Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Variable?” The titanic figure once more tapped the armrest.

  “It’s Ji Ning,” Azurefox said respectfully.

  “Him?” The towering figure hesitated momentarily. “He just killed eighteen of your Celestial Immortals. Mmm…from what happened in that battle, it can be said that this Ji Ning truly is quite a monster. He’s actually become so powerful despite being at the Void-level. There’s no way he could’ve accomplished this just through divine abilities. His sword-fingers…he hasn’t even mastered the Grand Dao of the Sword…which means he must have mastered some sort of supremely powerful energy. Swordforce? From the looks of that battle, he’s only reached the first stage of swordforce. It must be some other type of invisible power…heartforce? Taiji-force? Infiniforce? Spaceforce?”

  The towering figure pondered for a moment. “Your warning is a good one. I hadn’t noticed that such a monster had appeared within the Grand Xia. By the looks of it…he has at least a 50% chance of overcoming his tribulation and becoming an Empyrean God! If he becomes an Empyrean God, he’ll immediately become one of the most supreme of Empyrean Gods. In fact, if he’s given a little time, he’ll be able to reach Lu Dongbin’s level. He is indeed a potential source of trouble.”

  The supreme powers of the Three Realms had a tacit understanding; if you didn’t intervene, then I won’t either.

  This was an unspoken agreement.

  Both sides were preparing…preparing to unleash everything at the critical moment of the war, to fully suppress and crush their foes! Prior to this, at most the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would battle against each other. The True Gods and the Daofathers would not casually intervene. Thus…a supremely powerful Empyrean God could have an enormous impact. In addition, such an Empyrean God would have a good chance of making yet another breakthrough to become a True God!

  “However…this Ji Ning’s master is that old bastard, Subhuti. He’s not easy to deal with,” the towering figure said.

  “Patriarch Subhuti?” Azurefox cried out in shock. Good heavens…

  Patriarch Subhuti?!

  Although she knew that Ji Ning had to have a very powerful Daofather behind him, given that he had been taught the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art]…she had never imagined that it would be that old freak Subhuti.

  “Not even I can tell exactly how powerful that old fellow is. During that war that shattered Pangu’s World, he intervened to save some people, but he didn’t truly participate. Still…he definitely is one of the absolute most powerful Daofathers of the Three Realms. And…he has multiple Daofathers amongst his disciples!” The towering figure once more gently tapped at the armrest. Dong! Dong! Dong! Slow, deep thudding sounds echoed throughout the dark region.

  Azurefox couldn’t breathe.

  Multiple Daofathers?

  She knew some secrets, such as the fact that the mysterious ‘senior disciple’ under Patriarch Subhuti’s command was definitely on the level of a True God or Daofather. As for the others, she didn’t know about them. But from what the Godking was saying…Patriarch Subhuti actually had more than one Daofather under him! Still…even though she had learned this, she wouldn’t dare to let this information slip. She was completely devoted to the Godking, while the Godking was all-knowing…

  If she dared to betray him in any way at all, the Godking would know right away! For example, that battle against Ji Ning; with but a thought, the Godking immediately had become aware of what had happened during it.

  “Still…that old fellow stands on the side of Nuwa!” The towering figure’s misty gaze seemed to be as deep and vast as the infinite Void. “So we might as well take this chance to kill one of his disciples and test his reaction.”

  Azurefox listened attentively.

  “Activate chess piece…Yu Wei.” The towering figure said, “Have Yu Wei lead Ji Ning in a Greater Teleport to come straight to the Fifth World. The Fifth World is one of our major bases, and I’ll personally station myself within it. In the Fifth World…even if Subhuti comes in person, there will be nothing he can do.”

  “Yu Wei?” Azurefox was startled.

  They had quite a few chess pieces positioned within the world of the Grand Xia. Prior to this, Yu Wei hadn’t been an important one, but after taking Patriarch Lu as her master and becoming a Celestial Immortal, she had immediately become their most important piece. Logically speaking, she could’ve been used to great effect in the future…but they were now going to use her against Ji Ning. Clearly, in the eyes of the Godking…trading Yu Wei for Ji Ning’s life was worth it!

