Chapter 28: The Seven Great Divine Abilities of the Divine Abilities Hall

"Hmm?" Within the head of the snow-white flood dragon, Xu Li the Daoist frowned slightly. The sealing grand formation was set up and controlled by him, so he could naturally sense it. "Someone is attacking my sealing grand formation, attacking from the inside? It seems someone from the Ji clan wants to flee. But without the support of the Nether Dragon Locking Heaven Formation, even Ji Ning, the strongest among them, cannot break the sealing grand formation!"

"Just wait to die."

A trace of killing intent flickered in Xu Li the Daoist's cold eyes.

Although he had used the Earth-ranked treasure 'Black Blood God Needle' to wound Ji Ning, he actually couldn't sense Ji Ning's position at all. Earlier, his loud claim that he could sense Ji Ning's location was entirely a bluff! After all, sneak attacks from other Ji clan members didn't put much pressure on him. But a sneak attack from Ji Ning would be too much pressure. He believed the Ji clan must treasure Ji Ning greatly, so he deliberately shouted those words...

The effect was indeed good; the elders of the Ji clan would never let Ji Ning take the risk again.

...

In the cold lake waters of Yì Snake Lake.

Whoosh~~~

Ripples of spatial distortion stirred in the depths of the lake, and Ji Ning appeared out of thin air.

"This is?" Ji Ning looked at the endless lake water above and also sensed the presence of the Water Mansion. "Is this Yì Snake Lake?"

Earlier, relying on a rough sense of direction, he had used the 'Ten Thousand Mile Evasion Talisman' to teleport directly to the approximate location of Yì Snake Lake. Yì Snake Lake itself was a hundred li in radius, and this teleportation had landed him directly in the deep waters of the lake.

"Water Mansion, enter!" Ji Ning willed it.

As long as he sensed the Water Mansion, he could enter.

In the lake water beside him, the phantom of a massive bear's head appeared and swallowed Ji Ning in one gulp.

...

In the main hall of the ancient Water Mansion, large prayer mats were scattered about, just as when Ji Ning had last arrived.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning appeared out of thin air in the hall and immediately saw the black ox and the yellow-furred giant bear in the distance.

"I can sense that your divine-body cultivation has broken through to the Drops of Blood Rebirth level. Have you come to enter the Divine Abilities Hall?" The yellow-furred giant bear looked at Ji Ning, then a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes. "Ji Ning, I can feel the endless anger, anxiety, and killing intent filling your heart. What exactly have you encountered?"

Ji Ning's heart was still preoccupied with the fate of his father, Uncle Bai, the clan leader, and others on Oxhorn Mountain. At the yellow-furred giant bear's words, he suddenly jolted.

Right!

The spirit of the cave!

The black ox was already the spirit of an Immortal-ranked treasure, and the yellow-furred giant bear was even more unfathomable, barely paying any attention to Ju Hua the Immortal. Moreover, the yellow-furred giant bear exuded an eternal aura, very similar to the eternal, indestructible aura of the Nuwa statue he visualized.

Without an owner controlling it, this Water Mansion could still teleport him through space? Such means were simply inconceivable.

"Senior," Ji Ning said hastily, briefly explaining, "Our Ji clan is facing a great calamity. A major enemy, roughly at the mid-Wanxiang Daoist level, wields at least three Earth-ranked treasures! I fought him using the Windwing Evasion Art but was ultimately defeated and forced to flee... May I ask, Senior, is there any way for me to defeat this Wanxiang Daoist and save my family?"

The yellow-furred giant bear glanced at Ji Ning: "Although you have the divine ability Windwing Evasion Art, it is a simplified and crude version of a divine ability, only greatly increasing your speed and agility. Your true power has not increased... Your weakness is very obvious. As long as the Wanxiang Daoist controls numerous treasures to surround you and restrict your speed, you are bound to lose."

Ji Ning nodded: "Senior is right. How can I defeat him now? If I enter the Divine Abilities Hall and obtain a divine ability, can I defeat that Wanxiang Daoist?"

