Desolate Era (Book 31 - Book 35)

“And what’s this?” Ning reached out to touch the bracelet engraved with the carving of a flying beast. This was the Sparrow Formation Bracelet. It could be filled with Hegemon-level energy or chaos jewels, then activated to unleash a mighty Sparrow Formation that could trap foes. Hegemons might be able to burst through the formation through raw force, but any weaker foe would be trapped until the power of the formation was depleted. Ning’s eyes lit up. “This is quite similar to the formation-diagram Ninedust holds in the palm of his hands. It’s actually a multiple-usage formation treasure.”


Treasures like these were incredibly valuable. Even if you encountered the eight lords of the Sacred Cities or the likes of Patriarch Vulturas, you could use this treasure to trap them for a brief period of time, which you could then use to flee! Thus, treasures like this would virtually never be found for sale on the open market. Eternal Emperors cherished them very highly.

Only Hegemons would be willing to bequeath them to later generations. They truly were of incalculable value. “A fine treasure.” Ning was deeply intrigued, but he then looked at the next treasure, a black disc that glimmered with a spot of light that roved inside of it.

……

Every single treasure Ning saw interested him greatly. These treasures were of limited use to Hegemons, but incredibly valuable to most Eternal Emperors. As for Daolords? They were simply unimaginable. For now, Ning was still the most intrigued by the Sparrow Formation Bracelet.

“Now, let me take a look at the Stone Censer of Reunion.” Ning turned his head to look at the palm-sized incense burner located at the very center of the room. He walked over, then casually sat down on one of the prayer mats. Once he did, he sensed a surge of icy energy emanate from the prayer mats and into his entire body, causing his soul to calm down significantly.

Ning wasn’t too impressed by the effects of the prayer mat, as there were quite a few treasures with similar functions. But when the scent of the incense coming from the stone censer wafted into his nose…

Rumble…

The entire world turned silent. Ning’s mind and soul emptied out in an almost prajna-like state of epiphany, and many of his thoughts and questions pertaining to the Dao of the Sword quickly began to flash through his mind. More and more visualizations came to mind as he saw through one bottleneck after another…

After an undeterminable period of time, Ning opened his eyes. Only then did he realize that he had sat here for two days and a full night.

“I actually was able to fully master the third stage of the Soleheart sword-intent.” Ning was shocked. “I’ve almost even finished mastering the new Heavenbreaker sword-intent.”

He had spent three hundred thousand years drifting through the Starflow Realm. His Yin-Yang sword-intent, his Blood Drop sword-intent, and his Shadowless sword-intent had all broken through to the third stage. Now, after just sitting down for two days and a night, he had gained a terrifying number of new insights and breakthroughs.

“This is actually a meditation-type treasure?” Ning stared at the palm-sized incense burner in disbelief. “Although the state it allows you to delve into isn’t as incredible as the true prajna-state of epiphany, it’s fairly close. This treasure would allow me to enter a state of epiphany at all times?”

To cultivators, what mattered the most? Treasures were secondary; insight into the Dao was what truly mattered!

This was a treasure meant for meditating on the Dao. It was truly pricess. He’d never even heard of one of these things being available for sale. The only reason the Thundersouth Hegemon had left it behind was because he wasn’t sure if he would survive the Dawn War, and so he had left this treasure behind.

The Ninedust Sectlord and Daolord Laya had been in no rush to sit down. They had instead simply watched Ning.

Daolord Laya said quite urgently, “Brother Darknorth, are you willing to choose this incense burner and trade it to the Starflow race?”

“Darknorth, if you are willing to trade it to us Ancient cultivators, we would similarly be willing to pay an incredible price for it,” the Ninedust Sectlord said.





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Book 31, Chapter 12 - Daomerge


Daolord Laya and the Ninedust Sectlord both looked at Ji Ning. Ning just continued to sit there, but he reached out with his right hand to gently stroke the stone incense burner in front of him. This censer truly was quite odd; it had a white half and a black half, almost as though two different incense burners, one white and one black, had somehow been merged together. The black side felt as cold as ice, while the white side filled his palm with warmth. It was this strange union of these two marvelous properties that produced that faint white fragrance.

Whoosh. Ning filled his finger with his Immortal energy, beginning the process of binding the Stone Censer of Reunion to him.

“So that’s how it is.” Ning now understood. The Stone Censer of Reunion was able to produce a fragrant scent that would cause cultivators around it to enter a state of constant epiphany. However, the fragrance would eventually be used up… but so long as you could continue to pour more Immortal energy into it, more of the fragrance would continue to be generated. In addition, the amount of Immortal energy it consumed was fairly low. However, the amount of fragrance it produced was only enough for a single cultivator to constantly use.

“No wonder my two days of cultivation caused the surrounding mist to shrink from nine meters to merely six meters.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh. This was merely the fragrance which was remaining and unused that was stored within the stone censer.

“Darknorth, are you sure that you will choose this censer?” the Ninedust Sectlord asked.

“Of course I’m certain.” Ning nodded. “A Dao-cultivating treasure like this is incredibly rare and unquestionably priceless.”

“Darknorth…” the nearby Daolord Laya looked anxiously at Ning. “Are you willing to trade it to my Starflow race? The Ancient cultivators have extremely deep roots and won’t care that much about the Stone Censer of Reunion, and so the price that we are willing to pay will definitely exceed that of the Ancient cultivators.”

“You haven’t even offered a price, but you are already claiming that your race will be able to offer more than mine?” The Ninedust Sectlord smirked.

“Gentlemen.” Ning shook his head. “For now, I have no intention of trading this away.”

Ninedust and Laya were both startled.

“It is extremely important to me as well. When the day comes that it is of no further use to me, I might be willing to trade it,” Ning said.

The Daomerge was incredibly difficult. The likes of Bertulu, Daolord Skyaxe, Ninedust, and Palace Lord Dawnstar had joined multiple Supreme Daos together; if they ever succeeded in the Daomerge, they would become Hegemons! However, Hegemons were incredibly rare. Ever since the Dawn War ended in the Terror Starsea, the Endless Territories had only had three Hegemons; no more, no less.

As for Ning and his Omega Sword Dao? It would be even more difficult for him! If he succeeded in his Daomerge, he would probably be even more powerful than a Hegemon… but were there any Eternal Emperors that were above the Hegemon level of power?

Thus far, at least, Ning had never discovered such a thing! In the alternate universe he had been in, the Hegemons were still the most powerful figures. Even the leader of the Church of Annihilation in that universe had once been inferior to the Paragon of Pills. It was only thanks to the enormous gains and good luck he had reaped in the Genesis Lands that he had skyrocketed in power to become the most powerful figure in that universe. However, the ‘Dao’ this superlative lord of the church had used to complete his Daomerge and gain eternity for himself was clearly not that powerful.

Thus far, Ning had already discovered the corpses of several Hegemons. He had never, however, discovered anyone above the Hegemon level!