The Desolate Era

“Senior Redsnow, this Pure Yang True Immortal is a master of the Grand Dao of Qiankun; I’d like to ask the seven of you to help out!” Ji Ning’s Primaltwin was frantically asking for succor. After learning that Ning was in danger, Redsnow and the rest of the seven had already left their world and come to the underwater estate. In truth, they hadn’t expected that Ning would need to use up their promise so soon.

In truth, when Ning had shot out seven arrows earlier, he had also used his Void-level energy to activate a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal; the amount of time he had bought himself was more than enough to activate it, but alas the teleport had failed.

There were many Grand Daos in the world...but who would’ve thought that he would just so happen to encounter a foe who had mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun? In the face of someone like this, not even Greater Teleportation would be possible.

“Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei looked towards Ning, worry on her face. Immortal Diancai and Celestial Immortal Unity were panicking as well, but there was nothing they could do.

“Die.” True Immortal Gaudy had a savage look on his face, and his eyes were filled with murder.

But right at this moment...

“Ji Ning, your savior just arrived.” The giant yellow bear’s voice suddenly echoed within Ning’s mind.

Rumble...

In the air between Ji Ning and True Immortal Gaudy, a black tunnel suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The black tunnel tore straight through space, allowing a man in black imperial robes to step out of it.

“The Xia Emperor?”

“His Imperial Majesty?”

Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Celestial Immortal Unity all revealed looks of excitement and delight.

The man who had stepped out of the black tunnel was indeed the black-robed Xia Emperor. As the Xia Emperor walked out, he pointed with a single finger. A golden streak of light flew out, transforming into a golden dragon that knocked the giant black-white seal flying. He then gave the demonically enraged True Immortal Gaudy a cold glance. “Gaudy, you actually dare to come to my Grand Xia to cause trouble?”

Ning let out a sigh of relief.

“Sorry for bothering the seven of you just now.” Within the underwater estate, the black-robed Ning was saluting respectfully.

The nearby giant yellow bear chortled. “Since the Xia Emperor has come out, there’s no need to trouble the seven of you to intervene.”

“...Does this count as us fulfilling our promise?” The beautiful Empyrean God Snow Scorpion asked teasingly.

“No, of course not!” Ning said frantically.

Seeing the look on Ning’s face, the seven Empyrean Gods roared with laughter.

“Ahaha...”

“Relax, we’re not going to quibble with you!”

Still...Empyrean God Redsnow quickly turned solemn. “However, Ji Ning, I have to warn you; previously, while you were in the Primordial Ruinworld region, your master, Patriarch Subhuti, didn’t have to worry too much about personally intervening on your behalf. But now that we are back in the Three Realms...in the face of such a powerful foe, even Patriarch Subhuti might have misgivings. In fact, even if he does intervene, he might not be able to rescue you.”

“I understand.” Ning nodded. He naturally understood that in the face of this storm, even his master was treading on thin ice.

“In addition...your master can’t have the [Dream of the Three Realms] active at all times. Even if you are in danger, he might not know about it,” Redsnow added.

Ning nodded.

It was true.

His master hadn’t given Ning a talisman; even if Ning was in a dangerous situation, there was no way for him to notify his master.

“We promised to help you once...but it really will be only once,” Empyrean God Redsnow said. “Your master, in turn...well, distant waters cannot be used to put out a nearby fire. Just look; you’ve only been back for a short while, but you’ve already encountered such a dangerous situation. You should understand, now...how careful you truly must be in the face of this storm.”

Ning nodded. “Since I was able to survive and return even after being covered by karmic sinflames...the Seamless Gate is undoubtedly paying very close attention to me. They have long ago decided that I am a major foe for them. In the face of this storm...to tell the truth, I came to understand something. Since there’s no longer any way for me to hide my sharpness, then I might as well reveal myself. I’ll make it so that more experts notice me and feel that I am worthy of their help!”

“Although the Seamless Gate is brash, they remain hidden in the darkness; this means that they still have worries of their own. There are many experts on the side of my master as well.” Ning laughed, “As long as enough of us work together, there’s nothing for us to worry about.”

