Desolate Era

by RWX

  But now, a silverscale soldier he had never even met before was also daring to challenge him?

  “Yes. A bet with me.” Ji Ning looked at him.

  “What’s the bet?” Blackpeak smiled coldly. “No matter how much you bring out, I’ll match it.”

  “Three hundred bottles of chaos nectar,” Ning said.

  “Three hundred bottles?” Blackpeak blinked, then let out a cold laugh. “Do you even have that much? Take it out.”

  Supreme Elder Gods would generally be able to take out a hundred bottles of chaos nectar. If they also added their magic treasures into the mix, they might just barely hit three hundred bottles worth….but how many would generally be willing to add their most important treasures to the stakes of a duel?

  Ning waved his hand, causing more than ten thousand chaos jewels to appear next to him. “There are 160 sets of chaos jewels here.”

  In the primordial chaos, chaos jewels and chaos nectar were the most commonly used currencies. A single drop of chaos nectar was equivalent to a single chaos jewel, with a set of chaos jewels being equivalent to ninety-nine gems!

  Ning had pillaged all of the Elder Gods of the prisonworld. He had acquired some chaos nectar as well as quite a few chaos jewels from them. The total number of chaos jewels he had acquired was over 160 sets.

  “These two Chaos treasures should be worth at least 140 bottles of chaos nectar.” Ning waved his hand again, causing a pair of Chaos treasures to appear. One was a pair of flying scissors that was shaped like a Flood Dragon, while the other was a set of nine flying needles. These were both quite valuable top-grade Chaos treasures which Ning had acquired.

  “So you have some treasures after all.” A cautious look appeared in Blackpeak’s eyes as he looked at Ning. This unremarkable little silverscale soldier appeared to be hiding quite a few secrets.

  “Screw’m. I’ve made a few breakthroughs lately, and I daresay none of the supreme Elder Gods of the Fogstone Army are definitively stronger than me now. Only the five generals are definitely more powerful than me and can beat me. What, can this silverscale soldier possibly have the power of a general?” The flames of rage within Blackpeak’s heart began to burn brighter and brighter, and his aura began to increase in might as well.

  “Fine. Three hundred bottles of chaos nectar. I’ll take that bet.” Blackpeak waved his hand, causing 240 black jade bottles to appear alongside the Ninestar Skyhooks. A hundred of the bottles had come from Skyleave while the hooks had come from Baiwu. Only the 140 of the bottles really belonged to him. He had actually prepared the chaos nectar for the sake of this duel, but he had all but wiped out his savings in doing so.

  If Ning had chosen to wager five hundred bottles, Blackpeak really wouldn’t have been able to provide enough chaos nectar. He probably would’ve been forced to throw his most important treasures into the mix.

  A bet of three hundred bottles of chaos nectar…this was quite the wager!

  Supreme Elder Gods rarely made wagers of this magnitude. As for ordinary Elder Gods or even elite Elder Gods, most of them wouldn’t be able to come up with that much money, even if they pawned everything they had.

  “Three hundred bottles?”

  “I don’t think I’ve met that silverscale soldier before. Any of you know him?”

  “No clue.”

  “Never met him.”

  “I don’t know him either.”

  “The Fogstone Army only has so many Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals. Where did this guy come from? He probably is quite strong.”

  “If he dares to make a bet of this size, of course he must be strong enough to back it up…but so what if he’s strong? Blackpeak might be an idiot, but he really is powerful. In the past, he’s always used warhammers, but just now he switched to using those slender swords. I bet Blackpeak is hiding even more techniques that we don’t know about. I’ll wager that none of the supreme Elder Gods of the Fogstone Army are definitively stronger than him. Do you really think a silverscale soldier will be able to beat him?”

  “Agreed. He’s just a silverscale, after all.”

  The spectating Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals all chatted amongst themselves. Clearly, in their eyes there was a limit to how impressive this unremarkable-looking silverscale soldier could be. They refused to believe that someone with the power of a general would be so bored as to pretend to be a silverscale soldier. Even if the man wanted to be low-key, there was no way he would be THAT low-key.

