Desolate Era

by RWX

  “You said you captured Xiantian lifeforms?” Ning stared at him.

  The black-clothed man didn’t answer the question. A look on his face that seemed like a smile and yet wasn’t, he said to Ning, “If my guess is correct, you should be young master ‘Ji Ning’ of the Ji clan.”

  “Eh?” Ji Ning was startled.

  In this era, communication was only possible through shouting to others, while distant communication was through running between tribes. Thus, only the high level members of some tribes knew of Ji Ning’s name. Even if they knew his name, however, they wouldn’t be able to recognize him…

  “It seems I didn’t guess wrongly.” The black-clothed man sighed. “In the entire Swallow Mountain area, there can only be one person who is so young in appearance, and yet is a Xiantian lifeform who is even capable of making my fellow apprentices think he is a peak Xiantian expert. The only person capable of this must be the one who kicked down the city walls with three kicks and sent River Sansi flying with one kick. Young master Ji Ning.”

  “You know quite a lot.” Ning looked at him.

  The black-clothed man sighed. “Of course. I have to. In accordance with the orders from my master, I had to go capture a large number of Xiantian lifeforms throughout the Swallow Mountain region. Naturally, I need a good understanding of the intelligence reports regarding the various Xiantian experts of the Swallow Mountain area. If I didn’t prepare in advance and ended up accidentally ‘kicking an iron board’, I would be in trouble! For example, your father, Ji Yichuan…he had become a peak Xiantian long ago, and I even suspect that he is already a Zifu Disciple. I definitely wouldn’t go capture a person like him.”

  “Only after getting a good understanding of a person would I go capture him. That is why so many Xiantian lifeforms went missing in the Swallow Mountain area, and yet no one knows who did it.” The black-clothed man looked at Ning. “So young, and yet so astonishingly strong. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, only you fit the criteria. In addition, this is the territory of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, and you yourself are of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture.”

  Ning was stunned.

  Many Xiantian lifeforms had gone missing in the Swallow Mountain area? Why was it that he hadn’t heard of this?

  Actually, this was something which had only recently occurred. The capture of Xiantian lifeforms had to be done quickly. By the time the disappearance was noticed, perhaps days would have passed, and it also took time for the entire tribe to make a decision on what to do. Thus, he had to frantically seize the opportunity to capture as many as he could. He couldn’t capture them slowly. Once the major powers of the various forces of Swallow Mountain reacted and began to set traps, it would be dangerous.

  “Nearly a hundred Xiantian experts have ‘gone missing’ in Swallow Mountain.” The black-robed man looked at Ning. “Because this place is near the Ji clan, many of the Ji clan have gone missing, twenty four in total. There are some who directly belong to your Ji clan, while others belong to the tribes of your Ji clan. The Ji clan controls so much territory that I imagine up till now, your Ji clan still hasn’t gotten a full picture of how many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing.”

  Ning was astonished.

  The Ji clan…had actually…had actually lost many Xiantian lifeforms?

  “Some have gone ‘missing’ from your Ji clan of the West Prefecture as well. Let me report a few names. I imagine you recognize them.” The black-clothed man said. “Ji Jadewich. Ji Shan. Poortile. Earthshaker. Blindfish. These five all directly belong to your Ji clan of the West Prefecture. You should know them, right?”

  “Ah!”

  Ning’s face instantly turned white.

  Ji Jadewich…that was the son of Ji Lee, his most talented son. In the past, during the fierce struggle between Ji Lee’s lienage and the current line in control of the Prefecture Lord position, Jadewich had been one of the most fiercest in the struggle. Ning had once deeply disliked this man.

  Ji Shan was a Xiantian lifeform of a younger generation of the Ji clan. Although he wasn’t a Commander, the Ji clan of the West Prefecture had very great expectations for him. After all, his surname was ‘Ji’, and he also belonged to the primary line of descent.

