The Desolate Era

Book 13, Chapter 24 - The Sword as the Rake, the Heavens as the Field

The eleven remaining monster kings were so angry, their teeth hurt from gnashing. The reason they were so famous was naturally in part because they had developed a ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’ which was very well-suited to the twelve of them. The Goldfur Bearking was the heart of the formation, and the other eleven monster kings served to support him, transforming into a single massive flying bear. It was well-suited for both attack and defense, and in the face of it even Celestial Immortal Patriarchs would choose to flee. Once formed, even Ning fighting at full-strength would probably be forced to flee.

However...the Flamewing King was now dead. He had been responsible for the ‘central wing region’ of the formation; without him, there was naturally no way to execute the incomparably complicated and powerful ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’ to its full power.

“He tricked us.”

“Damn him.”

“How is this little human kid so powerful? I’ve never heard of someone like him in the Star, Cloud, or Flame continents.”

The monster kings really were tricked in a rather unfair manner. Only someone with the power of a Celestial Immortal would be able to kill the Flamewing King in an extremely short period of time! Those with the power of a Celestial Immortal generally were all quite famous. In addition, Ning had just recently reached the early Void stage; naturally, his level of insight wasn’t much higher than back when he was a Primal Daoist, and his elemental ki was three levels lower than that of the twelve monster kings, who were all comparable to the peak Void stage. All of the monsters had Immortal-ranked magic treasures as well!

The combination of all of these factors was what let Ning catch them off-guard with his successful sneak attack!

......

“Hahaha, without the Flamewing King, I imagine you are now unable to form your formation. If you want to kill me...I’m afraid you won’t be strong enough.” Ning stood there in the air as he said leisurely, “I urge you to depart right away. In the future, you can at least term yourselves the Eleven Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows. However, if we truly were to fight each other...under the merciless exchange of blows between swords and sabers, you might end up the Nine Monster Kings or the Eight Monster Kings of the Eastern Flows.”

“Damn it.”

“Human, report your name!”

“Who in the world are you?”

The monster kings were utterly infuriated. Although they were very much on their guard now against Ning, none of them chose to leave. After all, he had just killed one of their brothers; if the remaining eleven fled without even choosing to fight, that would cause their reputations to be truly tarnished. For Loose Immortal monsters like them, given that the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations were growing increasingly powerful and that they would eventually die, their reputation was extremely important!”

Ning secretly felt resigned as well at their decision to stay. If the monster kings had chosen to leave, he would’ve secretly gone to their headquarters and slain them all, one by one.

“Listen up,” Ning said with a laugh. “I am Immortal Darknorth, Ji Ning.”

“Immortal Darknorth, Ji Ning?” The eleven monster kings all quietly memorized this name. As they did so, they continuously reflected on it, but no matter what, they couldn’t recollect having heard of such a monstrously powerful genius on the Star, Cloud, or Flame continents who was known as Immortal Darknorth or who was known as Ji Ning.”

“I made a promise to the survivors of the imperial Qi clan. I will hold to it and protect them,” Ning said with a laugh. “I urge you all to leave.”

The eleven monster kings stealthily sent messages to each other, but their decision had been made long ago. Leave? What a joke. Even if this was a Celestial Immortal Patriarch, they would still attack. One of their brothers had just died; how could they possibly choose to flee without even fighting?

“Assemble the formation!” The Goldfur Bearking ordered mentally.

Rumble...

Formless strands of glowing elemental ki sprang up around the bodies of the eleven monster kings. They used just a very rudimentary sort of combination technique, a technique that was similar to the [Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation] in that it allowed them to pool and share their elemental ki! The elemental ki of eleven monster kings merged together...this allowed the power of their attacks to rise to a brand new level.

“Use all abilities you have to kill him,” the Goldfur Bearking sent mentally.

