Desolate Era

by RWX

Whoooosh. An awe-inspiring group of figures flew over from afar.

  Ning raised his head, his face tightening. The arrivals were Daolord Dreamlore’s group of four and King Paleos’ group of twelve.

  “Kill!”

  “Charge onto the seven-colored chains!”

  The sixteen supreme Daolords charged forwards, executing their secret arts and sending out a flood of magic items to attack. Ning’s face had turned solemn long ago, and he hurriedly used his heartworld projection and his nine novessence arts to attack while using his Shadowless evasion art to vanish without a trace. In the face of such a gathering of power, he didn’t dare to fight head-on.

  “Tigrone, Skyshatter, the two of you stand guard for now while the two of us charge through the chains. As agreed, the four of us will evenly split any fruit we acquire,” Dalord Dreamlore sent mentally. He knew very well that he himself wouldn’t be able to keep a command talisman safe by himself. The four of them would have to continue to work together.

  “Agreed.” Daolord Tigrone and Daolord Skyshatter both nodded as Owlblack and Dreamlore both charged towards the seven-colored chains.

  “Stop right there!” Ning’s heartworld projection and nine novessence arts were compressed to a smaller region, serving as a ‘bottleneck’ in front of the seven-colored chains. If anyone wished to cross through the chains, they would have to first cross this region.

  Ning revealed himself, six Northbow swords at the ready within the ‘bottleneck’.

  “You wish to block all of us?” Dreamlore smiled coldly. “King Paleos!”

  “Attack!”

  “Let’s attack!” King Paleos’ led six of his supreme Daolords to press the assault as well. It had only been a month or so, after all. Even though they had temporal acceleration treasures, only some of them had mastered the [Vitalis] art.

  “You won’t be able to stop us.” King Paleos led the six supreme Daolords, joining Daolord Dreamlore and Daolord Owlblack as they charged towards Ning.

  * * *

  Book 33, Chapter 19 - Triage

  King Paleos, Fiendqueen Dustrain, Daolord Owlblack, and Daolord Dreamlore led the group of nine supreme Daolords in charging straight towards Ji Ning.

  One against nine? Not even Winesage would be able to pull that off, to say nothing of Ji Ning. Not only that, even the other supreme Daolords hanging back such as Daolord Tigrone and Daolord Skyshatter were charging towards Ning, seeking to tie him down.

  “He won’t be able to stop us.”

  “Nobody can stop this many Daolords.”

  “Haha, we’re going to make it through.” The supreme Daolords were filled with confidence.

  The three-headed, six-armed Ning stood there by himself at the beginning of the seven-colored chains. His six Northbow swords were at the ready, while the nine novessence arts and the heartworld projection covered the surrounding area. He just watched calmly as the host of supreme Daolords charged towards him.

  Whoosh! Ning suddenly vanished without a trace.

  “Careful, don’t let him ambush you. His assassination art is extremely unpredictable.”

  “Be careful.”

  They all began to wildly blast the entire area while sending their own secret arts and heartworld projections to contend with Ning’s head-on. As they did so, they continued their charge.

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

  “We made it!”

  “I made it as well.” One supreme Daolord after another landed on the seven-colored chains. As soon as they did so, they were able to sense an invisible force wrap around them that protected them from the battle raging just outside. No combat was possible on the chains.

  “Let’s go!” King Paleos charged forwards as well. Clang! Suddenly, a black hole appeared directly in front of him. A moment later, he was blasted backwards with a huge booming sound.

  Clang! Daolord Owlblack fought in a barehanded style and was extremely strong in close combat, but just like Paleos he was blasted backwards with an explosion.

  “Careful! That’s Darknorth!” King Paleos and Daolord Owlback were both furious.

  Ning had to briefly reveal himself while attacking, and he swept the group with a cold gaze. A heartbeat later, he vanished once more. It was very difficult for Ning to kill them, but his defensive sword-arts were so superlative and the [Heartsword] technique so formidable that it was very easy for him to stop them in their tracks and knock them flying, one after the other.

  “I refuse to believe it.” Daolord Dreamlore’s youthful face had a look of cold malice on it as he struck out with his massive two-handed bloodblade.

