Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Qiandou, you old fiend, you have a few young fiends with you.” Ning swept the distant palace with a glance. There were quite a few Zifu Disciples standing at the entrance to the palace; clearly, they were the disciples of this old demon.

  “Dare I ask, who are you, fellow Daoist?” The old fiend, Qiandou, maintained a smile on his face. Ning, surrounded by the Waterflame Lotus, stared downwards towards the hellish landscape below, then said softly, “After you die and go to the Netherworld Kingdom, you will be tormented in the eighteenth level of the Netherworld. The torment suffered by these commoners you tortured to death will be repaid unto you thousands of times over.”

  “Die?” Adept Qiandou shook his head. “So long as I can become an Earth Immortal, when the time comes, I’ll send a hint of my truesoul into the Netherworld Kingdom. Given my prowess as an Immortal, I will willingly become a Ghost Immortal. Why should I fear torment?”

  “Earth Immortal?” Ning stared at him coldly. “Wait to suffer in agony in the eighteenth level of the Netherworld. Given how many sins you have committed, I imagine that you won’t be able to endure for many years before you are tormented to the point of your soul collapsing.”

  The amount of sin he had committed vastly surpassed Bei Zishan’s. Adept Qiandou’s body was not surrounded by a foul aura, but by a bloody light! An eye-piercing bloody light! A bloody light that caused one’s heart to quail! This amount of sin was utterly astonishing.

  As soon as Ning’s words came out, Adept Qiandou roared in fury, “I think you’ll be the one to die instead!”

  Whoosh. An enormous pupil of blood suddenly appeared above his head. This enormous bloody eye, filled with boundless sin and evil, stared directly towards Ning. And as it did so….boom! An incomparably powerful, bloody, baleful light shot straight towards Ning’s soul.

  “An ant who wishes to shake a tree.” Within Ning’s mind appeared the divine visage of Mother Nuwa. Nuwa stood there in midair, radiating an endless aura of light. As soon as the bloody aura touched it, it instantly melted away like snow in the face of the sun, transforming into nothingness.

  “Not good.” Adept Qiandou’s face changed, and he hurriedly turned, meaning to flee. But right at this moment, Ning let out an icy roar. “DIE!”

  His powerful divine sense swept out in an incomparably savage wave, crushing down upon Adept Qiandou’s soul. Adept Qiandou instantly felt dizzy and dazed. Ning pointed towards him with a single finger, and around Adept Qiandou’s body, a Waterflame Lotus appeared out of nowhere. Adept Qiandou was completely dazed and unable to fight back; as a result, as soon as the Waterflame Lotus began to swivel…he was instantly transformed into meat paste!

  “What?!”

  “Flee!”

  Those five Zifu Disciples before the palace were incomparably terrified. The five of them had followed Adept Qiandou in doing countless evil deeds, and the tainted aura of sin had surrounded them long ago. Ning pointed to them from far away, and one Waterflame Lotus after another began to bloom, glowing with holy light as they crushed these five into meat paste.

  All of them were taken care of at one go.

  As for Northson and the Whitewater Hound, they flew over as well. They displayed no joy; as they stared down at the countless oppressed commoners, they couldn’t muster any joy at all. “How could he do such a thing?” Northson let out a sigh.

  This opponent possessed the ‘Hellblood Demon Eye’, and was extremely hard to deal with. Ning had a powerful soul, and also possessed a divine will attack; he was the perfect counter to this person. Thus, they had planned all along for Ning to be the one to fight him alone.

  “There is kindness in the world, but there naturally is evil as well,” Ning said calmly. “Senior apprentice-brother,” Northson looked at Ning, “Now that we’ve both completed our missions, what shall we do next?”

  Ning was startled. Next? Instantly, three blood-soaked names suddenly emerged from the deepest recesses of Ning’s mind. Dong Seven! Yu Dong! Shui Yi! Ning had never forgotten these three names. These three names were like blazing irons that had been imprinted onto his very soul. The most important people in his life, his mother and father, had died…because of these three!

  Suddenly, a surge of emotion filled Ning’s breast. Kill! Kill! Kill! When Ning unburied this matter from where it had lain deep within his heart, he became filled with hatred and a desire to kill. These three were the three he hated most in the world!

