Desolate Era

by RWX

  Retreat at will.

  What this meant was…no need to worry about anything else or about others. Everyone was to flee for their own lives, using any methods and means available to them. There was no need to cooperate, no need to work with others.

  There was no way at all that they would be able to sustain an organized retreat in the face of Rahu-Ning, who was massacring them at light-speed with his [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent] technique.

  * * *

  Book 21, Chapter 20 - The Curtain Falls

  “Flee.”

  “Let’s go. Flee, quick!”

  “Separate and flee in different directions.”

  As Daomother Devilhand gave the order, the entire army of the Seamless Gate completely broke apart into countless individual figures. Even the Infinity God, the Seamless Infinity Formations, and the ‘Life and Death Formations of the Twin Realm Calamity Dragons’ all voluntarily dispersed into their component individuals. The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals drew the other Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals into their personal estate-treasures, then frantically began to flee in every possible direction.

  The entire battlefield was filled with countless dense clusters of Immortals and Fiendgods. There were far, far too many fleeing Immortals and Fiendgods, and so the Nuwa Alliance didn’t dare to voluntarily disperse their own formations as well.

  “Haha…the damnable Seamless Gate has been utterly terrified. Feiyou, let’s have a little competition and see which of us can kill more Empyrean Gods and True Immortals.”

  “Fine, let’s!”

  The many Seven Planets Gods charged in every direction, and they slaughtered all who stood before them. As for the distant Myriad Immortals Armageddon Formations, they began to launch a constant stream of long-distance attacks. They originally had been meant to play a supporting role on the battlefield, but when used against Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, they were veritable engines of slaughter.

  Every single blow from them had the power of a Daofather, after all!

  Boom! Bang! The entire battlefield was filled with the sound of explosions. The army of the Nuwa Alliance began a frenzied massacre, going all out to kill as many as they could. The more they killed today, the fewer they would face in the future, after all.

  And without question, the most terrifying figure on this field of question was the Rahu-Ning, who moved about in the form of a black serpent of lightning.

  The Rahu-Ning’s sword had expanded to become more than three million meters long. His six massive swords swept outwards in every direction, and every single region he passed through resulted in an utter wipeout of the enemy forces there, causing utter terror to race through the hearts of the Seamless Gate’s soldiers.

  “Haha, Darknorth, your Dao-companion is sharing the same death-site as us. Worth it!”

  “Darknorth, we’ll embark on the next step of our journey…and you won’t live for much longer either.”

  The slaughtered Empyrean Gods and True Immortals all cursed furiously as they were slaughtered. The Rahu-Ning, however, just killed them in icy cold silence.

  He didn’t feel much hatred towards these ordinary Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Seamless Gate. However…this was war, and they were on the wrong side. If he didn’t wipe them out, they would wipe out the Nuwa Alliance. There were no other choices for him to choose! If he wanted more people on his side to live, his only option was to kill as many as he could, to massacre as many as possible.

  ……

  When the army of the Seamless Gate had completely split apart into its component soldiers, there were so many of them on the battlefield that invariably some of them were able to escape and reach the Seamless Citadel.

  Atop the walls of the Seamless Citadel.

  The black-robed Godking and Daomother Devilhand both had ugly looks on their faces as they watched a few Empyrean Gods and True Immortals flee into the citadel, the vast majority of the others being slaughtered in the desolate wilderness.

  Disastrous!

  This defeat was utterly disastrous!

  This was an utter massacre!

  When the Envoy had appeared for the first time, its attacks had caused Xuan Yuan to order his army to retreat as well, but it was still an orderly, organized retreat. But this time, the Seamless Gate’s entire army had completely collapsed, forcing Daomother Devilhand to issue an order for them to retreat at will.

  “It’s all because of Ji Ning,” Daomother Devilhand said hoarsely.

  It was Ji Ning who had instantly shattered the Seamless Infinity Formation, slain an Infinity God, and then captured the Seamless Gate’s ‘killer weapon’, the Envoy of All Things. And then, the Rahu-Ning had actually been able to use the [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent] technique while in Rahu form. Given the power of this technique, the speed at which he pursued and killed his foes was simply too terrifying.

