The Desolate Era (Web Novel)

Yuchi Xiyue was also aware that Ji Ning’s fellow disciples had arrived, and she arranged a special banquet for them, inviting the disciples of the Black-White College to attend.

….

On this very day. In the distant Stillwater Commandery. A giant warship, covered with flowery golden tattoos, was howling through the air, sending out waves of energy in its wake. Aboard the warship there was a large, tightly clustered group of Golden Imperials. Upon the deck, there were also nine black-armored Captains of the Imperial Guard, each of whom emanated unfathomably mighty auras.

“Snowdragon Mountain is up ahead,” a black-uniformed man said with a laugh.

“Sorry to trouble you, fellow Daoist Skyfall,” one of the nine Golden Imperial captains said.

“This is a small matter. It is the good fortune of myself, Northmont Skyfall, to be able to assist King Yan in handling this matter.” Skyfall spoke in a flattering manner, but in his heart, he sighed to himself. “Oh, Snowdragon Mountain…how could you be so foolish as to offend King Yan? Even though in the past King Yan was in dire straits, he still wasn’t someone which your puny little Snowdragon Mountain sect could afford to offend. This time, King Yan has sent nine full squads of Golden Imperials over. It seems as though he truly harbors hatred for Snowdragon Mountain. I wonder what exactly Snowdragon Mountain did to him in the past.”

Yuchi Snow, Yuchi Mount; their deaths were caused principally by Dong Seven!

Ning and Xiyue naturally hated the man deeply. King Yan knew how his granddaughter felt, and so immediately ordered nine squads of Golden Imperials to head towards Stillwater Commandery. He instructed them to first notify Stillwater Commandery’s Northmont clan of the following: “In the past, when our royal excellency was wandering the world, a feud arose between himself and Snowdragon Mountain. Today, we have come to annihilate Snowdragon Mountain; we’d like to ask the Northmont clan to permit this.”

The Northmont clan’s response: Annihilate Snowdragon Mountain? A little clan which didn’t even have a single Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal? The Northmont clan naturally wouldn’t care about this matter. In addition, given how diplomatic King Yan was by first sending people to notify them, the Northmont clan immediately arranged for Northmont Skyfall to personally lead the way, bringing these Golden Imperials directly towards Snowdragon Mountain.

“Here we are.” Skyfall pointed towards the area below them. Past the clouds, one could vaguely make out a long, winding mountain range, amongst which were three particularly imposing and tall mountain peaks that vastly surpassed the other three mountains.

“Snowdragon Mountain?” The nine Imperial Guard captains looked down at the base, all nodding slightly.

“First capture Dong Seven, then annihilate Snowdragon Mountain,” one of the captains said.

BOOM!

The warship immediately flew downwards, carrying boundless might and power as it soared directly towards the area above Snowdragon Mountain’s headquarters. This instantly caused a huge shock within Snowdragon Mountain; who would actually dare to have their warship halt directly above the school? This was too arrogant.

“I wonder which fellow Daoist has arrived at Snowdragon Mountain?” Boom! Boom! Boom! Three figures soared into the skies; they were the three Primal Daoists of Snowdragon Mountain. Daoist Snowplume, Daoist Coldsun, and Daoist Blackdragon.

Upon flying upwards, their gazes were immediately drawn to the eye-catching, golden-armored soldiers. The terrifying majesty and aura of power emanating from the soldiers caused their hearts to quail.

However, upon seeing the black-uniformed Northmont Skyfall, Daoist Blackdragon hurriedly said, “Senior Skyfall, why have you come to our Snowdragon Mountain? If there’s anything you need, just summon us; we will simply go to you. There’s no need for you to personally make a trip.”

“Senior Skyfall, might I ask why you have come to Snowdragon Mountain? If there is anything you need, just tell us; we will definitely strive to accomplish it,” Daoist Coldsun said hurriedly as well.

All three Primal Daoists were extremely courteous.

“Gentlemen?” Skyfall just looked at the nine Imperial Guard captains; all nine of them were Loose Immortals.

“Found him.” The eyes of one of the captains lit up.

Whoosh!

