Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ning waved his hand again. This time, a small, light green jade bottle appeared within it. A single blood-red fruit that looked like an actual drop of blood flew out from the jade bottle and hung there in the air.

  “I-is that…” The silver-robed Daolord’s face began to turn pale as he stared at the item. A sacred bloodfruit? A skyjewel bloodfruit? This thing was even rarer than the deluxe hellgold, because sacred bloodfruit trees were generally controlled by the ancient, truly supreme powers of the Endless Territories. Even Hegemons would fight over such trees! Thus, the sacred bloodfruit which came from these trees would generally fall into the hands of Hegemon-level individuals. Although every single major organization was willing to spend roughly twenty million cubes to purchase a single sacred bloodfruit, those ancient powers who owned them cared little for chaos nectar and would generally only exchange them for other valuable treasures.

  “These two treasures combined are still a bit lacking.” The silver-robed Daolord looked closely at Ning.

  “A pearl of deluxe hellgold and a skyjewel bloodfruit, if sold on the treasure auction, should have a reserve price of at least sixty million cubes of chaos nectar,” Ning said. “Tell me, what do you think the final price would be?”

  The silver-robed Daolord was startled by the question.

  “Although flying vessels that can move at a hunndred times the speed of light are rare, there are a number that are available for sale,” Ning said. “If you aren’t happy with my offer, I’ll go take it somewhere else.

  “Y-you are seriously such a…” The silver-robed Daolord laughed helplessly. The deluxe hellgold and the skyjewel bloodfruit were indeed quite intriguing, but a flying vessel that could move at a hundred times the speed of light was also extremely valuable. The two really were worth roughly the same.

  “Fine. Plumesoar Hall is willing to enter this deal with you.” The silver-robed Daolord nodded, then glanced downwards. By now, the bidding war had already reached a price of 90 million cubes, but the bids were clearly slowing down.

  “95 million cubes,” the silver-robed Daolord called out.

  “95.5 million cubes,” a different Daolord gritted his teeth and called out.

  “98 million cubes.” The silver-robed Daolord wasn’t interested in wasting time; he immediately raised the price once more.

  Ning, Su Youji, and Pillsaint were all a bit surprised. The silver-robed Daolord glanced at the three of them, then chuckled. “Making bids on our own treasures is actually quite common. If the real bids on the best treasures aren’t high enough, we’ll just ‘buy’ some of them ourselves.”

  Ning and the others couldn’t help but let out startled laughs. It seemed as though Plumesoar Hall really did refuse to lose money on any of these treasure trades.

  In truth, to the massively powerful organizations within the Dao Alliance like the Skywood Sect, chaos nectar wasn’t really all that valuable. Deluxe hellgold, sacred bloodfruit, and other similarly rare cosmic treasures were much more worthy of collection. Deluxe hellgold wasn’t that alluring; it was the skyjewel bloodfruit which caused this silver-robed Daolord to agree to this trade, because the Skywood Sect just so happened to need it to go with a number of other valuable ingredients for pill-refining.

  In the end, the flying vessel was ‘won’ at the price of 98 million cubes. The deluxe hellgold and the skyjewel bloodfruit was given to the silver-robed Daolord, while the flying vessel entered Ning’s hands.

  “If you have other rare items, feel free to bring them to Plumesoar Hall.” The silver-robed Daolord smiled. “We have many precious treasures, including even Dao-seals which mighty Eternal Emperors poured all of their effort into. Those can all be traded for.”

  “Not a bad idea.” Ning smiled, then picked up the flying vessel and nodded mentally to himself. Just using the nine novessence arts against Daolord Kongsan probably wouldn’t be enough, as the man was capable of transforming his body into darkness and making it virtually indestructible. But now that Ning had this flying vessel, he would definitely be guaranteed of being able to escape whenever he chose.

  Although the deluxe hellgold and the skyjewel bloodfruit were important, one was an artificing ingredient while the other was an alchemical ingredient. Ning neither understood artificing nor specialized in alchemy. Use skyjewel bloodfruit in alchemy? Not even Daolord Allgod would necessarily be qualified to engage in alchemy on such a level.

