The Desolate Era

The three spacetime tunnels of the Brightshore Kingdom were used quite frequently in recent days, because quite a few wandering Verge-level Daolords had hastened back and traversed them enroute to the Badlands Territory.

Whoosh. A white-robed youth emerged from the dark vortex exiting one of the tunnels.

“Daolord Darknorth.” Suddenly, a voice called out to him. Ji Ning turned his head, only to see a smiling, golden-robed elder beam at him. “Daolord Darknorth!”

“Daolord Goldsaber?” Ning recognized the old man.

“That I am. I feel quite embarrassed when I look at you. It took this old man years to reach the Verge as a Daolord. Just a short while ago, you were a World-level cultivator, but now you are more powerful than me! I heard that even the Junior Radiant King, Daolord Yanmi, was unable to defeat your avatar. Impressive, truly impressive,” the golden-robed elder sighed.

Word of the battle between Ning’s avatar and Daolord Yanmi had indeed spread throughout the Endless Territories. In truth, Solesky and Battlemaster had done this on purpose, so as to ensure that the other Daolords would give up their fantasies and withdraw.

“I’ve heard some important information that I’m not sure if you are aware of, Daolord Darknorth,” the golden-robed elder said.

“What is it?” Ning asked.

“Just a few hours ago, Winesage of the Dark Kingdom has appeared in the Badlands Territory. By now, he’s already entered the Waveshift Realm!” the golden-robed expert said solemnly.

“Winesage?” Ning’s face turned slightly pale. Winesage of the Dark Kingdom? He was one of the legends of the entire universe, because he was now publicly acclaimed as the number one Daolord of all the Endless Territories! It was actually something of a joke; the most powerful Daolord of the noble Endless Territories actually stemmed from the outsider organization known as the Dark Kingdom. Alas, no one could deny how terrifyingly strong Winesage was.

Anyone in any era who was publicly acknowledged as being number one possessed truly incredible power. Daolord Featherdress herself had been the number one Daolord of her era.

Winesage was supposedly skilled in the Dao of Darkness... and he was also a Heartforce Cultivator! The legends said that as a child, he was born into and grew up within a world of slaughter. The Dark Kingdom was an outsider organization, making it very difficult for them to truly establish themselves in the Endless Territories. Thus, all of the geniuses who grew up within the Dark Kingdom were extremely violent and brutal, with the Dao Alliance not intervening at all! It was hard to imagine the difficulties and torments which Winesage experienced.

As a result, he became a notorious alcoholic, using alcohol to douse away his worries... but in one alcohol-induced dream, he suddenly came to master an incredible heartforce art known as the [Slaughterfiend Field]!

“It was only expected that Winesage would go to the Waveshift Realm.” Ning was quite calm. “Now that the Voidsea Jadeseals have emerged, I imagine that most of the most powerful Daolords will all go there. Given Winesage’s power, how could he not?”

“That’s not the only thing I have to share,” the golden-robed elder said. “Winesage actually acquired a Universe treasure!”

“What?!” Ning called out in astonishment, “A UNIVERSE treasure?! Are you sure about that?”

“Dead sure. Brother Darknorth, I heard this just a short while ago myself. I imagine that you’ll receive word soon as well,” the golden-robed elder said. “The Waveshift Realm is in a state of chaos right now, and many of the Daolords who aren’t confident in their chances have begun to gather together into groups. More than ten thousand Daolords of the Dao Alliance joined forces to set up a grand formation outside the Waveshift Realm to prevent the Aeonians and the Daolords of the Dark Kingdom to enter the realm! And indeed, they were able to stop the Daolords of both organizations for a time. However, when Winesage appeared and was faced with the grand formation set up by over ten thousand Daolords of the Dao Alliance, he ended up using his Universe treasure and forced a way into the Waveshfit Realm!”

“A Universe treasure?” Ning still couldn’t believe it. He had run into several Universe treasures by now. The first one had been the shattered sword in the Sword Palace, while the second had been the indigo greatsword of the Sword Hegemon in the Genesis Lands of the alternate universe. The third had been within that cave deep inside the Terror Starsea, the longstaff that had been left behind by that ancestor of the Ancient cultivators.

