Desolate Era

by RWX

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  Book 21, Chapter 7 - The Envoy of All Things

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The heavens trembled. The ground shook.

  A Pangu God, clad in a fur loincloth, had just engaged in battle with an armored Infinity Fiendgod.

  The Nuwa Alliance’s ‘Myriad Immortals Armageddon Formation’ was exchanging long-distance attacks with the Seamless Gate’s ‘Life and Death Formation of the Twin Realms Calamity Dragons’, disrupting the entire battlefield with their attacks.

  Long-distance attacks, protective stances, rapid response reinforcements…the Seven Planets Gods and the golems were quite nimble, and they served to cause chaos throughout the battlefield.

  The desolate wilderness was utterly annihilated, so much so that the empty Void could be occasionally seen in multiple places as space was torn apart, then reformed.

  “Once Empyrean Gods and True Immortals are massed in numbers, they truly do become quite terrifying.” Ning was nervous as he watched the war. “If either side reveals a single weakness, it’s entirely possible that there will be a large-scale collapse.”

  “The marshals on both sides are quite powerful as well. Under Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan’s guidance, the major formations and the hundred-plus Seven Planets Gods seem to work together like a perfect whole, leaving behind no flaws or openings to exploit. Daomother Devilhand’s attacks, however, are absolutely fiendish. In fact, she nearly destroyed a Seven Planets God just now.”

  Indeed. Despite having battled for quite some time, the Nuwa Alliance had yet to lose even a single Seven Planets God! This was testament to how flawless and how formidable Xuan Yuan was in commanding his troops.

  “Withdraw.” Xuan Yuan gave the order.

  Rumble…

  Under Xuan Yuan’s guidance, the great army of the Nuwa Alliance began to retreat in an orderly fashion, not giving their enemies even a single chance to attack.

  And so, the first exchange of blows had come to an end.

  Even a madwoman like Daomother Devilhand was extremely calm and collected when commanding a battle of this level. This was because even the slightest of mistakes could result in the entire war being lost. In truth, wars like this weren’t won, they were lost when one side made too many errors! Although Daomother Devilhand was legendary for her ferocious attacks, she actually made very few mistakes when commanding troops. It was simply that she believed in the adage that ‘the best defense is a good offense’.

  Her assaults had caused the Seamless Gate to put Xuan Yuan under tremendous pressure. However…Xuan Yuan was clearly even more talented and skilled than her, and his force deployments were even better. He moved his troops about like the floating clouds and the flowing water, showing no flaws at all.

  In the blink of an eye, three engagements had occurred and more than a month had passed.

  “Aunt-master, if this continues, it won’t be good for us. With each clash, we have lost more than our foes. It won’t be apparent in the short run, but if this sort of battle persist for two or three years, our weakness will become apparent.” The black-robed Godking stood off to one side, looking at the slender, violet-robed woman seated before him. In his heart, he felt rather nervous.

  The violet-robed woman’s eyes seemed to be like two endless seas of blood. In terms of slaughter, she was the undisputed number one of the Seamless Gate, a demon amongst demons.

  “Mm?” The violet-robed woman looked at the black-robed Godking.

  “I’m just concerned,” the Godking said hastily.

  “You are right.” The violet-robed woman lightly tapped on her armrest, a white crystalline bracelet around her arm. “I fought countless battles in the war for the Seamless Chaosworld, but I never met someone as formidable as him in leading armies. Battles on this level happen at incredible speed, and multiple variables are introduced every moment…and yet, he’s actually able to factor them all in while deploying his forces in an utterly perfect manner. No wonder this Xuan Yuan fellow was able to defeat Shennong during the Primordial Era.”

  “Then what should we do?” The Godking said hurriedly. In the Seamless Gate, the only ones capable of making the Godking act in such an obedient manner were the Lord of All Fiends, the Keeper of the Everwood, and Daomother Devilhand.

  “We have to win this war.” The violet-robed woman continued, “If we lose this war, the wars that come later will be much, much harder to win. We’ll need to spend even more effort, but we still might not be able to achieve victory in the final war for karmic luck.”

