Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

“Very well.” Emperor Blackrot narrowed his eyes as they gleamed with cold light.

“Brother Bloodcloud.” Archon Silksnow sent another mental message to the black-robed elder who stood virtually side-by-side with him. “Daolord Darknorth is probably just a bit weaker than me, but my true body is still on the way back from the outside world. My avatar doesn’t have any good weapons on it; it’s probably not a match for Darknorth. Of all the Emperors present, you are the only one capable of defeating him in a head-on fight. You shall be the one to decide how we are to deal with Darknorth.”

Emperor Bloodcloud was one of the old freaks who supported Archon Silksnow from the shadows. He was Silksnow’s equal in power.

“He doesn’t have an invulnerable form, does he?” Emperor Bloodcloud asked.

“He does not,” Archon Silksnow responded with certainty. He had used a treasure to kill Ning, and back then Ning hadn’t revealed a invulnerable form. Archon Silksnow felt certain that Ning didn’t have an invulnerable form! In addition, he had never heard of anyone developing an invulnerable form based on the Dao of the Sword. Alas, he had no idea that while it was indeed extremely difficult for the Dao of the Sword to produce an invulnerable form… there was always an exception. After Ning’s Omega Sword Dao had reached the fourth stage, he had finally gained an invulnerable form for himself… the Shadowless form.

“If he doesn’t have an invulnerable form, I’m confident in being able to kill him.” Emperor Bloodcloud nodded.

“I’m sending Emperor Blackrot to go first and test him out. Watch carefully,” Archon Silksnow said.

“Very well.” Emperor Bloodcloud nodded.

……

Just by standing there, the group of Emperors inspired terror in the countless cultivators who were watching… but Ning was completely unphased.

“Daolord Darknorth, was it you who killed brother Nightwell?” A cold voice rang out, followed by an ugly, black-winged alien Emperor flying out of the group, filled with murderous malice.

“It was.” Ning’s voice filled the entire region covered within his heartworld projection. “And you are Emperor Blackrot. Have you decided to throw your life away, just as Emperor Nightwell did before you?”

To use the terminology of the Three Realms, Emperor Blackrot belonged to the ‘Diremonster’ category. He had been born as a winged monster who was born with a fondness for eating rotten meat. He had an extremely strange and evil disposition, and his favorite hobby was massacring people, waiting for their bodies to rot, and then eat their rotting corpses. That was it – he murdered people to eat them. This fiend had long ago offended many other cultivators who wished to kill him, and so he joined the auspices of Silksnow Fiend Palace.

“Throw my life away? To you?” Emperor Blackrot was enraged. “Prepare to die.”

“Hmph.” Ning’s body flickered slightly as he manifested three heads and six arms, then brought his six Northbow swords to the ready.

Emperor Blackrot transformed into an enormous tornado of black mist which swept straight towards Ning. This wasn’t a simple invulnerable form; in truth, this was the attack which Emperor Blackform was most skilled in using. Anything touched by this black mist would immediately rot away until nothing was left. Even supreme Daolords would be unable to withstand this attack.

In addition, a terrifying illusion was hidden within the black mist. Anyone trapped within it would smile and seek out death without even trying to fight back.

“Daolord Darknorth has started to fight against Emperor Blackrot.”

“Emperor Blackrot is an extremely terrifying Eternal Emperor. Not even supreme Daolords dare to offend him.” The countless cultivators within the Sacred City all watched.

“Suppress!” Ning let out a cold shout. The formerly-restrained energy of the heartworld projection instantly flared in the area where the black mist was located! The terrifying heartworld projection was like a cage that completely trapped the black mist, causing its flying speed to lessen dramatically.

“You can die now.” The six swords struck out like tidal waves, carrying an aura of utterly destructive power with them. Countless tsunami-swords swept through the black mist which so many Daolords were terrified of. Although it contained extremely strong corrosive and poisonous properties and was filled with terrifying illusions, it wasn’t actually less effective than Emperor Nightwell’s invulnerable form in terms of ablating the power of enemy attacks.

“NO!!!” Emperor Blackrot instantly felt despair, and he let out a horrified scream. The last thing he felt before perishing was regret… and venomous hatred towards Archon Silksnow. It was Archon Silksnow who had warned him that Darknorth’s illusions were very powerful, but that Darknorth was slightly weaker than the Archon himself.

Blackrot had felt certain that even if he had to fight Archon Silksnow, he would still be able to block a few dozen attacks. Daolord Darknorth, however, had just annihilated him with just a single attack. Weaker than Archon Silksnow? He was clearly much, much more powerful!

Whoooosh. His black mist form was completely extinguished by Ning’s sword-shadows… and Emperor Blackrot became the second Emperor to perish under Ning’s sword since Ning’s decision to reveal his brilliance.

The world returned to its normal calm. Ning called his swords back and sent them back into their sheaths. He stood tall and simply stared at the twenty-five completely awestruck Emperors. Archon Silksnow in particular had a look of utter disbelief on his face. He truly couldn’t believe what had just happened. Just a ‘short’ while ago, he had completely dominated Daolord Darknorth… how had the man become this powerful? This was completely impossible!

“No. No. This makes no sense whatsoever.” Archon Silksnow couldn’t understand it. How could a Daolord be THIS powerful?





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Book 36, Chapter 12 - All Together!


Archon Silksnow and all of his Eternal Emperors were dazed and in a state of disbelief. They had been accustomed to being exalted figures for countless years, and they were used to holding Daolords in disdain! There was a qualitative difference between Emperors and Daolords, and the chasm between the two was as great as the gap between Heaven and Earth. Ever since the most ancient of times, there had never been a Daolord who could stand at the very apex of power in the Endless Territories.

What did the apex of power mean? It didn’t mean you were necessarily the strongest… but it meant that you did not need to fear anyone.

The Archons of the Sacred Cities were capable of making this claim. They might not be able to defeat the three Hegemons, but at least they were confident in staying alive in the face of a Hegemonic attack! Unless, of course, the three Hegemons were willing to pay the enormous price needed to kill an Archon. Otherwise, killing them would be extremely hard.

These people made up the very apex of power in the Flamedragon Realmverse… and Daolords had never, ever joined their ranks.

“H-he’s a Daolord… how can he be this powerful? He slew Emperor Blackrot in just one strike?”

“He’s so strong! He should be even stronger than Archon Silksnow.”

“None of the eight Archons are necessarily a match for him.”

“Can Daolords really become as powerful as this?”

“Can he have succeeded in his Daomerge and become an Emperor? Given how powerful he previously was… if he really did succeed in his Daomerge, he’d definitely become a Hegemon. He’s extremely powerful, but he doesn’t give me that sense of Hegemonic pressure… he probably isn’t a Hegemon yet. He’s still a Daolord. But how can a Daolord be this powerful?”

These Emperors were filled with many different things. This had completely overturned their worldview, overturned common sense itself. When Ning revealed his fierceness, he had completely overthrown the notion that Daolords weren’t worthy of any consideration!