Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

“This was rather unexpected. Still… since I’ve mastered all nine of the secret arts…” Ning pondered for a moment. “I might not need to waste the Hegemon’s Dao-seal after all.”


“Right now, those nine mighty novessence arts are my greatest trump card. I need to find a way to make them unleash the maximum amount of power possible,” Ning pondered. The Hegemon’s two Dao-seal were trump cards that could only be used one time each, while the nine novessence arts were his own arts that could be used as many times as he chose. He naturally had to enhance them as much as he could. If he just used them for their raw power, they would still be quite strong, yes, but this wasn’t their full potential. If he could use those nine novessence arts as nine swords and then use his Omega Sword Dao’s Yin-Yang Sword Domain, the power of the novessence arts would be vastly greater.

“My Omega Sword Dao’s Blood Drop sword-intent has made a breakthrough, but the Yin-Yang sword-intent has not. I hope I will be to make some breakthroughs soon. That way, my nine novessence arts will be able to unleash even greater power. Daolord Allgod was a grandmaster in the art of formations, which was why he was able to use those nine secret arts to form a terrifying formation to attack his foes. This was what allowed him to crush Emperor Melobo.”

Clearly, Ning wished to upgrade the power of his nine novessence arts as best he could.

“However, I’ve just finished mastering these nine arts. I need to rest a bit first.” Whoosh. Ning’s body flickered and emerged from the thatched cottage. He waved his hand, putting it away.

“Master.” “Master.” Pillsaint and Su Youji were seated outside the private room, and they immediately turned to stare towards Ning.

“What is it?” Ning laughed.

“The treasure auction has already begun. It’s gone on for several days,” Pillsaint said, then added worriedly, “Master, how do you plan to deal with Daolord Kongsan?”

“No need to worry.” Ning walked out of the private room, then stared downwards through a window. A this very moment, a loud and exciting treasure auction was occurring below them.

Ning sat down relaxedly, then picked up a nearby cup of wine. He sipped at it as he watched the treasure auction.





* * *





Book 29, Chapter 35 - An Exchange of Goods


The treasure auction was in progress. In order to attract more Daolords, each treasure auction would have a few incredibly rare and valuable items that normally would never be sold and would only be traded for similarly valuable items. During the treasure auctions, however, they could be purchased for chaos nectar. Only, the price would be incredibly high.

“Haha…” Ning couldn’t help but laugh as he watched. “In the end, there’s a limit to how useful magic treasures can be.” There were some unearthly treasures which would allow a Daolord of the First Step to contend against a Daolord of the Fourth Step, but treasures could only help up to a certain point. Treasures that could unleash the power of a Daolord of the Fourth Step were generally worth more than ten million cubes of chaos nectar, and as their power increased their cost would skyrocket.

Ning noticed one insanely powerful and insanely expensive treasure known as the ‘Kingdom Blade’. This was a formation, and anyone who had this formation could spread it across a hundred million kilometers with a single thought. Within the formation, countless streaks of saber-light would appear, and these attacks were so powerful that ordinary Daolords of the Fourth Step would be instantly slain by them. Even Daolords who weren’t killed would still be heavily constrained! Ning estimated that this formation was definitely on par with his own novessence thunder attack.

The bidding for this formation started at the reserve price of eighty million cubes of chaos nectar, and in the end it was sold for 120 million cubes.

“Treasures like these are all external sources of strength.” The nearby Pillsaint nodded sagely. “Artificing and alchemy all have their limits as well. Earlier, I saw a treasure in Plumesoar Hall which could unleash the power of an Eternal Emperor, but treasures like that would never appear in a treasure auction. Without question, they can only be traded for.”

Ning nodded. Treasures could generally be used multiple times, whereas Dao-seals would be consumed after a single use as all they did was unleash the power which had originally been sealed into them. As a result, Dao-seals were much easier to make than magic treasures. The Sword Hegemon’s Dao-seals and the almighty Brightshore Hegemon’s spacetime disc were all single-use items.

……

A few days later, yet another incredible treasure appeared within this treasure auction. Generally speaking, each treasure auction would have ten or so treasures like this.

“Fellow Daoists.” The ancient elder standing before the dais called out in a loud voice, “This treasure is an important item which was personally forged by Emperor Milcloth.”

The many Daolords seated below were all stirred. Even Ning’s eyes lit up as he stared downwards from his private room. Emperor Milcloth was one of the top three artificers of the entire Endless Territories.

Whoosh. A palm-sized black flying vessel suddenly appeared in the air above the elder’s hands. Although the flying vessel was small, it naturally emanated an aura of such terrifying keenness that anyone who saw it knew it had to be incredibly fast.

“This is a flying vessel which is perfectly suited for soaring at high speeds. The Emperor forged it just a short while ago, and has yet to even choose a name for it. The person who purchases it shall have the right to name it.” The elder smiled, but the Daolords didn’t really care about this. What a treasure’s name was didn’t matter; what really mattered was the amount of power it could unleash.

“This magic treasure can move a hundred times the speed of light,” the elder said softly, but his quiet words drove the many Daolords below him into a state of frenzy. “The reserve price is 60 million cubes.”

“60 million cubes.” A deep voice instantly rang out from one of the private rooms up above.

“65 million cubes.” One of the Daolords seated in the corner of the main hall below, a golden-robed man, calmly made his offer.

“68 million cubes.”

This was one of the eight Sacred Cities, after all. It had many Daolords within it. Evasion-type treasures were extremely valuable to begin with, with vessels that could move at ten times the speed of light generally costing more than ten million cubes. Ones which could move at a hundred times the speed of light could generally only be traded for.

Although there were technically a number of master artificers in the Endless Territories who were capable of creating evasion-type treasures that could move at a hundred times the speed of light, the actual creation process was extremely difficult. Powerful Daolords were extremely interested in treasures like this, as there were very few who could move at a hundred times the speed of light. In fact, there weren’t even many Eternal Emperors who could move at that speed.

“Eh?” Ning suddenly rose to his feet within his private room.

“Master?” Pillsaint and Youji both looked towards Ning, but Ning walked towards to the window, then pushed it open. Outside was that female attendant, who had been awaiting his summons this entire time.

“Senior.” Although she had been waiting here for months, she immediately addressed him with respect.

“I wish to use a treasure to trade for that flying vessel which is currently being auctioned off,” Ning said.

The female attendant was startled. That was one of the top ten treasures of this treasure auction! She immediately said, “I’ve already sent your request forwards. A Daolord will arrive shortly.”