Chapter 10 The Imperial Lord's Personal Disciple

The Fourth Cave Heaven.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~~" The cold wind howled, snowflakes fluttered, a scene of ice and snow.

Ji Ning appeared out of nowhere. With a sweep of his gaze, he saw a thatched hut in the distance. Inside sat a white-haired, indifferent man, cross-legged. Before him was a wine flask, heated over a fire to warm the wine, and beside the table lay an ordinary sword.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning looked at the white-haired, indifferent man.

"What, has Flying Qian Dao Lord gained another disciple studying the sword?" The white-haired, indifferent man looked at Ji Ning.

"Flying Qian Dao Lord? I don't know him." Ji Ning shook his head.

"Oh?" The white-haired man glanced at Ji Ning in surprise. "In this chaos cycle, over ten World-level disciples of Flying Qian Dao Lord have come to spar with me in swordsmanship. Though Flying Qian Dao Lord is not extremely powerful, he is still a Three-Step Dao Lord. Do you have the ability to take the Fourth Snow Appraisal Scroll from him?"

Ji Ning suddenly understood. So the fourth scroll was in the hands of a Dao Lord, who often sent different disciples in to spar. That made sense. When he first obtained a scroll, it had originally been with Su Feng Dao Lord.

"I can't seize a Three-Step Dao Lord's treasure now, but I can buy it," Ji Ning said. "I've already defeated the Emperor, the Fisherman, and the Assassin. Now only you remain."

"You've already defeated the first three?" The white-haired man, who had been calm all along, flashed a sharp light in his eyes, his battle intent rising. He reached out, picked up the sword on the table, stood up, and slowly walked out of the thatched hut, his gaze fixed on Ji Ning. "You may call me... Sword Adept!"

"Sword Adept?" Ji Ning was startled.

Calling himself directly by the name Sword Adept, Ji Ning vaguely felt that this opponent might not be so easy to defeat.

"I am also the final trial." The white-haired man stood on the snow, staring at Ji Ning. "Draw your sword."

"Alright." A cold ice sword appeared in Ji Ning's hand.

The two were only competing in swordsmanship; all other divine powers, treasures, and strength were suppressed.

"Swish."

Ji Ning struck first. The sword light flashed, all power condensed, and even the drifting snowflakes nearby were unaffected. It's not that a greater display of force indicates greater strength; the higher one's realm, the less power leaks out. In essence, the more condensed the power, the greater its might. For example, divine lightning of the Dao, if spread out, its power diminishes sharply; only when condensed to target a single enemy does it reach maximum potency.

The same goes for swordsmanship!

"Clang." The white-haired man also drew his sword.

Both swords far exceeded the limits of the Heavenly Dao, faster than light. If a mortal watched nearby, not to mention mortals, even some Celestial Immortals or Heavenly Gods would only see the two figures flickering occasionally, unable to perceive any sword light. The speed of the swords had surpassed the limits of their observation.

The two figures flickered continuously in the wind and snow, their sword lights clashing again and again.

"What formidable swordsmanship, what pure swordsmanship," Ji Ning thought in surprise. This white-haired man's swordsmanship truly deserved the name Sword Adept, and it was fitting as the final trial. If the swordsmanship of the Emperor, Fisherman, and Assassin belonged to different schools, then the Sword Adept's swordsmanship seemed to encompass everything.

His swordsmanship could be violent, ethereal, cold, sharp...

Strictly speaking, in terms of strangeness, he was only on par with the Assassin; in ethereal defense, on par with the Fisherman. But because he excelled in all aspects, his overall swordsmanship was extremely formidable. With no weaknesses, his attacks could easily turn into defense, defense into inducement, inducement into assassination—all transitions natural and seamless.

Like a ring, an unbroken ring. Ji Ning's current realm of swordsmanship was already high, much higher than the Fisherman, Assassin, and Emperor, allowing him to win easily against them. But facing the 'Sword Adept,' he could not gain the upper hand for a time.

"Pfft."

"Sss."

Their sword lights interwove in continuous combat.

A strong desire to win drove Ji Ning to constantly seek a method of victory in his mind. Over the years, insights gained in the Sword Pagoda gradually merged into the 'Spirit Rhinoceros Domain.' In truth, during his years at the Sword Palace, Ji Ning's 'Spirit Rhinoceros Domain' had also improved, because the Spirit Rhinoceros Domain essentially represented a path of the sword cultivator.

This path could be continuously perfected, even reaching One-Step Dao Lord, Two-Step Dao Lord, Three-Step Dao Lord...

