Chapter 15: The Clone Returns

The Cangmang Eternal Realm.

A youth clad in animal skins was flying high in the sky, gazing into the distance at the gray, howling wind that blotted out the sun and sky. That direction was where the Cangmang Palace lay.

"Finally made it," Ji Ning thought to himself.

This animal-skin-clad youth was the true body clone that had painstakingly traveled all the way from the Damo Territory. Knowing that the Clearwind Saint had trapped the Cangmang Palace, Ji Ning had also changed his appearance.

"The Clearwind Saint has never seen me in person; he probably only knows what I look like," Ji Ning mused.

Swoosh!

The animal-skin-clad Ji Ning flew at high speed toward the Cangmang Palace.

"Fellow Daoist, fellow Daoist." A figure in a black robe appeared in midair far away, transmitting his voice from a distance: "The Dao Lords of the Clearwind Hall have trapped the Cangmang Palace. Anyone who dares approach the Cangmang Palace will be killed by the Clearwind Hall. You must not go any further."

"Oh?" The animal-skin-clad Ji Ning approached, feigning confusion: "The Clearwind Hall is so arrogant?"

The black-robed figure was a Chaos Immortal. He sighed, "The Dao Lords of the Clearwind Hall only trapped the Cangmang Palace thirty years ago. Judging by this momentum... they might trap it for a very, very long time. Fellow Daoist, you absolutely must not approach. Alas, I saw with my own eyes a minor Ancestral God who got close and was directly annihilated."

"They even killed an Ancestral God?" Ji Ning frowned.

"They kill anyone who gets close; not even a bird or beast can approach," the Chaos Immortal shook his head. "Fellow Daoist, be careful." With that, he flew away.

The animal-skin-clad Ji Ning pondered for a moment.

He immediately dove downward, vanishing into thin air the moment he touched the ground.

Using the Shadowless Escape Art, he rapidly approached the Cangmang Palace. To conceal his true strength, Ji Ning maintained only twice the speed of light as he quietly flew.

...

Inside the Cangmang Palace.

Ji Ning, Heavenly Unity Dao Lord, and Yudou Dao Lord stood before the formation restrictions, gazing into the distance.

"Big brother, one of my clones has almost arrived," Ji Ning said.

"To break through to Dao Lord, you must merge your clones and perfect your divine body," Heavenly Unity Dao Lord sighed and shook his head. "But now that lunatic Clearwind Saint has trapped my Cangmang Palace, it's extremely difficult for your clone to enter. In my opinion, if you abandon that clone, you can still become a Dao Lord, and it will have very little impact on your strength."

Ji Ning shook his head.

The clone was one of the eighteen clones cultivated using the Taowu Eighteen Deities technique. The true body was the fusion of the other seventeen clones!

If the true body died, the clone could still use the Taowu Eighteen Deities technique to cultivate more clones.

But if the clone died, the true body could not cultivate another one. However, once the clone died, the true body became unique and thus complete, though its divine power would only be that of seventeen clones. The impact on strength was indeed not too great.

"Big brother, just wait and see," Ji Ning said.

"Mm." Heavenly Unity Dao Lord smiled. "Then I'll watch your impressive feat, Ji Ning."

...

Ji Ning flew through the earth.

The gray, howling wind that blotted out the sun and sky enveloped the entire Cangmang Palace. That divine hall also rested on a distant mountain peak. The Clearwind Saint's divine power surged mightily, covering all directions around the Cangmang Palace. Any cultivator trying to leave the Cangmang Palace or enter it from outside could not escape the Clearwind Saint's detection.

"Hmm?" The Clearwind Saint opened his eyes, his gaze piercing through the divine hall to overlook the distant earth. He sneered, "A little World-level fellow, using an escape art, and still trying to evade my detection?"

"Die."

The Clearwind Saint pointed coldly from afar.

Boom!

Torrential divine power gathered the might of heaven and earth, rapidly condensing into a gray, enormous hand. This gray hand, a million zhang in size, reached directly toward the earth below.

"Whoosh~~~" The gray hand grabbed, instantly crushing that patch of earth into powder, revealing a massive deep pit.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning continued flying through the earth, but his speed increased to four times the speed of light.

"Hmm?" The Clearwind Saint's expression changed. "A World-level cultivator's escape art can be this fast? It's comparable to the speed of a Third Step Dao Lord." His earlier grab, just before it struck the earth, had seen Ji Ning's escape art surge from twice the speed of light to four times.

"Hmph." The Clearwind Saint's face darkened as he executed a second grab.

The gray hand, even more powerful and faster, reached for the earth again.

The earth trembled, countless clods of dirt turning to powder, revealing another massive pit.

