The Desolate Era (Web Novel)-Book 5, Chapter 3 - A Battle To the Death!

Bei Zishan swept the surrounding area with his gaze. He saw the areas frozen by frost or scorched by flames and those many corpses. In particular, when he saw, amongst the corpses, the bodies of those Xiantian lifeform Dao-Soldiers, Zishan’s heart clenched. He ached! These were his subordinates. For forging and refining this sort of sinful magic treasure, he needed many subordinates to torment and torture people, and also some powerful subordinates to capture Xiantian lifeforms for him.

“All ruined.” Zishan looked towards Ji Ning, his gaze filled with a sinister maliciousness. “My students and servants were all wiped out by you. Those potential dread wraiths that I had been cultivating and refining for so long, and was about to finish with...you forced me to stop. I, Bei Zishan, was actually by a little child like you to suffer such a loss! I won’t mistreat you. In fact, I will have to ‘thank’ you and let you have a taste of what it is like to have your soul be tormented!

“Zifu Disciple.”

“He’s a Zifu Disciple.”

Amidst the thousands of Dao-Soldiers, there were still quite a few screaming in terror.

“You are a Zifu Disciple?” Bei Zishan stared at Ning. After all, his evil magic treasure was only half completed because of Ning’s interruption. However, even with this half-completed magic treasure, Zishan could be considered a peak Zifu figure. Based on the discussion between his disciples, however, this Ning was just a twelve year old youth of the Ji clan.

A twelve year old who had become a Zifu Disciple?

If this was true! Then Zishan was actually worried. For someone so young to have become a Zifu Disciple most likely meant that this person had some miraculous events occur. Perhaps he might have some sort of hidden, secret technique.

“Zifu Disciple? If I said I wasn’t a Zifu Disciple, would you believe me?” Ning said coldly.

Swoosh!

Zishan had been just standing there, but suddenly, a boat appeared beneath his legs. Stepping onto the boat, Zishan instantly began to pull away from Ning. Zishan, dressed in his long black robed, stared coldly at Ning. He had already decided to consider that Ning was an expert on the same level as him, and so he immediately pulled away.

Immortal practitioners came in all types. Fiendgod Body Refiners preferred close combat, while others who liked to use magic treasures, poisons, golems, and more would naturally prefer to pull to a distance before using their techniques. After all, close quarters combat was very dangerous. Bei Zishan, for example, liked to use poisons and magic treasures.

“Boom!” A black claw suddenly appeared, sweeping forwards and attacking Ning from behind.

Ning’s wing-type magic treasure trembled, and he flew out in an arc, immediately dodging past. As for that black claw, the wind from the attack alone had caused the ground to tear apart. The black-furred zombie, bellowing, charged towards Ning. 𝐟𝗿𝚎𝐞𝓌e𝒃𝑛𝒐ѵ𝒆𝑙.c𝚘𝓶

“Bei Zishan, prepare to die!” Ning, while dodging the black-furred zombie, simultaneously manifested more than four hundred sword-type magic treasures, all of which were under Ning’s control and immediately emanated a blurry white light.

“Indeed. There’s no need to forcibly control them all. All I need to do is just guide them into the correct flow. When I simply control the critical points of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation...it becomes much easier to control this Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.” Ning previously, while meditating on formations, had tested out the fifth level of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. At the underwater mansion, although he had been able to use it, it had been too exhausting.

But this time, it was clearly much easier for him. In addition, thanks to Ning’s nonstop testing, his control over the 405 sword-type magic treasures had become much more dexterous, and it became easier and easier for Ning’s ‘divine will’ to control them.

“Magic treasures!” Zishan, astride his flying boat, saw this from afar. His face changed. “He’s able to control magic treasures and fly on them. So he is indeed a Zifu Disciple! So many sword-type magic treasures....most likely they are almost all unranked, but so many unranked magic treasures joined together still pose a formidable threat.”

“Roaaaaaaar.” Growling, the black-furred zombie was still in pursuit of Ning, attacking again and again.

Ning, relying on his incomparably dexterous Windwing Evasion, was able to dodge aside time and time again. In a battle of life and death, one had to rely on one’s advantages. This black-furred zombie clearly was incomparably strong and indestructibly tough. Battling with it head on was simply idiocy. Ning naturally understood that this black-furred zombie was probably reared by Bei Zishan. As long as he could kill Zishan, there would be no need to fear this black-furred zombie.

“Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, level five!” Ning constantly controlled the many swords hovering around him, and given that his understanding of the intricacies of the formation was rapidly increasing, his ability to utilize it was become greater as well.

“Go!” Ning’s eyes suddenly flashed as he stared at the distant Zishan.

In front of him, there formed a flickering, unstable sword light, which suddenly shot out into the distance, as fast as lightning, leaving behind only seemingly solid yet seemingly illusory arc in the skies. It stabbed directly towards the distant Bei Zishan. Zishan had long since produced a horsetail whisk-type magic treasure in his hands, and seeing the attack, he immediately brandished the horsetail whisk, which transformed into three thousand white threads that sought to entangle that piercing sword light.

Both this flying boat as well this horsetail whisk were ranked magic treasures! Their power was formidable.

“Crackle.....”

“Not good.” Zishan’s face changed, and he hurriedly controlled his horsetail whisk, making it so that even as those three thousand white threads were blocking and entangling the sword light, a large number of the white threads were also emanating rays of light, with each layer of them ablating and frantically neutralizing the oncoming force, causing the sword light to have lost almost all of its power before it even reached Zishan’s body.

