Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ning was wielding Violetjewel in his hands. His gaze was ice cold, and the azuremist energy had quickly begun to flow out from the azureflower seal on his forehead, permeating his entire body.

  The reason why Ning had come to the Badlands Territory…was to kill the Mindlord!

  And now, the Mindlord stood right before him!

  Kill!

  The power of the azureflower mist energy was strengthening him!

  The World energy generated by the formation of Elder Gods was strengthening him!

  He had an Eternal weapon…Violetjewel!

  “KILLSWORD STANCE!”

  Ning raised Violetjewel up high, assuming a stance reminiscent of Pangu cleaving Heaven from Earth. In this instant, Ning was using the ‘Heavenbreaker stance’ of the [Brightmoon] sword-art to unleash the essence ‘Killsword stance’.

  All the stances of the [Nameless] sword-art, be it the Heartsword stance or the Killsword stance, represented a certain realm of enlightenment regarding the Dao of the Sword. Ning’s own [Brightmoon] sword-art was completely capable of unleashing the full extent of his insights into these realms.

  Whenever the Minor Thousand Elder Gods Formation suffered an attack, it would first divert 99% of the energy of the attack into the World energy surrounding it, with the remaining 1% being spread across all thousand World Gods. This was why Ning had immediately used his most overpowering and dominating strike, the Heavenbreaker stance!

  Rumble…

  A strand of power was also extracted from the quintessence core within the Eternal sword and infused into the surface of the sword.

  The enormous sword chopped straight towards Ning’s most hated foe, the Mindlord.

  “Ahahaha, it is useless! I’m now a member of an Elder God Formation. No matter how strong you are, you won’t be able to do anything!” The Mindlord watched as that terrifying sword descended towards him. Although his heart shook a bit as he knew he wouldn’t be able to survive it without the formation…the fact was that right now, he DID have the formation. What did he have to fear?

  BOOM!!!

  The blood-colored Violetjewel crashed down upon the Mindlord with absolute fury.

  The concussive power of the blow was instantly dissipated into the surrounding region as well as across the bodies of all thousand Elder Gods. All of the Elder Gods trembled, their bodies coming to a brief halt.

  “Eh?” World God Blackmist was both shocked and delighted by this.

  To cause a thousand Elder Gods to come to a halt required an incredibly powerful attack. When World God Blackmist himself used his most powerful killer moves, this was the exact same result.

  “What?!” The distant Starlord was also completely shocked and overjoyed by what he was seeing.

  “Impossible. He’s just an Elder God. There’s no way he could’ve done this.” Immortal Owlsoar’s heart turned so cold that it was like a block of ice, and his eyes were filled with shock and rage.

  “Ahahah…excellent, Darknorth, excellent! I didn’t expect that with the formation strengthening you, you would actually be as powerful as I am!” World God Blackmist sent mentally, “Join with me and attack these Elder Gods. Let’s make it impossible for them to help Immortal Owlsoar.”

  “Acknowledged,” Ning said.

  With the support of the azureflower mist energy and the formation, Ning was probably slightly more powerful than even World God Blackmist. He also had an Eternal weapon! And yet…Ning understood that his fatal weakness lay in his insights.

  His sword-arts were still merely at the level of the Killsword stance, while World God Blackmist’s sword-arts were at a far higher level. This was why the two of them remained on par with each other in strength. In addition to that, Ning was still unable to unleash his Eternal weapon’s true power.

  Eternal weapons were valuable because they had quintessence cores. It was the power that lay within their cores which was truly terrifying! If Ning was able to unleash just thirty or forty percent of that power, he would probably be able to chop apart the enemy formation with just a single blow! Alas, actually unleashing that much power from the quintessence core was far too difficult. Ning would probably have to reach the same level of sword-arts as World God Northrest in order to command such power.

  In truth, Ning was already quite formidable. World God Blackmist was no ordinary World-level expert, after all.

  Generally speaking, World Gods were more formidable than Chaos Immortals. This was because most World Gods also trained as Ki Refiner as well! World God Blackmist in particular was an expert of the Dao of the Sword and incredibly skilled in launching offensive attacks. For Ning to be comparable to him in might was absolutely incredible.

