Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

Although Ning was surprised that Daolord Badlands was apparently acquainted with the formation-spirit, he couldn’t help but instead first ask, “Senior, are you asking me to deal with this Eternal Emperor in the future?”


“I am.” The elderly formation-spirit nodded.

Ning was speechless. “Senior, you think too highly of me.”

Eternal Emperors were eternal figures who had succeeded in their Daomerge! Daolord Allgod had died countless years ago but Emperor Melobo was still alive and well.

Daolord Allgod had chased after Emperor Melobo for countless years but had been unable to slay him. In other words, there wasn’t an enormous difference in power between the two. Given how much time had passed, Emperor Melobo had to have grown more powerful.

“Haha, I’m just planting seeds to sprout in the future. I don’t expect all of them to blossom.” The elderly formation-spirit explained, “In addition, Emperor Melobo is an enemy of the entire Dao Alliance! You came here with World God Dragonbinder of the Badlands Court. Given that he trusts you, I imagine you should be a member of the Dao Alliance as well. There’s no way a monstrously talented genius like you would betray them for our enemies.”

“What is a ‘Dao Alliance’?” Ning was rather dazed now.

“An alliance which encompasses virtually all of the cultivators of the Endless Territories.” The elderly formation-spirit looked at Ning. “Daolord Badlands is a member as well, and long ago the seeds of good karma were sown between the two of us as well. Haha…of the many seeds that I have sown, his has been the most illustrious one to date. I know all the disciples of the Badlands Court. Given that you came alongside World God Dragonbinder, you should also be a member of the Dao Alliance. Are you a member of the Badlands Court or…?”

“Vastheaven Palace,” Ning said.

Daolord Solesky was on very good terms with Daolord Badlands, and they were willing to meet each other in public. This meant they were probably on the same side.

However, this ‘Dao Alliance’ sounded quite powerful. An alliance comprising almost all the cultivators of the Endless Territories? What an extravagant claim.

“Ah.” The elderly formation-spirit nodded. “I’ve heard Badlands speak of Vastheaven Palace before. Yes, it is indeed part of the Dao Alliance as well. I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of the Dao Alliance, as you are still too young and weak. Even amongst World Gods, 99% of them will have never heard of the Dao Alliance! Only the truly illustrious World-level experts will be accepted into the Dao Alliance, as the alliance is primarily composed of Samsara Daolords. I expect World God Dragonbinder has perhaps heard of the Dao Alliance.”

“The mysteries of the Endless Territories are not for someone like you to comprehend. However, there are some dangers that are aimed at all cultivators…and Emperor Melobo is one of them.” The elderly formation-spirit looked at Ning.

“But enough of that. Once you become a World-level expert, your clan or sect will inform you of some of our mysteries. In addition, my information is a bit outdated.” The elderly formation-spirit nodded. “Well, then. What treasure do you want?”





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Book 25, Chapter 25 - The Nine Secret Arts Secret Art of Thunder


“You’ve passed the trial. You deserve a treasure.” The elderly formation-spirit looked at Ji Ning. “I have many treasures. Which treasure do you desire the most? If I have it, I’ll give it to you.”

Ning had been still musing about this ‘Dao Alliance’. Upon hearing the formation-spirit’s question, he turned his attention to the treasury. Hesitating slightly, he asked, “Do you have any scrolls of the Mirrorsnow Painting?”

“I do not.” The elderly formation-spirit shook his head. Daolord Allgod had left behind many treasures, but the Mirrorsnow Painting was not one of them.

“Oh…” Ning continued to ponder.

What treasure? What treasure did he need? The opportunity to choose a treasure was a priceless one. Many thoughts flitted through Ning’s mind. After having experienced a treasure auction, Ning now knew of many more treasures than he had in the past.

“I guess I was wrong to make that suggestion. You don’t even know what treasures I have. How about this…what are you skilled in?” The formation-spirit chuckled. “Aside from the Dao of the Sword.”

“I’m most skilled in the Dao of the Sword. Aside from that, I’m also skilled in lightning and in water,” Ning said.

“Master’s title was ‘Allgod’,” the elderly formation-spirit explained, “Precisely because he was skilled in almost everything! Alchemy, formations…he was a master of many Daos. Unfortunately, he truly wasn’t that skilled in the Dao of the Sword. He was, however, extremely skilled in the Dao of Lightning! However, you’ll be fighting against enemies well above your level. Lightning-attribute techniques won’t be that useful to you.”

His old face wrinkled as he frowned. Clearly, he was pondering this question.

“I have it!” The formation-spirit looked at Ning, then reached out with his hand and generated a spatial ripple from his palm. Moments later, a jade slip appeared.

“This jade slip now belongs to you.” The formation-spirit passed it over to Ning, sending it floating through the air.

“Also, the treasure that was originally assigned to this treasury…” The elderly formation-spirit tossed out a second item, a fiery idol. “This is yours as well. My master once slew a vile Daolord who trained in the Dao of Fire and took this idol from him. If you were to sell it, you’d be able to sell it for one or two thousand cubes of chaos nectar. As for the jade slip, it contains a secret art which Master personally developed. Its value is incalculable. Not even the combined value of four or five Eternal weapons would be a match for it.”

Ning was shocked.

For the idol to be worth one or two thousand cubes made sense. The jade slip, however, was truly amazing.

Ning accepted the idol, then turned to look at the jade slip. The jade slip was a inky jade color, and one could see faint characters carved into the inky jade. Ning sent his coresense into it, quickly discovering that it contained a lifeblood oath.

“I swear on my very life itself that prior to becoming a Samsara Daolord, I am not to share this [Novessence Thunder] secret art with anyone else.” The lifeblood oath was quite simply worded.

Almost all techniques required lifeblood oaths to be sworn, be it treasures acquired from a treasure auction or from one’s sect.

Rumble…

As soon as Ning swore the oath, an enormous amount of information poured into his mind. Daolord Allgod had left behind an utterly amazing lightning-attribute secret art in this jade slip, and all of it was put on display for Ning.

This secret art was known as the [Novessence Thunder].

Daolord Allgod was an ancient power who was extremely skilled in alchemy, formations, artificing, and many other arts. At his level, only divine abilities and secret arts that he personally developed would be a good fit for him. Thus, he poured some of his insights into alchemy and artificing into developing secret arts that were meant to give himself greater power.

The more power, the better!

Daolord Allgod had created a total of nine mighty secret arts. These secret arts could be used at long range, allowing him to effortlessly dominate other experts on his level. In fact, he could even use them to tangle with Eternal Emperors!

As for the [Novessence Thunder], it was one of those nine mighty secret arts!

“A secret art like this can actually exist?!” Ning was boggled as he read through the information. “A secret art like this can exist?!”

This technique completely destroyed Ning’s preconceptions regarding secret arts.