Desolate era, p.16
Desolate Era, page 16
“Impossible!” Serpentwing was now truly enraged.
It was a Diremonster who had trained for thousands of years and had reached the late-stage Xiantian level. It was many times more powerful than those ordinary early-stage Xiantian Diremonsters. For someone of its power, killing a youth should be simplicity itself, much like how it has easily slaughtered those thousands of tribesmen in the Goldblade Tribe.
Pengpengpeng! Serpentwing wildly struck everywhere with its tail, and its wings struck out as well. The entire Dragon Castle was shuddering and on the verge of collapse, and large amounts of stones were flying everywhere. Many servants and black armored riders lost their lives…
“Diediedie!” Serpentwing was frantic.
A wild cold aura emanated from him, and the temperature dropped, causing some servants to immediately freeze to death.
The black poisonous mist came out, and the surrounding Houtian level lifeforms all were poisoned to death.
But Ning continued to dodge time and time again in that massive cloud of dust.
The cold aura could freeze to death those peak Houtian Ki Refining warriors, but Ning, who trained in the Fiendgod Body Refining technique, his body was more than a hundred times stronger than those Houtian Ki Refiners. These large-scale cold air and poison gas attacks couldn’t harm him at all.
“Like the wind. Like the shadows.”
“Shadewind Steps.”
“This is the Shadewind Steps. The true Shadewind Steps.” Ning totally immersed himself in it, allowing those strikes from the enormous Serpentwing to come as they will, allowing the scaled wings to slash at him as they pleased. He simply followed the natural force of the wind and borrowed it, and also the force of the wind created by his opponent, Serpentwing, to dodge agilely time and time again.
He moved like a shadow. Serpentwing couldn’t hit him, no matter how he tried.
He moved like the wind. Ning’s body flickered everywhere with such gentle ease, as though he were a leaf that was being blown by the gentle wind.
“One with the world!”
“This youngster has actually reached the level of ‘one with the world’? His footwork is at the ‘one with the world’ level?” The vicious, otherworldly ancient monster, Serpentwing, was finally certain that this human youth who had killed his son had actually reached the level of ‘one with the world’. This was a level which this old monster hadn’t reached yet, despite having trained for thousands of years.”
One with the world!
Generally speaking, only Zifu Disciples were at the ‘one with the world’ level, while some powerful Xiantian lifeforms would also reach the ‘one with the world’ level.
Humans naturally had a greater potential for insight than monsters!
Only the likes of Godbeasts were on par with humans in terms of understanding.
“Damnable.” The ancient monster, Serpentwing, knew that in a short period of time, he wouldn’t be able to kill this human youth.
“Vermin!”
An enormous blue sword light attacked.
The ancient monster, Serpentwing, swung his tail towards that blue sword light, not caring about it at all. “Yichuan, do you think that your sword light can harm me from a distance of two kilometers?”
Bang!
Dark green blood splattered everywhere, and wherever the blood splattered, the ground hissed and bubbled. The marble and the blackwater iron all quickly dissolved. That enormous, thick tail had been cut so deeply, it was nearly severed in half.
“How could it be this powerful?” Serpentwing was truly frightened.
The number one expert of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture truly was too terrifying.
“Hu!”
“I’ll let you live for now!” Serpentwing tossed Ning a furious glare, and then with a beat of its two wings, flew into the sky at high speed.
“Vermin!”
“Serpentwing, you dare to barge into the Ji clan’s West Prefecture, and you think you can flee?”
“Die!”
From multiple areas in the inner city, there erupted furious roars, including those of Ji Lee and Ji Young, as well as dozens of Xiantian lifeforms, all of whom shouted at him.
“Loan me your Azure Firebird.” Yichuan transformed into a ray of light, flying onto a giant blue bird that was in mid-flight, which had a blue fire blazing on its tail. On the back of this blue bird, there was a woman dressed in black.
“Yichuan, I’ll come with you.” The black-clothed woman said in her hoarse voice.
“Let’s go.”
