Desolate era, p.560
Desolate Era, page 560
Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation glanced at Ning, then let out a sigh. “Sword Immortal Darknorth…you’ve started to frighten the Mindlord.”
“Frighten?” Ning frowned.
“Yes. You are starting to scare him.” Godfiend Witherspike continued, “Because of what Old Man Yuan, the Three Realms has suffered far, far too much. I trust that all of you here would be willing to do almost anything to tear him apart, dining on his flesh and drinking his blood. If you all knew that he had a true body out there…it’s entirely possible that you would choose to venture out into the Badlands Territory to seek revenge upon him.”
“All of you have remained within just this single chaosworld, with no one to provide you with any guidance…and yet, you all have still managed to train to such levels of power. This is even more true for you, Sword Immortal Darknorth…you are already ridiculously strong, and your sword-arts are particularly terrifying. Very few Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals would be a match for you. In fact, not even the Mindlord’s true body would necessarily be a match for you! And you’ve only trained for a bit over a thousand years…given your potential, it is entirely possible that you might become a World God!”
“If you were to seek him out in the future for the sake of revenge…you tell me, wouldn’t the Mindlord be worried? Wouldn’t he be frightened by this possibility?” Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation smiled. “If you were to perpetually remain at your current level of power, he wouldn’t be worried; he’s protected by God Emperor Blacklotus after all. But you’ve been improving far too quickly. He can’t help but feel afraid…and so, in the moment of his death, he extinguished the souls of all his soulslaves, putting on a show of being truly slain. This was all for the sake of deceiving you.”
Ning nodded.
It made sense. Even if Old Man Yuan had ordered his soulslaves to launch an all-out assault, Ning would’ve been able to effortlessly wipe them all out. Far better to use them to deceive Ning instead.
“Ahaha…well, I’ve said everything I’ve come to say.” Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation smiled. “No need to thank me. Ahahaha…great men like the Mindlord have always looked down on minor figures like us. I’m delighted that I’m able to ruin things for him!” As he laughed, his incarnation slowly dissipated and faded away.
……
Far away, at the very end of the Three Realms. A dark-golden castle was hovering in the Void here.
Inside the castle.
“Mindlord…hmph. You wanted to make a clean break and avoid any future troubles? A pity for you that I’ve stirred up the trouble you wanted to avoid.” Godfiend Witherspike laughed coldly. ‘Old Man Yuan’ truly had put on a perfect show; Ji Ning and the others had no idea that ‘Old Man Yuan’ still had a true body outside the Three Realms, much less what his true identity was. It really would’ve been difficult for them to take revenge on him.
But now…Godfiend Witherspike had told them everything.
“Master, did you just say that Ji Ning slew the Mindlord?” Saber was shocked. “Is Ji Ning really that powerful?”
“He really is.” Godfiend Witherspike thought back to that final clash, when Ji Ning’s terrible sword-art had easily pierced through Old Man Yuan’s palms. The power of the ‘Heartsword’ stance had truly frightened the Godfiend.
The ‘Heartsword’ stance was a technical stance. Ji Ning was now a half-step World God, and his body was filled with incredible power. An incredible technique, matched with incredible power…and a Dao weapon as well!
“Of all the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals I’ve ever seen, he can rank in the top three.” Godfiend Witherspike sighed softly. The reason he said this was because he had seen how terrifyingly brilliant Ji Ning’s final sword-art had been. If Ji Ning merely relied on powerful divine abilities and his Dao weapon, he would be nothing more than a stronge brute…but the Heartsword stance had truly allowed him to unleash his power in a perfect manner.
“He’s that powerful?!” Saber was truly shocked now.
Was this a joke? Godfiend Witherspike had been alive for ages now, and had seen more than a hundred individuals on the same level as the Mindlord. Despite all that, he actually dared to claim that Ji Ning could rank in the top three?
