Desolate Era Book 22, Chapter 25 - Golden Statue

The saber was merely able to leave a white mark on Ji Ning’s chest, but the amount of power it contained was quite shocking. It caused Ji Ning to be knocked backwards, but because he was holding onto the tear in the formation, he was able to borrow from the power of the blow. Riiiiiip. The tear in the formation actually grew larger!
“H-h-how is this even possible?” The one-armed man was dazed. “Didn’t they say that he’s been training for less than a thousand years? Didn’t he just recently break through to become a True God? How could his divine body be comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure?”
A body that was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic treasure…there no was no way the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] could accomplish this.
In all the Three Realms…the only person to ever accomplish this was Lord Tathagata the Buddha. Tathagata’s golden body was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic treasure, which was why when Saber and Godfiend Witherspike occasionally managed to land a blow on him, they weren’t able to injure him at all! This was why their plan had been to suppress him, then seal him away!
But now, Ji Ning’s divine body had also reached the same level?
“He’s just a local aboriginal. He actually…actually…” The one-armed man’s heart was quivering.
Kuafu, Jade Cauldron, Fuxi, and the others watching from afar were all shocked as well. “When that Outsider overlord landed a saber-blow against Darknorth, he only managed to leave a small white mark on his body?” All of the spectators had incredible vision. When they saw the one-armed man attack, they could sense how terrifyingly powerful the strike was.
Tathagata himself had said long ago that the Primordial Ruinworld had two overlords in it. One was a one-armed saber wielder, while the other had a tail.
Ning himself was quite calm.
If he had just recently broken through to become a True God, of course he would not have been able to withstand that blow. However…for him, nearly two thousand years had gone past!
World God Northrest himself was a Fiendgod Body Refiner. He was also a member of the incredibly powerful Vastheaven Palace. In terms of personal strength, he stood at the very peak of power amongst World Gods as well! There was an enormous difference in power between the weakest World Gods and the most powerful World Gods, much like how there was an enormous difference in power between third-tier True Immortals and first-tier True Immortals. As an ancient expert who had received many teachings from his powerful sect, and as a figure who was capable of acquiring things like Violetjewel and terrifying sword-arts such as the nameless sword-art, World God Northrest naturally had left behind many incredible techniques for Ning. Although some of the techniques he gave Ning weren’t as good as the ones he himself used, they were still techniques that not even most ordinary World Gods would not have access to.
Protective divine abilities!
Evasion divine abilities!
Forbidden skills!
He had passed down many such abilities. Ning had long ago mastered the heartforce scrying technique and the heartforce soul-lock technique, but he had also mastered a protective divine ability. World God Northrest had transmitted to Ji Ning a divine ability known as the [Golden Statue].
The [Golden Statue] divine ability was an ability which World God Northrest himself trained in!
It wasn’t a technique which he had acquired from Vastheaven Palace. Although he had learned some techniques from Vastheaven Palace, while adventuring through the endless primordial chaos he had undergone many trials before finally acquiring the upper section and middle section of the [Golden Statue] divine ability!
After acquiring this divine ability, World God Northrest hadn’t hesitated at all; he had immediately given up his previous protective divine ability to completely focus on this one.
The [Golden Statue] divine ability had an extraordinary history to it.
In the endless primordial chaos there was an extremely large world, a world far vaster than the entire Three Realms. It was a world that could last forever, unlike the ephemeral chaosworlds. Ten, a hundred, a thousand chaos cycles could go past, but this world would continue to remain. At the center of this vast world there was an enormous levitating island, and hovering directly above the island was a towering golden statue.
The golden statue was 54,000 meters tall, and it emanated an aura of boundless might and majesty. This aura made it so that not even World Gods would be able to step foot onto that levitating island.
Then one day, an absolute genius who had viewed the golden statue for countless years finally managed to gain insight into it and devised the [Golden Statue] divine ability. This instantly became one of the most top-notch divine abilities in existence! It was divided into three sections; the upper section, the middle section, and the lower section.
The upper section of the [Golden Statue] was the introductory section. When one mastered it, one’s body would become comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic treasure. True Gods could train in this section.
The middle section of the [Golden Statue] could be used to train one’s body to become comparable to a top-grade Chaos treasure. Elder Gods could train in it.
World God Northrest had only acquired the upper section and middle section to this divine ability, but it was so profound and high-class that he had still chosen to use it. It was also comparatively easy to train in and so he quickly mastered these two sections, upgrading his body to become comparable to a top-grade Chaos treasure.
Although he wasn’t able to acquire the lower section, it didn’t make much of a difference; even if he did acquire it, actually mastering it would be incredibly difficult.
“Fortunately, I had a foundation via the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].” When Ning had begun to train in this divine ability, he couldn’t help but sigh.
The [Golden Statue] divine ability didn’t require any special items; it only required energy.
