The Godking's Bargain

The Mad Immortal was stunned, momentarily unable to speak.

“All of you, go back. Let me be alone for a while,” Ji Ning said, then turned and walked towards a side meditation room. This was a dedicated chamber that Yu Wei had set up when she originally arranged the house.

Looking at Ji Ning’s back, the Wanbeast Celestial Immortal, the Feiyu Celestial Immortal, the Tonghe Celestial Immortal, and the others exchanged helpless glances, then sighed and filed out of the house.

...

The meditation room was simply furnished—a cattail mat, an incense burner—yet these were things Yu Wei had arranged with her own hands.

Ji Ning’s gaze swept across the room, and he could almost see the scene of Yu Wei setting it up.

“Senior apprentice-sister,” Ji Ning murmured softly.

Then he sat down cross-legged by himself and closed his eyes.

His thoughts were a chaotic mess. Countless scenes and images of the time he had spent with his senior apprentice-sister surged forth, causing his brow to furrow from time to time.

“Huuuum…”

A mysterious wave, originating from another level of existence, swept towards Ji Ning. Even Daofather Crimsonbright was incapable of detecting this wave. As it enveloped him, a powerful drowsiness descended upon Ji Ning.

“Oh?” Ji Ning was startled. He was a Pure Yang True Immortal; he was not so easily ensnared.

“I am the Godking of the Seamless Gate. You should know of me,” a voice rang out in Ji Ning’s mind.

“You?” Ji Ning’s heart was filled with boundless hatred.

The war had gone on for so long. Talking with the Xia Emperor and the others, Ji Ning had naturally learned about the true supreme commander of the Seamless Gate—the Godking. The Nuwa camp had long known that the Godking could control dreams and meet people within them. But the Nuwa camp had been utterly unable to crack this technique, or even infiltrate the dream world woven by the Godking.

“I am pulling a sliver of your consciousness into my world. Let us talk in detail,” the Godking said.

“Fine.” Ji Ning did not refuse. He was inside the Eight Dragons Cloudcity and had no fear of danger. It was merely a sliver of consciousness. Even if it were severed, it would be no real loss.

And so, a sliver of Ji Ning’s consciousness was drawn away, sinking down, down…

...

A vast, dark world.

High in the sky, seated upon a ten-thousand-zhang throne, the Godking sat aloft. Down on the ground, a figure appeared. It was Ji Ning.

Ji Ning looked up, staring coldly at the black-robed figure in the sky. The mist within the black robe only added to the Godking’s unfathomable mystery. Ji Ning said coldly, “A mighty Daofather. What business do you have with me?” Although his heart was filled with endless hatred—a hatred that would drive a mortal mad—Ji Ning understood that the gap between himself and this supreme commander of the Seamless Gate was far, far too vast.

“There is no need to hate me so much.” The Godking, looking down from on high, said calmly, “We are, after all, enemies. Everything I do is simply to allow my Seamless Gate to win. I have come to see you today… in the hopes that you will join my Seamless Gate.”

“In your dreams,” Ji Ning said, uttering just one word. He could not be bothered to say more.

“Do you think Yu Wei is dead?” the Godking said.

Ji Ning was stunned.

“What do you mean?” Ji Ning looked at him. “I saw with my own eyes that my senior apprentice-sister’s soul was scattered. How could this be false?”

“True, her soul was scattered. But she is not dead.” There was even a trace of amusement in the Godking’s voice. “After her soul was scattered, her truesoul would have been cast into the River of Fate. Correct?”

Ji Ning did not speak.

Indeed.

Even if a soul was scattered… if one could retrieve the truesoul from the River of Fate, it was possible to bring that person back to life. However, as far as Ji Ning knew, within the entire Three Realms, only Mother Nuwa had the power to retrieve a truesoul from the River of Fate. And Mother Nuwa had long since departed into the endless Chaos…

“Yu Wei was one of the many sleepers my Seamless Gate planted within the Nuwa camp,” the Godking said. “Among these many sleepers, some are my absolute believers. They revere me unconditionally, obey my commands, and are willing to die for me. The souls of these absolute believers have long been marked with a restrictive seal.”

Ji Ning’s pupils contracted.

“When Yu Wei committed suicide, her soul was scattered. But I had left that restrictive seal on her soul, so I naturally knew about it immediately,” the Godking said. “Thus, at the very instant her soul scattered, I took her truesoul away. Her truesoul never entered the River of Fate.”

Ji Ning’s heart trembled.

“After I took her truesoul, I directly cast it into the small cycle of reincarnation I had established,” the Godking said. Ji Ning knew that Daofathers were generally capable of establishing these small cycles of reincarnation. Daofather Crimsonbright had one as well.

If a truesoul entered the reincarnation passage, it would naturally be reborn.

Many Celestial Immortals and True Immortals who chose to be reborn did so by sending their truesouls into reincarnation.

“After she was reborn, I immediately awakened her memories and then snatched away her newly formed infant soul. Take a good look.” The Godking pointed into the distance.

Suddenly.

Hua.

A black-robed maiden appeared about thirty zhang away to Ji Ning’s right. Her face, her aura, her gaze…

“Senior apprentice-sister?” Ji Ning found it hard to believe, yet he had no more doubts.

A person could be disguised, but the look in one’s eyes could not be faked.

“Ji Ning, she cannot see you right now. Just watch from the side,” the Godking’s voice sounded in Ji Ning’s ear.