  “Damn.” The black-robed Godking’s eyes flashed with cold light.

  Time seemed to flow as slowly as sand in an hourglass, one grain falling down at a time.

  Large numbers of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were massacred on the battlefield, with only the occasional fleeing straggler making it back into the Seamless Citadel.

  Then, finally…the battlefield turned quiet once more.

  There were no longer any surviving Empyrean Gods or True Immortals of the Seamless Gate on the battlefield at all.

  Below the walls of the Seamless Citadel, the towering, bloodlusted Rahu-Ning stared upwards towards the black-robed Godking. His eyes were filled with a bone-chilling murderous intent. Ji Ning truly wanted to attack the Seamless Citadel and battle the Godking…but he saw that Daomother Devilhand was next to the Godking’s side. Daomother Devilhand was a terrifying figure who had actually been able to battle Mother Nuwa herself for a period of time during the war that ended the Primordial Era. If he truly was to attack, Daomother Devilhand would probably have enough of an excuse to attack and most likely kill him with a single palm blow.

  He still didn’t have enough power to fight against the most truly supreme figures of the Three Realms yet.

  ……

  The forces of the Seamless Citadel were filled with agony and rage…but the Nuwa Alliance’s castle was filled with the sound of rejoicing.

  The seven major powers atop the walls were all laughing.

  “We won.” For once, Daoist Three Purities had a broad smile on his face as he stroked his beard.

  “When Darknorth said to give him a month, he really did have the power to back up what he said. He wasn’t just spouting rubbish.” Lord Tathagata the Buddha chortled, “He was actually able to unleash such astounding power through the Rahu Formation. I saw that he was able to command his Rahu God while using the [Ninehorn Lightning Formation]. It seems that he must have mastered all of its power, preventing any of it from leaking outwards.”

  “Yes.” Fuxi nodded, then chuckled curiously. “I really wonder how Ji Ning accomplished it. Perhaps it really does have something to do with Undermoon Lake.”

  “Undermoon Lake?” Lord Tathagata nodded as well. “After Jueming returned from Undermoon Lake, he’s been almost perpetually in secluded, solitary meditation. He rarely comes out, but is so powerful that even I am uncertain of his true strength. Like him, Ji Ning left from Undermoon Lake under his own power. He must have gained some special rewards.”

  “Most likely.”

  “Must be it.”

  The major powers chatted amongst themselves for a time. Undermoon Lake was quite a mysterious place in their heart, and they had once tried everything they could to enter, only to fail.

  Because the black-robed Ning was next to them, not too far away, he was able to clearly hear the conversation going on amongst the major powers. In fact, some of the major powers actually sneaked peeks at Ning’s face. Clearly, however, Ji Ning was not in the mood to discuss anything. He was finding it extremely difficult to recover from the state of frenzied agony and rage that he had fallen into upon Y
u Wei’s death.

  “Withdraw our troops.” Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan gave the order.

  ……

  The Seamless Citadel.

  “It’s over.” Daomother Devilhand’s face was rather pallid and wan. This was the first time in her life that she had suffered such a disastrous defeat. “More than two thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals…in the end, less than two hundred survived.”

  The black-robed Godking was silent for a long moment. He then couldn’t help but ask, “Aunt-master, how could Ji Ning be this powerful? I simply don’t understand. Is it possible that he’s actually already a Daofather, but has been keeping his aura hidden and thus has been pretending to be an Empyrean God? If he is a Daofather, he shouldn’t even be allowed to take part in the war for karmic luck.”

  “If he’s a Daofather, he would have to have already mastered a Heavenly Dao.” Daomother Devilhand said softly, “But I saw quite clearly that although Darknorth’s sword-arts were incomparably transcendent, perhaps the best in all the Three Realms, that was simply because he has trained in and mastered the [Five Treasures]. His sword can surpass the limits of the Heavenly Daos, and he’s reached a wondrous level of technique, which is why he is so powerful. However, I can’t find any traces of the Heavenly Daos in his sword-arts.”

