The Thousand-Sword Choice

“Choose carefully.” The yellow-furred bear curled his lip. “By the time you’re picking Pure Yang treasures, only your third selection of Pure Yang treasures will ever feel this overwhelming again.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Of course he understood. When he had first selected Immortal-ranked treasures, the initial pick had merely been the high-grade Immortal-ranked ‘Triple Sealing Immortal Circlet’. The second selection had brought the complete set known as the ‘Plowsword Sword Formation’, while the third was yet another leap forward.

In the future, when he selected Pure Yang treasures—by clearing the ninth and tenth levels of the War God Hall, which counted as his first and second Pure Yang picks—he probably wouldn’t obtain many Pure Yang treasures at all. Only by becoming a True God would he earn the third Pure Yang selection, the chance to acquire the most powerful treasures in the entire aquatic palace’s treasure hall.

But the prerequisite was…

He had to become a True God!

True Gods and Pure Yang True Immortals were on the same tier. To become a True God, one had to undergo the ‘Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation’. And given Ji Ning’s extraordinary fortune—as both the heir of Daoist Threelives and a disciple of Patriarch Subhuti—his tribulation was unlikely to be as simple as what ordinary Fiendgod cultivators faced. Ji Ning dared not be the least bit careless.

“My Grand Thousand Sword Formation requires at most seven hundred and twenty-nine flying swords. For a very, very long time to come, the treasures I use will be supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords.” Ji Ning mused to himself.

Even if he eventually became a Celestial Immortal and obtained some Pure Yang treasures, acquiring over seven hundred Pure Yang treasures was virtually impossible.

Unless he became a True God. The aquatic palace’s treasure hall would grant him one final opportunity to select Pure Yang treasures… perhaps, just perhaps, it might be possible. After all, Daoist Threelives had only left behind a portion of his collection. Not even he was necessarily able to gather a full sword formation of hundreds or thousands of Pure Yang flying swords.

For one thing, becoming a True God was far too distant!

According to Ji Ning’s plan, he would definitely have his Primaltwin undergo the tribulation first, followed by his true body later. Because the Primaltwin only cultivated Ki Refining, its tribulation would be easier. Meanwhile, his true body cultivated Fiendgod Body Refining… its tribulation would be absolutely terrifying. Since he knew it would be terrifying, there was no way he would allow both bodies to undergo the tribulation simultaneously. If he did, what form would the ‘Heavenly Tribulation’ take? Ji Ning didn’t even dare to imagine.

Furthermore, during his time at Mount Innerheart, Ji Ning had chatted with Senior Apprentice-Brother Silvermoon and others. They had all advised Ji Ning to let his Primaltwin undergo the tribulation first. That way, his Primaltwin would enter the ‘Celestial Immortal’ level first, allowing him to comprehend the Dao of the Sword more quickly. Once his realm was sufficiently elevated… and he had made ample preparations, only then should his true body undergo the tribulation.

…

“With the Three Realms in turmoil as they are, I need this set of flying swords to stake my life in battle! And even more so, I need them to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation!” Ji Ning was extremely cautious. He flipped through the book and carefully searched. A number of powerful supreme-grade Immortal-ranked treasures were impressive, but unfortunately, none of them comprised a complete set of nearly a thousand supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened and he stopped.

“Found it.” Joy spread across Ji Ning’s face.

The Yin-Yang Twin Polarity Thousand Slaughter Formation: Composed of five hundred extreme-Yin ‘One Qi Frost Ice Swords’ and five hundred extreme-Yang ‘Qiangang Blazing Fire Swords’. It could be deployed as the Yin-Yang Twin Polarity Thousand Slaughter Formation. Once the formation was activated, Yin and Yang, water and fire would collide, annihilating everything in their path. Both the One Qi Frost Ice Swords and the Qiangang Blazing Fire Swords were supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. They could be split between two controllers—one handling the five hundred One Qi Frost Ice Swords, the other handling the five hundred Qiangang Blazing Fire Swords, and the two would jointly operate the formation. Alternatively, a single person could control all one thousand supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords at once and command this grand formation.

