Desolate Era

by RWX

  The reason why this transmission had been such a painful and arduous one to accept was primarily because each and every memory fragment contained scenes of the Eternel Emperor personally displaying his sword-arts. A large amount of stances were included, as were various types of sword-intent.

  “The [Heartseal] sword-art can be separated into four fairly average sword-arts, which can then be separated into ninety-six low-class sword-arts. If you have sufficiently high insights into the sword, it will be easy for you to learn them.

  “I have finished transmitting my sword-arts to you. Now, I shall transmit a divine ability to you, an extremely powerful divine ability that will allow your attacks to explode with power. You will be able to instantly unleash a extreme level of power with it. This divine ability is known as the [Five Seals Sword Dao]…” The transmission of a divine ability was much simpler. It mainly included basic information in how to train in that divine ability, and Ning was able to instantly memorize it all.

  “Oh, right. I left behind four golem servants. They shall follow you, my personal disciple, and protect you. That way, I can guarantee you won’t die too quickly.

  “Mm. I’ve taught you everything I should teach, and I’ve said everything that needs to be said. Train hard and make sure you don’t besmirch my mighty name, dear disciple. If fate wills it, perhaps we shall truly meet in the flesh one day.”

  The transmission came to an end.

  Back within the desolate wilderness.

  The four retainers continued to watch Ning. While Ning had been accepting the transmission, he had been rippling with waves of power. This state had persisted for two full days before he came to a halt and took a rest. The main reason it had taken this long was because it truly was difficult for Ning to completely absorb all of the information in the memory fragments.

  In truth…

  If Ning had personally watched Emperor Mirrorsnow display his sword-arts, he wouldn’t have been able to understand or memorize the truly profound parts. However, Emperor Mirrorsnow had completely transmitted his memories directly into Ning’s mind. Once the process was complete, Ning would never forget those memories unless he personally wiped them away.

  “Eh? Why hasn’t Darknorth woken up yet?”

  “Right. There are no more ripples; the transmission should’ve concluded.”

  “He’s probably training.”

  The four retainers chatted amongst themselves.

  Their guesses were correct. Ning was indeed training. In the Forest of Sword Pagodas, he had only been able to visualize and sense the sword-intents radiating from the pagodas. There was obviously no way he could see or visualize those ancient powers actually displaying their various sword-arts, much less have their memories be directly infused into his mind! The [Heartseal] sword-art was also an incredibly profound sword-art, and one which could be broken down into multiple different sword-arts. This made it extremely easy for Ning to train in.

  Many of the questions he had regarding the Dao of the Sword were wiped clean. He was continuously gaining a deeper and deeper understanding as his sword-arts dramatically improved.

  This explosively effective training session persisted for more than half a month before it finally came to an end.

  “Whew.” Ning opened his eyes.

  “Having a master versus not having one… it really is completely different.” Ning glanced at the world around him in a jubilant mood. He knew that he had just completely changed compared to a month ago.

  Ning now knew how he should advance from the World level all the way to the Eternal Emperor level. In the past, he knew nothing. Now, he knew.

  “I wonder who is stronger? My master Emperor Mirrorsnow, Violetjewel creator Emperor Violetmount, or the creator of the [Nameless] sword-art,” Ning mused. “Still… the Violetjewels are merely middle-grade Eternal weapons. Once I become a Daolord of the First Step, I’ll probably need to switch them out for something else. As for the [Nameless] sword-art, I only have the first seven stances to them.”

  Ning understood that in the future, he would spend much of his time meditating on the [Heartseal] sword-art and learning from it, infusing its mysteries into his own Dao of the Sword.

  “If I could gain the complete [Nameless] sword-art legacy and the complete legacy of Emperor Violetmount, then I would now have three complete legacies. I could simultaneously absorb the teachings and mysteries of all three legacies, then go learn from the Forest of Sword Pagodas. I’ll definitely improve even more quickly then.” When this thought flickered through Ning’s mind, he couldn’t help but grin.

