Desolate Era

by RWX

  He was still dressed in those beast fur clothes. However, these were formed from the transformation of a protective magic-treasure…after all, he only had a few sets of beast fur clothes which his mother had sown for him. If he always wore them, they would eventually be ruined. Ning couldn’t bear for that to happen, and so he stored them away. However, he still changed the appearance of his armor-type magic treasure into beast furs. He felt the most comfortable dressed in them anyhow.

  “Splash.” The speed of the boat suddenly increased rapidly, and it broke through the waves, advancing at high speed, charging towards the distant island.

  Ning stood there atop the little boat, smiling as he greeted his Autumn Leaf and Bluestone.

  When the boat drew near the island, it actually disappeared. Ning walked atop the waves, arriving at the beach.

  “Young master.” Autumn Leaf laughed as she went to welcome him.

  “Big Bro Ji Ning.” Bluestone immediately ran over as well, saying excitedly, “Today, six youths of the Central Prefecture came. They act so high and mighty and look down on people so much, they might as well have their eyes growing from the tops of their heads.”

  Ning seemed to have thought of something. “Oh? This is that group of the most talented youths of the Central Prefecture?”

  “Right.” Autumn Leaf nodded. “They arrived at noon.”

  “Have them come to the sword training field.” Ning laughed. “Since the Central Prefecture had them come, their intention is for me to give these youths a sound beating.”

  “Alright. I’ll go invite them right now.” Autumn Leaf immediately said.

  ………

  The sword training field.

  This was a wide area of more than three hundred meters, locate in front of Ning’s residence. This was the place where Ning usually trained with the sword.

  “I’ve already drank five bottles of water. It’s almost night. He’s finally willing to meet us.”

  “This Ji Ning has been made out to be a near legendary figure. I wonder what he’s actually like.”

  The six men and women spoke to each other softly, all clearly quite excited. They were filled with boundless curiosity towards this legendary young master Ji Ning. Autumn Leaf led the way from up front, and they soon arrived at the sword training field. “The young master is there. You can go there.”

  Ji Mo and the other six looked over carefully.

  In the distance, a youth dressed in beast furs could be seen standing there. From his appearance, he wasn’t too tall; he was still at the same height he had been when he had broken through to become a Xiantian expert. Only, for some reason…just by standing there, Ning seemed to have become one with the surrounding area, as though the entire scene was one in a painting.

  The beast fur clad youth suddenly turned, leaving that earlier state of seeming to be a person in a painting. He seemed to have transformed into an Adept. Actually, before this, Ning had fused his soul with the world and was meditating on the ‘Dao’! Ever since he had moved to live on Serpentwing Lake, especially after he began to rest there on that little boat and casually drift on the surface of the lake each day, his entire soul had become incomparably peaceful and calm, and incomparably close to nature.

  At the same time, Ning’s swordplay had advanced by leaps and bounds. His level had risen nonstop, to the point which by now, Ning was able to infuse the ‘Dao’ he had learned casually and freely into his techniques. Although there was no way he could completely absorb himself into the Dao, like he had that night by the pool, to train in such a manner…was already inconceivable. This caused his swordplay to reach a truly astonishing level.

  “All of you, come over.” Ning spoke out.

  Mo and the others all looked at this young master Ji Ning. His features were handsome and delicate, like a youth’s. Only, he had a natural, reserved aura about him, an aura which one could only achieve after constantly improving upon one’s mind and spirit.

  “Greetings, young master Ji Ning.” Mo and the rest of the six all walked forward and said respectfully.

  “I heard that the most talented youth of the Central Prefecture is Ji Mo. Which of you is Ji Mo?” Ning said directly. Since he was to give them a beating, he might as well just pick the strongest one. This would be more effective.

  “Me.” Mo said, his eyes fierce.

  Ning nodded. “What do you train in?”

  “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords]!” Mo’s eyes held great confidence within them. “I just mastered it. I hope young master Ji Ning will provide me with some guidance.”

  “Mastered?” Ning nodded. “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] is an ultimate technique which guards our entire clan, and is extremely marvelous. Take out your sword and use your most powerful sword attack against me. Let me see exactly how well you use the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords].”

  “Alright.” Mo drew out his icy longsword. The longsword had some faint runes atop it. Clearly, this was a weapon-type magic treasure. Mo shouted out, “Young master Ji Ning, be careful.”

  Swish!

  Instantly, the sword transformed into countless illusions, all of which appeared and swept forward towards Ning.

  Ning just stood there, watching. Just as those countless sword illusions enveloped him, he stretched out a finger and lightly tapped. “Break!” Immediately, all of the sword illusions vanished, with the true form of the longsword appearing. Tapped by Ning’s finger, the longsword which had flying towards Ning at high speed suddenly flew away on its own power.

  “This…this…” Mo stared in shock, his eyes wide. The other five youths were completely stunned as well. Just by relying on his finger, he was able to flick away a sword which contained the power of the world? And they didn’t feel that Ning’s finger moved very quickly.

  “How is that possible…my sword…?” Mo didn’t dare believe it. “Your force clearly wasn’t that great. How could you instantly guide my force away and make my sword fly out?”

