Desolate Era

by RWX

  These three talismans represented three different danger levels.

  An attack from the Ji clan?

  This meant that the situation wasn’t that bad; after all, in terms of their relative power bases, the local branch of Snowdragon Mountain truly wasn’t afraid of the Ji clan. But if Ji Ning were to attack…then things really would turn grim. There was no way the Swallow Mountain branch could possibly resist the monster-like ‘Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake’.

  Xu Fang waved his hand, and three talismans of different sizes appeared within it.

  “Ji Ning is going to personally attack…there is nothing we can do.”

  “We have to hope that the main sect will send experts to come negotiate with Ji Ning.”

  In their hearts, they didn’t believe that the main sect would truly choose to engage in a battle with Ji Ning. After all, he was a disciple of the Black-White College, and he had an Immortal behind him! Compared with the Black-White College, Snowdragon Mountain was unfathomably weaker. Although it was on good terms with the Northmont clan of Stillwater Commandery, the Black-White College was actually located inside Stillwater City, and its relationship with the Northmont clan was incomparably close.

  It could be said that the Northmont clan viewed the Black-White College as its hands and arms, while Snowdragon Mountain was nothing more than a lackey.

  “Crack.” Xu Fang shattered the second, pitch-black talisman.

  The distant Snowdragon Mountain. This was a place of unending winter, of eternal snow. Peaks of various heights towered here, with Immortal cultivators living with them. Within one such peak, the master was Adept Xu Zhen.

  Adept Xu Zhen had pale, beardless face. He appeared quite handsome. He sat in the lotus position on his jade bed. The white-robed Adept Xu Zhen’s eyes were closed in relaxation, and he appeared quite rested. Next to him, there were two young apprentices waiting on his instructions and his needs.

  “Eh?” Adept Xu Zhen’s face suddenly changed slightly. With a wave of his hand, he produced a black talisman. This talisman had already shattered.

  This talisman had originally come in a pair. If one was shattered, the other would crumble as well.

  “This talisman is…” Adept Xu Zhen thought back to what he had said, and then his face changed. “This is the second talisman. It represents that Ji Ning is going to act against the Swallow Mountain branch!”

  “Ji Ning…he has quietly slumbered for nine years. Is he finally going to attack?” Adept Xu Zhen was rather panicked.

  When the Xu clan had volunteered to be stationed within the Swallow Mountain region, they had done so for two reasons. First, they had been angered by the fact that Adept Xu Li had died there. Secondly, they wanted to expand the territory of their own clan. But how could they have imagined that soon after they had taken over, news would come…that Ji Ning had joined the Black-White College?! This caused the Xu clan to be filled with boundless regret. This assignment had become a hot potato that they couldn’t discard, because…the prestige of Snowdragon Mountain meant that the Xu clan was absolutely not permitted to retreat or fold up.

  But as time passed, Ji Ning’s fame only grew greater and greater! Adept Xu Ke had been so terrified that he had hidden himself back within the main sect, leaving behind only those four Zifu Disciples. Even if the four of them died, it wouldn’t represent too much of a loss for the Xu clan.

  “Ji Ning has finally revealed himself. What should we do next? My Xu clan has multiple Wanxiang Adepts, but I’m afraid that even if we join forces, we won’t be able to overcome Ji Ning. He’s a monster that was capable of killing even Adept Poisondove!” Adept Xu Ke frantically pondered what to do next. “I have no other options…I’ll have to go visit Master.”

  Snowdragon Mountain had a total of three Primal Daoists; they were Daoist Snowplume,Daoist Coldsun, and Daoist Blackdragon. They each took up one of the three highest mountain peaks in the region. The master of Adept Xu Ke, in turn, was Daoist Snowplume.

  For a school of elites like the Black-White College, the Primal Daoists of the second generation disciples, when interacting with the Wanxiang Adepts and Zifu Disciples of the third generation disciples, would be fairly courteous. They wouldn’t act arrogantly or show off! However, in schools with many disciples, where dragons swam alongside minnows, the more powerful one was, the more high-and-mighty one would behave. In the case of Snowdragon Mountain, to be one of only three Primal Daoists meant that one really would put on a show of grandeur.

