Desolate Era

by RWX

  “I just received word of something.” Su Youji’s oval face was pink and lovely. Her eyes were very bright, and she extruded an aura of natural charm. Thus, she was quite a popular figure within the Badlands Court and made many friends. In contrast, Elder God Wilddog was always a cold, unfriendly figure. He didn’t make many friends.

  “Ninety-nine years from now, the Palace Opulentia will be hosting a Treasure Auction,” Su Youji said.

  “A treasure auction?” Ning’s eyes lit up.

  “There will be many treasures to buy, and whoever offers the most money will take the treasures home. Many treasures which normally are never available for sale will be on display.” Su Youji was quite excited. “I heard that these auctions are only hosted ten times per chaos cycle. Each time, almost all of the World-level experts of the entire Badlands Territory will gather around it.”

  “I heard that all sorts of treasure will be offered for sale, including Eternal weapons and some treasures that are even more marvelous than Eternal weapons.” Su Youji was incredibly excited. “Master, we have to go take a look.”

  Ning nodded slowly.

  He knew that in every single territory, including the Badlands Territory and the Vastheaven Territory, ten treasure auctions would be held during each chaos cycle! All sorts of valuable treasures would emerge for the many cultivators in that territory to bid on. These weren’t treasures that belonged to the Badlands Court or the Vastheaven Palace; rather, they were treasures delivered to this place by another mysterious organization.

  The organization would send a Daolord to host each auction. Ten times per chaos cycle, the Daolord would come here to the Badlands Court and host a treasure auction. The Palace Opulentia merely loaned out their own auction grounds for this mysterious organization to use.

  Any treasures that were not purchased during the auction would all be taken away at the end.

  “This mysterious organization is spread throughout almost every single territory,” Ning mused to himself. “Every single territory has these auctions. Mm. I absolutely cannot miss this one. If I do, it’ll be countless years before the next one.”

  “It seems I’ll need to hurry up and sell off the treasures I acquired in the Windswept Ruins. I need to prepare some money for the upcoming treasure auction.” Ning’s eyes were filled with eagerness.

  * * *

  Book 25, Chapter 14 - The Gathering

  This was a blazing hot planet. The surface of this planet was filled with lakes of lava and magma.

  Whoooosh. One particular lake of lava could be seen bubbling and hissing as a gigantic head could be seen slowly bobbing up and down at the banks.

  Suddenly…

  The giant sleeping creature opened his crimson eyes.

  “Oh? Treasure auction?”

  Whoosh.

  This enormous creature that had been lying within the flows of lava suddenly transformed into a streak of light, flying over to the nearby shores and transforming into a handsome, barefoot man. A set of fiery red robes appeared over his body as well.

  “The treasure auction for the Badlands Territory will begin ninety-two years from now?” A simian red light could be seen flickering in the man’s eyes. “Not too far away. Hmph. I’ve wandered through quite a few Daolord ruins over the past ten chaos cycles, and I finally managed to find an Eternal weapon for myself! If I sell both it and the other Eternal weapon I acquired all those years ago, I might be able to purchase a ‘Pseudo Samsara’ pill.”

  “A Pseudo Samsara pill!”

  “I have to get it, no matter the cost!” The handsome man gritted his teeth, then transformed into a streak of fiery light and disappeared into the heavens.

  ……

  “A treasure auction? It’ll be in the Waveshift City of the Badlands Everworld? Eighty-six years from now?” A beautiful woman dressed in elaborated white robes was seated atop a towering throne. She smiled as she spoke in a soft voice.

  “Sect Mistress, you’ve been in secluded meditation this entire time and so I didn’t dare to disturb you. If you didn’t emerge by the final year, I would’ve been forced to disrupt your session. Thankfully, that wasn’t necessary.” A woman dressed in a beautiful violet robed laughed.

  “I finally managed to store up three thousand cubes of chaos nectar. Hopefully, this time I’ll be able to buy the treasures I need.” The white-robed woman mused softly, “I’ll be comparable to supreme World Gods if I succeed.”

