Chapter Seventeen: Leaving the Pass

The meditation chamber was silent. Ji Ning observed his own body internally.

His dharma power and divine power were both comparable to those of a two-step Daolord, but Ji Ning focused on the azure flower space within his sea of consciousness.

"The power of the azure flower mist," Ji Ning observed.

Within the azure flower space, everything was hazy.

Drops of golden light slowly rolled about, surrounded by a bit of mist. There were exactly one thousand one hundred and eleven drops! The power contained in each drop surpassed the combined power of Ji Ning's divine power and dharma power.

"It has transformed again. My azure flower mist power is far stronger than my divine power and dharma power. This much stronger... I estimate it can rival a four-step Daolord." Ji Ning was shocked.

The Ninefold Chaos Seal seemed like an ordinary technique.

But its effects were incredibly powerful, almost inconceivable.

It could transform the power of Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals, and the power of World-level cultivators. That was one thing. But it could even transform the power of Daolords! Moreover, some of the mysteries of this transformation were beyond Ji Ning's current level of comprehension.

"Who created this technique? Such a heaven-defying technique. Even the deceased Sovereign taught me some techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts, but they cannot compare to this!" Ji Ning was secretly astonished. Aside from the Sovereign-level sword arts, the deceased Sovereign had also imparted divine abilities and secret arts, some of which were even more powerful than the Nine Source Divine Lightning.

But compared to the Ninefold Chaos Seal, they were far inferior.

"Legend says that the most顶尖 divine bodies belong to the royal clan of the Mangya Kingdom, ancient cultivators, some of the most顶尖 and rarest special lifeforms, and cultivators who practice the Thousand Bodies Scripture," Ji Ning mused. "But with the Ninefold Chaos Seal, I am not far behind them."

The royal clan of the Mangya Kingdom, ancient cultivators, the most顶尖 special lifeforms, and cultivators of the Thousand Bodies Scripture were all monstrous.

At the World level, their divine bodies could rival Daolords!

At the first step of Daolord, their divine bodies could rival third-step Daolords! Importantly, they could also use divine abilities! The power they could unleash with divine abilities might be slightly stronger than Ji Ning's azure flower mist power. After all, Ji Ning's azure flower mist power could not be used with any divine abilities.

However, the royal clan of the Mangya Kingdom were pitifully few in number and needed the protection of the Twelve Palaces!

Ancient cultivators, the most顶尖 special lifeforms, and cultivators of the Thousand Bodies Scripture were also extremely rare.

First-step Daolords like Tianyi Daolord, Yudou Daolord, Yucan Daolord, Danbao, and Su Youji had the aura of first-step Daolords; second-step Daolords had the aura of second-step Daolords... This was common! Ji Ning's divine power, centered on his sword dao and unified from eighteen avatars, was also extremely rare among Daolords.

"Ancient cultivators and the royal clan of the Mangya Kingdom, at the first step of Daolord, might unleash slightly more power than me. But I can fight for longer periods. Moreover, as cultivation advances, the main comparison is the power of the 'Dao'," Ji Ning nodded slightly.

The 'Dao' of a Daolord of life and death was the foundation.

For Ji Ning, who controlled the ultimate sword dao, even without using any divine power or dharma power, his mere sword intent could easily suppress third-step Daolords. With this 'Dao', his speed could reach ten times the speed of light. With this 'Dao', he could enter deeper dimensional spaces, making his spatial travel even more astonishing.

This was the 'Dao'.

Bare brute force would only lead to being dominated. Thus, some heaven-defying Daolords, even if they started as ordinary cultivators, could easily slay members of the Mangya Kingdom's royal clan or ancient cultivators, and could even slay Eternal Emperors!

"Sword dao..."

Now that Ji Ning's ultimate sword dao had formed his divine body and his Dao tree had grown, he could vaguely see a farther path for this ultimate sword dao.

The higher one stands, the farther one sees.

Many insights into the sword dao surged into his mind. The后续 mysteries of the Heaven Collapse Sword Intent, the Mind-Only Sword Intent, the Yin-Yang Sword Intent, the Blood Drop Sword Intent, and the Shadowless Sword Intent naturally began to deduce themselves.

"No wonder they say that going from first-step Daolord to second-step Daolord is the easiest," Ji Ning smiled. "If I had only mastered a single strongest dao, I could probably reach the second step in a thousand or a hundred years."

From first-step to second-step Daolord was fast.

Those who took a long time might spend a few chaos cycles, which was considered very long. Legends said that some extremely fast ones broke through to the second step within a thousand years. However, the further one went, the harder and slower breakthroughs became.

