Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

“What’s this?” Autumn Leaf was a bit puzzled by what she was seeing.

“From this day forth, this shall be the most important place in all the Three Realms,” Ning said. “This place is filled with countless techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts. All of them are quite formidable, and those who are weak will find it difficult to understand them.”

“Come forth.” Ning waved his hand. Instantly, a muscular golem wielding a shield suddenly appeared. This was Moksha, the golem comparable to a Daolord of the Third Step which Ning had captured when he was in the Sacred Immortal Realm.

“Master.” The golem immediately called out with respect. After breaking through to become a Daolord, Ji Ning had defeated and tamed even the four golems which Emperor Mirrorsnow had bestowed unto him. This completely convinced Moksha of Ji Ning’s power.

“Your appearance will scare everyone on my island. Change into the appearance of an ordinary cultivator,” Ning ordered with a laugh.

“Yes.” Moksha’s body instantly blurred as he transformed into a bald, gray-robed man.

Ning nodded. “From this day forth, you shall guard the Three Realms Archives! No one is permitted to enter this place unless I have given them permission. This woman here is my elder sister, Autumn Leaf. She is permitted to enter the archives and study all of the techniques within it whenever she wishes.”

“Young master, you can’t just do whatever you want. This will be an important place for all the Three Realms,” Autumn Leaf said hastily.

“I am the creator of the Three Realms Archives. So what if I decide to let you view everything in it right now? Just don’t teach its contents to others,” Ning said. “Right now, there is no specific system or rules for studying in the Three Realms Archives. Later, I’ll chat with my master and set down a few rules. When there are no rules, there’s no such thing as rule-breaking. Later on, though, all of you including Brightmoon and my parents will have to abide by the rules.”

“I understand that much.” Autumn Leaf nodded. Even Ning’s closest family members would have to follow some basic rules. However, they would definitely be given the most latitude, with virtually all of the techniques available for them to study. The only true rule was that they couldn’t teach these techniques to others without a good reason!

This was how things worked in any organization within the Endless Territories. Once your secret techniques were taught to others, it was very possible that unforeseeable and uncontrollable developments would occur.

……

“T-This place… this is a sacred place for studying the Dao.” After Patriarch Subhuti flipped through several of the techniques, he ended up being consumed by them for several days before he regained his normal clarity of mind. The first thing he did was let out an excited sigh.

“Vastheaven Palace built up this collection over the course of countless years. Even in the Endless Territories, a repository like this would be considered a sacred place for cultivators.” Ning smiled. “There are enough techniques here for someone to train all the way to the Samsara Daolord level without pausing. The Three Realms is just a single chaosworld, after all, and I suspect only a few will end up reaching the World level. In the end, very few of us shall end up as Samsara Daolords. I trust that those who do will venture into the Endless Territories and seek out their own fortunes there.”

“Right.” Subhuti’s face was covered with joy. “The Three Realms’ future is absolutely unimaginable. Haha! My disciple, you have established a foundation for the Three Realms. I once thought that after Mother Nuwa left, she would eventually return to us and help us. Who would’ve thought that you got it done before she did?”

Ning said, “I wasn’t able to find any trace of Mother Nuwa in the Endless Territories, and the Badlands Territory and the surrounding territories haven’t seen any powerful female cultivators similar to her appear. My guess is that when she left the Three Realms through that vortex passageway, she was suddenly trapped into a spatial breach that teleported her to a foreign location.

Mother Nuwa, despite having no guidance and no good techniques, had been able to develop her own technique and force her way into becoming a World Goddess! She was definitely every bit as talented as Ji Ning. Once she reached the greater world outside the Three Realms, just a few simple pointers would result in her powers skyrocketing. Logically speaking, she should’ve become a Samsara Daolord long ago. And yet, Ning had found no trace of her whatsoever.

Subhuti had a worried look on his face as well. “Everything is up to destiny. Ugh. For Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, passage through the vortex tunnel will result in almost certain death. Even World Gods will be trapped within spatial tears if they aren’t lucky. We can’t just let our cultivators be trapped here in the Three Realms forever, can we?”

“Do not worry, Master. I spent a few years and used my ability to sense my Primaltwin’s location to blaze a trail from the Badlands Territory to the Three Realms.” Ning smiled as he took out a star map. “Please take a look, Master.”

“From the Badlands Territory to the Three Realms?” Subhuti revealed a look of surprised joy, hurriedly taking the map from Ning’s hands. He was so excited by what he saw, even his white beard began to flutter as he began to roar with laughter. “Disciple, with this route through space the cultivators of our Three Realms shall be able to enter the Endless Territories. Windfiend and I were worrying about this matter just a short while ago. The two of us were planning to explore the Endless Territories after we break through to the World level, but we were worrying about that vortex.”

“Oh, right.” Subhuti immediately said, “This star map is extremely important. Every single person who views it must swear a lifeblood oath to never divulge the existence of the trail you have blazed to others.”

“I absolutely agree,” Ning said. “It’s entirely possible that I might make powerful enemies as I wander through the Endless Territories! Once the Three Realms are revealed, they might suffer reprisals from certain crazed enemies of mine.”

There were some Daolords who were borderline insane, especially the ones who had failed their Daomerge. They would engage in slaughter on such a scale that they might wipe out all of the living things in multiple territories. This wasn’t unheard of! By comparision, wiping out Ning’s homeland in order to take revenge on him was nothing.

“Mm.” Subhuti nodded solemnly.

……

Ning and Subhuti discussed this matter, then set down the rules for allowing the Three Realms to be able to continue to propagate stably in the future. Subhuti and Windfiend both spent a hundred years reading through the Three Realms Archives, and they benefited greatly from it. Finally, they were going to break through to the World level! They could’ve broken through long ago, but the techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts inside the Three Realms Archives were simply too alluring, which is why they delayed for a period of time.

First had come Pangu, Nuwa, and Ning. Now, both Subhuti and Windfiend took that next step and reached the World level. Just a few decades after reaching the World level, they decided to leave the Three Realms together via the route through the primordial chaos which Ning had created to the Badlands Territory.