Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

“Disciple.” Ning stared into the Black Emperor’s corpse. His gaze pierced through the dimensions, allowing him to see Daolord Skywind within a planet inside that corpse.

“I have several disciples… but you, alas, have the toughest destiny,” Ning sighed softly. His mastery over the Dao of Karma had long ago reached the Archon level. Now that he had mastered the Eternal Omega Sword Dao, he was able to see even farther into the future.

The future was in a constant state of flux, but he was now able to see the vast majority of possible futures. Now that he had failed his Daomerge, he turned to focus on preparing things for his family and friends. As for the Three Realms, he had naturally spent even more effort there. He was searching for Nuwa for the sake of the Three Realms. As Ning saw it, Mother Nuwa had to be fairly powerful and was most likely capable of helping out and protecting it. Ning was planning to give the Sithe war machines he had acquired from the Lonely King over to Nuwa.

As for his disciples? His first disciple, Bluecliff Xiaoyu, lived a carefree life, but as a result she had accomplished the least. There was no need to discuss her.

His second disciple was ‘Green Bamboo’ Yang Quding. Ning had engaged in some divinations on his behalf and had discovered that Yang Quding was a person of remarkable mental prowess. He would be able to solve even the most dangerous of problems, and he was surrounded by great luck. His future potential was virtually limitless; most likely, he would become the most accomplished of Ning’s disciples.

His third disciple was Skywind. Skywind was the best-suited to the Dao of the Sword, but he was stubborn and antisocial, and he was the most vicious of his peers. That stubborn, eccentric personality would bring him many problems. Ning had scried the future, and it appeared as though Skywind would be incredibly dazzling amongst the other Daolords of the Fourth Step, but he would be constantly surrounded by trouble. The ties of karma surrounding him indicated that he would actually fail his Daomerge without question.

This was much like how Emperor Waveshift had once divined that Ning would definitely fail the Daomerge.

His fourth disciple… to this very day, no one had acquired the legacy Ning had hidden, the legacy which would result in that person becoming Ning’s fourth disciple. Ning had the vague feeling that his fourth disciple would not be born for a long, long time.

His fifth and sixth disciples were both at Vastheaven Palace and so were blessed with many advantages. There was no need for Ning to worry about them.

“Skywind,” Ning murmured softly, “Everyone chooses their own paths in life. The only thing I can do to help you is this.”

Ning waved a finger. Countless streams of sword-light began to gather together, coming to form a formation. Ning placed some presents inside the formation, which had many illusions and other tempering techniques within them. It also included various techniques involving the Dao of the Sword, some spirit-fruits and treasures, as well as treasures which were unremarkable to Ning but which would be of tremendous help to Skywind.

“Of all my disciples, the one I worry about the most is you.” Ning shook his head slowly. “However… in the end, I’ll still have to eventually let go.”





* * *





Book 39, Chapter 6 - Nuwas Trail


There was a limit to how much longer he would live. He certainly wouldn’t be able to hold on until Skywind’s Daomerge.

The Lonely King had said that if Ji Ning was extremely careful, he’d be able to live a thousand chaos cycles… but in truth, Ning knew that his Eternal Omega Sword Dao was actually the same thing as the prime essence of the Dao of the Sword, one of the prime essences of the Chaosverse. This Dao had a nurturing effect on his soul, which meant that the truesoul’s crumbling speed would be fairly slow.

Different Daos would have different effects. For example, those who trained in the Dao of Water would have stronger protective abilities and invulnerable forms. In turn, the destructive Daos such as the Dao of the Sword were superior in offensive power.

Different Daos had different strengths. Although the Eternal Omega Sword Dao was quite incredible, it still represented the Dao of the Sword and thus it didn’t have an exaggeratedly massive effect on the soul. Still, there was something else that was special about Ning – the azureflower mist energy! This was a very unique type of energy which Autarch Awakener, the master of the Azureflower Estate, had devised based on the cultivation methods of the Sithe race. It was a technique that allowed for divine power, Immortal energy, and heartforce to all be transformed into azureflower mist energy. It had marvelous effects on the truesoul and made it much stronger.

“If I can avoid using up my energy, I can live a maximum of eight thousand chaos cycles,” Ning mused. “But if I have to use my energy, my lifespan will dramatically lessen to just three or four chaos cycles.”

……

Ning spent the rest of his time in Vastheaven Palace training his students and fellow disciples. Every so often, he’d go roaming through the Three Realms.

While he wandered through the many chaosworlds of the Three Realms, Ning ended up choosing a seventh disciple. His seventh disciple was an Ancestral Immortal who had been known as ‘Grand Immortal Almonder’, and who had been a plant-spirit who had trained to the point of understanding the Dao.

It must be remembered that after such a long period of development, the Three Realms now had so many chaosworlds and experts that a single Ancestral Immortal truly didn’t count for much. Grand Immortal Almonder had a very eccentric personality who rather reminded Ning of his old friend, Patriarch Lu Dongbin… because the man loved to play matchmaker!

He tweaked events to ensure that lovers met with each other, and when he encountered people he didn’t like he would play all sorts of tricks on each other. In fact, he would sometimes make people he truly disliked end up attached to each other.

While wandering the Three Realms, Ning stumbled upon this ‘Grand Immortal Almonder’. He followed Almonder in secret, watching for some time. Almonder seemed to be eccentric and rather lazy when it came to cultivation. It seemed obvious to many that he would have no future prospects, which was why none of the Daolords or World-level cultivators of the Three Realms had taken him on as a disciple or had taught him.

However, Ning had the feeling that this ‘Grand Immortal Almonder’ was an extraordinary figure. When Ning scried his future, Ning came to understand that Almonder truly was a piece of unpolished jade. Given that Ning had slowly grown fond of the young fellow, Ning chose to take him on as a seventh disciple.

News that Daolord Darknorth had taken on a seventh disciple, ‘Grand Immortal Almonder’, stunned the Three Realms and caused quite a few Immortals and Fiendgods to stare blankly in confusion.

……

Ning lived a relaxed life, waiting for news of Nuwa.

Roughly 69 million years after Ning’s Daomerge attempt. Within an alternate universe.

A giant boulder was levitating within an empty patch of space. Two major powers were seated in the lotus position atop this boulder, drinking wine and making merry. The empty area around them was displaying images of various things occurring within this otherverse.

“Isn’t Daolord Darknorth just incredible?” the muscular man with tousled golden hair said with a sigh.