The Fifth Cycle Beckons

Ji Ning and the yellow-furred bear appeared back in the aquatic palace, the space around them twisting as they emerged.

Inside the aquatic palace, Ji Ning, the yellow-furred bear, and the seven Empyrean Gods—Red Snow, Yuan Guang, and the Snow Scorpion—all appeared in the great hall.

“You all can wait here,” the yellow-furred bear said, turning to Red Snow and the others. “Only the new master of the estate can enter the treasure repository.”

“Very well,” Red Snow agreed.

“We have patience, unlike you, big bear. You’re far too anxious,” Yuan Guang said with a snort.

The bear glared. “Can you compare yourself to me? I’ve been guarding that place every single day for endless ages. Before, it was one thing, but now that I know Ji Ning has broken through and become the new master, of course I’m curious. How can you blame me?”

“Enough, Big Bear. Take me there,” Ji Ning said.

“Follow me.” The bear led the way.

Ji Ning followed.

…

A bear and a man walked through the aquatic palace. The palace was vast, a place where Daofather Threelives had once gathered countless Fiendgods.

“Ji Ning,” the bear said from beside him. “Now that you’re an Empyrean God and True Immortal, you can completely refine the Starseizing Manor.”

“Mn, I’ll refine it later,” Ji Ning nodded.

Ji Ning wasn’t in a hurry.

The aquatic palace was a cave-heaven type treasure that contained the Starseizing Major World. Now that he had become an Empyrean God, once he took the Immortal pills the Daofather Crimsonbright had sent and trained in the ninth cycle of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, his body would become comparable to a supreme-grade Pure Yang treasure. Even if he encountered danger, there would be no need to hide within the palace.

Even if he needed to hide, Ji Ning had acquired Innate spirit treasures during the Realm War. The palace’s importance had indeed diminished significantly for him. But the palace held a special meaning for him; when he had been very weak, the palace had helped him enormously.

“Hua~”

They passed through a watery curtain.

They arrived at a hazy void corridor. Ji Ning and the yellow-furred bear walked forward continuously. This was a place Ji Ning had never sensed before.

“Hm?” Ji Ning looked ahead. At the end of the void corridor, a hazy light of restrictive formations flowed.

“This is an array left by our master,” the yellow-furred bear said, pointing. “Master said back then that only the new master of the estate could break it.”

“Oh?”

Ji Ning walked forward and began to probe it with his heartforce sense.

Although he was no grandmaster, Ji Ning had studied formations somewhat and understood the basics.

“Open.” After studying for a moment, Ji Ning suddenly struck out with a palm. The Starseizing divine pattern appeared on his hand as it slammed into the restriction. The restriction’s light flowed, and a pattern very similar to the Starseizing pattern flickered into view.

“Boom~”

Ji Ning’s hand turned a hundred zhang in size as it struck the restriction. The force rebounded, sending him stumbling back three steps.

“You didn’t break it?” The yellow-furred bear was puzzled.

“I can’t break it now,” Ji Ning said, shaking his head as he looked at the flickering light of the restriction. “Let’s go back first.”

“Why can’t you break it? Master said the new master could,” the bear said urgently.

Ji Ning smiled. “I’ve discovered that this formation and the ‘Starseizing divine pattern’ share the exact same source. The Starseizing Hand is the only way to break it. But after my attempt, I realized my Starseizing divine pattern is still incomplete and not powerful enough. I must reach the fifth cycle before I can break it. There is another way: to use overwhelming force to crush through it directly. Although Master Threelives was immensely powerful, he has been gone for ages. If I forced my way through, I could probably break it after ten or so attempts. But if I force it… Master might have left behind some mechanism to teleport his legacy treasures away.”

“You can’t force it,” the yellow-furred bear quickly agreed.

No way.

If he forced it, there might be restrictions inside that would teleport the treasures into the endless Void. Finding them in that vast emptiness would be impossible. Or they might be sent to deadly regions.

There might even be counter-attacking arrays.

“Let’s go,” Ji Ning said, turning away. “I’ll come back after training the Starseizing Hand to the fifth cycle.”

…

Ji Ning first went to the great hall of the aquatic palace to see Red Snow and the other six. Red Snow, Yuan Guang, and the rest were all eager to know what treasures Daofather Threelives had left behind. None of them had expected the door to remain unopened for now. The seven of them temporarily returned to the Starseizing Major World.

Within the aquatic palace’s Treasure Hall.

“All the treasures of the Treasure Hall are here,” the bear said, pointing upward as he handed a book to Ji Ning. “This book records the Immortal-ranked and Pure Yang treasures.”

Ji Ning nodded and took it.

“There are actually twenty-eight sets of Pure Yang treasures,” Ji Ning could not help but exclaim. “I already took the One Breath Nine Pearls and the Universal Salvation Sword of Ananda. The treasures Master left behind are all top-tier.”

Among the Pure Yang treasures that were kept as ultimate assets, several had extremely formidable power.

Most were sets.

The most powerful few sets each had their own strengths, making it hard to rank them.

