Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Who are you, senior?” Ninedust called out.

  “Me? I was manufactured by the Sithe. I’ve been here my entire life, taking care of these trees. The Sithe called me the ‘Grovekeeper’.” The black earth golem boomed with laughter. “But the Sithe were wiped out long ago, and my current master is Emperor Waveshift. Of course, my mission remains the same – to take care of these trees. The nine regions within Crimsonwave Temple have a total of nine Grovekeepers, and I’m one of them.”

  Ning and Ninedust both nodded slightly.

  “Senior,” Ning called out, “Who were the Sithe, exactly? They seem to have been quite powerful.”

  “Powerful? Hah! Of course they were powerful! Their war encompassed countless realms. I don’t even know how many of you cultivators died as a result of it.” The black earth golem continued, “But of course, the Sithe were still defeated in the end. They were wiped out! The Crimsonwave Temple experienced quite a few things before ending up in Emperor Waveshift’s hands.”

  Ning and Ninedust were intrigued. So the great battle in the Terror Starsea known as the ‘Dawn War’ had been fought against the Sithe race?

  “The Sithe paid an unbelievable price to create Crimsonwave Temple,” the black earth golem said. “Crimsonwave Temple holds more marvels than you can imagine, and it was used to plant all of these divine trees around us! The nine regions here represent nine different types of divine trees, and each type is incredibly useful. The Sithe were completely wiped out, with their most powerful experts being completely slaughtered and their treasures taken away. That was also what happened to Crimsonwave Temple.”

  “Their most powerful experts were all wiped out?” Ning and Ninedust couldn’t help but sigh. The Sithe had been incredibly powerful, so powerful that they were able to create Hegemon-level guardians and locations like Crimsonwave Temple! And yet, all of their supreme experts had been wiped out, essentially driving their race to extinction. In the end, for any race, what truly mattered was the presence and existence of their supreme experts.

  “Did Emperor Waveshift set down the dimensional walkway, or did the Sithe?” Ning asked.

  “The Sithe, of course.” The black earth golem explained, “Emperor Waveshift certainly doesn’t have the ability to do so! The Sithe used these dimensional walkways to train and temper their Daolords. All of these varied golems here provide an excellent source of combat experience, after all.”

  Ning and Ninedust were startled. Right. It made sense. This place was indeed a superb place to train. Ning had only recently become a Daolord of the Third Step, but he was lacking in actual combat experience. As he fought against all of these warriors, Ning had accumulated more and more actual battle experience and as a result was able to discover some of the weaknesses still inherent to his sword-arts. Upon discovering those weaknesses, he was able to find a way to improve his sword-arts and thus more quickly move towards becoming a Daolord of the Fourth Step.

  As for Ninedust, he would be able to come up with even more powerful techniques. Daolord Shaka, the Radiant King… these ‘supreme Daolords’ all had reached the same level of enlightenment into the Dao, so why was it that they varied so much in power? It was because they all had developed different attacks!

  Ning’s Dao was that of the Omega, and thus it represented the true apex of what was possible. This was why, whenever he wanted to truly upgrade his technique, he would have to first reach a higher level of enlightenment. This wasn’t true for the others.

  “I believe the Sithe had many similar locations which they used to train Daolords,” the black earth golem said. “Their Daolords were all extremely powerful, with many reaching the ‘supreme’ level of power. Unfortunately, their ambitions were too vast. They sought to enslave all cultivators and take control over the destinies of all living things.”

  “And so, in the end they had to be wiped out.” The black earth golem shook his head. “Let me give you another word of advice. It’ll be virtually impossible for the two of you to fight through to the third world by yourselves. I urge you to work together with a few more supreme Daolords.”

  “Alright. Thank you.” Both Ning and Ninedust nodded. At present, what they really cared about was the Voidsea Jadeseal in the second world. The command seals in the third world were of secondary concern.

