Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ning rode atop the Ba-Serpent, controlling the river while doing so. He raised his head. “So it is the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens…”

  He was of the Mount Innerheart League, after all; after having spent so much time on the mountain, he had naturally reviewed all of the publicly available ‘common knowledge’. He knew what the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens was…it was a type of fire that was on the level of ‘truefire’ in terms of power. However…because it was too evil and chaotic, mixing too many different types of energy, there was no way an Immortal could nurture and cultivate this sort of fire within the body.

  BOOM!!!!

  The mountain-sized conflagration began to crash downwards.

  The Ba-Serpent struggled frantically, but Ning rode atop the Ba-Serpent’s back, not letting it escape at all.

  Whoosh…

  The flames of the conflagration completely enveloped Ning. However, the flames were extremely agile; under the control of the nine Fiendguards, they only surrounded Ning, allowing the Ba-Serpent to escape virtually unscathed. But of course, Ning was striving against the Ba-Serpent, trying to pull it into contact with the flames.

  “Hahaha, this Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens is quite hot, quite scorching. It feels just like taking a nice, warm bath in hot water.” Ning, bathed in flames, looked just like a Fiendgod. Roaring with laughter, the Ba-Serpent still in his clutches, he said, “Come, come, come, let’s bathe together!”

  “What?!”

  “How can this be?!”

  “But, but…”

  Both the forces of Bloodcloud Hall and the silver-armored general were all completely stupefied.

  The silver-armored general was truly stunned. “He is actually using his body to resist it…he didn’t dodge or hide into his Immortal estate?” He had thought that Ning would hide within his Immortal estate; upon Ning doing so, Bloodcloud Hall’s forces would instantly tear apart space, immediately delivering it to a rather ‘dangerous location’. Within the Three Realms, there were naturally some extremely terrifying places; thus, after hiding into a mobile Immortal estate, one had to immediately use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal. Otherwise, once one was shoved into one of the danger zones of the Three Realms, one would almost assuredly perish.

  “Not even the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens can harm him?” The nearby black-robed youngster was stunned as well. “How can this be? That’s the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens!”

  “Why can’t it be?” The silver-armored youth said in a low voice, “Don’t you see it happening before your very eyes?”

  The nearby Big Han and the Eastwoods sect leader were both similarly stunned.

  The Eastwoods sect leader gave an envious glance towards Ji Ning, who appeared like one of the invincible Fiendgods of legend. To him, both the Ba-Serpent and the terrifying Venomflame both seemed like naught but toys; they weren’t able to do anything to him.

  “Is it a protective treasure? Or a protective divine ability?” The silver-armored youth stared into the flames, towards Ning, who was covered by faint golden light. “It is almost inconceivable for a protective item to be able to last for this long…but then again, perhaps a Daofather has given him a particularly unique treasure. But if he’s using a divine ability…I imagine the only possibility is the legendary [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].”

  “If it’s the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]…the implications are terrifying. Only very, very few True Gods and Daofathers of the Three Realms possess it…and they will generally only transmit it to their personal disciples.” The silver-armored youth was secretly rather shocked.

  Within the Three Realms, the True Gods and Daofathers were all scattered into various regions where they ruled like local hegemons. But even amongst their ranks, only very, very few were in possession of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. The vast majority of True Gods and Daofathers, such as Grand Emperor Xuanwu or Daofather Crimsonbright, simply didn’t have the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], much less teach it to disciples. Thus, very few individuals in the Three Realms were in possession of this divine ability.

  Only a personal disciple of a supreme Daofather could possibly possess this divine ability!

  “Even if it is ‘just’ a protective treasure…someone capable of giving away a marvelous treasure such as this must have a terrifyingly great background,” the silver-armored youth mused to himself.

  “Fiendguards, since you are unable to injure Ji Ning, then go ahead and disperse the Venomflame!” The silver-armored youth immediately sent the mental order.

  “Yes.” The nine Fiendguards instantly assented to the order.

