The Desolate Era

Two figures, transformed into streaks of light, were making haste towards the cavern estate of this monster mountain. One of the two figures was a hawk-nosed, golden-robed man, while the other was a dark, skinny youth. These were monster kings of two nearby monster mountains. The wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains were incomparably dangerous, and even monsters had to form alliances to help each other.

In this surrounding area, a total of eighteen Wanxiang monsters had formed an alliance; if one encountered any danger, they would immediately shatter their runic talismans, and the other seventeen would all immediately be aware of it and would come at maximum speed!

The eighteen Wanxiang monsters had all sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. It was precisely because the eighteen of them had formed a mutual defensive alliance that in this region, it was extremely rare for a monster to be killed.

“Big Brother shattered his runic talisman. I wonder if he encountered one of those lone wanderer freaks, or an Immortal cultivator!”

“The two of us are stronger than Big Brother. When we join forces...regardless of whether its wandering monsters or Immortal cultivators, they will all die!”

The two old monsters were chatting mentally to each other. The original ranking of the eighteen monsters was based on age and seniority, not strength. Their Big Brother was a Blacktusk Elephant who had been training for a very long time.

“Third Brother, Fifth Brother, attack together and kill these two Immortal cultivators!” Suddenly, a loud roar rang out from within the distant cavern estate.

“We’ve been discovered!” The two Wanxiang monsters exchanged glances. They had wanted to launch sneak attacks, but they no longer had the chance now. “Kill!” They transformed into streaks of light, charging directly towards the door of the cavern estate.

.........

Within the cavern estate, Mu Northson was exerting his strength to deal with the black-faced man, while Ji Ning was holding onto the child’s hands, looking at the expression of amazement on the child’s face. He said consolingly, “Don’t worry. Just stay next to me and don’t run around.”

Bang! Bang! Three streaks of light suddenly shot in from outside; it was a sharp knife and two sharp awls. They were all incredibly sharp and had a shocking aura.

“Hmph.” Ning, seeing the situation, applied his will. Whoosh! A dense cluster of 729 flying swords suddenly appeared next to Ning. At the very core of those swords was a sword formation that was noticeably more powerful; these were the ‘Nine Yang Sword Formation’ swords and 36 high-grade Mortal-ranked water-attribute flying swords.

As for the other eight major sword formations, four were formed from the 324 water-attribute flying swords, while the other four were formed from fire-attribute flying swords.

Water and fire looped amongst each other, and in the center were the ‘Nine Yang Swords’!

“[Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], level nine!” Ning’s powerful divine will completely filled these 729 flying swords, and they transformed into fire and water, competing against each other and reinforcing each other. The water was Yin in nature, while the fire was Yang in nature; given Ning’s accomplishments in the art of formations, he clearly now found it much easier to control the swords. Operating this sort of exquisite, pure sword formation was actually quite comfortable for Ning.

“Seven hundred flying swords, all of which are high-grade or top-grade,” Ning sighed mentally. “In addition, half are fire, while the other half are water; controlling them is an utter joy.”

Controlling so many flying swords placed an incomparably shocking amount of pressure on the soul. Ning, however, was able to withstand it easily.

“Crackle crackle crackle.”

The flying swords rose and fell in an undulating pattern, all of them emitting a hazy white light on their surfaces. In front of Ning’s chest, an even more brilliant, moving flying sword formed of white light had began to form! This white flying sword was as pure as jade, and it was covered with a lustrous layer of light that made it seem incomparably lovely. The entire flying sword emanated this layer of light, as though it were the treasure of an Immortal.

This was the sword-light of the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Now that Ning was using such high-quality Mortal-ranked swords, and had such a powerful soul to control them with....it could be said that Ning had already reached the theoretical limit of power a person at the Zifu Disciple level could reach when using the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Such power already vastly oustripped even using the likes of divine abilities such as [Heavenly Transformation] or the [Luminous Eye of the Heart]..

“Go!” Ning smiled. This white, jade-like flying sword shot out, streaking out in an arc and flowing forward like water. Rumble...those three streaks of light were trapped and blocked by this flowing stream of water.

“As I thought, the fur-clad youth really is more powerful.” The black-faced man currently battling against Northson felt shock in his heart. “He’s actually able to simultaneously block the combination attack of two of my brothers by himself.”

Thud! Thud! The hawk-nosed, golden-robed man and the dark, skinny youth both landed within the estate, and their gazes towards Ning were filled with caution as well.

“Third Brother, Fifth Brother!” The black-faced man hurriedly sent mentally, “The two of you, deal with the fur-clad one. Leave the smaller one to me. Use all your strength and kill him.”

“Alright, Big Brother.”

“Done.”

These two newly arrived Wanxiang monsters realized that if they were to maintain human form and control magic treasures from afar, they probably wouldn’t be able to suppress this fur-clad youth. “Human Immortal cultivator, accept death!” The two monsters roared with rage, and then began to transform. The hawk-nosed, golden-robed man instantly transformed into a divinely handsome and golden-feathered winged eagle! As for the other, the black, skinny youth, he instantly transformed into a four-legged weirdbeast with coal-black skin and two curved yellow horns on its head.

“Die!” The black-faced man also transformed into mist, then resolidified into a long-trunked elephant with enormous black tusks.

The three monsters were now all in their true forms! In addition, the power of the magic treasures they were using to attack Ning and Northson had suddenly increased dramatically!

“Junior apprentice-brother Northson,” Ning sent. “Will you be able to hold?” Northson sent back confidently, “Don’t worry. I haven’t even started using my abilities.”

