Chapter 1: Stepping into True God

Ji Ning opened his eyes, gazing at the beautiful blood lotuses floating in the air around him. Though baleful energy shrouded the heavens and earth, it could not conceal their beauty. In a daze, Ji Ning seemed to see a beautiful woman amidst the endless blood—the one he most longed to see. She stood gracefully among the blood lotuses, smiling at him.

"Senior apprentice-sister..."

Ji Ning murmured softly, then fell silent for a moment before waving his hand to collect the blood lotuses.

Then Ji Ning sat cross-legged and began to cultivate the technique of the "Kuji World God."

Silence.

His heartbeat rapidly slowed, nearly stopping; his blood ceased to flow. Ji Ning sat like a withered log, yet his senses grew ever sharper.

"My divine body..." Following his previous feeling, Ji Ning found a faint hunger throughout every part of his body.

"This is it."

"Let's begin."

Ji Ning began to execute the breakthrough technique.

"Let the Sword Dao be the core." Instantly, the divine power deep within every cell of Ji Ning's divine body rapidly transformed, taking the form of a small sword. Each unit of divine power became a small sword; Ji Ning's divine body seemed to be composed of countless small swords, each embodying the Great Dao 'Sword Dao.'

Breaking through to True God, to Ancestral God, or to World God...

All require a 'Dao' as the core.

The same stone material.

Poor construction skills result in shoddy work.

Good construction can last thousands of years.

Similarly, to build a powerful divine body requires even more remarkable skill. Here, the skill is the 'Dao' used as the core.

For Ji Ning, at the God stage, his divine body had reached perfection, with no room for improvement. To step into the higher 'True God realm,' his divine power first needed to become purer, over a hundred times purer. This required a transformation of the Dao core that constituted 'divine power.' When Ji Ning became a God, his core was the 'Rainwater Dao.' Now, breaking through to True God, Ji Ning decided to use the 'Sword Dao' as the core.

In the Three Realms, there are no taboos regarding which 'Dao' to use as the core during a breakthrough. One who cultivates to a certain Heavenly Dao uses that Heavenly Dao as the core and becomes a 'Dao Ancestor.'

But...

In the techniques passed down by the Northrest World God, there are detailed records.

During each major realm breakthrough, when the divine body is restructured and perfected, the 'Dao' used as the core must at least not conflict with each other. For example, if one becomes a God using the 'Blazing Fire Dao,' then using the 'Drip Water Dao' to become a True God would cause mutual repulsion. Though one could still become a True God, there would be no hope of becoming an Ancestral God!

For cultivators in the Three Realms, becoming a True God is already a great achievement, so they naturally do not care.

But some cultivators in the endless Chaos have higher aspirations. They learn from the lessons of ancient mighty ones... teaching later cultivators certain taboos. For instance, the 'Dao' chosen as the core during a breakthrough must never be repulsive! Once repulsive, the divine body itself has hidden dangers and cannot go far.

The Water Element and the Sword Dao—one is an elemental attribute, the other a path of attack—do not conflict at all, so naturally there are no hidden dangers.

If both are elemental, such as Water and Fire, or Water and Metal, there will be some hidden dangers, varying in severity.

If both are paths of attack, such as Sword Dao, Blade Dao, etc., hidden dangers also arise.

...

With minor hidden dangers, one can become an Ancestral God, but becoming a World God is much harder.

With major hidden dangers, where they conflict, even becoming an Ancestral God is difficult, and becoming a World God is utterly hopeless.

These are secret pieces of information. In the endless Chaos, only those of high status, like 'Northrest World God' from the Heavenly Palace of the Azure Dragon, who have good inheritances, understand such secrets. Ordinary cultivators do not know... Ji Ning wanted to tell his masters, but the techniques Northrest World God passed to Ji Ning required him to swear a lifeblood oath: until he became a World God, he could not teach what was taught to him to a second person.

...

"Boom!"

As Ji Ning executed the breakthrough technique,

his divine body instantly generated a tremendous suction force. In this world prison, a great formation had been extracting Chaos essence to form 'Chaos spirit liquid.' But as Ji Ning broke through, he frantically drew power from the endless Chaos, causing the once calm Chaos in the world prison to surge violently.

"Rumble~~~" The power drawn from the Chaos was absorbed into Ji Ning's body and frantically converted into divine power.

With the Sword Dao as the core, the converted divine power was far purer than his previous God power—it was now True God divine power.

Divine power was frantically absorbed, and Ji Ning's divine body continuously transformed and evolved; every unit of divine power within him was undergoing transformation...

"What's happening?"

"Why can't we absorb any divine power? Although this world prison has a formation that extracts power, intercepting over ninety percent, we could still absorb some. Now we can't absorb a bit."

"What's wrong with the Chaos? It's so turbulent and violent?"

The Ancestral God and Ancestral Immortal prisoners in the world prison, including the few True Gods and True Immortals like Shiyu True God who could draw power from the Chaos, were puzzled.

"A breakthrough?"

