Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“What is it?” Chen Jin gave these two retainers a glance.

“Senior apprentice-brother Flowcloud, you wanted us to keep track of any information regarding senior apprentice-brother Darknorth, right?” One of the female retainers, the slightly skinnier one, hurriedly said, “We just heard…that senior apprentice-brother Darknorth, Ji Ning, engaged in a battle with one of the three Patriarchs of Snowdragon Mountain, Daoist Snowplume, at Serpentwing Lake. Ji Ning’s power filled the heavens, and in the end, he forced Daoist Snowplume to retreat and even voluntarily relocate the local Snowdragon Mountain branch.

“What?!” Chen Jin’s good mood instantly and completely evaporated. His face was ashen. “Did you perhaps mishear things? Ji Ning was actually able to force Daoist Snowplume into retreating? He has this level of power?”

“We didn’t mishear. This news just made its way to the Black-White College, and it has been spread throughout the College.”

“Right. Everyone is talking about it right now.”

Both of the female retainers answered together.

Chen Jin’s face was utterly pale. Ning had become the shadow over his heart long ago; for Ning to become even more dazzling naturally caused him to feel even more enraged. He barked angrily, “Describe the information you heard in detail.”

“Senior apprentice-brother Flowcloud, this event originated from a dispute between the Ji clan of Swallow Mountain and the local branch of Snowdragon Mountain…” The skinnier female retainer began to speak.

……

“Little Sloppy, Ji Ning, by the look of things, seems to have improved quite a bit. He’s already reached the same level as Holyfire and the others, and might even be comparable with you.” Within a spacious, lavish hall, a short old man who was dressed in beggar’s clothes was seated on the ground. In front of him were a number of bowls, filled with various types of meat and other food. He stretched out a grubby, greasy hand and snatched a chunk of meat from a bowl while using his other hand to pour wine into his mouth from a gourd.

In front of him was a fat and similarly sloppy-looking youth. He, too, was using one hand to grab at the food and eating with abandon, while using his other hand to drink from a gourd of wine.

“So what if he is comparable to me?” The fat youth didn’t seem to be concerned at all, continuing to eat and drink.

“Little Sloppy, that means that your reputation as being the number one figure amongst the third generation disciples of the Black-White College might be taken away,” the short elder hurriedly warned.

The fat youth shook his head. “When I first joined the Black-White College, I was completely unremarkable. Back then, there were countless senior fellow disciples who were stronger than me. But in the end, I surpassed them all…and that’s when I became the ‘number one figure’ amongst the third generation disciples. But has that reputation ever done anything for me in terms of helping me improve in power?”

“Nope, not at all!” The fat youth seemed completely unconcerned. “In the Black-White College, I can rank at the very top, but if we look at the entire Grand Xia Dynasty and the major world they have unified…given how there are thousands on thousands of reincarnated Immortals at the Wanxiang level, I imagine that there are far more people that are more powerful than me!”

“That’s why it doesn’t matter at all what my ranking is within the Black-White College. I only have one opponent; myself. As long as I continue to surpass myself and improve…that’ll be enough.” The fat youth shook his head. “This is also the reason why I won’t go to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty.”

“Oh, right. This time, the imperial capital of the Grand Xia has attracted interest from the most powerful geniuses of virtually every commandery city in this boundless world. In fact, even some of the supreme talents who live in the seas beyond are heading towards the capital! This is an event that will only occur every three centuries! Only those who are below the Primal Daoist level are allowed to attend. This is a chance that only comes in three hundred years! Once you defeat the various reincarnated Immortals and geniuses of the other parts of the world, then you’ll truly soar to the heavens!” The short elder said hurriedly.

“I’m afraid of death.” The fat youth shook his head.

“You sloppy bastard!” The short elder was so angry, he began to curse. “How can you be so lazy in pursuing your Immortal path?”

“I’m in no rush. I’m going to train slowly. If there’s good wine, I’ll drink it; if there’s tasty meat, I’ll eat it. I’ll live a wonderfully happy life. Whatever level I’ll end up training to, that’ll be the level I’ll train to. I’m not going to go risk my life.” The fat youth shook his head.

The short elder was completely helpless.

Still..he felt great admiration for this fat youth. In fact, he even began to wonder…if perhaps, in terms of Dao-heart alone, this fat youth might be stronger than all of the Primal Daoists and Immortals of the entire Black-White College! Still…there was no way one could tell from the surface if another had a powerful Dao-heart or not. To this very day, he was the only one who believed that this fat youth had the strongest Dao-heart of anyone in the entire Black-White College.

……

“Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning truly is formidable. We haven’t seen him in ten years, but he’s grown so powerful.” Mu Northson, who had completely absorbed himself into the art of constructs during recent years, was exceptionally excited upon hearing this news. “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen him…it’s time for me to pay a visit.”

Given how powerful Ning had shown himself to be during this battle, there truly were quite a few who wanted to go pay a visit to him now.

Northson just made some casual inquiries, and soon, a large group of people gathered.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go to Serpentwing Lake.”

“It’s been years since we’ve seen junior apprentice-brother Darknorth. He has grown so powerful.” More than ten people had decided to go visit Ning, most of whom were on extremely good terms with him. There were even two reincarnated Immortals amongst them.

Once one’s power reached a certain level, one would naturally be acknowledged by others. Soon, this group of ten-plus fellow disciples left the Black-White College and headed towards Serpentwing Lake.

……

The black-robed Immortal Diancai, seated on his jade bed, opened his eyes, revealing a smile within them.

“So many young fellows have gone to visit Ji Ning. It seems my apprentice’s strength has been acknowledged by his fellow disciples. In fact, come to think of it…if he was able to force Daoist Snowplume to retreat, then my apprentice’s [Three-Foot Sword] must have reached an extremely deep level of expertise. Is he at the fourth stance, or the fifth stance? Ugh, this kid…he didn’t visit me a single time in ten years,” Immortal Diancai mused to himself. Because only six stances of the [Three-Foot Sword] were made public within the Black-White College, even Immortal Diancai himself had only learned those first six stances.

But naturally, Immortal Diancai’s most powerful sword technique wasn’t the [Three-Foot Sword]; it was the one he had established for himself.

This battle had truly brought fame to Ji Ning. His name was spread throughout the entire Stillwater Commandery. His friends, his seniors, his elders, and even other large clans and sects began to pay close attention to him. From this day onward, Ji Ning had become one of the notable, well-known figures of the Stillwater Commandery region.