Desolate Era

by RWX

  As a result, the Genesis Lands held many Daolords as well as quite a few World-level cultivators. If it wasn’t for the law against combat, the World-level cultivators would’ve been wiped out long ago.

  “New arrivals?” The horned expert grinned merrily as he landed aboard their flying vessel.

  “Greetings, senior.” Ning and the others bowed respectfully.

  “Able to enter the Genesis Lands despite merely being at the World level. Not bad at all!” The horned expert grinned as he praised them. “I was only able to come to this place after I became a Daolord. Come, come! Bring me your finest wine and your best food and let me have a taste. In exchange, I, Owlbath, shall impart unto you some of the rules and secrets regarding the Genesis Lands.”

  “Please be welcome, senior.”

  “Please have a taste, senior.”

  Ning and the others all hurriedly took out all sorts of fine food and wine.

  “Not bad at all. Glug, glug. Hey, this wine is pretty good too. Can I have some more?” The horned expert didn’t just eat and drink, he even stashed some of the food away for later without seeming to feel the slightest bit embarrassed.

  The horned expert burped, then chortled merrily with half-lidded eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat all of your food for nothing. The Genesis Lands is an enormous place. If you just run around randomly, you may very well end up dying here.”

  Ning and the others listened silently, the very picture of innocent obedience.

  “The Genesis Lands can be roughly divided into two parts; the ‘outer reaches’ and the ‘inner reaches’. The true name of the ‘inner region’ is actually the Prime Reaches, and it holds the innermost core and prime essences of this entire universe. There are many deceased ancient powers located within the Prime Reaches, and it is the most important location in our entire universe.” The horned expert said casually, “Every single cultivator would dream of being able to enter the Prime Reaches of the Genseis Lands. The Prime Reaches are located at the very center, and you’ll be able to recognize it as soon as you see it.” Glug, glug, glug. He raised his head and drank several more mouthfuls of wine.

  Ning and the others all nodded. Actually, they knew all of this already! Moksha the golem had told Ning long ago about this.

  “Every single World-level cultivator capable of entering the Genesis Lands is a genius,” the horned expert said. “But perhaps just one in a hundred of them are capable of entering the inner reaches!”

  Ning and the others were stunned. Just one in a hundred? This was their first time hearing this number. Generally speaking, the World-level cultivators who were able to enter this place were all capable of becoming Daolords whenever they chose! Who would’ve thought that entering the inner reaches would be this difficult?

  “But the outer reaches aren’t a bad place to be either. The outer reaches were formed when the universe itself was born, and it contains many mysterious places and many hidden fortunes,” the horned expert said. “I myself stay out here in the outer reaches. Alas… while one in a hundred World-level cultivators are able to enter the inner reaches, things are much worse for us Daolords. Perhaps just one in ten thousand Daolords are able to enter the inner reaches!”

  “The outer reaches are filled with treasures, but the inner reaches are absolutely incredible. Almost all of the Eternal Emperors will venture into the inner reaches in search of treasures.” A mysterious look suddenly flashed through the horned expert’s eyes. “Have you heard? Shortly after the master of the Church of Annihilation became an Eternal Emperor, he entered the inner reaches… and then, for some reason, he became terrifyingly strong, strong enough to unify our entire universe and force all the major powers in it to submit to him.”

  “Oh?” Ning and the others were growing increasingly curious.

  Almost all the Eternal Emperors would enter the place? It was the Prime Reaches which gave the master of the Church of Annihilation his incredible power, allowing him to unify this universe?

  “Everyone says that the Prime Reaches are filled with endless possibilities. Just three chaos cycles ago, a Daolord managed to acquire a Universe treasure within the Prime Reaches,” the horned expert said in a mysterious manner.

  “A Universe treasure?” Solewind and Skyfire were both shocked. As for Greatjoy and Ning, they revealed puzzled looks.

  What exactly was a Universe treasure?

