The Desolate Era

Book 17, Chapter 5 - Truesoul

Ji Ning stood there in the wilderness, watching the scene of Willowriver Chuan and Eastflow Snow fleeing that had been created by the temporal inversion. His heart felt heavy...because up until now, everything which had transpired was identical to events as portrayed within the book King Yan had given him.

“Let’s go to the Ninesongs Sword Sect,” Ning said.

“Alright.”

King Yan knew that until Ning saw everything in person, he wouldn’t give up hope. The two immediately teleported forward to the Ninesongs Sword Sect, located in another commandery.

......

That year, Chuan and Snow had carefully, slowly departed in a drifting manner. They spent a total of eight years before passing out of the vast Flowermont Commandery and arriving at the Ninesongs Sword Sect. Chuan was very skilled in the sword to begin with, and because they had encountered many dangers over the past eight years, he had improved significantly. His had reached the Zifu Disciple level as a Fiendgod Body refiner, and so he was able to easily enter the Ninesongs Sword Sect as a disciple. As for Eastflow Snow, she had entered by his side as his ‘maidservant’.

The second year after their entry into the Ninesongs Sword Sect. Snow, by relying on a spirit-pill which Chuan had acquired from the sect, was able to break through to the Zifu Disciple level. She, too, was accepted as formal disciple of the Ninesongs Sword Sect.

“This is the place where the Ninesongs Sword Sect used to be.” From his position high up in the air, King Yan pointed downwards towards a giant pile of rubble.

Ning stared at the rubble, his heart sinking.

The rubble spanned tens of thousands of kilometers, and there were quite a few monsters in this area.

“Eastflow Snow...Willowriver Chuan. According to the intelligence reports that I collected, they lived here at Waterflow Peak, which should be right over there.” King Yan quickly flew to a part of the destroyed city. Waving his hand, he caused the many monsters and Diremonsters there to all collapse.

“Temporal inversion.” King Yan once more caused a temporal inversion.

The scene here quickly began to reverse. Several decades of time were reversed.

The scenery here was now incomparably beautiful. There were beautiful mountains and rivers. There was dense spiritual energy here, and Immortal cultivators could be seen everywhere.

“Chuan, you always let me win.” Snow and Chuan were competing in swordplay, but in the end, Chuan always ‘lost’ every match.

“No, it’s that your sword-arts have improved yet again, Snow,” Chuan said with a laugh.

Seeing this, Ning felt a warm feeling in his heart.

“There are three more years before that calamity,” the nearby King Yan told Ning. He controlled the flow of time, speeding it up. Snow and Chuan lived happy lives here at the Ninesongs Sword Sect; they had just joined the school, after all, and it wasn’t yet time for them to go out and adventure. Their life here was like life in paradise.

Soon...three years of time passed within the temporal inversion.

This was a bright, sunny day. The scenery was as beautiful as ever. In truth, the Seamless Gate had already infiltrated the Wusky world several years ago, and the outside world was in a state of chaos. Life within the Ninesongs Sword Sect, however, remained as peaceful and calm as ever.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Black sword-light suddenly began to flash.

Willowriver Chuan, wielding twin swords, was currently training in swordplay while comprehending the Dao. Because he was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, he now looked even more handsome and valiant than he had in his past life.

The nearby Eastflow Snow was seated close to him, smiling as she watched. She knew that in her heart, her man continued to long for his homeland, long for his Willowriver clan. However...he had always been worried about Adept Icebreak of the Flowermont Immortal School, and so he continued to wait and endure. He was extremely hard on himself in training sword-arts, becoming one of the best amongst the Zifu Disciples of the Ninesongs Sword Sect. He had long ago reached the level of seeing a hint into the ‘true meaning of the Dao’.

“Chuan, we’ll definitely be able to go back together.” Eastflow Snow missed her father as well.

Suddenly...

A group of black-robed figures appeared in the sky. There were a total of twenty-seven of them, and they almost instantly transformed into three giant black serpents. These three giant black serpents were more than a thousand kilometers long. Their auras filled the skies, and the entire grand formation that protected the Ninesongs Sword Sect was instantly activated, causing light to flare everywhere.

Rumble...

The world seemed to have collapsed. The formation was only able to stay alive for a few moments, and then it crumbled.

“What’s going on?”

“What happened?”

Many of the weaker, ordinary disciples were completely stunned.

Chuan, however, instantly flew to Snow’s side. He hurriedly said, “Snow, let’s...”

Halfway through their words, a ripple of energy swept past this entire mountain. Some the Zifu Disciples who were struck head-on by the ripple were instantly reduced to dust, completely unable to fight back. And then, with a booming sound, the entire mountain peak began to collapse. Countless rocks began to fall down, and both Chuan and Snow hurriedly flew away in an attempt to hide.

