Chapter 10: Crossing the Heavenly Tribulation

"Your master decided it himself," said the Mad Immortal Wu Feng.

Ji Ning immediately understood. The heavenly tribulation was the most important trial for a cultivator on the immortal path, and one generally had a faint premonition of the most suitable time to undergo it. Since his master had decided to undergo the tribulation in nine days, it meant that the chance of success was greatest at that time.

Even so, the chance was still slim. After all, how many returned-to-vacuity Earth Immortals were there in the Grand Xia world? How many had become Celestial Immortals in a million years? Even with the imminent tribulation of the Three Realms, only a handful of Earth Immortals in the Grand Xia world had successfully crossed the tribulation in the past twenty or thirty years. Spread across the three thousand six hundred commanderies and the four seas, the odds were still minuscule.

"Few know that your master will undergo the tribulation in nine days. You must not spread this news," instructed the Mad Immortal Wu Feng.

"I understand." Ji Ning looked at Ji Liuzhen beside him.

Ji Liuzhen nodded. "Rest assured, I will not speak of it. Well, you two talk alone." Aware of the gravity of the tribulation, he withdrew.

Only Ji Ning, the Mad Immortal Wu Feng, and the Whitewater Hound remained in the hall.

"Your master is about to undergo the tribulation. Success is one in ten thousand, extremely difficult. So he must not be disturbed," said the Mad Immortal Wu Feng solemnly. "Thus, he needs protectors during the tribulation."

"Protectors?" Ji Ning nodded. "I will naturally protect my master."

"Your master and I have discussed it. This time, only you and I will protect him," said the Mad Immortal Wu Feng.

"Two people?" Ji Ning was surprised.

"The Daoist scriptures you brought to the Black-White College allowed your master to gain new insights and improve his strength," said the Mad Immortal Wu Feng. "I too have benefited, and my strength is now at the level of a six hundred thousand to seven hundred thousand year old loose immortal. The other loose immortals of the Black-White College are relatively weaker."

Ji Ning nodded.

"And you, back when your second soul reached 'soul perfection,' could already kill loose immortals. Given your cultivation speed, your second soul is probably at the late returned-to-vacuity stage now. After more than thirty years, you might be no weaker than me," said the Mad Immortal Wu Feng with a smile. "There's no need to be modest now. The stronger you are, the more confident your master will be when crossing the tribulation."

Ji Ning nodded. "I should be... no weaker than the Immortal Beixing of old!"

The Mad Immortal Wu Feng was taken aback. The immortal path grew harder the further one went. Celestial Immortals were exceedingly rare, and Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals were even rarer in the Three Realms. Every commandery had loose immortals of five hundred thousand years, but those of a million years were rare in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty. As for those of several million years, like the Immortal Juhua, there was hardly one in the whole dynasty!

"You?" The Mad Immortal Wu Feng could hardly believe it.

"Ning'er has already fully comprehended all nine stances of the 'Three-Foot Sword' and even revised and perfected them," spoke the Whitewater Hound from the side.

"Excellent!" The Mad Immortal Wu Feng was overjoyed. "Wonderful, wonderful, truly wonderful! Ji Ning, in terms of swordsmanship alone, you are likely the strongest in the history of the Black-White College!"

The Mad Immortal Wu Feng marveled.

The Ji Ning before him...

It was as if a sword were etched into his very bones! The sword advanced boldly, sharp and unmatched. Ji Ning, like a sword, had cut through all obstacles, winning first place in the 'Immortal Gathering' at the youngest age. Over thirty years later, he had even revised and perfected the 'Three-Foot Sword' of the Immortal Beixing into his own art!

What talent!

In another few decades or a century, what would he become?

"The sword is the body."

"The sword is life."

"The sword is the path." The Mad Immortal Wu Feng nodded, looking at Ji Ning. "When past sword immortals entered the gate of the sword, they all understood this with a 'clear sword heart.' But knowing is easy, doing is hard. Few truly achieve it. Amid the myriad distractions of the mortal world, countless sword immortals have long since fallen. But in you, I sense a soaring sword intent and an incredible sword heart. You are a born sword immortal."

Indeed, even Lü Dongbin and others had long deemed Ji Ning a natural, peerless sword immortal胚子.

The reason for this...

Lay in his past life and his parents in this life.

His father gave him a sword.

His mother gave him a heart.

...

After chatting for a while, Ji Ning said, "Is my master in a hurry? If not, I'll stay at Serpentwing Lake for another day and head to the Black-White College tomorrow to join you."

"We'll leave the Black-White College in three days for the tribulation site," said the Mad Immortal Wu Feng. "One day is fine. Prepare here at Serpentwing Lake for now."

"The tribulation site—where is it?" Ji Ning couldn't help asking.

"The tribulation site is a secret," said the Mad Immortal Wu Feng. "If it gets out, enemies will go there to disrupt your master's tribulation. So for now, only your master knows the site—not even I do. We'll find out when we get there."

Ji Ning smiled. "That's good. With only my master knowing, there's no worry of a leak."

"Alright, make your arrangements. I'll take my leave now." The Mad Immortal Wu Feng departed.

In the hall.

Soon, Ji Ning summoned Little Qing. The hall held Ji Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing.

"My master is about to undergo the tribulation. This matter is too important to be careless," said Ji Ning gravely. "So Uncle White and I will leave... and Mount Yan will be in your hands, Little Qing."

The formations of Yanshan were too numerous and too complex.

