Desolate Era

by RWX

  “The Hegemon said that aside from the Voidsea Jadeseals, the Crimsonwave Temple also contains many precious fruits. The Hegemon hopes for you, Master, to harvest as many of those fruits as you can. The more the better! After you do so, the Hegemon would be willing to buy them from you using either chaos jewels, chaos nectar, rare ingredients, precious Dao-seals, rare treasures… anything is up for trade.”

  Ning narrowed his eyes.

  “The Hegemon also said that any treasure within the Brightshore Kingdom is up for trade. In fact, he’ll also help you negotiate for treasures held by the other organizations, including Universe treasures! So long as you have enough fruit, the Hegemon will help you trade for them,” the green-robed alien said.

  “What?” No matter how calm Ning normally was, he was truly stunned now. Apparently the Brightshore Hegemon was absolutely willing to pay any price for the sake of the fruits within the Crimsonwave Temple.

  Of course, despite the enticing offer there was still no way for anyone to forcibly bind a Universe treasure. The Universe treasure had to approve of its next master! The Brightshore Kingdom’s Sword Palace already had a Universe treasure, the shattered sword in its storeroom. However, to date no one had been able to bind it or be acknowledged by it. Thus, in truth that Universe treasure was of very limited value.

  “The Hegemon emphasized for you to do your best to harvest as many of the fruits within the Crimsonwave Temple as you can,” the green-robed alien repeated.

  Ning pondered silently for a moment, then nodded slightly.

  ……

  Time went on, one day after another. Ning and the others continued to advance before finally, Ninedust completely recovered from the poisoning. In truth, he had already stopped screaming in agony by the ninth day of his torment. Clearly, his Dao-heart was slowly growing stronger in response to the agony, allowing him to repress the pain and prevent him from screaming by the ninth day.

  “Come, come, come! Brother Ninedust’s Dao-heart has been rendered truly incredible by this misfortune. In the future, your chances at the Daomerge shall be significantly better than they were before this. Cheers!” Palace Lord Dawnstar offered a toast.

  Aboard the flying vessel where Ning, Dawnstar, Winesage, Badlands, and Ninedust. They were seated in a circle and drinking together.

  In truth, this journey was quite an exhausting one for Dawnstar and Winesage. The closer they moved to Crimsonwave Temple, the more dangerous the path became, after all. Thankfully, Ning, Dawnstar, and Winesage all joined together. This alliance of the top three Daolords allowed them to advance much faster than they otherwise would have.

  “Haha.” Ninedust roared with laughter. “This was indeed a blessing in disguise for me. My Dao-heart was strengthened by quite a bit. However, to tell you the truth… when I think back to the torment I suffered, I would rather have gone without this ‘blessing’. Ugh. What torture that was! Right, Darknorth. Where’s Solesky? Where the hell is he? I have one hell of a bone to pick with that guy!” A cold light flashed through Ninedust’s eyes.

  “He’s succeeded in his Daomerge and gained eternity,” Winesage said with a sigh.

  “He gained eternity?” Ninedust stared.

  “Envious, right?” Palace Lord Dawnstar said. Clearly, he felt quite jealous as well.

  “Darknorth, how did he end up gaining eternity? Did he use up the Voidsea Jadeseal when we were fighting for our lives?” Ninedust immediately asked.

  “This is what happened…” Ning began to narrate the details of what had happened to Ninedust.

  Ninedust ground his teeth as he listened. “That son of a bitch. He entered a prajna-state, then went into a secluded meditation and attempted his Daomerge. There’s nothing wrong with that in principle, but he completely screwed me over.” Although he was still quite furious, the rage he felt towards Solesky didn’t blaze quite as hot as it had in the past.

  “He’ll definitely repay you for what he owes you,” Ning said.

  “Right, what happened after that? Your aura seems to be far more powerful than it was in the past! And how did you end up alongside Winesage and Palace Lord Dawnstar? What the hell happened?” Ninedust asked.

  “After you were hit by the poison, Darknorth immediately charged out to face those four supreme Daolords by himself… and he broke through to become a supreme Daolord as well, sweeping all four of them away! He beat Daolord Shaka and Daolord Snowjoy into a retreat, with the Kingfreak and Sectlord Timedream perishing to him,” Palace Lord Dawnstar said with a smile.

