Desolate Era

by RWX

  “It seems I’ll have to rely on the Thousandbull Sword.”

  Ning had been wanting to keep this supreme technique of the Thousandbull Sword hidden, so as to suddenly annihilate all his enemies in a surprise attack. However…these wild, chaotic attacks from his foes were already enough to force him to unleash this attack, an attack which Ning’s true body had only grown capable of unleashing after reaching the late Void-level.

  “Primordial Nightriver…emerge!”

  Savagery filled Ning’s eyes, and the pure, late Void-level elemental ki within his body flowed into the Thousandbull Sword, completely activate the formation-diagram within the sword! Instantly, the sound of waves could be heard as an enormous, wide river suddenly appeared in the area arounding him. When the river appeared, part of it manifested within the body of the Ba-Serpent, while part of it manifested outside of the body!

  This was because the entire Nightriver was fully ten thousand kilometers long!

  Activating the Nightriver effect required a very high amount of elemental ki…but its might was similarly powerful to the extreme.

  Rumble…

  The waves of the river bellowed forth, sweeping across the entire region. The twelve white-robed members that made up squad ‘Earthnine’, hidden deep within the body of the Ba-Serpent, were all shocked. As the waters of the primordial river known as the Nightriver crushed upon them, and as the river water outside the body of the Ba-Serpent ground down upon it, their Ba-Serpent Formation began to creak and crack.

  “Don’t panic. This is the power of a formation-diagram of an Immortal sword; it only has the power to constrict and suppress. A single formation-diagram won’t be able to do anything to the Ba-Serpent!” The leading white-haired man immediately sent mentally to the others.

  ……

  The outside world.

  The Scion of the Blood God had been trapped within the formation. Although he could see the distant Immortal Diancai and Whitewater Hound, he wasn’t able to draw any closer to them!”

  “That whitewater hound is merely using the Fuxi Staff Formation; how is it that his formations are this powerful?! I’ve trained for hundreds of thousands of years, and I have some insight into the art of formations, but I haven’t been able to find a single flaw in this formation at all.” The Scion of the Blood God was completely stymied.

  Right at this moment, the sound of massive explosions could be heard from afar.

  The Scion turned to look in that direction. He could still see the giant Ba-Serpent in the outside world; he was simply unable to fly over there.

  “The Ba-Serpent?”

  “A river?”

  Uncle White and Immortal Fivecraze turned to look as well.

  From afar, a three kilometer Ba-Serpent had been completely swept up into an enormous, awe-inspiring river that was more than ten thousand kilometers long. The waters of the river were furiously churning around the body of the Ba-Serpent.

  And then, the massive river began to rapidly shrink, from ten thousand kilometers to a hundred kilometers, then down to ten kilometers.

  The ten kilometer river was now roughly comparable in size to the three kilometer Ba-Serpent. The power of the river grew as it shrank, and it continued to coil and churn around the Ba-Serpent. There was even water flowing in and out of the Ba-Serpent’s body, nose, and mouth.

  ROAR!!! The Ba-Serpent raised its head, letting out a furious growl as it twisted and turned, struggling to free itself. But the river didn’t budge in the slightest.

  ……

  “Captain, the pressure from the waters of the river is too great, and it has covered every single part of the Ba-Serpent’s body. We’re using up far too much elemental ki in maintaining this Ba-Serpent Formation.”

  “Captain, what should we do?”

  They were beginning to grow nervous. Normally speaking, once a foe entered the body of the Ba-Serpent, there was no way the foe would be able to find the twelve of them. They could attack as they pleased at a close distance from the ‘flesh’ and ‘bones’ of the Ba-Serpent, with attacks that would be very difficult to defend against. Thus, the enemies would usually be quickly dominated and destroyed! However, despite being trapped within the Ba-Serpent, this Ji Ning actually had a method to deal with the entire creature at once!

