Chapter 11: The Fifth Level of Heart Force

Ji Ning suppressed his excitement and gently flicked his finger, sending two drops of Chaos Liquid flying over.

Because his second true body had been guarding the Three Realms, Chaos Liquid was very scarce, but he still had two drops. Moreover, Yuchi Xue and Ji Yichuan's souls and bodies were not particularly powerful; one drop each was enough.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

The two drops of Chaos Liquid flew toward the two true spirits respectively.

The droplet-like Chaos Liquid enveloped the true spirits and immediately began to naturally form souls with the true spirits as the core. Although souls and bodies could also be formed through the Six Paths of Reincarnation, those souls and bodies were not good enough. Even being born in the Heavenly Realm as a先天生灵 was still not particularly impressive.

Using Chaos Liquid directly to restore the soul and condense the body was the most perfect way to form a body.

Once the souls were formed,

two soul phantoms stood in the void—one was Yuchi Xue, and the other was Ji Yichuan. They had fully regained consciousness, and Ji Ning's divine power helped awaken the memories in their souls. With Ji Ning's current abilities, a single thought could awaken their past-life memories, as Yuchi Xue and Ji Yichuan had already died in their second life.

"Ning'er." They looked at Ji Ning, somewhat incredulous.

Ji Ning was a bit excited and quickly said, "Father, mother, don't rush. First, condense your bodies. Just hold the thought in your mind. This Chaos Liquid is wondrous and can form anything."

Immediately, a cloak of flesh began to form around the soul phantoms. Yuchi Xue and Ji Yichuan also saw many figures in the distance, so naturally they would not be naked. Soon, the couple, dressed in white fur, fully materialized and stood in the void.

At this moment, Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue also had an additional lifetime of memories—the memories of 'Liu Hechuan' and 'Dongliu Xue'.

"Xue'er." Ji Yichuan looked at his wife.

"Yichuan." Yuchi Xue also looked at Ji Yichuan.

In both past and present lives, they had been together. In that life at Yanshan, Yuchi Xue had died from the loss of vitality, and Ji Yichuan, with no attachment to life, had eventually died from injuries. Their next life was even more tragic; they were captured by some lackeys of the Abyss Gate and refined into treasures, their souls scattering.

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue held each other's hands.

"Ning'er." They looked at Ji Ning.

"This... what is going on?" Ji Yichuan was puzzled. Around them was endless void, and in the distance were figures with vast auras.

Yuchi Xue was both excited and confused. Hadn't she and Yichuan died?

Now they were in the void, yet standing as if on solid ground, with something supporting them from below. They realized that all of this was probably because of their son.

"Father, mother, everything is in the past. Nothing can separate our family again." Ji Ning's voice trembled slightly.

Yuchi Xue's eyes reddened, and she stepped forward to embrace Ji Ning.

Ji Ning also hugged his mother.

His mother's embrace...

As warm as in his memories.

Ji Ning suddenly looked up. His father Ji Yichuan also came over, and Ji Ning reached out to embrace him as well.

The family of three reunited.

Beside them,菩提, Feng Mo, and the others watched with envy and admiration. Most of them were born from chaos or heaven and earth and had never had parents, but they could all feel the deep affection between Ji Ning and his parents at this moment.

...

At the moment of embracing his parents, the tightly strung chord in his heart over the years suddenly relaxed.

Ji Ning's heart force also broke through to the fifth level and began to surge rapidly. In fact, during the battle of the Three Realms catastrophe, when Ji Ning finally comprehended 'Heartsword Heaven and Earth' and killed the Source Elder, he should have broken through to the fifth level then. But the obsession and牵挂 in his heart kept him stuck at the bottleneck.

After leaving the Three Realms and entering the vast territories, in the Mangya Kingdom and even in the alternate universe, Ji Ning experienced much. He even perfectly combined five supreme Daos, and his state of mind had improved greatly, yet he remained stuck at the bottleneck.

His heart could not truly 'return to simplicity'.

But after arriving at the Tiancang Palace and finding his parents' true spirits in the River of Fate to revive them, Ji Ning's heart truly relaxed, and he naturally 'returned to simplicity'.

Although deep in his heart, there was still one obsession—Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei! But Ji Ning also understood how difficult it was to save her. Even the 'Emperor Fubo', ranked first in talismans in the alternate universe, could not revive his own disciple. Ji Ning had never heard of anyone reversing time and space to revive someone, showing how incredibly difficult it was.

