Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Kill!” Daoist Three Purities once more sent his Immortal Slaying Sword Formation to strike at Keeper Everwood.

  Keeper Everwood was proficient in almost every aspect. Treasure forging, formation setting, attack, defense…he seemed to be skilled in everything. His talent was such that even Lord Demonheart felt great admiration for him. The two most dazzling figures in the Seamless Chaosworld had been the Keeper of the Everwood and the Lord of the Demonheart! Keeper Everwood simply didn’t have any taste for power. Despite that, after the battle that ended the Primordial Era he managed to make a breakthrough to become an Elder God.

  He didn’t have any guidance from others, much like how Mother Nuwa wasn’t guided by anyone to become a World God. The same was true for Keeper Everwood. He simply had such a powerful foundation and many profound insights into many different fields. After being ‘baptized’ by the war that ended the Primordial Era, he ended up becoming an Elder God. He simply never revealed it to anyone else…but today, during the Endwar, he finally did.

  And yet, Daoist Three Purities’ ‘Immortal Slaying Sword Formation’ was simply too savage. Even though Keeper Everwood was an Elder God, he was only able to just barely withstand the formation’s attack.

  “Waterflame Apocalypse – Yin-Yang Birth and Destruction!”

  Fuxi was in command of a Nuwa Heaven Repairing Formation as well, and he immediately executed his strongest technique.

  Rumble…

  An area of a hundred million kilometers around him became instantly transformed into a sea of water and fire. Seemingly endless amounts of Arcane Moonwater and Eternal Kindlefire filled the emptiness of the Void, and the formations and Envoys of the Seamless Gate instantly felt as though their bodies had been trapped in quicksand. Their movements were all affected, and their speed was dramatically lessened.

  In addition, the water and fire joined together to form a gigantic Taiji diagram in front of the Lord of All Fiends.

  Water was used to represent Yin, while fire was used to represent Yang.

  Water represented life, fire represented destruction.

  In his previous life, Fuxi was Elder God Fuxi, after all. He was born with mastery over the Heavenly Dao of Destruction. In this life, he had worked hard to understand the Heavenly Dao of Life, so as to be able to recover his memories from his past life. Thus, he was quite talented in both of these Heavenly Daos, and he had of course long ago mastered the Heavenly Daos of Yin and Yang.

  This was why the true killer technique of his ‘Waterflame Apocalypse Formation’ was this technique, the ‘Yin-Yang Birth and Destruction’ technique. If he was to master the Heavenly Daos of Life and Destruction, the power of this attack would increase dramatically. Even now, thanks to the power of the Nuwa Heaven Repairing Formation, this technique possessed extraordinary power.

  “Eh?” The robes of the Lord of All Fiends fluttered, causing a series of concentric ripples to spread out around him and defend against the attacking Taiji diagram.

  “Kill!” Shennong, in control of a Pangu Genesis Formation and protected by a Pangu God, also flew forward and attacked the Seamless Gate. He had mastered the Five Elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and was exceedingly powerful in close combat as well.

  “Kill.” Suiren no longer held back his overwhelming powerful aura either. He completely unleashed his Elder God aura as he charged towards the Seamless Gate.

  “He’s an Elder God! Suiren is an Elder God!”

  “He’s actually an Elder God?”

  The Seamless Gate was stunned. The only ‘natural’ Elder God on their side was the Lord of All Fiends. The other one was Keeper Everwood, a genius who spent countless years cultivating before also reaching that level. As the Seamless Gate saw it, advancing from True God to Elder God was incredibly difficult. There were no techniques that could teach someone to make this breakthrough, after all. The only reason why Keeper Everwood had been able to do so was because he had such a deep, well-rounded foundation in every single aspect of the Dao. They felt that the Nuwa Alliance wouldn’t be able to accomplish the same…but they were wrong.

  “Kill.” The stooped, gray-robed figure suddenly straightened his body, lifting his head up and revealing a heavily bearded face. His eyes were filled with boundless killing intent.

  His aura towered to the heavens as he charged towards the Seamless Gate.

  “That’s Gonggong.”

  “Elder God Gonggong. He actually didn’t die?!” The Seamless Gate instantly recognized him. Elder God Gonggong had displayed his might during the war that ended the Primordial Era, after all. But everyone in the Three Realms had believed Gonggong to be dead. It was said that he had been slain by an alien Outsider, and he hadn’t shown himself in countless years. In the end, the Seamless Gate came to truly believe that Elder God Gonggong had perished.

