Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ning listened to the black-robed youth, thinking to himself at the same time. He had shot out tens of thousands of arrows every day for nearly a year; thus, he was familiar with all the technical tricks to it. Actually, Ning had already vaguely touched upon the level of having the heart fly with the arrow, but no one had been able to guide him to actually breaking through to it.

  Ning once more nocked an arrow to his bow.

  “The air…”

  “The wind…”

  In this instant, his heart became one with the Heavens and the Earth…and his will began to fill the arrow.

  Soon, Ning managed to brush against the level of ‘forgetting the self’; although his heart had become one with the Heavens and the Earth, everything around him seemed vague and blurry, as his heart and will were focused completely on his arrow.

  Twang!

  A thunderous twanging sound. The arrow shot through the air, and Ning’s invisible will was fused into it. In fact, he had an extremely strange feeling; he felt as though he himself had transformed into an arrow! As the arrow shot through the skies, as it pierced through the trees, Ning felt as though it was he himself who was shooting through the trees. This sort of feeling, where his mind and heart were one with the arrow, was quite strange and marvelous…

  However, after the arrow flew for a hundred kilometers, that sort of invisible connection between his heart and the arrow dissipated; Ning was no longer able to maintain the wondrous feeling of him having transformed into an arrow.

  Swish!

  The arrow finally plunged deep into the target that was ten thousand kilometers away…but of course, it was still quite a bit off from the heart of the target.

  “That’s the feeling! Right. That’s the feeling.” Ning began to laugh loudly out of excitement as he jubilantly lifted the bow up with energy. “Right. When the arrow flies, the heart flies with it. I felt as though I had transformed into an arrow myself…this was a wondrous feeling, and in that state, I felt as though I was able to control the direction of the arrow.”

  “I’ll try again.”

  Ning once again nocked an arrow and drew his bow. Twang! The arrow shot through the skies, and Ning once more felt as though he were an arrow, with his heart focused upon the arrow.

  Change directions! Change directions!

  While flying through the air, the arrow suddenly began to change directions. Although the magnitude of the change was very small, as Ning repeatedly strove to influence it, the arrow began to arc outwards and fly even farther, before finally overshooting the target by thousands of kilometers.

  “When the arrow flies, the heart flies with it…”

  “This is the feeling. However, I’m only able to maintain this state for a hundred kilometers; any farther, and my will dissipates and becomes unable to maintain contact with the arrow.” Ning nodded to himself. This sort of invisible, formless feeling of his will being one with the arrow was a strange, subtle thing. However…there was indeed such a thing as a power forged from heart, from will.

  That ancient Fiendgod corpse of the previous owner of the Rahu Bow was proof of it. Despite having died so long ago, the remnant, vestigial will of death and killing still was enough to cause Ning’s heart to quiver.

  Strictly speaking, the ancient Fiendgod’s soul had been destroyed long ago…so where did that invisible will and intent come from?

  This was what ‘heart’ was all about.

  It was an invisible force! The power of the heart! It was different from divine power, elemental ki, and soul power. It was an extremely illusory, difficult-to-detect sort of power, but it did indeed exist. A truly divine archer would have to be able to master this power, the power of heart; only by mastering it could one become one of the formidable divine archers of the three realms. And this was just one of the prerequisites!

  “Use the heart.”

  “The heart!”

  “The heart flies with the arrow!”

  Ning began to train.

  He knew very well that given how firm his Dao-heart was, the power of his heart should logically be quite formidable. However, he was still only able to keep his heart merged with the arrow for a distance of a hundred kilometers. The reason for this was…his heart was not sincere enough! His heart was supremely sincere towards the Dao of the Sword, but it was not yet sincere enough to the Dao of Archery.

  Only with sincerity would the power of the heart grow!

  Fortunately, thanks to his three years of painstaking training, Ning had established a solid foundation, and as Ning’s attitude towards the bow had changed and as his feelings towards the Dao of Archery grew increasingly resolute, the power of his heart had grown increasingly strong. In the legends, there were some truly formidable figures who, no matter what they trained in, were able to maintain a supremely loyal heart to whatever they focused on. By doing so, they were able to improve at a truly astonishing rate.

  The power of the heart was sometimes even more important than raw talent or comprehension.

  A thousand kilometers.

  Two thousand kilometers.

  Three thousand kilometers.

  As the days passed, the connection between Ning’s heart and his arrow became increasingly strong.

  “Wow! Little master, when you draw the bow, you now have a certain aura…an aura that only the divine archers of the Primordial Era used to have!” The black-robed man watched excitedly from one side.

  When one had a heart that was supremely loyal to the bow, there would be a difference that would be very hard for most to detect, even if the difference was magnified ten thousand-fold. However, that innate charisma really did make an impact. The Rahu Bow, which had passed through the hands of quite a few divine archers, was definitely able to tell the difference.

  Twang!

  Swish!

  The arrow plunged straight into the heart of the target.

  Ning, however, maintained his calm as he continued to shoot arrows. Ning was now able to hit the target dead-center every so often, and even when he didn’t, he was still definitely able to hit the target. To be able to occasionally hit the target dead-center from a distance of ten thousand kilometers, with trees and boulders blocking the way, while using nothing but raw physical strength was already a truly astounding feat…but unfortunately, passing the trial required one to accomplish this feat ten times in a row.