Divine power, Immortal energy, chaos energy, spirit-pills…all sorts of energy could be converted and absorbed! This was what made this such a formidable, high-class technique. Because Ning himself had already reached the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], when he trained in the [Golden Statue] he was able to start by using up the pre-existing energy in his body. Thus, it only took him twelve years before his body became equivalent to a top-grade Protocosmic treasure.
The [Golden Statue] was a divine ability that had to be slowly cultivated.
The cycles of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] could be mastered right away, but this came at the cost of enormous energy requirements as well as a heavy burden being placed on the body. This was why it was completely impossible to continue to devise a way to make the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] usable for True Gods. To upgrade the body of a True God in such a way would result in such tremendous stress being placed on the body that there was simply no way it could endure it. The only option was to slowly work on the body, and that was exactly what the [Golden Statue] did. Since Ning had a solid foundation thanks to the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], he only needed roughly ten or so years to master the [Golden Statue], and it hadn’t even been necessary for him to use any Great Firmament pills.
If he had, he probably would’ve been able to complete the process in three years. However, his Primaltwin was already using up an enormous amount of Great Firmament pills due to training in the Heavengazer Tower. Ten years wasn’t that long, and so Ning had been willing to take it slow.
“I didn’t expect that this war against the Primordial Ruinworld would end up forcing me to reveal my [Golden Statue] ability.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh to himself.
Cultivation techniques, protective divine abilities, heartforce scanning techniques…these were all techniques Ning possessed which didn’t exist in the Three Realms.
“Sword Immortal Darknorth. It seems everyone in the Three realms completely underestimated you.” The one-armed man said coldly, “You actually managed to train a protective divine ability to such an incredibly high level without anyone being the wiser.” He had no idea that this particular divine ability was something which even World Gods would go wild over. World God Northrest himself had trained in this divine ability!
As his voice echoed in Ning’s ears, he waved his hand and sent a rope flying towards Ning.
“Damn.” Ning frowned. Those with powerful bodies would mainly be worried about being bound or being contained inside an item! The one-armed man could launch as many saber-blows as he liked without it affecting Ning, and indeed it would even hasten the formation-tearing process. This rope, however, was another issue.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Ning immediately released the rip with two of his hands. His other four hands continued to strive to widen the rip, but the two now-freed hands now gripped a pair of Darknorth swords.
Sword-light flashed, spinning into black holes that drew the rope towards them.
“Hmph.” The one-armed man charged forward, continuing to manipulate the rope while launching another blow with his saber.
Ning completely focused on defense.
The one-armed man actually had his own techniques that were similar to the [Three Heads, Six Arms] ability, but he chose to keep just one arm. His saber, however, truly was powerful! By comparison, even Ning’s swords were a level lower in raw power.
Still, when Ning used two swords to defend at the same time, he was actually still able to defend against Saber’s rope and saber combination.
“Darknorth, just hold on for a while longer. I’ve almost solved the formation,” Fuxi sent hurriedly towards Ning.
“Right.” Ning’s titanic body continued to tear at the formation with four arms while defending himself with two.
“Why is it that I feel like this Darknorth fellow is even tougher to deal with than Tathagata? He’s just a local bumpkin; he should at most be a True God.” After battling for a short period of time, Saber began to feel as though Ning was unreasonably tough. But of course, he had no idea that Ning was actually a half-step Elder God! Ning also had a sword-art that surpassed the heavenly Daos, and he had spent nearly two thousand years training within the Heavengazer Tower. This made it so that his sword-arts had become even more well-rounded than before.
“Saber, why is the formation still breaking apart?” Godfiend Witherspike sent mentally.
“Master, Darknorth has a formidable protective divine ability that is as good as Tathagata’s! His sword-arts are incredible as well. I can’t stop him!” Saber sent mentally.
“Are you seeing things?!” Godfiend Witherspike grew frantic.
“When I landed a saber-blow on him, I was only able to leave behind a white mark,” Saber replied.
Godfiend Witherspike continued to launch a furious barrage of attacks against Tathagata, but he felt tremendous frustration in his heart.
“What the hell is going on in the Three Realms? I, an exalted Elder God, had to work incredibly hard in order to toughen my body and make it equivalent to a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure. But these natives…they clearly are mere True Gods. For Tathagata to be able to accomplish this is one thing, but Darknorth’s trained for less than a thousand years. How it is that his body is this powerful as well?!” Godfiend Witherspike felt incredibly unhappy right now.
Protective divine abilities were extremely rare and difficult to train in. This was why World God Northrest had immediately discarded his previous technique and instead trained solely in the [Golden Statue] once he acquired it.
“Those with protective divine abilities are always a pain to deal with. Bind him? Tathagata’s palm-arts are too powerful as well. There’s no way I’ll be able to succeed in doing so. My only option is to continue exhausting his store of divine power.” Godfiend Witherspike felt helpless.
Only after exhausting Tathagata would he be able to capture him!