Desolate Era

by RWX

  In turn, there were few to no reincarnated Immortals who would successfully pass the Heavenly Tribulation to become Celestial Immortals. Their chance was actually far lower than the chance which most Immortal cultivators faced.

  “A reincarnated Immortal?” Adept Xu Zhen and the gray-robed man looked at each other, secretly shocked.

  “This Ji clan truly did blunder into tremendous luck; a reincarnated Immortal was actually born into their clan,” Adept Xu Ke mused to himself. “That junior apprentice-brother of mine, Xu Li…poor bastard…he died to a reincarnated Immortal…”

  Daoist Snowplume said calmly, “Don’t be frightened by that. So what if he is a reincarnated Immortal? Many reincarnated Immortals fall and perish on their Immortal path, even before becoming Immortals again. This is all too common.”

  This was the truth.

  The likes of the Sloppy Daoist and Holyfire all had foundations for becoming Immortals! However, the path of Immortal cultivation was a path which went against the will of the heavens…and so the heavens would send invisible trials and tribulations, causing the vast majority of these geniuses to fall and perish. It was equally possible for reincarnated Immortals to perish at the Wanxiang Adept or Primal Daoist levels.

  “Are you Daoist Snowplume of Snowdragon Mountain? A distant voice rang out, a voice which shook the world. Daoist Snowplume walked straight to the helm of the ship, staring into the distance.

  Off in the distance, there was a fur-clad youth. He looked like an ordinary youth from a barbarian tribe, and behind him, there was an azure-robed maiden and a large, snowy white dog. They all stood there in midair, staring towards the ship.

  “Master, these people from Snowdragon Mountain come with bad intentions,” the nearby Little Qing sent mentally.

  “Of course they do. However, I didn’t expect that my intentions to drive out their Swallow Mountain branch caused a Primal Daoist to come in person.” Ning stared towards the distant warship.

  Daoist Snowplume, standing at the helm of the Immortal warship, truly did have the elegant aura of an Immortal. He laughed loudly, “I am indeed. I heard that the Black-White College has produced a disciple, Ji Ning, whose talent is astonishing and whose power is formidable. Upon my first time meeting you…I can tell that your reputation is well-deserved.”

  “You praise me too much,” Ning replied. “Might I ask why you have come to my Serpentwing Lake, Daoist Snowplume?”

  Daoist Snowplume, aboard his warship, spoke frankly. “I have come because of some matters between you and the local branch of our Snowdragon Mountain. Your Ji clan is expanding its territory here in Snowdragon Mountain…our local branch won’t hinder you in the slightest, but I heard that you sent word ordering the branch to move away within ten days?”

  “That did indeed happen,” Ning said, nodding.

  “Don’t you feel that you are being a bit too arrogant?” Daoist Snowplume looked towards Ning.

  Ning shook his head. “Based on what I know, your Snowdragon Mountain, in establishing your headquarters, have taken over a territory of a hundred thousand kilometers. You have also set up numerous branches throughout Stillwater Commandery, and are constantly infiltrating into new areas and continuing to expand your branches. Can it be that your own Snowdragon Mountain is permitted to frantically expand, while my Ji clan is to be so limited that we cannot even take over the Swallow Mountain region?”

  Those who were powerful would naturally expand.

  “How can your Ji clan be compared in the same breath to my Snowdragon Mountain!” Daoist Snowplume said with a frown.

  “In the past, when our Ji clan was weak, your Swallow Mountain branch dared to constantly invade and push forward, becoming the most powerful force within Swallow Mountain despite not being local to this place. You even dared to try and forcibly take our elemental ore mine!” Ning stared at Daoist Snowplume. “Now that our Ji clan is powerful, can it be that we can’t even expel a single branch of yours? Can it be that only you are allowed to abuse others, while our Ji clan isn’t even allowed to expand?”

  A look of anger was on Daoist Snowplume’s face. “You truly are determined to exile our Swallow Mountain branch?”

  “Right.” Ning nodded.

  “You are holding Snowdragon Mountain in no regard at all!” Daoist Snowplume said with anger.

