Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

“You may build your dwellings atop this mountain,” Ning instructed.

This was the mountain where the Sunrise Courtyard was located.

The sixteen Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, along with Flamefairy Su Youji, all took up residence in this area around Ning.

After this…life was extremely calm.

Su Youji often wished to spar against Ning. Each time, Ning would use his sword-arts to subdue her, causing her constantly come up with new ideas on how she could grow more powerful. Her improvements were quite noticeable.

As for Ji Ning?

Ji Ning improved even faster than she did. Thanks to the influence of Violetjewel’s quintessence core, the murderous intent of Ning’s sword-arts grew heavier and heavier, and his mastery of the ‘Killsword stance’ improved much more quickly as well.

As for the other sixteen Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, they each asked to spar against Ning once or twice as well. However, they clearly didn’t have much to work with. All of them had trained for far, far too long. They had long ago given up any hope of becoming a World-level expert.

Life in the Windsource Chaosworld was very calm. Ning focused completely on his sword-arts and on understanding the quintessence core of his sword. More than two hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

The peak of a mountain.

Ning was seated in the lotus position. The mountain wind rustled against his robes.

Violetjewel lay across Ning’s knees. He treated it almost as he would a lover, keeping it by his side at all times so that he could constantly sense and attune to the will of its quintessence core. This made Ning’s rate of improvement astonishingly fast. A few decades ago, he had fully mastered the second stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, the ‘Killsword stance’. However, Ning didn’t feel the slightest bit of pride or smugness.

In the face of the overwhelming sword-intent contained within Violetjewel’s quintessence core, Ning understood how puny a figure he truly was.

“How wonderful it would be if I could one day reach the same level of power as the quintessence core of Violetjewel.” Ning stared at the distant skies, the sword-intent hidden within his body causing wisps of sword-light to flow naturally in the area around him.





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Book 24, Chapter 34 - The Starlords Obsession


The second stance of the [Nameless] sword-art was the ‘Killsword’ stance. The third stance was the ‘Great Firmament’ stance, also known as the ‘Sword World’ stance.

Upon mastering one’s own Sword World, one would step into the World-level!

Different sword-arts would result in the creation of completely different Sword Worlds. Some Sword Worlds would be insidiously cold, others would be bursting with heat, while still others would be seep through every pore in your body. The third stance of the [Nameless] sword-art was clearly quite profound, but this meant that mastering it would also be incredibly difficult. Not even Ji Ning knew how long it would take for him to master the third stance.

Whoosh. A streak of light flew towards him from afar.

“Eh?” Ning was seated in the lotus position at the top of his mountain. He quickly turned his head to look over.

The streak of light came to a stop in front of Ning. It was a thin, gray-robed man with tousled hair. His eyes were dark yellow and filled with cruel coldness, but when he looked at Ning his gaze was filled with veneration and respect. He said respectfully, “Master.”

Ning nodded.

This thin gray-robed man was actually the wild dog Elder God in his human form. After Ning had subdued the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals of the prisonworld, the one who ended up worshipping him the most and being the most loyal was actually Elder God Wilddog! Elder Dog Wilddog, in order to prove his loyalty, had insisted on swearing a second lifeblood oath to Ning which was so stringent, even Ning was shaken by its terms.

Elder God Wilddog was born as an Elder God in the form of a canine. He was a very solitary, arrogant man, but once he truly accepted someone as his master, he would be completely and utterly devoted to the man.

Given that even Ning had been shaken by Wilddog’s oath, he often chose to have Wilddog carry out many tasks on his behalf.

“How did it go?” Ning asked.

“I looked into this matter carefully. During the past few centuries, the ‘Mindlord’ in the service of God Emperor Blacklotus has been hiding within the imperial capital of the Blacklotus Empire. He hasn’t done any adventuring at all, nor has he led any troops out to do battle.” A look of resentment was in Elder God Wilddog’s eyes. “This Mindlord must be afraid of you, Master…”

Ning frowned.

The reason he had joined the Fogstone Dominion was for the sake of killing the Mindlord.

However, both Ning himself as well as Wilddog had made numerous scouting trips, only to discover that the Mindlord had spent the past few centuries in the imperial capital of the Blacklotus Empire. Or, to be precise – ever since Ning had slain Old Man Yuan, the Mindlord had returned to the imperial capital, never taking so much as a single step out of it.

“This Mindlord truly is a cautious man.” Ning frowned.

In truth, the sword-strike which Ning had used to slay Old Man Yuan had completely terrified the Mindlord.

The Mindlord knew exactly how deep the enmity between the Three Realms and himself ran. So many major powers had died by his hands, many of whom were pioneers and who had assisted, guided, or taught Ji Ning. Houyi, for example, was Ji Ning’s senior apprentice-brother. As long as Ji Ning had the chance, he would definitely come for revenge.

Given how powerful Ji Ning had been…it would be far too easy for him to slay the Mindlord. It must be understood that Ji Ning’s final sword-strike had pierced straight through his body, which was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure!

“Master?” Elder God Wilddog hunched over. “The Mindlord often visits friends in the imperial capital, and also likes to enjoy life. Why don’t you buy some Elder God slaves and let me lead them into the imperial capital, then kill him? After assassinating him, I’ll immediately flee through teleportation.”

“Unacceptable.” Ning shook his head.

“Not even World-level experts can be watching over every inch of their capital at all times. If I can find the right moment to attack, I’ll be able to escape afterwards.” A look of savagery was in Wilddog’s eyes.

“We are talking about the imperial capital of the Blacklotus Empire…” Ning shook his head. “There’s no rush. We have plenty of time. Let’s take it slow.”

If they were hasty, they might make mistakes.

Ning was confident that he was capable of slaying the Mindlord. The only thing he needed was a good opportunity.

So long as he didn’t rush, opportunities would come!

The planet of Fogstone.

A quiet, secluded estate-world. This estate-world was filled with sparkling stars that twinkled with streams of energy.

A handsome man dressed in an astral robe was seated in the lotus position by the side of a lake. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Glittering divine jewels flew out of his body. These divine jewels were made from crystallized divine power. Once Fiendgod Body Refiners became World Gods, their divine power would crystallize into divine crystals. This was a qualitative transformation.

The divine jewels twinkled, filled with mysterious auras of the Dao. Every single divine jewel was filled with a slightly different aura of the Dao, but they all came together into a perfect whole.

Whoooooosh. A large number of divine jewels flew out of his body, swirling around him in circles, then flying back inside of him. As the divine jewels flew in and out of his body, dancing in the air, they glimmered with the light of the stars themselves.

“The stars…”

The handsome man murmured softly to himself as his mind was filled with certain memories that he would never forget.

“I really have to go back. I must. I can’t disobey.”