Desolate Era

by RWX

  However, Hegemons and near-Hegemons were incredibly rare and exalted figures. The three Hegemons belonged to the Brightshore Kingdom, the Aberrant special lifeforms, and the Ancient cultivators. These three were the rulers and sovereigns their entire race. As for the near-Hegemons, they were amongst the most powerful figures each race or organization had. For now, Ning wasn’t at a level where he could get embroiled into fights with them.

  “Don’t feel jealous of me. Once you become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, I’m sure you’ll have access to a formidable protective ability of your own,” Ning said. The Ninedust Sectlord had merged two Supreme Daos together, which meant that when he became a Daolord of the Fourth Step he would instantly become one of the most powerful Daolords around. None of those Daolords would be easy to deal with.

  “True.” The Ninedust Sectlord nodded. “I’m not too far away from breaking through to the fourth step anyhow. With just a few more insights, I’ll be able to break through my bottleneck and reach the final step. By then, my mastery over water will easily allow me to gain an ‘undying waterform body’.

  Ning chuckled and nodded.

  An ‘undying waterform body’ was a fairly common technique amongst those who had reached an extremely high level in the Dao of Water. This was a technique that was much stronger than Kongsan’s ability to dissolve into darkness incarnate. Kongsan had only comprehended a single Supreme Dao, after all; his ‘darkness incarnate’ form was simply not flawless enough.

  “By then, I can just stand there and let you hit me without fighting back, but you still won’t be able to injure me,” the Ninedust Sectlord boasted smugly.

  “Oh.” Ning mumbled mentally to himself, you know, I’m actually just a Daolord of the Second Step…

  ……

  The Ninedust Sectlord had mastered his Ripplewater secret art, while Ning had now evolved his lifeblood weapons. Both had benefited significantly from this adventure.

  “Let’s go.” Ning stood atop the surface of the shattered planet. “The only thing of value here was the core, but harvesting it is too difficult.”

  “It really is, but you made a killing off of it…” The Ninedust Sectlord chuckled as he scanned his surroundings, then pointed to the source of the rainbow light. “Let’s move over there. The rainbow light is denser over there; that should be the direction from which the ancient power launched the strike.”

  “Yes, let’s go take a look.”

  The two immediately flew off the planet and towards the rainbow light. They flew several hundred kilometers alongside the light stream, moving towards the source. Both of them were quite curious; this was an ancestral site of the Ancient cultivators. Who could’ve been able to destroy a planet such as this? Most likely, only a Hegemon-level figure or someone close to that level of power.

  Swish! They traversed through space and reached the end of the rainbow light.

  “What’s that?” Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord stared in amazement at the cluster of stone passageways ahead of them. The stone passageways were brimming with flame demons, but the streak of rainbow light flew straight through the stone passageways… and the place it flew through was an absolutely enormous straight passageway that was at least two billion kilometers wide! Based on the other nearby tunnels, it could be ascertained that the ‘rainbow passageway’ was actually once filled with countless stone passageways that had been completely destroyed.

  “How terrifying,” the Ninedust Sectlord murmured. “A single strike blasted through countless stone passageways, forming a single enormous one in their stead… and then, after being weakened due to having gone through so many passageways, continued through to blast apart that planet! It had to have been a Hegemon.”

  “I agree that only a Hegemon could’ve done such a thing,” Ning concurred.

  This level of power was incredible. Both of them had learned for themselves how tough the stone passageways were, but someone had been able to blast through two billion kilometers worth of stone then shatter that planet with a single strike. This level of power was beyond their imagination. As they saw it, only the nigh-omnipotent Hegemons could’ve done such a thing.

  “This place must really be that legendary place…” Waves of shock and awe began to fill the Ninedust Sectlord’s heart as he grew certain of his guess.

  “Come, Ninedust. Let’s go through and see what lies on the other end of the rainbow passageway,” Ning said.

  “Agreed.” The Ninedust Sectlord nodded. The two then flew into the rainbow passageway.