“Let’s go. To be able to watch as two figures of such power battled to the death…this entire trip was worth it.” Godfiend Witherspike no longer harbored any more designs on the Three Realms at all. His dark-golden castle flew out of the Void, entering the endless primordial chaos and once more beginning their drifting journey through it.
……
After listening to Godfiend Witherspike’s words, Ning had a feeling that the man had told them the truth.
This was because Old Man Yuan had once said this to Witherspike: “Witherspike, do you still remember that black lotus?” When Witherspike had heard those words, he had been so terrified that he immediately fled. The ‘black lotus secret art’ which Old Man Yuan had used had also been truly formidable.
“Old Man Yuan? Mindlord?” A killing intent arose once more within Ning’s breast.
He was going to venture into the endless primordial chaos eventually.
All signs pointed to Old Man Yuan being the Mindlord; Ning assessed that there was at least an 80% chance of this being the case. After Ning ventured off into the Badlands Territory, he would probably be able to quickly verify whether or not this was the case. A technique as powerful as that black lotus art had to be quite famous. Not just anyone could be allowed to learn it!
“Darknorth…can the Seamless Gate rejoin the Three Realms once more?” The Lord of All Fiends suddenly spoke out.
* * *
Book 23, Chapter 35 - The New Three Realms
The faces of the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance all changed slightly. Suhbuti, Maitreya, Jade Cauldron, Kuafu, Sun Wukong, and the others all hesitated before answering. They wanted to refuse…but just now, both alliances had worked together to defeat Old Man Yuan. Keeper Everwood had gone so far as to unhesitatingly sacrifice his own life by detonating his own body.
Quite a few major powers of the Nuwa Alliance had been very close to Everwood. Subhuti and the already-deceased Tathagata and Three Purities…they had all been very good friends with Keeper Everwood. For them to expel the Seamless Gate right after Keeper Everwood had died for the Three Realms…it really wasn’t very appropriate.
But!
Although they felt confident that the Lord of All Fiends wasn’t a warmonger, who could say what the future would hold? When the Seamless Gate gave birth to new overlords in the future, who could say what would happen? If the Seamless Gate was permitted to stay in the Three Realms, they would continue to be a potential source of trouble. It was entirely possible that in the future, a new war would once more erupt.
“Darknorth, what do you think?” Buddha Maitreya spoke out, causing all the major powers present to look towards Ji Ning.
Ji Ning was now the unquestionably most powerful expert of the Three Realms. He now had the power to dominate all others, much like Mother Nuwa before him. This meant that his words now held much more weight than before.
“They can rejoin the Three Realms.” Ning nodded.
“What?” Subhuti and the others stared towards Ning in astonishment.
The Lord of All Fiends and the others were all shocked and overjoyed. For the Lord of All Fiends to venture through the dangers of the primordial chaos was one thing, but the other major powers and the Seamless Gate’s Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were far too weak. Life in the Three Realms would be better by far.
“However…you all must swear lifeblood oaths.” Ning waved his hand, producing a jade globe.
“A lifeblood oath?”
The major powers of both sides looked towards the jade globe in Ning’s hands.
“Is that an oathstone?” The Lord of All Fiends was shocked.
“Yes.” Ji Ning nodded.
“Then today, the troubles of the Three Realms shall all come to an end.” The Lord of All Fiends laughed. Why was it that the various organizations of the vast primordial chaos were able to remain so unified? It was because of lifeblood oaths! Even the most durable of faiths and promises could be slowly worn away by the passage of time, after all. Only the compulsive power of lifeblood oaths was truly eternal.
Right there in the Void, before the corpse of Old Man Yuan, the major powers of the two alliances set down and swore the Three Realms Oath.
After all of the major powers finished swearing their lifeblood oaths, the atmosphere between the two alliances immediately became noticeably friendlier.
“Ji Ning.” Subhuti pointed at the corpses of the major powers that were floating around in the Void. “We can’t just let their corpses continue to float around like that.”
“Right.” Ning nodded.
