Chapter Thirty-Nine: Mind-Only

In the Heaven Realm of the Three Realms, the Eastern Dao Palace was bustling with excitement.

Great cultivators gathered here, and even the Buddhist Tathagata Buddha, Amitabha, and others came to offer congratulations.

“Congratulations, fellow Daoist.”

“Donghua, you have finally broken through this step.”

“Congratulations.”

“Haha, Donghua, you too have broken through. I have been waiting for this day since ancient times.”

The Dao Palace was extraordinarily lively.

Today, the protagonist of the Dao Palace was not the Three Pure Ones, but Lü Zu ‘Lü Dongbin,’ who had always been the great hope of the Daoist sect. For just a few days ago, when Lü Dongbin roamed the chaos and returned from it, he had directly broken through to the ‘Dao Ancestor’ level. Moreover, his return caused quite a stir, and almost all the great cultivators of the Three Realms knew of it.

“Fuxi.”

“Fuxi, long time no see.”

These great cultivators chatted in small groups, some in their true bodies, others merely as avatars.

“Bodhi.”

“Fuxi.”

Inside the Dao Palace, Fuxi and Bodhi met. Bodhi came in his true body, while Fuxi only arrived as an avatar.

“Donghua’s return from chaos this time made quite a stir; it seems he had some good fortune,” Fuxi said with a smile. “And from the commotion… it appears Donghua has also cultivated the ‘Power of Taiji’ to the fifth level. Impressive, truly impressive.”

“Merging the achievements of both Buddhist and Daoist paths into one, Donghua has great ambition,” Bodhi sighed. “But it is precisely because his ambition is too great—his past life as Donghua, his present life as Lü Dongbin, both with extremely high realms—that he had been unable to break through for so long. This opportunity in chaos allowed him to break through in one go, uniting Buddhism and Daoism, empowered by Taiji. With this breakthrough, he has reached the top tier among True God Dao Ancestors. No wonder the Three Pure Ones, Xiaoyao, and others valued him so highly.”

Fuxi nodded as well.

They too marveled.

The strength of True God Dao Ancestors was roughly divided into three levels.

The first level was the ordinary True God Dao Ancestor level. Most True God Dao Ancestors were at this level, and without a fundamental breakthrough, it was difficult to advance even slightly.

The second level was the top tier. Figures like the ancient human Five Emperors, Dao Ancestor Xiaoyao, War God Xingtian, and others with exceptional strength belonged to this level.

The third level was the leader level, such as the leaders of the Daoist and Buddhist sects and the three Human Sovereigns.

In fact, figures like Bodhi, Old Man Yuan, and Houyi, whose strength was ambiguous and far surpassed that of War God Xingtian, were generally considered very close to the leaders of the Daoist and Buddhist sects, but whether they could be compared was hard to say.

Lü Dongbin, having merged Daoism and Buddhism and reached the fifth level of the Power of Taiji, was definitely at the ‘top-tier Dao Ancestor’ level!

Such a breakthrough that immediately resulted in great power had occurred in history before.

For example, Xingtian.

For example, Houyi, even more exaggerated.

For example, Youdu, who, as a Celestial Deity, cultivated the ‘Twelve Capital Heavenly Demon Art’ to the second level, making his twelve avatars comparable to his true body. When he broke through to become a True God, relying on the combination of his twelve avatars, he also reached the top-tier Dao Ancestor level.

There were such cases on Nüwa’s side.

And on the Wujian Gate’s side as well.

“Your disciple has remarkable heart power,” Fuxi said. “If he could break through to the fifth level of heart power, he would immediately become a top-tier Dao Ancestor.”

“It’s not that easy to break through. Donghua, after all, had accumulated a solid foundation. If he hadn’t cultivated too many things simultaneously, interfering with each other, he might have become a Dao Ancestor long ago. Donghua’s ambition was too great, which is why he only broke through today,” Bodhi shook his head. “Ji Ning has been cultivating for too short a time; reaching the fifth level of heart power is extremely difficult. In fact, I have always believed his talent lies more in the sword, and I still think so now. Compared to the sword path, the path of the heart is too ethereal.”

Fuxi nodded in agreement. “How is his sword path now?”

“Still accumulating,” Bodhi said.

“Oh, this is the formation I promised Ji Ning.” Fuxi produced a bamboo slip. “Since I’m here, I might as well give it to you.”

…

The breakthrough of Lü Zu was naturally known to the Wujian Gate.

They too gnashed their teeth in hatred.

Nüwa’s camp had gained another general! They had long wanted to eliminate Lü Dongbin, but Lü Dongbin was the Celestial Deity True Immortal most valued by the Daoist sect. Everyone knew that once Lü Dongbin broke through with his cultivation method, he would be extraordinary, so he was treated like a precious treasure. And unlike Ji Ning, Lü Dongbin did not seek death, so the Wujian Gate had no way to deal with him.

