Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

“Don’t bother with any other tricks. None of them are able to beguile an Elder God or an Ancestral Immortal. I’ll only be willing to help you once you bring that World-level expert over and release me from my captivity,” the filthy-looking old man said. And then, he shut his eyes as well, paying no more attention to Ning.

“They really respond to nothing whatsoever. He’s just like the wild dog. He won’t act without an incentive.” Ning sat there on his Voidboat, grinding his teeth in a very discontented fashion. “If I was able to meet with Mother Nuwa, why would I be here? If Mother Nuwa was around, the Seamless Gate wouldn’t dare to cause trouble. In fact, the Lord of All Fiends and his Seamless Gate army wouldn’t even have dared to return from the primordial chaos.”

“Ugh.”

This prisonworld had imprisoned quite a few Daofathers and Elder Gods. All of them were shockingly powerful, but none of them were able to do anything to their shackles. Only if their power increased to Pangu’s level, the World-level, would they be able to forcibly shatter them.

“What should I do? These experts at the Daofather or Elder God level all have some degree of insight into the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos. All of them are able to withdraw energy from the primordial chaos.” Ning pondered on what to do. The Celestial Immortals present here all had to rely on consuming spirit-pills to stay alive, but the Daofathers did not; the filthy-looking old man, for example, was able to sustain even his estate-treasure!

Most likely, every single Elder God and Ancestral Immortal was still at peak combat power.

“The reason the King of Pangaea keeps Overseers in his prisonworlds is to keep a watch on them. Once an Overseer sees that an Elder God or Ancestral Immortal is breaking through to the World-level and shattering the manacles, the Overseer is to immediately notify the King.” Ning understood this. Not even the King of Pangaea was able to prevent these Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals from meditating on the Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos.

The Heavenly Dao of Primordial Chaos was everywhere, after all. But of course, becoming a World-level expert was far too difficult.

Generally speaking, those capable of succeeding would do so within a single chaos cycle. Mother Nuwa, for example, had done so long ago. In truth, these Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who had already been alive for multiple chaos cycles had almost no chance of succeeding. However, they were very long-lived and very powerful. Even if Ning asked his master Subhuti to come here to help out, Subhuti would have no chance of breaking the manacles…and if Subhuti attempted to kill these people to steal their treasures, he might end up suffering a backlash from it.

“I should take things slow. If things look grim for us when the Endwar begins to approach, I’ll tell Master and the others about this prisonworld.” Ning wasn’t a completely selfless person; this prisonworld was equivalent to an enormous treasury. It was up to him to figure out a method to unlock it and access the treasures within.

The treasures and techniques these Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals possessed were all definitely extraordinary.

However, for now Ning had no ways to access any of them. Even if he summoned Subhuti, Daoist Three Purities, Tathagata, Suiren, and the others to join forces, they would still be taking on an enormous risk. Once these ancient prisoners began to go berserk…

There was no way for Ning to assess exactly how powerful these prisoners. He was, however, certain of one thing; the Pangaea chaos-kingdom was far more powerful than the Three Realms.

……

Ning rode the Voidboat at high speed for more than four hours before lowering it to the ground.

He slowly walked forward across the desolate landscape. More than a thousand kilometers from him was a woman, seated in the lotus position.

“Hrm?” The woman’s eyelids twitched, then slowly opened.

“Finally…finally…a living being approaches.” The woman’s eyes lit up. She was far too lonely. It was hard for her to even stay alive here, much less sustain an estate-treasure. Generally speaking, only the Daofather and Elder God prisoners within this prisonworld were able to waste energy on such a thing.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an Overseer.” The woman looked at the distant Ning…but upon seeing him, her face instantly changed.

“A True Immortal?”

“He’s clearly a True Immortal, but…such a weak True Immortal…? The Overseers of Pangaea are all core members of the kingdom. Any True Immortal Overseer should be a supreme, top-tier True Immortal.” Suddenly, a thought entered the woman’s mind. She instantly felt completely stunned.

The white-robed youth walked over, then said in a calm voice, “As you suspected, the chaos-kingdom of Pangaea has been wiped out. You only have two paths before you…to serve me, or to die.”





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Book 19, Chapter 31 - Soulscour


The seated woman didn’t panic at all. Instead, she began to laugh loudly as she rose to her feet. As she did, her formerly-emaciated figure began to transform. She became full-figured, and her skin became soft and tender. In the time it took for her to rise to her feet, she transformed from a starving beggar to a truly peerless beauty.

“Lilisoft greets you, True Immortal.” The woman smiled merrily. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an outsider, and three chaos cycles since I’ve seen an Overseer. I truly feel delighted by your appearance. Most delightful of all is the news that Pangaea has actually been wiped out. Wonderful…ahaha…wonderful!”

Ji Ning stared at the woman. She wasn’t going to panic at all?

“Might Lilisoft learn your name or sobriquet, True Immortal?” The woman asked.

“Darknorth.” Ning looked at her.

“Darknorth?” The woman nodded slowly. “If you are able to release me, True Immortal, I will submit to you. I’d even be willing to become your servant.”

“I’m unable to release you,” Ning said.

The woman was slightly startled, but she then nodded. “Right. It is too difficult to open these shackles. Only a Chaos Immortal or a World God can open these shackles without a talisman of command from the King of Pangaea. However…True Immortal, I don’t wish to die. Thus, I’m willing to submit to you. I would like to ask, however, that you not place a soul-imprint upon my soul.”

Ning actually chuckled. “You agreed quite quickly.”

“When the chaos-kingdom of Pangaea existed, the King of Pangaea wouldn’t kill me, as he had to worry about other factions and factors. Now that it is destroyed, however…in your eyes, True Immortal, all of us are nothing more than alien prisoners. In a case like this, the only outcomes are either death or servitude. I don’t want to die, so I have to serve,” the woman said with a smile.

Ning nodded.

This was much like how things were in the mortal world. Humans and monsters were born enemies. Humans would kill wild beasts and cook them, while wild beasts would attempt to eat humans when possible. Of course, powerful Immortal cultivators and Diremonsters wouldn’t fight that much against each other.

In the eyes of those of the Three Realms, no mercy at all could be shown to any alien Outsiders. If they released one, that person might return with other alien Outsiders and wipe out the entire Three Realms! Thus, all of them had to die…unless they could be forced to pledge fealty!

“The soul-imprint…?” The woman looked at Ning. A soul imprint would have a slight impact on her ability to comprehend the Dao, making it even harder for her to progress on her Immortal path.

“There’s no need for a soul-imprint.” Ning shook his head. “However…I am going to use a soulscour technique on you. You are not to resist.” Since there was nowhere for these people to go, there really was no need for him to soul-imprint them.

“Soulscour?” The woman hesitated for a moment. This was equivalent to revealing everything about herself to this man.

“If you are unwilling to comply, then you are of no use to me,” Ning said.