Book 29, Daolord, Chapter 40 – Hegemon’s Dao-Seal
Outside the grand sealing formation. Soleman and Skyaxe were both furious but helpless.
Within the grand sealing formation. Daolord Kongsan was smirking from afar. It looked as though things had been settled! Daolord Shaka had transformed into a dazzling, breathtakingly eye-catching streak of golden light as he charged towards Ning. He truly was moving extremely fast, but Ji Ning was able to see him moving with perfect clarity. There was a sensation of time itself being distorted, which caused Ning to feel rather uncomfortable.
Ning continued to calmly fly forwards on his black vessel, and a dark blue crystalline leaf suddenly appeared in his hand.
Crack! A seemingly simple action, the crushing of a leaf… but the terrifying, overwhelming amount of power hidden within that leaf-shaped Dao-seal was finally unleashed! The deceased Sword Hegemon had paid an enormous price to create this terrifying Dao-seal before his death, and the power within it was truly inconceivable.
“What terrifying power. So this… this is is the might of a Hegemon.” When Ning crushed the seal, he instantly sensed a surge of unfathomable power flood through him and come under his control.
He was the guide, the conduit for this power. He had the right to tell it where to strike, and that was where it would strike. He could also allow the power to voluntarily disperse.
“Go, then. Kill them.” Ning turned his gaze to Daolord Shaka, soaring towards him like a streak of golden light, as well as the distant Daolord Kongsan.
……
BOOM! An awesome display of power burst forth. It was like the darkness before the dawn was suddenly split by the first rays of the sun which cast its radiance over the land. The streak of sunlight shone down upon the hearts of both Daolord Shaka and Daolord Kongsan!
“NO!!!!” Looks of utter horror appeared on the faces of both of them. As soon as that overwhelming burst of force first revealed its true, terrifying luster, both of their hearts were filled with the utmost terror. They wouldn’t feel such terror even in the face of death itself, but the overwhelming power of a Hegemon caused them to feel a sense of uncontrollable terror. This was something which came from the very depths of their souls.
……
Outside the formation. The faces of Daolord Soleman and Daolord Skyaxe both changed as well. Although they weren’t able to see what was happening inside the formation, a sensation of complete and utter terror filled their hearts.
“Retreat.”
“Retreat immediately!”
This was the only thought which entered their minds: Get as far away from this place as possible!
They could sense that something terrifying was about to happen within the formation! Perhaps the terrifying power within it wasn’t aimed directly at them, but they still couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Both retreated immediately.
…….
Within Skywood City.
Most of the cultivators were too distant from the grand sealing formation, and so when Ning shattered the Hegemon’s Dao-seal they didn’t sense much when its power was unleashed. The two most powerful figures inside the city, however, able to sense it clearly.
“I just sensed an enormous burst of power.” Emperor Skywood turned his head, staring towards the distant grand sealing formation.
“Yes. The power is tremendous.” The old man with tousled blue hair facing him nodded solemnly as well. “I can sense that it is strong enough to threaten the two of us. Skywood, this is your territory. How could there be such a strong burst of power here? It must have been generated from one of those strange treasures that was brought back from the Terror Starsea. That, or it had to be a single-use Dao-seal or another similar type of treasure which was personally crated by a Hegemon.”
Emperor Skywood nodded as well, then chuckled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve sensed anything that could threaten me. Let’s go take a look.”
“Kill!” Ning guided that terrifying surge of Sword Dao power forward.
BOOM! The enormous, terrifying illusion of a greatsword suddenly appeared in the area around Ning. As soon as the greatsword appeared, both space and time were completely squeezed and compressed. Daolord Shaka and Daolord Kongsan were both so terrified that they went numb. This was a level of power which they were completely unprepared to handle!
“Damn, damn, damn! Damn that Kongsan. How could he have offended a freak like this?!” Daolord Shaka’s heart was filled with shock, rage, and resentment. “What sort of incredible fortune did this freak stumble upon. How could he have such a monstrously powerful treasure? Not even the protective treasure which the Hegemon bestowed upon me might not be able to resist this terrifying sword.”
A translucent bottle suddenly appeared out of nowhere within the palm of Daolord Shaka’s hand. Within the bottle was a crystalline speck of sand. Daolord Shaka felt such sorrow that it was as though blood was dripping out of his heart. This was an ancient relic he had acquired after countless years of braving dangerous territories, and was the most powerful protective treasure he had ever acquired. He hadn’t expected that he would have to use it up because of his decision to help Daolord Kongsan.
Crack! The bottle was shattered, and the sand within it instantly emitted a softy, blurry glow that covered Daolord Shaka. Whoosh! The light-covered form of Daolord Shaka instantly disappeared without a trace, as though he had never even been here.
“N-no. How could I, Kongsan, die in a place like this? Impossible.” Daolord Kongsan instantly produced two strange treasures in his hands. He immediately shattered them without even pausing.
