Desolate Era

by RWX

  In truth, to be challenged by so many people at once was actually quite rare. The only reason why there were so many challenges was because everyone knew that Ji Ning and the others had to be carrying many treasures on them.

  Normally, it was entirely possible that days would pass between challenges!

  “Who should I choose? The Astral Islands are divided up into six strata. The third stratum is neither high nor low… and there are more than three thousand cultivators on that level. I’ll go with this guy.” Ning’s talent made him bold. Weaker new arrivals would most likely choose someone on the first floor as their first opponent.

  Through the golden book, Ning willed for his opponent’s message of challenge to be shattered. This represented him accepting the challenge!

  There were more than three thousand islands hovering within the third stratum. Within one of those astral islands.

  “He accepted? He actually accepted my challenge?” The chubby youth instantly jumped to his feet, a look of wild joy on his face. “Ahahaha, he actually accepted? This is great. It seems that things are finally turning around for me, Pillsaint. Has my luck finally arrived?”

  The man known as Pillsaint was the type of person who simply couldn’t hide or disguise his emotions.

  “I’m a venerable master of the Dao of Alchemy, but my alchemical prowess is completely useless here. Instead, I have to battle against all these other World-level cultivators.” The chubby youth muttered to himself as he walked towards a room. He pushed the door open, then entered. The walls of this room were covered with many divine runes. Upon entering the room, you would also be entering this powerful formation.

  Rumble…

  Space began to twist and distort, with World God Pillsaint disappearing into thin air.

  ……

  This island was a beautiful one that was covered with a layer of frost and snow. The entire island was completely silent.

  Whoosh.

  A pudgy youth suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He glanced at his surroundings, noticing that the entire island was covered with a layer of silvery snow. He was able to see everything quite clearly, and he was quite satisfied. “This battleground is a good one. The scenery is nice, at least. Way better than the last one.”

  “It seems my luck really is turning.” World God Pillsaint lay down on the snow, half-closing his eyes as he relaxed. “I don’t have many legacies left, but those damnable cultivators on the fourth level keep on coming to rob me of what I have. I hope my luck takes a turn for the better for once. Hopefully this guy will have at least an Eternal weapon. If I can get an Eternal weapon, I’ll become much more powerful and be capable of giving those fellows on the fourth level a good fight. I might even be able to acquire a complete legacy.”

  Previously, he had been trying to collect the ninety-sixth legacy, a legacy which was scattered across a hundred legacy treasures. He had gained a total of ninety-one pieces, but a damnable cultivator on the fourth level had issued him a challenge. Pillsaint had hurriedly issued a challenge of his own to a cultivator on the second stratum. If that cultivator had accepted, then there would’ve been no need for Pillsaint to battle the cultivator from the fourth stratum.

  Alas, the cultivator from the second stratum had declined to do battle.

  Pillsaint had no other options. He had to accept the challenge from the fourth stratum.

  The results of that battle were… he lost. His legacy treasures were stripped from him! He had worked so hard for so long, but it all instantly went up in smoke. He had damn near gone mad.

  Whoosh.

  Space twisted once more.

  Ji Ning appeared atop this icy island. As he glanced at the scenery, Ning couldn’t help but smile very slightly. He also noticed the pudgy youth who was sleeping on the snowy ground not too far away from him.

  Swoosh. The chubby youth rose to his feet and stared at Ning, a scorching look in his eyes. “Fellow Daoist, you have an extraordinary demeanor. I imagine you must be carrying valuable treasures.”

  “Yes.” Ning nodded.

  The chubby youth’s eyes instantly lit up as he grew even more excited. “Eternal treasures?”

  “Yes.” Ning laughed and nodded. Hundreds of thousands of World-level cultivators were here, and most likely a good number of them held Eternal weapons. Ning couldn’t bother to hide the fact that he had one of his own. A weak person who had an Eternal weapon might become a target, but Ning was strong enough that he had nothing to fear.

