Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“Despicable fellow!” Roch ground his teeth. “I hate the fact that I…”

“Big Brother Rocky.” Xin stood there next to him. Roch raised his head, looking towards her. “Don’t give up. I believe that you will definitely succeed.” Xin’s eyes were slightly red. Roch instantly felt a warm feeling in his heart, and he nodded strongly.

“Succeed? Hmph.” From nearby, a strange, bizarre sounding snort could be heard. “Little Sister Xin, let’s go. We should go to our Thousand Rivers School.” Xin gave Roch a deep look, but in the end, she had to leave. She had to go to the main sect. Had to embark on her Immortal path.

Roch silently watched as she left.

“Little Xin. Wait for me,” Roch silently said to himself. However, the fact that he had been kicked out by various schools for three days in a row made Roch feel all the more miserable and frantic in his heart.

……

Within the Black-White College. Ning was carefully observing Cloudship, Cloudjade, and Forgard. Although Baiwei had brought them here, if Ning truly disliked them, he could still kick them out. After all, masters and retainers would be together for a very long period of time. As for Cloudship, Cloudjade, and Forgard, they were rather nervous as well.

“This Forgard was originally a guard? And is quite loyal?” Ning had immediately felt well-disposed towards Forgard. “Cloudship, upon seeing me, immediately smiled; he knows how to flatter. As for his little sister, Cloudjade…what the hell was Baiwei thinking? Why’d he deliver such an alluring girl to me?”

Cloudjade definitely could be considered an alluring girl. In terms of appearance alone, she was not even inferior to Meng Xin, and more attractive than even Ninelotus. In addition, her entire body seemed to naturally exude a certain magnetism, and her soft, moist eyes were extremely seductive as well. It seemed as though ever since she had seen Ning, she was either consciously or unconsciously attempting to seduce him.

“Forgard. Why do you have a name like this?” Ning asked.

Forgard said solemnly, “Originally, I had no name. Afterwards, I was given a name by the young master and served him for many years. Perhaps the young master felt that I would have great future accomplishments, and so he gave me this life-changing chance. And thus, he also gave me a Daoist title, ‘Forgard’; he wished for me to forget that I was once a guard, and wished for me to truly become a formidable Immortal practitioner.

Ning nodded.

Whoosh. The ship descended towards Darknorth Peak. The nearby Cloudship, Cloudjade, and Forgard all nervously awaited Ning’s questions…but unexpectedly, Ning didn’t ask them a single thing.

“Uncle White.” Upon landing, Ning spoke out, and the Whitewater Hound immediately appeared. Ning glanced towards the three retainers and many commoners, then said in a clear voice, “All of you, listen up. This is Darknorth Peak, of the Black-White College. Here in my Darknorth Peak…you must always obey the words of my Uncle White. Whatever Uncle White tells you to do, you do. You must never disobey.”

“Yes.” Cloudship, Cloudjade, Forgard, and the crowd of commoners all assented respectfully.

“Uncle White, those three are retainers, while the rest are all ordinary mortals.” Ning looked towards the Whitewater Hound. “I’ll hand full responsibility for all matters in Darknorth Peak to you, Uncle White. Give them their instructions and tell them about the rules here at the Black-White College.”

The Whitewater Hound immediately transformed into mist, and when he reformed, he appeared as a white-robed, white-haired man.

The white-robed, white-haired man had a very gentle look in his eyes, and he seemed to extrude a natural aura of friendliness, as though he brought the gentle, warm spring wind with him. He laughed and said, “Ning, son, go ahead and leave these things to me.”

“Alright.” Ning immediately transformed into a ray of light, quickly departing from Darknorth Peak. As for the others, including the retainers, they were restricted as to where in the Black-White College they could go.

A short while later, Ning arrived before the mountain peak which was the residence of his master, Immortal Diancai.

“Ji Ning. Enter.” A calm voice rang out by Ning’s ears. “Yes, Master.” Ning immediately descended towards the peak.





* * *





Book 7, Chapter 35 - Immortal Diancais Guidance


There was no one within the hall, only the black-haired, black-robed Immortal Diancai. The Immortal was seated in the lotus position atop his jade bed. Ning stepped into the room, then immediately bowed with respect. “Master.”

Immortal Diancai nodded slightly. He looked at Ning, a hint of amusement visible on his face. “Ji Ning, I heard that yesterday, you defeated two of your senior apprentice-brothers?”

“Yes,” Ning said. “Only, I’m afraid my fellow disciples won’t let the matter rest. Today, they will probably come challenge me again. Thus, I have come to you, Master, in the hope that you can provide me with some guidance.”

“Mm. At least you are grounded. You didn’t grow arrogant just because you defeated two Zifu Disciples.” Immortal Diancai nodded. “Everyone who has been accepted to the Black-White College is a supreme genius. The third generation is primarily divided into Zifu Disciples and Wanxiang Adepts.” Ning listened carefully.

“My Black-White College has more than a hundred Zifu Disciples, and more than two hundred Wanxiang Adepts. Why?” Immortal Diancai continued, “These disciples are all at fairly high levels of comprehension; if they wanted to enter the Wanxiang Adept level, I imagine that all of them would be able to do so. The reason why there are still a hundred-plus Zifu Disciples is for several reasons; firsts of all, they want to solidify their bases of power and prepare an ‘Immortal foundation’. The second is because they wish to increase their level of insight and comprehension; that way, when they encounter the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, they will naturally have a greater chance of surviving them.”

Ning nodded. Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations…as an Immortal practitioner, Ning naturally knew of them. The power of these trials was something that was related to time; the more time passed, the more powerful they would become. In addition, they were also related to one’s karmic merits or sins. The greater the sin, the more difficult the tribulation. Finally, they were also related to one’s level of power. If they had trained for the same period of time, the tribulation for a Primal Daoist would be more dangerous than the tribulation for a Wanxiang Adept….

But of course, there were many other variables. It was difficult to predict the power of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, and in the end, it was the guillotine held over the necks of all Immortal practitioners.

However, there was one commonality: Strengthen one’s level of comprehension! Strengthen one’s soul! Strengthen one’s Dao-heart! The more stable one’s foundation was, the greater one’s chances at overcoming the tribulations would be.

“It is precisely because they wish to prepare for the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, and because they wish to establish a foundation to become a Celestial Immortal, that none of them are in a hurry to make their breakthrough,” Immortal Diancai explained. “Generally speaking, new disciples will remain at the Zifu stage for ten or so years. But of course, those who are slightly weaker in terms of comprehension might stay at that level for fifty or sixty years. As for the extremely talented ones, they’ll stay at that level for half a year before making their breakthrough.”