  The rainbow passageway was brimming with remnant power. There was simply no way to avoid it, and so both used their secret arts to resist as best possible. After being ablated by their secret arts, the remnant power no longer posed a threat to them at all when it washed over their divine bodies.

  ……

  The rainbow passageway was two billion kilometers wide and so long that they couldn’t see to the end of it. The two followed the rainbow light, forging a pathway forwards. The closer they moved to the source, the stronger the layers of power became. However, they were both able to hold; for now, they had yet to reach their limits.

  The Ninedust Sectlord sent mentally, “If we were pulled into a fight, I’d only be able to unleash around 20% of my full power right now. This is absolutely terrifying. The remnant power from a single strike that was unleashed countless aeons ago is still able to suppress me to such an extent!”

  “I’ve been whittled down to a fraction of my full power as well,” Ning said. He had the Hegemon’s armor, allowing him to endure the damage, but the fact that the remnant energy was so omnipresent meant that he would at most be able to pull out 30%-40% of his true power when using sword-arts.

  They continued to fly forwards.

  “Is that an entrance up ahead?” Ning was rather puzzled. The rainbow light lowered visibility, but he could vaguely see that the end was up ahead.

  “It does look like that.” The Ninedust Sectlord gripped his longstaff and sent mentally, “Be careful, Darknorth. Let’s not lose our lives at the very end of this journey.”

  “Agreed.” Ning manifested three heads and six arms and wielded his six Northbow swords with great caution.

  Swoosh! Swoosh! There really was an exit a the end of the rainbow tunnel. When they simultaneously flew through the tunnel, they suddenly felt their bodies expanding dramatically in size. Ten thousand times, a million times, a billion times…

  “What’s going on?!” Both of them felt perplexed and they simultaneously turned to look backwards. They saw a hole directly behind them; this was the hole they had just flown out of. As they had rapidly increased in size, the hole had shrank in comparison.

  “T-t-that’s…” Both of them were stupefied. Behind them they saw a towering, pitch-black humanoid figure lying on the ground. The figure was 540,000 meters tall, and a hole that was just a few meters wide could be seen over his chest. Clearly, the hole had punctured straight through his chest and into his body.

  As for Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord, they had just flown out of this humanoid creature’s chest wound.

  The two landed on the ground. They stared at the fallen, towering giant figure with astonished gazes. “W-w-we were actually inside its body this entire time?” Ning could hardly believe it.

  “Those countless stone passageways we went through were just part of its body? Those flame demons and earth devils, and that powerful planet? They were all just part of its body as well?” The Ninedust Sectlord couldn’t believe it either.

  A grain of sand, an entire world.

  This humanoid creature looked like it was ‘merely’ 540,000 meters tall, but within its body was an endlessly vast space that gave birth to flame demons, earth devils, and even mortal lifeforms! This was truly unbelievable.

  “I don’t think it was an actual living being. Actual living beings should have divine power and Immortal energy within their bodies, but it only had those endless stone passageways,” the Ninedust Sectlord said.


  “It doesn’t seem to be a cultivator.” Ning nodded in agreement.

  They then began to carefully inspect their surroundings. This was an enormous cave they were in, and they were in just one corner of it. The two began to walk through the cave and inspect it.

  “Look over there.” Ning pointed off into the distance, a stunned look on his face. Far away there were two figures who could be seen. One was a white-robed figure who lay on the ground, completely unmoving. The other was seated in the lotus position, a peaceful look on his face. Both of these enormous figures emanated auras of incredible might, the might of a Hegemon. Ning had seen three Hegemon corpses in the Genesis Lands of the alternate universe, and now he had found two more here in this cave.

  “Is that…” The Ninedust Sectlord stared at the two figures, his gaze quickly focusing on the man seated peacefully in the lotus position. The Ninedust Sectlord’s body trembled slightly as he murmured, “An ancestor. That’s one of the ancestors…”

  * * *

  Book 30, Chapter 32 - The History of the Terror Starsea

  “Ninedust, so this is an ancestor of the Ancient cultivators?” Upon hearing the Ninedust Sectlord’s mumbles, Ji Ning turned to look curiously at the peaceful-looking man seated in the lotus position. The man seemed to be a world unto himself, and was filled with peace and benevolence. Just looking at him, Ning felt calm and tranquil in his heart. In addition, the ancient figure gave Ning a very strange feeling, a feeling similar to the one which the Ninedust Sectlord gave him.

