Chapter 829
Another conversation with the Martial Saint, the extraordinary Ji Xuan!
Imperial Prefecture.
On the table.
Jiang Ning suddenly paused in his hand.
"Lord Dongling, come sit here for a while and have some tea, how about it?" A gentle and familiar voice rang in his ears.
"It's him!!" The thought flashed through Jiang Ning's mind, and the image of the Great Xia Martial Saint appeared in his mind.
"A-Ning, what's wrong?" Liu Wanwan suddenly asked.
Hearing this, Jiang Ning snapped out of his daze and looked at his sister-in-law.
"Sister-in-law, I need to go out for a while. The Martial Saint is looking for me."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li, who had just put down her chopsticks, suddenly narrowed her eyes slightly.
The title "Martial Saint" is a myth, a legend.
A slight look of surprise appeared in Jiang Yiming's eyes.
Afterwards, Jiang Ning got up, said goodbye to the others, and headed outside the hall.
The Martial Saint wanted to see him.
Although the wording was mild, his opinion was still sought.
But he knew that this was the respect the Great Xia Martial Saint was giving him, not a reason for him to be arrogant.
The Martial Saint wanted to see him, and he had no reason not to.
A thought flashed through his mind, and he took a step forward, instantly disappearing from the spot.
When he appeared, he was already outside the Imperial Preceptor's residence, and then he walked towards the city gates.
A few breaths later, his figure appeared outside the capital city.
The grand formation that once enveloped the entire capital city was now as if it were nothing to him, and it could no longer sense his comings and goings.
After leaving the capital, he moved even faster, and in just a dozen breaths, he arrived at the mountain peak that soared into the clouds, resembling a divine sword.
I landed on the mountain peak and looked up at the night sky above.
This was his third time visiting this place, and compared to the previous two times, this time he could clearly sense the difference in the space above.
Seeing the ripples constantly moving in the void, he sensed, in the darkness, that there was another world above.
"That feeling must be the entrance to the cave," he thought to himself.
Feeling the fluctuations above his head, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Shangyang Grotto Heaven"
Just then.
Suddenly, a will descended from the void above.
As this will descended, the void itself began to fluctuate.
The next moment, the fluctuation enveloped him.
He could clearly feel that he was no longer completely powerless against this fluctuation.
His intuition told him that with a little struggle, he could break free from the spatial fluctuations.
“It’s completely different from before!” The thought flashed through his mind.
He didn't resist, but let the fluctuations envelop him.
The void changes, and heaven and earth are turned upside down.
He saw himself traversing through layers of space, his body trembled, and time and space had already changed.
Instead of a dark night sky, there was a bright and clear sky overhead.
A bright sun hung high overhead at noon.
Ahead lies the familiar thatched cottage.
There was an aura within the thatched hut that secretly alarmed him.
He hadn't felt this way the first two times, but this time, even through the thatched hut and the wall, he could sense the extremely oppressive aura ahead.
"It seems the gap between us is closing!"
"The gap was too wide before, like a frog at the bottom of a well, unable to see the vastness of the world."
"The fact that I can see the vastness of the sky and earth now shows that I have indeed made great progress during this period."
He thought to himself and started walking towards the thatched hut.
Stepping across the threshold, the scene was exactly the same as the last time I had seen it.
An elderly man with white hair and a slightly hunched back sat in a thatched hut, with a small red clay stove in front of him, on which a pot of tea was boiling.
The kettle spout was gurgling, and boiling steam rose like smoke and mist.
"Greetings, senior!" Jiang Ning bowed respectfully to the old man before him.
"Very good!" The old man looked at Jiang Ning and nodded in satisfaction. "The curse should no longer pose any threat to you, right?"
"Senior has insightful eyes; this humble one is no longer afraid of this curse-killing technique." Hearing the old man's words, Jiang Ning readily admitted it.
He understood that the old man before him had dominated the world for over eight hundred years, like a mountain looming over all the blessed lands and grotto-heavens, suppressing the powerful immortals within them for over eight hundred years and preventing them from easily leaving their grotto-heavens.
It also brought more than 800 years of peace and prosperity to the world.
If this old man hadn't reached the end of his life, the world would still be at peace.
Seeing Jiang Ning's attitude, the old man nodded again.
"Sit down!" He gestured for Jiang Ning to sit down in front of him first.
"Thank you, senior!" Jiang Ning bowed and expressed his gratitude.
"I'll do it!" Seeing the old man pick up the teapot to pour tea for him, he immediately stood up and respectfully took the teapot.
"No need for such formalities!" The old man shook his head at Jiang Ning.
Seeing this, Jiang Ning sat down again without forcing anyone.
gurgling—
The clear, green tea gradually filled the teacup.
The rising steam blurred the face.
"I wonder what brings you here today, senior?" Jiang Ning asked.
