Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

Ning murmured softly to himself.

Each time he used this technique, he couldn’t help but think of his mother. This technique was one which he had developed thanks to the boundless longing he felt for his mother! It was the longing each drop of rain held for each other drop which allowed them to form a line of rain…the insights Ning had gained over the past five years into the Dao had resulted in him developing many techniques, but this was the most powerful of them all.

This technique contained within it a boundless, powerful longing. It was born from the [Raindrop Sutra], but it had left the Raindrop Sutra far behind.

“Swish….”

Ning simultaneously struck out with two Darknorth swords at the same time, piercing past the Waterflame Lotus, which seemed to be like a shadow, not obstructing Ning’s swords in the slightest. Ning’s swords seemed to be like the caress of a mother, carrying boundless longing within them…as they summoned a large amount of natural power which directly coalesced atop the two swords.

Anyone seeing this technique would unconsciously feel a sour feeling in their hearts, sense a powerful, endless yearning.

“Crackle…” Many vines were instantly shattered. Although they were very tough, they were still chopped apart. In the face of Ning’s most powerful close-combat sword technique, the technique of Zifu Disciple Muse was unable to contain Ning.

Actually, the first reason for this was that Ning’s swordplay had already far outstripped that of most Zifu Disciples. Most likely, even many Wanxiang Adepts wouldn’t be on par with him in this regard.

The second reason was that Ning’s Fiendgod body was simply too powerful, comparable to an early-stage Fiendgod Zifu Disciple. His strength was so mighty, and his swordplay was so formidable; how hard must it be for a technique to contain him!

Sword light flashed and danced, shattering a large number of frantically twisting vines. Ning followed his sword light and rose into the sky, breaking through the earth and arriving on the surface of the ground.

………

“Bang!”

Just as the Ji clansmen were worriedly looking at the ground, into the hole from whence the rattan vines had disappeared, suddenly, hundreds of meters away, the ground suddenly exploded as a ray of sword light soared into the sky. A fur-clad youth, wielding a pair of swords, his body surrounded by a Fire-water Lotus, suddenly drifted up, then landed on the ground.

“How is that possible!” Dong Ziqi’s face changed dramatically. Others might not understand this technique of his junior apprentice-brother’s, but he understood it very well. A sudden attack from this technique…it would be very difficult for someone to break through it. Even if one succeeded, it would only come at great effort.

“That Ji Ning broke through?” The muscular man behind Ziqi stared as he growled, “How is that possible. I’m a Fiendgod practitioner, but even I wouldn’t be able to break through if senior apprentice-brother Muse captured me.”

Junior apprentice Ju San was the newest Zifu Disciple of the five, who had only recently established his Violet Palace.

He was just an early Zifu Disciple, but he was a Fiendgod practitioner! As an early Fiendgod practitioner…his battle strength was also amazing. It didn’t matter if others injured him, but if he landed a hit on someone else, that person would die! This was the advantage which Fiendgod practitioners had; if he trained to become a late stage Fiendgod Zifu Disciple, even Dong Ziqi would address him as ‘senior apprentice-brother’.

“He broke through?”

“How old is he?”

“Senior apprentice-brother Muse’s ‘Myriad Ancient Green Vines’ technique…was broken, just like that?” That green-haired male-female pair stared as well, their faces filled with disbelief.

In their group, Muse’s status was second only to Ziqi, precisely because of how powerful he was! In particular, his ambushing abilities with the ‘Myriad Ancient Green Vines’ had caused the other fellow disciples to feel endless admiration for him. The restricting power of those green vines was indeed tremendous. How physically strong was a Fiendgod Zifu Disciple? And yet, even such a person was unable to break through.

But the person who had broken through it…was only sixteen years old! No matter how monstrous of a genius he was, it was too…

But how could they know that Ning’s physical strength was comparable to their junior apprentice-brother Ju San to begin with. In terms of his level of attainment in the sword, he vastly outstripped Ju San by many levels!

…….

“Ji Ning.”

“Ji Ning.” Ji Ninefire, Ji Truekeep, Granny Shadow, and the other members of the Ji clan all stared at Ning with surprise and delight. At the same time, they felt unbearably pleased at the looks of shock and amazement on the faces of the five Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain! Simultaneously, the Ji clansmen couldn’t help but feel stunned at Ning’s power. Ninefire’s eyes actually narrowed as he sighed in his heart that he felt he was growing more and more mystified by this kid.

The Waterflame Lotus surrounding Ning vanished, and he walked over.

“Ji Ning!” A hoarse voice rang out.

Ning turned to look.

From afar, there was a gray-robed man with an ashen, pallid face who stood by Dong Ziqi’s side. The man was staring fixedly at Ning. “You…what’s the name of that sword technique of yours?”

“Longing.” Ning said softly. “Rain Line!”

“Rain Line?” The gray-robed man stared wide-eyed in disbelief. “The power of the Rain Line technique of your Ji clan’s [Raindrop Sutra] is this great?” He was quite familiar with the nine sword stances of the [Raindrop Sutra].”

“There are quite a few things that you don’t know.” Ning snorted coldly, no longer explaining.

This sword technique was birthed from the Raindrop Sutra, but it was no longer the same as the Rain Line technique of the past.





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Book 5, Chapter 18 - The Ji Clans Concession


“Rain Line?” Dong Ziqi murmured softly as well. The four Zifu Disciples behind him were still in a state of shock.

“This Ji Ning is even more powerful than anticipated.” Ziqi pondered. “He’s only sixteen years old, but even junior apprentice-brother Muse is unable to take him down! Most likely, only I will be capable of killing him.” If he were to personally attack, he would have to use his Eight Trigrams Blood Dragon Formation. Once the formation appeared, then the two sides would fight to the death, and there would be no chance to salvage the situation.

Dong Ziqi was very self-confident, but he also understood that the Ji clan’s power wasn’t weak either. If they were really to fight against each other, his side would lose one or two of their five Zifu Disciples.

If he could let the other side retreat in the face of encroaching difficulties, that would be for the best.

“Ji Ning, formidable.”

“Well done.”

The Ji clansmen all looked towards Ning. “Are you alright?” Ji Yichuan looked at his son. Seeing that his son was unwounded, he relaxed.

“Dong Ziqi!” Granny Shadow said in a fierce voice. “What was the meaning of this? You suddenly attacked a member of our Ji clan! All of us are present, and yet you still dare to behave so rashly.”

“Your Snowdragon Mountain clansmen are too wild and unbridled.”