Desolate Era

by RWX

  In other words… if Ning was willing to pay the necessary cost, he could stretch his heartworld projection to cover an entire territory!

  * * *

  Book 32, Chapter 7 - The First Voidsea Jadeseal

  To use a heartworld projection to cover the Waveshift Realm was very easy. At present, there were a total of over twenty Heartforce Cultivators located within the Waveshift Realm! All of them sent out their heartworld projections to scan the Waveshift Realm and to clearly scan the region where the first Voidsea Jadeseal was located.

  There were many heartworld projections covering this realm, Ning’s included, but none of the heartworld projections contained any offensive elements to them. Thus, none of the heartworld projections interfered with the others! If there was a decision to actually fight with them, the power of the various heartworld projections would clash against each other, and the projections of second-tier Heartforce Cultivators like Ji Ning and Daolord Soleman would’ve been instantly crushed flat.

  As for Winesage, Sectlord Timedream, and Palace Lord Cloudwalker, all three of them were supreme Heartforce Cultivators. If they sent their heartworld projections against each other, the end result would simply be that none of them would be able to scan the area at all.

  A ‘fight’ with heartworld projections would result in it being impossible for anyone to scan the area. Thus, everyone behaved in a ‘peaceful’ manner and quietly scanned the region.

  “Eh?” Ji Ning was able to ‘see’ it now. He saw a tall mountain range which held a dazzling pillar of white light within it. “The Voidsea Jadeseal is located right inside that mountain.” Ning turned to look at Ninedust, Solesky, and Badlands. “The mountain is protected by various protective barriers and seals. There is no way for our heartworld projections to go past those barriers.”

  Heartworld projections covered vast swathes of land, but there were certain types of formations and barriers that could disrupt them. In fact, there were some formations that were so strong and so secretive that heartworld projections couldn’t even detect their presence. Other formations, however, were ‘publicly visible’. As for the ones covering this mountain range, it completely blocked out all forms of scrying!

  “Let’s move there as soon as possible. If we’re too slow, someone else will probably end up seizing it,” Ning immediately said.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Let’s move right away.”

  Ning and the others immediately began to fly as quickly as possible, with Badlands assisting them in using Numerancy to divine the best route to their destination. There were some extremely well-hidden formations here, after all; if they weren’t careful, they might end up trapped within one of them.

  ……

  “The Voidsea Jadeseal is right there! It’s quite close to us.” A seven-man Daolord squad was filled with excitement. The seal really was quite close to them!

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! All of them transformed into streaks of light as they flew towards that direction at maximum speed.

  “Brother Winesage, brother Timedream, we can’t let the Voidsea Jadeseals fall into their hands. Brother Timedream, your heartworld projection is the strongest. Use it to suppress them or perhaps even kill them if possible,” a mental voice rang out.

  “Agreed. Timedream, you do it.”

  “Agreed. Sorry for this, my Heartforce Cultivator friends.”

  Sectlord Timedream was ranked fifth amongst the Daolords, second only to the Radiant King! But he was different from Winesage. Winesage trained concurrently in heartforce, whereas Sectlord Timedream focused all of his efforts in heartforce! His heartworld projection was much larger than even those of Winesage and Palace Lord Cloudwalker.

  “SUPPRESS!” BOOM! A heartworld projection above the seven Daolords suddenly exploded with power. All other heartworld projections, including those of Winesage and Ji Ning, were all instantly crushed apart. Of course, this was only achieved with such ease because everyone had their heartworld projections in scanning mode with no offensive elements to them, making them easy to destroy.

  This was a blurry, illusory world which held a single supreme god who was seated up high, with countless living beings prostrating before him in submission.

  “Submit. Submit. Submit.” Countless voices rang out in the minds of the seven Daolords as the terrifying heartworld projection pressed down upon them like an infinitely vast mountain.

  “Ahhhh!” A gray-robed old lady let out a miserable scream as she was extinguished by the projection.

