The Lightning Sea Crucible: Fifteen Deaths and a Bottle of Nectar

Ji Ning had no choice. “For example, entering the lightning sea to train in this divine ability.”

Within the aquatic mansion he carried with him were fifteen Primaltwin clones. Now, one of those Primaltwin clones left the aquatic mansion and flew towards the boundless sea of lightning.

After flying for a moment, he reached the border of the lightning sea.

“Whoosh.” Ji Ning stared at the endless expanse of white lightning crashes before him, unable to suppress the trembling in his heart.

“In.” With a boom, Ji Ning charged into the endless lightning. Crackling, crackling, crackling. Countless lightning crashes swirled around him. He had long since retracted his Dharma robe and was naked within the lightning sea, allowing those white lightning bolts to smash against his body again and again. In an instant, hundreds or even thousands of lightning bolts struck him.

This was far, far more terrifying than the ninety-nine heavenly tribulations he had faced during his Celestial Tribulation. Fortunately, Ji Ning had already mastered the ninth cycle of the Arcane Art and could completely withstand it.

“Time to train the ‘Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Evasion’ and transform my divine body.” Bathed in lightning, Ji Ning’s naked body closed its eyes. He began to focus his mind and manifest the divine ability. Instantly, golden divine runes began to appear on the surface of his skin. The divine runes continued to emerge, and the white lightning that had been assailing Ji Ning seemed to grow slightly gentler upon touching him.

Gradually. A罩子 formed around Ji Ning’s body, made of countless golden divine runes. These golden divine runes were completely linked together, faintly forming a single character—the character for ‘lightning’ in the language of the Nine Chaosworlds.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~” Once the golden divine rune罩子 formed, the surrounding white lightning began to swirl around it, gradually forming a vortex of lightning. At the center of the lightning vortex was a ‘cocoon of lightning’ that resembled a silkworm’s chrysalis. Ji Ning was inside this lightning cocoon.

Inside the lightning cocoon. Ji Ning’s naked skin and muscles twitched faintly as strands of white lightning seeped into his body.

Previously, Ji Ning had been able to easily withstand these white lightning strikes because the Arcane Art had completely blocked them. But ‘transforming the divine body’ required allowing the lightning to enter the body, penetrating every fiber of the divine form, completely altering the nature of the entire divine body. At this moment, the divine body was undefended, its resistance to lightning rapidly weakening. The slightest misstep could reduce the body to ashes.

But this was only the beginning. The attributes of the divine body had to be changed. Just as some people are born with a Water Dao-body, others are born with a Fire Dao-body.

Bodies have elemental attributes.

The so-called Dao-bodies of ordinary cultivators meant nothing at Ji Ning’s level. Consider the ‘Heavenly Thundergod,’ who was born from mastering the Grand Dao of Lightning. Even his divine body of thunder could not allow ‘Sea-Serpents of Lightning’ or ‘Nine-Horned Lightning Serpents’ to swim within it without being harmed. Ji Ning needed to transform his divine body, giving it the attribute of lightning, turning it into a perfect divine thunder-body that would allow Sea-Serpents of Lightning and Nine-Horned Lightning Serpents to swim within it.

In terms of raw power, he might not be able to compare to the Heavenly Thundergod, but in terms of affinity with lightning, he would surpass him.

From this, one could imagine how difficult ‘transforming the divine body’ truly was. The mighty figure who had created this ‘Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Evasion’ technique was clearly extraordinary as well. The True God Ji Ning had killed had also obtained this technique through a fortuitous encounter during a dangerous adventure.

“Ah.” Ji Ning felt a searing pain throughout his body.

Transforming the divine body had to be done step by step. First, use weak lightning to transform it. Then, gradually increase the intensity, perfecting the lightning attribute of the divine body until it could finally adapt to the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent.

