by RWX
“This is troublesome.” The golden-armored warrior frowned. A warhammer in his hand swung out, instantly creating rippling cracks in space. The outer layer of the Waterflame Lotus it collided into immediately began to crack, then finally shattered apart.
“I only destroyed a single lotus?” The golden-armored warrior was secretly surprised. But swish! Swish! Swish! The jade-white swords flew out, moving like strokes of the brush on the canvas of the sky, all of them seeming quite plain, simple, and reserved, but causing the golden-armored warrior to feel exceptionally cautious. “The Dao of the Sword? And what a fierce, terrifying sword technique.”
Clank. The golden-armored warrior swung out with his massive warhammer, blocking one sword-flash after another. Each time he blocked one of Ning’s sword-flashes, the warhammer would tremble. This was because the warhammers were formed from divine power, and weren’t actual magic treasures.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Faced with the Waterflame Lotus that was infused with dire-ice and earthfire, and the rays of sword-light from the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the golden-armored warrior was temporarily befuddled…
When roaming the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains, the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had been inferior to Ning’s close combat skills, but afterwards, at the Black-White College, Ning had trained all the way from the early Wanxiang stage to the late Wanxiang stage! The rise in power of his elemental ki made it so that when Ning now used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], the power was two levels higher than it had been before. It was extremely close to Ning’s close combat power by now.
“His avatar is clearly very weak, but he’s still able to defend against all of my techniques.” Ning’s face turned cold, and the Darknorth swords in his hands disappeared. Immediately afterwards, a black greatbow appeared in his hands.
This black greatbow was an Earth-ranked magic treasure. It could only be considered an ordinary item, and it didn’t have any special, additional powers. It was quite hard for Ning to locate a legendary divine bow, but…this Earth-ranked greatbow was enough for Ning to display all of his power.
“[Starseizing Hand]!” Ning instantly executed the [Starseizing Hand], holding the grip of the bow with one hand and nocking the arrow and pulling the bowstring with the other…
Creaaak. He pulled the bowstring to its maximum length. Ning’s eyes seemed to spit lightning towards the distant figure. Pulling a bow didn’t require much mental effort; it only used his divine power! This, Ning could pull the bow, control the Waterflame Lotuses, and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] at the same time.
Swish! The arrow flashed out, instantly passing through the distance between them and arriving before the golden-armored warrior. “Not good.” The golden-armored warrior was shocked ; this arrow was even faster than the sword-flashes sent out be that [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. He hurriedly moved to block.
Bang! The giant warhammer in his hands trembled so hard, it began to crack. It then quickly healed, but the golden-armored warrior had to take a few hurried steps back.
The power of an arrow…it came from accumulating strength, then letting it all explode forth from the arrow. The explosive power of an arrow was naturally even more powerful than Ning’s close combat power. However, the weakness of an arrow was its lack of agility; so long as enemies could dodge, the arrow would have been shot out for nothing.
But, Ning and the golden-armored warrior were only hundreds of meters away from each other! Given the speed of the arrows which Ning shot out while using the [Starseizing Hand], that distance would be passed in an instant. It was simply too fast! And the Waterflame Lotuses and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] were also restricting and impeding the warrior’s movements! Due to these reasons, the golden-armored warrior wasn’t able to dodge at all, and had to rely on his own strength to block the arrows.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Each arrow carried a mountain-shattering force which burst forth with each collision. The nearby Waterflame Lotuses of dire-ice and earthfire, along with the late-stage Wanxiang-level [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword-flashes were hard to deal with as well. For a time, the golden-armored warrior found it incredibly hard to cope, and his divine power was rapidly depleting.
“If this continues, my divine power is going to be used up. After this avatar of mine uses up its divine power, it’s going to dissipate.” The golden-armored warrior couldn’t hesitate any longer.
“RAAAARGH!” The golden-armored warriors suddenly let out an explosive shout. His entire body suddenly radiated a powerful golden light, and the warhammers in his hands transformed into streaks of light, shattering the nearby sword-flashes of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] as well as the Waterflame Lotuses as he charged straight towards Ning.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ning shot out four arrows in a row! These arrows were all under the control of Ning’s divine will, and they were even able to slightly curve in midair, attacking the golden-armored warrior in unison. There was no way the golden-armored warrior could avoid the joint attack of these four arrows; all he could do was hurriedly block, and in doing so, he was immediately knocked backwards.
The Waterflame Lotuses and the sword-flashes of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] once more formed and moved to entangle him…
One arrow after another, each containing astonishing, savage power. They all swept towards him! These arrows guided by divine will moved in eerie, unfathomably strange ways. Now only were the arrows too powerful…the divine will caused them to adjust in minute ways.
“You little rascal, do you dare fight me in close combat?” The golden-armored warrior bellowed.
“You lose.” Ning just replied in a soft voice as he shot out four more arrows simultaneously. The golden-armored warrior was barely able to block them, but then his entire body began to tremble, then collapsed and vanished into the void. As his body vanished, he growled in anger, clearly quite dissatisfied.
