Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

“This…this is…” Ning stood there, his face filled with shock. “A Manifestation of stars…a Wanxiang Adept! A Wanxiang Adept!”


“You were too careless.” From high up in the air, a man flew over on the wind, dressed in a blue robe and with long, unbound hair. He had a smile on his face. “You worked so hard to kill the body of that Bei Zishan, but you almost let him borrow the body of the Life Gu-Bug to flee. Bei Zishan was an expert in using bugs, so naturally he raised a Life Gu-Bug. In killing him, you should’ve killed his Life Gu-Bug as well. By not doing so, you almost wasted all of your previous effort. That wouldn’t have been good.”

Ning understood that he had met a major figure today. Swallow Mountain didn’t have any Wanxiang Adepts. Ning immediately bowed respectfully. “Ji Ning greets you, senior.”





* * *





Book 5, Chapter 5 - Wanxiang Adept


The blue-robed man, his long hair fluttering in the wind, descended in front of Ji Ning. Laughing, he said, “My surname is Mu, while my name is Xiao. Others address me as Adept Mu.”

“Greetings to you, Adept Mu.” Ning felt his heart calm down. This Wanxiang Adept whom he had never met had just told Ning his name and surname. Clearly, he held an excellent opinion of Ning.

“Thank you, Adept Mu, for intervening. Otherwise, if this Bei Zishan were to have fled, he most likely would have caused more calamities in the future.” Ning immediately expressed his gratitude.

Adept Mu had a smile on his face as he shook his head. “Actually, I should be the one thanking you. I came here for the purpose of killing this Bei Zishan, and I spent months investigating before I found him hiding here. Unfortunately, this Bei Zishan set up that large formation. Although I am a Wanxiang Adept, if I were to attempt to break the formation…I didn’t have confidence in my ability to do so. Thus, I have been waiting here. I was planning to wait until he left the formation before exterminating him, but I didn’t expect that I would end up personally witnessing a fine performance.”

Ning was stunned.

What?

So this Adept Mu had been hiding here early on, and had been watching everything occur?

“Afterwards, you broke open the formation.” Adept Mu sighed. “Only then did I know that it was you who did it. A youth who was able to break this formation. Formidable. In addition, I didn’t expect that all of those Dao-Soldiers, Xiantian lifeforms, and even Bei Zishan himself would be disposed of, all by you alone. Hahaha…that made things simple for me.”

“If I had known that Adept Mu was present, then I wouldn’t have had to exhaust myself.” Ning said hurriedly.

Adept Mu looked curiously at Ning. “Ji Ning, I wish to ask you. Are you a Zifu Disciple? Or a Xiantian lifeform?”

A person’s strength couldn’t be judged from the surface.

However, Adept Mu was someone who had been watching for a very long time from outside. In particular, after Ning broke open the formation, he had watched carefully as Ning engaged in those battles. As the saying goes, the eyes of the viewers are the clearest…Adept Mu discovered a number of issues which made him believe that Ning shouldn’t be a Zifu Disciple.

“I have not yet established my ‘Violet Palace’.” Ning didn’t hide it.

Adept Mu immediately revealed a look of surprise. “Indeed! I saw that your swordplay is exquisite, and that you should have reached the level of the ‘True Meaning of the Dao’. If you were a Zifu Disciple, when you used your elemental energy to execute such exquisite swordplay…you should have been able to easily defeat that black-furred zombie, and that battle should have been very simple for you. But you were actually in dire straits, which is why I guessed that you shouldn’t be a Zifu Disciple. Only, if you aren’t a Zifu Disciple, then you must be using ‘divine will’ to control all those sword-type magic treasures and fly with them. You, a mere Xiantian lifeform, have such a powerful soul. This truly is rare, quite rare!”

Ning nodded.

He didn’t deny it, because even in the records and books he had read, he had read of some incomparably monstrous Xiantian lifeforms who were able to do what he did.

“My soul was powerful at birth.” Ning said. “Ever since I was a child, I could divide my mind. Afterwards, when I gained insights into the True Meaning of the Dao, my divine will was formed.”

–––––––

Facing a Wanxiang Adept, a person with the power to easily destroy him, Ning naturally didn’t have to play any games. Since he was an incomparably monstrous talent, he had to show it off. That might even be of benefit to him.

“I want to ask you another thing.” Adept Mu looked at Ning, as though he were looking at a piece of unpolished jade. “Are you training in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]?”

“Yes.” Ning nodded.

“Hahaha….” Adept Mu laughed delightedly. “Do you know who I am? Why I was in pursuit of Bei Zishan?”

Ning looked at Adept Mu, then shook his head. He had never met the man; how could he know who he was?

Adept Mu said directly, “I am a Raindragon Guard of the Grand Xia Dynasty. I am under orders to pursue and kill Bei Zishan.”

“Raindragon Guard?” Ning was stunned.

After he had killed that Diremonster, Serpentwing, his parents had given him a general explanation of the Stillwater Commandery, and how there was a powerful force within it that absolutely could not be offended; the Raindragon Guards! The Raindragon Guards was the most powerful military organization within the Grand Xia Dynasty, completely composed of Immortal practitioners, and according to legend, only those at least at the Wanxiang Adept level were able to join.

The Raindragon Guards had an extremely special status. They directly served the Grand Xia Dynasty!

Amongst the incomparably numerous forces and powers spread across the entire Stillwater Commandery, the two most highly ranked were the Marquis of Stillwater and the Raindragon Guards! The Marquis of Stillwater was the master of this area, and his roots here were very deep. But the Raindragon Guards were directly subordinate to the Grand Xia Dynasty. They themselves had numerous experts, and behind them they had the entire Grand Xia Dynasty as their backer.

“Ji Ning.” Adept Mu looked at Ning. “The Grand Xia Dynasty’s Raindragon Guards are the most powerful force in existence in this vast land. No single tribe, no single school, no single sect…can come even close to comparing with my Raindragon Guards!”

Ning nodded, acknowledging this.

“The Raindragon Guards are quite independent and under no restrictions. Once you become a Raindragon Guard, you can be blessed with a tribe, and that you can carve out a territory of ten thousand kilometers for the land of your tribe. This land will be protected by the Raindragon Guards! Even if you die, the Raindragon Guards will protect that land for a thousand years. No power will dare invade it, as if they do, that would signify a challenge to the Raindragon Guards, and we Raindragon Guards will tear out any such invading force by their very roots!” Adept Mu said.

Ning had heard his father say as well that the Raindragon Guards did indeed have an exalted status, and even their tribes would benefit.

“Adept, you’ve said so many things, but I cannot become a Raindragon Guard.” Ning laughed.

Adept Mu just looked at Ning. “I ask you this. Are you willing to become a Raindragon Guard?”

“ME!?” Ning’s eyes widened. “I…I’m just a Xiantian lifeform. Even if I want to, my power is far from being sufficient.”