Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Honestly, we don’t have that many Daolords. In each era, we only see twenty or thirty of them,” Daolord Inkmind said. “The total number is high only because of how long we’ve been around for.”

  Ning was secretly amazed. The Ancient cultivators truly were the most ancient civilization of them all. The history of this ancestral site ran farther back than the history of the entire Brightshore Kingdom.

  “In the end, this planet of ours is too small. The various generations of Daolords all dream of visiting the outside world, and so they’ve all delved into the underground to seek the worldsplitter stones. When each finds one, that person is able to leave this world and visit the vaster world outside.” Daolord Inkmind said softly, “Even though the underground is dangerous and many have perished, successive generations of Daolords have continued on their quest.”

  Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord both nodded slightly. All Daolords had incredibly determined Dao-hearts. This was true even for vile and demonic figures. If they wished to leave this place, no level of danger could stop them.

  It must be understood that in the Endless Territories, the Verge-level Daolords would often venture into the Terror Starsea. Daolord Solesky had entered the incredibly dangerous Waveshift Realm, which had been left behind by Eternal Emperor Waveshift, the number one expert of the Dao of Numerancy. You could imagine how deadly it was!

  “Given how much time has passed… although it might be difficult for this world of yours to give birth to an Eternal Emperor, I imagine it must’ve given birth to many Daolords of incredible power. I imagine some of them must have been able to acquire worldsplitter stones. Why didn’t they take out more? That way, there would be no need for the others to die.”

  “Yes, we have indeed given birth to a number of incredible Daolords.” Daolord Inkmind said coldly, “However… the outlands are filled with endless flame demons and many other unknown creatures. If you don’t have the courage to venture underground to find worldsplitter stones for yourself, what right do you have to go to the outlands?”

  “This is a tradition of my homeland. If you wish to leave, you must find a worldsplitter stone for yourself first. Only then can you leave.” Daolord Inkmind said calmly, “Over the course of so many years, more than ten thousand Daolords have successfully acquired worldsplitter stones and left for the outlands.”

  The Ninedust Sectlord suddenly said, “Have any of the Daolords who left ever been able to return?”

  Daolord Inkmind shook his head. “None!”

  Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord felt stunned. Not a single one out of all those Daolords returned?

  “Perhaps they were unable to find a way to contact us after they reached the vaster world outside,” Daolord Inkmind said. Ning and the others nodded. This was indeed quite possible.

  They might’ve died, but they also might’ve survived but left this spacetime continuum. For example, in this region Ning and the others were unable to maintain contact with the outside world. Those who successfully left this region and entered the Endless territories. would probably also be unable to maintain contact with the ‘sacred grounds’ here.

  “Even though the outlands might hold great danger, our Daolords have always wanted to give it a try. All of us are filled with curiosity towards the outlands,” Daolord Inkmind said. “Even if they aren’t able to come back, it doesn’t really matter.”

  “Mm.” The Ninedust Sectlord pointed towards the rainbow-lit region at the end of the cavern. “So if we want worldsplitter stones, we should just charge straight inside?”

  “No.” Daolord Inkmind shook his head as he stared at the rainbow region and the humanoid silhouettes within it. “I imagine you can see those earth devils yourself. Even from here, I can see more than three thousand of them! Based on the accumulated experiences of our Daolords, the earth devils like to drift about. Sometimes, the number of earth devils in a region will be lower than usual. If you can see less than five hundred from this position, that means they are now fairly dispersed. But of course, even then you’ll definitely encounter more than five hundred when you venture forth, as I’m merely talking about the ones visible from here.”

  “If you can see less than a hundred, things will be even safer,” Daolord Inkmind said.

  “A hundred? And usually how long does that take?” The Ninedust Sectlord was rather impatient.

  “Generally speaking, this will happen once per chaos cycle,” Daolord Inkmind said.

  “That’s far too long.” The Ninedust Sectlord shook his head. “Lower than five hundred?”

  “Roughly once every million years,” Daolord Inkmind said.