"But I need to break through all five strongest daos first, and then form a deeper ultimate sword dao," Ji Ning understood that his breakthrough would be relatively more difficult.

Others, however, did not know this.

"I will go into secluded meditation for ten years."

"Ten years later, I'll just say I've broken through to the Second Step Dao Lord." Ji Ning thought to himself.

Ten years, under time acceleration, would be over a thousand years. Given Ji Ning's monstrous talent, breaking through to the Second Step Dao Lord in a thousand years wouldn't seem too surprising to others.

As a Second Step Dao Lord, it would be reasonable for him to display a 'Dao' at the level of the Ultimate Sword Dao.

If a First Step Dao Lord were to display such a terrifying Sword Dao, the news would likely spread quickly—something Ji Ning wished to avoid.

"In the next ten years,"

"I will also master the two secret arts, Nine Source Divine Thunder and Nine Source Divine Water, as well as the protective divine ability 'Sword Dao Body' taught to me by the deceased Sovereign." Ji Ning made his decision. For now, among the divine abilities and secret arts imparted by the Sovereign, he could only cultivate this protective divine ability.

Previously, Ji Ning had cultivated the 'Golden Statue Divine Ability' to its limit, making his divine body comparable to the pinnacle of Dao-level divine weapons. This was a limit at the World level. Now that he had become a Dao Lord, he could cultivate the Sovereign's 'Sword Dao Body'. Once cultivated to the limit, his divine body would be comparable to the pinnacle of Eternal treasures. Clearly, in battles among the powerful, to live long, one must first be able to withstand attacks!

All kinds of dangers.

Some insidious attacks from enemies.

As long as the divine body could withstand them, the chance of survival would greatly increase. After all, those Fourth Step Dao Lords each possessed incredibly profound and unpredictable techniques, all being terrifying powers born from pushing their respective Daos to the limit.

...

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, twelve years had gone by.

At the Northmoon Estate, Danbao and Su Youji, though their true bodies were in cultivation, had left an avatar outside to wait for Ji Ning.

"It's been a long time since Master became a Dao Lord, but he still hasn't come out," Danbao said, puzzled. "Twelve years have passed. Even Tianyi Dao Lord has come to ask. We've been waiting here foolishly for twelve years."

"What's twelve years? Isn't your true body cultivating inside the time treasure in the cave realm?" Su Youji said. "Even if you have to wait a thousand or ten thousand years, you still have to wait."

"Yes, yes, I was just muttering," Danbao quickly said. "Usually, when someone becomes a Dao Lord, they come out soon after breaking through. Our master's seclusion this time is really too long."

"That's true," Su Youji nodded. "It has been a long time."

Suddenly—

"Boom!"

A terrifying Sword Dao aura that made one's heart tremble burst forth, but the formations and restrictions of the Northmoon Estate isolated all aura, preventing external detection. This Sword Dao aura was lofty and supreme, fierce and sharp. Just sensing it, Su Youji and Danbao couldn't help but tremble. They couldn't muster a single thought of resistance, only fear.

It was too terrifying. If this Sword Dao aura condensed into sword intent, a single sword intent could easily annihilate them both.

"This Sword Dao, this Sword Dao..." Both were utterly shocked.

After a long time.

Before they had calmed down, with a rumble, the door opened, and a young man in white robes with a black divine sword on his back walked out.

"Master." They both stood up.

"Master, you..." Su Youji looked at Ji Ning's aura, which seemed different from that of a First Step Dao Lord.

"After becoming a Dao Lord, I gained many insights, so I continued cultivating for a while. Unexpectedly, I directly broke through to the Second Step Dao Lord," Ji Ning said directly.

"Second Step Dao Lord?" Su Youji and Danbao were both astonished.

Ji Ning, however, felt somewhat ashamed.

To deceive, one must deceive all cultivators; that was the safest way. Ji Ning vaguely felt that it was better to disguise himself as a Second Step Dao Lord, so his path of cultivation would be safer.

"Master, it's said that the breakthrough from First Step to Second Step Dao Lord is fast, with some breaking through within a thousand years. I didn't expect you to be this fast too," Su Youji said excitedly. "Master is truly remarkable."

"Alright, there's no need to spread this outside," Ji Ning said. At the same time, he looked up at the sky, and with a thought, he lifted the formations and restrictions of the Northmoon Estate.

As soon as the formations and restrictions of the Northmoon Estate were lifted, Tianyi Dao Lord and Yudou Dao Lord became aware.

"Ji Ning, have you broken through? Congratulations." A divine sense swept over, and a voice transmission laughed, "Oh? Your aura? Have you become a Second Step Dao Lord?"