Desolate Era

Chapter Book 12, 6 - Junior Apprentice-Brother Ji Ning

The Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers was perpetually cast in the glow of moonlight.

Ji Ning passed through a mountain forest, silently and soundlessly arriving at the mountain’s peak. He hid there within the grass, staring into the distance.

Off in the distance, within a gorge, there was a mirror-like lake. A massive battle was underway at the lake; three individuals were attacking a single woman.

The three individuals included a black-robed man who hovered in midair, an enormous black Flood Dragon coming into being in front of him. The black Flood Dragon appeared to be real, and its aura was powerful. It was savagely attacking the woman.

The second of the three attackers was a silver-haired woman. The silver-haired woman, every so often, would open her mouth, and with a whooooosh, an incomparably terrifying gust of balewind would be unleashed. It was as though countless sharp swords were flying out, slicing away at even the ground itself. The balewind, carrying a glowing azure light, was savagely attacking the woman as well.

The last attacker was a silver-robed youth with a cold, arrogant face. He pointed from far away into the air, and as he did, an enormous greatsword that was three hundred meters long would appear, chopping down repeatedly as its tip pierced towards the woman!

The person the three were attacking…

Was an absolutely peerless black-robed beauty. Around her, there was a pair of enormous phoenixes, one of fire and one of ice, which swirled around her, struggling to defend. However, under the triple attack, the woman was clearly finding it quite hard to endure. In addition, the coiling black dragon continually attacked her as well, giving her no way to flee or escape.

“Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei!” Ning stared. The woman being attacked was, amazingly, Yu Wei. The black-robed man’s eyes had grown bloodshot, and it seemed as though the black Flood Dragon was about to change…

“HOLD!” A sudden, explosive roar exploded from Ning’s lips.

Swoosh!

Ning immediately utilized the [Windwing Evasion], seeming to have transformed into a giant Roc as he howled through the air towards them.

……

Yu Wei had felt that she had become trapped in a dire situation. The three in front of her were all extraordinarily strong, especially the one with the giant black dragon. The black Flood Dragon was the personification of a magic treasure formation that was absolutely massive. Its coiling body completely surrounded her.

As for the silver-haired woman, her balewind technique was extremely amazing as well. When the gust of balewind blew out, when one tried to dodge, it felt as though one was moving against the wind. The technique lowered her speed ridiculously.

“It’s only the sixth day, but I’m already in grave danger.” Yu Wei gritted her teeth.

Rumble…

Thirty-six Rahu Godneedles formed into an enormous phoenix of ice, whose entire body seemed to be produced from arcane ice that was incomparably hard. It blocked the balewind repeatedly, as well as the strikes from the Flood Dragon and the massive sword. This was the absolute best defensive technique Yu Wei had available to her.

As for the other thirty-six Rahu Godneedles, they were formed into the enormous phoenix of fire. Its flames blazed ferociously, and it clashed repeatedly against the balewind, causing even the balewind to crumble, while at other times forcing the Flood Dragon or the massive sword back. But it could only knock back one thing at a time.

“Senior apprentice-brother, senior apprentice-sister, this woman’s power is formidable; she certainly must have many talismans on her. She might have over a hundred! I’ll tie her down; you two, kill her in one blow.” The black-haired man sent a mental message to the other two. They were from the same school, and although he seemed old, he was actually the junior disciple.

“Alright.

“It’ll be up to you, junior apprentice-brother,” the silver-haired woman and the silver-robed youth both responded.

The black-robed man immediately gritted his teeth as his eyes began to turn bloodshot. His elemental ki wildly exploded forth, and the enormous black Flood Dragon let out a furious howl as its head actually split into two enormous heads. The two-headed black Flood Dragon’s aura instantly expanded greatly, and it threw itself towards the phoenix of ice. So long as it was able to break through the phoenix of ice, Yu Wei wouldn’t have anything to rely on and would be finished.

“Damn.” Yu Wei gritted her white teeth, revealing a look of savagery as well.

But right at this moment…

“HOLD!” A furious roar, filled without elemental ki, instantly exploded forth into the area.

