by RWX
“…so easy.” Ning blinked, lowering his head to stare at the sword-arts manuals. “These are already comparable to some of the supreme manuals the Black-White College has.”
“What a precious place.” The Whitewater Hound was completely stunned as well.
“And this is just the second level? I’ve never even seen such deep and profound techniques!” Little Qing’s eyes were completely crimson.
“Hahaha, come, let’s go see the third level,” Silvermoon laughed.
……
They arrived at the third level. Above the bookcases were a line of characters: “Get rid of the weeds within a hundred kilometers and you can choose a technique at will.”
The nearby Silvermoon said, “You have to pull up every single weed manually. To pull up all the weed within a hundred kilometers, one weed at a time…that should take at least a month or so.”
“Getting harder.” Ning nodded. He was beginning to notice that each progressing level had a higher level of difficulty. Although it was all just manual labor, it took up time.
“Pulling up a hundred kilometers of weed for a single technique…then pulling ten or a hundred would need…” Little Qing muttered to herself.
“Let’s look at the fourth floor.” Ning led them upwards once more.
……
The bookshelves here had a new line of characters above them: “Personally plant ten thousand fruit trees, and you can choose a technique at will.”
“This seems a bit easier than the weeding,” Little Qing said in a puzzled manner. Ning nodded as well. Weeding had to be done within a hundred kilometers; there would definitely be far more.
“Ah, you don’t understand. These fruit trees are not the fruit trees of the mortal worlds. These are fruit trees that bear Immortal fruit or spirit-fruit; they naturally require tremendous care when planting. Even though Immortal cultivators have incredible abilities, for them to carefully plant one tree at a time by hand…ten thousand will take at least half a year,” Silvermoon said.
“Half a year?”
“So much hard work for half a year, just to learn a single technique? And this is just the fourth level, right?” Little Qing stared.
Ning was quite calm; he continued to the fifth floor.
……
One floor after another.
The trial of the first floor only required half a day’s worth of work.
The trial for the second floor required three days.
The trial for the third floor required a month.
The trial for the fourth floor required half a year.
The trial for the fifth floor required three years.
The trial for the sixth floor required twenty full years.
The trial for the seventh floor required a century.
……
“And here is the eighth floor.” Although Ning was filled with questions, he still looked calm on the surface as he arrived on the eighth floor of the Divinities Palace.
The number of books on this floor was clearly much lower. The Ki Refining techniques here had already surpassed the Pure Yang level and were at the Daofather level.
The divine abilities and secret arts here…any one of them could serve as a foundational treasure for the likes of the imperial Xiamang clan.
Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing simultaneously turned their gazes towards the line of characters above the bookshelves. The line of words read: “Serve as novitiate guards for the Tristar Crescent Abode for a thousand years and you can choose a technique at will.”
“The seventh floor only required a hundred years, but this one requires a thousand.” Little Qing couldn’t help but say, “How long are we going to have to stay here at the Tristar Crescent Abode before we can leave it?”
“But the techniques and secret arts here…I imagine that not even the most treasured techniques of the Youngflame clan or the Northmont clan are so deep and profound.” Ning was still quite calm. “Come. Let us go to the ninth floor.”
……
The ninth floor was the final floor of the Divinities Palace.
On this floor, there were only three bookshelves, and they didn’t have that many books on them. Clearly, however…these were truly standouts. Any book here would allow the practitioner to become a powerful expert of the Three Realms. They could absolutely serve as pinnacle techniques…and for normal disciples here at Mount Innerheart, these were the ultimate techniques available!
Only personal disciples and those with special permission from Patriarch Subhuti could go to the Three Realms Palace!
“Eh?” Ning discovered to his astonishment that the bookshelves were completely black, with no characters above them.
“Why aren’t there any characters? Can it be that the techniques here on the ninth floor cannot be taught?” Little Qing was puzzled.
