Desolate Era

by RWX

  “How could this have happened?”

  “Impossible.”

  The two remaining crimson-armored warriors continued to struggle, unwilling to give up.

  “Excellent!” The Ninedust Sectlord was delighted and surprised by this. Moments ago, he had been at the brink of despair. Now, he felt as though he had been given a new lease on life. A short while later, the runic core on the chest of a second crimson-armored warrior was pierced through. A heartbeat later, the final crimson-armored warrior was defeated as well.

  “Too fast. His sword is too fast!”

  “Winesage is overwhelmingly strong, but at least we could take his attacks head-on. Darknorth’s sword is simply too fast, so fast that we can’t even defend against it.” The three crimson-armored warriors were thoroughly convinced by their defeat.

  Overwhelming strength or overwhelming speed… which was better?

  These represented two extremes. If your power reached certain heights, you could brute-force through anything you wished and nothing could stop you. However, if your speed reached certain heights, your enemy wouldn’t even be able to touch you while you would be able to launch attacks with ease.

  Winesage relied on his Universe treasure to reach incredible heights of power, allowing him to actually send the crimson-armored warriors flying with each blow. However, their defensive teamwork was so tight and perfect that even when sent flying they could avoid giving Winesage the chance to stab their runic cores. This was why Winesage had been stymied for six full years by the three crimson-armored warriors.

  As for Ning? When he had battled against Daolord Shaka, his attack speed had already surpassed Shaka’s. Now that he had mastered the ‘Killsword’ stance, his speed once more broke through its previous bottleneck to reach a brand new level!

  He was simply too fast, making defending against him an incredibly difficult task. As a result, the three crimson-armored warriors were all consecutively defeated in short order.

  “You won.” The three crimson-armored warriors all retreated.

  “Impressive, Darknorth. Impressive! Your sword is simply too fast, far faster than Daolord Shaka’s. My guess is that not even the Radiant King is necessarily a match for you in speed. Your attack speed might be the fastest amongst all Daolords,” Ninedust said excitedly.

  “To be faster than the Radiant King isn’t all that impressive! Only when I’m faster than Daolord Dreamlore would I be the fastest of all Daolords,” Ning said. Daolord Dreamlore’s usage of the bloodblade had surpassed the Radiant King in attack speed, allowing him to gain victory.

  “Let’s hurry up and defeat the final black-armored general.” Ning didn’t have any time to waste, and he immediately charged towards the seated black-armored general.

  “Right.” Ninedust hefted his longstaff and charged towards the final challenge as well.

  ……

  Within another hall within the temple.

  Palace Lord Dawnstar, Palace Lord Cloudwalker, Ninestone, Snowjoy, and Shaka were here. They had joined forces and had already fought their way to the black-armored general, but the general was simply too fearsome.

  “Haha, this black-armored general is roughly on par with the eight lords of the Sacred Cities. Even if the five of you work together, it’ll be virtually impossible for you to stab his runic core,” Winesage said with a laugh.

  “Winesage, one Voidsea Jadeseal is enough; don’t get too greedy!” Dawnstar and the others were working together, assisting the three crimson-armored warriors and preventing Winesage from advancing. All newcomers would be assaulted by all of the warriors upon reaching the second world.

  “Winesage, you have no chance at all.” The combined forces of Dawnstar, Ninestone, Shaka, Cloudwalker, and Snowjoy brought Winesage a tremendous amount of pressure. Given the situation, there was no way he could defeat the three crimson-armored warriors at all.

  “Hmph.” After battling for a short while, Winesage realized that he really had no chance at all. He let out a calm laugh and said, “The black-armored general is far too strong. You’ll need to find more helpers to work with you. As a group, you have to exceed the level of the eight lords of the Sacred Cities in at least one area, be it speed or power or something else, if you wish to have a chance at succeeding.”

  In raw power, Winesage was still somewhat weaker than the eight lords of the Sacred Cities, but the Universe treasure brought him up to par. As a result, he was able to battle the black-armored general for a long period of time while seeking out a mistake or error. All he had to do was touch the runic core across the black-armored general’s chest and he was able to claim victory.