  “Kill!”

  “Kill!”

  World God Blackmist and Ji Ning simultaneously launched their respective killer moves.

  The way in which World God Blackmist was fighting was completely different from when he had been sparring with Ning. He had manifested a total of six arms and was striking with six swords in an endless windmill of attacks, sending six streaks of sword-light against his opponents in a constant barrage.

  As for Ning, he wielded Violetjewel as he furiously struck out with the Heavenbreaker stance once more.

  BOOM!

  The simultaneous double attack from two experts of the Dao of the Sword caused all thousand Elder Gods to once more tremble and come to a halt. Although every single Elder God only had to endure a tiny part of their blows, the difference between them and the World-level experts was simply too great. Now that Ning and Blackmist had joined forces, the power of their blows made the Elder Gods feel absolutely miserable. They had been completely suppressed in power.

  “These formations truly are incredible. Even when World God Blackmist and I join forces, we’re still merely able to just keep them suppressed.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh to himself.

  Ning and Blackmist had joined together to completely shut down this Minor Thousand Elder Gods Formation, making it so that those thousand Elder Gods were completely unable to help protect Chaos Immortal Owlsoar.

  “How can this be? How?!” The terrified Chaos Immortal Owlsoar immediately turned tail and transformed into a streak of black light, intent on fleeing.

  “Do you think you can actually escape me?” The Starlord’s handsome face was now somewhat twisted by savagery. In fact, he could be described as looking rather crazed. “Owlsoar, I’ve waited for this day for far too long!”

  BOOOM!!!!

  The Starlord’s entire body suddenly radiated with brilliant light. The astral light swept forward and caught Immortal Owlsoar within it, making it so that his movements became dramatically slower, almost as though he was moving through quicksand.

  “N-no…spare me!” Chaos Immortal Owlsoar had learned quite some time ago that there was a huge gap in power between himself and the Starlord.

  “Die.”

  The Starlord sent six streaks of sword-light straight towards him in a series of consecutive blows.

  The terrified Immortal Owlsoar sought to use his ritual tower to defend, even summoning his other two Dao weapons as well…but alas, those two weapons were clearly inferior to the ritual tower.

  Clang! Clang! He was able to just barely block the first two sword attacks.

  Slash.

  The third strike plunged deep into his forehead, and as it did so a terrifying sword-intent erupted forth into the Jindan chaos region inside his body. The Jindan chaos region began to break apart, and the Dao-tree inside of it was also beginning to be obliterated.

  “No…” A look of resentment and disbelief was in Immortal Owlsoar’s eyes as his life aura rapidly began to weaken.

  The Starlord pulled his sword out of Owlsoar’s forehead. As he stared at Owlsoar’s corpse, he fell silent and said not a word.

  * * *

  Book 24, Chapter 42 - Blacklotus

  “Excellent!” World God Blackmist and Ji Ning were both delighted by what they saw.

 
The Starlord of Fogstone stared at Immortal Owlsoar’s corpse, his heart filled with many complicated feelings. He murmured softly to himself, “Yi, I’ve finally slain Owlsoar.”

  “What? Owlsoar died?”

  “Owlsoar died?”

  The other four World-level vassals of God Emperor Blacklotus sensed Owlsoar’s powerful aura vanish from the battlefield. The entire city only held a total of fifteen World-level experts! There was a tremendous difference in power between them and Elder Gods. For one such aura to suddenly be extinguished caused the Blacklotus Empire’s forces to feel alarmed.

  If one of them had died…then the Starlord and World God Blackmist would now be free to strike at the others.

  The situation would just grow uglier and uglier.

  “Don’t panic.” A voice suddenly rang out within the minds of the four World-level experts.

  “Blacklotus, what should we do now?” The other four were all growing worried.

  The enormous black lotus swiveled below God Emperor Blacklotus’ feet while a thousand Elder Gods surrounded and protected him. Although Immortal Abyssus, Immortal Skyram, and World God Goldcloud had joined forces against him, they still found it hard to do anything to him.

