Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Darknorth, are you sure about entering the Waveshift Realm?” Daolord Solesky asked.

  “I’ll get there in a few years,” Ning said. “If I miss this opportunity, a second one like it may never come again. Of course I have to go in! I have a friend as well who is a member of the Ancient cultivators and who is even stronger than I am.”

  “Mm.” Solesky nodded and said heavily, “If you are going to go inside, take this.” As he spoke, he handed over a jade slip.

  “This…” As soon as Ning saw the jade slip, he had an idea as to what it was.

  “This is everything which I know regarding the Waveshift Realm,” Daolord Solesky said seriously.

  “I can’t accept this.” Ning hesitated. This would give him a faster starting point and let him maintain a lead over this opponents. Daolord Solesky had entered much earlier than the other supreme Daolords had, and he had Daolord Badlands’ incarnation assisting him. Given Badlands’ mastery over Numerancy, the two had no doubt learned a great deal regarding the Waveshift Realm. This information truly would be priceless.

  “Two years ago, Badlands and I encountered King Gorsch.” Daolord Solesky said softly, “Fortunately, Badlands managed to take advantage of some of the formations and barriers within the Waveshift Realm itself to trick King Gorsch, allowing us a narrow escape.”

  “The Waveshift Realm is now filled with many dangers. Even though I have Badlands helping out, I’m not sure that I can avoid all these dangers,” Daolord Solesky said. “However… you must remember that no one else besides you is permitted to read this. You aren’t allowed to tell a second person about this. We’re brothers, you and I… but I don’t owe anyone else this.”

  “Understood.” Ning nodded.

  “After you go inside, be careful. From what I’ve heard, the top ten Daolords of the Endless Territories have all gone inside! There are also some low-key, little-known Daolords who are just as powerful as them who have also gone inside,” Solesky instructed.

  “You need to be careful as well, big brother. I’ll try to join up with you as soon as I can,” Ning said.

  ……

  After leaving the Terror Starsea, Ning had relied on his dimension-transcending abilities and the Brightshore Kingdom’s spacetime tunnel to hasten towards the Badlands Territory. Despite that, it still took him 112 years before arriving.

  Two figures emerged from a dimensional tunnel to appear in the void above the Badlands Everworld.

  “Brother Ninedust, you can go to the Waveshift Realm first. I’ll meet up with you in an hour,” Ning said.

  “Is there something you need to do?” the Ninedust Sectlord asked.

  “I need to make a few arrangements.” Ning didn’t explain.

  “Got it. I’ll wait for you, but hurry up. Don’t dawdle! We’re already years behind most of the other Daolords,” the Ninedust Sectlord said.

  Ning nodded, then opened up yet another dimensional tunnel.

  Ning was heading to the Three Realms. The Three Realms was separated from the Badlands Territory by layers of dangers; ordinary teleportation methods were useless against these regions! However, Ning’s ability to transcend space allowed him to move directly to the Three Realms. He was going to place his most important Dao-cultivating treasure, the Stone Censer of Reunion, within the Three Realms alongside his Primaltwin.

  ……

  The skies outside above the Waveshift Realm. Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord had gathered together here.

  “So many people.” Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord stared at the vast, seemingly endless cloud-shrouded realm that lay before them. This was the Waveshift Realm… and an endless cluster of figures could be seen outside of it. Daolords, tens of thousands of Daolords! They had set up an absolutely enormous formation which covered the entire Waveshift Realm.

  “I heard that Winesage was able to break through this formation and force his way inside. Quite a few of the Daolords of the Dark Kingdom and the Aeonians managed to charge inside alongside him.” The Ninedust Sectlord sighed. “Just looking at the formation, I can tell that I’m far from being a match for Winesage.”

  “No confidence in yourself?” Ning smirked.

  “Plenty of confidence. The Voidsea Jadeseals aren’t necessarily going to be won by the strongest,” the Ninedust Sectlord quickly said.

  “Then cut the crap. Let’s go on in!” Ning urged.

  “Let’s go.” The two transformed into streaks of light that flew straight towards the realm before them.

  “That’s Daolord Darknorth.”

  “Oh, Daolord Darknorth of our Dao Alliance?” The ten thousand-plus weak Daolords who were part of the grand formation didn’t move to stop Ning or the Ninedust Sectlord.

