Chapter 15: Sword Seal Path

Sword Dynasty

Volume 2

Chapter 15: Sword Seal Path

Xue Wangxu could not help but shake his head. Everything had developed exactly as Ding Ning had predicted. As expected, he was the one following Ding Ning.

Sometimes, he truly could not understand how Ding Ning possessed such meticulous observation and judgment, seemingly able to penetrate the human heart. Besides innate talent, this kind of ability largely came from life experience.

Ding Ning held his sword horizontally across his chest. Whispers rang in his ears, all of them laughing at the remnant sword in his hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Feng Qianzhuo's expression remained unchanged. The chill in Ding Ning's heart grew stronger. Old Master Feng had truly lived in luxury and protection for too long. He did not even recognize this sword anymore.

Feng Qinghan's gaze was also fixed on Ding Ning's remnant sword at that moment.

Even Feng Qianzhuo no longer recognized this Last Flower Sword, whose appearance had changed greatly after it was broken. Since he had not been born when the Ba Mountain Sword Field underwent such a major change, it was naturally impossible for him to recognize this sword.

He stared at the jagged edge and fine cracks on the sword Ding Ning was holding. His smile deepened in disdain.

With a soft hiss, he unsheathed his own sword.

The sword that appeared in his hand was about three feet long and extremely thin. In the center of the white blade was a black seal line that stretched from the hilt to the tip; it was like a line of pitch-black ink drawn on a piece of white paper in the shape of a sword.

Ding Ning’s brows slowly furrowed.

He recognized this sword… this was the Painting Sword of Ba Mountain Sword Field.

In the Ba Mountain Sword Field of the past, only those of the most noble character could possess this sword. Now, a sword like this was in Feng Qinghan's hands.

Feng Qinghan's gaze grew even prouder as he saw Ding Ning slowly frown. He thought Ding Ning was feeling immense pressure because of the sword he was holding, but his movements did not slow down at all.

“Please!”

He spoke in a disgusted voice, just before he transformed into a shadow, slashing across several dozen feet.

There was a loud bang!

His sword collided with Ding Ning's. Sparks flew, and two hemispherical shields of light appeared between them. Numerous violent sparks of light flew between the two crescents as they released their power. This only continued for a short moment.

In less than the blink of an eye, Feng Qinghan's body paused slightly. His Painting Sword still maintained its forward momentum as light flowed across its blade. But the light in front of Ding Ning had been completely shattered. The sleeve of his right hand, which held the sword, had been torn by the sword energy. His body retreated miserably, his feet treading on the stone path, the soles of his shoes making a cracking sound.

Feng Qianzhuo's expression relaxed slightly, and he exhaled softly.

This first exchange of swords confirmed that although this young man from Changling possessed excellent sword skills, he was far inferior to Feng Qinghan in terms of strength.

The nobles and important figures of Zhushan District sitting on the wooden chairs felt increasingly disgusted.

This was the difference between Vital Energy Realm and Energy Refinement Realm.

The ordinary people of Zhushan District who were watching were still shocked by the clash of swords. It was hard for them to imagine that Feng Qinghan and Ding Ning's small bodies could contain such tremendous power… Yet, despite that, the opponent had been knocked back by Young Master Feng's single strike. Clearly, he was unmatched.

For a moment, cheers and applause rang out.

Seeing Ding Ning still unable to steady himself, Feng Qinghan's expression grew even more disdainful.

He did not take the opportunity to continue his attack. His eyes narrowed slightly, vital energy flowing from his hand, passing through a pitch-black line on the white blade of his sword. He swung his sword with great focus in the air between him and Ding Ning.

The white sword slashed through the air, but the black sword energy stopped motionless in midair.

A black line suddenly appeared in the cold air.

Seeing the black line, the nobles and important figures of Zhushan District began to breathe faster, their expressions becoming more solemn.

This was clearly a seal line.

Everyone in Zhushan District knew that Feng Qinghan was a cultivator with extraordinary talent, but before this, no one knew that he primarily cultivated the Sword Seal Path!

By using sword energy to draw seals, each sword energy would become a seal line, which would ultimately form a variety of seals that could gather more primal energies of the universe and exert greater power. This was cultivating both sword and seal simultaneously. It was a difficult strategy to master. Even drawing in the air was far more difficult than drawing on paper. A small mistake would result in seal lines that were unable to resonate with the primal energies of the universe.

Feng Qinghan's cultivation base had been superior to this young man from Changling from the start, and he had now demonstrated astonishing sword skills. What chance did this young man from Changling have of winning?

Feng Qinghan's expression was slightly disdainful, but his gaze was focused. He swung his sword again. Another pitch-black seal line appeared in the air before him. The two seal lines did not intersect, but mysteriously reacted with each other. Black smoke appeared.

Ding Ning finally stopped retreating.

His right sleeve was tattered, and traces of blood appeared on the back of his hand. However, people were puzzled because he showed no fear on his face, only a calm expression.

