The Soul-Search of True Immortal Dongjun

Ji Ning waved his hand, and the eight-petaled lotus below instantly absorbed all the towering true fire, then shrank and flew back into his hand.

“Truly, one refuses to shed tears until they see the coffin. He clearly knew that dragging things out would only lead to defeat and death, yet he held out against me until now.” Ji Ning also quietly marveled at his opponent’s formidable strength. He himself was primarily relying on the Eight Great True Fires, while his opponent was manipulating a magic treasure to resist, consuming far more Immortal power.

Strength comparable to a Daofather! This top-tier True Immortal had actually held out for a full fifteen years!

This made the gap between himself and a Daofather abundantly clear. Were it not for being within the World Prison, he would never have been able to force such an existence to bow his head.

“Whoosh.” The bowl-like magic treasure was withdrawn. True Immortal Dongjun’s gaze held a flicker of shame and fury as he looked at Ji Ning. “I concede. I… am willing to… submit!”

Rage.

Humiliation.

All sorts of emotions surged through him. Bowing his head and submitting to Ji Ning felt as absurd as making Ji Ning himself submit to a Celestial Immortal! As a powerhouse, he possessed immense pride. Had it been before his imprisonment, he would rather have died than bow his head. Even now, it had taken a full fifteen years of attrition before he finally understood that he had reached a dead end. Only then did True Immortal Dongjun express his submission.

“You need not resist,” Ji Ning said. “I cannot free you from the Heavenly Lock for now, so you may continue to live here.”

True Immortal Dongjun understood that the other was trying to comfort him, to lower his resistance. He said flatly, “What do you want me to do? Magic treasures? Or do you want to question me? I will give you whatever treasures you want. After all, they are useless to me while I am imprisoned here.”

“I need you to offer no resistance whatsoever. Open your soul to me completely, and allow me to examine your memories,” Ji Ning said.

“You…” True Immortal Dongjun’s face changed dramatically. “Warden, do not go too far.”

“It is merely a soul-search,” Ji Ning said.

True Immortal Dongjun gritted his teeth and stared at Ji Ning. “Impossible! I can give you all my magic treasures. But a soul-search… impossible!”

To fully expose his memories to another, to let the other know everything about him… if it were a Chaos Immortal or a World God, and he had no way to resist, then so be it. But this person was far weaker than him! To let his own memories, even the most private ones, be completely exposed before a weaker being… this was something True Immortal Dongjun, a powerhouse of such stature, simply could not accept.

“To me, I am merely an outsider,” Ji Ning said. “Some of your private memories are useless to me.”

True Immortal Dongjun closed his eyes.

Scenes flashed through his mind.

“Junior apprentice-brother.”

“Grandfather.”

“Disciple.”

He could not forget those people, those who were the most important in his life.

The Ninefang Chaosworld might truly have been destroyed. But even if one faction was shattered, perhaps the people most important to him were still alive. He wanted to see them again. He wanted to seek them out.

“Fine.” True Immortal Dongjun opened his eyes, a cold smirk on his face as he looked at Ji Ning. “I agree. But I’m afraid you don’t dare to come in and conduct the soul-search yourself.”

“Haha…”

Ji Ning laughed, then reached out his arm.

Whoosh!

His arm rapidly expanded, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, until his palm came to rest upon True Immortal Dongjun’s head.

“A coward,” True Immortal Dongjun sneered. “Cultivating the Tao Wu Eighteen Fiendgod technique, yet still so timid.”

“You are a prisoner. If you were to counterattack and destroy one of my clones, that would hardly be worth it,” Ji Ning said, standing outside the formation’s barrier. His arm, hundreds of kilometers long, was right in front of True Immortal Dongjun.

Even if the other party did strike back, Ji Ning would instantly sever his own arm. Losing an arm would mean losing some divine power at most. And perhaps much of that lost divine power would even return.

“Come, then.” True Immortal Dongjun closed his eyes and sat cross-legged.

Ji Ning placed his palm on top of True Immortal Dongjun’s head, then began his invasion…

True Immortal Dongjun offered no resistance whatsoever.

Immediately, the magnificent scenes of a powerful cultivator’s rise to glory unfolded before Ji Ning’s eyes. As a supreme True Immortal, his experiences were far more magnificent than those of Empyrean Gods or Celestial Immortals, and his status was also far higher.

…

A full day and night passed.

Ji Ning withdrew his hand. He closed his eyes in contemplation.

“It seems there is truly no hope of obtaining a first-class technique.” Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

He had expected as much.

But after searching through True Immortal Dongjun’s memories, Ji Ning was now certain. The technique required to form a first-class Golden Core was one that required a Chaos Immortal to assist in its cultivation. Furthermore, in the Ninefang Chaosworld, only three World-level existences—the Ninefang Lord among them—knew of it. Even the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were not qualified to know it.

As for techniques for forming a second-class Golden Core… quite a few knew of these. Even True Gods and True Immortals had a chance to learn them.

However, this True Immortal Dongjun did not know of any.

Of course, these techniques for forming Golden Cores were all required for a mortal to cultivate to the ‘Celestial Immortal’ level. Since Ji Ning himself was already a Pure Yang True Immortal, these techniques were useless to him. The reason Ji Ning sought them out was that if they triumphed in the coming cataclysm, he could pass such formidable techniques on to Brightmoon and others.

“A technique capable of upgrading a True Immortal’s Golden Core is indeed rare.” Ji Ning shook his head.

Techniques for upgrading Golden Cores were what Ji Ning most wanted to obtain.

But clearly…

Such techniques were precious, yet also not. In some remote, backward places, there were indeed immortals of extraordinary innate talent. But once they had become Celestial Immortals or True Immortals, the factions within the Ninefang Chaosworld would recruit them and then find ways to upgrade their Golden Cores. To say they were not precious… at most, they could only upgrade to a second-class Golden Core.

