Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

Last time, Ning had chosen the Sole-Ki Nine Element Pearls out of eighteen available choices, leaving behind seventeen. Now, five more choices appeared for a total of twenty-two. In truth, however…Ning didn’t fancy any of the previous seventeen, and so he would really be choosing from these five.

“Once you become an Empyrean God and become the master of the Starseizing Manor, you’ll be able to acquire better treasures. For now…you’ll have to continue to act in accordance with Master’s rules,” the big bear said.

Ning smiled, then lowered his head to flip through the books.

There had to…

There simply had to be top-grade Pure Yang flying swords here! His Primaltwin’s [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] truly needed flying swords!

“How extraordinary.” Ning could barely breathe.

The Pure Yang treasures which Daoist Threelives had collected truly were not treasures which most Empyrean Gods or True Immortals could hope to touch.

In terms of preciousness…

Of the five Pure Yang treasures, the most precious treasure was a set known as the ‘Nine Invisible Mother-Son Hooks’. This was a treasure set formed by nine top-grade and eighty-one middle grade Pure Yang-level poison hooks. They formed into nine mother-son formation sets that could lock down space itself, preventing foes from using Greater Teleportation! In addition, they were extremely fast and possessed astonishing power.

Alas, Ning needed swords, not poison hooks.

“These two sets of flying swords…” Ning revealed a look of delight. Of the five sets, two were actually sword-sets. It seemed as though the giant yellow bear had really been very thoughtful in bringing these out for him.

The first set of flying swords was known as the Three Pure Ones. These were three top-grade Pure Yang swords that were personally forged by the leader of the Daoist Path, Daoist Three Purities. These three flying swords were extraordinary, even amongst top-grade Pure Yang swords.

In his past life on Earth, Ning had heard of the legends of the Three Pure Ones. However, only after he had embarked upon the path of Immortal cultivation and had become apprenticed to Subhuti had he truly understood that Earth’s myths regarding the Exalted Celestial of Primordial Origins, the Exalted Celestial of the Virtuous Dao, and the Exalted Celestial of the Luminous Treasure were all about the same person. These three, the Three Pure Ones, were merely the three mighty incarnations of Daoist Three Purities!

As the leader of the Daoist Path, Daoist Three Purities was acknowledged without dispute as one of the most powerful figures of the Three Realms. The only person one might dare to proclaim as being more powerful as him would probably be Mother Nuwa, who had left the Three Realms to enter the endless primordial chaos.

The second set of flying swords were known as the Ananda [1. Ananda was the cousin of the Buddha and one of his closest disciple.] World-Swords.

Ananda was the attendant and protector of the leader of the Buddhist Sangha. Although he was merely an ‘attendant’, he was also someone who was at the Buddha (Daofather) level of power. His status within the Buddhist Sangha was extremely high, definitely high enough to rank in the top ten.

The Ananda World-Swords were nine top-grade Pure Yang flying swords that had been personally fashioned by Buddha Ananda. They were incomparably sharp, capable of cutting through the miseries of the mortal world.

“I didn’t expect that one of these two sets would have been forged by the leader of the Daoist Path, while the other was created by Buddha Ananda of the Buddhist Sangha.” Ning laughed. He was a disciple of Subhuti; although Subhuti knew both Daoist and Buddhist divine abilities and spells, he belonged to neither camp. Both the Daoist Way and the Buddhist Sangha belonged to Mother Nuwa’s side; they could be considered allies and friends of Ning.

“Have you made your choice?” The giant yellow bear asked.

“The Ananda World-Swords, I suppose.” Ning smiled. “They are nine top-grade Pure Yang flying swords; they can serve as a formation-base, allowing the power of my [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] to increase dramatically.”

“Alright.”

The giant yellow bear waved his paw.

Whoosh!

Deep from the thronging mass of treasures that hovered in the air above the Treasure Hall, a massively powerful ripple suddenly spread out. Nine flying swords that were completely lacquered came descending downwards, appearing in front of Ji Ning. At the same time, nine little monks that glowed with golden light flew out from the nine swords. The little monks were bald and all dressed yellow robes, and they looked as if they were seven or eight years old.

All nine of these little monks, however, possessed sharp auras that were filled with killing intent.

“So you are our new master?” One of the little monks said.

“Right.” Ning nodded.

“Shall you work to sever misery and its bringers from the world, bringing blessings to the countless living beings of the world?” The little monk asked.

Ning smiled. “A storm has arisen, and I shall naturally be forced to kill. I am, however, on the same side as the one who created you, Buddha Ananda.”

The nine little monks immediately folded their hands together into a prayer. “Amitabha.” [2. Amitabha is the name of a Buddha, the most important Buddha of the popular Pure Lands School. It is believed by many Buddhists, even in this very day, that saying his name will bring blessings.]

……

With the nine top-grade Pure Yang swords serving as a formation-base, and the hundreds of top-grade Immortal-ranked swords supporting them…the power of the [Greater Thousand Swords Formation] instantly increased to become far more greater than that of the Nineleaf Snowlotus, which was a high grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure. Top-grade Pure Yang treasures were normally only comparable to middle grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures, but nine of them combined into a large formation naturally resulted in more power.

In addition, the Nineleaf Snowlotus was mainly meant for trapping and binding foes, while Immortal swords were meant for launching attacks.

……

The sixth day of the eighth month. Night was descending.

“Let’s go.”

Celestial Immortal Unity, the black-robed Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Immortal Diancai, and more than two hundred Loose Immortals all soared into the skies in awe-inspiring fashion, then left through teleportation.

Two hundred Loose Immortals…this represented all of the Loose Immortals of Stillwater Commandery! The various major schools and sects of Stillwater Commandery, such as the Skysplitter Sword Sect, the Hundred Flowers Fairyland, the Dragonhunter clan, and the Eastriver clan actually had even more Loose Immortals than the Black-White College did…and now, all of them were being mobilized. There was no way any of them would dare to violate the Xia Emperor’s orders.

“The war really is starting. All the Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals are being dragged into it.” Upon seeing more than two hundred Loose Immortals gather here, Ning couldn’t help but secretly sigh to himself.

…….

The air above the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.

One spatial ripple after another appeared, followed by the emergence of squads of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals. Every squad had at least a few dozen people, while some had several thousand! If the Youngflame clan hadn’t joined the Seamless Gate, their three commanderies would’ve sent the thousands of Loose Immortals they possessed as well.

This day was simply too stunning.

Countless citizens of the imperial capital raised their heads, staring at the skies. Upon seeing a countless number of Loose Immortals pour in at a steady rate, and even many exalted Celestial Immortals appear, everyone was shocked.

“This many?”

“They have to all be at least Loose Immortals.”

“Good heavens…”

The local citizens were completely dazed.

As for the Immortals, they shot out like an endless stream of meteors, shooting through the skies towards the imperial palace.

Whoosh.