Download App
0.82% The Desolate Era / Chapter 12: Six Years

Chapter 12: Six Years

Within the training courtyard, a youth clad in beast fur was wielding a black blunt sword. He stood there, and around him there were nine tall and powerful warriors. These valiant warriors all wore armor and wielded long spears, swords, and sabers, and other weapons in their hands. But none of the weapons had been edged or sharpened.

Six years. Ning, who had trained for six years, was now ten years old. But because in this life, he had been training in accordance with the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he had already reached a height of 1.6 meters tall, just ten centimeters shorter than he had been in his previous life. His appearance was almost identical to how he had looked in his previous life. Perhaps this was what the saying, 'a person's appearance is birthed by their mind'. If one had to find a difference… then the difference was, in his previous life, his face was always sickly pale, while in this life, it was filled with boundless life and energy.

"Same rule as always." Ning stared at the people around him, his gaze even more terrifying than that of monsters. "As long as any of you can strike me, each person will be awarded a beasthead of gold!"

"Grr!"

"Careful, young master!"

"Haha, a beasthead of gold. Brothers, let's let the young master see how powerful we are." These brave warriors began to roar. They were the mightiest warriors within the armies of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture; the Ninefang Warriors! For someone to be awarded the title of Ninefang Warrior required their internal energy to have reached the limits of the Houtian level, and also be warriors with significant battle experience.

A beasthead of gold meant ten pounds of gold. Gold coins were used as a form of currency in the countless tribes, and ten pounds of gold, to these powerful warriors, was an extremely attractive offer.

But they didn't dare to be incautious, because Ning's power had spread across the army long ago. He had often sparred in the army with some of the elite soldiers… and thus, Ning's ability had risen rapidly, as these warriors all knew. Even if nine of the most powerful warriors joined forces against him… defeating Ning would still be a hard task. However, it was still possible.

The blunt black sword in hand, Ning stared quietly at the surrounding people.

Actually, ever since he had learned the reputedly most complicated of sword techniques [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] and mastered it to the point where his father nodded in satisfaction, sparring with the metal puppet had become meaningless. Thus, he was permitted to begin sparring with the large number of soldiers and warriors in their army. While sparring, they always used blunt weapons.

At the same time, his father had given him a strict order: "When sparring with others, you are only allowed to use a single sword! In addition, you are only permitted to use a tenth of your real strength! Only when sparring with your mother and I are you allowed to use the twin swords. Remember, the twin swords are your secret weapon. You are only permitted to use it when you really intend to kill your opponent."

Thus…

Although Ning's fame had become widespread across the army and he had been acknowledged as a rare talent, that was just the tip of the iceberg. But of course, when engaging in battle, Ning used all of his available skill in the 'single sword techniques' and in the 'footwork' techniques.

...

The nine warriors surrounded Ning, walking in a circle around him while staring at him as though staring at their prey.

Ning just stood there, as unmoving as a mountain.

"Shua!" One of the nine soldiers surrounding him suddenly charged forward. The bald soldier was wielding a longspear in his hands, and struck out with it like a viper, instantly arriving next to Ning.

Faced with this fierce spear, Ning's body flickered and he drew near the bald warrior's body, causing the spear to miss its mark.

Spears were weakest against close quarters combat!

"Chi!" The blunt sword in Ning's hand sliced out. As the sword flashed towards him, the bald warrior hurriedly used his feet to kick against his longspear, sending it sweeping towards Ning as he himself rolled back into the array of soldiers surrounding Ning.

"Wow, that was dangerous. I almost got ended in one exchange. Brothers, be careful," the bald warrior quickly called out as he returned to the others.

Ning had already stepped on top of that longspear, staring at the people around him. "It is better if you come all at once. Otherwise, you'll have no chance."

"Let's go."

"Let's do it."

The nine warriors, sensing the disparity in power, didn't launch any more probing attacks. They immediately charged forward at full strength.

The wind howled. Sabers flashed. The shadows of swords agilely danced about. Spears hissed through the air like dragons. Sticks smashed down like ferocious tigers. Attacks came from every direction towards Ning, while Ning just stood there, just occasionally taking a step back or turning. These seemingly minute movements resulted in many of the warriors' attacks missing.

The clanging sounds of weapons bashing against each other could be heard like thunderclaps. Clearly, these blows carried great force.

Occasionally, the sound was just a whisper-soft snick.

"Ninefang Warriors really live up to their name. These nine have really good teamwork. If it was just five or six of them… I would be able to beat them in an instant. But the nine working together have put me at a complete disadvantage." Ning found it very difficult to deal with the storm of attacks from these nine warriors. After all, he only had one sword. Under this sort of pressure, he was forced to use his sword techniques and his footwork techniques to their utmost.

