Desolate Era

by RWX

  There were a number of supreme Daolords who had spacetime teleportation devices which were comparable to the spacetime disc which Ning had acquired from the Brightshore Hegemon, but there was no way to use them here. King Gorsch, the Radiant King… all Daolords who acquired Voidsea Jadeseal talismans would be forced to physically flee. If they escaped, the treasure would be theirs. If they failed, they would be doomed.

  ……

  The Twelve Palaces of Brightshore. The Spacetime Palace.

  Aside from Prince Greatjoy, the other dazzling genius the Spacetime Palace had recently produced was known as Gorho.

  Gorho had been captured alongside Ning, but he was comparatively slower in his cultivation. He had just become a Daolord roughly ten thousand years ago, and had only recently become a Daolord of the Second Step.

  “Eh?” Gorho was located within the ‘Spacetime Dreamrealm’ of the Spacetime Palace. He had been seated in the lotus position within a chaos planet and quietly meditating, but he suddenly opened his eyes.

  “Father…” Gorho could sense something deep within his very bloodline tremble.

  “Father… father…” Gorho’s eyes instantly reddened. “H-how could he have died…” After becoming a Daolord, he had created an avatar which had been stationed amongst the Aeonians. He naturally was amongst the first to receive word of King Gorsch’s death. He was the most promising descendant of King Gorsch, who cared about him greatly and had paved the way for him.

  Gorho felt tremendous love and affection towards his father. His father was the most important person in his life.

  “Radiant King!” Gorho’s eyes were blood-red but filled with tears. He howled, “Radiant King, I’m definitely going to kill you! I’m going to KILL YOU!”

  In this moment, his world was filled with nothing but hatred.

  ……

  Countless Daolords had worked themselves into a frenzy over the first Voidsea Jadeseal. In the end, the Radiant King left with it and successfully escaped, no longer taking part in any of the other battles that were to come. In truth, he himself had been terrified by this experience. When he had fled, he had been waylaid by one group of Daolords after another. He had previously held many of those Daolords in little regard, but when they joined forces they were still tremendously dangerous to him.

  “Alas.” Ning and the others shook their heads and sighed. “All that chasing for nothing.” There was nothing they could do. They had been pulling closer and closer to King Gorsch, but the Radiant King had steadily pulled away from them.

  “It’s fine. There are five of those Voidsea Jadeseals. That was just the first one,” the Ninedust Sectlord said. “We still have a shot.”

  “But those two hunts were simply terrifying,” Daolord Solesky said.

  “Yes, yes they were.” Ning shook his head and sighed.

  Daolord Redgem.

  Daolord Qianqing.

  Fiendking Nobleguard.

  All of them had been famous Daolords. Now, they were nothing. King Gorsch had slain nineteen Daolords during his flight, while the Radiant King had killed seven more after slaying King Gorsch and escaping.

  In total, twenty-six Daolords had perished… and that wasn’t including King Gorsch! Of the twenty-six, there were twenty-four who had been on the same level as Kongsan! The other two were on the same level as Solesky and Clearwind.

  “So many powerful Daolords have died in an incredibly short period of time. One of the top ten died as well!” The Ninedust Sectlord said heavily, “Of the four remaining seals, one is in the ninth layer while the other three are in the even more dangerous tenth layer. I really wonder how many Daolords will end up dying. Quite a few of the top ten will die, I think.”

  Suddenly, a blurry streak of rainbow light appeared in the skies. Ning and the others all raised their heads, only to see a white-robed man’s figure slowly coalesce from the light.

  “Realmsoul Polo.” Countless images of Realmsoul Polo had appeared within the Waveshift Realm, and each one of them stared down at a group of Daolords.

  “The first Voidsea Jadeseal has already been taken away by the Daolord known as the Radiant King.” The realmsoul’s voice echoed throughout heaven and earth. “It seems as though there is no way any of the other Daolords will be able to take it from him. Thus… I’ll go ahead and make public the location of the second Voidsea Jadeseal.”

