Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

A long time later.

“A thousand kilograms of blood is enough.” The old black bull said to the side. “This bloodforging technique is only usable by Fiendgods. Normal Ki Refiners who lose this much blood will definitely die.”

Ning sat there in the lotus position. Immediately after having released the blood, the powerful life force in his body naturally began to regenerate his blood. The only thing which was used up was divine power. When the divine power in Ning’s body was reduced to just half, roughly a thousand kilograms of blood had entered the gourd.

“There are seven steps to the rites. You must be sincere.” The old black bull warned.

Ning respectfully knelt down and kowtowed three times, and then stood up before kneeling down and kowtowing three more times. He did this eight times, in all eight directions!

“Hua…” Ning suddenly overturned the gourd in his hand. From within the gourd flowed out a large amount of fresh blood. As soon as it flowed out, it was wrapped up by Ning’s divine will and quickly scattered in an area of roughly two hundred and fifty meters around him. The countless droplets of blood formed into a massive diagram, a diagram of a head with disheveled hair.

The diagram completed.

Boom! Instantly, a bloody aura that was visible to the naked eye began to shine.

“The descendant kneels in supplication to the Ancestor God.” Ning called out in a loud voice.

The first step of the bloodforging rites – Begging the Ancestor God!

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The complicated Rites of Bloodforging continued for nearly half a day. The bloody light in the area had already formed into a bizarre character. According to what the old black bull had said…this sort of character was known as Fiendgod characters! It was a type of writing which the heavens had naturally given birth to. Although he had never learned it before, the first time he had seen the characters, he understood it.

The meaning of this Fiendgod character was…‘KILL’!

“Huahuahua…” Three Darknorth swords appeared in mid-air. As soon as they appeared, they began to hover there. The weapons which Ning was planning to use the Rites of Bloodforging on were these Darknorth swords! Because, according to what the old black bull had said, although the Fiendgod Bloodforging technique didn’t have very high standards necessary towards weapons, the better the base material was, the better the results would be. Those unranked magic treasures were simply too inferior.

Based on the judgement of that old black bull, the Darknorth swords should have previously been Heaven-level magic treasures. Although the runes atop them had been destroyed, the only thing that matter for bloodforging was the physical material components. As for the runes, those were meaningless.

“Hua!” “Hua!” “Hua!”

The ‘Kill’ character formed by the nearby blood began to shoot shadows out from itself, entering the three swords. That enormous ‘Kill’ character hovering in mid-air began to dim, and then disappeared. The entire hall once more returned to its usual calm.

Ning let out a long breath.

“Senior.” Ning couldn’t help but say. “Just then, I sensed an awesome presence that seemed even higher than that of the ‘Dao’…” He had meditated on the Dao before, and had gained a hint of an insight into the aura of the Dao. However, just now, when undergoing the Rites of Bloodforging, that ancient, natural aura that had emanated forth made him feel as though he had touched a powerful, mighty existence which was even more ancient than the Dao.

The old black bull sighed. “I didn’t dare to say a word during the Rites of Bloodforging. I was completely stunned. Take a look and see how your weapon seems.”

With a wave of his hand, the three Darknorth swords landed in Ning’s grasp. Picking one up with his divine will, he sliced it against his arm. Chi! The skin on his arm, seemingly as tough as leather, began to emit sparks, then finally cracked apart into a wound.

“Much sharper.” Ning was shocked.

“Your Darknorth swords were made from good materials.” The old black bull said. “Right now, your close combat abilities have increased dramatically. Most peak Xiantian experts won’t be a match for you. In close combat, you are only one or two levels lower in power than when using the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. However, you must understand that you are training in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. Your close combat strength will increase at a monstrous rate. For example, when you train to the sixth stage, your close combat power should completely eclipise the power of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]! Once you then learn a close-combat type ‘divine ability’, it will become effortless for you to do battle against those at a higher level.”

Ning’s eyes lit up. “Elder, do you know any divine abilities?”

“Divine abilities? Those are the secrets of the great powers amongst Fiendgods, which are not taught to outsiders.” The old black bull shook his head. “Immortal Juhua only knew a single divine ability; the ‘Heavenly Transformation’ technique. Unfortunately, I never asked him about it. Alright…given your potential, in the future, you will definitely have the chance to learn a ‘divine ability’. Once you do, it will be normal for you to fight those at a higher level. That is the power of a true Fiendgod!”

Ning nodded.

He understood. As an Fiendgod Body Refiner, he had a good foundation. In a few years, he would reach the sixth stage. His [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would also strengthen alongside his soul, and he was very talented. The only problem was that the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] had very high requirements with regards to magic treasures. When he became a Zifu Disciple, he would have to get hundreds of ranked magic treasures…his head hurt just thinking about it.

“Enough. You can go back now.” The old black bull said.

“Thank you so much, Senior.” Ning naturally had packed away the scrolls of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] and the [Inner Visualization of the Shining Sun-Moon Buddha]. Although he himself didn’t need the visualization technique for himself, he could still leave it for his parents or the Ji clan.

“You can go.” The old black bull said.

Hua!

Ning only felt an enormous illusory grizzly head appear, swallowing him within its maw. Spacetime around him once more distorted. He understood that he was about to return to Serpentwing Lake.





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Book 4, Chapter 6 - Ji Ning Entering Lake, Battling Serpentwing


Ji Ning only felt spacetime changing, and then everything calmed down.

“Huh?” Ning looked at the dark tunnel in the lair. This was the place he had been teleported from. He couldn’t help but laugh.

This event truly had been something he had barely survived.

However, in the end, he had lived, and his power was much greater than before as well.

“Next time I go in, I’ll need to have first bound this control talisman.” Ning stretched out his hand, and a roughly made talisman appeared within it, with the Fiendgod character for ‘Right’ embedded on it. Ning had tested binding it, but unfortunately, his Xiantian ki was completely unable to enter it. It seemed as though he absolutely had to wait to become a Zifu Disciple.

“Right?” Ning murmured. “Why is there a ‘Right’ character on this talisman? I wonder what sort of history it has.”

And then, Ning pushed it to the back of his mind as he stored the talisman again. With a leap, he moved out from the corridor as agilely and as quickly as a gust of wind.

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Serpentwing Lake, within a crude room. Ji Yichuan and his wife were living here.