  “Senior apprentice-brother Xu Ke requests an audience.”

  “Senior apprentice-brother Xu Ke requests an audience.”

  First, the junior disciples guarding the gates to the mountain would make the announcement. Next, one of the 99 male Zifu Disciples or 99 female Zifu Disciples would go to report this to one of the Wanxiang Adepts servants, who would then personally inform Daoist Snowplume.

  “Master, junior apprentice-brother Xu Ke requests an audience,” a gray-robed man said, standing respectfully outside a private room.

  “Granted.” A calm voice came out from the private room.

  This response was once more passed out in multiple layers, and in the end, Adept Xu Ke was finally allowed to come to the private room. Generally speaking, Daoist Snowplume would only permit disciples which the school valued greatly to remain by his side. For the likes of Adept Xu Ke, who had no chance at all of breaking through to become Primal Daoists, they had all been sent out long ago. They would only be permitted to make an occasional visit if they had something important to discuss.

  “Your disciple greets you, Master.” Adept Xu Ke respectfully knelt outside the private room. The outside area was covered in piles of snow. The white-robed Adept Xu Ke, kneeling there within the pristine white snow, actually made for quite a beautiful sight.

  Creaaak.

  The door swung open.

  A handsome Daoist, dressed in a feathered robe, walked out. He had a head full of long, unbound black hair, and a hint of amusement could be seen in his long, slender eyes.

  He was one of the three titans of Snowdragon Mountain; Daoist Snowplume!

  Daoist Snowplume’s disciples all shared one commonality; they had to be handsome. He himself was an extremely handsome man, and the same was true for his disciples. The kneeling Xu Ke, the gray-robed man by the door…all of them were exceptionally attractive in their looks.

  “What is it?” Daoist Snowplume said calmly.

  “Respected master,” Adept Xu Ke said, still kneeling, “Years ago, our Swallow Mountain branch, because of the Ji clan, was nearly annihilated. At that time, I went along with some of my fellow disciples and took up station there, helping to steady and firm up that branch. However, by now, Ji Ning’s level of power has reached unearthly levels. Relying on his prestige, the Ji clan has shown us no consideration at all. This very day, I received word that Ji Ning is about to attack our Swallow Mountain branch in person! I truly am unable to do anything about him, so I have come to request an audience with you, Master. I beseech you, Master, tell me what I should do with regards to this Ji Ning.”

  “Ji Ning?” Daoist Snowplume frowned slightly. “He is going to personally attack? How did you receive this news? We are quite far from Swallow Mountain; I imagine that by now, our branch has already been destroyed.”

  “It shouldn’t be,” Adept Xu Ke said respectfully. “When I left Swallow Mountain, I left behind three talismans to my clansmen. The destruction of different talismans represented different types of news! The talisman they destroyed…represented that Ji Ning would be attacking personally! As soon as they destroyed it, I became aware of this news, and so I immediately came to visit you, Master.”

  Daoist Snowplume nodded. “I have heard of the affairs between Ji Ning and the Swallow Mountain branch. Ji Ning is perhaps too arrogant; our Snowdragon Mountain has always been accommodating and unwilling to create true enmity between our two sides, and we even chose to pretend as though the death of Adept XuLi didn’t happen. Af
ter all, in truth, that year, it was our Snowdragon Mountain which suffered a loss, not their Ji clan.”

  “But he views this as being insufficient; he even wants to expel our entire Swallow Mountain branch?” A hint of anger had appeared in Daoist Snowplume’s eyes.

  How could anyone capable of becoming a Primal Daoist be a pushover?

  “Hmph! No matter what, he is merely a Wanxiang Adept; he’s not yet qualified to try and force Snowdragon Mountain into avoiding him!” Daoist Snowplume said coldly, “Let’s go. Accompany me to Swallow Mountain.”

  Adept Xu Ke and the gray-robed man were both greatly shocked. The master was going to go in person? They had originally assumed that an envoy would be sent to negotiate.

  “He is a mere Wanxiang Adept,” Adept Snowplume said coldly. Snowplume was a cultivator who had trained for more than a thousand years, and was now at the peak of the Primal stage! Although some truly monstrous Wanxiang Adepts were capable of giving Primal Daoists a good fight, there were differences between early, middle, late, and peak-stage Primal Daoists.

