Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

“Don’t be impatient. He is in front of us and won’t be able to escape. Let’s give him a test, first!” Zhan instructed mentally. With a wave of his hand, he released his Xiantian force, which directly dragged a rock into his hand. And then, with a powerful throw, he infused this rock with his Xiantian energy, transforming it into a ray of light which shot straight towards Ji Ning, still seated in the lotus-position.

Although he just threw a rock, a Ninefang Warrior would definitely be killed.

“Hua!”

When the stone reached the area of ten meters of Ning and intersected with those two layers of lotus petals, it instantly became frozen! That invisible killing energy, with a hiss, transformed the rock into dust.

The Bi’An Tiger and Ironwood Zhan both felt their hearts tighten. They exchanged glances. Clearly, they were somewhat puzzled by those two mysterious lotus layers.

“I refuse to believe it.” Zhan sneered coldly, and the Blackwood Vinewhip appeared in his hands out of nowhere.

“Hu!”

Ironwood Zhan lashed out with his long whip. The Blackwood Vinewhip elongated, coiling around a thick nearby tree. With a massive pull! Honglong…the entire tree was ripped out by the roots, carrying with it a large amount of dirt, swinging about along with Zhan’s whip.

Boom…this tens of thousands of pounds heavy tree smashed directly towards Ning, seated in the lotus position. When the massive tree trunk slammed against those two layers of translucent, enormous lotus leaves, it instantly shattered apart. However, the terrifying power of the collision contained within the massive tree caused the two layers of lotus leaves to tremble.

Ning, who had been meditating in the lotus position, shook slightly. His eyes opened up.

As his eyes opened, he saw that the two enormous lotus leaves surrounding his body were dissipating as an enormous tree trunk smashed down upon him. In the distance, Ironwood Zhan and that black-clothed man were sneering coldly at him.

“You ruined my good fortune!” Watching the two layers of enormous lotus petals dissipate, Ning instantly realized what he had gained this night, and also realized how priceless these insights had been. If nobody had disturbed him, he probably would have been able to gain insights for even longer. But unexpectedly, Zhan had ruined it for him. It must be understood that these moments of enlightenment were something which could only be hoped for and not asked for. It might be decades, if not centuries, until the next time something like this would occur.

“Damn you!”

Ning swept out with a palm, and with a booming sound, smashed that massive tree trunk into two halves. One half landed into the middle of the pond, crushing many of the lotus flowers. The other half fell down against several other nearby trees, sending dust everywhere.

“Little child of the Ji clan!” Ironwood Zhan laughed ferociously. “You fled a thousand kilometers into the forest, but I still caught you in the end! Today is the day you die!”

Ning glanced at him coldly, and then immediately summoned forth the Lunar energy and the Solar energy in his body. Over the course of the previous night’s meditation, he had gained just a hint of insight into the true nature of the Dao, but that hint of insight was enough to allow him to understand, without question, what the method was for breaking through to the next level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]. Nothing in the world was truly opposite of anything else! It was much like how night and day were seemingly opposites, but in reality, were just two different aspects of the sky.

It was much like the two layers of fire and water lotus petals that had surrounded him. Not only did they not cancel each other out, they had even increased each other’s power. Why?

A lotus flower had a stalk, which was what allowed the lotus petals to swivel!

The ‘stalk’ of the two layers of fire and water lotus petals was Ning himself!

Solar energy, Lunar energy…how to fuse them?

By finding that ‘stalk’ which connected the Solar energy and the Lunar energy!

“Come!”

Ning’s eyes were filled with absolutely certainty.

His body had already completely brought forth all of his Solar and Lunar energy, which instantly filled every part of his body. Be it his hair or his skin or his organs or his very cells…it filled every part of him! Every single thread of Lunar energy and Solar energy began to swirl around each other, but their natures caused them to be unwilling to fuse.

“Huahuahua…” All of the Lunar energy and Solar energy were swiveling, like the lotus flowers that had been blown upon by the wind.

They were also like the two ‘fish’ of the yin-yang Taiji diagram, forever chasing each other.

The Sun. The Moon.

They constantly chased after each other…and as they did, they contained that hint of the Dao which Ning had understood.

Slowly, in the center of the circling Solar energy and Lunar energy, a new force arose!

Instantly…

In that deep, boundless void, separated from this place by incomprehensibly many worlds, there lay the two Supreme Stars; the Solar Star [Sun] and the Lunar Star [Moon]. Each of them emitted a hint of their power; the Solar Truefire and the Lunar Truewater appeared on each side around Ning, and also activated the power of fire and water of the surrounding world.

“Bang!” “Bang!”

The surrounding world instantly became filled with a sea of flame as well as an abyss of water.

Though this took time to describe, in truth, as soon as Ning had shattered that tree, he had immediately activated the energy in his body and began to break through. Ironwood Zhan and his Bi’an Tiger saw with their own eyes the boundless flames and water appear out of nowhere, causing even them to feel fear. Wherever the water passed through, everything was frozen into ice sculptures, while wherever the fire passed through, everything was consumed by the flames.

At the same time, within the surging water, the faint outline of the Jade Rabbit could be seen.

Deep within the boundless flames, there was also the shadow of a three-legged Golden Crow.

Between the Jade Rabbit and the Golden Crow, there was Ning!

“This…this…” Zhan was so shocked, his face changed dramatically. “Can this be the legendary…the legendary [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]?”

The Golden Crow and the Jade Rabbit had both appeared!

Without question, this was the legendary [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], the number one Fiendgod Body Refining technique. In the entire Swallow Mountain area, in at least the past thousand years, there hadn’t been a single person who was known to have relied on this technique to become a Xiantian lifeform. Although Zhan had read this technique and knew what the breakthrough looked like, this was his first time personally witnessing the amazing spectacle of a breakthrough.

“Hrmph.” Ironwood Zhan’s hands summoned a formation flag out of nowhere. He immediately flew backwards, then began running around Ning, surrounded by boundless water and fire, in a circular pattern, while constantly throwing out one flag after another, all of which stabbed deep into the mud.

In but a few seconds, eight formation flags had all been planted, covering an area of a square kilometer.

Ironwood Zhan now simply stood from afar and watched.

“Master, kill him.” The Bi’an Tiger said hurriedly. “Right now, he is breaking through. This is his weakest moment.”

“No!” Zhan hurriedly shouted. “He trains in the number one Fiendgod Body Refining, and is currently surrounded by the power of the Supreme Stars, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star! When breaking through to the Xiantian lifeform level, these two Supreme Stars will send down a hint of their Solar Truefire and Lunar Truewater, breaking through countless barriers to allow him to evolve and be reborn into the body of a true Xiantian-level Fiendgod.”