Desolate Era

by RWX

  BOOM! The rippling region of space began to shudder after receiving this titanic strike. As the space began to crumble, even the buzzsaws of light began to vanish.

  “What?!” The fleeing Archon Silksnow was unable to accept this. “Even his golem is that powerful?!”

  ……

  Whitethaw led the way and Ning followed from behind. Whitethaw was able to attack with both dominating power as well as supreme flexibility. Even Hegemons would envy his physical gifts! He was simply incredibly good at staying alive. This was why he had survived even though his original Sithe master had perished. Although he was perhaps inferior in terms of power and attacking techniques when compared to Black Emperors, he was even tougher and more resilient than them. This was why the Sithe named these types of golems ‘Protector’ golems.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Whitethaw barreled through one barrier after another, and none of the eight he rammed through were able to do anything to him.

  BANG! Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out from afar as a jade-green burst of light erupted. It was like dazzling jade moonlight, filled with satin-like gentleness. When the fleeing realmship rammed into into the jade-green light, the power of the jade moonlight was fully released. The jadeship was instantly smashed backwards and sent tumbling through the air.

  “That’s more like it. We already ran into eight of those things. How could you run into none while flying through the air?” Ning was delighted upon seeing this. “The most dangerous traps the Sithe created were all placed in the skies.”

  The realmship continued to careen backwards through the air. The traps in the air truly were incredibly powerful. “W-what the hell was…” As the realmship was smashed backwards, Archon Silksnow was briefly dizzied by the force of the collision as well. After recovering, he hurriedly took control of the realmship once more to continue his flight.

  “He’s catching up.” Archon Silksnow couldn’t help but frown when he saw the two figures chasing after him from behind. “I was able to pull away from them, but they just closed the distance in an instant. Ugh… Daolord Darknorth’s golem is incredibly strong. Its able to rip through all of those formations with raw force, while my realmship has no offensive capabilities and can only endure those attacks passively.”

  Whitethaw actively attacked and destroyed the traps and barriers he encountered while continuing his advance. The realmship, however, could do nothing but passively endure the attacks it encountered. Each time, it would be sent flying backwards. This had a dramatic affect on its speed. Was Archon Silksnow supposed to charge out and attack the traps like how the golem had? He didn’t have that level of courage.

  “I refuse to believe it. The Jadefire Realm is filled with many dangers. The Sithe filled this place with mechanisms and traps! There’s no way that a single golem will be able to burst through all of them. Once his golem is destroyed, he’ll have to rely on himself to take on those dangers.” Archon Silksnow still felt that success was within his grasp. In truth, this was part of his plan as well.

  He had prepared multiple plans to deal with Ning. The first was for him to wait for Ning to launch the attack! Alas, Ning’s sudden usage of the illusory [Unfettered Dreamlands] had completely ruined that play, forcing him to actively set off the trap in advance. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t been able to kill Ning.

  His second plan was to rely on the realmship to flee. The realmship was incredibly sturdy and good at keeping its occupants alive. If Ning dared to chase, if he wasn’t careful he would hit one of the traps and would end up dying. Archon Silksnow’s realmship, however, would be able to endure the hits.

  And of course, he had a third ‘desperation’ plan…

  “I hope I never have to use the third plan.” Archon Silksnow looked at the two streaks of light chasing after him, a mixed look in his oily green eyes. “Daolord Darknorth has always outperformed my expectations. I made so many preparations to set up the stage for his death, but he actually reached an incredibly terrifying level in illusions! He’s also gained an insanely strong golem. Judging from how it has burst through those traps with such ease, this golem is definitely far more powerful than me. Where in the world did Daolord Darknorth find such a golem?”

  ……

  The realmship continued to flee. Ning and Whitethaw continued to chase.

  Given how both sides were moving at maximum speed without carefully examining the dangers up ahead, they naturally ran into one trap after another. Ning and Whitethaw ran into more of them, and the realmship ran into fewer. Ning, however, wasn’t slowed down by the traps he found. The realmship, in contrast, was. As a result, the realmship hadn’t been able to shake Ning off, and the two remained fairly close to each other.

