Desolate Era

by RWX

  In terms of insight and understanding, this Archon Silksnow definitely surpassed Ning in every regard!

  “What?!” Ning and Ninedust were both shocked. They didn’t expect for Archon Silksnow to almost immediately attack after saying just a few words. Clearly, he wanted to take their lives!

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Ning immediately manifested three heads and six arms, drawing all six Northbow swords and executing his Omega Sword Dao – Soleheart in a full-power defense. Faced with such a terrifying strike, Ning didn’t even think about counter-attacking. His only thought was to hold and defend first! Three of his swords just barely managed to intercept the saber-light, and as they did a surge of cold energy seemed to slam into and through him like a giant hammer, crushing him with its power.

  BOOM! Ning was immediately knocked flying backwards. He slammed into the ground of the planet, causing the planet to shudder and enormous crevices and gorges to appear on its surface which were hundreds of kilometers long. The planet now looked like a cracked turtle shell.

  “He’s too powerful.” Ninedust didn’t even dare to block, instead transforming into a wave of water which frantically retreated.

  Swish. Archon Silksnow used the saber in his left hand to strike at Ning. As for the saber in his right hand, he hacked at Ninedust with it. Slash!

  The vast stream of water that was Ninedust was cut in half from the very center, and a low growl could be heard emanating from within it. Moments later, the two streams of water quickly began to flee. Only when they fled next to Ning did they reform into a single fleshly body.

  Ning had flown out of the gorge. He stood alongside Ninedust, ugly looks on their faces. “I’ve already reached the Archon level, but I never imagined that the difference between me and an actual Archon of a Sacred City would be so great.” Ning’s heart was shaking.

  “Too powerful. He’s too powerful. My invulnerable aquaform has been highly perfected, but he was still able to heavily injure me with one blow.” Ninedust’s face was rather ashen. He sent mentally, “Darknorth, this Archon Silksnow is too powerful. He’d probably be able to kill me in just ten or so blows.”

  Ning nodded slightly. Invulnerable forms weren’t truly invincible! When Emperor Solesky had been a Daolord, he had been heavily injured by Fiendqueen Dustrain. If an enemy was at a sufficiently high level of power, not even an invulnerable form could completely nullify the attack.

  “Hm. Daolord Darknorth… no wonder you rose to pre-eminence in the Waveshift Realm.” Archon Silksnow stared at Ning with his oily green eyes. “Your friend, the Ninedust Sectlord, has an invulnerable aquaform, but I was able to injure him heavily. You, however… you weren’t injured by my strike at all. Haha… given your level of power, you should’ve reached the Archon level by now.”

  “However… you are still far from being a match for me.” Archon Silksnow smiled a cold, blood-curdling smile. “I’ve always had the habit of striking with full power when I attack, even if my target is a Daolord. The two of you can die now.” Archon Silksnow suddenly manifested a total of six arms, with each arm gripping a saber.

  “Wait!” Ninedust called loudly.

  “Oh?” Archon Silksnow looked coldly at Ning and Ninedust. “Is there something which the two of you wish to say?”

  “Archon Silksnow, we are just Daolords; there’s no way we can match an Archon like yourself. If there’s something you want, you can just tell us,” Ning said.

  “Yes, Archon. If there’s something you want, we can negotiate,” Ninedust agreed hurriedly.

  Although the two had set up quite a few formations on this planet, they still weren’t confident in their chances. They had quite a few treasures, yes… but would the most savage of the eight lords of the Sacred Cities, Archon Silksnow, possibly have fewer treasures than them? He probably had more than ten times as many as they did! Even worse, their earlier clash had already shown Ning and Ninedust how huge the power gap between them was.

  Ninedust would probably be slain within just ten strikes! As for Ning? He knew just how big the gap between him and his foe was. Archon Silksnow was highly ranked even for one of the lords of the Sacred Cities, and he was incredibly powerful. He had also been alive for an extremely long period of time. Although he didn’t have a Universe treasure, he did have lifeblood weapons! Those lifeblood weapons had grown over the course of many years to become just as powerful as Ning’s Northbow swords.

