Desolate Era

by RWX

  THUD! THUD! THUD! Ning could sense the thudding sounds coming from deep below the fiery stone wall beneath his feet were beginning to increase even more in pace. The power below the copper pillar was still gaining in power…and by now, its power had completely eclipised Ji Ning’s. With the aid of this power…Ning was still able to continue pulling the copper pillar up!

  ROAAAAR! One of the massive hooves of the winged rhinoceros slammed down directly against the very top of the copper pillar, instantly causing the entire copper pillar to grow even heavier.

  “That flying rhinoceros aberration…its strength is actually even greater than that of the black snake and the strange insect?” Ning was shocked. “Even when I use the [Starseizing Hand] with six arms, my power would most likely only be on par with that rhinoceros aberration.”

  Ning tightly clutched the copper pillar. He could sense the power below the copper pillar growing increasingly savage; in fact, it was almost equal to and achieved a balance with the pressuring force from above that was seeking to push the pillar down. As for Ning…he was the tiebreaker that broke the balance between these two powers.

  “Come out!” Ning’s six arms exerted their full power; by himself, he was already comparable to the eight Celestial Immortals above him in strength, and was comparable to the flying rhinoceros, the most physically strong creature on the other side.

  “What?!”

  The face of the horned, golden-robed man seated on the back of the flying rhinoceros completely changed. The Celestial Immortals under his command were all Ki Refiners; in this sort of competition of raw strength, they were innately at a disadvantage! But the three aberrations he controlled were far more powerful in raw strength; he had thought that with their appearance, the pillar would be effortlessly pushed down.

  ……

  The western sea of the world of the Grand Xia. The headquarters of the Seamless Gate.

  “Ahahaha, Immortal Venomfreak is in for some trouble now!” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven roared with laughter, waving his hands and feet about in delight.

  “So this is the founding father of the Youngflame clan?” The nearby Violetgrass stared curiously towards the horned, golden-robed man. Although she had heard of the founder before, she knew very little about him.

  Celestial Immortal Blackheaven laughed, then nodded. “Right. This is the founder of the Youngflame clan. Back in the era of Pangu’s World…there was an extremely powerful clan known as the ‘Godfire’ clan. This was a clan that was protected by a Daofather; this clan was one of the most supreme clans amongst the many clans of the world. A woman of this clan was raped by a Fiendgod, and she gave birth to a child that had the bloodline and lineage of that Fiendgod. This child was born looking like a hideous freak, more monster than man. Thus, he was ostracized by his clan. As a result, he never felt as though he was a member of the Godfire clan. He long ago departed from the clan, establishing his own Youngflame clan!”

  “This ugly child was the founder of the Youngflame clan…Youngflame Freak. An eccentric, cautious, sinister, and truly crafty freak.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven said in a low voice, “Although he is ‘only’ a Celestial Immortal…even I am unwilling to make an enemy of him.”

  Violetgrass nodded lightly.

  Naturally, she had heard of some of the legends of Immortal Venomfreak.

  Within the Three Realms, there were fairly few Pure Yang True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, after all; the likes of Patriarch Lu, also known as Lu Dongbin, and other similarly formidable members of the Three Realms were people that even Celestial Immortals had to receive with tremendous respect. True Immortals and Empyrean Gods were simply far, far too few in number. By comparison, there were many more Celestial Immortals, and amongst them were some truly monstrous freaks. Although it was extremely hard for a Celestial Immortal to break through to the True Immortal level, these Celestial Immortals had reputations that were not one whit inferior to the reputation of most True Immortals or Empyrean Gods.

  Celestial Immortal Blackheaven was one such figure!

  Immortal Venomfreak was another!

  “This Venomfreak has many clones. Although every single clone has fairly average power…” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven sighed. “Because of how many clones he has, it is almost completely impossible to kill him. For example, this ‘Venomfreak’ before us…he’s nothing more than a single one of the clones.”

