Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Alright, all of you can leave now. Uncle White, arrange a private training room for Qingqing,” Ning said, then went by himself to his own training room.

  “As soon as he comes back, he goes into training. No wonder he’s so talented.” Cloudjade looked at Ning, then nodded. “The Dao-companion I find in the future must be as hard-working as senior apprentice-brother.”

  Within the private training room. The ceilings glowed with light from the star-like jewels, which bathed the entire room in their glow. Ning sat there quietly in the lotus position, atop the carved jade bed in the center of the room.

  “Let’s begin.” Ning waved his hand, and a jade bottle appeared. He placed it in front of himself, then opened the stopper. This jade flask had three thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence within, and as soon as he opened the stopper, a thick, nourishing elemental aura drifted out from with it. Just breathing in the air in this room made one feel extremely comfortable.

  Ning’s soul was powerful, his talent was tremendous, and his foundation was very deep and stable. His training speed was also astonishingly fast. Normally, Wanxiang Adepts might spend centuries without building up enough elemental ki to break through to the Primal Daoist level, but for Ning, even if he just trained slowly, a few decades would be enough.

  Desspite that, however…these three thousand kilograms would be the equivalent of Ning engaging in painstaking training for six to ten years.

  “Absorb.” Ning opened his mouth, and the liquefied elemental essence entered his mouth.

  Within his Zifu region. At the deepest depths of that sea of elemental ki, the Watersource began to rapidly release large amounts of incomparably pure elemental ki. The entire elemental sea began to swivel slightly, and the surface of the sea naturally began to rise. At the same time, countless grains of refined essence began to emerge within the sea of elemental ki.

  Rumble…these countless grains of refined essence rose into the skies. In the skies of the Zifu Region, there were thousands of stars, a sun, and a moon. These incomparably mysterious and profound stellar bodies were beginning to slowly move as well, and as they did, the truly pure ‘Wanxiang-level elemental ki’ began to be generated.

  Rumble…the countless grains of refined essence were instantly swept into the orbits of these stellar bodies as they soared into the skies. The countless stellar bodies slowly moved about, grinding the grains and breaking them apart, then absorbing the remains. Naturally, it was the sun and the moon which absorbed the most.

  Not seeming tired at all, the stellar bodies moved nonstop, each one exerting their own attractive or repulsive forces. Suddenly, the gravitational forces locked, and they were now unable to move an inch! These locked in stellar bodies continued to absorb more and more grains of refined essence. Upon reaching a certain size, they would undergo a qualitative transformation.

  Bang!

  The Wanxiang-level elemental ki from these stars was now clearly much more pure than before!

  “The middle-stage of the Wanxiang-level,” Ning mused to himself. “After using up nearly a thousand kilograms, I’ve reached the middle of the Wanxiang-level. Let’s continue!”

  A long period of time later.

  This time, Ning used up more than 1500 kilograms, and the countless stars within Ning’s Zifu region began to undergo yet another qualitative transformation.

  “The late Wanxiang-level!” Ning opened his eyes, staring at the jade bottle before him. The jade bottle had less than five hundred kilograms left, but there was no way he could reach the peak with this amount. Based on his previous experiences, from the late Wanxiang-level to the peak Wanxiang-level would probably require 2000 to 2500 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!

  “Actually, the hardest part is stil going to be going from the peak of the Wanxiang stage to the Primal Daoist stage. That step will take tens of thousands of kilograms,” Ning sighed.

  Could it be that Ning would go and ambush and kill other Wanxiang Daoists?

  As the saying goes, if one always walks by the side of the river, eventually, one’s shoes would get wet. Perhaps Ning would encounter a low-profile yet incredibly powerful Wanxiang Adept, or one with a tremendously powerful magic treasure. In that case, he truly would die! Thus, generally speaking, unless there were special circumstances, one wouldn’t go waylay and kill other Immortal cultivators. If one did so repeatedly, one might be successful for a time, but sooner or later, one would be finished.