  “How could it be this strong?!” Another Daolord let out a miserable scream as his body disintegrated under the crushing power of the projection.

  The other five Daolords, however, managed to survive.

  Only a small number of second-tier Daolords had techniques similar to an ‘invulnerable form’; Ning, for example, had no such technique. Not even the Ninedust Sectlord had access to such an ability before he broke through to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step. These five had no choice but to endure the heartworld projection head-on.

  “What a powerful heartworld projection.” The five Daolords exchanged a glance, their faces pale. They felt as though they were trapped in quicksand. They were now moving at a ridiculously slow pace, and they were perhaps able to at best fly at 1% of their normal speed.

  “It must be Sectlord Timedream who has made his move.” The five of them were utterly amazed. They were second-tier Daolords, and thus they didn’t really understand how vast the gap was between them and the most supreme Daolords of the Endless Territories. All they knew was that challenging those Daolords was suicide. It must be remembered that even supreme Daolords differ in power. Daolord Shaka, for example, was currently ranked as number thirteen. If some of the more low-key Daolords were included in the ranking, he’d probably be pushed even further back.

  Sectlord Timedream, however, was different. He was the most powerful ‘pure’ Heartforce Cultivator.

  “Damn.” One of the five, a short and chubby alien, suddenly produced a black metal medallion in his hands. A fierce light flashed through his eyes as he suddenly crushed it.

  Boom! A halo of black light appeared around his short and pudgy form, completely protecting him and ensuring that he wasn’t disturbed by the heartworld projection in the slightest.

  “Time to go.” The short alien dramatically sped up as he endured the pressure of the heartworld projection.

  “Daolord Redgem!”

  “Redgem, you bastard!”

  The other four Daolords turned pale. Although they had certain treasures as well, they were useless against the weight and pressure of a heartworld projection. Some were meant to flee through transcending spacetime, some were offensive in nature… none of them were useful right now. What would they do with an offensive treasure? Attack the empty space? Heartworld projections were illusory projections of power; only treasures like the one Daolord Redgem had used, a treasure that could completely protect the entire body and prevent anything from affecting it, would be of use. Those treasures, however, were incredibly rare.

  Swoosh. Just three seconds later, Daolord Redgem reached that mountain range and charged straight inside it.

  “No!”

  “Why is this happening?”

  “My Voidsea Jadeseal!” The other four Daolords were incredibly anxious. Although they all belonged to the same squad and had long ago sworn lifeblood oaths not to harm each other, none of them were obligated to give up this opportunity to any of the others. All of them desperately wanted to acquire a Voidsea Jadeseal and they would use whatever abilities they had. Whoever was the first to acquire a seal would be the one it would belong to.

  ……

  “Brother Winesage, brother Cloudwalker, I’ve crushed two of the seven Daolords to death. Of the remaining five, Daolord Redgem has used some sort of strange treasure to resist my heartworld projection and has already charged into the mountain range,” Sectlord Timedream sent to the other two.

  “Those fiv
e don’t matter! We have one major problem right now,” Winesage sent back, “King Gorsch is very close to that mountain. He should make it inside within a hundred seconds.”

  “King Gorsch?” Sectlord Timedream instantly spread out his heartworld projection a bit further. Previously, he had kept it tightly focused and concentrated on the seven closest Daolords. As soon as he spread it out, he instantly discovered a silver-robed figure whose entire body was bathed in blazing red flames. King Gorsch had an icy look on his face and a berserk look in his eyes as he charged towards the pillar of light at maximum speed.

  “King Gorsch? What should we do? There’s no way we can stop him. Given how strong he is, once he gets there he’ll probably end up grabbing the Voidsea Jadeseal. Once he takes possession over it, it’ll be very hard for us to take it back,” Sectlord Timedream sent back.

  “Stop him and slow him down as much as possible.”

  “Hmph. Even if he does get it, he can forget about escaping with it.”

