Desolate Era Book 33, Chapter 20 - The Final Command Talisman

“What’s a [Daoheart] technique?” King Paleos called out loudly.
“A technique that can be used to enhance the Dao-heart,” one of the five supreme Daolords immediately shouted back.
King Paleos, Daolord Dreamlore, and the others instantly grew excited.
“Gentlemen, if you are willing to choose a different passageway I’d be willing to transmit the [Daoheart] technique do you,” Ning said.
“No need. They’ve already sworn lifeblood oaths to share any and all techniques we find,” Daolord Tigrone said in a gravelly voice. The reason why he was willing to forgo charging into the passageway was precisely because the others had all sworn lifeblood oaths to share any techniques they found as well as to split any fruit they acquired.
“Oh?” Ning said calmly, “It doesn’t matter. The four of you can forget about making it across.”
Ning’s defensive prowess was such that not a single attack had landed on him yet. In truth, even if he had been hit his Hegemon armor would’ve been able to absorb the blow. Tying down four supreme Daolords was entirely within Ning’s capabilities.
“The four of us won’t be able to make it across,” King Paleos sent mentally. “Tigrone, Skyshatter, the two of you need to train in the [Vitalis] art as soon as possible. Once you master it, you can join the four of us in our attempts. If all six of us work together, he probably won’t be able to stop us.”
“Alright.” The main reason why Tigrone, Skyshatter, and the rest didn’t join the attempt was because they hadn’t mastered [Vitalis]. Ning could simply ignore them and thus was able to easily focus his efforts on stopping just the other four.
For a time, the battlefield grew silent. Ning continued to stand there by himself in front of the seven-colored chains, a single man who could stop even an army in its tracks.
Another five days went by.
“Hahaha…” Loud laughter rang out as the Ninedust Sectlord stepped onto the tri-colored chains and began to stride across them.
“Damn.” The faces of Daolord Dreamlore, King Paleos, and the others all turned pale.
“Excellent.” Ning revealed a delighted look.
Ninedust walked across the tri-colored chains. Although the level of pain increased as he continued to advance, he was still able to endure it and make it across to the altar, where he acquired the sixth command talisman at its base.
“Haha, Darknorth, it took me forever to master the ‘Dao-heart’ challenge. I really feel a bit embarrassed.” Ninedust turned to stare at Ning, calling out to him.
“Stop wasting time and words. Hurry up and crack the altar open! Remember, use a temporal acceleration treasure! This challenge is the hardest of all,” Ning called out loudly.
“Got it!” Ninedust responded.
……
Although King Paleos and the others were very anxious, there was nothing they could do. Ning had focused on the four of them with laser-like precision. Given that the heartworld projection and the nine novessence arts were all aimed at them, there really was no way for them to get across.
Another half month went past. Finally, Tigrone and Skyshatter both mastered the [Vitalis] art as well.
“Let’s go together.”
“I want to see how he’ll stop this many of us!”
Dreamlore, King Paleos, Owlblack, Dustrain, Tigrone, and Skyshatter joined forces to charge towards the seven-colored chains.
“Huh? What’s going on?” Daolord Tigrone found out that… nothing happened at all. No one impeded him as he charged onto the seven-colored chains.
“Eh? I made it?” Fiendqueen Dustrain was stunned as well.
The two hurriedly crossed the seven-colored chains. However, Dreamlore, King Paleos, Daolord Owlblack, and Skyshatter were all stopped by Ning.
“The four of you aren’t allowed to cross.” Ning’s voice rang out. He had specifically decided on which Daolords he could let across. In the end, he just wasn’t strong enough and wouldn’t be able to block everyone, and thus he had to pick and choose who he would and would not let cross.
The five he had initially let onto the seven-colored chains were all supreme Daolords who ranked at the back of the line. They posed no threat at all.
