Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ning didn’t hesitate. “Time to go in.”

  Whoosh.

  Ning’s Ruyi Soulsnake Shuttle swooped into the water. Plop! Water sprayed upwards from the point of impact as Ning and the shuttle both completely disappeared.

  ……

  In the instant that he entered Undermoon Lake, Ning felt a strange ripple of energy surround him. And then, spacetime distorted and changed. This was a subtle transformation that was filled with the faint aura of primordial chaos. Given Ning’s heartforce abilities, even when Patriarch Subhuti used a spacetime-distorting technique he would still be able to see and potentially evade it, but this spacetime distortion came naturally, not revealing any flaws or traces at all.

  Whoosh.

  Ning fell down from the skies. As soon as he landed, he saw that he was standing upon a piece of scorched rock that was three hundred meters long.

  “This place is…?” Ning put away the shuttle, scanning his surroundings.

  He was surrounded by a seemingly endless sea. Its waves continuously washed across the scorched stone.

  A bright moon hung high in the sky, its cold and clear moonlight shining down upon the entire sea.

  “This…” Ning stared at this in astonishment. Ahead of him was a floating wooden bridge. At one end of the bridge was this scorched stone he was standing upon, while the other end stretched far off into the horizon, where sea met sky. Not even Ning could see to the end of the bridge with his eyes alone.

  “How long is this floating bridge?” Ning was speechless. He immediately sent out his heartforce to take a look. Ning had already grown accustomed to using heartforce in dangerous areas, because it was even more unfathomable and mysterious than coresense. True Gods and Daofathers who were weaker than him in heartforce wouldn’t even notice him scanning them. But of course, they in turn would be able to scan him with coresense without him noticing.

  “Eh? My heartforce…?” Ning’s heart clenched. He had clearly spread out his heartforce, but he wasn’t able to find anything at all.

  “Coresense.” Ning immediately sent out his coresense to investigate as well, but as he had expected, even coresense was unable to detect a thing.

  Ning’s face changed. Very, very few in the Three Realms were capable of blocking out coresense and heartforce.

  “That bright moon in the skies…where is that moon from?” Ning raised his head to stare at the moon. “Can it be the star outside this world?”

  Swoosh! Ning soared into the skies, flying higher and higher. He flew for hundreds of thousands of kilometers before, with a thud, he rammed into an invisible barrier. A series of concentric ripples spread out from the part of the barrier which Ning struck. As for the bright moon, it was still far, far above him in the depths of the sky. There was no way to move any closer to it at all.

  Ning pondered carefully for a moment, then elected to once more return to that floating wooden bridge. He advanced rapidly, because he had the feeling that the reason why this bridge existed was to serve as a guide for people to know where to go.

  “Thousands of Empyrean Gods have entered Undermoon Lake since ancient times. Why haven’t I encountered any of them?”

  Ning stood there atop his Ruyi Soulsnake Shuttle. The shuttle followed the floating wooden bridge forward, advancing at a rapid pace. It flew for millions of kilometers, but still the only thing to be seen was the endless sea and that lonely little bridge. The only sound that could be heard was that of the water slapping against the sides of the bridge.

  This made Ning even more wary.

  “Although Buddha Jueming successfully escaped this place, he refused to say anything about it. Even when other major powers asked him, he still refused to say a thing. As for the thousands of other Empyrean Gods…” Ning frowned. “Are all of them dead?”

  The thought of how thousands of Empyrean Gods might have perished here made Ning even more nervous.

  Whoooosh. He continued to fly forward, the shuttle advancing at an astonishing pace. He had flown for more than a hundred million kilometers, but there was still nothing besides the endless bridge.

  Suddenly, far off in the distance, an ugly green head suddenly popped out from beneath the surface of the sea. The head stared at the distant white-robed youth aboard the shuttle. Because Ning was only able to see with his eyes, he wasn’t able to discover the appearance of this creature.

  “Here comes another one,” the jade-green head mused softly, eyes filled with an excited gleam of bloodlust.

