The Half-Step Elder God

Ji Ning opened his eyes, gazing at the beautiful blood lotuses floating in the air around him. Though a baleful aura enshrouded the surrounding space, it could not conceal their beauty. In a trance, Ji Ning seemed to see a beautiful figure amidst the endless sea of blood—the person he longed for most. She stood gracefully amid the blood lotuses, smiling at him.

“Senior apprentice-sister…”

Ji Ning murmured softly. After a moment of silence, he waved his hand and collected all the blood lotuses.

Then he sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate the Kuji World God technique.

Silence.

His heartbeat rapidly slowed, nearly stopping altogether. His blood ceased to flow. Ji Ning sat there like a withered log, utterly still. Yet his perception grew keener than ever.

“My divine body…” Following the feeling he had earlier, Ji Ning located a faint, pervasive sense of hunger throughout his entire body.

“This is it.”

“Let’s begin.”

Ji Ning activated the breakthrough technique.

“I’ll use the Sword Dao as my core.” Instantly, the divine power deep within every cell of Ji Ning’s divine body began to transform rapidly, each portion condensing into the shape of a tiny sword. Every unit of divine power was now a small sword. Ji Ning’s entire divine body was as if constructed from countless tiny swords, each one embodying the Grand Dao of the Sword.

To break through to True God, to Elder God, or even to World God…

One must always have a ‘Dao’ as a core.

Consider the same building materials.

If the construction technique is poor, the result is a shoddy structure.

If it is built well, it can last for millennia.

By the same principle, to forge a powerful divine body, one needs far more refined techniques. The ‘technique’ in this case is the Dao used as the core.

For Ji Ning, at the Empyrean God stage, his divine body had already reached perfection; there was no room for further improvement. To step into the higher ‘True God’ realm, his divine power needed to become far purer—more than a hundred times purer. This required the Dao core that constituted the divine power to undergo a fundamental transformation. When Ji Ning had become an Empyrean God, the core he used was the ‘Dao of Rainwater’. This time, breaking through to True God, Ji Ning decided to use the ‘Sword Dao’ as his core.

Within the Three Realms, there were no taboos regarding which Dao to use as the core for a breakthrough. One cultivated a Heavenly Dao and used that Heavenly Dao as the core to become a Daofather.

However…

The techniques passed down by World God Northrest contained detailed records on this matter.

With each major breakthrough in realm, as the divine body was restructured and perfected, the Dao core used must at the very least not be incompatible with the previous one. For example, if one used the ‘Dao of Blazing Fire’ when becoming an Empyrean God, but then used the ‘Grand Dao of Dripping Water’ when becoming a True God, the two would conflict. Though one could still become a True God, there would be no hope of ever reaching the Elder God stage!

For cultivators of the Three Realms, becoming a True God was already a great achievement, so they naturally paid no heed to such concerns.

But some cultivators in the endless Chaos had even higher aspirations. They learned from the lessons of their predecessors… enabling later generations to understand certain taboos. For instance, during breakthroughs, the Dao core chosen must never conflict with the previous one. If they conflicted, the divine body itself would be flawed from the outset, preventing one from going far.

Water and the Sword Dao—one is an elemental attribute, the other a path of attack. They do not conflict in the slightest, so naturally there are no hidden problems.

If both were elemental attributes—like Water and Fire, or Water and Metal—there would be some degree of hidden trouble, depending on how great the conflict.

If both were paths of attack—like the Sword Dao and the Saber Dao—there would also be hidden trouble.

…

Small troubles meant one could still become an Elder God, but becoming a World God would be far more difficult.

Great troubles, where the two are mutually incompatible, made even the Elder God stage nearly impossible, and the World God stage completely hopeless.

These were all secret pieces of information. In the endless Chaos, only those of high status—like World God Northrest, who came from the Heavenly Palace of Azure and possessed a high-quality inheritance—understood such secrets. Ordinary cultivators did not know them. Ji Ning very much wanted to tell his masters, but the techniques World God Northrest had passed down to him were bound by a life oath: he could not transmit them to a second person until he himself became a World God.

“Boom!”

As Ji Ning activated the breakthrough technique, his divine body generated an enormous, devouring suction. Within the World Prison, a grand formation had long been extracting the essence of Chaos to form ‘Chaos Nectar’. But as Ji Ning broke through, he frantically drew power from the endless Chaos, causing the previously calm Chaos within the prison to surge violently.

“Rumble…” The power drawn from the Chaos was absorbed into Ji Ning’s body, frantically transforming into divine power.

Using the Sword Dao as its core, the newly formed divine power was far purer than his former Empyrean power—it was already True God divine power.

The divine power was absorbed wildly, and Ji Ning’s divine body continuously transformed and evolved. Every portion of divine power within his body was undergoing metamorphosis…

“What’s going on?”

“Why can’t we absorb any divine power? Although the prison’s formation extracts power and blocks more than ninety percent of it, we can still absorb some. Now we can’t absorb a single bit!”

“What’s happening to the Chaos? It’s so turbulent and violent!”

The imprisoned Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, as well as the few True Gods and True Immortals like True God Shiyu who could still extract power from the Chaos, were all puzzled.

“A breakthrough?”

