Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

Fire could be classified into Elder fire (such as Golden Solarfire), Chaos fire, and Dao fire. The same was true for water. When Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals were touched by Wormwind Water, they would find their bodies riddled with holes. Even their truesoul would begin to collapse.

“Oh, Chaos water?” The nearby Swordsix said in a low voice, “The Sword Palace doesn’t have low-level water like that. One of the other palaces, the Palace of Kindwater, definitely has it. If you really need it, we can have the Kindwater Palace deliver it to you.”

“I need nine types of Chaos water.” Ning carefully listed out the number types of Chaos water he needed.

The [Novessence Water] was also divided into two parts. The upper part involved using nine types of Chaos water, while the lower part involved using nine types of Dao water.

This was a technique which was on par with the [Novessence Lightning]. However, because of certain innate properties of lightning, the [Novessence Thunder] was slightly more powerful. Once these two techniques were used in unison then they would become much more powerful, especially considering that water and lightning were mutually complimentary elements. It must be understood that when Daolord Allgod used all nine secret arts together, he had been able to suppress even Eternal Emperors.

“Right. In the Armaments Gorge, I was only able to find a copy of the third Mirrorsnow Painting?” Ning looked at Swordfive and Swordsix.

“That’s the only one we have,” Swordfive said. “Emperor Mirrorsnow was a rather dissolute and wanton figure, but his sword-arts were exceedingly profound. Countless World-level cultivators were driven mad with lust for his paintings. If it wasn’t for the fact that only World-level cultivators are permitted to study from his legacies, they would probably be much more expensive.”

Ning agreed with this assessment. Emperor Mirrorsnow’s legacies actually provided even Daolords with good experience. If Daolords could learn from them, the price would become astonishingly high.

The only reason why the price was fairly low was because Emperor Mirrorsnow had decreed that only World-level cultivators could study his legacy. How much money could a World-level cultivator possibly have? Still, every single painting was usually worth around a hundred thousand cubes of chaos nectar.

“I need the fourth Mirrorsnow Painting,” Ning said.

“The fourth?” Swordfive and Swordsix exchanged a glance.

“It isn’t present within the Brightshore Kingdom. We’ll need to rely on the strength and reach of the Twelve Palaces in order to find it somewhere else in the primordial chaos,” Swordfive said. “If you want us to do that… before we begin, you’ll have to pay a certain amount of chaos nectar as a deposit. Also, if you search for one specific painting, it’ll probably end up costing you much more money.

“I can accept any price under half a million cubes,” Ning said.

“That’s fine, then.” Swordfive nodded. “Generally speaking, it costs us around two hundred thousand cubes when we purchase one from the outside world. It’ll just take us a bit of time. Three hundred thousand cubes is usually the maximum. Just wait for me to send word. Once the Twelve Palaces find the fourth Mirrorsnow Painting, I’ll immediately inform you.”

“How long will it take, roughly?” Ning asked.

“Anywhere from ten years to a thousand years.” Swordfive was rather smug. “The Twelve Palaces are quite influential in the Endless Territories.”

Ning was speechless.

Many of the Daolords of the Twelve Palaces had been abducted from other places when they were at the World level. Ning himself was a good example of this. He had been a member of Vastheaven Palace, which was under the Dao Alliance. He was now here in the Brightshore Kingdom, but it was guaranteed that there was no way he would separate himself from the Dao Alliance. This was the reason why the Twelve Palaces had such influence throughout the Endless Territories.

“Within the gorge, I found a broken sword that I couldn’t even get close to,” Ning suddenly said.

“Couldn’t get close to?” Swordfive was startled for a moment, then nodded. “That means you two aren’t destined to be together.”

“Not destined?” Ning was puzzled.

“What, did you think that it was some sort of a formation preventing you from moving closer to it?” Swordfive asked.

“Wasn’t it?” Ning was even more puzzled now.

The nearby Swordsix said, “Of course not! The formations within the Armaments Gorge are only there to prevent you from taking away the treasures without paying the price. Generally speaking, you can get close to and touch the weapons. You were able to do so with the other weapons, right? But that broken sword is so innately powerful that it can actually prevent you from going too close to it.”

“Only one with the right karmic destiny will be permitted to move close to it. If it refuses to acknowledge you, there is nothing you can do.” Swordfive glanced at Ning. “Not even the two Palace Lords of our Sword Palace were acknowledged by it. After its previous master perished, it has stayed by itself in the Armaments Gorge. It has been silent for a long, long time.”

Ning blinked.

Alright, then. If even the Palace Lords, the Vice Palace Lords, and the countless generations of Daolords had failed to receive its approval, it only made sense that Ning himself was unable to receive its approval as well.





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Book 27, Chapter 7 - The Blazing Beast


Ji Ning knew very well that the Endless Territories was a place filled with countless marvelous treasures. It wasn’t surprising for this particular treasure to have no affinity for him. It was already lucky enough for him to have gained the Nine Chaos Seals.

“Master.” After leaving Armaments Gorge, Ning once more reunited with Su Youji.

“Let’s find a place to live first.” Ning and Su Youji flew through the skies. Suddenly, they saw a solitary mountain peak that jutted high up into the skies, surrounded by clouds and mist. This was one of the taller mountains in the Sword Palace. There were only so many ‘formal’ members of the Sword Palace, after all. Most people could easily find a place of their choosing within the Sword Palace, so long as there was no one else already there.

Ning waved a finger from afar. Whoosh! An estate suddenly appeared in midair, then descended upon the top of the mountain.

“From this day forth, this estate shall be our residence in the Sword Palace.” Ning looked at Su Youji. “Right, Youji. The Twelve Palaces all have spacetime transfer arrays connecting them together. You can give the Palace of Fire a shot. Perhaps you’ll be granted entry into it.” He wasn’t going to be able to give her much advice in the Dao of Fire. She’d have to rely on herself for everything.

“I have to say, now that I’ve wandered through the Sword Palace I do feel a bit jealous.” Su Youji grinned. “Although I know my chances aren’t that great, I’ll still give it a shot.”

“Mm.” Ning nodded.

……

The Sword Pagodas towered around everything around them. It was as though countless ancient powers were standing there in front of Ning. As Ning walked through the Forest of Sword Pagodas, his heart was filled with amazement and regret. So many major powers who had been the dominant forces of their time, who had been able to defeat even Eternal Emperors, had all passed away. The number of Daolords in the Sword Palace who were able to live for more than a hundred thousand chaos cycles could be counted on two hands.

This was the unstoppable, ruinous power of time.