Chapter 19 The Dagger Is Revealed

His swordsmanship grew purer and purer, until one day, a silver-white gleam appeared at the tip of Ji Ning's sword finger. This silver-white gleam made the 'sword finger' even sharper—sharper than a true divine sword, and with greater penetrating power.

In the Water Mansion.

Ji Ning, clad in black robes, asked the yellow-furred bear, “Senior Bear, do you know what this gleam at my fingertip is?”

“You don’t even know that?” The bear was puzzled. “You know about heartforce, so how... oh, I see. Patriarch Subhuti probably feared you would aim too high and hasn’t told you yet.”

“What is it?” Ji Ning pressed.

The bear said directly, “For a sword immortal, comprehending the ‘Dao of the Sword’ is not the true end. After fully comprehending the complete Dao of the Sword... as you pursue the essence of the sword, this gleam naturally appears at the sword’s edge when you use swordsmanship. This gleam is also called ‘swordforce.’ It is a power that peerless sword immortals who have fully comprehended the Dao of the Sword gradually discover. Now that you have just touched it, it should be considered the most basic level of swordforce.”

“Swordforce?” Ji Ning suddenly understood. “I see. I’ve read in some books at Mount Fangcun that after fully comprehending the ‘Grand Dao of Taiji,’ as one pursues the essence of Taiji, one gradually gains a peculiar power called taijiforce. It seems my swordforce is similar to taijiforce.”

“Right.” The bear nodded with a smile.

Ji Ning now fully understood.

The power of Taiji, the power of the sword... these are generally forces that one only gradually masters after fully perfecting the Way of Taiji or the Way of the Sword. They are considered additional bonuses, making one's combat strength even greater.

"In cultivation, the most feared thing is reaching for what is beyond one's grasp," Ji Ning remarked with emotion.

Just like when he first entered the Black-White College, the Primal Daoists and Earth Immortals there would not tell him that the Dao was divided into 'Heavenly Dao' and 'Great Dao,' for fear that he would aim too high and accomplish nothing. Patriarch Subhuti was the same; if he had told Ji Ning about the power of the sword too early, he feared that Ji Ning would let his mind wander while comprehending the sword, hindering his progress.

"I haven't even fully mastered the Way of the Sword, yet I've already gained a trace of the power of the sword," Ji Ning said with a wry smile.

"The battles of these past ten-plus years have been far more numerous than all the battles you fought before entering the Extinction Realm. The Way of the Sword is, after all, a path of attack. If there were a Heavenly Dao or a Way of the Sword here, your progress in the sword would likely have been astonishing over these years," said the big bear. "But since there is no Way of the Sword here, you have made no progress in it. However, allowing you to inadvertently seek the essence of the sword and grasp a trace of its power can be considered an unexpected gain. Your ability to probe the essence of the sword will surely be of great help to you in comprehending the Way of the Sword later."

"Mm," Ji Ning nodded gently.

...

"A prodigy, truly a prodigy."

"No wonder Lü Dongbin long considered him a peerless sword immortal seed, and even Patriarch Subhuti believed his talent on the path of the sword immortal was extremely high. He hasn't even achieved great mastery in the Way of the Sword, yet he has grasped a trace of the power of the sword first. Clearly, his comprehension of 'the sword' is supremely exceptional."

In the ethereal space of the Water Mansion, when the yellow-furred big bear told them, the seven great demons also sighed in amazement.

However, the power of the sword was merely the most basic level, offering only a limited increase in strength, while the 'heartforce' at the mastery level truly provided great assistance to Ji Ning's power.

Yet this grasp of a trace of sword power also proved Ji Ning's unparalleled talent on the path of the sword immortal.

'Even the best talent is useless unless one can escape this Domain of Annihilation,' remarked the burly man with ruddy skin. 'Now, the Broken Horn world has never truly pressured the young master, but if things really turn sour, we must act. Then we'll have to face the master of the Broken Horn world, and we don't know if we can defeat him.'

'It all depends on whether the master of the Broken Horn world has reached the Daolord level.'

'If he hasn't reached the Daolord level, there's no threat.'

'But if he has reached the Daolord level, we'll likely face certain death.'

'Yet we have no retreat. Even if we don't rescue the young master, the master of the Broken Horn world will eventually discover the Zhai Xing Mansion. Once he finds it, if he has reached the Daolord level, he will surely discover our world... and then a battle will be inevitable.'

Nominally speaking,

Ji Ning had not yet transcended the tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal. According to the instructions of Daoist San Shou, they shouldn't even save Ji Ning, but let him die and choose another successor. Unfortunately, they were now trapped in the Domain of Annihilation and couldn't get out, let alone choose the next successor.

...

On this day.

Ji Ning had fought dozens of battles in a row before stopping, pretending to recover his divine power. In fact, he still had half of his divine power left. After reaching the seventeenth level of the Redmoon Nine Heavens Diagram, his divine power was much more abundant. To be prepared, he always stopped when half was consumed.

And that group of purple-cloaked warriors let him recover his divine power.

At this moment...

In the darkness, three powerful wills were clashing.

'Since this human began fighting with the first generation, his control over heartforce has been continuously improving. The leakage of heartforce has diminished, and the fluctuations have become less noticeable. Recently, during battles, his heartforce doesn't leak at all. Although we faintly sense heartforce, we can no longer detect its fluctuations. This is of no help to our deduction of heartforce techniques.' The will of the First Mother Empress carried a hint of unwillingness.

