Desolate Era

by RWX

  However, he now comprehended the majority of the ‘Killsword stance’. The parts he had yet to comprehend were the hardest parts…but of course, the power of Ning’s sword-arts had increased significantly as well.

  “It’s rare to encounter someone on Fogstone who understands the Dao of the Sword. You can come seek me out whenever you wish,” World God Blackmist said with a smile.

  “Understood.” Ning was overjoyed.

  Although Blackmist had said ‘whenever you wish’, Ning wouldn’t be so foolish as to actually seek him out all the time. When training in the sword, one had to have both insights and actual combat experience! Only when he had enough insights would he seek Blackmist out for another duel.

  “Based on how quickly I’m improving…I should be able to master the second stance in about ten thousand years.” Ning mused to himself, “If I use the Heavengazer Tower, it should only take me a few centuries.”

  If it wasn’t for World God Blackmist, Ning would probably need a hundred times as much time in order to succeed. In fact, it was entirely possible that Ning would encounter a bottleneck that would stymie him, no matter how hard he tried to breach it. With a capable teacher providing guidance, he would be able to easily make his way past those bottlenecks. A good teacher could make a tremendous difference.

  “Darknorth.” The Starlord of Fogstone spoke out as Immortal Abyssus and World God Blackmist both looked towards Ning.

  “Starlord.” Ning looked at him respectfully.

  “You are quite strong indeed. Fogstone has a total of five generals. As of today, you are now the sixth.” The Starlord smiled.

  Ning was slightly startled. ‘General’ was an important rank; not only did one have to be powerful, one generally also needed to have rendered accomplishments for the organization.

  “Understood,” Ning hurriedly said.

  “Since you are a general, we won’t place too many restrictions on you,” the Starlord said with a smile. “If my guess is correct, you probably haven’t been training for too long.”

  “Right,” Ning said.

  “Mm. Since you’ve only trained for a short period of time, I imagine you are definitely working hard to try and break through to the World-level.” The Starlord continued, “That means in the future, you’ll go out adventuring. This is the lifeblood oath I need you to make in order to join the Fogstone Army. It is a fairly loose one.” As he spoke, he waved his hand, causing a scroll to fly down towards Ning.

  Ning accepted the scroll. Anyone who wished to join an organization would have to swear a lifeblood oath. However, if one merely joined as a ‘guest retainer’, the terms of the lifeblood oath would generally be much looser.

  Ning glanced through the scroll. Indeed, this lifeblood oath was a fairly relaxed one. It placed almost negligible constraints on Ning, only requiring him to be loyal to Fogstone.

  “Starlord,” Ning said respectfully. “Can we make a slight alteration to this oath?”

  “Alteration?” The Starlord frowned. This oath was already an extremely loose one. “What part needs altering?”

  “In the future, my journeys will most likely take me beyond the Badlands Territory,” Ning said respectfully.

  “Leave the Badlands?” The three World-level experts were all puzzled.

  The Badlands Territory was a vast place with many World-level experts. A territory of this size was more than large enough for an Elder God or Ancestral Immortal to adventure through.

  “I don’t have a choice. I’m bound by another lifeblood oath. In the future, I’ll definitely have to leave the Badlands Territory and seek out a place known as Vastheaven Palace.” Ning immediately asked, “Might I ask the three of you, seniors, if you know where Vastheaven Palace is?”

  There was no need for him to hide the fact that he had to seek out Vastheaven Palace.

  These three World-level figures were all much more experienced than him. Perhaps they might know where Vastheaven Palace lay.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 12 - Sentinel

  World God Blackmist, Chaos Immortal Abyssus, and the Starlord of Fogstone were all slightly startled.

  “Vastheaven Palace?” The Starlord glanced towards the other two, puzzled. “I haven’t gone to many places, just the Badlands Territory, the Cicada Territory, and three other territories. You two have been to many more places.”

  “I’ve never heard of it either.” World God Blackmist shook his head. “Abyssus, you’ve journeyed through the primordial chaos for quite some time. Have you heard of Vastheaven Palace?”

