Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Those robes, that bracelet…they should be extremely rare top-grade Mortal-ranked magic treasures. As for the jade hairpin…even I can’t tell what it is!” Qi Rufeng said.

  “Darknorth truly is an extraordinary figure. Although Mortal-ranked magic treasures aren’t that precious, top-grade Mortal-ranked magic treasures…they are still very rare.” The black-robed princess sighed in amazement. “In addition, judging from the way in which senior Darknorth took out a hundred high-grade Heaven-ranked magic treasures earlier, he probably would’ve given her even better treasures, were it not for the fact that she is still weak and can only use Mortal-ranked treasures. That jade hairpin…it should also be a top-grade Mortal-ranked treasure.”

  The violet-robed princess disagreed. “It’s just a bunch of Mortal-ranked items.”

  Qi Xiaoyu walked down the stairs, then knocked on the door to the cabin.

  “Open the door,” the crown prince immediately instructed. One of the guards behind him immediately walked forward to push open the cabin door.

  Qi Xiaoyu walked in, then immediately said, “Your Highness, Master wishes you to go to him.”

  “In the future, there’s no need to refer to me as ‘your Highness’. You are now the exalted disciple of senior Darknorth; you can just refer to me by my name,” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng said.

  But young princess Qi Ruhui said, “Xiaoyu, what sort of magic treasure is that hairpin? Neither my big brother nor my second sister can recognize it.”

  “Master said that this is a protective treasure that can only be used once. Once the elemental ki within it is unleashed, it can withstand the attacks of even a supreme Loose Immortal for a space of ten breaths,” Qi Xiaoyu replied obediently.

  “What?!” Everyone in the cabin was astonished. Block a supreme Loose Immortal’s attacks for the space of ten breaths? This was definitely a supremely valuable protective item.

  In truth, this was just one of the many magic items left behind by Immortal Juhua. Ning felt that it was actually rather embarrassing for him to give out Mortal-ranked magic treasures to his first disciple; after all, she too was now a member of Mount Innerheart. Thus, he gave her this protective item.

  “To block a supreme Loose Immortal…” The violet-robed princess gritted her teeth. She couldn’t help but feel jealous. “This shitty slave…she sure has some good luck.”

  Because they had been fleeing for so long, they had often used this sort of protective, anti-attack magic treasure. Over the course of tens of years, they had used them all up!

  ……

  Qi Rufeng hurriedly emerged from his cabin, climbing up the stairs to the second floor to go see Ji Ning.

  “Greetings to you, senior Darknorth,” Qi Rufeng said respectfully.

  “Qi Rufeng, I have questions for you.” Ning sat there, pointing towards a chair. “You can sit as well.”

  “Alright.” Qi Rufeng immediately sat down obediently as directed. He was a person who knew when to advance and when to retreat. There was an enormous gap in power right now; he was completely unable to fight back against someone like Ning. Ning had given him a promise, and he had the feeling that this senior Darknorth was a decent person. If he had encountered a vicious, barbaric person, that sort of person would undoubtedly have had many ways to force him to hand over Qi Xiaoyu.

  “I ask you this. Why is it that you have fled for so many years from the Flamewing King without successfully escaping?” Ning asked, puzzled, “Given how large this Star continent is, if you run a few million kilometers away, it will be easier for the Flamewing King to find a needle in the sea than to find you. And yet…you’ve been fleeing in such a haggard fashion for decades, and remain under pursuit.”

  Qi Rufeng shook his head and sighed. “This Flamewing King was originally a venomous pest of a type known as the ‘flamewing bug’ who cultivated the Dao. After he led his Diremonster army to suddenly attack my Qi Empire, the Flamewing King personally covered the entire imperial citadel with flamewing venom. The venom filled every single palace, and it instantly merged into the body of every single person it touched. There’s no way to separate it from the bodies it has touched, and in fact it even has corrupted our souls. Even Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals are unable to get rid of this poison.”

  “Oh?” Ning was surprised. Flamewing bugs? He had never heard of this sort of venomous bug back in the Grand Xia world.

