Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

Even the Black-White College had quite a few reincarnated Immortals within it. What were reincarnated Immortals? They were individuals who, at the Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal stage, had despaired of making any further advancements and thus had chosen to reincarnate! After reincarnating, although it would be fairly easy for them to once more train to become Earth Immortals…if they didn’t succeed in becoming Celestial Immortals in their past life, it was very possible that they also wouldn’t be successful in this life!

After withstanding the divine will clash and sending the enemy divine wills off, Ning understood that these people had definitely come with ill intentions!

“Little Yun.” Immortal Norshok didn’t even look at Ning, just looking at Ninelotus. “It’s time to go back.”

“Wasn’t I only supposed to go back after becoming a Primal Daoist?” Ninelotus frowned. “Why must I go back so early? On whose authority?” Her status in the clan was very high; even Immortals didn’t have the authority to order her around.

“The Forefather personally gave the order for me to bring you back,” Immortal Norshok said solemnly.

“The Forefather?” Ninelotus was stunned.

In some clans, on occasion, an extremely powerful person would appear, whose status was far more exalted than even that of the clan leader. Ning’s status in the Ji clan was one such example! His status surpassed the Patriarch’s; although he wasn’t the titular clan leader, he was the true leader of the clan.

And for the Dongyan clan…the Forefather of the Dongyan clan was the true leader of the clan. He was an ancient presence that had existed for an unfathomably long period of time; his lifespan was measured in hundreds of millions of years. Anyone capable of living this long was, very naturally, not a Loose Immortal! The high level members of the Dongyan clan were all certain that the Forefather was a Celestial Immortal, but the Forefather himself had never admitted to it or publicized his status.

His true power was also a mystery; however, those few times he did display it, those so-called Loose Immortals were completely unable to even try and resist his might.

No one in the clan could go against his decrees. He was always in seclusion, and almost never interfered in clan matters, but once he gave an order, everyone would obey. Removing a clan leader from power, for the Forefather of the Dongyan clan, took nothing more than a single sentence. From this, one could see how exalted his status was!

“The Forefather? I, I…” Ninelotus gritted her teeth. One of the reasons why she had been selected as the next clan leader was because of the Forefather; the Forefather loved her and doted on her dearly.

“I’ll go back with you,” Ninelotus said.

Immortal Norshok nodded gently. He had never even thought about Ninelotus resisting; in the Dongyan clan, there was no one who would dare to disobey the Forefather’s orders! Unless, that is, they were truly about to betray the clan.

Ninelotus looked at the nearby Ning. She sent mentally to him, “Wait for me.”

Ning nodded gently. “Right.”

“Let’s go,” Immortal Norshok urged. Ninelotus immediately walked towards Immortal Norshok; those nine Primal Daoists and the Darkane Guard all clustered around her, escorting her onto the warship.

Immortal Norshok turned his head, giving Ning a glance. He sent a direct mental message. “Your name is Ji Ning? I think you had best wake up and understand that Little Yun is not an ordinary disciple of an ordinary clan. If she was an ordinary woman of the Dongyan clan, becoming Dao-companions with her would be fine, but she has been chosen to be the next leader of our Dongyan clan. And you…you aren’t worthy of her.” After speaking, he gave Ning a cold glance, then followed Ninelotus into the warship.

Ninelotus looked down from the warship.

Ning looked up from the lake.

Their gazes intersected in the air.

“Rumble…” The air around them began to roil about, then the enormous warship vanished into thin air.

Ning watched Ninelotus and the warship disappear. For a moment, he felt empty inside.

“Not worthy?” Ning murmured these words to himself. The resolve in his eyes only grew stronger.

“Young master.”

“Ning, son.”

From afar, a green leaf-type magic treasure flew over. Atop it was Autumn Leaf, the Whitewater Hound, and Qingqing; they had seen these events occur from far away, but due to the distance, they hadn’t been able to overhear what had been said. Still, they clearly saw that Ninelotus had been taken away.

“Young master, are you alright?” Autumn Leaf was extremely nervous.

“It’s fine. The elders of her clan miss her and want to see her, that’s all,” Ning said.





* * *





Book 9, Chapter 29 - The Forefather of the Dongyan Clan


Highwater Commandery. The Dongyan Mountains.

This was the headquarters of the Dongyan clan. Outsiders were completely forbidden from entering. An enormous, awe-inspiring warship was in the azure skies of the mountains, flying through them.

“I’m back.” Ninelotus looked at the distant, familiar mountains. This was her homeland.

“Little Yun, let’s go. Go meet the Forefather,” Immortal Norshok said. Ninelotus nodded obediently.

Immediately, a cloud suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Immortal Norshok, controlling and riding upon the cloud, took Ninelotus directly into the forbidden lands of the Dongyan Mountains.

“Is the Forefather truly going to stop me?” Ninelotus mused silently to herself. Even when she was a child, the Forefather had doted on her; in turn, she absolutely worshipped the Forefather, and was extremely obedient towards him.

Whoosh.

They continued to fly forward through one forbidden region after another of the Dongyan clan. The guards of these locations, upon seeing Immortal Norshok and Ninelotus, did not move to stop them.

After flying for a period of time, they arrived at a secluded, ordinary-looking gorge. Within the gorge, a small river was flowing, and by the sides of the river, there was a man dressed in plain blue clothes. The man sat there, fishing calmly.

“Forefather.” Immortal Norshok landed, then called out to him respect. Ninelotus looked towards the blue-robed man, veneration in her eyes as she, too, called out gently, “Forefather.”

“Norshok, you can go for now. Little Yun, stay with me.” The blue-robed continued to fish, not even turning to look at them.

“Yes.” Immortal Norshok respectfully departed.

Only the blue-robed man and Ninelotus were left within the gorge. Ninelotus was very familiar with this gorge, because she had spent her childhood here. Because of the Forefather’s support…she had been selected as the next clan leader without any disputes or struggles at all.

“Little Yun.” The blue-robed man turned to look at her, the faintest hint of a smile on his face. It made him look very friendly and amiable. He sat there, fishing, as though he were an ordinary commoner; he didn’t have the aura of a cultivator at all. But in front of this man, the entire Dongyan clan would be respectful and subservient, not daring to offend him at all.

“Forefather.” Ninelotus instantly grew nervous.

“I hear you chose a Dao-companion,” the blue-robed man said with a laugh. “Named Ji Ning?”

“Yes.” Ninelotus nodded.

“For now, you should forget about him,” the blue-robe man instructed.

Ninelotus grew frantic. “Forefather, you chose me to be the next leader of the clan; can it be that I can’t even choose a Dao-companion for myself? I know that our Dongyan clan needs to grow stronger, and that my choice for a Dao-companion would ideally be a member of the royal Xia clan or one of the main lineage descendents of a marquisdom, but…even if I do choose one of them to be my Dao-companion, the benefit it would bring to our Dongyan clan would be limited. Are you truly going to force me, Forefather?”

“Do you think I would force you?” The blue-robed man looked at her. Ninelotus was stunned.

“Even if a prince of the Grand Xia Empire became your Dao-companion, he would only bring a limited degree of benefit to our Dongyan clan. Would I really force you over something like this?” The blue-robed man shook his head. “Ninelotus, you truly are too young.”

“But Forefather, you, you told me to forget about junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning…” Ninelotus was frantic.