Desolate Era

by RWX

  No matter how good of a temper Feng Yungu had, he couldn’t prevent his face from changing…but immediately afterwards, he lowered his head slightly.

  Young master Yunpeng’s laughter became even more wanton. “Xiyue and I, by contrast, are a perfect match!” As he spoke, he reached his hand out to stroke Princess Xiyue’s. Princess Xiyue moved away slightly, her face sinking. “Young master Yunpeng.”

  “Fine, fine, fine. I won’t rush things.” Young master Yunpeng laughed.

  After all, Princess Xiyue had a Celestial Immortal, King Yan, behind her. Given that the Windlocked Isles were an ally of the Grand Xia Dynasty, he didn’t want to cause any problems either.

  “Young master Yunpeng.” Ning felt an extreme distaste towards this person, but he still changed the subject. “I hear that you come from the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm. I haven’t been to the Heaven Realm yet; why don’t you tell me about of the Heaven Realm and help broaden my horizons?”

  Young master Yunpeng frowned. Introduce the Heaven Realm? Him? Who did Ji Ning think he was? Asking him to introduce the Heaven Realm to him?

  Still…he gave Princess Xiyue a sidelong glance, then said with a calm snort, “The Heaven Realm is quite large. The eastern part of the Heaven Realm is managed by the Celestial Court, while the western side is managed by the Buddhists of Mount Ling [1. In Chinese mythology, Mount Ling is the place where the Buddha and his bodhisattvas reside.]. But of course, there are many asuras and devas who live throughout the Heaven Realm, and they have naturally joined together to form powers. Our Windlocked Isles can be considered one of those powers, I suppose.”

  “I heard that after you became the champion of the Conclave, Ji Ning, you decided not to take on Sword Immortal Evergreen as your master, and you also didn’t take on any of the Immortals or Fiends of Daofather Crimsonbright’s league as your master. Instead, you vanished…I wonder, where did you go, brother Ji Ning?” Young master Yunpeng’s eyes lit up as he asked this question; clearly, he was quite curious about this.

  “Naturally, I went to study with my master,” Ning said calmly.

  “Who?” Yunpeng asked. “Where did you study?”

  “Master has ordered that I cannot tell others.” Ning shook his head.

  Young master Yunpeng couldn’t help but frown.

  Ning disliked this young master Yunpeng very much. He immediately said, “Princess Xiyue, I’m going to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to buy some items. I’ll leave now.”

  * * *

  Book 14, Chapter 7 - A Single Arrow

  In truth, Princess Xiyue could tell that this young master Yunpeng wasn’t a dcent person. Although Ji Ning had endured it for her sake, in his bones, he remained a proud person; if too much time passed, problems would most likely occur. She immediately agreed, “Alright, Ji Ning, you can go to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. We’ll meet some other time.”

  “The Heavenly Treasures Mountain?” Young master Yunpeng raised an eyebrow, glancing sideways at Ning, then immediately said, “Xiyue, it’s been a long time since we’ve gone to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Since brother Ji Ning is going, let’s go with him. Yungu, would you agree?”

  Feng Yungu had been sitting there quietly this entire time. Upon hearing young master Yunpeng speak, he hurriedly nodded. “Sure, sure.”

  Ning, seeing this, couldn’t help but frown. This person his cousin wanted to get married to was a bit too craven.

  “Xiyue!” Young master Yunpeng looked towards Princess Xiyue, who could only nod. “Fine, let’s go together then.”

  ……

  Ji Ning, Princess Xiyue, young master Yunpeng, and Feng Yungu were naturally accompanied by a host of servants. They all rode aboard an Immortal-ranked flying ship, and in an awe-inspiring manner, they flew out into the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.

  “This high-grade Immortal-ranked treasure-vessel of mine has been infused with an ‘Azure Polaris Spirit’; in terms of speed alone, it is comparable to a top-grade Immortal-ranked flying ship,” young master Yunpeng said in an extremely smug manner.

  Ning glanced sideways at him.

