Chapter 4: The Art of Ice and Fire Refining the Golden Core

The eyes of the Three Pure One, which had been half-closed, suddenly opened wider, his gaze like a sharp sword falling upon the Thunder God: "Thunder God, this matter concerns not only you but countless living beings on our side. How can we be careless in imparting divine abilities? If we make a single misstep and the Espionage Sect gets hold of it, we might lose this entire calamity, and that would be an eternal disaster!"

"I know, but could I be a spy?" the Thunder God still refused to yield.

The Three Pure One said calmly, "I know you are eager to learn and believe you have a great chance of success."

"Of course! If Ji Ning can master it, I, who control lightning and thunder and am the foremost in the Three Realms, surely can!" The Thunder God glanced at Ji Ning standing beside Bodhi, his gaze condescending, then said with full confidence, "I am most familiar with the nine-horned lightning serpent. With just a little guidance on this technique, I might be able to master this divine ability directly."

"Arrogant enough."

A deep voice rang out.

The Thunder God quickly turned his head and saw that the speaker was Suirenshi, clad in animal skins. Suirenshi's hair and beard were like dragons and snakes, and his gaze made even the Thunder God's heart tremble. This most ancient and powerful being of the human race had once made the ancestral god Zhurong bow in admission of inferiority. In the past, to protect humanity, Suirenshi had fought on all fronts, and the Thunder God had been thoroughly beaten back then.

"Most of the great beings present understand the overall situation and know what is important." Suirenshi glanced at the Thunder God, then swept his gaze across the assembly. "But I believe everyone is curious about this divine escape technique, so I will let you have a look."

"No."

"Human Emperor, no."

"Absolutely not."

Immediately many great beings called out.

"If there really is a spy, it would be disastrous," said the Carefree Dao Ancestor urgently.

The Thunder God's eyes lit up; if he could truly obtain this technique, it would be wonderful.

"Don't worry." Suirenshi said, "I will only reveal a small part of this escape technique. This small part is merely one of the difficult aspects of cultivating this divine ability. I believe that after seeing this part, you will all understand how difficult it is to cultivate this escape technique."

With that, flames began to condense in the surrounding void, each flame forming characters. In an instant, the void for ten thousand li was filled with a dense text recording part of the technique.

All the great beings present looked at it.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning, who had been standing nearby, also looked. "It really is the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Escape Technique..."

"No, there are modifications."

Ji Ning quickly finished reading and stood quietly aside without a word, but inwardly he was filled with amazement.

The content Suirenshi made public was the part of the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Escape Technique about taming the nine-horned lightning serpent. The original technique recorded that one of the three items—Chaos Liquid, Myriad Thunder Divine Crystal, or Thousand Rotten Divine Fruit—must be used to ensure success. But Suirenshi's public version added another condition:

Use heartforce to communicate with the nine-horned lightning serpent and then tame it.

"You have all seen it." Suirenshi's deep voice echoed in the void. "This is the final part of cultivating the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Escape Technique: 'Taming the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent.' With Chaos Liquid, it can be done; with Myriad Thunder Divine Crystal, it can also be done; with Thousand Rotten Divine Fruit, it can also be done. But do you have them? Does the entire Three Realms possess these three treasures?"

Silence.

Everyone was deep in thought.

These great beings had obtained some techniques from slain Chaos aliens and had heard of Chaos Liquid, Myriad Thunder Divine Crystal, and Thousand Rotten Divine Fruit. These three rare items were extremely precious in the endless Chaos. The Three Realms did not have them at all!

"Without these three treasures, there is only the last foolish method." Suirenshi said, "Use heartforce to communicate and tame. The nine-horned lightning serpent has intelligence, so taming is possible. Taming with heartforce is very difficult, and the hope is slim. Several of us have tried, but all failed in heartforce taming."

"I consider myself quite insightful in heartforce, but I too could not tame it," the Three Pure One shook his head.

Everyone present was stunned.

The five of them, plus Bodhi, making six, had all failed?

It must be known that the Three Pure One and the others were almost all at the fourth level of heartforce, especially the Three Pure One, whose application of heartforce was no less than that of the Source Elder.

"On the contrary, young friend Ji Ning is extremely talented in the application of heartforce." Suirenshi looked at Ji Ning and praised, "When he had cultivated for only a few decades, he could independently comprehend the Heartforce Divine Sword technique, and later during the realm war, he comprehended the Heartforce Divine Soul technique. Now he has even mastered this Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Escape Technique. I am truly impressed."

Ji Ning felt Suirenshi's gaze on him, warm and affectionate, and praised before many great beings, which made Ji Ning feel ashamed, as he had actually relied on Chaos Liquid to succeed.