  “Don’t do it, brother Darknorth.”

  “Brother Darknorth, this Blackpeak guy is hiding his true power. I suffered due to it just now!”

  “Darknorth…” The soldiers under Elder God Skyleave all hurriedly sent mental messages to him, urging him to stop. They had feasted alongside him just now and were rather friendly towards him. In addition, it could be said that Ji Ning had stood up for them just now. They didn’t wish for Ji Ning to lose his treasures to Blackpeak.

  “No need to worry, my friends.” Ning turned his head and smiled towards them.

  Skyleave and the others felt helpless. Cultivators at their level wouldn’t be so easily dissuaded!

  “Brother Darknorth probably has some certain special techniques that he is confident in…but what he doesn’t realize is that the soldiers of the Fogstone Army all have access to the various legacies and techniques of Fogstone. They won’t have any glaring weaknesses in any areas. It’ll be hard for him to achieve victory using whatever special skills he has. Ugh…he’s too new. There’s too much that he doesn’t know.” Skyleave and the others all shook their heads in worry.

  The more powerful a legacy was, the fewer flaws it would have.

  Ji Ning, for example. He was skilled in soul defense, heartforce scouting, resistance to illusions, and had powerful protective divine abilities. He was quite formidable in every single aspect, all because of the many techniques included in World God Northrest’s legacy. Dealing with someone like him, who had no glaring weaknesses, would be an incredibly difficult task. Blackpeak was a supreme Elder God of the Fogstone Army; he naturally had learned quite a few formidable techniques of his own as well. The chances of successfully using a special technique to defeat him would be very, very low.

  The drill area.

  Blackpeak and Ji Ning stared at each other from afar.

  “For you to gift me with so much chaos nectar…ahahaha…” Blackpeak held four heavy warhammers in his hands as he boomed out with laughter, his powerful aura rolling out in waves around him.

  As for Ning, he just stood there in a very placid manner, his aura the same as it normally was.

  He had been planning to familiarize himself with this army camp first, which was why he had kept his aura in check this entire time. His aura was merely that of an ordinary Elder God’s. If he was to allow his true aura of a half-step World God leak out, he probably would’ve immediately become the focal point of the entire planet. Ning wasn’t the flashy, ostentatious type. He preferred to keep a low profile whenever possible…and now an unexpected benefit of that was that he was going to earn some chaos nectar.

  He was going to teach Blackpeak a lesson at the same time as he earned some money. Wasn’t this just perfect?

  “Be careful now. I kicked your captain’s face in just a few moments ago,” Blackpeak said. As he spoke, he also attacked with his full power, not daring to be negligent.

  “Just show me what you have.” Ning stood there without moving.

  “This silverscale soldier isn’t even taking out his weapons? Is he actually planning to use his hands?” Blackpeak mused to himself. It was quite common for experts to use their hands to fight as hands were even more dexterous and nimble than most weapons. One could strike with a palm, a fist, a finger, or a claw. There were also some special body-enhancing techniques that could refine one’s hands to make them as powerful as magic treasures.

  “Hmph.” Blackpeak instantly transformed into a streak of light and shot towards Ning. As he flew over, he l
ashed out with his giant warhammers, causing the air to shudder as though the heavens themselves had come crashing down to earth.

  “FALL!” Blackpeak roared loudly.

  “[Starseizing Hand].” Ning immediately struck out with his right hand. His palm was filled with tremendous power, as though it was the gigantic axe which Pangu had used to cleave Heaven from Earth. It became three hundred meters large as it smashed towards Blackpeak like a gigantic black stormcloud. Ning’s hands were comparable to Chaos treasures and were completely capable of withstanding the tremendous amount of divine power which was instantly unleashed by his [Starseizing Hand].

  He had the body of a half-step World God. When he allowed his [Starseizing Hand] to burst forth with power, he was overwhelmingly stronger than almost any supreme Elder God.