“Seamless Gate, our Ninesongs Sword Sect has never offended you. Why do you have to annihilate our school?” Several figures had streaked into the skies; it was the Loose Immortals, Earth Immortals, and Primal Daoists of the Ninesongs Sword Sect. They formed together into a grand formation, each of them furious and frantic.

“Just die in peace!”

One of the three massive black serpents spoke out in the human tongue...and then, not bothering to say anything else, they began to fight brashly.

The surrounding space had been completely locked; there was no way to teleport out of it.

“Kill.”

“Kill!”

Unable to escape, the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Ninesongs Sword Sect led the Primal Daoists to join into a formation. They transformed into a dazzling, titanic sword that did battle against those three giant serpents. However, after clashing just a few times, the titanic sword was completely shattered. More than half of the Loose Immortals, Earth Immortals, and Primal Daoists of the Ninesongs Sword Sect were instantly killed, while the others were all heavily wounded.

“No...”

“Damn!”

The heavily injured Ninesongs Sword Sect experts were all wiped out. The giant black serpents swam about in the skies, utterly destroying the base of the sect, which stretched out more than tens of thousands of kilometers. As for the weaker disciples of the Ninesongs Sword Sect, they were unable to escape and so many of them were butchered without being able to fight back at all.

“Snow...” Willowriver Chuan held Eastflow Snow in his arms, no longer running.

“Chuan...do you regret having left with me?” Tears fell down Eastflow Snow’s face.

“These past twelve years...I’ve truly been very happy. If I had the chance to choose again, I would still choose to come here with you, Snow.” Chuan laughed. “We’ll meet again on the road to the Yellow Springs.”

“Right.” Tears falling down her face, Snow nodded.

Rumble...

A ripple swept out, and the embracing couple of Willowriver Chuan and Eastflow Snow was reduced to dust. Their souls, however, were drawn upwards at high speed by some invisible force. In midair, there was a black gourd that was frantically drawing in all the nearby souls of the slaughtered, including the souls of Chuan and Snow.

Ning just stood there, watching silently.

The nearby King Yan said softly, “The Seamless Gate wanted to tame this commandery, but since they had just arrived, not many joined them. Thus, the Seamless Gate decided to annihilate some smaller schools, so as to frighten the others. While killing countless cultivators, they collected the souls of the slain for usage in forming some evil techniques. If one had millions, ideally hundreds of millions of cultivator souls, one could refine a truly powerful and truly terrifying evil magic treasure, or develop a truly vile divine ability.”

Ning knew this quite well, of course.

“What a pity.” King Yan sighed. “The Seamless Gate is spread throughout the Three Realms, and the power behind them is unfathomably mighty. Even though you have a Daofather as your master...you still probably won’t be able to do anything to them.”

“I’m very calm right now,” Ning said softly.

Although he looked calm...in truth, Ning felt an overpowering desire to kill, one greater than he had ever felt. It was only because he had reached the third level of heartforce, ‘ruler’, that Ning was able to remain calm. However...in his heart, Ning now viewed the Seamless Gate as his most hated of foes. Even the hatred he felt for the Youngflame clan was less than a hundredth of a hundredth of the hatred he felt for the Seamless Gate!

“The. Seamless. Gate.” Ning spoke out three words, enunciating each one.

The nearby King Yan suddenly felt his heart shudder for no reason. He could vaguely sense the killing intent within Ning’s heart...and all he could do was sigh. The Seamless Gate...it was a power that had swept through the entire Three Realms. How could it be so easily dealt with?

“Don’t act foolishly, “King Yan said.

Ning murmured softly to himself, “Even though Father and Mother’s souls have been shattered...in the future, I’m going to train until I become a True God or a Daofather. I’ll find their truesouls in the River of Destiny and bring them back to life.”

King Yan didn’t say anything.

Both of them knew that the true essence of all living creatures came from their truesoul. Even if one’s soul was shattered, their truesouls would return to the mysterious River of Destiny...but it was far too hard to find a truesoul within it. According to the legends, only Mother Nuwa, who had reached Pangu’s level of power, was capable of this. However...if one became a True God or Daofather then located Mother Nuwa, they could ask Mother Nuwa to intervene.

“I wish to make a trip to the Flowermont Immortal School,” Ning said calmly. “I want to pay a visit to that Adept Icebreak.”

“I’ll go with you. I’ve already collected a report regarding this ‘Icebreak’,” King Yan said. “He is now a Primal Daoist. Because the Flowermont Immortal School has a Celestial Immortal protecting it, it still exists. That Celestial Immortal is under Daofather Crimsonbright’s command, and it can be said that the two of us are on friendly terms. All we have to do is seek out Patriarch Flowermont; he won’t care about the life of a puny little Primal Daoist. Patriarch Flowermont can be said to be quite a noble man, righteous and unyielding, which is why the rules of his school are so strict. However, no matter how strict the rules are, it’s hard to avoid a few pests from invading.”

