Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Let’s take it slow,” Ning sent mentally.

  He was the vanguard and Su Youji was the rearguard.

  The two began to move even more slowly than before. Thanks to the mist which permeated this region, Ning was only able to see to a distance of a few hundred kilometers. As he slowly drew closer and closer to the destination, he could sense a terrifyingly powerful aura suddenly sweep towards them from afar. Both Ning and Su Youji blanched at the power of this aura.

  “Where are we?” Suddenly, Ning saw something up ahead.

  A few hundred kilometers up ahead, there was a single giant monolith that was roughly three hundred meters tall and surrounded by mist.

  “The Grove of Monoliths?” Su Youji’s face tightened. “Master, this seems to be the Grove of Monoliths.”

  “Let’s move a bit closer and check it out,” Ning replied. His heart clenched as they slowly moved closer and closer to the monolith. Soon, they were roughly ten kilometers away from the first monolith and were able to see a second monolith of similar size and shape that had been embedded into the ground.

  This second monolith had a red-winged beast that lay coiled atop it which emanated an aura of tremendous savagery.

  Ning frowned. They continued to advance, keeping a careful distance from the creature. One monolith after another entered their field of vision, each of which was roughly three hundred meters tall. The monoliths had all been planted deeply into the ground, and many of them had terrifying bugbeasts that lay coiled on top of them. Other monoliths were surrounded by magic treasures and weapons which had auras of tremendous power. Most of them were Dao-level weapons or treasures.

  “Master…” Su Youji grew increasingly nervous. This was a terrifyingly dangerous part of the Fog Sea, the ‘Grove of Monoliths’.

  “Withdraw.” Ning finally gave the other.

  The two carefully, quietly, and rapidly retreated from this location, only coming to a halt after they entered a nearby copse of trees.

  “It actually went into hiding within the Grove of Monoliths.” Ning frowned.

  “This is all the fault of World God Foxblaze and Chaos Immortal Foxbold. They delayed us at a critical moment! Otherwise, we probably would’ve been able to catch up to that heavily injured bugbeast.” The Flamefairy couldn’t help but feel quite upset by this. She knew exactly how much her master needed that sword-ki painting, and it now seemed evident that the painting would be unobtainable.

  Ning wasn’t in a very good mood right now.

  He had felt rather exuberant after slaying World God Foxblaze and Chaos Immortal Foxbold, as this was the first time he had personally slain a World-level expert, and two of them at that! However, Ning now felt rather resentful at all this.

  “They ruined everything!” Ning gritted his teeth.

  “What should I do? What should my next plan of action be?” Ning began to ponder.

  The Ten Thousand Mountains was the outer region of this world.

  The Fog Sea was part of the inner region.

  The Fog Sea had many dangerous areas within it, and the Grove of Monoliths was definitely ranked as one of the deadliest locations. Based on the experiences of the many cultivators who had adventured into it, this was a region that took up roughly ten thousand kilometers of space, and within this region there were many enormous monoliths that had been inserted into the ground.

  For some unknown reason, bugbeasts were highly attracted to these monoliths. Thus, bugbeasts would often rest within the Grove of Monoliths, with dozens of them nesting in this region at any given time. All of these bugbeasts were World-level creatures. Bugbeasts were fairly unintelligent and did not understand the mysteries of the Dao. They had to rely on their physical strength and their innate gifts to fight, and so most of them only had the power of ordinary World Gods! A minority were comparable to elite World Gods and a tiny number of them were comparable to master-class World Gods.

  Alas, they did have one advantage: they existed in overwhelmingly large numbers. The Grove of Monoliths often had around a hundred World-level bugbeasts within it at any given moment in time. There were simply too many of them! If any cultivator dared to trespass within the Grove, that cultivator would immediately suffer the attacks of every single bugbeast there! As more time passed, bugbeasts from other areas would also hurry to the Grove to reinforce their fellows, causing the situation to grow increasingly dangerous!