  “Darknorth, was that helpful to you?”

  “It seems you’ve gained quite a bit from it.”

  “Given how strong Darknorth is already, he’ll soon be able to break through to become a Daolord whenever he wishes.” The four retainers all spoke out when Ning woke up.

  Ning smiled and nodded. “I indeed can break through to become a Daolord. However, that path is not my path.”

  The Unicorn’s Domain had indeed been dramatically improved.

  The Unicorn’s Domain was a path akin to the fisherman’s path. Emperor Mirrorsnow’s [Heartseal] sword-art could be divided into four sword-arts, one of which was the [Fisherman’s Sword]. Ning’s highest level of attainment in recent years was in the Unicorn’s Domain, which was his Unicorn’s Domain had dramatically improved just half a month after Ning had received the legacy. Ning could already sense that his accomplishments in the Unicorn’s Domain were enough for him to use it as his core foundation to rebuild his divine body and become a Daolord of the First Step.

  Samsara Daolords. Each step they took resulted in their divine bodies being completely reconstituted! If you took a single wrong step, you would cause your body to crumble. You would die and your Dao would vanish.

  “Just as Emperor Mirrorsnow said, although all four sword-arts which make up the [Heartseal] sword-art can allow a person to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, they will result in mediocrity.” Ning secretly shook his head. Just becoming a Daolord was not enough.

  * * *

  Book 27, Chapter 12 - The Twelve Scrolls of the Sutra of Eternity

  “The four of you.” Ji Ning looked at the four surrounding him. “According to what my master told me, you four shall follow me in the future, right?”

  “Right.” The four all nodded.

  “Might I ask how strong the four of you are?” Ning asked.

  “The four of us are roughly comparable to peak-level Daolords of the Third Step. But of course, the swordsman’s sword-arts are a bit better, making him slightly more powerful,” the golden-robed emperor said.

  Ning couldn’t help but feel stunned. All four golems were comparable to peak Daolords of the Third Step?

  This was the legacy which his master had left behind for him? The more masters like this, the better!

  “Golems comparable to Verge-level Daolords are too expensive. The Eternal Emperor did have one such golem, but he ended up selling it to procure forty golems comparable to peak Daolords of the Third Step for his personal disciples like you,” the golden-robed emperor said.

  Ning was speechless.

  Alright, fine. Maybe he had gone a bit too far in mentally praising his master. Still, Ning did know that golems with the strength of Verge-level Daolords were indeed quite expensive, and forging them was no easy task. After all, true Verge-level Daolords not only had considerable Immortal energy and divine power, they also had mighty magic treasures and high insights into the Dao. To have a mere golem be a match for one of them was extremely difficult. Daolord Allgod was an incredibly skilled artificer, but even he had been only able to painstakingly forge a single Verge-level golem.

  The Sword Palace had collected many golems over the course of countless years, but even it had only acquire a total of nine Verge-level golems. Those golems were the ones titled Swordone through Swordnine.

  Although the Daolord Cloudworld had many golems within it, those were all fairl
y weak. The strongest were probably just on par with the four standing right in front of Ning.

  “If you are to follow me, should I bind you all?” Ning asked. He was too weak right now; there was no way for him to forcibly bind them.

  “Unacceptable.”

  “Per the Eternal Emperor’s instructions, we can each only help you out a single time prior to you defeating us in battle. Once you are able to defeat us, we’ll permit you to bind us and be your eternal servants.” The emperor, the swordsman, the fisherman, and the assassin all refused in solemn fashion.

  Ning was instantly speechless.

  Fine.

  Most likely, Emperor Mirrorsnow was afraid that he would rely on the golems too much and so had restricted him to using them a single time. He probably just wanted to ensure that his disciples wouldn’t be killed while they were weak if they were unlucky enough to be trapped in a dangerous situation.

  “Just one time each. Still, that’ll keep me alive in dangerous situations.” Ning was in quite a good mood.

