Chapter 4: Lord of Woodhua Palace

Ji Ning gazed into the distance, faintly making out several seated figures within the vast, ancient forest of sword towers.

"Any member of the Sword Palace can enter and meditate there," said Daoist Fudan. "Even we can."

"I'll go take a look."

Ji Ning walked over.

The sword towers stood tall, each exuding a completely different sword intent, as if powerful sword cultivators stood there. Walking through the ancient forest of sword towers felt like traversing an ocean of time, witnessing the sword techniques left by mighty cultivators. Ji Ning was awestruck. These were the predecessors of the sword path.

On each sword tower, aside from the sword techniques, there were often small characters along the edges.

Ji Ning's gaze fell on one sword tower.

The sword technique on this tower resembled his nameless sword technique, sharing a similar style and profound depth. Its sword intent was vast and all-encompassing. The small characters at the edge introduced this Daoist.

"Daoist Qichang, after joining our Sword Palace, gained recognition from the sword tower at the World level, becoming one of our Sword Palace's Sword Lords. He was gentle in nature, enjoyed teaching younger disciples, treated the Sword Palace as home, and rarely ventured out. Quietly, he cultivated to the fourth-step Daoist level. Later, when the ancient cultivators went too far, Daoist Qichang went alone, displaying terrifying sword arts. He defeated three ancient cultivators on the verge of dao-he fusion and even defeated an Eternal Emperor among the ancient cultivators... He became famous overnight, hailed as the number one Daoist of the endless territories at that time. Later, Daoist Qichang prepared for dao-he fusion and wandered off, never to be heard from again—his fate unknown."

Ji Ning was stunned.

A Daoist defeating an Eternal Emperor among ancient cultivators?

Ji Ning knew little about ancient cultivators, only that they were the most fearsome life forms, comparable only to the most顶尖 special lives. An 'Eternal Emperor' among ancient cultivators was far from ordinary. How could a Daoist defeat one? No wonder he was recognized as the number one Daoist of the endless territories at that time.

This was far more extraordinary than Daoist Wanshen's pursuit of Emperor Melobo.

"I wonder if Daoist Qichang is alive or dead." A voice suddenly sounded.

Ji Ning was startled—he hadn't noticed someone approaching from behind.

He turned to see a man in golden armor with disheveled hair, looking somewhat decadent and weary.

"Greetings, senior apprentice-brother," Ji Ning said upon seeing the golden armor.

Within the Sword Palace, unless there was a master-disciple relationship, all were considered brothers.

Daoist Fudan, who was in the distance, quickly approached and said respectfully, "Greetings, Lord of Woodhua Palace."

"Palace Lord?" Ji Ning was surprised.

"Junior apprentice-brother Beiming, Daoist Woodhua is our Sword Palace's vice palace lord," Daoist Fudan transmitted to Ji Ning.

Ji Ning didn't know the names of all the Daoists in the Sword Palace, but he knew the rules of the twelve palaces. In each palace, the strongest was the palace lord, followed by vice palace lords. For instance, in the Brightlight Palace, the two strongest Daoists were equally matched, so they were co-palace lords, giving it two palace lords.

Generally, those who could serve as palace lords or vice palace lords, especially in the war-oriented Sword Palace, usually had strength comparable to Eternal Emperors.

"Greetings, Palace Lord," Ji Ning said.

"Just call me senior apprentice-brother Woodhua," the decadent man smiled. "I watched your battle with BetaLeo. Not bad. Your sword technique is quite similar to Daoist Qichang's. If he were alive, he would likely be an Emperor now. With his strength, becoming an Emperor would probably allow him to live to this day, and he might even be able to guide you personally."

Ji Ning nodded.

As a Daoist, he had defeated an ancient cultivator Eternal Emperor, indisputably the number one Daoist of the endless territories in that era. For such an extraordinary figure to become an Eternal Emperor, killing him would be extremely difficult.

"Senior apprentice-brother Woodhua," Ji Ning said, "Isn't there something like a dharma body? Why can't we determine life or death?"

For instance, when Ji Ning's clone was in the Moon Under the Lake, he couldn't sense it from outside, but his external clone could make a judgment. If the clone inside died, the external one could cultivate a new one—thus determining life or death.

For Daoists...

Even in desperate situations, using dharma bodies or special spells, determining life or death was usually not difficult.

"The endless chaos, even the great sovereign older than all twelve palaces, wouldn't dare claim to know everything," Lord Woodhua explained. "In the endless chaos, there are indeed places where, once entered, one is completely cut off from the outside, making it impossible to determine life or death by any means."

"Although there has been no news for endless ages, making death likely, as long as it's not confirmed, we later generations usually mark it as 'fate unknown' on the sword tower," Lord Woodhua said.

Ji Ning nodded.

...

After discussing Daoist Qichang, Lord Woodhua asked, "Junior apprentice-brother Beiming, as a new member of the Sword Palace, you can choose any one item from the 'Secret Pavilion's divine abilities, secret arts, or inheritances. Of course, some inheritances have tests set by the Daoists who left them; you must pass the tests to obtain them. The more precious the inheritance, the more this is true."

Ji Ning understood well. His Snow Mirror scrolls had tests; even gathering the four scrolls was a test, and he had to defeat opponents in the four grottoes.

"I'll take a look first," Ji Ning said.

