Desolate Era Book 10, Chapter 9 - Heavy Casualties, a Change

Adept Bu You’s death provoked Youngflame Nong, Ji Ning, and the others. The most provoked of all, of course, Xue Hongyi, whose strength was essentially on par with Adept Bu You.
“I shouldn’t have come here. I shouldn’t have come here!” Xue Hongyi’s eyes were completely red. A Dao-seal appeared in his hand, and it instantly transformed into a barrier of light that covered his body. Boom! It managed to forcibly endure a claw strike from a Qiongqi Manticore Golem. The golden light around his body trembled, but Xue Hongyi seized this chance to quickly escape.
He fled far away!
Ten of the eighteen Qiongqi golems were tied down by Ji Ning’s group of five and the ten Wanxiang Deathsworn. As for the other eight, they focused on young master Youngflame. Xue Hongyi, going all out, managed to escape from the center of their array, and for a moment, there were no Qiongqi golems after him.
“Damn, damn.” Youngflame Nong gave a cold sideways glance to the distant Xue Hongyi. Earlier, Xue Hongyi and Adept Bu You had been at least able to tie down three of the Qiongqi Manticore golems, but now with Adept Bu You slain and Xue Hongyi fled… the eight golems were completely surrounding and focusing on Youngflame Nong himself.
A pitiable look appeared on Xue Hongyi’s face, and he frantically sent mentally, “Young master Youngflame, I’m truly unable to stop them. Brother Bu You has already died; even if I were to resist, in just a few breaths, I would lose my life.”
Young master Youngflame was extremely angry, but he knew that these people weren’t his slaves, nor were they Deathsworn; in the face of certain death, it was normal for them to flee.
“Damn, damn, damn! If I can reunite with Uncle Fang… within this Witchriver Immortal Estate, I’m never going to let him leave my side again, ever!” Youngflame Nong truly felt regret for having allowed Xiangliu Fang to depart. If he had known that this would be the result, he would’ve simply used two of his treasures to lock down the two groups of monstrous Dao-soldiers.
Treasures capable of blocking more than ten thousand linked Dao-soldiers were naturally extraordinary, and young master Youngflame hadn’t been willing to use them up. But now, it was too late for regret.
……
Young master Youngflame stood there, a crimson red salamander coiling around him. The crimson salamander was emanating a terrifying aura, and it repeatedly slashed its claws against the attacking Qiongqi golems.
Bang! Bang! Bang! One golem after another was sent flying back.
The long tail of the Redscale Salamander slapped out repeatedly as well, but the ‘body’ of the Qiongqi golems was composed of magic treasures; they were unbreakable. Thus, they didn’t fear being struck, and they wildly surrounded and attacked Youngflame Nong. The sharp claws of the Qiongqi golems left enormous, gaping wounds on the body of the Rescale Salamander as well, tearing its scales open and sending blood spraying everywhere.
However, the Redscale Salamander was able to heal its wounds at an astonishing rate, and it continued to go all out in its battle against these Qiongqi golems.
This single Godbeast, the Redscale Salamander, was blocking eight Qiongqi Manticore golems!
“What a formidable Redscale Salamander.” Although Ning was fighting, he was also keeping an eye on the overall situation. The power of the Redscale Salamander made him sigh in amazement. “It lives up to its reputation as possessing one of the most exalted Godbeast lineages. In addition, it should also have trained in Fiendgod Body Refining; although it is only at the Wanxiang level, it already has combat prowess comparable to a peak Primal. Even if I were to unleash all my power, I would probably only be on par with it.”
Ning was currently utilizing his [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation]. Although he was being supported by the five-elements pentagonal formation, the power of it was still a bit weaker than his close combat prowess.
“Clank.”
“Clank.”
Ning’s group was working extremely hard to block the Qiongqi golems. From the side, those icy shards continued to fill the air and shoot towards them at high speed as well. However, the Qiongqi golems were also accidentally struck by and injured by the ice shards; after all, they were only capable of activating the formation, not controlling it.
Only the master of the Immortal estate and the heir to Immortal estate were able to truly control the formation. Without a controller, the icy shards were unable to differentiate between friend or foe. However, since the Qiongqi golems had treasure-like bodies, they didn’t care about the attacks from the icy shards.
