Chapter 5: The Underground Corridor

The rock giant said, 'These twelve disciples were all disliked by the Dao Lord and never acknowledged by him. Although the Dao Lord had a strange temper, as long as one was strong enough, he would still spare no effort to nurture them... So the powerful disciples were all driven away before the Dao Lord returned to his homeland. The disciples who followed him here were all weak and had little potential.'

'Weak?' Ji Ning asked. 'Does this Dongming World God have an Eternal Divine Weapon?'

'No,' the rock giant said directly.

Ji Ning felt a wave of disappointment. He had thought that the master of this island, the Dongming World God, was someone extraordinary, especially with two Chaos Immortals serving him. But who would have thought he didn't even have a single Eternal Divine Weapon?

'Eternal Divine Weapons are extremely precious. Even for a Dao Lord, they are few. Moreover, the Dao Lord preferred his disciples to obtain treasures through their own adventures rather than being directly bestowed by him,' the rock giant said. 'As far as I know, among the Dao Lord's disciples, only nine had Eternal Divine Weapons. Most obtained them through adventures. Only the greatly favored eldest and second disciples received them as personal gifts from the Dao Lord.'

'The twelve disciples buried with him had no Eternal Divine Weapons.'

'On the contrary, among the several hundred servants, a few possessed Eternal Divine Weapons, all obtained by chance while accompanying the Dao Lord on adventures,' the rock giant said.

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

'Master need not be disappointed,' the rock giant said quickly. 'I recall that before his death, the Dongming World God often stared at that painting. My master also said that the painting was as precious as an Eternal Divine Weapon.'

'A painting?' Ji Ning immediately remembered. The Sushui Dao Lord had bestowed a painting upon the Dongming World God. If he could comprehend it, he could leave alive.

Unfortunately, the Dongming World God had failed to comprehend it.

'Are you familiar with that immortal mansion?' Ji Ning pointed at the immortal mansion ahead.

'Of course. Master, follow me,' the rock giant said.

......

The rock giant shrank to about ten feet tall and walked side by side with Ji Ning down the mountain, then entered the immortal mansion.

'Master, be careful. The Dongming World God was ruthless, narrow-minded, and extremely selfish,' the rock giant warned. 'Even in death, he probably won't let outsiders easily obtain his treasures. This extreme selfishness was also why the Sushui Dao Lord disliked him. In his early days, his cultivation speed was very fast, and the Sushui Dao Lord had high hopes for him. But later, he stagnated, and coupled with his selfishness, he became one of the twelve disciples buried with the Dao Lord.'

Ji Ning nodded, gripping his divine sword, Violet Light Qiong, and remained on guard.

'He usually studied the painting in the underground chamber of the mansion,' the rock giant said. 'Since the Sushui Dao Lord died suddenly, the Dongming World God's corpse is probably still in that underground chamber.'

When the Sushui Dao Lord died, all twelve disciples and the many servants perished.

These disciples and servants knew their death was near but not when it would come. The Sushui Dao Lord could not send a telepathic warning at the moment of his death.

'Boom~~~' The rock giant walked ahead, familiar with the place, and pushed open a wall, revealing a staircase leading downward.

The rock giant led, and Ji Ning followed, descending the stairs.

Fortunately, there was a rock giant familiar with the mansion. Otherwise, without being able to use his heartforce or divine sense to investigate, Ji Ning would have found it very difficult to discover that the wall was a door.

'Master, be careful. We are now very close to the chamber. Danger could arise at any moment,' the rock giant said as he walked through the deep corridor.

'Mm,' Ji Ning observed cautiously.

The underground corridor was very dark. Faint divine runes on the walls on both sides emitted a dim glow.

The rock giant and Ji Ning advanced steadily.

'Master, come quickly.' The rock giant, now at a turn, sent a mental message. Even this treasure puppet was becoming more cautious.

Ji Ning silently moved to the rock giant's side and looked down the other corridor.

In the distance, a figure in a blood-colored robe sat slumped against the wall.

'That's the Blood Swamp Immortal,' the rock giant, being a treasure puppet, could communicate mentally with Ji Ning. 'He must have been walking when his true spirit was suddenly extinguished, so he ended up sitting against the wall.'

'Mm,' Ji Ning felt a surge of anticipation.

The Huachu Immortal had quite a few treasures.

