The Desolate Era

A youth with loose, unbound hair said in a low voice, “We are definitely going to kill them, but don’t forget...earlier, when the six of us joined forces against those two siblings of the Eastriver clan...the final result was that Eastriver Cloudsoar escaped! These two are of the Black-White College. Although one is a middle-stage Wanxiang Adept and the other can be considered an early-stage Fiendgod Wanxiang Adept, they certainly are carrying many protective magic treasures. If we aren’t careful...the two of them might end up escaping in the end. The final result would be, not only would they remain alive, we would have created enemies for ourselves.

“Senior apprentice-brother Jihe’s words are correct.” The golden-robed Dong One nodded. “There exists some enmity between Ji Ning and my Snowdragon Mountain, and I am quite familiar with him. He is a truly monstrous talent, and his training speed is astonishing. If he were to escape, we would definitely gain a powerful foe.”

Although they were considering the matter, in reality, none of these six Wanxiang Adepts were truly afraid of creating enemies. Since they had decided to embark on the path of cultivation, then they would strive to do anything necessary to become Immortals!

“We need to carefully consider how to go about this,” said the only woman of the group. “If we are going to attack, we must instantly use the most vicious attacks we have and kill them before they have a chance to react.”

“My suggestion is...”

The six cultivators chatted amongst themselves. If the enemy was a Wanxiang monster, this would be very simple, but the enemy were disciples of the Black-White College. Even though they were just a middle-stage Wanxiang Adept and the equivalent of an early-stage Wanxiang Adept, they didn’t dare to be the slightest bit overconfident. The disciples of the Black-White College couldn’t be judged in accordance with normal logic. If these two were both peak Wanxiang Adepts, the six of them probably wouldn’t choose to attack at all.

“We have higher foundations than them, and we are working together. I refuse to believe we won’t be able to kill them.” This was what the six cultivators all believed, and the reason why they decided to act.

...........

Ning didn’t notice any of this at all. He continued to chat with his junior apprentice-brother about the disciples. But right at this moment...

“Eh?” Ning turned to look. He stared past the railing, to a distant warship flying over from afar. “This warship...this seems to be the construct-warship which that Northriver Zhou of the Skysplitter Sword Sect used, when the hundred of us dispersed in different directions.

Immortal cultivators had astonishingly good memories. Ning had clearly memorized all of the names of the hundred, when they had reported them to the Immortal.

“Senior apprentice-brother, that’s the warship of Northriver Zhou of the Skysplitter Sword Sect,” Northson said softly as well. “Right.” Ning nodded, staring into the distance. That ship was drawing closer and closer to them...why?

“Hahaha...” An elegant, refined-looking white-robed man was standing at the helm of the warship, staring towards them. Laughing, the man said, “I didn’t expect that I’d encounter the two disciples of the Black-White College here. Northriver Zhou pays his respects.”

“It is quite a coincidence,” Ning said with a laugh. “It seems, fellow Daoist Northriver, that you’ve already acquired a Wanxiang monster corpse.” If another treated him with courtesy and a smile, unless there was enmity or grievances between Ning and that person, Ning wouldn’t treat them with a cold face either.

“It was luck,” Northriver Zhou said warmly. “It’s quite lucky for us to encounter each other here. Why don’t you come aboard my vessel, and we can drink some wine together?”

“Drink some wine together?” Ning had a sudden thought. If it was just a matter of chatting and drinking, that was one thing. But inviting them aboard his warship...Ning began to grow nervous. After all, that was someone else’s territory. With but a thought, he instantly filled the area with his powerful divine sense. He saw with perfect clarity the insides of that warship. Ning was instantly shocked. There were five figures hidden within the warship.

“Everyone, be alert. Once this Ji Ning and Mu Northson board the ship, we’ll immediately activate the grand formation. We need to kill them right away.”

“Right. As time goes on, the situation might change. We have to make it fast.”

“As soon as they board the ship, they’ll be dead.”

All of them were stealthily chatting amongst themselves. This was a construct-ship that was filled with restrictive spells to begin with, and so those in the outside world couldn’t hear the conversations going on within at all. Only Ning, capable of a divine sense, was able to discover everything.

“They are going to waylay and kill us!” This instantly came to Ning’s mind. “I didn’t imagine that we’d encounter this as soon as we arrived at the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains.”

“Senior apprentice-brother, shall we go?” Northson looked towards Ning. He was rather thin-skinned; he found it hard to refuse someone who had invited him over in such a friendly manner.

“Junior apprentice-brother,” Ning hurriedly sent mentally, “Be careful and don’t reveal anything, but...that warship has five other Wanxiang Adepts hidden within it. All of them are amongst the testees for joining the Raindragon Guard. Adding in Northriver Zhou, there are six in total. Four are peak Wanxiang Adepts, while two are late Wanxiang Adepts.”

“What?” It was a good thing that Ning had warned him; although on the surface, Northson pretended to remain calm, in his heart, he was shocked. He sent back, “Senior apprentice-brother, six Immortal cultivators? Why haven’t the other five shown themselves? Can it be that they are...”

“Right. They are going to rob and kill us,” Ning replied. Northson was enraged. “They actually dare to try to pull that on us? Let’s counter-kill them.”

“Careful,” Ning sent back. “Don’t underestimate them. They aren’t like those Wanxiang monsters; they are from top-tier clans and tribes as well, and their techniques will definitely be extraordinary. And, with six of them joining forces...if we aren’t careful, we might perish.”

