Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Agreed.” Snowfiend, the Purgatory God, and the sea yaksha all nodded in agreement.

  The [Golden Sunstreak] and the [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent] had both reached the limits of the Heavenly Daos, allowing Ning to move 300,000 kilometers in an instant! Normally, even major powers were much slower than this.

  However, experts were naturally capable of wielding weapons much more quickly than they moved. Generally speaking, their goal was to do their best to close in on the limits of the Heavenly Daos!

  Ning’s sword speed, however, had already come very close to those limits!

  But of course…it was also possible to go faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos! Those who mastered the [Five Treasures], for example, would be able to strike with their swords at a speed that was faster than the speed of light. The missing deity Houyi, as well; his arrows were the fastest in the Three Realms, capable of killing that Golden Crow ‘Emperor of Monsters’.

  “It’s about time.” The demon king nodded, then shouted loudly, “Withdraw!”

  His shout echoed within the frozen gorge. All of the demons heard it, and with a series of whooshing sounds, they all withdrew in unison like the tides. They all parted in two directions, entering the frozen mountain walls.

  “Eh?” Ning was a bit surprised. They withdrew?

  He had been battling for a hundred years. This was the first time the demons had withdrawn, and he wasn’t quite ready for it.

  Whoosh. A figure flew down from the skies. It was the demon king, that golden gourd still on his waist. The demon king landed on the floating wooden bridge. He shook his head, the two enormous curved horns shaking as well.

  “Demon king.” Ning looked at the demon king.

  “The century has concluded.” The demon king rested his long black staff over his shoulders and said lazily, “You’ve really killed quite a few demons.”

  “Am I permitted to pass through Demon Icepass? Can I go to the next island?” Ning asked.

  The demon king looked at Ning. Chortling, he said, “Although I really would like to play with you a bit longer…you really have killed quite a few demons. Your sword is too fast.”

  Ning blinked, then laughed.

  His sword was fast? This entire time, he was worried that the number of demons he killed wasn’t enough, and so as he fought he repeatedly told himself, ‘faster, faster, faster!’ The faster his sword was, the more he would be able to kill! And given that Ning was training in the [Five Treasures] sword-art, a sword-art that surpassed the limits of the Heavenly Daos, he had made numerous breakthroughs during the past century of slaughter. He had gained repeated insights, and thus he had gained a deep understanding of the extremely esoteric fourth chapter of the [Five Treasures]. As Ning learned more, his sword became faster and faster.

  “You may pass through Demon Icepass and reach the fourth island; Kilostar Island,” the demon king said. “But before you do so, I’ll lead you to a place to choose a treasure.”

  Ning nodded. Upon reaching the third, fourth, and fifth islands, there would be a chance to choose a treasure.

  “And those Empyrean Gods you are carrying with you; since they are going to give up, have them hand their treasures over to me,” the demon king said calmly. “Empyrean Gods who give up are not qualified to obtain any treasures.”

  “Alright.” Ning nodded. He knew this all along, and Feiyou, Oddwitch, and the others had long ago handed their treasures over to Ning, letting him hand it over on their behalf.

  A day later.

  Kilostar Island was also divided into two islands, a small island and a larger island. The small island was the place where the treasures were placed, while the larger island was the place where the Empyrean Gods lived.

  “Go ahead. Your talent and your sword-art are both quite impressive; the only thing standing between you and freedom is the final challenge.” The demon king smiled as he looked at Ning. “It’s been countless years, but Jueming was the only one to leave. I hope you will become the second.”

  Ning nodded, then turned and walked onto the floating wooden bridge towards the larger island.

  Just now, Ning had chosen three treasures and, thanks to his strenuous negotiating, acquired eight of each! However, these three treasures were not of much use to Ning, at least for now. For example, if Ning hadn’t acquired the [Icefire Jindan Smelting] technique, he wouldn’t have known how to use Iceheart Pith and Ninefire Lava. Right now, he didn’t know any techniques that could make use of these three treasures.

  “Kilostar Island.”

  Ning walked towards the larger island, unable to hide the excitement he felt. This was already the fourth island; he was very close to reaching the exit! Once he reached the fifth island, he would be able to leave.

