The Sleeping Sage of the Three Realms Palace

Ji Ning walked to the bookshelf dedicated to sword arts and carefully examined the other technique manuals. After forming a clear understanding, he picked up the abridged edition of Plow Heaven.

“Elder apprentice-brother, I choose this manual, Plow Heaven,” Ji Ning said.

With the Plow Heaven Sword Formation in hand, selecting Plow Heaven was the obvious choice.

“Good.” Silvermoon nodded. With a flip of his hand, a thick book appeared in his palm. It was the complete edition of the sword art Plow Heaven written by Patriarch Plowheart. Ji Ning’s eyes lit up as he took it. The moment he opened it, he was completely absorbed. Too lazy to move, he sat down cross-legged on the ninth floor of the Immortal Palace and began to delve deeply into the sword art.

…

Summer passed and winter arrived; a year had gone by in the blink of an eye.

During this year, Ji Ning did not rush to visit the Three Realms Palace. The palace was fixed in place and would not run away. Over the course of the year, he had defeated the ninth-level puppet three times and obtained three sword-art manuals, including Plow Heaven, all written by Daofathers and all among the finest sword arts in the Three Realms.

Ji Ning studied them carefully and made significant progress. He had even comprehended thirteen sword moves from Plow Heaven alone.

“It’s time to go to the Three Realms Palace.”

Night had fallen, but Ji Ning walked out of the Immortal estate.

A year’s time had brought his creative improvements to the Three-Foot Sword and his understanding of Plow Heaven to a peak. He felt that further breakthroughs would be difficult in the short term, so he decided to head for the Three Realms Palace.

The Three Realms Palace was an ordinary-looking multi-story pavilion, only a few zhang in height, yet it was considered the most mysterious place on Mount Innerheart.

For ordinary disciples of Mount Innerheart, they could frequently enter Patriarch Subhuti’s Daoist temple to listen to lectures, but they would never have the right to set foot in the Three Realms Palace in their entire lives. Those who could enter the Three Realms Palace almost all possessed names that shook the Three Realms.

“Hooo… hooo…”

Loud snoring rose and fell in waves. Outside the pavilion, a gaunt old man lay sleeping on the ground, his fan resting on his chest. When Ji Ning first arrived at Mount Innerheart, this gaunt old man had been asleep. Now, over thirty years had passed, and Ji Ning had never once seen the old man awake.

So-called “sleeping for ten thousand years”—that was this old man.

“Second apprentice-brother.” Ji Ning walked over and spoke respectfully.

Having been on the mountain for so long, Ji Ning had learned the situation regarding this “second apprentice-brother.”

Senior apprentice-brother Jiang had once said: “Among Master’s disciples, the one who truly inherited his mantle is this second apprentice-brother! He is equally proficient in both Buddhism and Daoism, mastering everything without exception. Even Master’s supreme divine ability, ‘Dream of the Three Realms,’ has only been learned by this second apprentice-brother. I once begged Master to teach it to me, but he said I could not learn it. Of his disciples, only the second apprentice-brother can learn this ability.”

“Don’t let his sleeping fool you. In truth, his incarnations have been roaming the Three Realms all along, leaving countless legacies in their wake. How many secrets of the Three Realms can be hidden from second apprentice-brother? As I see it, under Master’s tutelage, senior apprentice-brother ranks first in power, and this second apprentice-brother is second!” Silvermoon had also said this.

“Your second apprentice-brother has performed countless good deeds, accumulating boundless karmic merit. He does good sincerely, and has done so from the Primordial Era to the present day. His fortune is so vast it is inconceivable. Both the Buddhist and Daoist sects have repeatedly tried to recruit him into their folds.” Patriarch Subhuti himself had spoken thus, and when mentioning this second disciple, even he was clearly proud.

It was evident that he was extremely satisfied with this disciple.

After learning the depths of his second apprentice-brother’s background, Ji Ning felt great admiration.

Because of the ‘Dream of the Three Realms,’ the second apprentice-brother’s incarnations had visited virtually every minor world in the Three Realms, leaving behind legends in countless worlds. Hence, his fame was exceptionally great!

His reputation was so vast that even in a minor world like Earth, it was thunderously famous.

“Second apprentice-brother? Senior brother Jidian?” Ji Ning called out.

“Who’s calling me?”

The gaunt old man lying there rubbed his nose and opened his bleary eyes. Half-asleep, half-awake, he grinned and said, “So you’re the new disciple Master took in? Ji Ning of the Grand Xia World?”

“Yes,” Ji Ning replied respectfully.

Under the Patriarch’s tutelage, senior apprentice-brother was unfathomably deep and undisputedly the strongest.

Second apprentice-brother’s name resounded across the Three Realms, his karmic merit so vast and his fortune so overwhelming that even the Buddhist and Daoist sects coveted him. Yet this second apprentice-brother roamed the Three Realms freely, doing countless good deeds, and truly answered to neither the Buddha nor the Daofathers.

“Master told me about you. Not bad—you’ve only been on the mountain for thirty-one years, and you’ve already come to my Three Realms Palace.” Holding his tattered fan, Jidian nodded slightly. “Go on in. You can choose any technique, secret art, or manual you wish from the Three Realms Palace. However, the Dao cannot be passed down lightly; you must pass a simple trial to learn each one.”

“Understood, junior apprentice-brother.” Ji Ning nodded.

At the Immortal Palace, every sword-art manual had also required a simple trial to obtain.

