Desolate Era

by RWX

  Everyone listening, however, felt uneasy.

  Most likely, the Empyrean God and True Immortal rulers of the other conquered major worlds had said the same things to their subordinates…that their world ‘had to be protected’. Otherwise, how could they have convinced their Celestial Immortals to fight for them?

  The Xia Emperor swept his subjects with his gaze, understanding their concerns. He immediately said, “The karmic luck of our Grand Xia is one of the highest of all the three thousand major worlds of the Three Realms. In the face of a tribulation like this, the war over karmic luck is a critically important component. Even the loss of ten of those weaker major worlds wouldn’t compare to our Grand Xia!”

  Everyone below him nodded. This was definitely true!

  “Thus…the Grand Xia absolutely not must be lost,” the Xia Emperor said solemnly.

  “In addition!”

  “Our side already has eleven thousand Celestial Immortals and more than a million Loose Immortals!” The Xia Emperor continued, “I have spoken with multiple True Gods and Daofathers regarding how the Grand Xia shall defend against our foes.”

  The many Immortals all felt their hearts clench. Multiple True Gods and Daofathers? They all listened attentively.

  Eleven thousand Celestial Immortals, more than a million Loose Immortals…although this figure was stunning, everyone had already guessed at it after seeing the veritable sea of Loose Immortals present.

  “We have decided upon our plan,” the Xia Emperor said. “Of the elven thousand Celestial Immortals, two thousand will be under my direct command! The other nine thousand will be divided up into nine major armies, each of which will consist of a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals. Every single army will train in the ‘Heaven Punisher Formation’. During the conference, True God Xingtian [1. Xingtian means Heaven Punisher, much like how Xuanwu refers to the Turtle-Snake] personally agreed to transmit this grand formation to me!”

  “Xingtian the Heaven Punisher?”

  Everyone revealed a look of shock and joy.

  True God Xingtian was extremely famous in the Three Realms. He was a figure out of the oldest legends. Long ago, during the era of Pangu’s World, Xingtian had been merely an Empyrean God, one of the mighty generals under the command of humanity’s Primordial Imperial Clan. Early on during the Primordial Era, although humans were a very powerful race and the Human Sovereign was acknowledged as a true Emperor, the thousands of other races were all quite powerful as well. The monsters, for example, were only slightly weaker than the humans. Thus, the major powers had all worked together to establish the Celestial Court. As for the Celestial Emperor, his job was to assure peace between the various parties, so as to ensure the safety and stability of the Primordial World.

  Back then, the Human Sovereign had been a truly dominating force. The Celestial Emperor, by contrast, was merely a mediator.

  During that era, Xingtian had a quarrel with the Celestial Emperor, resulting in him launching a direct assault against the Celestial Court. Xingtian was a general of the imperial clan who was extremely skilled in battle. Although the Celestial Emperor had some Empyrean Gods and True Immortals by his side, they were unable to withstand Xingtian. In the end, the Celestial Emperor had been forced to go all-out and also invite other Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to assist him before he had been able to suppress Xingtian. In the end, they actually managed to chop off Xingtian’s head.

  Now, as a Fiendgod, Xingtian naturally wouldn’t die after having his head severed. However, Xingtian was an excessively proud person. Much like how Daoist Threelives had been unwilling to regrow his severed arm, Xingtian had been unwilling to regrow his head after it was cut off. Instead, he transformed his nipples into eyes and his bellybutton into his mouth.

  Who would’ve thought that as a result of that wild battle, Xingtian would actually break through from being an Empyrean God to the True God level? He had instantly executed the Celestial Emperor. [1. This entire story is very close to the actual Chinese legend of Xingtian, except in the legends, it was Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor and the forefather of Chinese civilization, who defeated and severed Xingtian’s head. The real story, however, ended at the part with Xingtian regrowing his eyes and mouth.]

