The Cost of a Comeback

Standing alone deep within the gorge, Ji Ning's Heartforce nevertheless shrouded the entire frozen star, spreading outward like ripples on a lake, sweeping across every inch of ground it covered.

This was a small technique of Heartforce investigation.

It was one of the many methods left behind by World God Northrest. Although it was merely a minor trick, with this 'Heartforce investigation technique', there was not a single mighty figure in the entire Three Realms who could track Ji Ning without being discovered.

When venturing through the endless chaos, many minor techniques—methods for concealing one's aura, Heartforce investigation, shape-shifting arts, Heartforce soul-locking—although they could not increase one's combat power, they could greatly enhance one's ability to survive. Without these abilities, it was all too easy to fall and die while roaming the endless chaos.

These minor techniques might seem unremarkable, but they were all first-rate methods passed down by World God Northrest. Even amongst the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals of the Nine Chaos Fleets, very few possessed them.

"I thought that after my explosive display of power this time, the Seamless Gate would be more cautious towards me, perhaps even try to track me. I was careful enough to circle around several times before coming here... but it seems they no longer consider me a threat." The black-robed Ji Ning sighed inwardly. Before coming to this frozen star, he had also made a trip to the Tristar Crescent Major World.

He had done so to prevent the Seamless Gate from tracking him. Unfortunately, the Seamless Gate hadn't tracked him at all.

"Right. Since I'm not participating in the struggle for qi of fortune, the threat I pose to them is indeed greatly reduced. To these mighty figures, without the position of 'Emissary of All Things', I am still far too weak!" The black-robed Ji Ning shook his head, then vanished with a soft whoosh.

...

Within the World Prison.

A white-robed youth sat cross-legged on the ground. Before him was a great cauldron that faintly emanated a lustrous gleam—the Five Elements God-Tripod. It was no longer the dirty, grimy object it had once been; its extraordinary nature was now clearly visible.

"He's here." The white-robed youth looked up.

Far off in the distance, the black-robed Ji Ning flew over and descended. A black, lightning-like serpent instantly appeared, then swiftly flew into the white-robed youth's body. The true body and its avatars were all Lightning Serpent Bodies, allowing them to perfectly and effortlessly control the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent. The Primaltwin, despite its formidable power, was unable to control it.

"I've consumed a massive quantity of magic treasures—almost all of the ones I obtained from the World Prison were refined by the Five Elements God-Tripod, completely consumed, to condense a vast amount of Five Elements Essence. And yet... I couldn't even restore the surface layer of the Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword." The black-robed Ji Ning looked to the side. There was an ancient stone platform, upon which rested a divine sword. Its body was blood-red in color and covered in cracks.

The Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword. If it absorbed a bit of Five Elements Essence, as long as its surface layer was intact, it could be used in battle, and its power would already far surpass Chaos Treasures.

If it absorbed enough Five Elements Essence to fully repair the sword's body, its might would drive even Chaos Immortals and World Gods to madness.

"I feel like the surface layer is only about one-fifth restored." Ji Ning shook his head silently.

The World Prison.

He had over a thousand Celestial Immortals and Empyrean Gods, and he had looted every single one of them!

He had also obtained quite a few treasures from True Gods and True Immortals. Aside from a very small number that he kept for himself, everything else had been refined.

"And this is only to refine the Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword. This is just a restoration, and only the surface layer at that... and it requires such an immense amount of Five Elements Essence. If I used this much Five Elements Essence to upgrade my Heavenly Stargold Beads, I could probably elevate at least a few of them to the Chaos Treasure level." Ji Ning mused.

Five Elements Essence was primarily used to restore magic treasures. It could also be used to strengthen certain special treasures.

Some treasures had an excellent fundamental structure and could withstand the infusion of even more Five Elements Essence, allowing them to be strengthened.

The Heavenly Stargold Beads were no ordinary treasure.

They were not spirit-treasures born from nature after Pangu separated heaven and earth. They were originally formed from the condensed essence of enormous stars that had fallen into decay within the endless chaos. These essences crystallized into cores. These cores drifted about, and by sheer coincidence, were drawn into Pangu's world as he was splitting heaven and earth, thus becoming innate spirit-treasures.

In truth, this type of crystal core was a very precious forging material!

The essence of a small Chaostar that collapsed could not condense into a crystal core. Only a sufficiently large Chaostar could form a 'crystal core'. Each crystal core was a precious forging material, generally used to refine Chaos Treasures. Because they had drifted into the freshly created Pangu's World, they had naturally become the 'Heavenly Stargold Beads', used solely for 'smashing' people.

A gross misuse of precious material!

The innate spirit-treasures born from Pangu's Chaosworld itself had very limited potential. But the Heavenly Stargold Beads still had considerable potential. They could fully withstand a certain amount of Five Elements Essence and be elevated to the Chaos Treasure level. Unfortunately, to elevate all three thousand six hundred 'Heavenly Stargold Beads' to Chaos Treasures was something Ji Ning could only dream about.

