The Iceheart Foundation and the Forging Flames

Ji Ning felt a lump in his throat.

The Iceheart Marrow was the foundation?

“Without the Iceheart Marrow, the Iceheart Leaf can no longer be nurtured,” the Abyss God said, looking at Ji Ning. “One True God after another enters Ten Thousand Mountains Island. I can’t cut off this treasure just because of you.”

“I heard that the one who left back then, called ‘Jueming,’ didn’t just get a single Iceheart Leaf,” Ji Ning suddenly said.

“Uh...”

The Abyss God’s expression flickered, and he muttered a curse under his breath, “That Jueming, getting a treasure and then blabbing about it outside. He deserves to die!”

“You’re right,” the Abyss God looked at Ji Ning. “When Jueming entered the Moon Underwater Abyss, it was a very, very long time ago. He charged all the way here to Ten Thousand Mountains Island in one go, becoming the second to arrive. Back then, there really were many Iceheart Leaves, so twelve wasn’t a big deal. But as time went on, the True Gods who kept training and honing themselves grew stronger and stronger. One by one, they entered Ten Thousand Mountains Island. With more people, the treasures naturally became scarcer, so it was changed to only one leaf per person.”

“Since you managed to charge all the way here in one go, if you want twelve, I’ll give them to you.”

The Abyss God waved his hand.

Whoosh.

Ripples spread across the region of Iceheart Marrow, as if some restriction had been lifted. What appeared before them were countless swaying Iceheart Leaves. At a glance, the several-miles-wide region of Iceheart Marrow seemed to hold over ten thousand Iceheart Leaves.

“So many?” Ji Ning was shocked.

“Too many? If one True God took twelve, wouldn’t a thousand True Gods take over ten thousand?” the Abyss God snorted. “Of course, we have to be frugal. It’s only because you charged here in one go that I’m willing to give you twelve. Twelve Iceheart Leaves are no problem, but the Iceheart Marrow itself is the foundation. Don’t even think about it.”

Ji Ning understood. The countless Iceheart Leaves before him were all grown from the Iceheart Marrow. It was incredibly difficult to obtain the Marrow itself.

“Actually...” Ji Ning quickly said, “I only need a small amount of Iceheart Marrow. For example, a patch dozens of zhang in size?”

“Dozens of zhang?” The Abyss God’s eyes widened. “And you call that a small amount?”

Ji Ning felt a surge of joy. The Abyss God’s tone clearly indicated there was room for negotiation.

“There are several miles of Iceheart Marrow here. Just a few dozen zhang is very little,” Ji Ning pressed on. Seeing the Abyss God’s expression, he knew it was unlikely, so he quickly added, “Just ten zhang in size!”

“Do you know how deep this Iceheart Marrow is?” the Abyss God retorted. “It’s nearly thirty zhang deep. You want a patch ten zhang square and thirty zhang deep? Impossible.”

“Three zhang square, three zhang deep,” Ji Ning said quickly. “I only want that much...”

The Abyss God’s brow furrowed deeply.

“That much Iceheart Marrow, plus one Iceheart Leaf,” Ji Ning looked at the Abyss God. “I’ll give up the other treasures. You said I could choose three items. I only want this three-zhang-square, three-zhang-deep patch of Iceheart Marrow and one Iceheart Leaf.”

“Three zhang...” The Abyss God looked at Ji Ning, hesitating for a long time.

Ji Ning stared back at him.

“Fine,” the Abyss God finally nodded. “Since you charged here in one go... three zhang won’t affect the foundation. But you were supposed to choose three treasures. Now you can only have one Iceheart Leaf and this Iceheart Marrow.”

“Mm.” Ji Ning was overjoyed.

“Do you have a container for the treasure?” The Abyss God looked at Ji Ning. Ji Ning naturally produced a green jade gourd. The Abyss God nodded, then waved his hand. An invisible force scooped out a pit in the Iceheart Marrow region, about three zhang square and three zhang deep. The Iceheart Marrow floated up and flew toward Ji Ning.

“Collect.” Ji Ning willed it, and the Iceheart Marrow rapidly shrank, all flying into the green jade gourd.

He plugged the stopper, then reached out to collect the single Iceheart Leaf that flew before him. Ji Ning finally let out a breath. He had succeeded. He truly wasn’t very interested in the other treasures. He wasn’t a refiner, nor an alchemist, and he didn’t understand other methods. What he needed were techniques and treasures that could increase his power.

“This time I really took a loss. For an ordinary True God, a single Iceheart Leaf and two other treasures would have been enough to send them off,” the Abyss God muttered. “And here comes another one who knows Jueming got twelve. That Jueming, what a disaster.”

“Get out of here, quickly.”

The Abyss God glared at Ji Ning. “Do you want me to escort you?”

Ji Ning smiled and then left.

...

Inside the portable immortal estate.

One of Ji Ning’s Primaltwin clones was inside a quiet room.

“The Iceheart Marrow is in hand.” Ji Ning held the green jade gourd, a look of delight on his face. “Fortunately, the Abyss God was reasonable and not too rigid. Otherwise, it would have been troublesome.”

In truth, knowing that the Jueming Buddha had taken twelve Iceheart Leaves back then, while the Abyss God had only shown him one at first, Ji Ning had realized... the Abyss God must have been playing tricks. With one True God after another entering Ten Thousand Mountains Island, it was absolutely impossible for there to be only a single Iceheart Leaf. The Abyss God should have a certain degree of authority.

He might not be able to give a True God too many, but he could certainly give fewer.

Ji Ning had tried his best and finally succeeded.