  “Still too long.” The Ninedust Sectlord truly wanted to charge in right away.

  “If you only want to wait for lower than a thousand, ten thousand years should be enough,” Daolord Inkmind said. “But a thousand… that’ll be extremely dangerous. Only the most powerful of Daolords would have a chance of success.”

  The Ninedust Sectlord turned to look at Ning. “Ten thousand years. That’s doable. What do you think, Darknorth?”

  Ning nodded. “I don’t want to wait too long either. When we can see less than a thousand earth devils, we’ll enter.” Ning had only been training for a short period of time, while the Ninedust Sectlord was filled with eagerness towards the legacy of the Ancient cultivators. As a result, neither wished to tarry here too long. They had spent months surviving in the ‘outlands’; they were quite confident in their abilities to acquire the worldsplitter stones.

  * * *

  Book 30, Chapter 25 - Skywinds Life

  “The sacred grounds will send people to keep an eye on this place,” Daolord Inkmind said with a smile. “You can come with me to visit the underground palace, or you can wander around our planet and explore it a bit.”

  “No need.” The Ninedust Sectlord said calmly, “I’ll wait right here.”

  “Yes, there’s no need to trouble anyone. The two of us can simply wait here,” Ji Ning agreed. He then looked at the nearby Skywind. “Skywind, you can go out and engage in some exploration and adventuring. If you have any questions regarding the Dao of the Sword, you may come speak to me about them. After I acquire the worldsplitter stone, I’ll leave this planet. By then, you’ll have to rely on yourself.”

  Skywind said respectfully, “Yes, Master. In truth, in the last few days since you transmitted the Dao of the Sword to me, I’ve gained many insights and am prepared to enter the World level already.”

  “Skywind.” The nearby Daolord Inkmind smiled. “The sacred grounds have quite a few World-level cultivators. They are the disciples and servants of the various Daolords here. After you make your breakthrough, you can spar with them. You can also go and study from the various Sword Daos which the successive generations of our Daolords have left behind.”

  “Understood.” Skywind revealed an excited look.

  The nearby Ning nodded in approval. “Disciple, this is a wonderful opportunity for you. Don’t let it slip past you.”

  ……

  Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord spent the rest of their time quietly meditating underground, waiting for the right moment. The Ninedust Sectlord simply sat on the ground, while Ning used his temporal acceleration cottage. The sectlord was at a bottleneck and needed an epiphany to break through. Ning, in contrast, had just recently become a Daolord of the Second Step. He needed to seize every moment.

  That very year, Skywind broke through to become a World-level cultivator. In the past, he had never had a good teacher; he had relied completely on his own natural talents to cultivate himself. Things were different, now that he had Ning’s guidance. Ning was a perfect teacher for him, with the five sword-arts Ning having transmitted being perfect guides as to five different directions the Dao of the Sword could be developed towards.

  Every ten years or so, he would come and ask Ning a question. He would also often leave the underground region to go to the sacred grounds and spar against the other World-level cultivators
there.

  “He’s improving at a terrifying rate.”

  “Who the hell is this kid? I’ve never seen him here before.”

  “His name is Skywind. I hear that he’s the disciple of one of the Prophets.”

  “A Prophet? No wonder he’s this impressive. I heard that all Prophets are incredibly strong.”

  “His Sword Dao is simply incredible. I’ve never seen any World-level cultivator improve this quickly.”

  Thanks to Ning’s temporal acceleration treasure, Skywind truly did improve remarkably fast. Three thousand years later, he had become a master-class World God… but of course, he had actually spent nearly three hundred thousand accelerated years within the spacetime treasure.

  “No wonder the Prophet took a liking to him.” The Grand Elder’s avatar stared at Skywind from afar as the latter sparred with another opponent. The avatar nodded. “His talent for sword-arts truly is impressive. Inkmind, on my orders all of the Sword Dao legacies within the sacred grounds are to be made available to him.”

  “Ah?! B-but Grand Elder…” Daolord Inkmind was rather startled.

