Chapter 33: The Annihilation Demon-Slaying Sword

The yellow-furred bear, upon hearing Ji Ning say 'Master, the Daoist San Shou,' was greatly delighted and immediately said, 'Ji Ning, do you know that the origins of gods and demons also have their hierarchies?'

'Gods and demons have hierarchies in their origins? Are they not all born from heaven and earth?' Ji Ning countered.

'No.'

The yellow-furred bear said, 'At the dawn of the Three Realms, even before Pangu split heaven and earth, there was only chaos. In that chaos, some ancient and powerful gods and demons were nurtured. Pangu, Nuwa—these were all gods and demons born from chaos. These chaos gods and demons varied in strength, with the strongest naturally being Pangu!'

'Pangu split heaven and earth, and from heaven and earth began to nurture living beings. Those born from heaven and earth are also called innate gods and demons.'

'Later, through many transformations, the Three Thousand Great Worlds were born. During the nurturing of each great world, some gods and demons would appear—these are the most ordinary gods and demons.'

'In summary, gods and demons, according to their origins, are divided into chaos gods and demons, innate gods and demons, and ordinary gods and demons.' The yellow-furred bear looked at Ji Ning. 'And your master was one of the chaos gods and demons.'

Ji Ning held his breath.

What an impressive background!

On second thought, it makes sense that the origins of gods and demons can be divided into three levels. After all, Pangu was able to separate heaven and earth, which shows how formidable he was. And many of the gods and demons Ji Ning knew of were only at the Xiantian level at birth—compared to Pangu, they were countless times weaker.

Since this Daoist Sanshou was so powerful, it's not strange that he was born a Chaos God.

"A good birth means greater potential and greater strength at birth," said the yellow-haired bear. "But even those of lowly birth can become famous figures in the Three Realms. Some, born as ordinary beings among the myriad races, endure countless tribulations and become great existences on par with my master."

"Ji Ning, though you are merely a human, you still have a chance," said the yellow-haired bear.

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

He understood. Even Lord Cui, a fellow countryman from his native Earth, had become the First Judge of the underworld, holding an extremely high position.

"My master has experienced much," said the yellow-haired bear, his gaze drifting as he recalled the past. "He was acquainted with Pangu, Nuwa, and others; he guided some juniors like the Roc; and he once established a sect, where countless gods and demons listened to his teachings... Thus, my master has many titles: Daoist Sanshou, Daoist Zhaixing, Lord of the Single Arm, True God of the Right Hand..."

Ji Ning's heart stirred, and he quickly asked, "Was my master, Daoist Sanshou, born with only one arm?"

"No," said the yellow-haired bear, shaking his head. "Though I don't know the details, I do know that my master was born in Chaos with two arms. Later, in a great battle, he lost one arm. He considered it a deep shame and from then on always kept it as one arm. But precisely because he had only one hand, the divine ability he had comprehended in Chaos, 'Star Picking Hand,' made a breakthrough, reaching an even more miraculous and profound level! This breakthrough allowed the Star Picking Hand to rank among the top ten divine abilities since Pangu separated heaven and earth."

Ji Ning revealed a look of shock.

Good heavens.

He had never seen his master, who was merely a phantom, yet he was so formidable. Since Pangu created the world, how many gods and demons had there been? How many divine abilities? The Star Picking Hand ranked among the top ten... its preciousness was even more astonishing than he had imagined.

"There's no need to ask about the rest." The yellow-haired bear looked at Ji Ning. "The endless universe has gone through many eras. Now it is the era of the Three Thousand Great Worlds and the Ten Billion Minor Worlds, an era where the Heavenly Court governs and coordinates the Three Realms. For you, some ancient secrets are too old; knowing them is useless and only brings trouble. The master also said that only when you become a Celestial Immortal will you be considered his disciple."

Ji Ning nodded.

"Now it's time to go out." The yellow-haired bear said.

"Not so fast." Ji Ning quickly said. "Now that my divine body training has reached the Zifu level, according to the rules of the Treasure Hall, I should be able to obtain another Mortal-ranked magic treasure."

The yellow-haired bear nodded.

To obtain a magic treasure from the Treasure Hall, one either advanced in divine body cultivation or challenged the War God Hall.

"Senior, please show me the catalog of Mortal-ranked treasures in the Treasure Hall." Ji Ning said. "I'll look through it here and confirm which treasure I want. Once I go out, I can choose it directly."

"You sure know how to save time." The yellow-haired bear laughed.

The treasure catalog was extremely extensive; it would take a long time to go through. But in this inheritance space, time was isolated, and the flow of time was vastly different from the outside world. It was naturally best to read it here.

"By the way." The yellow-haired bear said. "Now that your soul has reached the Divine Sense level and you've learned the divine ability 'Star Picking Hand,' clearing the second floor of the War God Hall is a piece of cake, and there's even a slight chance you could clear the third floor. Do you want to try?"

"Only a slight chance for the third floor?" Ji Ning countered.

His strength had increased dramatically this time.

A breakthrough in the soul!

And the extremely powerful divine ability 'Star Picking Hand'—Ji Ning was confident he could kill Xu Li the True Person with a single blow.

"If your divine power were enough to use the Star Picking Hand freely, of course your chances would be much greater." The yellow-haired bear teased. "But how long can your Redbright Divine Power sustain the Star Picking Hand?"

