Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

The Moatship hung there in empty space. Ning stayed inside of it, staring at the utterly stunning sight before him.

The primordial chaos in front of him had long ago been torn asunder, revealing eight utterly dazzling stars that glowed with layers of light. These eight stars all revolved around a final planet located in their center. These eight stars were the ‘servants’, while this ninth planet was the ‘master’! These nine celestial bodies came together to form an enormous ‘spacetime transfer array’, and their light was far more dazzling than even the Solar Star of the Three Realms.

In terms of raw size? The formation was probably comparable to the entire Three Realms!

“How could a single formation be so large?” Ning let out a sigh. “I really can’t imagine how powerful the person who set up this formation was.” According to his records, not even World Gods or Chaos Immortals were even close to being powerful enough to construct spacetime transfer arrays. These arrays had all been passed down from the most ancient of days.

As for the question of who built them? No one even asked any longer.

“Go over there.”

Swoosh. The Moatship quickly flew towards the enormous spacetime transfer array.

The core star surrounded by the eight other stars was the Earthdrake planet. Even before landing on Earthdrake, Ning could sense the ripples of power emanating from atop it. These were ripples that emanated from powerful experts.

“Come back.” Ning put away his Moatship, then quickly descended upon the star.

Earthdrake was an enormous planet that was comparable to the Solar Star or the Lunar Star in size. However, the entire planet had been refined and retrofitted, making it more like an utterly enormous magic treasure.

“So many experts…” As Ning sensed the powerful ripples emanating from the star, he immediately transformed into a Ninehorn Lightning Serpent as he flew towards the very center of Earthdrake.

Swish.

The Ninehorn Lightning Serpent was quite fast. While flying forward, Ning encountered quite a few other cultivators. Some looked similar to humans, while some looked extremely different. As they saw the Ninehorn Lightning Serpent fly past them and sensed the undisguised aura of dominating power radiating from Ji Ning, they all revealed looks of wariness on their faces.

Whoosh. Ning landed on the ground, a miniature spacetime transfer array located directly in front of him.

Although spacetime transfer arrays were utterly enormous, their most important cores were just a few hundred kilometers in size. These miniature spacetime transfer arrays actually had buildings located in side of them. Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were stationed in these buildings to keep the array safe. There were also many True Gods and True Immortals here, along with a vast number of Empyrean Gods and Celestial Immortals. All of them were responsible for maintaining the spacetime array and keeping it in good shape for any future uses.

“Where are you going?” An Elder God dressed in golden robes with a scaly reptilian tail was seated in the lotus position in front of Ning. His body was utterly massive, and he peered down as he looked at Ning. When he sensed how powerful Ning’s aura was, his attitude improved slightly and he even put a smile on his face. Earthdrake was primarily populated by Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals. World Gods and Chaos Immortal were incredibly exalted figures, after all; they generally wouldn’t deign to handle such low-level matters.

“Sevenwater Star,” Ning said.

Sevenwater Star was naturally a star that was located at the heart of a different spacetime array.

Actually finding and reaching Vastheaven Palace would be too hard. Ning’s first goal was to deal with the Mindlord, who was one of the Nine Divine Generals of God Emperor Blacklotus. The records the Three Realms had regarding God Emperor Blacklotus stated that he was an incredibly powerful World God who had five other World Gods serving him. Together, they dominated a wide swathe of territory.

The area around Sevenwater Star was dominated by God Emperor Blacklotus, the Starlord of Fogstone, Sovereign Eastvictor, and several other hegemons. God Emperor Blacklotus was just one of them.

“Sevenwater Star?” The Elder God nodded. “If you want to go right now, we can activate the transfer array just for you, but that’ll cost you a total of 120 bottles of chaos nectar. If you are willing to wait…if you are lucky, in around eight years or so there will be another group activation of the array for transference to Sevenwater Star. Only a single bottle will be required.”

“Eight years?” Ning nodded slowly. “Alright.”

This spacetime transfer array was the size of the entire Three Realms. Activating it required a significant cost, and a payment of 120 bottles of chaos nectar was quite standard. However, Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals usually wouldn’t be willing to act in such a wasteful, extravagant manner. The total networth of most Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals wouldn’t even necessarily be that much!

“Yes, eight years.” The Elder God nodded. “There’s a stone stele over there with detailed information regarding transfers.”

“Alright.” Ning walked over to the stone stele, giving it a glance. It was filled with detailed information regarding how long one would have to wait for transference to each other spacetime array.

“If I wanted to go to the Badlands Everworld, I wouldn’t have to wait nearly so long. That destination is a much more frequently visited place,” Ning mused to himself. “Still, there’s nothing for it. I’m simply too far away from Sevenwater Star; if I wanted to fly there by myself, I wouldn’t be able to get there in a trillion years. I might as well wait for eight.” Although Ning had acquired the treasures of the Elder God and Ancestral Immortal prisoners of the prisonworld as well as around 120 bottles of chaos nectar, Ning had left a hundred of those bottles to the Three Realms. He had left them behind for the sake of his daughter and Autumn Leaf.

As for himself? He was strong enough and capable enough to acquire more on his own.

Whoosh.

Ning quickly flew away from this place. He found and selected a beautiful, secluded mountain peak within Earthdrake. He waved his hand, causing an Immortal estate to descend upon the peak. Ning then entered the Immortal estate and began to quietly wait.





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Book 24, Chapter 3 - Fogstone Planet


The Heavengazer Tower of the Heavens had been placed within the Immortal estate.

Ji Ning was seated inside the tower in the lotus position, as still as a lifeless rock. He had activated the ‘solitude’ technique of the [Solitary World God] while using the [Nine Elements Annihilation] to work on the [Starseizing Hand].

The ‘solitude’ technique would allow a cultivator to reach an extremely calm state, with the inner heart becoming far more sensitive and nimble. It was meant to allow one to find the secrets of the body, but it also made it easier for one to visualize and hypothesize certain techniques. Buddha Jueming, who had already sacrificed himself, had perpetually stayed in the ‘solitude’ state, which was why he had been able to come up with a divine ability that was just as strong as Lord Tathagata’s.

Right now…Ning was researching and developing the Seventh Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]!

The first six cycles all served as guides for this project. Previously, when he didn’t have any golden starstone, he had actually used the [Nine Elements Annihilation] to disassemble and overhaul the [Starseizing Hand], allowing him to create a brand new Sixth Cycle. Now, he naturally wished to come up with an even more profound Seventh Cycle!

“A True God body can train in the Sixth Cycle.”