  No one imagined that he was still alive!

  “First Suiren, now Gonggong. The Nuwa Alliance actually has two Elder Gods.”

  “Kill!”

  Hatchet in hand, Houyi no longer held back. His aura completely burst forward, sweeping through Heaven and Earth with as much power as the auras of Gonggong and Suiren.

  He was the most dazzlingly, peerlessly talented figure of the Primordial Era. After he gained Mother Nuwa’s [Unbound Elder God Visualization], he had trained to become an Elder God as well. In the entire Nuwa Alliance, only two figures had been able to train in the [Unbound Elder God Visualization] to become Elder Gods. The first was Suiren, while the second was Houyi.

  “Die, Godking.”

  Thirty-six icy lotuses had appeared in the air around Ning, and they were freezing all the opponents around him. Fuxi’s ‘Waterflame Apocalypse Formation’ focused on large-scale attacks, which was why it wasn’t that powerful in terms of constricting any specific individual. Ji Ning, however, was a first-tier Ancestral Immortal, and his Frozen Lotuses of the Thirty-Six Heavens covered a much smaller region, allowing for much more concentrated power than Fuxi’s formation.

  Wherever the icy lotuses flew past, snow fluttered about. Ning wielded Violetjewel in his hand, sending his sword-ki flying everywhere and bringing terror to the Seamless Gate.

  “Ancestral Immortal? A first-tier Ancestral Immortal?” As Godfiend Witherspike watched from afar, his face instantly changed.

  “He’s actually a first-tier Ancestral Immortal.” Saber was shocked as well.

  “The Nuwa Alliance’s foundation is far too deep. Weren’t they supposed to have no Elder Gods at all? How the hell did they gain three Elder Gods and an Ancestral Immortal on top of those guardian formations!?” Godfiend Witherspike felt true pressure now. The three guardian formations had only made him feel that any assault would be unlikely to succeed, but now he felt as though he was staring at a steel plate that was waiting for him to kick.

  “Wait.” Godfiend Witherspike growled, “Let’s keep waiting. We probably aren’t strong enough to fight back against either side. The only thing we can do is wait and hope that the Seamless Gate is strong enough to fight back. If both sides are badly injured…perhaps the Seamless Gate will deal the Nuwa Alliance a heavy-enough blow that I’ll have a chance.”

  Saber nodded slowly.

  In the primordial chaos, taking advantage of a chaotic scene to gain benefits for one’s self was an extremely common tactic. It was far too difficult to crush someone with overwhelming power! Before this, Godfiend Witherspike had thought that there would be no way the Three Realms could resist his ultimate attack, but now he saw that he had been far too arrogant.

  The Nuwa Alliance’s morale was skyrocketing. Their formations were incredible, and they had multiple Elder Gods who had just shown themselves.

  “Jueming, why haven’t you entered a formation yet?”

  The major powers of the Nuwa Alliance had all entered into their respective formations, taking command over their Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. The weaker Daofathers would join together in groups of four to five and jointly lead a formati
on. Daoist Three Purities was able to easily command a Nuwa Heaven Repairing Formation by himself, but ordinary Daofathers wouldn’t be able to unleash the formation in its perfect state. If two or three other Daofathers were to join in, they would be able to work together to unleash the full power of the formation.

  “Amitabha.” Buddha Jueming folded his hands together in prayer.

  BOOM!

  A terrifying aura that was every bit as powerful as the auras given off by Ji Ning, Suiren, Gonggong, and Houyi instantly blasted through the Void. Buddha Jueming slowly walked through the Void, each step causing space to twist and distort as he walked towards the Seamless Gate. “Vile Seamless creatures, you should be sent into the endless hells.” His eyes no longer held any mercy in them at all, only adamantine rage.

  “Jueming is also an Elder God?” The major powers, Empyrean Gods, and True Immortals of the Nuwa Alliance were all shocked as well.

  “Good!” Daoist Three Purities, Tathagata, Fuxi, and Suiren all revealed looks of joy as well.

  “As I thought.” Ning smiled upon seeing this.

