Chapter 20: Senior Sister Jiulian

Ji Ning hesitated.

Which one should he choose?

"Senior," Ji Ning said obediently, "When I reach the Wanxiang stage in my Fiendgod Body Refining and clear the fourth floor of the War God Hall, I'll have another chance to pick an Earth-ranked treasure. Will there be better treasures then?"

"Of course there will be better ones!" the yellow-furred bear said confidently. "Better than the Earthfire Heartlamp, the Coldpoison Mirror, and the Coldmoon Sword Formation... definitely, and more than one! You've only cleared the third floor of the War God Hall. How could I bring out the best Earth-ranked treasures now? If I did, you wouldn't choose the Earthfire Heartlamp or the others."

"Hurry up and choose. There are plenty of treasures, but unfortunately, you can't have them all." The yellow-furred bear looked at Ji Ning. "The master left so many treasures, not just for one master. If you die, you should leave more treasures for the next master, shouldn't you?"

Ji Ning pouted inwardly.

Jinx!

Die?

On the path of immortality, Ji Ning absolutely did not want to fail.

"I choose this," Ji Ning said, pointing at the open page that recorded the Coldmoon Sword Formation.

"I really want the Earthfire Heartlamp and the Coldpoison Mirror," Ji Ning thought to himself. "But they can't increase my strength in the short term, while the Coldmoon Sword Formation can immediately boost my power! The nine Coldmoon swords of this formation are top-grade Earth-ranked, by Three-Life Daoist's classification. Their power alone surpasses most Heaven-ranked flying swords, allowing my 'Lesser Thousand Swords Formation' to rise an entire level!"

The closer one's strength is to the limit, the harder it is to improve even a little. To rise an entire level is extremely difficult.

Mainly because the Coldmoon Sword Formation itself is too powerful.

If bought from the Heavenly Treasure Mountain, a Coldmoon sword costs more than an ordinary Heaven-ranked flying sword—due to its rarity, it could cost ten thousand catties each! Such a set of top-grade Earth-ranked swords from the same source is rare and sought after... a full set would cost at least a hundred thousand catties of primal liquid.

A hundred thousand catties of primal liquid?

That would make even a Primal Daoist pale. Ji Ning's lucky find of the 'Dragon Whale Demon King's corpse' didn't yield that much.

The power of the 'Lesser Thousand Swords Formation' relies entirely on strong flying swords—no falsehood there!

"Luckily I have the Treasure Hall," Ji Ning thought. "The Lesser Thousand Swords Formation can only unleash such terrifying power because of me."

With this formation, the stronger the treasures, the more heaven-defying it becomes.

Though the 'Thousand Swords Immortal' made a great name with it, he still fell to Immortal Juhua. But with the 'Treasure Hall' behind him, Ji Ning's Lesser Thousand Swords Formation was destined to be astonishing.

"Come." The yellow-furred bear beckoned upward.

From the depths of the void above, starlight descended, piercing the restrictions to arrive before Ji Ning. Nine pitch-black flying swords appeared, glossy and smooth, with a faint deep green sheen visible from the side.

They were as beautiful as works of art.

"Perfect," Ji Ning murmured in admiration. He released his primal energy, and streams of water-blue energy wrapped around the nine Coldmoon swords, easily refining them.

With a thought, nine streaks of starlight circled around Ji Ning.

"Not inferior to Heaven-ranked treasures," Ji Ning praised.

Heaven-ranked treasures could only be activated by Primal Daoists.

Yet his current treasures had such power, hence they were called 'top-grade Earth-ranked.' And he had a full set of nine!

"This might make Primal Daoists covetous enough to ambush me," Ji Ning said with a light laugh.

"Without personal refinement, it's hard to judge a treasure's grade just by looking," the yellow-furred bear said.

"Excellent treasures."

The more Ji Ning thought, the happier he became.

"Go. If you want to choose more treasures, go back and cultivate well," the yellow-furred bear urged.

Ji Ning nodded.

Suddenly, a huge bear's head phantom appeared and swallowed Ji Ning in one gulp.

...

Soon, on Brightheart Island in Serpentwing Lake, it became known that Ji Ning had emerged from seclusion after half a month.

No one except Ji Ning knew of the 'Water Mansion's' existence. Since he forbade any disturbance during his seclusion, everyone assumed he had been in closed-door cultivation all along.

"Master, master." The green-clad girl appeared instantly at the door of the meditation chamber.

Ji Ning stepped out and looked up. Outside, a biting cold wind blew, and heavy snowflakes drifted down.

"Master, why couldn't I sense you after you went into seclusion?" the green-clad girl asked via mental communication. "It felt like you were far, far away. But as your spirit beast, our contract isn't dissolved, so I know you're not dead. Yet if you're alive, why can't I sense you?"

The Whitewater Hound approached and also communicated mentally: "Ning'er, when you were in seclusion, this Green Serpent came looking for you. I stopped her."

"Oh." Ji Ning smiled.

The first time he entered the Water Mansion, his parents had worried, knowing he had entered an ancient, special relic. Uncle Bai had known about it early on.