“Someone who practices the Fiendgod Body Refining path is breaking through. Judging by the intensity, at least to the True God stage, and perhaps even to the Elder God stage.” The prisoners who sensed the Chaos’s violence quickly understood. But they were confused. If someone had the strength to break through, they would ordinarily have done so in the outside world. Imprisoned here, unable to comprehend the Dao, no prisoner had made such a major breakthrough in the last three Chaos Cycles. Who was it?

Some prisoners thought of the new warden who had arrived.

“Is it that warden?” In the valley where his flowers had bloomed anew, True God Shiyu frowned.

…

The Fiendgod Body Refining techniques of the Three Realms generally absorbed the power of the stars. For example, the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens drew on the power of the Taiyin Star and the Sunstar. Other techniques drew on the Big Dipper or various other constellations.

Where did the power of the stars come from?

The Chaos condensed into stars, which then radiated power. In simple terms, stellar power was chaotic power that had been transformed by the stars. This type of power was easier to absorb.

The Kuji World God technique was far more profound. At the moment of breakthrough, it could draw power directly from the Chaos.

But this only happened for an instant during the breakthrough, much like how the Crimsonbright Diagram manifested the Taiyin True Water and Sunstar True Fire at the moment of breakthrough! During ordinary cultivation, one still had to steadily absorb stellar power. The Kuji World God technique could absorb the power of any star—even the icy star Ji Ning was currently residing on.

If Ji Ning gained some insight into the ‘Dao of Chaos,’ he would be able to draw power directly from the Chaos even during normal cultivation.

On the grassy plains.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged. A massive pit had formed in the earth near him, as if a meteor had crashed down—the aftermath of the turbulent Chaotic power that had erupted earlier.

“Whoosh.”

Ji Ning opened his eyes.

“I’ve changed.” Ji Ning could feel his newfound strength. Before, though he was an Empyrean God, his cultivation of the ‘Eighteen Fiendgod Avatars’ and the ‘One True Body’ technique had made him a half-step True God. Now that he had broken through to become a True God, he could be considered a half-step Elder God.

“Looking across the Three Realms…”

“Even the Three Purities, Tathagata the Buddha, even Suirenshi, Shennongshi, Fuxishi. Even the Seamless Gate’s Magic Hand Daofather and Lord Stonerule… all of them are merely True Gods.” Ji Ning murmured to himself. “I am also a True God, even a half-step Elder God. Finally… finally, I have the power to change the entire war situation of the Three Realms.”

The great powers of the Three Realms were all True God Daofathers.

The Three Purities, Tathagata, Suirenshi, Shennongshi, Fuxishi, Bodhi, Houyi, Magic Hand Daofather, Lord Stonerule… all were True Gods! And also Daofathers!

The reason they could display combat power at the leader level, comparable to ordinary Elder Gods, was because their comprehension of the Dao was far too profound.

Tathagata, for instance, had fully mastered all five Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and had combined them into a unified Five Elements cycle, massively boosting his power. His insights into the Dao of Chaos had also reached an inconceivable level! It was precisely by relying on this profound Dao comprehension that he could match an Elder God.

Fuxishi, Shennongshi, Suirenshi—they were all the same, with remarkably high Dao comprehension!

Whether it was comprehending the two Heavenly Daos of Yin and Yang or the five Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, it was this extreme depth of insight that allowed them to match Elder Gods!

The power levels of Daofathers could be divided as follows:

Ordinary Daofathers were the most common type—those who had comprehended one or two Heavenly Daos.

Top-tier Daofathers had generally reached the fifth level in powers like Taiji Force, Wuji Force, or Sword Force.

Leaders were at the Elder God level! In the primordial era, beings like Zhurong, Gonggong, the Ancestral Dragon, and the Phoenix were all Elder Gods. Though they were born grasping only a single Heavenly Dao and were far inferior to the Three Purities or Tathagata in terms of insight, their powerful divine bodies still granted them combat power at the leader level. Some had died in the ancient era of hegemon wars, and more had perished in the Primordial Destruction War.

Nuwa had also left.

Fuxi had reincarnated into the human race and had yet to awaken his past-life memories. He was merely a True God and Daofather, not an Elder God.

Among the Seamless Gate, some Elder Gods had also died in battle. The Lord of All Demons had even merged his truesoul with the Heavenly Dao.

Looking at the entire Three Realms…

The only true Elder God was the Lord of All Demons!

And next was Ji Ning, who could be considered a half-step Elder God!

“In terms of Dao comprehension, I still fall short compared to the other leaders. However, I walk the path of Sword Force. I rely on my fifth-level Sword Force and sword techniques that surpass the limits of the Heavenly Dao… combined with my half-step Elder God divine body, I should be at the leader level.” Ji Ning had fought Magic Hand Daofather before, so he had a very clear assessment of his own strength.

“The Seamless Gate… Godking!” Ji Ning’s eyes blazed with intense killing intent. Now that his power had grown, this killing intent surged, demanding release.

“I’ve changed.”

“The world will change too.”

Ji Ning murmured, his voice laden with boundless killing intent.

In the past, he had endured.

It was because he lacked sufficient strength! But now, he had enough power!

“No hurry. First, I’ll restore the surface layer of the Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword. With the Violet-Light Divine Sword in hand, my strength will rise another tier.” Ji Ning waved his hand, collecting the sword-dao steles and the jade-green temple around him. Then, transforming into a streak of black lightning, he vanished into the horizon in an instant, flying toward the location of the Five Elements God-Tripod.