A Century of Slaughter

The Demon Ice Valley stretched for billions of li, its exact length unknown.

With every step Ji Ning took, countless demons fell.

In every moment, Ji Ning pushed his sword-art to its absolute limit. Only by slaughtering a sufficient number of demons could he succeed. A god like Empyrean God Feiyou could also struggle for a century, yet he ultimately failed to kill enough. Now, catastrophe was descending upon the Three Realms, and Ji Ning had no idea when the final battle would begin. He had to be fast. A century of slaughter was an ordeal he would endure once, and once only—he refused to fail and have to repeat it a second or third time.

Nor could he relax his vigilance for even an instant. These countless demons were each comparable to an Empyrean God in power. Fortunately, they did not employ formations; he only had to contend with the few dozen demons that pressed in around him at any given time.

…

Time passed in a blur of mad slaughter. A century slipped away.

Within a gorge formed entirely of condensed ice, a white-robed youth wielded a pair of swords, cutting down demon after demon. His sword-light flickered with an elusive, lightning-fast quality.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A flash of sword-light cleaved a demon in two from the shoulder.

A single thrust split a demon's skull apart.

An arcing sweep felled three nearby demons at once.

"His sword speed is increasing. In the entire history of the Moon Underwater Abyss, among all the Empyrean Gods who have entered, his sword is the fastest." The Demon King stood atop an icy peak overlooking the gorge. Below, the countless demons swarmed around Ji Ning like a sea of ants.

This battle had raged for a century.

"Correct. When he first entered the valley, his sword wasn't this fast," said the flame-wreathed figure known as the Lord of Purgatory. "He's been improving constantly, his sword-art growing fiercer with each passing day. If I were to fight him again now, he'd likely defeat me with ease."

"His sword is so fast—how can it be this fast? If you ask me, it's nearly reached the speed of light," put in the hideous sea-yaksha.

"Mm. Close enough. Even if it hasn't reached light-speed, it's not far off," said the Snow Fiendlord.

These denizens of the Moon Underwater Abyss often gathered together. The Lord of Purgatory, the Snow Fiendlord, and the sea-yaksha had merely sent avatars to the Demon Ice Valley. Curious about Ji Ning's progress, they naturally wanted to watch him challenge the valley.

"His sword speed is approaching the Heavenly Dao limit," the Demon King said, nodding. "I suspect he has studied an extremely powerful sword-art technique. Without such guidance, he wouldn't have avoided all wrong turns. Even the most talented Empyrean Gods—whether they train in swords, staves, or spears—usually fall far short of the Heavenly Dao limit."

"Mm." The Snow Fiendlord, the Lord of Purgatory, and the sea-yaksha all nodded in agreement.

The Solar Golden Rainbow and the Nine-Horned Lightning Serpent both moved at the Heavenly Dao's speed limit—six hundred thousand li in an instant. Most mighty cultivators were far slower.

As for the weapon speed of the Three Realms' experts, that was naturally much faster than their body speed. They generally strove to approach the Heavenly Dao limit.

Ji Ning's sword speed had now nearly reached that limit.

Of course...

There were speeds that surpassed the Heavenly Dao limit. Those who mastered the complete Five Treasures Sword Art could exceed it. And the long-lost Divine Archer Houyi—his arrows were the fastest in the Three Realms, having once slain the Golden Crow Demon Emperor.

"It's enough." The Demon King nodded, then called out, "Withdraw!"

A single bellow echoed through the ice valley. Every demon heard it. With a great surging sound like a receding tide, the countless demons rapidly retreated into the flanking peaks.

…

"Hm?" Ji Ning shuddered alert.

They were retreating?

After a century of slaughter, the first retreat left him feeling oddly disoriented.

"Whoosh." A figure descended from the sky—the Demon King with the golden gourd at his waist. He landed on the floating wooden bridge, shook his massive head, and his great curved horns swiveled.

"Demon King," Ji Ning said.

"A century is up." The Demon King rested his black staff on his shoulder and said lazily, "You've killed quite a few demons."

"May I now cross the Demon Ice Valley and reach the next island?" Ji Ning asked.