  All of the Daolords immediately held their breaths. This was the second and final Voidsea Jadeseal within the ninth layer. After their previous experience, they all now knew how deadly the fight over it would be and how hard it would be to take it away safely. The weaker Daolords probably wouldn’t even dare to enter the tenth layer and seek out the seals there.

  “The second Voidsea Jadeseal is the last one the vast majority of you Daolords will have a shot at acquiring,” Realmsoul Polo said. “This is because only the most supreme of Daolords have a chance at surviving the region where the final three seals are located. If weaker Daolords attempt to go there, they’ll definitely perish.”

  “Definitely perish?” Ning and many of the others were shocked. The vast majority of them were second-tier Daolords or even weaker third-tier Daolords like Solesky and Patriarch Clearwind. Judging from what the realmsoul had just said, even second-tier Daolords would definitely perish if they entered. They wouldn’t even have a chance at the final three seals!

  “Thus, Daolords… do your best if you want to earn the second seal. Once this opportunity is gone, you won’t have another one!” Realmsoul Polo seemed to want to cause as much chaos as possible. He waved his finger, then pointed directly towards Ning’s location. “The second Voidsea Jadeseal is right there!”

  BOOM! A pillar of light erupted from behind them!

  Ning, Ninedust, Solesky, and Badlands all turned their heads, only to see that the beam of light rising up from a nearby river. Obviously, the Voidsea Jadeseal was right inside the river!

  “It’s right there!”

  “We were that close to it?”

  “It’s right next to us?”

  Ning, Ninedust, Solesky, and Badlands were all stunned. The seal was incredibly close to them; they would probably be able to dive into the river in less than a second!

  “Move, move, move!” Ning sent a frantic mental message to the others. “Be careful of the heartworld projection!” As he spoke, he immediately unleashed his nine novessence arts and also used his own heartworld projection to cover and protect his people. Based on what Ning knew, Sectlord Timedream would probably immediately use his heartworld projection to crush and suppress them. Him and Ninedust would be able to endure it, and Solesky would probably be able to just barely survive it thanks to his invulnerable aquaform, but Badlands’ avatar wouldn’t be able to endure it.

  The Ninedust Sectlord immediately unleashed his Ripplewater art as well, then charged straight towards the river. “Do your best, everyone. Whoever is the first one to find the Voidsea Jadeseal will become its owner.”

  “Let’s see who is the first to find it!” Ning, Solesky, and Badlands all flew towards the river as well.

  * * *

  Book 32, Chapter 11 - The Focal Spot

  “The second Voidsea Jadeseal is the only shot we have. We have to acquire it, no matter what the cost!” This was what the vast majority of the frantic Daolords within the ninth layer were thinking. Realmsoul Polo’s words had let them realize that the final three seals were out of their grasp, with only the most supreme of Daolords having a shot at them. This naturally meant that they were all the more frantic to acquire the second seal!

  Moments later, Realmsoul Polo pointed towards a certain direction. “There’s where it is.”

  “Let’s go, hurry!”

  “We need to go there at maximum speed!”

  All of the Daolords within the ninth layer frantically charged towards that direction. As for the Daolords who were in the eighth layer, they all shared the same hope: “Perhaps the ones who acquire the Voidsea Jadeseal will flee in
our general direction with it.”

  Boom! Boom! Boom! One heartworld projection after another descended upon the location of the second Voidsea Jadeseal.

  The most supreme Daolords, including Sectlord Timedream and Daolord Tigrone, were just as anxious as the weaker Daolords. Daolord Tigrone’s displayed prowess in continuously holding the upper hand in his fight against King Gorsch had caused the Palace of Immortals to once more update its rankings. King Gorsch had completely vanished from the list, with Daolord Tigrone assuming his original position at number seven.

  “Daolord Darknorth is the closest to that position.”

  “Darknorth and Solesky of Vastheaven Palace are over there!”

  The Heartforce Cultivators all conversed with each other regarding this. Prior to this, Ning had been a member of this informal association as well, but with him being the closest to the second Voidsea Jadeseal he was obviously now the common enemy of all other Daolords.

  “I’ll suppress them,” Sectlord Timedream immediately sent mentally.