Ning was quite confident about himself, actually; he was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and his life force was incredibly strong. In addition, with his ultimate secret weapon, the divine ability [Starseizing Hand]...yes, Ning felt quite confident. However, Northson was still just a middle Wanxiang Adept. In terms of elemental ki, he was far inferior to the others. In addition, Northson was just eighteen, and in a true, chaotic battle, Ning wouldn’t necessarily be able to take care of this junior apprentice-brother of his. If his junior apprentice-brother died here, Ning would never be able to forgive himself.

“Understood.” Northson immediately increased his own level of caution as well. “Stay next to me,” Ning sent to him. “Don’t make any sudden movements. Wait for my commands.”

“Alright,” Northson acknowledged.

........

While the two fellow disciples decided through their private mental messages as to what they would do, opposite them, Northriver Zhou continued to smile at them and wait for their response. At the same time, he even said, “I’ve always been quite filled with admiration towards the many students of the Black-White College. It is my good fortune to be able to meet you two fellow Daoists today.”

“I’m ashamed to say this,” Ning said apologetically, “But we’re busy. We won’t go over for now. After we all complete the test to join the Raindragon Guard, we’ll drink together.”

“Oh.” Northriver Zhou cursed in his heart, but on the surface, he put on an ‘understanding’ look. “I understand. Then let us wait to meet with each other after we join the Raindragon guard.” But at the same time, he sent mentally, “Attack!”

The five cultivators within the ship, upon hearing this, exchanged glances and nodded. They all immediately rushed outside. Only...

Ji Ning was even faster than them!

Ning had noticed through his divine sense that the five Immortal cultivators within the ship had looked at each other and nodded, and were moving to charge outside. He immediately willed his 720 Mortal-ranked flying swords to appear in midair. “Junior apprentice-brother, attack.”

At that moment, two giant black water-snakes appeared around Northson. The bodies of the black water-snakes constantly flickered in an illusory manner, and began to form into sharp spike sthat were covered by many runic seals. The auras of the water-snakes immediately began to grow savage and brutal.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Five figures moved lightning-fast, charging outside of the ship, their bodies already flashing with that blurry gray light. The spacelock formation was already beginning to take shape. This was a formation which used six Immortal cultivators as the formation-base, and the area covered by the six cultivators would be the area locked in by the formation. But of course, there was a maximum size of just a hundred kilometers or so.

“What’s going on?” Northriver Zhou, Dong One, and the others discovered to their astonishment that Ji Ning and Mu Northson had actually acted even before they did.

“Kill them.”

“They found us out.”

“Don’t hold anything back.”

Northriver Zhou’s group reacted right away as well, and they immediately unleashed their most powerful attacks. The six of them shared their elemental ki through the formation, and their power burst forth.

“Massive Ice Prison.” The golden-robed Dong One pointed towards the distance. Whoosh! A white, freezing aura that was visible to the naked eye swept towards Ning. Ning and Northson were both standing in the air above the dragon-headed warship, which was now completely closed off to the outside world. Clearly, Ning and Northson didn’t wish to cause any disasters to befall these slaves. Actually, if it wasn’t for these slaves, Ning and Northson could’ve just fled through using Lesser Teleportation Dao-seals.

Still...the slaves were just one reason. The second was because both of them had just departed from their schools, and they had proud hearts; why would they flee without even fighting? Thus, the two didn’t even discuss fleeing. In their minds was a single word – Fight!

“It’s dire-ice! This Dong One of Snowdragon Mountain actually was cultivating demon-ice in his body.” Ning was startled. The inner Zifu of a practitioner was an incomparably mysterious place. It could nourish dire-ice, or earthfire, or demonwind...these were all extremely terrifying natural elemental powers, and after being nourished in the body, they would be able to unleash extremely great might.

However, to nourish dire-ice, one would first need to find a secret location where naturally-occurring dire-ice was, and then absorb it into the body. One could only hope for but not count on encountering such a valuable location. The power of this dire-ice, however, was absolutely not lower than a divine ability’s.

“Grand Windmill Formation!” The black-clothed Xu Manquan pointed towards the distant Ning and Northson. Instantly, nine windmills suddenly appeared and began to spin at high speed in the air, transforming into tornado windmills which crushed the air itself as it smashed towards the two.

“Anatta Sword!” Their leader, Northriver Zhou, made nine flying swords appear before him. They simultaneously struck out, and as they did, nine rivers of sword light appeared, sweeping towards Ning and Northson.

“Nirvana Extinction!” Jihe crossed his hands together, and out of nowhere, a gray energy aura appeared which swept towards Ning and Northson.

“Die.” Adept Nongsan let out a cold laugh, then waved his hand. The horsetail whisk in his hands immediately transformed into three thousand white strands, filling the skies as they swept forward.

“Haaaa!” The only woman, Meng Liuqing, crushed a Dao-seal and let out a cold roar. Bang! Countless rays of lightning appeared in midair, striking downwards towards Ning and Northson.

........

In an instant, the six Wanxiang Adepts had simultaneously used the most vicious techniques available to them. They weren’t itinerant cultivators with no secret arts at their disposals; they were mighty Daoists who had some truly ancient, mysterious techniques.

“Waterflame Lotus!”

“[Three-Foot Sword] – Manifold Thistlethorns!”

An utterly beautiful, enormous blooming lotus flower spread open, with Ning and Northson completely surrounded by it. Ning was holding the Darknorth swords in his hands, just in case, but at the same time, he used the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to execute Ning’s most powerful sword technique – the second stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].

“Serpents Swallow the Skies.” Northson’s two hands moved, and the giant, savage black water-snakes that had latched onto each other’s tails suddenly transformed into an enormous black circle. Carrying an inexhaustible, terrifying devouring power, it swept forward.