Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

Those who were more powerful than him during the Primordial Era now had to treat him with reverence. This was one of the marvels of time. Perhaps, in the future…a young fellow who was currently weak would end up becoming so powerful that Holyflame himself would have to treat him with reverence.

“You now know about all the pros and cons of the [Five Elements] sword-art.” True Immortal Jimin looked towards Ning. “It’s up to you whether you wish to train in it or not.”

Ning nodded.

He had heard these legends long ago; the only difference today made was that he now knew a bit more than he had in the past. In truth, the year he had spent on the other worlds was a testament to Ning’s decision! He was going to embark on the path of the Sword Immortal, and that path alone! For the sake of the [Five Treasures] sword-art, Ning had long ago decided to give up his insights into the Grand Dao of the Waterdrop and the other Daos. Right now, the reason he was powerful was because of his heartforce and his divine abilities, such as the [Starseizing Hand] and the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! He wouldn’t forget any of them.

The only things he would forget were his insights into the Dao!

“We won’t disturb you any further.” True Immortal Jimin and the other two immediately left.

“Ninefangs, I’m going to go take a look at the [Five Treasures] sword-art. If there’s nothing urgent, don’t interrupt me,” Ning said. Ninefangs hurriedly assented.

Ning flew far into the distance, heading towards the first chapter of the [Five Treasures] sword-art.





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Book 19, Chapter 16 - Training in Solitude


The Five Treasure Peaks were ancient beyond belief. A complete version of the number one sword-art of the Three Realms, the [Five Treasures] sword-art, had been left behind on them, giving them an aura of being even more exalted than the Dao of the Heavens.

Solitude.

Stillness.

The aura and presence emanating from the Five Treasure Peaks was enough to ensure that neither birds nor bugs could survive here. The only living creatures here were the forty-plus Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, but given how vast the Five Treasure Peaks were, the cultivators weren’t particularly eye-catching.

“It really is rare to find such a quiet place.” Ji Ning landed, then stood there upon the wilderness, head raised as he stared at the criss-crossing sword stances that had been left atop the distant mountain cliffs.

“Whew.” Ning’s heart clenched as a series of sword techniques began to flood into his brain. This sword-art was ancient, profound, and beyond the Heavenly Daos themselves.

“Truly inconceivable. How could such a divine sword-art exist in the world?” Ning was only able to recover after a long period of time had passed. A cloud appeared beneath his feet as he began to slowly fly upwards. The first peak was a thousand kilometers high, and so it naturally pierced far up into the clouds. As for the first chapter of the [Five Treasures] sword-art, it covered more than half of the mountain walls of the first peak.

Ning continued to view the sword-art as he flew upwards, and various sword stances began to flash past his eyes. Ning viewed them very slowly, taking a full hour before finishing his viewing of the first chapter.

“The first chapter is truly as vast as an ocean.” Ning sighed in amazement. This was definitely the most complicated sword-art he had ever seen; just the first chapter alone contained a total of 3729 different stances, each one incomparably marvelous.

“Mm.” Ning transformed into a streak of light, charging back downwards. As he landed on the ground, he pointed off into the distance. Instantly, the power of Heaven and Earth began to activate, quickly causing an ordinary thatched cottage to take form. Ning stepped into it, then sat down into the lotus position. He faced the Five Treasure Peaks, then closed his eyes and began to think back to what he had seen.

The sword stances began to replay through his mind as he began to attempt to fathom them.

Ning knew what his advantages were and what his disadvantages were!

He had been tremendously lucky, as he had the chance to learn divine abilities like the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and the [Starseizing Hand]; these two divine abilities were already enough to allow him to stand at the very peak of power for Empyrean Gods! But his goal wasn’t to be a powerful Empyrean God…it was to become a True God and a Daofather! During the final Endwar, one had to have the power of a True God or a Daofather in order to be of use.

In addition, he had to become a supremely powerful True God and Daofather. In fact, he wanted to try to work hard to reach the level of the leaders of the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Sangha…or even the level of Nuwa and Pangu!

But how was he supposed to reach this level?

Ning knew very well that compared to the other major powers, his greatest weakness was that he hadn’t trained for very long. This was a tremendous disadvantage. The storm had already begun to press down upon them, and the final, terrifying explosion wouldn’t be too far off. He didn’t actually have that much time. If he wanted to take things step-by-step, first mastering the various Grand Daos and then slowly work on the Heavenly Dao of Water, then the rest of the Five Elements so as to reach the level of Lord Buddha or Daoist Three Purities…without question, it would take an unfathomable amount of time.

He didn’t have enough time.

What could he do?

His only choice was to make a lateral thrust, to make an unconventional gambit!

His greatest talent currently lay in heartforce. The heart was an invisible, formless thing, but it was possible to make great breakthroughs in it. Right now, Ning had already reached the fourth stage in heartforce! If he was to reach the fifth stage, he would instantly be comparable to the most supreme of Daofathers. Long ago, Houyi had reached the fifth stage of heartforce as an Empyrean God and thus became capable of killing True Gods and Daofathers!

Master Subhuti believed that Ning’s talent with the sword was even greater than his talent in heartforce. Supposedly, if swordforce reached the fifth stage, it would be no weaker than heartforce of the fifth stage. But how was he to reach such a level?

The best choice was to train in the number one sword-art of the Three Realms, the [Five Treasures] sword-art! The [Five Treasures] sword-art was even capable of allowing the speed of his sword to exceed the limitations of the Heavenly Daos; it would definitely allow him to be the most powerful figure amongst his peers. Even if his peers also mastered fifth stage swordforce, if he mastered the [Five Treasures] sword-art, he would still be far more powerful than them.

“I’ll walk these two paths simultaneously. So long as one of them succeeds…I, Ji Ning, will stand at the very peak of the Three Realms!”

Ning knew very well that both paths were extremely difficult paths to walk…but if you wanted to stand at the top, how could you avoid taking a difficult path? Others wouldn’t even have the chance to make an attempt like this. Ning had both the chance and the necessarily talent…of course he had to go all-out!

Not just for himself; it was also for his family, for his loved ones. If he didn’t have enough power, not only would he be doomed, even Brightmoon and the others would find it hard to survive.

Ning completely subsumed himself into his training. Every so often, he would leave the thatched cottage to take another look at the first chapter of the [Five Treasures] sword-art. Although he had already memorized it all, the sword stances on the cliff had been personally left behind by Daofather Fuju, and it contained Fuju’s sword-intent. Ning was able to memorize the stances, but he wasn’t able to memorize the sword-intent.

This was the reason why, in times of peace, thousands of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would come here to cultivate, with each cultivation session often lasting a million years or even longer.

Time passed, one day after the other.

The entire Five Treasure Peaks were completely silent. All of the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were as silent as deadwood, completely focused on the sword!

“The Dao…is slipping away…”