The Heart-Infusion Art and the Priceless Secret Techniques

"You will take a Primaltwin to begin infusing the Heart-Infusion Art to bond with the divine sword, while your other Primaltwin slowly memorizes these techniques," the golden-armored female general said.

Ji Ning nodded.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Within the碧玉 (Jadeite) Temple, two white-robed youths now stood. One was positioned silently before a small mountain of bamboo slips, every scroll emanating a faint ripple of power. The other walked over to the stone platform, gazing at the divine sword. He then moved a prayer mat closer to the platform, sat down in solitude, and began to execute the Heart-Infusion Art.

Executing the Heart-Infusion Art was very simple, but it had a single prerequisite: one must have at least a basic level of Heartforce!

World God Northrest had never doubted whether his chosen successor would have entered the threshold of Heartforce. It was worth noting that the True Gods and Daofathers of the Three Realms were mostly at the second or third layer of Heartforce. The truly powerful figures… almost all of them had entered the Heartforce threshold; someone who could master the Five Treasures Sword Art to such a level would, of course, have entered that gate.

According to the records of the Heart-Infusion Art, Heartforce was ethereal and intangible, yet marvelously miraculous. The Heart-Infusion Art was a special application of Heartforce.

Ji Ning was at the fourth layer of Heartforce. Based on calculations, the process would require a thousand years. If one were at the first or second layer, the time required would be even greater.

His intangible Heartforce began to invade the 'Ziguangqiong' divine sword.

"Whoosh~~~"

The Heartforce permeated it with ease.

Within the Heartforce's perception, the interior of the Ziguangqiong divine sword was a vast, hazy space, faintly marked by countless cracks—a sign of severe damage. Deep within this hazy interior lay a complex octahedral crystal. Each face of this octahedral crystal was covered with incredibly complex runic patterns, so intricate that they far surpassed the Ninefold Chaos Seals Ji Ning knew.

The octahedral crystal. Layers of light rippled across its surface. Although Ji Ning's Heartforce could not penetrate it in the slightest, he could sense the tremendous, heaven-shaking might contained within that eight-sided crystal.

This was the source of the Ziguangqiong divine sword! Its most core essence!

As long as the core was intact, even if the sword's physical body were completely shattered… it could be restored to perfection.

"Let's begin." Ji Ning's Heartforce, acting like invisible hands, began to form tiny specks of starlight. Countless specks of starlight linked together into strands of silk. These dense strands of silk surrounded the octahedral crystal and began to 'infuse' into it according to the techniques of the Heart-Infusion Art.

...

The two white-robed youths, one sitting on the prayer mat facing the divine sword on the platform, the other standing before the small mountain of bamboo slips.

Time continued to flow past…

In the blink of an eye, almost three months had passed.

"I've finally memorized everything." Ji Ning let out a sigh of relief. Although these powerful techniques contained the ninety-eight sword arts from the earlier stone steles, as well as other powerful sword arts, along with Fiendgod and Ki Refining techniques and some special secret arts and divine abilities, Ji Ning still felt somewhat disappointed.

These techniques… all required him to become very powerful first. They would be useful after he became an Elder God or even a World God. As for now? They fundamentally couldn't massively elevate his strength.

He had previously held out hope that there might be a way to elevate his second-ranked Golden Core to the first rank.

Alas…

What he had hoped for was simply not there.

"Very disappointed?" The golden-armored female general beside him teased with a smile.

Ji Ning couldn't be bothered to lie to a manifestation of a treasure spirit. He nodded. "A little. After all, the tribulation of the Three Realms is upon us now. If it weren't for the tribulation, I certainly wouldn't be in a hurry to increase my strength. But with the tribulation descending… and these techniques and divine abilities being things that can't raise my power in a short time… I had hoped my power could increase a bit more."

"I knew you were impatient," the golden-armored female general said, a hint of smugness in her voice. "From your expression before, when you realized how long it would take to refine the divine sword, I guessed just how anxious you were about the outside world. So I played a little trick on you just now."

"A trick?" Ji Ning was stunned.

"The three most crucial techniques are not among these bamboo slips." The golden-armored female general pointed to the small mountain of bamboo slips.

Ji Ning's eyes lit up.

"Look." The golden-armored female general pointed at the wall of the nearby Jadeite Temple. Immediately, the semi-transparent wall began to show patterns; countless sword techniques began to manifest. The sheer aura emanating from these sword diagrams hit Ji Ning like a physical wave, causing his heart to seize and his body to tremble involuntarily.

"Your master, World God Northrest, was a master of the sword. This is a nameless sword art—the most powerful one he obtained while roaming the endless chaos. Its might is earth-shattering. The reason your master was able to stand at the very pinnacle among World Gods was largely due to this sword art," the golden-armored female general said. "Your master recorded everything he could remember of it here."

Ji Ning nodded.

"The sword arts on the ninety-eight stone steles outside are the ninety-eight sword arts he created after comprehending this nameless sword art. First, you must grasp all ninety-eight of those sword arts. Only when you have fully understood them can you come to comprehend this nameless sword art," the golden-armored female general said.

"And there's this."

The golden-armored female general suddenly produced a stone token in her hand.

