Desolate Era

by RWX

  Whap!

  The five fingers of her palm danced their way into Ning’s sword-light black holes. And then, following a series of exploding sounds, the black hole vanished, with the fingers latching onto Ning’s Darknorth swords.

  “Impossible.” Ning stared in disbelief, his heart filled with shock and dread. Daomother Devilhand’s seizing technique had been simply too dazzling and beautiful. It was a technique that was so complicated as to cause one to feel almost uncontrollably intoxicated upon seeing it. In fact, the technique was even more complicated than Ning’s sword-arts, which was why it had been able to break through it.

  Perhaps Ji Ning was the number one expert of the sword in the Three Realms…but in palm-arts, Daomother Devilhand was number one. Even Lord Tathagata, who also specialized in palm arts, was slightly weaker than her.

  Whoosh.

  Daomother Devilhand’s dainty white hands went through multiple different variations; the ‘Leafseizer’ stance, the ‘Flowerpicker’ stance, the ‘Wilted’ stance, and more. These stances all had graceful, refined names, and Daomother Devilhand’s movements were quite beautiful as well. However, the power of these techniques caused Ning to feel despair. He was wielding a pair of swords, but one of them had already been seized. Twelve stances later, the Envoy-Ning was struck on the waist by the palm, causing him to uncontrollably fall down to the ground.

  “Come in.” Daomother Devilhand suddenly produced a Protocosmic spirit-rope in her hands, and she quickly tossed it around the Envoy of All Things.

  Trapped inside the Envoy, Ning just felt a sense of powerlessness and reluctance. Although he had already fought as hard as he could, he was still a bit weaker than Daomother Devilhand, a fiend amongst fiends who had once battled Mother Nuwa to a standstill for a short time during the war that ended the Primordial Era. She had only been using one hand, but had been able to capture him after just ten or so stances.

  “If I was able to reach the fifth stage of swordforce, my sword-arts would become even more intricate. Combined with my weapon speed surpassing the limits of the Heavenly Daos…perhaps in that situation, Daomother Devilhand wouldn’t be able to capture me,” Ning sighed to himself.

  For the sake of seizing Ning as quickly as possible, Daomother Devilhand had showed no mercy whatsoever. She had unleashed more than ten absolutely dazzling palm-arts with her hand, causing all of the major powers present to feel shocked. “Daomother Devilhand’s techniques truly have become even more exquisite since the Primordial Era.”

  Ji Ning had been captured.

  Although he was unwilling to accept this, there was nothing he could say. He had been simply too careless, and he was simply not strong enough. Fortunately, he had kept clones outside; even if he died here today, he would have the chance to return to his full level of power in the future. Alas, his Ninehorn Lightning Serpent, Darknorth swords, and other treasures would be lost.

  “Daomother Devilhand, please release my junior apprentice-brother.” A chuckling voice rang out as a skinny old man dressed in tattered clothes emerged from a spatial whirlpool. He stretched out his hand, and it glittered with golden light. This was the [Golden Body] technique of the Buddhists, and his shining golden hand struck out towards Daomother Devilhand, seeking to stop her.

  “You think to stop me, you crazy monk?” Daomother Devilhand stretched out her own massive hand, many hundreds of thousands of meters in length, and seized the Envoy of All Things, completely ignoring Crazy Ji’s attack.

  Clank!

  Her ivory-white hand and Crazy Ji’s golden hand, which looked as skinny as a chicken claw, collided against each other.

  Crazy Ji’s face changed while Daomother Devilhand revealed a disparaging smile. However, right at this moment, Daomother Devilhand’s face changed as well, becoming ugly to behold. She stared in disbelief at the figure that had just appeared in midair. From that very same spatial vortex, a woodcutter who wore straw shoes and carried a hatchet over his shoulders had appeared. He had come here at the same time as Crazy Ji.

  Crazy Ji had been the first to strike, but he had failed.

  Only then did the woodcutter brandish his hatchet, and as soon as he did so, Daomother Devilhand’s face turned terrible to behold.

  “No!” Daomother Devilhand actually voluntarily released Ji Ning, sending her ivory-white hand upwards to block the hatchet with full force.

  “Let it be severed.” The woodcutter spoke in a calm, soft voice.

  Swish.

