Desolate Era (Book 22 - Book 24)

“He’s that powerful?!” Saber was truly shocked now.

Was this a joke? Godfiend Witherspike had been alive for ages now, and had seen more than a hundred individuals on the same level as the Mindlord. Despite all that, he actually dared to claim that Ji Ning could rank in the top three?

“Let’s go. To be able to watch as two figures of such power battled to the death…this entire trip was worth it.” Godfiend Witherspike no longer harbored any more designs on the Three Realms at all. His dark-golden castle flew out of the Void, entering the endless primordial chaos and once more beginning their drifting journey through it.

……

After listening to Godfiend Witherspike’s words, Ning had a feeling that the man had told them the truth.

This was because Old Man Yuan had once said this to Witherspike: “Witherspike, do you still remember that black lotus?” When Witherspike had heard those words, he had been so terrified that he immediately fled. The ‘black lotus secret art’ which Old Man Yuan had used had also been truly formidable.

“Old Man Yuan? Mindlord?” A killing intent arose once more within Ning’s breast.

He was going to venture into the endless primordial chaos eventually.

All signs pointed to Old Man Yuan being the Mindlord; Ning assessed that there was at least an 80% chance of this being the case. After Ning ventured off into the Badlands Territory, he would probably be able to quickly verify whether or not this was the case. A technique as powerful as that black lotus art had to be quite famous. Not just anyone could be allowed to learn it!

“Darknorth…can the Seamless Gate rejoin the Three Realms once more?” The Lord of All Fiends suddenly spoke out.





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Book 23, Chapter 35 - The New Three Realms


The faces of the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance all changed slightly. Suhbuti, Maitreya, Jade Cauldron, Kuafu, Sun Wukong, and the others all hesitated before answering. They wanted to refuse…but just now, both alliances had worked together to defeat Old Man Yuan. Keeper Everwood had gone so far as to unhesitatingly sacrifice his own life by detonating his own body.

Quite a few major powers of the Nuwa Alliance had been very close to Everwood. Subhuti and the already-deceased Tathagata and Three Purities…they had all been very good friends with Keeper Everwood. For them to expel the Seamless Gate right after Keeper Everwood had died for the Three Realms…it really wasn’t very appropriate.

But!

Although they felt confident that the Lord of All Fiends wasn’t a warmonger, who could say what the future would hold? When the Seamless Gate gave birth to new overlords in the future, who could say what would happen? If the Seamless Gate was permitted to stay in the Three Realms, they would continue to be a potential source of trouble. It was entirely possible that in the future, a new war would once more erupt.

“Darknorth, what do you think?” Buddha Maitreya spoke out, causing all the major powers present to look towards Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was now the unquestionably most powerful expert of the Three Realms. He now had the power to dominate all others, much like Mother Nuwa before him. This meant that his words now held much more weight than before.

“They can rejoin the Three Realms.” Ning nodded.

“What?” Subhuti and the others stared towards Ning in astonishment.

The Lord of All Fiends and the others were all shocked and overjoyed. For the Lord of All Fiends to venture through the dangers of the primordial chaos was one thing, but the other major powers and the Seamless Gate’s Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were far too weak. Life in the Three Realms would be better by far.

“However…you all must swear lifeblood oaths.” Ning waved his hand, producing a jade globe.

“A lifeblood oath?”

The major powers of both sides looked towards the jade globe in Ning’s hands.

“Is that an oathstone?” The Lord of All Fiends was shocked.

“Yes.” Ji Ning nodded.

“Then today, the troubles of the Three Realms shall all come to an end.” The Lord of All Fiends laughed. Why was it that the various organizations of the vast primordial chaos were able to remain so unified? It was because of lifeblood oaths! Even the most durable of faiths and promises could be slowly worn away by the passage of time, after all. Only the compulsive power of lifeblood oaths was truly eternal.

Right there in the Void, before the corpse of Old Man Yuan, the major powers of the two alliances set down and swore the Three Realms Oath.

After all of the major powers finished swearing their lifeblood oaths, the atmosphere between the two alliances immediately became noticeably friendlier.

“Ji Ning.” Subhuti pointed at the corpses of the major powers that were floating around in the Void. “We can’t just let their corpses continue to float around like that.”

“Right.” Ning nodded.

“I think…Holyflame.” Subhuti turned his head to look at Daofather Holyflame. “Let us cremate them and send them to their final rest, never to be disturbed again. Allfiend, what do you say?”

“Agreed.” The Lord of All Fiends nodded slowly.

Generally speaking, corpses of major powers wouldn’t be buried. The concern was that some might plunder their graves or perhaps even go so far as to refine their corpses into treasures. For example, when the Three Realms slew the alien Outsider known as Rahu, they had used his corpse to create multiple different treasures such as the Rahu Bow.

Daofather Holyflame nodded, then waved a finger.

Whooooosh.

A dazzling, sacred white flame suddenly flew out from his finger. This was the holy flame which Daofather Holyflame had devised, a flame that was far more powerful than the samadhi truefire he had once used. It was still somewhat weaker than the likes of Golden Solarfire, Zhurong Godfire, or the Eternal Kindlefire, but since these corpses weren’t as tough as top-grade Protocosmic spirit-treasures, his holy flame was enough to cremate them.

The corpses of the Immortals and Fiendgods began to blaze with that pristine, holy white fire.

Ji Ning, Subhuti, Allfiend, and the others all watched silently. Their hearts were all filled with grief. Far, far too many of their friends and brothers had died on this day.

“Life and death are part of a cycle,” Subhuti said softly. “Although they have died, the Three Realms shall never forget them.”

“The Three Sovereigns of Mankind – Suiren, Fuxi, and Shennong…” The Lord of All Fiends nodded. “Tathagata…Three Purities…”

“Everwood…Jueming…Gonggong…Devilhand…”

“They will become legends. The humans…the Buddhists…the Daoists…the Seamless Gate…the countless living creatures of the world…they shall sing about them for generations to come.”

Ning nodded slowly as well.

They were the forefathers, the ones who had ensured that this world of theirs would survive and prosper.

It didn’t matter what the future held in store for the human race. It didn’t matter that the Three Realms would eventually collapse and give birth to a new chaosworld. Hundreds of chaos cycles could go past, but so long as the human race continued to exist, it would still forever remember those three ancient Sovereigns who had protected them and guided them in the earliest, weakest days.

“Although they are dead, they shall still live forever.” Ji Ning, who had truly fought shoulder-to-shoulder alongside all of them, felt even more grief than the others.

“If in the future…”