The Three Broken Swords

Another two days passed.

In a thicket of tangled weeds on a forested mountain slope, a large group of Black Armored Guards had completely surrounded a serpent demon.

“ROOOAR!” The serpent was a deep crimson, its belly a shining silver. It had two curved, four-clawed talons growing from its abdomen, and its vertical scarlet pupils sent a chill down the spine of any onlooker. At this moment, however, the great serpent was thoroughly trapped within a wide net; no matter how it twisted and thrashed its body, it could not break free.

“Hahaha!” The fiery-red armored, big-bearded man laughed heartily. “A stupid, foolish great serpent, captured so easily! Quickly, bind it.”

“Yes, sir!”

Immediately, several dozen Black Armored Guards swung enormous chains into the air. The black chains writhed like massive snakes, swiftly coiling around the crimson serpent. The serpent struggled within the net, twisting and thrashing to no avail. Soon, it was completely bound by layer upon layer of chains, its massive head wrapped so thoroughly that it could not even open its mouth.

“Commander, what kind of serpent is this? It actually has claws?” A young guard beside him asked curiously, racking his brains but failing to identify which type of godbeast it was.

The big-bearded man laughed. “Snakes are naturally lecherous, their bloodlines are chaotic. I’ve seen over a hundred different types of snakes with Fiendgod bloodlines just by myself. Only those with relatively pure bloodlines, whose names are famous, have proper names. This sort of mixed-blood mutated godbeast? It doesn’t have one.”

“The young master is training his swordsmanship right now and he needs some decent Houtian demon beasts. This big snake will do.” The big-bearded man surveyed the serpent with satisfaction. “Take it back.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Black Armored Guards acknowledged in unison.

Their commander was the strongest Xiantian archer of the Ji Clan’s Western Prefecture—Meng Yu! Meng Yu was young master Ji Ning’s first teacher, and he stood firmly on the side of Prefectural Lord Ji Youyang and Ji Yichuan. Moreover, Meng Yu was extremely proud of having Ji Ning as his disciple.

The news of Ji Ning’s sparring and sword-training against demon beasts had long since spread.

After all, one demon beast died every three days. A steady stream of demon beasts was being killed, almost all of which had been captured alive by the Black Armored Guard army. Naturally, the news had traveled swiftly through the military.

“Young master Ji Ning has long since reached Houtian perfection! His sword art has reached Subtlety, and he is one with his sword! And he’s training in the most supreme sword arts of our Ji Clan. Killing a Houtian perfect demon beast is trivial.”

“I heard he’s even killed a Houtian godbeast.”

“Young master Ji Ning’s status is what it is. He’s definitely got some insanely sharp divine weapons. With a divine weapon and his Subtlety-level swordsmanship… killing a Houtian perfect godbeast isn’t hard at all.”

Rumors were flying thick and fast within the Western Prefecture army.

Even the other powerful figure of the Western Prefecture, Ji Lie, believed that the brat Ji Ning must have relied on a divine weapon to slay a godbeast.

...

Dragon Fort, within the Cage.

A powerfully built, black-spotted beast lay on the ground. Thick, tough fur had been split open by massive wounds, and blood flowed freely across the floor.

Ji Ning stood to the side, frowning in deep thought, the sword in his hand vanishing into thin air. When he fought ordinary Houtian perfect demon beasts, he used only his internal energy and a fairly decent sword—nothing even close to a divine weapon. Now that his strength was this high, using a divine weapon would destroy any chance of training.

“Ji Ning!” A voice came from above.

Ji Ning looked up. On the viewing platform above was his father, Ji Yichuan. Surprised, Ji Ning said, “Father, why have you come?”

Aside from the first time he had fought the Howling Moon Wolf, his father had not come to watch any of the dozens of subsequent bloody battles, which had taken place every third day at the Dragon Fort.

“I came to see how your sword arts are progressing.” Ji Yichuan said. “Have you reached ‘Entering the Realm’?”

