Desolate Era

by RWX

  “There he comes.” Emperor Nightwell’s gaze was focused upon the tunnel exit at Flydust Star. He watched as a white-robed youth with a black sheath on his back suddenly emerged.

  “According to what the Archon said, Darknorth should’ve reached the Archon level of power and is just slightly weaker than him. Not even the Archon was able to kill him; he had to rely on a treasure.” Although Emperor Nightwell held Daolords in disdain, he didn’t dare to underestimate Daolord Darknorth too much. The man was probably significantly more powerful than him, after all.

  “All I need to do is to slow him down as much as I can and make sure he doesn’t break free.” Emperor Nightwell felt quite confident in his chances.

  Whoosh. Ji Ning appeared in the void above the Flydust Star, then quickly flew out of it.

  “Eh?” Ning suddenly slowed down, frowning as he stared off into the distance at the pudgy, bizarrely white-skinned old man who had suddenly appeared before him. “Emperor Nightwell?” Ning recognized the man.

  “I didn’t expect you to know of me, Daolord Darknorth. I’m flattered and honored.” Emperor Nightwell’s eyes crinkled as he beamed mirthfully. “I imagine you know why I am here, Daolord Darknorth. I’ve been standing guard in this place because I wish to invite you, Daolord Darknorth, to come pay a visit to the Sacred City of Silksnow. Our Archon truly wishes to meet with you.”

  “Invite me?” Ning smiled coldly. “Very well. Lead the way.”

  “If I’m up ahead leading the way… what if you suddenly run off, Daolord Darknorth? Wouldn’t that be troublesome? I think you should enter my estate-world. That way, we can move more quickly and more conveniently.” Emperor Nightwell continued to beam at Ning.

  Ning had already decided that he was going to uproot Archon Silksnow’s entire organization! He had naturally done his research on the Emperors belonging to the Sacred City of Silksnow. Aside from a few reclusive old fellows who were hard to find information about, Ning had essentially gotten full reports on almost all of them. As for Emperor Nightwell… this pudgy, bizarrely white-skinned old man was rotten to the core.

  Of the Emperors belonging to the Sacred City of Silksnow who Ning was planning to kill, Emperor Nightwell definitely ranked in the top three.

  “If I enter your estate-world, my life would be in your hands.” Ning shook his head. “Pardon me for not obliging.”

  “Daolord Darknorth… given the situation, do you really think you’ll be able to escape?” Emperor Nightwell’s eyes flashed with cold light.

  “Escape from who? You?” Ning chuckled.

  “I might not be able to beat you, Daolord Darknorth, but you can forget about escaping.” Emperor Nightwell smiled. The reason why Archon Silksnow had chosen the three of them was because they were highly skilled at tying down opponents.

  Ning suddenly said in a soft voice, “I’ve heard, Emperor Nightwell, that for the sake of training your self-created [Nightwell] secret art, you slaughtered every single infant within a total of 381 territories.”

  “They were nothing more than infants. More are being produced every day,” Emperor Nightwell said softly.

  “Hegemon Brightshore is a Chaos Godbeast. Hegemon Netherlily is an Ancient. Hegemon Windrain is an Aberrant. None of them had parents, as all three were born from the primordial chaos.” Ning said softly, “But I, however, was born in the mortal world and slowly trained my way up. When I see someone like you, who used the lives of little babies to master your secret arts, I have only one thought in my mind… to kill you! I was worried about being unable to find you, but you actually delivered yourself right to my doorstep.”

  There were many evil cultivators who used babies to train in secret arts or divine abilities; infant placenta, for example, was used in countless evil techniques. This was because newborn infants represented the genesis of new life; they were filled with tremendous vitality and infinite potential.

  Ning was filled with the utmost of loathing for these types of cultivators. Whenever he encountered one, his response could be summarized in one word: Kill!

  “Ahahaha! There are plenty who wish to kill me, even amongst Eternal Emperors… but so what? I’m still doing perfectly fine.” Emperor Nightwell roared with laughter, his deep Immortal energy causing his laughter to echo throughout the chaotic void around them. “There are only a few who can actually kill me, and I stay the hell away from them. As for you? Daolord Darknorth, you are still just a Daolord. You, kill me? Hah! Archon Silksnow himself isn’t able to kill me, but you think you can? Haha…”

  Emperor Nightwell similarly detested people like Ning who wished to kill him just because he was ‘evil’.

