Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

“I don’t know the answer to that,” the short cultivator said.

“You don’t know?” Ning frowned, sending a strand of his baleful intent towards the two. The nearby tall and skinny cultivator hurriedly said, “Maybe the Ninedust Sect!”

“Right!” The shorter cultivator hurriedly agreed, “It is very likely that this information was leaked by the Ninedust Sect. The Ninedust Sect has been applying a great deal of pressure in recent years. It seems as though they intend to take over the Eastroad Territory.”

“The Ninedust Sect?” Ning was startled.

Daolord Eastroad had established the Eastroad Sect and then unified this territory, but the surrounding area was still quite chaotic. There were a number of powerful organizations here, with the most dominating one being the Ninedust Sect. The Ninedust Sect already had nine Daolords when it was first established! By now, its sectlord and three of its vice sectlords were all Daolords of the Fourth Step. However, Daolord Eastroad himself was so overwhelming powerful that the Ninedust Sect was unwilling to offend him, even though they didn’t fear him.

“The Ninedust Sect has been causing a great deal of trouble during the past thousand years, and the Eastroad Sect actually lost one of its Daolords during this period of time. It now only has a single Daolord left,” the short cultivator said.

“Another Daolord of the Eastroad Sect died?” Ning’s face tightened. “Which one?” The Eastroad Sect originally had three Daolords; Daolord Eastroad, Daolord Overgold, and Daolord Thunderheat. Daolord Overgold and Daolord Thunderheat were Daolords of the Third Step, with Overgold being a bit stronger.

“It was Daolord Overgold who died,” the shorter cultivator said. “I heard that he died while adventuring, but for him to die just a few centuries after word spread of Daolord Eastroad’s death… how could there be such a coincidence? It is very likely that the Ninedust Sect sent out major powers to kill him outside.”

“So that means the Eastroad Sect only has one Daolord left?” Pillsaint was rather flabbergasted, while Ning, Su Youji, and Naia were all rather surprised as well.

This had originally been a fairly simple mission, because Daolord Overgold was quite strong; with the formation around their headquarters helping them and some treasures Ning’s group was bringing, he should’ve been able to keep himself alive. Now it seemed the situation was much worse than they had imagined.

“The two of you can leave now,” Ning said. He didn’t really care if these two World-level cultivators told others of this conversation.”

“A-a-alright,” they stuttered.

Ning, Su Youji, Pillsaint, and Naia were all rather irritated and frustrated now. “This is going to be a bit more tricky than we expected.” Ning frowned. “Word of Daolord Eastroad’s death spread less than eight centuries after he died. There’s no way the Eastroad Sect itself would’ve been so foolish as to leak this information. An enemy must have done it, after they acquired this information through Numerancy divination or other intelligence-gathering methods. A short while later, Overgold died while adventuring as well. It might’ve been an actual coincidence, but it’s also possible that he was murdered. If he was murdered… then the real goal was to further weaken the Eastroad Sect.”

“Right.” Pillsaint, Su Youji, and Naia all felt irritated as well.

“Let’s gather some more information first.” Ning continued to advance through Eastroad City, and the more he investigated the more he learned. The Ninedust Sect really was about to take over the Eastroad Territory, and the Eastroad Sect really did only have Daolord Thunderheat protecting it.

……

Half a day later.

“For now, go into my estate-world. Otherwise… if multiple Daolords pay a visit, with one being a Daolord of the Fourth Step, the Eastroad Sect will probably be frightened. They are no doubt quite nervous right now,” Ning said to Su Youji and the others.

“Yes, Master.” Su Youji and the other two acknowledged the order. After they entered the estate-world, Ning flew by himself through the air towards the Eastroad Sect.

Just a short while later, the skies around him turned dark as multiple layers of formations around the Eastroad Sect were activated in a dazzling, awesome display of multicolored light.

Ning soon flew to the main gates of the Eastroad Sect, where he was forced to come to a halt.





* * *





Book 30, Chapter 3 - Within the Eastroad Sect


“Please stop, Daolord!” The Eastroad Sect’s gate-guarding disciple hurriedly called out to Ji Ning.

Ji Ning smiled as he came to a halt, then said, “Hurry up and send word that I come bearing the last will of Daolord Eastroad. I would like to ask Daolord Thunderheat to come meet with me.”

“You come bearing the will of the old Patriarch?” The gate-guarding disciple was shocked. Could it be that the old Patriarch really had prepared something for them? But why hadn’t he said anything to them before he died? Perhaps it was because he had died so suddenly that his avatar didn’t even have a chance to tell them about it. He immediately said, “Wait here for a brief moment, Daolord. I’ll send word right now.”

……

Within the Eastroad Sect.

Daolord Thunderheat had a violet complexion and curly whiskers, making him look like quite a barbarous figure. In reality, he was a very steady and experienced figure who had been running most affairs in the Eastroad Sect for countless years now, while Daolord Eastroad and Daolord Overgold were out adventuring. Who would’ve imagined that both of them would end up perishing, one after the other?

“Ugh.” Whenever Daolord Thunderheat thought of this, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“Master, the Eastroad Sect was built up over the course of countless years. We can’t just abandon our foundation like this.” Two yellow-robed disciples were next to Daolord Thunderheat, and the white-haired one was the one who just spoke.

“Anyone who wishes to destroy the Eastroad Sect will pay a heavy price for it.” The other disciple, a pudgy man who was similarly filled with a baleful look in his eyes, agreed.

Daolord Thunderheat shook his head. “The Patriarch was an incredibly, freakishly powerful Daolord. Over the course of countless years, he established an incredibly deep and solid foundation for our Eastroad Sect, but… if we want to protect it, in the end we’ll have to rely on our own power. The Ninedust Sect is just worried about some desperation attacks that we might unleash, which is why they’ve only been threatening us while not actually attacking us. But as more time passes… in the end, sooner or later we will be annihilated.”

“Master…” The two disciples felt both rage and grief.

“The two of you are merely at the World level. You don’t understand how terrifying the Ninedust Sect is.” Daolord Thunderheat sighed. “Especially Daolord Ninedust himself. He was close to being on par with even the old Patriarch himself.”

The two disciples ground their teeth, unwilling to accept this. The exalted Eastroad Sect had been dazzling and glorious for so many years. Everyone in the surrounding territories had always feared and respected them, with even the mighty Ninedust Sect going out of its way to avoid causing them trouble. But now, with their great sheltering tree gone, the Eastroad Sect was about to tumble.