Desolate Era

The many clones of the Junior Radiant King, Daolord Yanmi, all glowed with dazzling light that illuminated the entire Vastheaven Everworld. All of them shouted out in unison: “DESTROY!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! All of the light that had been illuminating the Vastheaven Everworld gathered together to form nine pillars of radiance! The nine pillars of light each contained a sword in the center, and they shot towards Ji Ning with terrifying and destructive power. These nine light pillars didn’t really have anything mysterious or profound to them; what they had was frontal, overwhelming, crushing power! They were so powerful that the three Vastheaven Daolords watching in the distance all turned pale.

“Just what I wanted.” Ning laughed loudly as he once more struck out with his palms. Whoosh! This time, an enormous black hole appeared in the area around Ning that swallowed up everything in its path.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A series of muffled, heavy collisions could be heard, but the black hole around Ning didn’t dissipate in the slightest. “Hah! Is that all you have?” Ning’s loud laughter rang out throughout the world around them.

“What?!” Daolord Yanmi was shocked. “Impossible. How could he have endured my attack that easily? Even if his avatar is comparable to top-grade Eternal treasures, he should’ve been blown backwards and been completely unable to resist the power of my attack!” His plan had been to knock Ning off his feet, then use his light to bind and tie down Ning during Ning’s moment of helplessness.

But… Ning had actually taken his blow head-on?!

“How can his avatar be as powerful as this? If his true body was here, would he be crushing me instead of vice-versa?” Daolord Yanmi could hardly believe it. “This was one of the three killer attacks created by the Radiant King, the [Lumislayer]. Although this is the weakest of the three attacks, this result is still…”

All of the light vanished, and Ning’s true body appeared once more. He stared at Daolord Yanmi, then shook his head. “Daolord Yanmi, you truly have disappointed me. So this is the first of the three legendary killer attacks of the Radiant King? If the Radiant King himself used this [Lumislayer], not even Eternal Emperors would dare to receive it head-on. But you… you are lacking by far.” Ning’s Omega Sword Dao had reached the ultimate apex in both offense and defense. The only way to breach his defense would be through an overwhelming disparity in power. Clearly, although his avatar only had 70% of his true body’s power, it was still roughly on par with Daolord Yanmi.

……

“He blocked it.” Daolord Solesky let out a sigh of relief.

“Darknorth’s Sword Dao truly is on par with his heartforce. He was actually able to endure the [Lumislayer] with ease.” Daolord Brightfish sighed in amazement. “He truly is incredible.”

“But the situation is still quite unfavorable for him.” Daolord Battlemaster frowned. “The Junior Radiant King has manifested over five hundred clones. Darknorth can do nothing but passively accept the man’s attacks. There’s no way for him to counter-attack at all. None of his counter-attacks would land on the Junior Radiant King’s true body.”

Daolord Solesky nodded somberly as well. “Yes. This is going to be a passive, one-sided battle. If he can’t hit back, it won’t be easy to win.”

“According to what I’ve heard, the Junior Radiant King is able to use only the first two killer attacks of the three.” Daolord Brightfish said anxiously, “In comparison, the [Lumislayer] is actually the weakest of the three attacks. Next is the [Lumihilator], with the strongest being the legendary [Lumipocalypse].”

Slay.

Annihilate.

Apocalypse.

These were the three legendary killer attacks. According to the legends, the [Lumipocalypse] was created and practiced by the Radiant King alone. It was this technique which allowed him to be recognized and acknowledged as the third most powerful Daolord of all the Endless Territories. However, the principle of this attack was to first injure the self, then injure the foe!

Ordinary Eternal Emperors would probably be slain in a single blow by this attack. One could imagine how strong it was! Given that even the Radiant King himself would be injured when using this attack, there was no way the Junior Radiant King ‘Daolord Yanmi’ was qualified to use it.

……

“Is that so?” Daolord Yanmi had an ugly look on his face, and he was verily brimming with murderous intent.

