Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Execute our assassination plan,” the scarred, white-robed man said solemnly.

  Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!!

  The twelve figures instantly disappeared as they too entered the mouth of the volcano.

  ……

  Within the charred minor world that was filled with an aura of death.

  Immortal Diancai was seated in the lotus position. Three thousand meters away from him, an enormous restrictive formation had been set up, and the surface of the formation glowed with light.

  Within the formation were only two figures; Immortal Diancai and the Whitewater Hound.

  Ji Ning and Immortal Fivecraze were both outside this grand sealing formation!

  Earlier, during the wind, fire, and thunder tribulations, Ning’s group hadn’t dared to set down any formations…they didn’t wish to disturb the Celestial Tribulation and incur divine punishment. They would’ve been finished! But now that they were at the final tribulation, the demonheart tribulation, setting up a grand restrictive formation no longer made any difference whatsoever. Ning and Immortal Fivecraze were both worried about enemies would sneak close through using some technique to avoid divine sense scans, and so they had set up this grand sealing formation.

  With it present, one would have to either break the formation or use a Greater Teleportation technique in order to reach Immortal Diancai!

  “This is master’s second day undergoing the demonheart tribulation.” Ning turned to glance at Immortal Diancai, seated calmly in the lotus position at the center of the grand sealing formation. No one knew what Immortal Diancai’s demonheart tribulation was like; generally speaking, wayward thoughts were easily to withstand, but if one had to withstand them for an extremely long period of time…

  It must be understood that at least seven days of time in the real world had to pass, but within the world of the demonheart tribulation, ten thousand years or more might pass. Some would even forget what reality was, and they would be completely submerged within the illusory world until finally they perished!

  “Eh?” Ning was suddenly startled as a terrifying premonition of danger swept out from within his subconscious.

  “Danger!” Ning sent frantically, “Old brother Fivecraze, Uncle White, be careful. I can sense danger drawing near!” Immortal practitioners generally had extremely accurate subconscious premonitions. However, Ning was quite astonished at the fact that he had such a powerful premonition of danger…because he had already trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]! Logically speaking, there should be very few things in the world capable of threatening him.

  “Even if enemies came to attack Master…can it be that the amount of power they prepared is enough to threaten me as well?” Ning could barely believe it. “If that’s the case, then we are in for huge trouble.”

  Ning’s eyes suddenly lit up with torch-light.

  [Torch Dragon’s Eye]!

  He immediately scanned in every direction with both his divine sense as well as the [Torch Dragon’s Eye].

  * * *

  Book 14, Chapter 16 - No Mercy When Striking

  “Danger?” Both Immortal Fivecraze and the Whitewater Hound were startled, but neither of them doubted Ji Ning in the slightest. As time passed, they too began to subconsciously sense danger impending.

  Immortal Fivecraze, in particular, felt cold fear his heart. He was stunned by this. “What sort of danger is this? Why is it that I feel so threatened? Nothing’s even happened yet, but I already feel somewhat terrified?!”

  “Ji Ning?” Immortal Fivecraze looked towards Ning.

  “Uncle White, prepare to use your formations; no one is permitted to go close to Master. Old brother Fivecraze, be careful,” Ning instructed. His eyes were blazing with torch-fire as he continued to scan the surrounding area.

  All of the light from the distance, including refracted light and bounced light, were all being drawn into Ning’s eyes.

  More than sixty thousand kilometers away.

  “There they are!” Ning could clearly see a giant black ship that was flying towards them from far away. Atop the giant black ship, there were eight blurry figures standing atop the deck. The leader was a blood-robed man who was filled with an unearthly, baleful aura. Behind him were seven black-robed individuals.

  Ning was aware of all of the famous Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals within Stillwater Commandery, and had seen pictures of them in scrolls.

  “The leader of the Blood God Church and their seven Law Protectors?” Ning was startled. “How did they find out that my master was undergoing the tribulation here?”

