Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

Snow continued to drift in the skies above him.

“I remember the last time I left Swallow Mountain and went to Stillwater City… it was winter then as well. Now, it’s winter again.” Ning shook his head with a smile, then took a single step and disappeared from Brightheart Island.

Just a few moments later…

Whoooosh.

A warship came howling through the air, leaving ‘waves’ of air in its wake. Aboard the warship stood many armored Immortal cultivators. The watchers the Youngflame clan had sent to Serpentwing Lake included Primal Daoists and other soldiers as well. The Primal Daoists would be constantly using their divine sense to scan the region every day. However, to ensure that they wouldn’t simply be fooled by bewildering formations that could affect their divine sense, they would also send ordinary soldiers over to do visual inspections, to make sure that their oversight was completely perfect.





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Book 11, Chapter 9 - Foundation Established


The City of Ten Thousand Swords, under the falling snow, remained as lively as ever. The city had now become the very center of the entire Swallow Mountain region; naturally, it was quite bustling! As for the grudge between the Youngflame clan and the Ji clan? Those merchants and peddlers who came and went from Swallow Mountain’s commandery cities were all ordinary mortals; the Immortal cultivators stationed by the Youngflame clan weren’t willing to wantonly slaughter too many mortals, as that would cause the accumulation of far too much sin.

Within a particular alleyway in the City of Ten Thousand Swords.

Space rippled, and then Ji Ning appeared. Although there were some ordinary mortals within the alleyway, they didn’t seem to notice Ning’s presence at all.

“These minor invisibility tricks are still useful against mortals.” Ning spread his sense out, and as he did, he couldn’t help but feel startled. “The city is absolutely…”

“Fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” A ripple of divine sense spread out to him.

“Immortal Duohe.” Ning took a single step forward, then transformed into a gust of wind and disappeared.

The Lord Prefect’s estate was the heart of the entire city; it also comprised the inner city. Within a particular courtyard in the estate. Immortals Duohe and Witchsui were both seated here. A gust of wind blew in, then Ning appeared as well.

“Master.”

“Ning, son.” Two other figures almost simultaneously appeared as well; it was the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing. In the instant Ning had teleported to the City of Ten Thousand Swords, Uncle White and Little Ning had sensed his arrival.

“Master, it’s been over a year.” Little Qing, in azure serpent form, immediately coiled around Ning’s arm, then raised her little serpentine head and spoke in the human tongue. “I’ve been worried to death over you during this past year. The army of the Youngflame clan has been sending nonstop patrols around. Fortunately, I could sense that you were still alive, master; otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able to sleep.”

The Whitewater Hound looked at Ning. He, too, had been worried about Ning this entire time.

“Uncle White, Little Qing,” Ning laughed. “The Youngflame clan isn’t able to do anything to me.”

“Immortal Duohe, Immortal Witchsui.” Ning turned to look at the two already-standing monstrous Immortals, then laughed. “I didn’t expect that after being absent from here for a year, by the time of my return, your forces would have layered it in protections that render it as impregnable as an iron fortress. I sense more than a hundred different types of formations alone, and wasn’t even able to teleport into the city. Also, you discovered me as soon as I arrived; this is an even more restrictive area than some headquarters for major schools.”

Immortal Duohe nodded. “This is the core of your Ji clan, and the place where all of us monsters of the Immortal estate world have gathered. Naturally, we cannot be careless. We’ve used all our power to set up these formations; so long as any Loose Immortal dares to enter, we will immediately notice them.”

“This is the homeland of your Ji clan, and the home of our clans as well, for the next thousand years,” Immortal Witchsui said with a smile.

Ning let out a sigh of relief. He had been right to invite the monsters here.

“Not just that,” Immortal Duohe chuckled, “Our clans have a vast number of Xiantian lifeforms amid our ranks as well. We’ve sent out tens of thousands of these Xiantian Diremonsters to spread out throughout the Swallow Mountain region, allowing us to completely control and oversee the mortals here as well. This way, it will be hard for the Youngflame clan to kill the mortals.”

Ning nodded. It was a grave sin to kill ordinary mortals, but Xiantian lifeforms had yet to truly embark on the Immortal path; the amount of sin they accumulated was much lower.

“This is the decision which we came to after negotiating with Old Patriarch Ninefire. The Old Patriarch was worried that the Youngflame clan would butcher ordinary mortals with abandon,” Immortal Duohe said. “Actually, I feel that the Old Patriarch is worrying too much; the Youngflame clan is, after all, a major clan that has existed for countless years. Clans like this care tremendously about their karmic luck. Even if they send Xiantian lifeforms to slaughter ordinary mortals, there will still be some degree of sin that will surround the bodies of the Youngflame clan members, which will affect the luck of the clan as a whole. Although it won’t have a huge impact, given how much these ancient clans care about luck, they absolutely wouldn’t do anything that would negatively influence it, just for the sake of giving vent to a bit of anger.”

Ning nodded. Luck. You couldn’t see it, nor could you feel it. But it did indeed exist. Those blessed by luck were the favored of heaven, and their lives would naturally be different. For example, the Grand Xia Dynasty established the Raindragon Guard, whose primary mission was to constantly capture and kill major sinners and thus allowing the Dynasty’s luck to constantly rise!

“I’ll trouble you all to take care of my Ji clan’s affairs,” Ning said. “I need to go see the clan leader and the others. Afterwards, I’ll leave the city, and it will most likely be many years before we meet again.”

“Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, you must be careful,” Immortal Witchsui and Immortal Duohe both said.

“Right.” Ning nodded. And then, he led Uncle White and Little Qing to go see the clan leader.

……

Ji Ninefire and the others had no idea that Ning had returned. Soon, however, Ning’s divine sense reached out to Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Ji Truekeep, who went to go meet with Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing in a secluded courtyard.

Rumble… the door to the courtyard shut.

Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Truekeep all looked at Ning. Given they had secluded themselves in this place, the conversation was undoubtedly a weighty one.

Ning spread out his divine sense as well, keeping a vigilant watch on the surrounding area.

“We are going to leave the City of Ten Thousand Swords soon. I don’t know how long this journey will last, or if I will be able to return,” Ning said.

“Ji Ning, don’t say such things; you’ll definitely be able to return,” Ninefire said hurriedly.

Ning laughed. “Alright. I’ll definitely be able to return. Before leaving, there’s something I want to give you all.”

“Oh?” Ninefire and the others were quite curious.

Ning waved his hand, and the floor became filled with piles of magic treasures, such as swords, spears, staffs, needles, shuttles, grand seals, ribbons, and horsetail whisks. The treasures were numerous beyond counting.

“This is?” Ninefire and the others held their breaths.

Ning waved his arm again, and nearly a thousand magic treasures appeared on the ground.