Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

So Daoist Threelives had relied on the [Starseizing Hand] to kill multiple Fiendgod Daofathers. From what Patriarch Subhuti was saying, this divine ability truly was incredibly terrifying.

The giant yellow bear, however, felt his heart shake upon hearing these words. “Daofather, my master, he…”

Ning looked towards Patriarch Subhuti as well. Was Daoist Threelives alive or dead? This was a question that he had wanted to know for a long time as well.

“Little bear…” Patriarch Subhuti looked at the giant yellow bear. He let out a soft sigh.

The giant yellow bear’s heart instantly trembled. His face changed, and he repeatedly pressed his head against the ground, kowtowing so hard that deep thudding sounds could be heard. “Please inform me, Daofather. Is Master dead or is he alive?”

“Little bear…actually, in your heart, you’ve known the answer all along. Why must you ask?” Patriarch Subhuti shook his head.





* * *





Book 13, Chapter 3 - The Patriarch Accepts a Disciple


“I…” The giant yellow bear looked at the Patriarch.

“He died. He died long ago. He died within that tribulation.” The Patriarch shook his head. “Given Threelives’ temperament, if he was still alive, how could he not come back for you? How could he have let you drift through countless ages by yourself? Little bear, you clearly knew the truth…you just weren’t willing to believe it.”

Drip! Drip!

One teardrop after another fell onto the ground. The giant yellow bear’s kneeling body was shaking. He let out an agonized moan. “Nnnrragh…”

The agonized cry caused Ning’s own heart to feel sour as well.

“Master…master…master…” The giant yellow bear raised his head, howling madly. Daoist Threelives was like his father. Only a long time later did the kneeling bear say, “Forgive this little bear for his earlier outburst.”

“Alright,” the Patriarch said, “You can go back to the Starseizing Manor. You cannot break away from the Starseizing Manor for now.”

“Yes.” The giant yellow bear responded respectfully, then disappeared, having once more returned to the underwater estate.

Although Ning felt moved by the depths of the feelings the spirit of the underwater estate had for Daoist Threelives, he had noticed a few puzzling points. Since the giant yellow bear was the spirit of the estate…why did he seem like he was a living creature? He even shed tears? And the Patriarch had even said that he couldn’t break away from the Starseizing Manor yet? Could it be that he could in the future?

However, given that the spirit of the estate had already been within it for countless years without breaking free, it probably would take it a very, very long time before succeeding.

“Ji Ning.” The Patriarch looked at Ning. “Threelives is dead. I will teach you the Dao in his place. Are you willing to take me as your teacher?”

Ning immediately fell to his knees. “Your disciple greets you, Master!”

“Mm.” The Patriarch revealed a hint of a smile. “From today onwards, you shall be one of the honorary disciples of my school. Once you become a Celestial Immortal after your tribulation, you shall become my personal disciple.”

“Yes,” Ning said respectfully.

“There aren’t too many rules in my school. Just two.”

“One: You must not be disobedient and unfilial.”

“Two: Without my permission, in the outside world you cannot say that I am your master,” the Patriarch said. “If you violate these rules…for a lesser infraction, I will kill you, wipe your memory, and return you to the cycle of reincarnation. For a severe infraction, I will destroy your soul. For an extremely severe infraction…I will make your soul suffer an eternity of pain through truefire.”

Ning said respectfully, “Your disciple understands. Then…when can I say that I am your disciple?”

“When the time comes, you shall naturally be permitted,” the Patriarch said with a laugh. “Alternately, if you can reach your eldest apprentice-brother’s level of power, you can also tell whoever you please.”

Ning was secretly speechless. Eldest apprentice-brother? He was the number one expert amongst the many disciples. Even the white-robed Lord Jiang sighed at his own inferiority. How could it possibly be easy for him to reach such a level of power?

“As for whether or not you act virtuously or evilly in the future, I won’t interfere. I only ask that you act in accordance with your true nature,” the Patriarch said.

“Yes,” Ning said.

“Step forward. Come to stand in front of me,” the Patriarch instructed. Ning was startled, but he moved forward, moving up the steps and walking to the Patriarch’s side.

Suddenly…

The Patriarch stretched a finger out, tapping Ning on the center of his forehead. This was a simple tap, but it caught Ning completely off-guard. The tap landed directly on his forehead.

Rumble…

Ning’s entire body turned soft. He sat down on the ground, then shut his eyes. He just sat there.

The Patriarch smiled as he looked at Ning. He then closed his own eyes as well, no longer paying any attention.

……

A lonely corridor. The two sides of the corridor were covered with paintings of various sword-art techniques. The sword-arts in the paintings were even moving, displaying the profound mysteries within.

Ning walked forward through the corridor, staring at the endless sword-arts lining the two sides.

“These sword-arts are fairly ordinary; they aren’t even comparable to the first level of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning walked forward.

He forgot why he had come here.

He forgot about the past.

All he knew was that he was walking deeper and deeper through this corridor.

The sword-arts on the two sides continuously moved about. They even managed to separate from the walls, swirling around Ning and allowing him to understand the mysteries within them.

“This place…has reached the power of the second stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].”

Ning continued to walk forward. After walking for a short period of time, the sword-arts lining the halls began to demonstrate themselves in front of Ning, as though displaying the Dao of the Sword in fine detail. Ning had originally thought that he had a high level of comprehension of the Dao of the Sword, but he now realized that his insights were insufficiently detailed! Evil…dominating…arrogant…lonely…savage…all sorts of sword-arts were being displayed before him.

“This place…has reached the level of the third stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].”

……

He had no idea how long he had been walking for.

“This place…has already reached the level of the seventh stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning continued to walk forward, constantly interacting with large amounts of marvelous sword-arts. Ning’s foundation became increasingly solid and stable. Although he had long ago reached the level of the seventh stance, his insights into the Dao of the Sword were now significantly greater than before.

……

After yet another long period of time.

“This is now at the level of the eighth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” Ning felt that walking forward was becoming increasingly difficult. The countless sword-arts around him were constantly transmitting all sorts of profound mysteries to Ning. Ning was constantly being buffeted by them. This made his walking pace through the corridor to grow slower.

……

“The level of the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword].” The sword-arts became increasingly unfathomable. Every single sword-art surrounding him was comparable to the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], and countless sword-arts were on display. Although Ning couldn’t comprehend them, the fundamental mysteries of these sword-arts were firmly imprinted onto Ning’s soul.

……

As he walked forward, the techniques vastly surpassed the [Three-Foot Sword].

If there were more stances to the [Three-Foot Sword], then the later sword-arts were comparable to the tenth and the eleventh stance…