Desolate Era

by RWX

  ……

  Just a few moments ago, Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud had been leading the Emperors in surrounding and attacking Ning… but in the blink of an eye, six of the Emperors had perished, five of the avatars had been destroyed, and the remaining avatars had all been trapped by illusions.

  The surviving Emperors all began to flee. Only Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud remained safe and sound… for now.

  “This secret art…?” Emperor Bloodcloud had an ugly look on his face as he stared at the countless arcs of sword-light and the golden pair of wings. “Silksnow, you actually tried to tell me that he’s slightly weaker than you? These secret arts alone are already vastly beyond our level of power.”

  “How the hell could I have known that he’s this powerful?!” Archon Silksnow was feeling frustrated and frantic as well. “Eh?” Archon Silksnow’s face tightened. “Where’s Darknorth? He suddenly vanished.”

  “An assassination art. I’ve heard of his assassination arts.” Emperor Bloodcloud’s face tightened as well. He also realized that Ning had vanished, and this was something which shocked both of them.

  “Let an endless sea of blood come forth,” Emperor Bloodcloud growled, immediately unleashing his invulnerable form and transforming into a vast sea of blood that filled the surrounding area and protected Archon Silksnow.

  Slash! A streak of sword-light tore through the bloody waves. “It’s Darknorth!” Emperor Bloodcloud and Archon Silksnow both turned pale as the three-headed, six-armed, white-robed Ning suddenly appeared.

  Ning used his six Northbow swords to tear through the waves of blood as he shot straight towards Archon Silksnow. He snapped coldly, “Silksnow, prepare to die.”

  Ning’s Godwings were truly ridiculously fast. Ning himself was a bit slower, but he was still faster than Archon Silksnow, especially now that the Archon was being suppressed by the heartworld projection. However, Archon Silksnow refused to admit defeat. He also manifested six arms, holding a warblade in each as he charged towards Ning.

  Whoosh. Ning’s swords flowed like water, bringing a tsunami of sword-light with them. They possessed the explosive power of tidal waves but were also incredibly gentle, almost like the caress of a lover.

  “Eh?” Archon Silksnow’s face changed. He strove to use his six warblades to block the soft and nearly invisible sword-arts Ning was using, but Ning’s upgraded [Heartsword] made his sword-arts even more ghostly than before. His attacks were also noticeably faster, giving Archon Silksnow no chance to block them at all.

  Two of the streaks of sword-light coiled around his body like fingers, beginning to tie him up in knots. Whoosh! Archon Silksnow immediately transformed into countless snowflakes that fled and then reformed off in the distance.

  “Running?” Ning felt a bit unsettled as well. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to kill Archon Silksnow, as his opponent had an invulnerable form. Good invulnerable forms were just too hard to deal with.

  “How can he be this strong? His sword-arts are simply too fast. He beat me in just one exchange!” Archon Silksnow was running around while panicking. It must be remembered that he previously had been able to dominate Ning with ease; if it hadn’t been for the Hegemon armor, he probably would’ve killed Ning already. Now, however, the difference in power between him and the current Ning was just as great as the difference between him and the past Ning… except reversed.

  In fact… Ning’s advantage was actually a bit greater.

  “Be destroyed!!!” Ning put away five of his Northbow swords, then gripped the sixth with all six of his hands. He unleashed his most powerful attack with all the power he had available to him… the Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker.

  BOOM!! The entire region of empty space above the Sacred City seemed to have completely shattered apart. A savage tidal wave seemed to have appeared in the pitch-black space, a tidal wave which had the power to destroy all in its path. This was a tsunami of sword-light, and it caused those who viewed it to feel a sense of powerlessness. Even Hegemon Brightshore, who was watching from afar, was stunned: “What powerful sword-arts.”

  In this instant, even karma was suppress. Spacetime froze, with all dimensional and temporal bubbles freezing in place. Even Emperor Bloodcloud, still in the form of a sea of blood, felt a sense of terror. This was absolute power, and it inspired more terror than anything else.