  Winesage, Timedream, and Cloudwalker were all thinking the same thing. It was very difficult for supreme Daolords to be killed, but all the other supreme Daolords would go all-out in their attempts to acquire the Voidsea Jadeseals. They would all take out their most important life-preserving treasures! Face with such maddened attacks, even experts like King Gorsch could well perish. By comparison, however, King Gorsch would still be a far tougher foe to deal with than the likes of Daolord Redgem.

  Boom! In the end, it was Sectlord Timedream once more who reached out to suppress King Gorsch with his heartworld projection. The midair King Gorsch instantly sensed a terrifying power press down upon him, causing his speed to drop dramatically. A savage look appeared on his face as he howled angrily, “Timedream, you dare bar my path?”

  “You guessed it.” Sectlord Timedream’s voice rang out by King Gorsch’s ears. “Gorsch, forget about acquiring this Voidsea Jadeseal!”

  “No one can stop me! Anyone who tries will die!” King Gorsch endured the pressure of the heartworld projection as he continued his charge, flames continuing to roll off of his body and clash against the heartworld projection. He was still able to move at 70% of his maximum speed, and he continued his headlong charge towards the mountain range.

  As this was happening, the other Daolords in the ninth layer were also making haste towards the mountain. Some were far, some were close, but the only Daolord who the likes of Winesage and Sectlord Timedream really cared about was King Gorsch.

  “The Voidsea Jadeseal isn’t too far away from me. I have a shot.” A man dressed in thick gray armor was flying forwards at high speed, his eyes glowing with green light. He was an Aberrant special lifeform whose true form was that of a strange boulder. By nature, he liked to live a peaceful and quiet life, which was why he wasn’t very well-known in the Endless Territories. What no one realized was that he was actually the most powerful Daolord amongst all the Aberrants. Only something like the Voidsea Jadeseal was enough to cause a private, peace-loving figure like him to choose to leave his home and come here to the Waveshift Realm.

  * * *

  Book 32, Chapter 8 - King Gorsch

  Swoosh. A black vessel was flying through the skies at high speed, with Ji Ning and the others atop the flying vessel. The vessel sometimes slowed down but sometimes sped up. Every so often, it would twist and turn.

  “We’re too far away, and the ninth layer is filled with far too many dangers. It’ll probably take us seven or eight months before we reach that mountain. By then, the Voidsea Jadeseal would’ve been taken long ago.” The Ninedust Sectlord was rather anxious.

  “We still have a shot,” Ning disagreed. “My heartworld projection has been keeping watch on the world. Winesage, Sectlord Timedream, Fiendqueen Dustrain, and the others are much farther away than we are. They’re furiously trying to get there as soon as they can as well. All of the Daolords close to the mountain are frantically trying to get inside the mountain. No matter who ends up with the Voidsea Jadeseal, it won’t be easy for them to escape.”

  “Agreed.” The nearby Daolord Badlands had been seated with his eyes closed as he engaged in some Numerancy. He suddenly opened his eyes and nodded slowly. “I’ve finally finished my divinations.”

  “You’ve finished your divinations?” Ning, Ninedust, and Solesky turned to look at him, their eyes lighting up.

  “I can vaguely ‘see’ the insane battle which is about to erupt. One Daolord after another will perish,” Daolord Badlands said. “The struggles over this Voidsea Jadeseal will be incredibly intense and lethal! No one will be able to leave with it with ease.”

  “Good.” Ning and the others were actually delighted by this. Many Daolords would die? Who cared! All of them wanted to acquire one of the jade seals.

  “Hahaha, we might actually be able make it in time after all.” Solesky was excited.

  “Considering the size of the ninth layer, our group is actually fairly close to that mountain. Daolord Skyaxe and big brother Soleman are more than ten times as far away as we are,” Ning said. “And we’re much closer than Winesage as well.”

  The closer you were, the better your chances would be.

  ……

  Within the mountain. Daolord Redgem had been the first to charge in. He swept the area with his gaze, only to see nothing in the surrounding mountains.