"A divine-mortal cultivator is breaking through. Judging by the situation, it's at least a breakthrough to True God, possibly even to Ancestral God." The prisoners who sensed the Chaos turbulence quickly understood, but they were puzzled. If someone had the strength to break through, they would usually do so outside. Imprisoned here, unable to comprehend the Dao, no prisoner had made such a major breakthrough in the last three Chaos cycles. Who was breaking through?

Some prisoners thought of the new warden who had arrived.

"Could it be that warden?" In the gorge, Shiyu True God, who had made the flowers bloom again, frowned.

...

The divine-mortal body cultivation techniques of the Three Realms generally absorb the power of stars. For example, the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Ultimates absorbs the power of the Lunar Star and the Solar Star. Other divine-mortal body techniques absorb the power of the Big Dipper or other stars.

Where does star power come from?

Stars condense from Chaos, and the power they emit—simply put, star power is Chaos power transformed by the stars. This power is easier to absorb.

This "Kuji World God" technique is more advanced; during a breakthrough, it can draw directly from Chaos.

But it can only draw directly from Chaos at the moment of breakthrough. Just as the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Ultimates, at the moment of breakthrough, directly summons Lunar True Water and Solar True Fire! During normal cultivation, one must still diligently absorb star power. The "Kuji World God" technique can absorb all star power, including the power of the frozen star where Ji Ning resided.

If Ji Ning had some insight into the 'Chaos Dao,' he could draw power from Chaos even during normal cultivation.

...

On the grass.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged. Around him was a large pit, as if made by a falling meteor—the aftermath of the surging Chaos power.

"Whoosh."

Ji Ning opened his eyes.

"I have changed." Ji Ning felt his current power. Before, though he was a God, due to the two techniques—the Taowu Eighteen Divine Demons and the Sole True Body—he was considered half-step True God. Now that he had broken through to True God, he could be considered half-step Ancestral God.

"Looking across the Three Realms..."

"Even the Three Purities, Buddha Tathagata, even Suirenshi, Shennongshi, Fuxishi. Even the Demonheart Dao Ancestor and Huanmu Sovereign of the No-Hold Gate—they are all merely True Gods." Ji Ning murmured to himself, "I am also a True God, even half-step Ancestral God. Finally, I have the power to change the entire war situation of the Three Realms."

The mighty ones in the Three Realms are all True God Dao Ancestors.

The Three Purities, Tathagata, Suirenshi, Shennongshi, Fuxishi, Bodhi, Houyi, Demonheart Dao Ancestor, Huanmu Sovereign... all are True Gods! And also Dao Ancestors!

The reason they can display leadership-level strength, comparable to ordinary Ancestral Gods,

is that their comprehension of the Dao is extremely high.

For example, Tathagata has fully comprehended the five Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and has combined them, greatly increasing his power. His insight into the Chaos Dao has also reached an inconceivable level! It is precisely through his Dao comprehension that he can possess strength comparable to an Ancestral God.

Fuxishi, Shennongshi, Suirenshi—all are the same, with extremely high Dao comprehension!

Some comprehend the two Heavenly Daos of Yin and Yang, others the five Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. It is their high comprehension that allows them to rival Ancestral Gods!

Classification of Dao Ancestor strength:

Ordinary Dao Ancestors are the most common, having comprehended one or two Heavenly Daos.

Top-tier Dao Ancestors generally have reached the fifth level in forces like Taiji Force, Wuji Force, Sword Force, etc., or possess extremely powerful divine abilities.

Leaders are at the Ancestral God level! In the past, Ancestral Gods like Zhurong, Gonggong, Ancestral Dragon, and Phoenix, though born with mastery of only one Heavenly Dao, were far inferior to the Three Purities and Tathagata in Dao comprehension. Yet, due to their powerful divine bodies, they still possessed leadership-level combat power. However, some died in the ancient struggles, and more died in the ancient destruction war.

Nuwa also left.

Fuxi reincarnated as a human, and to this day has not awakened his past life memories. He is merely a True God Dao Ancestor, not an Ancestral God.

Among the Ancestral Gods of the No-Hold Gate, some also died in battle, and the Heart Demon Sovereign merged with the Heavenly Dao.

Looking across the Three Realms...

The only true Ancestral God now is the Myriad Demon Sovereign!

Next is Ji Ning, who is half-step Ancestral God!

"My Dao comprehension still falls short compared to other leaders. However, I follow the path of Sword Force. I rely on the fifth level of Sword Force and sword techniques that surpass the limits of Heavenly Dao... combined with my half-step Ancestral God divine body, I should have leadership-level strength." Ji Ning had fought with Demonheart Dao Ancestor and had a very clear assessment of his own strength.

"No-Hold Gate, God King!" Ji Ning's eyes blazed with intense killing intent. With his newfound power, this killing intent was ready to erupt.

"I have changed."

"The world will change too."

Ji Ning murmured, his voice filled with boundless killing intent.

In the past, he endured.

Because his strength was insufficient! Now, his strength was sufficient!

"No rush. First, repair the surface of the Violetjade Sword. With the Violetjade Sword in hand, my strength will increase further." Ji Ning waved his hand, collecting the surrounding sword technique steles and the Azure Jade Temple. Then, transforming into a black bolt of lightning, he vanished at the horizon, flying toward the location of the Five Elements Divine Cauldron.