Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

“We’re leaving the Three Realms.”


The Lord of All Fiends began to collect the major powers of the Seamless Gate mid-battle.

Before this Endwar had begun, these major powers had all handed their closest friends and loved ones over to the Lord of All Fiends for safekeeping. They all had faith in the escaping abilities of the Lord of All Fiends. The reason why they were willing to risk or even to give up their lives was to ensure that the ones they cared about would be able to continue living.

“Let’s go. All of you, let’s go.” Subhuti appeared next to the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance as well.

“Let’s go.” Sun Wukong’s eyes turned red, as did the eyes of many others.

“Let’s go.”

They all understood that continuing to fight like this would be pointless. The whole point of them fighting was to keep the soulslaves occupied, preventing them from assisting Old Man Yuan! Now, however, there was no point. It was all up to Ji Ning.

These other True Gods and Daofathers were too weak to make a difference; they simply couldn’t keep Old Man Yuan tied down. If Old Man Yuan wanted to flee, he could do so whenever he wished to. Only the likes of Ji Ning, the Lord of All Fiends, and the other overlords were capable of forcing Old Man Yuan to stay and fight.

The Lord of All Fiends evacuated the Seamless Gate, while Subhuti evacuated the Nuwa Alliance. Both sides had already made their preparations.

If Ji Ning’s self-detonation failed to slay Old Man Yuan, then they would leave the Three Realms and enter the endless primordial chaos.

If Ji Ning’s self-detonation succeeded in exhausting Old Man Yuan’s store of divine power, rendering him helpless…then they would counter-attack and win!

It was all up to Ji Ning!

Those five massive palms reached out for Ning from five different directions, covering the Void like five massive stormclouds. All of them moved as fast as the speed of light, giving Ning’s true body no chance to run.

“Is the Three Realms about to be destroyed?”

“No…”

“We still have a slight chance.”

Ning was calmer than he ever had been before. The reason why all of those overlords had sacrificed themselves was because they saw that same slight chance as well.

“Come, then.” Ning’s heart was as still as water.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Old Man Yuan’s five palms slammed down with no mercy whatsoever towards Ning’s true body. With the Lord of All Fiends having fled, the Three Realms no longer posed any threat to him whatsoever. As for the likes of Buddha Maitreya or Sun Wukong, those major powers were too weak in comparison. If he wanted to fight them, he would; if he wanted to flee from them, he could.

Ji Ning was the last one who could pose a threat to him.

“Die, then.” Old Man Yuan’s eyes were filled with cold savagery as he mentally steeled himself for Ji Ning’s self-detonation. “I can take another blast. I can still hold.”

The Lord of All Fiends had fled far off into the distance and was watching through his senses.

Patriarch Subhuti was also far away by now, and by his side stood Buddha Maitreya, Buddha Amitabha, Sun Wukong, Jade Cauldron, and the others. They, too, were watching.

Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation was also watching from afar.

The destiny of the Three Realms itself hung in the balance, and everyone was waiting to see how the scales would be tipped. Even the Heavenly Daos were shuddering. They understood that a critical moment had arrived…but there was nothing they could do.

As for the countless living creatures of the Three Realms, they continued to peacefully live their ordinary lives. Some struggled for political power, some wooed their lovers, some chanted poems, some focused on their studies, and some were fighting in their own wars…

They had no idea…that the fate of the entire Three Realms would be decided in this next instant.

“…What’s going on?” The Lord of All Fiends, Patriarch Subhuti, Godfiend Witherspike, and the others all grew puzzled.

This was because Old Man Yuan’s giant palms had descended upon Ji Ning, clutching him in their grasp.

But…

There was no detonation!

“He didn’t self-detonate?!” The Lord of All Fiends boggled.

Subhuti and the rest of the Nuwa Alliance were all stunned as well. Even Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation was stunned.

None of them believed that this was because Ji Ning was afraid to die. Ji Ning had to know that if Old Man Yuan captured him and sealed him away, the end result would still be death, and a pointless one at that. He wouldn’t even be able to injure Old Man Yuan.

They were shocked. Old Man Yuan himself was shocked. He had already mentally prepared himself to deal with Ji Ning’s self-detonation, but even as he finally wrapped his fingers around Ji Ning, Ji Ning still did not self-detonate.

“The destiny of the Three Realms shall be decided in this instant.”

When Ning saw the palms draw near him, he had decided to self-detonate.

In this moment, his heart was calmer than it ever had been before. He stood there all by himself, his friends and allies all far away, his spirit in a state of complete silence…and suddenly, he found that spark of insight within his divine body.

“A spark of insight that can only be found in endless solitude…” As death descended, Ning suddenly gave up his plans of self-detonation. Instead, he immediately activated the [Solitary World God] technique.

In order to advance through the [Solitary World God], one had to find a spark of insight hidden within one’s divine body.

Last time, when he had broken through to become a True God, he had succeeded because of the effort he had spent on mastering the Goldstar Beads of the Heavens. This time, however, it was because in this moment where the entire destiny of the Three Realms hung in the balance, his soul had become so extraordinarily calm and silent that he was able to sense that tiny little spark inside himself.

Whoosh. Old Man Yuan’s fingers clenched around Ji Ning.

Ji Ning did not self-detonate.

“It’s over.” The Lord of All Fiends shook his head.

“It’s finished.” The major powers of the Nuwa Alliance all shook their heads, despair written plainly on their faces. They had tried so hard…but for some reason, Ji Ning had refused to self-detonate. The last hope of the Three Realms was gone.

“No.” Patriarch Subhuti continued to watch. He wouldn’t believe it. He refused to believe that his disciple was a craven man who feared death.

Rumble…

Boundless amounts of chaos energy suddenly began to appear in a great flood, forming an enormous chaos vortex that was centered…directly above Ji Ning.

“It’s not finished. The Three Realms isn’t finished.” When Subhuti saw the chaos vortex suddenly appear, he let out a hoarse cry. “The Three Realms is not finished!”





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Book 23, Chapter 32 - Half-Step World God


“Is that…!”

The Lord of All Fiends, the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance, and Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation all stared at the chaos vortex which had suddenly appeared. All of them tensed as they sensed that aura of tremendous power expand and wash over them. The source of that terrifying aura…lay in the center of Old Man Yuan’s giant palms.

“Impossible. This is impossible.” Old Man Yuan was still seated on his lotus throne, but his face now completely changed. He could keenly sense the terrifying power emanating from Ji Ning, who he still held within his grasp. Clearly, Ji Ning was striving to push him back.

“He made a breakthrough?!”

Old Man Yuan had experienced the war that ended the Primordial Era. It was at the very end of that war when Mother Nuwa had broken through to become a World God, absorbing enormous amounts of chaos energy and then dominating all her foes. For a chaos vortex to appear at a moment like this…Old Man Yuan knew right away that Ji Ning had begun to make a breakthrough.