“Eh?” Adept Xu Li, standing within the draconic head of the snowy white Flood Dragon, frowned. The grand sealing formation was under his control, and thus, he could clearly sense…
“Someone is attacking my grand sealing formation from within? It seems as though someone from the Ji clan wishes to flee. Unfortunately, without the assistance of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, even Ji Ning, the most powerful of them, wouldn’t be able to break through the formation!”
“They need to just obediently wait for death.”
Adept Xu’s cold, insidious gaze held a hint of a killing intent.
Although he had used his Earth-ranked magic treasure, ‘Divine Blackblood Needle’, to wound Ning, in reality, he wasn’t able to sense Ning’s location at all. Previously, when he had loudly said that he could sense Ning’s location, he was completely bluffing! After all, he wouldn’t feel much pressure if other members of the Ji clan came and attacked, but an ambush from Ning put him under great pressure. He trusted that the Ji clan definitely treasured Ning, and so intentionally put on an act, shouting loudly…
And the effect was excellent. The elders of the Ji clan, no matter what, refused to let Ning go risk himself again.
……….
Serpentwing Lake. Within the icy waters of the lake.
Rustle…
Deep within the waters of the lake, space rippled and Ning appeared out of nowhere.
“This is…?” Ning looked at the boundless lakewater above him. He could sense the presence of the aquatic estate. “This is Serpentwing Lake?”
Previously, he had completely relied on a general sense and feeling to activate the Traceless Talisman to teleport him towards the general direction of Serpentwing Lake. Serpentwing Lake was a hundred kilometers in circumference, and so Ning’s teleportation had resulted him being thrown deep into the waters of the lake.
“The aquatic estate. Inwards!” Ning willed it.
As long as he could sense the presence of the aquatic manor, he would be able to enter it.
The enormous phantom of a grizzly’s head appeared in the lakewaters around him, swallowing Ning within its maw.
………..
Within the ancient aquatic estate. The enormous prayer mats lay scattered in the main hall. Everything was just as Ning had left it.
“Eh?” Ning appeared out of nowhere within the main hall. He immediately saw the old black bull and giant yellow bear in the distance.
“I can sense that you have already broken through, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, to the ‘Blood Drop Rebirth’ level. Have you come to enter the Divine Abilities Hall?” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning, a hint of doubt suddenly appearing within its eyes. “Ji Ning, I can sense that your heart is filled with boundless rage, panic, and a murderous intent. What did you encounter, exactly?”
Ning’s heart was still filled with concern for his father, Uncle White, the Patriarch, and the others on Oxhorn Mountain, who were at the brink of death. Upon hearing the words from the giant yellow bear, a light suddenly flashed in his mind!
Right!
The spirit of the aquatic estate!
The old black bull was the spirit of an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, while the giant yellow bear was even more unfathomable; it didn’t even pay much attention to Immortal Juhua. In addition, the giant yellow bear seemed to carry with it an aura of eternity, very similar to the eternal, unextinguishable aura that the image of Lady Nuwa which Ning visualized had.
This aquatic estate, even without his active control, could allow him to go through spatial teleportation? This sort of ability…was simply inconceivable.
“Senior.” Ning gave a brief explanation. “My Ji clan is currently facing a great tribulation. We face a powerful foe, roughly at the early Wanxiang Adept level of power, who has at least three Earth-ranked magic treasures! By relying on my Windwing Evasion, I was able to fight against him, but in the end, I was still defeated by him and forced to flee…senior, dare I ask, can you suggest any method by which I can defeat this Wanxiang Adept, and save my family?”
The giant yellow bear glanced at Ning. “Although you have the Windwing Evasion ability, that’s simply a very crude divine ability which has undergone a simplification process. It only allows your speed and agility to increase! Your actual power, however, is not increased…and so, your flaw is quite evident. If a Wanxiang Adept were to use a large number of magic treasures to attack you and limit your agility, you would definitely be defeated.”
Ning nodded. “Senior, your words are correct. But what should I do to defeat him? If I go to the Divine Abilities Hall and acquire a divine ability, would I be able to defeat that Wanxiang Adept?”
“The Divine Abilities Hall has many divine abilities.” The giant yellow bear said. “If you are able to learn a high-class divine ability, it would be simplicity itself for you to kill even a middle-stage Wanxiang Adept.”
A look of unconcealable excitement appeared on Ning’s face.
The panic and pain in his heart immediately became transformed into hope!
