Desolate Era

by RWX

  “No one can kill Allfiend.” Tathagata sent mentally, “If this battle was to continue…Allfiend is too fast. He’ll probably launch a series of crazed counterattacks with his speed. We’ll definitely win, but our losses will be very heavy and he himself will probably be able to escape in the end.”

  “Agreed.” Everyone nodded.

  “As I see it, we should force them to leave the Three Realms,” Tathagata sent mentally. “That will lessen our total casualties. If they ever dare to return, we can fight them then.”

  “That works as well.” Daoist Three Purities nodded in agreement. “Ji Ning, what do you think?”

  The other major powers were all waiting for Ji Ning’s input. They knew exactly how deep Ji Ning’s hatred for the Seamless Gate ran. It could be said that the Seamless Gate’s torments had accompanied him during his entire cultivation path.

  “Let them leave. However…they have to hand over their Godking.” Ning gave his response. He would never be able to forget how the Godking had killed Yu Wei. No matter what, he would never spare the Godking. In the earlier battle, he had focused on the big picture and so had not attacked the Godking, but there was absolutely no chance that he would let the Godking leave this place alive.

  “Agreed. Many of the vilest actions that caused chaos throughout the Three Realms were carried out by the Godking. I agree that we can’t just let him leave.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Fine.”

  The major powers of the Nuwa Alliance quickly concluded their discussion, coming to a joint agreement.

  “The Seamless Gate is willing to leave the Three Realms.” The Lord of All Fiends suddenly spoke out. “Let this battle come to an end now.”

  There was a stir in the ranks of the Seamless Gate. Their major powers, Immortals, and Fiendgods all turned to look at their leaders, their eyes filled with resentment and an unwillingness to accept this outcome. Many of them had been born within the Three Realms; they truly did not wish to leave this place, their home, and venture into the terrifying, unknown parts of the primordial chaos. If they were Elder Gods, they would naturally be able to roam the primordial chaos without fear, but the vast majority of them were far too weak. Even True Gods and Daofathers would merely be minor figures in the primordial chaos.

  Still…they also knew that if they continued to fight, the only result would be death. Although leaving the Three Realms would be dangerous, staying behind would be even more dangerous.

  “You want to leave, just like that?” Daoist Three Purities said coldly, “That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?”

  “Then what do you want?” The Lord of All Fiends said in a low voice, “Do you wish to keep fighting?” It would take him time to rescue everyone. The Seamless Gate had far too many major powers; once the battle began anew, he would probably only be able to rescue a part of his allies, with the other part being massacred by the Nuwa Alliance. He naturally wished to keep as many of them alive as possible.

  “Allfiend,” Daoist Three Purities said, “We won’t make things too hard for you. Hand over your nominal leader, your black-robed Godking, as a sign of your repentance and desire to make amends. If you do so, we’ll let you leave the Three Realms, never to return. If you agree…then the war can stop now. If you do not, then let us keep fighting.”

  The Lord of All Fiends stared at the Nuwa Alliance, and the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance stared right back at him. The only reason why the Nuwa Alliance was even entertaining this option was because the Lord of All Fiends was too hard to kill; thus, their only choice was to force him to leave instead! If it wasn’t for that, they would definitely seize this opportunity to completely wipe out the Seamless Gate.

  The Lord of All Fiends then turned his head to stare at the great army behind him. The black-robed Godking had been feeling many complicated emotions, but upon hearing Daoist Three Purities’ request his face instantly turned bloodless and ashen. When the Lord of All Fiends turned his gaze towards him, he became filled with utter terror.

  “Fiendlord!” The black-robed Godking called out in terror.

  “Clothred.” The Lord of All Fiends said, “Sacrifice yourself for the sake of the Seamless Gate.”

  “No, Fiendlord! You must not!” The black-robed Godking said frantically, “I’m the leader of the Seamless Gate. If you sacrifice me…the Seamless Gate will have no face left whatsoever! Better that we die in battle than be shamed in such a way!”

