Desolate Era

Ji Ning had long ago decided that he was going to train in the [Novessence Thunder] secret art. Alas, while he was in the Allgod Estate he didn’t even have access to nine types of chaos lightning, and so he was in no rush to start learning the technique just yet. After mastering nine types of chaos lightning, he would then test out mastering the nine types of Dao lightning with this technique.

However, according to the secret art’s descriptions, only World-level cultivators could train in chaos lightning while only Samsara Daolords could train in Dao lightning. Thus, for now Ning simply purchased two of the relevant types of Dao lightning. In all honesty, he probably couldn’t afford purchasing all nine types; even Daolord Allgod was only able to get nine!

“The lower portion of the [Golden Idol] and the Elementum Waterflame Gourd. That’s not even a million cubes.” Daolord Badlands looked at Ning. “Need any other treasures?”

“The Mirrorsnow Paintings. I need the second and the fourth paintings. Would I be able to buy these two?” Ning asked.

Daolord Badlands glanced at Ning, then chuckled. “It seems this trip to the Allgod Estate truly was a lucky one for you. The Mirrorsnow Paintings hold the legacy of Emperor Mirrorsnow within them. Although he had released a total of forty of these paintings into the Endless Territories, there’s simply far too many cultivators. How about this? I’ll ask the Dao Alliance and see if anyone is willing to sell those two paintings. However, I can’t guarantee they’ll be available.”

“If we can get it, let’s give it a shot.” Ning didn’t try to force it.

“Anything else?” Daolord Badlands asked.

“Daolord, please take a look at this.” Ning drew Violetjewel from its sheath on his back. Given that the two were discussing a business deal worth three million cubes of chaos nectar, a single Eternal weapon truly didn’t mean much. Some Eternal weapons were worth as little as ten thousand cubes, while valuable ones were still generally worth just a few hundred thousand cubes. Eternal weapons worth over a million cubes were very rare.

“This sword has been by my side for an extended period of time. Its previous owner was big brother Northrest, who named it ‘Violetjewel’.” Ning continued, “I wish to understand where it came from and want to see if I can get five more matching sets of this Eternal sword.”

Just so. Since he had three million cubes of chaos nectar to use up, Ning wanted to ensure that he’d be able to wield six Eternal weapons in any future battles! This would allow his attack power to increase dramatically, and he’d feel confident in battling even an enemy Daolord.

This was all because Ning’s [Nameless] sword-art was a technique that allowed for an airtight defense. If Ning used all six swords to focus on defense, then so long as the opponent wasn’t overwhelmingly more powerful Ning would still be able to survive.

“Oh? Violetjewel?” Daolord Badlands accepted the sword, then gently stroked its blade. As he did so, Ning released his control over the sword-intent hidden within Violetjewel’s quintessence core, letting its savage, bloodthirsty aura surge outwards.

“Just so. It truly is Violetjewel.” Daolord Badlands nodded.

“It ‘truly is?’” Ning was puzzled.

“This would be considered a middle-grade Eternal weapon.” Daolord Badlands laughed. “Once you become a Daolord of the First Step, you’ll be able to unleash the full power of this Eternal weapon. For now, it’ll be more than enough for you to wield while you remain within the World level.”

Ning nodded. In truth, low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, and top-grade Eternal weapons were all the same to Ning. If the sword-intent contained within an Eternal weapon’s quintessence core was too powerful, Ning wouldn’t be able to make much use of it. Just as Daolord Badlands said, Ning would probably only be able to fully unleash the power of Violetjewel when he became a Daolord of the First Step.

Even if Ning was given a top-grade Eternal sword, he wouldn’t be able to unleash much of its power for now.

“You said that this sword’s previous owner called it ‘Violetjewel’. This wasn’t a name he chose at random,” Daolord Badlands said. “This is the name given to the sword by the Eternal Emperor who forged it.”

“It was forged by an Eternal Emperor?” Ning was quite curious.

“Long, long ago, that Eternal Emperor was an Emperor of the Dao Alliance! However, he ended up choosing to venture into the Endless Dark long ago. His name was Emperor Violetmount. Before he left the Endless Territories and entered the Endless Dark, he spent an extremely long period of time to create a total of ninety-nine middle-grade Eternal weapons which he named Violetjewel, nine top-grade Eternal weapons which he named Bloodpeak, and a terrifying weapon infused with all of his insights into the Dao of the Sword which he named the ‘Violetmount Sword’.”

Ning was speechless upon hearing this. Ninety-nine Violetjewel swords? Nine Bloodpeak swords? A Violetmount sword?

This was all done by Emperor Violetmount?

“So you wish to procure five more Violetjewels?” Daolord Badlands asked.

“Yes, I would ideally like to buy five of them.” Ning nodded.

Daolord Badlands nodded. “Although Emperor Violetmount originally created ninety-nine of them, some of them ended up being lost over the course of many years. Others are currently being used by other cultivators. Thus, buying five will be quite difficult. Still, I’ll ask the Dao Alliance to help out. Their power is spread throughout the entire Endless Territories; they just might be able to locate a few of these swords.”

