Chapter 15: Sword Force

Three streaks of light suddenly flew over from afar, heading toward Ji Ning and the Nine Tooth Celestial.

"Eh?" Ji Ning looked carefully and immediately recognized one of the three as the Daoist Wu Dao; the other two he had never seen before.

"Could it be Daoist Ji Ning?" called out the rather ugly-looking man.

"We heard from Junior Brother Wu Dao that Daoist Ji Ning was coming, and we've been waiting here for a long time, but we couldn't find you. We were burning with anxiety," said the handsome young man with a smile.

Ji Ning laughed. "I've kept you three waiting for so long—how embarrassing."

"We live in the Sword Immortal Realm anyway, so waiting or not, we're still living here," the young man laughed.

Ji Ning smiled. This True Immortal Ji Min was truly an interesting person. "I've already met Daoist Wu Dao. The more stalwart one should be Divine Archer Fu Liu, and this one should be Daoist 'Sword Immortal Beyond the Heavens' Ji Min. I've long heard of your fame, Daoist Ji Min, and I'm finally able to meet you today."

After Patriarch Fuju died, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered.

Now only three Celestial Immortals and True Immortals remained in the Sword Sect.

They were True Immortal Wu Dao, Divine Archer Fu Liu, and True Immortal Ji Min.

Among them, True Immortal Ji Min had joined the earliest, Divine Archer Fu Liu next, and True Immortal Wu Dao the latest. At the same time, True Immortal Ji Min's strength was astonishing. In the Three Realms, only two had mastered the entire Five Treasures Sword Art: one was the Patriarch, and the other was 'True Immortal Ji Min'. Having mastered the Five Treasures Sword Art, he instantly became an absolute top-tier existence among Celestial Immortals and True Immortals, comparable to Patriarch Lu, and was honored as the 'Sword Immortal Beyond the Heavens'.

"Is that Daoist Ji Ning?"

"Daoist Beiming has come too."

"I heard that on the borderlands battlefield of the Grand Xia world, Daoist Ji Ning's sword suppressed the Patriarch's puppet..."

"Daoist Ji Ning."

Suddenly voices rang out one after another, and streaks of light flew over.

True Immortal Wu Dao quickly said, "These are all Celestial Immortals and True Immortals who have come to the Sword Immortal Realm to study the 'Five Treasures Sword Art'. Naturally, they are all on our side. Before this calamity, there were usually tens of thousands of Celestial Immortals and True Immortals gathered here, and occasionally even Patriarchs. But now that the calamity has descended, and most Celestial Immortals and True Immortals in the Three Realms have already studied it long ago, there are far fewer here. Besides us three and you two, there are thirty-nine other Celestial Immortals and True Immortals."

...

These Celestial Immortals and True Immortals were all from the Nuwa camp and knew of Ji Ning's deeds, so they naturally held him in high regard. After all, in the midst of the calamity, very few could influence the war of the realms. Even Divine Archer Hongxue needed seven Celestial Immortals working together to achieve such power. Ji Ning, by commanding a million immortals, could rival the power of a Patriarch's puppet—which Celestial Immortal or True Immortal would dare to slight him?

Even True Immortal Ji Min, a peerless sword immortal who had mastered the 'Five Treasures Sword Art', was very polite to Ji Ning.

After chatting for a while, they soon dispersed.

After all, here, comprehending the sword art was the main thing.

"Those who haven't come to see you are probably immersed in cultivation," True Immortal Ji Min said with a smile. The three Celestial Immortals and True Immortals of the Sword Sect accompanied Ji Ning and Nine Tooth, walking on clouds and chatting.

"Mm."

Ji Ning nodded. "I can see them."

Looking around, he could see on the five peaks—on the mountainsides, on the summits, and even by distant lakes—Celestial Immortals and True Immortals sitting in meditation. In short, they were all very casual, scattered here and there, and no one disturbed them.

"That's Daoist Bitian," said True Immortal Ji Min, pointing. On the mountainside of the first peak, on a huge rock, sat a man in black robes.

"That's Daoist Bingyu." He pointed again to a cave on a cliff face, where a figure in white could faintly be seen sitting cross-legged.

They sat there like rocks, motionless, for who knew how long.

"Those two are comprehending the Five Treasures Sword Art with utter abandon," sighed True Immortal Ji Min. "Most of the other Celestial Immortals and True Immortals just study it, drawing some insights, but don't truly cultivate it."

