Chapter 34: Secret Arts Perfected

Ji Ning frowned as he read on.

Truly powerful.

In terms of strength, he should rank at the second level among Daoists. In Ji Ning's understanding, the first level of Daoists in the Endless Territories was the level of Palace Lord Li Xing, Lord Wan Shen, and the like.

Palace Lord Li Xing had once slain an Eternal Emperor with three strikes.

Lord Wan Shen had once chased Emperor Melobo until he fled in panic... Note that Emperor Melobo was of the Eternal race, an Eternal Emperor with awakened bloodline, still alive today, not comparable to the most ordinary Eternal Emperors. Yet facing Lord Wan Shen, he could only flee in panic. In a true comparison, in terms of ferocious offense, Lord Wan Shen might be slightly inferior to Palace Lord Li Xing, but in terms of resilience, Lord Wan Shen was superior.

The Dao of the Saber and the Dao of the Sword are inherently paths of attack.

"Daoist Kongsa is weaker than Palace Lord Li Xing, but even Palace Lord Li Xing cannot kill him," Ji Ning frowned. "He is skilled in the Dao of Darkness, able to transform into darkness itself, virtually an undying body."

"Because he transforms into darkness, his control over space is extremely formidable! Moreover, his escape technique reaches thirty-six times the speed of light."

"Darkness is inherently eerie and unpredictable."

"It can affect the soul."

"In close combat, he is even more terrifying."

"He is unruly and arrogant, has no sect, and is extremely selfish. He has killed as many as sixteen Four-Step Daoists under his hand, and currently resides in a cave dwelling in Skywood City." The more Ji Ning read, the more his head ached.

A Daoist skilled in battle is not frightening.

A Daoist with strong survival abilities is frightening. Kongsa is like this: he transforms into darkness, virtually undying, fast, skilled at traversing space, able to flee at will, and terrifying in combat. No obvious weaknesses!

...

"Master?" Su Youji spoke softly.

"Master, is Kongsa hard to deal with?" Danbao pressed.

Ji Ning put away the jade slip and nodded: "Very hard to deal with. He is the most troublesome Heaven-defying Daoist; even Palace Lord Li Xing cannot kill him."

"That strong?" Su Youji and Danbao were both shocked. Palace Lord Li Xing was the strongest Daoist in the Mangya Kingdom.

"Only strong in survival; his offensive means are certainly inferior to Palace Lord Li Xing's." Ji Ning had already made up his mind and said, "Danbao, Youji, I need to cultivate for some time. Guard for me and don't let anyone from the Flying Feather Pavilion disturb me."

"Yes." Danbao and Su Youji immediately responded.

Ji Ning then waved his hand, and a low thatched hut appeared beside him.

With a flicker, Ji Ning entered the hut. The hut was actually a small time-space cave, consuming some mana to maintain a hundredfold time acceleration.

Inside the hut.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged, waved his hand, and a row of black gourds appeared before him. Each black gourd contained various curios like Dao Divine Thunder, Dao Divine Fire, and so on, all needed for cultivating the nine secret arts.

With a pop, the stoppers of two gourds flew off, and two Dao Divine Thunders flew toward Ji Ning—one gray, filled with the intent of endless destruction, the other white, seemingly filled with endless hope. The two Dao Divine Thunders swiftly drilled into Ji Ning's body and were easily drawn into their respective lightning sources.

"Nine lightning sources. Let's try. According to my calculations, I should have a good chance of cultivating the Ninefold Divine Thunder." Ji Ning immediately began experimenting.

Crackle crackle~~~

"Pfft!"

Sometimes chaotic.

"Bang."

Sometimes explosive.

But Ji Ning remained calm; everything was under his control. The alchemy techniques he learned from the "Seven Chapters of the Dan Leaf" were profoundly subtle. The power of lightning was inherently wild, especially the Ninefold Divine Thunder, which required perfectly combining the Eightfold Divine Thunder with the "Annihilation World Divine Thunder." The Eightfold Divine Thunder was so狂暴 that it could easily annihilate Three-Step Daoists, and the Annihilation World Divine Thunder was the most frenzied of the nine Dao Divine Thunders.

To control them, one could only go with the flow, guide them by leveraging their tendencies, gradually influencing them time and again, making them seem wild yet unknowingly fall into the trap set by the most astute hunter, 'Ji Ning.' This process of guiding by the flow lasted over two months, during which Ji Ning dared not relax for a moment.

"Boom!!!" The final drastic change caused a thunderous roar.

The Ninefold Divine Thunder was born!

It was a beautiful black divine thunder, its black surface covered with countless threads like hair. The entire Ninefold Divine Thunder seemed like a living creature, like a swimming dragon, leisurely moving through the chaotic space of Ji Ning's golden core.

Ji Ning breathed a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. He extended his right hand, and with a swoosh, a gentle black divine thunder emerged from his palm. This seemingly gentle and completely restrained lightning possessed inconceivable power.

"This single bolt of lightning can kill a Four-Step Daoist?" Ji Ning felt somewhat emotional.

Four-Step Daoists generally have formidable divine bodies and protective armor.

But the Ninefold Divine Thunder can kill them directly!

