Desolate Era

by RWX

  “It would be very difficult.” Muse shook his head. “Even if I could break it, I would need a very long time, and I probably wouldn’t have enough ki energy.”

  “Use it as much as you can.” Ziqi said. “I have a bottle of ki recovery pills. Take it.”

  “Fine.” Muse gritted his teeth. “Then I’ll hand over the defense to you, senior apprentice-brother.”

  Ziqi said confidently, “You are within my Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Even if several of them attack together…I have no fear of them. The only thing I’m afraid of is that they won’t come for me! How detestable…if I had known earlier, I would’ve started to kill them from the start. Now, I can’t even find them, even though I want to kill them.” He, by himself, was equal to his other four fellow disciples if they joined forces. But unfortunately, although he had power, he had no place to exert it.

  “Arise.”

  Muse stood there, and a single seed fell into the ground.

  Whoosh!

  Many tendrils suddenly grew out from that seed, wildly spreading out in every direction.

  “Bewildering formations will bewilder the senses.” Muse said in a low voice. “My vines will be affected by the bewildering formation as well. It will be hard for them to move in the correct direction. Still, these vines can constantly grow and expand towards empty areas…as long as they continuously fill up the area, if they continuously grow, then naturally they’ll be able to cover the entire formation, and perhaps even go beyond it. My mind is one with these vines. So long as the vines are able to leave the formation, I will know it.”

  “But what I don’t know is how large this formation is. After all, when the diameter expands tenfold, the number of tendrils I need to grow is increased a hundredfold. The larger the formation is, the more exhausting it will be for my Ki.” Muse didn’t feel much confidence.

  “Let’s go all out.” Ziqi gritted his teeth. “Trapped here, the only thing that will happen is that we will be butchered as they please.”

  “Right.” Muse didn’t say anything further, striving to expand and empower his technique.

  Rustle, rustle…

  Countless vines frantically grew out and elongated, but in the bewildering formation, where they had no sense of direction, these vines grew out in a wild, unorderly manner as well. Still, one thing was certain…they were to grow in the direction of areas where there were no vines! To cover as much new space as they could!

  …………

  In another area.

  Ning, Ninefire, and the others were present.

  “The He siblings are up front.” Ninefire said. “I’ll launch the first attack, and then part open the mist. You will see the two of them. All of you, immediately use killing attacks.”

  “Right.” Ning nodded.

  Whoosh!

  More than seven hundred sword-type magic treasures suddenly appeared in the area around Ning, each of which glowed with a hazy white light. The swords gently ebbed and flowed, unceasingly summoning and coalescing the power of the world. Ning’s ki was constantly being transformed through these magic swords as well, and in front of him, a dazzling, eye-catching white sword light had taken form.

  [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] – Level Nine!

  “What a sharp sword light.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the old servant, Ah Xing, were shocked. Although they hadn’t interacted with it, they could sense how sharp this sword light was.

  Granny Shadow pointed with her finger, and in front of her, three flying swords appeared as well, each of which glowed with a faint, fiery light.

  Next to her, the old servant Ah Xing lifted his hand, and a warhammer appeared within it.

  “Let’s do it.” Ninefire waved his hand, and a mottled, five-colored flying sword suddenly pierced through the air. Ninefire was famous for using poisons and formations…although this flying sword was a ranked magic treasure, to be more precise, it was a poison sword.

  ……

  A hundred meters in front of Ning, He Fang and He Xing, brother and sister, were present. The two had used a number of Dao-seals, and their bodies were covered by golden light. At the same time, two magic treasures were constantly flying around them, one which looked like an iron pestle, while the other was a strange-looking tiled jar magic treasure.

  “We can’t see our surroundings. They will definitely ambush us. Be careful.” The green-haired man, He Fang, said softly.

  “Right.” His younger sister, He Xing, was incomparably cautious as well.

