Desolate Era

by RWX

  “You are the only one who deserves it, Sectlord,” the Kingfreak said hoarsely.

  “There are three more seals in the tenth layer.” Sectlord Timedream looked at the Kingfreak. “As soon as I acquire the second Voidsea Jadeseal, I’m going to immediately use it! After that, I’ll accompany you into the tenth layer and fight for one of the remaining three. No matter what, I guarantee that I’ll help you acquire one of them.”

  “They will all be yours, Sectlord,” the Kingfreak said.

  “No. I’ll take any other treasures, but if we can acquire a second Voidsea Jadeseal it will go to you,” Sectlord Timedream said.

  Anyone else who saw this interaction would be completely shocked. Sectlord Timedream had founded an enormous sect and was the exalted leader of it, with countless living beings in his thrall! Those who obeyed him would live; those who disobeyed him would perish. He was supreme throughout his world, and was incredibly skilled in manipulating the hearts of men.

  If the ‘Godking’ of the Three Realms could be described as delighting in the torment of others, Sectlord Timedream was even worse. In fact, he had become so incredibly depraved that he truly could be described as a demon amongst demons. Despite his extremeness, he had achieved incredible things in the field of heartforce.

  The Dao was neither good nor bad. The good could reach high levels in it, as could the bad.

  As for the Kingfreak? He was Sectlord Timedream’s right-hand man. The Sectlord couldn’t be everywhere and do everything, and so many things were left to the Kingfreak to handle. As for the Kingfreak, he was a mass murderer who was legendary for his ruthless callousness, a man of unpredictable temperament! The many disciples of the Timedream Sect were all terrified whenever they saw him, for fear of offending him and thus perishing for the offense.

  When the two worked together, they wouldn’t fear even the likes of Palace Lord Dawnstar or Winesage! One could imagine what an incredibly famous duo they were in the Endless Territories. Both were fiendish madmen… but they held genuine and deep affection for each other.

  The Kingfreak was unswervingly loyal to Sectlord Timedream, and whenever they were out adventuring he always let the Sectlord have the pick of the treasures they encountered! Sectlord Timedream was a bit more selfish and often gave himself the best things first, but in his heart the Kingfreak truly was second only to himself in importance.

  ……

  Two days later.

  “Ninedust! Darknorth!” A booming voice rang out in the skies.

  They were in a vast, snowy plains right now. A thick layer of snow had fallen over this area, and it stretched off as far as the naked eye could see.

  Ning’s group had continued to fight and slowly flee. During the past two days, they had used the trap formation an additional time, but Daolord Shaka and Daolord Snowjoy had quickly caught up to them.

  “Who is it?” Ning and Ninedust both turned to stare off into the distance, as did Daolord Snowjoy and Daolord Shaka.

  Two distant figures were walking towards them side-by-side. The first was a red-eyed man dressed in beautiful golden robes who emanated an aura of ineffable majesty. The other was an ugly-looking man who carried an enormous scimitar on his back.

  “Sectlord Timedream? The Kingfreak?” Ning and Ninedust both felt their hearts sink.

  Of the current top five Daolords, Winesage and Palace Lord Dawnstar had fairly good reputations. Daolord Dreamlore had been fairly low-key before this trip, only becoming famous after defeating the Radiant King. Clearly, he wasn’t the vile sort either.

  Sectlord Timedream, however, was a truly demonic figure… and the Kingfreak was his most dangerous of lackeys!

  “Ah, Timedream and the Kingfreak have arrived.” Daolord Shaka sent mentally, “Brother Snowjoy, now that they’ve arrived I expect that Ninedust’s group won’t be able to hold out against us. However, we need to work together to acquire the Voidsea Jadeseal. Otherwise, it’ll probably end up in Timedream’s hands.”

  “Agreed.” Daolord Snowjoy turned somber as well. “Let us work together. Once we seize the seal, we’ll work together to escape, no matter who the seal ends up with!”

  “Agreed.” Daolord Shaka nodded. The two immediately swore lifeblood oaths and entered into an alliance.

  Even if Daolord Snowjoy did acquire the Voidsea Jadeseal, he would need Daolord Shaka’s speed in order to escape! Right now, fleeing as quickly as possible once the seal was in hand was what mattered the most. The Radiant King had been able to escape precisely because of how fast he was.

