Chapter 7 Thirty Years on Mount Fangcun

"How long has Junior Brother been cultivating?" Silvermoon asked.

"Over thirty years," Ji Ning said.

Silvermoon laughed at once: "No wonder, I see. So Junior Brother has only been cultivating for thirty-odd years. With such a short time of cultivation, you were able to defeat this fourth-level puppet. I believe that in the future on Mount Fangcun, Junior Brother's progress will surely be astonishing."

Ji Ning smiled: "I'll take Senior Brother's kind words."

…

Under the gaze of the assembled humans, demons, and gods, Ji Ning and Silvermoon entered the fourth floor of the Immortal Palace. The profundity of the sword arts on the fourth floor was such that any one of them was no less than the complete nine forms of the Three-Foot Sword!

"Truly a sacred land for learning the Dao," Ji Ning mused as he flipped through the abbreviated versions of these sword arts. The abbreviated versions already contained some of the earliest parts, and he read them with great delight. "With so many sword arts, containing the insights of countless sword immortals across the Three Realms, by absorbing their insights I will surely greatly enhance my swordplay."

…

Thus began Ji Ning's days of learning the Dao on Mount Fangcun.

To graduate, he had at least to defeat the ninth-level puppet and obtain the methods of the ninth floor of the Immortal Palace, so that he could enter the Palace of the Three Realms. This was the prerequisite for 'graduation'! To be trained as a personal disciple and enter the Palace of the Three Realms to learn true great divine abilities and secret arts—this was Patriarch Bodhi's most basic requirement for his disciple Ji Ning, and Ji Ning himself was well aware of it.

Moreover, he had made an agreement with Yu Wei to return to the Grand Xia and reunite.

Thus…

He must enter the Palace of the Three Realms as soon as possible! Ji Ning did not want to linger on Mount Fangcun for hundreds or thousands of years. If he truly spent millennia on Mount Fangcun, he could not imagine what would become of the people he cared about in the Grand Xia: Yu Wei, Qiuye, Mu Zishuo, Yuchi Xiyue, and the others.

"I must defeat the ninth-level puppet as quickly as possible, ideally within a few decades," Ji Ning set this requirement for himself, but he also knew how difficult it was. "In the days ahead on Mount Fangcun, I cannot afford any distraction. I will set aside lotus spells, soul secret arts, and everything else. In the Immortal Palace, I will only choose sword art manuals!"

Focus solely on the sword!

That was Ji Ning's decision.

…

Time flowed on.

Ji Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing all cultivated diligently on Mount Fangcun.

In fact, the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing were even more excited than Ji Ning!

"What can we do? The third-level puppet easily defeated us," Little Qing said helplessly.

"As it stands, we're not even sure we can defeat a second-level puppet," the Whitewater Hound added helplessly.

The disciples of Mount Fangcun included many peerless prodigies from the Three Realms.

Or they were spirit beasts of celestial immortals who had cultivated for a long time. In comparison, the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing had cultivated for a much shorter period.

"No choice. Let's do odd jobs," said the Whitewater Hound.

"Only odd jobs left," Little Qing nodded.

So they both took on 'odd jobs', spending nearly a month personally and painstakingly pulling up weeds over a hundred li, only then could they choose methods from the third floor of the Immortal Palace.

The methods of the third floor of the Immortal Palace would be considered treasures of the Black-White College!

"Haha, I can't believe I got such a method," Little Qing said, holding a copy of the Qiankun Sword Canon, trembling with excitement. "Now I can truly begin to comprehend the Grand Dao of Qiankun."

"A celestial immortal's random notes on formations?" The Whitewater Hound also held a formation manual, utterly thrilled.

Uncle White and Little Qing were both highly talented.

Uncle White was a 'Whitewater Hound', a divine beast. Though ordinary in other aspects, he had one exceptional trait: innate intelligence!

Little Qing was even more astonishingly talented in the 'Grand Dao of Qiankun'. As a congenital spirit, she could already perform void teleportation (spatial translocation). Although at that time she had not fully comprehended the mysteries of spatial translocation, as a divine beast it was her innate ability; she only needed to sense a trace of it to execute it. Without full comprehension, just a touch was enough!

But they had never encountered a truly good teacher. Ji Ning had the guidance of the 'Starry Hall of the Water Mansion' and the advice of Immortal Diancai, but Uncle White and Little Qing had been teaching themselves!

Coming to Mount Fangcun changed everything.

They could now interact with the humans, demons, and gods, especially the Void-level gods who had lived for eons and whose knowledge rivaled that of Immortal Diancai. Out of respect for Ji Ning, these disciples often gave guidance to Little Qing and the Whitewater Hound.

Occasionally, they even received pointers from 'Old Demon Silvermoon', 'White-Robed Jiang Jun', and others!

Most importantly…

Patriarch Bodhi gave lectures on the Dao!

Patriarch Bodhi rarely lectured; sometimes ten thousand years would pass without a single lecture. But since taking Ji Ning as his disciple, the frequency of his lectures increased dramatically, to about once every month. This was Patriarch Bodhi's habit: only when he accepted a disciple did he lecture regularly. Without a disciple, he lectured only when the mood struck him.

After all, only personal disciples received the Patriarch's attention.

As for other disciples, they generally did not even have the chance to speak with the Patriarch.

Thus, all the disciples of Mount Fangcun were thrilled, and even the few true immortals and celestial gods on the mountain occasionally came to listen.

"Truly a Dao Ancestor," the Whitewater Hound said, deeply moved. "Listening to the Dao Ancestor's lecture once is far better than a hundred years of secluded cultivation. Many doubts in my mind have been resolved, and I have also mastered a Dao!"