  “The various fruit trees within the nine major regions all ripen at different intervals, going from every 30,000 chaos cycles to every 100,000 chaos cycles,” the black earth golem said. “This is why Crimsonwave Temple will only be opened up once every 30,000 chaos cycles at most! However, this is the first time Crimsonwave Temple has been opened up in a very long time, and so all of the fruits in all nine regions are ripe for the harvesting. Seize the opportunity! If you miss it, you’ll have to wait another 30,000 chaos cycles… and by then, you’ll only have access to the fruits in two of the regions.”

  * * *

  Book 33, Chapter 6 - Command Seals

  Anywhere from 30,000 chaos cycles to 100,000 chaos cycles? Ji Ning and Ninedust exchanged a glance, the same thought running through both their minds: when the competition over the Voidsea Jadeseals concluded, the two of them would definitely have to do their best to acquire some of the fruit.

  Ji Ning felt particularly eager. Although the Voidsea Jadeseal was perhaps more valuable, Ning also knew that it would be of limited use to him. The Daomerge for his Omega Sword Dao was simply going to be so incredibly difficult that he felt zero confidence in his abilities to succeed in it. As a result, he viewed the fruits with great importance as well.

  Given how badly the various Hegemons and the Dao Alliance wanted the fruits, they might be of use to him in reviving his wife. As for the Daomerge? If he failed, he’d die. By now, Ning had seen past both life and death. If he could revive his wife and then happily live together alongside her and their daughter Brightmoon for over 100,000 chaos cycles, he really wouldn’t mind failing his Daomerge. His greatest wish was to bring his wife back. Ordinary mortals were only able to live for a hundred years; to be able to spend over 100,000 chaos cycles alongside his loved ones was a true blessing. What did he have to complain about?

  “Dare I ask, senior,” Ning said, “How many of those fruit-picking command seals are there?”

  “A total of nine in total, and they are each attuned to one of the nine regions,” the black earth golem said. “Each of the nine regions holds a different types of tree within them. Once you earn a command seal, you’ll be able to see all of the divine trees and fruits located within a certain region.”

  “How much fruit is within each region?” Ning and Ninedust were surprised.

  “Well… let’s use this current region, the third region, as an example. If you can acquired the third command seal, then I’ll harvest all 108,000 fruits on your behalf and give them to you,” the black earth golem said.

  Ning immediately decided that he had to do his absolute utmost to acquire the command seals! Every single command seal represented an enormous number of fruits.

  “Senior,” Ninedust immediately asked, “What good are these fruits? What can they be used for?”

  “Pill-making!” The black earth golem explained, “They can be used to forge certain legendary pills that will drive any Eternal Emperors mad with desire.”

  Ning asked, “Senior, which of the fruits in the nine regions are the most valuable?” Since there were nine command seals in total, he’d definitely have to try and find the most valuable one.

  “Hey, this kid’s pretty smart.” The black earth golem chortled. “Then I’ll go ahead and tell you – the ninth command seal is the most valuable one. The fruits in the ninth region ripen once every 100,000 chaos cycles! The sixth, seventh, and eighth command seals are equivalent in value; those fruits ripen once every 90,000 chaos cycles! The third, fourth, and fifth command seals correspond to fruits that ripen once every 60,000 chaos cycles, while the fruits for the first and second command seals are the least valuable, ripening once every 30,000 chaos
cycles.”

  Ning’s eyes lit up as he memorized this. “Thank you, senior.”

  “Darknorth, if we join forces we should be able to seize at least a few of those command seals,” Ninedust said.

  “Haha…. quite a few supreme Daolords will be taking part in this. Count your blessings if you can even seize one of them,” the black earth golem laughed merrily. He then quickly dissipated, his body reverting to chunks of dirt that fell down to the ground.

  “That little chat with the Grovekeeper really brought my spirits up,” Ninedust chortled. “Let’s keep charging.”

  “Right.” Ning was filled with eagerness as well. “Attack!” The two charged forwards, side-by-side.

  After chatting with the Grovekeeper, Ning now understood more about this place. This was a place which the Sithe had used to train their Daolords and give them more combat experience, helping them discover flaws in their techniques. Naturally, there was no way they would allow heartworld projections or secret arts to be used, as that would defeat the entire purpose.

  From this alone, it seemed clear that the many varied techniques these warriors used would indeed give Ning many new insights into his Omega Sword Dao.

