Chapter 7

One by one, the simple books bound in sheepskin were scattered on the long table in front of him. Ji Ning took a glance, and on each simple book was the name of a divine and demonic body refinement technique.

*The Demon Tribulation Copy*, *The Blood Demon Immortal Body*, *The Blazing Fire Song*, *The Thunder Marsh Vajra Buddha Book*, *The As-You-Wish Green Spirit Body*, *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart*, *The Dark Yellow Immortal*, *The Spirit Fox Scripture*, *The Future Buddha Scripture*... On each simple book were ancient and peculiar pictographic characters. Fortunately, Ji Ning had already learned these characters after coming to this world.

Ji Ning took a deep breath. This was a critical decision! A decision of fate!

He then picked up the secret manuals one by one to read them.

*The Demon Tribulation Copy*: At the beginning of cultivation, one needed to engrave demonic patterns on the body, invoking the ghostly fire to refine the body, causing immense pain. One had to go through nine layers of demonic patterns and eighty-one ghostly fire refinements. After the body was completely transformed, one would become a congenital being, possessing boundless strength with every movement, able to spout ghostly fire from the mouth, and even regrow severed limbs. It was an extremely dangerous yet extremely fast secret technique, theoretically allowing one to enter the congenital stage in just eighty-one days.

*The Blood Demon Immortal Body*: In terms of cultivation pain, it was even more intense than *The Demon Tribulation Copy*. One had to endure three years of demonic pattern engraving, as if being tortured in hell for three years...

*The Blazing Fire Song*: One had to cultivate beside a burning bonfire, even being burned by the blazing fire, and ultimately entering volcanic lava without hindrance, becoming one with the fire, able to control boundless flames, only then considered to have entered the congenital stage...

After reading three books, Ji Ning frowned.

Why were all these divine and demonic body refinement techniques so painful? More terrifying than torture!

"You, this child," Wei Chixue couldn't help but say, "In divine and demonic body refinement, only a few are truly painful. Among these nineteen books, only five can be called painful and torturous. The others are not painful to cultivate, I didn't expect you to flip through three in a row..."

"Ah!" Ji Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Beside him, Ji Yichuan's voice was cold: "Divine and demonic body refinement is more difficult than qi refinement. For a mortal to become a congenital being is already going against the heavens. Wanting to take the most difficult path of divine and demonic body refinement... is naturally even harder! And this kind of cultivation through suffering and tribulations, though quick, is also a shortcut, with a foundation not as solid as the other methods."

Ji Ning nodded and continued to read.

*The Thunder Marsh Vajra Buddha Book* was a Vajra technique of the Buddha sect.

*The As-You-Wish Green Spirit Body* required an extremely long time to cultivate. After achieving the congenital stage, one could transform endlessly, possessing boundless vitality, and even if cut into pieces, could quickly regather. It was the supreme technique for survival in divine and demonic body refinement.

*The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* was the first technique in divine and demonic body refinement, the undisputed first!

"What!"

Ji Ning's eyes immediately turned red, and he stared intently at *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart*.

*The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* was divided into nine levels.

The first three levels were the postnatal stage.

The middle three levels were the congenital stage.

The last three levels were the Purple Mansion stage.

"Indeed different. The previous ones, even at their peak, were only at the peak of the congenital stage. But *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* can reach the peak of the Purple Mansion stage." Ji Ning was excited and read carefully.

Once one entered the congenital stage, they could control water and fire, possess overwhelming strength, have a light and agile body, and more acute senses, and could regrow severed limbs.

Once one entered the Purple Mansion stage, they could even regenerate from a drop of blood and cultivate techniques like *Heavenly Image Transformation*, *Three Heads and Six Arms*, *Kuafu Chasing the Sun*, *Zhu Long's Eye*, and many other great techniques, provided they could obtain these great techniques.

The divine and demonic body refinement stream surpassed the qi refinement stream at the same stage.

And *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* surpassed other divine and demonic body refinement techniques at the same stage!

Unanimously recognized!

No dispute!

But the difficulty of cultivation was also undisputedly the first!

"It's this one!" After flipping through the remaining divine and demonic body refinement techniques, Ji Ning made his choice without hesitation, "The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart!"

"It's this one?" Ji Yichuan looked at his son.

"Yes." Ji Ning nodded.

Ji Yichuan then said slowly, "The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart is the first divine and demonic body refinement technique recognized across the vast land, far superior to *The Blazing Fire Song*, *The Thunder Marsh Vajra Buddha Book*, *The Demon Tribulation Copy*, and others. This is just the peak of the Purple Mansion stage, and there are even more profound techniques beyond that. If you can become a Purple Mansion cultivator, obtaining even more profound techniques will be very easy."

"This is the most widely spread and easiest to obtain divine and demonic body refinement technique." Ji Yichuan looked at his son, "But it is also the most difficult!"

Ji Ning smiled.

