Chapter 40: Plundering

Ji Ning waved his hand, and the eight-petaled lotus that had been facing downward instantly absorbed all the towering true fire, then shrank and flew back into Ji Ning's hand.

"Truly refusing to shed tears until seeing the coffin. He clearly knew that dragging it out would only lead to defeat and death, yet he still held out with me until now." Ji Ning also marveled at the opponent's strength. He himself relied mainly on the eight true fires, while the opponent manipulated treasures to resist, consuming mana much faster than he did.

With strength comparable to a Dao Ancestor, this top-tier True Immortal had managed to hold out for fifteen years!

This showed the gap between himself and a Dao Ancestor. If not for being in the World Prison, he could never have made such an existence bow.

"Whoosh." Withdrawing the bowl-shaped treasure, True Immortal Dong Qun had a hint of shame and anger in his eyes. He looked at Ji Ning: "I admit defeat. I... am willing... to submit!"

Anger.

Shame.

All kinds of emotions surged in his heart. Bowing to Ji Ning and submitting was like making Ji Ning submit to a Celestial Immortal! How proud a strong man was! Fortunately, he had been imprisoned for the long years of several chaos cycles. If it had been before his imprisonment, he would rather die than bow his head. Even now, he had held out for fifteen years before finally realizing he was at a dead end. Only then did True Immortal Dong Qun express submission.

"You don't need to resist," Ji Ning said. "I can't free you from the chains now, so you can still live here."

True Immortal Dong Qun understood that the other was comforting him to reduce his resistance. He said indifferently, "What do you want me to do? Treasures? Or ask me something? I can give you any treasure you want. It's useless to me while I'm imprisoned here anyway."

"I need you to not resist at all, open your soul to me, and let me examine your memories," Ji Ning said.

"You..." True Immortal Dong Qun's face changed drastically. "Warden, don't go too far."

"It's just a soul search," Ji Ning said.

True Immortal Dong Qun gritted his teeth and stared at Ji Ning: "Impossible! I can give you all my treasures, but a soul search... impossible!"

Opening his memories completely to the other, letting the other know everything about him. If the other were a Chaos Immortal or World God, he couldn't resist and that would be one thing. But the other was far weaker than him. Before a weakling, letting his memories, even some private ones, be completely exposed.

A strong man like True Immortal Dong Qun simply couldn't accept it.

"To you, I'm just an outsider," Ji Ning said. "Your private memories are useless to me."

True Immortal Dong Qun closed his eyes.

Scenes flashed through his mind.

"Junior apprentice-brother."

"Grandfather."

"Disciple."

He couldn't forget those people, the most important ones in his life.

The Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom might have truly been destroyed, but when a faction perishes, the most important people to him might still be alive. He wanted to go see, to search.

"Fine." True Immortal Dong Qun opened his eyes and sneered at Ji Ning, "I agree, but I'm afraid you don't dare to come in and search my soul."

"Haha..."

Ji Ning smiled and immediately stretched out his arm.

Whoosh!

His arm rapidly expanded, reaching hundreds of miles long, and then his palm landed on top of True Immortal Dong Qun's head.

"Coward." True Immortal Dong Qun sneered. "Having cultivated the Tao Wu Eighteen Divine Demons, yet still so timid."

"You're a prisoner. If you counterattack and destroy one of my avatars, that would be a loss not worth it." Ji Ning stood outside the formation restrictions, his hundreds-of-miles-long arm in front of True Immortal Dong Qun.

Even if the other fought back,

Ji Ning would instantly take the initiative to sever an arm. Losing an arm would only cost some divine power, and perhaps much of that divine power would return.

"Come on." True Immortal Dong Qun closed his eyes and sat cross-legged.

Ji Ning's palm was on top of True Immortal Dong Qun's head, and then he began to invade...

True Immortal Dong Qun did not resist at all.

Immediately, a magnificent scene of a strong man's cultivation and rise unfolded before Ji Ning. As a top-tier True Immortal, his experiences were far more exciting than those of Heavenly Gods or Celestial Immortals, and his status was also much higher.

...

A full day and night.

Ji Ning withdrew his hand and closed his eyes in thought.

"It seems there's really no hope of obtaining the first-level method," Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

Although he had expected it,

after reviewing True Immortal Dong Qun's memories, Ji Ning was very sure: the cultivation method for achieving a first-class golden core required a Chaos Immortal to assist during cultivation, and this method was known only to the three World-level existences like the Nine Directions Lord in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom. Even the Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals were not qualified to know it.

The method for achieving a second-class golden core... many knew it, and True Gods and True Immortals might also know it.

But this True Immortal Dong Qun did not know it.

Of course, these methods for achieving golden cores were needed for mortals to cultivate to the 'Celestial Immortal' stage. Since Ji Ning had already become a Pure Yang True Immortal, these methods were useless to him. The reason Ji Ning sought them was that if the calamity was won in the future, such powerful methods could be passed on to Mingyue and others.

"Methods to upgrade a True Immortal's golden core are truly rare," Ji Ning shook his head.

The method to upgrade the golden core was what Ji Ning most wanted to obtain.

But clearly...

