Desolate Era

by RWX

The hawk-nosed man and Dong Ziqi were simultaneously sliced at by three lines of rain formed from sword light. If they had only been struck by a single flash of sword light, they would have been able to resist, but three lines of rain formed from sword light swirled about them. How could they resist? Their foreheads were pierced through, and their eyes became filled with terror, anger, and disbelief.

  “I, Dong Ziqi, am the number one expert of Swallow Mountain. I, I actually died in the hands of Ji Ning. I’m unwilling to accept this. I’m unwilling to accept this!!!”

  “Detestable, detestable! If I had known, I wouldn’t have come here.”

  The two of them had both been heroic figures of their eras. Actually, if it hadn’t been for the support of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, given that Ning only had early-stage Zifu-level energy, either of the two would have been able to battle with Ning for quite a long period of time.

  But with the support of the great formation, they died in a single exchange.

  “Snick.” The remaining person, the skinny man, had his neck severed as well, but then flesh grew out of his neck as it instantly healed.

  “A Fiendgod Body Refiner?” Ning lifted an eyebrow.

  “Ji Ning, can you spare my life?” The skinny man took a step back and looked at Ning. Although he was a middle-stage Fiendgod Body Refiner, he no longer felt any confidence. The difference in power between them was too great…with the support of the formation and the Rainwater Sword Domain, Ning absolutely had the power of a Wanxiang Adept. He could crush him!”

  Ning laughed softly. “Given how far this has gone, you tell me. Will I spare you?”

  Bang!

  The black wings on Ning’s back trembled, and he suddenly shot towards the skinny man.

  “Ji Ning!” The skinny man howled with rage as he gripped a long black staff in his hands. “Ji Ning, our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan and kill you!”

  Slash!

  Slash!

  Three flashes of sword light slashed across his body. Although the skinny man’s body was durable, he was still quadsected by the sword flashes of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. As for Ning, who charged towards him…the Waterflame Lotus swiveled around him, grinding down that skinny man, making it so that the man’s corpse was instantly ground into mincemeat. Although the mincemeat struggled to solidify into a whole, they were only able to resist the Waterflame Lotus for a few breaths before completely dissipating.

  The surrounding area was now completely silent.

  The rain still fell in a drizzle, and the Waterflame Lotus continued to slowly swivel back and forth. Ning, standing in the middle of the lotus, swept the surrounding area with his gaze. Dong Ziqi and the others lay fallen on the ground, none of them breathing, all of them dead.

  “Dead.” Ning said softly. “This group of Zifu Disciples has been completely exterminated. Only the other group of Zifu Disciples remain.”

  Two badges of Zifu Disciples from Snowdragon Mountain had entered the formation.

  The first batch of twelve Zifu Disciples had been completely annihilated!

  It wasn’t that they were weak; it was that Ning was too powerful!

  Although, for the Ji clan, even though they had the help of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, for them to kill these twelve was still quite hard. Prior to this, when Ji Truekeep and the old servant Ah Xing had tested their attacks, they found that aside from being able to kill those four people in the first ambush, they were no longer able to achieve much success after Dong Ziqi’s group of eight had set down their formation.

  As for Ji Ning, he was able to use the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation to make up for his own weakness in elemental energy. He also had the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and his Rainwater Sword Domain, which allowed his power to reach the Wanxiang Adept level. And this was what had allowed him to crush them and slaughter them all…

  Halfway up the mountain.

  Ji Ninefire, in control of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, revealed a look of shock an amazement on his face. He was so excited, his entire body was trembling.

  “Patriarch?” The nearby Ji Yichuan looked at Ninefire.

  “Victory. Ji Ning won.” Ninefire was incomparably agitated. “Dong Ziqi’s group has been completely killed by Ji Ning. The first group of twelve Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain has been completely annihilated. None are left.”

  Yichuan, hearing this, felt his heart tremble as well. “The first group is completely dead?”

  “Right.” Ninefire nodded repeatedly.

