Chapter 10 Senior Fellow Apprentices

"A ninth-level puppet?" Silvermoon stood up abruptly, laughing in surprise as he fanned himself with his feather fan. "Junior brother, are you confident?"

"I've never fought one before, so I dare not say," said Ji Ning.

"Little junior brother, you're too modest. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Let your senior brother have a look." Silvermoon immediately led Ji Ning down from the Immortal Palace and onto the open ground.

…

Outside the open ground, many disciples of the Mount Fangcun lineage had gathered, including Little Qing and Uncle Bai, who had rushed over because Ji Ning had sent them a mental message earlier, telling them he was going to challenge a ninth-level puppet. Little Qing and Uncle Bai had both temporarily stopped their cultivation to come and watch.

"Is Patriarch Ji Ning going to challenge an eighth-level puppet again? He's already defeated the eighth-level puppet nine times, hasn't he?"

"Maybe he's challenging a ninth-level puppet!"

"A ninth-level puppet is not so easy to challenge!"

"Among us disciples, some of these monsters have been here for tens of thousands of years and still haven't defeated a ninth-level puppet."

The disciples whispered among themselves.

Some even asked Little Qing and Uncle Bai: "Azure Serpent, White Water Marsh, which level puppet is Patriarch Ji Ning going to challenge?"

"Little sister Qing, don't tell them. Tell me secretly."

After all, in these thirty years, Little Qing and White Water Marsh had become very familiar with these disciples.

White Water Marsh just smiled.

But Little Qing raised her head and said, "Just watch and you'll see."

In the distance, Ji Ning and Silvermoon were talking. Their status was high, and ordinary disciples of the Mount Fangcun lineage dared not speak much with them.

"Whoosh." Silvermoon waved his hand, and a puppet appeared out of thin air.

This puppet was entirely white-jade colored, with nine rings on its right arm, and its intangible aura was very strong.

"A ninth-level puppet!"

"It's ninth-level!"

"Uncle Ji Ning is going to challenge a ninth-level puppet!"

Immediately there were exclamations and excitement.

Life on Mount Fangcun was too leisurely; everyone was devoted to cultivation. So someone challenging a ninth-level puppet was enough to draw the attention of many disciples. Especially since the challenger was Ji Ning, who had only been apprenticed to Patriarch Bodhi for thirty years and was already a designated personal disciple. This naturally made everyone even more excited.

…

Inside the battleground.

Ji Ning and the ninth-level puppet stood facing each other from a distance.

"This is your first time challenging me. Your divine demon body is only at the perfected Yuan Shen level," said the ninth-level puppet, its eyes faintly gleaming as it carefully looked at Ji Ning.

But Ji Ning knew that this ninth-level puppet was refined by his master, Patriarch Bodhi, and was comparable to a Pure Yang magic treasure. It had already developed spirituality and intelligence.

A Northernbright sword appeared in each of Ji Ning's hands: "Spare me the nonsense. Show me your best sword technique."

"Hmph." The ninth-level puppet gave a cold smile, and a broad heavy sword appeared in its hand. "Then I'll play with you." As soon as it spoke, the ninth-level puppet took a step, making the ground shake, and was already in front of Ji Ning. Its speed was so fast that Ji Ning's eyebrows twitched. He moved his feet slightly and met it with both swords.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~

Vast, sky-covering phantoms of waves appeared out of thin air. Ji Ning's sword technique was already profound enough to draw upon a great amount of the power of heaven and earth, manifesting these phenomena.

The wave phantoms surged forward, and Ji Ning's sword light was within them.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The ninth-level puppet's heavy sword was extremely fierce and domineering, each strike like a crashing giant wave!

Ji Ning's sword technique was more resilient, continuous and unbroken.

The ninth-level puppet's sword technique was fiercer.

But under Ji Ning's continuous sword technique, the ninth-level puppet began to falter.

"You're not bad. If I don't show some real skill, I might lose to you." The ninth-level puppet's other hand also produced a heavy sword.

