The Desolate Era

“Your humble servant will go right now.” The attendant chortled, then walked forward.

Mount Dashcloud was extremely large, and there were many regions from which one could view all of the remnant sword-scars left behind. The first row only had twenty-seven seats, but there was a distance of more than thirty meters between each seat. This way, everyone could train calmly.

The attendant walked straight towards Ning. “Fellow Dao-” the attendant began to say in a shrill voice, reaching out to pat Ning on the shoulders.

When training, Ning had his heartforce spread out to cover this entire minor world. He was completely focused on his meditations and on the sword-scars left behind by Daofather Fuju. He was mentally deducing and inferring one type of sword-art after another! He had already visualized thousands of different types, more than ten of which were more powerful than the [Three-Foot Sword].

Every so often, he would gain an insight from the visualized sword-arts. This would allow Ning to walk farther and farther along the path of swordforce.

At this moment, Ning was completely focusing on deducing yet another powerful sword-art.

Pat!

Someone patted him on the shoulder.

Ning was instantly startled awake...and all of the effort he had put into analyzing this sword-art went completely to waste.

“My heartforce has covered this entire minor world. If any Empyrean God or True Immortal arrives, I should have found out long ago. Who the hell just disturbed me?” Ning was rather displeased. One of the greatest taboos was disturbing others when they were meditating. Ning immediately turned his head to look towards the pale-faced attendant.

Ning could immediately tell that this person was merely a Primal Daoist.

“Fellow Daoist,” the attendant said, pointing at the prayer mat beneath Ning. “My prince wishes to meditate on sword-arts and needs a spot. He’s taken a fancy to your spot.”

Ning frowned, then looked backwards. He saw the beautifully dressed youth ensconced by many guards. The youth gave Ning a sideways glance, seemingly quite disdainful.

“You should know what to do.” A look of arrogance was in the attendant’s eyes. As he saw it, once this white-robed youth saw that there were three Primal Daoists accompanying the prince, he should be able to guess that the prince had an extraordinary background. Immortal cultivators generally understood the principle of courting fortune and avoiding misfortune.

“Don’t bother me when I’m meditating on the Dao.” Ning gave the attendant a cold glance, then shut his eyes and continued to meditate.

“You...” The attendant pointed at Ning, rendered momentarily speechless.

“Fellow Daoist, don’t make trouble for yourself!” He barked.

Ning completely ignored him. Given his power and his status, these little fellows were as weak as ants in the face of his might. Ning wouldn’t care too much if a few ants bellowed at him; he simply couldn’t be bothered to. In addition, this was Mount Dashcloud, a place for meditating on the sword-arts of a Daofather. Generally, very few would dare to actually attack someone here.

Ning believed that this person would just yell at him a bit, then leave helplessly.

“Your Highness.” The attendant ran back to the prince’s side.

“What’s going on?” The prince was rather irritated.

“That white-robed kid is like a stone. He’s quite tough. He completely ignored me,” the attendant said helplessly.

“He’s courting death.” The prince’s face sank. “Attack. Kick him out of here.”

“No!” The attendant said hurriedly, “This is Mount Dashcloud, a place for meditating on the Daofather’s sword-arts. Any disturbances will interfere with the meditations of countless Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters. All of them will be furious with us. It’s one thing for us to irritate one of them, but we can’t irritate all of them!”

“We’re not going to kill him, we’re just going to kick him out.” The prince said with a frown, “Those who are truly focused on their meditations won’t be startled awake by some fights in the outside world. The ones that will wake up are the ones who aren’t in a true meditative state yet. Also, set up a small formation around him when you attack. That way, you won’t disturb the people around him, right?”

“The three of you, go!” The prince gave the orders.

The attendant and the two commanders shared a glance, then acknowledged the order. “Yes.”

The three of them immediately walked towards Ning.

Rumble...

A crystalline globe of fire appeared before the attendant’s chest. Instantly, a barrier of flames appeared around them, surrounding Ning.

“Fellow Daoist!” The attendant barked loudly, his voice exploding by Ning’s ears like thunder.

Ning opened his eyes. He gave the three a look.

“Hurry up and leave. Give up your seat. Otherwise...don’t blame us for showing no mercy,” the attendant barked. The two nearby commanders became filled with auras of power as well. The Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters who were nearby all halted their meditations, focusing their attention on the area around Ning with curiosity.

“Amusing.”

“It’s quite rare for people to fight at Mount Dashcloud.”

“These three are a bit too brash. If the fellow wants to give up the seat, that’s one thing, but they actually intend to force him from it? Even if they really want to give him a drubbing, they should wait until he leaves Mount Dashcloud. Why rush?” The surrounding Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters all chatted amongst themselves.

It was very common for Immortal cultivators to get into fights over minor matters, but it was rare for something like this to happen at Mount Dashcloud.

Unwilling to give up your seat? Fine. Once you leave Mount Dashcloud, don’t blame me for showing no mercy!

In the face of a threat like this, most weaker cultivators would obediently give up their seats.

“Hurry up and leave.”

“F*ck off!”

The two commanders barked out as well. They both had extraordinary backgrounds; they wouldn’t care about an ordinary Primal Daoist.

