Desolate Era

by RWX

  “So we’ll understand everything once we enter?” Ning laughed. “Hah. Fine, then. If we knew everything before going in, then it wouldn’t prove to be much of a challenge or a tempering experience.”

  “Agreed.” Ninedust nodded as well. “Come, let us go inside.”

  Both of them trusted Daolord Laya completely… or to be precise, they trusted the lifeblood oath all three had sworn. Since they were all bound by oaths, there was no way for Daolord Laya to lie or deceive to them regarding this place.

  The palace gates were enormous. The three stepped through the gates, and as they did Ning couldn’t help but raise his head to look up once more at the two words that hung above it, ‘THUNDER SOUTH’. He could vaguely sense that it contained certain mysteries within it, but his path was that of the Sword Dao and not that of the Dao of Lightning.

  The enormous palace held many rooms, hallways, and even gardens. It truly was graceful and refined… but every single part of it was brimming with that deep azure lightning. Countless tendrils of lightning crackled everywhere, and they were actually quite beautiful to behold.

  After they stepped through the gates, they stared somberly towards the front. All of them could sense the power held within those flickers of lightning.

  “That is Eternal lightning,” Ning blurted out. Ning had encountered many different types of Dao lightning in his quest to master the [Novessence Thunder], but none of them gave him the sense of power and danger which the lightning tendrils before him did.

  “There’s actually Eternal lightning within this palace?” The Ninedust Sectlord blurted out, “Eternal lightning… I’ve never heard of it being naturally birthed from the primordial chaos.”

  “Supposedly, only an Eternal Emperor who has reached incredible heights in the Dao of Lightning is capable of creating a streak of Eternal lightning,” Ning said seriously.

  “Yes… and this is the first great danger.” Daolord Laya said solemnly, “The lightning fills virtually every inch of this palace, and it is both sentient and intelligent.”

  “Sentient and intelligent?” Ning exclaimed with surprise, “Isn’t Eternal lightning sentient to begin with?”

  “Just watch for yourself.” Daolord Laya grinned. Just a heartbeat later, the countless streams of lightning in front of them began to wriggle about and gather together, transforming into an enormous lightning humanoid. Its entire body was composed of electricity, and it had a pair of deep azure eyes that stared down upon the three from their lofty heights.

  It was Eternal lightning, filled with endless vitality and life energy.

  “Greetings, milord Guardian,” Daolord Laya said respectfully.

  “Master left me in charge of protecting this palace,” the lightning guardian said calmly. “I will strike you with three palms. If you juniors can survive all three palms, you’ll be granted entry. If you feel confident in your personal power, you can choose to accept my strikes individually.”

  ……

  Within the palace. Both Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord had their weapons at the ready. Daolord Laya said hurriedly, “According to what the Emperors of my race said, the lightning guardian is reinforced by the power of the entire Thundersouth Palace and is incredibly powerful! Each of his three palms is more powerful than the last. If you can’t take them, come hide behind me.”

  “No need for that.” The Ninedust Sectlord hefted his longstaff.

  “Let’s see just how tough the lightning guardian is.” Ning had two Northbow swords at the ready. He was a very proud man; how could he choose to hide behind another?

  The lightning guardian said coldly, “The first palm.” His right hand struck out like an enormous fan, the lines on his fingertips easily visible as lightning crackled around his palm.

  “I’ll go first!” The Ninedust Sectlord let out a loud roar as he struck out with his longstaff, an illusion of waves appearing around it. BOOM! The longstaff curved in an almost whip-like fashion as it collided against the giant fan-like palm. An enormous explosion could be heard as the lightning palm trembled slightly, then retracted.

  “Not all that powerful,” the Ninedust Sectlord sent mentally to the others.

  “Here comes the second palm.” The lightning guardian’s voice remained cold and flat as he struck out once more with his right arm. This time, it transformed to become a mountain in size as it crashed down towards the three of them.