Ning turned his head to look towards the nearby Silvermoon. “Senior apprentice-brother, the trials for the first eight floors of the Divinities Palace require increasingly longer periods of time to complete…can it be that there is no trial for the ninth floor? And…can it be that the only way to learn the techniques of the Divinities Palace is to engage in manual labor? The eighth floor requires one to be a novitiate for a thousand years to learn a technique…does that mean if you want to learn ten techniques, you would have to spend ten thousand years?”
Ning had been planning to train for just a few decades or a century and then return to the world of the Grand Xia. This was his agreement with Yu Wei! To spend ten thousand years here at Mount Innerheart? He would be arriving far too late!
“Haha…you are quite clever, junior apprentice-brother.” Silvermoon waved his feather fan, then said leisurely, “The Divinities Palace actually has two types of trials. The first type consists of manual labors which naturally are not difficult at all; all one needs to do is spend some time. For those slightly dumber cultivators with poorer comprehension abilities, this is usually the type of trial they will choose. A thousand years as a novitiate to learn the powerful techniques of the eighth floor? It is worth it.”
Ning nodded. After one became a Primal, one’s lifespan became limitless; all one had to do was be able to overcome the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. To spend a thousand years on a single technique was indeed worth it.
“You can view this as a gift which Master gave to Mount Innerheart. Although it is said that the Dao cannot be casually taught, Master only required these simple ‘trials’ be passed,” Silvermoon said. “But of course, for truly peerless geniuses who have superior comprehension there is naturally no need to engage in all this manual labor. There are other trials for such individuals.”
“What trials?” Ning asked.
Silvermoon laughed. “Junior apprentice-brother, didn’t you notice that in the empty region outside the Divinities Palace, where all those humans, monsters, and Fiendgods were congregating, there were some restrictive formations and spells?”
Ning thought back to what he had seen, then nodded. “Right. That region was indeed marked with some formations and restrictive runes.”
“That place is the place for battling,” Silvermoon said. “Master created nine golems at nine different of power. Anyone who is capable of defeating the first golem is allowed to pick a technique from the first level of the Divinities Palace at will.”
“If you defeat the second golem once, you can choose a technique from the second floor at will. If you beat it twice, you can choose two techniques. Three times, pick three…and so on.”
“If you beat the third golem, you can choose from the third floor.”
“The principles are the same for the ninth golem; if you defeat it, you can naturally choose a technique from the ninth floor.”
Silvermoon smiled as he looked at Ning. “Understand, junior apprentice-brother?”
“This trial is quite simple as well. Understood.” Ning nodded, then asked with suspicion, “If you beat it once you will gain one technique, if you beat i
t twice you will gain two…can it be that the more times you fight, the more powerful the golem will become?”
“When you actually go fight them, you’ll know the answer.” Silvermoon no longer gave any more information on this. “But remember; these fights are meant to test your insights into the Dao! Thus, all divine abilities are forbidden, as well as any formations, forbidden arts, etc. I hear you are a Sword Immortal. If so, then you are only permitted to use your sword and sword-arts. Unleash the full power and sharpness of your sword-arts.”
Ning nodded.
“By doing manual labor, one can learn techniques up to the eighth floor. Only by defeating the ninth golem, however, can the ninth floor techniques be learned.” Silvermoon looked at Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother, once you defeat the ninth golem and learn a ninth floor technique, you can go to the Three Realms Palace.”
“Right.” Ning nodded, then asked, “Senior apprentice-brother, which golem should I test myself against for now?”
“There isn’t much point in acquiring those weaker sword-arts manuals; it’s best to start from a higher place! Since Master was willing to accept you as his disciple, I imagine that you are a rare, peerless genius as well…how about this? Why don’t you give the sixth golem a try?” This was Silvermoon’s best guess, as he didn’t know anything about Ning’s level of power. Still, he could guess that Ning was most likely a supreme genius.