  “Fuck off.” Whoosh! An incomparably dazzling streak of bloody light suddenly appeared. It was like a scene of peerless beauty that would cause those who saw it to be intoxicated by it. Even Daolord Dreamlore himself was completely absorbed and entranced when he executed this attack. This ‘bloodblade’ was a very mysterious and unique weapon. He had been entranced by it, and his Dao was able to truly and fully merge with it.

  “Fast! Even faster than me!” Ning was shocked. His swords were incredibly fast, but when he saw that dazzlingly beautiful streak of bloody light he knew that his attacks were still significantly slower in comparison.

  Ning’s six Northbow swords struck out in unison. Ning had been able to use merely a single sword to knock Daolord Paleos, Daolord Owlblack, and Fiendqueen Dustrain back, but he didn’t dare to be the slightest bit overconfident against Daolord Dreamlore’s dazzling strike.

  Six streams of mist-formed swords struck out, each of them moving faster than a hundred time’s the speed of light.

  Clang! Clang! Clang! In the end, he had an advantage in that he only needed to focus on defense. Although the Radiant King and Palace Lord Dawnstar had been defeated by Daolord Dreamlore, they were still able to preserve their lives. In comparison, Ning’s close combat abilities could be described as truly perfect and flawless!

  Although he was using the Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop, in the instant that his sword-light collided it transformed into the Omega Sword Dao – Soleheart. After truly developing the Omega Sword Dao, Ning’s offensive techniques could transform into defensive techniques, and vice versa. All techniques could be instantly converted into different techniques without even the slightest trace or opening.

  Boom! Daolord Dreamlore only felt an enormous shockwave sweep past his body, sending him stumbling backwards. A look of shock appeared on his face. This was the first time that his attack had been crushed head-on!

  Although Dawnstar and the Radiant King had been able to survive his assault, they had been left in very bad shape. Even if Winesage was to face off against this attack of his, Winesage would be forced to simply defend, given that Winesage was just too slow. Darknorth, however, was able to crush him!

  “Impossible. Impossible!” A berserk look appeared within Daolord Dreamlore’s eyes. “Again!” He was filled with the utmost devotion and sincerity towards his bloodblade.

  Swoosh! Yet another dazzling streak of bloody light filled the skies.

  “Hmph.” Ning’s six streaks of mist-formed sword energy once more appeared as well. They were like the spokes to a giant wheel, and when they stabbed out they quickly began to swivel together to form a massive black hole that smashed directly against bloody streak of light, destroying it and knocking Daolord Dreamlore flying backwards.

  “Daolord Dreamlore, you might be faster than me… but you only have a single bloodblade. If you had six, I’d probably find it much tougher to deal with you.” Ning’s voice rang out.

  His sword wasn’t as fast as Daolord Dreamlore’s, but at least he was closer to Dreamlore’s speed than any other Daolord. The difference wasn’t as great as it was for the likes of Winesage and Dawnstar! Given that he was able to defend with all six Northbow swords at the same time while using incredibly tough defensive sword-arts, he was naturally able to endure the blow and knock his opponent backwards.

  “Damn that Darknorth.” The nearby King Paleos, Daolord O
wlblack, and Fiendqueen Dustrain all began to grow anxious. Dreamlore was knocked flying back, an ugly look on his face. After he had defeated the Radiant King and Dawnstar, he had felt extremely confident in being able to challenge the second-ranked Daolord Darknorth… but reality had just slapped him in the face! He could sense the enormous disparity in power between the two of them.

  What he didn’t know was that ever since Ning had mastered the tenth stance of the [Heartsword] art, Ning had already closed the gap between himself and Winesage! This meant there was now a huge gap in power between Ning and all other supreme Daolords which was only worsened by how balanced and flawless Ning’s sword-arts were!

  “What should I do?”

  “The other Daolords have already made it across. The only ones left here are us.”

  “Damn that Darknorth. He’s quite crafty.”

  Dreamlore, King Paleos, Owlblack, and Fiendqueen Dustrain were all frantic with impatience. Nine of them had started this charge, and Ning truly wasn’t able to stop all of them at once… but he was more than capable of tying down four of them.

