Desolate Era

by RWX

  The problem was that Ji Ning was already inside the formation!

  Even so, normal enemies would not have been able to prevent them from entering their various formation-cores. The problem was that Ning had the Elementum Waterflame Gourd, allowing him to wipe out all of them at one ago. Alas, nineteen World-level cultivators were permanently stationed in some of the formation-cores at all times, and so some of the formations were still activatable.

  “If the nineteen of you do not get involved, I won’t act against you.” Ning’s voice boomed out once more. “But if you try to stop me… I guarantee that I will kill you all, no matter how much time and effort it takes.”

  Instantly, the nineteen World-level cultivators within the formation-cores began to hesitate.

  Should they get involved in this? If they didn’t get involved, they wouldn’t be in any danger. But if they did get involved and were unable to kill this mysterious expert, they would be in for a world of hurt.

  “Kill him! Later, I’ll give all nineteen of you an equal share of his treasures.” The Eastsmoke leader spoke out using his Immortal energy through his formation.

  “Kill him.”

  “We are inside our formation. There’s no way he can touch us.”

  “Kill him and his treasures will be ours.”

  “If we act, we have to make sure we get rid of him.”

  Three of the World-level cultivators chose not to get involved and instead just watch, but the other sixteen elected to activate their formations out of greed. Activating all the formations would require sixty cultivators, and they were only sixteen of them in position. Only a small part of the power of the formations had been unleashed, but they still felt quite confident. They trusted in the might of Daolord Bluegrace’s formation.

  Rumble…

  Multiple formations throughout the region began to activate!

  Ning raised his head to stare into the skies, his eyes as cold as death.

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 55 - The Formations Activate

  The Eastsmoke leader was in charge of the most important formation. This was the one preventing Ji Ning from leaving.

  As for the other sixteen, they were able to control roughly eight other formations. Three of them were meant for bewildering opponents while the other five were meant for launching attacks.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The enormous illusion of a axe slowly began to manifest in the air, drawing upon more and more of the power of Heaven and Earth as it corporealized. The illusion became increasingly solid, and its aura continued to increase.

  “The power of this divine axe is so great that even a hundred World Gods would be slain by a single chop.” Fairy Qingfan had already hidden herself inside the estate behind Ning, and she watched all this happen with concern.

  Rumble…

  Thunder rang out, shaking both the heavens and the earth as streaks of lightning began to appear. These were all streaks of Chaos lightning, but they were so numerous that they still possessed tremendous power.

  An axe, lightning bolts, flames, black mist, a divine sword… all five attacking formations had been activated. The three bewildering formations also began to unleash their power as well.

  “Hmph. How laughable.” Ning simply stood there. His soul was so strong and his will was so resolute that all of the bewildering illusions were useless against him. It must be understood that not even a Heartforce Cultivator like Bertulu had been successful in using illusions to deceive Ning, to say nothing of these formations. These formations were designed to be used against World-level cultivators. They were completely useless against Ning.

  “Break!!!”

  Ning raised his head to the skies and let out a furious howl.

  The two mighty streaks of Dao lightning immediately blasted out once more, striking towards the enormous axe, the Chaos lightning, the flames, the black mist, and the divine sword.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  One explosion after another could be heard as the Dao lightning began to battle the five offensive formations.

  The first to be destroyed was the Chaos lightning. Next was the strange, billowing black mist, which was wiped out by the supremely yang-attribute, forceful, and destructive Dao lightning. As for the giant greataxe and the divine sword, they contained so much condensed power that not even the Dao lightning could shake them! The destruction of the Chaos lightning and the strange black fog had used up a tremendous amount of the Dao lightnings’ power. In the end, it was only able to slightly weaken the blazing, Fiendgod-shaped flames.

  “Kill!” The blazing Fiendgod flew through the air, roaring furiously as flames erupted in its wake.

  “Kill!” The enormous greataxe hanging in the air quickly descended like a scythe, chopping down towards Ning with fury.

  “Kill.” The divine sword hanging in the air descended tip-first as it stabbed straight towards Ning.

  “Die. Die! DIE!” The Eastsmoke branch leader gritted his teeth as he watched from within the main palace. He repeated the word ‘die’ over and over again, hoping that when the power of these three formations descended they would utterly annihilate this white-robed brat.

  “You have to do. You HAVE to die.” The sixteen World-level cultivators controlling the formations watched eagerly as well.

  It was forbidden for members of the Twelve Palaces to fight amongst themselves, but ordinary World-level cultivators often dreamed of having the chance to slay a member of the Twelve Palaces! The status difference between the two was as great as the difference between the heavens and the earth, after all. However, the difference in power was similarly great, and those who were capable of completing such a momentous task were few and far between.

  They now had a chance to accomplish such a deed… and if they won, they would gain access to this terrifyingly powerful World God’s treasures.

  “Ji Ning…” Fairy Qingfan raised her head to stare at the blazing Fiendgod, the enormous greataxe, and the divine sword.

  “I wonder what will happen?”

  The other World-level cultivators who were simply watching on the sidelines stared as the three weapons descended towards that tiny white-robed figure.

