Chapter 3 The Divine Mirrors of the Heavens

Each Zhutian Star-Gold Pearl's aura had also grown significantly stronger, as if undergoing a transformation, because now the second layer of the Ninefold Chaos Seals had just been refined by Ji Ning.

"Truly extraordinary, complementing the Five Elements Sword Art, and even more profound." After refining the second layer, Ji Ning immediately sensed its uniqueness. "If I had brought a Zhutian Star-Gold Pearl into the Moonfall Abyss when my two avatars entered, and studied it carefully, it might have helped me navigate the abyss."

The Ninefold Chaos Seals were extremely difficult to memorize completely.

Back then, Lord Sanqing had expended boundless effort to memorize them, and he had only refined the seventh layer. Even Nuwa, who had not yet become a World God, had only refined the eighth layer. Such profound Ninefold Chaos Seals... Ji Ning simply couldn't memorize them; he had to carry the Zhutian Star-Gold Pearl with him to study. He hadn't brought it into the Moonfall Abyss because he feared that if he failed and died there, the pearl would be lost.

If even one of the three thousand six hundred Star-Gold Pearls was lost, the set would be incomplete and unable to form the Thirty-Six Heavens.

"Condense."

Black-robed Ji Ning willed it.

The three thousand six hundred Zhutian Star-Gold Pearls, like a sky full of stars, rapidly merged into three hundred sixty Zhoutian Stars, then merged again into the Thirty-Six Heavens.

The Thirty-Six Heavens floated around Ji Ning, faintly connecting to the fate of the unseen. Ji Ning understood something and immediately commanded, "Transform."

Whoosh.

The thirty-six glowing spheres transformed into ancient mirrors, each edged with bronze. Some mirrors bore patterns of sun, moon, and stars; others had fish, insects, birds, and beasts; still others depicted flowers, grass, and trees... Each mirror was extraordinarily profound.

"Oh?" Ji Ning studied the thirty-six floating bronze mirrors with great interest.

The Thirty-Six Heavens could change in countless ways. The reason they took the form of mirrors was that after refining the second layer of the Chaos Seals, they could faintly connect to the unseen River of Fate, and thus naturally transformed into mirrors. This form was best suited to unleash the power of the Thirty-Six Heavens after refining the second layer.

His divine power rapidly permeated them.

"So this is it—able to peer into fate," Ji Ning murmured to himself. "Able to see past lives, this life, and future lives?"

Treasures that could move 'fate' were rare in the Three Realms, but there were some.

Foremost among them was the Book of Life and Death!

The Book of Life and Death was the most profound treasure, naturally recording the past and present lives of countless beings, even hundreds or thousands of reincarnations. By marking in the Book, one could change a future life span of merely thirty years to two hundred thirty years. It could easily alter fate—a truly heaven-defying treasure.

The Heavenly Court, Buddhist Gate, Daoist School, and the Three Sovereigns all had similar treasures for peering into fate. They even created methods like 'Purple Star Astrology' for such divination.

There was also the 'Three-Life Stone' by the River of Forgetfulness, casually placed there, which could reflect a person's three lives.

"My Thirty-Six Heavens are quite similar to the Three-Life Stone," Ji Ning nodded slightly. "Since that's the case, in mirror form... I'll call them the Divine Mirrors of the Heavens."

In the Three Realms, treasures that could peer into fate were few, and each was forged by a mighty figure. For Ji Ning, a Celestial Immortal True God, to create such a treasure was unprecedented. Of course, he hadn't deliberately forged it; he lacked the means. He had merely used the Ninefold Chaos Seals to unknowingly transform the Zhutian Star-Gold Pearls into this form.

"Able to know past, present, and future lives, and with the thirty-six Divine Mirrors floating around, they excel at defense, even reflecting part of an enemy's attack back." Ji Ning understood their special traits after careful examination. Previously, the Star-Gold Pearls were mainly valued for their material, used to form various weapons.

Now, they had gained special powers from the Chaos Seals.

...

After refining the second layer of the Ninefold Chaos Seals, Ji Ning continued to walk through the Three Realms as before, observing the joys and sorrows, loves and hatreds of the mortal world.

Emotion was the hardest to grasp.

No matter how powerful a cultivator, even Ji Ning with his fourth-stage heartforce, or Houyi with his fifth-stage heartforce, none could transcend the word 'emotion'.

...

Years passed... Ji Ning walked through various realms...

"Rumble~~~"

Majestic palaces collapsed, rivers dried up, and miasma of violence and resentment surged skyward.

Cultivators from both sides slaughtered each other, and mortals also killed one another.

"Is this what it's like before the great calamity?" Ji Ning looked down from the sky and shook his head. He couldn't intervene, nor was it his place. Such things were far too common in the Three Realms.

"Who can match the Abyss Gate in manipulating hearts?"

"Why must they make the entire Three Realms so turbulent?" Ji Ning felt powerless.

Even the mighty figures couldn't stop it, let alone him.

Even if he stopped it temporarily, the conflict would resume once he left. After walking the Three Realms for years, Ji Ning had long realized that behind everything was the Abyss Gate's provocation. Besides the most common means of incitement, the Abyss Gate had its most powerful move—the 'Heart Dao'! In the original Chaosworld of Nothingness, there were six Great Daos: 'Earth', 'Fire', 'Water', 'Wind', 'Heart', and 'Chaos'.