  “This flamewing venom doesn’t actually harm the body or the soul.” Qi Rufeng shook his head, then said bitterly, “But no matter how far away we move away, the flamewing bugs can still sense the location of the flamewing venom. Even if we flee to the Cloud continent or the Flame continent, the flamewing bugs can still sense us. The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals under the Flamewing King’s command can engage in teleportation and go to the Cloud continent and Flame continent…and so no matter where we flee to, we are unable to escape pursuit.”

  Ning now understood. What a nasty poison! He still remembered how in his youth, when he was adventuring in Eastmount Marsh, he had been attacked and pursued by Ironwood Zhan. It was precisely because Ning had been touched by that ‘iceflower liquid’ that Ironwood Zhan was able to continue the chase, even though Ning had fled very far away.

  However, by comparison this flamewing venom was even more formidable…and it was the Flamewing King who had personally used it. It was able to stain even the soul. Within this Crescent world, no matter where the clan fled to, the countless flamewing bugs under the king’s command would still be able to sense their direction.

  “The majority of our imperial clan was killed on the spot, and the rest fled in every direction,” Qi Rufeng said. “Back then, Loose Immortals numbered amongst the fleeing survivors. However, no matter where we fled to, they continued to chase us. Thus, we chose to continue to flee about the former territory of our Qi Empire; after all, this was the place we originally controlled, and so we were quite familiar with it. In addition, the imperial clan had built up many secret bases…”

  “After having fled for so long, we three are the only survivors.”

  Qi Rufeng’s words were filled with grief and powerlessness.

  Ning now understood it all.

  The main problem was that the flamewing venom was hard to eradicate; thus, this crown prince and the princesses were constantly pursued. This sort of venom that stained even the soul…not even Ning was able to help get rid of it.

  “I ask you this,” Ning said. “How great a sinner is this Flamewing King? Is he surrounded by bloody sin light?”

  “The Flamewing King is one of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows. He is famous for his savagery; naturally, the amount of sins he has committed towers to the skies. As far as the bloody aura of sin…from what I hear, all twelve of them are wreathed in tremendous amounts of bloody sin light. Anyone who uses divine sense to look at them will see a towering, tidal-wave of bloody sin light swirling around them. Even Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals will feel terrified upon seeing them,” Qi Rufeng said.

  Ning felt a sense of jubilation in his heart. A towering tidal-wave of bloody sin light? A huge sinner?

  The trial to acquire the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was to kill ten great sinners and to accept a disciple. He had now accepted a disciple, and his next objective was to kill ten great sinners. Perhaps he would be able to fulfill the criteria by dealing with these twelve monster kings.

  “You heard this personally, yes? You aren’t just making this up?” Ning asked.

  “Perhaps the stories are exaggerated, but they shouldn’t be too exaggerated. The savagery of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows is known throughout the Star continent. In fact, even those in the Cloud continent and the Flame continent know about their reputation. Even supreme powers with Celestial Immortal Patriarchs are unwilling to go all out against these twelve monster kings,” Qi Rufeng said. “Although my imperial Qi clan had originally fled to the Cloud continent, we were unfamiliar with the place and the people th
ere. The fame of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows was simply too great; no one was willing to help us, and so in the end, we were chased all the way back home. At least here within the former territory of our Qi Empire, we are able to struggle and fight for a period of time.”

  Ning felt startled. Even powers with Celestial Immortal Patriarchs were unwilling to fight with them?

  “How strong are these twelve monster kings?” Ning asked. “How strong is the Flamewing King?”

  “All twelve of them are incomparably savage and ferocious; the reason why they were willing to swear brotherhood was because they all had similar temperaments. Every one of them is incredibly powerful…but of course, some are stronger and some are weaker. The Flamewing King’s power is average for the twelve; he has nearly a hundred Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals under his command. Given his power, killing ordinary Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals is as easy as killing a chicken,” Qi Rufeng said.

