Chapter 15: Ice Heart Essence

"Stop."

Ji Ning called out.

The seven Dragon Gods and Xi Ke Celestial Immortal also stopped and looked at Ji Ning. In truth, they were reluctant to speak, but they truly did not want Ji Ning to die at the hands of the Infernal God.

"You... who told you that I was at the third level of sword force?" Ji Ning laughed.

"Hm?" The eight present were startled. From Ji Ning's tone, it seemed he was not at the third level of sword force.

"I said it." Xi Ke Celestial Immortal looked at Ji Ning with doubt. "Did I guess wrong?"

"Oh." Ji Ning suddenly understood, and explained with a smile, "When I first met Senior Apprentice Brother Xi Ke, I was indeed only at the third level of sword force."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the eight present showed expressions of surprise and joy.

"You broke through?"

"You broke through while fighting the Snow Demon?"

"Have you reached the fourth level of sword force?" One after another, they looked at Ji Ning with excitement and anticipation.

Ji Ning smiled and nodded, then traced a line with his finger. A black sword light coiled around his finger, sharp and unmatched.

Seeing the sword force in the form of black sword light, the seven Dragon Gods and Xi Ke Celestial Immortal were both excited and torn between laughter and tears.

Xi Ke Celestial Immortal quickly said, "Junior Apprentice Brother Beiming, this matter is my..."

"I understand." Ji Ning said quickly, "Senior Apprentice Brother Xi Ke thought that because I fought the Snow Demon for too long. It's also my fault for not saying it earlier."

"How could it be your fault? Who would foolishly announce their own strength?" The Tyrant Dragon God beside him laughed heartily. "Alright, it seems we seven are not fated to die. With such strength, Brother Beiming should easily pass the Infernal God. Let's go, let's hurry to the next island. That way, our hope of getting out is greater."

"We've been in the Moon Under the Abyss for endless ages. Oh, according to the Infernal God, it's been nearly a chaos cycle. We still don't know what the next island looks like."

"I'm really curious."

"I heard that after defeating the Infernal God, you can take treasures."

"Fourth brother, what are you so excited about? It's not you taking the treasures."

"I'm excited, what's it to you?"

Everyone was joking and laughing. Clearly, being able to leave this volcano island put them all in a good mood.

...

Half an hour later.

Ji Ning and the others arrived at the other side of the volcano island.

"We're here. Just follow the floating wooden bridge and keep going." The Withered Dragon God pointed at the floating wooden bridge ahead. In front of them was an endless sea of flames, boundless and vast, with a single floating wooden bridge running through it.

"It's really hot." Ji Ning turned and smiled. "Everyone, enter my immortal mansion and wait for a while."

"Please."

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Come, come, let me see your immortal mansion." They all laughed and chatted. Mainly, knowing Ji Ning's strength and being certain of success, they were this relaxed. Unlike before, when Xi Ke Celestial Immortal had just followed Ji Ning and was still uneasy.

Ji Ning then waved his hand. The eight Celestial Immortals did not resist and allowed Ji Ning to take them into his immortal mansion.

"Let's go."

Then he sat cross-legged on the Wishful Spirit Snake Shuttle and quickly rushed along the floating wooden bridge into the endless sea of flames. Although the flames were scorching hot, even ordinary Celestial Immortals could easily withstand them, let alone Ji Ning, who had the Eight-Nine Arcane Art protecting his body.

After flying for only a short half-hour.

"Hm?" Ji Ning stopped and looked ahead. On the floating wooden bridge stood a red figure about ten feet tall. He was bald, with red eyebrows and a red beard, sturdy and powerful, holding a short halberd in each hand. His dark red eyes stared at Ji Ning.

"An invisible pressure, indeed stronger than the Snow Demon." Ji Ning thought to himself. This was because the opponent was fully prepared and did not restrain his aura, so Ji Ning could easily sense it.