“Whew.” Ning let out a sigh. “This was a mere avatar of the Fiendgod, but he was already quite difficult to deal with. I had to use the [Starseizing Hand] eighteen times in a row, and 39 attacks with my [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].” Ning could sense that his divine power had been enormously depleted, as well as much of his elemental ki, and he couldn’t help but feel secretly amazed.
Whoosh. Ning disappeareed into thin air. By the time the world grew clear, Ning found himself within the main hall of the underwater estate again.
“…you actually used the bow to win?” The giant yellow bear stared at Ning, disbelief in his eyes. He had expected that this would be an extremely difficult battle; the two would’ve fought savagely in close combat, and in the end, Ning stood a high chance of losing.
But in the end…Ning had annihilated his foe by using the [Starseizing Hand] to shoot arrows at him from far away.
“The divine ability which Master transmitted to me, aside from being used in close combat, can also be used to attack others with the bow,” Ning said meekly. “I was lucky enough to win.”
“Lucky?” The giant yellow bear saw through Ning’s meekness and saw the smugness underneath. “Fine, fine. You defeated the third level, and you can go choose an Earth-ranked magic treasure or item of equivalent value. Go!”
* * *
Book 9, Chapter 19 - Nethercold
The Treasures Hall was the same as it had always been. Hanging in the air at the top of the hall were many powerful magic treasures and curious artifacts, all emanating powerful ripples…if it weren’t for the fact that they were separated from the bottom by restrictive spells, those powerful ripples would easily annihilate Ji Ning if he were to interact with them! Ning felt no doubt about this whatsoever.
The giant yellow bear and Ning were within the Treasures Hall. “Ji Ning, you may now begin to select Earth-ranked magic treasures from the Treasures Hall,” the giant yellow bear said, looking at Ning. “You must be even more careful than in the past, when you chose a
Mortal-ranked magic treasure. This is because although you moved quite quickly from the Zifu level to the Wanxiang level, you will most likely take far more time to move to the Primal level. As for going from the Primal level to the Void level, the amount of time that will consume is even greater.”
Ning nodded. The farther along the path one went, the longer it would take to reach the next stage.
“The same is true as well in selecting magic treasures.” The giant yellow bear said, “It is guaranteed that you will only be using Mortal-ranked magic treasures for a short period of time; the three that you chose previously, for example, are most likely already of limited use to you.”
Ning chuckled. Of the three he had chosen, he had sold off the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation at Stillwater City’s Carefree Caverns long ago! As for the Nine Yang Swords Formation, he had replaced them with the superior Northriver Sword Formation which he had acquired at the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains.
Only the Evanescent Demonslayer Sword, which he could use for sneak attacks, was still being regularly used. However…this sword had its flaws as well. It was most suited for underground sneak attacks; in other situations, such as when battling in midair in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains, as soon as it moved close to the enemy, it would be easily discovered, at which point in time it could no longer used for a sneak attack.
“You’ve passed through the third level of the Wargod Hall, and soon, you’ll be able to overcome the fourth level. Once your Fiendgod body reaches the Wanxiang level…you’ll have had a total of three chances to obtain Earth-ranked magic treasures, or artifacts of an equivalent value.” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “Choose carefully. Some of the top-grade magic artifacts present are most likely only owned by the most powerful of organizations in this major world of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s. It will be incredibly difficult to purchase or trade for them.”
Ning nodded. There were very few top-grade Mortal-ranked magic treasures, and top-grade Earth-ranked treasures were even more incomparably rare. They were almost never seen, and to find one suitable for one’s self was even less likely. He, however, now had a chance to choose amongst the top-grade Earth-ranked magic treasures of the underwater estate for one he liked.
“Choose.” The giant yellow bear produced a golden book out of nowhere, and the book was covered with two Fiendgod characters for ‘Precious Treasures’.
“Why is it that this book looks identical to the Mortal-ranked magic treasures book?” Ning couldn’t help but ask this question. The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “Not just Earth-ranked; the Heaven-ranked, Immortal-ranked, and Pure Yang-ranked magic treasures book are the same as well, because I personally compile these books. This is your first time choosing an Earth-ranked magic treasure, and so I will only show you a portion of the items available. The second time, you’ll have more options, and the third time, you’ll be able to go through any of the items in the book.”
Ning asked hurriedly, “Senior, which is the most suited to me?” The treasures to be chosen from were simply too dazzling. Only the giant yellow bear would know which were the best. Last time, for example, the giant yellow bear had advised him to choose the Nine Yang Sword Formation, and the third time, he had indeed chosen it.
“There are plenty of precious artifacts, quite a few of which are suited to you,” the giant yellow bear said. “I think you should read through it slowly.” Resigned, Ning began to flip through the book.
“Wow, this really is…!” Ning’s gaze instantly grew heated. He had gone to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain before, and had seen the Earth-ranked magic treasures there, and had also seen some Earth-ranked treasures that were only for display and not for sale; these were some of the most precious, top-quality magic treasures of that local branch of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Without having a few treasures like this to display, how could the Heavenly Treasures Mountain awe the masses? But Ning couldn’t help but think to himself, “All of these treasures are comparable to those items at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.” His heartrate sped up.
