Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ning didn’t know what his Uncle White was thinking. He instructed, “Uncle White, your status within the College will be that of my spirit-beast, and so you’ll be able to follow me around and listen to some Primal Daoists and even Immortals expound on the Dao. When following me, you’ll also be able to enter the various parts of the Black-White College. If you are moving about by yourself, however, you’ll only be able to enter these places.”

  Ning waved his hand and retrieved that black-and-white book, flipping to one of the pages within it. “This is the map of the Black-White College; there are red lines marking the places where you, Uncle White, can go freely,” Ning said.

  The Whitewater Hound gave it a quick look, memorizing everything. “Thanks for taking the trouble, Ning.” Ning laughed. “No trouble at all.” When he looked at Uncle White, he felt as though he had returned to those days when he had lived together with Uncle White, Father, and Mother. His parents were now gone…and Uncle White was his closest family now.

  ……

  Spirit-beasts and retainers were different. Retainers who wanted to train in top-tier techniques had to work hard for themselves and be acknowledged by the Black-White College; only then might they have the rare chance to acquire a top-tier Ki Refining technique. In addition, they would only have access to a small number of top-tier Ki Refining techniques. The retainers had to do everything for themselves. For the formal disciples to allow them to enter the Black-White College alongside them was kindness enough.

  If Uncle White had entered the Black-White College as a retainer, he too could’ve relied on his own power, but things would have been very difficult.

  As for spirit-beasts, spirit-beasts themselves absolutely could not acquire top-tier Ki Refining techniques. But Ning, by paying a certain price, could ask for a Ki Refining technique for him. It was incomparably easier for a formal disciple to acquire a top-tier Ki Refining technique, compared to a retainer.

  However, given how exacting the requirements the Black-White College placed upon its formal disciples, they couldn’t hurry fast enough to learn techniques and arts; how many of them would be willing to sacrifice their own advancement chances for the sake of their spirit-beasts?

  “Whoosh.” The boat flew to the top of Darknorth Peak. “This is Darknorth Peak.” Ning pointed down towards the mountain peak below. “From today onwards, this peak shall belong to me, Ji Ning.”

  “Uncle White, the only people living at Darknorth Peak for now are you and me. Go and get some rest. I’m going to the restricted area of the Black-White Diagram to take a look,” Ning said. “The Black-White Diagram is located in the innermost reaches of the entire Black-White College. Only formal disciples may go view it. Retainers and spirit-beasts are not permitted to do so.”

  “Go.” The Whitewater Hound laughed, then leapt downwards from the boat, transforming into a streak of light that landed atop Darknorth Peak.

  Ning nodded. Whoooosh. His ship immediately turned and flew towards another direction.

  ………..

  Ning descended from the skies. This was a very wide square, and the innermost heart of the entire Black-White College, a restricted area amongst restricted areas. Even the Grand Xia Dynasty or the various supreme powers would have to strive mightily and use all their connections they had in order to come view this Black-White Diagram. Retainers and spirit-beasts were naturally forbidden to come.

  “The Black-White Diagram?” Ning stared at the giant stone wall that was erected within the center of the square. The stone was of an unknown type; it radiated an inky black aura, and was covered with dense, crisscrossing black and white lines that formed countless structures. These two different colored lines intersected in innumerable ways, but in doing so formed the image of an enormous, circular bedstone.

  Black. White. It was like the night and the day. Like yin and yang. Like water and fire. Like darkness and light…

  With Pangu’s creation of the universe, everything in the universe had a ‘dark’ side and a ‘light’ side; upon seeing those crisscrossing lines, Ning felt as though a powerful aura was surging towards him, and he immediately even felt his soul begin to ache in pain.

  “That’s not right.” Ning hurriedly turned around. “The Black-White Diagram actually has so many different lines all tangled together.” Ning was secretly amazed. The Stellar Hall of his underwater estate allowed the various Dao Paths to be completely condensed into separate lines, so that those within could separately focus on comprehending these various Daos. But as for this Black-White College…it mixed in countless Daos, and some were only fragmentary.

  But those various fragmentary Daos, when mixed with the other Daos…actually formed this complete Black-White Bedstone Diagram!

  “Although in terms of comprehending the Dao, this Black-White Diagram is inferior to the Stellar Hall of the underwater estate…in terms of how the various Daos complement and connect with each other, this Black-White Diagram is actually on a higher level.” Ning understood, however, that the Stellar Hall was comparatively far more valuable.

  The Dao was one’s foundation; swordplay and techniques were all extraneous. When Ning had risen in comprehension and gained the Dao Domain, he had done so because he had risen in his understanding of his Dao!

  As for the likes of the Waterflame Lotus, it was a technique that was fused from aspects of various different True Meanings of the Dao; it was a matter of applying the Dao.

  The Dao was the foundation. Techniques were an application. The Stellar Hall…it separated the various different Daos, allowing others to clearly comprehend them. Its value was priceless, and it was the reason why Immortal Juhua, a Loose Immortal, was able to live for millions of years, so that even the princes of the Grand Xia Dynasty sought to become his disciple to no avail.