  Five thousand kilometers. Six thousand kilometers…

  Ning’s heart was able to ride with the arrow for increasingly long periods of time. Under this sort of training, Ning’s Dao-heart was actually beginning to grow even more powerful, and his eyes were beginning to grow increasingly bright! When he drew his bow…anything he stared at would feel as though a God of Death was staring at them from afar, causing a sort of inexplicable, nameless terror!

  This was the sort of mental, psychological sensation of threat which only a true divine archer was able to impose upon the minds of his foes.

  Ning’s own heart was like an arrow, seeking to stab itself into the enemy’s own heart. The enemy would subconsciously sense this and feel terrified!

  Eight thousand kilometers. Nine thousand kilometers…

  Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

  An arrow struck straight into the heart of the target. So did a second arrow. A third. A fourth…Ning shot out a hundred arrows, and each and every one of them struck the target dead-center. The inch-thick heart of the target was completely filled with a tight cluster of arrows now.

  “Whew.” From ten thousand kilometers away, Ning let out a sigh.

  This sort of state, where his heart rode with the arrow, consumed a tremendous amount of mental stamina with each arrow. Shooting out a hundred arrows in a row in this state caused an extremely nauseous feeling of exhaustion! If Ning was simply shooting out arrows without using the power of his heart, he wouldn’t feel the slightest bit tired after shooting out even ten thousand. But it was very, very exhausting to be in the state where ‘when th
e arrow flies, the heart flies with it!’

  However…the power of the arrows in this state was truly tremendous, and the arrows were also much more accurate!

  “Little master, you succeeded. You succeeded!” The black-robed youth was very excited.

  “Thank you, Rahu Bow.” Ning smiled in gratitude. Over the past three years, although he did study some of the secret archery manuals of the Divinities Palace, what truly made the distance was the guidance of the Rahu Bow! The Rahu Bow had watched many divine archers grow up; although he himself was not a divine archer, he had still been able to provide Ning with a shockingly significant amount of help.

  If it hadn’t been for the Rahu Bow, even ten years probably wouldn’t have been enough for Ning to complete this trial.

  “Heh heh, little master, only after you become a true divine archer can I, the Rahu Bow, truly show off my own illustriousness.” The black-robed youth was extremely excited. “If you, little master, truly wish to show your gratitude towards me, then just procure a good bowstring for me.”

  “Right.” Ning nodded and smiled. “Of course.”

  He had a number of poorer-quality bowstrings. After all, he could remove the bowstring from the violet greatbow he was currently using and use it for the Rahu Bow. However…this bow was far too weak. The Rahu Bow was a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure; Ning really did have to procure a good bowstring for it!

  Mount Innerheart. The Tristar Crescent Abode. Outside the fairly small Three Divinities Palace. Crazy Ji continued to snore there as he always did.

  “Second senior apprentice-brother.” Ning walked over.

  Crazy Ji didn’t even open his eyes as he mumbled, “The complete copy of [Houyi’s Archery] is on the table. Go take it yourself.”

  “Thank you, second senior apprentice-brother.”

  Ning immediately stepped inside. Floating above the abridged versions was a very eye-catching furled bamboo book. It was indeed the complete copy of [Houyi’s Archery]. Ning walked over, immediately filling it with his divine sense.

  Rumble…

  A large amount of information instantly began to flood into Ning’s soul.

  A long, long time later. The sun had both risen and fallen. By the time the dawn was just arriving, as half of the distant Golden Crow could be seen peeking out from the distant horizon, Ning woke up.

  “What a powerful archery technique,” Ning murmured to himself.

  He was stunned. Truly, completely stunned.

  According to the description of [Houyi’s Archery], if it was truly trained to the limit, to the level of the mighty primordial divinity Houyi who had created this divine ability…the power of the arrows would be truly terrifying, to the point of being above even the Sixth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]!

  If a True God were to reach the peak of this divine ability, then with a single arrow, the True God would be able to heavily injure or even kill other True Gods!

  But there was a reason why the complete mastery of [Houyi’s Archery] was so ridiculously powerful.

  Number one: The amount of mental energy this supreme archery technique used up was simply enormous. At the level of perfect mastery, even a True God would probably only be able to fire three, four, or five arrows before becoming utterly mentally drained and unable to fire off another arrow. Ning’s [Starseizing Hand], however, could be used continuously without worry of using up any mental power.

  Number two: This archery technique had extremely high requirements with regards to both the bow and the arrow. Especially the arrow! It must be understood that at full power, [Houyi’s Archery] was mighty enough to annihilate a True God with a single arrow; to be able to compress this much power into a single arrow, the arrow had to be of tremendous quality, as it would otherwise collapse and break apart.

  Thus, in order to execute this technique, one not only needed a good bow, one also needed some specially-prepared arrows that were incredibly powerful!

  A superb bow. Superb arrows. And just a few shots before utter exhaustion!

