The Desolate Era

Book 19, Chapter 1 - The Secret History of the Three Realms (1)

The spatial whirlpool led directly to the air above Mount Innerheart.

“Ji Ning, Redsnow, come with me,” Subhuti instructed in midair.

“Yes.” Ji Ning and Empyrean God Redsnow both obediently followed behind him. As for Snow Scorpion, Primelight, and the other Empyrean Gods, the six of them temporarily entered the underwater estate for now.

Within that Daoist monastery inside Mount Innerheart.

Subhuti gracefully landed on the ground, then sat down in the lotus position.

Ning and Redsnow both stood obediently by his side.

“Redsnow.” Subhuti looked towards Redsnow. Smiling, he said, “Last time, when I saw you fight in the Nihilum Zone, it didn’t seem as though you had yet touched upon the essence of spacetime.”

“It was due to that battle, especially when I saw you attack, Patriarch, that I gained some insights. I was able to join the power of time and the power of space together, and thus able to seek out the gateway that leads to spacetime,” Redsnow said reverently.

Subhuti now understood. When he had struck, his attack had naturally contained the countless mysteries of spacetime within it.

Redsnow had been training for countless eras; he had been just a single step away from entering the realm of spacetime. After that life-and-death battle, and after seeing Subhuti attack...it wasn’t strange for him to have been inspired by it.

“Do you know which person in the Three Realms has the highest level of insight into spacetime?” Subhuti beamed merrily as he looked at Redsnow.

“I once heard my Manorlord say,” Redsnow said respectfully, “That you, Patriarch, have the greatest command over spacetime in the entire Three Realms. This is the reason why you can move about without a trace, and why you were able to establish your Crescent world on a completely different dimensional level.”

Subhuti let out a sigh. “Threelives did indeed value you highly. He was willing to tell you anything. Yes...my Crescent world is on a completely different dimensional level than the rest of the Three Realms, which is why those other Daofathers are unable to find it.”

“Master...what do you mean, ‘different dimensional level’?” Ning asked.

Both Subhuti and Redsnow were cultivators in spacetime. As for Ji Ning? He hadn’t even gained insights into the Grand Dao of Space or the Grand Dao of Time, to say nothing of spacetime.

“Have you ever seen a layer cake?” Subhuti smiled as he looked at Ning.

“Yes.” Ning nodded.

“The other worlds of the Three Realms all exist on the uppermost layer of a ‘layer cake’,” Subhuti said with a laugh. “My Crescent world, however, is in one of the other layers. Ordinary movement techniques and Greater Teleportation techniques only allow you to move across the uppermost surface of the layer cake...thus, no matter what you do, you are unable to enter my Crescent world.”

Ning was speechless. “So space can actually be divided into a series of layers...”

“Heaven and Earth are naturally filled with endless mysteries and marvels.” Subhuti nodded.

“If that’s the case...doesn’t that mean the Crescent world is the safest place of all? Aside from you, Master, no other Daofathers can enter here. Doesn’t this mean that you can completely avoid this great storm?” Ning hurriedly asked.

“No.” Subhuti shook his head. “I cannot avoid it. I suppose I can temporarily avoid it for now...but later on, I won’t be able to.”

“Why is that? They clearly have no way of entering this place. Why can’t you avoid it?” Ning asked.

Subhuti pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, “I can’t answer your question for now. There are many things which even I do not understand. However, I can subconsciously sense fate working behind the scenes to guarantee that no living creature within the Three Realms will be able to avoid this tribulation. Ji Ning...since you have already become a Pure Yang True Immortal, I will naturally tell you many of the secrets of the Three Realms. But those that even I don’t know, I naturally cannot tell you. Remember this; this vast universe is far too mysterious. Even Mother Nuwa eventually made the decision to enter the infinite primordial chaos in search of answers.”

Ning nodded.

“Redsnow.” Subhuti looked towards Redsnow. “All of my other supreme techniques have successors...but I have yet to find any suitable successors to my most valuable skills, my supreme space-time arts. Are you willing to accept me as your master?”

