Desolate Era

by RWX

  “I’ll use it for myself.” Ning wasn’t going to waste his money like that.

  “This divine ability is quite powerful. It can make your body as tough as a top-grade Dao weapon. Abilities on this level are fairly rare. I’ll help you buy it, but it’ll take two hundred thousand cubes of chaos nectar.”

  Ning was secretly speechless. This was even more valuable than a Pseudo Samsara Pill!

  If it cost that much just for him to train in, then wouldn’t that mean a version he could transmit to others would cost several million cubes? No wonder that not even Vastheaven Palace had access to such a wonderful technique. Large clans and sects all had many expenses they had to pay. World God Northrest switched to training in the [Golden Idol] after acquiring it, but he had only gained access to the upper portion and the middle portion.

  “Generally speaking, only Samsara Daolords need to have bodies that are as tough as top-grade Dao weapons,” Daolord Badlands said. “Honestly, I don’t know why you are in such a rush to buy it. Still, you now are worth more than three million cubes of chaos nectar. Buying it won’t cause you much trouble.”

  Ning smiled. He might not be a Daolord, but he did have a body that was comparable to a Daolord’s body!

  “What else do you need?” Daolord Badlands asked.

  “I’ve heard of an Eternal treasure known as the Elementum Waterflame Gourd,” Ning said. “I wish to buy it.”

  “Right, right! That is indeed a good treasure. It is fairly cheap, but extremely useul for World-level experts.” Daolord Badlands immediately nodded. “This gourd will require roughly half a million cubes.”

  The Elementum Waterflame Gourd…

  It held both Firecloud Lightning as well as Watersmoke Lightning within it. Both were considered types of Dao-level lightning! These were two of the nine types of Dao lightning which Ning would need in order to train in the secret art of lightning known as [Novessence Thunder] technique. By buying this item, Ning would be able to use these two types of lightning for now as well as use them to train in the [Novessence Thunder] later. Two birds with one stone!

  Dao lightning was extremely expensive because capturing it was incredibly difficult. A single type of Dao lightning would generally be worth a minimum of two hundred thousand cubes of chaos nectar. Firecloud Lightning and Watersmoke Lightning were two fairly common types of Dao lightning. There were certain rare types of Dao lightning that simply couldn’t be found on the market at all. Even Daolord Allgod had only found nine types of lightning that were suitable for his usage!

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 15 - Violetjewels Background

  Ji Ning had long ago decided that he was going to train in the [Novessence Thunder] secret art. Alas, while he was in the Allgod Estate he didn’t even have access to nine types of chaos lightning, and so he was in no rush to start learning the technique just yet. After mastering nine types of chaos lightning, he would then test out mastering the nine types of Dao lightning with this technique.

  However, according to the secret art’s descriptions, only World-level cultivators could train in chaos lightning while only Samsara Daolords could train in Dao lightning. Thus, for now Ning simply purchased two of the relevant types of Dao lightning. In all honesty, he probably couldn’t afford purchasing all nine types; even Daolord Allgod was only able to get nine!

  “The lower portion of the [Golden Idol] and the Elementum Waterflame Gourd. That’s not even a million cubes.” Daolord Badlands looked at Ning. “Need any other treasures?”

  “The Mirrorsnow Paintings. I need the second and the fourth paintings. Would I be able to buy these two?” Ning asked.

  Daolord Badlands glanced at Ning, then chuckled. “It seems this trip to the Allgod Estate truly was a lucky one for you. The Mirrorsnow Paintings hold the legacy of Emperor Mirrorsnow within them. Although he had released a total of forty of these paintings into the Endless Territories, there’s simply far too many cultivators. How about this? I’ll ask the Dao Alliance and see if anyone is willing to sell those two paintings. However, I can’t guarantee they’ll be available.”

  “If we can get it, let’s give it a shot.” Ning didn’t try to force it.

  “Anything else?” Daolord Badlands asked.