"I just wanted to see you and see if my previous intuition was correct!" The old man looked at Jiang Ning with a hint of regret in his eyes.
Then, seeing the confusion in Jiang Ning's eyes, he smiled faintly.
"Who would have thought that the Marquis of Dongling, who was considered to be nearing his death by the world, has now entered the realm of First Rank Unity."
"Senior noticed that?" Jiang Ning asked.
"Hmm!" The old man nodded, as if it were a matter of course, "Although your method of concealing your aura is very mysterious, I can still sense that you are at the Unity Realm, where divine power is integrated with the particles of flesh and blood in your body."
"But don't worry, there aren't many people in the world who can do that!"
“I’m one, the leader of the Yellow Heaven Sect is one, the abbot of Qingxu Temple is one, and the abbot of Jingang Temple is one. Apart from these people, there are no more than three other martial artists in the world who can see through your disguise.”
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Ning's heart stirred.
"I wonder how much you know about Princess Xuan, the one-word princess of the Great Xia royal family?" Jiang Ning asked.
"You have a rift with him?" The old man was insightful and immediately pointed out Jiang Ning's hidden thoughts.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning nodded frankly: "Although we have never met, I am already his enemy."
Upon hearing this, the old man laughed heartily.
"I'm quite curious, given your previous strength, how dare you provoke this formidable figure."
"If that old Taoist priest from Qingxu Temple were here, he would definitely do some calculations. The karmic entanglement between you and him would most likely be calculated by that old Taoist priest from Qingxu Temple."
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Ning felt a chill run down his spine.
The fact that Ji Xuan was praised as "a king on par with others" speaks volumes about the immense praise he received from this martial saint who had suppressed the world for eight hundred years.
At the same time, the old man in front of me also revealed the terrifying nature of the abbot of Qingxu Temple.
He could calculate about 70-80% of the karmic entanglement between him and Ji Xuan out of thin air. This kind of method was truly miraculous.
He didn't believe the old man would lie to him about this.
It's neither necessary nor reasonable.
"It seems that the heroes of the world should not be underestimated!" he thought to himself, a sense of caution rising within him.
He secretly thought that he needed to be extremely cautious in his future actions.
He cannot yet fully expose himself to the world's heroes.
The old man picked up his teacup and took a sip. Seeing Jiang Ning's slightly tense expression, he asked again, "Is there any room for reconciliation between the two of you?"
Jiang Ning pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "It's difficult! I've ruined Ji Xuan's years of planning."
"Does it involve the path?" the old man asked again.
"Okay!" Jiang Ning nodded.
“That is indeed very troublesome! The struggle for the path has always been cruel!” the old man said.
"Senior, could you tell me why Ji Xuan has received such high praise from you?" Jiang Ning asked.
"Ji Xuan was a man of extraordinary talent from a young age. He received the full support of the Ji clan from childhood and began cultivating both immortal and martial arts at an early age. However, at the age of fifty, he entered the ranks of the strongest people in the world. Now, more than 150 years have passed, and no one knows how far he has progressed in martial arts."
"As for the path to immortality, he has already cultivated the Yang Spirit and is only one step away from condensing the Primordial Spirit, just one stroke away from a stroke of good fortune."
At this point, the old man looked at Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning's heart skipped a beat.
His intuition told him that perhaps Lin Qingyi was the destiny of this king who was on par with him.
But I myself have taken away his destiny.
The old man glanced at Jiang Ning and continued, "However, Ji Xuan's path to success has been too smooth. With the full support of the Ji clan, he has had fewer trials. Although he is said to be the second best in the world, in my eyes, he is still somewhat inferior to those other people."
Jiang Ning asked, "Senior, how much of a difference is there between them and the so-called supreme experts?"
“Then there is a huge gap.” The old man shook his head: “In the path of martial arts, the first rank is the peak of the mountain. Once you reach the highest peak, there is no way forward. There is only a vast world ahead.”
"Therefore, all martial artists in the world who have reached this point are trapped at the top of the mountain."
"But the passage of time was not wasted on them."
"As time goes by, the more they accumulate, the more refined their martial arts become, and the further they go on their own path."
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Ning was immediately filled with doubt.
"Senior, what is one's own path?" he asked, voicing the question that had been nagging at him.
"You didn't come out?" The old man looked at Jiang Ning suspiciously, then said, "Martial arts in the world are divided into beginner, proficient, minor mastery, major mastery, and perfection."
"But perfection is not the true limit."
"Everyone must, on the basis of perfecting martial arts, walk their own path and create a path that belongs to them alone."
"This is the path that any strong person must take."
"The reason why Ji Xuan said it was extraordinary is that his main cultivation technique, the Imperial Extreme World-Suppressing Technique, had already broken through to perfection, and had walked its own path, the path of the Imperial Extreme Heaven Domain. It was a unique technique that formed its own domain."