  How could he possibly fear Ji Ning?

  “The Black-White College has a large number of Wanxiang Adepts; the most monstrous of them are the truly genius disciples such as Holyfire. Every few centuries, they will produce another ‘genius’, but in the end, the Black-White College still only has a few Immortals.” Daoist Snowplume mused to himself that becoming an Immortal was no easy feat! “Even if Ji Ning is a monster, it will still be hard for him to become an Immortal! And even if he does become an Immortal…he will still be under the control of the Marquis of Stillwater. What can he do to us!”

  “Come, let’s go take a look at this Ji Ning and see how much of a ‘genius’ he is and how much of a ‘monster’ he is, for him to show such disregard for our Snowdragon Mountain,” Daoist Snowplume said calmly.

  “Yes.” Adept Xu Ke and the other all immediately bowed in acknowledgment.

  Shortly afterwards, a large warship, under their control, began to soar through the skies, departing from Snowdragon Mountain.

  * * *

  Book 9, Chapter 33 - A Primal Daoist and Ji Ning

  Within the Swallow Mountain region.

  The ancient Immortal vessel, emanating a powerful, crushing aura, was surging towards Serpentwing Lake.

  “Our repsects to you, Patriarch.”

  Xu Fang and the other Zifu Disciples knelt down, extremely nervous. They didn’t even dare to raise their heads to look at him. To the four Zifu Disciples…the Primal Daoist level was unfathomably distant from them. In addition, they hadn’t imagined that after shattering that talisman, one of the three Patriarchs of Snowdragon Mountain, Daoist Snowplume, would be the one to come.

  “Describe the situation to me in detail.” The feather-robed Daoist Snowplume sat there. He gave them a sideways glance, then closed his eyes and calmly gave them their orders.

  “Yes.” The leader, Xu Fang, cleared his throat, then said nervously, “Just yesterday, an envoy from the Ji clan came to our Snowdragon City and tossed a scroll written by Ji Ning for us to read. When we saw the scroll…we were immediately frightened by the terrifying sword-intent contained within those characters, to the point of our legs going soft and our hearts quivering.”

  “You were so frightened that your hearts quivered and legs went soft?” Daoist Snowplume suddenly opened his eyes wide as he stared at the kneeling Xu Fang.

  “Right. Patriarch, you can ask the other three,” Xu Fang said hurriedly. The other three kneeling Zifu Disciples all hurriedly nodded as well. “It is true. We were so frightened that our hearts shook and our legs went weak. The characters on that scroll did truly contain a terrifying sword-intent. We’ve never seen such a terrifying sword-intent before…those characters completely chilled our hearts.”

  “We wouldn’t dare to live. This sort of sword-intent…we’ve never even heard of it before.”

  “This was the letter written personally by Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake.”

  All of them hurriedly responded in unison. This caused Daoist Snowplume to frown and bark, “Give me that letter and let me look at it.”

  Xu Fang immediately said, “That scroll was covered by a restrictive spell. When we opened it and read it, it automatically self-destructed and was set aflame.”

  Daoist Snowplume’s face instantly turned rather unsightly. This caused Xu Fang and the other three to be utterly terrified at the thought that they might have angered their Patriarch.

  “What did his letter say?” Daoist Snowplume barked.

  “His letter just had a simple line of words. It said this: Xu clan, of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain. I give you ten days to get the f*ck out of Swallow Mountain. If after ten days you have yet to move, then don’t blame me for showing no mercy with my sword。“

  Xu Fang was a cultivator; naturally, his memory was extremely good, and he had completely memorized the words which Ji Ning had written.

  Daoist Snowplume, upon hearing this, immediately started to laugh. “He’s quite arrogant. He truly does hold our Snowdragon Mountain with no regard at all.”

  “The rest of you can leave.” Daoist Snowplume waved his arm. Instantly, Xu Fang and the other three quickly departed from the cabin, leaving behind only Daoist Snowplume and his two disciples.

  “Master.” Adept Xu Ke and the gray-robed man both looked towards their master, waiting for his response.

