Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

Time passed, one day after another.

Lotus’ belly grew bigger and bigger. The young Youngflame Ji was working hard to acquire all sorts of treasured herbs, which he gave to Lotus to eat. “My child must be born with the best of talent. In the future, he will definitely become an important person.”

Each time Youngflame Ji had that eager, excited look on his face, Lotus would laugh as she looked at her man.

This was bliss.

“Everyone in the city is to be evacuated!” An ancient voice echoed throughout the city. Youngflame Ji, who had been holding his pregnant wife’s hand and accompanying her on a stroll, was startled.

Moments later…

The world around them changed.

Youngflame Ji and Lotus had arrived within a pocket dimension which was filled with countless people.

“Lotus, are you alright?” Youngflame Ji was extremely worried.

“I’m fine. But…but where are we?” Lotus, rather worried as well, clutched at Youngflame Ji’s hand.

“Don’t worry. I’m here.” Youngflame Ji vigilantly scanned their surroundings.

Not too long afterwards…

Whoosh…

A second round of teleportations. This time, they were moved to Old Demon Windraiser’s pearl, and the population became even denser.

“No…” Ning’s heart was filled with regret. He truly didn’t want to see this…this scene of utter despair.

Rumble…

The world broke apart.

Screams of terror…rage…despair…

Countless people began to die within the shattering dimension.

“No, no, no…” The youth was completely dazed. He stared in terror at the surrounding world. He had sworn an oath…he was going to protect his wife! “What should I do? What should I do?!” He was blaming himself over and over; he would rather die than let his beloved wife die! He couldn’t forget how they had met…the countless hardships they had experienced together before they had finally been able to be together…

“Lotus…” The youth looked towards the girl, his tears falling down.

He truly was helpless!

“It’s good that we’re together…our entire family is together…” Lotus tightly clutched her man with one hand while gently touching her stomach with the other.

Whoosh….

The shattering dimension showed no mercy at all. As the cracks in reality swept towards them…the man, the woman, and the child in the woman’s belly all perished.

The dimension was completely destroyed.

Ning even ‘saw’ that giant golden palm appear in the outside world. It was this golden palm that had shattered the Qiankun pearl, causing the three of them to all perish.

And that giant golden palm…was Ning’s palm.

“Why? Why wasn’t I just a bit more careful…why did I have to destroy it?” Upon seeing Lotus die, he couldn’t help but feel as though Yu Wei had just died in front of him. The agony which Youngflame Ji felt was sent straight to Ning’s own heart, causing him to feel pain as well.

“It was my fault.”

“I shouldn’t have.”

“Shouldn’t have.”

Ning had reached the ‘iceheart’ stage. Although he felt regret …in the deepest recesses of his heart, he was still able to maintain his state of cold transcendence. He was still able to completely control the emotions he felt regarding what had happened in the outside world, causing it to be unable to shake his inner heart.

……

One story after another.

Ning’s soul rode with one individual after another. For some, he only spent a few months with them; for others, he spent more than ten years. Each person was the type which Ning absolutely wouldn’t have been willing to kill…and in fact, many of their stories resonated with him. This sort of soul-riding felt almost like a form of rebirth. However, because Ning had reached the ‘iceheart’ level, he was able to separate all those emotions from his inner heart, causing it to remain unshaken.

However…the more Ning saw, the more he felt a certain desire in his heart…

If only I hadn’t shattered that Qiankun pearl, how wonderful things would be!

Although Ning felt this desire…he also understood that there was no way to change things. He couldn’t take it back.

……

This sorts of feelings continuously accumulated within his heart. Suddenly…

“Mother! Second matron!”

“Lotus!”

“Master!”

“Junior apprentice-brother!”

“Why, why?!”

“I don’t want to die!”

“My baby! Aaaaaaaah!”

In that instant…

Ning had experienced all sorts of powerful emotions over the course of riding with a thousand lives. All sorts of resentment, anger, pain, embarrassment, agony…they all suddenly gathered together. Before this, although Ning was deeply impacted by the emotions he felt when riding with one of the victims, the emotions came in a single, sudden rush. This time, however…all of the emotions came crashing upon him at the same time. The self-recrimination he felt came crashing down upon him like a wave, instantly drowning him within its waters.

“It was all because of you. You!”

“Why did you break it? Why?!”

“You should be damned.”

“Damned!”

“Die.”

“If you die, you’ll be free.”

“Free.”

A flood of emotions…countless voices…they completely buried and smothered Ning. In fact, they were even able to breach Ning’s ‘iceheart’ and completely fill every inch of his inner heart.

This was the most difficult tribulation of the three tribulations of the ‘red dust tribulations’…the ‘thousand lives heart-tribulation’!





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Book 16, Chapter 5 - Ruler


The most terrifying tribulation of the red dust tribulations was this one, the thousand lives heart-tribulation. It was an experience akin to being reborn a thousand times. If one’s Dao-heart was weak, one would probably be lost forever…

After all, to Immortal cultivators, with the passage of countless lifetimes, one would begin to lose the memories of one’s former lives. With so many personalities and experiences in one place…the original personality and person would be lost.

Experiencing a thousand lives, in and of itself, was enough to cause many Loose Immortals to be lost…at which point, the karmic sinflames would burn their souls to ashes.

The thousand lives heart-tribulation was even worse; it wasn’t as simple as causing someone to be actually reborn a thousand times! Ji Ning was a classic example; with each rebirth, he ‘possessed’ the spirit of someone whose story and personality resonated with his own…and each of their stories caused him to feel self-recrimination and regret. If instead he had been randomly ‘reincarnated’ or ‘possessed’ the body of an evildoer, Ning’s iceheart-level mind probably wouldn’t have been shaken in the slightest.

But every single time, Ning’s soul rode with someone whose life experiences and histories resonated with himself. Slowly…these experiences had penetrated his iceheart and entered his inner heart.

And then…they had all merged together!

A flood of emotions born from a thousand lives suddenly exploded forth, reaching an inconceivable level of intensity. This was the final strike of the thousand lives heart-tribulation…and the most terrifying strike of all! Countless peerless geniuses had perished to this strike.

Rumble…

His ‘iceheart’ had been completely infiltrated and submerged. Ning was no longer able to maintain that state at all.

“Damn you.”

“Your fault.”

“Die, die.”

“Go die.”

“I want you dead!”

“Vengeance for Lotus.”

The figures from a thousand lifetimes swam before his eyes. They were roaring with rage, their faces savage and vicious.