Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Pretty easy.” Ning continued to advance forward while using the Thousandbull Sword to chop apart the invisible pressure.

  Clearly, this sort of invisible pressure was born from some sort of ancient, powerful restrictive formation; it sent pulses of pressure out to attack. Loose Immortals were generally Ki Refiners with very weak bodies; thus, if they wanted to advance, they would have to rely on their magic treasures to break apart the pulses of pressure. Previously, Ning had been relying on his Fiendgod Body and so didn’t need to use any magic treasures to make it to this point.

  Whoosh. Yet another divine black dragon howled forth, leaving behind a dazzling arc in the mist and blasting apart yet another pulse of pressure.

  After walking for another period of time.

  “Change!” Ning suddenly transformed into his three-headed, six-armed form. Five more Immortal swords appeared in his hands, all of them the illusory black Heavenraker swords. In such a dangerous region, Ning was unwilling to let his Primaltwin appear. Thus, his true body would temporarily use the Heavenraker swords; after all, the power of top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords was very great.

  With six top-grade Immortal-ranked swords in his hands, as well as the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability, Ning once more found it easy to advance through the region.

  The amount of divine power [Three Heads, Six Arms] used up was more than ten times less than the amount the [Starseizing Hand] used up.

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh…

  Six divine black dragons howled forth, blasting apart one pulse of pressure after another. However, some remnant pulses still made their way through and struck Ning, causing explosive sounds when they did! Ning, however, was a Fiendgod Body Refiner; so long as the remnant pressures didn’t contain too much power, he would be fine.

  “This place is a place the imperial Qi clansmen have never reached.”

  After walking for another period of time, Ning realized that even with six Immortal swords, he was beginning to feel a bit taxed. Right at this moment, Ning saw a figure off in the distance. The figure saw Ning as well.

  “Immortal Darknorth.” A booming voice rang out.

  “Goldfur Bearking.” Ning spoke out. The man before him was the tall, muscular Goldfur Bearking. Around him were those ninety-nine pearls that were circling and swirling as they broke apart the pulses of pressure.

  “Immortal Darknorth, you acquired a treasure map and discovered this place?” The Goldfur Bearking said.

  “Just so.” Ning didn’t deny it.

  “Originally, the twelve of us were planning to enter these Riverfang Mountains. We were discussing this matter with our third brother, but when we received word that hundreds of his Flamewing Guards had been slain, all of us immediately followed him to your place to provide support…but who would’ve thought that most of the others would die, and that today I would be the only person to come to this treasure trove? Oh, and you, Immortal Darknorth, the slayer of so many monster kings…you came as well. Truly, anything can happen in this world!” The Goldfur Bearking sighed.

  Ning laughed. “I do indeed need to thank the Flamewing King. Otherwise, how could I have learned about this treasure trove? Still…why have you come to a halt here? Are you unable to move any further?”

  There was something quite strange about this region. If one advanced, no matter towards which direction, one would feel tremendous amounts of pressure crashing down upon one’s body. However, if one didn’t move at all, one wouldn’t suffer the pressure.

  “Right, I can’t move any further! You have a Fiendgod body, and so you can endure the remnant repulsive force when it strikes you. Loose Immortals Ki Refiners like myself, however, don’t dare to fight head on in such a manner. We need to completely dissipate all of the terrifying pressure, which requires an enormous amount of elemental ki to be used up. I need to first restore more of my elemental ki before I go in any further,” the Goldfur Bearking said.

  “Then I’ll take my leave for now,” Ning said with a chuckle. Six top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords in his hands, Ning once more began to force his way forward, quickly disappearing from the Goldfur Bearking’s field of vision.

  “The preparations we made all ended up benefiting this Immortal Darknorth.” [1. In the original Chinese, the saying was ‘made wedding clothes for him’; this is a classic saying about how you put in a tremendous amount of work, only for someone else to reap the benefits.] The Goldfur Bearking gritted his teeth, but he felt quite helpless. He knew that Ning was more powerful than he was, and as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, Ning had a better chance of survival in a place like this.