Boom~~~ Boom~~~~

Both heavy swords swung, forming a huge wind wheel. Above the ninth-level puppet, a massive phantom of a sea vortex appeared! The huge vortex phantom clearly represented extremely powerful heaven-earth power. The ninth-level puppet's sword technique became even more fierce and overbearing, with a grinding force! It completely suppressed Ji Ning!

"Sword Wandering the Three Realms!" Under the suppression, Ji Ning immediately changed his sword technique.

The improved Sword Wandering the Three Realms, perfected during his seclusion, was now unleashed. Two dazzling sword lights appeared, accompanied by two black swimming dragons. The two black dragons moved, intertwining with each other, charging straight at the opponent.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Three exchanges of sword light.

Then everything stopped.

The ninth-level puppet and Ji Ning passed each other, standing back to back. The ninth-level puppet was motionless, while Ji Ning put away his Northernbright swords.

On the chest of the ninth-level puppet was a fierce wound!

In the three exchanges, Ji Ning's sword technique was clearly a hair faster. That single hair's breadth decided the outcome.

The ninth-level puppet looked down at its chest, and the wound disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"You win." The ninth-level puppet turned its head to look at Ji Ning. "You defeated me in your first fight. You can now enter the ninth floor of the Immortal Palace."

"Yuxin, this is my junior brother. Beating you is only natural." Silvermoon walked over.

"Junior brother? A disciple accepted by the Patriarch?" The ninth-level puppet looked at Ji Ning in surprise.

"The more disciples who defeat you, the closer you are to freedom. You should be happy. Alright, it's time for you to return to your place." Silvermoon waved his hand and put away the ninth-level puppet.

"Junior brother, congratulations." Silvermoon looked at Ji Ning and smiled. "Let's go, let's enter the Immortal Palace."

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded.

He immediately followed Silvermoon into the Immortal Palace.

The disciples of the Mount Fangcun lineage stared blankly at this scene, watching Ji Ning and Silvermoon enter the Immortal Palace.

"He won!"

"He actually won!"

"Patriarch Ji Ning defeated that ninth-level puppet."

"Such a domineering sword technique, such a terrifying sword technique."

"Uncle is truly a peerless sword immortal."

Everyone was amazed.

"It's only been thirty years."

"It's only been thirty years since the Patriarch took him as a disciple. Thirty years ago, he barely defeated a fourth-level puppet. In just thirty years, he's already defeated a ninth-level puppet. I've been on the mountain for nearly a million years." A six-armed demon god, faintly surrounded by flames, spoke in a low voice, shaking his head and sighing. "You humans really have astonishing comprehension."

"I'm human, and I've been on the mountain for a thousand years, but I still haven't defeated a ninth-level puppet."

"A ninth-level puppet—even a Celestial Immortal might not be able to defeat it. Thirty years... no wonder he was accepted as a disciple by the Patriarch."

"The Patriarch's personal disciples are indeed extraordinary."

"Little sister Qing, when will you ask the Patriarch to give us a lecture?"

"Brother Bai, your master's swordsmanship is truly remarkable. I have some doubts about swordsmanship. When will you ask your master to give us some guidance?"

All kinds of discussions arose.

Little Qing and Uncle Bai were also overjoyed.

…

Defeating a ninth-level puppet in thirty years amazed the ordinary disciples of Mount Fangcun, who found it incredible. But for personal disciples like Silvermoon the Old Demon, it was within expectations.

Ji Ning and Silvermoon walked up the stairs of the Immortal Palace, climbing the wooden steps.

"Junior brother, defeating a ninth-level puppet in thirty years is truly remarkable," Silvermoon said with a smile. "Now those ordinary disciples below are all shocked and excited."

"It's alright." Ji Ning didn't think there was anything to be proud of.

He had the guidance of his master Patriarch Bodhi, the guidance of the Starsea Hall in the water mansion, and often sat on the Netherwater Jade Bed in the quiet room of the water mansion, meditating under the Bodhi Calming Array. Thirty years? His original goal was to defeat a ninth-level puppet within a few decades.

