The Desolate Era

The Windsource Chaosworld was an enormous, ellipsoid sphere.

Swoosh.

A boat flew into the Windsource Chaosworld, carrying three cultivators within it. These three cultivators didn’t disguise their auras in the slightest.

“Why have the three of you come to Windsource?” The air shimmered momentarily before a black-robed Ancestral Immortal appeared. This Ancestral Immortal had a pair of wings on his back and a white horn growing out of his forehead.

“The three of us have come here to scavenge for ancient relics.” All three of the cultivators rose to their feet. They had powerful auras and were either Elder Gods or first-tier Ancestral Immortals.

“Here are three bottles of chaos nectar.” One of the three, a silver-haired cultivator, waved his hand and sent three bottles of chaos nectar over.

The black-robed Ancestral Immortal accepted the bottles, then said calmly, “Very well. I trust the three of you understand that this is a border world which lies between Fogstone and the Blacklotus Empire. Don’t get caught up in our problems.”

“We understand,” the three cultivators responded, then quickly departed on their boat.

Whoosh.

An old man whose body was surrounded by waves of blood suddenly appeared next to the black-robed Ancestral Immortal. The old man said with a smile, “Whitehorn, was that another group of treasure hunters?”

“Yes.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal waved his hand, revealing the three bottles of chaos nectar.

“Those ancient relic sites have attracted quite a few Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals over the years. We’ve collected so much chaos nectar that my hands are starting to go limp.” The old man shook his head. “A pity that we have to offer all of it up to our superiors. It’d be wonderful if we could keep it for ourselves.”

“Do you think all of those Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals would obediently hand over those bottles if they were meant for you?” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal smirked.

The Windsource Chaosworld...

It wasn’t a chaosworld that had been created through completely natural means.

The Pangu Chaosworld and the Seamless Chaosworld had started out as Worldhearts which gave birth to Fiendgods. The strongest of the Fiendgods had established the chaosworld, then perished.

The Windsource Chaosworld, however, had been artificially created by an ancient and enormously powerful figure.

That ancient figure had taken over nearly half of the chaosworld for his own use, transforming it into his own Immortal estate. After he had died, his Immortal estate had become a relic site.

The home of a powerful cultivator, even a deceased one, was an extremely dangerous place. The cultivator would have set down many layers of traps in order to ensure that it would be difficult for anyone to invade. Thus, even though this ancient figure had died, his estate remained filled with layers of dangers.

However, the techniques and treasures which the deceased figure had left behind were also powerful enough to drive countless cultivators wild.

The Windsource Ruins was an incredibly famous place. Even World Gods and Chaos Immortals had lost their lives there. To this very day, the Windsource Ruins was still filled with mysteries. However, the cultivators that managed to survive it and come back with treasures ensured that there would forever be a steady stream of fortune seekers.

Want to try your luck?

No problem. Just pay the entrance fee!

When using a spacetime transfer array, you had to pay a bottle of chaos nectar. This relic site belonged to Fogstone, and so if one wished to visit it one would have to pay the fee. World Gods and Chaos Immortals naturally didn’t have to pay anything, but Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals did. Otherwise, they would be surrounded and attacked by the Fogstone Army, which would be a rather miserable ending.

The most profitable enterprise in the Badlands Territory lay in operating spacetime transfer arrays, but all twenty-one of them had been taken over by the Badlands Court! The other powers could do nothing besides envy them.

“Has the Sentinel arrived yet?” A muscular goldscale Fiendgod suddenly appeared next to them.

“Not yet.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal shook his head.

“We’ve been watching for him this entire time.” The old man surrounded by bloody waves was a bit worried. “I wonder what sort of a personality this Sentinel has. Whitehorn and I have been managing the Windsource Chaosworld for several chaos cycles. I hope this new Sentinel won’t rip us off too badly.”

The Windsource Chaosworld was a world which had been established by an ancient power. Naturally occurring chaosworlds were only able to survive for a single chaos cycle before they would decay and then be reborn. The Windsource Chaosworld was protected by the Windsource Ruins within it and thus had been able to exist for an extremely long period of time.

“I heard that this Sentinel is a new general.” The goldscale Fiendgod lowered his voice. “Our Fogstone Army only had a total of five generals, with him becoming the sixth. I’ve never met this guy either. I have no idea what he is like. Keep praying, you two.”

“Right.” The other two both felt rather nervous.

Sentinels were responsible for overseeing certain region. They were given tremendous amounts of power.

Just as the three of them were discussing this new Sentinel...

Swish.

