Desolate Era

by RWX

  These were 810 dragon heads, all of which had their mouths open wide as they stared down below.

  “A grand construct formation.” “A grand formation formed from more than 810 constructs!” Some of the nine hundred plus Immortal cultivators below instantly began to call out, quite a few of their faces ashen.

  Swoosh! The black-haired middle-aged man charged into the skies, flying to the top of those 810 dragon heads. At the same time, five additional figures flew out from the cave next to him, each with powerful auras. There were a total of six figures, including the black-haired man; five men, one woman. All of them stared downwards.

  “Listen up,” the black-haired man barked. “Afterwards, the grand golem formation will launch attacks…what all of you need to do is endure the attacks and charge into the skies, and to arrive at this cavern by my side. You have as much time as it takes for a stick of incense to finish burning. If you do so, that means you’ve succeeded. But if no one manages to reach this cave before the stick of incense is burnt up, that means none of you are qualified to join my Black-White College!”

  Some of the nine hundred plus youths below were confident, while others were nervous. Still others just waited quietly.

  “Hiss.” A stick of incense appeared out of nowhere within the black-haired man’s hands, and then it was immediately set alight. At the same time, those 810 dragon head’s simultaneously began to glow with a dazzling azure light, and then, from the mouth of every single dragon head shot out rays of azure lightning. The sound was thunderous! Boom! Boom! Boom! One bolt of lightning after another rained down upon them.

  It was as though ten thousand bolts of lightning were descending at the same time!

  “It begins now!” The black-haired man barked at them.

  ……

  Given that the dragon heads had begun to vomit lightning, and that the stick of incense had already been lit, everyone knew that it had begun.

  “Charging into that cave won’t be easy.” Ning raised his head, giving it a glance. In his heart, he instantly realized that because the 810 dragon heads were next to the side of the cave, if one wished to enter it, one would have to fly directly past those 810 dragon heads…which were constantly raining thunderbolts downwards towards them.

  Down below, given how much space there was, each person wouldn’t have to face too many thunderbolts. But the closer one flew towards the cave, the more tightly packed the thunderbolts would be.

  “Bang!” Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, chopped directly towards one of the encroaching thunderbolts. The Darknorth swords were filled with elemental ki, and were capable of blocking lightning.

  “So powerful.” Ning felt his hands tremble violently. “The power of this lightning is significant.”

  “Up!” “Let’s go!” “Charge!”

  Instantly, multiple figures mounted their magic treasures and, in unison, charged towards the sky. But the farther up they went, the more thunderbolts awaited them. They were only able to hold on for a few breaths, making it halfway up, then were knocked downwards by the dense rain of thunderbolts, forced to land again.

  …..

  The six Primal Daoists of the Black-White College who were above the dragon heads watched on, chatting and laughing amongst themselves. “Everyone, of these youths, how many do you think will enter the caves?” A middle-aged man with a long beard laughed as he asked this question.

  A short, chubby, bald man chortled. “Perhaps not even a single one.” “It shouldn’t be that bad,” a white-robed woman said with a laugh. “There should at least be three or four who can enter the cave. Look, there’s someone charging upwards. She shouldn’t be too weak.”

  Instantly, the other Primal Daoists turned to look carefully. A black-clothed woman was charging into the skies, her body surrounded by multiple tendrils. When the lightning bolts struck against her, the tendrils and vines would actively go block the lightning, defending against one bolt after another.

  Soon, she made it to the halfway point, and moved closer and closer towards the formation of dragon heads. “Half of the grand golem formation.” The black-haired, middle-aged man suddenly spoke softly, and instantly, of the 810 dragon heads, 405 of them focused on that black-clothed woman.

  Instantly, thousands of bolts of lightning wildly, completely focused on that black-clothed woman. Although those tendrils and vines struggled ferociously, they weren’t able to do anything. BOOM! Vines and tendrils exploded, and the black-clothed woman fell down from the skies.

