by RWX
“However, to reach the World-level, you’ll have to establish a chaosworld of your own, inside your body. Although the chaosworld within your Jindan wouldn’t be as vast as a real chaosworld in the outside world, you will be the ruler and absolute master of it. Naturally, your power will become enormous. It would be very easy for you to destroy an actual chaosworld.”
Ning nodded. Mother Nuwa did indeed have the power to destroy the Three Realms.
“Because Immortal cultivators at the World-level have established a world region of primordial chaos within their Jindans, they are known as Chaos Immortals.”
“As for Fiendgods, their path involves continually increasing the power of their divine bodies. With each improvement in their body, their power will increase greatly. World Gods possess almost limitless power, and they are capable of establishing chaosworlds of their own. Thus, they are referred to as World Gods.”
“These two paths are equal in power,” the wild dog said.
“Equal?” Ning was suddenly startled. “Senior, are you saying that Empyrean Gods and Celestial Immortals should be equals? True Gods and True Immortals should be equals? Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals are equals?”
“Of course. Although these are two different paths of cultivation, the two paths are indeed equal in power.” The wild dog nodded.
Ning was stunned. How could the two paths be equal?
True Gods were clearly comparable in power to Daofathers, while Empyrean Gods were on the same level as True Immortals.
“The Ki Refining path is a path that has been slowly developed and tested over countless years, a path that allows ordinary mortals to cultivate and rise in power. Thus, there are many different methods of Ki Refining.” The wild dog stared at the distant Ning. “However, there are three primary methods through which a person can overcome the Celestial Tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal. These three different methods will result in Jindans of different qualities.”
“As for you…you’ve trained in the worst method.” The wild dog shook his head. “Your Jindan is incredibly puny. Even though you are now a ‘True Immortal’, powerful Empyrean Gods and Celestial Immortals are probably on par with you.”
“Right, right, right! Earlier, I fought against a Celestial Immortal in here. We were indeed on par with each other,” Ning immediately said.
The wild dog shook his head. “The Ki Refining path you people train in is too weak. If your world had a Chaos Immortal within it, things wouldn’t be this bad. I believe the person on your side who broke through to the World-level had to have made the breakthrough as a Fiendgod cultivator. This person must be a World God.”
Ning didn’t deny it. Nuwa had followed in Pangu’s path. She had indeed walked the Fiendgod path.
“There are three different paths for Ki Refiners. Breaking through to become a Celestial Immortal is the most important checkpoint in all of cultivation. The Jindan formed during the breakthrough will determine the power and potential the cultivator will have in the future,” the wild dog said. “The weakest type of Jindan is formed when the cultivator has to laboriously draw in the natural energy, condensing it into a Jindan.”
“A higher level method is to rely on many precious treasures in forming the Jindan, guiding the essence of those treasures to come together through your own personal power. These Jindans are much more powerful.”
“The best method of all is a method which imitates the birth of Fiendgods from the primordial chaos. The bodies of those Fiendgods are formed from the power of chaos itself. To create the most supreme of Celestial Immortal Jindans, you have to use an entire vast world as your furnace. This world needs to be extremely large, at least on par with this prisonworld. What you need to do is to summon all the limitless power of that vast world, then condense it into a Jindan. This is the best-possible Jindan, and it will contain tremendous power of incredible purity.”
“Of the three methods, the best method is to use the energy of an entire world in order to cultivate the Jindan. The second method is to rely on precious items to help you increase your power. The third method primarily relies on you relying on your own power to draw more in.”
“But of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to everything. The best method requires you to use an entire vast world as your furnace, which is only possible with the assistance of a Chaos Immortal. In addition, when undergoing your tribulation, the power of the Celestial Tribulation will be a bit more powerful than even an Empyrean Tribulation.” The wild dog looked at Ning. “In the Pangaea chaos-kingdom, only a very small percentage of the core members are capable of using the best method to produce a Jindan.”
“As for you…it’s too late. You are already a True Immortal. Your path is set. There’s no way to change it.” The wild dog shook his head.
* * *
Book 19, Chapter 30 - Upgrading the Jindan
“My path is set?” Ji Ning refused to accept this. He immediately asked, “I’m a True Immortal right now! My Jindan is still fairly weak. Is there really no way to upgrade it by even a single tier?”
According to the cultivation techniques of the Pangaea chaos-kingdom, True Immortals and True Gods should be on the same level of power! That meant he would be equivalent to a Daofather in the Three Realms!
“It’s useless. Your Jindan is already formed. No matter how much you struggle, your path is already set.” The wild dog’s dark-yellow eyes stared at Ning. “You have the weakest type of Jindan possible. Even though you are a True Immortal, some of the most powerful Celestial Immortals will be stronger than you. Even if you become an Ancestral Immortal, top-tier True Immortals will be comparable to you in strength. You will always be a step behind them.”
Ning gritted his teeth. In the Three Realms, things were different. True Immortals were comparable to Empyrean Gods, while Daofathers were comparable to True Gods.
“But the heavens always leave behind at least a sliver of a chance. There has to be some way!” Ning said.
