The Secret of the Daofather-Level Ki

After achieving mastery of the Five Treasures Sword Art, comprehending the Dao in reverse was extremely fast.

Yet the great powers of the Three Realms lacked the confidence to master the Five Treasures Sword Art. If one became stuck at a bottleneck, while all the Daos they had previously understood were forgotten… disaster would strike. Those like Ji Ning, whose original strength was not high, were the only ones bold enough to gamble.

…

Inside Ji Ning's Grotto Heaven treasure.

The black-robed Ji Ning waved his hand, and a gourd appeared beside him. He looked at the gourd and murmured to himself, “It's time to refine the Myriad Emissary.”

“Pah.” He pulled out the gourd stopper. The monkey-shaped Myriad Emissary, its body wreathed in flames and still bound by innate spirit-treasure ropes, tumbled onto the ground.

The Myriad Emissary's eyes opened wide as it glared at Ji Ning. “You captured me, but you will never obtain the Myriad Emissary!”

“Is that so?” The black-robed Ji Ning said coldly.

“What use is it that you've bound me? You can't get inside at all!” the Myriad Emissary growled. “You can't damage the Myriad Emissary in the slightest. Not you—not even the most powerful Daofathers of the Three Realms can damage the Myriad Emissary!”

Ji Ning shook his head. “What if I forcibly refine the Myriad Emissary?”

“Forcibly refine? If it were a Daofather, perhaps. But you?” the Myriad Emissary roared. “Go ahead and try.”

The Myriad Emissary was essentially a type of magic treasure. Currently, the ‘owner’ of this treasure was the Bloodwave Empyrean God, who dwelled inside it. Bloodwave Empyrean God believed that Ji Ning was also an Empyrean God or True Immortal, with equivalent divine power and ki. Thus, forcible refinement was impossible, because Bloodwave Empyrean God could continuously supply ki from within to resist Ji Ning's refining.

“Try and see, won't you?” The black-robed Ji Ning pointed from afar.

Torrential ki poured into the Myriad Emissary. As soon as it entered, he sensed Bloodwave Empyrean God's control over the treasure. Bloodwave Empyrean God had already seized control and held the home-field advantage. Unless one was far stronger than Bloodwave Empyrean God, wresting control of the puppet was impossible. But ki comparable to a Daofather's was clearly far beyond Bloodwave Empyrean God's, and it began to gradually seep in.

Crackle… crackle… It kept invading, slowly taking over.

“Impossible!” Bloodwave Empyrean God was stunned. “How can his ki be this strong? How…” He could clearly sense that the invading ki was far purer and more abundant than the Pure Yang True Immortal level.

“You… you… you became a Daofather?” Bloodwave Empyrean God couldn't believe it. “Impossible! If you became a Daofather, you would have to first completely comprehend a Heavenly Dao. Once you comprehend a Heavenly Dao, it cannot be hidden.”

Ji Ning smiled calmly.

Indeed, comprehending a Heavenly Dao could not be hidden. The resonance with the Heavenly Dao would first be detected by the Lord of Demonheart, who had merged with the Heavenly Dao. However, Ji Ning was merely a True Immortal—merely one comparable to a First-Class True Immortal. If his Golden Core were First-Class, then with the Eighteen Fiendgods of Taowu and the One True Body Technique, he would be even more powerful than a First-Class True Immortal.

But a First-Class True Immortal had to condense a First-Class Golden Core during the tribulation.

“Impossible… how could you become a Daofather…” Bloodwave Empyrean God could not understand. Suddenly, he realized that the powers on his side did not yet know Ji Ning had become a Daofather. This was absolutely a secret.

Boom—

Suddenly, a surge of mind power burst out of the Myriad Emissary's surface, shooting into the distance in an attempt to escape the Grotto Heaven treasure.

“Trying to send word?” Ji Ning said calmly. “Don't bother. Your mind power cannot escape this Grotto Heaven treasure.”

This Grotto Heaven treasure was so secret that even the mental sense of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals could not penetrate it or investigate its contents. As for Bloodwave Empyrean God? If Ji Ning did not permit it, he could forget about sending his mind power outside.

…

Ji Ning was not worried that Bloodwave Empyrean God could send word. Bloodwave Empyrean God had no Primaltwin!

Secondly, even if Bloodwave Empyrean God had an avatar outside, it didn't matter.

What was an ‘avatar’? Even a Void Fiendgod could pluck a hair and transform it into an avatar—a single drop of blood could become one. At the Daofather level, a single thought could condense an avatar. However, avatars could only exist by relying on the original body. For Void Fiendgods, the avatar had to stay very close; once the distance grew too large, the avatar would naturally dissipate.

