Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“This is my choice.” Ning flipped through the book to the third to last page, the one mentioning the Nethercold Sword Formation.

“I really do want the Earthfire Heartlamp and the Dire-Ice Mirror,” Ning sighed to himself. “However, they aren’t able to increase my power right away, but the Nethercold Sword Formation can! These nine Nethercold Swords in the formation are all top-grade, and it was Daoist Threelives who was the appraiser; their power must be superior to that of ordinary Heaven-ranked flying swords. They’ll be able to increase the power of my [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to a whole new level!”

The higher one’s level of power became, the more difficult it was to further strengthen one’s self. To rise by a full level was incomparably difficult, but these Nethercold Swords were simply too powerful.

If he were to go and try to purchase them at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, their price would surpass that of an ordinary Heaven-ranked flying sword. And, given their rarity, they would probably at least five thousand kilograms per sword! With all nine top-grade flying swords having come from the same source…the entire set would definitely go for at least fifty thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. Fifty thousand kilograms? That was enough to make even a Primal Daoist turn green in envy. Even when Ning had been lucky enough to loot the corpse of the Dragonwhale King, he hadn’t reaped such a fortune.

“The power of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] depends entirely on the powerful flying swords comprising it! This is completely indisputable! Fortunately, I have the Treasures Hall,” Ning mused to himself. “In turn, only in my hands can this [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] unleash its true, terrifying power.”

The more powerful the swords used, the more monstrous and heaven-defying these swords were. In the past, the Thousand Swords Immortal had grown tremendously famous with this technique, but in the end, he had still fallen to Immortal Juhua. Given that Ning had the Treasure Hall behind him…the power of his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] would be even more incomparably shocking.

“Come.” The giant yellow bear beckoned towards the distance. In the void above, a point of light suddenly flashed and started to descend. It quickly passed through the restrictive spells, arriving next to Ning. It was nine completely black flying swords. Although they were completely black, they had a very soft, luxuriant gleam to them; it was almost as though a faint, extremely dark green luster covered these flying swords. They were so beautiful that they could be considered a work of art.

“They are perfect.” Ning couldn’t help but let out a sigh of praise. Reaching out with this elemental ki, he sent one strand after another of watery-blue ki forward, swirling around the nine Nethercold Swords and easily binding them. With but a thought, Ning sent them swirling around him like nine shining stars.

“They are comparable to Heaven-ranked magic treasures in power,” Ning said in praise. Heaven-ranked magic treasures were only usable by Primal Daoists, but his magic treasures were also at this level of power…this was why they were considered top-grade treasures. And he had nine of them!

“Most likely, they would be enough to cause even Primal Daoists to grow envious and kill me for them,” Ning said with a soft laugh. The giant yellow bear replied, “If they don’t bind them personally, it’ll be hard for them to tell just by looking at them that these are top-grade.”

“What fine treasures.” The more Ning thought about them, the happier he became.

“Time to go. If you want more treasures, go back and train hard,” the giant yellow bear urged. Ning nodded. Instantly, a phantom of a giant bear’s head appeared, swallowing Ning with a single gulp.

……….

Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island. Soon, everyone on the island knew that after half a month, Ji Ning had left from his secluded meditation.

Aside from Ning, no one else knew of the existence of the underwater estate. Given that Ning’s training room was a place where others were strictly forbidden from trespassing, everyone had assumed that he had been in the room training this entire time.

“Master, Master!” An azure-robed maiden was the first to suddenly appear at the entrance of the room. Ning walked out of it, raising his head to look towards the outside. A cold wind pressed down upon him, and giant plumes of snow were falling down from the skies.

“Master, why is it that after you went into training, I could no longer sense your presence?” The azure-robed maiden stared at Ning, mentally sending to him with franticness, “I felt as though you were very, very far away. I’m your spirit-beast, and our spirit-bond was not dispersed, so I knew that you weren’t dead, but…if you weren’t dead, why couldn’t I sense you?”

The nearby Whitewater Hound walked over, sending mentally, “Ning, son, when you went into training, this Azure Skysnake wanted to go inside to search for you. I had to stop her.”

“Oh.” Ning laughed. The first time he had entered the underwater estate, he had caused his father and mother to be concerned over him. They all knew that he had entered a special, ancient relic site, and naturally, Uncle White had learned this as well.

“I had a stroke of karmic luck,” Ning said. “Luck?” Qingqing was surprised. The Grand Xia Dynasty’s territory was simply too vast and contained far too many secrets; anything was possible within it. For example, someone might be in the middle of a perfectly normal battle when an ancient Fiendgod might suddenly wake up and intervene. If this could happen, what couldn’t?

Qingqing could tell that Ning didn’t want to discuss this in detail, so she just muttered to herself, “So stingy with your secrets.”

Ning laughed. The underwater estate involved Daoist Threelives, and it was so important as to be able to shock the entire Three Realms! How could Ning casually reveal its secrets to others? For example, although he was now the master of the underwater estate, he was the only one who could enter it; others could not. Thus, Ning hadn’t even told his parents; after all, given that his parents couldn’t enter it, letting them know of it would only prove problematic, not beneficial in any way.

“Young master.” Autumn Leaf walked towards them from afar, face covered in smiles. “You’ve left your secluded meditation. During this period of time, young master Ji Mo came. He wished to ask for your instructions, young master.”

“Ji Mo?” Ning nodded. “During those first three days after my return, he hadn’t come.” Ji Mo was, aside from Ning himself, the most talented member of the younger generation of the Ji clan.

“Young master Ji Mo was adventuring and testing himself in the outside world as well,” Autumn Leaf said. “Thus, when you returned, the Patriarch sent people out to find young master Jji Mo. They spent quite a few days before finding him, and afterwards, young master Ji Mo came by himself, arriving on the ninth day of your secluded meditation.”

Smiling, Ning nodded. Suddenly, another figure appeared in the distance. In but two flashes, the figure appeared close to them; it was a tall, sturdy-looking handsome youth with a pair of sword-shaped eyebrows. He stared towards Ning with a blazingly eager gaze, and he immediately said with respect, “I pay my respects to you, young master Ji Ning.”

“It seems as though you’ve improved quite a bit in recent years,” Ning said with a praising laugh. With but a single glance, he could tell that Ji Mo’s aura had changed significantly. In the past, Ji Mo had been quite reserved, but now, Ji Mo seemed like a drawn warblade. He had a powerful, sturdy willpower that was forged through battle.