"I had a fortuitous encounter," Ji Ning said.

"Fortuitous encounter?" Qingqing was surprised.

In the endless lands ruled by the Grand Xia Dynasty, secrets were too numerous; anything could happen. Even a battle could be interrupted by an awakening ancient Fiendgod. What couldn't happen?

Qingqing understood that Ji Ning didn't want to elaborate, and muttered, "So stingy."

Ji Ning smiled.

The Water Mansion involved the Three-Life Daoist, and its influence might shake the Three Realms! How could Ji Ning casually reveal it? As the current master, only he could enter; others couldn't. He hadn't even told his parents, since they couldn't enter either. Telling them would only bring harm, not good.

"Young master." Qiuye approached with a bright smile. "You've come out. During your seclusion, Young Master Ji Mo also came, wanting to seek your advice."

"Ji Mo?" Ji Ning nodded. "He didn't come in the three days after I returned."

Ji Mo was the best of the younger generation of the Ji clan, aside from Ji Ning himself.

"Young Master Ji Mo has been out training," Qiuye said. "So after you returned, the clan leader sent people to find him. It took a few days. On the ninth day of your seclusion, Young Master Ji Mo came alone."

Ji Ning smiled and nodded.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance, flickering twice to arrive nearby. It was a tall, handsome young man with sword-like brows. His gaze at Ji Ning was fervent, and he bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Young Master Ji Ning."

"It seems you've made great progress over the years," Ji Ning praised with a smile.

At a glance, Ji Mo's temperament had changed greatly. The once quiet Ji Mo now seemed like an unsheathed battle blade—a strong fighting spirit honed in battle.

"I'm still far from you, young master," Ji Mo said respectfully.

"If you don't mind, you can come and stay here anytime," Ji Ning suddenly said.

Ji Mo was startled, then showed joy.

Years ago, he had knelt and begged Ji Ning to take him as a disciple, but Ji Ning was focused on the Dao and couldn't attend to him. Now, Ji Ning planned to live long-term at Serpentwing Lake, so he was willing to occasionally spare time to guide the best of the younger generation besides himself. This also helped cultivate experts for the Ji clan.

Suddenly—

"Is Junior Brother Ji Ning here?" A very familiar voice rang out across Serpentwing Lake.

"Junior Brother Ji Ning?"

"Calling my young master 'junior brother'?" Qiuye looked stunned.

"Calling the island master 'junior brother'?" Many maids on Brightheart Island looked surprised and confused. The island master was naturally Ji Ning, master of Brightheart Island.

"Junior brother?"

In an instant, everyone on Serpentwing Lake was curious and puzzled. Only a few who knew Ji Ning had joined the Black-White College guessed: "Probably a disciple from the Black-White College has come."

...

Hearing the voice, Ji Ning was also surprised. He looked up to trace the sound.

In the distance, a sailboat flew over, with two graceful figures faintly visible on board.

"Ning'er, it seems to be your two senior sisters," the Whitewater Hound transmitted. "You're really something. You come back, and two senior sisters chase after you."

"Just passing by to visit," Ji Ning glanced at Uncle Bai.

The Whitewater Hound just laughed.

Ji Ning then looked up at the distant sailboat and said softly, "But it is a coincidence. I just came out of seclusion, and they just arrived."

Swoosh.

Ji Ning immediately rode the wind into the air to greet them: "Senior Sister Jiulian, Senior Sister Qingqing."

Above Serpentwing Lake, the water-blue-robed Jiulian and the silver-clad Qingqing also flew down.

"From Junior Brother Mu, we learned you live here, Junior Brother Ji Ning," Jiulian said with a smile. "We came out to train and passed by Mount Yan, so we thought to visit. Junior Brother has good taste, choosing this beautiful place—the vast Serpentwing Lake and the island at its center are quite lovely."

Ji Ning turned to look. Indeed, the lake shimmered like jade, and the island in the center, with its pavilions among countless flowers, was a secluded paradise.

"Senior Sister, you may not know, but this place was once lair of a demon," Ji Ning said with a laugh. "After I eliminated that demon, our Ji clan arranged for many people to renovate and groom it over time, turning that demon's lair into what it is today. Senior Sisters, let's not talk in the air. Come, let's go to my island, so I can fulfill my duties as host."

"Let's go."

Senior Sister Jiulian, Senior Sister Qingqing, and Ji Ning flew down together.

Some mortal servants and maids on Brightheart Island muttered, "Wow, fairies!"

"They're flying."

"So beautiful."

"Immortals."

The mortals were excited.

Ji Ning and the others soon landed. The Green Serpent and the Whitewater Hound also came over.

"So these two great demons are the Green Serpent 'Qingqing' and the Whitewater Hound 'Uncle Bai' that Junior Brother Mu mentioned?" Jiulian said with a smile.

"What? Qingqing!" The silver-clad woman beside her widened her eyes.

"Yes, Qingqing. She's also called Qingqing." Jiulian suppressed a laugh. She had been holding this in, waiting until the two 'Qingqings' met to say it.