Desolate Era

by RWX

  If he had just blindly studied without having such a wise teacher, it was unlikely that he would’ve been able to gain eternity!

  “I noticed you as soon as you arrived here.” Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning.

  “Huh?” Ning was startled.

  “Mm. You weren’t overwhelmed with desire despite seeing so many treasures placed before you. In the end, you chose a lifeblood weapon.” Emperor Gonflame smiled and nodded. “Not bad. It seems you understand that in order to become a truly powerful figure, you still have to rely on your own power. To rely on strange curios and ancient artifacts… that path is a path which rarely leads to becoming truly unstoppable.”

  “You are a sword cultivator. The sword cultivators who truly were the dominant forces of their era all relied on the nothing more than the sword in their hands, or perhaps the powerful secret arts they might’ve come up with,” Emperor Gonflame said.

  Ning nodded, understanding what was being imparted. In the ancient library of the Sword Palace, he had seen quite a few secret arts and thus understood that many of the more powerful Daolords relied on mighty secrets arts they had developed. This was true for virtually all of the monstrously talented ones!

  “The most terrifyingly powerful Daolords and Emperors all have their own unique techniques.” Emperor Gonflame sighed. “Some Daolords have such powerful abilities that even I would rather keep my distance from them. For example, there is a Daolord I know named Daolord Otherpath who used his own Dao to create a truly unearthly secret art. He managed to completely merge himself into the Wugang Sea of Glass, something which naturally formed from the primordial chaos. After mastering the Wugang Glass Form, with but a thought he can transform into the vast sea of glass and sent it surging towards you. Upon being trapped by it… even someone like me would probably perish.”

  Ning was secretly speechless. Still, it made sense. Shortly after leaving the Three Realms, he had encountered Daolord Badlands. Although he was merely a Daolord of the Third Step, his Numerancy divination powers were simply too incredible. Whenever he divined that danger was near, he would immediately slink away, making it almost impossible to kill him. Even worse – if you offended him but were unable to kill him, he would be able to divine all sorts of ways to deal with you or act against your interests. This was why Daolord Badlands was actually quite a dangerous person.

  “Those unearthly Daolords have all trained their own Daos to an absolute apex, giving them inconceivable amounts of power. Even worse, they all but seek out excuses to try and kill an Emperor so as to establish their reputations.” Emperor Gonflame shook his head and sighed. “Gaining eternity is no easy feat, and yet the weaker Eternal Emperors are hunted down so mercilessly that they don’t even dare to show their faces in the world.”

  Ning couldn’t help but grin. The same was true in the Endless Territories. Daolord Allgod had chased Emperor Melobo across the entire universe, while Lord Dawnstar of the Saber Palace had once slain an Eternal Emperor with three blows of his saber! This was why there were so few Eternal Emperors around, with the surviving ones all figures of incredible strength. The three Hegemons of the Endless Territories were good examples, as was Emperor Mirrorsnow who was extremely skilled at staying alive. Emperor Trisilk was another figure who was also skilled at survival.

  “Magic treasures, bah… one or two is enough. If you spend all your efforts on collecting magic treasures, you’ll never make it too far!” Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning. “Although I am very wary of those monstrously strong Daolords, I have to say that they have chosen the correct path. If they succeed and gain eternity, they shall become Hegemons amongst emperors. They’ll immediately be granted the position of ‘Starking’ within the Church of Annihilation, and they’ll be incredibly strong ones at that.”

  Ning couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Aren’t all the Starkings of the Church of Annihilation at the Hegemon level?”

  “No way. Impossible!” Emperor Gonflame shook his head. “They are simply strong Eternal Emperors who were chosen to become Starkings. If they were Hegemons, they wouldn’t be ‘chosen’ as Starkings; they simply would BE Starkings. Take Emperor Maniseal for example; I heard he’s ridiculously powerful in the Dao of Seals, but he’s still a ways off from the Hegemon level.”

  “Or consider the three Primordial Starkings. They always had transcendent statuses, precisely because all three of them were Hegemons,” Emperor Gonflame said.

