal Daoist!”

Ji Ning was secretly astonished.

Azure luans? Golden Armored Imperial Guards?

“Xiyue Commandery Princess rarely leaves the estate and doesn’t attend various gatherings,” Yu Qi said in a low voice. “So she isn’t very famous. But given how much Prince Yan dotes on her, if she were truly a willful and arrogant person, she would probably be even more infamous than Shaoyan Nong.”

“Then why does she want to see me?” Ji Ning asked.

“I wouldn’t know that,” Yu Qi shook his head. “I heard that she and our Heavenly Treasures Mountain’s Green Willow Immortal were also at the Treasure Competition Assembly today. She might have become curious after seeing you and wanted to have a meeting.”

Ji Ning hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. Lead the way.”

Yu Qi smiled. “Follow me.”

Within Ji Ning’s Zifu space was an aquatic palace.

Ordinary storage treasures couldn’t hold people, but this cave-type treasure could. Ji Ning’s Primaltwin had been staying inside the aquatic palace. Within the main hall of the aquatic palace, Ji Ning’s Primaltwin, clad in black Daoist robes, was seated cross-legged. Before him was a jade bottle containing a full one hundred and twenty thousand jin of Primordial Liquid, obtained from the transaction just moments ago.

“Whoosh.”

The black-robed Ji Ning opened his mouth and inhaled. Primordial Liquid streams of liquid essence continuously surged into his mouth. His power began to rise rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he had broken through to the ‘Primal Perfection’ stage.

“Good.” After briefly consolidating the breakthrough, the black-robed Ji Ning stopped.

“Hmm.” The black-robed Ji Ning glanced at the jade bottle. “There are still over thirty thousand jin of Primordial Liquid left. My Primaltwin has now reached Primal Perfection as well.”

In the year or so since forming the Primaltwin…

The progress of this Primaltwin’s ‘divine soul’ was astonishing. Because it was nurtured by the Primal soul, the Primaltwin’s divine soul progressed far faster than the main body’s! The Primaltwin’s divine sense could now cover a distance of sixteen hundred li. Meanwhile, the main body’s divine sense had only just recovered to its state before the soul was split in two, barely breaking through to a thousand li.

A powerful divine soul! A high level of insight! A strong Dao-heart!

Having been elevated to Primal Perfection, the Primaltwin instantly gained complete control over all its Yuan power, wielding it as naturally as an extension of its own limbs. There was not the slightest hint of discomfort.

“Flying swords.” The black-robed Ji Ning willed it.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, four hundred and five flying swords materialized around him, each radiating a powerful aura. Among them, nine flying swords in particular emanated an even more formidable fluctuation! All four hundred and five flying swords were Earth-ranked treasures. Three hundred and ninety-six of them had just been purchased from Heavenly Treasures Mountain.

The other nine Earth-ranked flying swords… were obtained over the past year, after Ji Ning’s Primaltwin had cleared the fifth floor of the aquatic palace’s War God Hall and subsequently selected treasures from the Treasure Hall.

These nine Earth-ranked flying swords were named the ‘Water-Parting Divine Shark Swords’. They had been forged using the bodies of nine ancient divine sharks from an era before the birth of the Three Thousand Major Worlds. All nine swords were imbued with spirituality. According to the aquatic palace’s classification, all nine were ‘Top-grade Earth-ranked’. According to the Grand Xia Dynasty’s classification, however, they would undoubtedly be considered ‘Peak Earth-ranked’, each one probably worth two to three hundred thousand jin of Primordial Liquid! Since the nine swords came from the same source, they were worth at least two million jin of Primordial Liquid, enough to be exchanged for a ‘Low-grade Immortal-ranked’ treasure.

Celestial Immortal Juhua, during his time in the aquatic palace, had also obtained a Peak Earth-ranked treasure. With the treasures he gained from the aquatic palace… he could definitely have exchanged them for an Immortal-ranked treasure.

What a pity.

He could only exchange them for some Low-grade or Mid-grade Immortal-ranked treasures.

To brave the Heavenly Tribulation?

One needed High-grade or even Peak-grade Immortal-ranked treasures to have a better chance. The most suitable treasures for facing the Heavenly Tribulation offered the greatest likelihood of success. The ‘aquatic palace’ contained Immortal-ranked treasures that were at least High-grade, even Peak-grade. Unfortunately, Celestial Immortal Juhua never had the chance to select one in his time. It was only after becoming a Loose Immortal that he managed to clear the seventh floor of the War God Hall and choose one.

