The Path to Unity

Six years of sword training had passed. The ten-year-old Ji Ning now stood over 1.6 meters tall, a full ten centimeters shorter than his past life's height but brimming with vitality where that life had been sickly pale. He wore simple beast-hide clothes and held a heavy black blunted sword in his hand.

Surrounding him were nine towering, muscular warriors in full armor, their weapons—spears, longswords, broadblades—all blunted like his own.

“Same rules as always,” Ji Ning said, sweeping his gaze across them. His eyes were sharper than a demon beast's. “If you defeat me, each of you gets one beast-head gold.”

“ROOOAR~”

“Watch yourself, young master.”

“A beast-head gold! Brothers, let's show the young master what we've got.”

These were the elite warriors of the Ji Clan's Western Prefecture army—the Nine-Fang Warriors. To earn that title, one had to have reached Houtian perfection in internal energy and possess vast combat experience.

A beast-head gold was a standard ten-jin ingot of gold, a universal currency among the countless tribes. Ten jin of gold was more than enough incentive for even these elite soldiers.

But none of them dared take him lightly. Ji Ning's reputation had long since spread through the military. He regularly sparred with the army's best, and they had watched his skill grow with each passing month. Even nine of their finest working together would struggle to defeat him… though it was still possible.

Ji Ning stood motionless, the black blunted sword held loosely in his hand.

Ever since he had mastered the enormously complex One Hundred Eight Swords of Heaven and Earth—a set so demanding that even his father had finally nodded in approval—sparring with puppets had become meaningless. His father had then granted him permission to train against live warriors. In these sparring matches, all weapons were blunted.

His father had also given him a strict order: “When sparring with anyone else, use only one sword. And you may only use one-tenth of your strength. Only when sparring with me or your mother are you permitted to use both swords. Remember—dual swords are your killing technique. Only use them when you truly intend to kill an opponent.”

And so, although Ji Ning's fame had spread through the army and he was acknowledged as a prodigy, no one knew that this was merely the tip of the iceberg. Of course, in combat, he held nothing back in terms of his one-handed sword technique and footwork.

The nine warriors circled him, their eyes fixed on him like hunters stalking prey.

Ji Ning stood like a mountain, unmoving.

“Swoosh!”

One of the circling warriors—a bald, powerfully built man—suddenly lunged forward. His spear shot out like a venomous snake, crossing the distance in an instant.

Ji Ning simply shifted his stance, a subtle movement that brought him inside the spear's reach. The thrust sailed past him harmlessly.

In close quarters, a spear was useless.

“Chi!” Ji Ning's black blunted sword swept out. A flash of sword-light, and the bald warrior was forced to throw himself backward. He kicked his own spear as he fell, sending it whipping horizontally at Ji Ning, then rolled back into the formation.

“Whew, that was close! Almost got taken out in one exchange. Careful, brothers!” the bald warrior shouted from within the formation.

Ji Ning stepped on the fallen spear, pinning it to the ground. He looked around. “Come at me all at once. That's your only chance.”

“Now!”

Sensing the gap in skill, the nine warriors abandoned all probing and attacked with full force.

The air howled. Blades flashed. Spear and shadow danced like dragons and tigers, all converging on the center.

But Ji Ning stood his ground, using only subtle shifts—a half-step back, a slight pivot. These tiny, almost imperceptible movements caused many of their attacks to miss entirely.

The clash of weapons rang out. Some strikes landed with a thunderous boom, heavy and unstoppable. Others hissed like snakes, light and deceptive.

“These Nine-Fang Warriors really know how to coordinate,” Ji Ning thought, feeling the pressure. “Five or six of them, I could defeat in an instant. But all nine together… they have me on the defensive.”

With only a single sword, Ji Ning was forced to push his footwork and technique to their absolute limits.

“Whoosh!”

A shadow of his blade cut through the air.

Then it happened.

A wave of profound clarity washed over him. His body and his sword became one, impossibly coordinated. He could feel the blade itself, sense the wind rushing past it as it moved.

“Chi!” His black blunted sword lightly touched an enemy's saber. An upward vibration, a subtle twist, and the saber spun out of control. Before the warrior could recover, the sword's tip darted forward and struck him in the chest. The man grunted, stumbled back two steps, and sat down heavily.

“Whoosh.” The black blunted sword arced through the air in a twisting, unpredictable path, sliding past the blocking spear of the bald warrior. The flat of the blade smacked him across the face. Teeth flew. The bald man tumbled backward.

It was like a gale sweeping fallen leaves.

Ji Ning's sword had become ethereal, its changes subtle and minute. In an instant, it could make a dozen transformations, and in battle, a single momentary advantage was enough to secure victory. The nine warriors who had been pressing him hard just moments ago were scattered to the ground in the blink of an eye.

“Congratulations, young master!”

“Congratulations on entering the realm of subtlety in swordplay—achieving Unity of Man and Sword!”

The warriors were stunned, their voices filled with excitement and awe.

A ten-year-old youth, achieving Unity of Man and Sword! He was even more monstrously talented than his father, the 'Dripping Sword' Ji Yichuan.

“Hahaha…” Ji Ning himself was overjoyed.