  Upon seeing this, the horned expert grinned. “It seems as though some of you, my young friends, haven’t heard this phrase before. Actually, even I only heard of these treasures after entering the Genesis Lands. Eternal treasures are powerful, but above them… there is a legendary rank of supremely powerful treasures which are known as Universe treasures. They are often also referred to as Supreme treasures. These are truly incredible treasures which even Eternal Emperors would go wild over. They are incredibly powerful, and they are incredibly mysterious.”

  “Alas.” The horned expert shook his head. “Universe treasures are truly supreme treasures; there’s no way you can bind them by force! You can only bind a Universe treasure if the treasure itself acknowledges you.”

  Ning, Greatjoy, and the others were all rather stunned.

  At this moment, Heartlord Solewind sent mentally to them, “Darknorth, Greatjoy, Firesurge… Universe treasures are legendary things that are filled with inconceivable amounts of power. They truly are the most supreme eof treasures, and they are both incredibly rare and incredibly valuable. Even Eternal Emperors would drool over the chance to acquire such treasures! Treasures like them can only be hoped for, not actively sought out. Right… Darknorth, your Sword Palace actually holds a Universe treasure known as the ‘Shardsword’.”

  “Shardsword?” Ning was stunned. He remembered now; the first time he entered the Sword Palace, when he entered the Armaments Gorge he had encountered a ‘broken’ shard of a sword that had no price tag and which he couldn’t even move towards.

  Ning still remembered how he had asked the overseers of the Armaments Groge, Swordfive and Swordsix, about that strange sword. Their response had been to tell them that it was clear the sword and Ning were not fated to be together, and that even the two previous Palace Lords of the Sword Palace had not been able to receive the acknowledgment of that sword. Ever since the Shardsword’s original owner had died, the Shardsword had been silent and accepted no others.

  “So that ‘broken’ sword was actually a Universe treasure. No wonder not even the two Palace Lords of the Sword Palace were able to receive its acknowledgment,” Ning mused to himself.

  “Senior, are there Universe treasures within the Prime Reaches?” Solewind couldn’t help but ask.

  “There are.” But the horned expert then shook his head. “According to the history books, over the course of countless years there has been a total of eight Universe treasures who acknowledged the major powers who found them and were willing to follow them out of the Genesis Lands! Supposedly, even more Universe treasures are hidden within the Prime Reaches. To be honest, though… Universe treasures don’t really matter that much. The thing which really drives all the cultivators crazy is the mystery behind the process by which the master of the Church of Annihilation gained such incredible power… but of course, those are the affairs of the most supreme cultivators of our universe. You World-level cultivators don’t need to worry too much about those matters. You aren’t strong enough to get involved just yet.”

  “Still. The Prime Reaches truly are a mysterious place. I’ve never been there before myself, and I imagine none of the eight of you will be able to enter either,” the horned expert said.

  * * *

  Book 28, Chapter 20 - Emperor Maniseal

  “The eight of you will probably stay in the outer reaches as well,” the horned cultivator said. “I’ll tell you a bit about some of the taboos in the outer reaches. The danger in the outer reaches primarily comes from certain mysterious locations.”

  The horned expert began to introduce vari
ous things they had to look out for as well as describe some of the more famous danger zones. Generally speaking, the places with the most opportunities were also the places with the most danger!

  His narration went on for two full hours.

  “Now, let’s speak of cultivators,” the horned expert said. “In the outer reaches, there are many Daolords who reside in seclusion, as well as quite a few World-level cultivators like yourselves who are seeking great fortunes. There’s no need for you to worry too much about these people, so long as you avoid offending the most powerful Daolords. Generally speaking, no one will dare to attack in this place.”

  Ning and the others all nodded.

  “The ones you really need to look out for are the two Eternal Emperors who live in seclusion in the outer reaches,” the horned expert said. “If you irritate them, you’ll be in serious trouble. Even if they kill you, at most they will be given some light punishment by the Church of Annihilation.”

  “One of the two Eternal Emperors is named Emperor Northtree,” the horned expert said. “The other is named Emperor Maniseal.”