  “Ehehe. Treasures belong to the strong, you know. It would be wasted in your hands.” The pudgy youth’s aura suddenly blasted forth as he manifested a total of six arms. He now wielded six black hammers in his hands. “Hurry up and hand it over, and I’ll spare your life if you do.”

  For some reason, Ning couldn’t help but have a good feeling about this pudgy youth. He almost felt as though he was looking at an infant. This pudgy youth wore his heart on his sleeve, his emotions on display for anyone to see. He didn’t seem to have any evil intentions at all and appeared to be a valiant man.

  However, Ning suddenly felt a twinge of fear.

  How could he possibly treat any World-level cultivator as he would a child? For Ning to feel kindly disposed to him without even realizing it… it was possible that this was because this cultivator truly was a good man, but it was also possible that he had trained in some sort of mesmerizing technique.

  “Then let’s see what you have.” Ning held a Violetjewel in each of his two hands. Here on the Astral Islands, even a battle against someone weaker had to be taken seriously.

  Although two swords wasn’t the full extent of Ning’s power, it was enough for Ning to generate a truly airtight defense.

  “Eat a hammer!” The pudgy youth charged forwards, the great warhammer in his hands transforming into a streak of light that caused space to collapse in on itself. The power of this blow was so great that even Ning couldn’t help but feel speechless.

  A supreme World God? It seemed he was actually more than just that!

  BOOM! Ning released a seemingly simple sword-strike that struck directly against the great warhammer that was slamming down towards him. Warhammers were weapons well-suited for heavy smashing blows, and to use sword-arts in a head-on clash against a warhammer was indeed a foolish decision. However, Ning held tremendous confidence in his own strength. It was highly unlikely that he would find anyone in the World level who could overcome him in raw physical power… and if Ning DID encounter some a powerful freak that was even stronger than him, Ning would run away as fast as he could.

  As expected, this casual strike from Ning was enough to send his opponent staggering backwards.

  “How can this be?!” A dazed look appeared on the pudgy youth’s face as he stared at Ning. “I just wanted to fight a newbie. Why the hell did I run into such a strong one?”

  “No way. I don’t believe this.” The pudgy youth once more charged forwards, his six warhammers shattering the heavens as they came smashing down towards Ning once more.

  Ning couldn’t help but sigh upon seeing this.

  His opponent was most likely a supreme World God, and his awe-inspiring hammer-arts were mighty and difficult to defend against. However, there was a flaw to this type of an attack, which used overwhelming raw power and space itself to crush down upon one’s foes. The flaw was… if your foe could withstand your attacks, you would be finished.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Ning showed no mercy at all, striking out three times in quick succession. The first strike knocked the youth backwards, the second caused him to stumble as he frantically defended. When Pillsaint fell down to the ground, a huge crater appeared in the ground beneath him.

  When Ning’s third sword slammed into the opponent, the pudgy youth vomited out a mouthful of blood.

  “Give up?” Ning pointed at his foe with his sword.

  “You are way too strong. Even on the fourth floor, only those freaks who once made it to the fifth floor would be a match for you.�
� The pudgy youth lay there within his crater, somewhat dazed. “Why is my luck so shitty? More than thirty thousand newbies, and I have to pick a freak who is strong enough to make it to the fifth stratum.”

  Ning was intrigued upon hearing this. He didn’t know how strong the various experts on the Astral Islands were, but his opponent had clearly been here for quite some time and knew many things.

  “There’s only a few freaks like him, but I just had to run into one.” The pudgy youth shook his head, then looked at Ning. He said hurriedly, “Can you please not take away my warhammers? They are just Dao weapons.”

  “Dao weapons?” Ning was secretly surprised. The youth had been able to unleash the power of a supreme World God while using mere Dao weapons? This fellow was incredibly strong, much more powerful than God Emperor Blacklotus had been! If he was using an Eternal weapon… didn’t that mean he would have the power of a transcendent World God?