He had to acquire a divine ability!
And then, he would go save his father, Uncle White, the Patriarch, and the others!
“I have reached the Blood Drop Rebirth level as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. I can acquire a Mortal-ranked magic treasure from the Treasure Hall.” Ning hurriedly said. “Senior, please let me choose. I will make a quick selection. I’ll choose a powerful magic treasure, so that I can go attempt the Divine Abilities Hall.”
The more powerful he was, the greater his chances would be in challenging the Divine Abilities Hall.
“No need.” The giant yellow bear shook its head. “The Divine Abilities Hall is a test for Fiendgods of later generations. It forbids one from using elemental ki and any magic treasures! You have to use your power as a Fiendgod…and even your weapons will be provided to you by the Divine Abilities Hall.”
“I’m forbidden from using elemental ki and magic treasures?” Ning hesitated slightly, but then he understood.
This was a test. A test of his abilities as a Fiendgod Body Refiner. It made sense that all Ki Refiner things were forbidden.
“You are only five years old.” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “You can wait until you are ten. By then, your power will be far greater. I imagine that if you go to the Divine Abilities Hall at that point, you will acquire even more powerful divine abilities. This Divine Abilities Hall is a place you will only be able to enter once. Are you sure you are going to enter now?”
“Yes.” Ning nodded. “I am going to enter the Divine Abilities Hall immediately.”
Perhaps, in five years, he would receive an even more powerful divine ability when he challenged the Divine Abilities Hall.
But his father, Uncle White, and the others wouldn’t be able to wait.
His father, by now, had most likely begun to execute a forbidden technique to delay Snowdragon Mountain. This was very possibly his father’s final hour of life.
“If I can return to Oxhorn Mountain within an hour, perhaps I will be able to save Father.” Ning was filled with hope.
He was fighting for every moment right now.
“Since you’ve decided, then come.” The giant yellow bear strode directly towards a nearby corridor, with Ning hurriedly following from behind. The nearby old black bull mumbled, “What a waste. If you waited five more years, you would definitely acquire an even more powerful divine ability from the Divine Abilities Hall.”
………
The bronze door to the Divine Abilities Hall was shut. The surface of the door was covered with the carving of a single giant hand. The hand seemed to be omnipotent, as though it blocked out the skies and covered the earth, filled with boundless power.
The giant yellow bear only needed to take three steps to travel from the gate of the main hall to the gate of the Divine Abilities Hall. Upon arriving, as though it knew that Ning was currently very nervous, it turned to look at Ning, who was hurrying over like a flash of light.
“Follow me in.” The giant yellow bear said.
Rumble…
The bronze door opened. The insides of the hall were bathed with boundless amounts of gray light. When the gray light fell upon the giant yellow bear and Ning’s bodies, they disappeared without a trace.
“Rumble.” The door to the hall once more swung shut.
The old black bull remained outside the hall. The old black bull raised its head, staring at the gate, then sighed. “Given Ji Ning’s talents, he is even more of a monster than Immortal Juhua. In addition, he entered this aquatic estate at a very young age…his situation is much better than Immortal Juhua’s was. In the past, when Immortal Juhua entered the aquatic estate, he was far older than simply ten years. There was no way he could enter the Divine Abilities Hall at all.”
“If Immortal Juhua had the chance to challenge the Divine Abilities Hall and acquire a powerful divine ability, he probably wouldn’t have ended up becoming a Loose Immortal.” The old black bull sighed. “I wonder what sort of divine ability this Ji Ning will acquire.”
Not even the old black bull knew which divine abilities this Divine Abilities Hall contained.
……….
The blurry, gray area seemed to be an empty void.
Ning and the giant yellow bear appeared out of nowhere within this location. Ning looked around himself, but could see nothing at all.
“This can be said to be the most important part of the entire estate.” The giant yellow bear looked at Niing, then sighed. “I know that your family members are currently in mortal danger, but you only have a single chance to challenge this Divine Abilities Hall. I advise you, wait five more years. Five more years later, when you are more powerful, come and challenge this hall.”
“I’ve made my decision!” Ning said.
“Even the deaths of your family members aren’t as important as this opportunity.” The giant yellow bear said. “You still don’t understand what the divine abilities within this Divine Abilities Hall represent! This Divine Abilities Hall has seven mighty divine abilities; if you are able to acquire the most powerful of them, then in the future, you will even have the potential to dominate the Three Realms. By then, you can even locate your reincarnated family members. Even granting them their memories of their former lives won’t be too hard.”
