Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

The white-robed man said, “Darknorth has mastered five Supreme Daos, and he’s joined them together in a Samsara-like cycle. His sword-arts have absolutely no flaws at all, and he’s reached an incredibly high level in all five of his Supreme Daos. In terms of tenacity and toughness, Darknorth’s Sword Dao is definitely the most tenacious and toughest Sword Dao there is.”


“There are other geniuses whose Sword Daos involve the perfect fusions of Supreme Daos, but they all have flaws. Darknorth, however, is skilled in every area. If he was to battle against one of them, he would be able to attack their weaknesses.” The azure-armored man sighed in approval. “Incredibly, absolutely incredible. He actually came up with five Supreme Sword Daos! If in the future he can become a Verge-level Daolord, he’ll definitely stand a good chance of becoming the most powerful Daolord there is.”

There was actually a ranking of monstrously powerful Daolords. In the Endless Territories, Palace Lord Dawnstar of the Twelve Palaces was one such Daolord. The major powers of the Brightshore Kingdom all believed that if Bertulu became a Verge-level Daolord, he would probably be comparable to Lord Dawnstar in power. Lord Dawnstar had once slain an Eternal Emperor with just three strikes of his saber… but despite that, he was only ranked as the second most powerful Daolord of the Endless Territories.

All of the most monstrously powerful Daolords had fused Supreme Daos together… but despite that, there were still differences in power amongst them!

“Mm.” The white-robed man let out an approving sigh. “Very true. Unfortunately, we won’t live to see that day.”

The azure-armored man suddenly fell silent as well.

Strictly speaking, they weren’t really living creatures. They also had to stay here perpetually for the sake of choosing suitable disciples for their masters. Although they were very willing to do this, they couldn’t help but feel at least a little bit of yearning towards the vast world outside.

……

The muscular man’s six hands were clenched around the hilt of that single greatsword. When he attacked, his savagery filled the skies. When he defended, he was as unshakable as a mountain.

Facing him in battle was like facing an enormous boulder that was crashing towards you. As it rolled down towards you, it would only increase in power. If you wanted to survive, you’d have to disrupt and shatter the terrifying momentum of his attacks! Fortunately, Ning had many varied techniques, and his ghostly, inscrutable Shadowless stance was able to repeatedly tie down the muscular man’s movements.

“Enough.” The muscular man suddenly came to a halt. Startled, Ning did the same thing.

This lengthy battle had been quite beneficial for him. The terrifying amount of pressure the muscular man had placed upon Ning had helped him learn how to use his sword-arts in a more effective and natural manner. The muscular man eclipsed Ning in both speed and strength. Although Ning’s Dao of the Sword had many different techniques hidden within it, he was only just barely able to fight the man to a standstill.

“When my master was at the World level, he was probably slightly weaker than you are right now.” The muscular man looked at Ning, then nodded slightly. “You are qualified to become my master’s honorary disciple.”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!”

“BIG BROTHER!”

Two furious howls rent the air.

The explosive howl of ‘shut your mouth’ had come from the azure-armored figure, while the one who had called out ‘big brother’ had come from the graceful, refined-looking white-robed man. The two immediately transformed into streaks of light that flew towards Ning. They had been keeping a close watch on this fight and had kept themselves carefully attuned to every little ripple. As soon as they heard their big brother speak to Ning, they became instantly enraged.

“Big brother, you go too far!” The white-robed man was a bit faster and as such was the first to arrive. After descending, he said angrily, “Didn’t you say you weren’t interested in Darknorth?”

“Darknorth.” When the azure-armored figure landed, he stared intently at Ning. “Don’t go be someone else’s ‘honorary’ disciple. What’s the point of being an ‘honorary’ disciple? The nine swords which my master left behind are all incredibly powerful. When they join together, they are all but invincible. Aside from the nine swords, I also have many other treasures which my master left behind for his personal disciple. As I see it, you are perfectly suited for becoming my master’s personal disciple.”

“Oh yeah? In terms of treasures, my master has even more treasures than yours!” The white-robed man said, “Darknorth, why don’t you become my master’s personal disciple instead? Our respective masters loved each other as brothers. The reason my master was ranked as the second brother was because he was second only to the Hegemon in power.”

“YOU…!” The azure-armored figure was infuriated. Who would’ve thought that at a critical moment like this, when they were supposed to be working together against their elder brother, the white-robed man would’ve suddenly ‘backstabbed’ him?

“Don’t blame me. I’ve waited far, far too long to help my master find a suitable disciple,” the white-robed man said in an innocent, ‘helpless’ manner.

“Shut your faces!” The muscular man had an icy look on his face as he finally snapped out at them, unable to keep silent any longer. He then turned to look at Ning. “It’ll be Darknorth’s decision as to who he chooses.”

To become the Hegemon’s honorary disciple, or to become the personal disciple of one of the other two Eternal Emperors of the Sword? Who should he choose?





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Book 28, Chapter 36 - The Hegemons Treasures


Ji Ning couldn’t help but feel his chest tighten as the three stared at him.

When both the white-robed man and the azure-armored man had attempted to stop him from progressing any further, Ning had already decided that he would need to be extremely careful in the thirty-sixth level of the Abyss of Fiends. Even those more powerful than him had perished here, after all. However, Ning was very confident in his defensive skills, and it wasn’t like him to back down without a fight. He was willing to use this main clone of his to take on the risk of challenging the final level.

If he won, he would gain a tremendous fortune. And in the end… things had been much simpler than he had anticipated. Not only had he mastered his Heavenbreaker stance, he had almost automatically joined together the five sword-intents into a Samsara sword-intent!

In truth, it all made perfect sense. Ning had reached the bottleneck in all five stances of [Brightmoon] long ago. He had first broke through in the Yin-Yang stance back in the Sword Palace of the Brightshore Kingdom, then had broken through in the other four stances with increasing fluidity! The more he trained, the faster the breakthroughs came until finally, they all came together in a perfect whole – the Yin-Yang stance, the Blood Drop stance, the Shadowless stance, the Soleheart stance, and the Heavenbreaker stance!

“Senior.” Ning looked at the muscular man. “I wonder if this junior qualifies to become the Hegemon’s personal disciple?”

If he was going to choose, he would choose the best!

“Personal disciple?” The muscular man was startled, then let out a rare chuckle. “Quite ambitious, aren’t we? However, if you wish to become the Hegemon’s personal disciple you have to be acknowledged by his Universe treasure!”

“Has it refused to acknowledge me?” Ning asked.

“It hasn’t said anything yet. Mm… how about this? I’ll help you ask.” The muscular man suddenly shut his eyes.

……

Back in the outside world of the inner reaches. The 540,000 meter tall corpse of the Hegemon had been silently standing there for countless years without moving. His two hands remained perpetually clenched around the hilt of that deep blue greatsword. Suddenly, a flicker of light appeared on the surface of the greatsword as the sword let out a keening sound.