Desolate Era

by RWX

  “If we really do compete against them in treasures, once we clean out their stockpile we might be able to kill… but what if we’re the ones who are cleaned out instead? What should we do?” the skinny silver man sent mentally.

  “If we use up all the treasures, we won’t be able to pose any threat to Daolord Darknorth at all.” The silver-haired man sent back mentally, “By then, he’ll have nothing to fear at all and will become even more of a problem.”

  “Agreed.”

  The many treasures they had accumulated were the final cards they had to play. They weren’t willing to use them all up. If they did, they might win… but they might also lose! They weren’t willing to accept what losing would entail.

  “Daolord Darknorth… let’s just wait and see who has the last laugh.” The muscular silver man let out a cold snort. “Let’s go.”

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The three silver men led the eight Emperor-class golems soaring through the skies as they departed.

  Ning watched from afar as they left, a hint of a smile playing around his lips.

  “Darknorth, what should we do next?” Ninedust began to worry. “They are more powerful than us, after all. Your sword-arts are defensively strong enough to ensure they can’t do anything to us, but we can’t do anything to them either. If this stalemate continues, there’s no way we’ll be able to find the treasures hidden within this Stone Hellephant Wall.”

  Ning nodded. The reason why they were fighting and risking their lives was to gain the treasures of the Sithe! Just from the Emperor-class golems and the three silver men alone, both Ning and Ninedust felt absolutely certain that there was definitely a Sithe treasure trove here!

  “Let’s establish ourselves in this world first,” Ning said. “Then we’ll search for that secret place.”

  “That’s our only choice.” Ninedust nodded.

  “Arise.” Ning turned to glance at the land behind him. The Cranesoar Mountains had been leveled long ago, but with but a thought Ning caused his heartworld projection to descend, using it to take control over the local earth and stones to establish a new, towering mountain that was ten thousand kilometers tall. At the very peak of the mountain, a top-grade Eternal estate descended in the form of an Immortal’s palace. At the very top of the palace gates, two characters could be seen: ‘DARK’ ‘NORTH’!

  “I, Daolord Darknorth, on this day do establish the Darknorth Palace here. I do not seek hegemony; I only seek to cultivate the Dao. Those who stand in the way of my Dao shall end up like the mountains and rivers around the three great clans… destroyed!” Ning flew towards the entrance of the Darknorth Palace, sending his voice out to fill every single inch of this entire world. At the same time, he enveloped the entire planet with his heartworld projection, sending it smashing downwards towards the three great clans.

  The three great clans were protected by layers of formations and barriers, but the surrounding mountains and rivers were instantly annihilated by the tremendous force of Ning’s heartworld projection, strong enough to slay even Daolords of the Fourth Step with ease. The area around the three great clans was instantly obliterated and rendered incredibly unsightly.

  Everyone in the world from ordinary mortals to the three great clans all heard his voice.

  “H-he actually dares to trample over our…” the silver-haired silver man’s face was ugly to behold.

  “Damn him. Damn him!” The skinny silver man was enraged as well.

  Ning was trampling over the three great clan’s dignity, so as to establish his own power. This was a way for him to show that the Darknorth Palace didn’t give a damn about the three great clans at all!

  “He claims that he doesn’t seek hegemony and only seeks to cultivate the Dao?” The muscular silver man sent puzzledly to the others, “If he only seeks to cultivate the Dao, why has he chosen to challenge our clans?”

  “I think his true goal lies with that secret place of ours,” the skinny silver man said with a cold smile.

  “Yes, that has to be it.” The silver-haired man’s voice was equally cold. The secret place was what the three great clans relied upon and was for their use only. There was no way any other cultivators would be permitted to so much as find it. As they saw it, given how Daolord Darknorth already stood at the very apex of power in this world and had nothing to fear, he definitely was coveting their secret place.

  ……

  Ning’s voice echoed throughout this entire world, with even mortal children able to hear it clearly. Everyone knew that this ‘Daolord Darknorth’ was incredibly powerful and had established a place known as the Darknorth Palace. He didn’t even hold the three great clans in any regard at all.

  “I can’t believe this was the end result of it all.”

  “The three great clans are transcendent, supreme entities that have governed this world since time immemorial. The three clan leaders in particular are unfathomably powerful; supposedly, they are far more terrifying than even Emperor-class golems. They can cause hurricanes with a flick of their fingers that can annihilate even Daolords of the Fourth Step… but they actually weren’t able to do anything to this Daolord Darknorth.”

  “He established Darknorth Palace… that means our world is no longer completely under the control of the three great clans.”

  “The heavens themselves are changing before our very eyes!”

  ……

  The many clans in this world all understood exactly what was happening… and just as they expected, the rise of Darknorth Palace really did symbolize that there were now two supreme powers within this world! This was now a bipolar world. On one side were the three great clans; on the other, Darknorth Palace.

  The advantage of the three great clans lay in the fact that they had extremely deep resources and tremendous power. Darknorth Palace, however, had an advantage in that Ning’s heartworld projection was able to instantly encompass this entire planet… in other words, if he wanted to attack, he had the power to annihilate everything outside the headquarters of the three great clans!

