Desolate Era

by RWX

  There was no limit to them!

  It was like a flood! A flood of Immortals and Fiendgods!

  “Compared to this…the so-called celestial soldiers and celestial generals of the Celestial Court aren’t worth a damn. I heard that the Celestial Court has several armies with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, the weakest of whom are merely at the Primal Daoist level. Celestial Immortals are high-ranking members of the Celestial Court, while the Celestial Emperor himself would frantically try to befriend any Empyrean Gods and True Immortals who appear. If this Immortal army before us went to the Celestial Court, they would wipe it out in the blink of an eye.”

  “Right. I can see millions of Immortals.”

  “Millions? There has to be at least ten million.”

  “Those Fiendgods as well; there is definitely more than ten million of them.”

  The soldiers of the Darknorth army camp and the other army camps of the Grand Xia had their horizons broadened today. The Grand Xia, all by itself, was comparable to the Celestial Court in power. The Realmwar before them…Daofather Crimsonbright had summoned all of his usable forces for it. This was the might one of the true hegemons of the Three Realms could summon, might which vastly surpassed that of the Celestial Court.

  However, this sort of massive scale mobilizations only occurred during truly great tribulations.

  ……

  Within the dark Seamless City.

  The tall, skinny Daofather Ink Bamboo was standing atop the city walls. Behind him was a host of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, and all of them stared towards the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

  “They have quite a few Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals,” Daofather Ink Bamboo said with a laugh.

  “Daofather Crimsonbright is just putting on a show of force for us; the number of Immortal soldiers we have on our side isn’t lower than his.” The three Diremonster Gods who stood closest to Daofather Ink Bamboo were the three who had come from Mount Dragoneater.

  Mount Dragoneater had three mighty Diremonster Gods.

  The boss was the Great Sage Who Swallows the Mountains.

  The second was the Great Sage Who Swallows the Seas.

  The third was the Great Sage Who Swallows the Skies.

  Each of them had resoundingly shocking titles. When they had first given themselves these nicknames during the Primordial Era, it had been viewed by many as something of a joke. These three had styled themselves in a manner imitating that of the Seven Great Sages, who had been powerful Empyrean Gods during the Primordial Era. By now, the seven were even more unfathomably powerful than they had been. The three from Mount Dragoneater had grown increasingly powerful as well, and by now there was no one who dared to mock them for overestimating their abilities.

  The three of them were invincible against anyone weaker than a Daofather.

  “Second brother, we do indeed have as many Immortals and Fiendgods as they do, but many have yet to arrive.” The lion-headed Diremonster God Skyswallow rubbed his mouth as he spoke.

  “The military strength of the Seamless Gate is still a bit weaker than the Nuwa Alliance’s, making it harder for us to mobilize,” Daofather Ink Bamboo said calmly. “We have to rely on our advantage in intelligence reports in order to effectively use our forces.”

  Their intelligence reports were very formidable, allowing them to use just thirty percent of their military power to achieve hundred percent effectiveness.

  Fortunately, the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance had formidable tools at their disposal as well which also allowed them to discover many things. Otherwise, they would’ve been defeated in this war for karmic luck long ago.

  “Although we are weaker, we’re still capable of guarding this city,” Azurefox said with a smile.

  “Right.” Daofather Ink Bamboo nodded. “Even if they attack, all we have to do is defend for now. After all of our forces arrive, we’ll give them a real fight. Victory over a single major world usually isn’t that important, but this is a Realmwar. All of you should understand that you have only one path open to you; the path of victory.”

  Everyone, including the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater, nodded solemnly.

  Once they lost, it would be hard for them to flee and escape. Many, many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the defeated side would perish.

  Comparatively speaking, the victors would suffer lighter casualties.

  This was because the true slaughter would occur once one side was completely routed. That was when the most Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would perish!

  Don’t want to be massacred?

  Then win!

  ……

  The awe-inspiring Immortal armies and Fiendgod armies had all gathered at the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. Fortunately, the city spanned ten thousand kilometers, and could also transform to become even greater in size; naturally, everyone was able to fit inside.

  “These tens of millions Fiendgods are enough to form into seventy-eight Pangu War-Formations.” Daofather Crimsonbright was seated high up on his throne, a smile on his face as he gave his orders. “They shall be commanded by Empyrean God Fufang, Empyrean God Kindwater, Empyrean God Willowtemple…”

  “These twenty-six Empyrean Gods shall each command three Fiendgod armies.”

  “Yes.”

  Instantly, the twenty-six Empyrean Gods all assented respectfully.

  Not one of them disobeyed the Daofather’s order.

  The twenty-six Empyrean Gods all immediately used cloning techniques. Empyrean Gods could easily create multiple clones of themselves. In a real battle, however, the fewer clones one created, the more powerful one would be. When these twenty-six each split into three clones, they sent each clone to command one of their three Fiendgod armies. Although their power was weakened due to the three-way split, resulting in weaker Fiendgod armies, they were still much more powerful than any Void-level Fiendgod commander.

  In addition, with one Empyrean God commanding three Fiendgod army squads, each of the three would be able to better reinforce and support the other two.

