Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

Logically speaking, Heartforce Cultivation, Fiendgod Body Refining, and Ki Refining were three completely separate paths that couldn’t merge together.

Take Bertulu as an example. In battle, he could use some illusions or use his heartworld to pressure his foes. In short, he would use heartforce as a supportive skill as he engaged in close combat!

However…

Emperor Heartsword was different. When he used his divine abilities and struck out with his sword, he was able to unleash tremendous power. As for his heartforce, he was able to use its illusions to affect reality itself. Most importantly, he was somehow able to cause his heartforce to naturally join together with his sword. This made it so that he was able to perfectly meld his power as a Heartforce Cultivator and as a Fiendgod Refiner, causing his power to skyrocket to a terrifying level. This was why he was acclaimed by so many as the Eternal Emperor who was closest to the three Hegemons in power.

……

The Sword Palace.

“Congratulations, senior apprentice-brother Darknorth.”

“Senior apprentice-brother Darknorth, now that you’ve been acknowledged by the Sword Pagodas, you are the seventh Swordlord of our palace.”

Ning was in a superb mood as he entertained his fellow disciples. Suddenly, he saw a figure appear at the margins of the Forest of Sword Pagodas.

“Senior apprentice-brother Woodflower?” Ning immediately recognized him.

“Follow me, Darknorth.” Lord Woodflower sent him a mental message.

“Everyone, the Palace Lord has summoned me. Pardon me.” Ning said a few words of farewell to the cultivators nearby. They, too, had seen Lord Woodflower appear.

A short while later, Ning and Lord Woodflower were walking side by side through a mountainous forest.

“Darknorth, you have received the acknowledgement of the Sword Pagodas and become a Swordlord. Per our rules, you are permitted to go to Armaments Gorge and choose a single treasure that doesn’t cost more than a million cubes of chaos nectar,” Lord Woodflower said. “This is a special rule the Sword Palace created for the benefit of our Swordlords. Only Swordlords are given this benefit.”

Ning’s eyes lit up. No more than a million cubes? What an enormously generous offer!

It made sense. Swordlords were capable of becoming Daolords at any time, and they would be extraordinary Daolords once they made their breakthrough. They were worth the cost.

“Oh, right. Now that you are a Swordlord, there is something I must tell you.” Lord Woodflower smiled. “All of the World-level cultivators in the Twelve Palaces who have been acknowledged by their respective pagodas are preparing for a very special opportunity which has come before you.”

“A special opportunity?” Ning was puzzled.

“Right. In the end, only four World-level cultivators in the Twelve Palaces will be given this special opportunity.” Lord Woodflower looked at Ning. “This truly is a stroke of tremendous fortune for you. None of the Twelve Palaces have access to this. In all the Endless Territories, most likely only the exalted Hegemon is capable of bringing this opportunity before you. If it wasn’t for the sake of a newcomer who recently joined his clan, the almighty Hegemon definitely wouldn’t give us this chance.”

Lord Woodflower knew very well that in the Hegemon’s heart, what mattered the most was his imperial clan.

Only for the sake of his Brightshore Imperials was the almighty Hegemon was willing to make use of this opportunity! The reason why he was giving the Twelve Palaces four of the medallions was partially because they were subordinates, but also for the sake of giving that young Imperial four assistants! Although the chance to enter the Archaeus region of the alternate universe was an incredible opportunity, it was also extremely dangerous. Tremendous opportunity always came with tremendous danger.

“There should be many in the Twelve Palaces who have been acknowledged by their pagodas. Only four will have a chance?” Ning was puzzled.

“Just four.” Lord Woodflower sighed. “I’m worried that our Sword Palace won’t be able to get so much as a single slot.”

“You’ve just recently been acknowledged and haven’t spent much time in our Sword Palace, so it wouldn’t really matter if you fail. However, you should still do your best. According to what the Hegemon said, the strongest four shall be given this tremendous opportunity,” Lord Woodflower said. Frankly speaking, he really didn’t have much faith in Ning. Although Ning had been acknowledged by the Sword Pagodas, so had the other six Swordlords.

“In roughly one century, the almighty Hegemon will select the four strongest candidates,” Lord Woodflower finished.

“A century?” Ning nodded secretly. It seemed as though it was indeed time for him to make some preparations.

“Oh, right. Do you know the name of the sword-art you used to gain acknowledgement from the Sword Pagodas?” Lord Woodflower looked at Ning.

Ning shook his head. “I do not. I obtained this sword-art by accident. Because I don’t know what its true name was, I’ve been calling it the [Nameless] sword-art this entire time. Do you know its true name, senior apprentice-brother Woodflower?” Ning’s eyes became filled with an eager blaze. When Ning had executed the seventh stance, the Cosmic Heart stance, he had noticed that although it was harder to use than Emperor Mirrorsnow’s Reincarnation stance, the two were actually on the same level when it came to the profundity of their insights into the Dao of the Sword. The tough part of the Cosmic Heart stance lay in how ephemeral and unpredictable it was. One had to follow one’s own heart, allowing one’s heartforce to perfectly merge into one’s sword-stances.

Ning was quite talented in heartforce. Although his heartforce wasn’t at a very strong level, he was still able to execute the stance.

If he had been more skilled in heartforce, the power of this stance would’ve been much greater. This would have been especially true if he had reached the sixth stage of heartforce and established his own Heartworld.

“This is a sword-art which perfectly combines Heartforce Cultivation with the Dao of the Sword.” After executing this stance, Ning immediately understood what made this sword-art so valuable. He instantly grew eager to learn more.

“I do indeed know its name.” Lord Woodflower nodded. “This sword-art was created and passed down by a powerful Eternal Emperor who was nearly as strong as the Hegemon.”





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Book 27, Chapter 15 - Preparations


Ji Ning was delighted to hear this. Finally, he was going to learn about the history of the [Nameless] sword-art.

Lord Woodflower continued, “This Eternal Emperor was known as Emperor Heartsword. His rise to power was sudden, and for a brief period of time he was the most dazzling, celebrated figure of the Endless Territories. However, shortly after he revealed his brilliance he elected to disappear as he adventured through parts unknown. He was so strong that he was most likely the Eternal Emperor who was closest to the three Hegemons in power.”

“Ah.” Ning nodded.

After mastering the seventh stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, he realized that although the sword-art itself was on the same level of profundity as Emperor Mirrorsnow’s, Emperor Heartsword’s strength lay in the fact that he was able to perfectly fuse his heartforce into his sword-arts. It made the power of his sword-arts increase dramatically to a point where he was unquestionably much more powerful than Emperor Mirrorsnow had been. It made sense for him to be comparable to the three almighty Hegemons.