Desolate Era

Ji Ning flew through the air towards the region where he sensed Su Youji was residing. She was within an estate at the very peak of a mountain, and there were eighteen f igures seated in the lotus position in front of it.

“Why are eighteen World-level cultivators keeping watch over this estate?” Ning muttered softly to himself.

Within Ning’s estate-world.

The cultivator Ning had captured stared at the white-robed Ning in terror. “Senior, please spare me!”

“Smart kid. Answer all of my questions accurately. There exists no grudge between the two of us. Unless absolutely necessary, I won’t kill you,” Ning said calmly. He had created this clone using half of his divine power, and his clone would be easily capable of slaying this cultivator.

“Understood.” The tall, skinny World-level cultivator nodded repeatedly.

This was no joke. He had been captured so quickly that he didn’t even have a chance to fight back. He knew exactly how great the disparity between their power levels was. In fact, he even suspected that this white-robed youth might actually be a Daolord in disguise. Now that he was trapped in this estate-world, how could he dare to be disobedient? Wisdom lay in knowing when to resist and when to comply.

“I ask you this.” Ning pointed at the air next to him with a finger, causing a map of the Eastsmoke branch of the Bluegrace Sect to appear. This map included the estate at the top of the mountain, as well as the eighteen World-level cultivators seated in the lotus position before it.

“Who resides within this estate?” Ning pointed at the estate at the top of the mountain.

“That’s the estate of senior apprentice-sister Qingfan,” the captured cultivator said hurriedly. “Senior apprentice-sister Qingfan is extremely strong, and she has the power of a supreme World God. She ranks as one of the top ten cultivators here in the Eastsmoke branch.”

Ning nodded, then pointed and asked, “Why are there eighteen World-level cultivators in front of her estate?”

“Senior, are you friends with senior apprentice-sister Qingfan?” The captured cultivator suddenly asked in a soft voice.

“Answer me.” Ning frowned.

“Senior, senior apprentice-sister Qingfan is in a lot of trouble right now. That’s why her estate is under watch.” The captured cultivator said hurriedly, “When she was out adventuring with two other fellow disciples, she became friends with an outsider known as the Flamefairy. The two of them are very close to each other.”

A sharp light flickered through Ning’s eyes. Flamefairy?

“I heard that they met each other and helped rescue each other in a dangerous ruins whch had been left behind by Feixian the Exalted. They experienced many dangers together, and in the end this Flamefairy acquired the statue of Feixian the Exalted,” the captured cultivator said. “Afterwards, the Flamefairy accompanied senior apprentice-sister Qingfan to our Eastsmoke branch…”

The captured cultivator let out an awkward laugh. “And here, a few rather embarrassing things happened.”

“Speak!” Ning barked.

“Y-y-es! I’ll tell you everything!” The captured cultivator said hurriedly, “One of the two fellow disciples who went out alongside senior apprentice-sister Qingfan, a World God known as Whiteswan, immediately made a report to the branch leader once he returned to the branch. My understanding is that our branch leader was interested in this Flamefairy’s treasures and was planning to kill her and take them all.”

Ning’s eyes narrowed.

“Killing and looting is very common here, and it is said that this Flamefairy has a set of very powerful bugbeasts and golems, as well as that statue of Feixian the Exalted. She might have other valuable treasures as well.” The captured cultivator let out a sigh. “But who would’ve thought that senior apprentice-sister Qingfan would notice that something was off? She helped the Flamefairy fight back, then actually helped the Flamefairy hide within her own estate. Now, the Flamefairy just hides in there and refuses to leave no matter what.”

The captured cultivator explained, “Our Bluegrace Sect forbids its disciples from barging into the personal estates of our World-level cultivators. No one would dare to violate this rule, unless they were doing so on the orders of the sectlord himself. This is one of our laws. Thus, there’s nothing our branch leader can do. All he can do is have his loyal subordinates keep a close watch as he tries to come up with some other ideas.

“Our branch leader wishes to kill the Flamefairy, whereas senior apprentice-sister Qingfan wishes to protect her. As a result, senior apprentice-sister Qingfan’s been living a rather unpleasant life recently. I hear that she hasn’t left her estate at all.” The man secretly glanced at Ning’s expressions. He was guessing that there had to be some sort of a special connection between Ning and Qingfan.

“Let me ask you something else. What type of protective formations does the Eastsmoke branch have?” Ning asked.

The cultivator immediately and obediently revealed everything he knew.

……

Ning began to fly towards that distant estate, his mind filled with thoughts. He had been able to easily enter this branch, but taking Su Youji out of it would be no easy task. This was the Eastsmoke branch of the Bluegrace Sect, after all. If all the protective formations here were activated, things would become quite problematic.

