The Ascension of the Northmoon Sword Immortal

“The Human Sovereign.” Ji Ning sent a mental message. “I know the origins of those three alien creatures.”

“Oh?” Fuxi looked at him.

“Isn’t the Human Sovereign skilled with flame?” Ji Ning sent mentally. “Just use the Inextinguishable Flame to burn the three of them… and they will retreat on their own.”

Ji Ning was correct. The Water Cliff Clan were lifeforms born from water. Their bodies were incredibly tough, and even if injured, they would heal as quickly as flowing water, consuming almost no divine power. They were practically ‘immortal bodies.’ However, such an innate talent was not without weakness. There were three ways to deal with the Water Cliff Clan.

The first was to rely on absolute power. A World God could completely crush them into ash, leaving not a trace! But this option was clearly beyond Ji Ning and the others. The second was to attack them repeatedly, grievously wounding them each time. As long as the injuries were severe enough—for example, chopping them apart—there would still be a cost to recovery. Once a sufficient threshold was reached, these three Water Cliff Clan members would not be able to hold out.

However, this method would require a great deal of time. What Ji Ning and the others needed most right now was time. Buddha Tathagata could not hold on much longer.

And so…

Only the third method remained.

The Water Cliff Clan were purely water-aspected lifeforms. They could be overcome by using fire to counter them! They were most afraid of fire, but the stronger a Water Cliff Clan member was, the more resilient they were to flames. At the True God level… ordinary Heavenly Fire and True Fire would be useless. One needed flames of the ‘Sunstar Golden Flame’ level. Suiren’s Inextinguishable Flame was also of this level.

“The Inextinguishable Flame is useful?” Fuxi wasn’t particularly skilled with this type of flame.

His Water-Fire Annihilation Formation was designed to employ the ‘Inextinguishable Flame’ and the ‘Supreme Yin Essence.’ The Inextinguishable Flame was provided by Suiren. Although Fuxi had fully comprehended both the Heavenly Dao of Yin and the Heavenly Dao of Yang and could control the Inextinguishable Flame and the Supreme Yin Essence, this was an area-of-effect attack. Its killing power against a single target wasn’t that strong, which was why Fuxi hadn’t used this tactic.

Despite his doubts, Fuxi trusted Ji Ning.

“Release!”

Fuxi and the other three True Gods and Daofathers had held the upper hand, but the three golden-armored aliens had been persistently harassing them. Now, with a soft shout from Fuxi, a grand formation covering several hundred kilometers instantly appeared around them. Within the formation, the ‘Supreme Yin Essence’ retreated to the side, and a vast amount of Inextinguishable Flame surged forth. It was a seemingly warm flame, ordinary at first glance, lacking the domineering nature of the ‘Sunstar Golden Flame,’ but carrying a warmth that touched the soul.

The moment the flame appeared, the previously relaxed expressions of the three golden-armored aliens changed drastically. When the flames touched one of them, they cried out in alarm, “Ancestral Fire! Quick, flee!”

“Go!”

The three golden-armored aliens dared not continue the fight. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! They immediately transformed into three streams of water and fled into the distance.

Fuxi and the others tried to intercept them, but the streams of water were formless and escaped with incredible speed, quickly burrowing into the distant formation.

“If I’d known they were this afraid of fire, I would have released the Inextinguishable Flame long ago,” Fuxi said. With a thought, he recalled the Water-Fire Annihilation Formation. He had been preparing to use it during the great tribulation for mass slaughter. When fully deployed, it could envelop an entire major world and pose a significant threat to peak Daofathers, though it was generally just a minor nuisance for leader-level existences.

“Ordinary flames wouldn’t have frightened them,” Ji Ning said.

Within the endless chaos…

The classification of fire was very clear: Heavenly Fire, True Fire, and Primordial Fire.

Primordial Fire represented the ancestor of all flames! The Sunstar Golden Flame and the Inextinguishable Flame had both reached a certain limit. The Three Realms didn’t use this terminology, mainly because such flames were too rare there. The only known examples were the ‘Sunstar Golden Flame,’ the ‘Inextinguishable Flame,’ and the ‘Zhurong Divine Fire.’ In reality, different cultivation methods and different comprehensions of the Dao would produce different kinds of Primordial Fire. If one tried to name them all, it would be impossible.

Only in the Three Realms could each be given a unique name. In the boundless chaos, they were all uniformly called ‘Primordial Fire’ level!

To rise above this… would be a qualitative leap, a return to the origin of flame, known as ‘Chaos Fire.’ This was a flame that only World Gods and Chaos Immortals could normally control. Some freakish Ancestral Gods or Ancestral Immortals might have a chance, but that possibility was far too low. In the endless chaos, encountering such a prodigy was a hundred or a thousand times more difficult than finding the Heavenly Palace of Azure.

“You…” Fuxi suddenly froze.

Ji Ning looked at him.