  The grand army of the Nuwa Alliance charged straight towards the Seamless Gate. They were led by Gonggong, Houyi, Ji Ning, Jueming, and Suiren - four Elder Gods, one Ancestral Immortal. In addition to them, there was also the formation-commanding Daoist Three Purities, Fuxi, Shennong, and Tathagata. All of these terrifying figures came surging forward, bringing utter terror to the hearts of the Seamless Gate.

  * * *

  Book 23, Chapter 18 - A Bloody Battle

  The overlords of the Seamless Gate all had ashen looks on their faces.

  They had made extensive and careful preparations for this fight, but the might which the Nuwa Alliance had just displayed was just too strong. Five Elder God-level combatants had just appeared out of nowhere! Just one or two, the Seamless Gate would’ve been able to deal with, but now? They had instantly been pushed to the edges of the cliff.

  “Ugh.” Old Man Yuan let out a sigh, then sent mentally, “Allfiend, I’ll do what I promised I would do. However, there’s no way I can change the overall situation by myself. Leave Gonggong to me. Deal with the rest yourself.”

  Swoosh.

  Old Man Yuan transformed into a streak of light, flying straight towards Gonggong.

  Elder God Gonggong’s eyes were filled with murder as he stared at Old Man Yuan. He roared angrily, “Daoist Yuan, you traitor…die!”

  “Who will kill me? You?” Old Man Yuan’s horsetail whisk struck out, causing countless strands of white hairs to flew towards Elder God Gonggong.

  Godfiend Witherspike and the one-armed Saber watched from the sidelines. Right at this moment, the Lord of All Fiend’s voice rang out by their ears. “The situation looks grim. Do you plan to give up or do you plan to help us out?”

  “Help out. Of course we will help out,” Godfiend Witherspike replied.

  “Houyi, Ji Ning, Jueming, Suiren. Choose two of these four,” the Lord of All Fiends sent.

  Godfiend Witherspike and Saber immediately made their decision.

  Ji Ning? He was too hard to deal with.

  Suiren? He actually also had the [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent]. He was also too hard to deal with.

  Houyi? Intriguing. They hadn’t fought against him either.

  Jueming? He’d hidden his true power quite well.

  “Leave Houyi and Jueming to us,” Godfiend Witherspike replied. The two transformed into streaks of light, charging towards the Nuwa Alliance. These two had battled countless times in the primordial chaos; to exchange blows with Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals was a commonplace event and they felt no pressure whatsoever. Still…since they had chosen to get involved in this fight, they still had to give it their best shot.

  “I’ll go stop Shennong,” Daofather Ink Bamboo sent, then moved to engage.

  “Be careful.” The Lord of All Fiends sighed quietly to himself.

  After the battle that destroyed the Primordial Era, the Seamless Gate had given birth to overlords of its own. Bloodswan and Ink Bamboo were two examples! As for Everwood, he had actually broken through to become an Elder God. Of course, all these things were kept highly secret. Daofather Ink Bamboo had always been a very low-key figure. Long ago, he had followed the Lord of the Demonheart as a loyal retainer. Later, when the black-robed Godking became the nominal leader of the Seamless Gate, he had willingly carried out tasks on the Godking’s behalf.

  No one realized that this loyal, devoted servant, this ordinary Daofather, would actually come to possess the power of an overlord as well.

  Tathagata did so by mastering the Five Elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth! Fuxi had mastered the Heavenly Daos of Yin and Yang!

  But Daofather Ink Bamboo was different!

  He had grafted his insights into the Seamless Chaosworld’s Heavenly Daos of Earth and Water with the Three Realms’ Heavenly Dao of Wood, joining them together into a seamless whole. This allowed him to reach an utterly inconceivably high level of insight into the Dao of Wood. Much like how Ning had reached a shocking level of power thanks to his skill in the Dao of the Sword, Daofather Ink Bamboo’s mastery over the Dao of Wood had allowed him to become an overlord as well.

  Swoosh. The skies became filled with giant stalks of bamboo, all of which reached out towards Shennong’s Pangu Genesis Formation.

  “Bloodswan, Devilhand, the two of you go deal with Tathagata,” the Lord of All Fiends instructed.

  “Alright.” Daomother Devilhand and Daofather Bloodswan didn’t hesitate at all, immediately charging towards Tathagata. If they had to fight against Tathagata by themselves, they truly wouldn’t have felt any confidence at all.