  His hatchet seemed extremely ordinary, but Daomother Devilhand’s incomparably marvelous palm-arts were actually unable to block it. The hatchet swished past her defenses, landing on her arm. Slash! Daomother Devilhand’s arm was immediately severed.

  Whoosh. After chopping through Devilhand’s ivory-white arm, it suddenly accelerated past the speed of light and chopped towards Swordfather Darklight, who had been controlling his magic treasures to attack from afar.

  “Flee.” Swordfather Darklight had no idea that this disaster would suddenly descend upon him from out of nowhere. Although he had noticed the woodcutter appear, he had been quite confident in Daomother Devilhand’s power. He hadn’t expected that a single blow from the hatchet would sever her arm while still carrying enough power to continue to chop towards him. As for the speed of the hatchet…it was even more terrifying than Ning’s sword.

  He wanted to flee. But…how could he possibly escape that terrifying hatchet?

  Slash. Swordfather Darklight’s body was immediately bisected by the hatchet. His soul and his Jindan were both annihilated, and the two halves of his corpse fell down from the skies, landing on the ground and splattering blood everywhere.

  A Daofather who had reached the fifth stage of swordforce and who was skilled in assassinations..had died, just like that.

  The entire battlefield had turned silent.

  Daoist Three Purities, Lord Tathagata, and Suiren had come to a halt as well. Keeper Everwood had also come to a halt.

  Everyone’s gaze was turned towards the hatchet-wielding woodcutter. The woodcutter looked very ordinary, and he was dressed very plainly and simply…but just now, that ‘ordinary’ hatchet had delivered a blow that had stunned all of the overlord-class major powers present.

  Long, long ago, there had been another figure who had similarly stunned them with his attacks.

  It was Houyi with his arrows!

  And today, this woodcutter had stunned them with his hatchet.

  “Junior apprentice-brother.” Crazy Ji was rescuing the Envoy of All Things.

  Daomother Devilhand retracted her treasures, her arm once more growing out and healing. She stared intently at the woodcutter, completely ignoring Ji Ning. She did not even think about trying to capture him again.

  “Houyi. Is that you?” Daomother Devilhand’s voice was crisp and pleasing to the ear.

  “It’s me.” The woodcutter’s reply was very calm.

  The entire imperial palace had turned deathly silent. After a long period of silence…

  Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

  The skies above the imperial palace repeatedly exploded as more and more major powers descended. It was the other major powers of the Nuwa Alliance, who had all hastened here to help out. They included Exalted Celestial Thundergod, Exalted Celestial Carefree, Buddha Amitabha, Buddha Maitreya, and more.

  Although this fight took time to describe, it had actually occurred at high speed. Only brief moments had passed between Ji Ning’s true body being killed, his Primaltwin appearing within the Envoy, the Envoy being captured, and Crazy Ji and the woodcutter intervening.

  A very short period of time had passed…but now, all the major powers were completely focused on the woodcutter rather than Ji Ning.

  “It’s been so many years. Sorry for the trouble, Master.” The woodcutter looked towards Subhuti.

  “Haha…I imagine Three Purities, Tathagata, and the others would’ve fought over the chance to accept Houyi as a disciple.” Subhuti laughed merrily. “Wonder
ful. You’ve finally decided to come out. I had thought that you wouldn’t come out this time.”

  “My junior apprentice-brother was very nearly killed. How much longer could I possibly wait?” The woodcutter looked at the distant, unnerved figures of Daomother Devilhand and Keeper Everwood. “As I see it…right now, our priority should be having a nice discussion with you of the Seamless Gate.”

  “It is indeed time for a chat.” A red-robed, azure-haired figure appeared in the air.

  “Windfiend.” The woodcutter looked towards the man.

  A large number of major powers had appeared in the air above the imperial palace, but none of them dared to make a sound; all of them were strictly conversing through quiet mental messages to each other.

  As for Ning, still within the Envoy of All Things, he raised his head to stare at the midair woodcutter, astonishment in his heart. “Eldest disciple? Woodcutter? Houyi?”

  * * *

  Book 21, Chapter 28 - Negotiations

  The eldest disciple of their league, the low-key woodcutter who always spent his time chopping down trees at Mount Innerheart…was actually Houyi?

