The Golden Sword Vow

The hall was very quiet. Thick candles as thick as a child's arm crackled as they burned.

Ji Ning ate with his head down, quickly finishing all the meat and fruit wine on the low table before him. Today was a celebration of his father's return, so he was allowed a rare bit of fruit wine.

"Father." Ji Ning spoke up.

"Mm." Ji Yichuan frowned at his son.

Ji Ning could sense his father's bad mood. The expedition to kill the Winged Serpent had ended in failure. Killing a late-stage Xiantian water-type great demon that lurked deep in a lake was simply too difficult. The Ji Clan's Western Prefecture could pay a great price to do it through sheer force, but that price was evidently one they were unwilling to pay. To preserve their prestige, they had already swept the lake and stationed troops along its shores, dispatching several Xiantian lifeforms to stand guard permanently, forcing the Winged Serpent to never dare to leave the lake. This would be a war of attrition; if the Winged Serpent grew the slightest bit careless, the Western Prefecture's Xiantian lifeforms would surround and kill it.

"I want to go out and roam," Ji Ning said.

"Roam?" Ji Yichuan frowned.

Yuchi Snow quickly added, "Ning'er, you've already experienced the terror of a great demon when the Winged Serpent attacked you. Beyond the Western Prefecture city, there are many deep mountains and vast marshes where great demons lurk. You're still too young. Wait a few more years."

"I have no more opponents to train against within the Western Prefecture city," Ji Ning said, shaking his head.

Ji Yichuan snapped coldly, "How old are you? Wait until you come of age at sixteen, then you can go out and roam."

"But Father!" Ji Ning said urgently. "I've grown up in the Western Prefecture city. I've spent my entire life in this tiny place! I want to see the countless tribes out there. I want to go out and explore and take risks just like you did, to fight great demons, even to slay them."

"Slay great demons? With your current strength…" Ji Yichuan shook his head.

"What about me?" Ji Ning pressed. "I survived even when the Winged Serpent was going all out. What's wrong with my strength?"

Ji Yichuan paused, deep in thought. "Right, I never asked you—how did you survive the Winged Serpent's assault?"

Yuchi Snow smiled beside him. "Yichuan, you've been out dealing with that Winged Serpent and haven't returned, so I never got to tell you. Our son, in the split second of life and death when the Winged Serpent attacked, reached Unity of Man and Heaven in his footwork. It was precisely with that realm of footwork that he managed to escape the Winged Serpent."

"Unity of Man and Heaven?" Ji Yichuan turned to look at Ji Ning in astonishment.

Only ten years old, and his footwork had already reached the realm of Unity of Man and Heaven?

"Take three sword strikes from me." Ji Yichuan suddenly swept his hand through the air, and three hazy sword-shadows converged upon Ji Ning, fast as lightning.

Ji Ning had been kneeling at the low table, but now he swayed and dodged in a flickering blur, like a gust of wind passing through the three hazy sword-shadows.

"Well?" Ji Ning said proudly.

"You've truly reached it." Ji Yichuan stared at his son in shock. "Unity of Man and Heaven. Your footwork has genuinely reached Unity of Man and Heaven. Then your swordsmanship reaching that realm is not far off."

Ji Yichuan looked at his son, his heart surging with emotion as he pondered deeply. His son Ji Ning's talent was so high that he was an absolute monstrous genius, rarely seen even on the Yan Mountain plains. Such a genius absolutely could not be treated ordinarily. At Ji Ning's rate of progress, there truly was no sufficient training for him within the Western Prefecture city.

"If you want to go out and roam, it's not impossible," Ji Yichuan said, looking at his son. "But you must meet one condition of mine."

"Yichuan!" Yuchi Snow grew anxious, but Ji Yichuan raised a hand to stop her.

"Speak, Father," Ji Ning said eagerly.

Ji Yichuan nodded. "The Golden Sword Ceremony is held once every four years. It is a competition for all youths under sixteen. I want you to win a Golden Sword in this Golden Sword Ceremony. If you obtain a Golden Sword, I will permit you to go out and roam."

"Golden Sword?" Ji Ning's eyes lit up.

He had long known of the agreement from years ago—if he seized a Golden Sword, he would naturally become the next Prefectural Lord. And over the past few years while training with the sword, his parents had mentioned to him that 'winning the Golden Sword means becoming the Prefectural Lord.'

"Winning a Golden Sword is very easy." Ji Ning looked at his father in confusion. "Father, I could probably win a Golden Sword with even a tenth of my strength. This can hardly be considered a trial. Do you truly value the position of Prefectural Lord that much?"

His father had set his heart on the Immortal path.

Ji Ning naturally also yearned to walk the Immortal path.

"The position of Prefectural Lord?" Ji Yichuan shook his head. "You are my son, the son I am most proud of. I believe you will go farther than I have. The position of Prefectural Lord of the Western Prefecture would only shackle you. You are destined to spread your wings and fly high."

Ji Ning was confused. "Then why do you want me to win a Golden Sword?"

"First, to put an end to Ji Lie's ambitions," Ji Yichuan said. "As for the second reason, you will know once you have won the Golden Sword. If you win it, I will let you go out and roam. But if you fail, you will stay obediently in the Western Prefecture city."

"Alright." Ji Ning grinned.

Yuchi Snow, sitting beside them, still had a look of worry on her face.

"Go back and rest," Ji Yichuan said.

Ji Ning rose and returned to his quarters in high spirits, while in the hall Ji Yichuan began to explain his reasoning to his wife.

…​…

The next morning.

