Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

Transcending space was comparatively easier. Transcending time was extremely difficult! Ning had originally thought that when he became a Daolord of the Third Step, his sword-arts would be able to transcend space. Who would’ve thought that he’d accomplish it at the second step! But still, when he thought about it in detail, it made sense to him. The essence the Northbow swords had absorbed had caused them to be extremely ‘skewed’ in one area, whereas they had previously been balanced. They were now much sharper and thus better-suited to the Blood Drop stance! The Shadowless stance wasn’t improved as much, while the berserk Heavenbreaker stance was barely improved. As for his defensive sword-arts, they were improved the least of all.

In addition to his swords now being more suited to the Blood Drop stance, Ning had improved the most in the Blood Drop sword-intent to begin with. The Blood Drop sword-intent was highly destructive and thus suited for tearing through the bonds of space and time; it naturally became the first technique he could use to succeed in transcending space.

“Now that you’ve transcended space, ordinary dimensional bindings will no longer have an effect on you. Even if an Eternal Emperor wished to kill you, you would be able to easily pierce through the dimensions and then flee through a dimensional tunnel. Only an Eternal Emperor who is incredibly skilled in the Dao of Space would have a chance of tying you down, with the vast majority of them being helpless against you.” The Ninedust Sectlord looked at Ning, then let out a sigh. “Darknorth, from this day forth, you now have a true life-saving measure that you can use when you please. Very, very few people are now capable of slaying you. You’ve transcended the bounds of space… I have to admit, I truly envy you now.”





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Book 30, Chapter 31 - The Ancient Ancestor


Ji Ning laughed. When he had been at Skywood City and encountered Daolord Kongsan, the latter had dimensionally locked the area with a formation, making it impossible Ning to escape; his only option would’ve been to use his vessel to slowly fly around inside! But now? His sword-arts surpassed the limits of space and were able to forcibly rip out dimensional passageways, allowing him to easily escape. Only someone who had reached an extremely high level in the Dao of Space would be able to restrict Ning’s movements.

The vast majority of Eternal Emperors would not be able to bar Ning’s path. This was a true life-preserving method he now had!

Kongsan was able to transform into darkness incarnate, a virtually invulnerable form. This was his own life-preserving method which ensured that even the likes of Palace Lord Dawnstar would be unable to do anything to him.

Ji Ning would be able to use his swords to transcend space, making it so that dimensional shackling would be unable to bind him. He would also be able to tear through space and flee at a moment’s notice. This was a life-preserving method that was every bit a match for Kongsan’s.

There were very few figures even amongst exceptionally powerful second-tier Daolords like Ning and Kongsan who had such incredible life-preserving methods. The Ninedust Sectlord, for example, didn’t have any such technique.

However, the most supreme of Daolords such as Dawnstar or Skyaxe, the ones who stood at the very precipice of power, all had Daos of such incredible power that they had life-preserving abilities similar to that of spatial transcendence.

This was why they were all generally extremely difficult to kill. However, a Hegemon would probably be able to wipe them out with the wave of a hand. Perhaps some of the freakishly powerful ancient figures such as the lords of the eight Sacred Cities, second only to the Hegemons in power and who Hegemons wouldn’t necessarily be able to kill, might be able to slay the supreme Daolords. These figures were far more powerful than even Emperor Mirrorsnow.

However, Hegemons and near-Hegemons were incredibly rare and exalted figures. The three Hegemons belonged to the Brightshore Kingdom, the Aberrant special lifeforms, and the Ancient cultivators. These three were the rulers and sovereigns their entire race. As for the near-Hegemons, they were amongst the most powerful figures each race or organization had. For now, Ning wasn’t at a level where he could get embroiled into fights with them.

“Don’t feel jealous of me. Once you become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, I’m sure you’ll have access to a formidable protective ability of your own,” Ning said. The Ninedust Sectlord had merged two Supreme Daos together, which meant that when he became a Daolord of the Fourth Step he would instantly become one of the most powerful Daolords around. None of those Daolords would be easy to deal with.

“True.” The Ninedust Sectlord nodded. “I’m not too far away from breaking through to the fourth step anyhow. With just a few more insights, I’ll be able to break through my bottleneck and reach the final step. By then, my mastery over water will easily allow me to gain an ‘undying waterform body’.

Ning chuckled and nodded.

An ‘undying waterform body’ was a fairly common technique amongst those who had reached an extremely high level in the Dao of Water. This was a technique that was much stronger than Kongsan’s ability to dissolve into darkness incarnate. Kongsan had only comprehended a single Supreme Dao, after all; his ‘darkness incarnate’ form was simply not flawless enough.

“By then, I can just stand there and let you hit me without fighting back, but you still won’t be able to injure me,” the Ninedust Sectlord boasted smugly.

“Oh.” Ning mumbled mentally to himself, you know, I’m actually just a Daolord of the Second Step…

……

The Ninedust Sectlord had mastered his Ripplewater secret art, while Ning had now evolved his lifeblood weapons. Both had benefited significantly from this adventure.

“Let’s go.” Ning stood atop the surface of the shattered planet. “The only thing of value here was the core, but harvesting it is too difficult.”

“It really is, but you made a killing off of it…” The Ninedust Sectlord chuckled as he scanned his surroundings, then pointed to the source of the rainbow light. “Let’s move over there. The rainbow light is denser over there; that should be the direction from which the ancient power launched the strike.”

“Yes, let’s go take a look.”

The two immediately flew off the planet and towards the rainbow light. They flew several hundred kilometers alongside the light stream, moving towards the source. Both of them were quite curious; this was an ancestral site of the Ancient cultivators. Who could’ve been able to destroy a planet such as this? Most likely, only a Hegemon-level figure or someone close to that level of power.

Swish! They traversed through space and reached the end of the rainbow light.

“What’s that?” Ning and the Ninedust Sectlord stared in amazement at the cluster of stone passageways ahead of them. The stone passageways were brimming with flame demons, but the streak of rainbow light flew straight through the stone passageways… and the place it flew through was an absolutely enormous straight passageway that was at least two billion kilometers wide! Based on the other nearby tunnels, it could be ascertained that the ‘rainbow passageway’ was actually once filled with countless stone passageways that had been completely destroyed.

“How terrifying,” the Ninedust Sectlord murmured. “A single strike blasted through countless stone passageways, forming a single enormous one in their stead… and then, after being weakened due to having gone through so many passageways, continued through to blast apart that planet! It had to have been a Hegemon.”

“I agree that only a Hegemon could’ve done such a thing,” Ning concurred.

This level of power was incredible. Both of them had learned for themselves how tough the stone passageways were, but someone had been able to blast through two billion kilometers worth of stone then shatter that planet with a single strike. This level of power was beyond their imagination. As they saw it, only the nigh-omnipotent Hegemons could’ve done such a thing.

“This place must really be that legendary place…” Waves of shock and awe began to fill the Ninedust Sectlord’s heart as he grew certain of his guess.

“Come, Ninedust. Let’s go through and see what lies on the other end of the rainbow passageway,” Ning said.