Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

Ning had been able to vaguely scry parts of the future. He was able to see that Nuwa would indeed continue to safeguard the Three Realms and that she was definitely worthy of his trust. But of course, there were many other images that had appeared as he scryed the future. In the end, the future was in a state of flux. Since it had yet to actually happen, all things were technically possible.

In the blink of an eye, Ning had spent more than half a year guiding Nuwa as she trained. Nuwa was completely absorbed with training in the Eternal Omega Sword Dao, and for Ning to personally instruct her and resolve her questions was a truly rare opportunity. Ning wouldn’t even be this detailed when teaching his own students! As for Lord Houwu or Patriarch Treewind, none of them dared to disturb the two.

Rumble… a terrifying wave of power suddenly spread out into the city from afar. Ning frowned and rose to his feet. He walked over to the entrance to take a look towards the distant horizons. He could sense that a vague, malevolent aura was surging towards them from afar.

“What’s going on?” Nuwa rose to her feet and walked over to the entrance as well. “Something feels wrong.”

“I can sense that a force is drawing near,” Ning said. “And it is quite strong. Let’s go take a look.” Ning and Nuwa flew out side-by-side. In truth, figures were flying out from residences throughout Houwu City. These Hegemons, Emperors, and Samsara Daolords could all sense the increasingly powerful ripples generated by the encroaching power.

“Master.” Flamewing, Su Youji, Whitethaw, Azurefiend, and Hegemon Goodsong all immediately flew towards Ning.

“Daolord.” Lord Houwu flew out as well, behaving as warmly as before.

“Lord Governor,” Ning asked, “What’s going on?”

Lord Houwu hesitated slightly. Suddenly, a figure appeared at the horizons. This was something who had four hooved legs but the upper body of a human. This strange creature was as crimson as blood, and it galloped through the skies. These creatures were wielding all sorts of weapons, including greataxes or heavy warhammers. They all radiated auras of tremendous power.

“Crimson bloodfiends?” Lord Houwu growled, “Over a hundred crimson bloodfiends have appeared at the same time?”

Rumble… the hundred-plus crimson bloodfiends galloped towards them. Moments later, towering eight-armed giants whose bodies were as white as snow suddenly began to appear as well. The many eight-armed giants each had just a single eye, and they let out furious roars as their awesome auras spread out as well.

These were all unique lifeforms… but what truly surprised Ning was that all the members of these two races had reached the Hegemon level.

“These are incredibly powerful races… and for the two to appear at the same time?”

Ning was surprised. “Lord Houwu, does this happen often here?”

“No. We rarely see such powerful beings.” Lord Houwu was puzzled as well.

Suddenly, the two races of creatures split apart into two sides, revealing three figures in their midst.

To the left was a towering crimson bloodfiend whose entire body was covered with golden armor. The fiend wielded a double-edged battleaxe which was covered with runes and emanated a shocking aura of power; clearly, this was a very unique Sithe weapon.

To the right was an eight-armed giant who was holding a set of fiery chains. Most of the fiery chains were wrapped around him, and his aura was just as terrifying as the fiend’s.

Finally, there was a red-robed maiden in the center.

The faces of quite a few cultivators turned gray when they saw these three appear. “Them?!” Lord Houwu’s face tightened as well. “Where did they come from?”

Ning frowned as well. Although he didn’t know who these three people were, he could roughly estimate how strong they were. The three leaders… two were unique lifeforms, while the other was a Sourcewalker. All three of them were extremely strong, significantly stronger than most Otherverse Lords.

The red-robed maiden stepped forward to stand in front of her allies. She said: “All cultivators of Houwu City, hear my commands!” Her voice was ice cold and it shook every part of the region.

“I have come on orders from the Ruler of the Blazesun Domain. I have come to Houwu City to capture five cultivators.” The red-robed maiden waved her hand as she spoke, causing a scroll to instantly unfurl and reveal a total of five images. These were images of Patriarch Treewind, Imperator Jade Rainbow, Nuwa, and the other two. In the images, Patriarch Treewind and the others were advancing carefully.

“Same rules as always.” The red-robed maiden actually glanced at Patriarch Treewind, then at Nuwa who stood behind Ning. “Hand the five of them over and we won’t harm anyone else. If you dare to refuse… then that means Houwu City shall enter yet another war against us!”

A total of more than two hundred Hegemonic creatures were hovering in the air behind the three leaders. The pressure they brought upon the cultivators was quite enormous… and they were backed by the even more powerful Blazesun Ruler. This was a threat which another type of civilization was levying against the cultivators… and here in the Eight Domains, the cultivator civilizations were clearly the weaker party.

“Walker Scarletbind,” Lord Houwu called out loudly, “Can you tell us how they have offended the Blazesun Ruler?” The Blazesun Ruler was one of the most supreme of Sourcewalkers, comparable to Sithe Exalts in power. So long as an Autarch didn’t intervene, these creatures were invincible.

“Hmph. These five thieves actually dared to barge into one of the Ruler’s hidden residences. They caused an enormous amount of damage and wiped the place clean. They even destroyed one of the Ruler’s favorite treasures, the Jadeheart Lamp! The Ruler was infuriated by this, and so he sent the order to capture them and bring them back. They are to be tortured to death! Otherwise, there’s no way he can give vent to his rage,” the red-robed maiden said angrily.





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Book 39, Chapter 17 - Battle Erupts


Patriarch Treewind, Imperator Jade Rainbow, Nuwa, and the others all turned pale.

“A fine disciple you have, Treewind!” Imperator Jade Rainbow instantly sent a frantic mental message: “A ‘Sithe armory’? It was actually one of the Blazesun Ruler’s hidden estates. We’re in serious trouble now!”

“What’s the use of saying all of this now? When we broke through layers of formations and penetrated to the very depths of the estate, we already suspected that this was actually a place which belonged to the Blazesun Ruler, right? You still chose to take the Sithe treasures away with you. The entire reason we chose to hide within Houwu City was because we wanted to see what would happen next!” Patriarch Treewind said angrily.

“Damn it.” Imperator Jade Rainbow was extremely nervous. He glanced at the white-robed youth standing next to Lord Houwu, then sent mentally, “Old man Treewind, do you think Daolord Darknorth would be willing to help us out? And… do you think he can beat the Blazesun Ruler?”

“Hard to say,” Patriarch Treewind sent back. “If he was in perfect shape with unfettered access to his divine power and Immortal ki? Given how he was able to slay the Lonely King with just one strike, he definitely wouldn’t need to fear the Blazesun Ruler. Even if he wasn’t able to win, Daolord Darknorth would definitely be able to defend against him! The problem is that he has failed his Daomerge, which means he can’t battle for too long. It’ll probably be very hard for him to fight against the Blazesun Ruler, who is in perfect shape.”

“Ugh.” Imperator Jade Rainbow said nervously, “I hope Daolord Darknorth cares about Nuwa to defend her.”

……

Ning frowned. Of course he had to protect Nuwa! He’d protect her even at the cost of his own life.

“Flamewing, release a bit of your aura,” Ning sent.

“Need me to attack?” Flamewing asked rather eagerly.