Desolate Era

by RWX

  However… time grinds away at all things. Eventually, there will be a leak. The Daolord who had left that scroll behind had been able to enter through a lucky streak of fortune, and he had immediately left carefully. He had only survived because his luck really was incredible.

  “What should we do? How are we supposed to go inside? Going inside by force isn’t an option. It seems we will have no choice but to wait.” Ning stared at the spacetime transfer array, then secretly shook his head. “Yes, just wait.”

  Waiting was a clumsy method, but sometimes the simplest methods were quite effective!

  ……

  “Darknorth, did you go inside yet?” Ninedust asked from within the estate-world. A white-robed incarnation of Ning appeared next to him.

  “Don’t be impatient. I’ve already entered the secret area, but I’m in the outer regions of it. The entrance leading into the heart of this region has been blocked off by a barrier. It should’ve been the three great clans who set this barrier up; I really doubt I can breach it by force.” Ning shook his head. “Our only choice for now is to wait. Once the Daolords enter the heart of the region, I might be able to come up with a way to sneak through as well.

  “They really are quite careful. They actually set up a formation of barriers inside the secret area’s passageways as well?” Ninedust was speechless.

  * * *

  Book 34, Chapter 21 - The Sithe Disk

  Time continued to flow on. Ji Ning kept the Shadowless evasion art active the entire time and patiently waited outside for more than fifty thousand years. When it came to acquiring a Sithe treasury, he had patience in abundance.

  Within the Nonti clan.

  Creaaak. A stone door swung open and a grim-faced Daolord of the Third Step walked out from within it.

  “Daolord!” The armored soldier outside the door said respectfully, “The clan leader has send orders. All Daolords must immediately head to the ancestral grounds whenever they leave their secluded meditations.”

  “Oh?” This Daolord of the Third Step, Daolord Joyquill, narrowed his eyes. “What’s with the urgency? Don’t you normally have to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step before being able to visit the ancestral grounds?”

  “Daolord, the clan leader has now changed the rules. Even Daolords of the Second Step are allowed entry,” the armored soldier said hurriedly.

  “Even Daolords of the Second Step are allowed in?” Daolord Joyquill was shocked. “How can this be? The ancestral grounds are incredibly dangerous. Success brings great rewards, but the weak will most likely perish. Although some Daolords of the Second Step have succeeded in the past, this is just too dangerous.”

  “Daolord, you’ve been in secluded meditation for many years so you don’t know what has happened. Our three great clans have encountered a deadly opponent,” the armored soldier said. “Over fifty thousand years ago, a Daolord named Darknorth suddenly rose to power. His might was unmatched and he challenged our three clans all by himself. The Emperor-class golems we sent out were all defeated, with him capturing three of them. The three clan leaders then led a force of eight golems to attack him, but in the end they still weren’t able to subdue him.”

  “What?!” Daolord Joyquill was astonished. “Impossible.”

  “Daolord Darknorth then established the Darknorth Palace. By now, he is in control of quite a few clans. He has set himself up in opposition to our three clans!” The armored soldier continued, “The three clan leaders have already sent word that we are to charge deep into the ancestral grounds, regardless of the risk! We need to find as many treasures as we can from the ancestral lands, so that we can deal with Daolord Darknorth.”

  ……

  After gaining a more thorough understanding of what had happened recently, Daolord Joyquill felt even more stunned. He never would’ve imagined that the clan would’ve fallen into such dire straits during this session of secluded meditation.

  Rumble… Daolord Joyquill stood there within a spacetime transfer array. He mumbled to himself with a frown as the array started to light up, “Where the hell did this Daolord Darknorth come from? How did he become this powerful?”

  Whoosh. Space and time twisted around him. By the time everything was clear, he found himself within the ancestral lands.

  “The ancestral lands.” Daolord Joyquill stared at the area around him. Next to him was a great garrison, while outside was the vast emptiness of space. Beyond even that was the great forest in the real world outside.