“Not good.” Ning’s face suddenly changed.
“This is trouble.” Adept Vastriver was shocked as well.
All of them had been keeping an eye on the overall flow of battle. Those eight Qiongqi golems that previously had been surrounding and attacking young master Youngflame, due to being constantly blocked by the Godbeast, ‘Redscale Salamander’, actually gave up attacking him and instead immediately threw themselves towards the ten Wanxiang Deathsworn.
Comparatively speaking, the ten Wanxiang Deathsworn were a bit weaker. However, their wills were joined, and after having entered the grand formation, they were capable of tying down three of the Qiongqi Manticore golems.
However, when eight more of the golems suddenly charged towards them, this meant that the number of golems they were facing instantly reached eleven.
If the eleven golems were attacking Ning’s group of five, the five of them would’ve been able to hold on, but they were attacking the ten Wanxiang Deathsworn instead…
……
“HALT!” Youngflame Nong was enraged. Up till now, he had not personally intervened, but at this moment, an enormous black whip suddenly appeared out of nowhere into his hands. The black whip was covered with a flowing layer of black firelight. He snapped the whip out powerfully, and it lashed through the air, striking towards the Qiongqi golems in the distance.
BOOM!
The long whip struck one of the Qiongqi golems, and immediately knocked it backwards, sending flying all the way out of the formation, causing it to disappear from Ning’s field of vision.
BOOM! BOOM! Young master Youngflame lashed his whip out repeatedly, each strike carrying inconceivable power and sending each stricken Qiongqi Manticore golem flying backwards.
“Formidable.”
“Terrifying.”
“Powerful.”
Ning and the others were all shocked. None of them had imagined that this young master Youngflame was so powerful. In fact, at a single glance, Ning was able to tell for certain that the fire covering the whip which young master Youngflame was using was actually ‘earthfire’. And, unless he was mistaken, it was earthfire that should have reached the first grade, which was why it was comparable to ordinary skyfire in might!
“His flames are formed from first-grade earthfire. That whip is strange as well. In addition, young master Youngflame’s aura suddenly exploded with might; it must be some secret technique.” Ning sighed mentally at what he had seen. This ancient, massive Youngflame clan clearly had made multifaceted preparations for the upbringing of their next clan leader. His combat power, at the very least, was amazing. The man was definitely at the same level as Ning himself and Yu Wei, and his treasures were even more powerful!
“No!” A look of utmost anger appeared on Youngflame Nong’s face.
Although his whip had sent three Qiongqi golems flying in sequence, Youngflame Nong was, after all, just a single person… and there were eleven golems attacking. Thus, the other eight Qiongqi golems, accompanied by a large number of icy shards, continued to tear into and through the formation of the ten Wanxiang Deathsworn, ripping one of them into tiny pieces.
The death of one caused the strength of the other nine to immediately fall dramatically. And, at this moment, those three Qiongqi Manticore golems that had been sent flying out of the formation now came flying back inside. They were completely undamaged, and they once more threw themselves towards the nine Wanxiang Deathsworn.”
“Kill.”
“Master, we are leaving now.”
BOOM.
BANG.
RIP.
These Wanxiang Adepts did not fear death, but they were still torn apart, one by one, by the Qiongqi golems. Some were torn apart, while others were flattened to death by blows from the Qiongqi golems’ wings. In virtually just a single breath’s worth of time, the ten Wanxiang Deathsworn had all died.
Young master Youngflame was utterly enraged, but he didn’t dare to allow the Redscale Salamander by his side to leave, because he himself was not a Fiendgod Body Refiner. In close combat, he was at a huge disadvantage, and so the Redscale Salamander had to stay next to him to protect him.
“Kill those five.”
“Kill them.”
The eleven Qiongqi Manticore golems didn’t even look at Youngflame Nong; they threw themselves directly towards the five disciples of the Black-White College.
When Ning’s group had seen how the Qiongqi golems had surrounded and killed those ten Wanxiang Deathsworn, they knew that things had taken a turn for the worse. However, they were being tied down by these other seven golems… after all, of the five, the three most powerful were Ji Ning, Yu Wei, and Adept Vastriver, with Ninelotus and Mu Northson being comparatively weaker.
