by RWX
“It is its own dimension.” The old black bull followed him in and sighed, “This is a dimension which the first master created within the Stellar Hall! This dimension is connected with the gate of the Stellar Hall. Thus, when we stepped through it, we entered the special space. I’ve heard it said that some great powers of the ancient past were able to create an entire dimension within a single grain of sand. The first master most likely had this ability as well.
Ning nodded.
Unfathomable! Although when he was young, he had heard of some legends, such as ‘Houyi Shooting the Son’ and other such legends, when had he ever seen them in person? After all, those things were a long, long distance away from him. As for creating a dimension? Generally speaking, people created a dimension, then an estate within their own dimension.
The Aquatic Manor was itself a separate dimension…but the secondary halls actually were able to once again merge with another dimension. Although Ning didn’t understand it too well, he understood that accomplishing something like this was an incredible feat.
“I really wonder who the first owner of this Aquatic Manor was.” Ning said to himself.
“Come, come, come. The ‘treasure’ is within the straw hut.” The old black bull urged.
“The straw hut?” Ning strode forward by a few dozen paces, quickly arriving at the straw hut. The straw hut was at the base of the mountain, a seemingly very ordinary straw hat, and with stone furniture inside.
After entering the straw room…Ning was stunned. He saw that on the table of the straw room, there were multiple tomes, all of which were black. Ning couldn’t recognize any of them, and so he opened one. On the surface of the books, there were some beautiful Fiendgod characters: [Stellar Scroll] [Stellar Scroll 2] [Stellar Scroll 3]….there were forty three scrolls in total.
“This is…?” Ning stared at these books.
The old black bull explained, “These are the manuals left behind by the first owner. The name of it is the ‘Stellar Hall’ and there are a total of forty three parts.
Ning lifted up the Stellar Scroll and flipped through it. The pages were black, while the words were in golden Fiendgod strict. The contents were rather puzzling as well…it felt like hastily scribbled notes! There wer like casual recordings which described personal feelings! Ning originally had taken them to be profound books and was rather surprised.
“If you want to read!” The old black bull said hurriedly. “At a simple glance, there are no mysteries and nothing mysterious to the contents. But if you fully read everything…you will discover how extraordinary it is.”
“Oh?”
Ning, startled, picked up the [Stellar Scrolls].
“Go outside the room to read. Sit on that stone bench over there.” The old black bull said. “Read aloud!”
“But I don’t recognize Fiendgod characters.” Ning asked. Although he could recognize Fiendgod characters at first glance, and understood which human words matched each Fiendgod word, the two were different languages after all.
“Just use your own race’s language to read. That is what Immortal Juhua did in the past.” The old black bull said.
“Right.” Ning held the tome in his hand and walked out of the straw hut. He seated himself at the stone table, where the first master might have sat countless years ago and where Immortal Juhua might have sat as well.
Ning flipped open the book and began to read.
“Today, Chang came to pay his respects to me…” Ning began to read, puzzlement in his heart regarding these casual personal recordings.
His voice rang out.
Every single sound was very ordinary, but once the words were read out, the sound of the large number of words connected…in a manner that was like a song, capable of moving a person’s heart, causing pain, amazement, sorrow, and more. The sounds of these words were unfathomable; just by reading them out, the sound of these words seemed to contain a ringing, miraculous power…
Slowly, they drew Ning into a unique world.
When he became absorbed with seeing this world, Ning forgot that he was holding the [Stellar Scroll] in his hands. He stared at the countless stones of the desolate region, at the creek filled with life energy, as though seeing a pair of ‘Daos’. Daos filled with boundless profundities. Even the small grass which was growing out carried another sort of Dao within it.
Ning raised his head.
The stars in the sky were brilliant. Each of them were incomparably bright, and they each gave Ning a different feeling. Suddenly…Ning stared at one particular star, one which caused Ning to feel familiar and intoxicated by it.
“Longing, warmth…”
Ning seemed to be once more lying ont hat little boat of his, drifting atop Serpentwing Lake.
He also seemed to be in his mother’s arms…
That longing, that warmth…it filled his entire heart.
……………
The old black bull stared wide-eyed as it watched. “Truly inconceivable. This this this this…he actually completely read nearly the entire first scroll before halting? This Ji Ning really is at quite a high level of understanding. He was actually able to read so many characters. Most likely, he’s become emeshed on an extremely deep layer.”
The old black bull understood this very well.
This book was nothing more than a sort of ‘guide’, guiding the consciousness of practitioners on an extremely deep level to gain certain insights. The more words one read, the deeper a level of insight gaining one would reach! But of course…how much one would gain from it would depend on how many experiences that person had built up normally in life. Good preparation was the key to success; only by normally accumulating experiences would one have sudden insights.
“Which star is he looking at?” The old black bull saw Ning raise his head to stare at the sky. He couldn’t help but feel curious “According to what Juhua said, every single star contains a different Dao.”
A calm smile was on Ning’s face, as though he were by the side of his mother.
That smile contained an inexhaustible charisma…when the old black bull saw Ning’s smile, he seemed to feel even his own heart grow warm.