“The sixth golem? The sixth floor?” Ning thought back to the sixth floor; the sword-arts manuals there were already even more profound than the full nine stances of the [Three-Foot Sword]! Every sword-arts manual there surpassed the best that the Black-White College had to offer.
“But I’m only at the Wanxiang level,” Ning said, a bit worried. “Isn’t that a bit…”
“Don’t worry. The nine golems which Master created are extraordinary. They will release different levels of power, based on the strength of their foes. Since you are at the Wanxiang level, the elemental ki these golems will use shall also be at the Wanxiang level. If you were a Void-level Earth Immortal, then the elemental ki these golems would use would also be Void-level. This is why I said this is a test of your comprehension of the Dao! It doesn’t matter if you are a Wanxiang Adept, a Primal Daoist, or a Void-level Earth Immortal,” Silvermoon said.
Ning instantly felt reassured. “Good. Then I’ll give the sixth golem a try.”
“Come, let’s go to the testing ground.” Silvermoon immediately lead Ning down from the ninth floor of the Divinities Palace to the empty field outside.
* * *
Book 13, Chapter 6 - Puny
Outside the Divinities Palace.
“All of you, step back,” Silvermoon instructed. All of the disciples of Mount Innerheart present all hurriedly departed from the empty region.
Silvermoon waved his arm, and a golem that was more than three meters tall appeared out of nowhere. The golem’s body seemed completely metallic, and its arm had six hoops around it.
“Junior apprentice-brother, this is the sixth golem,” Silvermoon said.
“Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” Ning was filled with anticipation.
Silvermoon, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing immediately left the dueling grounds. As for the other Mount Innerheart disciples, they all revealed looks of amazement and curiosity.
“Uncle-master is going to duel a golem.”
“The Patriarch is about to show his power!”
“The Little Patriarch is immediately challenging the sixth golem upon arriving at the power. I imagine that he’s pretty confident in being able to defeat it. He’s only a Wanxiang Adept, but he actually dares to fight the sixth golem. What level of insight into the Dao must the Little Patriarch have reached?! No wonder Patriarch Subhuti took him as a disciple. He truly is a peerless monster.”
“I’ve been on the mountain for thousands of years, but I’m still unable to defeat the sixth golem. I had to serve as a novitiate in order to acquire an eighth level Divinities Palace technique,” an old Void-level Diremonster growled.
“Challenging the sixth golem as soon as he comes up the mountain? Formidable, formidable indeed. Even in the major world from whence I come, it is rare for such a peerless genius to come in countless lifetimes.”
These humans, monsters, and Fiendgods all spoke out in praise. As they saw it, since Ning had been chosen by Patriarch Subhuti as his disciple, he was assuredly extraordinary. In addition, that old demon Silvermoon, the manager of this Divinities Palace, was also a personal disciple of Patriarch Subhuti. Since he chose the sixth golem for Ning, he probably felt confident that Ning could beat it.
“Formidable.”
“A peerless genius.”
“Incredible.”
The disciples of Mount Innerheart were all filled with eagerness as they waited to watch.
……
The trial grounds. Ning was exchanging stares with the distant sixth golem. From far away, Little Qing was cheering, “Master, master, beat the snot out of that golem!”
“Little Wanxiang kid, if you want to beat me, bring out your power.” The three meter tall golem growled, then waved his hand as a longsword suddenly appeared within it.
“Good.” A Darknorth sword appeared in each of Ning’s hands as well.
“Kill!” Ning instantly charged forward.
All of the disciples of Mount Innerheart present, as well as the old demon Silvermoon, were watching this battle carefully.
After having mastered the Dao-Path of the Gale, Ning’s speed had become incredibly fast; he blew forward like a gust of wind and arrived before the sixth golem, and his Darknorth swords instantly struck out like two streaks of dazzling sword-light.
After experiencing the [Thousand Year Dream], Ning’s sword-arts had clearly become firmer and more stable, and his movements were more pure and exquisite as well.