None of them, however, had taken a liking to Ning! There was no way to bind Universe treasures by force. This was a case of the weapon choosing the wielder, rather than the wielder choosing the weapon! Every single Universe treasure contained a truly inconceivable amount of power.

“He was already the number one Daolord of the Endless Territories. If he has a Universe treasure, he’s going to be absolutely unstoppable.” The golden-robed elder sighed. “And... to me, it’s inconceivable that a Universe treasure would ever choose a Daolord. When Daolords fail their Daomerge, death is a certainty. Based on what I know, Winesage has already been alive for an extremely long period of time. I imagine he only has a few thousand chaos cycles left before he reaches the limits of his lifespan.”

Ning nodded. Generally speaking, Universe treasures would only choose Eternal Emperors! The number of Daolords in the Endless Territories who had acquired Universe treasures could be counted on one hand.

“Fellow Daoist Darknorth, are you planning to go to the Waveshift Realm as well?” the golden-robed elder asked.

“Yes.” Ning nodded.

“Would you like to travel with me?” the golden-robed elder immediately asked.

“No need. I’ve already made an appointment with a friend,” Ning explained.

“Then I won’t force it.” The golden-robed expert knew that he was much weaker than Ning and would just slow the latter down. “Although my chances are slim, I’m still going to go to the Waveshift Realm. If I go, I’ll at least have a slim chance. Haha! However, I’m definitely going to work together alongside a group of other Daolords. We’re not like those supreme Daolords who dare to travel solo or in small groups.”

Ning couldn’t help but sigh. For the sake of the Daomerge, even the weaker Daolords were still willing to risk it all.

......

Word quickly spread like wildfire throughout the Endless Territories, stunning everyone.

“Winesage? What an interesting kid.” The Netherlily Hegemon of the Ancient cultivators smiled with praise.

“Every member of the Dark Kingdom is a madman. They are crazy towards themselves and even crazier towards their descendants. Still, they ended up rearing a fine young fellow.” The Windrain Hegemon was perpetually in a state of slumber, but he had woken up due to this business with the Voidsea Jadeseals.

“Darknorth and Bertulu are both Heartforce Cultivators as well. I had thought that they would have a shot at overtaking Winesage once they became Daolords of the Fourth Step, but it seems that hope is gone.” The almighty Brightshore Hegemon shook his head. “Their only chance lies in acquiring a Universe treasure of their own... but that chance is far too slim.”

It wasn’t that the Brightshore Hegemon underestimated Ning and Bertulu. Rather, it was that Universe treasures simply contributed an overwhelming amount of power to their wielders.

......

Within Vastheaven Palace. Ning’s avatar and Solesky’s avatar were holding a meeting.

“Darknorth, are you sure about entering the Waveshift Realm?” Daolord Solesky asked.

“I’ll get there in a few years,” Ning said. “If I miss this opportunity, a second one like it may never come again. Of course I have to go in! I have a friend as well who is a member of the Ancient cultivators and who is even stronger than I am.”

“Mm.” Solesky nodded and said heavily, “If you are going to go inside, take this.” As he spoke, he handed over a jade slip.

“This...” As soon as Ning saw the jade slip, he had an idea as to what it was.

“This is everything which I know regarding the Waveshift Realm,” Daolord Solesky said seriously.

“I can’t accept this.” Ning hesitated. This would give him a faster starting point and let him maintain a lead over this opponents. Daolord Solesky had entered much earlier than the other supreme Daolords had, and he had Daolord Badlands’ incarnation assisting him. Given Badlands’ mastery over Numerancy, the two had no doubt learned a great deal regarding the Waveshift Realm. This information truly would be priceless.

“Two years ago, Badlands and I encountered King Gorsch.” Daolord Solesky said softly, “Fortunately, Badlands managed to take advantage of some of the formations and barriers within the Waveshift Realm itself to trick King Gorsch, allowing us a narrow escape.”

“The Waveshift Realm is now filled with many dangers. Even though I have Badlands helping out, I’m not sure that I can avoid all these dangers,” Daolord Solesky said. “However... you must remember that no one else besides you is permitted to read this. You aren’t allowed to tell a second person about this. We’re brothers, you and I... but I don’t owe anyone else this.”

