The Desolate Era (Web Novel)

“In this campaign against the Grand Xia,” True Immortal Whitepole said coldly, “Everyone has tasks to accomplish. If someone makes a mistake…don’t blame me when I report it to Master!”

“Fellow Daoist Whitepole, don’t worry; the conquest of the Grand Xia is the most important mission we have been assigned,” the Cavemaster of the Myriad Demons Cave said. “None of us will slack off.”

“Fellow Daoist, don’t worry,” the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall said with a merry smile as well.

“Senior apprentice-brother, just watch and see what we can do. We absolutely must conquer the Grand Xia!” Gatemaster Azurefox chimed in as well.

True Immortal Whitepole nodded lightly. “Good. Since Master has assigned me to lead the conquest of the Grand Xia…I truly do not wish to lose. I’m going to win this battle, even if it costs me my life.”

The other seven True Immortals/Empyrean Gods all exchanged glances, murmuring to themselves in secret.

True Immortal Whitepole was indeed very powerful…but he was excessively stubborn. The feud he had with the Xia Emperor wasn’t a small one, but it wasn’t a major one either. Generally speaking, Pure Yang True Immortals were broad-minded and would long ago forget about such a feud. True Immortal Whitepole, however, insisted on remembering it, and had even bided his time for so long. As soon as the Godking had whispered to him, he had been so narrow-minded and laser-focused on revenge that he had immediately joined the Godking. He had trained bitterly for countless years, and was now incredibly powerful. Although those in the outside world didn’t know exactly how powerful he was, Gatemaster Azurefox and the others did. In addition, this man had fortified Whitepole City to a nigh-impregnable level, and was also extremely skilled in biding his time; he was indeed an excellent choice as commander.

The conquest of the Grand Xia was incredibly important, and so the Godking had assigned this mission to True Immortal Whitepole, ordering Gatemaster Azurefox, the Cavemaster, and the Hallmaster to act as his assistants.

……

A world of fiery red flames.

Massive, towering figures were striding about on the surface of this world. Some of them were three thousand meters tall, while others were thirty thousand meters tall! Their appearances were all varied and different; some had eight arms, some had three heads, while some looked like beasts. They were all filled with massive, billowing amounts of divine power, using it to block the terrible heat of this world.

“Life really is wonderful these days,” a green-haired cyclopean giant said with a sigh as he sat there on the scorching ground. Although the scorching heat of the ground was causing his skin to crackle, he still had a look of contentment on his face.

“The Xia Emperor has imprisoned us for countless years, and has been torturing us all this time. Why has he stopped recently?” A nearby red-haired giant asked, puzzled.

Although the environment remained a terrible one, things were far better than they had been in the past.

The blazing heat, the lava-like ground…these were all minor matters. It must be understood that a few decades before this, each and every one of them regularly underwent torture that caused their bodies to break apart. Fortunately, however, their Fiendgod bodies were able to heal from it, but even so…it was a life worse than death.

Compared to that, life was currently quite comfortable indeed!

Rumble…

In the air above this world, a massive spatial hole suddenly appeared. From within the spatial hole emerged a muscular, black-robed human figure. It was the Xia Emperor.

Instantly, the countless Fiendgods within this vast area all raised their heads. All their gazes were focused upon the Xia Emperor.

“It’s the Xia Emperor.”

“Damn.”

“Why the hell have you come?”

“Xiamang, have you come to humiliate us some more?”

Countless furious roars rang out from throughout the land.

The black-robed Xia Emperor stood there in the air, staring down at the countless Fiendgods. Long ago, during the Fiendgod Era, the humans had won a great victory. Many ordinary cultivators believed the defeated Fiendgods to have been slain, but in reality, only a small number of them actually had; most had instead been imprisoned.

For example, the Youngflame clan had imprisoned some as well.

Once properly tamed, these Fiendgods would become loyal servants that would live for countless years; they had unlimited lifespans! Who would be willing to so casually kill such potentially useful servants?

The Xia Emperor and the others had relocated here from Pangu’s World, after all; they held enormous advantages over these local Fiendgods. At first, they had slowly and patiently collected and tamed the local Fiendgods, until one day the local Fiendgods had given birth to an Empyrean God. The humans hadn’t dared to be negligent, and so had joined forces to completely suppress the Fiendgods.