  “Brother Joyquill.”

  “Daolord Joyquill, you came as well?” The six Daolords stationed here walked out to welcome him.

  “Yes.” Daolord Joyquill nodded. “I received the order right after I left my meditations and so I immediately came here.”

  “Ugh. I wonder how Daolord Darknorth trained and how he became so powerful. All of the Daolords of the three great clans are now risking their lives inside.” The six Daolords in charge of the garrison sighed.

  “Most of them will probably end up dead soon.”

  “How could someone like Daolord Darknorth have suddenly emerged from those other lowly clans?”

  They all shook their heads. They had grown accustomed to feeling superior to all others, and they didn’t even hold the other six ‘great clans’ in any regard. As they saw it, all others who were not members of the three great clans were lowly figures. They were the absolute rulers of this world, and they had ruled it fearlessly since time immemorial. How could they not feel enraged at how Daolord Darknorth had suddenly shaken their positions?

  However, they could do nothing but sigh and lament at his appearance. The difference in power between them was simply too great; they weren’t capable of doing anything to him at all.

  “I’ll head on in,” Daolord Joyquill said.

  “Be careful, brother Joyquill.”

  “Hopefully, brother Joyquill will reap great rewards from this.” The six Daolords all said a few words of encouragement.

  ……

  Swoosh! A silent figure moved close towards Daolord Joyquill.

  “Finally, a new Daolord has arrived. And, from the looks of things, he’s about to enter the inner regions.” Ning watched as Daolord Joyquill moved towards the mountain cave. Ning quickly moved closer to Joyquill, with no one discovering his presence.

  “Soulthrall.” By now, even the Kingfreak would be affected by his soul-mesmerizing abilities, to say nothing of a weak Daolord of the Third Step like this. Joyquill was instantly swept into a state of unconsciousness.

  While doing this, Ning set up a thirty meter barrier around them which warped and distorted light. If anyone glanced towards them, they would see Daolord Joyquill continuing to walk normally.

  “Get in here.” Ning instantly drew Daolord Joyquill into his estate-world. “And… here I go.” Ning appeared out of nowhere, but he now looked just like Daolord Joyquill. No… not just looked alike. Even his soul and truesoul were identical to Joyquill’s.

  Ning immediately released the barrier around the surrounding area, then glanced around him before letting out a sigh of relief. The process of setting up the barrier, catching Daolord Joyquill, then replacing him had happened almost instantaneously, but if there was a Daolord specifically keeping a careful watch on this area then it would’ve still been possible for his actions to be noticed. Thankfully, he hadn’t been.

  After having put away Daolord Joyquill, Ning immediately released a small amount of his energy into his estate-world to question the man. Alas, Daolord Joyquill had long ago sworn a lifeblood oath regarding this ‘secret place’; even though his soul had been mesmerized, he wasn’t able to say a thing.

  Ning questioned Joyquill for quite some time but didn’t gain much from it. “There’s nothing for it.” He had no choice but to grit his teeth and walk forwards! Ning quickly reached the region covered by layers of barriers.

  “Brother Joyquill, I’ve already taken control over the Sithe disk. You can come in,” a voice rang out from
behind the layers of blue barriers of light.

  The ‘Sithe disk’? Ning silently memorized this term. On the surface, he just nodded slightly as he continued forwards. Indeed, the layers of blue light were like curtains of water. Ning was able to easily walk in without the slightest disturbance at all. This barrier-filled region was tens of thousands of kilometers long, but Ning walked incredibly fast and was able to quickly bypass it.

  “Daolord Joyquill has arrived.”

  “It is Daolord Joyquill.”

  The three Daolords in charge of the Sithe disk all laughed. They carefully inspected every person who came in, but they did so primarily through inspection of the truesoul aura. They weren’t worried about Daolord Joyquill secretly bringing anyone else inside, because every single Daolord of the three great clans had long ago sworn lengthy lifeblood oaths. The part of the oath pertaining to the ancestral lands were particularly severe and exacting.

