Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

However, Ji Ning’s rate of improvement had been simply too shocking. The true leader of the Xu clan, Adept Xu Ke, had been so terrified that he had fled back to the main sect, leaving behind the Zifu Disciple, ‘Xu Fang’, to control matters here.

After all, for Ji Ning, killing a Wanxiang Adept was as easy as killing a chicken. Naturally, Adept Xu Ke didn’t dare take the risk of being present. Xu Fang would only send a message to the main sect and Adept Xu for major matters.

“Xu Fang, this is the letter my young master has written to you.” A tall, muscular old man spoke out in a cold voice.

They were in the main hall. Xu Fang was seated on his throne, while next to him was three Zifu Disciples.

“Your young master?” Xu Fang couldn’t be bothered to rebuke this man for his lack of courtesy; he was badly frightened by the two words, ‘young master’. The ‘young master’ who was writing to him…was the legendary Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake!

The three Zifu Disciples within the hall were all petrified as well. They could be disdainful in front of Ji Truekeep and the others, but as for the legendary Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake…they felt terror from the bottom of their hearts.

“Catch.” The elder of the Ji clan tossed the scroll over towards them. Xu Fang caught it, and the three Zifu Disciples next to him moved towards him as well.

He unfurled the scroll. As he did, the first thing they noticed was the sword-intent which flooded towards them from the characters atop it. It caused their hearts to tremble and their legs to turn weak.

“Xu clan, of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain. I give you ten days to get the f*ck out of Swallow Mountain. If after ten days you have yet to move, then don’t blame me for showing no mercy with my sword.” It was quite a casual letter, but it was filled with an absolutely dominating aura! Normally, the Ji clan and the Snowdragon Mountain branch would tussle back and forth, but they would never get into a real fight. Ji Ning’s letter, however, showed no sign of compromise at all.

They had to leave in ten days. Otherwise…he would attack!

“This…this…” Xu Fang stared, then said with fury, “This shows no respect for our Snowdragon Mountain at all. Quick, report this to the main sect! Report this to the main sect!!!”

As soon as his words came out…

Whoosh. The restrictive spells on the parchment, summoning natural fire, instantly caused the parchment to begin to blaze, transforming it into gray ash.





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Book 9, Chapter 32 - Daoist Snowplume


“They aren’t even leaving the words behind?” Xu Fang, of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain, and the other three Zifu Disciples were so furious that they gritted their teeth. When they looked at the characters on the leather parchment, they had sensed the sword-intent surge towards them, and had been so frightened that their legs had turned soft. They understood that they were at too low of a level, and that they were unable to comprehend the level of insight the sword-intent within the characters indicated.

However, if the high-level members of Snowdragon Mountain were to see the parchment, they should be capable of deducing Ji Ning’s level of strength. Clearly, Ji Ning was extremely cautious and didn’t plan on giving them that chance.

“The young master’s letter has been delivered. I won’t tarry!” The envoy of the Ji clan turned, openly and unabashedly walking away. As for Xu Fang and the other members of Snowdragon Moutain, they could only watch as the envoy walked away.

“What should we do?”

“Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake has made his threat. What should we do?”

They looked at each other, their gazes filled with fear and unease. Upon seeing the characters on the scroll, they immediately knew…that Ji Ning’s power had reached a level that was vastly beyond their’s. He was most likely capable of annihilating them with one blow. This massive gap in power which they faced made them feel tremendous pressure.

“No matter what…this person isn’t someone the likes of us can deal with. Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake…he is someone who is able to effortlessly kill Wanxiang Adepts. We have to report this to the main sect.”

“Right. We must report this to the main sect.”

“Third Brother, we are simply too far from the main Snowdragon Mountain sect. In ten short days…we won’t even be able to make it back to the sect. There’s no way to report this at all.”

Xu Fang and the other three exchanged glances, their eyes filled with helplessness and bitterness. Right. Ji Ning had only given them ten days, but they were only Zifu Disciples; they wouldn’t be able to make it back to Snowdragon Mountain in just ten days. They wouldn’t be able to alert the main sect of the letter and the threat which Ji Ning had made.

“There’s no other options. I’ll have to use the talisman,” Xu Fang said, shaking his head. “Although there’s no way to let the main sect know of the details, at least we’ll be able to let them know that something happened.”

“Right. Break the talisman.”

“That’s our only choice.”

All four men were in accord.

The leader of the Swallow Mountain branch was Adept Xu Ke, but because Adept Xu Ke was terrified of Ji Ning, he had hidden himself within the main sect. Before leaving, he had left three talismans, then gave these instructions: “These three talismans are different in size. When you break then, I’ll be able to sense it. If you break the smallest talisman…that means that the Ji clan’s attack is imminent! If you break the middle one, that means Ji Ning’s attack is imminent! And if you break the largest one, that means that the local branch has already been shattered. Remember – only when a true emergency occurs are you to break these talismans.”

These three talismans represented three different danger levels.

An attack from the Ji clan?

This meant that the situation wasn’t that bad; after all, in terms of their relative power bases, the local branch of Snowdragon Mountain truly wasn’t afraid of the Ji clan. But if Ji Ning were to attack…then things really would turn grim. There was no way the Swallow Mountain branch could possibly resist the monster-like ‘Ji Ning of Serpentwing Lake’.

Xu Fang waved his hand, and three talismans of different sizes appeared within it.

“Ji Ning is going to personally attack…there is nothing we can do.”

“We have to hope that the main sect will send experts to come negotiate with Ji Ning.”

In their hearts, they didn’t believe that the main sect would truly choose to engage in a battle with Ji Ning. After all, he was a disciple of the Black-White College, and he had an Immortal behind him! Compared with the Black-White College, Snowdragon Mountain was unfathomably weaker. Although it was on good terms with the Northmont clan of Stillwater Commandery, the Black-White College was actually located inside Stillwater City, and its relationship with the Northmont clan was incomparably close.

It could be said that the Northmont clan viewed the Black-White College as its hands and arms, while Snowdragon Mountain was nothing more than a lackey.

“Crack.” Xu Fang shattered the second, pitch-black talisman.

The distant Snowdragon Mountain. This was a place of unending winter, of eternal snow. Peaks of various heights towered here, with Immortal cultivators living with them. Within one such peak, the master was Adept Xu Zhen.

Adept Xu Zhen had pale, beardless face. He appeared quite handsome. He sat in the lotus position on his jade bed. The white-robed Adept Xu Zhen’s eyes were closed in relaxation, and he appeared quite rested. Next to him, there were two young apprentices waiting on his instructions and his needs.

“Eh?” Adept Xu Zhen’s face suddenly changed slightly. With a wave of his hand, he produced a black talisman. This talisman had already shattered.

This talisman had originally come in a pair. If one was shattered, the other would crumble as well.