Desolate Era

by RWX

When Daoist Three Purities had devised this technique to create the Three Pure Ones, his three incarnations were capable of joining together to reach an unfathomable level of power. He had even been able to battle the ‘king’ of the Seamless Gate for a long period of time.

  Committing suicide and sending the truesoul to be reincarnated was incredibly dangerous. For example, if in a reincarnated life he had become a Celestial Immortal, then suddenly was killed and had his soul shattered, his truesoul would’ve been sent into the River of Destiny. He would’ve truly been dead, then! What he did was a dangerous gamble…but Yuanshi Tianzun possessed astonishing willpower and determination, which was why he dared to act in such a way.

  The Carefree Exalted Celestial, however, didn’t possess that sort of determination. He did, however, create an incarnation which he sent to be reborn and experience new lives. In these new lives, however, he was naturally unable to gain any insights into the corresponding Heavenly Dao. Still, he didn’t care about this at all, because his power was still considered one of the top five of the Daoist Path.

  Lu Dongbin had taken on two true teachers. One was Daoist Three Purities, while the other was the Carefree Exalted Celestial.

  ……

  The imperial palace of the Primordial Imperial Clan, and other regions within the primordial chaos, such as Shennong’s residence or the residence of the ancient Suiren.

  These ancient figures, some of whom were legendary recluses of the Three Realms, were all watching this battle. Perhaps they might’ve been reclusive in the past, but now that the storm had come, there was no way for them to avoid it. They would have to fight as well.

  Similarly…

  Some of the ancient, major powers of the Seamless Alliance, scattered throughout the Three Realms, were watching as well. This was the time for the war for karmic luck, which was why they permitted the Godking to be in charge of the Seamless Gate! When the end came, however…these ancient figures would emerge. Long ago, they had followed behind their king…and compared to them, this ‘Godking’ was actually one of their juniors.

  “This battle hinges on the performance of those three.” All the major powers understood this.

  ……

  On the battlefield.

  The Daofather golem was the fastest on its side, while the Seven Planets God and perfect Heaven Punisher were the fastest on the Crimsonbright Realm’s side.

  The three of them were like the tips of the spear for their respective armies, and they headed straight towards each other.

  Whoosh!

  As the titanic spider flew forward, it suddenly lashed out with two of its slender, knife-legs, sending two blurry streaks of light flying towards the Crimsonbright Realm’s army.

  “Block it! Careful!”

  The distant units immediately pooled its power to defend against the strike.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Although three Heaven Punishers and a Raindragon joined forces to block the strike, one of the Heaven Punishers was completely shattered. Fortunately, the Daofather golem had launched an attack from very far away, and so very few Immortals within the Heaven Punisher were slain.

  “What incredible power. Ji Ning, let me test him first,” Empyrean God Redsnow sent mentally.

  Swish!

  The Seven Planets God brandished its spear. Snow began to fall in the area around it as spacetime began to twist and distort. Its power increased dramatically as it charged straight towards the Daofather golem.

  If Ji Ning was to explode forth with the full power of the perfect Heaven Punisher, his speed wouldn’t be slower than that of the Seven Planets God at all. However…Ning understood that once he unleashed his full power, the controller of the Daofather golem would become cautious! Thus, the best plan was to wait for them to actually clash. If he could catch his foe off-guard at the point of collision, it would result in a major advantage for him.

  “Redsnow, you dare to take my Daofather golem head-on with that little bit of power you have? Die!” Sword Immortal Evergreen’s voice rang out from within the Daofather golem, echoing throughout the battlefield.

  “Damn that Evergreen.”

  “It’s Evergreen.”

  The Xia Emperor and the others ground their teeth as they watched carefully.

  “Break!” The Seven Planets God flung its longspear forward with such incredible power that even the shaft of the longspear began to twist in mid-flight.

  The Daofather golem immediately swept out with two of its front spider-legs, blocking the oncoming spear.

  BOOM!!!!

  A terrifying shockwave blasted outwards, forcing the Seven Planets God backwards. Time began to twist and distort around it, allowing it to instantly retreat by several hundred kilometers, thus dodging the four retaliatory leg-strikes of the pursuing Daofather golem.

