Desolate Era

by RWX

  Chaos treasures…only the primordial chaos could give birth to treasures of such astonishing, heaven-shaking power.

  ……

  Ning left the Starseizing Manor to visit his master, Subhuti.

  Within Subhuti’s Daoist monastery.

  “Master,” Ning called out respectfully.

  “What is it?” Subhuti looked towards Ning.

  “Your disciple wishes to train in the Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], but needs some materials to do so. These materials are very hard to gather. Your disciple is willing to exchange treasures for them with you, Master,” Ji Ning said. The Xia Emperor had once wanted to come up with enough treasures for Ning to train to the Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], but…not even most True Gods or Daofathers were in possession of those treasures. Most likely, they would have to seek out friends and gather the items from many places.

  But of course, Ji Ning naturally had sufficient treasures to engage in the necessary trading.

  During the Realmwar alone, Ning had acquired multiple Pure Yang treasures and two Protocosmic spirit-treasures. However, those Pure Yang treasures were not part of a set. Daoist Threelives had collected multiple sets of top-grade treasures, which was exceedingly rare. The total number of treasures, however, was enough to trade for the necessary materials for him to reach the Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand].

  As for the likes of the Eight Fires Qiankun World or the Grand Bloodshadow Formation of the Heavens? Any single one of those sets would be enough to trade for the necessary materials.

  “As your master, I have yet to give you any gifts for your breakthrough into the Empyrean God level.” Subhuti shook his head. “You can consider the materials needed to reach the Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand] as a gift from me. However, although I’m able to give you the materials needed for the Fifth Cycle…I’m not able to give you the materials you will need for the Sixth Cycle.”

  “Your disciple understands.” Ning nodded.

  Almost all the items that could be used for him to cultivate his hands to the Chaos treasure level were only locatable within the primordial chaos, and extremely rare as well.

  In the past, Daoist Threelives had been lucky enough to encounter a piece of golden starstone in the primordial chaos. After analyzing the starstone for countless years, he came up with a way to use the starstone, along with many other materials he had located within the primordial chaos, to develop the Sixth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand]. Treasures like that golden starstone, however, were incredibly rare. Per what Daoist Threelives had said back then, Daoist Three Purities had also encountered a piece of golden starstone, and had eventually used it to create the Immortal Slaying Sword’s sword-diagram.

  “Tell which materials you need,” Subhuti said.

  “Yes.” Ning began to list them out one by one.

  Subhuti raised an eyebrow. Smiling, he said, “This is actually rather difficult. I’ll need to go find some of my old friends to acquire them. Wait a bit.” Subhuti closed his eyes and sat there quietly for a few moments. A short while later, a spatial vortex appeared next to him and an old man dressed in Daoist robes appeared within it. The old man handed Subhuti a brocade sack, then disappeared.

  Ning understood that the ‘old man’ was actually a created incarnation of his master.

  “It’s all here.” A brocade sack and a gourd appeared within Subhuti’s hands. “This sack has the materials you need, while the gourd contains the Great Firmament Immortal pills from Daofather Crimsonbright. There are more than enough pills for you to train to the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art].”

  As he spoke he waved his hand, causing the brocade sack and the gourd to float towards Ji Ning.

  Ning accepted the items. “Thank you, Master.” His heart was filled with delight.

  After training to reach the Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand], he would be able to acquire the relics left behind by Daoist Threelives. And, even more importantly, his hands would become comparable to top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures in might! Top-grade Protocosmic treasures…they were second only to Chaos treasures. In addition, once Ning used [Three Heads, Six Arms], he would essentially have access to the equivalent of six top-grade Protocosmic weapons.

  Protocosmic spirit-treasures weren’t rare, as Ning had quite a few, as did the Xia Emperor. But top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures…Ning hadn’t even acquired a single one thus far!

  “What are you planning to do next?” Subhuti said, looking at Ning.

  Ning replied respectfully, “Your disciple intends to roam the Three Realms, tempering my Dao-heart in the mortal dust and meditating on my sword-arts.”

