The Prisoner’s Bargain

The woman seated cross-legged showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, she rose with a smile, her body—so emaciated she had seemed skin and bones—rapidly filling out as she stood. Her skin grew supple and fair. In the brief time it took her to rise, she transformed from a beggar-like figure into a being of devastating allure.

“Qianrou greets the True Immortal,” the woman said, still smiling. “It has been so long since I have seen an outsider. Even the jailers have not appeared for three Chaos Cycles. Seeing another person again truly gladdens my heart. And what gladdens me most is that the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom has actually fallen. Haha, wonderful. Simply wonderful.”

Ji Ning watched her. She was completely unruffled?

“Might Qianrou be permitted to know the True Immortal’s name?” the woman asked.

“Darknorth,” Ji Ning said, watching her.

“Darknorth?” The woman nodded gently. “If the True Immortal is able to release me, I would gladly submit myself to you and serve as your retainer.”

“I cannot release you,” Ji Ning said.

The woman was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. Breaking these manacles is far too difficult. Without the command talisman of the Ninefang Kingdom’s ruler, it requires a Chaos Immortal or a World God. Yet, True Immortal… I do not wish to die. I am willing to submit to you, but I beg you not to place a soul imprint upon me.”

Ji Ning laughed. “You agree rather readily.”

“Within the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom, the King was mindful of various factions and would not simply kill me outright. But now that the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom has fallen, for you True Immortals… we are nothing more than prisoners of an alien race. Normally, only two paths lie before us: death, or submission. I do not wish to die, so I can only submit,” the woman said with a smile.

Ji Ning nodded.

It was as it was in the mortal world: humans and demons could not coexist. Humans were born to slaughter beasts and eat their flesh; beasts were born to devour humans. But at higher levels of power and status, powerful Immortals and great demons fought far less fiercely.

For the Three Realms, however, mercy was forbidden when it came to members of chaos-foreign races. Releasing a single chaos-foreigner could very well lead to others discovering the Three Realms; it might even result in the complete annihilation of the Three Realms. They had to be killed. A member of an alien race would always harbor different loyalties.

“And the soul imprint?” The woman looked at Ji Ning. A soul imprint would make it impossible to achieve perfect clarity during enlightenment, slightly impeding the path of cultivation, making it difficult to go far.

“A soul imprint is unnecessary,” Ji Ning said, shaking his head. “However, I will perform a soul-scouring technique upon you. You must not resist.”

Since they had been imprisoned here for so long, a soul imprint was indeed unnecessary.

“Soul-scouring?” The woman hesitated. That would lay bare everything she was before another.

“If you are unwilling, then you are of no use to me,” Ji Ning said.

The woman gritted her teeth. “Fine. Qianrou agrees to the True Immortal’s terms.”

Though the True Immortal before her seemed to be the weakest sort, if it came to a fight, even if she were a match for him, battle consumed divine power. Once her power was exhausted, she would be finished. But this True Immortal was a jailer, and could replenish his power indefinitely from the outside world.

“Good.” Ji Ning nodded.

He felt no pity for these chaos-foreign lives.

For the sake of his own clan, for the sake of his wife and daughter, Ji Ning would not hesitate to slaughter millions more chaos-foreigners.

Ji Ning walked over.

Qianrou closed her eyes, silently sighing. “I used my Charm Art, yet it had no effect on him at all.” She had expended energy to restore her appearance, then used the Charm Art—not a vulgar form of seduction, but a subtle enhancement of her natural beauty, which was often far more effective.

Unfortunately, Ji Ning’s Heartforce was astonishing. Having reached the fourth level, it was no longer something a Celestial Immortal’s Charm Art could affect. Ji Ning had not even realized she was using a Charm Art; he simply thought her exceptionally beautiful. But his wife, Yu Wei, had been cast into the Infinite Hells, and all worldly beauty was like red-pink skeletons to him.

“Swish.” Ji Ning placed his hand upon Qianrou’s head and immediately began the soul-scouring technique.

…

A massive, golden core of supreme quality, upon which the images of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers appeared and faded, emanating an aura of immense power.

“This top-tier Golden Core is truly formidable.”

“Although she is merely at the Celestial Immortal level, it is in no way inferior to my own Pure Yang Golden Core.” Ji Ning’s divine sense delved deep into her Golden Core, and he was utterly shaken. Then, setting aside his amazement, he began to execute the soul-scouring technique.

Her truesoul was merged within the Golden Core, one with it.

An invisible soul-force, like scattered points of starlight, began to seep into the Golden Core, penetrating into Qianrou’s soul. With a single thought, she could have completely blocked him—after all, her power was on par with Ji Ning’s, and he could not forcibly scry her soul. But she had no choice but to suppress her defenses, not daring to resist in the slightest, allowing Ji Ning’s investigation to proceed.

As the soul-force permeated hers, vast oceans of memory began to unfold before Ji Ning.

The life of the Immortal Qianrou, from her birth onward…

The vast, overwhelming power of the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom…

Everything was laid bare before Ji Ning.

“This is a cultivation technique.” Ji Ning finally found the Ki Refining technique within Qianrou’s memories.

“Oh?”