  “Hmph.” Ning suddenly let out an angry snort, instantly expanding in size to become a three-headed, six-armed Fiendgod who was more than thirty thousand meters tall. His six enormous palms were large enough to blot out the skies, and he swept them towards the three attacking formations.

  “Kill! Kill!” The blazing Fiendgod continued to bellow furiously.

  BOOM! BOOM!

  Ning was using the same sword-art with all six of his palms – the Heavenbreaker stance!

  This strike focused on using raw strength and power to overwhelm and crush foes in a head-on clash! After his experiences in the Astral Islands, Ning’s [Brightmoon] sword-art had become dramatically more powerful as well. They were now comparable to the sixth stance of the [Nameless] sword-art! Ning’s Heavenbreaker stance now had a similar aura of overwhelming dominance as the third stance of the [Quintessence Sword-Intent], the Astral stance, but it was even more direct and brutish in its might.

  BANG! BANG! Two of the mighty palms slammed into blazing Fiendgod in succession. The blazing Fiendgod bellowed furiously as it attempted to fight back… but as the two palms simultaneously collided with it, its body began to break apart.

  BOOM! Two enormous palms slammed direct into the chopping greataxe in a frontal collision. The result was the the greataxe was actually shaken into pieces, causing it to dissipate.

  The final two palms smashed straight towards that descending sword.

  In the blink of an eye, Ning had transformed into a towering Fiendgod, manifested three heads and six arms, then used his six palms to crush all three attacks. This sight caused all of the World-level cultivators in the Eastsmoke branch to fall silent.

  “B-but…”

  “How can he be this strong?”

  “Thank goodness I didn’t get involved!”
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br />   They all stared slack-jawed, especially Fairy Qingfan. She was completely dazed! “Youji mainly relied on her bugbeasts and golems! She herself wasn’t that powerful. When this Ji Ning guy took out one of those legendary Elementum Waterflame Gourds, I thought that he had to be just like Youji, someone who relied on magic treasures. I never imagined that he himself is even more powerful than those treasures! H-he… he must be close to a Daolord in might!”

  “That blazing Fiendgod, in terms of raw strength alone, was actually comparable to a Daolord of the First Step. Unfortunately, its insights into the Dao were so poor that it was even weaker than ordinary World-level cultivators in this regard.” Ning couldn’t help but shake his head. “As for that axe and the sword, they were materialized with many profound mysteries and were actually quite strong. Unfortunately, all the power they contained was used up after a single strike.”

  The weakness of the blazing Fiendgod was that it possessed a very low level of insight into the Dao. As for the greataxe and the divine sword, they had no staying power. They were only able to stay materialized for a brief period of time at their maximum level of power. Ning, however, was a cultivator and was thus able to fight at maximum power for quite some time.

  “All things crumble before the face of my Heavenbreaker stance,” Ning said calmly.

  This was the fifth stance of the [Brightmoon] sword-art, the Heavenbreaker stance. This was Ning’s most physically powerful attack, an attack relying on overwhelming might! It was far more ferocious and forceful than the Blood Drop stance or the Shadowless stance. However, the Blood Drop stance had better penetration while the Shadowless stance was more unpredictable. When Ning battled against powerful cultivators, he generally tended to use some of the other stances, but when faced with these fairly weak formations it was actually the Heavenbreaker stance which was the most suitable attack.

  “What should I do? What should I do?!” The Eastsmoke leader began to freak out, his eyes turning red with panic. “The formations can’t kill him. What should I do?”

  “Branch leader, what should we do?”

  “How are supposed to beat him?”

  The other sixteen World-level cultivators in charge of those eight formations began to panic as well.

  The Eastsmoke leader’s eyes were now bloodshot. Through his formation, he howled furiously, “No need to be afraid! He must have used some sort of incredibly powerful divine ability in order to be able to unleash such tremendous might! The more powerful a divine ability is, the more divine power it uses up. He’s probably using up divine power a thousand times faster than he would in a ‘normal’ battle. There’s no way he’ll be able to sustain this, but our formations will ensure that we can continue to launch attacks without pause.”

  “Right.”

  “Let’s kill him through attrition.”

  “There’s no way he’ll be able to launch too many of those attacks.”

  They had already made an enemy out of Ji Ning. If they were to now let him leave… unacceptable! The only choice was to follow this path to its conclusion.

  They were using formations, and so they were able to draw upon the endless amount of natural energy that existed in the world. The formations were also powered by chaos jewels, ensuring that the controllers didn’t have to use up too much of their own Immortal energy. They’d be able to keep fighting for an extended period of time.

  An illusion of an axe, an illusion of a sword, a black mist, a flaming giant, and lightning bolts once more began to form in midair.

  Ning glanced upwards at them, then shook his head.

  Attrition?

  With each attack, the formations would have to build up power for quite some time before striking out. Ning himself was being reinforced by his azureflower mist energy and actually wasn’t using much of his own normal power. In a battle like this, the rate at which he absorbed energy from the outside world was actually faster than the rate at which he used it up.