“Greetings, Godking.” Yu Wei had a shocked expression, then immediately knelt down.

“Yu Wei, did you think that by killing yourself, your soul would be vanquished and you would die?” The Godking’s voice carried anger. “I told you, when you were about to destroy the Divine Farmer’s medicine, you should have first stirred the restrictive seal within your soul. I could have then brought your soul back. Why did you directly kill yourself? If I had been even a single step slower, your truesoul would have entered the River of Fate, never to be found again.”

Yu Wei knelt there. “Godking, I beg you, grant me death.”

“Grant you death?” The Godking’s voice was icy. “What, are you afraid that by living, you will cause trouble for Ji Ning?”

Yu Wei knelt motionless.

“Your feelings for this Ji Ning are truly deep. Back then, I ordered you to bring him to the Fifth World, and you refused. Now, you would rather die than become a piece on the chessboard of my Seamless Gate to influence him. You have truly disappointed me.” The Godking was somewhat furious.

Yu Wei knelt, her tears falling.

She was genuinely loyal to the Godking. Disappointing him caused her heart to ache. But she truly did not want to be a burden to Ji Ning, nor to their daughter.

“Huff.”

The Godking blew out a breath.

A gale howled, sweeping over Yu Wei, and she dissipated.

“Senior apprentice-sister!” Ji Ning was greatly alarmed. That was definitely his senior apprentice-sister, no mistake about it. That look in her eyes… it was absolutely unmistakable.

“Don’t panic.” The Godking looked at Ji Ning. “This dream world of mine can only be entered by a sliver of consciousness. Your Dao-companion’s soul is still intact. However, her truesoul has reincarnated, and the newly formed soul is very weak. It can’t even commit suicide. Her fate… is now completely in your hands.”

“My hands?” Ji Ning’s expression changed.

“That is correct!” The Godking’s mist-shrouded eyes crackled with lightning. “It is in your hands. If you ally yourself with my Seamless Gate, then you can live a happy life together with the Dao-companion who loves you. With the protection of my Seamless Gate, even your master, Patriarch Subhuti, would not dare to kill you. And I suspect that your master would not dare to violate the covenant by using his status as a Daofather to take action against you either.”

“Thus…”

“Join my Seamless Gate. You, your Dao-companion Yu Wei, and your child can all live happily together. And you will receive the protection of my Seamless Gate!”

“If you refuse to join, then the soul of your Dao-companion, Yu Wei, will suffer endless torment in the Infinite Hells, subjected to agonizing pain. As for you and your child… you will be the enemies of my Seamless Gate, hunted by us for all eternity.”

The Godking looked at Ji Ning. “I trust you know which path to choose.”

“Take another look.” The Godking pointed to the air beside him.

Whoosh.

An image appeared in midair.

It was a vast world. There were flames, a mountain of knives, a cauldron of oil, a forest of swords, skinning hooks… and countless souls were suffering through these endless punishments. Then, a black-robed maiden was teleported there as well. Seeing the infinite hells and hearing the wails of the countless souls, she could not help but pale.

But then Yu Wei calmed down. She had guessed that the Godking might send her to the Infinite Hells.

“This is the Infinite Hells I created, far more agonizing than the eighteen levels of the Netherworld’s hells,” the Godking said, looking at Ji Ning. “If you stand against my Seamless Gate, then Yu Wei will be useless. Prepare for her to suffer endless torment in these Infinite Hells.”

“She was so loyal to you,” Ji Ning could not help but roar.

“Loyal?” The Godking shook his head. “No. If she had been truly loyal to me, you would be dead already.”

Ji Ning was startled.

It was true.

He himself had sensed that the Seamless Gate desperately wanted him dead. The three demon gods of Devouring Mountain had been relentlessly pursuing him. Before this, the Seamless Gate had even sent an assassination squad after him. It was only thanks to the Source Old Man’s intervention that he had survived… If his senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei had been willing, and he had trusted her absolutely, he probably would have been dead long ago.

“She disobeyed my orders,” the Godking said. “According to my temperament, I should have cast her into the Infinite Hells long ago, to let her suffer eternal torment. But she was, after all, Lu Dongbin’s disciple and your Dao-companion. Talent is hard to come by, and so I made an exception.”

The truth was, when Yu Wei chose to defy the Godking’s orders back then, she had been prepared to die.

It was only after the Godking made that exception that Yu Wei had thought about having a child with Ji Ning.

“So she should have been suffering torment long ago. Disobeying me is a path to death.” The Godking looked at Ji Ning. “But Ji Ning, your natural talent is exceptional. It is enough to make me hold you in high regard. My Seamless Gate also places great importance on you… If you are willing to join my Seamless Gate, Yu Wei can be immediately spared from eternal torment. You can even stay with her and your child, living together forever.”

The Godking truly wanted to recruit Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was indeed a great threat.

But if they could recruit him, the Seamless Gate would gain a powerful ally, and the Nuwa camp would lose a monstrous genius. This would be far better than killing him. And Yu Wei… was the Seamless Gate’s leverage.

“Join my Seamless Gate. Treasures, divine abilities, puppets… we have them all. You and your Dao-companion and child can all be reunited.” The Godking pointed at the image in midair. “I trust you will not send the woman you love into the Infinite Hells.”

Ji Ning was silent.

He simply stared at the image of his senior apprentice-sister ‘Yu Wei’ in midair, watching her silently.