Desolate Era

by RWX

  Whoosh. Whoosh. Tiny threads of elemental energy constantly entered Ning’s infant body.

  Natural energy repeatedly entered his body and cleansed his body. Infants were born pure. Only after experiencing life would they be sullied by the dirt and grime of the world. But right now, Ning’s body had very few impurities within it. With the natural energy repeatedly cleansing him, he quickly became incomparably pure, as pure as a newborn!

  * * *

  Book 1, Chapter 5 - Ji Clan

  The rays of the spring sun shone down with lazy warmth.

  A red-lipped, pale-faced child was standing with arms stretched out, while a fur-clad young lady was quickly and carefully helping him get dressed in his fur clothes. Another young lady was waiting next to him with a basin of water and a bowl with rough salt.

  “In my past life, I was always sick and dressed myself. I didn’t expect that in this life, I would not only be perfectly healthy, I would also have servants to take care of me.” Ji Ning had been served by people since he was born. When he sometimes automatically began to dress himself out of habit, the two terrified maids, ‘Spring Grass’ and ‘Autumn Leaf’, immediately fell to their knees, trembling in absolute terror.

  “Give it to me.”

  Now dressed, Ning took over the black bowl of rock salt and headed outside the room. He walked to a nearby fountain, then began to use those white, tough pieces of rock salt to ‘brush his teeth’.

  “What a disaster this era is. There are no toothbrushes. I have to use my hands to brush my teeth! And there’s no tooth paste, only rock salt!” Ning quickly finished brushing his teeth. Actually, he wasn’t sure why, but he was extremely clean ever since he was born, and he didn’t have any mouth odor. There was no need for him to brush his teeth, but his mother forced him to do it anyways.

  “Gargle.” Ji Ning raised his head, then spat out a mouthful of water, then handed the basin to the nearby maid, Spring Grass.

  The maid, Autumn Leaf, then offered him a blue stone bowl for washing his face. Ji Ning quickly washed his face, then wiped the water off with a cloth.

  “Autumn Leaf.” Ning stared at her. “In your tribe, do you also use salt to brush your teeth?”

  Although he was already four years old and had read many books of the clan and had learned many things, he actually didn’t know much about the situation inside the tribes.

  “How could that be possible?” Autumn Leaf had a slightly freckled face. “Even the table salt which we use in the tribes aren’t as white and as clean as this salt. How can we use it to brush our teeth? The men and women of the tribe just use water to rinse their teeth. Many will go their entire lives without brushing their teeth. And also, this sort of basin is extremely valuable and is usually used to boil soup. How can we use it to brush our teeth?”

  Boil soup?

  Ning rubbed his eyes. This basin could be used to boil soup?

  “Let’s go eat.” Ning turned his head and walked away, with the two maids behind him.

  …

  “Father. Mother.” Ning arrived in the main hall and immediately stood there and bowed.

  “Mm.”

  His father, Ji Yichuan, was seated in front, while his mother was seated to the left. His own position was towards the right. In front of him was a black, marble table, with three big bowls on it. One contained steaming, aromatic meat, another had thick yet soft pastries, and the third was a bowl of hot water. This was his breakfast.

  If this breakfast for a four year old was placed on Earth, it would probably be enough for three adults to eat. But in this world… every child could eat a tremendous amount of food. Ning was no different.

  “Mmm, it tastes so good.” Ning grabbed a chunk of meat from the first bowl and ate it. Despite having the taste buds of an Earth human, he still felt the food was delicious. Ning knew… because his body was physically average, ever since he was young, he had been fed special food. The meat he ate wasn’t meat from ordinary beasts; it was meat from magical, monstrous beasts. In the tribes, monster meat was extremely rare and precious, but Ning was able to eat it every single day.

  It had special effects. It would make Ning stronger!

  “I’m done eating!” Ning ate very fast; it could be described as simply ‘scarfing the food down’. And then, with a gurgle, he drank all the hot water as well.

  “Let’s go.” Ning ran out, with Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf chasing after him.

