The Sleeping Gardener Awakens

It was early summer, the cusp of spring and summer. The morning air still held a slight chill.

On Brightheart Island in Serpentwing Lake of the Yan Mountains, Ji Ning walked out of his house alone. Yu Wei was still sleeping. At the Celestial Immortal level, one normally didn’t need to train much; what was far more important was comprehending the Dao. If one’s Dao-realm was sufficient—for instance, if one fully comprehended a Grand Dao and condensed the Five Energies Circulating Within One’s Chest—one could immediately become a Pure Yang True Immortal.

But fully comprehending a Grand Dao… that was incredibly difficult. Many Celestial Immortals were stuck at the final bottleneck, unable to take that last step.

Thus, Yu Wei spent her days very leisurely, only emerging after the Golden Crow had risen.

“Hua, hua, hua~~~” As he walked outside, Ji Ning could faintly hear the sound of the waters of Serpentwing Lake crashing against the shore. This lake, covering a hundred square kilometers, always had waves three feet high even without any wind. The sound of them hitting the shore was a familiar one.

Holding a Northsea Sword in hand, resting it across his shoulder, Ji Ning strolled casually through the clusters of buildings.

“Young master.”

The maids and servants on Brightheart Island quickly greeted him.

Ji Ning soon arrived at the edge of the island by the water.

“Snip, snip.” Not far away, an old man with graying hair was holding a large pair of shears in both hands, trimming the flowers and shrubs. Brightheart Island had been cultivated into a veritable paradise, and these gardeners were indispensable to that effort. The old gardener was completely absorbed in his trimming, utterly unaware that the island’s owner, Ji Ning, had appeared.

Ji Ning glanced at the old gardener, smiled slightly, and began to practice his swordplay.

Blades of sword-light flashed.

Ji Ning’s sword was purer than ever. It was not flashy, but it possessed a ‘penetrating power’ that seemed to come from the bones. Just by looking at it with the naked eye, it felt as though the tip of the sword was aimed directly at one’s eyeball. This sharpness and penetrating power would only strike ordinary Immortal cultivators as ‘strange.’ But if a Celestial Immortal saw it, they would understand how terrifying it truly was.

Gradually…

The Golden Crow rose! The surrounding temperature began to climb, the morning chill fading, and the light of the Golden Crow shone down, warm and comforting.

The old gardener finally noticed Ji Ning. He didn’t dare disturb him, so he just sat to the side, watching curiously. He watched and watched… the weather was truly fine, warm and cozy. He grew drowsy from watching, and gradually, he fell asleep.

Before long.

A tall, white-robed maiden walked over. It was Yu Wei.

She usually wore black, but ever since becoming pregnant, she had changed her attire more often.

“Be good, little one. Watch your father practice his sword,” Yu Wei said softly. With a flick of her sleeve, a set of crystalline, jade-like table and chairs appeared. With another wave of her hand, some immortal fruits appeared on the table. As she sat down, she noticed the old gardener dozing off in the distance. She couldn’t help but smile, then turned her gaze back to Ji Ning as he practiced.

The lake water lapped against the shore. The morning sun cast its radiance all around. The old gardener slept soundly. Her Dao-companion practiced his sword.

Yu Wei caressed her belly. She felt this scene was incredibly beautiful!

“You’re awake.”

Ji Ning stopped and walked over.

“You’re about to face your Heavenly Tribulation, so of course I have to watch you practice your sword,” Yu Wei said with a smile. “How do you feel?”

“Excellent,” Ji Ning said, smiling. “My heart is at peace right now, and my insights into the Dao of the Sword are constantly improving. I actually feel I’m approaching the bottleneck of the ‘Dao of the Sword.’ Perhaps after another year or two, I’ll reach it.”

Reaching the bottleneck wasn’t the hard part.

The hard part was breaking through that bottleneck and achieving mastery of the Dao of the Sword. However, he had once experienced the ‘Dream of a Thousand Years,’ and his master, Patriarch Subhuti, had let him sense what it felt like to achieve mastery of the Dao of the Sword in advance. Moreover, he had already grasped a sliver of Sword Force. He believed that breaking through the bottleneck would be much easier for him than for other Celestial Immortals.

