Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

The thirteen disciples all collapsed, having fallen asleep.

This scene completely stunned Sword Saint. The majority of his thirteen disciples were all at the Heaven-rank, but they were all actually sent into a deep slumber in an instant? An ability like this was utterly inconceivable.

“Ugh. If this was a major world, things wouldn’t be such a pain.” Ning shook his head, then released his aura. Instantly, Sword Saint felt as though he was nothing more than an ant drowning within a sea that was vaster than the heavens themselves. In fact, he could sense that his body couldn’t even move in the presence of this boundless aura of might.

Moments later, Ning finally retracted his aura.

If he didn’t reveal a bit of his power, most likely this ‘Sword Saint’, who had long ago become accustomed to being the ‘number one in the world’, wouldn’t be able to realize what the situation was in a short period of time. If they were in a major world, the man most likely would’ve immediately begin to respectfully address Ning as ‘senior’.

“Attack,” Ning commanded.

“Senior, your power is truly tremendous. I, Woodclear, have roamed the world for a hundred years. I thought that I was the number one expert in existence, but now I see that I was nothing more than a frog in a well gazing towards the heavens.” Sword Saint looked towards Ning. “Over the course of my many years, I have developed a technique known as the Ninety-Nine Swordforged Swords. Please have a look.”

Although he knew the difference in power between them, his many years of pride at being the ‘best in the world’ compelled him to want to prove himself through his sword-arts.

A short while later.

“How can this be…”

“But…”

He was completely stunned and speechless.

“He’s able to block my sword-arts while merely using Earth-ranked strength and speed?” Sword Saint was truly dazed. He was proudest of his accomplishments in sword-arts, but compared with the youth before him…this youth used seemingly-simple stances, but no matter how hard Sword Saint tried, he simply couldn’t understand or comprehend any of them. Still, he was unconsciously inspired in many ways by this battle, and in the short period of time they sparred, he had already come up with several different sword-arts in his mind, all of which were far more powerful than the ‘Ninety-Nine Swordforged Swords’ he had spent so many years working on.”

“Although this ‘Sword Saint’ is from a minor world, he’s really quite strong. He’s mastered an ordinary Dao, and he’s even gained a basic level of insight into the Grand Dao of the Sword.”

“Of the Wanxiang Adepts I’ve dueled, this is the one with the best sword-arts thus far.”

Ning was very cautious. He continued to use Xiantian-level strength against Wanxiang Adepts, but he naturally was beginning to choose increasingly powerful Wanxiang Adepts to fight against. This was the first time that he had fought against a Wanxiang Adept who had already gained insight into a Grand Dao.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Ning’s sword-arts were like a black hole, devouring any and all attacks which Sword Saint attempted to unleash, no matter how berserk they were.

“Finally…my defensive sword-art is beginning to take embryonic form.” Ning felt joy in his heart. Over the past few years of dueling, he had gained an even deeper understanding of the sword. In fact, he began to have a vague idea of the path that he would take in the future, and the outlines of a sword-art had begun to take shape in his heart. Ning could sense that this sword-art would have a total of five different stances.

But of course, he hadn’t developed any of the five senses yet. Today, however, as he dueled against this ‘Sword Saint’, Ning finally began to gain an idea of how one of the five stances should be shaped.





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Book 19, Chapter 39 - Soleheart


The Three Realms. The Celestial Realm. The Dao Palace in the eastern regions was extraordinarily lively on this day.

Many major powers had gathered here. Even Buddhas Tathagata and Amitabha had arrived to celebrate, along with many others.

“Congratulations, fellow Daoist.”

“Eastflower, you’ve finally made your breakthrough.”

“Congratulations!”

“Haha, Eastflower, you finally broke through. I’ve been waiting for this day since the Primordial Era.”

The Dao Palace was bustling with activity. The man of honor for this occasion was not Daoist Three Purities. Rather, it was someone who the Daoist Path had placed great expectations in…Patriarch Lu, Lu Dongbin. For some time now, Lu Dongbin had been journeying through the primordial chaos. Upon returning…everyone discovered that he had already broken through to reach the Daofather level. Thus, upon his return almost all the major powers had learned of Lu Dongbin’s breakthrough.

“Fuxi!”

“Fuxi, long time no see!”

The major powers all chatted amongst themselves in small groups. Some had come in person, while others had sent their clones or incarnations.

“Subhuti.”

“Fuxi.”

Subhuti and Fuxi ran into each other in the Dao Palace. Subhuti had come in person, while Fuxi had merely sent over a clone.

“Eastflower caused quite a stir when he returned from the primordial chaos. It seems he encountered quite the stroke of karmic luck,” Fuxi said with a laugh. “And from what I saw…it seems as though Eastflower should have mastered the fifth level of taiji-force as well. Amazing, truly amazing.”

“He wished to merge the teachings of Buddhism and Daoism together…Eastflower truly is an ambitious man.” Subhuti sighed with emotion. “However…it was precisely because his ambitions were too great that, despite possessing deep insights in both his previous life as ‘Eastflower’ and his current life as ‘Lu Dongbin’, he remained unable to make the final breakthrough. This time, thanks to a lucky encounter in the primordial chaos, he was able to make a fortuitous breakthrough, merging Buddhism and Daoism into one, with the Taiji supporting him. Upon making this breakthrough…he has now become one of the elite Daofathers of the Three Realms. No wonder Three Purities, Carefree, and the others all viewed him with such favor.”

Fuxi nodded as well. Everyone felt quite moved.

True Gods and Daofathers could roughly be divided into three levels of power.

The first level of power was the level which ordinary True Gods and Daofathers were at. Most True Gods and Daofathers were on this level, and unless they made a qualitative, transformative breakthrough, they would find it very difficult to improve any further.

The second level was the level often described as the ‘elite’ level. The Five Emperors of the human race, Daofather Carefree, Wargod Xingtian, and other extraordinarily powerful figures were considered to be on this level.

The third level was the ‘overlord’ level. This was the level the two leaders of Buddhism and Daoism were on, along with the three mighty Human Sovereigns.

In truth, it was certain that the likes of Subhuti, Old Man Yuan, and Houyi were significantly more powerful than the likes of Wargod Xingtian. Most people usually viewed them as being very close to the ‘overlord’ level, but because their exact power level was a mystery, it was hard to say if they had reached the ‘overlord’ level or not.

Lu Dongbin had managed to combine his cultivation in both Buddhism and Daoism, and his taiji-force had reached the fifth level. He definitely had reached the elite Daofather level of power!