Desolate Era (Book 31 - Book 35)

“A month?” Ning’s face tightened. “Then why didn’t you tell me and Ninedust about it?” Back then, he and Ninedust had yet to fall into danger! If they had publicized the fact that the Voidsea Jadeseal had been used up, the ensuing battles would not have occurred.

“I really was planning to make it public…” Emperor Solesky had an ashamed look on his face. “But as I completed a full Daomerge simulation with the Voidsea Jadeseal, the insights I gained were identical to the insights I would’ve gained from the real Daomerge. Certain insights I had spent countless years working on in the Dao of Water began to deepen, and towards the end I entered a very special prajna-type meditation state.”

“I… really did not wish for that state to come to an end. Once the state ended, the flow of insights would’ve ended as well,” Emperor Solesky said. “Thus, I immediately separated myself from the outside world and began the actual Daomerge, allowing myself to engage in the Daomerge while in that prajna meditative state. In the end… I succeeded at one go with my Daomerge and gained eternity.”

Ning was silent.

“Ji Ning, I admit that I was at fault,” Emperor Solesky said in an embarrassed manner. “I was planning to listen to your call and hand it over as soon as you told me to, or immediately publicize the usage of the Voidsea Jadeseal if I was able to use it up, but… do you know how rare it is for one to enter a prajna-state like that? I could sense that I had a chance at succeeding in the Daomerge! I figured, since you had been able to hold on for a full month, you’d probably be able to hold on for another month…”

“Well. I’ve given you a lot of excuses, but in the end I was just selfish and excited. I saw a chance at the Daomerge and so I risked everything to achieve it,” Emperor Solesky said with shame.

Ning turned to stare towards the outside of the vessel, where Winesage and Palace Lord Dawnstar were flying at high speed. His feelings were very complicated right now.

Should he be angry? He simply wasn’t able to get worked up. The Voidsea Jadeseal had belonged to big brother Solesky to begin with; there was nothing wrong with him using it up! The Daomerge simulation could indeed be disrupted, and Solesky hadn’t fully secluded himself; Ning simply had to message him in order to have him come out! But he ended up in that prajna-state, a state which was incredibly rare. Most likely, no one who was about to attempt the Daomerge would choose to voluntarily end a prajna-state upon entering it. Who knew when the next chance would be?

“Ji Ning.” Solesky looked at Ning.

“No one is completely unselfish,” Ning murmured softly. “And the Daomerge is the ultimate tribulation for all Samsara Daolords. I can’t blame you for not wishing to halt a prajna-state upon entering the simulated Daomerge!”

“In the end, I still went against my promise.” Emperor Solesky remained ashamed. “I caused you and Ninedust to fall into a perilous situation.”

“You don’t owe me.” Ning shook his head. “You do owe Ninedust. He was poisoned by Sectlord Timedream’s redscatter venom.”

“Redscatter?” This name caused Emperor Solesky to feel puzzled.

“It is a terrifying poison meant for dealing with Eternal Emperors. Ninedust is suffering endless torment right now, and was in such pain that he screamed for me to kill him,” Ning said slowly.

“What?!” Emperor Solesky’s face turned pale. Ninedust was a supreme Daolord. How much pain did he have to be in, for him to ask for death?

“You were in that prajna-state of yours and refused to end it, choosing to continue with your Daomerge. I can’t blame you for that.” Ning looked at Solesky. “But big brother… you owe him.”

“I owe him, and I owe you,” Emperor Solesky said. “I won’t forget either debts.”

“I suppose the silver lining for me is that I managed to make a breakthrough,” Ning said. “And I didn’t really lose anything.” Ning spoke in a casual manner… but in truth, he had lost quit a bit. He had been forced to use up his final Sword Hegemon’s Dao-seal, after all. Not even the likes of Sectlord Timedream or Daolord Shaka had Dao-seals like that! That dominatingly offensive Hegemon Dao-seal was far more rare and difficult to make than the more stable defensive-type Hegemon Dao-seals.

And in truth, Ning had long ago reached the final bottleneck and was about to make a breakthrough at any moment. Even without this near-disaster, he would’ve soon broken through. To go from the second step to the third step wasn’t all that hard, after all.

“Alright. Now I know the situation.” Ning nodded. “Realmsoul Polo won’t let you stay here forever. You should leave.”

“Alright.” Solesky nodded. He really didn’t know what else he could say.

“Oh, right. Big brother, I haven’t congratulated you yet.” Ning smiled. “Congratulations on succeeding in your Daomerge! Countless Daolords have fallen to this great tribulation, and its rare for even a single powerful Eternal Emperor to emerge in each generation of Daolords. Big brother, you are now strong enough to truly wander the universe without fear for all eternity.”

Solesky revealed a slight smile as well. In his heart, he also felt quite excited… but the guilt he felt towards Ning and the others prevented him from displaying any of it. “I’ll leave now. I’ll wait for you outside the Waveshift Realm,” Emperor Solesky said.

“Alright.” Ning nodded.

Whoosh. Emperor Solesky immediately flew out of the flying vessel and towards the outside world. A rainbow tunnel soon appeared above him; clearly, Realmsoul Polo had opened it up just for him. Emperor Solesky immediately flew into the rainbow tunnel and flew out of the Waveshift Realm.





* * *





Book 33, Chapter 2 - The Fruits


Less than half a day after Winesage, Palace Lord Dawnstar, and Ji Ning joined forces to travel together, Ning received a message from his servant.

“Master, I just received an order from the Hegemon.” The green-robed alien located within Ning’s personal estate called out respectfully to Ning. He was responsible for maintaining contact between Ning and the Brightshore Kingdom.

“The Hegemon?” Ning asked.

“Yes. The Hegemon ordered me to deliver a message to you,” the green-robed alien said respectfully.

“Speak,” Ning said solemnly. In all these years, the Hegemon had only spoken to Ning twice. The first time was when the Hegemon had asked himself, Solewind, Greatjoy, and Firesurge to help protect Skyfire Brightshore on his journey to the alternate universe. The second time was when the Hegemon had given Ning that spacetime disc. Other than that, the Hegemon had never reached out to him.

“The Hegemon said that aside from the Voidsea Jadeseals, the Crimsonwave Temple also contains many precious fruits. The Hegemon hopes for you, Master, to harvest as many of those fruits as you can. The more the better! After you do so, the Hegemon would be willing to buy them from you using either chaos jewels, chaos nectar, rare ingredients, precious Dao-seals, rare treasures… anything is up for trade.”

Ning narrowed his eyes.

“The Hegemon also said that any treasure within the Brightshore Kingdom is up for trade. In fact, he’ll also help you negotiate for treasures held by the other organizations, including Universe treasures! So long as you have enough fruit, the Hegemon will help you trade for them,” the green-robed alien said.

“What?” No matter how calm Ning normally was, he was truly stunned now. Apparently the Brightshore Hegemon was absolutely willing to pay any price for the sake of the fruits within the Crimsonwave Temple.

Of course, despite the enticing offer there was still no way for anyone to forcibly bind a Universe treasure. The Universe treasure had to approve of its next master! The Brightshore Kingdom’s Sword Palace already had a Universe treasure, the shattered sword in its storeroom. However, to date no one had been able to bind it or be acknowledged by it. Thus, in truth that Universe treasure was of very limited value.