Desolate Era

by RWX

  Snow then added, “Ning, in the future, when you reach the Xiantian level as a Ki Refiner and infuse your life energy into an ‘unranked’ magic treasure… its power still might be inferior to these swords!”

  Ning nodded.

  Magic treasures could be unfathomably profound.

  Generally speaking, when Ki Refiners used magic treasures, they were capable of thousands of bizarre powers. But for Fiendgod Body Refiners… they still specialized in close combat. They had a virtually indestructible body, great strength, speed, and regenerative abilities, which is why even when using magic treasures, Fiendgod Body Refiners would generally use weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and whatnot.

  “This sheath and its three swords will still be useful to me, even after I become a Xiantian lifeform.” Ning felt delighted. He pondered, “Since it will most likely be with me for a long time, I need to give it a name… Hrm. I’ll call it the ‘Darknorth sword!’”

  There was a reason why Ning had suddenly thought of ‘Darknorth’.

  In the past, when his father, Ji Yichuan, had left Swallow Mountain and roamed in the boundless wide world, he had even gone to the north, to the unending ocean. That massive sea was named as the ‘Dark North Sea’. Within the Dark North Sea, there were many islands. Ji Yichuan had floated from one island to another, and that’s where he had met Yuchi Snow.

  They became travel companions, and then after experiencing life and death battles, fell in love with each other, then Snow became pregnant.

  Because of the pregnancy… they finally left the dangerous Dark North Sea and returned to Swallow Mountain. Mid-journey, however, they had run into a dangerous situation and Yuchi Snow had suffered a serious wound. This is why they had said that ‘Ning suffered an injury in the womb’. At that critical time, the Godbeast, ‘Whitewater Hound’, had carried Snow on his back and fled.

  This was why Yichuan often said that Uncle White had once saved Ning.

  His parents had met, fell in love, then conceived him in the Dark North Sea.

  The phrase, ‘Darknorth’, thus had a special meaning to Ning.

  “Father. Mother,” Ning said seriously, “I have given a name to this sheath and its three swords. Its name will be the Darknorth swords!”

  ……

  At the same time Ning acquired the Darknorth swords. In an area within Swallow Mountain known as Serpentwing Lake…

  Serpentwing Lake was a massive lake, nearly a hundred kilometers long, so large that one wouldn’t be able to see the end of it.

  As the saying goes, deep mountains and massive lakes always have monsters within.

  These words were not false! This massive, mysterious lake, without question, has Diremonsters within it, and countless numbers of lesser monsters. The name of the Diremonster within this lake was Serpentwing. It was an ancient monster, over a thousand years old, and possessed outlandishly strong power. It was born capable of flight, and it could control both water and poison. It was a very ferocious, awe-inspiring Diremonster.

  Deep in the center of the lake, there was a small island. This was the lair of Serpentwing.

  “Boom…” A giant black coiled serpent, hundreds of meters long. Its two massive scaled wings were spread so wide, it seemed to encompass the skies. Its scarlet eyes were focused on a group of quivering monstrous beasts. A cold aura surrounded the place, and a layer of frost was on the ground.

  The densely clustered lesser monsters were all on their knees or on their faces, all of them quivering.

  Over a hundred monstrous beasts lay fallen on the ground, their bodies covered with frost. They had been frozen solid.

  “Boom…” The furious Serpentwing let out an enraged roar.

  Those lesser monsters consisted of all sorts of serpent, crab, and fish-type monsters. They all growled softly in reply. Clearly, they were all incomparably terrified.

  “ROAR!” Serpentwing snarled coldly.

  Huahuahua…

  All the monsters retreated at high speed, as though relieved of a heavy burden. Many of the monsters left the island and entered the depths of the lake, while a portion of them took up defensive positions in various places around the island.

  “Shua.” The giant black snake suddenly transformed into mist, and then it reformed into a black-clothed man.