But Ji Ning's speed had already soared to six times the speed of light, and thanks to the time gained from these two attacks, Ji Ning had already neared the Cangmang Palace.

"Whoosh." The Clearwind Saint had no time for a third strike before Ji Ning had already charged into the range of the Cangmang Palace's formation restrictions.

"What!" The Clearwind Saint shot to his feet.

This startled his seven World-level subordinates, who had no idea that a World-level cultivator was using an escape art through the earth; they had only seen the Clearwind Saint grab at the earth twice.

"He actually escaped? In the end, his escape art reached six times the speed of light? Many Dao Lords on the verge of merging with the Dao aren't that fast." The Clearwind Saint found it hard to believe. "A World-level cultivator can be this fast? Could he have some special encounter?"

If one could control Chaotic Divine Thunder and merge into the lightning, one's speed could reach ten times the speed of light.

There were several similar escape arts, but mastering any of them was extremely difficult. Many Dao Lords on the verge of merging with the Dao did not possess such escape arts.

"With such speed, could he be that Northmont that Hufeng mentioned?" the Clearwind Saint thought to himself. "But logically, that World God named Northmont should have been in the Cangmang Palace long ago. Could it be that the Cangmang Palace has another World-level cultivator with such speed?"

The Clearwind Saint was full of doubts.

...

Inside the Cangmang Palace, there was joy.

Swoosh.

The animal-skin-clad Ji Ning rushed into the Cangmang Palace's formation restrictions, signifying absolute safety. He flew directly to the side of the white-robed Ji Ning and immediately reverted to his original appearance.

"Impressive, impressive," Heavenly Unity Dao Lord exclaimed. "The Clearwind struck twice but couldn't stop your clone. In the end, your escape art reached six times the speed of the Heavenly Dao's limit."

"He didn't know my background and was careless," Ji Ning said with a smile. In truth, he had been very relaxed. In the end, he had only used six times the speed of light; his current limit was ten times. Speed was enough as long as it sufficed. Safely entering the Cangmang Palace was enough. There was no need to reveal everything to the enemy from the start.

"With such speed, it won't be easy for him to kill you," Yudou Dao Lord remarked.

Ji Ning then said, "Brother Heavenly Unity, Brother Yudou, since my clone has arrived, I plan to merge my true body and clone and break through to Dao Lord."

"Mm." Heavenly Unity and Yudou both became solemn.

"Be careful," Heavenly Unity advised. "Breaking through to First Step Dao Lord might be easy, but Brother Ji Ning, your sword intent is extraordinary. In the future, you will at least become a Fourth Step Dao Lord. So your foundation must be solid, and the Dao you comprehend must be sufficiently stable."

Ji Ning nodded.

For a Dao Lord, each step is a matter of life and death.

It's like building a tower: the First Step Dao Lord is laying the foundation! The Second Step, Third Step, Fourth Step... are building upward. If the foundation is unstable, the entire tower will collapse! The same principle applies to the Dao Lord of Life and Death. Each step is a life-or-death matter. Many Third Step Dao Lords have perished, their Dao extinguished. Not every Dao Lord can become a Fourth Step Dao Lord.

For a tower, the foundation is most important, and each level must be stable to become a Fourth Step Dao Lord.

To achieve eternity, not even a single mistake is allowed!

A single flaw makes eternity impossible!

A small foundation results in a small wooden hut, representing ordinary Dao Lords. Each step is relatively easy for them, and becoming a Dao Lord is also relatively easy, but their strength is weak.

An extremely solid foundation results in a grand celestial palace. Each step is difficult, and achieving eternity is even harder, but once achieved, one's strength is incomparably greater. Like Betaileu, Dong Xiu, and Qing Huan. And Ji Ning's foundation was the most solid of all.

"Big brother, rest assured," Ji Ning said with a smile. With that, he and his clone turned into streaks of light and flew toward his distant cave dwelling.

Yudou Dao Lord and Heavenly Unity Dao Lord watched the two figures of Ji Ning's true body and clone depart.

"Brother Ji Ning's progress is truly astonishing," Heavenly Unity Dao Lord sighed. "When I first saw him, I thought he was quite monstrous. But I never imagined he could become so powerful. His escape art was so fast, yet without lightning or divine light, I couldn't even tell what escape art he was using. And he captured five World-level cultivators with just his sword intent."

Yudou Dao Lord also nodded: "I tried to deduce his future, but I couldn't at all... He's too monstrous, even more so than Yucan. The difficulty of deduction is too great."

Even if it were him, even the Dan Venerable could only vaguely sense that he would meet Ji Ning again in the future.

...