  If his heartforce could make yet another breakthrough to the fifth stage…

  Although thus far, Houyi had been the only one capable of it, making his own chances quite low…if he really did succeed, then he would become supremely powerful even amongst True Gods and Daofathers. Ning had a feeling that the fifth stage of heartforce could only be found within the red dust of the mortal world.

  This was one of the reasons why Eastbreak and many of the others who had reached the fourth stage of heartforce often spent most of their time roaming the Three Realms.

  Heartforce wasn’t something that could be forced. Thus, Ning would still spend most of his time tempering his sword-arts.

  “Also, I’d like to ask you for some help, Master,” Ning said respectfully.

  “Help?” Subhuti looked at Ning.

  Ning nodded. “The storm is now upon us, and the wars between us and the Seamless Gate are unceasing. I want to ask you, Master, to help me seek out opportunities to fight them. Alternately, give me targets to attack. I’ll wipe some of the Seamless Gate’s headquarters and lairs.”

  “Targets to attack?” Subhuti was surprised. “That’ll make the Seamless Gate go berserk.”

  The Seamless Gate and the Nuwa Alliance were like two massive armies that were facing each other.

  The Nuwa Alliance had its major worlds, while the Seamless Gate has major worlds of its own. Both sides would assault each other while defending against enemy assaults.

  There were some extremely formidable Empyrean Gods and True Immortals in the Three Realms, but they would at most appear during a Realmwar. Outside of a Realmwar, they wouldn’t dare launch an assault against a headquarters of the Seamless Gate.

  “If you launch a direct assault against one of their headquarters…although I can’t sense any danger at present, once you attack they might send their full force against you,” Subhuti said worriedly. “This is going to be extremely risky. To launch sneak attacks without an army supporting you…it will be very, very risky. Even if you succeed, you’ll only succeed once or twice. Those successes will enrage the Seamless Gate, and they will come up with ways to set traps for you. If you repeatedly attack them and ambush them, you’ll probably end up being trapped and ambushed by them instead.”

  Ning nodded. “I understand. That’s exactly what I want, for them to be enraged, for them to go berserk. The more berserk they become, the more I will attack them and the more of them I will kill.”

  “Do you have to do this?” Subhuti looked at Ning. He didn’t understand. The more powerful one was, the more one would understand how important it was to protect one’s self during a war.

  Launching sneak attacks…yes, the chances of success would be very high, but without an army supporting you, if you failed, you would become easily entrapped and perhaps even lose your life. Even if you succeeded, you would become a top-priority target of the Seamless Gate!

  “I have to.” Ning nodded.

  “You are now quite formidable, and you are capable of commanding a Heaven Punisher. The Seamless Gate will have to pay an enormous price to deal with you. Thus, they’ll treat you exactly the way they do the likes of Lu Dongbin. They won’t actively act against you, as you have already reached a high level of power. The reason why they wanted to kill you earlier was because you were weak, becau
se you hadn’t grown up yet,” Subhuti said.

  You had to nip potential threats in the bud. Once they actually became serious threats, however…by then, the Seamless Gate wouldn’t really be willing to pay the enormous price necessary to get rid of them.

  “Please help me, Master,” Ning said respectfully. Where were the headquarters of the Seamless Gate? Which ones were the best to assault? Which ones should be left untouched? Patriarch Subhuti would be thousands of times better than him in making these decisions.

  “Can you tell me the reason?” Subhuti looked at Ning.

  “I am going to rescue Yu Wei,” Ning said.

  “Rescue? She’s not dead?” Subhuti was shocked. “She isn’t dead…how do you know this?”

  Ning nodded. “She’s not dead. Her soul is currently suffering unspeakable torments at the hands of the Godking within his Infinity Hells. The reason I know this is because prior to this, the Godking tried to force me to join him. He told me that if I didn’t join him, he would have her suffer endless torment.”

  Subhuti instantly understood.

