Desolate Era

by RWX

  “How strange.” Ning was puzzled. Why was it that if they didn’t use formations, the demons wouldn’t use formations either?

  “Why is this?” Ning didn’t understand.

  “Put yourself in the position of the creator of Undermoon Lake and you will understand.” Zhenbu laughed. “The creator of Undermoon Lake wished to temper us, making us become more powerful. If we rely on formations, such as the Seven Planets God, then in truth only a single Empyrean God will actually be fighting, with the other six just responsible for pumping enough divine power. This is against the goals of the creator of Undermoon Lake, and so he naturally would not be willing to allow us to rely on formations. He wants us to rely on our own power to battle against our foes, using these struggles to temper ourselves.”

  Ning instantly understood. Laughing, he said, “Come to think of it, I really wonder why the creator of Undermoon Lake spent all this effort in building this place up.”

  “We’re quite curious as well.”

  “Yes, why did he do this?”

  “I imagine that only Jueming, who managed to escape, knows the answer. Darknorth, you’ve just recently entered from the outside world; has Jueming ever spoken of what the creator of Undermoon Lake wants?”

  The nine Empyrean Gods were all puzzled.

  Ning shook his head. “Buddha Jueming has completely sealed his lips regarding the affairs of Undermoon Lake.”

  “He became a Buddha?” Seasonstep called out in surprise.

  “The Seven Dragon Gods mentioned it earlier. Didn’t you hear them?”

  “I was daydreaming.”

  “You? An exalted Empyrean God? Daydreaming?”

  “The calamity’s drawing near, you know…I can’t help but think about the demon army attacking. What, I’m not allowed to daydream?”

  No formations would be allowed. They would have to risk their lives individually. The main thing they had to be careful about was staying close to each other, so that once one of them fell into a dangerous situation the others could immediately help out. Only by supporting each other would they be able to fight against the demon army invasion.

  In the blink of an eye, twenty-one days had passed after Ning’s arrival at Myriad Mountains Island.

  Ever since the tenth day, the ten Empyrean Gods had begun to live together, prepared to do battle at all times. On this day, a cold wind blew through the skies, which remained as blurry as always. The bright moon could still be seen hanging up in the heavens. And finally…

  “AWOOOOOOO!!!!” A distant, earth-shaking howl could be heard coming from the west side of Myriad Mountains Lake.

  “Eh?”

  Ten figures simultaneously flew out of the palace like streaks of light, arriving at the peak of the nearest mountain. The ten of them were like the gods of this place as they turned their gazes in unison towards the distance.

  “They’ve come,” Feiyou said in a low voice.

  “They’ve finally come.” Zhenbu licked his lips.

  “Remember, Darknorth.” Oddwitch looked at the nearby Ning. “Don’t charge too far up ahead. Although you have the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and can charge into their ranks…once you are all by yourself and surrounded by their army, with no one to help you out and the demon king assaulting you…you’ll die shortly afterwards.”

  “Understood.” Ning nodded.

  The demon army had many demons that were comparable to ordinary Empyrean Gods in power. They also had demon commanders who were equivalent to the ten of them in power…and a demon king who was even mightier than all of them!

  The more Empyrean Gods took part in battle, the more demons and demon commanders would take part as well.

  Because ten Empyrean Gods would take part in this battle, ten demon commanders would take part as well!

  “You have to be beware the demon commanders. Each of the ten are comparable to us in power. Those countless damnable minor demons are particularly irritating. Although they are weak in sole combat, they can tie you down and have a major impact on how much power you can unleash. We have to stay close to each other and support each other. No matter what, we can’t let the demons split us apart.” Coppersong couldn’t help but remind Ning yet again.

  “Right.” Ning nodded.

  He understood. Everyone had told him this repeatedly, as the nine of them had all experienced this calamity before. It was precisely because they had experienced this before that all of them were so worried that Ning would mess up! During a critical, life-and-death moment like this…a single error would result in certain doom!

