The Legacy of Daofather Threelives

Patriarch Subhuti gazed at Ji Ning, silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. “You are taking a risk. You are forcing the Seamless Gate, trying to corner them into suing for peace… but forcing a mighty power like the Seamless Gate to beg for peace is extraordinarily difficult. You should understand what kind of path this is.”

“Disciple understands,” Ji Ning said without hesitation.

This was a path fraught with the danger of death!

Even if the Daofathers could not act personally, the Seamless Gate still had ways to deal with Ji Ning. The simplest method was a human wave tactic—concealing an army of immortals and demons, enough to start a Realm War, within a magic treasure, then leading them under a top-tier Empyrean God or True Immortal whose power rivaled Lü Dongbin’s to directly besiege Ji Ning! When the number of immortals and demons reached a certain threshold, even a Daofather would feel threatened, much less Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was walking a tightrope.

On one side lay success.

On the other side lay death.

“Alright,” Subhuti said softly. “Pushing yourself to the brink might also give birth to miracles. All your master can do for you is help find some of the Seamless Gate’s lairs and strongholds. Everything else depends on you.”

“Thank you, Master.” Ji Ning was overjoyed.

“Be extremely careful,” Subhuti cautioned. He had only just learned that his disciple had once made the personal decision to send Yu Wei into the endless hells. This filled Subhuti with a sigh of emotion and regret, but he was helpless.

“Go.” Subhuti nodded and closed his eyes.

Ji Ning bowed respectfully, then left the Daoist temple.

…

After leaving the temple, Ji Ning returned to his quarters and entered the quiet room within the aquatic palace.

Sitting on the Netherwater Jade bed, Ji Ning took out the brocade pouch and the gourd.

“First, I’ll train the Starseizing Hand.”

Instantly, five rays of light flew out from the brocade pouch, hovering in midair. They arrayed themselves in five directions, each blazing with brilliant light: a dazzling gold, a gentle blue, a vibrant green, a fierce red, and a deep, earthy yellow. The quintessence of the Five Elements they contained was palpable even without active cultivation. The water-blue ice crystals, piled in a small heap, gave a pressure that felt like an endless ocean.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~”

Ji Ning closed his eyes and began to cultivate, the surrounding Quintessence of the Five Elements surging toward him like a tide.

…

Cultivating the Starseizing Hand and the Arcane Art were both swift. These were both external exercises, akin to refining one into a magic treasure. All they required was complete comprehension of the technique and precious materials—just like refining a treasure.

One day later.

Ji Ning emerged from the quiet room and walked into the great hall, where he saw the Yellow-Furred Bear and the seven—Empyrean God Redjade and the others.

“Congratulations,” the Yellow-Furred Bear said, clasping his furry paws in a salute. “The Arcane Art has reached its ninth cycle, and the Starseizing Hand has reached the innate realm. Ji Ning, with these two divine abilities alone, you can roam the Three Realms with ease.”

“The Arcane Art at nine cycles; ten thousand techniques cannot harm you. Congratulations,” Empyrean God Redjade added.

“If only I could have worshipped Patriarch Subhuti as my master and learned the Arcane Art,” the child-like Empyrean God Yuanguang shook his head and sighed. “The Prefectural Lord and Brother Redjade both became Subhuti’s disciples, one after the other, and Redjade shamelessly became the Prefectural Lord’s junior apprentice-brother. And no sooner had he entered the sect than he learned the Arcane Art.”

“I want to learn it too,” the enchanting Snow Scorpion said, looking at Ji Ning.

“Which Empyrean God wouldn’t want to learn it?” Jiuge muttered. “Back in the day, I was just a minor soldier under the Godking, only qualified to listen. Even now, I can’t learn it.”

All of them began to complain.

Redjade and Ji Ning could only listen, not daring to say much.

In truth, this was a cause for jealousy among nearly every Empyrean God in the Three Realms. The Arcane Art was famous—proclaimed the number one divine ability beneath the True God level in the Three Realms! But the cost of training this art was exorbitant, especially for the ninth cycle, far more expensive than the Starseizing Hand’s fifth cycle.

Even a Daofather would feel the sting of such a price.