This was a form of longing.
A mental warmth.
“Sword.” The old black bull stared.
Ning rose to his feet, leaving the stone table. He pressed his forefinger and middle finger together into the shape of a ‘sword’, then began to brandish them about in training swordplay within the Stellar Hall. This was a type of swordplay that contained inexhaustible, endless longing…Ning didn’t release any rays of sword-light, nor did he use any elemental energy; this was seemingly a very ordinary display of swordplay.
But it made the old black bull sense the boundless longing contained within it.
The old black bull was able to sense the surrounding Serpentwing Lake area. He knew that over the past few years, Ning had gained insights into many hints regarding the True Meaning of the Dao, the majority of which belonged to a longing-type sword intention.
“It changed.” The old black bull instantly saw how Ning’s swordplay had become purer.
“Rustle…”
In the area around Ning, who wasn’t using any elemental energy at all in executing this swordplay with just his fingers, suddenly appeared drops of rain. One drop of rain after another came to form, and they constantly fell. The rain fell nonstop, landing atop the scattered stones…and Ning, in the center of the rainstorm, was like the favored son of the rain, which surrounded him and protected him.
“This this this…” The old black bull stared. “Accumulated effort which results in sudden rewards!”
The accumulated hints of insight into the True Meaning of the Dao which Ning had gained over the past five years, at this moment…finally made a qualitative breakthrough!
* * *
Book 6, Chapter 4 - Rainwater Sword Domain
The raindrops were sprinkling downwards. Ji Ning, amidst the rain, was completely ab
sorbed in his swordplay. His sword-fingers alone were able to execute a sword technique that activated the ‘Dao’.
How comfortable.
Ning felt as though, in this moment, he himself had become a drop of rainwater! He was swirling about, playing and jesting with the other droplets of rain, and joining with them to form a single strand of it. That sort of interconnected-ness and mutual affection…caused the countless drops of rain to all join together.
“Rustle…..” The sprinkling rain surrounding Ning transformed into countless drops of rain which transformed into a drizzling rain. The countless crystalline strands of rain appeared all the more mesmerizing.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Every single strand of rain seemed to secretly be like a knife.
“Rumble…” The rain grew heavier and heavier, transforming into a tempest. The tempest seemed incomparably ferocious, and Ning’s swordplay carried a ferocious, unstoppable power as well.
………..
The old black bull stared, stupefied. Rain drops, rain drizzle, tempest…and in the end, the rainwater once more transformed into that sprinkling, drizzling rain.
One line of rain after another…they seemed like incomparably precious, crystalline jade sculptures that were carved into thin lines. They were also like the hands of a mother, gently stroking down.
Finally, Ning came to a halt.
“This…is Dao?” Ning murmured to himself.
“Congratulations, Ji Ning.” The old black bull’s mouth was hanging wide open, and he was incomparably excited. “You have already truly immersed yourself into the Dao, truly and complete. The feeling of becoming part of the Dao itself is very marvelous, isn’t it?”
Ning nodded gently.
Just now, that feeling had indeed been incredible. He was like a pearl of water, a droplet of rain! In that instant, he felt incomparably familiar to and close with the rainwater. Ning understood…that he had developed his own Dao. The Dao of Rainwater!
“Over the past five years, you have gained insights into many strands of the True Meaning of the Dao. Your accumulated insights have allowed you to break through to a new threshold, with the final result being that you have gained a ‘Dao Domain’.” The old black bull sighed in praise.
“Dao Domain?” Ning looked puzzled. “What is that?”
The old black bull said, astonished, “You don’t even know this?”
“No idea.” Ning said honestly.
The old black bull sighed, shaking his head. “Your clan really is an ordinary one. You don’t even have a basic understanding of the different levels of insight. I’ll tell you, then. In training, one aspect is improving on a technical level; be it sword, saber, spear, or even painting and music and other artistic endeavors, technique matters. The first level is the ‘foundation’! Which is to say, becoming familiar with the basic techniques of an art. The second level is the ‘advanced’ level; it represents that you have all but perfected your mastery of the techniques. The third level is ‘one with the world’; this represents that you are already getting close to the ‘Dao’, and have begun to attune to heaven’s will.”
Ning listened. Naturally, he knew about these first three levels.
“After ‘one with the world’, the next step is in attuning with the intricacies of the natural world, and slowly discovering one of the ‘Daos’. Once you discover it! You will have gained a hint of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. That is the fourth level; ‘True Meaning of the Dao’.” The old black bull shook his head. “It is very hard to gain insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. Even some Zifu Disciples aren’t capable of doing it.”
When Ning had been meditating on the Dao by the side of the pool that year, he gained his first insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’.
“Afterwards, when you continue to gain insight and continuously accumulate many more hints of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, your insights into the Dao will grow greater and greater. There will then come a day when the many hints of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’ will coalesce and then transform qualitatively. Only then will you truly be able to become one with the Dao itself, to the point where, with but a thought, you can summon the power of the Dao in your surroundings, to form it into your own Domain. This is the fifth level; ‘Dao Domain’. This is the level you are currently at. Formidable, formidable.” The old black bull sighed. “Only very few Wanxiang Adepts are capable of reaching this level; generally speaking, only people at the Primordial Daoist level are capable of reaching this level of insight into the Dao.”