  Upon hearing these words, the Lord of All Fiends frowned. He said in a cold voice, “You really are cut from the exact same cloth as your master Demonheart was.” He snorted coldly then waved his hand, causing an azure rope to fly out. The azure rope transformed into an azure dragon as it flew towards the Godking. The terrified Godking sought to flee, but space around him began to twist and warp. He found himself completely bound up before he even had a chance to react. How could someone like him possibly challenge the power of the Lord of All Fiends?

  “You cannot! Fiendlord, you cannot! You cannot just hand me over…” The Godking struggled frantically against his restraints.

  The major powers of the Seamless Gate all stared at the black-robed Godking. Although some of them disliked him, he was still their nominal leader. For them to sacrifice their leader in such a way…in truth, they felt quite humiliated. However, they knew that they had lost this war. Even the Lord of the Demonheart had perished. There was nothing more they could say.

  The Lord of All Fiends made a casual tossing gesture, causing the bound Godking to be flunt towards the Nuwa Alliance.

  The white-robed Ji Ning transformed into a streak of lightning, moving with incredible speed. When he saw the bound Godking fly through the air towards him, for some reason…he felt many different emotions in his heart. So many scenes flashed through his mind. The scene of how he had knelt down before the Godking to try and save Yu Wei…the scene of how the Godking had killed her…and more.

  “Godking.” Ning murmured this word softly.

  “Y-y-you…” The tied-up Godking stared at Ji Ning in terror.

  “Relax. I won’t let you die so easily,” the white-robed Ning murmured gently.

  Upon hearing this, the Godking began to panic even more. The outcome he feared the most was ending up in Ji Ning’s hands. However, he didn’t have the courage to commit suicide, as he still felt a powerful desire to stay alive. “So long as I remain alive, I’ll have more opportunities in the future. If I really can’t take it, I can commit suicide later.”

  Ning reached out to grab the black-robed Godking, then put him away with a cold smile on his face.

  He could guess at what the Godking was thinking.

  To prevent a major power from committing suicide was very difficult! However, Ji Ning had acquired the many legacies and techniques of World God Northrest; he had the necessary abilities.

  “You sent my wife into the Infinity Hells to suffer torment…and I promise you, everything you did to her will be slowly repaid unto you a thousandfold.” After putting away the Godking, Ning gave the distant army of the Seamless Gate a final glance. The formations of the Seamless Gate had already been dispersed, and looks of sadness, disappointment, and pain could be seen in the eyes of those Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. However, all they could do was allow the major powers on their side to put them away.

  The vast majority of them had been born and bred within the Three Realms. They all viewed the Three Realms as their home. When the thought of how they would soon have to venture through the unknown lands of the primordial chaos, all of them were filled with restlessness and unease. Still…since they had chosen the side of the Seamless Gate, they had to live with their choice.

  The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Seamless Gate began to disappear as they were all put away by their respective Daofathers. The Nuwa Alliance began to disperse its formations as well. Keeping the formations active required a large amount of Immortal energy, after all. Still, just to be safe the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals
of the Nuwa Alliance continued to remain close to each other, prepared to reform the formation at a moment’s notice and do battle if necessary.

  “Look at Daoist Yuan.” Houyi stood by Ning’s side, staring at the rather forlorn-looking Old Man Yuan who stood within the ranks of the Seamless Gate’s armies. “I really don’t know what he was thinking. He actually chose to join the Seamless Gate.”

  “Right.” Ning nodded.

  Old Man Yuan had chosen the wrong side, which was why there was now only one road before him…following the Seamless Gate and leaving the Three Realms.

  To permit him to leave the Three Realms instead of chasing after him and killing him was already a tremendous show of grace on the part of the Nuwa Alliance. There was no way they would permit him to remain here any longer.

  “He’ll probably find the primordial chaos to be a tough place to live,” Ning said softly. “Still, it is for the best. He always did want to adventure through it. I suppose we’re satisfying his dreams.”