  Suddenly…

  A five-colored flying sword suddenly descended at an astonishing speed. However, as the He siblings were constantly on-guarded, they immediately used their techniques to defend.

  “Whoosh…”

  The floating tiled jar suddenly emitted a large amount of green liquid into a watery curtain, which was incomparably tough and unyielding. Once the five-colored flying sword pierced into the curtain of green liquid, the speed of it immediately slowed greatly.

  “Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

  Three flying swords glowing with fiery light slashed through the skies as well. It was the three flying swords of Granny Shadow.

  This instantly caused the faces of He Fang and He Xing, brother and sister, to change greatly. They hurriedly worked to block it as well, but the water curtain was beginning to be unable to withstand it.

  “Bang!” An enormous black warhammer, carrying even more incomparably ferocious power, smashed straight through the quivering water curtain, and then smashed onto the golden light covering the body of He Xing, the younger sister. The golden light instantly trembled violently, as though it was about to shatter.

  “Not good.”

  “Quick, let’s run. If we stay here, we’re just going to serve as punching bags.” He Fang and He Xing, after having suffered successive strikes, had begun to panic. Clearly, there were quite a few enemies.

  Swish!

  A dazzling sword light suddenly slashed out in a lonely arc, leaving behind a beautiful, dreary afterimage as it instantly pierced through the quivering barrier of golden light covering He Xing’s body…

  * * *

  Book 5, Chapter 21 - The Zifu Lake

  When Ji Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] sword light swept down towards them, the graceful, lithe-bodied He Xing’s face changed. “What a terrifying sword light! There’re no other options!” Her green hair suddenly emitted a dazzling green light while at the same time, her entire body dimly glowed with a green aura. As for that sword light which had just pierced through the golden aura protecting her body, it clashed straight against that green aura. The green aura trembled, and rippling runes appeared on its surface, but in the end, with a boom, it blew apart.

  The remaining energy in the sword light was quite weak now, so weak that it wasn’t even able to pierce through the protective magic treasure He Xing was wearing.

  “Elder Brother! The talisman which Master gave us was broken through in just one attack.” He Xing said frantically.

  This was too terrifying.

  The power of that sword light was most likely close to that of a casual blow from a Wanxiang Adept. Even the talisman her master had given her to protect her was only able to take a single blow.

  “Little Sister, let’s go all out.” Mu Fang gritted his teeth. “We can’t hope for a lucky break to occur. We have to treat this as our potential tomb, for us to have a chance of surviving.”

  “Right.” Xing nodded.

  A look of resoluteness appeared in the eyes of these two siblings. Their auras grew savage, and a layer of bloody light arose on their skin.

  “Forbidden arts!” The distant attackers, Ji Ninefire, Ji Ning, Granny Shadow, the old servant Ah Xing saw this, and their faces changed.

  Forbidden arts…

  Generally speaking, they referred to forbidden techniques that were used through sacrificing one’s own lifespan. They could only be used at enormous cost, and once the cost was made, it was very hard
to recover from it. But precisely because the cost was great, the power one had upon using a forbidden art would rapidly rise as ewll.

  “You want to kill us? Come, then.”

  “Come.”

  After having used a forbidden technique, He Xing and He Fang both had savagery in their eyes.

  “They are like trapped beasts right now.” Ninefire hurriedly sent mentally to the others. “Although they are surrounded and attacked by us, they are still Zifu Disciples, and they’ve used forbidden techniques. If we aren’t careful, some of us might die. We have to be cautious. We have the advantage. I’d rather we give up some opportunities than risk our lives. We just have to find a single good opportunity, at which point we can kill them.”

  “Right.” Granny Shadow narrowed her eyes.

  The old servant, Ah Xing, just stared at the distant He siblings, controlling that great warhammer of his.

  As for Ning, he unleashed a second sword light.

  The four were working together!

