Chapter 41: Leaping Forward

"Go." Dan the Venerable instructed.

The old man in gold robes and Ji Ning both bowed respectfully, then left together.

Dan the Venerable sat cross-legged, looking down at the ancient armor, murmuring softly: "Elder Brother..." Long, long ago, this armor was personally forged by Dan the Venerable and given to the love of her heart. The Dominator had always worn this armor. Stroking it, she seemed to feel her elder brother's presence.

Dan the Venerable closed her eyes, lay down casually on the ground, her head gently resting against the ancient armor, and fell asleep.

This ancient cave dwelling was hers alone, quiet and still. Without her permission, even her followers dared not enter, because long, long ago, this cave dwelling was where she and her elder brother had lived together. Back then, Second Brother and Third Brother would often tease them, this pair of Dao companions.

But now... only she remained.

...

After leaving Dan the Venerable's cave dwelling, Yu Hong led Ji Ning through the void to a cave dwelling on a high mountain.

"This is my residence," said Daoist Yu Hong with a smile. "There are some vacant villas nearby. Beiming, feel free to choose one. Those three over there, these five here, and those two over there are all empty."

Ji Ning swept his gaze and pointed to a mansion halfway up the distant mountain: "That one."

"I'll arrange some servants for you. If you need anything, just come to me," said Daoist Yu Hong with a smile. "I'm quite familiar with the Three Leaf Realm."

"May I ask..." Ji Ning hesitated, then said, "Who exactly is that great power who brought me here?"

"You don't know my master's name?" Daoist Yu Hong said in surprise. His master was of such status, personally leading a World-level cultivator to her residence—this already showed her special attitude toward Ji Ning. And this little fellow didn't even know his master's name?

"I don't know. I didn't dare ask too much," said Ji Ning.

"You'll hear about it soon enough in the Three Leaf Realm. It's no secret. The entire Three Leaf Realm was created by my master," said Daoist Yu Hong. "My master is one of the three ancient Star Lords of the Divine Destruction Palace—Dan the Venerable."

Ji Ning's eyes widened: "Dan, Dan, Dan the Venerable?"

That deceased Dominator, when teaching him, had said: 'If my disciple achieves eternity through Dao-union, repay the grace of my teaching today to Dan the Venerable!'

So that mysterious great power was Dan the Venerable!

"No wonder she treated me so specially," Ji Ning thought. "This deceased Dominator and Dan the Venerable had an extraordinary relationship! And the thirty-five Eternal powers, including the deceased Dominator, all died in the inner region of the Origin Lands. Dan the Venerable must know the secrets behind their deaths."

"My master excels in alchemy. In alchemy, she is indisputably number one in this universe. Even the second-ranked alchemist's skill is less than a tenth of hers. The ten most dazzling elixirs in the entire universe were all refined by my master," said Daoist Yu Hong proudly. "From this, you can understand how extraordinary her alchemy is."

"Not only that, in artifact forging and puppet crafting, though she hasn't spent much effort, she still ranks in the top three in this universe," Daoist Yu Hong said, then added proudly, "My master's follower, 'Emperor Abandonfire,' learned artifact forging and puppet crafting from her and has now surpassed her, becoming number one in artifact forging in this universe. My master told you to look around the Three Leaf Realm. In my opinion, she meant for you to visit Emperor Abandonfire. Cultivators need the most suitable magic treasures and divine weapons. Treasures obtained from elsewhere are never the most suitable. Only treasures specially forged for you are likely the best fit."

Ji Ning marveled inwardly.

The Three Leaf Realm held a very transcendent status in this universe.

Dan the Venerable... number one in alchemy.

Her follower 'Emperor Abandonfire,' number one in artifact forging.

But this only indicated a transcendent status. In the world of great powers, what ultimately mattered was strength! The Lord of the Divine Destruction Palace relied on overwhelming power to unify this universe. Emperor Abandonfire, though number one in artifact forging, was merely a follower. Even the other four Eternal Emperors were willing to be Dan the Venerable's followers because her strength was sufficient. 'Emperor Talisman' had even sent a talisman to form a good connection with Dan the Venerable, also because of her own power.

"Where is Emperor Abandonfire?" asked Ji Ning.

"Look over there." Daoist Yu Hong pointed to a place where flames soared into the sky, turning the sky fiery red. "That is Emperor Abandonfire's cave dwelling. You can visit when you have time."

