Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

“Good. I’ll await the good word from you, then.” Patriarch Arcanum nodded.

Three top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures. This was a price that was neither high nor low. Celestial Immortals who had lived as long as he had would generally all have several top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures on them. In fact, some truly supreme Celestial Immortal Patriarchs might even have Pure Yang treasures on them! Thus, for the Youngflame clan as a whole, producing three top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures would cause a bit of heartache but not bankrupt them. At a critical time like this, with the Three Realms in a state of turbulence, they were willing to pay this level of price in order to eliminate a threat.

……

The imperial capital of the Grand Xia.

Ning was standing atop a cloud, flying through the wide streets of the imperial capital. He had spent a day within the Black-White College of Stillwater, then had visited his good friend Northmont Baiwei before heading to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia. This was a time of turbulence in the Three Realms, after all; the sooner he could purchase materials for setting up formations, the better.

“King Yan’s Estate.” Ning saw a familiar estate from the distance. After having arrived, he was naturally going to first visit his cousin before going to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.

Swoosh. Ning led the Whitewater Hound in flying to the estate, Little Qing wrapped around his arm as always.

“You are young master Ji Ning?” The estate guards recognized him right away, and they revealed looks of surprise on their faces. Thirty years was a fairly short period of time for Immortal cultivators; they had begun their services here well over thirty years ago, and so they naturally recognized him.

“I wish to see the princess,” Ning said.

“Young master Ji Ning, please wait a moment. I’ll go make the report right away.” Instantly, a guard flew into the estate to make the report.

Soon, a group of people came out from the estate, the leader being his cousin, Princess Xiyue.

“Ji Ning.” Princess Xiyue looked at Ning, an expression of excitement instantly covering her face. “I just heard last night from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain that you returned. I was planning to go find you after finishing some affairs here.”

“It should be me who comes to visit you, Princesss.” Ning noticed that next to her was a tall, handsome man with white skin who appeared to be rather close to her. He couldn’t help but laugh. “This is…?”

“Oh.” An awkward expression appeared on Princess Xiyue’s face. She immediately said, “This is young master Feng Yungu from the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm.”

“I’ve long heard of your famous name, brother Ji Ning. Today, I see that you truly are extraordinary.” The tall, handsome young master Yungu spoke in a modest manner.

Ning gave him a glance, then nodded in secret; this Feng Yunge acted quite modestly and put on no airs.

“Hurry on in. Why are you standing here in the doorway?” Princess Xiyue said hurriedly while sending a stealthy mental message to Ning. “Cousin, unless something unexpected happens, this young master Yungu will most likely become my husband.”

“Ah?” Ning was mentally stunned. He hurriedly sent back, “Cousin, the two of you…?”

“He will marry into King Yan’s Estate,” Princess Xiyue sent to him. “In the future, I am going to resurrect the Yuchi clan; thus, I can’t marry out into another clan. As for this young master Yungu…because the Grand Xia Dynasty is allied with the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm, quite a few of the imperial Xia clansmen have become Dao-companions with the disciples of the Windlocked Isles. I could tell that he’s not bad, and he’s also quite obedient; he was even willing to marry into King Yan’s Estate. That’s why I decided to accept him as my Dao-companion.”

Ning now understood.

The Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm?

The Grand Xia Dynasty?

“He’s not only willing to marry into her family, he’s also obedient to her wishes…and I can tell that he seems to be the humble sort.” Ning nodded privately. His cousin was completely focused on vengeance; a husband like this would perhaps be good for her.

“Cousin, you don’t need to pay too much attention to young master Yungu; his status in the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm isn’t very high, and his power is ordinary, but he’s an extremely good-natured person,” Princess Xiyue sent. “However…another disciple of the Windlocked Isles is currently present within King Yan’s Estate. He, too, is pursuing me; he wants to marry me and take me back to the Windlocked Isles with him. His name is Feng Yunpeng; his status within the Windlocked Isles is extremely high! He is one of the two sons of the master of the Windlocked Isles, and the Grand Xia Emperor long ago instructed the imperial Xia clansmen are not to cause trouble with him. You need to be careful as well.”

“Oh? Don’t worry,” Ning replied.

……

They entered the estate.

Yuchi Xiyue prepared a welcoming banquet for Ning. The three of them chatted quite happily with each other. Young master Yungu seemed to have a bit of an innately self-abasing character; in front of Ning, at least, he acted very modestly and self-deprecatingly.

“Hahaha, I heard that the champion of the Grand Xia’s Conclave of Immortal Destiny, the peerless genius Ji Ning, had arrived here at King Yan’s Estate. Xiyue, why didn’t you inform me? You were wrong in not doing so.” Accompanying a loud laughter, a youth dressed in gaudy golden Daoist robes came walking in. The youth’s eyes twinkled like the stars, and his aura was quite extraordinary.

Behind him were two powerful servants. One had the aura of a Fiendgod; he was most likely a Void-level Fiendgod! The other was an extremely powerful Loose Immortal.

“Young master Yunpeng, I didn’t want to disturb you,” Princess Xiyue said with a laugh. “Please sit.”

Feng Yungu hurriedly rose to give up his own seat, sitting down in a lower seat. As for young master Yunpeng, he sat down directly after Princess Xiyue, face to face with Ji Ning.

“Ji Ning, this is young master Yunpeng, a genius of the Windlocked Isles of the Heaven Realm. He, too, is an expert who is a Void-level Earth Immortal,” Princess Xiyue said hurriedly.

“Greetings to you, young master Yunpeng,” Ning said, clasping his hands slightly.

Young master Yunpeng gave Ning a clearly rather indifferent glance, but as he did, his face changed slightly. With a laugh, he said, “Oh, so you’ve become a Void-level Earth Immortal, Ji Ning.”

“Just the early-stage Void-level. Compared to you, young master Yunpeng, I’m a bit lacking,” Ning said modestly.

“Hahaha…” Young master Yunpeng laughed smugly. “I hear that you are on very good terms with Xiyue. You have to help me dissuade her! She’s insisting on marrying that useless thing over there; isn’t that an utter desecration of a heavenly treasure?” As he spoke, he gave the nearby Feng Yungu a disdainful look.

No matter how good of a temper Feng Yungu had, he couldn’t prevent his face from changing…but immediately afterwards, he lowered his head slightly.

Young master Yunpeng’s laughter became even more wanton. “Xiyue and I, by contrast, are a perfect match!” As he spoke, he reached his hand out to stroke Princess Xiyue’s. Princess Xiyue moved away slightly, her face sinking. “Young master Yunpeng.”

“Fine, fine, fine. I won’t rush things.” Young master Yunpeng laughed.

After all, Princess Xiyue had a Celestial Immortal, King Yan, behind her. Given that the Windlocked Isles were an ally of the Grand Xia Dynasty, he didn’t want to cause any problems either.