The Desolate Era

The towering castle was utterly, endlessly enormous.

The two squads held a total of seven World-level experts, and they were like ants crawling atop the surface of that utterly enormous plaza. The leaders of the two squads, that blood-robed youth and that gold-robed youth, both raised their heads to stare at the titanic gates to the towering castle.

The front gates to the Castrum Divinitus was just as vast and towering as the castle itself.

Even though they were World Gods, they could just barely make out the outlines of the great castle. The edges to the castle were so far away that they appeared quite blurry to these World Gods. This was a testament to how truly vast this castle was.

“Daolord Allgod truly was a cultivator who was comparable to Eternal Emperors.” A blazing look was in the eyes of the blood-robed youth. “Sooner or later, I’ll become just as powerful as Daolord Allgod was. My name will spread throughout the Endless Territories, just as his did. Countless cultivators will tremble in fear when they hear my name. Ahahaha...”

“Are you still daydreaming? Time to wake up.” The golden-robed youth in the other squad smirked.

“Hmph. You’ll be nothing more than a stepping stone to me.” The blood-robed youth glanced sideways at the golden-robed youth.

“Based on what I can sense from the workings of fate... you’ll die here while I will survive.” The golden-robed youth’s voice held a strange cadence to it as he spoke.

“You fool.” The blood-robed youth laughed coldly.

As they were chatting with each other, drops of liquid suddenly began to manifest atop the vast plaza. The drops of liquid were covered in flames, and they slowly began to drawn together into a fiery figure. The flames began to die away, revealing the figure’s form. This was a bald, muscular man who had three eyes, the third eye in the middle of his forehead glowing with golden light.

“The Goldeye Golem.” The golden-robed youth and the blood-robed youth blanched, hurriedly suppressing their auras and beginning to act in a much more humble manner.

The Goldeye Golem was Daolord Allgod’s greatest creation and the most perfect manifestation of his Dao of Constructs.

Daolord Allgod was an expert in both artificing and in golem-making. The Goldeye Golem was the most powerful golem he had ever created, and Daolord Allgod had infused it with certain restrictive spells that ensured that there was no way any other cultivators would ever be able to take control over it. In other words...the Goldeye Golem possessed freedom!

It possessed tremendous power and was comparable to a Daolord who had reached the verge of the Daomerge! The Allgod Estate was under its control, as was the many formations and protective spells inside of it. Even Samsara Daolords who were themselves at the Verge would definitely die if they tried to force their way through the estate... and this Goldeye Golem was just one of the many defensive mechanisms which Daolord Allgod had left behind in this place.

This was a golem that could not be bound. It would forever stay within the Allgod Estate, serving as its eternal guardian! This was the First Guardian and Commander of the Castrum Divinitus, the core of the Allgod Estate.

“It has been a long, long time since a cultivator has come to the Castrum Divinitus.” The bald, three-eyed man stared coldly at the two squads. “You were able to overcome many dangers and make your way to the castle. Very well done.”

The Allgod Estate was divided into three regions.

The outer region was the Ten Thousand Mountains. The inner region was the Fog Sea. The core region was the Castrum Divinitus.

Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals generally stayed in the Ten Thousand Mountains, as 90% of them would perish if they dared to enter the Fog Sea.

World-level experts generally stayed in the Fog Sea. Although some of them would die, they still stood a decent chance of survival. However, if they dared to travel on to the Castrum Divinitus it was almost guaranteed that they would perish.

As for Daolords?

Daolords did not dare to enter this place at all.

“There were originally twenty-two of you. For seven of you to survive and make it to this place means that you are fairly strong for World-level experts,” the three-eyed man evaluated.

Generally speaking, only one out of ten World-level cultivators would be able to survive a journey to the Castrum Divinitus. Thus, people like Ning or World God Dragonbinder wouldn’t even think about trying to travel all the way to the core region. Such an attempt would be sheer suicide.

“Tell me. What do you desire?” The bald three-eyed man asked.

The gazes of the two squad leaders lit up. The blood-robed youth and the gold-robed youth had both risked their lives in order to acquire the same treasure!

“The divine blood of the Eternal!”

“The divine blood of the Eternal!”

The two simultaneously said the exact same thing.

“The divine blood of the Eternal?” The bald three-eyed man frowned. It was clearly just a golem, but it behaved just as an actual living being might. Previously, there was a look of kindness in his gaze. Now, his words and his bearing had turned markedly colder. “If you have come here for the divine blood of the Eternal, you should know exactly where that blood came from! My master spent endless years chasing after Eternal Emperor Melobo. After dealing him a grievious injury, my master was able to steal away a portion of his divine blood. After refining it down to its purest essence, Master was able to produce just a single drop of purified divine blood!”

“That drop of Eternal blood is utterly priceless. It is one of the top ten treasures of the Allgod Estate!” The bald three-eyed man swept the seven cultivators with his gaze. “But since you have made it past all the dangerous obstacles in your way... per Master’s orders, you are qualified to be given one chance to acquire one of his legacy’s.”

“However, the more valuable the legacy, the more difficult the trial.” The three-eyed man continued, “I urge you to give up and instead choose an Eternal weapon, a precious elixir, or even a hundred bugbeasts servants. Those trials are all much easier.”

“I only wish for the Eternal blood,” the blood-robed youth said.

“The only thing I desire is the Eternal blood,” the gold-robed youth agreed.

“Oh?” The three-eyed man was rather irritated, but he couldn’t go against the orders which his master had set down.