  ……

  “A treasure auction?”

  “Let’s go check it out and see if there’s anything we can afford that would be of use to us.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Three World-level experts who had entered seclusion together within a chaosworld had decided to make haste to the Badlands Everworld.

  …….

  After the Badlands Court released the news of the auction, the word quickly spread throughout the entire Badland Territory. As for the major organizations who were headquartered in Waveshift City, they naturally became the first to find out.

  A short while later, this information also spread out to some of the nearby territories.

  The reason why it had been announced ninety-nine years in advance was to give everyone enough time to receive word of this auction, then travel to the Badlands Everworld. Some had actually come all the way from neighboring territories.

  The ancient city of Waveshift was growing more and more lively by the day.

  New, unfamiliar World Gods and Chaos Immortals began to gather here. Some of them belonged to the Badlands Territory. However, the more famous World-level experts in the Badlands Territory were figures who had lost their courage and determination, choosing to live peaceful lives of luxury. Most of the figures who were still dedicated to their Dao and improving themselves spent all of their time adventuring through the primordial chaos, resulting in very few Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals knowing about them.

  But of course, some of the unfamiliar cultivators had come here from the neighboring territories.

  “Master, when nightfall comes, the treasure auction shall begin.” The skinny, grim-looking Elder God Wilddog was following behind Ning.

  “What a beautiful sight.” The nearby Flamefairy let out an amazed sigh.

  “Yes.” Ning nodded slowly.

  The skies had already begun to darken. This everworld had been created by an ancient power, but it also had cycles of day and night.

  The distant Palace Opulentia was a dazzling, eye-catching sight. Streams of light swirled around him, and it was the most dazzling, beautiful building located within the entire Waveshift City. Many World Gods and Chaos Immortals were currently in the process of entering the palace.

  “It’s usually quite rare for us to encounter a World God or Chaos Immortal, but we are swarming with them today.” Ning sighed in amazement.

  “Of course we are. More than half of the World-level experts of the entire Badlands Territory have arrived, as well as some from other nearby territories.” Su Youji was extremely excited.

  “Let’s go. We should go inside as well.” As Ning spoke, he led Su Youji and Elder God Wilddog into the Palace Opulentia.

  The Palace Opulentia was extremely noisy today, and it had a World God and Chaos Immortal standing guard outside of it.

  “Please enter, fellow Daoist.”

  “Please enter, fellow Daoist.”

  The two disciples of the Badlands Court smiled as they welcomed the guests.

  As for the World Gods and Chaos Immortals who had come to take part in the treasure auction, they were all courteous as they responded to the greetings. This was the territory of the Badlands Court, after all, and Daolord Badlands’ reputation in this territory and the neighboring territories was quite stunning.

  “Anyone below the World level, come this way.” A female attendant was leading the way for the weaker cultivators.

  “Master, there are so many World-level powers here!” A True Immortal was following behind an Elder G
od in terror. This Elder God was quite famous in their homeland, but he was currently walking forward nervously for fear of accidentally offending someone. “Just follow me.” The Elder God was behaving quite obediently and he followed the female attendant into the side door.

  “This treasure auction will be an extraordinary one. All of the treasures up for sale are quite extraordinary, but space is limited. Anyone below the World level has to prove that he has at least ten cubes of chaos nectar before being granted entry. I hope you can understand, fellow Daoist.” Beyond the side door were two female attendants, and one of them spoke out courteously to the Elder God.

  “Naturally, naturally.”

  “Wonderful. This way, fellow Daoist.”

  The Palace Opulentia kept things in perfect order.

  World-level experts were allowed to enter the bidding grounds, but Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had to be tested. Otherwise, the spectators would end up squeezing out all of the actual bidders!

  The white-robed Ji Ning led the fiery and dazzling Su Youji as well as the grim, icy-cold Elder God Wilddog towards the palace as well.

  “Anyone below the World level, come this way.” A female attendant came to greet them.

  One of the two disciples of the Badlands Court stationed outside the palace noticed this sight. The Chaos Immortal immediately walked over and barked, “Step back!”