  “I’m telling the truth. See for yourself!” The pudgy youth said hurriedly, “You can send out your divine sense and scan any of the treasures I’m carrying inside of me. Ugh, I’ve been robbed of all of my chaos nectar. All I have left are these six hammers…”

  Although he had encountered a few people who were slightly stronger than him, they generally wouldn’t go too far. If they did, World God Pillsaint would’ve gone all-out. To kill a powerful World God was a very difficult feat; normally, the only option for doing so was to exhaust his store of divine power.

  Divine power needed a fairly long period of time in order to recover. However, on the Astral Islands it was possible that one would receive a challenge every single day. If you lost your power, you might well fall victim to the schemes of another.

  Thus, unless there was an overwhelming disparity in power, these cultivators generally wouldn’t force their foes to go all-out. That was of no benefit to them.

  However, Ning was capable of easily slaying his opponent. The difference in power between the two truly was quite great. His foe was merely a supreme World God, whereas Ning was comparable to a Daolord of the First Step.

  “All I have are these six hammers.” The pudgy youth stared at Ning. He really was worried that Ning would take those hammers away from him.

  * * *

  Book 26, Chapter 30 - Three Months

  If Ji Ning wished to take his warhammers by force, he would be dramatically weakened. Although he could still go abuse other cultivators on the first stratum and steal a few Dao weapons from them, he had brought those six warhammers with him from the outside world. They were very suitable weapons for him, and it would be quite hard for him to find similarly suitable weapons on those weaker cultivators.

  “Are you serious…” Ning swept the man with his godsense. The man didn’t resist at all, allowing Ning to scan him with ease.

  “You don’t even have a single bottle of chaos nectar or a single chaos jewel.” Ning shook his head.

  “I used to! They took everything from me.” The pudgy youth shook his head. “Nothing I could do. They were stronger than me. I’m just happy I was able to keep my six warhammers. I used to have an Eternal treasure, but that was taken from me as well.”

  As he spoke, he looked at Ning in a rather anxious, beseeching manner. “Can you leave my six warhammers alone? Please?”

  “Don’t worry. I have no interest in those six warhammers whatsoever,” Ning chuckled. “I just want to ask you a few questions. Also, you have to give me that sword-arts legacy you are holding.”

  “Take it.” The pudgy youth immediately tossed a sword-shaped talisman over towards Ning. This was one of the legacy treasures that formed the seventy-third ranked legacy, the sword-arts legacy. Although it was merely ranked seventy-three, it was still divided up into 108 different legacy treasures. You had to acquire the full set in order to gain access to it.

  Seeing that Ning didn’t intend to kill him, the pudgy youth hurriedly said, “Ask me whatever you wish. I, Pillsaint, will tell you everything you want to know.”

  “Your name is Pillsaint?” Ning asked.

  “Yes, Pillsaint. This is the Daoist title which my master gave me. My master is skilled in alchemy, as am I. Who would’ve thought that I would be this unlucky? A Daolord had asked me to go help him refine some pills, but halfway on the trip back I was abducted to this place by a different Samsara Daolord, as were the ten World-level cultivators who the first Daolord had sent to invite me.” Pillsaint had a resigned look on his face as he spoke.

  Ning was shocked upon hearing this. Skilled in Alchemy?

  This fellow was capable of unleashing the power of a supreme World God when using mere Dao weapons… and he was actually a master of alchemy? A Daolord had asked him to go refine pills for him? That meant his skill in alchemy had to be incredibly high. Ning knew that the skilled alchemists and pill-refiners of the Endless Territories were incredibly respected.

  “Ugh, but so what if I’m good at alchemy? The Brightshore Kingdom doesn’t give a damn about me. All I can do is stay here and duel other World-level cultivators.” World God Pillsaint said resignedly, “I’m skilled in controlling the empty void of space and am physically strong, but that’s just because those are necessary components of pillforging. Right now, all I can do is use my warhammers to battle against other World-level cultivators.”

