Desolate Era

by RWX

  And Heartforce Cultivators had more tricks up their sleeves than just that…

  “Choosing the Dao of Light is the most stable, appropriate path.” Daolord Grayvast let out a sigh. “Everyone knows how powerful and inscrutable Heartforce Cultivators are, but training in heartforce is simply too difficult. There are incredibly few World-level Heartforce Cultivators. As for Daolords who are Heartforce Cultivators… very few of them exist in the Endless Territories. The Heartforce Palace is one of the Twelve Palaces, but it has a total of less than ten Daolords!”

  Daolord Grayvast shook his head. “The Dao of Light is actually a fairly normal Dao in comparison. Bertulu can focus on the Dao of Light while spending some time in heartforce as well.”

  “Now that I think about it…” Ning said softly, “When I fought against him, he only used his heartworld projection to suppress me, then engaged me in close combat. He didn’t really use a lot of heartforce techniques. It seems as though he decided long ago that he would use heartforce as a supporting skill. His main focus is on fighting in close combat.”

  “A very solid choice.” Daolord Grayvast sighed. “This solid choice means that we can already imagine how dazzlingly powerful he will be in the future. In fact, if he successfully walks down the path he has started on, he will become either the Palace Lord or a vice Palace Lord.”

  ……

  Ning chatted and drank with Daolord Grayvast, learning much more about the Twelve Palaces. Soon, the wine was all finished.

  “Time to go.” Ning rose to his feet.

  “There is a teleportation array within the Astral Islands. It can send you straight to the Sword Palace.” Daolord Grayvast rose to his feet as well.

  “No need.” Ning shook his head. “I have a good friend who came with me to the Brightshore Kingdom. She is currently somewhere in the Brightshore Kingdom. I plan to find her first, then I’ll go to the Sword Palace.”

  “Oh?” Daolord Grayvast frowned slightly, then solemnly handed over a medallion. This medallion looked illusory and translucent, but one could vaguely make out the word ‘sword’ on the medallion. Daolord Grayvast handed the medallion over to Ning. “Technically speaking, you should only be given this medallion after you go to the Sword Palace and become one of our formal members. However, since you need to find your friend first, I’ll let you bind this medallion right now. Once you bind it, you’ll be one of our formal members.”

  Ning was startled. “You are going to give it to me in advance?”

  “The Brightshore Kingdom is a dangerous place,” Daolord Grayvast explained. “If I didn’t give it to you… you might end up dying while traveling to the Sword Palace.”

  “Ah?!” Ning was shocked.

  “The Brightshore Kingdom is an extremely large place with countless living beings within it. The almighty Hegemon actually went out of his way to personally create many dangers, hiding many legacies within those dangers,” Daolord Grayvast explained. “He wishes for the countless living beings within the Brightshore Kingdom to be filled with energy and courage. If everything is too peaceful and everyone lives in peace, the kingdom will produce far, far fewer major powers.”

  Ning understood this principle. A peaceful life sapped one’s willpower. Even chaosworlds were filled with battle, to say nothing of the Endless Territories.

  “Anyone who becomes a Daolord is required to join the Twelve Palaces,” Daolord Grayvast said. “Within the Twelve Palaces, all internal strife is forbidden. Even if you do hold a grudge against someone, we would encourage you to do your best to resolve things peacefully through mediation. If the mediation fails, you will still have to get advance permission before entering into a life-and-death duel. If you dare to kill one of your colleagues without getting that permission, you will be devoured by your lifeblood oath and killed on the spot.”

  “Many of the Daolords will leave the Brightshore Kingdom to adventure through the outside lands.” Daolord Grayvast laughed. “If you want to kill people, do it outside. Don’t kill other Daolords of the Brightshore Kingdom.”

  “Once you bind this medallion, none of the Daolords of the Brightshore Kingdom will dare to lay a finger on you,” Daolord Grayvast said. “That will make things much safer for you! To physically travel from this place to the Sword Palace means crossing more than half of the entire Brightshore Kingdom. There will be many Daolords on the way, including some Aberrants who have bad tempers or strange dispositions. There are some who will slaughter anyone who crosses their path…”

  Ning was speechless upon hearing all this.

