One Incense Stick of Enlightenment

Ji Ning respectfully departed.

As they watched his figure disappear from the great hall, the assembled顶尖 powers of Nuwa's camp exchanged glances, their faces filled with worry and doubt.

"Does everyone truly believe that Darknorth has a solution?" boomed the Heavenly Thundergod, unable to hold his tongue. "It's not that I look down on Darknorth, but we all know the terror of the 'Emissaries of All Things.' Back in the day, the Lord of All Demons led those Emissaries and nearly annihilated both the Pangu and Seamless Chaosworlds. It was only because Mother Nuwa finally broke through that we swept them away. Even if those Emissaries are now merely controlled by Empyrean Gods, they absolutely possess the strength of a top-tier Daofather. As for Ji Ning… I cannot fathom any way he can break through them."

"Mm."

"I cannot think of any method he might have either."

"Could it be," Zhuanxu said, frowning, "that his Sword Force or Heartforce has reached the fifth level?"

"The fifth level is not so easily broken through. Sword Force and Heartforce only grow more terrifyingly difficult the higher you go—far harder than becoming a True God or Daofather." Xuanyuan shook his head gently. "He just emerged from the Moon Underwater Abyss. My guess is that he obtained some treasure within, something that would allow an Empyrean God or True Immortal to unleash the power of a top-tier Daofather."

"Is there such a treasure?" the Heavenly Thundergod asked, puzzled.

"For example…" Xuanyuan said softly, "an Emissary of All Things! If Ji Ning also possessed an Emissary, given that he managed to survive the Abyss, he should be able to defeat the enemy."

Everyone in the hall was startled.

"Haven't you all long suspected that the Moon Underwater Abyss was created by some ancient, unfathomably powerful figure?" Xuanyuan smiled. "That figure could have left behind a puppet no weaker than the Emissaries of All Things. Of course, this is all speculation. There is another possibility: that Darknorth got a bit carried away and boasted."

"Ji Ning is an Empyrean God and True Immortal. He wouldn't be so reckless," Divine Farmer said, his brow furrowed slightly.

"The one who knows Ji Ning best is still his master." Fuxi turned to look at Bodhi.

Everyone in the hall turned to gaze at the ancient Patriarch. Only then did they realize that he had remained utterly silent throughout their entire discussion.

Frowning, Bodhi spoke slowly, "Xuanyuan… it is best to prepare for failure."

"Mm?" Xuanyuan was taken aback.

Everyone's heart sank.

Bodhi said no more. He did not wish to discuss his disciple's affairs so openly. But in his heart, he was deeply worried… He understood the power of love all too well. Since ancient times, countless great powers had been driven mad by it. Even Houyi, who had reached the Fifth Level of Heartforce, could not escape its grasp.

As for how this blow would affect Ji Ning… Bodhi himself did not know.

"Very well. I will make the necessary preparations," Xuanyuan nodded.

The news that over two hundred Empyrean Gods had returned spread quickly throughout the Three Realms. All the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals in the world learned that… the reason so many had been able to return from the Abyss was because of Ji Ning.

Far away, in the Heaven Realm, at the Western Pure Lands.

Buddha Jueming's temple was humble and unadorned, with only two young novices guarding the gate. His most famous achievement in the Three Realms was simply emerging safely from the Moon Underwater Abyss. After that, he cultivated to become a True God and Daofather, then fell silent, living in reclusive peace ever since.

"Mm?"

Buddha Jueming was sitting cross-legged. He slowly opened his eyes. "The Moon Underwater Abyss? Empyrean God Darknorth actually managed to survive it?"

"This Darknorth also obtained the Forlorn World God and the Nine Yuan Annihilation, then?" Buddha Jueming mused. The Forlorn World God technique… was indeed the best Fiendgod-style technique that World God Northrest could bestow. The technique Ji Ning currently cultivated was also the Forlorn World God.

This artistry focused on 'forlorn stillness.'

Through endless stillness, one explored the mysteries of the divine body, and then broke through.

Thus, cultivating this method required quietude. Sometimes, a single session of sitting in meditation could last ten thousand years, or even a million years. Buddha Jueming, having sat for so long, naturally understood its secrets. In his own time, he had relied on this very method to break through to the True God level.

"Nine Yuan Annihilation. Now there is one more practitioner of this divine ability," Buddha Jueming thought to himself. "This technique possesses endless power, but it requires vast epochs to comprehend. This Darknorth has cultivated for far too short a time. Otherwise, he could be of great help in the coming calamity."