He took a single step, then disappeared from his original location, reappearing inside the Snowdragon Mountain headquarters. In the blink of an eye, he suddenly flew back with a white-robed youth in tow. The white-robed youth’s face was ashen. His entire body was shaking in abject terror.

“Dong Seven!” Daoist Coldsun called out in shock.

“Grandpa, Grandpa!” The white-robed youth was utterly terrified. He hurriedly called out, “My Zifu has been destroyed, my Zifu has been destroyed!”

Daoist Coldsun’s face instantly changed. A hint of rage was now visible, but he forced it down and said angrily, “Senior Skyfall, what’s this all about? Why have you led people here to apprehend disciples of Snowdragon Mountain? If Snowdragon Mountain has offended you in some way, just tell us; those who deserve to be punished will be. Snowdragon Mountain will definitely give you a satisfactory response.”

“These aren’t my men.” Northmont Skyfall shook his head. “You really have no vision, have you? You aren’t even able to recognize the most formidable soldiers of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, the Golden Imperials!”

“Golden Imperials?” Daoists Coldsun, Blackdragon, and Snowplume were all shocked. Imperial Guards? Even in Stillwater Commandery, Snowdragon Mountain was a fairly ordinary sect, located in a fairly distant location, without even a single Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal to their name. Naturally, they knew very little about the distant imperial capital. Although Daoist Blackdragon would occasionally make a visit to the imperial capital, he had never even seen an Imperial Guard, much less the elite ‘Golden Imperials’ of the Guard. When they saw the golden armor worn by the soldiers, they had taken them to be soldiers of the Northmont clan of Stillwater!

“Generals,” Daoist Blackdragon said hurriedly, “If Snowdragon Mountain has acted offensively in some manner, please tell us.”

Daoist Coldsun and Daoist Snowplume were terrified and restless as well.

“We have come on orders to apprehend Dong Seven and wipe out Snowdragon Mountain,” one of the captains said coldly.

“Apprehend Dong Seven? Wipe out Snowdragon Mountain?”

Daoist Blackdragon and the other two felt as though thunderbolts had suddenly come crashing down out of the clear sky. Both were stupefied.

Wipe out their school?

Good, good heavens!

Their school was one which had existed for a very long time. Everything had been perfectly fine; why had the Golden Imperials suddenly come to wipe them out?

“Coldsun!” Daoist Blackdragon, upon seeing the captured Dong Seven, instantly understood what this was about. He stared at the nearby Daoist Coldsun, then roared furiously, “It is all your fault. You coddled Dong Seven! Dong Seven has harmed countless people in the outside world; even in our own school, he’s harmed quite a few of our female disciples. But you’ve always protected him! Dong Seven must have offended a powerful figure at some point, causing our Snowdragon Mountain to now face complete annihilation.”

Daoist Coldsun’s face was completely ashen now as well.

Daoist Snowplume begged, “Everyone, you can punish Dong Seven as you please. You can even have Snowdragon Mountain do whatever you wish us to do. Just, please give us a way out.”

“Everyone.” The captain who had apprehended Dong Seven spoke out emotionlessly. “Let’s do it.”

With this order given, the squads of Golden Imperials immediately began to fly out of the warship.

“FORMATION! PROTECT THE MOUNTAIN!” Daoist Blackdragon let out an earsplitting bellow, and his voice rang out in the ears of every single disciple.

“SEALS!”

“SNOWDRAGON SKYSOAR FORMATION!”

Every single formation and restrictive spell which the previous generations experts of Snowdragon Mountain had every created were instantly activated. One seal after another instantly appeared, hovering in the air. Clouds and mist appeared. One snowy white dragon after another began to appear as well, flying and weaving amidst the skies above the mountains. When a school unleashed all of its stored powers at once, even a Loose Immortal would find it difficult to break through the school.

Rumble….

One divine golden dragon after another began to appear in the skies. There were a total of eight divine golden dragons, each of which was coiled and nearly ten thousand kilometers long, and emanated a majestic presence.