  “Delay them and trap them as quickly as possible,” Winesage sent mentally. Winesage was feeling quite frantic as well. Judging from how things were shaking out with the first and second seals, power mattered but luck mattered just as much! Although Winesage was without question the most powerful Daolord present, if he was too far away he would have no shot at acquiring one, no matter how much he wanted it.

  ……

  BOOM!

  Although this took time to describe, in truth it happened almost instantly. Sectlord Timedream’s heartworld projection came crashing down, suppressing Ning, Ninedust, Solesky, and Badlands as they ran.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! The nine novessence arts and the Ripplewater art blasted out, fighting back against Sectlord Timedream’s heartworld projection. Ning’s own heartworld projection came crashing out as well, doing its best to disrupt Timedream’s.

  Ning’s own heartworld projection ended up crumbling repeatedly, but the nine novessence arts and the Ripplewater arts were able to hold on despite shuddering and shaking. Ning, Solesky, Ninedust, and Badlands weren’t impeded or slowed down in the slightest, and they charged straight towards that nearby river.

  “Everyone, Daolord Darknorth and his squad are closest to this second seal. Their squad includes Daolord Solesky and Daolord Badlands.” Sectlord Timedream immediately sent this information to the squads of Daolords who were closest to that area. “They have incredibly powerful secret arts and a heartworld projection at all, allowing them to just barely negate the power of my heartworld projection. You have to be careful when fighting them, gentlemen.”

  “Daolord Darknorth’s squad?”

  “Vastheaven Palace truly is lucky.”

  “We have to stop them.”

  The nearby squads of Daolords all frantically charged towards Ning’s position.

  ……

  “Damn!” Winesage had an ugly look on his face, his black robes fluttering in the wind. “The second one is almost as far from me as the previous one was.”

  The first Voidsea Jadeseal had been very far away from Winesage; Ning’s group had been much closer by comparison. The second Voidsea Jadeseal was a bit closer, but as everyone had chased after King Gorsch they had naturally began to draw closer and closer to each other. Compared to where the other Daolords were located, Winesage was still very far away from Ning’s squad!

  “What the hell is going on? Am I experiencing bad luck to balance out my overwhelming advantage in power?” An anxious look was in Winesage’s eyes.

  Swish! Although he was enraged and anxious, he still charged straight towards Ning’s direction. They were fairly far away, and there were a number of supreme Daolords much closer than him. Despite that, he still moved towards Ning’s direction. So long as he had a chance, he wouldn’t give it up.

  ……

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The four of them dove into the water, one after the other. Ninedust was the fastest, Ning was second, Solesky was third, and Badlands was last. However, since they were all so close to the river, there really wasn’t much of a difference between them as they dove in.

  “Where is it?”

  “Where is the Voidsea Jadeseal?”

  Ninedust was the first to dive into the water, and he stared downwards as he frantically sought the seal.

  “It’s coming from over there!” This river was so incredibly wide and deep it had some underwater mountains and valleys at the bottom. The white pillar of light was coming from one of those underwater valleys.

  Swoosh! Ninedust immediately charged towards that gorge.

  “It’s over there!” Ning was just a heartbeat slower, and he immediately flew towards that gorge as well. Solesky and Badlands quickly followed right behind him.

  They were all very good friends, but this matter involved their chances at the Daomerge. None of them would give up this opportunity for mere friendship! They had agreed long ago that the seal would go to whoever managed to acquire it! Even when Solesky had first asked Badlands to help out, the latter had agreed to send his avatar partially out of a desire to acquire a different treasure known as the ‘Heartshift Pearl’. Heartshift Pearls were also useful in the Daomerge, but it was unfathomably inferior to the Voidsea Jadeseals, which allowed you to artificially induce a Daomerge.

  In truth, Badlands didn’t care all that much about the Heartshift Pearl, but he did desperately want a Voidsea Jadeseal.

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The four charged deep into the underwater gorge.

  “Where is it? Where is the seal?” After charging into the gorge, Ning’s first instinct was to use his heartworld projection to scan every inch of it. Alas, he wasn’t able to find any trace of it at all.

