Desolate Era

by RWX

  The tenth guardian stared at Ji Ning making a gesture with his finger. His face couldn’t help but change as he murmured softly to himself, “…Surpassed the limits of the Heavenly Daos?”

  “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Ning smiled as he walked over. He was in an excellent mood.

  He had increased in power dramatically, which meant that he would be able to better steer his own destiny within this great storm. In addition, he would be bringing out more than two hundred Empyrean Gods with him, and Ning knew exactly how badly they all wanted to leave this place.

  “Let’s see how powerful you’ve become.” With a swoosh, the tenth guardian transformed into a streak of light and attacked Ning.

  Ning continued to amble forward slowly, seeming to feel that he had matters under perfect control. No matter how marvelous his foe’s sword-art was, its speed was still constrained by the Heavenly Daos. When the enemy’s streak of sword-light closed in on him, Ning simply reached out with his right sword, sending it forward in a viperous strike. This was an extremely simple but incredibly fast stab.

  [Brightmoon] sword-art, Blood Drop stance!

  The tenth guardian attempted to block, but Ning’s sword-light still managed to scrape past the defending sword and stab the tenth guardian’s forehead. The tenth guardian’s head was pushed backwards as he was knocked into the air before stabilizing himself and once more landing on the ground. A very complicated look was on the tenth guardian’s face, and he mumbled to himself, “He surpassed the limits. He has indeed surpassed the limits. A sword as fast as this…how are you supposed to block it? There’s no way to block it at all.”

  Once one’s swordforce reached the fifth stage, one’s sword-arts would also become incredibly marvelous…and yet, compared to fourth-stage swordforce combined with the [Five Treasures], it was still inferior.

  This was due to a single word: Speed!

  This word was enough to cause countless experts to feel despair, enough to cause even major powers to be willing to abandon all their other Daos to train in the [Five Treasures].

  “You’ve won.” The tenth guardian looked at Ning, a hint of anticipation in his dead eyes. “This sword-art…is it the [Five Treasures] of your Three Realms?”

  “You’ve heard of the [Five Treasures] as well?” Ning was surprised.

  “Those Empyrean Gods in Undermoon Lake often spoke of it.” The tenth guardian looked at Ning.

  “Yes, it’s the [Five Treasures].” Ning nodded.

  The tenth guardian had a very complicated look on his face. Sighing, he said, “I guard the Path of Blades and am a master of many sword-arts, spear-arts, saber-arts, and other combat arts. But not one of them has surpassed the limits of the Heavenly Daos. To lose to you…I willingly acknowledge my defeat.”

  “You are the guardian for all of the weapons?” Ning was surprised.

  “Of course. The other nine guardians you encountered were actually all me as well.” The tenth guardian laughed. “However, each time I’ll only use a single type of sword-art. Enough…you’ve won. You can now go to the fifth island. Once you go there, you’ll be allowed to leave Undermoon Lake.”

  “Go.” The tenth guardian smiled, then disappeared without a trace.

  The surrounding darkness vanished as well, allowing the bright moon to once more appear in the skies.

  As for Ning, he transformed into a streak of light and advanced forward.

  After flying for roughly an hour, he was vaguely able to make out an enormous, beautiful island up ahead. This island was studded with miniature lakes that were dazzling to behold. Some of the lakes seemed to be formed from flames, some were filled with golden light, some were filled with red light, and some were jade-green.

  All sorts of lights sparkled and flashed, making it truly look like an Immortal realm.

  At the end of the wooden bridge stood a gray-robed, silver-haired man who was smiling at Ning.

  “Eh?” Upon seeing the distant silver-haired man, Ning was quite puzzled. “He…doesn’t seem to be a living creature.”

  “This is the final lake in Undermoon Lake, ‘Moonfall’.” The silver-haired man smiled as he looked at Ning. “Empyrean God Darknorth, you are the second Empyrean God to overcome the Path of Blades and reach this location…and your power is even greater than Jueming’s was. But enough of that…come, follow me. I’ll take you to the treasures. This will be the last place where you can choose a treasure.”