As for Fiendqueen Dustrain? When Ninedust had first arrived at the Waveshift Realm, he had already been on par with her! However, back then Ninedust had only recently become a Daolord of the Fourth Step and hadn’t come up with any ultimate attacks for himself yet. Thanks to the legacy of the Ancient Hegemon as well as his experiences in Crimsonwave Temple, he had already come up with a total of three killer attacks and had definitely surpassed Fiendqueen Dustrain in power.
It must be remembered that breaking through the 9000 barriers was all about attack power! Ninedust’s attack power was definitely above Fiendqueen Dustrain’s, and so she wouldn’t prove to be much of a threat. As a result, Ning let her across.
As for Daolord Tigrone? His defensive prowess was truly unrivalled, but his attacks were much weaker. He also wouldn’t be much of a threat.
But Dreamlore, Owlblack, Skyshatter, and Paleos were the four most dangerous Daolords present. Ning naturally would have to stop them!
“You fight dirty, Darknorth.”
“Daolord Tigrone and Fiendqueen Dustrain, do your best to acquire that command talisman. If you can kill Ninedust, all the better.”
“It’ll be up to the two of you.”
Dreamlore and the others had to give up, even though they didn’t wish to.
“Let’s go find the Radiant King, Daolord Feich, and the others. The final Voidsea Jadeseal is on Daolord Feich,” Daolord Dreamlore ordered. He immediately led Owlblack, Skyshatter, and King Paleos as well as the other Daolords in leaving. These nine supreme Daolords began to charge towards the other passageway in search of Daolord Feich.
……
Everything fell silent.
Dustrain, Tigrone, and the rest of the supreme Daolords were all focused on the [Daoheart] technique. As for Ninedust, he had already reached the altar. He first used the temporal acceleration treasure to cover the entire thing, then began to assault the 9000 barriers.
“No one’s coming?” Ning’s life was now quite relaxed. “Maybe I should go take a look and see how the other passageway is doing.” Ning flew towards the direction of Winesage’s passageway. When he reached the edges of the passageway, he stared at the distant islands.
“Wow!” Ning was stupefied by what he saw.
The situation in this passageway was far more chaotic. Winesage, Dawnstar, Cloudwalker, and Ninestone were at the peak of the altar, working together to assault the 9000 barriers while also assaulting each other.
As for the situation on the levitating stone island in front of the second abyss? It was even more chaotic! The Radiant King, Daolord Snowjoy, Daolord Shaka, the Starking, Daolord Feich, and a number of other supreme Daolords were battling each other, with Daolord Snowjoy and Daolord Shaka working together but being surrounded and assaulted by the other five.
“Daolord Feich!” A furious shout rang out, followed by King Paleos, Daolord Dreamlore, Daolord Owlblack, and Daolord Skyshatter arriving. They easily traversed the seven-colored chains and joined the wild melee.
“Damn.” The faces of the Radiant King and the others turned pale.
……
It really was a wild, chaotic battle. The wild battle at the top of the altar was over the third command seal in that passageway, while the wild battle in front of the second abyss was over the Voidsea Jadeseal.
The only peaceful place was at the outermost region, where the supreme Daolords were all trying to calmly train in the [Daoheart] technique and thus couldn’t be bothered to fight with each other.
“This passageway really is quite chaotic.” Ning stood at the intersection between the two regions, keeping a watch on both sides. He couldn’t be bothered to take part in the battle, as once he did everyone would be wary of him. In fact, they might gang up on him!
……
Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, another year went by. The wild battle continued, with two more supreme Daolords perishing. Both were fairly weak ones, and both died by Daolord Dreamlore’s hands. His bloodblade was simply too vicious and cruel.
Boom! A sonorous explosion rang out as the 9000 barriers atop the altar simultaneously shattered. Ninestone howled with rage as he charged towards Winesage. Much like Tigrone, Ninestone possessed terrifying defensive abilities.
“Get it!” Cloudwalker and Dawnstar simultaneously charged forwards as well.
“Beat it.” Winesage was doing the same.
BOOM!