  “Whaaaat?” Ninedust was shocked. He couldn’t help but turn and smack Ning on the chest, then say with a laugh, “Not bad! You actually killed Kingfreak and Timedream? Nice, nice, nice! At least you took revenge on my behalf. Heeeey… doesn’t that mean you are now stronger than me?” Ninedust stared at him.

  “The current Daolord rankings have brother Winesage ranked as number one, Darknorth as number two, and me having fallen to number three,” Palace Lord Dawnstar said with a laugh.

  “The three of you are the top three Daolords of all the Endless Territories. I’m now the weakest one?” Ninedust rubbed his jaw, then glanced sideways at the nearby Badlands. “Oh wait. There’s one guy weaker than me here.”

  “My skills lie in the Dao of Numerancy, not in battle,” Daolord Badlands said calmly. “If I chose to go into hiding, you wouldn’t even be able to find me, Ninedust.”

  ……

  This group of Daolords continued their advance. More than a year went by, with them moving closer and closer to Crimsonwave Temple.

  The Endless Territories. Vastheaven Territory. Vastheaven Palace.

  “Darknorth.” A sonorous voice boomed out within Vastheaven Palace.

  “Eh?” The golden-robed avatar of Ning, along with the avatars of Emperor Solesky and Daolord Battlemaster, all flew into the air and into the skies. They saw a gold-furred alien slowly walk towards them, causing space to tremble and ripple around him like streams of water. He seemed to walk slowly, but his movements were terrifyingly fast, far faster than the movements of Daolord Shaka or the Radiant King. He reached Vastheaven Palace in the blink of an eye.

  “Milord Emperor…?” Ning spoke out.

  “Mind if we sit down to have a chat?” the gold-furred alien said.

  “Of course! Please come in and sit down, fellow Daoist.” Emperor Solesky’s avatar immediately felt a sense of pressure; clearly, this gold-furred alien was far more powerful than them. Soon, Ning’s avatar and Solesky’s avatar led the gold-furred alien into the palace.

  “My name is Goldisle,” the gold-furred alien said. “Solesky, now that you have become an Emperor, I’m certain that you’ll soon be paying a visit to the Palace of Immortals. Darknorth, as a supreme Daolord, once this matter in the Waveshift Realm is over you should also come pay the Palace of Immortals a visit. By then, you’ll both know who I am.”

  Ning and Solesky exchanged a glance. They knew that this person was most likely a high-ranking member of the Palace of the Immortals.

  “The foundation of the Palace of Immortals is far mightier than that of the other five powers.” The gold-furred alien looked at Ning. “Darknorth, based on my estimations, you should have already been contacted by Hegemon Brightshore of the Brightshore Kingdom. He probably wants those fruits in the Crimsonwave Temple very badly! I’ll tell you this – the Palace of Immortal wants those fruits just as much.”

  “Why can’t you go harvest it for yourself?” Ning asked.

  “Only Daolords are able to enter Crimsonwave Temple,” the gold-furred alien explained, then continued, “In truth, Crimsonwave Temple was sent here by Emperor Waveshift. It should technically belong to our Dao Alliance, but since Emperor Waveshift established a rule that only Daolords may enter, we shall follow the rules he set. The Dao Alliance has the most Daolords, and I am confident that we are able to pay the best price.”

  “Any treasure! We’ll make available any of the treasures within the Palace of Immortal’s treasury
for you to choose from. So long as you have enough of the fruit, you can trade for whatever you wish.” The golden-furred alien continued, “Even if the treasure you seek is outside of the Endless Territories and is in the hands of other organizations in otherverses, we’ll work to help you find whatever it is you tell us you need, no matter how rare it is. But of course, you have to procure enough fruit for us.” The golden-furred alien looked at Ning.

  Ning felt stunned. This was one hell of a struggle!

  “I can promise to you that the Dao Alliance will give you a higher price than any of the other five organizations can offer.” The golden-furred alien smiled. “Based on what I know, Darknorth, you are quite talented in the [Heartsword] art as well, yes? Here’s a copy of the complete [Heartsword] sutra; consider it a show of sincerity from the Dao Alliance.”

