Chapter 23: The Arrival of Five Craze

"Master, that Xiyue郡主, has she taken a liking to you? Why is she so good to you, even bringing you to the prince's manor and letting you stay there?" After entering the immortal mansion, Xiaoqing couldn't help chattering away.

"Ning'er, this princess is indeed very good to you. I feel she is sincere," Baishuize added.

Ji Ning smiled and said nothing more.

That his cousin was called 'Yuchi Xiyue' was a great secret, and she had not revealed it to her servants or spirit beasts. Ji Ning naturally would not reveal it either. Although spirit beasts were absolutely loyal, sometimes... not wanting to reveal something didn't mean it couldn't be revealed. For instance, hadn't the Yuchi clan members had the 'Windwing Evasion' technique extracted from them through soul-searching?

"We've now established a foothold in the Grand Xia imperial capital," Ji Ning said. "Next, we'll settle down in Yan Prince's manor and wait for the Immortal Destiny Convention."

"Ning'er, earlier at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters, you suppressed all others and spent five million catties of liquid elemental essence to buy the Peacock Plumes. I believe the news will spread quickly. More and more people in the Grand Xia imperial capital will know of you, and soon some major tribes will invite you," Baishuize said.

Ji Ning nodded. This was also part of his earlier plan.

Earlier, he had thought of finding a faction to borrow strength against the Shaoyin clan. He hadn't expected to run into his cousin!

"Getting to know more tribes that have grudges with the Shaoyin clan can't hurt," Ji Ning said. "Uncle Bai, Xiaoqing, I'm going to the quiet room to cultivate. Don't disturb me unless it's important."

With that, Ji Ning went straight to his quiet room.

And the Water Mansion... was hidden within the quiet room.

Whoosh!

As soon as Ji Ning entered the quiet room, there was another door inside. Pushing it open, he came directly to the vast hall of the Water Mansion, where enormous straw mats were laid out.

The yellow-furred bear was in the hall, looking at Ji Ning with a smile: "This Yan Prince is indeed a good man. Just now, his heartforce swept through the entire prince's manor, including this immortal mansion. When he sensed the layers of restrictions, he didn't deliberately probe further."

Heartforce... was a level higher than divine sense.

Cultivators were mainly divided into two stages.

Before the tribulation was one stage. In this stage, one endured hardships, experiencing the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, fraught with danger. The 'soul' remained independent throughout. Even when one became a Primal Daoist and the soul entered the Primal, it was merely nurtured by the Primal. The soul remained independent. An independent soul could be split in two, and the split soul could be trained into a 'second incarnation'.

After passing the tribulation, the second stage began. After the tribulation, the soul and Primal truly merged, becoming inseparable, one within the other. This was a qualitative change, and at the same time, 'heartforce' appeared.

A power more formidable than 'divine sense'.

A power that could faintly touch the fate of the unseen.

"This prince's manor is his territory after all. Some Celestial Immortals would carefully investigate their own territory, even trying to probe everything. But Yan Prince didn't attempt to probe further," the yellow-furred bear said with approval, clearly appreciative of Yan Prince.

"What if Yan Prince insisted on probing with heartforce?" Ji Ning asked.

"I can forcibly block it," the yellow-furred bear said. "Or I can let his heartforce penetrate, making him think he's detected something, when in fact he's wildly mistaken."

Ji Ning nodded.

Then he sat cross-legged. With a flip of his hand, five feathers appeared before him, radiating powerful fluctuations as strong as those of ordinary Immortal-ranked magic treasures, causing the surrounding space to seem to solidify. However, compared to the 'Thousandbull Sword', they were far inferior.

"What a pity. A peacock that had condensed its five elemental tail feathers died at the Void Realm. If it had passed the tribulation, it might have attracted the attention of major powers in the Three Realms to capture it as a mount," the yellow-furred bear sighed. "The more heaven-defying a divine beast, the harder it is to pass the tribulation."

"As a mount?" Ji Ning was helpless. What a pitiful divine beast, destined to be a mount.

Ji Ning then extended his hands and began to absorb the five elemental essences contained in the five feathers.

Using the technique of the 'Six Cycles of Star Picking', the Star Picking divine patterns appeared on both palms. The patterns emitted light, and the circular patterns rotated, generating a tremendous suction force. The five feathers, containing the five elemental essences, resisted strongly, unwilling to let their essences flow away.

But they were dead objects; how could they resist the 'Six Cycles of Star Picking' technique? Gradually, wisps of essence flew out from the five feathers—golden, cyan, water-blue, fiery red, and deep yellow. The five-colored essences continuously flew out and into Ji Ning's palms.

Gradually, Ji Ning's entire body began to emit waves of fluctuation.

Time passed. The five-colored essences flowed continuously into Ji Ning's palms for a long time. Finally, Ji Ning withdrew his hands and stopped absorbing.

"Enough."

After absorbing sufficient five elemental essences, Ji Ning began to circulate the technique. Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Both palms emitted dazzling five-colored light, incredibly intense. His hands no longer seemed ordinary, resembling magic treasures, with fluctuations far exceeding those of Earth-ranked treasures.