  “Impossible.” Archon Silksnow could hardly believe it. He strove to use his six warblades to defend.

  BOOM! He was like a praying mantis trying to use its arms to block a chariot. Archon Silksnow was instantly dominated and crushed by the terrifying tidal wave of sword-light, and his divine power was instantly crushed apart into countless snowflakes. The snow fluttered away, reforming far away into an ashen-faced Archon Silksnow. He wasn’t injured, but the psychological blow he had just suffered had an enormous impact on him.

  “Silksnow, Darknorth is far too powerful. There’s no way for us to fight him. Let’s leave!” Emperor Bloodcloud began to move to flee.

  “Leave? And go where? His strike just now was so powerful that it compressed even spacetime. There’s no way for us to even tear through spacetime to flee.” Archon Silksnow seemed to have gone mad. He roared mentally, “We have to use our most important treasures if we want to escape. Since we are already going to use at least one of them… let’s use them up and try to kill him! Each of us will use one of them. We might be able to kill him.”

  Emperor Bloodcloud was stunned.

  “If we can’t kill him, we’ll have to hide for as long as he is alive,” Archon Silksnow said. “Let’s give it a shot! He doesn’t have an invulnerable form; we might be able to kill him.”

  “Fine.” Emperor Bloodcloud also felt that this type of life would be far too craven. If the two were so frightened as to immediately flee… then so long as Ning was alive, they would have to remain hidden.

  Better to go all-out and give it a shot. Perhaps they’d actually succeed in killing this terrifying Daolord.

  “Go.” Archon Silksnow produced a broken gray longspear, sending it flying through the air. It looked quite ordinary and didn’t have any special aura to it, but the countless cultivators within the Sacred City who saw it felt a sense of absolute horror when they saw it. They all knew that just the tiniest portion of the power hidden within the spear would probably be enough to kill them all.

  “Kill!” Emperor Bloodcloud produced a curved, glowing object. It was hard to see the object’s true appearance. Emperor Bloodcloud gritted his teeth, then sent it flying outwards.

  Whoosh! A dazzling crescent moon immediately appeared in the skies, its light blurry and gentle. This absolutely beautiful crescent moon flew towards Ning in a seemingly slow manner, but it actually moved a bit faster than even the gray longspear.

  “He has to die.” Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud both watched eagerly. This was their last hope.

  * * *

  Book 36, Chapter 14 - Spread Far and Wide

  The light of the crescent moon seemed very slow, but it was actually ridiculous fast. In addition, the light it released completely covered Ji Ning, making it so that he couldn’t even evade it via his ‘Shadowless’ evasion art.

  “So this is a Hegemon’s power? Perfect for me to test myself out.” Ning was brimming with the desire to do battle, and his three-headed, six-armed form wielded all six Northbow swords with defensive sword-arts.

  Whoosh. The crescent moon instantly slashed towards Ning, an object of supreme beauty that was filled with terrifying danger.

  Ning’s sword-light flared up as well, transforming into gentle tsunami that swirled around him, forming a whirlpool that then transformed into a black hole. However, at the borders of the black hole a few ripples of tsunami sword-light could be seen.

  Slash! The crescent moon ‘gently’ flew into the black hole. BOOM!!!! The skies above the Sacred City suddenly exploded as spacetime itself split apart, generating multiple layers of cracked and disto
rted dimensional continuums. Even Ning was knocked backwards uncontrollably by the force of the shockwave.

  Ning could sense how the attack burned through his layers of defenses, then slammed against him. Ning revealed a smile. His entire body was feeling a bit numb, but it actually felt nice. All the training he had undergone and all of the many legacies he had acquired had finally let him reach a level where he could easily block a Hegemonic strike. Although the attack still dominated him, his body was quite stable. He hadn’t even spat out any blood! This meant that the difference in power wasn’t all that great.

  “Now, I stand at the very apex of power amongst the Archons. I’m very close to the Hegemons, while my sword-arts are highly defensive… the treasures which Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud are launching at me aren’t of much threat to me any longer.” Ning smiled.