  “Emperor Northtree isn’t that worrisome. He probably won’t attack for no reason. Emperor Maniseal, though… you really don’t want to piss him off.” A look of worry could be seen in the horned expert’s eyes. “These days, Emperor Maniseal might start a massacre at the drop of a hat, and even if he did the Church of Annihilation wouldn’t really do anything to him. I’ve heard that even the master of the church is trying to befriend him.”

  “Befriend him?” Ning and the others were puzzled.

  “Emperor Maniseal used to be a very low-key Eternal Emperor, but that arrogant madman Emperor Trislk killed his beloved disciple. This truly enraged him… eheh.” The horned expert shook his head and sighed.

  Ning, Greatjoy, Solewind, Firesurge, and Skyfire felt their hearts clench.

  Emperor Trisilk? They had been worrying about him attacking them for quite some time now.

  “Enraged, Emperor Maniseal began to chase after and hunt down Empero rTrisilk.” The horned expert sighed in true amazement. “The power he displayed was enough to shock everyone in this universe. He was far more powerful than most Eternal Emperors, while Emperor Trisilk had a terrible reputation and had offended many major powers but had been able to survive due to his top-notch survival skills. And yet… Emperor Maniseal has been chasing after him relentlessly, forcing him to flee nonstop. Emperor Trisilk no longer dares to show his face anywhere.”

  Ning and the others all secretly let out sighs of relief. Wonderful. Well done! The more difficult Emperor Trisilk’s straits were, the safer they would be.

  “Emperor Maniseal is most skilled in the Dao of Seals,” the horned expert is. Right now, a Dao-seal clone of his currently lives within the outer reaches.”

  “A Dao-seal clone?” Ning and the others were puzzled.

  “A clone created from a single Dao-seal,” the horned expert said. “Supposedly, it has 80% of the power of his true body! And he has nine of these Dao-seal clones!”

  ‘What?!” Ning and the others could hardly believe it. How could Dao-seal clones be this strong?

  It must be understood that the likes of Daolord Badlands or Daolord Solesky had to spend enormous amounts of treasure and effort in order to create a powerful avatar, and they could only really have one at a time! This was true in both the Endless Territories and in this universe.

  The Dao-seal clones which Emperor Maniseal had created were simply ridiculous.

  “This is a special secret art which only he possesses and only he can use. Not even his disciples have been taught this technique,” the horned expert said. “It is probably a secret art he came up with after he became an Eternal Empror. He’s reached an unfathomably deep level of skill in his Dao of Seals, and has been publicly acknowledged as the number one master of this Dao in the Church of Annihilation! It is precisely due to his unfathomable mastery of this Dao that the master of the Church of Annihilation supposedly wants to befriend him.”

  “He’s currently boiling with rage and the desire to kill right now, and the leaders of the Church of Annihilation are all trying to befriend him. Thus… even if he does kill a few World-level cultivators, no one will be willing to offend him over it.” The horned expert pointed off into the distance. “Look. That place over there? The tallest peak on that levitating mountain? That’s where one of his Dao-seal bodies currently resides.”

  Ning and the others all turned to stare. Roughly ten billion kilometers away from them, there was indeed a levitating ountain peak that emanated ripples of tremendous power. Ning and the others all felt reverence towards this man. He had reached such a level of skill in his craft that he was acknowledged as being the ultimate expert in this entire universe in the Dao of Seals. Most likely, the reason he had been such a low-key figure in the past was precisely because he was completely focused on analyzing Dao-seals.

  Ning and the others felt gratitude towards him. His pursuit of Emperor Trisilk ensured that they would have nothing more to worry about.

  ……

  Within a floating mountain. Inside an ordinary estate.

  “Hmph.”

  Emperor Maniseal was dressed in deep blue Daoist robes and wore a crown on his head. His face was thin and long, while his eyes were quite narrow. He loked very unpleasant right now.

