Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

Chen Jin’s face instantly began to swell.

“I’ll give you two choices.” Ning came to a halt, giving a sideways glance to the distant Holyfire. “Senior apprentice-brother Holyfire, don’t come any closer, or I’ll immediately kill him.” Holyfire was shocked.

Ning then continued to look towards Chen Jin. “You have two choices. The first choice is for you to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that you will never cause any harm in any fashion to my Ji clan; otherwise, your soul will instantly be shattered. The other choice…is for me to shatter your soul right now. DECIDE!”

“You dare…you actually dare kill one of your fellow disciples?!” Chen Jin stared at him.

“You threatened to annihilate my clan. You tell me; would I dare kill you or not?” Ning stared at him. “Swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens. Otherwise, I’ll shatter your soul right now.”





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Book 9, Chapter 27 - Traversing the Immortal Path Together


“You…” Chen Jin stared at Ji Ning, his eyes filled with astonishment. Previously, Ning had appeared to be a very courteous, handsome, slim young man, but now, he was no longer masking the killing intent in his eyes. “If…if I don’t swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens…he’ll kill me. He’ll definitely kill me!”

Correct.

Ning did indeed desire to kill him now. He absolutely wouldn’t permit his own clan, the Ji clan, to face annihilation. Whether for the sake of his father,the sake of those clansmen who he cared about, or because he felt a strong sense of belonging for the clan, Ning would definitely do everything he could to preserve the clan.

“Even if I commit fratricide against a fellow disciple and violate the laws of the school, so what! I’ll accept the punishment!” This was what Ning was thinking to himself.

Although the school did indeed forbid fratricide, if he actually were to kill Chen Jin…in carrying out any punishment, the school would still first investigate the details of the situation. For example, if a disciple of the College sought to kill another disciple, could it be that the second disciple would not be allowed to fight back? Thus, this rule against fratricide was an internal rule of the College, and the exact punishment for violators would be determined by the College.

Chen Jin had threatened to annihilate the Ji clan…it was understandable for Ning to desire to kill him. The College wouldn’t go so far as to destroy his Zifu; however, he would most likely be sentenced to go into a confinement of atonement for three hundred years, at the very least.

“What do you choose?” Ning stared at Chen Jin.

The distant Holyfire felt quite startled and nervous as well. “This Ji Ning…he actually is capable of using divine soul attacks. It seems he must have reached the divine sense level long ago…and he’s also extremely strong! Chen Jin has fallen into his hands, and he can kill him with a thought; there’s no way I can save him in time.”

He felt somewhat confident in being able to deal with Ji Ning. However…his advantage in power over Ning was still limited; it could be said that the two of them were on the same general level of power. To rescue Chen Jin from Ning’s hands? It clearly wasn’t possible.

“I, I…” Chen Jin’s entire body was quivering slightly; he felt both agonized and humiliated. He finally spat out a phrase that he would never forget for the rest of his life. “I am willing to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens!”

“Whew…” Holyfire let out a sigh of relief. The distant Ninelotus, watching this, also let out a sigh of relief. She had been nervous this entire time, because this entire problem was due to her. Although she herself was innocent in her actions, she still felt nervous and ashamed.

“I’ll speak first. Repeat the words that I say in swearing your oath to the Dao of the Heavens. You are not permitted to change a single word!” Ning continued to grip Chen Jin by the neck as he said coldly, “Listen clearly. I, Chen Jin, swear an oath right now, with the Dao of the Heavens as my witness…”

“I, Chen Jin, swear an oath right now, with the Dao of the Heavens as my witness…” Although Chen Jin was unwilling, he still repeated every single word.

Invisible ripples of power descended. These were ripples generated by the most supreme of Daos, the Heavenly Daos. This meant that this oath had been officially acknowledged by the Dao of the Heavens. Upon violating this oath, one would have to face the punishment of the Dao! Even an Immortal who violated such an oath would immediately suffer a retributive attack, and if the Immortal had originally sworn that a violation of the oath would cause his soul to be destroyed, then his soul would indeed be destroyed and dispersed.

“…and if I violate this oath, then let the soul of myself, Chen Jin, immediately be destroyed and dispersed, never to be reincarnated again.” Chen Jin gritted his teeth as he stared at Ning. “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, are you satisfied?”

Ning let out a cold laugh, then swung his hand. Swoosh! He tossed Chen Jin far away from him. This time, Chen Jin managed to stabilize himself in midair. He gave Ning a cold glare.

“If you want to act against me, do your best,” Ning said. “If you can invite any experts to come help you, I, Ji Ning, will be here waiting for you.” Ning stared hard at him. “But when you come to deal with me, prepare to suffer my reprisal!”

“Aren’t you a piece of work.” Chen Jin gritted his teeth. Of course he wanted to kill Ji Ning. But…he couldn’t!

He was, after all, just a disciple of the Chen clan with a bit of status; he wasn’t even the heir who was in line to become the next clan leader! His father was merely a Primal Daoist…even if an Immortal of his clan was somehow willing to give him face and help him, how could that Immortal possibly go kill the disciple of Immortal Diancai, a monstrously talented genius of the Black-White College?

For the sake of its own survival, a clan would definitely not act in rash, violent, dangerous ways. A clan which did act in such a way wouldn’t be able to survive for too long!

“Let’s go.” Holyfire flew to his side. Chen Jin glanced at Holyfire. Although his heart still blazed with rage, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was nod. “Fine.”

“Ji Ning.” Chen Jin, before leaving, gave Ning a final glance, then said in a low voice, “Let me offer you a word of advice. Ninelotus is the next leader of the Dongyan clan; this has already been set in stone. The Dongyan clan is an ancient clan that is even more powerful than our Black-White College. Not just anyone can become the Dao-companion to the next leader of a clan like this. Even I, in terms of background alone, don’t quite match up; that’s why I still have to frantically train. As for you? Hmph…”

“No need to worry yourself about that,” Ning said calmly.

“Hmph.”

Chen Jin and Holyfire once more mounted that fiery red cloud, transforming into a streak of light and disappearing into the distant horizons. The only figures now left in the skies of Serpentwing Lake were Ning and Ninelotus.

“Ji Ning.” NInelotus stood there, a look of guilt on her face. “It’s all my fault…I’ve caused you to gain another enemy.”

This was the way of human interactions in the world.

Prior to this, Ji Ning and Chen Jin were fellow disciples of the same school who had never met. In the blink of an eye, however, Ji Ning had become a fiend in Chen Jin’s heart, casting a shadow over it! Similarly, because Chen Jin had threatened to annihilate the Ji clan, Ning now viewed him as his hated enemy.

“This isn’t your fault, senior apprentice-sister,” Ning said with a laugh. “Don’t worry. Chen Jin is nothing more than a dancing clown. He might be able to hop around smugly for a time…but what of it? What can he do to me?”