Before him was a giant turtle at least a hundred zhang in length, its shell thick and ancient-looking. As it strode across the waves, it resembled a small mountain, exuding an overwhelming sense of pressure. Although Ning Qi had never encountered a Martial Sage before, he was absolutely certain this was a Martial Sage-level giant turtle.
Ning Qi's expression instantly turned grave.
To be honest, this exceeded all his expectations.
Based on the power increase at each previous stage, he had originally thought the final opponent would be someone like the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect after using the Yu King Bead. Considering how the difficulty of the last stage of the Nine Enlightenment Trials had sharply increased with the Little True Martial Seal, he had prepared himself to face a false Sage.
But he never imagined.
The one to appear was an actual Martial Sage-level giant turtle!
The spiritual energy fluctuations swirling around it were undeniable, imbued with the meaning of relentless life. This was completely different from the false Sages that Daoist Baishan had mentioned before.
He scrutinized the giant turtle before him. Its eyes held a trace of coldness, quite unlike the puppet-like giant turtles he had encountered previously. It clearly had much more intelligence. For some reason, Ning Qi felt the turtle's gaze on him was somewhat sinister.
He took a deep breath, fully raising his state of readiness.
This opponent was overwhelmingly powerful and required his all-out effort. Even he was not completely confident, especially since he had already tried before—during this trial, he could not rely on the power of the Yu King Bead.
"To expect a Heaven-Man Realm cultivator to defeat a true Martial Sage? No one in the world could ever accomplish that. Perhaps the True Martial inheritance is meant to be cut off here," Ning Qi muttered in his heart.
He did not believe anyone else could succeed at such a level, not even the so-called Ancient Saints. There was absolutely no hope.
Only those who understood both the Heaven-Man Realm and Martial Sage Realm knew the vast gap between them.
However.
At some point.
The fighting spirit in Ning Qi's eyes gradually rose.
Such an opponent was rare.
"Come on, let's see just how far my limits reach!"
The Martial Sage giant turtle seemed to sense Ning Qi's battle intent. Its eyes carried a hint of disdain as it let out a low roar that shook the ocean. Columns of water surged skyward like raging dragons, intent on strangling Ning Qi. These simple water pillars, empowered by spiritual energy, were magnificent and could instantly kill cultivators ranked within the top ten on the Heaven-Man List.
The turtle itself sat firmly in the void like a rock anchoring the sea, mockingly watching Ning Qi.
Ning Qi quickly formed hand seals.
His divine intent surged forth; for the first time, he gave his all.
The vast power of Heaven and Earth converged. Although its quality was inferior to spiritual energy, its grandeur was breathtaking. An ancient seal condensed and pressed down, causing the void itself to stiffen.
Ning Qi used the Little True Martial Seal he had just learned. Through the previous battles, he had further comprehended it, and now the effect of suppressing the void was clearly much stronger.
One after another, sea dragons were shattered by the suppressive force, but the ancient seal also trembled precariously.
The giant turtle's eyes, which had previously held mockery, flickered with slight surprise.
Ning Qi, who had been observing closely, immediately understood. He had used the Little True Martial Seal first to probe its strength.
"This giant turtle obviously recognizes the Little True Martial Seal. It's different from before. Could those previous ones have been its projections or creations? Could it be that because I hurried and smashed those giant turtles earlier, I angered this turtle enough to make it appear personally?"
In an instant, Ning Qi seemed to understand something.
He could only smile bitterly to himself—this was truly an unintended disaster.
But now that things had come to this, regret was useless.
The giant turtle's body trembled, and the water pillars that had begun to disperse suddenly merged into one, transforming into a fierce sea dragon that lunged at Ning Qi. Its aura was incomparably powerful, much stronger than the so-called Beast Kings. Spatial rifts rippled out, forcing Ning Qi to focus intensely.
Ning Qi acted decisively.