  The Black-White Diagram was most likely formed by nature itself, and thus contained many different things within it. It allowed others to easily gain insights into some of those things and develop certain techniques, such as the Waterflame Lotus.

  ………..

  “Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” An Azure Dragon construct, a figure on its back, descended from the skies. It was Mu Northson. “I didn’t expect you’d arrive even earlier than me, senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.”

  “Junior apprentice-brother Northson.” Ning laughed, then instructed, “No matter what, don’t stare directly at that Black-White Diagram. The Daos contained by the Black-White Diagram are simply too vast and unfathomable; we aren’t capable of withstanding them. Just look at a small part of it at a time.”

  Unfortunately, his words were slightly too late.

  As soon as he had landed, Northson had unconsciously glanced at the Black-White Diagram; naturally, in doing so, he had stared at the entire thing. Instantly, he felt the world start to spin, and his body began to slump and fall from the Azure Dragon construct. Clearly, in terms of the strength of his soul, he was far inferior to Ning, and so his ability to withstand the Black-White Diagram was weaker as well.

  Hearing Ning’s words, Northson hurriedly nodded. “Right. We can’t stare directly at the entire Black-White Diagram.”

  “Come. Let’s view it slowly.” Ning immediately walked past the stone wall. He stood next to the Black-White Diagram and began to inspect it closely. Actually, next to it, there were two other walls to the left and to the right of it, made from similarly unusual materials which radiated white light. Ning could sense that these three stone walls all had incredibly powerful formations overlaid atop them; most likely, the Immortals of the entire Black-White College paid extremely close attention to this place.

  After all, the Black-White College had only risen to power after acquiring the Black-White Diagram. This was their life, their heart.

  Each new Immortal of the Black-White College had frenetically added their own powerful formations to seal the diagram, causing it to become terrifyingly powerful by now. Upon being activated, the formations of countless elders of the Black
-White College would simultaneously explode. Most likely, even Celestial Immortals would find it hard to survive.

  “A three-sided wall. One is the Black-White Diagram, while the other two must have been left behind by the previous Immortals.” Ning glanced at it all. The three-sided stone walls were all more than three hundred meters wide, and they were covered with dense, clustered words, most likely more than ten thousand utterances. From this, one could estimate how many Immortals had been born from the Black-White College.

  Ning’s gaze quickly halted at one of the corners of the Black-White Diagram. He began staring at a small part of it, focusing on that part.

  The white lines and black lines intersected…they were opposite, and yet alike. A sensation of the marvels of nature completely engulfed Ning. Northson, by his side, was absorbed by the Black-White Diagram as well.

  * * *

  Book 7, Chapter 22 - The Words Left By An Immortal

  Throughout the history of the Black-White College, whenever a disciple came to view the Black-White Diagram for the first time, they would gain from it. The experience they had accumulated normally, the insights they had gained normally…upon viewing the Black-White Diagram, they would gain corresponding enlightenment.

  Rustle, rustle, rustle…

  Ning sat there in the lotus position, meditating as Waterflame Lotuses began to form around him. One petal after another blossomed, slowly swiveling about him.

  A total of six layers of petals had formed…but suddenly, all six layers vanished, reforming into four layers which appeared even more real and solid than the six.

  Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, an hour passed.

  Whooosh. The four quite solid-seeming layers of petals vanished as well, reforming into a total of two layers of petals. One of two layers of lotus petals was formed from red petals, while the other was formed from green petals. The two looked identical to the lotus petals of a real lotus flower.

  Rustle…

  The lotus flower slowly swiveled, and the grinding, killing power of the two layers of lotus petals grew increasingly powerful. The lotus petals became increasingly clear and lifelike, especially the green lotus petals; slowly, it continued to grow so lifelike that one could see the plant veins as well. Even at close range, most would probably take it to be a naturally grown lotus petal.

  “Eh?” Ning suddenly woke up, then nodded gently. “I gained from my previously accumulated experiences. It seems as though my understanding of the Dao has reached a bottleneck in terms of being able to combine water, fire, and wind.”

  He looked towards the nearby Mu Northson. Northson was still absorbed in his trance, appearing either drunk or mesmerized. “I have the Stellar Hall in my underwater estate. Although the Black-White Diagram is of use to me, it isn’t as useful as it was to Northson.” Ning turned to walk to the stone wall on the other side. This wall was covered with words left behind by countless generations of Immortals.

  One row after another of words.

  “The path of Immortal cultivation is the Dao of the grand struggle. These are the words of Five Disgraces!” The powerful intent that surged forth from these characters made Ning feel as though he could see an Immortal cultivator who was constantly advancing, struggling against the heavens, against the earth, against other men, against monsters…

  “Consider all things carefully, but act with bravery and resoluteness.” An invisible, grim callousness radiated from these words.

  “Where my heart leads me is where I shall go.” A confident, prideful aura radiated from these words, as though no one could block him from moving forward on the path which his Dao-heart had decided upon. Any who tried would be slaughtered.

  “All mortal and worldly things shall decay; I ask for just two words; Immortal Life.”