  “Skywind is a member of our race,” the Grand Elder said with a smile. And so, Skywind began to gain access to some peerless sword-arts legacies.

  ……

  “Master, your disciple has some questions to ask.” Every ten years, Skywind would come and ask Ning some questions. Each time, Ning would guide him through his queries and even personally spar with him to help him out.

  Strictly speaking, Ning had spent far more time with Skywind than his other two disciples, Bluecliff Xiaoyu and Green Bamboo. Although Ning’s Primaltwin and Xiaoyu often met in the Three Realms, Xiaoyu was different from Ning; she wasn’t the type of person who was completely enthralled by cultivation. In contrast, Green Bamboo and Skywind were true cultivators.

  “Master, your disciple has studied many of the sword-arts of the sacred grounds. Each time, you were able to easily point out the various flaws within them.” Skywind was puzzled. “Should I stop learning these sword-arts?”

  “The five sword-arts I taught you represent five different avenues for developing the Dao of the Sword. All the sword-arts in the universe are unable to escape the reach of these five avenues.” Ning chuckled. “The more you study, the more it will benefit your mastery over my five sword-arts.”

  “Ah.” Skywind was enlightened. In truth, the more sword-arts he studied, the more amazed he was by his master. Over the course of countless chaos cycles, the sacred grounds had produced quite a few Daolords of the Dao of the Sword. However, whenever he compared their sword-arts to his master’s sword-arts, especially his master’s Omega Sword Dao sword-intent, he always felt that they were much inferior.

  Skywind was beginning to understand just how terrifyingly powerful his master truly was! The sacred grounds had built up an enormous collection of sword-arts, yet not a single one of them appeared to be a match for his master’s.

  “You have spent five thousand years under my tutelage, and your sword-arts are comparable to that of supreme World Gods. Further instruction will be of limited use to you. What you should do is go meditate and find a Dao which suits you the most, a Dao which you shall use to become a Samsara Daolord,” Ning said. “You can leave now. Go. Explore. Adventure. Here in the sacred grounds, you’ll never have a chance to truly temper yourself.”

  “Understood,” Skywind said respectfully.

  ……

  He left the underground world, returning to the beautiful world outside. He resolved the enmities and feuds he had, then went out to adventure through the world!

  Skywind slowly began to grow and mature. After two thousand years of adventuring, he possessed the power of a transcendent World God even though he didn’t have any particularly powerful treasures! By now, he was ready to break through to become a Samsara Daolord whenever he wished. However, he did not break through because he kept on having the feeling that the Daos he had developed were not what he was truly searching for.

  His master’s five sword-arts all surpassed everything he was able to come up with. As for the Omega Sword Dao’s sword-intent, it was unimaginably superior. And so Skywind continued to search… search for a Dao he would be satisfied with.

  The sacred grounds kept a quiet watch on him as well. When they realized he already had the power to become a Samsara Daolord whenever he wished, they showed themselves and began to help him when necessary. Skywind’s status in the sacred grounds quickly skyrocketed, and he was viewed as Samsara Daolords were!

  “That’s Skywind.”

  “That’s World God Skywind. He’s already come back.”

  When Skywind returned to the sacred grounds, he attracted the attention of many of the Elder Gods, Ancestral Immortals, and World-level cultivators here. The news that he was capable of becoming a Samsara Daolord whenever he wished had long ago been leaked to everyone; this was to ensure that no one would grumble or complain about the special status he had within the sacred grounds. In this planet, the sacred grounds held an overwhelming level of power over the rest of the world. There was no fear that anyone might attempt to harm him out of jealousy.

  “Master, World God Skywind is nothing more than a World God. Why is everyone so excited?” A violet-robed woman quietly asked her master.

  This woman was Violetlotus. Fairy Violetlotus was an extremely capable woman, and she was capable of doing anything to achieve her goals. After she learned of the existence of the ‘sacred grounds’, she came up with a way to become a member of a Samsara Daolord’s school! Later on, she managed to acquire one of just ten slots for cultivators to be sent into the sacred grounds and become one of them. She had never expected that Skywind had already become a World God.

