The Final Standings; The Number One of the Realm

In terms of appearance, the three of them looked like youths. However, even Ji Ning, the youngest of them, had already lived for over thirty years in this life. The other two had been cultivating for over a century.

“What is this?” Both Blackstone Recluse and Woodwood Recluse turned their heads towards Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was sitting cross-legged. Suddenly, gusts of wind began to swirl around him, and the palpable ripple of a Dao descended.

“What? A breakthrough?” Blackstone Recluse and Woodwood Recluse were both startled.

They could both tell that Ji Ning had comprehended a complete Dao of the Wind.

“He made another breakthrough at such a crucial moment. Ji Ning was already incredibly powerful; in close combat, even the likes of Scimitar Recluse and Xiamang Zishan, who were both very strong, fell to his hand. Now, with this breakthrough… his close combat ability might surpass my own.” Blackstone Recluse did some quick mental calculations and felt a sense of urgency.

In the Brightmoon Diagram of Mountains and Waters, he had held an advantage.

In that realm, the most important thing was simply to survive. Having enough talismans was sufficient! Naturally, his mastery of formations could be displayed to its fullest effect. However, in a one-on-one decisive battle, he was at a disadvantage. His formation mastery was far less beneficial.

“But when the Daofather chooses disciples, he doesn’t necessarily pick the first-place winner,” Blackstone Recluse mused to himself. “When my turn to fight comes, I will display all my insights into formations. Let the Daofather see my true ability in formations… I believe the Daofather will choose me.”

His close combat skills were also strong, nearly on par with Xiamang Zishan’s.

But his true confidence lay in formations! He had invested far too much time and effort into the study of formations.

…

Ji Ning could feel the ripples of the Dao around him. He opened his eyes and revealed a hint of a smile.

The Dao of Wind… he had finally comprehended it!

In truth, back when he had comprehended the Dao of Rainwater, both the Dao of Fire and the Dao of Wind had been close to perfection. He had merely lacked a little in both. However, the year of continuous life-and-death combat had been enormously helpful, allowing him to master first the Dao of Fire, then the Dao of Wind.

“Three Daos. Rainwater, Fire, and Wind… I have mastered them all.” Ji Ning understood.

These three Daos were the primary ones he had been comprehending. He had been advancing along all three simultaneously, so mastering them one after another during the Immortal Fortunes Assembly was not too surprising.

“My Dao of the Sword has also progressed significantly.” Ji Ning was delighted.

His fight with Xiamang Zishan had indeed resulted in significant insights into the Dao of the Sword.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth stances of the [Three-Foot Sword] represented a massive leap in power.

After all, the eighth stance alone was comparable to the level of an ordinary Celestial Immortal. The ninth stance allowed Beixing the Immortal, despite being a Loose Immortal, to wield the combat power of a Celestial Immortal!

Ji Ning’s current level of insight into the Dao of the Sword placed him somewhere between the seventh and eighth stances. He was still far from being able to execute the eighth stance, but his progress had actually been quite significant. At the very least, his combat power had skyrocketed.

“His Imperial Majesty has given us one month.”

“During this month, I will strive to integrate the Daos of Rainwater, Fire, and Wind into my Dao of the Sword, increasing the power of my sword-arts even further.” Ji Ning made up his mind, then calmed his heart and began to ponder.

In the main hall of the Heavenly Tribulation Hall.

Everyone was waiting for the three final battles that would occur in an hour. These three battles would be recorded via the Watermark Art for Daofather Crimsonbright to view.

“In his fight with Xiamang Zishan, Ji Ning entered a state of unconscious intuition. He has surely made considerable progress as a result. By the time they emerge from seclusion, Ji Ning’s strength will definitely have risen another level. In terms of offense, he is likely the absolute first of this Immortal Fortunes Assembly. Woodwood Recluse should be the absolute first in defense. Blackstone Recluse is somewhat at a disadvantage. If this were a free-for-all outside, a formation grandmaster like him would be very hard to kill. But this is a one-on-one duel in the Immortal Fortunes Assembly. They have to fight each other.” Crimsoncrone True Immortal spoke calmly. “As I see it, the top two should be Ji Ning and Woodwood Recluse.”

“Yes.”

“Right.”

“Blackstone Recluse is indeed at a disadvantage.”

Lu Dongbin and the others all nodded in agreement.

Xiamang Xia nodded as well. “Ji Ning comprehended another Dao while in seclusion within the Brightmoon Diagram of Mountains and Waters. This should have been the result of his fight with Zishan.”

“Improvement after entering a state of unconscious intuition is only to be expected.” The Pure Yang True Immortals were all very calm.

…

Comparatively speaking, the importance of victory or defeat in these three final battles was somewhat weaker. After all, coming in first did not guarantee being chosen by Daofather Crimsonbright.

But there was no doubt…

That coming in first greatly increased the chances. Throughout the ages, more often than not, people were judged by their success.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three figures flew out from the scroll and landed in the main hall.

“Your Imperial Majesty.” Ji Ning, Blackstone Recluse, and Woodwood Recluse spoke respectfully.

“For these three battles, the first match will be between you, Ji Ning, and Blackstone Recluse.” The Grand Xia Emperor spoke calmly. “After the three battles are concluded, I will arrange for you to go to the treasure vault of the Grand Xia Dynasty and select one divine ability each. However, compared to becoming a disciple of a Daofather, choosing a divine ability is but a trivial matter.”

Ji Ning and the other two listened silently.

“Begin.” The Grand Xia Emperor commanded.

“Yes.”

Ji Ning and Blackstone Recluse exchanged a glance, then turned and walked out of the main hall.

…

At this point in the competition, Ji Ning and the other two had no more cards to play. They had already revealed everything, and so Lu Dongbin and the other Pure Yang True Immortals had predicted the outcome with great accuracy!