"This is a 'Guidance Token' personally refined by your master." The golden-armored female general looked at Ji Ning. "Once you refine it, the Guidance Token will become one with you. If you die, the token will also shatter."

"Guidance Token?" Ji Ning was puzzled.

"Yes. It is a Guidance Token that countless Elder Gods, Ancestral Immortals, and even World Gods throughout the endless chaos would desperately desire," the golden-armored female general said. "According to your master, the Heavenly Palace of Azure is a very powerful organization within the endless chaos. The many experts within the Heavenly Palace of Azure address each other as brothers; there is no master-disciple relationship. Everyone within is a brother."

"To enter the Heavenly Palace of Azure, one needs a recommendation from an official member." The golden-armored female general continued, "The Heavenly Palace of Azure always has a 'Guidance Envoy' stationed there. If an outsider wishes to enter and passes the Guidance Envoy's many trials, they can be recommended into the palace."

"Furthermore!"

"Official members of the Heavenly Palace of Azure have one chance to give a recommendation in their lifetime." The golden-armored female general said, "World God Northrest never recommended anyone else. Before his death, he refined this Guidance Token and gave it to you. Thus, as long as you reach the level of an Elder God or Ancestral Immortal, you can enter the Heavenly Palace of Azure with this token."

Although Ji Ning listened with anticipation, he remained quite calm.

The Heavenly Palace of Azure?

World God Northrest himself had fled and didn't even know the way back; he had given Ji Ning a full Chaos Cycle to find it. Who knew when he would ever reach that place?

"This nameless sword art and the Guidance Token are both extremely important." The golden-armored female general looked at Ji Ning. "There was one scroll among the original bamboo slips that is very useful to you. I deliberately held it back."

"Ah?" Ji Ning was startled.

"Take a look." The golden-armored female general's hand flipped over, revealing a single bamboo slip. "I know you have a division technique, so I figured this scroll would be of great use to you. Hehe. I deliberately saved it for last."

Ji Ning quickly took it.

The nameless sword art? It required mastering the previous ninety-eight sword arts before one could comprehend it. That was still very far away.

The Guidance Token to the Heavenly Palace of Azure? That was also far away.

"This final scroll." After receiving it, Ji Ning immediately investigated it with his Heartforce. Information flooded his mind, and a technique surged into his heart.

"The Unite into One Venerate?"

Ji Ning murmured to himself.

This was a secret art!

By relying on this Unite into One Venerate secret art, one could gather and fuse all truly homologous Primaltwins into one! The essence of this technique was this: once one had divided into many Primaltwins, all these Primaltwins shared a mysterious, underlying connection, making fusion possible. Thus, a certain great power in the chaos created this Unite into One Venerate secret art.

For example, the third layer of the Eighty-One Daoist Gods of the Tao and Wu allowed eighteen Primaltwins to merge into one and also disperse again.

The Unite into One Venerate secret art, however, allowed all Primaltwins to fuse and converge into a single entity. This convergence resulted in the 'Venerate'. Once fused, one could no longer split apart!

Compared to the third layer of the Eighty-One Daoist Gods, it had a weakness: it couldn't be undone. However, this Unite into One Venerate secret art required no external materials whatsoever to execute.

"It's useful for you, isn't it?" The golden-armored female general smiled. As she would be following Ji Ning in the future, she naturally wanted to get closer to him.

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded.

After fusing, one couldn't split apart again?

Why would one need to split apart?

A surge in power was enough! By fusing many Primaltwins into one, one's soul, ki energy, divine power, Heartforce, and divine body could all experience a leap. If before, his second-ranked Golden Core was merely a 'Half-Step Daofather', once he converged into the 'Venerate', he would likely become a true Daofather.

This was more than just 'useful'.

It was a timely rain!

...

Days in this independent dimension passed peacefully. One Primaltwin of Ji Ning's focused on refining the extraordinarily powerful divine sword, while the other Primaltwin spent each day comprehending the sword arts on the ninety-eight stone steles. The techniques recorded on the bamboo slips were merely images. But the steles left behind by World God Northrest himself contained a palpable, surging artistic conception; the effectiveness of comprehending them here was tenfold or even a hundredfold greater.

As years passed, ten years, a hundred years…

Ji Ning's sword arts quietly improved. For someone who had already mastered the Five Treasures Sword Art, the sword arts left by a powerful World God were completely comprehensible. Though forcing his way through was overwhelming, he could still comprehend parts. As time flowed by, he could understand more and more.

This was the foundation upon which Ji Ning's sword arts would eventually dominate the Three Realms.

...

While Ji Ning was in the independent dimension, peacefully enriching himself, the Three Realms outside…

Had long since been engulfed in flames of war!

(End of Volume)

(Notification! Important notification!

The Desolate Era mobile game has officially entered open beta! There were simply too many people during the open beta yesterday. After a day, the game developers have prepared enough servers. Tomato is officially announcing to everyone that you can now download the game and experience the world of Desolate Era!

Tomato himself has been having a great time playing; he's already reached the 'Black-White College' and is about to see Nine Lotos and Yu Wei…

The game's story completely follows the book's plot: entering the Winged Serpent Water Mansion, killing Beishen, the decisive battle with Snowdragon Mountain, entering Anchan City, joining the Black-White College… the story is exactly the same.

Game download link: [REDACTED])