It was true that ordinary Loose Immortals would find it difficult to break through Snowdragon Mountain’s headquarters…but a squad of Golden Imperials consisted of a Loose Immortal commanding forty nine Primal Daoists, all of whom were dressed in Dao-armor, and who joined together to form into a divine dragon! Their might was at the very least comparable to ten ordinary Loose Immortals!

And here…there were nine squads!

Rumble…

The golden dragons coiled and writhed in the sky. A simple thwack from one of the tails caused all of the seals to explode and crack, bursting as if they were soap bubbles.

The captain who had captured Dong Seven just watched from above. As for the other eight squads, they had all transformed into golden dragons and were launching attacks at the below Snowdragon Mountain. With absolute superiority in raw power…they smashed through every single grand sealing formation. As for the so-called bewildering formations? Every single divine dragon was ten thousand kilometers in length; a single trembling movement from them caused entire formations to break apart.

“This, this…” Daoist Coldsun had led his own disciples to form into an enormous Snowdragon. But, upon seeing the might and power of the divine golden dragons, he was so terrified he didn’t even dare to go block.

He was a Primal Daoist, leading a group of Wanxiang Adepts and Zifu Disciples in forming a Snowdragon…and he was supposed to fight against a divine dragon formed by a Loose Immortal leading forty nine Primal Daoists? They were on completely separate levels. The difference in power was just too great.

“Oh, Dong Seven…who the hell did you offend…” Daoist Coldsun felt both fury and despair.

“It’s finished.” Daoist Snowplume led his disciples to block, but at the very first exchange, more than half of his disciples perished and the Snowdragon was completely shattered. A look of despair appeared on Daoist Snowplume’s face. “Snowdragon Mountain is finished. Damn us…damn us for not being strict in carrying out the laws of the sect. Our disciples have caused harm everywhere, and in the end…they finally offended a powerful figure.”

BOOM.

Daoist Snowplume instantly blew apart, causing an enormous storm of elemental ki. He had chosen self-detonation; this way, at least his soul would be able to reincarnate.

…..

Daoist Snowplume self-detonated. Daoist Coldsun was killed. Daoist Blackdragon was killed.

Every single mountain peak that belonged to Snowdragon Mountain was overturned. Under the majestic power of these eight divine dragons that were ten thousand kilometers in length, some parts were crushed down to form a lakebed, while other parts were flattened into plains. In short…not a single true mountain could now be seen.

“This…this…” Dong Seven was completely stunned.

“Fellow Daoist Skyfall, sorry for the trouble. We’ll head straight back to the imperial capital now.”

“This was a small matter. Snowdragon Mountain offended King Yan; they invited annihilation upon themselves. They cannot blame anyone but themselves.”

“Then we’ll leave now.”

“Please do. I won’t send you off.”

The group of Golden Imperials immediately led Dong Seven aboard their warship, then departed. As for Northmont Skyfall, he stared at the former Snowdragon Mountains, which had now been smashed into lakes and plains. He couldn’t help but shake his head. “A small sect like this…they weren’t strict in their rules, and their disciples harmed many. The karmic luck of the school would naturally continue to drop, until finally, one day, annihilation arrived. How utterly laughable…even the imperial clan of the Grand Xia erected the Raindragon Guard and sent them out to apprehend and execute sinners for the sake of improving their luck, but a small sect like this actually acted with such wild abandon.”

Whoosh. Northmont Skyfall disappeared into thin air, teleporting away.

The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. King Yan’s Estate.

The snow was drifting downwards right now as a group of Golden Imperials entered King Yan’s Estate.

“Brothers, go get some rest, but keep an eye on that Dong Seven. I’m going to go report to the Princess right now,” a captain said, then immediately went to go see her.

Within a wide, spacious hall. A banquet had been prepared here. Ning and Xiyue were currently accompanying Northson and the others, watching the snow while eating and chatting together.

“Reporting to the Princess,” the captain said respectfully as he appeared, “We’ve caught him.”

Ning and Xiyue both looked at the captain, and as they did, both were breathless. Upon hearing the words, “We’ve caught him”, both of them couldn’t help but rise to their feet.

“Everyone, Ji Ning and I have something to attend to. We’ll return shortly,” Yuchi Xiyue said immediately.