Chapter 22: Immortals' Inscriptions

Throughout the ages, every disciple of the Black-White College who viewed the Black-White Diagram for the first time would gain some insight. Their usual accumulations and realizations of the Dao would naturally lead them to comprehend something after viewing the 'Black-White Diagram.'

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~

Ji Ning, seated cross-legged in meditation, had water and fire lotuses coalescing around him.

Layer upon layer of lotus leaves surrounded Ji Ning.

There were as many as six layers of lotus leaves... Suddenly, the six layers dissipated entirely, then condensed into four layers. The four layers of water-fire lotus leaves were even more condensed, appearing almost real.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, another half hour had gone by.

Whoosh~~

The seemingly real four layers of lotus leaves also dissipated, then condensed into two layers. One layer was red, the other green. They looked like genuine lotus leaves.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~ The lotus leaves spun, and the grinding force between the two layers grew stronger and stronger. The two layers became increasingly clear, especially the green leaf, on which veins gradually became visible. Even up close, one might mistake it for a naturally grown lotus leaf.

Hmm?

Ji Ning came to his senses.

'Explosive growth after long accumulation,' Ji Ning nodded lightly. 'It seems my insights into the Dao have brought the harmony of water, fire, and wind to this point, and I've hit a bottleneck.'

He looked at Mu Zishuo beside him.

Mu Zishuo was still immersed in it, utterly entranced.

'I have the Water Mansion's Starry Hall. Although the Black-White Diagram helps me, it doesn't help as much as it does Mu Zishuo.' Ji Ning turned and walked toward another stone wall, which was covered entirely with inscriptions left by immortals of past generations.

Line after line of text.

'The path of immortal cultivation is the path of great contention. Inscribed by Five Ugly!' The overwhelming will that surged forth made Ji Ning seem to see an immortal cultivator advancing unceasingly, contending with heaven, with earth, with men, with demons...

'Hold a cautious heart, yet act with boldness.' The intangible ruthlessness was also contained within.

'Where the heart is directed, there is nothing that can stop it.' That confident, proud intent—the path set by one's Dao-heart—was something none could obstruct; all who stood in the way would be slain.

'All worldly things may decay; what I seek is only two words—long life.'

Some were domineering.

Some were proud.

Some were cold and fierce.

Some were carefree.

Some were detached.

Some were plain.

The inscriptions left by the immortals of the Black-White College through the ages allowed Ji Ning's Dao-heart to undergo a baptism. He seemed to see, over the long years, one immortal cultivator after another holding fast to their respective Dao-hearts, setting foot on their own paths.

'Such powerful Dao-hearts, such firm Dao-hearts, such pure Dao-hearts,' Ji Ning murmured to himself.

Powerful, firm, pure.

This was Ji Ning's first impression after reading the immortals' inscriptions. Those who had reached the immortal stage had long understood their own hearts, knowing what they sought! Their Dao-hearts were incomparably pure and firm, unswayed by demonic temptations. The tempering of endless years had made their Dao-hearts immensely powerful.

But if those immortals' Dao-hearts were once deluded, their beliefs shattered, it could even lead to the loss of a thousand years of Dao-heart in a single day! In the worst case, they might lose control of their immensely powerful elemental energy and die on the spot.

Thus it could be seen that the path of immortal cultivation was itself a difficult road challenging fate.

'What I hold in my heart is only the quest for great freedom, great ease, and to grasp my own destiny.' As Ji Ning looked at these inscriptions, his own Dao-heart grew purer.

The torment of illness in his past life had made him unwilling to submit to fate, unwilling to be controlled by it.

In this life, the death of his parents had only strengthened Ji Ning's fierce desire to no longer be manipulated by fate.

And to transcend the control of fate, one must obtain great power! Become stronger—only then could one achieve true great freedom and great ease!

...

Ji Ning read the immortals' inscriptions one by one. After finishing one stone wall, though immortal cultivators read quickly, it was already late into the night.

Hmm? Ji Ning turned to look at Mu Zishuo.

Mu Zishuo was still sitting cross-legged, staring at the Black-White Diagram, while the natural elemental energy around him gathered to form various components. Countless parts would fit together and then disassemble, creating all kinds of dragons, tigers, snakes, turtles... various types of demonic beasts and even exotic species, constantly forming.

'Explosive growth after long accumulation—Junior Apprentice Brother Shuo's insights are now bursting forth,' Ji Ning secretly admired. He himself had only meditated for less than an hour, while Mu Zishuo had spent much more time contemplating the Black-White Diagram.

'The other stone wall.' Ji Ning turned to look at the other stone wall.

The words left by the immortals of past generations were actually a tempering of the Dao-heart for later juniors. Even when one's Dao-heart was unstable, coming here to read the predecessors' words could have a polishing effect... Thus, although the Black-White Diagram was the foundation, these immortals' inscriptions for tempering the Dao-heart were also a support that allowed an ultra-top sect to be passed down through endless ages.

This was the foundation!

...

In the dark night sky.