  “Daolord, please take a look at this.” Ning drew Violetjewel from its sheath on his back. Given that the two were discussing a business deal worth three million cubes of chaos nectar, a single Eternal weapon truly didn’t mean much. Some Eternal weapons were worth as little as ten thousand cubes, while valuable ones were still generally worth just a few hundred thousand cubes. Eternal weapons worth over a million cubes were very rare.

  “This sword has been by my side for an extended period of time. Its previous owner was big brother Northrest, who named it ‘Violetjewel’.” Ning continued, “I wish to understand where it came from and want to see if I can get five more matching sets of this Eternal sword.”

  Just so. Since he had three million cubes of chaos nectar to use up, Ning wanted to ensure that he’d be able to wield six Eternal weapons in any future battles! This would allow his attack power to increase dramatically, and he’d feel confident in battling even an enemy Daolord.

  This was all because Ning’s [Nameless] sword-art was a technique that allowed for an airtight defense. If Ning used all six swords to focus on defense, then so long as the opponent wasn’t overwhelmingly more powerful Ning would still be able to survive.

  “Oh? Violetjewel?” Daolord Badlands accepted the sword, then gently stroked its blade. As he did so, Ning released his control over the sword-intent hidden within Violetjewel’s quintessence core, letting its savage, bloodthirsty aura surge outwards.

  “Just so. It truly is Violetjewel.” Daolord Badlands nodded.

  “It ‘truly is?’” Ning was puzzled.

  “This would be considered a middle-grade Eternal weapon.” Daolord Badlands laughed. “Once you become a Daolord of the First Step, you’ll be able to unleash the full power of this Eternal weapon. For now, it’ll be more than enough for you to wield while you remain within the World level.”

  Ning nodded. In truth, low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, and top-grade Eternal weapons were all the same to Ning. If the sword-intent contained within an Eternal weapon’s quintessence core was too powerful, Ning wouldn’t be able to make much use of it. Just as Daolord Badlands said, Ning would probably only be able to fully unleash the power of Violetjewel when he became a Daolord of the First Step.

  Even if Ning was given a top-grade Eternal sword, he wouldn’t be able to unleash much of its power for now.

  “You said that this sword’s previous owner called it ‘Violetjewel’. This wasn’t a name he chose at random,” Daolord Badlands said. “This is the name given to the sword by the Eternal Emperor who forged it.”

  “It was forged by an Eternal Emperor?” Ning was quite curious.

  “Long, long ago, that Eternal Emperor was an Emperor of the Dao Alliance! However, he ended up choosing to venture into the Endless Dark long ago. His name was Emperor Violetmount. Before he left the Endless Territories and entered the Endless Dark, he spent an extremely long period of time to create a total of ninety-nine middle-grade Eternal weapons which he named Violetjewel, nine top-grade Eternal weapons which he named Bloodpeak, and a terrifying weapon infused with all of his insights into the Dao of the Sword which he named the ‘Violetmount Sword’.”

  Ning was speechless upon hearing this. Ninety-nine Violetjewel swords? Nine Bloodpeak swords? A Violetmount sword?

  This was all done by Emperor Violetmount?

  “So you wish to procure five more Violetjewels?” Daolord Badlands asked.

  “Yes, I would ideally like to buy five of them.” Ning nodded.

  Daolord Badlands nodded. “Although Emperor Violetmount originally created ninety-nine of them, some of them ended up being lost over the course of many years. Others are currently being used by other cultivators. Thus, buying five will be quite difficult. Still,
I’ll ask the Dao Alliance to help out. Their power is spread throughout the entire Endless Territories; they just might be able to locate a few of these swords.”

  Daolord Badlands looked at Ning. “I have to warn you in advance, this situation is completely different from the situation we saw in the treasure auction. Treasures in that auction all start at a very low reserve price, and even the final price for each item won’t be particularly high. Since you are actively seeking out these specific items, they will definitely cost you much more.”

  Ning understood this quite well. The treasure auctions were all fairly cheap; buying treasures at the normal ‘listed’ price in the outside world would generally cost significantly more! As for someone like Ning who was actively looking for very specific items, the price would definitely be even higher.

  “How high would it be?” Ning asked.

