Chapter 32: Unexpected Joy

Ji Ning first searched the soul, then took the treasures of that True God. Of course... Ji Ning also gave him some divine pills, because during the fierce battle just now, this True God prisoner had consumed a great deal of divine power. Without enough divine pills to sustain him, he might not live long. Although divine power could not be replenished, replenishing his magic power could still extend his life.

Among those who practiced the Qi Refining path, few also cultivated the Divine Demon path.

But almost all who practiced the Divine Demon path also cultivated Qi Refining, though their achievements varied. Figures like Bodhi, the Three Pure Daoist, and Tathagata were originally True Gods who later cultivated Qi Refining and became Grand Dao Ancestors.

With the help of some divine pills, these prisoners could live for a very long time. After all, if they merely existed, their consumption was very low.

"It seems that from the memories of these prisoners, it's hard to find anything helpful to me," Ji Ning thought to himself. "But that makes sense—I've already obtained many techniques passed down by World God Northrest. Finding something that surprises me among these prisoners of the Nine Fang Chaos Kingdom is too difficult. Still, as long as there's a glimmer of hope, I can't give up."

Different chaos worlds give rise to different civilizations, and there might be some unique techniques.

Facing the calamity... Ji Ning naturally seized every opportunity.

Remember, even the weak Shaoyin Chou had found the 'World Prison.' These prisoners of the Nine Fang Chaos Kingdom were far stronger than Shaoyin Chou. Perhaps one of them, through great luck, possessed some treasure or knew some miraculous technique.

...

"Whoosh." Ji Ning descended onto a tranquil island in the middle of a lake. With a wave of his hand, a jade palace descended, followed by steles inscribed with sword techniques, and finally a large number of huge Star Gold Pearls fell like meteorites, landing on the island.

Ji Ning stepped into the jade palace, sat cross-legged on a cushion, and calmly began to recall every scene of the previous battle.

Every battle had to be carefully savored, to draw experience and improve oneself.

Because there were only so many True Gods and True Immortals in the 'World Prison,' once he had fought them all, he would find no new opponents. So he had to cherish every opponent.

...

After combining the Star Gold Pearls and the sword technique steles, and meditating for over ten days without further gain, Ji Ning put away these treasures and turned into a black electric snake, heading toward another True God.

Battle, meditation, battle, meditation...

This became a routine!

From every battle, Ji Ning drew experience to enhance and perfect his sword techniques.

But when dealing with the fifth True God prisoner, Ji Ning suffered a great loss.

"Die."

The ugly, gaunt old man's six arms rapidly expanded, and six claws attacked Ji Ning from all directions, their techniques eerie and unpredictable. At this moment, Ji Ning's body was covered in blood. Though he had tried his best to block once, his divine body had been torn apart. The Nine Transformations of the Eight-Nine Mystic Art was of little use against this terrifying opponent.

"Heavenly Mirror."

In his dire straits, Ji Ning immediately had a thought.

Instantly, ancient bronze mirrors appeared in midair—thirty-six mirrors suspended in the sky, blocking the claws and buying a moment of time.

"Swoosh."

Ji Ning immediately used the Nine-Angle Electric Snake Escape Art, flashing out of the thousand-mile sealing range.

"What a terrifying Jueyu True God! It seems the intelligence I got from searching the souls of other True Gods and True Immortals isn't entirely reliable," Ji Ning stood outside the thousand-mile sealing range, still shaken. The other's claw techniques were too fearsome; in just one exchange, he was severely injured. If not for his superb sword techniques, he would have been torn to pieces from the start.

He didn't choose his opponents blindly but had a plan.

Having searched the souls of many prisoners, Ji Ning had a good understanding of many True Gods and True Immortals in the Nine Fang Chaos Kingdom.

True Gods and True Immortals were divided into three categories by Ji Ning.

First category: comparable to ordinary Dao Ancestors of the Three Realms.

Second category: comparable to top-tier Dao Ancestors of the Three Realms.

The strongest True Gods and True Immortals were close to the leader level.

Because these True God and True Immortal prisoners generally had low realms and usually hadn't fully comprehended the Heavenly Dao, most were at the ordinary Dao Ancestor level. Some, with powerful divine abilities like 'Star Picking Hand,' could burst out with top-tier Dao Ancestor strength. Others were like Jueyu True God just now.