“You’re finally using your head.” Redsnow said with a laugh, “If you have enough helpers, then you won’t even need the seven of us to assist you; you’ll still be able to survive this storm.”

......

Outside the underwater estate.

Once the black-robed Xia Emperor appeared, True Immortal Gaudy grew even angrier. “Xiamang, are you going to stop me? Are you going to become my enemy?”

“By the looks of it, you joined the Seamless Gate long ago. Since we are in different camps...we already are enemies.” The black-robed Xia Emperor said calmly, “As I see it...you need to f*ck off right now. Get the f*ck out of my Grand Xia.” Although he held an absolute advantage in terms of power, the Xia Emperor knew that this foe was a master of the Grand Dao of Qiankun who possessed many powerful escaping techniques.

True Immortal Gaudy took a deep breath. He didn’t want to make an enemy out of the Xia Emperor; after all, the Xia Emperor was an astonishing figure with tremendously powerful backers. The Xia Emperor possessed multiple powerful Protocosmic spirit-treasures and was extremely famous. Just now, he, Gaudy, had clearly severed this region from the surrounding dimension...but the Xia Emperor had forcibly torn through space and come through anyways. This was an ability that was similar to the power of the Worldhold Pagoda. To be able to ignore a spatial severing and forcibly tear a path to this place...clearly, the Xia Emperor had just used one of his Protocosmic spirit-treasures, the ‘Brightheart Lamp of One Thought’.

“All I want to do is kill that youth.” True Immortal Gaudy said coldly, “I can spare the other three!”

The Xia Emperor gave him a glance. “Get the f*ck out of my Grand Xia...IMMEDIATELY.”

Was this a joke? The whole reason he had come here was to protect Ji Ning.

“You...!” True Immortal Gaudy was furious. “Xiamang, today, I’m going to see for myself how powerful the descendants of the Primordial Imperial Clan like you are!” Instantly, a series of golden chains appeared around him. A total of nine golden chains appeared in total. One end of the chains seemed to sink off into the void of space, while the other wildly swept towards the Xia Emperor in a frenzied assault.

This was his true battle technique, a quiet, stealthy, insidious assault.

As for that giant black-white seal? It was faster to use the seal in attacking, and it was also more overbearing and dominating. He had wanted to just use it to smash open the protective formation and instantly crush Ning’s group.

“You dare put on a show in front of me with techniques like this?” The black-robed Xia Emperor let out a cold laugh. An enormous snow-white lotus appeared beneath his feet, blooming in every direction. It completely took over the surrounding area, blocking the nine insidious golden chains.

“Annihilate.” The Xia Emperor called this word out softly.

Last time, he had only unleashed a single golden stream of light. This time, three golden streams of light emerged, tearing through space and transforming into three golden roving dragons. These three golden dragons each had different auras; one of them seemed proud and brash, the second seemed sinister and cold, while the third seemed kind and gentle, as though it wasn’t a threat to anyone.

These three golden auras, each bearing a different aura, caused the distant True Immortal Gaudy to reveal a look of rage on his face.

“From life to death, all dreams vanish...everything is nothing but a garish, gaudy show!”

True Immortal Gaudy coldly barked out these words. Instantly, those nine golden chains around him began to weave about and dance. Space itself began to tremble and ripple like water.

Hiss....

The three golden dragons now noticeably found it much harder to fly after entering that region.

“Hmph.” The distant black-robed Xia Emperor’s face turned grim. He waved his hand, and a small clock appeared. As soon as this little black clock appeared...

Doooooong!

A crisp sound rang out.

BOOM!

True Immortal Gaudy immediately vomited out a mouthful of fresh blood. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Excellent. Excellent. Excellent! Xiamang, since you are determined to protect this kid, then from this day forward, we shall be irreconcilable enemies!”

“Just you?” The Xia Emperor smirked in a very disdainful manner.

“Wait and see. This brat will die. He definitely will die!” Savage madness was in True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes.

Whoosh.

