Chapter 3: The First Dao Mastered

The rain fell heavier and heavier, pouring down in this corner of the world. Ji Ning did not take shelter, nor did he use his yuan power to ward it off. He let the raindrops fall on his body, feeling an unprecedented closeness to them, a closeness that intoxicated him.

Suddenly...

A nameless aura began to envelop Ji Ning—it was the aura of the Dao!

Ji Ning's entire being seemed to become the embodiment of the Dao.

"The Dao of Rainwater?" The yellow-furred bear and the black ox were both utterly astonished.

"He actually comprehended it completely. Although Ji Ning had made great progress at Serpentwing Lake over the past ten years and had deeply grasped the Dao of Rainwater, he was still a bit short of the final step. And comprehending the Dao is usually hardest at the very end. What exactly happened to Ji Ning? He seems to have undergone a baptism, and he comprehended the Dao of Rainwater in one smooth flow." The yellow-furred bear marveled.

The black ox nodded. "He must have experienced something that profoundly affected him."

...

The rain dispersed. Ji Ning gazed at the stars filling the sky. His Dao of Blazing Fire, Dao of Gale Winds, and Sword Dao had all advanced, especially the Sword Dao. After reaching the 'Realm of the Grand Dao,' his time in the Star Palace had further consolidated his level.

At last, everything came to a halt.

"How long have I been contemplating?" Ji Ning asked.

"Not long, just half an hour," the yellow-furred bear said with a smile. "But in that half hour, you made great progress—it was practically one smooth flow."

Ji Ning was calmer than ever before. A faint smile appeared on his face. "I can feel my own progress. I have fully comprehended the Dao of Rainwater, and I even have some minor insights into other 'water' type Daos."

"That's called drawing inferences from one instance," said the yellow-furred bear. "Now that you've fully comprehended the Dao of Rainwater, you will naturally continue to advance in the 'Water Element' aspect. Drawing inferences is very normal. Unfortunately, although you've made progress in the Dao of Blazing Fire and the Dao of Gale Winds, you're still a bit short of mastering them completely."

Ji Ning nodded.

Among the three Daos, the Dao of Rainwater was the first he had comprehended and the one he had reached the highest level in. His insights into the Dao of Blazing Fire were second only to the Dao of Rainwater, nearly on par. However, this time he had not fully comprehended it. The Dao of Gale Winds lagged behind the other two.

"I didn't expect you to have already mastered the 'Realm of the Grand Dao,'" the yellow-furred bear said, looking at Ji Ning. "Sword immortals excel in offense. Reaching the Realm of the Grand Dao has significantly enhanced your strength. Now that you've mastered the Dao of Rainwater, you can fully integrate your insights into the Dao of Rainwater into your Sword Dao."

The Sword Dao is the Dao of application.

All insights could be manifested through the way of the sword!

"Let me try." Ji Ning smiled, joining his index and middle fingers into a sword finger.

Suddenly, rain appeared in the surrounding space, scattering everywhere, yet each raindrop contained terrifying power, as if the entire world around had frozen. An ordinary Wanxiang Adept would be unable to move under this pressure. This was the ability to invoke the power of a 'Dao' after mastering a complete Dao, allowing control over the surrounding space.

This technique was called 'Self-Contained World'.

"Open." Ji Ning suddenly swung his sword finger.

Swish!

A water-colored sword light streaked across the sky, leaving a trail in space that lingered long.

"Excellent swordplay, truly excellent swordplay." The yellow-furred bear praised.

"Not just excellent swordplay—even a Sanxian might be no better, and many Sanxian are inferior to you, Ji Ning." The black ox exclaimed.

Ji Ning smiled.

Ordinary Primal Daoists were generally at the Dao Domain level.

Sanxian generally mastered a complete Dao.

Ji Ning not only mastered a Dao but also reached the 'Grand Dao Domain' in the Grand Dao of 'Sword', which was even rarer than mastering a Dao. Combining the two... indeed, many Sanxian were inferior to him in terms of insight. However, this referred only to ordinary Sanxian, not those of the Black-White College.

"Now that I've mastered a complete Dao, according to the sect's rules, I can also break through to become a Primal Daoist," Ji Ning said. "Moreover, this time I killed a young master of a major tribe, gaining a great harvest, and I should have enough Liquid Essence to become a Primal Daoist. But I'm hesitating whether to achieve Primal now. I'd like to ask both seniors to help me think about what my next step should be."

The black ox had followed Immortal Juhua for a million years, experiencing much, so his vision was naturally broad.

The yellow-furred bear had followed Daoist Sanshou and was unfathomably deep. Ji Ning felt he should ask them.

"Speak." The yellow-furred bear said.

"You killed a young master of a major tribe? Quickly, tell us!" The black ox said eagerly.

Ji Ning nodded: "I was originally cultivating in seclusion at Brightheart Island on Yichuan Lake. Two days ago, a large ship appeared above Yichuan Lake..." Ji Ning began to describe in detail, from the beginning to the end. He even explained the background of Shaoyan Nong and even Jiu Lian, all so that these two old fellows would have enough reference.

Even the suggestion Yu Wei had made to her, the Immortal Fate Convention had mentioned it all.

"The Shaoyan clan will surely hunt me down. What should I do now?" Ji Ning looked at the black ox and the yellow-haired bear.

