The Primaltwin's Breakthrough and the Perfect Build

The trial had only two lines of text: Descend to the lower realm and take on a disciple with great karmic merit, one possessing at least a hundred zhang of golden light radiating from their karma. Slay ten Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals burdened with great karmic sin, each radiating at least a hundred zhang of bloody light.

Ning frowned.

Take on a disciple? And kill people?

Finding someone with a hundred zhang of golden karmic light was incredibly rare. Generally speaking, those with great karmic merit were also very lucky. They would usually have already joined a sect, and a major one at that. After all, a disciple carrying such merit, with a golden light of at least a hundred zhang, was a treasure that great sects and clans desperately desired. Such a person could help stabilize the fate of the entire organization.

Was he supposed to go and steal another sect's disciple?

As for killing, one had to understand the terror of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations faced by Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals. The greater one's karmic sin, the more powerful the Calamities and Tribulations would be. Thus, most Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals restrained themselves, not daring to commit great sins, and often performed good deeds instead. It was only true great demons, those with an unshakeable Dao-heart and overwhelming power, who dared to slaughter freely and let endless sin accumulate! These types of Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals were definitely not to be trifled with.

Killing one wasn't enough; he had to kill ten.

"Taking a disciple and killing people… Second Senior Apprentice-Brother?" Ning looked at Jidian.

"Taking a disciple with great karmic merit and teaching him is itself a good deed. Killing those with great karmic sin is also a great act of merit. Both are good for you," Jidian nodded. "Although it will take some time, there's no need to rush. Just take your time searching in the lower realm. If you can't finish it in a year, ten years will be enough."

Ning nodded. "Where in the lower realm do I go to take a disciple and kill these people? The Three Thousand Major Worlds and the Trillions of Minor Worlds?"

"You have yet to complete your training, so you cannot leave this cave-world," Jidian said. "When I say 'the lower realm,' I mean this cave-world itself. It's no smaller than a Major World. Even if you spent ten thousand or a million years exploring it, you still wouldn't see it all."

"Yes," Ning said immediately. "Thank you for the guidance, Second Senior Apprentice-Brother. I'll take my leave now."

"Go," Jidian said, waving his fan.

Ning didn't immediately descend to the lower realm. Instead, he returned to his own immortal estate.

In the quiet chamber of the aquatic palace.

Boom~~ The doors closed.

Ning was seated cross-legged on the bed of Netherwater Jade, and his heart quickly calmed. The excitement and agitation caused by seeing so many techniques and divine abilities in the Three Realms Palace completely subsided. Once he was fully calm, he began to carefully reflect.

"Although there are many divine abilities and secret arts, I must focus. Learning too many without mastering any is useless," Ning thought to himself, his mind calmly evaluating each technique and divine ability.

"The Vairocana Corpse would be a waste of time and provide minimal benefit. The Buddha's Palm Within the Palm is powerful, but I already have the Starseizing Hand, so training in that divine ability wouldn't increase my combat strength." Ning quickly eliminated one technique after another, basing his choices purely on 'specialization' and 'maximizing combat power.'

"There are two I must choose."

"The first is the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. Once I master it, my body will be indestructible, as tough as a magic treasure. I won't even need to expend any divine power. Using most divine abilities consumes divine power; the Starseizing Hand, for example, consumes a terrifying amount of divine power when unleashing its full force. But the Eight-Nine Arcane Art makes my body indestructible through nine cycles of refinement, which doesn't consume any divine power. That's a massive advantage. I could stand there, and my enemies would be unable to do anything to me even if they tried their hardest."

"The second is the Houyi Archery. This is the most famous long-range divine ability in the Three Realms. It can kill an opponent from a distance of ten thousand or a hundred thousand li with a single arrow. Even if I only reach one-tenth of the ancient Houyi's level in this art, it will still become a pillar of my ability to roam the Three Realms!"

Ning cast aside all other techniques in the Three Realms Palace.

The Eight-Nine Arcane Art was for defense! Indestructible, and it didn't consume divine power.

The Houyi Archery was for long-range attacks! One of the top ten divine abilities in the Three Realms.

The Starseizing Hand was for close combat! Also one of the top ten divine abilities in the Three Realms.

"Defense, long-range attacks, close combat… that's enough," Ning said softly to himself. "If Master allows it, I'll select the Candle Dragon's Eye as well."

The Candle Dragon's Eye was neither a defensive nor an offensive art, but rather an extremely powerful auxiliary technique. He chose it for its support capabilities, and more importantly, its trial was very easy, merely sweeping a mountain path. But Ning didn't dare to select it now. He had no idea how many techniques Patriarch Subhuti would allow him to choose from the Three Realms Palace.

What if he chose the Eight-Nine Arcane Art and the Candle Dragon's Eye, only to have Patriarch Subhuti forbid him from choosing any more? That would be a tragedy.

He would choose the Eight-Nine Arcane Art first, then the Houyi Archery, and finally the Candle Dragon's Eye.

"But why are there no flying escape techniques in the Three Realms Palace?" Ning frowned in confusion. The Windwing Evasion was just a simplified foundation of the 'Garuda Wings' divine ability. After thirty years on Mount Innerheart, with his current experience, the Windwing Evasion was far too weak to be of use. He had already reached the pinnacle of the Windwing Evasion technique; it was simply too low-level.

"When I next see Master, I'll ask him to teach me a high-level escape technique," Ning thought. "If that doesn't work, I can go to the Immortal Palace and find one there."

The Immortal Palace also contained many divine abilities.