  Old Man Yuan stood by himself at a corner of the Seamless Gate’s armies, watching all this happen. There was a hint of disappointment in his eyes, and he couldn’t help but sigh. “Alas. I really didn’t expect all of this to end like this. So it was the Lord of the Demonheart who was behind this war…and he ended up being killed as soon as he came out. Houyi truly was a surprise for me! Still, Houyi’s usage of his ‘Godslayer’ has surely caused him grievious injuries.”

  Suddenly, an invisible ripple of power centered around Old Man Yuan swept out, filling the entire battlefield.

  “Attack, my children.” Old Man Yuan’s voice rang out within the hearts of certain individuals.

  * * *

  Book 23, Chapter 26 - Unexpected Events

  The white-robed Ji Ning and the black-robed Ji Ning were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, staring towards the Seamless Gate. Although they were in the process of withdrawing, Ning’s heartforce was still kept active, continuously rippling out as he kept a careful watch over the region.

  At a time like this, there was no such thing as being too careful. The enemy forces still had the Lord of All Fiends, after all?

  “Eh?” Ning suddenly frowned slightly. Just now, there seemed to have been a small ripple…but the ripple was so hidden and secretive that he couldn’t completely detect it.

  Ning glanced all around him, rather puzzled. As he did so, he told himself to be even more careful.

  BOOM!!!!!

  Suddenly, a towering explosion of natural energy manifested in the form of an endless sea of flames and a boundless sea of water. The massive attack swept towards the grand army of the Nuwa Alliance as well as the major powers of the Seamless Gate, catching both sides completely off-guard.

  “Fuxi, what are you doing?!” Three Purities, Tathagata, Shennong, and the others were all shocked.

  “No…!”

  The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Nuwa Alliance were completely caught off-guard. Initially, they weren’t too worried as Fuxi was on their side; when he used the Waterflame Apocalypse Formation in the past, he had made sure that the water and the fire would stay away from them. This time, however, the water and the fire swept straight through their ranks. By the time they realized what was happening, it was far too late.

  “Why?!”

  “No!”

  “Fuxi?!”

  All sorts of agonized cries rang out as countless Immortals and Fiendgods perished to the endless floods of fire and water.

  Suddenly, circles of icy energy began to swirl around the area, furiously ablating the power of the Waterflame Apolcaypse Formation. It managed to block and stop parts of the water and the flame.

  One frozen lotus after another was hanging in midair, emitting enormous amounts of frozen energy that completely blocked off the effects of the Waterflame Apocalypse Formation. Ji Ning was using his power as a first-tier Ancestral Immortal to control this treasure, which Fuxi was merely controlling his formation with the power of a third-tier Ancestral Immortal. Thus, although Fuxi’s formation was far more formidable, Ning was still able to withstand it.

  “Why has this happened…” Although Ning had managed to block the attack, he was still in a dazed state of disbelief. He had become even more cautious when he had sensed that ripple of power, but when Fuxi struck he was still momentarily dazed. Although he quickly recovered and moved to stop the attack, a large number of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals still perished.

  “Senior brothers Lord Jiang and Junwu…” Ning’s heart was filled with pain and confusion.

  In that brief moment, the terrifying power of the Eternal Kindlefire and Arcane Moonwater had caused more than thirty thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to die! Far more died in that instant than had died during the entire war. Many of Ning’s good friends, as well as many of the drinking buddies and conversation partners he had met while wandering the Three Realms, had died. In fact, many of the disciples of Mount Innerheart had just perished as well.

  Whoooooooosh. The thirty-six frozen lotuses hovered in the air, surrounding the Nuwa Alliance’s army and defending them from the Waterflame Apocalypse Formation.

  The entire Nuwa Alliance was in a state of disbelief.

  The deaths of so many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals had dazed them…but for Fuxi to be the culprit had completely struck them dumb.

  “GONGGONG!” An agonized scream rang out. Shennong stared in disbelief at Gonggong, who was standing right next to him. Gonggong had a cold look in his face, and his right hand…had pierced directly into Shennong’s chest.