The longer one cultivated, the more one realized the terrifying power of both the Forlorn World God and Nine Yuan Annihilation. With these two supreme arts alone, one could become an absolute powerhouse among Elder Gods, and even cross into the World God level.

The news of Ji Ning's plan to fight was kept strictly confidential. Even the other great powers of Nuwa's camp, such as Buddha Jueming, did not know of it.

Only the leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects, the Three Sovereigns, and a dozen or so others were aware. Although they feared Ji Ning might fail, they still held a certain degree of hope. Naturally, they kept the secret closely guarded.

Day after day passed.

In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by.

Within a cave-heaven magic treasure.

Towering peaks rose one after another. Atop the highest peak, the seventeen avatars of Ji Ning's true body, along with the seventeen avatars of his Primaltwin, had all gathered together.

"The Golden Core refinement is complete."

"Begin the 'One Incense Stick of Enlightenment' technique."

Seventeen white-robed youths all sat in the lotus position. Gradually, two of them began to emit a hazy, white light from their entire bodies. Their divine bodies, Golden Cores, and souls all began to radiate the same hazy white light, within which mysterious divine runes flickered faintly. Ji Ning was merely imitating the process; this technique had been created by some great power in the primordial chaos, and the profundity of the runes was far beyond his understanding. He only needed to execute it.

"Huummmmm…"

The two white-robed youths began to draw closer. One of them flew directly into the other. The white light radiating from them surged powerfully.

It was warm and comfortable, beyond description.

Like a chick within its shell.

Like an infant in its mother's womb.

The ball of white light enveloped the faint figure within. In that moment, the encircled figure could not think at all. The Golden Core, soul, and divine body within were all beginning to merge. Only things that were completely of the same origin could fuse together. All of these avatars of Ji Ning's true body were utterly identical—their Golden Cores, divine bodies, and souls shared not a single difference!

If there had been even the slightest difference, fusion would have been impossible.

Ji Ning's Primaltwin, for instance, had been cultivated with the aid of a 'One-Prime Water Pearl,' which was vastly different from his true body. Thus, the Primaltwin and the true body could not fuse! Of course, the eighteen avatars of the Primaltwin itself could be merged with each other.

"Whoosh."

The hazy white light completely converged, drawn into the figure's body.

The white-robed figure solidified, and his consciousness was restored. The moment his awareness returned, Ji Ning immediately sensed the extraordinary changes: "My divine power has begun to subtly transform. The Pure Yang energy within my Golden Core has become far more refined. The space within my Golden Core has also expanded. My soul is stronger… and even my Heartforce has grown significantly."

Two perfectly identical souls merging into one would naturally become stronger. Every aspect of his being had been improved.

Back in the day, the 'Ninefangs Realm Lord,' when still an Elder God, had relied on the perfected Tao Wu Eighteen Fiendgod Art to surpass all other Elder Gods in every aspect, granting him absolutely transcendent strength.

"Merge again."

"Whoosh."

Another white-robed avatar merged into the true body. The true body's power continued to rise. Divine power, soul, Heartforce, and Ki power all underwent a transformation.

One by one, the avatars merged.

The One Incense Stick of Enlightenment technique relied on the avatars being inherently of the same origin. The more avatars fused, the stronger the cultivator naturally became. If Ji Ning could cultivate the legendary Thousand Avatars Sacred Scripture, the fusion of a thousand avatars would yield even more absurd results. An Empyrean God could become comparable to a True God.

A True God could compare to an Elder God.

An Elder God could compare to a World God! Such was the heaven-defying nature of the Thousand Avatars Sacred Scripture! Unfortunately, the cost of cultivating that technique was too great. Even for a weak Empyrean God to cultivate it, a World Heart was required. For someone more powerful, the cost was unimaginable. For a World God, who would be willing to give up a 'World Heart' for an Empyrean God to cultivate? Even if they did, an Empyrean God was still too weak to be of much help to a World God. Unless that Empyrean God cultivated all the way to the Elder God level… but the path of cultivation was incredibly difficult. Each major boundary crossed eliminated countless cultivators.

"Whoosh."

Every time an avatar of his true body was merged, it was a transformation.

Finally, the seventeen white-robed youths were fully merged into one, becoming the true body.

"What a peculiar feeling." Ji Ning's gaze swept his surroundings. His soul was incomparably more powerful than before. His ability to comprehend the 'Dao' had increased dramatically. Even when all thirty-six of his previous avatars had been comprehending simultaneously, it could not compare to the speed of this fused true body, which had undergone a qualitative change.

