The Desolate Era

The light of the crescent moon seemed very slow, but it was actually ridiculous fast. In addition, the light it released completely covered Ji Ning, making it so that he couldn’t even evade it via his ‘Shadowless’ evasion art.

“So this is a Hegemon’s power? Perfect for me to test myself out.” Ning was brimming with the desire to do battle, and his three-headed, six-armed form wielded all six Northbow swords with defensive sword-arts.

Whoosh. The crescent moon instantly slashed towards Ning, an object of supreme beauty that was filled with terrifying danger.

Ning’s sword-light flared up as well, transforming into gentle tsunami that swirled around him, forming a whirlpool that then transformed into a black hole. However, at the borders of the black hole a few ripples of tsunami sword-light could be seen.

Slash! The crescent moon ‘gently’ flew into the black hole. BOOM!!!! The skies above the Sacred City suddenly exploded as spacetime itself split apart, generating multiple layers of cracked and distorted dimensional continuums. Even Ning was knocked backwards uncontrollably by the force of the shockwave.

Ning could sense how the attack burned through his layers of defenses, then slammed against him. Ning revealed a smile. His entire body was feeling a bit numb, but it actually felt nice. All the training he had undergone and all of the many legacies he had acquired had finally let him reach a level where he could easily block a Hegemonic strike. Although the attack still dominated him, his body was quite stable. He hadn’t even spat out any blood! This meant that the difference in power wasn’t all that great.

“Now, I stand at the very apex of power amongst the Archons. I’m very close to the Hegemons, while my sword-arts are highly defensive... the treasures which Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud are launching at me aren’t of much threat to me any longer.” Ning smiled.

Whoosh. Right at this moment, that plain-looking gray longspear flew towards him. The longspear’s tip was filled with an extremely terrifying destructive force.

“Judging from how it looks... it should’ve been a relic left behind by the Sithe.” Ning watched as the spear flew towards him, feeling quite relaxed as he evaluated its power. “I wonder what technique the Sithe used to infuse a spear-tip with such terrifying power.” The sword-tsunami once more appeared around him, then transformed into a black hole that began to defend against the attacking gray spear.

Crack! Spacetime began to shatter around him, revealing a jagged wound in the fabric of reality as a surge of gray power tore straight through it. Ning was once more knocked flying backwards by the strike.

......

Although this took time to describe, the consecutive attacks by the crescent moon and the plain longspear were actually nearly instantaneous. Ning was knocked flying backwards and clearly at a disadvantage, but he didn’t even vomit any blood, much less suffer serious injuries!

“What? B-but... how is this possible?!” Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud were now completely stunned.

“He was actually able to face a Hegemonic strike head-on! And he wasn’t even injured?!” Archon Silksnow felt a sense of a rage and disbelief... but he also understood that the difference in power between himself and Daolord Darknorth was now simply enormous. Not only did Daolord Darknorth have formidable attacks, he had even more terrifying defenses. He had defended against a Hegemonic strike, just like that!

“Silksnow, we’ve lost. We were defeated. We can’t beat him! We have no chance at all!” Emperor Bloodcloud was filled with pain, but he tore open a spacetime tunnel and fled into it like a giant wave of blood.

Right now, Archon Silksnow’s mind was filled with many thoughts. Just a short while ago, he was one of the most elite figures of the Flamedragon Realmverse, one of the eight Archons of the Sacred Cities. Today... a mere Daolord had beaten him into a sorry state where he was forced to retreat. Archon Silksnow understood that his power was not even close to being enough to battle Ning.

“I lost. I lost. However... this doesn’t end here. I’m definitely not going to just give up.” Archon Silksnow cast Ning a deep look. The Daolord he had once held in contempt had now become the most terrifying foe he had ever made. Archon Silksnow then cast all other thoughts aside, tearing open a spacetime tear and fleeing into it. Ning had been blasted back by the Hegemonic strikes, resulting in his Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker losing its suppressive effect upon local spacetime. This was why Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud were able to easily tear through spacetime and flee.

Archon Silksnow and Emperor Bloodcloud both understood the difference in power between them and their foe. They wisely chose to retreat.

......