This caused the distant Ning’s face to change as well. The power of the fifth level of the Lesser Thousand Swords Formation definitely wasn’t weak. The fourth level could be comparable to an early Zifu Disciple using a ranked magic treasure, so the fifth level had to be comparable to a more formidable Zifu Disciple, right?

“You really are a Zifu Disciple.” Zishan stared at Ning, his face filled with savagery. He shouted, “At such a young age, you are such a monster. How can I possibly spare you!”

In Zishan’s hands, a black item suddenly appeared which looked like a wasp’s nest. At the same time, it quickly grew greater, to the size of three meters tall. It was filled with countless holes, and there with countless buzzing sounds, one golden wasp after another swarmed out from those countless holes, instantly charging out. In the blink of an eye, those many wasps filled the skies, pouring towards Ning in a flood.

“Venomous bugs.” Ning was startled, and in front of his body, an utterly unstoppable sword light formed once more. “Kill!”

Swish!

A sword light pierced through the skies, directly flying towards those countless, tightly clustered swarm of golden wasps. With crackling sounds that were quite unpleasant to hear, the sword light slaughtered hundreds of the venomous bugs before having passed through to the other time. By now, more than half of the energy of the sword light had been used up, and it turned in an arc, once more stabbing into the swarm. This time, however, it used up all of its power in the swarm, with another few hundred of them having died.

“I can’t let this continue.” Ning, while using his wing-type magic treasures to dodge, immediately discarded the notion of using the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation to attack.

The Lesser Thousand Sword Formation used up a truly astonishing amount of energy. Ning had only used the fifth level version of the attack twice, with a single fourth level version of this attack. However, as a result, only sixty or seventy percent of his Xiantian ki remained. There were, however, hundreds of thousands of these venomous bugs, while a single sword light of his had only killed seven or eight hundred.

Even if he had an unlimited amount of Ki, most likely he would only be able to unleash three more sword lights before the venomous bugs would have arrived before him.

“He’s dead for sure.” Bei Zishan stared at Ning.

“Waterflame Lotus!”

Ning let out a low growl, and surrounding him, one fiery lotus petal after another, along with one water lotus petal after another, formed and merged, creating a lotus bud that was protecting Ning around him.

“Three buds of Waterflame Lotuses.” Ning had used his full strength. Every single Waterflame Lotus bud was created from three lotus petals of fire and three lotus petals of water. A larger lotus bud protected the smaller lotus petals, and thus...these three layers of Waterflame Lotuses surrounded Ning, who in the middle of them was constantly using his Windwing Evasion.

The reason for this was that the black-furred zombie was constantly chasing, causing Ning to not dare to slack off in the slightest.

“Bzzzzzz....” The countless, tightly clustered venomous bugs spread out towards Ning, wildly boring down towards the surface of the Waterflame Lotuses, easily piercing through the first layer.

The three Waterflame Lotuses that were formed into six layers were constantly swiveling, and as the many venomous bugs sought to burrow through them, one after another were killed by grinding, swiveling power of the layers of the Waterflame Lotuses. However, they quickly reformed and burrowed through the gaps between each of the layers of the Waterflame Lotuses, continuing to burrow downwards. They quickly passed through the second layer, the third layer, the fourth layer...but many of the venomous bugs were dying as they did.

“A protective technique that contains the True Meaning of the Dao! Where did this Ji Ning learn this from?!” Watching so many of his venomous bugs die from afar, Bei Zishan not only ached for his lost, he also was astonished. This was because although a supreme sword technique was precious, this sort of protective technique was even more precious. Even in his own sect, such a technique would rarely be learned.

How could he have imagined...that this was a technique which Ning had developed on his own.

“They broke through the sixth level!” Ning, wielding his Darknorth swords, was wildly blocking the venomous bugs who had broken through the sixth level. However, the carapaces of these golden wasps were tough and very hard to destroy. After blocking just a few, another wasp appeared, biting Ning’s body, breaking through the protective armor, and chomping down onto the flesh.

“Die.” Ning’s Darknorth swords stabbed out wildly against the venomous bugs, while the injuries to his body were automatically healing.

“I can’t continue like this. Although I have the body of a Fiendgod and will automatically heal, as the numbers of these venomous bugs increase...I’ll still be devoured alive by them in the end.” Ning was frantic. “These venomous bugs are all under Bei Zishan’s control. All I need to do is kill Bei Zishan.”

Ning ignored the venomous bugs, preparing for a final, all-out assault.

“He has the body of a Fiendgod.” Watching from afar atop his flying boat, Zishan couldn’t wait any longer as well. His face was filled with rage. “His regenerative abilities are so astonishing, and he also has that protective technique! If this continues, even if my wasps are able to devour him, the vast majority of my precious wasps will all die. Although this magic treasure of mine hasn’t been completed yet, and using it will cause great harm to the dread wraiths within...I can’t wait any longer!”

Bei Zishan extended his hand, and instantly, a bloody banner appeared. The banner circulated with a layer of black light – solidified sin!

When the banner appeared, the surrounding world seemed to grow dark.

“Ji Ning, prepare to die!” Bei Zishan brandished the banner in his hand.

“Bei Zishan, prepare to die!” Ning, surrounded by the many venomous bugs who had broken through his three Waterflame Lotuses and were wildly attacking him, let out a bellow as well. Around him, 486 sword-type magic treasures appeared. In this critical moment, Ning was wildly testing his own limits as well, because if the fifth level couldn’t kill the enemy, then if he was going to use this technique, he had to use the sixth level!

The bloody banner flapped in the air!

486 sword-type magic treasures also hovered there, as a blurry sword light appeared in front of them!