Chapter 8: Carrying the Immortal Mansion, Roaming the World

"Let me finish," the yellow-furred bear continued. "I wouldn't just take away two immortal-grade treasures. When I served my master, I saw more treasures than you've ever heard of."

Ji Ning blinked.

"After Ju Hua the Immortal died, he left behind these three immortal-grade treasures. He died just as the era of gods and demons ended. The endless eons since then have been utterly boring. I couldn't casually move the treasures my master left behind, but as for the treasures Ju Hua the Immortal left behind, I took them and refined and transformed them."

"Refined and transformed?" Ji Ning was stunned.

"The Thousandbull Sword, the Su River Scroll, and the Nine Realms Seal—they were all decent, but none were top-grade or truly powerful," the yellow-furred bear said. "The Nine Realms Seal in particular was the worst crafted, a complete waste of countless rare materials piled into that seal. So I completely melted it down, took its true essence, and slowly, over three hundred sixty million years, fused it into the Thousandbull Sword. This long, painstaking effort gave the Thousandbull Sword a qualitative transformation without diminishing its original power."

Ji Ning blinked.

Three hundred sixty million years? Even a Celestial Immortal wouldn't dare to play around like that.

"I found the Su River Scroll equally shoddy," the yellow-furred bear said, shaking his head. "A fine ancient Su River, and all they did was refine it into a realm. Trapping enemies inside that realm to fight—what a terrible design. I directly destroyed the Su River Scroll, extracted the Su River within, then refined the river into a sword diagram and fused it into the Thousandbull Sword."

The yellow-furred bear was immensely pleased. "Now that's a real treasure!"

"The Thousandbull Sword is a sword, so it should be incomparably sharp. With the essence of the Nine Realms Seal added, its power has greatly increased—it's definitely a top-grade immortal treasure."

"After fusing the 'Su River Sword Diagram' into it, the Thousandbull Sword now possesses the diagram. As soon as the sword is drawn, an ancient Su River appears within ten thousand li. With the river's support, its power instantly skyrockets. The old Su River Scroll had to pull enemies inside, but the Thousandbull Sword doesn't need that—just draw the sword, and the ten-thousand-li river appears directly." The yellow-furred bear said smugly, "Tsk, tsk, among the mighty figures in the Three Realms, which one uses a Pure Yang Immortal Sword without a sword diagram? A sword without a diagram—is it even a sword?"

Ji Ning stood dumbfounded.

"The three immortal treasures combined into one. Now, when the Thousandbull Sword is drawn, the Su River Sword Diagram appears—sword energy stretches ten thousand li, unmatched." The yellow-furred bear was very pleased with himself. "It's the finest of the finest among immortal treasures. The three treasures before my refinement weren't even worth a third of it. I spent hundreds of millions of years on it, so I won't quibble with you."

"Thousandbull Sword!" the yellow-furred bear called out.

"Coming." The black ox responded promptly. From that several-hundred-zhang-tall treasure mountain, a black flying sword flew out. As it emerged, a sound of flowing water arose, as if an ancient river were moving, and a faint, hazy river phantom appeared around it.

As the river phantom appeared, space seemed to freeze, and Ji Ning felt a sense of oppression.

The seemingly plain black flying sword made the entire treasure mountain beside it seem dull.

"Swoosh." The black ox immediately turned into a streak of light and dove into the black flying sword.

"Ji Ning, look at me—am I impressive?" The black flying sword flew through the air, and the ox's voice echoed in the hall.

Ji Ning suddenly exclaimed, "You, how can you move? How can a treasure move?"

A treasure is a dead object; without an owner controlling it, how could it move?

Even if an immortal treasure gave birth to a 'treasure spirit,' it shouldn't be able to move. The previous 'Green Silk Divine Fire Lamp' couldn't move at all; it could only mobilize flames to resist Xue Hongyi, but was still forcibly taken by him.

"Who says treasures can't move?" the yellow-furred bear said from the side. "Pure Yang treasures can soar into the sky and burrow into the earth."

Pure Yang treasures?

That was a level above immortal treasures, far too distant.

"As far as I know, immortal treasures can't move," Ji Ning said. "I've read it in books. Also, I mentioned earlier that after killing Xue Hongyi at the Wujiang Immortal Mansion, I obtained an immortal treasure."

"You mean the Green Silk Divine Fire Lamp?" The yellow-furred bear shook his head dismissively. "That's just a low-grade immortal treasure. Indeed, almost no immortal treasures can move on their own; even top-grade immortal treasures that can move are rare. But the Thousandbull Sword is the finest of the finest among immortal treasures, with spirituality and power comparable to weaker Pure Yang treasures. With such strong spirituality and purity, it can naturally move on its own. However, without an owner controlling it, its power is limited—your second soul, at full force, can suppress it."

Ji Ning was secretly astonished.

His second soul was at the 'late-stage Primordial Dao' level. Using the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation, combined with the 'Domain of the Dao' and the 'Dao of Rainwater,' it could match a Sanxian! And such power could only suppress an ownerless immortal treasure. The Green Silk Divine Fire Lamp, on the other hand, had been suppressed by someone of Xue Hongyi's strength.

