The One-Breath Nine Primeval Pearls

The strength of the red-haired Fiendgod had filled Ji Ning with a trembling awe. He was far too powerful. That longstaff… it was like a nightmare. No matter how Ji Ning formed his hands into sword-fingers or executed his sword arts, the enemy's longstaff shattered them with contemptuous ease. And in breaking them, the staff would either sweep, or chop down heavily, or thrust straight forward!

In short, Ji Ning was completely on the defensive!

The longstaff was like a dragon, a living creature of the water, filled with boundless profundity. Ji Ning felt like nothing more than a target.

“Enough, enough.” The red-haired Fiendgod finally stopped, shaking his head with a sigh. “I lost.”

“Senior Hongxue, you are clearly far stronger than I am…” Ji Ning stopped mid-sentence as he understood.

It was that the other's divine power had been exhausted!

“Every time your palm blocked my staff, the recoil force forced me to consume a massive amount of divine power.” The red-haired Fiendgod looked at Ji Ning, his voice filled with emotion. “The Starseizing Hand divine ability is indeed formidable. This manifested incarnation of mine only contains a limited amount of divine power… after being struck more than ten times by your Starseizing Hand, I couldn't hold on any longer.”

“If it were your true body, Senior, you probably would have annihilated me in a single move,” Ji Ning said. Although his own body was powerful, the red-haired Fiendgod's longstaff attacks were even fiercer than those of the Youngflame clan's 'Love-struck Celestial Immortal'. Ji Ning could feel that when the spear tip struck him, it felt like it was about to pierce through his body. In fact, his skin now had countless white spots on it! If it had been the red-haired Fiendgod's true body, it likely would have been able to destroy his physical form entirely. Fortunately, this time he had cultivated his Starseizing Hand to the fourth cycle. If he had broken through earlier with weaker power, it was highly likely that his own divine power would have been exhausted before the red-haired Fiendgod's.

Once his divine power was exhausted and he could no longer use his divine abilities, it would still be a loss for Ji Ning.

“A loss is a loss.” The red-haired Fiendgod smiled as he looked at Ji Ning. “I hear you have been cultivating for less than a hundred years?”

“Yes,” Ji Ning nodded.

In his heart, though, he wondered why the Yellow-Maned Bear had told this Empyrean God so much.

“In less than a hundred years, your sword arts are quite impressive,” the red-haired Fiendgod praised.

“In front of you, Senior, I could only use my Three Heads, Six Arms and enlarge my hands to act like small shields, desperately trying to block your staff,” Ji Ning said, shaking his head in shame. Using his palms as shields, and having them be broken through time and again… the gap was simply too vast.

“Haha, I mastered several Grand Daos in the primordial era, let alone now. If your sword arts were not strong, they probably wouldn't have been able to consume much of my divine power at all,” the red-haired Fiendgod sighed. “Your sword arts are actually quite good at defense.”

Ji Ning smiled.

Of course. He had comprehended the most in the 'Water' aspect; from a young age, his sword arts had been focused on defense.

“Train hard, and become an Empyrean God soon,” the red-haired Fiendgod said with a smile. “Otherwise, you won't be able to make those fellows submit to you with true loyalty.” After speaking, he vanished into nothingness.

“Submit with true loyalty?” Ji Ning murmured to himself.

Ji Ning arrived at the main hall of the aquatic palace.

“Congratulations on conquering the ninth floor.” The Yellow-Maned Bear smiled.

Ji Ning frowned. “Red-Maned Empyrean God… who is he?”

The Yellow-Maned Bear was startled, then said calmly, “An Empyrean God who served under my master in the past… You don't need to ask about these things. Right now, your strength is still too weak. Even in the Grand Xia World, one of the three thousand major worlds, you are walking on thin ice. You have no right to be involved in the major powers of the Three Realms.

I can only tell you this… the Three Realms are not as simple as you normally understand. Even Patriarch Subhuti wouldn't tell you these things until your strength is truly formidable. When you are weak, it is better to know less. Knowing too much can get you killed. The methods of the true Great Beings of the Three Realms are simply beyond your imagination right now. Even my master was nothing much during the primordial cataclysm. Even Patriarch Subhuti, who was stronger than my master, did not dare to participate in that battle… so what do you think you are?”

Ji Ning said softly, “The primordial Pangu's World was shattered, hiding a great secret? Could it be that what I heard is wrong?”