The Three Blossoms Converge technique activated alongside the Bridge of Heaven. Vast powers of Heaven and Earth poured in. Moreover, the Three Blossoms vibrated at a special frequency, like a purifier. The power of Heaven and Earth became more resilient and stronger.
This was the result of experiments conducted with the Blade Demon recently.
It was a byproduct of studying Martial Sage techniques.
It also had remarkable effects in battle.
He condensed sword energies, each carrying unmatched sharpness. Ning Qi's sword intent grew stronger day by day, and the power of the Heavenly Sword Technique also improved.
The giant turtle's eyes clearly showed more surprise.
But in the blink of an eye.
The Heavenly Swords filled the sky like countless stars.
A hundred!
A thousand!
Ten thousand!
Sword after sword sliced through the air, their unmatched sharpness intertwining. The passive sword qi fluctuations alone formed a dense sword net. The void showed faint cracks. Compared to the previous battle with the Demonic Sect Grand Elder, Ning Qi's cultivation had reached Perfect Heaven-Man, and many secret techniques had improved. His combat strength was not comparable to before.
The giant turtle's eyes no longer held mockery.
The sea dragon roared, whipping up huge waves that crashed with soul-shaking pressure.
But with a thought, Ning Qi divided each Heavenly Sword into hundreds of sword auras—over a million in total—dense and terrifying. They formed a dreadful sword net with mutual attraction.
The void was shredded to pieces.
The huge waves were completely sliced into powder by the sword auras. Even as the roaring sea dragon's spiritual energy erupted, easily dissolving sword auras one by one, there were simply too many. No matter how strong the sea dragon's essence was, it was slowly worn down.
The ocean churned endlessly. The giant turtle's emotions stirred.
The young Daoist before it was indeed extraordinary, beyond imagination.
The mockery in its eyes vanished. If before it intended only to teach the youth a lesson, after recognizing the familiar Little True Martial Seal, it understood Ning Qi was no ordinary opponent. Now, it even regarded Ning Qi as a worthy enemy to be taken seriously.
"A Heaven-Man Realm cultivator can be this powerful—truly an anomaly," the giant turtle declared arrogantly.
Seeing the sea dragon shattered within the sword aura cage, it finally moved.
A buzzing wave of special fluctuations spread out.
The giant turtle's limbs swept slowly but with incredible speed.
Its moves were simple and unadorned, pressing down like a mountain.
Golden light shone in Ning Qi's eyes as he sought a flaw, but the turtle was a unified whole with no breaks, and its suppressive aura was terrifying. Within it, Ning Qi sensed elements of the Little True Martial Seal but at a much higher level.
"Impressive!" he praised silently, yet his actions did not slow.
Heavenly Swords flashed. This time, they struck in their true forms instead of dispersing as sword auras.
Ning Qi formed sword seals, his robe fluttering, his aura like a rainbow.
"Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect!"
He pointed a finger.
Sword intent sprang up from the void in all directions, crisscrossing.
Ten thousand Heavenly Swords charged in unison, striking down the giant turtle. The terrifying killing intent tore small spatial cracks, fracturing the void itself.
Boom!!
A terrifying tremor roared.
The aftershock dried countless sea waters completely, and the white mist that formed was swept away.
Unfortunately.
Such an earth-shattering battle had few spectators.
Boom boom boom!
Heavenly Swords battered the turtle shell. The turtle's momentum was greatly slowed, but no matter how sharp the swords, they could not pierce the heavy shell. Layers of dark green spiritual energy flowed over the shell, granting unparalleled defense.
Ning Qi's eyes flickered. This mysterious defense was even stronger than the Azure Profound Bodyguard Technique he had created before. He studied it carefully, having a slight insight. But now was not the time to fully comprehend it. He simply memorized it for later study.
Interrupting the turtle's attack, Ning Qi gathered his momentum.
His sword seals shifted again, condensing the remaining Heavenly Swords into a terrifying giant Heavenly Sword!