Putting away the Wishful Spirit Snake Shuttle, Ji Ning landed on the floating wooden bridge and produced his twin swords.

He was unwilling to use the Three Heads and Six Arms technique. Now that his sword force had just reached a new level and the Moonbright Sword Art had just been perfected, he naturally wanted to test it thoroughly.

"I can feel... there are no more Celestial Immortals on the volcano island." The Infernal God's dark red eyes were wild. "It seems you are truly confident."

"Please." Ji Ning said directly.

"Good."

The Infernal God did not hesitate and immediately charged forward. His figure was swift and fierce, reaching Ji Ning in an instant. Ji Ning also leaped forward, meeting him with two black sword lights.

Bang! Bang!

Ji Ning involuntarily stepped back a few paces, and the Infernal God also stepped back one step.

"Such great strength." Ji Ning was secretly alarmed. "In terms of pure strength, he's almost close to a True God. Fortunately, my sword force has reached the fourth level." After reaching the fourth level of sword force, each of Ji Ning's strikes possessed power comparable to eighty percent of his full heart force burst. With such power, he could directly contend with the opponent. Ji Ning only needed to consume a little divine power to maintain speed and agility. Techniques like the Star Picking Hand and Three Heads and Six Arms were unnecessary, and he didn't even need to burst out with much strength.

This level of divine power consumption could be recovered by Ji Ning through natural absorption from the heavens and earth.

"Fourth level of sword force?" The Infernal God became even more frenzied.

Puff, puff, puff.

The twin halberds cut through the air, howling like ghosts.

The two short halberds were like the yin and yang of a Taiji, perfectly coordinated with each other, both carrying the essence of 'Ultimate Nothingness.' Although Ji Ning also used twin swords, his coordination between the two weapons was far inferior to the Infernal God's. After all, those who walked the path of 'Ultimate Nothingness' were naturally skilled in weapon coordination.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The sword light was eerie and extremely fast.

In the Moon Under the Abyss, Ji Ning had spent most of his effort on the 'Shadowless Style,' which was the most bizarre and fastest move.

The two exchanged blows.

For a time, Ji Ning was slightly at a disadvantage. Although his offense was stronger, his coordination between his two hands was somewhat lacking, putting him at a slight overall disadvantage. In fact, if Ji Ning used the divine ability 'Three Heads and Six Arms,' he could quickly overwhelm his opponent. But Ji Ning was not in a hurry, because such a good opponent was hard to find.

...

The power of his sword technique mainly came from the black sword force. Ji Ning's divine power consumption was minimal, and recovery could keep up with consumption. Even fighting for a thousand years would be easy.

This battle lasted for over half a month. In the life-and-death struggle against a worthy opponent, Ji Ning, who had just broken through to the fourth level of sword force, saw his sword technique become increasingly perfect. Although he had spent over a year on the volcano island in contemplation, that was without an opponent. Only when actually fighting a powerful opponent did he discover many shortcomings in his perfected sword technique. He continuously corrected and perfected it, naturally making his sword technique more formidable.

"You win." The Infernal God suddenly retreated.

Ji Ning smiled.

Over half a month, from being slightly at a disadvantage to now being slightly at an advantage! In terms of offense, the sword path... was too skilled.

"Thank you." Ji Ning said.

The Infernal God looked at Ji Ning, grinned, and showed an 'ugly' smile. "I'll wait for you on Ten Thousand Mountain Island." Then he dissipated and vanished into countless flames.

"Ten Thousand Mountain Island?" Ji Ning murmured to himself. "Is the third island Ten Thousand Mountain Island?"

Swoosh.

Then Ji Ning mounted the Wishful Spirit Snake Shuttle again and continued forward.

After flying for over half an hour, a huge island shaped like a gourd appeared ahead. This gourd-shaped island... seemed to be two islands, one small and one large, connected together.

The floating wooden bridge led to the small island. At the end of the floating wooden bridge stood the bald, red-browed Infernal God.

