Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

“Halt!” A cold voice rang out.

The spectating tribal youths and citizens of Ji clan of the West Prefecture all turned towards the sound of the voice. Even the long haired woman turned and frowned. She was a Xiantian level expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and she had only come to officiate today because it was the final day. Who was causing such a ruckus at a time like this? She turned her head and saw…that the speaker was a callous-looking man dressed in white fur.

The long haired woman trembled.

“The Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan.”

“Raindrop Sword.”

“The Raindrop Sword looks like a giant iceberg, just standing there. I feel my heart growing cold just looking at him.” The tens of thousands of spectators had excited looks in their eyes. All of the Xiantian experts present were like Fiendgods to them, but Ji Yichuan was the most dazzling expert in these lands, a legendary figure.

Yichuan sat there and said coldly, “The final day of the Ceremony of the Golden Sword is for selecting the most powerful of the eight finalists to be the one to seize the golden sword. As I see it…let Ji Ning fight the other seven!”

“One against seven?” The long haired woman was stunned. “But…but…”

“What?!”

“One against seven? The other seven are all highly talented youngsters.”

“But!”

A scene of utter shock.

Even the Prefecture Lord, Ji Young, seated next to Yichuan, was amazed. As for the old man with the viper, Ji Lee, who sat on the other side of Ji Young, he immediately laughed loudly. “Wonderful. One against seven. Ji Ning is the most talented youngster in our Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even if he loses, this would be a form of training for him. But Yichuan…if your son loses his battle against the seven of them, then what?”

“If he loses, then he admits defeat, and has nothing to do with the golden sword!” Yichuan said calmly.

“Good.” Lee nodded.

Ji Young looked at Yichuan curiously, then spoke out. “Let it be as Yichuan has said.”

“Yes, Prefecture Lord.” The long haired woman, seeing the situation, nodded. The two most powerful factions in the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had both agreed. Naturally, she had nothing to say about it. All she could do was inwardly sigh that the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan, was perhaps too arrogant.

“The eight of you.”

The long haired woman looked at the eight youths. “Come here and select your weapons. After choosing your weapons…wait for my order. Once I give the order, it will be Ji Ning fighting against the seventh of you. If Ji Ning loses, or if the seven of you lose…then this combat will come to an end.”

“Hua.” With a wave of her hand, the long haired woman made a large number of weapons appear out of nowhere onto the dueling platform. There were all types of weapons. Only, none of them were sharpened!

“Choose.” The long haired woman said.

Ning and the other seven youths all strode forward, quickly choosing their weapons. Ning chose a sturdy black longsword that weighed roughly fifty pounds.

The tens of thousands of spectators below were all engaged in conversation. Many of them were only now seeing the ‘Raindrop Sword’, Ji Yichuan, for the first time. They felt as though Yichuan was like a piece of ancient, glacial ice, so cold that their hearts trembled. “Ji Yichuan is perhaps too arrogant and exacting, and he even treats his son the same way. One against seven? Even if Ji Ning’s true power is beyond that of the other seven, how can he possibly beat all seven of them at once?”

“He’s truly insane.”

“I hear that Ji Ning is only ten years old, but his father has already ordered him to come here and attend the Ceremony of the Golden Sword, and even wants him to fight one on seven. Poor fellow.”

Many of the spectators now began to feel sympathy for Ning. After all, Ning was the smallest and shortest of the eight youths on the dueling platform, and the youngest one as well. In addition, Ning was so handsome…this slender, handsome youngster had a father who was so legendarily cold and severe. One could imagine how strictly this youngster’s father usually governed him.

“Are you done choosing?” The long haired woman looked at the eight youths.

Seven of the youths were standing on one side of the dueling platform. They had their weapons ready, be it a sickle, a spear, a straight saber, or a sword. All of them stared at Ning.

On the opposite side of the platform stood Ning, all by himself.

Ning wielded a sword in his hands, staring calmly at them.

“Since you’ve made your choices…” The long haired woman waved her hand, reclaiming the heap of blunt weapons that were on the side while saying, “Then you can begin.”

Just as her words came out…

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The seven figures on the other side of the platform moved over at high speed, simultaneously charging at Ning, who stood on the other side.





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Book 2, Chapter 8 - Ji Nings Sword


Seven figures attacked from seven different directions, pouncing towards Ji Ning en masse.

Although they had not previously been prepared for a ‘seven against one’ battle, all of them were the most talented youths in the vast area under the control of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. Even if they were somewhat unhappy towards this young master of the Ji clan, they didn’t dare to be the slightest bit contemptuous. As though by prior agreement, they all chosen to attack at full force!

Ning stood there, not moving at all, waiting for the seven blurs to reach him. And when they did, he moved!

Hu….

As those weapons all flashed towards him, Ning moved like a gust of wind, demonstrating extreme accuracy and precision in terms of control, positioning, speed, and power…easily dodging and moving through the combined attacks of the seven talented youths.

“What!”

“He dodged?”

“How is that possible?”

The seven youths all halted, their eyes filled with disbelief. Just then, Ning actually hadn’t even used his weapons. Just relying on footwork alone, he was able to easily dodge past their combined attacks. This sort of terrifying footwork…demonstrated that so long as Ning was focused, the seven of them combined wouldn’t be able to even touch Ning’s clothes.

“So fast.”

“Just like a gust of wind.”

“He lives up to being the son of the Raindrop Sword. Too formidable. So fast that I couldn’t even clearly see him; all I saw was a blur.” The tens of thousands of spectators all grew excited. In this area, all the people began to train in childhood, so they all were experienced, and yet even most of them were only able to see a blur. One could imagine how fast Ning had moved.

….

Ning halted, standing on the other side of the dueling platform.

“Seven opponents were unable to force me to use my sword. Their footwork is inferior to mine.” Ning swept the seven opponents with his gaze. Just now, during that brief moment of time, he had already assessed the footwork level these seven opponents were at. “Two of them are at the ‘advanced’ level. One is that scimitar wielding youth, while the other is the golden-furred beast. It seems the earlier reports were in error.”

Although his father was arrogant, Ning himself had sent people to collect details regarding these seven opponents. He only knew that the scimitar wielding youth had reached the advanced level of footwork. He didn’t imagine that this golden-furred beast had also reached such a high level.

“But their footwork is still a bit weaker than mine.” Ning revealed a small smile.

He had, after all, already reached the ‘one with the world’ level of footwork. Even though on this dueling platform, he would only utilize ‘advanced’ level footwork, his footwork was clearly more perfected. In addition, he trained in an extremely advanced [Shadewind Steps] type of footwork, allowing him to naturally seize an advantage.

“Tie him down.”