Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

“Build constructs?” Ning instantly understood. “Those other gray-robed figures…they were also brought here because they were skilled in the Dao of Constructs?”


“Right. There are more than one hundred grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs in this area,” Northson said. “They’ve all been brought here. I suspect that the Eastwoods mountain range is a gathering point for the mysterious power behind this place, for more than a hundred nearby commanderies.”

Ning frowned. “One of the gathering points? You know of other gathering points?”

“I have some guesses,” Northson said. “During these years, I’ve seen seven generals come to this place. ‘General’ is a fairly high rank here, and all of them were at the Celestial Immortal level. The Eastwoods mountain range has a general who is permanently stationed here, but on multiple occasions there have been other generals who escorted deliveries of treasures to this place. In total, I’ve seen twelve different generals!”

Ning was secretly startled.

Twelve Celestial Immortals? And this was just the tip of the iceberg!

“They are asking you to create constructs?” Ning asked. “What sort of construct?”

“An extremely large one.” A look of disbelief was in Northson’s eyes. “This power has an extremely deep level of understanding regarding the Dao of Constructs; their understanding, compared to the secret arts recorded down within our Black-White College regarding the Dao of Constructs, must be billions or even trillions of times greater!”

Ning was rather stunned upon hearing this.

Billions? Trillions?! This was too insane.

“Don’t think I’m just talking,” Northson immediately said. “I feel that I am an extremely talented person with regards to the Dao of Constructs, but when I first came, they taught me some construct-creation methods that they felt were fairly low-level. When creating the constructs, I was inspired by the mysteries and profoundness of them, causing my level of insight into the Dao of Constructs to rapidly increase.”

“As my level of insight increased, they began to let me create increasingly more powerful constructs. They also bestowed liquefied elemental essence upon me, allowing me to reach the Void level and become an Earth Immortal.”

“Now, within this forbidden region, I can be ranked amongst the top hundred grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs,” Northson said. “Right now, the other grandmasters and myself are currently working together to forge an incomparably massive construct. It should be the most powerful Fiendgod Golem this forbidden region is producing.”

“Grandmaster of the Dao of Constructs?” Ning could hardly believe it. His junior apprentice-brother had advanced so quickly?

“Senior apprentice-brother…you have no idea what life here has been like,” Northson said. “They squeeze every single drop of usable energy out of you, forcing you to go all out to construct new constructs! But every single powerful construct expands our horizons as well. As for the most powerful Fiendgod Golem we are currently creating…that’s even more terrifying.”

“How terrifying?” Ning asked.

“Below the level of True Immortals or Empyrean Gods…it is all but invincible,” Northson said seriously. “If a Celestial Immortal was controlling it, not even ten or a hundred Celestial Immortals fighting together would be able to stop it.”

Ning was incomparably shocked.

“Don’t be so shocked. The slightly weaker golems which the other grandmasters and myself have been constructing, when controlled by Loose Immortals, all have the combat power of Celestial Immortals.” Northson sighed, “You have no idea what a deep level of understanding of the Dao of Constructs this organization has. Those construct formation-diagrams are incomparably profound; in terms of better understanding the Dao of Constructs, every single diagram is like a supreme treasure to us. And here, I’ve already seen more than a thousand such construct formation-diagrams…”

Ning nodded gently. “So this forbidden region is being used to produce constructs…but can it be that everyone is just willing to work here?”

“How can we be ‘willing’?” Northson said with grief, “Nobody is ‘willing’. Creating these top-tier golems is extremely difficult, and it uses up a tremendous amount of our mental energy. And yet, we are still having the life squeezed out of us; the amount of time for rest we have been given is growing less and less.”

“We all hate them for kidnapping us, and in fact many wish to die. I originally wanted to die as well.”

“But…Yu Xia’s soul is in their hands,” Northson said. “If I diligently work to create golems, I can go visit her once a month and speak with her. But if I dare to commit suicide…once I die, they will torment her soul for thousands on thousands of years, never giving her a chance to be reborn.”

Ning couldn’t help but shiver. Never be given the chance to be reborn?

“I do not dare kill myself.” Northson laughed bitterly. “Their general, however, has voluntarily sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens that if we stay here and peacefully build these constructs, within a thousand years we will be granted our freedom, and the soul of our loved one will be released as well.”

Freedom?

A thousand years?

Ning understood now. In one hand, a big stick; in the other hand, a carrot. Although the people here were being tormented and exhausted, they still saw hope, and so they were able to endure.





* * *





Book 15, Chapter 2 - The Rescue Plan


Ji Ning now knew about all the twists and turns that had led to the current situation. He immediately said, “Junior apprentice-brother, I’ll come up with a way to save your Dao-companion’s soul, then lead you away.”

Although his heart was filled with a desire for murder, Ning knew very well that the truly important thing was to rescue his junior apprentice-brother and the soul of Yu Xia.

“It’s useless.” Mu Northson shook his head. “There’s no way I can leave the forbidden region.”

“Why?!” Ning hurriedly asked.

“This mysterious power seems to be worried that we might have a Greater Teleportation Dao-seal hidden within our Zifu region; without killing us, there’s no way they can find out,” Northson said. “To prevent us from escaping, when they caught us, they forced us to swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens that unless they voluntarily grant us freedom, if we are to flee this place and go beyond the confines of the Eastwoods mountain range, we shall have our souls shattered.”

“What?!” Ning was stunned.

This was going to be trouble.

“We only have two paths before us. The first path is the path of death, followed by the souls of our loved ones suffering for countless ages, never to be reborn! The second path is to swear the oath to the Dao of the Heavens, then obediently work hard. Those of us who did not commit suicide…we are all hoping for our final freedom,” Northson said.

Ning nodded lightly.

Aside from the tight watch they maintained, they had also forced Northson and the others to swear oaths to the Dao of the Heavens not to flee. Quite cautious indeed!

“You said…‘unless they voluntarily grant you freedom’?” Ning suddenly asked.

“Right,” Northson said. “After all, the general himself also swore an oath to the Dao of the Heavens to free us within a thousand years. If we are to never be given freedom, many people would likely choose suicide instead.”