  The Grove of Monoliths was definitely a place of incredible danger. Only supreme World Gods would be able to survive in that place, but if they were unlucky enough to encounter particularly powerful bugbeasts they might still perish!

  “The Grove of Monoliths is too dangerous.” Su Youji looked at Ning. “Master, according the information we acquired regarding the Allgod Estate, only supreme World Gods have a chance of surviving a trip into the Grove of Monoliths. If we go in there, we’d probably be doomed.”

  “Mm.” Ning nodded. “It’s true. We have no hope of surviving that place. I knew that damned bugbeast would pick a troublesome place to hide.” Ning continued to ponder on this matter but could find no solutions.

  The place was simply too dangerous.

  All bugbeasts had a fetish for collecting magic treasures. Although they couldn’t use them, they viewed those items as their spoils of combat. Thus, the hundred-plus bugbeasts in the Grove of Monoliths had a correspondingly enormous hoard of magic treasures of inestimable value.

  Alas, no one dared to go and try to take the treasure from them. Even supreme World Gods only stood a fairly small chance of surviving that place. Who would dare to risk their lives in such a rash way?

  “It seems I’ll have to wait for my own breakthrough to the World level. Perhaps then I’ll have a chance,” Ning mused. He was already comparable to a master-class World God; after he actually broke through to the World level, he would definitely become much more powerful than before.

  As for exactly how much more powerful he could become, even Ning himself wasn’t sure. This was because the main reason he was so powerful was because of the azureflower region inside of him. It was currently of tremendous help to him, but would it continue to be effective after he reached the World level? There was no way for Ning to find out in advance.

  “Let’s leave,” Ning said.

  “Leave?” Su Youji looked at Ning.

  “Yes. We have no choice but to give up for now!” Ning turned his head to give the distant Grove of Monoliths a final look. “The Grove of Monoliths isn’t a place which I can challenge. Not now, at least. Let’s go explore some other areas. Perhaps, after a period of time passes, that bugbeast will voluntarily depart from the Grove.”

  Voluntarily leave the Grove? Even Ning himself knew that he was just daydreaming. The graymist creature had nearly lost its life. It probably would stay hidden within the Grove for a long period of time before leaving. It wouldn’t be surprising if it stayed there for at least a million years!

  “Right, right. Maybe it’ll come out later,” Su Youji said supportively.

  Time flowed on.

  In the blink of an eye, more than five months had passed since the two had slain Foxblaze and Foxbold.

  Within the core region of the Allgod Estate, the Castrum Divinitus itself.

  Whoooooooosh.

  The towering estate was an utterly dazzling sight to behold, emanating an aura of light that seemingly stretched off into infinity. Although the Allgod Estate took up nearly half of this entire chaosworld, the Castrum Divinitus itself was so high that it could be seen from the very ends of the world.

  This was an utterly enormous castle that spanned trillions of kilometers! This was a place which spelled doom for even Samsara Daolords! A place none dared to enter rashly!

  “We’re just one step away. Just one step.”

  In front of the towering castle was an enormous plaza, and before the plaza were a flight of stairs. However, there were 108,000 steps to this flight of stairs.

  Two squads of cultivators were adv
ancing up the stairs. One squad had four World-level experts and was led by a small, skinny, blood-robed youth. This skinny youth had blood-red eyebrows, and his eyes seemed like a deep, bottomless sea of blood. Anyone who looked at him would be seized by uncontrollable fear.

  The blood-robed youth walked at the head of his squad, and behind him were three World Gods with auras of tremendous power. These three World Gods all treated the youth with tremendous respect.

  “Fukai! Ahahaha. You brought ten World-level servants in, but only two of them remain.” The blood-robed youth let out an ear-piercing laugh. “I think you should just surrender and commit suicide.”

  “Surrender? To you?” The leader of the other squad was a golden-robed youth, and behind him were two World-level experts of tremendous power.

  The golden-robed youth laughed coldly as he cast the other youth a sidelong glance. “Arroyo, you brought in ten as well but you only have three left. You aren’t that much better off.”

