Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

“Judging from what that jade yaksha said, just now I merely battled one of his clones? And he tried to kill me without negotiating or speaking to me at all. I haven’t encountered any Empyrean Gods yet….is it because all of them have been killed?” Ning couldn’t help but shiver. Thousands of Empyrean Gods…perhaps the vast majority were ordinary in power, but some were truly top-tier experts. A few might be even more powerful than Ning!

If Ning didn’t use the Rahu Formation, on Mount Innerheart alone the likes of Redsnow, Silvermoon, and Goldcrow were figures that Ning was no match for. In an actual battle, there were too many deficiencies in Ning’s understanding of the Dao. Only if Ning’s swordforce reached the fourth stage would he become equal to the likes of Redsnow in a frontal battle.

“I have to be even more careful.”

The Ruyi Soulsnake Shuttle continued to fly forward.

“Intriguing. He was actually able to wipe out one of my clones.”

“Ahaha…it’s rare for me to encounter a tough enemy.”

“But the tough ones are fun.”

“Ahahaha.”

“Time to kill.”

One jade yaksha after another began to emerge from the depths of the sea in front of Ning, hastening towards him at high speed. At the same time, their shrill voices echoed within the world. After the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, Ning heard their shrill voices echoing in the skies. Shrill voices and strange laughter seemed to come forth from every corner of the seas. Clearly, there were an enormous number of these creatures.

“Are they all gathering together?” Ning’s eyes blazed with torchlight as he stared at his surroundings. He was able to see past the water and locate the many jade yakshas that had appeared.

“So many?!” Ning was rather stunned. His [Torch Dragon’s Eye] alone was able to see more than a hundred of those yakshas. Although he had slain the first yaksha in a seemingly simple manner, in truth the yaksha had essentially likely reached the Empyrean God level of power. If there were enough of them, they would be able to overwhelm him with raw numbers.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions could be heard throughout the sea. One jade yaksha after another burst through the surface of the sea, standing on the water and completely surrounding Ning. All of them stared at Ning, filled with maliciousness and avarice.

With a thought, Ning put away the shuttle. He had noticed earlier that the speed of the shuttle was actually inferior to that of the jade yakshas. Thus, there was no choice but to fight; escape was not an option.

“519 clones.” A pair of blood-colored swords appeared in Ning’s hands. By now, he had no choice but to rely on his sword-arts.

“I don’t wish to be your enemy.” Ning’s gaze swept past every single one of the many jade yakshas surrounding him.

“Ahaha…but I want to kill you, kid.” The 519 jade yakshas simultaneously spoke out, saying the same words. When their voices merged together, they actually had the power to shake one’s Dao-heart. “Be careful, now. If you end up dying in my hands, don’t claim that I tricked you or plotted against you. I’m battling against you openly and fairly.

Ning, swords in hands, grew even more wary.

“Let’s go.”

Instantly…swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! ….

Ten of the jade yakshas simultaneously circled around and attacked Ning with their steel warforks.

A killing intent suddenly flashed in the eyes of the white-robed Ning. The blood-colored swords in his hands suddenly transformed into blurs.

Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash…

The bodies of the jade yakshas were each bisected. In a single clash, ten of them had been cut in half.

[Brightmoon] sword-art, Shadowless stance!

The Shadowless stance: This was a very fast stance that was the strangest stance of all. It was meant to attack from an unpredictable angle and chop the enemy in half. Clearly, these jade yakshas were unable to block Ning’s sword-art.

“Eh?” Ning’s face changed slightly. The bodies of the bisected yakshas first transformed into water, then reformed to become ten more jade yakshas. And then…frenzied, bloodlusted looks appeared in the eyes of the 519 jade yakshas.

And then, the 500-plus jade yakshas all simultaneously charged towards Ning.

“[Three Heads, Six Arms]!” Ning’s body blurred, then reformed with three heads and six arms. He now wielded six swords as well. Faced with the utterly relentless horde of enemies, Ning didn’t dare to use the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] against them.

Ning’s six blood-red swords transformed into bloody blurs. They were simply too fast! The bloody blurs swirled around around Ning, completely blocking and halting all of the assaulting jade yakshas. In fact, many of their bodies were chopped apart and knocked flying, but moments later they would reform unharmed.

Although the ‘slain’ yakshas were able to reform after being bisected, Ning had the feeling that after doing so they would become noticeably weaker.

Still, Ning felt a sense of pressure and danger. The enemies were simply too numerous, and all of them could be said to have reached the Empyrean God level of power. Even against Ning’s sword-arts, the yakshas managed to land the occasional blow against his body. However, Ning’s body had reached the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]; it wouldn’t be easy to damage. If this continued, in the end it was more likely that the enemy would be the first to lose this war of attrition. At present, Ning had only used [Three Heads, Six Arms] after all; this divine ability used up very little divine power. In addition, at the Empyrean God level the body was further perfected, easily capable of battling for months on end. If Ning used the [Starseizing Hand], the amount of time he’d be able to battle would be decreased a hundredfold.

“DAMN!!!!” A furious bellow suddenly shook the heavens.

The 519 jade yakshas simultaneously retreated backwards, levitating up into midair. All of them appeared utterly furious. Then, all of them began to ram against each other, completely merging into each other with each collision. The number of jade yakshas in the skies began to decrease as more and more of them began to fuse together.

The more yakshas fused together, the darker a green they became. Soon, their color became as black as night…but then, they became a dark-gold color. When the two final dark-gold yakshas rammed against each other, they transformed into a golden yaksha that held such power as to cause even Ning amazement.

This golden yaksha was thirty meters tall, and his aura was extremely close to that of a True God’s.

“To force me to use my true body in battle…you aren’t bad. Over the course of all these years, more than a thousand Empyrean Gods died without even seeing my true body,” the golden yaksha growled.

“What?! More than a thousand?!” Ning’s heart shook. Most of the thousands of Empyrean Gods who had entered this place belonged to the Nuwa Alliance. Many had entered back during the Primordial Era, after all, and almost all of those belonged to the Nuwa Alliance. Ning had been hoping that he would be able to come up with a way to rescue the thousands of Empyrean Gods trapped here, but…

Apparently, an enormous number had died by the hands of this yaksha. Indeed…surrounded by more than five hundred yakshas, very few would be able to survive.

“However…the number of Empyrean Gods that died to my true body is in excess of two thousand.” The golden yaksha stared at Ning. Light suddenly flashed within his hands, and a steel warfork that looked ancient suddenly appeared within it. The steel warfork looked very plain and simple, but it clearly had an aura of incredible power.

“You should rejoice in the fact that you will die to my true body,” the golden yaksha laughed savagely. “All of you want to acquire the relics which my master left behind…did you really think it would be that easy?”

Ning’s eyes narrowed. Master?