Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“It’s going to collapse.”


“Although senior apprentice-brother Bloodshadow is not skilled in using flying swords, it isn’t too hard for him to suppress a young, newly recruited disciple.”

“He’s won.”

Quite a few fellow apprentices nodded musingly to themselves. As for Northson, he clenched his fists nervously as he watched, his heart filled with worry. It was as though he himself wanted to personally charge up. “You must win. You must win.”

“Not good.” As soon as he began fighting, Ning began to sense how terrifying the penetrative power of the blood mosquito’s blade-mouth was. “Bang!” The blood mosquito moved as fast as a shadow, quickly smashing yet again against the lotus flower. Instantly, the blooming lotus flower crumbled, and the three flying swords were scattered to one side.

However, Ning had expected this long ago. He had already prepared six more flying swords, which shot out from the back of the Thousandswords Golem.

“Go, go, go.” A savage look was in Ning’s eyes. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Every three flying swords formed a blooming lotus of sword-light, and even the three original scattered swords once more reformed into a giant lotus of sword-light. All of a sudden, the air was filled with three enormous flashes of sword light, each of which bloomed into giant loti. They flew out in a straight row, simultaneously striking towards the blood mosquito. Meanwhile, Ning’s eyes were filled with savagery as he controlled them in attacking.

“What!”

“He’s actually able to simultaneously unleash three of those [Tripartite Lotus Swords]?”

“How can this be?”

The spectating disciples were all speechless. Using top-tier sword arts was tremendously taxing on one’s mental faculties. For something like the [Tripartite Lotus Sword]…most would be able to unleash just a single one at most. To unleash three at the same time was rather ridiculous.

…..

At the corner of the Dao Debate Palace. Immortal Diancai nodded gently.

“He simultaneously executed multiple sword arts.” The nearby short elder shook his head repeatedly. “There’s only two possibilities. The first is that his current comprehension of the Dao is far beyond the level of this sword art, and so it is simplicity itself for him to use it; only then can one simultaneously use multiple sword arts. The second is that his soul is incomparably powerful, and so he can easily withstand the pressure this sword art creates, allowing him to use it multiple times simultaneously.”

Either one had a high level of insight, or one had an extremely powerful soul.

“Your disciple’s soul…is at the divine sense level?” The short elder looked towards Immortal Diancai, who nodded. “Right.”

“As I thought,” the short elder said softly. “If he has a ‘divine soul’ at the divine sense level…I imagine he can execute two or three more sword-lights. This battle…your disciple is probably going to win.”

…….

The giant blood mosquito blurred, then transformed into three smaller blood mosquitoes, simultaneously defending against the three [Tripartite Lotus Swords].

Boom! Boom! Boom! There, in midair, the three [Tripartite Lotus Swords] battled against the three smaller blood mosquitoes. Everything was a blur as they clashed and battled against each other repeatedly. Each side wanted to break through the protective armor of the other’s golem, but they also wanted to block the enemy attacks…for now, they were battling to a standstill.

“Go, go!” Ning’s eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead were protruding. Clearly, he was now going all out. Instantly, six more flying swords flew out from the back of the Thousandswords Golem. The sky was soon filled with two more [Tripartite Lotus Sword] attacks. A total of five [Tripartite Lotus Swords] were surrounding and attacking the blood mosquitoes.

“Eh?” Seated in the distance, Bloodshadow’s face changed. He immediately willed the three blood mosquitoes to once more transform into a giant blood mosquito. The cicada-like wings of the giant blood mosquito fluttered, wrapping around that Nineswords Golem while the blade-beak struck repeatedly against those [Tripartite Lotus Swords].

The five [Neo-Tripartite Lotus Swords] attacked wildly in unison.

“Five!”

“Five [Tripartite Lotus Swords]?”

The spectating disciples were all rather stunned. They knew exactly how much stress would be placed on the soul when one executed five powerful sword arts simultaneously. To an ordinary person, dividing their mind to carry out just two tasks simultaneously was already very difficult. Dividing one’s mind to execute multiple supreme sword arts…and five in total, at that!

“Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning’s comprehension must be at a very high level, or his soul must be very strong.”

“He cannot be underestimated.”

“It seems as though senior apprentice-brother Bloodshadow is about to suffer from it.”

…….

If one remains perpetually on the defense, one will eventually lose. Under the repeated strikes of Ning’s five [Neo-Tripartite Lotus Swords], in the end, the blood mosquito wasn’t able to block an attack, and the protective armor of the golem was breached.

“Ji Ning wins!” The white-haired elder called out in high voice. Only now did Ning finally relax.

He had won.

He had actually defeated a two-clawed Raindragon Guard! Although this Raindragon Guard was more skilled as a Fiendgod Body Refiner and in using divine abilities, and although this was just a competition of the arts one could use based on their comprehension of the Dao…the fact that he had defeated a two-clawed Raindragon Guard still filled Ning’s heart with incomparable joy.

“I lost.” Seated atop the distant stone pillar, Bloodshadow rose to his feet. Shaking his head, he laughed. “Junior apprentice-brother, you are already so impressive after entering our school. In the future, you will definitely not be any weaker than me.”

“Senior apprentice-brother, you praise me too much.” Ning rose as well. “If we were in a real life-and-death battle, I probably wouldn’t have been able to withstand a single blow from you.”

Bloodshadow laughed. This junior apprentice-brother of his was incredibly talented, and yet clear-minded and modest. He hadn’t turned smug from his victory in the Dao Debate. Most likely, in the future, this youth would have astonishing accomplishments. He was worth befriending.

“Haha…” Bloodshadow laughed, then with a flicker, disappeared from the arena, reappearing before the white-haired elder, who he gave two jade bottles to.

Ning took a deep breath. He had gone all out in his earlier battle against Bloodshadow. The sword art he had used was the strongest one available to him, and by relying on the power of his soul, he had gone all out to generate five of those [Tripartite Lotus Swords]! This was his limit. He had nothing further up his sleeve…and would probably lose the next match.

However, if he was going to fight, he was going to fight to the bitter end.

“Are there any other senior fellow disciples who would like to exchange pointers with me?” Ning looked about the room and spoke in a clear voice. His voice echoed in every corner of the palace.





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Book 7, Chapter 38 - My Heart Holds Only the Sword The Sword Immortals Path


The entire Dao Debate Palace once more fell silent. Everyone turned to look at their neighbors. Since Ji Ning was even able to defeat Bloodshadow in a Dao Debate, defeating him would be no easy task. Who would be the next?