Inner View of the Sun-Moon Buddha of Light

* **Artifact Spirit (法宝之灵):** High-grade magic treasures can develop a sentient, spiritual essence after eons. They act as guardians, guides, and memory banks for the treasure, retaining the knowledge and memories of its past owners. The Black Ox serves this role, able to converse, paint, and transcribe techniques, but bound by the rules of the palace. * **Token Talisman (信符):** A key item that grants partial access and control over a cave-mansion or sect. This is a classic Xianxia trope: you become the “master,” but you can’t actually use anything until you reach a specific cultivation level and refine the key. It’s an anti-frustration feature for young masters, forcing them to grow into their inheritance. * **Refining Treasures:** A treasure must be ‘refined’ by a cultivator via a soul imprint to be controlled. The higher the grade, the harder it is to refine. The aquatic palace requires Zifu (for a token), Primal (to carry), and Earth Immortal (to fully control)—a perfect vertical progression lock for an S-tier item. * **Visualization Technique (观想法):** A mental cultivation method to strengthen the soul. The *Nuwa Diagram* is an S-tier one. The *Sun-Moon Buddha* is likely an A-tier. The Black Ox didn’t know Ji Ning already had the best one in the Three Realms, so his attempt to help felt a bit pitiful, which is a great touch of character.

Definition

Story context

Alright, fellow Daoists, put your hands together—we’ve officially got ourselves an inheritance chapter! After the frantic, life-or-death survival of the previous sections, Ji Ning finally gets to sit down and talk shop with the guardian artifact spirit of the aquatic palace, the Black Ox. And oh boy, is it a mixed bag of good news, bad news, and a whole lot of ancient history. Our boy Ji Ning learns the true lineage of this mysterious palace: he’s the *fifth master*, not the second. Celestial Immortal Juhua was just the third. The first was some ancient, colossal Fiendgod from the Primordial Era. This chapter is a pure lore dump, but with a signature Xianxia twist—the old-timer gives you a legendary inheritance right before telling you, “Welp, can’t use any of it until you level up.” Get ready for some classic cultivation-style blue balls.

Why it matters

This chapter is a breather and a payoff. The frantic battle is over; now it’s time for the tutorial. Enjoy the lore dump about the palace’s history—it sets up a massive mystery about the Primordial Fiendgod era. The most important takeaway here is Ji Ning’s **New Moonshine** (new moon, new loot): he’s got a token talisman to unlock the palace later, and he’s got a new sword formation manual. The *Lesser Thousand Sword Formation* is the real gem. If Ji Ning can control thousands of swords, he needs a formation to weave them into a coherent attack. This is the beginning of his journey from a swordsman with a few flying swords to a walking, talking orbital strike platform. Brace yourselves for the power curve to start sloping upwards very, very soon.