  They wildly attacked the He siblings in unison. Amongst these five enemy Zifu Disciples, the He siblings actually had only average strength; they were ranked behind Dong Ziqi and Muse! As for Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing, they were old fellows who had lived for nearly four centuries, each of whom were actually a good amount more powerful than the He siblings. And that’s not even mentioning the monstrous Ji Ning!

  Only through using forbidden arts were the He siblings capable of just barely holding off the joint attacks of these four.

  “Despicable, sly Ji clansmen.” He Fang and He Xing were cursing wildly while controlling their magic treasures to resist. Because they had used forbidden arts, their ability to control magic treasures had clearly increased…in particular, the water curtain which flew out from the tiled jar was actually able to resist Ning’s [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]!

  This caused Ning to sigh in his heart.

  His enemies were Zifu Disciples, while he himself only had peak Xiantian-level Ki. For him to be able to fight against someone at a higher level who was even using forbidden arts…the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] should be proud of itself.

  “Elder Brother, that Ji Ning is too powerful.” He Xing had a look of despair in her eyes. “Even going all out, I’m only able to block him alone.”

  “I’m almost unable to hold out any longer as well.” He Fang was simultaneously blocking the other three.

  Suddenly…

  At the same instant, He Fang and He Xing each released a Dao-seal radiating a black light from their hands. They instantly activated the pair of Dao-seals, which immediately transformed into tens of rays of black light which quickly attacked Ninefire and the other three! Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the old servant Ah Xing were shocked, and they hurriedly used what abilities they had to resist. As for Ning, he wielded two swords in his hands, with the Waterflame Lotus swiveling around his body.

  “Boomboomboom…” The rays of black light pierced directly through the Waterflame Lotus, but were blocked by Ning’s Darknorth swords.

  But Ning couldn’t help but stagger backwards, taking six heavy steps back, the ground cracking with each step.

  “Such power.” Ning stared at his waist. A large hole had been pierced through his waist, but in the blink of an eye, his flesh quickly grew out, regenerating the wound and not leaving behind a single scar.

  “Ji Ning, it’s good that we have you. Otherwise, that technique alone would have wounded us, and perhaps one of us would even have died.” Ninefire was frightened as well. That black light had simply been too fast. Once it pierced through their bodies…the other three were all Ki Refiners. If they weren’t careful, they would lose their lives.

  Granny Shadow sent mentally as well, “These two really live up to their reputation as being members from the main sect. They have so many techniques. If we aren’t careful, we might fall to one of them. Let’s pull away slightly; at a longer distance, it’ll be easier for us to deal with them.”

  “Right.” Ninefire nodded. “The two of them are close to the breaking point. If we keep it up a little longer, they will definitely die.”

  Hearing this, Ning frowned.

  The Patriarch and the other two were all Zifu-level Ki Refiners. They didn’t dare fight in close quarters combat, because in close quarters combat, if one suffered an attack that was too fast and which didn’t give one a chance to dodge, one could easily die. It was correct for them to decide to pull away…but Ning himself was a Fiendgod Body Refiner! How long would it take for them to continue wasting time like this? They had to end this quickly!

  “Patriarch, leave it to me.” Ning shouted mentally to them, while at the same time, a pair of wing-type magic treasures appeared out of nowhere on his back. The wings fluttered, and Ning soared into the air like a giant Roc, instantly appearing in front of He Fang and He Xing, the two siblings.

  “Careful.” Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ah Xing were all shocked, but they knew that Ning was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and that he trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. They weren’t too worried about him.

  “Perfect timing.” He Fang and He Xing, the two siblings, were startled, then delighted.

  Prior to this, they had been filled with rage.

  Ninefire and the others had been too crafty; they had insisted on fighting at a distance, not giving the two of them a chance to fight back! The two were all but standing there and letting others beat down on them. They didn’t dare to make the slightest mistake, because if they did, the enemies would seize the chance to kill them. But who could forever be perfect and never make a mistake? Just as they were feeling despair, Ji Ning charged over.

