Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

Strictly speaking…


Upon gaining insight into the True Meaning of the Raindrop, the [Raindrop Sutra] itself actually became without value. Perhaps the ancestor who had originally developed the [Raindrop Sutra] himself only reached this level, the True Meaning of the Raindrop, after having in some lucky circumstance developed these nine techniques that could forever cycle without ending. But of course, it was also possible that it was some sort of powerful Fiendgod or powerful Immortal who intentionally developed this sort of inexhaustible, circular, increasingly powerful swordplay.

“Raindrop Pierces Rocks. Raindrop Pierces Rocks.” Ning chanted softly, and then he shut his eyes to rest. That battle had been too exhausting.

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After resting and eating to his fill, Ning’s divine power recovered and then he began to perfect his True Meaning of the Raindrop. Upon having learned the True Meaning of the Raindrop…he was completely capable of using one small raindrop after another to create a thin line, then execute the ‘Rain Line’. The power of this attack was far greater than that of Raindrop Pierces Rocks.

Time flowed on.

Ning ate and drank. Fortunately, prior to this, his kalestone and Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasure all had some food within it. What he lacked right now was time. As time went out, if he was able to increase his [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] by another stage, if he could make his swordplay become even more powerful, then his chances of survival would naturally become greater.

Ning understood…

He had relied on the Waterflame Lotus to make it through the first trial, while in the second trial, he had been pushed to his limits, at which point he had gained insights into the True Meaning of the Raindrop, finally making that breakthrough in peril. Based on the increase in difficulty, the third trial would definitely be very terrifying. Since Immortal Juhua had publicly called for a disciple, one could imagine how difficult this third trial must have been.

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By Serpentwing Lake.

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow, husband and wife, were temporarily staying here by the side of Serpentwing Lake. They were quietly waiting. Waiting for their son to return. But as one day after another passed, their hearts grew increasingly frantic, because the more time passed, the lower the chances were that their son was still alive.

“Cough, cough.” Snow was coughing.

“Don’t panic, don’t panic.” Yichuan saw that in one short month, his wife’s illness had rapidly worsened, making him feel all the more pity for her.

“I don’t want to panic either.” Snow stared at the endless waters of Serpentwing Lake, then sighed. “But Ning, Ning, he…it’s been more than a month. Why hasn’t he come back yet. Why hasn’t he come back yet!”

To Yuchi Snow, her son was her whole world.

“Our son will definitely come back. Definitely. When you were pregnant with Ning, the roots of your illness took hold. You can’t be angry, and you can’t panic. You know that. Take care of your body.” Yichuan’s heart was as frantic as a scorching fire. In his heart, he cared deeply about his son, but he was also worried about his wife by his side. Ever since that great battle they had fought on the way back from the Darknorth Seas…

Although the Whitewater Hound had braved a serious injury to take his wife away and flee, and their son had been lucky enough to survive, his wife and his son had both been injured.

“Ning.” Yichuan stared at the boundless lake waters as well. “You have to come back alive.”

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Within the endless hallway.

There was no day or night within this hallway, and there was no way to clearly judge the passing of time. His appetite was enormous, but the amount of food in the kalestone wasn’t that much, nor the amount in Ironwood Zhan’s storage treasure. After all, they could hunt for food at any time in Swallow Mountain, while the kalestone had size limitations, so why put in too much?

After a month, all of the stored food was completely devoured.

“Thin Streams Flow Forever and Rain Line have all reached the ‘True Meaning of the Raindrop’ level.” Ning said to himself. One was a defensive technique, while the other was offensive. His power could be considered to have greatly advanced. “After a month of training, my divine power has grown stronger as well. This third trial is the final battle…”

Ning understood how terrifying this final trial would be.

He also understood that if he passed through it, then he would survive.

But if he failed, he would die!

“Whether it is life or it is death, it all comes down to this.”

“If I die, I will most likely go to the Netherworld Kingdom again. This time, I probably won’t be so lucky as to avoid drinking Granny Meng’s Elixir. After drinking it, I will no longer be myself.” Ning had a dim sense right now, the deep, unconscious sense which one would have when one’s soul grew powerful. His unconscious sense felt a type of incomparable terror right now, as though he was about to face an incomparably terrifying trial.

“Time to determine life or death.”

Wielding the Darknorth swords in his hands, Ning headed directly for a twisting corridor, which still had three corpses on it that hadn’t completely rotted away, as well as some magic treasures scattered on the floor.

Ning used his divine sense to pick them up, calmly binding them. Upon investigating, he found that there were thousands of magic treasures stored within a storage treasure, all of which he could easily fuse. Indeed, these were all unranked magic treasures. However…such a terrifying number still represented an incomparably astonishing wealth. Ning was very calm though. Because…if he died, what use would these be?

“You finally came.” A hoarse voice rang out, in the tongue of the humans which was spoken everywhere throughout the Grand Xia Dynasty.

Ning immediately looked over. From afar, in a place filled with black mist, a figure walked out. He had a crooked body, an oily green gaze, and his entire body was covered with black fur. He seemed to walk very slowly, but with each step, he travelled dozens of meters. “A pity. You are too weak.”

Hua!

In an instant, he appeared in front of Ning. His fan-sized, big grey palm carried a dense, deathly aura which slammed down towards Ning. This simple slap was so fast that Ning was completely unable to dodge. All he could do was relying on using his two swords to execute his ultimate defensive technique, ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’, to block it. This ‘Thin Streams Flow Forever’ technique was currently also holding the True Meaning of the Raindrop within it.

“Swish!” Ning was knocked flying, and his hands instantly turned numb.

“No…” Ning wanted to tighten his grip over the Darknorth swords in his hands. If his swords were sent flying, how would he use his sword techniques? But his fingers were already completely numbed and had no feeling. Hua! Hua! His shattered fingers and his two Darknorth swords flew far away, smashing into the distant walls and emitting a clear ringing sound.

Every part of Ning’s skin had split open, and he was surrounded by a bloody mist. The fingers on both hands had been shattered. And so, his entire body covered by that bloody mist, he flew backwards and smashed against the distant ground.





Book 4, Chapter 1 - His Waiting


Ji Ning slammed onto the ground, but he felt the area around him was so quiet. So terrifyingly quiet.

He couldn’t hear anything at all.