  * * *

  Book 29, Chapter 36 - Into Battle

  Skywood City. The fiery-haired, fiery-eyed, black-robed Daolord Kongsan was seated in the lotus position within the protective formations of Plumesoar Hall, his eyes closed as he waited quietly. He had been waiting before the doors for more than two years already. So long as Ji Ning dared to emerge, he would immediately sense it.

  “Is Daolord Kongsan going to just wait there?”

  “What else can he do? That white-robed Daolord has been hiding inside Plumesoar Hall this entire time, refusing to come out. No matter how strong Daolord Kongsan is, he wouldn’t dare to challenge the Dao Alliance.” The attendants inside the hall were all gossiping amongst each other.

  “If the white-robed Daolord stays inside Plumesoar Hall for an entire chaos cycle, will Daolord Kongsan wait here for an entire chaos cycle?”

  “Hard to say! However, the white-robed Daolord seems to be just a Daolord of the Second Step. This is a critical period of time for him as a cultivator. There’s no way he’s going to just hide in there forever, right?”

  “It might slow down his cultivation, but at least he’ll stay alive if he continues to hide in there! If he leaves, he’s dead.”

  They all continuously whispered amongst each other about this. These attendants were all World-level figures, and they were quite interested in the grudges which elite Daolords held against each other. Whenever such elite Daolords battled against each other, news of it would quickly spread far and wide. The stories of how Daolord Allgod hunted Emperor Melobo were passed down for countless generations. Although the affair between Ning and Daolord Kongsan wouldn’t be talked about for nearly that long, it would still be the talk of the town for a brief period of time.

  On one side was a monstrously strong Daolord, Daolord Kongsan. On the other side was a mere Daolord of the Second Step who was so talented he had easily slain a Daolord of the Third Step; his true power was most likely that of a Verge-level Daolord as well.

  Both were at a high level of power, which naturally made for a good story.

  “Eh?”

  “Is that…”

  “Am I seeing things?’

  The attendants of Plumesoar Hall all stared in astonishment at the white-robed figure who had just emerged from the inner hallways, carrying a black sword scabbard on his back. That face… those clothes… that aura… it was the person they were talking about, the mysterious white-robed Daolord!

  “He actually came out? He actually dared to come out?”

  “Is he suicidal?”

  “There’s no way he’s coming out to die. He has to have something up his sleeve.” These attendants all watched curiously, alongside a good number of guests. Most of the guests were Daolords, and a few were even Daolords of the Fourth Step. However, none of them dared to get involved in a matter like this. Daolord Kongsan had been waiting here for more than two years already! This alone testified as to how badly he wished to kill the white-robed Daolord.

  ……

  Ning glanced at the attendants and Daolords, chuckled, then flew towards the entrance of Plumesoar Hall. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the black-robed Daolord Kongsan seated in the lotus position by the doorway.

  “Daolord Kongsan, you certainly are quite a patient man,” Ning said.

  Daolord Kongsan opened his eyes. The sharpness of his fiery eyes would cause ordinary Daolords to feel a sense of oppression in their hearts. He cracked his lips into a cold, strange smile. “I thought you would hide inside for a few chaos cycles, kid. I didn’t expect you to come out so
soon.”

  “If I stayed inside for several chaos cycles, would you really have waited here the entire time?” Ning was surprised.

  “I’m a very patient man,” Daolord Kongsan said calmly. “To me, time doesn’t really matter. When my life is about to end, I shall go and prepare for my Daomerge.”

  “You sound as though you really have nothing interesting in your life.” Ning shook his head. Wait here for several chaos cycles? How long had Ning been cultivating for?! Daolord Kongsan might be patient enough to wait htat long, but Ning himself definitely was not.

  ……

  The attendants and guests within Plumesoar Hall all watched curiously as the two figures outside chatted with each other. One was dressed in beautiful black robes, the other was dressed in white clothes. One had a dominating and rather evil aura, while the other looked unassuming and reserved but was clearly a freakishly talented Daolord who had simply hidden away his sharpness.