  “FALL!” Blackpeak’s words continued to echo in the air, and his eyes were filled with madness as he sent his great warhammer in a vicious blow towards the giant palm. So what if he makes his palm huge? Even if he makes it ten thousand kilometers long, I’ll still smash it into meat paste.

  BOOM!

  The warhammer smashed against the giant palm.

  Rumble…

  It was like swatting a mosquito. When the giant palm came crashing down, it smashed Blackpeak down to the point of imprinting him into the ground.

  Ning withdrew his palm.

  Everyone present was silent. All of the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals turned to look at Ning.

  Blackpeak crawled out of the Blackpeak-shaped impression in the ground, an ugly look on his face. He growled out, “I haven’t lost yet!” As soon as they had exchanged blows, he had instantly realized how terrifyingly strong this silverscale soldier was. In a head-on collision, there were very few supreme Elder Gods who would be a match for him…but in a real battle, raw strength alone wasn’t worth that much.

  Whoosh. The warhammers disappeared from Blackpeak’s hands, replaced by those thin swords.

  Swish. He transformed into a streak of light and shot towards Ning once more.

  “Shameless.”

  “You got the crap smashed out of you just now. If he had pressed the attack, you would’ve been finished.”

  The spectators all shook their heads, but they didn’t say anything. This was because in a normal duel, the duel would proceed until one side was completely unable to fight back, had his body completely smashed apart, or perhaps had his protective magic treasures knocked far away. Only then would the duel be considered lost. Simply being knocked down didn’t really matter that much. Blackpeak’s body was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure; it wouldn’t be so easily damaged. If he didn’t want to admit defeat, there was nothing that could be said or done about it.

  Generally speaking, he would’ve voluntarily admitted defeat for the sake of saving face…but the thing was, Blackpeak still thought he could win!

  “He’s just physically strong. I won’t compete against him in strength.” Blackpeak’s four slender swords struck out towards Ning in a ghostly, unpredictable fashion.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 8 - Chaos Immortal Abyssus

  “Go.” Ji Ning once more struck out with his palms. If a supreme Elder God wanted to avoid competing on raw strength, he would have to use some of his true abilities if he still wished to win. As far as raw strength went, even Old Man Yuan’s ‘Blacklotus Guard’ had been beaten by Ning to the point of collapse. This was a testament to Ning’s raw strength. As for technique? Ning hadn’t even used any of his sword-arts yet!

  Ning’s palms once more transformed into a pair of giant black stormclouds that covered the skies, but this time the stormclouds moved even faster than before. They moved faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos, and they carried a strange aura of destruction about them.

  [Brightmoon] sword-art, Heavenbreaker stance!

  Ning had reached such a high level in sword-arts that his Heavenbreaker stance possessed truly shocking amounts of power. It had become even faster than before, and it also carried a terrifying aura of utterly crushing annihilation that made it difficult for an enemy to dodge.

  “How can he be this fast?!” Elder God Blackpeak couldn’t even dodge in time. All he could do was stare wide-eyed as the giant black stormclouds came smashing down towards him once more.

  “Damn.” He hurriedly used the four slender swords in his hands to block.

  Boom!

  Blackpeak staggered backwards but was still able to block the attack in a stable manner. He was skilled in every aspect; furious attacks, strange sword-arts, and defense. The reason why he had been knocked down the first time was because he had overestimated himself and competed against Ning in raw strength. Despite that, he had been able to endure the full brunt of Ning’s attack. Now that he was using four swords to ablate the force of Ning’s strikes, he was able to hold his own.

  “This Blackpeak’s defensive powers are actually a bit inferior to Old Man Yuan’s.” After this second clash, Ning became certain of his victory.

  Old Man Yuan was able to use palm-strikes to set up a completely airtight defense. Ning had to use the ‘Heartsword stance’ in order to achieve victory.

  Blackpeak was more skilled in offensive attacks. Although he did understand certain defensive arts and mysteries, he was still a bit inferior compared to Old Man Yuan.

  “Blackpeak is actually losing?”

