Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

Tathagata’s squad of four Buddhas all flew towards Ning, and Ning’s group of seven rode a cloud towards them as well.

“You ended up escaping on your own.” Tathagata laughed. “I wonder how you did it?”

“It was Darknorth.” Graceful Peacock spoke out from within Ning’s group.

“Darknorth?” Tathagata looked towards Ning with surprise.

Kuafu agreed. “Right. Ji Ning is extremely powerful. I’m afraid that even I wouldn’t necessarily be a match for him. Three Purities was trapped here for more than three thousand years, but Ji Ning managed to lead us out after just a short period of time. Ahahaha! Once that old Daoist hears about this, I wonder what sort of an expression he will have on his face?”

And at this exact moment back in the Three Realms, Graceful Peacock was narrating everything which had just happened to the concerned major powers of the Nuwa Alliance.





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Book 22, Chapter 17 - Subhuti and Old Man Yuan


The Three Realms. Allclans Palace.

Graceful Peacock was narrating the entire story to the major powers present. “We were trapped in Earthmoan Mountain, and both Luwu and Windfate were heavily wounded. We were just about finished, but Darknorth…fellow Daoist Darknorth had been carefully scrutinizing everything from inside our formation, and he finally was able to see through the illusions of Earthmoan Mountain and see the truth. He walked out of our formation, then blocked several invisible attacks of Earthmoan Mountain as he led us to safety.”

“He blocked those attacks?” Exalted Celestial Thundergod asked, “Graceful Peacock, didn’t you say that the attacks of Earthmoan Mountain are extremely powerful? Empress Xi was just barely able to defend against those attacks, thanks to the protective formation, but she was still wounded. Ji Ning walked out of the formation, and THEN blocked those attacks?”

“Right.” Graceful Peacock nodded, her eyes sparkling as she smiled. “Fellow Daoist Darknorth is one of the most peerless figures to ever exist, ever since Pangu established Heaven and Earth. He has already reached the fifth stage of swordforce.”

“The fifth stage?” Exalted Celestial Thundergod was incredulous. “How is that possible?”

The entire palace became a hubbub of commotion.

Fifth-stage swordforce?

Anyone and everyone who could reach the fifth stage of swordforce would become one of the most elite Daofathers alive. Someone like Ji Ning, who also knew the [Five Treasures] sword-art, would be even more terrifying.

“Is that true?”

“He hasn’t even trained for a thousand years, right?” The major powers were all discussing this in hushed voices.

Lord Tathagata the Buddha, seated on high, spoke out. “It is indeed so.”

Exalted Celestial Thundergod was now truly dazed. He could no longer say a word.

“Ahahaha!” Daofather Subhuti, also seated on high, started to laugh.

Next to him was Daoist Three Purities, who laughed as well. “Subhuti, you knew all along?”

Subhuti just smugly stroked his beard.

“My junior apprentice-brother truly is formidable.” Houyi laughed as well. “We have gained yet another mighty general for the Endwar.”

Exalted Celestial Thundergod was filled with many mixed emotions. He was an aloof, arrogant figure, and he originally had not held Ji Ning in any regard. Ji Ning’s performance at the Deerchaser world, though…it had caused Thundergod to feel rather upset. Still, he was able to console himself that the kid had relied on the Rahu Formation and the Envoy of All Things. The kid’s true power was still quite weak.

But now, the ‘kid’ had fifth-stage swordforce and sword-arts that surpassed the limits of the Heavenly Daos. This meant that Ji Ning was now, indisputably, the number one Sword Immortal of the Three Realms!

“Subhuti.” Finally, Thundergod spoke out. “Congratulations.”

Subhuti looked at Thundergod and chortled. “This old Daoist loves to put on airs and keep people guessing. I hope you aren’t too angry with me, Thundergod.”

“How could I be? Our Nuwa Alliance has gained yet another powerful general. I couldn’t be happier!” Thundergod replied honestly.

Subhuti nodded.

Although Thundergod was a stubborn, solitary, and arrogant figure, his loyalty to the Nuwa Alliance was absolutely beyond reproach. In the end…it had been Subhuti’s dear old friend, Old Man Yuan, a figure far more powerful than Thundergod, who had ended up vacillating between the two sides. To this very day, he still had yet to join the Nuwa Alliance.

“My old friend…I truly don’t wish to end up in a fight to the death against you,” Subhuti murmured to himself.

……

This was a damaged, badly ravaged planet, but there were two major powers present here.

An old man with a red nose was seated in the lotus position in front of a thatched cottage. Before him was a small table, and across from him sat the white-bearded Subhuti. This was one of Subhuti’s incarnations.

“Congratulations. Your disciple actually reached the fifth stage of swordforce.” The red-nosed elder sighed with emotion. “A pity, such a pity. I knew all along that Ji Ning’s potential was extraordinarily. I really wanted to take him on as my disciple, but you refused to accept.”

“I didn’t actually refuse you,” Subhuti said. “I told you; so long as you joined our side, you could immediately take on Ji Ning as your disciple. But you refused to accept.”

“I still cannot accept.” Old Man Yuan shook his head.

“Hmph.”

Subhuti let out a cold laugh. “We’ve been fighting against the Seamless Gate for so long now. You should be able to tell that our differences are completely irreconcilable. At a time like this…you continue to waver! You said all those pompous things about ‘not wanting to see all your old friends die, one by one’…but your actions now are causing even more of our old friends to die! Your words are complete bullshit!”

“Yes.” Old Man Yuan nodded, a distant look in his eyes. “I admit that I said those things for the sake of saving face. All of those things I said were lies.”

Subhuti just looked at him.

He felt pain in his heart.

They had all emerged together from the primordial chaos as ignorant, wide-eyed newborns. They had all supported each other, discussed the Dao together, advanced together on the path of cultivation. They were so close to each other that they were like actual brothers. Some of them had ended up dying in the chaotic wars of the Primordial Era, while others had died in the war that had ended that era. Daoist Threelives, for example, had already perished.

Not many were still alive…but this old friend of his, ‘Old Man Yuan’, had actually refused to stand alongside them at such a critical hour.

“You finally admit to it,” Subhuti said icily.

“Yes.” Old Man Yuan shook his head. “Ever since the Primordial Era, we have suffered incursions from alien Outsiders. When we killed them, we gained some of their techniques and some of their records regarding the infinite primordial chaos. I came to understand that this place of ours is nothing more than a single chaosworld. The primordial chaos is a far vaster universe. When I learned this, I became filled with the desire to travel far away, to see more things.”

“We ‘True Gods’ who were born from the primordial chaos were nothing more than local bumpkins who were born to this region. How can we be considered ‘major powers’? We simply relied on the power we gained at birth.” Old Man Yuan shook his head. “In the endless primordial chaos, the true ‘major powers’ are the World Gods and Chaos Immortals. They are capable of easily wiping out our entire world.”