  “Break!” The Ninedust Sectlord struck out with his longstaff, sending it outwards in an incredibly powerful smashing blow towards the surrounding area. But of course, he made sure to avoid hitting Ning, Solesky, or Badlands. They had long ago sworn a lifeblood oath not to harm each other.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! The entire underwater gorge began to crumble apart as the water and the stone were both vaporized by the strike.

  Solesky and Badlands began to frantically assault the underwater gorge as well, as did Ning.

  “Nothing. Nothing!” Ninedust was incredibly anxious.

  “It has to be in this gorge. It has to be!” The four continued their furious assault against the gorge.

  BOOM! Daolord Solesky delivered a vicious punch, causing the dense stone face of one particular mountain to break apart. Inside there was a stone pillar, and atop the stone pillar hovered a round piece of jade that emanated a milky-white aura of light. It was the Voidsea Jadeseal!

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Ning, Ninedust, and Badlands all turned to look towards Solesky’s position.

  Daolord Solesky stared blankly for a second, then immediately punched out again and smashed apart the protective formation around the stone pillar. He easily shattered the formation, then reached out to grab the Voidsea Jadeseal.

  “But…” Ninedust was stunned.

  “Big brother Solesky…” Ning had a mixed look on his face.

  “I wasn’t unable to divine any of this through my Numerancy at all…” Badlands shook his head.

  Although they were all lifelong friends, this was a supreme Daomerge treasure. None of them would give way.

  “I’m the fastest and the strongest… and yet, in the end you were the one to win the treasure, Solesky. I really didn’t expect this.” Ninedust shook his head. “I have nothing to say.”

  Daolord Solesky was overwhelmed with delight. The four of them had been working together to destroy the gorge and find the Voidsea Jadeseal, but he just so happened to be right next to it. A single lucky punch from him had shattered the stone pillar hiding the Voidsea Jadeseal! It naturally fell into his hands. Ninedust and Ning didn’t even have a chance to try and intercept him.

  “Everyone, I won out of pure luck. However, what really matters
right now is escaping with this thing. I’m confident that the nearby Daolords will soon arrive,” Daolord Solesky sent frantically towards Ning and the others.

  “What are you thinking? Are you hoping for us to help you in your escape?” The Ninedust Sectlord frowned and said in an icy voice, “The escape will be incredibly dangerous. Even King Gorsch died when trying to flee with the seal! If we try to help you escape, we’ll probably die as well, and even if we survive we won’t be the ones to benefit from the Voidsea Jadeseal. Why the hell should we help you? That’s not even mentioning the fact that you are so weak, you wouldn’t even be able to help us out when fighting those enemies.”

  Although they were on the same team and had sworn oaths not to harm each other, that didn’t mean they all had to risk their lives for each other!

  “I… I realize I asked for too much.” Daolord Solesky’s face went blank for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

  “Big brother Solesky, don’t fight back.” Ning waved his hand, causing Daolord Solesky to be drawn into his estate-world.

  “Darknorth, what the hell?” The Ninedust Sectlord was stunned.

  “Big brother Solesky once saved my live, and we are both brothers of Vastheaven Palace. How can I just wash my hands of him?” Ning shook his head. “Don’t worry about this, brother Ninedust. I’m not exactly helpless. I’ll flee for as long as I can. If I feel like I really don’t have a chance to escape, I’ll just hand the seal over.”

  * * *

  Book 32, Chapter 12 - Fleeing

  “Y-you…” The Ninedust Sectlord was speechless. He actually had harbored ulterior motives; he wanted to wait for Daolord Solesky to be killed by other Daolords, then counter-attack and take the seal for himself.

  In truth, he really didn’t have much of a relationship with Solesky. However, him and Ji Ning and experienced life-and-death experiences for many years, and he really did view Ning as an extremely close friend. He was by nature an arrogant and solitary figure, willing and capable of doing anything and everything necessary to achieve his goals. If he didn’t like someone, he wouldn’t give a damn about them even if they were stronger than him… but once he did acknowledge a person, he would be willing to risk his life for the sake of that friend.