These two different treasures, when shattered, produced two different surges of power. The first surge of power sought to influence the local spacetime and change the trajectory of the impending giant sword illusion. Alas, the surge of power instantly disappeared, because it was powerless against the sword. As for the second surge of power, it was applied to Daolord Kongsan himself. It transformed into an enormous globe of water that covered his body.
BOOM!!!
The enormous sword came slashing down. Space and time both came to a halt as all things were sheared away by its power. It chopped down upon the giant globe of water, which was instantly shattered by this overwhelmingly dominating sword. As for Daolord Kongsan, he had already transformed into darkness incarnate within that water globe. But in the face of that terrifying sword illusion… he melted away like snow in summer. His body of darkness incarnate was completely unable to help him. When the sword-light chopped down, the region of darkness dissipated into nothingness.
Daolord Kongsan had perished!
Whoosh! The enormous illusion of a greatsword continued forwards to chop through the grand sealing formation, easily piercing through it and continuing to charge forwards. It then flew into the skies, out of this everworld, and into the distant primordial chaos.
“Dissipate!” Ning willed it, and that terrifying illusion of a greatsword quickly dissipated. Its power spread out into trillions of tiny streams that swept out in every direction, causing the primordial chaos itself to tremble.
“Daolord Kongsan.” Ning’s body flickered as he instantly moved as though by teleportation through the void to appear at the place where Daolord Kongsan died. Ning glanced at the treasures that lay there in midair, then shook his head. “I didn’t imagine that this sword would shatter even Daolord Kongsan’s storage treasures. A few of the items inside remain, though.” Ning waved his hand, gathering all of the remaining treasures of Daolord Kongsan.
Daolord Kongsan actually had several storage estate-treasures. Some of the weaker ones had been crushed, as had many of the treasures stored within them. However, his top-grade Eternal estate-treasures were scarred but still whole.
……
After putting away Daolord Kongsan’s treasures, Ning turned to glance off into the distance. Earlier, he had seen Daolord Shaka flee. Fleeing wasn’t that impressive, actually. For example, Ning himself had that spacetime disc which the almighty Hegemon had given him. If he had been faced with a similar attack, he might’ve been able to flee as well. But of course, Ning wouldn’t dare say that he was completely certain in his chances, and he wouldn’t be so foolish as to actually test it out.
“Darknorth.” Two distant figures flew towards him from afar.
Ning turned to look at them. It was Daolord Soleman and Daolord Skyaxe. They had fled in terror moments ago, but now they had flown back.
“Senior apprentice-brother Soleman.” Ning hurriedly flew over and said courteously, “Thank you and Daolord Skyaxe so much for coming here to rescue me.”
The Daolords of Brightshore Kingdom all referred to each other as equals of the same generation. Even when Ning was merely at the World level, he still addressed Palace Lord Woodflower as senior apprentice-brother Woodflower.
“Haha, we didn’t really save you; you saved yourself.” Daolord Soleman glanced at the white-robed youth with quite a bit of curiosity. This was his first time meeting Ning; in the past, he had only heard stories of Ning from Solewind. “Darknorth, you sent a request to the Brightshore Kingdom to ask the other Daolords to help out because you didn’t wish to use up that precious treasure, I assume?”
“That treasure was absolutely extraordinary.” The nearby Daolord Skyaxe sighed in praise as well. “It truly was powerful. Anyone who wants to rely on their own powers to survive such an attack would absolutely have to have the most supreme of protective divine abilities.”
Ning nodded. That attack wasn’t necessarily omnipotent; for example, Daolord Shaka had been able to escape. Certain divine abilities that could make the body comparable to top-grade Eternal treasures might also allow for survival! However, such techniques were incredibly rare and valuable, and to actually reach such a level was extremely difficult. Ning had a Hegemon’s legacy, but had still only been able to train his body to the low-grade Eternal treasure level.
“I really didn’t want to use it up, but I had no choice,” Ning said.
“Come, come! I’ve heard about you from Solewind long ago, and it seems you truly are an incredible figure. Come have some wine at my estate,” Daolord Soleman said with a laugh.
“Perhaps other powers from the Brightshore Kingdom will come here as well.” Ning hesitated a bit. “I should…”
He had notified the Brightshore Kingdom for anyone within a day’s travel of Skywood City to come help him fight against Daolord Kongsan. Some of them might be on their way even now. If they arrived only to be unable to locate Ning… that would be inappropriate of Ning.
“Simple.” Daolord Soleman chuckled. “Just send another message through the Brightshore Kingdom. Just say that anyone who can reach Skywood City within a day should come visit Daolord Soleman’s residence.”
“Haha, I was foolish not to think of this.” Ning immediately sent another message to the Brightshore Kingdom.
“Come, come!” Daolord Soleman urged.
“Absolutely.” Ning nodded.
And so Ji Ning, Daolord Soleman, and Daolord Skyaxe transformed into streaks of light and flew towards Skywood City.