Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ning frowned. “If that’s the case, would I even be capable of binding it?”

  After soulscouring the memories of the prisoners of Pangaea, Ning had learned a few things. In Pangaea, True Gods and True Immortals would generally use Protocosmic spirit-treasures, while Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals used Chaos treasures. As for the King of Pangaea, he supposedly used an even more terrifyingly powerful treasure which could only be bound by someone who was at least at the Elder God or Ancestral Immortal level of power.

  As for this tattered-looking sword…if it was one of the absolute best weapons that could be used by World Gods and Chaos Immortals, how could a mere Empyrean God/True Immortal like Ning possibly bind it?

  “Generally speaking, one has to have the power of a World God to bind this weapon.” The golden-armored woman warlady at Ning. “However, since Master left this sword for you, he must have done it for a reason. In Vastheaven Palace, there is a certain unique and secret binding technique that is recorded within the [Eight Directions Secret Scroll]. Although the records were casually written down, they described something that is extraordinarily marvelous. This technique is known as the ‘Heartseep’ technique. Through using the ‘Heartseep’ technique, you can bind this sword. Once you do, you’ll be able to retract its aura and change its appearance and coloration. Otherwise, everyone would be able to tell at a glance how extraordinary this weapon is.”

  Ning nodded. The aura of this badly damaged sword was even more terrifying than Human Sovereign Fuxi’s aura. Its power would indeed be obvious to anyone.

  Ordinary Pure Yang treasures and Protocosmic spirit-treasures had auras of their own, but after they were bound the auras could be suppressed, making them seem like normal weapons.

  “This is the Heartseep technique.” The golden-armored warlady waved her hand, causing a bamboo scroll to appear in midair before her.

  “That’s like how we do it in the Three Realms.” Ning chuckled. The Pangaea chaos-kingdom and the Three Realms recorded down techniques in differing manners. After World God Northrest had possessed Daofather Fuju, he had chosen to do as they did in the Three Realms and recorded techniques down within bamboo scrolls.

  Ning accepted it in a very practiced manner, then sent his coresense into it.

  A large amount of information began to flood into his mind, but after just two breaths worth of time, it came to an end. This was a fairly simple technique, but despite its simplicity, it would be hard for even World Gods or Chaos Immortals to intentionally devise an idea like it. This technique…the principles behind it were quite interesting.

  When royal figures died on Earth during the early ages, they would have jade treasures buried with them. Because those treasures would be covered in dirt and mud for hundreds or thousands of years, once they were excavated they would still be imprinted with some dirt or mud which would have seeped into the jade itself.

  It wouldn’t be very practical to come up with an idea to actively ‘seep’ dirt and mud into jade on Earth unless one used extremely high-tech methods, akin to how World Gods and Chaos Immortals would be able to use their tremendous power to forcibly bind this sword. However, given a long enough period of time, just keeping jade in constant contact with mud would eventually cause the mud to ‘seep’ into the jade. This was the essence of the ‘Heartseep’ technique.

  “What?” Ning’s face changed. “It needs that long? A thousand years?”

  “Is a thousand years really that long?” The golden-armored warlady looked towards Ning, puzzled. “For you, an Empyrean God and a True Immortal, to spend a mere thousand years binding a priceless treasure like this and complain about how long it takes…? This technique is already quite formidable, and the amount of time is already quite short.”

  Ning grew frantic. He didn’t have the time needed to slowly bind the treasure. The outside world had already descended into a state of calamity, and he had already spent more than a century in Undermoon Lake. He naturally wanted to leave as soon as possible.

  “Can I take this sword back with me? Can I slowly bind it in the outside world?” Ning asked.

  The golden-armored warlady shook her head. “You can try. If you can move it, go ahead.”

  “Oh?” Puzzled, Ning immediately walked forward and reached out to grab the terribly damaged sword. Since the warlady wasn’t going to stop him, this shouldn’t prove dangerous.

  Boom!

  As soon as Ning’s palm descended upon the sword, an invisible burst of power blasted out, knocking Ning backwards and sending him flying away like a meteor.

  A short while later, he flew back.

  “B-but…” As Ning once more walked into the jade shrine, he stared in astonishment at the badly damaged sword. It clearly was in terrible shape, but it still possessed incredible power.

  “If you take it out without binding it, once the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals of the Three Realms notice it you’ll be doomed.” The golden-armored warlady shook her head. “I heard you say in Undermoon Lake that the Three Realms has entered a state of war between two main allied camps? If you go out and end up losing that treasure to the major powers of the Seamless Gate, you’ll become a sinner in the eyes of all your allies.”

  Ning understood what she was saying…but was he really going to be trapped here for a thousand years?

  “You only have two clones here.” The golden-armored warlady chuckled. “Two absolutely identical clones. Techniques like these always produce more than just two, right? I imagine you have other clones in the outside world at all. If that’s really the case, then they should be able to deal with any emergent situations in the outside world.”

  Indeed. In the outside world, Ning had sixteen ‘true bodies’ and eighteen Primaltwin bodies.