  When Ji Ning had first started to train in [Houyi’s Archery], the woodcutter had walked past him a few times, hatchet over his shoulders. He had even given Ning a few critical words of enlightenment when Ning was at a bottleneck. Ning hadn’t thought much of it back then, as he thought it was normal for someone as powerful as the eldest apprentice-brother to be able to provide him with some guidance. Who would’ve thought that the man was actually the creator of [Houyi’s Archery], Houyi himself!

  “Junior apprentice-brother.” Crazy Ji fanned himself, smiling as he called out.

  “Junior apprentice-brother.” A streak of light flew towards him from far away, landing on the ground next to him. It was the Monkey King, dressed in dazzling golden armor.

  “Second apprentice-brother. Sixth apprentice-brother.” Ning hurriedly called out to the two of them. As he did so, he couldn’t help but take a close look at his sixth apprentice-brother. There were many legends of the Primordial Era that circulated amongst the nations of Earth. Although some of them weren’t quite accurate, his sixth apprentice-brother Sun Wukong was a tremendously famous figure on Earth. But of course, by now Ning had met with many major powers.

  Lu Dongbin, Daoist Three Purities, Patriarch Subhuti, Lord Tathagata the Buddha…he had met them all. Thus, Ning was quite calm when meeting with his sixth apprentice-brother for the first time. He was just a bit curious about the man.

  “Heh heh…I didn’t expect my eldest apprentice-brother to actually be Houyi.” Sun Wukong chortled merrily. “When I first went to apprentice myself to Master, he actually gave me directions. I had thought him to be an ordinary woodcutter. Only later did I realize that he was actually our eldest apprentice-brother! Even back then, I mumbled to ourself that he was really good at hiding his abilities…but only today do I know he is actually the great divinity Houyi of the Primordial Era. His level of subterfuge is quite extraordinary!”

  Houyi had become famous very, very early on. When he had slain the Golden Crows, Sun Wukong hadn’t even been born into the world!

  “I became apprenticed to Master very early on, but even I didn’t know of his true history.” Crazy Ji chortled merrily, “When I became apprenticed to Master, our eldest apprentice-brother was already there by his side. However, even back then he spent his days as a woodcutter chopping trees. Honestly, I was quite puzzled back then; he was clearly Master’s disciple, but why was it that I never saw him asking Master for guidance? But Master told me that our eldest apprentice-brother already had the power of a True God and Daofather, and that there was no way to ‘teach’ him; he needed to gain his own insights. Thus, I didn’t think too much on it.”

  “I heard that long ago, because of Chang’e, our eldest apprentice-brother actually slaughtered a path to the Lunar Star, planning to chop down the osmanthus tree on the Lunar Star. However, whenever he struck at the tree, it would immediately reheal. No matter what he did, he couldn’t chop the tree down. At Mount Innerheart, our eldest apprentice-brother spends all his days chopping down trees…is it because he plans to once more pay a visit to the Moon Palace of the Lunar Star?” The Monkey King lowered his voice and even went so far as to block out sound from the surrounding area.

  “Damned monkey, do you think that our eldest apprentice-brother’s affairs are something for you to pry into?” Crazy Ji hurriedly reprimanded him. “You can’t talk about this matter.”

  “Eldest apprentice-brother can’t hear me. I’d only ever discuss it behind his back.” Sun Wukong blinked a few times.

  Even Ji Ning knew that the affair between Houyi and Chang’e had been a scarring one for Houyi! Picking at another’s scars and scabs was not a good idea.

  “Let’s go. Buddha, Three Purities, and the others are negotiating with those of the Seamless Chaosworld. Let’s take a break for now.” Crazy Ji gave Sun Wukong a hard stare. “Don’t cause trouble, you monkey. If you piss off our eldest apprentice-brother, none of us would be able to save you.”

  “Right.” The Monkey King shivered slightly, nodding repeatedly. “During the Primordial Era, he roamed the world with his archery skills. Now, even his hatchet skills have become so incredibly powerful. Daomother Devilhand is an awe-inspiringly famous figure on the level of the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism, but our eldest apprentice-brother was actually able to sever her arm with a single blow of his hatchet.”