  The Primordial Imperial Clan of humans had gained yet another True God; they were naturally delighted by this and were completely determined to protect Xingtian. The other major powers didn’t quibble too much; after all, Xingtian had already become a True God, and that was that. They ended up just choosing a new Celestial Emperor.

  True God Xingtian, a member of the Primordial Imperial Clan, had bestowed upon the Xia Emperor the ‘Heaven Punisher Formation’; clearly, he was standing alongside the Xia Emperor as well.

  The fact that the Xia Emperor had the Primordial Imperial Clan behind him was yet another reason why all of these Celestial Immortals were willing to risk their lives for him. The Primordial Imperial Clan was simply too strong! It had multiple major powers within its ranks, and the most ancient members, the Human Sovereigns, definitely were some of the most supreme figures of the Three Realms. The Human Sovereigns included many ancient figures, such as Suiren of the Flame and Shennong the Divine Farmer. [2. These two figures are extremely ancient Chinese deities/demigods; Suiren is credited for having invented/discovered fire, while Shennong is credited for having taught medicine and farming to humans.] Even the leaders of the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Way worked to befriend the human race; from this, one could tell how powerful the Primordial Imperial Clan of humans was.

  “The Heaven Punisher Formation requires a commander, a thousand Celestial Immortals, and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals working in unison,” the Xia Emperor said. “This enormous formation has the power to link into the energy of the natural world. The hundred thousand Loose Immortals serve as a powerful foundation that will pull in natural energy from an area of a million kilometers. The Celestial Immortals will guide them to use that energy to form a Xingtian Divinity which is so powerful that even Empyrean Gods and True Immortals will find hard to damage.”

  Ning and the others sighed in amazement upon hearing this.

  What an incredible effort the Xia Emperor had made.

  If the Loose Immortals all struck out without coordination without guidance, they would be completely and effortlessly slaughtered. However, once a hundred thousand Loose Immortals activated the power of the natural world…they would be able to make a much larger difference. It wasn’t hard for a single Loose Immortal to fully activate the natural energy for an area of ten thousand kilometers. A hundred thousand Loose Immortals could definitely activate all of the energy for an area of a million kilometers. So much natural energy…how terrifying that had to be! Not even Empyrean Gods or True Immortals were at such a ridiculous level of power!

  But of course, although the Loose Immortals could activate the energy, they wouldn’t be able to control it. Thus, a thousand Celestial Immortals were needed to provide guidance and to mobilize that energy, serving as the skeleton and spine…and of course, a commander was needed to serve as the head, in charge of everything. Only then could the power of this mighty Heaven Punisher Formation be unleashed.

  “I will transmit to all the Loose Immortals the basic fundaments of the Heaven Punisher Formation,” the Xia Emperor said. “But of course, I’ll leave out the most important parts of it.”

  “I’ll choose the commanders of the nine armies from the eleven thousand of you.” The Xia Emperor looked downwards, and instantly everyone below him began to murmur. To command a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals…who wouldn’t be willing to accept such an honor? All of them wanted to be commanders, not soldiers. They had thought that the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would take up those positions; who would’ve thought that the Xia Emperor would choose from the Celestial Immortals?

  “The most important part of the Heaven Punisher Formation is the activation of natural energ
y by the Loose Immortals; an Empyrean God or True God leading it wouldn’t actually add that much power to it,” the Xia Emperor said. “Thus, I’m choosing from the Celestial Immortals. As for the True Gods and Empyrean Gods…at critical moments, they’ll help you out and deal heavy blows to the Seamless Gate.”

  “I’ll give you all half a month,” the Xia Emperor said. “During this period of time, you are to fully learn and understand the Heaven Punisher Formation, and you’ll have a chance to fight for the opportunity to become a commander.”

  “When the time comes, I’ll send out a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals and give every contestant a chance to try to command them in a formation,” the Xia Emperor said. “The nine Celestial Immortals who control the formation with the greatest amount of skill and allow it to unleash the most power will become the nine commanders.”

  Upon hearing his words, Ning and the others all felt persuaded.

  To let those who were able to unleash the most power from the formation become the commanders was quite fair.

