by RWX
As for Keeper Everwood, who still stood next to the Godking, he was even more puzzled. “Ji Ning’s wife? Who? And what’s this about her being imprisoned inside the Infinity Hells?” Given his exalted status, he naturally hadn’t paid any attention to the Crimsonbright Realmwar.
* * *
Book 19, Chapter 55 - Bowing Their Heads
The Godking hurriedly explained to Keeper Everwood, “Ji Ning’s wife is named Yu Wei. She was one of the countless spies we inserted into the Nuwa Alliance. The two of them had extremely deep feelings for each other. I once ordered Yu Wei to kill Ji Ning, but she actually disobeyed! Right then and there, I wanted to kill her, but given that the storm had descended and that capable people are rare, I decided to spare her.”
“During the Crimsonbright Realmwar, it can be said that Yu Wei rendered some accomplishments. I brought her soul back to us. During that war, Ji Ning’s heartforce reached the fourth level, and so he was able to completely reverse the course of the Crimsonbright Realmwar. I saw how shocking his talent was, and how deep his affection for Yu Wei was, and so I forced him to make a choice. If he joined the Seamless Gate, I would allow the two of them to reunite, and I promised that we would protect his family and his home. We would even bestow gifts and divine abilities upon him. If, however, he decided to stay with the Nuwa Alliance, I would send Yu Wei into the Infinity Hells.”
“Ji Ning…ended up choosing the Nuwa Alliance,” the Godking said.
Keeper Everwood nodded.
The war between the two alliances was a war for survival. It wasn’t appropriate for him to really criticize the Godking for his decisions, as the Godking was, nominally speaking, the leader of the entire Seamless Gate. He had the authority to make this sort of decision on his own.
While explaining to Everwood, the Godking also used his coresense to speak to the other major powers of his alliance, giving them a basic explanation. Given his status, no one really criticized him for his decision to handle things as he did.
“It seems you weren’t wrong in your judgement of Ji Ning; he really is quite formidable. And, just as you said, the feelings between him and Yu Wei were quite deep.” Keeper Everwood continued, “Now that he’s learned this evasion technique…although he’s still just a young fellow, he’s also become a big problem. You need to think hard on how you want to handle this problem.”
The Godking nodded, a hint of gloom in his eyes. In truth, he felt tremendous fury in his heart at how Ji Ning was pressuring him. But no matter how angry he was, he still didn’t dare to directly against him. In terms of raw power, he wasn’t one of the truly supreme figures of the Three Realms. His side had the likes of Keeper Everwood and the Lord of All Fiends, while the Three Realms had Suiren, Shennong, Daoist Three Purities. All of these figures were unquestionably superior to him.
……
An azure-robed man was seated atop the roof of a palace, holding a gourd of wine and drinking from it. He seemed both tipsy and sober as he stared far off into the distance. He sighed softly. “That young fellow who took part in the Conclave of Immortal Destiny in the Grand Xia…he’s already grown up, and has reached such a level of power.”
“He’s now able to cause a stir throughout the entire Three Realms, causing headaches for even the Seamless Gate, which is helpless against him. All those years ago, I felt certain that he had the potential to become a powerful Sword Immortal…but who would’ve thought he’d end up becoming much more powerful than I predicted?”
During the Conclave of Immortal Destiny, the only person which Lu Dongbin had taken a fancy to was Ji Ning, no others. In fact, he had personally requested that the Xia Emperor allow him to take on Ji Ning as his disciple.
In the end, he hadn’t been able to take Ji Ning on. However…because he felt something was off, he decided to take on Ji Ning’s Dao-companion, Yu Wei, instead.
“A pity that my disciple was a girl with terrible luck. In the end, I wasn’t able to change her destiny.” Lu Dongbin shook his head. “The Godking of the Seamless Gate is the disciple of the Lord of the Demonheart; he’s incredibly skilled in beguiling and charming others. He was able to make my disciple so very loyal to him. Alas…from what I just heard, it seems as though she ended up being imprisoned within the Infinity Hells.”