  “Don’t be so cocky!” As the Seven Planets God retreated, Ji Ning advanced.

  “You’re the one I really want to kill!” Sword Immortal Evergreen’s morale soared. He had been able to easily beat back even the Seven Planets God; was he going to be worried about Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher? Yes, the perfect Heaven Punisher had an incredible aura, but how much power would Ji Ning actually control?

  Ning’s Heaven Punisher ran forward on its bare feet, wielding a pair of enormous Ananda World-Swords in its hands.

  “CHOP!”

  An Ananda World-Sword was raised high into the air in a stance reminiscent of Pangu splitting apart Heaven and Earth to establish the universe. It chopped straight downwards! This was a stance which Ning had created after he thoroughly mastered the Grand Dao of the Sword…the twelfth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]. However, because he had been hiding his status as a Pure Yang True Immortal in the past, he had never used this technique before. Now…it was finally time for him to unleash it!

  [Three-Foot Sword], twelfth stance – Cleaving Heaven and Earth!

  With this stance, the entire [Three-Foot Sword] was finally perfected. These twelve stances covered the entirety of the Grand Dao of the Sword, from the basics to full mastery of it. The reason why Ning had chosen such a mighty name, ‘Cleaving Heaven and Earth’, was because he had been in an excellent mood and because his heartforce had been at the dominating ‘ruler’ stage.

  “F*ck off.” Sword Immortal Evergreen’s Daofather golem laughed wickedly, once more using its two front spider-legs to block with the intention of sending Ning flying back as well.

  BOOM!

  The longsword slammed down upon the two spider-legs.

  “Don’t take it head-on!”

  “Careful!”

  Although this took time to describe, it actually all happened as fast as lightning. Just after the Seven Planets God retreated, Ji Ning’s swords came chopping down. This greatly shocked Empyrean God Redsnow and the others. He knew that Ji Ning had to have seen the astonishing power of the Daofather golem from its clash against the Seven Planets God; how could Ji Ning be so foolish as to fight it head-on?

  “Time to go d-…what the hell!!!”

  Just as Sword Immortal Evergreen’s morale was soaring, he suddenly sensed a surge of inconceivable power pass into the golem from the longsword. The power of the blow was so great…that even his Daofather golem felt somewhat unable to withstand it.

  It was powerful.

  Far too powerful!

  BOOM! As Ning’s barefoot Heaven Punisher leapt forward, its angry sword-blow smote the Daofather golem down into the ground, causing the earth beneath it to cave in!

  “What?!”

  “The Daofather golem is actually weaker?”

  “This…this isn’t possible.”

  Everyone on the battlefield was stunned. The Seamless Gate’s forces had been very confident in the power of the Daofather golem; Evergreen was able to fully unleash all of its power, after all. Although the perfect Heaven Punisher possessed an aura of tremendous might which was comparable to that of an actual True God or Daofather…how much of that power could Ji Ning control? How co
uld he possibly be able to suppress the Daofather golem?

  “Impossible!!!” Sword Immortal Evergreen was utterly enraged. He used all his power to push upwards while sending two more of his spider-legs upwards to block Ning’s longsword. Four legs supporting it on the ground, four legs pressing upwards to defend; he was already using as much power as he could from the Daofather golem.

  “You shall KNEEL before me!” Ning’s other longsword came slamming down as well.

  The same stance; Cleaving Heaven and Earth! When staring at it, one could almost see Pangu within the primordial chaos, brandishing his greataxe to chop downwards.

  BOOM!!!!

  The Daofather golem was using four of its spider-legs to block, giving it only four other spider-legs to stand on. In the face of this mountain of pressure that slammed down upon it…the four spider-legs it was standing on went limp as it was pressed down onto its knee-joints.

  Silence.

  The two armies had been charging towards each other, but had yet to actually join battle. Both instantly fell completely silent. The Crimsonbright Realm’s forces, the Seamless Gate’s forces…they all just stared in disbelief at this sight!