  He couldn’t help but look carefully at this disciple of his. He could completely imagine how agonizing this choice had to be for him. And yet…despite feeling such despair, his disciple had actually been able to break through in power and reverse the course of an entire Realmwar.

  “I am going to rescue her, and this is the only method available to me,” Ning said. “I’m going to kill them. Kill, kill, kill them! Kill them until they are enraged. If they send one person to deal with me, I’ll kill one; if they send ten, I’ll kill the entire group. I’ll kill them until they rage turns to fear, until their fear turns to regret, until they finally come to make peace with me! But I’ll only stop my slaughter once they release her.”

  “I have to slaughter them until they truly regret it. Only then would they be willing to release her.” Ning looked at Subhuti. “This is the only way I can rescue her. Please help me, Master.”

  * * *

  Book 19, Chapter 8 - The Relics of Threelives

  Subhuti looked at Ji Ning. He was silent for a few moments, then said slowly, “You are taking a tremendous risk. You are trying to force the Seamless Gate’s hand…but to force them to make peace with you…to make the proud, exalted Seamless Gate sue for peace…that is going to be incredibly hard. You should understand what sort of a path you have decided on.”

  “Your disciple understands.” Ning didn’t hesitate at all.

  This was a path filled with danger and death!

  Even though Daofathers wouldn’t personally intervene, the Seamless Gate still had other methods at their disposal for dealing with Ning. For example, using human wave tactics! They could hide a Realmwar’s worth of Immortals and Fiendgods into an estate-type magic treasure an attack Ning, or produce multiple Empyrean Gods and True Immortals on Lu Dongbin’s level and have them surround Ning! Sufficiently high numbers of Immortals and Fiendgods could threaten even Daofathers, to say nothing of Ning.

  Ning would be walking on a tightrope! The path forward led to success…but falling off on either side would lead to death!

  “Alright,” Subhuti said softly. “If you push yourself far enough, sometimes a miracle will happen. The only thing I can do is help you locate appropriate targets amongst the headquarters of the Seamless Gate. Everything else will be up to you.”

  “Thank you, Master.” Ning was overjoyed.

  “You have to be as careful as possible,” Subhuti instructed. He himself had only learned just now that this disciple of his had made the choice to thrust Yu Wei into the Infinity Hells. Subhuti couldn’t help but sigh, yet remained powerless to change things.

  “Go.” Subhuti nodded, then closed his eyes.

  Ning bowed respectfully, then turned and left the Daoist monastery.

  After leaving, Ning returned back to his own residence, then entered the Still Room of the Starseizing Manor.

  He seated himself atop the netherwater jade bed, then took out the brocade sack and the gourd.

  “First, the [Starseizing Hand].”

  Instantly, five streaks of light flew out from the brocade sack and swirled around him in the air in a pentagon. They shone brilliantly with dazzling golden light, warm blue light, vigorous azure light, fierce red light, and ponderous yellow light. They contained such deep concentrations of Five Elements essence that one could sense them clearly, even without engaging in training.

  Those crystals that were glowing with a watery blue light, for example…the tiny pile of crystals gave off a sensation akin to a vast, endless sea.

  Whooooosh.

  Ning shut his eyes as the surrounding Five Elements essences began to surge towards him.

  Training in the [Starseizing Hand] and the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] was quite fast; both techniques were techniques that involved training the physical body to become as powerful as magic treasures. Thus, the only requirements were fully understanding how the techniques worked and having enough materials. It was the same as actually forging a treasure.

  A day later.

  Ning walked out from the Still Room and arrived in the main hall. He immediately saw the giant yellow bear, Redsnow, and the rest of the seven.

  “Congratulations.” The giant yellow bear clasped his furry paws together and bowed. “You’ve mastered the Ninth Cycle of the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], and your starseizing hands are now comparable to Protocosmic spirit-treasures. Ji Ning, these two mighty divine abilities alone are enough to allow you to roam the Three Realms without fear.”

  “With your arcane art having reached the Ninth Cycle, you are now almost invulnerable. Congratulations,” Redsnow said as well.