“Breaking through just as the calamity approaches, this Lü Dongbin is indeed a threat. But in the end, life and death will be decided in the final battle.” The Divine King was furious but still calm.

After all, in the war between the two camps,

adding one top-tier Dao Ancestor was still within controllable limits. If it were a leader-level Daoist sect figure, he would truly be enraged and frantic.

As for Ji Ning?

The Divine King had long forgotten Ji Ning. Judging from Ji Ning’s recent activities, he was focused solely on sword practice and no longer ambushed the Wujian Gate: “This Ji Ning has finally learned to behave.”

…

The birth of a new Dao Ancestor was mainly circulated among great cultivators; very few Celestial Deities and True Immortals knew of it. Because Ji Ning was entirely focused on sword practice, Bodhi did not tell him, nor did he rush to give him the great formation created by Fuxi: “Such a formation is quick to learn. My disciple is now roaming the Three Realms, practicing swordsmanship like a madman. It’s better not to disturb him. When he has achieved something, I can teach him then.”

Bodhi’s judgment was accurate.

Ji Ning had indeed entered a state of madness.

His sword path had reached great accomplishment; the first level of sword power was only the threshold.

The second level of sword power truly opened a new realm, and Ji Ning began to touch the true foundation of the sword… As he roamed the Three Realms, constantly practicing and dueling, his understanding of his own path became increasingly clear. He even refined all the mysteries of swordsmanship into five forms. According to Ji Ning’s conviction…

“All sword techniques in the world, including the Five Butcher Sword Art, can be divided and refined into five forms.”

“The sword art I, Ji Ning, have created is called the ‘Brightmoon Sword Art.’ In the endless ages to come, I will continuously perfect these five forms.”

In Ji Ning’s conception,

these five swords could encompass all the mysteries of swordsmanship in the Three Realms.

In fact, swordsmanship is simple at its core—the basic sword moves are just chop, thrust, lift, sweep, slash, point, twist, collapse, block, parry, flick, and intercept. But it is also complex—one can give birth to two, two to three, and three to all things. These thirteen basic moves can evolve into infinite sword techniques.

Ji Ning divided them into five forms according to his own method.

Though called five forms, strictly speaking, they were five sword intents, emphasizing intent over form.

In the fifteenth year of Ji Ning’s sword practice,

“Watch out.”

A Celestial Deity-level demon roared as it charged at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning, using only Violet Palace-level power, held a sword in each hand. With one sword stroke, a black hole formed, wildly weakening the opponent’s overwhelming power. No matter how fast the opponent attacked, it was difficult to break free.

“Bang.”

The demon, instead, was pulled by its own power and stumbled involuntarily.

“Among the five forms of Brightmoon, I didn’t expect this form to take shape first. This form shall be called ‘Mind-Only,’” Ji Ning nodded lightly.

The Brightmoon Sword Art.

Named after his daughter, it represented the most important thing Ji Ning guarded in his heart!

The ‘Mind-Only Form’ of the Brightmoon five forms was a one-on-one defensive sword technique, representing the ultimate application of Ji Ning’s defensive sword intent in one-on-one combat. With one sword stroke, a black hole formed, trapping the enemy’s attack. Though this sword technique was still crude, it was already Ji Ning’s most powerful sword art.

At this moment…

Ji Ning had silently reached the third level of sword power, but he paid no attention to it. His heart was only with the Brightmoon Sword Art—this set of sword techniques was the crystallization of his efforts, the foundation of all his swordsmanship.

Only when all five forms were created would Ji Ning stop.

“Hmm? Finally captured True Immortal Dongqun.” Ji Ning suddenly grinned.

…

In the endless chaos, deep within a canyon of a cold, mist-shrouded star, inside a frozen stele.

In the world prison.

An eight-petal lotus hung high above, its eight true fires covering the sky and earth, completely enveloping the bowl-shaped treasure below, burning continuously.

A white-robed youth stood outside the formation restrictions, eyes closed, pondering sword techniques, while maintaining a small input of magical power.

Although the opponent was only a Pure Yang True Immortal, he was a first-rate Pure Yang True Immortal, with strength comparable to a Dao Ancestor of the Three Realms! Hiding in the bowl-shaped treasure, he continuously input magical power to resist the burning of the eight true fires… yet he had held out for fifteen years.

“I… I concede.” From the bowl-shaped treasure finally came the unwilling and humiliated voice of True Immortal Dongqun. His magical power and pills were almost exhausted; he could resist at most three more days.

…