Ji Ning hesitated for a moment, then extended both hands.

The Star Picking divine patterns on his palms emerged, and the Redbright Divine Power in his body surged into his left and right palms. An immensely powerful feeling filled Ji Ning's heart, and he even felt he could shatter a mountain with a single slap.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Ji Ning's hands formed sword fingers as he thrust them forward.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two compressed airwaves first screeched sharply, then rumbled like thunder.

"So powerful." Ji Ning was astonished. There was no subtlety in the sword technique; merely the airwaves from his sword-finger thrust were this terrifying... Ji Ning felt that if Tong Yu were before him, he could crush him to powder with a single slap.

"But the divine power consumption is indeed alarming," Ji Ning mused. "I only struck once, and it consumed this much. The Redbright Divine Power in my body can probably sustain only a few dozen strikes."

In a life-and-death battle, a few dozen strikes would be enough.

But to challenge the War God Hall, with divine power lasting only that long, it was far from sufficient.

"I won't challenge the War God Hall," Ji Ning said. "I have no time to waste."

"Mm." The yellow-furred bear nodded, then pointed to the air beside him, where a thick golden book appeared, bearing the words "Treasures." "Since this is your second time selecting Mortal-grade treasures, the book contains more treasures. If you clear the second floor of the War God Hall and come a third time, all the Mortal-grade treasures left by my master will be open to you."

Ji Ning understood.

That was the difference between the first and second floors of the War God Hall. The second floor was far harder, and the treatment differed. Both offered Mortal-grade treasures, but the later selections had a wider range.

"Indeed." Ji Ning opened the book and saw the difference. "There are more treasures than last time, and the additions are extremely rare and powerful."

"Jade Dragon Shears... such a ferocious treasure." Ji Ning studied it carefully.

"Soul-Taking Bell, this is far superior to the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner, and of a much higher grade." Ji Ning praised. The Ten Thousand Ghost Banner that Bozi Shan wanted to refine, if fully completed, would also be top-grade Mortal-class. But the refining method was too despicable; the Soul-Taking Bell was far more exquisite, and even more powerful than the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner.

Ji Ning continued browsing through the treasures.

There were treasures, formations...

Though many tempted him, none sparked a strong desire. After acquiring the divine ability "Starry Grasp," the power of a single sword strike with his Northriver Sword was already astonishing. These treasures, though formidable, were far inferior to his divine ability when wielded by him.

"Treasures are no match for divine abilities," Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

But he forgot—what kind of divine ability had he learned?

"Hmm?" Ji Ning turned another page, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

The treasure 'Extinction Demon-Slaying Sword' was a top-grade Mortal-level treasure, a weapon born for slaughter, forged from the precious material 'Extinction Crystal Gold'. It was a treasure extremely suited for killing and ambush, originally a top-grade Earth-level treasure, but after suffering severe damage, it had been reduced to the top-grade Mortal-level. However, after much slaughter, it could gradually elevate its own level and return to the top-grade Earth-level.

Ji Ning examined it carefully.

The following pages contained an extremely detailed record of this treasure. Among the top-grade treasures recorded in this tome by Daolord Three Lives, some top-grade Mortal-level treasures indeed had the potential for growth. But there were several with such potential; that was not why Ji Ning had his eye on it.

"Good, this is the one." Ji Ning felt joy in his heart.

The Extinction Demon-Slaying Sword itself had an aura of extinction, faint and elusive, hard to detect. Even if the Extinction Demon-Slaying Sword approached an enemy, the enemy would likely not notice.

That was what Ji Ning liked most about it.

Ji Ning continued flipping through the pages, skimming quickly, until he finally finished reading the entire book.

"What do you think?" The yellow-furred bear looked at Ji Ning.

"The Extinction Demon-Slaying Sword." Ji Ning said.

"Haha, good eye." The yellow-furred bear nodded. "I also think the Annihilation Demon-Slaying Sword is the most suitable for you right now. This sword is exceptionally good at concealing its aura and excels at ambushes. Now that your divine soul has broken through, your divine sense is incredibly powerful—you can fully control this sword for sneak attacks! Most importantly, you don't even need to infuse it with elemental power, which reduces elemental fluctuations, making it even harder for others to detect."

Ji Ning nodded.

That was exactly what he was thinking—he didn't need to use elemental power, only his divine sense to control the Annihilation Demon-Slaying Sword...

The treasure itself had a dormant aura, and without elemental fluctuations, it was as ordinary as dirt and rocks, making it extremely difficult to detect. He could quietly guide the sword with his divine sense, burrow through the ground, and approach his enemy. Then, strike suddenly!

Even a Wanxiang Adept, caught off guard at such close range, would likely have his head pierced before he could even deploy his treasures.

"My divine sense, combined with the Annihilation Demon-Slaying Sword—truly a perfect match," Ji Ning thought to himself.

"Senior, let's go." Ji Ning urged.

Having obtained the Annihilation Demon-Slaying Sword, he needed to head to Oxhorn Mountain immediately.

"Alright, you need to hurry. You spent nearly half an hour in the Divine Abilities Hall." The yellow-furred bear grabbed Ji Ning, and with a whoosh, they vanished into thin air.

...