“No,” Ji Ning shook his head. “I haven’t even achieved minor mastery of a single stance from either the Dripping Sutra or the Thunderfire Sword Fragments.”

The Dripping Sutra had a total of nine sword stances.

The Thunderfire Sword Fragments had three.

These sword stances were all special techniques… if one trained them to a profound enough level, one would sense the state of Unity of Man and Heaven and channel the power of heaven and earth. That was called ‘Entering the Realm.’ However, this did not mean that one had reached the third realm of swordsmanship, ‘Unity of Man and Heaven.’ True Unity of Man and Heaven meant that, at any moment, with any casual sword-stroke—even a simple thrust, a chop, or a flick—one could channel the power of heaven and earth. Only then had one truly achieved Unity!

But ‘Entering the Realm’ was merely a temporary state of Unity attained by executing a single special stance.

According to what his father had said…

When one could ‘Enter the Realm,’ it signified minor mastery.

When one could achieve ‘Unity of Man and Heaven,’ it signified true mastery.

It was said…

Beyond Unity of Man and Heaven, there were even deeper levels. Techniques like the Dripping Sutra and the Thunderfire Sword Fragments had been created by beings whose insights had surpassed Unity of Man and Heaven.

“You don’t need to exhaust yourself with constant meditation on swordsmanship,” Ji Yichuan said. “Today, take Chuncao and Qiuye and go out for a stroll.”

Ji Ning nodded. “Yes, Father.”

Ji Ning then turned and walked out through the narrow passageway that had just opened. As for the corpse of the dead beast, someone would come to clean it up.

Westprefecture City was a great metropolis with a population of several hundred thousand.

“Young master, we haven’t gone out for a stroll in forever!” The two maidservants, Chuncao and Qiuye, walked beside him, clearly delighted.

Ji Ning smiled as he walked along the street. This was the most prosperous avenue in Westprefecture City; traveling merchants generally did business here. The street was originally more than ten zhang wide, but the stalls on either side took up more than half the space, leaving only about seven or eight zhang for actual walking.

“Look at this woman! Plump, big hips, she’ll give you many strong sons! Only ten pieces of goatskin!”

“These men are all excellent warriors, capable of lifting a thousand jin! Only five taels of gold! Buy one man, get a child free!”

A bald man dressed in animal hide was shouting loudly. Around him were several dozen muscular men in animal hides acting as guards, along with dozens of dirty, ragged slaves in tattered furs. They looked around with pleading eyes, hoping to find a good master who would buy them. Each slave had a straw tag stuck in their hair.

A straw tag meant they were up for sale.

...

Ji Ning walked and watched.

Along the street, there were stalls selling slaves, animal hides, weapons, wild beasts, demon beasts… all sorts of things. Even precious books, divine weapons, poisons and herbs, secret manuals and techniques—all were available.

“Our tribe lost over a hundred warriors to obtain this precious divine weapon! We traveled across mountain forests and wilderness, suffering countless hardships to reach Westprefecture City, just to sell this divine weapon! Some traveling merchants came to our tribe and offered thirty pieces of Beast-Head Gold for it, and we didn’t trade! Your offer of ten Beast-Head Gold is far too little! At least a hundred pieces of Beast-Head Gold!” A rough, loud voice came from the side.

Ji Ning looked over curiously.

Several dozen people were gathered around a stall. The vendors were three burly, dark-skinned men. One of them, with a black snake coiled around his arm, was shouting nonstop, “A hundred Beast-Head Gold! A hundred Beast-Head Gold and it’s yours!”

“That’s a rip-off.”

“Daring to ask for a hundred Beast-Head Gold!” Chuncao and Qiuye muttered.

Ji Ning was also surprised. Beast-Head Gold typically referred to a standard ten-jin ingot. A hundred ingots would be a thousand jin of gold. While it was nothing to a young master of the Ji Clan, it was a colossal fortune for an ordinary tribe.

“It’s just a weapon, no matter how sharp it is.”

“It’s not even a fully intact magic treasure. It’s a completely shattered treasure that can only be used as a weapon.”