Ji Ning once more stood up within the empty void of space. There were no longer any cultivators around him; Silksnow and Bloodcloud had already torn through spacetime to flee, while the surviving avatars of the Emperors had taken advantage of the moment when Ning was being assaulted by the crescent moon and the plain longspear to flee in every direction. Creating a powerful avatar wasn’t easy or cheap, after all; they weren’t willing to give themselves up.

And so... the only person in the air above the Sacred City was the white-robed youth.

The countless cultivators within the Sacred City, including tens of thousands of Daolords, all stared at Ning. They were completely stunned. None of them had imagined that this would be the final result.

“Archon Silksnow fled. The other Emperors either died or fled as well.”

“Death or flight... the only one left is now Daolord Darknorth.”

“He’s too powerful.”

“Daolord Darknorth... he beat over twenty Emperors into utter submission.”

“Not even the eight Archons are a match for Daolord Darknorth.”

The countless cultivators were so excited, they were about to go crazy. They all hurried to send word of this result to their friends. This sort of unprecedented, unheard of result spread throughout the Endless Territories like mad. Every single Daolord who received word was completely stunned, as were the reclusive Emperors.

What? A Daolord had actually defeated Silksnow Fiend Palace, the rulers of one of the eight Sacred Cities?

“What? H-he’s actually this strong?” Emperor Islehide and Emperor Anchen’s avatars were still in the process of hurrying over from the Aeonian stronghold, but they were completely stunned by what they heard.

“Let’s move there immediately.”

“Quickly!” Both moved at their maximum speed.

......

“A Daolord actually beat Silksnow and Bloodcloud into flight? He actually blocked Hegemonic attack-treasures head-on?” A white-haired, black-winged elder walked out of the highest tower within a palace that was located inside a beautiful world of boundless light. A stunned look was on his face. “I’ve been in seclusion, hoping to train to the Hegemon level... I never would’ve imagined that the Flamedragon Realmverse would give birth to such a powerful Daolord. How could a Daolord become this powerful? Perhaps I’ll learn something from him that can give me a better chance at reaching Hegemony.”

The black-winged, white-haired elder took a single step forwards, transforming into a streak of light that shot through spacetime and disappeared without a trace.

......

“Impossible. Did you perhaps mishear things? How could a Daolord be that powerful? But... even the Emperors of the Dao Alliance are telling me the same thing. How can a Daolord be this powerful!?” A wrinkly-faced old granny walked out of a wooden house. A number of ordinary mortals were living in the area as well. The old granny’s appearance quickly changed to become noble and regal, while her robes became beautiful to behold.

The graceful old lady waved her hand, tearing a hole in spacetime and then stepping into that hole.

......

Many ancient Emperors who had been in seclusion for many years and who were thought to be dead were coming out of hiding. They normally preferred not to get involved with the outside world and at most kept in touch with some of their oldest friends... but once they heard the news from those friends and they learned of what had happened in Silksnow City, they began to grow restless.

The reason why they had gone into seclusion was because they didn’t want to be bothered by mundane affairs. They wanted to quietly train in peace and live the type of life they wanted. They all sought to one day reach Hegemony. There had been some Emperors, after all, who had slowly trained until they had one day reached the Hegemon level!

Now that they heard how powerful a Daolord had become, they naturally all grew quite curious.

Hegemon Brightshore had been the first to arrive, and he had watched everything personally from hiding. Although surprised, he was still fairly calm at first... but when he saw how Ning managed to defend against the crescent moon and the plain longspear in a head-long clash, Hegemon Brightshore was truly stunned.

“Those were treasures left behind by the Sithe which were comparable in might to a Hegemon’s full-power strike.” Hegemon Brightshore was rather shocked. “Although they were a bit weaker than a full-power hit from me, it had reached Windrain and Netherlily’s levels. Darknorth actually managed to rely on mere sword-arts to block two consecutive attacks from incredible Sithe treasures.”

“He was overpowered, true... but he still managed to endure the strike head-on. He is now at a level of power where he is on par with the most supreme of Archons. Most likely, he’s on par with the two leaders of the Dao Alliance.” Hegemon Brightshore was stunned. “Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. His only flaw is that he probably doesn’t have an invulnerable form. Those who train in the Dao of the Sword generally do not have invulnerable forms... and without one, his life-preserving abilities will be slightly lacking.”

What he didn’t know, obviously, was that Ning DID have an invulnerable form... the Shadowless form. However, a ‘mere’ Hegemonic strike wasn’t enough to force him to use it.

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