God Of Immortals

Chapter 145: The Desolate Ruins [I]

The encampment surrounding the Desolate Ruins, which Yan Zhihao called the Titan's Tears, remained a marvel. Even though it looked as if it had been tossed together in an hour. Shacks and stalls were cobbled together from raw materials, many in a half-constructed state all over the wilds. The only one road leading into the ruins was packed with different cultivators who couldn't wait to get going. Some large fireflies dashed between ramshackle huts, making buzzing sounds that sounded across the Desolate Wilds. But all these details could not hide the obvious from the groups of disciples which surrounded Ju Feng from every angle. 

Young cultivators from different factions of the Flying Stars sect were dressed in sect's robe designed with their factions emblems. Some had outer robes sewn with images of dragons and birds in flight, others of lions and tigers. Ju Feng had never seen so many different houses of disciples packed into such a tight space. Disciples carrying swords, spears, whips, hooks, axes, awls, halberds, and other weapons for which Ju Feng had no name. He was really admiring all the disciples. They were dressed in everything from intricate formal robes that burned like a phoenix's flames to shoddy brown castoffs. 

Above it all, the titanic layers of the Desolate Ruins loomed like a mountain carved of brown stone. It reminded him a lot of the Deathkeep he had visited back at the forsaken palace. It was so strangely familiar when compared to Deathkeep that Ju Feng wasn't quite sure what to make of it. But he knew it wasn't of the same make. Deathkeep was on a dimensional plane while this was on the mortal plane. Looking around properly, he discovered most of them were peak stage zuji cultivators. Only a few of them were at the early stage. 

Yan Zhihao, who had been looking anxiously at the ruins, brightened. He waited until a cart had rattled by, deafening with a sound like clattering pottery, before he spoke.

"The cores of the beasts of the Desolate Ruins are the most prized. Even the ruins are a treasure in themselves. They are drawing heavenly energy from hundreds of miles around, and filled with ancient secrets of great power. But the one everyone seeks, that could elevate one faction to the heavens, is the core of the Desolate black dragon."

Yan Zhihao couldn't contain his excitement. He began to prepare himself, gesturing with his hands so that his spear bobbed wildly, causing several rifts to appear in the air. He continued as though he hadn't seen them. 

"Almost a thousand years ago, the Desolate Wilds were totally lawless, plagued by beasts and by mutated daemons no better than animals themselves. Each man considered himself an Emperor, each woman an Empress, and they ruled whatever they could take at the end of a blade. But one day..." 

Yan Zhihao stared at Ju Feng proudly.

"...A woman emerged from nowhere with a heavenly treasure in her hand. A red spear. She united these rogue sacred artists under one name, killing those who resisted, and spreading law and civilization across the Wilds. No one could stand against them, because no one could oppose her...or rather, no one could oppose her spear."

He smiled wider, because even Zu Tao, one of the other cultivators of the house of lightning, was also listening with obvious interest. 

"You see, her heavenly weapon was said to devour spirits. When she destroyed a daemon, she consumed its power, until she grew so strong that she could slay entire armies at a stroke. For the next two centuries, while she was around, all the Desolate area remained peaceful under her rule."

He waved a hand as though brushing aside two hundred years. 

"The story of her ascension is a long one, but it's enough to say that the Ruins rose on the day of her ascension. She entered with her spear, and never emerged again. She ascended while inside the ruins. Some say that she received her power from the Ruins in the beginning, and she was only returning the power she had borrowed. I believe that she found the core inside the ruins. But her legacy must be inside the ruins. We're not after her legacy, but the other black dragon cores. Especially, the black shadow dragon. That's power."

"I believe you can retrieve the shadow dragon core, brother Zhihao" 

Ju Feng said with a nod. Though it was clear that Yan Zhihao wasn't the most powerful young cultivator in the Flying Stars sect, Ju had a feeling about him. Yan Zhihao clapped Ju Feng on the back so hard that Ju Feng thought he would bruise. 

"I know my place; I'm only here to bring some small glory to our faction, as much as I am capable. Same about you."

"The Desolate Ruins is a deadly place. Factions must work together when needed. That's why you trained in the circle of one. You will be tested inside. But a core is all you need."

He smiled wider, because even Zu Tao, one of the other cultivators of the house of lightning, was also listening with obvious interest. 

"You see, her heavenly weapon was said to devour spirits. When she destroyed a daemon, she consumed its power, until she grew so strong that she could slay entire armies at a stroke. For the next two centuries, while she was around, all the Desolate area remained peaceful under her rule."

He waved a hand as though brushing aside two hundred years. 

"The story of her ascension is a long one, but it's enough to say that the Ruins rose on the day of her ascension. She entered, taking the spear, and never emerged. Some say that she received her power from the Ruins in the beginning, and she was only returning the power she had borrowed. I believe that it was a test, that she locked her strongest core into a secure vault to safeguard her legacy until a cultivator could claim it once again."

"Do you think you can retrieve the shadow dragon core?"