He did not know...

As the most ancient great being of the human race, Suirenshi regarded the exceptionally talented younger generation of humanity as his own descendants, naturally cherishing them. After all, Nüwa had created only so many people, and as generations multiplied, it was possible that Ji Ning carried Suirenshi's bloodline.

Moreover, among the top few beings, it was ultimately Suirenshi who cultivated the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Escape Technique, and he had always felt indebted to Ji Ning.

...

"This technique has many difficulties in cultivation. What I have just mentioned is only one of them." Suirenshi looked at the Thunder God. "Thunder God, do you still think you can master it? As I recall, your heartforce is only at the second level."

The Thunder God remained silent.

He was unwilling!

But he also knew that since even the Three Pure One and the others could not tame it with heartforce, his chances were even slimmer.

"So, Thunder God." Bodhi said indifferently, "Don't think that just because Ji Ning can master it, you certainly can. For such a supreme escape technique, strength, talent, and opportunity are all indispensable!"

"A mere Heavenly God and True Immortal, and you compare him to me?" the Thunder God shouted in anger and shame.

"Houyi was also a Heavenly God and True Immortal back then," Bodhi said calmly.

"You..."

The Thunder God was furious.

"If you keep this temper, your heartforce will probably find it even harder to break through." Bodhi said and then did not bother to say more.

Beings like the Thunder God were born from Chaos as True Gods. But there were gains and losses; they had not truly walked the path from weakness step by step, lacking the tempering of the mind. Therefore, these True Gods and Ancestral Gods from Chaos were generally mediocre in heartforce. Even the Three Pure One and the Buddha Tathagata, who had once risked reincarnation, were only at the fourth level of heartforce. Those who only sent avatars to reincarnate had even weaker heartforce.

The Thunder God was a typical example.

Born powerful, extremely proud, and because of his great strength, he could naturally control the life and death of others, fostering a violent temperament.

He looked down upon the weak from the depths of his heart.

They were merely weak ants and crawling insects! He was a True God born from Chaos; what were those weaklings?

"Let's go. We will discuss how to impart this technique and ensure that the Espionage Sect does not take advantage," the Three Pure One said.

"Let's go."

"Let's go."

Immediately, the avatars quickly dissipated and left. Yuqiu Daoist also tore through the void and left. The Thunder God glanced at Ji Ning before departing. It was clear that the Thunder God had already taken a grudge against Ji Ning. This time, he had lost face greatly before many great beings, and the source of it all was Ji Ning.

A mere Heavenly God and True Immortal!

"Disciple, there is no need to mind the Thunder God." Bodhi looked at Ji Ning and smiled. "He was born a True God by luck. With his state of mind, he has reached his limit and cannot advance any further."

"Disciple would not be angry," Ji Ning said quickly.

"Good." Bodhi nodded. "Go."

...

In the World Prison, the vast endless sky was covered with countless divine patterns. This profound grand formation extracted essence from Chaos to condense into Chaos Liquid.

Although Ji Ning had negotiated with the God King and encountered the True Gods and Dao Ancestors, his two main avatars here were still carrying out the 'sweeping'.

Where did the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent Escape Technique come from? From the World Prison!

Ji Ning understood clearly.

This was an opportunity.

He must seize it!

"I, the esteemed 'Sky Evasion True God,' have roamed for several Chaos Epochs. I have killed hundreds of weak True Immortals like you. I never thought I would die at the hands of an ant like you today. What a joke, what a joke!" A True God in tattered clothes, bound by chains, looked up and roared.

Boom~~~

The whole area exploded, and the formation restrictions shook.

Outside the formation restrictions, the white-robed Ji Ning, who had been maintaining the 'Eight Fire Universe Realm,' felt the three divine swords inside him absorbing resentment and quickly growing. He had sent out the Northmoon swords and could not waste these resentments, so he had prepared three more divine swords to nurture, also naming them Northmoon swords. Now he had six Northmoon swords in total. "This time I was lucky; the True God I encountered had little divine power left, and it took only a few years to finish him. Unfortunately, being imprisoned here, he had a high status and too much pride."

Whoosh.

He briefly checked the treasures left by the Sky Evasion True God, then flew away.

Only half an hour later.

On a vast plain, chains extending from the void imprisoned a True Immortal in splendid golden robes.

"Strange. Most imprisoned here conserve their divine power, but this True Immortal has been maintaining his magic treasure." The white-robed Ji Ning flew over.

