Chapter 37: The One True Body

"Let one of your avatars go and use the Heart-Infusion Method to refine the divine sword, while the other avatar slowly memorizes these techniques." said the golden-armored female general.

Ji Ning nodded.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Two white-robed youths appeared in the Biyu Temple. One stood silently before a small mountain of bamboo slips, each scroll faintly emanating ripples. The other youth walked to the stone platform, gazed at the divine sword, then moved a cushion close to the platform, sat down alone, and began to perform the Heart-Infusion Method.

Performing the Heart-Infusion Method was very simple, but there was one prerequisite—one must have entered the gate of heartforce!

Lord Beixiu World God had never doubted whether his chosen successor had entered the gate of heartforce. After all, most of the True Gods and Dao Ancestors in the Three Realms were at the second or third level of heartforce. True experts... generally had entered the gate of heartforce. Someone who could achieve great mastery in the 'Five Treasured Sword Art' would certainly have entered the gate of heartforce.

According to the 'Heart-Infusion Method', heartforce was ethereal yet wondrously mysterious. The Heart-Infusion Method was a special application technique of heartforce.

Ji Ning was at the fourth level of heartforce. According to estimates, it would take a thousand years. If he were at the first or second level, it would take even longer.

His formless heartforce began to invade the 'Ziguangqiong' divine sword.

"Huuu..."

The heartforce easily permeated.

In his heartforce perception, the interior of the Ziguangqiong divine sword was hazy, with countless cracks faintly visible, clearly severely damaged. Within the hazy interior lay a complex octahedral crystal. Each face of the octahedral crystal bore extremely intricate patterns, far more complex than the Ninefold Chaos Seals that Ji Ning knew.

Layers of light films flowed over the surface of the octahedral crystal, preventing Ji Ning's heartforce from penetrating even a trace, yet he could sense the immense power contained within the crystal.

This was the essence of the 'Ziguangqiong' divine sword! Its very core!

As long as the core was intact, even if the sword body were completely shattered... it could be restored.

"Let's begin." Ji Ning's heartforce, like an invisible hand, began to form tiny specks of starlight. Countless specks of light linked into strands, and these numerous strands surrounded the octahedral crystal, beginning to 'infuse' according to the method of the Heart-Infusion Method.

...

Two white-robed youths—one sitting on a cushion facing the divine sword on the stone platform, the other standing before the small mountain of bamboo slips.

Time flowed on...

In the blink of an eye, nearly three months had passed.

"Finally memorized everything." Ji Ning breathed a sigh of relief. Although these powerful techniques included the ninety-eight sword arts from the earlier stone tablets and other formidable sword arts, as well as divine demon and qi-refining methods, and some special secret arts and divine abilities, Ji Ning still felt somewhat disappointed.

These techniques would only be useful after he became much stronger—when he became a Patriarch or even a World God. As for now? They couldn't significantly enhance his strength.

He had previously hoped for a way to elevate his second-class golden core to first-class.

Unfortunately...

None of his hopes came true.

"Disappointed?" the golden-armored female general teased.

Ji Ning didn't bother lying to a spirit of a magic treasure, so he nodded: "A bit. After all, the Three Realms are facing a calamity now. If not for the calamity, I wouldn't be in a hurry to improve my strength. But with the calamity looming... these techniques and divine abilities can't boost my power in the short term. I had hoped to increase my strength a bit more."

"I knew you were anxious." The golden-armored female general showed a hint of smugness. "Earlier, when I saw how long it would take to refine the divine sword, I guessed from your expression how eager you were to get outside. So I played a little trick on you."

"Trick?" Ji Ning was startled.

"The three most crucial items are not among these bamboo slips." The golden-armored female general pointed at the small mountain of bamboo slips.

Ji Ning's eyes lit up.

"Look." The golden-armored female general pointed to the wall of the Biyu Temple. Immediately, patterns began to appear on the originally translucent wall—countless sword stances emerged. As the restrictions were removed, the imposing aura of the sword stances rushed toward Ji Ning, making his heart tighten and his body tremble involuntarily.

"My master was a World God who used the sword. This is the most powerful nameless sword art he acquired while roaming the endless chaos, with earth-shattering might. My master stood at the pinnacle among World Gods largely thanks to this sword art." The golden-armored female general said. "My master recorded everything he could remember here."

Ji Ning nodded.

"The sword arts on the ninety-eight stone tablets outside were created by my master after comprehending this nameless sword art. First, comprehend those ninety-eight sword arts... once you fully understand them, you can come and comprehend this nameless sword art." The golden-armored female general said.

