Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

By comparison, the fisherman’s sword had a ‘softer’ defense, but once he reached an opponent who was a match for him the fisherman unleashed virtually all of the potential within his sword-arts, resulting in Ning being completely unable to harm him.

Finally, the two came to a halt.

“Your sword-art is incredibly profound and mysterious. It truly is one of the most profound sword-arts of all the Endless Territories. However, my own sword-arts were passed down by the Eternal Emperor himself. If you wish to defeat me, you’ll need to improve a little bit more.” The fisherman calmly walked back to his pool and began to fish again. “You can leave now.”

Ning wasn’t disappointed. Instead, his heart was filled with joy. This battle with the fisherman had resulted in him improving dramatically in his Unicorn’s Heart.





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Book 26, Chapter 41 - The Coming of Bertulu


After mastering the sixth stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, ‘Unicorn’s Heart’, Ji Ning spent another year before he was able to develop the third stance of his [Quintessence Sword-Intent], the ‘Astral’ stance.

Blackmist stance, Allgod stance, Astral stance. These three stances were named after three places or people that had a huge effect on him.

The Unicorn’s Heart and the Astral stance were sword-arts on the same general level of power. However, when Ning used Violetjewel to executed the Astral stance he was able to unleash several times more power.

After his sword-arts improved, Ning became capable of standing firmly within the fifth stratum. Even Kilostar was merely on par with Ning.

In truth, when Kilostar used his full power he was clearly on a higher level of power than Ning. Unfortunately, Ning had the Elementum Waterflame Gourd and six sets of Violetjewel. It was hard for the other geniuses to compete against him in terms of wealth and treasures.

“You have six damn swords, whereas I just have a pair of warblades… and you, you sly bastard, keep on releasing lightning to attack me as well!” Kilostar was frustrated by his battles against Ning as well. He had to go all-out in each fight, but he was still only able to fight to a standstill. “Screw this, I’m done! I’m not going to accept any more challenges from you. Go ahead and admit defeat! I’d rather die than admit defeat in this battle.”

Kilostar immediately transformed into a thousand clones again and entered his formation. He absolutely refused to admit defeat, and this great formation ensured that there really was no way anyone could do anything to him.

Ning was in quite a good mood, and so he voluntarily admitted defeat.

Thirty-two years after learning the Unicorn’s Heart, Ning finally managed to piece together the footwork legacy he wanted.

“I finally have it.” Ning stared at the jade tome in his hands. The footwork legacy consisted of a series of jade slips, and there were a total of eight hundred slips. After acquiring all eight hundred, they came together to form a jade tome that radiated several large characters: “Swear the oath and you can view my true teachings.” There were a few other smaller characters hovering nearby those larger characters as well.

Ning reviewed the restrictive spells pertaining to the jade tome, then immediately swore the oath. A large amount of information then began to transmit into Ning’s mind.

Moments later, a series of tightly clustered characters began to emanate out of the jade tome, bringing with them an aura of marvelous and profundity.

“Footwork technique. What does this phrase means? It simply refers to a technique meant for movement! Unless there is a tremendous gap in power, a powerful footwork technique is far more effective than offensive or defensive techniques. This is true for both mortals as well as Eternal Emperors!

“If I am always a step ahead of you, your sword shall never touch me. Even if I can only dodge it by one centimeter, I’ll have rendered your sword-arts useless against me, no matter how powerful they are.

“If my footwork techniques are powerful, I’ll be able to strike my foes without him being able to strike me. All shall be under my control.”

Ning read these words, then slowly nodded. He understood the importance of a good footwork technique. When he was young and living in Swallow Mountain, his mother Yuchi Snow had personally taught him his first footwork techniques. Ning had never abandoned his progression in this area, and had always infused his insights into the Dao into his footwork techniques. He had even purchased a pair of Thunderlight Wings! His footwork abilities were actually quite excellent compared to his World-level peers. He actually wasn’t lacking in this area.

“All good footwork techniques share certain commonalities. They allow you to instantly explode with speed, allowing you to dodge attacks as best you can. Two people might have the same level of divine power and the same insights into the Dao, but the one who has superior footwork techniques will be able to dodge faster. A good footwork technique can make a tremendous difference.

“This footwork technique of mine involves the cycling of divine power that can be divided up into three layers of expertise. The first level is most likely comparable to that of the footwork techniques most cultivators use, allowing them to dodge and move at high speed. The second allows for nearly instantaneous dodging that is at a far faster level. As for the third level…”

As Ning read on, he couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly.

The cycling of divine power?

His greatest source of power came from his azureflower mist energy. No matter how strong his divine power became, it couldn’t possibly compare to that mist energy! Although this technique’s unique methods of cycling divine power had been transmitted into Ning’s mind, it truly was of no use to him.

Still, Ning read on.

“The power you can unleash from your footwork depends on two things. The first is the way in which you cycle your divine power. The second is the skill with which you execute the techniques.

“Those who have a high level of skill are able to easily surpass those at a lower level of skill, even if they don’t use any divine abilities.

“My footwork technique has a special history to it. Long ago, when I was paying my respects to the almighty Hegemon of the Brightshore Kingdom, I saw a lightning dragon. This lightning dragon was actually a streak of lightning which the almighty Hegemon had created that was capable of gaining eternity. When I saw how this ‘Eternal Thunderdragon’ moved about, I meditated for many years before coming up with this technique, the Thunderdragon footwork technique. It can be divided up into five different levels.

“The first level is the level known as ‘control’. Anyone who studies this footwork technique of mine can master this level.

“The second level is the level known as ‘infusion’. You shall infuse all of your insights into the Dao into this footwork technique. If you are skilled in the Dao of Spacetime, you should infuse those insights into your footwork. If you are skilled in the Dao of the Saber, then you can do the same. Only once you truly and completely merge your deepest insights into the Dao into my Thunderdragon footwork technique shall you have mastered my ‘infusion’ level.

“The third level is the level known as ‘draconify’. When you use this footwork technique, an illusion of a lightning dragon shall protect your body, allowing your speed to increase dramatically. At this level, you shall have begin to grasp the true essence of this technique.