“Understood.” Ning nodded.

“After you go inside, be careful. From what I’ve heard, the top ten Daolords of the Endless Territories have all gone inside! There are also some low-key, little-known Daolords who are just as powerful as them who have also gone inside,” Solesky instructed.

“You need to be careful as well, big brother. I’ll try to join up with you as soon as I can,” Ning said.

......

After leaving the Terror Starsea, Ning had relied on his dimension-transcending abilities and the Brightshore Kingdom’s spacetime tunnel to hasten towards the Badlands Territory. Despite that, it still took him 112 years before arriving.

Two figures emerged from a dimensional tunnel to appear in the void above the Badlands Everworld.

“Brother Ninedust, you can go to the Waveshift Realm first. I’ll meet up with you in an hour,” Ning said.

“Is there something you need to do?” the Ninedust Sectlord asked.

“I need to make a few arrangements.” Ning didn’t explain.

“Got it. I’ll wait for you, but hurry up. Don’t dawdle! We’re already years behind most of the other Daolords,” the Ninedust Sectlord said.

Ning nodded, then opened up yet another dimensional tunnel.

Ning was heading to the Three Realms. The Three Realms was separated from the Badlands Territory by layers of dangers; ordinary teleportation methods were useless against these regions! However, Ning’s ability to transcend space allowed him to move directly to the Three Realms. He was going to place his most important Dao-cultivating treasure, the Stone Censer of Reunion, within the Three Realms alongside his Primaltwin.

......

The skies outside above the Waveshift Realm. Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord had gathered together here.

“So many people.” Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord stared at the vast, seemingly endless cloud-shrouded realm that lay before them. This was the Waveshift Realm... and an endless cluster of figures could be seen outside of it. Daolords, tens of thousands of Daolords! They had set up an absolutely enormous formation which covered the entire Waveshift Realm.

“I heard that Winesage was able to break through this formation and force his way inside. Quite a few of the Daolords of the Dark Kingdom and the Aeonians managed to charge inside alongside him.” The Ninedust Sectlord sighed. “Just looking at the formation, I can tell that I’m far from being a match for Winesage.”

“No confidence in yourself?” Ning smirked.

“Plenty of confidence. The Voidsea Jadeseals aren’t necessarily going to be won by the strongest,” the Ninedust Sectlord quickly said.

“Then cut the crap. Let’s go on in!” Ning urged.

“Let’s go.” The two transformed into streaks of light that flew straight towards the realm before them.

“That’s Daolord Darknorth.”

“Oh, Daolord Darknorth of our Dao Alliance?” The ten thousand-plus weak Daolords who were part of the grand formation didn’t move to stop Ning or the Ninedust Sectlord.

The Aeonians and the members of the Dark Kingdom would all be stopped, but all others were granted entry.

“Hurry up and let’m inside.”

“Daolord Darknorth seems quite confident. He actually dares to go inside with just one other Daolord partner.”

“Daolord Darknorth’s avatar alone is stronger than Yanmi. How strong must his true body be?” The other Daolords all chatted amongst themselves.

Ning and Ninedust... the two were significantly less well-known than the likes of Fiendqueen Dustrain, Winesage, Palace Lord Dawnstar, or the Radiant King. However, when they joined together they were definitely on par with the most elite of Daolords. There were actually quite a few who were like Ning and Ninedust, both incredibly powerful and comparatively low-key.

“I’m more powerful than you, but as of right now you seem to be more famous than me. That kinda pisses me off.” The Ninedust Sectlord sent Ning a disgruntled mental complaint as they flew forwards together.

“That’s because you’ve been too low-key,” Ning sent mentally.

“Yes, yes I have.” The Ninedust Sectlord agreed. “Now that I’ve become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, I need to find a suitable opportunity to spread my name throughout the Endless Territories. Hell, I should at least rank in the top ten in the Endless Territories.”

“You’ll have plenty of opportunities in the Waveshift Realm. All you need to do is just pick one of the other top ten and beat them, and you’ll instantly rise to fame,” Ning said with a laugh.

Watched by over ten thousand Daolords, the two flew through the formation and advanced into the Waveshift Realm, shoulder-by-shoulder.

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