Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

“Withdraw.” Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan gave the order.

Both the Nuwa Alliance and the Seamless Gate began to withdraw their troops. The mood on the battlefield was noticeably much grimmer than before, with countless Immortals and Fiendgods having frenzied looks in their eyes. All of the cultivators knew that there was nowhere to run; their only choice was to stake their own lives in an attempt to take the lives of their opponents.

“They actually have slightly more bugbeasts than we do.” Fuxi frowned.

“They gained the legacies of the Lord of All Things. It’s not that strange that they also gained his bugbeast techniques.” Daoist Three Purities said coldly, “Although they have slightly more bugbeasts than we do, things are still manageable.”

“Sword Immortal Evergreen…” Ning shook his head.

Ning had always been wanting to find an opportunity to kill this traitor.

However, no one would’ve imagined what had happened. Due to both sides suddenly adding bugbeasts into their armies, the balance between the two sides had been completely disrupted. Faced with critical danger, Sword Immortal Evergreen had actually made a sudden breakthrough! He had mastered one of the Heavenly Daos, causing a resonance that everyone was able to feel. Sword Immortal Evergreen had immediately swallowed Great Firmament Immortal pills to breakthrough to become a Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament (Daofather). After he made a breakthrough, he immediately suffered frenzied, concentrated attacks attacks from the Nuwa Alliance. He became a focal point…resulting in him being slain almost instantly!

Just a few seconds after becoming a Daofather, Sword Immortal Evergreen had been assaulted by more than ten mighty formations. He had died on the spot!

In this sort of massive battle, anyone who seemed particularly impressive or eye-catching would immediately draw enormous amounts of concentrated firepower on his or her head. Only someone close to the overlord level of power would be able to survive; anyone else would almost certainly perish.”

“Too many died in this battle.” Shennong sighed softly.

“There are no other choices.” Suiren suppressed the pain he felt in his heart.

Ning felt miserable as well.

This latest battle was the most vicious battle to date in the final war for karmic luck. As a result of this battle, the total number of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals the Nuwa Alliance had lost had reached more than 8600! As for Celestial Immortals? Celestial Immortal casualties had surpassed a hundred million! Loose Immortals and Fiendgods? Forget about even trying to tell them.

Things weren’t much better for the Seamless Gate either. Although they were supported by many powerful golems, they were still the weaker side in this conflict. They had lost more than 6900 Empyrean Gods and True Immortals and more than 92 million Celestial Immortals. Their Loose Immortal casualties were also horrendous beyond count.

These simple, plain numbers represented a hideous loss of life amongst Immortals and Fiendgods!

Far, far too many had died in this battle…including many of Ning’s good friends.

“Old brother Buyou. Roughpeak…” Ning couldn’t help but sigh to himself. More than ten of the Empyrean Gods he had rescued from Undermoon Lake had died just now, including Empyrean Gods Buyou and Roughpeak. He had been particularly close to those two.

“And Eastluck…” Ning sighed again.

That stubborn wastrel of a prince…after his temper had been tamed, he had revealed his tremendous talent and brilliance. He had skyrocketed in power after entering the Buddhist Sangha, causing even Lord Buddha to take notice of him. In this battle, Bodhisattva Eastluck had actually been given full control over a large formation. But…just now, that dazzlingly talented Bodhisattva Eastluck had also died in battle.

If he had been given enough time, it was entirely possible that the Buddhist Sangha would’ve gained yet another Buddha into their ranks.

Alas, this was destiny.

No matter how talented you were or how much of a genius you were, if you weren’t given enough time to grow you still wouldn’t become a ‘major power’. Dying in a titanic battle like this was like a single wave disappearing into the sea, leaving behind no traces of its passing.

Not even Lord Buddha had enough time to grieve for each individual person. Far too many were dying, and every single major power had to watch as quite a few of their beloved disciples perished. Almost every Empyrean God and True Immortal had taken on a major power as master, after all.





* * *





Book 23, Chapter 15 - The Battle for Karmic Luck (2)


War was a cruel affair.

The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were all fighting in massive formations. Each of them commanded many Celestial Immortals and a sea of Loose Immortals and Fiendgods! Each time a formation was broken apart, a huge massacre would follow! Only a few lucky individuals would be able to survive, generally when allied Immortals and Fiendgods who were still in formation managed to scoop them up into estate-treasures.

Ji Ning’s eyes were bloodshot. When he saw all this happen, he couldn’t help but wish to charge into the fray himself as well.

However, he knew that he had to remain calm. Although the numbers indicated that the Nuwa Alliance’s losses were heavier than the Seamless Gate’s, that was because the Seamless Gate was losing golems as well! As more and more golems were destroyed, the Seamless Gate began to lose more and more Immortals and Fiendgods as well.

“Eh?” Ning suddenly relaxed slightly.

His Primaltwin had been in the Heavengazer Tower the entire time. Just now, it had finally mastered and unlocked the fourth level of the Triult Sword! As his Primaltwin was now also an Ancestral Immortal, he now used up a staggering amount of energy when he sped up time inside the tower. Thus, his Primaltwin now merely maintained a rate of thirty times the normal speed of time.

At twenty times the normal speed of time, the Primaltwin was able to maintain an energy equilibrium. At thirty times the normal speed of time, the Primaltwin would need to occasionally consume spirit pills in order to stay steady.

Roughly three months had passed in the outside world, but roughly eight years had passed in the Heavengazer Tower. Finally, the fourth level had been unlocked.

“Now, the Triult Swords will be slightly more powerful for me than they were for Swordfather Triult,” Ning mused to himself. To be able to increase his own power at such a critical moment in time was something which pleased Ning greatly.

The war for karmic luck continued. As more and more golems were destroyed, the Nuwa Alliance’s advantage became increasingly apparent. However, the Seamless Gate was quite resolute as well. They triaged their losses whenever necessary, determined to give the Nuwa Alliance no chance at all for a quick victory.

The battles continued, and the casualties continued to climb…

By the 179th day of battle, after roughly half a year had passed, the Nuwa Alliance had lost a total of more than twenty thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals! The Seamless Gate had also lost more than twenty thousand as well! If this was a battle between mortal armies, such terrible casualties could very well have caused a complete breakdown in moral, resulting in one side collapsing.

However, the two vast armies continued to fight with utter bloodlust.

……

“It’s about time.”

The Lord of All Fiends, Keeper Everwood, Daomother Devilhand, Daofather Bloodswan, Old Man Yuan, and the other major powers were all standing in the darkened skies, watching as the battle proceeded.

“Prepare for the Endwar,” the Lord of All Fiends sent mentally.

“The Endwar?” Everyone present felt their hearts clench.

Daomother Devilhand sent frantically, “Windfiend, we haven’t lost the war for karmic luck yet. Our losses in Empyrean Gods and True Immortals are equal to their losses. We can keep fighting.”