The Desolate Era

“Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei...” After realizing how brutal this Immortal Conclave could be, Ning couldn’t help but look towards Yu Wei. “You’ve only trained for ten more years than me, and in this Conclave of Immortal Destiny, there are monsters who have trained for more than three centuries. Isn’t it going to be very dangerous for you? If you truly are going to go, why don’t you wait for three more centuries?”

The black-robed maiden, Yu Wei, gently shook her head. “Three centuries is too long.”

“I tried to dissuade her as well,” Adept Vastriver said with a sigh.

“It’s true. It really is too dangerous. The most elite participants of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, although still only at the peak Wanxiang level, have insight into the Dao that is definitely at the level of Immortals, and perhaps even higher than ordinary Immortals. Some are geniuses like our junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, except they have insisted on staying at this level for three centuries, for the sake of this battle.” Similarly worried, Baiwei continued, “Rainbowflame Fairy, although you are a reincarnated Immortal, you’ve spent too little time in training. Unless you’ve completely awakened your former memories...”

If that was to happen, then one would immediately gain all of the insights one had from one’s previous life. In that case, she might have a shot!

“The Conclave of Immortal Destiny...most of the people there will have mastered a complete Dao Path.” Yu Wei shook her head. “Very, very few will have mastered even two Dao Paths, and if one has mastered three, I imagine that one would be able to rank in the top ten. In comprehending the Dao, one might quickly gain insights into the Daos that one is suited for, but for the others...comprehending them will only become slower and slower.”

Ning nodded.

Aside from the Grand Dao of the Sword, Ning had aptitude for the Dao of the Inferno, the Dao of Rainwater, and the Dao of the Gale. If he had an additional century, he had a chance of completely mastering these three Dao Paths, but if he had to go and comprehend a fourth or fifth...even if he had three hundred more years, he might not be able to do it. This is because he didn’t even have the most rudimentary of insights into other Daos.

“Although I’ve only mastered a single Dao Path,” Yu Wei said with a laugh, “I am still gaining some fragmented memories from my previous life, which have taught me some secret arts. I’m considerably stronger than those people who have just recently mastered a Dao Path.”

“To try and hit the top ten? I have no chance.” Yu Wei shook her head. “But, I should be able to keep myself alive.”

Ning, Baiwei, and the others exchanged glances. Since Yu Wei had made her stance clear, they found it difficult to continue to try and dissuade her. In addition, reincarnated Immortals were quite special to begin with; perhaps they might suddenly gain all of their former memories.

“In my past life, I failed my tribulation; in this life, I naturally must be courageous and valiant in moving forward.” Yu Wei’s eyes were shining. “This Conclave of Immortal Destiny will be a chance to fight against many truly top-tier geniuses. This is a chance to test and temper myself, a chance that truly comes once in a lifetime.”

Ning was suddenly swayed as well.

Right.

To be able to fight against so many geniuses...and all of whom were below the Primal Daoist level. After breaking through to the Primal Daoist level, one would no longer have a chance.

“Should I go or not?” Ning began to ponder. “Yu Wei spoke of three Dao Paths allowing one to enter the top ten. Each additional Dao Path gained represents a major increase in power...I’m still quite far away from comprehending three Dao Paths.”

“I have three more years. I’ll wait and see. Let’s see how much more powerful I become in these next three years,” Ning mused to himself.

In this moment, Ning made up his mind that in the next three years, he would whole-heartedly devote himself to increasing his power as much as possible.

“Senior apprentice-sister Yuwei, senior apprentice-brother Vastriver.” Ning looked towards his two senior fellow disciples. Yu Wei and Vastriver looked towards Ning.

“I wonder if the two of you would be willing to stay at my Serpentwing Lake for an extended period of time. As your junior apprentice-brother, I’d love the chance to ask the two of you for some pointers,” Ning said. “During the past few years, only Daoist Snowplume has been a true match for me; the other few times, when I went chasing after those criminals, I’ve never really enjoyed a good fight.”

