Chapter 4 A Sense of Loss

The black-robed, black-haired immortal Diancai sat cross-legged on a jade bed. Suddenly, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "That kid, it seems he succeeded in joining the Yinglong Guard and returned so quickly."

……

At this moment, Ji Ning and Mu Zishuo had already entered the Black-White College, both flying midair.

"Senior apprentice-brother, I'll come to you early tomorrow morning," said Mu Zishuo.

"Go back and go into closed-door cultivation. After you finish, it won't be too late to carry out the mission," said Ji Ning. The two had long prepared: once they refined the primal liquid and increased their power, they would immediately go out and slay the two heretical cultivators steeped in sin.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Ji Ning rode a small boat, while Mu Zishuo rode his dragon-headed warship puppet, each flying toward their own peaks.

Flying through the air.

"Senior apprentice-brother Beiming."

"Junior apprentice-brother Beiming is back? Last time I went to your place, I found you had gone out to travel and adventure."

Flying from the Black-White College to Beiming Peak, he encountered six ordinary servant disciples and one formal disciple.

"That is Beiming Peak." On the boat, Ji Ning pointed to the peak below. It was already dusk; the setting sun cast its lingering glow over Beiming Peak, making it ethereal and beautiful. "Qingqing, you are my spirit beast. In the Black-White College, many forbidden areas are off-limits to you. Today, you must obediently cultivate in the meditation chamber and not go wandering into trouble, understand?"

"Don't worry, master." Qingqing had been extremely excited ever since entering the Black-White College.

Ji Ning smiled.

The boat immediately swooped down.

From the mansion on Beiming Peak, several figures emerged—the six servant cultivators Ji Ning had left there: Meng Yan, Yun Lu, Yun Zhou, Wang Wei, Wei Fang, and Ming Yang.

"Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning." The six came forward to greet him.

"Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, you're back so soon. Did you join the Yinglong Guard?" Yun Lu looked at Ji Ning, her eyes bright. As a naturally alluring woman, she attracted many suitors. Among Ji Ning's servants, aside from her brother Yun Zhou and Meng Yan, the other three all had designs on her.

Not to mention the servant disciples from other peaks.

Unfortunately...

Having grown accustomed to servant disciples, when she saw Ji Ning, Yun Lu thought to herself: "Compared to Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, those are nothing but chickens and dogs! Hmph, my Dao companion, even if not as good as Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, must at least be half as good. They don't even measure up to a fraction of him."

"Yes, I've joined the Yinglong Guard," Ji Ning said with a slight smile.

"Congratulations, Senior apprentice-brother."

The six spoke in unison.

Ji Ning nodded, then pointed to the green-clad girl following him: "This is my spirit beast, Qingqing. Get to know her."

"Senior apprentice-sister Qingqing." Everyone, including Yun Lu, showed respect, for they could sense the powerful demonic aura emanating from Qingqing—she was definitely a Wanxiang-level great demon, while they were only Zifu cultivators... Qingqing did it deliberately, to intimidate them.

"Alright, all of you withdraw. Uncle Bai, arrange a meditation chamber for Qingqing." After speaking, Ji Ning walked alone toward the meditation chamber.

"Back and immediately cultivating, no wonder he's such a genius." Yun Lu watched Ji Ning and nodded. "The Dao companion I seek must be as diligent as Senior apprentice-brother."

……

Inside the meditation chamber, pearls were inlaid in the dome, illuminating the vast room.

On the intricately carved jade bed at the center, Ji Ning sat cross-legged.

"Let's begin."

Ji Ning flipped his hand, and a jade bottle appeared in his palm. He placed it before him and pulled out the stopper. The bottle contained a full six thousand jin of primal liquid. The moment the stopper was removed, dense primal energy wafted out; even a single breath made one feel incredibly refreshed.

Ji Ning's soul was powerful, his talent extremely high, his foundation extremely solid, and his cultivation speed astonishingly fast. An ordinary Wanxiang True Person might need centuries to accumulate enough 'primal power' to break through to the Primal Daoist. But even cultivating slowly, Ji Ning would need only decades.

Even so,

this six thousand jin of primal liquid was equivalent to at least six years, or at most ten years, of Ji Ning's hard cultivation.

"Suck." Ji Ning opened his mouth, and the primal liquid flew into it.

……

In the Zifu space.

The 'source' at the deepest part of the endless ocean of primal power began to surge, continuously emitting vast amounts of extremely pure primal power. The entire ocean of primal power began to rotate slightly, and its surface naturally rose. As it rose, countless essences condensed within the ocean.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~ Countless essences flew into the air.

High in the Zifu space, there were myriad stars, the Lunar Star, and the Solar Star. These stars revolved in an incredibly mysterious trajectory... They moved in resonance with the real stars in the outside world. Movement meant life; once the stars in the Zifu space moved, they could truly nurture the pure 'Wanxiang-level primal power'.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~ As countless essences flew into the high sky, they were immediately drawn into the grand star formation.

Countless stars moved slowly, the essences were crushed and flew into all the stars, mainly gathering in the core Lunar and Solar stars.