  The reason why Daofather Ink Bamboo dared to fight Shennong by himself was partially because Shennong wasn’t that skilled in close combat. In addition, Daofather Ink Bamboo was skilled in defense!

  Whoosh. While Daofather Bloodswan flew forward, a second body suddenly appeared next to him.

  There were now two of him; one in black robes, the other in blood robes. Both bodies were at the overlord level of power. Daomother Devilhand was by his side as well, and the three of them jointly struck out towards Tathagata.

  As for the Lord of All Fiends, his divine body suddenly split apart into two different bodies. The two Lord of All Fiends separately attacked Ji Ning and Suiren!

  Although all this took time to described, it actually all occurred in an instant.

  Keeper Everwood, Old Man Yuan, Godfiend Witherspike, Saber, Daofather Ink Bamboo, Daofather Bloodswan, Daomother Devilhand, and the Lord of All Fiends attacked in unison.

  Keeper Everwood, Godfiend Witherspike, Saber, and the Lord of All Fiends were actual Elder Gods!

  Old Man Yuan and Daofather Ink Bamboo were both extremely skilled in defensive techniques, guaranteeing that even though they were somewhat weaker they would still be able to hold on in the face of enemy attacks. This was much like how Tathagata had been able to hold on for a long period of time against Godfiend Witherspike, Saber, and an entire host of Outsider major powers.

  When Daofather Bloodswan’s two bodies joined together with Daomother Devilhand, they formed quite a formidable team.

  ……

  “Die…all of you can go die…” Elder God Gonggong’s long hair fluttered about as he smashed at Old Man Yuan with his staff in a berserk manner.

  Old Man Yuan continuously focused on defense, blocking the attacks.

  “You should know that I hate traitors like you the most,” Elder God Gonggong bellowed.

  “Hmph.” Old Man Yuan just smirked calmly, not deigning to respond.

  ……

  “I heard you are pretty good with the bow.” Godfiend Witherspike stood there in midair, chuckling as he faced the hatchet-wielding Houyi. “Why don’t you show me?”

  “You think you merit it?” Houyi suddenly charged forward, his aura bursting with power as he raised his hatchet up high.

  This scene caused Godfiend Witherspike to feel
a slight hint of terror. He felt as though he was facing a terrifyingly powerful World God who was chopping down at him with an axe. Still, Godfiend Witherspike was able to remain quite calm. His tail rapidly expanded in size as well, striking out like a giant whip that lashed out at the upraised hatchet.

  BOOM!

  Godfiend Witherspike was knocked slightly backwards, while Houyi’s body came to a halt as well.

  “Quite powerful.” Godfiend Witherspike chuckled, then let out a sigh. “This is a bit interesting. Your heartforce really is strong; I nearly succumbed to your blow just now. Fortunately, I’m quite experienced myself.”

  “Hmph.” Houyi just advanced coldly, continuing to swing his hatchet.

  ……

  The one-armed Saber was battling against Buddha Jueming.

  A dazzlingly brilliant golden palm came flying through the air, and it knocked Saber backwards. Saber’s eyes gleamed as he stared at Buddha Jueming, a hint of excitement in his gaze. “Your Three Realms has the so-called ‘Buddhist Sangha’. I’ve tangled with your Buddhist overlord, ‘Tathagata’. Your palm-arts are quite similar to his, and even your palms are like top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures. However, your palm-strikes are even more powerful than his!”

  “Only because I have strong enough divine power.” Buddha Jueming replied calmly. His eyes were ice cold, and he continued to slam down with his mighty palms.

  The Buddhists were all skilled in palm-arts. After Jueming became a Buddha, Lord Tathagata had naturally imparted many Buddhist secret arts and divine abilities to him. Buddha Jueming had meditated on these secret arts, then joined those insights to his [Nine Elements Annihilation]. He had spent countless years in order to develop a palm-art divine ability that was every bit as strong as Lord Tathagata’s; in fact, in terms of raw explosive power, it was actually superior! Now that he was an Elder God, this set of palm-arts allowed him to unleash the power of a truly elite Elder God. His only weakness was that his insights into the Dao weren’t as profound as Tathagata’s, making his palm-arts less perfect. Despite that, his advantage in raw power as an Elder God made it so that when he used this palm-art, his strikes were truly devastating!