Desolate Era

by RWX

It must be understood that every single Celestial Immortal was considered one of the true foundations for a clan. A single word from a Celestial Immortal could even cause the clan leader to be changed.

  If Ning were to become a Celestial Immortal, he would become one of the figures capable of influencing the entire Grand Xia Dynasty; even the entire Youngflame clan would treat him with courtesy. If it had been a Celestial Immortal who had killed Youngflame Nong, most likely the Youngflame clan would just go negotiate with him, rather than pursue and attack him. Thus, there was no way the Youngflame clan would be so stupid as to send a Celestial Immortal into a commandery city and begin a slaughter.

  “We know a little bit about the Grand Xia Empire’s world. It is already incredible for the supreme clans to have even just one or two Celestial Immortals; there is no way they would let them end up as wanted criminals.” Immortal Duohe and Witchsui exchanged a glance, then made up their minds.

  “We have decided to agree to your request. For a thousand years, we shall be stationed at that commandery city of the Grand Xia Empire, the ‘City of Ten Thousand Swords’, and protect your clan. Given our power, even if supreme Loose Immortals come, we should be able to easily defeat them. However, if a Celestial Immortal comes, there is nothing we can do.”

  “If a Celestial Immortal attacks, I’ll just accept it,” Ning sent. “Monsters, all of you need to now swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. I shall do the same.”

  “Fine.”

  “That’s how it should be done.”

  The monsters were indeed afraid that Ning would later go back on his word; it was best if they all swore oaths to the Dao of the Heavens.

  Soon, with Ning personally choosing the words to the oaths, both came to an agreement on what to say, then swore the oaths.

  Tens of thousands of monsters simultaneously swore an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. Ripples of power from the Dao of the Heavens descended upon them, and through his divine sense, Ning could clearly see every single monster making the oath. These thirty thousand-plus monsters were the elites of this entire Immortal estate world; more than ninety-nine percent of the Diremonster Immortal cultivators were present.

  Oaths to the Dao of the Heavens were useless against mortals and useless against ordinary monsters, but upon monsters or humans embarking upon the Immortal path, it would have tremendous effect! These monstrous Dao-soldiers were all at the Zifu level at the very least. The thirty thousand-plus monsters, along with two Loose Immortals, all swore their oaths to the Dao of the Heavens, and Ning, in turn, was no longer worried about them going back on their word.

  Naturally, he swore an oath as well.

  “There is no time to waste,” Ning sent mentally. “That expert from the Youngflame clan might even be a Celestial Immortal, and he will soon reach the Witchriver Immortal Estate. Once he comes, he might annihilate all of you. We need to immediately leave.”

  “What?!” Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, and the others were all shocked.

  The two Immortals were quite decisive; in the face of an opportunity that would change the destinies of all the monsters in the Immortal estate world, they immediately ordered the necessary arrangements be made. “Daoist Zhenbao, Daoist Witchaxle, each of you go lead a thousand Dao-soldiers and gather all of our clansmen within the Immortal estate world, then lead them to the City of Ten Thousand Swords.”

  “This is a map of the Stillwater Commandery of the Grand Xia Empire. There is a mark here for the City of Ten Thousand Swords.” Ning flew over as well. Given that they had all sworn oaths to the Dao of the Heavens, they were naturally now in the same boat.

  “We’ll lead these soldiers to head there right away,” Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe both said. “Everyone, get in.” The two Immortals each produced a giant sack.

  Whooooooosh.

  Not a single one of the many monstrous Dao-soldiers resisted. All of them allowed themselves to be drawn into the sacks, leaving behind just Immortal Zhenbao, Immortal Witchaxle, and the two thousand Dao-soldiers under their command.

  “Let’s go.”

  Whoosh. A corridor appeared, leading to the Skyrove Mountains.

  Ning, Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, and Daoist Witchaxle all flew out.

  They appeared within the gorge in the Skyrove Mountains. Even the aura and the smell here was different compared to the Immortal estate world; this was an aura of a vast, endless world, the smell of an entire, major world.

  “It’s different.”