Take, for example, the ‘Eight Flames Heavenspan’. This was refined by the Elder God Zhurong, who had perished in the ancient Dawn War. It consumed countless rare materials and took the shape of an eight-petaled lotus. When fully bloomed, it could release eight types of True Fire! There were only nine types of True Fire in the entire Three Realms, and the Eight Flames Heavenspan contained eight of them.

Moreover, after the Fire God Zhurong refined it with profound restrictive patterns, the eight types of True Fire combined with each other, unleashing heaven-shaking, earth-shattering might.

When faced with it, even Pure Yang True Immortals would likely only be able to flee and dodge. Only Empyrean Gods with powerful divine bodies would dare to endure it. The most terrifying part was that this was a large-scale attack; it created its own world, and within its area of effect, it swept all clean! Although the ‘Eight Flames Heavenspan’ was only a single supreme-grade Pure Yang treasure, its value was equivalent to a hundred ordinary supreme-grade Pure Yang treasures!

Then there was the ‘Myriad Heavens Bloodshadow Grand Formation’. It was composed of ninety-nine supreme-grade Pure Yang treasures forming its structure, capable of creating ninety-nine Bloodshadow clones, and its power was equally astonishing.

“Pity, there’s no sword formation I need,” Ji Ning shook his head. Although there were flying-sword treasures, Ji Ning needed over seven hundred Pure Yang flying swords. Daofather Threelives’ collection was not that extravagant.

The best of Daofather Threelives’ collection of supreme-grade Pure Yang treasures were considered top-tier in the Three Realms. They could immediately empower an Empyrean God or True Immortal. But… Ji Ning was no ordinary Empyrean God or True Immortal. He had reached the fourth level of Heartforce, and once he trained the Starseizing Hand to the fifth cycle and the Eight-Nine Arcane Art to the ninth, he would already be a supreme figure among Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. Many treasures would be of very little help to him.

He was too strong himself; his desire for external power was not great.

Or rather…

He craved external power of a higher level.

If there were a Chaos treasure, Ji Ning would naturally fight desperately for it. But Chaos treasures were far too rare. Among True Gods and Daofathers, the vast majority did not have one! Daofather Threelives had been so powerful back then precisely because after training his Starseizing Hand to the sixth cycle, his hands could compare to a Chaos treasure!

Chaos treasures… could only be conceived within the primordial Chaos, and their power shook heaven and earth.

…

Ji Ning left the aquatic palace to visit his master, Patriarch Subhuti.

Within the Daoist temple.

“Master.” Ji Ning bowed respectfully.

“What is it?” Subhuti looked at Ji Ning.

“Your disciple wishes to train the Starseizing Hand to the fifth cycle and requires some rare materials. These materials are very difficult to gather, so I would like to exchange some treasures with you,” Ji Ning said respectfully. The materials for the fourth cycle of the Starseizing Hand had only been collected by the Xia Emperor with great effort. As for the materials for the fifth cycle… even ordinary True Gods and Daofathers might not have them; he would likely need to ask friends to help gather them.

Of course, Ji Ning had more than enough to trade for these materials.

In the Realm War alone, Ji Ning had obtained several Pure Yang treasures and even two Innate spirit treasures. Although those Pure Yang treasures were scattered and rarely came in top-tier sets like Daofather Threelives’ collection, their sheer number was enough to cover the cost of the fifth cycle of the Starseizing Hand.

Even just one of the ‘Eight Flames Heavenspan’ or the ‘Myriad Heavens Bloodshadow Grand Formation’ would be enough to trade.

“You have broken through and become an Empyrean God, and I have yet to give you a gift,” Subhuti said, shaking his head. “Consider these rare materials for the fifth cycle of the Starseizing Hand a gift from me. However, I can give you the fifth cycle, but the sixth cycle… I cannot manage that.”

“Your disciple understands.” Ji Ning nodded.

To refine his palms into Chaos treasures required materials that were almost exclusively conceived in the primordial Chaos and were exceptionally rare.

Daofather Threelives had been born with a serendipitous encounter with a strange star-like metal stone from Chaos. He had meditated on that Chaos stone for endless ages and, based on it… consumed a massive amount of Chaos materials to train his Starseizing Hand to the sixth cycle. That kind of star stone was incredibly rare. According to what Daofather Threelives had said, Daofather Three Purities had once obtained one, which he later used to refine the ‘Slaughter Immortal Sword Diagram’.

“Tell me the materials you require,” Subhuti said.

“Yes.”

Ji Ning listed them one by one.

Subhuti’s brow twitched, and he smiled. “It’s a bit troublesome. I’ll have to ask some old friends for some of them. Wait a moment.” Subhuti closed his eyes and sat there. After a moment, a spatial vortex appeared beside him. A Daoist elder in a robe appeared, handed Subhuti a silk pouch, and then vanished.

Ji Ning understood that this was his master’s avatar.

“All gathered,” Subhuti said. A silk pouch and a gourd appeared in his hand. “The silk pouch contains the rare materials you need. The gourd contains the Grand Mystery Immortal Pills Crimsonbright sent over, enough for you to train the Eight-Nine Arcane Art to the ninth cycle.”

