Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

“Where am I?” Ning glanced downwards, a look of delight instantly appearing on his face. “The region I was in previously?”


He had been journeying through this region for more than a year before encountering and battling Hellsword. Only then had he been swept into the Hundred Streams of the Windsource. Now, he had made it back to this dangerous region. However, Ning now knew that compared to the core regions he had just escaped, this ‘dangerous region’ and the swamps were all incredibly safe. Even Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were able to wander through this region with ease!

“I managed to come back with quite a haul of treasures. If I died in there, all my treasure-scavenging would’ve been for nothing.” Ning was filled with contentment and happiness.

“Eh?”

Ning suddenly stared off into the distance. His vision was incredibly keen, especially after the azureflower energy began reinforcing every part of his body. He was now able to see to great distances with the naked eye, and he immediately saw a warship drifting through the distant skies next to a chain of mountains. This warship had been resized to be merely a few dozen meters long, and it clung tightly to the chain of mountains.

“Elder God Skysouth?” Ning immediately recognized the warship. He couldn’t help but murmur to himself, “It seems the two of us really are destined to clash.”

Swoosh.

Ning immediately began to fly towards the warship, the Goldstar Beads of the Heavens swirling around him.





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Book 24, Chapter 27 - Ji Ning and the Flamefairy


Karma was truly a wondrous, mysterious thing.

As Ji Ning flew towards the warship, he couldn’t help but sigh. When he had first entered the Ruins, Elder God Skysouth had relied on his army of slaves to attack Ning and attempt to seize Ning’s treasures. In truth, Ning didn’t hold much of a grudge. Anyone who entered the world of cultivation had to abide by its many unspoken rules, and combat was extremely common within the Ruins. If Ning truly had been killed, he would’ve only blamed himself for being too weak.

Back then, he had elected to flee.

After roaming about the Hundred Streams of the Windsource, he had ended up acquiring multiple Dao weapons and had mastered the Nine Chaos Seals, materializing the azureflower seal and growing dramatically more powerful. And now, as soon as he exited the Hundred Streams, he had run into Elder God Skysouth once more. If there was no enmity whatsoever between the two, Ning probably would’ve just left; that was the type of person he was. But now that there was a bit of bad blood…Ning didn’t hesitate at all in choosing to chase after him.

This, too, was karma!

“Destiny and karma truly do work in unfathomable ways.” Ning could sense the unfathomably distant and vast essence-river of destiny ebbing and surging.

He was now able to see the fate of mortals with but a single glance, discerning their future joys and sorrows.

Truly formidable cultivators, however…

Ning found it difficult to see their destinies.

Although destiny was often viewed as being abstruse, it actually operated on simple principles. Destiny was formed by the entangling of countless different strings of karma. For example, Ji Ning held a grudge against Old Man Yuan, which was why Ji Ning had ended up joining Fogstone and being stationed here on the Windsource Chaosworld! But of course, the secret workings of destiny were trillions of times more complicated than the simple ‘cause and effect’ of karma.

Ning understood another principle as well. The past was difficult to change, but the future was not.

For example, Ning might be able to see the destined life path of a mortal, but because the future had yet to actually happen, for that mortal’s destiny to be changed wouldn’t be too hard. For example, if a powerful cultivator suddenly chose to intervene in that mortal’s life, that mortal’s destiny would easily be changed.

The Book of Life and Death was a good example. It set down the destined fates of mortals, but if that mortal gained great karmic merit, his life could be completely changed.

In fact, Ning had the sneaking suspicion that some unfathomably powerful figures might be capable of reversing things that had already occurred in the past! For example…perhaps a cultivator whose truesoul was destroyed could be revived.

This was Ning’s greatest hope and goal as he continued on his path of cultivation. His greatest desire was to see his beloved wife be brought back to life.

Ning continued to chase after the warship, moving closer and closer to it, but his mind began to wander as he began to ponder on the workings of karma and destiny. In truth, he didn’t view Elder God Skysouth as much of an opponent.

A hundred Elder Gods in an Elder God Formation were very formidable and were capable of holding off even a World God for a period of time, but Ning didn’t intend to give Elder God Skysouth the chance to act as he pleased.

The warship continued to slowly fly through the mountains. Elder God Skysouth was seated on at the front of the ship, lazily watching the skies before him. Next to him was a table covered with wine and delicacies, along with two female servants who were attending to him. Behind him were six Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who were maintaining a watchful vigilance.

In front of the warship, a blazing figure was fleeing at high speed. The area around this fiery-robed woman was filled with countless daggers of flame.

“Flamefairy.” Elder God Skysouth chortled. “You’ve been fleeing for quite some time now. I imagine you should understand that you won’t be able to escape me. If I wanted to, I could’ve caught you long ago. However, I chose not to. I can’t bear to see such an unmatchably beautiful Immortal maiden like yourself die within a place like this.”

“All I want you to do is be one of my retainers. Why must you be so stubborn?” Elder God Skysouth drained all the wine from his winecup. The female servant next to him smiled flirtatiously and quickly helped him fill it once more.

“Just a retainer?” The fleeing Su Youji laughed coldly.

“You look ravishing when you are angry, Flamefairy. Your [Libertine Dream] technique truly is alluring.” Elder God Skysouth couldn’t help but sigh in praise. “I’m not asking that much. All you need to do is serve me as a retainer while also being my pleasure-companion. What’s the point of cultivation? It is to be able to travel as far as we can on our paths with our hearts filled with pleasure. But for someone like me…I no longer have any hopes with regards to cultivation. All I can seek is excitement and pleasure, yes?”

“I train in the [Libertine Dream]. I cannot possibly become your pleasure-companion,” Su Youji sent mentally.

The [Libertine Dream] technique did not permit the user to lose her virginity.

This was a technique which Su Youji had devised for herself after she saw fragments of an ancient technique. Su Youji had improved with dramatic speed after developing this technique. She had been cultivating for less than a million years but had long ago become comparable to a supreme Elder God or Ancestral Immortal. However, because she was a Ki Refiner, she was a bit weaker than Fiendgod Body Refiners in close combat.

“The forbidden fruits taste the sweetest.” Elder God Skysouth let out a soft sigh, his voice echoing by Su Youji’s ears. “Someone like me can buy and sell even female Ancestral Immortals as chattel, but one as mesmerizing as you is almost impossible to find. I urge you to stop running. If you keep running around like this, you might wind up activating a dangerous formation of some sort.”