Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

After speaking, the golden-robed envoy immediately disappeared through teleportation.

Arcanum held the scroll, a frown on his face. After humming for a moment, he immediately opened it to take a look first. The unfurled scroll revealed an image; it was indeed a scryer recording. Arcanum filled it with his Immortal energy, and the images instantly began to move. It was the scene of the eighteen Celestial Immortals battling Celestial Immortal Unity, as well as the scene of them being slain by Ji Ning.

“Is that…Celestial Immortal Violetgrass?” Arcanum immediately recognized Violetgrass, whom he had spoken with before a few times.

“Those eighteen Celestial Immortals are so powerful. They were actually able to suppress Unity. Unity is going to die.”

“What?!”

Upon seeing Ji Ning strike, Arcanum was instantly, completely stunned.

Good heavens…

But…but…

Ji Ning was far more powerful than he had been during their last battle at the Oldjade mountain range. Most likely, if all of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were to join forces, they still wouldn’t be able to withstand Ji Ning again. Arcanum knew exactly how deep the feud was between his clan and Ji Ning. Terrified, he immediately teleported back in a hurry.

……

Within the Worldhold Pagoda.

“What is it?” The Youngflame Ancestor emerged from an illusory space, two other Celestial Immortals following him.

“Ancestor.” The other four Celestial Immortals within the Worldhold Pagoda were incomparably respectful to him.

The seven Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were all gathered together here!

“Ancestor, the Seamless Gate sent this to us. Take a look.” Arcanum handed over the scroll, a serious look on his face.

“The Seamless Gate never comes to our Youngflame clan with good news.” The Youngflame Ancestor, Immortal Venomfreak, let out a cold laugh. He immediately unfurled the scroll, then let out a chuckle. “Oh, a scryer recording. Let me see what they are up to now.”

He filled it with his Immortal energy, and instantly the scenes of that battle began to replay.

Eighteen Celestial Immortals struck out in unison, suppressing Unity. Ji Ning attacked, True Immortal Gaudy appeared, the Xia Emperor appeared and defeated Gaudy…everything was included!

At first, Immortal Venomfreak just watched with a half-smirk on his face, but his face quickly began to change, becoming increasingly ugly to behold.

“So things really have come to this.”

Immortal Venomfreak’s pupils contracted slightly, his face turning as cold as ice.

The other six Celestial Immortals present all looked towards Immortal Venomfreak, awaiting his orders.

“I had thought that the Xia Emperor would only stand behind Ji Ning after he overcame his tribulation to become an Empyrean God. I didn’t imagine…that even before becoming an Empyrean God, he would become such a monster. If I was the Xia Emperor, I would stand behind Ji Ning as well.” Immortal Venomfreak had a dark look on his face.

“Ancestor, what should we do?”

“If Ji Ning comes…we can’t stop him.”

“Ancestor.”

They all looked towards their Ancestor, waiting for his orders.

The Ancestor was someone who had roamed the world back in the era of Pangu’s World, after all. Even many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals felt he was a pain to deal with.

“Ji Ning won’t launch a war against the Youngflame clan in the immediate future.” Immortal Venomfreak continued, “That’s because he was hurt from our last clash. He knows very well that I have many clones, and that if he isn’t able to wipe them all out, I’ll continue to harass him, becoming a nightmare for his clan.” Immortal Venomfreak’s eyes flashed with a savage light.

He was a sinister, insidious figure; he always had been.

“So we’re just going to ignore this?” Patriarch Deadwood frowned.

“You stupid blockhead,” Immortal Venomfreak snapped, “Didn’t you see how astonishingly fast Ji Ning grows in power? He’s already so powerful at the Void-level! I roamed the primordial world and have seen many things…but I’ve never seen a monster like him before! In the Primordial Era, only some of the most legendary of monsters might be comparable to him. A monster like him…if he continues to grow like this, he’ll definitely be given incredible power within the Crimsonbright League. In the end, in the future, even I might be unable to escape his reach…and once I die, the annihilation of the Youngflame clan will be set in stone. We won’t even have a chance to fight back.”

Celestial Immortal Infatuation and the others all nodded.

“Let me think about this. Let me think.” Immortal Venomfreak’s eyes narrowed. “I really didn’t expect it to come to this.”

He was a very cautious man. It was precisely because he was cautious, insidious, and crafty that he had been able to survive for so long despite having offended so many.

The other six Celestial Immortals all waited quietly.

“Make the arrangements right away for all the mortals of our Youngflame clan to be moved into the world within the Worldhold Pagoda.” Suddenly, Immortal Venomfreak began to give orders. “Trees die when uprooted, but people can survive. If push comes to shove…we flee!”

His greatest strength had always been fleeing!

“Evacuate all of them?” The six Celestial Immortals were amazed.

“All of them.” Immortal Venomfreak immediately ordered, “You have to be fast, as fast as possible. I want you to complete this within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea. If you don’t have enough time…it’s fine if you end up missing or discarding some of the mortals.”

“Alright.” The six Celestial Immortals all assented hurriedly.

The Worldhold Pagoda was a Protocosmic spirit-treasure with an entire world within it. Although it wasn’t as vast as the major world within Ning’s Starseizing Manor, it wasn’t small either. It would be easy to contain thirty billion people within it.

……

The Celestial Immortals gave the orders, and the Loose Immortals handled things personally.

Although all those who had lived in the Oldjade mountain range had been wiped out, after Ji Ning had been exiled to the Nihilum Zone, the Youngflame clan had moved billions of more clansmen back to Oldjade.

The Loose Immortals moved with incredible speed. The Youngflame clan had nearly a thousand Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals under their command, and they all moved in unison. Within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, they really did evacuate all of the clansmen from their three headquarters, moving them into the Worldhold Pagoda.

The seven Celestial Immortals of the Worldhold Pagoda stared at the vast land outside.

This was their fiefdom. They had fought for this land, had bled for it.

“Let’s go. We’ll have greater fiefs in the future, and our Youngflame clan will only grow stronger.” Immortal Venomfreak flew out of the tower. Waving his hand, he collected the Worldhold Pagoda, then disappeared into thin air.

……

That very night.

The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. The Skylight Palace.

“Your Imperial Majesty, Immortal Venomfreak asks for an audience,” a white-faced elder said respectfully.

The Xia Emperor lifted an eyebrow, a pensive look in his eyes. He then said, “Let him come.”

“Yes.” The white-faced elder immediately departed.

“He came quite quickly…it seems the Seamless Gate is once more trying to seduce him.” The Xia Emperor mused to himself, “When used correctly, Youngflame Freak is a sharp weapon as well. However…when you harm others, you harm yourself as well. He goes berserk too easily.” The Xia Emperor knew very well that madness was bred into the bones of Immortal Venomfreak; this was why the Xia Emperor had used his clan and fiefs to tie Immortal Venomfreak down, giving Venomfreak something to care about and thus a way to use him!