Desolate Era

by RWX

  ……

  Ning waved his hand, collecting his ship. Qi Xiaoyu, aboard the ship, was also collected into the Immortal estate he carried with him at all times.

  “Hmph.” Ning glanced at the fleeing imperial Qi clan. He watched as the treasures the youngest princess threw out, those bamboo slips, sank into the sea and formed a formation. He naturally understood what the plot was; to trap him here along with the Flamewing Guard. Otherwise…if so much as a single one of the three massive flamewing bugs moved to attack them, they would be in big trouble!

  Now that they were all trapped in the formation, all three would undoubtedly join forces to attack him, Ji Ning. Only afterwards would they move to break the formation. This was a scheme to force Ning to fight with full power. And if Ning’s level of power truly was what the imperial Qi clan believed it to be, then most likely the end result truly would be as the princess predicted; he would be able to buy them some time, then die.

  Unfortunately…their guess was wrong!

  Ning’s school was indeed powerful, far more so than they could imagine. Ning’s master was Patriarch Subhuti, the creator of this entire world! And Ning’s own level of power was far greater than they imagined as well!

  “Kill him, then break the formation.”

  “Kill him.”

  The three massive flamewing bugs didn’t panic at all. They had complete confidence in their ability to first kill this human, then break the formation. It would at most take them a bit of extra time, which didn’t matter; those imperial Qi clansmen were all stained by flamewing venom, and they’d be able to find and catch them later.

  “Die.” Ning had an ugly look on his face. He was protecting them, but they had put a knife in his back. How could he not be enraged?

  The enraged Ning no longer wished to waste any time; he was going to make the imperial Qi clan pay for what they did.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Ning stood there atop the water, Darknorth swords in his hands. He chopped out three times in a row with his sword-light!

  Three streaks of blindingly bright sword-light transformed into three enormous black dragons. The power of the black dragons was utterly unearthly, and they smashed towards the three massive flamewings with utterly catastrophic power.

  “What?!”

  “How can this be?!”

  “NO!”

  The Loose Immortal monsters, Primal Diremonsters, and Wanxiang Diremonsters within the three flamewing bugs were all stupefied. They were truly scared silly.

  The three black dragons each flew to a different target. They had the shape of black dragons, but they were in reality streaks of incomparably terrifying sword-light. They chopped through the titanic flamewing bugs as easily as chopping through rotting wood. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The hundreds of monsters, including the Loose Immortal monsters, all perished!

  Their souls were annihilated!

  The enraged Ning’s sword-blows were so powerful that they destroyed flesh and soul alike. In fact, even the Dao-armors worn by the Wanxiang Diremonsters were ground into dust, and quite a few of their magic treasures were shattered as well.

  “BREAK!” Ning launched yet another streak of sword-light.

  The surrounding formation was a one-use formation. It contained elemental ki and was primarily meant to trap foes. However, Ning couldn’t be bothered to actually disrupt the formation; he just broke straight through it with a streak of howling sword-light, causing the bamboo talismans to instantly shatter.

  Swoosh! Ning moved forward in pursuit.

  ……

  Within the shuttle which was escaping at lightning speed, the violet-robed princess had a look of madness in her eyes. “Hmph. Hmph. Perhaps the Flamewing King will be killed as a result. Everything would be worth it! Hahaha, I’m too clever. Earlier, I just wanted to make this Darknorth’s death useful, to buy us some time. But now, it seems as though I, Qi Ruhui, just played a marvelous card.”

  “Yes. Quite the marvelous card.” A cold voice rang out.

  The crown prince and princesses suddenly shook. They turned their heads to look.

  On the other end of the shuttle stood a fur-clad youth.

  Ning looked at the three imperial Qi clansmen.

  “How can this be…”

  They were completely stupefied. They had escaped just moments ago and had said just a few words to each other. Almost no time had passed at all. They had no idea…that Ning would be able to kill hundreds of Flamewing Guards with a single exchange, then break through the formation and chase after them. Naturally, this had taken very little time.

