The Weight of Peace

The nine commanders, including Ji Ning, all returned to their respective camps. The camp grounds were vast, and Ji Ning strode toward his personal dwelling.

“General.”

The Celestial Immortals and the countless Loose Immortals who saw Ji Ning all called out in respect. Ji Ning responded with a warm smile, even calling out some of their names: “Daoist Ruohan, Daoist Dongzixiu…” He could feel the genuine reverence emanating from these immortal soldiers. When he had commanded the legion back in the Grand Xia imperial capital, these immortals had only followed him due to the Xia Emperor’s decree. But the previous battle had completely won them over. In the midst of a great tribulation, following a powerful leader greatly increased their chances of survival.

Being revered filled Ji Ning’s heart with fighting spirit, but it also came with pressure.

He quickly arrived at his dwelling.

Yu Wei, dressed in white, was already waiting at the entrance.

“You’re back,” Yu Wei said with a smile. “I’ve already heard the other immortals discussing it. This time, our Northsea Legion achieved a great victory. They say we killed several hundred Celestial Immortals and tens of thousands of Loose Immortals.”

“Mn. But our Xishui Legion also suffered heavy losses,” Ji Ning said, stepping inside. He looked around the room in slight surprise. “Eh?”

Although this dwelling was a commander’s quarters and thus quite large, it had previously been plain and unadorned.

But now, paintings hung on the walls, exquisite furniture had been placed inside, and a study had even been partitioned off. A desk with brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone sat in the study, and three writing brushes hung from the brush rack. Ji Ning enjoyed painting and calligraphy to relax. At the very back, a small resting area had been partitioned off for the two of them to sleep in.

On a delicately crafted black wooden table were some exquisite dishes.

“Senior apprentice-sister. You work fast,” Ji Ning laughed. “I step out for a bit and come back to find our home completely transformed, even with prepared food.”

“This campaign might last a very long time. For the time being, this place will be our home, so of course I should make it a bit nicer. I saw the Xia Emperor summon all nine commanders to the main hall, so I took the chance to prepare a meal,” Yu Wei explained with a smile. “Your first battle is over. It deserves a celebration.”

“Mn. A celebration.” Ji Ning sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and took a piece of glistening meat that resembled a slice of pineapple. He immediately recognized it as his senior apprentice-sister’s cooking—he could taste it at once. When they had lived together as a couple back at the Black-White College, Yu Wei had often prepared meals for him.

“Not bad. Delicious,” Ji Ning praised. “Sit down and eat with me.”

Yu Wei sat down beside him and ate as well.

As they ate and chatted, Ji Ning felt the excitement that had surged within him after the great battle slowly settle into a profound peace. When he had been by his parents’ side back then, he had found peace. Now, by his senior apprentice-sister’s side, he found that same peace.

Ji Ning glanced at Yu Wei, who was holding her stomach, eating slowly. He silently vowed: Even though the great tribulation has already arrived, I, Ji Ning, swear that I will do everything in my power to protect you, and protect the child we will have in the future. This was what he needed to guard, and what was most important to him now.

…

Within the aquatic manor, in the Starlight Hall, before the thatched cottage.

Ji Ning’s true body materialized a flying sword, as solid as reality, and began to practice his sword-art. Sword-light flowed, and sword-qi surged in all directions.

“I must comprehend the complete Dao of the Sword as quickly as possible, and I must also create a Heartforce-Soul technique.” Ji Ning paused, a hint of joy in his eyes. “Although the battle with the Seamless Gate was very brief, the life-and-death struggle was of great help to my awakening in the Dao of the Sword.”

In battles like this, both sides fought with the intent to kill.

Not a shred of mercy was shown!

This kind of ethereal, desperate combat was astonishingly effective for improving one’s sword-art. It was like a mortal on Earth; if one person trained in a martial arts school for years, while another was forced into a life-or-death struggle, then just a few life-and-death fights would allow the survivor to kill the one who had only trained in a school, even if they met face-to-face.