This was the limit of his current divine intent control.
The giant turtle's pupils changed as it sensed a threatening aura.
In the next moment.
Its head, limbs, and tail all retracted. The shell closed tightly with no gaps, wrapped in dark green light. From a distance, it looked like a giant egg, and its heavy aura made Ning Qi's eyelids twitch.
The giant Heavenly Sword slashed down.
A terrifying vibration echoed through the heavens and earth, overturning the entire sea. The dark green shell was blasted flying into the sky.
Looking at the shell, almost undamaged with only a white scar, Ning Qi couldn't help but curse inwardly:
"This turtle shell is really hard!"
His gaze sharpened. He still had his strongest strike, but he wasn't sure if it could defeat the giant turtle. Such defense was ridiculously strong. He didn't believe every Martial Sage possessed such impenetrable defense.
Far on the horizon.
The dark green shell finally stopped.
Under Ning Qi's watchful eyes, it trembled continuously. After a moment, it calmed down. The giant turtle then shakily extended its head and limbs again, shaking a few times before gradually regaining full awareness. Ning Qi clearly saw blood seeping from its body, which made him certain.
If even the Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect technique couldn't break through the giant turtle's defense, then this was truly troublesome.
It seemed the giant turtle wasn't doing well either.
Its eyes cleared, then it let out a low, deep roar. Waves and wind gradually swept the surroundings. Its gaze became unprecedentedly serious. Ning Qi could even detect clear shock and a hint of anger. Obviously, being injured by Ning Qi was unexpected and frustrating for it.
After all, it was a Martial Sage-level Beast Emperor.
Buzz!
Dark green spiritual energy swirled beside its body, radiating waves. The giant turtle's already enormous body showed signs of further expansion, but this was secondary. The most astonishing change was in its tail.
What was originally a simple tail began to elongate and writhe. Ning Qi sensed a terrifying vitality and aura brewing within.
The strong sense of crisis tightened Ning Qi's heart.
He took a deep breath and connected with his innate divine sword qi. Even after reaching Perfect Heaven-Man, this remained his strongest strike.
Neither man nor turtle yielded.
Both gathered their qi to defeat the other. For Ning Qi, there was absolutely no reason to fall at the last step. Unconsciously, he had entered a miraculous state. Under the All-Seeing Golden Eyes, his spirit was more focused than ever. The giant turtle, once flawless, finally showed slight weaknesses under his golden gaze.
A world-shaking moment came in the next instant.
The giant turtle's roar shook the heavens.
But it suddenly stopped.
It growled resentfully in a certain direction. After pausing, it growled several more times as if arguing. Finally, fear flickered in its pupils. It gave Ning Qi a resentful glare as if glaring fiercely, then shook its head and tail before retreating into the sea.
The storm calmed.
Everything before seemed never to have happened.
Ning Qi was slightly dazed.
"What was that? Have I passed the test?"
He stabilized his breath and sensed the movement ahead, but no more giant turtles appeared.
He pondered.
Perhaps injuring the giant turtle was already enough to meet the criteria, or maybe someone in the shadows didn't want him and the turtle to fight all-out. Everything was unknown. However, after the fight, Ning Qi recalled something Daoist Baishan had said—he called the origin of the True Martial inheritance the "Old Turtle."
Ning Qi had thought it was just a joke among old acquaintances, like how the Sword Sage used to call Daoist Longshan "Ox Nose," but now he felt he needed to consider it seriously.
Maybe... it really was a turtle?
His mind surged with many thoughts.
He waited quietly for what would come next.
It did not take long before the ocean stirred again.
"Successfully passing the Nine Enlightenment Trials of Heaven-Man and the Nine Battles of Heaven-Man grants the Martial Sage-level True Martial inheritance." The grand voice sounded again, with a trace of barely perceptible astonishment.
A flicker of joy arose in Ning Qi's heart.
