Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

“Right. If I can’t handle Darknorth, I should go find Ninedust. Ninedust has a realmship part on him as well.” Archon Silksnow nodded slowly. “Perhaps the part he holds will be enough to repair my realmship.”


“Ninedust… hmph. He seems to be extremely good friends with Darknorth. If I can’t kill Darknroth, I’ll kill Ninedust. Hmph. Let’s see what Darknorth can do about it.” Archon Silksnow’s eyes flickered with dangerous light, but he then frowned. “However… I need to first locate Ninedust. Based on the information I uncovered, he entered the Terror Starsea a long time ago. How suicidal of him! Still… the places he would dare enter would probably be of no danger to me.”

“To the Terror Starsea I go!” Archon Silksnow decided to head to the Terror Starsea to hunt down Ninedust and take the realmship part.

……

For now, Ning had left all his troubles and worries behind… because he had already left the Flamedragon Realmverse. He had entered the Great Dark and was hurrying towards the Stone Hellephant Wall.

“Here we are.” Now that he was a Daolord of the Fourth Step, he was far faster than before. Just a short while after heading out, he reached the Stone Hellephant Wall.

The entrance to the enormous silver Stone Hellephant Wall remained open. Prior to Ning and Ninedust’s original arrival, the local cultivators had long ago searched the insides of the Stone Hellephant Wall and had realized that there was no way out. Thus, even though it had been hundreds of millions of years since Ning had left the Stone Hellephant Wall, not a single one of them had exited via the entranceway! Even if they did, though… when faced with the endless darkness of the Great Dark, they probably would’ve been completely lost.

Whoosh. Ning flew into the passageway, quickly descending upon that world inside. Darknorth Palace remained the preeminent power of this planet… and no one even realized that Ning had already left and then returned.

Boom! The headquarters of the Fumo clan, one of the ‘three great clans’. This was a place protected by many barriers and a Sithe disc, but an enormous explosion suddenly rang out as a terrifying, watery streak of sword-light tore straight through the layers of barriers with overwhelming power.

“What?!”

“W-what’s going on?!” The countless Fumo clan members were all shocked and terrified.

Sithe discs were used by the Sithe to construct and stabilize large-scale barrier formations. They were generally used in sets of nine, twelve, or more in order to set up the formations. These locals, however, didn’t really know how to use them properly. They didn’t have enough of the discs anyhow, and so they merely used a single disc… and with Daolord-level energy, at that! Despite that, the barriers were still strong enough to defend against ordinary Archon-level foes.

If they had eleven more discs and used them properly with an Emperor controlling them, not even ten Hegemons working together would be able to burst through the barriers! Alas… the original attacker had been Autarch Bolin. He had blown trhough the formations with ease, destroying everything with impunity. Quite a few Sithe discs had been destroyed by his assault. Autarch Bolin wouldn’t even bother to look at ordinary treasures; he only took away the precious ones, such as the complete realmship.

“Spare us!”

“Spare us, Lord Darknorth!” The Fumo clan members finally saw the white-robed youth standing in midair.

“Hand over all of your Emperor-class golems,” Ning called out from the skies. “You are permitted to keep a single royal golem.”

“Understood.” Although the Fumo clan members were both terrified and reluctant to comply, no one dared to voice an objection. In the past, they had been the rulers of this planet… but they were completely unable to fight back against Ji Ning. Even their protective Sithe disc had been torn apart. How could they even think about resisting?

Soon, Ning departed with the Emperor-class golems and the royal golems (comparable to Daolords of the Fourth Step) in tow. He also took away many of their magic treasures. The Fumo clan now only had a single royal golem left to them. This was now the most powerful force they had to muster. With it, they would probably be able to stay strong… but if they spread themselves too thin and attracted an entire host of enemies, they would still be doomed.

Ning couldn’t be bothered with intervening in the lives of the local cultivators on this planet. He was now on a completely different of level compared to before. He simply blew through the barriers protecting the three great clans, then swept them clean of their Emperor-class golems, royal golems, and treasures.

……

Now that no one had access to any Emperor-class golems, no clan on this planet was overwhelmingly more powerful than any other clan. No one was invincible any longer… and so, the planet entered a brand new era.

Ning once more entered the secret Sithe ruins located within this planet.

“Whitethaw, guard the entrance.” Ning waved his hand, causing that honest-looking Sithe Protector to appear by his side.

“Yes, Master,” Whitethaw said respectfully, then stood in front of the entranceway to the ruins.

Ning nodded. He had once sparred against this golem… and even when he fought with all his power, he still wasn’t able to seize any advantage over it! Whitethaw was like an immovable mountain. Even if a Hegemon came, he would still be able to protect Ning for a time. With Whitethaw watching the entrance, there was no way any of the golems within the ruins would be able to escape.

Whoosh. Ning transformed into a streak of light as he flew into the shattered palace ruins. A number of Emperor-class golems secretly watched him from behind the barriers that were still active within the vast ruins. For now, Ning ignored them as he flew straight towards the core regions.

“You again?!”

“Darknorth, how dare you return!” Four streaks of light flew over towards Ning. It was the four Archon-class golems.

Ning slowed down when he saw them, then smiled. “My four old friends, join me in leaving these ruins. Life here is far too boring. The outside world is much more interesting.”





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Book 36, Chapter 22 - Sparrowfiend Crystals


Even Ji Ning had to sigh in amazement at the aura which the four golems off in the distance emanated. All those years ago, he had been forced to fight with all his power to just barely tie down one of them, and by relying on defensive sword-arts at that! Every single one of the four golems brought him a tremendous sense of pressure, even though they were slightly weaker than Archon Silksnow.

Back then, that had been more than enough power to truly crush Ning.

“Darknorth, you actually dare to return? Do you have a new trick up your sleeve or a powerful helper?” The four golems flew over, actually feeling quite excited inside. Life without any opponents to fight was truly boring and lonely, and they were never permitted to leave the restricted area they were guarding.

“No helpers. I just wanted to invite you to come out with me.” Ning waved his hands, causing two of his Northbow swords to fly out from the sheath and into his palms. Ning then strolled forwards, almost like he was taking a walk through a park.

“Let’s go.” The four golems exchanged a glance, then immediately charged towards Ning.

Ning’s twin swords transformed into two streams of water, easily piercing past his enemy’s scimitars and defenses. The Northbow swords became extremely soft and flexible, easily wrapping around and completely tying up one of the golems. Ning murmured softly, “In you go.” The golem was drawn into his estate-world.

This caused the other three golems to immediately feel shocked. One against four, Darknorth was able to capture one of the golems with ease? The difference in power between them was enormous!

It must be remembered that Ning was able to defeat even Archon Silksnow with a single blow! When faced with these four golems who had weaker techniques and weaker insights into the Dao, gaining victory was simplicity itself.