Chapter 5: Hope

Divine powers? His greatest reliance was the power of the blue flower mist, and that power could not manifest divine powers. As for protective divine powers like the Golden Statue Divine Power and the Three Heads and Six Arms, they were already sufficient.

Inheritance? The inheritance of Snow Mirror Emperor still lacked the fourth scroll.

“Senior Brother Muhua,” Ji Ning said.

“Made your decision?” Muhua Palace Master looked at Ji Ning. “No need to rush. Think it over carefully. After all, this one chance to pick freely comes only once. If you want more, you’ll have to pay a sufficient price.”

“I want to ask… can I get the fourth Snow Mirror scroll from the Twelve Palaces?” Ji Ning asked.

“You have the first three?” Muhua Palace Master said in surprise.

“Mm.” Ji Ning nodded.

There was no need to hide it. The Sword Palace had countless inheritances, and Muhua Palace Master himself was an extremely powerful Daolord comparable to an Eternal Emperor.

“It seems the Sword Palace doesn’t have it,” Muhua Palace Master said after a moment’s thought, then smiled. “You can go check at the Divine Weapon Valley later. Even if it really isn’t there, you can ask the Divine Weapon Valley for help in searching for the fourth scroll across the endless territories. I believe that with the power of the Twelve Palaces, finding a copy of the fourth Snow Mirror scroll won’t be difficult. Of course, you’ll need to pay some price.”

“Understood.” Ji Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

“Snow Mirror Emperor is a very powerful Eternal magnate, and he’s still alive today,” Muhua Palace Master said with emotion. “His inheritance is very good.”

Ji Ning asked in confusion, “Senior Brother Muhua, I have a doubt. From a Daolord of Life and Death to an Eternal Emperor, there should be an astonishing increase in strength. And those who become Eternal Emperors should not be ordinary Daolords… so why do I often hear of Daolords slaying Emperors?”

Muhua Palace Master was taken aback, his expression suddenly turning somewhat complex.

“I was going to tell you anyway,” Muhua Palace Master said, looking at Ji Ning. “Daolords of Life and Death choose different paths, and the difficulty of becoming an Eternal Emperor varies accordingly.”

“Choosing an easy path means your strength will be relatively weaker at the same level. At the four-step Daolord stage, you might not even match my strength at the three-step Daolord stage. But likewise… the difficulty of achieving eternity on that path is also lower.”

“Choosing a difficult path makes you extremely powerful. At the four-step Daolord stage, you might even slay some ordinary Eternal Emperors. But this difficult path makes it even harder to succeed in dao integration and achieve eternity.”

Muhua Palace Master looked at Ji Ning. “Thus, from ancient times to the present, the more heaven-defying a Daolord is, the rarer it is for them to succeed in dao integration.”

“Generation after generation of heaven-defying Daolords have almost all failed in dao integration.”

“So, Junior Brother Beiming, you should think carefully about what path to choose—whether to take a path that is destined to be relatively easy, or one that is relatively difficult,” Muhua Palace Master said, looking at Ji Ning. “A difficult path is hard at every step, and integrating the dao to become eternal is also extremely difficult. But your strength will be immense, brilliant and dazzling. An easy path is relatively easier at every step, and the chance of eventually integrating the dao and becoming eternal is greater.”

Ji Ning was stunned.

But on reflection, it made sense.

For himself, he had already found the direction of his sword dao. He started from the essence of the sword, analyzing all sword techniques, aiming to merge all the mysteries of sword techniques into his own sword dao. This path… was extremely crazy. After all, pointing directly at the essence and absorbing all the mysteries of sword techniques, ultimately achieving the strongest and most perfect sword technique.

The more perfect something is, the harder it is to obtain.

Ji Ning’s path was difficult. He could also take a simpler path. For example, since he was currently better at defense, focusing solely on defense would be relatively easier.

“How can a cultivator fear difficulty?” Ji Ning smiled. “Even on an easy path, it’s rare for one in a hundred thousand Daolords of Life and Death to break through; becoming eternal is still rare. It’s better to follow one’s heart and take a difficult but powerful path. That way, when you become an Eternal Emperor, you can truly roam invincible and fear nothing.”

“Right,” Muhua Palace Master laughed heartily. “The three overlords of the endless territories were all monsters who could slay Eternal Emperors even as Daolords, and they later succeeded in breaking through to become Eternal Emperors. Once they broke through… no one could shake them. To distinguish them from other Emperors, they are all honored as Sovereigns. For example, our Mangya Kingdom’s great Sovereign has lived longer than our entire Twelve Palaces.”

Ji Ning nodded, then took a deep breath and asked the question he most longed to ask: “Senior Brother Muhua, for those who die with their true spirit annihilated, can the great Sovereign reverse time and space to save them?”

In terms of the Dao of Time and Space…

In the endless territories, the great Sovereign might be the strongest. Could the great Sovereign reverse time and space to save Yu Wei?

Muhua Palace Master was startled, then looked at Ji Ning. “In the endless territories, there is indeed a legend that one can reverse time and space and revive a life whose true spirit has been annihilated from the past. But I’ve heard that doing so exacts an astonishing price from the practitioner. I don’t know if the great Sovereign can do it. Even if the great Sovereign did it, it wouldn’t be made public. Because reversing time and space to revive someone with annihilated true spirit would likely severely wound the great Sovereign. Such news cannot leak out.”