“Three zhang in length and width, three zhang deep. This Iceheart Marrow is slightly lighter than water,” Ji Ning mused silently. “With this much, it should be about six hundred thousand jin.”

Iceheart Marrow could float on water, but this amount was more than enough.

“My thirty-six clones need a total of three hundred sixty thousand jin. This is sufficient.”

With the treasure in hand, Ji Ning didn’t hesitate. He took out another red jade gourd, which contained the Nine-Yang Magma. He had brought one hundred thousand jin of Nine-Yang Magma to the Moon Underwater Abyss.

“Let’s begin.”

Ji Ning pulled the stoppers off both the green jade gourd and the red jade gourd, placing them on the ground in the distance. Then he sat down cross-legged in meditation.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning floated up into the air, hovering about ten zhang above the ground. As his True Immortal ki surged, a massive formation diagram of ki gradually took shape beneath him. As the ki flowed, the diagram began to glow with golden light. This golden formation diagram was circular, spanning nearly a hundred zhang in radius, like a huge barrier.

Countless runes flowed within it, powered by his ki, incredibly profound and mysterious.

It took Ji Ning a full half hour to complete the condensation.

“The Fire Formation Diagram is complete.” Ji Ning let out a breath. He took out a Greater Immortal Pill to replenish his ki, then began to condense another formation diagram. Above his head, another hundred-zhang-wide formation diagram began to take shape in the high air. As Ji Ning continued to condense and trace, the diagram gradually emanated a black light, growing more perfect and dense, until it finally looked like black jade.

A hundred-zhang golden formation diagram beneath his feet.

A hundred-zhang black formation diagram above his head.

“The Icefire Formation Diagrams are complete. Time to refine the Golden Core.” Ji Ning opened his eyes and looked at the two gourds placed in the distance. From the red jade gourd and the green jade gourd, fifteen thousand jin of Nine-Yang Magma and fifteen thousand jin of Iceheart Marrow flew out. Ji Ning was worried it might not be enough, so he had taken out a bit extra.

The Nine-Yang Magma and Iceheart Marrow each coalesced into a sphere.

Two spheres floated before Ji Ning.

One sphere of Nine-Yang Magma, one sphere of Iceheart Marrow. The contents within both spheres slowly churned.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...” The essence from the Nine-Yang Magma sphere was unconsciously drawn into the ‘Golden Formation Diagram’ below, while the essence from the Iceheart Marrow sphere was continuously drawn into the ‘Black Formation Diagram’ above.

After absorbing the essence of these two extraordinary substances, the Golden Formation Diagram and the Black Formation Diagram greatly increased in power, gaining a mysterious and unfathomable energy. The two forces passed through Ji Ning’s body and converged directly at the ‘Pure Yang Golden Core’ within him.

The completely opposite powers of ice and fire. Both the Nine-Yang Magma and the Iceheart Marrow were extraordinary substances born from the primordial chaos, their power containing endless mysteries.

“So comfortable.”

Ji Ning felt his Pure Yang Golden Core being tempered by this wondrous power of ice and fire. It felt incredibly pleasant and began to change, very slowly. Though slow, this change was clearly perceptible to Ji Ning.

In a short time, the change might be tiny. But over one or two days, or three or four days, the transformation would be astonishing.

“According to the records of the Icefire Golden Core Refining Art, it will take about a month to elevate my Pure Yang Golden Core to the second tier. This process must be slow, gradually nourishing and changing the Golden Core. I cannot rush it.” Ji Ning suppressed his excitement and slowly drew power through the two formation diagrams, tempering his Golden Core.

He believed that in a month’s time...

His Pure Yang Golden Core would reach the second tier. That would be half a step into the Daofather level. This transformation was a change at the very root. Once the Golden Core transformed, the soul nurtured within it could also make a breakthrough.

“Just one month to wait.”

One clone after another was training in the Icefire Golden Core Refining Art, while another group of clones left the small island and arrived at the large island—Ten Thousand Mountains Island.

At the entrance to Ten Thousand Mountains Island stood a black stone stele.

On the stele was a pattern of flames.

“The stele at the Volcano Island contained the mysteries of the Snow Fiendlord’s spear art. This stele probably contains the mysteries of the Abyss God’s halberd art.” Ji Ning was quite interested. Although he had fought fiercely with the Abyss God for so long, it had been a mad, desperate battle, making it difficult to grasp the essence of his techniques.

Ji Ning stood before the black stone stele, gazing at the flame pattern. Soon, his consciousness was drawn into it.

In a hazy space.

A humanoid creature held a pair of halberds. Starting from the basics, it gradually and progressively demonstrated the complete set of dual-halberd techniques. First simple, then complex. First slow, then fast. Finally, it all culminated in a single, terrifying finishing move.

A long time passed.

Ji Ning’s consciousness withdrew from the stele, and a look of admiration appeared on his face. “Seeing it from shallow to deep all at once... I’ve gained quite a bit. My dual-sword technique still has room for improvement.” The insights gave him ideas for perfecting his Brightmoon Sword-Art.

“Let’s take a look at Ten Thousand Mountains Island first.”

Ji Ning swept his gaze across the area.

This vast island was filled with countless peaks. Some towered into the clouds, some were as sharp as sword blades, some were low and squat, and some were bizarre and strange. There were thousands upon thousands of peaks. And each peak stood isolated from the others, not connected. Thousands of solitary peaks—truly a spectacular sight.

“I wonder which True Gods are on this island.” Ji Ning immediately walked deeper into Ten Thousand Mountains Island.