Desolate Era Book 15, Chapter 7 - The Cavemaster

The silver-armored youth raised his head, staring at the sky. It was dusk. He let out a sigh. “My happy days are coming to an end.”
“General.”
The bronze-armored Fiendguards all nervously stared at the silver-armored youth.
After sighing, the silver-armored youth turned and quickly moved through the many layers of restrictive formations around the forbidden region. Outside were gathered many of the black-robed figures, as well as the members of the Eastwoods Sect. The enormous disturbance and the spatial teleportations had attracted attention from many outsiders.
“General.” The Eastwoods sect leader hurriedly went forward to greet him. “What has happened? Is there anything you need our Eastwoods Sect to do?”
“What happened?” The silver-armored general murmured these words, then waved his hand. Instantly, the illusion of an enormous mountain appeared out of nowhere. It smashed straight down on the body of the Eastwoods sect leader. Boom! The Eastwoods sect leader was completely smashed into pulp, then the remnants were transformed into dust that flew away.
The surrounding Loose Immortals, Earth Immortals, Primal Daoists, Wanxiang Adepts, and other disciples of the Eastwoods Sect were all in disbelief.
Some of them, however, revealed looks of joy. “It’s good that he died.”
The Eastwoods sect leader had been a classic case of a spineless figure who had quickly capitulated. This caused some of the disciples who had been unhappy with the current state of affairs to feel disdain for him.
The silver-armored general instructed calmly, “All disciples of the Eastwoods Sect, hear me: If you are willing to be loyal to me and serve me, if you are willing to become slaves under my command…go down on your knees immediately.”
His voice was actually quite soft…but it echoed within the minds of each member of the Eastwoods Sect. Everyone in the sect, whether roaming around, patrolling the mountain, training, or resting in seclusion...was completely stunned.
“You have to a count of ten to decide,” the silver-armored general said calmly.
“Willing! I’m willing!” Instantly, some disciples capitulated and knelt down.
However, quite a few disciples revealed looks of disbelief.
Loyalty? Submission?
This was simple.
But willingly become slaves? This was too ridiculous. They were Immortal cultivators, and many of them had felt unhappy for quite some time now. At first, the silver-armored general had been fairly amiable towards them, but now he actually spoke of them being his slaves? Slaves…that meant giving their lives to him and completely obeying his orders.
“Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven…” The silver-armored general counted slowly. “Six. Five!”
After counting to five, he suddenly stopped counting.
The silver-armored general let out a laugh. With a single step, he moved to stand high up in the air. The world itself began to shudder, and one massive mountain after another began to lift up and hover in the air. This was the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Cauldron which he had previously used against Ji Ning.
“The Eastwoods Sect has more than thirty-nine thousand disciples.” The silver-armored general’s voice reverberated in the air. “More than twenty thousand have knelt, including twenty-one Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals and three hundred and one Primal Daoists. These three hundred and twenty-two are permitted to remain alive…the rest shall all perish!”
His voice reverberated throughout the entire Eastwoods mountain range.
And then…flames began to erupt throughout the area, moving to fill every single part of the Eastwoods mountain range.
“General, you haven’t finished counting to ten yet!”
“General!”
The hesitating Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, upon seeing this, instantly began to call out frantically. Some of the Primal Daoists, Earth Immortals, and Loose Immortals actually fell to their knees right away.
“Too late,” the silver-armored general laughed.
Streaks of flame were filling the entire region. Those hidden away in secret rooms, those roving the mountains, those fleeing…all of them were turned to ash as soon as they were touched by the flames! The Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens was very dangerous for Celestial Immortals; how could these ordinary disciples of the Eastwoods Sect possibly withstand it?
“No! I submitted! I SUBMITTED! General, I’m willing to be your slave!” A youth cried out miserably, right before he was burnt to ash by the flames.
“A puny Zifu Disciple…just what am I supposed to do with you?” The silver-armored general sneered.
Despair filled every part of the Eastwoods mountain range.
