Desolate Era

by RWX

  His gaze pierced through the darkness of the abyss as well as the protection of the Astral Islands, allowing him to see Ji Ning. Ji Ning was currently flipping through his golden book within his room in his astral island.

  Right at this moment, Ning suddenly found himself seized by an invisible, inexplicable terror. It was as though some terrifying creature had just taken notice of him.

  “It seems a new kid is about to join your Twelve Palaces as well.” The black-haired man looked towards the golden-armored warrior. “He made it to the fifth stratum quite quickly, and he’s a cultivator just like you are.”

  “He’s not bad, I suppose.” The golden-armored man laughed. “We cultivators are fairly weak in general. It is quite rare for an extremely powerful cultivator to emerge. We simply can’t compare to the members of your race. All of you are born with utterly enormous power.”

  “Is that comparable? Is that even comparable?!” The black-haired man glared at him. “How many of you are there? How few of us are there? The Hegemon, that old bastard… how much time does he need to spend wandering the Endless Territories before he is able to find another member of our race? For each new member of our race that is born, another ten Daolords emerge amongst you cultivators. You cultivators give birth to monsters by the bundle. Just look at the Twelve Palaces. How many Daolords do you have? And how few members do we have in our imperial clan?”

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 37 - The Plight of Su Youji

  “Ahaha!” The golden-armored warrior laughed. “Fine, I misspoke.”

  “Sometimes, I really envy you cultivators. There is a stupid large number of you. You guys are absolutely everywhere. Every single territory has you cultivators in them.” The black-haired man sighed and shook his head. Suddenly…

  “THAT BRAT! Is he trying to die?!” The black-haired man’s eyes suddenly bulged out. Two streaks of golden light shot out of his eyes, passing through the barriers of spacetime and reaching a distant figure in a distant place.

  ……

  The Astral Islands.

  “What just happened?” Ning’s entire body had turned stiff. He felt as though an utterly terrifying presence had suddenly taken notice of him. However, that terrifying sense of danger quickly dissipated.

  “Who was that just now?” Ning guessed that it had to have been an incredibly powerful figure who was scrying upon him, a figure that didn’t even bother to hide his aura. If he had, there was no way Ning would’ve been able to sense him.

  “That sense of danger… it was second only to the sensation I felt when I encountered that terrifying behemoth that brought me here,” Ning mused to himself.

  The terrifying behemoth that had devoured him and brought him to this place was the most terrifying thing Ning had ever encountered in his life. It vastly surpassed any and all experts Ning had encountered in the past.

  The Brightshore Kingdom was an organization that was on the same general level of power as the entire Dao Alliance itself. The Dao Alliance was unfathomably powerful, while the Brightshore Kingdom was very secretive and quite powerful as well.

  “Doesn’t matter, I guess. Either of them can crush me like a bug.” Ning couldn’t be bothered to worry about it. The point of the almighty Hegemon bringing them here was to raise a crop of powerful cultivators. Even the most powerful of organizations would need constant injections of fresh blood, after all.

  No matter how powerful their elite experts were, only their Eternal Emperors would live eternally. Samsara Daolords who did not succeed in the Daomerge would all perish eventually. Thus, they needed to ensure a constant, steady stream of new blood.

  Ning was one of them, a future expert of the Brightshore Kingdom.

  “Mm. Fortunately, Youji is still alive.” Ning flipped through the golden book again, then let out a sigh of relief.

  “Eh? Someone just challenged me?” Ning frowned. One of the talented geniuses of the fifth stratum had just issued him a challenge. It must be understood that the twelve members of the fifth stratum had been on that stratum for a long period of time. They were all definitely superior to Sabafalle in power.

  Ning had been forced to pull out his Elementum Waterflame Gourd for the sake of defeating Sabafalle.

  “I’m currently protected by the Astral Islands. Even if I lose, I would at most lose some legacy treasures. However… I need to make sure this set gets to Su Youji first. If too much time passes, something unexpected might happen.” Ning didn’t dare to be too arrogant.