  “I still have one more than you. One more servant means my chances are better,” the blood-robed youth snickered. His bloodsea eyes were overflowing with a desire to kill, and he didn’t disguise his intent at all as he glared at the golden-robed youth.

  These two squads advanced simultaneously up the stairs, neither squad pausing to rest.

  Soon, they finished the 108,000 steps and reached the very top of the stairs, arriving at the great plaza.

  Both squads raised their heads to stare at the enormous castle before them, a castle so great that they could barely see the top of it clearly.

  * * *

  Book 25, Chapter 32 - Bringing Disaster Unto Others

  The towering castle was utterly, endlessly enormous.

  The two squads held a total of seven World-level experts, and they were like ants crawling atop the surface of that utterly enormous plaza. The leaders of the two squads, that blood-robed youth and that gold-robed youth, both raised their heads to stare at the titanic gates to the towering castle.

  The front gates to the Castrum Divinitus was just as vast and towering as the castle itself.

  Even though they were World Gods, they could just barely make out the outlines of the great castle. The edges to the castle were so far away that they appeared quite blurry to these World Gods. This was a testament to how truly vast this castle was.

  “Daolord Allgod truly was a cultivator who was comparable to Eternal Emperors.” A blazing look was in the eyes of the blood-robed youth. “Sooner or later, I’ll become just as powerful as Daolord Allgod was. My name will spread throughout the Endless Territories, just as his did. Countless cultivators will tremble in fear when they hear my name. Ahahaha…”

  “Are you still daydreaming? Time to wake up.” The golden-robed youth in the other squad smirked.

  “Hmph. You’ll be nothing more than a stepping stone to me.” The blood-robed youth glanced sideways at the golden-robed youth.

  “Based on what I can sense from the workings of fate… you’ll die here while I will survive.” The golden-robed youth’s voice held a strange cadence to it as he spoke.

  “You fool.” The blood-robed youth laughed coldly.

  As they were chatting with each other, drops of liquid suddenly began to manifest atop the vast plaza. The drops of liquid were covered in flames, and they slowly began to drawn together into a fiery figure. The flames began to die away, revealing the figure’s form. This was a bald, muscular man who had three eyes, the third eye in the middle of his forehead glowing with golden light.

  “The Goldeye Golem.” The golden-robed youth and the blood-robed youth blanched, hurriedly suppressing their auras and beginning to act in a much more humble manner.

  The Goldeye Golem was Daolord Allgod’s greatest creation and the most perfect manifestation of his Dao of Constructs.

  Daolord Allgod was an expert in both artificing and in golem-making. The Goldeye Golem was the most powerful golem he had ever created, and Daolord Allgod had infused it with certain restrictive spells that ensured that there was no way any other cultivators would ever be able to take control over it. In other words…the Goldeye Golem possessed freedom!

  It possessed tremendous power and was comparable to a Daolord who had reached the verge of the Daomerge! The Allgod Estate was under its control, as was the many formations and protective spells inside of it. Even Samsara Daolords who were themselves at the Verge would definitely die if they tried to force their way through the estate… and this Goldeye Golem was just one of the many defensive mechanisms which Daolord Allgod had left behind in this place.

  This was a golem that could not be bound. It would forever stay within the Allgod Estate, serving as its eternal guardian! This was the First Guardian and Commander of the Castrum Divinitus, the core of the Allgod Estate.

  “It has been a long, long time since a cultivator has come to the Castrum Divinitus.” The bald, three-eyed man stared coldly at the two squads. “You were able to overcome many dangers and make your way to the castle. Very well done.”

  The Allgod Estate was divided into three regions.

  The outer region was the Ten Thousand Mountains. The inner region was the Fog Sea. The core region was the Castrum Divinitus.

  Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals generally stayed in the Ten Thousand Mountains, as 90% of them would perish if they dared to enter the Fog Sea.