  Perhaps this was due to the fact that members of the same race would all share certain commonalities.

  When Ning had first met the Ninedust Sectlord, he had no idea that the man was an Ancient cultivator. Once he met more of them, however, he would probably be able to recognize them at a glance.

  “Yes. This is one of our oldest ancestors.” The Ninedust Sectlord walked over in a reverential manner. Ning followed from behind, inspecting the man closely.

  There were two deceased Hegemons. The white-robed Hegemon simply lay there on the ground, and just by moving closer to him Ning began to feel as though the world around him was twisting and distorting into hallucinations. Fortunately, his soul and his mind were both very strong, and the effect was nothing more than a natural phenomena caused by the presence of the deceased Hegemon’s body. As a result, Ning was able to endure the effect. By comparison, the Ancient cultivator seated in the lotus position was much more peaceful.

  After they moved closer, the Ninedust Sectlord fell to his knees and kowtowed respectfully. “Redwater pays his respects to you, ancestor.”

  There was a dark-red longstaff to the side of the Ancient ancestor, and the aura emanating from it shocked Ning. “A Universe treasure?” He had seen the broken sword in the Sword Palace of the Brightshore Kingdom, and had also encountered the deceased Sword Hegemon’s dark blue greatsword in the Genesis Lands of the alternate universe. As a result, he was able to almost instantly ascertain that the dark-red longstaff next to this Ancient ancestor was also a Universe treasure.

  Whoosh. A stream of light suddenly flew out from the dark-red longstaff, transforming into a bald, black-robed youth.

  “Gentlemen.” The bald, black-robed youth had a calm, peaceful gaze that seemed to hold all the stars in the night sky, and his voice echoed within the cave.

  “Senior,” the Ninedust Sectlord immediately called out humbly, a hint of excitement in his eyes. This was a Universe treasure! And a longstaff at that. He himself used longstaffs!

  “Senior.” Ning called out with respect as well.

  Any and every Universe treasure was worthy of respect, because every single one was born after experiencing endless trials and tribulations. They were utterly supreme amongst treasures, and they would only submit to those whom they truly acknowledged. Otherwise, there was no way to control them whatsoever.

  “You are the fifth and the sixth to come to this place,” the bald, black-robed youth said peacefully.

  Ning was secretly stunned upon hearing this. The fifth and the sixth? When they had visited Skywind’s homeland, they had been the fourth and the fifth. It seemed as though there was another expert who had reached this place without entering Skywind’s home.

  “Since you have been able to survive and reach this place, it means that you both have had a number of fortuitous encounters in your life. Before dying, Master ordained that all Ancient cultivators would have a chance to earn some rewards from him if they could pass some of his tests. If there is someone capable of passing all the tests, I would be willing to follow that person,” the youth said.

  “Pass all the tests?” The Ninedust Sectlord’s eyes lit up. If he passed everything, he would gain a Universe treasure? In the past, he never would’ve even dared to imagine such a thing. It must be remembered that virtually no Eternal Emperors wielded Universe treasures, much less Daolords. Only the most ridiculously lucky of Daolords would ever have a chance to acquire a Universe treasure.

  “Emperor Vulturas came to this place before. Did he fail the test?” Ning suddenly asked.

  The Ninedust Sectlord was stunned. Oh, right. Patriarch Vulturas had completed his Daomerge in Skywind’s homeland. After gaining eternity, he became a major power who was second only to the Hegemons in might. Had he failed to acquire the Universe treasure as well?

  “Vulturas did indeed come here. He was the only Eternal Emperor to make it here, and he gained a prize for himself.” The youth nodded. “But passing the trials requires not just power; it also requires destiny. Vulturas and I were not destined to be.”

  “Dare I ask, what are the trials?” The Ninedust Sectlord was rather excited. He was willing to risk everything for this. If he was lucky, he might end up with an Eternal weapon as the prize!

