Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

Ning did a quick scan of their souls, quickly sorting through the memories of the silver-armored knight and the white-bearded old man. He now completely understood the istuation, as well as how much hatred this silver-armored knight held in his heart.

“Our Castle Tianxun has brought blessings to many. Although we are many in number, resulting in the occasional evildoer appearing, you can ask anyone you like about our reputation, senior.” The white-bearded old man knew that this youth before him was his only hope for survival, and tears began to flow out of his eyes. “Damn these Mystice Knights. They didn’t even spare the children.”

“There’s no need to discuss your ‘reputation’.” Ning glanced at the white-bearded old man, his gaze very calm. “Lord of Castle Tianxun…leader of Blackwind Cave.”

The white-bearded old man’s face turned ashen.

It was true. Blackwind Cave was indeed a secret identity of Castle Tianxun. Every single male child would be trained, and in fact from the age of three they would be taught to kill. However, as the saying goes, a rabbit doesn’t eat the grass around his hole. It was true that in the surrounding area, Castle Tianxun’s reputation was sterling, and they had indeed done many good deeds. But in other places…they were the utterly vile and rapacious Blackwind Cave! They had robbed and murdered countless people, which was why Castle Tianxun was so wealthy.

But very few knew this secret!

The only reason Bloodfeud knew the secret was because he was one of their victims. After he became a Mystice Knight, he learned the full truth.

“All of them deserve to die. All of them!” The silver-armored knight said demonically.

“But the children? The women who have never killed a single soul? Those infants who are still dressed in swaddling clothes?” Ning looked at him.

“Pull up grass by the roots.” The silver-armored knight looked at Ning. “I know you are strong, senior. I’ve already taken my revenge. If you wish to kill me or punish me, that’s entirely up to you. I only ask that the others not be implicated as a result. My brothers in the Mystice Knights only attacked because of my orders. I’ve been gripped by hatred for countless years. Now that I’ve taken revenge…I’m satisfied.” The silver-armored knight stood there resolutely.

Ning shook his head.

Whoosh. Ning waved his hand, and all of the children and women within Castle Tianxun were drawn into a minor world estate-treasure which Ning kept with him.

And then, Ning himself vanished as well.

“Eh?” Everyone sensed that they were now able to move again.

“He didn’t kill me?” The silver-armored knight was momentarily stunned, but he then fell to his knees and kowtowed solemnly thrice.

As for the white-bearded old man, he was completely and truly stunned.

The two elders had solemn looks on their faces. They hurriedly urged the silver-armored knight, “Bloodfeud, hurry up and deal with Li Tianxun. We need to leave this place right away and report today’s events to the general.”

“Right.” The silver-armored knight nodded, then immediately strode forward. The white-bearded old man closed his eyes.

Sssssshnk. The spear stabbed forward, piercing through the white-bearded old man’s chest, then retracted. As it did, blood spurted out. The white-bearded old man opened his eyes as his body fell powerlessly to the ground…and then he began to laugh wildly. Moments later…all signs of life fled his body.

A short while later, the three thousand Mystice Knights immediately departed from this place under cover of night.

“The amount of hatred and evil within the Three Realms is becoming greater and greater.”

As Ning wandered this world, he could sense that this entire world was filled with hatred and vileness.

His two clones had already spent more than 160 years in Undermoon Lake. He had no way of finding out or sensing what had happened within Undermoon Lake, but he was still certain that they were alive. If one died, the other clones would immediately sense it and be able to recreate it.

“Ji Ning, your priority is rescuing your wife. There’s no need for you to take part in the Realmwars for now.”

“Master, my wife is my wife, while the war is the war. These are two separate things.”

“Don’t worry. When the final war for karmic luck begins, we’ll have you take part. As for now? You won’t have much of an impact on the overall situation, so you should focus on your training. Fuxi, Suiren, and the others all view you with great favor. If you can become a True God or Daofather before the Endwar, you’ll be of true assistance.”

“Alright.”

These were the words which Subhuti had said to Ning. Ever since then, Ning had roamed the Three Realms. He had seen many things in his travels. The Realmwars came one after the other, and the Seamless Gate grew increasingly berserk in his actions. Due to their increasing degree of influence, even the mortals were greatly impacted as all sorts of murders, feuds, and unjust acts grew increasingly common.

Ning had seen too many things. He understood that in truth, all of this was due to the provocations of the Seamless Gate, which sought to transform the previous days of peace into utter chaos.

The Seamless Gate delighted in chaos. But in a time of chaos, the lives of ordinary mortals were like grass to be trampled upon!

In addition, Ning had always felt that children were innocent. When he had been young, he had tortured to death a member of the Riverside clan for the sake of avenging Spring Grass, but he had spared the man’s child, ‘Riverside Cai’. Want revenge? Grow powerful and come after me! But in the end, that child Cai had only been able to become a Zifu Disciple…and then, Cai had died in the chaos the Seamless Gate had created.

He saw mortals in all their states. He saw through their small kindnesses and their petty feuds, their grudges and their gratefulness.

Ning couldn’t explain how it made him feel, but he could sense that his heart was slowly transforming.

Night.

The black-robed Ning was seated in the lotus position atop a stone that was located at the very peak of an ordinary mountain. In front of him hovered a Goldstar Bead of the Heavens, divine runes flickering atop its surface. Ning spent most of his time analyzing the [Five Treasures] and the Nine Chaos Seals. By comparing and contrasting the two, he was able to gain insights faster. In order to study the Nine Chaos Seals, he had to view the goldstar beads.

“Eh?” Suddenly, Ning sensed something.

“Come out.”

Instantly, a dazzling horde of stars seemed to appear in the air as all 3600 goldstar beads emerged. As Ning sent out his Immortal energy, they began to glow brightly, the divine runes on their surface changing nonstop. Slowly, arcane auras began to manifest above each of the goldstar beads, causing them to emit auras of incredible profundity.





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Book 21, Chapter 3 - The Mirrors of the Heavens


Every single goldstar bead’s aura was now far more powerful than before. It was as though they had evolved somehow…and the reason was because Ji Ning had just mastered the second of the Nine Chaos Seals.

“How truly extraordinary. It supports and reinforces the [Five Treasures] sword-art, and is even more profound.” After mastering the second chaos seal, Ning could immediately sense how extraordinary these nine seals truly were. “If I had those two clones each bring a goldstar bead into Undermoon Lake and meditate on it, it most likely would’ve been beneficial to them in their quest.”