Chapter 14 The Last Month

Yu Wei said with envy, "These are the true darlings of heaven and earth. In the qi-refining path, the highest are the Great Lofty Dao Ancestors; in the divine demon body-refining path, the highest are the Chaos True Gods. Whether Dao Ancestors or True Gods, from Pangu's creation of heaven and earth to the present, they have always been the most supreme great powers of the Three Realms. They are the ones who determine the fate of the Three Realms. Even who becomes the Heavenly Emperor is decided by these great powers."

Ji Ning, however, had many thoughts surging in his mind.

The San Shou Daoist was born from chaos and grasped a Grand Dao at birth.

Clearly, the San Shou Daoist was a Chaos True God!

But according to the yellow-haired bear, the San Shou Daoist had once suffered a disastrous defeat, losing an arm, and the proud San Shou Daoist never restored his arm. He remained one-armed, constantly meditating and studying, eventually creating a fearsome divine ability ranked among the top ten in the Three Realms—the Star Picking Hand!

"Ji Ning." The yellow-haired bear's voice suddenly rang out in Ji Ning's sea of consciousness.

"Senior." Ji Ning responded.

"Even among Celestial Immortals, some have great divine abilities, others poor ones. Even among True Gods, some have remarkable divine abilities, others ordinary ones. Can they be the same?" The yellow-haired bear was clearly aggrieved for his master. "And if my master had lived to this day, he would probably have grasped a Heavenly Dao long ago. But in the endless years, my master never came to find me..."

The yellow-haired bear's voice suddenly dropped. He didn't know whether the San Shou Daoist was alive or dead.

...

This conversation with Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei broadened Ji Ning's horizons.

The lofty Great Lofty Dao Ancestors and Chaos True Gods used the Three Realms as a chessboard, controlling everything.

The Heavenly Emperor, the Kings of Hell, and others were merely appointed to their positions after their discussions and decisions.

"But what did the San Shou Daoist encounter back then, such that he had no confidence in surviving?" Ji Ning pondered. After leaving the Water Mansion, the San Shou Daoist had gone to face a so-called great calamity, and since then, there had been no news of him, and he never returned to the Water Mansion.

The San Shou Daoist was a great power. For him to have no confidence in surviving, what kind of calamity must it have been?

"The Three Realms..."

"Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei probably doesn't know the true face of the Three Realms either." Ji Ning always felt that everything seemed to be shrouded in a veil. For instance, when he was in the underworld, he had encountered a terrifying force attacking the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Fortunately, he jumped into the Six Paths and was reincarnated; otherwise, he would have died then.

"Who attacked the Six Paths of Reincarnation?" The more Ji Ning's horizons expanded, the more horrified he became, because the Six Paths of Reincarnation was the most crucial hub for the operation of the Three Realms. Even great powers probably wouldn't dare to act recklessly, lest they incur the wrath and joint opposition of other great powers.

"I'm just a little ant. Why should I worry about such matters? When the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up." Ji Ning quickly put it out of his mind.

...

In the blink of an eye, the trial of the Bright Moon Landscape Painting had reached its twelfth month, the final month.

A purple-robed youth and a grimy girl walked side by side.

"Where did this Nine Deaths Immortal come from?" The purple-robed youth glanced at the girl beside him, secretly amazed. He, Xia Mangqi, was absolutely a favored son of heaven among the younger generation of the 'Imperial Xia Mang Clan,' second only to Xia Mang Zishan! And he had never been convinced; he always yearned to surpass Xia Mang Zishan.

This time at the Immortal Destiny Convention, Xia Mangqi had shown his brilliance and demonstrated formidable strength, but when he encountered this girl who called herself 'Nine Deaths Immortal,' he was stymied.

"This girl is too strong. No matter how I fight, I can't harm her. It's as if her body is a magic treasure," the purple-robed youth lamented. "She's no Nine Deaths Immortal; she's really an 'Immortal of Immortality.'"

The grimy girl had said to him at the time: "I have enough talismans. The further we go in this Bright Moon Landscape Painting world, the stronger the survivors become. And many have formed small teams. You seem pretty capable to me. How about we team up? It'll be easier in the last month or two."

"When we meet enemies and kill them, the talismans go to me?" Xia Mangqi proposed.

"Fine." The grimy girl nodded, and so Xia Mangqi and Nine Deaths Immortal joined forces to roam.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly they both stopped, gazing into the distance. In the distance appeared four figures, male and female.

A lean youth with disheveled black hair, a silver-haired girl, a woman as beautiful as a legendary moon palace fairy, and finally a bald, dark-skinned boy. The dark-skinned boy walked barefoot, holding a black, crooked staff.

"Zhuan Shuiqi? Second brother, how did you end up with Danzhu Immortal and the others?" Xia Mangqi laughed.

"Big brother?" The lean youth with disheveled black hair exclaimed in surprise.

The two of them were the 'Two Eccentrics' of the Great Xia capital, so called because of their bizarre temperaments, yet they hit it off and became sworn brothers, with Xia Mangqi as the elder and Zhuan Shuiqi as the younger.

"The further we go, the more dangerous it gets. I dare not act alone," Zhuan Shuiqi said helplessly. "I thought I was pretty good, but even Xia Mang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu teamed up early on. We had no choice but to join forces too! The four of us even fought Xia Mang Zishan and the others once. Fortunately, Blackstone was there, and we scared them off."

"Oh?" Xia Mangqi was surprised. The grimy girl, Nine Deaths Immortal, beside him also showed surprise.