  ……

  “[Starseizing Hand]!”

  Ning was finally forced by the pressure to use his [Starseizing Hand].

  Instantly, the power of the divine black dragons of sword-light increased dramatically. In fact, Ning even temporarily cancelled his [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique. Just by relying on the Thousandbull Sword and the [Starseizing Hand], he carved a path forward!

  Charge! Charge! Charge!

  But gradually, Ning was once again pressured to the point of being forced to use [Three Heads, Six Arms]. All six arms were now using the [Starseizing Hand]. After a long period of time, Ning was even forced to take a break, so as to recover his largely depleted divine power.

  ……

  Occasional breaks, followed by occasional advances. Towards the end, Ning would have to use six strikes of the [Starseizing Hand] for every thirty meters he travelled. One could imagine how quickly his divine power was being used up!

  Rumble…

  As Ning took one more step forward…he actually broke through and out of the pressure region.

  “Hahahaha.”

  “I finally escaped that damn place.”

  Ning laughed loudly. There were no more ripples of pressure in this location. For the first time in his life…Ning felt as though walking forward normally was actually quite an enjoyable thing.

  “I spent nearly a full day walking a mere several thousand kilometers, and I used up all of my divine power several times.” Ning shook his head and sighed. Still, he continued to advance with all six Immortal swords at the ready. He tried to use his divine sense to scout ahead, but unfortunately, his divine sense remained deceived, as everything it was telling him was clearly false.

  Ning walked forward, following a winding creek. Fog and mist continued to swirl around the region, causing him to only be able to see to a distance of one or two kilometers, where he could vaguely make out a gorge.

  CRA-KOW! Just as Ning took a step forward, a bolt of lightning suddenly descended out of nowhere.

  “Beat it!” Ning didn’t hesitate at all as he immediately swung out all six swords with full force. Six divine black dragons of sword-light hwoled forward, shattering that bolt of lightning.

  Crackle crackle crackle…a large amount of lightning and thunder began to swell forward towards him.

  “Previously it was invisible pressure…but at least that wasn’t lethal. But this lightning is.” Ning hurriedly used his swordplay to defend. He noticed that so long as he retreated, the number of attacking thunderbolts would lessen. When he advanced, however, the attacking thunderbolts would increase at an astonishing rate, growing increasingly savage and increasingly powerful.

  Ning was only able to advance three hundred meters before being forced to come to a halt, unable to advance any further.

  Rumble….

  The bolts of lightning were now as thick as a water barrel. They wildly flooded towards and hammered down upon Ning, who struggled to block them. He tried to take a single step forward, but the increasingly frenetic thunderbolts instantly pushed him backwards.

  “What should I do? I can’t advance at all.” Ning was worried now. The attacks were simply too powerful.

  Ning had tested letting a small amount of the lightning strike him, and his divine body had easily deflected it. However, as he continued to test it, he realized that there was a lim
it to how many thunderbolts his divine body could endure. He had to use his sword-light to break apart the rest!

  The only reason he had made it as far as he did was because of his Fiendgod-like body.

  “Am I going to have to go back? Going back is easy, as the number of lightning bolts will lessen as I retreat. As for the pressure zone, I’ll only need around half a day or so to move through it and slowly escape.” Ning didn’t have any problems with leaving, unlike some; according to the imperial Qi records, there had been Loose Immortals who had used special methods to force a path forward, but after making it too far in, they were unable to escape. This was because when leaving, they still had to go through the pressure zone once more. They eventually had to spend countless years retreating, one step at a time.

  What Ning didn’t realize was that the Flamewing King had been trapped within the pressure zone for tens of years!

  Rumble…

  Countless bolts of lightning continued to slam down frantically.

  Ning truly didn’t want to give up.

  “Kiddo, you came in at such a low level of power? I urge you to hurry up and leave. Don’t lose your life here!” A shrill voice suddenly rang out within Ning’s ears.

  * * *

  Book 13, Chapter 28 - Returning to Mount Innerheart

  There was someone else here?

