Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

The maiden glanced at him. “This is a secret.”


“It has to be Arroyo. I want to leave right away! Immediately! As fast as possible!” Fukai was panicking.

“As you wish.” The maiden nodded.

……

Ning was calmly but curiously following behind the maiden leading the way before him. Her bare feet gently glided over the floor as she advanced, soon leading him to an enormous stone archway.

“Go in.” The maiden went past the stone arch.

Ning followed inside. Upon doing so, light flashed in front of him. This was an enormous hall that was filled with many statues. There had to be thousands of these enormous stone statues here! Ning swept the hall with his gaze. It had to be at least ten kilometers high and a hundred kilometers in diameter.

“What’s that?” Ning saw that a long narrow table was located in a corner of the massive hall. Atop this table was a crystalline globe that glowed with white light.





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Book 26, Chapter 2 - The Aeonian Kingdom


The maiden’s lips curved upwards slightly as she turned to gaze in that direction in an intrigued manner.

Whoosh.

A figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was the bald three-eyed man who was the First Guardian and Commander of the Castrum Divinitus – the Goldeye Golem.

“Eh?” Ning was slightly surprised when he saw the Goldeye Golem appear.

“Ji Ning, congratulations on having won the divine blood of the Eternal,” the Goldeye Golem said.

“You know my name?” Ning was rather surprised. During his conversations with World God Dragonbinder and the others atop the plaza in front of the Castrum Divinitus, Ning had never revealed his name. Any mention of his name would’ve occurred during their mental conversations, resulting in the likes of Fukai and Arroyo still having no idea as to exactly who Ning was.

“Nothing that occurs within the Allgod Estate can escape my eyes,” the nearby maiden said. “I heard about you from ‘Myriad Mountains’ quite some time ago. Enough. Go ahead and take a look. The Eternal blood is within that crystal globe.”

“Why is it going to me?” Ning was puzzled.

Although he was rather pleased, he was also quite calm. For most cultivators, what mattered the most was their insights into the Dao. This was what allowed them to reach higher levels of cultivation. As for treasures, they were of secondary importance! There was a limit to useful an outside source of help would be. Ning was already comparable to a master-class World God, but no amount of treasures would allow him to be comparable to a Samsara Daolord.

A Samsara Daolord who was skilled in illusions could instantly plunge Ning into an illusory world with a single glance. Ning wouldn’t be able to resist it, and he wouldn’t even have a chance to use any of his treasures. This was what happened when one was at a much lower level of cultivation!

“As I said,” the Goldeye Golem said, “After the trial of the Samsara Grinders comes to an end, the cultivator whose performance was the best will have a chance of acquiring the divine blood of the Eternal. You were the cultivator whose performance was the best.”

“Cultivator?” Ning blinked, then quickly understood.

“Ahaha, right! Cultivator! World-level cultivators are cultivators, but so too are Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals.” The Goldeye Golem roared with laughter. “Those two kids, Arroyo and Fukai? Hmph! How could I possibly let the Eternal blood go to them?”

“Eh?” Ning was puzzled. What was this all about.

“If it wasn’t for you, then based on the rules which Master set down all those years ago, I truly would’ve been forced to hand the Eternal blood over to Arroyo. But since you came, me giving the blood to you instead is still in keeping with Master’s rules.” The Goldeye Golem pointed towards the table. “Go open it up.”

“Alright.” Ning nodded, then walked over towards the table. He was quite curious as well. Both Arroyo and Fukai had an extremely large number of treasures, but they were desperate and willing to pay any price to acquire this Eternal blood. What sort of treasure was it, exactly?

The formation-spirit of the Castrum Divinitus and the Goldeye Golem exchanged glances as they watched Ning move towards the table. Both of them were smiling.

“Eternal blood.” Ning walked to the table, staring at the crystal ball that was glowing with hazy light. After carefully inspecting it, he was able to tell that it was actually composed of two separate parts, an upper part and a lower part. Ning reached out to grab the crystal ball, then applied a bit of pressure to it. Whoosh! The two parts began to swivel in opposite directions. After Ning gave it a slight tug, the two parts completely separated.

In that instant…

BOOM!!!!!

An utterly terrifying aura that was far beyond anything Ning could’ve imagined instantly blasted forth into his mind, striking against his soul and his truesoul.

Thud! Thud!

Ning’s face was completely ashen as he took two heavy, stumbling steps backwards. His mind was completely blank, and the two halves of the crystal ball fell out of his hands and onto the ground with a crashing sound. However, the fist-sized globe of blood-streaked golden liquid that had been slowly flowing inside of the crystal ball continued to hover in midair. As it slowly spun and swiveled, it released an aura of utterly incomprehensible power.

Only after a long period of time passed did Ning manage to regain his faculties and recover from the sudden shock of that terrifying aura.

As soon as Ning regained his senses, he couldn’t help but furiously retreat several kilometers before he was able to feel slightly less nauseous.

“Is that the divine blood of the Eternal?” Ning stared at the fist-sized globule of blood that was hovering in the air. He had never imagined that a single drop of blood essence could brim with such incredible power. He had encountered other Eternal weapons and had attuned himself to the exalted sword-aura that was located within Violetjewel’s quintessence core, but this was the first time that he was completely shaking with terror.

It was his very soul that was shaking. He was utterly horrified! The aura from the blood alone had instantly caused his mind to go completely blank, rendering him completely incapable of thought.

“Right. This is the divine blood of the Eternal, the Eternal blood of Emperor Melobo,” the Goldeye Golem said. “Years ago, Master was able to heavily wound Emperor Melobo, hacking off a large amount of his flesh. Master took that large amount of flesh and blood, then distilled it into this single drop of Eternal blood. This essentially represents half of the entire lifeforce vitality of Emperor Melobo.”

“Oh.” Ning nodded slowly.

“Remember. After you bring the Eternal blood out of this place, you absolutely must not open the globe.” The Goldeye Golem waved his hand, causing the two fallen halves of the crystal globe to fly into his hand. He resealed the globule of Eternal blood into the crystal ball, then locked it tightly. That terrifying aura instantly vanished. He then tossed that crystal globe, sending it flying towards Ning like a streak of light.

Ning caught it. Puzzled, he asked, “I cannot open it?”

“The members of the Aeonian Kingdom are able to sense this Eternal blood, but so long as you remain here in the Castrum Divinitus they will not dare to come and take it.” The Goldeye Golem explained, “But if you were to open the crystal globe while outside the Allgod Estate, the terrifying experts of the Aeonians will immediately pursue you upon sensing it.”

Ning was stunned. He hurriedly asked, “What is this ‘Aeonian Kingdom’?”

“Something which you weren’t meant to know about. Generally speaking, it is rare for even World-level experts to have any interactions with them. Still, once you break through to become a World God you will be an extraordinary figure. You probably should get a better sense of them now,” the Goldeye Golem said.