"I'll take you there," Lord Woodhua said, and with a wave of his hand, his mana enveloped Ji Ning.

Whoosh—

A faint sword light flashed and vanished.

Daoist Fudan looked up, envy in his eyes, and muttered, "Lord Woodhua treats him so well; he must think highly of him." He then walked back outside the sword tower forest.

"The one who flew away with my master?" Su Youji asked.

"That was our Sword Palace's Lord Woodhua. Though he's casual, his standards are high, and few catch his eye. It seems he appreciates your master," Daoist Fudan said. "Let's wait here."

"Mm," Su Youji smiled. The better Ji Ning's situation in the Sword Palace, the happier she was, as if she had gained a great benefit.

...

The Secret Pavilion, atop a high mountain, shrouded in mist.

A faint sword light landed before the pavilion, revealing Lord Woodhua and Ji Ning.

"So fast," Ji Ning marveled.

"Greetings, Palace Lord," a fiery red puppet stood before the pavilion, speaking respectfully. It seemed entirely like a treasure, and a brief sense told Ji Ning it wasn't alive.

"Sword Three, I'm bringing our new junior apprentice-brother Beiming in for a look," Lord Woodhua said, then smiled at Ji Ning, "This is Sword Three, the guardian of the Secret Pavilion. He's been guarding for a very long time, longer than any Daoist in our Sword Palace. Among all our puppets, he ranks third in strength, hence the name Sword Three. You can call him Sword Three."

"Sword Three," Ji Ning said.

"Beiming," the fiery red puppet grinned, full of goodwill.

"Come in with me," Lord Woodhua led Ji Ning inside.

Inside the bamboo building were various items: jade slips, stone tablets, statues, books, scrolls, leaves, wine gourds, and more. At first glance, many seemed ordinary, like a pile of miscellaneous objects.

"This place collects many divine abilities and secret arts," Lord Woodhua said. "The divine abilities and secret arts of the twelve palaces are mostly similar. The inheritances are those of sword cultivators."

"Inheritances vary in level."

"Some are left by Daoists, some by renowned Daoists with strength comparable to Eternal Emperors, and some even by Eternal Emperors themselves," Lord Woodhua said. "Divine abilities and secret arts have no tests; you can choose and learn them. Inheritances usually come with tests."

"Eternal Emperor inheritances are the most precious. In this bamboo building, there are five Eternal Emperor inheritances," Lord Woodhua said. "Our Sword Palace added a rule: World-level cultivators must gain recognition from the sword tower and be listed as 'Sword Lords' to qualify for choosing an Eternal Emperor inheritance, and they must also pass the tests set by the Eternal Emperor."

Ji Ning asked in surprise, "Some extraordinary Daoists have sword arts comparable to Eternal Emperors. Why are Eternal Emperor inheritances so much harder to obtain?"

"To become an Eternal Emperor, one's sword path must be perfected enough to exist eternally," Lord Woodhua said. "Their inheritances contain experiences that can directly point to eternity."

"Over endless ages, there have been extraordinary Daoists in every generation. But those who truly become Eternal Emperors are extremely rare."

"According to rough statistics from the endless territories, out of a hundred thousand life-and-death Daoists, it's hard for even one to become an Eternal Emperor," Lord Woodhua said. "Although our Sword Palace selects prodigies, the cream of the crop, and has the great sovereign's help, since its founding, the Sword Palace has only produced three Emperors."

"Of those three Emperors, two began wandering out of loneliness, and one died."

"Our twelve palaces have a relatively high rate of producing Emperors. Compared to the Dao Alliance, we're much higher," Lord Woodhua sighed.

Ji Ning was stunned.

The Sword Palace currently had no Eternal Emperor?

"Becoming an Emperor is extremely difficult. Even if one does, having lived for too long, they get bored and go wandering in uncharted places, never to return," Lord Woodhua said. "Some extraordinary Daoists, after failing dao-he fusion and knowing they will die, even deliberately go to kill Eternal Emperors of敌对 forces."

"Though extraordinary Daoists are rare, there are a few in every generation."

"Eternal Emperors have long lifespans, but they occasionally die," Lord Woodhua said. "Of course, the great sovereign is also an Eternal Emperor, but he is far too powerful... so he lives leisurely to this day. Even when he occasionally abducts World-level cultivators from other forces, they pretend not to see it."

Ji Ning sighed.

Pitiful.

Emperors were truly pitiful.

There were far too few Emperors. Those extraordinary Daoists who failed dao-he fusion and knew they would die naturally didn't care. Daoist Wanshen, for example, failed dao-he fusion and went after Emperor Melobo.

One by one, Emperors either wandered, died, or hid.

Only the great sovereign and a few truly extraordinary ones could survive.

"Eternal Emperor inheritances are very rare. Their sword arts, even the weakest, are at the level of top Daoists and contain eternal intent..." Lord Woodhua looked at Ji Ning. "You should know that cultivators must walk their own path. After becoming a Daoist, one must comprehend one's own sword art. The value of inheritances lies in guidance and direction."

Ji Ning nodded.

"The guidance of an Eternal Emperor is naturally precious," Lord Woodhua said. "I advise you, if possible, to obtain an Eternal Emperor inheritance. But of course, the choice is yours. Divine abilities, secret arts, or inheritances—what do you want to choose?"

"What do I want to choose?" Ji Ning pondered.

...