This particular region of memory was like a series of bubbles. Ji Ning tried to penetrate them, but the surface of these memory-bubbles was covered in dense runic patterns. No matter how he probed, he could not enter; he could only glean fragments from the surface.

“In our Three Realms, we typically swear oaths upon the Heavenly Dao or Heart-Demons to prevent the leakage of important techniques. Even if someone performs a soul-scouring, the Heart-Demon and the Heavenly Dao would stop them. But the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom’s methods for preventing technique leakage are far more rigorous.” Ji Ning was helpless.

These runic seals upon memories were unfathomably profound. No mere Celestial Immortal could have done this herself; it must have been her sect’s elders.

Ji Ning gave up and continued browsing her other memories…

…

A full half-day passed.

Ji Ning finally removed his hand from the Immortal Qianrou’s hair. Her memories were simply too vast, and Ji Ning wished to understand the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom in detail—its common knowledge and so forth. It had taken a full half-day to absorb it all.

“So that’s how it is.”

A smile spread across Ji Ning’s face.

“An unexpected boon.”

Having thoroughly browsed Qianrou’s memories, he now had a considerable understanding of the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom.

Qianrou’s identity was quite special. Her grandfather was the ‘Ninefang Kingdom’s Ruler’! The King had three sons. Qianrou’s father was the Second Prince. The Second Prince, while journeying across the realm, had passed through a certain region and violated the Sacred Maiden of a local sect. He had then drifted away, forgetting the matter entirely. Generally speaking, the more powerful one became, the harder it was to have children. The King himself had only fathered his three sons before becoming a World-level cultivator.

The Second Prince never imagined that his casual violation would result in a daughter. The Sacred Maiden was pregnant, and she was reviled by all. Life was hard for Qianrou, who grew up watching her mother be tormented, beaten, and cursed, until she finally took her own life.

This filled Qianrou with an immense hatred for the father she had never met.

Then came the day the Ninefang King used a spell to investigate and discovered he had a bloodline descendant. He sought her out and brought his granddaughter back.

Qianrou rose to power overnight and destroyed the nightmare religion that had plagued her childhood.

But she hated her father, the Second Prince, even more. She concealed her hatred like a venomous snake, biding her time, until she found her opportunity. She sent the unguarded Second Prince into the ‘Sea of Ten Thousand Torments.’ Though the King rescued him quickly, the half-hour he spent in that sea drove the Second Prince mad.

The King was furious. But with imperial bloodline so scarce, he ultimately imprisoned Qianrou in the World Prison.

“The Ninefang King is truly extraordinary. He has conquered twelve Chaosworlds, one after another.”

“He has slain at least three World-level beings.”

Ji Ning marveled.

A single Chaosworld, after passing through endless ages, would grow old and eventually perish. But after its destruction, after some time passed, new Fiendgods would once more be born, and a new Chaosworld would open. Thus, the Ninefang King had always ruled over a vast territory.

“A being capable of slaying beings on the level of Pangu and Mother Nuwa. The Ninefang King cultivates both Ki and Fiendgod Body Refining. He is truly formidable.” Ji Ning sighed.

In terms of raw power, the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom was far stronger than the Three Realms.

“But I did not expect the ‘Five Treasures Sword Art’ to be such an incredible swordsmanship technique.” Ji Ning’s eyes lit up. “This sword art could not have been created by Daofather Fuju. He must have acquired it somewhere.”

After browsing Qianrou’s memories, Ji Ning now understood…

Techniques that surpassed the limits of the Heavenly Dao could only be created after reaching the World-level. And even then, it was merely possible—not every Chaos Immortal or World God could accomplish it. Mother Nuwa herself had not been able to create one.

Even within the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom, there were only three such techniques that surpassed the Heavenly Dao’s limits.

The Ninefang Chaos Kingdom possessed three World-level experts. The Ninefang King was the most powerful, but the other two World-level beings had not been able to create techniques surpassing the Heavenly Dao. Of the three supreme techniques, two were created by the Ninefang King himself. The third had been obtained by the King during his conquest of a Chaosworld.

Such supreme techniques… Even Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had to render tremendous meritorious service to be granted access. As for Celestial Immortals and Empyrean Gods, they were not even qualified. Even True Gods and True Immortals had to possess extraordinary talent, massive contributions, and extremely high status to be awarded them.

And those who were awarded them had to swear a life oath never to transmit them.

Within the Ninefang Chaos Kingdom, only the King could teach these three techniques. Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who learned them had all sworn life oaths.

“Which means, even within this World Prison, there is no way for me to obtain a technique that surpasses the Heavenly Dao’s limits.” Ji Ning was shaken. “I never imagined that the Daofather Fuju of our Three Realms possessed such a technique. It has to be a method that only Mother Nuwa’s level, or even higher, could comprehend.”

Recalling that Daofather Fuju had died within the chaos, and before dying had deliberately arranged for an inheritance—as though he knew he was in danger—

“Daofather Fuju must have acquired the Five Treasures Sword Art from some hidden place. He simply did not wish to reveal the location, so he claimed to have created it himself.” Ji Ning murmured to himself.

Everyone, did you see the concept art on WeChat? What do you think of ‘Autumn Leaf’s’ design? Does it match the Autumn Leaf in your heart?