Desolate Era

by RWX

  “I’m going to make a short trip. The next time I come back, I’ll be entering terminal seclusion.”

  “Terminal seclusion?” The white-haired elder was shocked. He could sense the firm resolve within Ning’s words.

  Terminal seclusion… it represented abandoning everything else and entering seclusion for the final time. Either one would succeed in one’s goal, or one would die in seclusion, never to return!

  Ning departed from the Azureflower Estate and made his way over to the Three Realms.

  ……

  Ning arrived at Brightheart Island in Serpentwing Lake. This was where Ning’s family resided, and Ning’s three major retainers Azurefiend, Su Youji, and Pillsaint lived here as well, as did Ning’s eighth disciple ‘Stonepool’.

  Everyone was seated, happily enjoying a meal together.

  “Ji Ning, each time you go into seclusion you disappear for a few thousand chaos cycles. We hardly see you these days,” Ji Yichuan said with a smile. He was in a wonderful mood today. Whenever Ning reached a bottleneck, he would leave seclusion and spend some time with his family. During the past 15,000 chaos cycles, he had exited seclusion a total of six times.

  “Our son is busy with something that’s very important to him. He needs to stay in seclusion to do his best, rather than stay with us and let you bother him all the time.” Yuchi Snow immediately leapt to Ning’s defense, then turned and smiled at him: “Ning, son… let me make the introductions. Dawnjade, come over here.”

  The adorable child who had been waiting nearby for quite some time immediately ran over. Yuchi Snow happily took the child’s hand, then said towards Ning, “Dawnjade is the most intelligent child our Ji clan has produced in aeons. He’s an absolutely unparalleled genius who has embarked upon the path of the Omega Dao. He is currently a Daolord of the Second Step.”

  “Oh?” Ning glanced at the ‘child’ in astonishment.

  “Greetings, Patriarch Darknorth,” Ji Dawnjade said respectfully.

  “Father, I have to admit that Dawnjade is very talented. He’s much more talented than me,” the nearby Brightmoon said happily. “He’s only been cultivating for a very brief amount of time, and we didn’t dare to disturb you when you were in seclusion. That’s why we didn’t inform you when he became a Daolord.”

  Ning had long ago instructed that he was only to be disturbed if someone was in mortal danger. Otherwise, his seclusion was not to be interrupted.

  Ning looked the child over, his eyes lighting up.

  He had long ago instructed his daughter, Brightmoon, to take his place in teaching his eighth disciple, ‘Stonepool’. After spending many years training together, the two of them had actually ended up becoming Dao-companions! Both of them had actually been emotionally hurt when they were young. Brightmoon had been single her entire life, while Stonepool had poured all of his efforts on cultivation. Still… after spending many years together, they began to grow extremely fond of each other.

  The two had ended up having a child… and Stonepool had voluntarily suggested that the child have the surname ‘Ji’ in order to show respect to his master and father-in-law, Ji Ning! If they had a second child, that child would take his family name. And so, Ning’s lineage began to grow.

  Time had passed on, and Ji Ning’s line had flourished. All of them were born with tremendous blessings of karmic luck, but none of them were comparable to the most impressive geniuses of this realmverse… until, that is, Dawnjade was born. He was incredibly intelligent and sailed through his path of cultivation, rapidly advancing to the World level with her clan’s aid. He had then gone out adventuring… and the end result was that he had also embarked upon the path of the Omega Sword Dao!

  In truth, the Autarchs had already begun to ensure that quite a number of geniuses scattered throughout the vast Chaosverse had begun to train in the path of the Omega Dao. There was now one or two in virtually every single realmverse who trained in an Omega Dao… and after over ten thousand chaos cycles, the Ji clan had finally given birth to a second such genius. Yichuan and Snow naturally doted on him heavily.

  “Mm.” Ning stared at Dawnjade, scanning his past as he did so. Ning could even get a vague sense of what the future held in store for the child, and what he saw was a truly extraordinary destiny. The boy would probably surpass even Ning’s eight disciples… but in the end, the Daomerge would remain a huge obstacle.