  Right away, the nine mountains that were hovering in the skies began to call back their runes as they began to sink downwards to their original location.

  “Earthnine,” the silver-armored youth sent mentally.

  “General,” Earthnine sent back.

  “Even this killing formation of mine is unable to do anything to Ji Ning. I’m giving up. As to whatever Bloodcloud Hall plans to do, I can’t be bothered to interfere,” the silver-armored youth sent.

  Earthnine immediately sent back, “Understood. This mission is nowhere close to being worth a mere three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures. Even ten wouldn’t be enough. I won’t bother you with this matter anymore, General. I have no other choices left, just the final option.”

  “Mm.” The silver-armored youth assented.

  ……

  Ning rode atop the body of the Ba-Serpent, watching as the Divine Venomflames of the Nine Heavens dissipated. He couldn’t help but laugh; he knew long ago how powerful the flames were, and knew that his physical body was absolutely capable of ignoring those flames.

  “Tell me, who are you people? Who told you to come assassinate me?” Ning barked. “If you tell me, I’ll release you. Otherwise…I’ll keep messing around with you. Although it’s hard for me to escape this formation, you’ll be trapped here alongside me.”

  “Ji Ning, I admit that you are formidable, but…threaten us? Hmph!”

  The Ba-Serpent spoke out in the human tongue, then suddenly flew off into the distance.

  Ning rode atop the body of the Ba-Serpent, following its movements.

  Trapped within this formation, Ning would probably have to rely on a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape. However, if he kept a firm grip on the Ba-Serpent…unless the Ba-Serpent was willing to remain within the formation as well, once it left, Ning would be able to go out with it. This was the reason why Ning kept such a firm grip on the serpent.

  Whooosh. The Ba-Serpent flew forward, flying through mountain forests as many formations automatically parted before it.

  Suddenly…

  BANG!

  The massive Ba-Serpent suddenly disappeared into nowhere as the twelve white-robed figures re-appeared. The leader, the white-robed man with a bloody scar, waved his hand to collect all of the other eleven, then immediately flew towards a nearby location in front of him, his movements lightning-fast. On the ground in front of him, there was a pitch-black, fog-covered cave.

  Swoosh!

  When the Ba-Serpent disappeared, the white-robed man was already quite close to the entrance of the cave, and so he instantly charged into it.

  Swoosh. Ning charged after the white-robed man, but a few meters away from the cavern entrance, he came to a sudden halt.

  “Eh?” Ning stared at the black, foggy cavern entrance before him.

  The entrance wasn’t that large, and it appeared quite ordinary. However…there was no way he could tell exactly what was within the cave. He couldn’t sense the aura of the white-robed man within it at all either.

  “It seems…this cave is rather mysterious.” Ning stood in front of the cave, hesitating. Because he couldn’t sense any auras at all from the entrance, he had no idea what was inside.

  ……

  The Ba-Serpent had fled, but Ji Ning had remained atop the Ba-Serpent’s back. After the Ba-Serpent was dispersed, the forces of
Bloodcloud Hall had all fled into the black cave. All of these things were seen by the silver-armored youth, the black-robed youngster, Big Han, and the others.

  “So the forces of Bloodcloud Hall truly did use their ‘final option’.” The black-robed youngster had used a divine ability, causing spots of starlight to appear within his eyes. He could clearly see to a great distance. “I wonder if this Ji Ning will enter or not. If he enters, then he will definitely die.”

  “True Immortals or Empyrean Gods might survive if they go in, but as for this Ji Ning…no matter how powerful his protective treasure is and no matter how formidable he is, he’ll definitely die,” the silver-armored youth said. “Of the Celestial Immortals who were killed by Bloodcloud Hall, quite a few died after they foolishly chased the Bloodcloud Hall assassins all the way into the cave.”

  This cave entrance…

  Was in reality a portal.

  It led to a very mysterious place, a place that was countless times more dangerous than the Eastwoods mountain range.