  “The forces that Daofather Raindragon sent…according to what Daofather Raindragon said, you eighteen Empyrean Gods and True Immortals shall continue to command those eighteen Raindragon armies,” Daofather Crisonbright said.

  Instantly, eighteen Empyrean Gods and True Immortals stood up to salute.

  These were the reinforcements which Daofather Raindragon had sent. In truth, Daofather Raindragon had only sent reinforcements due to the relationship he had with the Xia Emperor, as well as the fact that the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater had been pulled into this war.

  “The remaining Immortal armies shall be divided up to form 326 Heaven Punishers,” Daofather Crimsonbright said with a laugh. “The Heaven Punisher Formation is even better suited for battle than the Crimsonbright Formation I previously created. My 326 generals…I am entrusting you with these Immortals.”

  “Yes.”

  Instantly, twelve Empyrean Gods/True Immortals and 314 Celestial Immortals all rose to their feet, with Ning amongst the ranks of the Celestial Immortals.

  “The Empyrean God golems and the other tools shall be left in the hands of Xiamang,” Daofather Crimsonbright said. “Alright…the Seamless Gate is completely focusing on defense for now. I imagine they will need some time to gather all of their forces. I expect that the great war will begin within a year. Previous commanders of the Crimsonbright Formation need to quickly become familiarized with the Heaven Punisher Formation. Now, all of you can leave.”

  “Yes.” Everyone rose to their feet, then departed.

  Even the Xia Emperor departed. As soon as he left the main palace, he mentally sent to Ning, “Ji Ning, Master gave me a special order; he told me to place an extra two thousand Celestial Immortals and two hundred thousand Loose Immortals under your command.”

  “Eh?” Ning was puzzled.

  “This way, you’ll have a total of three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hun
dred thousand Loose Immortals under your command, allowing you to form into an even more powerful Heaven Punisher,” the Xia Emperor said. “You are perfectly suited for your role as the commander of your Heaven Punisher; naturally, you need to be given more Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals.”

  The Perfect Heaven Punisher Formation involved a commander, 9000 Celestial Immortals, and 810,000 Loose Immortals.

  “Fine.” Ning smiled. If the Xia Emperor hadn’t raised it, Ning was planning to do so himself. This was because Ning had made some additional improvements in his soul heartforce technique during this temporary ceasefire; he was now able to control 100% of the power of a Heaven Punisher formed from merely a thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals.

  * * *

  Book 18, Chapter 32 - War Erupts

  “I’ll send the Immortals to your army camp right away. You need to quickly accustomize yourself to commanding three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals. The power of your Heaven Punisher will increase yet again; perhaps, at a critical moment in the war, I’ll have to rely on you to save my life,” the Xia Emperor laughed. “However, you have to be careful. The most outstanding tree within a forest is often the first to be felled. You’ll most likely suffer attacks from many members of the Seamless Gate.”

  “Understood.” Ji Ning nodded.

  “Ideally, you should keep some power hidden in reserve. If you suddenly unleash it at a critical moment in a battle, you can have a major impact on the course of the war,” the Xia Emperor reminded.

  “Right.” Ning smiled and nodded.

  He hadn’t even told his master, Subhuti, that he had become a Pure Yang True Immortal. By now, he had already created the twelfth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], a stance which encompassed the entire Dao of the Sword. However, he had never before displayed this technique, nor had he spoken to anyone of his improvements in soul heartforce.

  ……

  Time flowed onwards.

  Nine months passed in the blink of an eye.

  Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position within a private room inside his residence.

  The Pure Yang Jindan within his body was swollen with golden light, and its luster had become an even denser color.

  A series of ripples were currently emanating from his Jindan, ripples caused by the merging of his soul into it. The invisible, untouchable power known as ‘heartforce’ was constantly sending commands to his soul. He was meditating nonstop on the soul heartforce technique. When meditating, he would often meet with many puzzling problems. Ning would either ponder them alone, or compare them to the information he had in the [Heart Sutra] in the hopes that he might be inspired.

  There naturally were differences between Ning’s technique and Old Man Yuan’s technique, but they sprang from the same foundation and had certain similarities. This was of assistance to Ning in terms of speeding up his meditations.

  “Everyone, the Seamless Gate is prepared for battle.” The Xia Emperor’s voice rang out by the ears of the Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and commanders.

  The Eight Dragons Cloudcity was the Protocosmic spirit-treasure of the Xia Emperor; he was able to send out these messages with ease.

  “Prepared for battle?” Startled, Ning immediately came to a halt.

  Whoosh.

  He pushed open the door to his private room, then walked out. Yu Wei gave Ning a puzzled glance. “Why have you ended your training so quickly?”

  “The war is about to start again,” Ning said.

  “Right now?” Yu Wei’s face completely changed.

  “Yes.” Ning nodded.

  “I had thought that I’d be able to give birth to our child first.” Yu Wei stroked her belly, which was very large by now. One could tell just by looking at her that childbirth was imminent.

  She had a very gentle look in her eyes as she stroked her belly, a look that was filled with motherly love. She said softly, “I can feel our baby kicking about in my belly. It’s very likely that I’ll give birth in just another month or two.”

