Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Understood.” Ning and Northson both immediately acknowledged these words. Daoist Jadesea continued, “Mm. Then let us begin the Oath of Blood.”

  Ning and Northson glanced at each other. They immediately stretched out one finger from their right hands, and a drop of fresh blood emerged from their fingers.

  “Let our heart’s blood bear testament, and let the Dao of the Heavens stand witness. I, Ji Ning (Mu Northson), willingly and freely join the Black-White College. As disciples of the Black-White College, I shall obey the rules of the Black-White College…”

  A nameless, ancient aura began to circulate throughout the hall. Nobody else said a word; the only ones speaking were Ning and Northson, and their voices echoed within the grand palace.

  An Oath of Blood, sworn to the Dao of the Heavens!

  This was a mighty oath that absolutely could not be foresworn. This was also the reason why it was extremely rare for someone to betray their school in the Grand Xia Dynasty. If one did betray one’s school, even before the school came to punish them, the punishment of the Dao of Heaven would have already slain the traitor. But of course, if the school had wronged the disciple, or if it had expelled the disciple, then it would no longer be the disciple’s fault.

  Since every single disciple was willing to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens, it was still quite fair.

  ……

  After hearing the swearing of the Oath of Blood to the Dao of the Heavens, Daoist Jadesea nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent. You have now formally joined our school. Since you have joined us, you need to choose your Daoist titles. Each of you can choose a title you like.”

  Ning and Northson both began to ponder this. A Daoist title…for example, Daoist Jadesea’s Daoist title was ‘Jadesea’, and Immortal Firedragon’s Daoist title was ‘Firedragon’.

  “If you don’t wish to choose a Daoist title, you can use your own given name as your Daoist title,” Daoist Jadesea said with a laugh. “There are some disciples who are accustomed to using their own names and unaccustomed to Daoist titles. There are thus quite a few who use their own names.”

  “My Daoist title shall be ‘Twinwood’,” Northson suddenly said. Daoist Jadesea nodded lightly. “Twinwood? Very well.” He looked towards the nearby Ning next. “Ji Ning, what about you?”

  Ning said slowly, “My Daoist title…let it be Darknorth.”

  “Very well.” Daoist Jadesea nodded. “Since your Daoist titles have been chosen, let the elders of our Black-White College discuss amongst themselves who will take you as their student. If you aren’t willing, you can speak out at this time.”

  “Understood,” Ning and Northson both said. Unwilling? What sort of a joke was this? As long as there was no enmity between them, generally speaking, as long as an elder was willing to be their master, the disciple would not refuse to be their student.

  “Mu Northson.” Suddenly, from amidst the crowd of Primal Daoists near Daoist Jadesea, a white-haired, baby-faced old lady suddenly spoke out. She looked at Northson, a hint of benevolent love in her eyes. “I heard that you walk the Dao of Constructs. I, Jadefine, have also gained quite a few insights into the Dao of Constructs. I wonder if you would be willing to accept me as your master.”

  Ning’s heart thumped. Jadefine? According to the intelligence report which Northmont Baiwei had provided him, Daoist Jadefine had the highest degree of understanding of the Dao of Constructs in the entire Black-White College.

  “Your disciple is willing.” Northson respectfully fell to his knees. “Your disciple pays his respects to you, Master.” Daoist Jadefine smiled, then nodded. “Mm.”

  Ning turned to look at the various Primal Daoists up ahead. Which one of them would become his master? Which one? But Daoist Jadesea and the other Primal Daoists didn’t say a single word.

  “Hrm. Strange. Why aren’t any of them accepting junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning as their disciple?”

  “Right. None of our uncle-masters are saying a thing.”

  The other disciples were secretly chatting amongst themselves. But Daoist Jadesea, seated above them, suddenly turned to stare towards the outside of the palace. A figure had appeared within the doorway to the palace; a black-haired, black-robed man was walking in. His gaze was both stately and fierce, and as soon as he stepped into the palace, it was as though the entire palace had been steeped into darkness. All of the disciples turned to stare at this man.