  Ning, the Ninedust Sectlord, and Daolord Laya simultaneously brandished their own weapons. Ning used swords, the Ninedust Sectlord used his longstaff, and Daolord Laya used a greataxe. All three sent their weapons straight towards the lightning guardian’s enormous palm.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  The two forces collided with an enormous collision. The three of them had managed to endure this blow head on, but their bodies couldn’t help but tremble from the force of the collision. They quickly managed to stabilize themselves. The Ninedust Sectlord’s face was ashen, while Daolord Laya’s face had a solemn look on it. Only Ning was still fairly relaxed, as his Hegemon armor was able to whittle away the power of any blow until it had only 0.1% of its original force. In terms of defensive prowess, Ning was more skilled than Ninedust and Laya to begin with. Although his body trembled from the collision, the shockwave was very little to him and caused his divine body little harm.

  “Even if it went up a full level in power, it would be useless against me.” Ning felt quite confident. The Hegemon armor truly was powerful. However, Ning also understood that this was also partially because he himself had become much stronger than before. When he had first entered the Azureflower Estate, he had nearly been knocked unconscious by a single blow. Back then, he was at a disadvantage even when battling against the likes of Patriarch Clearwind.

  As for now? Ning was currently stronger than even Kongsan!

  “An impressive fellow. Fast and furious.” The Ninedust Sectlord let out a growl. “Darknorth, use your secret arts.” As he spoke, waves of rippling water began to emanate from his body.

  “Agreed.” Ning nodded. Although he was able to take these hits head-on, the Ninedust Sectlord didn’t have a suit of Hegemon armor, making it rather tough for him. The nine novessence arts flew out of Ning’s body in the form of nine energy dragons.

  The Ripplewater art and the nine novessence arts merged together, spreading out throughout the palace.

  The lightning guardian’s mouth crooked upwards slightly, almost as though he was laughing. “Interesting. Your secret arts aren’t bad at all… but I’ll use the power of the entire Thundersouth Palace in my third strike. I hope you can survive it.”

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The hallways, gardens, rooms, and surface of the entire palace began to light up with runic script. The runes all seemed to flow and congregate around the lightning guardian. “Get ready for the third palm!”

  Whoosh! The lightning guardian’s palm struck out like the firmament of heaven itself, enveloping the entire palace within it as he attacked the three. There was nowhere to run or hide from this strike.

  “Can’t take it head on. Hide behind me!” Daolord Laya barked mentally as he produced a golden bone in his hands.

  “I only have one treasure left.” The Ninedust Sectlord immediately dodged behind Daolord Laya. Clearly, he would’ve been forced to use his treasures if he wanted to take this attack head on. If Daolord Laya was going to use his, there was no point in Ninedust wasting one of his own treasures out of sheer pride.

  * * *

  Book 31, Chapter 9 - The Second Danger

  “Darknorth!” As the Ninedust Sectlord dodged behind Daolord Laya, he discovered to his amazement that Ji Ning wasn’t doing the same. He knew very well that Ning was roughly on the same level of power as him. If he didn’t dare to take it head-on, how was it that Darknorth did? But there was nothing he could do except worry; the final attack of the lightning guardian was already descending upon them.

  BOOM! The enormous hand descended upon them like the firmament of heaven it
self. This strike contained the full force the lightning guardian was capable of mustering, and it had been reinforced by the wards of the palace itself.

  Rings of white light appeared around Daolord Laya and the Ninedust Sectlord, allowing them to endure and withstand the strike.

  Whoosh. The lightning guardian withdrew his palm, then glanced at the three and smiled. “I didn’t expect that one of you would be able to endure my palm through his own power. It seems you have quite an impressive protective divine ability, young fellow. One more trial awaits you, set down by my master. I hope you all survive it.”

  The lightning guardian took a single step, then dispersed into countless streaks of lightning that quickly scattered in each direction. No more was the path in front of them blocked off by any lightning at all.

  “Impressive, Darknorth. You actually took it head-on.” The Ninedust Sectlord walked over to Ning.

