Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

The two white-robed youths began to slowly draw closer to each other. One of them actually ended up flying into the body of the other, causing the aura of white light to dramatically expand.

It was an extremely slow and very relaxed, comfortable process.

It was like a baby bird sleeping inside the egg shell.

It was like a baby child sleeping within the mother’s womb.

The ball of white light completely surrounded the blurry figure. In this moment, all thought was impossible. Clearly, the Jindan, soul, and bodies had all begun to merge together. Only things that had come from the same source could merge together in such a manner. The divine bodies, Jindans, and souls of these clones were all absolutely identical. There were no differences whatsoever!

If there was even the slightest bit of difference, the merger would become impossible.

For example, Ning’s Primaltwin had been formed through a Sole-Ki Pearl of Primalwater. Thus, there were a major differences between it and Ning’s true body. And so, there was no way whatsoever for the Primaltwin and the true body to merge together! But of course, the eighteen Primaltwin clones could all merge into each other.

Whoosh.

The blurry white light completely faded away, withdrawing into the remaining clone’s body. The white-robed figure emerged once more, and it once more became capable of thought. As Ning regained his senses, he could immediately sense how his body had changed. “My divine power has transformed in some way. The Pure Yang energy in my Jindan has become more pure, and the Jindan region has expanded in size by a bit. My soul has become more powerful as well…even my heartforce has grown considerably stronger.”

When two completely identical souls fused together, the resultant soul would of course be much stronger. This sort of fusion would result in an upgrade in every single aspect and area.

Long ago, when the King of Pangaea had been an Elder God, he had relied on mastering the complete [Taowu Eighteen Fiendgods] to join his clones together, allowing him to surpass other Elder Gods in every single aspect. It had given him overwhelmingly superior power.

“Continue.”

Whoosh.

Yet another white-robed youth was drawn into the first one’s body. The first clone’s body continued to rise in power, and the soul, divine power, heartforce, and Pure Yang energy all continued to evolve.

One clone after another was absorbed into the first one.

The [One True Body] technique relied on the fact that all the clones originated from the same source. This was the reason why the technique could work. The more clones were absorbed, the more powerful one would become. If Ning had been able to train in the even more ridiculous [Thousand Bodies Sutra], he would’ve been able to fuse a thousand clones together. The increase in power would be even more ridiculous, in that case, allowing an Empyrean God to become the equivalent of a True God, and a True God to become the equivalent of an Elder God. An Elder God would become the equivalent of a World God!

This was what made the [Thousand Bodies Sutra] to be such an unearthly, almighty technique! But alas, the price of training in this technique was simply too great. For even a weak Empyrean God to train in it would require a Worldheart to be consumed. The price that would need to be paid for someone more powerful would be truly incalculable. Which World God would be willing to part with a Worldheart, giving it away to an Empyrean God for cultivation? Even if the Empyrean God was to succeed, that person would still be tremendously weak and unable to help the World God at all. It would only make a difference if the Empyrean God was able to train all the way to become an Elder God…but in the path of Immortal cultivation, advancing through every single major stage saw tremendous difficulties. Far, far too many cultivators were washed out at each stage.

Whoosh.

With each merger, Ning continued to transform.

Finally, all seventeen white-robed youths had merged into one. Into one true body.

“What a strange sensation.” Ning looked at his surroundings. His soul was now far more powerful than it had been before, and even the rate at which he gained insights into the Dao was now far faster. Even though he previously was able to simultaneously train with thirty-six different bodies, the speed at which he gained insights was less than his current speed, after his one true body had been formed.

“This…is this the level of Daofathers?” Ning murmured softly to himself.

Seventeen clones, each of which had second-tier Jindans. Now that they had merged together into one true body, the power of the Jindan inside his body was comparable to first-tier Jindans! True Immortals of Pangaea with first-tier Jindans were indeed on the same level of power as the Daofathers of the Three Realms, and in fact they actually had deeper reservoirs of energy.

“My energy is on the level of a Daofather’s.”

“My divine body has surpassed the limits of an Empyrean God; it can be considered a half-step into the True God level.”

“My soul…it should have thirty to forty percent of the might of an ordinary Daofather’s soul. In order for my soul to reach the level of a true Daofather, I’ll need to spend another century nourishing it. Of my seventeen clones, two had long ago gained second-tier Jindans, and so their souls had been nourished significantly. The other fifteen had only just recently upgraded to second-tier Jindans. Their souls didn’t have enough time to evolve.”

Ning understood this principle. Still…it was enough.

His true body’s soul was already more than a hundred times stronger than that of an ordinary True Immortal’s. Daofathers could easily cover the Three Realms with the coresense, while Ning could perhaps just barely do the same, if he went all out. As for Empyrean Gods and True Immortals? They generally were only capable of covering a major world with their coresense. From this, one could easily see the difference in soul power!

“Compared to Daofather Holyflame…let’s see. We have equivalent levels of energy. I have more technically profound sword-arts, but his have been infused with the Heavenly Dao of Fire. However…I have a Darknorth sword that is a Chaos weapon.” Ning nodded to himself. “In terms of power…my true body should be comparable to Daofather Holyflame.”

“If I were to use the Rahu Formation…”

“I would be given a divine body that was comparable to that of a elite Daofather. In that case, my total power would surpass Daofather Holyflame’s.”

“Defeating the Envoy of All Things will be simplicity itself!”

Ning willed his aura to be retracted into his body. Instantly, the incredible aura of power surrounding him, an aura comparable to a Daofather’s, was completely retracted inside of him. This wasn’t the aura-hiding technique which Subhuti had taught him; it was one of the many techniques which World God Northrest had left behind for him. While wandering the primordial chaos, one would easily perish if one’s power was revealed for all others to know.

The estate-world treasure which Ning was within was something which he had acquired from a True God of the prisonworld. Not even Elder Gods or Ancestral Immortals would be able to spy on it.

Whoosh.

Ning turned to look towards the side. Next to him were the black-robed Ning’s, and they were in the process of fusing together as well. Soon, they transformed into a single black-robed Ning. This Ning also had the power of a elite Daofather.

“There’s not much of a difference between fusing eighteen clones and fusing seventeen clones. It’s best to leave one behind as a ‘seed’. If I’m going to war against the Seamless Gate…best to remain cautious.” Ning willed it, and with a swoosh he disappeared from the estate-world.

……

The Starseizer major world. A large shrine.

“We pay our respects to you, Manorlord!”

Empyrean God Ninefangs and Empyrean God Snow Scorpion, upon seeing Ning suddenly appear, hastily bowed towards him.

“Ninefangs, summon the army immediately,” Ning instructed.