The Path Beyond Heaven

Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position, observing the sword techniques left on the cliff wall before him. Formations and restrictive spells surrounded the cliff, created by the Celestial Immortals and True Gods who were disciples of Daofather Fuju. They were not particularly profound.

The sword-intent that surged forth, however, shook Ji Ning to his core. It felt as though his very heart was being pierced.

“Such strong sword-intent.”

“And to think these are merely casual traces left behind countless ages ago.” Ji Ning examined them carefully. This was, after all, the work of a peerless Sword Immortal on the same level as Patriarch Subhuti.

“Hm?”

“How strange.”

As soon as he looked, a sense of wrongness struck him. “It seems to have a qualitative difference from the Daofather-created sword arts I saw at Mount Innerheart.”

“The style is completely different.”

“It’s as if they belong to two different schools.”

Ji Ning frowned, searching for the distinction. He himself was at the True God and True Immortal level, his sword techniques were profound, and his talent in the sword was extremely high. He could sense the difference immediately. It was a vague, indistinct feeling, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

“Right.” A thought struck him. A Stargold Bead appeared in his hand.

He had already refined this Stargold Bead. It was an innate spirit-treasure, but under his control, its aura was completely sealed, making it seem like an ordinary object.

Each of the 3,600 Stargold Beads contained the Ninefold Chaos Seal.

“The Chaos Seal.” Ji Ning looked at the constantly shifting divine patterns on the bead’s surface. They changed from moment to moment, never the same.

“Right. The feeling Daofather Fuju’s sword-art gives me… it’s very similar to the Ninefold Chaos Seal.” He had finally found the key difference.

“The sword arts created by Daofathers generally follow the mysteries of the Heavenly Daos.”

“But Daofather Fuju’s sword art, and the Ninefold Chaos Seal… both seem to transcend the Heavenly Daos.” Ji Ning pondered. “The Ninefold Chaos Seal was discovered by Daoist Three Purities when he roamed the primordial chaos. It naturally manifests within the chaos, so it makes sense it transcends the Heavenly Daos. But Daofather Fuju’s sword art also transcends them.”

The Heavenly Daos were the laws of the Three Realms, the rules by which the realm operated.

Outside the Three Realms, the Heavenly Daos were useless. In the endless chaos, for instance, only the Chaos Heavenly Dao was functional; the other nine Heavenly Daos were useless.

“Legend says Daofather Fuju’s sword was incredibly fast, surpassing the limits of the Heavenly Daos,” Ji Ning mused. “Perhaps that is why his sword art is so terrifying.”

“I will carefully ponder this.”

After discovering the commonality between the Ninefold Chaos Seal and Daofather Fuju’s sword art, Ji Ning began his cultivation in earnest. Sometimes he would study the Ninefold Chaos Seal, and when he could penetrate its mysteries, he would switch to studying the sword art…

By contrasting the two, he found that various bottlenecks in his Grand Daos of Waterdrop and Space were being breached with ease. The insights from the Chaos Seal and the sword art were providing immense benefits to his other Daos.

Time flowed on.

……

Far away, in the restaurant, Ninefate Recluse was once again drinking. The owner was already used to this bald, elderly man coming to drink every day for the past month, specifically asking for the poisonous ‘Five Immortal Wine’. The Five Immortal Wine, also known as the Five Venom Wine, was brewed from five types of poison. It was extremely lethal; a single sip would kill a Zifu Disciple. Only Primal Daoists and above could enjoy its exquisite taste without dying.

“An excellent batch of Five Immortal Wine. Please, sir.” The owner personally delivered the wine and two plates of appetizers.

Ninefate Recluse casually poured a cup.

“Ah.” He threw his head back and drank, the burning, icy sensation coursing through his entire body. It was an incredible comfort.

“Eh?” Ninefate Recluse sensed a change. He looked up and through the window, he saw the White-robed youth sitting among the other cultivators at the foot of Chongyun Mountain.

“The Grand Dao?” Ninefate Recluse was startled, then immediately sent a mental message. “Congratulations, Prefectural Lord, for comprehending the Grand Dao of Waterdrop.”