  “Senior apprentice-sister…wait for me.” Ning felt a deep desire to be reunited with her swell up in his heart.

  Ning immediately calmed himself down, then proceeded into the island. He chose a random boulder at the borders of the island, then sat down in the lotus position. He began to go through his memories and insights from the hundred years of battle. During that century, he had been constantly fighting; although he had gained some insights into the [Five Treasures], he hadn’t had a chance to systematically examine these insights in depth.

  It must be understood that prior to entering Demon Icepass, Ning had only trained for a total of roughly two hundred years! Prior to the war for the Grand Xia, Ning had actually been focused on establishing a foundation for himself. The Black-White College, Mount Innerheart’s Tristar Crescent Abode…those places had all served to help him lay down a formation by teaching him many techniques.

  The Nihilum Zone, the war for the Grand Xia, the Realmwar, roaming the Three Realms and challenging swordsmen…it was only during this period of time that he was truly improving on his foundation.

  During this century, Ning had advanced at an incredible pace. Soon after entering Undermoon Lake, his swordforce had reached the fourth stage.

  This time, however, he had spent a full century battling in Demon Icepass, and every single moment of that century was spent in nonstop combat. For someone like Ji Ning who was skilled in martial combat to begin with, this was a form of tempering that he had never before encountered. In truth, even the likes of Feiyou and the other Empyrean Gods who had lived for countless years all felt that Demon Icepass was tremendously beneficial to them, to say nothing of Ji Ning.

  Ning closed his eyes. The [Five Treasures] sword-art constantly flickered through his mind as many different scattered insights began to join together, allowing him to understand it better and better. The [Brightmoon] sword-art was continuously improving as well.

  ……

  Kilostar Island.

  A gray-robed man was walking alone through the island. He murmured to himself, “When shall I be able to leave this prison? Even if I give up and return those treasures, they still won’t let me leave. I have to follow some other Empyrean God, but if that person dies, I’ll die as well. Only if that Empyrean God succeeds will I be able to leave.”

  “But after all these years, Jueming remains the only one who has succeeded. And before Jueming made the attempt, who felt completely confident that he would succeed?”

  “Ugh…”

  “Dawn. The moon is rising.” A powerful desire to leave could be seen in the gray-robed man’s eyes. Suddenly, he blinked and turned to stare off into the distance. Far away, atop a boulder covered with gouges and marks, was a white-robed youth seated in the lotus position.

  * * *

  Book 20, Chapter 24 - Kilostar Island

  The gray-robed figure instantly felt puzzled. “Who is he? I know all the Empyrean Gods on Kilostar Island. Hell, I know most of the Empyrean Gods of the entire Three Realms. But this white-robed youth…” Although quite puzzled, he knew that here in Undermoon Lake, there were only two possible reasons for Empyrean Gods to be here.

  The first was they had fought a path through the challenges. The se
cond was that they had followed someone who did.

  “He’s new. Does this mean…he just made it through Demon Icepass?” The gray-robed man felt shock in his heart. He watched as Ji Ning sat there meditatively, not daring to disturb him.

  He waited for a total of twelve days.

  Finally, Ning opened his eyes. All of the scattered insights he had gained over the course of a century had been unified, and his understanding of the sword had risen once more. In fact, Ning was able to vaguely sense a bit of what complete mastery of the [Five Treasures] should look like. However, he always felt as though he was a bit off, as though he was searching for flowers within a great fog. He was unable to truly understand and fully master the entire [Five Treasures].

  “I’m still a bit off.” Ning sighed to himself. “If I could advance a bit more and fully understand the [Five Treasures], thus gaining full mastery over a sword-art that surpasses the limits of the Heavenly Daos…I’d probably be able to leave Undermoon Lake.”

  The complete [Five Treasures] was something which even True Gods and Daofathers would find desirable. But alas, the price of learning this consummate sword-art was simply too high; learning it meant forgetting all insights into all other Daos. Very, very few major powers were willing to pay such a price…and few of the ones who might be willing had true talent for the Dao of the Sword.

  Ning’s talent for the sword, however, was indeed quite high. Lu Dongbin and Daofather Subhuti had judged him correctly when they had named him a born Sword Immortal.