Of course, this refers to some ordinary Four-Step Daoists, but it is still terrifying enough.

"The Ninefold Divine Water should be easier than the Ninefold Divine Thunder; I should be able to cultivate it as well." After resting for a day, Ji Ning continued to cultivate the Ninefold Divine Water.

...

It took over two months to cultivate the Ninefold Divine Thunder.

It took half a month to cultivate the Ninefold Divine Water.

It took over a month to cultivate the Ninefold Divine Fire; in terms of fire, Ji Ning was not as familiar as with lightning and water.

It took over two months to cultivate the Ninefold Divine Earth.

It took over three months to cultivate the Ninefold Divine Metal.

...

One by one, the secret arts were cultivated. The one that took the longest was the 'Ninefold Divine Light,' as Ji Ning indeed knew little about the Dao of Light; it took nearly ten years to cultivate. Conversely, the 'Ninefold Void,' which was the most powerful and supposedly the hardest, Ji Ning cultivated in just two years.

"I've actually cultivated all nine secret arts?" After cultivating the final Ninefold Void, Ji Ning himself found it hard to believe.

He had originally thought it would be good enough to cultivate the weaker and more familiar Ninefold Divine Water, but unexpectedly, though it took considerable effort, he cultivated all of them!

Nine secret arts!

Lord Wan Shen's nine secret arts, which roamed the Endless Territories, were definitely trump cards! And he had cultivated them?

"Thanks to the azure flower mist power, thanks to my ultimate sword dao, and even more thanks to the 'Seven Chapters of the Dan Leaf.'" Ji Ning thought briefly and understood why he had succeeded.

According to Lord Wan Shen's account, one must become a Four-Step Daoist, be extremely skilled in alchemy, and be quite proficient in lightning, divine light, divine wind, etc., to finally cultivate them!

What about Ji Ning?

His azure flower mist power was comparable to the mana of a Four-Step Daoist.

In terms of alchemy skill, Ji Ning had trained under the Dan Lord for millions of years. During that time, his strength had not broken through, and apart from practicing swordsmanship, he had almost always been studying the highest-level alchemy techniques of the seventh chapter of the "Seven Chapters of the Dan Leaf." His alchemy skill was something even Lord Wan Shen, if resurrected, could not match.

As for the aspect of the Dao...

He was not particularly skilled in the Dao of Metal, the Dao of Wind, the Dao of Wood, etc., but because he needed to merge into all things to cultivate the 'Shadowless Sword Intent' of the Fifth Moon Style, he had personally gone to the ancient origin land of the foreign universe to sense the Dao aura of the dead Eternal powers.

He was familiar with all Dao auras, merged into them all, so that he could merge into all things and vanish without a trace.

Although Ji Ning was not skilled in the Dao of Metal, the Dao of Wind, etc., he was at least familiar with them. Only by being sufficiently familiar, knowing their natures, could he merge into them and disappear.

Cultivating secret arts required being familiar with their natures during refinement, going with their flow, guiding them like alchemy, and finally cultivating them.

Ji Ning lacked neither mana nor familiarity with natures, and his alchemy skill surpassed Lord Wan Shen's.

It was no wonder he cultivated all nine secret arts in one go.

...

At this moment, in a quiet room of the Flying Feather Pavilion in the eight major sacred cities of the Dao Alliance, 'Skywood City,' Ji Ning had silently cultivated all nine secret arts!

With these secret arts, he could make countless Daoists pale with fear.

"It's beyond my expectations, but since I've cultivated the nine secret arts," Ji Ning pondered, "I don't necessarily have to use the Sovereign Dao Talisman."

"Now the nine secret arts are my greatest killing move. I need to find a way to maximize their power." Ji Ning thought. The Sovereign Dao Talisman was a trump card that would be gone once used, but the nine secret arts were his own arts, usable endlessly. Naturally, he had to enhance their power as much as possible. If he used them directly and brutally, the power would be great, but not extreme. If he used the nine secret arts as nine swords to execute the 'Ultimate Sword Dao's Yin-Yang Sword Intent Domain,' the power would naturally increase greatly.

"In my ultimate sword dao, the Blood Drop Sword Intent has broken through, but the Yin-Yang Sword Intent has not. I hope for a breakthrough, so the power of the nine secret arts can be further enhanced. Back then, Lord Wan Shen was a formation master; his nine secret arts must have formed a terrifying formation to suppress Emperor Melobo."

Ji Ning was clearly going all out to enhance the power of the nine secret arts.

"But since I've just cultivated the nine secret arts, let me rest a bit."

Whoosh.

Ji Ning moved and exited the thatched hut, then waved his hand to put it away.

"Master." "Master."

Danbao and Su Youji were both sitting at the edge of the quiet room, looking downward.

"What's wrong?" Ji Ning smiled.

"The treasure-gathering auction has started; it's been going on for several days now." Danbao said, then added worriedly, "Master, have you thought of how to deal with Daoist Kongsa?"

"No rush." Ji Ning also walked to the edge of the quiet room and looked down through the window. At that moment, a grand treasure-gathering auction was being held lively.

Ji Ning sat down leisurely, picked up a wine cup, and watched the auction while drinking.

...