  “Where is the Voidsea Jadeseal? Where?!” Daolord Redgem was frantic. He knew that every single second he wasted might result in his death. “Come out!” He swept out with his godsense, but the barriers within the mountain range made it so that he was unable to find it at all.

  “Break! Break! Break!” The anxious Daolord Redgem manifested a total of eighteen arms, sending all of them to strike out at the nearby mountains in a wanton fashion. Boom! Boom! Boom! Stones split apart and shattered. In virtually just the blink of an eye, every part of the entire mountain range had been blasted and struck. Deep within the mountain, a stone pillar suddenly revealed itself as the surrounding stones were blasted apart. The stone pillar held atop of it a milky-white jade seal that was round and glowed with light. The jade seal was absolutely beautiful and intoxicating to behold.

  “My Voidsea Jadeseal!” Daolord Redgem was incredibly excited. He instantly charged forwards as he sent all eighteen of his arms to smash against the stone pillar. BOOM! An enormous sound could be heard as the formations protecting the pillar were destroyed. In truth, the formations on the stone pillar were meant to hide it, and they themselves weren’t all that powerful.

  “Ahahah! The Voidsea Jadeseal is mine!” Daolord Redgem grabbed the round seal. It looked like nothing more than an unusual piece of jade. Its surface glowed with incredibly pure light and no runes or patterns could be seen atop it. When Daolord Redgem grabbed it, he sent just a tendril of his Immortal energy into it could instantly sense that it was beginning to form an ‘illusory body’ within the jade seal that was absolutely identical to his true body.

  Daolord Redgem immediately put the seal away. He suppressed his joy, his gaze turning cold and baleful. “Now, I need to come up with a way to immediately escape the Waveshift Realm! The realm is protected by the Grand Waveshift Formation, making it impossible for me to use any sort of temporal or dimensional escaping method. If I want to escape this place, my only choice is to physically fly out of it.”

  “I’ll go back the same way I came in. I remember the exact path I took, so I won’t run into any dangerous regions. Time to go all out!” Daolord Redgem gritted his teeth, then took out an escape-type Dao-seal and shattered it.

  He was an unremarkable figure within the Waveshift Realm, but he was still a second-tier Daolord who was on the same general level as Kongsan or Ji Ning. He had more than ten protective treasures on him, and escape-type treasures were naturally included.

  Swish! He instantly transformed into a streak of light and began to charge outwards. When he escaped the mountain, he instantly saw his four Daolord companions off in the distance. They were still being suppres
sed by Sectlord Timedream’s heartworld projection and thus were unable to fly at as much as 1% of their normal speed. They still had yet to even reach the mountain!

  “Redgem!” Their eyes turned red as they glared at him.

  “Hmph. Gentlemen, I found the Voidsea Jadeseal so it naturally belongs to me.” Daolord Redgem’s body was still protected by that barrier of black light. Now that he had also used an evasion-type Dao-seal, he was moving at more than a hundred times the speed of light.

  Swish! Daolord Redgem completely ignored his compatriots as he hurriedly moved to flee.

  “You want to run?” An enraged roar rang out from off in the distance as a figure completely bathed in crimson flames charged towards him, radiating an aura of overwhelming power.

  Rumble… the crimson flames suddenly spread out, giving Daolord Redgem no chance to dodge as they instantly surrounded him.

  “King Gorsch?” Daolord Redgem’s face tightened slightly, but his eyes were filled with madness. “No one can stop me!” The Dao-seal he had used to resist the heartworld projection still had some power left and thus it was also able to resist the terrifying crimson flames.

  Swoosh! Daolord Redgem was simply too fast. Although he was weaker than King Gorsch, in a real battle there was no way King Gorsch would be able to stop him through speed alone.

  “Halt!” King Gorsch let out an enraged roar as he waved his hand. Instantly, an enormous illusory formation descended to cover an area of a hundred million kilometers, with Daolord Redgem naturally being caught inside.