"The Divine Abilities Hall contains many divine abilities," said the yellow-furred giant bear. "Learning a superior divine ability would make killing a mid-Wanxiang Daoist effortless."

Ji Ning could barely conceal his excitement.

The anxiety and pain in his heart instantly transformed into longing!

He must learn a divine ability!

Then go save his father, Uncle Bai, the clan leader, and the others!

"My divine-body cultivation has reached the Drops of Blood Rebirth level, so I can claim a Human-ranked treasure from the Treasure Hall," Ji Ning quickly asked. "Please let me choose one, Senior. I'll pick quickly, selecting a powerful treasure to help me challenge the Divine Abilities Hall."

The stronger he was, the greater his chance of passing the Divine Abilities Hall.

"No need," the yellow-furred giant bear shook his head. "The Divine Abilities Hall is a trial for descendants of gods and demons. It forbids the use of qi-refining power and any treasures! You must rely solely on the power of the divine body... Even weapons will be provided inside the Divine Abilities Hall."

"No using qi power, no using treasures?" Ji Ning was momentarily stunned, then understood.

This was a trial.

A trial focused on divine-body cultivation; it was not surprising that qi-refining was completely prohibited.

"You are only five years old now," the yellow-furred giant bear looked at Ji Ning. "You could wait until you are ten, when your strength will be greater. Entering the Divine Abilities Hall then, you would likely obtain a more powerful divine ability. This Divine Abilities Hall... you can only enter once. Are you sure you want to go in now?"

"I'm going in," Ji Ning nodded. "I want to enter the Divine Abilities Hall now."

Perhaps in another five years, if he challenged the Divine Abilities Hall, he would obtain an even more powerful divine ability.

But his father, Uncle Bai, and the others couldn't wait.

His father was probably already using forbidden arts to delay the Snowdragon Mountain side, and he estimated his father could hold out for at most half an hour.

"If I can return to Oxhorn Mountain within half an hour, I might still save my father," Ji Ning longed.

Every second counted now.

"Since you've decided, come along." The yellow-furred giant bear walked directly toward the corridor beside them, and Ji Ning quickly followed. The black ox beside them muttered, "What a pity. If he waited another five years, he would surely obtain a more powerful divine ability in the Divine Abilities Hall."

...

The bronze door of the Divine Abilities Hall was closed, its surface carved with a giant hand that seemed to cover the sky and sun, radiating boundless might.

The yellow-furred giant bear took only three steps from the main hall to the door of the Divine Abilities Hall, clearly aware that Ji Ning's time was extremely tight. He turned back to look at Ji Ning, who was rushing over as a streak of light.

"Follow me inside," said the yellow-furred giant bear.

Rumble~~~

The door swung open, and endless gray light bathed the interior, shining on the yellow-furred giant bear and Ji Ning. They vanished into thin air.

"Rumble." The door closed again.

The black ox outside the door looked up at the Divine Abilities Hall door and sighed, "This Ji Ning's talent is even more monstrous than Ju Hua's. And he entered this Water Mansion at a very young age... much better than Ju Hua back then. When Ju Hua entered the Water Mansion, he was already far past ten years old and couldn't enter the Divine Abilities Hall at all."

"If Ju Hua had been able to challenge the Divine Abilities Hall back then and obtain a powerful divine ability, he might not have become a loose immortal," the black ox lamented. "I wonder what divine ability Ji Ning will obtain."

Even the black ox did not know what divine abilities were inside the Divine Abilities Hall.

...

A gray, vast space, like the void itself.

Ji Ning and the yellow-furred giant bear appeared out of thin air. Ji Ning looked around; everything was nothingness.

"This is arguably the most important place in the entire cave," the yellow-furred giant bear looked at Ji Ning and sighed. "I know your family is in mortal danger now, but you only have one chance to challenge the Divine Abilities Hall. I would even suggest you wait another five years. When you are stronger, you can come back to challenge it."

"My mind is made up!" said Ji Ning.