"This is why the gap between the strongest and someone like Ji Xuan is still enormous."
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Ning immediately understood.
Break through perfection and forge your own path.
It has a similar effect to his breaking through the limits after perfecting his cultivation technique.
He immediately understood why the Vajra Temple possessed the supernatural power of the sixteen-foot-tall golden body.
It must be because there was once a powerful figure in Vajra Temple who, with the Vajra Indestructible Body, forged his own path and comprehended the supernatural power of the Sixteen-Foot Golden Body.
"Senior, is it difficult to break through to perfection and forge one's own path?" Jiang Ning asked.
"It's very difficult!" The old man nodded. "The more profound the cultivation technique, the more difficult it is to take this step. The Imperial Extreme World-Suppressing Technique is a supreme technique cultivated by the ancestors of the Ji clan. It originates from the lineage of the ancient human kings. In terms of the quality of the technique, even the so-called supreme techniques of the Vajra Temple and Qingxu Temple are half a grade lower than it. Ji Xuan took this step a hundred years ago. In my eyes, his talent and comprehension are among the top thirty."
Top 30!
Jiang Ning muttered to himself, then took a sip of tea.
Then he looked up at the old man in front of him.
"Senior, what about me?"
"Top three!" the old man said.
"Top three?" Jiang Ning was somewhat surprised.
"Do you think I underestimated you? At this age, without a strong backing, you've already reached the First Grade Unity Realm?" the old man said.
“No,” Jiang Ning said, but the old man said, “Don’t worry about it. I included you in the top three because I have met the geniuses of the Upper Three Heavens.”
"Up to three days?" Jiang Ning was even more surprised when he heard this.
He had heard about the three days before many times.
Xia Xuanyan had repeatedly mentioned the Upper Three Heavens in his previous self-praise.
This time, the Three Heavens were mentioned again by the Martial Saint who had suppressed the world for over eight hundred years.
But now, his understanding of the three days above is limited to what the two of them told him.
"wrong!"
He shook his head inwardly.
Previously, in Shangyang Cave, he encountered a mysterious girl.
The girl who called herself Zhou Yun.
The girl claimed to be from Biyuntian.
As far as he knew, the Upper Three Heavens referred to were the Azure Heaven, the Five Elements Heaven, and the Nine Heavens.
"Senior, is there anything special about the Upper Three Heavens?" Jiang Ning asked.
"In over eight hundred years, I have stepped into an unprecedented realm and witnessed a new world. I then sought to sweep away the remnants of the previous era and engaged in a great battle with the powerful immortals."
"At that time, I also confronted the so-called immortals and gods."
"But whether they are immortals or gods, none of them are my match. I have killed more than two immortals and gods, and I have flattened several grotto heavens."
"However, a powerful immortal has arrived in the Upper Three Heavens, a true immortal."
The old man paused, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"That is a descendant of the Celestial Venerable, a descendant of the Dao Ancestor. He is younger than me, yet he is subtly superior to me. That powerful figure, with every word and action, can turn the tide of the world, as if he has the power to recreate the heavens and earth. He has also mastered a portion of the power of space and time. The immortal tree soars into the sky, and heaven and earth retreat."
"Later I learned that it was the embodiment of the Great Dao Flower, which is the second realm in the Immortal Path."
"In that battle, the two sides were evenly matched, but I believed that if the battle continued, I would be able to win, because his power was without roots or roots, while my power came from within myself and did not depend on the external world. But at the time, I also felt that there was no need to continue the battle."
"Because I have just stepped into a new world, give me some time, and I will surely become stronger."
"As for that immortal expert, without suitable soil and external environment, it is difficult to maintain his own realm, let alone make progress."
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Ning immediately understood.
The old man before me spoke of something that embodied the flower of the Great Dao.
It is the second realm of immortality, the Celestial Immortal.
"Did you fight them later, senior?" Jiang Ning asked.
The old man shook his head: "We made a verbal agreement back then. I was determined that once I was stronger, I would break the agreement and flatten the Three Heavens."
"Senior is truly frank!" Jiang Ning said.
The old man picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"Agreements are meant to be torn up. Later, when I felt I was strong enough, I sent a spiritual body to the Upper Three Heavens, only to discover that such a person was not unique."
"And in the three heavens above, there are Dao soldiers left behind by the Heavenly Venerable Dao Ancestor."
“If those Dao soldiers were to erupt, I wouldn’t be able to withstand them! So I gave up!” The old man shook his head and said, “But now that I think about it, perhaps it was a deliberate display to show me, actually out of fear of me.”
"Otherwise, now that my time is up and my strength is far from what it used to be, no one would be willing to challenge me."
"My flesh and blood, they see them as a priceless treasure." (End of Chapter)