“Oh, technically there is,” the wild dog said. “However, the Jindan is formed after the tribulation. To upgrade it later…this will be far, far more difficult than even the Celestial Tribulation itself.”
“What method?” Ning immediately asked.
“Special treasures from the primordial chaos,” the wild dog said. “The primordial chaos has given birth to many marvelous things. Certain treasures, when mixed together, can allow the Jindan to be upgraded in quality. However, very few know this method for upgrading the Jindan, and even fewer are able to locate these incredibly rare chaos ingredients. It’ll be almost impossible for you to upgrade your Jindan.”
“And…even if you do manage to scrounge up the necessary chaos ingredients as well as the upgrade method, you’ll at most be able to upgrade your Jindan to the second tier. That’s the absolute limit,” the wild dog said.
“The second tier?” Ning’s eyes lit up.
“The first tier is the tier where True Immortals become equal to True Gods. The second tier will only allow for True Immortals to be comparable to the weakest of True Gods. As for the third tier, your tier…any True God would completely massacre you,” the wild dog said.
Ning said delightedly, “The second tier is perfectly fine.” To have a foundation comparable to that of a weak True God was enough.
“Perfectly fine? First of all, very few know the Jindan upgrade method. To acquire the necessary chaos ingredients is even more difficult.” The wild dog looked at Ning.
“Senior, I wonder if…?” Ning eagerly awaited the response.
“I do indeed know a method for upgrading the Jindan.” The wild dog shook his head. “However…I couldn’t possibly teach it to you for no reason at all. But of course, if you were able to bring that World-level expert here, I would immediately teach you the Jindan upgrade method.”
Ning hurriedly said, “Senior, the stronger I am, the higher my status will be. Only then will I have a chance of meeting that individual.”
“Senior. Senior..!” Ning repeatedly called out to the wild dog for a long period of time, but the wild dog completely ignored him, acting as though he was asleep.
Ning understood. The wild dog wasn’t going to act without an incentive; as the saying went, ‘you don’t release the hunting hawk until you’ve seen the hare’.
The only reason this ancient Elder God was even willing to tell Ning so much was because of Mother Nuwa’s existence. The Elder God, however, wasn’t willing to actually help out Ning at all, unless he was given an incentive to do so.
Half a day later.
“Senior.” Ning’s clone once more was carrying a wooden platter of food and wine, but this time he was walking towards the filthy-looking old man.
Only now did Ning understand that in the Pangaea chaos-kingdom, Daofathers and Elder Gods were considered to be on the same level. This filthy-looking elder was equal to the wild dog in power…and most importantly of all, he walked the Ki Refiner path! Ning naturally felt tremendous hope.
Thanks to his experiences in conversing with the Elder God, Ning was very careful in his actions. The filthy-looking old man also wanted to leave this place, and he was also capable of telling that Ning was not lying to him. Thus, he told Ning many things. This old man also knew a method for upgrading the Jindan, and he even had two of the chaos ingredients needed to carry it out, although he didn’t have all of them.
However…he wasn’t willing to give Ning anything at all.
“Senior, would you like for some fine wine or delicacies?”
“Senior, do you need any slaves or servants? Some people to accompany you, serve you, and amuse you?”
Ning knew that there was no way to force it out of him, and so he tried a softer tactic.
“Kid, stop wasting your energy. I have an estate-treasure with me, and inside the estate are a large number of servants and slaves. All sorts of wonderful wine and food are inside the estate, just waiting for when I feel hungry.” The filthy-looking old man gave Ning a glance. “I’m an Ancestral Immortal. I’m capable of drawing on the power of primordial chaos to replenish the energy of my treasures. Although this prisonworld has set up a grand formation to harvest chaos nectar, I’m still able to pull in enough energy to keep myself and my estate-treasure in perfect shape!”
Ning was speechless. The man was carrying servants and slaves with him?
“Don’t bother with any other tricks. None of them are able to beguile an Elder God or an Ancestral Immortal. I’ll only be willing to help you once you bring that World-level expert over and release me from my captivity,” the filthy-looking old man said. And then, he shut his eyes as well, paying no more attention to Ning.
“They really respond to nothing whatsoever. He’s just like the wild dog. He won’t act without an incentive.” Ning sat there on his Voidboat, grinding his teeth in a very discontented fashion. “If I was able to meet with Mother Nuwa, why would I be here? If Mother Nuwa was around, the Seamless Gate wouldn’t dare to cause trouble. In fact, the Lord of All Fiends and his Seamless Gate army wouldn’t even have dared to return from the primordial chaos.”
“Ugh.”
This prisonworld had imprisoned quite a few Daofathers and Elder Gods. All of them were shockingly powerful, but none of them were able to do anything to their shackles. Only if their power increased to Pangu’s level, the World-level, would they be able to forcibly shatter them.
“What should I do? These experts at the Daofather or Elder God level all have some degree of insight into the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos. All of them are able to withdraw energy from the primordial chaos.” Ning pondered on what to do. The Celestial Immortals present here all had to rely on consuming spirit-pills to stay alive, but the Daofathers did not; the filthy-looking old man, for example, was able to sustain even his estate-treasure!