  Ning didn’t even have an advantage in weaponry! As for insight into the Dao? He was superior to supreme Daolords, yes, but there was a clear difference between him and the Archons! That saber-strike from earlier… it was superior to Ning’s sword-arts in every single aspect. Ning’s Soleheart stance was able to mitigate some of his disadvantages, but the difference in power was still great.

  ……

  The difference in power was so great that Ning might not be able to escape even if he used up his treasures. It really wasn’t worth it for him to risk and sacrifice so much just for a battered piece of a realmship.

  Ning and Ninedust stared at the blurry glow surrounding them for ten billion kilometers. Archon Silksnow had immediately used a treasure to block out the surrounding spacetime continuum; from this, they could tell how determined Archon Silksnow was. He was definitely going to acquire the realmship parts, no matter what the cost! Ning could also sense that his sword-arts were no longer capable of tearing through spacetime. If he used the Hegemon’s spacetime disc, he might be able to succeed… but he also might fail in his attempt to flee.

  His foe was a lord of the Sacred Cities, after all! Ning truly wasn’t confident in his chances.

  “Negotiate? You wish to negotiate with me?” Archon Silksnow stared downwards at Ning and Ninedust.

  “Yes, negotiate.” Ninedust said hurriedly, “Archon, you probably came for the sake of our realmship parts, right? To tell you the truth, we brothers sensed the resonance as well. That’s why we immediately fled.”

  “If there’s anything you wish from us, Archon, just tell us,” Ning said. Faced with such a legendary tyrant, they had no choice but to lower their heads.

  Archon Silksnow’s most famous action came during a gathering of Emperors in the Dao Alliance’s Palace of Immortals. Archon Silksnow ended up being angered by a dispute caused by clashing interests with the other Emperors! He had suppressed his rage when still inside the Palace, but after they all left he actually consecutively killed the twelve Eternal Emperors who had offended him. This was something which had rendered everyone in the Endless Territories completely speechless.

  To occasionally kill a few enemy Emperors due to personal feuds was one thing… but to kill twelve of them because of a fit of pique? This was absolutely crazy! This was why he was famous for being the most savage and bloodthirsty of the eight lords of the Sacred Cities. He was a madman! He was also incredibly strong and had many trump cards ready to play. He had offended and angered many with his actions, and had incurred the displeasure of the other Archons as well. As a result, there had been a great battle which had spanned multiple chaos cycles and resulted in innumerable casualties, but in the end the matter was simply dropped.

  “Realmship?” Archon Silksnow glanced at them, a not-quite smile playing at his lips.

  “The two of us would naturally keep this information completely secret,” Ninedust said hurriedly. “We are willing to swear oaths that we will definitely keep this secret.”

  “You two are quite clever. When you sensed how fast I was moving towards you, you immediately chose to flee.” Archon Silksnow glanced at Ning. “Daolord Darknorth is extremely powerful; if I was just slightly weaker, I probably wouldn’t be able to do anything to him. However… the difference in power between us is too great for you to overcome.”

  Archon Silksnow nodded. “Since you are willing to bow your heads, I’ll give you a way to survive.”

  Ning and Ninedust both looked at Archon Silksnow.

  “First, you must give me all of your treas
ures, save for your weapons and your armor,” Archon Silksnow said. “Second, you are not to resist and must allow me to read through your memories and your soul. Don’t worry, I’ll swear an oath not to harm your souls or truesouls in the slightest; I simply wish to scan them.”

  Ning and Ninedust turned grim. Ninedust said angrily, “Archon, don’t go too far.” Ning’s face turned as cold as ice as well.

  Scan their memories? The two were incredibly proud figures. How could they be willing to allow others to rifle through their memories? Ning wasn’t willing to hand over all of his treasures either. The omnigeddon bloodfruit tree and the verdant azuresoul were both incredibly precious treasures. The latter had been personally fashioned by Autarch Bolin and was capable of controlling a Chaos Primordial!