  “I, Serpentwing, had ninety two sons!” The black-clothed man ground his teeth. “While they grew up, the majority died, and only sixteen survived! And only one of them has the lineage of the Fiendgods… my most beloved son, Redtip!”

  Snakes were lascivious by nature.

  Although he himself did not have the lineage of the Fiendgods, he had copulated with many Houtian monsters, some of whom included Houtian stage Godbeasts. To an ancient monster who had trained for over a thousand years… it was fairly easy for him to meet and engage with some Houtian level Godbeasts. But Godbeasts rarely got pregnant, and thus only a single one of his children had the lineage of the Fiendgods. That one was Redtip.

  His most beloved child. He was certain that so long as Redtip could become a Xiantian lifeform, he would definitely possess enormous power and limitless prospects.

  “Redtip, I told you long ago not to go out before reaching the Xiantian level. Although humans are delicious, if you eat too many of them, the Ji clan would come and deal with you.” The black-robed man growled, filled with misery.

  His pride and his joy, his son Redtip, had snuck out and discovered that the taste of human flesh was far better than that of other monstrous beasts. Human flesh truly was delicious.

  And thus, Redtip had gone behind his father’s back and snuck out time and time again to engage in slaughter.

  “My child. I have to bring you back.” The black-clothed man instantly transformed back into the enormous winged serpent form. His massive body floated into the air, and then he transformed into a black shadow, streaking across the sky and disappearing into the clouds.

  * * *

  Book 2, Chapter 1 - Entering the City

  In a connected area surrounded by large, tall fences. These fences were six meters tall and linked together tightly. Beast swarms definitely wouldn’t be able to charge inside past them. Within the massive wooden fences, there were stone houses, wooden houses, and large numbers of fur-clad men, women, children, and elderly people living their lives here.

  This was a very ordinary tribe with several thousand tribesmen.

  “My child was captured within these few dozen kilometers!” The black-robed man walked within a mountain forest, heading towards the massive tribal gate. “And this is the tribe nearest the place he was taken from.”

  “Halt.”

  “Halt.”

  The main gate to the tribe was shut, and on each side there were two archer towers. Each archer tower had five powerful, beast-clad warriors within. All of them had their bows drawn and nocked, and they aimed at the distant, black-clothed man who was drawing near.

  “Outsider, state your intentions.” A warrior atop the archer tower said angrily.

  The black-robed man glanced at him sideways, as though looking at an ant. His footsteps didn’t stop, and he continued towards the gate.

  The ten warriors on the archer tower all grew angry…

  “Kill him!” Instantly, ten greatbows shot out at the same time! Beng! Beng! Beng! One arrow after another screamed through the air at the black-clothed man, each of them containing enough force to shatter boulders or make large trees collapse. But when these ten arrows drew near the black-clothed men, they all went, zizizi….

  The shafts of the arrows cracked, then disintegrated.

  The man continued to walk forward.

  “Not good.” The ten warriors on the archer tower were alarmed, and one of them grabbed his oxhorn and gave it a mighty blow!

  “Wu, wu, wu!” The deep sound from the horn was powerful and penetrative. It quickly spread to the entire tribe, and the men, women, children, and elders of the tribe all grabbed their weapons while assembling. In o
rder to survive in this world…men, women, children, and elders all had to act as battle-hardened warriors.

  When the tribesmen assembled and began to roar and charge towards the door….

  Shua!

  That incomparably thick black ironwood gate suddenly exploded, transforming into countless pieces of splinters that flew away. Every single splinter was more terrifying than the arrows of the tribe’s archers, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of warriors located close to the door all died or were maimed. Blood stained the ground, but the warriors weren’t afraid at all. Instead, they charged forward with even more furious howls.

  “Hold!” A shout rang out.

  A white haired old man dressed in beast fur transformed into a blur as he charged towards the empty ground in front of the door.

