Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

They felt helpless.

Why were they so damn unlucky?

They knew very well that if they were to resist and be forcibly soulscoured…then things would be even more disastrous for them.

“We accept. Senior, please spare our lives,” the two said.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you,” the black-robed Ning said. In truth, based on the intelligence reports which Ning had received from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, these two had done quite a few evil deeds. Given Ning’s usual temperament, he would’ve killed them long ago…but if he did, then the life-tablets of the two within the Eastwoods Sect would shatter, and the Sect would know that they died. Once that happened, his plan would fail.

The two Primal Daoists closed their eyes.

The black-robed Ning stretched out his hand, placing it atop the head of the tall, skinny Primal Daoist. He immediately used the ‘Thousand Stars Soulscour’ technique; this technique was a soulscouring technique which he had acquired in the Crescent world after killing that evil Patriarch.

Moments later…Ning lowered his hands.

A look of joy appeared within the eyes of the tall, skinny Primal Daoist. “I’m fine. I’m fine!”

“I told you. If you don’t resist at all, your soul will find it easier to maintain its normalcy, and in fact very few memories will be lost.” The black-robed Ning looked towards the other person, the triangle-pupiled Primal Daoist. That Primal Daoist closed his eyes as well, accepting the soulscouring. Ning walked over to him, placing his palm atop his head as well.

……

At the base of the Eastwoods mountain range.

“So the two of them were so spineless,” Ning mused to himself. Waving his hand, he produced a sack that was filled with the items that had been purchased.

Roughly thirty years ago, the Eastwoods Sect had suffered a calamity. The majority of its tougher figures were all wiped out, while a few who were able to suppress their anger were able to survive. They all hoped for freedom to come. However…the Eastwoods Sect also had some spineless figures who even helped the mysterious power act against their fellow disciples!

Daoist Easthill and Daoist Eastharm were two such spineless figures! They abused their former ‘fellow disciples’, currying favor with the mysterious figures as if they were dogs!

Naturally, this resulted in the two of them being viewed with favor, and they were even allowed to go out and shop.

However…

Although they did their utmost to please, the mysterious power still viewed them as nothing more but dogs. They were absolutely forbidden from going near the most important ‘forbidden region’; in fact, even the Eastwoods sect leader was forbidden from entering it!

“A mysterious power?”

“The leader is a ‘general’? Supposedly at the Celestial Immortal level?”

“A forbidden region?”

After finishing the soulscouring, Ning immediately began to pay attention to this supposed ‘forbidden region’.

The forbidden region was simply too mysterious. After taking over the Eastwoods mountain range, the mysterious power had designed a certain part of it as a ‘forbidden region’, with many people being sent within it. In fact, even that ‘general’ would often go inside.

“Change!” Ning instantly changed, transforming into the appearance of that tall, skinny Primal Daoist – Daoist Easthill.

Ning immediately headed straight towards the entrance to the Eastwoods Sect.

“Daoist Easthill has returned? Where is Daoist Eastharm?” One of the two gate guards asked.

“It has been a long time since Daoist Eastharm returned to his tribe, so he made a side trip this time. I came back first,” Ning said with a smile. Due to the soulscouring, Ning now knew well that these spineless figures were rather trusted, and so they were often allowed to return to their tribes. That way, the spies of the imperial Xia clan wouldn’t notice anything strange about the Eastwoods Sect.

Otherwise…if all of a sudden, no members of the Eastwoods Sect were returning to their clans…in an era like this, when the Three Realms were in a state of turmoil, the imperial Xia clan would definitely investigate.

Ning smiled as he spoke, then walked in. In a very familiar manner, he walked through the various formations. He knew exactly how to bypass them, because of what he had learned through the soulscouring.

……

Upon ‘returning’ to the Eastwoods Sect and handing over the purchased items, Ning chatted for a while with some of the cultivators of the Eastwoods Sect, then went to the residence of Daoist Easthill.

“Change!”

A mosquito flew out from Daoist Easthill’s residence.

Mosquitos were extremely common; even if one were to wipe out a swathe of them, the next night many more would most likely appear, especially since the Eastwoods Sect was located within a mountain forest. Ning, in the shape of a mosquito, flew closer and closer to the ‘forbidden region’.

The forbidden region was layered with increasingly powerful formations.

The mosquito-Ning was forced to come to a halt outside the formations, landing on the ground.

“Step closely.

“Hurry up. Keep in line! We’re about to enter the formation. If you get out of line, you’ll be trapped within the eighteen great formations. I really don’t want to have to go find those guys and ask them to save you.” A group of black-robed figure was flying towards the formation, with the one in the very rear urging them to move faster.

Whap.

As they walked forward, the foot of one of the black-robed figures was stained with a speck of mud. This mud was the transformed Ning!

Not even Immortal cultivators would constantly use their power to dissipate the dust and mud from their feet with every step; how tiring would that be?! As the group of black-robed figures advanced through the region, carefully passing through all eighteen formations, the bit of ‘mud’ staining one of their feet was also brought through the eighteen formations.

After passing through the formations…they entered the ‘forbidden zone’. There were many roving patrols here.

Rumble…

The mosquito-Ning was flying through the forbidden region.

“This place truly is guarded tightly. What’s going on here?” The mosquito-Ning flew into a gorge with many mosquitos, maintaining the speed of an ordinary mosquito. “The deeper I go into this gorge, the tighter the guard becomes.”

Deep within the gorge, there was a castle.

The castle was covered with a layer of light which not even mosquitos could pass into. The number of black-robed figures patrolling this place was simply astonishing. All of them emanated auras of tremendous power, at least at the Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal level.

“Some of the black-robed figures are merely at the Wanxiang or Primal level…but the ones guarding this castle are all Loose Immortals, and there are more than a hundred of them?” Ning was secretly speechless. More than a hundred Loose Immortals were standing guard outside; the number of true guardians must definitely be even greater.

“This castle…?” The mosquito-Ning landed, staring at the distant castle.

He waited until nightfall, until a group of gray-robed figures came walking out from within the castle.

“Finally, someone came out from the castle. These people have fairly powerful auras; they seem to all be Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals. Heeeey…why are they all…?”

Ning suddenly discovered, to his astonishment, that each of the gray-robed figures had looks of exhaustion on their faces. Their exhaustion was so evident that Ning could sense it from a great distance away.