  “Oh.” Ning nodded. So as he had expected, the Paragon of Pills was indeed a Hegemon.

  “The Paragon of Pills is a truly incredible figure,” Emperor Gonflame said. “According to the legends, she was a monster even back when she was merely a Daolord, capable of killing Eternal Emperors with ease. Only after gaining eternity did she become a Hegemon! However… there are no absolutes. The legends supposedly say that a long, long time ago, she wasn’t a Hegemon. Only after training for many years as an Eternal Emperor did she reach the Hegemon level of power.”

  “Emperor Maniseal, in turn, was once an unremarkable Emperor who completely focused on his Dao of Seals. By now, he’s become incredibly powerful.” Emperor Gonflame chuckled. “After you become an Emperor, you can still slowly train your way up and become increasingly powerful, and you’ll even have a shot at the Hegemon level. However… actually succeeding in this endeavor is far too difficult. Countless years have gone by, but the only person to succeed in doing so was the Paragon of Pills.”

  Ning was shocked. Back in the Brightshore Kingdom, he had heard that Hegemons were only created when the most powerful of Daolords gained eternity! He never would’ve imagined that the Paragon was actually an exception to the rule. It really was an axiom that the path of cultivation was a path where there would always be a ‘final chance’ given.

  ……

  Emperor Gonflame chatted with Ning for quite some time, broadening Ning’s horizons.

  “Now, you want a lifeblood weapon, right?” Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning, then laughed. “That’ll be easy. This is our very first meeting, and so I’ll gift you with a lifeblood weapon as my first meeting gift to you.”

  “Wonderful.” Ning revealed a look of delight.

  He knew that there were differences amongst freshly-forged lifeblood weapons. Some might be incredibly heavy and would be suitable for ferocious stances such as his Heavenbreaker stance. Others might be a better fit for his Blood Drop stance or his Shadowless stance. But of course, lifeblood weapons could be continuously improved and altered. Even if the weapon didn’t start off as a good fit, as more time passed it would become a better and better fit for its master!

  But a lifeblood treasure which started off as a perfect fit would naturally grow powerful even faster. For the number one grandmaster artificer in this universe to personally forge a lifeblood weapon for himself… this truly was a rare opportunity.

  “Emperor, please take a look at this.” Ning immediately began to put his sword-arts on display. “My Sword Dao is composed of five separate Supreme Daos.”

  As Ning put his sword-arts on display, the watching Emperor Gonflame felt a sense of tremendous shock.

  “W-what… you’ve even linked them together perfectly? This is something which includes all aspects of the entire Dao of the Sword!” Emperor Gonflame stared at Ning. If this kid continues to grow and develop, he’ll definitely become not just a powerful Daolord, but one of the most monstrously powerful Daolords. He’ll probably be able to kill some weaker Eternal Emperors with just one blow from his sword.

  “Emperor.” After finishing displaying his sword-arts, Ning looked towards Emperor Gonflame.

  “Um…” Emperor Gonflame rubbed his chin. “Your lifeblood weapon would have to reach the apex of perfection in every single aspect. It won’t be easy to make, and it’ll require a lot of materials.”

  It would only cost him around ten million cubes of chaos nectar if he wished to make a lifeblood sword for an ordinary sword cultivator, and if he wished to sell it on the open market
it would probably go for around twenty or thirty million cubes. But Darknorth’s Sword Dao was a Dao which covered all types of sword-arts, a Dao which pursued true perfection. The materials alone would probably cost him thirty million cubes!

  “Haha. Well, since I promised I’d forge you one, I’ll forge you one.” Emperor Gonflame laughed. “I won’t go broke from just one weapon.”

  “Emperor,” Ning suddenly said, “This junior has a rather… outrageous request.”

  “An outrageous request?” Emperor Gonflame laughed. “Don’t be shy. Speak.” He had just promised to give away thirty million cubes worth of precious materials. Right now, he was feeling quite generous and magnanimous.