Life and death… indeed, they possess great power.

“In the long, grinding battles to come, I must work even harder to comprehend the Dao of the Sword and achieve its full mastery as soon as possible.” Ji Ning was already very close to the bottleneck of the Dao of the Sword. One more step forward would be complete mastery.

“As for my Heartforce circulation technique, I’ve barely touched the threshold. But to create it…” Ji Ning frowned at the thought of the Heartforce circulation technique. It was clearly much more difficult.

Touching the threshold was relatively easy.

This was because Heartforce and the soul were closely connected. Even without any technique, a powerful Heartforce greatly aided one’s soul in controlling magic treasures. Thus, Ji Ning had quickly touched the threshold. But to continue delving deeper, to comprehend the myriad techniques of circulation and perfectly harmonize the flow of Heartforce and soul… that was far too difficult.

“Time to begin training in the Arcane Art.”

Ji Ning immediately sat down cross-legged before the thatched cottage and took out a bottle of pills.

He opened the bottle and looked inside. Ji Ning nodded. “The Xia Emperor is indeed generous. This small amount is enough for me to train up to the sixth cycle.”

He directly took out a golden Grand Empyrean Pill, glittering with light, and tossed it into his mouth. Although the medicinal power of the Grand Empyrean Pill was astonishing, his foundation of the fifth cycle of the Arcane Art was perfectly capable of withstanding it.

…

Within the Eight Dragons Cloud City’s plaza.

The nine enormous, ten-thousand-zhang-tall Xingtian war-formations stood silently. Beside them were four equally massive Empyrean God puppets.

“Ji Ning, the nine of you spar with them properly. Let them get familiar with combat at this level.” The black-robed Xia Emperor and the others were all watching. The Xia Emperor gave the order.

“Understood.”

All nine Xingtian war-formations fixed their gazes on the four puppets.

Three of these four puppets belonged to the Xia Emperor himself, and the fourth was originally Ji Ning’s. It must be noted that the Xia Emperor originally had two thousand Celestial Immortals under his command. A few had been sent to reinforce the Xishui Legion, but he had also arranged for some of them to control the Empyrean God puppets. Empyrean God puppets required Celestial Immortals to control; Loose Immortals were useless.

“Be careful,” Ji Ning said.

“Daoist Northbright, please, don’t hold back.” The four Empyrean God puppets were also cautious.

The nine of them, including Ji Ning, exchanged glances, then grinned slightly. With a series of whoosh sounds, they all charged forward simultaneously.

Nine Xingtian war-formations fighting four puppets?

An ordinary Xingtian formation could already suppress two puppets.

Ji Ning alone could fight four puppets to a standstill. With all nine of them attacking together… they were perfectly capable of trashing these Empyrean God puppets.

“BOOM~~~”

The battle was earth-shaking.

However, this place was within the先天灵宝 (Innate spirit treasure) Eight Dragons Cloud City, which was far more stable than the outside world. Not even the ground was damaged in the slightest. Ji Ning and the others held nothing back, each unleashing saber arts, sword arts, staff arts, and axe techniques, sending the four Empyrean God puppets flying backward time and time again. The four puppets were also tenacious, immediately getting back up and continuing the fight. After all, sparring with one’s own side was for accumulating experience; when fighting the Seamless Gate, it would be a battle to the death.

A moment later.

“Stop.” The Xia Emperor gave the order.

All nine Xingtian war-formations and the four Empyrean God puppets immediately halted.

“How did it feel?” the Xia Emperor asked.

“Their strength is roughly the same as the Empyrean God puppets on the Seamless Gate’s side,” Ji Ning said.

“No difference,” Tonghe Celestial Immortal and the others all agreed.

