Chapter 18: The Place of Origin

The Mosha puppet was very obedient, willingly letting Ji Ning refine it. Ji Ning sighed inwardly... the change of face was truly fast.

Earlier, when first captured, it had been arrogant, looking down on Ji Ning, believing that Ji Ning and the others were not far from death. Now, sensing its master's death, it knelt without a word and begged, 'Don't annihilate me.'

'Master.' After being refined, the Mosha puppet smiled ingratiatingly. 'I have something to report to you.'

'Speak,' Ji Ning said.

'I was originally ordered by Emperor Sanxiao to mine here,' the Mosha puppet said proudly. 'Spacefire Darkstone ore is very difficult to extract. I am immensely strong and have mined for over thirty chaos cycles, gathering quite a bit of ore. To facilitate my mining, I carry a cave-heaven space.'

Ji Ning's eyes lit up. 'You have Spacefire Darkstone ore?' Mining for over thirty chaos cycles—how much would that yield?

'Yes,' the Mosha puppet nodded. 'But much was taken by my original master. I only have the ore mined in the last nine chaos cycles. Please have a look, Master.'

With a wave of his hand, fist-sized pieces of fiery red rock appeared on the barren ground, and the surrounding space began to warp strangely.

He waved three times in succession, and the fiery red rocks piled into a hill a thousand zhang high. The surrounding space twisted, ripples of void appearing. Since all were fist-sized, collecting them was convenient. If it were a single piece this large, its power would be so great that only an Eternal Emperor could forcibly collect it.

'So much.' Ji Ning stared in amazement.

A puppet with the strength of a Three-Step Daolord was valuable.

But the ore it carried was even more precious.

'So much raw Spacefire Darkstone ore...' Ji Ning swept his divine sense and calculated carefully. 'It must be worth nearly ten million cubes!'

'My original master had about twice as much as I have,' the Mosha puppet said. 'I was not used to the axe at first and mined slowly. The ore from the first twenty-plus chaos cycles is with my original master. This is from the last nine chaos cycles.'

'That's enough.' Ji Ning smiled.

These raw ores were worth ten million cubes.

The Black-Robed Daolord had about twenty million cubes' worth, which was now in Feng Yi's hands. But Feng Yi had used a precious, hard-to-buy talisman to save them earlier, so Ji Ning was not jealous. Suddenly obtaining so much Spacefire Darkstone ore was already a stroke of great luck.

'Do you know anything about Emperor Sanxiao?' Ji Ning asked. They had been worried.

'Emperor Sanxiao has a strange temper and is extremely vicious,' the Mosha puppet said quickly. 'You must be careful, Master. From my understanding of the Emperor, he is vengeful. Once he finds out it was you five, he will not let you off easily.'

'Oh?' Ji Ning's expression turned solemn. He nodded.

Neither of them knew that at this moment, Emperor Sanxiao was far more pitiable than they were.

'What do you know about the Place of Origin?' Ji Ning asked.

'It is the origin of the entire universe, where killing is forbidden,' the Mosha puppet said. 'When I followed the Emperor, I stayed in the Place of Origin for a long time.'

Ji Ning asked, 'Killing is forbidden—by whose order?'

'By order of the Divine Destruction Palace,' the Mosha puppet said. 'Daolords dare not disobey the order. Of course, if someone goes mad with rage, they might still fight and kill. I have seen Daolords hide in the Place of Origin to escape enemies. But their enemies, crazed, defied the ban and killed them there. Of course, those enemies were later killed by the Divine Destruction Palace.'

Ji Ning nodded.

'But the divine generals of the Divine Destruction Palace dare to defy the ban. Even if they do, they are part of the Palace and only receive light punishment,' the Mosha puppet said. 'I heard from my master that even the Sixteen Star Lords can defy the ban without consequence. The Lord of the Divine Palace would not lightly provoke a Star Lord.'

'Oh...' Ji Ning smiled. This puppet knew quite a bit!

Before coming, the information about the alternate universe given by the mighty master of the Mangya Kingdom had little about the Ancient Domain, saying only that it was full of dangers. But upon reaching the Place of Origin, though it had its own dangers, killing was at least forbidden. There, one need not worry about encountering other World-level cultivators or Daolords.

Now, hearing the puppet's words, Ji Ning sighed.

A ban?

Every ban has its limits. Those unafraid of death will still defy it. Divine generals, and even Star Lords of high status, could also defy it.

'Divine generals who defy the ban still face punishment; they won't target us,' Ji Ning said softly, nodding. 'As for Star Lords, we probably aren't qualified to provoke them.'

'There are only sixteen Star Lords in the entire universe, and almost none are in the Ancient Domain,' the Mosha puppet said. 'I heard that Emperor Sanxiao has only met three Star Lords in his life.'

...

The Mosha puppet, having followed Emperor Sanxiao, knew many secrets and had stayed in the Place of Origin, giving Ji Ning a much better understanding of it.

...

Time passed. Ji Ning and his group of eight traveled cautiously. Their luck was normal; they did not encounter any more Daolords. In truth, the Ancient Domain was vast, and the chance of meeting a Daolord was very low.

After 8,922 years in the Ancient Domain, facing many dangerous environments, they finally arrived safely at the 'Place of Origin.' All eight were alive and well.

'The Place of Origin.'

A flying boat hung in the void.

On the boat, Ji Ning and the other seven looked up at a massive floating world in the distance. That was the Place of Origin, the source of all power in the Ancient Domain and the origin of the entire alternate universe.

'Such immense power...' They were all awestruck. The invisible force enveloped the entire Ancient Domain. Without an Ancient Domain token, even an Eternal Emperor would be crushed. The Ancient Domain was comparable in size to their homeland, the 'Endless Territories.' A single force could cover such a vast area.

The floating world ahead was the source of that force! The pressure it emitted was unimaginable, surpassing even that of the mighty master of the Mangya Kingdom.

'Let's go. We'll enter the Place of Origin,' Ji Ning said.

'Brother Beiming, you said the basic test to enter the Place of Origin is a test of will?' Qinghuang said.

'That's what my puppet told me. It should be true,' Ji Ning said.

Not everyone could enter the Place of Origin.

Weak beings had almost no chance. Any being entering the Place of Origin's range had to undergo a test of will. Those who endured could stay freely; those who could not would be knocked unconscious and teleported out, unqualified to enter.

'The test is not too hard. Some Daolords or major sects send their disciples here. As long as they are talented, they can usually enter.' Ji Ning looked at the somewhat nervous Su Youji, Yanxian the Immortal, and Tianlang the World God. As followers, they were weaker than Ji Ning and the others and lacked confidence.

'Mm.' Fire Fairy Su Youji nodded.

Whoosh~~~

The flying boat sped forward, heading toward the massive floating world. Gradually, they drew near.

Then, a vast, lofty force enveloped Ji Ning and the other seven. This force was cold and emotionless, without intelligence—a natural power of the Place of Origin itself. This was the origin of the universe, not a place for weak life.

'Rumble~~~' Ji Ning felt something crushing his soul.

But his soul, nourished by the power of blueflower mist, was comparable to that of a One-Step Daolord, so he resisted easily.

Ji Ning swept his gaze.

Prince Qinghuang, Feng Yi, and Huojin were also relatively relaxed. They looked at each other and smiled.

'Hm?' Ji Ning and the others noticed that Tianhong Mangya's face was pale, and his body trembled slightly. Though talented and from an extraordinary background, he had never taken many risks alone. In terms of soul, will, and mental state, he was somewhat inferior to Ji Ning and the others.