Desolate Era

by RWX

  There was no such thing as the old nonsense saying about ‘one’s word is priceless’. Everything had a price to it; the only question was how high. A magic treasure that had a quintessence core was valuable enough that many Elder Gods and Chaos Immortals would be willing to sacrifice anything, face included, to acquire it.

  “I have to spend a little bit of thought on this,” Ning mused to himself.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 31 - Magic Treasure Fragments

  A short while later, Ji Ning walked into the Palace of Ten Thousand Treasures by himself, having had Flamefairy Su Youji enter his estate-world.

  “What do you wish to purchase, fellow Daoist?” As soon as Ning walked in, a violet-robed female cultivator with the aura of an Ancestral Immortal greeted him with a smile.

  Ning swept the palace with his gaze. It was filled with violet-robed male and female Immortals, all of whom were at the Elder God or Ancestral Immortal level. This was a testament to how wealthy the Badlands Court was! The treasures here ranged from Protocosmic spirit-treasures to Dao treasures, and there were more than a thousand display tables filled with those treasures.

  This particular violet-robed Ancestral Immortal fell into place behind Ning, following him.

  “I’m here to sell treasures,” Ning sent mentally. “I’m selling a Dao weapon.”

  “A Dao weapon?” The violet-robed woman gave Ning a surprised glance, then also switched to speaking mentally. “It seems you’ve made some great gains while adventuring, fellow Daoist. Please follow me.”

  Soon, Ning was led towards a side hall.

  “My uncle-master shall arrive shortly,” the violet-robed Immortal said. The Badlands Territory was a vast place, and every so often there would be a few Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who were lucky enough to acquire Dao weapons while adventuring. Hundreds of them might die in their adventures, but every so often one would luck out. This wasn’t that uncommon, and given how vast the entire Badlands Territory was, a surprising number of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had Dao weapons.

  Generally speaking, they would go to the Palace to sell off the Dao weapons and trade for other treasures they needed. Daolord Badlands was behind the Palace; there was no need for them to worry about their security here.

  “Uncle-master,” the violet-robed woman called out respectfully.

  A white-robed, white-haired old man walked in, and the aura which rippled off of him was completely different from that of an Elder God’s or an Ancestral Immortal’s. Ning suspected that this had to be a Chaos Immortal.

  “Senior,” Ning immediately said respectfully. Any Chaos Immortal admitted to the Badlands Court had to be an extraordinary figure.

  “Take your Dao weapons out and let me have a look,” the white-robed Chaos Immortal said with a smile.

  Ning waved his hand.

  Whoosh.

  Instantly, four Dao weapons appeared in the air before him. There was a warblade, a quill pen, and a pair of long shuttles.

  Actually, Ning had acquired five Dao weapons. However, Ning had taken a liking to the flexible sword and thus was unwilling to part with it for now. Even if he sold it, he’d only gain access to roughly ten cubes of Chaos nectar.

  “This warblade…” The white-robed Chaos Immortal’s eyes lit up as he nodded slowly. “Not bad.”

  He didn’t seem to pay much attention to the other three items.

  “I also have an Elder God Formation.” Ning also produced the Elder God Formation he had acquired from Elder God Skysouth.

  “Mm.” The white-robed Chaos Immortal glanced sideways at the Elder God Formation, then ignored it. At his level, only a formation that allowed for a thousand Elder Gods would be of interest. To him, a hundred-man Elder God formation was very unremarkable. In truth, even Ning didn’t care about it that much. Thanks to his azureflower space, Ning was now capable of fighting a hundred Elder Gods head-on, making the formation of little use to him.

  “This blade…this should be a weapon that was nourished through sin, a Sinblade. It is quite excellent.” The white-robed Chaos Immortal nodded. “The others are just so-so. All combined, I’d be willing to give you 105 cubes of chaos nectar.”

  After finishing his words, the white-robed Chaos Immortal glanced at Ning, then turned and left.

