Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

“The garrison of the Grand Xia Dynasty in the Swallow Mountain region are in Swallow Mountain City.” Dong Ziqi said. “The general of that garrison is a good friend of mine.”


“But elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, as soon as the Ji clan makes a report and offers to transfer the mine…a mere general wouldn’t dare to suppress the news. If he forcibly suppresses the report of something as major as this, and is later discovered to have done so, then the general will definitely have his soul shattered and dispersed in punishment.” The green-haired man said, concerned.

Ziqi said, “I know that. He won’t dare to forcibly suppress the news, but at least he’ll be able to delay it!”

“Oh?” The other four looked at Ziqi as well.

“You should know.” Dong Ziqi said. “The first part to signing an agreement of relinquishing a mine is the report to the higher ups! Afterwards, the higher ups will immediately send people to investigate the Ji clan’s territory. Only after they have verified that there is indeed such a mine within the Ji clan’s territory will they sign the contract.”

The other four nodded.

This was indeed the case.

Once the report was made, someone would immediately be sent over. The efficiency would be very high.

“As soon as the report is made, we won’t be able to act as we please.” Ziqi said, “What we can do is to have the garrison general at Swallow Mountain City delay as much as he can…and in addition, it will take time for the person sent by the Grand Xia Dynasty to make his way over. This will be enough time for us to seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords!”

“Seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords?” The other four nodded gently.

“As long as we take over the City of Ten Thousand Swords and acquire the official writ, then we will be the masters of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. In accordance with the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the mine will belong to us. Even if the Grand Xia Dynasty sends someone over…because the official writ has a new owner, there will be no way for the Ji clan to sign a contract.” Ziqi said.

“Fine. We’ll take over the official writ!”

“Once the official writ is in our hands, we will be the masters of the mine.” Cold light flashed in each of their eyes.

Ziqi said in a low voice, “If the Ji clan dares to resist, then annihilate them!”

“Right.” The other four nodded, not worried about the Ji clan at all.

“Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, before this, when we were investigating the size of the mine, we discovered that the Ji clan’s forces were within a thousand kilometers.” The green-haired woman said.

“Let’s go.” Ziqi said as he let out a cold snort. “Let’s go visit the Ji clan.”

………

Right at this moment, in the air above the elemental ore mine, quite a few Zifu Disciples were conducting investigations, including the Ironwood clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult…they were all local forces of Swallow Mountain. Only the forces of the Grand Xia Dynasty, stationed in Swallow Mountain City, were not present.

“What a rich vein.”

“Such an elemental ore mine…just looking at it is frightening.”

…………..

The desolate mountain forests. The Ji clan’s forces were gathered there, deciding what to do.

“Ji Ninefire!”

Suddenly, a gloomy voice rang out. This voice caused the faces of quite a few clansmen of the Ji clan to change. Ning’s soul, being so powerful, wasn’t impacted much. He raised his head to look. He saw that high above them in mid-air, an enormous screen was descending towards them at high speed. Standing atop the screen were five men and women, all of them with extraordinary auras.

The leader of the group was emanating a deathly cold aura. He was dressed in black, and the front and back of his robe were covered with eight bloody trigrams.

“Dong Ziqi!” Ninefire’s face changed slightly.

Ning looked carefully at the five on the screen, paying special attention to their leader, Dong Ziqi. “He is Dong Ziqi, of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain?”

Dong Ziqi’s fame was widespread, and he was quietly acknowledged to be the number one expert of the six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain region!





* * *





Book 5, Chapter 16 - Crossing Swords


Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and the others had long ago come to view Ji Ning as the future pillar of the Ji clan! They naturally had long ago allowed Ning to view the intelligence reports the clan had regarding the various ancient monsters and Zifu Disciples of the various forces spread throughout Swallow Mountain. Ning knew very well…that this Dong Ziqi was a peak Zifu Disciple, one who had come from the main sect, whose abilities were far more powerful than those available to the local tribes of the Swallow Mountain Region. Dong Ziqi’s most powerful ability was the ‘Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation’!

This was different from other great formations, which generally needed to be set up in advance. This ‘Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation’ was rather similar to the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]; one could activate it with a thought. Perhaps it wasn’t as high level and as formidable as the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], but this was a peak Zifu Disciple. When such a man used this formation, he probably would be able to fight a new Wanxiang Adept to a standstill. This wasn’t something which could be compared the likes of Bei Zishan, who had to rely on the Myriad Wraiths Banner.

“It’s quite rare for us to be able to see you, fellow Daoist Dong.” Ninefire’s attitude was very humble. “Fellow Daoist Dong, might I ask why you have come?”

“Ji Ninefire.”

The five Zifu Disciples atop the banner landed on the ground. They swept the Ji clansmen with their gaze. Their eyes were filled with lofty arrogance; clearly, they held the Ji clan in no regard. This caused Ning and the others to feel a hint of rage in their hearts, but they understood…they had to suppress it.

“The land which your Ji clan controls really is a blessed area. It actually has an elemental ore mine.” Ziqi’s cold, sinister eyes stared at Ninefire. “If it wasn’t for the elemental energy vibrations which emanated from here two days ago, we wouldn’t have had any idea. Hmph. I imagine that your Ji clan has secretly mined out quite a few elemental stones. You really are quite bold.”

Looks of anger couldn’t help but appear in the eyes of the Ji clansmen, but Ninefire used his ki to bark at them mentally, “All of you, endure it!”

“My Ji clan just discovered it as well.” Ninefire maintained a smiling face towards Ziqi.

“Just discovered it?” Ziqi swept the Ji clansmen with his gaze. “Have you investigated the size and scale of this elemental mine?”

“Not yet.” Ninefire shook his head. “All we know is that this is a rich vein of elemental ore.”

Ziqi said in a cold voice, “Since you don’t know, then I’ll tell you. Not only is this a rich vein, it stretches to a circumference of four thousand kilometers, and is three hundred kilometers deep as well! Your tiny little Ji clan is completely unable to try and swallow such an enormous elemental ore mine; if you tried, it would choke you to death!”

“That’s fine.” Ninefire laughed. “In the end, my Ji clan can just offer this elemental ore mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty. By then, our Ji clan will obtain 30% of it, while the Grand Xia Dynasty will obtain 70%. In addition, our Ji clan will also receive the protection of the Grand Xia Dynasty, at which point we won’t fear anyone.”

Ziqi’s pupils contracted.

These locals!