  Ning waved his hand. Whoosh! Three hundred and twenty legacy treasures suddenly appeared before him. These were all fiery red leaves. The fiery leaves were all gathered together, and Ning could immediately sense the tremendous amount of information they contained, as well as that blazingly powerful aura of fire.

  This was a legacy pertaining to the Dao of Fire. Sabafalle, Ning’s previous opponent, had walked the Dao of Fire. The reason he had kept these legacy treasures with him was so that he could be in constant contact with the blazing will they contained. However, the treasures had now fallen into Ning’s hands.

  All he had to do was swear a lifeblood oath and he would immediately be able to study this legacy.

  Ning did end up learning it, but he simply memorized its contents. This legacy was indeed quite profound and remarkable. Just by reviewing the entire legacy from start to finish, Ning’s insights into the Dao of Fire increased substantially, reaching a level of near-parity with his Dao of Water or his Dao of Lightning.

  “Possession of a legacy really does make a big difference,” Ning mused to himself. “Still, my Dao is the Dao of the Sword. I can’t waste my time and energy on fire.” Ning quickly buried this legacy into another corner of his mind. He had simply memorized it to gain a bit of additional experience, as all Daos shared certain commonalities. This legacy contained many abstruse mysteries that would be of some use to Ning in his mastery of the Dao of the Sword.

  “Time to challenge her.” After looking through the legacy treasure, Ning nodded silently to himself. Su Youji was quite talented in the Dao of Fire. If he gave this to her, it would be of tremendous benefit to her in mastering the Dao of Fire. She would improve quite quickly.

  Ning sent Su Youji a challenge.

  “I hope she accepts. She has to accept.” Ning was rather worried and nervous.

  He had learned the location of Su Youji’s astral island from Daolord Flameflow, but Su Youji didn’t know that Ning had reached the fifth stratum. If she suddenly saw someone from the fifth stratum challenge her, would she accept?

  If she did not, then Ning would have to accept this duel from Kilostar, his fifth stratum challenger. If he won, that was one thing, but if he lost… his legacy treasures would all be gone as well.

  It wouldn’t be too hard for Ning to get another set of legacy treasures, but to get another set that was of the Dao of Fire which Su Youji could use would be quite difficult. In addition, if too much time passed… Su Youji might perish.

  ……

  The bottom stratum of the hundreds of thousands of astral islands. One of the islands was covered with plants and flowers. This was a very beautiful island.

  Su Youji, dressed in fiery red robes, was lying within the grass, staring at the skies. A look of exhaustion was on her face.

  “If this keeps up, I really won’t be able to endure for much longer. Master… I probably won’t be able to accompany you for much longer.”

  Su Youji lay there in the grass, utterly exhausted. She truly had almost no energy left.

  Ji Ning had given her his bugbeasts and his set of Hellwind Golems. At first, she had indeed been able to win quite a few battles in a row with ease. On the first stratum, there really weren’t that many who were a match for her.

  But soon, trouble began to appear.

  News that she had many bugbeasts and a set of Hellwind Golems quickly began to spread. There were many powerful World-level cultivators who wanted those bugbeasts and those powerful golems! />
  For example, there wasn’t a significant difference in power between cultivators on the third stratum and those on the fourth stratum. If they had a set of Hellwind Golems helping them out, a third stratum cultivator might be able to charge into the fourth stratum and have a chance at acquiring a full legacy.

  Especially for those who specialized in close combat, a set of Hellwind Golems and a host of bugbeasts would allow them to become far stronger.

  Many of the World-level cultivators who had been living here at the Astral Islands for a long time knew each other. At critical times, they would issue each other challenges to avoid dangerous battles. Thus, in the end there were three powerful World-level cultivators who found out about the golems and the bugbeasts.

  Two of these three came from the third floor, with one coming from the fourth floor. All of them furiously challenged Su Youji day in and day out. Su Youji did her best to avoid them. When she could not, she would go fight the ones on the third floor.

