Desolate Era

by RWX

  Cultivation was primarily divided amongst Ki Refiners, Fiendgod Body Refiners, and Heartforce Cultivators. Thus far, Ning had yet to encounter a single World-level expert who was a Heartforce Cultivator! One could imagine how rare they truly were.

  “Master, how should we deal with them when it is our turn?” The Flamefairy was a bit worried.

  * * *

  Book 25, Chapter 36 - Ji Ning Enters the Fray

  “These two squads are too mysterious. Based on how they address each other, it would appear as though the blood-robed youth and the gold-robed youth are the leaders while the others are all servants or slaves! That bone-armored World God was a master-class World God while World Goddess Silkwater was of the ‘Silkmaid’ race, according to what big brother Dragonbinder said. Even big brother Dragonbinder was repeatedly drawn into her illusions. Given how powerful those two were, the rest can’t be weak either.” Su Youji sent worriedly, “And what worries me most is the possibility that we’ll encounter one of the leaders on the Samsara Grinders. They have to be even more dangerous.”

  “Mm.” Ji Ning nodded.

  Su Youji didn’t fully comprehend how valuable Silkmaids were, but Ning himself did. If the gold-robed youth truly had purchased a Silkmaid who was a World Goddess, he had to have a staggering amount of wealth! A Silkmaid World Goddess was worth more than a thousand cubes of chaos nectar.

  But if the Silkmaid World Goddess had willingly chose to serve the gold-robed youth… that just made him even more terrifying.

  “When it is our turn, follow the plan I set out earlier,” Ning sent. “Given our level of strength, we should be able to hold off those golden warriors.”

  “Alright.” Su Youji nodded.

  The bald three-eyed man swept the remaining contestants with his gaze, then said, “The third match will be… hm. You!” He pointed directly towards Su Youji.

  “And… you!” He pointed at the skinny, viper-like man who was standing behind the blood-robed youth, a man who emanated an aura of insidious cold.

  “Senior!” The blood-robed youth’s face tightened as he hurriedly said, “Senior, I feel as though your actions are unfair.”

  “Yes. Senior, your actions truly are a bit unfair,” the gold-robed youth agreed.

  Both Ning and Su Youji were puzzled.

  What was this all about?

  “Unfair?” The three-eyed man looked at the two of them.

  “We had to experience countless dangers in order to reach this place, and I imagine you know exactly how strong the seven of us are,” the blood-robed youth said. “But the three World Gods you just chose were the three weakest ones under our command.”

  “Right.” The gold-robed youth agreed. “Of the seven of us, World Goddess Silkwater could be considered the equivalent of a master-class World God, thanks to her illusory prowess. Thus, all three of them were roughly comparable to master-class World Gods. However, the rest of us are all supreme World Gods! You sent our three weakest followers to compete against the three newcomers. It is clear that you intend to have the four of us, the strongest four, to battle each other. This isn’t really fair.”

  “You are acting in a rather prejudiced manner, senior.” The blood-robed youth was rather irritated as well.

  They had a total of seven cultivators split between their two teams. Three of them were roughly on par with master-class World Gods while the other four had the power of supreme World Gods. The First Guardian of the Castrum Divinitus had arranged for the three World-level experts he had forcibly teleported to this location to battle against the three weakest members of the original seven. Clearly, he was acting in a biased manner.

  “Unfair?” The three-eyed man said coldly, “I forcibly teleported the three of them here and forced them to accept a potentially deadly trial. Do you think that was fair for them?”

  “And her!” The three-eyed man pointed at Su Youji. “She broke through to become a Chaos Immortal just a few short months ago, right here in the Allgod Estate. We’re having a newly ascended Chaos Immortal compete against a master-class World God. You tell me, is that fair?”

  The three-eyed man swept the gold-robed youth and the blood-robed youth with a cold gaze. “Or are you telling me that we should have her, a brand new Chaos Immortal, battle against one of you four supreme World Gods?”