  “You’ve already seen this junior’s sword-arts. To be honest… it’d be perfect if I had six lifeblood swords. In that case, my power would multiply many times over.” Ning said hurriedly, “But of course, this junior wouldn’t dare to ask you to gift me with six… if there’s anything you need, just tell me and I will do my utmost to accomplish it. I also have some precious treasures and some chaos nectar. I definitely would never ask you to operate at a loss.”

  Ning truly did deeply desire six lifeblood weapons. He wanted six, no matter what it had to cost him. Given how much face Emperor Gonflame was giving him, he’d probably offer those six weapons at a very low cost. Logically speaking, Ning felt he should be able to afford it.

  “SIX?!!?” Emperor Gonflame’s eyes bulged out. “Six LIFEBLOOD weapons? Your request really is outrageous!”

  * * *

  Book 28, Chapter 45 - Some Interesting Information

  “Just tell me how much you need, Emperor,” Ji Ning said shamelessly. For a young World-level cultivator like himself to be shameless in front of an Eternal Emperor didn’t really matter that much. If it meant acquiring six lifeblood weapons, a bit of thick-skinned shamelessness was nothing.

  Emperor Gonflame was speechless. “Six lifeblood weapons. Let’s put aside the amount of exhausting work that I’d have to put into it. Six lifeblood weapons… do you even know how much the materials alone would cost? Do you have any idea? You actually dare make the wild claim that you’d cover it?”

  “How much would it cost, exactly?” Ning asked.

  “To make customized swords for you? Your swords would be different from all other lifeblood weapons. Your Sword Dao encompasses all directions, which means that the lifeblood weapon also has to be truly perfect in every single aspect! The materials alone will probably cost at least three times as much as the materials needed for an ‘ordinary’ lifeblood weapon. It would take a total of thirty million cubes of chaos nectar. Six swords would cost a hundred and eighty million cubes!”

  Emperor Gonflame suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably as he looked at Ning. “Fine, I promised to give you one for free, so you’ll only have to compensate me a hundred and fifty million cubes. As for all of my time, effort, and labor… we’ll just consider it as being on the house. Heh. Heh heh. You said you will make sure I’m not operating at a loss, right? Can you give me that much?”

  Ning was speechless. He truly wasn’t able to say a single word.

  A hundred and fifty million cubes?

  This was way, way…

  Daolord Solesky of Vastheaven Palace was an extremely powerful Verge-level Daolord. In order to procure the assistance of Daolord Badlands, he had put together a collection of nearly twenty million cubes worth of chaos nectar, which represented virtually his entire treasure hoard. But of course, the treasures and weapons which he used in battle and which was part of his own ‘true strength’, he naturally didn’t sell.

  For most major powers, even if they sold off all of their most valuable treasures they still probably wouldn’t be able to come up with a hundred million cubes!

  “Weeeell?” Emperor Gonflame looked at Ning, then said teasingly, “Weren’t you talking big, just now, about how you’d make it up to me?”

  Ning was furiously racking his brain for ideas. What should he do? He had quite a few treasures, but he wasn’t even close to a hundred and fifty million cubes worth of treasure. Emperor Gonflame wished to give the Paragon of Pills face and so was willing to gift him thirty million cubes of ingredients; this was already beyond generous. It must be remembered that when Emperor Gonflame had made that offer, he had only been planning on making an ordinary lifeblood weapon that would cost him around ten million cubes. Who would’ve thought that Ning’s Sword Dao was this incredible? Emperor Gonflame couldn’t go back on his words, and so had been so generous as to promise Ning an appropriate and even more expensive weapon.

  But six? Even Ning himself felt that such a request went too far, and the Emperor probably wouldn’t agree. Such a sum of wealth would cause even someone like Emperor Gonflame to feel heartache.

  “Eh?!” A thought suddenly flashed through Ning’s mind. “Emperor,” Ning called out.

  Emperor Gonflame had been enjoying the intensely awkward look on Ning’s face. He couldn’t help but feel curious upon hearing Ning call out to him. “What is it? Do you actually have enough treasure to make up for it?”