  “Think whatever you wish. The expelling of the Swallow Mountain branch is something I have set my mind on doing,” Ning said, staring at Daoist Snowplume.

  Their gazes intersected.

  Daoist Snowplume instantly understood that this Ji Ning was not going to lower his head.

  “Do you think that your reputation as a disciple of the Black-White College will scare me off?” Daoist Snowplume’s face sank, and his voice began to echo in the skies. “I urge you to know when to cut your losses. Otherwise…today, I will personally teach you a lesson and let you know…that the words you say need to be matched with an equal amount of strength.”

  Ning stared at the distant Daoist Snowplume. He cracked his lips into a smile, and his voice also echoed in the skies. “The words you say need to be matched with an equal amount of strength…well-spoken! I was actually hoping for you to provide me with some pointers, Daoist Snowplume, and see what formidable techniques you have!”

  Daoist Snowplume was instantly enraged. “You don’t know your limits,” he howled angrily, his voice echoing out like a thunderclap from an enraged God of Thunder. Instantly, the world around them began to change colors. “I shall grant you your wish.”

  “Come!” Ning’s response was cold and calm.

  * * *

  Book 9, Chapter 34 - Ji Ning Battles a Primal Daoist

  Daoist Snowplume soared onto a cloud, then stood there in midair, staring towards the opposite Ji Ning.

  “Little Qing, Uncle White, the two of you, stay farther away,” Ning instructed. This was a competition between himself and Daoist Snowplume; there was no need for Uncle White or Little Qing to interfere.

  “Ning, son, be careful,” the Whitewater Hound instructed.

  “Master, beat the crap out of that old Daoist!” Little Qing clenched her fists, full of anticipation. Although she didn’t know exactly how strong Ning was, she knew he was unfathomably stronger than he had been when they had met in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains.

  ……

  Daoist Snowplume and Ji Ning both stood there in the air, staring at each other.

  “They are actually going to fight?!”

  Adept Xu Ke and the gray-robed man both watched with eyes filled with amazement.

  “Senior apprentice-brother Lu, how can this Ji Ning be so bold as to dare to fight against Master?” Adept Xu Ke had never, even in his wildest dreams, imagined that Ji Ning would be this arrogant, not even giving Daoist Snowplume any face. “Master is a peak Primal Daoist, and has the full strength and support of our Snowdragon Mountain sect behind him; even amongst Primal Daoists, he would be considered formidable.”

  “Madman. A true madman.” The gray-robed man shook his head, also in disbelief. “Can it be that this Ji Ning thinks that he can defeat Master? Master isn’t like some of those newly ascended Primal Daoists; he became a Primal Daoist centuries ago! His foundation is unfathomably deep and stable, and he has gained tremendous fame!”

  The two of them, both Wanxiang Adepts, were stunned. And as for the Zifu Disciples on the ship? Their amazement went without saying!

  The large group of Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain were completely shocked and dazed. Ji Ning actually dared to challenged their unfathomably exalted Patriarch, Daoist Snowplume? He was absolutely suicidal!

  “I shall grant you your wish!”

  “Come!”

  Daoist Snowplume and Ji Ning’s words, one after the other, thundered in the skies, filling the air above the entire Brightheart Island. Quite a few denizens of the island had already stood up to stare.

  “Ji Ning is going to fight a Primal Daoist?” Ji Ninefire’s face i
nstantly changed.

  “How can Ji Ning act so rashly? That’s a Primal Daoist! And a peak Primal Daoist, at that…even if he wanted to fight one, he should choose an early or mid-stage Primal Daoist to test himself against first. How can he immediately challenge a peak Primal Daoist like Daoist Snowplume?” Ji Truekeep was panicking as well.

  In fact, he even began to feel regret. He began to regret asking for Ning’s advice as to how they should deal with the local branch of Snowdragon Mountain. He had no idea that Ning would be so ‘unyielding’, and be willing to go head on against the enemy, even when they sent a Primal Daoist!

  “Daoist Snowplume…he’s a peak Primal Daoist!” Granny Shadow was beginning to worry as well.

