Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

The sixth stage of swordforce? The stage which allowed one to become a World God through the Dao of the Sword?

“My second uncle rarely shows his power. You need to treasure this,” the Starlord of Fogstone said with a laugh.

“I won’t take advantage of you, kid.” World God Blackmist waved his finger, causing a drop of blood to fly towards Ning and manifest into an identical clone of Blackmist. However, this clone’s aura was noticeably weaker. “This blood incarnation is a bit weaker than an ordinary Elder God. Use your most powerful attacks against me.”

“Alright.” Ning’s eyes lit up.

Ning and Blackmist’s incarnation stared at each other from afar.

Blackmist’s incarnation was rather weak in both speed and strength for an Elder God, while Ning was a half-step World God. This gave Ning a huge advantage…but Ning knew that his opponent was at a much higher level of skill and enlightenment than himself.

“Senior Blackmist, this is the most powerful sword-art I have developed to date. Please provide me with some advice,” Ning said solemnly, holding a single sword with a twohanded grip. The entire hall suddenly seemed to echo with his sword-intent as Ning took complete control over the entire area.

[Nameless] sword-art, Heartsword stance!

Ning had gone into seclusion for three hundred years after the Endwar, which translated into six thousand years in the Heavengazer Tower of Radiance. Although he had spent much of the six thousand years restoring his bodies, most of his attention had been spent on meditating on the Dao and on the Sword. His sword-arts were even more formidable and perfected than they had been when he had slain Old Man Yuan.

Swish! Ning flew forward, his entire being seeming to have transformed into a sword.

“This sword-intent….he really is a true expert in the Dao of the Sword.” Blackmist’s incarnation let out a laugh as he produced a sword and began to fight against Ning.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Tens of thousands of sword-shadows appeared as the two furiously battled against each other.

Ning possessed tremendous power, formidable divine abilities, and shocking sword-arts. World God Blackmist’s sword, however, was even more unpredictable and ephemeral, causing each of Ning’s strikes to fall empty and miss their mark.

“Second Uncle, you probably won’t be able to do anything to Darknorth with just an incarnation. He has gained certain insights into the true essence of the sword. Although he’s lacking in other respects, his control and mastery over the sword has reached a level of perfection.” The Starlord of Fogstone was even more skilled in the Dao of the Sword than World God Blackmist. Upon seeing this battle, he immediately laughed and gave his input.

“He shows no openings or weaknesses at all. With every step he takes, he crushes down upon me, taking advantage of the fact that I don’t have enough divine power.” The incarnation of Blackmist simply didn’t have enough divine power to fight. “I need to take part with my true body.”

Swoosh.

World God Blackmist suddenly flew away from his seat, dispelling his clone and instead charging forward to battle against Ning personally.

“What? World God Blackmist has engaged with his own body?”

“The incarnation of World God Blackmist wasn’t enough to deal with Darknorth?” All the spectators, including Island Master Fushe and the disciples of Immortal Abyssus, were stunned.

Immortal Abyssus himself was also puzzled. “Brother Blackmist is tremendously skilled with the sword. Although his incarnation is a bit lacking in physical strength, brother Blackmist should be talented enough in sword-arts to defeat Darknorth despite being physically weaker.”

“That’s where you are wrong,” the Starlord of Fogstone said. “The Dao of the Sword is a Dao meant for battle and slaughter. Thus, when most swordsmen reach a sufficiently high level of insight into the Dao of the Sword, they will first gain insight over the sword-intent of slaughter. This Darknorth, however, didn’t gain insight into the sword-intent of slaughter; instead, he gained insight into something else, a sort of absolute control over the sword. He’s able to unleash the maximum power of every single stance he uses while showing almost no weaknesses or flaws, making it extremely difficult for anyone on the same level of power as him to actually defeat him.”

“Absolute control?” Immortal Abyssus didn’t really understand.

The Starlord of Fogstone chuckled calmly. “The true essence of the sword is a vast, endless sea. Different experts in the Dao of the Sword will gain different insights when they study the essence of the sword. The insights Darknorth gained pertain to control, control over the sword. His sword isn’t the fastest, nor is it the sharpest, but he has the most perfect control over his sword.”

Indeed.

The deceased World God Northrest had left behind ninety-eight stone steles for his successor, so as to help his successor master the concept of the ‘hidden edge’. This was a concept that centered around control, not an all-out attack. Later on, Ning had finally mastered the ‘Heartsword stance’ during the Endwar. The [Nameless] sword-art required its practitioners to have absolute control over their Immortal swords. If one couldn’t fully control the sword as one wished, then one would never be able to become truly powerful, no matter how strong one’s blows became.

“This is a level which many experts of the Dao of the Sword dream of reaching. If you are completely flawless, then when you encounter an enemy of the same level of power it will be very difficult for that person to defeat you.” The Starlord laughed. “I only reached this level after I became a World God. My second uncle still has yet to reach this level of mastery. He’s embarked on a different path in the Dao of the Sword.”

World God Blackmist suppressed his own power as he fought, strictly competing against Ning in sword-arts.

Rumble…

Sword-light flashed throughout the hall.

Ning felt as though he had been trapped in a web of countless sword-shadows, all of which were crushing down upon him. He couldn’t even see any of the other people in the hall. All he could see were those attacking streaks of sword-light, each of which seemed to emerge from a black mist of sword-shadows. Every single blow was ghostly yet brutal and overbearing.

“Kid, this here is my Sword World. Take a good look!” World God Blackmist’s voice echoed in the hall.

Ning was using every inch of power he had to defend. Supported by the ‘Heartsword Realm’, his [Brightmoon] sword-art was executed in a perfect, intricate manner…and yet, he still was at the verge of being defeated. All he could do was fight with full power, infusing all of the insights he had gained into his sword-arts.

In recent years, Ning hadn’t been able to meet a truly skilled opponent in the Dao of the Sword! He had been painstakingly training on his own this entire time. Now, however, a World God who had mastered his own Sword World was sparring against him in person, giving him a chance to see a completely new world and gain an even deeper glimpse into the true, vast essence of the sword. In fact, Ning was actually beginning to gain more and more insights into the second stance of the [Nameless] sword-art.

“Six thousand years of training wasn’t as useful as this single battle.” A berserk look appeared in Ning’s eyes as he did everything he could to continue fighting against World God Blackmist. He tested out many of the insights he had gained into the Dao of the Sword, hoping that this battle against World God Blackmist would persist for a bit longer.

In fact, his sword-arts were improving at a rate which was visible to all the spectators.