  World-level experts generally stayed in the Fog Sea. Although some of them would die, they still stood a decent chance of survival. However, if they dared to travel on to the Castrum Divinitus it was almost guaranteed that they would perish.

  As for Daolords?

  Daolords did not dare to enter this place at all.

  “There were originally twenty-two of you. For seven of you to survive and make it to this place means that you are fairly strong for World-level experts,” the three-eyed man evaluated.

  Generally speaking, only one out of ten World-level cultivators would be able to survive a journey to the Castrum Divinitus. Thus, people like Ning or World God Dragonbinder wouldn’t even think about trying to travel all the way to the core region. Such an attempt would be sheer suicide.

  “Tell me. What do you desire?” The bald three-eyed man asked.

  The gazes of the two squad leaders lit up. The blood-robed youth and the gold-robed youth had both risked their lives in order to acquire the same treasure!

  “The divine blood of the Eternal!”

  “The divine blood of the Eternal!”

  The two simultaneously said the exact same thing.

  “The divine blood of the Eternal?” The bald three-eyed man frowned. It was clearly just a golem, but it behaved just as an actual living being might. Previously, there was a look of kindness in his gaze. Now, his words and his bearing had turned markedly colder. “If you have come here for the divine blood of the Eternal, you should know exactly where that blood came from! My master spent endless years chasing after Eternal Emperor Melobo. After dealing him a grievious injury, my master was able to steal away a portion of his divine blood. After refining it down to its purest essence, Master was able to produce just a single drop of purified divine blood!”

  “That drop of Eternal blood is utterly priceless. It is one of the top ten treasures of the Allgod Estate!” The bald three-eyed man swept the seven cultivators with his gaze. “But since you have made it past all the dangerous obstacles in your way… per Master’s orders, you are qualified to be given one chance to acquire one of his legacy’s.”

  “However, the more valuable the legacy, the more difficult the trial.” The three-eyed man continued, “I urge you to give up and instead choose an Eternal weapon, a precious elixir, or even a hundred bugbeasts servants. Those trials are all much easier.”

  “I only wish for the Eternal blood,” the blood-robed youth said.

  “The only thing I desire is the Eternal blood,” the gold-robed youth agreed.

  “Oh?” The three-eyed man was rather irritated, but he couldn’t go against the or
ders which his master had set down.

  “Very well then.” The three-eyed man’s voice was now ice-cold, and it grated against the ears of the seven cultivators. “All seven of you desire the divine blood of the Eternal?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes”

  The other five World-level experts all spoke out as well.

  “You have made your request, and your request is for the Eternal blood of Melobo!” The three-eyed man nodded. “Very well then. You shall be given the most difficult trial…the Twin Samsara Heavens!”

  “Good.” The gold-robed youth and the blood-robed youth both had blazing, eager looks in their eyes.

  Anyone who reached the front gates of the Castrum Divinitus could make a request of the Goldeye Golem. Daolord Allgod was quite benevolent towards weaker cultivators. He slew any and all Daolords who attempted to enter his estate, but any World-level experts who made it to the front gates usually would not leave empty-handed!

  “You’ve already experienced many life-threatening dangers in your quest to reach this place. If you asked for any other treasures, even if you failed your trials you wouldn’t be at risk of losing your lives,” the three-eyed man said. “However, the trial of the Twin Samsara Heavens is the most difficult trial possible. Many of you will die, and it is possible that all seven of you will fail to acquire the Eternal blood. By then, it will be too late to feel regret.”

  “We won’t feel regret.”

  “No regrets.”

  The blood-robed youth and the gold-robed youth both spoke out in unison. In their hearts, they were actually beginning to curse at the golem.

  Cut the crap, alright? Hurry up and start!

  “Very well.” The three-eyed man nodded. “The trial of the Twin Samsara Heavens requires a total of ten World-level experts. Only seven of you are present. Therefore…I will teleport three additional World-level experts from various places throughout the Allgod Estate. They, too, shall take part in the Twin Samsara Heavens alongside the seven of you. They too shall have a chance to acquire the Eternal blood.