The Desolate Era (Web Novel)

“Palace Lord Darknorth.”

“Palace Lord.”

The various cultivators of the Twelve Kingdoms who Ji Ning passed by all called out to him with great respect. Soon, Ning reached the spacetime tunnels. Ning chose one of the three tunnels, then entered it and disappeared without a trace.

“Daolord Darknorth has already headed out. He’s heading towards the Flydust Star.” Some of the black-armored Daolords as well as the other cultivators began to spread the word. They didn’t know who was actually seeking this information, but given that Archon Silksnow and the Aeonians were both searching for Ning, they were naturally able to use the many channels available for them to accurately and quickly track Ning’s whereabouts.

……

In the void outside the Brightshore Kingdom. Archon Silksnow was standing guard, his white eyebrows fluttering. Suddenly, a hint of surprise appeared on his cold face. “The spacetime tunnel which Daolord Darknorth chose is actually the one which exits the closest to Silksnow City? Hmph… how clever. He intentionally chose the one which no one else would’ve suspected. Unfortunately for him, I’ve arranged for an Emperor to watch over all three of the exits!”

“Brother Nightwell, Daolord Darknorth is about to appear at the Flydust Star. All you need to do is to tie him down for a period of time. I’m heading out immediately.” Archon Silksnow immediately began to issue orders.

“Don’t worry, Archon!” Emperor Nightwell was filled with confidence in himself. All of them belonged to the Sacred City of Silksnow, and they all had avatars back home within the city. As a result, the avatars were able to instantly communicate with each other.

……

Flydust Star had once been an ordinary, desolate star. Ever since Hegemon Brightshore had set up his stable spacetime tunnels, it had become one of the three tunnel exits. As a result, it naturally became quite a special place. This area was now protected by ancient and powerful barriers, and there were black-armored Daolords as well as more powerful Daolords protecting it.

“Daolord Darknorth?” A pudgy old man was in the chaotic void outside Flydust Star. He had strange white skin and was extremely fat, and he was dressed in loose robes. He had a pair of soft horns growing out of his forehead, and a pair of corrosive-looking eyes that gleamed almost like the cold eyes of a viper. This pudgy, snowy-skinned old man was Emperor Nightwell, famous for his savagery.

Archon Silksnow could be described as ‘evil and brutal’ in an open and visible manner. Emperor Nightwell, by contrast, was ‘insidious and cruel’ in a shadowy manner. His reputation was absolutely terrible, and everyone knew him to be a truly maleficent man. Even other Emperors had once pursued him and attempted to kill him. Once Archon Silksnow had risen to power, he had immediately joined Archon Silksnow as a subordinate. Many savage and cruel Emperors had done the same, and they had joined together and then taken over one of the Sacred Cities. They were so strong that their organization as quite difficult to dislodge.

Although evil and brutal cultivators were often hated, there was no way to truly wipe them all out. Now that they had Archon Silksnow as their leader and other ancient monsters supporting them in secret, they became an extremely formidable force.

“There he comes.” Emperor Nightwell’s gaze was focused upon the tunnel exit at Flydust Star. He watched as a white-robed youth with a black sheath on his back suddenly emerged.

“According to what the Archon said, Darknorth should’ve reached the Archon level of power and is just slightly weaker than him. Not even the Archon was able to kill him; he had to rely on a treasure.” Although Emperor Nightwell held Daolords in disdain, he didn’t dare to underestimate Daolord Darknorth too much. The man was probably significantly more powerful than him, after all.

“All I need to do is to slow him down as much as I can and make sure he doesn’t break free.” Emperor Nightwell felt quite confident in his chances.

Whoosh. Ji Ning appeared in the void above the Flydust Star, then quickly flew out of it.

“Eh?” Ning suddenly slowed down, frowning as he stared off into the distance at the pudgy, bizarrely white-skinned old man who had suddenly appeared before him. “Emperor Nightwell?” Ning recognized the man.

“I didn’t expect you to know of me, Daolord Darknorth. I’m flattered and honored.” Emperor Nightwell’s eyes crinkled as he beamed mirthfully. “I imagine you know why I am here, Daolord Darknorth. I’ve been standing guard in this place because I wish to invite you, Daolord Darknorth, to come pay a visit to the Sacred City of Silksnow. Our Archon truly wishes to meet with you.”

“Invite me?” Ning smiled coldly. “Very well. Lead the way.”

“If I’m up ahead leading the way… what if you suddenly run off, Daolord Darknorth? Wouldn’t that be troublesome? I think you should enter my estate-world. That way, we can move more quickly and more conveniently.” Emperor Nightwell continued to beam at Ning.