  There was a big difference between just touching the chest and actually winning, after all!

  For example, Ning and Ninedust stood no chance of truly defeating those three crimson-armored warriors. But merely touching the runic cores? Ning, via the speed of his Blood Drop stance, was able to succeed in this mission.

  “Haha. I won’t play around with you any longer. I’m going to go see how Darknorth is doing.” Winesage let out a laugh, then gracefully retreated and moved towards the other region at high speed.

  In the second world, the three major regions were all interlinked.

  “Whew!” Dawnstar, Cloudwalker, and the others all let out sighs of relief.

  “Winesage is heading towards Darknorth,” Ninestone said.

  “Darknorth’s going to be in trouble, but we don’t have any time to spare with helping him,” Dawnstar said. “We need to try to seize every moment and try to find a chance to strike the black-armored general on the chest. As long as we can touch that runic core, we’ll have won.”

  “Agreed.” They all understood that more and more supreme Daolords would begin to arrive, which meant that their chances would grow increasingly slim.

  * * *

  Book 33, Chapter 11 - Winesage Arrives

  Ji Ning and Ninedust jointly charged towards the black-armored general.

  The black-armored general seated on the throne was toying with the Voidsea Jadeseal with one hand, seeming quite relaxed. He put the seal down next to him on the throne, then rose to his feet.

  “Aside from Dao-seals and similar treasures, you are permitted to use any secret arts or domain-type effects,” the black-armored warrior said calmly.

  “Oh?” Ning and Ninedust were both stunned. Secret arts and heartworld projections were both permissible? In their previous battles, all such techniques had been suppressed! Ning had actually tried to use his heartworld projection and secret arts against the golden-armored warriors and the crimson-armored warriors, but alas the effects had been neutralized.

  As for Dao-seals, of course those would always be forbidden. This place was created by the Sithe to train and temper their Daolords; using Dao-seals would completely and truly make the entire exercise pointless.

  “Nine novessence arts and heartworld projection, descend!” Ning didn’t hesitate at all in executing these two techniques, causing an awe-inspiring Yin-Yang Sword Domain to descend along with the manifestation of his heartworld projection. Both came crashing straight down against the black-armored general.

  The black-armored general gripped the warblade by his side. “Your heartworld projection and your secret arts aren’t bad.” The black-armored general suddenly manifested a total of three layers of black light over his body. The black light completely covered and protected him from the might of the nine novessence arts and the heartworld projection. “Unfortunately, they aren’t quite enough to do anything to me.” He instantly drew his warblade.

  Whoosh! A streak of dazzling black saber-light instantly sliced across the skies and chopped towards Ning. It was simply too fast; as soon as the saber was drawn, the saber-light had reached Ning! When Ning saw that terrifying saber-light appear before him, he felt his heart tremble.

  “He’s at the level of the eight lords of the Sacred Cities.” When Ning saw the saber-light, he instantly understood how strong the black-armore
d general was. The streak of saber-light vastly surpassed a hundred times the speed of light, and in power it was just as strong as a strike from Winesage. It completely surpassed the level which supreme Daolords were capable of reaching.

  Swish! Ning suddenly vanished without a trace. Slash! The saber-light sliced through the position Ning had previously been in, carving a deep gouge within the field of sword-intent generated by the Yin-Yang Sword domain. Moments later, the gouge quickly disappeared but Ning was nowhere to be found.

  Of Ning’s five Omega Sword Dao stances, two were defensive while the other three (Heavenbreaker, Shadowless, Blood Drop) had various special effects.

  The Shadowless stance allowed him to turn completely invisible and evade even godsense.

  The Blood Drop stance, when used with the Northbow swords, was Ning’s most powerful attack.

  Although his heartworld projection and the nine novessence arts were unable to harm his opponent, they at least rendered him unable to defeat Ning’s Shadowless stance.