  “So… hurry up and bind it,” Daolord Grayvast urged.

  Ning immediately sent his senses into the medallion. This medallion did indeed hold a lifeblood oath within it that was quite similar to the one which Daolord Grayvast had just described. The Twelve Palaces forbade its members from engaging in internal combat. In addition, if the Brightshore Imperials or the Twelve Palaces fell into danger, the members of the palaces would have to do their utmost to rescue them. But of course, if one of the Imperials sought to kill you then you would be permitted to fight back; there would be no need to defend them.

  “The Twelve Palaces must protect the imperial clan?” Ning raised his head to look at Daolord Grayvast.

  Protecting the imperial clan was actually part of the charter of the lifeblood oath. But of course, in order to ensure that the experts of the Twelve Palaces were sincere in their loyalty, the Brightshore Imperials also had to swear oaths that they absolutely would not attack any members of the Twelve Palaces. If they did, they would no logner be protected and they could instead be counter-attacked and killed!

  “Yes.” Daolord Grayvast nodded. “The Brightshore Kingdom was established by the almighty Hegemon. He created the Brightshore Kingdom for the sake of protecting his imperial clan. Although the Imperials are very powerful, they are extremely few in number.”

  “Alright.” Ning understood.

  Ning could also sense what an extraordinary aura this medallion had. Most likely, it was the almighty Hegemon himself who had created this medallion as well as the lifeblood oath. But of course, the Twelve Palaces had to agree with the wording of the oath. Only then would such a mighty organization have staying power.

  “I suppose I can accept that.” Ning immediately swore the lifeblood oath. The medallion was instantly and easily bound as well.

  “Eh?” As soon as he bound the medallion, Ning could sense ten ripples of power coming from the Astral Islands region. These were ripples emanating from other similar medallions.

  “The Twelve Palaces and the Brightshore Imperials all have similar medallions. The ripples coming from those medallions will testify to their identity, ensuring that we won’t get into accidental fights against our fellows without realizing it,” Daolord Grayvast said. “Now, no Daolord will dare to act against you here in the Brightshore Kingdom. As for World-level cultivators? I’m confident that you should be able to easily defeat any World-level cultivators. Oh – here is a star map of the Brightshore Kingdom.”

  Daolord Grayvast handed Ning a furled star map.

  Ning accepted it. “Thank you, senior Grayvast. I’ll be leaving now.”

  “I’ll see you in the Sword Palace,” Daolord Grayvast said. “Be careful on your journey.”

  “I will.” Ning immediately transformed into a streak of light and flew away.

  Daolord Grayvast watched as the sword-carrying white-robed youth flew away, then turned to leave as well.

  The astral island which Ning had been on began to sink downwards into that dark abyss below. As for the random legacy treasures which Ning had left behind, they all scattered and began to fly towards the various other islands.

  All the legacy treasures of the ninety-nine legacies would forever remain within the Astral Islands.

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 48 - Yet Another Mirrorsnow Painting

  The Brightshore Kingdom was an exceedingly large place.

  Clouds fluttered abou
t in the skies as a shuttle flew at high speed through the air. Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position aboard his ship, staring at the beautiful world of the Brightshore Kingdom.

  “So the Astral Islands were over there. As for the Sword Palace, that’s over there. And oh, that’s where they greet newcomers? So that’s the place I was taken to when I was first abducted.” Ning now had a rough understanding of the geography of the Brightshore Kingdom. “I remember when I first arrived here and more than thirty thousand fellow World-level cultivators were led by those two silver-armored Daolords all the way to the Astral Islands. We flew for roughly forty-six days. On the eleventh day, I could sense the presence of another Mirrorsnow Painting.”

  Teleportation was impossible within the borders of the Brightshore Kingdom. One would have to slowly fly from destination to destination.