Such methods were precious in one sense, because in some remote places, immortals had high talent, but after becoming Celestial Immortals or True Immortals, the factions in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom would absorb them and then find ways to upgrade their golden cores. They were not precious in another sense, because at most they could upgrade to the second class.

These True Gods and True Immortals imprisoned in the World Prison were almost all top-tier in strength, with higher status, so they might still possess such methods. Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals knew more, but unfortunately Ji Ning could not deal with Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals.

"Take it slow. If I can't find it on one True Immortal, then I'll look for a second True God or True Immortal, ten, a hundred... I'll keep searching, and I'll find it eventually." Ji Ning then looked at True Immortal Dong Qun.

"Found what you wanted?" True Immortal Dong Qun looked at Ji Ning.

"Hand over your 'Flash Sky Stars' to me," Ji Ning said.

True Immortal Dong Qun gritted his teeth: "You've already searched my soul, and you still want my innate spirit treasure."

"Hand it over," Ji Ning said.

"Hmph."

True Immortal Dong Qun was very reluctant, but still flipped his hand. Immediately, a large number of deep blue octagonal stars appeared in midair, ninety-nine in total. Each of these octagonal stars seemed to contain an endless starry ocean. This was also True Immortal Dong Qun's most important set of innate spirit treasures.

"Take it." True Immortal Dong Qun withdrew his印记 from the innate spirit treasures and then threw them to Ji Ning.

Ji Ning's big hand opened, turning a hundred zhang wide, and directly grabbed them.

"Here is a bottle of immortal pills and a token. These immortal pills are enough to sustain you for a while. If there's an emergency, crush the token to find me." Ji Ning waved his hand and threw out two items. True Immortal Dong Qun caught them. He was running low on pills and needed them.

"Hmph." True Immortal Dong Qun glanced at them and snorted.

Ji Ning knew that the other was feeling aggrieved after having his soul searched and handing over his strongest treasure. Ji Ning didn't mind and immediately turned into a streak of light and flew away.

...

"From True Immortal Dong Qun's memories, the hierarchy in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom is very strict," Ji Ning mused as he flew on a cloud. "True Gods and True Immortals generally use innate spirit treasures. Only top-tier True Immortals like Dong Qun can use a set of ninety-nine octagonal stars forming an innate spirit treasure."

"And the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom actually has more advanced methods for refining treasures," Ji Ning marveled.

The method to enhance the power of an innate spirit treasure was actually simple:

add 'restrictions' to the innate spirit treasure!

For example, his own 'All Heavens Star Gold Beads' had nine layers of chaos restrictions added, which was a way to enhance the power of innate spirit treasures, provided one could refine these restrictions. The Three Pure Ones had refined the 'Immortal-Slaying Sword Diagram', containing seven layers of restrictions. The more profound the restrictions, the greater the power.

This set of innate spirit treasures, 'Flash Sky Stars', also contained restrictions, with extraordinary power.

"But this set of innate spirit treasures doesn't suit me," Ji Ning murmured to himself. "But now that the calamity has descended, having more treasures on our side can greatly increase our strength. I naturally have to take all the innate spirit treasures of these True Gods and True Immortals."

In the Three Realms,

even great powers only had some chaos treasures.

And most chaos treasures were not used for combat. So the vast majority of great powers used innate spirit treasures for battle. The 'All Heavens Star Gold Beads' were somewhat useless, but Ji Ning's powerful heart force made him well-suited for such treasures. For other great powers, innate spirit treasures like 'Flash Sky Stars' were more precious, especially the restrictions within, which some great powers would like very much.

"At the Human Clan Imperial Palace, I can exchange treasures," Ji Ning thought. "When I have more treasures in hand, I can go exchange."

Before the calamity,

the Human Clan Imperial Palace, the Daoist Sect, and the Buddhist Sect all had treasure repositories. One could take treasures there and exchange them for other treasures. Some were useless to oneself but useful to others. Of course, the value had to be equivalent.

Now that the calamity had descended,

the Nuwa Camp, at the Human Clan Imperial Palace's lair, had placed almost all the temporarily unused treasures, chaos materials, immortal pills, etc., of the Nuwa Camp there. This allowed the strong of their camp to exchange and strengthen their own side!

...

"Last time I dealt with a True Immortal; this time I'll try dealing with a True God." Ji Ning rode a cloud and descended onto a large mountain.

On the mountain sat a green-haired man so thin he was skin and bones, sitting cross-legged.

When Ji Ning arrived, the man also opened his eyes.

"Truly a True God." Ji Ning felt a suffocating pressure. The True Gods of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom were comparable to those of the Three Realms.

"Warden?" The green-haired man's eyes were like an eagle's, scrutinizing Ji Ning. "What happened to the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom? Why would they send you?"

"The Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom has been destroyed," Ji Ning said directly on the mountain. "And I now control the entire World Prison. You have two choices: resist, or submit to me. Just now, True Immortal Dong Qun submitted to me, and his innate spirit treasure 'Flash Sky Stars' is now in my hands."

Ji Ning's hand floated ninety-nine deep blue octagonal stars.

The green-haired man squinted: "That waste Dong Qun actually submitted to you?"

"What about you?" Ji Ning looked at him calmly.

...