Desolate Era

by RWX

  Tathagata had been born a True God of Primordial Chaos.

  During the Primordial Era, he had shattered his own soul, leaving behind just a tendril of his truesoul to be reincarnated into the human race. He had become Sakyamuni, and as a result had been truly reborn. He finally was able to reach the pinnacle of power, fully mastering the five Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. This allowed him to manifest five mighty dharma-bodies! However, actually using these five dharma-bodies consumed a terrifying amount of energy. He would only activate them all when he was truly going all-out.

  He had brought three of his five dharma-bodies in this campaign against the Primordial Ruinworld, leaving behind two of them to guard the Three Realms.

  Daoist Three Purities had his ‘Three Pure Ones’ technique. Tathagata, in term, had five dharma-bodies, with the most powerful naturally being his true Sakyamuni body.

  ……

  “Tathagata’s quite powerful.” Godfiend Witherspike let out a sigh as he saw the scene playing out of Tathagata breaking apart the formation with utterly ruinous power. “These aboriginals only have inferior Ki Refining techniques; they are clearly Ancestral Immortals, but only third-tier ones! And yet, despite that, the most monstrously talented amongst them have gained incredible insights into the Dao.”

  “Fuxi’s been tied down for now as well.”

  “Keeper Everwood’s formations are quite formidable. Even if other major powers were to make their way over, they would still need to spend a considerable amount of time to break through the formation. After doing so, they would then need to actually enter Earthmoan Mountain! Earthmoan Mountain is filled with countless illusions; to actually locate Kuafu’s squad will require time as well. I estimate that Kuafu’s squad should already be at the verge of breaking down,” Godfiend Witherspike mused softly to himself.

  “Given how furious and frantic Tathagata is in trying to break through the formation as quickly as possible, Kuafu’s squad should be close to being done for,” Celestial Immortal Blackheaven said with a laugh.

  All of them were just guessing, of course. Earthmoan Mountain was one of the most hazardous of regions that had been naturally created from the Primordial Ruinworld. Even the alien Outsiders were unable to scry inside of it to see what was happening.

  ……

  The situation inside Earthmoan Mountain truly had turned grim. True God Luwu and Daofather Windfate had ashen looks on their faces, and their bodies were covered with bloody wounds. They no longer had enough divine power to repair and heal their bodies.

  Swish! Yet another ruthless, cruel attack by an invisible object.

  Ning’s eyes had been lidded this entire time, but now they suddenly opened. His eyes sparkled like the stars as he murmured softly to himself, “I finally found it.”

  * * *

  Book 22, Chapter 16 - Wokejade Realm

  “Luwu, Windfate, give up for now. I’ll take you into my estate-treasure,” Kuafu shouted.

  “No!” Although True God Luwu was usually an amiable and honest fellow, he was currently quite resolute and unyielding. “Kuafu, you know very well how dangerous Earthmoan Mountain is. The only reason we are still alive is because of the formation. Once we enter the estate-treasure, the two of us will be able to live for a bit longer, true. But the rest of you will no longer have the formation protecting you. You won’t be able to hold on for much longer.”

  “Every single cell of my body is formed from divine power. Although I’m out of actual power, I can still convert my body into divine power. I can still hold,” True God Luwu growled.

  “We’ll keep holding.” Daofather Windfate nodded, his eyes filled with cold resolve. “Kuafu, don’t go soft on us. There’s no way out for the six of us. This campaign against the Primordial Ruinworld is actually the final precursor to the Endwar. There will always be casualties in war. It is now my time to die, and I won’t shirk back.”

  Kuafu, Empress Xi, Xingtian, and Graceful Peacock all felt quite torn. However, they understood that this was indeed the best decision when keeping the big picture in perspective. The bodies of True God Luwu and True God Windfate were indeed manifested from large amounts of divine power. They absolutely were capable of continuing to hold on, but only at a price…the price being that they could die at any moment from an attack!

  “Keep holding,” Kuafu growled.

  “Protect Luwu and Windfate!” Xingtian let out a howl, then turned to look towards Ji Ning. “Ji Ning, do your best to help Windfate and Luwu.”