  His master had led the three of them into a spatial teleport and directly arrived at this volcano within the Darknorth Sea; neither Ning nor Immortal Fivecraze knew exactly where this volcano was! Could it be that his master had himself revealed it to another? Impossible!

  “No wonder so many Earth Immortals have suffered assaults during their tribulation here in the Grand Xia as of late,” Ning mused to himself. “It seems the culprit behind these events must have a special method to clearly sense where a Celestial Tribulation is occurring.”

  This caused Ning to feel even more nervous. The power behind these things…what in the world was it?

  No wonder even the Old Patriarch had felt fear. The mere fact that this person was able to calculate where Earth Immortals were undergoing their tribulation…this was already something that was entirely inconceivable.

  “It seems that things are as Master said; I cannot fight head-on against this sort of power. If I prance about in front if it, most likely my fate can be summarized in one word; death!” Ning could dimly sense that this approaching storm was going to be like a massive tidal wave which no one could possibly block; anyone who tried would be smashed apart. Not even Patriarch Subhuti dared to attempt to block it; if Ning did, he would undoubtedly be crushed to smithereens as well.

  “I don’t dare go cause trouble for the mastermind. But little shrimps like the Blood God Church? They are nothing.” This, Ning understood well.

  ……

  “It is the Blood God Church.” Ning immediately sent a mental message to Immortal Fivecraze and Uncle White. “A total of eight have arrived; they are the sect leader and his seven Law Protectors.”

  “What? The Blood God Church? No wonder my subconscious was telling me that this threat was so dangerous.” Immortal Fivecraze’s face instantly changed dramatically as he frantically sent mentally to Ning, “Ji Ning, the leader of the Blood God Church’s power has increased dramatically; he is able to compete against Celestial Immortals now. As for his seven Law Protectors, each of them increased dramatically in power as well; each are most likely comparable to me. Given the power of the eight of them…there’s no way I can block them at all. I’d probably die within a single breath’s worth of time!”

  The seven Law Protectors of the Blood God Church, thirty years ago, were nothing more than ordinary Loose Immortals! At most, they were perhaps on par with Loose Immortals who had lived for a hundred thousand years.

  Now, however, they had all increased in power enormously, at the five hundred thousand year level, very close to Immortal Fivecraze’s own level!

  “Understood.” Ning grew solemn as well.

  “What should we do? How should we stop them?” Immortal Fivecraze was restless and nervous. “They are too powerful, far more powerful than the three of us. Ji Ning, although you are comparable to senior Northwalker, there are eight of them. So long as a single one of them goes to fight against junior apprentice-brother Diancai, they’ll be able to kill him!”

  During the demonheart tribulation, one’s mind would be completely subsumed within the demonheart world. There was no way to fight back in the real world at all. Thus, Ning’s group not only had to overcome the foe, they also had to be able to completely block the eight of them. If a single one managed to slip by…

  “Leave it to me.” Ning’s eyes were filled with a sharp light. “Old brother Fivecraze, go into the grand se
aling formation right away. Stay close to my master and protect him. As for these eight…leave them to me. If any make it pass me, it’ll be up to you.”

  “Fine.” Immortal Fivecraze didn’t hesitate, and the Whitewater Hound immediately let him inside.

  Ning’s eyes blazed like torches as he watched the giant black ship slowly draw near. Soon, it reached ten thousand kilometers of Ning. By now, the members of the Blood God Church could see the distant grand sealing formation with their naked eyes.

  “A grand sealing formation.” The Scion of the Blood God laughed coldly. “It seems this Immortal Diancai has already overcome the first three tribulations of wind, fire, and thunder. He is engaged in the demonheart tribulation. If we didn’t come…he might very well have succeeded and become a new Celestial Immortal. Alas…this impending Celestial Immortal of the Black-White College is about to die a stillborn death at our hands.”

  Rumble…

  A powerful divine sense came sweeping outwards in a wave, crushing down towards the eight of them. The divine sense roared angrily, “Scion of the Blood God, seven Law Protectors, I’m asking you to hurry up and leave!”