  “Eh? Where’s he hiding?” The black-armored general frowned as he immediately swept out with his warblade, launching an omnidirectional attack.

  “Hahaha! You won’t be able to find him.” Ninedust laughed loudly as he transformed into an awesome wave that furiously surged out towards the black-armored general and coiled around him.

  The black-armored general’s saber-light was impeded by Ninedust’s waves and also slowed down by Ning’s heartworld and the nine novessence arts. With Ning already knowing where the saber-light would land, he was naturally able to avoid it with ease.

  Slash! A mist-formed sword suddenly struck out from nowhere and stabbed against the outermost layer of black light covering the black-armored general. Slash! All three layers were pierced through, but the speed of the sword was lessened as well.

  When Ning struck, his strike would appear in front of you instantaneously!

  “Eh?” The black-armored general’s face tightened as he immediately struck out with his own warblade to block Ning’s strike. His defensive saber-arts were quite flawless, allowing him to block Ning’s strike almost instantly.

  Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

  As the black-armored general’s warblade clashed against Ning’s Northbow sword, the other five Northbow swords suddenly appeared as well, having transformed into five streaks of sword-shaped fog that stabbed straight through the three layers of black light.

  “What?!” Because his warblade had just clashed against Ning’s first Northbow sword, the black-armored general’s reaction speed was just a little too slow… and Ning’s other five Northbow swords were just too fast.

  Whoosh! The black-armored general’s warblade sliced out a beautiful arc in the air. As the defender he always held a certain advantage, because he only had to defend a fairly small area, allowing him to deflect many attacks from the enemy with ease. However… his warblade had been weakened and slowed down by its impact against Ning’s Northbow sword! This had an impact on his defensive stance.

  Slash! One of the streaks of sword-shaped fog stabbed straight into the black-armored general’s runic core.

  “What?” The black-armored general was stunned. He just stood there blankly. “I lost? I lost that fast?” He had lost so quickly that he couldn’t even believe it.

  “B-but…” The six golden-armored warriors and the three crimson-armored warriors who had retreated early on all stared dumbly. The black-armored general was on par with the eight lords of the Sacred Cities! But of course, he had certain flaws compared to the actual lords… with the main flaw being that he only had a single weapon! Most true Emperors would manifest at least six arms to fight against foes, whereas the black-armored general would only use a single warblade against his foes as this was what had been designated by the Sithe.

  The difference in power was too great, after all. Generally speaking, supreme Daolords would be crushed by the black-armored general. Many ‘ordinary’ supreme Daolords found it impossible to even penetrate the three layers of black light!

  The Shadowless stance made it impossible to predict where the attack would come from. As soon as Ning attacked, his swords would have already gone through the three layers of black light, making it difficult for the general to defend.

  The worst part was, Ning’s sword was incredibly fast. All six of them were incredibly fast, and they were also extremely unpredictable! Given that the black-armored general only had a single warblade to deal with the six Northbow swords, and given that the Shadowless stance allowed Ning to close in on him unhindered… alas, he was defeated at the first go.

  “I can send you flying with a single blow from my saber.” The black-armored general shook his head in disbelief.

  “But your saber-light wasn’t able to touch me, not even once.” Ning shook his head as well. In the end, the black-armored general wasn’t a true Eternal Emperor; he didn’t even have domain-type secret arts. Winedust, for example, was able to use both a heartworld projection and secret arts to prevent Ning from moving too close to him via the Shadowless stance; if Ning attempted to do so, he would be exposed by the domain.

  “I’m able to silently approach you without giving you any hint as to where I am! Given how fast my six Northbow swords are… if I’m still unable to touch your runic core despite all these advantages then that would mean I’m ridiculously weaker than the eight lords of the Sacred Cities.” Ning was in quite a good mood, both at how strong he had become as well as at his final success.

  “The Voidsea Jadeseal…” Ninedust stared at the jade seal atop the throne, his eyes gleaming with excitement. This was a legendary treasure, the most powerful Daomerge treasure available. It had drawn the attention of virtually all of the supreme Daolords of the Endless Territories. Today, it would become his?