  “The white-robed Daolord doesn’t look scared at all.”

  “Their words are tit for tat against each other.”

  The customers all listened quietly, and many of them couldn’t help but feel admiration for the weaker white-robed Daolord.

  ……

  “Nothing interesting in my life? You don’t understand. Waiting is a way to temper one’s Dao-heart, and as such is a form of cultivation.” Daolord Kongsan wasn’t the slightest bit irritated, and his eyes remained as cold as ice. “What, are you going to stay within the protective barriers this entire time?” Both of them were inside the barriers of Plumesoar Hall, and combat was forbidden here.

  “I’m not as bored as you. I wouldn’t waste time coming out here just to tease you a bit.” Ning shook his head. “I’m going to be leaving now. Follow me if you can.” Swoosh. Ning transformed into a streak of light, instantly flying outside the protective barrier.

  “Hmph.” Daolord Kongsan’s aura expanded dramatically as he instantly disappeared into a cloud of black mist which surge out of the barrier formation and swept towards Ning.

  Ning, in midair, glanced backwards at the mist. The mist was a roiling mass of darkness that was rolling straight towards him. Just looking at the mist alone caused Ning to feel a powerful sense of danger.

  “It isn’t the right time to fight you just yet,” Ning mused to himself. With a wave of his hand, Ning caused a black flying vessel to appear next to him. This vessel was shaped like the tip of a sword, and it emanated an aura of incredible keenness. Whoosh! Ning entered the vessel. “Let’s go.” Now that Ning was in control of the flying vessel, it suddenly exploded with speed and went from zero to a hundred times the speed of light.

  “What?” A human face immediately appeared within the roiling black mist behind Ning, and it stared straight at the vessel. “He actually has a flying vessel that can move at a hundred times the speed of light?”

  A hundred times faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos. What did speed like this mean?

  Even Dao lightning ‘only’ moved at this speed! This was a level of speed which Samsara Daolords generally were unable to aspire to. There were many freakishly talented Daolords who weren’t even close to being this fast, even when they reached the Verge. Kongsan himself, for example, could only move at thirty-six times the speed of light! Palace Lord Dawnstar had reached incredible heights in the dao of the Saber, but if he merely relied on his Dao to travel even he would only be able to move at fifty times the speed of light.

  Even those who were skilled in speed-oriented Daos such as the Dao of Lightning, the Dao of Wind, or the Dao of Light were rarely able to reach a hundred times the speed of light. To exceed that level of speed? You had to reach an absolutely unimaginable level of insight into a speed if you wished to do so.

  For flying treasures, vessels like the one which Ning had purchased represented the apex of speed possible for treasures! Flying treasures could at most move at a hundred times the speed of light. If you wanted to go faster than that, you’d have to focus on your own trainng and cultivation. The vast majority of Eternal Emperors weren’t able to move that fast!

  “A hundred times the speed of light?” Daolord Kongsan was truly stunned, but moments later his murderous intent began to boil once more. “Excellent. It seems this kid has many treasures on him, far more than most Daolords of the Fourth Step.”

  It must be remembered that Daolord Kongsan had sixteen verified kills of Daolords of the Fourth Step. He loved to kill others and seize their treasures. “No wonder he dared to come out. Unfortunately… he’s still too young.” Daolord Kongsan smirked. “Activate!”

  ……

  Ning was controlling his flying vessel to advance at high speed. He flew out of Skywood City in the blink of an eye, but suddenly…

  “Activate.” A cold voice echoed for countless kilometers around him. Rumble… the formation-bases which had been hidden throughout this area suddenly showed themselves, emanating pillars of light that towered to the heavens. An enormous amount of power began to gather, and this area quickly became a completely sealed region that was separated from the outside world.

  “What?!” Ning’s face paled.