The Demon King looked at him with a grin. "As much as I'd like you to stay and play with me a while longer, the number you've killed is indeed sufficient. Your sword is too fast."

Ji Ning paused, then smiled.

His sword was too fast? Throughout the battle, he had constantly worried about killing enough demons, so he kept repeating in his heart: faster, faster, faster. The faster the sword, the more he could kill. Besides, the Five Treasures Sword Art he had studied was a technique that surpassed the Heavenly Dao's speed limit. Over a century of slaughter, he had faced countless difficulties and figured out their solutions one by one. The originally impenetrable fourth chapter of the Five Treasures Sword Art became clearer with each insight. The more he understood, the faster his sword became.

"Since you have passed the Demon Ice Valley, you may proceed to the fourth island—the Thousand Star Island," the Demon King said. "Before that, I will take you to collect your treasures."

Ji Ning nodded. Reaching the third, fourth, and fifth islands each entitled him to claim a treasure.

"As for those Empyrean Gods you brought with you—since they gave up, tell them to return the treasures to me." The Demon King said coolly, "Those who surrender have no right to keep their treasures."

"Understood." Ji Ning had already known this. Feiyou, Wuqi, and the others had long since handed their treasures to him for return.

A day later.

Thousand Star Island was also divided into small islets and one large island. The small islets were where treasures grew; the large island was where the Empyrean Gods dwelled.

"Go. Your talent in the sword-art is extremely high. Only one final obstacle stands between you and your escape." The Demon King smiled at him. "In all the endless ages, only one—Jueming—has ever succeeded. I hope you will be the second."

Ji Ning nodded, then turned and walked along the floating wooden bridge toward the large island.

He had just acquired three treasures, and he had pushed for the maximum number of copies—eight of each. But these treasures, at least for now, seemed useless to him. Just as without the Icefire Golden Core Refining Art, the Iceheart Marrow and Nine-Yang Magma would have been worthless to him even if he had them.

"Thousand Star Island."

Ji Ning stepped onto the large island, his heart pounding with barely contained excitement. This was already the fourth island. He was close to the end! Once he reached the fifth island, he could leave.

"Senior apprentice-sister, wait for me." Deep in his heart, Ji Ning yearned for his family to be reunited.

He suppressed his emotions, chose a large, uneven rock at the edge of the island, and sat cross-legged upon it. He began to organize the insights gained from a century of slaughter. He had been fighting nonstop, achieving many realizations about the Five Treasures Sword Art, but he had never had the chance to systematically consolidate them.

Before entering the Demon Ice Valley, Ji Ning's total cultivation time had been only about two hundred years. Until the Great Xia War, he had been building his foundation—at the Black-White College and at Mount Innerheart's Tristar Crescent Abode, he had laid a solid base and learned many divine abilities and techniques.

The subsequent period—the Realm of Annihilation, the Great Xia War, the Realm War, his sword training across the Three Realms—was when true progress began.

In just over a hundred years, Ji Ning had advanced rapidly. Shortly after entering the Moon Underwater Abyss, he had reached the fourth layer of Sword Force.

And now, the century-long slaughter in the Demon Ice Valley—every moment spent fighting with all his might—was an unprecedented tempering for a cultivator whose forte was offense. Even Feiyou and the others, who had lived for inconceivably long ages, had felt the benefits of the valley. For Ji Ning, it was an even greater boon.

"Whoosh..."

Ji Ning closed his eyes. The Five Treasures Sword Art surfaced in his mind. The scattered fragments of insight came together, perfecting his Brightmoon Sword-Art and deepening his understanding of the Five Treasures Sword Art with each passing moment...

On Thousand Star Island.

A figure in grey robes walked alone, muttering to himself: "When will I ever leave this cage? Even though I've given up—even given up my treasures—they still won't let us out. We're bound to the other Empyrean Gods. If they die, we die. If they succeed, we get out."

"But in all these endless ages, only Jueming has succeeded. And before he tried, who could say he would make it?"

"Sigh."

"Xiaoyue." The grey-robed man's eyes held a deep, aching longing. Suddenly, he froze and turned his head. Not far away, on a weathered, cracked boulder, a white-robed youth sat cross-legged in meditation.