  Ning was secretly amazed. Not at being given a free copy of the [Heartsword] sword-arts; although it was valuable, giving him a copy for free cost the Dao Alliance absolutely nothing at all. For them to know that he was skilled in the [Heartsword] sword-arts, however… this was impressive. It must be remembered that he had relied on the [Heartsword] sword-arts to attain the rank of Swordlord within the Sword Palace! Very few people even in the Brightshore Kingdom knew of this. The Dao Alliance’s intelligence network truly was incredible.

  “The Dao Alliance won’t force you to do anything. Let it all be of your own free will,” the gold-furred alien said with a smile.

  * * *

  Book 33, Chapter 3 - Separate Paths

  “I’ve said everything I came to say.” The golden-furred alien rose to his feet. “I’ll be waiting for you outside the Waveshift Realm, Darknorth.” He then turned and took a single step forwards, space twisting and distorting about him as he completely disappeared.

  Ji Ning was quite shocked. This sort of dimensional teleportation was something vastly beyond his capabilities. He mused to himself, “This Eternal Emperor named Goldisle has to be at least on the same level as the eight lords of the Sacred Cities.”

  “However… I really will have to acquire as many of the fruits within Crimsonwave Temple as I can. My protective divine ability, the Sword Hegemon’s secret art, and the ingredients I need for the Northbow swords… most likely, I’ll have to rely on the Crimsonwave Temple’s fruits to procure what I need for them.” Ning calculated silently to himself, “I need to upgrade my protective divine ability a bit more, while the Northbow swords are currently only providing a significant enhancement to the Blood Drop stance. My weaknesses are quite glaring. A true Universe treasure is perfect in any manner.”

  “And the Hegemon’s secret art. My nine novessence arts are no longer cutting it; they are of increasingly limited use to me,” Ning mused.

  The nine novessence arts had been created by Daolord Allgod. When Ning had been at the first step, he had no access to any formations and thus used them in brute-force attacks of incredible power.

  Upon becoming a Daolord of the Second Step, Ning’s Omega Sword Dao – Yin-Yang became of tremendous use to him. Even when Ning didn’t actually use the nine novessence arts, the sword-intent of the Omega Sword Dao – Yin Yang had reached twenty to thirty percent of the power of the arts.

  Now that he was a Daolord of the Third Step, the might of his Omega Sword Dao – Yin-Yang was roughly at sixty to seventy percent of the power of his nine novessence arts.

  As Ning’s level of insight increased, his Omega Sword Dao – Yin-Yang would grow increasingly powerful. The nine novessence arts themselves, however, wouldn’t change at all. He’d eventually have to discard them.

  “I’m already a Daolord of the Third Step! For now, the nine novessence arts are still of use to me, but once I become a Daolord of the Fourth Step… by then, they’ll be of negligible use,” Ning mused. “I need stronger secret arts.”

  “My protective divine ability… the Sword Hegemon’s secret arts… the Northbow swords… all of them require rare materials!” Ning felt rather eager. “Perhaps these fruits might even move me closer to reviving my wife.”

  Reviving Yu Wei. This was what Ji Ning truly wanted above all else.

  ……

  The Waveshift Realm. Ning, Ninedust, Winesage, Dawnstar, and Badlands made for a truly formidable alliance. With Daolord Badlands helping guide them away from many dangerous areas, they were actually the first group to arrive before Crimsonwave Temple.

  “There it is. Crimsonwave Temple.” Ning and the other four raised their heads to look at the ancient temple before them. The temple was a mixture of gold and black, and they could sense the aura of age which emanated from it. Three strange characters hovered in the air above the temple, and they seemed quite similar to the azureflower seal script as well as the Dreamdust script. Anyone who saw them would immediately understand that the three characters represented the name ‘Crimsonwave Temple’.

  Ning stared at the three characters for a long period of time. He could sense that every single character contained boundless mysteries within them.

  “The azureflower seal gave me access to the azureflower mist energy. The Dreamdust script was of assistance to my mastery over illusions. As for the Crimsonwave Temple… I can sense that these three characters are also filled with endless mysteries. Analyzing them, however, will be quite taxing.” Ning carefully examined them. The ‘crimson’ character seemed to fill the skies with a blazing red aura. The ‘wave’ character made Ning feel as though he saw an endless sea of waves. The ‘temple’ character seemed to emanate an extremely solemn and stately aura, almost as though Ning was standing at the helm of an endless swarm of soldiers.