His efforts had not been in vain.
Especially the final battle with the Martial Sage giant turtle, where he had nearly exhausted all his cards. Purely in terms of combat strength, he was probably close to the few Ancient Saints that appeared at Zhenxuan Mountain. However, the defense was even harder to break. Ning Qi was certain the Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect had not caused great damage to the giant turtle.
Where his gaze landed.
A black vortex slowly began to spin and gradually expanded.
Ning Qi took a deep breath, raising his vigilance, then stepped inside.
In an instant.
The vortex contracted, and the world transformed.
When Ning Qi opened his eyes again, he found himself inside a huge Sutra Pavilion. He rarely used the word "huge" to describe a pavilion, but this one was truly shocking. Its collection of scriptures was vast beyond measure. The Zhenxuan Sect's scripture collection was merely child's play compared to this.
He looked up. The spiral bookshelves extended beyond sight, a spectacular visual.
Ning Qi casually picked up a book, which recorded a set of foundational exercises he had seen in the True Martial Mountain Sutra Pavilion.
Instinctively, he floated up. Books flew one after another into his hands and then returned.
Martial theories, path explanations, ancient scriptures—from martial enlightenment to the Heaven-Man Realm—everything was included. If someone obtained these scriptures, they could easily establish a powerful sect by enduring for some time.
Everything before him was incredibly comprehensive. Now he realized the ones his master obtained were not only incomplete but didn't even reach one percent.
Among the texts, he even saw the secret techniques of the "Nine Heaven-Man Battles against Martial Sage." Indeed extraordinary, considered supreme secrets. Just a brief glance gave him new insights.
Ning Qi's eyes gradually burned bright. He looked toward the topmost shelves, where he guessed the Martial Sage methods were stored.
"Is this the True Martial inheritance?" he whispered in awe.
"Strictly speaking, this is only the Martial Sage-level True Martial inheritance," an old voice spoke after a hoarse cough.
Ning Qi was startled.
He had not sensed any presence at all, which was extremely rare.
He turned and saw a sparsely haired, hunched old man leaning on a cane appear on the spiral staircase. He stopped level with Ning Qi and smiled peacefully.
"Young man, you are quite impressive."
Ning Qi heard genuine praise and knew the old man was satisfied with his performance in the trial. He steadied his mind and respectfully landed beside the old man.
"Ning Qi greets you, elder. Are you the founder of the True Martial inheritance?"
The old man shook his head with a chuckle.
"Me? I'm not qualified."
Ning Qi's heart trembled slightly.
He felt this old man was even more unfathomable than Daoist Baishan and the others. To claim he wasn't qualified to create the True Martial inheritance was alarming.
The old man slowly ascended the stairs. Ning Qi followed closely and asked again:
"Elder, you just said this is only the Martial Sage-level inheritance?"
The old man smiled.
"Correct. You passed only the Heaven-Man Realm trial, so naturally you can only obtain the Martial Sage-level inheritance."
"What if I pass the Martial Sage Realm trial?"
The old man glanced at Ning Qi.
"That is unlikely for now."
Ning Qi silently nodded. He guessed his performance during the trial had been seen clearly by the old man, who understood his true limits. Yet he could not help but yearn for the Martial Sage Realm trial. If he passed it, wouldn't that mean receiving inheritance beyond Martial Sage?
"I didn't defeat the opponent in the ninth trial. Why did I still pass?" Ning Qi suddenly asked.
The old man paused, then coughed heavily.
"That was a minor accident. You already performed well enough."
He pointed at several books in front of them, seemingly trying to divert the topic.
"These are the Martial Sage methods you desire."
Ning Qi's eyes brightened.
He had traveled thousands of miles to obtain Martial Sage methods for reference, and now they were finally before him.
"Elder, excuse me."
Ning Qi apologized and began carefully flipping through the books.
"The True Martial Scripture!"
