Desolate Era

by RWX

  As soon as the black-robed Ji Ning had attacked through his Envoy, he had immediately suppressed Darklight. The power he had just displayed stunned everyone. This definitely wasn’t the power of an ordinary elite Daofather; it was a level of power that was extremely close to that of the Three Sovereigns or the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism. As for Daofather Shadowless? He was hidden in the shadows, but had no time to think about this question.

  “We have to get rid of him.” Daofather Shadowless launched his attack.

  “Eh?” As the Envoy-Ning struck out with his sword, suppressing Swordfather Darklight, he immediately saw a pitch-black figure appear in front of him. This pitch-black figure instantly split apart into six figures, each of who wielded a bladed whip that could be used like a flexible sword.

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

  The six black figures lashed out with their whips, filling the skies with them and completely sealing off the area around Ning. They were like vipers, coiling around Ning and prepared to strike at any moment.

  “Daofather Shadowless.” Ning could immediately guess at who this was. “The Seamless Gate really thinks quite highly of me. They actually sent their two best assassins to deal with me. The first was Swordfather Darklight, who is skilled in long-distance attacks; the second is Daofather Shadowless, who is skilled in close-range attacks. When the two of them join forces, there aren’t many in the Three Realms who can escape them.”

  Daofather Shadowless was a dual refiner, both a Daofather and a True God. He was far more powerful than Daoist Threelives had been, and was a terrifying figure who was every bit a match for the likes of Subhuti and Old Man Yuan.

  There were many differences between Swordfather Darklight and Daofather Shadowless. Swordfather Darklight used long-range treasures to attack, allowing him to deliver an instant, death-dealing sword-stroke that was able to unleash explosive power. However, in sustained battle, he was a bit weaker.

  Daofather Shadowless, however, was a master of close combat! He trained in an extremely bizarre divine ability that was known as the [Shadowless Fiend Sutra]. Only a few of the absolute most elite major powers of the Seamless Gate knew this technique, but the only one who had been able to truly master it was Daofather Shadowless! This divine ability was similar to the [Taowu Eighteen Fiendgods], but of course there were differences between them.

  When one used this divine ability, one would be able to instantly manifest six mighty clones! Each of the six clones would have the same level of power as the original body, and they were like shadows. There was no way to kill a shadow! When Daofather Shadowless activated this technique, the six clones created would all look like mere shadows, with just one of them containing his true body within it!

  However, distinguishing the true body from the five false ones was incredibly difficult, and Daofather Shadowless was also able to easily alternate amongst his six mighty clones.

  This divine ability allowed his power to increase dramatically, and also made him virtually unkillable! Given that Daofather Shadowless had the power of a elite Daofather to begin with, after he had mastered this technique he had naturally become comparable to Subhuti and Old Man Yuan.

  “Break, break, break!” Ji Ning was a peerless Sword Immortal, and his Envoy lashed out with a pair of divine swords with frenzied abandon.

  Even though Daofather Shadowless was occasionally struck, each time it turned out that it was only one of his ‘shadows’ that was hit. Daofather Shadowless continued to strike with his frenzied whip-blocks, forcing Ning to keep an extremely tight defense. If Ning made the slightest of mistakes, the whips would most likely be able to wrap themselves around him.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Riiiiiip!

  The Envoy-Ning battled against Daofather Shadowless in close combat, the two furious exchanging blows.

  One was completely invulnerable to weapons and reputed to be the number one sword-user of the Three Realms.

  The other had six indestructible bodies that could attack simultaneously, and also had the long-distance support of Swordfather Darklight. The two could be said to make a perfect pairing.

  Ning had been completely shut down.

  “What should I do? My attacks are useless against Daofather Shadowless, but his whip strikes have completely tied me down here, restricting my movements. And that damnable Swordfather Darklight…he keeps on interfering with me as well. There’s nothing I can do; my only choice is to try to buy time. The more time passes, the more major powers of the Nuwa Alliance will get here,” Ning mused to himself.

  Although all this took time to describe, these major powers actually exchanged blows lightning-fast against each other.

