Desolate Hall

Biodata

Background / History

Dao Sect's ancestors established Desolate Hall after discovering the Great Desolation Stele. The stele voluntarily bestowed the Great Desolation Scripture, while its derivative, the Desolation Stone, became the source of the hall's Desolation Power cultivation methods. Heaven Hall, Earth Hall, and Flood Hall were founded later. 218

Desolate Hall was once Dao Sect's foremost hall under its former Chief Disciple, Zhou Tong, who entered the Death Mysterious Stage while chief disciples of other Super Sects remained at the Life Mysterious Stage. After his departure, the hall declined; for nearly a century, no disciple successfully cultivated the Great Desolation Scripture. 210 205

The Great Desolation Stele later selected Dao Sect disciples in hopes that one could bring it two Ancestral Symbols needed to suppress the True Demon King sealed within it. Repeated failures, including Zhou Tong's, caused the stele to stop responding to Dao Sect disciples. 233

Lin Dong's arrival reversed this decline. He acquired the Great Desolation Scripture, helped eliminate the sealed True Demon King with several Ancestral Symbols and divine artifacts, and became the hall's chief. Before leaving Dao Sect with Lin Dong, the Great Desolation Stele gave the sect a less restrictive version of the scripture's cultivation method. 234 301 302

Organization

Cultivation & Inheritances

Great Desolation Scripture

Desolate Hall's foundational scripture is regarded as the foremost of Dao Sect's Four Great Scriptures. Its unusually severe requirements were tied to the Great Desolation Stele's search for a disciple capable of resolving its sealed-demon crisis. 205 302

• Draws on desolation energy and can drain vitality and power from the surrounding land. 234 456
• Its inheritance is tied to the Great Desolation Stele. 229
• The cultivation difficulty was reduced after the True Demon King was eliminated. 302

Desolation Art and Desolation Stone

The Desolation Stone is a Pure Yuan Treasure and a derivative of the Great Desolation Stele. Disciples use it to extract Desolation Power and begin cultivating the Desolation Art. 218

• The stone is Desolate Hall's principal cultivation treasure. 218
• It is associated with a desolate aura that withers the surrounding ground and life force. 216
• Lin Dong advanced to the seventh stage of the Desolation Art in one day by directly drawing on its power. 218

Hall-Suppressing Martial Arts

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Recruitment of Lin Dong — Wu Dao attempts to secure Lin Dong for Desolate Hall before Dao Sect's other halls can recruit him. Lin Dong instead declares his intention to compete for the vacant chief position. 177
• Restoration of the chief lineage — Lin Dong becomes chief within nine days, ending the hall's century-long absence of a chief disciple. 215 221
• Great Desolation Stele inheritance — Lin Dong and the four True Disciples enter the stele's trial; the four fail, while Lin Dong gains the Great Desolation Scripture and forms an alliance with the Tablet Spirit. 232 234
• Resurgence within Dao Sect — Lin Dong's mastery of Desolate Hall martial arts and the Great Desolation Body restores the hall's prestige, notably humiliating Hongya Cave's challengers. 239
• Suppression of the True Demon King — Dao Sect serves as the gathering point for Lin Dong and his allies before the Great Desolation Stele's sealed demon is refined. 300 301
• Continued succession — After Lin Dong's era, Desolate Hall produces another chief capable of wielding the Great Desolation Scripture. 427