The Birth of the Brightmoon Sword-Art

The green-haired man simply let out a cold snort, then closed his eyes and sat cross-legged atop the mountain peak, unmoving. He couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge Ji Ning.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll have to take action,” Ji Ning said with a shake of his head. He casually swept his hand, and a streak of sword-light instantly flashed across the sky, leaving behind a lingering afterimage in midair that refused to fade. It seemed like an ordinary sword-strike, but Ji Ning had already infused it with his fourth-level Heartforce.

The strike crossed a distance of several hundred li in an instant, stabbing directly into the green-haired man’s body.

Clang!

A metallic crashing sound rang out, as if the sword had struck a magic treasure. The green-haired man didn’t even flinch. He glanced at Ji Ning and sneered, “Is this all you’ve got? Even sitting right here, you can’t touch me at all. Get lost, and fast.”

“Oh?” Ji Ning shook his head and laughed. “Although the power of this strike of mine isn’t anything special, if you hadn’t resisted at all, you would have been sent flying long ago. Don’t tell me you can sit there perfectly still without expending any divine power at all.”

The power of his own strike was formidable. Even a small world would probably be shattered to pieces by it! Even if the man’s divine body was as tough as a magic treasure and difficult to damage, a strike of that magnitude should still send that treasure flying.

“Hmph. I’m a True God, sitting right here. You can’t harm me in the slightest,” the green-haired man said calmly. “If I didn’t care about face and let you blast me away, I wouldn’t expend a single bit of my divine power.”

“Not expend any? Ridiculous!”

“As long as a powerful expert is alive, they must expend divine power or ki.” Ji Ning sneered. “Ki Refiners need to expend ki, and you need to expend divine power as well. Why are you so emaciated? Isn’t it because you’re trying to conserve your divine power? Even if I didn’t attack you, after a few more Chaos Cycles or even longer, when your ki and divine power are completely exhausted, you will surely die.”

The green-haired man’s expression turned ugly.

Any living being had to expend energy just to stay alive! Immortals and gods could live forever because they could absorb the natural energy of Heaven and Earth. But out in the primordial chaos, if one couldn’t absorb the energy of Heaven and Earth and lacked a method to draw in the power of chaos, even if they had immortal pills and elixirs, once those ran out after a long enough time, they would die!

“As long as you live, you have to expend divine power and ki. If I attack you, I’ll accelerate your consumption. Let’s see how long you can hold out.” Ji Ning extended his palm, and a lotus flower appeared in his hand. The eight-petaled lotus quickly flew up into the air above the mountain peak, expanding to a size of a thousand zhang before flipping over and pointing downward. Its petals bloomed wide, and a torrent of flames, like countless divine dragons, poured down from above, completely surrounding the green-haired man.

The Eight Great True Fires blazed.

The green-haired man remained within, blocking them with ease.

“Don’t waste your efforts,” the green-haired man growled. “These flames can’t hurt me.”

“No rush. I have all the time in the world.” Ji Ning said coldly. “Under the Eight-Flame World-Direction, your divine power and ki must be draining very quickly.”

The green-haired man’s expression was grim.

His divine body was comparable to a Pure Yang magic treasure. In terms of pure sturdiness, he was on par with Ji Ning, who had mastered the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. Although he knew of even more powerful body-protection divine abilities, the cost of training them was too great, so he had never succeeded. Even though his divine body was comparable to a treasure, even treasures would be damaged over an extremely long period of time, such as a few Chaos Cycles, without any external force acting on them. That was why many Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had bodies that were tattered and worn. They could actually maintain their treasures by expending a small amount of energy, but they were unwilling to do so.

Nothing was eternally indestructible. Even Chaosworlds had a time when they would decline and be destroyed.

When Ji Ning fought normally, he allowed his body to be attacked, claiming he didn’t expend any divine power or ki.

But in reality, every action required some energy. Even speaking required a tiny amount. It was just that the expenditure was so minuscule it was negligible! At Ji Ning’s level, a single breath would absorb a vast amount of the natural energy of Heaven and Earth, more than enough to offset any such minute consumption.

“Damn it, damn it…” The green-haired man’s expression was foul.

Being imprisoned here, his divine power consumption was very slow, just enough to sustain his life. But now, under the searing heat of the Eight-Flame World-Direction, even an Empyrean God would be burned to death. Although he, a True God, wouldn’t die, his divine power consumption had increased dramatically, skyrocketing! This so-called ‘skyrocketing divine power consumption’, out in the outside world, would be offset a hundredfold or a thousandfold in a single breath. Unfortunately, in this place, there was no replenishment.

