Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

Ning’s talent for the sword, however, was indeed quite high. Lu Dongbin and Daofather Subhuti had judged him correctly when they had named him a born Sword Immortal.

“Chunyi greets you, fellow Daoist.” The gray-robed man appeared next to him with a smile.

“Empyrean God Chunyi?” Ning laughed. “I am Darknorth. I’ve heard of your illustrious reputation long ago.”

Empyrean God Chunyi’s real name was Li Chunyi. He, too, was an Empyrean God who had risen to prominence during the era of the Three Realms. However, he eventually vanished, with no one knowing where he had gone. Ning had memorized all of the ‘missing’ Empyrean Gods like him, and in his visit to Undermoon Lake he had already seen five of the Empyrean Gods who had gone ‘missing’ from the Three Realms.

Not every Empyrean God would announce their entry into Undermoon Lake, after all.

“Empyrean God Darknorth,” Li Chunyi said, “I’ve never seen you on Kilostar Island before. Can it be that you just made it past Demon Icepass?”

“Yes.” Ning nodded.

“Admirable, admirable!” Li Chunyi’s eyes shone, and he immediately seemed much friendlier. “You need to battle for a hundred years to make it past Demon Icepass, an extremely dangerous affair, especially when that demon king assaults you alongside countless lesser demons. The slightest bit of carelessness can lead to instant death. Even if one is strong enough to survive for a hundred years, it’s still hard to gain the demon king’s approval. Kilostar Island…over the course of countless years, only a total of nine Empyrean Gods have been able to make it here on their own power, and that’s including you, Empyrean God Darknorth.”

“Just nine in total?” Ning asked, “How many of them are currently on the island?”

“Previously, there were three. With your arrival, fellow Daoist Darknoth, there are now four,” Li Chunyi said. “It’s been countless years, but only Reverend Jueming was able to leave this island. Four of them have died as well.”

Upon saying the word ‘died’, Li Chunyi hesitated a moment, then said, “Fellow Daoist Darknorth, there’s something I should tell you. Of the four Empyrean Gods who died, three of them died when attempting to advance through the wooden bridge, as they were too weak to succeed. One, however…died here on the island itself.”

“Died on Kilostar Island?” Ning was puzzled. “Prior to this, I chatted with the demon king for a bit. I heard that the forces of Undermoon Lake won’t launch any attacks on Kilostar Island. How could someone have died?”

“…Empyrean God Greatdream was the killer,” Li Chunyi said in a low voice.

“Empyrean God Greatdream?” Ning’s eyes narrowed.

Empyrean God Greatdream. Of course Ning had heard of this person. One of the Empyrean Gods who had gone ‘missing’ but actually entered Undermoon Lake was Greatdream. The reason why Greatdream had given himself the sobriquet of ‘Greatdream’ was because he was the personal disciple of the Seamless Gate’s Godking! The Godking was extremely harsh and cruel when training disciples, and Greatdream was filled with tremendous ambitions. Upon hearing that Jueming had become a Buddha, he had made up his mind to enter Undermoon Lake.

“Right now, the ones on the island who made it here under their own power are Empyrean God Greatdream, Empyrean God Sealthroat, and Empyrean God Sin,” Li Chunyi said solemnly.

“Empyrean God Greatdream belongs to the Seamless Gate, while Empyrean Gods Sealthroat and Sin belong to our Pangu Chaosworld. Logically speaking, since the Seamless Gate has joined the Three Realms long ago, they should be peaceful to us. And indeed, after Empyrean God Greatdream entered Undermoon Lake, he’s worked to befriend all of the Empyrean Gods here. He constantly worked hard to improve himself, spending ten million years to make it to Kilostar Island.”

Li Chunyi said solemnly, “Back then, there were four who made it to Kilostar Island on their own; Empyrean God Greatdream, Empyrean God Sealthroat, Empyrean God Sin, and Empyrean God Ninedawn. The others here had all given up and been carried here.”

“Empyrean God Greatdream continued to befriend everyone, and he became particularly friendly with Empyrean God Ninedawn. But who would’ve thought that Empyrean God Greatdream was actually such an insidious person…”

“He caught Empyrean God Ninedawn completely offguard with a sudden attack and killed him.”

Li Chunyi shook his head and sighed. “Back then, Empyrean God Ninedawn was actually the strongest of the four, and he had the best chance of making it out. But just like that, he died by the hands of a despicable, petty man like Empyrean God Greatdream. The sneak-attack caused a huge disturbance and we all immediately hastened towards the two, but we were too late…just one step too late. Both Empyrean God Sin and Empyrean God Sealthroat were utterly enraged and they sought to slay Empyrean God Greatdream, but he continually hides within his Immortal palace. In addition, a large number of Empyrean Gods are following and protecting him.”

“He actually attacked his own friend?” Ning found this unbelievable. “But why? Did Empyrean God Ninedawn do something to him?”

Ning was beginning to feel fury in his heart as well…because Empyrean God Ninedawn was actually one of the primordial humans!

The primordial humans numbered a tribe known as the ‘Dawnsun clan’ amongst their ranks. The nine most powerful Empyrean Gods of this clan were named based on age as Onedawn, Twodawn, Threedawn…all the way through Ninedawn. These were humans who had followed Suiren in his earliest campaigns, and Ning had always felt tremendous admiration for these primordial human Empyrean Gods.

Who would’ve thought that one would die to Empyrean God Greatdream of the Seamless Gate…and due to a sneak attack at that!

“Others are still willing to follow Empyrean God Greatdream despite what he did?” Ning asked.

“His followers are all members of the Seamless Gate,” Li Chunyi said. “He publicly proclaimed that during the war that destroyed the Primordial Era, many of his beloved friends and brothers had been slain by Ninedawn, and so his heart has always been filled with endless amounts of hatred and rage. Although some of the the other members of the Seamless Gate didn’t approve of his actions, they belong to the same side, after all. When Empyrean Gods Sealthroat and Sin led their armies to attack Empyrean God Greatdream, the Empyrean Gods of the Seamless Gate still chose to stand on Greatdream’s side. They couldn’t just stand there and watch him be killed.”

Ning nodded.

“Come. Let me guide you to meet Empyrean God Sin and Empyrean God Sealthroat,” Li Chunyi said.

Soon, they arrived at a palace where many Empyrean Gods were gathered. Surrounding this palace was a number of Immortal estates as well.

“Ahaha, it’s quite lively here!”

“So many Empyrean Gods!”

“Seven Dragon Gods! You made it!”

“Elder brother Feiyou.”

More than a hundred Empyrean Gods came out to welcome Ning and his followers. Ning was accompanied by an amazing number of followers, and when Li Chunyi saw all of them emerge, he was badly shocked as well. He had guessed that Ning must’ve brought some followers with him, but he never would’ve thought that Ning would bring this many. Since everyone Ning brought was of the Nuwa Alliance, they were naturally quite welcome in this place, and in fact many of the people in the palace all knew the newcomers. Some were extremely close friends!

A long while later.