The Knife Edge of Freedom

The world of the Brightmoon Painting.

Under the hazy moonlight, Ji Ning sat cross-legged on the riverbank. He had already set up a simple illusion formation around him.

“Riiiiip~~~” Strands of silk-like sword-light howled and flew through the air around him, crisscrossing with astonishing power.

Having just comprehended the seventh stance of the Three-Foot Sword, the ‘One-Character Sword Decapitation’, and reached the ‘sword-light like silk’ level, and having pledged his troth with Yu Wei, Ji Ning was at the peak of his ambition. His Dao-heart was incomparably clear and bright, his mind serene and harmonious. There was no resentment, no anger. His heart was empty and pure, not stained by a single speck of dust.

Generally, when one’s level had just broken through, it was necessary to consolidate. With a state of mind like this, insights into the sword naturally welled up within him.

“There must be desire in one’s heart. There must be obsession.” “The stronger the obsession, the sharper the sword.” “What I seek…” “…is grand freedom! Grand ease!”

Ji Ning said silently.

What was grand freedom and grand ease? Being able to protect the ones he loved, to not be threatened by others, to hold his destiny completely in his own hands!

“This is my Sword Dao.” “Slay all who obstruct my path!”

Ji Ning’s gaze was like lightning.

Whoosh!

The sword-light shot out in every direction, unmatched, its contained sword-intent reaching a zenith Ji Ning had never before achieved! Every Sword Immortal possessed a Sword Heart. Among Sword Immortals, there were evil ones, solitary ones, and carefree and wanton ones… but they all advanced along the path of their own Sword Heart. If they hesitated, wavered, or became confused, then their sword-intent would weaken, would no longer be pure, and the power of their sword would constantly decline.

“The Three-Foot Sword of the Immortal Beixing sought satisfaction. A single day of satisfying life was better than a hundred years of stifled existence.” “My Three-Foot Sword seeks grand freedom and grand ease! Pain is merely a part of grand freedom and grand ease. Grand freedom and grand ease are more about a kind of transcendence, transcending beyond the Three Realms, possessing invincible strength. Only then can one have grand freedom and grand ease.”

Ji Ning understood that he was different from the Immortal Beixing.

The Immortal Beixing was a Loose Immortal, ultimately fated to die from the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. Thus, his sword art was more like a kind of madness knowing death was coming. No matter who, simply kill, kill, kill. Kill all the unjust, kill all the killable, seeking only satisfaction. No matter how great your backing, just kill them all and be done with it.

But in reality, because he knew he was going to die, the Immortal Beixing’s Three-Foot Sword was too mad, going to an extreme, which actually reduced the power of his sword art.

Ji Ning took the profound mysteries of the ‘Three-Foot Sword’ but used his own ‘sword-intent’, forming a Three-Foot Sword that belonged to him alone.

In fact, the Immortal Beixing knew this as well. That was why his Three-Foot Sword legacy meant that every generation of inheritors would form their own unique Three-Foot Sword.

Holding his Northsea swords in his hands, feeling the unity of man and sword, Ji Ning strode through the world of the Brightmoon Painting.

“Alone? Surround him!”

Suddenly, three figures swooped over. One of them cast a spell, and a flock of crows flew out, densely surrounding Ji Ning.

Ji Ning, in turn, revealed a smile.

Swish!

Ji Ning moved. His entire body crackled with lightning, his figure like a roc, flickering like a ghost. The sword-light in his hand danced through the air like strands of silk. The countless crows were directly scattered, reverting to cone-shaped magic treasures. He then moved with ghostly speed, killing directly towards the three.

“Who the hell is this? So fast.” “Watch out.” “Ah.”

Although he didn’t use the Starseizing Hand, Heavenly Transformation, or Three Heads, Six Arms, and only utilized two divine abilities, the ‘Five Thunders’ and the ‘Windwing Evasion’, these two divine abilities alone were enough to unleash tremendous speed and power. He wasn’t trying to overwhelm them with brute force; he was tempering his swordsmanship.

His sword-light flickered as he battered the three men until they were in a sorry state, with no choice but to desperately defend themselves and flee in panic.

“His speed is too fast, his swordsmanship is too fierce.” “And he’s a Fiendgod Body Refiner. He hasn’t even used the Heavenly Transformation divine ability. I don’t believe he doesn’t know the Heavenly Transformation.”

Ji Ning walked on.

In the final month within the Brightmoon Painting world, he freely released his divine sense to search for opponents, engaging in battle after battle.

When encountering weaker Ki Refiners, he wouldn’t use Heavenly Transformation. When facing a powerful opponent, he would have to rely on Heavenly Transformation. When facing a group of powerful opponents… he would go all out, even using the Starseizing Hand!

In short, Ji Ning was fast, fierce, and strong. He roamed about on his own, causing havoc. No matter how many joined forces against him, he simply killed his way straight through. After all, at this stage, everyone was only in small teams of a few people. If it were the beginning of the Brightmoon Painting, when there were many people and even teams of several hundred, Ji Ning wouldn’t have dared to be so arrogant.

But now… There were few people.

However, these few were all monstrous talents. Ji Ning could therefore indulge himself in tempering his swordsmanship. Sword techniques were, by nature, arts of slaughter, and making progress through slaughter was faster. Ji Ning completely merged the ‘Dao of Rainwater’ and the ‘Dao of Blazing Fire’ into his Sword Dao. When his sword art needed to be hard, it was hard; when it needed to be soft, it was soft. He was already much stronger than when he had killed Xiamang Qi and Feixue Realperson.

On the royal plaza, the crowd was filled with awe. Only a little over two hundred people remained in the Brightmoon Painting, each a monstrous genius. Yet, among them, several figures shone brilliantly.