These True Gods and True Immortals imprisoned in the World Prison were almost all of the absolute peak of strength. Their status was higher, and they still had a chance of possessing such techniques. Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals knew of such techniques more commonly, but unfortunately, Ji Ning was powerless against them.

“Slowly, slowly. If I cannot find it on one True Immortal, I will search for another True God or True Immortal. Ten, a hundred of them… I will keep searching, and I am sure to find one eventually.” Ji Ning then turned to look at True Immortal Dongjun.

“Found what you were looking for?” True Immortal Dongjun looked back at him.

“Hand over your ‘Sparkling Star’ to me,” Ji Ning said.

True Immortal Dongjun gritted his teeth. “You already soul-searched me, and now you want my Innate spirit-treasure too?”

“Hand it over,” Ji Ning said.

“Hmph.”

True Immortal Dongjun was deeply reluctant, but he waved his hand. In midair, a large number of deep-blue octagonal star-crystals appeared, ninety-nine in total. Each of these octagonal stars seemed to contain an endless starry ocean within. This was also the most important set of Innate spirit-treasures owned by True Immortal Dongjun.

“Take them.” True Immortal Dongjun withdrew his imprint from the Innate spirit-treasures, then tossed them to Ji Ning.

Ji Ning’s massive hand stretched out, expanding to a hundred zhang in size, and caught them directly.

“This is a bottle of Immortal elixirs and a token talisman. The elixirs will sustain you for a while longer. If there is an emergency, you may crush the talisman to summon me.” Ji Ning waved his hand, tossing out two items. True Immortal Dongjun caught them. His elixir supply was nearly depleted, and he was in dire need of these Immortal pills.

“Hmph.” True Immortal Dongjun glanced at the items and snorted coldly.

Ji Ning knew that the man felt stifled after being soul-searched and having his most prized treasure taken from him. Ji Ning did not mind and simply turned into a streak of light, flying away.

…

“From True Immortal Dongjun’s memories, the hierarchy within the Ninefang Chaosworld is still very strict.” Ji Ning flew through the clouds. “True Gods and True Immortals generally use Innate spirit-treasures. Only top-tier True Immortals like Dongjun can use a set of ninety-nine octagonal stars as Innate spirit-treasures.”

“Moreover, the Ninefang Chaosworld possesses far more profound methods for refining magic treasures.” Ji Ning sighed in admiration.

The method for enhancing the power of an Innate spirit-treasure was actually quite simple.

One simply had to add a ‘seal’ to the Innate spirit-treasure!

His own ‘Heavenly Stargold Beads’ were enhanced with nine layers of Chaos seals. This was precisely a method for increasing the power of an Innate spirit-treasure. The prerequisite was the ability to refine these seals! Daoist Three Purities had refined the ‘Extermination Immortal Sword-Formation’ with seven layers of seals. The more profound the seals, the greater the power.

This set of Innate spirit-treasures, the ‘Sparkling Star’, also contained seals and possessed extraordinary power.

“However, this set of Innate spirit-treasures is not suitable for me.” Ji Ning murmured to himself. “But now that the tribulation has descended, the more treasures our side has, the greater our strength will be. I naturally need to take all the Innate spirit-treasures from these True Gods and True Immortals.”

Within the Three Realms.

Even among the major powers, only some possessed Chaos treasures.

And more than half of those Chaos treasures were not used for combat! Thus, the vast majority of major powers used Innate spirit-treasures for battle. The ‘Heavenly Stargold Beads’ were somewhat of a niche item. Ji Ning’s powerful heartforce made him especially suited for such treasures. To other major powers, perhaps Innate spirit-treasures like ‘Sparkling Star’, especially those containing seals, would be far more precious and greatly appreciated.

“I can go to the Human Imperial Clan to exchange for treasures,” Ji Ning mused. “Once I have more treasures in hand, I can go there to trade.”

Before the tribulation.

The Human Imperial Clan, the Daoist Sect, and the Buddhist Sangha all had treasure vaults. One could take treasures there and exchange them for other treasures. Some were useless to oneself but valuable to others. Naturally, the value had to be equivalent.

And now that the tribulation had descended, the Nuwa camp had, within the Human Imperial Clan’s headquarters, gathered almost all the temporarily unused treasures, Chaos ingredients, rare materials, elixirs, and so forth. This allowed the experts of their own camp to trade amongst themselves! This would increase the strength of their side!

…

“Last time, I dealt with a True Immortal. This time, I’ll try dealing with a True God.” Ji Ning flew down on a cloud and landed on a large mountain.

On the mountain sat a green-haired man, so emaciated he was practically skin and bones, sitting cross-legged.

When Ji Ning arrived, the man opened his eyes.

“As expected of a True God.” Ji Ning felt a sense of suffocation. The True Gods of the Ninefang Chaosworld and the True Gods of the Three Realms were roughly equivalent.

“Warden?” The green-haired man’s gaze was sharp as an eagle’s as he carefully examined Ji Ning. “What has happened to the Ninefang Chaosworld that they would send someone like you?”

“The Ninefang Chaosworld has been destroyed.” Ji Ning stood on the mountain and said directly, “I now control the entire World Prison. You have two choices. One is to resist; the other is to submit to me. Just a moment ago, True Immortal Dongjun submitted to me, and his Innate spirit-treasure, ‘Sparkling Star’, has also come into my possession.”

Ji Ning held aloft ninety-nine deep-blue octagonal star-crystals.

The green-haired man squinted. “That waste Dongjun actually submitted to you?”

“What about you?” Ji Ning looked at him calmly.