  * * *

  Book 18, Chapter 54 - Release

  The utterly indomitable Daofather golem…had actually been suppressed in power by a Heaven Punisher!

  Those two swords had struck down as if they possessed the power to cleave apart Heaven and Earth. The Daofather golem was completely unable to endure their power, resulting in it being knocked into a kneeling crouch.

  “How can this be?! Just him by himself?” Sword Immortal Evergreen’s heart was filled with both rage and panic. “How can I possibly be unable to overcome Ji Ning? I should be able to beat him and Redsnow combined. How can I possibly be defeated by him alone?!” Sword Immortal Evergreen had already made many boasts before the Daofather and his fellow Immortals…and his victory was necessary and critical for the entire Realmwar to be won!

  If he was to lose…how could he face the Seamless Gate afterwards?

  He had already betrayed the Nuwa Alliance. He needed to have a firm footing within the Seamless Alliance now.

  This battle was incredibly important to him!

  “You imbecile! Why are you competing with him in strength? Since he has incredible power, hurry up and use your speed and agility!” Daofather Ink Bamboo’s mental voice carried urgency and panic within it as well. “Quick, quick, quick! The two armies have already begun to fight against each other. You have to win. If you lose, our army will lose all of its morale and collapse!”

  “Yes, Daofather. I was merely testing his strength, just now,” Sword Immortal Evergreen immediately responded.

  Swish! Swish! Swish!

  The Daofather spider-golem’s thin legs began to move quickly, tearing apart the ground as it scuttled backwards like a streak of twisted light, retreating into the distance.

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  The armies of the Crimsonbright Realm and the Seamless Gate were quite fast as well. They had already begun to battle against each other. The soldiers of each side started to slaughter each other, and many Immortals and Fiendgods began to perish.

  The Seamless Gate had suffered castastrophic losses last time. Although the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater led their allies, they were still at a marked disadvantage.

  ……

  The skies themselves seemed to turn dark as chaotic whirlpools of natural energy could be seen everywhere.

  Ning’s towering Heaven Punisher wielded two enormous Ananda World-Swords as he bound forward on bare feet, chasing after the Daofather golem.

  “Hurry up and get rid of that Heaven Punisher and the Seven Planets God,” Daofather Ink Bamboo sent frantically. “Kill them as fast as you can. If you let them tie you down, we’re going to lose!”

  “Yes, Daofather.”

  Sword Immortal Evergreen ground his teeth, madness visible within his eyes.

  “He’s very strong; I can’t fight against him head-on. But my Daofather golem is incredible fast and agile; I refuse to believe you can overcome me.” The Daofather spider-golem’s enormous body was actually so nimble that it left behind a series of twisted streaks of light in the skies as it charged towards Ning. Clearly, Sword Immortal Evergreen wasn’t willing to lose by Ning’s hands.

  “Die.” Four of the slender, knife-like spider-legs of the Daofather-golem pierced straight towards Ning’s Heaven Punisher.

  “F*ck off!” Ning’s Heaven Punisher lashed out with its right hand, and the Ananda World-Sword within its right hand left behind a wave of light in the skies. It was like a waterfall of sword-light…and with a thundering collision, the four attacking spider-legs of the Daofather golem were completely blocked by this single sword-stroke.

  “Entangle.” Ning’s other sword lashed out as well, transforming into a stream of sword-light of incredible speed and density. It struck down, pierced forward, slashed sideways…sword-light flowed past in so many different ways that it was as though a flood of sword-light was entangling the Daofather golem.

  Whoosh.

  At this moment, snowflakes began to drift in from far away. The spear-wielding Seven Planets God had arrived as well, and as soon as it came, its longspear struck out like a swimming dragon against the Daofather golem.

  Boom! Bang! Crash!

  Consecutive assaults from Ning’s Heaven Punisher and Redsnow’s Seven Planets God landed upon the body of the Daofather golem. The Daofather golem was completely undamaged, but due to the repeated assaults from the two of them, it had been temporarily tied down.

  “Damn. Damn! How is this happening!?” Sword Immortal Evergreen was truly growing frantic.

