Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

Ning was secretly amazed. The Ancient cultivators truly were the most ancient civilization of them all. The history of this ancestral site ran farther back than the history of the entire Brightshore Kingdom.

“In the end, this planet of ours is too small. The various generations of Daolords all dream of visiting the outside world, and so they’ve all delved into the underground to seek the worldsplitter stones. When each finds one, that person is able to leave this world and visit the vaster world outside.” Daolord Inkmind said softly, “Even though the underground is dangerous and many have perished, successive generations of Daolords have continued on their quest.”

Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord both nodded slightly. All Daolords had incredibly determined Dao-hearts. This was true even for vile and demonic figures. If they wished to leave this place, no level of danger could stop them.

It must be understood that in the Endless Territories, the Verge-level Daolords would often venture into the Terror Starsea. Daolord Solesky had entered the incredibly dangerous Waveshift Realm, which had been left behind by Eternal Emperor Waveshift, the number one expert of the Dao of Numerancy. You could imagine how deadly it was!

“Given how much time has passed… although it might be difficult for this world of yours to give birth to an Eternal Emperor, I imagine it must’ve given birth to many Daolords of incredible power. I imagine some of them must have been able to acquire worldsplitter stones. Why didn’t they take out more? That way, there would be no need for the others to die.”

“Yes, we have indeed given birth to a number of incredible Daolords.” Daolord Inkmind said coldly, “However… the outlands are filled with endless flame demons and many other unknown creatures. If you don’t have the courage to venture underground to find worldsplitter stones for yourself, what right do you have to go to the outlands?”

“This is a tradition of my homeland. If you wish to leave, you must find a worldsplitter stone for yourself first. Only then can you leave.” Daolord Inkmind said calmly, “Over the course of so many years, more than ten thousand Daolords have successfully acquired worldsplitter stones and left for the outlands.”

The Ninedust Sectlord suddenly said, “Have any of the Daolords who left ever been able to return?”

Daolord Inkmind shook his head. “None!”

Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord felt stunned. Not a single one out of all those Daolords returned?

“Perhaps they were unable to find a way to contact us after they reached the vaster world outside,” Daolord Inkmind said. Ning and the others nodded. This was indeed quite possible.

They might’ve died, but they also might’ve survived but left this spacetime continuum. For example, in this region Ning and the others were unable to maintain contact with the outside world. Those who successfully left this region and entered the Endless territories. would probably also be unable to maintain contact with the ‘sacred grounds’ here.

“Even though the outlands might hold great danger, our Daolords have always wanted to give it a try. All of us are filled with curiosity towards the outlands,” Daolord Inkmind said. “Even if they aren’t able to come back, it doesn’t really matter.”

“Mm.” The Ninedust Sectlord pointed towards the rainbow-lit region at the end of the cavern. “So if we want worldsplitter stones, we should just charge straight inside?”

“No.” Daolord Inkmind shook his head as he stared at the rainbow region and the humanoid silhouettes within it. “I imagine you can see those earth devils yourself. Even from here, I can see more than three thousand of them! Based on the accumulated experiences of our Daolords, the earth devils like to drift about. Sometimes, the number of earth devils in a region will be lower than usual. If you can see less than five hundred from this position, that means they are now fairly dispersed. But of course, even then you’ll definitely encounter more than five hundred when you venture forth, as I’m merely talking about the ones visible from here.”

“If you can see less than a hundred, things will be even safer,” Daolord Inkmind said.

“A hundred? And usually how long does that take?” The Ninedust Sectlord was rather impatient.

“Generally speaking, this will happen once per chaos cycle,” Daolord Inkmind said.

“That’s far too long.” The Ninedust Sectlord shook his head. “Lower than five hundred?”

“Roughly once every million years,” Daolord Inkmind said.

“Still too long.” The Ninedust Sectlord truly wanted to charge in right away.

“If you only want to wait for lower than a thousand, ten thousand years should be enough,” Daolord Inkmind said. “But a thousand… that’ll be extremely dangerous. Only the most powerful of Daolords would have a chance of success.”

The Ninedust Sectlord turned to look at Ning. “Ten thousand years. That’s doable. What do you think, Darknorth?”

Ning nodded. “I don’t want to wait too long either. When we can see less than a thousand earth devils, we’ll enter.” Ning had only been training for a short period of time, while the Ninedust Sectlord was filled with eagerness towards the legacy of the Ancient cultivators. As a result, neither wished to tarry here too long. They had spent months surviving in the ‘outlands’; they were quite confident in their abilities to acquire the worldsplitter stones.





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Book 30, Chapter 25 - Skywinds Life


“The sacred grounds will send people to keep an eye on this place,” Daolord Inkmind said with a smile. “You can come with me to visit the underground palace, or you can wander around our planet and explore it a bit.”

“No need.” The Ninedust Sectlord said calmly, “I’ll wait right here.”

“Yes, there’s no need to trouble anyone. The two of us can simply wait here,” Ji Ning agreed. He then looked at the nearby Skywind. “Skywind, you can go out and engage in some exploration and adventuring. If you have any questions regarding the Dao of the Sword, you may come speak to me about them. After I acquire the worldsplitter stone, I’ll leave this planet. By then, you’ll have to rely on yourself.”

Skywind said respectfully, “Yes, Master. In truth, in the last few days since you transmitted the Dao of the Sword to me, I’ve gained many insights and am prepared to enter the World level already.”

“Skywind.” The nearby Daolord Inkmind smiled. “The sacred grounds have quite a few World-level cultivators. They are the disciples and servants of the various Daolords here. After you make your breakthrough, you can spar with them. You can also go and study from the various Sword Daos which the successive generations of our Daolords have left behind.”

“Understood.” Skywind revealed an excited look.

The nearby Ning nodded in approval. “Disciple, this is a wonderful opportunity for you. Don’t let it slip past you.”

……

Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord spent the rest of their time quietly meditating underground, waiting for the right moment. The Ninedust Sectlord simply sat on the ground, while Ning used his temporal acceleration cottage. The sectlord was at a bottleneck and needed an epiphany to break through. Ning, in contrast, had just recently become a Daolord of the Second Step. He needed to seize every moment.

That very year, Skywind broke through to become a World-level cultivator. In the past, he had never had a good teacher; he had relied completely on his own natural talents to cultivate himself. Things were different, now that he had Ning’s guidance. Ning was a perfect teacher for him, with the five sword-arts Ning having transmitted being perfect guides as to five different directions the Dao of the Sword could be developed towards.

Every ten years or so, he would come and ask Ning a question. He would also often leave the underground region to go to the sacred grounds and spar against the other World-level cultivators there.

“He’s improving at a terrifying rate.”