  They were both excited as well as in a state of disbelief…they were merely the Ji clan, after all, just a clan of the Swallow Mountain region! What they faced was an enormous organization Snowdragon Mountain. The enemy’s group of Zifu Disciples who had hastened over here would have utterly terrified any ordinary clan. Even Ninefire had only wanted to delay until an Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty arrived.

  They hadn’t thought that they would actually be able to kill twelve Zifu Disciples in a row, without a single member of the Ji clan dying!

  “Now, only one remains.” Ninefire said. “Jadechild and Nong Zidao’s group of Zifu Disciples.”

  “Once we kill them, our victory is assured.” Yichuan said hurriedly. “Nong Zidao in particular. If we kill Nong Zidao…I refuse to believe that Snowdragon Mountain would be able to find a second expert in formations in a short period of time.”

  “The second group holds Jadechild, Nong Zidao, and others. As long as Nong Zidao dies, our Ji clan will have won for certain.” Ninefire nodded as well.

  Snowdragon Mountain might have other Zifu Disciples who would hasten over…

  But experts in formations were rare. Nong Zidao had only come to give face to Jadechild. In the region nearby Swallow Mountain, aside from Nong Zidao, Snowdragon Mountain had no other experts who were particularly skilled in formations.

  ……..

  Within the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. An abyssal aura wafted about.

  Nong Zidao was frowning as he was analyzing the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation. He seemed to have completely absorbed himself in calculating the positions of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation.

  The other Zifu Disciples all stared around them, on high alert.

  Jadechild stood by Nong Zidao’s side, with the aura of a general who would block anything and everything which came.

  Suddenly…

  “Ji Ning!”

  “It is Ji Ning!”

  “Junior apprentice-brother Muse, stop him!” A series of shouts rang out from afar.

  “Go all out against him!”

  “Juniog apprentice-sister Lu, senior apprentice-brother An, junior apprentice-brother Muse!” Fierce, grief-stricken shouts rang out from afar.

  “Ji Ning, you will definitely die!”

  “Ji Ning, our Snowdragon Mountain will definitely annihilate your Ji clan and kill you!” A berserk, desolate curse rang out.

  And then, utter silence.

  There was no longer any sound that could be heard.

  Nong Zidao had already opened his eyes, and a look of utter solemnity was in Jadechild’s gaze. The other nearby Zifu Disciples all had extremely ugly looks on their faces.

  “Junior apprentice-brother Dong.” Jadechild called out in a loud voice which echoed within the formation.

  No voice replied.

  Not a single voice!

  “Dead.” Nong Zidao said hoarsely. “All dead.”

  “We, we…senior apprentice-brother Zidao. Senior apprentice-brother Jadechild…” The red-haired cultivator stuttered. The other cultivators all looked towards Jadechild and Nong Zidao. Prior to this, there had been twelve Zifu Disciples in that group, but all of them had been killed. How could they not worry? How could they not feel uneasy?”

  Jadechild growled, “Obey my orders. Junior apprentice-brother Zidao, continue analyzing the formation. Fairy Crane, Landwyrm, continue to protect junior apprentice-brother
Zidao. Myself and the rest of the six, we will set up the formation and protect junior apprentice-brother Zidao.”

  “Yes.”

  Instantly, the formation lit up.

  “All you need to worry about is defense.” Jadechild’s eyes were glowing with a golden light as he swept the surrounding area with his gaze. “If that Ji Ning truly does come, let me handle him.”

  “We’ll entrust everything to you, senior apprentice-brother Jadechild.” Nong Zidao said. At the same time, he set up eight formation flags within an area of ten meters. A black tower of light instantly sprang up, layering protections around him. The only people within the black tower of light was Nong Zidao, the Landwyrm, and the Fairy Crane.

  “Don’t worry.” Jadechild’s eyes were calm, but his baleful aura surged to the heavens.

  As someone who had become a peak Zifu-level Fiendgod Body Refiner long ago, and one who trained in a divine ability and thus was able to fight at the Wanxiang Adept level, how could he fear Ji Ning?

  ……

  The Golden Crow hung high in the sky.

  Within the governor’s mansion, inside an enormous city.

  One of the two elders of the Dong clan, Dong Fanyu, was seated there. Next to him there was a youth, who laughed and said, “Senior Dong, please wait momentarily. The Patriarch will arrive shortly.”

