Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

They quickly began to stare vigilantly against each other, stealthily pulling apart.

Nobody wanted to suddenly start a giant, chaotic battle of over a hundred people. They were confident in their ability to handle a wild battle with seven or eight people, but a wild battle with over a hundred… once a person was trapped, there would be no way to escape.

“Time to go.”

“This is going to be troublesome. More than a hundred thousand people, all of whom are crafty and cautious. To be able to survive to the very end and become one of the final ninety-six… that is going to be very difficult.”

“Power alone won’t be enough. Even the most powerful competitor, when surrounded and attacked by a hundred in a formation, will have no option but death.”

The people all quickly departed.

As for Ning… only after his ship had fled more than several thousand kilometers and entered a large mountain did Ning reappear.

“To overcome the trial of the Diagram… power is just one aspect of it. This is also a trial of the mind, a trial of intelligence.” Ning quickly understood this. Everyone was a Wanxiang Adept, after all, and everyone was a supreme talent. They had all essentially reached the limit of what was possible for a Wanxiang Adept to accomplish; to be able to improve any further would be incredibly difficult.

The average person here was at least comparable to an ordinary peak Primal Daoist! If a hundred people joined together in a formation, then they would definitely be comparable to a supreme Loose Immortal!

“I have to be careful and cautious… and also ruthless. I need to seize any opportunities and to kill at high speed. I can’t let myself be surrounded.” Ning nodded to himself.

In the plaza below, the delegates from the 3600 commanderies and the four seas all raised their heads and watched, extremely nervous.

Previously, they had all felt that their own disciples were quite formidable, but as they watched… they realized that every single person was crafty and capable. There were more than ten thousand who had reached the twelfth level of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens]! There were even more who had cultivated earthfire or dire-ice to the first grade. None of them were easy to deal with.

“Why is it that I suddenly feel as though senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, and eldest apprentice-brother are all in a lot of danger?” Northson blinked.

“Right.” Adept Vastriver shook his head. “As I see it… I imagine that most likely, more than half of these individuals are reincarnated Immortals.”

The Whitewater Hound and Little Qing just stared fixedly at the skies, paying attention to Ning the entire time. Wherever Ning ran to, their gazes would turn to.

The atmosphere within the main hall of the Skylight Palace, by contrast, was much more relaxed.

The black-robed Emperor sat there. He took a sip from the wineglass he was holding, then said with a smile, “This Conclave shall initially proceed within the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers for a year. This is just the beginning; the most exciting parts will come later.”

The Celestial Immortals seated below him were all chatting and laughing as well.

“That little fellow isn’t bad. He actually killed someone, then scared someone into throwing their talisman away. Who is that little fellow?”

“I don’t recognize him.”

“Never seen him.”

The Celestial Immortals chatted and laughed, but as they watched, they saw that the likes of the long-famous ‘Xiamang Zishan’, ‘Cangwu Jiu’, ‘Adept Woodpass’, and others had yet to truly put on an awe-inspiring display. Instead, they suffered repeated attacks by groups of others and were often put in quite sorry positions. To the contrary, it was the figures that they had never heard about and who were heretofore unknown who were suddenly revealing their terrifying power.

“A cataclysm of the Three Realms truly does cause heroes to gather.” The black-robed Emperor was quite satisfied. “I imagine that many formidable figures who no one had ever known about in the past are going to display their truly shocking power.”

Right at this moment…

Suddenly, a clear voice rang out. “Fellow Daoist Xiamang, I come uninvited; are you willing to welcome me, fellow Daoist?”

The black-robed Emperor’s face changed slightly, and the thousand Celestial Immortals seated below him all quieted down as well. From the mists and clouds outside, eight figures suddenly appeared, each of whom had different appearances. There was a dissolute, handsome man who was dressed in an azure Daoist robe; there was a middle-aged Buddhist who was dressed in yellow robes; there was an old man who was riding an old bull; there was a muscular, golden-eyed man who was dressed in dragon robes…

All eight of them had marvelous, unfathomable, profound auras about them.

The eight caused the thousand Celestial Immortals to secretly feel as though their hearts were trembling. As for the Grand Xia Emperor, he immediately arose from his throne and walked down.

“Fellow Daoists, why is it that you’ve decided to come to my Grand Xia?” The black-robed Emperor laughed, “Come, come, come, come and sit!” He waved a hand, and on the two sides next to his throne, eight more seats and tables appeared. Immortal fruit and nectar appeared atop the tables as well, and they were far better than the fare provided to the Celestial Immortals.

“Why we came to your Grand Xia? Fellow Daoist Xiamang, can it be that you don’t know?” The leader of the group, an azure-robed man who carried an Immortal sword on his back, laughed in a hearty manner. “The Three Realms are currently filled with dangerous hidden undercurrents. Most likely, a great cataclysm is coming. This is precisely the point in time when heroic figures will emerge into the world. Your Grand Xia is one of the most highly ranked of the three thousand major worlds in terms of karmic luck; perhaps one of the peerless figures of the future will be born here. That is why I, Lu Dongbin, have shamelessly come here. You won’t mind, will you, fellow Daoist Xiamang?” [1. Lu Dongbin is one of the most famous Immortals in Chinese mythology, and he is reputed to lead an entire group known as the Eight Immortals, although these eight are not them. From this point on in the story, a lot of ‘real’ Chinese mythology is going to be incorporated. I will do my best to point it out when it occurs via footnotes.]

Although his voice echoed loudly, none of the nearby Celestial Immortals could hear anything.

“Senior apprentice-brother Xiamang, my own major world just concluded a Conclave of Immortal Destiny, and so Eastflower paid a visit to my place, then insisted on pulling me here as well.” The muscular, golden-eyed man who was dressed in dragon robes spoke in a resigned manner.

“Sovereign Hao, since you knew how shameless this Lu Dongbin is, you truly should have stopped him.” The Xia Emperor spoke with resignation.

“As for myself, this old man is just here to watch the fun. Don’t worry, don’t worry; I’m not here to try and snatch some of the geniuses from your major world,” the old man riding the old bull laughed merrily.

“I’m just here to watch the fun as well.”

“I’m just wandering about.”

They all spoke out.