  “It would be wonderful if I could also become apprenticed to Patriarch Subhuti and learn the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art],” the child-sized Primelight said, shaking his head and sighing. “The Manorlord and elder brother Redsnow have both become apprenticed to Subhuti. Redsnow in particular…he’s absolutely ancient, but he’s shameless enough to force his way into becoming our Manorlord’s ‘junior apprentice-brother’. And he chose to start learning the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] shortly after he joined their school!”

  “I want to learn it as well.” The alluring Snow Scorpion looked towards Ning.

  “Which Empyrean God wouldn’t?” Ninefangs mumbled to himself, “Back when I was just a minor soldier under the command of the Godking, all I was qualified to do was to listen to him lecture. Even now, I can’t actually learn his techniques.”

  Everyone else began to grumble and grouse. As for Ning and Redsnow, they just listened, not daring to say a thing.

  In truth, this was something which virtually every single Empyrean God of the Three Realms felt jealous over. The [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] had long been revered as the number one divine ability in the Three Realms for those below the True Immortal level! However, training in this divine ability was simply too insanely expensive, especially for the Ninth Cycle; the price for that was far greater than the price for reaching the Fifth Cycle of the [Starseizing Hand].

  Even Daofathers would feel heartache upon paying such a price.

  Ning and the seven Empyrean Gods had rendered major merits during the Realmwar without taking any share of the spoils, which was why Daofather Crimsonbright, a True God and Daofather who had been born from the primordial chaos, had been able to swallow the painful price necessary to provide Ning with that gourd of Immortal pills.

  “Look at the sour looks on each of your faces. Enough, enough!” The giant yellow bear hurriedly urged, “Hurry up and have Ji Ning go and break apart the seals which Master left behind. Let’s go see those three treasures.”

  “Right! Those three treasures.”

  “I wonder what those three treasures are?”

  “Manorlord, hurry up and go take a look.”

  “Come straight back and tell us right away.”

  The eyes of Primelight, Snow Scorpion, and the others all lit up. They no longer grumbled or spoke words of jealo
usy, and instead urged Ning to go take a look right away.

  “I’m quite curious as well. Wait for me here. I’ll come back shortly and inform you all.” Ning immediately left behind the main hall.

  Soon, the giant yellow bear and Ji Ning arrived at that spatial corridor, as well as the glowing formation that lay at the end of the corridor.

  “Break.” Ning slapped out with a palm, transforming it and making it three hundred meters in size. His palm carried a terrifying aura of power with it; it was like the heavens themselves were smashing downwards. The power of his palms was noticeably greater than it had been before. When Ning’s palm slapped down against the protective formation, a layer of light flowed across its surface as a rune that looked similar to the Starseizing Tattoo appeared on it.

  Ning’s Starseizing Tattoo and the rune merged together.

  Whoosh! The formation simply disappeared, as though having been blown away by a gust of wind. Ning immediately saw the wooden door in front of him.

  He walked forward, immediately pushing it open. Creaaaaak. The door swung open.

  “Big bear, let’s go in together.” Ning turned to look at the giant yellow bear.

  “No, no. Master’s orders were explicit; only the new Manorlord is allowed to enter.” The giant bear shook his head. “Those treasures aren’t for me anyhow. After you come out, just tell me what they are and let me take a look at them. I’ll be satisfied with that.”

  Ning nodded, then stepped inside the room without any further attempts at persuasion. As he entered…his surroundings changed.

  “Eh?” Ning was stunned. This was a very ordinary little room. Within the room was a prayer mat, and atop the prayer mat sat a bald, one-armed man who was dressed in fur clothes. He looked towards Ning with a hooded gaze. Ning could immediately recognize this man; it was Daoist Threelives. When Ning had been taught the [Starseizing Hand] divine ability, he had personally seen Daoist Threelives’ appearance.

  “You have arrived.” The man spoke.

  Ning instantly understood that this was nothing more than part of the spell left behind by his teacher. These words had been spoken by Daoist Threelives long ago.