  As for Daolord Shaka, he needed Daolord Snowjoy’s strength! Shaka himself was fairly weak compared to other supreme Daolords, after all. He wouldn’t be able to resist any of the truly formidable ones.

  When the two worked together, they made up for each other’s weaknesses.

  “Be good boys and hand over the Voidsea Jadeseal.” Sectlord Timedream slowly walked over, his voice cold. “My calculations indicate that you should only be able to use that trap formation once every two or three days. You won’t be able to activate it again for some time. There’s nowhere for you to run. Hand it over.”

  “Haha! Four supreme Daolords. What luck!” The Ninedust Sectlord hefted his longstaff, roaring with laughter from his position atop the flying vessel. “Fighting against four supreme Daolords, all by my lonesome… just thinking about it gets my blood pumping! Come, come! All four you of you can attack at the same time! I want to see just how tough all of you are, and I want to see if you can do anything to me!”

  “If that’s the case… let’s attack!” Sectlord Timedream said coldly.

  “Kill!” Daolord Shaka and Daolord Snowjoy were the first to charge. Everyone was entering into close combat, as they were all fairly close to each other and the first to seize the Voidsea Jadeseal would gain an enormous advantage.

  “Kill.” The Kingfreak drew his enormous scimitar from his back-sheath and charged towards the Ninedust Sectlord as well.

  “Come on!” The Ninedust Sectlord awaited them, longstaff at the ready.

  BOOM! As they fought, ripples of power began to blast out in every direction, annihilating the snow in the surrounding area and spreading out until they were blocked by some barriers off in the distance. Ninedust began to fight Daolord Shaka, Daolord Snowjoy, and the Kingfreak all by himself in a one-on-three fight.

  Bang! Daolord Snowjoy landed a palm-strike on Ninedust’s chest.

  Slash! The Kingfreak landed a slashing blow with his scimitar on Ninedust’s thigh.

  Stab! Daolord Shaka plunged his longspear into Ninedust’s right arm.

  Ninedust was sent stumbling backwards by this barrage of attacks, with the injured parts of his body dissolving into water and then reforming anew, completely unharmed.

  The distant Sectlord Timedream frowned when he saw this. “This damn Ancient cultivator really is quite valiant, and he’s mastered an invulnerable aquaform. Other supreme Daolords on his overall level of power won’t be able to injure him at all; they won’t even be able to make him use up much of his divine power! Even Winesage would find it difficult to kill him, despite possessing a Universe treasure.”

  This invulnerable aquaform allowed Ninedust to transform his divine body into an endless stream of water. You could cut through it, but it would just continue to flow unabated. There was just no way to kill him.

  In truth, Daolord Solesky had also mastered a similar aquaform, albeit one based on fragmentary records. However, his Dao was a bit too extreme in being defense-oriented. In attack power, he was weaker than even Patriarch Clearwind! Despite that, his defensive prowess was such that even Fiendqueen Dustrain had only been able to heavily injure him in her pursuit of him.

  Ninedust’s invulnerable aquaform was far superior to Solesky’s, allowing him to ignore the attacks of the Kingfreak, Snowjoy, and Shaka. The attacks of the three supreme Daolords were having no effect on him.

  “The Voidsea Jadeseal is in my hands. You can forget about taking it from me!
” The Ninedust Sectlord roared wildly with laughter. “Stop dreaming! You won’t be able to break my invulnerable aquaform no matter how hard you try.”

  * * *

  Book 32, Chapter 16 - The Final Hegemon Dao-Seal

  “Ninedust!” The distant Sectlord Timedream suddenly let out a shout. His voice was ephemeral and indistinct, reverberating within Ninedust’s ears and even in his mind and soul.

  “Not good.” Ninedust was shocked as a beautiful gorge appeared in front of him, filled with a sea of flowers and rivers. However, he had clearly been in the middle of a vicious fight against three Daolords on a snowy plains.

  “Break for me!” Ninedust roared mentally. Boom! He finally managed to break through the illusion and force the real world to appear before him once more.

  Bang! Bang! Ninedust felt a terrifying level of power crash against him. Caught completely offguard, he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood and be knocked flying by the strikes. He also felt a chain actually securely wrap itself around his body.