  “Blackpeak is completely focusing on defense. He isn’t able to launch any attacks at all. The difference in power between the two is quite obvious.”

  “This silverscale soldier’s palms are able to strike faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos. How impressive! He’s also incredibly powerful as well. Blackpeak focuses on physical strength, but even he isn’t able to withstand the silverscale’s blows.”

  All the watching Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals sighed in amazement. This was too incredible.

  “Fall down!” Ning suddenly let out a roar as he manifested three heads and six arms. All six of his arms suddenly stretched out, transforming into six enormous black stormclouds that all moved faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos. He once more used the Heavenbreaker stance of the [Brightmoon] sword-art, striking out with incomparable ferocity as his palms smashed down towards Blackpeak.

  The six massive palms struck out in a furious, consecutive series of blows that seemed to have no end.

  “He’s terrifying.”

  “Who could possibly withstand such a furious barrage of palms?”

  “Fast and furious.”

  All of the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, including the ones under Captain Skyleave who had chatted and feasted with Ning, felt a cold chill. They could tell that almost no supreme Elder God could compete against Ning’s palms in raw power. For it to also surpass the limits of the Heavenly Daos in speed…

  The six palms continued to furiously rain down upon Blackpeak with tremendous power and great speed. Ning’s techniques seemed simple, but all of the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals present felt as though they couldn’t even breathe. There was no way to defeat this at all.

  Sometimes, the simpler something was, the more it could drive someone to despair.

  “No.”

  “Impossible!”

  Blackpeak was drowning in palm-shadows. He was only able to withstand the attack for a brief moment before finally falling down. In the end, his defenses simply weren’t good enough.

  Whoosh.

  As soon as he fell down, Ji Ning struck him with a giant palm. His body went completely limp, then Ning seized him and lifted him up.

  Ning dispelled the [Three Heads, Six Arms] divine ability, hoisting Blackpeak up with one hand. Blackpeak struggled forcefully with his four arms, but Ji Ning was simply too strong. He was completely unable to break free.

  “Give up?” Ning looked at the captured Blackpeak.

  “You…” Blackpeak gritted his teeth. Three hundred bottles of chaos nectar!

  Ning shook his head.
“It seems as though you are going to force me to seal you away and then slowly refine you…” Blackpeak’s body was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic treasure. If Ning wanted to actually break his body apart, he would either have to use Violetjewel or seal the man away and slowly refine him to death.

  “I admit defeat.” Blackpeak lowered his head and spoke these words with extreme reluctance.

  ……

  “What do you think?” Two figures were standing at the very edges of the area. One was the gray-robed elder Fushe, the master of the mustering grounds. The other was a handsome, white-haired, white-robed man. The handsome man was carrying a box on his back as he quietly watched the battle proceed between Ji Ning and Blackpeak.

  “He’s quite ferocious.” The white-robed, white-haired man sighed softly. “He must have trained in an extremely formidable divine ability. How else could he be this dominating in raw strength?”

  “His palm-arts are quite formidable as well. Every palm-strike surpasses the limits of the Heavenly Daos,” Fushe said.

  “Mm.” The white-robed man nodded slowly. “Still, if this is all he has, there’s no need for us to have my master get involved.”

  “This might be just part of his true power,” Fushe said. “I have the feeling that he wasn’t lying to me.”

  The white-robed man nodded as he continued to watch.

  ……

  Ning withdrew his palms, allowing Blackpeak to fall to the ground. Blackpeak rubbed his throat, then gave Ning a hard look. “I’ll remember you.”

  “The stakes?” Ning said calmly.

  “The stakes!”

  “Elder God Blackpeak, hand over the stakes!” Captain Skyleave and the other Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals all grew excited and ran over to stand next to Ning. Elder God Baiwu excitedly slapped Ning on the shoulders and sighed in amazement, “Impressive. Given how strong you are, why the hell are you wearing silverscale? You should at least have a set of goldscale armor. Blackpeak, don’t just stand there like an idiot. Hurry up and hand over the stakes.”