Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

Ning had begun to focus on researching and analyzing this technique. To Ning, upgrading his hands to become Chaos-level treasures wasn’t that important, because he already had real Chaos-level treasures. In fact, Violetjewel was far more powerful than Chaos treasures! The real reason why Ning cared about the [Starseizing Hand] was because when it unleashed its full power, he would be able to deliver blows of utterly tremendous power that vastly surpassed his ordinary level of strength!

Daoist Threelives wasn’t that talented in comprehending the Dao; he hadn’t even mastered a single Heavenly Dao. However, thanks to the [Starseizing Hand], he had been able to valiantly slay multiple alien True Gods and Daofathers in the war that had ended the Primordial Era!

The [Starseizing Hand] was ranked by Three Purities as one of the top ten divine abilities of the Three Realms, on par with [Houyi’s Archery]. This was precisely because it could unleash utterly shocking levels of power! Unfortunately, Daoist Threelives himself wasn’t that innately powerful; if he was a half-step Elder God like Ji Ning, he definitely would’ve been able to reach the overlord level of power with just the [Starseizing Hand]! Ning was in bad need of a technique which would allow him to explosively increase his level of power. Although he had the [Nine Elements Annihilation], he would need a long period of time before being able to develop a powerful divine ability of his own from it.

World God Northrest naturally possessed formidable techniques that allowed for an explosive increase in power, but all of them had come from Vastheaven Palace and could not be taught to outsiders! Over the course of his many years of adventure, he had acquired a few similar techniques, but alas all of them were fairly mediocre. Although he had passed them on to Ning, none of them could match the Sixth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand].

“The Sixth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] was developed by Daoist Threelives after he meditated on a piece of golden starstone.”

“However…the way in which he caused his divine power to explode out was excessively violent! My palms would first have to first be refined to become Chaos treasures; otherwise, there’s no way they would be able to withstand such tremendous power,” Ning mused to himself.

The [Starseizing Hand] allowed for an incredibly forceful increase in power. This meant that the palms had to be made incredibly sturdy; only then would they be able to endure this level of power!

“It has been a hundred and seventy-two years since I became a True God. My Primaltwin has spent a total of more than seventeen thousand years in the Heavengazer Tower of Radiance,” Ning mused to himself. “Although I’ve mainly focused on comprehending the Dao and only occasionally spent time on my sword-arts and divine abilities, I was still able to finish retrofitting the [Starseizing Hand].”

Using the [Nine Elements Annihilation] as his foundation, he had carefully restructure and remade the [Starseizing Hand].

The mysteries of the [Starseizing Hand] actually came from some of the profound secrets contained within that piece of golden starstone. The construction of the [Starseizing Hand] technique itself wasn’t that complicated. With the [Nine Elements Annihilation] serving as a reference guide, Ning was able to completely deconstruct it, then slowly rebuild and postulate a new Sixth Cycle.

This process took more than seventeen thousand years…but now, the Primaltwin had finally mastered it!

This new technique allowed for the use of Five Elements essence to replace golden starstone and the other precious materials needed to refine the hands and make them into Chaos treasures. The fundamental underpinnings of the [Starseizing Hand] was to use Five Elements treasures to refine the hands, after all.

Ning sat there in the lotus together, a gourd placed next to him which was filled with Five Elements essence.

Whoooosh…

Under Ning’s guidance, the Five Elements essence soared towards his twin palms. The divine Starseizing Tattoos appeared on his hands, and they quickly began to grow more and more complicated. Finally, the tattoos reached a new peak of power, causing Ning to feel as though they were bursting with power. His hands began to emanate an aura of limitless might. However, Ning had long ago set up a barrier of heartforce around the area, preventing anyone from investigating it.

The Seamless Gate knew that Ji Ning was on this star, but they had no way of looking into what Ji Ning was doing here.

“Success.” Ning willed the absolutely dominating aura of power radiating from his hands to be suppressed.

“My hands are now comparable to Chaos treasures. They are now strong enough to withstand an explosion of divine power.” Ning willed the divine ability active as he struck out towards the Void with his palm.

Boom!

An enormous, semi-translucent palm smashed through the Void, causing space itself to shudder and ripple. An enormous Voidwave that was a hundred million kilometers in size blasted forward, heading off to who-knows where.

“What tremendous power.” Ning nodded, revealing a look of delight. This sort of explosive power, when combined with Violetjewel, would become even more formidable.

“My divine ability has been completed!”

“Now, the only thing I am lacking…is in my insights into the Dao! I hope that before the Endwar begins, I’ll be able to master a Heavenly Dao.” Ning felt a hint of worry. He had left one of his incarnations in Allclans Palace, which was why he knew exactly what the situation was like in the Three Realms. Things were truly at the tipping point now; the Endwar could start at a moment’s notice.

Even the Endwar occurred only after the war for karmic luck ended, that meant it was only a few decades away.

Sometimes, the more you try to force something to happen, the harder it will be for you to succeed.

Ning understood this principle very well. He deeply desired to master a Heavenly Dao, and he had made tremendous progress during the past seventeen thousand years in understanding the Heavenly Dao of Water, but he knew that the more impatient he felt the more it would hinder him in actually mastering the Dao. Thus, Ning remained very calm. He acted the same as he always had, and he would also take rests to go meditate on his sword-arts and other techniques.

Although he hadn’t mastered a Heavenly Dao during the past period of time, he had upgraded the [Starseizing Hand] and had improved tremendously in sword-arts as well.

“I’ve already mastered ninety-six of the ninety-eight techniques on those stone sword-steles. Only two more techniques remain. I need just a little more time. Once I master them, I can begin to meditate on the [Nameless] sword-art.” Within the Heavengazer Tower, the black-robed Ning was staring at the two final stone steles in front of him.





* * *





Book 23, Chapter 8 - Nameless Sword-Art, Heartsword Stance


The black-robed Ji Ning stretched out a finger. A rainbow-colored sword materialized out of nowhere, which he then began to use to execute sword-arts.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

His sword-shadows flowed through the air, as illusory as dreams. It was as though rainwater had appeared throughout the area, with an occasional hint of sharpness appearing.

At first, Ning had a puzzled look on his face as he began training. However, a look of delight slowly began to appear on his face. In fact, he began to let out cries of delight and amazed sighs.

Swoosh.

The sword-light flashed one final time before disappearing into the void.

“What a fine [Hidden Edge] technique.” Ning came to a halt, unable to disguise the excitement in his eyes. “World God Northrest truly went all out in his efforts to guide me forward on my path. Each of these ninety-eight stone steles have led me forward, step by step, to gain more and more insights into the sword. I am becoming an increasingly suitable candidate for training in the [Nameless] sword-art.”

“Both of these stone steles focused on hiding one’s sharpness. I’ve now thoroughly mastered them.”