Because he knew it was very, very hard,

Ji Ning instead developed a calm mind.

"Boom~~~" His heart force surged.

The experiences of these years instantly pushed Ji Ning's heart force to the peak of the fifth level.

Even in his sea of consciousness, the heart force converged, vaguely affecting the space of the sea of consciousness.

If his heart force were a bit stronger, converging in the sea of consciousness could completely open up a Heartworld! Only those who open a 'Heartworld' can truly be considered heart force cultivators. Heart force cultivators are truly terrifying. For a heart force cultivator on the verge of Daomerge, their 'Heartworld' would be the size of a territory. Just the projection of the world descending could easily suppress and kill a Daomerge-level Daoist.

World projection descent is the crudest method of combat.

The more mysterious and unpredictable secret arts of heart force cultivators are the truly formidable ones. For example, Beta Leo, Dong Xiu, and Qing Huan all comprehended several supreme Daos and perfectly combined them, but Beta Leo was a heart force cultivator!

In actual combat, Beta Leo was slightly stronger than Dong Xiu and Qing Huan.

If Beta Leo learned the 'Heartsword Art', truly combining heart force with close combat, his combat power would skyrocket even more. However, the 'Heartsword Art' was very difficult. Ji Ning, being a sword cultivator with talent in heart force, could barely get started, but Beta Leo was not a sword cultivator!

...

In the void of the Three Realms.

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue both let go of their son and smiled at him.

"Ning'er, tell us what's going on. Your mother and I are completely in the dark." Ji Yichuan said.

"It's a long story. I believe father and mother know about the Abyss Gate." Ji Ning said.

"The Abyss Gate." Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue both looked serious. "We've heard of it. It's said to be a catastrophe that brought chaos to the Three Realms."

They had died at the hands of the Abyss Gate.

"Yes, that great catastrophe claimed many seniors." Ji Ning said softly, recalling that great battle and the figures who calmly sacrificed themselves. "That catastrophe has long passed. Now the Three Realms have returned to peace. Because of the oath of my true destiny, I only retrieved father and mother's true spirits from the River of Fate today to revive you."

"River of Fate? True spirits?" Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue were somewhat bewildered. In their two lives, their cultivation levels were very low, and they did not know that one could be revived after soul scattering.

"Father, mother, we can talk about this in private later." Ji Ning smiled, then turned to look not far away and called out, "Master."

Bodhi flew over.

"Ji Yichuan, Yuchi Xue, you have raised a fine son." Patriarch Bodhi laughed.

"Father, mother, this is my master, Patriarch Bodhi." Ji Ning said. "If not for my master's guidance, I might not have achieved what I have today."

"Haha, Ji Ning, your achievements are your own. I didn't help much." Bodhi quickly said.

Ji Ning then said, "And that one is the leader of the Abyss Gate, the Demon Lord of Ten Thousand Demons."

In the distance, Feng Mo nodded to Ji Ning's parents and moved to stand beside Patriarch Bodhi: "Knowing that Ji Ning's parents died because of my Abyss Gate, I am truly ashamed! Although that catastrophe was caused by the Heart Demon, I did not stop it. I am ashamed, ashamed."

"Leader of the Abyss Gate?" Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue were shocked. The Abyss Gate was a major force that brought chaos to the Three Realms. They had heard that even the leaders of the Daoist and Buddhist sects could do nothing about it. How did their son know them? What level had their son cultivated to?

When they died, Ji Ning had not yet gone to the Black-White College.

"This is the Buddhist Maitreya Buddha, this is the Daoist Yuding Zhenren..." Ji Ning introduced the surrounding immortals and demons to his parents.

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue became more and more bewildered as they listened.

Although they had not heard of many, some names they recognized—all were famous existences in the Three Realms.

"These are many of the top immortals and demons of our Three Realms." Ji Ning explained to his parents, then turned and said loudly, "Everyone, I will take my leave to accompany my parents. In a few days, I will hold a grand immortal banquet and invite you all."

"Beiming is too polite."

"Haha, Beiming has never held an immortal banquet before."

"We will definitely come."

Everyone responded.

Ji Ning smiled, nodded to his master Bodhi, and then led his parents.

"Father, mother, come with me." Immediately, a vast sword intent enveloped the three of them, and they traveled through the void to the current residence of Sister Qiuye, Mingyue, Uncle Bai, Xiaoqing, and Qingya Xiaoyu.

...