  “My respects to you, Patriarch.” Many of the disciples quickly spoke out. A few of the others were a bit lost; clearly, they didn’t recognize this man. Still, they hurriedly imitated the other disciples in bowing respectfully. As for Ning and Northson, they followed the crowd in bowing as well.

  “My respects to you, Uncle-Master.” The Primal Daoists in front all called out respectfully as well. “Uncle-Master.” Daoist Jadesea rose as well.

  The black-robed, black-haired man’s figure had instantly become the center for the entire palace. It was as though the entire world was revolving around him.

  “Ji Ning.” The black-robed, black-haired man looked towards Ning. “Are you willing to become the senior disciple under my tutelage?” Ning was shocked. As soon as this man had spoken, Ning had immediately realized who he was.

  The intelligence report Baiwei had provided had very little information on the various Immortals in the palace, with just a few lines of information for each; after all, the information on the Immortals was very highly classified, while the report Baiwei had provided him consisted of fairly open secrets. Thus, there was just a very simple introduction regarding Immortal Diancai..

  Immortal Diancai: An Earth Immortal of the Black-White College. Highly specialized in swordplay. No disciples to his name.

  Of the living Immortals of the Black-White College, Immortal Diancai was the only one who had never accepted any disciples. Upon hearing the words, ‘senior disciple under my tutelage’, Ning immediately understood who the person before him was.

  If he didn’t apprentice himself to this man, then who?

  “Your disciple is willing.” Ning fell to his knees, respectfully kowtowing in a ritual manner. “Your disciple, Ji Ning, pays his respect to you, Master.”

  “Mm. Folllow me.” A rare hint of a smile was on Immortal Diancai’s stern face. Nodding to the others and saying a few words, he immediately left the hall, and Ning hurriedly followed after him.

  As for the other disciples in the hall, they all stared in astonishment. An Immortal had taken a direct disciple? This was extremely rare. Only the most monstrously talented of their generation had been accepted by one of the Immortals as a disciple, and all of these monsters were rumored to actually be reincarnated Immortals.

  …….

  The clouds swirled about Immortal Diancai and Ning as they flew at high speed towards an estate. They entered the estate, then into the main hall.

  Immortal Diancai sat down atop his jade bed. As for Ning, he stood there to one side, incomparably respectful. He could tell that Immortal Diancai was normally quite a stern, taciturn person.

  “In my entire life, the person I hold the most admiration for is senior Northwalker,” Immortal Diancai said. “I once swore that I would not accept any disciple who did not receive the sword-intent transmission from senior Northwalker. As for you, not only did you receive his sword-intent transmission, you even inherited his legacy, the complete [Three-Foot Sword]. Even I don’t know anything at all regarding the final three stances of this technique.”

  Ning just listened respectfully. Given that even the headmaster knew about this matter, for his own master to know of this was only natural.

  “The only ones who know that you inherited the complete legacy of the [Three-Foot Sword] are myself, Jadesea, and the other Immortals,” Immortal Diancai said. “Thus, you cannot reveal it either.”

  Ning said respectfully, “Your disciple understands.”

  Immortal Diancai looked towards Ji Ning. “You should know that in our Black-White College, i
f you wish to gain a top-tier Ki Refining technique or top-tier divine ability, you have to use black-white pellets to trade for them.” Ning nodded. The black-and-white book he had read earlier had described these things.

  If one wished to acquire the divine ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’, one needed a certain number of black-white pellets. If one wanted to gain a certain Ki Refining technique, one would also need a certain number of black-white pellets. If one wished to acquire a technique for their spirit-beast, one would still need to use black-white pellets to trade for it!

  Black-white pellets were rewarded to disciples by the school. For example, if one reached the Dao Domain level, one would be rewarded with black-white pellets. If one became a Wanxiang Adept, one would also be rewarded with black-white pellets. Upon becoming a Primal Daoist, one would receive still further black-white pellets. If one joined the Raindragon Guard, one would be bestowed black-white pellets…

  In short, the better one’s performance was, the more black-white pellets the school would bestow. Naturally, this would allow one to gain access to ever more profound techniques owned by the school.