  “For the sword-intent within that scroll to terrify Zifu Disciples to the point of their legs going soft…no one within Snowdragon Mountain has been able to produce sword-intent on this level,” Daoist Snowplume said, nodding gently. “I’ve heard that this Ji Ning specializes in using the sword. Now, it seems, this truly is the case. However, no matter how talented he is, he is merely a Wanxiang Adept, and the only magic treasures he can use are top-grade Earth-ranked magic treasures.”

  Daoist Snowplume felt absolute confidence. Most of the so-called ‘Primal Daoists’ who were defeated by Wanxiang Adepts were mere early-stage or middle-stage Primal Daoists. He, however, was a peak-stage Primal Daoist!

  He had trained for more than a thousand years. As one of the three Patriarchs of his clan, all the magic treasures he used were high quality Heaven-ranked magic treasures. Everything else aside, his foundation of elemental energy and his magic treasures completely surpassed Ji Ning’s. That was without accounting for the ‘primal fire’ his body could produce, or the ‘skywater’ he was cultivating, which was even more formidable than dire-ice…

  “Let’s go take a look at this so-called genius of the Dao of the Sword,” Daoist Snowplume said with a calm laugh. “I truly am curious…what makes him think he can abuse our Snowdragon Mountain so? Does he truly think that his reputation as a disciple of the Black-White College is enough to allow him to act in such a lawless manner?”

  Brightheart Island. Serpentwing Lake. Within a study.

  Ji Ning was currently doing what he did almost every day…writing calligraphy! Next to his side, Autumn Leaf continued to grind ink for him. Ning, brush in hand, wrote one character after another. To him, writing was a form of enjoyment, a way to temper his heart and improve his understanding of the Dao of the Sword.

  Rumble…

  A surging, crushing wave of divine will instantly swept across nearly the entirety of Serpentwing Lake, including the entire Brightheart Island.

  Boom. Ning’s own divine will, however, was like an unmoving boulder, and when the crushing wave of divine will struck against it, the wave.

  “Which fellow Daoist is this?” Ning instantly sent through divine will.

  “Divine sense? It seems the outside world has underestimated you, Ji Ning. At such a young age, you already possess divine sense…I imagine you are a reincarnated Immortal.” The other surge of divine sense, having realized that it held no advantage at all in terms of the soul, began to chat with Ning. As for Ning, his own divine sense swept out as well.

  [Soulshaker Art]!

  A
raging wave of divine will smashed outwards, crashing towards the soul of Daoist Snowplume, who was in the air above Serpentwing Lake!

  BOOM.

  Although Daoist Snowplume had trained for more than a thousand years, ten years ago, Ning had already reached the Primal Daoist level in terms of the soul. During the past ten-plus years, he had never slackened off vigilantly training with the [Nuwa Painting]. His soul-improvement had been tremendous, and his divine sense was now capable of stretching to nearly a thousand kilometers. This made it so that even the vast majority of Primal Daoists were unable to compete with him.

  Daoist Snowplume, at least, was somewhat weaker in terms of the soul. His divine sense was only capable of stretching to six hundred kilometers!

  “Autumn Leaf, tidy things up here. I’ll go and take a look,” Ning said. Autumn Leaf nodded and replied, “Yes, young master.”

  There was an ancient, enormous Immortal warship hanging in the air above Serpentwing Lake. The Immortal cultivators aboard this ship included a feather-robed Primal Daoist; it was Daoist Snowplume. At this moment, Daoist Snowplume’s face changed slightly; clearly, he was feeling some discomfort from Ning’s [Soulshaker Art] attack. However, since the difference in soul strength between the two wasn’t that great, the collision wasn’t able to affect him much.

  “What a formidable Ji Ning!” Daoist Snowplume, having suffered a slight loss in secret, murmured softly to himself, “No wonder he is such a monster…so he truly is a reincarnated Immortal! But so what if he is? It’ll be even harder to withstand the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations,” Daoist Snowplume smirked.

  Every three centuries, a tribulation would descend. Generally speaking, a mental trial would accompany the tribulation, and the more one knew, the more terrifying the mental trial would be. Reincarnated Immortals would have mental trials that were far more powerful than the trials ordinary cultivators would face. Thus, Immortals who chose to reincarnated would initially advance at a breakneck pace, but the further they went, the harder they would find it.