  “Ah, disciple… you don’t know this yet, but Skywind is no ordinary World God. The sacred grounds have many World Gods, but Skywind is the disciple of a Prophet. He is also incredibly powerful, and he has reached such heights in the Dao of the Sword that he can become a Samsara Daolord whenever he chooses.” Her master’s eyes glowed with excitement. “Do you know? The speed at which he became a World God and reached such heights of power is only equaled by some of the most legendary Daolords in the history of the sacred grounds. Given his current level of insight and the fact that he still refuses to make a breakthrough, he clearly wishes to develop an even more powerful Dao for himself and become an absolutely dominating Daolord. I’d be more than willing to become the retainer to a figure like him.”

  Fairy Violetlotus was speechless. A complex look appeared on her face as she stared at the distant Skywind.

  In truth, Skywind had seen her as well, but he had only given her a glance and then departed.

  “Skywind…” Fairy Violetlotus watched silently as he left. Although she had repeatedly caused trouble for him and had actually tortured him, she also felt certain strange, mixed emotions towards him. If it wasn’t for that, she would’ve killed him long ago when he was very weak. The reason why she had tortured him but not killed him was due to the contradictory feelings she had in her heart.

  “He just glanced at me, then ignored me? I wouldn’t have cared if he came over to take revenge on me and kill me, but he didn’t even glance a second time at me.” Fairy Violetlotus continued to stare silently, her fingernails digging deep into her palms.

  ……

  Ning was very pleased that his disciple Skywind was searching for a suitable Dao for himself. However, he wasn’t really able to help out; it would all be up to Skywind himself.

  He himself had only been able to join together his five Supreme Daos when he was within the Genesis Lands of the alternate universe. Finally, after reviving his parents in the Three Realms, his heart became peaceful and he was able to break through to master his Omega Sword Dao.

  This disciple of his would have his own path to tread. Even if his disciple also embarked on the path of the Omega Sword Dao, every single cultivator’s Dao would be different and unique in certain ways. There was
no way any Samsara Daolord could completely imitate or train in the Dao of another; only the Dao they themselves created would be ideal for them.

  “Darknorth, our chance has come,” the Ninedust Sectlord said.

  “Yes.” Ning rose to his feet and walked out of his temporal acceleration cottage. They had waited here for twelve thousand years; it was now finally time for them to go retrieve the worldsplitter stones.

  * * *

  Book 30, Chapter 26 - The Battle in the Worlds Core

  “Prophet.” Daolord Inkmind’s true body had been here this entire time, attending to their needs. Upon seeing Ji Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord halt their cultivation, he hurriedly spoke out to them.

  “Fellow Daoist Inkmind.” Ning smiled. “The time has now come for me and Ninedust to enter this place and search for worldsplitter stones. Sorry for making you go to the trouble of watching over us.”

  “It was no trouble at all. Are the two of you truly unwilling to wait any longer?” Daolord Inkmind couldn’t help but try to dissuade them: “If you want a few hundred thousand years, the density of the earth devils might drop by a half, and the danger will drop to roughly 10% of what it is right now…”

  The Ninedust Sectlord said calmly, “No need to wait any further. Darknorth, let’s go.”

  “Let’s go.”

  The Ninedust Sectlord and Ning simultaneously transformed into streaks of light, flying towards that enormous rainbow-lit region that led deeper underground. There were a number of those humanoid figures flying through that rainbow region. Each of them had tall, muscular bodies, wore black armor, and had faces that were dark yellow in color. They looked like towering mountains, and they emanated an aura of the world’s ponderance. This was a type of strange creature that possessed the power of the vast earth itself.

  They were different from the flame demons. The flame demons were more violent and had more powerful attacks, while the earth devils always stayed within their own domain without proactively leaving to launch attacks on the world at large. However, anyone who dared to trespass into their homeland would suffer their merciless reprisals.