Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

Ning was just standing there, a sword on his back and an mighty aura of tremendous power radiating from his body. This was the aura of a World God.

“Congratulations, Master!” Su Youji said delightedly, “The Allgod Estate truly was a blessed place for the two of us. We both broke through to the World level here.”

“Yes, it truly was a blessed place.” Ning couldn’t help but think back to the Hall of Swords and its thousands of sword-arts. That place truly had been of tremendous assistance to him.

“Senior.” Ning looked at the nearby formation-spirit maiden. Although the formation-spirit didn’t have a cultivation base, it had lived for far longer than even many Samsara Daolords had. Here within the Allgod Estate, it could probably wipe out most Samsara Daolords with ease. For him to respectfully address the spirit as ‘senior’ was just proper.

“Please send me and Su Youji to the Grove of Monoliths within the Fog Sea,” Ning said.

“You are going to go to the Fog Sea first?” The maiden was puzzled.

“Yes.” Ning nodded.

“Mm. You might as well go solidify your foundation in the Fog Sea, I suppose.” The maiden nodded. “Go ahead.” After speaking, she waved a finger and caused space to twist and distort around Ji Ning and Su Youji. It was like a whirlpool had formed around them, swallowing them up and causing them to disappear.

……

Mist billowed everywhere. This was the Fog Sea region of the Allgod Estate.

A series of spatial waves suddenly rippled out from a desolate patch of land, followed by Ji Ning and Su Youji appearing out of nowhere.

“Mm.” Ning could clearly sense the ripples generated by the nearby Mirrorsnow Painting. He couldn’t help but laugh. “That bugbeast is still hiding within the Grove of Monoliths. It has been several thousand years, but he remains hidden there.”

The Grove of Monoliths was a dangerous place, but Ning no longer feared it. The main reason he had come to the Allgod Estate was to acquire the Mirrorsnow Painting, after all!

“You scared that bugbeast witless, Master. If it hadn’t been for World God Foxblaze and his friend accosting us, the bugbeast probably would’ve died long ago. It knows we have a method to track it, so of course it is unwilling to leave the Grove,” Su Youji said.





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Book 26, Chapter 8 - The Battle in the Grove of Monoliths


“Come, let’s go to the Grove of Monoliths.” Ji Ning laughed as he began to walk towards the Grove.

“Are we really going there, Master?” Su Youji was rather worried. She had started to grow a bit nervous as soon as she had heard Ning ask the formation-spirit girl to teleport them straight to the Fog Sea. The Grove was one of the truly dangerous parts of the Fog Sea, and even supreme World Gods would only have a decent chance at best to escape from that place alive. It truly was a deadly place to venture into.

“Yes.” Ning glanced at Su Youji, then smiled. “But you won’t be needed for this battle. Just go into the estate-world when the battle begins. If you stay by my side, I’ll be distracted because I would need to protect you.”

Ning’s words were quite simply and ordinary, but Su Youji could sense the absolute self-confidence and the absolute dominance inherent in those words.

Her master had just broken through to become a World God, yet already possessed such incredible faith in himself?

Su Youji nodded slowly. “Alright. I’ll listen to you, Master. I still hope that you’ll be careful in your journey through the Grove.” She stared very carefully at Ning as she spoke, trying to find some clues from his aura regarding his current level of strength. Ning’s aura was that of a World God’s, but it didn’t seem as though there had been any other major changes.

Oh. One change was that Ning seemed calmer than before. Even though he was in a dangerous place, he seemed completely calm and unflappable.

“Master, why are you carrying that sword on your back?” Su Youji suddenly noticed the biggest difference. In the past, Ning would instantly materialize his sword when entering combat. He never kept it on his back before.

“I’m training,” Ning said.

“Training?” Su Youji was puzzled. How could carrying a sword on your back be considered training? Still, she didn’t ask any more questions.

Ning was carrying the Eternal weapon ‘Violetjewel’ on his back. By staying in contact with it at all times, he was able to better familiarize himself and attune himself to the quintessence sword-intent hidden within the sword’s core at all times. He was attuned to it every day and every night

It must be understood that if a mortal carried a blade with him at all times to the point of holding it when sleeping, that mortal would also be able to develop an extremely terrifying saber-art.

Habits such as this were quite important. Ning wanted to be attuned to the quintessence sword-intent at all times, as this would allow him to comprehend it more quickly.

Right now, Violetjewel was the strongest weapon which Ning had!

The fourth stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, ‘Horizon’s Edge’, was on the same level as the second stance of the [Quintessence Sword-Intent], the ‘Allgod’ stance. If Ning used a different sword to execute these two stances, they would be on par with each other in power. However, because the Allgod stance was developed based on the quintessence sword-intent within Violetjewel, it would be much stronger when Ning actually used Violetjewel and its quintessence core. When Ning used Violetjewel to execute the two stances the difference was actually quite great, with the Allgod stance capable of unleashing several times as much power.

“You have to be able to protect yourself on your path of cultivation. Otherwise, you’ll die an early death. I’ve now gained insight into both the [Nameless] sword-art and the [Quintessence Sword-Intent]. For now, I should favor the [Quintessence Sword-Intent]. It will let me unleash greater power in battle for now.” Although Ning was able to estimate how strong he had become, he didn’t know exactly how strong that was.

Only through battle would he be able to truly ascertain how strong he had grown.

“The Grove of Monoliths…” Ning stared towards a distant, fog-shrouded monolith that had been planted into the ground.

“Stay prepared. Have Blacksun and Wilddog do the same. All three of you should be ready to be summoned by me at a moment’s notice,” Ning said.

“Yes, Master. Be careful, Master.” Su Youji had a worried look on her face.

Ning chuckled, then waved his hand and collected her into his estate-world. He then turned and headed off by himself towards the Grove of Monoliths, a small smile playing on his lips.

Enormous monoliths were planted throughout the Grove of Monoliths, with tens thousand of them having been planted in total. Quite a few of them had powerful bugbeasts coiling atop them.

As for Ning, he strolled into the Grove as though he was entering his own private garden.

An avian beast with bright red claws was currently coiled around the top of a giant monolith that was a few hundred kilometers away from Ning. The creature’s eyes were shut in slumber, and every so often a few streams of fire would flick out from its nostrils as it exhaled, with the streams of fire swirling around an area of a hundred meters. As Ning moved towards the creature, he could sense it open its eyes. Its two eyes were filled with a cold, murderous look in them as it stared at the human cultivator who had trespassed on its territory.

“An Outsider…” The flying beast let out a low growl. “Die.”