As the sword-intent characters shimmering with golden light on the stone wall flew into Ji Ning's eyes,
the Immortals hovering in the air all smiled in satisfaction.
"Alright." Immortal Wufeng laughed. "Senior Beixing's complete Three-Foot Sword has been passed on to this kid. Though he can't yet use the Three-Foot Sword, it has already been imprinted into his soul. Once his realm reaches the required level, he'll be able to wield it."
"The Three-Foot Sword is said to have nine moves in total." Immortal Diancai spoke slowly. "Our Black-White Academy has preserved manuals for the first six moves, while the final three were Immortal Beixing's true foundation for sweeping through all foes. They cannot be preserved through written words or diagrams and can only be passed down through the mysterious inheritance of sword intent... I never expected that, after tens of millions of years, I would finally have the chance to witness it with my own eyes."
Immortal Diancai was the only sword Immortal in the present-day Black-White Academy who followed the Sword Dao.
When he had first entered the Academy, he too had received the sword-intent inheritance left behind by Immortal Beixing across generations.
However, Immortal Diancai had not obtained the complete sword art at the time, receiving only the first six moves of the Three-Foot Sword. This had always remained a deep regret to him.
"Indeed. Back then, Senior Beixing relied on the Three-Foot Sword to slaughter countless fiends and demons, even killing until the entire Great Xia Dynasty trembled... Even now, merely thinking of it fills us juniors with yearning."
The burly man wrapped in chains also spoke in a low voice.
As he spoke of Immortal Beixing's achievements, his eyes were filled with profound longing.
Though they were all Immortals, their strength and status differed greatly.
Although Immortal Beixing had been a Loose Immortal, he had lived for more than a million years before dying beneath the increasingly powerful Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations.
A Loose Immortal who had survived for a million years possessed strength no less than that of a Heavenly Immortal.
Furthermore, Immortal Beixing had primarily cultivated the Sword Dao and was a sword Immortal most skilled in slaughter.
Such a peerless sword Immortal had even made many Heavenly Immortals wary.
Killing ordinary Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals had been as easy as slaughtering chickens.
That was precisely why.
Even after endless ages had passed, the Black-White Academy's reverence for Immortal Beixing exceeded even its reverence for the only Heavenly Immortal in the Academy's history.
After all, no Heavenly Immortals had appeared in the Black-White Academy in later generations. There had only been Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals.
For Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals like them, who found it difficult to reach the Heavenly Immortal realm, a peerless figure like Immortal Beixing—who could contend with, or even surpass, Heavenly Immortals as a Loose Immortal—was far more inspiring.
The Academy's sole Heavenly Immortal was simply too ancient, too distant from the younger disciples.
Thus, even though that Heavenly Immortal had brought back the Black-White Diagram and caused the entire sect to rename itself the Black-White Academy, his impact on later disciples was still less than Immortal Beixing's shocking exploits.
Immortal Leichuan, the man wrapped in chains, listened as Immortal Wufeng, Immortal Diancai, and Black Crown Immortal argued over who should take Ji Ning as a disciple.
Immortal Leichuan grinned but said nothing.
What was there to argue about?
Naturally, the most suitable choice was Immortal Diancai, the Academy's only cultivator of the Sword Dao, the one who had studied the Three-Foot Sword most deeply and revered Immortal Beixing the most.
Of course.
He knew that the two senior brothers were doing this deliberately.
Immortal Diancai had cultivated for a thousand years without ever accepting a disciple.
If they did not provoke him a little,
they feared that his stubborn temper would flare up again, and that he might cast aside such a peerless sword Immortal seed as though it were an old shoe.
But clearly, they had worried for nothing.
"Ji Ning shall be my first disciple!" Immortal Diancai looked around. "I do not have a single disciple yet, so I hope my two senior brothers will indulge me."
Upon hearing this, Immortal Wufeng and Black Crown Immortal both smiled.
"Since Junior Brother Diancai has said so, I'll yield him to you." Black Crown Immortal sighed. "The two outstanding disciples who entered this year—one was taken by Senior Brother Hanshan, and the other is being yielded to Junior Brother Diancai. Sigh."
"There was another promising seed this year? And Senior Brother Hanshan accepted him as a disciple?" Immortal Wufeng immediately became interested and looked down toward Forbidden Grounds Square. "Which one?"
He had been away for several years and had only returned after successfully surviving the once-every-nine-hundred-years great tribulation of a Loose Immortal.
Thus, he knew nothing about the Black-White Academy's recent affairs.
"It's the gray-robed youth below." Immortal Leichuan replied. "His name is Xia Manggan. At merely the Purple Mansion stage, he had already entered the Great Dao of Life and Death. During today's entrance examination, he even displayed Void Transference and entered the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth as well."
"What?!" Immortal Wufeng's eyes widened round.
The mouthful of immortal wine he had just swallowed sprayed out in shock.
"At the Purple Mansion stage, he has entered two Great Daos? Could this boy be a reincarnated Immortal from the imperial clan?"
Immortal Wufeng carefully looked below.
The other Immortals, upon hearing Xia Manggan mentioned, also shifted their gazes away from Ji Ning.
"Eh? Why is this boy so far from the Black-White Diagram?" Black Crown Immortal's eyes revealed confusion. "He—"
"He is comprehending the entire Black-White Diagram."