  Ning nodded. He was allowed to choose three items from each of the final three islands.

  Just a short while later, he finished making his choice.

  Ning had already searched the memories of the prisoners of Pangaea, and he knew the value of the treasures before him. He knew which treasures the major powers of the Three Realms would drool over. Ning had no need of them, but he would be able to give them to allied major powers.

  “Hand over the treasures of Empyrean Gods Sin and Sealthroat,” the silver-haired man said.

  “Here, take.” Ning had already prepared them. He handed them over, then said in a puzzled manner, “Is there no need to hand over the treasures of Empyrean Gods Greatdream and Ninedawn?”

  Greatdream had killed Ninedawn, while Ning himself had killed Greatdream. All the treasures were thus in his hands.

  “The treasures of those you killed belong to you, of course.” The silver-haired man continued, “Follow me to a place. Afterwards, you’ll be able to leave Undermoon Lake.”

  * * *

  Book 20, Chapter 32 - Lifeblood Oath

  Ji Ning secretly sighed to himself. So the items of those he killed belonged to him? Clearly, Undermoon Lake didn’t forbid internecine warfare. Perhaps this sort of internal struggle was an even more grueling and cruel form of tempering for the survivors. In truth, the sea yaksha alone had slain thousands of Empyrean Gods. From this, one could tell that Undermoon Lake’s process of selection was innately brutal to begin with.

  Ning followed the silver-haired man forward through the fifth island, Moonfall Island.

  Moonfall Island emanated an aura of shockingly great age.

  The other four islands were all quite ordinary, but Ning had the sense that this island was different. It seemed as though this island contained an inconceivable type of power within it that was easily capable of obliterating him.

  “The major power who created Undermoon Lake…he went through tremendous effort to select and train Empyrean Gods. Why?” Ning mused to himself, “Does he merely want to temper us, then release us? Not very likely. There has to be an important reason behind it all. Mmm…let me go to the final area first. I’ll be able to leave afterwards, which means that this final area will make everything clear.”

  Moments later, Ning and the silver-haired man winded their way through a mountain path, arriving at the mountain peak. At the very top of this peak was a palace that was built from seemingly ordinary-looking rocks.

  “This is Moonfall Shrine.” The silver-haired man pointed towards the shrine before them. It looked ordinary; in fact, it looked rather old, ragged, and in bad shape. However, despite it’s seemingly poor condition, it was actually the heart of the entire Moonfall Island.

  In front of the shrine, there was a stone tablet that shone with golden light.

  “Move all of the Empyrean Gods you brought with you to this place,” the silver-haired man instructed.

  “Alright.” Ning nodded, then willed it. Instantly, a large group of figures appeared around him. It was the two hundred-plus Empyrean Gods. Sin, Sealthroat, the Seven Dragon Gods, and the rest all stared curiously around them. Quite a few of them revealed looks of surprise and joy.

  “This isn’t Kilostar Island.”

  “This is a new island.”

  “This has to be the fifth island. We are going to leave! We’ll be able to leave!”

  The Empyrean Gods instantly grew excited. They also noticed Darknorth and the silver-haired man.

  “Darknorth, this is the fifth island, right?” One of
the Empyrean Gods called out to him, and the others all looked towards him as well.

  Ning smiled and nodded. “This is the fifth island, Moonfall Island.”

  “Hahaha!”

  “Darknorth, in the future, if there’s anything you need, just say the word. Even if it costs me my life, I won’t shy back!”

  “Darknorth, some thanks cannot be expressed with words.”

  The Empyrean Gods were all quite excited. Some of them were actually crying. To them, it was as though Ning had given them a second life. All of them were Empyrean Gods…they would naturally remember the debts they owed others. If Ning asked them to help in the future and they refused, it would negatively impact their Dao-hearts. Only a small number of truly demonic, fiendish figures were capable of ignoring the debts they owed others without having their Dao-hearts being affected at all.

  “Enough,” the silver-haired man said calmly.

