Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

Ning and the others listened silently, the very picture of innocent obedience.

“The Genesis Lands can be roughly divided into two parts; the ‘outer reaches’ and the ‘inner reaches’. The true name of the ‘inner region’ is actually the Prime Reaches, and it holds the innermost core and prime essences of this entire universe. There are many deceased ancient powers located within the Prime Reaches, and it is the most important location in our entire universe.” The horned expert said casually, “Every single cultivator would dream of being able to enter the Prime Reaches of the Genseis Lands. The Prime Reaches are located at the very center, and you’ll be able to recognize it as soon as you see it.” Glug, glug, glug. He raised his head and drank several more mouthfuls of wine.

Ning and the others all nodded. Actually, they knew all of this already! Moksha the golem had told Ning long ago about this.

“Every single World-level cultivator capable of entering the Genesis Lands is a genius,” the horned expert said. “But perhaps just one in a hundred of them are capable of entering the inner reaches!”

Ning and the others were stunned. Just one in a hundred? This was their first time hearing this number. Generally speaking, the World-level cultivators who were able to enter this place were all capable of becoming Daolords whenever they chose! Who would’ve thought that entering the inner reaches would be this difficult?

“But the outer reaches aren’t a bad place to be either. The outer reaches were formed when the universe itself was born, and it contains many mysterious places and many hidden fortunes,” the horned expert said. “I myself stay out here in the outer reaches. Alas… while one in a hundred World-level cultivators are able to enter the inner reaches, things are much worse for us Daolords. Perhaps just one in ten thousand Daolords are able to enter the inner reaches!”

“The outer reaches are filled with treasures, but the inner reaches are absolutely incredible. Almost all of the Eternal Emperors will venture into the inner reaches in search of treasures.” A mysterious look suddenly flashed through the horned expert’s eyes. “Have you heard? Shortly after the master of the Church of Annihilation became an Eternal Emperor, he entered the inner reaches… and then, for some reason, he became terrifyingly strong, strong enough to unify our entire universe and force all the major powers in it to submit to him.”

“Oh?” Ning and the others were growing increasingly curious.

Almost all the Eternal Emperors would enter the place? It was the Prime Reaches which gave the master of the Church of Annihilation his incredible power, allowing him to unify this universe?

“Everyone says that the Prime Reaches are filled with endless possibilities. Just three chaos cycles ago, a Daolord managed to acquire a Universe treasure within the Prime Reaches,” the horned expert said in a mysterious manner.

“A Universe treasure?” Solewind and Skyfire were both shocked. As for Greatjoy and Ning, they revealed puzzled looks.

What exactly was a Universe treasure?

Upon seeing this, the horned expert grinned. “It seems as though some of you, my young friends, haven’t heard this phrase before. Actually, even I only heard of these treasures after entering the Genesis Lands. Eternal treasures are powerful, but above them… there is a legendary rank of supremely powerful treasures which are known as Universe treasures. They are often also referred to as Supreme treasures. These are truly incredible treasures which even Eternal Emperors would go wild over. They are incredibly powerful, and they are incredibly mysterious.”

“Alas.” The horned expert shook his head. “Universe treasures are truly supreme treasures; there’s no way you can bind them by force! You can only bind a Universe treasure if the treasure itself acknowledges you.”

Ning, Greatjoy, and the others were all rather stunned.

At this moment, Heartlord Solewind sent mentally to them, “Darknorth, Greatjoy, Firesurge… Universe treasures are legendary things that are filled with inconceivable amounts of power. They truly are the most supreme eof treasures, and they are both incredibly rare and incredibly valuable. Even Eternal Emperors would drool over the chance to acquire such treasures! Treasures like them can only be hoped for, not actively sought out. Right… Darknorth, your Sword Palace actually holds a Universe treasure known as the ‘Shardsword’.”

“Shardsword?” Ning was stunned. He remembered now; the first time he entered the Sword Palace, when he entered the Armaments Gorge he had encountered a ‘broken’ shard of a sword that had no price tag and which he couldn’t even move towards.

Ning still remembered how he had asked the overseers of the Armaments Groge, Swordfive and Swordsix, about that strange sword. Their response had been to tell them that it was clear the sword and Ning were not fated to be together, and that even the two previous Palace Lords of the Sword Palace had not been able to receive the acknowledgment of that sword. Ever since the Shardsword’s original owner had died, the Shardsword had been silent and accepted no others.

“So that ‘broken’ sword was actually a Universe treasure. No wonder not even the two Palace Lords of the Sword Palace were able to receive its acknowledgment,” Ning mused to himself.

“Senior, are there Universe treasures within the Prime Reaches?” Solewind couldn’t help but ask.

“There are.” But the horned expert then shook his head. “According to the history books, over the course of countless years there has been a total of eight Universe treasures who acknowledged the major powers who found them and were willing to follow them out of the Genesis Lands! Supposedly, even more Universe treasures are hidden within the Prime Reaches. To be honest, though… Universe treasures don’t really matter that much. The thing which really drives all the cultivators crazy is the mystery behind the process by which the master of the Church of Annihilation gained such incredible power… but of course, those are the affairs of the most supreme cultivators of our universe. You World-level cultivators don’t need to worry too much about those matters. You aren’t strong enough to get involved just yet.”

“Still. The Prime Reaches truly are a mysterious place. I’ve never been there before myself, and I imagine none of the eight of you will be able to enter either,” the horned expert said.





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Book 28, Chapter 20 - Emperor Maniseal


“The eight of you will probably stay in the outer reaches as well,” the horned cultivator said. “I’ll tell you a bit about some of the taboos in the outer reaches. The danger in the outer reaches primarily comes from certain mysterious locations.”

The horned expert began to introduce various things they had to look out for as well as describe some of the more famous danger zones. Generally speaking, the places with the most opportunities were also the places with the most danger!

His narration went on for two full hours.

“Now, let’s speak of cultivators,” the horned expert said. “In the outer reaches, there are many Daolords who reside in seclusion, as well as quite a few World-level cultivators like yourselves who are seeking great fortunes. There’s no need for you to worry too much about these people, so long as you avoid offending the most powerful Daolords. Generally speaking, no one will dare to attack in this place.”

Ning and the others all nodded.

“The ones you really need to look out for are the two Eternal Emperors who live in seclusion in the outer reaches,” the horned expert said. “If you irritate them, you’ll be in serious trouble. Even if they kill you, at most they will be given some light punishment by the Church of Annihilation.”