The Desolate Era

Suddenly, Ji Ning frowned. “Why are the Darknorth swords in my Zifu region trembling?”

He immediately sent in his divine sense to investigate his Zifu region in detail. Many magic treasures were hovering with his Zifu region, and amongst them were three Darknorth swords. The investigation of his divine sense...instantly discovered that streaks of blood red baleful energy and gray, evil energy were coming in from the outside world, constantly flowing towards the Darknorth swords and being absorbed by them.

The Darknorth swords had undergone the Fiendgod Rites of Bloodforging. They were so happy when absorbing the evil, baleful auras that they were beginning to tremble.

“It seems as though this time, I really killed too many Wanxiang monsters. The evil, baleful, energies from them were also very strong. The evil, baleful energies generated when I killed those two Wanxiang Adepts last time were nowhere as strong,” Ning mused to himself. Only when one personally killed monsters would the evil, baleful auras from them swirl around one’s self, and then be absorbed by the Darknorth swords. If he didn’t have the Darknorth swords to absorb them...the evil, baleful auras would continuously swirl around him. As time went on, they would slowly grow faint, but in the end, a few remnants would be left behind.

Although Ning did have the Darknorth swords to absorb the auras, there were still residual baleful auras and evil auras! This was why those who had committed countless killings would still emanate an incomparable, shockingly baleful aura.

..........

The massive Dragonwhale, ten thousand meters long, covered the skies with its massive bulk. It hung there in the air, staring downwards, a cold look in its glowing green eyes. Its voice once more rumbled out like thunder. “Human, accept death!”

Ning raised his head, sword-light flashing in his eyes. “Hmph.” Ning’s voice turned cold as well. Bang! His divine will surged forth from his Soulshaker Seal, exploding forth and flooding upwards in a crushing series of waves, instantly colliding against the massive Dragonwhale’s soul.

Although the Dragonwhale had prepared itself, it still felt its soul tremble. Even its massive airborne body suddenly sank downwards for a moment, but soon afterwards, it regained its stability.

“Eh?” Ning was surprised. “He actually shook it off in an instant?”

Bang! Ning willed it again, and his divine will once more surged forth. The Dragonwhale in midair was struck once more by Ning’s divine will, but its eyes were only filled with savagery; clearly, it remained perfectly lucid.

“What a powerful divine will technique!” The Dragonwhale stared downwards, its voice rumbling. “Human, your divine will technique is comparable to a Primal Daoists! However, I am a Godbeast with exceptional talents, and have lived for more than ten thousand years. The passage of countless years has tempered my Dao-heart and strengthened my soul. Don’t think you can do anything to me just through your divine will technique.”

Ning was secretly surprised as well. This Dragonwhale really was quite extraordinary; it was actually able to remain awake after being struck by Ning’s divine will attack. Still, Ning had somewhat expected this.

This was because this Dragonwhale had claimed to have fought against Primal Daoists. Someone who could battle against Primal Daoists would generally be able to defend against the divine will attacks of them. For example, Ning’s senior apprentice-brother, Bloodshadow; Bloodshadow was a Fiendgod Body Refiner with a divine ability, and a two-clawed Raindragon Guard!

He trained in the most painful of all techniques, the [Indestructible Bloodshadow Body]; one could imagine how resilient Bloodshadow’s Dao-heart was, for him to be capable of training in this technique to such a high level. And precisely because of this, Bloodshadow didn’t have to be afraid of the divine will attacks of Primal Daoists.

In addition...previously, when Ning dealt with ‘Dong One’ of Snowdragon Mountain, Dong One had been able to escape in front of Ning, precisely because he was able to just barely remain conscious.

Primal Daoists were simply a level higher than Wanxiang Adepts in power, after all. Although they were much stronger, if they wanted to dominate just through using their divine will...against truly peerless, elite Wanxiang Adepts, it wouldn’t be enough. Wanxiang monsters like this Dragonwhale, in turn, clearly had extremely powerful Dao-hearts.

“Hahaha, don’t grow too arrogant, just because you were able to receive my divine will technique,” Ning barked. “Now, receive my sword.”