  “Ahahaha…” The black mist once more reformed into the black-robed Daolord Kongsan. He said with a cold laugh, “Kid, did you really think you were a match for me? I knew that you would only leave once you were fully prepared… but did you really think that you were the only one who could make preparations? I’ve already set up four rings of formations in the area outside of Skywood City. No matter which way you fled, you’d still end up inside one of them. Space has been completely locked within this formation; no matter how fast you are, you won’t be able to escape. The only path still open to you… is the path to hell!”

  Ning stood there within his flying vessel. He stared at the distant Daolord Kongsan, then let out a chuckle. “Daolord Kongsan, I didn’t expect that you would surreptitiously set up four sealing formations while keeping watch on the gate.”

  “I had thought that you would arrange for attendants of Plumesoar Hall to keep an eye on me, which was why I stayed at the gates.” Daolord Kongsan shook his head. “While keeping them distracted, I ordered my eldest disciple to quietly set up these formations. Now, it seems, the subterfuge was unnecessary. I overestimated you.”

  “You certainly went to a great deal of trouble.” Ning shook his head.

  “I’m impressed at how calm you are, given your situation.” Daolord Kongsan laughed coldly. “Prepare to die.”

  Boom! He shot through the air at high speeds, his robes fluttering with an aura of dark mist that made him move incredibly fast, but no matter how fast he was he still couldn’t move as quickly as Ning did.

  Swoosh! The black vessel easily and quickly pulled away from him, and Ning’s voice rang out once more. “Daolord Kongsan, even though we are both inside this formation, you won’t be able to catch up to me or do anything to me.”

  “Is that so?” Daolord Kongsan suddenly barked, “Disciple, come out!”

  Whoosh. A figure suddenly emerged on the other end of the sealing formation, passing through it and appearing within the sealed region. This was a female green-robed alien Outsider, and the area around her was flooded with green mist that caused space itself to hiss and crackle.

  “Disciple, stand guard on the other side while I chase him down from this side. We’ll catch him and kill him.” Daolord Kongsan said these words aloud, not worried that Ning might overhear them.

  “Yes, Master.” The green-robed woman immediately assented to his orders.

  * * *

  Book 29, Chapter 37 - Captured

  “Trapping me between the two of you?” Ji Ning glanced at the two sides. No matter which way he flew, either Daolord Kongsan or his eldest disciple would be able to move closer to him. His free space would slowly lessen no matter what.

  “Oh, my dear Daolord Kongsan… your eldest disciple is quite formidable, and if I hadn’t mastered the nine novessence arts I wouldn’t be
able to do anything to her… but now?” A cold light flashed through Ning’s eyes.

  Whoosh. The green mist twisting around the green-robed woman began to spread out as a number of long ropes began to reach out in every direction, with her at the very center. Every single rope-type magic treasure was able to stretch out a hundred million kilometers, and she was charging straight towards Ning. Clearly, she wanted to use these ropes to further lower Ning’s area of free mobility. As for Daolord Kongsan, he transformed into that endless black mist that billowed straight towards Ning.

  “Daolord Kongsan, do you really think your eldest disciple will be able to capture me?” Ning’s voice rang out.

  “Even if she can’t, she can at least tie you down,” Daolord Kongsan replied coldly. “There’s nowhere for you to run. No matter where you go, you will die.”

  The green-robed woman was quite strong, fairly close to Patriarch Clearwind in power when he wasn’t using his killer attack. As Daolord Kongsan saw it, no matter how freakishly talented this Daolord of the Second Step was, even if she failed in capturing him she would still be able to slow him down.

  “Is that so?” Ning smiled coldly. Swoosh! His black vessel began to flee at high speeds, and perhaps by accident it moved closer and closer towards the green-robed woman.

  Daolord Kongsan wasn’t surprised in the slightest. In the end, Ning had to choose a direction, and Kongsan’s eldest disciple was naturally a bit weaker than Kongsan himself. It made sense for Ning to move in her direction.

  “Disciple, kill him if you can. If you can’t, slow him down. Once I arrive, I’ll crush him to death,” Daolord Kongsan sent mentally.

  “I definitely won’t disappoint you, Master,” the green-robed woman replied.

  ……