“I hear that you can use two of the three killer attacks of the Radiant King. I wonder how strong the second attack is?” Ning’s eyes gleamed with excitement. He wanted to see just how strong the so-called [Lumihilator] was and how it measured up to his own attacks, such as the Blood Drop stance and the Shadowless stance! The Radiant King himself normally just used the [Lumihilator] in combat, as the third killer attack would cause him severe injuries. Thus, he wouldn’t use it without a very good reason.

“Then have a taste of annihilation for yourself.” Daolord Yanmi’s hundreds of clones suddenly all vanished into thin air. Whoosh. They dispersed into motes of light that reformed into a single Daolord Yanmi.

Ning narrowed his eyes.

“I’m fairly weak,” Daolord Yanmi said in a soft voice. “Thus, I’m unable to maintain my clones while using the [Lumihilator]. The Radiant King, however, is able to launch this attack with all of his clones at once, making it impossible to tell which is real and which is false. That is true power! However… against you, my strength is enough.”

Ning immediately grew vigilant. Daolord Yanmi was down to just a single body now, and it didn’t seem all that powerful… and it was precisely the fact that he had reserved all of his power that Ning felt all the more vigilant.

Daolord Yanmi produced a single black sword in his hand. “Annihilate,” he murmured softly. Swoosh! His entire body seemed to merge together with that sword and transform into a dazzling strand of golden light. Even though he was under the pressure of the heartworld projection and the Yin-Yang Sword Domain, he still moved at seventy-two times the speed of light.

“What terrifying speed.” Ning was stunned. He himself was far slower than his opponent. “However… you wish to fight me in close combat? Hmph. Close combat isn’t all about speed.” Faced with the attacking strand of golden light, Ning struck out with both hands, forming sword-fingers with them to block.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The power of this strand of golden light came from pure speed. Just as it started to clash against Ning’s fingers and be blocked by them, it instantly changed directions. The strand of golden light continuously circled around Ning, moving at terrifying speeds as it attacked him again and again, almost as if it was bouncing between multiple mirrors. Ning was forced to rely on his Omega Sword Dao – Soleheart stance and pour all of his efforts in to defense.

“How is this possible?! How could his defenses be completely flawless? How can his avatar keep up with my speed?!” Daolord Yanmi was stunned even as he executed this killer attack.

The [Lumihilator] could be described by one word – fast! It vastly surpassed all other techniques in this area, and it was able to continuously change directions. Generally speaking, experts on the same level as the wielder would at most be able to block three or four times before they were no longer able to handle the changes in direction and were defeated! To date, when fighting opponents on the same level, Daolord Yanmi had only ever seen opponents rely on special techniques such as ‘invulnerable bodies’ to endure this attack. In all his life, he had only encountered two figures who were able to actually use their weapons to block this attack… with Ning being the second of the two!action

The first was the legendary number one expert of the entire Endless Territories. But of course, back then the man had merely been a Daolord of the Third Step.

“He really is quite fast. Incredibly fast, in fact, and the changes in direction are fast as well. This single attack is virtually all-encompassing and omnipresent. Its speed and agility alone allows the wielder to dominate much of the Endless Territories and defeat the vast majority of Daolords. However, its actual close-combat techniques are fairly weak. Its defenses are quite weak, and its attacks are excessively fixed and not sufficiently unpredictable. I’m able to easily tell where the next attack will be coming from.” This was Ning’s private evaluation. “Anyone faster than him would be able to defeat this attack with ease.”

However, Ning also knew that this current level of speed was in spite of his heartworld projection and his Yin-Yang Sword Domain. Even the most supreme of Daolords like Ninedust would generally be unable to keep up with these attacks. As for the Radiant King, he himself was already able to move at a hundred times the speed of light. One could imagine how fast his [Lumihilate] would be!