“What you all know is merely what the Daofathers wanted you to know. Don't ask anymore. Only when you become a True Immortal or Empyrean God will you be qualified to know. As for Celestial Immortals… Great Beings can annihilate countless numbers of them with a single backhanded blow,” the Yellow-Maned Bear said. “Do you want to go to the Treasure Hall to pick a treasure? You aren't a Celestial Immortal now, and even if you picked a Pure Yang magic treasure, you wouldn't be able to use it.”

“I will pick, of course I will!” Ji Ning said hurriedly.

“The Luohou Bow.”

Ji Ning called out in his heart.

Whoosh.

A black-robed youth appeared at his side.

“I'm preparing to get you a bowstring. Tell me, what kind of bowstring do you want?” Ji Ning said.

“Haha, you're finally going to get me a bowstring?” The black-robed youth was overjoyed, then turned to look at the Yellow-Maned Bear. “Big bear, what about the scroll I wrote earlier?”

“It's here.” The Yellow-Maned Bear waved his hand, and a scroll appeared, hovering in midair.

“Master, on this scroll I wrote about three types of bowstrings that are very suitable for me. Of course, their value is different, from low to high, three tiers. Naturally, the higher the better.” The black-robed youth said excitedly, “This divine bow… the bow body and the bowstring are two parts. To a congenital spirit treasure like me, the most important thing is a powerful bow body. Making a bowstring is much easier. The most important thing is that it can store power and perfectly transfer the might of the formations on the bow body.”

Ji Ning took the scroll, opened it, and was startled. “They're all fire-attributed bowstrings? Your bow body is water-attributed, right?”

“One water, one fire, one bow, one string—only then can the power be truly great. Have you forgotten? Back when you discovered me in the Tristar Crescent World, I drew upon the world's power to transform into flaming arrows. The two arrows you found were also fire-attributed.” The black-robed youth said.

“Got it.” Ji Ning nodded with a smile. “Don't worry, I'll get you a top-notch bowstring.”

Heavenly Treasures Mountain Headquarters, high noon.

“Uncle White, is the list ready?” Ji Ning looked at the white-haired man across from him.

“It's been ready for a long time. Since we're going after the Youngflame clan, we can't go soft.” Uncle White handed Ji Ning an animal hide.

Ji Ning lowered his head to look and nodded gently.

In dealing with the Youngflame clan…

Ji Ning had a plan in his heart. Of course, plans could never keep up with changes. Since he didn't know what cards the Youngflame clan held, Ji Ning naturally wanted to prepare as many methods as possible.

“Ji Ning.” A voice rang out.

A silver-haired man, Celestial Fox, walked in, smiling. “What good fortune comes looking for me now?”

“There is good fortune.” Ji Ning said with a smile. “Let me show you something.”

Whoosh.

Ten beads appeared around Ji Ning. One of them was a watery green color, while the other nine were a fiery red. Each bead emanated a terrifyingly powerful aura.

“This is…” Celestial Fox's eyes went wide. “Could it be…?”

“The One-Breath Nine Primeval Pearls!” Ji Ning nodded.

Celestial Fox swallowed hard, staring at Ji Ning in disbelief. This set of One-Breath Nine Primeval Pearls was a Pure Yang magic treasure set, quite famous in the primordial Pangu's World. It could transform into nine worlds. A single bead crashing down was like an entire minor world smashing into you. Of course, that required pushing the power of this Pure Yang treasure to its absolute limit.

“I need a set of top-grade Immortal-ranked Fuxi Staff formations.”

“Twenty top-grade Pure Yang spirit-pills, or an equivalent amount of mid-grade or low-grade Pure Yang spirit-pills.”

“One bowstring recorded on this list.”

“And the oddities recorded on this animal hide.”

Ji Ning handed over two pieces of animal hide.

He couldn't use the Pure Yang magic treasure himself yet, and by the time he could, his strength would be far greater, and his palms would already be comparable to Pure Yang ultimate treasures. So, of course, he would sell it. It was best to strengthen his own side's power!

“Ji Ning, you…” Seeing the two animal hides, Celestial Fox's face went pale. “Your demands are far too harsh.”

“If Lord Xia is unwilling, I won't force him,” Ji Ning said. “I can go find my senior apprentice-brothers.”