"Hu!"

"Hu!"

The sword howled.

Ning suddenly felt intoxicated. Right at this moment, his body and his sword seemed to be in perfect harmony, and he seemed to even somehow feel the 'body' of the sword itself, and even the wind which blew past the sword at high speed.

"Chi!" The blunt black sword gently chopped against a cavalry saber. It trembled, but then with a twist, it pushed the enemy's blade to the side and out of the enemy's control. And then, the tip of the sword went forward, stabbing into the warrior's chest. The warrior felt the pressure against his chest, and he immediately retreated two steps, then sat down.

"Hu." The blunt black sword slashed through a curved pattern in the air, easily avoiding the opponent's blocking longspear, then slapping with the flat against the bald warrior's face. With a bang, one of the man's tooth went flying and was knocked away.

Time seemed to past as slowly as a leaf falling down in the autumn wind.

Ning's sword had suddenly become extremely nimble, and the movements of his sword were careful and minute, able to change in a flash. In a life and death battle… a momentary advantage was enough to change the outcome of a battle into a victory. Thus, although Ning had previously found it very hard to resist those nine warriors, he now, in the blink of an eye, was able to knock them all down.

"Congratulations, young master."

"Congratulations, young master, on your swordplay reaching the 'advanced' stage, 'one with the sword'."

The warriors were both shocked and excited. All of them congratulated him.

A youth who was merely ten years old was able to reach the 'advanced' stage of swordplay, and become 'one with the sword'. This was more incredible than even the accomplishments of his father, the 'Raindrop Sword', Ji Yichuan.

"Hahaha…" Ning was extremely excited as well. Six years. Six years of constantly training with the sword. Every day, aside from the time he spent training his archery skills outside the city at dawn, he spent virtually all of his time training with the sword. Sometimes he would train with his father, while sometimes he would train with his father's disciples. Sometimes, he would spar against the army soldiers.

The sword had long ago imprinted itself into his bones.

After training with the sword for ten million times, his accuracy with the sword had reached a terrifying level a long time ago.

And, with his ability to split his mind, his sword techniques became all the more elusive and unpredictable.

He had the body of a Fiendgod, and in terms of Ki Refining, he had already reached the peak of the Houtian stage in internal energy. This caused his sword attacks to be unstoppable.

And finally, today!

All of these accumulated experiences had formed a cohesive whole, and he entered the 'advanced' stage of swordplay, 'one with the sword'!

"Everyone, today you have helped me to make a breakthrough. Although I don't have much, I am giving each of you a beasthead of gold. Don't try to refuse." Ning laughed loudly.

The nine warriors exchanged glances, then said in unison, "Thank you, young master!"

If they had simply lost, they wouldn't have accepted it. After all, these Ninefang Warriors had their own pride and dignity. But for young master Ning to reach the 'one with the sword' level was a major, joyous occasion. Such a joyous occasion… it was only fair and proper that they, too, receive some gifts.

"Nine of them."

The distant Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, his two maids, hurriedly ran over with stone platters. Atop the stone platters were nine beastheads of gold. They were all the highest quality gold! The nine warriors laughed as they accepted it, while at the same time, feeling moved… young master Ning truly was powerful. But they had all seen with their own eyes how hard Ning had worked over these years.

"Congratulations, young master. Felicitations, young master." After the nine warriors left, Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf allowed their faces to be covered with joy and celebration.

Six years had passed, and the two maids were now twenty years old. This was the most bewitching age for a woman. Maids such as these would usually be their master's women, which is why they had long ago in their hearts decided to consider Ning as their world, as their god. To see their young master become so powerful, they naturally were extremely happy.

"Hahaha…" Ning laughed as well.

Anyone would be excited. After all, he had trained bitterly since he was young. How could he not be excited upon succeeding?

Only after training with the sword for two years had his father decided that his 'body' and his 'mind' were prepared to learn sword techniques. Only then had he been taught the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] technique.

After another year, when he mastered the first level, his father permitted him to spar with others.

After three more years, culminating in this day today, he had finally reached the second level, the 'advanced' level, becoming 'one with the sword'.

"Spring Grass, Autumn Leaf, come with me," Ning called out. What he wanted to do the most right now was to go see his parents.

...

Deep in the mountain ranges, there was a series of furious howls.

There was a large number of black armored riders, and these armored riders all had extremely thick armor, all covered with spikes as well. Their mounts were tall and powerful furry beasts with a single horn. These furry beasts had two curved, fierce looking fangs which flashed with cold light. Their four hooves were thick and sturdy. When they ran, the earth itself shook.