But even so, how long it would take to achieve the breakthrough, Ji Ning did not know.

Only when his mastery of the Dao of the Sword was complete would it be time to undergo his tribulation. If his Primaltwin was successful and became an Empyrean God, he would have truly turned the tables. Everything now depended on mastering the Dao of the Sword.

“Why don’t you train a bit longer, and only have your Primaltwin undergo the tribulation once you’ve reached the bottleneck?” Yu Wei suggested.

“My Primaltwin has mastered Heartforce, and is strong enough. Even if my sword-arts improved a bit more, it would only provide limited help with the tribulation,” Ji Ning said. Their conversation was naturally shielded, so no one else on the island could hear them.

Ji Ning was right.

With perfect mastery of the third-stage Heartforce… in terms of raw power alone, he had already reached the peak of the Celestial Immortal level.

If a Primal Daoist were monstrous enough to achieve perfect mastery of third-stage Heartforce, their strength would also be directly elevated to the peak of the Celestial Immortal level. It was a very mysterious power. Generally, only Empyrean Gods and True Immortals gradually began to master it. Among True Gods and Daofathers, several had made achievements in this area.

For someone at the Void stage to comprehend it was incredibly rare.

For a Primal Daoist to do so was unprecedented!

Now, Ji Ning’s Primaltwin, with perfect mastery of third-stage Heartforce, had also made a qualitative leap in strength, reaching the peak of Celestial Immortal level. For a Ki Refiner, with this level of power, surviving things like the ‘Lightning Tribulation’ was virtually guaranteed. The threats of the Wind Tribulation and Fire Tribulation were also greatly diminished. Only the most unpredictable Heart Demon Tribulation posed a true threat.

And improving his Dao of the Sword wouldn’t help him overcome the Heart Demon Tribulation.

“Moreover, I have a faint premonition that the near future is the most suitable time for me to undergo my tribulation,” Ji Ning said.

“Oh?” Yu Wei nodded.

…

While Ji Ning and Yu Wei, this deeply devoted Dao-companion couple, were together, in a region of the Southern Sea of the Grand Xia World, space itself split open. An enormous, imposing host of figures appeared in midair. Each of them radiated a powerful aura, and the leaders were the four Empyrean Gods and True Immortals: Immortal Fuhua, Fairy Witheredgrass, Empyrean God Qishou, and Empyrean God Sanyang.

Even though these were merely clones, with only one-tenth of their true power, they were still at the Empyrean God and True Immortal level. They were far stronger than Ji Ning with his half-baked, barely qualified-for-the-threshold ability.

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao, Immortal Duchou, and the group behind them, all dressed in black, each emanated an incredibly fierce and berserk aura. When Immortal Duchou first saw this group of black-clad figures, he couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart. “These are the Hellish Enforcers of the Bloodcloud Hall. Legend has it they come from the endless hells. Where exactly is this ‘endless hells’? The eighteen levels of hell in the Netherworld Kingdom shouldn’t contain such terrifying beings, right?”

Immortal Duchou had only just defected, so there were many secrets he didn’t know, and he didn’t dare to ask.

“We have already arrived in the Grand Xia World,” Immortal Fuhua said. “Duchou, you weren’t confident in teleporting directly from the Fifth World to Serpentwing Lake. Now that we’re in the Grand Xia World, you should have no problem teleporting to Serpentwing Lake, right?”

“That’s simple. I can even teleport directly to Brightheart Island,” Immortal Duchou said, a look of confidence in his eyes. “When I was plotting to kill Ji Ning, I thoroughly investigated Serpentwing Lake and Brightheart Island. I know their positions like the back of my hand.”

“Excellent,” Immortal Fuhua said. “Then, Grand Teleportation.”

A blood-red pearl appeared in midair.

