Chapter 2 Long Time No See

On the surging river, a void boat floated downstream.

A white-robed youth sat on the boat, having sent his ninety thousand celestial immortals and eight million loose immortals into the Picking Star Great World to maintain the 'Demon Ji Ning' state, preventing the Lord of the Abyss Gate from drawing Ji Ning into the 'dream world'.

Splash.

A figure appeared out of thin air on the void boat.

“Master.” Ji Ning quickly rose.

“How is it?” Bodhi looked at this disciple, deeply worried. Back when Ji Ning risked death and soul destruction to launch a sneak attack and provoke the Abyss Gate, Bodhi had known how important Yu Wei was to Ji Ning, and that the Abyss Gate might exploit this to set a trap.

“What did the Lord of the Abyss Gate say to you just now?” Bodhi pressed. Earlier, when the Lord had used his arts, no one else could overhear their conversation. “Knowing that Lord’s cunning nature, he would never simply return Yu Wei to you for nothing. He must have set conditions—perhaps a trap, a dead end!”

Bodhi was very worried.

“Yes,” Ji Ning replied. “The Lord did set conditions. He asked me to bring three treasures in exchange for Senior Apprentice Sister.”

“Three treasures? Which three?” Bodhi asked quickly.

“Ten jin of Seven Treasures Green Yang Fiend, ten jin of Blood Flower Marrow,” Ji Ning said, “and one stalk of Ice Heart Leaf.”

Murderous intent flickered in Bodhi’s eyes. “Seven Treasures Green Yang Fiend and Blood Flower Marrow are nothing—they are materials for refining the Great Luo Immortal Pill, and we have plenty. I can easily produce a thousand jin. I can prepare those two for you. But this ‘Ice Heart Leaf’—there are none left in the Three Realms now. All twelve stalks from the past have been used. They want you to enter the Moon Under Moon Pool!”

The Great Luo Immortal Pill was the highest-grade immortal pill, used by Dao Ancestors to replenish their divine power.

In the final battle, when fighting consumed vast amounts of power, both sides needed to stockpile Great Luo Immortal Pills. The materials for refining it—Seven Treasures Green Yang Fiend and Blood Flower Marrow—that the Abyss Gate demanded were not excessive.

“These three treasures would be of some help to the Abyss Gate, but even if they got them, it wouldn’t change much,” Bodhi sneered. “Their real goal is to send you into the Moon Under Moon Pool! If you die there, that’s the best outcome for them. Even if you don’t die, being trapped there for ages—by the time the calamity passes, even if you emerge alive, you’ll be meaningless to this final war.”

“The only one who ever came out alive, Buddha Jueming, was trapped there for eons. What a fine plan, what a fine scheme.” Bodhi looked at Ji Ning. “Be careful. I know you want to save your senior apprentice sister, but you are more important. Don’t forget, you have a daughter.”

“Yes,” Ji Ning replied respectfully.

Bodhi sighed inwardly.

Some cultivators would even kill their parents, wives, or children to harden their Dao heart. Their own cultivation came first; everything else could be discarded. In the Three Realms, there were many immortals and demons who pursued the Dao single-mindedly, abandoning all else. But his disciple Ji Ning valued emotions so much.

“Hou Yi back then, and Ji Ning now—both value feelings. Could it be that valuing emotions leads to greater achievements in heartforce?” Bodhi felt somewhat relieved. “This time, the Abyss Gate miscalculated. They want to trap or kill Ji Ning in the Moon Under Moon Pool, but they don’t know that Ji Ning has eighteen true bodies. Even if one dies in the pool, it won’t affect him much.”

“Hmph, today they use emotions to scheme against my disciple. When the day comes…” Bodhi’s heart seethed with murderous intent.

…

After his master left, Ji Ning continued to sit cross-legged on the void boat. The Lord’s invisible power seeped in, beginning to guide Ji Ning. Ji Ning remained awake, but part of his consciousness was drawn into the dream world.

The vast, dark dream world.

The Lord sat high on a ten-thousand-foot throne, looking down at Ji Ning who appeared below.

“As soon as I finished talking with you, your master came to see you. He really values you,” the Lord said coldly, looking at Ji Ning. “Now, have you changed your mind? If so, we’ll continue our struggle, and your senior apprentice sister will suffer eternally in the endless hells…”

Sending Ji Ning into the Moon Under Moon Pool was the best plan the Lord had devised.

Death would be best; if not, trapping him was fine.

But he feared that Bodhi might persuade Ji Ning to change his mind.

“Don’t worry, I will go to the Moon Under Moon Pool,” Ji Ning said, looking at the Lord. “Release Senior Apprentice Sister now.”

“Hahaha,” the Lord sighed in relief. “Rest assured, I will release Yu Wei now.”

Whoosh.

Ji Ning suddenly sensed a ripple and turned to look. On the distant grassland appeared a stunningly beautiful girl in black robes. Her eyes were still dazed; the days in the endless hells had driven her to the brink of collapse, but the Lord had kept her from perishing.

Seeing his senior apprentice sister like this, Ji Ning’s heart ached.