Blackstone Recluse was proficient in many formations, but Ji Ning simply stood there, using only a Water-Fire Lotus around himself for protection. If Blackstone Recluse chose to reveal himself, they would fight. If he chose not to, Ji Ning would not run around.

And so…

Blackstone Recluse began an unrestrained “performance,” displaying his mastery as a formation grandmaster one technique after another. Using the seemingly simple Fuxi Staff Formation, he set up one grand formation after another: illusion formations, killing formations, sealing formations. He even layered formations on top of each other, weaving a tapestry of infinite illusions and deadly traps.

But Ji Ning did not need to break the formations. He merely needed to wait for Blackstone Recluse to fight him.

After putting on a display of some impressive formations, Blackstone Recluse finally engaged Ji Ning in battle.

Just as predicted…

In close combat, Ji Ning, whose strength had now increased significantly, ultimately defeated Blackstone Recluse!

First match: Ji Ning wins!

…

The second match was between Woodwood Recluse and Blackstone Recluse. Woodwood Recluse was even more shameless than Ji Ning!

Although Ji Ning had stood still, he had at least fought fiercely with Blackstone Recluse.

Woodwood Recluse, however, perfectly embodied the concept of “unmoving as a mountain” and “like a giant tree.” No matter how Blackstone Recluse attacked, Woodwood Recluse was able to withstand it. He would even counterattack! And so… Blackstone Recluse’s divine power was exhausted, and he was forced to admit defeat!

Second match: Woodwood Recluse wins!

…

The third match was between Ji Ning and Woodwood Recluse.

This battle was clearly more exciting than the previous two. In the previous two, Ji Ning and Woodwood Recluse had not dared to run around inside Blackstone Recluse’s formations. But this time, it was a head-on collision between Ji Ning and Woodwood Recluse!

Ji Ning was the strongest attacker of this Immortal Fortunes Assembly! He had mastered the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens to the twelfth layer, his Dao of the Sword was profound, he had three complete Daos, and he possessed the divine ability ‘Starseizing Hand’!

Woodwood Recluse was the strongest defender! His Fiendgod Body Refining was not inferior, and he had the complementary Grand Dao of Wood and Grand Dao of Origin Water!

In this battle…

Ji Ning unleashed his sword-arts to the fullest, pouring out every offensive technique he possessed.

At the start, Woodwood Recluse tried to counterattack, but he was soon forced by Ji Ning into a position where he spent ninety percent of his effort on defense, only managing to strike back occasionally! This was because Ji Ning was different from the Big Freak Recluse, who was a practitioner of the steady, overwhelming “pulverizing” style. Ji Ning’s methods were far too fluid. His sword-arts could be savage, fierce, swift, or gentle as flowing water…

As the saying goes, one who is always on the defensive will eventually make a mistake.

During the fight, a combatant who was constantly on the defensive would inevitably suffer. The Big Freak Recluse’s ‘Wave Stacking Secret Art’ would also eventually collapse. However, Ji Ning’s sword-arts showed no signs of instability. His unbroken, relentless assault began to inflict wounds on Woodwood Recluse. As the injuries mounted, his situation deteriorated.

In the end, Woodwood Recluse was forced to admit defeat!

“I expended seventy percent of my divine power in that ferocious assault, and it still took that long to defeat him.” Ji Ning broke out in a cold sweat. His use of ‘Starseizing Hand’ consumed divine power very quickly. If Woodwood Recluse had held on for just a while longer, his divine power would have been completely exhausted.

…

Three battles finished.

Ji Ning won two! Woodwood Recluse won one! Blackstone Recluse was defeated!

“We won!”

“Hahaha! We won, we won! We won!!!” A wave of incomparably ecstatic noise erupted from the group representing the Anchan Commandery in the Imperial City Square. All sorts of shouts, cheers, and loud laughter could be heard far and wide.

Of the millions of people gathered in the Imperial City Square, the three thousand six hundred commanderies, and the four seas, only a handful knew about the matter of “Daofather taking on disciples.” To them… winning first place in the Immortal Fortunes Assembly was the greatest honor.

“First place! First place!” Mu Northson’s face was flushed red with excitement. He was so agitated he could barely speak. “My senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning got first place!”

Cangjiang True Immortal let out a deep sigh of admiration. “I recall when junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning killed Shaoyan Nong. It all seems like only yesterday. I never imagined that in such a short time, junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning would be able to win first place in this Immortal Fortunes Assembly. It’s truly… truly a miracle, a miracle!”

“First!”

The Freak Recluse Immortal was so excited that he smashed his gourd of wine against the ground like a madman. “Hahaha! A disciple of my Black-White College has won first place in the Immortal Fortunes Assembly! In all our history, this has never happened! Never! Haha, first place in the Immortal Fortunes Assembly! It’s a disciple of my Black-White College! Haha, how satisfying! How satisfying! How satisfying!”

“Ji Ning is truly remarkable.” Beishan Baiwei was breathing rapidly, his excitement bordering on frenzy. “To win first place in the Immortal Fortunes Assembly… I never even dared to dream that Ji Ning could win first place. It’s truly unbelievable.”

“Master is incredible!” Little Qing’s eyes shone.

“Big brother…” Whitewater Hound, however, was recalling the scenes of Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow instructing Ji Ning in swordsmanship. “Can you see this? Can you see this? When you taught him footwork and swordplay, he was just a child. And now, relying on the sword in his hand, he has become the number one in the entire Immortal Fortunes Assembly of the boundless lands of the Grand Xia Dynasty! Can you see it?! Can you see it?!”

Whitewater Hound wept tears of overwhelming joy.