  “His movement techniques, his combat methods…I can find no trace of the mysteries of the Heavenly Daos in them at all.”

  “In addition…”

  “If he truly had gained insight into a Heavenly Dao, then Demonheart definitely would’ve found out. He is part of the Heavenly Daos, after all.” Daomother Devilhand looked towards the Godking. “Demonheart is your master.”

  The black-robed Godking was stunned. Slowly, reluctantly, he nodded his head. It was true. If Ji Ning had mastered a Heavenly Dao and caused a resonance with the Heavenly Daos, how could it have escaped the notice of the Lord of the Demonheart?

  “Then is it possible that he became a True God?” The black-robed Godking couldn’t help but ask.

  Daomother Devilhand frowned as she glanced at the black-robed Godking. “The Rahu Formation uses Immortal energy to control countless Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals, using their power to summon and control the vast nature energy of Heaven and Earth. Even if he was a True God, if all he had was his powerful divine power, it would be useless in the formation. Not even a True God would be capable of unleashing such power from the Rahu Formation. Don’t you even understand something as basic as this?”

  Rebuked, the black-robed Godking lowered his head. He just couldn’t accept this. He really couldn’t.

  A pawn that he had held in no regard had ended up ruining their entire plan for the war!

  “Then what should we do?” The black-robed Godking said, “The Envoy has been seized. Ji Ning has a true body and a Primaltwin; he can have his true body command the Rahu Formation while having his Primaltwin command the Envoy. If his terrifying sword-arts are paired up with the power of an Envoy, the power of his Primaltwin in the Envoy would probably be comparable to yet another Rahu God.”

  The Godking’s guess was wrong.

  He didn’t know that in truth. Ji Ning had the Immortal energy of a Daofather. If he was to use his Daofather-level energy to command an Envoy of All Things and use it to unleash his terrifying sword-arts…he would be able to unleash the full power of the Envoy, a level of power comparable to that of the Envoys under the control of the Lord of All Things all those years ago. Those Envoys were close to the overlord-level, and if three to five of them joined forces, they were absolutely a match for the leaders of Daoism and Buddhism.

  Clearly, Ning’s energy and sword-arts were all at a high enough level for him to command the Envoy effectively, allowing it to unleash a level of power close to that of the overlord-level Daofathers! His power would vastly outstrip the power of a Rahu God; he would essentially be equal in power to figures like Subhuti and Old Man Yuan.

  “A true body and a Primaltwin…” Daomother Devilhand frowned as well. “Troublesome. Very troublesome. Very well…we need to go back and think on how we are going to deal with this new issue. Ask your master and the others to ponder on this as well. What should we do with this Ji Ning?”

  Prior to this, the Nuwa Alliance had a headache over the question of how to deal with the Envoy.

  Now, it was the Seamless Gate’s turn to have a headache, this one over Ji Ning.

  “It is now time for us to leave the Deerchaser world,” Daomother Devilhand said in a low voice.

  This war had been lost. It was time to leave.

  * * *

  Book 21, Chapter 21 - Secret Discussions

  They had won.

  Critical wars like this would generally continue for many years before ending, but an unexpected variable had appeared in the form of Ji Ning.

  In truth, both sides essentially knew what the other had up their sleeves. The Nuwa Alliance knew that their foes had an Envoy of All Things, and so they were still prepared to continue battling against it. At most, they would be at a disadvantage and the war would become difficult to win. However, Ning’s sudden appearance out of nowhere had caught the Seamless Gate completely offguard.

  His sudden appearance and his explosion of terrifying power had instantly smacked the army of the Seamless Gate senseless. They had completely and irrevocably collapsed, and so the result was that this battle, the most critical battle in the Three Realms in the war for karmic luck, had ended after just a few short months.

  ……

  The Deerchaser major world. Within the imperial palace.

  Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan had hosted a huge celebratory feast, and had invited many major powers and the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals who had fought in the battle to take part. Although Ning took part in the banquet as well, he left very early on.

  He was seated within a gazebo.

  Flakes of snow drifted about around him. Ning sat there by himself, a flagon of wine and a wineglass in front of him.

  He quietly sipped his wine. As it flowed into his throat, it brought a stream of warmth with it.

  “Senior apprentice-sister…according to what World God Northrest told me, all things are possible within the endless primordial chaos.” A distant gaze was in Ning’s eyes. “Even Vastheaven Palace itself has figures that were far more powerful than World God Northrest. In the primordial chaos, there are figures that vastly, vastly outstrip World Gods like him in might…”

  “The World God stage isn’t the end.”

  “Once one reaches the World God stage, one can find a truesoul within the River of Destiny.”

  “Your truesoul has been destroyed. Not even World Gods can save you. But if in the future, I can surpass the World God stage and reach an even higher level, perhaps I will be able to save you.” This was what Ning was quietly saying to himself.

  World God Northrest had accepted Ning as his successor. He had thus left behind many techniques, as well as many records on some of the nearby powers and much knowledge regarding the primordial chaos.

  This was why Ning knew very well that the most precious item which World God Northrest had, the divine sword ‘Violetjewel’, was something that was far beyond the capabilities of World Gods and Chaos Immortals to create. Ning knew for a fact that in the primordial chaos, there existed figures more powerful than even World Gods and Chaos Immortals.

  Prior to this, Ning didn’t have much ambition; he had felt that being able to survive this tribulation and live a peaceful life afterwards in the Three Realms would be enough. Even though in the future, his lifeblood oath would force him to go search for Vastheaven Palace, that would be something that would only happen in the distant future.

  But now…

  Ning was filled with ambition.

  He wanted to walk further down the path!

  “After the war ends, I’ll leave behind my Primaltwin to take care of my daughter, then go do what my lifeblood oath requires me to do. I’ll enter the primordial chaos and s
earch for Vastheaven Palace. I’ll climb up ever-higher mountains and move higher and higher…because so long as the path of Immortal cultivation is truly endless, there will come the day that I will rescue you,” Ning silently promised.

  “Junior apprentice-brother.” A voice rang out.

  Ning turned his head. Someone had just entered the courtyard. It was senior apprentice-brother Silvermoon.

  Silvermoon looked at Ning. He could sense Ning’s hidden loneliness, and he couldn’t help but sigh to himself. When Silvermoon’s Dao-companion had just perished, he had been just as Ning was now. Much time had to pass before he was able to control his emotions and laugh gaily once more….but in truth, he was doing nothing more than suppressing those feelings in his heart. He had never forgotten them, and when the chance to give vent to them had come, he had let them explode forth.

  When he looked at Ning, he felt as though he was looking at his past self.

  “Senior apprentice-brother,” Ning said.

  Silvermoon walked over, then seated himself in front of Ning. He stared at the winecup on the table. “Just one cup?”

  “Since you’ve come, there will naturally be one more.” Ning waved his hand, and yet another winecup appeared on the table. Ning picked up the flagon of wine and poured a cup for his senior apprentice-brother.

  Gurgle gurgle. Silvermoon tasted the wine, then raised his head and downed it all.

  “The wine’s pretty strong.” Silvermoon chuckled. “I came to see you because I was worried that you’d let yourself grow depressed and dispirited, or that you’d be completely consumed by your hatred. But now, it seems, you are quite calm.”

  “Of course I’m calm. I still have my daughter, Brightmoon. I also have Uncle White, Little Qing, and the others, along with my mother and father,” Ning said calmly. Although his parents had perished, if he was able to become a World God he would be able to locate their souls in the River of Destiny.

  “Yes. There are many things left in the world for us to cherish.” Silvermoon nodded, but his eyes were filled with a murderous look. “But the Seamless Gate really will stoop to anything. They actually launched assassinations on a massive scale against the family members and loved ones of many Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and Daofathers. So many have perished!”