“You’ve reached the leader level?” Fuxi stared at Ji Ning, both shocked and delighted.

At that very moment, in the Three Realms, at the Hall of Ten Thousand Clans.

The Nuwa Camp was in an uproar.

“Kongxiu, this is no joking matter.” Patriarch Subhuti, seated in the main hall, was startled.

“Right, Kongxiu. This isn’t something to say casually. Close to the leader level and being at the leader level… these are two completely different things. Ji Ning’s strength is formidable, and he displayed extraordinary power. You mustn’t be mistaken and mistake him for being at the leader level.” Carefree Sovereign had lost his usual carefree demeanor and quickly interjected to remind him.

In the entire Hall of Ten Thousand Clans, many great powers were now staring at Kongxiu.

“What Kongxiu says is correct.” Daofather Redspirit, who stood beside Kongxiu, also spoke up. “I, Yuding, and five others witnessed it with our own eyes. Northmoon’s power has already far surpassed the seven of us combined. The formation created by the two Sovereigns and six True Gods and Daofathers… the seven of us couldn’t break it no matter what. But Northmoon merely pierced through it with his bare hands and annihilated those eight True Gods and Daofathers.”

“Annihilated eight True Gods and Daofathers?” The many great powers were even more shaken.

“That’s not all. The other eight True Gods and Daofathers who had been besieging us… seeing the situation turn bad, they tried to flee, but they were all killed by Northmoon as well.” Redspirit shook his head. “Sixteen True Gods and Daofathers, including four Sovereigns. In just a short moment, they were effortlessly slaughtered by Northmoon. From today onward… the four Sovereigns of the Ancient Wasteland are just a legend. Oh, I heard that the Tumor-Eye Sovereign still has a clone.”

The hall was first silent, with the great powers looking at each other.

Then a clamor arose.

Many great powers began to speak, wanting to inquire further.

“Enough.” A voice rang out. The great powers looked up to see the Buddha Tathagata seated at the highest place.

“Ji Ning has indeed reached the leader level.” Buddha Tathagata nodded. “I heard the curses of an alien leader-level power!”

“Congratulations.” Buddha Tathagata looked at Subhuti. “Another leader-level power has emerged from your school.”

“Hahaha…”

Patriarch Subhuti laughed as well.

Houyi had always been formidable, but his ‘apprenticeship’ was merely a cover to hide on Mount Innerheart.

Ji Ning was the disciple he had truly taught. He had always believed in Ji Ning’s talent with the sword. Although Ji Ning had made great strides in Heartforce before, Heartforce breakthroughs were inherently ethereal and unpredictable. Subhuti had always felt Ji Ning was most suited for the sword… and indeed, Ji Ning had reached the Fifth Layer of Sword Force and was now at the leader level.

“To have pierced through that formation with his bare hands, he has probably already become a True God.” Three Purities also laughed.

“Yes. If he had become a Daofather, the Heavenly Dao would have resonated. It seems he has become a True God.” Subhuti laughed as well.

“He’s been cultivating for less than a thousand years, rising from a mortal to the leader level. Impressive, truly impressive.” Divine Farmer also praised.

The assembled great powers all showed signs of joy. How could they not be delighted to have another leader-level power on their side?

They were also shaken.

Those who stood at the very peak of the Three Realms… were only a handful. The Nuwa Camp had the two leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist Sects, the Three Human Sovereigns, and the ever-extraordinary Houyi from ancient times. Now, another figure had taken that position. This time, the one standing at that peak was a Sword Immortal!

Since Pangu split apart heaven and earth, no Sword Immortal had ever reached this point.

The Daofather Fuju was famous and recognized as the number one Sword Immortal of the Three Realms, but his status was only equivalent to that of Patriarch Subhuti. After all, the ‘World God Northrest’ of that era was solely focused on surviving and was truly very weak, not even daring to fight Mother Nuwa.

Sword Immortals like the Darklight Swordmaster, Daofather Sacredfire, and others were even inferior to Daofather Fuju!

Neither the Pangu Chaosworld, the Seamless Chaosworld, nor the current Three Realms… had ever seen a Sword Immortal stand at the peak!

Now!

A Sword Immortal had appeared at the peak of the Three Realms!

The Northmoon Sword Immortal! Ji Ning!

“The Northmoon Sword Immortal.”

“The Northmoon Sword Immortal.” Many great powers in the hall murmured to themselves, a sense of awe rising involuntarily in their hearts! It was the reverence a cultivator felt for a being of a higher level of power!

Those great powers who would have casually called ‘Ji Ning’ in the past now dared not; they had to address him by his Daoist title, ‘Northmoon.’

Only those who were very close to him, like Patriarch Subhuti, and those of extremely high strength, like Three Purities and Tathagata, might still use his birth name.

From this day forward!

Ji Ning stood on equal footing with Three Purities, Suiren, and Buddha Tathagata!