For Daofathers, avatars had to remain constantly connected to the original body.

Because of this faint connection, with the support of the original body, the avatar could have consciousness, think, and speak. Consider this: if a soul lost too much—say seventy or eighty percent—the damage would be so severe that death was immediate. But an avatar condensed by a Daofather's thought had no soul at all, yet it could survive. Why? Because it relied on the original body.

Now, Bloodwave Empyrean God was trapped inside the Grotto Heaven treasure. This was a treasure Ji Ning had specifically selected from the spoils of the Ninefang Chaos Country prisoners—the most secretive one, capable of blocking the detection of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, and severing all connection.

Once connection was severed, even if Bloodwave Empyrean God had an avatar outside, with no link to the original body, the avatar would collapse.

Furious and unwilling as he was, Bloodwave Empyrean God could only watch as Ji Ning steadily refined the Myriad Emissary. After nearly half an hour, Ji Ning finally succeeded.

“Out.” With a single thought.

Whoosh.

Bloodwave Empyrean God was teleported out. The moment he emerged, his eyes turned red and he charged wildly at Ji Ning.

“Hmph.” The black-robed Ji Ning's gaze turned cold. Instantly, the Thirty-Six Heavens transformed into flag-banners that appeared around him. Thirty-six banners interweaved, instantly surrounding Bloodwave Empyrean God completely. Amidst screams and furious roars, Bloodwave Empyrean God was utterly annihilated.

The gap between an Empyrean God and a Daofather was still too vast. Without a special opportunity, it was almost impossible to cross that chasm.

“The Myriad Emissary.”

The black-robed Ji Ning willed his Thirty-Six Heavens to retract, then vanished in a flash and appeared inside the Myriad Emissary.

“What an exquisite puppet.” Ji Ning stood within, sensing the puppet's interior. Even as its master, he could not damage it in the slightest.

“Fortunately… this puppet wasn't damaged.” Ji Ning breathed a sigh of relief in secret.

During the ancient Dawn War, the Lord of All Demons had led a group of Myriad Emissaries. When those Myriad Emissaries perished, each one's internal critical components shattered and broke. As a result, although Mother Nuwa ultimately won, the Myriad Emissaries she obtained as spoils were nothing more than broken lumps, completely unusable.

What Ji Ning did not know was that the way the Lord of All Demons had used the Myriad Emissaries was completely different from the way Master Wuxiao used them.

Back then, the Lord of All Demons had cruelly refined the souls of Daofathers into the Myriad Emissaries, making each one absolutely loyal. Such unquestioningly loyal troops were exactly what the Lord of All Demons needed. When he died, the Myriad Emissaries also suffered key internal damage, ensuring the enemy could never claim them. Master Wuxiao, however, lacked the means to seize and refine Daofather souls; he could only let living Daofathers pilot them.

“Such a powerful puppet… and this is its core? Five Chaos Crystals?” Ji Ning discovered the Myriad Emissary's energy source.

An Empyrean God could use the Myriad Emissary to unleash the strength of a top-tier Daofather. Naturally, the energy source could not come from an Empyrean God. Rather, its power came from five Chaos Crystals, each imbued with the properties of one of the Five Elements — Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Combined, they released an astonishingly vast amount of energy. An Empyrean God could not fully control this energy, but a Daofather's ki could, allowing the Myriad Emissary to advance even further.

“The power… it's even stronger than the Rahu God. No wonder it's said to be comparable to the leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects.” Ji Ning was shaken. It would probably take ten Rahu Gods working together to match this single Myriad Emissary.

The difference between an Empyrean God piloting it and a Daofather piloting it was enormous.

…

Inside the massive imperial palace, in Ji Ning's residence.

“Brother Northmont.”

“It shames us that we could only meet you now, Northmont.” The Crocodile Dragon Empyrean God led a group of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to pay a visit.

The white-robed Ji Ning received them with a smile. He could feel the gratitude, admiration, and excitement in the hearts of these Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. They all understood that Ji Ning was the greatest contributor and hero of the Zhuolu Major World war, and with the strength he had displayed, he could astound them again in the battles to come, even in the final showdown for the struggle over fortune.

If Ji Ning was strong, their side had a better chance of winning.

These Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were naturally grateful, naturally in awe.

“They place their hopes on me. Well, let them.” Ji Ning stood alone by the railing after seeing the guests off, gazing at the endless starry sky. “The Seamless Gate… I am already resolved to fight them with everything I have. And as for that Godking… I must slay him.”

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