The 700+ flying swords in the surrounding area instantly began to radiate light. In front of Ning’s chest, a jade-white sword of light instantly appeared. As though chopping through countless barriers and moving with incomparable difficulty, it appeared to ‘slowly’ flew up...but this was a misperception, as in reality, it was ridiculously fast!

The second stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] – Manifold Thistlethorns!

“Hmph!” The Dragonwhale in midair let out a cold snort. Its two extremely long dragon-whiskers instantly grew even lower, moving to entangle Ning’s attacking sword-light.

The jade-white sword was so beautiful as to move one’s heart. In midair, it slashed out in what could only be described as a flawless arc, easily avoiding the entangling strikes of those two dragon-whiskers, chopping directly towards the head of the Dragonwhale.

“What a fast sword...what a frightening sword.” The Dragonwhale was secretly surprised. His dragon-whiskers were an ‘intrinsic magic treasure’ that were used to constrict and defend against opponents. They weren’t even able to touch the opponent’s sword-ligiht?

“Bang!”

The Dragonwhale let out an angry roar. The nostrils of his draconic head suddenly emitted two streams of dire-ice which could be seen with the naked eye. The dire-ice instantly swept towards Ning’s ray of sword-light.

The sword-light moved like a ghost. In midair, it once more moved in an enormous, solitary arc, managing to evade the dire-ice and then plunge directly towards the Dragonwhale’s giant head.

“Slash!” It was simply too fast. The Dragonwhale wasn’t able to dodge in time; the sword-light plunged directly into its head.

This sword attack was filled with early-stage Wanxiang energy, formed by the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], and executed in accordance with Ning’s most powerful sword art...the power of it was unimaginable! Crackle crackle crackle!!! It pierced through one layer of armor after another, but the massive body of the Dragonwhale was simply too dominatingly vast. Its entire body was akin to a magic treasure. After chopping through to a depth of thirty meters, the light of the jade-white sword finally vanished.

“The hell?” Ning cursed to himself. “Its carapace is actually this thick?” It must be understood that the body of the Dragonwhale was ten thousand meters long, and the draconic head was many hundreds of meters long as well. Stab in a mere thirty meters? This was nothing more than stabbing into its skin!

“Puny human, even if I stood here and permitted you to strike at me, you still wouldn’t be able to harm me. That sword-light of yours...that’s just tickling me.” The Dragonwhale instantly began to laugh wildly, and its laughter echoed within a hundred kilometers.

Ning was finally understanding exactly how difficult it was to deal against a peak Wanxiang Godbeast with a divine ability. Its body alone was so powerful...no wonder it was able to survive, even when facing a Primal Daoist.

“Just tickling?” The nearby Northson’s face had changed as well. “Senior apprentice-brother’s [Soulshaker Art] was useless, and even his sword-formation was only able to tickle it. This Wanxiang monster really is terrifying.”

“Kid of the Ji clan. If you aren’t able to beat him, we need to immediately flee. If too much time passes, we won’t be able to escape,” the azure-robed maiden sent frantically.

“Senior apprentice-brother, should we flee?” Northson sent a mental message to Ning as well.

Ning gave the two each a glance, confidence in his eyes. He said in a clear voice, “Dragonwhale, I was just playing around with you just now.”

“Playing around?” The Dragonwhale’s massive, lake-sized eyes stared downwards. “If you have anything else, show me what you have. Otherwise, you’ll never have the chance to do so ever again.”

“Such ignorance. You are a frog seated in a well, staring at the skies.” Two Darknorth swords appeared in Ning’s hands.

“Oh?” The Dragonwhale stared downwards at the longsword-wielding human youth, as though seeing something that was completely inconceivable. “You...can it be that you are actually dreaming of fighting me in close combat? Hahaha, are you sure you haven’t made a mistake? Human kid, if you immediately flee, then due to your divine will technique, I’m not confident in being able to catch you. But if you move close to me and battle me, you really will be throwing your life away.”

As a monster with a mighty Fiendgod-like body, the Dragonwhale was naturally the most skilled at close combat.

“Kid of the Ji clan, this is a peak Wanxiang monster with a Fiendgod-like body, and with a divine ability. And it is a Dragonwhale!” The azure-robed maiden was shocked.

