Desolate Era

by RWX

  “It has already consumed thirty cubes…it is more than half-healed by now.” Ning actually frowned. “But the closer we get to the core, the harder the repair process will be.”

  Another day passed.

  “Fifty cubes…it still needs a bit more…”

  “Sixty cubes…seventy cubes…still needs a little more…”

  The sword was clearly almost completely repaired by now, but as as they drew closer and to the core, the repair difficulty began to increase at a staggering rate.

  “Eighty cubes.”

  “Ninety cubes.”

  “Ninety-five. Ninety-six. Ninety-seven. Ninety-eight!” Ning was carefully attuned to this sword which he bound all those years ago. Finally, the last bit of damage that was located extremely close to the quintessence core was also repaired.

  After using up ninety-eight cubes worth of treasure fragments, Ning had finally, completely repaired Violetjewel.

  Rumble…

  The blood-colored sword hovering in front of Ning emitted a joyful aura. Ning smiled as well, not suppressing the sword and allowing it to burst forth with its true aura of power.

  A stream of sword-light that looked like blood-colored water blasted out in every direction.

  Whooooooosh.

  As the sword-light howled forth and spread out around Ning, the prisonworld itself began to tremble.

  “What?!” Ning was badly shocked.

  “This is a prisonworld, a place meant to hold prisoners. When my true body uses the azureflower seal and strikes at full power, it can cause the prisonworld to faintly tremble. But just now…I didn’t even control or activate Violetjewel. Its own natural aura was enough to cause the prisonworld to shudder?!” Ning was stunned.

  “This weapon is far more powerful than any Dao weapon! A hundred times more powerful? Perhaps a thousand times more powerful?”

  “How powerful would I be if I could control it?!”

  As Ning stared at the illusory lake of blood that had spread out around Violetjewel, he was afraid to even imagine how much power this sword truly contained.

  “Come over here.” Ning extended his hand.

  The aura of bloody sword-light immediately vanished as Violetjewel obediently flew into Ning’s hands.

  Reinforced and strengthened by the azureflower energy, Ning poured his divine power into the sword, planning on delivering a full-force strike. But just at that moment…

  “Blood and water…”

  “A sword like water…a sword like blood…”

  An indistinct, unclear voice suddenly spoke out from the quintessence core of the sword. Because Ning’s divine power had filled the sword, he was able to sense this voice in detail.

  He could sense the solitary pride contained within the sword’s quintessence core…

  In fact, Ning could almost see a solitary, proud figure appear. That lonely figure figure seemed to wield a sword that caused Ning to feel a sense of awe and veneration. When the intent of that sword exploded forth, it crushed stars, shattered worlds, and wiped out all living beings. Nothing could stop this surge of sword-intent, which seemed to be capable of tearing apart even the primordial chaos itself.

  Whoosh.

  Ning came back to his senses. Only now did he realize that he had been in a dazed state for fully half a month!

  “This sword’s quintessence core…?” Ning had acquired Violetjewel a long time ago, but in the past he had never noticed anything remarkable about its quintessence core. Only after fully repairing Violetjewel did the sword’s quintessence seem to come to life, allowing Ning to get a glimpse of an utterly supreme sword-intent that completely eclipsed the sword-intent left behind by the diagram of the Hundred Streams of the Windsource Ning had seen years ago.

  The only thing Ning had ever seen which could possibly be compared to this surge of sword-intent was the power which had emanated from the words ‘Waveshift’ which he had seen on the walls of Waveshift City.

  It was just as exalted and ineffable! In fact, it seemed to carry an aura of perfect and eternity.

  “Eternity?” Ning murmured softly to himself, “No wonder this sort of weapon is referred to as an Eternal weapon.”

  Chaos weapon.

  Dao weapon.

  Eternal weapon!

  Eternal weapons were weapons that contained their own quintessence cores, which made every single one of them incredibly marvelous and unique. No two Eternal weapons were exactly the same.

  Generally speaking, only figures on the level of Daolord Badlands or Daolord Windsource would have access to such weapons! Of course, every so often a lucky junior might be able to acquire such a weapon…such as World God Northrest, who had found an Eternal weapon of his own!

  “I have this strange feeling. It is as though the full power of Violetjewel can only be unleashed when I’m able to completely unleash the might of the sword’s quintessence core.” This insight suddenly flashed within Ning’s mind…but the next moment, he just grinned wryly. Completely unleash it? What a joke! One would need utterly incredible insights into the Dao necessary to completely unleash the quintessence core’s power. Ning was far, far from being able to do such a thing.

  Fortunately, his path was the Dao of the Sword, and he had his own insights into this Dao.

  “Let me test out its power first.” Ning held Violetjewel in his hands as he soared into the skies.

  ……

  A black-haired old man was seated in the lotus position in a different part of the prisonworld.

  Swoosh.

  A white-robed youth suddenly flew over from afar.

  “Triult.” Ning spoke out.

  “Master.” The black-robed elder hurriedly rose to his feet. He had been thoroughly cowed by Ning’s power. By now, all of the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals in the entire prisonworld had been subdued by Ning, while Swordfather Triult was the first one who had submitted to Ning.

