Desolate Era

by RWX

  “If he was able to tear apart that formation with his bare hands, he’s probably become a True God.” Daoist Three Purities laughed.

  “Right. If he’s become a Daofather, there would’ve been a resonance with the Heavenly Daos. He must have become a True God.” Subhuti laughed as well.

  “He trained less than a thousand years, advancing from being an ordinary mortal to become an overlord. Incredible, simply incredible.” Shennong sighed in amazement as well.

  All the major powers seated below them revealed looks of amazement and joy. Their side had just gained yet another overlord; how could they not be delighted?

  But they were stunned as well.

  Only a few figures had ever stood at the very peak of power in the Three Realms. In the Nuwa Alliance, the only figures had been the two leaders of Daoism and Buddhism, the Three Sovereigns of Mankind, and great divinity Houyi. But now, yet another person had arisen to stand by their side…a Sword Immortal!

  Ever since Pangu had established Heaven and Earth, there had never been a Sword Immortal who could reach such heights.

  Daofather Fuju was very famous and was once acknowledged as the number one Sword Immortal of the Three Realms, but he only held the same level of status as Subhuti. World God Northrest had been focused on keeping himself alive, after all, and he truly was quite weak compared to his true level of power; he wouldn’t even dare to fight against Mother Nuwa.

  Swordfather Darklight, Daofather Holyflame, and the other Sword Immortals were even weaker than Daofather Fuju!

  The Pangu Chaosworld, the Seamless Chaosworld, the Three Realms…none of them had ever produced a Sword Immortal which stood at the very apex of power!

  But now!

  A Sword Immortal had risen up to stand at the very peak of the Three Realms!

  Sword Immortal Darknorth! Ji Ning!

  “Sword Immortal Darknorth.”

  “Sword Immortal Darknorth.” Many of the major powers in the palace were all murmuring softly to themselves. A sense of dread and respect arose in their hearts, a natural dread that one would feel towards those that were more powerful than one’s self!

  Many of the major powers would casually refer to Ning as ‘Ji Ning’. Now, however, they no longer dared to do so. They would now respectfully refer to him by his Daoist title of ‘Darknorth’. Only those who were very close to Ning, such as Subhuti, or those who were extremely powerful, such as Daoist Three Purities and Tathagata, would continue to address Ning by his given name.

  From this day forth!

  Ji Ning stood at the same lofty heights as Three Purities, Suiren, Tathagata, and the other overlords!

  * * *

  Book 22, Chapter 24 - Ripping Open the Formation

  The Allfiends World.

  “What?! Overlord level?” The black-robed Godking couldn’t believe it at all.

  “Didn’t you say last time that he was just ‘close’ to the overlord level, thanks to his fifth-stage swordforce? It’s only been a few years. How did he suddenly reach the overlord level?” The black-robed Godking felt as though a ball of fire was raging in his stomach, making him feel quite miserable. He barked, “Blackheaven, are you sure about this? Are you sure you weren’t just seeing things?”

  Celestial Immortal Blackheaven couldn’t even be bothered to look at the black-robed Godking. Instead, he said solemnly and respectfully towards the Lord of All Fiends, “Master, Godfiend Witherspike is quite angry. Ji Ning is indisputably at the overlord level of power already. Master, what should we do?”

  “Indisputably?” The black-robed Godking ground his teeth when he heard this.

  Damn.

  How…how…how did this kid who had trained for less than a thousand years suddenly rise to the very apex of the Three Realms? Even he, the exalted disciple of the Lord of the Demonheart and the nominal leader of the Seamless Gate, had yet to reach that level!

  “You imbecile.” Daomother Devilhand glanced sideways at the black-robed Godking, smiling coldly.

  Upon hearing the words ‘you imbecile’, the black-robed Godking snapped out of his daze. He had always played with the hearts of others, but this time he had played himself. He had watched as Ji Ning grew powerful, and he had personally acted to deliver one setback after another to Ji Ning. Now, Ji Ning had advanced to the very apex of the Three Realms…and indeed, the Godking’s role in this could not be overstated. How could the Godking not feel miserable and stifled? However, he was an extraordinary figure as well. He quickly recovered from his momentary fugue state.