"So this is the Daofather level?"

Ji Ning murmured to himself.

All seventeen avatars possessed second-grade Golden Cores. Now, after their fusion, the Golden Core within his body could rival a first-grade Golden Core! A first-grade Golden Core True Immortal from the Ninefangs Chaosworld was indeed the equivalent of a Daofather from this side of the Three Realms. His Ki power was even more abundant.

"My Ki power is at the Daofather level."

"My divine body far surpasses that of an Empyrean God; I'm at the half-step True God level."

"My soul… should be about thirty to forty percent of the power of an average Daofather's soul. To reach the true Daofather level, I will need another hundred years of nurturing. Two of my seventeen avatars had long ago reached the second-grade Golden Core level, and their souls had been strongly nurtured. The other fifteen had only just entered the second-grade Golden Core level, so their souls haven't had enough time to strengthen."

Ji Ning understood this.

But it was enough.

His soul was now more than a hundred times more powerful than that of an ordinary Empyrean God or True Immortal. A Daofather could envelop the entire Three Realms with a single thought. If Ji Ning exerted himself, he could probably barely do the same. As for Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, they could normally only envelop a single Major World. Such was the gap in soul power!

…

"Compared to Daofather Sacredfire, my Ki power is on par with his. My sword technique realm is higher, but his sword technique is infused with the 'Heavenly Dao of Fire.' However, I also have a Chaos Treasure, my Northsea Sword." Ji Ning nodded to himself. "In terms of raw power, my true body should be about equal to Daofather Sacredfire."

"If I unleash the Rahu Formation."

"It would grant me the divine body of a top-tier Daofather. My strength would completely surpass Daofather Sacredfire."

"Dealing with an Emissary of All Things will be trivial!"

With a thought, Ji Ning activated a technique to suppress his aura. The powerful Daofather-level presence immediately became difficult to detect. This aura-suppression technique was not something Patriarch Subhuti had taught him; it was one of the many techniques World God Northrest had left for him. When roaming the primordial chaos, if your true strength was known to all, you would not live long.

The cave-heaven treasure Ji Ning was in was obtained from a True God of the World Prison. Even an Elder God or Ancestral Immortal would find it impossible to peer into.

"Whoosh."

Ji Ning turned his head to look beside him. The figures of his black-robed Primaltwin were also merging with each other. Soon, they had been consolidated into a single black-robed Ji Ning, who also possessed top-tier Daofather-level strength.

"Merging eighteen avatars instead of seventeen provides barely any additional improvement. It's better to keep one avatar as a backup seed. When contending with the Seamless Gate… it's safer to have a few more contingencies." With a flicker of his mind, Ji Ning vanished from the cave-heaven treasure.

Within the great hall of the Starseizing Major World.

"Greetings, Prefectural Lord."

Ninefang Empyrean God and Venomclaw Empyrean God, who had suddenly appeared before them, immediately bowed.

"Ninefang, immediately gather the army," Ji Ning commanded.

"Yes." Ninefang Empyrean God immediately went to make arrangements.

"Has Redcliff emerged from seclusion yet?" Ji Ning asked Venomclaw.

Venomclaw shook his head with a wry smile. "That red-haired one is still in closed-door cultivation. Who knows when he'll finally come out."

"No rush." Ji Ning nodded, then walked outside. Ninefang was the weakest of the seven Empyrean Gods, having only recently achieved divinity, and he was the most diligent, handling many of the day-to-day affairs.

Soon, in the square before the great hall, an immense army of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals had assembled.

"Whoosh."

The white-robed youth walked out of the great hall. Immediately, the gazes of the countless Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals fell upon Ji Ning. They all bowed in unison. "Prefectural Lord."

"Deploy the formation!" Ji Ning bellowed.

Countless Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals soared into the air. Ji Ning himself flew high into the sky, positioning himself at the very center of the celestial host. The power of heaven and earth surged, influencing the entire Starseizing Major World. A Fiendgod of boundless, terrifying might began to take shape. His body was a deep, dark black, with sleek, silvery-white fur at his waist. Six thick, powerful arms condensed into existence, and finally, a head bearing a striking resemblance to Ji Ning himself was formed.

The legendary Fiendgod, Rahu, had been born.

"This divine body is far more powerful than that of a True God," Ji Ning muttered, his six fists all clenching tight. "Boom…" The very space around him trembled.