Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

At the top of a mountain peak, three figures sat down to drink wine and chat. These three were three of the four primary Empyrean Gods of Kilostar Island…Empyrean God Darknorth, Empyrean God Sealthroat, and Empyrean God Sin.

“Those are all magic treasures the various Empyrean Gods brought with them.” Empyrean God Sealthroat was a callous-looking silver-haired youth, and he pointed at the distant Immortal estates around the palace. “That vile miscreant Greatdream’s murder of Ninedawn caused an enormous outcry throughout all of Kilostar Island. Everyone was worried about being ambushed, and so when they cultivate they will normally retreat into their own Immortal estates. Within those estates, others can’t easily enter, and so things are much safer.”

“Damn that Greatdream.” Empyrean God Sin clenched his winecup, a murderous look in his eyes.

“Darknorth, you must be careful.” Empyrean God Sin said in a low voice, “Sealthroat and I have tussled with Greatdream quite a few times in recent years, and we understand him quite well. Greatdream publicly proclaims that he killed Ninedawn out of hatred, but based on what Sealthroat and I have discovered…he’s simply an incredibly self-centered, narrowminded person. Ninedawn had the best chance of us all of leaving Undermoon Lake, which is why he befriended then murdered him.”

“He’ll kill whoever has a good chance of leaving,” Empyrean God Sealthroat said solemnly. “In fact, he even tried to kill me.”

“That’s because you are a fool.” Empyrean God Sin snickered. “He murdered Ninedawn, but you wanted to give him a second chance?”

“I just wanted to get a clear look at his true nature,” Empyrean God Sealthroat said with a sigh.

“And I imagine you did.” Empyrean God Sin snickered again.

“Darknorth, the demon king said that of those who have come after Reverend Jueming, you stand the highest chance of leaving Undermoon Lake, correct?” Empyrean God Sealthroat looked at Ning.

Ning nodded. When he had ‘released’ the many Empyrean Gods he had been carrying, some of them naturally began to talk about him to their old friends. Feiyou and the others had actually asked Ning for permission to talk about him, and Ning had given it as he had felt that there was nothing to hide. Thus, Feiyou and the others had naturally bragged and boasted quite a bit about Ning, allowing the other Empyrean Gods here to learn a bit more about him.

“You stand a high chance of leaving, and so it is very likely that Greatdream will act against you,” Empyrean God Sealthroat said. “Although he doesn’t know exactly how powerful you are yet, I imagine that he’ll hear of you in time. In fact, as more time passes, he’ll probably get a clear sense of how formidable you.”

“You have to be wary of him. He’s quite insidious and very powerful. He was very close to Ninedawn in power, and is a bit stronger than the two of us. Over the course of all these years, he’s continued to improve in power. Perhaps in the future, it’ll be possible for him to escape Undermoon Lake as well. You have to be on your guard against him,” Empyrean God Sealthroat warned repeatedly.

“Oh?” Ning’s eyes narrowed. “There’s something I haven’t told you yet.”

“What is it?” The two both looked towards Ning.

“A storm has already descended upon the Three Realms…” Ning told the tale to the two Empyrean Gods, and upon hearing it the two became both furious and frantic.

“I knew that the Seamless Gate was a pack of untamable savages. They all deserve to die!” Empyrean God Sin roared angrily.

“Is the situation outside really so grim?” Empyrean God Sealthroat was worried as well.

Ning said calmly, “Empyrean God Greatdream has slain senior Ninedawn, and there’s a chance that he might be able to escape Undermoon Lake. Once he does, he’ll become a threat to our side. In the future, he might make a breakthrough to become a Daofather.”

The other two nodded.

“I imagine you two also wish him dead, right?” Ning asked.

“I want him dead. Even in my dreams, I want him dead. Ninedawn was my dear brother; we battled together amongst the other primordial humans as our race rose to power. For him to die so unfairly…!” Empyrean God Sin ground his teeth. “But it’s useless. I know that you want to help us, Darknorth, but Empyrean God Greatdream is extremely cautious, and he has a large number of Empyrean Gods by his side as he hides himself within his Immortal estate. How are we supposed to kill him?”

“It’s true. Although you’ve brought a group of new Empyrean Gods, giving us an absolute advantage in numbers, they are hiding within their Immortal estate and relying on it to defend against us.” Empyrean God Sealthroat shook his head.

“How will we know if we don’t try?” Ning said calmly.

“You have an idea?” The other two grew excited. They had long ago been filled with the desire to kill the despicable Greatdream, but they didn’t have the chance.

“I’ll give it a try,” Ning said. “We can’t force things, though; we’ll have to use a softer method.”

“Darknorth, Greatdream isn’t easy to deal with. Don’t try to use a ‘soft’ method and end up losing your life to him,” Empyrean God Sin warned nervously. He was afraid that Ning would deliver himself up for slaughter.

“Don’t worry,” Ning said.

Prior to this conversation, Ning felt detestation towards Greatdream and would’ve killed him without hesitation if the opportunity came. However, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to hunt Greatdream down! But upon hearing that Greatdream was very powerful and stood a good chance of escaping Undermoon Lake, a killing intent entered Ning’s heart. If Greatdream left and broke through to become a Daofather, he would become yet another powerful general for the Seamless Gate. Although it wasn’t guaranteed that he would become a Daofather after escaping, Ning wasn’t willing to take the risk.

The people trapped within Undermoon Lake were outside the confines of the Three Realms and so couldn’t sense the Heavenly Daos. Thus, their only choice was to work on other types of force, mastering the likes of taiji-force, infiniforce, thunderforce, and more.

However, upon leaving Undermoon Lake they would be able to once more sense the Heavenly Daos of the Three Realms. There truly was a good chance of breaking through to become a Daofather. Jueming, the only person to escape, had succeeded. Ning wasn’t willing to see the Seamless Gate gain a new major power, a ‘Daofather Greatdream’.





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Book 20, Chapter 25 - Infiltration


Half a day later.

A white-robed youth was walking by himself atop a lonely path that was surrounded by a few flowers.

“Eh?” Suddenly, a muscular, golden-armored man appeared. The man said with a laugh, “My name is Dong’e. Who are you?” He was quite curious, as he knew all the Empyrean Gods on Kilostar Island.

“Empyrean God Dong’e?” Ji Ning laughed. “My name is Darknorth. I just arrived at Kilostar Island.”

“Just arrived? I was wondering! I know all the other Empyrean Gods on Kilostar Island.” Empyrean God Dong’e laughed loudly. “I know almost all the Empyrean Gods of the Three Realms as well, but I’ve never heard of you. It seems you must’ve broken through in the past few ten million years or so. You are here alone; did you succeed in challenging Demon Icepass?”

“Precisely.” Ning nodded.

“Come, come! Let me take you to meet Empyrean God Greatdream.” Dong’e was quite excited.

“Empyrean God Greatdream?” Ning was puzzled.

Dong’e laughed, “Greatdream is someone else who relied on his own power to overcome Demon Icepass and make it to this place. He’s quite powerful…” He continued to chat with Ning as they walked, while Ning put on a show of knowing nothing at all.