  * * *

  Book 35, Chapter 18 - Spacetime Disc

  “Hmph. Once I kill you, I’ll still end up with your treasures,” Archon Silksnow said coldly. “I’m at least willing to let you keep your weapons and your armor; this is an unusual display of mercy from me. As for searching through your memories… I merely wish to learn where you acquired the realmship parts from.”

  Realmships were relics created by the Sithe. Since Ji Ning and Ninedust had somehow acquired realmship parts, Archon Silksnow felt certain that they must have visited Sithe ruins . Every single Sithe ruins was akin to a treasure trove; Archon Silksnow naturally wished to learn everything he could about such a place.

  “Search through my memories? I’d choose death over that,” Ninedust said coldly.

  “Archon, we can give you the realmship parts! We can also swear to keep it all a secret,” Ning said coldly. “If you accept, we’ll hand over the parts right away. If you refuse… our only choice will be to do battle.”

  “Hahahaha…” Archon Silksnow raised his head and began to laugh loudly, his laughter echoing throughout the sealed region of ten billion kilometers. “You dare to try and haggle with ME?” A savage, murderous look appeared in his oily green eyes: “Then die!”

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Six streams of dazzling, enormous saber-light chopped downwards towards Ning and Ninedust like curved moons.

  “Let’s do this.” Ning and Ninedust exchanged a glance, no longer hesitating at all.

  “Arise!” Ninedust growled. Instantly, a layer of black light filled with countless flickering runes erupted on the surface of the planet. Space in the area around the planet seemed to have been completely frozen, causing the six curved streaks of saber-light to slow down.

  Moments later, blood-colored formation-flags appeared throughout the planet, causing it to descend into a sea of blood.

  Finally, a series of roaring beast phantoms appeared. A total of nineteen beast phantoms charged straight towards Archon Silksnow.

  “Go.” Ning activated the treasures he had set down as well. Clank clank clank! A series of deep blue chains appeared out of nowhere behind Archon Silksnow, coiling towards him in an attempt to bind him.

  A massive formation appeared as well, transforming the skies into an enormous white chessboard. Directly below the planet, an enormous black chessboard appeared within the void. These two giant chessboards slowly swiveled, causing endless streams of light to connect them together in a cage around Archon Silksnow.

  Crack! Boom! Dark-gold lightning flickered and crashed downwards towards Archon Silksnow as well.

  ……

  “Quite a few treasures.” Archon Silksnow smiled coldly.

  Ning and Ninedust truly were being quite cautious. They had set up treasures and formations of tremendous power. Although Archon Silksnow was extremely strong, these things would still tie him down for a period of time.

  “Break!!!” Archon Silksnow let out a savage laugh as a golden disc flew out of his body. The disc rose vertically, its edges incredibly sharp. It emanated a ripple of terrifying power.

  Tiiiiiiiiiiing! The disc emanated an ear-piercing sound that caused the hearts of Ning and Ninedust to tremble. It suddenly expanded in size, becoming almost as large as the planet itself as it spun in a chopping manner at the planet.

  Clang! Archon Silksnow wielded a warblade in each of his six harms, effortlessly blocking the deep blue chains that were coiling towards him from behind.

  Slash! The giant spinning disc was able to forcibly cut through everything in its path, breaking through all of the various formations! It must be remembered that even Archon Silksnow would have been forced to spend quite some time and energy breaking through these formations if he was relying on his own power. Now, however, he used the disc to blow through them like rotting deadwood.

  All of the formations atop the giant planet were instantly destroyed, and even the planet itself was chopped in half before the remaining power of the disc was used up. Finally, the disc crumbled apart and dissipated.

  Ning and Ninedust were both rather caught offguard. “Our formations clearly weren’t capable of killing him. Why did he have to use a treasure to tear through them like that?” Ning’s face was ashen.

  “Archon Silksnow is famous for his overbearing manner. I finally understand what that entails.” Ninedust felt a sense of grief.

  “Die!” After having destroyed the entire planet the two were on, Archon Silksnow charged straight towards Ning and Ninedust.

  Ning waved his hand, pulling Ninedust into his estate-world. “Ninedust, I’ll come up with a way to escape. I think I have a chance of fleeing, but if I cannot… just pray.”

