Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Twenty-one of the newcomers have fought their way into the fourth stratum, but eight ended up being pushed back into the third stratum. Some of them managed to fight their way back into the fourth stratum once more. Only five have won every battle they were in. The fastest has won nine battles, while the second fastest has won six.” The skinny, swarthy-skinned child read on. Speed didn’t count for much; the slower ones might just be a bit more cautious.

  “It is rare for me to meet a worthy opponent. Mmm… once he wins his tenth battle and makes it into the fifth stratum, I’ll send him a challenge.” A strange smile flashed past the child’s face. “I’ll teach him a thing or two and let him know that there is a heaven beyond the heavens.”

  ……

  “Oh? He’s won nine battles?” A black-robed expert on the fourth stratum was flipping through the golden book as well. Although he was on the fourth stratum, it had been a long, long time since anyone had challenged him. This was because he had once made it to the fifth stratum and thus received the protection of the Astral Islands! Making it to the fifth stratum was a testament to his power. Most of his former opponents now knew how strong he was and wouldn’t challenge him without a good reason. As for the newcomers including Ning, few of them would be so rash as to challenge someone under protection.

  “Eheh, he’s about to make it to the fifth stratum and receive protection? It won’t be that easy. Not just everyone is worthy of being protected. You might be just one step away… but I will ruin your hopes.”

  “You are just one step away, but I’ll let you die in the grips of despair. Just thinking about it excites me. Seeing a genius perish in despair is such a lovely sight.” The black-robed expert let out a chilling laugh as he issued Ning a challenge.

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 34 - The Black-Robed Expert

  A gentle wind was blowing through the Astral Islands.

  Ji Ning was in an excellent mood today. He was flipping through his golden book when his face suddenly changed. “A challenge?”

  Ever since he had risen to the fourth stratum, this was the first time someone else on the same stratum had sent him a challenge! The fourth stratum was just a single step away from the fifth stratum, causing everyone to be quite cautious and unwilling to casually start a duel against an unknown cultivator on the same level. They would first gather as much intelligence as possible before deciding whether or not to challenge the newcomer.

  “He is actually one of the protected cultivators?” Ning frowned. “There are only around twenty protected cultivators in all the Astral Islands! All of them are unfathomably strong. For him to challenge me…”

  “Wait. I’ll wait for a short while.” Ning shut his eyes and began to wait calmly.

  Each day, a person could only issue a single challenge. Earlier this day, he had already issued a challenge to another member of the fourth stratum, a cultivator who was not under protection. However, that person wouldn’t necessarily accept his challenge. The higher the stratum, the more cautious cultivators were about dueling people on that stratum.

  This was especially true for fourth stratum cultivators who hadn’t received protection!

  The closer they were to the fifth stratum and receiving protection, the more cautious they would become. They would generally first defeat some cultivators on the second or third strata, but they wouldn’t kill them. Instead, the fourth stratum cultivator would force these weaker cultivators to swear lifeblood oaths that they would accept any challenges from him, with him swearing that he would not take their lives.

  That way, once the fourth stratum cultivator received a challenge from someone on his level that he didn’t wish to fight, he could immediately issue a challenge to those cultivators on the second and third strata, allowing him to avoid the challenge.

  It was possible to avoid battles in this way, but unexpected things would sometimes happen as time went on. For example, those second and third strata cultivators might already be engaged in a duel, preventing them from accepting the challenge from the fourth stratum cultivator. This wouldn’t be considered a violation of the oath.

  Thus, during the past two weeks, Ning had only been able to successfully challenge someone a single time. All his other challenges had been declined.

  “I hope this one will go through. Unless absolutely necessary, I’d rather not duel a protected cultivator until I myself receive protection as well,” Ning mused.

  If he wasn’t protected while his opponent was, their mental approach to any duel would be completely different.

  Time ticked on minute by minute.

  Rumble.

  The golden book now displayed some new information. The cultivator which Ning challenged had just entered into a battle against a different individual.

  “Another one avoiding battle.” Honestly, Ning had expected this outcome. He had only succeeded once in the past half month, after all.

  “No choice but to accept the challenge. Time for me to see just how strong these protected individuals are.” Through the golden book, Ning was made aware that this individual was an Aberrant, was under protection, and had quite a few legacy treasures. Other than that, Ning knew nothing at all.

  Ning reached out through the golden book and shattered the writ of challenge, accepting the challenge. He then immediately walked towards a room filled with many divine runes. Ning stood there in the center of the room, allowing the formation to be activated and teleport him away.

  Rumble…

  This was another oceanic island, filled with beauty and grace. Ning appeared atop a small mountain within the island, and he immediately saw the distant, azure-blue waters of the sea as well as the dazzling sands of the beach.

  Rumble… another figure suddenly appeared on that same mountain, just a few hundred meters away from Ning. This was a figure that was completely covered in black robes.

  Ning looked at his opponent.

  The black-robed figure looked back at Ning as well. Only a pair of crimson eyes were visible beneath his dark robes.