The silver-haired woman, the silver-robed man, and the black-robed man all turned to look. They saw a black-robed youth who was howling through the air as he flew towards them like a giant Roc.

Yu Wei turned her head and saw the black-robed youth flying towards them from afar. Upon seeing his face… her heart suddenly shook.

“Ji Ning!” Yu Wei couldn’t believe it. In the moment that she had been trapped in a dire situation, her junior apprentice-brother had actually arrived as well.

“Can this be fate?” Yu Wei’s heart instantly was thrown into a rather chaotic state.

Actually, a long time ago, shortly after Ning had joined the Black-White College, Yu Wei had investigated Ning’s background and learned of his past… she, too, had a tragic past, and her parents had both passed away as well.

This was why Yu Wei had, from the very beginning, felt well-disposed towards Ning. When Ning had instantly shocked everyone in such a splendid manner during the Dao Debates, she liked him even more. In the end, after she personally intervened and defeated Ning, she even teased him a little bit.

Given her normal, icy disposition, why would she so casually tease one of her junior apprentice-brothers like that?

She had always been quietly watching Ning…

However, Ning ended up being together with Ninelotus. This tied Yu Wei’s heart up in knots, but all she could do we silently bless them and hide everything she felt in her heart.

Afterwards, when she learned that Ning had defeated Daoist Snowplume, she had an excuse to go seek him out alongside Mu Northson and Adept Vastriver. In fact, she had even been preparing to stay for the next two or three years at Serpentwing Lake, but who would’ve thought that Youngflame Nong would invite them to the Witchriver Immortal Estate?

That journey to the Witchriver Immortal Estate! In the end, it caused Ninelotus and Ning to part ways for good.

Ninelotus had chosen to leave. As she had, in that moment, Yu Wei had a sudden impulse… she wanted to say to Ning, ‘I will go with you!’ But she wasn’t in a position to say such a thing; she was not Ning’s Dao-companion. In addition, her power was truly not enough to help Ning at all in facing the disaster that was unfolding for him. The only thing she could do was wrack her brains to come up with strategies for him!

After she and Ning separated, she watched as he wandered by himself. She could only repress all her feelings once more, and once more silently bless him.

Who would have imagined…

Ning was even more brilliant than she had thought he would be. His Primaltwin had actually slain Immortal Floatcloud, causing the Youngflame clan to be unable to do anything to him. In addition, Ning was participating in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny as well! This caused a surge of delight in Yu Wei’s heart. Only… after entering the world of the Brightmoon Diagram of the Mountains and Rivers, they had all been separated.

“The world of the Diagram is enormous, and there are more than a hundred thousand people present. On just the sixth day, and coincidentally just as I found myself in a dire situation, Ji Ning arrived? Can this be fate? Are the hands of fate at work here?” Yu Wei was shocked, delighted, and stunned.

The distant Ning howled through the air like a streak of lightning. The silver-robed youth, the silver-haired woman, and the black-robed man were all enraged.

“Junior apprentice-sister, stop him,” the silver-robed youth sent mentally.

“Right.”

The silver-haired maiden immediately stared at the distant Ning. Suddenly, she opened her mouth. Whooooooosh. The balewind came out, filling the skies with its azure light. If one looked carefully, one would be able to see that in reality, this was a tempest formed from countless azure needles, and thus had even more penetrative power than ordinary wind attacks.

Whoooooosh.

A beautiful Waterflame Lotus appeared, swiveling around Ning. The enormous Waterflame Lotus was incomparably resilient, and the layers of leaves actually completely blocked the balewind. After all, Ning was using earthfire and dire-ice of the first grade to serve as his foundation of this technique, then activating the fire and water of the natural world to condense around it.

In terms of technique quality, Ning was a hair above his opponent; this was a self-created technique, after all.

In addition, he had both earthfire and dire-ice, whereas this woman only had balewind.

Although the power of her balewind was truly astonishing, it was still blocked by the Waterflame Lotus.

“F*ck off!” The approaching Ning’s body suddenly expanded as he transformed into a fifty-four-meter-tall black-robed giant. The surface of his body flowed with electricity, and Ning’s forehead suddenly split open as well, revealing a vertical eye.

