Chapter 24: Where to Find Immortal Treasures?

"Junior apprentice-brother!" Five Madness Immortal also looked at Palace Talent Immortal with excitement.

They both held their breath, watching everything before them.

Palace Talent Immortal opened his eyes and sat cross-legged. Suddenly, patches of seven-colored auspicious clouds appeared in the sky, descending from on high to surround him. On the ground, golden lotuses bloomed, and beneath him seemed to be a giant golden lotus. Faint celestial music, not true melodies but the sounds of heaven and earth, filled the air, carrying infinite mystery to those who heard it.

At the same time, a terrifying pressure descended, enveloping Palace Talent Immortal.

"What dreadful pressure!" Even Ji Ning in his black Daoist robe, merely caught in the periphery, felt his heart tremble.

"Whoosh—"

Surges of the power of heaven and earth converged around Palace Talent Immortal. His body now bore the 'immortal aura' unique to Celestial Immortals, and his power underwent a fundamental transformation.

From the Zifu stage to the Loose Immortal and Earth Immortal stages, one only had 'yuan force.'

But upon becoming a Celestial Immortal, the soul, yuan force, and everything else merged into one. A single lotus seed grew from the lotus pod of the golden lotus soul, absorbing all essence, including the soul itself, and coalesced into a round, golden 'golden core.'

This power could be called dharma power, immortal power, or many other names.

"The golden core path, the golden core path. Once a golden core is swallowed into the belly, one knows that one's fate is in one's own hands, not heaven's," Palace Talent Immortal said softly with a smile. "All is unified, perfect and flawless. From now on, free from the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, truly a carefree immortal who has leaped beyond the Three Realms and is no longer bound by the Five Elements."

"Congratulations, Master!" Ji Ning in his black Daoist robe approached.

"Haha, junior apprentice-brother, you truly lived up to expectations!" Five Madness Immortal was the most excited. "After endless years, our Black-White College finally has a second disciple who became a Celestial Immortal! A Celestial Immortal, a true immortal with endless years, and one who passed the Six-Nine Tribulation! Haha, even if this old madman dies right now, I have no regrets."

There were also differences among Celestial Immortals.

Those who passed lesser tribulations, like the Two-Nine or Three-Nine Tribulations, were generally not very powerful.

Some extraordinary Fiendgod experts who endured the Nine-Nine Tribulation and became True Gods were comparable to Pure Yang True Immortals.

"Hmm, what's happening around here?" Palace Talent Immortal was startled. "That black boat inside the formation?"

"Congratulations, Celestial Immortal Palace Talent!" A figure appeared at the bow of the black boat—it was Blood God Cult Leader 'Blood God.' He laughed heartily. "Witnessing the birth of a Celestial Immortal is rare. But you should thank your good disciple. He killed my seven Dharma Kings and trapped me here. If I hadn't wanted to see whether you could become a Celestial Immortal, I would have left long ago. Well, I'm done playing with you."

Blood God put away the boat, and then—hummm—

A ripple appeared, and Blood God vanished into thin air.

He had been holding a Dao talisman while speaking.

"It's worth it to make him waste a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman," Five Madness Immortal said with a nod and a smile.

"He said he killed seven Dharma Kings. What's that about?" Palace Talent Immortal frowned. "And Ji Ning, this is your second true body, right? Where is your true body?"

Having spent much time with Ji Ning, Palace Talent Immortal knew that Ji Ning usually wore animal skins, while his second true body wore black robes.

Ji Ning smiled. "Just some minor matters."

"Let me tell you," Five Madness Immortal exclaimed excitedly. "Junior apprentice-brother, you don't know this. During your heart demon tribulation, just as you expected, someone attacked you. First, Blood God Cult Leader 'Blood God' personally led the seven Dharma Kings. Your precious disciple displayed great power..."

In high spirits, Five Madness Immortal chattered on, but he conveyed the general facts clearly.

Palace Talent Immortal looked at Ji Ning with a hint of guilt. "Disciple, you've worked hard."

"It's nothing. My true body is fine too. Besides, the second wave of stronger assassins was targeting me, not you, Master," Ji Ning said.

Palace Talent Immortal shook his head. "Precisely because I was undergoing the tribulation, you had to divide your attention to protect me. That's why they chose this opportunity to assassinate you. If you hadn't needed to worry about me, you probably wouldn't have had to fight at all and could have fled long ago."

"Alright, alright, why distinguish between master and disciple?" Five Madness Immortal laughed heartily. "Our Black-White College now has a Celestial Immortal—this is a momentous joy! Let's go, let's return to the Black-White College and let the other fellow disciples share in the happiness. Becoming a Celestial Immortal is the dream of so many cultivators."

"Should we make Master's ascension public?" Ji Ning asked.

Five Madness Immortal smiled. "Of course we need to keep it secret, but since even Blood God Cult Leader knows, it will spread quickly. So the Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals of our Black-White College should know. And we should also notify Tuoshan Celestial Immortal of the Anchi Northshan clan."

"Tuoshan Celestial Immortal?" Ji Ning was puzzled.

