The Ninefold Chaos Seal

“Excellent.”

With a thought from Ji Ning, the pile of beads all rose into the air at once, forming a dazzling river of stars that nearly filled the room.

“Three thousand six hundred beads.” Ji Ning murmured to himself with a faint smile. “Refine.”

His Pure Yang divine power transformed into three thousand six hundred streams, each enveloping a single bead. In the span of a single breath, they were all refined, leaving his soul imprint within them. An innate spirit-treasure is the easiest thing to refine; as long as the spirit within it does not resist, even a mortal could refine one with a drop of blood. All one must do is leave a soul imprint within.

The moment Ji Ning finished refining, he sensed everything inside the three thousand six hundred beads, and he immediately sucked in a cold breath of air. “This seal…”

It read like a heavenly scripture.

Vast, profound, unfathomable.

“Hmph. You’ve seen the seal now, haven’t you?” The handsome child said with cold pride. “Within the primordial chaos, there are countless stars. When stars fall, their essence naturally congeals into crystal nuclei. When Pangu split heaven and earth, these crystal nuclei entered the Primordial World by chance. These three thousand six hundred crystal nuclei were nurtured within the newly born Pangu World, undergoing yet another metamorphosis, and thus became the Star-Gold Beads. Each Star-Gold Bead is an innate spirit-treasure, and can transform into a thousand different shapes—swords, sabers, anything you please. The three thousand six hundred beads resonate with each other as a single whole—they are absolutely an Innate Supreme-grade Spirit-Treasure.”

“Later, Daoist Three Purities acquired them.”

“After comprehending Yin and Yang, Daoist Three Purities roamed the chaos and encountered a great fortune—he discovered the Ninefold Chaos Seal. Finding this Ninefold Chaos Seal ineffably profound, he erased all the seals that had originally been imprinted on me, and then fused this Ninefold Chaos Seal entirely onto the three thousand six hundred Star-Gold Beads.”

“From then on, the power of these beads soared.”

“But the Chaos Seal is far too profound.” The handsome child looked at Ji Ning with self-assurance. “In the entire Primordial Era, not a single person could fully refine the Ninefold Chaos Seal.”

“Not a single one could refine it?” Ji Ning was astonished.

“This is a Chaos Seal, something that manifested within the chaos itself, containing great mysteries.” The handsome child said confidently. “Back then, Daoist Three Purities even invited Lady Nuwa to try it. Lady Nuwa only managed to refine the eighth level of the Chaos Seal. Of course, she only studied it for three years; if she had meditated on it for billions of years, she might have been able to refine it completely.”

Ji Ning was truly shocked.

Lady Nuwa’s power was so great, yet she had spent three years refining only eight levels of the Chaos Seal?

That made sense.

This had been placed here by Daoist Threelives before the war of annihilation took place. Back then, Lady Nuwa had not yet fully comprehended the Heavenly Dao of Chaos and reached the level of Pangu.

“Daoist Three Purities carried me with him for endless ages, and he only managed to refine the seventh level.” The handsome child said confidently. “This Chaos Seal is a natural manifestation within the chaos—how could human effort ever fully grasp it?”

“This Ninefold Chaos Seal might be incredible, but Lady Nuwa broke through to the level of Pangu during that great war.” Ji Ning smiled. “If Lady Nuwa were to try again, she could probably refine it.”

“The level of Pangu?” The handsome child was shocked.

“What? Lady Nuwa reached the level of Pangu?” The old man on the wooden boat was also astonished.

“Incredible.” The bald young monk’s face was full of worship.

“If only I had fallen into Lady Nuwa’s hands, I could display my greatest power.” The handsome child’s eyes held longing.

Ji Ning laughed and scolded, “You little brat, don’t mention Lady Nuwa. Even Daoist Three Purities didn’t end up using you.”

“Daoist Three Purities had chaos-class treasures.” The handsome child refused to accept it. “Every chaos-class treasure is born from the chaos, containing innate Chaos Seals that are supremely compatible. Their power is freakish. I have a Chaos Seal, but it was added artificially, so I’m naturally a step inferior.”

“The most important thing is that you consume too much power to refine. The several greatest disciples of Daoist Three Purities all ultimately rejected you.” The bald young monk teased.

“They had no eye for quality.” The handsome child turned his head, unwilling to say more.

Daoist Three Purities, as the leader of the Daoist path, possessed an abundance of treasures. He was skilled in alchemy and artifact forging, and merging the Ninefold Chaos Seal into these Star-Gold Beads had been extremely difficult! He had many treasures but few disciples. His most valued disciples had all once had the chance to obtain these Star-Gold Beads, but after comparing them, including Patriarch Lu, they had all ultimately given up on the beads and chosen other treasures.

Ji Ning laughed. “Perhaps after refining the nine levels, your power would be extraordinary. But after all, even Daoist Three Purities only managed to refine the seventh level. His disciples naturally understood that the treasure that suits you best is the right one.”

“But I am the supreme killing treasure!” The handsome child stared at Ji Ning, extremely proud. “Do you know that the ‘Slaughter God Diagram’ that Daoist Three Purities created was based on me?”

“Ah?” Ji Ning was startled.

“The Slaughter God Diagram was modeled on this Ninefold Chaos Seal of mine, and then combined with the four Primordial Chaos Swords. Daoist Three Purities created seven levels of seals himself. That was how it gained such heaven-shaking power, claiming the title of the number-one killing treasure of the Primordial Era. But in truth, when it comes to profundity, the seven seals Daoist Three Purities created himself are far inferior to my Ninefold Chaos Seal.” The handsome child looked at Ji Ning. “Daoist Three Purities himself said that even if I am only an Innate Supreme-grade treasure, if someone could refine all nine levels, with this Ninefold Chaos Seal, they would be no weaker than the Slaughter God Sword Formation. That is why I am the supreme killing treasure!”

