Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

“This sword-stance…of the five stances, it looks the simplest, but it is the fastest and most direct sword-stance. It is the second stance to take form.” Ning nodded. “This sword-stance…let me be known as ‘Blood Drop’.”


The Blood Drop stance…the fastest, most savage, most penetrating sword-stance of the five.

……

The thirty-sixth year of Ning training in the sword. Within a minor world.

“Go! Go! Go!” A violet-robed maiden was controlling a pair of azure and violet flying swords from afar, sending them streaking towards Ning as streaks of light.

Boom! Boom!

Ning had two swords in each hand. These two swords were both shockingly heavy. When Ning wielded it, he felt as though he was striking out with a hammer or a mace. When his two swords collided against the flying swords, two deep booming sounds could be heard as he smashed the flying swords back, knocking them far away.

“How can this be?! This senior clearly isn’t that strong; his power is merely at the Zifu-level. I’m a Primal Daoist. How could he have smashed back my flying swords with raw force?” The violet-robed maiden was completely stunned.

“This third sword has finally taken form as well.” Ning revealed a smile. “This sword-stance shall be the ‘Heavenbreaker’ stance of my five stances.”

All magic treasures could change in weight. Even the most ordinary of Mortal-ranked or Earth-ranked treasures could, through the usage of certain seals, transform to weight ten thousand kilograms or become as light as a feather. As for Protocosmic spirit-treasures like the Goldstar Beads of the Heavens…they could be as heavy as a small star or as light as a bubble.

Of course, not even Ji Ning would be able to control the 3600 beads if he made all of them weigh as much as a small star. Thus, a weight that was a good fit would be the ‘best’ weight.

The Heavenbreaker stance involved changing the sword to make it heavier, then using that weight to strike! If a sword was ridiculously heavy, it would become very slow…but if a sword was too light, there would be limits on how fast it could be. To reach the fastest speed possible, one had to find the perfect weight for a particular cultivator, based on his or her actual strength.

The Heavenbreaker stance was very fast, but it also contained tremendous force. It was capable of splitting apart Heaven and Earth.

……

The forty-third year of Ning training in the sword.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Countless divine needles, more than ten thousand in total, had completely surrounded Ning.

Ning was holding those two twin swords in his hands.

Two streaks of sword-light lit up. Instantly, two vortexes of water that were spinning in completely opposite directions appeared in midair. When the ten thousand-plus needles struck, they were completely blocked by these two curtains of water that were spinning in opposite directions.

“This stance shall be called Yin-Yang.” Ning nodded.

Yin-Yang stance…a defensive sword-stance to be used when faced with countless simultaneous attacks.

…….

The fifty-first year of Ning training in the sword.

“…What’s up with this senior? His strength and speed are both quite low, merely at the Zifu-level, but he’s able to simultaneously fight with us thirteen brothers at the same time.”

“He really is odd.”

“But he’s quite formidable. In close combat or in ranged combat, we are completely unable to harm him.”

Thirteen Primal Diremonsters had joined forces against Ning, each of them Fiendgod Body Refiners.

Ning still held those two swords in his hands.

Occasionally, the swords would transform into black holes; at other times, they would transform into vortexes of water that surrounded him. All attacks were blocked, and at the same time he continued to battle against the three Primal-level Diremonsters closest to him.

This attack went on for a full day and two full nights.

“Still not quite there yet.”

“No, that’s not it.”

Ning could sense that he was close to the critical component, and so he hadn’t stopped.

Suddenly…

Three strange sword-flashes suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

All three of the nearby Diremonsters had their heads severed apart. Although those heads quickly flew back and reconnected to their bodies, the thirteen Diremonsters were completely stunned. They had surrounded and attacked this man, but he was still able to sever the heads of three of them, all Primal-level Diremonsters?

“Mmm. Finally. That’s more like it.” Ning grinned. “This sword-stance…let it be known as Shadowless.”

Shadowless stance…the strangest stance, and a very fast one. Its speed was second only to the Blood Drop stance, and it completely surpassed the speed of the other three. The Blood Drop stance, by comparison, was honorable and open, whereas this Shadowless stance was strange and unpredictable.

……

A wooden boat was drifting about within a river.

Ning was seated within the boat, meditating. His old bald servant, Empyrean God Ninefangs, was quietly standing guard next to him.

“I’ve been training for fifty-one years with the sword. I used the [Five Treasures] as the foundation, coming up with five stances of my own, based on my insights into the Dao of the Sword. Finally, these five stances have all taken form.” Ning felt a joyful feeling in his heart. Years ago, a vast, broad world of the sword had opened up before him. Only today had he finally managed to truly separate that world into five major parts.

All sword-arts could be divided up as belonging to one of his five stances.

The [Five Treasures] sword-art had been infused by Ning into these five stances as well. As a result, all five of these sword-stances were incredibly fast!

“The five sword-stances of the [Brightmoon] sword-art…Soleheart, Yin-Yang, Blood Drop, Heavenbreaker, Shadowless.” Ning had a feeling that any of the five sword-stances, when trained to the utmost limit, would far surpass all other types of sword-art that existed in the Three Realms.

But of course, that would only happen if he was able to continuously improve upon them and perfect them. They were nothing more than rough outlines, right now.

“Disciple.” A spatial vortex suddenly appeared within the wooden boat, with Patriarch Subhuti emerging from within it.

Ning hurriedly rose to his feet. “Master.”

“Patriarch.” Empyrean God Ninefangs was shocked as well, and he immediately bowed with respect.





* * *





Book 19, Chapter 42 - The Humanworld of Yu the Great


“You succeeded?” Subhuti sat down in the lotus position, facing Ji Ning. “Sit.”

Ning sat down in the lotus position as well. Nodding, he said, “Still, it’s just an outline for now.”

“What’s the name of this sword-art?” Subhuti asked.

“The [Brightmoon] sword-art,” Ning replied.

Subhuti nodded. “The sword-art you created isn’t bad. It has a certain quality about it, as though a school can be founded around it. Although its still quite new and young, its future potential is limitless. Haha…the method you used to come up with this sword-art was quite amusing. You actually suppressed your own power to go spar against Zifu Disciples, Wanxiang Adepts, and Primal Daoists…and you actually succeeded in developing a set of sword-arts. Before you, all we would ever see was major powers of the Three Realms occasionally providing some guidance to young cultivators through sparring. There has never been anyone who actually sparred against them in earnest and thus developed a peerless sword-art.”

“I’m a bit embarrassed,” Ning said.

“I thought about it carefully, actually. Weak cultivators do indeed have slow, weak swords. When you suppressed yourself to make yourself even weaker to spar with them, you were forced to constantly ponder ways to improve your sword-arts, given the disparity in strength and speed.” Subhuti nodded. “However…in the end, you won’t be able to accomplish great things solely by sparring against weaklings. Your future opponents won’t be as weak as them.”