  Whoosh. Right at this moment, that plain-looking gray longspear flew towards him. The longspear’s tip was filled with an extremely terrifying destructive force.

  “Judging from how it looks… it should’ve been a relic left behind by the Sithe.” Ning watched as the spear flew towards him, feeling quite relaxed as he evaluated its power. “I wonder what technique the Sithe used to infuse a spear-tip with such terrifying power.” The sword-tsunami once more appeared around him, then transformed into a black hole that began to defend against the attacking gray spear.

  Crack! Spacetime began to shatter around him, revealing a jagged wound in the fabric of reality as a surge of gray power tore straight through it. Ning was once more knocked flying backwards by the strike.

  ……

  Although this took time to describe, the consecutive attacks by the crescent moon and the plain longspear were actually nearly instantaneous. Ning was knocked flying backwards and clearly at a disadvantage, but he didn’t even vomit any blood, much less suffer serious injuries!

  “What? B-but… how is this possible?!” Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud were now completely stunned.

  “He was actually able to face a Hegemonic strike head-on! And he wasn’t even injured?!” Archon Silksnow felt a sense of a rage and disbelief… but he also understood that the difference in power between himself and Daolord Darknorth was now simply enormous. Not only did Daolord Darknorth have formidable attacks, he had even more terrifying defenses. He had defended against a Hegemonic strike, just like that!

  “Silksnow, we’ve lost. We were defeated. We can’t beat him! We have no chance at all!” Emperor Bloodcloud was filled with pain, but he tore open a spacetime tunnel and fled into it like a giant wave of blood.

  Right now, Archon Silksnow’s mind was filled with many thoughts. Just a short while ago, he was one of the most elite figures of the Flamedragon Realmverse, one of the eight Archons of the Sacred Cities. Today… a mere Daolord had beaten him into a sorry state where he was forced to retreat. Archon Silksnow understood that his power was not even close to being enough to battle Ning.

  “I lost. I lost. However… this doesn’t end here. I’m definitely not going to just give up.” Archon Silksnow cast Ning a deep look. The Daolord he had once held in contempt had now become the most terrifying foe he had ever made. Archon Silksnow then cast all other thoughts aside, tearing open a spacetime tear and fleeing into it. Ning had been blasted back by the Hegemonic strikes, resulting in his Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker losing its suppressive effect upon local spacetime. This was why Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud were able to easily tear through spacetime and flee.

  Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud both understood the difference in power between them and their foe. They wisely chose to retreat.

  ……

  Ji Ning once more stood up within the empty void of space. There were no longer any cultivators around him; Silksnow and Bloodcloud had already torn through spacetime to flee, while the surviving avatars of the Emperors had taken advantage of the moment when Ning was being assaulted by the crescent moon and the plain longspear to flee in every direction. Creating a powerful avatar wasn’t easy or cheap, after all; they weren’t willing to give themselves up.

  And so… the only person in the air above the Sacred City was the white-robed youth.

  The countless cultivators within the Sacred City, including tens of thousands of Daolords, all stared at Ning. They were completely stunned. None of them had imagined that this would be the final result.

  “Archon Silksnow fled. The other Emperors either died or fled as well.”

  “Death or flight… the only one left is now Daolord Darknorth.”

  “He’s too powerful.”

  “Daolord Darknorth… he beat over twenty Emperors into utter submission.”

  “Not even the eight Archons are a match for Daolord Darknorth.”

  The countless cultivators were so excited, they were about to go crazy. They all hurried to send word of this result to their friends. This sort of unprecedented, unheard of result spread throughout the Endless Territories like mad. Every single Daolord who received word was completely stunned, as were the reclusive Emperors.

  What? A Daolord had actually defeated Silksnow Fiend Palace, the rulers of one of the eight Sacred Cities?

  “What? H-he’s actually this strong?” Emperor Islehide and Emperor Anchen’s avatars were still in the process of hurrying over from the Aeonian stronghold, but they were completely stunned by what they heard.