  Thud! Thud! Thud!!!

  The ground was trembling.

  The ten Empyrean Gods stared off into the distance. They saw a terrifying, awe-inspiring horde of demons appear off in the distance. These demons had completely dark-green skins, and they wielded sabers, spears, warforks, and other types of weapons. Some of the demons were the particularly muscular commanders who were each many meters tall. The demon commanders had skin that was a dark-red color.

  “Those big ones are the demon commanders.”

  “Look; that one over there with the long horns? That’s the demon king.” Feiyou and the others provided guidance to Ning. In truth, Ning had more or less come to the same conclusion on his own, as the two horns were nearly three meters long, and the creature had the most powerful aura of all.

  “AROOOO!!!” The the demon king was carrying a golden gourd around his waist and wielded a black longstaff in his hands. Raising his head, he let out a fierce roar.

  “ARROOO ARROOO!!!!” The horde of demons roared as well.

  The ten Empyrean Gods all watched with solemn expressions.

  Far off in the distance, the Seven Dragon Gods, Roughpeak, and the rest of the Empyrean Gods watched nervously.

  “The calamity has come yet again.”

  “I hope all of them will survive this one.”

  Their hands were tied. If they were to take part in the battle, the only result would be that even more demons would appear. Thus, their only choice was to stay on the sidelines and watch. The only reason they were even able to come to Myriad Mountains Island was because they had followed more powerful Empyrean Gods here…but in almost every single calamity, at least one of them would die! To them, these dead Empyrean Gods were their benefactors!

  In a similar manner, the Seven Dragon Gods and Roughpeak didn’t wish for Ning to die. None of them wanted for any of the ten to die.

  “I hope brother Darknorth and the others will all live,” Witherdragon said.

  “Let’s go.”

  Upon their leader Feiyou issuing the order, the ten Empyrean Gods who stood at the peak of the mountain all transformed into streaks of light. They flew tens of thousands of kilometers towards another, rather strange-looking mountain. The reason why this place was known as ‘Myriad Mountains Island’ was because there truly was a myriad of different mountain peaks that stabbed high up into the skies!

  The mountain that Ning and the rest of the ten had chosen was one which was a perfect fit for them.

  They weren’t able to set up formations, but at least they would be able to select the terrain of their choosing! A well-chosen region could help to ensure that the demon armies wouldn’t be able to join together and completely surround them, which would make the battle even more difficult.

  “My brothers!” Feiyou roared loudly, “Let’s survive to drink together again!”

  “Survive to drink together again!”

  “Survive to drink together again!”

  The other nine, Ning included, all howled furiously as they stared at the distant, impending demon army. Their hearts were all filled with a desire to slaughter! They had no choice; they had to kill. If they didn’t, they would die.

  The demon army drew closer…ever closer!

  A million kilometers. Six hundred thousand kilometers. Three hundred thousand kilometers!

  Even the weakest demon was comparable to an ordinary Empyrean God. They moved with astonishi
ng speed, quickly charging forward towards the ten.

  “AROOOO!!! Slaughter them all, my children!” The demon king bellowed in a loud voice.

  Instantly, all the demons grew even more excited.

  “Kill!” Feiyou let out an explosive shout of his own.

  “KILL!” The nine Empyrean Gods had all drawn their weapons long ago.

  BOOOM!!!!!

  It was like a tidalwave smashing into dry rocks. The ten Empyrean Gods, their backs to the mountain walls, were instantly flooded by wild attacks from the countless demons.

  Ning instantly began to use the [Brightmoon] sword-art with his twin swords, deflecting the oncoming spears, warforks, machetes, and other weapons.

  Sword-light flew forward in a strange, unpredictable manner.

  Slash!

  A demon’s head went flying.

  Clang! The sword-light scraped down the side of a machete, chopping a pudgy demon in half.