“Twenty Beast-Head Gold. I’ll pay at most twenty Beast-Head Gold. If you want to sell, I’ll buy it!”

Someone was haggling.

“A hundred Beast-Head Gold.” The snake-armed man stubbornly refused to budge. The two dark-skinned men beside him watched the crowd warily, terrified that someone might steal their treasure. Their tribe had lost many people for this treasure, and they had lost dozens more warriors crossing forests and wilderness to reach Westprefecture City. This treasure had to be sold for a high price.

After selling it, they could buy slaves, good swords and bows, arrows, and poisons, greatly increasing their tribe’s strength.

“Let me take a look.” Ji Ning stood behind the crowd and glanced at the divine weapon the snake-armed man was holding. He stepped forward.

The people around him turned to look.

“Young master.”

“That’s the young master of the Ji Clan? The only son of the Dripping Sword?”

Several of them hurriedly bowed and stepped back respectfully. Those who could offer high prices were not ordinary people. Ji Ning had gone out of the city every morning for several years with Uncle White to practice archery. Naturally, many people in the city recognized the highly respected young master of the Ji Clan. Those who didn’t recognize him quickly learned from those around them.

When the snake-armed man saw the others deferentially stepping aside and heard the words ‘young master of the Ji Clan’ and ‘only son of the Dripping Sword,’ he trembled with fear. Living on the territory of the Western Prefecture of the Ji Clan, who didn’t know the legendary ‘Dripping Sword’? He was the undisputed number one expert in the lands of the Western Prefecture—a god-like existence.

And the youth before him was the Dripping Sword’s only son?

“Let me see it,” Ji Ning said.

“Honorable young master, please take a look.” The snake-armed man hurriedly and respectfully handed over the divine weapon with both hands. The two men behind him were both anxious, worried that this clearly high-status and revered youth might forcibly seize their treasure. In the wilderness, it was common for the strong to take treasures from the weak. Although such things were forbidden in Westprefecture City to avoid provoking the Ji Clan, this youth was said to be a young master of the Ji Clan… the only son of the Dripping Sword!

Ji Ning took it. It was a bit heavy in his hand. It was a pitch-black sword, its thick scabbard very plain. Upon closer inspection, however, he could tell that although it was a single scabbard, three swords were actually sheathed inside.

“Three swords in one scabbard?” Ji Ning was surprised as he drew the swords.

Sssss!

He drew all three swords at once. The blades radiated a cold, biting aura, and the surfaces were covered in faint, ancient, fragmented patterns.

“What a pity.” Ji Ning shook his head and sighed. Having seen many treasures within the Prefectural Lord’s estate, he could tell from the aura of those profound patterns that this had originally been a magic treasure. It should have been a set of flying swords that an Immortal cultivator could control simultaneously to attack. But the patterns were broken; the treasure was severely damaged. It could only be used as a mundane weapon now.

“Sss.” Ji Ning drew his finger across the blade.

“Be careful! It’s very sharp!” The snake-armed man cried out in alarm. This divine weapon could cut through rock like tofu.

Ji Ning felt his finger’s skin tremble slightly. He was secretly shocked. “I have the Golden Dust Garment protecting my body. It has merged with every inch of my skin. That casual swipe just now… actually managed to slightly rattle the Golden Dust Garment. If I were to swing this sword with force, it might even be able to pierce the Golden Dust Garment. I practice my archery and walk through the city every day. I’ve seen countless weapon stalls, but I’ve never encountered a divine weapon this sharp.”

Other people only felt that this weapon was very sharp, but they had no idea how sharp it truly was. Ji Ning, however, could sense that even the Golden Dust Garment could hardly withstand this divine weapon.

“I’ll take this weapon,” Ji Ning said, looking at the snake-armed man.

The snake-armed man felt a mix of joy and panic. He stammered, “Young master, our tribe sacrificed many for this weapon…” Facing this youth of such high status, he had no leverage and dared not force a price.