“I think…Holyflame.” Subhuti turned his head to look at Daofather Holyflame. “Let us cremate them and send them to their final rest, never to be disturbed again. Allfiend, what do you say?”
“Agreed.” The Lord of All Fiends nodded slowly.
Generally speaking, corpses of major powers wouldn’t be buried. The concern was that some might plunder their graves or perhaps even go so far as to refine their corpses into treasures. For example, when the Three Realms slew the alien Outsider known as Rahu, they had used his corpse to create multiple different treasures such as the Rahu Bow.
Daofather Holyflame nodded, then waved a finger.
Whooooosh.
A dazzling, sacred white flame suddenly flew out from his finger. This was the holy flame which Daofather Holyflame had devised, a flame that was far more powerful than the samadhi truefire he had once used. It was still somewhat weaker than the likes of Golden Solarfire, Zhurong Godfire, or the Eternal Kindlefire, but since these corpses weren’t as tough as top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures, his holy flame was enough to cremate them.
The corpses of the Immortals and Fiendgods began to blaze with that pristine, holy white fire.
Ji Ning, Subhuti, Allfiend, and the others all watched silently. Their hearts were all filled with grief. Far, far too many of their friends and brothers had died on this day.
“Life and death are part of a cycle,” Subhuti said softly. “Although they have died, the Three Realms shall never forget them.”
“The Three Sovereigns of Mankind – Suiren, Fuxi, and Shennong…” The Lord of All Fiends nodded. “Tathagata…Three Purities…”
“Everwood…Jueming…Gonggong…Devilhand…”
“They will become legends. The humans…the Buddhists…the Daoists…the Seamless Gate…the countless living creatures of the world…they shall sing about them for generations to come.”
Ning nodded slowly as well.
They were the forefathers, the ones who had ensured that this world of theirs would survive and prosper.
It didn’t matter what the future held in store for the human race. It didn’t matter that the Three Realms would eventually collapse and give birth to a new chaosworld. Hundreds of chaos cycles could go past, but so long as the human race continued to exist, it would still forever remember those three ancient Sovereigns who had protected them and guided them in the earliest, weakest days.
“Although they are dead, they shall still live forever.” Ji Ning, who had truly fought shoulder-to-shoulder alongside all of them, felt even more grief than the others.
“If in the future…”
“If after a hundred chaos cycles…a thousand chaos cycles…or an even longer period of time…if I ever reach the true apex of power possible for cultivators and become capable of reviving all those who were slain…I swear that I definitely will do so. I’ll make it so that we’ll all be able to sit down and drink with each other once more.” Ning was silently praying to himself.
Because of his lifeblood oath, he had to go to Vastheaven Palace. But even if it wasn’t for the sake of the oath, he still would’ve wanted to leave and travel to more distant realms.
Perhaps one day, he would find a technique which would allow an extinguished truesoul to be brought back to life once more. If he did, he would no longer have any more regrets in life. He would be able to bring back all those who had died…but Ning knew quite well how incredibly hard it would be for him to find and become capable of using such an incredible technique.
However, he had made up his mind. No matter how long it took or how hard it would be, he would continue to go down this path.
……
Thanks to this great war, the Three Realms had lost many of its major powers, Empyrean Gods, and True Immortals. Its vital essence had been dramatically weakened, and even the Celestial Court had been shattered by the war.
And so…
Ji Ning and the other major powers had worked together to remake a new Celestial Court! They had re-established the Netherworld Kingdom! They rebuilt the great Six Paths of Reincarnation!
In rebuilding the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Ji Ning served as the principle power while Subhuti served as the assistant. This was because the Six Paths of Reincarnation involved the power of spacetime. Although Ji Ning’s divine power was the strongest and purest in the Three Realms, he still needed Subhuti’s help. After three years of hard work, the Six Paths of Reincarnation were repaired and remade, allowing the Three Realms to go completely back to normal.
“From this day forth, Immortal cultivators must be extremely restrained and cautious in choosing disciples.”