The hundred black armored riders all gave off the aura of powerful experts.

"Huh?" The black armored riders all turned to stare at a place nearby. They saw a distant mountain quickly begin to turn red, and then begin to transform into scorching hot lava. A large amount of lava began to pour out from somewhere in the mountain, and faintly, a human figure could be seen walking on top of the lava, his entire body covered with flames. He walked straight towards them.

Hu.

With a single step, he leaped to the ground. He was bringing with him a ferocious scaled beast that was blackish-brown in color. Behind him, there was also a four-hooved beast that was walking as well. Quickly, the human figure flew out from the middle of the lava, revealing his face… it was a face belonging to an old man, with fiery red hair and a small scarlet snake hanging from his ear. The four-hooved beast also walked to the viper elder's side, seeming extremely obedient.

"Master." The hundred black armored riders called out respectfully.

The viper elder laughed loudly. "We came hunting, but I didn't expect that we would run into an Armored Wyrm. My luck isn't bad. This Armored Wyrm is very close to becoming a Xiantian lifeform. When I get home, I need to spend some time raising it."

"Master, master!" a voice suddenly rang out from the skies.

Ji Lee raised his head.

In mid-air, an enormous flying beast with blue feathered wings could be seen, with a man wearing an exquisite beast pelt seated atop it. After the flying beast landed at high speed, the rider immediately jumped off and landed on the ground, then came to one knee. "Master, there's news from the Prefecture."

"Speak." Lee frowned.

"Yichuan's son, Ning, has entered the 'one with the sword' stage today," the man said respectfully.

Lee stared at him, the fire surrounding his body blazing hotter. He was so angry that his entire body began to shake. Suddenly, he smashed that Armored Wyrm he had captured into the distant mountain cliff. The heavy monstrous beast, at least ten thousand pounds in weight, turned into a blur. With a bang, it smashed against the distant mountain cliff, and on it appeared an enormous crevice which was now surrounded by hundred-meter long cracks. The Armored Wyrm lay there in the crevice, blood pouring from its head, and its scales shattered. It had been smashed to death.

"Return to the West Prefecture City!" Lee ground his teeth for a long time before finally shouting out this order.

"Yes," the hundred black armored riders said in unison. Although they felt that throwing away the corpse of the Armored Wyrm was a huge waste, their master, Ji Lee, was currently in a royal rage. Naturally, no one dared to contradict him.

Rumble rumble.

Lee, riding his four-hooved monstrous beast, was followed by his hundred black armored riders. They left the deep, mysterious mountain forest and quickly disappeared, only leaving behind that Armored Wyrm in that crevice in the mountainside, its blood still dripping down the cliff.


Chapter 13: Five Major Sword Techniques

With a sinister look on his face, Lee returned to his estate. Behind him was the four-hooved beast. The two entered his estate, and those servants and house guards all knelt down or lowered their heads when seeing him. None of them dared to even breathe too loudly. They could all tell that their master, Lee, was in an extremely foul mood. Someone who upset him might be slapped to death.

"Father." A sound from afar, and a middle-aged man clad in beast fur with dozens of braids in his hair came out.

Lee glanced at him. The person was his most competent son, and also one who had become a Xiantian lifeform; Ji Jadewich. Frowning, he said, "Jadewich, is this true? I just went out hunting, and shortly afterwards, I received news that Yichuan's little animal has reached the 'advanced' stage of swordplay, 'one with the sword'?"

"It is, father." Jadewich shook his head and sighed. "Today, Ji Ning and nine Ninefang Warriors were sparring. He made a breakthrough in swordplay while sparring. There's no doubt about this at all."

"Argh!" Lee let out an angry sound. "The Heavens have set themselves against me, Ji Lee. My elder brother, Ji Young, was inferior to me, but due to my arrogance, I allowed him to seize the position of Prefecture Lord. He produced an outstanding descendant, Ji Yichuan, making his lineage even more stable. But now, an even more outstanding Ji Ning has been produced, who in six years managed to reach the 'one with the sword' level!"

"Reaching the 'one with the sword' level in just six years. Those three geniuses we selected from those countless tribes are far inferior to him by comparison." Jadewich shook his head as well.

For the sake of blocking Ning's progression, they had specially selected three outstandingly talented children near Ning's age, and began to teach them from a young age. But they were still inferior to Ning.

"Just a bit off. If Grizzly was just three years younger…" Jadewich sighed.

"Grizzly?" Lee was startled.

Grizzly was his foster son.