  Chaos Immortal Abyssus glanced downwards dubiously. “Elder God Darknorth, what is this Vastheaven Palace? Is it a region, the name of a palace, or an organization?”

  “An organization. It should be quite a powerful one,” Ning said.

  “Haven’t heard of it.”

  Abyssus was rather puzzled. “I’ve spent countless years traveling in the territories surrounding the Badlands as well as quite a few distant territories. I’ve been to many places and collected many star maps, but I’ve never heard of an organization known as Vastheaven Palace!”

  “The other World-level members of Fogstone have been to far fewer places than Abyssus has. If not even Abyssus has heard of this place, it must be located extremely far away or in a very remote area. In fact, it could’ve been wiped out many chaos cycles ago,” the Starlord said.

  A chill entered Ning’s heart.

  World God Northrest, what did you do? You ran around in such a crazy manner that even a sword like Violetjewel was nearly destroyed, ending up in a place you didn’t recognize.

  This was going to be even harder than he thought!

  World God Northrest had never heard of the Badlands Territory, while the Starlord of Fogstone, World God Blackmist, and Immortal Abyssus had never heard of Vastheaven Palace! It must be understood that Vastheaven Palace controlled the entire Vastheaven Territory, which meant that it should be a fairly famous organization. And yet, even someone like Immortal Abyssus who had journeyed through many territories had never heard of the place. From this, one could imagine just how far the Badlands Territory was from the Vastheaven Territory.

  “Will I be able to find it within a single chaos cycle?” Ning began to worry.

  “I’ll help you ask the other World-level experts about Vastheaven Palace. I’ll also ask my friends if any of them have heard of it,” the Starlord said.

  “Thank you, Starlord.” Ning nodded.

  The Starlord gazed downwards at Ning, then shook his head and laughed. “That’s all I can really do. However…if not even Immortal Abyssus has heard of the place, it’s unlikely that any of my friends would have heard of it. Mm, right. Yes, we can make a slight alteration to the lifeblood oath you need to swear in order to join the Fogstone Army.” As he spoke, he pointed at the scroll. A twinkling little sparkle of star light instantly descended, covering the scroll in Ning’s hands and changing its contents.

  “What do you think?” The Starlord asked.

  Ning lowered his head to look at it. There were now even fewer restrictions than before, and once he became a World God there would be virtually no restrictions on him whatsoever.

  “If you are willing to accept this, you can swear the lifeblood oath now,” the Starlord said.

  “Yes,” Ning said respectfully, scroll in hand. This scroll effectively acted as an oathstone on its own.

  “I swear on my very life itself…”

  From this day forth, Ning was now a formal member of Fogstone. Even if trillions of years passed and he became far more powerful than he was now, he would still be a member of Fogstone.

  Within the hall.

  After Ning swore the lifeblood oath, the gazes of the Starlord, World God Blackmist, and Immortal Abyssus all turned warmer as they looked at him. They were now on the same boat, after all.

  “Per our usual rules, you should be bestowed with some treasures and techniques now that you have joined the Fogstone Army,” the Starl
ord said. “In a short while, I’ll arrange for Fushe lead you to the treasury and get your things.”

  “Alright,” Ning said.

  “However, be aware that Fogstone has many cultivators; we can’t just give you all of our treasures,” the Starlord said. “Thus, if you wish to acquire more than just the base package, you’ll have to render merits to the organization. Would you prefer to remain here on Fogstone, or would you prefer to venture outside and do battle on our behalf?”

  “I’m willing to go out and do battle,” Ning said respectfully.

  The Starlord smiled and nodded.

  “Starlord,” Ning immediately said, “I’d like to ask you a question. How many people in the Badlands Territory know the ‘Blacklotus Guard’ technique, are Heartforce Cultivators, and are at least at the supreme Elder God level of power?”