“However, once one reaches a sufficiently high level of strength, one can indeed reverse time and space to revive life,” Muhua Palace Master said, looking at Ji Ning. “But this is very difficult, and the ancient magnates who can do it are rarely willing to.”

“Understood.” Ji Ning was excited.

Hope.

Finally, he saw hope!

Ji Ning had harbored a secret hope in his heart. He thought that, theoretically, at a sufficiently high level of the Dao of Time and Space, one should be able to reverse time and space to save those whose true spirit had been annihilated in the past. But that was just his imagination. Today, confirmed by Muhua Palace Master, when one’s strength reached a high enough level, it was possible.

The great Sovereign was one who might be able to do it. But even if the great Sovereign could, without sufficient payment, it would be impossible to enlist the great Sovereign’s help.

“Senior Sister.”

“We will definitely meet again.”

“No matter how long it takes, I will keep striving until we meet.”

Ji Ning closed his eyes. The moment he imagined the scene of Senior Sister Yu Wei smiling at him in the distant future… Ji Ning felt his heart grow warm and filled with strength.

Ji Ning opened his eyes. “Thank you, Senior Brother Muhua.”

Muhua Palace Master nodded. “Take your time choosing here. If you have any doubts about the sword dao, you can come to my cave.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother Muhua.” Ji Ning felt Muhua Palace Master’s goodwill and was quite grateful.

…

Muhua Palace Master left, and Ji Ning began searching alone in the secret pavilion.

“Wind Smoke Secret Art, exchangeable for five hundred thousand cubes of chaos liquid. This secret art is…”

“Ming Jin Divine Power, exchangeable for three hundred thousand cubes of chaos liquid…”

The divine powers and secret arts here all had brief introductions and the required price for exchange.

The divine powers and secret arts here ranged from a minimum of one hundred thousand cubes to a maximum of three million cubes. After all, some of these secret arts could even serve as trump cards in the hands of Daolords. Only the Sword Palace could provide them so easily. Outside, obtaining them would be much more difficult.

“Mm?” Ji Ning was startled.

“Nine Sources Divine Fire, exchangeable for one million cubes of chaos liquid. This secret art was created by Daolord Wan Shen…”

“Nine Sources Divine Water, exchangeable for one million cubes of chaos liquid…”

Ji Ning found five secret arts by Daolord Wan Shen in succession.

“There are even secret arts by Daolord Wan Shen.” Ji Ning was somewhat surprised. The five secret arts were Nine Sources Divine Fire, Nine Sources Divine Water, Nine Sources Thick Earth, Nine Sources Divine Wood, and Nine Sources Mystic Metal.

Ji Ning carefully examined the surrounding secret arts but found no others.

Out of curiosity, Ji Ning went to the entrance of the secret pavilion.

“Beiming, chosen?” the guardian puppet Sword Three at the entrance asked.

“I saw Daolord Wan Shen’s five secret arts inside,” Ji Ning said. “I heard that Daolord Wan Shen created nine secret arts in total.”

“Right, Daolord Wan Shen was an exceptionally brilliant figure. He excelled in alchemy, artifact forging, nurturing insect beasts, and many other fields. He was very skilled at creating secret arts. He created nine secret arts, and when all nine are combined, their power is astonishing. Unfortunately, the Dao Alliance was unwilling to give them to our Mangya Kingdom,” Sword Three shook his head. “The great Sovereign personally intervened and paid a considerable price, but only obtained five of Daolord Wan Shen’s secret arts from the Dao Alliance. The other four, which are more powerful, we couldn’t get either.”

Ji Ning understood.

…

Ji Ning already had an idea, but he still looked through all the divine powers and secret arts in the secret pavilion, though only the brief introductions.

Daolord Wan Shen’s five secret arts here each cost one million cubes, because mastering any one of them could kill a weaker four-step Daolord. They were very fearsome trump cards.

“Apart from the sword dao, what I’m good at are lightning, water, and space.”

“And lightning and water complement each other.”

Lightning and water naturally assist each other.

“Moreover, Daolord Wan Shen’s nine secret arts were originally designed to be combined. I’ll choose the Nine Sources Divine Water secret art.” Ji Ning quickly decided.

…

“Sure you want to choose the Nine Sources Divine Water secret art?” Sword Three looked at Ji Ning. “Actually, for a World-level cultivator, inheritance is more important.”

“I’m sure.” Ji Ning nodded.

“Good.” Sword Three easily removed the restriction on that jade slip. “You can learn it now.”

After sensing the scroll and making a lifeblood oath, Ji Ning quickly learned this secret art.

Although the Nine Sources Divine Water was powerful, it was more gentle. In contrast, the Nine Sources Divine Thunder was more domineering and inclined toward annihilation.

Among the nine secret arts, the five of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were slightly weaker, while the Nine Sources Divine Thunder and Nine Sources Divine Light were relatively stronger.

“Time to go to the Divine Weapon Valley.” After learning the secret art, Ji Ning flew out of the secret pavilion and headed for the Divine Weapon Valley. He needed to get the fourth Snow Mirror scroll as soon as possible.

…