  * * *

  Book 20, Chapter 7 - Yaksha

  The Ruyi Soulsnake Shuttle followed the floating bridge forward, flying at high speed. Ji Ning, however, maintained a vigilant watch. He continued to have the feeling that the seemingly-peaceful world of Undermoon Lake was hiding a terrifyingly lethal danger within it.

  Deep within the depths of the sea.

  A completely jade-green human-shaped figure, steel warfork in hand, was drawing close to Ning at high speed. Every so often, he would vanish and reappear more than a hundred thousand kilometers away. Soon, he stealthily arrived in an area located in front of Ning. His dark-red gaze pierced through the water, seeing the distant shuttle fly forward at high speed along the bridge’s path. His long tongue licked his lower jaw as he murmured to himself, “It’s rare for new prey to come. I hope this one is strong. Otherwise, it’ll be quite boring.”

  “Ah, here he comes. Attack!”

  The jade-green humanoid suddenly burst out from the surface of the sea, transforming into a green blur that streaked towards Ning.

  “Eh?” Although he had been flying for a long period of time, he hadn’t relaxed at all. Ning was rather shocked. “He was able to get so close to me without me noticing at all.”

  Ning’s pupils were filled with torchlight, and he used the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] to see his foe clearly.

  This was an oceanic creature that looked rather like a yaksha-demon. The yaksha had a pair of dark-red eyes that were filled with a baleful, murderous aura, and it was wielding a steel warfork that it stabbed straight towards Ning.

  “I need to capture him and take a good look.” Ning stretched out with his arm, and it instantly expanded, transforming and becoming enormous enough to cover the skies themselves as his fingers reached out to the jade yaksha. This was Ning’s [Starseizing Hand] divine ability. The yaksha sensed a tremendous amount of danger from this attack, and it immediately roared in a shrill voice, “BREAK!”

  “Eh? This jade yaksha speaks in the language of Pangaea?” Ning murmured to himself. However, he showed no mercy at all.

  BOOM!

  Although the steel warfork stabbed into his palm, the enormous star-seizing hand still wrapped itself around the jade yaksha, capturing it. No matter how it struggled, it was unable to escape.

  “Tell me, what exactly is going on in this world? And what happened to the thousands of Empyrean Gods who came before?” Ning barked coldly, his hand still wrapped firmly around the creature.

  “Heh heh, so you have a bit of talent after all. How unexpected.” The captured yaksha actually let out a shrill laugh, dark-red eyes staring weighingly at Ning. “Interesting, quite interesting. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a formidable opponent. You were able to capture my clone in just a single exchange…this will be fun. Fun!”

  “Clone?” Ning was stunned.

  “Kid…this was just the start.” The green-haired yaksha laughed savagely, then suddenly transformed into a stream of liquid that quickly flew out from Ning’s palm.

  “Transformed into water?” Ning barked coldly, “Even if you transform into a damn ghost, you still won’t escape!”

  Boom! Yet another enormous palm came sweeping over.

  Ning’s left and right hands seemed to have transformed into two enormous black stormclouds. They viciously clapped against each other. BOOM!!!! The stream of water that was caught between those two enormous hands was instantly and completely destroyed, leaving behind only a shrill voice rev
erberating in the empty skies: “Ahahaha…how intriguing…how intriguing!”

  After slaying the yaksha, Ning once returned to stand within his Ruyi Soulsnake Shuttle. The sea wind blew past him, causing his white robes to flutter.

  “Judging from what that jade yaksha said, just now I merely battled one of his clones? And he tried to kill me without negotiating or speaking to me at all. I haven’t encountered any Empyrean Gods yet….is it because all of them have been killed?” Ning couldn’t help but shiver. Thousands of Empyrean Gods…perhaps the vast majority were ordinary in power, but some were truly top-tier experts. A few might be even more powerful than Ning!

