Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

……

Ning began to live together with Ninelotus and Yu Wei. They truly were a trio of Immortal lovers. The Three Realms were in a state of peace, and the Ji clan had nine Celestial Immortals within it; Ji Ning, Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Yuchi Snow, Ji Yichuan, Uncle White, Autumn Leaf, Spring Grass, and Little Qing. Everyone Ning cared about was alive…and in fact, all of them had become Celestial Immortals.

His life was peaceful and beautiful. In fact, this was what Ning truly desired in his heart.

To be carefree…to do what he wanted to do…

To be together with his loved ones…to live a simple, happy life…

Both Ninelotus and Yu Wei bore him children. To teach and rear children could be quite frustrating, but it was also quite blissful and happy.

……

Bliss.

Ning had never been so blissful. Not in his previous life, and not in this one. This demonheart world, however, truly was very blissful and very perfect.

“No wonder it is rare for a single new Celestial Immortal to appear within the world of the Grand Xia, even after the passage of a million years. No wonder countless Void-level Earth Immortals have attempted their tribulations but failed.” Ning felt agony in his heart. He knew very well that all of this was a lie…but he had spent more than thirty thousand years here. A hundred years in the real world…thirty thousand years here…even Ning’s Dao-heart was finding it hard to extricate itself from this demonheart world.

In fact…he was beginning to feel slightly unwilling to extricate himself. He didn’t want to let this all be destroyed.

……

The demonheart world.

It was night.

A little boat was drifting about in the waters of Serpentwing Lake. Ning was seated in the lotus position within that boat. He was by himself.

“Am I really…going to sink?” Ning could already sense that his Dao-heart was growing blurrier and blurrier. Clearly, it was becoming increasingly corroded.

Ning stared at the distant Brightheart Island. That island had all the people he loved the most; his father, his mother, Ninelotus, Yu Wei, Uncle White, Little Qing, Autumn Leaf, Spring Grass, and his children. All of those relationships, all of those emotions…they were like chains that had dug their way deep inside him. As more time passed, the chains only dug deeper and deeper. Thirty thousand years of life here…it was incredibly hard for him to shake them off.

“But…”

“But…!”

Ning gritted his teeth, blood becoming to come out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as he forced the words out. “It’s all fake. FAKE!!!”

When Ning said these words, he felt as though a knife was scraping against his heart.

“It’s all fake…”

“Because…”

“I want all of these things to become real. I want all of them to come back to life in the real world!” Ning’s Dao-heart was like a tiny blade of grass that had become completely trapped by countless metal chains…but that blade of grass continued to struggle and grow. Although the chains tried to suffocate it, tried to drag it away, the blade of grass continued to survive and grow.

“I am myself!”

“I AM THE RULER OF MYSELF! Nobody and nothing can shake me; not thirty thousand years, not a hundred thousand years, NOTHING!!!” Ning sat there on his wooden boat, letting out an enraged roar. This was a roar directed against the entire demonheart world.

Just as Ning called these words out…

Rumble…

The colors of the world began to change.

Whooooosh.

Space itself broke apart.

A towering figure appeared within the distant, infinite void that was left. Its aura was incomparably powerful, and it was looking at Ning.

“So you are Ji Ning? You were the previous successor to the Starseizing Estate, yes? The [Starseizing Hand] divine ability is not to be learned by outsiders. I alone can possess it, and so…you can die!” An enormous hand appeared, instantly covering the entire sky. Carrying awe-inspiring power, it came crashing down.





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Book 17, Chapter 27 - Becoming Immortal


Ji Ning just closed his eyes.

Kill him?

Go ahead.

This was the demonheart world; killing him here wouldn’t actually have an impact on his Dao-heart. In addition…Ning had a certain feeling. He had spent more than thirty thousand years within this demonheart world. He had allowed himself to sink deeply into this world multiple times before rousing himself once more. This had only resulted in his Dao-heart becoming even stronger. This sudden appearance of a ‘new successor to the Starseizing Estate’ was most likely the last trick the demonheart tribulation had to play.

BOOM! The giant palm suddenly came to a halt directly above Ji Ning. It was mere inches away from Ning. If Ning lifted his head up, he would be able to see the enormous fingerprints of that massive palm.

“Why have you halted…” Ning asked calmly, “…New master of the Starseizing Estate.”

“You aren’t afraid of death?” The towering figure said, slowing pulling back his enormous, sky-covering hand.

“If you want to kill me, kill me,” Ning said coldly.

“I had thought that killing a previous owner of the Starseizing Estate would be quite an interesting affair…but you actually aren’t going to fight back at all? How dull,” the towering figure said. Ning did his best to try and make out what this new master of the Starseizing Estate looked like, but he wasn’t able to see anything.

The towering figure waved his hand.

Whoosh!

One figure after another appeared in the air. There was a pair of white-robed Immortal lovers; Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow. There was also a white-robed, white-haired man who had an aura of calmness and tranquility about him…an azure-robed maiden…the mature Autumn Leaf…the young Spring Grass…Ning’s Dao-companions Yu Wei and Ninelotus…and their three children.

“Ning, son, have you just grown more powerful?”

“Why have you brought us here?” Yuchi Snow and the others all raised their heads to look towards the massive figure in confusion. They didn’t even give Ning a glance.

Ning’s face instantly changed.

“Ji Ning…you understand now, right? Yes…as you have guessed…I just used the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] to transform into your appearance,” the towering figure said. “They believe me to be you! And, thanks to my power…they are completely unable to see you or hear your voice.”

“What are you going to do?” Ning roared.

BOOM!

The towering figure suddenly stretched out with a single finger. He gave a single flick! The flick landed on the body of the white-robed, white-haired man. The man’s eyes were filled with disbelief…and with a boom, he exploded, transforming into dust.

“Uncle White!” Ning called out in shock, feeling pain in his heart.

He bore tremendous love for Uncle White in the real world, and he had also spent thirty thousand years loving Uncle White in the demonheart world. Upon seeing Uncle White be slaughtered…Ning instantly felt utter agony in his heart, agony so great as to affect even his Dao-heart.

“There’s plenty left. Don’t worry,” the towering figure said.

“What are you going to do?!” Ning knew that this was just nothing more than another illusion of the demonheart world…but the emotions he had built up over thirty thousand years wouldn’t be so easily wiped away.

“I’m going to kill them, one by one,” the towering figure said. “But of course…if you accept me as your master and owner, I can spare them.”

“In your dreams,” Ning said through gritted teeth.

Ning was no fool. He knew that the demonheart tribulation was part of the Dao of the Heavens; if he was to swear an oath to the Dao of the Heavens in the demonheart world to be a servant, he would truly and forevermore be lost.

“Then I’ll continue to kill.” The towering figure flicked his finger out again.

“Ning, son, what are you doing?”

“Ning, son, stop!”

“Master…you are going to kill me?”