  “Yes,” Azurefox said respectfully. She then vanished into thin air.

  Within the darkness, only the massive levitating throne and the towering figure atop it were left. His left hand continued to gently tap against the armrest of the throne. “Subhuti…I haven’t actually fought you yet…I’m really rather looking forward to it…”

  * * *

  Book 17, Chapter 14 - A Successful Plot

  The Fifth World. Within a quiet room, filled with the fragrance of incense. The azure-robed woman opened her eyes, awakening.

  “The Godking is actually willing to use up the ‘Yu Wei’ chess piece.” Azurefox mentally sighed to herself. She immediately tried to reach out, only to frown: “Eh? Yu Wei isn’t sleeping yet?”

  The various chess pieces had all been given an order that unless they were in the middle of a life-and-death situation, they had to sleep at least once every three days.

  Only when they were asleep could these chess pieces be stealthily contacted! This form of communication was extremely mysterious; not even True Gods or Daofathers were able to detect it. There was a chance for every other form of communication to be detected, and upon being detected, the chess pieces would no longer be able to continue to hide themselves.

  “Not sleeping…”

  Azurefox pondered for a moment. “No rush. She has to sleep once within these three days. Heh…I imagine that there is no way Ji Ning will be able to defend against a plot by his Dao-companion. If he’s teleported straight to the Fifth World, he’s dead. And hrm…”

  Azurefox’s eyes suddenly lit up! “Before Ji Ning dies…there’s a use for him.” Azurefox laughed. “Maybe we can use him to ensure that the Youngflame clan irrevocably throws their support to the Seamless Gate.”

  ……

  That very night.

  Within the territory controlled by the Youngflame clan. Patriarch Arcanum was meeting with a golden-robed envoy at the peak of a tall, nameless mountain.

  “Greetings to you, Envoy.” Celestial Immortal Arcanum was extremely courteous.

  “Give this to your Ancestor.” The golden-robed envoy handed over a scroll.

  “This is…?” Arcanum was puzzled.

  “This scroll contains a scryer recording within it. Once your Ancestor views it, he’ll understand.” The golden-robed envoy laughed. “Our Seamless Gate is doing this to help your Youngflame clan. Don’t end up being wiped out without even knowing what’s going on.”

  After speaking, the golden-robed envoy immediately disappeared through teleportation.

  Arcanum held the scroll, a frown on his face. After humming for a moment, he immediately opened it to take a look first. The unfurled scroll revealed an image; it was indeed a scryer recording. Arcanum filled it with his Immortal energy, and the images instantly began to move. It was the scene of the eighteen Celestial Immortals battling Celestial Immortal Unity, as well as the scene of them being slain by Ji Ning.

  “Is that…Celestial Immortal Violetgrass?” Arcanum immediately recognized Violetgrass, whom he had spoken with before a few times.

  “Those eighteen Celestial Immortals are so powerful. They were actually able to suppress Unity. Unity is going to die.”

  “What?!”

  Upon seeing Ji Ning strike, Arcanum was instantly, completely stunned.

  Good heavens…

  But…but…

  Ji Ning was far more powerful than he had been during their last bat
tle at the Oldjade mountain range. Most likely, if all of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were to join forces, they still wouldn’t be able to withstand Ji Ning again. Arcanum knew exactly how deep the feud was between his clan and Ji Ning. Terrified, he immediately teleported back in a hurry.

  ……

  Within the Worldhold Pagoda.

  “What is it?” The Youngflame Ancestor emerged from an illusory space, two other Celestial Immortals following him.

  “Ancestor.” The other four Celestial Immortals within the Worldhold Pagoda were incomparably respectful to him.

  The seven Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan were all gathered together here!

  “Ancestor, the Seamless Gate sent this to us. Take a look.” Arcanum handed over the scroll, a serious look on his face.

