Supreme Emperor of Swords

"What the... So, have I really traveled through time and possessed the body of someone with the same name and look?"

For more than two hours, Ding Hao just sat by the Sword-cleansing Fountain, looking down upon the weary and rusty black sword in his hand and his handsome reflection in the water. After all, he is still unbelievable.

He remembered clearly that last night, he was having farewell dinner with his buddies, picturing their lives on campus and wishing each other good luck. They had been excited and drunk. However, when he opened his eyes and regained his conciseness, he found himself in this completely strange world.

Being dazed for a long while, Ding Hao had to face the truth and persuaded himself to accept the fact that he had traveled through time.

For some unknown reason, apart from the nostalgia for his previous life, he bore a feeling of thrill beyond description, as if he had had a second chance at life. Keeping his poise that even he found unbelievable, Ding Hao frankly accepted this new world and his new life.

Maybe it was because of the unyielding adventurous spirit in his bone.

For more than two hours, he had been retrieving memories from his new body and had learned a lot of things.

This was a world called Land of Infinity packed full of sects, where only strong ones survived; human beings and monsters ran this world together.

The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect he belonged to was an eighth-grade swordsmanship sect based in one of the Sixteen Provinces, Snow Province, in the desolated northern part of Land of Infinity. The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect was one of the human-governed sects from the One Academy, Two Villages, Three Sects, and Three Clans in Snow Province. It had occupied a large area on the Swordsmanship-seeking Mountain and had many disciples, including kung fu masters and gifted geniuses, for more than 1,500 years since its establishment.

As a prominent sect, it was important to set up a good image among the kung fu communities.

However, even dexterous experts were still humans and needed to eat and drink, which leads to the necessity of sanitation. When the proud kung fu practitioners did not bother sweeping their rooms, an organized "supporting department" came into existence naturally.

Ding Hao was not a disciple of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.

He worked for the supporting department.

More specifically, he was a boy servant who swept roads in mountains every day.

When he retrieved his memories of this life, it was strange that the memories before he was ten were absent.

He did not know who his parents were, or how he showed up on Swordsmanship-seeking Mountain.

The only family he could remember was his younger sister under five years old at that time. They were all by themselves then. In the winter when he was 11 years old, Ding Hao was out on his duty; someone spotted a mysterious and strong woman in white took her away. Since then, his younger sister had been missing.

Thus, since he was 11 years old, Ding Hao had been living on his own.

In the world full of respected experts, every teenager dreamed to be strong; Ding Hao was no exception.

Moreover, he wanted to leave Swordsmanship-seeking Sect to find his missing sister in the monsters-packed wilderness; he had to be powerful.

However, he did not have a great aptitude for kung fu and have thin meridians; he was neither quick nor gifted. Since he was 10, he had been attending the sect entrance test to Swordsmanship-seeking Sect every year; he had attended four tests when he reached 14 years old. However, he had failed the primary test that could put his name on the waiting list of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect four times.

According to memories he retrieved, Swordsmanship-seeking Sect would be enrolling this year's new disciples in half a month.

Ding Hao also learned from the memories that this was his last chance.

By the practice of it, Swordsmanship-seeking Sect did not admit new disciples above 14 years old.

In this world, there went a solid opinion: if one failed the primary test before he turned 15, he could only be proved ungifted and not cut out for martial arts, and he might as well be a normal guy.

"Damn it, so I only get half a month to prepare for the test?"

Bearing this in mind, Ding Hao could not help feeling pressed for time.

This born nerd adapted himself to the new world quickly.

Having traveled through time to a fantasy world full of monsters and martial arts experts, he had to be a ruling kung fu master, if not, he could only be pushed into the background, trampled and neglected. What a ridiculous and futile ant he would be if he could not control his destiny!

Ding Hao would rather commit suicide to reboot his life than end up in such a plight.

As he thought of it, Ding Hao felt more pressed for time.

He knew he must do something now.

Then, he rose up. Standing by Sword-cleansing Pond, he contemplated for a while and closed his eyes. He dug through his memories of swordsmanship in attempts to find a clue as to how to strengthen himself.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and something seemed to dawn on him.

He made the rusty long sword in his hand vibrate and stabbed forward; he performed a style of swordsmanship skillfully.

