Chapter 9: The Foundation Is Laid

Under the heavy snow, Ten Thousand Swords City remained as lively as ever. As the heart of Yanshan, it was naturally bustling. As for the feud between the Shaoyan and Ji clans? Those who traded goods and traveled between the cities of Yanshan were all mortals, and the cultivators stationed here by the Shaoyan clan were unwilling to massacre mortals wantonly—such an act would incur too great a karmic sin.

In a narrow alley of Ten Thousand Swords City.

Ripples in space stirred, and Ji Ning appeared out of thin air. Although there were some mortals in the alley, they seemed not to see him at all.

“A minor illusion is still effective against mortals.” Ji Ning sensed his surroundings and was startled. “This Ten Thousand Swords City is simply…”

“Daoist Ji Ning.” A ripple of divine sense transmitted over.

“Immortal Duohe.” Ji Ning took a step and vanished like a gust of wind.

The city lord’s mansion was the core of Ten Thousand Swords City and also the inner city.

Within a courtyard.

Immortal Duohe and Immortal Wu Sui were sitting there. A gust of wind blew, and Ji Ning appeared.

“Master.”

“Ning’er.” Two other figures flashed in almost simultaneously—Whitewater Hound and Little Qing. The moment Ji Ning teleported into Ten Thousand Swords City, Uncle White and Little Qing had sensed it.

“Master, it’s been over a year.” Little Qing transformed into a small green snake that coiled around Ji Ning’s arm, raised its little snake head, and spoke in human tongue. “I’ve been worried sick this past year. The Shaoyan clan’s troops often patrol and search outside. Luckily, I could always sense that you were still alive. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.”

Whitewater Hound also looked at Ji Ning; he too had been worried.

“Uncle White, Little Qing.” Ji Ning smiled. “The Shaoyan clan can’t do anything to me.”

“Immortal Duohe, Immortal Wu Sui.” Ji Ning turned to the two demon immortals, who had already stood up, and laughed. “I didn’t expect that in the year I’ve been away, you’ve turned Ten Thousand Swords City into an impregnable fortress. The number of formations alone exceeds a hundred layers. I couldn’t even teleport into the inner city, and you discovered me the moment I entered. This place is even more tightly guarded than the mountain gates of some sects.”

Immortal Duohe nodded. “This is the core of your Ji clan and also the gathering place for us demon immortals of the Immortal Mansion. Naturally, we cannot be careless. We demon immortals of the Immortal Mansion have done our utmost to set up many formations. As long as any cultivator enters, we can immediately detect them.”

“This is your Ji clan’s home, and also our demon clan’s home for a thousand years,” Immortal Wu Sui said with a smile.

Ji Ning also breathed a sigh of relief.

He had made the right decision in inviting the demons.

“Not only that,” Immortal Duohe laughed. “Our Immortal Mansion demon clan also has a vast number of Xiantian lifeforms. I have dispatched tens of thousands of these great Xiantian demons, who are now spread throughout Yanshan, keeping all the mortals in Yanshan under control. This makes it difficult for the Shaoyan clan to massacre mortals.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Massacring mortals incurs great karmic sin, but Xiantian lifeforms have not yet embarked on the path of cultivation; their sin for killing mortals is much smaller. Tens of thousands of Xiantian great demons can also resist the Xiantian lifeforms sent by the Shaoyan clan.

“This was also the result of discussions between the old chieftain Ji Jiuhuo and us,” Immortal Duohe said. “The old chieftain was worried that the Shaoyan clan would indiscriminately slaughter ordinary mortals. Actually, I think the old chieftain was overly concerned. The Shaoyan clan is an ancient tribe that has been passed down for endless ages. Such ancient tribes place great importance on their own luck. Even if they send some Xiantian lifeforms to massacre mortals on a large scale, karmic sin will still cling to the entire Shaoyan clan, affecting its luck. Although the impact on the entire tribe may not be too great, these ancient tribes value luck immensely and would never harm their tribe’s luck just to vent a little anger over a trivial matter.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Luck is invisible and intangible, but it does exist.