  “I was able to hold on for a few times… but how much longer will I be able to hold?” Su Youji mumbled to herself. She had been here for more than half a year, and the past few months had been an utter nightmare.

  Rumble…

  Sudenly, an island ascended from the fourth stratum to the fifth stratum.

  “The fifth stratum?” Su Youji’s eyes lit up. “A cultivator reached the fifth stratum? Could it be Master?” She deeply hoped that it was Ning, but she knew that there were many individuals of tremendous talent and skill amongst the fourth stratum.

  “I hope it is Master. So long as Master can stay alive… that is enough.” Su Youji prayed silently. She didn’t hope for Ning to rescue her. Logically speaking, there was no way for Ning to even find out which island she was on.

  Just as her thoughts were racing, suddenly…

  “A challenge?” Su Youji could sense that yet another challenge had been sent to her golden book. She remained quite calm, because she received challenges every single day. Her bugbeasts and golems were simply too irresistible.

  “A challenge from the fifth stratum?” Su Youji was badly shocked.

  Her bugbeasts and golems were indeed attractive, but it made no sense for those protected freaks on the fifth stratum to take an interest in them. Prior to this, the highest-level challenge had come from someone on the fourth stratum, and that had been her only challenge from that stratum.

  “Eh? It seems… to be from that person who just made it to the fifth stratum?” Su Youji quickly noticed this. Every day, she would go through the golden book, and she recognized the twelve markers that originally belonged to the fifth stratum islands. Given her memory as a Chaos Immortal, she was naturally able to memorize those twelve at once. The person who had just challenged her was not one of the twelve.

  “This person challenged me immediately after reaching the fifth stratum? If this person has already received protection, it makes no sense for him to be interested in my bugbeasts and golems. Could it… truly be Master?” Many thoughts flashed through Su Youji’s mind.

  She didn’t dare to believe it.

  She felt that it was all wishful thinking.

  However… she also had the vague feeling that it really could be her master. Logically speaking, there was no reason for a newly ascended fifth stratum expert to immediately issue a challenge to her.

  “Could it be that Master had a way to discover the astral island which I am on?” Su Youji hesitated for a long moment.

  “Screw it. I’m at the brink of collapse anyhow. Even if it really is an enemy, I’d be satisfied with my defeat coming at the hands of someone on the fifth stratum.” Su Youji gritted her teeth, then accepted the challenge.

  She quickly entered a room in her island covered by divine runes. As the runes lit up and activated, spacetime began to twist around her as she was teleported off of the astral island.

  This was yet another oceanic island. There was a volcano on this island that was belching lava and flames, causing the island to be covered with a layer of grimy soot.

  Su Youji appeared out of nowhere. She immediately saw a figure off in the distance.

  A white-robed figure.

  A figure carrying a sword on his back.

  “Master…” Su Youji’s body trembled slightly as she murmured these words.

  “Youji.” The figure turned and looked at her.

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 38 - Kilostar

  Su Youji’s eyes instantly reddened. She was both shocked and delighted. Her heart was filled with many complex emotions. She felt excited for Ji Ning upon realizing that he had fought his way through so many World-level cultivators to make it to the fifth stratum, and also celebrated for herself.

  The exhaustion and pressure she felt was all wiped away.

  “Youji.” Ning’s form blurred as he transformed into a streak of light that flew to her side. He looked at her carefully. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I’m just so happy.” Su Youji finally smiled, and her smile was absolutely incandescent. She now looked like her old self again. “If you came just a bit later, Master, you probably wouldn’t be able to find me.”

  “What’s going on?” Ning was shocked. “You are on the first stratum. Those bugbeasts and golems should’ve been enough to let you hang on for quite some time.”

  “Against the first stratum cultivators, I would’ve been, yes. But third stratum and fourth stratum cultivators often send me challenges.” Su Youji said helplessly, “I can’t even avoid them.”