"There's a purpose in telling him. Our Black-White College is built right in Anchi City because we share weal and woe with the Anchi Northshan clan," Five Madness Immortal said. "How could we freely recruit all the geniuses in the entire Anchi Commandery without the Anchi Northshan clan's permission?"

Ji Ning understood.

"Now that junior apprentice-brother has become a Celestial Immortal, the Anchi Northshan clan will surely grow closer to our Black-White College," Five Madness Immortal continued with a smile. "Of course, we serve them, and now that junior apprentice-brother is a Celestial Immortal, they must prepare a generous gift. Junior apprentice-brother is in need of powerful flying swords. Where to find immortal treasures? Right in the Anchi Northshan clan."

Ji Ning nodded. Compared to these ancient clans, he was still lacking in treasures. His second true body needed the Plow Heaven Sword Formation, and his true body needed six flying swords, but he couldn't even gather six yet. To help his master, he would need to produce five powerful flying swords, since his master already had five, though they were mediocre.

Clans like the Anchi Northshan, which had been marquises for generations, had produced several Celestial Immortals from the age of Fiendgods to the present, so their treasury was naturally rich. Even the 'Shaoyin clan' could produce twenty top-grade immortal artifacts. Though the Anchi Northshan clan was relatively weaker, its foundation was still deep.

"Let's go. Back to Anchi City," Five Madness Immortal urged.

"Let's go."

This time, Ji Ning and the others didn't cautiously squeeze through the spatial passage. Instead, they directly tore open space to return to the Grand Xia world, then used spatial teleportation to head to Anchi City.

...

Within the layered formations of the Eastwood Mountains, on a mountaintop.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged.

"Master has become a Celestial Immortal," Ji Ning thought, his face full of joy, feeling as if a weight had lifted. "I want to prepare a generous gift for Master too, but the immortal artifacts I got from killing the seven Dharma Kings are all mediocre."

The seven Dharma Kings were ordinary among Loose Immortals, only recently elevated to the level of 'five-hundred-thousand-year Loose Immortals' through secret arts in the past twenty or thirty years. Though their strength had increased, their treasures hadn't improved much.

"I should go back too."

Ji Ning had stayed as a decoy to avoid affecting his master's tribulation. Now that the tribulation was over, he could return.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning stood up and looked around.

"What is this place? Where in the Grand Xia dynasty? How can such a powerful force be hidden here?" Ji Ning pondered. The twelve white-robed men who had surrounded him, the terrifying killing formation 'Nine Heavens Divine Poison Fire Furnace,' and the mysterious black mist cave—

All of this indicated that this place was unusual!

"I need to investigate. After suffering this loss, I have to find out who made me suffer."

"Besides, the Grand Xia world is in chaos now. This hidden force is probably one of the factions. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be defeated." Ji Ning thought to himself. Investigating this place might be dangerous for others, but with the 'Seventy-Two Transformations' of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, he could infiltrate and scout without even True Immortals or True Gods discovering his true identity—unless they had special divine abilities to break the 'Seventy-Two Transformations,' which were extremely rare.

"Let's go!"

Holding a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman, he activated it.

Swoosh!

Ji Ning vanished into thin air.

...

"General," the Eastwood Sect Leader quickly reported. "Ji Ning has left using a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman."

"Let him go," the silver-armored youth said, unconcerned.

...

A million miles away from the Eastwood Mountains, Ji Ning appeared in midair.

With the Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman, he could have gone directly back to Swallow Mountain or Anchi City, but he needed to find out where he had been trapped. So he only teleported a million miles. He didn't believe that stronghold spanned a million miles.

"Swoosh."

Ji Ning flew directly above an ordinary city and swept it with his divine sense, immediately locating the strongest person—a Zifu cultivator.

"Whoosh." Ji Ning teleported directly into a study.

An old man was reading a book in the study.

"Who are you?" The old man looked up, startled.

"I have some questions for you." As Ji Ning spoke, the old man's eyes grew dazed.

"Which commandery is this?" Ji Ning asked.

"This is Fire Fan Commandery," the old man said.

Ji Ning was taken aback. Fire Fan Commandery wasn't far from Anchi Commandery—only two commanderies lay between them.

"What is the name of this city?" Ji Ning asked.

"Yanliu City," the old man said.

Ji Ning frowned. The Grand Xia had countless cities, and their names changed frequently. Whenever a tribe conquered a city, they would rename it. For example, when the Ji clan first occupied a city, they named it 'Ten Thousand Swords City.' Because city names changed so often, maps generally didn't list them.

"What mountains and rivers are nearby? Large ones," Ji Ning asked.

"Over a hundred thousand miles east of the city, there's a mountain range stretching tens of thousands of miles called the Wine Goose Mountains," the old man said.

Ji Ning's eyes lit up.

Wine Goose Mountains?

Ji Ning had memorized the entire map of the Grand Xia dynasty. He quickly pinpointed the location in his mind. With that fixed, he calculated what lay a million miles away: "The Eastwood Mountains, the Eastwood Sect! So that's where it's hidden!"

...