Desolate era, p.203
Desolate Era, page 203
Ning gave Northson a glance. “Junior apprentice-brother, no need to say anything further.”
In his heart… Ning truly did like Ninelotus. In his past life and in this life, Ning had never been in a romantic relationship. He couldn’t quite explain how he felt towards her, but he truly did feel a hazy liking for her. However, these recent arguments had caused Ning to truly feel upset!
“Glugglugglug.” Ning held his cup, constantly drinking wine. Although he downed one cup after another, all of the wine continued to be burnt away by flames after it entered his body.
……
Ninelotus sat there in the lotus position, staring at the constantly drinking Ning.
“It seems Ji Ning is really angry.” Ninelotus felt frustrated as well. “How can Ji Ning act like this. I lowered my head to him, and this wasn’t even a big deal to begin with. This sort of thing is too common; I just had to deal with it in a casual, superficial manner. Why does he have to be so angry about it? If he gets angry at this and angry at that… in the future, after I become the leader of the Dongyan clan, am I supposed to follow his every wish and desire?”
“I’ll let him calm down and sober up first. He should understand, later.”
One had been held up high since childhood, and had been chosen to be the next leader of a major clan.
The other came from a world of peace in his past life, and was a genius who had been born into a backwater clan in this life.
The two of them attracted each other. When they had been in the secluded peach-garden utopia of Serpentwing Lake, there had been no problems, but once they truly began to face worldly affairs together, their disagreements had begun to constantly worsen.
……
Ning and Ninelotus were both feeling rather frustrated in their hearts.
Suddenly…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A figure carrying a terrifying, tremendous force came charging in. Those Zifu Deathsworn that had been stationed in the outer perimeter instantly blew apart, their bodies being knocked flying and blood spraying verywhere. In the blink of an eye, the entire hall was transformed into an asura’s hell, the floor stained with blood and chunks of meat.
“The golem.” Youngflame Nong, seated at the front of the hall, was greatly surprised, but then he immediately grew excited and eager.
One golem after another charged in. As for Ji Ning and the others, as they had been assigned to sit down at various locations in the table, they weren’t able to assemble into formation.
“That dogshit Youngflame Nong… he said that those Zifu Deathsworn would be able to hold on for a few moments, but in reality, they weren’t able to do so at all.” Ning’s Darknorth swords appeared in his hands as he hurriedly blocked the Qiongqi Manticore golem which was pouncing towards him.
BOOM!
Ning’s sword-light flashed out, crashing against the body of the Qiongqi golem and sending it flying away.
“Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, protect junior apprentice-brother Mu Northson,” Adept Vastriver sent.
“I know, don’t worry,” Ning said hurriedly.
This hall was simply too large. Ning’s group had been divided into two rows that sat on each end of the table. Ninelotus, Vastriver, and Yu Wei were on the side opposite to Ning, and were quite far from each other as well. As for Ning, Northson, and Xue Hongyi, they were on the same side. Right now, six Qiongqi golems were throwing themselves against Ning and the rest of the six Wanxiang Adepts. Even more of the golems were charging towards Youngflame Nong!
It was very easy for Ning to handle a single Qiongqi golem, but clearly it was a bit difficult for Northson; Northson was more talented in controlling golems, not at close combat.
Swoosh. A pair of black wings appeared on Ning’s back, and the wings fluttered as he began to execute the Windwing Evasion, howling through the air as he moved next to Northson. His sword-light flashed out, striking against a Primal-level Qiongqi golem and sending it flying.
“Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” Northson was covered with cold sweat, and he hurriedly controlled a giant silver serpent construct, sending it into battle.
“It’s nothing.” Ning laughed, twin swords in hand, and then lotus petals began to bloom around him, easily blocking those two Qiongqi golems.
…….
Ning and the others, including Xue Hongyi, were each dealing with a single Qiongqi golem. In truth, these six golems weren’t meant to kill them; they were assigned to keep them tied down. The other twelve Qiongqi golems and their black-armored leader simultaneously charged towards Youngflame Nong.
“Hahaha…” Youngflame Nong laughed loudly. “Capture them.”
