Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

“Windbrother, subordinate of Wargod Xingtian, leaves behind his last words.”


Some of these Empyrean Gods were quite famous, while others were low-key recluses. They had all come here, to the world of Undermoon Lake. Although they had managed to survive the yaksha, they were no unable to advance a single step past this place. They knew that their chances of surviving this palace were very low, and so they had left behind some words on this wall, telling future arrivals that they had once been here!

The techniques they had left behind naturally weren’t that impressive, and of course Ning found them useless.

At the Empyrean God level, one would mainly rely on self-developed techniques. Ning, for example, had developed the [Brightmoon] sword-art, and they were quite formidable in his hands. But if he was to leave the [Brightmoon] sword-art on the wall carving, other Empyrean Gods wouldn’t really care to learn it, as it was a technique developed by Ning for Ning; it wouldn’t be very useful for others.

Even techniques created by True Gods and Daofathers wouldn’t be that useful to them, unless the techniques were truly monstrous, unearthly techniques like the [Five Treasures] sword-art.

The reason why Ning was staring at the wall carvings was because he had the feeling that every single stroke and dotted line, every single character, represented a type of entrustment! These were all left behind by powerful Empyrean Gods prior to their deaths. This sort of faith and spiritual entrustment caused Ning’s soul to quiver. He could sense that none of these Empyrean Gods wished to die. All of them wished to live! But alas…they didn’t have the power to do so.

“I do not wish to leave behind any carvings.” At some point in time, Roughpeak had walked to Ning’s side, wine gourd in hand. He said calmly, “If I die, I die. I’ve had enough of this life.”





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Book 20, Chapter 10 - Snowfiend


“What’s wrong?” Ji Ning immediately asked.

Immortals and Fiendgods would generally be able to withstand the loneliness of solitude. The prisoners of Prisonworld 17, for example, had been trapped for multiple chaos cycles with only a small number committing suicide in desspair. Empyrean God Roughpeak, by comparison, had been trapped here a far shorter period of time.

“Didn’t I tell you how I mistook you for ‘Snowfiend’ earlier?” Roughpeak said.

“Yes.” Ning nodded.

“Undermoon Lake is an exceptionally deadly place. Many years ago, I made my way past the sea yaksha and arrived here at this snowy island. When I first arrived, there were no other Empyrean Gods, and so I continued to advance,” Roughpeak said. “On the other side of this island, there is another floating wooden bridge. If you proceed past it, you’ll encounter Snowfiend.”

“I was unable to defeat Snowfiend. Fortunately, by relying on my agility techniques, I managed to escape and flee back to this snowy island,” Roughpeak said. “Snowfiend pursued me all the way back to this location, but once I fled into the island itself, Snowfiend immediately halted the pursuit.”

“Each time I fought against Snowfiend, I was unable to win. Thus, I have no choice but to remain here on this island.”

“I thought that I would be safe here, but I didn’t expect that after being here for a thousand years, one of Snowfiend’s clones actually attacked the island.” Roughpeak shook his head and sighed. “Every since that day, roughly every thousand years, a clone of Snowfiend would come to the island to attack me. Each time, its power is a little bit greater than it was before. After a million years, the clones will be close to its true body in power.”

Ning asked, puzzled, “Once every thousand years, with a gradual increase in power…is he doing this just to temper you, senior apprentice-brother?”

“This is indeed a form of tempering.” Roughpeak nodded. “At first, the Snowfiend clones were fairly weak, and I was completely capable of withstanding them. After a million years, my agility techniques reached an extremely formidable level; even the clone that was comparable to Snowfiend at full power is unable to kill me.”

“He’s not able to kill me, but I’m not able to go past him either.”

“And so, I’ve been trapped here on this island the entire time. Over the course of many years, other Empyrean Gods have come to this island. Some of them died to Snowfiend, while others made it to the next island. Some were like me, trapped here for long periods of time…but because the Snowfiend clones grew increasingly powerful, they were unable to keep up and ended up dying.”

“I’m the only one left!”

Empyrean God Roughpeak shook his head and laughed. “In terms of power, many of them were actually my equal…but my forte lies in agility. Thanks to Snowfiend’s pressure, I’ve reached a level that I would never have dared imagined I would reach.”

“But what of it? Snowfiend continues to disturb me time and time again. He uses illusions, ambushes, assassination attempts…he continues to try to kill me.” Roughpeak let out a sigh. “I’m here, all by myself, and I’m unable to improve any further at all. I’m also unable to make it past Snowfiend…and I have to be wary of his attacks.”

“Even if I’m not killed, I’ll eventually suffer a mental collapse,” Roughpeak said.

Ning nodded slowly.

“Senior apprentice-brother Roughpeak,” Ning said solemnly, “I feel that Undermoon Lake is quite a strange place. Based on what I’ve seen, it should be a world that was created by an ancient major power. After we enter, we will be beset by a number of trials. If we are unable to endure the trials, we will die. If we can endure them, we will be allowed to proceed, eventually acquiring treasures and even being allowed to leave.”

“Is it possible that the major power who created Undermoon Lake did so in order to help cultivate juniors, giving us treasures then letting us leave?” Ning was puzzled.

“He’s not as nice as you think.” Roughpeak shook his head. “The major power who created Undermoon Lake definitely had schemes of his own.”

“Agreed. Nobody is as selfless as that.” Ning agreed as well.

To help train Empyrean Gods, producing top-tier ones that would be gifted with treasures and allowed to leave…that was an act of utter selflessness. Ning didn’t think that anybody would be that selfless. There had to be a reason behind it all!

“Can it be that Buddha Jueming has never said anything at all, despite so many years having passed?” Roughpeak asked.

“Nothing.” Ning shook his head. “I asked my master, and my master also told me that Buddha Jueming sealed his lips, saying nothing about this place. It doesn’t matter who asks. Even Lord Tathagata the Buddha was unable to convince Buddha Jueming to divulge any information about Undermoon Lake.”

Roughpeak frowned. “How odd. Why is Buddha Jueming so completely closemouthed about this place?”

Buddha Jueming refused to speak, but he also refused to prevent other Empyrean Gods from entering this place. Still…no one could force him to speak.

“Snowfiend’s continuously attempted to kill me. In fact, he’s even chatted with me several times. That’s why I’ve learned that there is only one method of surviving Undermoon Lake and leaving with treasures,” Roughpeak said.

Ning immediately listened carefully.

“The method is…to continuously advance through the floating bridges, defeating all guardians. The journey will see you go past a total of five islands. Once you reach the fifth island, you’ll be able to depart in peace. However, to date only Buddha Jueming has succeeded,” Roughpeak said.

“Five islands?” Ning was stunned.

The snow-covered island the two of them were on was merely the very first island. To reach the fifth island would be no easy feat.

“Upon reaching the fifth island, you’d most likely learn what the creator of Undermoon Lake has been scheming,” Roughpeak said.