"In the memories of other True Gods and True Immortals, Jueyu True God was a very ordinary True God with unremarkable divine abilities," Ji Ning thought. "But unexpectedly, his Netherworld Force has reached the fifth level, making him a top-tier Dao Ancestor in strength."

Netherworld Force was not particularly strong in attack.

If it were the highly offensive 'Sword Force at the fifth level,' Ji Ning's body would have shattered in one exchange.

Moreover, Jueyu True God had indeed had ordinary encounters and no powerful divine abilities; otherwise, with a powerful divine ability combined with 'Netherworld Force at the fifth level,' he would be close to the leader level.

"I need to be more cautious," Ji Ning thought. "Although I have the intelligence from soul searches as a reference, they've been imprisoned here for a long time; breakthroughs are not surprising. Hmm, from now on, in every fight, I'll first use Three Heads and Six Arms... If I had used it just now, I wouldn't have been so embarrassed."

Caught in sudden danger, he couldn't even use the Nine-Angle Electric Snake Escape Art, let alone Three Heads and Six Arms.

To manifest Three Heads and Six Arms, he had to condense four arms and two heads with divine power, which required a tiny amount of time. In contrast, using 'Star Picking Hand' was very fast, almost instantaneous with a thought.

"Hahaha... kid, with strength like that, you want me to submit?" The gaunt old man laughed eerily. "You ran fast just now, and that mirror was indeed strange; otherwise, you'd have lost your life. To have witnessed my claw techniques, you should consider yourself lucky."

"Jueyu True God." Ji Ning smiled instead. "Good, another formidable opponent."

"Opponent?" The gaunt old man sneered. "You use me to temper yourself? Hmph, be careful you don't lose your life."

"I'll come again next time."

Ji Ning turned and transformed into a black electric snake, swiftly flying away.

"Hmph." The gaunt old man watched coldly as Ji Ning left. After Ji Ning was gone, he frowned. "This warden has strong magic power, but his divine power is clearly weaker than mine... Yet I couldn't kill him in one blow. His sword techniques are really fast, faster than my claw techniques, surpassing the limits of the Heavenly Dao? Where did he learn them?"

...

Encountering a powerful opponent, Ji Ning was instead delighted. He could feel himself constantly improving, understanding more and more of the sword techniques left by World God Northrest.

In his battles with True Gods,

Some True Gods, Ji Ning could defeat.

Some True Gods, Ji Ning could barely match; with such opponents, he usually fought for a while and then left, to fight again later.

Some completely suppressed Ji Ning.

Some, like 'Jueyu True God,' nearly cost him his life.

As for the most monstrous True Gods, nearly comparable to Ancestral Gods, with combat power close to the leader level... Ji Ning dared not even touch them. Without the All-Things Messenger now, wouldn't that be suicide?

Of course, if he chose long-range attacks, using Dao Ancestor magic power with the Brightmoon Sword Art, his strength would be comparable to a top-tier Dao Ancestor. But Ji Ning's ultimate goal was to hone his sword techniques, so he preferred to use his weaker aspect for close combat.

...

Swish.

The True God's body was split in two, flung away, and then coalesced again in the distance.

"I lose." Another True God bowed his head to Ji Ning.

Ji Ning extended his palm and placed it on the True God's head; the True God did not resist.

The other's memories were quickly perused by Ji Ning. He discarded useless memories and searched intently for useful ones. Though previous soul searches had brought no surprises, Ji Ning never stopped, continuing as long as there was any possibility.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning suddenly came across a seemingly ordinary memory. He was stunned, then a look of joy appeared on his face.

"Kui Tian Tai Hao Pagoda?" Ji Ning murmured to himself.

"To think there is a treasure like the Kui Tian Tai Hao Pagoda. Truly miraculous. The foundation of the Nine Fang Chaos Kingdom is indeed far stronger than that of our Three Realms." Ji Ning's heartbeat began to quicken.

The Kui Tian Tai Hao Pagoda was a chaos treasure, and one that Ji Ning urgently needed. In fact, during his soul searches, he had discovered many treasures he desired, but they were not in the World Prison. The owner of this 'Kui Tian Tai Hao Pagoda'... was imprisoned in this World Prison!