“Ji Ning, Rainbowflame Fairy, Adept Vastriver,” Young master Youngflame sent frantically, “Be careful of those Qiongqi golems. You have to be able to hold.”
“Damn these detestable Qiongqi golems. Damn them! First, they killed my ten Deathsworn, and now they are going to kill Ji Ning’s group.” Young master Youngflame knew exactly what was going on. Ning’s group was helping him tie down quite a few of the Qiongqi golems; if they were to die, then all eighteen golems would encircle and attack him. Although he had many magic treasures, his only choice would be to use the greater teleportation seal and flee. But upon fleeing, he would have failed this trial, and in the future, his chances of becoming the next Godplume Duke would be lessened. He absolutely would not permit this to happen.
“Ji Ning, let me in. Xue Hongyi, get the f*ck over here as well.”
Young master Youngflame and his Redscale Salamander, as well as the terrified Xue Hongyi, flew directly into the five-person formation which Ning’s group had set up. Ning’s group naturally did not prevent them from doing so.
“Attack.” Young master Youngflame, a sinister look on his face, gave the order, then immediately began to brandish his long black whip, blazing with black fire. As for the Redscale Salamander, it stretched half of its body outside, sending its claws towards the Qiongqi golems in raking attacks. Xue Hongyi also used all of his magic treasures, wanting to make up for his earlier transgression of fleeing.
“Young master Youngflame,” Ning sent suddenly.
“What is it?” Young master Youngflame was in an extremely foul mood right now, but to one of his main sources of support, Ji Ning, he still maintained an air of courtesy.
“The spirit-beast under my control, the Whitewater Hound, is exceedingly well-versed in the Dao of Formations, and he has studied it for a long time. He’s already discovered a flaw in the formation, and is confident in being able to break it,” Ning sent.
Young master Youngflame had been in an utterly furious mood, but upon hearing Ning’s words, he couldn’t help but feel a hint of eagerness and disbelief. “Did you just say that the spirit-beast you control, that Whitewater Hound, is able to break this formation? This is a formation which Immortal Witchriver set down. He is actually able to break a formation set down by a Celestial Immortal? Are you sure he can do it?”
It wasn’t that he was belittling the Whitewater Hound; rather, he didn’t believe the Whitewater Hound could possibly be that gifted in formations.
“Young master Youngflame, although this is a formation left behind by Immortal Witchriver, he himself wasn’t necessarily skilled in formations. In addition, although this formation is formidable, there isn’t anyone currently controlling it. A formation which no one is controlling… is extremely clumsy and not at all agile,” Ning sent hurriedly. “My Whitewater Hound spirit-beast, by using the Fuxi Staff Formation, is absolutely capable of breaking this formation.”
“Fuxi Staff Formation? Fine, I’ll trust you. I have a set of top-grade Fuxi Staff Formation treasures; use them, and the power of his formation will definitely increase.” At a time like this, young master Youngflame wouldn’t be stingy at all; he immediately took out a set of top-grade Fuxi Staff Formation artifacts, then tossed them over.
Behind Ning was the Whitewater Hound, who had yet to fight and had spent this entire period of time focusing on analyzing the formation. He sent a surge of elemental ki out from his body, wrapping it around the completely ownerless Fuxi Staff Formation artifacts and easily binding them.
“Uncle White, you truly feel confident?” Ning sent.
“Don’t worry, Ning, my son. I’ve spent a long time analyzing this formation, and am absolutely certain that I’ll be able to break it. This formation, despite being incomparably powerful, has no one at the helm. You should know that the more powerful a formation is, the more complicated it is as well. The formation is only able to unleash such power because it is drawing in the natural energy of the world, then transforming it through repeated cycles; as long as we are able ‘choke’ a single part of the cycle, then the entire formation will become useless.”
“If this formation had someone controlling it, then he naturally would be constantly changing things. It would be extremely hard to break the formation. But without a controller, it is hundreds and thousands of times easier to break this formation,” the Whitewater Hound said. “And with these unexpected top-grade Fuxi Staff Formation artifacts… well, young master Youngflame really is quite generous.”