“Still…”
“If Yu Wei was to know that for her sake, Ji Ning was actually willing to war against the Seamless Gate across the Three Realms…”
Lu Dongbin shook his head and sighed.
He always felt tremendous sympathy for lovers. As he roamed the Three Realms, he was often referred to as a ‘Moon Elder’ [1. As noted in an earlier chapter, the ‘Moon Elder’ is a Chinese deity responsible for love.] because he enjoyed manipulating events to help lovers come together in the end. As for Ji Ning and Yu Wei? One was a Sword Immortal who he viewed with tremendous favor, the other was his own beloved disciple. But alas…their destiny wasn’t something that he, Lu Dongbin, could change.
“A war against the massive Seamless Gate…I hope you will achieve what you desire.” Lu Dongbin raised his head, drinking more wine.
……
Within a feasting hall inside the imperial palace of a minor world.
There was an old, coughing eunuch seated at the front, legs outstretched. Next to him was a younger eunuch who was helping to massage his legs.
“Try some of this cake.” Not too far away was the eunuch responsible for managing the feasting hall. He was even more solicitous than the younger eunuch, and he delivered a platter of food to the old eunuch.
“Mm. Not bad.” The old eunuch nodded in praise. But suddenly, he frowned.
“All of you, get out. Let me be by myself for a bit,” he suddenly instructed.
“Yes, yes!” Instantly, all the surrounding eunuchs bowed respectfully and left, leaving him by himself.
The old eunuch’s gaze pierced through the Void, falling upon the massive Rahu-Ning who was within a distant major world, destroying a base of the Seamless Gate. The old eunuch murmured softly to himself, “When I gave the kid a copy of my [Heart Sutra], I didn’t expect that he would grow this quickly. It seems that as of now, aside from True Gods and Daofathers, no one can do anything to him.”
“What a freak. A freak!”
“From the looks of it…he might really become a True God and Daofather,” the old eunuch murmured to himself. “And that evasion technique. Tsk. I wonder where it came from?”
……
The Thundergod major world.
Atop the levitating mountain peak, the towering Exalted Celestial Thundergod opened his eyes. His coresense reached out through the Void to observe the enraged Rahu-Ning.
“Ninehorn Lightning Serpent?” Thundergod frowned.
“He actually has a divine ability like this. Last time, he came to beg me for a lightning serpent…could it be that it was for this ability?” Thundergod naturally felt tremendous desire for this divine ability. He wanted to learn it as well. With the [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent] technique and his current level of power, his chances of surviving the tribulation would increase a hundredfold.
For example, even though Ning had the Rahu Formation, the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Seamless Gate were still capable of killing him! But now that he had the [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent] evasion technique, his survival ability instantly skyrocketed. The Seamless Gate would have to send out more than five thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to deal with him. How could such a force be so easily deployed?!
This evasion technique, mated with fourth-stage heartforce, a soul heartforce technique, and the Rahu Formation produced an utter monster in the form of Ji Ning!
“This evasion-type divine ability…” Exalted Celestial Thundergod truly wanted to learn it as well.
Both the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance as well as the major powers of the Seamless Alliance all had to admit that the current Ji Ning was incredibly hard to deal with! His power was absolutely enough to force the Seamle
ss Gate to change its entire strategy and disposition of forces throughout the Three Realms. They would have to give up the product of their blood, sweat, and tears!
……
“Heavenbreaker stance!”
The Rahu-Ning’s swords suddenly increased to become many tens of thousands of meters long. They slammed downwards with such power that the very pillars of Heaven would quake.
BOOM!!!!
The towering pagoda before Ning was cracked open. Ning’s other five swords chopped down in succession, and in a total of six strikes the towering pagoda had been completely reduced to rubble. All the protective barriers and formations had been completely destroyed! It had been very hard to build them up, but wrecking them had been quite easy.
“Next one.” The Rahu-Ning once more boarded his Voidboat and began to advance towards his next target.