  “Fiendlord, Darknorth has already become an overlord-class power. He trains much too quickly. We have to get rid of him right away,” the black-robed Godking said.

  “I know.” The Lord of All Fiends frowned. “I heard that Houyi, Suiren, and a group of True Gods and Daofathers have already headed out. Even if we want to intervene, we would have to first travel to the Goldriver world, then slowly fly to the battle site. We probably won’t be able to to catch up to Houyi’s group. We won’t be able to help. Blackheaven…tell Godfiend Witherspike that we won’t be able to make it in time. There’s nothing we can do. It will all be up to him.”

  “Alright.” Blackheaven nodded.

  “Tell him this as well,” the Lord of All Fiends instructed, “Kill as many as he can. He should still do his best to kill Tathagata as soon as possible.”

  “Alright,” Blackheaven said respectfully.

  The Lord of All Fiends was silent for a moment, then said softly, “The roots of the Nuwa Alliance truly are deep…we haven’t been able to force them to reveal their full power, but we ended up creating a Ji Ning for them. Godfiend Witherspike…hmph. This alien Outsider has a belly full of bad plans. Let him fight it out with the Nuwa Alliance.”

  ……

  The Goldriver world. Outside the grand formation.

  Fuxi stared at Ning in delight. He immediately said, “No time to chat about that for now. For you to make your breakthrough at a time like this is proof that Heaven is on our side. Tathagata’s used up too much of his divine power; he won’t be able to hold on for much longer. We have to immediately break into the formation and rescue him.”

  “This formation is quite complicated.” Ning stared at the formation before him.

  “Yes.” Fuxi nodded. “If we slowly take our time to analyze it and deconstruct it, we’ll need roughly an hour. By then, Tathagata would be long dead.” Fuxi continued, “Tathagata is an extremely important member of our alliance. If his true body is destroyed, we’re going to be in trouble during the Endwar. No matter what, we have to save him.”

  “What do you need me to do?” Ning immediately asked. Although he knew a bit regarding formations, compared to Fuxi he was like a completely ignorant child.

  “In order for a formation to remain intact, it has to remain stable,” Fuxi said. “If a formation is destabilized, it can easily collapse. It is reliant on outside power, after all.”

  Ning nodded. He understood this principle.

  “Over there.” Fuxi pointed towards the distance. Instantly, a strand of divine power flew out towards that part of the formation. “That’s one of the critical parts of the formation. I need you to do your best to tear the formation open at that point. Tear it open as widely as you can, using your full power. This will place an enormous amount of stress on the formation, making it much easier for me to deconstruct it.”

  “Alright.” Ning understood.

  Ning immediately flew towards that location.

  Whoosh!

  His body instantly expanded in size, transforming from an ordinary white-robed youth to a massive giant that was thirty thousand meters tall. At the same time, Ning manifested his [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique. His six arms simultaneously stretched out, causing six sharp swords to appear within them. He then stabbed forward violently, using the ‘Blood Drop Stance’ of the [Brightmoon] sword-art. His swords stabbed out towards the formation faster than the speed of light.

  The formation
was incredibly tough. When Ning’s six arms struck out, he could sense a powerful repulsive force pushing him back. This was a formation which Godfiend Witherspike had designed to trap Tathagata and kill him. To forcibly break it open…there was no one in the Three Realms capable of it.

  Fortunately, Fuxi didn’t ask for Ning to do that. All he asked Ning to do was disturb and disrupt it! Once the formation grew unstable, it would be much easier for Fuxi to deconstruct it…but despite that, only an overlord-level figure would be capable of ‘merely’ disrupting the formation.

  “All of you, go assist Darknorth,” Fuxi hurriedly barked. “Attack the same part of the formation which Darknorth is attacking.”

