The Price of a Formation

“Master.” The black-haired elder spoke with reverence.

Ji Ning sighed inwardly. He himself was merely a newly advanced Ancestral Immortal; it was hardly realistic to expect other Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals to willingly become his ‘retainers.’ And yet, he had accomplished this. In the endless Chaos, even if one took on retainers, the treasures they used for cultivation, the divine weapons they wielded in battle… all of that had to be provided by the master. This was only fair. The retainer risked his life and gambled with his very existence for the master’s sake; naturally, cultivation techniques, treasures, and so forth would have to come from the master. This was also the reason powerful cultivators found it easier to attract retainers.

He, however, was instead ‘extorting’ treasures from his retainer…

But the black-haired elder had been imprisoned here. To sever those chains would require the strength of a World God or a Chaos Immortal! Thus, although the elder had submitted, there was no way he could truly accompany Ji Ning out into battle.

“Let me ask you something.” Ji Ning looked at the black-haired elder. “Do you have an ‘Elder God Formation’?”

“An Elder God Formation?” The black-haired elder was stunned. “Master, you give me far too much credit.”

“A small one will do.” Ji Ning pressed on. “Or, regarding the other fifteen Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals imprisoned here, do you know if any of them have an ‘Elder God Formation’?”

“There are fifteen of them?” The black-haired elder was surprised. “Which fifteen?”

He had been imprisoned here; he only knew of those Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who had been locked up before him.

“Bilan the Ancestral Immortal…” Ji Ning listed the names of the other fifteen.

“So that madman has been thrown in here as well. Good, good, good.” The black-haired elder felt a sense of vindication. But then he shook his head at Ji Ning. “Master, you can give up on the idea of an Elder God Formation. Although the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals imprisoned here are no ordinary figures, an ‘Elder God Formation’ is not something on the level of us Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals that we could ever hope to obtain. Even the smallest formation, one controlled by just three or five Elder Gods… in our entire Nine Domains Cosmos, not a single Elder God or Ancestral Immortal could get their hands on one. Generally speaking, only World Gods and Chaos Immortals can obtain them.”

Elder God Formations came in small and large varieties.

For example, one set of an Elder God Formation could allow six Elder Gods to use it! The six Elder Gods would each refine a ‘formation plate,’ and they would naturally become part of the formation, giving birth to a grand array. Their divine power would be perfectly merged together, and their attacks could be amplified through the formation’s power, greatly increasing their might.

A set of an ‘Elder God Formation’ controlled by a hundred Elder Gods could even do battle with a World God!

Even a small Elder God Formation would allow one to dominate among Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals…

This was something Ji Ning desperately craved. He had learned of it from World God Northrest, and had yearned for it ever since! If a few Elder Gods from Nuwa’s camp could coordinate with an ‘Elder God Formation,’ even if their numbers were insufficient, True Gods could temporarily substitute! Even so… it would absolutely be enough to sweep aside the Seamless Gate, who had no such formations.

“Even for a small Elder God Formation, you need at least five hundred bottles of Chaos Nectar.” The black-haired elder sighed. “Five hundred bottles of Chaos Nectar! Back in the day, the Nine Domains Sovereign toiled bitterly to gather vast quantities of rare materials, expending boundless effort to set up the thirty-six grand formations that refine Chaos Nectar. These thirty-six World Prisons are called prisons… but to the Nine Domains Sovereign, the most precious part was those grand formations that refined the Chaos Nectar.”

“These World Prisons can be said to be the Nine Domains Sovereign’s most important treasure. Even this World Prison was lost to you… which is why I said that the Nine Domains Cosmos has likely already been destroyed.”

“Thirty-six prisons. In a single Chaos Cycle, they can produce roughly two hundred bottles.” The black-haired elder looked at Ji Ning. “A Chaos Cycle is such an immeasurably long period of time! And even a small Elder God Formation requires at least five hundred bottles of Chaos Nectar to trade for it… a World God or Chaos Immortal might be able to afford it. But Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals? Usually, they have either heaven-defying power or extraordinary fortune. And we, who lived in the Nine Domains Cosmos, rarely ventured out to take risks, so naturally we had even fewer treasures.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals in the Chaos could be divided into two types. One type, like Gonggong, Suiren, the Three-Jade Swordmaster, and so on, lived for long periods within a particular Chaosworld and rarely went out to take risks.

The other type, like the Lord of All Demons, the Great Demon God Cixiu, and so on… often roamed the outside world, going on adventures here and there. Although they were cautious and fearful of losing their lives, if they succeeded even once, they could reap great rewards!

“How much Chaos Nectar and Chaos Crystals do you still have?” Ji Ning asked.

“I have two bottles of Chaos Nectar left, and just over a hundred Chaos Crystals.” The black-haired elder said.

Ji Ning shook his head.

Disappointing.

But this was the normal wealth of an Ancestral Immortal. After all, their most valuable possessions were their chaos treasures! For example, that black chain might be worth several bottles of Chaos Nectar. And the Three-Jade Sword Formation was worth several dozen bottles of Chaos Nectar… the Three-Jade Swordmaster had spent endless years to acquire it.