  If Ning didn’t use the Rahu Formation, on Mount Innerheart alone the likes of Redsnow, Silvermoon, and Goldcrow were figures that Ning was no match for. In an actual battle, there were too many deficiencies in Ning’s understanding of the Dao. Only if Ning’s swordforce reached the fourth stage would he become equal to the likes of Redsnow in a frontal battle.

  “I have to be even more careful.”

  The Ruyi Soulsnake Shuttle continued to fly forward.

  “Intriguing. He was actually able to wipe out one of my clones.”

  “Ahaha…it’s rare for me to encounter a tough enemy.”

  “But the tough ones are fun.”

  “Ahahaha.”

  “Time to kill.”

  One jade yaksha after another began to emerge from the depths of the sea in front of Ning, hastening towards him at high speed. At the same time, their shrill voices echoed within the world. After the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, Ning heard their shrill voices echoing in the skies. Shrill voices and strange laughter seemed to come forth from every corner of the seas. Clearly, there were an enormous number of these creatures.

  “Are they all gathering together?” Ning’s eyes blazed with torch-light as he stared at his surroundings. He was able to see past the water and locate the many jade yakshas that had appeared.

  “So many?!” Ning was rather stunned. His [Torch Dragon’s Eye] alone was able to see more than a hundred of those yakshas. Although he had slain the first yaksha in a seemingly simple manner, in truth the yaksha had essentially likely reached the Empyrean God level of power. If there were enough of them, they would be able to overwhelm him with raw numbers.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Explosions could be heard throughout the sea. One jade yaksha after another burst through the surface of the sea, standing on the water and completely surrounding Ning. All of them stared at Ning, filled with maliciousness and avarice.

  With a thought, Ning put away the shuttle. He had noticed earlier that the speed of the shuttle was actually inferior to that of the jade yakshas. Thus, there was no choice but to fight; escape was not an option.

  “519 clones.” A pair of blood-colored swords appeared in Ning’s hands. By now, he had no choice but to rely on his sword-arts.

  “I don’t wish to be your enemy.” Ning’s gaze swept past every single one of the many jade yakshas surrounding him.

  “Ahaha…but I want to kill you, kid.” The 519 jade yakshas simultaneously spoke out, saying the same words. When their voices merged together, they actually had the power to shake one’s Dao-heart. “Be careful, now. If you end up dying in my hands, don’t claim that I tricked you or plotted against you. I’m battling against you openly and fairly.

  Ning, swords in hands, grew even more wary.

  “Let’s go.”

  Instantly…swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! ….

  Ten of the jade yakshas simultaneously circled around and attacked Ning with their steel warforks.

  A killing intent suddenly flashed in the eyes of the white-robed Ning. The blood-colored swords in his hands suddenly transformed into blurs.

  Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash…

  The bodies of the jade yakshas were each bisected. In a single clash, ten of them had been cut in half.

  [Brightmoon] sword-art, Shadowless stance!

  The Shadowless stance: This was a very fast stance that was the strangest stance of all. It was meant to attack from an unpredictable angle and chop the enemy in half. Clearly, these jade yakshas were unable to block Ning’s sword-art.

  “Eh?” Ning’s face changed slightly. The bodies of the bisected yakshas first transformed into water, then reformed to become ten more jade yakshas. And then…frenzied, bloodlusted looks appeared in the eyes of the 519 jade yakshas.

  And then, the 500-plus jade yakshas all simultaneously charged towards Ning.

  “[Three Heads, Six Arms]!” Ning’s body blurred, then reformed with three heads and six arms. He now wielded six swords as well. Faced with the utterly relentless horde of enemies, Ning didn’t dare to use the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] against them.

  Ning’s six blood-red swords transformed into bloody blurs. They were simply too fast! The bloody blurs swirled around around Ning, completely blocking and halting all of the assaulting jade yakshas. In fact, many of their bodies were chopped apart and knocked flying, but moments later they would reform unharmed.

  Although the ‘slain’ yakshas were able to reform after being bisected, Ning had the feeling that after doing so they would become noticeably weaker.