Ning had already decided that he was going to uproot Archon Silksnow’s entire organization! He had naturally done his research on the Emperors belonging to the Sacred City of Silksnow. Aside from a few reclusive old fellows who were hard to find information about, Ning had essentially gotten full reports on almost all of them. As for Emperor Nightwell… this pudgy, bizarrely white-skinned old man was rotten to the core.

Of the Emperors belonging to the Sacred City of Silksnow who Ning was planning to kill, Emperor Nightwell definitely ranked in the top three.

“If I enter your estate-world, my life would be in your hands.” Ning shook his head. “Pardon me for not obliging.”

“Daolord Darknorth… given the situation, do you really think you’ll be able to escape?” Emperor Nightwell’s eyes flashed with cold light.

“Escape from who? You?” Ning chuckled.

“I might not be able to beat you, Daolord Darknorth, but you can forget about escaping.” Emperor Nightwell smiled. The reason why Archon Silksnow had chosen the three of them was because they were highly skilled at tying down opponents.

Ning suddenly said in a soft voice, “I’ve heard, Emperor Nightwell, that for the sake of training your self-created [Nightwell] secret art, you slaughtered every single infant within a total of 381 territories.”

“They were nothing more than infants. More are being produced every day,” Emperor Nightwell said softly.

“Hegemon Brightshore is a Chaos Godbeast. Hegemon Netherlily is an Ancient. Hegemon Windrain is an Aberrant. None of them had parents, as all three were born from the primordial chaos.” Ning said softly, “But I, however, was born in the mortal world and slowly trained my way up. When I see someone like you, who used the lives of little babies to master your secret arts, I have only one thought in my mind… to kill you! I was worried about being unable to find you, but you actually delivered yourself right to my doorstep.”

There were many evil cultivators who used babies to train in secret arts or divine abilities; infant placenta, for example, was used in countless evil techniques. This was because newborn infants represented the genesis of new life; they were filled with tremendous vitality and infinite potential.

Ning was filled with the utmost of loathing for these types of cultivators. Whenever he encountered one, his response could be summarized in one word: Kill!

“Ahahaha! There are plenty who wish to kill me, even amongst Eternal Emperors… but so what? I’m still doing perfectly fine.” Emperor Nightwell roared with laughter, his deep Immortal energy causing his laughter to echo throughout the chaotic void around them. “There are only a few who can actually kill me, and I stay the hell away from them. As for you? Daolord Darknorth, you are still just a Daolord. You, kill me? Hah! Archon Silksnow himself isn’t able to kill me, but you think you can? Haha…”

Emperor Nightwell similarly detested people like Ning who wished to kill him just because he was ‘evil’.

Snick. Snick. Snick…

Ning’s six Northbow swords simultaneously flew out of their sheaths. Ning manifested three heads and six arms, holding all six Northbow swords at the ready.

……

“Daolord Darknorth is standing right in front of me, and he’s actually going to attack me. Don’t worry, Archon; there’s no way I’ll let him escape.” Emperor Nightwell sent word to Archon Silksnow while immediately executing his legendary [Nightwell] secret art.

Rumble… his bizarrely white skin suddenly extended in every direction like a giant sack, with the opening of the sack aimed directly at Ning and sending a surge of sucking power straight towards him. Inside the giant white sack, only endless darkness could be seen.

Ning held all six Northbow swords as he quietly watched his opponent charge towards him. The giant white sack quickly flew towards Ning, seeking to swallow him within the opening. An enormous, hideous face suddenly appeared at the opening as well. This was Emperor Nightwell’s face, and that face opened its giant mouth, the teeth glistening like a hell of countless knives as he bit down towards Ning, seeking to swallow Ning whole.

“You can die now.” Ning showed no mercy at all.

BOOM! A pair of dazzling wings suddenly appeared in the air above Ning. At the same time, countless arcs of sword-light appeared as well around Ning. The two instantly combined to form an enormous Yin-Yang Chaosworld which completely trapped the giant sack within it.

Rumble… a titanic heartworld projection came descending as well. The heartworld projection had mountains, rivers, lakes, grasslands, and prairies that could be seen with clarity. The giant ‘sword mountain’ at the very center caused a particularly strong sense of awe and dread. The heartworld projection merged together with the Yin-Yang Chaosworld perfectly.

Slash! Slash! Slash! The white sack was instantly torn asunder.

“How is this possible?” Emperor Nightwell reappeared in his original form, but faced by the double dangers of the Yin-Yang Chaosworld and the heartworld projection, he only felt a sense of tremendous fear.