  For example, even though Ning had used a soul-mesmerizing technique on the man, he still wasn’t able to learn any secrets regarding this place!

  “Daolord Joyquill.” The three seated Daolords looked at him. One of them, an old man with a large beard, called out in a loud voice, “Be careful after you go inside. This place is filled with danger, and many of the golems are filled with enmity towards our clans. All of them are Emperor-class golems; if they manage to ambush you, you’ll be doomed.”

  “Thank you.” Ning nodded, many thoughts flashing through his mind. He absolutely had to acquire the Sithe treasury! However, it seemed as though there was only one way inside this mountain… and it had been protected by layers of barriers.

  “If I wish to take the treasury for myself, I’ll probably end up revealing myself! They will be able to use these barriers to ensure that I’m unable to leave.” Ning stared at the three Daolords who were controlling the distant Sithe disk. “I won’t feel secure unless and until I get rid of them first.”

  “Daolord Songfloat,” Ning said while walking towards the three. As the lord of Darknorth Palace, he held a very high status and thus knew almost all of the Daolords within this world.

  “What is it?” The bearded elder smiled as Ning walked towards him, completely unafraid.

  Whoosh. Ning cracked a smile as well, sending an invisible wave of power towards them. Instantly, the three seated Daolords felt a wave of pressure come crashing down towards them, causing them to go dizzy. Their bodies slumped to the ground, powerless. Ning instantly moved to stand next to them, grabbing the strange disk which had been rotating around the three. The round disk was a deep brown color and covered with many extremely complex runes.

  The ripples emanating from the disk spread out to cover tens of thousands of kilometers. The surrounding formations and barriers all had this Sithe disk as their core.

  “Arise.” Ning reached out to take a firm grip over the round disk, clasping his hands around it. Rumble… instantly, the layers of formations and barriers for tens of thousands of kilometers around them began to rumble.

  The guards stationed at the garrison outside the cave couldn’t help but turn their heads to look backwards.

  “What’s going on?” Some of the Daolords stationed inside the mountain were able to sense the ripple as well.

  “Not good.”

  “That was the Sithe disk!” The three silver men immediately transformed into streaks of light that shot out from the mountain and charged towards Ning.

  Ning had grabbed at the Sithe disk twice without being able to pull it to him. He immediately waved his hand and produced the Northbow sword, executing his Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop. This was his most penetrating attack, and it was the best attack he had for disrupting formations. Slash! Slash! Slash! It was hard to defeat a formation from the outside, but breaking it through when you were already inside it was much easier.

  One streak of mist-formed sword energy after another stabbed into the Sithe disk, causing some of the supportive formations to immediately break apart.

  Rumble… Ning finally managed to dislodge the Sithe disk from its orbit, breaking it free from the many mysterious formation-runes that had been binding it. Ning then sent the Northbow sword in his hands to deliver furious chops towards the world around him, destroying all the formations one by one.

  “Get in here.” When Ning saw the three silver men fly towards him, he immediately drew the Sithe disk into his estate-world.

  * * *

  Book 34, Chapter 22 - Ancestral Proscriptions

  Only after putting away the Sithe disk did Ji Ning feel marginally at ease. Otherwise, the many barriers it served as the focal point for would’ve been very problematic for him. Even if he did acquire treasures from within the mountain, there would’ve been no way out for him.

  “It’s you!”

  “Daolord Darknorth!”

  “How were you able to disguise yourself as Joyquill? You even managed to emulate his truesoul’s aura!”

  The three silver men flew towards Ning. They had been shocked when they saw Daolord Joyquill seize the Sithe disk, but when they saw the Northbow sword appear in Ning’s hand they immediately knew who he was. They certainly wouldn’t believe that Daolord Joyquill had the power to seize a Northbow sword from Daolord Darknorth!