  “Darknorth.” Ninedust gritted his teeth after being drawn into the estate-world. However, he knew that the difference in power between him and Archon Silksnow was simply far too great. Ning might be able to struggle for a bit, but it would be suicide for Ninedust to try and fight as well.

  ……

  After putting Ninedust away, Ning immediately charged into the skies and began to fly even higher. “Break!” Ning attempted to tear through space, but the blurry golden light which covered an area of ten billion kilometers around them caused spacetime to stabilize to such a degree that there was no way to tear through it at all.

  “Let’s go.” Ning produced a strange black-and-white disc in his hands. This was the spacetime disk which Hegemon Brightshore had given him all those years ago. He instantly activated the power hidden within it, causing a terrifying ripple of might to descend and envelope him, then tear forcibly through the frozen spacetime.

  Rumble… the vast halo of golden light began to shudder as though it was trying to suppress the effects of the item.

  “What?!” Archon Silksnow revealed a look of shock. “Is that… a spacetime disc? Hegemon Brightshore’s spacetime disc?” Given how long he had been around for, Archon Silksnow was naturally quite familiar with this type of spacetime disc. In truth, all of the top-tier elites of the Endless Territories knew how much Hegemon Brightshore cared about his royal clan, the Brightshore Imperials, and how much he cared about the Daolords of the Twelve Palaces.

  For Hegemon Brightshore to bestow a spacetime disc upon a Daolord was a sign that the Hegemon viewed that person with great favor. Most major powers would give face upon seeing it and not act against the person in question.

  “Hmph. For the sake of the realmship and the Sithe legacies, I’ll just bear the consequences,” Archon Silksnow said with a cold smile.

  The power of the spacetime disc was doing its best to tear through spacetime, while the ten billion kilometers of blurry light was doing its best to stabilize and suppress it. The two were battling against each other.

  Crack! The black-white disc in Ning’s hands suddenly and completely shattered apart. The blurry light covering the surrounding area was now much dimmer… but it was still there.

  “It failed.” Ning was stunned. This was the most formidable escape treasure he had available to him… but he still hadn’t been able to breach the frozen field of spacetime. “What should I do now?”

  Ning’s heart was ice-cold. His most formidable fleeing treasure had failed, whi
le he wasn’t strong enough to overcome his opponent… what was he to do?

  “If Hegemon Brightshore was here in person, he might be able to breach this field… but that treasure of yours was nothing more than something he created and infused with part of his power. He’s gifted them to quite a few Daolords! If that’s all you have, you won’t be able to escape… and if you won’t be able to escape, you are going to die. That Ninedust Sectlord hiding in your estate-world will die as well.” Archon Silksnow’s voice boomed outwards. He surpassed Ning in every single aspect, save for the [Heartsword] art! Ning’s [Heartsword] art was still too weak; he had merely reached the tenth stance and was still at the first ‘stage’ of it. It simply couldn’t make up for the overwhelming disparity in power between the two.

  If Ning was like Emperor Heartsword and had mastered all fifteen stances, he would be truly and freakishly powerful. Alas, breaking through each stage of the [Heartsword] was simply too difficult, as was making a breakthrough with the Omega Sword Dao.

  “I can’t die. If I die, Ninedust is doomed as well.” Ning felt a powerful urge to stay alive. If he died, he would be revived thanks to the Dao-seal he had acquired in that alternate universe… but his weapons and treasures would all be gone. The nine novessence arts and the protective divine ability he had trained in would be lost as well!

  The loss of the treasures was secondary, as he would be able to come back to life. Ninedust, however, could not. Ninedust didn’t even have a Primaltwin!

  “Die then.” Archon Silksnow had already appeared in front of him.

  “I cannot lose. I cannot be defeated. I still have a chance, a tiny chance!” A terrifying blaze of light appeared in Ning’s eyes. “Time to go all out. This sort of deadly battle is extremely effective in helping one understand sword-arts better. I’ve been training in seclusion for hundreds of millions of years, but I still haven’t been able to reach the fourth stage of my Omega Sword Dao. Perhaps if I gain enough insights from this fight, it’ll aid me in making my breakthrough.”