Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

Ning nodded as well.

Years ago, his junior apprentice-brother Mu Northson had been imprisoned within one of the enemy bases. That place, a mere base, had amply demonstrated that their skills in manufacturing constructs had reached an unfathomable level. Even Northson had been stunned by their prowess! Despite that, the base had most likely been one of the low-level manufacturing facilities for the Seamless Gate.

“The core formation-diagrams for the golems are the most valuable parts,” the Xia Emperor said. “If we can acquire them, then we can manufacture golems of our own. In fact, the Seamless Gate has other golems as well, including some that are even more powerful than Empyrean God golems. Acquiring a set of the core formation-diagrams would be of great benefit to our overall position throughout the entire Three Realms. Gaining a formation-diagram would be even more important than losing the entire Grand Xia major world. But alas…we haven’t been able to acquire one.”

Ning and the others all understood.

Not even the leaders of the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Way, the Primordial Imperial Clan, and Subhuti of the ‘Dream of the Three Realms’ had been able to procure these diagrams. From this, one could tell how tightly and carefully the Seamless Gate protected them.

“If we could acquire a set…” The Xia Emperor’s eyes were filled with obvious desire.

If he could acquire one, then most likely all of the Daofathers and True Gods of the Nuwa Alliance would thank him. It must be understood that the strongest golems of the Seamless Gate had the power to threaten even True Gods and Daofathers. This was one of the gravest concerns for the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance, and one of the most frightening aspects of the Seamless Gate. In fact, to ensure that golems would be manufactured properly, the leaders had even set up an independent organization, the ‘Myriad Demons Cavern’, to carry out that task. The Nuwa Alliance had attempted to infiltrate the Myriad Demons Cavern to acquire formation-diagrams, but they had failed each time.

“Enough of that.” The Xia Emperor refocused his attention, turning to look towards Ning and the others. “Take a rest. The forces of the Seamless Gate are already taunting us and calling for battle. Prepare to engage them.”

As he spoke, the Xia Emperor waved his hand, producing an illusory image next to him. The illusory image showed four White-Faced Flood Dragons and nine Empyrean God golems; clearly, the destroyed White-Faced Flood Dragon had its ranks replenished. Like the Xia Emperor, the Seamless Gate had quite a few Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals in reserve.

Ning stared at the illusory image.

Killing one would be a major accomplishment!

“Gotta win.”

When Ning looked at the image before him, the picture in his mind was that of Yu Wei caressing her belly. He had to protect them, no matter what.

After resting for a few moments…

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Nine Heaven Punishers vanished from the Eight Dragons Cloudcity, going to the outside world.





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Book 18, Chapter 16 - Three Years


The walls of the Seamless City.

True Immortal Whitepole stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the black-haired, black-robed, red-eyed elder. They stared at the distant battle occurring, with nine Heaven Punishers doing battle against four White-Faced Flood Dragons and nine Empyrean God golems.

“Fellow Daoist Crimsonjoy,” True Immortal Whitepole said with a calm laugh, “Fellow Daoist Blackheaven asked you to kill Ji Ning. I wonder…when do you plan to make your move?”

In a head-on battle, True Immortal Whitepole was very confident in his powers. Most likely not even Azurefox was a match for him. In terms of killing someone, however…True Immortal Whitepole didn’t dare to compete against True Immortal Crimsonjoy. Engaging in a head-on fight was completely different from murdering someone. True Immortal Crimsonjoy was extremely skilled in murder; he had many murderous techniques indeed! In the Seamless Gate’s headquarters, True Immortal Crimsonjoy had a very special, transcendent position. Not one of the hundred Seamless Gates under the command of the Godking were qualified to command True Immortal Crimsonjoy. Crimsonjoy reported directly to the Godking himself.

Not even True Immortal Whitepole was able to ask him for help. And so, he truly didn’t understand…how was it that Blackheaven, who was clearly a mere Celestial Immortal, had managed to accomplish this? True Immortal Whitepole always had the feeling that Celestial Immortal Blackheaven had many secrest about him.

“No rush. The time isn’t right yet,” True Immortal Crimsonjoy said calmly.

“Right, fellow Daoist Crimsonjoy…fellow Daoist Blackheaven must have paid a significant price to get you to help out, right?” True Immortal Whitepole said.

True Immortal Crimsonjoy glanced at True Immortal Whitepole, then grinned. “You couldn’t possibly guess what the price was.”

“Let me have a guess?” True Immortal Whitepole laughed, intrigued.

“I won’t tell you.” True Immortal Crimsonjoy shook his head. “Still..don’t worry. Since I accepted fellow Daoist Blackheaven’s request, I’ll do everything I can and pay any price to kill Ji Ning.”

True Immortal Whitepole nodded lightly. It wasn’t too likely that he would be able to take such a powerful figure under his command, and so he simply said, “You said that this isn’t the right time yet. When is the right time?”

“Wait patiently.” True Immortal Crimsonjoy stared at the nine distant Heaven Punishers and the most powerful of them all, Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher.

“Wait?” True Immortal Whitepole frowned.

True Immortal Crimsonjoy gave True Immortal Whitepole another glance, then said, “The more overconfident they are, the greater my chances of killing them are. Right now, however, the war has just begun. All of them, the Xia Emperor concluded, are on high alert and are extremely cautious.”

“But…they’ll always be cautious,” True Immortal Whitepole argued.

“That’s different.” True Immortal Crimsonjoy shook his head. “Right now, they are cautious of everything. After multiple battles happen and as time goes on, they’ll slowly grow accustomed to the rhythm of battle, and as that happens…although they’ll still be careful, they’ll naturally become less guarded against those things they feel accustomed to.”

True Immortal Whitepole nodded in seeming understanding.

“Simply put…after they fight for a long time, even though they’ll still be in great danger each day, they’ll grow numb to the danger,” True Immortal Crimsonjoy said. “What I need to do is wait for them to grow numb.”

“Then when the time comes, I’ll be watching to see your abilities, fellow Daoist Crimsonjoy. Our Seamless Gate has sought to kill Ji Ning, but we’ve never been able to succeed, even though we’ve spent quite a bit of effort on it,” True Immortal Whitepole said with a laugh.

True Immortal Crimsonjoy shook his head. “The Seamless Gate has many powerful figures; Commander Azurefox alone has many mighty experts under her. If the Godking truly wanted to kill Ji Ning and was willing to pay any price, including risking a battle against the Daofather behind Ji Ning, Ji Ning would’ve died long ago.”

True Immortal Crimsonjoy’s gaze fell once more upon Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher. He let out a soft sigh. “He truly is a peerless genius. A pity…”

True Immortal Crimsonjoy was a very patient man.

He waited for over three years.

Three years later. A misty dawn.

Within an incredibly vast wilderness that was filled with craters. Seven massive Heaven Punishers and five Empyrean God golems were in a frenetic battle against three White-Faced Flood Dragons and eight Empyrean God golems.

The land shook, and the mountains trembled. In fact, many of the distant mountain ranges had already collapsed into piles of rubble.