Ning had previously been focused solely on mastering the sword and hadn't chosen any other books in the Immortal Palace. He had been saving his chance for the Three Realms Palace, but it had no escape technique. He would first ask his Master, and if that failed, he would find an escape technique in the Immortal Palace. Although it would be average by the standards of the Three Realms, it would still be a hundred or a thousand times better than the Windwing Evasion.

Whoosh~~~

Sitting on the Netherwater Jade bed, mist began to gather beside Ning, coalescing into a figure. It was Ning in his black Daoist robes—his Primaltwin!

"It's time for my Primaltwin to step into the Earth Immortal stage."

In the thirty-one years he had been on Mount Innerheart, Ning's Primaltwin had remained at the peak of the Primal stage. The reason was that his master, Patriarch Subhuti, had told him, "Ji Ning, I know you obtained ten million jin of Primordial Liquid at the Immortal Fortunes Assembly. However, you must not break through with this Primaltwin in haste. This Primaltwin of yours was formed from the 'One-Void Water Pearl' and has a natural, exceptional affinity for the path of 'Water.' Even at the same Primal stage, your true body and Primaltwin will have different perceptions of the Dao. Therefore, your Primaltwin must remain at the Primal stage for at least ten years."

"Yes," Ning had respectfully replied.

And indeed, as his master had said, the Primaltwin's perception of the Water Dao was exceptionally high. Currently, besides the Dao of the Sword, his highest achievement was in the path of 'Water,' which was far above his 'Fire' path, followed by the Wind and Spacetime Daos.

Having seen the benefits, and because there was no life-or-death combat on Mount Innerheart, Ning had not been in a hurry to break through. He had deliberately kept his Primaltwin in the Primal stage for as long as possible. His master had said at least ten years, but Ning had stretched that to over thirty years. Now that he was about to descend the mountain to kill enemies, he needed to be fully prepared. His targets were not ordinary Loose Immortals, but great demons with a hundred zhang of bloody light radiating from their sin.

For the past thirty-one years, the Primaltwin had been training in the Northmont Sutra. This was a technique created by a Daofather, and after thirty-one years of bitter cultivation, it was still at the peak Primal stage, having not yet reached its limit. If he had been using the Black-White College's Water Source Sutra, after reaching the peak Primal stage, another thirty years of training would have been enough to break through to the Earth Immortal stage.

But Ji Ning was now training in the profound Northmont Sutra. According to his estimates, if he trained slowly without any pills or Primordial Liquid, it would take at least three thousand years to reach the early Earth Immortal stage.

Swoosh.

A jade bottle flew out and landed on the ground in front of him, its stopper flying off.

"Luckily, I have ten million jin of Primordial Liquid." The black-robed Ning willed it, and a surging wave of Primordial Liquid flew out of the bottle. It was as thin as a finger when it first emerged, but by the time it reached mid-air, it was a torrent over ten zhang thick. As it approached the black-robed Ning, an invisible vortex appeared around him.

The tidal wave of Primordial Liquid was sucked into the vortex and disappeared.

Inside the black-robed Ning's body, the One-Void Water Pearl contained a vast violet palace void. In the void, there was a vast ocean of power, and within that ocean lay a gigantic Tortoise-Serpent. On the back of this Tortoise-Serpent, a flame was burning—the Primordial Fire!

Rumble~~~

The violet palace ocean surged wildly as the essence of the power was sent flying towards the sky. The countless stars in the sky shot down rays of light, all of which converged on the Tortoise-Serpent. Instantly, the Primordial Fire on its back blazed even higher! Crackle, crackle, crackle~~~ The Primordial Fire raged, and the Tortoise-Serpent even let out a hiss of pain.

Ten thousand jin of Primordial Liquid was consumed, then twenty thousand, then thirty thousand… The process of refinement continued. With a higher realm, the speed of refining was also much faster. The Primordial Fire grew more and more intense.

After a long time…

Hua~~~

As if a seed was sprouting through the soil, amidst the blazing flames that shot up into the sky from the Tortoise-Serpent's back, a single, slender, swaying golden lotus began to grow from the turtle's shell.

The turtle shell was like soil.

The Primordial Fire was like sunlight and water.

The golden lotus swayed and slowly grew. This lotus was extremely small, utterly insignificant compared to the roaring flames and the gigantic Tortoise-Serpent. However, the power that swirled around this golden lotus was incomparably pure, far surpassing the power that had come before. At the same time, the entire gigantic Tortoise-Serpent began to grow dim. A massive amount of its essence was transferred to the golden lotus, causing it to sway and grow continuously, becoming larger and larger, while the Tortoise-Serpent's shell grew dim and lost its luster.

"Early Earth Immortal stage."

The soul of Ning's Primaltwin moved from the Tortoise-Serpent Primal into the golden lotus.

Whether one was an Earth Immortal or a Loose Immortal, their Primal was a Golden Lotus Primal!

To become a free and unfettered Immortal, one had to plant a golden lotus within the flames.

"Continue!" The black-robed Ning was like a bottomless pit, devouring as much Primordial Liquid as was fed to him.

After a long time, he stopped.

With a flick of his finger, the stopper of the jade bottle on the ground flew back into place.

"Cultivating the Northmont Sutra really does consume a terrifying amount of Primordial Liquid. But my power is now one or two levels purer than that of an ordinary Earth Immortal's." Ning wasn't upset. "To go from peak Primal to late-stage Earth Immortal, I consumed over five million jin of Primordial Liquid. I still have over four million jin left in the bottle. I should prepare some for Uncle White and Little Qing."

The reason he stopped at the late-stage Earth Immortal realm was that once he reached the peak, his Heavenly Tribulation might descend at any time.

"Time to descend to the lower realm."

Boom~~~ The door to the quiet chamber opened, and Ji Ning's true body walked out.