  This power of absolute, instantly annihilation caused quite a few clans to fear Darknorth Palace even more. Some particularly ambitious clans chose to make a rather risky bet… they chose to submit to the rule of Darknorth Palace. Ning didn’t refuse any comers.

  “Haha, leave these matters to me. I used to command the Ninedust Sect; organizing and commanding these minor clans is simplicity itself.” Ninedust was quite eager to take on this task. “If we can’t find the secret place ourselves, we might be able to learn some information about it from these clans.”

  ……

  Under Ninedust’s leadership and with more and more clans joining their ranks, Darknorth Palace began to grow in power at an exponential rate. This was quite a troubling matter for the three great clans.

  “We have no choice but to bear it for now. Those weaker clans are nothing; if and when we choose to attack, we can wipe them out with ease. Our greatest foe remains Daolord Darknorth.” The three clan leaders forebore from taking action.

  “From this day forth, once our clans enter the secret place we need to spare no expense in finding a treasure that can be used against Daolord Darknorth.”

  ……

  Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, two thousand years passed after Ning had established Darknorth Palace in this world. He had continuously searched for the secret place this entire time, while Ninedust had coordinated the many clans under the banner of Darknorth Palace to do the same.

  Nightfall. A cold wind was howling through the skies. Ning was seated atop a dais within Darknorth Palace, staring at the vast world before him as he trained in the [Heartsword] art.

  “Palace Lord, the Hallmaster of the First Southern Hall has something important to report,” an attendant said respectfully.

  “Something important?” Ning opened his eyes.

  In recent years, Ninedust had divided Darknorth Palace up into many different branches, with the First Southern Hall being
one of them.

  “Have him come see me,” Ning instructed.

  “Yes, Palace Lord.” The attendant immediately left.

  A short while later, a black-armored man walked in, then fell to his knees and said respectfully, “Your subordinate greets you, Palace Lord.”

  “You may rise. Speak. What is it?” Ning asked.

  The black-armored man rose to his feet, a hint of eagerness in his eyes as he looked at Ning. It was Palace Lord Darknorth who was able to ensure that the three great clans were helpless against them, after all.

  “Your subordinate has come into possession of certain information… and I think there is at least an 80% chance that it has to do with that secret place,” the black-armored man said respectfully.

  * * *

  Book 34, Chapter 20 - The Secret Place

  “An 80% chance?” Ji Ning stared at the black-armored man. For a subordinate to dare claim an 80% chance of being correct meant that he was almost virtually certain; he had to factor in a bit of modesty, after all. “Go ahead and tell me.”

  “Palace Lord, please take a look.” The black-armored man produced a scroll in his hands which he offered respectfully to Ning. Ning waved his hand, causing the scroll to fly over towards him.

  Ning unfurled the scroll, which was covered with dense clusters of tiny characters. These were the last words of a free-spirited Daolord whose lifespan was coming to an end. It included some of his supreme legacies as well as the secrets he knew about.

  “Eh?” Ning’s face tightened. “This Daolord actually entered the borders of a mysterious place by accident. He was almost discovered but thankfully was lucky enough to escape detection… and that place had an incredibly powerful garrison stationed there?” Ning nodded. This information the deceased Daolord had written down almost certainly referred to the secret place Ning was searching for! Aside from the three great clans, there were no other forces capable of stationing such a tremendously powerful garrison.

  “So it is in a standalone dimension. No wonder my heartworld projection filled every inch of this planet but still was unable to find it.” Ning revealed a trace of a smile. He had finally found it. After two thousand years here on this planet, he had finally found information regarding the secret location.

  It made sense. No matter how careful the three great clans were, a few traces would eventually slip through over the course of countless years.

  “Excellent.” Ning looked at the black-armored man, then smiled. “You’ve done quite well, and I certainly need to reward you for your great accomplishment.” As Ning spoke, he waved a finger, sending a stream of light into the black-armored man’s body. The black-armored man instantly felt his sea of consciousness tremble as an enormous amount of information began to flood into him.

  Ning had taken many precious items away from Sectlord Timedream and the other Daolords, including good cultivation techniques. He casually chose a decent one which would guide this man to becoming a Daolord of the Fourth Step.

  Once the black-armored man came back to his senses, he was so excited he immediately fell to his knees. “Thank you, Palace Lord.”

  The three great clans were so exalted precisely because they maintained an extremely strict level of control over their cultivation techniques. Lesser clans would never have access to the knowledge of the ancestors, and so they were forced to train blindly. This made becoming a Daolord extremely difficult, much less one capable of reaching the fourth step.

  Now that he had this technique from Ning, not only would he become a Daolord, even his other clansmen would stand a good chance at it.

  “Go,” Ning instructed. When searching for information regarding the secret place, these subordinates had sworn lifeblood oaths in advance that they were only able to divulge this information to their superiors and not to any outsiders at all.

  “Ninedust.” Ning sat there atop the dais, staring into the dark night sky as he sent a mental message to Ninedust.