  This pursuit lasted for two full days.

  Whoosh. As the speeding realmship passed through the flaming passageways, it suddenly encountered some sort of invisible power that was extremely sticky in nature. It instantly wrapped itself around the realmship, causing it to dramatically slow in speed before finally coming to a complete halt… and then be pulled backwards and then forwards as if it was oscillating.

  After just two oscillations, it came to a complete halt and was stuck there in midair.

  “What’s going on?” Archon Silksnow stared in shock from within the realmship. “Move! Move! Hurry up and move!” He tried to will the realmship into moving, but he felt as though the entire ship had been trapped by some sort of invisible force that prevented it from moving at all.

  “Have I been trapped?” Archon Silksnow grew anxious. “Break through!” With but a thought, he summoned a saber to manifest outside the realmship. He didn’t dare to go outside the realmship himself, as the realmship had clearly been trapped; if he exited it, he might very well die. He used the saber to try and tear through the invisible force binding him from outside, but as soon as the saber appeared it also became bound by the invisible power, rendering it completely immobile.

  “B-but…” Archon Silksnow was stupefied when he saw this. “The realmship isn’t moving, and my treasures won’t move either.” Archon Silksnow turned to look behind himself. He had previously pulled away slightly from Ning and Whitethaw, but both were drawing near yet again.

  “If they catch up… given how terrifying Daolord Darknorth’s illusions are, I’ll probably die. If so… then it’s time to go all out.” Archon Silksnow narrowed his eyes, immediately manifesting six arms with six sabers in them. With but a thought, he appeared outside the realmship as he struck out with all six sabers.

  The invisible power once more swept over him. “Break!” Archon Silksnow struck out with all six sabers, but they were only to strike out to a distance of thirty meters before they brought to a halt by that invisible power, which had continuously pulled at them.

  That invisible power wrapped itself around Archon Silksnow as well. He tried to struggle, only to find that he couldn’t move at all.

  “W-what the hell type of trap is this?!” Archon Silksnow was furious and frantic.

  “Silksnow.” Ning’s voice was calm now. “This time, there’s no escaping.”

  Ning and Whitethaw both walked over, raising their heads to stare at the airborn realmship and Archon Silksnow. Both of them had been ‘stuck’ in midair and were unable to move.

  Ning wasn’t surprised. They had remained on the ground and so there was no way they would encounter any excessively powerful barriers, but Archon Silksnow had been flying through the air this entire time. Sooner or later, he would fall victim to a powerful trap! As soon as the two sides had begun this chase, the result had been foreordained.

  “Come over, if you have the courage to do so.” Archon Silksnow was completely unable to move, but he was still able to circulate his Immortal energy and cause his voice to echo in the air.

  * * *

  Book 37, Chapter 6 - Archons Fall

  “I’ll wait for you right here. Come over and kill me,” Archon Silksnow said with a cold laugh.

  “I wouldn’t dare follow y
ou inside.” Ji Ning stood off in the distance, staring at him. “It’d be pretty miserable to be trapped there for all of time.”

  “Hmph. If you don’t come in… I might be trapped here, but I’ll continue to live. I’ll be able to live a very, very long time. After 108,000 chaos cycles, you’ll probably have failed your Daomerge and perished. I, however, will still be alive! My friends will probably come here and figure out a way to rescue me. Sooner or later, I’ll break free!” Archon Silksnow stared downwards at Ning, his white brows fluttering and a look of madness flashing in his eyes. “So why don’t you come over. Come over and kill me!”

  “I’m not going to… but you are still going to die today.” Ning shook his head.

  “Eh?” Archon Silksnow’s face tightened, his gaze turning colder. “Oh? I’m quite curious as to just how you think you are going to kill me.”

  Ning stood there within the flaming passageway, head raised. He waved his right hand, causing a Northbow sword to appear.