  “Has your soul reached the ‘divine sense’ level?” Immortal Diancai asked. Ning couldn’t help but feel shocked; he had never revealed this before.

  “Receiving the complete [Three-Foot Sword] legacy places enormous strains on the soul. In the past, virtually every single person who ever acquired the complete [Three-Foot Sword] legacy was a reincarnated Immortal whose soul was at least at the ‘divine sense’ level,” Immortal Diancai explained.

  Ning said respectfully, “Your disciple’s soul has indeed reached the ‘divine sense’ level, but as for being a reincarnated Immortal…it seems your disciple…’

  “After having drank Granny Meng’s Elixir, you naturally will have forgotten the memories from your previous life.” Immortal Diancai shook his head. “However, given how powerful your soul is, even if you aren’t a reincarnated Immortal, you must have encountered a tremendously great karmic event.”

  Immortal Diancai fell silent for a moment, then started to muse to himself. “You’ve just entered the school, so you can receive the basic reward of a thousand black-white pellets. You have reached the Dao Domain realm, so you can be rewarded with another thousand black-white pellets. Your soul is at the divine sense level, and so you can be awarded two thousand black-white pellets. As your master, I can bestow you with another two thousand black-white pellets. Thus, you have a total of six thousand black-white pellets.”

  Immortal Diancai said seriously, “Since you have already received the complete legacy of the [Three-Foot Sword], in the future, you will definitely be forced to use it. Thus, when you go to the Dao Repository Vault, you must trade for the first scroll of the [Three-Foot Sword]. The [Three-Foot Sword] is the swordplay which has secured the foundations of our Black-White College; thus, even the first scroll will cost you two thousand black-white pellets.”

  Ning was speechless. He clearly had inherited the entire legacy of the [Three-Foot Sword], but in order to hide it, he would actually have to go trade for the first scroll of the [Three-Foot Sword]? And the price was two thousand black-white pellets! So this was the reason why his master had bestowed him two thousand black-white pellets.

  “As for your Ki Refining technique…remember, you absolutely must select a Ki Refining technique that you can use to train all the way to the Immortal level,” Immortal Diancai said. “As for divine abilities and sword techniques…choose as you see fit.”

  “You can go now. Go directly to the Dao Repository Vault and withdraw your black-white pellets and your liquefied elemental essence. Afterwards, go choose your Ki Refining techniques, sword techniques, divine abilities, and what-not.” Immortal Diancai concluded, “If there is something you cannot comprehend, come ask me.”

  “Yes.” Ning bowed with respect. And then, he departed, heading directly to the Dao Repository Vault.

  * * *

  Book 7, Chapter 26 - Within the Dao Repository Vault

  The morning sun rose, and the light of the dawn shone upon the entire Black-White College.

  Whoosh. Ji Ning, mounted atop his flying boat, was soaring through the skies. Soon, he saw a majestic, towering vault beneath him. This was the edifice which, within the Black-White College, had a status that was not inferior to the Black-White Diagram’s; the Dao Repository Vault! Whenever the disciples of the Black-White College wished to learn top-tier Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, or secret arts, they would come here.

  A large, muscular man, dressed in a beautiful set of armor, was currently seated next to a stone table, holding an exquisite goblet of wine and enjoying it.

  Ning landed on the ground. “My respects to you, Uncle-Master,” Ning said with a bow. “Oh?” The large, muscular man glanced sideways at Ning. “You are the new disciple, Ji Ning?”

  “Yes,” Ning said. This large, muscular man was one of the Dao-Protectors of the Vault, a position generally given to Primal Daoists. “Here are six thousand black-white pellets.” The large, muscular man waved his hand, and a black jade bottle flew out towards Ning.

  Ning accepted it and filled it with his elemental ki. Within this jade bottle, there really was a veritable mass of pellets, all of which were black and white in color.

  “Here are fifty kilograms of liqueified elemental essence. For disciples of the third generation, every ten years, they will receive this amount of liquefied elemental essence.” The large, muscular man tossed another jade bottle to Ning. “Alright. You’ve collected your black-white pellets and your liquefied elemental essence. You can go in now.”

