Chapter 29: The Sacred City Tianmu

Ji Ning blinked and quickly smiled, saying, “Good, then I’ll find a place for you to break through first.”

“Mm.” Su Youji nodded with considerable excitement.

Ji Ning, however, felt helpless.

Youji, oh Youji, you’ve already broken through to become a Second Step Dao Lord, while your master is still merely a First Step Dao Lord.

…

After a short while, the flying vessel found a nearby chaotic star and descended. Ji Ning waved his hand and casually set up a simple formation restriction. With his current strength, he was ranked among the highest echelons of Dao Lords; in a stretch of chaotic void, encountering a worthy opponent was unlikely.

“What? Youji is about to break through?” Danbao was also stunned.

“Mm,” Ji Ning said from the side. “So you need to work hard too.”

Danbao nodded repeatedly. “In the path of alchemy, I need to refine many pills, truly comprehending the mysteries through each refinement. It takes a long time. But since Master and Youji have both broken through, I need to hurry up too.”

“A Lifespan Dao Lord faces life and death at every step; breaking through is no trivial matter. Don’t rush blindly for speed,” Ji Ning admonished briefly and said no more. Alas, it seemed that he, the master, would probably be slower than his two subordinates.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning waved his hand, and a massive boulder from a distant high mountain on the chaotic star flew over, landing before him. His gaze fell on the boulder; with a crack, it was smoothed flat. Ji Ning sat cross-legged on it and began to meditate and cultivate.

“It’s been over a thousand years, and among the five supreme paths, only the ‘Dripping Blood Sword Intent’ has made a breakthrough,” Ji Ning said with a self-deprecating smile. “It seems I really will be slower than Youji and Danbao.”

All five supreme paths must first break through.

Only then can they be combined to achieve a fundamental breakthrough in the ‘Ultimate Sword Dao.’

Ji Ning’s eyelids drooped, a faint gleam of sword-light flickering in his eyes. The space within a few feet around him occasionally showed fine spatial cracks, and at times, erratic winds drifted by—clearly, he was deducing sword techniques.

After a long time.

“Boom~~~” Above the chaotic star, winds and clouds surged, and vast chaotic forces churned as Su Youji began to absorb them in large quantities, clearly starting her breakthrough.

Danbao watched intently.

Ji Ning, however, remained seated cross-legged, continuing to deduce his sword techniques.

This breakthrough lasted over three full days before everything calmed down.

“Master.” Su Youji put away her immortal estate and walked out.

“Tsk, tsk, becoming a Second Step Dao Lord really makes a difference—you’re even more beautiful now,” Danbao exclaimed loudly. His Dao-heart was pure, like a child’s, and even after becoming a Dao Lord, he remained so. It was precisely this childlike heart that allowed him to become a Dao Lord. The inheritance of the ‘Seven Chapters of the Dan Leaf’ was external; his Dao-heart was internal.

Su Youji glared at Danbao.

Danbao was instantly dazed.

“Danbao, call me ‘big sister’ a few times,” Su Youji said, looking at him.

“Big sister, sis…” The dazed Danbao suddenly snapped awake. He pointed at Su Youji, stammering, “You, you…”

Su Youji said smugly, “Danbao, your Dao-heart still isn’t strong enough.”

“It’s over, it’s over. I got confused in an instant. I’m done for,” Danbao said with a bitter expression.

“It’s not that Danbao’s Dao-heart is weak, but that he’s still a First Step Dao Lord,” Ji Ning said, rising from the boulder and walking over. “Danbao walks the path of alchemy; he’s indeed lacking in combat. You, on the other hand, have the inheritance of the ‘Flying Immortal Saint Lord.’ As a Second Step Dao Lord, if you couldn’t confuse a First Step Dao Lord, that would be a joke. But Youji, you should refrain from doing this to Danbao too often.”

“I know. I just broke through, after all,” Su Youji quickly nodded, then looked at Ji Ning with some excitement. “Master, how about you try my charm technique too?”

Ji Ning smiled. “Let’s give it a try.”

Su Youji quickly said, “Master, you’ll have to…” Before she finished, she had already activated the secret technique.

She was already breathtakingly beautiful, and now, with a slight smile, her eyes seemed like the most beautiful thing in the world, yet also bottomless, compelling Ji Ning to look. Even if he deliberately looked away, those beautiful eyes remained in his mind, constantly stirring his heart…

Ji Ning’s gaze grew somewhat dazed.

“Master,” Su Youji said softly, “give Youji a hug.”

“Alright,” Ji Ning replied, dazed.