Bang!
The golem struck out with its longsword, and the earth itself seemed to tremble. The longsword actually came smashing down with the weight of a mountain, and Ning could even see with his naked eyes the vague illusion of massive mountains appearing around it. The might and aura of this sword stance caused Ning to feel completely awestruck.
“Not good. The difference in power is too great!” Ning, upon seeing the illusion of massive mountains which had manifested around the golem’s sword-chop, instantly felt completely unable to resist. The profoundness of the attack’s formless Dao…
His own two chopping streaks of sword-light became as thin as silken, becoming incomparably soft.
BOOM!!!
The golem’s longsword smashed down upon Ning’s twin Darknorth swords. A surge of invincible power crushed downwards, and Ning was sent flying through the air like a meteor. He only stopped when he arrived at the edge of the trial grounds, where a nearly invisible barrier hovered in the air. The barrier blocked Ning’s fall, but his two Darknorth swords were also sent flying into the air, and they then smashed against the restrictive barrier and fell to the ground.
“I admit defeat,” Ning hurriedly called out. The flesh on his two hands had been completely split open, and blood was leaking everywhere.
Just a single exchange of blows…but his sword had actually been knocked flying. This difference in power was simply too enormous.
“Uh…”
“Um…”
“But…”
The many disciples of Mount Innerheart who were watching outside the trial grounds, be they human, monster, or Fiendgod, all were completely flabbergasted at what they had just seen. They blinked.
As they saw it, Ning was the chosen of Patriarch Subhuti, and so he surely must be extraordinary! Even when these other disciples had first arrived on the mountain, they were generally able to defeat the second or third golem. Some of the more powerful ones were able to defeat the fourth or even the fifth golem. None of the ones present had been able to defeat the sixth golem right away, but over the course of Mount Innerheart’s many years of history the
re had been some who had defeated the sixth golem upon arriving.
The statuses of these disciples were far lower than Ning’s. Ning was the Patriarch’s disciple! All of the other disciples believed that Ning was going to make a miracle happen.
But unfortunately…this ‘exceptionally extraordinary’ Ji Ning was actually defeated in one blow. He wasn’t even able to fight back!
“Master!” Little Qing looked towards Ning, tight feelings appearing in her chest. Her master was the number one figure in his Conclave, and she had thought for certain that her master was going to dazzle everyone with his power upon arriving at Mount Innerheart. But he had actually been defeated so miserably. “Master must be feeling horrible right now! And there were so many Mount Innerheart disciples watching! That despicable old bastard, Silvermoon…he’s the one who told Master to fight against the sixth golem!”
“Ning, child…” The Whitewater Hound had not expected this either.
“Uh.” The fan-wielding Silvermoon hastily waved his arm, collecting up the sixth golem. He hurriedly ran over. “Junior apprentice-brother, this, uh, I didn’t, I…I didn’t know exactly how strong you were, but since Master took you on as a new disciple, I…”
Silvermoon hadn’t done this on purpose. He knew exactly how stringent and exacting Patriarch Subhuti’s requirements for accepting new disciples were. Those who were accepted as disciples before becoming Celestial Immortals or Empyrean Gods were all incredible talented, so monstrously skilled as to cause utter terror! Thus, he had guessed that this new junior apprentice-brother of his, Ji Ning, should be able to give the sixth golem a good fight. Even if he were to be defeated, he should have been able to fight for quite a long time before losing. He hadn’t expected at all that Ning would be defeated with a single blow and that he wouldn’t be able to fight back at all.
“It isn’t your fault, senior apprentice-brother.” Ning shook his head. He could tell that the spectating humans, monsters, and Fiendgods all had a look of surprise, puzzlement, and even hidden disdain in their eyes. Clearly, these Immortal cultivators cared about strength the most; even though his status was high, if he wasn’t strong enough, others would still look down on him in their hearts.