  “A formation-diagram? A formation-diagram?! Generally speaking, only Pure Yang treasures have formation-diagrams. Even if this Ji Ning does have a Pure Yang treasure…logically speaking, he has to be at the Celestial Immortal level to use it. How could a formation-diagram have appeared?!” The captain was puzzled and frantic as well.

  The Nightriver Painting of the past was something which required one to first draw the enemy into painting before being able to use the river to suppress and weaken the enemy.

  However, after the countless years of refining by the spirit of the underwater estate, the Nightriver Painting had already become the formation-diagram of the Thousandbull Sword. Once the formation-diagram was activated, the Nightriver would instantly appear.

  This was what made formation-diagrams so special! And this was also the reason why the Thousandbull Sword could be described as comparable to a Pure Yang treasure!

  “This Ji Ning definitely has some sort of powerful treasure on him. However…following that principle, once we kill him, that treasure will become ours,” the captain sent mentally. “We must kill Ji Ning at all costs. Activate the forbidden technique!”

  “The forbidden technique?”

  “But…”

  “Captain, do we really have to activate it?” These were Immortal cultivators, not Deathsworn; they naturally felt a degree of self-interest.

  The captain shouted mentally towards them, “This treasure is capable of allowing a Void-level Earth Immortal to command the power of a formation-diagram, which means that it is no less valuable than a Pure Yang treasure in might! Ji Ning definitely has many treasures on him; once we acquire them, then hmph…all of us will benefit from it. Even if you suffer harm to your foundations, it will be worth it. Don’t hesitate; the more time we waste, the more elemental ki we will have wasted. If you continue to hesitate…don’t blame me for being merciless!”

  “Fine. Let’s do this!”

  “Kill Ji Ning!”

  Upon hearing their captain’s threat, they no longer hesitated. They simultaneously executed the forbidden technique.

  The ‘Ba-Serpent Formation’ was an ancient, powerful formation which had been passed down by the Bloodcloud Hall that required twelve Immortals to execute. Aside from normal attacks, it also possessed three levels of forbidden techniques.

  These three levels of techniques were extremely complicated; given the insights into the Dao which the members of squad ‘Earthnine’ possessed, only the activation of the first level was possible.

  However, this first level already possessed nigh-limitless power.

  The twelve white-robed men, hidden within the body of the Ba-Serpent, all used the same forbidden technique simultaneously. The runic formations that had been hovering in the air around them slowly began to turn a bloody color, and additional blood-colored runes began to appear as well. These bloody runes hung there in the air, and once the forbidden technique was activated…

  “Ba-Serpent Hell – Godslayer!” The white-robed leader with the bloody scar let out a low growl, his voice echoing within every part of the Ba-Serpent’s body.

  All of the bloody light and the bloody runes began to suddenly move about at high speed. They flowed forth from those twelve locations within the Ba-Serpent, moving towards the direction of the Ba-Serpent’s abdomen. Immediately afterwards, within the dark abyss of the abdomen of the Ba-Serpent, a region of blood suddenly appeared. The bloody light and the bloody runes all swirled around each other within this region.

  Whoosh.

  Ning’s three-headed, six-armed form was gripping a total of six mighty swords as he strove to block the suddenly attacking magic treasures. “I have to come up with a way to flee fr
om the Ba-Serpent’s body. If I’m unable to escape…I’ll be like fish meat on the chopping board.”

  “Eh? Why have the attacks stopped?” Ning found out to his amazement that the weapons and arts that had been attacking him had suddenly disappeared.

  But suddenly afterwards…the devouring force increased dramatically in power, and with a swoosh, Ning once more sank downwards.

  Plonk. Ning fell straight into a bloody lake.

  This was a lake of blood located within the abdomen of the Ba-Serpent. Above the lake of blood were bloody runic symbols which hovered and shimmered. Upon falling into the lake, Ning immediately struggled to try and fly out, but the sucking power of the lake was simply too great. Ning was firmly trapped within it, completely unable to escape. At the same time…Ning could sense a powerful corrosive force begin to be applied to every single part of his body.