But this path was not too difficult; it was on par with the 'Fisherman's' path, merely at the level of the sixth stance in the Nameless Sword Art. The seventh stance of the Nameless Sword Art was far more arduous than the sixth.

...

Unconsciously, the two had been fighting for over three hours. Ji Ning increasingly gained a dominant advantage.

In fact, it was normal. On Star Island, he could easily defeat the first three cave heavens. Though his time at the Sword Palace was brief, he had made great progress in over two thousand years of cultivation under the Time Grass Hut.

"Clang."

An ethereal sword light swept aside the white-haired man's sword and pierced his throat.

Then Ji Ning withdrew his sword and stepped back.

"You win." The white-haired man smiled.

But Ji Ning's gaze drifted. Winning this battle made him understand the significance of choosing a path.

The path of the Spirit Rhinoceros Domain was relatively easy.

The white-haired man's path perfectly combined several different schools of swordsmanship. This path was more than ten times harder, but also more powerful.

Of course—

Just as a Four-Step Dao Lord on the path of the Spirit Rhinoceros Domain could easily defeat a Two-Step Dao Lord on the 'white-haired man's swordsmanship' path with pure swordsmanship. Ji Ning had already achieved great success on the Spirit Rhinoceros Domain path. Now, he vaguely felt that he was only a hair's breadth away from becoming a Dao Lord; with a little more breakthrough, he could probably become a Dao Lord relying on the Spirit Rhinoceros Domain at any time.

"But the Spirit Rhinoceros Domain is ultimately not my path."

"Even the white-haired man's swordsmanship is not my path."

Ji Ning's path pointed directly to the essence of the sword, absorbing the essence of all swordsmanship into his own. The 'Moonbright Sword Art' represented Ji Ning's path.

The white-haired man merely combined several swordsmanship styles relatively perfectly, higher than the Spirit Rhinoceros Domain, but not reaching the essence of the sword. Pointing directly to the essence... was destined to be the purest and hardest path. But Ji Ning had always thought this way about practicing the sword, so naturally he wanted to take this path. What one truly thinks in the heart is the most suitable.

...

"Hum~~~~"

Inside the immortal mansion, Ji Ning sat cross-legged. The one who had been sparring in the cave heaven earlier was merely his divine power clone.

After defeating the guardian of the Fourth Cave Heaven, Ji Ning willed it and summoned the four Snow Appraisal Scrolls. The four scrolls floated, gradually converging and completely overlapping. When they fully merged, they condensed into a single scroll. This scroll seemed ordinary, with no sword intent. The painting on the scroll... was a portrait of a man.

The man carried a sword on his back, gazing into the distance, truly handsome.

"Disciple, this is your master's portrait. First, kowtow three times." A voice came from the portrait.

Ji Ning was startled.

Then he felt speechless.

Snow Appraisal Imperial Lord, oh Snow Appraisal Imperial Lord, I didn't expect you to be so narcissistic. After merging the four scrolls into one, it turns out to be a self-portrait? And you painted yourself so perfectly? The previous paintings were so ordinary, but this self-portrait is excellent. Most importantly, this self-portrait has no sword intent. Ji Ning suspected that this might not have been painted by Snow Appraisal Imperial Lord himself.

He couldn't paint this well.

"I don't know what means this master has left behind. I'd better obediently kowtow." Ji Ning immediately knelt and kowtowed three times to the floating scroll bearing the portrait of Snow Appraisal Imperial Lord.

Whoosh~~~

The moment he finished kowtowing, the scroll burst into brilliant light, enveloping Ji Ning. Ji Ning did not resist. With a swoosh, he was drawn into the scroll.

...

Inside the Imperial Lord's Cave Heaven.

In a vast, boundless world, on a wilderness stood a man carrying a long sword on his back. Beside him stood four attendants respectfully—the Emperor, the Assassin, the Fisherman, and the Sword Adept.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning appeared out of nowhere beside them.

"Disciple." The man carrying the long sword turned to look at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning looked and immediately understood that this should be Snow Appraisal Imperial Lord, though probably not his true body. At first glance... this Imperial Lord was indeed quite handsome, so the portrait hadn't lied. Especially the sword intent naturally contained in his eyes, which startled Ji Ning. Snow Appraisal Imperial Lord's sword intent, though seemingly plain, held a sharpness within the plainness, far more terrifying than the feeling Woodflower Dao Lord gave Ji Ning.

"Master." Ji Ning quickly called out respectfully.

"This world only appears when the four scrolls merge," the Imperial Lord said, looking at Ji Ning. "This wisp of my divine thought has been residing here all along, waiting for my good disciple."

...