Over the past 14 years, even though he was just a sweeping boy servant, he had learned some basic swordsmanship styles as an associate member of the great Swordsmanship-seeking Sect in the course of his sweeping duty.

That was why he performed the style from memory skillfully as if he had been practicing it for countless times.

The basic set of self-defense swordsmanship had 16 styles; any kid in Swordsmanship-seeking Sect could perform them.

While the former 12 styles were ordinary, the latter four ones were ingenious, which were Light-splitting, Ice-cutting, Cloud-stirring, and Wind-chasing. If one performed them in a row, he would release uninterrupted bright sword light that could block more than 10 bulky guys.

Absorbed in his memory about the moves, Ding Hao stabbed continuously.

To his surprise, he entered a miraculous state soon.

Anyone who found him now would cry in disbelief because the well-known top- one idiot in Swordsmanship-seeking Sect seemed to have transformed; Ding Hao performed the styles with quick footwork and performed them ethereally. Especially when releasing the ingenious last four strokes, he became faster and faster with increasing fluency and consistency.

In the end, the reddish rusty sword blurred into a hazy ball of light and billowed around his body aggressively.

"Whoosh!"

Letting out a swoosh, Ding Hao retracted the rusty sword.

A slight surprise escaped his handsome face.

"That's strange. From my memories, the last four styles are pretty hard and the former owner of the body failed to master them after numerous practice during more than two years. But why did I find it easy and seem to be able to perform any style that came into my mind?"

But soon, Ding Hao made his sword vibrate again and practiced the basic self-defense swordsmanship set.

The sword released dazzling light again aggressively.

It was proven that he was not imaging things just now.

This time, Ding Hao performed the style of Light-splitting, Ice-cutting, Cloud-stirring, and Wind-chasing more fluently. The styles were as fluid as quicksilver in motion. Moreover, he even doubled the force of the swordsmanship. The blade swooshed through the air, accompanied by uninterrupted red lights.

Now he was 100 percent sure that he had not only mastered the four styles but also comprehended the four styles completely.

"That's strange. Have I turned a genius through time travel?"

That seemed to be the only plausible explanation.

Maybe the combination of two souls from different lives really made a peerless gifted genius.

The idea gave Ding Hao more confidence to face the sect entrance test of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect in half a month.

As long as he could be a full member of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, he would take professional and scientific lessons to learn all kinds of magic skills and martial arts; he would be one step closer to his dream of controlling his fate.

It was still early, Ding Hao decided to take the chance to practice swordsmanship by Sword-cleansing Pond.

After half an hour, he was completely absorbed in a wonderful state.

After several swift strokes, Ding Hao let out a mass of body heat. His blood was boiling and gurgling in his veins like rivers. The sword was faster and faster; in the end, ordinary people were not able to keep up with the sword's movements. Ding Hao and his sword were completely shrouded in steaming hot white moisture; dazzling sword light was flashing mysteriously.

He kept practicing in this state for full two hours.

Finally, the unprecedented soreness and fatigue slowed him down.

At this time, Ding Hao realized another problem.

A strong person needed not only soft power such as talent but also competitive hardware like a strong physique.

However, Ding Hao was born with ordinary meridians, and he left them to become even thinner because he had not been practicing kung fu to nourish them.

Moreover, he was 14 years old, and his meridians almost stopped growing. At present, he was only slightly stronger than a normal person.

When he was in full swing during practice, he was exerting all strength of his muscles and bones. His body could only support him to operate in such a state for two hours.

When he exceeded the duration, his muscles would suffer from unbearable soreness.

If he continued, he might get hurt instead.

"This is not going to work. Even though I'm gifted, my body is weak. I haven't paved my way before 14 years old, I'm afraid I'll tread a difficult kung fu path; I might fail the sect entrance test as well. I need a way to build up my body shortly. From my memory, nourishment by medicine is the best choice, but unfortunately..."

Land of Infinity was a world full of wonders. Indeed, there were natural treasures that could change one's meridians and transform them.

However, those treasures were too rare and too far to reach for a humble guy like Ding Hao; only superior large clans had access to them.

"Is there any other way?"

Ding Hao frowned and dug through his memories again.

After a while, his eyes flashed as something crossed his mind.

Nevertheless, he soon revealed a hesitant look because he would take great risks to go there. He might even perish there.