"He is... the Seven Winds True Immortal?" Ji Ning recognized him after seeing his face clearly. From many previous soul searches, Ji Ning had a good understanding of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom. This True Immortal maintained his appearance and was not emaciated, making him easy to identify.

Ji Ning quickly flew over and landed.

"The warden?" The True Immortal in splendid golden robes looked at Ji Ning and frowned. "You..."

"The Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom has fallen." Ji Ning smiled. "The World Prison has fallen into my hands. I cannot guard a treasure mountain and not enter. So you have two choices: one is to let me perform a soul search and hand over your magic treasures; the other is death. Before this, I have encountered four True Gods and True Immortals, and these are their treasures."

Whoosh.

A number of innate spirit treasures floated before Ji Ning, their power fluctuations astonishing.

"Jin Huang? Sky Evasion..." The originally calm Seven Winds True Immortal's face changed. Those imprisoned here were all prominent figures of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom. The True Immortals Ji Ning had encountered so far were all first-rate; he had not even met second-rate ones. Seven Winds True Immortal naturally knew how formidable the other four were.

"Ha..." The Seven Winds True Immortal laughed, looking at Ji Ning. "Having become a prisoner, what can I do? I wonder if you will release me in the future?"

"If I have the strength, I will naturally release you," Ji Ning said.

The Seven Winds True Immortal nodded and closed his eyes.

Ji Ning was overjoyed. This was the fifth True God or True Immortal he had encountered. The previous four had cost him a lot of time, but this one submitted. He immediately extended his hand, which grew to hundreds of li, and placed it on the Seven Winds True Immortal's head, beginning the soul search.

Time passed minute by minute.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning suddenly paused.

"The Art of Ice and Fire Refining the Golden Core?"

In the Seven Winds True Immortal's memories, one memory bubble, without being blocked by any life-bound oath, revealed a technique called the Art of Ice and Fire Refining the Golden Core. Ji Ning's divine soul quickly memorized it.

...

Ji Ning's arm, which had stretched hundreds of li, quickly retracted and returned to normal. Ji Ning stood there stunned.

"Ice and fire refining."

"Nine Flame Pulp, Ice Heart Marrow." Ji Ning murmured.

"Time, fate?"

Ji Ning had been looked down upon by the Thunder God earlier, but he had not been very angry. His heartforce had reached the fourth level, and his state of mind was naturally extraordinary. He knew clearly that he was indeed just a Heavenly God and True Immortal. Although he had a powerful escape technique, he was still far inferior to the top Dao Ancestor Thunder God, who could easily kill him.

He could not blame others, only his own weakness.

To prove himself, he needed to cultivate to the point where he could stand on equal footing with the other. But unexpectedly, just half an hour after the gathering of True Gods and Dao Ancestors, he had obtained a technique to 'elevate the golden core' in the World Prison.

"Techniques to elevate the golden core all require external aids, Chaos treasures." Ji Ning sighed softly. "I thought that even if I obtained such a technique, actually elevating the golden core would be extremely difficult, requiring the search for Chaos treasures, perhaps never finding them."

"But..."

"This 'Art of Ice and Fire Refining the Golden Core' requires two Chaos treasures: 'Nine Flame Pulp' and 'Ice Heart Marrow.' Although difficult, I have a good chance."

Nine Flame Pulp...

Ji Ning had heard of it long ago. It existed in the Three Realms! After all, the Three Realms were born from the collision of two Chaos worlds, with many great beings who often roamed the Chaos, accumulating many Chaos treasures. The current human imperial treasury contained 'Nine Flame Pulp,' and the Nüwa camp could trade other treasures for it!

This 'Nine Flame Pulp,' found only in Chaos, could be obtained easily. It was not considered precious in the Three Realms because its only known use so far was in refining magic treasures; other uses had not been discovered.

Ice Heart Marrow did not exist in the Three Realms. But—

"Ice Heart Marrow is in the Moon Underwater Pool!"

The Moon Underwater Pool contained 'Ice Heart Spirit Leaves,' which grew on 'Ice Heart Marrow.'

"The God King of the Espionage Sect forced me to go to the Moon Underwater Pool, and now this technique to elevate the golden core also urgently requires Ice Heart Marrow, and I need to go there anyway." Ji Ning suddenly felt that fate was very mysterious.

"Regardless, I must obtain Ice Heart Marrow! With the two Chaos treasures, Nine Flame Pulp and Ice Heart Marrow, and by performing the 'Art of Ice and Fire Refining the Golden Core,' I will become a second-class True Immortal, half a step into the threshold of Dao Ancestor." Ji Ning felt that in this calamity, he was beginning to have the strength to struggle.