Ji Ning nodded: "Then I'll return to my residence first."

"Feel free to come to me if you need anything," said Daoist Yu Hong with a smile. He dared not neglect Ji Ning.

Ji Ning transformed into a streak of light and flew toward his distant cave dwelling.

...

Inside the cave dwelling, there were already some servants. Seeing Ji Ning descend, they all bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Master."

Ji Ning smiled and nodded: "Go about your business. Without my permission, do not disturb me."

"Yes, Master," they all responded.

Ji Ning immediately walked inside. The moment he landed, he had already used his divine power to refine and take control of this cave dwelling. A cultivator living in a cave dwelling naturally wanted to fully control it to feel at ease. Of course, when Ji Ning left in the future, he would remove his refining imprint from the cave dwelling.

Inside the cave dwelling, Ji Ning walked deeper.

"Rumble..." A stone door opened inside.

Ji Ning entered. Inside the stone door was a circular stone platform with divine runes. Ji Ning stepped onto it and sat cross-legged. He felt waves of energy emanating from the stone platform, enveloping his body and mind, calming him completely. The massive stone door then closed again.

This was the cultivation meditation chamber of the cave dwelling.

"Let me take a closer look." Ji Ning closed his eyes, and the contents of the 'Seven Chapters of Dan Leaves' began to flash through his mind. He read carefully, and five days passed.

The Seven Chapters of Dan Leaves taught progressively, but Ji Ning didn't need alchemy, so he mainly studied the alchemical techniques. The techniques in the first three chapters, though impressive, were nothing compared to the later four. Especially the techniques in the seventh chapter, which were truly formidable—likely the ones Dan the Venerable herself used.

"Even just half of it is far more powerful for alchemy than mastering all of the first three chapters," Ji Ning rejoiced inwardly.

"Now, let me try cultivating the Nine Source Divine Thunder and Nine Source Divine Water." Ji Ning felt he had greatly improved in control. The alchemical techniques bestowed by Dan the Venerable had enhanced his fine control by more than a thousandfold. No wonder Dan the Venerable said that if Ji Ning put in some effort, surpassing the creator of the Nine Source Divine Thunder would be easy. After all, the Seven Chapters of Dan Leaves was the supreme sacred scripture of alchemy.

Ji Ning closed his eyes and looked inward.

Within the golden core chaos space.

A towering Dao tree, thirty-six thousand zhang tall, stood there. This tree represented Ji Ning's 'Sword Dao' insights. In fact, he could break through to the Daoist realm at any time, allowing the Dao tree to exceed the thirty-six-thousand-zhang limit. In many aspects like wind, fire, lightning, and space, Ji Ning had already reached the World-level, but he had not manifested Dao trees for them in the golden core chaos space.

"Sizzle..." "Boom..."

Various sources of divine thunder and divine water surged with澎湃 energy.

"Rise." The power of the blue flower mist spread, easily controlling two of the Dao-level divine thunders—the 'Water Smoke Divine Thunder' and 'Fire Cloud Divine Thunder,' the easiest to control.

"Seven Chapters of Dan Leaves." Ji Ning immediately began to apply the techniques. Wisps of golden light emerged, each containing numerous divine runes, gradually forming two golden hands. These hands gently grasped the two divine thunders, kneading them like dough, easily controlling them and harmonizing them.

Gradually, the two bolts of lightning in the air changed, water and fire merging, revealing a deep cyan bolt of lightning.

Second-rank divine thunder, complete!

"Too easy." Ji Ning was astonished. He felt no strain, as if it were as easy as breathing.

"Let me directly refine third-rank divine thunder." Ji Ning was full of confidence. Normally, after refining second-rank divine thunder, one should leave a secret technique seed. But confident Ji Ning couldn't be bothered and went straight to refining third-rank divine thunder.

One golden hand controlled the second-rank divine thunder, while the other grabbed the 'Earth Fiend Divine Thunder' and began to refine it...

Refining third-rank divine thunder was more than ten times harder than second-rank.

But Ji Ning still followed the method of the 'Nine Source Divine Thunder' step by step and successfully refined the 'third-rank divine thunder'! It was a deep yellow bolt of lightning, its radiance spreading, its power far surpassing the combined might of the seven Dao-level divine thunders and seven Dao-level divine waters.

...