Desolate Era (Book 31 - Book 35)

“Master! Master! I can sense that this stone is going to help me out a lot!” Northbow Three called out as well. Ning immediately memorized the stone in question.

By the time he had nearly finished a complete scan of all the treasures within the treasury, he had already discovered a total of twelve treasures that would be of use to his Northbow swords! However, the Northbow swords would devour absolutely enormous amounts of material as they grew. Ning worried as to whether or not this would even be enough.

Finally, after roughly ten hours of scanning, Ning had finished his first review of all the treasures.

“How’d it go?” Emperor Goldisle and Emperor Blackcloud both looked at Ning.

“There really are quite a few treasures that are useful to my lifeblood weapons,” Ning said.

“Which treasures do you need? Go ahead and tell us and we’ll try to help you collect them as best we can,” Emperor Goldisle said.

“I should probably say it outside,” Ning replied hurriedly. “The Hegemon reminded me long ago that we have to keep things fair.”

“Oh. Right, right. Fair.” Emperor Blackcloud and Emperor Goldisle exchanged a glance, rather resigned. In the end, Ning belonged to the Brightshore Kingdom, making Hegemon Brightshore’s instructions quite effective.

Emperor Blackcloud and Emperor Goldisle didn’t really worry too much. Given how filthy rich the Dao Alliance was, they were quite confident in their chances.

“Let’s go.” Emperor Blackcloud and Emperor Goldisle led Ning in departing from the treasury.

……

Outside the Palace of Immortals. Ji Ning, Emperor Blackcloud, and Emperor Goldisle flew out at the same time.

“There they are.” The three Hegemons, Emperor Severfive, Emperor Islehide, and the various retainers all looked towards Ning, their eyes lighting up.

The time for the final negotiations over the coldflame cauldron fruits had come.

“Darknorth, did you find any suitable treasures?” Hegemon Brightshore asked.

“I found twelve,” Ning said. The Hegemons and Emperors were all rather startled by this answer. Twelve? It seemed likely that everyone would be able to provide Ning with something he needed.

“The first is known as the ‘shadowless six-thief flowers’,” Ning said. “I need at least ten thousand of them.”

“The shadowless six-thief flowers?”

“Over ten thousand?”

“But…”

The three Hegemons and the various Emperors exchanged glances, all feeling rather resigned.

“What is it?” Ning was puzzled.

“Darknorth, even if we scraped up all of the shadowless six-thief flowers that the Flamedragon Realmverse has accumulated over the countless years of its existence, we would probably only be able to find a few hundred of them,” Hegemon Brightshore said.

Emperor Goldisle nodded as well. “The shadowless six-thief flowers are invisible, hidden throughout the cosmos. They are extremely hard to find. Although they aren’t that useful, they really are quite rare.”

Ning felt quite helpless upon hearing this. If the Northbow swords were to grow, they needed materials in sufficiently large quantities. For example, they had absorbed a terrifying amount of that golden sand! Based on what the Northbow sword-spirit had predicted, he would need at least ten thousand of those flowers, but it seemed as though Ning wouldn’t even be able to acquire a tenth of that. Such a small amount would be of limited benefit.

“The second type of treasure is known as the flamebearer tathata-metal,” Ning said. “I’ll need a mountain of it, a mountain which is roughly thirty thousand meters tall.”

“Thirty thousand meters tall?” The Hegemons and Emperors sighed again.

“You are asking for too much. Flamebearer tathata-metal is used in palm-sized chunks for forging treasures. You want a mountain of it?” Emperor Goldisle shook his head. “There’s no way to get that much in the Flamedragon Realmverse. If the Dao Alliance was willing to pay incredible prices to have other realmverses help out and deliver them, we might be able to do it… but the coldflame cauldron fruits in your possession aren’t nearly enough to trade for a mountain of the tathata-metal.”





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Book 34, Chapter 5 - Stone Hellephant Wall


Ji Ning was speechless. It was clear that everyone wanted his coldflame cauldron fruits, but the first two items he had requested, the ‘Six Bandits Shadowless Flowers’ and the ‘flamebearer tathata-metal’, weren’t available in the quantities he needed in the Endless Territories.

What Ning didn’t fully understand was that the Northbow swords needed balance in order to grow to their maximum potential. They had absorbed such an enormous amount of that golden sand that they would need similarly prodigious amounts of other materials to gain that balance and reach their apex.

“You have twelve types of treasures you can use, right?” Emperor Islehide said, “Keep talking. We might be able to provide you with the other treasures.”

“Alright.” Ning had no choice but to continue with his requests. “The third type of treasure is known as astral forgestones. I need a three thousand meter mountain of it.”

“Don’t have it.”

“Don’t have enough.”

“Where would you even find that many astral forgestones?”

The Hegemons and Emperors, along with their retainers, all shook their heads. Most of the retainers were also Eternal Emperors and as such had seen many things.

Helpless, Ning had no choice but to continue listing the things he needed. The fourth type, the fifth type, the sixth type… nothing, nothing, nothing!

Ning simply needed too much; there was no way to acquire that much at all. The more valuable an item, the rarer it was, after all. When Ning had visited that alternate universe and had discovered that vast mountain of darkspace flamestone, it had been a momentous find, not because of how valuable the stone itself was, but because of how utterly enormous that mountain had been.

The same principle applied here. The various treasures Ning sought were far more valuable than darkspace flamestone, and he needed an enormous amount of them; there was just no way to acquire that much!

“The eighth type is known as the frozen ninesong pith,” Ning said. “I’ll need a lake of it that’s three hundred meters long, wide, and deep.” The numbers he listed out were still quite shocking.

“Three hundred coldflame cauldron fruits,” Emperor Severfive immediately called out.

“Two hundred and ninety,” Emperor Goldisle said.

“Two hundred!” Emperor Islehide growled.

“A hundred and ninety,” Hegemon Brightshore said.

Ning had been feeling increasingly despondent. Now, he stared blankly as the Eternal Emperors furiously bid down the price. Was this frozen ninesong pith a very common item?

Emperor Goldisle interjected, “Gentlemen, I think we should stop fighting against each other as there will be no ‘winner’. Since he’s asking for frozen ninesong pith, I’m sure that all of us will be able to provide it in enormous amounts. How about we split it evenly? Darknorth, give us a hundred and fifty coldflame cauldron fruits, a hundred and fifty golden sandsifter fruits, and a hundred and fifty darkheaven yin-fruits. All six of us will jointly procure the necessary frozen ninesong pith you need! We’ll give you double what you ask for; a lake of it that’s six hundred meters wide, long, and deep!”

“Agreed.” The others all nodded after a brief pause. They understood and agreed that no one would really ‘win’ this auction.

“What’s going on?” Ning asked.

“Long ago, our Flamedragon Realmverse discovered a river that swirled around a strange star,” Emperor Goldisle explained. “This river is roughly a hundred thousand kilometers long and hundreds of kilometers wide… and it was filled with frozen ninesong pith. As a result, all six of us have large stocks of it.”