Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Smaller, smaller, smaller.” Ning looked at the black hornet’s nest rapidly shrink, until it was the size of a finger. With a flip of his hand, he picked up a cloth sack, then placed the hornet’s nest within it. He placed the sack within his clothes, and the armor-type magic treasure he was wearing shifted in configuration slightly, accommodating the sack within.

  “Collect them all.”

  Ning waved his hand, and collected the many miscellaneous items on the ground, as well as manuals and poisons which Bei Zishan had left behind.As for Bei Zishan’s ranked magic treasures, Ning didn’t touch them.

  “These ranked magic treasures.” Adept Mu pointed at the bloody banner as he spoke. “I am going to take away this Myriad Wraiths Banner. This is a magic treasure which was birthed from sins. I need to take it back…and it is also proof that I’ve accomplished my mission. You can keep the rest.”

  “Alright.” Only now did Ning collect the other ranked magic treasures.

  He was unable to use any of them, and so all he could do was to collect them for now.

  “The Myriad Wraiths Banner…” Adept Mu picked up the bloody banner, which glowed with a faintly visible black aura. “Who knows how many people were tortured to death to create it? What a terrible, weighty sin! This Bei Zishan really was fated to die; he actually used this Myriad Wraiths Banner against you, but your soul is already at the ‘divine will’ level. How could this incomplete Myriad Wraiths Banner possibly do anything to you?”

  Adept Mu was under the impression that Ning had relied on his powerful so to destroy all of those dread wraiths. He didn’t know that Ning had, in reality, had relied upon a visualization of Mother Nuwa in order to pacify all of those dread wraiths.

  “Look. This is sin. Sin so heavy, one can see it with the naked eye. And yet, boundless karmic merits are very hard to see.” Adept Mu pointed at the black aura surrounding the bloody banner. “Sin which one can already see with the naked eye…you can imagine how grave and serious the sin is. We Raindragon Guards naturally must exterminate a person who has committed such grave sins.”

  Ning looked and nodded.

  ––––––—

  Within the mountain cave, Blindfish and the others had their bodies and clothes covered with blood.

  “Quick, lift them up.”

  “Hurry.”

  The black serpent and the Azure Firebird were shouting at those servants. How could the servants dare to resist? They obediently lifted, carried, and piggybacked those who were unable to walk on their own.

  “The young master?”

  “Where is young master Ji Ning?” Blindfish and Ji Jadewich asked, along with others.

  The black serpent just said, “The young master is outside.”

  Blindfish was still able to walk on his own, but Jadewich had to be lifted. All of them walked out of the cave, and as they did, they saw those thousands of terrified Dao-Soldiers, as well as the corpses which litered the ground, as well as Ji Ning, off in the distance, who was currently chatting with Adept Mu.

  Ning turned to look. When he saw his master Blindfish, his entire body covered with blood, as well as Jadewich and the others be carried over, he couldn’t help but feel his heart ache. He couldn’t help but call out, “Master Blindfish.”

  “Young master.” Blindfish spoke as well.

  “You…you all…” Ning didn’t know what to say.

  “Thank you, young master.”

  “Thank you, young master Ji Ning.” Not just the people of the Ji clan; even those Xiantian lifeforms of the Riverbank clan, the Ironwood clan, the Kou clan, and the various other clans, all of whom had their dantians shattered, spoke out in gratitude. The destruction of their dantians made them cripples, but they already felt boundless gratitude for being able to see the sun again and for being able to return to live amongst their clans.

  In his heart, Ning felt boundless sourness. These people included the enemies of the Ji clan, true, but in the past, they were glorious, respected Xiantian lifeforms. But now, all of their dantians had been destroyed.

  The hint of excitement he had felt prior to this when he had acquired all of those treasures of Bei Zishan completely vanished. Ning turned to look towards those servants and barked, “How many more people are imprisoned within this mountain?”

  “There’s most likely more than a million people imprisoned here, but it’s hard to say if even half remain alive.” Immediately, some servants spoke out nervously.

  Ning, hearing this, was stunned.

  A million?

