The Failed Apprenticeship

Yu Wei and the Diancai Immortal only felt space and time twist around them. When everything became clear again, they found themselves on a corridor. Autumn Leaf was walking along the corridor. She was startled to see the Diancai Immortal and Yu Wei suddenly appear, but quickly said, “Madame. Diancai Immortal.”

“It seems we aren’t meant to see this,” the Diancai Immortal said helplessly.

“I wonder who our junior brother’s master actually is,” Yu Wei said, also curious.

Just now, they had only heard the words ‘His master… is me’ before they were directly teleported away. They hadn’t seen anything at all, and still had no idea who Ji Ning’s Daofather-level master was.

“What’s wrong?” Autumn Leaf asked, curious. “Are you talking about the young master’s master?”

“It’s nothing.” Yu Wei shook her head and smiled. “It’s a good thing, but it’s not something we need to know.”

“Oh.” Autumn Leaf nodded and didn’t ask further.

…

At the lakeside within Brightheart Island.

“Master.” Ji Ning called out in pleasant surprise and respect. The gaunt, white-bearded, and white-robed old man smiled at Ji Ning and nodded slightly before turning his gaze to Old Man Yuan.

“You!” Old Man Yuan’s eyes flew wide open. “Melon Rind, you old Melon Rind! You’ve snatched away such a good disciple from me again.”

“This is the third time,” Patriarch Subhuti said with a sigh. “The disciples I take in, the disciples I teach—why do you always come to steal them away?”

Ji Ning blinked from the side.

The third time?

It seemed that before him, there should have been two senior apprentice-brothers or sisters who had also been snatched away by Old Man Yuan.

“Haha, it can only be said that you, Bodhi, are excellent at teaching disciples,” Old Man Yuan said with a laugh. “Since it’s you, Bodhi, then everything is easy to discuss. Didn’t we succeed in our negotiations once before? Go on, whatever the conditions, just say them. I, this old man, have many treasures and am also willing to spend money. I’m not afraid of you making a big demand.”

“Ji Ning. Are you willing?” Bodhi looked at Ji Ning.

“I will obey my master’s orders in all things,” Ji Ning said respectfully. As long as his master wasn’t troubled by it, everything would be fine. Moreover, his master Bodhi should also know something of Old Man Yuan’s true nature. Whether he should take this master or not… Ji Ning trusted that his master Bodhi would not harm him.

Bodhi nodded slightly.

“If he takes you as his master, he will still be considered one of my disciples,” Bodhi said calmly. “I have no other conditions. I have only one. Take our side.”

“This…” Old Man Yuan’s face immediately turned ugly.

Bodhi’s brows furrowed. “What, are you still unwilling to make a choice?”

“Isn’t it just taking on your disciple? And it’s not asking him to change masters; he’ll be a mutual disciple of both of us. If you want divine abilities, if you want Innate Spirit Treasures, I can provide them all. Why must you force me like this?” Old Man Yuan scratched his head. “Wasn’t it perfectly fine when Little Peacock took me as her master back then? She calls you master, and she calls me master too.”

Ji Ning’s heart stirred.

Could it be Senior Apprentice-Sister Peacock?

“Little Peacock?” Bodhi shook his head. “At that time, the great tribulation had not yet arisen, and I did not know there would be such a calamity. Now that the calamity has already arisen, you naturally have to make a choice. Otherwise, I cannot allow my disciple to take you as his master.”

“How can you… how can you… you old block of wood!” Old Man Yuan fumed.

“Hmph.” Bodhi’s voice turned cold. “Let me ask you this: if Ji Ning takes you as his master, and in the future you defect to the side of the Seamless Gate, what then would you have Ji Ning choose? Would he stand on my side? Or would he stand on your side? If he were to also stand on the Seamless Gate’s side, then I would certainly take action to slay this wayward disciple! If he stands on my side, you would certainly slay him as well. After all, at that point it would be a battle to the death; neither of us could escape.”

Old Man Yuan’s face was ugly.

Ji Ning, standing by, also understood completely.