True Immortal Gaudy immediately used a fleeing technique. It was simply too hard to block someone who had mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun from fleeing.

Even the Xia Emperor was only able to stand there and watch as he fled.

“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Celestial Immortal Unity, Immortal Diancai, Yu Wei, and Ji Ning both flew over and hurriedly expressed thanks.

The Xia Emperor turned. He glanced at Ning and the other three, then said with a smile, “Good to see you are unharmed. Just now, I was watching the battle here through a magic treasure. When I saw Gaudy appear, I had a bad feeling. I was planning to Greater Teleport here, but who would’ve thought that he’d actually dimensionally sever this region off from the surrounding world? There was no way to teleport in at all! I had to forcibly tear a tunnel through space to come here. Fortunately, I made it in time. If I was just slightly slower...”

Ning and the others Ning now understood why the Xia Emperor had only managed to make it here at the last moment. Things had gotten to the point where Ning had already asked the seven Empyrean Gods to help out!

Thankfully...he hadn’t had to waste that promise.

“Ji Ning, you have to be careful,” the Xia Emperor said. “Although I don’t why True Immortal Gaudy wanted to kill you that badly, I imagine that one of those Celestial Immortals you killed had a very close relationship with him. That’s why True Immortal Gaudy, normally so graceful and refined, went so berserk. If a Pure Yang True Immortal who has mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun wishes to kill you...it’s going to be quite dangerous.”

“I understand,” Ning said solemnly.

“However...the storm is about to hit. Compared to the storm, this level of danger is nothing.” The Xia Emperor continued, “The incoming tempest is growing increasingly terrifying. Here is my talisman; if you encounter any danger, just shatter it. As long as it isn’t a True God or a Daofather, I’m confident in being able to save you.”

The Xia Emperor, in terms of power, was slightly weaker than Lu Dongbin...but he had plenty of protective treasures, and so he would be able to stay alive even in the face of an assault by a True God or Daofather for a period of time.

“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Ning immediately accepted the talisman.

“Make your preparations.” The Xia Emperor raised his head to look at the sky. “After this probing period...I imagine the war that is going to sweep the entire Grand Xia shall finally begin. If you choose to remain here, you won’t be able to avoid it.” After finishing his words, the Xia Emperor took a single step forward, disappearing with a void blink.

Ning looked at the talisman in his hand, revealing a slight smile.

As he had thought.

Although his earlier battle against nine Youngflame clan Celestial Immortals had been fairly impressive, in the eyes of the likes of the Xia Emperor or Daofather Crimsonbright, he was still nothing more than a fairly excellent genius of the Three Realms. This time, however, Ning had truly showed his fierceness. Even in the Primordial Era, he would be considered a true monster amongst the Void-level elites. Although this would cause his enemies to be more wary of him, it also made the Xia Emperor and Daofather Crimsonbright care more about him as well.

And now, he had the Xia Emperor’s talisman in his hands, as well as the Xia Emperor’s promise: “If you encounter any danger, just shatter it. As long as it isn’t a True God or a Daofather, I’m confident in being able to save you.” This had clearly spelled out the Xia Emperor’s attitude towards him. It must be understood that not even Patriarch Subhuti had ever said something like this to Ning!

......

The Fifth World.

Within a towering palace. The Gatemaster of the Seamless Gate, the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall, and the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave were all present.

“AZUREFOX!”

An enraged bellow could be heard as True Immortal Gaudy charged in. action

“Gaudy.” The azure-robed woman looked at him.

“Azurefox, why didn’t you intervene?! Just a moment...just one extra moment! That’s all I needed to save little sister Violetgrass!” True Immortal Gaudy was utterly enraged.

The azure-robed woman just shook her head. “Violetgrass shattered the talismans that you and I gave her. You’ve mastered the Grand Dao of Qiankun, but I have not. Even if I did go, I would’ve been slower than you!”

True Immortal Gaudy paused. Right. In his rage, he had forgotten this.

“I’m going to kill that brat.” A terrifying red light was glowing from True Immortal Gaudy’s eyes as he said with rage, “I want him dead!”