The Desolate Era (Web Novel)

“Ninedust!” The distant Sectlord Timedream suddenly let out a shout. His voice was ephemeral and indistinct, reverberating within Ninedust’s ears and even in his mind and soul.

“Not good.” Ninedust was shocked as a beautiful gorge appeared in front of him, filled with a sea of flowers and rivers. However, he had clearly been in the middle of a vicious fight against three Daolords on a snowy plains.

“Break for me!” Ninedust roared mentally. Boom! He finally managed to break through the illusion and force the real world to appear before him once more.

Bang! Bang! Ninedust felt a terrifying level of power crash against him. Caught completely offguard, he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood and be knocked flying by the strikes. He also felt a chain actually securely wrap itself around his body.

“Ninedust!” The distant Ji Ning was frantic as well. It had all happened too quickly. Battles between Supreme Daolords occurred at incredible speeds. Although Ninedust had been trapped within the illusion for merely a brief instant, it had been enough for him to suffer two strikes and also be caught and bound.

The Kingfreak was holding the other end of the chain that was now securely fastened around the Ninedust Sectlord.

Whoosh. The Ninedust Sectlord’s divine body suddenly transformed into an endless stream of water that flowed through and past the chains, then reformed outside of them.

“What an impressive Timedream.” The Ninedust Sectlord’s face was ashen as he stared hard at Sectlord Timedream. “He really is the strongest Daolord in the art of illusions in the modern era.”

“Unfortunately, I’m still not strong enough. If I was, you wouldn’t have been able to break free from my illusions,” Sectlord Timedream said calmly. He was still not satisfied with his performance. In this day and age, he was the strongest pure Heartforce Cultivator; Winesage was stronger than him overall, but was inferior in heartforce alone. However, this was merely in ‘this day and age’; from a historical standpoint, there had been many other Heartforce Cultivator Daolords who were far superior to him.

The truly supreme Heartforce Cultivator Daolords would almost always be the undisputed most powerful Daolords of their eras.

“Ninedust, are you alright?” Ning sent worriedly.

“I’m fine. Twas but a minor injury! I’m an Ancient cultivator; my divine body is far superior to that of ordinary cultivators,” Ninedust sent mentally to Ning. In substance and in power, his body was indeed unfathomably superior to that of ordinary Daolords of the Fourth Step.

“Press the attack and make him suffer more injuries!” the distant Sectlord Timedream sent mentally to Shaka, Snowjoy, and Kingfreak. “Ninedust’s invulnerable aquaform is difficult to deal with; not even Winesage would be able to kill him through direct attacks. I’ll continuously use heartforce illusions against him and make it impossible for him to maintain his aquaform, while the three of you will repeatedly injure him over and over. When his divine power is depleted, he’ll die.”

Shaka and Snowjoy exchanged a glance. Both of them knew that killing a supreme Daolord was far too difficult, especially one with an invulnerable aquaform! They would indeed need Sectlord Timedream to repeatedly disturb Ninedust and cause him to lose control over his body for brief periods of time. When that happened, his body would briefly transform into its original form, that of an Ancient cultivator’s. Only then would they be able to harm Ninedust. If Ninedust was fully awake and mentally alert, he could perpetually maintain his invulnerable aquaform. In that case, there would be no way to injure him at all.

......

Boom!

Bang!

Sectlord Timedream continued to cast heartforce illusions from afar, while Shaka, Snowjoy, and Kingfreak pressed the assault furiously.

“Ninedust!” Ning frantically unleashed his own heartforce, seeking to protect Ninedust. Bang! Sectlord Timedream’s overwhelming surge of heartforce completely crushed through Ning’s protection. At his current level, Ning was completely unable to protect the Ninedust Sectlord.

“I’m fine, Darknorth! I’m fine. Thus far, I’ve used up very little divine power,” the Ninedust Sectlord sent mentally.

Time continued to flow on, one second after another. The four enemy Daolords completely ignored Ning. As they saw it, Ninedust was their true foe, and they also felt certain that the Voidsea Jadeseal was in Ninedust’s hands! They could see that Ninedust was the most powerful member of Ning’s squad, which meant that the seal should logically be in his hands. If it was in someone else’s hands, why would he go so far as to risk his own life to protect the team?

In the blink of an eye, another half-day had gone by.

“Hahaha! Man, the three of you really are starting to sting me with your hits.” The Ninedust Sectlord transformed into an vast stream of water, with the vague outline of a person appearing at the center of this river. Moments later, a spirit-pill appeared in the figure’s hand, followed by the figure swallowing it. “I really did use up quite a bit of divine power over the course of this fight. Time to eat a spirit-pill.”

“Damnit.”

“Ninedust’s divine body is far too powerful, and he also has a tough protective divine ability. We’ve been beating on him for hours but have barely harmed him. He was able to recover with just a single pill.”

“There’ll be no end to this!”

Daolord Shaka, Daolord Snowjoy, and the Kingfreak were all growing anxious.

“Alright, let’s keep fighting. I have to say, Timedream’s heartforce illusions are pretty powerful. They’re serving as a great way to temper my Dao-heart.” The Ninedust Sectlord was in an excellent mood.