  “Chunyi greets you, fellow Daoist.” The gray-robed man appeared next to him with a smile.

  “Empyrean God Chunyi?” Ning laughed. “I am Darknorth. I’ve heard of your illustrious reputation long ago.”

  Empyrean God Chunyi’s real name was Li Chunyi. He, too, was an Empyrean God who had risen to prominence during the era of the Three Realms. However, he eventually vanished, with no one knowing where he had gone. Ning had memorized all of the ‘missing’ Empyrean Gods like him, and in his visit to Undermoon Lake he had already seen five of the Empyrean Gods who had gone ‘missing’ from the Three Realms.

  Not every Empyrean God would announce their entry into Undermoon Lake, after all.

  “Empyrean God Darknorth,” Li Chunyi said, “I’ve never seen you on Kilostar Island before. Can it be that you just made it past Demon Icepass?”

  “Yes.” Ning nodded.

  “Admirable, admirable!” Li Chunyi’s eyes shone, and he immediately seemed much friendlier. “You need to battle for a hundred years to make it past Demon Icepass, an extremely dangerous affair, especially when that demon king assaults you alongside countless lesser demons. The slightest bit of carelessness can lead to instant death. Even if one is strong enough to survive for a hundred years, it’s still hard to gain the demon king’s approval. Kilostar Island…over the course of countless years, only a total of nine Empyrean Gods have been able to make it here on their own power, and that’s including you, Empyrean God Darknorth.”

  “Just nine in total?” Ning asked, “How many of them are currently on the island?”

  “Previously, there were three. With your arrival, fellow Daoist Darknoth, there are now four,” Li Chunyi said. “It’s been countless years, but only Reverend Jueming was able to leave this island. Four of them have died as well.”

  Upon saying the word ‘died’, Li Chunyi hesitated a moment, then said, “Fellow Daoist Darknorth, there’s something I should tell you. Of the four Empyrean Gods who died, three of them died when attempting to advance through the wooden bridge, as they were too weak to succeed. One, however…died here on the island itself.”

  “Died on Kilostar Island?” Ning was puzzled. “Prior to this, I chatted with the demon king for a bit. I heard that the forces of Undermoon Lake won’t launch any attacks on Kilostar Island. How could someone have died?”

  “…Empyrean God Greatdream was the killer,” Li Chunyi said in a low voice.

  “Empyrean God Greatdream?” Ning’s eyes narrowed.

  Empyrean God Greatdream. Of course Ning had heard of this person. One of the Empyrean Gods who had gone ‘missing’ but actually entered Undermoon Lake was Greatdream. The reason why Greatdream had given himself the sobriquet of ‘Greatdream’ was because he was the personal disciple of the Seamless Gate’s Godking! The Godking was extremely harsh and cruel when training disciples, and Greatdream was filled with tremendous ambitions. Upon hearing that Jueming had become a Buddha, he had made up his mind to enter Undermoon Lake.

  “Right now, the ones on the island who made it here under their own power are Empyrean God Greatdream, Empyrean God Sealthroat, and Empyrean God Sin,” Li Chunyi said solemnly.

  “Empyrean God Greatdream belongs to the Seamless Gate, while Empyrean Gods Sealthroat and Sin belong to our Pangu Chaosworld. Logically speaking, since the Seamless Gate has joined the Three Realms long ago, they should be peaceful to us. And indeed, after Empyrean God Greatdream entered Undermoon Lake, he’s worked to befriend all of the Empyrean Gods here. He constantly worked hard to improve himself, spending ten million years to make it to Kilostar Island.”

  Li Chunyi said solemnly, “Back then, there were four who made it to Kilostar Island on their own; Empyrean God Greatdream, Empyrean God Sealthroat, Empyrean God Sin, and Empyrean God Ninedawn. The others here had all given up and been carried here.”

  “Empyrean God Greatdream continued to befriend everyone, and he became particularly friendly with Empyrean God Ninedawn. But who would’ve thought that Empyrean God Greatdream was actually such an insidious person…”

  “He caught Empyrean God Ninedawn completely offguard with a sudden attack and killed him.”