The book provided a detailed account of its many mysteries.

It even recorded the deployment method for the ‘Yin-Yang Twin Polarity Thousand Slaughter Formation’.

However, some details were not recorded. In truth, this sword formation was originally meant for a pair of Celestial Immortal Dao-Companions. The female Immortal controlled the One Qi Frost Ice Swords, while the male Immortal controlled the Qiangang Blazing Fire Swords… Controlling supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords placed a tremendous burden on one’s heartforce. Even for a Celestial Immortal, only a very small number could control a thousand supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords while simultaneously deploying the Yin-Yang Twin Polarity Thousand Slaughter Formation.

“This formation is far too difficult.” Ji Ning’s expression changed as he read. “Although this formation uses swords, it leans even more heavily toward the ‘Dao of Formations’. Using such precious flying swords merely as formation bases… it’s a waste of their potential as swords.”

Many immortals used flying swords, but that didn’t make them Sword Immortals!

For instance, the Wufeng Immortal used flying swords. Littleqing’s weapon was also a flying sword. Nearly half of all Loose Immortals used ‘flying swords’ as their weapons. Yet out of a thousand Loose Immortals, it would be hard to find a single Sword Immortal! This Yin-Yang Twin Polarity Thousand Slaughter Formation treated each flying sword as a ‘formation base’, capable of forming a devastating, heaven-shaking grand array.

“Once they come into my hands, you will finally display the true power of ‘swords’.” Ji Ning said silently.

Ji Ning continued flipping through the book.

Soon, he finished reading the entire volume. The book contained several sword formations composed of large numbers of flying swords, but only two formations exceeded seven hundred and twenty-nine swords. The ‘Yin-Yang Twin Polarity Thousand Slaughter Formation’ was conveniently divided into Yin and Yang aspects. Since Ji Ning was relatively skilled at Yin-Yang coordination within the Dao of Formations, he chose this one.

“This is it.” A smile appeared on Ji Ning’s face.

Within the aquatic palace, in the Hall of Stars.

Ji Ning sat cross-legged inside the thatched cottage. He produced a flying sword that emanated a bone-chilling coldness. A small white serpent emerged from the sword: “Are you the master of all us sisters?”

“Sisters?” Ji Ning chuckled, glancing at the little white snake.

“We five hundred One Qi Frost Ice Swords are all close sisters,” the little white snake said. “And those five hundred Qiangang Blazing Fire Swords are all lively, boisterous brothers.”

Ji Ning smiled faintly. He traced his finger through the air, and streams of Yuan power flew out, coalescing into runes one after another. These runes glowed with a faint, hazy light as they hovered in midair. They were derived from the ‘Grand Thousand Sword Formation’ technique imparted by his master, Patriarch Subhuti—a technique that the Patriarch had spent a great deal of effort to create.

After a while, over ten thousand runes hovered in the air, forming a bizarre, immense Fiendgod character—‘千’ (Thousand).

“Condense.”

With a final flicker of Yuan power, Ji Ning caused the ten thousand runes to perfectly merge, transforming into an extraordinarily complex sigil—the ‘Grand Thousand Sigil’. This was the simplified method of condensing sigils that the Patriarch had taught. A true master of sigils could have formed the Grand Thousand Sigil in a single stroke, but Ji Ning had to first condense it from countless smaller runes.

“Merge.” Ji Ning slapped the Grand Thousand Sigil directly, then pressed it against the flying sword, fusing it into the blade.

Upon the blade of this flying sword, twisted and complex patterns immediately appeared. The entire sword seemed to have become even sharper and more lethal.

“One done.”

“Next.”

Ji Ning continued the process.

One by one, Ji Ning modified the flying swords. For the current Ji Ning, if he were applying the ‘Lesser Thousand Sword Formation Sigil’, he could have simply willed it and in the span of a single breath, imprinted the ‘Lesser Thousand Sigil’ upon all seven hundred-plus flying swords simultaneously. However, the ‘Grand Thousand Sigil’—created by merging the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation with various techniques of controlling multiple treasures—was incomparably more complex. Each of the over ten thousand small runes that made up the Grand Thousand Sigil was far more intricate than the Lesser Thousand Sigil.