  “After killing you, our deaths would have been worth it.”

  “The genius of the Ji clan.”

  The He siblings had gone mad in their desire to kill Ning.

  But Ning, moving like a giant Roc, arced outwards in a curving, solitary line as he attacked He Xing. His target was her, as she had already used up a protective talisman. In front of Ning, there was a flash of sword light, and the Darknorth swords in his hands executed his most powerful attack…Rain Line!

  “Bang!”

  The sword light flashed outwards!

  He Xing’s beautiful head was sent flying into the air, her eyes still filled with disbelief and shock.

  “You…you…” The nearby He Fang stared at Ning.

  There was a wound on Ning’s head, which carved straight through his forehead, but this wound quickly healed. The reason why he was able to kill He Xing, a Zifu Disciple, in a single exchange was not only that Ning’s swordplay vastly outstripped the opponent’s; it was also because Ning fought in a way where the two of them would both take ‘lethal’ wounds, allowing her to stab him with her sword. This was why he was able to kill her in a single exchange.

  “You…have reached the Zifu Disciple level as a Fiendgod as well?” He Fang didn’t dare believe it.

  Killing a Fiendgod Body Refiner was far more difficult than killing a Ki Refiner.

  Previously, Ning had used the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], which was clearly a Ki Refiner technique. And Ning was only sixteen years old…He Fang and He Xing had both believed that given his age, Ning should only have opened his Violet Palace as a Ki Refiner! He most likely had yet to be able to open his Violet Palace as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and should only be a Xiantian-stage lifeform. Generally speaking, a Xiantian-level Fiendgod Body Refiner’s head was still a critical area. Even someone who trained in the number one technique, the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], would have to reach the peak Xiantian level before having no critical areas anywhere in the body. That was why He Xing had wanted to sacrifice her life in that exchange.

  “Little Sister.” He Fang stared at the corpse on the ground, then suddenly let out a heroic howl. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, avenge us and annihilate the Ji clan!!!”

  “Back.” Ning’s face changed, and his wing-type magic treas
ure fluttered as he frantically retreated.

  “Boom.”

  He Fang suddenly exploded.

  The Zifu Violet Palace in his body was like an enormous lake which contained endless amounts of lake water. This lake water was actually liquefied ki energy! When He Fang detonated his Zifu ‘lake’, all of the liquefied ki energy that had accumulated in his Zifu instantly transformed into usable Ki. Even if his body had to blow apart, he wanted to make this liquefied ki instantly transform and blast outwards. The power of this elemental blast was simply terrifying.

  The savage, boundless wave of ki spread out, rippling in every direction! Instantly, the turbid wave of elemental ki blasted into the frantically retreating Ji Ning, submerging him within it!

  BOOM!!!

  “Ji Ning!”

  “Ji Ning!” The distant Ji Ninefire and the other two were shocked.

  * * *

  Book 5, Chapter 22 - Two More Remaining

  Although Ji Ning had sensed in advance that something bad was going to happen, and thus had immediately used the Windwing Evasion to retreat, he was still struck on the back by the enormous surge of power, and his entire body was knocked helplessly flying, smashing a deep crater into the ground.

  “Ji Ning, are you alright?”

  “Ji Ning.”

  The distant Ji Ninefire and the other two hurriedly flew over, staring into that deep crater with concern. Ning lay deep within the crater, fresh, crimson blood splattered everywhere. The wing-type magic treasure on his back was already twisted…but within the crater, Ning was quickly recovering. He stretched his hand out, lifting himself upwards and quickly returning to his feet.

  “I’m fine.” Ning said hoarsely. That earlier explosive force had damaged even his throat. As he arose from the deep crater, the various wounds on his back were quickly healing, and the terrifying injuries his body had sustained were rapidly regenerating. Moments later, not even a scar could be seen. As for Ning’s protective magic armor, it quickly reformed into the shape of the beast fur clothes his mother had made for him.