"The Dao Ancestor must have fully mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun. A casual remark from him and I understand so much. Now, even in a sealed space, I can still teleport," Little Qing said excitedly.

…

Years passed.

After half a year of odd jobs, they obtained the methods of the fourth floor of the Immortal Palace.

Odd jobs were merely physical labor; they only needed to devote a little attention to them, and they could continue cultivating and comprehending the Dao while doing the work!

Then, after three more years of odd jobs, they obtained the methods of the fifth floor of the Immortal Palace.

After another twenty years of odd jobs, they finally obtained the methods of the sixth floor of the Immortal Palace!

The methods of the sixth floor were considered top-tier even in the Grand Xia Dynasty! Almost all were written by celestial immortals, and some by Pure Yang true immortals.

In the twenty-sixth year on Mount Fangcun.

"Haha, I'm invincible, invincible!" In the pouring rain, Little Qing ran excitedly around Ji Ning's immortal mansion, flickering in and out of sight as she performed spatial translocation with incredible speed.

"Little Qing, Little Qing."

Ji Ning stood at the entrance of the immortal mansion. He stood there like a heavenly sword, inspiring an involuntary urge to submit.

"How are you invincible? And running around in this heavy rain," Ji Ning said with a smile.

"Little Qing," the Whitewater Hound also spoke in human tongue. "What's gotten into you? Why so excited?"

"Haha…" With a laugh, Little Qing appeared before Ji Ning in a flash.

"Master, master," Little Qing's eyes were full of excitement. "I can perform Greater Teleportation! I can finally perform Greater Teleportation!"

"What? Greater Teleportation?" Ji Ning showed surprise.

When he had killed Shaoyin Nong, he had obtained a Greater Teleportation talisman. Among the life-saving items he had acquired in the 'Water Mansion', there was also a Greater Teleportation talisman. Ordinary void teleportation and spatial translocation were 'Lesser Teleportation', which only moved within a single realm, differing only in distance.

As one's comprehension of space deepened, the teleportation distance increased, and even spatial seals became hard to suppress.

But when the 'Grand Dao of Qiankun' was fully comprehended and one mastered this Grand Dao, one could perform 'Greater Teleportation'. This Greater Teleportation could move directly from one world to another.

For example, if one were in the underworld, a single Greater Teleportation could bring one back to the Grand Xia world, to Serpentwing Lake!

Even when trapped in the Wujiang Immortal Mansion, Shaoyin Nong had been supremely confident, because he knew that no matter how dangerous, he could use the Greater Teleportation talisman to escape back to his tribe's lair in the Grand Xia world. Unfortunately, he had not taken Ji Ning seriously and did not think Ji Ning posed a threat. By the time Ji Ning released the black ring, it was too late for Shaoyin Nong to flee!

"I've reached the 'Domain Realm of the Grand Dao' for the Grand Dao of Qiankun!" Little Qing said excitedly. "I can already perform Greater Teleportation. Haha… now I'm invincible! Who can kill me? Who can kill me? Haha, even the most powerful formation, I can escape from."

Ji Ning and the Whitewater Hound both laughed.

The Azure Skysnake had astonishing talent in the Dao of Space. Upon reaching the 'Domain Realm of the Grand Dao', where one could merge with the Grand Dao, one could perform 'Greater Teleportation'. This was something one could not be jealous of.

"Master, when you instruct me in swordplay, my connection to the 'Grand Dao of Qiankun' grows stronger, and my sword arts will improve too," Little Qing quickly said. Because she wanted Ji Ning's guidance, she had simply learned sword arts, integrating the Dao of Qiankun entirely into her swordplay.

"Good," Ji Ning nodded.

Little Qing was improving, but his own progress was even more astonishing.

After all, from the time Ji Ning entered the Zifu stage in the Grand Xia world to his arrival on Mount Fangcun, only about twenty years had passed!

On Mount Fangcun, he had the guidance of his master 'Patriarch Bodhi', often meditated in the Starry Hall of the Water Mansion, repeatedly sparred with the puppets to explore the mysteries of swordplay, and had countless sword arts to study. How could his progress be slow?

…

Each time he defeated a puppet, he could choose a method. For example, when sparring with the fourth-level puppet, the first time the puppet used crude swordplay, but the second, third, and fourth times, the puppet's combat style changed. It started with varied swordplay, then later used sabers, longspears, staffs, and even flying swords, magic treasures, and formation assistance, making the fourth-level puppet increasingly difficult to defeat.

But Ji Ning's strength also improved rapidly!

He thoroughly studied over a hundred sword arts from the fourth floor of the Immortal Palace, all comparable to the Three-Foot Sword.

Later, Ji Ning defeated the fifth-level puppet, then defeated it over thirty times in a row, studying over thirty sword art manuals!

Later, he defeated the sixth-level puppet multiple times, obtaining over twenty sword art manuals from the sixth floor.

Then he defeated the seventh-level puppet multiple times, obtaining eighteen sword art manuals.

Although he studied many sword art manuals, many written by celestial gods and true immortals, and some by Dao Ancestors as casual notes, Ji Ning still took the Three-Foot Sword, on which he had spent the most effort, as his core. He then absorbed the essence of other sword arts into the Three-Foot Sword, constantly refining and changing it, making it increasingly different from the original sword art of Beishan Immortal, until it became a more powerful sword art unique to Ji Ning.

…

In this cultivation, thirty years passed in the blink of an eye on Mount Fangcun.

…