"Well, although dangerous, it's my last chance. If I die, I end up flat on my back; if I survive, I'll prosper. Chances come out of danger. I'll do it!"

Thinking for a while, Ding Hao made up his mind with his teeth gritted.

In his previous life, he used to be reckless. Although he had traveled through time, he stayed the same.

At this time, the sun was setting in the distance.

Blood red clouds cast hues over the lands. The gate of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect looked as magnificent as that of a heavenly palace. People would praise and be swept away by its jade-decorated pavilions standing in folds, passageways zigzagging on water, practicing fields surrounded by trees, and rows of living buildings.

After making up his mind, Ding Hao felt unexpectedly relaxed and even found the scenery down the gate magnificent.

"It's about time. I should go home."

...

The setting sun looked picturesque.

Ding Hao carried the rusty sword on his back and walked on the mountain path.

He was carrying the sweeping tools on his back and feeling lighthearted. He took the stairs behind the stele that read Sword-cleansing Pond and soon reached the front ritual square of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.

Ding Hao was walking through the ancient buildings, dark green old trees, grand statues, tall temples, and high eaves; he felt surreal as if in a fantasy TV shows when he passed by Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples dressed in antique style.

At this time, a mass of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples gathered before the notice board in the front.

They clamored.

"What on earth has happened? They sound excited."

"You don't know? The new generation young swordsmen from the nine sects of Snow Province, the Four Great Swordsmen of Snow Province, battled in Frozen Peak for the title of the fastest swordsman. They fought fiercely for 10 days and 10 nights. Now, there came the outcome finally and the entire sect is talking about it!"

"Really? Our brother Guan Feidu is called the Wind-chasing Swordsman, one of the Four Great Swordsmen of Snow Province. I heard that he's a seven-apertured master; he can top the other three, right?"

"That's right. Guan Feidu is talented and possesses a body that could breed the frozen sword seedling. He's peerless and tops the other three, but..."

"But what? Did Guan Feidu lose?"

"Not exactly. At that time, Guan Feidu defeated 'Fast Sword of Leiyin' Zhao Wuya of Leiyin Sect, 'Heart-cleansing Sword' Ming Feifan from Heart-cleansing Village, and 'Double-sworded Shadow' Feng Taicang of Dependent Arising Clan. He earned the title of the number one swordsman and made the other three bow their heads and accept defeat. But who could have guessed that, as soon as the battle ended, a 14-year-old handsome teen in white showed up..."

"A teen in white? Only 14 years old?"

"Yes, indeed, the boy is really unprecedented and capable. He challenged them and beat Guan Feidu with his first stroke; then, he beat the four swordsmen in unison with a second stroke. Then, he laughed and slipped away!"

"No way! Which sect does he belong to? How can he be so fantastic?"

"Rumor has that he might be the recently hyped genius from the number one sect in Snow Province, Tranquility Acadamy, Mu Tianyang..."

Ding Hao heard them discussing.

They were talking about thrilling anecdotes about genius masters in this world.

It was indeed a marvelous world full of possibilities.

Ding Hao clenched his fists and felt emotional.

He swore to himself that one day he would obtain unprecedented magic skills and peerless kung fu; he would beat other swordsmen with his own sword and top them all.

Of course, he was just a humble sweeping boy servant for now.

No one noticed him.

Leaving the announcement area, Ding Hao soon reached the hill behind the sect via a meandering trail.

Compared to the magnificent front hill like a fairyland, the hill behind the sect was a dirty and disordered slum.

Rough trails were lined with thorny underbrush and covered in jagged rocks like those of places where monsters lived.

Masses of household waste from Swordsmanship-seeking Sect were dumped daily to the land covered in rocks on the other side or off the cliff. Waste accumulated over numerous years rotted and fermented in sunshine and rain, breeding bugs, flies, and foul air.

The air stank of dead fish. It was like walking in hell.

However, among the abominable rugged land behind the sect, stood rows of wooden huts in various sizes like those he had seen in his previous life; 2,000 to 3,000 people lived here.

The former owner of his body, Ding Hao, lived here in this cramped condition.

"It looks like this is the slum of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. Hell, I just can't run away from being a loser; I can only slowly climb to power!"

From memories Ding Hao retrieved, he knew that most residents of the garbage-packed were the underclass working in Swordsmanship-seeking Sect's supporting department.