  Poortile was a newly promoted Xiantian lifeform which had been trained and recruited by the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. In Western Prefecture City, Ning had seen him quite a few times. Each time when Poortile saw him, he would bow slightly and call out, “Young master Ji Ning!”

  Earthshaker was one of the twelve Commanders of the Ji clan!

  Blindfish…Blindfish….Blindfish!!!

  “Master Blindfish!” Ning’s heart was trembling.

  Master Blindfish had taught him archery. To Ning, he was the closest, most familiar figure of the five.

  All of them were familiar figures. After all, ever since he was young, he had grown up in Western Prefecture City. He had met with all of the Xiantian lifeforms of Western Prefecture City. Each year, at the gathering at Snowfall Palace, he would see this group of people. He was very familiar with them all. These people were his clansmen! Some of them had grudges against him, some of them were of the same lineage as him, while some were friends of him. One of them as the master archer who had taught him archery!

  “You…” Ning’s face turned pale.

  “You know them all, right? Haha.” The black-clothed man suddenly shouted loudly, “Ji Jadewich, Ji Shan, Poortile, Earthshaker, Blindfish, your young master Ji Ning of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture is within the formation. Your young master Ji Ning will soon accompany you! Hahaha…”

  The voice was very loud, and it transmitted directly into the distant tunnel midway up the mountain.

  * * *

  Book 4, Chapter 17 - A Frenzied Battle

  Within the mountain.

  Blindfish’s body was covered with blood, and he was currently tied to that pillar. Ever since the day he had arrived in this hellish place, he had lost all hope. Currently, he was currently grinding his teeth, enduring the pain while taunting them, “Is that all you got? Harder, hit me harder. Come at me, boy. Didn’t you drink enough milk when you were a lad?”

  Suddenly…

  “Your young master Ji Ning will soon be coming to keep you company! Hahaha…” That laughter rang towards them.

  “Ji Ning!” The bearded Blindfish’s body trembled, and then he roared hoarsely with all his might, “Young master Ji Ning, hurry and flee! There is an Immortal practitioner here developing an evil magic treasure!”

  Ji Jadewich, also bound by Blindfish’s side, had been holding his head down, exhausted, but now his spirit was roused, and he raised his head as well. He murmured: “Ji Ning? Ji Ning?”

  “Ji Ning! Quick, flee! Quick, leave!” Jadewich howled desolately as well, striving to make himself heard.

  In the past, although he had wanted for his father’s lineage to take over the Prefecture Lord position, since they had lost, he had submitted whole-heartedly. Ji Ning was their Ji clan of the West Prefecture’s next Prefecture Lord! He had personally seen Ning’s talent, and knew that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture would definitely become even more powerful because of Ji Ning. His dantian had already been destroyed and he had been captured. He didn’t want the most promising genius of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, to die here as well. This was a humiliation to the Ji clan!

  “Quick, flee!” Jadewiched howled heroically.

  “Young master Ji Ning, quick, leave!” Ji Shan howled as well.

  They had all been caught here, and had often seen those dread wraiths enter that underground tunnel. From that, as well as the discourse of those six handsome men and women, they had learned…that this was utterly a devil’s lair!

  –––––––—

  The black fog around him billowed, but from afar came furious, frantic howls.

  “Young master Ji Ning, hurry up and flee! There is an Immor
tal practitioner here developing an evil magic treasure!”

  “Young master Ji Ning, hurry and leave.”

  “Flee.”

  Although they had been tortured to the point of their voices turning hoarse, because he was so familiar with these people, Ning could tell who they were.

  “Devleoping an evil magic treasure?” Ning forcibly swallowed down the fiery anger in his heart as he stared at the black-clothed man.

  The black-clothed man chortled strangely. “The genius of the Ji clan, the mighty young master Ji Ning…don’t be so impatient, don’t be so angry. They will all die. As for you, you’ll die too.” He wanted to arouse Ning’s fury. When a person was enraged, they would lose their calm, and after doing so, their chances of victory would decrease.