  “According to my racial records, only the most supreme of Daolords can endure such a blow head-on. I’m impressed, Darknorth.” Daolord Laya truly was amazed. The power of that strike was far beyond what ordinary Eternal Emperors were capable of; that was a full-power strike from the lightning guardian which was reinforced by the palace’s formations!

  “Eh, I simply have a decent protective divine ability. My entire body is still numb from that strike, though. My legs are about to give out underneath me.” Ning’s legs really were wobbling, but he laughed. “If that lightning giant launched multiple attacks against me, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it.”

  “Just like that, I used up a boneseal which one of our Emperor’s personally made for me.” Daolord Laya laughed, “If there were multiple attacks, no number of boneseals would’ve been able to protect me.”

  Ning couldn’t help but sigh in amazement as well. His divine body was close to but not quite on par with a low-grade Eternal weapon. He had mainly relied on his Hegemon armor to endure this hit. Alas, the treasures he needed to upgrade his protective divine ability were simply too rare and hard to find. He did acquire Dragonfish Ki, but he needed to find the rest as well. He needed to upgrade his divine body to make it on par with a middle-grade Eternal treasure as quickly as possible.

  ……

  Ning, Ninedust, and Daolord Laya followed the winding hallways of the palace. The Thundersouth Palace was extremely large and quite beautiful. Every so often, they would see a few flickers of Eternal lightning swimming about them, but those lightning streaks all kept a long distance away from them. Clearly, now that they had survived the first trial the Eternal lightning would no longer cause any trouble for them.

  “Halt!” Daolord Laya suddenly called out.

  “Eh?” Ning and Ninedust came to a halt. In front of them was a lake that emanated an aura of freezing energy, and a faint layer of cold mist could be seen on its surface. There was a crooked wooden bridge which passed through the entire lake.

  “The wooden bridge up ahead is the second dangerous trial which we will face in Thundersouth Palace, and the last one which could be life-threatening to us,” Daolord Laya said somberly. “This one is even more dangerous than the first one.”

  “More dangerous?” Ning and Ninedust were both startled. Ninedust couldn’t help but frown. “You were already forced to use up an Emperor’s boneseal to survive the first one. Now you are telling me that this one is worse?”

  “Yes.” Daolord Laya said somberly, “Quite a few of the more powerful Daolords of my race have visited Thundersouth Palace in their time. Each was given a single boneseal, but nearly half still ended up perishing here! It must be understood that there are two dangerous areas here. If you use up the boneseal during the first danger, you’d definitely survive it… and so the ones who didn’t, all perished here.”

  Ning and Ninedust felt their hearts clench. Nearly half of the Daolords had perished here?

  “Still, I’m confident in my chances.” Daolord Laya smiled. “The Emperor said that I have better than a 70% chance of surviving. Don’t worry at all, gentlemen. I’ll go up there and give the wooden bridge a try. If I really am so unlucky as to die here, then you can simply leave. The invisibility formation my race set up is only directed outwards, not inwards.”

  “Brother Laya, what is so dangerous about the wooden bridge?” Ning asked.

  “Once you step onto the wooden bridge, you’ll be trapped within an illusory realm,” Daolord Laya said somberly. “A very terrifying one! If you allow yourself to be led astray and accidentally fall into the waters of the lake, then you’ll die without question.”

  “I’m planning to use the illusions here to temper my Dao-heart. My chances of making it are extremely high; if I can strengthen my Dao-heart, it’ll be of help to me in my Daomerge in the future.” Daolord Laya had a resolute look in his eyes. He was preparing for the Daomerge. No matter what, he was determined to embark on this path.

  “Illusions?” Ninedust blinked.

  “A terrifying illusory realm?” Ning stared blankly at Daolord Laya. “And your chances of surviving it are roughly 70%?”

