The Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower

True God Shiyu was a being who valued his life above all else—exceptionally skilled in defense and escape. He bowed his head and submitted obediently.

After soul-searching him, Ji Ning took three Chaos treasures and departed.

"So that's how it is. A cultivator who shines so brightly among True Gods and True Immortals is bound to have had some extraordinary encounters." Ji Ning learned from the soul-search that True God Shiyu had once obtained the legacy of a deceased World God, acquiring four Chaos treasures. The Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower was one of them. He had traded the other two Chaos treasures for the pair of 'Darkwind Space-Tearing Staves'. The fact that, as a True God, he could trade blows with Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals was in no small part due to those staves.

True God Shiyu had also learned formidable divine abilities from that legacy. Unfortunately, such inheritances were always bound by Life Oaths, making them impossible to uncover even through soul-searching.

Ji Ning had examined the memories of many True Gods and True Immortals. Every cultivator who reached this level had their own unique fortunes.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning descended onto a mountain peak. As his hand turned over, a small pagoda appeared in his palm.

The pagoda was a silvery-white color, with a faint layer of golden light shimmering across its surface. It was a perfect pyramid in shape. As Ji Ning held it in his hand, he could vaguely sense a subtle disturbance in the spacetime around it. Under normal circumstances, spacetime was exceptionally stable. Patriarch Subhuti could influence spacetime, and this small pagoda could do the same.

"Refine." Ji Ning immediately sent his divine power into the Chaos treasure, rapidly refining it. The moment the refinement succeeded, the pagoda's aura was completely restrained. It became unremarkable, and the golden light vanished.

When not refined, a treasure's inherent power radiated outward.

Once refined, everything was at the owner's whim. Changing its surface appearance was a trivial matter.

"Enter." With a thought from Ji Ning, a simple, ordinary pyramid was left floating atop the mountain peak.

"Hmm?"

Ji Ning looked around. This was a space only about a hundred meters in diameter. It was a perfectly pyramid-shaped chamber, extremely stable, yet the flow of time here was clearly different.

"How extraordinary." Ji Ning looked up. At the very apex of the pyramid-shaped space, within the tip, there was a faint ring of light—the shimmering, oscillating spacetime. Similar faint rings of light could be seen at the other four corners of the space at their very tips. Ji Ning's divine power permeated the entire Chaos treasure, allowing him to observe the dense array of divine runes that continuously flowed within the body of the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower.

"Altering spacetime, and making it stable spacetime." Ji Ning let out a soft exclamation of wonder. "Mother Nuwa could do this back in the ancient days, but she had to rely on a grand formation, and it was fixed and immovable. But this is a Chaos treasure. In terms of technical mastery, the mighty figure who created the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower was likely even more powerful than Mother Nuwa was when she created the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Of course, Mother Nuwa entered the endless Chaos long ago. Her power now is probably far greater."

"Ten times."

Ji Ning's connection between his memory and his clone outside allowed him to clearly perceive the distinct difference in the flow of time between the inside and the outside.

"Speed up the flow of time." Ji Ning immediately began to experiment. His Ki began to rapidly deplete as the time flow increased, rising from the initial tenfold to twentyfold. Thiryfold, and the Ki consumption skyrocketed at an increasingly alarming rate.

"At twentyfold time flow, my Ki recovery and consumption are even."

"At thirtyfold, it's a bit strenuous."

"Fortyfold... still manageable."

"Fiftyfold... becoming difficult!"

Ji Ning stopped after raising the time flow to fifty times that of the outside world, a smile spreading across his face. "My true body and my Primaltwin are both inside the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower. The burden on the tower is enormous. It's better for my true body to go out and fight, while my Primaltwin cultivates quietly inside the tower."

The white-robed Ji Ning immediately left the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower, leaving only the black-robed Ji Ning inside.

Maintaining a fiftyfold time flow with only the Primaltwin inside was much easier.

"I can maintain fiftyfold, but my Ki consumption is still significant. It's much easier than before, though."

"Sixtyfold, the Ki consumption is quite fast."

"Seventyfold..."

"A hundredfold... that's difficult."

"Two hundredfold, the consumption is too fast."

"Three hundredfold, the consumption is terrifying."

To fully understand the tower's capabilities, Ji Ning recklessly increased the time flow.

Four hundredfold! Five hundredfold! Six hundredfold... One thousandfold!