"Now look at this."

A stone token suddenly appeared in the golden-armored female general's hand.

"This is the 'Summoning Token' personally refined by my master." The golden-armored female general looked at Ji Ning. "Once you refine it, the Summoning Token will become one with you. If you die, the token will shatter."

"Summoning Token?" Ji Ning was puzzled.

"Yes. This is a Summoning Token that countless Patriarchs, Ancestral Immortals, and even World Gods in the endless chaos desire." The golden-armored female general said. "According to my master, the Heavenly Firmament Palace is a very powerful force in the endless chaos. The many experts within the Heavenly Firmament Palace address each other as brothers, with no master-disciple relationships. All members of the Heavenly Firmament Palace are brothers."

"To enter the Heavenly Firmament Palace, one needs an introduction from a formal member." The golden-armored female general said. "The Heavenly Firmament Palace always has a 'Summoning Envoy' stationed there. Outsiders who wish to enter must pass various tests set by the Summoning Envoy to be summoned into the Heavenly Firmament Palace."

"Moreover!"

"A formal member of the Heavenly Firmament Palace has one opportunity to introduce someone in their lifetime." The golden-armored female general said. "Lord Beixiu World God never introduced anyone else. Before his death, he refined this Summoning Token and gave it to you. So once you reach the Patriarch or Ancestral Immortal level, you can use the Summoning Token to enter the Heavenly Firmament Palace."

Ji Ning listened with anticipation but remained calm.

The Heavenly Firmament Palace?

Lord Beixiu World God himself couldn't find his way back and had given Ji Ning a chaos cycle to find the Heavenly Firmament Palace. Who knew when he would get there.

"The nameless sword art and the Summoning Token are both extremely important." The golden-armored female general looked at Ji Ning. "Among the bamboo slips, there was one that would be very useful to you. I deliberately held it back."

"Ah." Ji Ning was taken aback.

"Take a look." The golden-armored female general flipped her hand, and a bamboo slip appeared. "I knew you had a technique for avatars, so I guessed this bamboo slip would be of great use to you. Hehe, I deliberately saved it for last."

Ji Ning took it.

The nameless sword art? He had to fully comprehend the first ninety-eight sword arts before he could study it—far off in the future.

The Summoning Token for the Heavenly Firmament Palace? Also distant.

"This last bamboo slip." After receiving it, Ji Ning immediately probed it with his heartforce, and information surged into his mind—a technique emerged.

"The One True Body?"

Ji Ning murmured to himself.

This was a secret art!

With this 'One True Body' secret art, one could merge all completely homologous avatars into one! The essence of this technique was: since one had divided into many avatars, these avatars were connected by an indistinct bond and could potentially merge. Thus, a certain great power in the chaos created the 'One True Body' secret art.

For example, the third level of the Taowu Eighteen Divine Demons allowed the eighteen avatars to merge into one and then separate again.

But the 'One True Body' secret art allowed all avatars to merge into one, forming the true body. Once merged, they could never separate again!

Compared to the third level of the Taowu Eighteen Divine Demons, it had the weakness of being irreversible. However, this 'One True Body' secret art required no external materials to perform.

"Useful to you, right?" The golden-armored female general smiled. She would follow Ji Ning in the future, so she naturally felt an instinctive closeness to him.

"Yes." Ji Ning nodded.

Avatars merged and couldn't separate?

Why would he need to separate!

A surge in strength was enough! Merging many avatars into one would elevate his soul, divine power, qi, heartforce, and divine body. If before his second-class golden core was merely a 'half-step Dao Ancestor', once merged into the true body, he might become a true Dao Ancestor.

This was more than useful.

It was a godsend!

...

Life in this independent space was peaceful. One of Ji Ning's avatars focused on refining the extraordinary divine sword, while the other avatar spent each day comprehending the sword arts on the ninety-eight stone tablets. The sword arts recorded on the bamboo slips were mere outlines. But the ones left personally by Lord Beixiu World God on the stone tablets carried an overwhelming artistic conception, making comprehension ten or a hundred times more effective.

Years passed—ten years, a hundred years...

Ji Ning's sword arts mastery improved quietly. The sword arts left by a powerful World God were comprehensible to Ji Ning, who had already achieved great mastery in the Five Treasured Sword Art. Although forcing comprehension would be overwhelming, he could at least grasp parts. As time passed, he could comprehend more and more.

This would be the foundation for Ji Ning's future dominance in the Three Realms with his swordplay.

...

While Ji Ning peacefully enriched himself in the independent space, the Three Realms at that time...

were already ablaze with war!