What about this Blood Marsh Immortal?

"Master, wait here a moment. I'll go take a look." The rock giant stepped forward. As a magic treasure puppet, it was naturally inclined to rush to the front. Its body was comparable to a Dao Divine Weapon; even if struck by a Life-Dao Lord, it could generally withstand it safely. Its survivability was far stronger than that of World-level cultivators.

The rock giant approached the distant Blood Marsh Immortal and found no danger. Only then did Ji Ning go over.

The Blood Marsh Immortal had a rather handsome appearance, but he wore a blood-red robe, and even his hair was blood-red, giving him a natural sense of eerie strangeness.

"Whoosh." Ji Ning waved his hand and collected the Blood Marsh Immortal's corpse.

He examined it.

It also gave Ji Ning a pleasant surprise. Although the Blood Marsh Immortal's treasures were slightly fewer than those of the Hua Chu Immortal, they were not far off, and one item was extremely useful to Ji Ning.

"A Dao Divine Weapon-grade armor." Ji Ning flipped his hand, and a suit of silvery, shimmering armor appeared in his palm. He estimated it should be a high-grade Dao Divine Weapon. Because it was armor, it was extremely precious. On Wuyan Star, even Chaos-grade armor was only possessed by a few generals of the Wuyan Army. Even under Black Lotus Divine Emperor, even the Heartlink Divine General did not have such armor.

One can see how precious the armor was! Even a mere top-grade Dao weapon armor was worth over a hundred square of Chaos liquid.

"Blood Cloud Throne, Five Elements Bloodfire Needles." Ji Ning nodded.

The Blood澤 Immortal had three sets of Dao weapons in total.

The armor was worth over a hundred square of Chaos liquid, but Ji Ning would not sell it. He excelled in close combat and needed good armor himself.

The Blood Cloud Throne was an extremely bloody Dao weapon, worth over fifty square of Chaos liquid.

The Five Elements Bloodfire Needles were a set of five divine needles, also worth over fifty square of Chaos liquid.

…

"Whoosh." Ji Ning quickly refined the armor and immediately put it on.

With a Dao weapon armor protecting his body, and his divine body itself comparable to a Chaos treasure, even a strike from a peak World God could at least be withstood by Ji Ning. Of course, he could only withstand it; the opponent could still capture him and had many means to torture and kill him. However, Ji Ning would not foolishly go and fight a peak World God now.

"It seems that after leaving, I'll have to find an opportunity to sell these treasures," Ji Ning thought to himself. The treasures favored by the Immortal Huachu and the Immortal Xueze were of little use to him.

"Stone, keep moving forward," Ji Ning ordered.

"Yes, master."

The rock giant walked ahead without any fear. Soon, it stopped and then pushed against the wall, which at first glance appeared to be just a part of the corridor wall. But with a push, it rumbled and swung open completely.

"The World God of Cave Tone is inside," the rock giant transmitted mentally.

"Mm." Ji Ning immediately walked to the door and looked into the secret chamber inside.

The secret chamber was quite large, silent and still.

A figure in black robes sat cross-legged, with a large cloth banner stuck behind him. This cross-legged figure emanated divine power fluctuations; he was indeed a dead World God. On the wall he faced hung a painting, which was the most dazzling thing in the entire chamber.

For the entire painting radiated soaring sword qi!

The sword qi filled the entire chamber, and its intensity even surged out of the immortal mansion. Earlier, Ji Ning and the Heavenly Unity Dao Lord had both spotted the soaring sword qi on the island at a glance.

"So the sword qi came from this painting," Ji Ning said, looking at the painting. Partially obscured by the cloth banner, he could vaguely make out what seemed to be a landscape painting.

"Master, should I go in?" The rock giant now knew not to act on its own.

"Mm, be careful," Ji Ning instructed.

The rock giant then cautiously stepped into the chamber and walked toward the cross-legged corpse in black. When it reached about ten zhang from the figure, a series of divine runes suddenly appeared within a ten-zhang radius around the black-robed figure. The runes shimmered with beautiful light, forming a huge hemispherical sphere that enveloped the corpse. Even the divine runes on the corridor walls, which had been faintly glowing, now blazed brightly.

"Boom~~~"

A terrifying power erupted instantly.

Ji Ning only had time to swing his sword to block one side, but the omnipresent force struck him from all directions...