  Swoosh. Ning suddenly stepped forward, transforming into a streak of light that flew straight into the air.

  “He’s moving.”

  “He’s flying towards the main palace.”

  Many World-level cultivators were watching this fight nervously. They didn’t dare to take part in this battle at all, because even if all of them joined forces they would still be butchered by this white-robed youth! The difference between a World-level cultivator and a Daolord of the First Step was simply enormous. Ji Ning had a much lower level of insight compared to a Daolord of the First Step prior to the almighty Hegemon abducting him, but he was now on equal terms with an actual Daolord of the First Step.

  As Ning flew forwards, he suffered yet another waves of attacks, but he was once more able to use his six giant palms to effortlessly crush the attackers.

  “He’s coming for me.” When the Eastsmoke branch leader saw the towering white-robed youth fly towards him, an ugly look appeared on his face.

  “Break for me!” Ning let out a cold roar as his six giant palms sliced through the air, striking simultaneously at the main palace of the Eastsmoke branch. The Eastsmoke leader was hiding within the main palace, and he was as small as an ant compared to the six mighty palms that were descending.

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 56 - Ji Nings Slaves

  The area around the main palace was surrounded by rings of light. When the six colossal heaven-covering hands came crashing down, only the outermost layer of light was shattered, and they regenerated almost instantly.

  “Ahahaha! There’s no way you’ll be able to break through.” The Eastsmoke leader was overjoyed upon seeing this. He stood there in the main palace, a cold smile on his lips. “This is the main palace. This is the most important part of the Eastsmoke branch, and it possesses the strongest defenses. It is guarded by eight layers of defenses, and you were only able to breach one of them. You aren’t even close! Since you can’t kill me, you’ll be the one to die. I refuse to believe you’ll be able to keep this divine ability of yours active indefinitely.”

  Ji Ning stared down towards him from his position in the skies. Ning nodded slowly as he mused to himself, “The main palace lives up to its reputation. This is the source of power for the entire restrictive formation”

  The grand restrictive formation protecting this place required a formation-core, and the formation-core was under the control of the Eastsmoke branch leader and located in the tightly guarded main palace.

  “It seems I’ll have to use my full power.” A hint of a smile played at the corner of Ning’s lips. He then reached out with one hand towards his back, taking a firm hold over the sword which he had been carrying on his back this entire time.

  “He’s about to draw his sword.”

  “He’s been carrying that sword along this entire time. It seems that sword should be pretty powerful.”

  “I wonder what will happen?”

  The World-level cultivators of the Eastsmoke branch all watched intently, including both Fairy Qingfan and the Eastsmoke leader.

  Clink.

  The sword left its scabbard!

  In the instant that Ning drew his sword, five other swords appeared in his other five hands.

  Six hands, six Eternal swords.

  “Astral stance!” As soon as Ning drew his swords, his six Eternal blades began to gleam with blinding light. They transformed into six streaks of bloody sword-light that descended towards the main palace like a tempest of blood.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  One layer of light after another was shattered. The main palace was guarded by eight formations, and six of them were broken through.

  The shockwaves generated by the powerful collisions spread out in every direction, so strong as to cause even the surrounding mountains to crumble and topple. Countless trees were reduced to dust.

  “What…” The Eastsmoke leader was so frightened that his face turned bone-white. He then swallowed, hard. “Thankfully, he didn’t break through. He won’t be
able to break through.”

  “Is this his true power?” Fairy Qingfan, still standing at the entrance to her estate, stared at the distant Ji Ning and the six mighty swords he was wielding. “No wonder little sister Youji was willing to follow and serve him. How can a World-level cultivator be this powerful.”

  “Oh? It actually didn’t break?” Ning frowned, then raised his head to glance at the restrictive formations above him.

  Swoosh!

  Ning charged high into the skies.

  “I knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on forever. He had to be using up an enormous amount of divine power to unleash those attacks.” A hint of delight appeared on the Eastsmoke leader’s face. Through the formation, he sent a mental message to the other sixteen cultivators. “Keep using your formations to attack him. Don’t be fooled by how powerful he looks. Soon, he won’t be able to fight back at all.”

  “Right. He’s relying on his own power whereas we are relying on our formation.”

  “He won’t be able to overpower us.”

  The World-level cultivators continued to use their formations to attack.

  “Impudent!” Ning frowned as he saw the greataxe, the sword, and the blazing Fiendgod charged towards him once more.

  Whoosh.

  Three streaks of bloody sword-light shot out into the skies, completely shattering the three oncoming attacks. Now that Ning was using his Eternal swords, these formations were nothing to him at all.

  “Since I cannot break through the main palace with a full-force strike, I should give this grand restrictive formation a try.” Ning flew high into the air, head raised as he stared at the barrier in front of him. Although he knew that this barrier had to be extremely tough, he still wanted to give it a try.

  “Go.” Six streaks of sword-light shot out like six meteors, simultaneously raining down together upon a thirty-meter region of the grand restrictive formation. Although the formation covered a region of ten million kilometers, Ning focused all of his attacks on one point. This would make piercing through it easier.