When he reached a thousandfold, half of his Ki was consumed in a single breath, startling him into immediately stopping.

"So, the time flow in the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower has a limit." Ji Ning, through his mastery of the treasure, now understood its limits. He nodded to himself. "From what I can sense, a thousandfold is the absolute limit, but at a thousandfold, I can only maintain it for two breaths. I need to cultivate for long periods. I have to sustain it for at least a hundred years in the outside world. A hundred outside years means at least several thousand to tens of thousands of years inside the tower. If the consumption is too fast, no amount of pills would be enough."

After some estimation, and with the Calamity looming, Ji Ning decided to take the risk and maintain a hundredfold time flow.

"At a hundredfold time flow, as long as I prepare plenty of Grand Unity Immortal Pills, I should be able to maintain it for a long time. Now... it's time to return to the Three Realms." The white-robed Ji Ning put away the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower and promptly left the World Prison.

Inside the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower, the Primaltwin's purpose was to comprehend the Dao!

Ji Ning's goal was to comprehend a Heavenly Dao. Only by returning to the Three Realms could he attempt this; it was impossible to comprehend a Dao in the endless Chaos. Once he comprehended a Heavenly Dao, he could hope to become an Ancestral Immortal or an Elder God. His power would absolutely surpass the Leader level... However, Ji Ning dared not be complacent. The Lord of All Demons was an Elder God! In the ancient past, he had managed to escape from Mother Nuwa when she was already a World God. He was the being Ji Ning was most wary of. Moreover, nearly half a Chaos Cycle had passed since the Dawn War. Such a long period of time was enough for even an insignificant figure to become a great power. The true strength of both camps would likely remain unclear until the final battle.

And what exactly was the source of this Calamity?

It was still shrouded in mist!

Although he now stood at the pinnacle of the Three Realms, Ji Ning still yearned to climb higher.

Swoosh.

In the endless Void.

Ji Ning appeared out of thin air, looking at the distant Solar Star, blazing with boundless flames, and the cold, frozen Lunar Star.

"The Three Realms." Ji Ning murmured to himself. He then took out a talisman and poured Ki into it to notify his master.

"My disciple." Patriarch Subhuti's voice echoed in the surrounding void.

"Master, I wish to return to the Tristar Crescent Major World," Ji Ning said.

"Very well."

Instantly, a spatial vortex appeared in the void beside him. Ji Ning looked at it. He could now faintly sense that, besides the spatial distortion, there were also subtle temporal fluctuations. The Tristar Crescent Major World existed in a different temporal dimension from the other major worlds of the Three Realms, which was why no other great power could ever find their way there.

Stepping into the spatial vortex, Ji Ning vanished from the endless Void.

Blue sky, white clouds.

Ji Ning appeared in mid-air.

"Hmm?" He looked down in surprise. In the distance was a beautiful island.

"Master led me here?" Ji Ning was astonished. He had assumed the spatial vortex would lead directly to Mount Innerheart.

"Oh? Uncle White, Qingqing... and my daughter, Brightmoon, they're all on this island?" Ji Ning was even more shocked. One of his Primaltwin's avatars was permanently shadowing his daughter. That avatar cultivated in silence and would only reveal itself if Brightmoon encountered danger.

Now Ji Ning could sense that avatar's presence right there. His daughter, Qingqing, and Uncle White were all on this island.

"My daughter Brightmoon is already a Celestial Immortal. Why would she be staying here?"

"In the past, Master would always guide me directly to Mount Innerheart. Why did he lead me here this time?" Curious, Ji Ning began to descend. As he drew closer to the island, he felt a faint tremor in his heart. He looked carefully at the beautiful island, which now seemed more like a terrifying monster.

"This formation... so hidden, and just from what I can sense, it's incredibly terrifying." Ji Ning was filled with caution.

He was already at the Leader level, yet he could sense a tangible threat emanating from this island.

"Come in, my disciple." Patriarch Subhuti's voice rang out.

"Yes."

Ji Ning descended rapidly. Although the island was filled with countless terrifying, hidden formations, they did not obstruct him. He landed easily on the sandy beach and immediately saw cultivators flying through the air in the distance, as well as a cluster of palaces rising and falling, each radiating an oppressive aura.

"Isn't that Daofather Xiaoyao's 'Carefree Immortal Palace'? That's an extremely rare innate supreme-grade cave-treasure."

"And there's Daofather Xuelong's 'Three Realms Roaming Dragon Boat'?"

**