“The Seamless Gate still refuses to bow their head. They still refuse to speak to me. Good. Very good. I’ve only destroyed their bases on a hundred major worlds. There’s still plenty to come. I’ll take it slow. All of the bases on all the worlds…I’m going to destroy them all!” The Rahu-Ning had no thoughts in his mind save one – to destroy until the Seamless Gate lowered its head.
……
Ning’s continuous rampage of destruction brought the Godking tremendous pressure. With each wasted moment, Ji Ning was advancing to yet another base on a major world and destroying it. The Godking’s face grew uglier and uglier. He was frantically pondering and weighing his options.
The venerable Seamless Gate represented the former Seamless Chaosworld itself. Were they really going to be forced by Ji Ning to lower their heads? But what of the Seamless Gate’s face?
If, however, they did not lower their heads…were they really going to give up their infiltration networks throughout the entire Three Realms? If they had to completely change their strategy, the backup strategy wouldn’t be as effective as the current one.
The storm had already arrived, and the Seamless Gate’s fate would be decided by it. At a time like this…face actually wasn’t as important as it normally might be.
Whoosh.
Juts as the black-robed Godking was pondering, another figure suddenly appeared next to him.
Keeper Everwood glanced at the red-robed, azure-haired man who had just arrived. Grinning, he said, “Windfiend.”
“Everwood.” The red-robed, azure-haired man nodded slightly to him as well.
“Fiendlord.” The Godking hurriedly called out respectfully to the man.
This man was dressed in red robes, had unbound azure hair, a thick beard, and eyes that were filled with azure light. He was the undisputed most powerful figure of the entire Seamless Alliance, and also its most revered figure. He was the savior of the Seamless Gate…the Lord of All Fiends!
He was born from the primordial chaos, and like the Lord of the Demonheart, he was born an Elder God. The Lord of All Fiends was born with control over a Heavenly Dao…the Heavenly Dao of Wind!
The Heavenly Daos of the Seamless Chaosworld had been Primordial Chaos, Heart, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind.
As an Elder Fiend of the Seamless Chaosworld, he naturally had a very high status. However, he had always been quite low-key. It was only during the battle that ended the Primordial Era that he had suddenly displayed his incredible abilities! Nuwa had become a Pangu-level deity when the Lord of All Fiends had suddenly exploded with power, saving many of the major powers of the Seamless Gate, along with many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. He had fled with them by his side, and not even Mother Nuwa had been able to catch up to them.
His sudden display of power had caused the Nuwa Alliance to feel certain that he, the Lord of All Fiends, had been hiding his power all along. His power was truly unfathomable, and everyone decided that he had to be the most powerful figure within the Seamless Gate.
And indeed, it was true. The Lord of All Fiends sat guard over the Allfiend world, with held many of Seamless Gate secrets pertaining to the art of golems. The Nuwa Alliance had tried their best to infiltrate it, but they had been unable to succeed.
The only reason the Godking was the nominal leader was because the Lord of All Fiends wasn’t willing to dirty his hands with all the miscellaneous tasks that were involved in leadership. He, however, was the figure who truly had the highest level of status within the Seamless Alliance.
“Successfully enduring this storm is what matters. We have to survive.” The Lord of All Fiends looked at the Godking, then gave his instructions.
“Understood,” the Godking said respectfully.
The Lord of All Fiends nodded, then disappeared into thin air. He had merely sent one of his incarnations here; his true body remained on guard within the Allfiend world.
The Godking no longer hesitated. The words of the Lord of All Fiends caused him to make up his mind.
“Hmph.” The Godking suddenly sneered coldly. “The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Nuwa Alliance have already started to assemble. It seems as though they are waiting for us to mobilize against Ji Ning. Once I send out a few thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, the Nuwa Alliance will most likely launch an immediate attack. Everyone really is fighting to seize every advantage possible to survive this storm.”
……
The Rahu-Ning was seated aboard his Voidboat. He continued to advance through the various major worlds, and the Seamless Gate didn’t move to stop him. Clearly, they knew very well that a few hundred Empyrean Gods and True Immortals simply weren’t capable of catching up to Ji Ning. As for mobilizing larger numbers…they didn’t dare to do it.