  “Third and fourth stratum? There are so many cultivators on the first stratum. Why would they single you… shit!” Ning turned pale. He realized what had happened. He had given her those bugbeasts and golems with the best of intentions, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

  Here at the Astral Islands, whenever someone was discovered to be in possession of good treasures that person would often find himself targeted. What, then, of such a powerful set of golems and bugbeasts? Although it was hard for most of the cultivators here to send each other messages, there were indeed a few alliances and partnership. It made sense that word would eventually spread to the third and fourth strata.

  “I screwed up.” Ning shook his head.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Master. Even I didn’t realize what was going to happen. Only later on did I understand how badly they wanted my golems and bugbeasts,” Su Youji said.

  “You must have been exhausted.” Ning could imagine how life had been for her recently. Those third and fourth strata cultivators had assuredly done everything they could to try and force Su Youji to fight them. Although she had struggled and fought back, how long would she be able to do so? As more time passed, most likely there would be even more powerful cultivators who would take interest in her.

  “I admit defeat.” Ning suddenly spoke out in a high voice, his words echoing within the air above the volcanic island.

  “Master?” Su Youji was stunned.

  “I admit defeat in my duel against you.” Ning laughed. “This set of legacy treasures is for you. Don’t you need any other treasures?”

  Su Youji suddenly realized what was happening.

  “Hurry up. This set of legacy treasures is useless to me, and I’ve already received the protection of the Astral Islands.” Ning laughed as he waved his hand, causing the three hundred and twenty leaves filled with the Dao of Fire to float over towards Su Youji.

  Su Youji immediately waved her hand to accept this legacy. She had won this battle. If she wanted to do so, she could demand that Ning hand over all of his legacy treasures. But of course, since she was going to leave the Astral Islands there was absolutely no point to acquiring more of these legacy treasures. You had to acquire a full set in order to gain a legacy, after all.

  “Alright. Now that you have a full legacy, hurry up and leave the Astral Islands,” Ning instructed. “This place is far too dangerous for you.”

  For someone like Su Youji, this was indee
d an incredibly dangerous place. Without the bugbeasts, she was at high risk of death. With the bugbeasts and golems, she became the target of even more powerful cultivators.

  “Alright.” Su Youji felt many complex emotions in her heart.

  “Also. Once you leave the Astral Islands, do your best to enter the Twelve Palaces,” Ning said. “At present, you most likely aren’t strong enough to attract their interest. However, now that you have this legacy, you’ll be able to grow much more powerful. Focus on your cultivation, and if the opportunity arises you should do your best to enter the palaces. In the future, I will join the Twelve Palaces as well.”

  “Twelve Palaces?” Su Youji was puzzled.

  “The most powerful organization in the Brightshore Kingdom. At the very apex of the Brightshore Kingdom stands its Twelve Palaces and its imperial clan.” Ning gave her a simple explanation. “You only acquired a full legacy thanks to my assistance, and so the Twelve Palaces won’t grant you automatic entry. You’ll need to train hard and undergo many trials before being permitted to enter the Twelve Palaces.”

  “Understood.” Su Youji knew her own limits. To even escape this place alive was a stroke of tremendous luck. She didn’t daydream about being granted automatic entry into the Twelve Palaces.

  “This is my talisman. Keep it with you at all times, and I’ll be able to sense your location. After I leave the Astral Islands, I’ll go find you.” As Ning spoke, he handed out a jade talisman to her.

  Su Youji accepted the jade talisman. It was slick and cold in her hands. She nodded slowly. “Alright.”

  “Go, then. Be careful once you enter the rest of the Brightshore Kingdom,” Ning instructed.

  “Don’t worry. After what happened here, I’m going to be even more careful in the future. Besides… even if the outside world is a dangerous place, it can’t possibly be as dangerous as these astral islands.” Su Youji chuckled.

  These two, master and retainer, didn’t have too long to chat. In the end, they had to part once more as they were each teleported to their own astral islands.