  “Haha…” Ning laughed as he transformed back into his own appearance. “You found out too late,” Ning said as he summoned his awe-inspiring heartworld projection to cover both this tunnel as well as the garrison outside. Even the inner depths of the mountain were completely covered by it… and as it descended, the other Daolords of the three great clans were stunned.

  “What’s going on?”

  “W-w-what’s happening?”

  “Is this the legendary ‘heartworld projection’? Could it be Daolord Darknorth?”

  “This place is our ancestral grounds, a place hidden from all others and which is protected by the Sithe disk. How could the heartworld projection have invaded it?” They all began to panic.

  Ning just frowned slightly. He could sense that although his heartworld projection covered an extremely large region, there was some sort of energy deep within the mountain which was able to resist and block his heartworld projection, making it unable to penetrate any deeper.

  “Soulthrall.” A wave of heartforce swept outwards. This was Ning’s soul-hypnosis technique, and it instantly struck all of the Daolords within the range of his heartworld projection. None of them were able to resist it at all! Even the Daolords of the Fourth Step were instantly drawn into a dazed state.

  “What are you doing!” The three silver men were shocked and enraged.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” Ning looked back at the three silver men. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning to kill them. If I wanted to do so, I would’ve been able to easily eradicate them through my heartworld projection alone. I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of putting them under my control instead…”

  “You…!” The three silver men were enraged and anxious. The vast majority of the Daolords of their three clans were all located here! There were one or two standing guard over their clan, and a few had ventured so deep into the mountain that they weren’t covered by the heartworld projection. However, Ning had at least thirty-one Samsara Daolords under his control.

  “Don’t worry. If you can agree to my requests, I’ll release all of them completely unharmed.” A cold light flashed through Ning’s eyes. “But if you refuse, then don’t blame me for what I’ll be forced to do.”

  The three great clans viewed themselves as the absolute rulers of this world, believing all other living creatures to be beneath them. They viewed themselves as the ultimate arbiters of life and death for the others. This mentality was pervasive in the three great clans, shared by the clan leaders and clansmen alike. They had always believed this, and after becoming Samsara Daolords they had only become even more fearless and lawless. And in truth, they were indeed the rulers of this world. No one had ever been able to challenge or shake their a
uthority! Only, the descent of Daolord Darknorth upon this world had shaken their status.

  “Speak!” the muscular silver man commanded with a growl.

  “Speak. Don’t ask for too much,” the silver-haired man said, teeth clenched.

  “My conditions are simple,” Ning said. “First, you are not permitted to attack me… but of course, I won’t do anything further to you either. We shall coexist peacefully. Second, you must tell me all the secrets you know pertaining to the Sithe, including everything you know about this mountain. If you agree to both conditions… we still won’t be friends, but at least we won’t be enemies any longer.”

  The world of cultivators was a world of slaughter and strife. The three great clans were protected by many formations and barriers; there was no way for Ning to wipe them out at all. Even if he did, the only result would be a different organization would rise to rule over this world.

  As a result, Ning couldn’t even be bothered to get into a real war against these people. His ultimate goal was to obtain the Sithe treasury! Once he did, he would immediately leave this place. There really was no need for him to become enemies with these three clan leaders. They were far too strong, after all; he wasn’t able to defeat any of them. Right now, he knew nothing about the depths of this mountain whatsoever. The three great clans, however, had spent countless aeons searching and exploring the place. They definitely knew a great deal about it.

  His enemies knew a great deal regarding this mountain, while he knew nothing at all. His enemies were also stronger than him; if they wanted to scheme against him here, he would probably be in a great deal of danger.

  ……

  The three clan leaders exchanged glances as they secretly conversed mentally. Soon, they clenched their teeth and came to a decision.

  “That’s a nice little fantasy you have.” The muscular silver man, the clan leader of the Fumo clan, growled out: “Daolord Darknorth, we aren’t able to accept your conditions due to our ancestral proscriptions. Every single member of the clan was long ago forced to swear lifeblood oaths regarding this.”