  Xingtian had always felt very well-disposed towards Ji Ning. It was one thing for Ji Ning not to help out when they were travelling around, but things were now different; they were trapped here in the deadly environs of Earthmoan Mountain. Ji Ning was quite safe at the center of the formation, but he hadn’t even helped out a single time! This caused Xingtian to feel quite displeased.

  Swish!

  Ning suddenly made his move.

  In a single instant, he stepped out of the center of the formation. He actually stabbed out with his sword, and a dazzling rainbow aura of swordforce sparkled around the tip of the sword.

  Kuafu, Xingtian, and the rest of the six True Gods were instantly dumbfounded.

  Ji Ning had actually left the formation? Kuafu and the others were about to immediately rebuke him for doing so.

  But he had then struck out with his sword? Why did he do that?

  Rainbow-colored sword-light? T-that was…

  Ning’s sudden actions had caused the six True Gods to be instantly and completely stupefied.

  Clang! A clanking sound rang out.

  Ning’s sword-tip seemed to have stabbed onto something. An incredibly loud collision could be heard as space around the sword-tip began to ripple violently.

  “Get over here.” Ning’s sword spun about, transforming into a black hole that possessed astonishing absorptive power. It was able to forcibly entangle and entrap the invisible object.

  The sword-light completely surrounded the invisible object, forcing it to finally reveal its true form. A strange object that was shaped like the horn of an ox had appeared. It was completely black in color, but it was also covered with strands of violet-colored vein lines. It was sharp at one end and blunt at the other.

  “Mm?” Ning reached out and grabbed the object.

  “Heavy wokejade?” Ning mused to himself. If one was to voyage through the endless primordial chaos, one naturally had to first become familiar with many of the strange objects within it. World God Northrest had transmitted a great deal of this information to Ning, who was able to recognize this object at a glance. “It’s actually heavy wokejade? This is quite a valuable mineral. However, no one in the Three Realms is capable of smelting it.”

  Heavy wokejade was incomparably resilient. Even prior to smelting and forging, it was as tough and resilient as a Chaos treasure. This truly was an extremely precious mineral.

  “In the future, I’ll enter the primordial chaos and travel to Vastheaven Palace. Perhaps it will be of use to me at some point.” Ning waved his hand, collecting the item and pulling it into his estate-treasure.

  Ning then turned his head to look behind him.

  The six True Gods were staring at him, rather dazed. Empress Xi’s mouth was open, as though she wanted to say something, but no words could come out.

  “Ji Ning.” In the end, it was the straightforward and blunt Kuafu who spoke out. “Your swordforce reached the fifth stage?”

  “Yeah.” Ning nodded.

  “…Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Kuafu asked.

  “Well, we didn’t run into any danger that you couldn’t easily deal with, Kuafu. There was no real need for me to get involved,” Ning said with a laugh.

  The nearby Xingtian said hurriedly, “Ji Ning, are you able to see through the illusions of Earthmoan Mountain?” If he was, they’d be able to leave this place.

  “Yes.” Ning nodded.

  Luwu, Windfate, and the others all felt reli
eved. Although they had mentally prepared themselves for death, staying alive was naturally much preferred.

  “Follow me,” Ning said.

  “Follow Ji Ning, everyone!” Kuafu said hurriedly, “Do what he says.”

  “Right.” The six True Gods all immediately followed behind Ning, who advanced with sword in hand.

  “Another one is coming.” Ning once more struck out with his sword. His sword-arts flashed out in an unpredictable, ephemeral manner. It instantly struck against yet another invisible attacking object. Ning’s sword-art once more transformed into a black hole, trapping the second invisible object as well.

  “Earthmoan Mountain should be a ‘Wokejade Realm’.” Ning once more reached out with his hand to grab the piece of heavy wokejade. He glanced at it, then tossed it into his estate-treasure. “In all the Three Realms, I’d wager that no one knows as much as me about Earthmoan Mountain.”

