Chapter 5: Mastery

The most terrifying tribulation of the descent of karmic fire is this thousand-life heart tribulation, an experience akin to being reincarnated a thousand times. If one's Dao-heart is even slightly lacking, they would likely become lost directly... After all, for cultivators, living life after life, even memories of the past begin to blur, and the convergence of personalities from each life causes the original personality to become chaotic.

The mere experience of a thousand lives is enough to cause many loose immortals to sink into confusion, after which the karmic fire burns their divine souls to death.

Moreover, this thousand-life heart tribulation is not simply possessing and reincarnating a thousand times... Like Ji Ning, the thousand beings he possessed each resonated with him, each causing him to feel self-blame and regret. If it were random reincarnation, such as possessing 'evil' people, it would hardly shake Ji Ning's Iceheart Realm.

But it was the experiences of those people who overlapped with Ji Ning's own heart that gradually penetrated his original mind.

When everything converged!

The surging emotions of a thousand lives erupted in an instant, reaching an inconceivable level. This was the final strike of the thousand-life heart tribulation, and also the most terrifying! Countless extraordinary figures had fallen at this step.

"Boom~~~" The Iceheart Realm was completely submerged; Ji Ning could no longer maintain the Iceheart state.

"You deserve to die."

"It's all you."

"Die, die."

"Go die."

"I want you dead."

"Avenge Afu."

The figures of those he had possessed for a thousand lives appeared before him, roaring with ferocious expressions.

"It's all my fault, all me, all me. If I hadn't shattered that Universe Pearl back then, they could all have lived. They had children, wives, parents, masters, and brothers. If not for me, they could have lived well, happily." Ji Ning was completely overwhelmed by the endless emotional impact, falling into a demonic barrier.

"Death is liberation. I have failed them, I have no face to face them. Only death remains..."

...

In the Realm of Annihilation, amidst the endless dark void tides, Ji Ning drifted with the tides, tossed about by the void waves.

He lay with closed eyes, floating in the void.

If Uncle Bai, Xiao Qing, and the others were there, they would immediately notice that Ji Ning's aura was rapidly weakening at an astonishing speed. At this moment, the thousand-life heart tribulation was truly erupting in its final burst!

...

"Seven days are almost up."

"Soon it will be seven full days. Master must live, must live."

"Senior apprentice-brother."

In the Yan Mountains, the Whitewater Marsh, Xiao Qing, and Mu Zishuo silently prayed. The Whitewater Marsh stopped drinking in gloom, Mu Zishuo stopped wallowing in self-pity, and Xiao Qing kept muttering under her breath.

They were waiting...

At this time seven days ago, the karmic fire had descended.

At this moment seven days later, Ji Ning was in his most dangerous time.

"You must live."

...

In the void tides of the Realm of Annihilation, Ji Ning's aura indeed rapidly declined. But when it weakened to an extremely faint level, with just a trace remaining, it could not weaken further. It was as if something below was firmly supporting his Dao-heart, preventing it from truly collapsing.

Within Ji Ning's mind.

A vast darkness.

When the thousand-life heart tribulation struck, Ji Ning's Dao-heart weakened to its extreme, sinking into utter darkness and absolute despair. Logically, Ji Ning should have fallen, but he did not.

"I seek great freedom and great ease!"

"I want to hold fate in my own hands, not be toyed with by fate!"

"I do not want all the people I love to leave me..."

When the Dao-heart reached its most minuscule state.

The deepest voice within began to sound—Ji Ning's most resolute voice, his most persistent cry.

On Earth in his past life, Ji Ning had already made such a cry.

In this life, seeing his mother and father leave one by one in the Yan Mountains, he had the same longing.

When he realized his own Sword Heart, Ji Ning's Sword Heart was precisely to achieve great freedom and great ease, to control fate!

This was the deepest voice of Ji Ning's heart.

"I..."

"I am Ji Ning."

"What I seek is great freedom and great ease. Fate should be controlled by me, not me controlled by fate." Ji Ning's Dao-heart began to rapidly coalesce and rise. The aura of the floating youth in the Realm of Annihilation also surged swiftly.

Ji Ning gradually regained clarity, reason slowly returning.

The conviction in his heart earlier was pure instinct, not reason.

As reason returned, Ji Ning's Dao-heart recovered faster, and at this moment, it was even more condensed: "Their deaths are partly my fault, but since they are dead, it is already in the past. Time cannot flow back, and past events cannot be changed. Punishing myself for things that cannot be changed is being toyed with by fate—foolish! The one who truly masters myself is only me!"

Whoosh.

The youth floating in the void tides of the Realm of Annihilation suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were bright as stars, profound and endless.

"I made it through. The karmic fire... I endured it." The youth murmured softly.

The karmic fire had become formless, invisible to the naked eye, only detectable through divine sense or heart sense. This formless karmic fire still surrounded Ji Ning, but the various heart tribulation illusions—the 'Soul Destruction Tribulation,' 'Mortal World Tribulation,' and 'Thousand-Life Heart Tribulation'—would not reappear. Yet the formless karmic fire continued to burn Ji Ning's divine soul, causing him pain. This pain could not compare to the 'Soul Destruction Tribulation,' which was pain in the heart that could escalate infinitely. The pain of burning the divine soul was inherently limited.