  “Next…” Ning said softly, “I’ll get revenge!”

  “Get revenge?” Northson was puzzled. “On who?”

  “Those who slew my parents!” Ning said slowly. Hearing this, Northson’s face instantly changed. Qingqing lowered her serpents head, pressing it against Ning’s arm, as though to console Ning. As for the nearby Whitewater Hound, he just stared quietly at Ning, his eyes also filled with the same desire. After all…he had personally witnessed that nightmarish day.

  “I cannot share the same heavens with those who slew my parents!” Ning said.

  * * *

  Book 9, Chapter 6 - A Surging Killing Intent

  Although Ji Ning spoke very softly, Mu Northson and Qingqing could both sense the boundless hatred and killing intent within those words. This enmity had sunk deep into his soul, and had embedded itself within the marrow of his bones!

  Ning could never forget it. When he had left Swallow Mountain, Ning had deeply desired to take revenge! However, at that point in time, he didn’t know anything about the world; it was simply too vast and too alien. That was why he had decided to join a school and to first increase his own power, temporarily burying his hatred deep within his heart. Now that he had finished his training and joined the Raindragon Guard, it was time to take revenge!

  “Father, Mother, Uncle,” Ning murmured to himself silently, “Those three of them…your child will not spare a single one! Not a single one!”

  “Junior apprentice-brother.” Ning turned to look at the nearby Northson. “I am going to take revenge. It will be enough for me to bring along Qingqing and Uncle White. There’s no need for you to go.”

  “Senior apprentice-brother, what the hell are you talking about?!” Northson said furiously, “I no longer have any kin in this world, now that my mother is dead! I have no attachments to anyone, so you don’t need to worry about causing trouble for me. As your junior apprentice-brother, I know exactly how agonizing your pain is, with your parents having been killed. In the past, I personally slaughtered those evil villains and avenged my mother. This time, I will definitely go with you!”

  Ning was stunned. His mother had died? He had taken revenge on behalf of his mother? He had no kin left in the world? His junior apprentice-brother had never told him this before.

  “Fine!” Ning nodded, then gave Northson a gentle clap on the shoulders. “You are a good brother.” Northson looked at Ning, who said, “Let’s go. Let’s go to Stillwater City.”

  Northson immediately said, “Stillwater City? Right…didn’t you say you wanted to get revenge? As I see it, although we’ve fulfilled two assignments already, for now, there’s no need for us to go back to the Crimson Dragon Mountains to turn them in. For now, we can go act against your enemies while claiming we are on a mission to apprehend suspects on behalf of the Raindragon Guard. This gives us a good excuse.”

  Ning nodded. In the past, Xue Hongyi had used the excuse of ‘suspecting that the Ji clan was harboring criminals’ to investigate Ning himself. Fortunately, Northmont Baiwei had stopped him. At that time, Baiwei had the status of ‘Emissary for the Marquisate of Stillwater’; if he hadn’t, even he would’ve found it difficult to stop this matter!

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Ning said. “However, we still need to go to Stillwater City to make some preparations. First, I need to get the intelligence reports on my enemies. Second, I need to buy some magic treasures.”

  “Magic treasures?” Northson said, puzzled, “Can it be that your enemies are extremely powerful, senior apprentice
-brother?” Ning shook his head. “No, they should only be Zifu Disciples. Even if they make a breakthrough, they’ll only be ordinary Wanxiang Adepts.”

  “Then why must you buy treasures to deal with them, senior apprentice-brother?” Northson asked, puzzled. Ning said in a low, growling voice, “Because…I am going to shatter their souls!”

  The cold malice in these words caused Northson, Qingqing, and the Whitewater Hound to all feel shocked. Northson thought back to how when he was a child, he had slaughtered those enemies…back then, he had been similarly crazed by hate. He could completely understand what Ning was currently feeling.

  “Let’s go,” Ning said. “Alright.” The group immediately boarded the dragon-headed warship, quickly departing and going to Stillwater City.