“The Dao is not to be casually transmitted.”
A veritable ocean of Celestial Immortals, True Immortals, Empyrean Gods, and other cultivators had died as a result of this war. The burden on the Three Realms was significantly lessened as a result. However, everyone knew that if the Three Realms continued to produce Immortal cultivators at as fast a pace as before, it was likely that many new Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would emerge in the not too distant future. Thus, certain changes had to be made. Immortal cultivation had to become a more difficult path, one filled with even more dangers than before.
After the major powers of the Three Realms gave the orders, the entire Three Realms began to change. All Immortal cultivation schools were relocated to mountain tops, and the Immortal cultivation clans and tribes would rarely admit new disciples. To embark upon the path of Immortal cultivation would be a hundred times more difficult than it had been in the past. It required even greater determination and willpower for someone to be permitted into an Immortal school.
Three hundred years passed after the great war.
“The Three Realms has changed.”
An old man in Daoist robes was alongside a white-robed youth. The two were standing atop a cloud, staring at the vast world before them.
The Daoist robed elder let out a sigh. “The Three Realms has become more peaceful as a whole. Immortal cultivation has become more difficult, which means that fewer and fewer Immortal cultivators are around to take part in mortal wars and battles. At most, you’ll only see the occasional Zifu Disciple taking part. Now that there are so few Immortal cultivators, there are also much fewer people fighting over resources and natural treasures, making conflicts amongst cultivators much rarer than in the past as well.”
“Yes.” Ji Ning nodded.
It was as though the Three Realms had turned over a new leaf.
“Are you truly going to leave the Three Realms?” Subhuti looked at Ning.
“I have to leave.” Ning nodded. “I have no other choice.”
Subhuti understood what Ning was hinting at, knowing that Ning had to be under some sort of compulsion. “Then what of the Three Realms? Your daughter?”
Ning said, “I’ll set up an Immortal estate very close to the Three Realms in the primordial chaos. My Primaltwin will stay there permanently and protect the Three Realms. My true body will traverse that spatial vortex and journey to the Badlands Territory. Everything else aside, the Mindlord remains a source of potential trouble. If I ever have the chance to kill him, I will.”
“Good.” Subhuti revealed a hint of delight on his face.
For someone was powerful as Ji Ning, going out adventuring through the primordial chaos was quite normal. Mother Nuwa was born an Elder God and thus did not have a Primaltwin. Ji Ning, however, had started an ordinary mortal and slowly had risen to power. Although he was going to leave, he would only send his true body out adventuring; his Primaltwin would remain behind,c lose to the Three Realms.
“How strong is your Primaltwin, compared to your true body?” Subhuti asked.
“With my Primaltwin here, we wouldn’t need to worry even if we encounter more figures on the level of Old Man Yuan,” Ning said.
Although his Primaltwin was a bit weaker than his true body, it was still a first-tier Ancestral Immortal. When using the ‘Heartsword stance’, it absolutely had the power of a supreme Elder God.
“Alright.” Subhuti suddenly glanced downwards and smiled. “See what your daughter is doing?”
Ning glanced downwards as well, his gaze piercing through the Void. He saw Brightmoon tease and toy with an ordinary scholar in a mischievious manner. She was pretending to be an ordinary young lady from a mortal clan of nobles, and she and her ‘maidservant’ were both teasing this ordinary mortal scholar.
Ning laughed.
His daughter was able to live freely within the Three Realms, to be happy and carefree. Ning was satisfied. In the past, his daughter had been forced to hide within the Crescent world, and if they had lost the war she would’ve been forced to risk her life adventuring through the primordial chaos. Ning truly did not wish to see this happen.
“She’s doing well. That’s all I want.” Ji Ning smiled.
* * *
Book 24, Chapter 1 - Leaving the Three Realms
An Immortal estate located within the primordial chaos. This estate was a few kilometers in size, and it was filled with creeks, small streams, flowers, and grass.
