Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

Second to the leader were the sixteen Starkings.

Below the Starkings were the mighty Paladins.

The ‘Nine Godstars sect’ which Ning’s group had originally encountered upon entering this alternate universe only had a single Paladin in their organization! Generally speaking, ordinary Verge-level Daolords were not qualified to be given the rank of ‘Paladin’. Only breathtakingly powerful Daolords, along with Eternal Emperors, were qualified to be called ‘Paladins’!

“As I said a while ago, not even my master would wish to offend the person who stands behind the five of you. Alas… it was your own fault for barging into the Sacred Immortal Realm. It no longer matters how powerful the person who stands behind you is.” The black-robed Daolord laughed. “In order to prevent your school and master from tracking you down… as soon as you entered my estate, I sent my subordinates to destroy the spacetime transfer arrays linking the ‘Mortal Realm’ with this ‘Sacred Immortal Realm’.”

“Ah?!” Ning and the others were stunned.

“From this day forth, that ‘Mortal Realm’ will no longer be connected to this world of ours.” The black-robed Daolord sighed. “Because of the five of you, I had to sacrifice a large continent. Alas, I had to ensure that there would be no way for your school to trace you to this place and attack me here. I decided to remove all traces of your passing right away.”

If the spacetime transfer array between the Mortal Realm and the Sacred Immortal Realm was destroyed, then even if a major power managed to track Ning’s group to the Mortal Realm, there would be no way for him to find out where the Sacred Immortal Realm was located.

“In the outside world, the only person who even knows this ‘Sacred Immortal Realm’ exists is my master.” The black-robed Daolord smiled coldly. “As for myself, I’ve been permanently assigned to this place. Without Master’s permission, even I shall never be permitted to leave. As for the formation which surrounds this realm, my master was the one who personally set it up. It ensures that this realm is completely separated from the rest of the world. Even if you have other clones outside, there will be no way you can sense where this realm is.”

“Thus… no one knows that you are here, and no one will be able to find you. As for fighting back? Hmph. My master personally set up this formation, and I’m the only person who can fully unleash its power. Not even a Verge-level Daolord who stumbles into this place would be a match for me.” The black-robed Daolord swept the five with his gaze. “However… I have decided to give you a way to survive.”

“A way to survive?” Ning and the others stared at the black-robed Daolord. They had guessed long ago that the Daolord had ulterior motives, which was why he had spoken to them for so long. If he truly wanted to kill them, he would’ve done so long ago. Why would he first let them view the Prismatic Kiloleaf Flower and ensure they felt despair at knowing they had transgressed against Emperor Trisilk?

If they truly were geniuses who belonged to this universe, they probably would’ve felt despair upon hearing Emperor Trisilk’s name.

Emperor Trisilk was a true demon who had committed towering sins, and it was his idea to use enormous amounts of hatred to nourish Prismatic Kiloleaf Flowers. Just imagine how skilled he was in sin and how steeped he was in hate, for him to be able to manipulate it so effectively? As a man who had committed many sins, he had offended many major powers over the course of his life… and yet, he was still alive. Although he was merely a Paladin of the Church of Annihilation, he truly was skilled in staying alive.

Most importantly of all… Emperor Trisilk’s true specialty lay in torture. He could torture even Daolords to the brink of insanity, causing them to choose to commit suicide or to submit to him. All of his disciples were skilled in torture as well.

“Yes, a way to survive. If you are willing to swear lifeblood oaths to serve me forever and to obey my orders as my slaves, I’ll spare you.” The black-robed Daolord stared at Ning’s group, his eyes gleaming. The five of them were all monstrously talented cultivators who could become Daolords whenever they chose. Once they became Daolords, their future potential would be limitless. It was entirely possible that all five of them would become more powerful than the black-robed Daolord himself. And, if he had them work for him as miners after they became Daolords, they would definitely be far more effective than the shieldbearer golem.

His master had given him strict orders, true… but that was to prevent any secrets from being released. If these five swore lifeblood oaths to become his slaves, then there was naturally no chance of anything going astray. Even better, with these extra subordinates helping him mine this place he would be able to finish his task much faster and thus no longer need to remain here.

“Become slaves?” The faces of all five tightened.

“Impossible,” Solewind roared angrily.

“Nothing is impossible.” The black-robed Daolord laughed. “In the face of death… everything becomes possible.”

“Change your conditions,” Solewind growled. “We would die before becoming your slaves. We can carry out tasks for you and swear to divulge no information about this place to the outside world, but there’s absolutely no way we will become your slaves.”

The smile disappeared from the black-robed Daolord’s face, only to be replaced by an icy coldness. “You only have one choice – become slaves and live, or die!”

“Let us think it over.” Solewind gritted his teeth.

The black-robed Daolord stared coldly at the five of them. “Make it fast.” As he spoke, a savage-looking serpent began to appear in the air around him. The giant serpent coiled around the black-robed Daolord as it stared coldly at Ning’s group with its emotionless reptilian eyes. Ning and the others couldn’t help but shiver when they saw this. They knew that it could probably wipe them out in a single blow.

“What should we do?” Solewind, Ning, Greatjoy, Skyfire, and Firesurge traded glances.

“The power of this formation truly is incredible. He was telling the truth. Here in the Sacred Immortal Realm, not even Verge-level Daolords would be able to defeat him.” Prince Greatjoy sent mentally, “What should we do? I have a few trump cards, but they would at most be able to deal with Daolords of the Third Step. They wouldn’t even be enough to deal with that shieldbearer golem we just fought, much less this Daolord.”

“Right.” Firesurge had an ugly look on his face as well. As for Skyfire, he didn’t say a word. He really didn’t have any trump cards at all.

The black-robed Daolord sat there leisurely next to the Prismatic Kiloleaf Flower, the enormous black serpent continuing to coil around him. He said softly, “Tell me your choice. Do you choose life… or death?”

“LIFE!” A voice suddenly rang out.

The black-robed Daolord cracked a smile as he looked at the speaker.

As for Ning, him and three others also stared at the speaker in astonishment.

It was Heartlord Solewind.

Heartlord Solewind had just crushed an odd-looking jade pendant in his hands, causing an arcane surge of terrifying power to descend.

Whooosh.

It was formless. Colorless. Shapeless.

Ning and the others couldn’t see it or sense it at all; all they could sense was that something utterly terrifying had just appeared as a wave of something washed over them. The black-robed Daolord’s smile turned stiff, and a look of utter terror appeared in his eyes. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something… but then, all traces of life fled from his body.

The only thing left was his seated corpse, and it no longer had any trace of life in it at all. As for the terrifying serpent that hd been created by the power of the formation? It completely dissipated into nothingness.