Chapter 13: The Mysterious Treasure-Gathering

"Ji Ning."

Ji Ning, who had been leisurely fishing while sitting on a floating log bridge, was startled by the sudden call. Turning his head, he found a man in green robes standing beside him.

"Ji Ning pays respects to the Dao Lord." Ji Ning quickly said. The visitor was none other than the Great Mo Dao Lord, which made Ji Ning's heart sink. In the past hundred-plus years, he had grown quite familiar with life in the Great Mo Estate, becoming acquainted with many World Gods, Chaos Immortals, Ancestral Gods, and Ancestral Immortals, but he had never seen the Great Mo Dao Lord again.

He also knew that the Great Mo Dao Lord rarely appeared within the Great Mo Estate, perhaps once in a million years! Relatively speaking, that was actually quite frequent. For some Life-and-Death Dao Lords, even appearing once within their own sect in an entire chaos cycle was common.

Because when the gap in strength and realm became too vast, it was hard to have meaningful conversations.

"Brother Tianyi asked me to pass a message to you." The Great Mo Dao Lord looked at Ji Ning. "He's afraid he won't be able to come out for a short while. From now on, you'll have to rely on yourself for your next steps and for returning to the Skyless Palace."

"Can't come out for a short while?" Ji Ning was alarmed and asked anxiously, "Dao Lord, my elder brother..."

"No need to worry."

The Great Mo Dao Lord smiled slightly. "It's not exactly dangerous. It's just that my Dharma body and Brother Tianyi are both temporarily trapped... Even escaping that trapping formation alone would take at least a million years, and there are even more dangers ahead."

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

"Catch." The Great Mo Dao Lord tossed a black token.

Ji Ning caught it. The black token bore only two ripples—one more turbulent, the other gentler.

"This is the Great Mo Token." The Great Mo Dao Lord said, "I have set a restriction on it; it can only be refined once... With this token, your status is comparable to that of a disciple of the Great Mo Estate. I believe it will be of some help to you in this region."

"Thank you, Dao Lord." Ji Ning quickly expressed his gratitude.

He certainly knew what the Great Mo Token was.

With this token, even if figures like the Black Lotus God-Emperor were still alive, they would not dare to touch him. Although his identity as a disciple of the Skyless Palace carried more deterrent power, the Skyless Palace was far too distant. Few in the Great Mo Territory knew of it, and even among the disciples of the Great Mo Estate, probably only a handful were aware.

Just as the brothers of the Skyless Palace knew little of the Great Mo Estate, the Dao Lord seniors within a sect would not normally give them such vast star charts. Once given, given the adventurous nature of World-level cultivators, they would travel very far, so far that they might never return.

Of course, the deterrent power of the Skyless Palace and the Great Mo Estate was known to Dao Lords. Thus, knowing Ji Ning's identity, some Life-and-Death Dao Lords would not dare to act against him. For formidable World-level cultivators, they generally did not fear those of the same level—if they couldn't win, they could still escape! What they feared most was encountering a Life-and-Death Dao Lord, and that was when background became crucial.

But one also needed to know the relationship between the enemy and one's own side. For example, the Black Lotus God-Emperor foolishly invoked the name of the Seven Sovereigns Dao Lord, but in reality, the Seven Sovereigns Dao Lord was a mortal enemy of the One Sky Dao Lord and had long since fled in terror. Invoking his name only hastened his death.

...

Days passed one after another.

Ji Ning continued to live in the Great Mo Estate. He did not rush out to adventure, because his strength was currently in a period of explosive growth.

The seventh cycle of the 'Star Picking Hand' had long taken shape, and after a single pointer from the One Sky Dao Lord, he had comprehended it early on.

The middle volume of the 'Golden Statue Divine Ability', after spending dozens of cubes of chaos gems and using the Peeping Heaven Grand Hao Tower, had also been mastered. His divine body was now comparable to a Chaos-level supreme treasure. This was already at the level of the late Northrest World God.

These were all things he had accomplished with ease.

The reason Ji Ning was content to stay in the Great Mo Estate was that his new method of analyzing the Dao of the Sword was progressing rapidly and had yet to encounter a bottleneck! Most cultivators only went out to adventure and explore after hitting a bottleneck, seeking more experiences and insights to break through.

"Beiming, Senior Brother Three Cold is planning to venture into the 'Star Tower Space' in the 'Azure Sky Territory'. Anyone who wants to go can find him. Do you want to go?"

"Azure Sky Territory? Star Tower Space?"