  “Break!” Ning stabbed out with his sword, causing sword-light flow like a wave of water. The sword-light came together in overlapping layers which stabbed straight towards the distant midair Archon Silksnow. In the instant that the Northbow sword stabbed it, it transformed to become a million kilometers long! It seemed to pierce through the skies themselves as Ning struck out with his Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop. This was his most penetrative attack, and the attack which Ning decided was best-suited for dealing with this sort of invisible binding power.

  Slash! When the sword struck out, it pierced straight through the binding area and was immediately impeded by that invisible force. Ning’s sword began to move slower and slower; after stabbing in a mere hundred kilometers, it came to a complete halt and was unable to advance any further.

  “Eh?” Ning frowned. What an odd trap that was. His sword was only able to stab partially into the field, with Archon Silksnow still tens of thousands of kilometers away from it. Although the trap had bound Archon Silksnow, it also made it very hard for Ning to kill him.

  “Haha, you aren’t even close. You can’t even touch me!” Archon Silksnow laughed coldly.

  “You’re trapped inside and wrapped up so tightly in the air that you can’t even move… but you can still laugh? I really do admire you,” Ning said as he began to consider his options.

  “Hmph.” Archon Silksnow let out a cold snort. In truth, he did feel quite miserable. He was completely bound in midair and wasn’t even able to move a finger. It was as though he had been paralyzed into a statue. He couldn’t even move his mouth to speak aloud and was forced to rely on using Immortal energy. How miserable a life would this be?!

  And so the skinny, white-haired, white-browed Archon Silksnow just stood there frozen in the air, that tattered and ancient realmship next to him while Ning considered how to defeat the formation.

  “Come out!” Ning tried to physically push the Northbow sword deeper, but the sword didn’t budge at all. Raw force was of no use! Archon Silksnow wasn’t even able to move. If Ning used some of his sword-stances to unleash his most powerful attacks, he might be able to make a bit of progress, but with his sword stuck like that he wasn’t even able to use any stances.

  “Get back here.” Ning willed for the Northbow sword to shrink, and it quickly began to grow smaller in size. “Grow!” Ning tested out expanding the Northbow sword in size, but within the trapped region the sword was constantly being impeded by that invisible force. He could shrink it, but he couldn’t expand it.

  Ning shook his head. He had no choice but to shrink his sword and to put it away.

  “Master, this trap is meant to bind foes. After the foes are trapped inside, the Sithe would come to either capture them or kill them with ease,” Whitethaw said. “However, we’re unable to assert control over the trap and so we have no choice but to burst through it forcefully.”

  “Do you have a way to do that?” Ning said.

  “Let me try brute force first,” Whitethaw said.

  “Brute force?” Ning’s eyes lit up as he glanced at the golem with surprise. “Right. Give it a try.”

  Whitethaw was a golem and had brute force in spades; in strength alone, he was at the Hegemon level. Neither Ning nor Archon Silksnow had a chance to break through with raw power. They were cultivators, after all; they primarily relied upon their insights into the Dao, not raw strength! Golems, however, generally had ridiculous amounts of power, as they primarily relied on the overwhelming physical might of their golem-bodies. To them, the Dao was secondary.

  “Break!” Whitethaw reached out with his furry right hand. His hand expanded dramatically as he reached into the trapped region and began to be impeded by that invisible force.

  Ning watched closely, as did the distant and immobilized Archon Silksnow.

  Boom! The hairy white hand slowly forced its way in, tearing past the impeding power.

  “What?!” Archon Silksnow was shocked.

  “Good!” Ning was delighted.

  A smile appeared on Whitethaw’s stolid face. He then reached out with his other hand as well, appearing quite confident. His two large furry hands travelled nearly a hundred kilometers in an instant.

  “How is this possible? How?!” Archon Silksnow was beginning to panic.

  Ten thousand kilometers… the two giant furry hands moved closer and closer towards Archon Silksnow and the realmship, with the Archon’s face becoming grimmer and grimmer.

  “I’m… actually going to die here.” Archon Silksnow’s facial expressions twisted. He knew that once he was drawn into the estate-world, he would definitely perish.

