The Desolate Era

Chapter 24, Ji Ning Battles Myriad Manifestations!

As soon as Adept Xu, Nong Zidao, and the rest of the nine entered the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation, Adept Xu barked, “Flood Dragon Formation!”

As soon as his words rang out, above the heads of Nong Zidao, Wu Qi, Lu Huang, and the other Zifu Disciples appeared the mirage of a Flood Dragon. The eight Flood Dragon mirages flew rapidly towards Adept Xu. Above him appeared an enormous Flood Dragon Phantom, which hovered there, waiting to join together with the other eight Flood Dragons.

As they joined together, instantly, a Flood Dragon with visible, snow-white scales appeared, circling around the nine.

Snowdragon Mountain was most famous for the ‘Soaring Snowdragon Formation’. This was a grand formation that protected the entire sect. It could be led by a Primal Daoist, who would a group of Wanxiang Adepts and thousands of Zifu Disciples to form a massive formation that would transform into a white divine dragon, with the power to annihilate the heavens. The power was great enough to give Immortals a good fight!

Aside from this supreme ‘Soaring Snowdragon Formation’, it also had various simplified versions of the formation, all of which would be referred to as ‘Flood Dragon Formations’.

All the simplified versions could only be referred to as creating a ‘Flood Dragon’; only the supreme formation of the sect was referred to as creating a ‘Snowdragon’. Adept Xu and the rest of the nine were currently using one of the simplified Flood Dragon Formations.

…….

The snowy white Flood Dragon swirled about them, emanating a powerful presence.

Adept Xu and the rest of the nine constantly advanced.

“Halt.” Nong Zidao ordered, while pointing to the front. “Master-uncle, please act. Make your grand seal transform to a length of thirty meters, and smash down at that mountain over there, lowering it by thirty meters.”

Adept Xu nodded. The grand seal flew out from his hand, which transformed to a large size, roughly thirty meters or so. Below the grand seal was a dense earthen yellow aura. He pointed downwards, and the grand seal, with a rumbling sound, crushed downwards, completely crumbling the trees and rocks beneath as he carved out a thirty meter deep crater.

“In this location, smash out another thirty meter deep crater.” Nong Zidao continued to walk forward while giving guidance.

Bang! Bang ! Bang! As the grand seal smashed down time and time again, one giant crater after another appeared, forming a strange diagram.

More than a hundred deep craters were created.

“Success.” Nong Zidao revealed a smile. Part of the elemental ki that had been flowing through the earth had begun to change directions. Instantly, the nether fog around them began to rapidly dissipate, as the surrounding area once more became clear.

“Formidable.”

“Senior apprentice-brother Zidao is truly formidable.”

The various Zifu Disciples were all overjoyed. Everything around them was very clear now. Part of the entire Oxhorn Mountain was now revealed, and the trees and forests there could be clearly seen with the naked eye. Even the distant, gigantic black claws of the dragon could be seen. Immediately afterwards, the body of the coiling dragon atop Oxhorn Mountain suddenly began to move, and the location of the dragon claw changed as the claw moved to hide in a different part of the nether fog.

Nong Zidao laughed. “The nether fog of the Dragonclaw Formation has been dissipated. Now, only the Dragonpearl Formation, the Dragonhead Formation, the Dragontail Formation, and the Dragonbody Formation still emanate that nether fog.”

“Which sub-formation shall we enter next?” Adept Xu already had a smile on his face.

“The reason why I was able to break the formation so quickly was because I already pondered on this formation for quite some time, previously.” Nong Zidao said. “As for the other four sub-formations…I imagine I will need a bit more time.”

Adept Xu said, worried, “How much longer?”

Nong Zidao let out a confident laugh. “Now that I have some experience from breaking the Dragonclaw Formation, the other four will be fast. I will need at most an hour for each of the others.”

“Excellent.” Adept Xu was instantly overjoyed.

At most an hour?