  Moments after Ning’s true body had been ambushed and assassinated, his Primaltwin had emerged with the Envoy of All Things and launched an attack, resulting in Swordfather Darklight and Daofather Shadowless joining forces.

  “Right at this moment…”

  “EVERWOOD!!” An enraged roar rang out.

  A towering figure clad in just a fur loincloth had appeared in the skies, and the space around him had been completely torn apart. Utterly terrifying waves of flames were swirling around him, emanating an utterly horrifying aura of power. But if one was able to stare deep into the flames…one would unconsciously feel warmth in the heart, as though hope could be seen living within the flames.

  This was Suiren’s ‘Eternal Kindlefire’.

  “It’s Suiren.” Ji Ning, battered by Swordfather Darklight and Daofather Shadowless, instantly felt hope in his heart.

  “Suiren’s come.” Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan was overjoyed as well.

  Suiren was secretly acknowledged by many as the number one expert of the Nuwa Alliance. But of course, it was also possible that Lord Tathagata the Buddha and Daoist Three Purities had made breakthroughs in recent years which allowed them to surpass him! Still, for now at least, the level of power that Suiren had made public was enough to let him stand at the very peak of the Three Realms.

  The mid-air Suiren was wielding a long black staff in his hands. He brandished the stave, unleashing an aura of endless power that struek out like a falling star, smashing through all impediments. The violet light was instantly shattered.

  “Just in time.” Keeper Everwood struck out with his wooden ruler as well.

  Both weapons had transformed to become three million meters long.

  Wooden staff against wooden ruler. The two collided, and the heavens themselves trembled.

  Keeper Everwood was knocked two steps backwards. He had to twirl the wooden ruler in an arc before him in order to deflect the remainder of the shockwave.

  “I’m still a bit weaker than you in close combat.” Keeper Everwood laughed softly, but his eyes were as cold as ice. “Alas for you, there’s no need for me to actually fight you.”

  “Transform.”

  Keeper Everwood’s body blurred as he used [Three Heads, Six Arms]. Each of his six arms now wielded a wooden ruler.

  “Everwood. I really don’t want to kill you.” A sigh suddenly rang out in the heavens as a enormous, dazzling, shining golden palm suddenly ripped through the skies, smashing downwards.

  “Tathagata.” Two of Keeper Everwood’s hands increased in size as well, and he sent his massive palms and wooden rulers to block against this attack.

  Almost as soon as Subhuti had called out to them, Suiren, Tathagata, and Daoist Three Purities had arrived.

  Suiren’s wooden staff was as heavy as the Solar Star or the Lunar Star, and each blow from it knocked Keeper Everwood stumbling backwards.

  Tathagata’s palm contained an entire vast major world inside of it, and those two hands had long ago reached the level of Chaos treasures.

  Daoist Three Purities’ ‘Immortal Slaying Sword Formation’ was the most offensively terrifying attack of them all, and Keeper Everwood spent nearly half of his efforts on defending against it.

  “A pity that Shennong and Fuxi are both within the primordial chaos. It will ta
ke them time to get here.” Suhbuti was frantic. “If it was the Lord of All Fiends or Daomother Devilhand attacking, there’s no way they could possibly tie down Three Purities, Tathagata, and Suiren at the same time. Only Everwood is capable of such a deed.”

  Subhuti’s heart was burning with anxiety. His power primarily lay in his escaping techniques. Although he was close to the overlord-level in close combat, he was still considerably weaker than the likes of Three Purities, Tathagata, and the others.

  As for Keeper Everwood, he was an utter freak. He knew far too many techniques, and when he put them all on display he was able to simultaneously tie down Three Purities, Tathagata, and Suiren for a brief period of time. The very sight of such a feat was terrifying!

  “Devilhand, go ahead and strike. Remember, keep the strike surgical. If we can avoid starting the Endwar, we need to try and do so,” the Lord of All Fiends instructed mentally.

  “You should’ve let me attack long ago.”

  A violet-robed woman appeared in the air above the imperial palace.

  She was adorably short and slender, with beautiful features, but the strength of her killing intent was enough to cause the entire Deerchaser world itself to shudder. Dark stormclouds began to gather, and when Subhuti, Daoist Three Purities, and Tathagata saw the violet-robed woman, their faces all changed.