  “What a sin!” Adept Mu shook his head and sighed. “Ji Ning…these thousands of Dao-Soldiers as well as hundreds of thousands of surviving commoners…let those two spirit-beasts deal with them. The two of you, remember that those thousands of Dao-Soldiers were innocent. They were forced to do what they did by Bei Zishan. Do not further violate the proscriptions against murder.”

  “Yes.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird hurriedly nodded. They had previously seen the power of those Flood Dragon Dao-Soldiers. Although they could spare the lives of those Dao-Soldiers, they absolutely would take away those Dao Battle-Armors.

  “I’ll handle everything here to you two.” Ning instructed.

  “Don’t worry.” The black serpent and the Azure Firebird responded.

  “Ji Ning, let’s go. Let’s go to your Ji clan’s West Prefecture City.” Adept Mu said. “I can bring these people along as well.”

  As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a leaf appeared out of nowhere. The leaf rapidly expanded in size, and soon became an enormous leaf that was dozens of meters long. Ning, seeing this, immediately had Master Blindfish, Jadewich, and the other members of the Ji clan all stand atop the leaf. As for the Kou clan, the Riverbank clan, and the other clans, they temporarily rested here, awaiting their clan’s forces to come pick them up.

  “Let’s go.”

  Adept Mu, Ning, Blindfish, and the other Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan who had their dantians destroyed had all mounted the leaf. The enormous green leaf, dozens of meters long, flew rapidly into the air, quickly flying beyond the peaks of the mountains and disappearing into the skies.

  * * *

  Book 5, Chapter 7 - Seeing Mother

  The single green leaf had Ji Ning as well as more than twenty others on it. It flew through the clouds, hurrying towards the direction of West Prefecture City.

  Everyone was either seated or lying down, while Ning and Adept Mu Xiao were standing.

  “Adept, prior to this, you said that Bei Zishan was from Snowdragon Mountain?” Ning asked the question he had been contemplating.

  “Right. Snowdragon Mountain.” Adept Mu glanced at Ning and nodded. “Snowdragon Mountain can be considered one of the most powerful forces of the entire Stillwater Commandery, and within the school, there are multiple Primal Daoists who stand guard. Their roots are quite deep.”

  Ning was secretly shocked.

  Multiple Primal Daoists?

  “Precisely because the school is so large and it has so many methods of training, it also possessed some evil techniques, and so naturally, it will also have some Immortal practitioners who have embarked upon an evil path.” Adept Mu said. “Snowdragon Mountain cares more about power, and thus within it, it possesses Demon practitioners, Evil practitioners, Immortal practitioners, Buddhist practitioners, and all sorts of other practitioners. It values power the most.”

  Adept Mu sighed, “Precisely because within it, the ‘fish and dragons are mixed together’, many people are attracted to Snowdragon Mountain, causing its power to grow even more enormous. Some Zifu Disciples who have departed from it will establish their own territory elsewhere, under the banner of Snowdragon Mountain. They can be considered branches, I suppose. These branches will often collect some talented youths and send them to the main school. Thus, Snowdragon Mountain continues to grow more and more powerful.”

  “But of course, compared to our Raindragon Guards…Snowdragon Mountain is incomparably
inferior.” Adept Mu laughed. “Any one of the Loose Immortals which we Raindragon Guards have stationed here in the Stillwater Commadery is capable of eradicating the entire Snowdragon Mountain school.”

  Ning nodded.

  This was no joke.

  Snowdragon Mountain was nothing more than a school, while the Raindragon Guards was the most powerful military force the Grand Xia Dynasty possessed, overawing the entire world. Of course they weren’t on the same level.

  “Look. We’re here.” Adept Mu pointed into the distance. “West Prefecture City is up ahead.”

  “We’re here?” Ning was stunned. He saw that in the distance, there was a forest which surrounded a magnificent city. This was indeed West Prefecture City, where he had lived since he was young. Ning couldn’t help but feel stunned. “The speed at which Wanxiang Adepts travel on their magic treasures truly is astonishing! A distance of thousands of kilometers was travelled in the blink of an eye.”

  And then, Ning began to worry. “I wonder how Mother is doing. Mother has always been well. Why is she suddenly gravely ill?”