  “Let’s move there immediately.”

  “Quickly!” Both moved at their maximum speed.

  ……

  “A Daolord actually beat Silksnow and Bloodcloud into flight? He actually blocked Hegemonic attack-treasures head-on?” A white-haired, black-winged elder walked out of the highest tower within a palace that was located inside a beautiful world of boundless light. A stunned look was on his face. “I’ve been in seclusion, hoping to train to the Hegemon level… I never would’ve imagined that the Flamedragon Realmverse would give birth to such a powerful Daolord. How could a Daolord become this powerful? Perhaps I’ll learn something from him that can give me a better chance at reaching Hegemony.”

  The black-winged, white-haired elder took a single step forwards, transforming into a streak of light that shot through spacetime and disappeared without a trace.

  ……

  “Impossible. Did you perhaps mishear things? How could a Daolord be that powerful? But… even the Emperors of the Dao Alliance are telling me the same thing. How can a Daolord be this powerful!?” A wrinkly-faced old granny walked out of a wooden house. A number of ordinary mortals were living in the area as well. The old granny’s appearance quickly changed to become noble and regal, while her robes became beautiful to behold.

  The graceful old lady waved her hand, tearing a hole in spacetime and then stepping into that hole.

  ……

  Many ancient Emperors who had been in seclusion for many years and who were thought to be dead were coming out of hiding. They normally preferred not to get involved with the outside world and at most kept in touch with some of their oldest friends… but once they heard the news from those friends and they learned of what had happened in Silksnow City, they began to grow restless.

  The reason why they had gone into seclusion was because they didn’t want to be bothered by mundane affairs. They wanted to quietly train in peace and live the type of life they wanted. They all sought to one day reach Hegemony. There had been some Emperors, after all, who had slowly trained until they had one day reached the Hegemon level!

  Now that they heard how powerful a Daolord had become, they naturally all grew quite curious.

  Hegemon Brightshore had been the first to arrive, and he had watched everything personally from hiding. Although surprised, he was still fairly calm at first… but when he saw how Ning managed to defend against the crescent moon and the plain longspear in a head-long clash, Hegemon Brightshore was truly stunned.

  “Those were treasures left behind by the Sithe which were comparable in might to a Hegemon’s full-power strike
.” Hegemon Brightshore was rather shocked. “Although they were a bit weaker than a full-power hit from me, it had reached Windrain and Netherlily’s levels. Darknorth actually managed to rely on mere sword-arts to block two consecutive attacks from incredible Sithe treasures.”

  “He was overpowered, true… but he still managed to endure the strike head-on. He is now at a level of power where he is on par with the most supreme of Archons. Most likely, he’s on par with the two leaders of the Dao Alliance.” Hegemon Brightshore was stunned. “Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. His only flaw is that he probably doesn’t have an invulnerable form. Those who train in the Dao of the Sword generally do not have invulnerable forms… and without one, his life-preserving abilities will be slightly lacking.”

  What he didn’t know, obviously, was that Ning DID have an invulnerable form… the Shadowless form. However, a ‘mere’ Hegemonic strike wasn’t enough to force him to use it.

  * * *

  Book 36, Chapter 15 - The Most Powerful Daolord

  “His defensive sword-arts are far too powerful. He can probably rely on his sword-arts to defend against attacks from Netherlily and Windrain. As for me? He’s a member of the Brightshore Kingdom; there’s no way I’d act against him.” Hegemon Brightshore suddenly laughed. “I really never would’ve imagined that this kid Darknorth would reach a level where he needs fear no one at all within the Flamedragon Realmverse.”

  “He’s a Daolord. How did he reach this level of power? I have never, ever heard of a Daolord as powerful as him, not even in the legends. He must have some secret about him.” Hegemon Brightshore looked at Ji Ning, an inquisitive look in his eyes. Even he was deeply intrigued and wanted to learn Ning’s secrets, as they might be of use to him in growing stronger as well.