“Failed. Failed. Failed again…” Daolord Yanmi was increasingly anxious. He had launched more than a thousand attacks in an incredibly short period of time, but all of them had been blocked by Ning. Ning was clearly much slower than him, but Ning’s defenses were so airtight, flawless, and perfect that he wasn’t able to find a single opening at all.

“I’ve tested out both of your killer attacks, and they seem quite so-so. Time for my counter-attack!” Ning’s heartforce instantly surged out, silently and soundless infiltrating Daolord Yanmi’s body.

At present, Ning had two incredibly powerful heartforce attacks! This was his second one – the [Dreamstar]! The [Heartforce Eradicator] focused on a head-on clash, while the [Dreamstar] focused on illusions!

“Eh?” Daolord Yanmi had been focused on this furious battle, but he suddenly sensed his soul and truesoul being entranced. Illusions began to appear in front of him, but he instantly brought himself back into wakefulness as his mind let out a furious shout, destroying the illusions before him.

BOOM!

However, right at this moment… Ning’s right hand pierced directly through his chest!

“You…” Daolord Yanmi was stunned. He realized that in the end, the illusions had disrupted his concentration after all, albeit for just a brief instant… but he had slowed down during that instant, allowing Ning to seize the opportunity to strike him.

“What’s going on?” Ning was surprised as well. “He should have an Eternal armor protecting his body. Why was I able to so easily pierce into his chest?”

“Daolord Darknorth, you are very powerful. Your close combat skills are just as strong as your heartforce skills.” Daolord Yanmi ignored the heavy injure as he stared at Ning, then sighed. “I imagine it will be difficult to find anyone on our level of power who is capable of defeating you. Most likely, only the most supreme of first-tier Daolords would be able to beat you. You’ve beaten me, and I have no excuses to make.”

Whoosh. Daolord Yanmi’s body instantly dissipated into countless streams of radiant light. The light quickly reassembled into a second Daolord Yanmi off in the distance. He stared at Ning, then smiled. “This is what the true secrets of having a body of light incarnate are all about. Not only can my body transform into countless clones, I’m also virtually invulnerable! Although you are a bit stronger than me, you aren’t able to kill me. Alas… I had been hoping to find a chance to improve my odds, but I ended up running into someone like you. It seems my chances of acquiring the Voidsea Jadeseals really are slim.”

After speaking, he turned and took a single step forwards, then vanished without a trace.

Ning continued to stare in the direction Daolord Yanmi had disappeared into. He murmured softly, “A body of light incarnate?” All second-tier Daolords had extremely strong life-preserving abilities. Kongsan, for example, was nigh-invulnerable thanks to his ‘darkness incarnate’ body. Daolord Yanmi’s life-preserving ability was just as strong as Kongsan’s had been. Beating him wouldn’t be difficult, but actually killing him would be very difficult.

And similarly, killing Ji Ning would also be extremely difficult.

……

Within the Waveshift Realm.

A white-robed youth whose long golden hair glimmered with radiance was strolling slowly through the realm. The youth was quite handsome, and none of the other cultivators dared to even look him directly in the eye.

He was the Radiant King, one of the truly supreme Daolords of the Endless Territories, ranked at the very top of the listings.

“I told him long ago. Daolord Solesky would merely leave his avatar at Vastheaven Palace, with all the other disciples having fled long ago. Clearly, Daolord Solesky has already decided to let his avatar perish in battle if need be.” The Radiant King shook his head. “Yanmi and the others, however, still harbored their foolish illusions and hoped to gain some intelligence.”

“To Solesky, that information represents his chances of succeeding in the Daomerge. How could he possibly be willing to tell others about it? Only those weak Daolords would harbor any illusions that they would win the information from him. All of the truly powerful Daolords chose to waste no time in heading straight to the Waveshift Realm. Every single moment might give them an advantage in acquiring the Voidsea Jadeseals.” A hint of a smile was on the Radiant King’s face.