“Your wife only spent a hundred years in the Flame Hell,” the Lord said calmly. “Originally, I planned to have her endure a thousand years in each hell, one after another. Now she’s only tasted one Flame Hell… tsk, you’ve forced the Abyss Gate to compromise with you. I almost admire you.”

Ji Ning paid no heed to the Godking.

Flame Hell? He still remembered the time of the war of realms, when he faced a choice and saw his senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei being scorched in that Flame Hell. So... for these hundred years, she had been in that terrifying Flame Hell.

...

Yu Wei gradually regained consciousness. For a hundred years, she had been in the endless hell, already somewhat delirious, for her soul was too weak. Now, finally freed from the torment of hell, she slowly came to. She saw before her the white-robed youth, his eyes seemingly glistening with tears...

"Junior apprentice-brother." Yu Wei spoke for the first time in a century.

"Senior apprentice-sister." Ji Ning moved in a flash to her side and took her hand.

Their eyes met.

Ji Ning embraced Yu Wei, feeling the warmth in his arms, and said, "Senior apprentice-sister, I'm sorry." It was his own choice that had pushed her into the endless hell.

"It is I who wronged you." Yu Wei smiled in Ji Ning's arms. She had never thought that after crushing the Shennong medicine, she could once again be in her junior apprentice-brother's embrace. "Back then, when I crushed the Shennong medicine, I knew I could never make up for my mistake. I could no longer face you. Death, for me, was perhaps the best outcome."

"It's not your fault, not your fault," Ji Ning said. "That Godking is a disciple of the Heartlord, skilled at beguiling hearts. Your past life was full of suffering, your heart demons too strong, and the Godking took the chance to guide and beguile you..."

Yu Wei nodded gently.

She was now fully lucid. Back then, when she crushed the Shennong medicine, her soul had scattered. The Godking, swift as he was, had taken away her true spirit, which reincarnated into a weak soul. But this weak soul no longer bore any prohibitions, nor did the Godking beguile her again, for Yu Wei in the endless hell was not worth beguiling.

Without the soul prohibitions, Yu Wei, scorched for a hundred years, had become even more clear-headed.

"Actually, I am very content. A mortal lives a hundred years; my past and present lives have already been long. And I have you, junior apprentice-brother, and our daughter Mingyue. That is enough." Yu Wei comforted him.

"Hahaha..."

On the ten-thousand-foot throne, the Godking looked down and laughed loudly. "What a fine pair of immortal lovers! I am almost moved. Yu Wei, do you know that your Dao-companion, with his own strength, has greatly disrupted the schemes of my Undying Sect in the Three Realms, forcing me, the mighty Godking, to bow my head and negotiate with him? Haha, from today on, Yu Wei, you need not enter the hell again. You can live in peace and joy, waiting for your Dao-companion Ji Ning to deliver the three treasures. Then you will regain your freedom and reunite with Ji Ning and your daughter."

In the distance.

The two embracing each other immediately parted. Yu Wei stared at Ji Ning and said urgently, "Junior apprentice-brother, three treasures? Don't believe the Godking. He is best at beguiling hearts; he must have some scheme." Having been beguiled and now restored to clarity, Yu Wei understood the Godking's terror all the more.

"I know the Godking's intentions," Ji Ning said, looking at Yu Wei. "Rest assured, trust me."

"Yes, Yu Wei, you must trust your junior apprentice-brother. Your junior apprentice-brother is now a renowned figure in the Three Realms. Perhaps at the end of this calamity, he might even break through to become a True God or Daofather and face me in a final battle. Three mere treasures pose no danger to your junior apprentice-brother." The Godking looked down and spoke.

"Junior apprentice-brother."

Yu Wei looked at Ji Ning, frantic. "We still have Mingyue. You must protect Mingyue. For me, it's not worth it."

But Ji Ning embraced Yu Wei again. "Alright, say no more. I have decided." His voice was soft, but resolute.

Holding his wife...

Ji Ning's heart was utterly calm and warm.

This feeling... he had missed it for so long!

If living is like a walking corpse, then life is worse than death.

If he could always feel this warmth, death would be worth it.

...

Ji Ning opened his eyes on the Voidboat. The thought that when he emerged from the Moonfall Abyss, his family would be reunited filled him with strength. Now his senior apprentice-sister had been placed by the Godking in some minor world of a cave heaven, free from the torment of hell, able to live in peace and happiness. Ji Ning felt somewhat relieved.

But every day of the past hundred years, though he had been training in swordsmanship and desperately seeking opportunities to grow stronger in the World Prison, even obtaining the Nine-Angled Electric Serpent Evasion, deep in his heart there was a constant ache, for he knew his senior apprentice-sister was suffering in the endless hell.

The moment he obtained the Nine-Angled Electric Serpent Evasion, he was ecstatic.

It was because...

He saw hope of saving his senior apprentice-sister.

"Soon, senior apprentice-sister. Soon we will be reunited. I will surely return from the Moonfall Abyss quickly." Ji Ning immediately boarded the Voidboat and left this major world.

In the endless void.

Just as the Voidboat appeared in the endless void, a powerful fluctuation descended. Startled, Ji Ning was about to use the Nine-Angled Electric Serpent Evasion to flee swiftly, but a voice sounded in his sea of consciousness: "Young friend Ji Ning, don't panic."