Swoosh. Ning began to descend at high speed.

“Eh?” The eighteen World-level cultivators seated before the estate all raised their heads to look at Ning.

“Who are you?” One of the black-robed elders said coldly, “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”

“I am Darknorth. Greetings, fellow Daoists.” Ning smiled. “I just recently joined the Bluegrace Sect, and so I haven’t met with the vast majority of our fellow disciples yet.”

“Oh, a new arrival?”

“So a new junior apprentice-brother has joined our ranks.”

These eighteen were merely responsible for keeping a watch over this place. Aside from the black-robed elder who was in charge of them, these cultivators didn’t really have a great deal of status within the Eastsmoke branch. Thus, they were all quite courteous when they met fellow disciples.

In most schools, people knew each other by their unique auras. Once you met someone, you would be able to easily recognize that person in the future.

Schools like the Twelve Palaces had far too many members who were scattered throughout the Endless Territories, which was why the almighty Hegemon had personally crafted those identity medallions. It wasn’t easy to create these medallions, all of which resonated with each other. The Mirrorsnow Paintings had similar resonances as well. Even though these weren’t particularly high-quality items, the cost of creating each medallion wasn’t exactly cheap. The forging process was quite complicated! The Bluegrace Sect had more than five thousand World-level cultivators. It naturally wouldn’t outfit all of its people with such treasures!

The eighteen didn’t suspect a thing. This was a central region in the Eastsmoke branch, with hundreds of World-level cultivators present and a protective formation which had been personally established by Daolord Bluegrace himself. The formations here were all extremely complicated and profound. Which World-level cultivator would dare to barge into this place? Only a suicidal one!

“Junior apprentice-brother, why have you come here?” The black-robed elder said coldly.

“To meet with senior apprentice-sister Qingfan.” Ning smiled.

“Oh?” The faces of all eighteen tightened slightly.

“What sort of a relationship is between you and her?” The black-robed elder asked.

“Senior apprentice-sister Qingfan was my benefactor. To her, it was nothing more than a bit of casual guidance, but I’ve never forgotten it. Because of her, I decided to join the Bluegrace Sect after I became a World God, all for the sake of repaying her kindness,” Ning said.

The black-robed elder frowned as he looked at Ning, then instructed coldly, “Go ahead.”

In recent years, quite a few people had come to visit Qingfan. However, no one had been able to rescue the Flamefairy Su Youji from this gilded cage.

“Senior apprentice-sister Qingfan!” Ning walked to the entrance of the estate, then called out, “Senior apprentice-sister Qingfan! Senior apprentice-sister Qingfan!”

He called out multiple times.

Instantly, Ning could make out the vague form of a white-robed woman appear off in the distance. The woman gracefully walked out of the estate, then looked at Ning.

Ning immediately sent her a mental message. “If you want to save Youji, cooperate with me.”

Fairy Qingfan couldn’t help but feel startled by this. The Eastsmoke branch wasn’t a large place, and the story of the Flamefairy had quickly been made public. However, there were very, very few people who knew that the Flamefairy’s name was Su Youji. In addition, this sword-bearing white-robed youth was someone who she had never met before.

“Senior apprentice-sister Qingfan, long ago you provided me with tutelage. I finally have broken through to the World level and have joined the Bluegrace Sect as well.” A look of gratefulness was on Ning’s face. “Thank you for your guidance all those years ago, senior apprentice-sister.”

“I just gave you a few casual pointers.” A hint of a smile was on Fairy Qingfan’s face. “I didn’t expect that the Elder God I guided would have become a World God by now.”

The eighteen World-level cultivators could hear their oral conversation. But of course, there was no way they could eavesdrop on the mental one.

“Who are you?” Fairy Qingfan sent mentally. “Hmph. You wish to help out Youji? Hmph. These fools tried to use this method to cheat me before. Don’t even dream about getting into my estate.”

“Just help me tell Youji one thing, and she’ll know who I am,” Ning sent back.

……

Su Youji was seated in the lotus position within her room. Everything was perfectly still.

“Little sister Youji.” Divine power flowed through the area, manifesting as a clone of Fairy Qingfan. Her true form was still conversing with Ning at the entrance, which was why she had manifested a clone here to speak with Su Youji.

“What is it, big sister Qingfan?” Su Youji opened her eyes and looked puzzledly at Fairy Qingfan.

Fairy Qingfan asked her, “Someone wishes to meet with you. Any idea who this person is?”

“Me? I don’t think I know many people at all, here at the Eastsmoke branch.” Su Youji was confused.

Fairy Qingfan looked at her. “He said… his name is Ji Ning.”

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