Desolate Era

by RWX

  “What?” Ning was stunned.

  “This will only happen to the World Gods of Fogstone in the most dire of situations. Generally speaking, if you halt the divine ability once your divine power begins to run low, you’ll be able to stay alive. These World Gods all died in battle,” Fushe said softly.

  Ning stared at the stone statues.

  These were all World Gods who had died countless years ago…

  They had been forced into dire situations where they had no choice but to go all out. Some of the World Gods died laughing, some died while furious, and some died calmly. This truly stunned Ning. It reminded him that the path of cultivation was one which was filled with countless dangers which could fell even a World God. World God Northrest was another classic example.

  “Let’s go,” Fushe said.

  “Right.” Ning bowed respectfully towards the statues, then followed behind Fushe.

  The first thing Ning acquired was a suit of armor. As the sixth general of the Fogstone Army, Ning was given a suit of top-grade Chaos armor.

  “These are the abridged jade slips which hold information about the many techniques Fogstone has to offer.” A series of jade slips floated out from the deep recesses of a dark hall. There were thousands of them, and all of them glowed with light. “The dimmer ones are the more ordinary techniques, while the brighter ones hold the elite techniques. As for the brightest slips, they hold the consummate techniques that cannot be taught to outsiders.”

  Ning stood there within the dark room, staring at the levitating jade slips. There were only twelve of the brightest jade slips.

  “The consummate techniques that cannot be taught to outsiders can only be learned by the generals of the Fogstone Army, as well as the personal disciples of our World Gods,” Fushe said.

  “Oh?”

  Ning immediately sent his coresense forward, scanning those twelve jade slips with it.

  Ning was immediately shocked by what he found.

  Fogstone truly had a deep foundation! Of the twelve jade slips, three were sword-arts…and all three were extraordinary.

  The most powerful was the [Illusory Starsword] technique. It had a total of nine stances, and by training to the fifth stance one would reach the Sword World stage.

  “Although it is quite formidable, it’s still a bit lacking compared to my [Nameless] sword-art. The [Nameless] sword-art is even more profound and exquisite.” Ning was an expert of the Dao of the Sword; naturally, he was able to tell which was better and which was worse. The [Nameless] sword-art’s creator had to be at an incredibly, incredibly high level of mastery. This was why even his first stance, the ‘Heartsword stance’, was so profound as to allow cultivators to completely and fully control each stroke of the sword. The further one delved into the [Nameless] sword-art, the more profound it became.

  As for other sword-arts, they might be quite powerful as well, but their visions and their intents were more limited in scope, making them inferior.

  “I’ll continue to focus on the [Nameless] sword-art.” Ning actually ignored all three of these sword-arts.

  [World of Dust], [Eternal Demonheart], [Violet Smoke Diagram], [Fogstone Apocalypse]…

  These divine abilities and secret arts all made Ning sigh in amazement.

  Incredible.

  Simply incredible.

  World God Northrest was a member of Vastheaven Palace, but he was unable to transfer its most consummate skills to Ji Ning. All the skills he had given Ning were the ones which he himself had acquired through his dangerous adventures. The [Nameless] sword-art and the [Golden Statue] divine ability were two extremely formidable techniques, but the rest of the techniques he had handed over were somewhat weaker. As for the consummate arts of Fogstone, they were superior to all but the [Nameless] sword-art.

  The partial scroll of the [World of Dust] was a good example. This was a technique for devising seals and tags of tremendous power. Although the scroll was incomplete, Ning could sense from the abridged version of jade slip that this technique should be on the same level as the [Nameless] sword-art. Unfortunately, it was incomplete. According to the records, no one was even able to gain a basic level of expertise in it; it was nothing more than an incomplete, fragmentary record of a seal-devising technique.

  Although Ning’s [Nameless] sword-art was also incomplete, at least the first stance through seventh stance were included in their entirety. Even World God Northrest had been able to train to the fifth stance, which proved that the [Nameless] sword-art was something which Ning could train in for a long, long period of time.

  “The Fogstone Apocalypse…what a powerful divine ability.” Ning sighed in amazement.

  The [Fogstone Apocalypse] technique was divided into three stages.

  The first stage allowed minor parts of the body to transform into fogstone, such as the hair. The transformation was a fairly minute one, but it still allowed one’s divine power to increase dramatically in power.

  The second stage allowed for large-scale transformation of the body, allowing even the bones to transform into fogstone.

  As for the third stage, it completely transformed the entire body into fogstone, giving one a perfect fogstone body. When a World God’s body was completely transformed into fogstone, his body would become as tough and as resilient as a Dao weapon. A body like this was capable of withstanding tremendously powerful explosions of divine power. The [Starseizing Hand] only allowed the hands to withstand such tremendous power; the [Fogstone Apocalypse] allowed every single part of the body to burst with absolutely inconceivable might.

  The first stage alone was already comparable to the Sixth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand].

  “Choose wisely,” Island Master Fushe said “You are a general. You may choose either ten of the more ordinary techniques, one of the elite techniques, or part of the consummate techniques.”

  The consummate techniques would not be taught in their entirety at once.