Those with great luck are favored by heaven and earth, and naturally they are different. For example, the Xia Dynasty established the Yinglong Guard, whose main task is to continuously hunt down those with great karmic sin, thereby increasing the Xia Dynasty’s luck.

“I trouble you all with my Ji clan’s affairs,” Ji Ning said. “I still need to go see the chieftain and the others. Afterwards, I will leave Ten Thousand Swords City directly. It may be many years before we meet again.”

“Daoist Ji Ning, please be careful,” Immortal Wu Sui and Immortal Duohe both said.

“Mm.” Ji Ning nodded.

He then took Uncle White and Little Qing to see the chieftain and the others.

…

Ji Jiuhuo and the others did not yet know that Ji Ning had arrived. Soon, under Ji Ning’s divine sense transmission, Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, Ji Liuzhen, Ji Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing gathered in a quiet hall.

“Rumble…” The hall doors were closed.

Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, and Ji Liuzhen all looked at Ji Ning. Closing the hall doors to discuss matters meant there was something important.

Ji Ning also released his divine sense, spreading it all around with extreme vigilance.

“I will leave Ten Thousand Swords City soon. This time, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, or whether I’ll be able to return,” Ji Ning said.

“Ji Ning, don’t say that. You will definitely come back,” Ji Jiuhuo said quickly.

Ji Ning smiled. “Alright, I will definitely come back. Before I leave, there are some things I should give you.”

“Oh?” Ji Jiuhuo and the others were puzzled.

Ji Ning waved his hand, and the ground was immediately covered with a dense pile of magic treasures—countless swords, spears, shuttles, needles, staffs, seals, ribbons, flywhisks, and other treasures.

“This is…” Ji Jiuhuo and the others held their breath.

Ji Ning waved his hand again, and nearly a thousand more treasures appeared on the ground.

Another wave, and over a dozen more treasures appeared.

“Here are over ten thousand Mortal-rank magic treasures, over nine hundred Earth-rank magic treasures, and twelve Heaven-rank magic treasures,” Ji Ning said. “Even if our Ji clan produces several Primal Daoists and a group of Wanxiang Adepts, these treasures will be more than enough.”

“Enough, enough. Most cultivators obtain their magic treasures through their own adventures outside,” Ji Jiuhuo said quickly. “The tribe can at most give a little help. With so many treasures, Ning’er, how did you get them?”

Ji Ning didn’t answer. He waved his hand again.

A large number of spirit pills, spirit materials, and other treasures appeared beside him.

“These are some spirit pills and rare materials,” Ji Ning said. “As for the common immortal spirit pills, you can look them up in books, Chieftain. As for the rarest and most precious spirit pills and materials, I have also compiled a booklet to introduce them. You must not use these pills carelessly, as some of them are poisonous.”

Ji Jiuhuo and the others held their breath.

“These treasures are all external things.” Ji Ning waved his hand solemnly, and the hall was instantly filled with countless books, piling up to fill most of the hall, stacked over ten zhang high.

“These are the foundation. These are Dao repositories,” Ji Ning said. “They cover everything, and their quantity probably surpasses even that of the Snowdragon Mountain.”

He had obtained the Dao repositories from killing Xue Hongyi and Shaoyan Nong, including those from the Wujiang Immortal Mansion.

“Most importantly, these eighteen sets.” Ji Ning waved his hand again.

“Here are Immortal-rank qi cultivation methods, divine demon methods, divine abilities, and divine sense secret arts,” Ji Ning said. “These are precious methods obtained by beings at the Celestial Immortal level. Some methods are not even available at the Black-White College.”

Ji Jiuhuo, Ji Liuzhen, and Granny Ying were completely stunned.

Divine abilities?

Divine sense secret arts?

These were simply some legendary precious Dao repositories. In fact, these precious Dao repositories came from the Wujiang Immortal Mansion and the legacy of Immortal Juhua. Immortal Juhua had lived for millions of years, and his combat power was definitely at the Celestial Immortal level. He had also obtained many Dao repositories. Thus, the Ji clan’s Dao repositories were a combination of those from Immortal Wujiang and Immortal Juhua.

