Chapter 36: Another Sword Duel

Ji Ning and the others each received a set of formations and departed. Since Ji Ning had no residence on Wuyan Star, the Wuyan Star Lord specially arranged a mansion for him.

The mansion covered nearly a hundred li.

Some flower beds and ponds within the mansion were filled and leveled to form a large training ground.

"General." A bustling crowd of Ancestral Gods stood on the training ground, looking at Ji Ning ahead.

"Nine squad leaders." Ji Ning spoke.

"Here." Immediately nine Ancestral Gods in golden armor responded.

"Each of you will command one hundred and ten Ancestral Gods. You must carefully study and master this formation." Ji Ning waved his hand, and nine gray-golden disks flew toward the nine squad leaders. The entire army of Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals had long been reassigned, and some servants under the Wuyan Star Lord and the Black Mist World God had even joined, bringing the total to seven thousand!

The nine squad leaders each took the gray-golden disks, quickly refined them, and carefully sensed the mysteries within.

"As for you..." Ji Ning looked at the other Ancestral Gods and waved his hand again. In midair appeared densely packed, slightly smaller formation disks, with divine runes of somewhat lower complexity. "You must also carefully study the formation and cooperate well with your squad leaders. Your formation disks are relatively simpler; I believe you can master them in three to five days."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Over nine hundred formation disks flew toward those Ancestral Gods, one for each.

"As for me," Ji Ning said, "I am the formation's core, coordinating the nine squad leaders."

"You've probably guessed it... Yes, this formation is precisely the Small Thousand Ancestral God Formation!" Ji Ning saw the Ancestral Gods looking curious, likely secretly communicating via telepathy, so he said it directly.

As soon as the words were spoken, the training ground fell silent.

The Small Thousand Ancestral God Formation?

A formation that allowed a thousand Ancestral Gods to unite and perfectly unleash their power? It was said that even weaker World-level cultivators trapped within could be surrounded and killed. Could they, too, use such a legendary formation?

The Hundred Ancestral God Formation, the Small Thousand Ancestral God Formation, the Grand Thousand Ancestral God Formation...

These formations were not created by a single mighty figure or Dao Lord but had been perfected over the long passage of time by generation after generation of great beings, ultimately reaching a state of ultimate perfection. They could no longer be improved and had become a standard. All Small Thousand Ancestral God Formations were identical, already allowing a thousand Ancestral Gods to exert their utmost power.

"From today onward."

Ji Ning's gaze swept over the Ancestral Gods before him. "Your only task is to master the Small Thousand Ancestral God Formation as quickly as possible. You can practice coordination with your squad leaders. As for all of us Ancestral Gods... we will conduct a collective drill every three days."

"Alright, go and study the formation." Ji Ning instructed.

"Yes, General."

All the Ancestral God soldiers responded.

...

Ji Ning's formation disk was the most complex, as he was the core coordinator. So he entered the Kui Tower to study it carefully. After spending over six days inside the tower, he fully mastered it.

Outside, three days later.

On Wuyan Star, in the front courtyard training ground of Ji Ning's mansion.

"Form the formation." Ji Ning gave the order.

Hummm~~~

Immediately, with the thousand formation disks as a foundation, countless streams of light spread out, enveloping every Ancestral God. In an instant, the surrounding heavens and earth were also completely covered.

"What a peculiar feeling." Ji Ning stood there, looking up at the sky. "It seems I have merged with this heaven and earth."

Once the formation was complete, it fused with time and space, forming a world of its own.

This was also the foundation for matching up to World-level cultivators.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning's gaze suddenly fell on a burly Ancestral God squad leader. The formation rippled slightly around him.

"I'm not yet proficient." The squad leader immediately sent an apologetic telepathic message.

Ji Ning telepathically instructed: "Hurry up."

"Yes." The burly squad leader also realized that the other eight squad leaders had full control, while he was still a bit lacking. As for the ordinary Ancestral God soldiers, quite a few were unstable, but since they were like branches and leaves, the impact was minor. The nine squad leaders were like trunks, and Ji Ning was like the main trunk!

If Ji Ning had problems, the entire formation would collapse.

"A world of its own... With one strike, it not only has the combined power of all Ancestral Gods but also the world's加持." Ji Ning nodded inwardly. If an enemy attacked any Ancestral God, the attack's power would be dispersed throughout the formation and into the world it had merged with. Probably ninety-nine percent of the power would fall into that world.

Only a trace of power would be shared among the thousand Ancestral Gods!

Thus, World-level cultivators facing the 'Small Thousand Ancestral God Formation' were generally helpless. Weaker ones might even be killed.

"Alright."

"Most Ancestral Gods have already mastered it. Go back and study further. In three days, I hope the Small Thousand Ancestral God Formation will be truly perfect." Ji Ning instructed.

"Yes, General." The Ancestral God soldiers were somewhat excited.

For the first time, they felt that powerful force. Even as branches and leaves of the formation, they had the 'formation world's'加持, each reaching the threshold of World-level power. As for the nine squad leaders, their power was even stronger. Ji Ning, as the core of the Small Thousand Ancestral God Formation, had the strongest power—far surpassing the enhancement from the power of the Blueflower Mist.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~ The ancestral god soldiers soon all departed, and the front training ground fell quiet.

"Hm?" As Ji Ning was about to turn and leave, he suddenly glimpsed a figure.

The black-robed, disheveled man appeared on the training ground with a smile, strolling over.

Ji Ning was startled. The Blackmist World God? Coming specifically to see him?