  “Senior Darknorth.” Qi Rufeng immediately rose to his feet.

  Boom.

  Ning’s gaze turned towards the violet-robed princess. Instantly, a streak of sword-light flew out…and the violet-robed princess was instantly ground into dust which flew everywhere. At Ning’s level…just the slightest bit of power was enough to shatter someone’s soul.

  * * *

  Book 13, Chapter 21 - Bluecliff Xiaoyu

  The crown prince, the second princess, and the servants aboard the shuttle all had ashen looks on their faces. They could all tell that this time, Darknorth was truly enraged!

  They were all Immortal cultivators; naturally, they were no fools. They knew that the little princess had plotted against this senior Darknorth just now. Senior Darknorth had clearly gone to help them fight against the Flamewing Guard, but the little princess had stabbed him in the back…an action like this would be viewed with contempt by mortals and cultivators alike!

  “Senior Darknorth…”

  “Darknor…”

  The crown princess and the second princess hurriedly spoke out, utterly terrified. This was completely not their fault. The little princess had acted completely of her own accord; they didn’t instruct her to carry out those actions at all! As for her death, the crown prince and the second princess felt a hint of regret but not too much pain. This was because far too many of their siblings had died on this journey, and all of their elders had perished as well. They were used to this sort of loss…and on an emotional level, the crown prince and the second princess were much closer.

  Whoosh. Ning willed it, and a white-robed maiden appeared next to him. It was Qi Xiaoyu.

  “Master,” Qi Xiaoyu said hurriedly, “I saw the little princess…” Halfway through her words, she realized that she was within the flying shuttle. Seeing the situation, she couldn’t help but grow confused.

  “Disciple, watch carefully,” Ning said coldly.

  “Yes,” Qi Xiaoyu said.

  “Senior Darknorth, what happened just now was completely the actions of Ruhui; she wanted to use you to delay the Flamewing Guard,” Qi Rufeng said hurriedly.

  “It was our little sister who carried out that action. Her alone,” the black-robed princess said hurriedly as well.

  Qi Xiaoyu just watched silently. When the Flamewing Guard had arrived, her master had gone to fight them while the imperial Qi clan had fled…and while fleeing, the little princess had thrown out a formation to trap them. Qi Xiaoyu had seen all of these things with perfect clarity. In addition, after having accompanied the imperial Qi clan for so long, Qi Xiaoyu knew very well how vicious and cruel the little princess was. Thus, by now she more or less knew what had happened!

  Ning looked at the crown prince and the second princess. He said coldly, “I heard it all. There was talk of having the Celestial Immortal Patriarch behind me go take revenge upon the Flamewing King on my behalf and kill him? Hmph…I don’t like to kill, but some people deserve killing!”

  The crown prince and the second princess trembled.

  “If the two of you were behind her actions, then you two shall both die as well. If you did not…I won’t go so far as to implicate the two of you.” Ning’s gaze turned to the black-robed princess. He immediately used the [Soulcharmer Art] divine ability. Although this Black-White College art wasn’t that strong, Ning’s soul was far too powerful! The black-robed princess’s
gaze instantly turned dull.

  “Speak. Did you have anything to do with the little princess’ plot against me?” Ning asked calmly.

  The black-robed princess spoke in a dull voice without any inflection at all. “It had nothing to do with me. Ruhui acted of her own volition. Although her action may have caused senior Darknorth to fight for a bit longer, it also created yet another powerful foe for our imperial Qi clan. If the school behind senior Darknorth came for vengeance, our imperial Qi clan would most likely be in even more dire straits. Ruhui was far too shortsighted…”

  “…what just happened?” The black-robed princess regained her clarity of mind. She stared around in astonishment…and slowly, the memories of what had happened just now when she had been hypnotized came rushing back to her. She couldn’t help but look towards Ning in terror.

  The crown prince’s face instantly turned even more ashen.

  “You.” Ning looked towards the crown prince.

  The crown prince gritted his teeth. “I definitely didn’t have the intention to harm you, senior.” Just as these words came out, Qi Rufeng’s gaze also turned dull.