  “Captain, is Ji Ning dead?”

  “This forbidden technique, ‘Ba-Serpent Hell’, has very powerful corrosive properties. Even ancient Void-level Fiendgods which are legendary for how powerful their bodies are will be corroded and dissolved, then perish. There’s no way this Ji Ning will be able to survive it.”

  * * *

  Book 14, Chapter 19 - A Spatial Tear

  This time… they were ridiculously wrong!

  By relying on this technique, they could indeed corrode and melt away even a Void-level fiendgod, and even ordinary Celestial Immortal Patriarchs would perish to this technique. Unfortunately…the person trapped within the Ba-Serpent Hell was Ji Ning. Ji Ning, who had reached the Third Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Ji Ning’s flesh was comparable to Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Although their Ba-Serpent Hell technique was very corrosive, there was no way it could corrode Immortal-ranked magic treasures!

  “I can’t just let myself remain trapped in here. I have to get out.” Ning executed the [Heavenly Transformations], causing his body to expand enormously. The bloody lake was now only able to reach Ning’s kneecaps.

  Six Immortal swords in his hands, Ning began to wildly and wantonly hack away at the stomach-walls of the Ba-Serpent.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The Ba-Serpent was trembling.

  “This guy didn’t die yet?”

  “How can this be?”

  “How could it be that the Ba-Serpent Hell is unable to kill him?!” The twelve were all stunned. They hurriedly sent out their divine senses to investigate, and as they did, they discovered…that there was an enormous three-headed, six-armed youth who was standing in the middle of the bloody lake, whose fur-clad body was glowing with a hazy golden light. The bloody lakewater was completely unable to harm him at all.

  The giant was even wildly hacking away at the stomach-walls of the Ba-Serpent, each strike containing enormous power. Given that the surging waves of the Nightriver filled every part of the Ba-Serpent, crushing down upon it…the twelve white-robed figures were using up elemental ki at an enormously fast rate in order to maintain the Ba-Serpent.

  “This kid has trained for less than a century; he’s merely a Void-level Earth Immortal. How is it possible that he can withstand the Ba-Serpent Hell?” None of them could believe it. This was something which they had executed only after paying a heavy price, damaging their Goldlotus Primals. They were confident that this would definitely succeed…but who would’ve expected that the end result would be failure?

  “It must be that golden light on his body! That golden light…it must be the aura of a protective magic treasure. It’s precisely because of that magic treasure that he’s able to resist the Ba-Serpent Hell!”

  “Right. He’s probably taken on a True Immortal or Empyrean God as his master; he must’ve been given a protective treasure.”

  “That must be it.”

  “Protective treasures won’t be able to be maintained for too long. After its energy is used up, this Ji Ning shall die for certain.”

  Their level of experience was limited, after all; although they knew some of the powerful divine abilities of the Three Realms could allow one’s body to become comparable to magic treasures, Ji Ning was only at the fifteenth stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. They felt that even if Ning trained in protective divine abilities such as the [Pentabolt Vajra], there was no way he could use them to resist their Ba-Serpent Hell.

  Thus, they guessed that it must be a protective treasure.

  A protective treasure bestowed by a True Immortal or Empyrean God…upon being activated, it could protect the bearer for a time, but once the energy and power within it was used up, it would become useless.

  “But we are only going to be able to sustain the Ba-Serpent Hell via our forbidden technique for the time needed to boil a kettle of tea.”

  “If the power of Ji Ning’s protective treasure is used up, then we’ll have won. But if the Ba-Serpent Hell is dispersed first…are we supposed to use the forbidden technique again?!”

  “Captain, what should we do next?”

  The others were all awaiting the captain’s order. None of them wanted to use the forbidden technique again.

  “Disciples with backers and sects behind him are always difficult,” the white-robed man muttered back mentally. “There’s nothing we can. Carry out the backup plan.”

  “Fine.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  They all immediately acknowledged the order.