“Oh? I’m that amazing?” Ning said with a laugh.
“Your innate talents are extremely high, especially your talents as pertain to the sword. You are an absolute monster! With the assistance of the Stellar Hall, at the young age of 16, you’ve actually reached this level!” The old black bull said.
Ning understood as well.
He possessed the [Nuwa Painting] and was incomparably hard-working. He also had an innately high comprehension ability, and also the Aquatic Estate…there were many variables which contributed to him being able to achieve what he had.
“And above the Dao Domain?” Ning asked.
“Above it…” The old black bull looked at Ning. “Reaching the ‘Dao Domain’ level, after all, just means that you are able to completely immerse yourself into the Dao. What you need to do is to gain greater insights into this Dao of yours, with the end result being that one day, you will have completely understood and mastered this entire Dao Path! That is the sixth level; completely understanding an entire Dao Path!”
Ning now began to understand.
Indeed, just now, he had completely immersed himself with the rainwater, but that was nothing more than immersion; he was still far off from being able to completely control the ‘Dao of Rainwater’.
“The first level is the ‘basic’ level. The second is ‘advanced’. The third is ‘one with the world’. The fourth is ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. The fifth is ‘Dao Domain’. The sixth is a complete ‘Dao Path’!” The old black bull said solemnly. “The level of comprehension and enlightenment one possesses is very important. Only by having sufficient comprehension will one’s power increase. Otherwise, there is no way you’ll be able to withstand and control great power.”
“To become a Celestial Immortal, you have to completely control a Dao Path!” The old black bull looked at Ning. “For example, Immortal Juhua had been a Loose Immortal for millions of years, and had completely mastered nine full Dao Paths. But so what if he did? The increasingly powerful Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations still caused him to fall in the end. Anyone who becomes a Loose Immortal is guaranteed to fall.”
Ning sighed as well.
“You train in the sword, and have reached the level of ‘Dao Domain’. Generally speaking, your Domain will be referred to as a ‘Sword Domain.’” The old black bull reminded. “Just based on the fact that you have a Sword Domain, countless major sects will swing open their doors for you to join.”
“Sword Domain?” Ning said softly. “This Dao is the Dao of Rainwater. Let my Sword Domain therefore be known as the ‘Rainwater Sword Domain’, then.”
Ning looked at his surroundings.
Rustle…
Rainwater appeared out of nowhere, sprinkling downwards and swirling about him. Every single line of rain also seemed like an incomparably sharp arrow, enough to slice apart hard mountain stones or steel.
“Let me warn you. Just now, when you immersed yourself into the Sword Domain, eight hours went past in the outside world.” The old black bull said.
“Eight hours?” Ning was startled. “I really didn’t have any sense of time passing when I was immersed in the Dao. Right, Elder. Now that I have my Rainwater Sword Domain…if I were to challenge the first level of the Wargod Hall, do I have a chance?”
The old black bull was stunned. “The first level of the Wargod Hall? Right, you can give it a try!”
Ning laughed.
&nbs
p; Even if the old black bull hadn’t said anything, Ning would have still gone and given it a try, because a Fiendgod practitioner only had two chances at each level of power to challenge the Wargod Hall. He had already reached the peak of power as a Xiantian Fiendgod, and would most likely soon break through to the Zifu level. If he didn’t use the two options he had at the Xiantian level, they would go to waste once he reached the Zifu level.
“Let’s go. I want to see how formidable this Wargod Hall is.” Ning was extremely eager and deeply desired to successfully make it through, so as to be able to go to the Treasure Hall to select a treasure!
The treasures of the Treasure Hall were all left behind by the first master.
Even the Mortal-ranked magic treasures were most likely extraordinary, and might be of great benefit for the Ji clan’s battle against Snowdragon Mountain.
“Snowdragon Mountain.” Ning murmured in his heart…
___________________________
It was already dark, and Zifu Disciple ‘Muse’ of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain had flown without stopping at all for tens of thousands of kilometers to arrive at this place. Like a ray of light, he charged downwards to an estate below.
Below was a large, towering mountain. The name of the mountain was Landwyrm Mountain.
“Human practitioner, immediately depart.”
“Human practitioner, you actually dare invade our Landwyrm Mountain? Are you looking to die?”
As Muse descended towards Landwyrm Mountain on his flying treasure, some of the Diremonsters of Landwyrm Mountain began to curse angrily. Landwyrm Mountain was a powerful force, and the top of the mountain was an ancient Zifu-level monster who had trained for a thousand years, ‘Landwyrm’. Landwyrm was a Godbeast, and as a Zifu-level Godbeast, one could imagine how powerful this old monster was.
Naturally, he commanded a large group of Diremonsters, and this was forbidden grounds for humans.
A Zifu-level ancient monster, and with the lineage of a Godbeast. These two things guaranteed that many Zifu Disciples would be frightened of him.