Daolord Badlands looked at Ning. “I have to warn you in advance, this situation is completely different from the situation we saw in the treasure auction. Treasures in that auction all start at a very low reserve price, and even the final price for each item won’t be particularly high. Since you are actively seeking out these specific items, they will definitely cost you much more.”

Ning understood this quite well. The treasure auctions were all fairly cheap; buying treasures at the normal ‘listed’ price in the outside world would generally cost significantly more! As for someone like Ning who was actively looking for very specific items, the price would definitely be even higher.

“How high would it be?” Ning asked.

“A single Violetjewel sword generally goes for just a hundred thousand cubes or so. However, since you are actively seeking out this specific sword it’ll probably take a hundred and fifty thousand, maybe even two hundred thousand,” Daolord Badlands said.

“Any price below two hundred thousand is acceptable,” Ning said. He was no fool. If the price was too high, it really wouldn’t be worth it.

It must be understood that middle-grade Eternal weapons would generally go for anywhere from thirty thousand to sixty thousand cubes of chaos nectar in the treasure auctions. The normal list price, however, would be around a hundred thousand cubes.

Since Ning was actively seeking out these specific swords, the price could rise to as much as two hundred thousand cubes. In all honesty, this was quite a high price. Two hundred thousand cubes would be enough to easily buy a high-grade Eternal weapon during a treasure auction. If you were lucky, you might even be able to snag a cheap top-grade Eternal weapon!

“Anything else?” Daolord Badlands asked.

“Oh, that’s plenty. I don’t need anything else for now,” Ning said.

“Good. How about this? Give me a bit of time, roughly half a year or so, and I’ll give you a million cubes of chaos nectar for you to use it as you see fit,” Daolord Badlands said. “As for the treasures you are seeking, since I’ll need to ask the Dao Alliance to help out it’ll probably take a good deal longer. If we are lucky, it might take just four or five years. If we are unlucky, it might take a few decades. If there are any leftover cubes of chaos nectar, I’ll hand that over to you as well.”

“Thank you, Daolord,” Ning said.action

There were two reasons Ning had chosen to ask Daolord Badlands for help. The first was that Daolord Badlands was on extremely good terms with Daolord Solesky. The second was that the formation-spirits of the Allgod Estate had suggested that Ning go seek him out. Daolord Badlands was a dazzlingly talented figure who had an extremely resolute Dao-heart. Even if he lost all of his treasures, he wouldn’t throw away his own principles or his own path.

Daolord Badlands was extremely skilled in Numerancy divination, which meant that it was actually quite rare for him to go out adventuring. His style of cultivation was quite different from that of most other Samsara Daolords. This was why he didn’t have that much treasure. In truth, it was all thanks to Daolord Solesky’s gift of twenty million cubes worth of treasure that he had become so wealthy.

Even so, he didn’t have much actual chaos nectar. What he had was a large collection of random treasures and materials, which was why he told Ning he would need half a year for the first million cubes of chaos nectar.

Whoosh.

Ning walked back to the Water Curtain Home, his heart filled with emotions. “Eternal weapons are considered incomparably valuable to World-level cultivators, but they are nothing special to Samsara Daolords. I never would’ve thought that there would be ninety-nine copies of Violetjewel.”

“Once I get those treasures, I’ll be much more powerful than I am right now.” Ning always felt as though he should do his best to convert his chaos nectar into treasures as soon as possible. Even if he eventually outgrew them in the future, he could still convert them back into chaos nectar by selling them.

“Master.” Su Youji had returned to the Water Curtain Home earlier. She now came running out towards Ning.

“Youji, today we shall rest. Tomorrow, we are going to Waveshift City,” Ning said.

“Waveshift City?” Su Youji immediately asked, “Why are we going there?”

“You broke through to the World level. We need to find you some suitable treasures!” Ning laughed. “Spend some time picking what you like once we get there.”

“Alright.” Su Youji’s eyes lit up as she nodded repeatedly. Generally speaking, the master was responsible for outfitting his retainers with treasures. Still, most masters were quite stingy.

Ning, however, wasn’t stingy. And yet, he simply wouldn’t be able to afford giving Su Youji a set of Eternal weapons! Su Youji was a Chaos Immortal, and Chaos Immortals generally relied on sets of many powerful weapons. If every weapon in a set was an Eternal weapon, the cost of the set would be utterly astronomical.

“Waveshift City.” Another reason why Ning was heading to Waveshift City was because he needed to buy those nine types of chaos lightning. That way, he’d be able to start with the [Novessence Thunder] secret art.

The very next day, Ning and Su Youji set off for Waveshift City and went on a huge shopping spree. Fukai and Arroyo had both left behind quite a bit of chaos nectar and many treasures, giving Ning quite a bit of spare cash. Soon, the two had purchased everything they wanted, including the nine types of chaos lightning which Ning had been searching for.