Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

Darknorth…this was also the name of the swords he wielded. They symbolized that he would embark on a path of his own.

Darknorth. This also was the place where his parents had met and fallen in love. This was a way of memorializing his parents.

“Father. Mother…” Ning was silent for quite some time as he reminisced. And then, he turned his head and immediately flew towards the skies atop his flying boat.

……….

Soon, he arrived at the formal gates to the Black-White College. His Uncle White had been waiting here the entire time. Ning immediately saw that large, snowy white dog who was quietly waiting by the side of the lake. The Whitewater Hound was simply standing there, waiting.

“Uncle White.” Ning immediately charged down. The Whitewater Hound lifted his head, a questioning look in his eyes. “It’s done.” Ning landed, then nodded. “I’m already a disciple of the Black-White College.”

“If Big Brother Yichuan knew this, he would definitely be ecstatic.” The Whitewater Hound’s eyes became filled with delight and excitement as well. The Black-White College! What sort of a school was this? The status of a formal disciple of Black-White College was far higher than that of a Wanxiang Adept of an ordinary school.

Right at this moment…

“Hahaha, Brother Ji Ning, you only have eyes for this spirit-beast of yours. You didn’t even notice me.” A voice rang out, and Ning immediately turned to look. There was a carriage parked before the gates, and Northmont Baiwei was descending from that carriage.

“Brother Baiwei.” Ning immediately went to greet him. Baiwei said, “I expected that you would definitely become a disciple of the Black-White College, so I predicted that you would return at around nightfall.”

“Sorry for making you wait so long, Brother Baiwei,” Ning said. Baiwei’s eyes radiated excitement as he spoke. “Not long at all. You have no idea how happy I was as I waited. Especially towards the end, when those other geniuses emerged, like Hua Chong, Liu Shuilian…they have been famous for quite some time now, but in the end, all of them had been eliminated.”

Ning nodded gently. “Hua Chong and the others you mentioned; they should have been eliminated after the final trial.” Ning had a fairly deep impression regarding Hua Chong, who also had reached the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] and whose aunt was a Primal Daoist of the school.

“No matter what, they all slunk away in defeat,” Baiwei said. “In the end…the Skysplitter Sword Sect, the Hundred Flowers Fairyland, and the other schools will still accept many disciples. Given their talent, they can easily enter. Only the Black-White College…unless one is truly a supreme, unparalleled genius, they won’t accept them. Even the most talented of geniuses must undergo a thorough examination. Given their pride, of course they came. What a pity, what a pity.”

There was no hint of pity on the face of Baiwei at all; all he had on his face was a look of schadenfreude.

“Right. How many disciples did the Black-White College accept this time?” Baiwei hurriedly asked. “Today was the first day. They took in two disciples,” Ning replied. “I was one. Another is named Mu Northson.”

Baiwei nodded lightly. “Mu Northson? This is a name I’ve never heard of before. It seems as though some of the backwater, out-of-the-way areas will occasionally produce a supreme genius from time to time. When you are free, why don’t you bring this Mu Northson over? We’ll meet and make friends with each other.”

“Easily done,” Ning nodded. Baiwei said, “I came for two reasons. First, to congratulate you on becoming a disciple of the Black-White College. Secondly, to ask you for some help.”

Ning laughed. “As long as I can help, I will.” Baiwei looked at Ning. “Here’s the situation. You should know that formal disciples of the Black-White College are permitted to bring in ten retainers with them, right?”

Ning nodded. Ten retainers…to be a retainer of a disciple of the Black-White College was far more alluring a position than being a disciple of an ordinary school. This was because the retainer would live within the Black-White College! Even though it would be very, very hard for them to acquire any techniques, anything they did acquire would be supreme, top-tier techniques.”

“Loan me three of those positions,” Baiwei said. “You should know that I have many family and friends. There are many that I will find hard to reject, once they ask me to help.”

Ning laughed. “Why the courtesy? Of the ten positions, you can take nine of them. Just leave one for me!”

That one…

Ning thought back to Meng Roch, who he had encountered on the road to Stillwater City. He knew that after Roch had used a forbidden technique, he had definitely harmed his own foundation. He would most likely find it hard to join any school.





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Book 7, Chapter 21 - Viewing the Sculpture at Night


“Leave you with just one?” Baiwei hurriedly shook his head. “How can I do that? Although your Ji clan isn’t too large, you still have people who broke through to the Zifu Disciple level. I imagine some of them would wish to become a retainer for a full disciple of the Black-White College. In addition, in the future, you might encounter a powerful figure who would ask you for a slot. How about this; I’ll shamelessly take five of your retainer positions, while you hold on to the remaining five. If, in the future, the five you have is insufficient, come talk to me…I’ll come up with some methods for having those Zifu Disciples enter a good school. But of course, they must be of the early Zifu stage.”

Ning laughed, then nodded. “That’s fine as well.” But in truth, he really did only need a single slot. Retainers entered the Black-White College for the sake of gaining top-tier Ki Refining techniques, but they ideally needed to be early stage Zifu Disciples as well.

If one entered as a middle stage or late stage Zifu Disciple, one’s path would have become set; there was no way to go back! The Ji clan’s Zifu Disciples consisted of Patriarch Ji Ninefire, Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, and Ji Truekeep.

The Patriarch and the others were all peak Zifu Disciples, while Truekeep was a middle stage Zifu Disciple; their paths were already set. As for the younger members of the Ji clan? For one of them to reach the Zifu Disciple would probably need some time.

“Even if our Ji clan is capable of producing a new Zifu Disciple, they can still rely on their own power to join another sect,” Ning mused to himself. “If my help is truly needed, in a few years, my power and status will most likely be higher as well.” In his heart, though, Ning wanted to let those future descendants of the Ji clan fight for their paths.

At most, he would occasionally give them some opportunities! Only when one adventured through the world by one’s self would one not fear the wind and the waves of life.

“Alright.” Baiwei nodded. “In two days, after the Black-White College has concluded its recruitment cycle, I will send five Zifu Disciples to you, as well as some ordinary commoners.”

“Ordinary commoners?” Ning was startled. Baiwei smiled. “Given how few in number the formal disciples of the Black-White College are, each of them take up an entire mountain for themselves…although the Zifu Disciple are servants and retainers, they still have to train as well. You can’t make them spend all their time boiling water, watering the plants, or doing cleaning, right? You can give them some important tasks, but for the normal tasks, you can have the commoners carry it out.” Ning now understood.