  Whoosh. Ning once more reappeared in front of the seven-colored chains. “You shall not pass.” Ning looked at the four of them.

  “What should we do? When we attack, Darknorth just hides and ignores us.” Tigrone, Skyshatter, and the others who were holding back and planning to cross the chains began to grow anxious as well.

  Ning completely ignored them. His attention was focused on the four.

  Ning knew that it was fairly hard to master the [Daoheart] technique. As for defeating the 9000 barriers? Those weaker first-tier Daolords wouldn’t pose Ninedust any risk at all.

  ……

  At this very moment, Ninedust was within the floating stone island in front of the second abyss. He was training in the [Daoheart] technique with his temporal acceleration cottage. He had failed time and time again, and thus he knew exactly what was going on outside thanks to those moments of clarity. “I need to speed up. Darknorth is buying me as much time as he can. I need to speed it up!”

  Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Five supreme Daolords appeared before him.

  “Ninedust, hand over the Voidsea Jadeseal!”

  “Hand it over, Ninedust!”

  The five supreme Daolords immediately surrounded and attacked Ninedust. To them, the Voidsea Jadeseal was what truly mattered. The command talismans might technically be more valuable, but they were only of use to Eternal Emperors. No amount of treasures the Eternal Emperors might give them would make any difference if they weren’t able to complete the Daomerge! To them, all nine command talismans weren’t as valuable as a single one of those Voidsea Jadeseals.

  Whoosh. The temporal acceleration cottage vanished, while Ninedust transformed into an endless sea of water that filled the surrounding area. Part of the sea coalesced into a humanoid figure that spoke out: “I, Ninedust, swear on my very life itself that I have already used up the Voidsea Jadeseal I acquired. If I violate or betray this oath, may my soul and truesoul be shattered and dispersed.”

  His booming voice filled the entire world around them.

  “Uh?”

  “But…”

  The five supreme Daolords who had been permitted by Ning to enter this island were all stunned. Even Daolord Dreamlore and the others on the first island were all stunned.

  He already used it up? One of the main reasons why they had so frantically attempted to make it onto the second island was because they wanted to take Ninedust’s Voidsea Jadeseal from him! This was what truly drew their attention.

  None of them wanted to believe it, but Ninedust had already sworn a lifeblood oath. That meant this was definitely true.

  “Damnit.”

  “He actually used it.”

  “Just what I was afraid of…”

  “He must’ve used it up when we were busy fighting over the final Voidsea Jadseal in the second world…”

  “Sly bastard.” All of them felt resentment and regret. Still, all that resentment was of no use. Since Ninedust had already used it up, they didn’t want to waste any more time on him. He had an invulnerable aquaform, after all; he wouldn’t be easily defeated.

  “This [Daoheart] technique… it’s absolutely marvelous. Absolutely inconceivable!”

  “The [Daoheart] technique?” After a brief moment of disappointment, the five supreme Daolords turned their attention to the [Daoheart] technique. All of them were stunned and wildly delighted, and they quickly began to memorize and train in the technique. Techniques which could be used to strengthen the Dao-heart were truly priceless. This technique alone made their visit to Crimsonwave Temple worth it.

  * * *

  Book 33, Chapter 20 - The Final Command Talisman

  “What’s a [Daoheart] technique?” King Paleos called out loudly.

  “A technique that can be used to enhance the Dao-heart,” one of the five supreme Daolords immediately shouted back.

  King Paleos, Daolord Dreamlore, and the others instantly grew excited.

  “Gentlemen, if you are willing to choose a different passageway I’d be willing to transmit the [Daoheart] technique do you,” Ning said.

  “No need. They’ve already sworn lifeblood oaths to share any and all techniques we find,” Daolord Tigrone said in a gravelly voice. The reason why he was willing to forgo charging into the passageway was precisely because the others had all sworn lifeblood oaths to share any techniques they found as well as to split any fruit they acquired.

  “Oh?” Ning said calmly, “It doesn’t matter. The four of you can forget about making it across.”