In the past, when he had led the army to punish one of the larger tribes for a transgression, he had encountered a Diremonster, a 'Golden Grizzly Bear'. After a vicious, terrifying battle, the Golden Grizzly Bear had finally fled in defeat. Lee then raided the Golden Grizzly Bear's lair, and found inside the lair an infant child. The infant wasn't a year old, but was born with tremendous strength… and was very much to Lee's liking. He had said, "Kid, you were snatched by a Golden Grizzly Bear but weren't killed. Instead, it raised you? Hahaha… from today onwards, you will be the adopted son of myself, Ji Lee. I'll name you… Grizzly!"

It was common for someone to raise an adopted son who possessed extraordinary abilities.

When Grizzly was brought back home, it was determined that he was one year old. He was now thirteen years old. Lee treated and raised Grizzly as a terrifying monstrous beast, having him engage beasts in battle since he was an infant, and sometimes even with monstrous beasts. Naturally, he also taught Grizzly the most suitable training methods…

In the middle of all that combat, last year, Grizzly had reached the stage of 'one with the saber'.

"The Ceremony of the Golden Sword is held every four years. There will be one this year." Jadewich narrowed his eyes. "Four years from now, there will be another one. In another four years… Grizzly will be seventeen. Only those sixteen and younger can participate in the Ceremony of the Golden Sword. Four years from now, Grizzly won't even be able to participate, much less stop Ning!"

"The only hope we have right now is that the three little brats I took in will be able to become a Xiantian lifeform within these next four years," Lee muttered.

"Right." Jadewich nodded. "I personally selected the three of them out of all of the tribes as the most suited for Ki Refining. They've reached the peak of the Houtian level long ago. If a single one of them can advance to the Xiantian level, then our victory is assured."

Lee nodded as well. "A Xiantian Ki Refiner is capable of using magical treasures and would definitely win. Only, it is simply too hard to become a Xiantian lifeform…"

"All we can do is wait and see what Fate has to offer," Jadewich said softly.

Lee nodded lightly.

Although they were struggling over the Prefecture Lord position, Ji Lee and Ji Jadewich never even thought about killing Ji Ning. In this vast world, for a clan to be able to survive… they had to be unified, and fratricide was definitely forbidden! In addition, Ning had already been selected as a potential heir. If someone dared to try and use a wicked method to kill Ji Ning, most likely everyone in the Five Prefectures of the Ji Clan would join forces to punish the murderer!

...

The thick, large candle lit up the hall. Yichuan was seated in the primary seat, while Snow and Ning sat close to him.

The three of them were eating the meal in front of them on the table.

"Yichuan." Snow looked at her son, his hands and mouth greasy from the meat he was eating. Her eyes were filled with pride. "Our son Ning mastered the basics in three years, and in three more years became 'one with the sword'! It seems it will be easy for him to gain the position of Prefecture Lord."

Holding a ramshorn goblet, Yichuan nodded lightly. "When Ning sparred with the others, he only used his internal force. He didn't use any of the power of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining method. And in addition, when sparring with outsiders, Ning has only used a single sword."

Others didn't know how powerful Ning was, but Yichuan and his wife knew exactly how capable their son was.

Seizing the golden sword?

As easy as picking something out of his pocket!

"Ning, at his current level of power, is already easily capable of seizing the golden sword. In four more years, even Xiantian lifeforms won't be able to stop him." Yichuan poured himself another cup of wine.

Ning continued to simply sit there, eating and drinking prodigious amounts of food.

Because he trained in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he possessed the appetite of a Fiendgod as well. He could easily eat dozens of pounds of the meat of monstrous beasts in every meal. He had reached the third level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] two years ago. He was at a bottleneck now, but with one more step, he would reach the fourth level!

The fourth level would let him become a Xiantian lifeform, and one which belonged to the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. His battle ability would far outstrip that of normal Xiantian lifeforms by a hundred times or a thousand times.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle." Ning drank large mouthfuls of hot water, pouring it all down his mouth, then rubbed his stomach as he put it down. "That feels good."

"Ning." Snow looked at her son with a laugh.

"Mother." Ning was very obedient. He could sense that his father cherished him but also valued the clan, while his mother had placed virtually all of her hopes and concerns in him. In her mother's eyes, perhaps even the rise and fall of the entire Ji clan wasn't nearly as important as her son.

Snow looked at her son. "When your father taught you the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons], it was the most complicated level of sword techniques you could learn, and it was the most suitable set of sword techniques for you to reach the 'one with the sword' level. However, now that you have already reached that level, the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons] technique is no longer of much use to you."