  Ning carefully went through the jade slips. A long while later, he made his decision.

  “I choose this, the [Fogstone Apocalypse],” Ning said.

  “Ah?” Fushe was rather surprised. He had actually told Ning about the fogstone statues earlier, after all. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” Ning nodded.

  This divine ability was extremely powerful. The second stage of it was comparable to a theoretical Seventh Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], which Ning hadn’t even been able to develop yet.

  Ning had chosen this divine ability for two reasons. He wanted to train in it, but he also wanted to analyze it and use its mysteries to help him in his quest to develop the Seventh Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]. After that, Ning would want to develop an Eighth Cycle and perhaps even a Ninth Cycle!

  A short while later, Ning received the full jade slip. Within this jade slip was recorded the first part of the [Fogstone Apocalypse] technique. The first part included just the first stage and the second stage, which could both be used by Elder Gods. Only World Gods could train in the third stage.

  ……

  “Brother Fushe, I’ve been given orders by the Starlord. I’ll head out towards the Windsource Chaosworld right away.” Outside the Starlord’s estate, Ning was bidding Fushe farewell.

  “The Windsource Chaosworld is a place where we often clash with God Emperor Blacklotus’ troops. Be careful, brother Darknorth,” Fushe said.

  Ning nodded, then soared into the skies and headed towards the direction of the Windsource Chaosworld.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 14 - Windsource Chaosworld

  The Windsource Chaosworld was an enormous, ellipsoid sphere.

  Swoosh.

  A boat flew into the Windsource Chaosworld, carrying three cultivators within it. These three cultivators didn’t disguise their auras in the slightest.

  “Why have the three of you come to Windsource?” The air shimmered momentarily before a black-robed Ancestral Immortal appeared. This
Ancestral Immortal had a pair of wings on his back and a white horn growing out of his forehead.

  “The three of us have come here to scavenge for ancient relics.” All three of the cultivators rose to their feet. They had powerful auras and were either Elder Gods or first-tier Ancestral Immortals.

  “Here are three bottles of chaos nectar.” One of the three, a silver-haired cultivator, waved his hand and sent three bottles of chaos nectar over.

  The black-robed Ancestral Immortal accepted the bottles, then said calmly, “Very well. I trust the three of you understand that this is a border world which lies between Fogstone and the Blacklotus Empire. Don’t get caught up in our problems.”

  “We understand,” the three cultivators responded, then quickly departed on their boat.

  Whoosh.

  An old man whose body was surrounded by waves of blood suddenly appeared next to the black-robed Ancestral Immortal. The old man said with a smile, “Whitehorn, was that another group of treasure hunters?”

  “Yes.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal waved his hand, revealing the three bottles of chaos nectar.

  “Those ancient relic sites have attracted quite a few Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals over the years. We’ve collected so much chaos nectar that my hands are starting to go limp.” The old man shook his head. “A pity that we have to offer all of it up to our superiors. It’d be wonderful if we could keep it for ourselves.”

  “Do you think all of those Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals would obediently hand over those bottles if they were meant for you?” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal smirked.

  The Windsource Chaosworld…

  It wasn’t a chaosworld that had been created through completely natural means.

  The Pangu Chaosworld and the Seamless Chaosworld had started out as Worldhearts which gave birth to Fiendgods. The strongest of the Fiendgods had established the chaosworld, then perished.

  The Windsource Chaosworld, however, had been artificially created by an ancient and enormously powerful figure.

  That ancient figure had taken over nearly half of the chaosworld for his own use, transforming it into his own Immortal estate. After he had died, his Immortal estate had become a relic site.

  The home of a powerful cultivator, even a deceased one, was an extremely dangerous place. The cultivator would have set down many layers of traps in order to ensure that it would be difficult for anyone to invade. Thus, even though this ancient figure had died, his estate remained filled with layers of dangers.

  However, the techniques and treasures which the deceased figure had left behind were also powerful enough to drive countless cultivators wild.

  The Windsource Ruins was an incredibly famous place. Even World Gods and Chaos Immortals had lost their lives there. To this very day, the Windsource Ruins was still filled with mysteries. However, the cultivators that managed to survive it and come back with treasures ensured that there would forever be a steady stream of fortune seekers.

  Want to try your luck?

  No problem. Just pay the entrance fee!

  When using a spacetime transfer array, you had to pay a bottle of chaos nectar. This relic site belonged to Fogstone, and so if one wished to visit it one would have to pay the fee. World Gods and Chaos Immortals naturally didn’t have to pay anything, but Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals did. Otherwise, they would be surrounded and attacked by the Fogstone Army, which would be a rather miserable ending.

  The most profitable enterprise in the Badlands Territory lay in operating spacetime transfer arrays, but all twenty-one of them had been taken over by the Badlands Court! The other powers could do nothing besides envy them.

  “Has the Sentinel arrived yet?” A muscular goldscale Fiendgod suddenly appeared next to them.

  “Not yet.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal shook his head.