  Ning’s defensive prowess was such that not a single attack had landed on him yet. In truth, even if he had been hit his Hegemon armor would’ve been able to absorb the blow. Tying down four supreme Daolords was entirely within Ning’s capabilities.

  “The four of us won’t be able to make it across,” King Paleos sent mentally. “Tigrone, Skyshatter, the two of you need to train in the [Vitalis] art as soon as possible. Once you master it, you can join the four of us in our attempts. If all six of us work together, he probably won’t be able to stop us.”

  “Alright.” The main reason why Tigrone, Skyshatter, and the rest didn’t join the attempt was because they hadn’t mastered [Vitalis]. Ning could simply ignore them and thus was able to easily focus his efforts on stopping just the other four.

  For a time, the battlefield grew silent. Ning continued to stand there by himself in front of the seven-colored chains, a single man who could stop even an army in its tracks.

  Another five days went by.

  “Hahaha…” Loud laughter rang out as the Ninedust Sectlord stepped onto the tri-colored chains and began to stride across them.

  “Damn.” The faces of Daolord Dreamlore, King Paleos, and the others all turned pale.

  “Excellent.” Ning revealed a delighted look.

  Ninedust walked across the tri-colored chains. Although the level of pain increased as he continued to advance, he was still able to endure it and make it across to the altar, where he acquired the sixth command talisman at its base.

  “Haha, Darknorth, it took me forever to master the ‘Dao-heart’ challenge. I really feel a bit embarrassed.” Ninedust turned to stare at Ning, calling out to him.

  “Stop wasting time and words. Hurry up and crack the altar open! Remember, use a temporal acceleration treasure! This challenge is the hardest of all,” Ning called out loudly.

  “Got it!” Ninedust responded.

  ……

  Although King Paleos and the others were very anxious, there was nothing they could do. Ning had focused on the four of them with laser-like precision. Given that the heartworld projection and the nine novessence arts were all aimed at them, there really was no way for them to get across.

  Another half month went past. Finally, Tigrone and Skyshatter both mastered the [Vitalis] art as well.

  “Let’s go together.”

  “I want to see how he’ll s
top this many of us!”

  Dreamlore, King Paleos, Owlblack, Dustrain, Tigrone, and Skyshatter joined forces to charge towards the seven-colored chains.

  “Huh? What’s going on?” Daolord Tigrone found out that… nothing happened at all. No one impeded him as he charged onto the seven-colored chains.

  “Eh? I made it?” Fiendqueen Dustrain was stunned as well.

  The two hurriedly crossed the seven-colored chains. However, Dreamlore, King Paleos, Daolord Owlblack, and Skyshatter were all stopped by Ning.

  “The four of you aren’t allowed to cross.” Ning’s voice rang out. He had specifically decided on which Daolords he could let across. In the end, he just wasn’t strong enough and wouldn’t be able to block everyone, and thus he had to pick and choose who he would and would not let cross.

  The five he had initially let onto the seven-colored chains were all supreme Daolords who ranked at the back of the line. They posed no threat at all.

  As for Fiendqueen Dustrain? When Ninedust had first arrived at the Waveshift Realm, he had already been on par with her! However, back then Ninedust had only recently become a Daolord of the Fourth Step and hadn’t come up with any ultimate attacks for himself yet. Thanks to the legacy of the Ancient Hegemon as well as his experiences in Crimsonwave Temple, he had already come up with a total of three killer attacks and had definitely surpassed Fiendqueen Dustrain in power.

  It must be remembered that breaking through the 9000 barriers was all about attack power! Ninedust’s attack power was definitely above Fiendqueen Dustrain’s, and so she wouldn’t prove to be much of a threat. As a result, Ning let her across.

  As for Daolord Tigrone? His defensive prowess was truly unrivalled, but his attacks were much weaker. He also wouldn’t be much of a threat.

  But Dreamlore, Owlblack, Skyshatter, and Paleos were the four most dangerous Daolords present. Ning naturally would have to stop them!

  “You fight dirty, Darknorth.”

  “Daolord Tigrone and Fiendqueen Dustrain, do your best to acquire that command talisman. If you can kill Ninedust, all the better.”