Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

The Nuwa Alliance had been dealt a grievous blow. More than thirty thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals had perished, while more than twenty major powers had died. Fortunately, Ning had been able to block the Waterflame Apocalypse Formation; otherwise, their losses would have been even greater.

Although the Seamless Gate’s major powers had collected its Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, more than twenty major powers had been slain. The Seamless Gate had fewer major powers than the Nuwa Alliance to begin with, which meant that their casualties were proportionally higher. Once those major powers had died, the traitors who had slain them had also seized their items and estate-treasures, including the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals contained inside. It was obvious what would happen to them.

The two alliances both stared furiously at the traitors.

Old Man Yuan continued to hold his horsetail whisk in his hands, a smile on his face. Behind him stood a group of towering major powers, including Gonggong, Fuxi, Daofather Ink Bamboo, and more than thirty other True Gods and Daofathers.

The power which Old Man Yuan controlled was actually just as formidable as the power of either alliance.

“The Nuwa Alliance lost thirty thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals.” Old Man Yuan smiled. “I’ll make things fair. Children, release the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Seamless Gate.”

“Yes.”

Instantly, the Seamless Gate traitors released the many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals they were holding.

More than twenty major powers of the Seamless Gate had been slain, while more than ten had turned traitor. Each major power had collected nearly ten thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, and so a total of nearly thirty thousand were released!

It must be understood that the Seamless Gate’s losses during the previous battle had been very heavy; thirty thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals represented more than half of their total forces!

“You can all die now.” Old Man Yuan laughed calmly, the countless strands of his horsetail whisk surrounding every single captured member of the Seamless Gate. Before the abductees even had a chance to react…boom! All of them were slain.

“No!”

“Stop!”

Keeper Everwood, Lord Allfiend, and the others all stared with bloodshot eyes, but to no avail…all of the captured Seamless Gate members were slain.

Old Man Yuan had just slain nearly thirty thousand Empyrean Gods and True Immortals with a smile on his face. This caused the Seamless Gate and the Nuwa Alliance to feel two things…cold fear, and burning rage! They all stared at Old Man Yuan and the large group of major powers behind him.

“They are all dead.” Lord Tathagata had a pained look on his face. “Those ‘traitors’…all of them are already dead.”





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Book 23, Chapter 27 - The Nine Divine Generals


“Why would you say that they are dead?” Old Man Yuan flicked his whisk, a smile on his face. “They are alive and well. Isn’t that right, Gonggong?”

“Yes, Master.” Gonggong spoke in a low, respectful voice.

Upon Gonggong say the word ‘master’, whispers broke out within both the Nuwa Alliance and the Seamless Gate. Looks of pain and hatred appeared in the eyes of Ji Ning, Daoist Three Purities, and the others. They wanted nothing more than to kill Old Man Yuan right now. They weren’t fools; they could tell that it was Old Man Yuan behind all of this.

“So it was you, Old Man Yuan, who caused them to turn traitor?” The Lord of All Fiends growled.

“They are all my children. Why speak of ‘betrayal’?” Old Man Yuan smiled.

Everyone in both alliances, be it Ji Ning, Daoist Three Purities, the Lord of All Fiends, or Keeper Everwood, was completely enraged. Still, they knew that they had to maintain their calm. They knew very well that this was a critical moment; they had to be even more careful than they were before. Old Man Yuan’s ambitions were truly terrifying, and he was in control of so many major powers. Once he mobilized them…he would be even more dangerous than Lord Demonheart had been.

“You’ve taken control of them?” Ji Ning suddenly spoke out.

Soul control. This was something which terrified any and every cultivator.

It meant to be controlled, to lose all free will, to feel complete and slavish devotion. If the master ordered the soulslave to die, the soulslave would commit suicide with a smile on his face. This was what made soul control so terrifying! Once you were controlled, it might look as though you were still alive, but you would lose all of your free will. It would be no different from death.

In the endless primordial chaos, there were certain supreme major powers who knew soul control techniques. However, they would generally only be able to use it against weaklings.

By contrast, Old Man Yuan had actually been able to make the likes of Fuxi and Gonggong his soulslaves. This meant that he was most likely incredibly skilled in ways of heartforce, perhaps to the point of being an actual, terrifying Heartforce Cultivator.

“He definitely is a Heartforce Cultivator.” Godfiend and Witherspike were both watching from far away, and both of them were stunned. Saber immediately said, “To be able to stealthily take control over so many major powers without revealing any flaws at all…this Old Man Yuan is definitely a terrifyingly powerful Heartforce Cultivator. He’s even more terrifying than Houyi.”

“For someone like Houyi to appear within this local chaosworld is one thing, but how could a true Heartforce Cultivator appear here? Aren’t they supposed to be extremely rare and extremely mysterious, with very few legacies left behind for others?” Godfiend Witherspike felt his heart grow cold.

No Heartforce Cultivator could be underestimated.

Heartforce…it was ephemeral, formless, and extremely strange.

The cultivators of the endless primordial chaos were primarily divided up into three major paths: Fiendgod Refiners, Ki Refiners, and the mysterious Heartforce Cultivators! Fiendgod Refiners primarily focused on refining the body, Ki Refiners focused on cultivating their Immortal energy, and Heartforce Cultivators focused on cultivating the ephemeral power of heartforce.

“Just before you joined the Seamless Gate, you sought me out,” Ning said. “You suddenly launched a heartforce attack against me. Were you attempting to take control over me as well?”

“Yes.” Old Man Yuan smiled. “Your rise to power was simply far too sudden, much faster than I had expected. Given that the Endwar was nigh, I didn’t have any time to slowly infiltrate your soul defenses. To be honest, I acted against you in a brutish and rather inelegant manner, and I knew that my chances of succeeding would be much lower as a result. When I took over Gonggong and Fuxi, I slowly worked on them over the course of countless years, causing them to fall under my control without even knowing about it. I tried to do the same against Three Purities and Tathagata as well. These locals naturally weren’t able to notice a thing, but their hearts were far too powerful. There was no way for me to truly control them.”

“What?” Three Purities and Tathagata were both shocked.

So Old Man Yuan had tried to secretly take control of the two of them as well. They had automatically defended against it without even knowing about it.

This was simply too terrifying.

“Ahaha, you local yokels…how could you possibly understand how truly formidable heartforce is?” Old Man Yuan laughed coldly, then glanced at the distant Houyi with a look of praise in his eyes. “But for someone like you, Houyi, to emerge in a backwater chaosworld is quite admirable. You received no legacies at all, but you were actually able to come up with a few heartforce techniques on your own. Although you are a child when compared to true Heartforce Cultivators, you are still quite impressive.”

“Heartforce Cultivator?” Lord Tathagata’s face changed. “You are a Heartforce Cultivator?”