A few top-tier clans had been given a few Fiendgods, but 99% of the captured Fiendgods had all been imprisoned by the Xia Emperor.

Countless years of torment had indeed caused a portion of the Fiendgods to submit; the four Void-level Fiendgods that guarded the imperial gates for the Xia Emperor were good examples! The unbowed Fiendgods, however, made up the vast majority…and the Empyrean God was one of them. And so, they had remained imprisoned here by the Xia Emperor for this entire period of time! Logically speaking, an Empyrean God would be considered a powerful expert of the Three Realms, and so Empyrean Gods would generally only be imprisoned for a short period of time; it was quite rare to see one be imprisoned for so long. Fortunately for the Xia Emperor, his status was quite special, and the Empyrean God in question hadn’t had any backers, which was why the Xia Emperor had been able to keep him here for so long.

“XIAMANG!!!” A furious roar rang out.

A towering, mountain-like figure soared into the skies. The figure had long, unbound hair and radiated an aura of infinite cold. His eyes flashed with jade-green light, and his upper body was completely unclad; the only thing he wore was a fur loincloth. He stood there coldly in midair, staring angrily at the Xia Emperor. “Why have you come?”

On on one…not even he was a match for the Xia Emperor.

However, there was a veritable ocean of Fiendgods here, and yet…although logically speaking, their power should’ve been able to completely swamp the Xia Emperor, they were in a prison world that was actually a Protocosmic spirit-treasure. As the master of this treasure, the Xia Emperor didn’t even have to fight against them; all he had to do was activate the might of the treasure, and all of the Fiendgods would suffer pain that would make them wish for death.

“Empyrean God Coldsavage, have you been enjoying life lately?” The black-robed Xia Emperor laughed calmly.

“Hmph.” Empyrean God Coldsavage sneered. “These little fellows have enjoyed a few decades of comfort, and so they are all quite delighted. However, they’ve forgotten that we Fiendgods once flew through the vast world above. That vast world is our true world, our true land. You outsiders, you invaders, you took away our land, you killed our kinsmen, and you captured us and tortured us for the sake of making us become your servants and slaves.”

Empyrean God Coldsavage’s voice rang out throughout this fiery world.

“GWRAAAR!”

“Detestable Xia Emperor!”

“Die!”

Instantly, countless Fiendgods bellowed out in unison.

The Xia Emperor remained placid. Smiling, he shook his head: “You are wrong, ridiculously wrong. This isn’t your land. Countless years ago, the only thing which existed was the primordial chaos. Pangu split it apart, establishing Heaven and Earth, resulting in the creation of the primordial Pangu’s World. Afterwards, Maiden Nuwa created a race using Pangu as the template; that race was us, the humans. We are the heirs to Pangu and Nuwa; naturally, we are meant to flourish! We humans rose to prominence in the Primordial Era, then became the true powers of Pangu’s World! Afterwards, a storm came that caused the primordial world to shatter; only then arose the three thousand major worlds and the trillion minor worlds. And so, to be precise…even the world of the Grand Xia is nothing more than a tiny piece of the shattered Pangu’s World.”

“So you tell me…are humans the owners and masters of the Grand Xia? Or are you Fiendgods?” The black-robed Xia Emperor asked calmly.

“We were born here and we grew up here. Naturally, we are the owners of this place!” Empyrean God Coldsavage roared angrily.

“Ours! Ours!”

“Damnable humans!”

Countless Fiendgods echoed in furious unison.

The black-robed Xia Emperor said calmly, “I can’t be bothered to quibble with you about this. The victor becomes hailed as king, while the defeated are cursed as bandits. You have all been imprisoned here for countless years, never to see the light of day! But now, I’ll give you a chance…if you are willing to serve me and labor on my behalf for a hundred thousand years, then after that period of time, I’ll give you back your freedom!”

His voice rang out, echoing throughout this world.

“Freedom?”

The countless Fiendgods were all stunned.

They deeply desired freedom, but the Xia Emperor had never promised it to them a single time, despite having imprisoned them here for countless ages. Instead, he had always demanded that they become his eternal servants and slaves, which was why they had never assented. And in truth, during an ordinary era of peace, a hundred thousand years was an extremely short period of time; to have so many Fiendgods be servants for a mere hundred thousand years was pointless.