  The Godking mumbled mentally to himself. No shit. Everyone knows this.

  “Arrange for an Envoy of All Things to come,” the violet-robed woman ordered.

  “An Envoy of All Things?” The black-robed Godking was shocked. He couldn’t help but ask, “We’re going to have an Envoy of All Things come? Now? B-but…we were preparing to use them in the final battle for karmic luck.”

  “Make the arrangements. Otherwise, we won’t be able to win,” the violet-robed woman said calmly.

  “Alright. However…we’ll need the Lord of All Fiends to concur in this matter,” the black-robed Godking said hurriedly.

  “Hurry up and go.” The violet-robed woman frowned, a dangerous glint of anger appearing in her eyes. The black-robed Godking was instantly so terrified that his heart quailed. He had grown up in the Seamless Chaosworld, after all. Even though he was now a Daofather, he still felt dread when facing Daomother Devilhand. She was a madwoman! Others would perhaps give him face as the nominal leader of the Seamless Gate and as the disciple of Lord Demonheart, but this madwoman would even dare to assault Lord Demonheart himself, to say nothing of the ‘Godking’.

  The Allfiend world.

  At the top of a solitary mountain.

  A red-robed, azure-haired man was seated here, staring into the boundless Void. His gaze had long ago pierced through the dimensional barriers separating worlds, allowing him to see through the space beyond them.

  Whoosh. A figure suddenly materialized next to him. It was the black-robed Godking.

  “Fiendlord,” the Godking said respectfully.

  “What is it?” The Lord of All Fiends glanced at him.

  “Aunt-master believes that our chances of victory are low. If things continue, we may very well lose. She instructed me to come here to request an Envoy of All Things,” the Godking said.

  The Lord of All Fiends frowned. “If that’s the case…go speak to Blackheaven. Take an Envoy back and give it to Devilhand.”

  “Yes.” The Godking respectfully departed.

  The Lord of All Fiends once more stared into the Void. He murmured softly, “I truly wish I could go back to the old days, when I could hide myself behind Demonheart and Everwood…but alas, I’ve been forced to stand forward. They even address me as the ‘Lord of All Fiends’, as Fiendlord. It was far better when I was simply ‘Windfiend’; life as Windfiend was far more relaxed and carefree than life as the ‘Fiendlord’. I really wonder what this war will end up like. Although Mother Nuwa has already departed, she left these three mighty formations behind. It’s hard to say exactly how powerful those three protective formations are.”

  “If worse comes to worst, I’ll try to save as many as I can, then leave the Three Realms.” The Lord of All Fiends shook his head.

  He had no taste for power.

  During the era of the Seamless Chaosworld, he had been a very low-key figure. Back then, the most dazzling figures had been the Lord of the Demonheart, the Keeper of the Everwood, and Daomother Devilhand. No one had paid much attention to Windfiend, even though he was also born an Elder Fiend like the rest of them. In fact, there were many major powers in the Seamless Chaosworld who believed that Windfiend’s power came solely due to his good fortune in being born as an Elder Fiend, as it didn’t seem as though he had improved much at all since being born.

  They only showed him respect because he was an Elder Fiend as well.

  Windfiend didn’t really care. He enj
oyed being carefree and unbound…but the war that ended the Primordial Era had simply been too devastating. So many of his old friends, his brothers, had ended up dying in battle. The Lord of All Things had been very vicious; he had wanted to wipe out everyone in both chaosworlds! As for Mother Nuwa, she was an even more terrifying figure; she had actually broken through to a brand new level, dominating all comers and slaying even the horrifying Lord of All Things.

  Windfiend’s only choice was to reveal his full power…and faced with death, he had actually made a breakthrough of his own, making it so that not even Mother Nuwa was able to catch him as he fled.

  After spending a long period of time wandering the primordial chaos in solitude, he had returned.

  “In truth, all I wanted was a safe place to call home.” The Lord of All Fiends shook his head. The survivors of the Seamless Gate had insisted on venerating him as the ‘Fiendlord’, making him the true, undisputed leader of the Seamless Gate.