“Hua.” With a wave of Immortal Duchou’s hand, all of them, without resisting, were collected into the blood-red pearl. This pearl was merely a Heaven-ranked treasure that contained a spatial pocket. People of Immortal Fuhua’s caliber could easily tear it open to escape. They could also use the pearl to observe the outside world. Moreover, they weren’t afraid of Immortal Duchou trying any tricks. If he did, the Seamless Gate wouldn’t let him off. After all, the Seamless Gate was constantly monitoring their movements.

“Let’s go.” Immortal Duchou, holding the pearl, immediately executed a Grand Teleportation.

“Hua.”

…

Serpentwing Lake, Brightheart Island.

Everything was still like a paradise. Many maids and servants had already gotten up and were beginning their light chores.

Ji Ning and Yu Wei were sitting together, drinking warm fruit wine.

“Here, feel. Can you sense the pulse?” Yu Wei placed Ji Ning’s hand on her belly.

Ji Ning focused his senses.

It was very faint, very subtle.

An indistinct tremor.

This tremor naturally gave Ji Ning a strange feeling in his heart. It was a powerful urge to protect, like an eagle shielding its chick. Ji Ning naturally felt a determination to protect this small life.

Yu Wei watched Ji Ning from the side, watching his expression.

“Boom~~~”

It was a silent, soundless spatial fluctuation.

But to Ji Ning and Yu Wei, the fluctuation of a Grand Teleportation was more alarming than the earth shattering and the sky falling.

“No, a Grand Teleportation.” Ji Ning spun around. “I can’t let them harm her.”

The moment he sensed that fluctuation.

Ji Ning had long possessed a certain premonition.

Even in death, he had to protect mother and child.

“Senior Great Bear, Senior Red Xue, this is a bad situation.” As he turned, Ji Ning immediately called out to the Seven Empyrean Gods. At the same time, he saw a hideous, one-horned humanoid appear in the distance.

“Shao Yan Chou?” Ji Ning recognized the Patriarch of the Shao Yan clan at a glance.

The one-horned humanoid grinned ferociously. His rasping voice, like a knife scraping across glass, instantly echoed throughout Brightheart Island: “What a coincidence, Ji Ning.” His voice, infused with the power of a Celestial Immortal’s magic, reverberated across Brightheart Island.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!!!!!!

In an instant, a large group of people appeared beside Shao Yan Chou. The few at the lead made Ji Ning’s eyelid twitch. He recognized Immortal Fuhua immediately. If not for the Xia Emperor last time, Empyrean God Red Xue would have had to step in. But Immortal Fuhua was merely one of them; there were three others by his side whose auras were no weaker than his.

“Four Empyrean Gods and True Immortals?” Ji Ning’s heart trembled. “Even if I beg the Xia Emperor for help right now, if he doesn’t bring enough people, it will be very difficult to stop them.”

“Senior Red Xue.” Ji Ning called out frantically.

The Seven Empyrean Gods were in the Starseizing Major World. They had to be notified by the yellow-furred bear and then travel here, which naturally took time.

“This is a golden opportunity. Kill Ji Ning.”

The fifty-five figures in the air, led by Celestial Immortal Wuxiao, roared instantly. The four Empyrean Gods and True Immortals all had killing intent in their eyes. The invisible murderous aura enveloped Ji Ning, filling him with a sense of immense danger. He felt that if he faced them alone, he would probably die in a single exchange!

“Can’t you let a man get some sleep?!” a voice, filled with anger, rang out.

It was the old gardener who had been dozing not far away. He stood up, frowning, even coughing twice. He looked at the fifty-five figures in the air. “That screeching voice just now was really damn irritating. Looks like you’re all just asking to die!”

Everyone was stunned.

Ji Ning and Yu Wei stared blankly at this old gardener. It was as if, in the blink of an eye, the old gardener had slowly risen, coughed, and spoken. It was as if time flowed differently for them and for the old gardener.

The fifty-five figures in the air were utterly stupefied with shock.

Because they all realized…

“I can’t move!”