“Ninedust, the longer we keep you tied down, the more Daolords will come. Soon, a fifth supreme Daolord will arrive, followed by a sixth! In the end, you won’t be able to handle us all,” Sectlord Timedream said coldly.

“If that’s the case, I’ll just toss out the Voidsea Jadeseal,” Ninedust snickered. “Timedream, multiple Ancient cultivators have died by your hands. Do you really think I would ever give the Voidsea Jadeseal up to you?”

“Damn you.” Sectlord Timedream had an ugly look on his face. It must be remembered that Winesage and the others were hurrying over as well. Once Winesage arrived, who would be able to out-compete him?

“Freako.” Sectlord Timedream sent mentally to the Kingfreak, “Use the redscatter venom on him.”

The Kingfreak couldn’t help but turn to look at the Sectlord Timedream. He sent back mentally, “Sectlord, we only have that one bottle. Are you sure?”

“Use it.” Sectlord Timedream nodded.

The redscatter venom was the most terrifying type of poison the two had ever discovered, and they had found it while adventuring within the Terror Starsea. This was a deadly poison which had been developed during the Dawn War, and it was the greatest killer trump card Sectlord Timedream had available to him. This type of poison was a nightmare to any and every Daolord! Ever since Sectlord Timedream had acquired it, he hadn’t been willing to use it... but for the sake of the Voidsea Jadeseal, anything was worth it!

BOOM! The Ninedust Sectlord was once more struck by the heartforce illusion. The endless flows of water around him instantly halted, then gradually began to reform into his ‘normal’ body, which Shaka, Snowjoy, and Kingfreak continued to attack. Right as the Kingfreak launched an attack, he suddenly produced a bottle of dark-red liquid and shattered it.

Whoosh. A stream of dark-red liquid instantly invaded the Ninedust Sectlord’s body. This stream of liquid was visible to the naked eye, but it also seemed illusory. It seeped directly into his body and pervaded his soul. This was a terrifying type of poison which had been developed during the Dawn War to deal with enemies.

“AHHHH!” The Ninedust Sectlord transformed back into human form, then began to roll around the ground and scream in agony. His face was a mask of pain, with streaks of ugly red lines stretching out throughout his body.

“AHHHHHHH!” Ninedust continued to howl in agony. He had never experienced such incredible, indescribable, terrifying pain before.

“Ninedust!” Ning felt as though his heart had stopped. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of pain and torment could cause a supreme Daolord like Ninedust to scream so miserably.

“Release Ninedust! Release him!” Ning charged out and called out frantically, “We’ll give you the Voidsea Jadeseal!”

“There is no antidote to the redscatter venom. Once it touches you, you’ll suffer utter agony for a total of twelve days. This poison was meant for to be used against powerful Eternal Emperors! There’s no way Ninedust’s Dao-heart or soul would be strong enough to resist it. He isn’t even able to maintain his invulnerable aquaform any longer. Kill him, then take the Voidsea Jadeseal from him,” Sectlord Timedream laughed coldly.

The faces of Daolord Shaka and Daolord Snowjoy both turned pale. Redscatter venom? They had never even heard of it, but they couldn’t help but shiver in fear when they saw Daolord Ninedust scream in pain like that.

Ninedust’s screams were echoing in Ning’s ears, but there was no way for him to rescue Ninedust at all. This caused Ning to feel a sense of regret and powerlessness.

As Ninedust continued to scream in agony, he would occasionally turn to glance towards Ning. His eyes were filled with agony and desperation, and his lips trembled as he struggled to speak. “Kill me!”

“Attack!” The Kingfreak charged towards Ninedust.

“Kill him.” Shaka and Snowjoy exchanged a glance. This wasn’t a time to show mercy. They had to seize the Voidsea Jadeseal!

Ning was too weak. There was no way he could stop them at all. He hurriedly sent mentally, “Big brother Solesky! Big brother Solesky! Let’s hand over the Voidsea Jadeseal.”

“Big brother Solesky?”

“Big brother Solesky!!!”

Daolord Solesky was in secluded meditation within Ning’s estate-world, not accepting any communication from the outside world.

“What?!” Ning was frantic. Solesky had actually gone into secluded meditation at a time like this?

“Halt!!” Ning drew his six Northbow swords and charged forwards, grabbing the Ninedust Sectlord. Ninedust continued to scream in agony, his eyes filled with pleading as he stared at Ning. He really did want for Ning to kill him and spare him any more of this. With but a thought, Ning pulled Ninedust away into his estate-world.

Right now, Ninedust was completely defenseless and unable to fight back at all. He would probably die in short order if he stayed out here, and so Ning had no choice but to drag him away.

“Are you looking to die, kid?” The Kingfreak brandished the great scimitar in his hands. BOOM! Ning was smashed flying backwards, while the Kingfreak staggered one step back.

“Die.” As Ning was knocked flying backwards, he produced a deep blue crystalline leaf in his right hand. This was the second and final Dao-seal the Sword Hegemon had bestowed upon him!

Crack. He shattered the deep blue leaf.

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