Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

“Ninefangs, waited for me here,” Ning instructed. Ning then flew by himself towards the top of the mountain peak, where the Celestial Immortal was waiting for him. “Sword Immortal Darknorth, please follow me.”


As Ning was led forward, he secretly sighed to himself. Generally speaking, most major powers would beautify their residences. The Dao Palace of the East, Mount Ling of the West, Mount Innerheart, the Celestial Court…these were all beautiful places. Exalted Celestial Thundergod, however, had chosen a place that was nearly pitch-black. This levitating mountain didn’t even have a single speck of vegetation.

“The Exalted Celestial is over there,” the soldier said hurriedly.

Ning took a look. He saw a tall, towering figure seated in the distance. The figure had to be at least thirty thousand meters tall.

True Gods were born with bodies of this size; it could be considered a ‘normal’ height.

“Good.” Ning smiled and nodded, then walked towards the figure. He soon arrived at the dais before the figure, then said respectfully, “Ji Ning pays his respects to you, Exalted Celestial Thundergod.”

The towering, muscular figure, dressed in pitch-black armor, opened his eyes. Sparks of lightning could be seen within them as he gazed down at the miniscule Ning. “Ji Ning. I’ve heard of you before. Suhbuti is indeed talented in teaching his disciples. Go ahead and speak. Why have you come to my place?”

Ning secretly let out a sigh of relief. From the sound of it, this person would most likely be willing to give Ning’s master, Patriarch Subhuti, some face.

“This junior is in desperate need of a Ninehorn Lightning Serpent,” Ning said respectfully. “Of the major powers of the Three Realms, only you, Exalted Celestial Thundergod, are in possession of these lightning serpents. This junior would like to beg you, Exalted Celestial, to bestow one such serpent. I am willing to use Protocosmic spirit-treasures to trade for it.”

The towering Thundergod just closed his eyes. He said in a calm voice, “Leave. Immediately.”

Ning was stunned.

Exalted Celestial Thundergod wasn’t even going to discuss this, and instead had ordered Ning to leave immediately? What was he supposed to do?

“Exalted Celestial, this junior is willing to use treasures to trade for it. Please consi-…” Ning said frantically.

Exalted Celestial Thundergod opened his eyes. His gaze was like ice. “If you don’t leave…don’t blame me for showing no mercy!”

For a moment, Ning didn’t know what to do.

“SCRAM!” Exalted Celestial Thundergod glared coldly towards Ning as he roared at him.

Ning’s face turned ashen. He immediately bowed, turned, and left.





* * *





Book 19, Chapter 47 - No Other Options


Empyrean God Ninefangs was waiting outside the levitating mountain atop his cloud. Suddenly, he saw his Manorlord, Ji Ning, appear from within the distant mountain peaks. Ning was hurriedly walking in his direction. Ninefangs couldn’t help but feel surprised: “Why has the Manorlord returned so quickly from his meeting with Exalted Celestial Thundergod?”

Swoosh.

With a single step, Ning moved to Ninefangs’ cloud.

“Manorlord?” Ninefangs whispered softly.

“Let’s leave.” Ning didn’t waste time explaining. He immediately released his Voidboat, entered it alongside Ninefangs, then departed through the Void.

……

A Voidboat suddenly appeared amidst the clouds of the major world known as the ‘Hu Kingdom’.

“When Exalted Celestial Thundergod first saw me, he was clearly quite courteous. But as soon as I mentioned the Ninehorn Lightning Serpent, he immediately turned hostile.” Ning carefully pondered what had just happened. Given that the Three Realms had been swept into a storm, most of the major powers in their alliance were fairly friendly towards the younger fellows. Ning had already met with figures like Daofather Crimsonbright, Fuxi, and others. All of them were very friendly to him. Although Exalted Celestial Thundergod was famous for his explosive temper, he had also been quite friendly at first as well.

“Why did he turn so hostile when I mentioned the Ninehorn Lightning Serpent? I was willing to use treasures to trade for it, but he wasn’t even willing to consider it.” Ning frowned in thought. “What should I do? The only major power in the Three Realms that possesses Ninehorn Lightning Serpents is Exalted Celestial Thundergod. If I can’t acquire one from him, then I’ll have no choice but to go to a lightning sea if I want to train in this technique…”

Capturing Ninehorn Lightning Serpents was incredibly difficult. Not even the major powers who were skilled in capturing creatures were generally willing to spend the effort necessary, as the Ninehorn Lightning Serpents were of no use to them. The only one who was willing to spend so many years on this task was Exalted Celestial Thundergod, who had captured quite a few of them over the countless eons.

“Manorlord?” Ninefangs asked, puzzled, “Why have we come to the Hu Kingdom?”

“To visit True Immortal Hu Yu, of course,” Ning said.

The Hu clan was a clan that was subordinate to the Primordial Imperial Clan of humanity. Although it was quite flourishing, it had never given birth to a True God or a Daofather. After the Primordial World was destroyed and the Three Realms were born, the Hu clan had moved here to this major world, taking it over! Given the Hu clan’s power, conquering a major world was very easy.

Even back during the Primordial Era, the Hu clan had more than eighteen Empyrean Gods and True Immortals amongst their ranks. By now, they had more than thirty!

“True Immortal Hu Yu?” Ninefangs was puzzled. He didn’t understand why Ning wished to meet with True Immortal Hu Yu.

Whoosh. Ning spread out his coresense to encompass the entire major world, quickly discovering True Immortal Hu Yu’s location.

……

Within a secluded mountain valley. There were a few thatched cottages scattered throughout the valley. A few women could be seen teasing each other, some of them playing around within the waters of a creek.

“Fellow Daoist Hu Yu.” A voice suddenly rang out within the valley.

“Mm?” One of the women playing around within the water, a green-robed woman, unleashed her coresense. She immediately located the white-robed youth and the bald elder located outside the formation protecting this valley.

“Ji Ning?” The green-robed woman immediately recognized him. “That bald old man by his side should be Empyrean God Ninefangs, one of the seven Empyrean Gods led by Empyrean God Redsnow who appeared within the Realmwar for the Crimsonbright Realm.”

“Big sister, what is it?”

“Big sister.”

The other women all emerged from the creek and from their respective houses, gathering around her. In truth, women were all Celestial Immortals who were under the tutelage of True Immortal Hu Yu. However, True Immortal Hu Yu disliked referring to others as ‘disciple’ or being referred to as ‘master’, and so these women usually referred to her as ‘big sister’.

“No more playing around,” True Immortal Hu Yu instructed. Instantly, the female Celestial Immortals all fell silent, no longer daring to run around. However, they were all curious…who was this visitor?

True Immortal Hu Yu waved her hand.

Whoosh.

An opening suddenly appeared at the end of the gorge. This gorge had been covered by a protective barrier which wasn’t easy to penetrate. From the opening emerged two men, a white-robed youth and a bald old servant.

“Fellow Daoist Darknorth.” True Immortal Hu Yu smiled merrily.

“Fellow Daoist Hu Yu. I’ve come with a request,” Ning said.

“Oh? Come inside and speak. If there’s anything I can help you with, fellow Daoist, I definitely won’t just stand by idle.” True Immortal Hu Yu was extremely curious. What did this famous Sword Immortal Darknorth wish of her? She immediately guided Ning into a thatched cottage.