As they ate together, Yuchi Snow instructed him, "After you win the Golden Sword, I won't stop you from going out to explore. But you must take attendants."

"Attendants?" Ji Ning quickly said, "I'm going out to take risks and explore. Why would I drag along a bunch of attendants?"

"You need only take two," Yuchi Snow said with a smile. "One is Qiuye. She is familiar with your habits and can serve you. The other is the attendant Mowu. Mowu was previously a Nine-Fang Warrior of the Black Armored Guards, and later served your father for a long time. He is very loyal. Although his strength is not as good as yours, he has rich experience traveling through the wilderness."

Ji Ning thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Just those two. No more."

…​…

"Milord, are you really going to leave the Western Prefecture city to explore? And you'll be taking me?" Qiuye was extremely excited. She had entered the Western Prefecture as a child and had not left for a very, very long time.

"Don't just stand there dumbfounded. Hurry to the library and bring me all the records of the great demons on the Yan Mountain plains, the tribe records, and the maps," Ji Ning said with high spirits, issuing orders to Qiuye. "I need to study them carefully to map out a rough route for my adventure."

"Yes, Milord." Qiuye immediately ran off.

Qiuye was Ji Ning's personal maidservant. She had been taught an extremely high-level Ki Refining technique since childhood and was nearing Houtian perfection. Personal maids of Ji Ning's status were always taught Ki Refining techniques and some supreme arts. In critical moments, these personal maids were expected to sacrifice themselves for their master.

"Here it is." Qiuye appeared carrying a huge stack of books towering over her head. With a bang, she set them down on the ground. The pile of books must have weighed several hundred jin.

Ji Ning began flipping through them.

Legends of great demon after great demon…

Only now did Ji Ning realize how many great demons lurked in the deep mountains and vast marshes. Precisely because there were so many and each was a nuisance, the great demons and the hegemonic powers like the Ji Clan actually maintained a kind of tacit understanding. The great demons generally did not go on mad frenzies slaughtering humans, and the hegemonic powers like the Ji Clan did not fight to the death to exterminate them.

Each side took a step back, maintaining a surface-level peace.

Although tribes were sometimes ravaged, great demons slain, and Xiantian lifeforms killed… this was all within controllable limits. An invisible line existed that none of the hegemonic powers like the Ji Clan and the great demons dared to cross. If they crossed that line, it would truly become a bloodbath.

"Blacktooth Tribe." Ji Ning pointed at the map. "This is the latest map of the Ji Clan Western Prefecture's territory. The Blacktooth Tribe is a newly established small tribe. It should be the one founded by Chuncao's father. It's right here, just over a thousand li from us."

"Milord, Milord, we absolutely must visit the Blacktooth Tribe and see Chuncao while we're there," Qiuye said quickly.

"Of course we will."

Ji Ning nodded. "But I need to explore and train along the way. First, I will go here, and here, and here… and here!" He pointed at the dark regions on the map that represented threats.

"Those are all places where great demons lurk," Qiuye exclaimed.

"Exactly." Ji Ning's eyes gleamed. "I'm going to slay great demons. Don't worry; I've chosen early-stage Xiantian great demons, much weaker than the Winged Serpent. I'll fight them one after another… until I break through to the Xiantian realm. The day I become a Xiantian lifeform will be the day I go to Winged Serpent Lake."

Qiuye grew anxious. "Milord, the Winged Serpent is a late-stage Xiantian great demon."

"I have my own plans," Ji Ning said.

The number one Fiendgod Body Refining method, the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens, possessed boundless power. At the third stage, it already matched an ordinary early-stage Xiantian Ki Refiner!

Once he broke through to the fourth stage, he would be on par with a late-stage Xiantian Ki Refiner!

In a head-on clash, he would be almost equal to the Winged Serpent. Moreover, in terms of realm, he was already far above that serpent.

"Great demon Winged Serpent." Ji Ning's eyes flickered with a hint of madness. He could not forget the scene of the Winged Serpent attacking him. "This time when I go out to adventure and explore, you are my ultimate goal. Don't die too soon!"

The Western Prefecture city of the Ji Clan welcomed the quadrennial Golden Sword Ceremony. Countless youths raised by the various tribes, filled with hope and longing, registered their names one after another, wanting to defeat every opponent in this grand ceremony and become the most dazzling stars, letting their names be passed down through countless tribes.

"After this Golden Sword Ceremony, I'll be going back to my tribe. I have to make it into the top eight, so that I can acquire the technique to train to the Xiantian realm. Only then will I have a chance in this life to become a Xiantian lifeform!" A dark-skinned youth carried a single-blade saber on his back, wore tattered animal hide, and had worn-out fur boots that were almost split through.

"My name, Hu Xiao, will be known by every tribe on these plains!"

"I am the strongest!"

"This is my last chance to obtain an immortal or demon secret art."

One by one, the tribe youths had their own aspirations as they registered for the Golden Sword Ceremony.

This was a grand festival.

A grand festival for countless tribe youths.

Almost every gifted youth in the vast lands governed by the Ji Clan Western Prefecture would participate. They longed for fame, hoping to gain advanced Ki Refining techniques and powerful supreme arts from this Golden Sword Ceremony. These things would be their foundation for making a name for themselves in the future.

…

"What? Ji Ning is participating in the Golden Sword Ceremony?" Ji Lie, who had just received the news, glared wide-eyed. The crimson poisonous snake coiled around his ear flicked its tongue. "He's only ten years old this year. He could easily wait four years for the next Golden Sword Ceremony. Why is he participating in this one?"