Desolate Era

Within the Windsource Ruins.

Daolord Solesky and Ji Ning stood in the air, the area around them filled with streams of gray energy.

“Uhh…” Daolord Solesky stared at the streams of gray energy swirling in the skies. Every single stream of energy came out of great crevices within the earth, intermingled with the other streams of gray energy in the air, then plunged back down into a different crevice.

“Interesting. Daolord Windsource was quite a legend, and it seems he had the power to match his reputation.” Daolord Solesky stared at the many criss-crossing streams of gray energy in the skies. “A pity that my path is completely different from his. Otherwise, I’d burrow into the ground and spend some time getting a clear look of the Hundred Streams of the Windsource.”

Ning just stood next to him, not understanding any of this. It had been one of those streams of gray energy that had pulled him into one of the deep abysses.

“Big brother.” Ning pointed towards a pool of water below them, then said, “When I last entered the Windsource Ruins, I accidentally encountered a little house by that lake. The house held a deceased World God and a tower-shaped Eternal treasure he had.”

“An Eternal treasure?” Daolord Solesky glanced downwards, two streams of golden light shooting out of his eyes.

“No, nothing there. There’s no house.” Daolord Solesky shook his head. “The Hundred Streams of the Windsource are constantly changing. The house you encountered last time could well be ten million kilometers away by now.”

Daolord Solesky wouldn’t mind taking away an Eternal weapon if there was no effort involved, but alas it wasn’t there.

“Let’s go.” Daolord Solesky shook his head. “When Daolord Windosurce died, many of his World Gods died with him, but only four or five of them held Eternal weapons. All of them are scattered throughout the Ruins, and I’m not able to break apart the formation protecting this place. All I can do is try my luck, but I could spend thousands of years without finding one of the Eternal weapons.”

Ning agreed with this analysis.

Daolord Solesky himself had said earlier that when the Hundred Streams of the Windsource Formation unleashed its full might, it would be tremendously powerful. Quite a few Daolords, such as Daolord Waterwind or Daolord Badlands, had visited this place before, but all of them acted with great caution. None of them tried to actually breach the formation! This was a formation which Daolord Windsource had poured all of his heart, soul, power, and Dao into as he lay on the verge of death. When the formation was activated, it would possess as much power as Daolord Windsource himself did when engaging in a last-ditch final attack.

“I wouldn’t be afraid of fighting Daolord Windsource himself, but…” Daolord Solesky laughed. “Because he was dying, he poured everything he had into this formation. I don’t want to take on an explosive, full-strength from the thing.”

“Let’s go to the core regions.”

Daolord Solesky led Ning as they continued to fly forwards.

He didn’t try to breach the formation or bypass it. Instead he followed its natural flows, resulting in them slowly moving closer and closer towards the core regions.

Whoooosh. Before them were countless gusts of gray wind. The further they advanced, the more powerful the wind was and the more gusts of them appeared.

Ning stood by Daolord Solesky’s side, but he still couldn’t help but feel nervous.

He could sense that if he was by himself here, he would be completely ground apart into tiny pieces.

“These are all some of Windsource’s killer techniques, but those powerful enough can easily go through them without harm. In fact, they’ll actually form a giant corridor.” Daolord Solesky laughed as he led them through the gray wind.

Before them were a series of islands.

“We are now in a core region,” Daolord Solesky said.

“It is so beautiful here.” Ning saw a large lake that was thousands of kilometers long. In the center of the lake was a single large island surrounded by more than ten smaller islands.

“Don’t be fooled by appearances. This place is extremely dangerous.” Two streams of golden light shot out from Daolord Solesky’s eyes as he surveyed the region. “The island in the center is the place where Daolord Windsource used to live. The surrounding islands should be places where his disciples and servants lived.”

“Oh?” Ning swept the area with his gaze.

Every single island emanated ripples of energy.

Some emanated ripples of electric.

Some emanated ripples of frost.

Some emanated ripples of a bloody aura.

One island had an aura of sword-ki at its center that soared into the heavens.

As for the central island where Daolord Windsource had lived, that island emanated multiple rings of ripples. It was as though this island was generating a omnidirectional wind that gently rippled out in waves. In fact, when the wind reached them Daolord Solesky didn’t move to block it, allowing it to gently blow across them. The feeling was quite comfortable.