  Time flowed on. Finally, one of the giant furry hands reached the realmship and latched onto it. The hand was so large that it was able to completely cover the vessel, separating it from that invisible binding power.

  “Come here.” After getting a firm grip over the realmship, Whitethaw forcibly drew it into his own estate-world treasure.

  “Now it is your turn.” Whitethaw turned to look at Archon Silksnow, reaching towards him as well.

  “Brother Silksnow, I’d like to invite you into my estate-world. Let’s have a little chat.” Ning sent out his heartforce which easily pierced through the invisible power of the trap, surging forward to completely surround Archon Silksnow. Ning was worried that Archon Silksnow would transform into his invulnerable snowform when Whitethaw moved to grab him, making it impossible for Whitethaw to get a hold on him.

  “I lost.” A forlorn look appeared on Archon Silksnow’s face as he sensed Ning’s heartforce take effect on him and watched that giant furry hand stretch out to him. He was still bound by that invisible power and completely unable to escape. His voice echoed throughout the empty area, “Daolord Darknorth, I lost. I have roamed the Flamedragon Realmverse for countless years, and I never thought that I would’ve died by your hands. However… you are the most powerful Daolord in all of history. To die by your hands is nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “Darknorth, today I shall die… but soon, you shall die as well. Without question, you will die.” Archon Silksnow’s oily green eyes stared at the distant Ning, a crazed smile on his face. A moment later, his gaze grew dull and flat as all signs of life fled his body. Clearly, he had committed suicide by collapsing his own soul and truesoul.

  ……

  Within Archon Silksnow’s estate-world. Two figures were seated there in the lotus position. One was Archon Silksnow’s avatar, the other was Emperor Bloodcloud’s avatar.

  The aura of life began to vanish from Archon Silksnow’s avatar. The death of the true body meant that the avatr would perish as well. “Brother Bloodcloud, I lost. You know what to do.” This was the final thing Archon Silksnow’s avatar said before dying.

  “Silksnow…” Emperor Bloodcloud’s avatar watched him die, then nodded slowly. “Yes, I know what to do.”

  Emperor Silksnow’s avatar suddenly exploded into countless tiny pieces, the godsense contained within it being completely extinguished as
well.

  His avatar had committed suicide by self-detonation to ensure that there was no way Ning would know who he had been. Once an avatar broke apart, it was nothing more than a compilation of treasure fragments; there was no way to tell what they had originally belonged to.

  ……

  An ordinary-looking chaosworld at the very margins of the Flamedragon Realmverse. Black clouds rolled about this world. Many Emperors were present here. This was where the Emperors of Silksnow Fiend Palace had chosen to hide. This place was filled with many barriers, ensuring that even if Ning did attack they would have ample time to flee.

  “He died.” Emperor Bloodcloud sat at the peak of a mountain, a look of grief in his eyes. “Brother Silksnow died.”

  Archon Silksnow had simply been far too crazy. Emperor Bloodcloud wasn’t willing to accompany Silksnow in his madness, but had been willing to help Silksnow out. Thus, Emperor Bloocloud had sent an avatar alongside Silksnow in the latter’s scheme to kill Ji Ning.

  The end result, however, was that Silksnow failed.

  “Daolord Darknorth… do you think you’ve reaped a great fortune now that the realmship is in your hands?” Emperor Bloodcloud smiled coldly. “Soon, the realmverses and otherverses closest to the Flamedragon Realmverse shall all learn that you, Daolord Darknorth, are in possession of a realmship as well as many other treasures.”

  “Hmph… sometimes, owning too much treasure can be fatal.” Emperor Bloodcloud’s voice was cold. He was absolutely certain that the Hegemons and other major powers of the various realmverses would go crazy over the chance to acquire a realmship.

  “This is the last gift which Silksnow prepared for you… a fatal gift.” Emperor Bloodcloud had an eager look in his eyes. He eagerly awaited the day where Darknorth would be killed.

  * * *

  Book 37, Chapter 7 - Realmship