  Snick. Snick. Snick…

  Ning’s six Northbow swords simultaneously flew out of their sheaths. Ning manifested three heads and six arms, holding all six Northbow swords at the ready.

  ……

  “Daolord Darknorth is standing right in front of me, and he’s actually going to attack me. Don’t worry, Archon; there’s no way I’ll let him escape.” Emperor Nightwell sent word to Archon Silksnow while immediately executing his legendary [Nightwell] secret art.

  Rumble… his bizarrely white skin suddenly extended in every direction like a giant sack, with the opening of the sack aimed directly at Ning and sending a surge of sucking power straight towards him. Inside the giant white sack, only endless darkness could be seen.

  Ning held all six Northbow swords as he quietly watched his opponent charge towards him. The giant white sack quickly flew towards Ning, seeking to swallow him within the opening. An enormous, hideous face suddenly appeared at the opening as well. This was Emperor Nightwell’s face, and that face opened its giant mouth, the teeth glistening like a hell of countless knives as he bit down towards Ning, seeking to swallow Ning whole.

  “You can die now.” Ning showed no mercy at all.

  BOOM! A pair of dazzling wings suddenly appeared in the air above Ning. At the same time, countless arcs of sword-light appeared as well around Ning. The two instantly combined to form an enormous Yin-Yang Chaosworld which completely trapped the giant sack within it.

  Rumble… a titanic heartworld projection came descending as well. The heartworld projection had mountains, rivers, lakes, grasslands, and prairies that could be seen with clarity. The giant ‘sword mountain’ at the very center caused a particularly strong sense of awe and dread. The heartworld projection merged together with the Yin-Yang Chaosworld perfectly.

  Slash! Slash! Slash! The white sack was instantly torn asunder.

  “How is this possible?” Emperor Nightwell reappeared in his original form, but faced by the double dangers of the Yin-Yang Chaosworld and the heartworld projection, he only felt a sense of tremendous fear.

  * * *

  Book 36, Chapter 9 - Slain

  Prior to accepting this mission, Archon Silksnow had gotten a clear understanding of Ji Ning’s strength. An old, insidious fellow like him would naturally memorize everything. He had never dared to show the slightest bit of overconfidence; if he had, he wouldn’t have been able to survive all these years! But no matter how careful he had been, he had never imagined that Daolord Darknorth’s secret arts alone would have reached such a terrifying level of power.

  He had never encountered such powerful secret arts or such a powerful heartworld projection before! In fact… he felt that it was highly likely that there were no Archons whose secret arts could match up to Daolord Darknorth, even if he factored in all of those old freaks who had gone into seclusion! Even if there were some who were a match, there were only three at most!

  Whoosh. Faced with such a terrifying Sword Dao world, Emperor Nightwell was unable to maintain his divine body. He immediately transformed an inky-black mist that was filled with vileness and which immediately began to flee. This was Emperor Nightwell’s invulnerable form, and the reason why he had been able to survive for so long.

  “I need to escape.” He immediately moved to tear through spacetime as he fled. “…What’s goi
ng on?! Why can’t I escape?” He could sense that spacetime around him had been completely locked down. What he didn’t know was that Ning’s Omega Sword Dao had allowed him to easily tear through spacetime, even at the third stage. Now that Ning had reached the fourth stage, his Omega Sword Dao – Yin-Yang gave him tremendously powerful control over spacetime, allowing him to completely suppress it. Only someone whose Dao surpassed Ning’s in this regard would be able to tear through spacetime; no one else would.

  To surpass Ning? Perhaps only a Hegemon could accomplish it.

  “My treasures.” Emperor NIghtwell immediately sought to try and activate his treasures meant for fleeing… but it was too late.

  “Exterminate.” Ning transformed into a streak of light that charged straight towards Emperor Nightwell. At the same time, he executed his [Heartforce Eradicator] technique.