  The endless primordial chaos was filled with countless dangers, and World God Northrest had recorded details regarding many of them. If you were to foolishly adventure through the primordial chaos without knowing about some of the dangerous types of regions within it, you truly would be courting death. No one would be able to save such a fool.

  Wokejade Realms were a type of danger zone which World God Northrest had written about. Based on the information Ning had, he was able to quickly ascertain that Earthmoan Mountain was a type of Wokejade Realm.

  “Ji Ning, how long before we can leave?” Empress Xi looked at Ji Ning in a different way now. Fifth-stage swordforce, and sword-arts that surpassed the Heavenly Daos; these two points alone ensured that Ji Ning had to be very close to the overlord level of power! His single-target attacks would be even more terrifying than Kuafu’s!

  “Don’t worry,” Ning said. “Earthmoan Mountain is essentially a world unto itself; if you don’t see through its illusions, there’s no way to escape it at all. When we talk about ‘seeing the truth’, we aren’t talking about literally seeing through all the illusions. Rather, what I can do is just barely get a sense of where those strange objects are going to attack from. Through them, I can get a rough sense of direction.”

  “Through those strange objects?” Windfate, Graceful Peacock, Luwu, and the others were all puzzled.

  “Right.” Ning nodded.

  “Those things that are attacking us are formed deep underneath the ground. They are expelled with astonishing power through Earthmoan Mountain’s eruptions,” Ning said. “The closer we are to the core of Earthmoan Mountain, the more powerful those objects will be. The farther away we are, the weaker they will be.”

  “I heard Daoist Three Purities say the same.” Empress Xi nodded. “However, that’ll only allow you to get a very crude sense of direction. In addition, Earthmoan Mountain’s dangers aren’t just limited to those invisible objects.”

  “Right…I heard that Earthmoan Mountain can also give birth to terrifyingly powerful attractive forces that can devour even major powers,” Graceful Peacock said hurriedly.

  Ning nodded. “That is indeed the case.”

  Wokejade Realms were usually in the ‘eruption’ phase, but they occasionally had a ‘devouring’ phase as well! Each time there was a ‘devouring’ phase, the closer you were to the core the more powerful the attractive force would be. Once you were actually swallowed inside…it was virtually guaranteed that you would perish, even if you were an Ancestral Immortal or an Elder God. It would take some truly impressive and extraordinary measures for you to survive. If you were able to safely enter the deep recesses of the realm, you would be able to acquire an enormous amount of heavy wokejade. The heavy wokejade itself was formed through countless eruption cycles and devouring cycles, resulting in the swallowed objects being refined into priceless treasures.

  The pieces of heavy wokejade that ‘attacked’ Ning’s group with each eruption was just a tiny fraction of the enormous hoard of heavy wokejade that existed deep underneath Earthmoan Mountain.

  “That’s why we have to move quickly. It is currently in the ‘eruption’ phase. Once the ‘devouring’ phase begins, things will become even more dangerous.” Ning still felt quite confident, and in truth only the core regions of Earthmoan Mountain would pose a threat to him. The ordinary regions were of no threat to him at all; he himself already had the power of an overlord-class figure, after all.

  Ning led the way quite quickly. They only walked forward for a brief period of time before suddenly, the world turned bright. The thicket of forests around them vanished, transforming into an awe-inspiring sight of chained mountain ranges. Far off in the distance, mountains were continuously toppling and falling apart. They could vaguely make out three mighty figures that glowed with boundless golden light. The three figures were furiously striking out with Buddha-palms, and each palm contained utterly ruinous power that was being used to annihilate the surrounding mountains.

  “That’s Tathagata,” Kuafu said delightedly.

  “TATHAGATA!” Xingtian called out to him in a loud voice.

  Ning laughed as well. “We made it out.”

  “So these are Tathagata’s dharma-bodies?” Ning stared at Tathagata’s three mighty dharma-bodies, paying especial attention to the Sakyamuni body. “He’s merely a True God and third-tier Ancestral Immortal, but his insights into the Dao are so profound that he is still able to unleash the power of an Elder God.”

  The distant Lord Buddha noticed the seven tiny figures appear as well.