Watching the two seal lines begin to emit black smoke in the air, he swung the sword in his right hand calmly forward into the air.

The inky green sword seemed to be following the same sword moves he had demonstrated to Xue Wangxu in the carriage. As the inky green sword moved rapidly, numerous white seal lines appeared in the air!

The elites of Zhushan District, who had thought that Ding Ning had no chance of victory, froze. Feng Qianzhuo’s expression also grew stiff and his eyes contracted.

This was clearly the Sword Seal Path!

Feng Qinghan felt a strong wave of disbelief fill his body when he saw the numerous white seal lines. He primarily cultivated this sword method and knew how difficult it was to practice the sword and seals at the same time. He had begun drawing seals at the age of three and had wielded a sword since the age of six. He had only shown a hint of mastery about half a year ago… but this young man from Changling, who was the same age as him, had already demonstrated such movements. He also seemed more adept and faster!

 

Ding Ning's expression remained unchanged. His remnant sword glided smoothly through the air. In an instant, dozens of white seal lines appeared in front of him. These dozen white seal lines intersected with the previous seal lines to form a square seal.

In the next moment, the seal suddenly shattered. Numerous streams of cold energy gathered forward at an unimaginable speed. It was as if thousands of pear trees were blooming in the air. White ice flowers connected together in the air to form several ice trees that pressed towards Feng Qinghan!

Feng Qinghan paled slightly. With a loud shout, he swung the Painting Sword several times.

As several black seal lines swept across, the sword seal in front of him finally formed. With a loud boom, a wave of black smoke surged forward like a dragon. It seemed as if countless black bats were attacking and colliding, hissing and screaming from within the smoke.

The incredibly beautiful ice trees instantly shattered into pieces, countless shards of ice flying backwards.

They were both adherents of the Sword Seal Path. However, due to the difference in cultivation, there was a stark difference in strength.

No one from Zhushan District cheered.

Because Ding Ning's sword moves were incredibly fast.

In the Sword Seal Path, speed was the most important thing after precision.

In this brief moment, a ray of white sword light appeared in front of Ding Ning. A square-shaped white sword seal formed. The glowing ice shards that flew back towards him were held in the air by this newly formed force. Then, the shards were reduced to tiny ice crystals.

An even greater force exploded. The newly formed ice crystals and ice trees gathered together and pressed forward.

A strange shriek sounded. Feng Qinghan hurriedly retreated, swinging his Painting Sword several times in front of him.

The black smoke, like a black dragon, lost its power. Countless blade-shaped ice shards shot through the black smoke and flew out. The ice shards continuously collided with the Painting Sword in his hand, accompanied by a screeching sound.

As he retreated, the ice shards fell to the ground in front of him. Snow-white ice shards also covered his hair and the front of his robes. The ice quickly melted.

 

Ding Ning calmly began to advance.

In Feng Qinghan's vision, his figure appeared among the scattered black dragons, accompanied by a new sword seal.

The flickering white sword seal gave everyone the impression that it was a square seal lifted by Ding Ning's sword tip and smashed towards Feng Qinghan.

Feng Qinghan shouted again, channeling his vital energy unhindered into the black ink lines on his white sword.

At the tip of the sword's blade, a ball of black light expanded dramatically into a pitch-black pool.

A loud explosion sounded.

The power carried by the white sword seal shattered into pieces. Feng Qinghan's retreating body immediately stopped. However, when he saw Ding Ning also freeze, and another white sword seal appeared before him, he felt a tinge of helplessness.

They had both used the sword seal path. But his opponent's maneuver was so fast that he did not even have a chance to display his sword seal!

It was a terrible sight painted on the faces of the nobles and important figures of Zhushan District.

“Have you ever seen a cultivator capable of using the sword seal path so skillfully at this age? If I'm not mistaken, this should be the White Goat Ice River Sword Seal Manual from the White Goat Cave. The difficulty of this sword manual is no less than Feng Qinghan's Ba Mountains Black Dragon Sword Seal Manual,” said an important figure, his tone somewhat coldly, to the person next to him.

“Before this, I could tell this young man from Changling was a little extraordinary from his composure, but not to this extent. In history, it's rare to find someone capable of using the sword seal path so skillfully.” The man took a deep breath and said, “His cultivation is one realm higher than the other, and fighting like this…he should admit defeat.”

Although everyone in Zhushan District hoped Feng Qinghan would win, the conversation between the two could represent the attitudes of the majority of the nobles and important people here.

However, Feng Qinghan was still reluctant. He did not want to admit defeat.

“I didn't expect you to have such strength… but from the start, I didn't want to defeat you, but to cripple you!” Thinking to himself, he glared at Ding Ning hatefully.

A hint of resentment appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He once again hurriedly channeled vital energy into the Painting Sword. His left hand moved slightly. A purple-gold seal shot out from his sleeve and landed in his left palm.

 

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

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