The Desolate Era

Book 29, Chapter 8 - Inside Vastheaven Palace

“Impudence.” The silver-robed Daolord laughed coldly. “You really don’t know your own limits.”

As he spoke, he waved his right hand casually through the void of space. His sleeves instantly began to flutter as a black wind flew out from within it, instantly filling the surrounding area for a million kilometers around then sweeping straight towards Ji Ning’s charging vessel.

Aboard the vessel, Su Youji and Pillsaint both had solemn looks on their faces. As for Eastherd, he was panicking. Sparrow and his wife simply watched. Elder Gods weren’t even qualified to take part in a battle at this level.

Ning just let out a cold snort. Rumble... lightning and water suddenly surged out of him.

The golden lightning and the jade-green water instantly burst out into the void, and they actually seemed to twine around each other in a complementary manner as they almost instantly transformed into sword-light! Endless amounts of sword-light furiously merged together, coalescing into the Yin-Yang Sword Domain. At his current level, Ning’s Yin-Yang Sword Domain was now more brutal, savage, and terrifying than ever before.

A Yin-Yang Sword Domain formed from quadressence lightning and quadressence water was more than enough to annihilate a Daolord of the Second Step.

Although there was a big difference in power between a Daolord of the Second Step and a Daolord of the Third Step, it would still be quite difficult for the latter to slay the former with ease. Daolord Blesswind was skilled in the Dao of Wind, and he was able to easily slay Daolords of the Second Step in close combat. He would not, however, be able to wipe them out from a distance merely by using a few secret arts.

In the end, Daolord Blesswind was nothing more than a Daolord of Clearwind Temple. He simply didn’t have any earth-shatteringly powerful secret arts.

Ning’s sword domain of lightning and water was capable of slaying Daolords of the Second Step, but this black tempest was not. When these two surges of power clashed against each other...

Whoooooosh. The dominating sword domain of water and lightning forcibly ripped the black tempest into shreds, then continued to surge towards Daolord Blesswind in a savage manner.

“What?!” Daolord Blesswind’s face instantly turned pale. “Impossible. How could my secret art be defeated by a World-level cultivator’s secret art?” This was an absolute joke!

“B-but...” The two World-level disciples of Daolord Blesswind were completely stupefied.

......

Ning’s vessel. Eastherd, Sparrow, and his Dao-companion had been extremely nervous. Now, they were just as stupefied as Daolord Blesswind’s disciples. The secret arts of a Daolord of the Third Step had been broken, just like that?

Pillsaint and Su Youji glanced at Ning, their eyes filled with veneration and awe. This was a Daolord of the Third Step! Their own master had actually won in a competition of secret arts against this figure!

“It seems you must’ve had some truly lucky encounters. Your Dao-seal was quite powerful... but it won’t be able to do anything to me.” The silver-robed Daolord Blesswind quickly regained his calm. He had immediately decided that Ning must have used a Dao-seal, as he still refused to believe that a World-level cultivator could possess a secret art of such unearthly power.

And in truth, it made sense. This sword-intent domain of lightning and water was a product of many factors. It was created by Daolord Allgod, utilized in accordance with the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] of the Paragon of Pills, and controlled by Ning’s powerful azureflower mist energy. This was why it has such tremendous might!

“Then die beneath my blade.” Daolord Blesswind suddenly produced an enormous long saber in his hands.

Whoosh! His silver robes fluttered as he instantly charged through the skies, holding the long saber in a double-handed grip. Although Ning’s sword domain furiously assaulted him, Daolord Blesswind charged forwards with incredible valor, his divine power flaring outwards and completely resisting the attacks. Clearly, the sword domain wasn’t nearly strong enough to deal with Daolords of the Third Step; all it was able to do was have a bit of constrictive power over him. He moved straight through the sword domain, and his icy gaze was filled with a murderous intent.

Upon seeing this, Ning couldn’t help but sigh. This Yin-Yang Sword Domain was already his most powerful attack, on a slightly higher level than even his close combat abilities. Alas, he still wasn’t able to do anything to his opponent. In the end, he was still just a World-level cultivator, and his attacks weren’t enough against a Daolord of the Third Step. He had no choice but to rely on an outside form of assistance.

“Die!” Daolord Blesswind’s saber-light flashed like the wind, tearing apart everything in its path as he continued to soar towards the vessel.

Whoosh. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere in front of the flying vessel. It was a white-haired, icy-eyed man who held an ordinary-looking longsword in his hands.

“Go capture him, swordsman,” Ning said.

“Mm.” The white-haired man nodded, his face quite calm. He was the strongest of the four golem servants Ning had acquired from Emperor Mirrorsnow’s legacy! Ning had chosen to summon him out of an abundance of caution, wishing to have a higher chance of success.

“A golem?” As Daolord Blesswind continued his charge, his gaze fell upon the white-haired man’s body. He was able to immediately tell that this was a golem, and a flash of avarice appeared in his eyes. “Not only did he have that incredibly powerful lightning-water Dao-seal, he also has a seemingly strong golem. This World God named Darknorth truly must have had some special experiences. I’ll wager he has quite a few treasures on him. He might even have more than me!”