Even those second-rate formations required the strength of a Primordial Daoist to fully control. Unfortunately, aside from Ji Ning, the strongest member of the Ji clan was only at the Wanxiang Adept level. As for the ultimate killing formations… merely activating them required the power of a Return to Void Earth Immortal. Naturally, Ji Ning would not pass on the secrets of such formations to the monsters of the Immortal Estate.

"Actually, I really want to go too. Surviving the tribulation… I've never—" Xiaoqing stopped mid-sentence, silenced by a look from Ji Ning.

"Master, I know what's important." Xiaoqing quickly forced a smile.

"Uncle Bai, Xiaoqing, you should take today to advance to the late Return to Void stage," Ji Ning said. "These two jade bottles each contain five million jin of liquefied elemental essence."

He himself cultivated the 'Northriver Sutra', which pointed directly to Da Luo. Back then, his second true body had used only a bit over five million jin of liquefied elemental essence to go from 'perfect Primordial' to late Return to Void. Uncle Bai and Xiaoqing were already at the early Return to Void stage; five million jin would be enough for them to reach the late stage.

"Remember, don't cultivate to the perfect Return to Void stage," Ji Ning instructed.

"Don't worry, we're not ready for the tribulation yet."

…

While Uncle Bai and Xiaoqing went to cultivate, Ji Ning's true body also entered a quiet room in the Water Mansion. For his master's upcoming tribulation, Ji Ning intended to raise his own strength to the maximum. Fortunately, he had obtained thirty million jin of liquefied elemental essence from the headquarters of Tianbao Mountain, and although he had bought some treasures, he still had over twenty million jin left!

A handsome youth dressed in animal skins sat cross-legged on a bed of Netherwater Jade.

Before him was a small jade bottle.

"Begin."

The jade bottle released a torrent of liquefied elemental essence, which surged forth and even formed a lake in the quiet room. Around Ji Ning, a dark vortex appeared, and any liquefied elemental essence that approached it vanished into nothingness, all entering Ji Ning's 'Zifu Space'.

In the Zifu Space.

The golden lotus absorbed a great deal of essence, rapidly swaying and growing in the blazing elemental fire. The lotus grew taller and taller; its leaves and stem thickened swiftly, and the elemental power within it became purer and purer, so pure it made one's heart tremble. At the same time, the lovely little lotus seedpod at the top gradually enlarged, and in the center of the seedpod was a single green, unripe lotus seed.

"Late Return to Void!" Everything came to a halt.

The enormous golden lotus swayed in the elemental fire that was like a landmass on the back of a turtle-snake. By now, this golden lotus was the most dazzling existence in the entire Zifu Space.

The 'Golden Lotus Primordial Spirit' at the late Return to Void stage was already extremely powerful, only one step away from full maturity.

…

The next day.

Ji Ning, Uncle Bai, and Xiaoqing, all of whom had advanced to the late Return to Void stage, had a meal together. Then, leaving Xiaoqing to guard Serpentwing Lake,

Ji Ning took Whitesnake with him and headed for the Black-White College in Anchan City.

…

In the immortal estate of Immortal Diancai, Black-White College.

"Ji Ning, you're here." The black-haired, black-robed Immortal Diancai sat cross-legged on a jade bed, his expression calm and indifferent. "Sit."

Beside him, on a cattail mat, sat Immortal Wufeng.

Ji Ning nodded and also sat down on a cattail mat, with Whitesnake lying behind him.

"I heard from Senior Apprentice-Brother Wufeng that you've mastered all nine stances of the 'Three-Foot Sword' and even revised and perfected them?" Immortal Diancai said with a smile.

"Yes." Ji Ning nodded.

Immortal Diancai smiled. "Good. With such swordsmanship, even if I fail this tribulation, I will have no regrets."

"Master, why say such things?" Ji Ning said urgently.

"Just talking. It seems your heart is not as calm as mine." Immortal Diancai said.

Ji Ning was silent.

He was nervous, after all, far too few succeeded in the tribulation. What if his master failed…

Seeing this, Immortal Diancai smiled. He knew Ji Ning's temperament well. Ji Ning was a man of deep emotion, who valued relationships greatly. For the sake of those he cared about, he might even risk his life. It was precisely because of this nature, revealed through long contact, that Immortal Diancai grew fonder of this disciple and truly opened his heart to him.

"Is this Whitesnake going too?" Immortal Diancai asked.

Ji Ning nodded. "Master, don't underestimate Uncle Bai. He has great talent in formations, and when I went to study under a master, Uncle Bai also learned profound formations. He can be called a formation grandmaster. I dare not say how he compares across the entire Grand Xia world, but within Anchan Commandery, Uncle Bai's formations are probably among the best."

"Oh?" Immortal Diancai and Immortal Wufeng both showed delight.

To be called a formation grandmaster was no small matter.

Ji Ning smiled confidently. In terms of pure formation mastery, Uncle Bai was a formation grandmaster. But Uncle Bai also knew some extremely powerful and rare great formations, so even other formation grandmasters… would probably lose if they dueled with him in formations. For example, the ultimate killing formation of Yanshan—very few in the entire Grand Xia Dynasty could set it up.

Of course, there were definitely those in the Grand Xia Dynasty who surpassed Uncle Bai in formations, such as the formation at the imperial palace of the Grand Xia capital—that was a formation only a major power could set up! It was several levels higher than the Yanshan formation.

…