"Over three thousand Chaos Treasures?" Ji Ning shook his head silently. Even if he refined every single magic treasure in the World Prison, it likely wouldn't be enough.

By the side of the Five Elements God-Tripod, the white-robed youth sat cross-legged. Before him was a bottle of Chaos Nectar.

Huff.

Drop by drop, the mysterious Chaos Nectar was drawn into the white-robed youth's body. Immediately afterwards, a phantom figure flew out from the white-robed youth and coalesced into another white-robed youth beside him.

Time flowed on, and one white-robed youth after another was condensed. In essence, Ji Ning was still at the second layer of the Eighteen Deities of Talwu. He had only relied on the Unite into One Venerate secret art to merge his seventeen avatars into a single entity. Now, using the Eighteen Deities of Talwu method to absorb Chaos Nectar and recover his avatars, he was once again reconstituting the other seventeen avatars.

"The Icefire Golden Core Refining Art."

Each of the seventeen white-robed youths had a mass of Nine-Yang Magma and a mass of Iceheart Marrow floating before them.

The black-robed Ji Ning watched the floating Nine-Yang Magma and Iceheart Marrow from the side, sighing inwardly. "There's still a fair amount of Nine-Yang Magma, but the Iceheart Marrow is running low. After this consumption, only about a hundred thousand jin of Iceheart Marrow will remain."

His true body had been destroyed this time.

By relying on Chaos Nectar, Iceheart Marrow, and Nine-Yang Magma, he could fully recover his strength in just one short month!

But if his true body were destroyed again, with insufficient Iceheart Marrow and too little Chaos Nectar, recovering would take a very long time. Just like the Shaoyin Chou of old, if too many avatars died, recovery required a long period of time.

...

A month later.

The seventeen white-robed youths, whose golden cores had been refined and elevated, once again executed the Unite into One Venerate secret art, merging back into a single entity.

"Strength restored."

The white-robed Ji Ning's eyes held a trace of killing intent.

He could not forget the Godking's slaughter of senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei. That scene would likely remain unforgettable for him throughout the endless ages to come.

"Godking. I'm still not strong enough now. Just wait, I'll be back." Ji Ning's resolve was boundless.

"Let's go."

Swoosh.

The white-robed Ji Ning waved his hand, collecting the black-robed Ji Ning, then rose into the air and flew off into the distance.

Only a single white-robed avatar remained before the Five Elements God-Tripod. This avatar was the foundation for Ji Ning's comeback. Even if his true body were destroyed, he could gradually cultivate his way back. Thus, Ji Ning would absolutely never use the Unite into One Venerate secret art to merge this avatar as well. If he did, should he die, it would be a true death.

...

After flying for a short while.

The white-robed Ji Ning rapidly descended. On the plains before him stood a multitude of stone steles, scattered haphazardly across the landscape. Surrounding these steles was an exquisite碧玉 (jade-green) palace.

"This grievous wound was a disaster, but being able to cross blows with the Darklight Swordmaster, Daofather Shadowless, and Daofather Magic Hand... for me, it could be considered a 'blessing'." Ji Ning mused. Although he had also fought against True Gods and True Immortals in the World Prison, the imprisoned True Gods and True Immortals generally had not comprehended a 'Heavenly Dao'.

If they had comprehended a Heavenly Dao, they would have become Ancestral Immortals!

Because they hadn't comprehended a Heavenly Dao, these True Gods and True Immortals were generally on par with ordinary Daofathers in terms of power. Occasionally, a few could reach the 'top-tier Daofather' level through divine abilities. But the Darklight Swordmaster and Daofather Shadowless were both experts amongst the top-tier Daofathers. As for Daofather Magic Hand, she was at the 'Leader' level!

Although the foundations of these Daofathers of the Three Realms were somewhat weaker compared to those of the Nine Chaos Fleets, their comprehension of the Dao was far superior to those imprisoned True Gods and True Immortals. Amongst the imprisoned Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals of the Nine Chaos Fleets, very few could match Daofather Magic Hand in terms of Dao comprehension.

Daofather Magic Hand's palm technique was hailed as the number one palm technique in the Three Realms, surpassing even the Buddha Tathagata.

Having crossed blows with her, Ji Ning naturally gained many insights.

"I need to carefully ponder this, to silently meditate. Perhaps I can use this opportunity to reach the Fifth Layer of Sword Force." Ji Ning immediately strode into the碧玉 (jade-green) palace. He sat down on a cushion woven from the chaotic treasure 'Heart of Winter Grass', swiftly calming his mind, and began to silently meditate and contemplate. He recalled every scene from his clashes with the Darklight Swordmaster, Daofather Shadowless, and Daofather Magic Hand.