  ……

  At the entrance to the Crimsonwave Temple.

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! One figure after another charged through the entrance, not even wanting to waste time admiring the characters ‘Crimson’ ‘Wave’ ‘Temple’ above them.

  “Eh?” There were seven figures in total, and they all stared in shock at the two hideous, towering, black-skinned, green-furred, golden-eyed figures in front of them. The aura in particular caused all seven of these supreme Daolords to shudder.

  “Hegemons?” All seven of them were stunned.

  Streams of rainbow light manifested next to them, resolving into a white-robed man who smiled at them. “Do not be alarmed. These two are not Hegemons, but they did have power comparable to a Hegemon’s. They are the most powerful guardians which were produced by the Sithe race, who created them at enormous expense to watch over Crimsonwave Temple. However, the two of them were killed and Crimsonwave Temple ended up in my master’s hands.”

  The seven supreme Daolords were just as stunned as Ning had been when he had heard this information. Realmsoul Polo couldn’t help but feel smug; he was extremely proud of his master.

  “Where are Winesage and Darknorth?” A silver-robed figure amongst the seven spoke out. This was Palace Lord Cloudwalker.

  “They’ve gone inside to seek out the Voidsea Jadeseals. These three corridors head to three different places, and there is a Voidsea Jadeseal at the end of each.” Realmsoul Polo pointed towards three deep blue hallways that appeared at the other side of the temple. The seven supreme Daolords instantly turned anxious upon hearing this. The realmsoul continued, “But don’t be impatient; the Voidsea Jadeseals are not so easily won. Although you’ve arrived nearly a year later than them, you still stand a very good chance at earning the seals. But of course, that’s only if you work together.”

  “Which tunnels did they choose?” Daolord Dreamlord, bloodblade in his arms, spoke out in a cold voice.

  “They separated and chose to go through all three tunnels,” Realmsoul Polo said. “The rest is up to you and luck.” After finishing his words, he dissipated.

  The seven supreme Daolords in the temple exchanged a glance. “Damn the two of them. Winesage and Darknorth repeatedly used their heartworld projections to slow us down, forcing us to gather together to resist them in unison. Otherwise, we would’ve reached Crimsonwave Temple long ago.”

  “Let’s cut the crap. What should we do next?”

  “Have you decided where we should go?”

  “We arrived later than them to begin with. If we work by ourselves, we won’t have any chance at all.”

  The seven supreme Daolords weren’t fools. They quickly decided to separate up into two squads. The first squad consisted of Ninestone, Palace Lord Cloudwalker, Shaka, and Snowjoy.

  The second squad consisted of Dreamlord, Tigrone, and Skyshatter.

  “Which one should we choose? They’ve already gone up ahead of us. I wonder which path Winesage choose?” Both squads worried the most about running into Winesage. Even someone as incredibly powerful as Ning, who was able to suppress the ‘old’ Winesage in might, had been completely crushed by Winesage when the latter had used his Universe treasure. Ning’s only choice had to been to rely on the speed and concealing properties of his Shadowless evasion art in order to escape.

  “If we run into Winesage, we’ll be in serious trouble.” This is what both squads were worried about.

  “Based on my understanding of Winesage…” Daolord Skyshatter had an ugly scar on his face, and his voice was very cold. “Although he looks calm and collected, he’s an extremely arrogant and domineering person who views himself as without peer amongst Daolords! Now that he has a Universe treasure, he’s only going to feel even more arrogant than he did in the past. He would naturally choose the central hallway.”

  “Mm. Then let’s avoid that one.” There really was no other options; the Waveshift Realm placed tight restrictions on spacetime techniques, and the situation inside Crimsonwave Temple was even worse. It was completely impossible for them to use temporal inversion to see what happened here.

  “Then we’ll take the left,” Palace Lord Cloudwalker said.

  “We’ll take the right,” Daolord Dreamlore said.

  ……

  The dimensional walkway of the first world inside the Crimsonwave Temple. Ning and Ninedust had already battled their way past countless warriors, but more waves of those warriors continued to assail them. Right now, there was a total of twenty-nine warriors surrounding and assaulting them.