  A true fiend amongst fiends! A true mass-murdering maniac! A devil that had caused even the Seamless Chaosworld to tremble in terror!

  Daomother Devilhand!

  “I didn’t expect that even when Shadowless and Darklight joined forces together, they still wouldn’t be able to do anything to Ji Ning. I have no choice but to let Devilhand to engage as well. I hope that she won’t expand the scope of things too much.” The Lord of All Fiends felt some worry in his heart. Ji Ning, when in command of the Envoy of All Things, truly was much more powerful than they had expected. They had to send out their overlord-level experts, as otherwise it would be extremely difficult to capture him.

  The Lord of All Fiends had no choice. He had to send out Daomother Devilhand.

  As soon as the violet-robed woman had appeared, she stretched out her slender, ivory-white arms. Her palms sliced through the air, clawing towards the Envoy-Ning, who was still engaged in a furious battle against Swordfather Darklight and Daofather Shadowless.

  As for Subhuti, Xuan Yuan, Three Purities, Suiren, and Tathagata? For now, they had all been completely tied down by Keeper Everwood alone! Although this was incredibly difficult and taxing for Keeper Everwood, he was able to endure them for now. Lord Tathagata the Buddha was able to rely on the formidable power of his golden body to endure a hit while striking solemnly towards Daomother Devilhand, but she just used one of her own palms to defend while sending the second clawing towards Ji Ning.

  “NO HARMIN’ MY JUNIOR APPRENTICE-BROTHER!”

  Heaven and Earth suddenly echoed with this furious bellow, and a murderous aura that was just as savage as Devilhand’s soared towards the skies. A monkey-shaped figure had appeared on the distant horizons, and he delivered a furious, double-handed blow with the staff in his hands. The enormous staff, glowing with dazzling golden light, smashed downwards like a thunderbolt from the heavens towards Daomother Devilhand.

  * * *

  Book 21, Chapter 27 - Eldest Disciple

  “Unruly monkey!” Daomother Devilhand glanced sideways at him. She didn’t hold the King of Flower-Fruit Mountain in any regard, but she still halted her assault on Ji Ning and instead waved her hand towards the Monkey King, intending to deal with him first.

  Daomother Devilhand stood there in midair, one palm clashing with the oncoming blow from Lord Tathagata the Buddha, the other smashing towards the Monkey King.

  THUD!

  A deep, dull sound rang out. It was the sound of the gleaming golden staff colliding with Daomother Devilhand’s ivory-white hand. Daomother Devilhand’s hand actually came to a halt. It was actually forced to a halt by that staff!

  “Eh?” Daomother Devilhand’s face changed as she stared at the distant Monkey King.

  “My junior apprentice-brother has only trained for a few short centuries, but he’s reached an incredible level of power. It’s been countless years since the war that ended the Primordial Era. Did you think that I, ol’ Sun, wouldn’t have made some improvements of my own?” The Monkey King sped through the air, closing in on her with his staff in his hands, filled with an unearthly aura of battle.

  “The monkey has reached such a level of power as well…our Seamless Gate has been hiding some of our forces, and now it seems the Nuwa Alliance has hidden quite a few of theirs as well.” The Lord of All Fiends secretly sighed to himself.

  The war that ended the Primordial Era had occurred far, far too many years ago, after all. It had been more than half a chaos cycle.

  After so many years, it was entirely possible that a formerly ordinary True God or Daofather could suddenly reveal the power of a elite Daofather, or perhaps even an overlord-class Daofather. Both sides would only reveal their final trump cards in the final instant, at the critical moment which would determine victory or defeat, life or death. Trump cards that were left hidden were the most dangerous cards of all.

  During the Endwar, a single slip-up or a single unexpected power-up by a major power could have a huge impact on the outcome of the war. Thus, both sides were hiding their true power. Even when they were forced to fight, they would only reveal the powers that the other side already knew about.

  “Back then, although the monkey was favored by Nuwa, he was still merely a elite Daofather. But now, he’s close to being an overlord-class Daofather,” the Lord of All Fiends mused to himself.

