Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

Within the hall. The black-haired, black-robed Immortal Diancai was seated in the lotus position on his jade bed. It seemed as though the passage of three years had not affected Ning’s master at all.

“Today is not the first of the month. Have you come here to spar with me once more?” Immortal Diancai looked at his beloved disciple. Over the course of the past three years, he had come to love his sole disciple even more, to the point where his affection for Ning was even greater than his affection for the descendants of his clan.

“Yes.” Ning looked at his master. A sword-light that seemed almost physical had appeared within Ning’s eyes, and his entire person slowly began to radiate a terrifying sword-intent. His sword-intent surged through the heavens!

“It does seem that you’ve improved a bit.” Immortal Diancai nodded. “Come, then. Attack me.”

“Be careful, Master.” A Darknorth sword appeared out of nowhere, and he gripped it with two hands. Swish! Ning transformed into a blurry, rapidly moving figure, and the sharp sword in his hand seemed to have turned into a ghostly image. His speed had reached an extremely high level, and he instantly pierced the sword towards Immortal Diancai, seated on the jade bed.

Immortal Diancai, seated on the jade bed, leisurely stretched out his fingers, forming a sword-finger. With a light tap, a streak of sword-light instantly arced out. “Clash.” This solitary streak of sword-light repeatedly clashed in mid-air multiple times with Ning’s sword-shadow. Ning’s sword moved about like a ghost, but although this solitary streak of sword-light was in an arc, it’s position also fluctuated unpredictably.

“Hmph.” Ning’s sword-light changed, becoming domineering and tyrannical. Bang! Instantly, the surrounding area was submerged into a sea of fire, and Ning’s sword became one of the flames within it, incomparably valiant as it chopped directly towards Immortal Diancai. This sword attack of Ji Ning’s…had already vastly surpassed the [Thunderflame Sword]’s level, and most likely even the person who had originally developed the [Thunderflame Sword] was no match for the current Ning in terms of the Dao of the Sword.

“Extinguish.” Immortal Diancai revealed a hint of a smile as well. With a gentle tap of the fingers, a sword-light flew out from his fingertips which instantly transformed into thousands of silken lines. These silken lines criss-crossed each other, seeming to form a giant net. This giant net of sword-light howled forward, quickly surrounding and wrapping around Ning’s pyroclasm of sword-light.

“‘Heartless Waterflame’!” Ning revealed a smile as well. Instantly, the surrounding area changed yet again. One side was filled with blazing flames, while the other side was filled with boundless rainwater. In one of Ning’s hands was a blazing sword of fire, while in the other was a sword of rain.

Ning’s entire figure radiated an invincible aura as he charged directly towards that net of sword-light, and the twin swords in his hands spun in a vortex together as he did so.

“Bang!” The sword-lights of fire and water clashed head on with the net of sword-light in a giant explosion…and both shattered apart.

“This latest ‘Heartless Waterflame’ finally seems to have a bit of flavor to it.” Immortal Diancai pointed with his sword-finger once more. Swish! A sharp sword-light attacked with incomparably astonishing speed towards Ning, while at the same time, Immortal Diancai pointed again, and again…one streak of sword-light after another shot out, all moving at incomprehensible speeds.

“Last time, he was defeated by this technique, and his body was filled with quite a few bloody holes. I wonder if he’ll be able to block it this time.” Immortal Diancai’s eyes were filled with anticipation.

Ning no longer revealed an incomparably relaxed smile on his face as he had before. Instead, his eyes lit up, and he seemed to suddenly explode with power.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The twin swords in Ning’s hands began to move. Suddenly, in the area around Ning, an enormous millstone of fire and water appeared. Fire and water were contradictory, opposite types of elemental energy, but they twisted past each other here to form this enormous millstone. In the very center of the millstone, where the water and fire clashed with each other, a terrifying wind force arose. This tri-colored millstone revolved around Ning, and where Ning’s sword light flashed past, an incomparably powerful wind arose as well!

Fast! Faster than fast! Chop! Chop! Chop! Ning consecutively chopped and extinguished the sword-lights created by his master’s finger-taps. The bedstone of fire and water revolved around him, while the gale raged around his body. Ning’s sword flashed out like lightning as well, each time striking at the weaknesses on the side of those flashes of sword-light, rather than taking them head out.

“Faster. Move a little faster.” Immortal Diancai began to tap with his fingers even faster, and the sword-light which appeared in the air grew increasingly ferocious as they shot towards Ning. Ning, ensconced within that giant millstone of fire and water, wielded his sword at an inconceivably fast speed, and continued to chop apart and extinguish those flashes of sword-light.

“Go, then!” Immortal Diancai gently flicked his fingers, and the thousand rays of sword-light that were in midair suddenly seemed to transform into brilliant stars. They resonated amongst each other, thundering forth with a unified attack that blasted towards Ning at the same time.





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Book 8, Chapter 7 - Master and Disciple, Pre-Departure


“Not good.” Last time, when Ji Ning had sparred with his master, his master hadn’t used this technique. Faced with the sudden attack of a thousand star-like bursts of sword-light, Ning knew that his ‘Tripartite Millstone’ wouldn’t be able to withstand the assault.

The sword-intent radiating from Ning’s body compressed itself to the utmost. “Pierce!” Ning’s sword suddenly shout out. It was as though even if there were infinitely great impediments standing in front of Ning and wrapping around him, as though ropes were bound about him, causing his sword to frantically struggle to pierce forward. It moved incomparably slowly…and yet, in reality, that was just a misperception, as the sword itself had reached an incredibly great speed.

Swish! The sword shot out like a meteor! It tore through the boundless darkness, ripped through all impediments, and completely shattered the thousand-plus bolts of starry sword-light. With part of it having been destroyed, all the surrounding bolts of starry sword-light vanished and dispersed.

As for Ning himself, moving like a phantom, he charged towards his master, the sword in his right hand having stabbed forward and broken those thousand stars of sword-light. At the same time, the sword in his left hand had already stabbed towards his master, Immortal Diancai.

“Break!” Immortal Diancai revealed a smile as he rapped out this word. A formless sword energy instantly clashed with Ning’s Darknorth sword. It was not only powerful, but backed with a seemingly endless momentum of energy, causing Ning to be pushed back many meters before finding his footing.

Immortal Diancai, still seated on his jade bed, nodded slowly. “The ‘Manifold Thistlethorns’. You’ve finally comprehended this technique.”

This was the attack Ning had just demonstrated, the second stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] – ‘Manifold Thistlethorns’. This technique represented the highest level of comprehension regarding the Dao of the Sword which Ning had ever reached. “Thanks to your guidance, Master,” Ning said respectfully, “Your foolish disciple was able to finally comprehend this technique today.”