A short old man in tattered beggar's robes drifted through the clouds, holding a gourd of wine, at ease and content.

For a moment, it seemed as if all of heaven and earth revolved around him, everything obeying his command—a natural sense of control that made this short old man feel no less formidable than 'North Mountain Black Tiger,' and perhaps even more terrifying. Yet if one moved a bit farther away, his pressure was no longer felt at all.

"Having passed the Nine Tribulations, what a joy, what a joy!" The short old man shook his head, utterly delighted. "Another nine hundred years to enjoy!" He tilted his head back and gulped down large mouthfuls of celestial wine.

"Hmm." The short old man suddenly stopped, looking down at the black-and-white diagram below.

"Two young people?"

The short old man nodded slightly. "As it happens, today is the day our Black-White College accepts disciples. These two must be the new disciples. Let me take a good look."

"That white-robed lad, walking the path of puppetry? Not bad, quite talented. It seems that during my years in seclusion, the quality of our Black-White College disciples hasn't declined." The short old man nodded approvingly, then turned his gaze to another youth, Ji Ning, who was studying the stone wall inscriptions. "That fur-clad boy, reading the inscriptions? Has he finished with the Black-White Diagram? I wonder how long he spent on it and what his potential is like."

The longer one could look at the Black-White Diagram, the greater the gain.

…

Ji Ning looked at the immortal inscriptions on the stone wall.

Each inscription represented an immortal's path to transcendence. Among these, only one was a Celestial Immortal; the rest were Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. This showed how difficult it was to truly leap out of the Three Realms and escape the Five Elements.

"Hmm?"

Ji Ning looked at a new line of text. The moment his gaze fell upon it, he felt as if a sword were pointing at his eyes.

"Holding a three-foot sword, slaying all injustices! Inscribed by Beixing!"

A very simple sentence.

When Ji Ning saw this line left by the immortal called 'Beixing,' he faintly sensed a vast aura within the words. As he carefully probed with his soul, a powerful aura directly emanated from that line of text, filling his sea of consciousness.

A silver-haired old man stood in the void, holding a sword.

Whoosh!

His entire being emitted a soaring sword aura, vaguely transforming into a giant sword.

"What a sharp sword." Ji Ning looked at the silver-haired old man, feeling that the old man himself was a sword—a sword of ultimate yang and unyielding strength, so sharp that nothing seemed able to stop him.

Ji Ning had studied the sword since childhood.

The sword was his weapon, taught by his father. By now, Ji Ning had fully developed the heart of a true swordsman. When he saw this figure, which seemed the ultimate goal of every swordsman, his inner longing and sincere devotion to the sword began to resonate with that aura.

…

"Hmm? That fur-clad boy..." The short old man in the clouds looked down in surprise. "What is this?"

Below, in the square, Ji Ning stood before one of the giant stone walls. The line of text—'Holding a three-foot sword, slaying all injustices, inscribed by Beixing'—began to glow, each character radiating light, a powerful sword intent contained within the words.

Ji Ning stood there, his whole body faintly emitting a sword intent.

The two began to resonate. Ji Ning's sword intent was far inferior to the profound, deep sword intent in that line of text, but there was no doubt that his sword intent and the text's sword intent were resonating.

"He... he actually triggered the sword intent fluctuation of Senior Beixing?" The short old man stared in shock at the scene below. Although 'Immortal Beixing' was a Loose Immortal, his status in the Black-White College rivaled that of the Celestial Immortal, and his influence even surpassed it slightly. He had lived for over a million years before finally perishing under the ever-strengthening Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations.

A Loose Immortal living a million years was legendary. Even a Loose Immortal living a hundred thousand years was extremely powerful. As time went on, every additional decade became harder. Loose Immortals living two hundred thousand years, three hundred thousand years... each was entirely different; the longer they lived, the more powerful and terrifying they became.

A Loose Immortal at the million-year level was fully comparable to a Celestial Immortal.

Though their foundation in primal energy was clearly weaker than a Celestial Immortal's, they rivaled Celestial Immortals because they surpassed them in the Dao, in insight, and in technique. Only thus could they, as Loose Immortals, match Celestial Immortals!

"Sword intent?"

"Such strong sword intent fluctuations?" The short old man's eyes widened as he looked below.

…

In Ji Ning's sea of consciousness.

When the resonance of their sword intents reached an astonishing level, the figure of the silver-haired old man that had formed in his sea of consciousness began to move, performing a sword technique, and sang aloud: "A lifetime, what is it for?"

"It is for exhilaration."

"Kill, kill, kill."

"Slay all injustices!"

"Slay all who deserve death!"

"Only then am I truly free."

"As a Loose Immortal, seeking immortality has no path."

"Yet..."

"A single day of exhilaration is better than a hundred years of stifled living."

"My sword is the sword of freedom, the sword of exhilaration, the sword that slays all injustices. This sword art is called 'Three-Foot Sword.'"

The voice of the silver-haired old man echoed through Ji Ning's vast, empty sea of consciousness.

…