  This young master Yunpeng really did have quite a few treasures; to buy an Immortal-ranked flying ship such as this, even five million kilograms would be far from sufficient.

  “Little brother, just endure it for now,” Princess Xiyue sent mentally to Ning. “Although this young master Yunpeng is quite talented in cultivation, he is innately arrogant and overbearing. Still…since his Windlocked Isles and our Grand Xia Dynasty are allied, he wouldn’t dare cause too much trouble. Just ignore the crap he is spewing out, little brother.”

  “Cousin, given how arrogant and overbearing he is, why are you letting him remain within the King’s estate?” Ning sent back and asked, “I trust that if King Yan asked him to leave, he definitely wouldn’t stay.”

  “Although he’s arrogant and overbearing, he’s trying to woo me; naturally, he often buys some gifts for me,” Princess Xiyue said. “In order to rebuild the Yuchi clan in the future, I naturally need to store up some treasures for it.”

  “Cousin, you…” Ning was flabbergasted.

  “Are you starting to look down on me, cousin?” Princess Xiyue sent back calmly, “I don’t care about these matters; I swore an oath long ago that I would definitely carry out my father’s wishes. I will rebuild the Yuchi clan! For the sake of the Yuchi clan, I am willing to do anything…including give up my life! All I need to do right now is endure this young master Yunpeng’s nonsense and give him a bit of hope, and he’ll continue to often gift me with treasures.”

  Ning truly didn’t know what to say.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let him take any advantage of me whatsoever; the best thing in the world is the thing you cannot get. If I let him take advantage of me, he wouldn’t be pursuing me in such a fervent manner. His treasures? I’ll take them. But him? In the end, he’ll just slink away in disgrace!” Princess Xiyue sent back.

  Ning could sense the determination within his cousin’s heart. He couldn’t help but say with worry, “That Feng Yungu…I feel as though the two of you…”

  “You feel he isn’t worth of me, right? It is precisely because he is an absolute good-for-nothing coward that I am willing to marry him. Otherwise…how could I be able to completely control him?” Princess Xiyue sent back. “Don’t worry. I have Grandpa’s help; I can take care of small matters like this.”

  “Cousin, if there’s anything you need, arrange for a message to be sent to me. Don’t forget that I, too, am of the Yuchi clan,” Ning sent mentally.

  “Right. I still have you, little brother,” Princess Xiyue sent back.

  The main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.

  Within an extremely tall and luxuriously decorated banquet hall, a feast was in procession. The pillars outside this hall were so tall that someone standing atop the pillars could stare down at the entire imperial capital of the Grand Xia.

  “Young master Yunpeng, you brought little sister Xiyue again. It seems as though our Heavenly Treasures Mountain is about to have even more business come our way,” the white-robed Fairy Azurewillow said with a smile.

  “Hahaha! It pleases me to do this for Xiyue!” Young master Yunpeng laughed loudly, giving Ning a sidelong glance.

  On the way over, Ning and Yuchi Xiyue had constantly been sending mental messages to each other. Young master Yunpeng had noticed…that the relationship between them seemed to be clearly much closer than the relationship two ordinary friends would have! This caused him to feel rather displeased inside. “Hmph, he’s merely the champion of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Conclave! Today, here at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, I’m going to cause you to lose tremendous face!”

  “Brother Ji Ning, what have you come to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to purchase?” Young master Yunpeng said with a laugh.

  Ning said calmly, “Just some materials and raw ingredients.”

  Right at this moment, the Whitewate
r Hound by Ning’s side transformed into human form. Uncle White waved his hand and two hidebound scrolls flew from him to Ning. Uncle White sent mentally, “Ning, child, there’s a list of items here for setting down layers formations that are capable of overawing even Celestial Immortals, making them afraid to trespass within.”

  “The second list consists of the items necessary to set down three supremely ferocious formations that I found at Mount Innerheart. In addition, these three supremely ferocious formations can even link with each other…they are so powerful that I imagine even True Immortals and Empyrean Gods would be wary of them. There is no way True Immortals and Empyrean Gods can force their way through these three formations; only True Immortals and Empyrean Gods who are experts at formations might be able to break them.”