Ning laughed. “Excellent.” Right at this moment, the gold-feathered eagle charged forth with a howl, its pitch-black claws ripping through the air and suddenly expanding tenfold in size to the point where the air itself seemed to emit an ear-piercing screech. Ripples in the air that could be seen with the visible eye appeared; the power of this claw definitely surpassed that of the earlier magic treasure it had used.

Monsters and humans were different; monsters had bodies which were innately powerful and possessed innate abilities. For example, some monsters had the innate ability to control water; and even if they didn’t train in a Fiendgod Body Refining Technique, they would still possess enormous strength! Some of them might even be able to temper parts of their body into magic treasures, such as their horns, their claws, or their tails. This would result in their very body becoming an intrinsic magic treasure, and thus possess astonishing power when used.

“Rumble...” The entire cavern estate was beginning to shake. The four-legged weirdbeast had lowered its head, and its hooves thundered across the ground as it charged towards Ning. The two curved yellow horns on its head suddenly expanded in size and became even sharper than before, and its hoofsteps became incomparably weighty, causing the entire cavern estate to begin to shake and collapse. When these two monsters used all their power, they were truly shocking.

“Hmph.” Ning shook his head. “Die.”

The white sword formed from the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] instantly slashed through the air. In midair, an enormous millstone of fire and water suddenly appeared. Within the center of this millstone of fire and water, a wild tempest of incomparable, astonishing power suddenly formed! The white flying sword was in the center of this millstone of fire and water, and it, too, dissolved into the tempest.

Fast! This was the Ning’s [Tripartite Millstone Sword], the power of which was only inferior to the second stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]. It could also be referred to as the ‘Waterflame Millstone Sword’. Although it was named after the slowly-grinding millstone, it was supremely fast.

Wherever the sword light flashed past...fire and water howled as well, and the millstone itself transformed into a blur! “Not good.” The golden-feathered eagle sensed tremendous danger, but it still sent its sharp claws over in a savage blow.

Whoosh! It was too fast. The flashing light of the millstone sword easily dodged past the claw, then slashed past the body of the golden-feathered eagle. The feathers of the golden-feathered eagle were incomparably tough, as unyielding as a magic treasure...but they weren’t able to defend against this attack in the slightest. They were immediately broken through, and then the light of the Waterflame Lotus Sword turned, sweeping directly towards the impending, charging weirdbeast monster.

“Third Brother!” The four-legged weirdbeast monster was instantly scared silly. His third brother had actually been killed in a single exchange. Everyone in the region knew how powerful the eagle talons of his third brother were. Ordinary hawks used their claws to snatch snakes; from this, one can imagine how fast hawk claws could strike. And yet, the eagle talons of a Wanxiang monster, an intrinsic magic treasure, still hadn’t been able to block and snatch that sword light.

He had never even heard of swordplay on this level. But this was what a Sword Immortal was! It must be understood that when Ning first joined the Black-White College, he had been able to shock everyone just by using the first stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]. Now, he had been able to use the [Lesser Five Elements Sword] manual to develop this Waterflame Millstone Sword, a technique which vastly surpassed the first stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] in power. What’s more, the technique was executed through a sword-light that was manifested by the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Its speed and power...how could a Wanxiang monster possibly defeat it?

“Flee.” The four-legged weirdbeast monster instantly slammed the ground with its hooves, causing the entire cavern estate to tremble. It turned its body, immediately ramming into the nearby stone wall, intending to charge through.

Rumble! The stone wall was instantly shattered, but the light of the millstone sword followed as fast as the wind, continuing to chase after it and not intending to halt before it perished. The four-legged weirdbeast tried to dodge, and it even shot out one of the sharp curved horns on its head, sending it directly towards the sword light.

The sword light flashed!

Rumble...the four-legged weirdbeast’s body continued to charge out of the cavern estate through sheer momentum...but soon, it fell apart into two pieces, slamming against the rocks outside the cave and causing them to shatter and knock the nearby trees down. However, its bisected body collapsed as well. Blood continued to ooze from its mouth, but moments later, it breathed its last.

“Die.” Northson, seeing that his senior apprentice-brother had shown off his power, let out an angry roar as well. The two black water-snakes suddenly criss-crossed, connecting to each other at the tail and instantly forming an enormous black circle which wildly wrapped itself around the black-tusked elephant monster, which was frantically attempting to flee. As the black circle looped around it, it then tightened...crunch!

The upper half of the body of the entire black-tusked elephant was instantly crushed into meat paste, and it died a miserable death.

As for the golden-feathered eagle that lay on the ground, it had died long ago. And so, just like that, three Wanxiang monsters had perished.

Ning waved his hand, collecting the corpses of the golden-feathered eagle and the four-legged weirdbeast. As for Northson, he collected the black-tusked elephant’s corpse as well.

“It’s about to collapse.” Northson charged outside. As for Ning, he had already led the child outside the cave, which was covered with a spiderweb of cracks. With a rumbling sound, it collapsed in on itself.

“Haha, we instantly acquired three corpses of monsters. All we need to do is wait three months, and we’ll be Raindragon Guards.” Northson was extremely excited.

“Right.” Ning nodded gently. The power unleashed by his 720 Mortal-ranked flying swords through the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had caused Ning to feel delighted as well.

“Hey kid.” Northson looked towards the young child. “Why are you here on this mountain?” The child stared blankly. Just now, these two people had effortlessly killed those three monsters, who had appeared to be so incomparably terrifying and savage that his heart trembled from fear! It was simply inconceivable that they had died.

Upon hearing Northson ask him where he came from, the child stared blankly for a moment, but then his tears began to roll down. He pointed into the distance. “There.”