  Still, Ning felt a sense of pressure and danger. The enemies were simply too numerous, and all of them could be said to have reached the Empyrean God level of power. Even against Ning’s sword-arts, the yakshas managed to land the occasional blow against his body. However, Ning’s body had reached the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; it wouldn’t be easy to damage. If this continued, in the end it was more likely that the enemy would be the first to lose this war of attrition. At present, Ning had only used [Three Heads, Six Arms] after all; this divine ability used up very little divine power. In addition, at the Empyrean God level the body was further perfected, easily capable of battling for months on end. If Ning used the [Starseizing Hand], the amount of time he’d be able to battle would be decreased a hundredfold.

  “DAMN!!!!” A furious bellow suddenly shook the heavens.

  The 519 jade yakshas simultaneously retreated backwards, levitating up into midair. All of them appeared utterly furious. Then, all of them began to ram against each other, completely merging into each other with each collision. The number of jade yakshas in the skies began to decrease as more and more of them began to fuse together.

  The more yakshas fused together, the darker a green they became. Soon, their color became as black as night…but then, they became a dark-gold color. When the two final dark-gold yakshas rammed against each other, they transformed into a golden yaksha that held such power as to cause even Ning amazement.

  This golden yaksha was thirty meters tall, and his aura was extremely close to that of a True God’s.

  “To force me to use my true body in battle…you aren’t bad. Over the course of all these years, more than a thousand Empyrean Gods died without even seeing my true body,” the golden yaksha growled.

  “What?! More than a thousand?!” Ning’s heart shook. Most of the thousands of Empyrean Gods who had entered this place belonged to the Nuwa Alliance. Many had entered back during the Primordial Era, after all, and almost all of those belonged to the Nuwa Alliance. Ning had been hoping that he would be able to come up with a way to rescue the thousands of Empyrean Gods trapped here, but…

  Apparently, an enormous number had died by the hands of this yaksha. Indeed…surrounded by more than five hundred yakshas, very few would be able to survive.

  “However…the number of Empyrean Gods that died to my true body is in excess of two thousand.” The golden yaksha stared at Ning. Light suddenly flashed within his hands, and a steel warfork that looked ancient suddenly appeared within it. The steel warfork looked very plain and simple, but it clearly had an aura of incredible power.

  “You should rejoice in the fact that you will die to my true body,” the golden yaksha laughed savagely. “All of you want to acquire the relics which my maste
r left behind…did you really think it would be that easy?”

  Ning’s eyes narrowed. Master?

  In truth, as soon as he had entered Undermoon Lake, Ning had the feeling that this was a place that was artificially created by a major power of the ancient days. The floating wooden bridge spanned countless kilometers, and neither coresense nor heartforce could be used to scan this place. It all suggested that this was part of a deliberate design by a major power; it didn’t seem like something that would naturally emerge from the primordial chaos.

  “If you want the treasures…use your life to trade for them!” The golden yaksha laughed strangely, and then, steel warfork in his hands…suddenly vanished. He left behind just a golden streak of light in the air as he suddenly appeared before Ning. He was simply too fast; Ning only had barely enough time to use his sword to block.

  Boom!

  Ning transformed into a shooting star as he was knocked flying backwards. From this initial clash, Ning understood that the foe’s power was very close to that of a True God’s. “No wonder more than three thousand Empyrean Gods died to by hands.”

  * * *

  Book 20, Chapter 8 - A Surviving Empyrean God

  “You are too weak. Too weak!” The golden yaksha’s frenzied voice echoed throughout the heavens as he once more transformed into a streak of golden light, chasing after Ji Ning and assaulting him repeatedly.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Ning was knocked flying backwards repeatedly, sometimes being driven into the sea, sometimes somersaulting backwards in rather pathetic fashion. He was at a definite, absolute disadvantage.

  “You are really weak…but your body’s pretty tough. My [Seagod Yaksha] is incredibly strong, but you are able to easily absorb this type of punishment.” The golden yaksha continued to attack as he spoke, laughing wildly.