Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“You’ve done enough things. Done well enough.” Ninefire gently patted Ning on the shoulders. “In a slightly larger clan, a slightly more powerful clan…how could a supreme genius like yourself be forced to risk your life repeatedly like this? It is our Ji clan which has let you down. You killed Jadechild and that group of Zifu Disciples; you have done enough.”


“If we truly are not able to endure this, then it will simply be the will of the heavens, that our Ji clan is not to survive this tribulation.” Ninefire said softly. “There is no need to feel anger. No need to feel grief. All clans will have a time to flourish, and a time to fall. What we can do is to fight with all our power. That is enough. For the heavens to allow a genius like you to arrive within our Ji clan is already an incomparable kindness.”

Ninefire looked at Ning. “I know that with you alive, our Ji clan will definitely flourish. It definitely will!”

Ning gritted his teeth. His heart was shaking!

“Given how the situation has progressed…” Ninefire swept his gaze towards the nearby Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, Truekeep, and Yichuan, along with the Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane. “Everyone, you should all know that the situation is very grim. There is also a giant sealing formation outside; there is nowhere for us to run.”

“This time, our only choice is to fight to the death!” Ninefire was very calm, but his gaze was blazing.

“Fight to the death!”

Yichuan, Truekeep, and the others all had the same resolve in their eyes.

None of them would cower!

None of them were afraid!

If they were afraid, they wouldn’t have come here, to Oxhorn Mountain.

“Obey my commands.” NInefire said. “All of us must fight with full force, making it so that Nong Zidao is unable to completely concentrate on breaking the formation. We need to delay as much as we can. Thus, Landwyrm, you will be the first to go and delay them. Once you die, the Fairy Crane will go!”

The Landwyrm and the Fairy Crane, the two Zifu-level spirit-beasts, were in the form of the azure-armored man and the white-robed maiden. They glanced at each other, their eyes filled with bitterness.

“The two of you can only blame your poor luck. Fight at full power.” Ninefire said. “If you die in battle for the sake of our Ji clan, you can still enter the cycle of reincarnation. If you resist, then I will shatter your souls!”

“We will obey.”

The azure-armored warrior and the white-robed maiden both lowered their heads.

Once the soul-bond was set, they absolutely had to obey the orders of their owner. Otherwise, their owner could easily destroy their souls.

“After the Fairy Crane dies, Yichuan, you will go next.” Ninefire looked at Yichuan.

“Right.” Yichuan nodded.

He was only able to fight at the Zifu Disciple level for an hour. He was of the least use to the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation; naturally, he would be the first member of the Ji clan to charge forward.

“Once Yichuan dies, Liu Xing, you go.” Ninefire looked towards the old servant, Ah Xing.

Ah Xing nodded.

“Once Liu Xing dies, Ji Shadow, you go.” Ninefire looked at his little sister.

Granny Shadow nodded.

“After Granny Shadow dies, Truekeep, you go.” NInefire looked towards Truekeep. “I will immediately follow!”

Not a single voice was raised in dissent.

Ning, watching this, felt great pain in his heart. He hurriedly said, “Patriarch, I am the strongest, and I’m able to delay them as well. If I ambush them repeatedly…I can make it so that Nong Zidao is distracted and unable to focus on breaking the formation.”

“Didn’t you hear what Adept Xu just said?” Ninefire barked. “You were hit by his Divine Blackblood Needle. He can sense your location. Once you draw near him, he will definitely prepare a heavy counter-attack for you. It doesn’t matter if we die, but if you die, you would have let down the entire Ji clan, not just yourself, understood?”

Ning gritted his teeth.

“Ji Ning.” Granny Shadow said hoarsely. “If you dare to come again, I will immediately commit suicide in front of you.”

“Granny Shadow…” Ning’s heart trembled.

“Ji Ning.” Yichuan looked at his son, then gave him his instructions. “Don’t make our deaths meaningless.”





* * *





Book 6, Chapter 27 - Ji Nings Departure


Ji Ning nodded gently. “I won’t go fight.”

“Good.” Ji Ninefire swept them with his gaze. “Everyone, return to your positions. Landwyrm, for now, you will assume Ji Ning’s position in the center of the Dragontail Formation. We will control the Netherwyrm and attack!”

“Yes.”

The Landwyrm, Granny Shadow, Ah Xing, and Truekeep all immediately left to their own positions.

…………

The nether fog billowed.

A sinuous, coiling, snowy white Flood Dragon lay there, with Adept Xu and the others within the dragon’s body, clearly quite cautious. Quite obviously, Ning’s earlier prowess had caused Adept Xu to privately feel surprised. Still, the other Zifu Disciples were quite relaxed.

“Although Ji Ning is a monster, he’s still just a Zifu Disciple. He’s no match for the Adept.”

“Compared to master-uncle, Ji Ning is far weaker.”

“The Ji clan is doomed.”

All of the Zifu Disciples chatted amongst each other in quite a relaxed manner.

As for Nong Zidao, his eyes were closed as he focused on analyzing the formation. Suddenly, amidst the distant, dense nether fog, a massive thunderclap could be heard!

“Whoosh!” An enormous draconic tail, covered with black draconic scales, came sweeping towards them.

Bang!

The sweeping attack landed on the coiled body of the snowy white Flood Dragon, causing the entire dragon to be knocked backwards by the blow. Adept Xu, Nong Zidao, and the others, however, naturally remained within the dragon’s body.

“Ambushed.”

“Yet another ambush.”

“Even Ji Ning lost. The Ji clan dares to ambush us again?” All of them were enraged. Given how even the Flood Dragon had been knocked flying, Nong Zidao, who had been focused on analyzing the formation, naturally was startled awake as well.

Adept Xu stood there at the draconic head of the snowy white Flood Dragon. He shouted loudly, “You are asking for death!”

Whoosh!

The grand seal in his hands suddenly flew into the air, rapidly expanding to a size of three hundred meters, smashing directly against that impudent, enormous draconic tail.

“Boom…” An enormous, explosive sound. Draconic scales blew apart, and the draconic tail itself was torn apart, with the dispersed energy quickly vanishing into the nether fog.

“Master-uncle.” Nong Zidao frowned as he stared towards the distant nether fog. “Even Ji Ning was no match for you, master-uncle. The Ji clan has already run out of options. Thus, all they are trying to do now is to waste time and impede me from breaking their formation.”

Adept Xu nodded. “Zidao, just focus on analyzing how to break the formation. Just now, I was caught offguard. Now that I am prepared, I definitely won’t let the Ji clan’s ambushes affect you.”

Whoosh.

Adept Xu waved his hand, and a black cord rapidly expanded to a length of hundreds of meters. It swirled around the snowy white Flood Dragon, while the grand seal returned to Adept Xu.

“As long as that Netherwyrm dares to appear, I will instantly shatter it.” Adept Xu said.

Just moments later.

Whoosh!

A blur suddenly appeared. It was the draconic tail, once more striking.

“Boom…” The black cord suddenly lashed out. The whipping strike from an Earth-ranked magic treasure that a Wanxiang Adept was personally directing was enough to cause the draconic tail to instantly crumble.

Nong Zidao, within the snowy white Flood Dragon, finally let out a relieved sigh. He closed his eyes, once more focusing on analyzing the formation. The simple sounds and ruckuses of the outside battles didn’t have much of an impact on him.

………

Halfway up the mountain.

Ninefire, Ning, Yichuan, the Fairy Crane, and the Whitewater Hound were all present.