  “She couldn’t even withstand half.” The black-clothed, middle-aged man shook his head. The white-robed woman shook her head as well. “She can’t be considered a true genius.”

  ……

  Ning was in no rush to charge forward. He watched for a period of time first. He watched as that black-clothed youth who also trained in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] charged upwards. As that youth moved extremely close to the formation of dragon heads, he suddenly suffered the attack of every single dragon head. As the youth slammed to the ground, Ning understood everything.

  “At the very bottom, you only have to meet an occasional bolt of lightning. The higher up you to, the more bolts will strike you. If you pass the halfway point, you will suffer an attack from half of the dragon heads. And, when you are extremely close, you will suffer mass attacks from all the dragon heads.”

  “You have to be able to withstand the full might of all of the dragon heads in order to enter the cavern. At such short range…even if two or three people joined forces, upon suffering the full bront of the attacks of the dragon heads, whether or not they work together becomes of little importance.” Ning understood this principle. When they were extremely close to the dragon heads, the amount of space for maneuvering was too small. The myriad thunderbolts would form a nearly complete, solid attack. A web of lightning would completely surround that entire region, and to pass, one would have to charge through. There were no shortcuts around it!

  “Charge!” After making sure that there were no other oddities, Ning’s body instantly became surrounded by six full layers of Waterflame Lotuses. At the same time, a flying sword appeared beneath his feet, and he immediately controlled the sword to soar into the skies.

  “Let’s go!” “Charge!” At virtually the same instant Ning flew upwards, eight other figures charged upwards as well. These had all been watching silently. After seeing how the black-clothed man had, in the end, suffered attacks from all the dragon heads…they all realized that there were no shortcuts to be taken, and so had decided to charge.

  “Charge!” The black-clothed man, who had fallen down halfway, gritted his teeth upon seeing the others charge upwards. He, too, flew upwards yet again.

  ……

  The 810 dragon heads were clustered in one location, quite close to the cave. To enter this cave, one would have to pass through the center of them…which ensured that one would have to face all 810 attacks.

  The Six Primal Daoists stared downwards, watching. “This fellows are all quite spirited. None of them are holding back now.” The black-haired, middle-aged man laughed. “Everyone, who do you think will pass?”

  “That fellow controlling the Azure Dragon construct.” The white-clothed woman’s eyes lit up as she stared at a white-clothed youth who stood atop an Azure Dragon. This white-robed youth was clearly quite young; there was still a hint of youthful shyness on his face, but the Azure Dragon construct under his control was incomparably nimble, occasionally dodging while knocking aside the bolts of lightning at other times.

  “Within this grand sealing formation of ours, one can only use a golem or construct which one personally made.” The white-clothed woman continued, “Look at how he controls that construct. He’s at the level where it is like controlling part of his body; he is the construct, and the construct is him. He is absolutely a genius of the Dao of Constructs.”

  “Mm.” “Right.” “Formidable.” The others all nodded and assented. These Prima
l Daoists were no ordinary Primal Daoists; they were the Primal Daoists of Black-White College. All of them were naturally extraordinary figures, and their judgement was impeccable. They could instantly tell that this white-clothed youth had astonishing talent in the Dao of Constructs.

  “What do you think of the others?” The black-haired, middle-aged man laughed.

  “The others?” “I don’t see anyone particularly outstanding.” “They are average.”

  These Primal Daoists all had extremely high standards; although all of the others, Ning included, had displayed formidable abilities, there was nothing which could make these Primal Daoists feel surprised.

  “Hahaha.” The black-haired, middle-aged man instantly began to laugh loudly. “All of you bury yourselves in training. We’ve asked you to come this time to organize the acceptance of new disciples, but you aren’t aware of many things. As for this old Daoist…I collect news from everywhere, and know that there is a true genius in this group. Look over there; that fur-clad youth whose body is surrounded by those blooming lotuses of fire and water.”

