Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

“The more of a talented monster he is, the more he needs to be eradicated!”


“Hmph. I’ll let you act smugly for now. You are nothing more than a genius in a Conclave. There’s a Conclave every three centuries. I can’t even count how many times a Conclave has gone on… but how many of the winners end up being Celestial Immortals?” Patriarch Arcanum mused silently to himself, “If you can’t become a Celestial Immortal, in the end you’ll never be able to step out onto the grand stage.”

“The Xia Emperor cares deeply about this Conclave, and quite a few Pure Yang True Immortals are watching as well. However, they are doing nothing more than just watching; after all, consider how exalted a status True Immortals have! They are experts of the Three Realms who definitely will not choose apprentices casually. They shouldn’t decide to accept Ji Ning as a disciple, right? So long as the True Immortals don’t take him as an apprentice… once the chance comes, I’ll definitely exterminate him.”

Patriarch Arcanum felt an extremely intense desire to kill.

He had truly felt love for Youngflame Nong, and he truly wanted to avenge him! In addition, the feud between the Youngflame clan and Ning was by now an enormous one; after all, the Youngflame clan had even sent Deathsworn to assassinate him. If Ji Ning truly did spread his wings one day… how could he not desire to take revenge?

Given how much monstrous talent he had displayed in this Conclave… how could Ji Ning be permitted to continue to grow like this?

He had to be eradicated!

But of course… if a Pure Yang True Immortal really did accept Ji Ning as his disciple, then Patriarch Arcanum would have no choice but to swallow this bitter fruit.

“Generally speaking, the number of disciples a Pure Yang True Immortal accepts can be counted on one hand. They definitely will not casually accept new apprentices.” Patriarch Arcanum quietly hoped that none of the True Immortals would suddenly reach out and take on Ji Ning as a disciple. If that happened… he would truly be stupefied.

……

Ning sat in the lotus position atop the mountain peak.

Suddenly…

“The year has ended. The eighty contestants with the most talismans have successfully passed the trial of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers.” The voice of the Emperor of the Grand Xia suddenly rang out in the minds of every single person present within the Diagram.

With it, a rumbling sound could be heard…

Rays of golden light shot out to surround Ji Ning, Xiamang Zishan, Adept Ninedeaths, the Sloppy Daoist, and the rest of the eighty. Some were seated in the lotus position, others were walking around, and still others were sleeping. In short, all of their bodies were surrounded by golden light; clearly, the light was meant to let the people in the outside world be able to clearly see who the eighty were.

Swish, swish, swish!

The eighty were all immediately teleported out of the world of the Diagram.

“The 159 of you who remain must engage in the final battle. Only sixteen of you are permitted to remain alive within the world of the Diagram.” The voice of the Emperor of the Grand Xia reverberated in each of their minds… and then all 159 of them were teleported to a vast, spacious grassland.

A grand sealing formation appeared on the grassland, spanning a hundred kilometers.

All 159 of them were locked within the sealing formation.

They all looked towards their fellow contestants.

“Start killing,” boomed the voice of the Emperor of the Grand Xia.

Instantly, the 159 competitors within the grand sealing formation began a berserk, final struggle against each other. This was a very small region of just a hundred kilometers; to people like them, who could move a hundred kilometers with a single movement… and with so many of them present… the battle here was exceptionally fierce and miserable. Many people were forced to voluntarily throw our their talismans and give up.

……

The clouds in front of the main hall of the Skylight Palace.

Ji Ning and the rest of the eighty all appeared atop the cloud. They looked at each other.

“Eh?” Ning quickly saw quite a few familiar faces; Xiamang Zishan, Cangwu Jiu, Adept Blackstone…

“Senior apprentice-brother.” Ning saw the Sloppy Daoist as well.

“Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” The Sloppy Daoist beamed as well.

“The eighty of you, all stand up!” An attendant wearing a crown spoke out to them coldly: “The other sixteen will appear shortly, at which point the ninety-six of you will jointly follow me to go pay your respects to his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor. This time, some Pure Yang True Immortals of the Three Realms have also arrived to watch. All of you need to know what the rules are; no matter what, you cannot offend or disturb one of the True Immortals.”

The crowned attendant had a pale, beardless face. He had an insidiously cold aura, and Ning and the others could tell from the invisible ripples of power that radiated from the man that this person… was most likely a Celestial Immortal.

This caused Ning and the others to all secretly sigh in amazement.

It was possible that not one of the hundred thousand-plus competitors would become a Celestial Immortal… but this attendant was one. This instantly caused Ning and the others to feel an invisible pressure push down upon them.





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Book 12, Chapter 19 - The Conclave of Immortal Destinys Awards


After a long period of time passed, another sixteen figures appeared atop the clouds. Most of these sixteen appeared to be in quite the sorry shape, and most of them were heavily wounded.

“Everyone is present.” The crowned attendant wave his arm, and instantly a rainbow-colored drizzle descended from the heavens onto Ning and the rest of the ninety-six. The rainbow raindrops quickly merged into their bodies, and the heavily wounded all saw their injuries immediately repaired, leaving them in perfect condition. Even those who had exhausted much of their divine power and elemental ki due to having battled for a long period of time saw their energy replenished. This caused Ning and the others to all feel stunned.

“Remember. The main hall of the Skylight Palace currently has nearly a thousand Celestial Immortals, his Imperial Majesty the Emperor, and Pure Yang True Immortals who have gathered from various places throughout the Three Realms. You absolutely must not be careless. If you anger a true True Immortal who takes your life on the spot, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” The crowned attendant swept his gaze past the ninety-six, pausing very slightly as he glanced at the Sloppy Daoist, whom he actually revealed a hint of a smile towards.

“Obey my commands. Let’s move,” the crowned attendant ordered.

He led the way up ahead. Ning and the other ninety-six followed from behind, walking through the clouds. They quickly arrived at a wide, spacious palace hall. The main hall of the Skylight Palace had no ceiling; above it was the infinitely vast firmament.

“So many Celestial Immortals.” Ning immediately saw the two rows of Celestial Immortals. They stretched all the way to the deepest parts of the main hall; there truly were nearly a thousand.

“In Stillwater Commandery, I didn’t even see a single Celestial Immortal Patriarch, but today I’ve seen so many. I imagine that the entire Grand Xia Empire must have several thousand Celestial Immortals. No wonder it is said that the emperor of a major world is capable of sitting down and speaking with the Celestial Emperor as equals.” Ning could sense the ripples of power coming from around him. The ripples that emanated from a Celestial Immortal, even when they were not actively flaring their power, was still enough to cause a Wanxiang Adept like Ning to feel tremendous pressure.

“Hmph!” Patriarch Arcanum was seated there. Upon seeing Ning walk past him, his long, narrow eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. He let out a cold snort, not disguising his hostility towards Ning at all.