  “Upon arriving here at the Astral Islands, you immediately ascended to the fourth stratum, then won nine battles in a row.” The black-robed figure’s voice was cold and dark, and his eyes were completely different from the eyes of a cultivator. Those crimson eyes looked even more bizarre and sinister than the eyes of various strange beasts and monsters which Ning had encountered in the past. This was no cultivator. It was an Aberrant.

  “Quite impressive. Given enough time, you would definitely be able to ascend to the fifth stratum. Unfortunately, you won’t have that chance.” The black-robed expert laughed, and his laughter was extremely grating and ear-piercing.

  “Hahaha… you are just one step away, but you are going to die here. Do you not feel despair? Ahaha…” The black-robed expert laughed wildly, a chaotic aura of fire beginning to emerge from his body. This aura alone was probably capable of driving some weaker cultivators to the brink of insanity.

  Ning simply frowned. No enmity existed between the two of them, and yet this man wished to destroy Ning’s future prospects?

  “You talk a big game,” Ning said calmly.

  Boom! A large black sword suddenly appeared in the black-robed expert’s right hand. Although it could be described as a sword, it didn’t have any edges to it at all. The aura emanating from this greatsword gave Ning an impression of incredible weight and density.

  “Ahahaha, I dare make these claims because I have the power to take your life. You simply haven’t been here in the Astral Islands long enough, and you haven’t undergone sufficient tempering. There is no place in the outside world which is quite like the Astral Islands, with its many elites and geniuses for you to test yourself against. I think you won’t be able to take so much as my very first sword-blow.” The black-robed expert let out a bizarre laugh.

  “Hmph.” Ning’s gaze turned sharp, and a crimson-gold lightning seal suddenly appeared on his forehead.

  Ning was beginning to
get rather irritated by this black-robed expert’s words. Screw the talking; he was going to give this person a taste of his [Novessence Thunder] first!

  Bang! A crimson-gold streak of lightning shot out with incredible speed, giving the black-robed expert no time to dodge at all. The lightning bolt hammered directly against him, causing his body to tremble slightly. However, he was still able to stand there calmly.

  “What powerful lightning. Unfortunately, I’m the wrong person for you to use it against.” The black-robed expert completely ignored the [Novessence Thunder], allowing it to crackle and writhe around his body. A few flickers of lightning brushed against some of the nearby boulders, instantly reducing them to dust.

  “You can die now.” The black-robed expert struck out with his sword.

  Ning didn’t dare to be too brash. This person knew that he had won nine battles in a row on the fourth stratum, but still dared to make the claim that his very first sword-blow would be too much for Ning to handle. Without a doubt, this strike would be an extraordinary one.

  Boom! Once this strike was unleashed, the skies above the oceanic island began to dim. Countless flaming clouds began to gather in the air above them , and the sword crushed down upon Ning as though it was bringing the might of Heaven and Earth down with it.

  The sword came crashing down towards Ning with a feeling of absolute, immeasurable ponderance.

  “Allgod stance!” A cold, fierce light flashed through Ning’s eyes as well as he unleashed the most dominating, explosive sword stance he possessed. As Ning’s insights into the sword had risen, his Allgod stance had become increasingly extraordinary as well. It was now able to unleash a truly significant amount of the might of Violetjewel’s quintessence core.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Ning immediately manifested [Three Heads, Six Arms]. His six swords transformed into six blood-colored wyrms that howled towards the massive world-sword that was crashing down upon him.

  BOOM!!! When the first blood-colored wyrm slammed into the greatsword, the blood-colored wyrm was brought to a halt but the greatsword was knocked flying backwards.

  “What?!” The black-robed expert let out a startled shout.

  “He does have a bit of power. No wonder he bragged so much.” Ning was secretly startled. Thanks to the azureflower mist energy, Ning was as strong as a Daolord of the First Step and far above the vast majority of World-level cultivators. He was also using an Eternal weapon and had unleashed his most powerful sword-stance, a strike which was so powerful that very few were capable of withstanding it.

  And yet… that black-robed expert’s greatsword had managed to halt his strike in its tracks! But of course, it had only been able to block Ning’s first strike. Ning had six Eternal weapons he was using!

  Although one of the blood-colored wyrms had been destroyed, the other five continued to surge forward towards the black-robed expert.

  “How can…” The black-robed expert was absolutely stunned. A blazing crimson warblade appeared in his other hand, a saber that gave off a similar aura of incredible ponderance. He joined his saber and his sword in front of him, using them to block Ning’s attacks.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The five blood wyrms came crashing down with enough power to shake the heavens.

  BOOM!

  The entire mountain they were on actually collapsed, and the island itself split apart as the ground below the strike was completely caved in. As for the black-robed expert, Ning had already smashed him down into the very bottom of the sea.

  Swoosh! Moments later, the black-robed expert came charging out of the waters of the sea. He hovered there in midair, staring at the distant Ji Ning who was standing atop a gray boulder.

  “You talked a big game, but you don’t have much to back it up.” Ning let out a chuckle.

  “You…!” The black-robed expert was enraged.