  “The nine final commanders shall be taught the most important aspects of the Heaven Punisher Formation,” the Xia Emperor said. “Without those parts, the formation can still be used, but the power will only be comparable to some other ancient formations. With those important parts…the power will be increased tens of times over.”

  This formation was a secret of the Primordial Imperial Clan; the important parts to it naturally could not be taught to just anyone and everyone.

  ……

  One bamboo slip after another was delivered to the tables of the Celestial Immortals. The many Celestial Immortals all pored their coresense into the bamboo slips, easily acquiring the Heaven Punisher Formation. But of course, actually learning it would require some time.

  “Everyone, you will only have half a month. When the time ends, only those who have already fully learned the Heaven Punisher Formation will have a chance to fight over the commander positions,” the Xia Emperor said. “Alright, everyone…hurry up and learn the Heaven Punisher Formation!”

  That night.

  A million Loose Immortals were at the plaza below the Skylight Palace, all seated in the lotus position as they focused on learning the basics of the Heaven Punisher Formation.

  As for the many Celestial Immortals, they remained at the main hall of the Skylight Palace. They, too, sat in the lotus position as they meditated on the Heaven Punisher Formation. Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Celestial Immortal Unity, Immortal Diancai…all of them quietly sat there, meditating.

  * * *

  Book 18, Chapter 4 - No Seam Left Untouched

  In the blink of an eye, nine days passed.

  The more than ten thousand Celestial Immortals remained seated in the lotus position within the main hall of the Skylight Palace. Around each of them hovered bloody runic seals. The same was true for Ji Ning; there were many bloody runes swirling around him, each of which contained a shocking battle-intent. However, it seemed as though those runes were lacking in something. They continuously circled around Ning…and finally, after Ning manifested yet another rune, all of the bloody runes connected to each other, forming a complete whole as their warlike aura skyrocketed in power.

  “Success.” Ning opened his eyes, looking at the hovering runes. “This Heaven Punisher Formation is truly mysterious and profound; it actually took me nine full days. However, it truly is a grand formation that is perfectly suited for combination attacks; it truly lives up to its reputation as a formation created by True God Xingtian, known as the Primordial Wargod.”

  Xingtian was often referred to as the Primordial Wargod. He delighted in battle. When he made his breakthrough to become a True God, it was when his head had been chopped off and he had transformed his nipples into eyes and his belly button into his mouth, then continued to fight. From this, one could tell how savage and how warlike Xingtian was.

  “Eh?”

  Ning looked at his surroundings. Immortal Diancai and Yu Wei were both meditating, but Celestial Immortal Unity’s seat was empty.

  “Unity has already mastered it?” Ning rose to his feet as well. The Skylight Palace was currently quite silent; everyone was busy meditating. As for the Xia Emperor and the other five True Immortals and Empyrean Gods, they had left for now; the Xia Emperor and the others couldn’t just sit there and do nothing for half a month, after all. Ning moved towards the outside of the main palace, soon seeing the Celestial Immortals floating on the clouds outside, chatting and laughing amongst themselves. Ning saw a total of sixty individuals; apparently, these were the ones who had succeeded in learning the technique.

  If one had a very high level of comprehension abilities, one would be capable of learning the Heaven Punisher Formation. But of course, if one had a very high level of insight into the Dao or an extremely deep level of insight into formations, one could also learn it in an incredibly short period of time.

  “Fellow Daoist Darknorth.”

  “Fellow Daoist Darknorth mastered it as well?”

  “The reason why we were able to learn it so quickly was because we’ve lived for trillions of years. Fellow Daoist Darknorth’s comprehension abilities are truly staggering,” the other Celestial Immortals laughed and praised.

  Ning smiled in acknowledgmenet. These sixty Celestial Immortals were elites; in fact, quite a few were comparable to Celestial Immortal Unity.

  “Ji Ning.” Unity walked over as well. “I just finished learning it a short while ago; you were just a hair slower than me. It seems you’ll be one of my major foes when it comes to competing for the commander positions.”