  This script was an extremely advanced, high-level one that was far more advanced than any language which was commonly used in the Endless Territories. Every single one of these three characters contained extremely high-level mysteries of the Dao within them.

  “So we were the first to reach Crimsonwave Temple.” Ninedust roared with laughter. “Everyone, I imagine you all know by now how precious the fruits within Crimsonwave Temple are! We Ancient cultivators also wish to acquire these fruits. I hope that you’ll be willing to sell us any of the fruits you find, but of course it’ll all be up to you.”

  “Everyone seems to want the fruits within the Crimsonwave Temple.” Palace Lord Dawnstar said casually, “But for us Daolords, what really matters is still the Voidsea Jadeseals.”

  “Agreed.” Ning, Winesage, Ninedust, and Badlands all nodded. The fruits were probably of grave importance to Eternal Emperors, but Ning and the others here were all Daolords! To them, the supreme Daomerge treasure known as the Voidsea Jadeseal was what truly mattered.

  “Come, let’s go take a look.”

  “We are the first to arrive. We need to seize this opportunity to find the seals.”

  “First come, first serve.”

  They all laughed merrily as they entered Crimsonwave Temple.

  ……

  Crimsonwave Temple was an incredibly vast place. As soon as the five of them entered, they turned pale.

  Right in front of them sat two incredibly large corpses, each 540,000 meters tall. Their enormous black feet were pointed directly at the group, the toenails looking dagger-sharp. The two corpses were completely black in color and completely nude, covered only in light green fur. Their faces were very ugly, while their eyes were flecked with a dark-gold color. The skin on their heads, however, looked almost like a strange hat formed by scales. The awesome auras emanating from the two corpses were so powerful as to cause Ning and the others to tremble.

  “These are Hegemonic auras!” Ning, Ninedust, Dawnstar, Winesage, and Badlands traded glances, their faces pale.

  “Were the two of them Hegemons?” Ninedust spoke out.

  “The auras are so strong that even in death, they bring me a sense of pressure.” Ning said solemnly, “They should be Hegemons.”

  “Why don’t they have any armor or clothes on them at all?” Dawnstar was puzzled.

  “Were they perhaps lo
oted?” The nearby Winesage chuckled. “The armor used by Hegemons are undoubtedly extraordinary.”

  “Something’s wrong.” Daolord Badlands frowned. “These two corpses look absolutely identical!”

  “Right.” Ning and the others noticed this as well. There were some members of the same race who looked very similar to each other, and thus Ning and the others hadn’t paid too close attention to their appearances. But as Daolord Badlands had pointed out, these two corpses truly were absolutely identical. Even the wrinkles on their faces were identical!

  Whoosh. Suddenly, a streak of rainbow light appeared in front of the entrance to Crimsonwave Temple, reforming into a towering white-robed man’s figure.

  “Realmsoul Polo.” Ning and the others turned to look at him.

  “Your group was the first to reach Crimsonwave Temple.” Realmsoul Polo weighed Ning’s group with his gaze, then pointed to the two corpses. “As for these two corpses… if you wish to call them ‘Hegemons’, I suppose they could just barely qualify as having reached that level. They are very close to being comparable to Hegemons in power, after all. On the other hand, they truly can’t be considered ‘real’ Hegemons! This is because they are the most powerful guardians which were produced by the Sithe race. The Sithe created them at enormous expense to watch over important locations, with Crimsonwave Temple definitely being one of them. That’s why it had two of these guardians here! They were eventually slain and Crimsonwave Temple was conquered. After a series of twists and turns, it ended up in my master’s hands.”

  Ning and Ninedust were secretly startled. These were the most powerful guardians produced by the Sithe? It was possible to create Hegemon-level guardians?!

  Ninedust and Ning couldn’t help but think back to that corpse they had seen within that cave in the Terror Starsea. That corpse had been filled with countless stone tunnels and many powerful planets. For the sake of killing that thing, two of the Hegemons of the Endless Territories had fallen!