The Desolate Era

Chapter 4 – Rainwater Sword Domain

The raindrops were sprinkling downwards. Ji Ning, amidst the rain, was completely absorbed in his swordplay. His sword-fingers alone were able to execute a sword technique that activated the ‘Dao’.

How comfortable.

Ning felt as though, in this moment, he himself had become a drop of rainwater! He was swirling about, playing and jesting with the other droplets of rain, and joining with them to form a single strand of it. That sort of interconnected-ness and mutual affection…caused the countless drops of rain to all join together.

“Rustle…..” The sprinkling rain surrounding Ning transformed into countless drops of rain which transformed into a drizzling rain. The countless crystalline strands of rain appeared all the more mesmerizing.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Every single strand of rain seemed to secretly be like a knife.

“Rumble…” The rain grew heavier and heavier, transforming into a tempest. The tempest seemed incomparably ferocious, and Ning’s swordplay carried a ferocious, unstoppable power as well.

………..

The old black bull stared, stupefied. Rain drops, rain drizzle, tempest…and in the end, the rainwater once more transformed into that sprinkling, drizzling rain.

One line of rain after another…they seemed like incomparably precious, crystalline jade sculptures that were carved into thin lines. They were also like the hands of a mother, gently stroking down.

Finally, Ning came to a halt.

“This…is Dao?” Ning murmured to himself.

“Congratulations, Ji Ning.” The old black bull’s mouth was hanging wide open, and he was incomparably excited. “You have already truly immersed yourself into the Dao, truly and complete. The feeling of becoming part of the Dao itself is very marvelous, isn’t it?”

Ning nodded gently.

Just now, that feeling had indeed been incredible. He was like a pearl of water, a droplet of rain! In that instant, he felt incomparably familiar to and close with the rainwater. Ning understood…that he had developed his own Dao. The Dao of Rainwater!

“Over the past five years, you have gained insights into many strands of the True Meaning of the Dao. Your accumulated insights have allowed you to break through to a new threshold, with the final result being that you have gained a ‘Dao Domain’.” The old black bull sighed in praise.

“Dao Domain?” Ning looked puzzled. “What is that?”

The old black bull said, astonished, “You don’t even know this?”

“No idea.” Ning said honestly.

The old black bull sighed, shaking his head. “Your clan really is an ordinary one. You don’t even have a basic understanding of the different levels of insight. I’ll tell you, then. In training, one aspect is improving on a technical level; be it sword, saber, spear, or even painting and music and other artistic endeavors, technique matters. The first level is the ‘foundation’! Which is to say, becoming familiar with the basic techniques of an art. The second level is the ‘advanced’ level; it represents that you have all but perfected your mastery of the techniques. The third level is ‘one with the world’; this represents that you are already getting close to the ‘Dao’, and have begun to attune to heaven’s will.”

Ning listened. Naturally, he knew about these first three levels.

“After ‘one with the world’, the next step is in attuning with the intricacies of the natural world, and slowly discovering one of the ‘Daos’. Once you discover it! You will have gained a hint of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. That is the fourth level; ‘True Meaning of the Dao’.” The old black bull shook his head. “It is very hard to gain insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. Even some Zifu Disciples aren’t capable of doing it.”

When Ning had been meditating on the Dao by the side of the pool that year, he gained his first insight into a ‘True Meaning of the Dao’.