“Hahaha, golem! You should accept me as your master instead.” Daolord Blesswind’s aura expanded even further. He refused to believe he would encounter a golem comparable to a Daolord of the Fourth Step, as those were far too valuable. He wasn’t worried about this golem at all.

“Hmph.” The swordsman charged towards Daolord Blesswind as well.

Rumble...

Space tore apart as Daolord Blesswind and the swordsman golem began an utterly earth-shaking battle, even as Ning’s sword domain continuously launched attacks against the Daolord.

The swordsman had the power of a peak Daolord of the Third Step, and he was skilled in both unpredictable attacks and assassination techniques. His technique was completely based off of Emperor Mirrorsnow’s [Heartseal] sword-art.

Daolord Blesswind was truly quite formidable in close combat. Although he wasn’t exactly a genius, he still had the power of a peak Daolord of the Third Step. He might’ve been weaker than the swordsman in close combat, making the battle rather difficult, but his secret arts allowed him to hold his own.

“What a powerful golem. How can it be this powerful? I feel as though he’s a bit more powerful than even me!” Daolord Blesswind was stunned to discover that the golem actually had the upper hand. “However... he just barely holds an advantage over me. This golem is using up the chaos jewels inside of him. Once his energy is used up, he’ll lose.”

“Eh?” Ning frowned when he saw this from atop his distant vessel. “The swordsman is already the strongest of my four golems, but he still can’t capture Daolord Blesswind? It seems I’ll have to have the fisherman and the emperor emerge as well.”

But right at this moment, Su Youji suddenly clenched her teeth. She was standing right next to Ning, and her face instantly turned red as a streak of crimson light flickered in her eyes. An invisible ripple of power instantly surged through the skies and shot towards the distant Daolord Blesswind.

The distant Daolord Blesswind, who was still engaged in a battle against the swordsman, suddenly moved sluggishly for a brief moment, as though he had been distracted for a moment.

Swoosh! The swordsman already held the upper hand. In this moment, his longsword suddenly coiled outwards like a whip, instantly wrapping itself around Daolord Blesswind’s body. Daolord Blesswind struggled furiously to break free, but that was no easy feat upon already being bound.

“Come in.” The swordsman produced a gourd in his hand, then caused it to emit a powerful attractive force that drew Daolord Blesswind into it.

The swordsman turned his head to glance at Ning, then was drawn back into the estate-world within the Mirrorsnow Painting once more.

“No.”

“Master!”

The two World-level disciples in the silver shuttle were completely stunned. They were also completely surrounded by that sword domain of lightning and water. They knew exactly how powerful this sword domain was, and so they didn’t dare to fight back at all, allowing Ning to capture them as well.

“We won.” A look of completely disbelief was on Eastherd’s face.

“T-that was...” Sparrow and his wife were both stunned as well. They felt that this uncle-master was simply far too powerful. He was a World-level cultivator who not only had two Daolord retainers, he had even been able to capture a Daolord of the Third Step. They had never even heard of such power before!

Ning chuckled. “I had to rely on the power of my golem. I myself wouldn’t have been able to defeat a Daolord of the Third Step.”

“Golems are part of your total power as well,” Eastherd said hurriedly.

Ning then glanced at the nearby Flamefairy Su Youji. She gave him a very smug wink. Eastherd and the others might not have noticed anything, but Ning was in control of the sword domain that covered this entire region; he was able to sense that ripple of invisible power surge outwards.

“Quite impressive,” Ning congratulated mentally. “You were able to shake a Daolord of the Third Step.”

“Just now, I used the ninth art of Feixian. I’m confident in my abilities to shake Daolords of the Second Step. As for those of the third step, it depends on their mental strength and their heartforce. If I encountered someone formidable in this regard, there would be nothing I could do. From the looks of things, this Daolord Blesswind didn’t have a particularly impressive Dao-heart,” Su Youji sent back.

Ning couldn’t help but sigh. The legacy of Feixian the Exalted truly was incredible. It allowed the user to actually dominate and control those on the same level of power! Even if the target was on a higher level of power, it would still have an effect on that person. But of course, if you encountered someone with a particularly powerful heart, there would be nothing you could do. Heartlord Solewind, for instance, would’ve been far more impressive against such secret arts than Daolord Blesswind, even when he was merely at the World level.

......

After capturing Daolord Blesswind, Ning continued to advance. Half a month later, he arrived at the Vastheaven Everworld.

“That right there is Vastheaven Palace.” Eastherd pointed at the peaks of a distant mountain range. One could see a cluster of palaces through the many clouds.

“Vastheaven Palace?” Ning stared at the distant Vastheaven Palace, his breathing rather irregular. Some tears had appeared in his eyes as well. Ever since he had left the Three Realms, he had been hoping he would be able to make it to Vastheaven Palace. And now... he had finally made it! His Primaltwin was finally going to be able to make it back to the Three Realms and search for the souls of his parents within the River of Destiny.

Father. Mother...

In this moment, Ning’s mind was not present here in Vastheaven Palace. It was completely focused upon his deceased mother and father.