Su Youji showed an expression of excitement and thrill.

“Alright, my ass!” Ji Ning glared. “You charm your master, and this is what you have him do?”

Ji Ning’s soul was now comparable to a Fourth Step Dao Lord, and his heartforce was even higher—he was already at the threshold of the sixth level of heartforce, just a tiny step away from truly beginning the ‘heartforce path.’ How could Su Youji, who had just broken through to the Second Step, possibly charm him? Still, Ji Ning could feel the power of the Flying Immortal Saint Lord’s secret technique; he estimated that once Su Youji became a Third Step Dao Lord, she could at least affect him for a tiny fraction of time.

If she became a Fourth Step Dao Lord, a Fourth Step Su Youji would be truly terrifying!

But this school of practice was extremely powerful when it worked, yet also had obvious weaknesses—it was helpless against heartforce cultivators.

“I couldn’t charm Master. I could tell, so I was just joking with you,” Su Youji quickly said, then muttered, “Can’t even make a joke.”

“Alright, alright, let’s set off. We’re not far from the Sacred City now,” Ji Ning said with a smile. “It’s fine to fool around now, but once we reach the Sacred City, don’t cause trouble for me. After all, it’s one of the eight Sacred Cities of the Dao Alliance.”

“Understood.”

“Don’t worry, Master.”

…

With Danbao and Youji, Ji Ning continued onward. After another two hundred years, they finally arrived at the legendary ‘Tianmu City,’ one of the eight Sacred Cities.

“That’s Tianmu City.”

Ji Ning looked into the distance.

Tianmu City, though called a city, had no city walls. Instead, it consisted of majestic buildings floating on clouds! Lofty palaces, ancient caves, and peculiar structures all floated on the mist, each radiating the light of restrictions. In a riot of colors, it was indeed a beautiful sight from afar.

The most conspicuous was the towering city gate, a hundred million feet high and entirely emerald green. From a distance, one could see many figures riding clouds and flying, occasionally entering some palaces or caves.

“One of the eight Sacred Cities,” Danbao said excitedly. “It governs and influences tens of thousands of territories around it. I hear there are many Dao Lords here even in normal times.”

“In normal times, the number of Dao Lords in Tianmu City exceeds ten thousand,” Ji Ning said.

In terms of Dao Lord numbers,

whether it was the Ancient Cultivator lineage, the Mangya Kingdom, the Eternal Clan, or special lifeforms, none could compare to the Dao Alliance. Any one of the Dao Alliance’s eight Sacred Cities, in normal times, had more Dao Lords residing there than any other faction’s core cultivation grounds.

Take the Mangya Kingdom, for example. Though the twelve palaces had several thousand Dao Lords (excluding the Black Armor Dao Lords), most were wandering and adventuring abroad. The powerful Dao Lords actually staying in the twelve palaces numbered only a few hundred. But in Tianmu City, there were over ten thousand in normal cultivation—and that was just a tiny fraction of the vast region it influenced.

If all the Dao Lords from this enormous expanse of tens of thousands of territories gathered, the number would be dozens or even hundreds of times greater. After all, the vast majority of Dao Lords were wandering abroad or staying in their own sects; only a very few were in Tianmu City.

“Tianmu City is controlled by the Tianmu Sect, one of the nine major powers of the Dao Alliance,” Ji Ning said. “Here, everything follows Tianmu City’s rules.”

“The eight Sacred Cities are interesting,” Danbao laughed. “Eight cities, yet controlled by nine powers. The Dao Alliance is truly chaotic.”

“Master, I heard that the city lord of Tianmu City is the Tianmu Sect’s sect leader—the legendary Tianmu Emperor?” Su Youji asked curiously. Tianmu Emperor’s reputation was immense; she had heard of him even in the Mangya Kingdom.

Ji Ning nodded with a smile.

The Dao Alliance ostensibly had eight Emperors, each being the city lord of one of the eight Sacred Cities.

Factions like the Mangya Kingdom and the Eternal Clan, with such small numbers, each had several Emperors. The mighty Dao Alliance, occupying over ninety-nine percent of the territory, had only eight Eternal Emperors? Who could believe that? Still, these eight city lords, each having lived for who knows how many chaos cycles and ruling over a Sacred City, were undeniably extremely powerful Eternal Emperors.

No matter how heaven-defying a Dao Lord might be, they could not overcome these eight Sacred City lords! Each possessed immense power and held true authority within the Dao Alliance, backed by many reclusive old-timers. Otherwise, they could not have become the nine major powers.