  “That was because Daomother Devilhand was too proud and overconfident,” Crazy Ji said. “Our eldest apprentice-brother was incredibly powerful even during the Primordial Era; even the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism were forced to use all their might when facing him. For Daomother Devilhand to actually try to face him with a single arm…hmph, it would’ve been shocking if she didn’t suffer for it.”

  Ning laughed. He was about to put away the Envoy of All Things, but he suddenly then thought of how Daomother Devilhand had struck him with a blow, causing him to uncontrollably fall to the ground. Ning took a careful look at the Envoy.

  “Eh?” Ning’s face changed. “What’s this?” Ning immediately noticed that the energy core of the Envoy, located at its waist, had actually cracked open.

  Ning hurriedly tried to use the Envoy’s power, only to discover that it was now completely inoperable. It was as though the cracks here had severed the Envoy’s ability to send energy around its body. The Envoy had suddenly become useless.

  “It’s been made useless? How?!” Ning was stunned.

  The Envoy of All Things.

  B-but…this was the most powerful tool he had at his disposal! When using it, he would be able to unleash a level of power close to that of the overlord Daofathers, on the same level as Subhuti and Daofather Shadowless. Just like that, the Envoy had suddenly been rendered useless?! It must be understood that even full-force blows from the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism would barely be able to damage the thing!

  Daomother Devilhand had landed a gentle blow on the Envoy’s waist…and just like that, the Envoy had been ruined? Still, it had been quite strange; a single blow had been all it took to cause the Envoy-Ning to collapse.

  “Second apprentice-brother, sixth apprentice-brother.” Ning said in a low voice, “The Envoy of All Things has been ruined.”

  “What?” Crazy Ji and the Monkey King were both shocked.

  Ning nodded solemnly. “It should’ve been ruined by Daomother Devilhand. I don’t know how she accomplished it.”

  The Monkey King gnashed his teeth. As for Crazy Ji, he frowned and said in a soft voice, “Mm…this Envoy golem was created by the Seamless Gate. They probably put in certain mechanisms to prevent us from being able to take them over, such as a self-destruct mechanism that would cripple it. However, activating such mechanisms probably isn’t easy. During the war for karmic luck, your opponents have all been Empyrean Gods and True Immortals; they wouldn’t have the ability to ruin your Envoy. Daomother Dev
ilhand, however, is an overlord-class major power. Given that she knows exactly how the Envoy is structurally composed and where its weaknesses are, it makes sense that she would be able to easily destroy it.”

  “Right. I heard that when the Lord of All Things died, all of his Envoys were rendered completely inoperable as well.” The Monkey King nodded in agreement.

  “In contrast, the Envoys of the Seamless Gate can only be destroyed by the personal touch of someone like Daomother Devilhand. Comparatively speaking, they still aren’t a match for the Envoys of the Lord of All Things,” Crazy Ji said.

  Crazy Ji suddenly added, “Report this to Master right away.”

  “Right, tell Master right away,” the Monkey King agreed.

  Only the most supreme figures took part in the negotiations between the Nuwa Alliance and the Seamless Gate.

  Time slowly trickled forward.

  The other major powers continued to wait quietly at the Deerchaser world for the results of their negotiations. Ji Ning, Crazy Ji, the Monkey King, and the other members of the Mount Innerheart League all waited patiently as well.

  A long amount of time passed. The skies were slowly beginning to turn bright. Only now did the major powers of the Seamless Gate leave the Deerchaser world.

  “Master. Eldest apprentice-brother.”

  Ji Ning, Crazy Ji, and the Monkey King had been seated, but now all three of them hurriedly rose to their feet. Patriarch Subhuti and Houyi were walking shoulder-to-shoulder towards their residence from afar.

  “How did it go, Master?” The Monkey King asked hurriedly.

  “Your junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning suffered a heavy loss. Our Nuwa Alliance as a whole didn’t do that badly,” Patriarch Subhuti said.

  “For me to suffer a loss is nothing. Our side gaining an advantage in this war is what really matters,” Ning said.

  Subhuti looked at Ning. “Myself, Houyi, and the other major powers discussed this in secret. Our main concern is that for the Seamless Gate to suddenly act against you in such a manner, they must have made many careful preparations for the possible consequences. They are prepared, but we are not…and we currently hold the upper hand in the war for karmic luck. Thus, although we were infuriated, we still would not choose to rashly launch the Endwar right away.”