Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

“If you didn’t have your own secret arts, you wouldn’t be a match for me.” The Ninedust Sectlord was furious. Even after having used his forbidden art, he was still in rather dire straits.

Ning, however, understood that there was a limit to how strong the nine novessence arts would be. He had already mastered them as a Daolord of the First Step, and back then they vastly surpassed Ning’s close-combat abilities! Although he could continue to strengthen them as his Omega Sword Dao improved, his close-combat abilities would improve far more rapidly. He was already on par with the Ninedust Sectlord in close combat, which meant that those abilities were already superior to those nine novessence arts.

In the end, all secret arts were a form of external strength! If you focused too much on secret arts and not enough on your Dao, there would be a limit to how much you could improve. Still, it was true that the influence of the nine novessence arts ensured that Ning was in an advantageous position in this battle.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two soldiers who had been furiously assaulting Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord suddenly retreated at the same instant, voluntarily stepping back. Both Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord were stunned by this.

“They are falling back?” The Ninedust Sectlord instantly realized what was happening. A look of wild delight on his face, he charged straight towards the golden throne at the very end of the pathway.

“What?!” When Ning saw the Ninedust Sectlord furiously charge towards that golden throne, he ignored all else and the same thing.

Boom! Boom! The two figures arrived next to the golden throne at virtually the same instant.

“Weng…ba…hu…jiu…” Suddenly, an incredibly ancient and distant voice emanated from the golden globe of light. It seemed to come from the beginning of time itself, and it carried an aura of mystery and almighty power. It almost sounded like the mumbling of an ancient and powerful figure, and it caused the entire region to begin to shake. Every single part of the void around the pathway began to glow with countless strange runes, and layers of golden rippling light began to appear around the golden throne as well which swept Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord into their embrace.

“The ancestors! The ancestors!” The Ninedust Sectlord was unspeakably excited when he heard this voice. As for Ning, he was completely puzzled. He continued to keep his six Northbow swords at the ready, prepared for any danger.





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Book 30, Chapter 13 - Missing


Every part of this golden region was filled with those strange runes, with the golden throne being at the center of it all.

“What’s going on?” Ji Ning frowned. “Previously, Daolord Thunderheat told me that if you defeat all the soldiers and reach the golden throne, you would gain a legacy… but this doesn’t look like the mere transmission of a legacy. Was Daolord Eastroad lying to Daolord Thunderheat? Or was he lying to me?”

“It seems as though the Ninedust Sectlord knows something. Not only is he not worried, he actually looks excited.” Ning glanced at the nearby Ninedust Sectlord.

The Ninedust Sectlord was indeed excited after having heard that ancient, distant voice ring out from the golden globe of light.

“Ninedust, what is going on exactly?” Ning asked.

“Hmph.” The Ninedust Sectlord glanced sideways at Ning, then smiled coldly. “Do you really think I’ll tell you?”

“If you won’t, then you can forget about achieving whatever goals you have here.” As soon as Ning said these words, he sent a surge of sword-light towards the Ninedust Sectlord, the sword-light seemingly filled with the power to destroy all Daos that stood in its path.

“Stop, stop!” The Ninedust Sectlord called out frantically. The white-robed Daolord in front of him was extremely powerful, on the same level as him; if he wanted to cause trouble, something bad really might happen.

“Speak!” Ning barked. “What secrets does this Void Pathway hold?”

“I don’t know either,” the Ninedust Sectlord said hurriedly.

“Are you screwing around with me?” Ning was about to continue his attack.

“I really don’t know!” The Ninedust Sectlord hurriedly dodged, not daring to fight back for fear that the shockwaves from their battle would cause a disaster to unfold. “I’m not lying to you. I really don’t know!”

Just as Ning was attacking and the Ninedust Sectlord was dodging…

BOOM!

The ringed curtains of golden light emanating from the golden throne suddenly retracted, like the petals of a flower suddenly be drawn back into the pistil. Swish!

A streak of golden light suddenly tore through spacetime. Whoosh! Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord had both been covered by that curtain of golden light, and they instantly disappeared without a trace, leaving only the golden throne behind.

No other living beings remained within the Void Pathway.

Rumble…

More and more power emanated from that golden globe, bathing the entire golden region in a layer of golden light.

……

Whoosh. A golden ripple of power suddenly spread out from one of the decorative ‘mountains’ within the Eastroad Sect. Moments later, it completely vanished without a trace.

“What?!” Daolord Thunderheat had been watching carefully from a safe distance. When he saw this, his face instantly turned pale. He appeared within that courtyard in a flash. “Where’s the Void Pathway? Where’d it go? Why did it suddenly vanish?! His godsense had been infused into the formation protecting the sect, and so was able to cover and scour every inch of the region. And yet, he was no longer able to find that decorative mountain.

“Daolord Darknorth and the Ninedust Sectlord have both vanished as well?” Daolord Thunderheat was starting to panic. “I always felt certain that the Void Pathway was holding certain mysteries. Those thirty thousand soldiers were unreasonably powerful, especially the final two; those two were on par with Patriarch Eastroad himself. I imagine that when Daolord Darknorth and the Ninedust Sectlord battled within the Void Pathway, they must have activated some of its secrets.”

“Well… now what should I do? Daolord Darknorth suddenly vanished. If he died, then…” Daolord Thunderheat felt rather guilty, because he did have a trump card which he hadn’t used yet. Still, he couldn’t be blamed for holding it back; the Eastroad Sect would need to conserve all the resources it had if it wanted to survive. It looked as though Daolord Darknorth was strong enough to hold back the Ninedust Sectlord; Thunderheat naturally hadn’t been willing to use up his one and only trump card.

“Daolord Darknorth asked for nothing; he whole-heartedly wished to help my Eastroad Sect. And now, his whereabouts are unknown.” Daolord Thunderheat had a complex look on his face as he murmured softly, “I promise the Eastroad Sect will never forget your benevolence.”

As for the disappearance of the Void Pathway? Daolord Thunderheat felt a bit of regret, but he didn’t care all that much. For it to be able to vanish despite local spacetime being completely distorted thanks to the Eastroad Sect’s formations meant that it was a treasure that was beyond the Eastroad Sect’s ability to control.

If it stayed here, it would only cause more trouble in the future. It was a disaster waiting to happen, not a blessing!

……

Outside the Eastroad Sect. The Ninedust Shrine continued to hover there in the empty skies.

Within the Ninedust Shrine. Daolord Graceful had already fled all the way back into the shrine. Both he and Daolord Clevermind were standing in front of its gates, staring towards the distant Eastroad Sect.

“Eh?” Daolord Clevermind’s face suddenly paled. “Not good.”

“What’s wrong?” Daolord Graceful immediately asked.