Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

Yu Wei smiled and nodded towards them, replying with a few pleasantries before turning and entering her residence to prepare some dishes for Ning.

A short while later, Ning returned.

“Senior apprentice-sister.” Ning entered the room.

Yu Wei was carrying a platter of food outside as he entered. Smiling, she said, “I heard that you achieved a grand victory today. You even killed a True Immortal, a True Immortal Crimsonjoy?”

“You’ve heard already?” Ning sat down, surprised.

“Everyone in the camp is talking about it. How could I not know?” Yu Wei poured some Immortal wine for Ning.

Ning nodded and smiled. “Right. I was fairly lucky. Without planning on it, I ended up killing True Immortal Crimsonjoy in one blow. But alas…I was just a step too slow. If I made my breakthrough slightly earlier, our side probably would’ve lost even fewer forces.” When Ning thought of his sixth brother, Celestial Immortal Rainbow, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of misery. His Dao-heart, however, allowed him to quickly smooth over and settle down his emotions.

“You made a breakthrough?” Yu Wei said, surprised.

“Right.” Ning nodded lightly, then said, “I’ve made a breakthrough in my soul heartforce technique.”

His master, Subhuti, had instructed him long ago that he was not to casually inform others of his breakthrough to the Pure Yang True Immortal level. He was not to tell Yu Wei or Uncle White, who he held complete faith in, about it! If he told a single person, the Seamless Gate would have a chance to find out about it.

“You’ve finally made a breakthrough in your soul heartforce technique?” Yu Wei said joyfully, “Wonderful. A breakthrough in soul heartforce will allow you to control even more power from your Heaven Punisher, making it even mightier. Right now, in the war for the Grand Xia, there’s not many on the side of the Seamless Gate who are a match for you.”

“Haha. For now, at least, there’s no one who can deal with me. True Immortal Whitepole, Gatemaster Azurefox, and the White-Faced Flood Dragon which is under the command of an Empyrean God all had to join forces together against me, and they still weren’t a match.” In front of Yu Wei, Ning did something he rarely did; he bragged a bit.

“I knew you’d be incredible.” Yu Wei was very happy.

The more powerful Ji Ning was, the greater the chances of his survival would be.

Yu Wei and Ji Ning enjoyed this meal very much. Shortly after they finished…

“Eh?” Yu Wei suddenly felt a dizzy spell strike her.

“The Godking?” Yu Wei’s heart clenched as she realized that it was the Godking forcibly summoning her.

The Godking had left his imprint upon her soul. There was no way she could refuse his summons at all. When Azurefox wanted to reach Yu Wei, she had to wait for Yu Wei to fall asleep first…but the Godking could forcibly reach out to her, not needing to wait for her to go sleep.

Yu Wei didn’t dare to hesitate at all. She immediately said, “Junior apprentice-brother, I’m full. I’m a bit tired; I’m going to take a nap.”

“Go ahead and get some rest,” Ning immediately said. She was currently pregnant; he didn’t dare to negligent of her health.

Yu Wei moved into a nearby room, lay down on the bed, then shut her eyes.

……

Within a vast world of darkness.

Yu Wei appeared out of nowhere, and as soon as she did she saw that massive royal throne hovering in the middle of the endless darkness, as well as the towering figure of the Godking seated upon the throne. She also saw Gatemaster Azurefox kneeling before the Godking. Yu Wei immediately knelt down as well. “I prostrate myself before you, Godking.”

“Yu Wei,” the Godking said, “The great battle the Grand Xia Dynasty just fought against our Seamless Gate…are you aware of it?”

Yu Wei was somewhat startled. She immediately nodded. “I do.”

“The Seamless Gate suffered a major loss,” the Godking said. “The Grand Xia won a great victory. Do you know why the Grand Xia won?”

Yu Wei hesitated a moment, then said, “Because of my junior apprentice-brother, Ji Ning.”

She knew very well that the Godking had to be aware of all the details regarding the battle. There was no way any of it could be hidden from him.

“Right. Because of Ji Ning.” The Godking slowly tapped his fingers against his armrest, a hint of doubt in his voice. “How could your Dao-companion, Ji Ning, have increased his power by that much? Did he become a Pure Yang True Immortal? Or is it because he’s mastered the heartforce techniques which Old Man Yuan transmitted to him?”

“Your subordinate doesn’t know,” Yu Wei said respectfully.

“You don’t know?” The Godking gazed downwards towards her.

Yu Wei’s heart shook, but she forced herself to remain calm.

“I believe he must have become a Pure Yang True Immortal,” the Godking said.

Yu Wei was surprised. The Godking already knew the answer?

“There is no way you can lie in my presence,” the Godking said calmly. “I’ve summoned you and asked you simply because I wanted to test you…but in the future, if I ask you for any information regarding the Grand Xia and you dare to hide anything…then I will exile you into the Infinity Hells. When that happens…there will never be a chance for the child of yourself and Ji Ning to enter this world!”

Yu Wei’s heart shook yet again. This was what she feared the most. The thing she wanted above all else was to survive until her child was born.

“Forgive me, Godking,” Yu Wei said hurriedly.

The Godking just gave her a glance.

Whoosh. Yu Wei disappeared into thin air.

“Godking?” Azurefox raised her head to look at the Godking with a belly filled with questions.

“It seems that Ji Ning did not lie to Yu Wei,” the Godking said slowly. “Ji Ning has indeed come up with a soul heartforce technique. If he is allowed to grow unimpeded…I’m afraid that the Nuwa Alliance of the Three Realms shall soon gain yet another hard-to-deal-with Empyrean God or True Immortal.”

Azurefox was even more puzzled.

“Ji Ning told Yu Wei that he made a breakthrough.” The Godking gave his most devoted of servants an explanation. “A breakthrough in a soul heartforce technique! However, before this I was concerned that Ji Ning might have been lying. The best judge of whether or not he was lying would be Yu Wei, his Dao-companion; she knows him better than any others. If he lied, Yu Wei should be able to detect it. I could sense, however, that Yu Wei also believes that Ji Ning has indeed made a breakthrough in his soul heartforce technique.”

Although Yu Wei hadn’t said it, the Godking could completely see through all of Yu Wei’s thoughts.

However…

What the Godking didn’t realize was that Ning hadn’t told anyone at all that he had broken through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal. Ning had indeed lied to Yu Wei. His heartforce was incredibly strong, and so he was able to reveal no flaws at all when lying. In addition, although Yu Wei had some vague guesses in her heart, she still had complete faith in Ning. Ning was the most important person in her life, and so harbored no doubts about his words at all.

After speaking with and querying Yu Wei, in the end the Godking decided that Ji Ning had to have truly made a breakthrough in heartforce.

Azurefox hurriedly said, “That’s good. At least he hasn’t become a Pure Yang True Immortal yet.”

“Good?” The Godking gave Azurefox a sideways glance. “You still don’t understand what it means for him to have made a soul heartforce breakthrough. In the Three Realms, there are many who have become Empyrean Gods or True Immortals, but the number of individuals who have developed soul heartforce techniques can be counted on two hands.”