Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

“Big brother.” The snake elder laughed. “It seems Yichuan’s son is quite average. How can the West Prefecture of our Ji clan, which commands so many tribes, have a weak little fellow take over the important position of Prefecture Lord? How can the people of the Ji clan possibly submit to him? How can the countless tribes be willing to submit to him?”


“Prefecture Lord. This little fellow, it seems, isn’t suited to the position of being the next Prefecture Lord.”

“The important position of Prefecture Lord cannot be so casually given away.”

Those few dozen people present were all high level members of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan. Many began to speak.

“Shut your mouth.” Ji Yichuan frowned. As he swept the area with his icy gaze, instantly, many of the clan members fell silent.

But the snake elder said angrily, “What a huge temper. This is the West Prefecture of the Ji clan! What, we can’t even talk here? Your son as the Prefecture Lord… if your son was qualified, then given the great merits you yourself have rendered to the West Prefecture of the Ji clan, we definitely wouldn’t say anything. But your son is so very average. You still wish him to be Prefecture Lord? The countless tribes under the banner of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan must fight together in territorial battles, and also must struggle against the Diremonsters in the deep mountains and the lakes. How can a weak Prefecture Lord make the clan members willingly submit? How can he make those tribes submit? If the West Prefecture isn’t awe-inspiring, then how will we struggle for power against the surrounding organizations, and how will we go to the mountains and the lakes to slay the Diremonsters?”

“I will naturally be the one to kill the Diremonsters of the lakes and the mountains!” Ji Yichuan’s voice was cold as ice.

“You sure are tough. You live up to your reputation, Ji Yichuan. So you’ll go kill all of the Diremonsters hiding in all of the mountains and lakes by yourself? Then I, Ji Lee, will say this to you. If you can kill a hundred Diremonsters, then I will no longer dispute with you over who will become the next Prefecture Lord of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture. I’ll let your son take it over.” The snake elder sneered.

Ji Yichuan stared at him.

Every single Diremonster was extremely sly and powerful. How could they be so easily killed? Even killing ten of them would be a miracle, much less a hundred.

“Enough. The child was just born and can’t take all this stress.” The silver-haired elder stared at them, then ordered, “Tonight, we’ll hold a celebratory banquet at the Snowfall Hall. For now, everyone can leave.”

“Alright.”

The serpent elder was the first to respond, and he did so loudly. He immediately led more than half the people away with him, with the rest quickly returning to their own places as well, leaving this garden.





* * *





Book 1, Chapter 4 - Prefecture Lord


The banquet at Snowfall Palace continued late into the night. Late at night, the sky was covered with stars. Ji Yichuan and his wife took their infant back home.

“Whoah.” Ji Ning blearily opened his little eyes and saw the night sky filled with stars.

Ah.

He had fallen asleep. He had actually fallen asleep mid-way.

There had been fascinating performances, with musicians, drummers, and barefoot, fur-clad female dancers filling the hall. This was very different from Earth’s performances, but it was still very pleasing to the eye. However, he was still just an infant. Halfway through, he was simply too sleepy and thus he immediately fell asleep.

“Yichuan,” Yuchi Snow said with a hint of anger while walking in the snow. “At the banquet, why did you say that you would let our son go seize the golden sword? Don’t you know how hard that is?”

“I was able to accomplish it.” Yichuan frowned.

“You are the most powerful member of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan. You were able to do it as a youth, but in the thousand year history of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, how many have been like you?” Snow was angry. Normally, she was very gentle, but anything which involved her son made her anxious. “And today, when the Prefecture Lord raised the question of having our son becoming the next Prefecture Lord, five overseers had agreed. Only a single additional overseer was needed. All you had to do was convince a single overseer… with six overseers in agreement, then our son would have easily been able to become the next Prefecture Lord. Why go seize the golden sword?”

Seizing the golden sword was simply too hard.

Yichuan shook his head and sighed. “You don’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand?” Snow said angrily.

“You haven’t been at the West Prefecture for a long time yet. You don’t understand the intricacies hidden within.” Yichuan explained, “The ten overseers of the West Prefecture are divided into the Prefecture Lord’s side and Ji Lee’s side. There are three centrists. If we were to draw another overseer into our orbit, the price would have been too high.”

“So what if the price is high?” Snow said unhappily.

“Yes, if we paid an enormous price, we could let our son become the Prefecture Lord.” Yichuan frowned. “But if our son is incapable, even if he is allowed to take the position of Prefecture Lord, he’ll just suffer countless miseries, unspeakable miseries. That will be a form of torment!”

Yuchi Snow was stunned.

“I don’t want my son to be miserable.” Yichuan continued slowly, “Thus, I brought up seizing the golden sword.”

“If my son possesses astonishing insight and talent and is able to strengthen rapidly, then naturally, he’ll be able to seize the golden sword. No one would say a single word of dissent if he were to take over the Prefecture Lord position after doing so,” Yichuan said. “But if my son is unable to seize the golden sword, then he can just live a life of leisure. I, Yichuan, will protect him his entire life and let him live without any cares.”

Snow seemed to have understood.

Becoming Prefecture Lord didn’t necessarily mean a life of ease. If an expert became the Prefecture Lord, then naturally, his rule would be stable. But if someone incapable took the position… even if he was forcibly installed, he would just be miserable.

“Yichuan, I was wrong to blame you,” Snow said softly.

Yichuan just lowered his head and rubbed his son’s face. “His eyes are wide open. This kid woke up long ago.”

“Right, Yichuan. What name should we give him?” Snow suddenly asked. “I asked you when I was pregnant, but you weren’t happy with any of the names. Now that he’s been born, we have to come up with a suitable name.”

“Let his name come into the world alongside him,” Yichuan said. “How could I not be careful about it? I hadn’t made up my mind in the past, but just now, I suddenly thought of a name… let’s call our son ‘Ning’, meaning ‘calm’. No matter whether his life is normal or exciting, no matter if he is weak or becomes an expert, let him maintain a calm, peaceful heart.”

“Ning?” Snow murmured. “Ji Ning. Ji Ning…”

Ji Ning?

The infant in his mother’s arms stared with wide eyes. Was this the name which the First Judge, the Lord of Cui Palace, had preordained that he would have in the Book of Life and Death? Or was it a true coincidence?

In this life, he would be named Ji Ning once again?

…..

The most powerful member of the West Prefecture of the Ji clan was the Raindrop Sword, Ji Yichuan.

The second was the ‘Tiger Demon’, Ji Lee.

Within Lee’s Prefecture.