The remaining four formations, all combined, would only need four hours or so! As long as the nether fog was destroyed, there would be no place for the Ji clan to hide. They would have to fight head on…

“The Ji clan is doomed!” Adept Xu’s eyes were filled with anticipation. If they truly were to acquire this elemental ore mine, he would have rendered the most merits, and would naturally be granted great rewards.

“Let’s go!”

Adept Xu gave the order. The nine of them, surrounded by the protective snowy white Flood Dragon, entered the Dragonbody Formation.

………

“The nether fog around the Dragonclaw Formation was broken!” Every member of the Ji clan was filled with dread.

It was the nether fog that allowed them to hold an advantage, in that they could fight when they wanted to, and flee when they wanted to! As for the enemy, they could only passively be attacked, and wouldn’t have any place to flee!

“We can’t let this continue.” Ji Ning, watching this, grew anxious. He understood the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation quite well, and also had a good grasp of formations in general. He hurriedly said, “The power of the Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation is extremely great, and it also has an auxiliary nether fog effect. To break the entire Netherwyrm Heavenlock Formation is very hard, but it is comparatively easier to break through the bewildering nether fog formation. Nong Zidao…since he was able to break the Dragonclaw Formation’s fog, he will be able to break the others quite quickly as well, because they are all linked and similar.”

The controller of the formation, Ji Ninefire, nodded as well. “Right. We can’t just watch as they destroy the nether fog. We have to stop them.”

“We have to stop them.”

Frantic looks were on the faces of Granny Shadow and the others as well.

“Ji Ning, you’ll have to be the one to go.” Ninefire looked towards Ji Ning. “You are our only hope for stopping them. If even you are unable to stop them…then, the rest of us will have no choice but to try and delay, to try and hold on as long as possible.”

Ning nodded slightly. “Alright.”

This tribulation…it came in waves! After killing Jadechild, they had thought that they had won for sure, but then Adept Xu had arrived. This caused the Ji clan to once more face a terrifying danger.

“This battle…I must win.” Ning’s heart billowed with a boundless desire for battle.

He had to win!

He was the only one who could stop Snowdragon Mountain!

If even he were to fail, then he would be forced to flee, while his Patriarch, his father, and the others would remain trapped here by the grand sealing formation. They would only be able to rely on using their lives to battle for as long as possible.

“Xu Li, I will make sure you die!”

“All of you will die!”

Ning had only one thought – to kill his enemies. For the sake of survival. For the sake of the Ji clan. For the sake of his family. For the sake of not having to leave, grief-stricken, by himself.

He had to kill the enemy!

“Careful.” Yichuan looked at his son.

“Stopping them is important, but staying alive is more important.” Granny Shadow instructed in her hoarse voice.

All of them looked at Ning.

Ning nodded gently. Before him, a corridor in the black fog appeared. He dashed through it, moving like a blur at high speed towards the enemy.

……..

Moments later.

Ning stood next to an old, gnarled, crooked tree. The area around him was filled with a dense cluster of more than seven hundred flying swords, forty five of which were Mortal-ranked flying swords. After killing Jadechild’s group of Zifu Disciples, Ning’s collection of Mortal-ranked flying swords had increased to forty six, enough to create five formation bases.

“Rumble…” The flying swords around him all began to emit a blurry aura.

Ning frowned, sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He was struggling to control them, and the flying swords around him constantly rose and fell.

“No. I still can’t do it.” Ning shook his head. “Last time, when I fought Jadechild, I had twenty seven Mortal-ranked flying swords…I was only able to just barely use the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. But now, I have forty five Mortal-ranked flying swords…no matter what I try, I’m unable to execute the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation].”

“Level eight, then!”

Ning gave it a try.

The flying swords around him all rose into the air, flashing with a white light, but it was still quite difficult.

“Arise!” Ning gritted his teeth. His head hurt to the point of splitting, but he was just able to manifest a flying sword, glowing with white light, in front of himself.

“Disperse.” With a thought, Ning collected the flying swords hovering about him.

Ning pondered to himself, “I am, at most, able to execute the eighth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], and it is quite difficult. I imagine that executing three sword flashes using the eighth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]…that is my limit.”