  * * *

  Book 14, Chapter 23 - Celestial Immortal

  Ji Ning stared at the black, foggy cave entrance in front of him for a moment, hesitating. This clearly was no ordinary cave. Neither his divine sense nor his [Torch-Dragon’s Eye] and other senses were able to discover anything about the cave at all! However…Ning truly wanted to know who it was who was trying to kill him!

  “The world of the Grand Xia is currently filled with dangerous undercurrents; it’s best to be cautious. It’s best if I don’t go into unknown places.” The reason why Ning had acted so arrogantly and brashly earlier was because everything was under control…but the depths of this black cave were beyond his understanding.

  Whoosh.

  Ning instantly departed from this region, but he was still surrounded by layers of formations.

  Ning casually chose a mountain peak at random, sitting down in the lotus position atop it, then laughed loudly, “If you have any other abilities, use them to your heart’s content! If you don’t attack me…I’m going to use my Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to leave now.”

  His voice echoed within the skies, but no one came to attack him.

  “It isn’t the time to leave yet,” Ning mused to himself. “Master is still undergoing his tribulation in that minor world. If the assassins wish to continue to assault me and lose track of me, they’ll probably go back to that minor world. I might as well stay here then!”

  ……

  “Master, he didn’t go in,” the black-robed youngster said.

  “Because he’s not an idiot,” the silver-armored youth said, shaking his head. “The Celestial Immortals who went in previously were all overconfident; they felt that their power was more than enough to ensure that they would survive. But how could they have known…that the tunnel leads to one of our true headquarters. Even True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would at most be able to escape with their lives from that place.”

  Both the black-robed youth and Big Han nodded. They had both been there before; they naturally knew exactly how terrifying that place was. As their headquarters…it was naturally far more dangerous than this Eastwoods mountain range.

  “Master, Ji Ning is in our formation. Shall we attack him?” Big Han asked.

  “What’s the point of attacking him?” The silver-armored youth looked towards him.

  Big Han laughed awkwardly. “There’s no point to us attacking him, but if you were to attack, Master, wouldn’t you be able to easily capture him?”

  “Stop flattering me,” the silver-armored youth snickered. “I, your master, know my own limits. This Ji Ning is quite mysterious; his protective abilities alone are enough to ensure that all of you weren’t able to do anything to him with your many frenzied attacks. Even the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens was unable to injure him. Although I dislike Bloodcloud Hall, they aren’t weak…and yet even squad Earthnine in their Ba-Serpent Formation was unable to harm him in the slightest! I’m not able to kill him.”

  Big Han just chortled. He knew that his master tended to be very low-key…but that his master was in truth enormously powerful. More than ten Celestial Immortals had died to his master’s hand!

  The silver-armored youth quietly stared at the distant Ning, speculating internally, “This Ji Ning’s background must be significant. If he trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]…then his background must be utterly shocking! I wonder whose disciple he is?”

  “When divinities battle, mortals suffer. Compared to those major powers…people like me are like mortals, while they are divinities.”

  “Low-key. Stay low-key.” The silver-armored youth had lived for a very long time, and had experienced very many things. Thus, he knew very well…

  That Celestial Immortals might seem to be very powerful, but in the context of the entire Three Realms, they were actually nothing more than chess pieces. There were many danger zones that could cause Celestial Immortals to perish. Someone like Ji Ning, who had such a terrifying background…

  True, if he killed Ji Ning, any Daofather behind Ji Ning most likely wouldn’t lower himself to act against a Celestial Immortal like the silver-armored man. After all, for a Celestial Immortal to kill someone like Ji Ning wouldn’t be considered a strong person bullying a much weaker person. But there were some madmen in the Three Realms who were wholly unreasonable, and who would fly into a rage and seek vengeance for any slain disciples!