  “Wonderful.” Finally, a smile blossomed on Tathagata’s face. His two other dharma-bodies merged into his true body, and the three Buddhas behind him flew forward towards him as well.

  Tathagata’s squad of four Buddhas all flew towards Ning, and Ning’s group of seven rode a cloud towards them as well.

  “You ended up escaping on your own.” Tathagata laughed. “I wonder how you did it?”

  “It was Darknorth.” Graceful Peacock spoke out from within Ning’s group.

  “Darknorth?” Tathagata looked towards Ning with surprise.

  Kuafu agreed. “Right. Ji Ning is extremely powerful. I’m afraid that even I wouldn’t necessarily be a match for him. Three Purities was trapped here for more than three thousand years, but Ji Ning managed to lead us out after just a short period of time. Ahahaha! Once that old Daoist hears about this, I wonder what sort of an expression he will have on his face?”

  And at this exact moment back in the Three Realms, Graceful Peacock was narrating everything which had just happened to the concerned major powers of the Nuwa Alliance.

  * * *

  Book 22, Chapter 17 - Subhuti and Old Man Yuan

  The Three Realms. Allclans Palace.

  Graceful Peacock was narrating the entire story to the major powers present. “We were trapped in Earthmoan Mountain, and both Luwu and Windfate were heavily wounded. We were just about finished, but Darknorth…fellow Daoist Darknorth had been carefully scrutinizing everything from inside our formation, and he finally was able to see through the illusions of Earthmoan Mountain and see the truth. He walked out of our formation, then blocked several invisible attacks of Earthmoan Mountain as he led us to safety.”

  “He blocked those attacks?” Exalted Celestial Thundergod asked, “Graceful Peacock, didn’t you say that the attacks of Earthmoan Mountain are extremely powerful? Empress Xi was just barely able to defend against those attacks, thanks to the protective formation, but she was still wounded. Ji Ning walked out of the formation, and THEN blocked those attacks?”

  “Right.” Graceful Peacock nodded, her eyes sparkling as she smiled. “Fellow Daoist Darknorth is one of the most peerless figures to ever exist, ever since Pangu established Heaven and Earth. He has already reached the fifth stage of swordforce.”

  “The fifth stage?” Exalted Celestial Thundergod was incredulous. “How is that possible?”

  The entire palace became a hubbub of commotion.

  Fifth-stage swordforce?

  Anyone and everyone who could rea
ch the fifth stage of swordforce would become one of the most elite Daofathers alive. Someone like Ji Ning, who also knew the [Five Treasures] sword-art, would be even more terrifying.

  “Is that true?”

  “He hasn’t even trained for a thousand years, right?” The major powers were all discussing this in hushed voices.

  Lord Tathagata the Buddha, seated on high, spoke out. “It is indeed so.”

  Exalted Celestial Thundergod was now truly dazed. He could no longer say a word.

  “Ahahaha!” Daofather Subhuti, also seated on high, started to laugh.

  Next to him was Daoist Three Purities, who laughed as well. “Subhuti, you knew all along?”

  Subhuti just smugly stroked his beard.

  “My junior apprentice-brother truly is formidable.” Houyi laughed as well. “We have gained yet another mighty general for the Endwar.”

  Exalted Celestial Thundergod was filled with many mixed emotions. He was an aloof, arrogant figure, and he originally had not held Ji Ning in any regard. Ji Ning’s performance at the Deerchaser world, though…it had caused Thundergod to feel rather upset. Still, he was able to console himself that the kid had relied on the Rahu Formation and the Envoy of All Things. The kid’s true power was still quite weak.

  But now, the ‘kid’ had fifth-stage swordforce and sword-arts that surpassed the limits of the Heavenly Daos. This meant that Ji Ning was now, indisputably, the number one Sword Immortal of the Three Realms!

  “Subhuti.” Finally, Thundergod spoke out. “Congratulations.”

  Subhuti looked at Thundergod and chortled. “This old Daoist loves to put on airs and keep people guessing. I hope you aren’t too angry with me, Thundergod.”