At this moment, Ning leapt forward, soaring into the skies and transforming into a streak of light, instantly moving thousands of meters and charging towards the Dragonwhale above him. While charging towards the skies, Ning’s eyes were filled with coldness. He wielded two of the Darknorth swords, and while flying in midair, his body became covered with crimson light. His body was quickly increasing in size; he actually transformed into a ten meter tall giant. This was a ‘magnified’ Ji Ning!

“A Fiendgod body! Heavenly Transformation?” The azure-robed maiden called out in shock, then hurriedly sent a mental message to Northson, whose face was similarly filled with concern. “This kid from the Ji clan is going to fight head on against the Dragonwhale...does he have a chance?”

“I don’t know.” Northson stared fixedly towards the skies. He sent back, “However, I heard that in the past, before joining the Black-White College, my senior apprentice-brother was able to rely on his close combat skills to become famous. I hear that he is most skilled in close combat and is very formidable...but I’ve never seen him truly fight in close combat.”

“He is most skilled in close combat?” The azure-robed maiden no longer asked any further questions, because the battle occurring in the skies was making her incomparably nervous.

.......

When Ning soared into the heavens, as he was executing the Heavenly Transformation technique, the two dragon-whiskers of the Dragonwhale in the sky once more swooped towards him, trying to entangle him. In addition, the Dragonwhale once more let out an angered snort. Rumble...two streaks of dire-ice belched forth from its nostrils, spreading out and freezing the air itself as it swept towards Ning.

The sword-light was able to dodge, but although Ning had the Windwing Evasion technique, he couldn’t possibly compete with sword-light in terms of speed.

He couldn’t dodge? Then...he would chop it apart!

“BREAK!” Ning violently swung the Darknorth swords in his hands, executing the second stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], the ‘Manifold Thistlethorns’. Where his swords flashed past, the layers of dire-ice were all chopped apart, and even the dragon-whiskers that sought to entangle him were split apart and sent flying. Ning’s speed dropped as a result, but he had already reached the head of the Dragonwhale.

“Die.” The Dragonwhale’s massive body suddenly twisted, and its massive tail swept towards Ning in a whipping motion, covering the earth and blocking out the skies as it did so.

But Ning leapt directly atop the Dragonwhale’s massive tail, utilizing his Windwing Evasion technique to charge directly towards the Dragonwhale’s head. The divine ability, ‘Heavenly Transformation’, was something which allowed Ning’s speed to increase dramatically to begin with. Now, with the Windwing Evasion supporting him as well, Ning was astonishingly agile and quick.

Still...this Dragonwhale’s massive, monster body was still ten thousand meters long. It was quite accustomed to enemies climbing atop its body in a battle, and it actually didn’t care about it, because it had its methods for dealing with this. In addition, generally speaking, most of its enemies weren’t even able to break through its first carapace layer.

In an instant, Ning had moved from the tail of the Dragonwhale to its draconic head. “Kill!” Ning’s eyes exploded with an incomparably savage intent for battle. After three years, he was finally going to once more unleash his most powerful divine technique, one of the top ten most terrifying divine techniques which had existed ever since Pangu had established the universe...the [Starseizing Hand]! In this instant, Ning felt his blood was boiling, was bellowing!

It had been so long. Too long! He hadn’t met an opponent who could truly make him battle wildly in far too long. Even when he had been very weak, he had still been able to kill Adept Xu Li in a single exchange with the [Starseizing Hand]. He had never before used the [Starseizing Hand] to engage in a truly heart-pumping battle.

“COME, THEN!” Ning’s aura was as magnificent as a dragon’s.

“Not good.” The Dragonwhale suddenly felt as though the aura of this ‘ant-like’ human on its body had suddenly exploded and become incomparably terrifying. It even felt a sense of tremendous danger, the likes of which it usually only felt when facing Primal Daoists.

“Go.” A thick dire-ice aura suddenly emanated from the body of the Dragonwhale, and the vast amounts of dire-ice frantically tried to freeze Ning.

BANG!

Ning’s twin swords instantly transformed into two sword-rivers. In an invincible, irresistible manner, it blasted past the blocking dire-ice as though the dire-ice was nothing more than rotting wood, and then, with a crackle, charged directly into the body of the Dragonwhale.

In the face of Ji Ning’s sword light, that incomparably tough body of the Dragonwhale, comparable to a magic treasure...finally began to crack.