Redsnow was shocked...then overjoyed. He hurriedly fell to his knees. “Your disciple greets you, Master!”

“Hahaha...” Subhuti laughed as well. “You may rise.”

“Your junior apprentice-brother greets you, senior apprentice-brother.” After rising, Redsnow immediately bowed towards Ning.

Ning was instantly rendered speechless. Redsnow had been born during the earliest days of the universe, and so Ning had always respectfully addressed him as ‘senior’.

“For you to address me as senior apprentice-brother...sounds really awkward,” Ning said.

“The two of you can address each other as you please.” Subhuti smiled as he looked at his two disciples. He was in an excellent mood today. Ji Ning’s rate of advancement was absolutelyastounding, and Redsnow was going to be the heir to Subhuti’s most powerful arts.

Subhuti laughed, “Ji Ning has been my disciple for quite a few years, now...but I imagine that he doesn’t even know how powerful his other fellow disciples are.”

“I truly do not know,” Ning admitted respectfully.

He knew that his master had a total of nineteen disciples. If Redsnow was included, then the total was twenty.

Ning knew of the names of every single fellow disciple, starting from their eldest apprentice-brother, but he didn’t know exactly how strong each of them were.

“Ji Ning, you have grown in power. As for Redsnow, he’s just a step away from becoming a Daofather. I continue to feel as though this great storm is hiding many mysteries within it; you fellow disciples will need to help each other and support each other,” Subhuti said. “Of my many disciples, a total of four have reached the True God or Daofather level.”

“Four?” Ning and Redsnow were both shocked.

“The first is my eldest disciple,” Subhuti said, “Which is to say, the wood-chopping ‘Woodcutter’ who lives in the mountains out back. If you ever have any questions regarding cultivation, you can go ask him about them. Without any question, he is the most powerful figure amongst my disciples.”

“The second is my second disciple, the guardian of the Three Realms Palace, the one who is always napping; Crazy Ji.” Subhuti continued, “Crazy Ji can be considered the disciple who has truly inherited my many techniques and is most like myself. Buddhist techniques, Daoist techniques...he’s learned them all. If you have any questions, you can also ask him about them.”

“The third is my sixth disciple, the one who created and is the master of the Flower-Fruit Mountain world, Sun Wukong,” Subhuti said. “He once was provided guidance by Mother Nuwa, and he is extremely skilled in combat.”

“The final one is my twelfth disciple, Blacktiger. He loves to roam about the Three Realms. He has not established a major world of his own, has few subordinates, and is the weakest of the four...but he’s still at the True God/Daofather level. He has such a lazy, slothful disposition that I only accepted him as my disciple due to ties of karmic destiny that existed between us...but who would’ve thought that he’d reach the Daofather level as well?”

Subhuti introduced all four Daofathers under his tutelage in one breath.

Ning was shocked.

Blacktiger?

Twelfth apprentice-brother Blacktiger referred to himself as ‘Great King Blacktiger’. When Ning had been studying and training at Mount Innerheart, Blacktiger had actually come to visit him and had even sparred with him. Ning had never imagined or had any inkling at all as to how powerful this man really was! The feeling that Blacktiger had given him was that he wasn’t even as powerful as Silvermoon. Who would’ve thought that was all just a show...that he was at the True God/Daofather level!

“The other disciples, including Ji Ning, are all at the Empyrean God/True Immortal level,” Subhuti said. “The two of you must not be lazy. The great storm has descended upon us; if you can train to the True God/Daofather level, you’ll have a greater chance of surviving it.”

“Your disciple understands,” Ji Ning and Redsnow said respectfully.

“Good.” Subhuti nodded, then smiled. “You now know how powerful your fellow disciples are. As for some of the secrets of the Three Realms...Redsnow may know a few, but because Ji Ning was previously weak, I hadn’t spoken to him about them. Let me narrate some of them in detail. I will tell you what happened during the destruction of the Primordial Era. I trust that after you listen to me, you’ll fully understand what the Seamless Gate truly is.”

Ning and Redsnow both listened attentively. Not even Redsnow knew much about the war which destroyed the Primordial Era.