Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

Within the Daoist monastery.

There was a prayer mat within an open region with a skinny old man dressed in loose Daoist robes seated atop it. The old man’s hair was completely white, but he didn’t seem decrepit at all; rather, Ning felt as though this person had reached the level of infinite eternity. In addition, he also could sense a boundless life-force coming from this person. Ning couldn’t help but feel his own spirit completely calming down, thanks to his master’s simple presence.

“Master.” Ning walked in, then called out respectfully.

“Sit,” the Old Patriarch said.

Ning immediately sat down on a prayer mat in the lotus position, awaiting instruction.

The Old Patriarch looked at Ning, then said slowly, “How long have you spent on Mount Innerheart?”

“It has already been more than thirty years and five…this year shall be the thirty-sixth,” Ning said respectfully.

“Which abilities have you learned?” The Old Patriarch asked.

“Your disciple has learned the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] and reached the Third Cycle! I’ve just reached a basic level of skill in [Houyi’s Archery]. I have also trained in the [Torch Dragon’s Eye] and reached the second stage of innate torch-light! In the past thirty-plus years, your disciple has primarily focused on swordplay; I’ve already mastered the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword], and have learned other, more powerful sword-arts as well,” Ning said respectfully.

The Old Patriarch nodded. “You have many abilities now; it can be said that you are a completely different person compared to when you first came up the mountain. At your current level…remaining on Mount Innerheart will no longer help you as much as before. What you need to do now is go temper yourself within the real world, so as to prepare for your upcoming Celestial Tribulation. Given your abilities, and given that you have the legacy of brother Threelives…your Celestial Tribulation will surely be extraordinary. It will be very, very difficult.”

“Your disciple shall remember to be cautious.” Ning was enlightened. So indeed, it was as he had expected…it was time for him to leave his master’s tutelage.

“It is time for you to leave now.” The Old Patriarch looked at Ning. “I once said that when you left my tutelage, I would give you two great gifts.”

Ning instantly felt intrigued.

“After you entered my tutelage, I often watched you, appraising your comprehension ability, your talent, your habits…all for the sake of developing a completely unique evasion divine ability for you, known as the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens],” the Old Patriarch said.

Ning was overjoyed. This had been created just for him?!

Ning was badly in need of an evasive ability right now. He had been preparing to ‘settle’ for an evasive technique from the Divinities Palace if he couldn’t find a good one, but unexpectedly his master had been preparing this for him the entire time, developing an evasive divine ability that was completely suited for Ning.

“You are a human, after all; if you are to train in any other evasive abilities, it will be hard for you to reach the peak in them. Even if I gave you the [Wings of the Garuda], from which your Windwing Evasion ability originates, you will never be able to reach the level which the great Roc did,” the Old Patriarch explained. “The ‘best’ skill is the one most-suited to you. This technique, the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], when trained to the utmost peak…although it might not be as good as perfect mastery over [Wings of the Garuda], it isn’t that far off. You will be able to move 90,000 kilometers in a single movement.” [1. Alas, this isn’t quite as fast as Sun Wukong’s ‘somersault cloud’, which allowed him to move 108,000 kilometers in a single somersault.]

“90,000 kilometers in a single movement?” Ning was extremely delighted. 90,000 kilometers…this was an astonishing speed!

“This is the evasive divine ability I prepared for you. In the future, when you have your own insights, perhaps you’ll be able to further perfect it, allowing you to move even faster. That, however, shall be up to you,” the Old Patriarch said.

Ning nodded.

An evasive ability which Patriarch Subhuti had personally developed…most likely it would be hard for Ning to improve on, even after he became an Empyrean God. Improving it…that would be a very, very distant task.

“I can see that in the future, you shall be a Sword Immortal. But any truly formidable Sword Immortal needs a powerful sword-formation,” the Old Patriarch said. “The so-called [Heavenraker] sword formation, in truth, was used by Daofather Heavenrake as something he could teach his disciples. Even I don’t know what his most formidable and profound sword-arts…Daofather Heavenrake keeps them hidden as his secret weapons for keeping himself alive.”

Ning nodded.

“Your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] relies on using many treasures, relying on superiority of numbers; when combined with an appropriate sword-art, it is indeed capable of unleashing tremendous power. Both the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Sangha have similar types of techniques that rely on overwhelming numbers. Using your [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] as the foundation, I have distilled the essence of the best Daoist and Buddhist techniques of this nature and developed a new sword-formation technique for you. I have given it the name, [Greater Thousand Swords Formation],” the Old Patriarch said. “If you have enough treasures, the power of this [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] will be absolutely astonishing. It can be described as one of the supreme sword-formations of the Three Realms.”

“Thank you, Master!” Ning was both excited and overjoyed. The [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] evasive technique, the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] sword-formation technique…his master had personally designed both for him.

What Ning did not realize…

Was that Patriarch Subhuti was truly very diligent in teaching his students. Despite the passage of countless ages, the total number of students he had taken on was quite low, but he whole-heartedly focused on every single one he took on, especially during the early periods when they had first entered his tutelage. Although it seemed as though Ning hadn’t had the chance to meet with his master many times, in reality Patriarch Subhuti had been constantly monitoring Ning. Then, based on Ning’s own traits and characteristics, the Old Patriarch had tested out and developed these techniques in a completely separate world.

The [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens], for example; Patriarch Subhuti had spent hundreds of thousands of years developing it.

By comparison, the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] was easier; after all, this sort of formation simply centered around massive numbers of treasures. Patriarch Subhuti had only spent a thousand years to develop it.

In this other world, the flow of time was different. This was why Patriarch was able to bring out these two techniques now.

……

“Step forward,” the Old Patriarch instructed.

Ning hurriedly stepped forward, walking in front of the Old Patriarch. The Old Patriarch tapped Ning on the center of his forehead.

Instantly, a large amount of information flooded into Ning’s brain.

By the time Ning recovered, the [Obscuring Wind of the Nine Heavens] and the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] had been firmly imprinted into his mind.

“Alright. It is time to leave,” the Old Patriarch said.

“Master,” Ning said respectfully. “Your disiciple also wishes to meditate on the secrets of the lotus. I wish to make a trip to the Divinities Palace and acquire a few manuals on lotus techniques.”