  “They are that incredible?!” Ning was shocked.

  “However…the treasures needed on the second list are quite precious, even though they aren’t extremely rare,” Uncle White sent. “If you don’t have enough, then just buy the items on the first list; that will be enough.”

  ……

  Ning handed over the two hidebound scrolls to Fairy Azurewillow. “Fairy Azurewillow, take a look at the list of ingredients and materials on these two scrolls. Does your Heavenly Treasures Mountain have them?”

  “This is the main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain; even if Celestial Immortals came here to shop, we’d be able to accommodate them, much less just a few precious materials.” Smiling, Fairy Azurewillow accepted the lists. Upon seeing the first one, however, her face instantly changed. She gave Ning a surprised glance, and then she looked at the second hidebound scroll.

  This time, Fairy Azurewillow was truly stunned!

  She was just a bit surprised upon seeing the first list, but the second list truly stunned her…because the items requested were simply too shocking!

  “I’m not cleared to handle something like this. A moment, please,” Fairy Azurewillow said.

  “Fine.” Ning nodded.

  “Fairy Azurewillow, even you aren’t cleared?” Young master Yunpeng, watching from the side, smirked. “It’s just a few ingredients and raw materials, not Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Can it be that the items which brother Ji Ning have chosen are extremely strange and rare?”

  Whoosh.

  A silver-haired man appeared out of nowhere within the hall. The invisible pressure and presence he gave off…everyone present understood that he was a Celestial Immortal!

  “Patriarch.” Fairy Azurewillow handed the two hidebound scrolls to him. “These are the lists of ingredients which Ji Ning needs. There are two lists.”

  The silver-haired man nodded, accepted the lists, then looked at the first one. He said calmly, “The first list will require 4.3 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!”

  Yuchi Xiyue, Feng Yungu, and the others all felt a sense of pressure.

  More than four million kilograms?

  “Pretty pricy,” the nearby young master Yunpeng said in a nonchalant manner.

  The silver-haired man then looked at the second hidebound scroll. When he did, even his face couldn’t help but change. After staring for a long moment, he lifted his head to look at Ning, a complicated look in his eyes. “Young friend Ji Ning…are you sure you aren’t playing a little joke on us?”

  “Since I’ve written a list, I naturally wish to buy the items on it,” Ning said calmly.

  “How much liquefied elemental essence does the second list cost?” Young master Yunpeng asked. He felt that he was quite wealthy and magnanimous; he would be able to afford even a top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure.

  “Liquefied elemental essence?” The silver-haired man shook his head. “Treasures like these…no amount of liquefied elemental essence is enough for them.”

  Young master Yunpeng’s face changed.

  Fairy Azurewillow, Princess Xiyue, Feng Yungu, and the others were all stunned. They were all fairly experienced, and so they knew…liquefied elemental essence was fairly useful for those below the Celestial Immortal level, but was of increasingly little use to the true experts of the Three Realms. For example, Ning had to use Immortal pills in order to train in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].

  True Immortals and Daofathers absorbed prodigious amounts of natural elemental ki; thus, ordinary liquefied elemental essence was like water to them; it was extremely common.

  True treasures could only be traded for using other treasures!

  “How much at least?” Ning asked.

  “At least ten top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures,” the silver-haired man said. “Or a low-grade Pure Yang treasure.”

  “Pure Yang treasure?”

  Everyone present was shocked.

  Ning, however, was quite calm. These materials were to be used to set up a series of formations so ferocious that they could block even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods, unless the True Immortals or Empyrean Gods were extremely skilled in the art of formations. To be able to set up formations of such power for the cost of merely a single low-grade Pure Yang magic treasure…that wasn’t bad at all.

  “At least ten top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures? Not even ordinary Celestial Immortals have that much. All of my treasures combined would most likely be worth just three or four top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures.” Young master Yunpeng felt an enormous pressure bear down upon him. He was proud of how wealthy he was and how many treasures he had, but he was now completely stunned. “There’s no way he can afford that. No way.” He stared fixedly at Ning.