"Right." Yichuan looked at his son. "Now, Ning! When I had you prepare your 'body' and your 'mind', I needed you to make all of your attacks as fast as lightning and incomparably accurate. I needed you to imprint those things in your bones. Only then did I teach you the [108 Swords of the Gods and Demons], and the purpose of that was… to let you go from something simple to complicated!"

"The path of sword training first goes from simple to complicated, and then from complicated back to simple. Only then can one be considered to have mastered the sword." Yichuan looked at his son. "You have become 'one with the sword', and you can wield it as easily as your own hands. You can be considered to have gone from complicated back to simple."

Ning nodded.

He understood this logic. If he was so stupid as to just constantly use those thirteen basic stances, he could still be considered an expert swordsman, but without having truly experienced 'going from simple to complicated, then from complicated to simple', it would be very hard for one to reach the 'one with the sword' level.

"Next, you will need to reach the level of being 'one with the world'." Yichuan sighed. "This step is an extremely hard step."

"One with the world…" Ning was filled with anticipation.

"The previous sword techniques you've learned are now useless to you." Yichuan looked at his son. "Your current level is enough to qualify you to learn the highest level swordplay of the Ji clan."

Ning's eyes lit up. The highest level swordplay of the Ji clan?

"Our Ji clan is famous because of our swordplay." Yichuan sighed with emotion. "In turn, the city of the Ji clan of the Main Prefecture, the 'City of Ten Thousand Swords', was named because the ancestors of the Ji clan rose to fame due to the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], which they used to establish themselves here."

"After thousands of years, the Ji clan now has five highest level sword arts. They are the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], [Thunderflame Sword], [Illusion Sutra], [Raindrop Sutra], and the [Polaris Secret Manual]. Every single technique is extremely profound and is beyond what the 'one with the sword' level is capable of. If you can make accomplishments in any of them, you will find that their power is boundless." Yichuan looked at his son. "I trained in the [Raindrop Sutra]. Most people, even after reaching the 'one with the sword' level, is at most able to select a single one of the arts to train in. This is because dividing the mind is simply too difficult. But Ning, since you are able to divide your mind in two, you would be able to choose two arts to train in."

Hu!

In Yichuan's hand, five books suddenly appeared. He casually tossed them out, and they flew straight over, landing in a neat stack on a nearby table, not touching any of the cups or plates.

"The highest level swordplay?" Ning looked at the five books. He understood that these were just abridged versions. Only after he made his choice would he receive the 'full versions'.

"Make your choice."

Yichuan looked at his son and said solemnly, "Once you have chosen, your choice will be recorded for the Ji clan of the Five Prefectures to review! If it isn't recorded down, you will be considered to have learned in secret. Anyone who does that will be exterminated by the combined forces of the Five Prefectures."

"Ah!" Ji Ning understood this, but he still couldn't help but feel surprised. "Then why is it that there was no such restriction on the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique that I learned?"

"Although the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique is the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, it is extremely widespread. Virtually all of the tribes on the level of the Ji clan possesses a copy. Therefore, it doesn't matter if our copy is leaked." Yichuan looked at his son. "Most Ki Refining methods and Fiendgod Body Refining methods aren't very valuable. Only the ultimate techniques of each clan are tightly restricted, like these five sword techniques here. In the area around Swallow Mountain, four of these techniques are possessed only by our Ji clan. Only the [Polaris Secret Manual] is also in the possession of another entity, the Blackflame Sect."

Ning nodded.

He knew that in the area around Swallow Mountain, aside from the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty that were stationed here, there were in total, five other hegemonic powers. The Ji clan was also one of them.

These six hegemons engaged in constant battle, but none of them dared to offend the armies of the Grand Xia Dynasty!

"Right." Ning immediately lowered his head and began to read, flipping through these five top-class sword techniques. If a person was at the 'one with the sword' level and then also possessed this sort of top-class sword technique, his power would definitely multiply.

"Raindrop Sutra…" This was the first one Ning looked at. This was the top-class technique which had made his father famous.

His father's nickname, after all, was the 'Raindrop Sword'!


Load failed, please RETRY

Gifts

Gift -- Gift received

    Weekly Power Status

    Batch unlock chapters

    Table of Contents

    Display Options

    Background

    Font

    Size

    Chapter comments

    Write a review Reading Status: C12
    Fail to post. Please try again
    • Translation Quality
    • Stability of Updates
    • Story Development
    • Character Design
    • World Background

    The total score 0.0

    Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
    Vote with Power Stone
    Rank 200+ Power Ranking
    Stone 0 Power Stone
    Report inappropriate content
    error Tip

    Report abuse

    Paragraph comments

    Login

    tip Paragraph comment

    Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

    Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

    GOT IT