Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“Uncle White. I’m going to sleep for a time,” Ning said. The Whitewater Hound nodded. Ning then lay down on the boat, feeling incomparably relaxed and comfortable. The boat drifted atop the surface of the lake. It felt so very wonderful, far more so than sleeping on a bed. The gentle rocking movements of the boat stop the waters of the lake…it felt like how, when he was an infant, his mother had constantly cradled him in her arms.

The boat slowly rocked forward, a Whitewater Hound lying on one side of it, and with a little azure serpent wrapped around Ning’s wrist, snuggly nestled against him.

Slowly, the boat floated towards the center, towards Brightheart Island.

Sundown. Only now did the boat draw close to the shores of Brightheart Island. Ning could sense the auras of the many people living on the island, and he naturally rose to his feet. As he rose to his feet, he saw the distant snowbanks, and a white-robed woman standing within them, staring towards him, unable to disguise the tears within her eyes.

“Autumn Leaf!” Ji Ning revealed a smile on his face. “I’m back.”





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Book 9, Chapter 15 - The Rise of the Ji Clan


“Young master.” Autumn Leaf’s eyes flashed with tears, but these were the tears of joy. Ning laughed as well. It had been so long since he had seen Autumn Leaf. Since he was a child, the closest to him had been his father, his mother, Uncle White, Spring Grass, and Autumn Leaf. His parents and Spring Grass had all passed away, leaving behind only Uncle White and Autumn Leaf. Ning knew that what he felt for Autumn Leaf wasn’t romantic love; it was a sort of familial love.

“Four years. Autumn Leaf, you haven’t changed much at all. You should’ve broken through to become a Xiantian lifeform.” Ning walked over to her. Autumn Leaf hurriedly wiped her tears away, then said, “It was all thanks to the medicines that you left behind, young master; they helped me to break through to the Xiantian level.”

Ning didn’t feel the slightest bit surprised by the fact that Autumn Leaf had made a breakthrough, because as someone who had been selected to be his personal handmaiden, she was naturally quite talented. With the help of the medicines he had left behind for her, Autumn Leaf did indeed have a very high chance of becoming a Xiantian lifeform.

“Have you been well, these past four years?” Ning asked.

“I’ve been alright. Brightheart Island is the same as it always has been, while the Ji clan has been growing more and more powerful,” Autumn Leaf said. “After that battle, Snowdragon Mountain’s forces in the Swallow Mountain region grew much weaker. Although they sent three more Zifu Disciples to be stationed at the Swallow Mountain branch, after news spread that you joined the Black-White College, young master, the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain no longer dared to cause trouble.”

Ning nodded. In terms of power, since the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain had the support of the main Snowdragon Mountain sect, it had far more experts and a much deeper base of strength than the Ji clan.

However, Ning joined the Black-White College. When Northmont Baiwei had sent people to Swallow Mountain to collect and harvest the elemental ore mines, he had also sent messengers to inform the Ji clan that Ning had joined the Black-White College. Once this news spread, the Ji clan’s reputation instantly soared to unprecedented heights.

Good heavens. The Black-White College! To the powers located in the Swallow Mountain region, the Black-White College was an incomparably massive behemoth that was far beyond their level. According to legend, every single person admitted to the Black-White College was a supreme, peerless, monstrous genius. Even Snowdragon Mountain, despite its grudge against Ji Ning, had to temporarily stay their hand and let go of their hate.

“And Bluestone?” Ning asked. “Bluestone.” Autumn Leaf turned and called his name out, and a tall, muscular youth ran towards them from far away.

Ning was shocked. What a tall, muscular fellow! The man was at least 1.9 meters tall, even taller than Ning himself. When Ning had left, Bluestone had been a mere youngster, but after four years…he’d actually grown so tall!

“Big Brother.” Bluestone walked over. “Why were you hiding over there?” Ning laughed as he ‘reprimanded’ Bluestone. He had watched Bluestone grow up from his toddler years, and had long since come to view Bluestone as his own little brother.

Bluestone chortled. “I wanted to let Big Sister Autumn Leaf and you, Big Brother, have a private meeting, alright?”

Autumn Leaf instantly stared at him. As for Ning, he just laughed.

“Big Brother, why do you have a snake around your arm?” Bluestone saw the little azure snake wrapped around Ning’s wrist.

“Little Qing,” Ning called out. Whoosh; the little azure snake instantly transformed into mist, and then reformed into an azure-robed maiden. Even Autumn Leaf was shocked, and as for the nearby Bluestone, he actually jumped. “A monster! A Diremonster!”

“I’m a Wanxiang Diremonster! A peak Wanxiang Diremonster!” Qingqing raised her head and spoke smugly.

“A Wanxiang Diremonster?” Bluestone blinked. Although Ning had originally left behind some pills and treasures for him, in terms of talent, Bluestone was somewhat inferior to even Autumn Leaf. Although Autumn Leaf had already become a Xiantian lifeform, Bluestone remained unable to break through, and was still at the Houtian stage. However, he knew about the major levels of Immortal cultivators.

“Peak Wanxiang? Our Patriarch of the Ji clan seems to only be a Zifu Disciple.” Bluestone looked towards the azure-robed maiden, unable to believe that this was someone who could easily crush the Patriarch of the Ji clan.

Ning laughed. “Little Qing was originally an Azure Skysnake who lived in the Swallow Mountains. Afterwards, fate brought us together in the wild marshes of the Gaol Mountains, and so she accompanied me and became my spirit-beast.”

“Your spirit-beast, Big Brother?” Bluestone let out a sigh of relief, then asked with curiosity, “Big Brother, are you at the peak Wanxiang level yet?” “Late Wanxiang level, a bit weaker than Little Qing,” Ning said.

“Although Master’s only at the late Wanxiang level, I’m far from being his match.” Qingqing lowered her head and said, “Master…he’s a real monster, even more of a monster than me.”

Autumn Leaf and Bluestone were both delighted and surprised. Autumn Leaf then looked at the Whitewater Hound behind Ning. “Uncle White, you…” “Uncle White is also at the late Wanxiang level,” Ning said.

“This…this…” Autumn Leaf instantly realized how, despite only a few years having passed, her young master had improved at an utterly astonishing rate.

The Whitewater Hound began to speak in the human tongue. “Monsters train much more slowly, and many monsters will take thousands of years to go from the Zifu level to the Wanxiang level, and tens of thousands of years to go from the Wanxiang level to the Primal level…although I reached the necessary level of insights long ago, in terms of accumulated elemental ki, I had needed to accumulate much more. Fortunately, Ning helped me, and thus I very quickly reached the Wanxiang level.”

“Three Wanxiang experts.” Bluestone was full of delight and excitement. “The other powers of Swallow Mountain don’t even have a single Wanxiang Adept amongst their ranks, but our Ji clan has suddenly gained three. This is too…too…ahahaha, we’re going to be invincible!”

“The young master’s formidable, but you aren’t. He gave you excellent techniques, excellent masters, and various treasures and spirit-pills…but you still have yet to become a Xiantian lifeform. When the young master was your age, he was able to effortlessly kill Zifu Disciples,” Autumn Leaf scolded.

“How can I compare to Big Brother? In terms of cultivating, I can’t even compare to you, Big Sister Autumn Leaf,” Bluestone shook his head. Autumn Leaf scolded him angrily, “You don’t work hard, and you always make excuses for yourself.”