Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

“That’s because that place is the Netherworld Kingdom. It was built by Mother Nuwa herself, and it also holds the treasured Book of Life and Death, which is one with the Dao of the Heavens,” King Yan said. “The Book of Life and Death can duplicate itself into trillions of copies, and so it controlled the reincarnation, karmic merit, history, and life of all living things. But what we have here is merely a minor cycle of reincarnation established by Daofather Crimsonbright. We don’t have a Book of Life and Death! Thus, our minor cycle of reincarnation is actually even busier than the old one.”


“The process of simply recording the countless deaths and rebirths of the world, as well as karmic virtues and demerits, requires enormous amounts of information to be recorded every single day on magic books,” King Yan said. “And we only have roughly a hundred years of information; anything beyond that is completely lost.”

“Completely lost?” Ning was stunned.

“Right. There’s no way for us to investigate the records that existed before the Six Paths of Reincarnation were destroyed. Although we can go to the Netherworld Kingdom to seek out the First Judge of the Dead, Judge Cui, in order to investigate the history of a soul across a thousand lifetimes…the amount of information and history regarding every single person is simply enormous. There’s simply no way for us to record all the history regarding the countless living creatures that exist across countless millions of worlds. And so, we don’t even bother with it,” King Yan explained.

“In fact, nowadays the Judges for the various minor cycles of reincarnation don’t even bother with wasting time on examining the past lives of the souls of the dead. They just look at karma, then based on positive karma or negative sin, decide if a person will be reincarnated as an animal or as a person, and if the person will be reincarnated with wealth or into poverty.”

Ning was speechless.

When he had met Judge Cui, Judge Cui had instantly known everything that had happened to him during his previous life.

But the judges of this minor cycle of reincarnation only looked at karma and sin; they didn’t even look at a person’s life history! Still…this did speed things up considerably.

“I’ll send someone to help investigate on your behalf. Still…to search through the sea-like mass of records to find the specific history-tablets pertaining to your parents will indeed take some time,” King Yan said.

“Thank you, senior,” Ning said hurriedly with gratitude. Only now did he understand the magnitude of his request to search for someone who had been reincarnated.

Several months? So be it.

“Senior, where can one find the First Judge of the Dead of the Netherworld Kingdom, Judge Cui?” Ning asked.

“You want to find Judge Cui? He might be in the Heaven Realm, or he might be in the Netherworld Kingdom, or he might be somewhere else.” King Yan shook his head. “Ever since the Six Paths of Reincarnation were destroyed, Judge Cui no longer had any tasks shackling him to a specific place. Given that the Book of Life and Death protects him, he can go wherever he pleases. If you want to investigate his whereabouts, you’ll need to ask the Immortals of the Heaven Realm or the Netherworld, I imagine.”

It was a dark, gloomy day today. Ning departed from the imperial capital of the Grand Xia, returning to Stillwater Commandery.

“In a few more months, I’ll be able to know what happened to Mother and Father after they were reborn.” Ning’s heart was filled with hope. “I wonder if they are doing well. Are they Immortal cultivators in this life as well? Which world are they living in, in this new life? Is it still the Grand Xia?”

The skies were desolate and bleak.

Ning flew towards a distant lake. From afar, he could see the wooden house that was located next to it, the residence of his junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson.

“Alas.” Ning sighed to himself.

His junior apprentice-brother had no family to begin with…and now, his one and only Dao-companion had been trapped within that jade globe. Every day, Northson hugged that jade globe and talked to it. Ning was very worried for his junior apprentice-brother’s Dao-heart. If this were to continue long-term…eventually, his Dao-heart might crumble, at which point he might go crazy and be unable to control his elemental ki, possibly resulting in self-detonation and death.

……

“He’s coming.”

Within the wild grasses next to the lake, the four Celestial Immortal Patriarchs that were seated in the lotus position all opened their eyes to stare at that figure that had appeared in the distant horizons.

It was a youth who was riding the winds…Ji Ning, the source of trouble which their Youngflame clan had come for!

“He came so quickly. It seems this Ji Ning has a very deep relationship with Mu Northson,” Patriarch Arcanum sneered. “I had thought we’d have to wait for a year or two. The Heavens truly are helping our Youngflame clan!”

“The Heavens are supporting us in eradicating this danger,” Patriarch Deadwood growled as well.

“Our chance has come.” The man holding the greatclock cracked his lips in a grin as well.

As for Patriarch Infatuation, a flash of cold light crossed his eyes.

This was their best-case scenario; after all, Immortal cultivators could go into closed-door meditation sessions and stay in them for extremely long periods of time. They had no idea how long it would be before Ji Ning would come to visit Mu Northson again. If they truly did have to wait for several years or a decade…they would probably end up choosing to capture Northson instead! They’d use him as a hostage, forcing Ji Ning to show himself…but in doing so, Ji Ning would be forewarned and might even bring his friends, such as his fellow disciples from that mysterious school he was from, or the likes of Immortal Diancai. That would render it very difficult for them to kill him.

“He’s completely unprepared right now.” A cold look was in Patriarch Infatuation’s eyes. “This is our best chance.”

“Right.” The other three Patriarchs nodded as well.

“Act according to our plans.” Patriarch Arcanum stared towards the distant Ning as he flew towards the wooden house. “This is the time. Attack!”

Ning was in midair. Through the open wooden door and open windows, he could see Northson within the wooden house. Northson had placed the jade globe on the table in front of him, and was chatting with it while drinking.

“He’s still chatting with Yu Xia’s soul?” Seeing this, Ning couldn’t help but feel even more pain and worry. “If this continues…how can he possibly prevent his Dao-heart from collapsing?”

Mortals were allowed to grow dispirited and depressed…but when Immortal cultivators did so, it would be extremely dangerous. It was one thing for Fiendgod Body Refiners; after all, even if their elemental ki exploded, their bodies would be able to withstand the damage. But his junior apprentice-brother Northson was merely a Ki Refiner; an explosion of elemental ki could be more than enough to cause him to perish.

“Junior apprentice-brother!” Ning called out loudly.

Northson, within the wooden home, picked up the jade globe. He walked to the doorway, raised his head, then smiled and called out, “Senior apprentice-brother!”

Right at this moment…

Ruuuuuuuumble.

A powerful yet mysterious ripple instantly spread out from nearby. Like the rays of the sun, the strange ripple instantly encompassed the entire area, including Northson, the jade globe, and Ning.

Ning felt as though his soul had suffered a powerful blow, but his Dao-heart was incomparably resilient. In addition, his Fiendgod body had become completely fused with his soul, rendering it even more stable; he was naturally able to withstand this collision.

“Not good. My junior apprentice-brother!” Ning was shocked.

He had been able to withstand the blow, yes…but would Northson be able to withstand it? Northson had only recently reached the Void-level and become an Earth Immortal; he could only be considered an extremely ordinary Loose Immortal. Would he be able to hold?