Most likely, every single Elder God and Ancestral Immortal was still at peak combat power.
“The reason the King of Pangaea keeps Overseers in his prisonworlds is to keep a watch on them. Once an Overseer sees that an Elder God or Ancestral Immortal is breaking through to the World-level and shattering the manacles, the Overseer is to immediately notify the King.” Ning understood this. Not even the King of Pangaea was able to prevent these Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals from meditating on the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos.
The Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos was everywhere, after all. But of course, becoming a World-level expert was far too difficult.
Generally speaking, those capable of succeeding would do so within a single chaos cycle. Mother Nuwa, for example, had done so long ago. In truth, these Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who had already been alive for multiple chaos cycles had almost no chance of succeeding. However, they were very long-lived and very powerful. Even if Ning asked his master Subhuti to come here to help out, Subhuti would have no chance of breaking the manacles…and if Subhuti attempted to kill these people to steal their treasures, he might end up suffering a backlash from it.
“I should take things slow. If things look grim for us when the Endwar begins to approach, I’ll tell Master and the others about this prisonworld.” Ning wasn’t a completely selfless person; this prisonworld was equivalent to an enormous treasury. It was up to him to figure out a method to unlock it and access the treasures within.
The treasures and techniques these Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals possessed were all definitely extraordinary.
However, for now Ning had no ways to access any of them. Even if he summoned Subhuti, Daoist Three Purities, Tathagata, Suiren, and the others to join forces, they would still be taking on an enormous risk. Once these ancient prisoners began to go berserk…
There was no way for Ning to assess exactly how powerful these prisoners. He was, however, certain of one thing; the Pangaea chaos-kingdom was far more powerful than the Three Realms.
……
Ning rode the Voidboat at high speed for more than four hours before lowering it to the ground.
He slowly walked forward across the desolate landscape. More than a thousand kilometers from him was a woman, seated in the lotus position.
“Hrm?” The woman’s eyelids twitched, then slowly opened.
“Finally…finally…a living being approaches.” The woman’s eyes lit up. She was far too lonely. It was hard for her to even stay alive here, much less sustain an estate-treasure. Generally speaking, only the Daofather and Elder God prisoners within this prisonworld were able to waste energy on such a thing.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an Overseer.” The woman looked at the distant Ning…but upon seeing him, her face instantly changed.
“A True Immortal?”
“He’s clearly a True Immortal, but…such a weak True Immortal…? The Overseers of Pangaea are all core members of the kingdom. Any True Immortal Overseer should be a supreme, top-tier True Immortal.” Suddenly, a thought entered the woman’s mind. She instantly felt completely stunned.
The white-robed youth walked over, then said in a calm voice, “As you suspected, the chaos-kingdom of Pangaea has been wiped out. You only have two paths before you…to serve me, or to die.”
* * *
Book 19, Chapter 31 - Soulscour
The seated woman didn’t panic at all. Instead, she began to laugh loudly as she rose to her feet. As she did, her formerly-emaciated figure began to transform. She became full-figured, and her skin became soft and tender. In the time it took for her to rise to her feet, she transformed from a starving beggar to a truly peerless beauty.
“Lilisoft greets you, True Immortal.” The woman smiled merrily. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an outsider, and three chaos cycles since I’ve seen an Overseer. I trul
y feel delighted by your appearance. Most delightful of all is the news that Pangaea has actually been wiped out. Wonderful…ahaha…wonderful!”
Ji Ning stared at the woman. She wasn’t going to panic at all?
“Might Lilisoft learn your name or sobriquet, True Immortal?” The woman asked.
“Darknorth.” Ning looked at her.
“Darknorth?” The woman nodded slowly. “If you are able to release me, True Immortal, I will submit to you. I’d even be willing to become your servant.”
“I’m unable to release you,” Ning said.
The woman was slightly startled, but she then nodded. “Right. It is too difficult to open these shackles. Only a Chaos Immortal or a World God can open these shackles without a talisman of command from the King of Pangaea. However…True Immortal, I don’t wish to die. Thus, I’m willing to submit to you. I would like to ask, however, that you not place a soul-imprint upon my soul.”
Ning actually chuckled. “You agreed quite quickly.”
“When the chaos-kingdom of Pangaea existed, the King of Pangaea wouldn’t kill me, as he had to worry about other factions and factors. Now that it is destroyed, however…in your eyes, True Immortal, all of us are nothing more than alien prisoners. In a case like this, the only outcomes are either death or servitude. I don’t want to die, so I have to serve,” the woman said with a smile.
Ning nodded.
This was much like how things were in the mortal world. Humans and monsters were born enemies. Humans would kill wild beasts and cook them, while wild beasts would attempt to eat humans when possible. Of course, powerful Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters wouldn’t fight that much against each other.
In the eyes of those of the Three Realms, no mercy at all could be shown to any alien Outsiders. If they released one, that person might return with other alien Outsiders and wipe out the entire Three Realms! Thus, all of them had to die…unless they could be forced to pledge fealty!