“Hahaha!” Daoist Vastriver laughed as well. “It is indeed hard to find a good match. Junior apprentice-brother, you walk the path of the Sword Immortal; I hear that they are very skilled at battle. I want to compete with you as well, junior apprentice-brother.”

Yu Wei nodded and laughed as well. “I have nowhere to go before attending the Conclave of Immortal Destiny. Before I go out and fight against the countless geniuses of the entire Grand Xia Dynasty, I might as well stay here and spar with you...perhaps this will allow my power to increase once again. However, junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, you need to prepare fine wine and delicacies; senior apprentice-brother Vastriver and I are quite picky.”

“Leave that part to me,” Baiwei said with a laugh. “I’ll definitely make sure you three are satisfied.”

These three were amongst the most elite of Wanxiang Adepts. Yu Wei and Vastriver were reincarnated Immortals, while Ji Ning was actually viewed by many as a reincarnated Immortal as well; otherwise, how could his soul be so strong? Many believed that in the past, he must have been an extremely, extremely powerful Immortal. Precisely because of how powerful he must have been in the past, it was now very hard to reawaken his memories.

The more powerful one was in a past life, the harder it would be to reawaken one’s memories. For people like Immortal Juhua or Immortal Northwalker, who were Loose Immortals but comparable to Celestial Immortals in power, if they were to reincarnate, even after becoming Earth Immortals, they still might not be able to reawaken their memories.

“Are the three of you ignoring me?!?” Northson stared. Ning, Yu Wei, and Vastriver all looked towards Northson.

Northson said angrily, “Perhaps I’m not a match for you three in controlling magic treasures, but my truly supreme, trump card constructs, were built by myself and Master together. Although it uses up an enormous amount of liquefied elemental essence, it is definitely comparable to a Primal Daoist. In addition, the construct is a magic treasure, and so its body is even more indestructible than a Fiendgod’s!”

“We’ll count you amongst our sparring ranks,” Yu Wei said with a laugh.

“The Dao of Constructs...some powerful constructs truly are mighty,” Adept Vastriver nodded. “Unfortunately, the Conclave of Immortal Destiny forbids those who train in the Dao of Constructs from participating.”

“Why aren’t practitioners of the Dao of Constructs permitted to attend?” Northson said angrily, “That’s completely unfair!”

Ning laughed. “I know the reason. It’s because I’ve never heard of a major power who has completely mastered the Grand Dao of Constructs. Since there are no major powers who have mastered this Dao, how can they possibly guide you into becoming a Celestial Immortal?”

Northson was speechless. Right. The point of the Conclave of Immortal Destiny was to allow some major powers to discover monstrously talented geniuses and take them as disciples. If there were no major powers who specialized in the Dao of Constructs, they naturally wouldn’t choose cultivators of this Dao.

The Dao of Constructs involved the pursuit of unleashing the physical power of material items...to reach the utmost limit of the natural world! However, the world was filled with countless materials and objects; to simply review all of them would take an unfathomably long period of time. To truly master and comprehend the Grand Dao of Constructs? Not even in legends had anyone ever done this! Every single practitioner of the Dao of Constructs understood this...and at the same time, they all believed that this Grand Dao was limitless, and so they too would become even more powerful.

Yu Wei, Vastriver, and Northson settled down at Serpentwing Lake, while Baiwei returned. Ning would often compete against these three or engage in discourses on the Dao with them. This caused all of them to improve, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot.

One day, a large boat was floating on Serpentwing Lake. Ning and the other three were chatting on it.

“Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, what is it?” Ning noticed that Yu Wei’s eyes were filled with unshed tears. He couldn’t help but ask her what was wrong. Previously, when they were chatting, he had discussed how his parents had already passed away...and somehow, this had caused Yu Wei to appear utterly heartbroken.

Vastriver said softly, “Much like you, junior apprentice-sister Yu Wei’s parents are also deceased. They died when she was young.”

“They died young?” Ning was stunned.