“Submit to me, and you will have a chance to leave in the future,” Ji Ning said calmly. “If you keep stubbornly resisting, hmph, you will only meet your death.”

“Damn it, this fire-attributed treasure…” The green-haired man was both angry and anxious. “This jailer is entirely relying on these eight types of flames to attack me. His own consumption is very low. And he can often replenish himself from the outside world. He can hold out against me forever. Who refined this kind of flame treasure? The eight flames are mediocre on their own, but when combined, their power is this great.”

Seeing the green-haired man remain silent, Ji Ning couldn’t be bothered to say more. Only when a man saw the coffin before his eyes would he shed tears!

...

“Hurry up and submit.”

In another area of the World Prison, another Ji Ning clone stood in midair. Around him, six types of magic treasures—vases, gourds, bracelets—floated in the air. They simultaneously released True Fire, Divine Wind, True Water, and other elements, creating a scene of blazing fire, surging water, and rampaging black winds that frantically besieged the female True Immortal who was hiding under the protection of her magic treasure.

“True Immortal Dongjun has already submitted. If you keep wasting time, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” Ji Ning shouted.

The female True Immortal just stared coldly at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning sighed to himself.

Of his two clones, one controlled the Eight-Flame World-Direction, while the other commanded some other treasures. Clearly, their power was not comparable to the Eight-Flame World-Direction. That treasure was indeed the most suitable for grinding them down, as it used the power of True Fire, consuming very little divine power.

The mop-up within the World Prison was destined to be slow.

True Gods and True Immortals were on the level of True Gods and Daofathers in the Three Realms. Dealing with each one required a great deal of effort.

…

Ji Ning didn’t expend much thought on dealing with those prisoners. Nearly all of his various clones were immersed in comprehending and refining his sword arts.

Ji Ning walks the Three Realms, thirty-second year of his sword-training.

“Senior, be careful!” A Primal Fiendgod, wielding two massive hammers, charged through the mountain forest straight at Ji Ning. The trees caught in his path were shattered or even pulverized into dust.

The white-robed youth, Ji Ning, held two swords in his hands, using the power and speed of a Zifu-level Fiendgod.

His sword-light was like a black hole, guiding the heavy hammers aside. With a flash, the sword-light stabbed straight towards the Fiendgod.

“Clang.” The giant hammer blocked it.

“That was close.” The Fiendgod was startled. “This senior’s power clearly isn’t great. The strength in his arms is very weak. But why was that sword-strike so fast, so bizarre? I almost didn’t block it.”

Ji Ning, however, just frowned and continued sparring with this Fiendgod.

He would occasionally thrust his sword.

This thrust of Ji Ning’s had already far surpassed the profundities of ordinary sword mastery. It incorporated some of the mysteries of the Five Treasures Sword Art, a sword-art that transcended the limits of the Heavenly Dao. Even with the power of a Zifu Disciple, this single thrust was enough to throw the Primal-level Fiendgod into panic.

“Pfft.”

Finally, a sword-strike of chilling speed and precision stabbed straight through the Fiendgod’s brow, piercing clean through.

Its terrifying speed also gave it astonishing penetrative force.

“Mm. This is the feeling.” Ji Ning revealed a hint of a smile.

“Senior.” The Primal Fiendgod was utterly stunned, quickly saying, “I concede. Senior’s sword-art is simply inconceivable. I’ve never even heard of such a thing in all my life.”

“Continue,” Ji Ning commanded.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The poor Fiendgod was pierced through by Ji Ning’s sword time and time again.

“This sword-stance appears simple, but it is the fastest, most direct, and the second to form its initial shape.” Ji Ning nodded. “This sword-stance shall be the ‘Blood Drop’ of the five sword-stances.”

Blood Drop Stance: The fastest, most ferocious, and most penetrating sword-stance.

…

Ji Ning’s thirty-sixth year of sword-training. A small world.

“Go, go, go!” A young girl in violet stood in the distance, manipulating a pair of flying swords, one violet and one azure, which transformed into streaks of light as they stabbed towards Ji Ning.

“Bang.” “Bang.”

Ji Ning wielded two swords. Each sword seemed to contain an astonishing weight. When he swung them, it felt as if he were swinging a mace or a warhammer. When his blades collided with the incoming flying swords, they made a low, rumbling sound, actually knocking the girl’s swords flying backward.