  “The strongest of the twelve, their number one figure, is the Goldfur Bearking. I’ve heard that the Goldfur Bearking has previously fought a Celestial Immortal Patriarch, who was unable to do anything to him. In the end, it was the Celestial Immortal who retreated. You tell me; is he powerful or not? When these twelve monster kings join forces, advancing and retreating in unison…they are one of the absolute hegemons of the entire Eastern Flows region. Although our Qi Empire previously spanned a million kilometers, we’ve never dared to encroach on their territory. Who would’ve thought that the Flamewing King would annihilate our empire?”

  Ning was secretly startled. Even a Celestial Immortal had been unable to do anything, and had voluntarily retreated?

  He had thought that he would be able to get his quota of ten great sinners from these twelve monster kings…but now, it seemed, things wouldn’t be so easy!

  “Easy is boring. Hard is interesting. I spent more than thirty years training at Mount Innerheart; I have yet to truly fight with anyone. The Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows…a perfect foe!” Ning could feel his blood beginning to pump excitedly through his veins, and his desire to do battle was growing…

  * * *

  Book 13, Chapter 20 - The Slaughter on Viledragon River

  Ji Ning stood there by himself on the prow of the ship, staring at the raging waves. He was in an excellent mood.

  He had already found his disciple, and the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows would probably fulfill his quota of ten great sinners to kill. The only problem was…these monster kings were quite hard to deal with.

  “Eh?” Ning suddenly stared towards the distant horizon. Atop the distant shore, a vague group of figures could be seen drawing closer and closer to them. They were moving at an extremely fast speed, and Ning could visibly make out the emblem of a flamewing on their Dao-armors.

  “Flamewing Guards?” Ning laughed in surprise. “There’s actually a few hundred of them.”

  Crown Prince Qi Rufeng and the others with him within the cabin stared outwards through the window towards the Viledragon River. They were seeking for a place to hide.

  “Is that…” The crown prince’s face changed dramatically.

  “Hundreds of Flamewing Guards?!” The violet-robed Qi Ruhui’s face instantly turned ashen. Twelve Flamewing Guards had already terrified them, but now hundreds more had come…even Loose Immortals would perish in a situation like this!

  “Disastrous!” The crown prince’s face was ashen. He frantically sent mentally, “It must be due to the fact that all twelve of those Flamewing Guards died, without a single one escaping. That’s why they sent so many over this time.”

  In the past, during the flight of the imperial Qi clan, the Flamewing Guard had always held the upper hand. It was the imperial Qi clan which had continued to flee; the Flamewing Guard had never before had a situation where all their troops died in an encounter.

  In addition, the crown prince, Qi Rufeng, was only recently the leader of their squad; in the past, they had Primal Daoists with them, and it was the clan elders who made the decisions. But now the Primal Daoists were all dead…and the decision-maker was Qi Rufeng!

  Qi Rufeng was inexperienced. He had never before encountered a situation where all the chasing Flamewing Guard forces had been wiped out. He had no idea that the extermination of an entire squad would result in such a terrifying consequence.

  “A total of three companies…each one led by a Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal, eleven Primal Diremonsters, and over a hundred Wanxiang Diremonsters.” The black-robed princess sent solemnly, “With so many Flamewing Guards in one place…even supreme Loose Immortals will most likely perish.”

  “Why haven’t we fled?” The violet-robed princess sent frantically, “That Darknorth is merely a Primal Daoist. Even if he has a high level of comprehension of the Dao and can fight those at a higher level, he would at most be comparable to supreme Loose Immortals. In the face of this many Flamewing Guards, which number three Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal monsters amongst their ranks, there’s no way he can hold on.”

  ……

  Just as Ning was smiling…and the imperial Qi clan was utterly terrified…

  The hundreds of distant Flamewing guards joined together into a grand Dao-soldier formation. The three companies were all led by Loose Immortals, who led their Primal Diremonsters and Wanxiang Diremonsters on the distant shore to join form into a a trio of three thousand meter tall flamewing bugs.

  Blazing wings, and the body of a centipede.