"With utter abandon?" Ji Ning was surprised. "Is the Five Treasures Sword Art really as terrifying as the rumors say?"

True Immortal Wu Dao laughed. "Some rumors exaggerate, but some rumors understate it."

"Oh?"

Ji Ning and Nine Tooth listened carefully.

Rumors had long demonized the Five Treasures Sword Art, saying even Patriarchs dared not cultivate it.

"The Five Treasures Sword Art is indeed miraculous," True Immortal Wu Dao said with a smile. "This sword art is different from any other in the Three Realms."

Ji Ning nodded.

He had noticed that too.

"Other sword arts are based on the Heavenly Dao, but the Five Treasures Sword Art takes a different path," said True Immortal Wu Dao. "If you just study fragments and glean insights, it's fine. But if you start cultivating from the first chapter, then the situations described in the rumors will occur."

Ji Ning's expression changed.

True Immortal Wu Dao said softly, "The other Daos you have comprehended—Heavenly Daos, Grand Daos, ordinary Daos—will gradually begin to be forgotten, completely vanishing from memory."

"The deeper you cultivate the Five Treasures Sword Art, the more Daos you forget."

"When you master the third chapter of the Five Treasures Sword Art, you will forget all Daos except the Sword Dao." True Immortal Wu Dao looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning nodded slightly. "So that's how it is."

True Immortal Ji Min said, "The Five Treasures Sword Art is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is carved on the cliff of the first peak. The second chapter is on the second peak, the third on the third peak. The final fourth chapter is naturally on the fourth peak. As for the fifth peak, it was where my master, Patriarch Fuju, lived when he was alive, and it is a small cave estate."

"When you begin cultivating the first chapter, your insights into other Daos will be affected and begin to fade. The deeper you cultivate, the more Dao insights you lose."

"With the second and third chapters, by the time you master the third, you will have forgotten all other 'Daos'. Only the Sword Dao remains."

"The fourth chapter is the hardest."

"The fear is that you master the third chapter but cannot master the fourth no matter what."

"Once you master the fourth chapter, the entire Five Treasures Sword Art is complete, and you will truly understand the wonder of this sword art." True Immortal Ji Min sighed.

Ji Ning was puzzled. "When cultivating the Five Treasures Sword Art, the insights into other Daos vanish from memory. When they vanish, can they be cultivated back?"

"They can be cultivated back," True Immortal Ji Min shook his head. "But when you cultivate other Daos, the insights into the Five Treasures Sword Art will also gradually fade."

"What?" Ji Ning was shocked.

"So, either you cultivate many other Daos, or you cultivate only the Five Treasures Sword Art," True Immortal Ji Min said with a smile. "Of course, once you master the entire Five Treasures Sword Art, it will form a whole in your memory, and then you can cultivate other Daos again without interference."

Divine Archer Fu Liu said, "But the fourth chapter is too difficult. To master the first chapter, you need at least the first level of sword force. To master the second, at least the second level... To master the fourth, you need at least the fourth level of sword force. That's just the prerequisite. Even with the fourth level of sword force, you might not succeed."

Ji Ning nodded.

He had heard that too.

But the Five Treasures Sword Art was too powerful. Once mastered, the speed of the sword could exceed the limit of the Heavenly Dao. Even now, True Immortal Ji Min was among the top Celestial Immortals and True Immortals. If he broke through to become a Patriarch, even with lesser insights, he would be among the top Patriarchs thanks to the Five Treasures Sword Art.

Because his sword speed would be the fastest.

That was the allure of the Five Treasures Sword Art.

"Once you master the entire Five Treasures Sword Art, you can go to the fifth peak and enter the master's small cave estate," True Immortal Ji Min said, pointing to the tallest peak in the distance. "Before the master died in the Chaos, he told us that if he met with misfortune, we should make the Five Treasures Sword Art public. Anyone who cultivates the divine body path and masters the Five Treasures Sword Art can enter the small cave estate and receive his most important inheritance."

"Oh?" Ji Ning was startled.

"But from ancient times to now, after the master's death, countless Celestial Immortals and True Immortals from the Three Realms have come here to study. Even True Gods and Patriarchs have come! But those willing to lose their other Dao insights and focus solely on the Sword Dao are very few. Especially those on the qi refiner path—if they lose their Dao insights, they may not be able to control their magic power and die from qi deviation."

