The Desolate Era

“Surviving spawns of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong began to feel a killing intent in his heart. “Not a single member of the Yuchi clan is to be spared, and those members of the Yuchi clan who have trained in the Windwing Evasion are all the more deserving of death. The Windwing Evasion... only my Youngflame clan can have it. It cannot be learned by others!”

The secret arts and divine abilities which were unique to a certain major clan were absolutely forbidden to be taught to others. Any outsiders who learned these techniques would suffer pursuit and assault!

“Uncle Fang, let’s deal with these golems first.” Youngflame Nong had no desire to play around anymore at all. For the first time, he truly had the desire to kill Ji Ning.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Xiangliu Fang’s two large hands swished through the air, snatching away at the Qiongqi golems with abandon while shouting, “Everyone, stop these Qiongqi golems. Don’t let them escape; if they escape, they’ll cause problems in the future.” While saying this, he continually captured Qiongqi golems and stuffed them into his sack.

Everyone did their best to stop the Qiongqi golems from escaping, allowing Xiangliu Fang to capture them, one by one.

“They really were suicidal.” The black wings on Ning’s back disappeared. He gave a glance to the bloodstained corpses on the ground. Although those Zifu Disciples were all Deathsworn and were able to assemble into formation... the difference between them and golems at the Primal level of power was simply too vast. The first wave of assaults from the Qiongqi Manticore golems had caused virtually all of the Zifu Disciples to be wiped out, leaving behind only ten or so.

“How pitiable. They were Zifu Disciples... but against these golems, they were completely useless. And yet, Youngflame Nong insisted on having them watch the perimeter; clearly, he didn’t give a damn about them dying,” Mu Northson sent with a mental sigh. “Youngflame Nong truly is cold-blooded.”

These Deathsworn had been voluntarily gifted by Northmont Yin and some others. To Youngflame Nong, however, these Deathsworn had been raised by outside clans, and there was no way the Youngflame clan would truly trust them. There was no point to him bringing them back! And yet, he couldn’t just ‘return’ them back to Northmont Yin. Thus, he might as well let them die. If some were lucky enough to survive, then that meant that they had been blessed with good fortune and might be worthy of bringing back to the clan and training.

......

The few lucky Zifu Disciple survivors hurriedly began to clean the hall, completely removing all of the corpses and bloodstains and restoring it to a pristine condition.

Youngflame Nong reseated himself at the front of the hall. His gaze cold, he stared directly at Ning, then barked, “Ji Ning!”

Everyone in the hall was stunned.

Northson, Yu Wei, Ninelotus, Adept Vastriver, and Xue Hongyi were all astonished; they could sense that there was a terrifying look in Youngflame Nong’s eyes, and the cold, tyrannical way he had just shouted was something they could all sense. Not even earlier, when Ning had shattered the table, had Youngflame Nong been so formal and cold.

“Young master Youngflame.” Ning looked towards Youngflame Nong. “What is it? Speak.”

“Youngflame Nong.” This time, it was Ninelotus, seated on the other side, who grew angry. “Ji Ning is my Dao-companion. Earlier, he offended you, but that was just a minor matter. For you to act this way... you are being a bit too narrow-minded.”

Although these young masters and princes of major clans often chatted and teased each other, there were some bottom lines that could not be crossed. Ji Ning was her Dao-companion, after all, and he had also helped Youngflame Nong this time. It was one thing for the two of them to have had a bit of friction earlier, but for Youngflame Nong to act this way now was going too far.

“Ninelotus, you’ll understand after hearing what I say,” Youngflame Nong said coldly.

“Then I shall listen attentively,” Ninelotus said with cold anger as well.

“Ji Ning, I ask you this.” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Just now, was the divine ability you displayed the Windwing Evasion?”

Ning was stunned.

Windwing Evasion? How did Youngflame Nong know about the Windwing Evasion? Ning’s mother’s clan, the Yuchi clan, had been almost completely obliterated; most likely, the only remaining member was Ning’s uncle’s daughter, and Ning didn’t even know if she was still alive. Ning could be somewhat considered a descendant of the Yuchi clan... but the Yuchi clan was extremely secretive about the Windwing Evasion to begin with.