  The enraged tribal warriors came to a halt as they looked at the white-haired old man who wore a grey beast pelt. This old man was the leader of the tribe.

  “Mighty hero, might I ask, what can our Goldblade Tribe do to assist you?” The white-haired old man bowed respectfully. Someone capable of shattering their gate just through releasing his internal energy was, without a question, a Xiantian lifeform, and Xiantian lifeforms, even amongst the local hegemon, the Ji clan, were people with extremely exalted statuses.

  At this moment, the black-clothed man leisurely strolled in.

  “I ask you.” The black-clothed man looked at the white-haired elder. “Have there been any serpent monsters in the area recently?”

  “Serpent monsters?” The white-haired old man paused, then hurriedly nodded. “There are. Recently, a serpent monster appeared, and many small tribes were devastated by it. The week following that, the tribes sent the news to the Ji clan…and the Ji clan sent their black armored riders to resolve with that calamitous snake monster.”

  The black-clothed man’s narrow eyes flashed with cold light.

  So it was indeed the Ji clan!

  The Ji clan was a powerful organization in this area. Even an ancient monster like him didn’t want to go bother it. He had previously guessed that it must have been the Ji clan which had captured his son Redtip, and now it seemed this was indeed the case.

  “Killed or captured?” The black-clothed man continued to ask.

  “Taken alive.” The white-haired old man said. “The Ji clan sent their black armored riders, who captured the snake monster alive, then went back. Most likely, it is currently in West Prefecture City!”

  “West Prefecture City?” The black-clothed man’s eyes had a hint of fire hidden within them. The fire of rage.

  West Prefecture City, to Diremonsters, was the most dangerous place possible.

  That was where the experts of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture gathered! Diremonsters didn’t dare go there. If his child was there…the chance of him being able to rescue his child and bring him back was very, very low.

  “Human.” The black-clothed man looked at the white-haired elder. His voice was cold. “Do you know who I am?”

  When the white-haired elder heard himself be addressed as ‘human’, his face instantly changed.

  Monster!

  And it was a terrifying Diremonster who could take human form!

  “Huhuhu…” The temperature suddenly dropped, and a vast layer of frost began to appear. Even plumes of snow began to drift down. The terrifying low temperature began to spread, and the surrounding tribal warriors quickly were frozen into ice, then shattered into small pieces.

  “Quick, leave!” The white-haired old man’s hair and eyebrows had a layer of ice form over them, and the tribesmen behind him roared, “A Diremonster! Flee, flee!”

  “Quick.”

  “Flee.”

  All of the tribesmen gritted their teeth, enduring their pain and rage as they began to flee. Many other tribal warriors shouted heroically as they charged towards the black-clothed man like maddened demons, but when they got near him…the layer of frost on their bodies grew thicker, and then they quickly turned into ice statues.

  The old man’s internal energy was valiantly fighting. He howled out stutteringly, “You dare provoke the mighty Ji clan?”

  “Provoke?” The black-clothed man’s pitch-black long hair fluttered in the air. His eyes flashed with a scarlet red light. “The snake monster was my child, my most beloved child. I’m not only going to provoke them, I’m also going to break into the West Prefecture City!”

  “Roaaaar!”

  A world-shaking furious howl.

  The black-clothed man transformed into a coiled serpent, an enormous black serpent which howevered in mid-air. The enormous scaled wings of the coiled serpent fully extended, like a massive net which blocked the sun off from the tribesmen. The tribesmen who had scattered in each direction raised their head and saw this terrifying sight, and all of them were filled with utter terror.

  “It’s Serpentwing!”

  “It’s the Diremonster of Serpentwing Lake!”

  Not a single tribal warrior now had the thought of fighting back. Ever since they were born, they had heard the ancient legends of the ‘Diremonster of Serpentwing Lake’. They knew how terrifying Serpentwing was. There was no way their Goldblade Clan could fight against this sort of terrifying Diremonster!