  The Ji clan had always been on poor terms with Snowdragon Mountain, which was why Ning had acquired a set of detailed intelligence reports on Snowdragon Mountain. After reading it, he had stored it within the Ji clan’s archives. Naturally, Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the others had all read through it and had gained an extremely clear understanding of Snowdragon Mountain.

  And this was exactly why they were so worried right now.

  “Young master…” Autumn Leaf chewed on her lips, holding her breath as she stared at the two figures in midair.

  ………

  Everyone on both sides felt that Ning was playing with fire…but Ning himself knew his own level of power clearly. The reason why he dared to write such a letter…was because he truly felt no fear towards Snowdragon Mountain’s Primal Daoists!

  There were differences in power amongst Primal Daoists as well.

  The Primal Daoists of the Black-White College, for example, were absolute elites amongst elites, who were even capable of giving Immortals a fight! Some of the weaker, early-stage Primal Daoists, in turn, were far, far weaker…even nine years ago, Ning was confident in being able to escape with his life from them. It was precisely figures like Daoist Snowplume who were the most suitable for Ning to test himself against.

  “Even if you are a reincarnated Immortal, I imagine that at your current level of power, you haven’t completely awakened all of your former memories,” Daoist Snowplume said, shaking his head and laughing. “I’ll let you know…what the difference is between Primal Daoists and Wanxiang Adepts!”

  A fan suddenly appeared within Daoist Snowplume’s hand. He gave it a casual wave.

  Whoosh!

  This fanning motion instantly caused flames to appear out of nowhere. A brilliant golden flame wildly rippled forth, exploding into a sea of flames that swirled towards Ning.

  “Primal Fire?” Ning instantly recognized it for what it was. Primal Fire was something which every Primal Daoist possessed. During his adventure in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains, the Dragonwhale, upon becoming a Primal Daoist, had relied on this technique to burn Adept Redbud to death. However, at that time, the Dragonwhale had only been an early-stage Primal, and so the power of his Primal Fire wasn’t strong enough. It was far weaker than Daoist Snowplume’s Primal Fire.

  “Condense.” Ning let out a soft chant. Instantly, a lotus flower colored red and green suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The green came from the leaves of the lotus flower, while the red came from the petals. The enormous green leaves swirled around the red petals in the center, which were clustered much more tightly together. They swiveled together naturally, with Ning at the very center, completely protected by this lotus flower.

  This was his protective technique, the Waterflame Lotus.

  Rumble…

  The flames formed from Primal Fire seemed to cover the heavens. They surged towards Ning, but the lotus simply continued to swivel in the middle of that sea of flame. Clearly, the flames were completely unable to penetrate past them.

  “What?!” Daoist Snowplume, fan in hand, revealed a look of shock on his face. “This Ji Ning is able to easily deflect my Primal Fire, and without using a sword technique, but some sort of protective technique?”

  Previously, upon learning that Ji Ning’s calligraphy had terrified the Zifu Disciples so badly that their hearts had trembled and their legs had gone soft, he had guessed that Ji Ning must be at an extremely high level of expertise with the sword. He had thought that Ji Ning would execute his swordplay, using it to strike against all techniques and shatter the sea of Primal Fire. Daoist Snowplume was only intending to use this ‘sea of Primal Fire’ to test Ning’s capabilities, but he hadn’t expected that Ning would be able to block it with just a single lotus.

  “A lotus flower? This Ji Ning has an exceedingly deep level of comprehension of both fire and water,” Daoist Snowplume mused secretly to himself.

  Indeed, his words were correct.

  Ning had indeed reached an extremely high level of mastery in both the Dao of Rainwater and the Dao of the Inferno. During the past nine years, he had been supported by the underwater estate! His rate of improvement was incomparably astonishing; his past nine years was comparable to ninety years for an ordinary genius! In these two Daos, Ning already felt in a vague way that he had reached a bottleneck. With but a single further step, he would be able to completely comprehend the Daos of Rainwater and the Inferno!

  With the added help he had from Ninelotus in discussing the Dao and the secrets of the lotus, Ning had further perfected this Waterflame technique. During the past nine years, Ning’s dire-ice and earthfire had both reached the fourth grade as well.

