Desolate Era (Book 31 - Book 35)

The eleventh and twelfth stances represented the second tier. Supposedly, cultivators who reached this level would see the power of the [Heartsword] technique skyrocket, but in every generation the number of cultivators who could reach this level could be counted on one hand.

The thirteenth and fourteenth stances represented the third tier. According to the records, only a single major power aside from Emperor Mirrorsnow had ever reached this level, but his name was a mystery! The records stated that at this level, one’s level of power would skyrocket by such a level that using the [Heartsword] art provided an even greater boost in power than using a Universe treasure!

The fifteenth and final stance! Only Emperor Heartsword, the creator of this technique, had ever reached this level! By relying on this stance, he had been able to unleash quasi-Hegemon levels of power from his fairly mundane sword-arts.

“If I can even reach the third tier, I might be able to give Hegemons a good fight once I become a Daolord of the Fourth Step,” Ning mused. This truly was an unearthly, incredible set of sword-arts, but it was also the hardest of all sword-arts to train in. The actual movements to each stance were not that important; what really mattered was the ‘heart’.

“Time to begin.”

Even the tallest of buildings have to start from the ground floor. Ning held all six Northbow swords as he fought, occasionally injecting some of the ‘Cosmic Heart’ elements into his stances. At other times, he’d attempt to replicate the eighth stance, ‘Ineffable’. The [Heartsword] art focused on the heart, not on the actual stances, and so it was incredibly difficult to train in. Ning was incredibly talented in heartforce and had the largest heartworld of all the supreme Daolords in the Endless Territories, but he still found training in this technique to be extremely laborious. Despite that, he was still able to at least generate part of the ‘feeling’ of the eighth ‘Ineffable’ stance.

The ‘Ineffable’ stance couldn’t be manufactured intentionally. One had to follow one’s own heart and completely infuse it into one’s sword-arts. Everything had to follow the natural flow… and when you were able to sense it, it would have been completed.

The eighth stance actually wasn’t that bad. The later ones were even more abstruse and more difficult to study.





* * *





Book 33, Chapter 8 - Ineffable, Blissheart


“Ineffable.” When this sword-stance struck out, an invisible current of heartforce would naturally merge into it; there was no need to ‘force’ it or do it on purpose.

A layer of thin, invisible, mist-like heartforce appeared on the surface of the sword, causing the power of the attack to immediately increase and even speed up.

“What a strange feeling.” Ji Ning’s six Northbow swords howled forth, knocking down all of the warriors before him. Some were sent flying backwards, others were bowled over. “This is the first time I’ve felt something like this. When I use this sword-art, I feel as though I’ve transformed into a sword. What a wonderful, enjoyable feeling. I feel as though the power of my sword-arts has risen by 20%.”

Mastering the seventh stance, ‘Cosmic Heart’, merely represented gaining a basic grasp of the [Heartsword]; it was of negligible benefit to him. The eighth stance, ‘Ineffable’, already allowed him to increase the power of his sword-arts by 20%! It must be remembered that Ning trained in the Omega Sword Dao; improving upon the power of his sword-arts was extremely difficult.

“Darknorth, you found a way to enhance the strength of your swords?” Ninedust had been working alongside Ning, and he immediately sensed Ning’s transformation.

“Haha, you’ve found ways to improve yourself. Why can’t I?” Ning was in a delightful mood. After just five years of researching the [Heartsword] art, he had become proficient in the eighth stance. This was actually much faster than he had predicted. According to the records he had reviewed, the [Heartsword] was supposed to be extremely difficult to train in.

Ning had forgotten, however, that his sword-arts were derived from the third-stage Omega Sword Dao, while his heartforce made him the strongest Heartforce Cultivator in all the Endless Territories.

“After entering Crimsonwave Temple, I’ve developed two consummate techniques,” Ninedust said smugly. “I’ve grown much more than you have.”

“You won’t be smug for much longer.” Ning began to work on the ninth stance, the ‘Blissheart’ stance.

“This feeling truly is absolutely marvelous.” Ning actually closed his eyes as he continued to execute his sword-arts, but he maintained in complete control of himself and his surroundings. “I understand. This sword-art really can throw the wielder into a state of utter contentment and bliss.”

He immersed himself in this feeling. Just six short months later…

“Blissheart.” Ning’s sword-light transformed once more. In the past, every strike had been covered with a mist-like layer of heartforce. Now, the mist was clearly much denser than before, and with each strike it was like a fog drifted in alongside it.

Whoooosh. No sword-shadows could be seen around Ning; the only thing visible was a series of mist-streaks.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Ning’s power increased dramatically, allowing him to blow through the warriors like rotted wood. The warriors, however, gathered themselves and continued their furious attacks.

“Darknorth, y-you… you grew stronger yet again?” Ninedust was flabbergasted.

“Haha…” Ning laughed loudly. “I told you a while ago that you won’t be smug for much longer. Now do you know how badass I am?” He had mastered the ‘Blissheart’ stance, and his sword-arts increased 50% in power!

……

“What’s going on?”

“Impossible.”

“How can they be advancing this quickly?”

Daolord Tigrone, Daolord Dreamlore, and Daolord Skyshatter were in the same dimensional walkway, and they were also fighting the endless hordes of warriors. They were stunned by what they saw. Given that the three of them were working together, they technically should’ve held the upper hand over Ning and Ninedust! A while ago, they had been slowly but steadily narrowing the gap between them and Ning’s team. Their initial calculations had indicated that they would be able to catch up in five or six years.

Ning’s mastery of the ‘Ineffable’ stance didn’t have too much of an impact on their calculations… but now that Ning had mastered the ninth stance, ‘Blissheart’, the difference was apparent!

“Daolord Darknorth is already incredibly strong. How could he have grown even stronger?” Daolord Skyshatter frowned.

“Daolord Darknorth has been training for less than a full chaos cycle, but he’s already become a supreme Daolord.” Daolord Dreamlore said coldly, “He naturally has plenty of room to improve. I imagine he’s come up with a new supreme technique for himself.”

The Radiant King, Palace Lord Dawnstar, and the others had all slowly developed their supreme techniques after becoming Daolords of the Fourth Step. The same was currently true of Ninedust as well. As Dreamlore saw it, Ning was most likely searching for the ultimate attack which would fit himself the most.

“Daolord Darknorth truly is difficult to deal with,” Daolord Tigrone growled. “To beat the two of them and seize the Voidsea Jadeseal won’t be easy.”

“There’s only two of them but three of us,” Daolord Dreamlore said coldly. “We aren’t idiots like Kingfreak and Timedream.”

“Right. When we work together, only Winesage is a threat to us.” Daolord Skyshatter felt quite confident as well.

Tigrone felt certain he possessed the strongest defensive abilities of all the supreme Daolords.

Dreamlore felt certain he possessed the strongest attacks of all the supreme Daolords; he had actually beaten the Radiant King in a head-on fight!