  Whoosh. The soundless [Heartforce Eradicator] instantly sliced through the void and struck against the fleeing black mist.

  “Ahhh!” Emperor Nightwell could sense the terrifying, eradicating will collide straight against his soul and truesoul. Ning’s current heartforce was on a completely different level of power than before. There was likely no way that an ordinary supreme Daolord would be able to resist it. However, Emperor Nightwell was someone who had relied on vile techniques to become an Eternal Emperor and had been alive for an extremely long period of time. As a result, his Dao-heart was extremely powerful and he was able to completely endure Ning’s strike.

  Whoosh. The [Heartforce Eradicator] was immediately followed by the [Dreamstar] art! This time, Emperor Nightwell wasn’t able to endure the attack and he was drawn into an illusory world.

  The frantically fleeing black mist suddenly slowed down dramatically, and the mist even began to slowly condense. Clearly, Emperor Nightwell’s mind had been swept into the illusions. Without his mind controlling his invulnerable form, it began to slowly disperse.

  “Die.” By now, Ning had already caught up, and he showed no mercy at all as he delivered a fatal strike with all six of his Northbow swords.

  Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker.

  Heartsword, stance twelve – Swordtide!

  Each of Ning’s swords truly did seem like a tidal wave of power, like a detonating volcano. The strikes rumbled through the black mist… and right at this lethally dangerous moment, Emperor Nightwell’s strong Dao-heart finally allowed him to break free of the illusions.

  “What’s go-” In the exact instant that he broke free from the illusions and regained his clarity of mind, Emperor NIghtwell saw the six terrifying sword-tsunamis sweep towards him.

  Emperor Nightwell instantly felt despair, and his invulnerable form began to break apart under the terrifying attack. Before he regained consciousness, he had already lost a total of 30% of his invulnerable form! Now, he had regained consciousness, true… but though he strove to defend, he realized that he was completely unable to resist this killer attack.

  “Emperor… you lied to me. You said he’s slightly weaker than you? He’s far more powerful than you are! Not even my invulnerable form can endure his strikes. He’s definitely at the level of a supreme Archon. Most likely, only the two leaders of the Dao Alliance are on par with him.” Emperor Nightwell felt despair. He was completely unable to defend against this type of sword-stance, and his invulnerable form was unable to ablate enough of the attack power. It was simply beyond what he could endure.

  It was much like how Ninedust’s invulnerable form would only be able to protect him against ten or so strikes from Archon Silksnow before Ninedust would perish. Emperor Nightwell’s invulnerable form was a bit better than Ninedust’s, but those six strikes Ning had just unleashed… they were simply terrifying. Emperor Nightwell wasn’t able to resist them at all.

  Whoosh.

  This all took time to describe, but in reality Ning struck with incredible speed. The six sword-tusnamis swept through the black mist, completely annihilating it. Emperor Nightwell continued to struggle in the face of death, but it was to no avail. He was completely eradicated.

  Emperor Nightwell, a legendary demon who had lived for countless years, died just like that by Ji Ning’s hands! He became the first person to lose his life as Ning revealed his true brilliance to the universe.

  “Hmph.” The swords flew back into the sheath, completely clean and unstained. Everything was calm once more, and everything had vanished. The only one left behind was the white-robed Ning.

  ……

  “What’s going on?”

  “What in the world was that enormous world of sword-light?” The Daolords responsible for watching over the tunnel exit at Flydust Star had all raised their heads to watch the great battle in the skies. They had all seen Ning run into Emperor Nightwell in the void, followed by a battle beginning. As for exactly what had happened in the battle, they weren’t able to see any of it with clarity. They only saw the countless streaks of sword-light generated by the enormous Yin-Yang Chaosworld.

  A short while later, the world of sword-light disappeared… and Emperor Nightwell had disappeared with it. Only the white-robed Ning was left.

  “Time to go.” Ning tore through spacetime and departed.

  “Where’s Emperor Nightwell?”

  “I saw Emperor Nightwell just a few seconds ago. Why has he suddenly vanished?”

  “Could Emperor Nightwell have been defeated?”