Divine ability – [Divine Thunderbolt Eye]!

CRACK! A bolt of lightning thundered out from Ning’s third eye, that vertical slit in his forehead. It was astonishingly fast, and it struck directly against the round umbrella which had suddenly appeared in the hands of that distant, silver-haired woman. [Pentabolt Vajra] and [Divine Thunderbolt Eye]; these two divine abilities synergized, causing the power of his thunder to vastly surpass that of ordinary divine abilities. This caused the silver-haired woman to be knocked flying back by the thunderbolt, and she threw up a mouthful of blood. In addition, this [Divine Thunderbolt Eye] attack also contained a divine will attack as well.

“Argh!!!” The silver-haired woman let out a miserable cry.

“Protect senior apprentice-sister!” The black-haired man and the silver-robed youth were both greatly shocked. They had thought that the balewind would be enough to block the youth for a period of time, but who would’ve imagined that the enemy would not only easily block it, but also injure their senior apprentice-sister with a bolt of lightning?

“Let’s go.” The silver-robed youth couldn’t be bothered to deal with Yu Wei; the aura of this approaching black-robed youth who was protected by the Waterflame Lotus was simply too ferocious.

Rumble!

With but a thought, the silver-robed youth willed the surface of his massive, three-hundred-meter-long greatsword to suddenly be covered with flowing runes. The power of his sword continuously rose and focused on the tip of the sword. This enormous sword pierced towards Ning, lightning-fast!

“You want to block me?” Ning surged forward like a rainbow streak of light, neither dodging nor moving away. The vertical eye on his forehead sent out two bolts of lightning in a row.

CRACK! CRACK!

One bolt of lightning struck towards the silver-robed youth, while the other struck towards the black-robed man.

The thunderbolts couldn’t be casually blocked; both of them knew this very well. Thus, they all immediately used powerful techniques to block against it. Around the silver-robed youth, a chain link suddenly appeared. CRACK! The thunderbolt was blocked by the chain link, which was knocked flying back by the collision. However, the divine will attack within the thunderbolt was transmitted into the silver-robed youth’s body, causing his face to change. However, he was able to withstand it.

As for the black-robed youth, he was protected by the black Flood Dragon, which withstood the lightning bolt. However, the divine will attack also penetrated invisibly into his body. His body suddenly swayed, and even the black Flood Dragon turned blurry for a moment. However, it quickly re-stabilized.

“Careful, his divine ability includes a divine will attack.” Only now did the silver-haired woman, who had been knocked to the ground by the earlier attack, manage to send a frantic mental message to them.

The main reason was that the two were battling far too fast. Ning had immediately sent out three lightning bolts upon arriving, causing the heart of all three to be filled with amazement.

“[Soldiers of the Mind]!”

Immediately after having used a divine ability, Ning then revealed a true divine will attack; the [Soldiers of the Mind] he had acquired from the Witchriver Immortal Estate. This was an even more powerful technique than the Black-White College’s [Soulslayer Art]! Although Ning had also spent some time on other divine will techniques, most of his time had been spent on this, [Soldiers of the Mind]!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Within Ning’s sea of consciousness, his soul was seated in the lotus position, and a soldier’s seal was hovering in his hand. When his divine will was summoned forth from this soldier’s seal… it instantly transformed into invisible and untraceable sharp swords, warblades, and longspears. These spiritual weapons howled forth, striking towards the silver-robed youth, the black-robed man, and the silver-haired woman.

Imagine how fast divine will attacks were!

Sharp swords formed from divine will… they were incomparably sharp and stabbed right towards the soul!

Warblades formed from divine will… they carried an unstoppable might, hacking against the enemy soul with overwhelming brute force!

Longspears formed from divine will… they combined both of the advantages of the two other weapons, and were also savage in focusing their power at one point as they pierced straight towards the enemy!

Invisible, formless weapons that were created from divine will. The sharp swords, giant sabers, and longspears were savagely attacking the three!

Slash! Chop! Boom!

The souls of the three were immediately, violently assaulted by Ning’s divine will technique.