Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

“Fantastic. This…this is absolutely fantastic.” The Xia Emperor was extremely excited. “Your breakthrough to the Pure Yang level means that your Heaven Punisher will increase dramatically in power. If you join forces with the Seven Planets God, you might be able to completely tie down the Daofather golem. During the last battle, the Seamless Gate managed to escape with some of its forces, preventing us from wiping them out. They still suffered castastrophic losses, however. If you and the Seven Planets God can tie down the Daofather golem…leave the others, including the Three-Eyed Demon, to us.”


“Let’s go! Let’s go see the Daofather.” The Xia Emperor was incomparably excited.

“Alright.” Ning followed the Xia Emperor into the main palace.

“The Daofather’s in a side hall.” The Xia Emperor led Ning forward in a very familiar manner. Soon, Ning saw a quiet, secluded side hall with Daofather Crimsonbright seated in the lotus position within it.

However…as soon as Ning saw the Daofather, he could sense the deathly, melancholy aura surrounding him.

This was a sort of melancholic aura which would naturally emerge once one felt completely powerless.

“Master.” The Xia Emperor spoke out.

“Daofather.” Ning called out respectfully as well.

Daofather Crimsonbright opened his eyes. Upon seeing Ning, he nodded gently. “It seems you’ve managed to bestir yourself a bit, Ji Ning. Our loss in this Realmwar cannot be blamed upon you. You couldn’t have imagined any of those things happening. If we lose, we lose. There’s always a victor and a loser in any war. Later, I shall summon the other Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and army commanders and issue an order to retreat. You should roam the Three Realms a bit and relax. Both your master and myself have great expectations of you. Our war with the Seamless Gate shall continue. Although we’ve lost here, we’ll still need you to go fight in other places in the future.”

The Daofather was a Daofather, after all. Although he felt grief at completely losing his territory and his foundation, his gaze was still focused on the Three Realms as a whole. He naturally didn’t wish to see Ji Ning sink into endless despair; in fact, he didn’t even want to blame Ji Ning at all.

“Master…Ji Ning broke through to the Pure Yang True Immortal level,” the Xia Emperor said hurriedly.

Daofather Crimsonbright was briefly stunned…and then his eyes lit up!

His melancholic aura completely vanished. He once more became full of vigor and energy. He stared at Ning, then said with a laugh, “I really have grown old. I was so dispirited by this Realmwar that I’ve become as blind as a bat. I didn’t realize you made a breakthrough, even though you are standing right in front of me. Haha…Pure Yang True Immortal…you’ve broke through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal…then doesn’t that mean your Heaven Punisher shall dramatically increase in power? If you join forces with the Seven Planets God commanded by Redsnow, you should be able to tie down the Daofather golem, right?”

“Daofather, please give me 9000 Celestial Immortals and 810,000 Loose Immortals so that I may create a maximum-power Heaven Punisher,” Ning said respectfully.

“Superb.”

Upon seeing how confident Ji Ning was, Daofather Crimsonbright couldn’t help but call out the word ‘superb’. Ji Ning had previously already commanded 3000 Celestial Immortals; all they had to do now was merge six more Heaven Punisher armies into his army. Six ordinary Heaven Punishers wouldn’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

“I’ll give the orders right away. Prepare for a final battle against the Seamless Gate!” Daofather Crimsonbright’s eyes gleamed with light. His aura filled the heavens, and his voice boomed forth.





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Book 18, Chapter 52 - The Confident Evergreen


Just a short while later.

Per Daofather Crimsonbright’s orders, all the Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and army commanders assembled at the main hall.

“What?”

“We’re going to go fight?”

“The Seamless Gate now has a Daofather golem. How are we supposed to beat that?” Once Daofather Crimsonbright said that he was going to launch a true, final battle against the Seamless Gate, everyone was completely speechless. They weren’t afraid of death, but no one would be willing to throw their lives away in a situation where they had no chance of winning at all.

Daofather Crimsonbright looked down at his subordinates, then turned his head to look towards a side door. “Ji Ning, come out.”

The Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and army commanders all felt puzzled.

Ji Ning?

“Let Ji Ning come out? After experiencing his Dao-companion’s betrayal…I imagine that he couldn’t have fully recovered yet.”

“I don’t understand what the Daofather is planning.”

“Are we supposed to entrust everything to Ji Ning, who is at the brink of absolute collapse?”

“He can’t be joking with us, can he?”

Some felt anger towards Ning, while others felt sympathy and pity. All of them, however, felt certain that this peerless genius must have been delivered a blow from which he would need time to recover.

Footsteps rang out.

“Eh?” Upon seeing Ji Ning walk out, virtually everyone was stunned.

“He…he…”

“Pure Yang?”

“Impossible!”

Almost all of the Immortals and Fiendgods within the main hall were stupefied. They knew exactly how heavy a blow Ji Ning had just suffered. In their private conversations, most of them secretly opined that Ji Ning would probably wallow in his misery as a result of this blow. None of them had imagined that Ji Ning would actually break through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal at such a critical point in time!

To break through into the Pure Yang level was no easy feat. To completely and thoroughly master a Grand Dao was no easy task. Given the blow he had suffered and the mental anguish he was in…it would have been incredibly, incredibly difficult for him to make a breakthrough in the Dao of the Sword.

But…

The truth was right before them. The dense Pure Yang aura surrounding Ji Ning was unmistakeably real!

“Ji Ning has broken through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal. His Heaven Punisher can now command much greater power.” Daofather Crimsonbright’s voice boomed down from his high throne. “I will put 9000 Celestial Immortals and 810,000 Loose Immortals under his command, allowing him to form and command a perfect Heaven Punisher! Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher, when working in concert with Redsnow’s Seven Planets God, will handle the Daofather golem.”

Daofather Crimsonbright continued, “All of you are to immediately summon your soldiers and prepare for the final battle! In this final battle, our goal is to completely shatter the forces of the Seamless Gate and to protect our Realm!”

“Yes!” All of the Immortals and Fiendgods awoke from their stupor. They were all incomparably delighted, and their eyes glowed with excitement.

Prior to this, they all seemed to have lost their souls. They had no morale to speak of…and even Daofather Crimsonbright himself had been surrounded by a melancholic aura. But now, upon seeing a chance to gain victory, all of them became filled with a desire to do battle. They were so excited that their hearts once more began to boil with hot blood.

“Formidable.”

“He was actually able to make a breakthrough to the Pure Yang level after suffering such a blow.”

“Incredible.”

“This Ji Ning truly is incredible!”

Previously, quite a few of them had felt resentment towards Ji Ning, but all of that dissipated like smoke. All they felt towards him was amazement and admiration! To be able to make a breakthrough and completely change the course of the war at such a critical moment…how could they not feel admiration?

The grand army began to mobilize.

Sinuous Raindragons and towering Pangu War-Formations once more took form, along with many Heaven Punishers.