  ––––—

  Within West Prefecture City.

  Yuchi Snow was resting in her room, while outside of the room, her husband, Ji Yichuan, was currently speaking with Ji Ninefire.

  “This is all caused by that calamity from the past.” Yichuan shook his head.

  Ninefire sat there, nodding slightly. “That disaster changed the destiny of the two of you, husband and wife. Yichuan, you were the most talented genius our Ji clan had produced in a thousand years. When you were a child and your father died, you suddenly began to soar…you had already established your ‘Violet Palace’ and embarked onto the path of Immortals as a Zifu Disciple. Unfortunately, it was all ruined.”

  “It doesn’t matter if my future potential on the path of Immortals is gone.” Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “During that disaster, the elder brother of my wife, the most powerful of us three, lost his life for the sake of protecting myself and Snow. Snow had already been badly injured, but for the sake of birthing Ning, she utilized a secret technique that used up her own lifeforce…although my future potential on the Immortal path has been destroyed, I got off the easiest, out of the three of us.”

  Ninefire shook his head gently, sighing.

  Fate makes fools of men!

  Adventuring in the vast, boundless world outside was indeed far more dangerous than living here in Swallow Mountain. Experts were as common as the clouds. There would be lucky encounters, but there would also be disastrous ones. For example, when the Yuchi siblings and Yichuan had met with that crisis, the result had been this.

  “Hm?” Ninefire suddenly lifted his head.

  From high up in the air, a green leaf was slashing through the skies until it landed within a courtyard. Atop this leaf were Adept Mu, Ning, Blindfish, Jadewich, and many others.

  “This…” Yichuan stared in astonishment at the people in front of him, then immediately dashed over. “Jadewich, Shan, Blindfish…you all came back? What happened to all of you? How is it that all of you are injured? What have you all been doing these past days? Why did you all suddenly go missing?”

  “Greetings, Patriarch.” The twenty-plus Xiantian lifeforms of the Ji clan quickly recognized their Patriarch, and in unison, they immediately called out.

  Ninefire naturally knew that more than twenty Xiantian lifeforms of his clan had gone missing, and he had been utterly frustrated by this affair. Now, seeing these Xiantian lifeforms all reappear, he was both surprised and delighted. He hurriedly said, “When we realized you had gone missing, our entire Ji clan started to serach for you. Are you all well?”

  “Our dantians have been destroyed, but we are very lucky to still be alive.” Jadewich said hoarsely.

  “Dantians destroyed?” Ninefire stared, wide-eyed.

  A nearby youth with long hair called out as well, “Patriarch, it was only thanks to Ji Ning as well as this Adept that we were able to survive this time.”

  “Adept?” Ninefire and Yichuan felt a surge of electricity in their hearts.

  Adept…

  Then that meant this was a Wanxiang Adept! The entire Swallow Mountain area didn’t have a single Wanxiang Adept.

  The two both looked at Adept Mu. Actually, when they first saw him, they had the feeling that this was an extraordinary figure. To be able to ride on a magic treasure to come here…they guessed that he was at least a Zifu Disciple, but they didn’t expect that he was actually a Wanxiang Adept. They saw how Ning was standing to the side of this Wanxiang Adept, as though they seemed to be on good terms. In their hearts, they couldn’t help but feel puzzled as to how Ning had managed to end up getting to know this Wanxiang Adept.

  “Ji Ninefire (Ji Yichuan) greets you, Adept.” Ninefire and Yichuan both said respectfully.

  “Actually, I’m the one who should be thanking Ji Ning.” Adept Mu laughed calmly.

  “Ji Ning?” Ninefire and Yichuan looked towards Ning.

  A look of worry appeared on Ning’s face, and he immediately said, “I learned that Mother is gravely ill, so I invited Adept Mu to come to our West Prefecture City…”

  “Snow is right inside the room.” Yichuan suddenly realized, and he immediately spoke out.

  Adept Mu Xiao nodded, then walked towards the nearby room. Ning and Yichuan followed behind, while Ning asked softly while walking, “Father, what happened? How could Mother suddenly have fallen ill?”