Xiangliu Fang’s twin hands struck out, and those massive hands seemed to cover the skies as they did so. His fingers transformed into massive serpents, which seemed to coil about as they moved to wrap around the Qiongqi golems. In fact, some of them managed to snare two Qiongqi golems each. All twelve of them were actually seized by his giant hands… but the black-armored man pulled out a longsword from within his leg with his right arm, hacking it directly against Xiangliu Fang’s hands.
BOOM!
The surrounding area was filled with a deafening explosion. Actually, it was quite taxing for Xiangliu Fang to rely on nothing but a pair of hands to capture those twelve Qiongqi golems. The power of this sword attack was even more tremendous. His hands trembled and were knocked aside, allowing the Qiongqi golems to all escape their captor.
“Eh?” Xiangliu Fang was shocked. “This sword of yours…”
CHOP. The black-armored man transformed into a streak of light, charging forwards and slamming the sword down towards Xiangliu Fang once more.
Right at this moment, the other twelve Qiongqi golems howled through the air, flying towards Youngflame Nong. Youngflame Nong frowned, and instantly that enormous Redscale Salamander appeared around him. At the same time, a leaf-like Dao-seal appeared in his hand.
“They are rather irritating.” Youngflame Nong muttered softly, but he felt completely confident; he had Uncle Fang, the Redscale Salamander, and a protective treasure; he was definitely going to win.
“Growl…”
The Redscale Salamander howled with rage as it fought against the Qiongqi golems. But suddenly, a Qiongqi golem reached out to snatch the nearby bronze lamp, then began to run away with it!
“The bronze lamp!” Youngflame Nong was shocked. Now, he understood. These golems weren’t meant to kill him; they knew that they weren’t strong enough to do that. Thus, their real target was the bronze lamp. To bind a treasure, one had to be right next to it and slowly use one’s elemental ki to bind it. If one was a bit too far away, or if someone else took possession of it, then there would be no way for one to fill it with elemental ki. Naturally, then, there would be no way to bind it.
This would result in it taking forever for him to control the Immortal estate. Given how well these golems knew the Witchriver Palace, they could simply play hide-and-seek with him within it. The golems could delay for thousands of years…but he could not.
“Quick, seize the bronze lamp,” Youngflame Nong howled furiously.
Xiangliu Fang immediately let out an astonishing howl as well. His right arm suddenly split apart and flew out from his body. His severed right arm blasted out with a sky-filling black-colored divine power, which rippled forth, then transformed the right arm into a new Xiangliu Fang. As for the original Xiangliu Fang, he grew out a new arm.
In the blink of an eye, two Xiangliu Fang’s had appeared within the main hall. However, by the time this splitting process had completed, that Qiongqi golem had already charged out of the main hall; after all, Primal-level Qiongqi golems were indeed as fast as lightning.
One Xiangliu Fang remained in combat against the black-armored man. The other, however, went chasing after the Qiongqi golem that had fled with the bronze lamp. With a swoosh, he charged into the corridor, continuing his pursuit.
“Two Xiangliu Fang’s? A clone?” Ning and the others were all shocked.
“The bronze lamp, the bronze lamp! Damn them, damn them!” Youngflame Nong bellowed with rage. But right at this moment, at a distant corridor within the hall, Xiangliu Fang suddenly reappeared, bronze lamp in one hand, sack in the other.
“Haha.” Youngflame Nong instantly laughed.
As for the black-armored man, he immediately felt disappointed. He knew that the difference in power between himself and these invading humans was simply too great; thus, he had hoped to catch them offguard and seize the bronze lamp. Unfortunately, this Fiendgod was truly too powerful; the Fiendgod was able to tie him down with one body, then use another one to chase after the Qiongqi golem and bring the bronze lamp back.
“The overall situation has been cast in stone.” Youngflame Nong immediately felt completely relaxed, watching the battle going on in the rest of the hall with leisure. But as he did so, his face suddenly changed.
He was looking at Ning and Northson, located far away from him. Ning was wielding two Darknorth swords, and on his back was a pair of black wings; he was effortlessly blocking two Qiongqi golems.