  “No rush, no rush.” Dong Fanyu laughed as well.

  Four members of Snowdragon Mountain’s Swallow Mountain branch had gone out to invite people; the two elders of the Dong clan, Muse, and Ju Nianxiong. Of the four, Muse had gone to invite Jadechild and Nong Zidao, which he felt was enough, and so he had returned earlier. Based on their original plans, each of them needed to invite roughly ten or so Zifu Disciples.

  The two elders of the Dong clan and Ju Nianxiong had invited many, but some of the Zifu Disciples they wished to invite had already gone to Snowdragon Mountain. Thus, they continued to go out and invite more; only after each of them had successfully invited ten over would it be enough. They had no idea as to what was happening in Swallow Mountain.

  “Senior apprentice-brother Fanyu.” A deep voice rang out. A silver-robed, middle-aged man walked out. “Last time I saw you, senior apprentice-brother, you were back at Swallow Mountain. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred years have gone by. Earlier, senior apprentice-brother, you told my subordinates that there is something important you wish to discuss with me. What is it?”

  “A wonderful affair!” Dong Fanyu’s face was all smiles.

  * * *

  Book 6, Chapter 16 - Wanxiang Adept

  “A wonderful affair?” The silver-robed man had a puzzled look on his face.

  Dong Fanyu said, his face all smiles, “I’m not going to hide this from you, junior apprentice-brother Wu. This time, we’ve come to deliver you a chance to render some major merits. At my Swallow Mountain region, we’ve just discovered an enormous elemental ore mine. This elemental ore mine has a circumference of four thousand or so kilometers…” Dong Fanyu spent quite a period of time praising the elemental ore mine.

  “Elemental ore mine?” A clear, cold voice rang out, and a young man dressed in a long, beautiful black robe emerged from a side door of the hall. This young man had long, narrow eyes and a tall nose. He looked like a viper, and his gaze alone made Dong Fanyu tremble.

  Dong Fanyu hurriedly rose to his feet, then asked in a low voice, “Junior apprentice-brother Wu, this is…?”

  The silver-haired man had already risen to his feet early on, bowing towards the young man with incomparable respect. “Master!”

  “Master?” Dong Fanyu was very shocked.

  “This is my master, Adept Xu.” The silver-robed man said.

  Dong Fanyu, upon hearing his junior apprentice-brother Wu address this person as ‘master’, immediately knew who this young man was. Immortal practitioners…couldn’t be judged from their outward appearances. The more powerful a person was, the more often they tended to look young. If you were to run into a young Immortal practitioner who looked like a child, one would have to be very careful!

  Dong Fanyu was a disciple of Snowdragon Mountain, after all; he knew that his junior apprentice-brother Wu was a student of a core disciple of the main sect, ‘Xu Li’.

  They were both students of the main sect, but the difference in their status was very different.

  Snowdragon Mountain would divide up students based on their innate talent and potential. Some people who had the potential to break through to become Wanxiang Adepts or even had the chance to become Primal Daoists. Naturally, they would be heavily investd in. Xu Li was a core disciple, and had in fact reached the Wanxiang level more than sixty years ago.

  “Dong Fanyu pays his respects to Adept Xu.” Dong Fanyu immediately bowed and saluted.

  “You were speaking of an elemental ore mine?” Adept Xu said calmly. “Your Swallow Mountain branch actually discovered an elemental ore mine…so why have you come to invite my disciple?”

  Dong Fanyu said hurriedly, “I don’t dare to hide anything from you, Adept…” He described what had happened in detail.

  Adept Xu nodded lightly, a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. “So that’s how it is. I didn’t expect that on this leisure trip of mine, I would encounter this sort of wonderful affair. Wu Qi, accompany your master on a trip to Swallow Mountain and take over the elemental ore mine.”

  Dong Fanyu said, delighted and surprised, “Adept, if you go, then this matter will be settled!”