Yes.

With two masters, if those two masters were in opposing camps… when the time came, no matter which side he stood on, he would have to become a mortal enemy of one of his masters!

“If you wish to take Ji Ning as a disciple, I trust you also do not wish to put him in a difficult position, to have him be personally slain by his own master in the future. Thus, the only way for Ji Ning to have no trouble is for you to take our side,” Bodhi said. “As long as you nod your head, Ji Ning will take you as his master.”

“You…” Old Man Yuan’s expression was complex.

Ji Ning watched silently from the side.

The Four Ancestors of the River Source were a rather formidable force within the Three Realms. If Old Man Yuan took a stand, then the Daofathers who followed him would probably have to take the same side.

“Why do you have to force me? This isn’t a matter concerning just me alone. I still have a group of good friends, a group of disciples and descendants behind me,” Old Man Yuan said, extremely agitated.

“There’s no room for negotiation on this matter,” Bodhi said, shaking his head. “Do not make things difficult for Ji Ning.”

“But wasn’t it fine when Little Peacock was taken in before?” Old Man Yuan said urgently.

“Because you haven’t made a choice yet. When you do make a choice in the future, if you defect to the Seamless Gate’s side, Little Peacock will also have to make a choice: to follow you or to follow me.” Bodhi sighed. “I have already wronged Little Peacock. I do not wish for Ji Ning to face the same situation in the future.”

Old Man Yuan suddenly became angry. “I just don’t understand why all of you are so stubborn!”

“And I don’t understand. We all emerged together from the primordial chaos, like brothers bound by life and death. We all stand on one side. Why do you remain aloof? The four of you, the Four Ancestors of the River Source… every single one of you is like this, with no regard for past bonds!” Bodhi was no longer calm either. His brows trembled with rage as he pointed accusingly at Old Man Yuan.

“You all received Nuwa’s grace. We did not,” Old Man Yuan also retorted angrily. “Furthermore, the Primordial Pangu’s World has long since shattered. This is now the era of the Three Realms. That old undying one simply wishes to unify the Three Realms. Let him rule if he wants to! Do any of you Daofathers really care about ruling the Three Realms? Why must you all fight to the death over it! If I didn’t care about brotherly bonds, if I truly had no regard for past friendship, I would have already defected to the Seamless Gate!”

Patriarch Subhuti was furious beyond measure. “The way you think is so…”

His voice faded into silence.

Patriarch Subhuti and Old Man Yuan became blurry in the distance, both angrily shouting, cursing, and arguing with each other.

But Ji Ning could no longer hear their voices.

“It seems they don’t want me to hear this,” Ji Ning mused to himself. “What ‘old undying one’ who wants to unify the Three Realms? Which old undying one is that? It must be some incredibly terrifying major power in the Three Realms.”

Ji Ning could only watch silently from the side.

The two Daofathers in the distance… were both renowned figures in the Three Realms, Daofathers who stood at the very apex. Among their disciples were several other Daofathers, and they also had other Daofathers as staunch allies. Their own power was equally formidable.

Beyond that, both had been born from the primordial chaos.

At this moment, they argued, each trying to convince the other.

…

A long time passed.

The two Daofathers actually argued for over an hour. As the argument went on, Ji Ning noticed that Patriarch Subhuti seemed to be gaining momentum and confidence, while Old Man Yuan appeared to be running out of steam.

“Boom.” The area suddenly trembled. The voices of the two distant Daofathers reached Ji Ning’s ears once more.

“Ji Ning.”

Old Man Yuan charged straight over, his face ugly. He said angrily, “This master of yours is a block of wood that can’t be reasoned with! Those who follow different paths cannot work together. I can’t be bothered to say more. Your talent is exceptional, and that rotten piece of wood [Bodhi], though he has some impressive techniques, is truly lacking in the area of Heartforce. Since we are fated not to be master and disciple, so be it. This is the Heartforce application technique I comprehended. It’s not a complete system, but it can serve as a reference for you. Take it.”

As he spoke, he pointed at Ji Ning.