  Snow watched her son run away and laughed, “Although Ning was rather weak when he was born, that’s only because he was injured while in the womb. His potential is still very high. Look, every day, he’s able to eat so much monster meat. His body will definitely grow stronger.”

  Yichuan nodded as well. Monstrous beasts weren’t like ordinary animals. Monstrous beasts absorbed the natural elemental energy of the world, and their flesh contained that energy as well. Normally, children wouldn’t be hungry for two days if they ate it for breakfast, but Ning ate it for three meals a day. Clearly, he was able to absorb it all.

  ………………..

  The two maids were carrying thick books behind Ning. Behind them were eighteen massive guards who wore scarlet red armor. The red armored guards had mysterious runes scrawled onto their armor, which faintly seemed to hum with a strange energy, causing all of them to emanate a powerful aura.

  The Crimson Guards were the most powerful soldiers of the Ji clan. The West Prefecture only had a hundred Crimson Guards who listened only to the command of Ji Yichuan.

  Yichuan arranged eighteen Crimson Guards to protect Ning at all times. If Ning was to ever be outside the house, the eighteen Crimson Guards would stay right by his side.

  “To the training yard.” Ning’s journey was very smooth.

  Nobody dared to block his path!

  The city of the West Prefecture was a great and massive city. Within the city was hundreds of thousands of citizens, and there were three major areas. They were the inner city, the military camp, and the training grounds.

  The inner city was where the Ji clan members of West Prefecture lived. It was the central administrative area!

  The military camp was the place where the soldiers controlled by the Ji clan of West Prefecture were stationed.

  The training grounds was where the youths of the Ji clan and of the many tribes controlled by the Ji clan would come to train.

  The inner city and the training grounds were connected by a straight line. Ning led his servants and guards directly towards the central training grounds. The vast training plaza currently had thousands on thousands of youths there training.

  “Look, it is Ji Ning!”

  “The only child of the Raindrop Sword? Ji Ning?”

  “Are his female slaves holding books? When those roving merchants came to my clan in the past to sell books, I heard that the cost of each book was a thousand lambskins.”

  Many of the youths in the training grounds were talking amongst themselves. There were many who had matured quickly, and thus knew that this child was the son of the number one expert of the Ji clan, Ji Yichuan, the ‘Raindrop Sword’. Many of the youths actually were quite fond of this child, because although Ji Ning came from a powerful and noble clan, he didn’t bully them at all. But no matter how fond of him they were, they wouldn’t dare tease him.

  “Oof.” Ji Ning sat down on the chair, his eyes filled with excitement.

  In the previous life, he was often by himself, and so now, in his heart, he really enjoyed crowded, rowdy areas.

  “Give me the books.” Ning took a thick and heavy book from the hands of Spring Grass. This tome really was thick, roughly twenty centimeters thick, and it was bound by the soft skin of some monstrous beast. In this era where slavery still existed, books were quite precious. Ning, however, could casually flip through the books in their private library and even take a few out.

  After being born, Ning had primarily done two things…

  The first thing was to train in acc
ordance to the visualization technique – Nuwa’s Painting. His soul had become strong and sturdy, to the point where he now had photographic memory. Just half a month ago, he had even been able to reach the level of dividing his mind into two.

  What did dividing his mind into two meant? For example, he could simultaneously use his left hand to write an essay while using his right hand to paint a painting. It was as though his consciousness had been divided into two parts which didn’t interfere with each other.

  Actually, this wasn’t particularly miraculous. According to the books, those who trained in the path to become an Immortal could all use their minds to accomplish multiple things at once. They would be able to use several treasures to attack at the same time. The true brilliance of the Nuwa Painting was that Ji Ning was able to divide his mind in two after visualizing it for just two years.

  The second thing he had done was to read!

  Half a year after his birth, when Ning was able to form some words, he had hugged a book and pointed at what looked lke some words in it and said, “This, this, this…” Spring Grass and Autumn Leaf, being personal maids, all knew how to read. Naturally, they didn’t dare to not reply. With their help and with guesswork, he soon learned how to recognize the words.

