Desolate Era (Book 31 - Book 35)

“With this step you now stand at the very peak of power amongst Daolords, Ninedust,” Ning said.

Ninedust nodded, looking rather pleased. He was someone who had perfectly joined together two Supreme Daos. Now that he had reached the fourth step, he immediately stood amongst the ranks of the absolute most powerful Daolords in the world. He was on the same level as Daolord Skyaxe or Palace Lord Dawnstar. There might be differences in power due to different secret arts and different treasures, but those differences wouldn’t be too great; they were all on the same overall level of power.

The more powerful you were, the more difficult it would be to go from the third step to the fourth step. Daolord Badlands, for example, had also been trapped at the third step for a very, very long period of time.

“Darknorth, you are no longer a match for me,” Ninedust said quite smugly.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Ning replied. “Don’t forget that I’m a Heartforce Cultivator. I’ve gained some insight into the illusions of the Thundersouth Hegemon over these past few years as I’ve studied his paintings. You might not be able to fully resist my illusions now.” If he could trap his enemy in illusions for even an instant, it would have an impact on how any fight would result.

“Uh…” Ninedust blinked, then immediately said, “Hmph, I need a bit of time to solidify my foundation, as I’ve just recently made my breakthrough. Give me some more time to further strengthen my soul and your illusions won’t be able to touch me at all.”

Ninedust’s face suddenly tightened. “My Dao is now strong enough. I’ve reached the Verge of the Daomerge as soon as I reached the fourth step. I should make more preparations as well… right now, I have no confidence in my Daomerge chances whatsoever.”

Ning was startled. Right. Ninedust was now at the Verge as well.

……

The distant Badlands Territory. In the Badlands Everworld, there was a legendary place known throughout the Endless Territories… the Waveshift Realm! This was a realm that had been left behind by Emperor Waveshift himself. He was renowned as the number one Numerancy expert of the Endless Territories, and was far more powerful than the current Daolord Badlands. He was a mysterious man who appeared and disappeared without warning, and even the three Hegemons found it difficult to deal with him as his schemes and calculations were simply too frightening.

Emperor Waveshift had hidden valuable treasures within the Waveshift Realm. This was something he had said publicly before leaving the Endless Territories and venturing off into the endless Great Dark.

Many generations of Daolords had entered this place to try their luck, and Daolord Solesky was one of them.

……

The Waveshift Realm was a place that seemed to be covered by an enormous blurry barrier. The dim light of sunset covered this entire realm, and some cultivators could be seen passing by it on occasion. Most kept a very safe distance, as the Waveshift Realm was simply too dangerous.

Rumble… suddenly, a dazzling streak of green light shot out from the Waveshift Realm. This streak of light stretched out countless kilometers, streaking up into the heavens and piercing through the world-barrier protecting the entire Badlands Everworld.

Rumble… a second dazzling streak of bloody light shot out, just as wide and large as the first one. It shot out towards another direction.

Black light, violet light, azure light… a total of nine streaks of light shot out. These nine streaks of light looked almost like a peacock spreading its feathers as they shot towards different directions. They pierced through everything in their path, be it mountains or mist, but they seemed completely illusory. They caused no damage at all to anything they passed through, leaving even the grass completely untouched.

“What’s going on?”

“What is this? Is something happening?”

The Badlands Everworld was the center of the entire Badlands Territory. Countless cultivators were gathered here, and all of them were puzzled, especially the Elder Gods and True Gods. However, when they saw the light shoot out from the Waveshift Realm they all realized that this was something far beyond their level.

“What’s going on in the Waveshift Realm?”

“Is something happening?”

The Badlands Court was the paramount power within the Badlands Everworld, and its disciples all stared off in the distance.

“Husband.” A married couple was standing together in the skies, staring off into the distance. The beautiful wife turned to look at her husband, concerned.

An azure-robed Daolord Badlands was staring towards the light, a complex look on his face. He shook his head slightly. “I was too proud and rash, too certain in my Numerancy skills. Compared to Emperor Waveshift, I’m still lacking by quite a bit. I just caused a bit of a catastrophe. I don’t think there will be any way to hide this. Ugh. I only have my avatar inside, but big brother Solesky will be in trouble.”

“Caused a catastrophe?” The beautiful wife asked worriedly, “Will it impact our Badlands Court?”

“The two of us should leave the Badlands Territory for now and hide for a time. For now, let us just leave an avatar behind to watch over things,” Daolord Badlands said.

“Hide?” She had never imagined that things would be so grave that they would have to flee and hide somewhere else.





* * *





Book 31, Chapter 15 - Voidsea Jadeseal


“Soon, many Daolords will be charging to this sector,” Daolord Badlands said solemnly. “If my true body remains here, I might very well fall. However, so long as I leave and ensure they cannot find my true body, they won’t dare to cause our Badlands Court any trouble. In the end, my Dao of Numerancy is a Dao for divination, not battle. My skills lie in avoiding trouble and finding fortunes.”

“Mm.” The beautiful woman nodded.

“Let’s go. Right away.”

A short while later, Daolord Badlands and his wife silently departed from the Badlands Everworld, leaving only an avatar behind to guard over the Badlands Court.

The Dao of Numerancy was indeed an extremely troublesome Dao for everyone, but it was highly unsuited for actual battle. Daolord Badlands himself almost never went out adventuring or into battle. As a Daolord of the Third Step who had reached an extremely high level in the Dao of Numerancy, he logically should’ve been on the same level as the likes of Ninedust (at the third step) or Kongsan, but in reality he was much weaker in combat. He was just barely on par with the likes of Solesky and Clearwind.

This was his greatest weakness. However, his skills lay in avoiding trouble; when he encountered enemies he was unable to defeat, he’d quickly move to avoid them.

In the end, the Dao of Numerancy was about divination, not omniscience. As a result, he had suffered greatly for his overconfidence alongside Daolord Solesky in the Waveshift Realm. Clearly, even he fell for the traps left behind by Emperor Waveshift, and so he hurriedly slunk away from his own everworld.

……

“Nine beams of light have appeared in the skies over the Waveshift Realm?”

“Something big just happened.”

No matter what, the Badlands Everworld was still the core of this territory. The Dao Alliance had stationed a number of cultivators here who were responsible for diplomacy with Daolord Badlands and watching over the various treasure auctions! In addition, some of the supreme organizations within the Endless Territories had inserted scouts to watch over the Waveshift Realm. Although these scouts weren’t that powerful, they were only required to keep a long-term watch over Waveshift City. Waveshift Realm was simply an incredibly famous place of the Endless Territories.

“Hurry up and send a report.”

“Something big has happened in the Waveshift Realm.”