  This ‘backup plan’ was to borrow strength from another party…but as a result, the rewards they would get for killing Ji Ning would have to be divided up as well.

  ……

  The Whitewater Hound used the Fuxi Staff Formation to tremendously powerful effect. The Ba-Serpent might be able to forcibly break through and threaten his formations, but the leader of the Blood God Church, the Scion of the Blood God, was hidden within that black warship; he wasn’t willing to go all-out, and so he definitely wasn’t able to break open the formation.

  Uncle White and Immortal Fivecraze watched the outside world with worry.

  High in the air, a giant river was twisting and coiling around an unfathomably powerful Ba-Serpent. The Ba-Serpent was struggling and roaring with rage.

  “Break apart!” The Ba-Serpent spoke out in the human tongue, then let out another enraged roar as its tail struck out hard.

  Rumble…

  Space itself was torn apart, and on the other side a sea could vaguely be seen.

  It must be understood that this minor world was very close to the Grand Xia major world. The entrance to the volcano was a stable corridor between worlds, but some sufficiently powerful experts were absolutely capable of opening a corridor through their own power. For example, Patriarch Arcanum had done just that in ripping a tunnel into the world of the Witchriver Immortal Estate.

  This strike by the Ba-Serpent was absolutely comparable to a blow from Patriarch Arcanum.

  Swoosh. After ripping apart the fabric of space…although the Ba-Serpent remained entangled within the Nightriver, it charged into the spatial tear and returned to the world of the Grand Xia.

  The minor world grew quiet.

  “They are gone?”

  “They disappeared?”

  Uncle White and Immortal Fivecraze were all quite flabbergasted. They hadn’t expected that the enemy would tear open the fabric of space and depart from this minor world. They both looked with concern towards the black-robed Ning, who was fairly close to them. It must be understood that it was Ning’s true body that had just been taken away! His true body was far more important than his Primaltwin.

  “Ji Ning,” Immortal Fivecraze said.

  “No need to worry about me.” The black-robed Ning shook his head, then sat down in the lotus position, quietly protecting his master, Immortal Diancai.

  No matter what, he absolutely wouldn’t permit anyone from disturbing his master’s tribulation. His Primaltwin had to stay here and protect his master! As for his true body…his true body had the underwater estate. If he truly did encounter a life-th
reatening situation, he could go ahead and hide into it, even though that meant revealing the existence of the estate. After all, his true body was very important; only his true body was capable of executing techniques such as the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and the [Starseizing Hand].

  The air above the Darknorth Sea.

  The vast sea was incomparably quiet. From far away, one could see a ship advancing through the seas, a merchant vessel from a surrounding island.

  Rumble…

  The air above the sea split apart, and an enormous monstrosity came hurtling through the spatial tear.

  It was an enormous serpent that was three thousand meters long. Its body was entangled by a surging river which coiled around it like a rope.

  “What’s that?!”

  “Good heavens!”

  “A Diremonster?!”

  The many mortals who were aboard that merchant vessel, as well as a few ‘powerful’ Xiantian experts, all stared in stupefecation. However, with but a single movement, that massive, three kilometer serpent disappeared into the horizon.

  ……

  Ning was able to clearly sense what was going on outside, thanks to the Nightriver which the Thousandbull Sword had created.

  “Eh? We’re at the world of the Grand Xia? And this should be the Darknorth Sea,” Ning guessed to himself. At the same time, he continued to wildly brandish his six swords, hacking and slashing at the stomach of the Ba-Serpent. The Ba-Serpent trembled repeatedly as the elemental ki of the twelve white-robed figures was used up at a rapid pace. They were forced to take out some spirit-pills and swallow them to replenish their energy.

  Swoosh. The Ba-Serpent easily used a spatial teleportation, arriving at the air above a wide mountain range located within the vast continent of the Grand Xia Dynasty.

  “A mountain range? This is the place the Ba-Serpent’s spatial teleportation took it to?” Ning mused to himself, still trapped within the Ba-Serpent’s body.