  “Venomfreak’s power in battle is ordinary, but his venomous insects are far too dangerous. His abilities in raising venomous insects can be considered amongst the best in the Three Realms. I really wonder where he found this sort of a legacy.” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven sighed. “These three insects that we are seeing…each of them has combat power comparable to a supreme Celestial Immortal. In addition, these insects have no fear of death, and so they are even more terrifying than actual Celestial Immortals. Thus…even back during the era of Pangu’s World, Immortal Venomfreak was famous for being extremely difficult to deal with. Killing him would be very difficult, unless a Daofather or comparable power was to seek out and destroy every single one of his clones. A few of his insects have died, but with the passage of time, he’s been able to produce other terrifyingly strong insects as well.”

  “Thus…we should ideally try to split Immortal Venomfreak from the Xia Emperor’s side and pull him over to ours,” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven said. “He will prove of tremendous use to us.”

  ……

  This eccentric, cautious, sinister, and truly crafty golden-robed figure stared downwards. Upon seeing that his three insects were unable to prevent the copper pillar from being pulled upwards, he began to grow frantic. He immediately sent a message with his coresense: “Ji Ning, brat, if you don’t want to die, then stop right now!”

  * * *

  Book 15, Chapter 28 - Charging Out of the Prison

  “Die? From what, those three aberrations of yours?” The nine hundred meter tall giant, Ji Ning, roared with laughter. He continued to furiously pull up the copper pillar, and the force coming from down beneath it continued to strengthen, making Ning’s task easier and easier.

  “You…!”

  The horned, golden-robed man was filled with utter rage. Because of the caution that had been bred into him during the era of Pangu’s World, he never carried all his aberrations on a particular clone! This particularly clone carried three aberrations, as it was meant to protect the clan; the other clones were secreted throughout the Three Realms, and they naturally had insectoid aberrations of their own. This caused the horned, golden-robed man to feel extremely angry; if all of his aberrations were here, he would probably be able to effortlessly press down the copper pillar.

  However…keeping his insectoid aberrations was an ironclad rule he had set for himself! It was the main reason why he had been able to survive through so many countless ages! He would rather pay an enormous price than to violate this ironclad rule.

  “Hmph. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” The horned, golden-robed man sent an angry mental message, roaring, “Although the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], you haven’t even overcome your Celestial Tribulation. If I truly were to act against you…you would definitely die.”

  “Come, then. Show me everything you have,” Ning snickered.

  A cold light flashed through the eyes of the horned, golden-robed man. He sent mentally, “Fine, then…our Youngflame clan is willing to resolve our differences with you. If you agree to cease uprooting the copper pillar and help us push it back down, we definitely won’t act against you again.”

  “You call this ‘resolving our differences’? If you don’t come after me, I’d go after you! Do you think the annihilation of the entire Yuchi clan can be forgiven, as easily as that?” Ning was angry now.

  “The annihilation of the Yuchi clan?” The horned, golden-robed man had an incredibly exalted status; he wasn’t even aware of such minor matters as the eradication of the Yuchi clan. He immediately sent mentally, “How about this? Those who
gave the orders to deal with the Yuchi clan and everyone who acted against the Yucchi clan…I’ll capture them all and give them to you for you to deal with!”

  Minor matters such as the extermination of a small clan were normally decided upon by the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of a clan. To this founder of the Youngflame clan, who could easily spend a million years in a single closed-door meditation session…Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were nothing more than individuals that would die and be replaced every so often. Ordinary Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals would never even be qualified to see the founder a single time in their lives.

  The Ancestor wouldn’t even care if all of the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the clan were wiped out, to say nothing of a small portion of them.

  “As easy as that?” Ning sent a cold laugh. “Celestial Immortal Arcanum sent people to assassinate me, and even the soul of my lifelong friend’s Dao-companion was destroyed thanks to the attacks of four Celestial Immortals of your Youngflame clan. Am I supposed to just write them off? If you really want to resolve our differences…I can agree. Aside from sending me everyone who had anything to do with the Yuchi clan’s eradication, all five of those Celestial Immortals, including Celestial Immortal Arcanum, must die! If you do that, this matter will be at an end!”