  “To go from the arrival area to the Astral Islands…” Ning engaged in a bit of calculation and was able to easily calculate the rough location of the Mirrorsnow Painting.

  Those two silver-armored Daolords had flown in a straight line, and the painting was roughly a quarter of the distance between the arrival area and the Astral Islands.

  “Eh? The Mirrorsnow Painting isn’t that far away from Youji’s position. I won’t have to make as much of a detour as I thought.” Ning was quite delighted.

  Swoosh! His flying vessel transformed into a streak of light and sped off into the distance.

  Ning had given Su Youji a message talisman. Due to the great distance which separated them, he was only able to get a rough sense of the direction where she was located. He flew for three full months, and on the way he sensed the auras of quite a few Daolords. Those Daolords could sense that Ning belonged to the Twelve Palaces and so they naturally had no interest in causing trouble for Ning. Still, this journey gave Ning a good understanding of how dangerous the Brightshore Kingdom was.

  Ning was ambushed multiple times on his trip. Clearly, the Brightshore Kingdom was a rather chaotic and brutal place. There was even more strife here than there was in the territory controlled by the Dao Alliance. Unfortunately for those poor bandits who attempted to waylay Ning, they quickly discovered that they had kicked a metal plate! The results of their attempts were foregone conclusions.

  “Eh? A ripple!” The flying vessel quickly began to slow down and descend from its position within the clouds. The white-robed Ning was seated in the lotus position, a sword across his lap. Ning opened his eyes, a look of eagerness in his gaze.

  “That ripple is coming from the Mirrorsnow Painting!” Ning could sense the resonance being generated by his own three Mirrorsnow Paintings. “I didn’t expect that after a thousand years, that painting would still remain in this location.”

  …….

  Deep underneath a lake that was located a ten billion kilometers away from Ning. There was a beautiful palace located here in the depths, filled with many maids and guards.

  “Eh?” Within a side hall of this palace was an azure-scaled creature who was leaning against a throne while sipping some wine. The creature’s face suddenly tightened ,causing the maid who had been giving him a neck massage to be badly startled.

  “A Mirrorsnow Painting? Wait, three of them?” The azure-scaled creature was both shocked and delighted… but then, his face tightened once more.

  A thousand years ago, when Ning had passed by this place after being abducted, this creature had already sensed the presence of those paintings. He was in possession of a copy, allowing him to sense the presence of three other copies. He had been quite delighted, but as soon as he saw those two silver-armored Daolords who ignored him he had immediately realized that it was most likely an abducted World-level cultivator who was in possession of the paintings.

  “Those are the same three copies I sensed last time. Did one of those World-level cultivators escape from the Astral Islands already?” The azure-scaled creature narrowed his eyes.

  Swoosh! He transformed into a streak of light, almost instantly emerging from his aquatic palace. He soon emerged from the lake, lifting his head up out of the water to stare upwards.

  Following the resonance, he turned his rather dark and icy gaze to stare towards that flying vessel that was ten billion kilometers away. He was able to see the vessel quite clearly, as well as the white-robed youth aboard the vessel.

  “He’s not a Daolord. He’s just a World-level cultivator.” The azure-scaled creature was immediately delighted. He guessed that this person had most likely discovered him, and so he no longer hid his presence. He immediately sent out his godsense, sweeping it out to a distance of ten billion kilometers.

  “He’s actually by himself? He’s the only one on his ship?” The azure-scaled creature grew increasingly excited. “It makes sense. He came out of the Astral Islands. Those people who leave the islands usually travel by themselves; it is quite rare for them to move around in groups. Even if he does have some subordinates in an estate-world treasure, they probably aren’t that strong given the fact that they are hiding.”

  The azure-scaled creature let out a cold grin. “So you have three of the paintings but you want mine as well? How greedy. This fellow seems quite confident.” The azure-scaled creature slipped below the waves once more, quickly returning to his underwater palace.

  The underwater palace.

