The Celestial Master, The Blood Fiend, and The Secret

“Junior apprentice-brother!” the Wufeng Immortal cried out, also watching the scene before him with fervent emotion.

They all held their breath, staring at what was unfolding.

The Diancai Immortal opened his eyes and sat cross-legged. In the sky above, patches of seven-colored auspicious clouds suddenly appeared, descending from the heavens to swirl around him. Meanwhile, golden lotuses bloomed across the ground, and beneath the Diancai Immortal, it seemed as though he was seated upon a massive golden lotus. Ethereal celestial music could be heard throughout heaven and earth—it was not a true melody, but a resonance of the cosmos itself, its sound filled with boundless profundity.

At the same time, a terrifying pressure descended, enveloping the Diancai Immortal.

“What a terrifying pressure,” the black-robed Ji Ning and the others murmured. Even though they were only touched by the aftershock, their hearts trembled.

Waves of the power of heaven and earth converged around the Diancai Immortal. An immortal aura—the signature of a Celestial Immortal—began to emanate from his body, and his very strength underwent a fundamental transformation.

From the Zifu Disciple stage all the way to Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal, one’s energy was referred to as “Yuan power.”

But after becoming a Celestial Immortal, the soul, the Yuan power, and everything else merged into one. A single lotus seed grew from the seedpod of the Golden Lotus Primordial Spirit, absorbing all essence, including the soul itself, until everything coalesced into a single, round, dazzlingly brilliant and golden ‘Golden Core.’

From this point on, one’s power could be called Dharmic power, Immortal power, or many other names.

“The Golden Core Dao. The Golden Core Dao. After swallowing but a single Golden Core, I realize that my fate is mine to command, not Heaven’s.” The Diancai Immortal smiled gently. “Everything returns to one, perfectly seamless and flawless. No longer subject to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, I have truly leaped beyond the Three Realms and escaped the confines of the Five Elements. I am now a free and unfettered Immortal.”

“Congratulations, Master, congratulations!” The black-robed Ji Ning walked over.

“Haha, junior apprentice-brother, you truly lived up to our hopes. You really did it!” The Wufeng Immortal was the most excited of all. “After countless eons, our Black-White College finally has a second disciple who has become a Celestial Immortal! A Celestial Immortal! A Celestial Immortal, who possesses true immortality and endless years! And not just any Celestial Immortal—one who overcame the Six-Nine Tribulation! Haha, even if this old madman were to die right this instant, I would have no regrets!”

There were different levels of Celestial Immortals.

Those who overcame a weaker tribulation, such as the Two-Nine or Three-Nine Tribulation, were generally not as powerful.

But some monstrously talented Fiendgod Body Refiners who overcame the Nine-Nine Tribulation to become Empyrean Gods could rival Pure Yang True Immortals.

“Mm? What’s that over there?” The Diancai Immortal was startled. He looked into the distance with astonishment. “That black skiff inside the formation is…?”

“Congratulations, Celestial Immortal Diancai!” A figure appeared at the prow of the black skiff—it was Blooddrop, the Bloodfiend Church’s leader. He laughed loudly, “It’s rare to see a Celestial Immortal’s birth. But you have a good disciple to thank for it. He killed seven of my Dharma Kings and trapped me here. If I wasn’t curious to see if you, Diancai Immortal, could succeed, I would have left long ago. Well, enough fun. I’m off.”

Blooddrop stowed the skiff away, and with a low hum, a wave of spatial energy erupted, and he vanished into thin air.

He had been clutching a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal as he had spoken.

“Making him waste a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal was worth it,” the Wufeng Immortal said with an approving nod.

“He said he had seven Dharma Kings killed. What happened?” The Diancai Immortal frowned. “And Ji Ning, this is your Primaltwin, isn’t it? Where is your true body?”

Having spent so much time with Ji Ning, the Diancai Immortal knew well that Ji Ning usually wore beast-hide clothing; his second incarnation, the Primaltwin, was the one who wore black robes.