  Whoosh. A figure manifested next to him. It was the Ninedust Sectlord. Ninedust said with some surprise, “It’s past midnight. Why did you suddenly call for me? Want to grab a drink?”

  “Take a look at this.” Ning tossed the scroll to him.

  Ninedust accepted it and gave it a read. A look of delight instantly appeared on his face. “Haha, we brothers have finally found this so-called ‘secret place’! But from the looks of it, the three great clans guard it very tightly.”

  “The Daolord who wrote down this scroll only entered the outermost border regions by accident,” Ning said. “I believe that the three great clans must have set up layers of protective mechanisms and defenses; there’s no way an outsider would be able to easily penetrate it.”

  “Agreed.” Ninedust nodded. The secret place was most likely what allowed the three great clans to rise to prominence!

  “I’m planning to head out tonight to inspect this location,” Ning said. “I’ll used the Shadowless evasion art and avoid discovery as best as I can! As for you, if you wish to join me you’ll have to enter my estate-world treasure for now.”

  “Of course I’m going with you. The entire reason why I’m in this world is because I’m interested in the Sithe’s local treasury,” Ninedust said hurriedly. “Those three clan leaders are at a lower level of insight than me, but they are incredibly strong in battle and have all those Emperor-class golems… how could I give up a chance to acquire such a fortune?”

  “Haha, I knew you’d come. Let’s go.” As Ning spoke, he sent mental messages to his four highest-ranking subordinates to temporarily take control over Darknorth Palace.

  Swoosh. Swoosh. Ning and Ninedust quietly slipped away from Darknorth Palace that very night.

  ……

  Ning had scanned this world many times with his heartworld projection, and so he knew its geography very well! Now that he had that scroll, Ning was able to guess as to approximately where this place was located.

  In the end, this planet was still a few billion kilometers in diameter. If Ning had been forced to search through every inch of it, ten million years wouldn’t have been enough. This place was something which even a heartworld projection was unable to discover… even if he was just a meter away from it, he probably wouldn’t be able to recognize it for what it was.

  “There’s a tree roughly nine meters thick. Once you touch it, you’ll immediately be able to enter that secret place.” After pulling Ninedust into his estate-world, Ning immediately activated the Shadowless evasion art.

  Whoosh. Ning silently and soundless arrived in the rough location mentioned by the Daolord. He quickly eliminated the more slender trees from consideration. He was looking for something at least nine meters thick… as Ning saw it, this so called tree which held the secret location within it probably wasn’t an actual tree, just something disguised as one. It probably would never change in appearance.

  Tap. Tap. Tap. Ning silently reached out to tap one tree after the other. His fingers were very gentle, ensuring that he generated no sound at all. He ended up spending two full days within the general region.

  Tap. Ning casually tapped on the trunk of yet another large and leafy green tree in front of him… but his finger went straight through it. A sucking power was suddenly applied to his entire body as well. Ning was overjoyed and didn’t seek to resist, allowing himself to be drawn inside of the great tree.

  Space twisted and turned around him. He was surrounded by emptiness, with only a giant towering mountain in front of him. Ning had appeared at the base of the mountain.

  “Eh?” Ning kept the Shadowless evasion art active as he carefully scanned his surroundings. “This massive mountain is actually hanging in empty space… was this done by the Sithe?” He was able to vaguely gaze through the void around him and see the forest outside. Clearly, outsiders weren’t able to discover this place but those inside were able to see who was outside at any time. In fact, just a single step was needed to leave this place and return to the forest in the outsid
e world.

  “Hmph. The garrison stationed here really is powerful.” Ning immediately saw a garrison stationed roughly a thousand kilometers away from him. This garrison had two Emperor-class golems, six Samsara Daolords, and a very large number of World-level cultivators. There was also a giant cave entrance halfway up the mountain which led deep into its heart.

  The mountain cave was dark and unfathomably deep, and it was covered by layers of ancient formations that glowed with hazy light. When Ning saw the barriers, he felt a vague sense of danger from them.

  “These barriers are meant to prevent people from going inside the mountain,” Ning mused “Most likely, the Sithe treasury is located within it.”

  “The barriers protecting the three great clans were already quite strong. There’s no way this place isn’t just as well protected. I probably won’t be able to force my way through the barriers.” Ning knew this to be true; logically speaking, he shouldn’t be able to breach the barriers. The vague sense of danger he sensed from the barriers had already testified to that.

  Forcing his way through wouldn’t work. It seemed that the only option was to play a few tricks.

  “Eh?” Ning turned, his gaze falling upon an enormous tower-shaped formation next to the garrison. At his current level power, he was able to recognize it right away. “A spacetime transfer array? It seems so intricate and marvelous.”

  “No wonder I kept watch over the three great clans for so many years without discovering how the three great clans entered this place. So this spacetime transfer array is directly linked to the headquarters of the three great clans.” Ning couldn’t help but shake his head. This world was a vast one; the chances of one stumbling upon this particular tree were incredibly low. Even if someone did enter, the garrison stationed here would be able to easily slaughter that person. In the event of failure, the barriers surrounding the mountain cave would prevent any entry.