“Self-proclaimed.” The old man on the wooden boat laughed.

“The fiercest killing spirit-treasure.” The bald young monk also joked.

“If you can refine nine levels, you’d probably already be at the level of Pangu. A mere gesture from you would probably be as strong as the Slaughter God Sword Formation.” Ji Ning smiled.

“You…” The handsome child was exasperated.

“Alright, you are still very formidable.”

Ji Ning laughed. “Let me first try to refine this Ninefold Chaos Seal.”

“You must refine at least the first level of the Chaos Seal before you can barely control me. Otherwise, in your hands, I will only be useful as a ball for smashing people—what a waste of the supreme killing treasure.” The handsome child said arrogantly. “Heavenly Gods and True Immortals, only a very rare few can refine the first level. Daofathers can generally refine three levels, which is considered decent. Daoist Three Purities only managed seven levels after endless ages.”

Ji Ning sat down cross-legged on the spot, threw his entire being into it, and began to refine.

Rumble…

The three thousand six hundred Star-Gold Beads floated above Ji Ning’s head, each emitting light, with dark-gold divine runes flowing across their surfaces. As they flowed, they constantly shifted. No matter when you looked, the runes were different from a moment before.

This was the Chaos Seal!

An ever-changing, never-ending seal. It was like the mathematical constant pi in the mortal realm of Earth—a number that goes on forever without any discernible pattern. This ‘Chaos Seal’ was also patternless and endless. One had to grasp its essence. When Daoist Three Purities first saw this nine-level seal, he was shaken and awed, and he meditated on it within the chaos for over one hundred and twenty thousand years. Then, grasping the root of the abstruse, he succeeded in merging the Ninefold Chaos Seal onto the three thousand six hundred Star-Gold Beads.

But even he could only fully memorize it!

To refine it? He was still far from it.

“Incredible.”

“This Chaos Seal is so profound.” Ji Ning’s divine sense was completely immersed, and he felt like a mortal gazing upon an endless river of stars, unable to fathom even a single star—yet before him stretched an infinite galaxy. Just looking at it gave him a sense of despair that made him want to turn back.

It was too beautiful.

It was too stunning.

This was absolutely the most profound seal Ji Ning had ever seen, the most shocking seal. Even the mysteries of a ‘Heavenly Dao’ were far inferior to this Ninefold Chaos Seal.

“Let me first comprehend the first level.”

Ji Ning stopped overthinking and buried himself in comprehending the most basic, shallowest first level. At this moment, his powerful Heartforce came into play. To fully immerse oneself in comprehending this Chaos Seal required a massive consumption of Heartforce, and it was very tiring. Ji Ning’s Heartforce had reached the fourth level. With one continuous effort, he forcibly refined the entire first level of the Chaos Seal.

“Humm…”

The first level of the ninefold seal flowed like little tadpoles, then faded into concealment, entirely under Ji Ning’s control.

Ji Ning opened his eyes, and within them, strange divine runes seemed to flow.

“No wonder my master, Daoist Threelives, went to the trouble of getting me this treasure.” After refining the first level of the Chaos Seal, Ji Ning understood. “For Daoist Three Purities’ disciples, each of them probably was only a step away from Daofather. As for me, I have only fully mastered the Dao of the Sword. I haven’t even fully mastered the Grand Dao of Dripping Water, let alone the Heavenly Dao of Water.”

His power might be great.

But Ji Ning’s strength came from Heartforce and divine abilities.

As for the Dao? Ji Ning was far too far from the Heavenly Dao of Water… Patriarch Lu, Silvermoon, Red Snow, and the others had long mastered many Grand Daos and were very close to the Heavenly Dao, even at a bottleneck. One step across, and they would be Daofathers! Ji Ning hadn’t even perfected the Grand Dao of Dripping Water yet—he had a long way to go.

“The Grand Dao of Dripping Water… it turns out to be this simple.”

Ji Ning could clearly feel his comprehension of the Grand Dao of Dripping Water soaring.

After coming into contact with the vastly superior Chaos Seal, the Grand Dao of Dripping Water felt relatively simple by comparison.

“At the very least, this treasure is a tremendous help to me in comprehending the Dao and in studying sword techniques. My sword techniques are far too crude.” Ji Ning now had direction.

“Condense.”

With a thought from Ji Ning.

Whoosh.

The three thousand six hundred Star-Gold Beads hovering in the air instantly merged ten beads into one, becoming three hundred and sixty beads. Ji Ning could feel the pressure.

“Condense.” Light flickered in Ji Ning’s eyes. He had to use Heartforce, employing it to command his divine power in controlling them. The three hundred and sixty beads merged again, turning into thirty-six beads. Each one emanated a heart-stopping power. Reaching this step was almost comparable to controlling a peak-level Karmic Punishment Deity, requiring Heartforce to achieve.

“What? You can condense them into Thirty-Six Heavens?” The handsome child floating nearby was shocked.

“How is that possible?”

“Three thousand six hundred beads is already hard enough to control. Fusing them into Three Hundred and Sixty Weeks is something only a few Heavenly Gods or True Immortals can do. Fusing all the way into Thirty-Six Heavens… no Heavenly God or True Immortal can do that. Only Daofathers can.” The bald young monk sighed in amazement, then looked at the handsome child. “Were you lying to us all along?”

“Fusing all the way into Thirty-Six Heavens is indeed only possible for Daofathers.” The handsome child shook his head repeatedly. “The most powerful disciples of Daoist Three Purities all tried, and none of them could do it. If they could have, how could they have been willing to give me up?”

He stared at Ji Ning in disbelief.

Ji Ning, however, was immersed in the heaven-shaking power of these Thirty-Six Heavens.