  Every so often, Ning would also execute the ‘Soleheart’ stance and the ‘Yin-Yang’ stance, his two defensive stances. When suffering attacks from so many demons, maintaining a strong defense was clearly quite important. Otherwise, once the demons managed to close in on him, he wouldn’t even have enough room to use his sword-arts. He would be finished if that happened.

  “According to what big brother Feiyou and the others said, we have to wipe out these ordinary demons as fast as possible. The faster, the better! Although they are weak, it’ll be these little demons who end up sending us into hell at critical moments.” Ning didn’t dare to be overconfident. Although he had the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting him…if he was to be completely surrounded and bound, then the demon king would be able to easily suppress him and draw him into that golden gourd.

  * * *

  Book 20, Chapter 20 - Half-Step Daofather

  The demon king wielded a long black staff in his hands. Surrounding him were the ten dark-red demon commanders! They simply watched from afar, allowing the many demons under their commands to surround and assault the ten Empyrean Gods.

  Ji Ning and the others knew that each time, the leaders of the demon army would allow the ordinary demons to attack first for a time. Only later would the demon commanders and demon king attack. Thus, the initial period of time when only the ordinary demon soldiers were attacking was extremely critical; they had to seize that period of time to wipe out as many of the ordinary demons as they could.

  It was a wild, berserk battle.

  Boom! Every so often, Ning would ram forwards, relying on his tough divine body to smash into the demons and knock them asunder. At other times, he would use a sword-art that would transform his swords into a black hole, guiding the demons off to one side. In short, he used every method he could think of to ensure that the demons would not be able to completely surround and restrain him.

  “Intriguing.” The demon king pointed towards the distant Ning with a slender, knife-like claw. “Look at that new Empyrean God. His sword-arts are quite powerful, and he’s killing the fastest.”

  “This divine body is quite tough. Our children’s weapons and attacks are negligible to him.”

  “His sword-arts are quite odd.”

  The demon king and the dark-red demon commanders chatted amongst themselves.

  “According to what Purgatory said, this new Empyrean God is named Darknorth.” The demon king chuckled. “Number three, go and play with him a bit.”

  “Alright.” Instantly, a muscular demon commander who was wielding a shield in each of his two hands charged forward towards Ning. The ordinary demons all parted before this demon commander, clearing a path for him. Soon, he closed in on Ji Ning.

  “Ji Ning, be careful.”

  “Brother Darknoth, be careful.”

  “It’s the twinshield commander!”

  The other nine Empyrean Gods hurriedly sent mental messages over to Ning. Ning felt a sense of shock in his heart as well. Because Feiyou and the other Empyrean Gods had experienced multiple battles against the demon king and his commanders, they had naturally memorized the appearances of quite a few of them. Each of the commanders had their own unique traits, and this one, the ‘twinshield commander’, possessed enormous strength and was extremely skilled in defense.

  “Of the demon king’s commanders, the twinshield commander is probably the best counter to me.” This thought flashed through Ning’s mind as the dark-red twinshield commander came charging towards him.

  “Die!” Twin shields in hand, the demon commander rammed towards Ning. These two shields protected almost every single inch of his body. No matter how formidable Ning’s sword-arts were, there was no way for him to touch this foe.

  “Heavenbreaker stance!” Ning charged forward as well, his twin swords becoming as heavy as mountains. He sent them smashing downwards with an aura of power like Pangu cleaving apart Heaven and Earth.

  BOOM!

  The two swords smote down upon the shields, but the demon commander was still able to maintain his charge towards Ning with shields raised. Clearly, Ning didn’t have any advantages in terms of strength. The many ordinary demons around him also joined in the fight, wildly assaulting Ning and causing his movements to turn chaotic. Now, he truly understood why the demons he had so easily killed were said to be truly deadly.

  While Ning was forced to concentrate on the demon commander, the ordinary demons continued to launch stabbing strikes against him, making his life miserable.

  “Three heads, six arms!” Ning’s body momentarily blurred as he executed the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability. Instantly, six streaks of sword-light began to fly about, sweeping the area around him clear of lesser demons while completely stalemating the twin bucklers.

