Mastering the Arcane Art

By the time Ji Ning woke, the sky had already darkened.

He was still standing outside the door of the multi-zhang tall pavilion, while his senior apprentice-brother, Jidian, was already lying to the side, snoring in his sleep.

"Although my divine soul is countless times stronger now than when I received the legacy of the 'Starseizing Hand' divine ability, this much information still took me several hours." A faint smile was on Ji Ning's face. The feeling of having complete mastery was truly wonderful. **The complete method for training in the Eight-Nine Arcane Art was now fully in his memories.

"No wonder it is the number one divine ability beneath the True God level in all the Three Realms."

Ji Ning smiled and walked straight into the Pantheon of the Three Realms.

"Junior apprentice-brother, just place the complete copy of the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art' anywhere inside the Pantheon of the Three Realms. If you wish to pick something else, go ahead and choose again." Jidian lay there, speaking as if in his sleep. He then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Ji Ning smiled, turned, and bowed. "Yes, senior apprentice-brother."

He placed the bamboo slips of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art on a long table, and without a moment's hesitation, walked to a spot and picked up an abridged copy.

The abridged manual had four large characters on its cover: 'Houyi's Archery Art.'

Learning Houyi's Archery Art was a decision Ji Ning had long considered carefully. The divine ability he cultivated was the Starseizing Hand, which granted his hands unlimited divine power. With hands of limitless strength, he could draw and shoot arrows... and the Houyi's Archery Art was a technique-based art. The two great divine abilities, each ranked among the top ten in all the Three Realms, could naturally be combined.

The first gave his hands boundless strength.

The second allowed Ji Ning to push his archery to its absolute peak.

Combined, they could become one of his ultimate killing techniques in the future.

"But the trial for it is truly difficult. Can I do it?" Ji Ning looked at the trial's description and frowned. "No matter what, I'll try. There's no time limit for this trial, after all."

"Senior apprentice-brother."

Ji Ning put down the abridged manual, walked to the door, and looked at the sleeping Jidian. "I wish to learn the Houyi's Archery Art."

"Go. Come back only after you've passed the trial." Jidian muttered a few words.

Ji Ning smiled and turned to leave.

In truth, this wasn't really said to senior apprentice-brother Jidian; it was said to his master, Patriarch Subhuti. After all, everything he taught his disciples was decided by the Patriarch himself.

"Swoosh."

Jidian suddenly sat up, leaning against the wooden door of the pavilion, watching the departing Ji Ning with a frown. "He learned the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, and now he wants to learn the Houyi's Archery Art? Isn't this little junior apprentice-brother a Sword Immortal by path? Why do I get the feeling he's absolutely determined to master the Houyi's Archery Art? In all the Three Realms, no one has yet managed to reach the level of terror that Houyi did in archery."

For abilities like the Starseizing Hand, as long as one had enough Five Elements Essence, one could train step by step all the way to the sixth cycle of mastery.

The Eight-Nine Arcane Art was similar. As long as one entered the gate, one only needed a massive amount of treasures to complete the ninth cycle of mastery.

However, the 'Starseizing Hand' required an astonishing amount of Five Elements Essence, and the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art' required an equally astonishing amount of treasures. Many beings in the Three Realms knew the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, but very few had actually reached the grand perfection stage and achieved an indestructible body.

But these two were different from the next one!

The Houyi's Archery Art was a path of pure technique, requiring comprehension—which made it far more difficult! It demanded constant enlightenment in the 'Dao of Archery,' and Houyi's archery art had already surpassed the bounds of the Dao of Archery itself.

"A Sword Immortal, yet he wants to divide his attention to learn the Dao of Archery?" Jidian mused. "Or perhaps this little junior apprentice-brother simply wants to learn it because the Houyi's Archery Art is one of the top ten divine abilities in the Three Realms. Once he discovers how difficult it is, he'll probably give up."

In the quiet room of the aquatic palace.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged, beginning to cultivate the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. This was a divine ability, so it could only be trained by his true body!

"Whoosh~~~"

Ji Ning let out a breath.

A layer of faint golden light began to shimmer on the surface of his skin. The light was very weak at first, gradually growing richer, until Ji Ning's entire body seemed to be made of metal.

