Chapter 51: The Fourth Level of Heartforce

Wiping the corners of his eyes, he found tears there. Ji Ning understood that this was because his heart had merged with heaven and earth, and the 'joy of hearing the Dao' had moved him to tears beyond his control.

"So I was that far off the mark before."

"No wonder the most顶尖 archers in the Three Realms all keep such a low profile."

Ji Ning finally grasped the true meaning of the fourth level of heartforce, the 'Mortal Dust' realm.

Like a wild blade of grass on the desolate plains...

It struggles to break through the soil, struggles to grow, drawing in every ray of sunlight and drop of rain, just to grow a little taller. Perhaps it is lowly and inconspicuous. But even the mighty cultivators of the Three Realms, high above, cannot stop the 'heart' of a blade of grass. The heart is limitless; even a beggar can have the heart of an emperor.

The power of the heart is ethereal and elusive, yet wondrous beyond measure.

Even a mortal, if their inner strength is great, can work miracles. Mortals can become great men!

And as for cultivators...

This fourth level of heartforce, 'Mortal Dust', is exceedingly rare even across the Three Realms. Among Heavenly Gods and True Immortals, those who have reached the fourth level of heartforce can be counted on one's fingers. Even among the lofty True Gods and Dao Ancestors... the fourth level of heartforce is nearly the ultimate limit. The only one to break through this limit was Houyi!

Houyi is the only known person to have reached the fifth level of heartforce and left behind a systematic cultivation method. His strength is universally acknowledged, but he has gone missing.

From this, one can see how difficult the fourth level of heartforce is.

"I am like that blade of grass, merely a speck of mortal dust. Facing the God King, facing other mighty cultivators, I am utterly weak." Ji Ning, who had been sitting on the city wall, stood up and looked up at the sky. "But I too want to go higher, go further. I want to be stronger than the God King, even to reach the level of Pangu and Nuwa, and surpass them!"

"Humble in self, yet boundless in heart."

Ji Ning's heart was moved.

The feeling of enlightenment was wonderful.

Having endured many blows, especially that most painful choice, it had indeed greatly affected Ji Ning's state of mind. Yet under such a state of mind, he truly experienced the artistic conception of 'a speck of mortal dust' and gradually understood... Everyone knows the principle, but to truly comprehend it, to have the heart fully awakened, is a thousand or ten thousand times harder.

After all, knowing is easy, doing is hard!

When Ji Ning's heart extended, his heartforce had already begun to rise. And when his heart merged completely with the entire Grand Xia world, shaped like an oval sphere, and even extended into the endless void, his heartforce had reached an astonishing level—one that even many True Gods and Dao Ancestors had as their limit, and some True Gods and Dao Ancestors might not even have heartforce this strong.

This... is the fourth level of heartforce!

Ji Ning had broken through!

Except for the missing great god Houyi, Ji Ning's heartforce now stood at the pinnacle of the entire Three Realms!

"Always place yourself as a speck of mortal dust, always aspire to higher. Even the god Pangu is not the final destination." Ji Ning did not know whether Pangu was the end of cultivation, but the heart has no end; it can be infinitely vast, infinitely high.

"The fourth level of heartforce and the third level are vastly different."

The third level of heartforce is merely the limit of a Celestial Immortal's power.

But the fourth level of heartforce is the limit of a Heavenly God or True Immortal's power!

Every Heavenly God or True Immortal who masters the fourth level of heartforce stands at the peak. Like the archer 'Dong Zhe', who alone, with the aid of the Chaos Dao Fruit, nearly dominated the entire battlefield! Although the Chaos Dao Fruit was formidable, without Dong Zhe's archery and heartforce, how many other Heavenly Gods or True Immortals could have unleashed the Chaos Dao Fruit's power to such an extent?

"My heartforce soul technique is only at minor success. Even if it reached major success, it would probably only increase my power tenfold, raising it by one level."

"But now, from the third level to the fourth level of heartforce... my power has increased by several levels."

Ji Ning understood how much he had improved.

...

"Time to see the Dao Ancestor." Ji Ning stood up. He felt guilty toward Dao Ancestor Redbright, after all, the Dao Ancestor had personally given him Shennong's medicine, trusting him greatly. Although Yu Wei had betrayed him, it was because of Ji Ning himself!

Ji Ning glanced at the endless wilderness and at the floating black city 'Wujian City', silently saying, "This battle is not over yet."

The Divine Punishment he had commanded before was already formidable.

Now that his heartforce had crossed a major realm, how powerful would the Divine Punishment he commanded be? Ji Ning himself did not know.

Because among Heavenly Gods and True Immortals, only a few had reached the fourth level of heartforce. Among these few, only Ji Ning had comprehended the heartforce soul technique. That is to say... across the Three Realms, among Heavenly Gods and True Immortals, Ji Ning was the strongest commander of the Divine Punishment.

"God King." Ji Ning's heart was filled with boundless killing intent.

Whoosh.

Then Ji Ning walked down the city wall and headed toward the distant Eight Dragons Cloudcity Hall.

If the God King knew that his forcing Ji Ning to make a choice—the most painful choice of the heart—had allowed Ji Ning to leap from the third level of heartforce to the fourth, which was even more terrifying than perfecting the heartforce soul technique, he would probably regret it immensely. After all, he had created a 'monster' with the fourth level of heartforce and mastery of the heartforce soul technique.