  “The ‘Blacklotus Guard’ is one of the consummate techniques of God Emperor Blacklotus. He will never teach it to an outsider, much like how we won’t teach outsiders our truly supreme skills either. Only the less important techniques will be transmitted to others.” The Starlord of Fogstone chuckled. “A Heartforce Cultivator who knows the ‘Blacklotus Guard’ and is at least a supreme Elder God…the only one who fulfills all of these requirements is one of his Nine Divine Generals, the Mindlord.”

  “Does the Mindlord have a Primaltwin?” Ning asked.

  “He did.” The Starlord nodded. “Based on what I know, the Mindlord’s Primaltwin headed off to the Earthdrake area roughly a chaos cycle and ended up dying there.”

  Ning was startled. The Earthdrake area? Wasn’t that the area he was from? Died a chaos cycle ago? Wasn’t Old Man Yuan possessed during the Primordial Era? There couldn’t be that many coincidences.

  “So it really is the Mindlord.” A flicker of a killing intent appeared in Ning’s eyes. It made sense. He had the feeling that Godfiend Witherspike was telling the truth. As an extremely powerful cultivator who was skilled in heartforce, he was generally able to tell when others were lying to him or not. Perhaps true Heartforce Cultivators like Old Man Yuan would be able to deceive him, but people like Witherspike didn’t have skills in this area.

  “You have a feud with the Mindlord?” The Starlord of Fogstone asked.

  “I do,” Ning said respectfully.

  “Oh…” The Starlord pondered a moment, then said, “How about this? Of the chaosworlds under my command, the Windsource Chaosworld lies closest to God Emperor Blacklotus’ domain. Combat occurs quite often there, which is why we have more than three hundred Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals stationed there permanently. You can go to the Windsource Chaosworld.”

  “We already have a leader for our forces there,” World God Blackmist said.

  The Starlord waved his hand, manifesting an insignia that glimmered with starlight. He tossed the insignia to Ning, who hurriedly reached out to catch it. The insignia had the word ‘Sentinel’ on it.

  “This is the Sentinel insignia,” the Starlord said. “From this day forth, you are my designated Sentinel. When you reach the Windsource Chaosworld, you will be my representative. All the cultivators of the Windsource Chaosworld will obey your commands.”

  “Yes,” Ning said respectfully.

  “Also, I’ll send the word and make sure that the news of your arrival is kept quiet,” the Starlord said. “You’ve just joined us a short while ago; very few people know of your presence. I imagine that God Emperor Blacklotus and his forces don’t even know about you yet. Their ignorance of your allegiance to us will make it easier for you to strike out against them and take revenge. The Nine Divine Generals of God Emperor Blacklotus often travel to the Windsource Chaosworld. You’ll definitely find a chance to fight the Mindlord.”

  “Thank you, Starlord.” Ning was overjoyed. This was a perfect arrangement. To be the Starlord’s Sentinel was quite a lofty position.

  “Be careful.” World God Blackmist instructed, “The armies of God Emperor Blacklotus aren’t so easily dealt with.”

  “Yes.” Ning was still filled with eagerness.

  Sword-arts were meant for battle. Only in battle would his sword-arts be tempered and improved! Ning’s [Nameless] sword-art in particular needed both time and actual combat experience.

  “Fushe, go ahead and lead Darknorth to the treasury. After he has his items, he can immediately head off towards the Windsource Chaosworld,” the Starlord instructed.

  “Yes,” Island Master Fushe said respectfully.

  Ning and Fushe then departed the hall together.

  “What do you think?” The Starlord looked towards the other two.

  “An excellent choice.” Immortal Abyssus chuckled. “We’re lucky to have such a formidable expert in the Dao of the Sword join us. My guess is that this Darknorth holds an enormous grudge against the Mindlord, which is the reason why he decided to join Fogstone to begin with. Otherwise, given his sword-arts he could have easily joined any organization aside from the Badlands Court.”

  “That’s why I arranged for him to be in the Windsource Chaosworld,” the Starlord said.

  The border regions between two major organizations served as a meat grinder. Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals often died there. As far as both sides were concerned, the border regions were a good place for the cultivators of both sides to gain experience through life-and-death battles. Only then would they be able to grow more quickly.

