Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

“Alright.” Ning understood.

Ning could also sense what an extraordinary aura this medallion had. Most likely, it was the almighty Hegemon himself who had created this medallion as well as the lifeblood oath. But of course, the Twelve Palaces had to agree with the wording of the oath. Only then would such a mighty organization have staying power.

“I suppose I can accept that.” Ning immediately swore the lifeblood oath. The medallion was instantly and easily bound as well.

“Eh?” As soon as he bound the medallion, Ning could sense ten ripples of power coming from the Astral Islands region. These were ripples emanating from other similar medallions.

“The Twelve Palaces and the Brightshore Imperials all have similar medallions. The ripples coming from those medallions will testify to their identity, ensuring that we won’t get into accidental fights against our fellows without realizing it,” Daolord Grayvast said. “Now, no Daolord will dare to act against you here in the Brightshore Kingdom. As for World-level cultivators? I’m confident that you should be able to easily defeat any World-level cultivators. Oh – here is a star map of the Brightshore Kingdom.”

Daolord Grayvast handed Ning a furled star map.

Ning accepted it. “Thank you, senior Grayvast. I’ll be leaving now.”

“I’ll see you in the Sword Palace,” Daolord Grayvast said. “Be careful on your journey.”

“I will.” Ning immediately transformed into a streak of light and flew away.

Daolord Grayvast watched as the sword-carrying white-robed youth flew away, then turned to leave as well.

The astral island which Ning had been on began to sink downwards into that dark abyss below. As for the random legacy treasures which Ning had left behind, they all scattered and began to fly towards the various other islands.

All the legacy treasures of the ninety-nine legacies would forever remain within the Astral Islands.





* * *





Book 26, Chapter 48 - Yet Another Mirrorsnow Painting


The Brightshore Kingdom was an exceedingly large place.

Clouds fluttered about in the skies as a shuttle flew at high speed through the air. Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position aboard his ship, staring at the beautiful world of the Brightshore Kingdom.

“So the Astral Islands were over there. As for the Sword Palace, that’s over there. And oh, that’s where they greet newcomers? So that’s the place I was taken to when I was first abducted.” Ning now had a rough understanding of the geography of the Brightshore Kingdom. “I remember when I first arrived here and more than thirty thousand fellow World-level cultivators were led by those two silver-armored Daolords all the way to the Astral Islands. We flew for roughly forty-six days. On the eleventh day, I could sense the presence of another Mirrorsnow Painting.”

Teleportation was impossible within the borders of the Brightshore Kingdom. One would have to slowly fly from destination to destination.

“To go from the arrival area to the Astral Islands…” Ning engaged in a bit of calculation and was able to easily calculate the rough location of the Mirrorsnow Painting.

Those two silver-armored Daolords had flown in a straight line, and the painting was roughly a quarter of the distance between the arrival area and the Astral Islands.

“Eh? The Mirrorsnow Painting isn’t that far away from Youji’s position. I won’t have to make as much of a detour as I thought.” Ning was quite delighted.

Swoosh! His flying vessel transformed into a streak of light and sped off into the distance.

Ning had given Su Youji a message talisman. Due to the great distance which separated them, he was only able to get a rough sense of the direction where she was located. He flew for three full months, and on the way he sensed the auras of quite a few Daolords. Those Daolords could sense that Ning belonged to the Twelve Palaces and so they naturally had no interest in causing trouble for Ning. Still, this journey gave Ning a good understanding of how dangerous the Brightshore Kingdom was.

Ning was ambushed multiple times on his trip. Clearly, the Brightshore Kingdom was a rather chaotic and brutal place. There was even more strife here than there was in the territory controlled by the Dao Alliance. Unfortunately for those poor bandits who attempted to waylay Ning, they quickly discovered that they had kicked a metal plate! The results of their attempts were foregone conclusions.

“Eh? A ripple!” The flying vessel quickly began to slow down and descend from its position within the clouds. The white-robed Ning was seated in the lotus position, a sword across his lap. Ning opened his eyes, a look of eagerness in his gaze.

“That ripple is coming from the Mirrorsnow Painting!” Ning could sense the resonance being generated by his own three Mirrorsnow Paintings. “I didn’t expect that after a thousand years, that painting would still remain in this location.”

…….

Deep underneath a lake that was located a ten billion kilometers away from Ning. There was a beautiful palace located here in the depths, filled with many maids and guards.

“Eh?” Within a side hall of this palace was an azure-scaled creature who was leaning against a throne while sipping some wine. The creature’s face suddenly tightened ,causing the maid who had been giving him a neck massage to be badly startled.

“A Mirrorsnow Painting? Wait, three of them?” The azure-scaled creature was both shocked and delighted… but then, his face tightened once more.

A thousand years ago, when Ning had passed by this place after being abducted, this creature had already sensed the presence of those paintings. He was in possession of a copy, allowing him to sense the presence of three other copies. He had been quite delighted, but as soon as he saw those two silver-armored Daolords who ignored him he had immediately realized that it was most likely an abducted World-level cultivator who was in possession of the paintings.

“Those are the same three copies I sensed last time. Did one of those World-level cultivators escape from the Astral Islands already?” The azure-scaled creature narrowed his eyes.

Swoosh! He transformed into a streak of light, almost instantly emerging from his aquatic palace. He soon emerged from the lake, lifting his head up out of the water to stare upwards.

Following the resonance, he turned his rather dark and icy gaze to stare towards that flying vessel that was ten billion kilometers away. He was able to see the vessel quite clearly, as well as the white-robed youth aboard the vessel.

“He’s not a Daolord. He’s just a World-level cultivator.” The azure-scaled creature was immediately delighted. He guessed that this person had most likely discovered him, and so he no longer hid his presence. He immediately sent out his godsense, sweeping it out to a distance of ten billion kilometers.

“He’s actually by himself? He’s the only one on his ship?” The azure-scaled creature grew increasingly excited. “It makes sense. He came out of the Astral Islands. Those people who leave the islands usually travel by themselves; it is quite rare for them to move around in groups. Even if he does have some subordinates in an estate-world treasure, they probably aren’t that strong given the fact that they are hiding.”

The azure-scaled creature let out a cold grin. “So you have three of the paintings but you want mine as well? How greedy. This fellow seems quite confident.” The azure-scaled creature slipped below the waves once more, quickly returning to his underwater palace.