  The enormous three-headed flamewing bugs were filled with unearthly, savage power. Their auras alone caused the surrounding waves to instantly be crushed downwards and flattened.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The three massive flamewing bugs all flew into the river, running across the waves as they threw themselves towards Ning’s ship.

  Ning stood at the prow of the ship. He barked, “Hurry up and leave, and you can keep your lives.”

  “So you are the one protecting the imperial Qi clan.” One of the three massive flamewing bugs spoke out in a growling voice. “Human, this is the territory of our Flamewing King. How dare you act so wildly here?”

  “Don’t waste words with him. Kill him.”

  “Kill the human.”

  Monsters and humans were enemies in virtually every part of the Three Realms. After all, these two races were the two most powerful races in the current Three Realms.

  Ning shook his head gently. Three Loose Immortal monsters? They were most likely only on par with that Loose Immortal, Floatcloud, who had tried to assassinate him. Even all those years ago, he had been able to deal with Immortal Floatcloud. Now that his Primaltwin was a full level of power greater than it had been in the past, and now that his insights into the Dao of the Sword were unfathomably greater than before…killing these Loose Immortals would indeed be as easy as killing a chicken.

  Accompanied by three massive waves, the three enormous flamewing bugs charged forward, seeking to attack Ning en-masse and annihilate him at one go.

  Ning remained very calm. To deal with hundreds of Flamewing Guards, just by relying on his Dao Domain wouldn’t be enough; he had to actually fight! But of course, it would still be very easy for him.

  “Quick.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “If we dawdle, we won’t be able to escape.”

  The imperial Qi clan didn’t dare to hesitate at all. If they did, they would probably die here. As they saw it, no matter how high a level of comprehension Ning had, he was still just a Primal Daoist. In the face of three Loose Immortal monsters and hundreds of Flamewing Guards…it would be incredible if he was even able to block them.

  “Let’s go.”

  The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, waved his hand and a long shuttle once more appeared by the side of the large ship. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The crown prince, the princesses, and the five servants all entered the shuttle.

  “Go!” The violet-robed woman waved her hand, and instantly, a series of gre
en bamboo strips flew out and descended from the skies, plunging into the roiling waves.

  Swoosh!

  The shuttle cruised through the waves, moving as fast as lightning. As for those green bamboo strips, there were hundreds of them, and they all stabbed downwards, completely surrounding the region where Ning and the three giant flamewing bugs were located. The bamboo strips even had bamboo leaves attached to them. The bamboo leaves floated about, causing the entire region to transform into nothingness. Even the surrounding waves had completely disappeared.

  ……

  “Little sister, you, you…!” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng, within the fleeing shuttle, was completely shocked.

  The violet-robed princess turned her head to stare at the now-massive bamboo strips. She smirked disdainfully, “What is it? That Daoist Darknorth is merely a Primal Daoist; it’d be impressive if he even had the power of a supreme Loose Immortal. And even if he did, he still most likely isn’t a match for those Flamewing Guards. Since that was the case, we have to use him as best as we can and make him offer up his strength in service to our imperial clan. It can be said that this is the price he must pay for taking Xiaoyu away as his disciple.”

  “You…are…AN IDIOT.” Qi Rufeng was speechless with rage. “Given how powerful this Daoist Darknorth is, if he has a school or a master behind him, how are we supposed to deal with them?!”

  “So what if he does? Who will learn of this?” The violet-robed princess remained disdainful.

  The black-robed princess disagreed frantically. “Little sister, given this Daoist Darknorth’s powerful, he probably has a Celestial Immortal Patriarch behind him. Celestial Immortals are able to investigate the past. When they find out…”

  “Don’t worry. So what if they do find out? Even if this Daoist Darknorth has a Celestial Immortal Patriarch backing him, there’s no way that Celestial Immortal will find us. All that Celestial Immortal will know is that Daoist Darknorth was killed by the Flamewing Guard. Perhaps this might cause his school to go act against the Flamewing King!” A look of savagery was in the violet-robed princess’s eyes. “Hmph. Hmph. Perhaps the Flamewing King will be killed as a result. Everything would be worth it!”