"Is this Ten Thousand Mountain Island?" Ji Ning landed and asked with a smile.

"To be precise, this small island is the Treasure Island." The Infernal God pointed to the large island in the distance. "That large island is the real Ten Thousand Mountain Island. On this small island... there are many treasures. You may choose three. After you choose, you must enter the large island and cannot return here."

Ji Ning understood that in the Moon Under the Abyss, one could only advance, not retreat.

For example, once you entered the volcano island, you couldn't return to the Snow Island.

Once you entered Ten Thousand Mountain Island, you couldn't return to the volcano island... until you died or left, returning to the Three Realms.

"Choose three?" Ji Ning asked in surprise. "I heard that on the fourth and fifth islands, you can also choose treasures."

"Yes." The Infernal God nodded. "The third, fourth, and fifth islands all have treasures, and you can choose three from each. So a total of nine. When you reach the fifth island, you can leave the Moon Under the Abyss. Of course, in this chaos cycle, only one named Jue Ming has left alive."

Ji Ning felt puzzled.

In the legends of the Three Realms... Buddha Jue Ming had left the Moon Under the Abyss with three treasures, but the Infernal God said there were nine.

"It seems that Buddha Jue Ming did not disclose the other six treasures." Ji Ning thought to himself.

"Follow me."

Walking on the 'small island' that was a million miles in circumference, in just a short while they had traveled hundreds of thousands of miles and arrived at a lake. Compared to the endless ocean that required flying on the Wishful Spirit Snake Shuttle for a long time, a million miles was indeed just a small island.

On this lake, there was faint mist that made it impossible to see clearly.

"Scatter." The Infernal God waved his hand, and the mist dispersed, revealing the entire lake. The lake was clearly divided into nine areas! There was the scorching hot 'Nine Flame Pulp' magma, on which grew a dark red snow lotus. There was also the slowly flowing cold 'Ice Heart Essence', on which grew a crystalline Ice Heart Leaf. There was a patch of countless weeds full of vitality, among which had condensed a greenish-blue fruit...

The nine areas were either scorching hot, freezing cold, dark, full of vitality, or dead silent...

There seemed to be a formation combining the nine areas.

"Hm? Ice Heart Essence, Nine Flame Pulp, they're all here?" Ji Ning's heart raced, and he grew excited. He hadn't expected to find the Ice Heart Essence he desperately needed on the third island.

"The three treasures that Buddha Jue Ming disclosed are all here." Ji Ning guessed. "It seems that the treasures Buddha Jue Ming obtained on the fourth and fifth islands were not disclosed." He could guess that the treasures on the later islands might be more precious, even of great use.

"Choose."

The Infernal God beside him, seeing Ji Ning in a daze, urged, "There are nine treasures in total. You may choose three."

"Nine treasures?" Ji Ning was startled.

There were nine areas. For example, in the Ice Heart Essence area grew an 'Ice Heart Leaf'. The Ice Heart Leaf was naturally precious, but Ji Ning also longed to obtain the large amount of slowly flowing Ice Heart Essence.

"Can I choose the Ice Heart Essence?" Ji Ning suddenly asked.

"Ice Heart Essence?" The Infernal God frowned at Ji Ning. "The Ice Heart Leaf condenses on the Ice Heart Essence. You should choose the Ice Heart Leaf, which is the condensed essence. Each of the nine areas has a condensed essence. You should choose the condensed fruit or leaf."

"I want the Ice Heart Essence. Is that possible?" Ji Ning asked. The Ice Heart Leaf was definitely selectable, but what about the Ice Heart Essence?

The Infernal God frowned. "This Ice Heart Essence is the foundation. It is because of this Ice Heart Essence that the Ice Heart Leaf can grow. If the Ice Heart Leaf is picked, after enough time, another Ice Heart Leaf can grow. You can choose the Ice Heart Leaf, but how can I give you the foundation, the Ice Heart Essence?"