“Insolence.” A cold light flashed through Ning’s eyes.

Rumble...an invisible wave surged out, striking against the bodies of the three Primal Daoists. The attendant and the two guard commanders were just about to attack, but they suddenly sensed a wave of unearthly power crash over them. They were knocked backwards, and the commander who had told Ning to ‘f*ck off’ began to scream in agony as soon as he landed on the ground.

“AHH! AHHHHH! M-m-my Zifu...my Zifu...” The commander’s voice was filled with agony and terror.

The other, chubbier commander fell on the ground alongside the attendant. The two of them clambered to their feet, staring at their comrade.

“H-his Zifu was destroyed.”

“Destroyed.”

Both of them were filled with utter terror. The three of them had been knocked flying in a single clash, with one of them having his Zifu destroyed...although they all had extraordinary backgrounds, this was exactly why they had been unwilling to offend any of the Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals. Although they had extraordinary backgrounds, it would take time for reinforcements to arrive. If they were crippled in the interim, that would be a miserable outcome, and so they had sought out the white-robed kid, who had appeared to be the easiest to bully.

“We just rammed into a steel plate,” the chubbier commander muttered. “A steel plate with nails.”

“Bullshit!” The prince roared. The chubbier commander instantly no longer dared to say a word. In secret, however, he celebrated the fact that it was his comrade who was the one to speak rudely, as was usually the case. This time, his comrade had really suffered for it.

“Your Highness,” the attendant said hurriedly. “This person is very powerful.”

“How dare you cripple my man?” The prince had a terrifying look in his eyes as he stared daggers at the distant Ning.

The worst part of the situation was that more than half of the Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters seated below Mount Dashcloud were watching this event with curiosity. They weren’t like Ning, after all, who could easily go into a months-long meditative state. They were far weaker than him, and the Daofather’s sword-arts were far too profound. They had to stop extremely frequently, after just meditating on the sword-arts for a short period of time.

For so many cultivators to stare at him...the prince felt even more embarrassed and angry, and he shifted all of it towards Ning.

“Fellow Daoist.” The prince strode forward, his attendant and the chubbier commander hurriedly following behind him.

The prince’s voice was clear, but it carried anger in it. “Your actions are quite vicious.”

Ning just shut his eyes again, completely ignoring him. The prince didn’t dare to actually act against Ning himself; he had seen Ning attack earlier. The prince was a mere early-stage Primal Daoist; how could he be a match for Ning?

“My five junior apprentice-brothers!” The prince called out loudly.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Instantly, five figures descended from the top of Mount Dashcloud. Each of them had powerful auras. They were all at the Loose Immortal level.

“Five Loose Immortals.”

“The five Loose Immortals who stand guard over Mount Dashcloud for the Sword School.”

“This youth actually addresses the five of them as ‘junior apprentice-brother’? Can it be that he is also a member of the Sword School? However...judging from his age, I would’ve thought those five Loose Immortals should be much older than him.”

“Do you really need to ask? If he dares to address the five of them as ‘junior apprentice-brother’, then he must be a true, formal disciple of the Sword School.”

“I recognize him. He’s the third prince of the East Phoenix Dynasty. He has been accepted by Celestial Immortal Triscorpion as his disciple.”

“So that’s the case. Seems like the white-robed man is doomed. He’s offended a formal disciple of the Sword School...”

“The white-robed man really doesn’t know his limits. He should know that his opponents must have powerful backgrounds, for them to dare act in such a brash manner here at Mount Dashcloud. He should’ve been more cautious. Look at him now. He’s pissed off a major foe.”

Instantly, everyone began to discuss this matter.

The five Loose Immortals all landed, the cultivators and monsters around them making way before them. None of them dared to offend the Sword School. The five Loose Immortals all bowed courteously towards the prince.

“Senior apprentice-brother Eastluck.”

“Greetings, senior apprentice-brother Eastluck.”

These five Loose Immortals had all been alive for more than a hundred thousand years, but they all spoke out with great courtesy. They were disciples of the Sword School, but they were merely outer disciples, not core disciples, which is why they had been sent here to maintain order. Their task was to ensure that the beautiful surroundings of Mount Dashcloud were not damaged...or, to put it another way, they were gate guards. The prince before them, however, was a true disciple!

“So he really is a disciple of the Sword School.”

“A formal disciple.”

“Look at that gold medallion.”

“I heard that the Sword School is actually a very powerful school of the Three Realms. The founder was Daofather Fuju himself!”

Instantly, yet another storm of discussion arose. The Sword School had been founded by Daofather Fuju, and in the past its status had been equivalent to that of Mount Innerheart! However, Daofather Fuju had died. When trees fall, the monkeys that lived in it would scatter. In addition, Daofather Fuju was fairly mediocre in teaching disciples; he hadn’t been able to produce a single Daofather. Thus, only three Empyrean Gods and True Immortals continued to remain within the Sword School. The current Sword School wasn’t even as strong as the Starseizing Manor.

But despite that, it was still a school with three Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, and with many friends spread throughout the Three Realms. Thus, it could be considered one of the top-tier schools of the Three Realms. A formal disciple had a status that was far higher than the status of an ordinary Void-level Earth Immortal.