  “In addition…this sword has suffered tremendous damage. Just look at it; it’s almost fallen apart. Only its energy source remains undamaged. It shouldn’t be that hard to bind it; five hundred years if you are fast, a thousand years if you are slow.” The golden-armored warlady explained, “Oh, right; aside from this treasure, Master has left behind other techniques for you to receive. He spent tremendous effort recording them all down for you.”

  As she spoke, the warlady waved her hand. Instantly, one bamboo scroll after another began to materialize in the air, coming together to form a small mountain of scrolls!

  “Some of his techniques could not be transmitted, due to the rules of Vastheaven Palace. The others, the ones that he was permitted to teach, are all here.” The golden-armored warlady pointed towards the small mountain of bamboo scrolls.

  * * *

  Book 20, Chapter 37 - The Sole True Body

  “One of your clones can focus on using the Heartseep technique to bind the sword while the other can begin the slow process of memorizing all these techniques,” the golden-armored warlady suggested.

  Ji Ning nodded.

  Whoosh. Whoosh.

  Two white-robed youths appeared within the jade shrine. One stood silently in front of the mountain of bamboo scrolls, with every single scroll emanating ripples of power. The other walked next to the divine sword, moved the prayer mat closer to it, then sat down by himself and quietly began to use the Heartseep technique.

  Using the Heartseep technique was quite simple, but there was one prerequisite; one had to have a basic understanding of heartforce!

  World God Northrest knew for certain that his chosen successor would have a basic understanding of heartforce. It must be understood that most of the True Gods and Daofathers of the Three Realms had reached the second or third stages of heartforce. Truly powerful experts all generally had at least some mastery of heartforce. Anyone capable of mastering the [Five Treasures] would definitely have some level of understanding of heartforce.

  As noted by the instructions included with the Heartseep technique, heartforce was ephemeral and formless, yet extraordinarily marvelous and effective. The Heartseep technique, in and of itself, was a special way of applying heartforce
.

  Ning’s heartforce had reached the fourth level. Based on his calculations, he would need a thousand years to bind the sword. If his heartforce had only been on the first or second level, the amount of time needed would’ve been even greater.

  Ning’s invisible heartforce seeped into the body of the Violetjewel sword. It entered the sword effortlessly.

  Ning’s heartforce could sense that within Violetjewel, there was a blurry region that was filled with countless cracks and scars. Clearly, Violetjewel had been damaged tremendously. Within the blurry region, there was a complex, octahedral crystalline structure. Every single face of the octahedral crystal was covered with extremely complicated runes. The runes were far, far more complicated than anything Ning had ever encountered, even the nine chaos seals.

  The surface of the octahedral crystal was covered with a layer of flowing light that prevented Ning’s heartforce from penetrating through it in the slightest, but he was still able to sense the unearthly power that lay hidden within it.

  This was the power source of the Violetjewel sword! The most central core of it!

  So long as the core remained intact, even if the entire physical sword was destroyed, it could one day be repaired.

  “Time to begin.” Ning’s heartforce was like an invisible hand within the sword. It began to form countless dots of starlight, all of which joined together to form slender threads. The many starlight threads swirled around the octahedral crystal, beginning to ‘seep’ into it as instructed by the Heartseep technique.

  Two white-robed youths; one seated atop a prayer mat next to the sword on the stone dais, the other standing in front of a mountain of bamboo scrolls.

  Time flowed on nonstop. In the blink of an eye, four months passed.

  “I’ve finally finished memorizing them all.” Ning was finally able to relax. Although these powerful techniques included the ninety-eight sword arts on the stone tablets, other powerful sword-arts, Fiendgod Body Refining techniques, Ki Refining techniques, special secret arts, and powerful divine abilities…Ning was still somewhat disappointed.

  These techniques would all be of some use to him after he became very powerful, upon reaching the Elder God or even World God levels. But as for right now? They were of no use at all in improving his current level of power.

  He had been hoping that he would be able to find a way to upgrade his second-tier Jindan into a first-tier Jindan. But alas…he had hoped in vain. There was nothing.

  “Disappointed?” The golden-armored warlady smirked at him.

  Ning couldn’t be bothered to lie to a treasure-spirit. He nodded. “A bit. The Three Realms are in a state of war right now, after all. If it wasn’t for the war, I wouldn’t be in a rush to increase my level of power, but the war has already arrived. None of these techniques can help me increase my power within a short period of time. I was hoping that I would be able to improve slightly.”

  “I knew you’d be in a rush.” The golden-armored warlady revealed a slightly smug look on her face. “When I saw that look on your face when you heard how long it would take to bind the sword, I understood how frantic you were to leave. Thus…I played a little joke on you.”

  “Joke?” Ning was stunned.

  “The three most important techniques aren’t actually in any of those bamboo scrolls.” The golden-armored warlady pointed at the mountain of scrolls. Ning’s eyes instantly lit up.

  “Look.” She pointed at the nearby walls of the jade shrine. Instantly, the semi-translucent walls became filled with various diagrams as countless images of sword-stances appeared. With the restrictive spell removed, the aura of the sword-intent within the stances came surging outwards, causing Ning to shudder uncontrollably.