  “The divine ability my master taught me makes it so that someone with the body of a half-step Daolord is able to match a full Daolord of the First Step. Unfortunately, my azureflower mist energy ensures that I already am comparable to a Daolord of the First Step, and it lasts for a very long period of time.” Ning shook his head. This divine ability really was somewhat useless to him.

  If he used it, his divine power would probably run dry after a short battle. How could it possibly last as long as the azureflower mist energy in battle?

  “The most valuable part of the legacy were those memory fragments which Master transmitted to me.” Ning couldn’t help but feel excited. Although there had been legacies in the Astral Islands, those legacies consisted of simple information which any cultivator could learn and make use of. Those legacies within the Astral Islands would be transmitted to countless cultivators over the course of aeons, and they weren’t truly valuable.

  These memory fragments of Emperor Mirrorsnow could only be transmitted a single time, and their creation had involved the Eternal Emperor infusing his own divine will into them.

  ……

  The Brightshore Kingdom. The imperial palace.

  Rumble…

  The blazing beast stood there in a region of empty stace, staring at the distant, towering behemoth. Golden light began to radiate from the behemoth’s giant eyes, and the light completely swallowed the blazing beast.

  Within that barrier of golden light, many mysteries and secrets were being transmitted to the blazing beast in an endless stream.

  “GRWAAAR!” The blazing beast’s body trembled from the pain. Every so often, flames would flicker and burst out in the area around him.

  Finally, the golden light dissipated.

  “Hegemon.” The blazing beast revealed a look of delight as he stared at the distant, towering behemoth.

  “After twelve separate transmissions, you have completely memorized the twelve scrolls of the [Sutra of Eternity]. Our race has very few members, and those who are suitable for my legacies are even fewer. Long, long ago, our race was forcibly enslaved by the Ancient cultivators. The Ancients are on par with us in terms of innate gifts, but they have many legacies. I was once fortunate enough to acquire a legacy left behind by a senior of our race, a set of ten scrolls called the [Ten Scrolls of Eternity]. It was thanks to that legacy that I was able to train to my present level, and I perfected them and supplemented them, transforming them into the [Twelve Scrolls of Eternity].

  “In this era, our race is on an equal footing with the Ancients, precisely because of the [Twelve Scrolls of Eternity]. These twelve scrolls include all things with them. No matter what path you choose, it will be of assistance to you, which is why I will transmit this legacy to every single member of our race.

  “Child… as of right now, I am the only member of our race who has broken through to become an Eternal Emperor. I hope you will be the second one of our race,” the towering behemoth concluded.

  “Yes, Hegemon.” The blazing beast was incomparably excited. In recent years, he had come to learn much of the history of his race from the time he had spent in the imperial palace. He naturally now felt a tremendous sense of kinship and belonging! As for these [Twelve Scrolls of Eternity], they included virtually all Daos. This caused him to feel even more awe towards the almighty Hegemon.

  “Choose an imperial name for yourself,” the towering behemoth instructed.

  “When I was born and gained consciousness, I gave myself a name, ‘God of Sky and Fire’. Let my name be Skyfire of the Brightshore Imperials,” the blazing beast said.

  A look of amusement appeared in the towering behemoth’s eyes. ‘God of Sky and Fire’?

  The members of his race were only born from the primordial chaos under certain, very unique situations. They were incredibly few in number, and if it wasn’t for the fact that the Hegemon went out of his way to hunt for them, many would probably wander the primordial chaos for countless years by themselves. Generally speaking, they would choose rather odd names for themselves. ‘God of Sky and Fire’ was a fairly amusing one.

  “Spend some time training in the [Twelve Scrolls of Eternity]. I will give you a thousand years. A thousand years later, I’ll send you into an alternate universe, which will be your first training grounds,” the towering behemoth said.

  “Yes, Hegemon.” The blazing beast was very excited, and he knew he neded time to study the [Twelve Scrolls of Eternity]. Actually, after he learnt this precious technique he would continue to rise in power even as he roamed the outside world.