  “No rush. For now, in terms of both comprehension as well as in the Dao of the Sword, I’m not good enough yet. Breaking through to the Primal stage won’t be for some time to come.” Ning once more began to ponder on his swordplay and began to meditate.

  Time flowed past, and soon, it was light outside. It was dawn, and Northson had come.

  “Senior apprentice-brother, senior apprentice-brother,” Northson called out, appearing to be in uncommonly high spirits. ‘I went all the way to the peak of the Wanxiang stage, and still have quite a bit of liquefied elemental essence left.”

  “Why so smug? I’m at the peak of the Wanxiang level as well!” Qingqing stared at him. Northson was shocked. “You? With just that little bit of liquefied elemental essence? Previously, you were like me, at the middle of the Wanxiang level; I used up far more liquefied elemental essence than you.”

  Qingqing pursed her lips. “I spent three hundred kilograms to reach the late Wanxiang stage, then another 2250 to reach the peak of the Wanxiang stage. Clearly, previously I was already quite close to the late Wanxiang stage and was much stronger than you.”

  Ning sat there to the side, sipping on some wine and laughing while the two bickered.

  “Senior apprentice-brother, how about you?” Northson sat down as well. “Late Wanxiang level,” Ning said with a calm laugh.

  “Late?” Northson was shocked. “Why only late?”

  “My son Ning and I are both at the late Wanxiang stage now.” A white-haired, white-robed man walked in through the gate. Northson, upon hearing this, instantly understood. Ning must have given his liquefied elemental essence to the Whitewater Hound, who had previously only been at the peak of the Zifu level. Otherwise, how could the hound have trained all the way to the late Wanxiang stage at one go?

  “Uncle White had an extremely high level of comprehension with regards to the Dao of formations. Thus, with enough liquefied elemental essence, he was able to advance considerably. If one doesn’t have a sufficiently high level of comprehension and a strong enough Dao-heart, even if one has liquefied elemental essence, it won’t make a difference.” Ning looked at Northson. “Junior apprentice-brother, are you going to go visit your master? If you don’t, we’ll head out right now.”

  “No,” Northson said, shaking his head. “You didn’t go visit your master either, right?” Ning nodded. They had just said their farewells last time…it had only been three months. Ning hadn’t improved that much in terms of swordplay, and so he didn’t need to be in a rush to see his master.

  “Let’s eat breakfast, then head out,” Ning said. “All of you, sit down. Uncle White, Little Qing, sit.” Northson, Qingqing, Uncle White, and Ning all sat there, chatting, laughing, and eating. That very day, after the sun fully rose, Ning’s group once more left the Black-White College…and after this departure, it would be a long time before they returned.

  Ning had encountered quite a few people after returning to the Black-White College, and so those who were interested in him naturally learned quite quickly that he was back.

  “Whoosh.” Ninelotus waved her hand, and a watery mirror appeared in front of her. She stared at herself in front of the mirror.

  “Eh?” Ninelotus frowned slightly. The style of her blue robes began to change, and even the embroidery of the robes began to change. As a set of magic robes, it naturally could change in coloration. A short time later, Ninelotus finally smiled. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the watery mirror in front of her.

  Whoosh. A snowy white lotus
flower appeared. Ninelotus stepped onto the snowy white lotus flower, then flew straight into the air, leaving her estate.

  A short while later. Ninelotus, aboard the snowy white lotus flower, saw the distant Darknorth Peak. After flying a bit closer, she finally spoke out: “I heard that junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning has returned. I wonder if we can meet?” Her voice echoed in the air above Darknorth Peak.

  Soon, a swarthy, black-skinned man and an alluring woman appeared. It was Meng Roch and Cloudjade. Roch hurriedly bowed. “Senior apprentice-sister Ninelotus, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning returned yesterday, but he left again this morning.” The nearby Cloudjade stared up at Ninelotus, who stood upon her snowy white lotus flower. She felt as though Ninelotus were a beautiful, Immortal fairy, and she couldn’t help but feel envious.