  God Emperor Blacklotus had an ugly look on his face.

  He was in control of all the formations protecting this entire city and thus he knew better than anyone else what was happening in each part of the city. Immortal Owlsoar had simply died too quickly. As soon as Ji Ning had entered the fray, Immortal Owlsoar had been almost instantly slain by the Starlord.

  “I never would’ve thought that an Elder God would be able to force me to do this…” God Emperor Blacklotus murmured softly to himself.

  Even with the formation strengthening him, Ning was still merely on par with World God Blackmist.

  However, the Blacklotus Empire had been at a disadvantage this entire time. Ning’s suddenly burst of power was the last straw that broke the camel’s back!

  “Have I been in retirement for too long?” God Emperor Blacklotus suddenly manifested a total of twenty-four arms, each of his arms coming together to form a mudra.

  BOOM!!!!

  A terrifying aura of power instantly burst forth from his body.

  “What?!” Immortal Abyssus, Immortal Skyram, and World God Goldcloud had been unable to do anything against God Emperor Blacklotus this entire time…and now, their faces blanched.

  “This aura. T-this…” Immortal Abyssus stared in astonishment at God Emperor Blacklotus. He had travelled through many territories and experienced many dangerous situations. Right now, God Emperor Blacklotus was giving him a sense of tremendous danger. “He’s actually this powerful? Then why has he squirreled himself away within his Blacklotus Empire for all these years? We are in trouble now! No wonder he was able to so casually produce two of those Elder God Formations!”

  As soon as the Starlord slew Immortal Owlsoar, the God Emperor’s aura began to explode with power. This immediately snapped the Starlord out of his reverie and cleared his mind.

  “What a terrifying aura.” The Starlord was shocked.

  He was tremendously talented and had great affinity for the Dao of the Sword. He was now also a master-class World God, which meant he was unquestionably one of the top-tier World Gods around. However, the Starlord also knew that his level of power wasn’t THAT special; World Gods who had Eternal weapons or who had incredibly monstrous divine abilities would still be able to completely dwarf him in power. And now, it seemed as though God Emperor Blacklotus had just activated a secret art that was so powerful, its aura alone was enough to cause the Starlord to feel nervousness.

  “Second Uncle, Ji Ning, hurry up and wipe out this formation,” the Starlord immediately ordered. “God Emperor Blacklotus is unfathomably powerful. We need to wipe out his other supporters, then encircle and slay him!”

  As soon as he had sensed the God Emperor’s aura, the Starlord immediately understood that although he himself was also quite powerful, he probably wasn’t a match for the God Emperor in single combat. The Starlord was rather stunned. How was this God Emperor Blacklotus so powerful?! Still, it was too late for regrets.

  “Alright.” World God Blackmist had turned solemn as well. “Ji Ning, let’s attack.”

  “Right.”

  Violetjewel in hand, Ning had already turned his gaze towards those thousand Elder Gods, focusing in particular on the Mindlord.

  “Kill them!” The Starlord bellowed as he flew through the air, moving far faster than even Ji Ning. Astral light radiated from every part of his body, those specks of light shooting out like countless tiny stars.

  As the astral light spread out, they exerted their power upon the Elder Gods, constricting them.

  “Flee!”

  “We need to flee!”

  “Separate and flee!”

  The Mindlord and the others began to flee in every direction. They had realized long ago that this new Elder God who had joined the fray was merely on par with World God Blackmist, but the Starlord of Fogstone was far more powerful than either of them. If World God Blackmist and Ji Ning were already capable of suppressing them, then once the Starlord joined in they would definitely be shattered.

  “No.”

  “Damn!”

  “Imperial Majesty, save us!”

  The Elder Gods scattered in every which way, but they still were merely able to watch as the Starlord, Blackmist, and Ji Ning chased after them. All three of them moved faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos, while the thousand Elder Gods were much slower in comparison.

  “Die!” The Starlord let out a cold shout as he struck out with his sword.