  “Ji Ning! He lives up to his reputation as the number one peerless genius of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny; his divine sense is able to stretch over ten thousand kilometers.” The Scion’s own divine sense interacted with Ning’s. “Ji Ning, your master is undergoing his tribulation, yes? Don’t deny it; we know it all. Heh heh…I can see that your master is only being protected by yourself, Fivecraze, and that Whitewater Hound spirit-beast of yours. Ahaha, that’s too weak. With this amount of power…there’s no way you’ll be able to stop me.”

  The Scion felt absolute self-confidence.

  “Scion of the Blood Good, if you leave now, then I, Ji Ning, shall remember your kindness in showing mercy on this day,” Ning sent back angrily through divine sense. “But if you attack…then I, Ji Ning, shall begin a death-feud with your Blood God Church!”

  The Scion could sense the savagery and madness within Ning’s voice. He couldn’t help but feel briefly startled…but then he snickered, “Death-feud? Not even the Northmont clan of Stillwater was able to do anything to me; I’m supposed to be afraid of you?”

  “Seven Law Protectors, leave Ji Ning to me; I’ll handle him. As for Fivecraze and that spirit-beast, I’ll leave them to you. While dealing with Fivecraze…go ahead and kill Immortal Diancai,” the Scion sent. “Up to the task?”

  “Don’t worry, sect leader.”

  “Just leave it to us, sect leader.”

  The seven Law Protectors all felt complete confidence. In truth, they were only wary of Ji Ning; after all, Ji Ning was simply too mysterious. However, they now only had to deal with Immortal Fivecraze and that spirit-beast. They were still quite confident in being able to do so! The seven of them, joined together, were able to completely crush and dominate Fivecraze. As for the Whitewater Hound spirit-beast? According to the intelligence report, it had previously been merely at the Wanxiang level in the past; although it was now at the Void-level, it had risen too fast and most likely did not have a solid foundation. Killing it would be effortless!

  “Fine!” The Scion laughed and said, “Then let’s do it!”

  BANG!

  The black ship suddenly drew near at high speed. Three thousand kilometers. Two thousand. One thousand…

  “Attack,” the Scion shouted mentally.

  “Let’s go!” The seven Law Protectors came out in a great show of force as the seven of them soared into the skies like seven black shadows. Immediately afterwards, streaks of bloody light began to swirl around them, joining together into a Blood Dragon that was more than three thousand meters long. This Blood Dragon was covered with distinct draconic scales, had long draconic whiskers, and a pair of eyes that were filled with a killing intent.

  Since they were reputed as the Seven Law Protectors, they naturally had their own joint formation. Back in the past, when they were weak, they had relied on this formation to roam Stillwater Commandery fearlessly; now that they were powerful, they were close to the level of a Loose Immortal who had survived for a million years.

  Whoosh…

  The Blood Dragon flew to one side, avoiding Ji Ning. The giant black warship, however, flew straight towards him. Atop the deck stood the Scion of the Blood God, whose eyes were filled with fiendish savagery. His divine sense once more clashed against Ning’s as he sent, “Ji Ning, you can block me, but you can’t block my seven Law Protectors. Your master is definitely going to die. As for you… I actually want to see for myself exactly how powerful the number one genius of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny is!”

  “Hmph.” Ning laughed coldly as he stood there…but his heart was clenching!

  For the sake of protecting his master, Ning had made many preparations. Although the eight members of the Blood God Church were seemingly powerful… Ning was completely confident in being able to stop them. There was no way the eight of them could pose a mortal threat to him…but his premonitions of danger couldn’t be wrong. Where, then, was the danger hiding?

  “All I can do is handle it when it comes,” Ning mused to himself.

  ……

  Immortal Fivecraze stood a few dozen meters away from Immortal Diancai, seven Immortal swords swirling around him. His heart was filled with worry. “Ji Ning said that he’ll block them, and that any that get pass him I am to handle. But the Scion of the Blood God is now dealing with him while the seven Law Protectors are attacking this way. How can I block seven of them? If I, a Loose Immortal who has lived a few hundred thousand years, were to perish, it wouldn’t matter… but junior apprentice-brother was able to overcome even six nine-sets of the thunder tribulation. If he were to be killed by the Blood God Church, that would be too unfair.”