  Rumble…

  A surge of invisible power swept out from the shrine. It was like an invisible palm that slapped down upon the bodies of the Empyrean Gods. All of them were flattened into the ground, with only Ning being unaffected.

  Ning stared at this scene, stupefied. The Empyrean Gods were completely scared senseless as well. This was two terrifying! There were more than two hundred of them, but they had been smacked into the ground without being able to resist at all…and this was not simply a forceful strike of raw power.

  If it was a forceful strike of raw power, the Empyrean Gods would have been drilled into the ground like nails, leaving behind deep holes. But instead, all of them were knocked prone, face-down into the ground. Clearly, in that moment, they were as weak as mortals against this sort of power.

  “The major power who created Undermoon Lake truly was formidable. His abilities are beyond what I can imagine,” Ning mused to himself.

  “The only reason you are able to leave is because you followed Darknorth,” the silver-haired man said calmly. “Now…each of you shall go one-by-one and place your palms atop the golden stone tablet.”

  “Yes.” “Yes.” “Yes…”

  Moments ago, the Empyrean Gods had all been extremely excited. But now, they were all incredibly nervous and cautious, not daring to act rashly for fear of losing their lives.

  Empyrean God Sin was at the very front, and so he was the first to step forward and press his hand against the golden stone tablet. In the instant that he did so, his body completely froze and became unmoving. This sight caused all the Empyrean Gods to grow nervous. Ning, upon seeing this, became nervous as well…but worrying was of no use. The aura emitting from the shrine alone was enough to effortlessly murder him.

  The silver-haired man gave Ning a glance. He could sense Ning’s worry, and so he said calmly, “Don’t worry. He’s fine.”

  After roughly ten breaths worth of time, Sin finally regained consciousness. He retracted his palm, a look of disbelief flashing over his face as he stared at the golden stone tablet.

  “Beat it!” The silver-haired man snapped.

  Sin finally came back to his senses and hurriedly stepped back.

  “Next!” The silver-haired man instructed.

  Although the other Empyrean Gods were quite uneasy, they had no choice but to go forward. Sin said to them, “It’s fine. There’s no danger.” Only then did the Empyrean Gods feel slightly less nervous.

  Every single Empyrean God went forward in turn, pressing their hands on the stone tablet. Each of them froze for ten seconds before regaining consciousness.

  After a long period of time passed, all of the Empyrean Gods finished touching the golden stone tablet.

  “Put them all away.” The silver-haired man looked towards Ning. Upon hearing his words, Sin and the others let out sighs of relief. Ning waved his hand, once more drawing the Empyrean Gods into his Immortal estate.

  “Darknorth, you go as well. Place your hand atop the tablet,” the silver-haired man said.

  Ning walked forward, gently resting his hand against the golden stone tablet.

  BOOM!

  A surge of invisible power filled his mind and his soul.

  “I swear on my very life itself…” No longer under his control, Ning’s soul began to swear an oath on its own. However, Ning remained fully aware of what was happening.

  This…this was a lifeblood oath!

  Life oaths were very complicated. Not just anyone could simply speak a life oath. For example, in the Three Realms, there were no major powers who could force themselves to swear lifeblood oaths! Generally speaking, only Chaos Immortals and World Gods would perhaps be capable of voluntarily making themselves swear lifeblood oaths. Aside from them, all others would need to rely on special objects.

  In the chaos-kingdom of Pangaea, the largest clans and sects would generally have a treasure similar to this golden stone tablet, which would be used to force the sect disciples to involuntarily swear lifeblood oaths.

  Once a lifeblood oath was sworn, there would be no way for the oath-swearer to divulge any secrets that he was sworn to secrecy about.

  For example, when Ning tried to soulscour some of them, he discovered that some of their thought-bubbles with divine abilities and techniques within them were covered by countless complicated runes. There was simply no way to see inside those memories.

  There was no way to violate a lifeblood oath whatsoever!

  Ning came back to his senses, then stared at the golden stone tablet. He said softly, “No wonder Buddha Jueming only gave a bit of information regarding some of the treasures, but was completely silent regarding Undermoon Lake. So it was due to this lifeblood oath.”