"I wonder how the other senior fellow apprentices did? How long did it take them to defeat a ninth-level puppet?" Ji Ning asked curiously.

"Among the Patriarch's many personal disciples, you're about average," Senior Brother Silvermoon said with a laugh. "Among the personal disciples, excluding those who were already very powerful when they became disciples, there are twelve, including you, who were weak when they joined. The shortest took a little over a year, and the longest took over thirteen thousand years."

Ji Ning was stunned: "The shortest was just over a year? The longest was over ten thousand years?"

After all, being accepted as a personal disciple by the Patriarch, taking over ten thousand years was too absurd.

And just over a year was also too exaggerated.

"The Patriarch has nineteen disciples. Seven were already very powerful when they joined, and twelve were weak," Silvermoon said. "Among them, the ninth junior brother had extremely high comprehension. Back then, the Patriarch's incarnation was wandering the ancient world and encountered this ninth junior brother, who was then an ordinary child who loved to paint. The Patriarch gave him a single pointer, and the child, who had never cultivated before, comprehended the Dao overnight—a complete 'Ink-Water Dao.' Then the Patriarch brought him to Mount Fangcun, and in a little over a year, the ninth junior brother defeated a ninth-level puppet."

Ji Ning blinked.

A child who had never cultivated, just loved to paint, comprehended a complete Dao overnight?

And defeated a ninth-level puppet in a little over a year?

"Then there are the third senior brother and the sixth junior brother," Silvermoon continued. "They both took only a few years. When they joined, they hadn't cultivated much either. But they were of extraordinary origins. The third senior brother was born with great luck, a Golden Crow born on the Sun Star. The sixth junior brother was also remarkable, a stone monkey born from the leftover Sky-Repairing Stone of Goddess Nuwa."

Ji Ning was startled.

A stone monkey born from a Sky-Repairing Stone reminded Ji Ning of a story recorded in a novel from the small world 'Earth.' He wondered how similar this so-called stone monkey was to the one in that story.

"After that, there were those who took decades," Silvermoon said. "In short, humans have extremely high comprehension, and beings like the third senior brother and the sixth junior brother, born from heaven and earth with extraordinary origins, also have very high comprehension."

"Among the Patriarch's disciples, those who defeated a ninth-level puppet within a hundred years were all humans or beings of extraordinary origins."

"For us demons, there are several under the Patriarch. For example, I took over three thousand years to defeat a ninth-level puppet. There are even slower ones. Demons' comprehension is, on the whole, much worse than humans'."

Ji Ning nodded.

Demons had poor comprehension, and demon gods had even worse comprehension! But heaven made up for it. Humans had a lifespan of five hundred years at the Zifu stage and eight hundred years at the Wanxiang stage. But demons were different. Some innate great demons could live for thousands of years, and great demons at the Wanxiang stage could even live for tens of thousands of years. The lifespans of demon gods were even more absurd; demon gods were immortal, not even subject to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. But their comprehension was pitifully poor, and they might not improve a bit for eons.

"The senior fellow apprentices under the Patriarch are all extraordinary, some with astonishing origins or incredible opportunities. I was only able to become the Patriarch's disciple because I inherited the legacy of Three Calamities Daoist," Ji Ning understood. He was ordinary among the Patriarch's disciples.

But the difference between him and them was that he was a disciple of both Patriarch Bodhi and Three Calamities Daoist.

His divine ability 'Star Picking Hand' was the very skill that Three Calamities Daoist had used to dominate the ancient world. Even Patriarch Bodhi could not produce a divine ability of that level.

"Here we are, the ninth floor."

Silvermoon reached the ninth floor and said with a smile, "After you choose a technique from this floor, you can go to the Three Realms Palace! As long as you learn one divine ability or secret art from the Three Realms Palace and cultivate it to the extreme, you can definitely roam the Three Realms and become a famous figure in the Three Realms."

…