Chapter 4: The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation

Ji Ning watched from the side, not daring to disturb the black ox. Lines of text quickly appeared on the hide, along with occasional array diagrams.

Soon, several pieces of hide were filled.

"Done."

The black ox tossed aside the hide and said smugly, "Little brat Ji Ning, you can be considered gifted. An innate lifeform possessing such a formidable soul! Only with an exceptionally powerful soul can one wield this 'Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.' However, the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation also requires a set of flying swords—magic treasures—and demands an especially large number of them."

"I have plenty of these ungraded treasures," Ji Ning said with a smile.

The black ox shook his head: "Those ungraded treasures—once you become a Zifu cultivator, they'll no longer be worth your notice. Then you'll need graded treasures, and still a large number of flying swords to unleash the power of the 'Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.'"

"A large number of graded treasures?" Ji Ning was stunned. "How many?"

"The highest level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation requires 729 flying sword treasures," said the black ox. "Even the worst graded treasures, you'd best prepare 729 of them... The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation has high demands on treasures; the better the flying swords and the greater their number, the more powerful the formation."

Ji Ning was dumbfounded.

Over seven hundred graded treasures, and they had to be flying swords? Even if the entire Ji clan of five prefectures went bankrupt, it was uncertain whether they could buy over seven hundred graded flying swords.

"As your strength increases, the flying swords you use naturally need to be stronger," said the black ox. "From mortal-grade, to earth-grade, to heaven-grade, to immortal-grade..."

"I, I..." Ji Ning felt immense pressure, then quickly said, "The immortal Juhua left some treasures behind in this immortal mansion. Getting a few hundred flying swords shouldn't be hard, right? Besides, wasn't Juhua the one who killed that great enemy of his, the one who used the 'Lesser Thousand Sword Formation'?"

The black ox shook his head: "That great enemy was called the Thousand Sword Immortal! Juhua expended endless effort to slay him. After killing him, he obtained those flying sword treasures, but it would be a waste to leave so many treasures unused. So Juhua immediately exchanged them for a large quantity of precious spirit materials, using those materials to refine and forge me! So you can't expect to get a few hundred flying swords from Juhua. A truly powerful immortal only carries a few treasures they are skilled with. Spoils from killing enemies are quickly used to upgrade one's own treasures! They don't leave large numbers idle."

"I understand." Ji Ning was somewhat resigned.

"Don't overthink it. Don't think that just because you got an immortal mansion you'll soar to the heavens," the black ox barked. "How many relics from the Primordial Era remain? Yet how many have become the top existences in the Grand Xia Dynasty's lands? The fourth master, Lei Zhan, died at the mere Wanxiang stage. Don't end up like him."

The black ox continued, "The reason I came into being is largely thanks to that Thousand Sword Immortal. So I paid special attention to the 'Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.' Not only did I read it through, I also pondered it carefully. Let me explain it to you."

Ji Ning listened attentively.

"The 'Lesser Thousand Sword Formation' uses nine flying sword treasures to form one array base! Nine array bases are needed to form one sword formation. That means the most basic sword formation requires a full eighty-one flying sword treasures. This is the first layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation."

"If you can control another set of eighty-one flying swords, allowing two sword formations to merge... the power multiplies several times! That is the second layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation! You need one hundred and sixty-two flying sword treasures!"

"If you can control two hundred and forty-three flying swords, merging three sword formations, the power multiplies several times again—that's the third layer!"

"Merging four sword formations multiplies the power several times—that's the fourth layer."

"And so on."

"Finally, merging nine sword formations requires a full seven hundred and twenty-nine flying sword treasures—this is the ninth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. Its power is simply unimaginable! Of course, given your soul strength, even controlling these ungraded flying swords, you are far from achieving this step."

Ji Ning nodded thoughtfully.

"For example, if you become a Wanxiang cultivator, you could use ungraded treasures to set up the nine-sword formation. But if you used graded treasures, you probably couldn't even set up the two- or three-sword formation," said the black ox. "The stronger the treasures, the more mental energy it takes to control them, so naturally they're harder to handle. But this also means the 'Lesser Thousand Sword Formation' can be used even if you become a Celestial Immortal. By then, you might obtain even better sword formations. Still, this Lesser Thousand Sword Formation will serve you for a thousand years."

"The most important secret of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation is the 'Lesser Thousand Rune'..."

The black ox explained the key points.

...

After a moment, Ji Ning read through the contents of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation and couldn't help but marvel. Compared to it, the Yin-Yang Two Qi Formation that Tiemu Zhan had used earlier was trash.

