The Assessment of the Grand Elder

“Ji Ning, the Sword Immortal Darknorth? The name sounds vaguely familiar.” The foreign Grand Elder reclined lazily against his throne, chin resting on one palm as he mused aloud. Then his eyes lit up. “Ah, I remember now. He’s the fastest-rising genius of the Three Realms these days. They say his talent is comparable to Houyi’s back in the day. If my memory serves me right, the intelligence reports from the Seamless Gate claimed that his true body had been destroyed by them. The one still alive should be only his Primaltwin.”

“A Primaltwin… How enviable. Those mortal creatures, climbing step by step, actually get the chance to condense a second soul. While beings like us, Fiendgods born from primordial chaos, don’t even have that opportunity.” The foreign Grand Elder shook his head with a sigh of regret.

“How could those mere mortals compare to you, Master?” one of the six golden-armored figures, a red-bearded elder, quickly chimed in.

“Hahaha…” The foreign Grand Elder burst into laughter, the sound echoing throughout the great hall.

When the laughter subsided, he looked down at the kneeling Emperor Youji below. “Youji, you claim this Ji Ning has the strength of a True God or Daofather? Isn’t he just a third-rate True Immortal? In the endless Chaos, such inferior True Immortals… are absolutely a dime a dozen.”

“Three of my tribesmen were killed by this Ji Ning. The last one, before he died, transmitted the scene he witnessed back to our clan’s territory,” Emperor Youji said respectfully.

“The scene he witnessed?” The foreign Grand Elder grew curious. “Let me see it.”

“As you command!” Emperor Youji acknowledged reverently. He then pointed to the empty space beside him, and a scene immediately manifested in the air. In the vision were three grey-robed foreigners. Suddenly, a streak of black lightning flashed, instantly piercing through all three of them. The black lightning was far too fast. Though the three grey-robed foreigners sensed the danger and tried to flee, they simply could not escape.

The black lightning was nothing more than a single flash.

Two of the three pierced grey-robed foreigners died instantly. The third was heavily wounded. A white-robed youth materialized, reaching out his hand to perform a soul-search on the last foreigner, but that grey-robed figure immediately committed suicide.

“Incredibly fast.” The foreign Grand Elder’s eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily. “That idiot Seamless Gate claimed Ning’s true body was dead. But what he just used was the Lightning-Serpent Teleportation technique… That kind of escape art requires a Fiendgod body to master. Clearly, this Ji Ning’s true body isn’t dead at all. The mighty Seamless Gate can’t even get something like this right.”

“Indeed, he isn’t dead.” A one-armed man among the golden-armored figures below frowned. “And more importantly, to be able to instantly kill three Heavenly Gods while executing the Lightning-Serpent Teleportation… he didn’t use a sword just now; he used his finger to execute the sword art… This level of swordsmanship… formidable. Extremely formidable.”

Emperor Youji, still kneeling, added, “The Blade Lord is correct. Within the Three Realms, this Ji Ning is recognized as having unparalleled sword arts. They say he has reached the Fourth Layer of Sword Force, and his sword’s speed surpasses the limit of the Heavenly Daos.”

The foreign Grand Elder had six attendants under his command, but Emperor Youji’s true respect was reserved only for this one-armed man.

“No.” The one-armed, golden-armored man shook his head. “To maintain such effortless, flawless swordsmanship while also executing the Lightning-Serpent Teleportation… This level of perfection and ease in his sword techniques can no longer be achieved by the Fourth Layer of Sword Force alone. My guess is… he has likely reached the Fifth Layer of Sword Force.”

“What?!”

“The Fifth Layer of Sword Force?”

“How is that possible?” The other golden-armored figures all cried out in shock. Emperor Youji was also stunned.

The foreign Grand Elder atop the throne furrowed his brow and looked at the one-armed man. “Blade, are you certain of what you see?”

“It is merely my speculation. He executed his sword art far too quickly, and while using the Lightning-Serpent Teleportation at the same time, it was difficult for me to see clearly. It is only a guess.” The one-armed man, addressed as ‘Blade,’ finished speaking and fell silent.

The foreign Grand Elder sank into thought.

These six subordinates of his were all experts he had subdued during his travels through the endless Chaos. Among them, the one-armed man ‘Blade’ had chosen to follow him out of gratitude for saving his life, addressing him as ‘Master.’ He was the only attendant the foreign Grand Elder truly respected. As for the others? He treated them however he pleased, often with casual abuse.

Since arriving at the Ancient Ruins, even the most powerful native Grand Elders here, including the top-tier ones like Emperor Youji himself, had been easily subdued by him.

“If Blade dares to say it, there is likely some truth to it,” the foreign Grand Elder mused silently.