  “Don’t praise me, fellow Daoist Unity.” Ning shook his head. “The world of the Grand Xia is filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons; it won’t be easy to rank in the top nine out of more than ten thousand Celestial Immortals. Oh, right; there’s something I need to speak to the Xia Emperor about.”

  “Go.” Unity nodded.

  Ning immediately walked towards a nearby attendant, asking him to carry a message for him.

  “I’ll go notify the Xia Emperor right away. Immortal Darknorth, please wait a moment.” The attendant immediately departed to go report to the Xia Emperor.

  ……

  A side palace.

  The Xia Emperor was seated by himself before a table that was covered with a map of the entire Grand Xia. The Xia Emperor was staring intently at the map as the black-robed Ning walked in.

  “There you are.” The Xia Emperor raised his head.

  “Respectful greetings to you, Imperial Majesty.” Ning bowed.

  “No need to stand on such ceremony in private,” the Xia Emperor said with a laugh. “You asked to see me in private; is there something you need?”

  Ning immediately said, “Ji Ning has a boon to request, Imperial Majesty.”

  “Speak,” the Xia Emperor said.

  Ning said, “Ji Ning knows that the Three Realms are currently in a state of chaos, and so all Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals must take part in the battle. However…I would like to ask you, your Imperial Majesty, to help me and allow my Dao-companion, Yu Wei, to refrain from taking part in battle.”

  “Refrain from taking part in battle? But…” The Xia Emperor frowned. “Why?”

  “My Dao-companion is pregnant,” Ning explained. “If she takes too heavy a blow during a battle…she might be able to recover, as a Celestial Immortal, but the baby in her body might…”

  The Xia Emperor instantly laughed. “So the Rainbowflame Fairy is pregnant? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Very few people know about it; after all, it’s just a pregnancy,” Ning said. Ning hadn’t made a big fuss about this, primarily because he was worried that others would take aim at Yu Wei. Thus, only the closest people to them knew about this matter. However, after Ning’s Primaltwin’s tribulation, his master Subhuti had told him that so long as he told a second person about his secrets, there was a chance the Seamless Gate would find out.
Thus, Ning understood that most likely the Seamless Gate already knew about Yu Wei’s pregnancy; this naturally made him feel even more cautious.

  “Don’t worry. Since she’s pregnant, we naturally won’t ask the Rainbowflame Fairy to take part in battle,” the Xia Emperor said. “However…after she finishes giving birth, she still has to take part in the war. No one can easily escape the flames of war.”

  “I understand.” Ning nodded.

  Right at this moment, someone came in from outside.

  As though sensing the person, Ning glanced backwards. He immediately said, “Respectful greetings to you, senior Dongyan.” The newcomer was True Immortal Dongyan.

  True Immortal Dongyan laughed. “I heard, Ji Ning, that you had woken up from your meditations, and so I wanted to chat with you. I didn’t expect you to be here with his Imperial Majesty.”

  “Might I ask what you wish of me, senior?” Ning asked.

  “I simply wish to ask you to help me with something,” True Immortal Dongyan said.

  “Help you?” Ning was surprised. “Senior, you are far more powerful than me.”

  True Immortal Dongyan shook his head. “What use is that? In the face of this great storm, even major powers might fall. I was thinking…in the event of my death, I would like to ask you, Ji Ning, to help me out a little in taking care of and protecting Ninelotus. You don’t have to personally watch over her and protect her, just…help arrange for her protection. All I ask is that she be able to stay alive and safe.”

  Ning was startled. Ninelotus?

  Ning had severed his relationship with Ninelotus long ago. However…within the demonheart world, the two of them had been together for thirty thousand years. This had a significant impact on Ning.

  “If I have the power to protect her, I naturally will. Ninelotus is my senior apprentice-sister, after all,” Ning said.

  “All I need are these words from you, Ji Ning.” True Immortal Dongyan sighed.