  “…What’s with the strange looks on your faces?” Daolord Laya immediately said, “The Emperor felt that my chances were high, but there’s still a chance that I might fail. I can’t give up a chance like this to temper my Dao-heart. Don’t worry, so long as I can make it across safely, I’ll come back and help you across as well. Otherwise, the two of you would fall into the lake.”

  Ning and Ninedust blinked again.

  “You hear that, Darknorth? The second trial consists of illusions.” Ninedust laughed.

  “And to think that I was feeling really nervous just now. Jeeze.” Ning shook his head and chuckled as well.

  “What’s with the two of you?” Daolord Laya was puzzled.

  The Ninedust Sectlord began to roar with laughter. “Brother Lay, let me give you a formal introduction of our friend Daolord Darknorth.”

  “A formal introduction? An introduction of what?” Daolord Laya still didn’t understand.

  “Brother Darknorth is exceedingly skilled in sword-arts, but you know that already. He also trains as a Heartforce Cultivator and is an extremely accomplished one.” The Ninedust Sectlord said smugly, “Just now, you were talking about helping a powerful Heartforce Cultivator survive deadly illusions… hah! I laughed so hard my teeth nearly fell out.”

  Daolord Laya stared blankly. “A Heartforce Cultivator?” Heartforce Cultivators were pitifully rare; the Brightshore Kingdom was one of the six great powers of the Endless Territories, but it still had less than ten of them, and this was after the almighty Brightshore Hegemon had scoured the Endless Territories for talented World-level experts! The Starflow race naturally had even fewer Heartforce Cultivators. They had more than ten powerful Verge-level Daolords in this era, but not a single Heartforce Cultivator!

  “Brother Laya…” Ning chuckled as well. With a thought, he summoned his heartworld projection and brought it down upon the area around them.

  “A heartworld projection? Darknorth, you…” Moments later, Daolord Laya started to laugh as well. “Haha, I really made a fool of myself just now, didn’t I? Illusions really are nothing to brother Darknorth. Even if the master of the Thundersouth Palace personally cast his illusions over him, I suspect he still wouldn’t be phased in the slightest.”

  Ning laughed. This really was the case. Only someone incredibly skilled in illusions would have a chance at affecting him; for example, an Eternal Emperor who was also a Heartforce Cultivator would be able to trap Ning within illusions. As for Hegemons who occasionally trained in illusions? Those illusions wouldn’t be able to affect powerful Daolords who were Heartforce Cultivators.

  But of course, Hegemons wouldn’t need to go to that trouble. The almighty Brightshore Hegemon, for example, could use his mastery over spacetime to wipe out Ning with ease. But if he was to use illusions instead… Heartforce Cultivators really would have very little to fear. Ning’s best guess was that the master of Thundersouth Palace had been pri
marily focused on the Dao of Lightning.

  “Darknorth, I do have one request,” Daolord Laya said.

  “If there’s anything you need, just let me know,” Ning said.

  “I want to borrow this opportunity to temper my Dao-heart. Supposedly, the illusions are very effective for that,” Daolord Laya said. “If I’m in any danger, please lend me a hand and ensure that I don’t fall into the lake.”

  “Easily done.” Ning nodded.

  Daolord Laya nodded back at him, then walked onto the wooden bridge. He came to an immediate halt after doing so, staying there for a full hour without moving at all.

  Ning and Ninedust both waited patiently. Roughly one hour later, Daolord Laya’s gaze turned clear. A serious expression on his face, he began to carefully advance. However, without even realizing it he began to walk towards the edges of the wooden bridge. He clearly was walking askew, but he himself didn’t realize it. He walked closer and closer towards the lake and its white frozen mist, which seemed ready to reach out and swallow him alive.

  “Careful.” Ning reached out with his arm, expanding it by dozens of meters. As his arm reached through the illusions, they immediately began to surge through it and attempted to ensorcell his mind. But it was like the waters of a well splashing against the well’s stones; they had no effect at all. Ning was completely unmoved, and so he latched onto Daolord Laya by the back, then pulled him straight out.