  “Go die!” Ning was like a tiger leaving the mounting, releasing a surge of seemingly unblockable power as he charged straight forward.

  “Hmph, so rash. And they say you are a genius? In the end, you are still too young.” The black-clothed man said to himself. In his hands, he wielded black weaver’s shuttles in each hand, whirling them like devils as he welcomed the charging Ning. The two black shuttles stabbed towards Ning, and as the two drew near…

  Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

  The two black shuttles actually shot out multiple black needles in a cluster towards Ning. Because they were too close, and the attack of the black needles was simply too fast, although Ning’s swordplay was powerful, he found it hard to block them all. Luckily, Ning’s body had those two layers of the Waterflame Lotus to block those black needles. The black needles just barely managed to break through the first layer before collapsing, and as they did, the earth immediately began to emit a hissing sound.

  “All stained with poison.” The two Darknorth swords in Ning’s hands stabbed angrily outwards towards the black-clothed man.

  The black-clothed man moved like a ghost, the two black shuttles in his hands just barely able to dodge while also shooting out those black needles.

  “What a formidable Ji Ning.” The black-clothed man was secretly shocked. “His protective lotus flower is too powerful. It’s actually able to affect even my own movements. Luckily, my robes are actually formed from an armor-type magic treasure, as otherwise, the power of the protective lotus alone would have torn my clothes apart.”

  “Bang!”

  A sword shadow suddenly pierced through the black-clothed man’s arm, and the black-clothed man immediately leapt backwards at high speed, his face gradually turning savage. “What a marvelous, profound protective lotus you have. My Blackblood Needles are unable to break through it. It seems I’ll have to use power to break it.” The two black shuttles in his hands disappeared, and then in his hands appeared a long staff formed from six shuttles, while at the same time, the area around the body of the man began to faintly swirl with fire as a powerful aura began to emanate outwards.

  “Staff?” Ning was secretly startled.

  Earlier, when they had battled, he had noticed that this black-clothed man’s ability in wielding those black shuttles was truly quite weak. Only, the sudden shooting out of those Blackblood Needles was rather sinister. Now that the opponent was using a staff, Ning finally understood…that this was the weapon which the opponent was actually an expert in.

  “A staff is a long weapon and a heavy weapon.” Ning mused. “Fiendgod Body Refiners generally like to use heavy weapon type magic treasures, using power to break through magic.”

  “Receive my attacks.” The black-clothed man transformed into a black blur, and the longstaff was lifted up high and instantly began to increase in size rapidly, while its weight rapidly increased as well. The staff itself most likely now weighed tens of thousands of kilograms, and it smashed down directly towards Ning’s head!

  Ning’s Darknorth swords swept upwards.

  Clang!

  An enormous clashing sound. Ning himself was sent flying backwards, creating a deep gouge in the earth. His two hands had cracked apart at the thumb, and blood had already dyed the sword handles red.

  “What tremendous power, even greater than mine by far. Although I am merely at the fourth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], I’m still comparable to most late-stage Fiendgod Body Refiners. This black-clothed man is actually even stronger than me. He must be a peak Fiendgod Body Refiner.” Ning understood that he had encountered a true opponent this time.

  To kill an Fiendgod Body Refiner at the Xiantian level was a much harder proposition.

  “I want to see how many staff blows of mine you can take.” The eyes of the black-clothed man flashed with a faint green light. He charged forwards with large steps, emanating an aura as mighty as a dragon’s, and as he drew near Ning, he delivered the longstaff in his hands in a forward blow. A direct attack!

  “Staves focus on power! Swords focus on skill!” Ning shouted, while at the same time, a pair of green wings appeared behind him, seemingly made out of steel. This was the wing-type magic treasure which Ning had acquired out of the thousands of magic treasures found in the Aquatic Manor.

  The [Shadewind Steps] was nothing more than one of the most basic foundations to the divine ability, [Windwing Evasion]. When using this set of wings to utilize this divine ability, the power was much greater, comparable to a tiger being given a set of wings.