  Ji Ning was startled. He hurriedly retreated several meters, causing the striking lightning bolts to weaken slightly. Only now did he dare divide his attention to look around carefully.

  “Eh?” Ning frowned. From the crevices between the bolts of lightning that continued to hammer towards him, Ning saw a black-robed youth was standing far away at the entrance to the distant gorge.

  Swoosh! Ning hurriedly retreated, leaving from the thunder field region. All of the lightning bolts vanished, allowing Ning to clearly see the figure at the entrance to the gorge. The black-robed youth was similar to Mu Northson in height, and even skinnier than Ning himself. However, Ning could sense that this black-robed youth had been alive for a long, long time.

  The black-robed youth’s gaze was both sharp and terrifying. His face was expressionless; he was most likely the type that was born arrogant and aloof.

  “Who are you?” Ning asked.

  “Me?” The black-robed youth’s voice was shrill. He looked thoughtfully towards Ning. “Even if I told you my name, kid, you wouldn’t recognize it. You should be at the early Void stage, but you actually broke through the first forbidden zone, and were even able to advance three hundred meters in the second zone, the lightning zone. You just barely qualify as having the power of a Celestial Immortal. For someone to have such power at the early Void stage…which school do you belong to? Who is your master?”

  Ning was secretly surprised. Celestial Immortal?

  Since the black-robed youth had already arrived at the entrance to the gorge, he clearly should’ve already made it past the lightning zone. This meant he was far more powerful than Ning. Ning’s Primaltwin at full power would be just barely at the average Celestial Immortal level; some particularly formidable and monstrously talented Celestial Immortals were far more powerful than him.

  “My master’s name is not for the likes of you to learn,” Ning said.

  “Oh, is he a True Immortal or Empyrean God?” The black-robed youth chuckled softly as he carefully scrutinized Ning’s face. Ning, however, remained calm.

  The black-robed youth shook his head. “Leave, hurry up and leave. Even I am unable to acquire the treasure within. Even if you were a hundred times stronger than you are now, it wouldn’t suffice.”

  “A hundred times?” Ning frowned, not believing it.

  “You don’t believe it? Then listen to this; this treasure trove is divided into three forbidden zones. The first zone simply uses pressure and repulsive force! It is quite safe. The second zone is the lightning zone, and it is 540 meters long in total. As for the third forbidden zone, it forbids the usage of all magic treasures. Even I am unable to break through it.”

  The black-robed youth looked disdainfully at Ning. “And you? You haven’t even overcome a Celestial Tribulation. You might be a peerless genius, but you are unable to advance past three hundred meters of the lightning zone. You must know by now that with each step forward, the power in the lightning zone increases dramatically. Only if your power increases tenfold will you be able to break through the second zone…but the third zone is even more terrifying. I imagine not even many Celestial Immortals are capable of breaking through it.”

  “What is in the third forbidden zone?” Ning couldn’t help but ask.

  “That’s not for you to worry about,” the black-robed youth said.

  “Why haven’t you left?” Ning asked.

  “I’m a Celestial Immortal with an infinite lifespan. Since the treasure is here, I will slowly train here. Perhaps a chance will present itself and I’ll be able to acquire it,” the black-robed youth said.

  Hearing this, Ning instantly felt irritated. He could sense the faint ripples of power coming from within the valley; the ripples were extremely old yet very powerful. “The Thousandbull Sword is almost at the level of Pure Yang treasures in power, but its ripples are vastly inferior. The treasure within must have be an extremely powerful one that was left behind from Pangu’s World.”

  “However…I can’t even make it through the second forbidden zone. How am I suppose to pass all three?”

  Ning stood there by the creek outside the lightning zone. He pondered quietly for a moment, then gritted his teeth, turned, and left.

  Whoosh.

  Ning quickly re-entered the invisible pressure zone, slowly forcing his way outwards.

  “He’s gone?” The black-robed youth shook his head. “A young kid who was far too weak. Given his talent, though, he might have a shot at becoming a Celestial Immortal.” And then, the black-robed youth once more walked into the gorge.