  “Senior Redsnow, leave this Daofather golem to me. Hurry up and help our army destroy the Seamless Gate’s forces as fast as possible,” Ning sent mentally.

  “Ji Ning, are you sure you can handle it?” Empyrean God Redsnow sent mentally.

  “I’m sure,” Ning replied.

  “Alright.”

  Empyrean God Redsnow trusted Ning; he knew Ning very well, after all, and understood his temperament. In addition, it was true that while the Seamless Gate’s forces were at a disadvantage on the battlefield, the Seamless Gate simply had far too many of those Empyrean God golems. Killing them was far more difficult than killing the other Immortals and Fiendgods and Terrorbeasts. The counter-attacks led by the Seamless Gate’s Three-Eyed Demon were also quite savage. If the fight continued like this…even if they ended up winning, they’d suffer heavy losses.

  Swoosh! The snow continued to fall as spacetime began to twist and distort. The Seven Planets God, longspear in hand, moved at an absolutely incredible speed as he charged straight towards the army of the Seamless Gate.

  “What?! The Seven Planets God is attacking!”

  “Not good! Stop him, quick!”

  “We’re in trouble now.”

  The Seamless Gate’s army instantly began to panic. They knew exactly how terrifying this Seven Planets God was. During the last battle, the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater and multiple other Empyrean Gods and True Immortals had to join forces against it, but were still unable to defeat it.

  Daofather Ink Bamboo was watching from atop the distant city walls of the levitating Seamless City. His face instantly changed, and he roared mentally, “Evergreen, quick! The Seven Planets God has already left your region and is charging towards the main army! My army is completely unable to defend against it. The more time passes, the more of them will be slaughtered. The only person you are faced with is Ji Ning! Hurry up and get rid of him, then go support the army!”

  “He’s by himself. I HAVE to be able to kill him.” Sword Immortal Evergreen had gone completely berserk…but in truth, in his heart, he didn’t feel any confidence.

  This was because the power which Ji Ning had revealed was far greater than what he had expected. However, he also knew that for the sake of this entire battle, he had to kill Ji Ning no m
atter what, and quickly! The more this dragged on, the greater a massacre the Seven Planets God would wreak upon the Seamless Gate’s army.

  Per the original estimations of Sword Immortal Evergreen, Daofather Ink Bamboo, the Godking, and the other major powers of the Seamless Gate, Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher and Redsnow’s Seven Planets God would perhaps be able to just barely hold their own against the Daofather golem. If the Seven Planets God was to attack the army, then Ji Ning would be quickly killed, allowing the Daofather golem to then fight the Seven Planets God by itself and kill it. Thus…per their original expectations, for the Seven Planets God to abandon Ji Ning and instead attack the main army would be absolutely wonderful.

  But though man proposes, Heaven disposes!

  Yes, on the field of battle, the Seven Planets God had chosen to attack the great army…and Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher truly was facing the Daofather golem by itself. But…could the Daofather golem kill it?

  ……

  “Die, die, DIE!” The titanic Daofather spider-golem had transformed into a series of twisted light-streaks, assaulting Ning’s Heaven Punisher time and time again.

  Boom! Boom!

  Brandishing the two enormous Ananda World-Swords in his hands, Ning’s aura seemed equivalent to Xingtian’s own aura! Evergreen’s Daofather golem was at a marked disadvantage, and Ning’s sword-arts were extremely well-suited for defense. No matter how the Daofather golem assaulted Ning, it wasn’t able to wound Ning in the slightest.

  “Excellent!” Daofather Crimsonbright, watching from the walls of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity, was instantly delighted.

  On the walls of the Seamless City, however, Daofather Ink Bamboo’s face was ashen.

  They had lost.

  Once he saw the Daofather golem go all-out but still be unable to kill Ji Ning, he knew that they had lost!

  In truth, if the Seven Planets God and Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher were able to block the Daofather golem, then the Seamless Gate would lose…much less Ji Ning being able to do it by himself.

  “Since you can’t kill him, forget about him.” A deep, low voice boomed out within Sword Immortal Evergreen’s mind.