  “It really is different.”

  “This is the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world.” Immortal Witchsui, Immortal Duohe, and the others were all stunned and excited.

  “This is the key to the Immortal estate.” Ning handed the key directly to Daoist Witchaxle. “I’m giving it to you now. Immediately lead the remaining monsters to quickly depart from the Immortal estate world; if you delay, the situation might change.”

  “Right.” Daoist Witchaxle accepted the key, then immediately generated a corridor, returning to the Immortal estate and then shutting the corridor off.

  “Let’s go,” Ning said. “The City of Ten Thousand Swords is six hundred thousand kilometers to the north.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Immortal Duohe, that powerful old fellow, personally executed a teleportation, bringing Immortal Witchsui, Ning, Little Qing, and Uncle White with him in a long-distance teleport.

  ……

  Whoosh.

  Ning realized that the surrounding environment had changed. He took a careful look, then said, “We were slightly off; the City of Ten Thousand Swords is roughly twenty six thousand kilometers to our southeast.”

  “Then I’ll just teleport us again.” The shorter the distance, the easier a teleportation was. Immortal Duohe easily teleported them a short distance.

  In the middle of the air, surrounded by clouds, at a location just a few hundred kilometers outside the City of Ten Thousand Swords. A spatial ripple appeared, then from within it emerged Immortal Duohe, Immortal Witchsui, and a fur-clad youth, a little azure serpent, and a large, snowy white hound.

  “Here we are.” Ning stared towards the distance. His Fiendgod-like eyesight could easily see the distant commandery city, just a few hundred kilometers away. This caused Ning to let out a sigh of relief; previously, when he had been chatting with the monsters in the Immortal estate, he had done so through divine sense, so as to save as much time as possible. He had been worried about taking too much time and unforseen things happening.

  Ning pointed towards the distant commandery city. “That city is the City of Ten Thousand Swords, the city which the monster clans of the Immortal estate must protect for a thousand years.”

  * * *

  Book 10, Chapter 29 - Patriarch Arcanum

  Within the City of Ten Thousand Swords. Inside a large, secluded, palace.

  “What? A tribe even more powerful than the Northmont clan of Stillwater?” Ji Ninefire, Ji Truekeep, and Granny Shadow were completely petrified.

  “This is Immortal Duohe, while this is Immortal Witchsui; both are extremely powerful Loose Immortals.” After describing the dangerous situation, Ji Ning moved to introduce the two by his side.

  “Loose Immortals?”

  Ninfire and the others felt dazed. Legendary, exalted Loose Immortals were before them… and two of them at that.

  “They will command thirty thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers to protect our City of Ten Thousand Swords,” Ning said. “They are all wearing Dao-armors, and so with these two Loose Immortals in command of thirty thousand monstrous Dao-soldiers… even if tens of Loose Immortals come, they should be able to withstand them. They will protect our city for a thousand years. Unless a Celestial Immortal or someone with a Celestial Immortal’s power attacks us, our city should be completely safe.”

  Ninefire, Truekeep, and Granny Shadow were cultivators, after all; despite still being stunned, they quickly regained their equilibrium.

  “You three can decide wha
t arrangements need to be made for the tribe,” Ning said. “You know more about these things than me anyhow.”

  “Don’t worry.” Truekeep nodded. “With such a powerful army of Dao-soldiers stationed here, and with this being a commandery city of the Grand Xia Empire that is under special protection from the Raindragon Guard as well… anyone who dares attack will be pursued throughout the entire Grand Xia Dynasty! No matter how powerful the Youngflame clan is, they wouldn’t possibly be willing to have one of their legendary Celestial Immortals become a wanted criminal.”

  Celestial Immortals were figures of legends. It wasn’t even known for certain whether or not the Northmont clan of Stillwater had a Celestial Immortal. As for the Black-White College, in its countless years of existence, it had produced countless Loose Immortals, but only a single Celestial Immortal.