Yichuan swept the area below with his gaze. Seeing his son standing within the rubble of Dragon Castle, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief…but seeing the bloodstained severed arm of his son, he felt his fury blaze up once more.
“Hu!”
Yichuan and the black-clothed woman, riding the Azure Firebird, tore through the air, pursuing in the direction of the fleeing Serpentwing. As for the other Xiantian level people in the West Prefecture, all of them were roaring with fury. A Diremonster had dared to barge into the inner city of the Ji clan’s West Prefecture City? This was totally against all reason!
But humans at the Xiantian level were not capable of flight yet, and so they could only watch as Yichuan and his companion flew on the back of the Azure Firebird in pursuit of Serpentwing.
…..
Ning remained within that state of being ‘one with the world’. He could sense the strength of the wind, and he could borrow that strength to become as carefree as the wind itself. He could even borrow the attacking strength of the enemy to dodge the enemy’s attacks, as though he were the enemy’s shadow.
“Ah.”
“Ah!”
A feeble moan caused Ning to look around him. The entire Dragon Castle had been reduced to rubble. A large number of servants and black armored riders had died gruesome deaths, either smashed, frozen, or poisoned to death. The sight was unbearable to see.
The joy he felt at having the ‘one with the world’ level of the [Shadewind Steps] faded away.
Ning ground his teeth. With a leap, he entered the field of rubble. He began kicking aside pieces of rock, and quickly found his severed left arm, then re-absorbed the Darknorth sword his left arm was clutching back into his kalestone. And then, Ning grabbed his severed left arm with his right arm, pressing it against the stump. By now, the severed stump was no longer bleeding any more.
“Connect.” Ning connected the severed arm to the stump, and then extended the Goldstar Shirt to quickly encapsulate his left arm as well, putting it back into position.
Even in his previous life, a severed hand or arm that had only been severed recently could be reattached.
Ning currently had the body of a Fiendgod. A severed arm only needed a few hours to be regrown, much less a severed arm that was being reattached…Ning could clearly sense his muscles and flesh rapidly grow back, and his bones were quickly reaching out and connecting as well. His arm had already been reattached, but he would still need a little bit longer before reaching his perfect state.
“Ning!” A somewhat frantic sound rang out.
Ning raised his head up. He saw an old man who wore a dark red beast fur pelt standing in the rubble looking down at him. This man was the Prefecture Lord, Ji Young. Prefecture Lord Young saw that Ning was unharmed, and only then let out a sigh of relief. “As long as you aren’t hurt. As long as you aren’t hurt.”
“Ning.” An agonized shout.
Ning didn’t have the chance to speak with the Prefecture Lord. He hurriedly made his way out from the debris field, and saw from far away his mother running towards him, her face covered with bitter tears.
“Mother.” Ning called out repeatedly.
Seeing her son standing there, Snow instantly began to shed tears of joy. Ning quickly ran towards his mother at high speed, then hugged her. Snow hugged her son back. “Wonderful, wonderful. I was so frightened just now. If anything had happened to you, I really don’t know what I would’ve done.”
“Mother, I’m fine.” Ning said repeatedly.
“Your arm?” Snow looked carefully at her son’s left arm.
“It’s fine. Look.” Ning waved his left arm around. The bones and flesh of his left arm had been totally connected by now, and even the cells had been 80% regenerated. Most likely, in just a little bit longer, he would be in perfect condition.
Only now did Snow completely relax. She knew how powerful her son’s recuperative ability was, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner.
“What happened? How could this Diremonster, Serpentwing, dare to have the temerity to attack our Ji clan’s Western Manor?” A heroic voice rang out, and the red-haired viper elder, Ji Lee, came running over, his face filled with fury. “This vermin is asking to be killed. Also, we need to immediately investigate why it charged and attacked our Ji clan’s Western Prefecture City.”
“It is indeed strange. Doesn’t Serpentwing know that by acting in such a way, it has fully infuriated the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture?” A skinny old man with a scar over his forehead said coldly.
