Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

“Does there have to be a reason? Can’t we just share some wine and enjoy a chat about the old days?” Old Man Yuan laughed.

“Chat about the old days? Well, we’ve drank our wine and had our chat. I need to go back and and cook some fish soup.” Ning rose to his feet as he spoke, reaching towards the fish bucket and the fishing pole which had been placed at the helm of the boat.

“I actually do have something to discuss with you,” Old Man Yuan said.

Ning came to a halt and was about to turn around, but suddenly…

A strange, unfathomable ripple of power instantly invaded Ning’s body, surging towards his soul in a massive wave.

“Heartforce.” Ning instantly understood.

There was no way his own heartforce could defend against that tremendous wave of invading heartforce power. They were on completely different levels.

“Fifth stage heartforce! Old Man Yuan has reached the fifth stage of heartforce. He just launched a sneak attack against me.” Ning was tremendously shocked. In the Three Realms, it was common knowledge that the only person who had reached the fifth stage of heartforce was Houyi. However, this clearly was not the case. Old Man Yuan was extremely accomplished in heartforce; the [Heart Sutra] he had bestowed unto Ning had thoroughly convinced Ning of his formidable prowess in this field. Only today, however, did he realize that Old Man Yuan had actually reached the fifth stage of heartforce!

Old Man Yuan’s heartforce flooded through Ning’s body!

Ning’s own heartforce couldn’t defend against it at all, resulting in the invading heartforce delving straight towards Ning’s soul!

“Heartforce soul-lock!” Ning had been maintaining this secret art the entire time.

Heartforce soul-lock was a type of defensive technique that joined one’s soul and one’s heartforce together. It was like a series of extremely complicated ‘chains’ that locked them together, making it difficult for an outside force to break through them!

When adventuring through the primordial chaos, one would often encounter natural illusions and evil spells that were aimed at the soul. Possessing a secret art that could protect the soul was extremely important. Thus, World God Northrest had imparted the ‘heartforce soul-lock’ technique unto Ning! Ning’s soul was nourished by his half-step Elder God body, resulting in it becoming tremendously powerful. Now that his soul had been joined together with his fourth-stage heartforce into a series of complicated interlocking chains, it was incredibly durable and nearly impregnable.

Boom! The valiant power of Old Man Yuan’s fifth-stage heartforce collided violently against the heartforce soul-lock technique.

Outside Ning’s body.

Space in the surrounding area had come to a sudden halt. The waters of the river had calmed, with not even the tiniest ripple or wave being visible. It was as though everything had frozen solid. Even the fish within the fish bucket at the front of the boat had frozen.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The wooden boat suddenly blew apart. The wooden bucket blew apart, with the fish inside the bucket being completely disintegrated into dust. In fact, even the surrounding waters of the river were instantly vaporized…

Although heartforce was ephemeral and invisible, fifth-stage heartforce was simply too terrifyingly powerful. However, it was as though Old Man Yuan’s heartforce had rammed into a steel board! The defensive prowess of the heartforce soul-lock technique was simply too formidable, and it completely defended against Old Man Yuan’s attack. The resulting spiritual collision actually manifested as an enormous shockwave in the ‘real’ world, causing everything within ninety meters to be utterly vaporized. Outside this range, however, nothing was damaged whatsoever.

“How is this possible?!” Old Man Yuan revealed a look of shock. This was the technique which he was the most confident in, but it had failed spectacularly from the very start.

Ning just turned his head to look at him, a hint of pain in his eyes.

“Fellow Daoist Yuan, you truly disappoint me.”

His voice echoed by Old Man Yuan’s ears.

Whoosh!

A dazzling streak of sword-light suddenly descended. Ning didn’t hesitate at all, immediately pulling out and striking down with Violetjewel while using the most inscrutable, mysterious stance he knew: Shadowless.

“Go.” A horsetail whisk appeared in Old Man Yuan’s hands. He flicked it outwards, causing countless strands of hair to swirl around the sword-light, blocking it as he hurriedly retreated.

“You hid your true power quite well.” As soon as they exchanged blows, Ning discovered that Old Man Yuan definitely had the power of an overlord-class figure.

Everyone believed him to merely be ‘close’ to the overlord level, but that was something which had been established a long, long time ago. In his attack against Ning, Old Man Yuan had first revealed his fifth-stage heartforce, then managed to block Ning’s sword-light with his own horsetail whisk. Although a soft weapon like this was a natural counter to Ning’s fierce sword-strikes, Old Man Yuan had still unquestionably shown himself to be an overlord-class figure.

Whoosh. A figure suddenly flashed into existence next to Old Man Yuan. It was an azure-haired, red-robed man.

“The Lord of All Fiends!”

Ning was completely shocked by the Lord of All Fiend’s speed. He had actually appeared without any warning whatsoever!

“Don’t even think about leaving!” Ning thrust out with his sword, striking like a thunderclap. This was the fastest stance he had, the Blood Drop Stance. He stabbed directly towards Old Man Yuan, but the azure-haired, red-robed Lord of All Fiends gracefully flew forward at the same time. As he did, every inch of space around him began to change and blur.

Ning’s sword-arts had exceeded the limits of the Heavenly Daos, and he was using the fastest stance he had, the Blood Drop Stance. And yet…

Ning stared, wide-eyed, as he realized that his sword couldn’t keep up with the Lord of All Fiend’s flying speed!

Whoosh.

The Lord of All Fiends and Old Man Yuan disappeared from Ning’s field of vision.

……

The Allfiend world.

The Lord of All Fiends appeared within a palace with Old Man Yuan in tow. Within the hall were Keeper Everwood, Daomother Devilhand, and the black-robed Godking. All three turned to look at him.

“I failed.” Old Man Yuan shook his head. “He just became a True God; logically speaking, he would need to spend a long period of time allowing his soul to be strengthened by his new body. I had thought that his soul would be fairly weak, making him an easy target. I was hoping to capture him and use him as proof of my loyalty, but…ugh. I suppose I really have grown old.”

“Ji Ning is already an established power. It won’t be that easy to deal with him. In truth, there was no need for you to bring some ‘proof of your loyalty’. I believe you.” The Lord of All Fiends looked at Old Man Yuan.





* * *





Book 23, Chapter 6 - Buddha Jueming


The waters of the river began to flow once more.

Ji Ning stood there in midair, a look of anger and pain in his eyes.

“Old Man Yuan has actually, truly joined the Seamless Gate. Didn’t he say that he doesn’t wish to get involved in the struggles of the Three realms?” Ning had felt gratitude towards Old Man Yuan. Although Ning felt some astonishment at the power which Old Man Yuan had revealed, his primary feeling right now was anguish at the betrayal. His master Subhuti had been very close to Old Man Yuan; most likely, Subhuti would be heartbroken as well.

Whoosh.

Three figures suddenly appeared in quick succession next to Ning. First was Subhuti, who emerged from a spatial vortex. Next was Daoist Three Purities. Last was Exalted Celestial Carefree.