There were commonalities between the use of the blade and the use of the sword; both were supreme arts of attack and destruction.

“If he truly has reached the Fifth Layer of Sword Force?” The foreign Grand Elder looked again at the looping scene in the air, showing Ji Ning killing the three grey-robed foreigners. “To have reached such a realm in less than a thousand years of cultivation… truly terrifying. Of course, Blade’s guess could be wrong. But regardless, to have accomplished this much in such a short time, he certainly has the strength of a True God or Daofather.”

“Interesting.” The foreign Grand Elder smiled.

“Wuxiao.” The foreign Grand Elder sent a direct mental transmission. “Come here.”

In another hall within the fortress, the Celestial Immortal Wuxiao was leisurely drinking wine. He was the Seamless Gate’s messenger stationed here. This body of his was merely a puppet; even if it were destroyed, he wouldn’t care in the slightest. He was completely at ease.

“Coming.” Wuxiao picked up his wine jug, rose to his feet, and walked out. Moments later, he arrived at the foreign Grand Elder’s location, meeting no resistance along the way.

“Greetings, ‘Great Demon God Cixiu.’” Celestial Immortal Wuxiao gave a beaming, respectful bow.

“Every time I see you, I’m delighted.” The foreign Grand Elder on the throne grinned. “Back then, that buffoon ‘Lord of All Demons’ always wore that sour expression in front of me. If it weren’t for the fact that he had so many followers and that batch of indestructible ‘Envoys of All Demons,’ I would have killed that idiot long ago. I never got to see how that fool died back then, but seeing you now… seeing you, the artifact spirit of his original vessel… it brings me joy all the same.”

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao continued to beam, completely unperturbed.

He had been enslaved by the Seamless Gate and had become a servant of the Lord of All Demons. A little teasing from this Great Demon God was nothing he cared about.

“You were originally the artifact spirit of the ‘Wuxiao Divine Cauldron.’ That fool ‘Lord of All Demons’ used that cauldron to forge the cores for his puppets. You’ve learned all those techniques yourself by now… But look at you, enslaved by the Seamless Gate. Is that any way to live? Why not just defect to me instead?” the foreign Grand Elder said with a smile.

“You?” Celestial Immortal Wuxiao said carelessly, “I don’t care either way. If you can defeat my master, the Lord of All Demons, then I will gladly defect to you.”

“The Lord of All Demons?” The foreign Grand Elder frowned.

That monstrous talent.

This ‘Three Realms’ of theirs could indeed produce monstrous beings. That native goddess, Nuwa, had even cultivated all the way to the World God level. That was monstrous enough. And this ‘Lord of All Demons’ was even more outrageous — he had managed to escape with a large group of elites right in front of that World God, ensuring that even a World God couldn’t catch him. It must be understood that a World God completely surpasses the limits of the Heavenly Daos, in both speed and all other aspects. Yet this person managed to outrun one. The cultivators of the Three Realms probably had no idea how terrifying that was. But ‘Great Demon God Cixiu,’ who had traveled the endless Chaos, understood very well that stepping into the World level was a fundamental transformation.

The gap between an Elder God and a World God was simply too vast.

For a World God to be unable to catch up… it meant that the ‘Lord of All Demons’ had attained an utterly incomprehensible level of Dao insight.

The Three Realms now had two major factions.

Nuwa’s camp. Before leaving, Empress Nuwa had surely left behind some techniques and methods. This made the foreign Grand Elder very cautious.

The Seamless Gate. The one he feared most was the Lord of All Demons.

Both sides gave him pause, which was precisely why he had never launched an attack on the Three Realms, and had even been willing to form an alliance with the Seamless Gate.

“Enough of that.” The foreign Grand Elder pointed to the looping scene in the air. “Take a look at this.”

Wuxiao turned his head to look. The moment he saw it, his expression changed. The white-robed youth who had transformed into black lightning and was about to perform a soul-search… that was Ji Ning!

“Ji Ning.” Wuxiao’s beaming smile vanished, replaced by an ashen expression. “The Lightning-Serpent Teleportation? His true body is still alive?”

“You noticed?” The foreign Grand Elder spoke cheerfully. “Your Seamless Gate told me that Ji Ning’s true body was dead. It seems even the Lord of All Demons, Daofather Magic Hand, and several others made a move… Yet now, here he is, appearing in Youji’s World. And it seems to be his true body.”

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao stared at the looping scene in the air, forcing down the rage and hatred churning within him. He spoke in a low voice: “Great Demon God Cixiu, this is indeed a mistake on the part of my Seamless Gate. I have already reported this matter upward. I believe my master will issue orders very soon.”