Whooooosh. Instantly, one Immortal-ranked magic treasure after another appeared in front of the eleven monster kings. As for the Goldfur Bearking, a total of ninety-nine pearl-type magic treasures appeared around him, each one with the aura of an Immortal-ranked magic item. Clearly, this was a set of items. As the leader of the twelve monster kings and the only one truly comparable to a Celestial Immortal, someone capable of forcing even Celestial Immortals to retreat, the Goldfur Bearking naturally had some truly extraordinary Immortal-ranked magic treasures.

Boom! As they joined into their formation, Ning charged forward as well.

“Kill!”

“Kill him.”

“Damn him.”

The eleven monster kings shared their elemental ki together, using all of their specialized techniques. After all, if they didn’t have a truly supreme formation like the ‘Grand Soaring Bear Formation’, it was better to just share and pool their elemental ki as they used their own best techniques.

Streaks of light appeared in the skies. Enormous flaming phoenix wings that blazed for thirty thousand meters...a black deluge of water that surged towards Ning...boundless amounts of golden light that streaked and stabbed towards Ning...

......

Both Ning and the eleven monster kings had a degree of insight into the Grand Dao of Qiankun. They all activated the power of the natural world, freezing the local space with the intention of binding their opponents, preventing them from teleporting away.

Of course, one could still use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to flee...but who would choose to flee at a time like this?

“The monster king died.”

“That human is actually this terrifyingly powerful.”

The vast horde of monsters that had been led here by the monster kings primarily consisted of the most talented and skilled monsters within the court of the Flamewing King! They numbered tens of Loose Immortals as well as many Primal Diremonsters and Wanxiang Diremonsters. However, even their king had been killed by this human youth in a single exchange; how would they possibly dare to charge forward?

And now, the other eleven monster kings were attacking the human youth together. A battle at this level was something which fodder like them would play no role in.

“The surrounding space has been locked. There’s no way to teleport.”

“It seems the monster kings aren’t willing to let the human escape. They insist on killing him.” As the monsters saw this, their eyes lit up. As they saw it, the eleven monster kings, when fighting in unison, would definitely have the upper hand. As to whether or not they would be able to kill this human...that was hard to say.

......

The three-headed, six-armed Ning was three hundred meters tall, and his six swords were also three hundred meters long now. Whirling his six sharp swords, he sent sword-light criss-crossing across the sky, resisting the attacks of the eleven monster kings!

“Kill!” While blocking attacks, Ning continued to move closer and closer towards the monster kings. However, given that he was under heavy attack, how fast could he possibly move? The monster kings were able to easily pull away from Ning, and the pearl-type magic treasures of the Goldfur Bear King were particularly fierce. Every single pearl was like a miniature star that smashed down towards him with the weight of a massive mountain, causing Ning to feel very taxed when blocking them. Another monster king, the Mountback monster king, controlled a mountain-type magic treasure that smashed down with even greater power than the pearls. Fortunately, however, he only possessed a single such treasure.

The sword is an agile weapon. In the face of other attacks, Ning was able to deflect with a degree of ease, but he was at a disadvantage when faced with these heavy smashing blows.

“Hahaha, big brother, although this human has the power of a Celestial Immortal, you also have the power of a Celestial Immortal. Although the rest of us are a bit weaker, when we join forces we can completely suppress him. However...he is a Fiendgod Body Refiner with extremely powerful recuperative abilities. Still...that will only allow him to delay the inevitable.”

“If this continues, he will definitely die.”

“My brothers, be careful; don’t let him use a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal to escape.”

“Don’t worry, big brother; we are using many Immortal-ranked magic treasures to attack him. How can he possibly have the time to pull one out and activate it?”

The monster kings were filled with an aura of explosive might.

Ning was being assaulted by dozens of Immortal-ranked magic treasures, and every single wielder was an expert who was at least comparable to a Loose Immortal who had lived for five hundred thousand years. The Goldfur Bearking was comparable to a Loose Immortal who had lived for over a million years.

“Urgh.” Ning was repeatedly struck by one of the pearls, causing him to vomit up blood.

“Quick.”

“He’s almost finished.”

“Kill him.”

The monster kings all directed their Immortal-ranked magic treasures to attack, wanting to seize this chance to slay Ning.