“Wings?” Youngflame Nong carefully watched the way in which Ning moved. At the same time, he sent mentally to Xiangliu Fang, “Uncle Fang, look at Ji Ning.”
Xiangliu Fang’s two bodies had merged into one again. Fighting at full power once more, Xiangliu Fang stuffed the black-armored man into his sack. Upon hearing Youngflame Nong’s words, he immediately turned to look. Upon doing so, his face changed as well.
“Uncle Fang, that’s the Windwing Evasion. I’m not mistaken, am I?” Youngflame Nong asked.
Windwing Evasion.
Youngflame Nong himself had never trained in it, but he had watched his clansmen train in it repeatedly. Because of how often he had seen it, and because he had personally read the contents of the [Windwing Evasion] manual, he could see traces of it in the way Ning moved.
“Right. That’s the Windwing Evasion. I’ve trained in it before. Although Ji Ning is using wings to mask it, he is definitely using the Windwing Evasion,” Xiangliu Fang sent mentally. “In the past, the descendants of the Yuchi clan also used wings to hide it; Ji Ning is using the same old trick. Although this is a rather clumsy method, unless one has an extremely deep understanding of the Windwing Evasion, there’s no way one would be able to tell.”
Youngflame Nong sent mentally, “Uncle Fang, how could Ji Ning know the Windwing Evasion?”
“It should be one of the surviving spawns of the Yuchi clan!” Xiangliu Fang sent back.
* * *
Book 10, Chapter 24 - Enmity Born From Genocide
“Surviving spawns of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong began to feel a killing intent in his heart. “Not a single member of the Yuchi clan is to be spared, and those members of the Yuchi clan who have trained in the Windwing Evasion are all the more deserving of death. The Windwing Evasion… only my Youngflame clan can have it. It cannot be learned by others!”
The secret arts and divine abilities which were unique to a certain major clan were absolutely forbidden to be taught to others. Any outsiders who learned these techniques would suffer pursuit and assault!
“Uncle Fang, let’s deal with these golems first.” Youngflame Nong had no desire to play around anymore at all. For the first time, he truly had the desire to kill Ji Ning.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Xiangliu Fang’s two large hands swished through the air, snatching away at the Qiongqi golems with abandon while shouting, “Everyone, stop these Qiongqi golems. Don’t let them escape; if they escape, they’ll cause problems in the future.” While saying this, he continually captured Qiongqi golems and stuffed them into his sack.
Everyone did their best to stop the Qiongqi golems from escaping, allowing Xiangliu Fang to capture them, one by one.
“They really were suicidal.” The black wings on Ning’s back disappeared. He gave a glance to the bloodstained corpses on the ground. Although those Zifu Disciples were all Deathsworn and were able to assemble into formation… the difference between them and golems at the Primal level of power was simply too vast. The first wave of assaults from the Qiongqi Manticore golems had caused virtually all of the Zifu Disciples to be wiped out, leaving behind only ten or so.
“How pitiable. They were Zifu Disciples… but against these golems, they were completely useless. And yet, Youngflame Nong insisted on having them watch the perimeter; clearly, he didn’t give a damn about them dying,” Mu Northson sent with a mental sigh. “Youngflame Nong truly is cold-blooded.”
These Deathsworn had been voluntarily gifted by Northmont Yin and some others. To Youngflame Nong, however, these Deathsworn had been raised by outside clans, and there was no way the Youngflame clan would truly trust them. There was no point to him bringing them back! And yet, he couldn’t just ‘return’ them back to Northmont Yin. Thus, he might as well let them die. If some were lucky enough to survive, then that meant that they had been blessed with good fortune and might be worthy of bringing back to the clan and training.
……
The few lucky Zifu Disciple survivors hurriedly began to clean the hall, completely removing all of the corpses and bloodstains and restoring it to a pristine condition.
Youngflame Nong reseated himself at the front of the hall. His gaze cold, he stared directly at Ning, then barked, “Ji Ning!”
Everyone in the hall was stunned.