  There was a reason for his earlier braggadocio. He was an extremely powerful Aberrant, and despite being at the World level he was completely capable of unleashing a level of power comparable to that of a Daolord of the First Step. Given that his two Eternal weapons were also quite suited to him and to unleashing the type of power he specialized in, most fourth stratum foes would never dare to take his blows head on.

  That was why he had felt so confident in his abilities! What he didn’t realize was that for many years now, the way Ning had fought was by directly crushing his foes with overwhelming power.

  “Your swords are quite powerful, and you are just as strong as I am.” The black-robed expert’s voice began to transform, turning low and gravelly. As for his crimson eyes, they began to be filled with an even more insane look than before. “You are now qualified to see my true form.”

  Boom!

  The area around the black-robed expert suddenly became filled with endless tendrils of dark-red flames. He was like the god of this world of flames, and his black robes suddenly vanished, revealing the form underneath…

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 35 - A Miserable Victory

  It was a humanoid creature whose skin was completely pitch-black. His eyes were crimson red in color, and the way in which he stared at Ji Ning made Ning feel uncomfortable. This pitch-black humanoid’s skin suddenly began to crack and split apart, revealing a dim crimson substance beneath the skin.

  Pop! Every so often, a piece of that crimson material would suddenly shoot out from beneath his skin, moving vastly beyond the speed of light and causing spacetime around it to twist and distort.

  The creature simply stood there, allowing his ‘skin’ to crack and pop. Every so often, more of that crimson substance would shoot out. Whenever it touched the waters of the ocean, the water would begin to hiss and boil away. Whenever it touched the the remnants of the island, the island would shudder and break apart even further.

  “You’ve forced me to reveal my true form, which means you have to die. You are indeed qualified to make it to the fifth stratum, but unfortunately for you… you ran into me.” The sable creature spoke in a hoarse voice, and a few flecks of that crimson material flew out from his mouth with each word.

  “Aren’t you the ugly one,” Ning said softly.

  “You-!”

  The sable creature was both embarrassed and enraged. Cultivators were the true masters of the Endless Territories, after all. They were simply too numerous! Even though he was an incredibly powerful Aberrant, when he was born from the primordial chaos he found himself to be the only member of his race. Thus, he changed his appearance and always wore a black robe, spending his life within the world of cultivators.

  As a result, even he himself felt that his true appearance was rather ugly. However, only by revealing his true form was he capable of unleashing his full power. There was nothing else he could do. When normal cultivators insulted him, he wouldn’t be that irritated, but the person who just spoke was a powerful cultivator who was on his general level of power.

  “All you can do is flap your mouth. Remember this in your next life. The person who killed you is Sabafey.” The sable creature let out a low growl as he gripped the heavy warblade and the heavy greatsword with his hands.

  “What an ugly name as well.” Ning was intentionally mocking him. He could tell that this Aberrant had a fairly weak Dao-heart.

  “Die.” Two sonorous streaks of saber-light and sword-light struck out, carrying an aura of incredible majesty and power.

  “Hmph.” Ning once more manifested three heads and six arms, using his six Eternal weapons fight back.

  “Eh? What’s this?” When Ning transformed into a streak of lightning and charged forward, he immediately sensed spacetime twisting around him. This had an impact on even his own agility and movements. Clearly, this Sabafey was capable of causing spacetime to twist all around him in a domain-type maneuver.

  “Hmph.” Ning let out an angry snort as that streak of crimson-gold lightning once more blasted out of his forehead. The lightning was shaped like a Flo
od Dragon as it struck out, but once it moved closer to that black humanoid, it was impacted by some of the crimson substance spurting out of its cracked skin. The crimson-gold lightning instantly began to tremble.

  “We haven’t even clashed yet, but that crimson substance shooting out of his body and this domain around him is already having an impact on my abilities. So this is the power of his true form?” Ning was secretly nervous.

  Boom!

  Boom!

  A streak of black light suddenly shot out. This was the sable freak, Sabafey!

  A streak of lightning shot out as well. This was the three-headed, six-armed, white-robed Ji Ning. Crimson-gold lightning continuously shot out of Ning’s forehead.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The two instantly clashed multiple times in midair, causing the air around them to tremble, the fragments of the island beneath them to sink deeper into the sea, and tremendous tidal waves to arise.

  The two of them battled in a wild orgy of destruction, and Ji Ning was clearly at a disadvantage in this fight.

  “Damn.”

  Ning was forced to repeatedly dodge backwards, then charge forward once more. As for the black freak Sabafey, he fought in an utterly dominating fashion. Although he only had a single warblade and a single greatsword, his strength and savagery was enough to allow his two weapons to completely overwhelm Ji Ning.

  In fact, the unique spacetime domain surrounding this creature was enough to make him superior to Ning in speed as well.

  “So his true form makes him this much stronger than before.” Ning could feel how difficult this battle was becoming. The power of every single blow from the enemy’s sword and saber was superior to Ning’s power. Even though Ning had six weapons to his foe’s two, he was still at a marked disadvantage in this fight.

  In truth, this Aberrant was indeed as physically strong as a Daolord of the First Step. He was on par with Ji Ning, and his insights into the Dao were even more profound than Ning’s. This was the reason why the power of his every blow exceeded Ning’s power.