  “Ninedust!” The distant Ji Ning was frantic as well. It had all happened too quickly. Battles between Supreme Daolords occurred at incredible speeds. Although Ninedust had been trapped within the illusion for merely a brief instant, it had been enough for him to suffer two strikes and also be caught and bound.

  The Kingfreak was holding the other end of the chain that was now securely fastened around the Ninedust Sectlord.

  Whoosh. The Ninedust Sectlord’s divine body suddenly transformed into an endless stream of water that flowed through and past the chains, then reformed outside of them.

  “What an impressive Timedream.” The Ninedust Sectlord’s face was ashen as he stared hard at Sectlord Timedream. “He really is the strongest Daolord in the art of illusions in the modern era.”

  “Unfortunately, I’m still not strong enough. If I was, you wouldn’t have been able to break free from my illusions,” Sectlord Timedream said calmly. He was still not satisfied with his performance. In this day and age, he was the strongest pure Heartforce Cultivator; Winesage was stronger than him overall, but was inferior in heartforce alone. However, this was merely in ‘this day and age’; from a historical standpoint, there had been many other Heartforce Cultivator Daolords who were far superior to him.

  The truly supreme Heartforce Cultivator Daolords would almost always be the undisputed most powerful Daolords of their eras.

  “Ninedust, are you alright?” Ning sent worriedly.

  “I’m fine. Twas but a minor injury! I’m an Ancient cultivator; my divine body is far superior to that of ordinary cultivators,” Ninedust sent mentally to Ning. In substance and in power, his body was indeed unfathomably superior to that of ordinary Daolords of the Fourth Step.

  “Press the attack and make him suffer more injuries!” the distant Sectlord Timedream sent mentally to Shaka, Snowjoy, and Kingfreak. “Ninedust’s invulnerable aquaform is difficult to deal with; not even Winesage would be able to kill him through direct attacks. I’ll continuously use heartforce illusions against him and make it impossible for him to maintain his aquaform, while the three of you will repeatedly injure him over and over. When his divine power is depleted, he’ll die.”

  Shaka and Snowjoy exchanged a glance. Both of them knew that killing a supreme Daolord was far too difficult, especially one with an invulnerable aquaform! They would indeed need Sectlord Timedream to repeatedly disturb Ninedust and cause him to lose control over his body for brief periods of time. When that happened, his body would briefly transform into its original form, that of an Ancient cultivator’s. Only then would they be able to harm Ninedust. If Ninedust was fully awake and mentally alert, he could perpetually maintain his invulnerable aquaform. In that case, there would be no way to injure him at all.

  ……

  Boom!

  Bang!

  Sectlord Timedream continued to cast heartforce illusions from afar, while Shaka, Snowjoy, and Kingfreak pressed the assault furiously.

  “Ninedust!” Ning frantically unleashed his own heartforce, seeking to protect Ninedust. Bang! Sectlord Timedream’s overwhelming surge of heartforce completely crushed through Ning’s protection. At his current level, Ning was completely unable to protect the Ninedust Sectlord.

  “I’m fine, Darknorth! I’m fine. Thus far, I’ve used up very little divine power,” the Ninedust Sectlord sent mentally.

  Time continued to flow on, one second after another. The four enemy Daolords completely ignored Ning. As they saw it, Ninedust was their true foe, and they also felt certain that the Voidsea Jadeseal was in Ninedust’s hands! They could see that Ninedust was the most powerful member of Ning’s squad, which meant that the seal should logically be in his hands. If it was in someone else’s hands, why would he go so far as to risk his own life to protect the team?

  In the blink of an eye, another half-day had gone by.

  “Hahaha! Man, the three of you really are starting to sting me with your hits.” The Ninedust Sectlord transformed into an vast stream of water, with the vague outline of a person appearing at the center of this river. Moments later, a spirit-pill appeared in the figure’s hand, followed by the figure swallowing it. “I really did use up quite a bit of divine power over the course of this fight. Time to eat a spirit-pill.”

  “Damnit.”

  “Ninedust’s divine body is far too powerful, and he also has a tough protective divine ability. We’ve been beating on him for hours but have barely harmed him. He was able to recover with just a single pill.”

  “There’ll be no end to this!”