"Even if your family all die, it is not as important as this opportunity," said the yellow-furred giant bear. "You don't understand yet what the divine abilities in this hall represent. This hall contains seven great divine abilities. If you obtain the strongest one, you might even roam the Three Realms in the future. Then, finding your reincarnated family and even awakening their past-life memories would not be difficult."

The yellow-furred giant bear looked at Ji Ning urgently: "Your talent is the strongest among all the successors since my master created this Water Mansion. Don't waste it. I can tell you... the first divine ability among the seven in the Divine Abilities Hall was left by my master himself."

"The other six divine abilities were left by my master's six disciples."

"If you can obtain my master's divine ability..."

"In the future, transcending the Three Realms to become a Celestial Immortal, or even roaming the Three Realms, would be highly promising." The yellow-furred giant bear said urgently, "Even founding a vast dynasty like the Grand Xia Dynasty, which has existed for eons, would not be difficult."

Ji Ning was startled.

The yellow-furred giant bear had not paid much attention to him at first, but after he comprehended the Rainwater Sword Domain, the bear's attitude had clearly changed.

Now, with Ji Ning about to challenge the Divine Abilities Hall, the yellow-furred giant bear clearly did not want him to waste this opportunity.

"What is the origin of the first master?" Ji Ning pressed.

"From the boundless ancient past, after Pangu split heaven and earth, when the pattern of the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man had not yet been set, and the Three Thousand Great Worlds and the billions of minor worlds had not yet come into being," the yellow-furred giant bear looked at Ji Ning. "The first master left this cave to pass down his divine abilities and techniques. Although the master had six disciples, none met his conditions to learn that great divine ability."

"After leaving the cave, the master drifted away, and his whereabouts are unknown."

"Then, through endless ages, including the ancient war of gods and demons, and the birth of the Three Thousand Great Worlds and billions of minor worlds..." The yellow-furred giant bear looked at Ji Ning. "By chance, this cave came to be adjacent to your Great World."

The yellow-furred giant bear said solemnly, "I can tell you that with your current strength, you can barely obtain the third divine ability. As for the master's divine ability, your chance of obtaining it is less than one in ten thousand."

Ji Ning was stunned.

He had long guessed that the first master of this Water Mansion was extraordinary. There were many 'Pure Yang treasures' in the Treasure Hall, which were above Immortal-ranked treasures. This showed the master's background... Now it seemed that this master was probably a great figure in the Three Realms. What the yellow-furred giant bear said was true: he only had one chance to challenge the Divine Abilities Hall. Obtaining such a great divine ability was only possible this once. This opportunity was indeed priceless!

The yellow-furred giant bear said, "If you miss this opportunity... the next time you encounter such a chance, it would likely be only after you become a Celestial Immortal and meet such a great being."

Ji Ning hesitated briefly, then asked, "May I ask, Senior, what kind of divine ability would I need to obtain to kill that mid-Wanxiang Daoist?"

"Any of the top three divine abilities would suffice."

The yellow-furred giant bear said, "If you could obtain the great divine ability left by my master, with your current divine-body strength at the late Zifu stage, using that great divine ability, you could kill that mid-Wanxiang Daoist in one move. But your chance of obtaining this great divine ability now is less than one in ten thousand. Will you still challenge it? This is your only chance."

"I will challenge it," Ji Ning said without hesitation.

Perhaps in five years, he could obtain that great divine ability, allowing him to achieve even greater heights in the future, even roaming the Three Realms and finding his reincarnated parents, awakening their past-life memories.

But...

Even if his reincarnated parents awakened their memories, would they still be the same people?

If he missed this chance, it would be lost forever!

"Even if I don't obtain this great divine ability, I, Ji Ning, will still roam the Three Realms in the future. I still hope to meet Judge Cui again someday." Ji Ning's eyes blazed with endless fighting spirit. "Besides, who says I definitely won't obtain this great divine ability? The probability is less than one in ten thousand, but at least it's not zero!"

"Alas! If you miss it, it's lost forever!" The yellow-furred giant bear shook his head and vanished into the void.

In the gray, hazy void, only Ji Ning remained.

...