  Ning did, of course, have enough treasure. The deceased Hegemon’s suit of ancient armor alone was worth vastly more than six lifeblood weapons. That suit of armor had been labored over by the Paragon of Pills herself, and it truly was of inestimable value. There was nowhere and no way to buy a treasure like that! As for the two Dao-seals which the deceased Hegemon had given him, the deceased Hegemon had poured all of his effort into the creation of each Dao-seal. They similarly could not be found anywhere on any market, and they would indeed more than make up for the lifeblood weapons as well.

  But Ning would never sell them, not unless he truly lost his mind. Ultimate trump cards like this simply were not to be sold.

  “This junior has a bit of information to trade,” Ning said. “I think… this bit of information should be worth a hundred and fifty million cubes of chaos nectar.”

  “Information? What sort of information could possibly be worth that much?” Emperor Gonflame was intrigued.

  “Emperor,” Ning said, “When this junior first entered the Archaeus region, I once accidentally encountered a place where I discovered an enormous, mountain-sized vein of darkspace flamestone. This mountain was more than a million kilometers in size.”

  Emperor Gonflame had been quite calm, but upon hearing the words ‘million kilometers’ he was completely stunned. He shot to his feet, staring at Ning with round eyes. “What did you just say? A million kilometers in size? A mountain of darkspace flamestone?”

  “Yes.” Ning nodded immediately.

  “How rich is the vein?” Emperor Gonflame asked.

  A ‘vein’ could mean many things. A ‘vein’ of ore in which ten thousand kilograms of rock held roughly one kilogram of pure ore would be considered a ‘vein’, but so too would a ‘vein’ in which a billion kilograms of rock held a kilogram of pure ore! The difference between the two, however, was enormous.

  “Please take a look, Emperor.” Ning waved his hand, causing a piece of ore to appear. This was one of the pieces of ore which the golem Moksha had mined.

  “This ore…” Emperor Gonflame was instantly excited when he saw that piece of ore. He was a true grandmaster of artificing, and he could immediately tell right away that it came from an incredibly rich vein. “A million kilometers of this… I… I… I’m not strong enough to own such a mountain.”

  This mountain of ore was so large and valuable that someone like him truly wasn’t qualified to claim ownership over it. In fact, Emperor Gonflame didn’t even consider trying. He was a retainer of the Paragon of Pills, after all. There was no way he could hide something like this from her. And a mine of this size… if the Paragon of Pills claimed it, there would be no one who would dare to do anything to it.

  “But there is something I must tell you. This mine already has an owner,” Ning said.

  “An owner?” Emperor Gonflame was stunned.

  “Emperor Trisil
k,” Ning said.

  Emperor Gonflame started to roar with laughter. “Ahahaha! Him? That poor, stupid bastard?” Right now, Emperor Trisilk truly was the most unfortunate Eternal Emperor in this entire universe. Emperor Maniseal was hunting him so relentlessly that he didn’t dare to show his face anywhere.”

  “Come, follow me. Let us go meet with my master.” Emperor Gonflame grabbed Ning, then stepped through the void and teleported out of his estate.

  ……

  This truly was a piece of earth-shaking information. Even the Paragon of Pills was shocked upon hearing it, and she immediately led Ning and Emperor Gonflame away from the Trileaf Realm and towards the Archaeus region.

  Whooosh.

  The five-colored space bridge continuously soared into the distance. The Paragon, Ning, and Emperor Gonflame all stood there atop the bridge. Since Ning had fled from the Sacred Immortal Realm after they had destroyed the formation protecting it, he knew exactly where it was located. This made finding it much easier.

  Rumble…

  “Here we are.”

  The black-garbed Paragon put away her bridge, then stood there in the emptiness of space with Emperor Gonflame and Ji Ning by her side.

  The blazing flames in this region weren’t able to even move close to them. The Paragon, Emperor Gonflame, and Ning all stared through the void towards the towering mountain formed from fiery red rock.

  “What an enormous vein of ore.” Emperor Gonflame was truly stunned. “Although Darknorth told me about how large it is, actually seeing it is… wow. How could there be a mountain of darkspace flamestone as large as this?”