  Chaos Immortals held an exalted status. They would be willing to come out to assess Dao weapons and give a price for them, but they generally wouldn’t actually deal or haggle with Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals.

  “As my uncle-master just said, the highest price we can give is 105 cubes of chaos nectar.” The violet-robed female Immortal looked at Ning.

  “Fine, then let’s just set the price at 105 cubes.” Ning nodded. Generally speaking, the Palace would make very honest offers, as they disdained from trying to nickel-and-dime weak cultivators like him.

  “I also have some Chaos treasures. Quite a few of them, actually. I wish to sell them all.” Ning waved his hand, causing more than three hundred Chaos treasures to instantly appear in the air next to him.

  The violet-robed woman was quite calm, as she had seen far too many Chaos treasures in her life. She swept them with her gaze, then smiled as she looked back at Ning. “We can give you three cubes for them, I suppose.”

  “Fine.” Ning nodded.

  The Chaos treasures were worth roughly what he had thought they would be worth, while the Dao weapons had been worth a bit more than he had expected. It was probably due to the warblade. Ning had thought it to be worth roughly fifty cubes, but he wasn’t sure as to exactly how much it would be worth. It was a top-grade Dao weapon, after all. Some could be bought for fifty cubes while others would require up to a hundred cubes.

  “A total of 108 cubes. We will give it to you in the form of chaos nectar and chaos jewels. Alternately, would you like to receive treasures in trade instead?”

  “No need.” Ning shook his head.

  Amongst the many Chaos treasures he had acquired was a Chaos-level ‘Five Elements Cauldron’. Ning really didn’t need any particular treasures right now at all. The flexible sword was also more than enough of a weapon for him at present.

  “Then please accept this.” A short while later, the violet-robed Immortal returned and gave Ning a storage flask that contained a separate dimension within it which held many bottles of chaos nectar as well as many chaos jewels. As for the flask itself, it was naturally a complimentary gift.

  After accepting the flask, Ning turned and left.

  “Now…time to buy treasure fragments.” After leaving the Palace, Ning began to ponder on what to buy.

  Waveshift City was an extremely busy city. Given that all combat was forbidden in this place and that it was protected by Daolord Badlands as well as an incredibly ancient formation, it could be described as the safest place of the entire Badlands Territory! Thus, this placed was loved by cultivators who disliked violence and who wished to calmly focus on their meditations. World-level experts, Elder Gods, Ancestral Immortals, True Gods, True Immortals…an enormous number of them lived here.

  However, they needed resources and treasures for cultivation!

  Thus, some World-level experts would arrange for their disciples to set up shops here. They’d toss the spoils of war they acquired into the shops for sell.

  There were three particularly popular types of shops. The first involved the buying and selling of treasures. The second involved the buying and selling of divine abilities and secret arts. The third involved the buying and selling of slaves.

  These were the three types of shops that did the most trade. Although there were also shops that sold formations, pills, and other things, they weren’t quite as popular.

  In Waveshift City ,there were more than eight hundred shops that engaged in the buying and selling of treasures! Some were established by independent World-level experts while others were established by clans and organizations, such as Fogstone or the Blacklotus Empire.

  ……

>   The sixth day after Ning’s arrival at Waveshift City.

  The Windflower Hall was a treasure shop owned and operated by the Windflower chaos-kingdom.

  A black-robed child walked into the hall.

  “Senior.” A female True Immortal quickly walked forward to welcome him. Cultivators couldn’t be judged by their appearances alone. Although this child looked very young, he had the aura of an Elder God.

  “Do you have treasure fragments for sale here?” The black-robed child said.

  “We do.” The female True Immortal looked at the child. “But not much. Just three cubes worth.”

  “I wish to buy six hundred bottles worth of treasure fragments,” the black-robed child said.

  “Alright.”

  The female True Immortal was quite calm. Treasure fragments weren’t popular items, but when people did purchase them they usually purchased them in large quantities. Some large organizations actually bought them in bulk, while other independent cultivators might need them to repair their treasures.