  “I, too, was hoping that the war would only start after our child was born. Unfortunately…that’s not up to me,” Ning sighed.

  “You have to take care of yourself. Don’t push yourself too hard. We have an absolutely massive Immortal army, while you are just one man.” Yu Wei looked at Ning.

  “I know.” Ning nodded.

  Forget about him; even if the seven Empyrean Gods all came out, they would most likely only be able to have a small, localized impact on the Realmwar. The three hundred Heaven Punishers alone were comparable to three hundred Empyrean Gods in power!

  “Don’t worry about me. I have to go now.” Ning immediately turned and walked towards the outside.

  Yu Wei had a look of worry in her eyes as she watched Ning leave.

  A Realmwar…

  No matter how much faith she had in Ning, she still felt fear in her heart.

  “You have to survive,” Yu Wei murmured softly to herself as Ning left.

  “DARKNORTH ARMY, ASSEMBLE!” Ning’s voice rang out, shaking the entire Darknorth army camp.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Instantly, the voices of hundreds of thousands of Immortals could be heard as they called out their assent and started to join into formation.

  ……

  Of all the formations that were in the airspace of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity, the utterly massive Pangu War-Formations were the most eye-catching. Although there were only seventy-eight Fiendgod armies, their formations took up more than half of the available space. Next to them was a total of 324 Heaven Punishers, each one thirty thousand meters tall and clad in nothing more than fur loincloths.

  Around them flew the sinuous Raindragons.

  There were also many Empyrean God golems as well as some Empyrean Gods and True Immortals.

  “The Seamless Gate is no longer focusing exclusively on defense.” Ning stood there in midair, staring at the scene outside. The distant battlefield now held ancient, towering Godbeasts, Fiendgods, and many powerful golems. There were also many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals; they looked small and unremarkable, but they absolutely could not be underestimated. The army outside had already summoned so much natural energy from Heaven and Earth that the distant skies had turned dim, with dark clouds filling the skies.

  “The Daofather has arrived.”

  “Daofather.”

  Ning immediately noticed as Daofather Crimsonbright appeared in the distance. Instantly, the massive armies that were hovering in the air above the Eight Dragons Cloudcity became completely silent.

  Daofather Crimsonbright swept his gaze past each and every one of them. “This,” he said calmly, his voice carrying a terrifying desire for battle, “Is the war between my entire Crimsonbright Realm and the Seamless Gate. There is no way to avoid, no way to escape this battle. Our only choice is to face it head-on! If you want to survive, then there is only one path forward…to completely wipe out the Seamless Gate!”

  “Either we perish, or the Seamless Gate perishes!” Daofather Crimsonbright now had a terrifying look in his eyes, a look of murder.

  Even the elderly-looking Daofather Crimsonbright had a savage side to him, at a time like this!

  Only those who had experienced that ancient war of the Primordial Era would truly understand that there really was no way out of a great tribulation like this. Even figures as powerful as the Four Ancestors of the River Source would eventually have to choose an alliance, once the final Endwar came. Anyone who tried to avoid the war would be assailed and killed by both camps. Neither side would allow any True Gods or Daofathers to stand aloof and potentially mop up the survivors!

  Two sides!

  Only one side could survive!

  “Go forth and conquer!” Daofather Crimsonbright finally gave the order. “Kill them all!”

  “Kill them all!”

  “Kill them all!”

  “KILL THEM ALL!”

  Cou
ntless angry roars shook the skies, causing the ground itself to tremble, as though the world was about to burst apart.

  In the past, these Immortals may have been as graceful as the wind and as pure as the clouds. Now, however, they had all become as savage and berserk as demons. In the past, they may have enjoyed limitless lifespans, allowing them to roam about in a leisurely fashion, wandering the Three Realms and making new friends. In the face of this storm, however…the murderous impulses that lurked deep within the bones of the Immortals and Fiendgods would be completely unleashed. This was a great war of two opposing paths, of two opposing Daos; for me to live, you had to die. This was more than just a war; it was a struggle for survival!

  Rumble…

  The massive armies shot through the skies, flying outside.

  As for the Seamless Gate’s forces, they stood in perfect formation, waiting and watching coldly as the Crimsonbright Realm’s forces came forth.

  The awesome presence of these armies was enough to cause the Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals to quiver in terror. In the end, however, they were nothing more than tiny chess pieces, just parts of a greater formation. They had entrusted their commanders with their fates, with Ning holding the lives and destinies of three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals in his hands. Ning’s personal prowess, in turn, made it so that each of his soldiers were extremely respectful towards him.

  ……

  BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!

  One Heaven Punisher after another descended, landing on the ground and causing it to tremble violently. The Raindragons flew about around them, while the utterly massive Fiendgod armies emanated the mightiest auras of all.

  The two sides faced off against each other, both of their auras equally terrifying.

  “Once Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals are gathered in such frightening numbers, even someone like myself would have to give way before them.” Daofather Ink Bamboo stood atop the walls of the Seamless City, a smile on his face. He sighed, “Those Empyrean Gods and True Immortals in particular…the most powerful of them are almost comparable to Daofathers in might.”