Northson, Yu Wei, Ninelotus, Adept Vastriver, and Xue Hongyi were all astonished; they could sense that there was a terrifying look in Youngflame Nong’s eyes, and the cold, tyrannical way he had just shouted was something they could all sense. Not even earlier, when Ning had shattered the table, had Youngflame Nong been so formal and cold.
“Young master Youngflame.” Ning looked towards Youngflame Nong. “What is it? Speak.”
“Youngflame Nong.” This time, it was Ninelotus, seated on the other side, who grew angry. “Ji Ning is my Dao-companion. Earlier, he offended you, but that was just a minor matter. For you to act this way… you are being a bit too narrow-minded.”
Although these young masters and princes of major clans often chatted and teased each other, there were some bottom lines that could not be crossed. Ji Ning was her Dao-companion, after all, and he had also helped Youngflame Nong this time. It was one thing for the two of them to have had a bit of friction earlier, but for Youngflame Nong to act this way now was going too far.
“Ninelotus, you’ll understand after hearing what I say,” Youngflame Nong said coldly.
“Then I shall listen attentively,” Ninelotus said with cold anger as well.
“Ji Ning, I ask you this.” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Just now, was the divine ability you displayed the Windwing Evasion?”
Ning was stunned.
Windwing Evasion? How did Youngflame Nong know about the Windwing Evasion? Ning’s mother’s clan, the Yuchi clan, had been almost completely obliterated; most likely, the only remaining member was Ning’s uncle’s daughter, and Ning didn’t even know if she was still alive. Ning could be somewhat considered a descendant of the Yuchi clan… but the Yuchi clan was extremely secretive about the Windwing Evasion to begin with.
“No need to deny it. You used the Windwing Evasion,” Youngflame Nong said with a cold laugh. “Uncle Fang, display it for him.”
Whoosh.
Xiangliu Fang suddenly disappeared from Youngflame Nong’s side. He seemed to have transformed into a giant Roc, instantly appearing in the center of the main hall. Then, with another movement, he retreated and returned to Youngflame Nong’s side.
Ning, seeing this, felt his heart tremble. His other fellow disciples of the Black-White College couldn’t tell, but he himself, as a practitioner of the Windwing Evasion, could – Xiangliu Fang truly was using the Windwing Evasion! In addition, it was even more precise and profound than Ning’s own usage! But this made sense; after all, Ning was only a Fiendgod Body Refiner; compared to Xiangliu Fang, a true Fiendgod, he was still far inferior.
“They are the culprits!”
“They are the ones who annihilated my clan!”
A thought suddenly entered Ning’s mind. “Can it be that it was the Youngflame clan which annihilated my mother’s Yuchi clan? Can it be that the grandparents and aunts and uncles who I never met were all slain by the Youngflame clan?”
“Well?” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Is it the same as yours?”
“I do indeed train in the Windwing Evasion.” Ning knew that there was no point in lying. Frowning, he said, “But so what if it is?”
Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Adept Vastriver, and Northson all sood there, watching nervously but not rushing to speak.
Youngflame Nong laughed loudly, “The Windwing Evasion technique was originally unique to the Yuchi clan of the Eastisle Commandery of our Grand Xia Dynasty.”
Ning, hearing this, felt his heart shake.
“The Yuchi clan had possessed this divine ability for a long, long time; however, they relied on using wing-type magic treasures to hide it. Our Youngflame clan, however, found out about it long ago. After preparing for an extremely long period of time, we annihilated the entire Yuchi clan in one blow… but were unable to find the original manual of the [Windwing Evasion]! Some of the powerful Immortals of my Youngflame clan personally intervened and used a soul-scour technique to collect enough memories from members of the Yuchi clan to completely rebuild the [Windwing Evasion] manual from scratch.” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Right now, the [Windwing Evasion] is unique to my Youngflame clan, and it is absolutely forbidden to teach it to others. For you to learn the Windwing Evasion without the permission of my Youngflame clan… this, in and of itself, merits the death penalty for you. What’s more, I suspect that you are one of the surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan!”
“SPEAK! Are you a surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong stared at Ning.