  As soon as the azure-scaled creature returned to his palace, he headed straight towards the main hall. He picked up an enormous thigh-bone and then began to bang on a nearby drum with it. Boom! The drum emanated a series of ripples that instantly spread throughout the entire hall. One person after another began to emerge from locations throughout the palace, and all of them possessed auras of tremendous power that were at least as strong as the azure-scaled creature’s aura.

  “Azurekai.”

  “Azurekai, why have you suddenly summoned us?”

  “You even banged on the royal dragon drum. What is this all about?”

  Soon, a total of twenty-six World-level experts appeared within the main hall. All of them could be considered cultivators, but they were all cultivators of various aquatic races. This was why they had placed their palace within the lake.

  “Something wonderful has happened.” The azure-skinned creature let out a loud laugh. “Ten billion kilometers away, there is a World-level cultivator who is flying towards us at high speed.”

  “Flying straight for us? A World-level cultivator?”

  “Is he suicidal?”

  The World-level experts present were all puzzled.

  The azure-scaled creature said hurriedly, “He’s from the Astral Islands. There’s a bit of a grudge between the two of us.” He didn’t dare to admit that it was due to the Mirrorsnow Paintings, because those paintings were simply too valuable. Between the two of them, they held a total of four Mirrorsnow Paintings… this was a fortune that would cause even Daolords to grow desirous. If he admitted it, his ‘friends’ would probably start to bicker with him over the items.

  “I once won a treasure off of him, but he had two sets of that treasure. These treasures resonate with each other, which is why he has followed me to this place,” the azure-scaled creature said. “He has an incredibly high number of treasures. After we kill him… I don’t want anything special, just those three paintings he holds. What do you say?”

  “Three paintings?” The other World-level cultivators were instantly able to guess that the three paintings were fairly valuable.

  “His other treasures won’t disappoint you either.” The azure-scaled creature frowned. “He came from the Astral Islands, but he was merely on par with me in strength. If the twenty-seven of us fight together, we can easily kill him.”

  “If he came from the Astral Islands, he might’ve joined the Twelve Palaces.”

  “Don’t worry.” The azure-scaled creature swept them with his gaze, then let out a cold laugh. “I came from the Astral Islands. I know it better than anyone else. Everyone who was directly admitted into the Twelve Palaces was
an absolute monster. Very few were allowed entrance! The vast majority who escaped that place did so because they were lucky enough to piece together a full legacy. That fellow is probably on par with me at best! Even if we are unlucky enough to encounter someone freakishly strong… no matter how much of a freak he is, he can’t possibly fight the twenty-seven of us together. I’m telling you, this genius had many treasures on him.”

  The others instantly grew excited and intrigued.

  “We are the twenty-seven Waterfiend Lords of the Royal Dragon Palace. There’s no way we’d be afraid of him.”

  “Kill him and take his treasures.”

  “Kill him.”

  The twenty-seven Waterfiend Lords of the Royal Dragon Palace were incredibly famous in this area. There were all members of aquatic races who had trained to the World-level, but only those who had reached certain levels of strength would be granted entry into this small squad. Within the Brightshore Kingdom, the powerful sects were generally guarded by Daolords, but most of them had rather strict rules. The Brightshore Kingdom was filled with many dangers and many fortunes; to locate good techniques or legacies wasn’t very hard here. Thus, many unaffiliated World-level cultivators ended up joining into minor groups to work together.

  World God Azurekai had relied on his own power to escape the Astral Islands. Although he didn’t enter the Twelve Palaces, he just missed the cutoff by a tiny amount. He was the second most powerful individual in the palace, which was why others came when he called.

  “That kid just emerged from the Astral Islands. He has no idea about our Royal Dragon Palace.” The azure-skinned man said hurriedly, “Everyone, stay patient. Let’s wait here inside our palace. Our palace has formations and restrictive spells protecting it; this will prevent him from realizing how many of us are here. After he reaches the outside of our palace, we’ll charge out and surround him. We won’t even give him a chance to run.”

  “Right.”

  “We are hiding in the shadows while he is standing in the light. So what if he made it out of the Astral Islands? We aren’t pushovers either!”