  Domineering.

  Arrogant.

  Fierce.

  Leisurely.

  Calm.

  Simple.

  The words left behind by the Immortals of the Black-White Diagram caused Ning’s Dao-heart to be baptized time and time again. He felt as though he could look past time itself to ages past; as though he could watch as these Immortal cultivators held firm to their own Dao-hearts and embarked on their own paths.

  “Such powerful, resolved, and untainted Dao-hearts,” Ning murmured to himself. Power. Resolve. Purity. These were the things Ning sensed from the words left behind by these Immortals. Anyone capable of becoming an Immortal had understood his or her own heart long ago, and knew what their heart’s desire was! In addition, their Dao-hearts would be incomparably pure and resolved; they wouldn’t succumb to temptations or let themselves be led astray. The passage of countless years had caused their Dao-hearts to grow incomparably strong.

  But if the Dao-hearts of these Immortals somehow grew bewildered, then their faith in themselves would collapse, and they might lose everything they had built up over a thousand years! In fact, in the worst case scenarios, they might not even be able to control the incomparably powerful elemental ki in their bodies, resulting in death.

  From this, one could see that the path of Immortal cultivation was an extremely difficult path; it was the path of challenging destiny.

  “The only desire in my heart is to be carefree, to be able to do as I please. I only ask that my destiny be in my own hands.” As Ning continued to read, his own Dao-heart grew increasingly pure as well.

  The pain and agony he had suffered in his previous life made it so that he was not willing to submit to fate. Not willing to allow his destiny to be controlled by others. In this life, his parents had both died; this caused Ning to feel an even greater desire for the ability to not be controlled by destiny.

  However, if one wished to surpass the bonds of fate, then one would have to gain tremendous power! Only by being powerful would one truly be carefree and be able to act as one pleased!

  ……..

  Ning read the words of one Immortal after another. Although Immortal cultivators read very quickly, by the time he finished reading that section of the wall, it was already very late at night.

  “Eh?” Ning turned to look at Northson. Northson continued to sit there in the lotus position, staring at the Black-White Diagram. Around him were various parts and pieces that were formed from natural, elemental energy. The countless parts and pieces sometimes joined together and sometimes split apart, forming dragons, tigers, serpents, turtles…all sorts of monstrous beasts and strange creatures appeared, constantly forming and reforming.

  “He’s making a breakthrough. Junior apprentice-brother Northson’s insights have reached a tipping point.” Ning felt secret admiration; he had spent less than two hours in meditation, but his junior apprentice-brother Northson had spent far more time than he had in comprehending the Black-White Diagram.

  “The other stone wall.” Ning turned to look at the final, third stone wall. The words left behind by the various Immortals were actually meant to help refine the Dao-hearts of their successors. For juniors whose Dao-hearts were not sufficiently stable, it could have the effect of helping them to constantly train and test their hearts. Thus, although the Black-White Diagram served as the foundation of the Black-White College, the words left behind by these Immortals to train the Dao-hearts of their successors could also be considered one of the important things which this supreme, top-tier school relied upon as it passed down its traditions over the course of countless years.

  This, too, was their foundation!

  …….

  The night sky.

  A short old man, dressed in ragged beggar’s clothes, stood atop the clouds, holding a calabash of wine and appearing quite at ease.

  He seemed to be the very center of the world around him, as though everything would obey his commands. This natural feeling of dominance, of power…it gave the short old man an aura that was definitely not inferior to Northmont Blacktiger’s, and perhaps even more astonishing and terrifying. However, as long as one was not too close to him, one couldn’t sense h
is majestic presence at all.

  “I’ve overcome the ninth-century tribulation… what a wonderful, wonderful feeling.” The short old man shook his head, seeming completely delighted with himself. “I’ll have nine hundred more years of good living.” Raising his head, he gargled in a large mouthful of Immortal wine.

  “Uh?” The short old man suddenly halted, staring down at the Black-White Diagram below him. “Two youngsters?” The short old man nodded slightly. “Come to think of it, today is the day in which our Black-White College is accepting new recruits. It seems these two are new disciples. This old Daoist wants to take a good look at them.”

  “That white-robed kid…he walks the Dao of Constructs? And he seems quite impressive; quite talented, in fact. It seems as though although I have been in seclusion for many years, the quality of the disciples of our Black-White College hasn’t dropped in the slightest.” The old man nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze towards Ji Ning, who was staring at the the stone wall with writing atop it. “That kid dressed in furs; he’s actually reading those words that were left behind? Can it be that he has finished viewing the Black-White Diagram? I wonder how long that kid viewed the Black-White Diagram for, and how his potential is.”

  The longer one was able to view the Black-White Diagram, the more one would gain from it.

  ……

  Ning continued to read the words left behind by the Immortals on the wall. Every single character was a representation of the path an Immortal had followed. Amongst these Immortals, there was only a single Celestial Immortal; the rest were all Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals. From this, one could tell how difficult it was for someone to truly escape the confines of the Three Realms and no longer be bound by the Five Elements.