Ji Ning smiled. “It was nothing important.”

“Let me tell it!” the Wufeng Immortal exclaimed excitedly. “You don’t know this, junior apprentice-brother. When you were undergoing your Heartfiend Tribulation, just as we expected, there were those who came to attack you! First, the Bloodfiend Church Leader, Blooddrop himself, led seven Dharma Kings in an assault. And then your precious disciple unleashed his divine might…”

The Wufeng Immortal, in a wonderful mood, rattled on for quite some time, but he managed to convey the general series of events clearly.

The Diancai Immortal looked at Ji Ning, a sense of guilt flickering in his eyes. “Disciple, you have worked hard.”

“It’s fine. My true body is unharmed. Besides, the second wave of even stronger killers came specifically for me, not for you, Master,” Ji Ning said.

The Diancai Immortal shook his head. “It was precisely because I was undergoing my tribulation and you had to focus on protecting me that they chose this moment to assassinate you. If you hadn’t had to worry about me, you could have simply fled without ever needing to fight.”

“Enough, enough, you master and disciple, why keep drawing such lines?” the Wufeng Immortal laughed heartily. “Our Black-White College now has a Celestial Immortal! This is a cause for the greatest celebration! Come, come, let’s hurry back to the college and let all the other sect members share in the joy. Becoming a Celestial Immortal—this is the dream of so many cultivators!”

“Should Master’s achievement of Celestial Immortality be made public?” Ji Ning asked.

The Wufeng Immortal laughed. “We’ll have to keep it somewhat quiet, of course, but since even Blooddrop knows about it, word is bound to get out soon. So, the Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of our Black-White College ought to be informed. Also, we should notify the Tortoise Mountain Celestial Immortal of the Anchan Northmont clan.”

“Tortoise Mountain Celestial Immortal?” Ji Ning was puzzled.

“There’s a deep meaning to this. The reason our Black-White College is established right in Anchan City is that our fortunes are tied to those of the Anchan Northmont clan,” the Wufeng Immortal explained. “If the Anchan Northmont clan hadn’t allowed it, how could our Black-White College freely recruit all the geniuses from the entire Anchan Commandery without being blocked?”

Ji Ning understood.

“Now that our junior apprentice-brother has become a Celestial Immortal, the Anchan Northmont clan will surely tighten their bond with our Black-White College,” the Wufeng Immortal continued, grinning. “Of course, we serve them, but after junior apprentice-brother’s ascension, they’ll have to prepare a generous congratulatory gift. Right now, what junior apprentice-brother needs most are some high-quality flying Immortal swords. And where do Immortal treasures come from? They’re found within the Anchan Northmont clan.”

Ji Ning nodded. Compared to these ancient clans, he was still lacking in terms of treasures. His Primaltwin required the Plowshare Sword Formation, and his true body needed six Immortal swords. He hadn’t even managed to gather six yet! If he wanted to help his master, the best course of action would be to procure five extremely powerful Immortal swords, as his master already had five of his own, though they were all fairly average.

Clans like the Anchan Northmont clan, which had been enfeoffed as marquises for generation after generation from the Primordial Fiendgod Era down to the present, had produced several Celestial Immortals. Their clan’s treasury would naturally be well-stocked with treasures. A clan like the Shaoyin clan could produce twenty supreme-grade Immortal-ranked treasures without breaking a sweat. Though the Anchan Northmont clan was relatively weaker, its foundation was still very deep.

“Let’s go. Back to Anchan City,” the Wufeng Immortal urged.

“Let’s go.”

This time, Ji Ning and his group no longer had to cautiously sneak through spatial passages. They directly tore open space to return to the Grand Xia world, then performed a spatial teleportation to head straight for Anchan City.

Within the heavy layers of formations in the Eastwood Mountains, atop one of the peaks.

Ji Ning was sitting cross-legged.