  Li Chunyi shook his head and sighed. “Back then, Empyrean God Ninedawn was actually the strongest of the four, and he had the best chance of making it out. But just like that, he died by the hands of a despicable, petty man like Empyrean God Greatdream. The sneak-attack caused a huge disturbance and we all immediately hastened towards the two, but we were too late…just one step too late. Both Empyrean God Sin and Empyrean God Sealthroat were utterly enraged and they sought to slay Empyrean God Greatdream, but he continually hides within his Immortal palace. In addition, a large number of Empyrean Gods are following and protecting him.”

  “He actually attacked his own friend?” Ning found this unbelievable. “But why? Did Empyrean God Ninedawn do something to him?”

  Ning was beginning to feel fury in his heart as well…because Empyrean God Ninedawn was actually one of the primordial humans!

  The primordial humans numbered a tribe known as the ‘Dawnsun clan’ amongst their ranks. The nine most powerful Empyrean Gods of this clan were named based on age as Onedawn, Twodawn, Threedawn…all the way through Ninedawn. These were humans who had followed Suiren in his earliest campaigns, and Ning had always felt tremendous admiration for these primordial human Empyrean Gods.

  Who would’ve thought that one would die to Empyrean God Greatdream of the Seamless Gate…and due to a sneak attack at that!

  “Others are still willing to follow Empyrean God Greatdream despite what he did?” Ning asked.

  “His followers are all members of the Seamless Gate,” Li Chunyi said. “He publicly proclaimed that during the war that destroyed the Primordial Era, many of his beloved friends and brothers had been slain by Ninedawn, and so his heart has always been filled with endless amounts of hatred and rage. Although some of the the other members of the Seamless Gate didn’t approve of his actions, they belong to the same side, after all. When Empyrean Gods Sealthroat and Sin led their armies to attack Empyrean God Greatdream, the Empyrean Gods of the Seamless Gate still chose to stand on Greatdream’s side. They couldn’t just stand there and watch him be killed.”

  Ning nodded.

  “Come. Let me guide you to meet Empyrean God Sin and Empyrean God Sealthroat,” Li Chunyi said.

  Soon, they arrived at a palace where many Empyrean Gods were gathered. Surrounding this palace was a number o
f Immortal estates as well.

  “Ahaha, it’s quite lively here!”

  “So many Empyrean Gods!”

  “Seven Dragon Gods! You made it!”

  “Elder brother Feiyou.”

  More than a hundred Empyrean Gods came out to welcome Ning and his followers. Ning was accompanied by an amazing number of followers, and when Li Chunyi saw all of them emerge, he was badly shocked as well. He had guessed that Ning must’ve brought some followers with him, but he never would’ve thought that Ning would bring this many. Since everyone Ning brought was of the Nuwa Alliance, they were naturally quite welcome in this place, and in fact many of the people in the palace all knew the newcomers. Some were extremely close friends!

  A long while later.

  At the top of a mountain peak, three figures sat down to drink wine and chat. These three were three of the four primary Empyrean Gods of Kilostar Island…Empyrean God Darknorth, Empyrean God Sealthroat, and Empyrean God Sin.

  “Those are all magic treasures the various Empyrean Gods brought with them.” Empyrean God Sealthroat was a callous-looking silver-haired youth, and he pointed at the distant Immortal estates around the palace. “That vile miscreant Greatdream’s murder of Ninedawn caused an enormous outcry throughout all of Kilostar Island. Everyone was worried about being ambushed, and so when they cultivate they will normally retreat into their own Immortal estates. Within those estates, others can’t easily enter, and so things are much safer.”

  “Damn that Greatdream.” Empyrean God Sin clenched his winecup, a murderous look in his eyes.

  “Darknorth, you must be careful.” Empyrean God Sin said in a low voice, “Sealthroat and I have tussled with Greatdream quite a few times in recent years, and we understand him quite well. Greatdream publicly proclaims that he killed Ninedawn out of hatred, but based on what Sealthroat and I have discovered…he’s simply an incredibly self-centered, narrowminded person. Ninedawn had the best chance of us all of leaving Undermoon Lake, which is why he befriended then murdered him.”