Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

“Time to test out their power.” Ning stood there on the plains, staring into the empty skies. With but a thought from him, a large amount of power began to flood out of his body and form a pair of golden wings in the air. The wings were absolutely dazzling, a veritable work of art, but they didn’t emanate any sword-ki at all.

A moment later, yet another flood of power surged out of his body. This time, a large amount of arcing sword-light appeared. Soon, the countless arcs of sword-light completely filled an area of tens of thousands of kilometers around Ning. They swept through each other, sometimes merging together and sometimes bouncing off each other as they flew about. As for the golden wings, they flew within this storm of sword-light with incredible speed. The golden wings flew more than ten times faster than Ning himself could fly. This was a level of speed which one could not achieve through ordinary movement alone.

Swish. Swish. Swish. The golden wings seemed to be present everywhere within the region. They were absolutely beautiful, yet also simple and plain without emanating the slightest hint of sword-ki at all. As they flew, however, they cut through everything in their path. It was so powerful that even Ning himself was a bit shocked by them.

“Yin-Yang Chaosworld.” Ning immediately controlled the two secret arts together, mixing Yin and Yang to manifest a world of his Sword Dao!

BOOM! The golden wings were like an exalted emperor, flying through every part of the region with abandon. Wherever they appeared, countless streams of arced sword-light surrounded them, and the two seemed to form a natural, perfect whole.

“If I then combine my Yin-Yang Chaosworld with my heartworld projection… any foes would probably be scared senseless even before I personally attacked! With this technique at my disposal, I’m no longer vulnerable to group attacks, no matter how many come at me!” Ning was quite delighted. His nine novessence arts actually hadn’t been a very good fit for his Omega Sword Dao – Yin-Yang, as they had been primarily elemental in nature. Using secret arts based on the Dao of the Sword was the most appropriate choice! As for the two secret arts Ning chose, one just so happened to be Yin-attribute while the other was Yang-attribute.

“Now that I’ve mastered my secret arts… it is time to attack.” That very day, Ning put away his Immortal estate. Then, under the watchful gazes of all the cultivators of the Sword Palace, he left by himself.





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Book 36, Chapter 8 - Emperor Nightwell


“Palace Lord Darknorth.”

“Palace Lord.”

The various cultivators of the Twelve Kingdoms who Ji Ning passed by all called out to him with great respect. Soon, Ning reached the spacetime tunnels. Ning chose one of the three tunnels, then entered it and disappeared without a trace.

“Daolord Darknorth has already headed out. He’s heading towards the Flydust Star.” Some of the black-armored Daolords as well as the other cultivators began to spread the word. They didn’t know who was actually seeking this information, but given that Archon Silksnow and the Aeonians were both searching for Ning, they were naturally able to use the many channels available for them to accurately and quickly track Ning’s whereabouts.

……

In the void outside the Brightshore Kingdom. Archon Silksnow was standing guard, his white eyebrows fluttering. Suddenly, a hint of surprise appeared on his cold face. “The spacetime tunnel which Daolord Darknorth chose is actually the one which exits the closest to Silksnow City? Hmph… how clever. He intentionally chose the one which no one else would’ve suspected. Unfortunately for him, I’ve arranged for an Emperor to watch over all three of the exits!”

“Brother Nightwell, Daolord Darknorth is about to appear at the Flydust Star. All you need to do is to tie him down for a period of time. I’m heading out immediately.” Archon Silksnow immediately began to issue orders.

“Don’t worry, Archon!” Emperor Nightwell was filled with confidence in himself. All of them belonged to the Sacred City of Silksnow, and they all had avatars back home within the city. As a result, the avatars were able to instantly communicate with each other.

……

Flydust Star had once been an ordinary, desolate star. Ever since Hegemon Brightshore had set up his stable spacetime tunnels, it had become one of the three tunnel exits. As a result, it naturally became quite a special place. This area was now protected by ancient and powerful barriers, and there were black-armored Daolords as well as more powerful Daolords protecting it.

“Daolord Darknorth?” A pudgy old man was in the chaotic void outside Flydust Star. He had strange white skin and was extremely fat, and he was dressed in loose robes. He had a pair of soft horns growing out of his forehead, and a pair of corrosive-looking eyes that gleamed almost like the cold eyes of a viper. This pudgy, snowy-skinned old man was Emperor Nightwell, famous for his savagery.

Archon Silksnow could be described as ‘evil and brutal’ in an open and visible manner. Emperor Nightwell, by contrast, was ‘insidious and cruel’ in a shadowy manner. His reputation was absolutely terrible, and everyone knew him to be a truly maleficent man. Even other Emperors had once pursued him and attempted to kill him. Once Archon Silksnow had risen to power, he immediately had Emperor Nightwell join him as a subordinate. Many savage and cruel Emperors had done the same, and they had joined together and then taken over one of the Sacred Cities. They were so strong that their organization was quite difficult to dislodge.

Although evil and brutal cultivators were often hated, there was no way to truly wipe them all out. Now that they had Archon Silksnow as their leader and other ancient monsters supporting them in secret, they became an extremely formidable force.

“There he comes.” Emperor Nightwell’s gaze was focused upon the tunnel exit at Flydust Star. He watched as a white-robed youth with a black sheath on his back suddenly emerged.

“According to what the Archon said, Darknorth should’ve reached the Archon level of power and is just slightly weaker than him. Not even the Archon was able to kill him; he had to rely on a treasure.” Although Emperor Nightwell held Daolords in disdain, he didn’t dare to underestimate Daolord Darknorth too much. The man was probably significantly more powerful than him, after all.

“All I need to do is to slow him down as much as I can and make sure he doesn’t break free.” Emperor Nightwell felt quite confident in his chances.

Whoosh. Ji Ning appeared in the void above the Flydust Star, then quickly flew out of it.

“Eh?” Ning suddenly slowed down, frowning as he stared off into the distance at the pudgy, bizarrely white-skinned old man who had suddenly appeared before him. “Emperor Nightwell?” Ning recognized the man.

“I didn’t expect you to know of me, Daolord Darknorth. I’m flattered and honored.” Emperor Nightwell’s eyes crinkled as he beamed mirthfully. “I imagine you know why I am here, Daolord Darknorth. I’ve been standing guard in this place because I wish to invite you, Daolord Darknorth, to come pay a visit to the Sacred City of Silksnow. Our Archon truly wishes to meet with you.”

“Invite me?” Ning smiled coldly. “Very well. Lead the way.”

“If I’m up ahead leading the way… what if you suddenly run off, Daolord Darknorth? Wouldn’t that be troublesome? I think you should enter my estate-world. That way, we can move more quickly and more conveniently.” Emperor Nightwell continued to beam at Ning.

Ning had already decided that he was going to uproot Archon Silksnow’s entire organization! He had naturally done his research on the Emperors belonging to the Sacred City of Silksnow. Aside from a few reclusive old fellows who were hard to find information about, Ning had essentially gotten full reports on almost all of them. As for Emperor Nightwell… this pudgy, bizarrely white-skinned old man was rotten to the core.

Of the Emperors belonging to the Sacred City of Silksnow who Ning was planning to kill, Emperor Nightwell definitely ranked in the top three.