It took a full three days, back and forth, before Ji Ning managed to imprint the Grand Thousand Sigil onto all seven hundred and twenty-nine flying swords. The remaining two hundred-plus Immortal-ranked flying swords were temporarily set aside.

“Rise!”

“Grand Thousand Sword Formation!”

Ji Ning attempted the formation multiple times. Despite the aid of the ‘Grand Thousand Sigil’, which allowed the many flying swords to resonate with each other as if they were one, both his true body and his Primaltwin could only execute the ‘Second Layer of the Grand Thousand Sword Formation’ at most—controlling one hundred and eighty-two supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords each. This was already the limit. If Ji Ning’s true body needed to focus on close-quarters combat, he could probably only manage the First Layer at most.

“Such terrifying power.”

Over a hundred Immortal-ranked flying swords, even if they attacked wildly without any formation, were already devastating.

With the Grand Thousand Sword Formation, their power was unified into a single force.

In an instant, his Ki Refining combat strength once again surpassed the close-combat power of his true body!

After breaking through, Ji Ning remained in the Yan Mountains for a few more days, carefully refining his understanding of close-quarters combat and the Grand Thousand Sword Formation. Once his strength was sufficiently consolidated, he departed from the Yan Mountains.

…

Above Yanliu City in the Firefan Commandery.

In the early morning, a chilly mist hung over Yanliu City. The air was bitterly cold. A faint spatial ripple appeared, and a youth in animal skins emerged from it. This time, Ji Ning had come alone, mainly because he intended to use the ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’ to investigate. Naturally, it wouldn’t be convenient to bring Uncle White and the others.

“The last time I escaped from that place, I teleported a million li and ended up in this Yanliu City. Back then, I speculated that the mountain range was the East Forest Mountain Range. I wonder if I was right.” Ji Ning smiled faintly. “Time to confirm.”

Whoosh!

Ji Ning flew directly toward the location he had escaped from earlier. Sometimes he flew and scouted, sometimes he teleported tens of thousands of li through the void. Soon, he confirmed that his earlier speculation had been correct—it was indeed the ‘East Forest Sect’ of the East Forest Mountain Range.

“The East Forest Sect?”

“How do I get in?”

“Transform into a mosquito or insect? But the East Forest Mountain Range is protected by formations. If a mosquito forcibly tries to break through the formation, it might draw attention.” Ji Ning frowned in contemplation. Then he began to scout the areas surrounding the East Forest Mountain Range. “There’s no way a sect this large never has anyone coming or going, never returning to the sect!”

…

Ji Ning first went to Heavenly Treasures Mountain to purchase intelligence materials regarding the experts of the ‘East Forest Sect’. At the very least, he needed to be able to recognize the sect’s members. Then he began to stake out the East Forest Mountain Range area, frequently using his ‘Candle Dragon’s Gaze’ to look around and search.

On the third day of Ji Ning’s stakeout.

“Sigh. Here we are, dignified Primal Daoists, reduced to the pathetic role of errand boys—buying them immortal brews, immortal fruits, all kinds of exotic beasts to slaughter for their feasts. How utterly shameful!” A large boat descended, and two cultivators walked side by side, exchanging whispers through divine telepathy. They were so cautious that they only dared to voice their complaints through telepathic transmission.

“Even the Sect Leader is ordered around by them. What are we Primal Daoists in comparison? Just endure it. Didn’t that general say they would leave within a thousand years and set us free?”

“I’m afraid we might be dead before that thousand years is up.”

The two Primal Daoists grumbled.

Several tens of thousands of li away, in the wilderness, a youth sat cross-legged. His eyes flickered with candlelight as he gazed into the distance. Joy appeared on his face: “Oh? Aren’t these two the Primal Daoists of the East Forest Sect? Just as I thought. How could a major sect spanning over a hundred thousand li possibly have no one coming or going? It seems my way in will depend on these two.”

With that, Ji Ning vanished from where he sat, teleporting through the void to quietly close in.