  Lifeblood oaths could be used to strictly restrict any and all information from being spread about something.

  As for items like Iceheart Leafs, they weren’t unique to Undermoon Lake. They existed in the outside world as well, which was why it was permitted to discuss them.

  “After you leave, you won’t be able to discuss most things pertaining to Undermoon Lake, but you will be permitted to recommend that more Empyrean Gods enter,” the silver-haired man said.

  “More enter?” Ning secretly shook his head. Impossible. The chances of surviving Undermoon Lake were far too low. This sort of ‘training’ and ‘tempering’ was utterly terrifying, despite its effectiveness. Ning had indeed made it out alive, but he didn’t feel confident that others would be able to similarly survive it. In addition, the Three Realms were facing a major calamity; hundreds of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, when joined together into a formation, were as strong as a Daofather! At a time like this, there was no way he would possibly work to convince more Empyrean Gods to enter this place.

  “Alright. Enter the shrine,” the silver-haired man said with a smile. “After you leave it, I’ll deliver you away from Undermoon Lake.”

  “Alright.” Ning immediately walked towards it.

  The shrine was ancient and tattered, but the aura of power it had emanated earlier had made Ning understand that it wasn’t as simple as it looked.

  He stepped through the doorway.

  “Eh?” Upon entering, Ning swept the place with his gaze. This shrine truly was too simple and plain. It was completely empty, with almost nothing inside it. There were stone pillars and stone walls, but no decorations or furnishings of any kind. The shrine was just a few hundred meters long, and he was able to see every corner of it clearly.

  Rumble…

  Suddenly, a blurry, deep azure light emerged from every part of the shrine. Every single rock emanated this aura of deep azure light, and the countless rays of light swirled around Ning’s body. Soon, a ‘cocoon’ of deep azure light had appeared within the shrine.

  The silver-haired man watched quietly from outside. A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he murmured softly to himself, “I hope you won’t disappoint Master.”

  * * *

  Book 20, Chapter 33 - Transmission

  Wrapped within that cocoon of deep azure light, Ji Ning shut his eyes. It wa
s as though he was asleep. A surge of enormous power was currently being transmitted straight into his soul.

  “I swear on my very life itself that within a thousand years of becoming an Elder God, I must leave the Three Realms. I must reach ‘Vastheaven Palace’ within a chaos cycle and inform a Welcomer of Vastheaven Palace that World God Northrest was slain by the three Wujiao Godbeasts.” Ning’s soul was no longer his control as he was forced to swear yet another lifeblood oath.

  This caused Ning to feel quite irritated. This sort of sensation, of being forced to swear a lifeblood oath, was extremely unpleasant.

  However, Ning instantly realized the real purpose behind the creation of Undermoon Lake.

  “World God?” Ning mused to himself, “The creator of Undermoon Lake was actually a World God. However…he seems to have died.”

  “This lifeblood oath isn’t that bad. I have to leave within a thousand years of becoming an Elder God, but I’m a long way off from that level. And I have a full chaos cycle to reach Vastheaven Palace. However…where exactly is it? What type of a place is it?” Ning was quite puzzled.

  Although he had soulscoured the memories of the prisoners inside Prisonworld 17, he had never before heard of this ‘Vastheaven Palace’.

  However, judging from the lifeblood oath he had just been forced to swear, World God Northrest had to be a member of Vastheaven Palace! He was killed but wanted to find someone to send a message, which meant that Vastheaven Palace should be powerful enough to take revenge for him! But of course, this was just logical reasoning; it was also possible that other stories were hidden within this seemingly-simple message.

  Boom!

  Just as Ning was pondering this question, an enormous amount of information began to flood into Ning’s soul. Ning was instantly sent into a half-dazed state, as the enormous flood of information made it almost impossible for him to think.

  After six full hours, Ning finally regained his consciousness.

  Whoosh.

  Ning, still within that tattered-looking shrine, finally regained his freedom and mobility. The cocoon of azure light that had wrapped around him had completely vanished. Ning just stood there blankly, not moving at all.