  Boom! Shennong’s entire body disintegrated. As Shennong died, a look of agony and pain was in his eyes as he murmured his final words. “Gonggong is dead…”

  “Die,” Gonggong said coldly.

  “Kill!”

  “Kuafu, what are you…!”

  “Thundergod attacked me first!”

  “Kill!”

  The major powers of the Nuwa Alliance suddenly found themselves thrown into chaos as a furious battle broke out within their own ranks.

  This was all too sudden! Ji Ning, Lord Tathagata the Buddha, Daoist Three Purities, Buddha Jueming, Houyi, and the others were all stunned. Fuxi had first activated the ‘Waterflame Apocalypse Formation’ and attempted to wipe out all their Empyrean Gods and True Immortals with utter cruelty…and then Elder God Gonggong and other major powers had suddenly attacked them!

  “Stop this!”

  “Stop fighting!”

  Ji Ning, Buddha Jueming, Daoist Three Purities, Lord Tathagata, and the others began to make their move. They had been vigilantly watching their surroundings, and so they knew exactly which major powers had attacked first. Thus, they immediately attacked the offenders.

  “Let’s go!”

  “Withdraw.”

  The ambushers quickly began to withdraw from the ranks of the Nuwa Alliance.

  “Stop right there.” Elder God Gonggong’s body suddenly transformed to become a million kilometers tall, waves swirling around his entire body as though he was an ocean world unto himself. His palm swung out, and as it did it seemed to be a massive tidal wave that was crashing towards his foes.

  BOOM!

  Ning’s Triult Swords transformed into that semi-translucent golden sword, then struck directly against that titanic tidal wave.

  Rumble…

  His attack was actually stopped!

  “Gonggong is actually this powerful?” Ning was stunned. Previously, Gonggong had battled against Old Man Yuan for quite some time. From what Ning could tell, Gonggong didn’t seem to be that powerful, appearing to be weaker than Ning himself. But now, it was evident that Gonggong definitely had the power of an elite Elder God. In fact, no one in either alliance had anyone who was definitively more powerful than Gonggong right now.

  Only the deceased Lord Demonheart was unquestionably more powerful than him, while Houyi had been heavily injured and was no longer capable of slaying any Elder Gods.

  “Ink Bamboo,
you…!” Keeper Everwood stared in disbelief at the distant Daofather Ink Bamboo. “Y-you…”

  “You hid your power quite well.” Daofather Ink Bamboo gave him a cold glance, then quickly fled.

  “Kill!”

  “Senior apprentice-brother, you…!”

  The major powers of the Seamless Gate were suddenly thrown into turmoil as well as they began attacking each other. The Lord of All Fiends was completely stunned.

  “Chase him down!” The Lord of All Fiends quickly came back to his senses. His eyes became filled with fury and murder as he chased after the major powers who had just launched sneak attacks against their friends.

  “You can stop right there.” Old Man Yuan, who was within the Seamless Gate’s ranks, said these words softly as he flicked out his horsetail whisk.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Countless white strands flew out from his whisk, covering the skies like a series of giant white waves that protected the fleeing, traitorous major powers.

  “Die.” Murder radiated from the Lord Allfiend’s eyes as he clutched his weapon. He had never wanted to kill someone more than he did right now. Only a few major powers had died during the battle between the two sides, but this sudden ambush had resulted in him losing more than twenty of his major powers! This loss caused the Lord of All Fiends to go berserk.

  As for Old Man Yuan, who was protecting these traitors? The Lord of All Fiends wanted to kill him more than anyone else.

  Whooooooosh. The white strands of the horsetail whisk undulated, blocking off all paths. No matter how the Lord of All Fiends tried to move past them, he was unable to do so.

  Finally, the Lord of All Fiends came to a halt. All of the traitors had already fled. He stared coldly at the distant Old Man Yuan, who had used the horsetail whisk in his hands to prevent any pursuit. The traitors of the Seamless Gate had joined together with the Nuwa Alliance, and they had docilely flown to Old Man Yuan’s side as if they were children running to the side of their father.