“Very well then.” The three-eyed man’s voice was now ice-cold, and it grated against the ears of the seven cultivators. “All seven of you desire the divine blood of the Eternal?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Yes”

The other five World-level experts all spoke out as well.

“You have made your request, and your request is for the Eternal blood of Melobo!” The three-eyed man nodded. “Very well then. You shall be given the most difficult trial...the Twin Samsara Heavens!”

“Good.” The gold-robed youth and the blood-robed youth both had blazing, eager looks in their eyes.

Anyone who reached the front gates of the Castrum Divinitus could make a request of the Goldeye Golem. Daolord Allgod was quite benevolent towards weaker cultivators. He slew any and all Daolords who attempted to enter his estate, but any World-level experts who made it to the front gates usually would not leave empty-handed!

“You’ve already experienced many life-threatening dangers in your quest to reach this place. If you asked for any other treasures, even if you failed your trials you wouldn’t be at risk of losing your lives,” the three-eyed man said. “However, the trial of the Twin Samsara Heavens is the most difficult trial possible. Many of you will die, and it is possible that all seven of you will fail to acquire the Eternal blood. By then, it will be too late to feel regret.”

“We won’t feel regret.”

“No regrets.”

The blood-robed youth and the gold-robed youth both spoke out in unison. In their hearts, they were actually beginning to curse at the golem.

Cut the crap, alright? Hurry up and start!

“Very well.” The three-eyed man nodded. “The trial of the Twin Samsara Heavens requires a total of ten World-level experts. Only seven of you are present. Therefore...I will teleport three additional World-level experts from various places throughout the Allgod Estate. They, too, shall take part in the Twin Samsara Heavens alongside the seven of you. They too shall have a chance to acquire the Eternal blood.

The faces of both the blood-robed youth and the gold-robed youth tightened... but then they smiled coldly.

“Would those ants even dare to compete against us?”

“If they come, they die.” action

Both felt quite confident in their abilities.

“Mm...” The three-eyed man nodded slowly. “I can sense four other World-level experts within the Allgod Estate right now. I’ll teleport the three closest ones here.”

......

“Hmph. You wanted to resist me?” World God Dragonbinder was seated atop a boulder, a somewhat excited look in his eyes as he stared at a flying needle which he had just recently acquired.

Rumble...

Suddenly, space around him began to twist and distort.

“How can this-...” Dragonbinder’s face twisted. He had never heard of something like this happening before, of a person tripping a formation despite sitting there and not even moving. Space around him formed into a spatial whirlpool which quickly drew Dragonbinder into its folds.

Swoosh.

World God Dragonbinder disappeared without a trace.

......

“Perhaps I’ll have a chance of succeeding once I become a master-class World-level expert.” A green-haired man dressed in long pink robes and whose narrow eyes were filled with foxlike cunning was staring at a palace in front of him. He had two females behind him, both Ancestral Immortals.

“Yes, I have to reach the level of full mastery first. If I still fail, then I’ll simply accept my death within this Fog Sea.” A look of resolve was in the pink-robed man’s eyes.

Rumble...

Space twisted around him as well as that spatial vortex appeared.

“What’s going on?” The pink-robed man was astonished. He had spent more than a thousand years in the Fog Sea but had never encountered a situation like this.

“Master!” His two maids were shocked as well.

The whirlpool of twisted space completely enveloped him as well as both of his maids.

Swoosh.

All three of them disappeared without a trace.

......

“Youji, you need to spend some time thinking about how to infuse your insights regarding the Dao of Fire into your combat tactics.” Ning was by Su Youji’s side, watching as she filled the air around her with countless curved scimitars. These were the treasures left behind by Chaos Immortal Foxbold, and they actually a very good fit for the Flamefairy.

But of course, Ning would help Su Youji acquire even better weapons after they left the Allgod Estate.

“Alright.” Su Youji nodded.

Rumble...

Spatial ripples began to appear in the surrounding area.

“What’s going on?!” Ning and the Flamefairy were both shocked. The spatial ripples twisted into a vortex which quickly encompassed the two of them, giving them no chance to hide or to dodge.

Swoosh.

Both Ning and the Flamefairy disappeared as well.

......

The blood-robed youth, the gold-robed youth, and the five World-level retainers were all standing before the great plaza. As for the three-eyed man, he stood at the very front of them.

At this moment, a series of spatial ripples began to appear next to him.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

A series of figures began to appear from within the spatial ripples. The three groups consisted of the pink-robed man and his two maids, World God Dragonbinder, and Ji Ning and Su Youji.

“Even Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were roped in?” The blood-robed youth laughed. “Why’d you even bring them? My servants are all World-level experts.”

“For them to come means death.” The gold-robed youth laughed coldly.

Although the two wanted nothing more than to kill each other, that was because they viewed each other as dangerous opponents. As for other World-level experts? They truly held very little respect for the vast majority of them.

“What’s going on?”

“Why are we here?”

The cultivators who had just been forcibly dragged to this place all stared around in a bewildered fashion.

“Senior apprentice-brother Dragonbinder.” When Ning saw Dragonbinder, he couldn’t help but call out to him mentally.

“Brother Ji Ning. Flamefairy.” When World God Dragonbinder saw Ning and Su Youji appear, he was also delighted and hurriedly messaged both of them. They could all sense that something strange was happening and so confined their conversation to the mental realm.

“Hmph. All of you were quite lucky. The seven of us risked our lives and nearly died to make it to this place, but you were lucky enough to be teleported straight here.” The blood-robed youth laughed coldly.

“Wrong. They aren’t lucky. They are unlucky as all hell... because they are going to die very soon,” the gold-robed youth said calmly.