"A clan that can become one of the three thousand major worlds and rank among the top ten major tribes—such a clan definitely has Celestial Immortals," said the yellow-haired bear. "And probably more than one. Such a force is indeed too powerful for you now. Fortunately, the Grand Xia Dynasty has strict laws, giving you a chance to oppose it."

"Shaoyan clan? I know this tribe," said the black ox quickly. "Back then, Immortal Ju Hua had dealings with this clan. The Shaoyan clan is indeed among the top in the Grand Xia Dynasty's world. However, the Grand Xia imperial clan intimidates the world. When they unified the world, they needed to win over various tribes. But once the world was settled, these tribes became a threat instead."

Ji Ning was startled.

"In fact, the Grand Xia imperial clan has been working hard to weaken the power of other tribes," the black ox continued. "First, they built Grand Xia cities, spreading them across the endless land to increase their control. Then they established the Yinglong Guard, deployed throughout the world. And they secretly stirred up conflicts, making those tribes, sects, and schools fight each other."

"Are the other tribes fools to slaughter each other?" Ji Ning asked curiously.

"You don't understand—this isn't a conspiracy, it's an open scheme. This major world is only so big. There's only so many treasures. But with so many tribes, what can be done? The Grand Xia imperial clan takes what they want, and leaves the rest for the major powers to fight over. If you don't fight, your tribe won't get enough treasures. So you have to fight, and with more fighting comes grudges."

Ji Ning nodded.

"But the Grand Xia imperial clan dares not directly attack the many vassals under them. Because if they attack one vassal, all the vassals will feel threatened, and might even unite in rebellion!" said the black ox. "So the Grand Xia imperial clan established some laws, public laws."

"As long as you don't violate the laws, the Grand Xia imperial clan will never touch you."

"But if you break the laws? The Grand Xia imperial clan is like a shark that smells blood—they will madly devour you." The black ox laughed. "As long as you stay in a Grand Xia city, the Celestial Immortal of the Shaoyan clan absolutely dares not come after you. Because if he does, the Grand Xia imperial clan, which has long wanted to weaken the vassals, will have a legitimate reason to quickly send a team to eliminate that Celestial Immortal!"

"Now you understand some of the unspoken rules of the Grand Xia Dynasty's world?" The black ox looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning nodded.

The Grand Xia imperial clan and the many vassals.

Many vassals had feuds and conflicts among themselves. No wonder Senior Sister Yu Wei had advised him to join another vassal.

"That Senior Sister Yu Wei of yours was absolutely right to have you attend the Immortal Fate Convention," said the yellow-haired bear. "If you want to become a Celestial Immortal, or even a God..."

"Senior, what is a God?" Ji Ning pressed.

Ji Ning had never fully understood what a God was.

"When a Return-to-Void Earth Immortal passes the Heavenly Tribulation, they become a carefree Celestial Immortal."

"When a Return-to-Void Fiendgod passes the Heavenly Tribulation, they become a Heavenly God!" said the yellow-furred bear. "Becoming a Heavenly God is ten or a hundred times harder than becoming a Celestial Immortal."

Ji Ning was stunned: "Ten or a hundred times harder?"

Out of ten thousand Return-to-Void Earth Immortals, it was rare for even one to become a Celestial Immortal; becoming a Heavenly God was even harder?

"Because their power is completely different," explained the yellow-furred bear. "You mentioned earlier that you encountered a Fiendgod, Xiangliu. At just the Primordial Soul level, it matched a top-tier Loose Immortal."

"Right," Ji Ning nodded.

"A Return-to-Void level Fiendgod can fully match a Celestial Immortal."

"And a Heavenly God fully matches a True Immortal!" The yellow-furred bear looked at Ji Ning. "Now do you understand? Once you become a Heavenly God... you'll be considered a power in the Three Realms. Even if you go to the Heavenly Court and want to join, the Jade Emperor himself will receive you warmly and may even put you in command of hundreds of thousands of heavenly soldiers and generals."

Ji Ning blinked.

The Jade Emperor receiving him? Letting him command hundreds of thousands of heavenly soldiers and generals?

"Master said that only when I become a Heavenly God will I truly be considered his disciple," Ji Ning asked. "Isn't that requirement too high?"

"What status and position does the master hold? He emerged alongside Pangu and Nuwa... among the most supreme mighty beings in the entire Three Realms. Only when you become a Heavenly God will you not disgrace his name," said the yellow-furred bear. "Don't change the subject. I said earlier that your senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei was absolutely right to let you go to the Immortal Fortune Assembly, because reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, and traveling ten thousand miles is not as good as walking the path between life and death."

"The Immortal Fortune Assembly gathers all the geniuses of one major world, and perhaps geniuses from other major worlds may also sneak in to participate."

"It's like refining poison insects."

"Put ten thousand venomous insects together, let them kill and devour each other, and the final insect produced will be incomparably fierce. By the same principle, the few best tempered through the Immortal Fortune Assembly will surely be extraordinary. This is also a rare opportunity for you to temper yourself." The yellow-furred bear added, "By the way, you said you killed Shaoyan Nong and got his many treasures, right? Take them out, all of them, and let me have a good look to see if there's anything that can help you."

Ji Ning immediately turned his hand over: "He had a lot of treasures. I only just refined his storage treasures not long ago."

Some treasures were hidden in the inner mansion, while others were stored in storage treasures.

"Whoosh."

Instantly, a small mountain appeared on the ground, formed entirely from a pile of treasures and magic treasures.

"These are all of Shaoyan Nong's treasures and magic treasures," Ji Ning pointed and said.