  “All die!”

  “All of you must die!”

  The enormous Serpentwing enveloped the area below with its massive wings, bloodlust in its scarlet red eyes. It suddenly opened its massive maw and breathed. Huuuuuu. An endless, freezing black wind arose, so strong that even a layer of the ground was stripped off, and some stone houses collapsed. The large amount of black wind quickly surrounded the entire area for nearly ten kilometers around.

  “Cough, cough.” The tribesmen all held their throats, their bodies quickly turning pitch black.

  “No.” A woman held her child, tears running down her face like a river.

  “Diremonster, the Ji clan will definitely avenge us!” A powerful warrior who had reached the peak of power in internal energy stopped his own breathing, but the poisonous gas stilled penetrated through his skin. In the last moment of his life, all he could do was let out this bitter shout.

  Soon….

  The territory of the Goldblade Tribe turned into a desolate, silent wasteland. Not a hint of life or sound. All of the tribesmen of the Goldblade Tribe had been turned to ice statues, shattered into pieces, or poisoned to death. The entire area for ten kilometers around…had turned into a charnel house. Even poisonous bug-type creatures had been poisoned to death.

  The enormous Serpentwing gently flapped its wings as it stared below. After sensing that all life was gone, it casually flew away at high speed, disappearing into the sky.

  …..

  Night descended. A cold wind blew drearily. The distant, massive West Prefecture City stretched off into the distance.

  “Swoosh!” A black shadow easily flashed past the walls, avoiding the patrolling black armored riders and stealthily entering the city.

  “My child, where are you?”

  The black-clothed man began to search within West Prefecture City.

  This was the first time the Diremonster, Serpentwing, had entered West Prefecture City. After investigating for a long time, he discovered, to his pain, “Monsters that are taken alive are all delivered to the inner city. And the inner city is the place where the Ji clan lives. It is guarded very tightly. There are many Xiantian lifeforms living there…there is no way I can sneak in.”

  Sneaking into West Prefecture City was fairly easy.

  Sneaking into the inner city?

  That was the place where the clan members of the Ji clan lived. How exceedingly tight did the security of such a place have to be?

  “Hu!”

  A moment later.

  In the air above the West Prefecture City, Serpentwing flew high into the sky while at the same time, using its natural-born ability to control water, it quickly created a large amount of fog and clouds with the moisture in the air. The fog surrounde
d the nearby area, and he secretly stared down below from the skies, carefully watching every single place.

  Past midnight.

  Ning was by himself in Dragon Castle. Today was the day for his once every three days cage battle.

  “Young master.”

  “Young master.”

  The black armored riders and some servants of Dragon castle were all extremely respectful to him.

  Ning’s father was the number one expert of the Ji clan! And Ning himself was extremely talented, so many people had already begun to believe…Ning would be the next Prefecture Lord. One could imagine how exalted his status was.

  “Prepare the most formidable monster.” Ning laughed and called out.

  “Recently, we had a powerful monster delivered here. It was brought to us by Commander Blindfish. It has the lineage of the Fiendgods.” A one-armed old man called out loudly.

  “A monster with Fiendgod lineage?” Ning revealed a hint of delight on his face. “Excellent. Today I’ll be able to have a fun fight then. Quick, arrange for it to be sent to the cage.”

  “Alright.”

  The one-armed old man went to make the arrangements.

  Dragon Castle was divided into the cage and the beast tunnels. Naturally, the beast tunnels was where the monsters lived, all of which were kept in captivity here.

  “Roaaar!” The massive red serpent wrapped up in chains, upon seeing the human in the massive cage outside, let out a deep, angry growl.

  “Keep shouting.” The one-armed old man sneered coldly. “You ate so many humans. Today is the day of your death. Go. Open the door, and then release the chains…let it enter the cage.”

  “Yes.”

  The servants who had been installed here for the purposes of taking care of the monsters went to make the arrangements.