Scaring off Xia Mang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu?

"Introduce me," Xia Mangqi said with a smile.

"You know Danzhu Immortal of the East Sea," said Zhuan Shuiqi, pointing to the woman like a moon palace fairy. Danzhu Immortal smiled and nodded.

Zhuan Shuiqi pointed to the silver-haired girl: "This is Feixue Immortal, extremely skilled in spells."

Then he pointed to the barefoot, dark-skinned boy holding the black, crooked staff: "This is Blackstone Immortal. He is exceptionally skilled in the Fuxi Staff Formation, a true grandmaster of formations... With him, we can leave when we want and attack when we want. Blackstone Immortal is also extremely strong in close combat. He only acted once and blocked Xia Mang Zishan... In my opinion, Blackstone Immortal has a real chance of taking first place in this Immortal Destiny Convention."

Xia Mangqi and Nine Deaths Immortal both looked at the bald, dark-skinned boy holding the staff.

It was very strange.

Facing this dark-skinned, bald-headed youth, they felt as if they were facing the vast, boundless sky...

"A formation grandmaster? Able to block Xiamang Zishan in close combat?" Xiamang Qi was secretly shocked.

"Hmm?" The grimy girl also looked curiously at the dark-skinned, bald-headed youth.

The bald-headed youth also looked at the grimy girl.

Both felt an inexplicable resonance... the other was terrifying!

"How about it, shall we go together?" Xiamang Qi asked.

Zhuanshui Qi looked at the dark-skinned, bald-headed youth.

The dark-skinned, bald-headed youth glanced at the grimy girl and revealed a faint smile: "Fine."

"Fine." The grimy girl also spoke.

And so...

These six formed a team.

In this team, Blackstone True Immortal, Nine Deaths True Immortal, and Danzhu True Immortal each already had over fourteen hundred talismans, while the other three—Xiamang Qi, Zhuanshui Qi, and Feixue True Immortal—still needed more.

...

Ji Ning and Yu Wei also walked through the great mountains. Their steps were like the wind, covering great distances in an instant. As they walked, they released their divine sense to probe the surrounding thousand li.

Though it was already the twelfth month, Ji Ning and Yu Wei continued as before, like ordinary senior and junior fellow disciples.

"Senior apprentice-sister, how many talismans do you have now? How many more do you need?" Ji Ning asked.

"Are you done?" Yu Wei countered.

"I have over twelve hundred," Ji Ning said. "Actually, the number of talismans obtained varies. With this many, I'm ninety-nine percent sure I'll rank in the top eighty."

"Be cautious. Only with thirteen hundred and seventy talismans can you absolutely pass the trial," Yu Wei said. "I have fewer than you, nearly eight hundred now."

Ji Ning nodded.

Because they had always followed the rule of 'whoever kills gets the spoils,' although Ji Ning tried to let his senior apprentice-sister have more, ever since reaching the twelfth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], his strength had grown even greater. When encountering formidable opponents, Ji Ning had to unleash his full power, naturally killing them, and the talismans would then go to him.

"In this final month, every survivor probably has hundreds of talismans hidden away. If we kill just two or three, we'll have enough," Ji Ning said.

"But killing two or three in the end is very difficult," Yu Wei said solemnly.

There were fewer and fewer people now.

It was hard to even encounter opponents, and when they did, the opponent would flee immediately if things looked bad. Killing them or forcing them to give up their talismans was extremely difficult!

"There's still enough time, over half a month left," Ji Ning said.

The two continued traveling, covering a thousand li in an instant.

Their divine sense continuously swept the surrounding thousand li.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning and Yu Wei suddenly looked up at the sky.

A boat in the sky rapidly dove down.

"That boat has formation restrictions; even divine sense can't penetrate it. They come with ill intent. Be careful," Yu Wei transmitted to Ji Ning. But both were bold and skilled, and they wouldn't easily retreat.

Whoosh!

A thousand li was crossed in an instant. The boat vanished, and six figures appeared on the grassy ground before them.

Ji Ning and Yu Wei's pupils contracted.

"Xiamang Qi, a genius of the imperial Xiamang clan. Zhuanshui Qi, a genius of the Zhuanshui clan. And Danzhu True Immortal!" Ji Ning and Yu Wei's gazes fell on Danzhu True Immortal, who was as beautiful as a moon palace fairy. Among the six before them, Danzhu True Immortal was the most famous.

...

Main Hall of the Tianmang Hall.

"Ji Ning and Yu Wei, this pair, previously encountered the tribulation of Xiamang Zishan and Cangwu Jiu," Lü Dongbin sighed. "That time, Yu Wei awakened her past life memories and escaped, breaking that tribulation. But this time, these six are even more formidable... That grimy girl has already comprehended five complete Daos! That dark-skinned, bald-headed, barefoot youth is a formation expert. Both have the strength to contend for first place in this Immortal Fortune Convention. Facing this six-person squad, Ji Ning and the other are in big trouble."

"In that Brightmoon Landscape Painting world, how many have died this past year? Every time, it's a life-and-death ordeal. For the little Daoist couple you dote on, this is just a slightly bigger tribulation," Redflame Sovereign said calmly.

"This battle will be interesting," the Xia Emperor said with a smile.

There were about twenty people capable of contending for first place in the Immortal Fortune Convention.

Nine Deaths True Immortal, Blackstone True Immortal, and the newly breakthrough Ji Ning... all were hopeful contenders for first place.

...