  “Him?” The other five Primal Daoists looked over. The white-clothed woman said, “Although his lotuses of fire and water is quite marvelous, it can’t be described as astonishing. What about him?” And indeed, the other Primal Daoists didn’t understand either.

  The black-haired man laughed. “He is dressed in furs, can create lotus flowers of fire and water, and uses a sword…nine out of ten says that he is that youth, Ji Ning, of the Carefree Caverns. A young, early stage Zifu Disciple who has already gained insight into a Dao Domain.”

  “Gained insight into a Dao Domain?” The other five Primal Daoists were all shocked, and they all lowered their heads, looking towards Ning, who had seemed so ordinary and unremarkable.

  * * *

  Book 7, Chapter 18 - Ji Ning and Mu Northson

  Ten thousand thunderbolts shot down simultaneously, crashing down towards the figures below. Those Immortal cultivators, in turn, all flew for the skies, each displaying their own abilities. Layers of golden light appeared around some of their bodies, while others had illusory divine dragons appear about them. In this situation, the Waterflame Lotuses swirling around Ning’s body truly wasn’t that special.

  “Go.”

  “Go.”

  A white-clothed youth was currently standing atop an Azure Dragon construct. The Azure Dragon coiled about, its body occasionally lashing out while its sharp claws swept out in each direction. Even its draconic tail whipped about. For now, not a single bolt of lightning was capable of drawing close to him.

  “Azure Dragon Swings Its Tail.”

  “Azure Dragon Flies Skyward.”

  The white-clothed youth was gently mumbling a few words every so often, his eyes blazing with heat. Clearly, he was completely lost in controlling his Azure Dragon construct, and he appeared to be incomparably excited.

  “Half the construct formation, focus.” The black-haired, middle-aged man hovering high in the air gave the order. Instantly, more than four hundred of the dragon head constructs began to focus their lightning bolts down towards Ning and the others who were charging skywards.

  “Awesome, wonderful, incredible!” The white-clothed youth grew increasingly excited. The Azure Dragon construct he controlled was displaying all of its unique points and releasing tremendous amounts of combat power. It was able to effortless block all of the oncoming bolts of lightning.

  “Bang!” With but a twist of its tail, multiple lightning bolts were knocked aside by the dragon, but Ning was right by its side. The Waterflame Lotuses swirled around Ning, who had the Darknorth swords in his two hands. Those lightning bolts, despite being able to pass through the protective Waterflame Lotuses, were easily blocked by Ning’s two swords.

  Ning’s sword light flashed forward like water, moving with ease and grace as he blocked all of the bolts of lightning. “Eh?” Ning’s face changed. Three bolts of lightning had suddenly attacked him, and they were too close. They instantly arrived, catching Ning, who had been unprepared, completely off-guard.

  “Watertight.” Ning’s swords instantly changed directions, hurriedly moving to block those lightning bolts. At the same time, Ning couldn’t help but give that white-clothed youth close to him a glance. Just now, he had been affected by the actions of that youth.

  The white-clothed youth was currently looking towards Ning as well, and a look of embarrassment was on his face. He hurriedly sent, “I’m ashamed, I’m ashamed. It was accidental.”

  Seeing how the white-clothed youth was sending a mental message, even at a critical time like this, Ning actually felt kindly disposed to him. He sent back, “No worries.”

  “I’ll be more careful in the future,” the white-robed youth sent back. “Just be careful. We’re about to face the combined attacks of all those constructs,” Ning said with a laugh.

  The two were both able to converse mentally at a time like this; clearly, they still had energy to spare. They continued to fly higher!

  The outlines of the dragon heads up above them grew increasingly clear. The 810 dragon heads were clustered together quite tightly, and of the group that had charged up alongside them, two had already been struck down. Only eight figures were able to continue to fly upwards.

  “The entire construct formation, focus!” The black-haired, middle-aged man gave the order once again.

  BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Instantly, it was as though the skies had shattered and the earth had collapsed. All of the dragon heads focused their attacks on a single area, and for a moment, it seemed as though the entire world was filled with lightning bolts. Every inch of the surrounding area seemed to be filled with azure bolts of lightning; clearly, they had completely satured the area.

  “Waterflame Lotuses!” Ning’s eyes flashed with a fierce look, and one layer after another of Waterflame Lotuses began to manifest around him. Whenever one layer was damaged, a new one would be born. As for the two swords in Ning’s hands, they flashed about, filling the area around Ning with sword light. Not a single bolt of lightning was capable of penetrating Ning’s swordplay defense.

  “Charge!”

  In an instant, Ning managed to pass through this saturated field of attacks.

  Swish! As he charged through the heavens and past the formation of dragon heads, Ning was now able to clearly see, with a single glance, the six Primal Daoists who were watching this event.

  “Rumble…” An incomparably dominating Azure Dragon charged into the heavens, also moving past the dragon head formation. The white-clothed youth atop the Azure Dragon, seeing that Ning had charged out as well, revealed a hint of a friendly smile towards Ning.

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Ning immediately flew towards the cave, and the white-clothed youth also flew over, then stored away his construct.

  “Bang!” “Clash!” “Boom!” Continuous sounds of explosions could be heard, with furious roars mixed in. Three more figures charged past the saturated field of lightning and into the cave.

  The cave was many tens of meters wide. The white-robed youth walked forward alongside Ning. “My name is Mu Northson. I truly am embarrassed for what happened earlier. My mastery over my craft was insufficient, and I ended up harming you, fellow Daoist.”

  “My name is Ji Ning.” Ning smiled towards him as well. “You can’t be blamed. You were trying to enter the school, just like me. How could you be careless?” The white-clothed youth hurriedly nodded.

  Ning could clearly sense that this white-clothed youth seemed slightly immature. By the looks of him, he was even younger than Ning himself. Most likely, he had reached the Xiantian level even before Ning had. He immediately asked, “Brother Mu, I’m sixteen years of age this year. How old are you?”

  “Fourteen.” The white-clothed youth, Mu Northson, gave an honest response. Instantly, the other three youths who had charged into the cave had changed looks on their faces. The three of them looked towards Ning and Northson with incomparably co
mplicated looks on their faces. Monster…monsters! One was sixteen, while the other was fourteen! How young were they? And yet, these two had actually broken through the lightning construct formation before everyone else.

  The black-clothed man even had some injuries on his body. He gave Ning a hard look. “This person named Ji Ning is only sixteen, but he’s already at the Zifu level in terms of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. In addition, he was actually able to charge in with ease. I had to make two attempts before succeeding.”

  Earlier, he had been the first to try to charge in, but had ended up failing on his first attempt. It was only after seeing him fail did Ji Ning and the others make their charge.

  He had immediately charged in behind Ning, and then followed the Azure Dragon construct of the white-robed youth, Northson, in charging past. With the Azure Dragon construct blocking some of the lightning, things had been slightly easier for him. Still, it had only been slightly easier; he still suffered an injury in order to enter.

  “It truly was hard.” The white-clothed youth, Northson, glanced downwards, then sighed, “This grand lightning construct formation truly was hard to pass through. The Black-White College really lives up to its reputation.”

  Ning looked downwards as well. Below them, the other Immortal cultivators were still continuing to charge upwards, time and time again. “It is hard,” Ning agreed softly. “However, the vast region controlled by the Stillwater Commandery holds many geniuses.”

  Swoosh!

  Yet another figure passed through the blocking field of lightning. Slashing forward in a lonely arc, it landed at the entrance to the cave. This was a violet-robed maiden whose face was like the frost and the snow. Judging from the look in her eyes…clearly, she had been arrogant since she was a child. Still, every single person who was able to enter the cave was a true talent.