“No need to deny it. You used the Windwing Evasion,” Youngflame Nong said with a cold laugh. “Uncle Fang, display it for him.”

Whoosh.

Xiangliu Fang suddenly disappeared from Youngflame Nong’s side. He seemed to have transformed into a giant Roc, instantly appearing in the center of the main hall. Then, with another movement, he retreated and returned to Youngflame Nong’s side.

Ning, seeing this, felt his heart tremble. His other fellow disciples of the Black-White College couldn’t tell, but he himself, as a practitioner of the Windwing Evasion, could – Xiangliu Fang truly was using the Windwing Evasion! In addition, it was even more precise and profound than Ning’s own usage! But this made sense; after all, Ning was only a Fiendgod Body Refiner; compared to Xiangliu Fang, a true Fiendgod, he was still far inferior.

“They are the culprits!”

“They are the ones who annihilated my clan!” action

A thought suddenly entered Ning’s mind. “Can it be that it was the Youngflame clan which annihilated my mother’s Yuchi clan? Can it be that the grandparents and aunts and uncles who I never met were all slain by the Youngflame clan?”

“Well?” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Is it the same as yours?”

“I do indeed train in the Windwing Evasion.” Ning knew that there was no point in lying. Frowning, he said, “But so what if it is?”

Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Adept Vastriver, and Northson all sood there, watching nervously but not rushing to speak.

Youngflame Nong laughed loudly, “The Windwing Evasion technique was originally unique to the Yuchi clan of the Eastisle Commandery of our Grand Xia Dynasty.”

Ning, hearing this, felt his heart shake.

“The Yuchi clan had possessed this divine ability for a long, long time; however, they relied on using wing-type magic treasures to hide it. Our Youngflame clan, however, found out about it long ago. After preparing for an extremely long period of time, we annihilated the entire Yuchi clan in one blow... but were unable to find the original manual of the [Windwing Evasion]! Some of the powerful Immortals of my Youngflame clan personally intervened and used a soul-scour technique to collect enough memories from members of the Yuchi clan to completely rebuild the [Windwing Evasion] manual from scratch.” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “Right now, the [Windwing Evasion] is unique to my Youngflame clan, and it is absolutely forbidden to teach it to others. For you to learn the Windwing Evasion without the permission of my Youngflame clan... this, in and of itself, merits the death penalty for you. What’s more, I suspect that you are one of the surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan!”

“SPEAK! Are you a surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong stared at Ning.

Everyone else now completely understood. So this was what it was all about! Warfare between clans... there was no real right or wrong in inter-clan warfare! Since the Youngflame clan had annihilated the Yuchi clan, and the Yuchi clan’s Windwing Evasion technique was now solely possessed by the Youngflame clan... from the Youngflame clan’s standpoint, it was true that all descendants of the Yuchi clan had to be annihilated. After all, between the two clans, there was now a grudge that stemmed from clan genocide.

“Ji Ning.” Ninelotus sent to Ning, saying frantically, “No matter what, don’t admit that you are a descendant of the Yuchi clan. If you admit to it, given that there is hatred that stems from clan genocide between you and the Youngflame clan, the Youngflame clan will definitely not permit you to remain alive. You only need to say that you acquired the original copy of the [Windwing Evasion] manual through happenstance, and that without knowing the full backstory, you learned it. Thus, since you didn’t know it was forbidden to learn it, you cannot be blamed. I will have my Dongyan clan engage in negotiation with the Youngflame clan on your behalf, and this matter will quickly come to an end.”

Ning looked towards Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang. His heart was filled with boundless rage. The Immortals of the Youngflame clan had soul-scoured the souls of many Yuchi clansmen in order to remake a complete Windwing Evasion.

Upon being soul-scoured, one’s soul would generally be dispersed and destroyed.