Gradually, the five-colored light swirled and merged into his palms, turning into a chaotic color. Then, the circular divine patterns on his palms gained more complex designs, making the patterns even more intricate and the fluctuations even more startling.

"The second cycle of the Six Cycles of Star Picking is complete!" Ji Ning showed a joyful expression.

"Whoosh." Ji Ning clenched his fists.

Boom! Boom!

Both fists caused the air to explode, and the space condensed by the five elemental peacock tail feathers was shaken into chaotic air currents.

"These hands of mine are far stronger than Earth-ranked treasures, comparable to Immortal-ranked ones," Ji Ning marveled. "From the first cycle to the second is indeed a great leap. Having mastered the second cycle, my divine body's true power is now unleashed."

In fact, the true Star Picker Hand treated the hand as a weapon.

In the inheritance, the images Ji Ning saw all showed 'San Shou Daoren' attacking directly with his hands! San Shou Daoren's right hand alone was more terrifying than any treasure; he needed no treasures, for his hand was the strongest treasure.

But Ji Ning held a sword!

"Ji Ning, having mastered the second cycle, your Star Picker Hand has reached the highest level your current divine body can sustain," the yellow-furred bear praised. "Cultivate diligently. Your 'Redmoon Diagram of Nine Heavens' is only at the eleventh level. If you reach the twelfth level, your chances at the Immortal Destiny Convention will be much greater."

"Senior, if I use the Star Picker Hand at the convention, will it be exposed? I heard that the convention might attract the attention of some major figures from the Three Realms," Ji Ning said.

"Don't worry. As long as you don't reveal the Star Picker divine patterns, no matter how many times you use it, they won't recognize it," the yellow-furred bear said with a smile. "At most, they'll think you have a powerful divine ability or secret art... or that your sword 'Northsea Sword' is very strong. They won't be able to deduce the true power of this divine ability."

Ji Ning nodded.

"No major power can guess your divine ability just by looking at your body," the yellow-furred bear said. "Unless it's a technique like 'Windwing Evasion', or 'Heavenly Earth Transformation' that makes the body instantly huge and obvious. Otherwise, most divine abilities are hard to determine."

"Hmm?" The yellow-furred bear frowned. "Someone's coming."

Ji Ning also sensed it.

A servant had arrived outside the gate of his immortal mansion.

"I'll go see," Ji Ning said.

Swoosh.

Ji Ning quickly arrived at the gate of the immortal mansion. A servant stood respectfully outside: "A short old man calling himself 'Five Craze Immortal' is at the prince's manor gate, asking to see you."

"Five Craze Immortal?" Ji Ning was startled, then quickly said, "Alright, I understand."

...

Outside the main gate of Yan Prince's manor.

A somewhat disheveled short old man was waiting outside. Ji Ning appeared at the gate and said in surprise, "Grandmaster."

"Ji Ning." Five Craze Immortal also smiled.

"Come in quickly, Grandmaster," Ji Ning said, leading the way. "To my place."

"Alright." Five Craze Immortal nodded.

...

Floating Cloud Immortal had been waiting, waiting for the right moment to assassinate Ji Ning.

"Senior, Ji Ning has arrived at the prince's manor gate."

"Is he coming out?" Floating Cloud Immortal was expectant and excited.

"No, he went back in, accompanying a short, disheveled old man."

"Keep watching," Floating Cloud Immortal said, growing anxious.

Because he had sworn a Heavenly Dao oath that he must kill Ji Ning within three days or face soul annihilation. If Ji Ning hid in Yan Prince's manor for three days without coming out, Floating Cloud Immortal would be annihilated.

...

Ji Ning led Five Craze Immortal back to his immortal mansion and prepared immortal wine and fruit.

"Grandmaster, how did you know I was at Yan Prince's manor?" Ji Ning asked with a smile.

"I came specifically to find you," Five Craze Immortal said.

"Specifically to find me?" Ji Ning was surprised.

Five Craze Immortal nodded: "Yes. Before your master, Diancai Immortal, went out to adventure, he asked us to help you. Our Black-White College couldn't directly oppose the Shaoyin clan for you. All we could do was... send you some of the college's secret manuals. We've been trying to send them to you, but we couldn't find you. Only recently did we learn that you appeared at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain in the Grand Xia imperial capital. By the time I arrived there and searched, I found out you had entered Yan Prince's manor."

"I've brought the third volume of your qi cultivation method 'Water Source Manual' and your divine body cultivation method 'Redmoon Diagram of Nine Heavens'," Five Craze Immortal said. "Also, all the divine abilities and secret arts from our college. Look through and memorize them one by one, then destroy each one."

As he spoke, thirty-six formation flags appeared around him, floating, with light swirling around.

"Even a Celestial Immortal can't spy on us," Five Craze Immortal said, looking at Ji Ning. "Hurry and look."

He first handed over the 'Water Source Manual'.

Ji Ning stood stunned.

Five Craze Immortal had come all the way from Anchan Commandery just to deliver divine abilities and secret arts.

"Don't just stand there. You are a disciple of our Black-White College; you should cultivate these. The so-called 'Black-White Pills' were just meant to temper you. After all, nothing comes for free, right?" Five Craze Immortal said emotionally. "All our Black-White College can do is this much."