  The female attendant was badly shocked. She was nothing more than a hired employee, not a real disciple of the Badlands Court.

  “Brother Darknorth, why didn’t you come alongside the rest of my fellow disciples?” The Chaos Immortal laughed. This was Immortal Sevencolor, who was one of the disciples of the Badlands Court who was on the most friendly terms with Ning.

  “I wanted to check the place out so I came out for a stroll There really are a lot of World-level experts today,” Ning said with a smile.

  “Yes there are. You normally would never see this many of them in one place. Only the treasure auction can possibly attract so many World-level figures from all the nearby territories. In fact, even Daolords have come.” Immortal Sevencolor lowered his voice conspiratorially when he said this.

  “Oh?” Ning was surprised. Daolords?

  “Darknorth, you can go straight to the third floor. That’s the place we’ve reserved for ourselves. No need to waste your time in the main hall downstairs,” Immortal Sevencolor said.

  “Alright.” Ning nodded. “You can go back now. I know you are very busy today!”

  “Haha.” Immortal Sevencolor chuckled, then hurriedly returned to the palace entrance. As for Ning, he led Su Youji and Elder God Wilddog into the Palace Opulentia through the main gates. This caused some of the nearby Chaos Immortals and World Gods to stare at him in a somewhat puzzled manner.

  “Darknorth.”

  “This way, brother Darknorth.”

  There were some disciples of the Badlands Court maintaining order inside the palace as well. When they saw Ning, they immediately came to greet him.

  “You can go straight to the third floor, brother Darknorth.” Ning was guided straight to the third floor which had many private rooms within it. This was where the disciples of the Badlands Court were going to stay, and Ning was given a room of his own.

  Ning, Su Youji, and Elder God Wilddog entered their room. They were able to see through an enormous window to the great hall below them.

  The hall below them was filled with many seats that were occupied by World Gods and Chaos Immortals, with the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals seated to the rear. There were quite a few rooms available on the second floor, but one had to spend ten cubes of chaos nectar in order to claim one. Ten cubes of chaos nectar was enough to purchase a Dao weapon. This was flat out extortion! Thus, 99% of World Gods and Chaos Immortals elected to sit in the great hall below.

  A tiny fraction who truly did not wish to reveal themselves chose to sit on the second floor.

  The top floor of the hall was quite spacious. A white-robed women was seated in the lotus position, and a stick of incense had been placed next to her. The scent of the incense swirled around her, emanating a sense of utter peacefulness.

  “Thousand Shadows.” Two figures walked in from outside. It was the azure-robed Daolord Badlands and his beautiful wife.

  “Badlands. Little sister Yan’er.” The white-robed woman nodded slowly.

  “Dracogod came as well,” Daolord Badlands said.

  “Dracogod?” The seated woman frowned slightly when she heard the name, a slightly disgusted look on her face.

  At this moment, a man of noble demeanor dressed in golden robes walked in. He looked very poised and had a few scales on his forehead. This was Daolord Dracogod. When he saw the white-robed woman, he smiled. “Fairy Thousand Shadows! I didn’t expect you to be the one in charge of escorting the treasures this time. If I knew, I would’ve come to help out instead of letting you go to all this trouble.”

  “I wouldn’t dare to ask you to help,” the white-robed woman said calmly.

  Daolord Dracogod chuckled, but a hint of ice could be seen in his smile.

  Daolord Badlands and his wife exchanged a glance. There was nothing they could do. Due to a ‘dragonification fruit’, a feud had sprung up between Daolord Dracogod and Daolord Thousand Shadows. Most likely, if they were meeting anywhere else, they would already be trying to kill each other.

  * * *

  Book 25, Chapter 15 - The Treasure Auction Begins

  “Fellow Daoists.” A loud laugh rang out as an azure-robed man with deer antlers on his head walked in.

  “Brother Daoist Azuresky! I didn’t expect you to join this treasure auction.” Daolord Dracogod was the first to respond in a very warm fashion.