  The two instantly fell silent.

  In truth, both of them knew exactly how strong Su Youji was. Before coming to the Badlands Territory, they had collected a significant amount of intelligence and information regarding all the World-level experts, Elder Gods, and Ancestral Immortals who lived in this territory. They had both long ago reviewed the information pertaining to Su Youji the Flamefairy. Although they weren’t sure when she had made her breakthrough, it was definitely within the past thousand years.

  “You don’t even have the balls to compete against others on the same level of power as you, yet you dream of acquiring the divine blood of the Eternal?” The three-eyed man snorted, a hint of a mockery on his lips.

  “Senior, please give us some guidance. What must we accomplish on the Samsara Grinders in order to acquire the Eternal blood?” The blood-robed youth, Arroyo, asked respectfully.

  The gold-robed youth, Fukai, looked at the three-eyed man as well.

  “Personally kill your opponent. Quickly.” The three-eyed man said calmly, “Enough. Hurry up and get onto the Samsara Grinders.”

  “Hear that, Darkfall? She broke through to become a Chaos Immortal just a few months ago. Kill her as fast as you can,” the blood-robed youth instructed.

  “Understood,” the tall, skinny, insidious man replied. Swish! He left behind a blur in the air as he moved to stand atop the Samsara Grinders.

  “What incredible speed.” The faces of both Ning and Su Youji tightened when they saw this. Their opponent was clearly so fast that not even Ning using the Thunderlight Wings was a match for him.

  Swoosh. Swoosh.

  Ning and Su Youji both flew up onto the Samsara Grinders. World God Dragonbinder wanted to stop Ning but he wasn’t able to do so in time. His face turned pale and he felt misery in his heart. “Brother Ji Ning, why the hell did you go up there? It doesn’t matter if the Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals don’t take part.”

  The divine runes covering the Samsara Grinders had already begun to glow with countless streams of light, resulting in the appearance of the golden warriors .

  The tall, slender, insidious man stood far away from Ning and Youji. He was dressed in black robes, and he stared at them as he said in a cold voice, “Flamefairy Su Youji. I’ve heard of you, but I didn’t expect for you to have broken through to become a Chaos Immortal. I urge you to put away that Elder God of yours. For him to take part in this competition is suicide. Oh. I forgot to tell you my name. I am World God Darkfall. Now, when you die, you’ll at least know the name of the person who killed you.”

  World God Darkfall stood there, emanating an aura of absolute confidence. If he couldn’t even kill a newly ascended Chaos Immortal, even he himself would feel that he was a joke.

  “Master.” Su Youji mentally messaged Ji Ning.

  “Follow the plan,” Ning instructed.

  A master-class World God? This would be the toughest foe he had ever faced. Although he had encountered God Emperor Blacklotus who was even more powerful, Ning hadn’t been the one to actually face him.

  “Begin!”

  The three-eyed man gave the order.

  “Kill!”

  “Kill!”

  The countless golden warriors were driven into a frenzy as they transformed into streaks of light that shot towards the two sides.

  “Come out.” Ning willed three golems to suddenly appear by his side. Two were black golems while the third was Rocky the stone titan. The Flamefairy also brought out her own black golem and took personal control of it upon entering it.

  The three black golems formed a triangle that surrounded Ning and Rocky.

  “She actually had four go
lems?” The blood-robed youth’s face tightened slightly when he saw this.

  “She actually had four golems, Arroyo. It seems this won’t be as easy as you thought it would be.” The gold-robed youth spoke in quite a relaxed manner.

  “Hmph. So what if she has four? Just watch and see.” The blood-robed youth was quite confident in the prowess of this subordinate, World God Darkfall.

  Boom! Boom!

  Golden warriors charged towards them in an endless tide, but the three black golems were like a dam that quelled their surge. As the two sides began to fight, quite a few of the golden warriors were knocked flying while some were actually shattered to pieces.

  “Kill.”

  “Kill.”

  “Kill.”