  ……

  The Ninelights Palace.

  “Senior.” A white-robed female Celestial Immortal stepped forward.

  The muscular man glanced sideways at her. It was quite rare to see a Celestial Immortal in Waveshift City; she most likely had come here alongside her master or her family members.

  “I wish to buy treasure fragments, eight hundred bottles worth. Do you have any?” The muscular man sent mentally.

  “We do,” the female Celestial Immortal said hurriedly.

  …..

  A child. A muscular man. An alien Outsider. An elderly man.

  Ning transformed into many different forms, using some of the minor techniques and tricks which World God Northrest had imparted to him to mask and disguise his natural aura. Given his power, most Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals wouldn’t be able to see through his disguise. Only World Gods and Chaos Immortals would be able to do so, if they gave him a serious look.

  In addition, Ning focused on shops and stores that were operated by True Immortals.

  Within half a day, he visited over 180 different shops, buying around five hundred to eight hundred bottles worth of treasure fragments. Soon, he had completely spent all 108 cubes of chaos nectar.

  ……

  The Badlands Everworld. The spacetime transfer array.

  “Is this one going to Brightcave Star?” When Ning arrived at the array, he asked this question of a nearby Elder God.

  “Yes. It’s about to activate immediately.”

  “Right.” Ning paid the fee of a bottle of chaos nectar, then stepped into the array.

  A short while later, the spacetime transfer array was activated, sending its occupants to Brightcave Star.

  Upon reaching Brightcave Star, Ning immediately teleported away. He found a distant, unoccupied planet, then went into seclusion for three years. Three years later, he rode Brightcave Star’s spacetime transfer array and went straight to Sevenwater Star.

  After arriving, Ning went straight towards the territory controlled by Fogstone. He returned to the nameless star where he had secreted the prisonworld, then entered it.

  Within the prisonworld.

  “I’m back.” Ning smiled.

  He had spent five days in Waveshift City. Only on the sixth day had he gone out shopping for treasure fragments, precisely because he wanted to make immediate use of the spacetime transfer array. Ning had completely memorized the array’s schedule, and in this way ensured that no one would have a chance to follow him or chase him!

  To be honest, Ning was being excessively cautious. He had changed his appearance and his aura across the hundred-plus shops. As a result, he didn’t cause even the slightest stir in Waveshift City, nor had any of the countless cultivators there paid him any special attention.

  Still, Ning was right to be careful. One had to be careful as a cultivator; a single act of negligence could very well result in death. It didn’t really matter if his true body was killed, but if he lost 108 cubes worth of treasure fragments due to it? Ning would probably want to kill himself out of regret.

  This time, he had been quite lucky when journeying through the Ruins. Next time, he might not acquire any treasures at all. Who knew how long it would be before the next time he acquired such a fortune?

  Whoosh.

  Ning appeared atop a mountain peak. He stared off into the distance, watching as a black-robed Ning flew towards him. This was his true body’s backup clone.

  “Here we go.” Ning revealed a look of anticipation on his face.

  As the black-robed Ning landed before him, it produced a blood-colored sword which it tossed to Ning’s true body. It was Violetjewel. When Ning had entered the Windsource Ruins, he had stashed Violetjewel away in the prisonworld. He hadn’t taken it to the Badlands Everworld either. This was the most important treasure he had, and he had to keep it safe.

  Whoosh. Ning waved his hand, causing an enormous Five Elements Cauldron to appear in the air and land on the ground next to him, causing the mountain to tremble.

  The white-robed Ning glanced at Violetjewel. It looked fine from the outside, but its insides were so completely mangled that only its quintessence core remained intact. Ning said softly, “Violetjewel…the Five Elements essence from this many treasure fragments should be enough, right?”

