Desolate Era (Book 6 - Book 10)

“So fast.” “There were no warning signs at all.” The faces of Ninefire, Truekeep, and the others all changed. Ning’s attack had created no ripples or disturbances at all! After all, Ning hadn’t even filled the Evanescent Demonslayer Sword with his elemental ki; he had completely relied on his divine will to control it. Naturally, Ning was able to attack without giving any warning signs. The seven were still cursing in despair, but in the next instant, they had all died.

“Xu Li is already dead.” Ning said solemnly. “The worst case scenario would be that the Snowdragon Mountain really will send even more powerful experts to come here to investigate. We need to immediately make preparations.”

“What the hell is this? There’s no end to this!” Truekeep gritted his teeth painfully. “Alas!” Patriarch Ninefire shook his head as well. Previously, they had all been incomparably excited, but now, a bucket of ice water had been poured on their heads. Their hearts turned cold!

…….

More than a million kilometers away from Swallow Mountain. Snow drifted down from the skies. It was perpetually freezing here. The endless mountains stretched in a chain, as far as the eye could see. Some were tall, while others were short; some had peaks that stretched into the clouds. This was the location of the main sect of one of the great powers within Stillwater Commandery, Snowdragon Mountain.

Snowdragon Mountain’s main sect was divided into three factions, and the leaders of the three factions were all Summit Lords, with the positions being assumed by Primal Daoists.

The three tallest, most awe-inspiring majestic mountain peaks…were the residences of the three Primal Daoists. There were many other mountain peaks around them, which were the residences of the various Wanxiang Adepts. Naturally, there were many Zifu Disciples who would follow these Wanxiang Adepts or serve the Primal Daoists, waiting for a chance to hear them expound on the Dao.

Within Coldfocus Peak of Snowdragon Mountain were halls and palaces. Within one of the main palaces, there was a jade bed, atop which sat a red-clothed youth in the lotus position. By his side stood a pair of maids. They stood there nervously, not daring to make a sound and disturb him.

Coldfocus Peak…it was a mountain peak that was ranked amongst the top peaks of the many mountains of Snowdragon Mountain’s main sect. The Summit Lord, Xue Hongyi, was a truly outstanding genius that had been cultivated by Snowdragon Mountain. Age ten, Xiantian. Age sixteen, Zifu. Age thirty nine, Wanxiang. Thirty years later, after many trials and tests, he had become a member of the Grand Xia Dynasty’s Raindragon Guard!

In the Raindragon Guard, he had learned some particularly powerful techniques. His battle prowess was now within the top three of the Wanxiang Adepts of Snowdragon Mountain.

There could be a tremendous gap in power between two Wanxiang Adepts. The likes of Adept Xu Li were simply ordinary Wanxiang Adepts. There were some particularly talented Wanxiang Adepts who trained in some extremely powerful techniques, who had extremely formidable magic treasures or divine abilities, or controlled particularly powerful golems who were capable of fighting beyond their level and approach the Primal Daoist level of combat power.

Amonst Zifu Disciples, there were outstanding talents and also comparative weaklings. The weaklings were like Ji Ninefire; the stronger ones were like Dong Ziqi. Both were peak Zifu Disciples, but a single Dong Ziqi could battle ten Ji Ninefire’s. As for the more formidable ones like Jadechild, because of their divine abilities, they could dominate a group of Zifu Disciples by themselves. And of course, there were monsters like Ning, who could kill Jadechild as easily as slaughtering a chicken.

Amongst Wanxiang Adepts, there could similarly be a great difference in power levels. Xue Hongyi was one of the most dazzling ones, who had close to a Primal Daoist’s power in battle.

“Hongyi.” An icy cold voice suddenly rang out by the ears of the red-clothed youth. “Hm?” The red-clothed youth opened his eyes, a look of respect appearing in them. “Master.” “Your junior apprentice-brother Xu Li just perished, and it should have been within the Swallow Mountain region.” The icy voice continued, “Hongyi, go make a trip to Swallow Mountain and investigate how your junior apprentice-brother Xu Li died. You are a member of the Raindragon Guard; you can borrow their teleportation array to move to Swallow Mountain as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Master.” The red-clothed youth nodded. He was an orphan whom his master had taken in, because he had been discovered on Snowdragon Mountain’s territory. Back then, because he had been found wearing naut but a red, cotton-padded jacket, his master had bestowed him with the surname of ‘Xue’, meaning ‘snow’, and his name as ‘Hongyi’, meaning ‘red clothes’. The relationship between himself and his master was akin to that between a true father and a son. Only, the two weren’t good at expressing it, as they both had cold, sharp personalities.

“Whoosh.” A red cloud suddenly appeared before the red-clothed youth, and in an instant, it flew out of the main hall, howling through the air as it disappeared into the horizons at an astonishing speed.

…….

Oxhorn Mountain. The Ji clan was currently deciding how they should deal with the expert which Snowdragon Mountain would invariably send over.

“A major sect such as Snowdragon Mountain cares the most about their reputation. Our ‘puny little Ji clan’ has killed so many of their disciples; they definitely won’t let this matter rest.” Truekeep said frantically. “Now, our only chance is to hope for the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty to arrive. Once the Celestial Envoy arrives, we will have the protection of the Dynasty. No matter how audacious Snowdragon Mountain is, they won’t dare attack.”

“But the expert from Snowdragon Mountain will arrive within the day.” Ninefire said with a frown. “As for the Celestial Envoy of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the Envoy probably won’t be able to arrive within a day.” All of them were pondering.

“Our only option is to flee.” Granny Shadow said in her hoarse voice. “Right. Flee.” Ninefire said. “We cannot fight head on. We can’t let Ji Ning take on this sort of danger again. We shall flee immediately. After we flee, Snowdragon Mountain will spend some extra time investigating. As long as we can delay until the Celestial Envoy arrives, we will have succeeded.”

“I’m just afraid that if the experts of Snowdragon Mountain aren’t able to find us, in their rage, they will harm our ordinary clansmen.” Truekeep said.

Ning’s face suddenly changed as he turned to look into the distance. “Eh?” Everyone else, seeing Ning’s face change, also turned to look towards the distance.

The nether fog around them had grown sparse. Ning and the others could now see far into the distance…and because Ning’s soul had reached the ‘divine sense’ level, his senses were extremely acute. He could sense that from far away in the sky, there were faint ripples. Thus, he had turned to look.

From afar…a towering, lofty, wide warship was currently pressing down, emanating waves of energy as it flew over. There were massive armored warriors standing atop the ship, and all of them had extraordinary auras and gazes. This group of warriors surrounded a tall, slender youngster who was dressed in a magnificent uniform and who wore a crown on his forehead. His bearing was extraordinary, and by his side there was an armored man who was fawning on him.

The warship had two mighty pillars and two flags fluttering atop them!

Atop the first flag were two characters: “Still” and “Water.”

Atop the other flag were two other characters: “North” and “Mont.”