  Elder God Blacksun, Elder God Wilddog, and Su Youji each commanded a black golem. All three of them howled as bloodlust filled their veins, and they showed no mercy in their attacks whatsoever as they furiously blew apart all of the golden warriors charged towards them. These three black golems came as a set, and the formation linking them together was extremely suited for defense. The three of them were clearly far better at blocking out the enemy warriors than the two golems which World God Dragonbinder had used.

  After battling for a brief moment in time, more than hundreds of golden warriors had been knocked away. Only two golden warriors managed to make it past their defensive perimeter, but Rocky was able to effortlessly crush both of them. Ning just stood there, not even needing to move.

  “Hm?” Ning glanced at the situation on the other side of the battlefield. “It seems as though we need to give this World God Darkfall a bit of pressure.”

  “Come out.”

  Ning willed it, and a black gourd suddenly appeared before him in the air. The stopper to the gourd was open, allowing it to instantly release an enormous flood of lightning. Instantly, all five types of lightning began to furiously slam down towards the distant World God Darkfall.

  “Shit.” World God Darkfall was wielding six different warblades as he furiously hacked at the golden warriors around him with abandon, causing many of them to fall. But once the five types of lightning began to slam into him, his face couldn’t help but tighten.

  Although these five types of lightning weren’t capable of threatening his life, they were able to encumber down his movements and have an effect on his combat potential.

  It must be understood that Ning was focusing all five types of lightning against him and him alone! Ning had spent a total of 180 cubes of chaos nectar in order to purchase the Pentabolt Gourd. Any weapon with such a hefty price tag would pose at least some degree of danger to most World-level experts.

  “How can this be happening?!” World God Darkfall was clearly starting to struggle now.

  He was feeling both angry and humiliated! He was a master-class World God, but he was mired into a dangerous situation while his opponent seemed to have an airtight defense.

  “GRAAAAH!” World God Darkfall suddenly raised his head and let out a furious howl. Red lines appeared all across his face like tattoos as his aura was dramatically strengthened.

  “Die!”

  World God Darkfall’s speed suddenly rose dramatically. He moved past the golden warriors in a ghostly manner, slaughtering a path through them as he moved closer and closer towards Ji Ning and Su Youji.

  “He’s too fast! How is he this fast?” Ji Ning was shocked. “He must’ve used some sort of special divine ability. Even though the five types of lightning are slowing him down, he’s still faster than me! He’s also incredibly agile.”

  World God Darkfall was moving in an almost serpentine fashion as he dodged past the many enemy attacks. He continued to slaughter a path through the golden warriors as he moved closer and closer to Ning’s side.

  “Of the servants under my command, Darkfall is the fastest and most agile. He’s completely capable of avoiding the golden warriors and moving to the other side of the arena.” The blood-robed youth, Arroyo, was watching with arms folded across his chest, a look of absolute confidence in his eyes. “So what if she has four golems? Soon, all of you will have to deal with attacks from both Darkfall as well as the golden warriors.”

  The Samsara Grinders.

  Whoosh.

  World God Darkfall’s six arms were hacking away with his six mighty warblades. His warblades attacked with incredible speed and in an unpredictable manner.

  “The Dao of the Saber?” Ning carefully watched the man fight. This was a World God of the Dao of the Saber.

  World God Darkfall continued to press closer and closer towards them. Soon, he reached an area that was directly in front of Ning and the others. Elder God Wilddog sent mentally, “Master, we’re currently able to keep a tight defensive perimeter against these golden warriors, but if that World God attacks I don’t think we’ll be able to hold.”

  “Leave it to me.” Ning stretched his hand out, allowing a blood-colored sword to appear within it.

  “Haha, that puny Elder God actually took out his sword. Is he actually planning to attack? He really has quite some gall, even though he’s clearly suicidal!” The blood-robed youth laughed.

  * * *

  Book 25, Chapter 37 - Yes, Master

  “Maybe he really does want to die.” The golden-robed youth, Fukai, was watching from afar as well.