  Everyone was staring at Ning.

  “Will this treasure suffice?” Ning waved his hand, and instantly a faint tidal wave of fire burst forth it. Within Ning’s palm there was a fiery arrow!

  This arrow was the arrow which Ning had acquired from the gorge within the Riverfang Mountains. The most precious treasures the Fiendgod corpse had on it consisted of the high-grade Protocosmic ‘Rahu Bow’ and the two fiery arrows.

  Truly powerful, divine archers all had custom-made arrows, and the price of each arrow was prodigious. Ning had chatted with the Rahu Bow before, and the Rahu Bow had said this: “This type of arrow is known as a ‘Firetruth Arrow’; although they are vastly inferior to me in value, each of them are still comparable to a low-grade Pure Yang treasure in value.”

  Ning had sighed in amazement upon hearing this as well.

  Every single arrow would cost him the equivalent of a low-grade Pure Yang treasure. How could he not feel heartache at the cost?

  Rumble…with the appearance of the flaming arrow came a powerful aura of might.

  “This is…?” The silver-haired man’s face changed. He carefully inspected the arrow, even using his coresense on it.

  “A single arrow?” Young master Yunpeng actually secretly shook his head.

  “Can it be that a single arrow is comparable to ten top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures?” Both Princess Xiyue and Fairy Azurewillow were puzzled. Although they were experienced, they knew very little about the truly powerful divine archers of the Three Realms.

  After inspecting the arrow for a long time, the silver-haired man looked towards Ning. He said in a low voice, “It suffices!”

  “I also need you to add an extra fifteen million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence into the deal!” Ning said calmly.

  Princess Xiyue and the others were all stunned.

  The silver-haired man hesitated a moment, then nodded seriously. “Fine. Our Heavenly Treasures Mountain can add another fifteen million kilograms into the mix!”

  Young master Yunpeng’s face changed. He couldn’t help but swallow, his earlier arrogance, smugness, and brashness all evaporating. His greatest source of pride was in his wealth, but he suddenly realized that a single arrow from Ning had completely crushed him in this respect. As for backers? Given that Ning had vanished for thirty years, he at least had a True Immortal or Empyrean God as a backer; in this respect as well, Ning was definitely not inferior t
o him.

  * * *

  Book 14, Chapter 8 - Qi, the Primordial Divine Archer

  Princess Xiyue, Fairy Azurewillow, Feng Yungu, and the others were watching in amazement. That arrow in Ji Ning’s hand…it was actually worth such a precious amount of money! This was simply inconceivable.

  However…Ning had always been a man of mysteries.

  When he had first arrived at the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, he had purchased the elemental peacock plumes. Afterwards, he had seized the championship of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny…and then refused to accept Sword Immortal Evergreen as his master, instead disappearing for over thirty years. Upon his return, his power had increased greatly; for him to now produce an arrow of such great value wasn’t too inconceivable, all things considered!

  However, this arrow was simply too valuable; the likes of Princess Xiyue could only feel shock and awe, rather than jealousy.

  “Damn. Damn!” Young master Yunpeng, however, felt extremely jealous right now. He was the unhappiest of the lot.

  “How could the arrow which Ji Ning produced be worth this much?!” Young master Yunpeng knew that his personal strength was perhaps inferior to Ning’s, but he had felt certain that he had far more treasures! This was his greatest source of self-confidence…but a single arrow from Ning had completely crushed him in this regard.

  Young master Yunpeng felt unhappy. Deeply unhappy!

  “Fine. Then I’ll engage in this trade with the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” Ning said.

  “I’ll go make the arrangements.” The silver-haired man nodded, then immediately began sending mental messages to make the arrangements.

  Ning suddenly turned his head to glance at Princess Xiyue. Smiling, he said, “Princess, when I first entered the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, I was surrounded by danger, but you stretched out your hand to aid me. To this very day, I haven’t had a chance to repay you…if there’s anything you wish to buy today, Princess, then I, Ji Ning, will buy it for you as a gift.”