  Stillwater City. Ning first paid a visit to his good friend, Baiwei. “I already know,” Baiwei said, “That the most recent group of Raindragon Guard testees included you, Brother Ji Ning. And the name of your junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson, as well.” Baiwei looked towards Ning, then smiled towards Northson as well. He saw that Ning was glancing towards the maidservants, and he waved his hand towards them. “You can leave,” he said, and they all left.

  “Brother Baiwei, I’ve come to ask you for some help,” Ning said solemnly. “Please, speak,” Baiwei said.

  “I need intelligence reports for three people,” Ning said. “Snowdragon Mountain’s Dong Seven, Shui Yi, and Yu Dong! However, I don’t wish for the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to know that I was the one investigating them.”

  Baiwei nodded lightly. “Understood. I’ll immediately arrange for people to go to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and do some investigations.” “Sorry for the trouble,” Ning said.

  Killing the three of them wouldn’t be hard. What made things difficult was Snowdragon Mountain. Shui Yi and Yu Dong had less impressive backgrounds, but Dong Seven was the grandson of a Primal Daoist of Snowdragon Mountain. Once Ning acted against him, no matter how secretively he acted, Snowdragon Mountain would still investigate…and if they discovered that someone had once investigated all three of these individuals, they would definitely grow suspicious. Thus, he had to leave as few clues behind as possible.

  “I’ll immediately send someone to go. In less than two hours, they’ll be able to have the results,” Baiwei said, rising to his feet. “The two of you can rest here. I’ll make the arrangements.”

  ……

  Just two hours later, a servant came in, carrying three thick tomes and giving them to Northmont Baiwei. “You can leave now,” Baiwei instructed, and the servant quietly departed.

  Baiwei handed the three reports directly to Ning. “These are the most detailed reports the Heavenly Treasures Mountain has regarding these three individuals. Reports are divided into multiple levels, but these are the highest level reports, and are the most detailed ones, which have all of their most secret details. However, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain is just an intelligence network, not the heavens; they can’t possibly know everything. For example, they have no idea that this time, it was you, Brother Ji Ning, who wanted these reports.”

  Ning nodded. Human resources were limited. No matter how formidable the Heavenly Treasures Mountain was, they couldn’t know everything.

  “Dong Seven.” Ning began to flip through the book. The nearby Baiwei simply drank his wine, slowly savoring it, while Northson did the same. None of them spoke or did anything to disturb Ning.

  Ning read quite quickly. This report was fairly detailed; it had records of many of the events Dong Seven had carried out since he was young. It had details on some of the problems he had caused Snowdragon Mountain, and even discussed some of the women he had raped. There were records of many events…but no records of his attack against Ning’s parents and his uncle.

  “The Heavenly Treasures Mountain isn’t omniscient. Immortal cultivators will occasionally run into trouble while wandering the world. If they don’t tell anyone, it really is quite hard to find out about it.” Ning shook his head.

  “This Dong Seven…he truly is a calamity.” As Ning continued to read, he began to understand that Dong Seven was a child who had been spoiled rotten. Even now, he was still a mere peak Zifu Disciple.

  Dong Seven came from the major ‘Dong’ clan. Because the Dong clan had a Primal Daoist amongst their ranks, Daoist Coldsun, they naturally were an extremely powerful clan. The Dong clan had quite a few talented figures, and the earlier Dong One had been the eldest and most talented member of Dong Seven’s generation! But of course, Dong One had already been killed by the Dragonwhale King back in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains.

  Daoist Coldsun previously had a single son, but his son had died while roaming the outside world. His son had left behind only one child as well; Dong Seven. Thus, Daoist Coldsun doted far too much on this sole grandson of his.

  Although the likes of Dong One and the others of his generation would also be treated well, they naturally couldn’t compare to Dong Seven. Thus, in the Dong clan, there were many who would flatter and fawn over Dong Seven, causing him to grow ever more arrogant and brash. His greatest hobby was to rape beautiful women, but only those with particularly refined auras.

  Thus, he had caused countless calamities. However, due to his powerful background and strong supporters, nothing had ever come of it.

  “What’s this?” Ning frowned. “He actually lives on Snowdragon Mountain, along with Daoist Coldsun?” Dong Seven truly was coddled too much. Others found it quite difficult to even see a Primal Daoist in person, but he actually lived alongside his grandfather.