Rumble~~~

The stars moved eternally, tirelessly. Each star exerted gravitational and repulsive forces on the others, keeping all star volumes fixed, unable to grow any further. With their sizes fixed, after absorbing more and more primal essence, they would undergo a qualitative transformation upon reaching a certain point.

"Boom!"

The Wanxiang primal power emanating from these stars became noticeably purer by one level.

"Wanxiang中期了。" Ji Ning was secretly delighted. "Consuming nearly two thousand jin of primal liquid, I've reached Wanxiang中期。Continue!"

After a long while.

This time, he refined over three thousand jin of primal liquid before the countless stars in the Zifu space underwent another qualitative transformation.

"Wanxiang后期了！" Ji Ning opened his eyes and looked at the jade bottle before him. There was still a little over a thousand jin of primal liquid left, but clearly not enough to reach Wanxiang圆满。Based on the previous situation, going from Wanxiang后期 to Wanxiang圆满 would require four to five thousand jin of primal liquid!

"Actually, the hardest part is from Wanxiang圆满 to Primal, which requires tens of thousands of jin of primal liquid." Ji Ning sighed.

Could it be that he would have to keep robbing and killing Wanxiang True Persons?

As the saying goes, 'He who often walks by the river will eventually wet his shoes.'

He might run into a low-key Wanxiang True Person, or one with a treasure, and lose his life. So killing other cultivators was generally done only when unavoidable. Those who actively chose the path of robbery might be arrogant for a time, but they would eventually meet their end.

"No rush. My insights into the Dao and the sword are still insufficient. I'm far from breaking through to the Primal Daoist." Ji Ning then began to reflect on his sword techniques and comprehend them.

……

Time passed, and soon it was dawn.

Early morning.

Mu Zishuo arrived.

"Senior apprentice-brother, Senior apprentice-brother." Mu Zishuo was in high spirits. "I cultivated straight to Wanxiang圆满 and still have plenty of primal liquid left."

"What are you so proud of? I'm also Wanxiang圆满!" Qingqing glared.

"You reached Wanxiang圆满 with that little primal liquid?" Mu Zishuo was astonished. "You were only at Wanxiang中期 like me before, but I used much more primal liquid."

Qingqing pouted: "I used six hundred jin to reach Wanxiang后期, then another four thousand five hundred jin to reach Wanxiang圆满. Obviously, I was already close to Wanxiang后期 before, stronger than you."

Ji Ning sat to the side, drinking fruit wine, watching the banter between the human and the demon.

"Senior apprentice-brother, what about you?" Mu Zishuo sat down.

"Wanxiang后期。" Ji Ning said calmly with a smile.

"后期？" Mu Zishuo was shocked. "How can it only be 后期？"

"Ning'er and I are both Wanxiang后期。" A white-robed, white-haired man spoke as he walked in from the courtyard gate.

Mu Zishuo immediately understood.

Ji Ning must have given some primal liquid to the Whitewater Hound, which had only been at Zifu圆满 before; otherwise, how could it have cultivated straight to Wanxiang后期?

"Uncle Bai has a very high comprehension of formations, so with primal liquid, he could advance in one go. Without sufficient realm and Dao-heart, even with primal liquid, it's useless." Ji Ning looked at Mu Zishuo. "Junior apprentice-brother, do you want to see your master? If not, we'll set out today."

"No need." Mu Zishuo shook his head. "Senior apprentice-brother, you didn't go see your master either."

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

They had just parted last time...

It had only been a little over three months, and he hadn't made much progress in swordsmanship, so there was no need to see his master.

"After breakfast, we'll set out." Ji Ning said. "Everyone, sit down. Uncle Bai, Qingqing, sit."

Mu Zishuo, Qingqing, Uncle Bai, and Ji Ning sat around the table, chatting and eating.

That day, as the morning sun rose, Ji Ning and his companions left the Black-White College once more... This departure was destined to be a long one.

……

When Ji Ning returned to the Black-White College, he had encountered many people, and those with sharp eyes soon learned of his return.

"Whoosh."

Jiulian waved her hand, and a water mirror appeared before her.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Hmm?" Jiulian frowned slightly. The style of her blue robe began to change, even the patterns on it shifted. As a dharma robe, it could naturally change its appearance and color.

After a long while, Jiulian smiled and waved her hand, dispelling the water mirror.

"Whoosh."

A snow-white lotus flying treasure appeared. Jiulian stepped onto it and flew straight out of her mansion.

A moment later.

Jiulian, standing on the snow-white lotus, saw Beiming Peak in the distance. As she flew closer, she spoke: "I heard Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning has returned. May I see him?"

Her voice echoed over Beiming Peak.

Soon, a burly dark-skinned man and an alluring woman appeared—Meng Yan and Yun Lu.

Meng Yan bowed: "Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian, Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning returned yesterday but left again early this morning." Beside him, Yun Lu looked up at Jiulian standing on the snow-white lotus in the sky, feeling as if Jiulian were a celestial being, and felt envious.

"Left?" Jiulian was startled.

"Do you know when he will return?" Jiulian asked.

"I don't know." Meng Yan shook his head. "Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning said this departure would be long."

"Long, is it?"

Jiulian nodded slightly, a trace of disappointment flickering in her eyes. Then she stepped on her lotus treasure and flew away, disappearing into the distant sky.

……