Ji Ning immediately took nine sword-shaped treasures from his storage treasure. Since they were all ungraded, they were usually held in hand for combat, differing slightly in shape from typical flying swords.

"Lesser Thousand Rune." Ji Ning tried drawing on the ground with his finger.

With his control over his body, he perfectly imitated the rune.

The black ox watched from the side and shook his head: "No, it's not about the appearance; it's about the essence. When the Lesser Thousand Rune you draw can faintly draw upon the power of heaven and earth, then the rune is complete."

"Mm." Ji Ning continued drawing.

Because his imitation was already very precise, and Ji Ning had reached the realm of the True Meaning of the Dao, he had a faint resonance with the hidden 'Dao.' On his three hundred and twelfth attempt, he drew a rune that could draw upon a thread of the power of heaven and earth.

"Mm." The black ox nodded. "Your realm is already high, your soul is strong, and your sensitivity to heaven and earth is exceptionally keen. Learning quickly is normal... Remember, the Lesser Thousand Rune is the foundation of the entire Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. Never let it leak. If the Lesser Thousand Rune leaks, some great tribes could create the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation based on it."

Ji Ning nodded: "I understand."

"Then begin." The black ox watched from the side.

Ji Ning calmed himself completely, then took out a small basin from his storage treasure. He placed his finger over the basin, and drops of blood quickly seeped from his fingertip. In a moment, the basin was half full of blood. The black ox beside him shook his head and sighed: "The divine body refinement path—your vitality is so strong that even if you're chopped into pieces you won't die. A qi refiner would die if their heart was pierced. If a qi refiner bled this much, they'd turn pale. You, on the other hand, probably recovered as soon as you released the blood."

Ji Ning said nothing and picked up a sword treasure. The sword treasure enlarged in midair. Ji Ning dipped his finger in blood and began drawing on the sword body.

In the blink of an eye, a Lesser Thousand Rune appeared on the sword's surface. Blood light flickered, and soon the rune completely sank into the sword body.

"Done." The black ox nodded.

Ji Ning took out another sword treasure and continued. Once he mastered the Lesser Thousand Rune, he made almost no mistakes. During his passage through the corridor, he had obtained several thousand treasures. Swords were especially common—there were over a thousand sword treasures. Ji Ning decided to inscribe runes on a full 729 sword treasures.

"Array base!" Ji Ning sat cross-legged and willed it.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Instantly, nine swords floated around Ji Ning, slowly rotating. But something seemed lacking, and Ji Ning frowned.

"Remember, the power of a formation relies on resonating with heaven and earth," the black ox said from the side.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The nine swords floating around Ji Ning suddenly took on an intangible essence, as if they had become a single entity. At that moment, their positions seemed perfectly aligned.

"Array base formed, set the formation!" Ji Ning willed, and another seventy-two swords rose, nine in each group.

The first layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation required a full eighty-one sword treasures.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Eighty-one sword treasures floated around Ji Ning, who closed his eyes to control them. Soon, based on the Lesser Thousand Runes within each, all eighty-one swords emitted a faint glow, and an invisible sword light rapidly converged toward Ji Ning.

A flickering sword light hovered beside Ji Ning.

Ji Ning finally opened his eyes, looking at the sword light before him. This sword light was formed from his innate true essence, transformed and converged through the internal arrays of the eighty-one swords. Quantity had led to a qualitative change, and its power was astonishing.

"Still quite easy." Ji Ning willed, and another eighty-one swords rose.

...

The black ox watched from the side, amazed by the strength of Ji Ning's soul. This wasn't like before, when he had foolishly controlled thousands of treasures. Now he had to control each flying sword precisely, making them form a perfect sword formation that could constantly resonate with the power of heaven and earth.

"The third layer is done too. In terms of pure power, this sword light of his is now no weaker than the combined strike of those thousands of treasures earlier," the black ox marveled. The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation multiplied power several times with each layer.

Hundreds of swords densely surrounded Ji Ning, each emitting a faint glow. The sword light凝聚 before him grew stronger in aura.

Another eighty-one swords joined the mix, and the difficulty of control increased sharply.

Sweat beaded on Ji Ning's forehead.

Hum~~~

All the swords emitted a faint radiance.

"Done." The black ox was shocked, utterly shocked. "He actually executed the fifth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation!"

Crackle, crackle, crackle... All four hundred and five swords fell to the ground. Ji Ning opened his eyes, his face covered in sweat, and murmured, "The fifth layer is too strenuous; my head aches. In battle, I'll stick to the fourth layer—it's much easier."

...