Chapter 46: Only Ji Ning Remains

The Dan Venerable, the Emperor of Abandoned Fire, and Ji Ning all gazed at the distant fiery red rock mine—a miracle born within this universe.

“Beiming,” the Emperor of Abandoned Fire suddenly said, “forging six lifebound divine weapons will take no small amount of time. Even if I refine them within my cave heaven with time acceleration, you’ll probably have to wait tens of thousands of years.”

For tasks requiring extensive time and study, such as alchemy, artifact forging, talisman making, and the like, major powers generally delved into them within cave heavens with ‘constant time acceleration.’

“Tens of thousands of years?” Ji Ning laughed. “Then I’ll quietly await those six lifebound divine weapons.”

…

Tens of thousands of years—long or short, depending on perspective.

After all, when Ji Ning and the others first came to the alternate universe, the journey alone had taken over ten thousand years! Even if he were still in the Place of Origin, crossing the Ancient Domain to return would likewise take over ten thousand years… Now that he was in the Three Leaf Realm, he no longer needed to traverse the vast Ancient Domain, which saved some time.

“I wonder when Feng Yi, Qing Heng, and the others will leave the Place of Origin.” Ji Ning stayed within the Three Leaf Realm, silently pondering.

…

Su Youji waited silently at one end of the source chain, awaiting Ji Ning.

But it was destined—she would never meet him.

More than six thousand years after Ji Ning was taken away, Feng Yi Xinjun emerged from the inner domain world, walking along the source chain.

“Brother Feng Yi,” Huo Jin and the others greeted him.

“Master,” Yanxiao the Immortal also greeted him.

“Feng Yi Xinjun, have you seen my master?” Su Youji pressed urgently.

“Beiming? He and I entered the inner domain world together, but we later parted ways and never met again. What’s wrong?” The bald-headed Feng Yi Xinjun, still clad in loose fiery red robes, asked in surprise.

Su Youji quickly said, “Over six thousand years ago, I suddenly lost my connection to my master, but the token he gave me hasn’t shattered.”

“Lost connection?” Feng Yi Xinjun’s expression grew grave. He too had faced many dangers in the inner domain world and had nearly died, but he had emerged alive and obtained great fortune.

“The inner domain world is dangerous. Brother Beiming may have fallen into some deadly situation,” Feng Yi Xinjun said with concern. “But with no news for over six thousand years, it’s likely serious. Wait slowly—perhaps Brother Beiming still lives.”

Another five thousand years passed.

Prince Qing Heng also emerged from the inner domain world. He too had not seen Ji Ning, which disappointed Su Youji and made her even more anxious.

Another three thousand years passed.

Tianhuo Mangya also gathered with the others.

From then on—

Prince Qing Heng, Feng Yi Xinjun, Huojin Shuijun, Tianhuo Mangya, Yanxiao the Immortal, the World God of Tianlang, and Fire Fairy Su Youji were all together.

“We were fortunate that everyone remained relatively safe, but Brother Beiming is missing,” Prince Qing Heng said with a frown.

“Missing for so long…” Huo Jin shook his head slightly.

“My master must still be alive,” Su Youji insisted.

Tianhuo Mangya said, “But we can’t just wait for him alone. He’s been missing for over ten thousand years. If we keep waiting, who knows how long it will be? I think we should go back. If Brother Beiming is alive, he’ll sense our absence and return on his own.”

Feng Yi and Qing Heng exchanged glances.

This time, they had mainly accompanied Tianhuo Mangya! Since Tianhuo Mangya wanted to return, they couldn’t stop him.

“Fire Fairy, Tianhuo is right. If Brother Beiming is alive, he’ll return on his own,” Feng Yi said to Fire Fairy Su Youji.

“Waiting here alone is pointless,” Qing Heng added. “Besides, Beiming’s sudden disappearance might mean he’s already left the Place of Origin, or even returned home.”

“He returned?” Su Youji was startled.

It was hard to say.

The Place of Origin was full of unknowns. Due to some special environment, being teleported out was possible. If Ji Ning were teleported out, he probably wouldn’t bother slowly traversing the Ancient Domain again! The Ancient Domain was vast; even Prince Qing Heng, skilled in the Dao of Time and Space, had spent nearly ten thousand years crossing it. For Ji Ning, it would take much longer.

“Perhaps Brother Beiming has had another special encounter and might have already returned,” Feng Yi added.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go back together. Beiming is far stronger than you; he can definitely return on his own.”

“Fire Fairy, maybe you’ll see Beiming when we get back.”

One by one, they persuaded her.