These people did not practice kung fu or possess combat skills; they could not live in the monster-packed wilderness. Instead, they offered physical labor to Swordsmanship-seeking Sect in exchange for protection and lived on the hill behind the sect. They were nobodies that struggled in this world full of monsters.

The meandering trails were lined with thatch huts built upon stone walls.

The thatch on the rooftop had turned black in sunshine and rain, implying the long years it had gone through.

Carefree children horsed around in their birthday suits. Passing by some huts, he could smell pleasant odors and saw swirling smoke. Those were the precious signs of vivid lives in this cramped community.

On his way home, many people greeted him warmly.

There were friends that the former owner of this body had made.

He smiled and greeted everyone back enthusiastically.

Soon, taking the narrow trails, he arrived at a garbage field in the back of the slum. About 3,000 to 4,000 meters further from the field was a bottomless abyss.

However, at the rim of the garbage field, to his surprise, there lay a refreshing shade of green.

Dozens of green seedlings rustled in the wind against the setting sun like a group of dancing fairies; two well-built thatch huts were laid out carefully and encircled by a green fence.

Although the small yard was the closest place to the garbage field in the entire slum, Ding Hao found it an oasis; he was slightly surprised and even felt cheerful.

This was Ding Hao's home.

He pushed the door open and entered the yard.

More than 20 pots of flowers were carefully placed in the yard. Those were the most common wildflowers on the roads of the ritual square in the front of the sect. Normally, they were not eye-catching and would even be uprooted as weeds, while here, they looked quite stunning.

Ding Hao played with the plants in the yard for a while and pushed the door open into one of the huts.

The setting sun cast its hues through the windows, leaving the room kind of dim.

A few pieces of furniture were found in the house.

There were an old wooden bed covered in a thin quilt, a three-legged square table, a clay stove made out of rocks, a black pan, a few simple cookers, and several chipped jars with pickled vegetables and meat in them. Additionally, some shabby staples were hung on the wall.

The only different item was a girl's cotton-padded jacket hung on the wall beside the door.

The jacked looked that of a girl of 5 or 6 years old. The cloth was homespun and the needlework was average. However, it was kept clean, dirtless. The hue of bright red livened up the shabby hut.

When Ding Hao first opened the door, he saw the cotton-padded jacket.

It was his younger sister, Ding Ke'er, used to wear before she was taken away.

He recalled that in that snowy afternoon three years ago, he finished his duty and returned to his sister who awaited him home. However, his younger sister was nowhere to be seen.

He searched through the entire slum frantically.

Later, he heard from many witnesses that a mysterious and ethereal person in white took her away. The person appeared out of nowhere and took the crying girl, Ding Ke'er, when passing by the thatch huts.

Then, the previous Ding Hao found a note he had ignored engraved on the hut's wooden column.

"The girl is destinated to tread my path and learn my way. Muhuang Tianji of Southern Land."

The handwriting was neat and implied the writer's extraordinary force because normal people usually felt dazed after looking at it for a while. Therefore, many of the people in the slum contended that the words were left by a peerless expert.

However, who was Muhuang Tianji?

No one knew that.

The only thing they knew was that Southern Land was far, far away. It was so far away that even a normal guy spent all his life riding on the horse on the way, he could not reach there.

After Ding Ke'er went missing, the previous Ding Hao had kept the red cotton-padded jacket and been missing his sister for three years.

At that moment, in the sight of the red jacket, memories came flooding into his mind like waves of the sea. Montages of their lives together played in his head like clips of a movie. A deep-rooted yearning spread in his bone like an infectious disease.

"Brother, why did mom and dad no longer want us? Where did they go?"

"Brother, I'm hungry, can you make me a bowl of porridge?"

"Wow, a jacket! Pretty! Brother, is this for me? Thank you!"

"Brother, when I grow up, I'll make good meals for you every day..."

"Brother..."

Ding Hao could almost hear her familiar and melodious voice in his head. He stood by the door and let his tears streaming down his face. At that moment, he almost wanted to run away to find his sister immediately.

He did not intend to cry.

He just could not control his emotions.

His entire soul was filled with uncontrollable sadness and urges.

Ding Hao knew that due to the shared memories, he was under the influence of the previous owner's longing for his missing sister.