  “What exactly is the cause of this tribulation? That old fellow, Demonheart, is plotting something…but it feels as though there’s more to it than that…” The Lord of All Fiends frowned.

  Ever since he had made his breakthrough while fleeing from Mother Nuwa, his ability to sense the tides of fate had most likely become number one in all the Three Realms. He could vaguely sense how terrifying this tribulation truly was.

  ……

  Celestial Immortal Blackheaven stood in front of him, pointing towards a titanic, ape-shaped golem that was completely dark-red in color and wreathed in tongues of flame. “Take it away, I suppose.”

  The black-robed Godking swept the surrounding area with his gaze. Upon seeing all the other Envoys of All Things in the area, he couldn’t help but feel his heart itch.

  “Remember, let the most powerful Empyrean God you have command it,” Blackheaven instructed. “Logically speaking, it should be reserved for a Daofather to command, but despite that, this Envoy of All Things should be able to unleash power comparable to that of a elite Daofather.”

  “Understood.” The black-robed Godking nodded hurriedly.

  All those years ago, the Lord of All Things had led an army of such Envoys, each of which had reached a level of power that was fully capable of launching attacks against the leaders of Daoism and Buddhism. They were utterly terrifying on the field of battle.

  Even with Empyrean Gods in command of them, they were comparable to elite Daofathers.

  “Also, make sure Devilhand knows that no matter what, we can’t let the Nuwa Alliance capture this Envoy of All Things.” Blackheaven laughed coldly, “My worry is that the Nuwa Alliance will act in an utterly shameless way, having experts like the Three Sovereigns or the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism to suddenly attack and capture the Envoy.”

  ‘Don’t worry. Masters Devilhand and Everwood, as well as the Fiendlord, are paying close attention to this battle. The True Gods and Daofathers of the Nuwa Alliance won’t be given any chance at all,” the black-robed Godking said.

  “Right. Is Ji Ning taking part in the battle?” Blackheaven suddenly asked.

  “No.” The Godking shook his head.

  “A pity.” Blackheaven felt resentment.

  He truly, truly wanted to kill Ning. Although almost all of his efforts were centered on these golems, he still felt hatred for Ning. It was rare for him to feel affection for someone…and that little girl had died, just like that. Although Ning had merely killed her in his counter-attack when they had attempted to assassinate him, Blackheaven really didn’t give a damn about the particulars.

  “Don’t worry. If Ji Ning dares to enter the field of battle, I’ll make sure to ask aunt-master Devilhand to give him some special attention,” the black-robed Godking laughed. “I’ll take my leave, Grandmaster.”

  “Go, go.” Blackheaven nodded.

  The Godking waved his hand, collecting the Envoy of All Things, then left the Allfiend world, heading towards the Deerchaser world once more.

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  Book 21, Chapter 8 - Descent

  Daomother Devilhand stood atop the castle walls, the black-robed Godking next to her.

  They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, staring at the distant wilderness. The army of the Seamless Gate was there, calling out for battle.

  “Are you sure that they haven’t found out that you brought an Envoy of All Things?” Daomother Devilhand asked.

  “Don’t worry, aunt-master,” the black-robed Godking said hurriedly. “I personally went to collect the Envoy of All Things. How could I possibly allow the Nuwa Alliance to find out about it? In addition, the Envoy only requires a single Empyrean God/True Immortal in control. While I was in the Allfiend world, I also brought along Empyrean God Bloodwave. This, too, was kept a secret. Empyrean God Bloodwave is extremely skilled in close combat; he was our number one choice for controlling an Envoy during the final war for karmic luck. With him in control, the Envoy will be able to unleash more than enough power and be capable of rivaling elite Daofathers.”

  “Although their Pangu Genesis Formation is quite powerful, it’s one of the three guardian formations left behind by Nuwa! All three of them have tremendous power, but in order to unleash it they need a True God or Daofather to serve as the core of the formation. They have True Immortal Jimin, who mastered the [Five Treasures], serving as their core, which means that the size, scale, and power of the formation is much weaker now. It is just barely a match for elite Daofathers; there is still a significant gap in power between it and our Envoy of All Things.”