"Yes, the Azure Sky Territory is not far from our Great Mo Territory. Legend has it that the Star Tower Space was created by an ancient mighty figure who tossed out a pagoda-shaped treasure, which remained in the chaos. That pagoda-shaped treasure guided the chaos and formed a space of its own, with incredible power. I've heard that even Life-and-Death Dao Lords often go there, hoping to obtain that pagoda! Unfortunately, no one has succeeded so far. For us World-level cultivators, the treasures, techniques, and rare items within the pagoda are already more than enough. Want to go? Senior Brother Three Cold is very strong; going with him is much safer."

"I don't want to go for now. Thank you, Brother Seven Colors."

"Oh, alright."

The Seven Colors Immortal said a few more words to Ji Ning and then left.

Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

As the strongest force in the entire Great Mo Territory, the Great Mo Estate was extremely strict in recruiting disciples, with very high requirements for talent and comprehension. They generally accepted only World-level cultivators; those at the Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal level who could enter were practically prodigies... Thus, the World-level cultivators of the Great Mo Estate could generally cultivate to the perfection stage.

Once perfected, the next breakthrough would be to the Life-and-Death Dao Lord stage!

Among the many World-level cultivators outside, only a few reached perfection. But in the Great Mo Estate, the vast majority achieved perfection! Therefore, the disciples of the Great Mo Estate were full of fighting spirit, each fond of adventure and exploration, seeking their own Dao and striving to step into the Life-and-Death Dao Lord realm.

"On Fogrock Star, almost everyone had completely given up, living an extremely comfortable life."

"But in the Great Mo Estate, everyone is striving."

Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

He did not know, however, that there were also some World-level cultivators in the Great Mo Estate who had worked hard for a long time but still failed to break through. When they grew tired, weary, lost their fighting spirit, and gave up, they would leave the Great Mo Estate and find a place to live a peaceful life. Those who remained in the Great Mo Estate were all filled with endless fighting spirit and desire.

Thus, many went out to adventure. Usually, anyone planning to adventure would make it public and invite other fellow disciples to join. Traveling in groups of three to five fellow disciples greatly increased their chances of survival! Moreover, fellow disciples trusted and united with each other more.

"I am now analyzing and deducing the third stance of the 'Nameless Sword Art'—the Luo Heaven Stance."

"Progress is very fast now. Once I hit a bottleneck or fully comprehend the third stance, I will go to the Myriad Gods Mansion. Then I will also make it public in the Great Mo Estate and invite two or three fellow disciples to accompany me." Ji Ning thought to himself.

The Myriad Gods Mansion...

In the entire Great Mo Territory, besides the Sushui Ruins, the only place that contained the Snow Zither Diagram was the Myriad Gods Mansion.

...

In the 161st year of Ji Ning's stay in the Great Mo Estate.

"Treasure-Gathering."

"A Treasure-Gathering is about to be held."

A piece of news suddenly spread throughout the Great Mo Estate, causing a commotion.

"Master, master." The Fire Immortal Su Youji came running back.

"What's wrong?" Ji Ning was still practicing calligraphy, his sword intent naturally infused in the strokes. He put down his brush and looked at Su Youji.

"I heard some news." Su Youji's face was flushed, and her eyes were bright. Because of her natural allure, she had made quite a few friends in the Great Mo Estate. In contrast, the Wild Dog Ancestral God was always gloomy and had few friends.

"The Myriad Treasures Palace will hold a Treasure-Gathering in ninety-nine years." Su Youji quickly said.

"Treasure-Gathering?" Ji Ning's eyes lit up.

"There will be many treasures, and whoever bids the highest can buy them. Many treasures that are usually impossible to buy will appear." Su Youji was extremely excited. "I've heard that such a Treasure-Gathering is held only ten times in a chaos cycle, and each time it attracts almost all the World-level cultivators from the entire Great Mo Territory."

"I've heard there are all kinds of treasures, even Eternal Divine Weapons, and many treasures even more mysterious than Eternal Divine Weapons..." Su Youji was very agitated. "Master, we must go and see."

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

He knew that whether in the Great Mo Territory or the Skyless Territory, a Treasure-Gathering was held ten times every chaos cycle! At that time, all kinds of rare treasures would appear, and cultivators would bid for them. These treasures did not belong to the Great Mo Estate or the Skyless Palace; they were sent by a mysterious force.

This mysterious force would send a Dao Lord to the Great Mo Territory ten times per chaos cycle to hold ten Treasure-Gatherings. The Myriad Treasures Palace only lent the venue.

Whether sold or not, the remaining treasures would be taken away.

"This mysterious force is spread across almost every territory." Ji Ning thought to himself. "Every territory occasionally has such Treasure-Gatherings... Hmm, I absolutely cannot miss such a Treasure-Gathering. If I miss it, I don't know how long it will be before the next one."

"It seems I need to quickly sell the treasures I obtained from the Sushui Ruins to prepare for that Treasure-Gathering." Ji Ning's eyes were full of anticipation.