With a wave of his hand, the silk pouch and gourd floated over to Ji Ning.

Ji Ning took them: “Thank you, Master.”

Joy filled Ji Ning’s heart.

After training the Starseizing Hand to the fifth cycle, he could also claim Daofather Threelives’ legacy treasure. More importantly, his hands would reach the peak of Innate spirit treasure power! The pinnacle of Innateness… this was second only to Chaos treasures. And once he used his Three Heads, Six Arms, it would be as if he possessed six weapons of Innate-spirit-treasure-peak power.

Innate spirit treasures were not too rare; Ji Ning himself had obtained several, and the Xia Emperor had many as well. But the pinnacle of Innateness… Ji Ning had not obtained a single one!

“What do you plan to do next?” Subhuti looked at Ji Ning.

“Master,” Ji Ning said respectfully, “your disciple wishes to walk the Three Realms, to temper his Dao-heart amidst the mortal world and meditate on his sword arts.”

If he could break through to the fifth level of Heartforce… although only Houyi had done so in history, and the hope was very slim, if he truly succeeded, he would be among the top figures among True Gods and Daofathers. Ji Ning felt that to comprehend the fifth level of Heartforce, he needed to temper himself in the mortal world.

This was also why others at the fourth level of Heartforce, like Dongzhe, often walked the Three Realms.

Heartforce could not be forced, so normally, Ji Ning would focus on his sword arts.

“In addition, I ask Master for your help.” Ji Ning bowed respectfully.

“Help?” Subhuti looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning nodded. “With the calamity upon us, the Seamless Gate and our side are locked in endless slaughter. I wish to ask Master to seek out opportunities for me. Once you find them, I will personally go and destroy some of the Seamless Gate’s strongholds and lairs.”

“Personally go and destroy them?” Subhuti was startled. “This will drive the Seamless Gate mad.”

The Seamless Gate and the Nuwa Alliance were like two great armies facing off.

The Seamless Gate had its own major worlds, and the Nuwa Alliance had theirs.

They attacked each other, and defended against each other.

Within the Three Realms, there were some extremely powerful Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. At most, they would act during Realm Wars. In times of peace, they would not dare attack a Seamless Gate lair directly.

“If you attack a Seamless Gate lair directly, although I cannot detect the danger, after you go and kill them, the Seamless Gate might immediately dispatch forces to deal with you,” Subhuti said worriedly. “This is very dangerous. Launching a surprise attack without an army to assist you… it’s very dangerous. Even if you succeed once or twice, it will enrage the Seamless Gate. They will think of every way to set a trap for you. If you attack recklessly, they might even send people to assassinate you directly.”

Ji Ning nodded. “I understand. I want them to be enraged and frenzied. The more frenzied they are, the more I will attack, the more I will kill.”

“Are you certain you want to do this?” Subhuti looked at Ji Ning.

He did not understand.

In a war between camps, the stronger one was, the wiser it was to protect oneself.

Going on surprise attacks… while the chances of success were considerable, without an army’s help, failure meant being trapped and losing one’s life. Even if he succeeded, he would become a thorn in the Seamless Gate’s side.

“I am certain.” Ji Ning nodded.

“Your current strength is formidable, and you can command a Karmic Punishment Deity. For the Seamless Gate to deal with you, they would have to pay a tremendous price. So for now, they are treating you like Lü Dongbin and the others. They won’t specifically target you now. After all, you’ve already grown strong. The reason they kept trying to kill you before was that you were still weak, not yet matured.” Subhuti said.

Before he grew strong, they had to kill him. Once he grew strong, the Seamless Gate was unwilling to pay a massive price just to deal with Ji Ning.

“I ask for Master’s help,” Ji Ning said respectfully. It was the Patriarch Subhuti who would choose which Seamless Gate strongholds and lairs could be attacked and which could not. His judgment was a thousand times better than Ji Ning’s own.

“Can you tell me the reason?” Subhuti looked at Ji Ning.

“I want to save Yu Wei,” Ji Ning said.

“Save her? She’s not dead?” Subhuti was shocked. “She’s not dead? How do you know?”

Ji Ning nodded. “She’s not dead. Her soul is being tormented in the endless hells of that Seamless Gate Godking. The reason I know this is because the Godking is pressuring me to defect. If I don’t, he will keep her suffering in those hells for eternity.”

Subhuti suddenly understood.

He could not help but look closely at his disciple…

He could fully imagine the painful choice his disciple had faced. In such a desperate situation, his disciple had actually broken through in power and turned the tide of that Realm War.

“Saving her is the only way,” Ji Ning said. “I will kill. Kill. Kill. I will kill until they are frenzied with rage. They will come for me. Then I will keep killing. If one comes, I kill one. If ten come, I kill a group. I will kill until they are chilled to the bone, until they regret their actions. I will kill until they finally come to me and negotiate peace. They must release her before I will stop the slaughter.”

“I must kill until they truly feel the pain before they will release her,” Ji Ning said, looking at his master. “This is the only way I can save her. I beg you, Master, help me.”