Chapter 12: The Choice in the Three Realms Palace

"The Eight-Nine Arcane Art is the number one divine power in the Three Realms below the True God level." This sentence on the bamboo slip immediately captivated Ji Ning.

Number one in the Three Realms?

Ji Ning had never heard anyone dare claim to be number one in the Three Realms before. Even the Starhand and Houyi's Archery did not make such a claim. Yet the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art' dared to call itself the number one divine power in the Three Realms below the True God level!

"The Eight-Nine Arcane Art, also known as the Nine Cycles Arcane Art or the Seventy-Two Transformations. This divine power involves cultivating the divine demon body to achieve perfect control. Once the basics are mastered, one can transform into all things. Hence, this divine power is also called the Seventy-Two Transformations."

Ji Ning understood.

The Seventy-Two Transformations did not mean exactly seventy-two transformations. It referred to the number 'eight-nine'! It was a figurative number!

"This divine power can make the divine body like a magic treasure, even reaching the state of 'diamond indestructibility'. When cultivated to the extreme, even if one stands still while pure yang magic treasures or even innate spirit treasures hack at them, at most a few sparks will fly, leaving the body unharmed!"

Ji Ning's eyes grew hot as he read.

Pure yang magic treasures and innate spirit treasures hacking at him would only produce sparks?

That was too outrageous!

"This divine power places a great burden on the body, so only those with a divine demon body can cultivate it. Moreover, one must have reached the Primordial Soul level in divine demon body refinement before beginning the first cycle."

"At the Primordial Soul divine demon level, one can cultivate the first, second, and third cycles."

"At the Void Return divine demon level, one can cultivate the fourth, fifth, and sixth cycles."

"At the Celestial Immortal level, one can cultivate the seventh, eighth, and ninth cycles."

"Once the third cycle is mastered, the body becomes comparable to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure! Even ordinary Celestial Immortals will find it hard to harm you."

"Once the sixth cycle is mastered, the body becomes comparable to a pure yang magic treasure! With this, one can establish a reputation in the Three Realms!"

"Once the ninth cycle is mastered, the body becomes like the ultimate pure yang magic treasure, comparable to a middle-grade innate spirit treasure! Truly worthy of being called diamond indestructible. One can roam freely across the Three Realms, and only great powers can injure you. Even they would need special means to break this diamond-indestructible body."

Ji Ning was amazed by the description.

Impressive, impressive.

Man-made magic treasures have five levels: Mortal, Earth, Heaven, Immortal, and Pure Yang! Among these, pure yang magic treasures are the limit of what can be forged. Above pure yang magic treasures are innate spirit treasures!

Innate spirit treasures are born from heaven and earth.

However, this does not mean that every innate spirit treasure is stronger than a pure yang magic treasure. After all, some man-made pure yang magic treasures are outrageously powerful! Some are even forged by melting several innate spirit treasures for materials, such as the 'Starhand Mansion', which melted several innate spirit treasures!

Thus, innate spirit treasures are also divided into levels.

They are classified as low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, and top-grade.

The ultimate pure yang magic treasure is generally comparable to a middle-grade innate spirit treasure!

"This is a magic treasure," Ji Ning marveled.

Cultivating the body to be like an innate spirit treasure! No wonder it was called 'diamond indestructible'. Even the great powers of the Three Realms would need special means to break this divine power.

"Whoosh!"

Ji Ning continued flipping through.

"This divine power was jointly created by the leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects, aiming to elevate the divine body to the level of the great god Pangu."

"According to the expectations of the many leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects, this arcane art should have twelve cycles."

"The first three cycles correspond to the Primordial Soul divine demon level, the fourth to sixth cycles to the Void Return divine demon level, the seventh to ninth cycles to the Celestial Immortal level, and the tenth to twelfth cycles to the True God level. A True God in the Three Realms, using this divine power, would have a divine body comparable to Pangu's level. Unfortunately, though the vision was beautiful, after expending boundless effort and time, they could only create up to the ninth cycle, unable to go further."

"Thus, this divine power only has nine cycles!"

Ji Ning was in awe as he read.

So the Eight-Nine Arcane Art had such an origin, jointly created by the leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects!

"Pangu... the Pangu who created heaven and earth?" Ji Ning marveled. "To have the divine body reach Pangu's level through this divine power is too crazy. Even the most supreme existences in the Three Realms could only create these nine cycles. Indeed, it deserves to be called the number one divine power in the Three Realms below the True God level." Ji Ning nodded to himself.

The number one divine power in the Three Realms below the True God level! Well-deserved!

...

After reading, Ji Ning found that the Eight-Nine Arcane Art was very similar to his Starhand.

The second cycle of Starhand was comparable to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure.

The third cycle was comparable to a pure yang magic treasure.

The fourth cycle was comparable to the ultimate pure yang, middle-grade innate.

The fifth cycle was comparable to the ultimate innate.

The sixth cycle allowed one to easily pluck stars with a single hand! One could truly destroy a world with one hand. For the great powers of the Three Realms, it was by creating the sixth cycle of his 'Starhand' that the San Shou Dao Ren gained such fame and was able to slay several demonic patriarch-level existences in that great catastrophe!

"My Starhand only cultivates a pair of hands, while the Eight-Nine Arcane Art cultivates every part of the body." Ji Ning understood the difference.

Because the Eight-Nine Arcane Art only reached the Celestial Immortal level, it could only be called 'number one in the Three Realms below the True God level'.

In contrast, Starhand, having a True God level, was ranked among the 'top ten divine powers in the Three Realms'.

...

