Chapter 37: Walking the Three Realms

Time passed, and half a year had gone by in the blink of an eye.

Beside a towering, cloud-piercing cliff, Ji Ning stood on the clouds, looking up at the sword techniques carved into the rock face.

“The Five Treasure Sword Art, truly a sword art that transcends the limits of the Dao. So close… but I still can’t fully comprehend the second chapter.” Ji Ning frowned. In the past six months, he had grasped nearly all of the second chapter in one go, but the final bottleneck had blocked him.

Being stuck at a bottleneck is the most terrifying thing for a cultivator.

Many cultivators remain stuck at a bottleneck for eons without making any progress. Cultivation isn’t a matter of simply training longer—if that were the case, then celestial immortals who had lived for eons would have long become Pure Yang True Immortals. Clearly, that’s impossible. Last time, Ji Ning broke through his bottleneck in the Dao of the Sword and comprehended the complete Dao only after eighteen years of fierce battle in the Silent Destruction Domain, where he even reached the first level of Sword Force. It happened naturally.

“This time, breaking through won’t be so easy.”

“What should I do?”

Ji Ning frowned.

Having multiple avatars didn’t help him now.

“Staring foolishly won’t help. Breaking through a bottleneck requires an opportunity.” Ji Ning immediately sent a voice transmission: “Ninefang.”

Whoosh!

A streak of light flew over and landed on the clouds. It was the bald old man, Ninefang the Celestial Immortal. Ninefang quickly said respectfully, “Prefect.”

“I want to take a good walk through the Three Realms,” Ji Ning said.

“A good walk through the Three Realms?” Ninefang was startled, carefully studying Ji Ning. He had thought Ji Ning was planning another sneak attack on the Void Sect. But now, it didn’t seem like it.

“Let’s go.”

Ji Ning immediately took Ninefang and left the Sword Immortal World.

…

In a dark, vast world, atop a ten-thousand-foot throne in midair, the God King immediately received the news.

“Ji Ning has left the Sword Immortal World.” The God King immediately released his boundless mind sense to track Ji Ning’s whereabouts. “He has arrived at the Tigerfang Great World.”

They had suffered a loss last time.

The Void Sect side had naturally prepared for this. They wouldn’t stumble twice in the same place.

…

Tigerfang Great World.

A wooden boat drifted on a wide river. On the boat sat a white-robed youth drinking alone, while a bald old servant stood respectfully beside him.

“This Tigerfang Great World belongs to Tigerfang the Immortal,” Ji Ning said with a smile. “Tigerfang the Immortal rose to prominence in ancient times and even participated in the war that ended the primordial era. He has always roamed freely, unwilling to take many disciples. Still, two Celestial Immortals are willing to follow him. He’s quite a formidable figure in the Three Realms.”

Xia Emperor relied on his subordinates and background to rule the Grand Xia World.

But Tigerfang the Immortal relied on his own strength.

“If I didn’t have the Xingtian Formation, I probably wouldn’t be a match for this Tigerfang the Immortal,” Ji Ning said with a laugh. There were indeed many Celestial Immortals and True Immortals in the Three Realms, and the top tier each had their own brilliance. With the Xingtian Formation, no one could suppress Ji Ning, but in a one-on-one fight…

There were indeed many who were stronger than him. Among his own sect, Patriarch Bodhi’s disciples included several.

Figures like Hongxue, Patriarch Lü, Tigerfang the Immortal—all stood at the threshold of becoming True Gods or Dao Ancestors. In terms of Dao realization and certain ultimate techniques, they were far more accomplished and perfect than Ji Ning. Ji Ning himself admitted this. After all, he had been cultivating for too short a time, so he focused his efforts on the paths of ‘Sword Force’ and ‘Heart Force.’ Under the shadow of the great tribulation, there simply wasn’t enough time for him to slowly comprehend the Dao.

“Prefect, be careful of the Void Sect,” Ninefang immediately sent a voice transmission in warning.

“Don’t worry.”

Ji Ning said.

As soon as he entered the Tigerfang Great World, he had already enveloped the entire world with his heart force.

“The Void Sect is very cautious now. When I was in the Sword Immortal World, someone was constantly monitoring me with their mind sense. As soon as I left, the Void Sect probably knew. Although there are many Void Sect outposts in the Tigerfang Great World, only one has Celestial Immortals or True Immortals—and there are nineteen of them. They must have just arrived. With nineteen Celestial Immortals and True Immortals backed by formations and restrictions, I can’t break through,” Ji Ning shook his head.

Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

The first sneak attack yielded the greatest results, but it would be hard to inflict more heavy losses.

“Come on, again.”

“Is that all the strength you have? Tired already?”

“Come on.”

Voices came faintly from afar.

Ji Ning’s gaze swept over. In the distance was a village by the river, where the villagers lived off the water. In the village, a tall man dressed in animal skins was practicing swordsmanship with a youth. The tall man kept shouting, “Again. Be fiercer, be smarter. Your sword moves need to be more direct. Fancy stuff is useless.”

Bang. The youth’s sword had just been swung out when he was sent flying backward, crashing to the ground. Then he quickly got up and charged again, gritting his teeth.

Knocked down again and again, he got up each time.

The tall man kept talking.

Sitting on the boat, Ji Ning watched the scene from afar. He could tell that the man and the youth looked alike—they were probably father and son. The scene reminded Ji Ning of when his own father taught him swordsmanship as a child. Compared to this tall man, his father’s swordsmanship was somewhat superior.

But in terms of strength, this man was no weaker than his father back then. The man had reached the Zifu level, though his swordsmanship was slightly inferior to his father’s.