  Slightly poorer archery arts could allow for a hundred shots, while even poorer archery arts could easily allow for ten thousand shots. This was a testament to how truly draining this supreme archery technique was when it came to the power of the heart.

  “The power of this archery art…although the number of times it can be used in succession is low, it truly is without question one of the top ten divine abilities created since Pangu established the universe!” Ning felt endless admiration towards this divine ability, as well as the number one God of the Bow of the Three Realms, Houyi.

  Ning then stepped forward and picked up the abridged copy of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye].

  * * *

  Book 13, Chapter 36 - Leaving the Masters Tutelage

  Early dawn.

  “Uncle-master.”

  “Uncle-master.”

  “Patriarch.”

  Escorted by a chorus of respectful calls, Ji Ning arrived at the entrance to the Tristar Crescent Abode. Holding a broom in his hands, he began to personally sweep the mountain paths.

  Sweep. Sweep. The fallen leaves on the ground were all being swept away.

  “That’s odd.”

  “The Patriarch is personally sweeping the mountain paths? Isn’t that the trial for the first level of the Divinities Palace?”

  “The Patriarch can enter even the ninth level whenever he pleases, to say nothing of the first. He defeats the ninth golem with utter ease.”

  “But the Patriarch truly is sweeping the paths personally. Are we seeing things?”

  “Maybe…maybe the Patriarch is meditating on something.”

  The two Dao-novitiates who were guarding the entrance stared in amazement as they watched Ning personally sweep the mountain roads. They stealthily sent mental messages to each other regarding this. News quickly began to spread, and soon all of the disciples of Mount Innerheart came to know of it.

  ……

  Ning was very calm. He kept his head lowered, focusing on his broom. Each sweep of the broom felt like a cleansing sweep against his soul as well.

  He swept each of the mountain steps, one at a time. His sweeping speed wasn’t too fast; he seemed to be enjoying this sweeping process.

  He only finished his labors late in the afternoon.

  “Oh, I’m done?” Only now did Ning come back to his senses. He straightened his back, then murmured softly to himself, “It seems as though when Master set trials such as sweeping the path and weeding the mountain, he had certain other things in mind as well.”

  “Apprentice.” A voice suddenly rang out by Ning’s ears.

  Ning was momentarily startled, but then hurriedly responded, “Master!”

  Despite having been on the mountain for so many years, Ning had never before received a direct mental message from his master like this.

  “After you learn the [Torch Dragon’s Eye], come to my place,” the voice rang out again.

  “Yes, master,” Ning replied respectfully.

  Ning quickly moved up the mountain, heart filled with questions. Why was his master summoning him? This was extremely rare. Could it be…that he was going to leave his master’s tutelage soon?

  ……

  Ning went to the Three Realms Palace and acquired the full copy of the [Torch Dragon’s Eye].

  To date, the three major techniques which Ning had learned from the Three Realms Palace were the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], [Houyi’s Archery], and [Torch Dragon’s Eye].

  The process of being transmitted the information regarding the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] took a full day. The next day, Ning regained his faculty of mind. Only then did he head towards the Daoist monastery of Patriarch Subhuti.

  “Uncle-master.”

  The two Dao-novitiates at the entrance to the monastery both called out respectfully. One of the two, Clearwater, also added, “Uncle-master, the Patriarch has sent word that you are to be allowed direct entry.”

  Ning nodded, smiled, then passe
d in.

  Within the Daoist monastery.

  There was a prayer mat within an open region with a skinny old man dressed in loose Daoist robes seated atop it. The old man’s hair was completely white, but he didn’t seem decrepit at all; rather, Ning felt as though this person had reached the level of infinite eternity. In addition, he also could sense a boundless life-force coming from this person. Ning couldn’t help but feel his own spirit completely calming down, thanks to his master’s simple presence.

  “Master.” Ning walked in, then called out respectfully.

  “Sit,” the Old Patriarch said.

  Ning immediately sat down on a prayer mat in the lotus position, awaiting instruction.

  The Old Patriarch looked at Ning, then said slowly, “How long have you spent on Mount Innerheart?”

  “It has already been more than thirty years and five…this year shall be the thirty-sixth,” Ning said respectfully.

  “Which abilities have you learned?” The Old Patriarch asked.

  “Your disciple has learned the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and reached the Third Cycle! I’ve just reached a basic level of skill in [Houyi’s Archery]. I have also trained in the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] and reached the second stage of innate torch-light! In the past thirty-plus years, your disciple has primarily focused on swordplay; I’ve already mastered the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], and have learned other, more powerful sword-arts as well,” Ning said respectfully.

  The Old Patriarch nodded. “You have many abilities now; it can be said that you are a completely different person compared to when you first came up the mountain. At your current level…remaining on Mount Innerheart will no longer help you as much as before. What you need to do now is go temper yourself within the real world, so as to prepare for your upcoming Celestial Tribulation. Given your abilities, and given that you have the legacy of brother Threelives…your Celestial Tribulation will surely be extraordinary. It will be very, very difficult.”

  “Your disciple shall remember to be cautious.” Ning was enlightened. So indeed, it was as he had expected…it was time for him to leave his master’s tutelage.