Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

The Badlands Territory…as far as Ning knew, it didn’t hold anyone by the name of ‘Waterwind’.

Ning had long ago acquired intelligence reports regarding the many World-level experts. The most powerful figure in the entire Badlands was the creator of the Badlands Court, Daolord Badlands! Daolord Badlands was still alive and was unfathomably powerful; he wasn’t a person who someone of Ning’s level could hope to approach.

Daolord Badlands had established the Badlands Court. World-level experts were like toddlers before him.

“The Badlands Court holds a number of very famous figure, but none of them go by the moniker of ‘Waterwind’,” Ning mused to himself. “No, I’ve never heard this name before. Could it be…someone from another territory?”

Still, in the end it didn’t really matter.

Waterwind talked a big game. If he was telling the truth, then he was most likely someone above the World-level of power! Even if he was ‘merely’ a World-level expert, he most assuredly stood at the very peak of power amongst them.

“Waterwind…Waterwind…” Ning quietly memorized this name, then turned his attention to the ‘insights’ which Waterwind had left behind on the cave walls.

The cave walls were covered with both writing and diagrams.

The writing consisted of the words Ning had read just now.

As for the diagrams, they contained the insights which Waterwind had gained.

The diagram was of fishes swimming in the sea. Ning saw more than ten fishes, each of which was in a different pose. Around them could be seen several ordinary-looking lines which seemed to represent the ripples of the water.

There were a total of sixteen fish and ninety-seven water ripples.

“These diagrams…?” Ning felt that these diagrams were rather odd. He gave them a closer look, carefully inspecting the water ripples and the fish for any peculiarities.

Whoooooosh.

Slowly, without Ning even noticing it, a surge of will and intent began to slowly seep outwards from the diagrams and towards Ning.

Rumble…

A vast river that was three thousand meters wide was flowing past Ning, and in the river was a fish of gigantic proportions. The river was merely three thousand meters wide, but this fish was over three hundred meters long. The fish swam with the waves, continuing to advance forward with an indomitable, unstoppable attitude.

“What the hell?” Ning stared blankly at his surroundings.

Directly him was a river that was three thousand meters wide. There were several other rivers next to it, each of which was three thousand meters wide and which flowed with tremendous speed. Off in the distance, Ning could see even more rivers, but he wasn’t able to get a clear glimpse of them.

Although Ning wasn’t able to see those rivers clearly, he could vaguely sense that there was a total of a hundred river streams.

A hundred rivers. A hundred fish.

The rivers flowed in one direction. The fish swam in the same direction.

At the very end of the rivers, there was a place where all of them came together, a place of unstoppable power which saw the hundred streams become one.

Every single river gave Ning a different feeling, as did the fish within it.

Some of the rivers felt like the pretty girls next door.

Some of the rivers felt like scorchingly attractive vixens.

Some of the rivers felt like icy cold fairy maidens.

They all had completely different auras and intents, but they were able to perfectly join together off in the distance.

“The Hundred Streams merge together to form the Dao…but alas, if you are unable to do so, you shall die. A pity, a pity…” A sigh suddenly echoed forth from this world…and then, everything vanished.

Ning was once more within the cave, staring at the ordinary-looking pictures of fish and water ripples.

“What just happened?” Ning was puzzled. “Was that an illusion I saw just now? No…I should’ve been able to tell if that was all an illusion. It was no illusion. It was….something else…”

“After ‘Waterwind’ looked at the ‘Hundred Streams of the Windsource’, he left behind these diagrams containing his insights.” Ning raised his head to give the diagrams another look, but then he suddenly froze.

This was because when he did so, the scene he had just seen instantly began to replay in his mind.

The hundred surging rivers, the hundred swimming fish, even that final sigh…all of it appeared once more within his memories.

“It has an inexplicable feeling to it. Almost like…sadness.”

Ning silently pondered on this. The reason why Ning felt that sense of sorrow was due to that final sigh.

“But this so-called ‘hundred streams merging together to form the Dao…’” Ning had the feeling that those words contained an incredibly profound meaning to it. The more he tried to understand it, the more confused he became. However, Ning was in no rush. He sat down in the lotus position and began to slowly meditate on what he had just seen. He was so absorbed by this that he actually forgot ot enter the Heavengazer Tower, as he was completely focused on the scene of the hundred streams that he had just seen.

One day after another went past.

Ning continued to sit there, as unmoving as a statue. Dust began to collect and accumulate on his body, and soon Ning looked like an actual statue.

Six years later.

Ning had been completely covered with dust…but finally, on this day, he opened his eyes, revealing a look of surprise and delight in his gleaming, crystalline gaze.

“The Hundred Streams merge together to form the Dao…the Nine Seals join together to become One…so this is how the Nine Chaos Seals actually work,” Ning murmured softly to himself.

The meaning of the phrase ‘the Hundred Streams merge together to form the Dao’ was simply too profound; he was able to just barely glean a few insights from it. However, while doing so he was able to see many similarities between it and his Nine Chaos Seals, resulting in him gaining many more insights into the ninth seal.

Before leaving the Three Realms, Ning had already mastered the eighth chaos seal. Only one was left.

A series of complicated divine runes began to appear within Ning’s eyes. All nine of the Nine Chaos Seals began to manifest within his eyes, changing and transforming in an endless pattern. In the past, it seemed as though there would never be an end to the changing runes of the Nine Chaos Seals…but once Ning mastered them, the transformations came to an end. Finally, they came together to form the image of what looked like a flower.

This image appeared on Ning’s soul itself, as well as his very truesoul.

It was an azure flower.

It was sacred, holy, natural.

The seal imprint of an azure flower began to naturally manifest itself on Ning’s forehead as well. After appearing briefly, it then quickly faded away and hid itself.

“When the Nine Chaos Seals join together to become one, they become absolutely marvelous. Mother Nuwa must have reached this level as well.” Ning could sense the seal imprint of an azure flower that had appeared on his forehead, an azure flower that was gently swaying.





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Book 24, Chapter 21 - Azureflower Space


The sea of consciousness was located very close to the forehead…and within Ji Ning’s sea of consciousness, there was an absolutely beautiful azure flower that was swaying in the wind.

“I never would’ve thought that after mastering the Nine Chaos Seals, an azure flower seal would appear, with an azure flower appearing in my consciousness as well.” Ning could sense himself transforming. In the past, after mastering each chaos seal he would be able to more closely attune with the essence of certain concepts such as destiny, slaughter, darkness, the sword, etc.

Now that the nine had come together, Ning felt an even greater attunement towards the essence of the sword. It made sense; he had the most insights in this regard, after all. He also felt much closer attunement towards rainwater, lightning, space, and other Daos…