  “Little Qing, Uncle White, the two of you shall stay here for now. Here is a talisman.” Ning handed a talisman to the human-shaped Uncle White. “If you notice that the talisman has shattered, then teleport directly towards Serpentwing Lake and reunite with me. If the talisman remains whole, then you are absolutely not permitted to come.”

  “Right.” Little Qing and Uncle White both nodded. At a critical moment like this, they wouldn’t let him down.

  “Ning, son, be careful,” Uncle White instructed.

  Ning nodded and smiled.

  “I’ll leave now. After this departure, I probably won’t be able to return for a very long period of time.” Ning looked towards Ninefire, Truekeep, and Granny shadow. “It was I who brought this calamity upon the tribe. In the future, I’ll make up for it.”

  “Don’t say such things!” Ninefire scolded in a low voice. “Remember, you have to protect yourself. Only if you are alive shall our Ji clan have a chance to flourish.” For a tribe to produce a genius like Ning was completely a matter of luck.

  “I’m leaving now.” Ning immediately used a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal. Whoosh. He disappeared from within the hall.

  ……

  In the air above Brightheart Island of Serpentwing Lake. A ripple in the air could be seen, and then Ning emerged.

  “Autumn Leaf.” Upon landing, Ning immediately sent his voice out, calling towards Autumn Leaf. Soon, a light gray-robed Autumn Leaf emerged. She looked at Ning in surprise and delight. “Young master.”

  “You can no longer stay on Brightheart Island. Hurry up and have everyone on the island move away to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. As for you, you need to leave immediately,” Ning instructed.

  Autumn Leaf was stunned. “What, what happened?” Brightheart Island had long ago become her home; she had poured her heart out in developing this place.

  “Don’t ask. I don’t have time to explain in detail. When you arrive in the City of Ten Thousand Swords, you can ask Uncle White and the others, and they will let you know. Right now, you need to make the arrangements right away, then immediately leave. This is a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal; you can use it to teleport up to ten thousand kilometers away. Teleport straight to the city.” Ning handed her a Dao-seal.

  Autumn Leaf immediately understood how grave the situation was.

  Actually, even if a Celestial Immortal of the Youngflame clan was to personally investigate, he would have to first go into the Witchriver Immortal Estate, find the ‘Witchriver Palace’ in which Youngflame Nong had been killed, then utilize a temporal inversion technique. Even if, through the usage of such a technique, he discovered that Ning was the killer, he would probably need a bit of time before finding out about Ning’s background.

  This entire process would take time, and in truth, by the time that Celestial Immortal might have made his way to Swallow Mountain, much time would have passed. And even if he came, he wouldn’t recognize Autumn Leaf, nor know about the relationship between her and Ning; thus, there was absolutely no need at all for Autumn Leaf to use the Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal. Ning, however, was uneasy. In order to prevent any unknown variables from arising, he thus instructed Autumn Leaf to use the Dao-seal.

  Swoosh.

  After making the arrangements, Autumn Leaf, per Ning’s request, was forced to use this Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal.

  “Whew.” Ning let out a sigh of relief. “Alright.” He pushed open the door to the private room he normally stayed in, entered, then shut the door. With but a thought, he caused the illusion of a giant grizzly head to appear within the room. The grizzly head swallowed Ning within its mouth, and Ning disappeared from Serpentwing Lake, entering the underwater estate in another world.

  ……

  The imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty. This was the administrative heart of this entire major world. There were many Loose Immortals and Primal Daoists here, as well as various supreme tribes, schools, and sects as well! In fact, even some of the most powerful forces from other major worlds would arrange for spies and intelligence agents to be placed here. This was truly a place where the fish swam with the dragons. Immortals were as common as the clouds, and unfathomable in their power!

  The Youngflame clan’s estate in this place took up a thousand kilometers. It was incomparably luxurious.

  Within a quiet study inside their estate.

  A golden-robed man with a crown on his head was seated before a desk, reading various intelligence reports. He was the leader of the Youngflame clan, the current Godplume Duke!

  “The Kindwater clan is becoming increasingly excessive in their actions!” The golden-robed man frowned and muttered to himself.

