Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

……

Not just the seven Empyrean Gods; even Ning could tell that these three Queen Mother clones of the Snaphorn world were intentionally trying to delay and buy time. They all knew what was going on…but they were helpless to stop it! The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets was capable of protecting itself, but not of escaping. Ning, in turn, was completely unqualified to participate in a battle of this level.

“Senior bear, where did these seven seniors come from? They are in a dangerous situation right now; do you have any method for saving them?” Ning was frantic; his Primaltwin was currently querying the giant yellow bear, but all the bear did was sigh. What could he possibly do?

But just as Ning was panicking and as the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets was battling against the three Queen Mother clones…

Whoooooosh.

In the distant Void, a grayish-white vortex suddenly appeared, causing Ning to turn his head to look at it. The battling Empyrean Gods and the three Queen Mother clones also couldn’t help but notice the grayish-white vortex which had suddenly appeared.

A figure suddenly emerged from the grayish-white vortex of the Void.

It was an old man with a pristine white beard who was dressed in loose Daoist robes.

“MASTER!” Ning stared, wide-eyed.





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Book 16, Chapter 22 - Subhuti


“Who are you?” The three Queen Mother clones all called out in unison. Looks of vigilance were in their eyes. The way in which the old man dressed in Daoist robes had appeared was simply too frightening! It must be understood that most people would use special methods to tear through space to teleport, but this old man had formed a spatial vortex instead, creating a corridor for himself to easily pass through.

There had been nothing flashy at all about it…this was something which the three Queen Mothers wouldn’t be able to do, no matter how hard they tried.

The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets looked towards the old man, but in its eyes was a look of wild joy.

“Subhuti came.”

“I knew it. With a disciple as monstrously talented as this, Subhuti HAD to come rescue him.”

“Haha, we’re saved!”

Even the calmest of the seven Empyrean Gods, Empyrean God Redsnow, let out a sigh of relief. None of them felt any doubt whatsoever as to whether or not Subhuti was capable of rescuing them. After all…Subhuti stood at the very, very top of the Three Realms, and was the most mysterious of Daofathers. Even Daoist Threelives was quite lacking compared to him!

“This is the territory of our Snaphorn world. We three sisters don’t wish to become enemies with you.” The three Queen Mother clones stared fixedly at the old man in the Daoist robes, paying no attention to the Empyrean Gods next to them.

The old man gave them a glance, then said calmly, “Vile creatures!”

Rumble…

When the two words, ‘vile creatures’ came out, an invisible ripple instantly pierced through the surrounding space, almost instantly arriving at the three Queen Mother clones. In the area where the three Queen Mothers were present, space and time began to twist, curve, and break apart. The three Queen Mother clones let out enraged roars within that field of shattered spacetime, and all the green light from their bodies surged forth, attempting to break out. However…they were completely unable to resist the field of shattered spacetime. Their three mighty clones were completely shattered and destroyed along with the local spacetime itself.

Everything turned silent.

The only ones left in the Void were Patriarch Subhuti, Ji Ning, and the Empyrean God of the Seven Planets.

“But…” Ning couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

“So this is the power of Patriarch Subhuti?” The seven Empyrean Gods were terrified as well. It must be understood that Empyrean God Redsnow stood at the very pinnacle of power amongst Empyrean Gods; in fact, he was extremely close in power to an ordinary Daofather. When the seven of them joined together into their Seven Planets God Formation, they could be considered to have just barely reached the Daofather level of power.

Those three Queen Mother clones had been comparable to them in strength…but all that Patriarch Subhuti had done was say the words ‘vile creatures’, and an invisible ripple of power had instantly slaughtered those three clones without damaging the seven Empyrean Gods in the slightest.

An ability like this, finesse like this…they felt utterly amazed.

“Subhuti truly is Subhuti, the most mysterious Daofather of the Three Realms.”

“He really is powerful.”

“Utterly terrifying.”

The seven mighty Empyrean Gods were completely stunned.

Patriarch Subhuti was too mysterious a figure; he rarely showed his power within the Three Realms, and these seven Empyrean Gods had never seen him strike! They had only heard from their former Godking, ‘Daoist Threelives’, that Patriarch Subhuti was very strong, even stronger than Daoist Threelives himself. As for how much stronger…very few in the Three Realms knew the answer to that question. The number one impression which the countless experts of the Three Realms had of Patriarch Subhuti could be summarized in one word; ‘mysterious’!

Just look at the Crescent major world he had created! Without Patriarch Subhuti’s permission, nobody could even find it! This ability alone was utterly inconceivable.

……

In truth, the person who had undergone the greatest emotional turmoil just now was actually Subhuti’s disciple, Ji Ning.

He had felt despair upon being trapped, had quietly waited and fought for eighteen years, felt utter despair again upon being captured alive, felt shocked and overjoyed at the appearance of the seven Empyrean Gods, once more felt despair upon seeing how powerful the three Queen Mother clones were…and now, his master had appeared, said the words ‘vile creatures’, and completely killed all three Queen Mother clones.

In fact…in his heart, Ning felt as though the entire universe had suddenly changed.

The Void remained the Void…but Ning now felt that the Void was a beautiful, beautiful place.

“Respectful greetings to you, Old Patriarch.” The Empyrean God of the Seven Planets broke apart into seven Empyrean Gods, all of whom spoke out respectfully.

“Not bad.” Patriarch Subhuti lightly nodded.

The seven Empyrean Gods felt a joyful feeling in their hearts.

They understood the true meaning behind Patriarch Subhuti saying the words, ‘not bad’. Per Daoist Threelives’ orders, if his heir had not reached the Empyrean God level, the seven of them didn’t have to care about whether or not his heir lived or died. However, as Patriarch Subhuti saw it, Ji Ning was his own disciple as well as Threelives’; thus, Subhuti felt quite pleased that the seven of them had chosen to come out and protect Ning.

“Disciple.” Patriarch Subhuti looked towards Ning. He took a single step forward, displacing himself through space and appearing before Ning.

“Master.” Ning hurriedly called out to him with respect, tears having appeared in his eyes. “Thank you, Master…”

“Hahaha…” Subhuti laughed. “Come. It’s time to go back.”

“Right.” Ning nodded heavily.

“Why haven’t the seven of you returned yet?” Subhuti glanced backwards.

The seven Empyrean Gods hurriedly flew over. They first saluted towards Subhuti respectfully, and then they disappeared into nowhere. Clearly, they had returned to the Starseizing Manor…but the ‘master’ of the manor, Ji Ning, didn’t feel a thing. Clearly…he had yet to fully master this Starseizing Manor.

Ning raised his head, giving the infinite Void a final glance.

This Nihilum Zone…

It had proven to be a testing ground for him. In this place, he had first overcome the karmic sinflames, had reached the ‘ruler’ level in heartforce, had come up with a way to apply heartforce to his sword-fingers, and had mastered a tiny amount of swordforce…