  “Number four, you go as well,” the distant demon king instructed.

  “Yes.”

  The dark-red demon commander referred to as ‘number four’ also had six arms. Each of his six arms held a whip, and he let out a howl as he charged towards Ning. His arrival instantly put Ning into an even more dangerous situation.

  If Ning was just fighting against this ‘number four’ by himself, he would be able to easily defend against him. In fact, he would even hold the advantage. But right now, the twin shields were the primary threat, while the six whips of ‘number four’ coiled about his swords, making it difficult for Ning to execute his sword-arts. At the same time, the lesser demons continuously charged forward, trying to trap and constrict Ning.

  “ARUUUUUUU!” The two demon commanders and many lesser demon furiously assaulted Ning like a wave that was about to drown him.

  “Not good.”

  “I’ll go!”

  The person nearest to Ning was the most muscular of the ten Empyrean Gods, Empyrean God Zhenbu. Letting out a mighty roar, he slaughtered a path through his opponents and charged straight towards the twinshield demon commander. The twinshield commander had been in the middle of launching an attack against Ning, and so was only able to use a single shield to defend against the valiant Zhenbu.

  “F*ck off!” Zhenbu’s longspear pierced out, and a mighty whirlpool appeared at the tip of it. It latched onto the bottom of the shield, tugging it straight into the heart of the whirlpool. Zhenbu then gave the spear a mighty tug.

  This attack contained a strange force that was both upwards and downwards. Even the twinshield commander was unable to withstand it, and he was sent flying into the air.

  “Perfect.”

  Sword-light flashed.

  [Starseizing Hand]!

  Swordforce

  Heartforce!

  [Brightmoon] sword-art, Blood Drop stance!

  This was Ning’s fastest sword of all. As the twinshield commander flew into the air, an opening was revealed in his defenses. Ning saw it and immediately stabbed his sword into the demon commander’s chest. “Arghh!” The twinshield commander glared furiously at Ning, then vanished into thin air. Even his shield vanished with him.

  “Well struck!”

  “Excel
lent!”

  “One down.”

  The other nine Empyrean Gods instantly celebrated. They had never imagined that Ning, forced into such dire straits, would actually be able to slay the twinshield commander.

  In truth, as soon as he been forced into that dire situation, Ning had immediately prepared to unleash his full power. However, in a situation like that, he would at most be able to force the enemy back a bit. Fortunately, Zhenbu had also charged over, forcing the twinshield commander to reveal a flaw in his defenses and giving Ning the chance to launch a full-strength attack to kill him.

  “Beautiful.” Zhenbu looked towards Ning, laughing loudly, “Even if I didn’t intervene, a puny demon like that wouldn’t have been able to do anything to you, brother Darknorth.”

  Ning, however, felt a complicated feeling in his heart.

  In truth, ever since he had arrived at Myriad Mountains Island, Ning had felt lumps in his throat whenever he looked at these nine Empyrean Gods, especially Zhenbu and Autumnwing, who belonged to the Seamless Gate. This was because he knew very well that their two alliances had already entered a deadly war in the outside world! But here in Undermoon Lake, none of the Empyrean Gods knew of the war. These nine Empyrean Gods in particular had undergone many calamities together; they had long ago begun to view each other as brothers for life.

  “It doesn’t matter. They might be of the Seamless Gate, but they are both my brothers,” Ning mused to himself as he stared at the heroic Zhenbu, who had been so concerned about him.

  After the twinshield commander was slain, the six-armed demon commander hurriedly retreated.

  The distant demon king frowned upon seeing this happen.

  “Hm?” The demon king ordered with a frown, “Attack.”

  The eight demon commanders instantly grew excited. The demon king gently stroked the golden gourd by his waist, then hoisted his black longstaff with a cold smile and strode towards Ning. “The rest of you can deal with the other nine. Leave this Empyrean God Darknorth to me.”