  “Let me ask you this.” Ning barked. “What techniques does the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] have?”

  Mo hurriedly said, “The [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords] has three techniques in total. The ‘One Sword, Ten Thousand Shadows’ stance, the ‘Ten Thousand Swords Become One’, and the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’. Amongst them, the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’ is the most powerful lkilling technique. What I used just now was that most powerful technique, the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’!”

  Ning said, “Melody of Ten Thousand Swords…Melody of Ten Thousand Swords…the most important part of it isn’t the ‘ten thousand swords’, it is in the word ‘melody’!” In recent years, Ji Ninefire had especially arranged for people to send over the various sword and saber techniques the Ji clan possessed, and Ning had flipped through all of them. At Ning’s current level, he himself could develop techniques on par with these skills. All he had to do was to get an understanding of their essence.

  “Melody?” Mo was awestruck.

  “Watch carefully.” Ning pointed with his finger, and a ray of sword light solidified, slicing through the air.

  Immediately, the sky was filled with sword images, and the countless sword images appeared everywhere, seemingly quite similar to the ‘Melody of Ten Thousand Swords’ which Mo had just used. But at the same time, these countless, densely clustered sword shadows seemed to form into multiple musical notes, each of which had their own differences. These countless sword shadows actually formed into a single, high-pitched song.

  Passion!

  Celebration!

  Ji Mo and the other six were completely stunned. They could actually sense a sort of joy emanating from those countless sword shadows, which seemed to have a life of their own.

  “Watch now.” Ning shot out another ray of sword light, once more forming into countless blurry sword shadows. Those countless sword shadows affected each other, each of which seemed to be independent and yet which linked up with the others…the countle
ss musical notes transformed into a song, but this song was filled with boundless killing intent, a killing intent which caused their courage to turn cold.

  Every single sword shadow seemed like a soldier, and the countless soldiers were bellowing while charging forward, covering the skies and filling the skies with their killing intent.

  The faces of Mo and the other five were completely ashen. They couldn’t help but unconsciously retreat.

  “Do you see?” The sword light from Ning’s finger vanished. “This is the ‘melody’. The soul of the entire sword technique! It doesn’t matter what type of soul it is; only with a soul will your ten thousand swords truly become one, and truly become the astonishing sword melody!”

  The other five felt utterly astonished.

  As for Ji Mo, who had an extremely deep level of accomplishment with regards to the [Melody of Ten Thousand Swords], he was thoroughly convinced and subdued. With a ‘bang’ sound, he immediately knelt down in front of Ning. “Please accept me as your disciple!”

  * * *

  Book 5, Chapter 12 - The World Suddenly Changes

  Although Ji Mo had sincerely asked to be allowed to take Ji Ning as his master, how could Ning accept? After all, for a sword technique to have a ‘soul’, what was required was an understanding of the Dao. This wasn’t something that could simply be taught! Ning next provided guidance to the others, one by one. The attitudes of these youths had immediately become incomparably humble. All of them raised issues which had normally puzzled them, and Ning naturally was able to very easily resolve them. Just in terms of sword technique alone, there was no one within the Ji clan who could compare to him.

  He spent four full hours providing guidance to them, and afterwards, Ning sent them off.

  “Go back and spend some time pondering these things. I won’t keep you here any further.” After providing guidance, Ning himself left.

  The six youths just watched longingly as Ning left. How they wished that Ning could spend some more time giving them guidance!

  ………..

  Night.

  Ning was seated in the lotus position on his bed mattress, training. Elemental energy was constantly surging towards him, entering his body and liquefying into Ki. After a long time, when he sensed that his dantian had become somewhat swollen, Ning came to a halt.

  “Most likely, within a few more months, I will be able to establish my ‘Violet Palace’ as a Ki Refiner.” Ning said to himself. “However, to reach the Zifu Disciple level as a practitioner of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] will require me to reach the seventh level of that art. I wonder how long it will be before I reach it.”

  By now, he had already reached the peak of power as a Xiantian lifeform as both a Ki Refiner and as a Fiendgod Body Refiner.

  The technique he was using to train as a Ki Refiner was an ordinary technique of the Ji clan, known as the [Water Element Art]. The quality of the ki provided by those who trained in this technique was fairly poor, but it was easy to breakthrough to become a Zifu Disciple! Given Ning’s current level of understanding regarding the Dao, once the accumulated ki in his body reached a certain level, he could rely on it to immediately establish his Zifu ‘Violet Palace’!

  “This [Water Element Art] is a very ordinary technique.” Ning said to himself. “It can only allow a person to train to the Zifu Disciple level. After establishing the ‘Violet Palace’, I’ll have to acquire a new Ki Refining technique.”

  The further a Ki Refining technique allowed one to progress, the more valuable it was.

  “When the time comes, I must find a more formidable Ki Refining technique.” Ning pondered to himself. “The [Water Element Art] is, in the end, a very superficial technique. If I continue to use this sort of superficial technique in the future…most likely, my development in Ki Refining will come to a halt at the Wanxiang level.”

  This was the difference between a high class technique and a low class technique!