  “You are going too far!” The Ancestor was enraged.

  “Then don’t talk to me about resolving our differences!” Ning continued to furiously uproot the copper pillar; by now, even without him pulling at it, the copper pillar was rising up of its own volition. Even without Ning helping out, the upwards pushing force already eclipsed the downwards pushing force of the Celestial Immortals and three aberrations above.

  “You can kill any Loose Immortals, cultivators, or mortals that you wish. You absolutely cannot kill my Celestial Immortals; not even one!” The Ancestor was utterly infuriated by now.

  Every clan had its rules. For the sake of the clan, sacrificing a few Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals meant nothing.

  But sacrificing Celestial Immortals?

  The other Celestial Immortals would probably be terrified and shaken by such an action. All of the Celestial Immortals of the entire clan would feel nervous and restless. In addition, Celestial Immortals were the true foundation of any clan; there was no way the Ancestor would be willing to sacrifice Celestial Immortals.

  “I can use magic treasures to compensate you,” the Ancestor said hurriedly.

  “Ten top-grade Pure Yang Treasures. Can you afford it?” Ning asked.

  The Ancestor was so choked with anger, he couldn’t speak.

  Ten?

  What did this Ji Ning kid think Pure Yang treasures were? Despite how powerful the Ancestor was and how long he had lived, even he didn’t have ten top-grade Pure Yang treasures.

  “Stop. I SAID STOP!” The Ancestor stared at how far up the copper pillar had risen…and realized that the situation could no longer be reversed. Earlier, if Ji Ning had been willing to help out a bit, they could’ve shoved the copper pillar back down. But now? It had risen so much that even if Ji Ning helped them out, they still probably wouldn’t be able to shove it back.

  “Ji Ning.” The sinister eyes of the Ancestor were filled with malice and a savage desire to kill. “I, Venomfreak, swear that I will definitely kill you. I will definitely kill you!!! Not only will I kill you, I’ll also wipe out your clan and all those you care about!”

  “Don’t worry. I’m planning on killing you too. Hahaha…” Ning raised his head to stare upwards, his eyes blazing with torch-light. He could clearly see the horned, golden-robed man above him.

  Rumble…the copper pillar rose up at an ever-fast pace. The pushing power from below now completely outstripped the power of the forces of the Youngflame clan. With Ning helping out as well, the copper pillar was pulled out faster and faster, with Ning’s six arms turning into blurs as they moved.

  “Damn it.” The Youngflame clan’s Ancestor had an extremely ugly look on his face. He immediately sent mentally, “Everyone, halt. Hurry up and establish the Eight Immortals Sea-Subduing Formation!”

  “Yes!”

  The eight Celestial Immortals Arcanum, Infatuation, Goldclock, Deadwood, Sunfish, Flamefish, Goldcloud, and Blackrain, upon hearing the orders of their incomparably venerated founder, all gave up on their attempts and simultaneously flew high into the sky. Even the three aberrations gave up as well; everyone flew up into the sky.

  The eight mighty Celestial Immortals fell into formation, with the horned, golden-robed man standing at the very center and the three aberrations circling around them.

  “They’re coming.” The horned, golden-robed man stared downwards coldly.

  Clank. The pillar suddenly stopped moving.

  Ning, as well, realized that the copper pillar could no longer be budged. More than 4200 kilometers of it was stretching beyond the fiery stone wall.

  BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

  An enormous sound, as though the sky itself was bursting apart or as if the earth itself was shattering.

  Ning felt the countless runes covering the fiery stone wall beneath his feet begin to flicker…and the fiery stone wall itself began to move.