  Whoosh! A dazzling river of stars appeared in midair, coming together to form a gigantic sword that cleaved down upon the back of a fleeing Elder God.

  Boom! Boom! Ji Ning and World God Blackmist struck out at the same time as this blow landed.

  The Mindlord was one of the captains of these thousand Elder Gods, and as such he was able to flee faster than most of the others. For the sake of ensuring that his blow would land at the same time as the Starlord’s, Ning had no choice but to just attack the Elder God closest to him.

  BOOM!!!!

  The bodies of all thousand Elder Gods shook.

  “Urgh.” More than ten of the Elder Gods spat out a mouthful of blood. Cracks appeared on their faces and blood began to pour out of them.

  Every single one of the thousand Elder Gods had to endure the same amount of power from the attacks. At a time like this, the weakest would be the first to perish! The Mindlord and others who had powerful protective divine abilities would be able to hold on for much longer than the rest.

  “Again!” The Starlord sent mentally.

  “Ahhhh!”

  “We’re doomed.”

  “No.”

  Some of the already heavily-wounded Elder Gods began to panic…but alas, there was nowhere to run.

  Yet another dazzling stream of stars split the skies and chopped down towards an Elder God.

  Ji Ning and Blackmist struck out with their full power as well.

  At this moment, God Emperor Blacklotus’ twenty-four arms completed their mudras. His terrifying aura skyrocketed even further, covering virtually the entire city.]

  “Everyone dies eventually.” God Emperor Blacklotus could sense the despair of his thousand Elder Gods. He let out a soft sigh. “I bid you farewell on your next journey. I’ll take revenge for you.” The Elder Gods were simply too far away, and he was still surrounded by those three World-level powers, with Chaos Immortal Abyssus being particularly tough. Thus, not even God Emperor Blacklotus would be able to save those thousand Elder Gods in time.

  “Blacklotus, although you are powerful, you are taking us a little too lightly,” Immortal Abyssus said with a cold laugh.

  God Emperor Blacklotus gently waved his hand.

  Whoosh.

  The black fog permeating every part of the entire city began to vanish, revealing all
of the countless buildings in it. Of course, the majority of the buildings had already been wrecked by now.

  “Eh?” Chaos Immortal Abyssus, Chaos Immortal Skyram, and World God Goldcloud were all secretly shocked.

  The black fog covering the entirety of the imperial capital had made it impossible for them to get a good picture of their surroundings. Only the Starlord had been able to scan the entire area, thanks to his astral light permeating the entire area…but now, the God Emperor had actually dismissed the black fog. Clearly, he no longer wished to bother with using any minor tricks. This was a display of utmost confidence in his superiority.

  “You are right. I really don’t treat the three of you seriously at all.” God Emperor Blacklotus frowned slightly. He could sense that six of the weakest Elder Gods had just been slain. Although the core and the nine captains were still present and were able to just barely keep the formation up, it would now be even harder for them to withstand any attacks. All of the Elder Gods had already begun to panic and flee.

  “The three of you…who do you think you are?”

  “In years past…more than a few World-level experts died by my hand!” God Emperor Blacklotus said calmly, “I came to the Badlands Territory, set up a little empire for myself, and just wanted to reign here in peace. I never would’ve thought that trouble would come crashing down out of nowhere.”

  “Fine, then. I’ll wipe out the entire Fogstone lineage and let the cultivators of the Badlands Territory know exactly how powerful I am.”

  When Abyssus, Skyram, and Goldcloud heard these words, they couldn’t help but turn to look at each other.

  These words were a bit too brash, weren’t they?

  Wipe them all out?

  What did he take the nine World-level experts of Fogstone to be?

  “Prepare to receive a blow from me.” God Emperor Blacklotus’ aura began to surge outwards. Whooooosh. Instead, a series of black lotuses began to bloom in the area around him. Countless black lotuses emerged, causing an area of a million kilometers around him to transform into an enormous pool of lotuses. These black lotuses radiated a tremendous killing intent that surged towards the three World-level experts.