'Two elder sisters, what should we do now?' asked the Third Mother Empress.

'Over this period, we've fought tens of thousands of battles. We've deduced some things, and little sister has even condensed heartforce and entered its gate. This is thanks to this human,' said the Second Mother Empress. 'But my elder sister and I have yet to condense heartforce, let alone understand how to circulate it.'

'Although I've condensed heartforce, I'm still figuring out how to use it.' The will of the Third Mother Empress also held unwillingness. 'If he continued to leak heartforce and fought for another hundred or thousand years, that would be wonderful.'

A hundred or a thousand years were very short to them.

Unfortunately, Ji Ning had only given them eighteen years of 'happiness'. Now, his control over heartforce was perfect. When executing his sword techniques, no heartforce leaked out. Although they knew his sword arts contained heartforce, they could no longer deduce it. After all, the more that leaked, the easier it was to deduce.

"He can't be charmed, and he'd rather die than let us examine his memories. Kill him," said the Second Mother Queen.

The Third Mother Queen opposed: "Capture him alive first, imprison him inside our bodies. We'll torment him slowly, bit by bit. Perhaps one day we can probe his memories."

"Capture him alive, and imprison him in Third Sister's body," the First Mother Queen also agreed.

"Fine," the Second Mother Queen consented.

And so...

They issued the order.

...

In the Domain of Annihilation, the golden-cloaked general of the Broken Horn World and the eight hundred and one purple-cloaked warriors chatted idly. Though they had always felt that letting the alien live went against their nature—each of them truly wanted to kill the alien outright—who dared defy the Mother Queen's command?

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Mother Queen's will, attached to the general and hundreds of first-generation purple-cloaked warriors, transmitted the order.

"Children, capture the alien alive immediately and deliver him to the Holy Temple."

The previously idle golden-cloaked general and the many purple-cloaked warriors' eyes lit up; each grew excited.

Good.

Finally, action. Having the entire First Army stationed here had long bored the million horned warriors.

"The Mother Queen commands: capture the alien alive and deliver him to the Holy Temple," the general transmitted mentally, passing the order to every purple-cloaked warrior. After all, only the first generation had received the Mother Queen's direct order; many purple-cloaked warriors were still unaware. "This time, you need not intervene. I will handle it personally."

"Yes." No one disobeyed.

After all, the general had yet to make a move.

In the distance.

Though Ji Ning was recovering his divine power—two miniature stars hovering above his head, the power of Taiyin and Sun constantly converting into divine power—he remained highly sensitive to his surroundings. However, he did not sense the general about to act. But the "Yellow-haired Bear" immediately alerted him: "Ji Ning, that alien general is about to make his move."

"What!" Ji Ning snapped awake and immediately opened his eyes.

Candlelight burned in his gaze.

With one look, he saw the golden-cloaked general ten thousand li away walking toward him. This general had always been the one Ji Ning feared most, yet he had never acted before, always watching from afar. Moreover, from eighteen years of experience, as long as Ji Ning was recovering his divine power, the enemy would not attack.

"General," Ji Ning transmitted directly with his divine sense, "After waiting all these years, it seems you've finally decided to act."

"Fighting you so many times has been enough tempering for my clan's warriors." The general strolled through the void. His features were no different from other horned warriors, but his gaze was more ancient and distant, and his invisible pressure more terrifying. "Alien, you'd best give up resistance and save your life."

"You won't kill me?" Ji Ning countered.

If he could avoid death, he would delay as long as possible.

"Come back with me to the Broken Horn World, and I will not kill you," the general said.

Ji Ning's heart trembled. Go to the Broken Horn World? This void was merely the Broken Horn World's territorial void; the true territory of the Broken Horn World lay within the Ancient Ruins. The Domain of Annihilation was relatively safer, but the Ancient Ruins was the enemy's true stronghold. Entering it would make escape even less likely. How could Ji Ning go?

"Impossible." Ji Ning shook his head, staring fixedly at the general.

"Heh heh heh..." The general laughed, and four long whips appeared in his hands.

Ji Ning stared intently at his opponent. Whoosh—he immediately manifested three heads and six arms.

"Your resistance is futile." The general was calm, confident in his absolute power. His four arms swung simultaneously, and the four black whips lashed across tens of thousands of zhang, like four enormous black serpents, reaching Ji Ning in an instant.

Ji Ning guarded his front with two hands, while the fingers of his other four hands stretched a thousand zhang long, executing sword techniques to block.

"Boom~~~" Though Ji Ning exerted all his strength, each of his four simultaneous sword techniques could only contain one-thirtieth of his heartforce. He barely managed to block the black whips, but the whips flickered and coiled around his head.

Ji Ning struggled desperately.

Yet the four black whips had already completely bound him. If the purple-cloaked warriors were at the pinnacle of Celestial Immortal, this golden-cloaked general had reached the Heavenly God level.

...

Within the ethereal space of the Water Mansion.

"That golden-cloaked general has made his move." The Yellow-haired Bear's expression was grave as he sensed the outside. "Ji Ning resisted, but he's been trapped by the whips."

"Move," the red-haired Heavenly God among the seven great demon gods ordered immediately. "Kill every last one of the First Army."

...