  Two bottles; one a dark jade color, the other an emerald jade color. They were used to store six thousand black-white pellets and fifty kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, respectively.

  “The Black-White College lives up to its reputation,” Ning said to himself with a sigh. “Someone like me, a third generation disciple, will receive fifty kilograms of liquefied elemental essence each decade. Doesn’t that mean that every century, I will receive five hundred kilograms? An ordinary Earth-ranked magic treasure is only worth around a hundred taels of liquefied elemental essence, while most Heaven-ranked magic treasures are worth just ten thousand taels or so.”

  The five hundred kilograms of liqueified elemental essence which disciples of the Black-White College received each century were already enough to trade for a Heaven-ranked magic treasure. But of course, no one would be so stupid as to save them all up; this liquefied elemental essence was meant to help them rise in power by allowing them to not need to waste a great amount of time in slowly absorbing energy from nature.

  “Thank you, Uncle-Master.” Ning immediately strode into the Dao Repository Vault.

  ……

  There were a total of three levels to the Dao Repository Vault. As soon as Ning entered the first level, he felt as though he had entered a sea of books. One enormous book shelf after another could be seen, with countless numbers of books placed on them. At first glance…Ning dared to guess that there had to be more than a million books here, and the vast majority of the books which lined the largest walls and shelves had a single large character on the sides: ‘Technique’!

  “Techniques!” Ning mused to himself, “The Dao Repository Vault has three levels. The first level focuses on techniques, the second on arts, and the third on miscellaneous things.”

  The word technique, in this case, referred to refining techniques, such as Ki Refining and Fiendgod Body Refining techniques.

  The word arts referred to secret magic arts used by Immortals and Fiends. They included ingenious ways of using power, and included the ‘divine abilities’ of Fiendgods, the ‘sword arts’ of Sword Immortals, the ‘forbidden techniques’ which one could use in a crisis, the ‘evasion arts’ one could use when fleeing…all techniques which relied on special tricks and applications of power were classified as skills.

  As for miscellaneous, they consisted of things that we
re not classified with the first two. Constructs, formations, venomous pests, refining magic treasure, refining magic pills, poisons…

  “Master said that I absolutely must trade for the first scroll of the [Three-Foot Sword], as well as a Ki Refining technique that can be used all the way up to the Immortal level.” Ning didn’t hesitate at all, immediately beginning to search through the first level of the Dao Repository Vault.

  Ki Refining techniques were divided into Immortal-rank, Heaven-rank, Earth-rank, Mortal-rank, and so on. Immortal-rank…this meant that this was a Ki Refining technique that could be used to train all the way up to the Celestial Immortal level.

  “All the way up to Celestial Immortal?” Ning sighed with emotion. “Although supposedly one can use Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques to train all the way up to the Celestial Immortal level, even the Black-White College has only produced a single Celestial Immortal in its entire history. Even Immortal Northwalker and those other outstandingly talented figures were unable to become Celestial Immortals. The path to becoming a Celestial Immortal is indeed as difficult as Judge Cui described; the tribulations one must face are boundless.”

  Ning continued to search carefully. Soon he found, deep in the depths of the Dao Repository Vault, a black, wooden table. Atop it, there were a total of twenty nine golden books arranged in a row. This table had a single character carved on its side – Immortal!

  “Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques?” Ning hurriedly picked up a golden book. This book was named [Samgha Sutra of Ascending to Heaven]. This was just a simple, abridged tone; after all, an Immortal-ranked Ki Refining technique was definitely one of the most important, foundation-establishing texts for a school. It absolutely would not be permitted for it to be leaked to the outside world.

  “This first scroll of the [Samgha Sutra of Ascending to Heaven] actually costs 1500 black-white pellets.” Ning was secretly speechless. Turning his head, he saw that atop the tall bookshelves, there were rows on rows of Earth-ranked Ki Refining techniques, and all of them were complete copies, not abridged ones…