  Daolord Shaka, Daolord Snowjoy, and the Kingfreak were all growing anxious.

  “Alright, let’s keep fighting. I have to say, Timedream’s heartforce illusions are pretty powerful. They’re serving as a great way to temper my Dao-heart.” The Ninedust Sectlord was in an excellent mood.

  “Ninedust, the longer we keep you tied down, the more Daolords will come. Soon, a fifth supreme Daolord will arrive, followed by a sixth! In the end, you won’t be able to handle us all,” Sectlord Timedream said coldly.

  “If that’s the case, I’ll just toss out the Voidsea Jadeseal,” Ninedust snickered. “Timedream, multiple Ancient cultivators have died by your hands. Do you really think I would ever give the Voidsea Jadeseal up to you?”

  “Damn you.” Sectlord Timedream had an ugly look on his face. It must be remembered that Winesage and the others were hurrying over as well. Once Winesage arrived, who would be able to out-compete him?

  “Freako.” Sectlord Timedream sent mentally to the Kingfreak, “Use the redscatter venom on him.”

  The Kingfreak couldn’t help but turn to look at the Sectlord Timedream. He sent back mentally, “Sectlord, we only have that one bottle. Are you sure?”

  “Use it.” Sectlord Timedream nodded.

  The redscatter venom was the most terrifying type of poison the two had ever discovered, and they had found it while adventuring within the Terror Starsea. This was a deadly poison which had been developed during the Dawn War, and it was the greatest killer trump card Sectlord Timedream had available to him. This type of poison was a nightmare to any and every Daolord! Ever since Sectlord Timedream had acquired it, he hadn’t been willing to use it… but for the sake of the Voidsea Jadeseal, anything was worth it!

  BOOM! The Ninedust Sectlord was once more struck by the heartforce illusion. The endless flows of water around him instantly halted, then gradually began to reform into his ‘normal’ body, which Shaka, Snowjoy, and Kingfreak continued to attack. Right as the Kingfreak launched an attack, he suddenly produced a bottle of dark-red liquid and shattered it.

  Whoosh. A stream of dark-red liquid instantly invaded the Ninedust Sectlord’s body. This stream of liquid was visible to the naked eye, but it also seemed illusory. It seeped directly into his body and pervaded his soul. This was a terrifying type of poison which had been developed during the Dawn War to deal with enemies.

  “AHHHH!” The Ninedust Sect
lord transformed back into human form, then began to roll around the ground and scream in agony. His face was a mask of pain, with streaks of ugly red lines stretching out throughout his body.

  “AHHHHHHH!” Ninedust continued to howl in agony. He had never experienced such incredible, indescribable, terrifying pain before.

  “Ninedust!” Ning felt as though his heart had stopped. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of pain and torment could cause a supreme Daolord like Ninedust to scream so miserably.

  “Release Ninedust! Release him!” Ning charged out and called out frantically, “We’ll give you the Voidsea Jadeseal!”

  “There is no antidote to the redscatter venom. Once it touches you, you’ll suffer utter agony for a total of twelve days. This poison was meant for to be used against powerful Eternal Emperors! There’s no way Ninedust’s Dao-heart or soul would be strong enough to resist it. He isn’t even able to maintain his invulnerable aquaform any longer. Kill him, then take the Voidsea Jadeseal from him,” Sectlord Timedream laughed coldly.

  The faces of Daolord Shaka and Daolord Snowjoy both turned pale. Redscatter venom? They had never even heard of it, but they couldn’t help but shiver in fear when they saw Daolord Ninedust scream in pain like that.

  Ninedust’s screams were echoing in Ning’s ears, but there was no way for him to rescue Ninedust at all. This caused Ning to feel a sense of regret and powerlessness.

  As Ninedust continued to scream in agony, he would occasionally turn to glance towards Ning. His eyes were filled with agony and desperation, and his lips trembled as he struggled to speak. “Kill me!”

  “Attack!” The Kingfreak charged towards Ninedust.

  “Kill him.” Shaka and Snowjoy exchanged a glance. This wasn’t a time to show mercy. They had to seize the Voidsea Jadeseal!

  Ning was too weak. There was no way he could stop them at all. He hurriedly sent mentally, “Big brother Solesky! Big brother Solesky! Let’s hand over the Voidsea Jadeseal.”