  “Don’t move,” Ning instructed.

  The black-haired elder glanced curiously as Ning walked towards him.

  Ning suddenly struck out with his sword. As he did so, it carried the intent of the ‘Killsword stance’ which Ning was working on. Although Ning had yet to master this stance, the bit of insight he did have was able to resonate with Violetjewel’s quintessence core and unleash just a bit of its power, causing it burst forth from Violetjewel.

  Ning had the feeling that with a bit of power from Violetjewel’s quintessence, he had the power to break almost anything.

  Slash! A blood-colored sword-light flashed through the air.

  With a ‘clank’ sound, the translucent black chains connected to the black-haired old man were split in half.

  The black-haired elder’s eyes instantly turned huge. “W-what…”

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 33 - Meditating on the Sword

  “How is this possible? T-these chains were personally forged by the King of Pangaea…but he clearly…” The black-haired man stuttered as he stared at Ji Ning in disbelief. Ji Ning was clearly just an Elder God! He still remembered that time a few hundred years ago when Ji Ning came with this very same blood-colored sword and hacked down upon those chains with it. That time, he was only able to leave a few scars behind.

  Swordfather Triult had still be quite shocked. The Endwar had just concluded and Ji Ning’s attacks had just barely reached the World God threshold.

  Ning was now much stronger than he was before, thanks to the azureflower energy reinforcing his body! He was also striking out with full power using an Eternal weapon that had part of its quintessence unleashed!

  The power of this blow was so great that it easily hacked the chains apart. The chains posed no threat to it at all.

  “According to what the King of Pangaea said, only a World God or Chaos Immortal is capable of severing these chains, but even then it shouldn’t be an easy task. Is he even more powerful than a newly ascended World-level expert?” The black-haired elder stared at Ning, his heart filled wit
h astonishment. How could an Elder God be this strong?

  “Alright. I’ve severed the chains and you can leave this place,” Ning said. “In the future, you can simply accompany me. Once I become a World God, you can choose whether or not you wish to continue to follow me.”

  “To be able to follow you is my blessing, Master.” Swordfather Triult spoke with the utmost of respect.

  A legendary monster…

  An Elder God who was absolutely stronger than a newly ascended World-level expert.

  “Mm.” Ning chuckled. He understood that today, Swordfather Triult was completely sincere in his servitude. In the past, he had only lowered his head because he was forced to and because a lifeblood oath bound him.

  Ning glanced down at Violetjewel. Because it was a weapon with a master, he was able to disguise it as a completely ordinary weapon. No one would be able to tell how formidable it was. Even Swordfather Triult, who had personally witnessed the power of Ning’s blow, thought that it was due to some breakthrough which Ning had made. He didn’t understand that it was Ning’s sword which had undergone an utterly earthshaking transformation.

  “So the difference between an Eternal weapon and a Dao weapon is actually this great!”

  “Even when I don’t activate its quintessence core, it’s still significantly more powerful than any Dao weapon. Once I activate it…its power is utterly incalculable!” Ning mused to himself.

  Eternal weapons were precious because of their quintessence cores. This was the reason why figures like Daolord Badlands or Daolord Windsource relied upon them in battle. The power of their cores was utterly inconceivable. However, Ning was far from being able to master an Eternal weapon for now. All he was able to do at present was guide out just a strand of its power, but that strand was already enough to cause his power to skyrocket.

  Ning began to release the prisoners, one after the other.

  Ning had long ago swept through and dominated all the prisoners in the prisonworld. Prior to the Endwar, Ning had used every technique he had at his disposal to either force them to submit or perish.

  Now…Ning helped them sever their shackles.

  Whoosh.

  A group of figures appeared out of nowhere on a grassy plains.

  These were all the Immortals and Fiendgods who had been imprisoned within the prisonworld. Ning had stored them away into his own estate-world. Just moments ago, all of them had been chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

  “The Overseer is absolutely incredible. I personally saw him appear almost instantly, moving far more quickly than the limits of the Heavenly Daos. He just casually chopped out with his sword and chopped through the chains like mud. Crunch! The chains were completely severed. It wasn’t even hard! He definitely is as powerful as only a World God or Chaos Immortal should be!”

  “But he obviously is an Elder God.”

  “Right, the Overseer definitely is an Elder God. When I first saw him, he was actually just an Empyrean God. I even battled against him a few times. How could he possibly have become a World God in such a short period of time?”

  “But for an Elder God to have the power of a World God…”

  “He’s one of those legendary figures.”

  All of them were extremely excited. Legendary monsters like Ning were incredibly rare. The vast territories each held dozens of World-level experts or more, but monsters like Ning were much rarer.

  Whoosh.

  Just as they were chatting excitedly, all of them were suddenly teleported to this grassy plains.

  All of them fell silent.

  Before them stood a white-robed figure who they all recognized as the Overseer. In the past, they might not have been convinced of his mastery, but now…all of them felt truly subdued. Some of them even felt veneration towards him!

  “Everyone.” The white-robed Ning spoke out.

  “I once said that when I have the power to do so, I shall release all of you from this prisonworld.”