  “Good. Good!” Ning actually praised the boy twice. “Dawnjade, from this day forth, you shall stay by my side. If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

  “Yes, Patriarch!” Dawnjade said excitedly. He all but worshipped the ground ‘Patriarch Ji’ walked on; the Patriarch was a man who treated with Autarchs as an equal! Dawnjade had also heard many boasting stories from Hegemon Azurefiend, including the story of how the Patriarch had captured nearly four thousand Emperors with ease. He knew that the Patriarch was inconceivably powerful and was the most supreme expert of the Dao of the Sword their Chaosverse had ever seen.

  The more Ning saw of Dawnjade, the more he liked the boy. Ning felt almost as though he was seeing a reflection of himself in many ways. If Ning himself failed in his terminal seclusion but Dawnjade succeeded in his Daomerge… that wouldn’t be too bad an outcome.

  “Sit next to me,” Ning ordered. He didn’t disguise his fondness for Dawnjade in the slightest.

  “Brightmoon.” Ning turned and smiled. “Has anything important happened lately?” Each time Ning left his secluded meditation, he would ask her this question.

  Both Brightmoon and Stonepool were Daolords of the Fourth Step. The former was Ning’s daughter, while the latter was Ning’s disciple. They often wandered the outside world, and they were well-versed in what was happening lately.

  “Yes, actually. Something very important happened,” Brightmoon said. “I actually considered asking you to leave seclusion, but in the end I decided not to disturb you. For you to find out a bit later doesn’t make much of a difference.”

  “Something very important? What?” Ning asked curiously.

  “Second brother ‘Green Bamboo’ succeeded in the Daomerge and became a Hegemon!” Brightmoon said happily. “He was the first in our group to attempt the Daomerge. To this very day, I’m still afraid to make the attempt!”

  “Quding succeeded in the Daomerge?” Ning was delighted to hear this. He immediately began inspect the karmic threads binding him to his disciple.

  His second disciple, ‘Green Bamboo’ Yang Quding. When Ning was at the World level, Ning had met him by accident when he had entered Annihilation’s otherverse. Back then Yang Quding had been an ordinary mortal, but his Dao-heart had impressed Ning. Ning had taken a liking to him and had accepted him as his second disciple.

  Ning always had the feeling that his second disciple would probably become an extremely accomplished figure… but Ning never would’ve expected him to become a Hegemon so quickly!

  “After he succeeded in the Daomerge he came here in person, wanting to pay his respects to you, Father. I didn’t want to disturb you, so after discussing the matter with Patriarch Subhuti I decided to give him three Sithe treasures as a celebratory gift,” Brightmoon said.

  “You did well.” Ning nodded. He had acquired many Sithe treasures from that hidden dimension, but he had given them over to Nuwa, Subhuti, and Brightmoon to hand out as they saw fit. He wouldn’t hand over treasures of such power to even his disciples without a good reason. Giving his second disciple a few of them to celebrate his Hegemony, however, was fine.

  “I’m not finished. Not too long ago, second brother received an otherverse and became an Otherverse Lord!” Brightmoon said happily. “He didn’t acquire it in battle, he was given it by an Autarch.”

  “By an Autarch?” Ning was startled. Ning knew the Autarchs very well; they wouldn’t casually hand over otherverses to juniors, no matter how much they liked them. They acted impartially in all things.

  “So here’s the story. Second brother
is incredibly talented in the Dao of the Sword and has a perfect Dao-heart. He had an accidental meeting with the Autarch of Annihilation, who tested him. He passed the test, and the Autarch viewed him so favorably that the Autarch bestowed an otherverse upon him,” Brightmoon said.

  “A perfect Dao-heart?” Ning was astonished. A perfect Dao-heart was a prerequisite for becoming an Autarch, and also a prerequisite for succeeding in the Daomerge for an Omega Dao. Everyone who had a perfect Dao-heart was without a doubt an extraordinary character.

  “No wonder Ekong showed him such favor.” Ning had felt long ago that Green Bamboo had an extraordinary heart and was highly suited for cultivating in the Dao. Ning had ‘released him into the wild’ and allowed him to make his own way in the world as a mortal cultivator with just a few techniques. Ning hadn’t spent too much time teaching or taking care of this second disciple; the man had to rely on himself for everything.

