Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

“FATHER!!!”


The voices of his loved ones caused Ning to feel as though his heart was being torn apart. However…he gritted his teeth, just watching as they died, one by one.

“Ning, son…I know that you must be acting under some sort of duress.” Yuchi Snow closed her eyes, dying peacefully.

“Ji Ning! What the hell are you doing!” Ji Yichuan’s eyes were so wide, his eyelids were threatening to tear apart.

“Father. FATHER!” The three children who venerated Ji Ning were all sobbing.

The slaughter continued.

Ninelotus died! Yu Wei died! Little Qing died! One by one…all of his loved ones died.

Those emotional chains, forged and tempered over the course of thirty thousand years, had long ago wrapped themselves firmly around Ning. When he saw them all be killed, one after the other…those chains began to tug at him with greater power than ever before. They were going to pull Ning down, to drag him under.

“Ji Ning…what a callous heart you have.” The towering figure roared with anger. These words pierced deeply into Ning’s inner heart; it was as though his family members were all pointing at him and saying these words. “What a callous heart you have.”

Ning shut his eyes.

Even if all the people of the universe were to point at him in such a manner…he didn’t want for his family to point at him.

Thirty thousand years…

But in the end…it was all fabricated.

All fabricated!

BOOM!!!

The world completely blew apart. Everything blew apart; even that towering figure blew apart.

……

The real world.

“Ji Ning has already spent three full months within the deomnheart tribulation. This…this is simply…I’ve never even heard of something like this!” Immortal Diancai looked nervously at the seated black-robed Ning. “A three month long demonheart tribulation…I really worry as to if Ji Ning can withstand it.” His own demonheart tribulation had been far briefer.

“My master’s demonheart tribulation also lasted for three months.” Yu Wei caressed her belly, a look of worry in her eyes. She still remembered what Lu Dongbin had said to her: “Long ago…I was just a hair away from truly sinking into the dreams. Even now, I would be unwilling to undergo the demonheart tribulation a second time.”

“Hurry and wake up!” Northson was truly worried as well.

They all knew that the longer the demonheart tribulation was, the more terrifying it would be.

Ning’s demonheart tribulation had actually persisted for three months; this was utterly astonishing!

“Why has the Primaltwin’s demonheart tribulation lasted for so long? Is it due to the karmic sinflames?” The distant elder in the Daoist robes was watching quietly as well. All he could do was watch and wait; Ji Ning would have no one to rely on but himself, if he wanted to wake up from the demonheart tribulation.

Suddenly…

Everyone’s gaze turned towards Ji Ning…because the black-robed Ning had just opened his eyes.

“He woke up,” Uncle White said with surprise and joy.

“Master succeeded! Wahahaha, he overcame his tribulation and became a Celestial Immortal!” Little Qing seemed to have gone a bit delirious with joy.

“Junior apprentice-brother!” Yu Wei was extremely excited.

All of them were.

As for the black-robed Ning, he just thought there. His thoughts, his mind…everything was slowly coming back to him from the demonheart world. Only a long moment later did he realize…that his face was covered with tears.

He loved and longed for everything he had within the demonheart world. Everyone he cared about was still alive. It had all been a dream…but that dream had lasted for thirty thousand years, far longer than the mere century he had spent in the real world. He wanted to forget it all, but…how?

“I’m sorry,” Ning said softly.

He knew that those ‘family members’ were all just an illusion…but Ning still said those words.

“No wonder Master also shed tears after he successfully overcame his tribulation,” Ning said softly to himself. “This demonheart tribulation really is…”

Only now, after having escaped the demonheart world, did Ji Ning truly understand how terrifying that illusory world had been. In truth, he had danced at the very edge of truly falling into the abyss and never returning. Things had grown especially dangerous for him after he accepted and reciprocated the love of Yu Wei and Ninelotus! After having accepted their love, he now had even more ties to that world.

However…fortune and disaster rode together! Accepting their love did indeed make him sink even deeper into the dream, but precisely because of that, when he successfully struggled to shake off his chains and take control over himself once more, his Dao-heart had reaped even more rewards.

If he hadn’t sunk into the dream, he wouldn’t have been strengthened by the awakening.

But if he had sunk too deeply into it…he would have died.

Fortunately, his heartforce had reached the peak of the ‘ruler’ stage; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand the demonheart tribulation.

……

An Immortal melody rang out as auspicious clouds descended from the heavens and golden lotuses began to bloom throughout the area.

A terrifying presence descended, pouring the energy of the natural world into Ning’s body. The universe itself began to transform Ning’s Primaltwin.

“This is…?”

The black-robed Ning could clearly sense that the energy of the natural world, with the invisible help of the Dao of the Heavens, had begun to compress all of the energy within his body. His soul completely fused with his golden-lotus Primal; in fact, even his Zifu Region began to merge into the golden-lotus Primal, as well as the Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater itself.

Crack!

The lotus seed-head at the top of the golden lotus gave birth to a tiny little golden lotus seed. This was the most important thing for Celestial Immortals, True Immortals, and even Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament…the golden pellet, the Jindan!

As the Jindan flew out, the Zifu Region, the Sole-Ki Pearl, and everything else vanished. In fact, the body of the Primaltwin Ning was changing as well, transforming into a Celestial Immortal’s body, a body that was designed and created through Celestial Immortal energy.

“Jindan?” The black-robed Ning murmured to himself.

This was the very core of his entire life essence…this tiny little golden pellet.

This Jindan possessed utterly inconceivable power. It merged all power into it, melting everything into a dazzling, beautiful golden luster. A perfect Jindan would contain even the soul and the truesoul within it; there would never again be any distinction between them! In fact, the Jindan also contained a dimension within it that held an enormous amount of Celestial Immortal energy. The energy of the natural world was drawn into the Jindan, and even magic treasures could be stored within it.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Ning sensed his body transcending, one breath at a time, as Immortal energy flowed throughout his entire body.

“Ji Ning.”

“Junior apprentice-brother.”

Only now did Immortal Diancai and the others fly over. The black-robed Ning smiled towards them in welcome.

“Ji Ning, congratulations on your Primaltwin overcoming the tribulation. Nine nine-sets of thunder tribulation, and a three month demonheart tribulation…I’ve never even imagined something like this happening.” Immortal Diancai looked at Ning. “I, Diancai, actually have a disciple like you…ahahaha, I regret nothing in life, nothing!”

“Master, you are absolutely incredible. I admire you to death!” Little Qing, in the form of a little azure serpent, immediately coiled herself Ning’s arm with incomparable friendliness.