"Greetings, senior," Ji Ning said respectfully.

"I sensed your formation setup and came to check. You're quite fast—the formation is nearly complete. You've mastered it very well yourself," the Blackmist World God said with a smile. "The core formation plate of the Lesser Thousand Ancestral Gods Formation is the most complex. Mastering it in three days is impressive."

Ji Ning quickly said, "I used a temporal treasure; it actually took me over six days."

"Oh..."

The Blackmist World God chuckled. This Beiming was honest.

"The reason the Star Lord gave you a month is mainly because the core formation plate is so hard to comprehend. Six days is still good," the Blackmist World God said. "Last time you fought me, I sensed your sword technique was on the verge of a breakthrough. Have you broken through now?"

"I have made some progress," Ji Ning said.

"Oh?" The Blackmist World God's eyes lit up. There was no helping it—on Fogrock Star, among the ancestral gods and ancestral immortals, the only true sword expert was Ji Ning.

"Come, come, spar with me," the Blackmist World God said.

"Yes." Ji Ning was also looking forward to it.

With a whoosh, a sword appeared in Ji Ning's hand, like a pool of autumn water—the soft sword. Since it was just a spar, focusing on technique, there was no need to bring out an Eternal divine weapon.

"Careful now." The Blackmist World God reached out and grasped an ordinary-looking long sword. When sparring with a junior, he wouldn't bring out his best treasures either.

The Blackmist World God smiled and swung his sword.

As the sword light emerged, it covered the sky and earth, blotting out everything. The surroundings seemed filled with countless black mists, and from within the mists, a strange, domineering sword light stabbed straight over.

Ji Ning remained calm. He knew this was the Blackmist World God's 'Sword World'.

"Break!" Ji Ning stabbed out with a ferocious sword strike.

The sword shot out like a flowing light.

It was the 'Blooddrop Style', the fastest and most penetrating move of the Brightmoon Sword-art, and this move also fully incorporated the intent of the 'Kill Sword Style' from the Nameless Sword-art. The Nameless Sword-art represented a realm of sword technique; after absorbing its insights, Ji Ning could fully transform them into his own Brightmoon Sword-art.

The Kill Sword Style—once launched, there was no turning back! As the sword emerged, a fierce, tragic aura surged forth.

"Boom!"

The sword lights clashed, and the strange sword light was directly shattered and scattered.

"Eh? Your sword technique is quite impressive. Last time, your technique was perfectly controlled with no flaws. This time, it's the opposite—reckless, with no turning back, the sword intent so fierce and ruthless... In terms of ferocity alone, it's very close to the realm of a Sword World," the Blackmist World God's voice came. "Lucky for me, I'm not a beginner at the Sword World."

Ji Ning's sword technique was indeed powerful.

The Kill Sword Style was harsh on the enemy and even harsher on oneself—once launched, there was no return, and its power was extremely fierce, approaching that of an ordinary Sword World. Only by mastering the 'Heart Sword Style' could one use this move without harming oneself. Otherwise, if one trained in this move from the start, they wouldn't be able to control the sword, and the result of losing control would be—if they couldn't kill the enemy, the enemy would immediately seize the opening and counterattack.

Only with the Heart Sword Style could one execute such a fierce move.

...

The Blackmist World God grew more excited as they fought. This Beiming's talent in sword technique was truly high; compared to last time, his progress was enormous. Besides the fierce and ruthless Kill Sword Style, there was another sword move that made him even more alarmed—one that Ji Ning had comprehended from the 'Origin of the Divine Sword'. Though not yet fully formed, it still made the Blackmist World God's heart tremble.

"Alright, alright," the Blackmist World God said with a laugh. "Using a Chaos divine weapon and maintaining ancestral god power, I'm almost losing."

"I'm using a Dao divine weapon," Ji Ning quickly said.

"I see." The Blackmist World God chuckled, glancing at the soft sword in Ji Ning's hand. "I was wondering—my sword realm is clearly higher than yours, yet with a Chaos divine weapon and ancestral god power, I couldn't suppress you."

Ji Ning felt quite grateful inside.

The sparring session had lasted a long time, only stopping when Ji Ning had no more insights to gain. This battle allowed Ji Ning to verify many ideas from his centuries of meditation (actually millennia, counting the time in the Kui Tower of the Grand Void), and his sword realm had improved considerably.

"Fogrock Star rarely produces a sword expert," the Blackmist World God said, looking at Ji Ning. "Your talent in the sword, I feel, is no less than the Star Lord's. Train hard... and by the way, when you go to the Black Lotus Empire, be careful. Staying alive is the most important thing."

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded.

"Also... this is a sword technique I created myself. The name is simple: 'Blackmist Sword Technique'. Your sword realm is already very high. Learning my technique won't help you much. Just take a look; it might give you some inspiration." The Blackmist World God flipped his hand, producing a jade slip and tossing it to Ji Ning.

Ji Ning caught it and said gratefully, "Thank you, senior."

"Actually, I wanted to take you as a disciple before, but after today, I see that your sword technique will likely catch up to me, or even surpass me, before long," the Blackmist World God said with a smile. "Alright, prepare well for the upcoming battle."

"Mm." Ji Ning responded.

The Blackmist World God then ambled off, still with disheveled hair, walking along until he vanished into thin air.

Ji Ning felt secretly grateful. When he first came to Fogrock Star and met the Blackmist World God, the latter had personally guided him and sparred with him.

Days passed one by one. Ji Ning also studied the Blackmist World God's sword technique. Soon, the month was up! It was time for the army to set out!