A stream of light shot straight into Ji Ning’s brow.

An ocean of information instantly flooded Ji Ning’s mind.

“Bodhi!” Old Man Yuan turned and pointed at Bodhi, cursing, “When it comes to fleeing and concealment, you’re number one in the Three Realms! When the time comes, you’ll be able to escape and survive. But how many of our other old brothers will survive? The ones like Threelives have already died, one after another. How many more have to die?”

“If we retreat, even more will die. We might even all die to the last!” Bodhi retorted angrily.

“Fine, fine, fine. We’ll just see, then.”

Old Man Yuan, in a fit of rage, turned and left.

After taking two steps, the ordinary old craftsman collapsed limply to the ground. A stream of light directly tore through the air and vanished.

Bodhi waved his hand, and the old craftsman was teleported away. After all, this was just an ordinary old man; earlier, Old Man Yuan had merely possessed his body.

Bodhi walked towards Ji Ning. Ji Ning was currently completely engrossed in the vast amount of Heartforce application techniques.

…

Vast.

Mysterious.

Looking at these vast amounts of information, Ji Ning couldn’t help but feel a sense of reverence for Old Man Yuan. It was too impressive. This Old Man Yuan’s true, strongest method probably wasn’t in the area of Heartforce. After all, when it came to Heartforce, Ji Ning could tell that this Old Man Yuan was probably not as strong as Houyi.

But Old Man Yuan and Houyi were different.

Houyi was a specialist, specializing in archery. His application of Heartforce to his archery had become a complete system, with power that was mysterious and terrifying.

Old Man Yuan, however, was broad and eclectic. He seemed to enjoy researching Heartforce, and as a result, he had developed various methods for applying it: to the legs, the body, the fingers, the hair, swords, other magic treasures… he had many methods, but none of them formed a complete system. They were just bits and pieces of insights that Old Man Yuan had accumulated over time.

The most mysterious technique was the application of Heartforce to the ‘Soul’ itself! By applying Heartforce to the soul, one could control even more magic treasures. For example, if Ji Ning could normally only control the third layer of the Greater Thousand Sword Formation, by using Heartforce to coordinate and balance the soul, he could manage the sixth or seventh layer. This technique was the one Ji Ning looked forward to the most.

Heartforce acted as the commander-in-chief, while the soul acted as the soldiers. Through this coordination and operation, the number of controllable magic treasures could increase explosively. Moreover, the Heartforce consumption could even be ignored, as it was merely a form of command and leadership. Yet, the increase in combat power was astonishing. It was an absolute trump card for a Ki Refiner.

But none of this formed a complete system. And since it wasn’t a system, it meant that when others obtained it, it would be very difficult for them to learn it step by step.

However…

Ji Ning was not ordinary.

He was someone who, relying on the Heartforce application techniques within Houyi’s archery, had then figured out the application method for his sword-fingers, and had gone on to comprehend the Heartforce application for his Immortal swords. Ji Ning himself was capable of creation. Now that he had obtained the even more profound methods of Old Man Yuan, he would naturally be moved and enlightened by them. This would allow Ji Ning to create his own Heartforce application methods, perfectly suited to himself, for his legs, his entire body, his soul, and many other methods.

In addition to Old Man Yuan’s techniques, there were also a few Heartforce application methods from other major powers.

These numerous, unsystematic techniques were gathered together and given the name ‘The Heart Sutra’.

“The Heart Sutra? With this Heart Sutra, in the future, whether it’s my movement, dodging, escape techniques, or other methods, their power can all explosively increase just like my offense.” Ji Ning was thrilled. Before this, only his offense was strong; his other aspects were far weaker. This was why even a mere Celestial Immortal or Empyrean God could probably capture him.

But as long as Ji Ning could raise his abilities in all areas and eliminate his shortcomings, capturing him would become much more difficult.

“Hoo.” Ji Ning opened his eyes, a look of joy on his face.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw his master Bodhi standing not far away. Ji Ning’s expression immediately froze.

“Master,” Ji Ning quickly said.