  Book 43, Chapter 6 - Old Friends (part 1)

  Ji Ning was in an excellent mood today. “Tell me about how all my other disciples are doing, one by one.”

  “Very well.” Brightmoon was rather surprised at her father inquiring in such detail, but she began to narrate without giving it much thought.

  Ning had left his secluded meditations to wrap up all his worldly affairs. Of course he needed to get a good idea as to how his personal disciples were doing! While listening to his daughter speak, he also carefully inspected how they were doing through his karmic ties to them.

  His first disciple, ‘Bluecliff Xiaoyu’, was even less talented than Brightmoon. To this very day, she remained just a World-level cultivator! Still, her life was a carefree one. Perhaps Xiaoyu preferred this sort of peaceful, quiet life.

  His second disciple, ‘Green Bamboo’ Yang Quding, had become a Hegemon.

  His third disciple, Skywind, had become a resoundingly famous figure within the Flamedragon Realmverse. He had caused quite a deal of trouble, and was stubborn to an extreme. He made many enemies, and for the sake of a female Immortal he had actually assaulted a major sect and slain two of its Emperors! He was now publicly acclaimed as the number one Daolord of the Flamedragon Realmverse. Ning, of course, had long ago transcendent such silly rankings.

  “Oh, Skywind… I was able to sense long ago that your future would be fraught with troubles. You’ve always been the one I’ve been the most worried about.” Ning shook his head, then decided, “I have to visit him one final time, it seems.”

  The position of ‘fourth disciple’ remained vacant.

  His fifth and sixth disciples, ‘Boundless’ and ‘Muse’, lived a romantic, heavenly life together as a pair of Immortal lovers. They remained happily in love, and together they wandered the various territories of the Flamedragon Realmverse. This pleased Ning greatly.

  His seventh disciple, ‘Great Immortal Almonder’, had a childlike disposition and loved to wander about. His current whereabouts were unknown.

  His eight disciple, ‘Stonepool’, was a solid and reliable figure who had ended up together with Ning’s daughter Brightmoon.

  ……

  After spending two years in the Three Realms, Ning departed with Azurefiend, Youji, Pillsaint, and his favored descendant Dawnjade. They left the Three Realms and began to wander through the world outside. They were going to visit his friends and disciples.

  The very first person Ning went to visit was Ninedust, whom he had shared so many life-and-death adventures with.

  Vast, billowing waves could be seen sweeping through this entire world. At the very center of the waves was a towering, silver-robed god who was 540,000 meters tall. He stood atop the endless waves, practicing a set of fist-arts. Every single punch and strike caused the waves around him to rumble and roil about.

  A ship appeared far off in the distance, but it quickly came to a halt and did not interrupt.

  Roughly an hour later, the training appeared to come to an end. Only then did the white-robed Ning call from next to the hovering realmship, “Ninedust!”

  The Ninedust Sectlord turned to stare at Ning, a delighted look instantly appearing on his face: “Hah! Darknorth, my big shot Daolord friend! You surely are a sight for sore eyes. You actually came to visit me?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I know I didn’t visit you a single time in many years. I’ve been in secluded meditation the entire time.” Ning strolled over, with Su Youji and the others staying behind.

  “As it should be. You are working on something important.” Ninedust looked at Ning. He could sense how Ning’s truesoul was crumbling at a very fast pace, and he couldn’t help but feel sorrow for his old friend. He knew that Ning wouldn’t last for much longer. “Darknorth… have you come to bid me a final farewell?”

  “Perhaps.” Ning smiled. “I’m about to go into terminal seclusion and make one final push. If I succeed, I’ll be able to reverse my truesoul’s decay. If I fail… then yes, this will be the last time we two brothers have a chance to meet.”

  “Reverse your truesoul’s decay?” Ninedust instantly became filled with hope.

  “Death has always been the only outcome for anyone who fails the Daomerge,” Ning said. “No cultivators in our Chaosverse have ever been able to change this! The Sithe are able to do so, but they are different from us on a fundamental level. Not even Autarchs are able to reverse a truesoul’s decay. All I can do is try my best and then pray.”