Ji Ning had been granted that gourd of Immortal pills because he and Redjade’s seven had rendered great merits in the Realm War and had declined to take any of the distributed treasures. Daofather Crimsonbright, a True God and Daofather born from the primordial chaos, had borne the pain and gathered the pills for Ji Ning.

“Look at you all, sour as vinegar,” the Bear called out. “Alright, enough. Let Ji Ning go break the master’s prohibition and see those three treasures.”

“Right, the three treasures.”

“I wonder which three they are.”

“Prefectural Lord, hurry and go.”

“Go see them, then come tell us.”

Yuanguang, Scorpion, and the others’ eyes lit up. They stopped speaking enviously and began urging Ji Ning.

“I’m quite curious too. Wait for me; I’ll tell you when I come out.” Ji Ning immediately left the great hall.

Soon.

The Yellow-Furred Bear and Ji Ning arrived at the void passage, once again seeing the glowing formation prohibition.

“Break.” Ji Ning struck out directly with his palm, forming a hand a hundred zhang wide that radiated a heart-stopping might, as if a section of the sky itself was pressing down. Its power was clearly different from before. When Ji Ning’s palm slammed into the formation prohibition, the prohibition’s light swirled and formed ripples resembling Starseizing divine patterns to meet the blow.

The divine patterns and the ripples perfectly aligned.

Whoosh~~~

The formation prohibition dissipated like a gust of wind, and Ji Ning saw a wooden door ahead.

Ji Ning walked forward and pushed it open. Creak… the door swung open.

“Bear, come in with me,” Ji Ning said, turning to look at the Yellow-Furred Bear.

“No, no. The master said only the new Prefectural Lord may enter.” The Bear shook his head. “Besides, I can’t get the treasures. Once you come out, just tell me. Let me admire them from afar, and I’ll be satisfied.”

Ji Ning nodded and did not press. He stepped inside.

As he entered, the scenery shifted.

“Oh?” Ji Ning was startled.

This was an ordinary room. Inside was a single cushion, and seated upon it was a one-armed, bare-headed man dressed in beast hide. His gaze was deep and distant as he looked at Ji Ning. Ji Ning immediately recognized him—Daofather Threelives. Ji Ning had seen Daofather Threelives before when he received the divine ability.

“You’ve come,” the man said.

Ji Ning realized that this was merely a prohibition left behind; these words had been spoken by Daofather Threelives long ago.

“To have entered this place means you’ve already mastered the Starseizing Hand to the fifth cycle. I, Threelives, have finally found a successor.” Daofather Threelives’s gaze held a sense of relief and detachment. “I couldn’t find a good successor in life, but to have one after death—it was worth it. I ask nothing of you, except that you treat well those who remain at Starseizing Manor. I suspect Redjade will stay; the others, I am less certain. The heart is the hardest to fathom. In life, they were loyal to me. After death, it’s hard to say. To those who stay… I ask you to treat them well. Especially the Pure Yang treasures in the Treasure Hall—give them as you see fit.”

“As for you, I’ve left you these three Innate Supreme-grade Spirit-Treasures. I hope you can live to become a True God once more, and even a Daofather, so that the Starseizing Hand shall truly be famed throughout the Three Realms.”

“I originally comprehended the Starseizing Hand through a stroke of fate and chance. It is my regret that although I was a True God, I never fully grasped a Heavenly Dao to become a Daofather. Otherwise, the might of my Starseizing Hand would have been far greater.” Daofather Threelives shook his head. “But these are mere empty titles. Your path is yours to walk. You may even disband Starseizing Manor if you wish. I have but one request: treat well those who stay behind.”

“Redjade, Donglin, Yuanguang, Qulong… how many of them are truly willing to stay?”

Daofather Threelives then shook his head with a smile. “Forget it.”

Whoosh.

His figure vanished into thin air.

Ji Ning was momentarily stunned, then knelt and kowtowed solemnly. This was to thank his benefactor for the inheritance—without Daofather Threelives’s teachings, he never would have achieved what he had.