Tears were in Yu Wei’s eyes...and then they began to fall. Her gaze was long and distant. She said tonelessly, “In the past, when I was young and before I had started to train, and before I gained any of my former memories...my tribe suffered an attack. The tribesmen began to flee...and during the flight, my parents died in order to protect me. I suffered a severe shock from this, and my innately powerful soul burst forth with power, killing all of my enemies.”

Ning could imagine the scene of a stimulated and shocked child, seeing her parents be killed, and then exploding forth with spiritual power. Given how powerful the divine will of a reincarnated Immortal was...even Zifu Disciples would be easily slaughtered.

“But it was too late.” Yu Wei shook her head. “My parents were gone, never to return. Although we had only known each other for three years, I’ll never forget them.”

Three years?

So Yu Wei had only been three years old.

.......

A long vessel was streaking through the air, moving from the distant Highwater Commandery to Stillwater Commandery’s Swallow Mountain.

Because Ninelotus wasn’t a member of the Raindragon Guard, she was unable to use teleportation arrays. Thus, she had to fly in a straight line.

“Finally, I’m here!” The long vessel came to a halt. A snowy-robed Ninelotus flew out. With a wave of her hand, she collected the vessel, then stared towards the distance. She immediately saw the boat on the surface of Serpentwing Lake, as well as Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Rainbowflame Fairy Yu Wei, and Adept Vastriver, all of whom were drinking and chatting.

“Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei and senior apprentice-brother Vastriver?” Ninelotus was surprised.

Ning and the other three, on the boat below, could sense the ripples in the air. They all raised their heads to look up.

Upon seeing Ninelotus in midair, Ning revealed a look of surprise and delight. He immediately rose to his feet.

Yu Wei and the others rose up as well. Yu Wei and Ninelotus were extremely close to each other, and she immediately called out in a high voice, “Little Sister Ninelotus.”

Swoosh!

Ninelotus descended from the skies, landing on the ship. First, she exchanged a glance with Ning. A hint of emotion could be seen in both their eyes. And then, Ninelotus turned to look at Yu Wei. She said happily, “Senior apprentice-sister, I didn’t expect to see you here as well. It’s been so long since we’ve met. Oh, and senior apprentice-brother Vastriver and junior apprentice-brother Northson.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you as well. It’s been ten years, right?” Yu Wei felt very happy. “Why did you disappear for ten years?”

“I don’t even want to talk about it.” Ninelotus shook her head helplessly. “I was held by the tribe in the Myriad Lotuses Cave and wasn’t able to leave, up until a few days ago, when I managed to break through the formation around it. I flew all the way from Highwater Commandery to Stillwater Commandery. It took me forever.”

“Given your status, why would the clan hold you in the Myriad Lotuses Cavern?” Yu Wei was surprised. It could be said that she was Ninelotus’ closest friend in the Black-White College; although Luo Qing was someone who had grown up with Ninelotus, Yu Wei and Ninelotus truly shared the same temperament and opinions. Thus, Yu Wei knew a few things about Ninelotus’ background.

Ninelotus gave Ning a resigned glance. “It’s all because of him.”

“Him?” Yu Wei felt as though Ninelotus’ glance was a bit...strange. It didn’t seem like a glance between fellow disciples; rather, it seemed like a glance between Dao-companions, whose emotions and feelings were linked together.

Ning walked over, taking Ninelotus by the hand. He didn’t know what to say. After hesitating for a while, he only said three words: “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine...it was just a bit stuffy there. Still, now that I’m out, in the future, the Dongyan clan won’t interfere in our matters again.” Ninelotus looked at Ning, her eyes filled with delight.

“Won’t interfere?” Ning couldn’t help but reveal a look of delight as well. The Dongyan clan’s interference had always been a source of worry for Ning. Now, everything was fine, and his worries dissipated like smoke in the wind.

“The two of them...?”

Yu Wei looked at Ning and Ninelotus. She couldn’t help but feel stunned.

“I had no idea...that the two of them became Dao-companions!” Adept Vastriver began to roar with laughter.

“Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, you actually formed Dao-companions without telling me?!” Northson roared as well.

As for Yu Wei, she just stood there quietly, keeping that calm, faint smile on her face.

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