  “Old brother Azuresky.” Daolord Badlands and his wife greeted him as well.

  “Mm.” The antlered man smiled and nodded at Daolord Badlands and his wife, then glanced at Daolord Dracogod. Finally, he turned his gaze towards the white-robed woman. He smiled. “Thousand Shadows, I heard that you were the one responsible for escorting the treasures this time. My Azuresky Territory is pretty close to this place, so I came to come visit my old friends.”

  “It has indeed been quite some time.” The white-robed female Daolord nodded slowly, a hint of a smile on her face.

  This was the most powerful figure of the surrounding territories, Azuresky. Azuresky was another major power who was at the Verge of the Daomerge, but his Azuresky Sect didn’t have any powerful Daolords that could help assume the mantle of leadership. Given that he still had plenty of time left, Daolord Azuresky spent most of his time slowly accumulating more power and experience, planning on attempting the Daomerge sometime in the future.

  Whoosh. A gust of wind blew past, materializing into a figure.

  “Little sister Thousand Shadows.” A short old man dressed in short sleeves beamed merrily and called out at her.

  “Big brother Waterwind.” The white-robed woman had acted in quite an aloof manner thus far, but she now hurriedly rose to her feet and walked over towards that short old man and grabbed his hand. “Big brother Waterwind, it’s almost impossible for me to find you. The only reason I accepted this mission to the Badlands Territory was because I thought I might be able to see you. And now, I really have!”

  “Ahaha, your big brother just loves to go wandering around the world,” Waterwind laughed.

  “Long time no see, Waterwind.” Daolord Badlands smiled as well.

  “Badlands.” Waterwind nodded.

  The Badlands Territory actually held four Daolords. However, most of them rarely showed their faces, and so most Elder Gods, Ancestral Immortals, and World-level figures only knew of Daolord Badlands. They didn’t know any of the others.

  The four Daolords of the Badlands Territory were Daolord Badlands, his wife, Daolord Waterwind, and Daolord Cavefloat. Daolord Cavefloat was somewhat weak, while Waterwind was extremely lazy. Waterwind had no interest in setting up his own sect whatsoever, preferring to wan
der the primordial chaos by himself. In terms of strength, however, he was a formidable figure who was absolutely on par with Daolord Badlands himself.

  Of the five Daolords on the top level, the strongest was Daolord Azuresky. Daolord Badlands and Daolord Waterwind were ranked second, while Daolord Thousand Shadows and Daolord Dracogod were even weaker. As for Daolord Badlands’ wife, she was the weakest one of them all.

  Generally speaking, not many Daolords would be drawn to any given treasure auction; it was normal for four or five to attend at most. This was because these treasure auctions were mainly meant to let World-level experts have a chance to buy some fairly rare items. However, each treasure auction would also hold a few items that would make even Daolords feel envious, which was why they would often come and see if there was anything they fancied.

  “Brother Daoist Azuresky.” Daolord Dracogod behaved in an extremely friendly manner, repeatedly referring to Azuresky as as ‘brother Daoist’. This caused Waterwind to purse his lips in disdain.

  If Waterwind was a solitary man who wandered as he pleased, Dracogod was the exact opposite. He curried favor with everyone around him and enjoyed making friends with the most powerful Daolords he could find! Daolord Solesky and Daolord Azuresky both were at the Verge of the Daomerge and were extremely frightening figures of tremendous power.

  If they failed their Daomerge, it was guaranteed that they would eventually perish. However, if they went berserk before they died, they would prove to be a terrifying foe for anyone to encounter. Who would dare antagonize someone who knew that death was coming no matter what? Not even ancient powers who had succeeded in their Daomerge and gained eternity would be willing to antagonize Daolords who had failed in their Daomerge.

  Daolord Dracogod delighted in befriending the top-tier Daolords, doing everything in his power to curry favor with them. And as a result, he really did end up making quite a few friends. Generally speaking, no matter where he went, the other Daolords would give him some face. However, many solitary wanderers like Daolord Waterwind would feel very disdainful towards him.