Chaos Nectar was a hard currency throughout the endless Chaos.

It was the quintessence extracted from the Chaos itself. It could be used to replenish any kind of damage—to the soul, divine power, ki, heartforce, and everything else.

…

After questioning the black-haired elder on several matters, Ji Ning finally gave up. Hoping for heaven-defying items like the ‘Elder God Formation’ or the ‘World Fortress’ to appear was indeed unrealistic. Only truly monstrous figures among Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals—those who in the endless Chaos could even fight across realms against World Gods and Chaos Immortals while still at the Elder God or Ancestral Immortal level—would generally possess such treasures.

“Give me all your chaos treasures.” Ji Ning said.

“Ah.” The black-haired elder’s eyes showed pain, but he still waved his hand. Two crystalline ice swords and a golden sword shone in mutual resonance, and a pitch-black chain coiled around them.

“Only these two?” Ji Ning pressed.

“How many more do you want?!” The black-haired elder said angrily. “The Three-Jade Divine Swords were something I nearly died trying to obtain. Go look at those sixteen Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals imprisoned here… see how many of them have treasures more valuable than the Three-Jade Sword Formation!”

Ji Ning smiled. With a gesture, he collected the two treasures, and his ki surged as he quickly began to refine them.

“Hm?” Ji Ning’s expression shifted.

“The Three-Jade Divine Swords and the Blackcloud Chain—how many layers of seals had you refined in them?” Ji Ning asked.

“I had refined the Three-Jade Divine Swords to the third layer, and the Blackcloud Chain to the second layer.” The black-haired elder said.

“Right. Take out all your other treasures as well, and let me pick through them.” Ji Ning said.

“You…” The black-haired elder was speechless.

This was worse than a bandit!

Was this how you treated your retainers?

But Ji Ning didn’t care as he browsed and picked. These treasures would be of little use to him. The two bottles of Chaos Nectar wouldn’t make much of a difference either. However… before he left the Three Realms, he naturally had to leave behind some good things for his daughter, Brightmoon.

After fleecing the black-haired elder, Ji Ning quickly left, unwilling to face the elder’s ‘resentful’ glare.

He found a mountain peak and descended.

With a wave of his hand, Ji Ning summoned three Chaos divine swords to hover before him, as well as a pitch-black chain that curled through the air like a great serpent.

“The Blackcloud Chain has three layers of seals; it barely qualifies as a top-grade Chaos treasure.”

“The Three-Jade Sword Formation, however… it has six layers of seals, and each sword is a supreme-grade Chaos treasure. Once linked together, they can even break through the bounds of mere Chaos divine weapons.” Ji Ning nodded to himself. He then began to attempt their refinement.

He started with the Blackcloud Chain.

The Blackcloud Chain could be used to bind enemies, or it could be coiled around oneself to defend against attacks! Ji Ning’s true body had no need for defensive treasures; his divine body’s protective divine abilities were already extremely powerful. But his Primaltwin, being an Ancestral Immortal, had a much more fragile immortal body that couldn’t withstand blows from weapons. This ‘Blackcloud Chain’ was exactly what he needed.

“The first layer is simple enough.”

“The second layer is done as well.”

After more than an hour, Ji Ning had already refined two layers of seals within the Blackcloud Chain. For a moment, the aura of the Blackcloud Chain surged dramatically, and it became far more agile.

Ji Ning’s comprehension of the sword was truly at an extremely high level. Even though his occasional forays into studying the ‘Ninefold Chaos Seal’ now allowed him to refine up to six layers, only slightly inferior to the legendary Daoist Three Purities from ancient times… the Blackcloud Chain was still easily conquered up to the second layer.

“The third layer is too difficult… I won’t be able to refine it in a short time.” Ji Ning pondered it for over three hours before giving up. “I’ll focus on refining my Three-Jade Divine Swords first.”

“Still, the Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword is the best. It has no seals for me to refine at all.” Ji Ning sighed with emotion.

“After all, it is a divine sword with its own innate source.” Ji Ning felt a wave of awe.

Magical treasures and divine weapons… Chaos divine weapons were already considered a very high level.

Above Chaos divine weapons were ‘Dao divine weapons.’ World Gods and Chaos Immortals generally used ‘Dao divine weapons.’

As for the Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword, it was an existence that surpassed ‘Dao divine weapons’! It even contained an ‘innate source’ within its blade. Ji Ning had only repaired its surface layer, yet it could already unleash power that exceeded that of a Chaos divine weapon! Naturally, such a divine weapon was something that would drive Chaos Immortals and World Gods mad with desire. When World God Northrest had been fleeing for his life back then, his truesoul had attached itself to this divine sword and fled all the way; all of his other treasures were gone, even his divine body was lost, leaving behind only his most precious divine sword and his truesoul.

The second chapter of today will arrive around 2 PM! (To be continued…)