Lightning of other levels was very easy to obtain. Only the ‘Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent’ was precious and rare. Originally, Ji Ning had planned to train slowly within the Three Realms, but now he had no choice but to enter the Sea of Lightning. Within the Sea of Lightning, from the outer reaches to the core, the power of the lightning continuously increased, making it very suitable for his needs. However, at the core, he would face not Nine-Horned Lightning Serpents, but the even more狂暴 and utterly mindless Sea-Serpents of Lightning.

For the final step of transforming his divine body… Ji Ning would have to use the Sea-Serpents of Lightning. These Sea-Serpents of Lightning were even more狂暴, making the transformation far more dangerous. But since he could not obtain a Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent, he had to settle for the next best thing.

…

Time flowed on. The transformation of the divine body was very slow. Sometimes, small parts of his body would directly collapse, and Ji Ning would have to use divine power to restore them and continue trying. After more than a month of this, his naked body stood in the white lightning, allowing the lightning to flow over his skin and even inside his body, completely unharmed.

“Continue.” Ji Ning quickly advanced deeper into the Sea of Lightning.

Gradually… The color of the lightning began to shift towards black, its power growing stronger.

Ji Ning stopped and began to train again, guiding these pale black lightning bolts to transform his divine body. This time, it took only half a month to succeed. Ji Ning continued deeper…

Upon reaching a zone of completely grey lightning, Ji Ning stopped and used this grey lightning to transform his body. This time, it took only a few days to succeed.

“The final step of transforming the divine body.” Ji Ning looked ahead. Passing through the zone of grey lightning, the zone of black lightning lay before him.

Strands of black lightning, like serpents, writhed and slithered. Once they accelerated, they could reach the speed of light, incredibly fierce and狂暴.

With a single glance, Ji Ning could see only these ‘Sea-Serpents of Lightning.’ There were no ‘Nine-Horned Lightning Serpents’ to be seen.

“Using the Sea-Serpents of Lightning to transform my divine body… it’s very dangerous…” Even from a distance, Ji Ning could feel a suffocating pressure. His Arcane Art could not withstand such terrifying lightning. Even mighty figures were afraid of it. What was he?

“If I had a Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent, I would have a much greater chance of success. But I have no choice.”

Ji Ning once again activated the divine body transformation method of the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Evasion. Golden divine runes once again appeared on the surface of his body, quickly forming a罩子 of golden light that began to draw the surrounding lightning towards him.

Ji Ning advanced, moving until he reached the border between the black lightning and the grey lightning.

“Swish.”

“Crackle.” The Sea-Serpents of Lightning ran rampant. They had no sentience, appearing serpentine but being merely a form of lightning. Finally, a Sea-Serpent of Lightning swept across Ji Ning, who was at the border. The black lightning was immediately attracted by the罩子 of golden divine runes, forming a black lightning cocoon. Ji Ning immediately retreated, falling back into the zone of grey lightning.

“The transformation has begun.” Within the black lightning cocoon, Ji Ning was extremely cautious. He guided a single strand of the black lightning, which had formed the cocoon, to seep into his divine body.

Both the Sea-Serpents of Lightning and the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpents were the same type of lightning; it was just that the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpents possessed sentience.

If he could successfully transform his divine body using the Sea-Serpents of Lightning, then his divine form would also be able to adapt to the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpents…

“Pfft!” Ji Ning’s naked arm was instantly annihilated. Following this, the black lightning cocoon also collapsed. The scattered black lightning swept across Ji Ning’s body, and his remnant torso was instantly reduced to flying ash, leaving not a trace behind.

“I failed.” Outside the Sea of Lightning, aboard the Void Boat, Ji Ning’s expression changed. The death of a Primaltwin clone, the pain of soul-annihilation, caused Ji Ning immense suffering. The Sea-Serpents of Lightning were simply too terrifying. Even the true soul contained within that Primaltwin clone had been reduced to ashes. “Damn it! These Sea-Serpents of Lightning are too狂暴. I only guided a single thread into my body, but I couldn’t even successfully transform a single hand.”