  And then, his reading began!

  As the saying goes, ‘spending time sharpening the knife makes the cutting go faster’. Although he was fully devoted to the idea of training to become an Immortal, Ning understood that sometimes, haste made for ineffectiveness. Reading was a way of ‘sharpening the knife’ to become an Immortal. First of all, he needed to understand what this world was like. He would also learn more about what it meant to become an Immortal, and what types of Immortals there were, and so on and so forth.

  Only after learning about this would he know what the best choice for himself would be!

  After reading many books, Ning came to know that the Ji clan of West Prefecture was a small power located within the vast expanse of land ruled over by the Grand Xia Dynasty!

  The territory ruled over by the Ji clan of West Prefecture stretched for three thousand kilometers from north to south and five thousand kilometers from east to west. There were countless tribes who lived on this land, and all of them were ruled by the Ji clan!

  What’s more, this was nothing more than the Ji clan of West Prefecture.

  The Ji clan was an ancient clan. It was divided into the Central Prefecture, the East Prefecture, the West Prefecture, the North Prefecture, and the South Prefecture. All five Prefectures combined made up the entirety of the Ji clan!

  However… the Grand Xia Dynasty was simply too large. Its territory was nearly limitless, and it was an ancient dynasty which was born during the ‘Fiendgod Era’. Over a trillion years had passed since the terrifying Fiendgod Era. For a dynasty to be able to last a trillion years was something which Ning found to be inconceivable.

  The Ji clan was nothing more than a small power within the borders of the Grand Xia Dynasty, but to the countless local surrounding tribes, the Ji clan was definitely their absolute rulers!

  “This truly is a world where Immortals and Devils abound.” Ji Ning sighed mentally. “Ordinary mortal realms find it hard for an Empire to sustain for even a thousand years, but in this ancient world, an ancient, large empire is something which is beyond my imagination.

  “Right. It has been over two year since I was born, and I know very little about training to become an Immortal. It is time I begin.”

  He had spent a year in the womb, and when he was born, it was winter, while a new year had come soon after that. Thus, he had lived in this world for over two years now.

  ….

  That very night.

  Both sides of the main hall were filled with lit lamps, and the entire hall was extremely bright. His father continued to sit where he usually sat, with his mother on the left and Ning on the right. The table was still covered with meat as well as plates of vegetables and grains.

  “Nom nom nom.” Ning blew through the meat on the table like a twister, and then raised his head up. “Father, mother!”

  “Hrm, what is it?” Yichuan looked at his son, and Snow did as well.

  Although their son’s intelligence caused them boundless joy, it didn’t startle them too much, because in this vast world, there were plenty of people who were devilishly clever.

  “I want to train!” Ning said seriously. “I wish to train to become an Immortal!”

  Seeing the serious look on her son’s face, Snow began to laugh. “Train to become an Immortal? Yichuan, our son wishes to train to become an Immortal!”

  “Immortal?” Yichuan looked at his son coolly. “Do you know what training to become an Immortal means?”

  * * *

  Book 1, Chapter 6 - The Path to Immortal Training

  “I don’t know. Please instruct me, father,” Ning said respectfully.

  Actually, after having read so many books, Ning had learned about it long ago. But as a four-year-old child, there was no need for him to appear so devilishly intelligent.

  “Then I will tell you and let you understand.” Yichuan’s voice was like ice. “First, let’s talk about the seven major stages.”

  “The first stage, Houtian. Lifespan of a hundred years.”

  “The second stage, Xiantian. Lifespan of two hundred years”

  “The third stage, Zifu, the ‘Violet Palace’. At this level, one will be addressed as Zifu Disciple. Lifespan of five hundred years.”

  “The fourth stage, Wanxiang, ‘Manifestations’. At this level, one will be addressed as Wanxiang Adept. Lifespan of eight hundred years.”