“I understand. I won’t fight with Patriarch Flowermont.” Ning nodded.

For every grievance, there is someone responsible for it; for every debt, there is a debtor.

Ning understood this principle. The reason why King Yan had said those words was because he was worried that Ning was going to go fight with the entire Flowermont Immortal School. It must be understood that Ning had once fought all of the Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan by himself, eventually killing two of them. Given his power...there was no way the Flowermont Immortal School would be able to resist him.

......

The Flowermont Immortal School.

This was the number one school of the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world. The founding patriarch was Patriarch Flowermont, who remained alive to this very day. It was due to him that the fame of the Flowermont Immortal School was spread far and wide.

“Master.”

“Master.”

“Master.”

A series of maids called out respectfully as the confident, extraordinarily handsome Adept Icebreak walked past them with a smile. Everyone within the Flowermont Immortal School knew that Daoist Icebreak was a gentleman; his only flaw was that he loved beauties! However, he neither stole them nor seized them from others. For a person to have many maids by his side wasn’t too major a flaw.

“Autumn Water, you and the rest of the seven, attend me,” Daoist Icebreak said.

“Yes.”

Seven of the maids immediately assented respectfully. Their hearts, however, were filled with terror and unease. Outsiders were ignorant of this, but they knew exactly how savage and cruel Daoist Icebreak was. Some of the maids that he tortured and ravaged actually died from it! However, Daoist Icebreak would often send the older maids who were no longer beautiful back to their own clans and arrange for them to live good lives. This caused many of the disciples of the Flowermont Immortal School to praise Adept Icebreak for being a passionate, kind man.

Boom! A figure suddenly descended from the skies.

Daoist Icebreak frowned. Who dared to trespass within his territory? But then...

“Headmaster!” Daoist Icebreak was badly shocked. He hurriedly fell to his knees with respect.

“Follow me.” The Headmaster of the Flowermont Immortal School had a cold look on his face. He grabbed Daoist Icebreak, then dragged him into the skies.

Daoist Icebreak was utterly terrified on the way over...because the Headmaster was actually dragging him to the legendary residence of the Patriarch. Patriarch Flowermont was the founding patriarch of the school, a Celestial Immortal! Daoist Icebreak had never even seen him a single time. Why did the Patriarch wish to see him? He had never offended the Patriarch...could it be that he had just been singled out for his talent and was about to be made a personal disciple of the Patriarch?

Upon arriving, Daoist Icebreak saw a yellow-robed man on his knees, quivering.

“Father!” Daoist Icebreak was shocked to see his father, an Earth Immortal. He had always relied on his father to support him within the sect.

“Why haven’t you knelt yet?!” The yellow-robed man roared.

Adept Icebreak sank to his knees with a thud.

Moments later, the courtyard door in front of them creaked open, and three figures emerged.

“My two fellow Daoists...” A black-bearded man spoke with incomparable warmth.

Only now did the kneeling Daoist Icebreak give these three a glance. Although he had never seen the Patriarch before, there were portraits of the Patriarch within the school, and so he recognized right away that this black-bearded elder was Patriarch Flowermont. However...right now, even their founding Patriarch was treating these two guests with incomparable respect.

“Who are those two? Why is the Patriarch behaving so humbly and modestly towards them?” Daoist Icebreak couldn’t understand it.

Patriarch Flowermont, however, just gave the kneeling Daoist Icebreak a sideways glance. A cold look flashed through his eyes; that damned Daoist Icebreak had actually offended Ji Ning! The Wusky major world was one of Daofather Crimsonbright’s worlds, which meant Patriarch Flowermont was one of Daofather Crimsonbright’s Celestial Immortals. Word had long since spread amongst this group of Celestial Immortals that Ji Ning, all by himself, had fought against nine Celestial Immortals of the Youngflame clan, with one of them being Immortal Venomfreak. In the end, Ji Ning had managed to kill two of them, but he had been exiled after a plot caused him to be burned by karmic sinflames.

This news had instantly swept the various worlds, causing the many Celestial Immortals and True Immortals under Daofather Crimsonbright’s command to all feel admiration for Ji Ning.

He had trained for less than a century, and he was a Void-level in power...but he had fought against nine Celestial Immortals and killed two of them?!

“He even managed to come back after being exiled into a danger zone while being surrounded by karmic sinflames. A monster like this...his personal power is far greater than mine, while his background and his potential is even more astonishing.” Patriarch Flowermont naturally was enraged that Daoist Icebreak had caused his school to become enemies with this man.

“Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, I truly feel ashamed that my school has given birth to such a vile miscreant! I’ve already summoned Daoist Icebreak. You choose what to do with him! Whether it is to simply kill him or to torture his soul for millions of years...fellow Daoist Ji Ning, do as you please!” Patriarch Flowermont said.