  He, too, dully spoke out the truth. This truly did not have nothing to do with him.

  The nearby Qi Xiaoyu let out a sigh of relief. She actually felt good-will towards the crown princess and the second princess.

  “I ask you,” Ning suddenly said, “Did your imperial Qi clan arrange for the destruction of Qi Xiaoyu’s tribe?”

  The black-robed princess’s face instantly changed. Qi Xiaoyu’s body trembled as well, and a look of terror and unease appeared in her eyes.

  The crown prince responded in a wooden, robotic manner, “For the sake of ensuring Qi Xiaoyu’s total devotion to our imperial clan, we had to make it so that she had no one else to rely on. Otherwise, in her heart, her tribe would still be occupy the most important position. Thus, the elders of the clan forced three Xiantian Diremonsters to attack the tribe. As for the two Xiantian experts of that tribe, our clan elders plotted against them and ensured that they naturally wouldn’t be able to fight back, causing the entire tribe to be broken apart.”

  “Qi Xiaoyu’s family members all died, giving her no one else to rely on. At that moment, our elder stepped in to protect her; naturally, she felt gratitude and affection for the elder’s actions. Everything happened as we planned, and Qi Xiaoyu became incomparably devoted and loyal to our imperial Qi clan. In addition, after Qi Xiaoyu became a member of our imperial Qi clan, our luck took a noticeable turn for the better. The number of times we were attacked dropped, and the number of elders who died in each attack also lessened…”

  “No…no…” Qi Xiaoyu’s face was covered with tears. She repeatedly shook her head.

  Ning sighed mentally to himself. In truth, the main reason he had used the [Soulcharmer Art] was to ask about this matter. Given Ning’s keen senses, he naturally noticed quite a few oddities regarding the destruction of Xiaoyu’s tribe. It was extremely rare for this sort of large-scale tribe to suffer an attack from Diremonsters.

  “As I thought.” Ning nodded to himself. Qi Xiaoyu felt extremely deep gratitude towards the imperial Qi clan. Ning was afraid that this might cause problems in the future, and so he wanted to clarify this matter right away.

  “You were plotting against me all along. All along…” Qi Xiaoyu looked at the crown prince, her face completely pale. “My master? Was she plotting against me as well?”

  “Aunt-master Everlotus was opposed to our scheme. She wanted to go to your tribe and take you on as her disciple in a voluntary manner. However, our imperial Qi clan was in a state of flight; all of our actions had to be for the sake of the imperial Qi clan’s best interests.” The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, continued to speak in a monotone voice. “She felt sorry for you, and so when she took you on as disciple, taught you, and doted on you, it was out of love. In fact, some of the other princes and princesses felt jealousy for this.”

  Qi Xiaoyu felt her heart unclench slightly. The person she felt the most gratitude for in the entire imperial Qi clan was her master, Everlotus. Everlotus had taken care of her like she was her own daughter. She had loved her and cherished her. Qi Xiaoyu had been able to sense how much love Everlotus had felt for her, and ever since she was young, her master had taught her. Thus, although she didn’t have many memories regarding life in the Bluecliff tribe and although she only had blurry memories of her parents, she felt an extremely deep affection for her master, Everlotus. After all, they had been together for the longest period of time.

  Qi Xiaoyu was fairly accurate in sensing if others were kind or malicious towards her, if they cared about her or hated her. She had always felt as though her master, Everlotus, had truly loved her. This was why she felt such gratitude for the imperial Qi clan. In fact, when the now-deceased leader of the imperial Qi clan had asked her to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens, she hadn’t hesitated at all.

  “What just happened?” Crown Prince Qi Rufeng came back to his senses. He quickly regained his memories, and his face immediately changed. He stared towards Ning in terror, then looked towards Qi Xiaoyu.