One Xiantian individual after another walked over.
Seeing the destroyed Dragon Castle and the large number of corpses and bloodstains, the dozens of Xiantian individuals had very ugly looks on their faces. As the administrators of this large expanse of land, it had been a long time since a Diremonster had dared to attack the West Prefecture. Every single expert of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture felt both fury and shame.
“It must die!”
“We absolutely must kill that Diremonster, Serpentwing.”
“Kill it!”
* * *
Book 2, Chapter 4 - Yichuans Rage
The flames on the plumage of the Azure Firebird swirled around it as it flew in the skies, the desolate winds howling past it as it chased after that giant scaled and winged serpent.
On the back of the Azure Firebird were two figures who were each half-kneeling; Ji Yichuan, and that black-clothed woman. The black-clothed woman stared at the rapidly fleeing Serpentwing. “Yichuan, this Serpentwing is a late-stage Xiantian level Diremonster. It is quite a bit stronger than my Azure Firebird. Although the Azure Firebird is good at long-distance flight, it’ll still be hard to catch up.
“Lady Flower, I’ll handle this.” Yichuan’s face was as cold as ice. From within his hands, a silver greatbow suddenly appeared out of nowhere, while in his left hand was an arrow.
Hua….
The bow was fully drawn. Yichuan stared coldly at the fleeing Serpentwing.
“Swish!” The arrow suddenly transformed into a ray of light, streaking towards the fleeing Serpentwing. At such a short range, the terrifying speed at which Yichuan had launched this arrow, combined with Serpentwing’s massive body, meant that there was no way it could dodge.
In terms of pure archery skill, Yichuan was perhaps inferior to Blindfish.
But most of the men of the Ji clan were skilled in archery, and this arrow of Yichuan’s…in terms of speed, was even faster than Blindfish’s!
“Bang!”
The arrow struck Serpentwing’s body, then instantly exploded, creating an enormous, bloody hole. A massive, bone-exposing wound was revealed on the serpent’s body, and it seemed as though with just one more arrow, this serpent would completely explode from the inside. Actually, Yichuan’s arrow had been aimed at those bony wings. But Serpentwing knew…once his scaled, bony wings were injured, he wouldn’t be able to flee. Thus, he had used his own serpentine body to block the arrow instead.
“Crackle…” The flesh on the serpent’s body quickly closed, and blood stopped flowing.
Serpentwing continued to flee wildly.
“Yichuan, your Ji clan killed my son. Can it be that you won’t let me seek revenge?” Serpentwing shouted backwards.
“Vermin, if you let yourself die peacefully, I’ll let you die fast. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you regret it.” Half-kneeling on the back of the Azure Firebird, Yichuan once more nocked that silver greatbow.
Serpentwing hurriedly moved to dodge.
Bang!
Yet another arrow blasted against Serpentwing’s body. Serpentwing howled in agony, and his heart was frantic. “Yichuan is the number one expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture, true, but how can he be this powerful? Earlier, from the great distance of two kilometers, the sword flash of Yichuan’s had still been powerful enough to injure me severely. And now, a single arrow of his can injure me. Even a peak Xiantian-level Diremonster is only at most able to hold me down; there’s no way one would be able to demolish me so easily!”
Serpentwing’s courage had been entirely shattered by that sword flash from earlier.
A sword flash that could heavily injure him despite having come from over two kilometers away.
If it was executed at a closer distance, wouldn’t it have killed him in one blow?
“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” Yichuan fired one arrow after another, and Serpentwing could only grit his teeth and use his body to block it. Fortunately, his massive body was hundreds of meters long. Although his enormous body now had over ten massive craters in it, given his powerful life force, he could still maintain his high speed flight.
Soon, the wide expanse of earth below gave way to a wide lake.
“Hu!” Serpentwing immediately charged downwards.
“Serpentwing Lake.” Yichuan and the black-clothed woman’s faces both changed.
Serpentwing Lake was over a hundred kilometers long. One couldn’t even see the ends of the lake…and what’s more, it was Serpentwing’s lair.
