Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

Ning was completely spellbound by what he saw. He felt as though he was swimming within a sea of knowledge. It was all too stunning. Ning had never felt this stunned before, not even when he had seen the many sword-arts which World God Northrest had created.

All of those sword-arts had been the product of a single cultivator, after all. These sword-arts were created by more than five thousand different cultivators. This was a completely different situation!

Every single cultivator had their own special insights into the Dao. They might create many sword-arts, but in the end the sword-arts they created would belong within a single overarching system. However, these thousands of cultivators were all completely different individuals with completely different backgrounds, thoughts, insights, and sword-arts. This truly was an all-encompassing selection of sword-arts.

“Long, long ago… before the weapon known as the ‘sword’ even existed… a creature picked up a long, flat piece of metal and used it as a weapon. Slowly, certain mysteries and insights were developed for the application of this weapon, this ‘sword’. The first sword-arts began to be created, and over time it was qualified to be described as a Dao of its own, the Dao of the Sword…

“Countless years have gone past since then. The trillions of cultivators of the Endless Territories have passed down many generations of legacies, resulting in the Dao of the Sword becoming increasingly profound. Multiple Samsara Daolords have found their own paths within it, and deep within the primordial chaos there lies a place which holds the prime essence of the sword…

“But in the end… all of it stems from this single, seemingly simple weapon – the sword.”

Ever since that day long ago when Ning’s understanding of the sword had changed, the entire Dao of the Sword had changed in his eyes.

Through these thousands of sword-arts, Ning could see how all the different sword-arts advanced from simplicity to complexity and profundity. The carvings which Daolord Allgod had created represented himself and how he slowly learned more and more about the start. His earliest carvings were rather crude, but his later ones became quite marvelous. This made it even easier for Ning to understand and analyze them.

“So the tip of the sword can actually be used like this? That means ‘Blood Drop’ stance can be redefined in many new ways…

“So my ‘Shadowless’ stance isn’t sufficiently shadowless. This… this stance right here is what ‘shadowless’ truly means!”

Ning looked at one sword-art after another.

Everyone specialized in something different. Some sword-arts had truly reached the pinnacle in certain areas and exceeded Ning’s wildest imaginations. For example, Ning’s ‘Blood Drop’ stance could be described as a particularly ferocious and fast technique, but in this hall Ning saw at least a hundred different sword-arts that truly struck with the speed and strength of a celestial comet. These sword-arts were truly, incomparably dazzling.

This process of breaking down and comprehending the fundamental underpinnings of so many sword-arts resulted in Ning’s own insights rising at an incredible pace. Prior to this, Ning had reached a bottleneck in his attempts to master the third stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, the ‘Great Firmament’ stance. However, as Ning’s insights into the sword continued to rise, he slowly but naturally came to grasp and completely understand this stance. He broke through! He was now completely capable of advancing to the World level.

However… Ning did not!

He was completely intoxicated and mesmerized by this sea of swords. He didn’t want to let himself grow distracted.

He continued to mentally disassemble and inspect every single sword-art.

Slowly, a great tree began to take form within Ning’s mind. This great tree was the ‘true nature of the sword’, and it started off with more than five thousand branches, each branch symbolizing a specific type of sword-art.

As Ning’s insights continued to develop, some of the branches began to cluster together and grow into large boughs.

This was a truly priceless experience, an enormous bit of good fortune.

In fact, as far as Ning was concerned this experience was far more valuable to him than the Eternal blood. The Eternal blood was nothing more than a source of outside help, but these thousands of sculptures would help him grow more personally powerful. The unsightly markings left atop the sculptures were especially helpful, because Daolord Allgod had personally left those markings as he had studied the Dao of the Sword. Thus, the first ones were fairly simple and allowed Ning to dissect them in a fairly easy fashion. If everything was incredibly profound and abstruse, there would’ve been no way for Ning to analyze them.

The great tree in Ning’s mind which represent the Dao of the Sword began to grow larger and larger. More and more of the various branches began to congregate together and merge into large boughs. The branches began to grow fewer and fewer in number, from several thousand to several hundred, then to one hundred, then to a few dozen…”

Ning’s mastery of the sword was constantly rising without him even being aware of it.





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Book 26, Chapter 5 - The Fourth Stance of the [Nameless] Sword-Art


Time flowed on.

A fiery-robed maiden was seated in the lotus position next to a bubbling river of lava. It was Flamefairy Su Youji, who was meditating within the Castrum Divinitus on the karmic fortune she had been blessed with.

Su Youji stared in front of her, where a lotus was slowly swiveling within the bed of lava.

“This place is indeed a blessed place for anyone seeking to meditate on the Dao of Fire.” Su Youji frowned slightly. “However, no matter how hard I try I am unable to make any further improvements whatsoever. Ugh. According to what the formation-spirit of Castrum Divinitus said, Master is currently meditating as well. I wonder how long he will take. It has already been more than three thousand years!”

Right.

Su Youji had been in the Castrum Divinitus for more than a thousand years already.

After spending a bit of time firming up her foundation, she had gained the power of an ordinary World-level cultivator. After spending nearly three thousand years meditating in this location, a blessed place for meditating on the Dao of Fire, Su Youji had advanced to become comparable to an elite World-level cultivator.

It must be understood that although Daolord Allgod was not skilled in the Dao of the Sword, he was incredibly talented in the Dao of Lightning, the Dao of Fire, and many other Daos. Su Youji had benefited greatly from her exposure to this place.

“I suppose I’ll just have to keep waiting.” Su Youji had no other options.

……

“It’s been three thousand years, but he still hasn’t come out.” Arroyo, Fukai, and Boneplate were still quietly keeping a watch over the entire chaosworld from their position above the clouds.

Fukai had a gloomy look on his face. “I imagine that this freak of an Elder God suspects something, which is why he insists on delaying and remaining within the Allgod Estate. However, breaking through to become a World God isn’t an easy feat, even for a freak like him. Three thousand years? It is entirely possible that he might spend thirty thousand years or three hundred thousand years without making a breakthrough.”

“Cut the crap and just keep waiting,” Arroyo said coldly.

Both of them felt tremendous pressure, and this pressure caused their hearts to become filled with an intense desire to kill.

“All of those old bastards want to acquire the divine blood of the Eternal, but none of them dare to come in person. All they dare to do is send World-level experts like us for it.” Fukai was rather resentful.