  Atop the Samsara Grinders.

  The three black golems continued to circle around Ji Ning and Su Youji, blocking all of the offending golden warriors. World God Darkfall had drawn very close to them, and his cold eyes were staring directly at the four golems and Ning himself. “This ant-like Elder God actually dares to draw his sword, as though he’s preparing to enter the fray? Mm. He should be Su Youji’s retainer. Logically speaking, a single Elder God shouldn’t make any difference at all in a battle like this, and yet Su Youji permitted him to take part. There has to be a trap.”

  “This puny Elder God probably has some sort of self-sacrificial suicide attack,” World God Darkfall mused to himself.

  The endless primordial chaos was filled with untold mysteries. As Darkfall saw it, given that the Flamefairy was capable of producing those four black golems and that lightning gourd, she must have encountered a stroke of tremendous karmic fortune. Perhaps she had some other dangerous toys hidden up her sleeve as well.

  “Unfortunately, Su Youji, you are a new Chaos Immortal and have no idea how great the power disparity is between an Elder God and a master-class World God. No matter what type of treasure you gave him, he still won’t pose a threat to me.” Many thoughts flitted through Darkfall’s mind, but he didn’t slow down in the slightest as he charged straight towards one of the black golems.

  This black golem’s claw-techniques were clearly based off the mysteries of the Dao of Fire. World God Darkfall was instantly able to identify this particular golem as being the one which Su Youji was commanding.

  “Once Su Youji dies, all of this will be over.” Right now, Darkfall had just one target: Su Youji!

  “DARKFALL!”

  A thunderous shot.

  Ji Ning had been standing within the protective encirclement of the three black golems, the blood-colored Violetjewel in his hands. The pair of Thunderlight Wings suddenly appeared on his back as he instantly shot out in a streak of light, charging out of the protective encirclement and towards World God Darkfall.

  “Eh?” World God Darkfall laughed when he saw this. Still, since he was worried that Ning might try to pull some sort of suicide attack or trap against him, he remained slightly on his guard. One of his six blades howled through the air in an illusory fashion as he released hundreds of streaks of saber-light towards Ning.

  Because they were fighting atop the Samsara Grinders, World God Darkfall didn’t dare to transform his warblades and make them thousands of meters long. This was because if he did so, he would instantly have to deal with a hundred times more golden warriors than he was dealing with before. Even though he was a master-class World God, he would still be
utterly demolished and killed by them.

  Thus, everyone present including Ji Ning, World God Darkfall, and the golems all kept their weapons to a maximum size of just a few meters long. That way, only a comparatively low number of golden warriors would be able to assault them at any given moment.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Hundreds of streaks of saber-light flew towards Ning, but most of them actually landed upon the golden warriors who were charging towards Darkfall. Still, a portion of them ended up flying towards Ning.

  “Hmph. He’s nothing more than an Elder God, while I’m a master-class World God. Any casual blow from my saber would be more than enough to wipe him out. You might have some powerful techniques up your sleeve, but if I don’t let you get close to me there’s nothing you can do.” World God Darkfall felt quite confident in his abilities, but he continued to keep a close eye on Ning’s actions. He wanted to watch as Ning died.

  BOOM!

  The Thunderlight Wings trembled as Ning charged straight towards Darkfall in an utterly ferocious manner.

  “You think you can bar my path with those puny little blades of light?” Ning wasn’t worried in the slightest. Sword-light flashed in his hands and effortlessly chopped apart the incoming streaks of saber-light.

  “What?!”

  “How can this be?”

  “This Elder God…”

  World God Darkfall wasn’t the only one who was shocked. Even the blood-robed Arroyo and the gold-robed Fukai, along with their World God servants, were stunned. Although Darkfall had sent out those chops of saber-light in a rather casual manner, he was still a master-class World God who walked the path of the Dao of the Saber! Not even elite World Gods should be able to deflect his blows in such a casual manner.