“How is this possible? This senior’s power isn’t high, and he’s only using the strength of the Zifu level. I’m already a Primal Daoist. Why can he use his swords to directly knock my flying swords away?” The young girl was completely baffled.

“This stance has also formed its initial shape.” Ji Ning revealed a smile. “This sword-stance shall be the ‘Heavenbreaker’ of the five sword-stances.”

Heavenbreaker Stance: The weight of a magic treasure can be changed. Even ordinary Earth-ranked or Heaven-ranked treasures can be made to weigh ten thousand jin, or as light as a feather. As for Innate spirit-treasures, things like the Heavenly Stargold Beads could be as heavy as a small star, or could float as lightly as a feather.

However, even for Ji Ning, making all three thousand six hundred Stargold Beads as heavy as stars was something he couldn’t control. So, the best was whatever suited one’s own needs.

The Heavenbreaker Stance was about making the sword heavier and then using this ‘weight’ to attack! If the sword was too heavy, its speed would be too slow. If it was too light, the speed also wouldn’t be maximized. To achieve the maximum speed for a sword, there was an optimal weight based on the cultivator’s strength.

The Heavenbreaker Stance was about both high speed and ferocious, overwhelming power, as if splitting Heaven and Earth.

…

Ji Ning’s forty-third year of sword-training.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… A dense rain of divine needles, numbering in the tens of thousands, converged on Ji Ning.

Ji Ning held his two swords.

Two streaks of sword-light blazed into the air, and instantly, two completely opposite, spiraling curtains of water appeared in the sky. The tens of thousands of needles struck, but were all blocked by these two oppositely rotating vortexes of water.

“This stance shall be called ‘Yin-Yang’.” Ji Ning nodded.

Yin-Yang Stance: A defensive sword-stance used when facing an overwhelming, blanket-style attack.

…

Ji Ning’s fifty-first year of sword-training.

“What’s going on with this senior? He’s been using very weak power and speed the whole time, only keeping himself at the Zifu level. And he’s actually going to fight all thirteen of us brothers at once?”

“How strange.”

“But he’s really impressive. Whether it’s close combat or long-range magic treasure attacks from us, he can block them all without injury.”

Thirteen Primal-level demons joined forces, with some of them being Fiendgod Body Refiners.

Ji Ning wielded two swords.

Sometimes he would create a black hole with his sword-light, or he would conjure a spiraling curtain of water around him, perfectly defending against all attacks. At the same time, he fought fiercely with the three Fiendgod Body Refining demons who were attacking him in close quarters.

The battle had already lasted an entire day and two nights.

“Still not quite right.”

“No.”

Ji Ning was faintly touching the key point, so he didn’t stop.

Suddenly—

Three eerie streaks of sword-light flickered and vanished.

The three demons fighting in close quarters all had their heads sent flying. Although the heads quickly flew back and reconnected, the thirteen demons were completely shocked. Under their combined attack, this man could still behead three Primal Fiendgod Body Refining demons?

“Mm. Now it’s starting to look like something.” Ji Ning smiled. “This stance shall be called ‘Shadowless’.”

Shadowless Stance: The most bizarre and extremely fast sword-stance. Its speed was second only to the ‘Blood Drop Stance’, completely surpassing the other three stances. The Blood Drop Stance was relatively more overt and direct, while the Shadowless Stance was more subtle and tricky.

…

A wooden boat drifted along a river.

Ji Ning sat on the boat, deep in thought. The bald old servant, the Ninefang Empyrean God, stood silently guard by his side.

“Fifty-one years of sword-training, taking the Five Treasures Sword Art as my root, and using my understanding of the Dao of the Sword, I’ve finally managed to form the initial shape of my five stances.” Ji Ning felt a surge of joy in his heart. Only today had he achieved a true classification and categorization of the infinite and vast world of the sword.

All sword arts could be broken down and differentiated into these five stances.

The Five Treasures Sword Art had also been disassembled and refined into them, making all five of his sword-stances extraordinarily fast.

“The five stances of the Brightmoon Sword-Art: Soleheart, Yin-Yang, Blood Drop, Heavenbreaker, and Shadowless.” Ji Ning had a feeling that any one of these five stances, when developed to its absolute limit, would far surpass any sword art in the Three Realms.

Of course, that depended on him continuously perfecting them. Right now, they were just an initial framework.

“Disciple.” A spatial vortex suddenly appeared at the prow of the wooden boat, and Patriarch Subhuti emerged from within.

Ji Ning quickly rose to his feet: “Master.”

“Patriarch.” The Ninefang Empyrean God was also startled and hurriedly bowed with utmost respect.