Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

“Big brother Ironshow, is that guy over there really Daolord Darknorth?” the violet-robed youth asked curiously.

“From his appearance, he should be… but it doesn’t make sense for Daolord Darknorth to challenge the entire Silksnow Fiend Palace.” Daolord Ironshow was puzzled. “I really can’t be sure if that is actually Daolord Darknorth at all.” But right at that moment…

“Darknorth, you really are suicidal.” The leader of that distant group of Eternal Emperors, Archon Silksnow, spoke out in a booming voice that echoed in the world. All of the countless puzzled cultivators within Silksnow City instantly realized that the white-robed youth was in fact the legendary ‘Daolord Darknorth’.

“He’s incredible! A Daolord actually dares to challenge all of Silksnow Fiend Palace in such a dominating manner? They are one of the eight organizations which rule over the Sacred Cities!”

“Daolord Darknorth?”

“He’s absolutely incredible.”

“What a bold man! Even if he ends up being defeated, I’ll still feel nothing but admiration for him.” Countless cultivators sighed in shock and awe, and many of them naturally sided with Ning. This was because no matter how much they trained, for them to become Eternal Emperors was an almost hopelessly impossible task. They would at most become Daolords of the fourth Step… and so they felt absolutely exhilarated that a Daolord like them would dare to challenge Silksnow Fiend Palace. Sheer pleasure coursed through their veins at the very thought.

Yes, we Daolords might be weak! But the strongest of us, the strongest Daolords, still dare to challenge even one of the eight rulers of the Sacred Cities!

The countless watching cultivators all mentally supported Ning. However… they all believed that Daolord Darknorth had no chance to actually win. Even his chances to survive this would be extremely slim.

……

Ning had travelled here at maximum speed. Given his high level of insight into the Dao, he was able to tear through even greater distances through spacetime. Finally, he reached the Sacred City of Silksnow… and he had immediately unleashed his heartworld projection without hesitation. He wanted to immediately make a show of strength! Instantly, an entire host of Eternal Emperors had come flying out. He counted a total of twenty-six of them! However, Ning could sense that most were merely avatars. Even the leader, Archon Silksnow, was merely an avatar.

“Silksnow,” Ning called out.

In front of the awesome, distant group of Eternal Emperors standing in midair was their leader, Archon Silksnow. Silksnow, however, was in a rather dazed state of disbelief. He couldn’t believe that Ning had come to his headquarters to attack him. Was the man suicidal? Moments later, the Archon let out a laugh: “Darknorth, you really are suicidal.”

“If you think you can kill me, come and try.” Ning swept his gaze across the group of Eternal Emperors, each of them flaring out their auras mightily. Ning smiled. “Do you plan to all come at once? That’s fine as well. It’ll be fun for me to beat all twenty-six of you Emperors at once.”





* * *





Book 36, Chapter 11 - Inexplicable


Ji Ning’s heartworld projection covered the entire Sacred City, and so his voice naturally echoed throughout every part of it.

In truth, Silksnow Fiend Palace wanted to contain and minimize this disturbance as much as possible. Just the very fact that Daolord Darknorth dared to so flagrantly attack them was already a loss of face, even though they would kill him in the end. They naturally wanted fewer people to know about this matter! Alas, as soon as Ning’s heartworld projection descended they knew that there was no way to keep this secret.

Ning, however, wanted to ‘kill a chicken to scare the monkeys’ in a display of force. He wanted to let everyone know just how powerful he had become. Naturally, there was no need to keep anything secret.

“Absolutely dominating.”

“This is exhilarating! Just listening to him talk makes me excited. Will I ever reach a level where I would dare to stand in front of over twenty Eternal Emperors and tell them that I’ll fight them by myself? If I can ever have such a crowning moment of glory, even dying away the next instant would be worth it.”

“There’s never been a Daolord this powerful before, right?”

The countless cultivators within the Sacred City all felt their blood begin to boil with excitement when they heard Ning’s words. They all felt that for a Samsara Daolord to be able to act like Ning just did was simply incredible. Anything would be worth it.

“Daolord Darknorth has actually attacked the Sacred City of Silksnow. He’s facing off against twenty-six Emperors from Silksnow Fiend Palace.”

“The battle is about to start right away.”

“This is probably the last fight Daolord Darknorth will ever be in. He’s probably going to die here.”

“Move, move, MOVE! If you don’t get here in time, you won’t be able to see this battle.” Word quickly spread out. News of this incredible event almost instantly spread throughout the most elite organizations within the Endless Territories.

……

“What?!” Hegemon Brightshore was shocked as well when he heard this. “He actually attacked Silksnow Fiend Palace? He’s a Daolord! What gives him this sort of courage?”

……

“He’s actually attacked Silksnow Fiend Palace?” Emperor Anchen and the other Emperors of the Aeonians were shocked as well. They had been frantically searching for traces of Ning, wanting to kill him and take back that unique omnigeddon bloodfruit tree. “Daolord Darknorth… what the hell is wrong with him? Has he lost his mind? Or does he have some special item he’s planning to rely on? But he’s still just a Daolord, and he’s facing off against one of the eight Sacred Cities!”

“Let’s go, quick! We’re going to go watch.”

“I’m heading off right now.” Emperor Islehide immediately prepared for departure.

“My avatar will accompany with you. I want to see with my own eyes what this Daolord Darknorth character is up to.” Although Emperor Anchen had always stood guard over the Aeonian Kingdom, even he elected to send his avatar off to watch this fight.

……

News quickly spread throughout the Endless Territories. The three mighty Hegemons, some of the more famous Emperors, and some of the reclusive, lesser-known Emperors all grew curious and began to hasten towards Silksnow City. No one had ever heard of any Daolord ever daring to challenge one of the eight Sacred Cities; this was something that had never happened in all of history! Curious, they all hurried to the scene of battle. Alas, the distance was quite great; to actually get there would take some time.

……

“Quite bold, audaciously so. Do you really think that you merit all of us Emperors working together to kill you?” Instantly, a droopy-browed and ugly-looking Emperor began to shout at Ning.

“He doesn’t know his own limits.”

“He wants to die under our combined might? In his dreams.” These ancient Eternal Emperors all stared at the distant white-robed youth with disdain.

If they joined forces, even if they killed Ning they would have gained no face. For Emperors with eternal lifespans, face was of paramount importance.

“Even if you want to die, you still aren’t worthy of twenty-six Emperors doing the honors together,” Archon Silksnow laughed coldly. He glanced backwards at an Emperor who had a pair of black wings on his back and sent mentally, “Brother Blackrot, Emperor Nightwell died by the hands of Daolord Darknorth. Daolord Darknorth is extremely strong, just slightly weaker than myself. His illusions are particularly powerful; Emperor Nightwell died because he fell to Darknorth’s illusions. You were born with tremendous skill over illusions; you shouldn’t be susceptible to his heartforce illusions. You go first and test his power out.”