Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

“My name is Eastherd.” The azure-robed man suppressed his puzzlement as Ning walked towards him, then said, “Brother Darknorth, thank you for saving my life.”


“Brother Eastherd, I just so happened to move past this area on my way to Vastheaven Palace.” Ning smiled. “What, you’ve heard of me before?”

“I have.” The azure-robed man nodded immediately. “Big brother Solesky told us about you long ago. He said that you are an Elder God who has close to a World God’s level of power, and that you’d be making a breakthrough quite soon. But now… it seems that you have not only reached the World level, you are so powerful as to render me speechless.”

Ning chuckled. Indeed. When he met Daolord Solesky, he was just an Elder God.

“Has big brother Solesky returned from the Waveshift Realm yet?” Ning immediately asked.

“Not yet.” Eastherd shook his head and sighed. “He’s still trapped in the Waveshift Realm, with his incarnation standing guard over Vastheaven Palace. His incarnation has mentioned you to us before. Ugh… the Waveshift Realm is an estate-world left behind by an Eternal Emperor, and Eternal Emperor Waveshift was no ordinary Eternal Emperor at that!”

Ning nodded.

The Waveshift Realm was one of the many danger zones of the Endless Territories. Quite a few Daolords of the Fourth Step had perished in that place, but a steady stream of them continued to enter it. This was because Emperor Waveshift had left behind certain incredible treasures within that place. Emperor Waveshift was no ordinary Emperor; he was incredibly skilled in the art of Numerancy, to the point of being acclaimed as the number one Numerancy diviner in all the Endless Territories.

Later, he had left to go out adventuring. His estate had become an ownerless item, with generations of Daolords venturing into it to seek out their fortunes. Daolord Badlands was also very skilled in Numerancy. He had even erected his own school within the Waveshift Everworld. There were many other major powers who felt certain that he must’ve received one of Emperor Waveshift’s legacies.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

Two figures flew in from afar. They were Pillsaint and Su Youji. Although they were both Daolords, they were slower than Ning in both teleporting as well as raw flying speed.

“Two Daolords.” Eastherd was badly shocked.

“Master, what happened to those people from Clearwind Temple?” Pillsaint asked.

“Master, you move too fast.” Su Youji laughed.

Ning nodded, then looked at Eastherd. “Eastherd, let’s leave immediately. This place is very close to Clearwind Temple’s territory; it’ll be dangerous for us to stay here too long.”

Eastherd was stunned upon hearing these two Daolords address Ning as ‘master’. Upon hearing Ning’s words, he immediately nodded. “Right, right, right! Let’s hurry up and leave.”

“Let’s go.”

Ning produced his flying vessel, and all four of them immediately boarded it. The vessel quickly disappeared into the skies.

…..

Aboard the flying vessel.

Eastherd stared at Pillsaint and Su Youji, then looked at Ning.

“Daolords?” Eastherd looked at Ning. “Brother Darknorth, these two Daolords are your retainers?”

“Is that really so surprising? My master can become a Daolord whenever he wishes. Even now, he’s still much more powerful than the two of us,” Pillsaint said.

“You haven’t seen our master’s true power yet,” Su Youji said.

Eastherd was secretly speechless. But it was true; he really had seen nothing at all. Just now, Ning had merely exerted a bit of his sword-intent in order to capture the five foes. That couldn’t even be considered a real attack.

“Brother Eastherd.” Ning immediately asked, “How did you end up in a fight against Clearwind Temple, and on their territory?”

Clearwind Temple was located extremely close to the territory that battle had just taken place in. Vastheaven Palace, however, was still another eleven territories away. It’d still take them another half year to reach it.

Half a year wasn’t a long period of time, given how long most cultivators lived for, but it wasn’t exactly short either. Half a year was enough for you to die countless times in a life-and-death battle.

These two mighty sects were twelve territories away from each other. They had their own territories and nursed old grudges against each other; they could be considered mortal enemies.

“As for this matter, it has to do with one of my disciples.” Eastherd shook his head. “Twenty thousand years ago, when I was wandering the outside world, I encountered a young fellow who was incredibly talented and also very kind-hearted. I took him on as my disciple and watched him grow, providing some occasional guidance in secret. Who would’ve thought that he would end up harvesting a treasure that would attract the attention and pursuit of Clearwind Temple? Of course I had to rescue him! But Clearwind Temple is very close to this place, and many World-level cultivators quickly came to aid their forces. That’s why I ended up being surrounded and attacked by five of them at once. If it wasn’t for you, brother Darknorth, I probably…”

Ning slowly nodded. “When I captured those five from Clearwind Temple, they all shattered jade talismans. Most likely, they were sending out a distress call.”





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Book 29, Chapter 6 - Love Will Find a Way


“Right. They had to have been calling for reinforcements.” Eastherd’s face turned solemn. “Our return to Vastheaven Palace will probably be a difficult one.”

“Difficult?” Ji Ning looked at Eastherd.

“What difficulties are there?” Pillsaint asked.

“The feud between Clearwind Temple and our Vastheaven Palace is an old one. Both sides have accumulated countless grievances over the course of many years. You could call us ‘mortal enemies’, I suppose. They aren’t any weaker than us,” Eastherd said. “Clearwind Temple has four Daolords, one of which is a Daolord of the Fourth Step. Two are at the third step, while one is a Daolord of the First Step who only broke through thanks to a Pseudo Samsara Pill. Just now, when you attacked, those five World-level cultivators all shattered their jade medallions to send out distress calls. When Clearwind Temple notices so many of its cultivators sending out distress signals simultaneously, they’ll send at least a Daolord of the Third Step. They might even send out their Daolord of the Fourth Step, Patriarch Clearwind himself.”

“A Daolord of the Fourth Step,” Pillsaint murmured softly. The nearby Su Youji looked rather solemn as well.

Ning nodded, then smiled. “No need to worry. Use generals to deal with soldiers, use earth to defend against floods.”

He felt quite confident. He had five mighty golems by his side; he truly wasn’t worried about most Daolords of the Third Step. In addition, the Brightshore Kingdom’s star map was so incredibly detailed that it even included information regarding the Daolords of Clearwind Temple.

Clearwind Temple only had a single member who would pose a threat to Ning. That person was the temple’s founder, Patriarch Clearwind. He was extremely formidable, on par with Daolord Solesky! Even amongst Daolords of the Fourth Step, he was extremely formidable.

“If we really are so unlucky as to encounter Patriarch Clearwind, I’ll have no choice but to use up one of my Dao-seals,” Ning mused to himself. “If that really does end up happening… I’ll just chalk it up to helping Vastheaven Palace get rid of a mortal enemy.”

The deceased Hegemon’s Dao-seals possessed unfathomable power and could easily slay Daolords of the Fourth Step. Alas, Ning only had two such Dao-seals. He wasn’t willing to use them unless absolutely necessary. These items couldn’t simply be purchased anywhere!

……