“Damn. Damn. Damn!” Ning truly wanted to take revenge for his mother’s entire clan.

“Are you the surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan?” Youngflame Nong stared at Ning, his murderous intent billowing to the heavens. Previously, during the banquet, he had just been flirting a bit with Ninelotus; he hadn’t truly felt any desire to kill Ning. After all, he had to protect the Youngflame clan’s face and reputation. However, if Ning truly was a spawn of the Yuchi clan, then even the patriarchs of the Youngflame clan were present, they would still mercilessly kill Ning.

In this moment, he was the representative of the entire Youngflame clan!

“I am not.” Ning stared at Youngflame Nong and Xiangliu Fang. He forcibly repressed his anger and said in a low voice, “Youngflame Nong, if you want to kill me, there’s no need for you to put on such a show to find an excuse.”

“My senior apprentice-brother has already spoken; there is no relationship between himself and the Yuchi clan,” Northson said angrily. “Young master Youngflame, we came here to help you; is this how you are going to treat us?”

“Young master Youngflame, since my junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning has said that he is not a descendant of the Yuchi clan, that means he is not. He most likely acquired this divine ability through a fortuitous encounter. He can negotiate with your Youngflame clan and offer some compensatory gifts, then swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that he absolutely will not pass this divine ability out to anyone else,” Adept Vastriver said.

Yu Wei spoke out as well. “Young master Youngflame, for you to claim at a time like this that junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning is a descendant of the Yuchi clan... once word of this spreads, people will think that it is you, Youngflame Nong, who intentionally sought out an excuse to act against him.”

“Youngflame Nong.” Ninelotus stared at Youngflame Nong as well. Filled with wrath, she said, “Ji Ning is my Dao-companion!”

Everyone was standing out, pressuring Youngflame Nong from all sides. But he only laughed.

“Hahaha... don’t worry,” Youngflame Nong said with a laugh. “Since Ji Ning has accompanied me on this trip through the Immortal estate, I’ll give him a chance to live.” As he spoke out, he produced a set of black manacles, covered with ancient golden runes. He tossed the manacles directly towards Ning. Clank. They landed on the ground before him.

“These are godlock chains.” Youngflame Nong looked towards Ning. “Upon being manacled, you’ll be like an ordinary mortal. Even Fiendgods, when locked by these chains, won’t be able to resist. Put these chains on and wait for my orders. I can swear an oath as well; so long as you are not a spawn of the Yuchi clan, I absolutely will not kill you, nor harm your power. I will go out and engage in an investigation. If, however, I can verify that you are a spawn of the Yuchi clan, I will kill you. If you are not? I’ll release you to your freedom.”

Ning furrowed his brows.

Yu Wei spoke out in a high voice, “Young master Youngflame, think about how powerful your Youngflame clan is; is it necessary for you to act in such a petty manner? You can let junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning go free for now, then engage in your investigations; upon verifying the results, you can act against him later. Can it be that in the face of the power of your Youngflame clan, junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning would be able to escape your reach?”

“Ji Ning, do you agree or not?” Youngflame Nong looked at Ning. “I’ve given you your only way out.”

Ning stared at Youngflame Nong. “You want me to chain myself and hand over my life to you? Do you think this is possible?”

Youngflame Nong’s face instantly turned even colder and more sinister.

No matter what, Ning would not voluntarily put the godlock chains around himself. But right at this moment...

“Young master Youngflame!” The nearby Xue Hongyi suddenly laughed coldly as he pointed at Ning. “Don’t listen to his lies. This Ji Ning’s father was known as Ji Yichuan, while his mother was known as Yuchi Snow!”

“You learned the Windwing Evasion, and your mother was Yuchi Snow?” Youngflame Nong instantly revealed a savage look on his face, and his voice became as cold as ice. “So you truly are the spawn of the Yuchi clan! Die! Ji Ning shall die! Anyone who attempts to block the path of the Youngflame clan in doing so will be killed, without reservation!”