  “No matter what… even if I have to give up this old life of mine… I have to protect my junior apprentice-brother.” Immortal Fivecraze gritted his teeth, staring towards the distant Blood Dragon.

  The seven Law Protectors, in the form of a Blood Dragon, radiated an unearthly, terrifying aura.

  As the Blood Dragon drew close, it suddenly lashed out with its tail. In truth, its tail was actually formed from multiple Immortal-ranked magic treasures, including Immortal swords and ribbons!

  Rumble…

  The tail slammed down directly upon the grand sealing formation, instantly causing it to crack.

  At this moment, the Whitewater Hound, who had previously been lying there silently, rose to his feet. Next to him appeared a black-robed youth; it was Ning’s Primaltwin! Ning could sense that danger was coming, and so he left his true body outside the formation to serve as the first line of defense, while he had his Primaltwin remain within the formation to serve as the second line of defense.

  “You want to harm my master?!” A fierce light flashed through the eyes of the black-robed Ning, and suddenly, nine seemingly translucent pitch-black Immortal swords suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to him.

  “Nine of them?” Immortal Fivecraze was both surprised and delighted. “So there were actually nine of those top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords… and Ji Ning, that little kid, actually hid his Primaltwin here. This little fellow…he scared the crap out of me. But will his Primaltwin be able to block these seven Law Protectors?”

  Immortal Fivecraze knew very well that he himself was not. It would all be up to Ning.

  Riiiiiip.

  Nine sword-tears in the sky suddenly appeared, like deep furrows that had been raked into it. The nine tears were like an enormous web of swords that swept towards the giant Blood Dragon.

  “Break!” The Blood Dragon let out an enraged roar that sounded like the merged voices of all seven Law Protectors, and at the same time it once more slapped its tail towards it.

  Riiiiiiip!

  Slash!

  Whoosh!

  Nine sword-tears, each comparable to the strike of an ordinary Celestial Immortal. When combined…the power of this blow sur
passed even the power of Ning’s true body! When the attacks collided, the tail of the Blood Dragon, its most powerful part, instantly shattered apart. The Immortal-ranked magic treasures were all knocked flying back… and then the rest of the Blood Dragon was shattered as well. The nine sword-tears then continued forward in beautiful arcs, chopping towards the seven Law Kings.

  “Die.” The black-robed Ning’s eyes were filled with nothing but coldness.

  * * *

  Book 14, Chapter 17 - Squad Earthnine Makes Their Move

  “Quick, let’s go.”

  “Sect leader!”

  The seven Law Protectors let out shrill cries of terror. Their combination-formation had been instantly shattered; this completely terrified them. They didn’t even think about fighting back. There was only one thing in their mind; fleeing! The magic treasures that had been knocked backwards were all re-controlled by the seven Law Protectors as they instantly began to execute their escaping techniques.

  However…

  The black-robed Ji Ning was using the [Heavenraker] technique, a sword technique that was extremely well-suited for engaging in group attacks! In addition, this technique involved nine Immortal-ranked flying swords, whereas there were only seven enemies!

  Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Under Ning’s control, one tear in the sky appeared after another, ripping towards the seven Law Protectors.

  Each of the Law Protectors had Immortal-ranked magic treasures of their own, but by the looks of it theirs were quite ordinary. One of them, a silver-haired, hawk-nosed elder, had a total of three flying swords, whereas a youthful-looking one was controlling a large amount of stardust. Each of these two Loose Immortals were being pursued by a pair of Heavenraker swords, while the others were each being pursued by one!

  “Block.” The youthful-looking Loose Immortals was the most powerful of the seven. His dazzling, sparkling stardust was furiously attempting to block those two half-illusory Heavenraker swords.