  The Aeonians and the members of the Dark Kingdom would all be stopped, but all others were granted entry.

  “Hurry up and let’m inside.”

  “Daolord Darknorth seems quite confident. He actually dares to go inside with just one other Daolord partner.”

  “Daolord Darknorth’s avatar alone is stronger than Yanmi. How strong must his true body be?” The other Daolords all chatted amongst themselves.

  Ning and Ninedust… the two were significantly less well-known than the likes of Fiendqueen Dustrain, Winesage, Palace Lord Dawnstar, or the Radiant King. However, when they joined together they were definitely on par with the most elite of Daolords. There were actually quite a few who were like Ning and Ninedust, both incredibly powerful and comparatively low-key.

  “I’m more powerful than you, but as of right now you seem to be more famous than me. That kinda pisses me off.” The Ninedust Sectlord sent Ning a disgruntled mental complaint as they flew forwards together.

  “That’s because you’ve been too low-key,” Ning sent mentally.

  “Yes, yes I have.” The Ninedust Sectlord agreed. “Now that I’ve become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, I need to find a suitable opportunity to spread my name throughout the Endless Territories. Hell, I should at least rank in the top ten in the Endless Territories.”

  “You’ll have plenty of opportunities in the Waveshift Realm. All you need to do is just pick one of the other top ten and beat them, and you’ll instantly rise to fame,” Ning said with a laugh.

  Watched by over ten thousand Daolords, the two flew through the formation and advanced into the Waveshift Realm, shoulder-by-shoulder.

  * * *

  Book 32, Chapter 1 - Solesky Begs For Aid

  The waters of the river gurgled gently. Both sides of the riverbank were verdant green and filled with flowers of all colors.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Two figures descended from the skies. Ji Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord stood there amongst the wild flowers and shrubbery. The Ninedust Sectlord sighed in amazement, “I never would’ve imagined that the Waveshift Realm would hold such beautiful scenery within it. Everyone speaks of how dangerous the realm is. Can such beauty truly hold danger within it?”

  “Emperor Waveshift was a truly extraordinary Emperor,” Ning immediately said. “The dangers within the Waveshift Realm are hidden and invisible. Don’t be fooled by how beautiful the flowers are; if you dare to run around recklessly, you’ll end up trapped in some truly dangerous places.”

  “Really?!” The Ninedust Sectlord was startled.

  Seeing this, Ning chuckled. “Haha. Don’t worry, we’re in the outermost perimeter of the Waveshift Realm right now. Even if there is any danger here, we should be able to endure it with ease. Come, let us follow this river and move into the core regions of the Waveshift Realm as soon as possible.” As he spoke, he began to walk towards the banks of the river.

  “Are we going to follow the river?” The Ninedust Sectlord followed behind Ning, feeling quite puzzled.

  “Yes, we’re going to follow it. It’ll be safer this way.” Ning didn’t explain further, because this was something he had learned from big brother Solesky. Clearly, Daolord Badlands had been able to use Numerancy to divine certain secrets here.

  “
The Waveshift Realm has ten layers to it; seven outer layers and three inner layers.” Ning continued to explain as they advanced. “The three inner layers can be considered the ‘core’ region, and that is where the Voidsea Jadeseals should be. We should move to the core regions as quickly as possible, but we’ll encounter quite a few dangers along the way. Both of us need to be careful and maintain a vigilant watch at all times.”

  “Right.” The Ninedust Sectlord nodded.

  Ning released his heartworld projection, using it to cover an area of ten thousand kilometers around him. However, he controlled it to ensure that it didn’t launch any attacks, keeping it in sensory mode. The heartworld projection was much more effective as a scanning method than heartforce or godsense.

  ……

  The Waveshift Realm was simply enormous. In the blink of an eye, the two ended up spending more than two hundred years walking through it without reaching the three innermost regions.

  “Daolord Darknorth?” A voice rang out from afar.

  They were at the peak of a snowy white mountain. The two were crossing the mountain peak when they suddenly saw six figures appear off in the distance, with the leader being a dazzling beauty dressed in faint pink Daoist robes.

  “Oh? Daolord Qianfei?” Ning said.