  “If he lives on Snowdragon Mountain, there’s nothing I can do.” Ning shook his head. Although he was confident, he wasn’t so crazed as to charge straight towards an ancient school that had existed for countless years. Even Loose Immortals would probably be hesitant; after all, that was the foundation of the entire school, and the various formations as well as suicide or self-destruct mechanisms there would be enough to threaten even them.

  “Next one.” Ning turned to Yu Dong’s information. Yu Dong was a cultivator with tremendous ambition, and who was incredibly calculating. For the sake of acquiring enough resources, he willing served as Dong Seven’s henchman! After getting what he wanted for Dong Seven, he had silently slipped away.

  “He’s now an early Wanxiang Adept, and he lives at Mount Mooncrescent with his master, a peak Wanxiang Adept.” Yu Dong personally hadn’t actually done too many vile deeds; the records of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, at least, included only two matters. Naturally, what he had done to Ning’s parents hadn’t been included!

  His master, Adept Mooncrescent, had actually done quite a few evil deeds. He was a sinister, despicable fellow who had reached the peak of the Wanxiang level more than two centuries ago, and was extremely strong!

  “Although he has a master, they are at Mount Mooncrescent?” Ning felt relaxed. “This is in a wild, desolate region; dealing against him won’t be too hard. Let’s look at the last one.”

  Ning flipped to Shui Yi’s materials. Shui Yi…he was originally a servant of the Dong clan, but was an extremely outstanding one who had been viewed favorably by the Dong clan. By now, he had become a peak Wanxiang Adept as well, but because his potential was limited, he had left Snowdragon Mountain and had always lived within the Dong clan’s territory.

  “The Dong clan’s territory?” Ning begin to feel a headache coming. “This is a bit more troublesome. However…I’ll still be able to kill him.”

  The Dong clan was the clan of Daoist Coldsun. Daoist Coldsun, however, stood guard over Snowdragon Mountain, and so there were no Primal Daoists protecting the Dong clan. It did have a group of Wanxiang Adepts, but clearly, the Dong clan wasn’t guarded nearly as tightly as Snowdragon Mountain was. Ning felt confident in being able to deal with them. After all, he only needed to kill Shui Yi, not annihilate the entire Dong clan.

  “First kill Yu Dong, then kill Shui Yi. In the past, it was the two of th
em who actually fought against my uncle and my parents; they are the actual killers,” Ning mused to himself.

  The nearby Baiwei could sense the hard, killing intent radiating from Ning, as well as the cold, ferocious light flashing through his eyes. Baiwei mused silently to himself, “My brother, Ji Ning, is normally an extremely amiable person, but he actually has such a fiendish side to him as well. This must be a deep enmity, and an extraordinary one at that.”

  “Brother Baiwei.” Ning rose to his feet, and Baiwei hurriedly rose as well. “Sorry for troubling you, Brother Baiwei. You’ve helped me numerous times. I won’t waste words thanking you; I, Ji Ning, will remember everything you’ve done.” Ning clasped his hands. “I won’t stay any longer. I’ll leave now.”

  “If there’s anything further you need, Brother Ji Ning, please feel free to tell me,” Baiwei said.

  “Everything is as I expected.” Ning clasped his hands again, then led his junior apprentice-brother and departed.

  Two hours later. After the sun had set. Ning’s group boarded the dragon-headed warship and flew into the skies, departing from Stillwater City.

  “With this magic treasure, I will definitely ensure that you won’t even have a chance to reincarnate!” Ning gripped a magic treasure that looked like an incense burner, then raised his head. “Junior apprentice-brother, let’s go south. To Mount Mooncrescent!”

  * * *

  Book 9, Chapter 7 - The Real Yu Dong

  Mount Mooncrescent. This place was considered holy grounds by everyone within the surrounding hundred thousand acres, because there was a truly powerful Wanxiang Adept here, Adept Mooncrescent. And because of this, the nearby tribes and monsters didn’t dare create any trouble!

  Within a beautiful, lavish hall. An old man was seated atop a jade bed, radiating a cold, sinister aura. Above his hands, there floated a black, palm-sized scimitar.