“This village is very ordinary, but this man is a Zifu cultivator. He must be living in seclusion here with his son,” Ji Ning thought.

“If…”

“If Father were still here, and I could practice swordsmanship with him, how wonderful that would be.” Ji Ning suddenly stood up.

“Prefect.” Ninefang the Celestial Immortal quickly called out.

Ji Ning took a step.

Whoosh.

In an instant, he appeared beside the tall man and the youth in the distance.

Bufeng was shocked by the sudden appearance of the white-robed youth. Although he had been training his son, as a Zifu cultivator he was still alert to his surroundings. He had long noticed a wooden boat drifting on the river a few miles away, and the white-robed youth drinking on the boat. But in the blink of an eye, the youth was right in front of him.

“No spatial ripples—he didn’t tear through the void.” Bufeng, though only a Zifu cultivator, came from a major sect. “Just relying on speed to get here instantly, and the wind around him is still slow. Even an元神 Daoist couldn’t do that.”

“Who are you?” The grimy youth stared at Ji Ning.

“Yun’er.” Bufeng shouted, and the youth was startled into silence.

Ji Ning looked at the tall man and smiled. “Don’t panic. I just want to spar with you in swordsmanship.”

“Spar?” Bufeng was stunned. Was this a joke?

“Go ahead,” Ji Ning instructed.

Bufeng didn’t dare refuse. The other party could probably destroy him with a flick of a finger, so he suppressed all other thoughts.

“Careful.” A heavy sword materialized in front of Bufeng.

Ji Ning extended both hands, and two long swords condensed in them, formed from the power of heaven and earth. At his level, a casually condensed sword was tougher than a human-grade magic treasure.

Seeing this, Bufeng’s heart trembled even more. “What is this senior up to?”

He didn’t dare hesitate. He immediately mobilized his Zifu true essence, and the heavy sword shot out like a streak of light, stabbing straight at Ji Ning.

“Clang.”

Ji Ning held both swords. As the heavy sword thrust toward him, his swords flowed like water, blocking it several times in succession. He was sent flying backward, stumbling slightly when he landed.

“Father seems very wary of this white-robed man, but he looks pretty weak,” the grimy youth watching thought in confusion.

“How is this possible?” Bufeng couldn’t believe he could be so powerful.

“It seems that using the strength of the Houtian level to wield swords against a Zifu cultivator’s flying treasure sword is quite taxing, even for me,” Ji Ning murmured softly. He didn’t deliberately lower his voice, and Bufeng could faintly hear him. He was stunned—using only Houtian strength to resist a Zifu cultivator’s magic treasure?

Houtian, Xiantian, Zifu.

The gap between them was enormous.

“Continue,” Ji Ning ordered.

Bufeng didn’t dare slack off and immediately attacked again.

This time, the heavy sword, driven by Zifu true essence, was incredibly fast and fierce. But Ji Ning’s sword techniques, though seemingly simple, had returned to simplicity. Ji Ning could have infused Sword Force into his swords with a single thought, but then the fight would have been impossible. He forcibly suppressed all power, keeping his strength at the Houtian level, which naturally slowed him down.

Slow speed and weak strength meant he had to rely on his sword realm to defend.

Fortunately, his opponent was only a Zifu cultivator, and Ji Ning’s sword realm was infinitely higher.

“I never thought that just having this sudden idea and actually fighting like this would…” Ji Ning had never experienced this before. Keeping himself at Houtian while his opponent’s heavy sword completely overwhelmed him in speed and power forced him to constantly explore the mysteries of swordsmanship.

He felt he was making progress.

He also understood that he had found the right path. Following this path, he might be able to break through this bottleneck and reach a higher level of swordsmanship.

“So amazing! Such miraculous swordsmanship—this, this is impossible.” Bufeng also poured all his effort into using his best sword techniques, even pulling out some strange flying sword arts he knew, hoping that the mysterious white-robed youth would display even more sword techniques.

The white-robed youth’s sword techniques opened up a new world before him.

For the first time, he realized that the sword could be used like this!

Because Ji Ning kept his strength and speed at the Houtian level, the Zifu cultivator could clearly see the sword techniques he displayed. Though he saw them clearly, they still felt profound and unfathomable. Even a simple sword move, as Bufeng attacked and pondered, seemed shrouded in mist, hard to grasp.

Even so, he felt his own sword realm improving.

“Opportunity.”

“A great opportunity.”

“I, Bufeng, was forced to flee with my son, yet I encounter such an opportunity. The Dao of the Sword—I can fully walk the Dao of the Sword. My realm can become higher, and I can soon become a Wanxiang Adept, even an元神 Daoist. Then I can go back, rescue my woman, and…” Bufeng’s heart surged with joy, but he quickly suppressed those ecstatic thoughts.

He focused on sparring with Ji Ning, desperately memorizing some of Ji Ning’s sword moves. Even the casual, inspired moves Ji Ning made in response to different situations were incredibly exquisite.

Ji Ning was already a peerless genius of the sword, having long achieved mastery in the Dao of the Sword. Now, based on the Five Treasure Sword Art, which transcended the limits of the Dao, he was contemplating the mysteries of swordsmanship. Even a tiny fragment was enough to benefit his opponent immensely.

“Perhaps this is the essence of the sword. By discarding external powers like Heart Force and Sword Force, one can better seek the essence of the sword. The Five Treasure Sword Art is a true sword art that directly points to the essence of the sword. Yes, from today on, I will walk the Three Realms and spar with countless people.” Ji Ning had an epiphany and immediately made his decision.