Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

“Eh?”


Ning stared at Old Man Yuan as the latter struck out repeatedly, six arms moving like a blur. He felt a greater desire to kill this man than he had ever felt before, and the future of all living creatures of the Three Realms was riding on his shoulders. Ning felt calmer and more zen-like than he ever had before.

In recent years, he had mastered the ninety-eight stone sword-steles which World God Northrest had left behind, but he had never been able to gain proficiency in the [Nameless] sword-art. However, as he stared at Old Man Yuan’s six illusory arms, a light suddenly flashed in Ning’s head.

It was a very strange feeling…

It was as though the surrounding Void had become part of his own demesnes, as though the Void itself had become brimming with sword-intent. It was as though countless swords were resonating with him and were calling out with joy!

“This…this is my world.”

He felt a sense of total and utter control. In this moment, Ning suddenly understood the true meaning of the first stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, the ‘Heartsword’ stance.

The ‘Heartsword’ stance…

It wasn’t meant to make his sword stronger! It wasn’t meant to make his sword faster! On the surface, it seemed as though it wouldn’t make Ning’s sword attacks better in any measurable way, but in reality…the true meaning of the ‘Heartsword’ stance lay in truly understanding how to use and control the sword. It taught the wielder how to become the true master of his sword, allowing him to truly unleash the appropriate amount of power with every single strike. It taught one to be agile when necessary, strike with full force when necessary, block when necessary…

It was a sense of control that one would only possess when one reached a truly profound level of insight into the sword.

“Heartsword Realm.”

Ning looked at Old Man Yuan’s six illusory palms, then strode forward through the Void and struck out with his sword.

Slash! The sword knocked one palm aside, causing an opening to appear in the movements of the other five palms. In the past, Ning would have never been able to notice such a minute flaw…but he now had a sort of absolute control over the Void around him, making it almost impossible for any flaw to escape his notice.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

He struck out with three consecutive sword-strikes.

Old Man Yuan didn’t even have a chance to react before Ning’s sword-light pierced through his six blocking arms, stabbing straight towards his body.

“How can this…” Old Man Yuan was in disbelief.

Even an ordinary Elder God who had mastered the first stance of the [Nameless] sword-art, the ‘Heartsword’ stance, would become comparable to a supreme Elder God in battle. This stance represented a certain level of mastery over the sword!

“Go.”

Faced with impending doom, Old Man Yuan didn’t attempt to block the sword-strike. In truth, there was no way for him to block it, even if he wanted to…and so all he did was stare into Ji Ning’s eyes.

Whoosh.

A ripple of power instantly surged towards Ning and attacked him.

It was as if a gray seed suddenly burrowed itself into Ning’s body, attempting to penetrate his very soul. This gray mental seed caused Ning to feel a dim sense of danger.

Boom!

Heartforce soul-lock!

After he became a half-step World God, he had hurriedly strengthened his soul and once more protected it with the heartforce soul-lock technique which World God Northrest had transmitted to him. It was as though an incomparably thick steel plate had appeared before the gray seed. The gray seed did its best to burrow through it, but it actually began to shatter after repeatedly ramming into the steel plate.

Stab!

Ning’s sword-light didn’t slow down in the slightest as it pierced straight through Old Man Yuan’s forehead.

[Brightmoon] sword-art, Blood Drop stance!

This was Ning’s fastest and most penetrating attack. Old Man Yuan’s protective divine ability was unable to block this strike. His forehead was pierced straight through…and he finally ran out of divine power. As Violetjewel unleashed its power, Old Man Yuan’s truesoul was completely ground apart and destroyed.

Old Man Yuan…had died!

The Void was completely silent.

Old Man Yuan’s body continued to sit there in the lotus position, with Ji Ning standing in front of him, holding a sword that had been driven through his forehead. Old Man Yuan’s life aura had completely dissipated…but on his face was a look of resentment and unwillingness to accept this outcome.

Clearly, his final attempt at a heartforce attack had also been easily blocked by Ning. This made him feel quite resentful.

Tears appeared in the eyes of the Lord of All Fiends as he beheld this sight. He murmured softly to himself, “Everwood, we won. The Three Realms won.”

On the Nuwa Alliance’s side, Patriarch Subhuti, Buddha Maitreya, Sun Wukong, Jade Cauldron, Kuafu, and the other major powers stared hard as well, afraid that they were seeing things.

“Dead. Old Man Yuan is finally dead.” Daoist Jade Cauldron mumbled to himself, “Master, the Three Realms has been saved. It’s saved. We won.”

“We won.” Sun Wukong murmured softly, “My senior apprentice-brothers and junior apprentice-brothers…we won. Do you know? We won!”

A number of major powers couldn’t help but begin to shed tears.

They had won.

The Three Realms had won.

Even the distant incarnation Godfiend Witherspike found itself breathless. When he saw Ji Ning pierce through Old Man Yuan’s forehead with his sword, he waited for Old Man Yuan’s life aura to completely vanish before he mumbled to himself, “I never would’ve thought that the Mindlord of the Nine Divine Generals would end up dying in the hands of a local bumpkin from this chaosworld. These yokels actually won. This is unbelievable. Truly unbelievable.”





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Book 23, Chapter 34 - Deception


Snick! Ji Ning pulled Violetjewel out of Old Man Yuan’s corpse. His body was comparable to a top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasure; destroying it would be no easy feat. Ning would have to attack multiple times at absolute maximum power in order to succeed. Still, Ning couldn’t actually be bothered to do that; he would simply use his Five Elements Cauldron to annihilate the body of this alien Outsider who had sinned against them all.

Ning wouldn’t even make use of the Five Elements essence from this body, because he viewed it to be filthy! Ning truly felt far too much hatred towards Old Man Yuan, because far too many had died because of him. Many of Ning’s old friends, his fellow apprentices, and even overlords had died because of him. All the waters of the universe still wouldn’t be enough to wash away the hatred he felt.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

Daofather Subhuti, Buddha Maitreya, Daoist Jade Cauldron, Kuafu, and the other major powers flew over. The Lord of All Fiends, Daofather Bloodswan, and the other major powers of the Seamless Gate flew over as well.

“He finally died.” Subhuti stared at Old Man Yuan’s corpse, then said in a low voice, “This alien Outsider has finally died.”

“This is the most terrifying Outsider I have ever encountered.” The Lord of All Fiends let out a sigh as well.

“The Three Realms’ tribulation has finally come to an end.” Buddha Amitabha had a look of grief and sorrow in his eyes.

“An end?” A voice suddenly rang out from afar. “Don’t be so quick to celebrate.”

All of the major powers surrounding Old Man Yuan’s corpse turned to look. They saw Godfiend Witherspike fly towards them from afar.

“Godfiend Witherspike?” The Lord of All Fiends frowned. “No, this is just his incarnation.”

Ning and the others could also tell that this was merely Witherspike’s incarnation.

“Witherspike, what do you mean by that?” The Lord of All Fiends frowned. “Are you scheming something?”