  “What a coincidence. I didn’t expect to run into you here, Daolord Darknorth. Have you seen Daolord Solesky?” Daolord Qianfei asked from afar. She glanced sideways at the nearby Ninedust, but didn’t pay him much attention. Ninedust was not nearly as well-known as Ning. Perhaps many people knew the previous Ninedust Sectlord, but very, very few knew the new one.

  “Big brother Solesky? If I did, I’d probably be travelling with him,” Ning said.

  As the two spoke, they slowly moved closer and closer to each other. Swoosh. The two sides crossed paths then moved past each other, both sides continuing to stare intently and prepared to attack at a moment’s notice.

  Ning knew just how tough to deal with this squad of six Daolords would be. Daolord Qianfei looked like a woman but was actually male. S/he was a special lifeform that was skilled in the usage of poison! As for the five other Daolords by her side, all of them were on par with her. All six of them were second-tier Daolords! Six second-tier Daolords… when they joined forces, they were definitely a powerful force to be reckoned with who could give even the most elite of Daolords a good fight.

  “Don’t underestimate this Darknorth fellow. His companion probably is also quite strong.” Daolord Qianfei didn’t wish to fight the two of them either. Soon, the two sides moved far away from each other as they continued their respective journeys.

  “Whew.” Ning let out a relieved sigh.

  “What’s there to be afraid of? If we really ended up in a fight, I’d wipe them out by myself,” the Ninedust Sectlord boasted confidently.

  “Really?” Ning glanced sideways at him.

  Ninedust chortled awkwardly. “Honestly, if I ran into them in the outside world I really would want to give them a good fight. But as for right now, well… we’re in the seventh layer of the Waveshift Realm. If we can avoid a fight, that’d be for the best.”

  Ning glanced at the snowy mountains up ahead of them. He couldn’t help but sigh. Just a short while ago, they had been careless and ended up falling into a trap. They had wasted three years before being able to escape.

  The Waveshift Realm was divided up into ten layers; seven outer layers, three core layers. The seventh layer was already quite close to the core region.

  “None of the Daolords who run into each other dare to launch rash attacks. All of us are nervous and jumpy. This really is exhausting.” The Ninedust Sectlord pursed his lips. “Running the math through my head, we had to have run into over a hundred squads of Daolords in the Waveshift Realm by now. Some were strong, some were weak, but none of them were willing to get into a real fight.”

  “Just wait and see what happens when the Voidsea Jadeseals actually show up. You’ll see for yourself if anyone holds back when that happens,” Ning said. “Everyone’s just biding their time, that’s all.”

  Suddenly, Ning’s face turned pale.

  “Darknorth! Darknorth! Rendezvous with me as soon as possible. Quickly, quickly!”

  Daolord Solesky’s avatar within Vastheaven Palace was begging Ning to save him, going so far as to give a detailed description of his surroundings.

  “Let’s move!” Ning barked.

  “What’s wrong?” The Ninedust Sectlord was startled.

  “My big brother Solesky is in serious danger. We need to move there right away. This is the first time he’s asked me for aid since we’ve entered the Waveshift Realm!” Ning said.

  “Ahahaha! So that big brother Solesky of yours has finally agreed to meet up with us?” Ninedust laughed. Although Solesky treated Ning as he would a brother, everyone was here for the sake of acquiring a Voidsea Jadeseal! If the two joined together but then ran into one of them, who would it end up belonging to? Ning would want it, Solesky would want it, and the Ninedust Sectlord would also want it! Of the three, Ninedust was easily the most powerful! This was why Daolord Solesky had been in no rush to join forces with them.

  “This isn’t the time for jokes,” Ning said seriously. “Let’s move as fast as we can. If we move too slowly, we might not make it in time.”

  “Don’t panic. If you panic, you might be careless and fall into a dangerous zone and be trapped there for a century. If that happens, you really won’t make it in time,” Ninedust warned.

  “I know.” The two of them hurriedly pressed onwards.

  ……

  The eighth layer of the Waveshift Realm. There was a sandy beach here, and a ragged-looking old man was standing on the beach with an ugly look on his face. Next to him was the azure-robed Daolord Badlands.

