Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

After entering Myriad Mountains Island, there would be no way back to Volcano Island. The only options were to die or to successfully pass through the remaining islands and return to the Three Realms.

“Three?” Ning said with surprise, “I hear that the fourth and fifth islands all have treasures as well.”

“Yes.” The Purgatory God nodded. “The third, fourth, and fifth islands all have treasures within them. In each place, you can choose three items. Thus, there’s a total of nine items you can acquire. Once you reach the fifth island, you’ll be allowed to leave Undermoon Lake. But of course, in this chaos cycle, the only one who survived was the man called ‘Jueming’.”

Ning instantly became filled with questions. The legends of the Three Realms stated that Buddha Jueming left Undermoon Lake with three treasures…but the Purgatory God now said that he left with nine?

“It seems there are six treasures which Buddha Jueming did not make public,” Ning mused to himself.

“Follow me.”

They walked through the smaller island, nearly a million kilometers in circumference. It took them only a short while to travel hundreds of thousands of kilometers and arrive at a lake. Compared to the endless amount of distance the Ruyi Soulsnake Shuttle had traversed over the oceans here, this island really was just a small island.

The island lake was covered by a hazy mist that prevented others from seeing it clearly.

“Disperse.” The Purgatory God waved his hand, causing all the mist to dissipate and the lake to appear. The lake was actually separated into nine distinct regions! One region was filled with incredibly hot Ninefire Lava, with a dark-red snow lotus growing atop it. Another region was filled with slowly flowing rivers of icy Iceheart Pith, and atop the pith grew a clump of jewel-like Iceheart Leaf. There was also a region filled with many types of precious medicinal herbs, all filled with life energy. These precious herbs had given birth to a jade-green fruit that appeared to levitate above them…

Nine regions of fire, of ice, of darkness, of life, of death…

A single invisible formation joined these nine regions together in a perfect manner.

“Eh? Iceheart Pith? Ninefire Lava? This place actually has both of them?” Ning’s heartrate instantly sped up. He grew excited now; he didn’t expect that he would discover Iceheart Pith, which he badly desired, right here within the third island.

“The treasures which Buddha Jueming made public are actually all here.” Ning instantly guessed at the reason behind this. “It seems that Buddha Jueming didn’t make public any of the treasures he acquired on the fourth and fifth islands.” Anyone could tell that the treasures on the later islands would be even more valuable and useful.

“Choose.” The Purgatory God, upon seeing Ning go into a daze, urged Ning to hurry up. “There are nine types of treasures here. You can choose three of them.”

“Nine types of treasure?” Ning was startled. There were nine regions in total. The Iceheart Pith region had a single Iceheart Leaf growing atop it. Although Iceheart Leaf was valuable, the large amount of flowing Iceheart Pith was something which Ning desperately desired as well.

“Can I choose the Iceheart Pith?” Ning suddenly asked.

“Iceheart Pith?” The Purgatory God frowned as he looked at Ning. “Iceheart Leafs crystallize above the Iceheart Pith. You should choose the leaf; the leaf is the crystallized essence of the pith. All nine regions have crystallized essences of certain things; you should choose them.”

“But I want the Iceheart Pith. Can I have it?” Ning asked. He definitely had to choose the Iceheart Leaf, but what of the Iceheart Pith?

The Purgatory God frowned. “The Iceheart Pith is the foundation; because it exists, Iceheart Leaf can grow. After an Iceheart Leaf is harvested, more will grow after a long period of time. You can choose Iceheart Leaf, but the underlying Iceheart Pith…how could I possibly give it to you?”





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Book 20, Chapter 16 - Icefire Formation


Ji Ning instantly felt his heart clench. Iceheart Pith was the foundation of the leaf?

“With the pith gone, there will be no more leaves in the future.” The Purgatory God looked at Ning. “Many other Empyrean Gods will enter the Myriad Mountains Island. I can’t just let one of the treasures disappear due to you.”

“But I heard that the person who left, Jueming, was given more than just a single Iceheart Leaf,” Ning suddenly said.

“Uh…”

The Purgatory God’s face changed slightly. He cursed softly, “Damn that Jueming. Why did he have to blabber about the treasures?”

“Yes, your words are correct.” The Purgatory God looked towards Ning. “Jueming entered Undermoon Lake long, long ago. He was able to make it all the way to Myriad Mountains Island in one try, and was only the second person to make it here. Back then, there were many Iceheart Leafs, and so giving him twelve didn’t make much of a difference. But as time flowed on, the Empyrean Gods who entered this place were all tempered and strengthened. More of them entered Myriad Mountains Island…and as a result, the amount of treasures stored here began to run low. That’s why the reward was changed to be a single leaf.”

“Since you also made it all the way here on your first try…if you want twelve leaves, I’ll give them to you.”

The Purgatory God waved his hand. Whoosh. Instantly, the Iceheart Pith region began to ripple, as though some sort of restrictive spell had just been dissipated. One platter after another began to appear, each holding an Iceheart Leaf. There had to be at least ten thousand of the leaves within the great Iceheart Pith region.

“That many?” Ning was shocked.

“Is it? If every single Empyrean God takes away twelve leaves, then a thousand of them would take over more than ten thousand, yes?” The Purgatory God snorted. “I have to be sparing with these treasures. The only reason why I’m willing to offer you twelve is because you made it here on your first trip without failure. Twelve of the leaves wouldn’t be a problem, but the Iceheart Pith…that’s the foundation. Forget about it.”

Ning understood. These Iceheart Leaves all came from the Iceheart Pith before him; to acquire the pith was highly unlikely.

“Actually…” Ning suddenly said, “I only need a small amount of Iceheart Pith. Let’s say…a few dozen square meters of it?”

“A few dozen square meters?” The Purgatory God stared. “You call that a ‘small amount’?”

Ning felt a surge of delight in his heart. Judging from the Purgatory God’s attitude, there was clearly some bargaining room here.

“There are several square kilometers of Iceheart Pith here. A few dozen square meters is nothing,” Ning said hurriedly. Seeing the look on the Purgatory God’s face, Ning knew that he was rather unlikely to agree. Ning immediately said, “Just thirty square meters!”

“Do you know how deep the Iceheart Pith goes?” The Purgatory God explained, “They are nearly ninety meters deep. You want nearly 2700 cubic meters of it? Completely impossible.”

“Just nine meters deep and nine meters long,” Ning said hurriedly. “That’s all I want…”

The Purgatory God frowned.

“Just a tiny bit of Iceheart Pith and a single Iceheart Leaf.” Ning looked at the Purgatory God. “I won’t take any of the other treasures. Earlier, you said that I can take three of my choosing. All I want is a bit of Iceheart Pith and a single Iceheart Leaf.”

“Nine meters…” The Purgatory God looked at Ning, hesitating.

Ning looked back at him.

“Fine.” The Purgatory God nodded. “Since you made it all the way here on your first try…and since nine meters won’t have an impact on the foundation as a whole. Earlier, I told you that you can choose three treasures; now, you’ll only be allowed to pick a single Iceheart Leaf and some of the Iceheart Pith.”