In the two years since coming to this world, he had read many books and knew that cultivation techniques were fundamental! The more profound the cultivation technique, the harder it was to obtain. And the subsequent more profound parts of *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* could be easily obtained, so he should choose it even more.

"Its power is the strongest! The undisputed first!"

"It is the most widely spread!"

"It is the easiest to obtain!"

Ji Yichuan looked at his son, "It has countless advantages, but only one flaw—difficulty! In our Ji Clan's five mansions, no one has ever cultivated to the fourth level, relying on it to become a congenital being."

"What? No one in the Ji Clan's five mansions has become a congenital being through it?" Ji Ning was surprised.

Not becoming a Purple Mansion cultivator was one thing.

Not even a single congenital being?

"Yes." Ji Yichuan said, "Not a single one, because it is too difficult, more difficult than you can imagine. But I also admit that this is the most mysterious and powerful divine and demonic body refinement technique, even in the legends of the gods and demons, it is the strongest!"

"It's this one!" Ji Ning didn't hesitate at all.

Born with the supreme visualization technique *The Nüwa Chart*, he could stand out among the heavenly soldiers and generals. With such a solid foundation, how could he not give it a try? Even if he failed, it wouldn't be a big deal, and he could always cultivate other secret techniques.

"Good!" Ji Yichuan rarely showed a smile, very satisfied with his son's unwavering resolve, "I will fetch *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* for you."

"Thank you, Father." Ji Ning was very excited.

...

Deep into the night.

The hall door was closed, and thick candles were burning with a hissing sound. Inside the hall were only three people—Ji Yichuan, Wei Chixue, and their son Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was holding a thick, crimson-colored book, which was the legendary supreme *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart*.

"Really difficult." Ji Ning frowned after reading.

*The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* had several major checkpoints.

First was the entry point, which required one to sense the two supreme stars, 'Taiyin' and 'Taiyang'. Many divine and demonic body refinement techniques involved absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, fire, water, lightning, and other forces, but *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* required sensing the two supreme stars from the very beginning, absorbing the power of Taiyin and Taiyang.

Many cultivators could never sense the two supreme stars, Taiyin and Taiyang. This was just the first checkpoint!

After that, absorbing the power of Taiyin and Taiyang would automatically gather in the body to form divine patterns, which was the second checkpoint! Once the Taiyin divine pattern and Taiyang divine pattern were formed, it was considered the first level of *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart*! Even from the first level, one could see the profundity of this supreme technique, as techniques like *The Demon Tribulation Copy* involved engraving demonic patterns.

But *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* naturally gathered to form divine patterns, and both Taiyin and Taiyang divine patterns!

Once the first level was cultivated, one could generally advance to the third level without much difficulty.

But to cultivate to the fourth level and become a congenital being was an even more difficult checkpoint.

One needed 'yin and yang to converge, water and fire to blend' to break through the checkpoint and become a congenital being.

As for the subsequent checkpoints... they were still far away and not worth worrying about.

"Phew." After finishing reading, Ji Ning took a deep breath.

Ji Yichuan and Wei Chixue looked at their son.

"Father, please guide me on the subtleties of the first level of *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart*." Ji Ning looked at his father.

"Understanding *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* is very easy," Ji Yichuan said, "You just need to cultivate according to the diagrams. The first level has nine diagrams, very simple."

Ji Ning nodded. Having read so many books in this world, he immediately understood how to cultivate when he flipped through them, but he was still worried about any special subtleties he might have missed. After all, cultivation techniques were not to be taken lightly. Since his father said so... and the secret manual was very clear, he decided to start.

Ji Ning closed his eyes, raised his hands high, and then bowed forward... This was the first diagram—worshiping the sun and moon!

Each movement, following the diagrams, had a mysterious and ancient flavor, like a strange sacrificial dance.

"Hmm?" Ji Yichuan was surprised.

"Surprisingly, his first movement is so standard, with the essence of the technique." Wei Chixue was also surprised, because even if one thought about it, the movements they made were often not as standard as imagined. However, Ji Ning, who had been cultivating *The Nüwa Chart* since birth, had a powerful soul and very strong control over his body. Plus, his body had been long subjected to the essence of heaven and earth, making it as pure as a newborn, so it was not surprising that he could easily make standard movements.

Phew!

Ji Ning's last movement was to kneel and sit down, with his hands held up in front of him, as if holding Taiyin in one hand and Taiyang in the other.

Silence.

Ji Yichuan and Wei Chixue held their breath. They knew this was a critical moment. The previous sacrificial dance was to help them better sense Taiyin and Taiyang. Whether they could sense the two supreme stars... was the entry point of *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart*, and this entry point alone had blocked many people.

They also knew that *The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Chart* was the most difficult in divine and demonic body refinement. They knew that their four-year-old son had a very low chance of entering, but as parents, they always hoped their son would succeed, and they also hoped for a pleasant surprise...