“This man actually dared to be disrespectful to our Sword School.”

“Seize him.”

“Seize him!”

The five Loose Immortals flew towards Ning like streaks of light.

Ning opened his eyes again. He gave them a glance.

Boom!

His gaze struck against their bodies as though it had taken solid form. The five of them once more transformed into streaks of light, but this time they flew backwards...and they flew so far away that they could no longer be seen with the naked eye.

Ning turned to look towards the prince.

“No...” The prince was so terrified that he hurriedly stumbled backwards. In his terror, he fell backwards and tumbled to the ground in a sitting position. This was too terrifying. He hadn’t even seen what technique this man had used! It seemed as though the man had merely used his gaze to send those five Loose Immortals flying. The guards behind him were utterly terrified as well. None of them even dared to breathe.

Whoosh. A streak of light flashed, and a bald old man appeared next to Ning. He hurriedly said respectfully, “Manorlord, your subordinate came late.”

Ning laughed calmly. “A minor matter.”

In truth, Ninefangs was utterly enraged right now. He had been taking a sweet nap just now, right next to the winehouse. As he was an Empyrean God, his senses were naturally still spread out to cover the surrounding area. If any slightly powerful figures such as Celestial Immortals came over, he would’ve immediately noticed. But the prince and the others were mere Primal Daoists; Ninefangs simply didn’t pay them any attention at all. It wasn’t until Ning had released his power with that look that Ninefangs had been shocked awake...only to discover that someone had actually come to make trouble for his Manorlord.

“You dare to offend my Manorlord? Are you looking to die?” Ninefangs glared furiously at the prince.

Still seated on the ground, by now the prince understood that this white-robed youth had to have a truly extraordinary background as well.

“I’m a disciple of the Sword School.” The prince hurriedly pulled out a golden insignia, clutching it as if it was his last hope. “I’m a formal disciple of the Sword School. My master is a Celestial Immortal Patriarch. Master is standing guard here at East Phoenix world! My grand-master is Patriarch Daoless!”

“Ninefangs, we’re here to analyze Daofather Fuju’s sword-arts, after all; let’s be courteous about this,” Ning said with a laugh.

The prince instantly felt relieved. He laughed coldly to himself; it seemed as though the man was still afraid of the Sword School. However, on the surface he still didn’t dare to act too arrogantly. No matter how powerful the Sword School was, it wouldn’t be able to rescue him immediately.

“You’ve offended my Manorlord. You-” Ninefangs started to say, but Ning interrupted him. “Don’t even bother. Right...the kid said his master is the Celestial Immortal that is protecting the East Phoenix world. Bring him over here,” Ning said.

“Yes.” Ninefangs nodded, then reached out with his right hand.

Whooooooosh.

His right hand instantly pierced through the heavens as he sent it traveling more than ten thousand kilometers as he made a grabbing motion towards the Celestial Immortal Patriarch who was within the imperial palace of the East Phoenix Dynasty.

......

Within the imperial palace. Celestial Immortal Triscorpion was enjoying life right now, drinking some wine as he watched beautiful women dancing in front of him. He was born a monster, but he had entered the Sword School and eventually been assigned by his own master to stand guard over East Phoenix world. The main task he had was to protect Mount Dashcloud.

“What a wonderful life. I really am blessed, for Master to have sent me here. My other fellow disciples are preparing to fight against the Seamless Gate.” Celestial Immortal Triscorpion felt quite delighted with himself. It was his great fortune to be assigned this task. “And my luck really isn’t half-bad. After I came to this East Phoenix world, I actually found a promising young talent. Eastluck’s comprehension abilities really are quite high.”

“I don’t need to take part in the war, and I even found a good disciple. Excellent, excellent.” Celestial Immortal Triscorpion beamed merrily as he stared at the beautiful women before him.

BOOM!

Celestial Immortal Triscorpion turned his head, only to see a massive, pitch-black hand smash through his rooftop and grab him.

“AHHH!!” Triscorpion only had enough time to let out a scream before he was grabbed and pulled away.

The dancing beauties stared blankly at the empty throne, then stared at the massive, gaping hole in the palace ceiling. They could still visualize that massive hand of black light.

“The Patriarch’s been seized.”

“The Patriarch’s been captured.”

All sorts of terrified cries rang out.

“But...”

“Oh my...”

“This is just...”

......

All of the Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters at Mount Dashcloud stared blankly, heads raised, at the massive arm that stretched far off into the horizons. How could an arm stretch that long?! What they didn’t know was that Ninefangs’ true form was that of a bat. If he was to transform back into his true form, it would be more than ten thousand kilometers long. The same was true of Snow Scorpion as well.

If he wanted to, he could stretch his arm out to a length of a hundred thousand kilometers. And if he was to reach the True God or Daofather level...well, Daoist Threelives was capable of smashing a major world with his palms.

Whoosh!

The impossibly long arm was retracted. The bald old man had seized an Immortal by the collar with his right hand, and was holding him as easily as he would a chicken.

“Hey kid. This your master?” Ninefangs pointed at the captured Triscorpion.