  “Yes.” “Alright.” “Attack!”

  Kuafu’s squad and Daoist Jade Cauldron’s squad immediately joined together into their respective formations and began to launch waves of attacks against the formation. The three humans under Fuxi’s command also began to help out with attacks as well. However, they remained close to Fuxi, protecting him as he focused his complete attention on the formation.

  “Eh?” Ning suddenly felt that things had become a bit easier. Gritting his teeth, he let out a low snarl.

  Whoooooosh.

  His six swords tore at the formation, ripping a small tear into the formation.

  The tear was large enough for a person to enter, but there was no point in doing so. The formation was filled with many layers of dangers; one had to destroy the entire thing before entering.

  Fuxi ignored all else and completely focused on breaking the formation.

  Inside the formation.

  Tathagata was on the verge of collapse, with less than a tenth of his divine power left.

  “Where did these two Outsider overlords come from? They are incredibly powerful. This truly is a tribulation…and the true face of the tribulation is gradually beginning to show itself. I expect that we’ll only understand the cause of it at the very end,” Tathagata mused to himself, sighing silently. Only at the end of the war which ended the Primordial Era had they learned that it was the Lord of All Things who had instigated everything.

  This time…things were still early, but two alien Outsiders who were overlord-class figures had already appeared. This caused Tathagata to feel truly worried.

  His defensive skills were formidable. In the Three Realms, he was capable of withstanding attacks from three overlords at the same time! Right now, he was currently facing just two Outsider overlords, but he was at the verge of being defeated. Clearly, these two alien Outsiders had incredibly powerful attacks, far more so than the overlords of the Three Realms.

  “Eh?” Godfiend Witherspike suddenly frowned. “Why is the formation beginning to fail…?” He was in control of the formation. He could clearly sense that one of the critical parts of the formation was rapidly beginning to fail. If this continued, it would soon completely collapse.

  “Master! Master!” The three golden-armored Waterians suddenly appeared. One of them said hurriedly, “That human, ‘Darknorth’, has transformed to become thirty thousand meters tall. He’s tearing at the formation to help Fuxi deconstruct our formation.”

  “Tearing at the formation?” Godfiend Witherspike instantly understood. It was much easier to deconstruct a destabilized formation. He immediately said, “Saber, hurry up and go stop Ji Ning from disrupting the formation. Without Ji Ning helping him out, it’ll take Fuxi a long period of time before he can solve the formation. Leave Tathagata to me; given how fast his divine power is being used up, I imagine he should run dry soon.”

  “Alright.” The one-armed man didn’t hesitate. He merely nodded.

  Swoosh! He immediately flew away at high speed, charging towards Ji Ning.

  Godfiend Witherspike turned his head to stare at Tathagata, still seated in the lotus position. He let out a cold laugh. “Tathagata, your human race has gained a new overlord, ‘Darknorth’, but it is useless. Saber has gone to deal with Ji Ning. Without Ji Ning’s help, Fuxi won’t be able to break the formation in time. By the time he does, you will be long dead.”

  Lord Buddha continued to use all of his divine abilities, striving to resist Godfiend Witherspike’s attacks.

  Godfiend Witherspike and Saber were both extremely powerful. Both were Elder Gods, after all! Lord Buddha was only a True God; he was only able to resist them when using many divine abilities, secret arts, and ultimate attacks. Now that Saber had left, things were a bit easier for Tathagata. Still…with only a tenth of his divine power left, he was still going to die soon.

  ……

  “Haaargh!” The titanic Ji Ning once more struck out with his six arms, his hands covered with rainbow light as he furiously tore at the opening he had created.

  “Careful, Darknorth. Tathagata said that a saber-wielding Outsider is heading your way,” Graceful Peacock sent hurriedly.

  Just moments after Graceful Peacock’s message, Ning saw a one-armed golden-armored figure appear. The one-armed man quickly grew in size, also becoming thirty thousand meters tall. This was a grim-looking man that looked just like a human. He held a saber in his hand as he stared at Ning. Taking a single step forward, he appeared in front of Ning then chopped down with the saber in his hand. His saber flashed fiercely, carrying an aura of irresistible power as it hacked down towards Ning.