The only ones to survive were the Primal Daoists and Void-level Immortals who had knelt by the count of five. The others disciples…perished to the man. Some of them chose to self-detonate, but their souls were still trapped by the grand formation protecting the Eastwoods Mountain range. Their souls were annihilated; none were spared at all.
Moments later…things turned completely silent.
“Come in.” The silver-armored general waved his hand, and an enormous sack suddenly appeared. The mouth of the sack opened, instantly drawing in the Primal Daoists, Loose Immortals, and Earth Immortals below him.
He made one more trip to the forbidden region, collecting all of the grandmasters of the Dao of Constructs, the castle, and the other things within.
“Time to go.” The silver-armored general led his bronze-armored Fiendguards to the entrance to that black, fog-shrouded cave…then stepped straight into it.
Moments later…the cave entrance itself disappeared.
The entire Eastwoods mountain range had become completely silent. All living creatures, including the animals that had lived here, had been completely wiped out. Even all the formations present, such as the Divine Venomflame of the Nine Heavens Cauldron, had been broken.
The Eastwoods Sect…starting from today, it truly no longer existed!
……
This was an extremely large world.
The commandery city in the center of this world was an incomparably massive fortress. The fortress was so large that even Celestial Immortals would be unable to see it in its entirety.
“We’re back. We’ve finally returned to the Fifth World.”
A black foggy cave entrance appeared in the skies, and the silver-armored youth and his bronze-armored Fiendguards appeared from within it.
Rumble…an invisible surge of power swept across this squad.
“General.” The bronze-armored Fiendguards looked towards the silver-armored youth.
“Go to the headquarters and await further orders,” the silver-armored general said with a sigh. “This time, I shall most probably be sent into exile…and you’ll probably have to suffer with me.”
“It’s not your fault, General. If we have to blame someone, we have to blame that Ji Ning.”
“Right. That Ji Ning actually knew the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]. You can’t be blamed at all, General!” The crowd of bronze-armored Fiendguards hurriedly said.
The silver-armored general chuckled. “Alright. I need to go see the Cavemaster. Go ahead and wait for me in the headquarters.”
“Yes,” the bronze-armored Fiendguards said.
The silver-armored youth transformed into a streak of light, soaring down from the skies and into that castle below. A corridor automatically opened, granting him entrance. As for the bronze-armored Fiendguards, they all had to land and walk in through the gates to the city. The general was a Celestial Immortal, after all; his status was much higher than theirs.
……
Within a massive palace.
A man dressed in fiery red robes was seated up high on a royal throne, staring downwards. His terrifying aura was absolutely no weaker than that of the Grand Xia Emperor’s.
The silver-armored youth moved into the palace, then respectfully bowed from the waist. “Greetings, Cavemaster.”
“Buchasi.” The fire-robed man glanced downwards, then frowned slightly. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Flamedoor Commandery of the world of the Grand Xia? Your assignment is to watch over the construction of the constructs there; you can’t let anything go wrong. Why have you left the world of the Grand Xia and returned here without being summoned?”
“Your subordinate’s base in the Eastwoods mountain range of Flamedoor Commandery was infiltrated…” The silver-armored youth honestly told the complete story of what had happened, because he knew exactly how powerful this organization was. Even if he didn’t tell the truth, within a single day, the organization would learn of everything which had happened in the Eastwoods mountain range.”
“The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]? Ji Ning?” The fire-robed man frowned.
The silver-armored youth was so nervous, sweat emerged from his forehead.
“You truly have disappointed me.” The fire-robed man shook his head and sighed.
“Cavemaster, I…I…” the silver-armored youth felt some unwillingness to accept this. He truly could not be held to blame for what had happened; any base would have found it difficult to deal with the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].”
“Successes are to be rewarded. Mistakes are to be punished,” the Cavemaster said coldly. “Buchasi, because of you, our invasion of the world of the Grand Xia will become even more difficult. I punish you thusly…take your subordinates and go to the Mount Stele major world. Establish a new base there and continue to manufacture constructs. In addition, within a hundred years, you must slay five Celestial Immortals.”
