Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

By the time Prince Greatjoy made it past, more than eight had already reached this level.

And now, Ji Ning was the tenth.

It must be understood that this contest was a contest involving all the World-level geniuses of the Twelve Palaces. For Ning to be only the tenth to make it through this level meant that he was one of the elites within his group. In fact, his performance was better than that of any other member of the Sword Palace.

“Six hundred and two. Mm, that should be it.” The white-bearded Hegemon nodded slowly. “Don’t underestimate this Darknorth kid. His sword-arts might seem to be inferior to that of Greatjoy and the others, making him look ordinary, but they are extremely balanced. He’s skilled in every single aspect, and from what I understand he has gained the legacy of Mirrorsnow. Look, you can see the sword-intent of Reincarnation permeating through his sword-arts. He’s managed to link everything together perfectly, making him very strong… and with those seven types of Dao lightning and Dao water supporting him, it makes sense that he can make it past level six hundred.

“Still, he’s at his limit. He’s only persisting out of sheer tenacity and stubborness.”

The almighty Hegemon watched the scenes being displayed. Ji Ning had made it to the 602nd level, but he was clearly at a complete disadvantage when facing the eight golems on this level. Still, he continued to stubbornly hang on.

“To make it to the 602nd level is not,” the almighty Hegemon evaluated.

“Yes, not bad at all.”

“In the future, this kid just might be a match for Greatjoy.”

They all agreed with the Hegemon’s appraisal. Even Daolord Woodflower nodded in agreement, but he couldn’t help but sigh to himself. Alas, the seven Swordlords of the Sword Palace had all failed.

No one rebutted the almighty Hegemon, because they all knew how astute his vision and judgement was. He was able to completely see and understand how strong Ning was right now. If he said that this level was as far as Ning could go, that would definitely be the case.

……

The Silvercloud World. Level six hundred and two of the altar.

Tired.

Ning was so tired.

These eight golems launched combined attacks against him. Terrifying flowers of fire and water continuously rained down upon him, and some of the golems repeatedly charged into close combat against him. Every single one was just as strong as Ning, and when the six joined forces they were able to completely suppress Ning! Ning had indeed only been able to just barely hang on for this long thanks to his extremely balanced sword-arts.

He wouldn’t admit defeat lightly. Once he gave up, he would have lost. Only by persevering would there be hope.

Ning strove to learn as much as he could from this very battle, pondering on his sword-arts flaws in real time as he continuously perfected them.

Rumble…

Attacks rained down from every direction, and Ning was like a little boat that was being rocked within a stormy sea that would capsize at any moment.

Ning had no idea that the almighty Hegemon and twelve golden-armored powers were watching him. Although they had a rather good opinion of him, they felt certain that this level was Ning’s limit.

“Their attacks really are endless and omnipresent…” Although Ning’s sword-arts were slowly improving, he still felt a sense of despair. Defeat would come at any moment.





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Book 27, Chapter 22 - A Dao Belonging to Ji Ning


“Omnipresent?” Surrounded and exhausted by the endless attacks from these many golems, the light of inspiration suddenly flickered in Ji Ning’s mind.

“Right. Their attacks are omnipresent. Some cast spells from afar, others close in on me and attack in melee using claws and palms. I only have six arms after using [Three Heads, Six Arms]; how can I possibly withstand so many attacks?” Ning was mumbling to himself as many different sword-arts went through his mind, with many insights regarding the Yin-Yang stance in particular coming to the forefront.

It was as though a thread was linking many small beads together, forming a true collective whole.

“Omnipresent…

“The true Yin-Yang stance shouldn’t result in me defending in such an exhausting manner. So what if I have six arms? Even if I had ten or eighteen arms, so what? There’s still a limit to what I can do!” Ning was beginning to awaken to the truth. “The true Yin-Yang stance should allow me to defend against all oncoming attacks, which means it needs to be omnipresent as well. It should envelope everything in its path, and any attacks that come forth should be blocked by it.

“That means… for the Yin-Yang stance to be truly powerful, it should be a domain! I need to transform this stance into a domain!”

Every single cultivator had a path that was most suited to them. Over the course of countless years, many major powers had chosen many different paths. At their level, there was no way they could imitate others any longer. If they did, it would actually have a negative influence on their own future insights. If you wished to draw a painting, it was best to start with a fresh, blank scroll of paper. The path of cultivation was best expressed through following one’s own heart, through slowly understanding and upgrading one’s insights to the point of fundamentally transforming them.

“Let my seven Dao lightnings and my seven Dao waters be my sword,” Ning murmured softly.

Rumble…

The Dao water and Dao lightning that had been in the surrounding area constricting the foes suddenly began to rumble. Although they were elemental lightning and water by nature, true experts of the Dao of the Sword could use anything as a sword. Flower petals, water drops, a single water drop… they could all be used as a sword. Now, Ning was using Dao water and Dao lightning as his blade.

“Dao lightning and Dao water, form my Yin-Yang stance and create my Yin-Yang Sword Domain.”

In recent years, Ning’s greatest achievements lay in the field of defense. All of his insights into the Yin-Yang stance, including some which he had previously felt to be rather unimportant, all came together in this stance as he generated a domain of sword-intent. He infused it with all of his insights, causing the power of this stance to instantly transform.

Rumble…

Every single streak of Dao lightning transformed into a sword! The ‘insides’ of the swords were made of lightning, but on the outside they had already been shaped and condensed into the form of a sword! The powerful sword-intent controlling the lightning was naturally giving birth to swordforce.

Every single stream of Dao water had also transformed into the shape of a sword.

They began to circle around Ning like an enormous whirlpool, but if one looked closely one would see that some of the streaks were swirling clockwise while others were swirling counter-clockwise. The mighty sword-intent controlling this technique caused parts of it to flow forwards and parts of it to flow backwards, creating an incredibly powerful tearing force!

What made white stand out? Only when the rest of a piece of parchment was completely covered in black ink would a spot of blank whiteness in the center be dazzling to behold.

Ning’s sword-intent was strong to begin with. Now that he had formed this technique with forward and reverse flows, the ripping, tearing power of his domain grew exponentially greater.

Yin-Yang Polarity!

The concept of Yin and Yang was reinforcing this technique as well! The Yang-attribute Dao lightning and the Yin-attribute Dao water mutually reinforced each other, resulting in both being strengthened. Every so often, compatible streaks of lightning or water would brush against each other, resulting in even more terrifying force.

Both forwards and backwards, both gentle and violent.