The Pangu Chaosworld had ten Great Daos: 'Metal', 'Wood', 'Water', 'Fire', 'Earth', 'Yin', 'Yang', 'Destruction', 'Life', and 'Chaos'.

After the primeval destruction.

Under Nuwa's guidance, the foundation remained the original Pangu Chaosworld. The 'Heavenly Realm' was the largest fragment of that world. Since the Pangu Chaosworld was primary and the Chaosworld of Nothingness secondary, the Three Realms were formed. Thus, the Great Daos followed the Pangu Chaosworld.

Now, the 'Wind Dao' could no longer be fully comprehended; it was incomplete in the Three Realms, only splitting into some Greater Daos.

Similarly, the 'Heart Dao' could not be comprehended in the Three Realms.

But some mighty figures from the Chaosworld of Nothingness who survived to this day—like the Godking and others—had achieved great heights in the 'Heart Dao'. They excelled at manipulating hearts; a single glance could make ordinary cultivators willingly kneel as slaves.

The Abyss Gate had a group of Celestial Immortals and True Gods who had insights into the 'Heart Dao', using their many avatars to wreak havoc across the Three Realms. The Nuwa camp had no way to counter them.

...

Time flowed on.

Ten years, a hundred years, two hundred years, three hundred years...

The situation in the Three Realms grew increasingly dire. The chaos among mortals was a minor matter; more serious were the repeated realm wars between the Nuwa camp and the Abyss Gate. At first, realm wars occurred only occasionally, but later they became more frequent and intense, with both sides fighting ever more fiercely.

More and more True Gods and Celestial Immortals died.

...

Six hundred years had passed since the two avatars entered the Moonfall Abyss.

"Beiming."

"Beiming."

A voice called from afar.

Ji Ning was sitting on a wooden boat, drifting with the current on a river.

Hearing the call, Ji Ning looked up. A long-haired man in wide robes and sleeves was walking through the void. He had called from afar, but in an instant, he was on Ji Ning's boat.

"Daoist Luoshui." Ji Ning brought out a jug and cups.

"Coming to my territory without telling me," the long-haired man said with a smile as he sat down. This was Luoshui True Immortal, who governed the Luoshui Major World. He was a disciple of Carefree Lord and had attained the Dao in ancient times.

"Too many friends have died; I'm not in the mood." Ji Ning shook his head.

Luoshui True Immortal sighed and shook his head: "Indeed, especially in the last two or three hundred years, more and more True Gods and Celestial Immortals have died. Some friends I used to drink with are now gone."

Ji Ning nodded.

In the six hundred years since his avatars entered the Moonfall Abyss, he knew that the Nuwa camp had lost over thirteen hundred True Gods and Celestial Immortals. The Abyss Gate had lost over a thousand as well. As for Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals, they were countless. Although each war's losses weren't huge, the sheer number of realm wars added up!

"Damn the Abyss Gate." Luoshui True Immortal gritted his teeth. "Their methods are too despicable."

"Mm." Ji Ning's face darkened.

The Abyss Gate's methods had become utterly vile!

They targeted the loved ones of True Gods and Celestial Immortals in the Three Realms. For example, if a True Immortal had a single child, the Abyss Gate would send assassins. If a True God had two disciples, they would be assassinated too!

"The Abyss Gate wants our True Gods and Celestial Immortals to go mad, preferably die from a heart demon. Even if they don't, if they lose their cool and seek revenge, they'll lose their lives." Luoshui True Immortal said angrily.

Ji Ning nodded.

For an ordinary True God or Celestial Immortal to act alone against the Abyss Gate was suicide. Not everyone had Ji Ning's strength and skill. Only by relying on the vast armies in realm wars, cooperating with many other True Gods and Celestial Immortals, and fighting calmly could they have a better chance. The more hot-headed and reckless, the easier it was to die.

The Abyss Gate would stop at nothing to win.

Fortunately, Ji Ning had placed his daughter in the 'Slanting Moon Major World', or she might have been ambushed. The Abyss Gate's large-scale assassinations three hundred years ago had driven the Nuwa camp mad, leading to the continuous outbreak of realm wars!

"When the Ten Thousand Demon Lord returned with the remnants of the Abyss Gate, we shouldn't have let them in," Luoshui True Immortal said through gritted teeth. "Better to have fought then than to let them enter the Three Realms. Now they've taken root, recuperated, grown stronger, and turned to bite us."

"Who could have foreseen it?" Ji Ning shook his head.

"Yes, we weren't prepared. We even called them brothers, some became close friends, and we exchanged many techniques. They learned many of our powerful methods." Luoshui True Immortal shook his head. "We didn't stop them from taking disciples, so they produced a large number of True Gods and Celestial Immortals."

"It's too late to talk about that now. Only war will decide everything." Ji Ning said.

"Yes, the scale of war is growing. In a hundred years at the earliest, or a thousand at the latest, the final battle for fortune will begin." Luoshui True Immortal said.

Ji Ning nodded.

The final battle for fortune...

That would be when both sides had reached the end, with all True Gods and Celestial Immortals joining the fight to decide the fortune. If one side saw the situation turning unfavorable, they might immediately launch the final battle, with all mighty figures joining in. That would be the 'final decisive battle'.

Given the current situation, it would indeed be a hundred years at the earliest, or a thousand at the latest!

"By the way, yesterday, Dongyan True Immortal of your Xia World died in battle. Did you hear the news?" Luoshui True Immortal said.

"Dongyan True Immortal?" Ji Ning was stunned.