  “The Seamless Gate never comes to our Youngflame clan with good news.” The Youngflame Ancestor, Immortal Venomfreak, let out a cold laugh. He immediately unfurled the scroll, then let out a chuckle. “Oh, a scryer recording. Let me see what they are up to now.”

  He filled it with his Immortal energy, and instantly the scenes of that battle began to replay.

  Eighteen Celestial Immortals struck out in unison, suppressing Unity. Ji Ning attacked, True Immortal Gaudy appeared, the Xia Emperor appeared and defeated Gaudy…everything was included!

  At first, Immortal Venomfreak just watched with a half-smirk on his face, but his face quickly began to change, becoming increasingly ugly to behold.

  “So things really have come to this.”

  Immortal Venomfreak’s pupils contracted slightly, his face turning as cold as ice.

  The other six Celestial Immortals present all looked towards Immortal Venomfreak, awaiting his orders.

  “I had thought that the Xia Emperor would only stand behind Ji Ning after he overcame his tribulation to become an Empyrean God. I didn’t imagine…that even before becoming an Empyrean God, he would become such a monster. If I was the Xia Emperor, I would stand behind Ji Ning as well.” Immortal Venomfreak had a dark look on his face.

  “Ancestor, what should we do?”

  “If Ji Ning comes…we can’t stop him.”

  “Ancestor.”

  They all looked towards their Ancestor, waiting for his orders.

  The Ancestor was someone who had roamed the world back in the era of Pangu’s World, after all. Even many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals felt he was a pain to deal with.

  “Ji Ning won’t launch a war against the Youngflame clan in the immediate future.” Immortal Venomfreak continued, “That’s because he was hurt from our last clash. He knows very well that I have many clones, and that if he isn’t able to wipe them all out, I’ll continue to harass him, becoming a nightmare for his clan.” Immortal Venomfreak’s eyes flashed with a savage light.

  He was a sinister, insidious figure; he always had been.

  “So we’re just going to ignore this?” Patriarch Deadwood frowned.

  “You stupid blockhead,” Immortal Venomfreak snapped, “Didn’t you see how astonishingly fast Ji Ning grows in power? He’s already so powerful at the Void-level! I roamed the primordial world and have seen many things…but I’ve never seen a monster like him before! In the Primordial Era, only some of the most legendary of monsters might be comparable to him. A monster like him…if he continues to grow like this, he’ll definitely be given incredible power within the Crimsonbright League. In the end, in the future, even I might be unable to escape his reach…and once I die, the annihilation of the Youngflame clan will be set in stone. We won’t even have a chance to fight back.”

  Celestial Immortal Infatuation and the others all nodded.

  “Let me think about this. Let me think.” Immortal Venomfreak’s eyes narrowed. “I really didn’t expect it to come to this.”

  He was a very cautious man. It was precisely because he was cautious, insidious, and crafty that he had been able to survive for so long despite having offended so many.

  The other six Celestial Immortals all waited quietly.

  “Make the arrangements right away for all the mortals of our Youngflame clan to be moved into the world within the Worldhold Pagoda.” Suddenly, Immortal Venomfreak began to give orders. “Trees die when uprooted, but people can survive. If push comes to shove…we flee!”

  His greatest strength had always been fleeing!

  “Evacuate all of them?” The six Celestial Immortals were amazed.

  “All of them.” Immortal Venomfreak immediately ordered, “You have to be fast, as fast as possible. I want you to complete this within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea. If you don’t have enough time…it’s fine if you end up missing or discarding some of the mortals.”

  “Alright.” The six Celestial Immortals all assented hurriedly.

  The Worldhold Pagoda was a Protocosmic spirit-treasure with an entire world within it. Although it wasn’t as vast as the major world within Ning’s Starseizing Manor, it wasn’t small either. It would be easy to contain thirty billion people within it.

  ……

  The Celestial Immortals gave the orders, and the Loose Immortals handled things personally.

  Although all those who had lived in the Oldjade mountain range had been wiped out, after Ji Ning had been exiled to the Nihilum Zone, the Youngflame clan had moved billions of more clansmen back to Oldjade.