  A high class, hard-to-learn technique was hard to start training in, but it allowed one to begin slowly walking in the right direction, constantly advancing on firm footing.

  As for low class techniques, they made it easy for one to establish the ‘Violet Palace’, and if one went all out, one had the chance to reach the Wanxiang Adept level. But…to become a Primal Daoist? There was no hope of it whatsoever.

  The Ji clan, after all, was a fairly low level clan. It didn’t have any high class Fiendgod Body Refining techniques or Ki Refining techniques. It did have the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] technique, which was unique in that it was widely spread throughout the lands. The other Ki Refining techniques the clan possessed were all very poor; this was why the likes of Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow had been training for nearly four centuries, but were still at the Zifu Disciple stage.

  “I have to go out adventuring.” Ning was rather eager. “I’ll wait to establish my Violet Palace first. By then, I will be better equipped to protect myself. The little power I have right now is still rather insufficient.”

  Ning knew his own power quite well.

  As a Ki Refiner, he was at the peak Xiantian level; however, half a year ago, he had already become capable of executing the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], and his attack power should have reached the peak Zifu Disciple level! His weakness was that his ki was used up too quickly, and that he wasn’t able to fight for as long as most Zifu Disciples.

  As a Body Refiner, he had reached the peak Xiantian level in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. He was already comparable to early, ordinary Zifu Disciple level Fiendgod Body Refiners! Given his current lifeforce, even if his skull was pierced through, he still wouldn’t die! Although his attack power was somewhat weaker than that of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], once battle truly began, his body was still the more powerful aspect of the two.

  “Although the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] is incomparably sharp…” Ning said to himself. “If I were to encounter a Zifu Disciple who is an Fiendgod Body Refiner and whose body is incomparably durable, even if I can chop through his body with a ray of sword light, his body would quickly heal.”

  “Against Zifu level Ki Refiners, I can give them a good fight, even if they are peak Zifu Disciples.”

  “But against Fiendgod Body Refiners…I can deal with early stage ones, but anything stronger than that will be hard.” Ning knew this very well. “I wonder what I need to do to breakthrough in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Transform Yin and Yang…Blood-Drop Rebirth…what must I do to achieve this?”

  Not dying when one’s head was cut through wasn’t much.

  But if he could reach the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he would possess the ability to regenerate himself from a single drop of blood! Life energy as powerful as this made it extremely hard for other Zifu Ki Refiners to deal with him. To kill an Fiendgod Body Refiner expert…how hard it was! The only way was to slowly exhaust the expert of all his divine power.

  “Blood-Drop Rebirth.” Ning was filled with eagerness.

  Actually, the current Ning was already an absolute monster. For attack, he had the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! He had also become a peak Xiantian in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique, and even Zifu Disciples would find it hard to kill him! It was hard for others to kill him, but by relying on the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], he could kill others from far away.

  “Not enough, not enough. If Bei Zishan’s insect swarms were ten times greater in number, they would still be able to kill me through exhausting my power..” Ning didn’t dare to be the slightest bit incautious.

  He still remembered what the old black bull had told him…

  That he was not to underestimate any Immortal practitioner! You are formidable, but aren’t others also in possession of formidable techniques?

  “Whew.”

  Ning shut his eyes, beginning to visualize the [Nuwa Pa
inting]. The visualization of the Nuwa Painting was something he continuously did. The reason he was now able to execute the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] was primarily thanks to the power of his divine will.

  ………….

  The sky slowly brightened.

  Ning, seated quietly in the lotus position on his bed, suddenly opened his eyes, frowning as he carefully reached out with his senses.

  “Was it just me?” Ning murmured to himself.

  “Rumble…” A surge of incomparably powerful elemental energy rippled outwards, washing through Serpentwing Lake in an instant like a huge, roaring wave. This enormously powerful elemental ripple caused Ning’s face to change. Swish! He flew straight out from the window, flying to the crown of a large tree and staring outwards.

  “Northward.”

  Ning stood there atop the tree’s crown, staring into the distant north. The incomparably savage elemental ripple had come from the north.

  It was like the ripple caused by a stone being thrown into a pool of water. In a distant point to the north, incomparably powerful natural, elemental ripples were being cast out in every direction….one ripple after another surged outwards, sweeping out for thousands of kilometers, constantly broadcasting outwards.

  “What a terrifying elemental energy ripple.” Ning was amazed and stunned. “To be able to arouse such a powerful elemental aura…the rate at which I absorb elemental energy when training, compared to this ripple, is like the light of a firefly compared to the glorious splendor of the sun and the moon. What is going on? What has caused such a powerful ripple?”

  Swoosh!

  From another place within the island, a figure flew out, leaping across the tops of some trees and buildings, advancing at high speed. Soon, the figure reached Ning’s side. It was Ji Yichuan, clad in a white beast fur jacket.

  “Father.” Ning looked at his father.

  “You felt it as well.” Yichuan looked solemnly towards the north.

  “Right. The north.” Ning nodded, then said with incomparable solemnity, “A terrifying elemental energy ripple. It was inconceivably strong. Given what I sensed, if I’m not mistaken, this elemental energy ripple should have originated from thousands of kilometers to the north.”