Hua…
The enormous Serpentwing plummeted down from the skies, diving into the lake. A few large waves arose, but the creature itself had disappeared.
As for the Azure Firebird, it continued to hover in the air above Serpentwing Lake.
“Yichuan, what should we do?” The black-clothed woman asked.
“Fled?” Yichuan stood on the back of the Azure Firebird, staring down at the massive lake. He said coldly, “He thinks that just because he is hiding in the water that I won’t be able to do anything to him? Lady Flower, loan me the Azure Firebird for now. I’d like to trouble you, Lady Flower, to immediately return to the West Prefecture…and have my spirit-beast, the serpent, come over.
“Alright.” The black-clothed woman nodded.
Swish!
The black-clothed woman transformed into a streak of light, flashing across the surface of the lake, then disappearing into the distance.
….
In the depths of Serpentwing Lake.
The enormous Serpentwing lay coiled at the bottom, occasionally licking some of its enormous wounds with its tongue. His enormous life force and regenerative force was causing his wounds to quickly grow stronger, and his flesh was visibly regrowing and extending.
“Ji Yichuan.” Serpentwing’s eyes were filled with disbelief. “How can he be this powerful? That Ji Lee is the number two expert of the Ji clan of the West Prefecture. In the past, when we fought against each other, he only had somewhat of an advantage over me…but most likely, if this Yichuan is allowed to draw close to me, he would be able to kill me with one blow of his sword. How can the difference be this great?”
Before this, Serpentwing had been confident in his fleeing abilities. As he viewed it, he was a late-stage Xiantian-level Diremonster. Even if he ran into a terrifying peak Xiantian-level creature…he would at most be at an disadvantage. He would still be able to flee. As long as he wasn’t attacked by an entire group of Xiantian life forms, he should be fine.
But that sword of Yichuan’s had scared him silly.
“Groooowl.”
“Gaaaaaa!”
The monsters within Serpentwing Lake all began to howl fiercely. This sound instantly caused great shock to Serpentwing, deep within the waters of the lake. He could understand those monstrous cries.
“A Diremonster has come?” Serpentwing was greatly shocked. “Right, one of the Diremonsters that the Ji clan of the West Prefecture has tamed is a water-type Diremonster.”
Some monsters were avian-types, skilled at flight.
Others were water-types, extremely powerful in the water.
Some non-water races, upon entering the water, would see their power drop! For example, Yichuan…in the water, his speed probably would be less than a tenth of his usual speed. But in the water, Serpentwing would be even faster than on land! Even if Yichuan were to use his sword techniques, with the water blocking him, the power of his techniques would be much lower as well.
Of course, although the power of Yichuan’s sword techniques would be greatly reduced, he could still kill Serpentwing! The problem was that in the water, he would be completely unable to catch Serpentwing. No matter how powerful his sword techniques were, it would be of no use.
….
“Brother Black, go search and find that Serpentwing.” Yichuan stood on the surface of the lake, but didn’t sink down at all. “Although he is more powerful than you, he is badly wounded. In addition, after finding him, you just need to tie him down for a while and prevent him from escaping. I will immediately charge over and slay him.”
“Leave it to me.” The coiled black serpent nodded on the surface of the lake, then immediately sank its entire body into the depths, beginning to search within Serpentwing Lake.
Those lesser monsters in the lake all fled in every direction, screaming in terror.
“Azure Firebird.” Yichuan looked at the Azure Firebird above him. “Stay up there and keep a lookout. Once Serpentwing flees from the lake, immediately chase after and kill him.”
“Alright.” The Azure Firebird spoke in a soft voice, then rose at a high speed.
Yichuan’s face was grim. Wielding his blue longsword, he paced about on the surface of the lake as though it were flat land. One step at a time, he walked, leaving faint ripples on the surface. His cold gaze stared at his surroundings, as though he could see straight through the lake water to the depths of the lake.
…..
Ji clan’s West Prefecture.