  “It was that illness left behind in the past.” Yichuan said. “I’ll explain to you in detail later.”

  ––––––—

  After entering the room, they had the maidservants leave. Aside from Snow, who was lying on the bed, only Adept Mu, Ning, Yichuan, and Ninefire were present.

  Yuchi Snow opened her eyes, looking at the newcomers. She couldn’t help but reveal a trace of puzzlement in her eyes.

  “Snow, this is Adept Mu, whom Ning asked to come.” Yichuan said hurriedly.

  Hearing this, Snow immediately used her arms to prop herself up. “Yuchi Snow greets you, Adept.”

  “Give me your right hand.” Adept Mu sat down on the stone bench next to the bed.

  Snow extended her rather ashen right hand. She saw, now, that standing by the side of Adept Mu was Ning. She looked at her son…and as she did, a look of delight appeared on Snow’s face.

  Adept Mu stretched out with a single finger, gently tapping it on Snow’s wrist. Immediately, a spot of green light, filled with life energy, spread out, quickly enveloping Snow’s entire body. Ning and Yichuan, seated nearby and watching, felt restlessness in their hearts. After waiting for a good long while, Adept Mu began to frown. “Strange. Strange.”

  Ning, hearing this, felt nervousness in his heart. He hurriedly asked, “Adept, my Mother, she…?”

  Still frowning, Adept Mu said, “Although I’m not specialized in medicine, I can tell that your Mother doesn’t have any sickness. Rather, her lifeforce has been almost entirely used up…given how little lifeforce your mother has left in her body, she’ll most likely be able to live just three more months.”

  “Her lifeforce has nearly been used up?” Ning’s face changed.

  “When my wife was pregnant, she was injured.” The nearby Yichuan said hurriedly. “Afterwards, she then used a secret technique which spent her own vitality to protect the fetus.”

  Adept Mu nodded. “Your wife was originally a Xiantian lifeform, and judging from the purity of the remnants of ki in her body, she should have been a peak Xiantian lifeform. Unfortunately…that injury she suffered should have been a severe one. Her dantian was destroyed, and logically speaking, she shouldn’t have been able to preserve the fetus. Your wife used a secret technique to ignite her own lifeforce in order to protect the fetus, but the cost of this secret technique was extremely great. To replenish what the usage of it cost is almost impossible.”

  Hearing this, Ning was flabbergasted.

  His mother had been a peak Xiantian expert
? Her dantian had been destroyed, and she had used a secret technique to ignite her own lifeforce to protect the fetus?

  However, from what he had seen from when his mother had taught him footwork, she was indeed an expert. However, that year when he had been in his mother’s womb, what exactly had happened? His parents had always intentionally hidden the truth of what had happened when his mother was pregnant from Ning, refusing to tell him.

  “Adept, please save my mother.” Ning said frantically.

  “To save her, the only method is to extend her lifespan.” Adept Mu sighed. “There are plenty of spirit pills for curing diseases, and I myself have spirit pills that can be used for Immortal practitioners to extend their lifespan. But unfortunately…to let a mortal have an extended lifespan is thousands of times more difficult than to have an Immortal practitioner extend their lifespans. This sort of medicine is something which I, in the Raindragon Guards, have only heard of. I don’t even know where to find them. Most likely, only Immortals would be able to produce them.”

  The nearby Ninefire, hearing this, was shocked. Raindragon Guards?

  “Immortals!” Hearing this, Ning felt as though his heart had suddenly turned to ice.

  * * *

  Book 5, Chapter 8 - Learning Acceptance

  Adept Mu Xiao left that very day for Stillwater City. Before leaving, he pulled Ji Ning aside to give him advice in private. “Ji Ning, your talent is extremely high. It is guaranteed that you will walk far on the path of Immortals! Immortal practitioners have very long lifespans. Unless his friends and family are also Immortal practitioners, you will have to watch as all of them die of old age. Actually, this is a form of self-improvement with regards to your mind towards the Dao. Since you have become an Immortal practitioner…you need to be prepared. No matter how much pain you suffer, you must escape from the midst of your grief. Otherwise, it will be very hard for you to overcome the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations.”