A vast lake. The island at the center of the lake had already been reduced to rubble, and the Rahu-Ning was standing in the middle of the rubble.
“Ji Ning.”
The natural energy of Heaven and Earth began to coalesce around Ning. It condensed into a figure that was dressed in black-robes. The Rahu-Ning glanced towards the figure, then froze. His gaze became completely glued to the figure. He naturally was able to recognize the figure; this was the Godking of the Seamless Gate. However, this was merely an incarnation of the Godking; it didn’t pose any threat at all.
“You win!” The black-robed Godking spoke out.
* * *
Book 20, Chapter 1 - Undermoon Lake
You win?!
Ji Ning instantly grew excited. When he first came up with this idea to butcher the Seamless Gate’s forces until they lowered their heads, it had been a seemingly crazy, suicidal idea. Even Ning himself knew how dangerous his plan was, and how low the chances of success would be. However, he had no other options left to him; this was the only plan that was possible. Fortunately, thanks to the prisonworld, he had acquired the [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent] evasive divine ability, which was why he had finally been able to render the Seamless Gate helpless before him.
“Release my wife.” The Rahu-Ning stared intently at the black-robed Godking.
“Don’t be impatient.” The black-robed Godking looked back at Ning. “Let’s have a chat first.
“Chat?” The Rahu-Ning said coldly, “No need to chat. So long as you release my wife, I’ll immediately withdraw. Otherwise, I’ll keep killing.”
“Oh?” The black-robed Godking’s voice turned cold. “You want to bring your wife back without paying any price at all? You are absolutely dreaming. So if I release Yu Wei, you’ll stop acting against the Seamless Gate?”
The Rahu-Ning replied, “At least I won’t continue attacking in this manner.”
“Hah! Easily said, but once Yu Wei returns to your side, the Seamless Gate will have nothing to threaten you with. And, in the end, you are a member of the Nuwa Alliance. Our alliances are engaged in a war for survival, and both sides are struggling to seize any advantage possible. If your master Subhuti and the other supreme powers on your side ask you to act against us, would you really be able to refuse them?”
The black-robed Godking laughed coldly, “You’ve become powerful, which i
s why I said ‘you win’; you’ve won a chance to negotiate with us. In the past, my decision was that I would only allow you and Yu Wei to reunite if you joined us. Now, I’ll no longer try to force you to join us. But you want to get her back without paying any price at all? Ahahaha…and once you and Yu Wei reunite and you launch more attacks against us, wouldn’t the Seamless Gate become the laughing stock of the Three Realms?”
“I can swear an oath,” Ning growled.
“Oath?” The black-robed Godking snickered. “True Gods and Daofathers can ignore oaths to the Dao of the Heavens. Given your current level of power, so long as your master is willing to assist you, you can withstand the punishment levied by the Heavenly Daos for violating an oath to them. Those oaths are meaningless.”
Ning was silent.
It was true. Oaths to the Dao of the Heavens were useless against True Gods and Daofathers. The main reason for this was that there was a limit to the punishing power of the Heavenly Daos; the power behind it wasn’t truly limitless.
“Either you pay a price to reunite with your wife, or we keep fighting like this. If worse comes to worse, I’ll simply have all our Empyrean Gods and True Immortals withdraw, then come up with a different method to infiltrate the Three Realms.” The Godking laughed coldly, “Although we spent quite a bit of blood, sweat, and effort building up those bases, we can still afford to lose them.”
“Choose.” The Godking looked at Ji Ning coldly.
Ji Ning looked back at the black-robed Godking. He was silent.
“It seems you aren’t willing to pay any price at all. Very well.” The black-robed Godking’s voice turned even colder.
“Speak.” Finally, Ning responded.
The Godking laughed. “That’s more like it. Everything has to be fair. You were able to force the Seamless Gate to negotiate with you…you should feel proud. But for you to think that you’ll get what you want without paying any price at all is a bit delusional.”