Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

But of course…


A Daolord of the Fourth Step could easily defeat the white-haired man’s sword-arts using the Unicorn’s Domain. Ji Ning had similarly reached an incredibly high level of expertise in the Unicorn’s Domain, and he could sense that he was just a hair away from becoming a Daolord. If he made some more breakthroughs, he would probably be able to reach the Daolord level whenever he wished… but that would mean that he would have become a Daolord through the Unicorn’s Domain.

“However… in the end, the Unicorn’s Domain is not my path. Nor is the white-haired man’s sword-art my path.”

Ning’s path was a path that would lead him to the very essence of the sword itself. He would infuse all of the essence of the sword and countless sword-arts into his own [Brightmoon] sword-art, which represented his truest path.

The white-haired man had merely fused a few different sword-arts in a perfect manner. It was more profound than the Unicorn’s Domain, but it couldn’t really be said to point to the true essence of the sword itself. The latter path was the purest and most difficult path to take… but this was what Ning wished to obtain from his sword cultivation. He had to take this path. Only by taking the path you wished to take would you be on the most suitable path.

Rumble…

Ning was seated in the lotus position within his Immortal estate. It had merely been a divine power clone which he had sent into the fourth world.

After defeating the overseer of the fourth painting, Ning called out with his will and summoned all four Mirrorsnow Paintings. The four paintings hung there in the air, slowly drawing closer to each other before they completely merged into one. After the four paintings completely merged together, they actually transformed into a single painting. This painting looked quite ordinary, and it didn’t have any sword-intent within it. It did, however, depict a man.

This man carried a sword on his back and was staring off into the distance. He looked extremely handsome and suave.

“Disciple, this is the painting of myself, your master. Kowtow three times first.” A voice rang out from within the painting.

Ning was badly startled by this. In the next moment, he felt completely speechless.

Jeeze, Emperor Mirrorsnow… why are you such a narcissist? After the four paintings merged together, they actually formed a self-portrait of yourself? And you actually drew yourself in such a perfect, flawless manner?

The other paintings were all quite terrible, but his portrait was quite well-done. The strange thing was, there was almost no sword-intent radiating from this image. Ning strongly suspected that this probably wasn’t actually drawn by Emperor Mirrorsnow himself.

There was no way the man could paint such a nice portrait.

“I wonder what this master of mine has left behind. I had best kowtow first.” Ning immediately knelt down, kowtowing three times to the levitating painting of Emperor Mirrorsnow.

Whoosh.

As soon as he finished kowtowing, the painting emanated a blinding light that completely surrounded Ning. Ning didn’t resist, and with a swoosh he was drawn directly inside of it.

Within the Eternal Emperor’s painting.

This was an incredibly vast and ancient world. A man carrying a sword on his back was standing there atop the desolate earth, and there were four retainers who were standing by his side in a respectful manner. These four retainers were the emperor, the assassin, the fisherman, and the swordsman.

Whoosh.

Ning appeared out of nowhere next to them.

“Disciple.” The man carrying the longsword on his back looked at Ning.

Ning immediately understood that this person was most likely Emperor Mirrorsnow. Still… it most likely wasn’t the Eternal Emperor’s true form. Actually, the Eternal Emperor really did look quite handsome. The painting apparently had been an accurate one, and the sword-intent which naturally radiated from his eyes caused Ning to feel a sense of alarm in his heart. Although this sword-intent seemed quite calm, it had a hidden sharpness that was far more terrifying than the sensation which Daolord Woodflower had emanated.

“Master,” Ning called out respectfully.

“This is a world which will only appear after all four paintings merge together.” The Eternal Emperor looked at Ning. “I’ve left a strand of my will in this place, all for the sake of waiting for you, my dear apprentice.”





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Book 27, Chapter 11 - A Memory Fragment


The Eternal Emperor looked at Ji Ning, extremely moved. “I delight in exploring, in visiting one beautiful new world after another. I truly don’t have the patience necessary to teach a disciple. However… if I keep adventuring like this, I’ll probably die one day. If I die, I die, but I’m afraid that after enough years pass, even my name shall be forgotten by the vast majority of cultivators.”

“It will be you, my dear disciples, who shall ensure that my name and reputation shall exist unto perpetuity. Once you become my personal disciple, you must accept ten more disciples on my behalf before you attempt your Daomerge. They can be considered honorary disciples of mine,” the Eternal Emperor said. “The skills I impart unto you, you can only impart unto those ten honorary disciples.”

“Your disciple understands.” Ning nodded.

Accept ten disciples before his Daomerge? This was a fairly easy oath.

“Then swear the oath,” the Eternal Emperor said.

Ning immediately swore a lifeblood oath. If he wanted to transmit certain legacies to his future disciples or to Subhuti and the others in the Three Realms, he could simply transmit his own insights. He would have a Dao that was completely his own, after all! The Eternal Emperor’s legacy primarily served as a guidepost for him, a way to show him how he should walk his future path and avoid certain wrong choices.

If a person walked forward blindly without any guideposts, it would be easy to get lost and make the wrong decisions. Ever step taken by a Samsara Daolord was a step which straddled the line between life and death. There were no ways to take back a misstep! Once you made that misstep, you would die and your Dao would dissipate.

“Mm.” The Eternal Emperor watched Ning swear the oath, nodding in satisfaction. He transformed into a streak of light that flew straight into Ning’s body. Ning wasn’t able to resist him in the slightest.

Rumble…

Ning just stood there in the middle of the wilderness, surrounded by the four retainers of the Emperor. The swordsman, the fisherman, the assassin, and the emperor all stared at him as ripples of power began to emanate from the area around him. Clearly, the many memories and abilities which the Eternal Emperor’s strand of will contained were merging into Ning’s own memories. That strand of divine will held simply too much power and memories, making it physically painful for even someone as mighty as Ning to absorb.

Within Ning’s sea of consciousness. A large amount of information was flooding into this place.

“Before I succeeded in my Daomerge, I obtained an Eternal sword-art known as the [Heartseal] sword-art. This sword-art has a total of fifteen stances. This is the first stance, the Flysword stance…” A memory fragment entered Ning’s mind. The speaker was Emperor Mirrorsnow, and in the memory he wielded a single sword and began to display the first stance of the [Heartseal] sword-art.”