Ji Ning nodded.

"For example, a qi-refining Patriarch, having comprehended a Heavenly Dao, became a Patriarch. But if he forgets the Heavenly Dao, his vast Great Luo magic power—without sufficient Dao insights to control it—will run wild and even explode, scattering his soul."

"So only sword immortals on the qi refiner path can cultivate it, and only at the Pure Yang True Immortal level."

"Divine body cultivators? They don't worry about qi deviation, so they can study it. But the lofty True Gods... most have cultivated for endless ages and have deep Dao insights, so how many can abandon their past insights? From ancient times to now, only three True Gods have truly cultivated the Five Treasures Sword Art."

"But divine body cultivators are naturally weaker in Dao comprehension, especially these three True Gods, who had little talent in the Sword Dao. They forced themselves to study but achieved little, and eventually gave up." True Immortal Ji Min said.

In fact, those three True Gods were at the bottom in strength, so they took a desperate gamble. They were willing to study it, hoping to gain astonishing sword techniques. As long as their sword speed exceeded the limit of the Heavenly Dao, their strength would skyrocket. Unfortunately, they had no talent in this area, making it too difficult to master. Just like Ji Ning.

He cultivated the Sword Dao with blazing speed.

But if he were to cultivate the Grand Dao of Time, he would probably be terribly slow.

"The ones who actually mastered it were two qi refiners. One is me, and the other is Patriarch Holy Fire. Since both are qi refiners, we couldn't receive the master's inheritance. But Patriarch Holy Fire is now considered the number one sword immortal in the Three Realms." True Immortal Ji Min said.

Ji Ning nodded.

Patriarch Holy Fire's growth was quite peculiar. His mother was a Celestial Immortal, and his father was a Celestial Immortal—one called Princess Iron Fan, the other was Bull Demon King, one of the Seven Great Sages of the ancient demon race. Patriarch Holy Fire was the Red Child, born with extraordinary talent in fire. He cultivated smoothly to become a Celestial Immortal, and the Samadhi True Fire nurtured within him was formidable.

Later, Guanyin of the Buddhist sect took him in as a follower.

The ancient era ended, and the Three Realms were born.

Later, he broke through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal. After Patriarch Fuju died, he came to study the 'Five Treasures Sword Art'. He cultivated like a madman, forgetting the Buddhist sect, his parents, everything, and surprisingly completed it in one go! Once he mastered the Five Treasures Sword Art, his status rose. Later, he spent a hundred years recovering the forgotten Grand Daos.

Thirty thousand years after mastering the Five Treasures Sword Art, he comprehended the 'Fire Heavenly Dao' and became a Patriarch, honored as Patriarch Holy Fire!

He personally brought his mother, Iron Fan, back but ignored Bull Demon King.

Moreover, his sword was the fastest in the Three Realms! Many immortals and demons considered him the number one sword immortal in the Three Realms, but Patriarch Holy Fire's foundation was somewhat lacking—he had only comprehended one Fire Heavenly Dao! His sword force was only at the fourth level, not the fifth. So his title as the number one sword immortal was not universally recognized.

But clearly, he was among the top True Gods and Patriarchs.

Some who were stronger than him in ancient times now had to look up to him. Such is the wonder of time—perhaps in the future, some junior weaker than oneself could grow to a level where one must look up to them.

...

"You now know the pros and cons of the Five Treasures Sword Art," True Immortal Ji Min looked at Ji Ning. "Whether to cultivate it is up to you."

Ji Ning nodded.

He had heard many rumors, but now he understood more clearly. The year he had spent earlier already showed his resolve! He was walking the path of the sword immortal. To cultivate the 'Five Treasures Sword Art', Ji Ning had long been willing to forget other Grand Daos like the Drip Water Grand Dao. Now, his foundation was his heart force! And divine abilities like Star Picking Hand and the Eight Nine Arcane Art—these would not be forgotten.

What would be forgotten were only Dao insights!

"We won't disturb you," True Immortal Ji Min and the other two said and left.

"Nine Tooth, I'm going to study the Five Treasures Sword Art. Don't call me unless it's important," Ji Ning said. Nine Tooth quickly agreed, and Ji Ning flew off into the distance to view the first chapter of the Five Treasures Sword Art.