  “A single Violetjewel sword generally goes for just a hundred thousand cubes or so. However, since you are actively seeking out this specific sword it’ll probably take a hundred and fifty thousand, maybe even two hundred thousand,” Daolord Badlands said.

  “Any price below two hundred thousand is acceptable,” Ning said. He was no fool. If the price was too high, it really wouldn’t be worth it.

  It must be understood that middle-grade Eternal weapons would generally go for anywhere from thirty thousand to sixty thousand cubes of chaos nectar in the treasure auctions. The normal list price, however, would be around a hundred thousand cubes.

  Since Ning was actively seeking out these specific swords, the price could rise to as much as two hundred thousand cubes. In all honesty, this was quite a high price. Two hundred thousand cubes would be enough to easily buy a high-grade Eternal weapon during a treasure auction. If you were lucky, you might even be able to snag a cheap top-grade Eternal weapon!

  “Anything else?” Daolord Badlands asked.

  “Oh, that’s plenty. I don’t need anything else for now,” Ning said.

  “Good. How about this? Give me a bit of time, roughly half a year or so, and I’ll give you a million cubes of chaos nectar for you to use it as you see fit,” Daolord Badlands said. “As for the treasures you are seeking, since I’ll need to ask the Dao Alliance to help out it’ll probably take a good deal longer. If we are lucky, it might take just four or five years. If we are unlucky, it might take a few decades. If there are any leftover cubes of chaos nectar, I’ll hand that over to you as well.”

  “Thank you, Daolord,” Ning said.

  There were two reasons Ning had chosen to ask Daolord Badlands for help. The first was that Daolord Badlands was on extremely good terms with Daolord Solesky. The second was that the formation-spirits of the Allgod Estate had suggested that Ning go seek him out. Daolord Badlands was a dazzlingly talented figure who had an extremely resolute Dao-heart. Even if he lost all of his treasures, he wouldn’t throw away his own principles or his own path.

  Daolord Badlands was extremely skilled in Numerancy divination, which meant that it was actually quite rare for him to go out adventuring. His style of cultivation was quite different from that of most other Samsara Daolords. This was why he didn’t have that much treasure. In truth, it was all thanks to Daolord Solesky’s gift of twenty million cubes worth of treasure that he had become so wealthy.

  Even so, he didn’t have much actual chaos nectar. What he had was a large collection of random treasures and materials, which was why he told Ning he would need half a year for the first million cubes of chaos nectar.

  Whoosh.

  Ning walked back to the Water Curtain Home, his heart filled with emotions. “Eternal weapons are considered incomparably valuable to World-level cultivators, but they are nothing special to Samsara Daolords. I never would’ve thought that there would be ninety-nine copies of Violetjewel.”

  “Once I get those treasures, I’ll be much more powerful than I am right now.” Ning always felt as though he should do his best to convert his chaos nectar into treasures as soon as possible. Even if he eventually outgrew them in the future, he could still convert them back into chaos nectar by selling them.

  “Master.” Su Youji had returned to the Water Curtain Home earlier. She now came running out towards Ning.

  “Youji, today we shall rest. Tomorrow, we are going to Waveshift City,” Ning said.

  “Waveshift City?” Su Youji immediately asked, “Why are we going there?”

  “You broke through to the World level. We need to find you some suitable treasures!” Ning laughed. “Spend some time picking what you like once we get there.”

  “Alright.” Su Youji’s eyes lit up as she nodded repeatedly. Generally speaking, the master was responsible for outfitting his retainers with treasures. Still, most masters were quite stingy.

  Ning, however, wasn’t stingy. And yet, he simply wouldn’t be able to afford giving Su Youji a set of Eternal weapons! Su Youji was a Chaos Immortal, and Chaos Immortals generally relied on sets of many powerful weapons. If every weapon in a set was an Eternal weapon, the cost of the set would be utterly astronomical.

  “Waveshift City.” Another reason why Ning was heading to Waveshift City was because he needed to buy those nine types of chaos lightning. That way, he’d be able to start with the [Novessence Thunder] secret art.