  “The sudden appearance of the Envoy of All Things will immediately disrupt the balance of the battlefield. Don’t be fooled by how seamless Xuan Yuan appears to be in moving around his forces; once a collapse starts, it will be complete and total.” The black-robed Godking was quite confident.

  “Mm.” Daomother Devilhand nodded. “I hope this Envoy of All Things truly is as formidable as you say.”

  The Envoys which the Lord of All Things had created were indeed quite powerful; they had proven their strength during the war that ended the Primordial Era. But the Envoys created by the Seamless Gate were developed by Grandmaster Blackheaven. Grandmaster Blackheaven was a peerless talent in the Dao of Golems who the Lord of All Fiends had found in some unknown place. He was actually also capable of creating these Envoys, and the power of his Envoys seemed to be equivalent to those which the Lord of All Things had made.

  “They are coming out.” The black-robed Godking’s eyes lit up.

  “They finally came out. Xuan Yuan…” A hint of a cold light flickered through Daomother Devilhand’s eyes. “This time, I’m going to make you crumble.”

  Boom! Boom!

  Both armies once more charged towards the other.

  The Nuwa Alliance’s army had a slight edge to begin with. With Xuan Yuan’s truly superb military skills, the Nuwa Alliance’s advantage was even more apparent. Although Daomother Devilhand was also skilled in commanding her troops, occasional setbacks still occurred for her forces.

  It was just like all their previous clashes. Each time, the Seamless Gate’s forces would be whittled away slightly.

  “Hmph.” Atop the castle walls, Daomother Devilhand sent a mental order. “Release the Envoy of All Things.”

  ……

  On the field of battle, the Pangu God and the two Infinity Fiendgods battled with the most ferocity.

  The Pangu God formed by the Pangu Genesis Formation held an utterly enormous sword in its hands, executing sword-arts that all exceeded the limits of the Heavenly Daos. It naturally possessed nigh limitless power. As for the two white-haired, red-eyed Infinity Fiendgods, they were quite powerful as well. The Infinity Fiendgod Formation had been developed by Keeper Everwood, after all, and he had poured endless amounts of blood and sweat into it. Both Infinity Fiendgods were dressed in incomparably precious Protocosmic spirit-armors, which they relied on to defend against the Pangu God’s terrifying sword-arts. Both Infinity Fiendgods supported each other at all times,
and so although they were at a disadvantage, they were still able to hold on against their foe.

  “Kill.” The Jimin-Pangu was extremely calm. He was waiting…waiting for his foes to make a mistake!

  No matter how well those two Infinity Fiendgods fought together, they were still commanded by two different people, not one. In a frenetic, high-powered battle, it was inevitable that they would eventually commit mistakes. Once they made a mistake, he would seize the opportunity to wipe out one of them. Once one was destroyed, the other would not be of any concern at all.

  “What’s that?!” The Jimin-Pangu was shocked to discover that behind the two Infinity Fiendgods, an ape-shaped figure had suddenly appeared out of thin air without any warning. This creature’s entire body was wreathed in flames, and its aura was so powerful as to instantly stun the Jimin-Pangu. In fact, the subconscious sense of danger emanating from this creature was so strong that he couldn’t help but mentally shiver.

  “Jimin, be careful! That’s an Envoy of All Things.” Xuan Yuan’s voice immediately rang out. “Ignore those two Infinity Fiendgods; I’ll send people to help you block them. Focus on defending against the Envoy!”

  “Alright!” The Jimin-Pangu instantly understood. He had heard of these Envoys long ago, but he had never seen one of them in person before.

  ……

  As soon as the Envoy appeared, Xuan Yuan’s face instantly changed. However, he remained cool and collected as he quickly began to redeploy his forces, squeezing out every drop of power he could to relieve the pressure on the Jimin-Pangu, so as to let him fight against the Envoy without worrying about anything else. That way, the Jimin-Pangu would have at least a sliver of a chance of defending against the Envoy of All Things.

  However, if the white-haired, red-eyed Infinity Fiendgods were allowed to join forces with the Envoy, then the Jimin-Pangu would definitely suffer a swift defeat. And once he collapsed…the entire field of battle would collapse.