  Ning had two choices.

  The first was to continue tearing at the formation. The second was to give up on that and instead focus on blocking the saber.

  “Darknorth!” Kuafu, Graceful Peacock, Jade Cauldron, and the others who were helping out from afar all called out in shock. This was because when the saber-light reached Ning’s body, he continued to focus on tearing at the formation, completely ignoring the saber.

  CLANG!

  When the sharp blade chopped down upon his Ning’s divine body, it tore his white robes apart. Sparks flew from the surface of Ning’s skin, and a hint of a white impression could be seen…but the saber hadn’t even been able to penetrate Ning’s skin.

  All Ning did was to give the one-armed man a cold look.

  * * *

  Book 22, Chapter 25 - Golden Statue

  The saber was merely able to leave a white mark on Ji Ning’s chest, but the amount of power it contained was quite shocking. It caused Ji Ning to be knocked backwards, but because he was holding onto the tear in the formation, he was able to borrow from the power of the blow. Riiiiiip. The tear in the formation actually grew larger!

  “H-h-how is this even possible?” The one-armed man was dazed. “Didn’t they say that he’s been training for less than a thousand years? Didn’t he just recently break through to become a True God? How could his divine body be comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure?”

  A body that was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic treasure…there no was no way the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] could accomplish this.

  In all the Three Realms…the only person to ever accomplish this was Lord Tathagata the Buddha. Tathagata’s golden body was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic treasure, which was why when Saber and Godfiend Witherspike occasionally managed to land a blow on him, they weren’t able to injure him at all! This was why their plan had been to suppress him, then seal him away!

  But now, Ji Ning’s divine body had also reached the same level?

  “He’s just a local aboriginal. He actually…actually…” The one-armed man’s heart was quivering.

  Kuafu, Jade Cauldron, Fuxi, and the others watching from afar were all shocked as well. “When that Outsider overlord landed a saber-blow against Darknorth, he only managed to leave a small white mark on his body?” All of the spectators had incredible vision. When they saw the one-armed man attack, they could sense how terrifyingly powerful the strike was.

  Tathagata himself had said long ago that the Primordial Ruinworld had two overlords in it. One was a one-armed saber wielder, while the other had a tail.

  Ning himself was quite calm.

  If he had just
recently broken through to become a True God, of course he would not have been able to withstand that blow. However…for him, nearly two thousand years had gone past!

  World God Northrest himself was a Fiendgod Body Refiner. He was also a member of the incredibly powerful Vastheaven Palace. In terms of personal strength, he stood at the very peak of power amongst World Gods as well! There was an enormous difference in power between the weakest World Gods and the most powerful World Gods, much like how there was an enormous difference in power between third-tier True Immortals and first-tier True Immortals. As an ancient expert who had received many teachings from his powerful sect, and as a figure who was capable of acquiring things like Violetjewel and terrifying sword-arts such as the nameless sword-art, World God Northrest naturally had left behind many incredible techniques for Ning. Although some of the techniques he gave Ning weren’t as good as the ones he himself used, they were still techniques that not even most ordinary World Gods would not have access to.

  Protective divine abilities!

  Evasion divine abilities!

  Forbidden skills!

  He had passed down many such abilities. Ning had long ago mastered the heartforce scrying technique and the heartforce soul-lock technique, but he had also mastered a protective divine ability. World God Northrest had transmitted to Ji Ning a divine ability known as the [Golden Statue].

  The [Golden Statue] divine ability was an ability which World God Northrest himself trained in!

  It wasn’t a technique which he had acquired from Vastheaven Palace. Although he had learned some techniques from Vastheaven Palace, while adventuring through the endless primordial chaos he had undergone many trials before finally acquiring the upper section and middle section of the [Golden Statue] divine ability!