…

Watching Ji Ning walk into the pavilion, a glint of light flickered in Jidian’s half-asleep eyes: “This little junior apprentice-brother has a pure heart and carries karmic merit. And that sword-heart of his… tsk tsk, truly remarkable! But why would Master accept him as a disciple?”

Jidian understood Patriarch Subhuti better than anyone. He had also learned the most from him.

When Patriarch Subhuti selected disciples, he always had a reason. He did not choose randomly.

Either they possessed immense fortune.

Or they had an extraordinary background.

Or their comprehension was heaven-defying!

“This little junior apprentice-brother doesn’t seem to fit any of those categories. Is there some secret hidden within him?” Jidian smiled to himself, then rose and walked inside to see what Ji Ning would choose.

Ji Ning entered the pavilion. Inside were three separate low tables, each with a few abridged manuals casually placed upon them. In total, there were nineteen manuals.

They included divine abilities, formation techniques, secret arts…

“Candle Dragon’s Eye, the complete edition?” Ji Ning picked it up immediately. Back in the Grand Xia Dynasty, he had only learned the upper half. Here in the Three Realms Palace, he could obtain the full version.

He opened the abridged edition.

On the first page was written the trial: “Sweep the mountain path of Mount Innerheart once. You may learn this technique.”

“This… this…” Ji Ning was stunned. “This counts as a trial? And it’s almost identical to the trial on the first floor of the Immortal Palace.”

This was a supreme divine ability that ranked among the top one hundred in the Three Realms, and the condition to learn it was this simple?

Sweeping a mountain path would take only half a day!

“The divine abilities and secret arts in the Three Realms Palace were gathered by Master himself,” Senior Brother Jidian said as he walked in, grinning. “Since they are meant to be passed on to disciples, the trials naturally aren’t too difficult.”

“But this is too simple. The trials on the seventh and eighth floors of the Immortal Palace were harder,” Ji Ning said helplessly.

“The trial for Candle Dragon’s Eye is indeed simpler,” Jidian said. “But first, Candle Dragon died long ago. After his death, this great divine ability, Candle Dragon’s Eye, became known to several Daofathers in the Three Realms. Second, this divine ability is best suited for a Fiendgod like Candle Dragon. As for other living beings, no one has yet been reported to have cultivated it to the level Candle Dragon once reached.”

Ji Ning understood.

First, it was difficult to cultivate. Second, many Daofathers already had knowledge of it. Hence, the trial was simple.

“That one has the simplest trial,” Jidian said. “Junior apprentice-brother, look more carefully. Some of these are truly supreme, even unique within the Three Realms.”

Ji Ning immediately began to examine them closely.

Soon…

A manual caught Ji Ning’s eye. The four words on its cover made his pupils contract: Houyi Archery Art.

“Houyi?” Of course, Ji Ning had heard of this great power. He immediately picked up the Houyi Archery Art manual and began flipping through it.

The name was plain and ordinary, but Houyi’s archery art was indeed a great divine ability!

Moreover, it was an even greater divine ability than Candle Dragon’s Eye.

“Since Pangu cleaved Heaven and Earth, this divine ability has ranked among the top ten,” Jidian said. “It was created by the True God Houyi, and it was his reliance when he roamed the Primordial World in ancient times. However, its trial is the most difficult in the entire Three Realms Palace!”

“Master has Houyi’s great divine ability here?” Ji Ning was astonished.

Ranked among the top ten!

Wasn’t this on the same level as the Starseizing Hand? Even Master Patriarch Subhuti himself could not create a divine ability of this caliber.

“The trial is truly difficult.” Ji Ning frowned as he flipped through the abridged edition. Indeed, the trial was likely the hardest among the nineteen techniques in the Three Realms Palace. He continued reading the abridged content. “Houyi’s archery art… so this is what it’s like.”

Ji Ning understood immediately.

Both Houyi’s archery art and the Starseizing Hand could be considered among the top ten divine abilities in the current Three Realms.

But they were completely different.

The Starseizing Hand purely focused on refining the palm into something more terrifying than a magic treasure. At the second cycle, it could rival an Immortal-ranked treasure; at the third cycle, it could rival a Pure Yang treasure! The power of the Starseizing Hand was astonishingly immense, and its explosive force was terrifying.

However, Houyi’s archery art was a technical school!

Like the Windwing Evasion, which was also a technical school, it required insight, contemplation, and careful study. Although it also involved some subtle uses of divine power, it was indeed a technical art! Even Ki Refining Immortals could execute Houyi’s archery art, as long as they could comprehend the profound mysteries of the archery technique.

“The Starseizing Hand is simple. I just need to refine the Five Elements Quintessence, and my hands will become increasingly terrifying. Eventually, picking stars with one hand will be a trivial matter,” Ji Ning thought to himself. “But this Houyi’s archery art requires enlightenment!”

They were completely different schools.

As a result, Houyi’s archery art was extremely difficult to comprehend. To this day, only Houyi himself had dominated the Primordial World with it. No other living being had been reported to have truly mastered this divine ability.

“Don’t bother looking at it for now,” Jidian said, shaking his head from the side. “Several of Master’s disciples have obtained this archery art, but at most, they have a rough understanding. None have ever reached the level of the ancient Houyi. First, take a look at the other techniques. When you have time in the future, you can go ahead and learn this Houyi Archery Art.”

“Mm.” Ji Ning nodded.

Regardless, the fact that this archery art ranked among the top ten since Pangu cleaved Heaven and Earth meant he absolutely had to learn it!

But there was no rush.

Ji Ning then began to look through the other manuals. Suddenly, another manual caught his eye. On its cover were four large characters: Nine Heavens Mysterious Art.