Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

As they teleported over, they saw a white-robed youth appear in midair, staring downwards towards this vast chaosworld.

“He looks identical to the painting we were given.” The three of them didn’t hesitate at all, immediately flying over towards Ning. The black-robed Ancestral Immortal immediately asked, “Are you the new Sentinel?”

Ning waved his hand, producing an insignia.

Rumble…

The insignia emitted a wave of overwhelming power that had an aura identical to that of the Starlord’s.

“We bow in greetings to you, Sentinel.” The three of them hurriedly called out respectfully to Ning. There was no way the Sentinel insignia could be counterfeited, and once the Starlord gave it to Ji Ning, he would become the only person capable of using it. No other Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals would be able to use it.

“Mm.” Ning nodded. “The three of you are…?”

“I’m Whitehorn. He’s Bloodsea. The two of us are responsible for managing all affairs of the Windsource Chaosworld, great or small.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal hurriedly answered the question.

“I am Elder God Mountain Eater.” The goldscale soldier was incredibly muscular, but he had a simple, honest look in his eyes. He said in a low voice, “The 321 Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals stationed in the Windsource Chaosworld all obey my commands. Per the Starlord, from this day forth I shall obey the Sentinel’s commands.”

Ning smiled and nodded. Given how many chaosworlds the Starlord commanded, it only made sense that he had designated certain individuals to manage them. Generally speaking, he would arrange for two Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals to watch over each chaosworld as well as each other. In addition, the Starlord would also occasionally send out a Sentinel to oversee certain areas and ensure that the local managers weren’t plundering the worlds they were supposed to oversee.

The Windsource Chaosworld was under the management of Ancestral Immortal Whitehorn and Elder God Bloodsea.

“The three of you can simply refer to me as Sword Immortal Sunrise,” Ning said. Since the Starlord was helping him to disguise his identity, Ning naturally was going to use a false name as well.

“Sword Immortal Sunrise,” the three called out respectfully.

“Where is the Fogstone Army stationed? Take me there,” Ning instructed.

“Right over there.” Elder God Mountain Eater pointed at a distant chain of mountains. “We all live there in the Eastcalm Mountains.”

The mountain range stretched out for thousands of kilometers. The Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had all chosen mountain peaks that they liked, then settled down on their respective peaks. The distance between the mountain peaks was negligible to them; once battle began, they would be able to almost instantly gather together.

“Oh?” Ning nodded and smiled. “Then I will live there as well. Brother Mountain Eater, overseeing the Windsource Chaosworld is just a minor part of my duties. The real reason I’ve come here is to battle against the Blacklotus Empire by your side.”

“With you by our side, general, our victory is assured.” Elder God Mountain Eater chortled.

“I heard that the Windsource Ruins here are quite famous.” Ning turned his head to glance at the Bloodsea and Whitehorn. “Do you have any reports on the Windsource Ruins which you can share with me? If you do, give me a copy.”

“We do.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal immediately waved his hand, producing a jade slip which he respectfully offered to Ning.

“Mm. Very well then, that’s all I need from you. Go do whatever you need to do,” Ning instructed. “Just keep cooperating with the Fogstone Army. If there’s nothing urgent, no need to come speak to me.”

“Understood.” “Understood.”

Both Whitehorn and Bloodsea assented respectfully.

“You may leave,” Ning said. Only then did the two depart.

……

“He let us leave, just like that?” Elder God Bloodsea murmured in a soft voice, “Whitehorn, I thought we’d have to offer him some of our treasures. I even prepared mine already.”

“I know, right? This Sentinel is a general; he definitely has very high standards. I was really worried about this. I never would’ve thought he’d let us leave, just like that.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal let out a sigh of relief as well. “It sounds like he doesn’t really want us to bother him unless there’s something urgent. It seems as though this one really isn’t planning on extorting treasures out of us.”

“Right.” Bloodsea felt jubilant as well.

……

“General, all you had to do was say the word and they would’ve offered up their treasures like good little boys.” Elder God Mountain Eater grinned at Ning. “Managing a place like the Windsource Chaosworld is a wonderful assignment. Not just any Elder God will be assigned here.”

Ning shook his head. Given how powerful he now was, why would he need to extort his subordinates?

Ning turned his head to stare at the distant Eastcalm Mountains. For a long period of time, perhaps ten thousand years or even longer, he would be living in this place.





* * *





Book 24, Chapter 15 - Adventurers


The day after Ji Ning arrived at the Windsource Chaosworld.

Ning alighted upon an ordinary-looking planet in the midst of the primordial chaos.

“This planet is perfectly ordinary. There are trillions of planets like this one in the primordial chaos.” Ning nodded slowly. “Ordinary is perfect. I’ll put the prisonworld right here.”

Ning waved his hand, causing a stone stele to sink down into an unfathomably deep crevice. It fell tens of thousands of kilometers, then sank deep within a dark underground river that carried it deeper into the earth.

He was going to adventure through the Badlands Territory and perhaps even leave it one day. Something dangerous might happen. He had to have a backup plan that would ensure that he would have the chance to recover! The backup clone for his true body would remain here. Even if he lost his true body, his clone would be able to eventually recover and rebuild.

“However, according to the legends, there are some terrifyingly powerful secret arts that can simultaneously slay all of a person’s clones at once.” Ning was still quite wary.

The lifeblood oath was one example. If one violated a lifeblood oath, one’s true body, Primaltwin, and clones would all be devoured and killed by it! This was because the true body and the Primaltwin were linked together in a very special manner that the lifeblood oath could access.

In the endless primordial chaos, there were supposedly certain terrifying figures who could use special secret arts to achieve the exact same effect, killing all the clones belonging to one’s true body or Primaltwin! It didn’t matter how many clones you had; you would still die! This, too, was part of the information which World God Northrest had left behind for Ning. However, these powerful secret arts were extremely difficult to train in and also incredibly rare. Less than one in ten thousand World-level experts was capable of such a technique.

As for Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals? The vast majority weren’t even aware that such techniques existed.

“Even though I’ll have a clone here, I still need to be careful,” Ning reminded himself.

Swoosh.

Ning flew away from this planet. This planet was quite far away from the Windsource Chaosworld, and Ning had to spend more than half a day before he could finish teleporting back.

The Windsource Chaosworld. The Eastcalm Mountains. The Sunrise Courtyard.

This was a quiet, peaceful, ordinary-looking little courtyard. This was the place where Ning would live.

Whoosh.

A streak of light flew in from afar, alighting within the courtyard. It was Ji Ning, who had just returned from that distant, desolate planet.

“General.” A voice rang out from outside the courtyard gates.