Xuanwu’s Goldscale Ship; a top-grade Earth-ranked flying treasure. While flying, it could transform into a goldscale fish that could soar into the heavens or burrow into the ground. It was incomparably quick when flying, and was as incomparably nimble in the skies as a fish was in the water. Upon entering the ground, it would become even more agile, comparable to many Heaven-ranked flying treasures.
In addition, given that it was named after Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise, it was also incomparably sturdy. When hiding within the Xuanwu Goldscale Ship, even a Primal Daoist’s attacks would find it difficult to do anything to it.
“What an item,” Ning murmured to himself. “In the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, I saw an item on display, the ‘Ruyi Godspeed Boat’, which was comparable to this item in speed but far weaker in defense. And yet, that was enough for it to be considered one of their not-for-sale items.”
It was indeed an excellent item. However, since it was guaranteed that Ning would at most have three chances to choose Earth-ranked magic treasures, he wasn’t willing to waste one of the three chances on a flying magic treasure.
Earthfire Heartlamp, a strange artifact. The Earthfire Heartlamp was a unique sort of rock that was formed from the natural world. It was naturally formed into the shape of the lamp, and within it there was something akin to the extracted essence of fire…this extract was incomparably, shockingly effective in nurturing earthfire, and if Ning were to often place his earthfire within it and absorb from that essence, in ten short years, his earthfire would rise to be of the first grade! If other types of supportive treasures were used, the amount of time it would take for earthfire to be nourished to the first rank would be even less.
“Earthfire Heartlamp!” Ning was truly intrigued. Although many of the previous items had caused his heartrate to speed up, this was the first time he was truly filled with a powerful urge. “This is what I’ll choose, I imagine.”
“Should I choose it?” Ning began to ponder. “Earthfire, at the first grade, is capable of threatening even Primal Daoists. But this will take roughly ten years.” Ning thought about it, shaking his head in the end. “In ten years, my [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] will probably have increased dramatically in power, and my swordplay as well; earthfire of the first grade won’t be as helpful then as it would be now.”
It had only been four years since he had joined the Black-White College! And yet, he had already developed the third stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]! He had truly improved tremendously during the past four years. Ten years ago, he had been fighting with the Azure Skysnake, and had just arrived at the Eastmount Marshes after having left West Prefecture City. Now, ten years later, he was capable of effortlessly killing Wanxiang Adepts.
Although it was true that the further along one went, the slower one improved, ten years…Ning felt confident that he would improve dramatically in this period of time.
“It’s very good item.” Ning pondered a bit more. “However, it’s guaranteed that the goldflame earthfire will never be my most powerful attack; in addition, my body has both earthfire and dire-ice. When using the Waterflame Lotus, ideally, the dire-ice and earthfire should be balanced. If the earthfire is too powerful or the dire-ice too weak, that will not be good for my Waterflame Lotus.
“Even without this Earthfire Heartlamp, I’ll still have the ancient glacial ice, the firelotus pith, and other treasures. Although they are a bit slower, and will only be able to improve my earthfire and dire-ice to the fourth or fifth grade, at least the power will be matched.” Ning persuaded himself to forget it, then began to continue reading.
One magic treasure after another. In the past, any Earth-ranked magic treasures were very alluring, but that was before Ning had truly gone out adventuring. Now that he was a disciple of the Black-White College, a Raindragon Guard, and had visited the Heavenly Treasures Mountain…his horizons had been broaded, and only now did he understand how
precious and rare the priceless items which Daoist Threelives had left behind were. Most likely, not even the treasures of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty were comparable to the items here. Unfortunately, he was only allowed to choose three items from each level.
The Brocade-Cloud Miasma, a top-grade Earth-ranked protective item…
A Hundred Venoms Immortal-Lock Formation…an Earth-ranked formation…
A Dire-Ice Mirror…a precious item capable of improving dire-ice to the first grade in ten years.
One precious item after another. Ning’s eyes were turning red from desire. “Senior, you should treat the Dire-Ice Mirror and the Earthfire Heartlamp as one treasure,” Ning said, raising his head to look at the giant yellow bear. “If you did, I’d pick it.”
“As one treasure?” The giant yellow bear stared at him. “Are you not aware that many different types of earthfire and dire-ice are only capable of being improved to the third or second grades? Although some have the potential to be improved to the first grade, that’s just potential! How hard would it be for one to truly improve it to the first grade? Upon doing so, once it is further upgraded to skyfire, its potential and its power will become even greater. Are you aware of all this? I refuse to believe that in the entirety of the Grand Xia Dynasty, you’ll be able to find a single place which is willing to sell Earthfire Heartlamps or Dire-Ice Mirrors to outsiders!”
Ning was speechless. Sell it to outsiders? In the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and the Carefree Caverns, he truly had never seen these items for sale before.
These rare artifacts were all formed naturally by the natural world, and were not magic treasures which would be created or forged. Thus, there was a very limited number of them in the world. Given that there were thousands of Heavenly Treasures Mountains, one in each commandery, how could they possibly sell Earthfire Heartlamps to outsiders?