  But although he was delighted on the outside, he was cursing inwardly. Discovering the elemental ore mine was a great accomplishment, but if the Swallow Mountain branch was actually able to take it over, that would be an even greater one! But for a Wanxiang Adept to now intervene…Wanxiang Adepts were extremely important members of Snowdragon Mountain. After all, the highest ranking Primal Daoists rarely involved themselves in worldly matters.

  Thus, for Adept Xu to intervene and take over the elemental ore mine meant that when the main Snowdragon Mountain sect divided up accomplishments, the percentage that Adept Xu would receive would be very high.

  For a Wanxiang Adept to intervene…it meant that every single Zifu Disciple would lose a majority of their potential rewards!

  “How could a puny Ji clan necessitate a Wanxiang Adept to intervene.” Dong Fanyu felt misery in his heart, but on the surface, he looked incomparably excited. He didn’t dare say a single word of complaint.

  Adept Xu gave this old fellow surnamed Dong a sidelong glance. He couldn’t care less about him. “Come. Let’s go to Swallow Mountain.”

  Whoooosh.

  A sailboat suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Adept Xu, Wu Qi, and Dong Fanyu all boarded the ship. Wu Qi then sent a message to the Zifu Disciples of his own clan: “I’m making a trip to Swallow Mountain. I will return in a few days.”

  Swoosh. A white sail fluttered atop the sailboat, and then it transformed into a streak of light, piercing through the skies at an astonishing speed.

  “So fast.” Dong Fanyu was in a state of shock. This was the first time he had flown on a flying magic treasure controlled by a Wanxiang Adept.

  “We’ll only need two hours to reach Swallow Mountain.” Adept Xu said calmly.

  Swish!

  The sailboat left behind just a speck of light in the horizon, then completely disappeared. As for Dong Fanyu…he didn’t go invite any other Zifu Disciples. After all, since a Wanxiang Adept was taking part, why bother go asking any Zifu Disciples to come?

  ……………….

  Within an ancient city. Within a hall that was in a rather remote location. There were five jade strips glittering with azure light. The jade strips were all the size of a palm and very slender, seemingly quite exquisite.

  There were two servants seated within the hall. They were chatting amongst each other, bored.

  “Bang!” “Bang!” Two of the jade strips suddenly shattered, one after the other.

  The two servants were both startle
d.

  “What was that? Was that a mouse?”

  “How odd.”

  They looked around with mystified looks on their faces. And then, one of them saw that two of the jade strips in front of them had completely shattered. He was so terrified that his face changed. “Life…life…” The other servant, seeing the look on his face, couldn’t help but mumble, “Why are you so scared? This is the governor’s estate. How could there be any dange-…life…life…” He, too, stared in terror at the shattered jade strips.

  “The life tablets!”

  “The life tablets are shattered!” The two servants stared at each other, their eyes filled with shock and terror.

  “Quick, quick, report this.”

  The two of them charged out wildly.

  This was a major event!

  Just moments later!

  “Whoosh!” A ray of light surged into the skies, and standing above the ray of light was an old man with triangular pupils. His eyes were filled with savagery as well. “Two Zifu Disciples died? What exactly is going on in Swallow Mountain?!”

  …………

  “The life tablets, the life tablets are shattered!”

  …………

  “Life tablets!”

  …………

  In the instant that Ji Ning killed those eight Zifu Disciples, in the commandery cities around the Swallow Mountain area, one clan after another discovered that life tablets of their Zifu Disciples had just shattered. If the life tablet was shattered, that meant the Zifu Disciple was definitely dead! Naturally, these clans were shocked and enraged.

  Some of the other Zifu Disciples even began to fly at high speed towards Swallow Mountain.

  …………..

  Within Swallow Mountain. Oxhorn Mountain, located eight hundred kilometers outside of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. The entire area was covered with black fog.

  Ji Ning stood there, and around him was a group of Zifu Disciple corpses, including Dong Ziqi’s.

  “Hrm?” Ning frowned. He could sense a savage, fierce aura constantly pouring into the Darknorth swords in his hands. Earlier, he had relied on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to kill, but to be safe, Ning had also kept the Darknorth swords in his hands. However, that ferocious aura coming from the corpses actually was drawn into the Darknorth swords.