  Whoosh! Ning sent out his divine sense to investigate. He could now see that a crack had suddenly appeared across the surface of the vast, fiery stone wall. The crack was rapidly increasing in size, expanding to each side.

  It was like a crack appearing on the lid to a cauldron or a furnace.

  “WE’RE OUT!”

  “WE’RE OUT!”

  “WE’RE FINALLY OUT!”

  One figure after another came soaring out from the crack. The tight, dense waves of figures came flooding out, and as they did they rapidly began to increase in size. They started off as tiny dots, but they began to transform into Fiendgods that were thousands or tens of thousands of meters tall! They all let out agitated, berserk howls, and the sound of their roars shook the world around them. Just from listening to their agitated roars, one could sense the infinite excitement these Fiendgods were feeling.

  Their roars alone could shake one’s soul!

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The earth broke apart. Countless Fiendgods came charging out into the sky. Some of the Fiendgods had two horns and flames coming out of their nostrils, some had the appearance of beastmen, and others appeared just like a mass of black fog…

  All sorts of Fiendgods had appeared. Tall, muscular ones, sinister and bizarre ones, savage and berserk ones.

  Some were large, some were small, but all of them came charging out from the stone wall, and the earth around them was utterly destroyed.

  “This…this is…” Ning was completely stunned.

  “This many Fiendgods?! And the auras of these Fiendgods…more than half of them are actually Void-level Fiendgods.” Ning instantly understood why the power that had come from below the copper pillar was so enormously powerful.

  There were more than nine hundred Fiendgods before him…and more than sixty percent of them were Void-level Fiendgods!

  These were true, real Fiendgods, the type that generally had divine abilities of their own. Over the course of countless ages, their comprehension of the Dao had most likely risen to an incredibly high level as well. Every single Void-level Fiendgod was comparable to a Celestial Immortal, and some of them were probably comparable to supreme Celestial Immortals. For so many Fiendgods to unleash their power at once…what an incredible sight that must have been!

  “What in the world has the Youngflame clan done? They imprisoned this many Fiendgods!?” Ning was completely stunned.

  The faces of the nine midair Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were all ugly to behold.

  “Damn.” The Ancestor’s face was ashen.

  “If I had known this would happen…I would’ve killed these Fiendgods long ago.”

  “Damn this Ji Ning.”

  “He actually released the Fiendgods of the Infinity Furnace.”

  All of the Celestial Imm
ortals were extremely enraged.

  The nine hundred-plus Fiendgods burst out from the ground, all of them enormous in size. The sky itself seemed to have grown dark as they all turned to stare at the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan who were hovering in the air. Their eyes were filled with boundless hatred, so thick and dense the hatred seemed to have taken physical form.

  ……

  “Not good.” The distant Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals within their formations were completely stunned by what they saw. Everyone could sense the hatred these Fiendgods felt for the nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan…and they could also tell that more than half of the Fiendgods were Void-level Fiendgods. So many Void-level Fiendgods…this was utterly terrifying.

  Old Demon Windraiser’s reacted the fastest. He immediately roared furiously, “Can’t you tell that those Fiendgods have gone mad? Quick! Evacuate all of our clansmen here within the Oldjade mountain range. QUICK!”

  “Right!

  “Yes.”

  “Hurry up and evacuate them!” The Loose Immortals all began to panic as they carried this out; they still cared quite deeply about their clansmen.

  ……

  “YOUNGFLAME CLAN!”

  More than nine hundred Fiendgods were in the air. They stared angrily at the nine great Celestial Immortals, each of them filled with endless amounts of hatred. The leader of them, a humanoid Fiendgod who had nine heads, let out an angry roar. “You have imprisoned us for countless years. Tortured us for countless years! I, along with all of the Fiendgods who were imprisoned within your furnace, hereby swear that we will completely wipe out your entire Youngflame lineage!”

  “We shall swear to annihilate the Youngflame lineage!”

  “Annihilate the Youngflame lineage!”

  “Annihilate!”

  “ANNIHILATE!”