  “The fifth stage, Primal. Can be referred to as Primal Daoist.”

  “The sixth stage, Void. Can be referred to as ‘Land Immortal’, or ‘Earth Immortal’. In the later levels of the Void stage, a heavenly tribulation will test them. If they fail, then they will die and their spirits will be extinguished. If a Primal’s body is destroyed but manages to escape with his soul, then he will become a ‘Loose Immortal’, whose power is roughly on par with the ‘Earth Immortals’.”

  “The seventh stage, Celestial Immortal. Only at this stage can one be considered to have ascended beyond the Three Realms and no longer be formed by the Five Elements!”

  Yichuan stared at Ning after speaking. He wanted to see the look of awe and surprise on his son’s face… but Ning was just listening intently.

  “You say you wish to train to become an Immortal. Thus, I wish you to know how hard it is to become an Immortal.” Ji Yichuan’s voice sank down. “The first obstacle to becoming an Immortal… is to pass from the Houtian stage to the Xiantian stage!”

  “What does Xiantian mean? Only a lifeform which was naturally born by the heavens and the earth can be described as a Xiantian lifeform. In the distant Fiendgod Era, there were Fiendgods that were born naturally by the heavens and by the earth and which possessed tremendous power from their birth. In addition, there are those who are reborn into the Heavenly Realms as ‘Devas’ or as ‘Asuras’. These Devas and Asuras are all birthed by nature itself, and thus by their very nature, they are a Xiantian lifeform. This makes it very fast for them to train, because only Xiantian lifeforms can train to become an Immortal!”

  “It is impossible for mortals to train to become an Immortal… but the Heavens always leave a thread of hope. Thus, in the past, benevolent elders created a set of training techniques which can allow the bodies of ordinary people to become akin to the bodies of Xiantian lifeforms. Only then did it become possible for ordinary people to train to become an Immortal.”

  “But for an ordinary person to become a Xiantian lifeform is against the natural laws of the universe, making it very hard! The success rate is lower than one in ten thousand! Tell me, is it hard or not?”

  Ning continued to listen.

  Xiantian lifeform? If it wasn’t for that huge disturbance in the Netherworld Kingdom, he probably would have already reincarnated and become a Deva in the He
avenly Realms. Naturally, that would mean he would already be a Xiantian lifeform. However, currently he was a mortal… and indeed, for a mortal to reach the Xiantian stage was an extremely difficult path.”

  “The second great obstacle to becoming an Immortal… from the Xiantian stage to the Zifu stage!”

  “Only by establishing a Zifu, also known as a ‘Violet Palace’, can one continue to train as an Immortal. Establishing a ‘Violet Palace’ is like laying the ‘foundation’ when building a house, or seeding the fields in order to harvest the crops. The Violet Palace is the crop field and is the core for an Immortal. It is the basic underpinning of the path of Immortals! Only after one has truly established a ‘Violet Palace’ in one’s body can one embark on the route to becoming an Immortal. And only then can one be titled a Zifu Disciple! For a Xiantian expert to establish a ‘Violet Palace’… perhaps one in a thousand will succeed. Tell me, is it hard or not?”

  Ning nodded.

  Right. It was hard.

  At the same time, he continued to listen carefully. The books of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture only described these two obstacles. They didn’t describe the obstacles after that.

  “In order to establish a Zifu and become an Immortal, one must possess a world-shaking power.”

  “But becoming an Immortal, by its very nature, is against the laws of the universe. Thus, starting from the day you step onto the path of the Immortals, in other words from the day on which you establish your Zifu, you will be tested every three hundred years. Every nine hundred years, you will undergo a major tribulation. Thus, as the saying goes, ‘Three centuries a calamity, nine centuries a tribulation. Calamities are easy to avoid, but tribulations are hard to escape!’ A test every three centuries, and a tribulation every nine… after embarking on the path to becoming an Immortal, this will continue forever, unless you become a Celestial Immortal. Otherwise, the ‘Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations’ will become your eternal fate.”