"Ji Ning, cultivate well. Once you become an Earth Immortal, I can go out and wreak havoc—haha... I, Thousandbull, can roam the world again!" The black flying sword landed, and the black ox walked out from within. He spoke with great excitement, but then grew dejected. "It's a pity Ju Hua is no longer here."

A treasure has a special bond with its first owner; the first owner is like a parent or elder brother to it.

"Perhaps Senior Ju Hua has reincarnated," Ji Ning said, sensing the black ox's dejection.

"Don't console me. Ju Hua died eons ago. Even if he reincarnated, who knows how many times he's turned?" The black ox sighed.

...

Ji Ning didn't rush to leave Anchan Commandery. After all, the Immortal Gathering was still three years away. Instead, he focused on cultivating in the water mansion.

Having reached the 'Domain of the Dao' and mastered a complete Dao, the 'Dao of Rainwater,' Ji Ning needed to quickly convert all this into his own strength, making himself more powerful.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, over a year had gone by.

Winter.

In the Starry Hall of the water mansion, the hall contained its own space, vast and expansive.

Ji Ning walked through the air. With a whoosh, he vanished, then reappeared over ten li away as space rippled.

Swish, swish, swish.

Ji Ning flickered in and out of existence, teleporting again and again.

"Done, done." The black ox, lying outside the thatched hut, stood up joyfully and called out, "Ji Ning, you've finally grasped the teleportation technique."

"It took over a year to figure it out." Ji Ning, far away, flickered to the hut's entrance in an instant and added, "Truly shameful."

Void teleportation was the most basic foundation of the 'Qiankun Dao.'

The Qiankun Dao could also be called the 'Space Dao.'

For example, the Azure Serpent, due to its innate talent, could perform 'void shuttling' even at the Xiantian lifeform stage. Void shuttling was essentially void teleportation. However, for ordinary cultivators, grasping 'void teleportation' was very difficult—it was, after all, the entry point to a Grand Dao. Most Wanxiang Adepts would buy a 'Lesser Teleportation Talisman' to carry with them.

But most Sanxian and Earth Immortals could almost always perform void teleportation.

This was because Sanxian and Earth Immortals had generally mastered a complete Dao. Mastering a complete Dao allowed one to control a region of heaven and earth.

With a thought,

the power of the Dao descended, and a region of heaven and earth came under control. While controlling that region, the cultivator could clearly sense the 'Qiankun Dao' (or Space Dao). The clearer the perception of space, the more naturally, over time, one could grasp space teleportation.

Thus, Sanxian and Earth Immortals, regardless of which complete Dao they mastered, could almost all grasp 'void teleportation,' though the time required varied.

"Whoosh." The yellow-furred bear suddenly appeared beside them.

"Ji Ning." the yellow-furred bear said.

"Senior." Ji Ning responded.

The yellow-furred bear nodded approvingly. The past year of solitary training and the invisible pressure from the Shaoyin clan had indeed spurred Ji Ning's progress.

"You've fully integrated the Dao of Rainwater into your Sword Dao. Your swordsmanship is nearly perfect for your current stage," the yellow-furred bear said. "But a cultivator who only trains in seclusion cannot become a Celestial Immortal. Your Dao of Blazing Fire and Dao of Gale Wind have stubbornly refused to break through that barrier; you can't fully comprehend them. That's because you've been training in seclusion without going out to temper yourself. Now, it's time for you to go out."

Ji Ning nodded gently.

Recently, he too felt a longing inside, a yearning for the outside world, a craving for battle and tempering.

...

In the dead of winter, it was noon, but the sky was overcast, and goose-feather snowflakes were drifting down.

Whoosh.

On Brightheart Island, a beast-skin-clad youth appeared abruptly. He looked around; everything was in ruins. After all, the place had been monitored by cultivators sent by the Shaoyin clan. Even Shaoyin Nong's biological father had come personally. Unable to attack the Ten Thousand Swords City, he had vented his fury by destroying all the buildings on Brightheart Island of Serpentwing Lake.

"When the day comes, I will rebuild Brightheart Island," Ji Ning said softly.

"Ji Ning, time to go. Soon, Shaoyin clan cultivators will patrol here." A voice sounded in Ji Ning's mind—it was the spirit of the water mansion, which Ji Ning now carried with him.

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded.

He looked up at the sky.

Snowflakes were falling.

"I remember the last time I left Swallow Mountain for Anchan Commandery, it was also winter. And now, it's winter again." Ji Ning shook his head with a smile, then took a step and vanished from Brightheart Island.

Just a moment later.

Whoosh~~~

A warship roared overhead, crushing the air, with armored cultivator soldiers standing on board. The Shaoyin clan had stationed Primordial Daoists and many other soldiers to monitor the Serpentwing Lake area. The Primordial Daoists swept the area with their divine sense every day, and to avoid being fooled by formations that interfered with divine sense, they supplemented this with soldiers personally patrolling, ensuring no oversight.