  The very next day, Ning and Su Youji set off for Waveshift City and went on a huge shopping spree. Fukai and Arroyo had both left behind quite a bit of chaos nectar and many treasures, giving Ning quite a bit of spare cash. Soon, the two had purchased everything they wanted, including the nine types of chaos lightning which Ning had been searching for.

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 16 - Novessence Thunder

  Within the estate-world.

  Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position atop the sandy beaches of an oceanic island. Next to him was a black gourd and four other gourds. The black gourd was the Pentabolt Gourd while the other four gourds were ordinary gourds that each held a different type of chaos lightning.

  “The five types of chaos lightning within the Pentabolt Gourd are five types that I can use. I have all nine types of chaos lightning and am ready to start.” Ning began to mentally prepare the [Novessence Thunder] secret art.

  Ning began to activate his Immortal energy, sending it into one of the gourds. This gourd was filled with a streak of black lightning that radiated an aura of both insidious coldness and extraordinary ruthlessness.

  Ning’s Immortal energy was guided by the [Novessence Thunder] technique to form a very unique web of energy that began to envelop the chaos lightning. Chaos lightning generally wasn’t capable of defeating even weak World-level cultivators; they were only capable of dominating cultivators below that level! Given how pure Ning’s Immortal energy was thanks to his body being formed by the merging of seventeen clones, he was able to easily seize control over that streak of chaos lightning.

  “Come here.” The web of Immortal energy completely surrounded that streak of insidious black lightning. No matter how much it struggled or how it flared its power, the web of Immortal energy merely expanded and contracted alongside it. The web was extremely tough and tenacious, giving the black lightning no place to run at all.

  “Long ago, I risked my life and lost multiple clones in order to tame the Ninehorn Lightning Serpent… but now, compared to this technique of Daolord Allgod’s, that technique was unfathomably weak and meaningless.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh. Daolord Allgod’s technique was like an incredibly wise fisherman, with the lightning being his fish; no matter how the lightning struggled or writhed, it was completely unable to escape the control of the technique.

  However, merely seizing control over the lightning was just the simplest starting point for this secret art.

  Whoosh.

  The web of Immortal energy squeezed around the streak of black lightning as it dragged it into Ning’s body. Soon, it was pulled into the realm of chaos which now existed inside of Ning.

  The Jindan chaos region was a blurry, hazy
region. At its very center stood a luxuriously flourishing Dao-tree which stood more than sixty thousand meters tall.

  “Essence of lightning… take form!” Immortal energy began to ripple through the chaos ‘mud’ that existed in a corner of this chaos region, taking shape and transforming into an enormous formation. A streak of black lightning thundered down angrily upon the formation. Boom! The formation was instantly filled with Immortal energy that fed hungrily upon the power of the black lightning.

  Rumble…

  Countless streaks of black lightning began to flicker throughout the rune-patterns that covered the entire massive formation.

  “One of the lightning essences has been contained, for now at least.” Ning nodded to himself. Establishing an essence of lightning was actually quite simple; the hardest part would be actually merging them to manifest the [Novessence Thunder] secret art. He would have to merge all nine types of chaos lightning in a manner similar to merging many ingredients into the production of a pill. Only then would the complicated secret art become usable. This would be thousands of times more difficult than simply forming the lightning essence was!

  Ning himself was secretly nervous about this. Would he be able to succeed? Daolord Allgod was a master of alchemy and artificing, a truly peerless expert in these areas. Ning, however, wasn’t skilled in either regard.

  “Next.” Ning once again reached out, seizing control over another one of the eight types of chaos lightning after another. His vast Jindan chaos region quickly became filled with eight more types of lightning essence.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The nine types of lightning essence crackled and clashed against each other, each holding different types of lightning.

  “The easiest part is done. Next comes the hard part, where I actually forge the [Novessence Thunder] secret art. Let’s see if I can do this.” Ning felt a sense of pressure, even though this was a secret art ‘merely’ formed by chaos lightning; it would be much simpler than doing the same with Dao lightning.