But right at this moment, Ning mused to himself mentally: “This should be the right moment.”

Swish! Not too far away from Ning, another figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This was a black-robed Ji Ning who emanated an extremely powerful aura, the aura of a late Void-stage Earth Immortal. Behind him there was a sword sheath, and within the sword sheath were many Immortal swords that had been turned illusory and transient. The black-robed Ning pointed his finger, and instantly...swish swish swish!!! The nine seemingly-illusory black Immortal swords instantly flew out.

“Heavenraker!”

The black-robed Ning’s eyes flashed with a cold light. Instantly, the nine translucent black flying swords instantly slashed through the skies, causing massive black scar to appear in the heavens.

Why was this technique known as [Heavenraker]?

This technique used the sword as the rake, and the heavens as the field. Mortals would use rakes and plows to tear through the fields, while Ning’s sword-light was like a rake that would tear through the firmament like a field. Nine massive black scars instantly appeared in the skies, stretching towards the monster kings and enveloping three of them.

“That’s a Primaltwin.”

“This human brat actually has a Primaltwin!”

“At the late Void-stage!”

The eleven monster kings were all shocked. As soon as Ning’s Primaltwin had emerged, it had immediately used [Heavenraker], a sword technique developed by a Daofather of the Great Firmament. In addition, he was using it with nine top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, and ones that were specially designed to form into the [Heavenraker] sword formation at that! This technique was unquestionably Ning’s most powerful attack right now!

When Ning used the [Starseizing Hand], perhaps only the hand which wielded the Thousandbull Sword, a weapon almost comparable to Pure Yang treasures, would be able to unleash power which surpassed one of the nine swords in the [Heavenraker Sword Formation]. As for the combined attack of all nine swords? Even the Thousandbull Sword was a bit weaker.

“No!”

“Block it.”

“Hurry and block it!”

The other monster kings moved to help, and the three monster kings assaulted by the [Heavenraker] swords were completely focusing on blocking the technique, but...they were unable to!

A look of utter despair appeared in the eyes of the three monster kings.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! All three of them were instantly killed.

The [Heavenraker] formation of Ning’s Primaltwin was currently Ning’s most powerful technique. It was also incredibly fast; although the three monster kings knew that they wouldn’t be able to block it, there was no time at all for them to use Greater Teleportation Dao-seals to flee.

BOOM! Ning’s true body charged forward as well as his Primaltwin once more launched the [Heavenraker] towards the other monster kings. The remaining monster kings instantly grew both panicked and frantic!

Ning, having fought with them earlier, already knew about the techniques they had available to them. As the saying went, know thyself and know thy foe; in doing so, you shall be victorious in all your battles. When his Primaltwin executed the [Heavenraker], he had focused on the weakest ones of the eleven! Naturally, he had been completely successful.

BOOM! Ning’s true body exploded with full power as well. Previously, all six of Ning’s Immortal swords were comparable in power because Ning was hiding the full might of the Thousandbull Sword. The enemies believed all six swords to be identical in power! But now that the real attack had begun, Ning naturally would no longer hide anything at all. He exploded forth with full power!

“KILL!”

The Thousandbull Sword was three hundred meters long, and as it chopped out, the illusion of an old black bull could be vaguely seen above the sword. The old black bull was emanating an utterly astonishing sword-ki, and as the sword itself struck out, it seemed to have transformed into an enormous divine black dragon.

In terms of single-target attacks, even the [Heavenraker] swords were inferior to this blow. The Jadetoad King was immediately heavily injured, and a second blow from Ning’s Darknorth sword finished him off.

“Retreat!” The Goldfur Bearking gritted his teeth and howled angrily.

“Too late!” The reason why Ning had previously hid his power was for the sake of letting it all explode forth now. Holding nothing back at all, his Primaltwin and his true body both attacked at maximum force. The astonishingly fast strikes of his Primaltwin’s [Heavenraker] swords tore jagged wounds into the skies, and the nine tears were like infinite chains that came to drag away the lives of the monster kings.