Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

However, they didn’t argue against this decision, because the decision was Daofather Crimsonbright’s! Only the person who the Daofather took a favoring to would be chosen…and that person didn’t necessarily have to be number one.

“The Daofather’s chosen disciple is…Adept Woodpass!” The voice rang out in Ning’s ears. He felt dazed.

For an extremely brief moment, Ning’s entire mind went blank. However, he quickly came back to consciousness. Although he was clear-headed now, in his heart, he still felt countless emotions.

“Why would it be him? Why did the Daofather choose him?” Ning’s heart was filled with urgency, resentment, rage…and helplessness!

He was helpless. Truly helpless. The choice of a disciple was up to the Daofather; no matter how dazzling Ning had proven himself to be, if the Daofather didn’t like him, it was all for nothing.

“If I had completely exposed my [Starseizing Hand], then perhaps Daofather Crimsonbright would have chosen me.” This thought suddenly came to Ning’s mind…but it was nothing more than a disgruntled thought. Ning knew very well that given how many people were watching this Conclave, as soon as his [Starseizing Hand] was revealed, the after-effects would be completely unpredictable!

The Three Realms were currently filled with turbulent undercurrents that were simply too mysterious. Daoist Threelives’ status was unknown. Ning didn’t dare take this risk.

“Congratulations, brother Woodpass.” Ning immediately turned to the nearby Adept Woodpass, expressing his congratulations.

On his other side was Adept Blackstone, who had an extremely complicated look in his eyes. Upon hearing Ning’s words, he immediately came to his own senses. In his heart, he secretly felt ashamed; in the face of this mental blow, he had actually taken longer to recover than Ji Ning, who had trained for just thirty or so years. But no matter what…he hadn’t been chosen. It was guaranteed that two of them would be eliminated.

“Congratulations, brother Woodpass,” Adept Blackstone said as well.

Adept Woodpass’s eyes were filled with joy. He immediately said, “Brother Ji Ning, brother Blackstone, I was just lucky. Neither of you are inferior to me.”

The Xia Emperor, seated on his throne, nodded slightly upon seeing this.

Ji Ning and Blackstone’s Dao-hearts were fairly formidable. The chance of becoming the Daofather’s disciple had suddenly disappeared; this was a tremendous blow that would cause some people’s Dao-hearts to completely crumble, and perhaps even cause them to go insane. For Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone to be able to quickly recover from this blow and regain their faculties…they did indeed live up to being top of the top three contestants in this Conclave.

“Ji Ning, Blackstone,” the Xia Emperor said. “The two of you don’t need to be depressed. I told you that the two of you will both be able to apprentice yourselves to a Pure Yang True Immortal! I will help you select a suitable master…and if others do not take you in, then I, Xiamang Xun, will personally take you on as my disciples. However, I do not travel on the Dao of the Sword, nor do I travel on the Dao of Formations. I’m not necessarily the best suited master for you two. Go and spend three days in the imperial capital first. Within three days, I’ll send someone to meet you two.”

“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Ning and Adept Blackstone both responded respectfully.

“The two of you can leave now,” the Xia Emperor said. He was quite favorably disposed towards both Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone. The attack on the Six Paths of Reincarnation and its collapse…the fact that this Conclave gave birth to two Daofather’s disciples…the Xia Emperor felt increasingly certain that this Conclave was going to give birth to future heroes of the Three Realms. Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone both had this potential!

“Junior apprentice-brother Woodpass, go ahead and seat yourself next to junior apprentice-brother Sovereign Hao,” the Xia Emperor said.

Adept Woodpass couldn’t breath. ‘Junior apprentice-brother’? The Xia Emperor had just referred to him as junior apprentice-brother? Adept Woodpass now truly understood…that from today onwards, his destiny had indeed been completely changed. He truly was about to soar into the heavens.

“Yes.” Adept Woodpass obediently walked forward. Sovereign Hao grabbed him and pulled him over to sit next to him.

“Eh?” Only now did Adept Woodpass see Empyrean God Seatopple, as well as the Sloppy Daoist who was beside him. “Why is the Sloppy Daoist sitting here as well?”

This place was a place where the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods were seated; not even the Celestial Immortals were permitted to come close. Why was the Sloppy Daoist here? And who was this man dressed in deep green Flood Dragon armor?

……

Ning was seated back before King Yan once more. King Yan consoled him, “Ji Ning, don’t feel dispirited. After all, you shall still become the disciple of a Pure Yang True Immortal. Even if there are no suitable ones…you will at least become his Imperial Majesty’s personal disciple. For him to become your master means that in the future, you will have no troubles at all within the world of the Grand Xia Dynasty. You will no longer need to fear the Youngflame clan.”

Ning nodded lightly. Since he couldn’t become the Daofather’s disciple, then all he could do was lower his expectations for now. Pure Yang True Immortals were truly formidable figures of the Three Realms as well. Perhaps they might know about whether Daoist Threelives was alive or not. In addition, with a Pure Yang True Immortal as his master, he would have a powerful backer in the future!

“Ji Ning.” Yuchi Xiyue looked towards Ning with concern.

“Ji Ning.” Yu Wei looked towards him as well.

Both of them were worried about him.

Ning, after sitting down, smiled gently. “There’s no way I can change the Daofather’s decision on whether or not too choose me! No matter what, I’ve already done all I can.”

“Right.” Both Yu Wei and Xiyue let out sighs of relief. Ning’s Dao-heart was even more firm and strong than they had expected.

Ning then looked towards the place where the True Immortals and Empyrean Gods were gathered. He immediately whispered, “Why is eldest apprentice-brother seated over there? Who is that fellow dressed in the dark green Flood Dragon armor in front of him?”

Yu Wei and Xiyue exchanged a glance. Xiyue spoke out, “When you went to choose a divine ability, that Empyrean God known as Seatopple arrived. He is the disciple of Grand Emperor Xuanwu, and he has come to this Conclave for the express purpose of bringing back the Sloppy Daoist.”

“He’s taking him away?” Ning was puzzled.

Yu Wei said, “You didn’t see it, Ji Ning. Everyone in the main hall was talking about it earlier. The divine ability which eldest apprentice-brother uses is known as the ‘Grand Black Tortoise’ divine ability, which was created by Grand Emperor Xuanwu, one of the major powers of the Three Realms. In reality…he had been chosen by Grand Emperor Xuanwu long ago to be his disciple. After this Conclave, he is going to be taken before Grand Emperor Xuanwu and truly taught the Dao.”

“What?!” Ning was stunned. Woodpass was a major power’s disciple, and now the Sloppy Daoist was becoming one as well?





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Book 12, Chapter 36 - Lu Dongbin Accepts a Disciple


Ji Ning, Adept Blackstone, and Adept Woodpass quickly came to understand the situation. It wasn’t so bad for Adept Woodpass, but Ji Ning and Adept Blackstone found it hard to refrain from feeling envy.

Becoming a Daofather’s disciple! Aside from personal effort, luck was another part of it!

“Xiamang,” Seatopple said, puzzled. “I heard you say earlier that it seems as though of the three, Ji Ning is the youngest. In addition, he also became number one in this Conclave. In turn, Blackstone is a grandmaster in formations. Why would the Daofather end up choosing Adept Woodpass?”

“How should I know?” The Xia Emperor shook his head. However, in his heart, the Xia Emperor thought back to his Primaltwin’s visit with Daofather Crimsonbright.