  A youth was kneeling before him. “Master, I went to beg the White Emperor for assistance. The White Emperor said that if you were willing to hand over eight of your ‘Lifeblood’ Dao-seals, he would guarantee that he would be able to convince the master of the Church of Annihilation to bring our second apprentice-brother back to life.”

  “Eight Lifeblood Dao-seals? Hmph. These two… ugh.” Emperor Maniseal might have been a good-tempered man, but he was quaking with rage right now.

  The most highly ranked members in the Church of Annihilation were its master and the sixteen Starkings, but there were differences amongst the Starkings as well. Of the sixteen, there were three known as the Primal Starkings who were very special. Supposedly, they had existed ever since this universe had been created.

  The White Emperor was one of the three Primal Starkings, and was the teacher of the leader of the Church of Annihilation! However, the leader of the Church of Annihilation had eventually become the most powerful figure in the entire universe, overtaking his master and unifying this entire universe.

  “The leader of the Church of Annihilation asked for nine Lifeblood Dao-seals to revive my disciple. As for his master, he asked for just a bit less; ‘just’ eight!” Emperor Maniseal ground his teeth. “These two must have come to a private agreement to rob me blind.”

  Lifeblood Dao-seals represented the highest level of expertise which Emperor Maniseal had reached in the Dao of Seals. They possessed inconceivable amounts of power. If you were slain by a foe, you could rely on it to instantly come back to life!

  A single Lifeblood Dao-seal represented an extra life!

  Over the course of countless years, Emperor Maniseal had used up many treasures via many failed attempts to create these Dao-seals. After all that, he had still created just two of those Lifeblood Dao-seals. Even someone like him, the inventor of these Dao-seals, had a very high chance of failure when creating them. The creation process was simply far too difficult.

  He had asked the master of the Church of Annihilation to reverse the flow of spacetime and revive his beloved disciple. He had loved his second disciple as he would a son. He was willing to pay any price!

  Alas, the leader of the Church of Annihilation had rejected him outright. “Reverse the flows of spacetime and revive a Verge-level Daolord? Impossible. I’ve never even revived one of my retainers or disciples.”

  It had been a clear-cut refusal.

  However, Emperor Maniseal had brought out a half-finished version of his Lifeblood Dao-seal. The leader of the Church had been stunned upon seeing it! Given his exalted status, he immediately recognized how valuable this seal was. He im
mediately changed his tone. “Given how strong I am, only some of the most ancient powers in other universes might pose a threat ot me. If you can give me nine of these Lifeblood Dao-seals, I’ll be willing to bear the price necessary to reverse spacetime and save your disciple.”

  Nine?

  Not only did the creation of these Lifeblood Dao-seals require an enormous amount of treasure, they also took at least three full chaos cycles of time! And… once you made a single mistake, all of the time and wealth you had spent would have gone to waste! Worst of all, creating these Dao-seals required tremendous focus and was extremely tiresome. To stay in such a state for three full chaos cycle, with the results generally being failure… this was just a staggeringly exhausting process.

  It had been countless years since he had come up with this idea, but he had only been able to create two of these seals.

  “My Lifeblood Dao-seals are equivalent to an extra life. Hmph. The leader of the Church truly is greedy.” Emperor Maniseal ground his teeth. “Let’s wait and see. Sooner or later, he’ll seek me out.”

  Emperor Maniseal felt that his Dao-seals were too difficult to create.

  As for the leader of the Church, the leader similarly felt that reversing spacetime to revive a Verge-level Daolord was far too difficult. As for simply killing Emperor Maniseal? That never even came up as a possibility, as the Lifeblood Dao-seal meant that Emperor Maniseal was ost likely the toughest person to kill in this universe.

  ……

  The flying vessel continued to advance. As for Daolord Owlbat, he continued to eat, drink, and boast. Ning’s group simply listened.

  “Any art, when improved to the ultimate level, will possess inconceivable power. Emperor Maniseal has reached incredible heights in the Dao of Seals,” Daolord Owlbath said. “I heard that of the sixteen Starkings, the White Emperor has reached such heights in the Dao of Metal that you can’t even comprehend it.”