“Xia Emperor, are you deceiving us?” Empyrean God Coldsavage frowned.

“No.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “I can swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens.”

“I imagine that after a hundred thousand years, you’ll give us our ‘freedom’, then immediately slaughter us,” Empyrean God Coldsavage said angrily. “Even if you don’t…other humans will act against us.”

The Xia Emperor laughed. “I told you, I’ll give you your freedom. In fact, I can even promise that I will give you your own territory from within the land I control, allowing you to live peaceful lives there. So long as you do not revolt and do not act against humans, you’ll be able to live there in peace.”

Instantly, all the Fiendgods grew excited.

They knew exactly how powerful the humans were; after all, they had seen humanity’s ‘fist’ and had tasted its formidableness.

“Just a hundred thousand years?” Empyrean God Coldsavage said.

“I can swear it on an oath to the Dao of the Heavens,” the Xia Emperor said.

“Fine! Then I’ll labor for you for a hundred thousand years.” Coldsavage’s eyes gleamed with light. A mere hundred millennia; they had already been imprisoned in this place for countless hundred millennia. For Fiendgods, such a period of time was indeed very brief. They merely had to temporarily endure being his servants, and then they would gain their eternal freedom. They wouldn’t be so foolish as to refuse.

……

And so, just like that, the Xia Emperor took a massive army of Fiendgods into his command. These were the Fiendgods that countless human clans had joined together to suppress….but of course, this vast army would only serve for a hundred thousand years.

“A hundred thousand years. I wonder how many of them will be alive, after the storm. If they manage to survive…I might as well grant them their freedom and let them live happy lives.” The Xia Emperor sighed to himself. “But I wonder…by then, will I be alive, or will I be dead?”

……

The world of the Grand Xia. The black citadel levitating above Whitepole City.

This black citadel had been personally forged by a Daofather for the express purpose of serving as a headquarters for an army. The Nuwa Alliance referred to it as the ‘Seamless City’.

In the main plaza of the Seamless City.

Countless Loose Immortals were gathered here, before the three massive black fog-shrouded caves that led to the Fifth World. A steady, unbroken stream of black-robed figures flew out from the cave, as well as the occasional blood-robed figure. They all had tremendously powerful auras; some of them were Loose Immortals, while a few had the auras of Celestial Immortals. This awe-inspiringly vast army caused all of the many Loose Immortals present to feel their hearts swell with fervor.

“The Seamless Gate is far too powerful.”

“Even more Immortals are arriving.”

“Joining the Seamless Gate was the right decision.”

Within the most towering palace of the Seamless City.

“Fellow Daoist Whitepole, my forces have already assembled,” the Hallmaster of Bloodcloud Hall said with a laugh. “Just now, the last of them have reached the Seamless City.”

“Good.”

The sword-shaped white eyebrows of True Immortal Whitepole danced upwards as he smiled. “Excellent. Junior apprentice-sister Azurefox, have all three thousand Celestial Immortals finished learning the first scroll of the True Art of Chaoswater?”

“They all have.” Gatemaster Azurefox nodded.

“Then it is time to mobilize the army and campaign against the Xia.” True Immortal Whitepole rose to his feet. “Assemble the world-notifying formation; I am going to announce it to the world.”

The other seven True Immortals/Empyrean Gods all rose as well.

……

The world-notifying formation was set up. True Immortal Whitepole stood there in its center, staring coldly towards the vast, infinite Void. He immediately said in a sonorous voice, “The Xia Emperor is tyrannical and brutal, without the Dao. In the face of the storm…I, True Immortal Whitepole, now command an army of a million Immortals to follow the will of the Dao of the Heavens in campaigning against the Xia!”

True Immortal Whitepole’s voice reverberated throughout the 3600 commanderies and four seas of the Grand Xia.

Mortals, beasts, Diremonsters, cultivators…

They all could hear this voice.

This was a voice that echoed throughout every inch of the vast Grand Xia!

It represented…that the curtains had been lifted upon a massive war between Immortals within the Grand Xia!