Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

“What must be done if I wish to acquire some of those treasures?” Ning said.

“The treasures inside Armaments Gorge were accumulated by the Sword Palace over the course of countless years. They cannot be taken away without paying a cost,” Daolord Fudan said. “If everyone just took away treasures as they pleased, the gorge would soon be completely emptied. When you are free, you can go and take a look. The Armaments Gorge has certain rules that govern it. Still, in the outside world, many of these treasures are completely unobtainable no matter what price you are willing to pay. At least they are available in the Armaments Gorge.”

Ning nodded. The more valuable a treasure was, the harder it would be to acquire it. Daolord Solesky had been willing to risk his own life and pay a heavy price in order to get Daolord Badlands to help him in his quest to obtain a certain treasure. It seemed as though the Armaments Gorge had many priceless treasures within it.

“The Ancient Library is filled with sword-arts, while this place is filled with treasures.” Ning nodded. These two places truly were on par with each other.

“Next, I shall take you to the third-most important place we have.” Daolord Fudan continued to fly forwards, leading Ning higher and higher into the skies.

“Look over there.” Daolord Fudan pointed at the tallest building in the entire Sword Palace. It was a strangely shaped building that was shaped like a towering pillar of cloud layers. Each layer was thirty thousand meters tall. The first layer was formed of black clouds, the second layer was formed of azure clouds, the third layer was formed of silvery-white clouds, and the highest layer was formed from golden clouds.

The four layers of clouds came together to form this towering edifice that was at the heart of the entire Sword Palace.

“This is the Daolord Cloudworld.” Daolord Fudan sighed. “This is one of the most important places in the entire Sword Palace, ranking within the top three.”

“What is it for?” Ning was puzzled.

“The Daolord Cloudworld is filled with many powerful golem opponents, and more than 90% of them wield swords. They will use different types of sword-arts, with the strongest ones being comparable to the sword-arts used by Daolords of the Third Step.” Daolord Fudan sighed. “Sword cultivators need combat more than anything else, and battles against other supremely skilled swordsmen help more than anything else.”

Ning absolutely agreed with this comment. One of the reasons why his sword-arts had improved so quickly was because he had been able to duel those three powerful swordsmen within the three Mirrorsnow Paintings. That had been of tremendous benefit to him.

“When you battle against other supremely skilled swordsmen, not only will you have a chance to discover the flaws in your own sword-arts, you’ll also learn from the sword-arts they used.” Daolord Fudan sighed. “However, battling against such powerful swordsmen in the outside world carries the risk of death. In the Daolord Cloudworld, however, you won’t be at any risk of dying. The Daolord Cloudworld has many golems because the entire Sword Palace has put tremendous resources into it over the course of countless years. That’s why it has so many golems of such incredible power.”

Ning nodded. There were quite a few cultivators who had sword-arts on the level of most Daolords of the Third Step, but creating a golem that possessed the same level of sword-arts would carry a tremendous price that even Eternal Emperors would feel pain upon paying. Generally speaking, powerful golems relied on using overwhelming speed and power, with their weakness being their insights into the Dao. This was even true for golems who could battle Verge-level Daolords.

Golems weren’t cultivators, after all. They were innately weak in this respect.

“There are many powerful expert swordsmen there who all use different types of sword-arts, some of which are comparable to Daolords of the Third Step.” Daolord Fudan sighed. “Which cultivator of the sword wouldn’t dream of gaining access to such a place as we have here in the Palace of the Sword?”

Ning was growing even more excited. No wonder the Sword Palace was able to give birth to six freakishly strong World-level cultivators like the six Swordlords!

“And there’s more! Remember, the Daolord Cloudworld has a total of four layers,” Daolord Fudan said. “The Blackcloud World is the first layer; if you overcome it, you will be awarded a set of black armor. This black armor is merely a top-grade Dao armor. The Azurecloud World is the second layer, and if you overcome it you’ll be given azure armor. The Silvercloud World is the third layer, and if you overcome it you’ll be awarded silver armor. The highest layer is the Goldcloud World, and if you overcome it you will be awarded golden armor. The azure armor, silver armor, and gold armor are all Eternal treasures of different levels of power. The suits of golden armor are top-grade Eternal treasures, and they possess many marvelous properties.

“Being able to acquire the black armor means you have reached the threshold of a Daolord of the First Step.

“Being able to acquire the azure armor means you have reached the threshold of a Daolord of the Second Step.

“Silver armor is for those who have reached the threshold of Daolords of the Third Step.

“Golden armor belongs to those who have reached the threshold for Daolords of the Fourth Step.”

Daolord Fudan explained the stages one by one.

Ning nodded. ‘Reached the threshold’ simply meant that you were at the minimum level of power for that level. When Ning had first broken through to the World-level, he had reached the threshold of a Daolord of the First Step. As for right now? He was comparable to an average Daolord of the First Step.

“In the Sword Palace, we have eight World-level cultivators who have won azure armor,” Daolord Fudan said softly.

“What?” Ning was shocked.

Although he was fairly powerful, he didn’t think he had reached the threshold of a Daolord of the Second Step. But the Sword Palace had eight such figures?

“Five of them are Aberrants while three of them were cultivators, but even the cultivators have freakishly powerful divine abilities or secret arts,” Daolord Fudan explained. “In challenging the Daolord Cloudworld, you can use all abilities and techniques that you have available, such as divine abilities and secret arts. But of course, you can’t use certain single-use treasures, Dao-seals, bugbeasts, golems, or other similar treasures.”

“Don’t be too surprised. Divine abilities and secrets are can be tremendously powerful,” Daolord Fudan said. “I’ll take you to another place now.”

Daolord Fudan led him to a bamboo hall erected at the peak of a mountain which was wreathed in clouds and mist.

“This is the Pavilion of Mysteries.” Daolord Fudan pointed at the bamboo hall. “It is filled with many divine abilities, secret arts, and a few legacies left behind by ancient powers of the Dao of the Sword. Divine abilities can increase your strength a hundredfold, while secret arts are even more difficult to gauge. The strongest secret arts can unleash utterly terrifying levels of power,” Daolord Fudan said.

Ning nodded. His own [Novessence Thunder] technique was classified as a secret art! Certain incredibly powerful secret arts truly could allow the wielder to challenge cultivators who were at a higher level of power. If some of the freakishly strong World-level cultivators like Kilostar gained access to some of the terrifyingly strong secret arts or treasures the Twelve Palaces had to offer, it was entirely possible that he would be able to battle his way through the second layer of the Daolord Cloudworld and earn the azure armor.