“Go again.”

Ji Ning sent out another Primaltwin clone.

Although only one clone at a time entered the Sea of Lightning, the other clones were all rapidly absorbing the lessons learned and pondering how to increase the chances of success in transforming the divine body. Although the ‘Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Evasion’ manual was recorded in great detail… when it came to actually doing it, experience versus no experience was a world of difference.

Having died once, Ji Ning now had experience using the ‘Sea-Serpents of Lightning’ to transform his divine body. This time, he could avoid some mistakes and do better.

After more than three months, another Primaltwin clone died.

“Go again.”

…

The other clones were all carefully studying and contemplating, while one clone after another entered time and time again, continuously attempting. But transforming the divine body was indeed the most dangerous hurdle in training this divine ability. The manual said it was a ‘nine deaths and a single life’ endeavor, and that was no exaggeration. Especially given that Ji Ning was using the far more difficult Sea-Serpents of Lightning to transform his body.

In the blink of an eye, more than four years had passed.

Ji Ning still stood on the Void Boat, gazing at the vast Sea of Lightning.

“Four years.”

“My other fifteen Primaltwin clones have all died. But I still haven’t succeeded. I’m still a little short, just a little short.” Ji Ning gritted his teeth.

All but one of the Primaltwin clones had perished. As long as a single clone lived, he could slowly recover. But to nurture a new Primaltwin clone, requiring the birth of a new true soul, divine soul, and divine body, was a process that required a very long time. It would take billions of years for all fifteen Primaltwin clones to fully recover. This was precisely why Shaoyin Chou had been so despairing when Ji Ning had killed his sixteen clones.

There was another way to instantly recover all the Primaltwin clones: to use the marvelous ‘Chaos Nectar.’ With this Chaos Nectar, Ji Ning had been able to break through from the first layer to the second layer of the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art. Using it to recover Primaltwin clones was truly using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

But the great calamity was descending…

Ji Ning simply did not have the time to slowly wait for his Primaltwin clones to recover.

“I have no choice but to use the Chaos Nectar.”

Swoosh. Ji Ning first spent half an hour arriving at a huge star within the chaos. He selected a mountain cave to temporarily go into seclusion. Then, he entered the aquatic mansion and began his training.

“The Chaos Nectar that could have been used to train the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art to the second layer… is being used by me to recover my clones…” Ji Ning’s heart ached at the very thought. But all of this was for the sake of the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Evasion, a technique that would make even mighty figures envious. This was, after all, the absolute number one evasion technique, granting one absolute initiative.

Back in the day, the Ten Golden Crows had ravaged the primordial era, and even Mother Nuwa and the others had been powerless to stop them, precisely because the ‘Solar Golden Rainbow’ divine ability was too powerful.

Ji Ning took out a black bottle. With a “pop,” he pulled out the stopper. Pushing aside all other thoughts, he closed his eyes and began to execute the recovery method of the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art. Instantly, drops of Chaos Nectar flew out from the black bottle. Within each drop of Chaos Nectar were countless tiny bubbles. Each tiny bubble was like a world, sometimes being born and sometimes being destroyed, wondrous and extraordinary.

Gradually, as Ji Ning absorbed the Chaos Nectar.

Whoosh. A phantom figure split off from Ji Ning’s body, then solidified, revealing another Ji Ning.

As time flowed on, one Primaltwin clone after another was restored. When there were as many as sixteen Ji Nings within the aquatic mansion, the process reached its limit. No more could be restored.

“The Chaos Nectar consumed to restore these clones is almost equivalent to the amount needed to break through to the second layer of the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art.” Ji Ning’s heart ached fiercely.

“Go again.”

“I refuse to believe I won’t succeed this time.”

Ji Ning left the mountain cave, boarded the Void Boat, and entered the chaos once more, heading for the Sea of Lightning.