  “Immortal Darknorth, you returned?” On the way back, Ning once more encountered the Goldfur Bearking. The Goldfur Bearking was advancing again, but he had only traversed a kilometer beyond his earlier point.

  “I’m not strong enough. Naturally, I have to return.”

  Ning, in his three-headed, six-armed form, wielded six Immortal swords and chopped a path through the pressure pulses as he left.

  “Not strong enough?” The Goldfur Bearking muttered to himself, “Is it possible that this Darknorth has already acquired the treasures? Still, from the look on his face, I’d say he isn’t lying.” Although he secretly mumbled and muttered to himself, the Goldfur Bearking wasn’t confident in being able to wrest any treasures from Ning’s grasp.

  ……

  Ning exited the Riverfang Mountains.

  Turning his head, he gave the mountain ranges, perpetually shrouded by fog and clouds, a glance. He murmured softly, “Wait for me to train in the arcane art…I’ll give you another try then.”

  Whoosh. A spatial ripple appeared, and Ning disappeared into it. He reappeared in the sky above the mountain peak of Mount Innerheart, a cloud beneath his feet.

  “Come out.” Ning willed it, and instantly a white-robed maiden appeared by his side. This was Ning’s disciple, Bluecliff Xiaoyu.

  “Master.” Xiaoyu stood atop the cloud, staring at her surroundings. “Where are we now?”

  Ning looked at his disciple, then turned to stare at the levitating Mount Innerheart. It had only been a month, but he had already accepted a disciple and killed ten great sinners. Bluecliff Xiaoyu’s golden glow of karmic virtue stretched to more than nine hundred meters…and now, Ning’s own clean aura of holiness had also transformed into the golden glow of karmic virtue!

  However, his divine sense told him that his own golden light of karmic virtue merely stretched to be three feet long.

  Actually, the process of accepting a disciple and killing the monster kings had already caused his clean aura of holiness to become quite dense; after he killed the wicked Patriarch, it suddenly transforme
d into the golden light of karmic virtue.

  “Three feet of golden karmic light, compared to nine hundred meters for my disciple.” Ning laughed, then pulled Xiaoyu by the hand as he flew upwards.

  “Xiaoyu, the mountain up ahead is Mount Innerheart. This is the place where Master’s school is located,” Ning said with a laugh.

  Xiaoyu stared at the massive levitating mountain, then lowered her head to look at the endless world beneath them. “Master’s school?” She felt rather stunned.

  They flew into Mount Innerheart, went up the mountain road, and soon arrived at the gates. Xiaoyu was only Ning’s disciple, and so Ning didn’t take her to see the eldest apprentice-brother.

  At the gates were those two azure-robed Dao-novitiates. When they saw Ning, they immediately bowed and said with great respect, “Patriarch.”

  “Mm.” Ning nodded.

  Still stunned, Xiaoyu let Ning tug her forward by the arm. After passing through the gates, Xiaoyu came back to her senses. She whispered, “Master, it seems as though those two novitiates at the gates were very powerful?”

  “Both were Void-level Earth Immortals,” Ning said casually.

  Just as Ning’s words came out, two extremely ancient and powerful Void-level Fiendgods walked over. Both of them called out with tremendous courtesy, “Patriarch?”

  The feeling these two ancient Fiendgods gave Xiaoyu…was that they were even more terrifying than the monster kings. They caused her to quiver and shake! And yet, they referred to her master as ‘Patriarch’?!

  They continued walking up the mountain path of the Tristar Crescent Abode. As they did so, they encountered humans, monsters, and even Fiendgods, all of whom had powerful auras and many of whom were even more terrifying than the monster kings. And yet, upon seeing Ning, they all showed extreme respect, addressing him as either ‘Patriarch’ or ‘Uncle-Master’.

  “It seems as though my master has a very high status in his school. On our way over…it seems everyone we ran into had a lower status than him. I haven’t even met a single person on his level,” Xiaoyu murmured to herself.