  Hua!

  Ning’s wings trembled, and instantly, like a giant Roc, his speed tremendously, bizarrely increased. He flashed past like a gust of wind, constantly changing direction as the Darknorth swords in his hands struck out once and again against the black-clothed man.

  “Yayayaya!” The black-clothed man was completely in a state of frenzy. His ki had activated the runes scribed onto his longstaff, causing the power of the Weight Seal to continue to grow. The staff seemed to have transformed into a small mount. Luckily, he was a peak Xiantian Fiendgod Body Refiner, as otherwise he wouldn’t even be able to budge such a heavy weapon.

  “If you can’t hit someone with the staff, so what if it is heavy? Die!” Ning seemed to have been possessed as well. The existence of that Zifu Disciple was a source of invisible pressure for him. Those tormented clansmen of the Ji clan caused Ning’s heart to feel as though it was being scorched.

  “Kill! Kill! Kill!”

  Ji Ning, relying on his wing-type magic treasures, moved like a ghost, his speed even greater than the black-clothed figure’s. The Darknorth swords in his hands, having already undergone a Bloodforging, were incomparably sharp. His swordplay which contained the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’, in terms of technique, was at a level higher than the black-clothed man’s as well.

  “Bang!” A large hole was blasted through the waist by a piercing blow, but then immediately afterwards, the hole immediately grew small, then disappeared, having completely healed.

  “Hua!” A large wound was carved out on his back.

  “Chi.” His face was cut and scarred.

  “Yayaya!!!” The black-clothed man was being driven insane by this battle. His all but unkillable body, when paired with his ‘one with the world’ level of staff-play, allowed him to easily dominate most peak Xiantian Ki Refiners. He hadn’t expected that this time, he had run into a wall. The opponent’s strength was a good deal weaker than his, but the opponent was nonetheless an expert Fiendgod Body Refiner whose swordplay was clearly on a higher level!

  Swish!

  Ning was sent flying away by a grazing blow of the staff. Although the skin on his hands were ripped open from the shock of the collision, they instantly healed. After all, as his swordplay was extremely skilled, Ning would only occasionally suffer a bit, while the opponent was truly dancing on the fine line between life and death. If he was to be stabbed by Ning in the head, a fatal blow, then he would die for sure.

  “Bang!” Using both swords at the same time and moving like a ghost, the dance at the precipice of life and death finally came to a stumbling halt.

  Bang!

  The black-clothed
man’s waist had a sword light flash past it, and an enormous wound appeared. He fell to the ground, his body chopped in half.

  “Formidable, formidable.” The black-clothed man ground his teeth. “However, you can go die now.”

  Hua.

  Just as Ning’s wings fluttered and he pounced towards the black-clothed man with his two swords, a bottle appeared in one of the hands of the black-robed man. He suddenly smashed it into the ground, which immediately exploded open against the rocky floor of the mountain. A thick white fog instantly poured out. Ning, seeing the situation looked bad, hurriedly retreated at high speed, but the faint fragrance still assaulted his nostrils. Although he had already stopped his breathing early on, that odor still invaded and burrowed through his body.

  “Transform into a pool of liquid!” The black-clothed man gritted his teeth as he stared at Ning, the two halves of his body quickly drawing close together and beginning to fuse together.

  * * *

  Book 4, Chapter 18 - A Heroic, Frenzied Shout

  The white mist within the bottle was an essence removed from corpses and transformed into gaseous form. Once it touched the body, it would quickly invade and corrode the body, melting it into a puddle of liquid! Even this peak Xiantian ‘senior apprentice’ himself had to use an antidote against it. The youth in front of him was clearly weaker than him in strength, and based on his understanding, young master Ji Ning had only recently broken through to the Xiantian level.

  “No matter how monstrous of a genius you are, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, you are far inferior to me. Even I am not able to withstand it. You will definitely die.” The black-clothed man looked expectantly.