  “He’s gone?” Ninelotus was stunned. “When will he be back?” She asked.

  “We don’t know.” Roch shook his head. “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning said that this time, he probably wouldn’t be back for a long time.”

  “A long time?”

  Ninelotus nodded slowly, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. And then, still atop her magic treasure, she departed, disappearing into the distant horizons.

  * * *

  Book 9, Chapter 5 - Never Forget

  Ji Ning didn’t know that Ninelotus had come to his place shortly after his departure. At this moment in time, he was on a journey with his junior apprentice-brother, Uncle White, and Qingqing to go apprehend some criminals.

  Thanks to the intelligence reports provided by the Raindragon Guard, after roughly a month or so wandering through various regions, Ning’s group finally arrived at the location where an evil cultivator known as Adept Blackhorn was hiding. This Adept Blackhorn relied on a ‘Ghostfetus King’ to do battle, and no one had ever been able to overcome him.

  Unfortunately, this time, he encountered Ning’s group.

  First, Uncle White stealthily set down a formation, making it so that Adept Blackhorn had nowhere to run. Next, Ning’s group revealed themselves. Ning didn’t even fight; he let Mu Northson reveal his ‘Fiendish Skyeater Serpents’ and use his constructs to grind the Ghostfetus King to death. Without the protection of the Ghostfetus King, Adept Blackhorn was instantly thrown into a state of terror and was effortless killed.

  “Junior apprentice-brother, your power has clearly increased,” Ning praised. “You were able to kill the infamous Adept Blackhorn with such ease.”

  “Heh heh.” Northson scratched his head. “I’m at the peak of the Wanxiang level, after all, and my Fiendish Skyeater Serpents were upgraded considerably after I acquired quite a few materials at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. Naturally, their power has increased substantially.

  Ning understood. The Dao of Constructs…it required significant amounts of resources and precious items. “Let’s go. Let’s go take down the next criminal,” Ning said.

  “With us four Wanxiang Adepts working together, taking down this type of criminal is truly effortless.” The nearby Qingqing was quite smug as well. As for the Whitewater Hound, he just stood there quietly, smiling.

  Swoosh! The dragon-headed warship once more soared into the skies, and Ning’s group once more embarked on a journey. They would go after the next criminal – Adept Qiandou!

  No matter how well they had hidden themselves, they still couldn’t escape the eyes and ears of the Raindragon Guard. Unless, of course, they were like Ning, who could go hiding within his underwater estate. For everyone else, so long as they were in this major world which was controlled by the Grand Xia Dnasty, it would be impossible for them to escape the assault of the Raindragon Guard.

  “Adept Qiandou really did hide quite far away. This place is three million kilometers away from Stillwater City, and can be considered one of the most distant backwaters of the entire Stillwater Commandery. If he were to flee any further, he would have left the entire Commandery.

  “If he left Stillwater Commandery, then it wouldn’t be for our division of the Raindragon Guard to pursue him.”

  Ning’s group was chatting amongst themselves at the Crimson Dragon Mountains’ teleportation array. Whoosh! Within Dongyu City, three million kilometers away, a teleportation array that was more than three hundred meters high suddenly lit up. Ning, Northson, and the others all appeared within it.

  “Greetings, milord Raindragon Guards.” An old man nearby bowed respectfully. There were six Zifu Disciples and a group of Xiantian experts present as well, and they all were incomparably respectful. Ning swept them with a glance.

  Dongyu City was a commandery city where the Grand Xia Dynasty had armies stationed, much like Swallow Mountain City. The only difference was that within this commandery city was a small teleportation array of the Raindragon Guard! The wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains was a major danger zone and thus it had Primal Daoists and Loose Immortals on guard, but Dongyu City was an extremely ordinary location, and so it only had Zifu Disciples present.

  “Mmm.” Ning nodded. “Junior apprentice-brother, let’s go.” Ning didn’t chat with these people; he immediately boarded the dragon-headed warship and soared into the skies. Based on the latest intelligence reports from the Raindragon Guard, Adept Qiandou was within an ancient mountain range that was located a few tens of thousands of kilometers outside of Dongyu City.