  “Clan leader, clan leader.” Suddenly, a panicked voice rang out. Upon hearing this voice, the golden-robed man’s face sunk. He hated it when his subordinates lost their bearings and grew panicked. However, this particular subordinate was his personal attendant, and one who should have known the rules.

  The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man dressed in blue robes charged in, then knelt down and said in a sobbing voice, “Clan leader, young master Youngflame Nong, he, he…”

  “Youngflame Nong? What about him?” The golden-robed man frowned.

  “He died!” The blue-robed middle-aged servant spoke out in a terrified, frantic voice.

  “What?!” The golden-robed man rose to his feet, revealing a look of astonishment. “How did he die? How do you know he died? You can’t say such things unless you are absolutely certain.”

  “His life-tablet in the ancestral hall has shattered,” the blue-robed servant called out.

  The golden-robed man stood there in the study. After a few moments of silence, he said in a low voice, “Investigate. Send out my orders; within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, Youngflame Nong’s whereabouts needs to be discovered.”

  “Yes,” the blue-robed servant said hurriedly.

  “Youngflame Nong actually died? He should have gone to the Witchriver Immortal Estate. How could he have died? Even if he wasn’t able to bind the Witchriver Immortal Estate, he had a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal on him… even within the Immortal estate, he would’ve been able to teleport out to the Grand Xia Dynasty’s world. And he had that Fiendgod with him, Xiangliu Fang.” The golden-robed man was pondering to himself.

  Youngflame Nong was one of his juniors; they weren’t exactly on close terms with each other, and in fact, he didn’t really like Youngflame Nong. But Youngflame Nong had a Celestial Immortal supporting him!

  Although on the surface, the most powerful figure in a clan was its titular clan leader, compared to the Celestial Immortals who were the Patriarchs of the clan, the clan leader was far inferior. These Celestial Immortal Patriarchs who had lived countless years were the true foundation of a clan. The birth of every Celestial Immortal would cause the entire clan to celebrate, and the fall of every Celestial Immortal would be hidden for as long as possible.

  This was why no one was certain as to how many Celestial Immortals a clan had. For example, the Northmont clan of Stillwater; did it have any surviving Celestial Immortals or not? This was a mystery.

&nb
sp; How many Celestial Immortal Patriarchs did the Youngflame clan have? This, too, was a mystery.

  Even the Godplume Duke himself only knew of three Celestial Immortal Patriarchs within the clan; as for Youngflame Nong, he only knew of one! But even the Godplume Duke wasn’t certain as to exactly how many Celestial Immortals his clan had.

  “Clan leader.” The blue-robed servant returned, saying hurriedly with respect, “Three days ago, Young master Youngflame Nong used a teleportation array to go to Stillwater Commandery, then headed towards the Witchriver Immortal Estate. I’m not capable of locating the exact location of the estate.”

  “Right.” The golden-robed man nodded. “I need to go on a visit. For now, you are not to inform any outsiders of Youngflame Nong’s death.”

  “Yes.”

  Soon, nine golden Flood Dragons, pulling an Immortal carriage behind them, soared out from within the Youngflame clan’s estate. They howled through the air, departing from the imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty and entering the azure void of the skies.

  ……

  At the peak of a tall volcano which stretched through the clouds. The nine golden Flood Dragons, pulling the Immortal carriage, descended from the skies, then flew into the mouth of the volcano. The last time this volcano had erupted was hundreds of thousands of years ago.

  They continued to fly down through the opening.

  Bubbling streams of lava could be seen in the depths below. In the center of the lava flows, a towering, red-haired giant could be seen, reclining in the lava. This red-haired giant lay there as though lying within a personal bathtub. His head was supported by a ‘pillow’ of stone, and his feet pressed against another stone. His eyes were even larger than the Immortal carriage.

  “Senior Bafire.” The golden-robed man stood in front of the Immortal carriage and called out.

  “Oh?” The red-haired giant opened his eyes and looked at the golden-robed man. After pondering a moment, he said slowly, “You are… Youngflame Fujun, the current clan leader and Godplume Duke?”

  “I am.” The golden-robed man was still quite humble.