  “Master Everlotus…I can understand why you did what you did. I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you…” Tears streaked down Qi Xiaoyu’s face. She stared at the black-robed princess and the crown prince. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Your imperial Qi clan destroyed my tribe and home and killed my family. But Master Everlotus’s benevolence towards me was as weighty as a mountain. From this day forth, I, Qi Xiaoyu, will no longer have any connection to your Qi clan. From this day forth, my name shall be Bluecliff Xiaoyu!”

  “Master.” Bluecliff Xiaoyu turned to look towards Ning, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, master, for enlightening me and not letting me continue to remain deceived. I wish to be by myself for a time.”

  “Go.” Ning nodded, then willed Qi Xiaoyu to be teleported into his Immortal estate with a swish.

  Ning’s gaze turned towards the crown prince and the princess. Both of them felt helpless; when they had been hypnotized, they had thought it was just over the little princess’ plot, but who would’ve thought that this senior Darknorth would actually uncover the matter of the destruction of the Bluecliff tribe? Still…by now, they had no options left. All they could do was beg for their lives.

  “Since you had no intention to harm me, I naturally won’t act against you. I will still hold to my promise,” Ning said. “However…before I do so, come with me to a place.”

  As he spoke, Ning waved his hand, causing the imperial Qi clansmen and the flying shuttle to all be drawn into his Immortal estate. And then, Ning strode forward across the waves of Viledragon River, quickly departing from this place.

  ……

  A short period of time later.

  The peak of a tall mountain, surrounded by clouds. A ripple in space could be seen above it, then a fur-clad youth appeared out of nowhere and descended.

  “This place works.” The fur-clad youth nodded, then waved his hand. An Immortal estate appeared.

  Within the Immortal estate. As Ning entered, the crown prince and the second princess both immediately paid their respects. The crown prince said, “Senior, where are we?”

  “You can exit the estate now, but you had best not go too far. If you do, I won’t be able to keep you alive,” Ning said calmly. “This place is more than ten million kilometers from our previous location; I trust that the Flamewing King will need some time before chasing you here. Take a rest and prepare for the next battle.”

  “The next battle?” The two were startled.

  “I killed hundreds of Flamewing guards, including three Loose Immortal monsters. Do you think that the Flamewing King is just going to shrug that off?” Ning said calmly.

  The two shook their heads. Impossible. The Eastern Flows region was the territory of the twelve monster kings; given that this senior Darknorth had killed hundreds of Flamewing Guards, how could the Flamewing King not be enraged? It must be understood that
the Flamewing Guards were the most devoted servants of the Flamewing King. Given that so many of them had perished, the Flamewing King would probably personally attack next time.

  “The Flamewing King is coming in person.” Both the crown prince and the second princess felt restless and uneasy. “And yet this senior Darknorth still intends to fight?”

  “How powerful is he? Can it be that my earlier investigations were in error? He is more than just a peak Primal Daoist?”

  Their hearts were in a state of panic. Still, given how quickly Ning had chased after him, he must have disposed of all of those Flamewing Guards…which meant that things probably truly were as Ning said. He had killed hundreds of Flamewing Guards.

  “In such a short period of time, he killed hundreds of Flamewing Guards, broke the formation, then caught up to us. How powerful is this Ji Ning? Is it truly possible that he can fight the Flamewing King?” The crown prince and the princess both felt as though their thoughts were in a jumble.

  ……

  Ning couldn’t be bothered to pay them any heed. He entered a private room within the Immortal estate. A ripple in space appeared within it and Ning stepped into the ripple, entering his underwater estate.

  “I can’t underestimate the Flamewing King’s power. In fact, I might have to deal with the other monster kings as well. Before doing so…I need to increase my power a bit,” Ning mused to himself. “My true body, when using [Three Heads, Six Arms], needs a total of six Immortal swords. Three of them are my Darknorth swords, and the other three would ideally be Immortal-ranked.”

  He had an exquisitely top-grade Thousandbull Sword, as well as a low-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword that the Grand Xia Emperor had bestowed upon him previously. Just now, when killing those three Loose Immortal monsters, he had further acquired two more low-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, one of which was a flying sword.