Chapter Five: The Fourth Form of the Nameless Sword Art

Time passed.

“Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~~~~” On the shore of the boiling lava, a woman in fiery red robes sat cross-legged. She was the Fire Fairy Su Youji, who had obtained an opportunity and had been meditating in the divine mansion for a long time.

Su Youji gazed ahead, where a blooming lotus swayed in the center of the lava.

“This place is indeed a sacred ground for comprehending the path of fire,” Su Youji frowned slightly. “But no matter how much I meditate now, I make no progress. Alas, according to the mansion’s spirit, my master is also meditating. Who knows how long he will take? Three thousand years have already passed!”

Indeed.

Su Youji had been in the divine mansion for three thousand years.

After consolidating her strength, she could rival an ordinary World-level cultivator. Having spent over three thousand years in this place where the Venshen Dao Lord cultivated the path of fire, Su Youji had now reached the level of a top-tier World-level cultivator.

It must be noted... the Venshen Dao Lord was not skilled in the sword, but he excelled in many areas such as fire and lightning, which had brought Su Youji considerable gains.

“I’ll just wait patiently,” Su Youji could only bide her time.

…

“Three thousand years, and still not out.” Outside the Venshen Mansion, atop the clouds in the sky, Aluo Yi, Fu Kai, and the Bone Armor World God were still silently waiting.

Fu Kai’s face was cold: “It seems that monstrous Ancestral God has guessed something, so he’s deliberately stalling inside the Venshen Mansion, trying to break through to the World level. But no matter how monstrous he is, the bottleneck from Ancestral God to World level is not easy to overcome. If he hasn’t broken through in three thousand years, he might not break through in thirty thousand or three hundred thousand years.”

“Why waste words? Just wait,” Aluo Yi said coldly.

The invisible pressure had long filled their hearts with boundless killing intent.

“Those old fellows all want to obtain the ‘Eternal Divine Blood,’ but none dare to come; they only send World-level cultivators,” Fu Kai said with resentment.

“Yes, and they even treat the Eternal Divine Blood as an awakening trial for us,” Aluo Yi shook his head. “This is the Damo Territory. That Damo Dao Lord is among the top in deduction across the endless territories... If any of those old fellows dared to enter the Damo Territory, that Damo Dao Lord would probably calculate it.”

“Mm,” Fu Kai nodded.

Damo Dao Lord was terrifying.

How vast were the endless territories? Even the Venshen Dao Lord, in terms of strength, would not dare claim to be the number one among all Dao Lords, nor would he dare say such a thing. But ‘Damo Dao Lord’ was ranked in the top three in deduction across the endless territories! Such an extraordinary being could, just by calculating at home, discern good fortune and avoid disaster, foresee when crises would come. If any member of the Eternal Clan, the mortal enemy of the Dao Alliance, dared to come, they would find it hard to evade Damo Dao Lord’s deduction.

Moreover, this was the heartland of the Dao Alliance.

Once their traces were discovered through deduction... even if they wanted to flee, there would be nowhere to escape!

Thus, members of the Eternal Clan generally avoided such terrifying experts in deduction who could be called ‘omniscient,’ unless they were overwhelmingly powerful, able to rival the Venshen Dao Lord and act with impunity.

“If we must blame someone, we can only blame ourselves for failing to awaken,” Fu Kai transmitted. “If we could have crossed into the Dao Lord of Life and Death realm on our own, truly awakened, and become genuine members of the Eternal Clan, we wouldn’t have to desperately fight for this trial opportunity.”

“Mm,” Aluo Yi nodded.

They could also break through using the ‘Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill,’ but then they would have no potential for further breakthroughs, would not truly awaken, and would not be recognized as members of the Eternal Clan.

Only by relying on themselves.

Or... let the Eternal Nation help them awaken, but that would come at a great cost. So the Eternal Nation proposed a trial: bring back the Eternal Divine Blood, and the Eternal Nation would help one descendant awaken! For the Dao Alliance, the Eternal Divine Blood was not of great use, but for the Eternal Nation, it was extremely important. Paying a price to help a descendant awaken was considered worthwhile.

Many descendants desperately vied for this opportunity, and in the end, Fu Kai and Aluo Yi obtained it.

According to the Eternal Nation’s order, obtaining the Eternal Divine Blood would lead to a meteoric rise and awakening as a true member of the Eternal Clan.

If they failed, they would die!

“Fu Kai, according to the life-bound oath we made earlier, once that monstrous Ancestral God comes out, we will work together to seize the Eternal Divine Blood. Once we obtain it, we will fight to the death, and the survivor will take the Eternal Divine Blood back,” Aluo Yi looked at Fu Kai.

“Naturally,” Fu Kai was also confident. In a life-and-death duel, all means could be used. Below the Dao Lord level, he truly feared no one.

“Three thousand years, even thirty thousand or three hundred thousand years, we must wait,” Aluo Yi’s eyes flashed coldly.