A tear suddenly appeared in the skies on the opposite end of the Windsource Chaosworld. A streak of light flew out from the tear, then came to a halt. It was Ji Ning.

“Eh? Something just happened.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal, the old man, and the goldscale Fiendgod all hurried over.

As they teleported over, they saw a white-robed youth appear in midair, staring downwards towards this vast chaosworld.

“He looks identical to the painting we were given.” The three of them didn’t hesitate at all, immediately flying over towards Ning. The black-robed Ancestral Immortal immediately asked, “Are you the new Sentinel?”

Ning waved his hand, producing an insignia.

Rumble...

The insignia emitted a wave of overwhelming power that had an aura identical to that of the Starlord’s.

“We bow in greetings to you, Sentinel.” The three of them hurriedly called out respectfully to Ning. There was no way the Sentinel insignia could be counterfeited, and once the Starlord gave it to Ji Ning, he would become the only person capable of using it. No other Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals would be able to use it.

“Mm.” Ning nodded. “The three of you are...?”

“I’m Whitehorn. He’s Bloodsea. The two of us are responsible for managing all affairs of the Windsource Chaosworld, great or small.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal hurriedly answered the question.

“I am Elder God Mountain Eater.” The goldscale soldier was incredibly muscular, but he had a simple, honest look in his eyes. He said in a low voice, “The 321 Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals stationed in the Windsource Chaosworld all obey my commands. Per the Starlord, from this day forth I shall obey the Sentinel’s commands.”

Ning smiled and nodded. Given how many chaosworlds the Starlord commanded, it only made sense that he had designated certain individuals to manage them. Generally speaking, he would arrange for two Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals to watch over each chaosworld as well as each other. In addition, the Starlord would also occasionally send out a Sentinel to oversee certain areas and ensure that the local managers weren’t plundering the worlds they were supposed to oversee.

The Windsource Chaosworld was under the management of Ancestral Immortal Whitehorn and Elder God Bloodsea.

“The three of you can simply refer to me as Sword Immortal Sunrise,” Ning said. Since the Starlord was helping him to disguise his identity, Ning naturally was going to use a false name as well.

“Sword Immortal Sunrise,” the three called out respectfully.

“Where is the Fogstone Army stationed? Take me there,” Ning instructed.

“Right over there.” Elder God Mountain Eater pointed at a distant chain of mountains. “We all live there in the Eastcalm Mountains.”

The mountain range stretched out for thousands of kilometers. The Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals had all chosen mountain peaks that they liked, then settled down on their respective peaks. The distance between the mountain peaks was negligible to them; once battle began, they would be able to almost instantly gather together.

“Oh?” Ning nodded and smiled. “Then I will live there as well. Brother Mountain Eater, overseeing the Windsource Chaosworld is just a minor part of my duties. The real reason I’ve come here is to battle against the Blacklotus Empire by your side.”

“With you by our side, general, our victory is assured.” Elder God Mountain Eater chortled.

“I heard that the Windsource Ruins here are quite famous.” Ning turned his head to glance at the Bloodsea and Whitehorn. “Do you have any reports on the Windsource Ruins which you can share with me? If you do, give me a copy.”

“We do.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal immediately waved his hand, producing a jade slip which he respectfully offered to Ning.

“Mm. Very well then, that’s all I need from you. Go do whatever you need to do,” Ning instructed. “Just keep cooperating with the Fogstone Army. If there’s nothing urgent, no need to come speak to me.”

“Understood.” “Understood.”

Both Whitehorn and Bloodsea assented respectfully.

“You may leave,” Ning said. Only then did the two depart.

......

“He let us leave, just like that?” Elder God Bloodsea murmured in a soft voice, “Whitehorn, I thought we’d have to offer him some of our treasures. I even prepared mine already.”

“I know, right? This Sentinel is a general; he definitely has very high standards. I was really worried about this. I never would’ve thought he’d let us leave, just like that.” The black-robed Ancestral Immortal let out a sigh of relief as well. “It sounds like he doesn’t really want us to bother him unless there’s something urgent. It seems as though this one really isn’t planning on extorting treasures out of us.”

“Right.” Bloodsea felt jubilant as well.

......

“General, all you had to do was say the word and they would’ve offered up their treasures like good little boys.” Elder God Mountain Eater grinned at Ning. “Managing a place like the Windsource Chaosworld is a wonderful assignment. Not just any Elder God will be assigned here.”

Ning shook his head. Given how powerful he now was, why would he need to extort his subordinates?

Ning turned his head to stare at the distant Eastcalm Mountains. For a long period of time, perhaps ten thousand years or even longer, he would be living in this place.

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