The silver-armored youth’s heart shook.
The Mount Stele major world?
That world was completely different from the world of the Grand Xia. The Grand Xia world was a unified world, whereas the Mount Stele major world was in a state of tremendous chaos. Thus, battles had swept the world long ago. To go to the world of the Grand Xia was to enjoy life, but to go to the world of Mount Stele was to be forced to prepare for battles at all times…and he also had to kill five Celestial Immortals!
No Celestial Immortal was easy to deal with. They had all lived for countless ages, and no one knew exactly what tricks each had up their sleeves. Perhaps one might have an advantage, but then the enemy’s friends or master would suddenly arrive. Thus…killing Celestial Immortals was an extremely dangerous task. Yes, he had killed more than ten Celestial Immortals, but this was a bodycount that had been accumulated over countless ages, and after experiencing countless dangers.
He had finally been given a chance to enjoy life after being sent to the world of the Grand Xia to manufacture golems; in that place, he hadn’t had any dangerous assignments at all. And now…the good life had to come to an end. A much harder life was to begin…and he might just die there, within the world of Mount Stele!
And this wasn’t as bad as it could have been; if Ji Ning hadn’t needed something for him and had thus sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens not to reveal this secret, his punishment probably would’ve been even heavier!
“Yes,” the silver-armored youth said respectfully..
“You head out immediately. Go.” The Cavemaster waved a hand.
The silver-armored youth immediately retreated, departing from the palace.
The palace became completely quiet.
Whoosh.
An alluring, white-robed woman suddenly appeared behind the Cavemaster. She was utterly ravishing, and her slender waist could just barely be seen under her semi-translucent white clothes. She laughed softly, “Master, Buchashi is one of your most formidable warriors…and hasn’t that Ji Ning sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens already?”
“What do you know?” The Cavemaster said calmly, “Ji Ning has sworn an oath to the Dao of the Heavens not to reveal the fact that the castle was making constructs, true…but Ji Ning is very close to the Xia Emperor. He can absolutely come up with a way to warn him…and once that happens, our invasion of the world of the Grand Xia shall become even more difficult.”
“Why are so you cautious in dealing with this world, a single major world?” The alluring woman mumbled.
“The world of the Grand Xia is different from ordinary major worlds,” the Cavemaster said. “The Xia Emperor is of the imperial bloodline of Pangu’s World; how deep a foundation do you think he has? No one knows what someone like him, a descendent of the Primordial Imperial Clan, has up his sleeve. In addition, the Xia Emperor and Daofather Raindragon are extremely good friends. When invading the world of the Grand Xia, we have to beware Daofather Raindragon as well. How can I possibly NOT be cautious?”
The alluring woman said with surprise, “Daofather Raindragon? Master, you’ve never spoken of this before.”
“There was no need to. You aren’t even a Celestial Immortal,” the Cavemaster said with resignation.
“Is the Xia Emperor really such close friends with Daofather Raindragon?” The alluring woman was truly curious about this.
“This is a ‘secret’ for you, but all the experts of the Three Realms know about this.” The Cavemaster shook his head. “In fact, the Xia Emperor has done his best to spread the news far and wide. He even made it so that in his major world, ‘Raindragon Mountain’ was even taller than his own ‘Skylight Palace’! Skylight Palace is his imperial palace; it represents himself, the Xia Emperor. For Raindragon Mountain to be slightly taller than it…what did you think it represented? It naturally represented someone even more powerful than him! In the Three Realms, the only person who has a connection to Raindragon Mountain is Daofather Raindragon!”
The alluring woman now understood. “I’ve always wondered about that! Master, all of you are True Immortals or Empyrean Gods, but none of you have ever fought each other.”
“Don’t underestimate the Xia Emperor. Even if Daofather Raindragon doesn’t intervene, invading the world of the Grand Xia will be no easy task. The Primordial Imperial Clan? Hmph...that’s not just a meaningless phrase. Even though he’s merely of one of the side branches of that lineage, he won’t be easy to deal with,” the Cavemaster said.