“The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.” The black-robed Ji Ning willed it.

With the nine Water-Parting Divine Shark Swords as the core, he drew upon the power of the other flying swords. Infused with the pure, perfected Yuan power of a Primal Daoist and guided by his powerful divine soul, all the flying swords began to float. Ji Ning attempted it again and again, straining with all his might.

“No good.”

“Lower it by a level. The fourth level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation!” The black-robed Ji Ning strained with all his might. But Earth-ranked treasures were on an entirely different level from Mortal-ranked treasures. Controlling a single Earth-ranked treasure was as difficult as controlling ten Mortal-ranked ones! Even with the help of the formation to guide the energy, executing the fourth level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation was still extremely difficult.

“The third level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation!”

Whoosh!

Instantly, over two hundred Earth-ranked flying swords danced through the air, emitting boundless, powerful fluctuations. Following that, a single flying sword condensed on Ji Ning’s chest. This fully condensed flying sword was surrounded by layers of golden light. The sword represented sharpness, and the golden light was the material manifestation of its killing intent.

The power of this golden-light-shrouded flying sword made even Ji Ning tremble inwardly.

“So powerful.”

Although it was only over two hundred Earth-ranked flying swords, they were far more powerful than the previous seven hundred-plus Mortal-ranked flying swords, having surpassed that level by several orders of magnitude.

Most Primal Daoists could only control a few dozen flying swords at most. Ji Ning, however, could control over two hundred, and among them were such precious swords as the ‘Water-Parting Divine Shark Swords’. It could be said that it was thanks to his divine soul, which was at the Earth Immortal level, his mastery of the Domain of the Dao, his considerable skill in formations, and the unique nature of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation itself, that he was able to control over two hundred Earth-ranked treasures.

“With this sword formation, my Primaltwin is now comparable to a pinnacle Loose Immortal!” At this moment, Ji Ning was filled with heroic boldness.

In a quiet tower, the doors and windows were all shut, and even the servants had withdrawn.

Inside the tower, there was only Xiyue Commandery Princess herself. Outside the door, however, there were many servants, Golden Armored Imperial Guards, and others standing guard.

“Ji Ning.” Xiyue Commandery Princess clutched a warm wine cup in both hands, unable to hide the tension and excitement in her heart.

“Finally, I’m going to meet him.”

“Little brother. My only little brother.”

Xiyue Commandery Princess’s heart was filled with nervousness, apprehension, and excitement.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside: “Go and inform the Commandery Princess. Ji Ning has arrived.”

“Wait a moment. I will announce this immediately,” a servant responded.

“He’s here!” Xiyue Commandery Princess took a deep breath. This was the most nervous moment in her thirty-plus years of life, even more nervous than when she had first met her maternal grandfather.

Ji Ning and Yu Qi both stood outside the courtyard gate, waiting.

Heavenly Treasures Mountain was far too large. It had taken quite some time just to walk from Ji Ning’s previous location to this one. By the time they arrived, Ji Ning’s Primaltwin had already reached Primal Perfection within the aquatic palace and was even beginning to experiment with the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.

“The Commandery Princess requests that Ji Ning enter,” said a female soldier clad in armor.

“Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, I’ll be taking my leave now. If you need anything, feel free to find anyone from Heavenly Treasures Mountain and have them send word to me,” Yu Qi said with a smile.

“I am grateful for your assistance this time, Fellow Daoist Yu Qi. If there is anything in the future, I will certainly come to you again,” Ji Ning said.

With that, Yu Qi departed.

Ji Ning said to Qingqing and the Whitewater Hound beside him, “Qingqing, Uncle White, wait for me here for a while.”

“Alright.” Uncle White and the others trusted that there should be no danger within Heavenly Treasures Mountain.

Ji Ning then entered the courtyard alone. Under the watchful gazes of the Golden Armored Imperial Guards within the yard, he felt a certain pressure. He followed the female soldier to a tower, where she pushed open the door. “The Commandery Princess is inside.”

As the door opened, Ji Ning saw a woman in green robes sitting there. The green-robed woman also turned her head to look.

Their eyes met.