  Ning’s group searched carefully for him. Soon, it was night. “There he is.” Ning, standing atop the warship in the night sky, had been spreading his divine sense throughout the ground below, to a distance of three hundred kilometers. He suddenly found that within this mountain, there was a truly ferociously guarded city. This city was apparently protected by a vision-impairing formation; one wouldn’t be able to locate it with the naked eye at all. Fortunately, Ning possessed the divine sense; otherwise, they would’ve spent months before being able to find it.

  “What a city.” Ning’s eyes flashed with a killing intent. “Where is it?” Northson hurriedly asked. “Right below us,” Ning growled. “Let’s go. Follow me.”

  Ning jumped down, and as he did, a sword flashed and appeared beneath his feet, tearing through the air as it flew downwards. The Whitewater Hound and Northson followed him down as well. While charging down…

  “Break.” Ning pointed off into the distance, and a stream of water appeared out of nowhere. It swirled around a distant formation flag, then easily pulled it out. Instantly, the scenery for a region of around ten kilometers began to twist and change. The seemingly ordinary, wild mountains instantly disappeared, transforming into an enormous city that was filled with a large number of slaves. The slaves were all carrying out arduous manual labor, either carrying stones, building walls, or even cutting wood from the surrounding area in order to further reinforce this city.

  “This is really…” Upon seeing this city appear out of nowhere, Northson stared, speechless. “Utter wasteful extravagance,” Ning said coldly.

  “He’s a cultivator of vile arts. It’s one thing for him to massacre commoners in order to complete his vile techniques, but why must he have them build this city for him? And why must he squeeze them so?” Northson was immediately able to see that these commoners were under such great duress while building the city that many were literally worked to death.

  Ning didn’t say a single word. Because his divine sense covered the entire city, he could easily sense the despair, agony, pain, and numbness of the countless people within it! This was a sort of numbness that came from completely and utter despair. In addition, a number of these commoners held a boundless amount of resentment in their hearts. Their hatred so was so strong that Ning’s divine sense could easily sense it.

  “This is hell!” Ning suddenly charged into the skies, transforming into a streak of light and moving to stand in the air directly above this city of doom. An enormous Waterflame Lotus swirled around Ning.

  The light of the Waterflame Lotus was incomparably eyecatching in the night sky. Instantly, the countless commoners who we
re engaged in crushing physical night labor all raised their heads. They saw the enormous Waterflame Lotus in the air above them, and saw a seemingly small, frail form.

  “Qiandou, you old demon, hurry up and come out to die!” Ning let out an explosive roar, which rang like thunder and echoed throughout this entire city.

  “Ah?!”

  Boom

  BOOM!

  The many, incomparably savage and bloodthirsty Xiantian experts who were in charge of overseeing this city all began to howl in agony. Blood poured from each orifice, and they died on the spot. These were the disciples and grand-disciples of Adept Qiandou, and had supported him in his evildoings.

  Ning’s divine sense was able to tell that these people were surrounded by the foul aura of sin as well. Ordinary people would neither be surrounded by the clear aura of positive karma or the foul aura of sin. The fact that they were surrounded by sin represented that their vileness had already reached an extremely high level. Against these sin-covered malefactors, Ning had used his [Soulshaker Art]; because the difference in power between them was too great, all of them died right away, blood flowing from their orifices!

  “What?”

  “How could that old fiend have…?”

  Those commoner slaves stared in astonishment. Those terrifying Xiantian lifeforms, who had always appeared to be incomparably savage, all fell over, dead. The slaves simply couldn’t believe it.

  Right at this moment…

  “Might I ask, which fellow Daoist has come!?” A white-robed, long-bearded man suddenly appeared in midair, locking gazes with the distant Ning. Ning stared at him, not the slightest bit worried that he would flee!

  This was because, when he had charged out, Uncle White had already, secretly acted the grand spacelock formation.