Immortal Juhua was a lone wanderer, so the Dao repositories he left behind were all fine pieces, with the worst being at the Heaven-rank level.

“These eighteen sets I give you last,” Ji Ning said solemnly, “must never be passed on lightly. They are the core of our Ji clan’s core, the hope of our Ji clan’s prosperity. When to teach them and to whom, I have also written a booklet with suggestions.” Ji Ning handed the booklet directly to Ji Liuzhen.

Ji Liuzhen took it with trembling hands.

He was completely shaken. Compared to the accumulated heritage of the Black-White College over endless ages, these might still fall short, but they far surpassed Snowdragon Mountain and were enough to rank among the top dozen or so forces in Anchan. In particular, some of the divine abilities and secret arts were things that other forces did not have.

“Whoosh.” Ji Ning waved his hand again, and a row of statues appeared beside him.

There were only nine puppets, all Qiongqi puppets.

“Master.” The nine puppets all bowed respectfully to Ji Ning.

The thirty-six Qiongqi puppets and the black-armored man he had obtained from the Wujiang Immortal Mansion had been largely dismantled and reconstructed by the yellow-furred bear, resulting in eighteen Qiongqi puppets. As for the original black-armored man, he was completely finished and no longer existed.

After the modification, each of the eighteen puppets had combat power close to that of a Sanxian. Nine could form the ‘Nine Heavens Formation,’ and even Ji Ning’s second true body, going all out, had been entangled by them for a long time without being able to decide the outcome.

“Each of these nine puppets has combat power close to that of a Sanxian. Alone, killing a Primal Daoist would probably be very difficult,” Ji Ning said. “But once nine of them join forces to form the puppet formation, killing a Primal Daoist is like killing a chicken. This will be the Ji clan’s final trump card. Each of them contains a spirit-gathering formation that can gather the world’s qi and convert it into liquid qi, so you don’t need to provide liquid qi. But remember—don’t use them often. Once their liquid qi is depleted, they won’t be able to fight. You can directly ask these puppets how long they can fight with their remaining liquid qi.”

“Killing a Primal Daoist like killing a chicken?” Ji Jiuhuo, Ji Liuzhen, and Granny Ying looked at each other, completely filled with boundless joy.

“Ji Ning,” Ji Jiuhuo said quickly, “I know about puppets. Puppets with such great strength are invaluable. They should follow you. You face danger outside, and these puppets would be of great help to you.”

“I kill Primal Daoists like killing chickens too,” Ji Ning said.

Ji Jiuhuo and the others were stunned.

Such a fierce statement showed that Ji Ning definitely possessed true Sanxian-level combat power! In fact, his true body was not that strong, but his second true body definitely had such strength.

“Hurry and put these away,” Ji Ning said.

“Right, right. Liuzhen, put them away quickly,” Ji Jiuhuo said hastily.

Ji Liuzhen also nodded. “These treasures must not be taken out of Ten Thousand Swords City, or even out of the city lord’s mansion. They will be guarded by these nine Sanxian puppets.”

…

Everything was arranged.

The hall doors opened.

Ji Ning, with Uncle White and Little Qing, turned into a gust of wind that soared into the sky and vanished.

Ji Liuzhen, Ji Jiuhuo, and Granny Ying looked up at the sky.

“Our Ji clan’s foundation is laid. Given enough time, we will surely become a dominant power in Anchan Commandery,” Ji Jiuhuo thought silently. “Although my time is near, it’s enough, it’s enough. Even if I die now, it’s worth it. Yichuan… I knew your son was formidable, but I didn’t know he was this formidable! You raised a good son!”

Ji Liuzhen and Granny Ying were also in a state of excitement and shock.

They all understood… because of what Ji Ning had left behind today, the foundation for the Ji clan’s prosperity was already laid, like a seed that had entered the soil, waiting to sprout and grow. All that was needed now was time!