The giant yellow bear looked at Ning, then said frantically, “Your talent is the best I have seen out of the successors to this estate, ever since Master created it. Don’t squander your talent. I can tell you this…the number one divine ability within the seven divine abilities of the Divine Abilities Hall was personally left here by Master.”
“The other six divine abilities were left behind by Master’s six mighty disciples.”
“If you were to acquire Master’s divine ability…”
“In the future, you have a chance of escaping the Three Realms and becoming a Celestial Immortal, and perhaps even of dominating the Three Realms.” The giant yellow bear said frantically. “In the future, it wouldn’t even be difficult for you to erect an enormous dynasty like the Grand Xia Dynasty, which would exist for untold years.”
Ning, hearing this, was stunned.
At first, the giant yellow bear hadn’t paid him much attention, but ever since he had gained insight into the Rainwater Sword Domain, the giant yellow bear’s attitude towards him had markedly changed.
And now, the giant yellow bear clearly didn’t even want to let him waste this chance to challenge the Divine Abilities Hall.
“I wonder what the first master’s background was?” Ning asked.
“Countless years ago, after Pangu established the universe, but before the Three Realms of the Heaven, Netherworld, and the Mortal Realms were established, and before the three thousand great worlds, and countless minor worlds were created…” The giant yellow bear looked at Ning. “…as far back as then, the first master had already left behind this estate, for the sake of ensuring that his divine abilities would be passed down. Although Master had six mighty disciples, none of them lived up to Master’s requirements, and thus they did not acquire that mighty divine ability.”
“After leaving down this estate, Master departed. To whence, I know not.”
“After his departure, countless years passed. The War of the Primordial Fiendgods. The birth of the three thousand major worlds and the trillions of minor worlds…” The giant yellow bear looked towards Ning. “It was only due to luck and fate that this estate ended up in this world, one of the major worlds.”
The giant yellow bear said solemnly, “I can tell you this. Given your power, you would at most be able to acquire the third divine ability. As for Master’s divine ability, the chances of you acquiring it are less than one in ten thousand.”
Ning was stunned.
He had guessed long ago that the first owner of the aquatic estate had an extraordinary history to him; he even had left quite a few ‘Pure Yang’ magic treasures in the Treasure Hall, which were above Immortal-ranked magic treasures in power. From this alone, one could tell how powerful the first master had been…but now, it seemed, this person was most likely an incredibly powerful figure of the Three Realms. The giant yellow bear’s words were correct. There was only one chance to challenge the Divine Abilities Hall…and only a single chance to acquire such a powerful divine ability.
The giant yellow bear said, “If you miss this opportunity…you will most likely have to wait until you become a Celestial Immortal before you will have the chance to encounter such a powerful figure and gain another opportunity.”
Ning hesitated slightly, then asked, “Senior, dare I ask, what sort of divine ability do I need to acquire in order to kill a middle-stage Wanxiang Adept?”
“Any of the top three will suffice.”
The giant yellow bear said, “If you are able to acquire the most powerful divine ability which Master left behind, then given how you already have the power of an ordinary late-stage Zifu Disciple Fiendgod, you can use that powerful divine ability to annihilate a middle-stage Wanxiang Adept with a single technique. However, you don’t even have a one-in-ten-thousand chance to acquire that divine ability, at your current level of power. Are you still going to make the attempt? This is your one and only chance to challenge the hall.”
“I will.” Ning didn’t hesitate.
Perhaps, after five years, he would be able to acquire that powerful divine ability, resulting in his future accomplishments being so great that he would be able to dominate the Three Realms, and even find his reincarnated parents and restore their previous memories to them.
But…
Even after his reincarnated parents received their memories back, would ‘they’ still truly be ‘themselves’?
Once they were gone, they would be truly gone!
“Even if I’m not able to acquire that powerful divine ability, I, Ji Ning, can still dominate the Three Realms in the future. I am still planning on meeting with Judge Cui once more.” Ning’s eyes were filled with boundless determination. “What’s more…who says I won’t be able to acquire that powerful divine ability? The chance might be less than one in ten thousand, but that’s still better than zero!”
“Alas! Once you miss this chance, it will be forever gone!” The giant yellow bear shook its head, then disappeared into the void.
Ning was left there by himself, with the empty, gray void.