Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

It had been countless years since he had come up with this idea, but he had only been able to create two of these seals.

“My Lifeblood Dao-seals are equivalent to an extra life. Hmph. The leader of the Church truly is greedy.” Emperor Maniseal ground his teeth. “Let’s wait and see. Sooner or later, he’ll seek me out.”

Emperor Maniseal felt that his Dao-seals were too difficult to create.

As for the leader of the Church, the leader similarly felt that reversing spacetime to revive a Verge-level Daolord was far too difficult. As for simply killing Emperor Maniseal? That never even came up as a possibility, as the Lifeblood Dao-seal meant that Emperor Maniseal was ost likely the toughest person to kill in this universe.

……

The flying vessel continued to advance. As for Daolord Owlbat, he continued to eat, drink, and boast. Ning’s group simply listened.

“Any art, when improved to the ultimate level, will possess inconceivable power. Emperor Maniseal has reached incredible heights in the Dao of Seals,” Daolord Owlbath said. “I heard that of the sixteen Starkings, the White Emperor has reached such heights in the Dao of Metal that you can’t even comprehend it.”

Ning and the others were happy to hear him talk on and on, and the flying vessel continued to teleport forwards and advance towards the center of the Genesis Lands.

“See that?” Daolord Owlbath pointed off into the distance.

Ning and the others were stunned by what they saw. An incredibly terrifying abyss was in the earth in front of them, and above that abyss hovered a world that was roughly a billion kilometers in size. This world radiated a towering pillar of light that was filled with countless terrifying auras, many of which were comparable to the auras of Eternal Emperors.

Many chains were attached to that levitating world, and the chains themselves were rooted firmly into the land of the outer reaches.

“That right there is the inner reaches! The world which gave birth to the entire universe, and which holds all of its prime essences,” Daolord Owlbath said. “There are eight primessence chains which connect it to the outer reaches. What you need to do is walk onto those chains and stride into the inner reaches.”

“But of course… if you aren’t careful and end up falling into that abyss? Even Daolords of the Fourth Step will be devoured and killed by the abyss, to say nothing of the likes of you!” Daolord Owlbath said.





* * *





Book 28, Chapter 21 - The Chains


The flying vessel flew towards one of the primessence chains. There were twelve World-level cultivators seated there in the lotus position. Clearly, they also wished to attempt to pass the primessence chains.

Whoosh. The flying vessel landed.

“Eight more have joined the fray.”

“Looks like we’re making new friends.” The other twelve World-level cultivators who were already present grinned as they got up and moved forward to welcome Ji Ning’s group.

“Fuzhou greets you, fellow Daoists.”

“Warpflame greets you, fellow Daoists.”

The World-level cultivators all came over to greet htem, and Ning’s group exchanged a few words of pleasantries with them.

It was quite common for people in the Genesis Lands to chat up unfamiliar faces, as all World-level cultivators who were able to make it into the Genesis Lands of this universe were extraordinary figures with limitless future prospects! In addition, all violence was forbidden here, making it so that they didn’t have to worry about ambushes or sneak attacks. This encouraged people to befriend each other, as perhaps one of these new friends might one day become an unearthly Daolord or perhaps even an Eternal Emperor.

Ning and his group all introduced themselves, making just slight alterations to their true story.

“Fellow Daoists, why haven’t you passed through these chains and entered the Prime Reaches?” Solewind laughed.

“You think we don’t want to? It’s that we aren’t able to.” A withered-looking World-level cultivator immediately shook his head. “The only way to enter the inner reaches from the outer reaches is by passing through one of those primessence chains. If you try to fly over, you’ll be swallowed up and devoured by the abyss. However, the chains themselves are also quite dangerous. There are special trials for World-level cultivators, and even more difficult trials for Samsara Daolords. Both trials are extremely dangerous, and the closer you get to the inner reaches the more dangerous it shall become.”

“Oh?” Ning and the other seven were quite curious.

“Ah, I forgot to tell you!” Daolord Owlbath was still seated next to them, drinking some wine. He let out a laugh and said, “When you step onto the primessence chains, there will be some wraiths that will begin to attack you. The farther along you go, the more powerful and numerous the wraiths shall be. Right… the primessence chains themselves are also capable of affecting your mind. If you aren’t careful, you might go crazy. If that happens, you’ll be dead for sure.”

“Just so. This senior speaks the truth. Thus… fellow Daoists, once you attempt to traverse the primessence chains, you need to immediately retreat as soon as you feel as though you’ve reached your limit. If you retreat, you’ll still alive. If you try to force your way through, you’ll probably encounter a sudden danger that you can’t handle which will knock you off the chains. The abyss will swallow you, and your truesoul will be wiped out. You’ll definitely die!”

“Better to retreat than to try and force things.”

The twelve all expressed similar sentiments, trying to dissuade the newcomers from rashness.

Daolord Owlbath nodded as well. “If you move slowly and carefully gauge your chances, you’ll have a shot of staying alive. If you try to force things, you’ll be doomed.”

“Thank you, everyone.”

“We understand.” Ning and the others all nodded.

Ning’s group exchanged a round of glances. It seemed they absolutely could not underestimate the deadliness of these primessence chains. Every World-level cultivator able to reach the Genesis Lands was a figure of extraordinary ability, but less than one in a hundred were able to enter the Prime Reaches. The difficulty of this trial spoke for itself. If you overestimated yourself, you would probably die.

“We’ll give it a shot first. The three of you should wait for now,” Solewind sent mentally. “Greatjoy, Darknorth, Firesurge, Skyfire… I recommend you let me be the first to give it at try. They said that these primessence chains can affect one’s mind, and I feel quite confident in my abilities in this area. As for those so-called wraiths… I’ll definitely move slowly and cautiously.”

“Mm.”

“Alright.” Ning, Greatjoy, and the others all nodded.

Less than one in a hundred World-level cultivators were able to succeed, but Heartlord Solewind was a Heartforce Cultivator who had been acknowledged by the ancient pagodas of the Palace of the Heart. He definitely stood far above the vast majority of cultivators with regards to the power of his mind and heart. Even proud figures like Ning and Greatjoy knew that they were significantly inferior to Solewind in this respect.

……

The twelve World-level cultivators, Daolord Owlbath, and the other seven all watched as Heartlord Solewind advanced onto the primessence chains.

The primessence chains were a thousand kilometers long and fifteen meters wide. Although they were described as ‘chains’, they were really more like bridges! Still, people like Ning could stably traverse even a minisculy thin steel wire without swaying in the slightest, to say nothing of a bridge.

“Eh?”

As Solewind advanced through the enormous steel chains, he couldn’t help but frown and say, “Everyone, these chains truly are rather bizarre. Make sure you don’t let your mind and heart be swayed by it.”

“GRAAAH!”