But burning the divine soul was far more painful than burning the physical body.

Though enduring the karmic fire could temper the heart, the suffering of the burning divine soul was also a punishment for sin.

"No wonder they say that those who can be缠身 with karmic fire and not die are true peerless great demons." Ji Ning mused. "If a great demon truly slaughters countless beings, inviting the descent of karmic fire, and can still survive the thousand-life heart tribulation, one can imagine how strong his heart has become."

"Having endured the karmic fire, I have reached the Iceheart Realm, and even nearly reached the Mastery Realm." Ji Ning secretly marveled.

The awakening at the final moment, breaking through the shackles to wake up.

It was because within his heart there was the strongest obsession... This obsession awakened Ji Ning, consolidated his Dao-heart, and made him understand that the one who masters himself must be himself. Even if he were to die, it would be because he himself chose to die. As for anything else wanting him dead? That was a dream.

But understanding was one thing; Ji Ning knew he had not yet reached the 'Mastery Realm.'

The heart power levels of the Houyi Archery Art: the first level is Entry, the second is Iceheart, and the third is Mastery!

Once one reaches the Mastery Realm,

The master of the heart is oneself!

No external force can shake it. If one truly reached the Mastery Realm, neither the Mortal World Tribulation nor the Thousand-Life Heart Tribulation could cause Ji Ning's aura to weaken in the slightest, because such external emotional impacts would be completely ignored by him.

If the 'Iceheart Realm' is about isolating the inner heart from the outside, maintaining the Iceheart state,

Then the 'Mastery Realm' is a kind of transcendence. Blocking is not as good as疏导. A strong practitioner who has reached the 'Mastery Realm' in heart power does not deliberately suppress emotions or desires, nor does he resist them in his deepest heart. He allows all emotional impacts to flow freely... Like Yu the Great controlling floods, allowing the sea and river waters to surge, yet everything remains under his control.

"Still a bit short."

"The final thousand-life heart tribulation made my Iceheart Realm even more perfect, approaching completion. I am very close to the Mastery Realm." Ji Ning also understood that although he knew this, and even faintly experienced a hint of the Mastery Realm's state in the final moment of despair, truly breaking through to that level was still far off.

A breakthrough in the heart...

Is harder than comprehending the Dao.

For cultivators, the Dao-heart is most important, followed by Dao comprehension, and finally cultivation base!

If the Dao-heart is insufficient... no matter how high your Dao comprehension or cultivation base, you will fall into demonic possession, and the higher your power, the more directly you die.

The Dao-heart must be strong enough; then, with Dao comprehension reaching a certain level, one can break through to a certain realm. For many peerless geniuses, even reincarnated immortals who awaken past-life memories, their Dao realms are already high, and their Dao-hearts are also strong. Thus, they can directly use liquid essence or spirit pills to enhance their cultivation base, but they cannot let their cultivation base exceed the limits their Dao-heart and Dao comprehension can bear.

Cultivation base can be improved quickly, but Dao-heart and Dao comprehension... cannot be achieved through shortcuts.

"Even after all this, I couldn't reach the Mastery Realm. What a pity. If I could, I would be a top-tier divine archer in the Three Realms." Ji Ning sighed.

The Houyi Archery Art divides heart power into five levels.

The third level, the Mastery Realm. Reaching this level qualifies one as a top-tier divine archer in the Three Realms.

The fourth level is the level currently reached by only a few of the strongest divine archers in the Three Realms.

The fifth level is Houyi's level. However, the ancient great god Houyi disappeared long ago, and no one knows where he went. Some say he died, some say he is in seclusion somewhere. But he has been gone for too long... It is rare for a powerful figure to have the patience to disappear for so long without contacting other great beings. Thus, many speculate that Houyi is dead.

Ji Ning's current heart power level is the second level, 'Iceheart,' nearly perfect. His heart power is strong enough to be considered a first-rate divine archer in the Three Realms.

Previously, Ji Ning was only at the Entry level, which merely qualified him as a divine archer.

"Boom~~~"

A wave of void current struck Ji Ning, sending him flying thousands of li away, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Such a strong impact. If I hadn't cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, I would have been finished." Ji Ning came to his senses and began to observe his surroundings. A dark, endless void, with faint void storm currents visible. "Where is this? Strange... Why is there not a trace of natural energy?"

Ji Ning was shocked to find no natural energy. Cultivators must refine natural energy to replenish their primal power, and immortals must also replenish their dharma power.

"And... the Dao?"

"The Heavenly Dao?"

Ji Ning was shocked to discover that the Sword Dao, the Waterdrop Dao, and many other Daos that he could clearly sense before were all gone. Nothing could be sensed. Without the Heavenly Dao, even if he executed sword techniques containing the mysteries of the Dao, they could not draw upon any of the world's power.

"No natural energy, and even the Heavenly Dao is absent?" Ji Ning stared incredulously at the endless dark void of annihilation around him. "Where... where is this?"

...