After finishing the book 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art', Ji Ning set it aside and flipped through other books.

'Xingtian World-Destroying Axe'.

This was an axe technique created by the great power 'Xingtian' of the Three Realms, but it was also classified as a divine power because, like 'Houyi's Archery', it involved extensive use of divine power. Only by combining complex divine power manipulation with the axe technique could one truly unleash the world-destroying might of Xingtian!

This divine power was ranked among the top one hundred in the Three Realms.

...

'Vairocana Dharma Body'.

This was a dharma body divine power of the Buddha, the leader of the Buddhist sect. Its power was immense, and when cultivated to the True God stage, it was slightly stronger than the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art'. However, the Eight-Nine Arcane Art required a large number of treasures, and from ancient times to the present, very few had cultivated it to the ninth cycle. Although the 'Vairocana Dharma Body' was slightly inferior in power at the same level, it did not require many treasures; one only needed to cultivate diligently.

...

'Thunder God Eye'.

This divine power also caught Ji Ning's attention. He had previously cultivated the 'Thunder God's Eye', which was only the foundation of the 'Thunder God Eye'. Once the 'Thunder God Eye' was mastered, opening the divine eye allowed one to see ghosts, gods, and the underworld. Everything was exposed before this divine eye. Moreover, when cultivated to the extreme, one could unleash 'Purple Solar Divine Thunder', which even a diamond-indestructible body dared not be struck by!

Of course, like many top-tier divine powers, cultivating to the extreme to unleash Purple Solar Divine Thunder was extremely difficult.

...

'Buddha's Palm'.

This was also a true great divine power of the Buddhist sect, which could be cultivated to the True God level. If mastered, a great world would exist within the palm! A single palm strike carried the might of a great world. If an enemy fell into the palm, even if they flew and flew, they could not escape the palm.

Because the palm was as large as a great world!

Of course, compared to 'Starhand', it was slightly inferior. When Starhand was cultivated to the extreme, it could easily destroy a great world.

...

'Slay Heaven Sword Formation'

This was a true magic treasure sword formation technique.

The Small Thousand Sword Formation was considered a magic treasure sword formation, but compared to the Slay Heaven Sword Formation, it was far inferior. The Slay Heaven Sword Formation was extremely complex, requiring the forging of a Slay Heaven Sword Diagram along with a full set of eighty-one immortal swords... Its power was among the top in the Three Realms, but to create such a sword diagram, one needed the strength of a Dao Ancestor.

...

Ji Ning was dazzled by all this.

The divine powers included 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art', 'Houyi's Archery', 'Xingtian World-Destroying Axe', 'Vairocana Dharma Body', 'Thunder God Eye', 'Buddha's Palm', 'Candle Dragon Eye', and others, totaling nine.

Other secret arts, formations, etc., totaled ten.

"Eh? There are no books on pure sword techniques, knife techniques, archery, or axe techniques." Ji Ning noticed this. Techniques like Houyi's Archery were not pure archery; they also involved complex divine power manipulation, so Houyi's Archery was considered a divine power! Xingtian World-Destroying Axe was also a divine power.

If the divine power manipulation were stripped away, Houyi's Archery and Xingtian World-Destroying Axe would probably only be placed on the ninth floor of the Immortal Palace.

...

Jidian watched from the side with a smile. He could see that Ji Ning was completely captivated by these techniques.

Ji Ning wanted all five: Buddha's Palm, Thunder God Eye, Eight-Nine Arcane Art, Houyi's Archery, and Candle Dragon Eye! A palm containing a great world, a great world truly belonging to oneself—how could Ji Ning not want it?

As for Thunder God Eye, he already had the foundation of Thunder God's Eye.

The Eight-Nine Arcane Art was a must-choose! After all, the path of cultivation was difficult. Reaching the Celestial Immortal level already made one comparable to many existences like Lü Dongbin, considered a strong figure in the Three Realms. To advance further to become a True God, reaching the level of great powers like San Shou Dao Ren, was extremely difficult.

Thus, the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Art', number one in the Three Realms below the True God level, was a must-choose.

"Junior apprentice-brother." Jidian spoke.

"Second senior apprentice-brother." Ji Ning turned to look.

"Do you know that the techniques in the Three Realms Palace are not available in unlimited quantities? Each disciple only chooses a few." Jidian said.

"I know." Ji Ning nodded. "Senior apprentice-brothers Yinyue and Jiang Jun both told me."

In the Three Realms Palace, one usually learned two or three divine powers or secret arts before Patriarch Bodhi forbade further learning!

"Yes, too many leads to lack of mastery!" Jidian nodded. "Any one of these divine powers, if cultivated to the extreme, can allow one to roam the Three Realms. Even the seemingly inconspicuous 'Thunder God Eye', when cultivated to the extreme, can control Purple Solar Divine Thunder. So if you try to learn too many, you won't master any to the extreme, and you'll just be mediocre. But if you specialize in one and cultivate it to the extreme, you can roam the Three Realms."

Ji Ning nodded. He understood this principle.

Ji Ning thought carefully.

"In the Three Realms Palace, I will choose this first." Ji Ning picked up a bamboo slip, which was the Eight-Nine Arcane Art!

Number one in the Three Realms below the True God level—Ji Ning had to choose it!

Jidian smiled and nodded: "Good, take a look at the trial."

"Yes." Ji Ning immediately opened the first page of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art bamboo slip and carefully read the trial content. As he read, Ji Ning frowned. This was far more difficult than learning the Candle Dragon Eye. The Candle Dragon Eye trial only involved sweeping the mountain path.

...