Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

“I swear!!!”


“No matter who did it! No matter who they are…all of them…each of them…every last one of them…they will all die. ALL OF THEM WILL DIE!!!” Ning held his sobbing junior apprentice-brother, his own tears falling down as he swore an oath in his mind.





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Book 15, Chapter 1 - The Full Story


The pain and despair that he had suppressed for so many years all came howling out with his cries. Slowly, Mu Northson regained his faculties and let go of Ji Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother, I’m fine now. I wasn’t able to control myself just now; I made a fool of myself in front of you.”

“We’re brothers; why say such things?” Ning looked towards Northson. “Junior apprentice-brother, tell me – what happened?!”

“Nothing.” Northson shook his head. “What was to happen already has.”

Northson looked at Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother, how did you get here? This is a forbidden region that is tightly guarded; not even Celestial Immortals can barge their way inside.”

Ning looked at his tired, downtrodden junior apprentice-brother. He felt pain in his heart; at a time like this, his junior apprentice-brother was actually refusing to say anything. Ning immediately said, “I know this is a forbidden region. I also know…that this is the Flamedoor Commandery’s Eastwoods mountain range. Given my abilities, if I want to enter this place, no one will be able to find out. Junior apprentice-brother, tell me…what has happened?!”

“No need to ask.” Northson shook his head.

“If I was faced with this situation, wouldn’t you ask?” Ning rebutted.

Northson was startled. It was true. They were like brothers; if Ning was in such a dire situation, Northson wouldn’t be able to ignore it.

“Tell me,” Ning said earnestly.

“Senior apprentice-brother.” Northson looked at Ning. “Telling you would be harming you. I’ve already been damned; I don’t want you to be damned as well.”

Ning understood that this must certainly involve an important matter; the number of Loose Immortals around that castle was enough to tell Ning that the amount of power that had been gathered here in the Eastwoods mountain range alone was on the same level as the power available to the Northmont clan of Stillwater; in fact, it might even be greater. As for the great power behind this place…

“Junior apprentice-brother, don’t underestimate me. You know very well that this is a forbidden region which is not easily entered, but I still managed to make it in. I’m no longer the same person I was,” Ning said earnestly. “After the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, I joined a Daofather’s school and became the Daofather’s disciple.”

The Old Patriarch had only forbidden Ning from saying that he was his disciple; so long as Ning didn’t say the words ‘Patriarch Subhuti’, he wouldn’t be violating his master’s orders.

“What?!” Northson was stunned.

“I’ve trained for thirty-plus years and my power has increased greatly. I finally managed to obtain permission from Master to return to the Grand Xia.” Ning looked at Northson. “Even if I truly do encounter any danger, my master will intervene and rescue me. The world of the Grand Xia currently truly is filled with dangerous undercurrents, and there is even a hidden power that is capable of fighting against the Grand Xia Emperor himself. But if my master was to intervene, he would be able to save my life with utter ease…and thus, there is nothing for you to worry about.”

Northson was dazed.

“You don’t believe me? Take a look!” Ning waved his hand. Instantly, one top-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword after another appeared, clustered together in a tight pile. Because they all had to be kept within this room, they were all piled on top of one another.

“These…” Northson could sense the power of these top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords.

“You should be capable of recognizing these for what they are by now,” Ning said.

“Top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords?” Northson guessed.

“Yes.” Ning nodded. “There are a thousand here.”

Northson’s throat clenched. Even though he was here in this forbidden region where he had seen a fraction of the true strength of this mysterious power…he was still stunned by Ji Ning! Top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords…every single one of them was extremely valuable. A set of a thousand was utterly inconceivable!

“After I left my master’s tutelage, my master gifted them to me.” Ning looked at Northson. “In addition, I was able to easily enter this forbidden region. Do you believe me now?”

Northson was beginning to be moved.

“Take a look at this.” Ning’s body flickered.

Swish. He transformed into another Mu Northson, dressed in the same gray robes, with the same exhausted complexion and some white hairs on his head.

“But, but…” Northson stared in disbelief at Ning. “Even the aura is absolutely identical…even the amount of karmic virtue is the same! This cannot be!”

“Why can’t it be? Change again!”

Ning then transformed into Immortal Fivecraze, then into the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang, then into Youngflame Nong, then into Celestial Immortal King Yan…

He quickly transformed into more than ten figures the two both recognized before changing back into his normal appearance.

“Are you still worried about me?” Ning looked at Northson.

“I believe you when you say that you took on a Daofather as your master. I’ve never even heard of a transformation ability like this one.” Northson nodded, then said in a low voice, “I know that you, senior apprentice-brother, definitely wish to understand everything which happened. Fine…I’ll talk.”

Ning let out a sigh of relief.

Northson sat down. “We still have slightly less than an hour…so I’ll start from when I met Yu Xia. Years ago, in Stillwater City, I met Yu Xia. She was a disciple of the Thousand Rivers Sect, but was filled with curiosity towards the Dao of Constructs. But naturally, her ability in the Dao of Constructs was far inferior to mine.”

After the death of his master, Northson could be considered the number one expert in the Dao of Constructs within the Black-White College! This was because there were very few people within the College who trained in this Dao, and also because he truly did have a high amount of talent within this Dao.

“Yu Xia would often ask me for guidance, and I’d give her advice.” A hint of a smile appeared on Northson’s face. “After a long time…the two of us ended up together, becoming Dao-companions. Those were the happiest days of my life; I felt carefree and without any worries. Alongside my Dao-companion, I continued to study the Dao of Formations in a content, relaxed manner.”

“Yu Xia and I lived in an out-of-the-way place, atop a wild prairie. We built a house next to a lake, and we lived a peaceful life there.”

“I wish so deeply…”

“…to have been able to live there forever.”

Northson shut his eyes. “But then…that day came. A group of black-robed men arrived, all of them Loose Immortals, and formidable ones at that. Yu Xia was merely a Wanxiang Adept, while I had just broken through to become a Primal Daoist. The two of us were completely unable to fight back.”

“I was captured. Yu Xia was killed. After she died, her soul wasn’t permitted to be reborn; rather, it was captured as well.”

Ning’s pupils shrank.

Even after Yu Xia died, her soul had still been captured?

“I was brought here,” Northson said. “Brought here, to this forbidden region. The people in this region ordered me to help them build constructs.”