The Xia Emperor nodded. “Just as I guessed. We’ve tested these Empyrean God puppets many times. We’ve found that one hundred and fifty Celestial Immortals is the most suitable number to control one Empyrean God puppet. If there are more Celestial Immortals, the puppet’s strength only increases by a limited amount. If there are fewer Celestial Immortals, its strength drops significantly. One hundred and fifty is the crucial turning point.”

“Only one hundred and fifty Celestial Immortals?” Ji Ning exclaimed. “That means the four of them take only six hundred Celestial Immortals. Yet the four of them together are enough to hold me off.”

Ji Ning understood how troublesome these Empyrean God puppets were.

The Xia Emperor shook his head. “The reason they are so powerful is solely due to the puppets themselves. These Empyrean God puppets are extremely rare… Right now, including yours, I’ve only managed to gather four. Even on the Seamless Gate’s side, Empyrean God puppets are very scarce. If they could mobilize a large group of them, wouldn’t we be doomed?”

Ji Ning and the others all nodded.

“Empyrean God puppets are extremely difficult to forge, and the cost is prohibitive. At least, our side is completely incapable of it,” the Xia Emperor said with emotion. “The True Gods and Daofathers of our side have attempted to steal the core formation diagram several times, but they have all failed.”

“The Seamless Gate is that skilled at forging puppets?” Tonghe Celestial Immortal and a few others were unaware of this.

“Of course they are skilled. In terms of puppets, they far surpass us. There is no need to deny this,” the Xia Emperor said.

Ji Ning nodded in agreement.

He recalled the base where his junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson, had been imprisoned. Even though it was merely a small outpost, the puppets they forged there were already astonishing. Even his junior apprentice-brother had been shocked by their puppet techniques! And that small outpost was likely only the foundation of the Seamless Gate’s truly profound puppet-crafting methods.

“The core formation diagram of the puppets is the most precious part,” the Xia Emperor said. “If we could get our hands on the core formation diagram, our side would also be able to forge Empyrean God puppets. The Seamless Gate even has other, even more miraculous puppets, some even more powerful than Empyrean God puppets. If we could obtain a single core formation diagram, it would be a massive boon for the entire Three Realms’ situation. A single diagram is far more important than the fate of our entire Grand Xia world. Unfortunately, we can’t get it.”

Every one of them understood.

Even the leaders of the Daoist and Buddhist schools, the ancient imperial clan, and even Bodhi, who could dream of the Three Realms, had all failed. This showed how strictly the Seamless Gate guarded these core formation diagrams.

“If I could obtain one…” An undeniable desire burned in the Xia Emperor’s eyes.

If he succeeded.

Every True God and Daofather of the Nuwa Alliance would have to thank him. It must be noted that the Seamless Gate’s most elite puppets could even threaten True Gods and Daofathers! This was one of the terrifying aspects of the Seamless Gate that made the Nuwa Alliance wary. Within the Seamless Gate, a single faction called the “Ten Thousand Demons Cave” had been established solely for forging puppets. The Nuwa Alliance had tried on many occasions to infiltrate the Ten Thousand Demons Cave to obtain the diagrams, but had failed every time.

“Enough.” The Xia Emperor put aside his wild thoughts and looked at Ji Ning and the others. “Rest for a while. The Seamless Gate’s forces are already making their presence known. Prepare to engage.”

As he spoke, the Xia Emperor waved his hand, and a void image appeared beside him. In the void image, four White-Faced Flood Dragons and nine Empyrean God puppets could be seen. The severely damaged White-Faced Flood Dragon had clearly been replenished. The Seamless Gate also had a reserve of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals, just like the Xia Emperor’s side.

Ji Ning stared intently at the void image.

Kill one more! That was a great merit!

“We must win.”

In this moment, the image that rose in Ji Ning’s heart was that of Yu Wei, her hand on her belly. This was what he would fight to protect with his very life.

After a brief rest.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Nine Xingtian war-formations vanished from the Eight Dragons Cloud City simultaneously, appearing in the outside world.