Immortal Hanshan, who had been observing Xia Manggan for some time, took over. "When you comprehend the entire Black-White Diagram once, how long can you sustain it?"
"About one hour."
"A little over half an hour."
"A bit more than an hour."
Black Crown Immortal, Immortal Leichuan, and Immortal Wufeng answered one after another.
"I can sustain it for around two hours." Immortal Diancai said slowly. "But after comprehending it once, I must wait at least several months before doing so again. Otherwise, even my soul cannot withstand it."
"That is already quite impressive. As expected of one of the peerless geniuses our Academy has rarely produced in a million years." After praising them, Immortal Hanshan sighed. "But Xia Manggan has already been continuously comprehending it for at least three hours."
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"Even if his soul can rival that of a Primordial Spirit Daoist, it cannot possibly be stronger than ours, can it?"
Immortal Wufeng, Black Crown Immortal, and Immortal Leichuan were all astonished.
Even Immortal Diancai's face was filled with shock.
He was even more shocked than when he had witnessed the complete Three-Foot Sword inheritance of Immortal Beixing emerge across generations.
"There can be no mistake." Immortal Hanshan glanced at the sky.
It was already the latter half of the night.
When Xia Manggan had first arrived at Forbidden Grounds Square and begun comprehending the Black-White Diagram, Immortal Hanshan had watched him from afar with Divine Sense.
However, he had not seen it with his own eyes then, so he had only known that Xia Manggan was comprehending something.
Even he had not expected Xia Manggan to be comprehending the entire Black-White Diagram!
"This little fellow comes from the imperial clan. Perhaps he possesses some mysterious secret art that can shield him from the impact of the Black-White Diagram's Dao aura."
At this moment, after recovering from his shock, Immortal Wufeng shook his head and offered his assessment.
"Besides, entering two Great Daos so early may not necessarily be a good thing. He who grasps at too much may lose everything, and he is comprehending the exceedingly difficult Great Dao of Life and Death... In the end, he may not be as promising as little Ji Ning, who is focused on the Sword Dao and has a better chance of becoming a Heavenly Immortal."
After their shock faded, Immortal Diancai and Immortal Leichuan also nodded slightly, finding Immortal Wufeng's reasoning quite convincing.
After all, the Great Dao of Life and Death was simply too difficult.
The Black-White Academy did not possess any remarkable inheritance of the Great Dao of Life and Death.
In fact, the only person who had truly entered and comprehended this Great Dao was Immortal Hanshan.
Ji Ning, however, was different.
He had obtained the complete Three-Foot Sword inheritance passed down across generations by Immortal Beixing, and he would be taught and trained by Immortal Diancai, who also followed the Sword Dao and possessed an extremely profound realm.
That was someone who truly had the potential to become a Heavenly Immortal in the future.
Immortal Hanshan smiled but said nothing.
Black Crown Immortal frowned, somewhat displeased. "Senior Brother Wufeng, both little fellows are disciples of our Black-White Academy and have only just embarked upon the path of cultivation. There is no need to compare them now. If they learn of this, would it not affect the bond between fellow disciples?"
"That wasn't what I meant." Immortal Wufeng also realized that his words had been somewhat inappropriate and was about to explain.
Suddenly—
"Bzzzz~~~~"
"Bzzzz~~~~"
The two stone walls bearing Immortal Inscriptions in Forbidden Grounds Square began to tremble for no apparent reason.
Then, black and white rays of light burst forth from the blank circular centers of the two stone walls.
At the same time.
An incomparably ancient aura, as though it had crossed the entire river of Black-White Academy's history, suddenly appeared in Forbidden Grounds Square.
Within the convergence of the black and white light shooting from the circular centers of the two stone walls,
the phantom of a middle-aged Daoist slowly appeared. He wore a black-and-white Daoist robe, and even his hair was half black and half white.
"I, whose Daoist title is Hunyuan. Descendants of the Black-White Academy..."
The phantom of the middle-aged Daoist with black-and-white hair looked toward Xia Manggan, who still sat cross-legged.
"At the Purple Mansion stage, you have already entered three Great Daos. Your talent and comprehension surpass even mine."
"My lifelong ultimate art, the Hunyuan Infinite Wheel, shall be passed down to you..."
"Sigh. I do not know whether this inheritance will bring you fortune or disaster. Take care of yourself!"
After these few simple words,
the phantom of the middle-aged Daoist flew toward Xia Manggan.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of the five Immortals in the air, it merged into Xia Manggan's body.
Immediately.
The black and white rays emitted by the two stone walls enveloped Xia Manggan, making his entire figure somewhat blurry.
"Daoist title Hunyuan?"
"It is the Academy's patriarch, Hunyuan Heavenly Immortal!"
"Patriarch Hunyuan also left behind an inheritance in the Forbidden Grounds?"
Immortal Diancai, Black Crown Immortal, and Immortal Leichuan all stared below in astonishment.
"An inheritance that can only be triggered by entering three Great Daos at the Purple Mansion stage? No wonder it had never appeared in hundreds of millions of years. There was not even any record of it within the Academy!"
Immortal Wufeng had lost all his former carefree manner. His eyes held only shock and amazement.
Immortal Hanshan glanced at the other four Immortals. When he looked back down at Xia Manggan, his face was filled with anticipation and excitement.
This is my disciple, Hanshan's disciple!
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