Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

“Oh.” Ning nodded, now having a rough estimation of his level of power.

“Immortal Darknorth, if there’s anything you need, you can come visit me at Goldtop Mountain.” After speaking, the Goldfur Bearking transformed into a streak of golden light and disappeared.

……

Ning watched as the Goldfur Bearking left. He mused softly to himself, “The defense of that Goldfur Bearking was quite formidable. Those ninety-nine pearl-type treasures…the value of that entire set is definitely incalculable. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to acquire it.”

“Eh?” Having suddenly thought of something, Ning took a step back and returned to the cliff. The mountain was now a full level shorter than it had been in the past.

Ning waved his hand and an Immortal estate appeared. Bluecliff Xiaoyu and the imperial Qi clansmen emerged from the Immortal estate.

“What’s going on?” The imperial Qi clansmen stared around in terror.

“Did that Immortal Darknorth die, resulting in the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows acquiring his Immortal estate? Are we now in the hands of monsters?” The black-robed princess was terrified as well. Xiaoyu stared around with worry as well, searching for her master’s figure.

Suddenly…they were all transfixed by what they saw.

This was because they saw Ning seated next to the cliff, a gourd of wine in his hands. He was sipping it and staring towards the endless sea of clouds in the sky.

“Where are the monsters?” Qi Rufeng was awestruck.

“But, but…” The black-robed princess was stunned as well.

“Master, Master.” Xiaoyu ran over to Ning’s side. Amongst Immortal cultivators, masters and disciples had extremely close relationships. As the saying went, ‘one who is your master for a day should be revered as a parent for a lifetime’; this saying was no joke. After all, the benevolence shown by a master in transmitting the Dao was extremely great. Xiaoyu was very excited to discover that the seemingly young-looking youth was still alive and perfectly fine.

“Senior Darknorth, where are the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows?” Qi Rufeng didn’t dare believe that Ning had the power to defeat the twelve of them, and he couldn’t help but ask this question.

“Unfortunately, I only killed eight of them.” Ning shook his head and sighed.

“What?” Qi Rufeng’s eyes bulged out.

Ning paid him no attention. He continued to drink his wine and stare at the scenery. Although he was in quite a good mood, he still felt rather regretful. His trial for acquiring the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was to kill ten great sinners, but he had only killed eight! He was still missing two! If he had just killed two more of them, he would be able to go back to Mount Innerheart and learn the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] right away. Now, however, he would need to remain here for at least another short period of time and find two more great sinners to kill.

“Senior Darknorth…senior Dark…?” Qi Rufeng couldn’t help but call out repeatedly.

“Master.” Xiaoyu called out softly as well. At the same time, she couldn’t help but use her dainty little hand to gently touch Ning.

Ning turned to look at her. Xiaoyu’s face was full of questions. She whispered, “Master, you said you killed eight of them? But this…this…” She was a mere Zifu Disciple; the twelve monster kings were incomparably exalted figures in her eyes. The entirety of the Eastern Flows were ruled by them. Her master had claimed to kill eight of them? He must’ve actually just killed eight ordinary Loose Immortal monsters, right?

“Look.” Ning disdainfully waved his hand, and one Immortal-ranked magic treasure after another appeared in midair. These items had been left behind by the eight slain monster kings, and each of them emanated powerful ripples.

The eyes of Crown Prince Qi Rufeng, who had the most experience of the lot, instantly bulged out. He had seen Immortal-ranked magic treasures back in the imperial palace, which was why his eyes were bulging out right now. “These…these…these are all Immortal-ranked magic treasures? So many…how…what…”

“This set of Immortal-ranked treasures!” Qi Rufeng suddenly stared at six scimitars that hung in the skies. The six scimitars were the very same Immortal-ranked magic treasures which the Flamewing King had used long ago to slaughter a path through the Qi Empire. Qi Rufeng would never forget the scene of how one Loose Immortal after another fell in the face of those scimitars’ wanton slaughter.

“This set belonged to the Flamewing King. He’s dead now,” Ning said calmly. “He was one of the eight I killed. I promised to protect you for a year, or until I killed the Flamewing King. I’ve accomplished my promise and I’ve done enough. You can go now.”

Ning began to walk towards his Immortal estate, then instructed to Xiaoyu, “Xiaoyu, come with me.”

“Y…yes master.” Bluecliff Xiaoyu immediately followed Ning into the estate obediently.

As the two entered the Immortal estate, the Crown Prince and the princess simply stood there and stared at the estate for a long, long moment.





* * *





Book 13, Chapter 26 - Success


The crown prince and the princess were indeed rather dazed. They could clearly see that the person before them was merely a Primal Daoist. For him to kill hundreds of Flamewing Guards was one thing, but how was it that he had killed eight of the Twelve Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows?

Although they hadn’t personally witnessed it, the tens of Immortal-ranked magic treasures before them were real. They didn’t believe that the Flamewing King and the other monster kings who had used these Immortal-ranked magic treasures to dominate the region would just voluntarily give them to senior Darknorth.

“Big brother, we must take on this senior Darknorth as our master. Once we miss this opportunity, we might never encounter someone like him again for the rest of our lives,” the black-robed princess suddenly said.

“Right.” The crown prince’s eyes lit up as he nodded repeatedly. “Senior Darknorth is even more formidable than the twelve monster kings! He is far more powerful than our Qi Empire ever was.”

The black-robed princess said solemnly, “The Flamewing King is now dead; the Flamewing Guards under his command were sent fleeing in panic. They know that we are under senior Darknorth’s protection, and so the surviving ones definitely will not pursue us any longer. In the future, we will no longer need to flee.”

The crown prince was startled for a moment, but then he nodded repeatedly with excitement. He hadn’t seen the situation as clearly as his little sister.

“But the only two survivors of the imperial Qi clan are the two of us. How are supposed to grow stronger?” The black-robed princess said in a low voice, “The two of us, relying on our own efforts…we will probably never see the Qi Empire returned to its former glory again in our lifetimes. But by borrowing the strength of senior Darknorth, we would still have hope.”

“Right.” Qi Rufeng nodded solemnly. “Let’s go take him on as our master.”

“We have to do so with sincerity. For someone as formidable as senior Darknorth…if he detects even a hint of insincerity, he will probably refuse,” the black-robed princess warned.

The two siblings thus entered the Immortal estate as well.

Within a hall in the Immortal estate. Bluecliff Xiaoyu was seated there, watching as the two imperial siblings entered the estate.

“We wish to see senior Darknorth,” Qi Rufeng said.

“Master is in seclusion right now. Wait a bit.” Xiaoyu didn’t shoo them away, because she knew that the only reason why the two were able to enter the Immortal estate was because Ning had permitted it. Ning was the master of this estate, after all; if he didn’t wish to permit it, there was no way they would’ve been able to enter at all.

……

The reason why Ning had let them enter was because he had discovered some interesting things.