  The Loose Immortals moved with incredible speed. The Youngflame clan had nearly a thousand Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals under their command, and they all moved in unison. Within the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, they really did evacuate all of the clansmen from their three headquarters, moving them into the Worldhold Pagoda.

  The seven Celestial Immortals of the Worldhold Pagoda stared at the vast land outside.

  This was their fiefdom. They had fought for this land, had bled for it.

  “Let’s go. We’ll have greater fiefs in the future, and our Youngflame clan will only grow stronger.” Immortal Venomfreak flew out of the tower. Waving his hand, he collected the Worldhold Pagoda, then disappeared into thin air.

  ……

  That very night.

  The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. The Skylight Palace.

  “Your Imperial Majesty, Immortal Venomfreak asks for an audience,” a white-faced elder said respectfully.

  The Xia Emperor lifted an eyebrow, a pensive look in his eyes. He then said, “Let him come.”

  “Yes.” The white-faced elder immediately departed.

  “He came quite quickly…it seems the Seamless Gate is once more trying to seduce him.” The Xia Emperor mused to himself, “When used correctly, Youngflame Freak is a sharp weapon as well. However…when you harm others, you harm yourself as well. He goes berserk too easily.” The Xia Emperor knew very well that madness was bred into the bones of Immortal Venomfreak; this was why the Xia Emperor had used his clan and fiefs to tie Immortal Venomfreak down, giving Venomfreak something to care about and thus a way to use him!

  And how, by the look of it…

  “Although Immortal Venomfreak is useful…he can’t compare to Ji Ning.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “It seems I’m about to lose one of my sharp weapons.”

  An ugly, horned individual walked in from outside.

  “Your Imperial Majesty.” The horned man was unusually respectful.

  “Venomfreak.” The Xia Emperor smiled.

  The horned man said respectfully, “The Seamless Gate has been asking me to join them this entire time, but I never have. Just now, they sent me a scroll with a scryer recording within it, a recording of Ji Ning battling and slaying eighteen Celestial Immortals. After seeing it…I understand that Ji Ning is now extremely powerful. I want to resolve my differences with him, with the two of us swearing oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. Can we do this?”

  “Resolve your differences?” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “When Ji Ning was weak, he still wanted to fight against you. Now that he is stronger than you…how could he po
ssibly be willing to accept peace?”

  “Your Imperial Majesty…are you going to stand with him?” The horned man said in a low voice.

  “If you go to kill him, I won’t stop you. If he goes to kill you, I won’t stop him either,” the Xia Emperor said.

  The horned man laughed coldly. “How could I possibly go kill him? Your Imperial Majesty…it seems you’ve already made your choice. I already suspected it before I came here…but I was holding on to a final strand of hope!”

  “Venomfreak, you are very intelligent…but I urge you not to join the Seamless Gate. If you join the Seamless Gate…you will have made an enemy out of not just myself and Daofather Crimsonbright, but also my entire Primordial Imperial Clan and many other True Gods and Daofathers.” The Xia Emperor continued, “You can leave now. I hope that you will be able to survive this great storm.”

  “I’m untalented in other respects, but I’m skilled in survival.” The horned man chuckled. “By not killing me, your Imperial Majesty, you let me preserve an extra clone.”

  And then, chuckling, he departed.

  The Xia Emperor watched him leave. This clone of Youngflame Freak definitely wasn’t even carrying a slightly decent treasure on him; he had come prepared to die. The only reason he had come here today was to lay all his cards out on the table…but alas, the Xia Emperor stood immovably by the side of Ji Ning. The Xia Emperor couldn’t even be bothered to try to lie to him about this, because he knew that Immortal Venomfreak was so sly and crafty that there was no way to deceive him.

  “The Seamless Gate…they truly are seamless in their actions. There is no seam they won’t penetrate through.” The Xia Emperor shook his head. “Just like that, they deprived me of one of my sharp weapons.”