The God King's original goal was merely to make Ji Ning submit.

...

Eight Dragons Cloudcity Hall.

Ji Ning walked toward the hall.

"It's Ji Ning."

"Why is Ji Ning going to the hall?"

"He sat on the city wall for a few days. I wonder what he's thinking now. I hope this blow hasn't been too much. The realm war is about to be lost, and he might be too hard on himself, letting his mind wander. Now he's going to see the Dao Ancestor."

"Alas, he's such a rare monstrous genius. I hope his Dao companion's matter doesn't ruin him."

Some immortals who saw Ji Ning heading to the hall discussed among themselves.

Because of love, many in the Three Realms had become dejected or even faded into obscurity. Those who could endure a great blow and continue to move forward, advancing further, were all renowned figures in the Three Realms. They could no longer be called monstrous geniuses; they were true powerhouses of the Three Realms!

"Ji Ning?" Emperor Xia walked out of the hall, surprised. "You're here?"

"I need to see the Dao Ancestor," Ji Ning said.

"The Dao Ancestor is in a bad mood right now. You'd better not go," Emperor Xia quickly advised.

"In a bad mood?" Ji Ning was startled.

"Yes," Emperor Xia nodded. "The Human Sovereign Shennong couldn't do anything, but the Dao Ancestor hasn't given up. After all, this realm is the foundation of his endless years. So the Dao Ancestor went to see other mighty cultivators—the two leaders of the Daoist and Buddhist schools, and one other great cultivator after another... but... sigh..."

Ji Ning nodded. "I understand."

"And you still want to see the Dao Ancestor?" Emperor Xia looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning nodded.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning's aura suddenly changed, from that of a Celestial Immortal to that of a Pure Yang True Immortal.

"Pure... Pure Yang?" Emperor Xia's eyes went wide, then he was overjoyed. "Ji Ning, you broke through?"

"Yes," Ji Ning nodded.

Since he had decided to win the realm war, he had to be careful about intelligence from the Heartless Gate camp. So this time, Ji Ning only revealed his Pure Yang True Immortal strength, giving the Heartless Gate a false impression. As for the fourth level of heartforce, he still needed to conceal it, only unleashing it at a critical moment to change the battle situation.

And to conceal it...

He had to hide it from everyone! Only if he alone knew would this secret be truly secret. If he told a second person, the Heartless Gate might find out.

"Excellent! This, this is wonderful!" Emperor Xia was extremely excited. "Now that you've broken through to Pure Yang, your Divine Punishment's power will greatly increase. Teaming up with the Seven Luminaries Heavenly Gods, you might be able to fully tie down that Dao Ancestor puppet. In the last battle, the Heartless Gate fled in disarray, and we pursued them all the way, inflicting heavy losses. As long as you and the Seven Luminaries Heavenly Gods tie down the Dao Ancestor puppet, leave the rest, including that three-eyed demon god, to us."

"Let's go, let's go see the Dao Ancestor." Emperor Xia was immensely excited.

"Yes." Ji Ning followed Emperor Xia into the hall.

"The Dao Ancestor is in the side hall." Emperor Xia was familiar with the place and led Ji Ning inside. Soon, Ji Ning saw a quiet side hall where Dao Ancestor Redbright sat cross-legged.

But Ji Ning sensed a kind of despondency from Dao Ancestor Redbright.

It was a natural despondency born of helplessness.

"Master," Emperor Xia spoke.

"Dao Ancestor," Ji Ning said respectfully.

Dao Ancestor Redbright opened his eyes, saw Ji Ning, and nodded gently. "It seems you've perked up a bit. Ji Ning, this realm war's loss is not your fault. After all, you couldn't have foreseen this. A loss is a loss; war has its victories and defeats. Later, I will summon all the Heavenly Gods, True Immortals, and generals to order a retreat. You should also take a good tour of the Three Realms and relax your mind. Your master and I have great hopes for you. Although we lost this battle against the Heartless Gate, there will be other battles elsewhere, and we will need you to fight."

A Dao Ancestor, after all, was a Dao Ancestor.

Though grieved that his foundation was destroyed, his vision still spanned the Three Realms. He naturally did not want Ji Ning to be crushed, nor did he wish to blame him.

"Master, Ji Ning has broken through to Pure Yang True Immortal," Emperor Xia quickly said.

Dao Ancestor Redbright was startled, then his eyes lit up!

The despondency on him vanished, replaced by vibrant vitality. He looked at Ji Ning and laughed heartily, "I am truly old, so blinded by the realm war's blow that I didn't notice you had broken through right in front of me. Haha, Pure Yang True Immortal! With your breakthrough, your command of the Divine Punishment will be greatly enhanced! Teaming up with the Seven Luminaries Heavenly Gods under Hongxue's command, you should be able to tie down that Dao Ancestor puppet."

"Please grant me nine thousand Celestial Immortals and eight hundred and ten thousand loose immortals to form the strongest Divine Punishment," Ji Ning said respectfully.

"Good."

Seeing Ji Ning's confidence, Dao Ancestor Redbright shouted in approval. Ji Ning already had three thousand Celestial Immortals; this would mean reassigning six ordinary Divine Punishments to him. Six ordinary Divine Punishments would have very little impact on the entire battlefield.

"I will immediately order the final decisive battle against the Heartless Gate!" Dao Ancestor Redbright's eyes blazed with divine light, his aura overwhelming, his voice ringing like a bell.