  Sun Wukong, the King of Flower-Fruit Mountain. The shadow of Mother Nuwa could be seen behind him on his path to power.

  He had been born from the only piece of stone that Mother Nuwa had used to repair the heavens. How could she possibly not pay attention to him?

  He won his treasures from the Dragon Palace, apprenticed himself to Subhuti, was tempered by the Buddhist Sangha, and in the end was provided with the personal tutelage of Mother Nuwa herself. It could be said that Mother Nuwa focused more on training this monkey than she had on anyone else. During the war that ended the Primordial Era, the Seamless Gate had been quite wary of this monkey, as they were afraid that he might possess a terrifying amount of power. However, the reality was that although the monkey was extremely skilled in battle and had many magical treasures on him, he was fairly weak with regards to his insights into the Dao, and so was just barely at the level of elite Daofathers in strength.

  Now, half a chaos cycle had gone past. The Monkey King had truly transformed, and this was one of the reasons why Subhuti had summoned him.

  Subhuti had summoned three of his main disciples. The eldest disciple, the woodcutter; the second disciple, Crazy Ji; the sixth disciple, Sun Wukong. In truth, Subhuti actually had another Daofather under his command; his twelth disciple. However, his twelfth disciple was merely an ordinary Daofather who wasn’t strong enough to get involved in battles at this level, and so Subhuti did not summon him.

  “This monkey is quite hard to deal with.” Daomother Devilhand immediately gnashed her teeth after their initial clash. “Before Nuwa left the Three Realms, she definitely provided this monkey with some assistance.”

  Although Devilhand was skilled in battle, she was different from Everwood; Keeper Everwood was able to simultaneously tie down multiple overlord-class experts thanks to his defensive prowess, while her skills revolved around attacks! If she spent enough time and effort, she’d be able to wipe out the monkey, but time was a rare and limited commodity right now. The more time passed, the more major powers would make it to this place.

  Their target for this mission was Ji Ning!

  Although the monkey was formidable, he had long ago become a True God and Daofather; there was no way he could get involved in the war for karmic luck. Ji Ning was clearly just an Empyrean God and True Imm
ortal, but he was able to unleash an utterly unearthly level of power. Now that he had an Envoy of All Things, he was actually able to unleash a level of power that was close to that of an overlord-class Daofather. A monster like this…no matter what, they could not permit him to live.

  “Darklight, Shadowless, stop this monkey for me. Leave Ji Ning to me.” Daomother Devilhand instantly sent mental instructions to the other two. She didn’t want to allow the monkey to be able to distract her.

  “Alright.” Swordfather Darklight had been airborne this entire time. With but a thought, he caused the black, sword-shaped stream of light under his control to switch directions, striking towards the Monkey King that was charging towards them from afar. The Monkey King had no choice but to use his power to defend against the sword-light. No one would dare to be overconfident when faced with Swordfather Darklight’s sword.

  Swish. Daofather Shadowless quickly withdrew as well, turning to charge towards the distant Monkey King.

  “Ji Ning. Die.” Daomother Devilhand was still using one hand to clash against Lord Tathagata. With her other, she struck out from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away towards Ning.

  “Daomother Devilhand.” Ning felt breathless upon seeing this palm crash down towards him.

  If he was in the Rahu Formation, he would probably be instantly annihilated. However, using the Envoy made him much more powerful; more than ten Rahu Formations would be needed to match its power.

  “Soleheart stance.” Ning’s twin swords simultaneously unleashed his most powerful supreme defensive technique. A pair of sword-light black holes appeared before Ning. When the terrifying, ivory-white palm lashed out towards him, it was blocked by the black holes. Daomother Devilhand could clearly sense that her hand was being repelled by multiple layers of strange energy that were furiously ablating the power of her strike.

  “Eh?” Daomother Devilhand frowned. “Leafseizer.”

  Her ivory-white hand suddenly changed, unleashing an even more intricate and terrifying palm-art. Her forefinger, middle finger, and thumb drew close to each other, as though she was holding a leaf between them.