  “Now…”

  “All of you are permitted to leave.”

  “However, before you do so, I must give you a warning. The territory I am currently in is located within the primordial chaos and is known as the ‘Badlands Territory’. The Badlands Territory is an extremely large territory that holds more than eighty thousand chaosworlds, and multiple organizations hold World Gods and Chaos Immortals within their ranks. The most powerful organization is known as the Badlands Court, which rules over the Badlands Everworld. The Badlands Court was established by Daolord Badlands, someone who stands above World-level experts and has far more power than you can even imagine.”

  “Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals can adventure through the Badlands Territory.”

  “It is best for True Gods, True Immortals, Empyrean Gods, and Celestial Immortals to avoid travelling whenever possible, because if you run into some nasty individuals you might well end up as slaves,” Ning said. “I’m not trying to frighten you. I’m just telling you the truth. To be honest, I don’t need to frighten you.”

  The Immortals and Fiendgods were all astonished.

  The Badlands Territory?

  Where the hell was this? Was this…was this place really that much more powerful than their chaos-kingdom of Pangaea?

  “I wasn’t able to find any records of Pangaea in the Badlands Territory,” Ning said. “Alright. You can make your own decisions now. If you choose freedom, you have to swear a lifeblood oath not to tell anyone anything about me.”

  “We are willing to forever serve you, Master.”

  The sixteen Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had all spoke out in unison after exchanging glances with each other.

  When they had been defeated by Ning, they had all already sworn lifeblood oaths to be his retainers.

  “We are willing to serve you, Master.” The True Gods, True Immortals, Empyrean Gods, and Celestial Immortals all called out in unison after a brief hesitation.

  Even the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were willing to call the Overseer ‘master’. What had they to be worried about?

  In addition, the Overseer himself had suggested that the True Gods, True Immortals, Empyrean Gods, and Celestial Immortals should avoid doing too much travel, as they might be enslaved by unscrupulous figures. Although Ning had insisted that he wasn’t trying to scare them, they couldn’t help but feel uneasy. They had been imprisoned here for too long, and they didn’t have much hope of breaking through. All they wanted was to stay alive and enjoy life.

  “Alright.” Ning nodded. “I am currently living in the Windsource Chaosworld. You may come with me.”

  “Yes,” the assorted retainers all spoke out in unison.

  Ning glanced at them and nodded slightly. In truth, he didn’t hold these True Gods, True Immortals, Empyrean Gods, and Celestial Immortals in much regard. However…some of them knew that he had multiple bodies! Long ago, Ning had been forced to use both his true body and his backup clones to fight them. This was why they had to swear lifeblood oaths if they left his service.

  To be honest, even Ning himself felt that most of them would probably end up as slaves if they left. They were strangers in a strange land with no backers or protectors, after all.

  The Windsource Chaosworld was quite a large place.

  After returning to this chaosworld, he was able to use his status as Sentinel to carve out an area of a million kilometers in the Eastcalm Mountains for his retainers to live in. As for the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, they released the people and creatures that had been living within their estate-worlds, allowing them to live and propagate in this place.

  “You may build your dwellings atop this mountain,” Ning instructed.

  This was the mountain where the Sunrise Courtyard was located.

  The sixteen Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, along with Flamefairy Su Youji, all took up residence in this area around Ning.

  After this…life was extremely calm.

  Su Youji often wished to spar against
Ning. Each time, Ning would use his sword-arts to subdue her, causing her constantly come up with new ideas on how she could grow more powerful. Her improvements were quite noticeable.

  As for Ji Ning?

  Ji Ning improved even faster than she did. Thanks to the influence of Violetjewel’s quintessence core, the murderous intent of Ning’s sword-arts grew heavier and heavier, and his mastery of the ‘Killsword stance’ improved much more quickly as well.

  As for the other sixteen Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, they each asked to spar against Ning once or twice as well. However, they clearly didn’t have much to work with. All of them had trained for far, far too long. They had long ago given up any hope of becoming a World-level expert.

  Life in the Windsource Chaosworld was very calm. Ning focused completely on his sword-arts and on understanding the quintessence core of his sword. More than two hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

  The peak of a mountain.

  Ning was seated in the lotus position. The mountain wind rustled against his robes.

  Violetjewel lay across Ning’s knees. He treated it almost as he would a lover, keeping it by his side at all times so that he could constantly sense and attune to the will of its quintessence core. This made Ning’s rate of improvement astonishingly fast. A few decades ago, he had fully mastered the second stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, the ‘Killsword stance’. However, Ning didn’t feel the slightest bit of pride or smugness.

  In the face of the overwhelming sword-intent contained within Violetjewel’s quintessence core, Ning understood how puny a figure he truly was.

  “How wonderful it would be if I could one day reach the same level of power as the quintessence core of Violetjewel.” Ning stared at the distant skies, the sword-intent hidden within his body causing wisps of sword-light to flow naturally in the area around him.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 34 - The Starlords Obsession

  The second stance of the [Nameless] sword-art was the ‘Killsword’ stance. The third stance was the ‘Great Firmament’ stance, also known as the ‘Sword World’ stance.