  This was how the Brightshore Kingdom worked. After the most powerful World-level cultivators were selected and recruited, they would receive endless legacies and secret arts from the Twelve Palaces. The same was true for the imperial clan. New entrants to the imperial clan would also be forced to undergo certain tempering experiences, after which they would be transmitted the [Twelve Scrolls of Eternity].

  ……

  The imperial palace. There were thirteen royal thrones here hanging high in the skies.

  The white-haired, six-horned old man dressed in snowy robes spoke out. “A thousand years from now, I will select the four most powerful World-level cultivators and have them accompany Skyfire Brightshore to the alternate universe. It will be up to them to make the most out of it.”

  “A thousand years?”

  “So we have another thousand years.”

  Now that the twelve golden-armored powers knew exactly how long they had, they began to be filled with anticipation.

  Time flowed on. More and more of the cultivators who had been acknowledged by the pagodas and who had been out adventuring within the Brightshore Kingdom began to return, responding to the summons of the Twelve Palaces.

  “Senior apprentice-brother Wildfire, I heard from Lord Woodflower that a great opportunity awaits us?”

  “Yes. Everyone acknowledged by the pagodas will have a chance at it. However, only the four most powerful members of the Twelve Palaces will be granted it.”

  “Just four?”

  ……

  The Palace of the Sword.

  Two youngsters were striding within it. One was the red-haired Wildfire, whereas the other was an icy-faced child who was wielding a shortspear.

  “We don’t have much time left, just nine hundred years,” Wildfire warned.

  “I plan to spend the next nine hundred years in the Forest of Sword Pagodas,” the icy child said.

  “I’m planning to do the same. I’m going to spend my time in meditation.” Wildfire agreed with this idea. The Forest of Sword Pagodas was the most sacred place within the entire Sword Palace. It had many sword-arts which had been personally left behind by the mighty Daolords from a previous era. If you chose to learn from sword-arts that were similar to your own, you would benefit greatly from it.

  The icy child swept the area with his gaze. He saw a distant thatched cottage, and within that cottage sat the whit
e-robed Ji Ning.

  “Who is that?” The icy child asked curiously.

  “His name is Darknorth. He’s a newly arrived junior apprentice-brother,” Wildfire said.

  “Why is he using a temporal acceleration treasure? Has he been acknowledged by the Sword Pagodas as well? Is he also trying to seize every moment to train?” The icy child asked.

  “No.” Wildfire shook his head. “He’s new, and as soon as he came here he began to use a temporal acceleration treasure. He’s probably trying to finish something as fast as he can.”

  The icy child nodded.

  Normally, cultivators wouldn’t go out of their way to use temporal acceleration treasures, as they didn’t make much of a difference. The more one trained, the more those moments of epiphany mattered. Only when there was a pressing need would people use temporal acceleration treasures.

  “Our opponents shall be all the World-level cultivators who were acknowledged by their respective pagodas. Senior apprentice-brother Wildfire, you’ll be one of my opponents as well.” The icy child looked at Wildfire.

  “I won’t take it easy on you.” Wildfire chuckled as well.

  The two didn’t care about Ji Ning at all. Right now, all of the talented geniuses of the Twelve Palaces who had been acknowledged by their pagodas were trying to seize every moment to strengthen themselves as much as they could.

  Ning, however, knew of none of this. He was still completely absorbed in his cultivation.

  He had the memories of his master, Emperor Mirrorsnow, providing him with careful and detailed guidance. He also had the opportunity to analyze the Eternal Emperor’s sword-arts and compare them to the many sword-arts of the Forest of Sword Pagodas. His level of insight was continuously rising at a pace that was unspeakably faster than before he had acquired the Eternal Emperor’s legacy. Ning enjoyed this process very much, and was completely intoxicated by it.

  And so, in the blink of an eye, more than eight hundred years passed with Ning consumed by his quiet meditations.