  “The two of you won’t be able to escape.” Standing far off in the distance was a group of three, with the leader being a willowy woman dressed in loose black robes. Her skin was green while her eyes were crimson, and she had a pair of curved green horns on her head. She was the seventh ranked Daolord of the Endless Territories, Fiendqueen Dustrain. The two partners next to her were slightly weaker, but both were second-tier Daolords. They were Daolord Incense Dragon and Daolord Feiting.

  “Solesky, be a good boy and tell me everything you know.” Fiendqueen Dustrain’s voice was cold and clear. “Otherwise, I’ll capture you and torture you until you die.”

  “Dustrain? The two of us really do run into each other quite often.” Daolord Badlands’ avatar smiled coldly. “Last time, you threatened me in front of my Badlands Court. I didn’t expect I’d run into you again here in the Waveshift Realm. Catch us if you can!”

  “Come. Let’s see what you have.” Solesky ground his teeth as well.

  The two stood there atop the beach, which seemed quite ordinary, but in truth they were surrounded by thirteen ancient linked formations. This was an incredibly dangerous place they had discovered some time ago but had been afraid to enter! Alas, when they ran into Fiendqueen Dustrain they had no choice but to flee into the formations as soon as possible. Now that they were trapped inside, escape would be quite difficult! Still, hiding within the formation was still better than being caught by the Fiendqueen.

  “Hmph.” A murderous look flickered through the Fiendqueen’s eyes. “Damn those two. Incense Dragon, do you have any ideas on how to get inside?” the Fiendqueen sent mentally.

  “They seem to be inside thirteen looped formations that are constantly changing. The only reason they were able to make it safely inside was because of how skilled Daolord Badlands is in divination.” Daolord Incense Dragon shook his head. “It’ll be very hard for us to enter. Although I’m skilled in formations, I’m not capable of defeating this one.”

  “So there’s nothing you can do?” The Fiendqueen was angered by this.

  “There’s nothing I can do.” Daolord Incense Dragon shook his head again.

  The Fiendqueen’s crimson eyes were fi
lled with a crazed look. She barked coldly, “Solesky, I’ll give you one last chance. Hand over everything you know about the Waveshift Realm! If you dare to refuse me again, I vow that you will regret it!” But neither Solesky nor Badlands budged in the slightest.

  “Fine. Fine!” The Fiendqueen’s body began to faintly emanate a black mist as an aura of power and majesty swept out from her, causing all of the Daolords present to tremble.

  “Although Emperor Waveshift was skilled in Numerancy, he was not a Hegemon. Even if was in front of me right now and attacked me, he still wouldn’t be that much stronger than me. I refuse to believe his formations can be all that powerful! I’ll break through them with raw power. BREAK!!!” The Fiendqueen’s voice was filled with madness as her two crystalline hands suddenly expanded in size, crashing down towards Solesky and Badlands like a pair of giant mountains.

  BOOM! Instantly, streams of light appeared atop the sandy beach as the ancient formations showed themselves, blocking the dominating power of these two hands.

  * * *

  * * *

  Book 32, Chapter 2 - Fiendqueen Dustrain

  BOOM!

  An enormous sound rang out. The great beach seemed to sway, as did the waters of the sea behind it. The light of the ancient formation covering the beach shuddered as well, but it managed to endure the hit.

  “It survived the blow.” Solesky and Badlands both revealed looks of delight.

  “I refuse to believe this formation can stop me.” Fiendqueen Dustrain was only maddened even further by this, and her crystalline hands glowed with endless dark light as she once more struck out towards the formations with blows of incredible weight. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! She struck out repeatedly like a madwoman, a terrifying look in her eyes as she attacked nonstop.

  This spectacle caused the two Daolords by her sides to exchange glances, their faces turning pale.

  As for Solesky and Badlands, they were incredibly nervous despite being protected by the formations. Even the most powerful and marvelous of formations could be defeated by a single method – overwhelming power! Once the power of your attacks reached a sufficient level, you’d be able to level any formations in your path! Fiendqueen Dustrain was the seventh most powerful Daolord of the Endless Territories, and she truly was unspeakably powerful! When she struck out repeatedly with power such as this, even most ordinary Eternal Emperors would be smashed to death by her blows!