  With dire-ice and earth-fire assisting the Divine Solar Tattoo and Divine Lunar Tattoo on his body in activating the natural fire and water of the world, and with his comprehension of the Dao of Rainwater and the Dao of the Inferno, and with his additional prowess in the mysteries of the lotus…the current Waterflame Lotus had been formed, which was now a supremely skillful protective technique.

  The petals and the leaves swiveled about each other in layers, possessing incomparable defensive power.

  …..

  The two had exchanged their first blows. One had unleashed a sea of Primal Fire, while the other had created a lotus within the sea.

  This caused the spectators on both sides to feel incomparably nervous.

  “He’s fine. Ji Ning is fine.”

  “Ji Ning is within the lotus.” The Ji clan’s side let out sighs of relief.

  “What technique did this Ji Ning use? The Primal Fire which Master has been cultivating for centuries isn’t able to do anything to him?” Snowdragon Mountain began to grow nervous.

  ……

  In midair.

  “It seems you truly do have a bit of talent,” Daoist Snowplume barked coldly. As his words came out, the sea of fire that had filled the skies vanished. “But I want to see how long you can hold on for.”

  One drop of water after another began to appear in the skies. These ‘raindrops’, however, were the size of a fist, and there were 108 of them which hovered around Daoist Snowplume’s body.

  “Skywater?” Ning revealed a look of curiosity and excitement on his face. Earthfire, upon improving to the next level, would transform into skyfire; dire-ice upon improving to the next level, would become skywater. Even amongst Primal Daoists, only a few would have access to skyfire and skywater.

  “Go.” Daoist Snowplume waved his fan yet again. Instantly, the 108 fist-sized raindrops shot out like meteors, slashing through the skies and smashing towards Ji Ning.

  BOOM!

  When the first raindrop smashed directly against Ning’s protective lotus, it broke straight through the outermost layer of leaves, but was blocked by the red petals within.

  “What tremendous power.” Ning could feel the terrifying collisive force of those raindrops. His current Waterflame Lotus was capable of completely dominating the vast majority of Wanxiang Adepts, and had even been capable of blocking Primal Fire, but it had been badly damaged by a single drop of skywater…most likely, that drop of skywater would have been enough to smash an ordinary peak Wanxiang Adept to death.

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh…many raindrops of skywater came smashing downwar
d. Ning no longer dared to allow his Waterflame Lotus to take it all head on.

  “Spin.” Ning held a Darknorth sword in each hand. Sword-light flashed, and those oncoming drops of skywater, carrying a savage aura that filled the heavens…instantly began to swirl around the sword-light Ning had generated. They had actually been captured and taken control of by Ning’s sword-light.

  The sword-light was like water, guiding the drops of skywater in their movements…

  “Eh?” The distant Daoist Snowplume was startled. “A seemingly simple sword attack, and yet, it contained so many mysteries…Ji Ning’s sword techniques has already surpassed those of any members of Snowdragon Mountain.”

  “It seems I’ll be forced to rely on raw power to crush him.”

  Daoist Snowplume didn’t dare to hesitate. With but a thought, he instantly caused the drops of skywater that were wildly spinning around the Darknorth swords to instantly detonate. Boom, boom, boom. The temperature instantly began to fall, and even the air itself began to freeze. Frost appeared on Ning’s face, covering it with a layer of white.

  “Very cold.” Even Ning’s Fiendgod-like body felt the cold. “It really is on a higher level than dire-ice; the cold of this skywater…once it is unleashed, it quite astonishing!”

  A large amount of frost had condensed in the surrounding area, and a faint mist was beginning to arise. Suddenly, from within the midst, two snowy Flood Dragons appeared.

  “Kill!”

  The distant Daoist Snowplume had finally unleashed a killing blow, the powerful magic treasure which he used to shock the world…the Binary Diffraction Swords!

  The Binary Diffraction Swords were actually two swords; one yin, and one yang. The swords would transform into a pair of Flood Dragons with astonishing power. These were rare magic items, even amongst Heaven-ranked magic items. When used separately, each would be considered high-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasures. When used together…their power would merge, reaching even more shocking levels.