However, for some reason, whenever Ning looked at the central island his heart was filled with a sense of fear. “That old bastard.” Daolord Solesky stared intently at the central island, his eyes glowing with golden light as he mumbled to himself, “He died, but he wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t be easy for others to acquire his treasures without paying a price.”

“I won’t be able to take you inside, and I won’t be able to protect you once I go inside.” Daolord Solesky glanced at Ning. “There are quite a few islands around the big one. Just pick one.”

Ning felt a surge of joy. He actually didn’t want to go to the central island. It was too dangerous! If he went inside, he would probably die without even realizing what was happening.

“Alright.” Ning glanced at the small islands before turning to focus on the one which was emanating a towering aura of sword energy. “That one, I suppose.”action

Ning knew that all of the World-level experts here had died, which meant that the treasures they had left behind were all ownerless. Ownerless treasures would naturally emanate ripples of tremendous power…and a treasure which emanated such towering ripples of sword energy was bound to be an extraordinary one.

“That one?” Daolord Solesky turned his golden gaze towards that island. That island had an Immortal estate built atop it, and it was from this place that the sword-ki was emanating.

“Ji Ning, you should have the Eternal weapon which Northrest owned, right?” Daolord Solesky looked at Ning.

“Yes.” Ning nodded.

“Mm. When I saw you defend against those black lotuses, I could sense that you were quite strong. That’s why I suspected that you were probably using his ‘Violetjewel’.” Daolord Solesky nodded. “Since you have Violetjewel…although that island is filled with danger, you should be able to handle it.”

“Filled with danger?” Ning was secretly surprised.

“Go. That island holds three deceased World-level experts.” Daolord Solesky laughed. “The treasures they left behind aren’t bad. They are a good fit for you.”

“Three?” Ning nodded.

“Remember. No matter what, don’t move as much as a single step off of that island.” Daolord Solesky said solemnly, “If you touch or activate part of the formations here, you’ll instantly be reduced to dust. I won’t have any chance to save you.”

“I understand.” Ning nodded.

“Then go.” Daolord Solesky waved his hand, causing a stream of watery light to immediately surrounding Ning and send him flying towards the small island at high speed.

Whooooosh.

Ning landed atop a grassy patch of land. He hurriedly raised his head to stare at the skies, where he saw Daolord Solesky smile and nod towards him. “Just wait here for me on this island.” Daolord Solesky then immediately transformed into a formless stream of water that flew straight towards the large central island.

The ripples of gentle wind surrounding transformed into ripples of incredibly sharp golden wind that could cut through anything. However, that stream of water was durable and formless; even after being chopped apart, it seeped through the wind and reformed, easily bypassing the barrier and entering the central island.

When Ning saw Daolord Solesky transform into a stream of water and sensed the terrifying power of the golden wind emanating from the central island, he was once more reminded of the huge gap in power that existed between him and them. They were on completely different levels.

“I’m still very weak.” Ning turned his head to look at the island he was on.

The island he was on was a few dozen kilometers in size.

The island was filled with beautiful flowers and lovely trees, as well as a few small hills. The Immortal estate was located at the very center and was quite dazzling to behold.

“Is that where the three World-level experts are?”

“Big brother Solesky told me that although this place is filled with danger, I can handle it.” Ning stretched out his hand, causing Violetjewel to appear within it. The azureflower mist energy began to fill his body as well, further strengthening it.

Ning carefully walked forward, arriving before the Immortal estate within a few seconds.

The doors to the palace were open. It was completely silent.

“Eh?”

As Ning cautiously advanced through the estate, he could sense how deathly still the entire place was. At the same time, the hallways were all extremely clean and tidy.

“Nobody here at all?” As Ning walked forward, he saw that the entire place was completely empty. There weren’t even any corpses to be seen. Ning tested out using his coresense and heartforce to scan the place, but the entire region hummed with a gentle wind that blocked out everything. Daolord Solesky was able to scan the place, but clearly Ning was far too weak to do so.

“Eh?” Just as Ning was wondering why there was nobody to be seen here, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Ning saw a small mountain off in the distance located just outside the walls of the palace. Midway up the mountain, there was a little pavilion, and there was a golden-robed figure seated in the lotus position within the pavilion.