Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

Everyone was shocked.

Ning was shocked as well. Although he was awaiting a good chance to act against the Mindlord, he was still stunned upon hearing this news. Generally speaking, the various organizations within the Badlands Territory would only engage in small-scale skirmishes against each other. These skirmishes were only meant to temper the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals within their ranks. Things would rarely escalate to the point of a full-blown war! Wars on that level…they had a tremendous impact on the area and would result in horrifying casualties.

Although the Fogstone Dominion had nine World-level experts, the Blacklotus Empire had six! In addition, a battle between cultivators wouldn’t be solely dependent on mere numbers alone. A single powerful World-level expert could very possibly counter seven or eight weaker World-level experts. An extremely powerful one, such as World God Northrest when he wielded Violetjewel, could easily slay ten ordinary World Gods who stood in his path!

Thus, numbers didn’t mean everything. No one could say for certain what the various World-level experts hid up their sleeves.

“Our plan has already been drawn up,” the Starlord said. “The seven of you will each take control over 999 Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals! You’ll form a total of six ‘Minor Thousand Elder Gods Formation’ and one ‘Minor Thousand Ancestral Immortals Formation’.

“Seven formations?” Ning was secretly shocked by this.

A formation that allowed a thousand Elder Gods to join their power would be able to surround and kill some of the weaker World-level experts! Even powerful ones would be stymied for a time by them!

“Imperius will be responsible for the Ancestral Immortals, while the six of you will be responsible for the Elder Gods. I’ll give you all a month to familiarize yourselves with these formations,” the Starlord said. “A month from now, we shall head out towards the Blacklotus Empire.”

“Acknowledged.” The six generals and Elder God Imperius all assented in unison.





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Book 24, Chapter 36 - Sparring With the Sword Again


Ji Ning and the other generals each accepted a set of formations, then left. Because Ning didn’t have his own estate on the planet of Fogstone, the Starlord of Fogstone arranged special accommodations for him.

The estate Ning was given was roughly a hundred kilometers in size. It was once filled with gardens and pools, but all of those things had been flattened as a military drill grounds had been established here.

“General.” A throng of Elder Gods were standing on the drill ground, watching Ning.

“Nine captains!” Ning called out.

“Present!” Instantly, nine goldenscale Elder Gods responded to Ning’s call.

“Each of you shall command a total of 110 Elder Gods. Spend some time getting familiarized with this formation and getting better control over it.” Ning waved his hand, causing nine dark-golden discs to fly out towards those nine captains. The entire Fogstone Army had undergone a significant revamping, with some of the personal servants of the World-level experts having been sent to join as well to make sure that each team had enough men!

The nine captains accepted the dark-golden discs, quickly binding them and attuning themselves to the mysteries within them.

“As for the rest of you…” Ning looked at the other Elder Gods, then waved his hand again, causing a large number of slightly smaller formation-discs to appear in the air. The divine runes covering these formation-discs were slightly less complicated as well. “You need to work hard as well. Cooperate with your captains. Your formation-discs will be a bit simpler; I trust that in four or five days, you should have mastered them.”

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. The nine hundred-plus discs all flew towards the Elder Gods, with each Elder God receiving one.

“As for me?” Ning explained, “I’ll be at the core of the formation, leading the nine captains.”

“I imagine you have already have an inkling as to what this is. Correct…this is a ‘Minor Thousand Elder Gods Formation’!” Ning could see the curious looks on the faces of the Elder Gods. Most of them were probably secretly exchanging mental whispers, and so Ning just went straight to the point.

All of the Elder Gods present fell silent upon hearing this.

A Minor Thousand Elder Gods Formation?

A formation which would allow a thousand Elder Gods to perfectly join their strength together and unleash it? Supposedly, even weak World Gods who were trapped within such a formation would be slain by it. They were actually going to have a chance to use such a legendarily powerful formation?

Hundred Elder Gods Formation. Minor Thousand Elder Gods Formation. Major Thousand Elder Gods Formation.

These formations weren’t developed by any single power or any single Daolord. They had been developed and refined by many generations of major powers over the course of countless years. By now, they had reached the point of utmost perfection! It could be said that there was no way to improve these formations any further at all. They had become perfectly standardized and refined, and so all ‘Minor Thousand Elder Gods Formations’ were identical to each other, capable of allowing a thousand Elder Gods to unleash the full might of their combined power.

“From this day forth.” Ning swept the Elder Gods with his gaze. “You will have just one assignment. You are to master this formation as quickly as possible! You can practice with your captains and comrades in small groups. Every three days, all of us will come together for a joint practice session.”

“Alright. Go and meditate on the formation,” Ning commanded.

“Yes, General.” The Elder God soldiers all responded in unison.

Ning’s own formation-disc was the most complicated disc of all. He would be at the center of the formation and responsible for harmonizing it, and so Ning actually entered the Heavengazer Tower to meditate on it in detail. After spending six days inside the Heavengazer Tower, Ning completely mastered the formation.

Three days passed in the outside world.

The planet of Fogstone. The drill grounds at the front of Ning’s estate.

“Assemble the formation!” Ning issued the order.

Rumble…

Instantly, the thousand formation-discs joined together, causing countless streams of light to spring up and form a web that covered every single Elder God. The entire region seemed to be completely encompassed by this net of light.

“What a strange feeling.” Ning stood there, head raised towards the skies. “I feel as though I’ve become one with the heavens and the earth of this area.”

Once the formation was established, the users would become one with this dimension, forming a world unto themselves. This was the reason why they were able to fight evenly against even World-level experts.

“Eh?” Ning glanced sideways towards a fairly muscular Elder God captain. The formation in his region was trembling slightly.

“I’m still not that accustomed to this formation.” The captain sent a rather ashamed mental message.

Ning sent back, “Get accustomed, fast.”

“Yes.” The muscular captain himself realized that the eight other captains were in complete control of their parts; he was the only one who was falling behind. As for the ordinary Elder God soldiers, quite a few of them were rather unstable as well. However, because those soldiers served ancillary roles, their instability wouldn’t make much of a difference. They were like the twigs, while the nine captains were like the branches! As for Ning, he was the trunk of the tree!