  Ning could tell that this World God Pillsaint had to be extremely skilled in the arts of alchemy and had an even more skilled alchemy master. In the outside world, not even ordinary Samsara Daolords would go offend someone of his status.

  If Ning could, he would try to find a chance to help this man out. If World God Pillsaint was able to leave this place in the future, Ning could ask him or even his master to help him refine any special pills that he needed.

  “Mm. In the future, I’ll need to acquire a few extra legacies. If I find any that I don’t need, I can just lose a set to him on purpose,” Ning mused.

  The only legacies Ning himself were interested at present were the sword-arts legacy and the footwork legacy. As for the top-ranked heartforce legacy, Ning was interested in that as well.

  Still, the rules were that those who acquired a complete legacy could leave, but those who acquired two were required to leave.

  Thus, if Ning wanted to acquire several different legacies, he would have to lose a few battles on purpose and let his opponents acquire those legacies! Ning was definitely planning on helping out Su Youji, but if he had the chance he would also help this World God Pillsaint as well.

  “I wonder which astral island Youji is now on.” There was nothing Ning could do. Only after battling someone could he find out exactly which island a specific cultivator was on. He wanted to help her out, but he currently could not. Only in the future would he be able to try to come up with a way of locating her.

  “I ask you this,” Ning said, “Roughly how strong are the cultivators on each island?”

  “That’s hard to say, because even the first stratum might hold a few freakishly strong individuals.” World God Pillsaint glanced at Ning, then said hurriedly, “I can just give you a rough estimate of how strong everyone is.”

  Ning nodded.

  “The astral islands on the first stratum generally hold master-class World-level cultivators as well as a few even weaker cultivators.

  “The second stratum holds more formidable cultivators. Some have unique treasures or techniques, such as special spells or powerful golems. Others have reached at least the supreme World-level of power.

  “The third stratum is generally where most supreme World-level cultivators reside, or those who possess extremely special techniques. I’m a supreme World God myself, and I’m very physically strong. I’m capable of forcing my opponents to face my attacks head-on, which is my position within the third stratum is quite secure.

  “The fourth stratum is generally filled with transcendent World-level cultivators, as well as some of the freakishly strong figures who belonged to the fifth stratum but who were temporarily beaten d
own by other cultivators from that stratum.

  “The fifth stratum… everyone capable of standing securely within that stratum is an utter monster. Most of them probably have the power of Daolords of the First Step, and many have very unique skills and abilities. Who knows what special skills or trump cards they have up their sleeves? All I know is that I’ve never run into them before. There are only twelve individuals total on the fifth stratum. Eight are Aberrants while four are cultivators.”

  Ning was secretly shocked upon hearing this.

  The twelve on the fifth stratum all had the power of Daolords of the First Step? How terrifying. Still, most were Aberrants. There were certain powerful races that were born with tremendous advantages over normal cultivators!

  “There’s only a single cultivator on the sixth stratum. I hear that his name is Bertulu, and that he’s an absolutely freakishly strong figure.” The pudgy youth shook his head. “What a freak! He’s an Aberrant as well. Not even those other freaks on the fifth stratum can beat him. He truly is unfathomably strong.”

  “Bertulu?” Ning silently memorized this name.

  “Fortunately, there is a rule in the Astral Islands that anyone who makes it to the fifth level will be protected, even if they are temporarily knocked down to a lower level. That’s why the only reason why Bertulu hasn’t completely demolished all of the other freaks.” World God Pillsaint shook his head and sighed.

  Ning understood the purpose of this rule. The Astral Islands existed in order to help the Brightshore Kingdom select some of the most powerful World-level cultivators to join its ranks. The three hundred thousand-plus cultivators within the Astral Islands right now included many powerful cultivators which the Brightshore Kingdom had abducted from the outside world, but it also held many cultivators which had emerged from the Brightshore Kingdom’s own territory. Ordinary World-level cultivators simply couldn’t compare to them.