Six years. Six years of unbroken training. Every day, after his morning archery practice outside the city, he spent almost all his time with a sword in his hand. Sometimes he sparred with his father, sometimes with his father's disciples, sometimes with the soldiers of the army.

The sword had long since become a part of his very bones.

Countless repetitions had honed his precision to a terrifying degree.

His divided mind allowed his sword techniques to change unpredictably.

His Fiendgod-like body, combined with the Houtian-perfect internal energy of his Ki Refining, made his sword unstoppable.

And today, it had all come together. Like water finding its course, he had broken through to enter the realm of subtlety and achieve Unity of Man and Sword.

“Today, all of you helped me make this breakthrough. No arguments—each of you gets a beast-head gold,” Ji Ning said, laughing.

The nine warriors exchanged glances, then spoke in unison. “Thank you, young master.”

If they had simply lost, they wouldn't have accepted a reward. As Nine-Fang Warriors, they had their pride. But this was a joyous occasion—the young master had achieved Unity of Man and Sword. Accepting a gift on such a happy day was only proper.

“Nine sirs.”

Chuncao and Qiuye, Ji Ning's two personal maids, walked over from a distance carrying a stone tray. On it lay nine beast-head gold ingots, all stamped with a ram's head design.

The nine warriors each took one, their hearts full of mixed emotions. Ji Ning was indeed astonishingly skilled, and they had all witnessed his diligence over the years.

“Congratulations, young master. This is wonderful news,” Chuncao and Qiuye said, beaming with joy.

Six years had passed. Chuncao and Qiuye were now around twenty years old, in the prime of their beauty. As personal maids, they were destined to belong to their master, and in their hearts, Ji Ning had long since become their heaven, their deity. Seeing their young master achieve such greatness filled them with happiness.

“Hahaha…” Ji Ning laughed along with them.

Anyone would be excited. After years of bitter training, how could success not bring joy?

It had taken him two years of sword training before his father judged that both his 'body' and 'heart' were ready. Only then was he taught the One Hundred Eight Swords of Heaven and Earth.

Another year to reach the first realm, at which point his father permitted him to begin sparring.

Three more years after that until today, when he finally achieved the second realm and entered the realm of subtlety with Unity of Man and Sword.

“Chuncao, Qiuye. Come with me,” Ji Ning called out. What he wanted most right now was to see his parents.

Deep within a vast mountain range, angry roars echoed through the air.

At the foot of the mountain, a large group of black-armored knights waited. Their armor was thick, with spikes at the joints, and their mounts were enormous shaggy unicorn-beasts, their tusks curving skyward like spears, gleaming with a cold light. Their four hooves were thick and heavy, and the ground trembled when they ran.

These hundred black-armored knights all exuded a powerful aura.

“Hm?” The knights turned their heads to look.

Not far away, a section of the mountain cliff was rapidly softening, turning a glowing red before melting into scorching lava. The molten rock flowed down like a river of fire, and within it, a humanoid form was walking. Wreathed in flames, it stepped directly out of the inferno.

With a single step, the figure descended to the ground below. In one hand, it dragged the corpse of a massive, azure-scaled, strangely-shaped beast. A four-legged beast followed behind him.

As the humanoid figure landed, the lava on its body was shaken off, revealing an old man with fiery red hair and a small red snake dangling from one ear. The four-legged beast walked to the old man's side, docile and obedient.

“Master!” the hundred black-armored knights shouted in unison.

The viper-like old man, Ji Lie, laughed heartily. “To run into an Earth-Armor Dragon while out hunting… good fortune. This beast is only one step away from becoming a Xiantian creature. We'll take it back and raise it.”

“Master! Master!”

A call came from high above.

Ji Lie looked up.

A massive green-feathered bird was descending from the sky. Seated on it was a lean man in beast-hide clothes. As the bird swooped down, the man leaped off, landed gracefully, and knelt on one knee. “Master, there is news from the city.”

“Speak,” Ji Lie said, frowning.

“Ji Yichuan's son, Ji Ning, has entered the realm of Unity of Man and Sword, achieving 'Man and Sword as One' today,” the man reported respectfully.

Ji Lie's eyes bulged. The flames on his body flared up. Trembling with fury, he suddenly hurled the captured Earth-Armor Dragon with all his strength. The ten-thousand-jin beast became a blur, slamming into the distant cliff face with a thunderous boom. The mountain-side shuddered. A huge crater appeared, surrounded by hundreds of meters of cracks. The Earth-Armor Dragon was embedded in the pit, blood seeping from its head and scales. It had been killed by the sheer force of the throw.

“Back to the Western Prefecture City!” Ji Lie ground his teeth for a long moment before issuing the command.

“Yes!” the hundred black-armored knights answered in unison. Some of them thought it was a shame to leave the Earth-Armor Dragon's corpse here, but their master, Ji Lie, was in a violent rage. No one dared to defy him.

RUMBLE~

Ji Lie rode his four-legged beast, followed by the hundred black-armored knights, disappearing rapidly into the deep, dark forest. Only the corpse of the Earth-Armor Dragon remained, embedded high in the cliff wall, its blood trickling down the stone.