Desolate Era (Book 25 - Book 27)

“The fifth option?” Su Youji hesitated momentarily. “Then I will choose the fifth option as well.”


“No need to push yourself that hard. This is a life-altering decision. Choose whichever option suits you the most,” Ning said.

“I choose the fifth option.” Su Youji gritted her teeth. “I know that I’m fairly weak, but with those bugbeasts you loaned me I should be able to hold my own. I’m unwilling to choose any of the other options.”

Ning nodded. As he saw it, most likely many of the cultivators would elect to choose the fifth option. Most of them would rather battle against other cultivators of the same level than to waste countless years of their life, become an eternal slave, or put everything up to luck.

Ning suddenly produced a bracelet then handed it to Su Youji. “Youji, this holds those eighteen Hellwind Golems. They won’t be of much use to me, but if you use them and your fifty-one bugbeasts you should have at least some chance of surviving this Astral Islands. I’ve already ordered the Hellwind Golems to obey you in all things. You’ll easily be able to bind them.”

“Master, they will be of help to you.” Su Youji began to grow nervous. She knew exactly how dangerous the fifth option would be, given that only one in a hundred would survive. Even Aberrants would be taking part!

“Just take it,’ Ning repeated.

Su Youji stared at the white-robed youth. At first, she had only elected to become Ji Ning’s retainer because of how monstrously talented he was. However, after the two spent more time together she slowly began to understand what type of a person Ji Ning truly was. Ji Ning looked peaceful and relaxed, but he wouldn’t readily acknowledge others. Once he did, however, he truly would treat that person as a lifelong friend.

Su Youji had always sensed that something was perpetually weighing on Ji Ning’s mind. She had tried to explore this topic but had never been able to make any progress.

“Let’s go.” Ning placed the bracelet in Su Youji’s hands, then strode towards the fifth option’s region. Su Youji nodded, following by his side.

More than thirty thousand cultivators and thousands of Aberrants. Each made their own choices.

What truly surprised Ning was that twenty-three cultivators and two Aberrants actually chose the second option. It must be understood that this was everyone’s first visit to this place. No one knew any of the local Samsara Daolords, which meant choosing the second option represented choosing to become a slave.

“Anything really can happen, I suppose,” Ning mused.

There were benefits to becoming a slave as well. You would become a citizen of the Brightshore Kingdom, albeit one of the lowest-tier members, and would gain at least a modicum of access to the Brightshore Kingdom’s secrets.

The third option, mining. More than a thousand cultivators and a hundred Aberrants chose this option.

The fourth option, surviving the bugnest. More than five thousand cultivators and two hundred Aberrants chose this option.

The fifth option, surviving the Astral Islands. All the remaining individuals chose this option.





* * *





Book 26, Chapter 27 - Six Strata


Those who chose the other options were all escorted off by the four black-armored retainers. As for those who chose to attempt the Astral Islands, they were escorted by the silver-armored duo.

Actually, it wasn’t really ‘escorting’. They were simply dragged straight into an estate-treasure.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The silver-armored man and woman flew off the mountain peak and towards a different part of the Brightshore Kingdom. They physically flew because it was impossible to teleport within the Brightshore Kingdom; flying was the only option! The flight would take quite a few days.

The eleventh day of their journey.

“Eh? I sense a disturbance.” Ji Ning and thirty thousand-plus cultivators and Aberrants were still within the estate-world. Ning could suddenly sense that his three Mirrorsnow Paintings were resonating with something far off in the distance. “Is there another Mirrorsnow Painting within the Brightshore Kingdom? I wonder if this is the one I need.”

After the silver-armored duo flew past this region, a strange alien lifeform with green reptilian skin suddenly emerged from the waters of the lake below. The creature raised his head to stare towards the skies, locating the silver-armored duo which was now billions of kilometers away. When the creature saw the silver armor, his face changed. “Was that a Mirrorsnow Painting? Those two major powers come from the Twelve Palaces. It should be carried by one of the World-level cultivators they abducted and are now escorting. Damn. I’ve already left the Astral Islands. There’s no way back.”

……

Although Ning could sense the Mirrorsnow Painting, there was nothing he could do. In the end, they all spent more than a month and a half in the estate-world.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, all the cultivators and Aberrants were teleported out of the estate-world.

“Where am I?” Ning and the others all stared curiously at their surroundings.

Before them was an enormous dark abyss that devoured all light, making it impossible for any of them to see to the bottom of this abyss.

Directly above the abyss hovered a series of islands, each of which was merely three hundred meters or so in size. There were hundreds of thousands of these levitating islands! The dense cluster hung there in midair, continuously swiveling as they did so. Some were higher in the air than the others.

The bottom stratum held more than 99% of the islands. Ning estimated that there had to be more than three hundred thousand islands there!

The second stratum held roughly twenty thousand islands.

The third stratum held three thousand islands.

The fourth stratum held a hundred islands.

The fifth stratum held merely twelve islands.

The sixth stratum was the highest stratum, and it held only a single island!

“These are the Astral Islands.” The silver-armored man pointed at the levitating islands. “Every single Astral Island has a World-level cultivator!”

“Every one?” Ning could hear the others all murmuring. That meant more than three hundred thousand World-level cultivators were gathered here.

“The cultivators of the Astral Islands can only be promoted when they challenge cultivators on the same stratum or a higher stratum,” the silver-armored man said. “If you can gain ten consecutive victories against someone of the same level as you, you’ll be promoted to the next higher island. Win ten more times in a row, and you’ll be promoted once again. If you lose so much as a single fight… if you are lucky you will survive, but you’ll still be demoted by one level.”

Everyone’s faces turned pale.

Ning stared at the levitating islands. He finally understood what these levitating islands truly represented. The only island on the sixth stratum held a cultivator who had defeated at least ten of the cultivators on the fifth stratum before advancing to the sixth stratum. After doing so… others might challenge him, but he would have no one else to challenge.

“Dare I ask, what must we do to become citizens of the Brightshore Kingdom?” A cultivator spoke out right away.

“Don’t be impatient.” The silver-armored man smiled. “Choosing the Astral Islands was actually the best choice. Those who chose to become slaves have lost their futures, while those who went into the mines shall be there for a thousand chaos cycles. I’m amazed anyone would even consider those two choices. I really wonder what the hell they were thinking. As for those who chose the bugbeast nests… they probably doubted themselves and their level of strength, which was why they chose to test their luck.”