Although he was only able to activate the eighth level, in terms of power, the strength of his attack was 30%-40% greater than in the past, when he had used the ninth level of the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] to kill Jadechild.

“Patriarch, where are they?” Ning said. “I am prepared.”

“Right ahead of you. I will guide you.” Ninefire sent mentally.

“Alright.”

Ning wielded a pair of the Darknorth swords in his hands, his eyes filled with a killing intent. He rapidly advanced forward.

………

The snowy white Flood Dragon roved about, its draconic scales glistening with snowy white light. It was shockingly, breathtakingly beautiful. As for Adept Xu, Nong Zidao, and the others, they were protected and surrounded by the snowy white Flood Dragon. Nong Zidao was focused on analyzing the formation; he had to understand the intricate secrets of the nether fog generated by the Dragonbody Formation.

Suddenly…

“Rustle…”

Within the nether fog, a drizzling rain suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The drizzling rain drifted downwards, cool and comfortable. This was an enjoyable, pleasurable drizzle, but the faces of the nine Immortal practitioners of Snowdragon Mountain all changed.

“Rainwater!”

“Rainwater! Ji Ning’s rainwater!”

“Rainwater Sword Domain. Ji Ning has unleashed his Rainwater Sword Domain. He is about to attack.” The Zifu Disciples were all extremely nervous. Even Nong Zidao temporarily paused his musings, a hint of concern on his face.

The descent of the rainwater was like a call from the Deathgod. The last time it came, Dong Ziqi, Jadechild, and the other Zifu Disciples had all perished. And now, the rain had come again.

“Rainwater Sword Domain?” Adept Xu, dressed in a beautiful black robe, swept the surrounding area with his gaze, his pupils contracting to slits, like that of a venomous viper. He was the calmest of the group, but he was still extremely cautious and wary. After all, he was still some distance away from being able to comprehend a Dao Domain.

“Hmph.” A cold snort rang out.

Within the nether fog, one dazzling star after another began to appear. Amongst the dazzling stars was a brilliant moon. The watery glow of the moon shone down upon Adept Xu and the other Zifu Disciples, covering the entire region of the snowy white Flood Dragon. The moonlight completely, forcibly blocked off the rainwater.

“Ji Ning, you lurk and sneak about. This really makes one look down on you.” Adept Xu stood there in the moonlight, the snowy white Flood Dragon swirling around him as he spoke in a cold voice. “If you want to fight, then come and fight.”

“As you desire!”

A thunderous shout, like a spring thunderbolt, exploded forth.

Boom!

From far away, a bolt of light suddenly shot out from within the nether fog. A giant, fiery winged Roc suddenly surged forth, surrounded by a Waterflame Lotus. In but an instant, the fiery Roc appeared before Adept Xu, moving so quickly as to astonish even him.

“Rumble…” The draconic tail of the snowy white Flood Dragon Phantom slapped towards the giant fiery Roc.

But the giant fiery Roc was simply too fast; the tail slap of the Flood Dragon actually missed!

“This is…” Adept Xu could instantly tell that this was no Roc; it was a youth! This youth’s entire body emanated a fiery light, like that of a Fiendgod’s, while on his back was a set of wings that fluttered agilely. The wing-type magic treasure was also covered with a fiery light, allowing him to move so quickly as to cause fear.

Divine ability – Windwing Evasion!

Once a Fiendgod Body Refiner learned a divine ability, he would be able to fight enemies of a higher power level. Although Ning was only at the seventh stage of the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens], he already had the combat ability of an ordinary late-stage Fiendgod Body Refiner. Now that he was also using the exquisitely agile divine ability, ‘Windwing Evasion’, his speed had instantly risen by several levels, to the point of being even faster than Adept Xu.

“Ji Ning?” Adept Xu’s face finally changed as he stared at this fur-clad youth, who wielded two swords, was bathed by the Crimsonbright divine power, and who was so fast as to astonish even him. “He is Ji Ning? Supposedly on par with Jadechild? What sort of joke is this? Jadechild was nowhere near this strong!”

“Die!”

A fierce shout!

Sword light flashed!