  “We’ve been watching for him this entire time.” The old man surrounded by bloody waves was a bit worried. “I wonder what sort of a personality this Sentinel has. Whitehorn and I have been managing the Windsource Chaosworld for several chaos cycles. I hope this new Sentinel won’t rip us off too badly.”

  The Windsource Chaosworld was a world which had been established by an ancient power. Naturally occurring chaosworlds were only able to survive for a single chaos cycle before they would decay and then be reborn. The Windsource Chaosworld was protected by the Windsource Ruins within it and thus had been able to exist for an extremely long period of time.

  “I heard that this Sentinel is a new general.” The goldscale Fiendgod lowered his voice. “Our Fogstone Army only had a total of five generals, with him becoming the sixth. I’ve never met this guy either. I have no idea what he is like. Keep praying, you two.”

  “Right.” The other two both felt rather nervous.

  Sentinels were responsible for overseeing certain region. They were given tremendous amounts of power.

  Just as the three of them were discussing this new Sentinel…

  Swish.

  A tear suddenly appeared in the skies on the opposite end of the Windsource Chaosworld. A streak of light flew out from the tear, then came to a halt. It was Ji Ning.

  “Eh? Something just happened.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal, the old man, and the goldscale Fiendgod all hurried over.

  As they teleported over, they saw a white-robed youth appear in midair, staring downwards towards this vast chaosworld.

  “He looks identical to the painting we were given.” The three of them didn’t hesitate at all, immediately flying over towards Ning. The black-robed Ancestral Immortal immediately asked, “Are you the new Sentinel?”

  Ning waved his hand, producing an insignia.

  Rumble…

  The insignia emitted a wave of overwhelming power that had an aura identical to that of the Starlord’s.

  “We bow in greetings to you, Sentinel.” The three of them hurriedly called out respectfully to Ning. There was no way the Sentinel insignia could be counterfeited, and once the Starlord gave it to Ji Ning, he would become the only person capable of using it. No other Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals would be able to use it.

  “Mm.” Ning nodded. “The three of you are…?”

  “I’m Whitehorn. He’s Bloodsea. The two of us are responsible for managing all affairs of the Windsource Chaosworld, great or small.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal hurriedly answered the question.

  “I am Elder God Mountain Eater.” The goldscale soldier was incredibly muscular, but he had a simple, honest look in his eyes. He said in a low voice, “The 321 Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals stationed in the Windsource Chaosworld all obey my commands. Per the Starlord, from this day forth I shall obey the Sentinel’s commands.”

  Ning smiled and nodded. Given how many chaosworlds the Starlord commanded, it only made sense that he had designated certain individuals to manage them. Generally speaking, he would arrange for two Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals to watch over each chaosworld as well as each other. In addition, the Starlord would also occasionally send out a Sentinel to oversee certain areas and ensure that the local managers weren’t plundering the worlds they were supposed to oversee.

  The Windsource Chaosworld was under the management of Ancestral Immortal Whitehorn and Elder God Bloodsea.

  “The three of you can simply refer to me as Sword Immortal Sunrise,” Ning said. Since the Starlord was helping him to disguise his identity, Ning naturally was going to use a false name as well.

  “Sword Immortal Sunrise,” the three called out respectfully.

  “Where is the Fogstone Army stationed? Take me there,” Ning instructed.

  “Right over there.” Elder God Mountain Eater pointed at a distant chain of mountains. “We all live there in the Eastcalm Mountains.”

  The mountain range stretched out for thousands of kilometers. The Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had all chosen mountain peaks that they liked, then settled down on their respective peaks. The distance between the mou
ntain peaks was negligible to them; once battle began, they would be able to almost instantly gather together.

  “Oh?” Ning nodded and smiled. “Then I will live there as well. Brother Mountain Eater, overseeing the Windsource Chaosworld is just a minor part of my duties. The real reason I’ve come here is to battle against the Blacklotus Empire by your side.”

  “With you by our side, general, our victory is assured.” Elder God Mountain Eater chortled.

  “I heard that the Windsource Ruins here are quite famous.” Ning turned his head to glance at the Bloodsea and Whitehorn. “Do you have any reports on the Windsource Ruins which you can share with me? If you do, give me a copy.”

  “We do.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal immediately waved his hand, producing a jade slip which he respectfully offered to Ning.

  “Mm. Very well then, that’s all I need from you. Go do whatever you need to do,” Ning instructed. “Just keep cooperating with the Fogstone Army. If there’s nothing urgent, no need to come speak to me.”

  “Understood.” “Understood.”

  Both Whitehorn and Bloodsea assented respectfully.

  “You may leave,” Ning said. Only then did the two depart.

  ……

  “He let us leave, just like that?” Elder God Bloodsea murmured in a soft voice, “Whitehorn, I thought we’d have to offer him some of our treasures. I even prepared mine already.”

  “I know, right? This Sentinel is a general; he definitely has very high standards. I was really worried about this. I never would’ve thought he’d let us leave, just like that.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal let out a sigh of relief as well. “It sounds like he doesn’t really want us to bother him unless there’s something urgent. It seems as though this one really isn’t planning on extorting treasures out of us.”

  “Right.” Bloodsea felt jubilant as well.

  ……