Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“You b*tch!” Northson instantly rose to his feet and roared with fury, “Previously, the six of you tried to ambush and sneak attack the two of us. Four of you died, and now, you are still trying to plot against us? Listen up, you b*tch! In the future, you’d best never run into me. If I do, I’ll take your life!”


“Right.” Ning stared coldly towards her as well. Unfortunately, this was the encampment of the Raindragon Guards; no one dared to fight here. As for Meng Liuqing, she just gave Ning and Northson a cold glance; since there was already enmity between them, why fear this additional threat?

“Fellow Daoists Ji Ning and Mu Northson.” Eastriver Cloudsoar turned to look towards Ning and Northson, then bowed deeply. “Those six didn’t go kill Diremonsters; instead, they came to ambush and kill us, fellow cultivators. They deserved to die in your hands, fellow Daoists. In the future, if either of you need anything, fellow Daoists, just let me know; I, Eastriver Cloudsoar, will definitely comply, even if I have to go through water or climb past fire.”

“You are too courteous. We, too, were ambushed and attacked, so we simply dealt with them.” Ning and Northson hurriedly went over to raise Cloudsoar from his bow.

………

Soon, all of the remaining, surviving cultivators had returned. Adept Redleaf returned as well! Only, Adept Redleaf had no idea that it had been Ji Ning and Mu Northson within that formation! Still, he had heard the Dragonwhale King say something about ‘blame Ji Ning’, and so he naturally gave Ning a deep look.

“You fifty two survived. If you have brought back the corpse or the head of a Wanxiang Diremonster, then you will naturally become Raindragon Guards,” the skinny elder said. “Go. Go into the teleportation array and return to the Crimson Dragon Mountains.”

The fifty two cultivators all entered the teleportation array. Soon, the array lit up, and Ning’s group of fifty two were once more teleported back to the Crimson Dragon Mountains, more than two million kilometers away.





* * *





Book 9, Chapter 1 - New Raindragon Guards


The winding Crimson Dragon Mountains stretched off into the endless horizons. Even Immortal cultivators couldn’t see to the end of them.

Atop one of its peaks, an enormous teleportation array began to glow with light. Whoooosh! Ji Ning and the rest of the fifty two suddenly appeared within the formation.

“That was fast.” Ning glanced at his surroundings. Although he had already used the array once, the speed at which it transported a person still caused him to sigh in amazement.

“Wait here. Soon, the Raindragon Guards will send people to welcome you,” said a red-faced old man in a high voice. He was one of the ten plainly dressed elders who were located around the array and guarded it.

Ning’s group thus obediently walked out of the array, waiting next to it quietly. Very soon, a large, wide ship swooped down from the distant clouds, causing waves of air to emanate from around it as it landed atop the peak.

An incomparably ravishing pink-dressed maiden flew down from this large ship. Behind her was a group of similarly alluring women. For a moment, it was as though a host of fairies had descended into the mortal world. And then, the spirit-beasts flew down as well, each of which immediately moved towards the cultivators.

“Uncle White!” Ning instantly recognized the Whitewater Hound, who was also amidst the group of spirit-beasts. The Whitewater Hound had a look of surprise and delight his eyes. Over the past three months, he had grown increasingly concerned. When the master of a spirit-beast died, the spirit-beast would regain its freedom, and they would sense when that occurred. Over the past period of time, spirit-beasts would often depart and fly away, and as one after another left, the spirit-beasts who remained began to understand that quite a few cultivators had died!

“Ning, son.” Uncle White looked towards Ning. Suddenly, he saw the head of the little azure snake, wrapped around Ning’s wrist. He couldn’t help but say in surprise, “Ning, son, this snake is…?”

“This is an Azure Skysnake,” Ning sent mentally to him. “She’s that Azure Skysnake who I battled in the past, when I adventured through Eastmount Marsh. This time, we were lucky enough to meet yet again in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains, and it can be said that we experienced a life-and-death event together. Perhaps because I saved her, she voluntarily offered to become my spirit-beast. And so…that’s how it happened.”

The Whitewater Hound nodded gently. He looked towards the Azure Skysnake with friendliness in his eyes while mentally saying to Ning, “Azure Skysnakes will often discover some treasure sites, and they have astonishing potential for growth. They are indeed quite suited for you, Ning.”

“So you are ‘Uncle White’?” Qingqing sent to him. The Whitewater Hound looked at her, amusement in his eyes. “You were good brothers with Ji Ning’s father, right? I heard that you are from Swallow Mountain as well. So am I. It can be said that we share the same hometown. Myself, Master, and you, Uncle White…we can be described as the Three Heroes of Swallow Mountain!”

…….

While Ning and the other cultivators were chatting with their spirit-beasts, the group of beautiful, alluring women stared with curiosity towards them. Their leader, the pink-robed woman, waited for a short while, then finally said, “Everyone…” The fifty two all looked towards her.

“First, let me congratulate you all for having survived. You may address me as ‘Daoist Yulan’.” Her flesh beneath the pink robe seemed both visible and hidden, and her voice was even more irresistibly charismatic. Ning’s retainer, Cloudjade, could be described as possessing innate beauty and seductiveness, but the charisma of this woman clearly came from some technique or some secret art which she had trained in. But her allure was even more powerful! In addition, she was a Primal Daoist; this made it so that even Wanxiang Adepts were susceptible to their Dao-hearts being affected by her charm.

“Each of you, please produce your corpses of Wanxiang Diremonsters for my inspection. I’ll review them, one by one.” Daoist Yulan looked at each of them, her eyes filled with a seductive, alluring look. “For those who have not acquired Wanxiang Diremonster corpses, you should stand forward now, so as to help save me some time.”

Immediately, seven figures walked out. As for Ning and the rest, they produced Wanxiang Diremonster corpses for inspection.

Diremonster bodies were innately different from human bodies. Humans bodies were, by nature, weak; unless they trained as Fiendgods, their bodies would be incredibly fragile. Diremonsters, however, were different; many of them possessed certain innate abilities that granted them mighty physical strength. Although they were far from being a match for Fiendgods, they could be considered as standing somewhere between humans and Fiendgods. Many monstrous races would even transform some of the deadlier parts of their bodies into intrinsic magic treasures; from this, one could see how extraordinary their bodies were. This was why it was quite easy to tell, from a corpse, if a monster had been of the Wanxiang level or not.

“Mm.” Daoist Yulan spread out her divine sense, instantly sending it into the heads of each Diremonster corpse. After but a single breath, Daoist Yulan nodded gently. “Very good. They’ve all reached the Wanxiang Diremonster level.”

“The seven of you, stay over here. Later, someone will come to arrange for you to leave.” Daoist Yulan looked at the seven rather haggard-looking figures, then turned her gaze to Ning’s group. “As for the forty five of you, take your spirit-beasts and bring them aboard my ship.”

Moments later, the incomparably alluring Daoist Yulan led Ning’s group aboard her ship.