Fire Fairy had waited over ten thousand years, growing anxious, and felt that Ji Ning might indeed have had another encounter. She nodded: “Alright, let’s go back.”

The seven of them had all gained greatly in the Place of Origin! That was why they thought Ji Ning might have had a special encounter—in the Place of Origin, anything was possible.

…

On their return journey, Prince Qing Heng, Feng Yi Xinjun, and the others took only a little over three thousand years to reach the cosmic passage and return to the Endless Territories, mainly because Prince Qing Heng had made great progress in the Dao of Time and Space, speeding up their travel.

Upon returning to the Mangya Kingdom, they discovered…

Ji Ning had not returned!

Su Youji was stunned. She could only wait silently in the Sword Palace of the Twelve Palaces of the Mangya Kingdom.

…

In the alternate universe, within the Three Leaf Realm.

Ji Ning had no way to contact Qing Heng and the others. He could only settle down and wait for the six lifebound divine weapons to be completed before leaving the Three Leaf Realm and returning to the Endless Territories.

He had to return eventually. His loved ones, his friends, and the Three Realms were not in this alternate universe.

Inside Ji Ning’s cave heaven world.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~” The sea water rushed onto the beach again and again, then receded.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged by the beach, his divine power surging as countless divine runes appeared around him. He was practicing the alchemy techniques from the seventh chapter of the *Dan Ye Seven Chapters*.

Suddenly, a chubby figure ran over, his face full of joy.

“Master, I’ve fully mastered the second chapter you taught me!” Danbao the World God exclaimed excitedly as he ran to Ji Ning.

“Mm.” Ji Ning withdrew his divine power and looked at Danbao the World God. “Refine a ‘Thousand-Curve Pill’ for me to see.”

The Thousand-Curve Pill required a short refining time but was very complex, involving a full thousand procedures, each with extremely strict requirements. The assessment levels in the first five chapters of the *Dan Ye Seven Chapters* were determined by observing the refinement of the Thousand-Curve Pill.

The refinement took over two days.

Danbao the World God’s alchemy skills had now improved more than tenfold compared to before coming to the Three Leaf Realm.

“Good, I’ll teach you the third chapter. Master it as quickly as possible—there might be a great opportunity waiting,” Ji Ning said.

“What great opportunity?” Danbao the World God was curious. He had spent these years in Ji Ning’s cave heaven focusing on alchemy, never venturing into the Three Leaf Realm, so he knew nothing about the ‘Dan Venerable.’

“It’s useless to talk about it now.” Ji Ning shook his head and said no more.

Even if he mastered the third chapter, it was uncertain whether the Dan Venerable would be willing to teach.

The Dan Venerable was of such high status and discernment! Ji Ning could only help introduce him; whether Danbao obtained the great opportunity depended on himself.

“Swoosh.” Ji Ning pointed a finger, touching Danbao’s brow, and transmitted the entire third chapter of the *Dan Ye Seven Chapters*.

“Incredible! The one who created this alchemy method is incredible… I’ve only studied it for a short time, and my alchemy has advanced so much. I feel that with a little more breakthrough, I could become a Daolord at any time,” Danbao said excitedly.

Ji Ning said in a low voice, “Remember your oath.”

Danbao paused, then nodded quickly.

Before returning to the Mangya Kingdom, breaking through to Daolord was absolutely forbidden.

…

Life in the Three Leaf Realm was calm and leisurely, more so than Ji Ning had ever experienced.

Previously, he had devoted himself entirely to the Dao of the Sword, but now that he had comprehended and combined the five supreme daos to their limits, Ji Ning had completely relaxed. He vaguely felt that this relaxation was right. So he stayed in his cave heaven, maintaining a hundredfold time acceleration. Tens of thousands of years… in the cave heaven, that meant millions of years.

In his leisurely, relaxed days, he sometimes practiced alchemy techniques, sometimes practiced swordplay. Since his sword dao had reached the pinnacle of the World level, he had no great aspirations.

In the Three Leaf Realm, over thirty thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

One day, within the cave heaven, fierce winds howled and waves rolled. Ji Ning sat leisurely on the waves, drifting with the current. In the windy sky, a sword shadow was constantly practicing sword techniques.

“Hm?” Ji Ning suddenly frowned.

“My swordplay…”

“It seems…”

After perfectly combining the five supreme daos and spending over three million leisurely years in the cave heaven, Ji Ning suddenly sensed a flaw in his swordplay.

“This is not the ultimate sword dao!” Ji Ning had a sudden realization. After practicing swordplay for over three million years, he finally had an intuition. At his level of cultivation, intuitions were very accurate.

…