Desolate Era (Book 31 - Book 35)

However… the silver man’s level of insight into the Dao was just too low! Ning felt that it was perhaps weaker than that of many second-tier Daolords. It was perhaps just barely on par with the likes of Patriarch Clearwind!

It must be understood that for cultivators who made it into the higher ranks, their power generally stemmed from their mastery of the Dao. Ning had an incredibly high level of insight into the Dao, the [Heartsword] art, and the Northbow swords… that was why he possessed such power! The silver men had a much lower level of insight into the Dao, but they were much like golems; their speed and strength were incredible, allowing them to fight Ning to a standstill.

“He has an overwhelming amount of power but is only able to put a fraction of it to good use. If I had such speed and strength, I’d be able to take down ten of them.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh. “No wonder those three Emperor-class golems we just bound said that so long as Ninedust helps them out while they are working together, they won’t be captured.





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Book 34, Chapter 18 - All Abilities Unleashed


Ji Ning had been able to easily capture the Emperor-class golems because he had a high level of insight into the Dao. His Shadowless stance was completely unpredictable, while his Blood Drop stance was incredibly fast, making it hard for the golems to defend against them.

As for the silver men? Although they were strong and fast, their strikes were too direct and clumsy! Although these clumsy strikes were very forceful, it wasn’t too hard to block them; at most, you would be knocked flying from the power. In a one-on-one fight, they might be able to capture an Emperor-class golem, but all three of them were working together and were being assisted by Ninedust and Ning. It was highly unlikely that any of them would be recaptured.

“I’m clearly stronger than him, but I’m unable to dominate him.” The skinny silver man sent mentally, “Hurry over here. Surround him and kill him.”

“Coming.”

“Let’s go.” The other two silver men charged forwards as well.

Surrounded by the five-colored sea of energy, Ning was weakened and only able to unleash 80% of his full power! Despite that, his high level of insight into the Dao allowed him to fight the skinny silver man to a standstill.

“Attack!” The muscular silver man wielded two silver warhammers while the silver-haired man wielded a pair of long silver sabers. All three of the silver men began to surround and furiously attack Ning.

“Die.”

“Die!”

“He’s dead meat.” The three silver men were brimming with killing intent. At the same time, the tri-colored rope snaked over towards Ning as well. However, the three Emperor-class golems and Ninedust immediately transformed into streaks of light that shot towards the tri-colored ropes.

“Your opponent is us!” Ninedust transformed into a vast wave that wrapped itself around the tri-colored rope, while the three Emperor-class golems launched repeated attacks that caused the tri-colored rope to break apart, reform, and break apart again repeatedly.

……

The tri-colored rope had been tied down by Ninedust and the three Emperor-class golems.

The five-colored rope had transformed into a five-color sea that was weakening Ning.

The three silver men were attacking Ning at the same time.

This was an utterly apocalyptic battle! Massive shockwaves blasted the surrounding area repeatedly. The nearby mountains had long ago been annihilated, while the earth itself had caved in. The other six great clans and the standard clans who were watching from afar were in a state of shock. This was a battle that engendered both admiration and despair in their hearts. They weren’t even close to being able to fight against foes like this.

“Ahaha! You are too weak. You clearly possess tremendous power, but you are only able to put a fraction of it to good use.” Ning was in his three-headed, six-armed form as he fought against the three by himself, but he wasn’t at any disadvantage at all.

“How can this be?”

“How is this possible? Why can’t we even suppress or dominate him?”

“How can he be this strong?” The three silver men were all stunned. Just one of them was enough to fight Ning to a standstill… so why was it that all three of them working together were only achieving the same effect?!

This was because when Ning was fighting against the six Emperor-class golems and the skinny silver man, his strategy was to fight them head-on and meet them attack for attack! Now that three silver men were fighting him at the same time, Ning primarily relied on his defensive sword-arts and only launched the occasional attack. His Soleheart stance and his Yin-Yang stance were simply too powerful, especially after the Northbow swords had absorbed all of that frozen ninesong pith. His defensive sword-arts had reached an incredible level of prowess.

Ning’s defensive sword-arts were so perfect that he would be able to hold out against anything save for an utterly overwhelmingly superior level of power. Given how clumsy these silver men’s attacks were and how low a level of insight into the Dao they had, Ning found it very easy to defend against them.

“Forget about three; I’d probably be able to defend against six of these silver men,” Ning mused.

“Take rope form and bind him!” the muscular silver Fumo clan leader sent mentally to the five-colored sea. Instantly, the five-colored sea began to rapidly shrink in size. It once more transformed into the five-colored rope and coiled towards Ning.

“Rope?” Ning immediately moved. Whoosh! The five-colored rope was only able to move at less than fifty times the speed of light due to the heartworld projection and the nine novessence arts, while Ning was able to move much faster. He was able to effortlessly dodge the five-colored rope and immediately used his Shadowless evasion art to disappear without a trace.

“Damn.”

“Once our golems take rope form and shrink in size, Daolord Darknorth is able to easily avoid it.” The three silver men were beginning to grow anxious. Ning was no fool; he wasn’t just going to stand there like an idiot and allow the five-colored rope to bind him. The reason why he had done so against the tri-colored rope in his first battle against the six golems was because he was so completely sure in his chances that he didn’t even want to bother with dodging, instead choosing to exchange attacks. Now, however, Ning didn’t dare to act with such arrogance.

“Golems, maintain a size of ten million kilometers,” the silver-haired man was forced to order.

……

At a size of ten million kilometers, the combined attacks of the three silver men ensured that there was nowhere for Ning to run. This size was enough to keep Ning at just 70% of his maximum power.

“There’s just nothing we can do to him.” The three silver men furiously assaulted Ning, but even at 70% power Ning’s defenses were airtight, even though he was now forced to completely focus on defense and was only able to launch the occasional attack.

Even if another silver man came, Ning would still be able to hold on.

“Nonti clan leader and Juwah clan leader, the three of us have done everything we can. This Daolord Darknorth’s defensive sword-arts are even more formidable than his offensive sword-arts. There is nothing we can do to him,” the muscular silver man sent mentally. “The three of us and these golems are completely unable to kill him. There’s nothing else we can do.”

“Yes, we’re out of other options.”

“I really didn’t want to do this… but we’ll have to use it.”

The three silver men exchanged a glance. This Daolord Darknorth was the most dangerous disaster to ever befall their three great clans! All three of them were on par with him, but even working together with the assistance of the five-colored rope they were still unable to do anything to him. Their failure to kill him was already shaking their control over this world. They absolutely could not permit this to continue.