…

Outside, Aluo Yi and Fu Kai waited anxiously, and Su Youji also wondered when her master would finish his cultivation.

Ji Ning, however, was completely immersed in the ocean of sword arts.

Never before—

In his past or present life, he had never had such strong confidence in his sword arts.

“Whoosh.”

Ji Ning appeared out of thin air in the hall, looking around. The four walls were covered with over five thousand carvings, and in the center of the hall stood a tall pagoda—the Sky-Scanning Tower.

Ji Ning had spent almost all his years inside the Sky-Scanning Tower meditating, because he knew that fully analyzing and comprehending over five thousand different sword arts would take a very long time. Naturally, he used the Sky-Scanning Tower.

“Finally, I’ve comprehended them all, reaching the pinnacle of my current ability.” Ji Ning waved his hand and put away the Sky-Scanning Tower.

At this moment, Ji Ning was filled with boundless pride.

Looking around in all directions, Ji Ning bowed slightly and said softly, “Thank you, Senior Venshen. Without your collection of so many sword arts, how could I, Ji Ning, have achieved this sudden enlightenment today?”

Ji Ning considered himself quite humble, calling it a sudden enlightenment!

In Earth’s parlance, it’s not that you fear not knowing goods, but comparing them. What are the strengths and weaknesses of a sword art? Groping like a blind man would never reveal them. Only by fully dissecting and carefully comparing one sword art after another could one gradually discover that one sword art excelled in a certain aspect while another had defects in some area.

Why was it strong?

Why was it weak?

Through constant analysis, Ji Ning developed a scale in his heart, and gradually, his insights into the Dao of the Sword grew. Eventually, a complete system of the sword formed in his mind.

Over five thousand sword arts could all be categorized.

When Ji Ning classified the over five thousand sword arts into twelve categories and felt everything was clear and without error, he even had a feeling—that all sword arts were clear to him! Even if some extremely profound aspects were temporarily beyond his grasp, given enough time, he would eventually understand them!

This confidence was formed after studying over five thousand sword arts.

“I’ll test it with the ‘Nameless Sword Art’ and the essence of the divine sword.” Ji Ning smiled slightly. Over the years, he had never deliberately pondered the ‘Nameless Sword Art,’ at most occasionally sparing a thought. Even so, the third form of the ‘Nameless Sword Art,’ the ‘Luo Tian Form,’ had long been comprehended.

“The fourth form of the ‘Nameless Sword Art’—‘End of the Horizon.’”

“Quite profound.”

Ji Ning quickly analyzed in his mind, starting from the essence of the sword, gradually revealing everything before him.

It took him over six hours.

“So that’s it. The one who created this sword art is truly an extraordinary great being. Far more formidable than those who created the over five thousand sword arts.” Ji Ning murmured in admiration, but he knew that although those over five thousand sword arts were not very advanced, they had broadened his horizons and deepened his understanding of the essence of the sword.

Thus, in just over six hours, he comprehended the fourth form of the Nameless Sword Art.

“What about the fifth form of the ‘Nameless Sword Art’?” Ji Ning tried to comprehend it. Although he gained a little insight, he ultimately gave up. “Back then, Northrest World God only comprehended the fifth form. In these three thousand years, I’ve only buried myself in meditation without life-and-death combat; I’m still lacking.”

“Now, let’s look at the essence of this divine sword.”

A divine sword appeared in Ji Ning’s hand—the Eternal Divine Weapon ‘Purple Light Qiong.’

Ji Ning carefully sensed the fierce, overbearing, and lofty sword intent of the divine sword’s essence. In the past, comprehending it was extremely difficult, but now it was significantly faster. After spending over a day, Ji Ning felt he could make no further progress. Yet his insights were already sufficient, and he soon created a sword move on his own.

“This move will be the second form of the ‘Essence Sword Intent.’ Since it was comprehended in the Venshen Mansion, let’s call it—the ‘Venshen Form,’” Ji Ning said softly.

Ji Ning felt a trace of gratitude inside.

If not for the Venshen Dao Lord painstakingly observing over five thousand World-level sword masters and then painstakingly carving them, how could Ji Ning have had the ready-made opportunity to comprehend them all?

Of course—

It was also because Ji Ning’s understanding of the sword went straight to the root. If some sword masters, even more skilled than Ji Ning, saw these carvings, they might only say, “I have my own path; these are incompatible with my sword art.”

“Haha... I originally planned to cultivate here until I reached the World level before leaving, but I’ve gained a harvest far greater than the Eternal Divine Blood.” Ji Ning laughed. Mastering the third form of the Nameless Sword Art would have allowed him to become a World-level cultivator, and he had already mastered the fourth.

In these three thousand years, Ji Ning had truly undergone a complete transformation.

His sword now had a true soul.

He had also laid the foundation for becoming a peerless great being on the path of the sword in the future.

“Mm, it’s time to break through to the World level.” Ji Ning sat down cross-legged and began to calm his mind.