  “Although there are very few such madmen…perhaps one of Ji Ning’s uncle-masters or fellow apprentices number such a madman amongst them,” the silver-armored youth mumbled to himself. “It wasn’t easy for me to stay alive for so long; I endured countless dangers before becoming a Celestial Immortal. I plan to survive this storm. Careful. Have to be careful; that’s more important than anything else!”

  “Master, then are we going to just let Ji Ning stay in the formation? Should we…?” Big Han looked towards the silver-armored youth.

  “Just keep him trapped within the formation. If Bloodcloud Hall wishes to continue their assassination, let them. We won’t participate any further,” the silver-armored man said calmly. “If he wants to use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to leave, there’s nothing we can do about that! As for attacking him? Forget it. Attacking him is a waste of elemental ki.”

  “Yes,” Big Han assented respectfully.

  Time passed, one day after the other.

  The third day after the failure of the assassination attempt. Patriarch Arcanum was once more invited to Bloodcloud Hall. He was brought to that secluded garden once more, and it was still that same silver-robed maiden who welcomed him.

  “How’d it go?” Patriarch Arcanum sat down, looking at the silver-robed youth facing him. “Did you kill Ji Ning?”

  “No.” The silver-robed maiden shook her head.

  “No?!” Patriarch Arcanum was shocked…and then enraged. “I’ve already given you the treasures, so you should go and kill him. If you weren’t able to kill him in your first wave of attacks, you should send out a second wave. In short…you should do what you promised and ensure that you kill him within the year. As for how you accomplish it? I don’t give a damn. But you need to do what you promised! This was a deal! My Youngflame clan has paid the price; you need to hold up to your end of the bargain.”

  The silver-robed maiden nodded. “Your words are correct.”

  Patriarch Arcanum was startled.

  “Per our contract, if Bloodcloud Hall is unable to accomplish the mission, then we are to return your treasures to you.” The silver-robed maiden produced a storage ring. “This is what you gave to me previously; everything is here. Bloodcloud Hall lost money on this deal, but we’re still giving you everything back.”

  “You…you…” Patriarch Arcanum couldn’t believe it.

  A contract was a contract. If the assassination couldn’t be carried out, then the treasures would have to be repaid! This was something Bloodcloud Hall prided themselves on…but they rarely actually
did this.

  “Is Ji Ning very hard to kill?” Patriarch Arcanum frowned.

  “If we truly had to kill him, Bloodcloud Hall could indeed do it.” The silver-robed maiden nodded.

  “Then why don’t you?!” Patriarch Arcanum asked.

  “The price isn’t high enough.” The silver-robed maiden looked towards Patriarch Arcanum.

  “What’s the needed price?”

  “Twenty top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures,” the silver-robed maiden said. “If you pay this price in treasures, Bloodcloud Hall will go and kill Ji Ning. We erred in our estimation of his power, and so we set too low a price last time.”

  Patriarch Arcanum’s face turned completely crimson with rage. “Why don’t you just go ahead and rob me?! You dare to name a price of twenty top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures? That’s equivalent to two Pure Yang treasures! That’s enough to invite even a True Immortal or Empyrean God to come and help out! How dare you name such a price?!” This price was indeed quite excessive; it would pose an enormous burden towards the Youngflame clan.

  “Invite a True Immortal or Empyrean God?” The silver-robed maiden chuckled. “Go ahead and give it a try. Let’s see who would be willing to kill Ji Ning for you.”

  Patriarch Arcanum gritted his teeth.

  He knew very well that the more powerful an expert was, the more cautious they tended to be. Perhaps a Celestial Immortal killing Ji Ning wouldn’t be considered a strong person bullying a much weaker person, but a True Immortal or Empyrean God killing him definitely would be. If there truly was a Daofather standing behind Ji Ning…

  If the Daofather was able to discover what was happening and was able to rescue Ji Ning before he died, things wouldn’t be too bad; the Daofather would at most teach the offender a lesson! But if the Daofather didn’t make it in time, or if he found out only after Ji Ning died…in his rage, the Daofather might truly go and slaughter the True Immortal or Empyrean God in question!