  “What are you looking at? Go take it!” Ning barked.

  “T-then I’ll really go grab it…?” Ninedust felt rather embarrassed, as Ning was primarily responsible for their success. But in truth, he had played a major role as well. His invulnerable aquaform was very tough for foes to deal with, and the way in which he had transformed into waves that hindered their foes made things much easier for Ning. Otherwise, Ning by himself would’ve taken forever to overcome even the first world.

  “We agreed early on that it’d be yours. Stop wasting time! If you delay any longer, I’m gonna fight you for it,” Ning said.

  Swoosh! Seemingly panicked, Ninedust reached out with his right hand, moving lightning-fast as he grabbed the jade seal atop the throne.

  “Ninedust, you…” Ning stared at him. “Was it really necessary to grab it that fast? You moved more than a hundred times the speed of light!”

  “Yeah, just keep laughing. I really don’t care right now. Ahaha!” Ninedust was in quite a good mood. Even if Ning was to stab him with a hundred knives, he’d still continue to chortle.

  Ning smiled as well. He had felt quite guilty towards Ninedust this entire time, but now he felt much better.

  Whoosh. A streak of light appeared off in the distance, then flew straight towards them. It was Winesage.

  “Fellow Daoists.” A sonorous voice boomed out, echoing throughout every inch of the Crimsonwave Temple. “The second of the three final Voidsea Jadeseals has been acquired by Daolord Ninedust!”

  Winesage trembled slightly, looking almost like a bloodlusted mortal who suddenly had a bucket of icewater poured over him. He landed on the ground, staring dazedly at Ning and Ninedust and the throne next to them.

  “You…” Winesage couldn’t believe it. This was simply too fast! He had just acquired his a short while. Somehow, Ning and Ninedust had successfully acquired one as well?

  “Haha, it’s on me. Come and take it, if you can.” Ninedust was quite smug. Given his invulnerable aquaform, he really didn’t fear any Daolords at all.

  Ning stood by Ninedust’s side, a smile on his face as he looked at Winesage. “Winesage. You arrived too late.”

  * * *

/>   Book 33, Chapter 12 - The Third World

  Winesage narrowed his eyes, then let out a smile. “Darknorth, I truly admire you. Without a Universe treasure and with just brother Ninedust assisting you, you were able to defeat all of these warriors… and then you gave the Voidsea Jadeseal to Ninedust!”

  The way in which Winesage viewed Ning had changed. During the last competition, the jade seal had ended up in Daolord Solesky’s hands. This time, Ning had been the main contributory to their victory against the black-armored general, but he had ended up giving the Voidsea Jadeseal to Ninedust! Winesage knew that if Darknorth was able to act in such a way despite the allure of the Voidsea Jadeseal, he would definitely be a friend worth making.

  “You were literally just a few seconds too late. Otherwise, Ninedust and I would’ve been in serious trouble,” Ning said.

  “Palace Lord Dawnstar and the others haven’t taken away their Voidsea Jadeseal yet. Why don’t we join forces to take it from them? Neither of us have any chance if we go by ourselves, but our chances are significant if we join forces. The fastest one shall be the one to win the Voidsea Jadeseal,” Winesage said.

  Dawnstar and the other four alone were enough to tie down Winesage! Once you added the three crimson-armored warriors and the black-armored general into the mix, it would be no easy feat at all. Even if he and Ning joined forces, they only stood a chance and were not assured of victory. The main reason why Winesage wanted to try working together with Ning was because he had decided that Ning was a friend worth making.

  “No need.” Ning shook his head.

  “You aren’t going to take part?” Winesage was surprised.

  “Not taking part,” Ning said.

  “Once someone ends up with the Voidsea Jadeseal, it’ll be a hundred times more difficult to pry it out of their hands,” Winesage said. Of all the Daolords present, the only one he cared about was Ji Ning.