"Transform!"

Ji Ning, who had been sitting on the Netherwater Jade bed, suddenly vanished, and in his place on the jade bed appeared a rock. The rock, however, exuded a life aura. Any cultivator who saw it would immediately recognize that this was no ordinary stone.

"Return." The rock vanished, and Ji Ning reappeared.

For a Fiendgod Body Refiner who had reached Ji Ning's level, his divine body could be converted into divine power, and divine power could be converted back into a divine body. He could even pluck a strand of hair and transform it into a clone! Transforming himself into a rock was not difficult. The difficulty lay in completely concealing his aura and making himself identical in every way to a real rock.

"Concealing my aura? Even changing my divine soul's aura?" Ji Ning murmured to himself. "The entry requirements for the Eight-Nine Arcane Art are truly difficult. But once I've entered the gate, I can change my aura at will, and hiding my aura as if I were a rock or dirt is the easiest thing in the world."

The entry point for the Eight-Nine Arcane Art was mastering the Seventy-Two Transformations.

Seventy-Two referred to the 'seven-tenths of one and two-tenths' or simply 'innumerable.' The number of transformations was endless. Whether it was rocks, trees, flowers, plants, wild beasts, animals, or even humans, members of the Yao race, Fiendgods... as long as they existed in the Three Realms, none of them could not be transformed into. Even one's aura could be completely changed.

Even those stronger than oneself would find it very difficult to see through the change.

Unless one practiced a great divine ability like the 'Divine Eye' or a special secret art; only by using such secret arts or divine abilities could the truth be revealed! Without using secret arts or divine abilities, even they would not be able to tell that a large tree beside them was actually a transformed being.

Morning time.

Qingya Xiaoyu was bored and had walked out of her room alone.

"My master accepted me onto Mount Innerheart, and now half a year has passed. He's only given me guidance twice. He even told me to go to the Pantheon of Immortals to study cultivation methods, divine abilities, and secret arts." Qingya Xiaoyu felt helpless. She knew that the habits of experts were eccentric, but she had never imagined her master would care so little about her. She usually couldn't even see him.

"But..."

"This Mount Innerheart is truly inconceivable." Qingya Xiaoyu sighed in amazement.

Over the past six months, she had often spent time with Uncle White and Little Qing, and had also mingled with other disciples of the Mount Innerheart lineage. The more she learned, the more shocked she became.

Celestial Immortals? A Celestial Immortal's status couldn't even compare to her master!

Personal disciples? They were all Pure Yang True Immortals and Empyrean Gods. The gatekeeper of the Pantheon of Immortals was an Empyrean God. No wonder her master had said that one of his senior apprentice-brothers could kill a Celestial Immortal as easily as killing a chicken.

What?! The entire Tristar Crescent Major World was created by Patriarch Subhuti? Reincarnation and rebirth? All of it was created and established by the Patriarch?

Qingya Xiaoyu understood now. The entire Tristar Crescent Major World was nothing more than the backyard of their Mount Innerheart sect! It was said that beyond the Tristar Crescent Major World, there was the boundless Three Realms, and that within the Three Realms there were even more mighty figures as powerful as the Patriarch.

"Whew." As Qingya Xiaoyu walked, she saw a large rock by the side of the road. Without thinking much about it, she sat down on it.

"I wonder when I'll be able to see my master again." Qingya Xiaoyu muttered to herself.

"Eh?"

Qingya Xiaoyu frowned, stood up, and looked at the rock beside her. "Strange. If I remember correctly, there shouldn't have been a rock here. Where did this one suddenly come from? Well... this is my master's immortal estate. Everything here is under the master's control, so I shouldn't overthink it. Hmm. I'll go find that big, silly man. His realm is high enough that he can give me some guidance."

With that, Qingya Xiaoyu quickly ran off.

"Swoosh."

The rock transformed back into the beast-robe-clad youth, Ji Ning.

"And I got sat on by my own disciple." Ji Ning took a deep breath. "Well, no one knows. I won't say a word. This absolutely cannot be mentioned."

"I won't transform into a rock anymore. I'll turn into a tree. I refuse to believe anyone will sit on a tree."

Swoosh.