  ……

  “Congratulations, brother Darknorth. You are now our sixth general.” Island Master Fushe flew alongside Ning as they left the Abyssus Palace. “When you go to the Windsource Chaosworld as the Starlord’s Sentinel, you’ll be the undisputed leader of our forces there. Being the leader of a chaosworld is quite an excellent position. All of the cultivators in the Windsource Chaosworld will try to curry favor with you.”

  “Curry favor with me?” Ning was puzzled.

  “Of course. You will be guarding the place as the Starlord’s representative. You can easily cause problems for any of them. They wouldn’t dare to NOT curry favor with you.” Fushe laughed. “Look, the Starlord’s estate is over there.”

  Ning turned to look, only to see an enormous, city-sized estate appear in the distance. The estate was surrounded by countless sparks of star light, as though it was the very center of the entire planet of Fogstone.

  “Ordinary Elder God soldiers might exhaust themselves for an entire chaos cycle without being able to acquire the treasures and techniques you are about to get.” Fushe had a look of envy on his face as he led Ning into the Starlord’s estate.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 13 - Statues

  The Starlord’s estate was tens of thousands of kilometers in size. It was filled with countless edifices and emanated an aura of supreme power.

  “What are…?” Upon entering the estate, Ji Ning immediately stared off into the distance in amazement.

  As soon as he had entered, the first things he saw were those grayish-white statues, all shaped like humanoids. There was a statue of a dominating man whose hair was flying about, a statue of an icy, beautiful woman, a statue of a crazy old man who was roaring with laughter, a statue of a youth who was filled with a murderous aura…

  Every single statue seemed to be almost alive. However, they were clearly just lifeless stone sculptures.

  “What are those?” Ning was puzzled.

  “Those are all World-level experts.” Upon seeing those distant statues, a complicated look entered Fushe’s eyes. He said softly, “Deceased World-level experts.”

  “Deceased?” Ning instantly understood. “So when World-level experts of Fogstone die, they are memorialized here in the form of stone sculptures?”

  Island Master Fushe slowly shook his head. “These are their corpses!”

  “Corpses?” Ning was stunned. He turned his head to stare at the statues once more. There were dozens of them, and all of them were completely lifeless. They had no aura of life, divine power, or Immortal energy. It must be understood that
even the corpse of an ordinary Fiendgod would radiate an aura of divine power. If a Chaos Immortal was to die, his corpse would continue to emanate an aura of extraordinary power.

  But these stone statues…Ning couldn’t see anything special about them at all.

  “These are all the World Gods of Fogstone who have died since time immemorial,” Fushe said softly. “They all used the [Fogstone Apocalypse] divine ability to fight against their foes, then perished in battle.”

  “[Fogstone Apocalypse]?” Ning was puzzled.

  “Fogstone’s lineage is an ancient one, even more ancient than the lineage of the Badlands Court, the most powerful organization in the Badlands Territory. Although the Badlands Court is more powerful, Fogstone actually ranks as one of the three oldest lineages of the Badlands Territory and is far older than the Badlands Court. Actually, there are many organizations in the Badlands Territory which are older than the Badlands Court, but quite a few of them were wiped out. In the end, power is what matters. The Badlands Court was established by Daolord Badlands; it naturally is the ruler of the entire Badlands Territory.”

  Island Master Fushe continued, “The most powerful divine ability the Fogstone lineage possesses is the [Fogstone Apocalypse] technique. Only Fiendgod Body Refiners can train in it, and only World Gods can fully master it. This divine ability is never taught to outsiders.”

  Although Ning had purchased a star map and learned a bit of information about the region, the star map had included very little information about the truly peerless techniques which existed here.

  “When you use this divine ability, your body will slowly transform into fogstone. If you completely master it and use it, your entire body will become transformed into fogstone.” Fushe shook his head. “During the petrification process, you will become terrifyingly powerful…but there’s always a catch. If you run out of divine power after you complete the transformation process, you will transform into a fogstone statue and perish.”