  “Yes, that must be it. He was probably defeated and knew that he couldn’t beat Darknorth, and so he immediately fled.” This was what the Daolords of Flydust Star believed. None of them dared to believe that Emperor Nightwell had been slain. Emperor Nightwell had been alive for far, far too long after all. To slay an old fellow like him would be far too difficult. Most likely, only the few who truly stood at the peak of power in the Endless Territories had a chance to kill him.

  However… in truth, Ning already stood at the true peak of power in the Endless Territories. He was already a match for the two leaders of the Dao Alliance.

  ……

  Within a palace inside the Sacred City of Silksnow. Four figures were seated around a table here. These were the avatars of Emperor Silksnow and the three Emperors he had sent off on this mission! Their avatars were gathered here so they could instantly communicate with each other.

  “Brother Nightwell, all you need to do is tie him down for a time.” Archon Silksnow’s avatar was quite relaxed and at ease.

  “Haha, easy.” Emperor Nightwell’s avatar laughed as well. A heartbeat later, Emperor Nightwell’s face turned pale.

  “What’s wrong?” Archon Silksnow and the others were startled.

  “He…” Emperor Nightwell’s avatar began to speak, but his eyes then turned cloudy and distant as he entered a dazed state. Clearly, he had just been trapped within Ning’s [Dreamdust] illusions. Moments later, Emperor Nightwell regained his clarity of mind. A look of terror and hatred appeared on his face as he cast Archon Silksnow a venomous glance and growled, “You lied-”

  But before his words were finished, his aura completely vanished. The death of the true body resulted in the death of the avatar as well. Emperor Nightwell’s avatar slumped over to one side, falling from his chair onto the ground. This caused Archon Silksnow and the other two Emperors to turn pale.

  “He DIED?!” Archon Silksnow was stunned.

  “How is this possible? How could Emperor Nightwell have died?!” The other two Emperors had turned pale as well. Emperor Nightwell had been alive for far too long; he had already been an Emperor for many, many years back when Archon Silksnow had attempted his Daomerge. An old fellow like him certainly had many powerful life-preserving abilities… but he actually died, just like that? At the hands of a Daolord?

  Archon Silksnow had an ugly look on his face. After a few moments of silence, he said, “Brother Nightwell was momentarily dazed. He probably fell to an illusion! Most likely, after he recovered he didn’t have enough time to activate his invulnerable form before Ji Ning slew him.”<
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  “Agreed.” The other two Emperors nodded. Neither of them could believe that Emperor Nightwell would be slain while his invulnerable form was active. In addition, they saw for themselves that Emperor Nightwell had indeed fallen to an illusion.

  “No matter what… the end result was that Emperor Nightwell died,” the red-robed, red-haired woman said softly. Utter silence met her words.

  True… he had died. The exalted Emperor Nightwell had died, just like that. Died by the hands of a Daolord.

  “His illusions are actually as strong as this?” Archon Silksnow murmured softly, “Last time, when we fought, he shouldn’t have been this strong… could he have come up with an even more profound illusion technique?” Daolord Featherdress’ [Featherdress Soulthrall Melody], for example, would’ve been capable of affecting Emperor Nightwell. Ning’s illusions weren’t actually that profound, but his heartworld had reached a far higher level and so his illusions had become much more powerful than before.

  “I’m going to head to the Flydust Star right away.” Archon Silksnow’s oily green eyes flashed with fierce light. “I won’t let him escape.”

  ……

  Whoosh.

  Archon Silksnow was so enraged that he immediately used his battered realmship, using it to fly straight to the Flydust Star.

  “Where? Where is he?!” The skinny, snowy-robed old man’s white eyebrows fluttered as he scanned the surrounding void with his oily green eyes. “Where is Daolord Darknorth? Why can’t I sense him?”

  “Did he flee? You slew Emperor Nightwell. There’s no way I’ll let you escape!” Archon Silksnow was burning with rage… but he had no idea that after slaying Emperor Nightwell, Ning had immediately flown towards the Sacred City of Silksnow at maximum speed!

  * * *

  Book 36, Chapter 10 - Descending Upon Silksnow City