In a corner of the courtyard, there were some trees, flowers, and grass. Among them, a small pine tree several zhang tall appeared. The tree swayed gently in the wind from time to time.

The art of transformation, which was the entry requirement for the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, had been mostly mastered by Ji Ning. Every day now, he would transform into rocks, trees, streams, blades of grass, and other objects. So far, no one had managed to detect him. Even Ji Ning's Primaltwin personally observed him, using his divine sense to carefully probe, and even opening his Heavenly Eye... yet he was unable to find the slightest flaw!

When he transformed into a tree, the bark, branches, and leaves on the surface were all identical to a real one.

His divine soul aura had also completely become the aura of a tree!

There was nothing special about him at all.

As time passed day by day, Ji Ning continuously cultivated the art of transformation, trying again and again, constantly learning from his experiences. Finally, after cultivating the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art' for a year and three months, Ji Ning managed to master all of the Seventy-Two Transformations.

"This final transformation was truly difficult. It took the longest. But I've finally mastered it. Transform!"

Ji Ning sat cross-legged by a small creek, and then, in an instant, he completely changed.

The figure sitting there became a white-robed, handsome man holding a feather fan—the 'Silvermoon Empyrean God.' Whether it was his appearance or his aura... the aura of immense power that made one's heart tremble, the aura belonging to an Empyrean God, and the unique aura belonging to Silvermoon, all emanated from Ji Ning's body.

"Let's give it a try."

Ji Ning, transformed into Silvermoon, smiled and began to walk through the Tristar Crescent Abode.

"Grandmaster."

"Senior apprentice-uncle."

"Master."

As he walked through the Tristar Crescent Abode, for the first time, disciples addressed him as 'Senior apprentice-uncle.' After all, he was ranked last among his generation; everyone usually addressed him as 'Junior apprentice-uncle.'

"Haha, these Void Fiendgods and great Yaos... none of them found a single flaw." Ji Ning was in an excellent mood and occasionally nodded in acknowledgment.

"How strange. Why isn't Grandmaster Silvermoon at the Pantheon of Immortals?"

"It's very rare to see Grandmaster Silvermoon strolling about."

"That is a bit strange."

The disciples of the Mount Innerheart lineage waited until Ji Ning had walked far away before whispering among themselves. Silvermoon's reputation was too fierce; he was a devil-like existence. The amount of 'karmic sin' on his body was simply inconceivable. Senior apprentice-brother Silvermoon's karmic sin was no longer just a 'blood-light of sin'; it was the legendary... 'Karmic Hellfire.'

But with his boundless power, Senior apprentice-brother Silvermoon had no fear of the Karmic Hellfire.

Ji Ning soon arrived at the Pantheon of Immortals. The open space outside the Pantheon of Immortals was filled with many disciples of the Mount Innerheart lineage.

"Grandmaster."

"Senior apprentice-uncle."

They all called out respectfully. Even Qingya Xiaoyu, who had been chatting with other disciples, hurriedly stood up and said respectfully, "Senior apprentice-uncle."

But Little Qing and Uncle White, who were among them, stared at Ji Ning in shock.

"Who are you?" Little Qing and Uncle White both had a mental connection with Ji Ning and knew it was him. They were astonished. The white-robed, handsome man before them, with his terrifying aura and his appearance, was clearly Silvermoon the Empyrean God. Yet their senses told them that the person before them was Ji Ning.

This felt incredibly strange to them. Ji Ning had previously only demonstrated his ability to transform into a tree in front of them; he had never transformed into a human before.

"Hmm." Ji Ning nodded, smiling as he walked into the Pantheon of Immortals.

Inside the Pantheon of Immortals, there was also a white-robed, handsome man holding a feather fan.

The two of them faced each other. They looked alike. Their auras were identical.

"Daring to transform into my appearance? Second senior apprentice-brother wouldn't be this bored. Lord Jiang isn't this kind of personality either. Little junior apprentice-brother... have you mastered the Eight-Nine Arcane Art?" Silvermoon guessed Ji Ning's identity.

"Senior apprentice-brother is sharp." The white-robed, handsome man across from him shook his body and transformed back into the beast-robe-clad youth, Ji Ning.