  Whoooosh. The Ninedust Sectlord transformed into an enormous wave of water, his invulnerable aquaform having transformed into a vast sea. If he so chose, he would be able to easily transform into a sea that covered hundreds of millions of kilometers, if not more. The vast sea swept through all of the warriors, slowing them down and making it difficult for them to effectively work together.

  In terms of impeding these armored warriors, the Ninedust Sectlord’s ‘invulnerable aquaform’ was far superior than the techniques Ning had available to him. No matter how strong Ning was, he was only able to block a few of the warriors at once, whereas Ninedust’s invulnerable aquaform was able to have an impact on all of them.

  “Kill!”

  “Kill!” This was a site which the Sithe had used to train their Daolords; a mere ‘invulnerable aquaform’ wouldn’t be able to defeat it that easily. The warriors moved closer to each other and the golden light in their eyes shone even more brightly, causing golden light to spring up amongst them and cause them to join together into a whole. This caused the impact of the vast waves to be greatly lessened.

  As for Ning, he remained the mainstay in this fight. He furiously and laboriously seeking out opportunities to smash one warrior after another off of the dimensional walkway, despite the formation the warriors were using.

  “Eh?” After knocking yet another warrior off, both Ning and Ninedust noticed something behind them. Three more figures had suddenly appeared at the other end of the dimensional walkway.

  The first figure was a red-robed youth who was carrying a bloodblade in his arms, surrounded by a towering, baleful aura. This was Daolord Dreamlore, a man who had been very low-key up until he had defeated the Radiant King in his first major battle.

  The second man was a muscular man dressed in extremely thick gray armor whose eyes glowed with green light. This was the most powerful Daolord the Aberrants had, Daolord Tigrone. His divine body was so tough that not even King Gorsch had been able to injure him in the slightest. Daolord Tigrone had been the main reason why King Gorsch had died.

  The last one was an insidious, scar-faced man who looked extremely mysterious. All Ning knew was that he was a Daolord of the Dark Kingdom known as Daolord Skyshatter. His real level of power
was a mystery.

  “Darknorth!”

  The gazes of Daolord Dreamlord, Daolord Tigrone, and Daolord Skyshatter all fell upon Ning.

  * * *

  Book 33, Chapter 7 - Heartsword Art

  “It’s them.” Ji Ning’s face tightened slightly.

  “Darknorth, this will be troublesome. Daolord Dreamlore’s power is unfathomable, while Daolord Tigrone’s defenses are superior to any I’ve ever seen. As for Daolord Skyshatter, he’s a Daolord of the Dark Kingdom but was accepted by Daolord Dreamlore and Daolord Tigrone as a partner. He must be incredibly strong as well.” The Ninedust Sectlord frowned.

  “Don’t worry about them. They were a full year behind us. It won’t be that easy for them to catch up to us,” Ning said. “Seize every moment and do your best to push as many of the warriors out of the dimensional walkway as you can.”

  “Alright.” Ninedust nodded.

  The two paid no more heed to the three Daolords behind them and began to focus on attacking the warriors up ahead.

  ……

  “The Voidsea Jadeseals are in the second world, while the command seals needed to harvest the fruit are in the third world.” Realmsoul Polo once more gave detailed instructions to the new arrivals. These supreme Daolords were amongst the most incredibly talented figures alive in the Endless Territories; it was important for him to give them good guidance. His master, Emperor Waveshift, was doing this for the sake of tempering these supreme Daolords and making them even better. The realmsoul naturally had to keep them fully informed.

  “Got it.”

  “Let’s move.”

  Daolord Tigrone, Daolord Dreamlore, and Daolord Skyshatter began to advance as well, and they immediately began to suffer the attacks of the armored warriors in front of them.

  “Hmph. Darknorth and Ninedust are fools. Why aren’t they using their secret arts or a heartworld projection? Are they trying to use this as a training exercise?” Daolord Skyshatter frowned. Instantly, he sent a tri-colored surge of energy sweeping out to surround the area, wrapping itself around the warriors around him. However, the golden light covering the entire dimensional walkway immediately swirled forwards to cover it.