“Hahaha… brother Winesage, you’ve already acquired the other two command talismans in this passageway. You are being a bit too greedy, don’t you think?” Palace Lord Dawnstar was the one to seize it, delighting Cloudwalker, Ninestone, Snowjoy, and Shaka. The five of them were part of the same team; they had agreed long ago to split the fruits they acquired evenly!
“Damn.” Winesage frowned. He had been the first to arrive and had long ago mastered the [Vitalis] art and acquired the first command talisman. He had also been able to master the [Daoheart] technique with a single try, as the tempering process the Dark Kingdom subjected its Daolords to was utterly terrifying. Given that he was also a Heartforce Cultivator who had been alive for an extremely long period of time, his Dao-heart was indeed superior to Ning’s. This was why he had been the one to acquire both of those talismans.
However, the 9000 barriers were simply too difficult to deal with.
Dawnstar, Cloudwalker, and Ninestone had quickly arrived at the altar as well. By then, Winesage had already shattered the first 8000 barriers… but alas, in the end it was Dawnstar who picked up the trophy.
“The eighth command seal has already fallen into the hands of Palace Lord Dawnstar.” The towering image of a white-robed man appeared above the chaotic battlefield, staring down at the Daolords as his voice echoed throughout the Crimsonwave Temple. “At present, only a single command talisman remains unclaimed, the seventh talisman. Daolords, this is the last one! If you miss it, you probably won’t have another chance like this.”
……
When Ning heard the realmsoul’s voice, he hurriedly looked towards Ninedust’s passageway. Right now, Ninedust, Daolord Tigrone, and a little-known Daolord were simultaneously attacking the 9000 barriers together. Ning truly hadn’t expected that Daolord Tigrone and that fairly weak first-tier Daolord would both have such powerful Dao-hearts.
These command talismans mattered to Ning more than anything else right now. He had already done everything he could for Ninedust. The rest would be up to him.
“Ninedust…” Ning watched anxiously. These fruits would be the basis for his negotiations with the major powers. The more he could acquire, the better.
……
Thankfully, Winesage and the others didn’t take part in the fight over the final command talisman. In truth, there was no way for them to take part even if they wished to. Every single Daolord could only choose a single passageway, after all.
In their eyes, the Voidsea Jadeseal mattered the most!
“The Voidsea Jadeseal.”
“Quick.”
“Go for it!”
As if by silent agreement, Winesage, Dawnstar, Cloudwalker, and Ninestone all hurried onto the tri-colored chains and charged back to the flying stone island in front the second abyss, taking part in the wild battle.
Of the five Voidsea Jadeseals, one had been used up by Emperor Solesky, one had been used up by the Radiant King, and one had been used up by Ninedust. Only two remained untouched. One was in Winesage’s hands; everyone knew that there was no way to take it from him. The last one was in Daolord Feich’s hands.
“Go for it!”
“Kill him!”
The more chaotic a battle became, the more berserk the weaker Daolords grew. They knew that their only chances would be during wild battles like this. As supreme Daolords, they all had tough life-preserving abilities, ensuring that if they acquired the seal they would stand a good chance of keeping it.
……
Time flowed on and the battle continued.
Daolord Feich was indeed good at staying alive. He was aided by the fact that some of the Daolords had long ago sworn oaths to join into true alliances together and help each other resist their foes, no matter who won the seal. Thus, even though another five supreme Daolords perished, Daolord Feich remained alive.
Boom!
The altar within Ninedust’s passageway. By now, a total of four supreme Daolords were assaulting the 9000 barriers. Finally, with a loud explosion, the barriers came crashing down.
Whooooosh. A flood of water instantly swept towards the talisman.
“Ahahaha!” Ninedust roared with laughter, his voice echoing in the world around him. “Darknorth, I have it!”
When the distant Ning saw this, he was so excited that his aura flared mightily, causing energy waves to appear around him. He laughed loudly, “Haha, the heavens have chosen to aid me! The heavens have chosen to aid me!”