  He was filled with anticipation. He wanted to see exactly how powerful one of these legendary quintessence weapons were.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 32 - The Quintessence Core of the Sword

  As the Five Elements Cauldron descended upon the mountain peak, it shone with a blindingly bright burst of light that illuminated the entire area.

  The white-robed Ji Ning sat down in the lotus position, placing Violetjewel before him.

  “Begin!” Ning waved his hand, causing an enormous pile of treasure fragments that was more than thirty meters tall to suddenly appear a short distance away from him. The treasure fragments consisted of broken bits of sabers, swords, beads, ropes, banners, staffs, greataxes, cauldrons, flying boats, Immortal palaces, and other things that were all at least at the Protocosmic spirit-treasure level. After being badly damaged and broken into pieces, they were now much less valuable than they were before, but it was actually even easier to extract energy from them than it was from undamaged treasures. After all, there was now no need to actually grind them apart!

  “Go.” Ning sent out a surge of Immortal energy to scoop up the treasure fragments.

  Whoooosh! The treasure fragments surged out in a stream, beginning to flood into the Five Elements Cauldron. This was a Chaos-level Five Elements Cauldron, and it quickly reduced the treasure fragments to tiny bits of dust and debris, completely absorbing the Five Elements essence from those treasures and storing it into the cauldron’s storage region. Just ten breaths worth of time later, the entire pile of treasure fragments had been completely used up.

  Rumble…a large amount of debris came flying out from the Five Elements Cauldron.

  “Again.” Ning once more waved his hand, causing another thirty meter pile of treasure fragments to appear next to him.

  The treasure fragments were once more broken apart and transformed into debris, the Five Elements essence having been sucked out of them.

  Ning had purchased 108 cubes worth of treasure fragments. 108 cubes of chaos nectar was a sum that was comparable to the entire networth of many ordinary World-level experts, and he had used it all to purchase treasure fragments. The amount of treasure fragments he now had was absolutely extraordinary!

  It took six full hours to go through it all! Finally, six hours later, the treasure fragments had been completely consumed.

  “Come.” Ning picked up a jade gourd, causing streams of golden yellow energy, watery blue energy, green wood energy, fiery red energy, and dark earthen energy to soar out of the cauldron and into the mouth of the jade gourd. Only after a long period of time was the Five Elements Cauldron completely emptied o
f Five Elements essence.

  Ning waved his hand, putting away the cauldron as well.

  “This gourd has 108 cubes worth of Five Elements essence.” Ning hefted the jade gourd in his hands. He had been very lucky, but had still nearly died in the Ruins in order to acquire such a fortune.

  “Violetjewel…show me your true power!”

  Ning willed it, and Violetjewel suddenly appeared in the air before him. Ning took hold of Violetjewel, then placed it next to the jade gourd. Five Elements essence immediately began to fly out of the jade gourd, flooding straight towards Violetjewel. The essence swirled around Violetjewel before slowly seeping inside of it.

  On the surface, Violetjewel looked as though it was in perfect shape. Its internal structure, however, was unbearably mangled. It was like a building that looked pristine from the outside but was filled with shattered support beams; although it looked nice, it was actually quite weak.

  By the same principle, Violetjewel looked as though it was in perfect shape from the outside, but it was actually very weak! The only reason why it was still so powerful was because it was simply such a fantastically good weapon that even in its present state, it could still unleash the power of a Dao weapon.

  Crackle…

  The damaged internal structures of Violetjewel furiously devoured the Five Elements essence pouring into it. The healing began to occur at a very slow pace, as every single bit of it was very difficult to repair.

  The core of the sword was its quintessence. The closer the healing process came to the quintessence core, the more difficult it was to repair it.

  Because the surface of the sword had been repaired, the sword was able to absorb Five Elements essence much more quickly than before. As more and more of it was repaired, it began to absorb the Five Elements essence faster and faster as well. However, there was simply so much essence that more than six days and nights passed in the blink of an eye, with Violetjewel continuing to ravenously absorb the essence.