"The Mountain Suppressing Scripture!"
...
Book after book of Martial Sage methods lay before him. Naturally, Ning Qi's first focus was the True Martial Scripture.
Opening it, the first line he saw read:
"Martial Sage refines spiritual energy into magical power, enters the five viscera, gathers the five elements, lives three thousand years."
Ning Qi's eyes narrowed.
"Magical power?"
The old man smiled with some emotion.
"It's the same thing as the well-known spiritual energy, just called by a different name."
Ning Qi nodded slightly.
His eyes shone. Through his experiments with the Blade Demon, he had already discovered that the five viscera were the most compatible with spiritual energy in the body. Now it seemed his deductions were correct. This was the right path. The predecessors were not incompetent. Generation after generation had explored and found the optimal solution long ago.
He flipped through the pages rapidly, ravenous.
Countless sparks of insight flashed through his mind. His long solitary exploration finally met answers. In fact, Ning Qi already had many ideas and directions. Now, reading the True Martial Scripture felt less like learning and more like verification.
"Refining spiritual energy is indeed achieved through Three Blossoms Converge, which then forges magical power within the body."
"The Martial Sage cultivates magical power, which is vast and wondrous, with many miraculous aspects. The five viscera are the vessels containing magical power."
"The heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys correspond to fire, wood, earth, metal, and water, respectively. Through these, the five-element magical power is cultivated. Therefore, Martial Sage is divided into five realms. One viscera's magical power perfected equals one Martial Sage realm. Each additional perfected viscera causes qualitative and quantitative transformation. One day, when all five viscera's magical power are complete and the five elements perfected, one becomes a five-realm Martial Sage."
The path ahead unfolded slowly before Ning Qi's eyes for the first time.
How to cultivate the Martial Sage realm, the classification of Martial Sage realms, and their various wonders were all shown clearly.
In just a moment, countless insights emerged in Ning Qi's mind as he rapidly deduced. Many past confusions were resolved. Given time, he could definitely create a Martial Sage method best suited to himself.
However.
The biggest problem remained unsolved.
Ning Qi flipped to the last page, which was completely blank. This made him slightly irritated, as if the key moment had been cut off abruptly. The feeling was agonizing, as if wanting to spit blood.
The old man smiled warmly.
Ning Qi asked,
"May I ask, elder, this Martial Sage method should be the path before the changes in Heaven and Earth, right?"
He stared at the old man, confident in his question.
There was no mention at all of the poisonous elements within spiritual energy. If he cultivated by this method, he would never become a Martial Sage.
The old man was surprised.
"Looks like you are not ignorant either."
Then he sighed lightly and shook his head. He waved his hand, and rays of light gathered, forming characters carved into the void.
"You need this."
Ning Qi took a deep breath, hesitating briefly, then looked carefully. His mind jolted. He immediately understood that these characters carved in the void were a supreme secret technique, one that alleviated the poisonous elements within spiritual energy.
"As expected, the Ancient Saints have found a way to relieve the side effects of the poison!"
Ning Qi was greatly comforted.
Though he only briefly skimmed it, he already knew this secret technique was of great use to him. Although it only relieved the poison, he could use it to further deduce and even create a purification method.
If he deduced it alone, it would take longer. But now, with this reference, the time required would be greatly shortened. He could strengthen his foundation before the spiritual opportunity awakening and then soar.
However.
One question still lingered in Ning Qi's heart.
He bowed slightly to the old man and then asked seriously,
"I once asked True Immortal of Zhenxuan what the changes in Heaven and Earth were. He only said, 'unspeakable.' Now, having received your guidance and understanding this secret technique, may I ask, elder, what exactly are the poisonous elements in spiritual energy?"
The atmosphere in the Sutra Pavilion suddenly fell silent.
But Ning Qi felt this old man was different. Perhaps he would give him an answer.
Unconsciously, Ning Qi's heart began to beat faster.