  “Master was a World God of the sword. This is the most powerful technique Master acquired while wandering the endless primordial chaos, a nameless sword-art that has utterly Heaven-shaking power. The reason why Master stood amongst the most top-tier of World Gods was primarily due to this sword-art,” the golden-armored warlady said. “Master wrote down everything he had memorized about the sword-art here.”

  Ning nodded.

  “The ninety-eight sword-arts on the stone tablets outside were developed by Master after he gained insight into this nameless sword-art. After you master them, you can begin to study the nameless sword-art,” the warlady said.

  “Now look at this.” Another stone tablet suddenly appeared in her hands.

  “This is the ‘talisman of welcome’ which Master personally forged.” The golden-armored warlady looked at Ning. “After you bind it, it will become part of you. Once you die, the talisman will shatter.”

  “Talisman of welcome?” Ning was puzzled.

  “Right. In the endless primordial chaos, there are countless Elder Gods, Ancestral Immortals, and even World Gods who would desperately desire to acquire this talisman,” the golden-armored warlady said. “According to what Master said, Vastheaven Palace is a very powerful organization within the primordial chaos, and all of the experts within it refer to each other as brothers; there’s no such thing as ‘masters’ or ‘disciples’ in their ranks. Any and every member of Vastheaven Palace is a brother to the others.”

  “If you want to join Vastheaven Palace, you have to be welcomed in by a formal member of Vastheaven Palace.” The golden-armored warlady explained, “At Vastheaven Palace, there is a ‘Welcomer’ who is perennially responsible for welcoming new members. If any outsiders wish to join Vastheaven Palace, they have to pass the many tests which the Welcomer gives, at which point they will be welcomed into Vastheaven Palace.”

  “Aside from this option!”

  “Every formal member of Vastheaven Palace is permitted to welcome a single new member into their ranks.” The golden-armored warlady continued, “World God Northrest never welcomed any other experts into the palace. Before dying, he fashioned this ‘talisman of welcome’ for your sake, which means that so long as you can reach the Elder God or Ancestral Immortal level, you will be qualified to join Vastheaven Palace.”

  Upon hearing this, Ning remained quite calm, although he did of course feel anticipation.

  Vastheaven Palace?

  World God Northrest had fled so frantically that even he himself didn’t know the way back. Thus, he had given Ning a full chaos cycle to locate Vastheaven Palace. Who knew where the place even was?

  “The nameless sword-art and the talisman of welcome are both extremely important.” The golden-armored warlady looked at Ning. “There was a scroll within that pile over there that would be quite useful for you, but I intentionally took it out and kept it from you.”

  “Ah?!” Ning was stunned.

  “Take a look.” The golden-armored warlady waved her hand, producing yet another bamboo scroll. “I know that you have a body-duplicating technique, so I felt certain that this bamboo scroll would be very useful to you. Heh heh…I intentionally made sure it was the last one you see.”

  Ning quickly accepted the scroll.

  The nameless sword-art? He would have to master the other ninety-eight sword-arts before he could study in it. That was not going to happen for a long, long time.

  The talisman of welcome from Vastheaven Palace? That wouldn’t matter for an even longer period of time.

  “This is the last scroll.” Ning accepted it, then immediately sent his coresense into it. Instantly, information began to flood towards him as a technique entered his mind.

  “The ‘One True Body’ technique?” Ning murmured to himself.

  This was a secret art!

  By relying on the [One True Body] technique, bodies that all came from the same source could be merged together into one! The underlying principle of this technique was based off the rationale that, since all bodies and clones stemmed from the same source, they all had hidden connections that could be used to join them together again. Thus, a major power in the primordial chaos ended up creating this technique, the [One True Body].

  The third stage of the [T
aowu Eighteen Fiendgods] allowed for its eighteen clones to merge into one, but also allowed it to split apart again.

  As for the [One True Body] secret art, it could merge together separate clones to form a ‘true body’, but upon doing so it would no longer be able to split the clones apart again!

  This, compared to the [Taowu Eighteen Fiendgods], was its weakness; its inability to split up again. However, [One True Body] could be used without any material requirements.

  “It is useful to you, yes?” The golden-armored warlady laughed as she spoke. In the future, she would follow Ning, and so she naturally felt intrinsically friendly towards him.

  “Yes.” Ning nodded.

  After his bodies merged together, they wouldn’t be able to split apart again…but why would he even need to split them apart? It was enough for his power to increase by an explosive amount!

  When all his clones merged together, the power of his soul, his ki, his divine power, his heartforce, and his divine body would all skyrocket. If him possessing a second-tier Jindan made him a ‘half-step Daofather’, once he merged all of his clones together he would become equivalent to an actual Daofather.

  This wasn’t just useful; this was exactly what he needed!

  ……

  Life in this standalone dimension was quite peaceful. One of Ning’s bodies focused on binding the extraordinarily powerful sword, while the other spent every single day meditating on the sword-arts recorded on the ninety-eight stone tablets. The sword-arts recorded into the bamboo scrolls were nothing more than images, after all, whereas the sword-arts left behind on the stone tablets had been personally carved into them by World God Northrest. They were filled with his boundless intent, making it so that meditating on them was many tens of times easier.

  One year passed. Ten years. A hundred years…