Ji Ning was one of them!

“Ji Ning’s sword art is advancing far too quickly! He is vastly stronger than when he first entered the Brightmoon Painting. Right now, I think he should be one of the strongest in the entire Brightmoon Painting.” “I think this Ji Ning can get first place in the Immortal Fortunes Assembly!” “He has only been cultivating for a little over thirty years. How can he be this strong?” “Monster! An absolute monster!” “This Ji Ning is a natural-born Sword Immortal! His sword art has reached such a level in just over thirty years. I have cultivated for thirty thousand years and I still can’t match him. My life has been wasted!”

Discussions arose from the 3,600 commanderies and the Four Seas.

But there was no doubt that among the over one hundred thousand participants of the Immortal Fortunes Assembly, Ji Ning was the number one Sword Immortal! After all, others who could rival him, like Xiamang Zishan, Ninefate Recluse, Blackstone Recluse, and the Slovenly Recluse, were not Sword Immortals. Since the Sword Immortal was the most skilled in attack, many naturally believed Ji Ning would take first place.

In the main hall of the Tianshen Hall.

Ancestor Xuanji watched with a bitter feeling. Although his Shaoyin clan also had a prodigy like Shaoyin Xuan, who could rival ‘Xiamang Zishan’, at least within the Brightmoon Painting, Shaoyin Xuan was certainly not as dazzling as Ji Ning.

“This Ji Ning…” Ancestor Xuanji ground his teeth. “The more monstrous his talent, the more he must be eradicated!” “Hmph, let him be proud for now. He’s just a genius from an Immortal Fortunes Assembly. This Assembly is held once every three hundred years; who knows how many times it has been held… How many of those geniuses ever became Celestial Immortals?” Ancestor Xuanji muttered secretly. “If he can’t become a Celestial Immortal, he’ll never amount to anything.” “This Immortal Fortunes Assembly is being watched by the Xia Emperor, and several other Pure Yang True Immortals have come to observe as well. But they are merely observing. What status do Pure Yang True Immortals hold? They are the true experts of the Three Realms. They will certainly not casually accept disciples. They probably won’t accept this Ji Ning as a disciple either. As long as no Pure Yang True Immortal accepts him as a disciple… once I find an opportunity, I will definitely eradicate him.”

Ancestor Xuanji’s killing intent was very strong.

He truly had feelings for Shaoyin Nong and desperately wanted to avenge him! Furthermore, the hatred between the Shaoyin clan and Ji Ning was already great; after all, they had previously sent out assassins. If Ji Ning’s wings were allowed to grow fully in the future, how could he not seek revenge?

Looking at this Immortal Fortunes Assembly, with Ji Ning’s talent being so monstrous, how could he be allowed to grow?

He had to be eliminated!

Of course… if some Pure Yang True Immortal accepted Ji Ning as a disciple, Ancestor Xuanji could only swallow his bitter fruit. “The disciples of Pure Yang True Immortals can generally be counted on one’s fingers. They will absolutely not casually take on disciples.” Ancestor Xuanji silently prayed, hoping that no Pure Yang True Immortal would step in and accept Ji Ning as a disciple. That would truly be disastrous.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged on a mountain peak.

Suddenly— “The one-year period is over. The eighty of you with the most talismans pass the trial of the Brightmoon Painting.” The voice of the Grand Xia Emperor suddenly rang out in the minds of everyone in the Brightmoon Painting world.

Immediately, with a hum~~~ Golden light enveloped Ji Ning, Xiamang Zishan, Ninefate Recluse, the Slovenly Recluse, Blackstone Recluse, and seventy-nine others. Some were sitting cross-legged, some were walking, some were lying down and sleeping. Everyone was bathed in golden light, clearly so those outside could see clearly who the eighty were.

Swish! Swish! Swish!!!

These eighty were all teleported out of the Brightmoon Painting.

“The remaining one hundred and fifty-nine of you must engage in a final slaughter. Only sixteen of you can survive and remain within the Brightmoon Painting.” The Grand Xia Emperor’s voice rang out in the minds of the remaining 159. They were then teleported directly to a vast plain.

A grand sealing formation appeared over the plain, covering only a hundred kilometers.

All 159 people were within this sealing formation.

They all looked at each other.

“Begin the slaughter.” The Grand Xia Emperor’s voice rang out.

Immediately, the 159 people within the sealing formation began a frantic final battle. The area was too small, only a hundred kilometers. For them, a single dash could cover a hundred kilometers. With so many people packed together, the slaughter was naturally exceptionally brutal. Some were forced to voluntarily throw out their talismans and forfeit.

On the clouds outside the main hall of the Tianshen Hall.

Ji Ning and the other seventy-nine appeared simultaneously on the clouds, looking at each other.

“Mm?” Ji Ning soon saw many familiar faces: Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, Blackstone Recluse… “Senior apprentice-brother.” Ji Ning also saw the Slovenly Recluse. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” The Slovenly Recluse smiled back. “All eighty of you, stand properly!” A tall, crowned attendant said coldly. “The other sixteen will be decided shortly. All ninety-six of you will follow me to pay respects to his Imperial Majesty. There are also several Pure Yang True Immortals of the Three Realms present here. You all must know the rules, and must not offend or provoke the True Immortals.”

The tall, crowned attendant had a clean-shaven, pale face and a cold, sinister aura. The faint ripples emanating from him made Ji Ning and the others instantly recognize him… this attendant was a Celestial Immortal.

This made Ji Ning and the others sigh inwardly in amazement.

Among the over one hundred thousand participants in their entire Immortal Fortunes Assembly, they couldn’t be sure a single Celestial Immortal would emerge. Yet this attendant was already a Celestial Immortal, instantly placing an immense invisible pressure upon them.