“Master has become a Celestial Immortal.” Ji Ning’s face was full of joy, and he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his heart. “I’d also like to prepare a generous gift for Master, but unfortunately, the Immortal-ranked treasures from the seven Dharma Kings I killed earlier were all fairly average.”

The seven Dharma Kings were, after all, quite mediocre among Loose Immortals. It was only in the past twenty or thirty years that they had managed to rise, by relying on secret arts, to a level comparable to a five-hundred-thousand-year Loose Immortal. Although their strength had grown in that time, their treasures had not seen a similar upgrade.

“It’s time for me to go back as well.”

Ji Ning had deliberately acted as a decoy here so as not to disturb his master’s tribulation. Now that the tribulation was over, he could return.

Whoosh.

He rose to his feet and swept his gaze across his surroundings.

“What exactly is this place? Where in the Grand Xia Dynasty is it? How could such a powerful faction be hiding here?” Ji Ning pondered. The twelve white-robed men who had surrounded him, the terrifying Divine-Poison Flame Furnace formation they had used, and the mysterious black mist-shrouded cave—all of these pointed to this being no ordinary location.

“I need to investigate. Since I suffered this defeat, I need to know exactly who made me suffer.”

“Besides, the Grand Xia world is currently in chaos. This hidden faction is likely one of the centers of that chaos. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.” Ji Ning secretly decided. Investigating this place might be dangerous for others, but relying on the Seventy-Two Transformations of the Nine Heavens Arcane Art to infiltrate and scout—even a True Immortal or Empyrean God would find it impossible to see through his true identity, unless they possessed some rare divine ability capable of breaking the Seventy-Two Transformations. Such abilities were extraordinarily rare.

“Time to go!”

A Greater Teleportation Dao-seal in hand, he activated it.

Whoosh!

Ji Ning vanished into thin air.

“General.” The Eastwood Patriarch soon went to report. “Ji Ning has left, using a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal.”

“Let him go, then.” The silver-armored youth paid it no further attention.

In midair, five million kilometers away from the Eastwood Mountains, Ji Ning reappeared.

He could have used the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to go directly back to the Yan Mountains or Anchan City. But he needed to find out exactly where he had been trapped just moments ago, so he only teleported a distance of a million kilometers. He didn’t believe that stronghold could span a million kilometers in every direction.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning flew directly toward an ordinary city. By sweeping it with his divine sense, he immediately located the strongest cultivator within it—a Zifu Disciple.

Riiip.

Ji Ning tore through space itself and appeared inside a study.

Inside the study, an old man was flipping through a book.

“Who are you?!” The old man looked up, startled.

“I have a few questions for you,” Ji Ning said. As he spoke, the elder’s gaze turned blank and dazed.

“Which commandery is this?” Ji Ning asked.

“This is the Flamescroll Commandery,” the old man said.

Ji Ning was taken aback. The Flamescroll Commandery wasn’t all that far from the Anchan Commandery. Only two commanderies lay between them.

“What is the name of this city of yours?” Ji Ning asked.

“This is Yanliu City,” the elder said.

Ji Ning frowned. The Grand Xia had far too many cities, and they changed names frequently. When a clan took over a city, they would rename it. The Ji clan, for instance, had originally named their first captured city “Ten Thousand Swords City.” Because names changed so often, maps generally didn’t bother labeling them.

“Are there any large mountain ranges or rivers nearby?” Ji Ning pressed. “Large ones.”

“There is a mountain range over a hundred thousand kilometers to the east, stretching for tens of thousands of kilometers, called the Wildgoose Mountains,” the elder said.

Ji Ning’s eyes lit up.

The Wildgoose Mountains?

He had a perfect memory of the complete map of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, and he quickly pinpointed the location in his mind. Now that he had the position, he could quickly calculate what lay a million kilometers away.

“The Eastwood Mountains… the Eastwood School… so that’s where you were hiding!”