“I’ll send the Immortals to your army camp right away. You need to quickly accustomize yourself to commanding three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals. The power of your Heaven Punisher will increase yet again; perhaps, at a critical moment in the war, I’ll have to rely on you to save my life,” the Xia Emperor laughed. “However, you have to be careful. The most outstanding tree within a forest is often the first to be felled. You’ll most likely suffer attacks from many members of the Seamless Gate.”

“Understood.” Ji Ning nodded.

“Ideally, you should keep some power hidden in reserve. If you suddenly unleash it at a critical moment in a battle, you can have a major impact on the course of the war,” the Xia Emperor reminded.

“Right.” Ning smiled and nodded.

He hadn’t even told his master, Subhuti, that he had become a Pure Yang True Immortal. By now, he had already created the twelfth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], a stance which encompassed the entire Dao of the Sword. However, he had never before displayed this technique, nor had he spoken to anyone of his improvements in soul heartforce.

……

Time flowed onwards.

Nine months passed in the blink of an eye.

Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position within a private room inside his residence.

The Pure Yang Jindan within his body was swollen with golden light, and its luster had become an even denser color.

A series of ripples were currently emanating from his Jindan, ripples caused by the merging of his soul into it. The invisible, untouchable power known as ‘heartforce’...