“Your perceptions are quite sharp. I merely tested it, and you discovered me immediately,” Ji Ning’s voice echoed back.

……

Ji Ning was in an excellent mood. His understanding of the Grand Dao of Waterdrop was already quite high. After a month of arduous study, the Ninefold Chaos Seal and the Daofather’s sword art had provided little direct progress. However, the Grand Dao of Waterdrop had come together in a single, smooth stroke. Even its bottleneck had been directly broken through, allowing him to comprehend the entire Grand Dao.

He now had two Grand Daos: the Grand Dao of the Sword, and the Grand Dao of Waterdrop.

“The sword techniques on Chongyun Mountain were just casually left behind by Daofather Fuju. They aren’t truly profound. After another month or two of study, they won’t be of much use to me.” Ji Ning didn’t hold high hopes for the first twenty-six major worlds. The most important one was the final world, the Sword Immortal World. Still, he was cautious. He intended to see all the others first, as it might help him comprehend the complete Five Treasures Sword Art.

……

In the second month of Ji Ning’s stay in the Eastluan Major World.

It was a blazing, sunlit day.

A large boat flew through the air, filled with guards and a crowd of beautiful women surrounding a young man. The youth was drinking happily, touching a woman here, pinching one there, the boat filled with the sounds of flirtatious laughter.

“Your Highness, ahead is Chongyun Mountain,” a beardless man said in a low, respectful voice.

“We’re here?”

The magnificently dressed youth stood up, put his arm around a beauty, and walked to the prow of the ship to gaze into the distance. He saw the mountain.

“My beauties, go back and rest. This Imperial Prince has to go study sword arts.” The youth laughed, his words prompting a chorus of flattery from the group of beauties. He was elated. But he did have reason to be proud; he was the Third Imperial Prince of the Eastluan Dynasty, the most talented cultivator of his generation, and held a special status.

“Let’s go.”

Soon, the prince, accompanied by the beardless attendant and a group of guards, arrived at the foot of Chongyun Mountain. The weakest of the guards were Wanxiang Adepts, and their two leaders were Primal Daoists. The prince himself was also at the Primal Daoist level.

“So many people. So many monsters.” The prince frowned as he looked. “From what my teacher told me, the calamity of the Three Realms is upon us, and this minor world of ours is considered peaceful. But there aren’t any Celestial Immortals coming here. The strongest cultivators here are probably just Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. Longxiu, quickly go and pick someone from the front row to drive away.”

“Your Highness, you must be cautious,” the beardless attendant quickly advised. “Although the strongest cultivators on Chongyun Mountain are Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, they might have powerful backgrounds. Besides, Your Highness is only a Primal Daoist, and our two guard captains are also Primal Daoists. It’s best not to provoke the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, or we might end up suffering.”

The prince nodded thoughtfully. “Reasonable.”

Even if he didn’t care about them, he still couldn’t beat them at the moment.

“Pick a weak one.” The prince’s gaze swept the crowd. “Among the twenty-seven front cushions, there must be some that are weak, right?”

“Those who can sit in the front won’t be too weak. Let me see.” The attendant looked closely. “I can sense a powerful pressure from twenty-one of those cushions. The cultivators sitting there are all at the Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal level. There are six that give me a very weak pressure, probably just Primal Daoists. Your Highness, look, which of those six should we pick?”

“Six?”

The prince looked carefully. “Four of them are monsters. A Primal Daoist monster is generally far stronger than a human one. That leaves two. A white-robed youth, and a cold, severe-looking man. That cold-looking man has astonishing killing intent in his eyes; his sword arts must be formidable. But that white-robed youth looks ordinary, probably just a regular Primal Daoist.”

The power of a Primal Daoist could vary wildly. Some monstrous geniuses at the Primal Daoist level could fight against Void-level cultivators. The cold-looking man, just from the invisible killing intent he gave off, was clearly no ordinary Primal Daoist.

“We’ll go with that white-robed brat.” The prince made his decision. “Go quickly and get rid of him.”