“Although many immortals and demons under your command left, there were still those who remained steadfastly at Starseizing Manor. Rest assured, the seven of them—I will treat them well.” Ji Ning spoke earnestly. This was his promise. In truth, the seven had waited voluntarily without any coercion, not knowing when the end would come, yet they were willing. Ji Ning admired them deeply.

Ji Ning rose.

He waved his hand. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Before the cushion lay three boxes, all of them open.

The leftmost box held a multitude of beads, each exuding an endless pressure.

The second box held a palm-sized, seemingly shabby little wooden boat.

The third box held a small golden pagoda.

“So you’re the new Prefectural Lord of Starseizing Manor?” A bare-headed little monk in golden robes emerged from the golden pagoda. “You’ve finally come. We’ve been trapped here for who knows how long. We’re sick of it.”

“No need to rush; take your time,” said an old man dressed like a farmer, emerging from the little wooden boat.

“Finally here.” A clear-eyed child sitting cross-legged appeared above the dense cluster of beads. His gaze was the sharpest of all.

“All three, please introduce yourselves,” Ji Ning said with a smile.

“Old man, you go first,” said the clear-eyed child.

The plainly dressed old man nodded. “This old man is the spirit of this broken boat, named the ‘Void Boat.’ It was born at the dawn of heaven and earth from a wisp of pure qi that gathered the essence of the universe, gestating for eighty-four thousand years before being born. It can shatter the void, and its speed ranks among the top five of the ancient treasures.”

“The Void Boat is just fast,” the clear-eyed child said coolly. “There were only two ancient Chaos treasures that excelled at flying and escape—one in Lady Nuwa’s hands, the other in the hands of Daoist Three Purities. Looking across the ancient era, only those two could surpass the Void Boat. According to Threelives, the Void Boat was given to you to escape with.”

“My purpose is also escape,” the bare-headed little monk on the golden pagoda said with a beaming smile. “This pagoda was refined from strange materials gathered from the Chaos, filled with miraculous subtleties. Threelives named it the ‘Nine-Life Tower.’ Once you refine it, using the strange energy within the tower, you can split off nine avatars. Each of these avatars can possess strength comparable to your true body, able to execute escape techniques and flee rapidly. When they escape, the avatars consume the tower’s own energy. Once that energy is exhausted, the avatar dissipates… and these nine avatars are so perfect that even a True God or Daofather cannot tell them from the real thing. However, the avatars must never engage in battle. If they fight, an enemy will notice that they are not using divine power or immortal magic, and the ruse will be exposed.”

“The nine avatars are mainly for you to flee and distract the enemy, not to fight. Their true value is that, so long as they don’t fight, no one can see through the deception. Not even Lady Nuwa could distinguish them.” The bare-headed little monk spoke confidently. “Threelives once hesitated about whether to bring them into battle, but after hearing from Nuwa that there were terrifying existences on that battlefield, where destructive war on a world-ending scale rendered the Nine-Life Tower avatars largely useless, he left them behind.”

Ji Ning was taken aback.

The Void Boat and the Nine-Life Tower were both for escape?

During the Dawn War, great powers like Subhuti had hidden themselves, occasionally striking out to rescue others. Knowing the enemy’s strength was overwhelming, nearly equal to Pangu’s, to the point that even the Nine-Life Tower was useless, Threelives had still charged straight onto the battlefield and fought head-on. Truly a fierce warrior.

“And you?” Ji Ning looked at the clear-eyed child on the cluster of beads.

The child looked back at Ji Ning. “They’re for preserving life and escaping. I am for killing the enemy.”

“That one is a supreme killing treasure,” said the old man from the Void Boat.

“Extremely ferocious,” added the little monk.

The clear-eyed child gave them a cold glare. The other two just grinned. The child said to Ji Ning, “Both of them and I are Innate Supreme-grade Spirit-Treasures. They are easier to control, but I am not something an ordinary Empyrean God or True Immortal can master. If you cannot control me, I advise you to send me back to Daoist Three Purities as soon as possible and exchange me for a more suitable treasure.”

“Can’t control?” Ji Ning was surprised, then smiled. “You haven’t even told me your name.”

“First refine me,” the child said coldly. “If you can master me, then I’ll tell you. It won’t be too late.”