  “All you need to do is walk closer to Master. Master set up formations and restrictive spells in the area; once you activate them, the trials will begin,” the youth said. “The better you perform, the more gifts you shall win for yourself. I shall be the arbiter of it all.”

  “Understood.” The Ninedust Sectlord immediately walked over, moving towards the peacefully seated Ancient ancestor. Suddenly, he seemed to run into an invisible barrier. A few dimensional fluctuations spread out, and he disappeared without a trace.

  The youth then turned to glance at Ning. He said calmly, “You are not an Ancient cultivator. You are not permitted to earn any of my Master’s treasures.”

  Ning nodded helplessly.

  “I personally don’t have any bias against non-Ancient cultivators,” the black-robed youth said. “However, Master’s dying instructions were that if our side won the Dawn War, his treasures were to be left to Ancient cultivators and Ancient cultivators alone. However, if our side lost the Dawn War, then anyone would be able to win his treasures, be they Aberrants, Chaos Godbeasts, or ordinary cultivators like yourself.”

  Ning was puzzled. “The Dawn War?”

  “You do not know of it?” The youth asked.

  “I do not.” Ning shook his head.

  The youth nodded in an uncaring manner. “It was a war that caused the true downfall of the Ancient cultivators as a race. Long, long ago, the Ancient cultivators were born from the primordial chaos as the most perfect of all living beings. They unified the entire universe under their rule! Even the Chaos Godbeasts were enslaved by them, while the Aberrants were all forced to bend the knee.”

  Ning nodded. He had heard of this before.

  “Afterwards, as time flowed on, more and more ordinary mortal beings came to be born. Ordinary mortals expanded and propagated at incredible speeds, and thus they rose to power at an inconceivable rate. They quickly became a race that was second only to the Ancient cultivators in the endless primordial chaos, and towards the end they actually became close to a match for the Ancients.”

  Ning couldn’t help but sigh. The Dao Alliance truly was formidable.

  “But then, a disaster happened. This disaster was an extremely large-sc
ale one. Many powerful cultivators in our homeland and even in distant places within the Great Dark were forced to join hands and fight back against this tribulation.”

  “A tribulation?” Ning was surprised.

  “Look.” The youth pointed towards the slumped humanoid figure off in the distance. “You just came out of its body. You should’ve noticed that it is different from ordinary cultivators.”

  Ning nodded. Ordinary cultivators should’ve had divine power in their bodies. How could they have stone passageways, flame demons, earth devils, and strange planets?

  “It was a member of our enemies, one of the most powerful of their kind,” the youth said. “If we lost that war, we would’ve been annihilated. If they lost, they would’ve been annihilated as well. This was a war of extermination, a war for survival. Both sides fought like mad, and all of us here joined forces. Back then, our five Hegemons commanded a host of Eternal Emperors to fight back against them! Even experts came from deep within the Great Dark to reinforce us… and in the end, a great battle was fought in the place now known as the Terror Starsea.”

  “This battle was known as the Dawn War.”

  “Back then, we Ancients had a total of three Hegemons. The Dao Alliance had one Hegemon, while the Aberrants also had one Hegemon. All of them died.” The youth continued, “An incredible number of powerful experts took part in that battle, and a steady stream of reinforcements came from within or beyond the Great Dark. The battle within the Terror Starsea was absolutely terrifying, and in the end I learned that the Dao Alliance, the Ancients, and the others resettled their homeland. This meant that the enemy had been defeated. We had won.”

  “The Dawn War was a severe blow to the Ancient cultivators. They had lost all three of their Hegemons.” The bald, black-robed youth shook his head and sighed. “The Dao Alliance was actually the quickest to recover, and many of their experts eventually drifted into the endless Great Dark in search of adventure. Do not blame Master for being unwilling to share his treasures with you; he knew that you ordinary cultivators would recover far more quickly than his race would. So long as you were not completely wiped out, there would definitely come a day where you surpassed the Ancients. For him to show a bit of selfishness in caring more about his own race is normal.”