  Ninedust patted Ning on the shoulder. “I’m sure you can do it.”

  “Enough about me. How have you been?” Ning smiled. “When are you planning to attempt the Daomerge? I can tell that you’ve reached an incredibly high level in the Dao of Water. From what I can see, you should be the one ranked at the top of the Daolord listings for the Flamedragon Realmverse. How did my disciple end up taking the position instead?”

  Ning had passed on both the Incense Spirit-Fruit and several water-related techniques to Ninedust to help him out. Ninedust had trained assiduously and had reached an extremely high level of insight into the Dao of Water. It could be said that his defensive prowess surpassed that of all other Daolords in the Flamedragon Realmverse, save for Ning himself. He was absolutely strong enough to be ranked number one, but his actual ranking was fairly low.

  “Who cares about those stupid lists? Look at you, Darknorth; you transcended that very concept long ago!” Ninedust chuckled. “Besides… as your brother, Skywind should be considered one of my juniors. How could I compete with him over something like this?”

  “Skywind… he’s a bit too much of a showoff.” Ning shook his head slowly.

  “But he has plenty to show off. I once sparred with him when he first became a Daolord of the Fourth Step. He truly did amaze me.” Ninedust let out a sigh.

  “Excessive hardness leads to brittleness. He’s too extreme… but perhaps that’s also what made him so special.” Ning shook his head. Of his many disciples, his third disciple had been given the hardest path. The man had experienced numerous difficulties as a mortal, and hadn’t ended after becoming a Daolord.

  “When are you planning to begin your Daomerge?” Ning asked.

  “Soon. Thanks to the techniques you gave me, I can sense that my Dao is growing even more perfect than before.” Ninedust smiled. “Once I feel it has reached full perfection, I’ll use the Incense Spirit-Fruit and begin the Daomerge. It’ll be anywhere between 10,000 chaos cycles and 50,000 chaos cycles from now.”

  “I’ll have to come to offer my congratulations once you succeed,” Ning said with a laugh.

  “You must,” Ninedust agreed.

  Both had their own tribulations to overcome. Ninedust had to deal with the tribulation known as the Daomerge, while Ning had to deal with the crumbling of his truesoul. Both of these two brothers had to succeed if they wished to meet again.

  By comparison, Ninedust stood a very good chance; he had already used a Voidsea Jadeseal and been given both techniques and an Incense Spirit-Fruit by Ning. Ning’s chances were much lower.

&nbs
p; ……

  After spending quite some time chatting with his old friend Ninedust, Ning finally bade the Ancient cultivator farewell.

  A short while later, Ning headed off to an ordinary chaosworld within the Flamedragon Realmverse. He had come here to meet his third disciple, Skywind.

  Ning found Skywind in the corner of an alehouse. Skywind was dressed in ordinary gray robes. The robes were not magic in any manner; these truly were cheap hemp robes which mortal peasants might wear. He was caked in filth, and his hair was disheveled. He sat there in the corner, drinking wine by himself. He was never able to get drunk, but he still came here to drink quite often.

  No one in the alehouse dared to bother him… because half a year ago, this filthy-looking man had killed the governor of this city with a pair of chopsticks.

  “Drinking by yourself?” a voice rang out.

  Startled, Skywind looked up. Someone had actually been able to approach him without him even noticing it? And this person clearly hadn’t hidden his aura either; Skywind could clearly sense the aura of the sword about him. How did I not notice him approaching? This was so strange that Skywind could hardly believe it.

  When he turned around, he saw a white-robed Ning seated at a nearby bench. Ning poured himself a cup of wine.

  “Master!” When Skywind saw Ning, he immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed. He respected and revered his master more than anyone else.

  Ning simply watched as his disciple kowtowed, not moving to stop him.

  “You can get up,” Ning said a moment later.

  “Alright.” Skywind rose to his feet.

  Ning picked up his wine cup. “Come. Let the two of us, master and disciple, share a cup of wine.”

  Skywind immediately lifted up his own wine cup and offered Ning a respectful toast. None of the ordinary mortals within this alehouse were able to notice or sense Ning’s presence.

  After finishing the wine, Skywind said in a guilty manner: “I’ve disappointed you, Master.”