The Desolate Era

Book 21, Chapter 18 - Stay Your Hand Immediately!

As Ji Ning exchanged blows with the Envoy, the situation for the Seamless Gate’s forces on the battlefield had turned very grim.

In the instant that Ning had slain the Infinity Fiendgod, the military genius Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan had immediately given an order: “Jimin, Wood Child, launch an all-out attack.” At the same time, Daomother Devilhand had commanded her troops, “All forces, withdraw!”

Clearly, both of the commanders were able to see how the situation on the battlefield had changed.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The Pangu-Jimin instantly exploded with speed, throwing the rest of the army far, far behind him.

At the same time, next to the Pangu-Jimin yet another Pangu God emerged. This one had a face that was quite young and fresh; it was Wood Child, the commander of the second Pangu Genesis Formation! Clearly, the Seamless Gate’s suspicions had been correct; Xuan Yuan and the others had been able to come up with no other ideas at all, and so were planning on compensating by increasing their total forces.

He had been preparing to use two Pangu Gods, having them join forces to fight against the Envoy of All Things. Wood Child was one of the five mighty Children that had once accompanied Mother Nuwa herself. The Pangu God he commanded was currently wielding the ‘Godsteel Staff of Aeons’, and it ran alongside the Jimin-Pangu at the same level of speed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two Pangu Gods quickly charged into the Seamless Gate’s army. They were like tigers let loose amongst a flock of sheep. Most likely, the only thing within the Seamless Gate’s army that could match them for speed was the Envoy, with all the other formations and golems, including even the Infinity Fiendgods, being no match for them at all. What’s more, the Seamless Gate’s army had been greatly weakened.

Their most powerful asset, the Envoy of All Things, had been tied down by Ji Ning.

There was only one Infinity Fiendgod left! It must be understood that it had previously taken two of them to just barely be a match for a single Pangu God.

Even one of the Seamless Infinity Formations had been destroyed!

These two Pangu Gods could just barely be considered elite Daofathers. Naturally, they absolutely dominated and devastated their foes.

“Damn.” Daomother Devilhand ground her teeth upon seeing this. She hurriedly deployed golems and formations to try and tie down those two Pangu Gods.

The two Pangu Gods were simply far too powerful. If the many formations and golems on their side joined forces, they’d be able to tie down the Pangu Gods for a time...but as more time passed, the rest of the Nuwa Alliance’s army would arrive as well!

“It’s all because of that Darknorth.” Daomother Devilhand looked at the distant, battling forms of the Envoy and the Rahu-Ning. “He’s completely tied down the Envoy.”

“What are we to do?!” The black-robed Godking was even more frantic than her. For even Daomother Devilhand, who loved a good fight, to become panicked...the Godking felt as though this entire battlefield was crumbling before him.

“Ji Ning.” The black-robed Godking stared at the distant Rahu-Ning. “Ji Ning is the cause of all of this. He’s wrecked our battle lines and has even tied down the Envoy.”

As Ning fought against the Envoy, there was no one at all from either army who dared to approach the two of them.

Their arena was the most terrifying region in this entire battlefield.

“Mm. The Envoy does have some weaknesses.” As Ning fought, he also kept a careful eye on his opponent, searching for an opening that would allow him to seize victory. “Although the Envoy’s body is quite tough, as it is a golem, the person who commands it...well, that person is merely an Empyrean God and True Immortal. Thus, the attack speed and techniques used are comparatively low-level.”

Ning was a peerless Sword Immortal, after all. He was a master of technique, and his sword-art had been proclaimed by Fuxi, Suiren, and the others as the number one sword-art of the entire Three Realms.

In his eyes, the close-combat techniques being used by the Envoy golem were indeed quite ordinary.

“The weakness of the Envoy lies with the Empyrean God controlling it. If I want to deal with it...I’ll need to put my techniques on full display.”

As their battle continued, multiple battle strategies quickly flashed through Ning’s mind. Any battle would entail using your strengths to attack the enemy’s weaknesses.

Suddenly...

“Ji Ning! Stay your hand immediately!” The black-robed Godking sent mentally to him.

“Godking?” Ning’s gaze turned towards the black-robed Godking standing atop the distant walls of the Seamless Citadel. Their gazes met...and Ning just smiled coldly.

“If you continue like this, I’ll immediately kill your senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei and shatter her soul. In fact, I’ll even destroy her truesoul.” The black-robed Godking’s mental voice was furious. Destroying a truesoul was extremely difficult, but a Daofather was indeed capable of it.

“Eh?” The Envoy battling against Ji Ning could sense that Ji Ning’s killing intent had suddenly skyrocketed for no apparent reason.

“I know that this is a battlefield, and that you are a member of the Nuwa Alliance. There’s no way you can just give up the fight, as those major powers of the Nuwa Alliance would definitely blame you. All I want you to do is to keep fighting for a while, then reveal an opening and allow the Envoy to injure you, forcing you to ‘unwillingly’ quit the battlefield,” the black-robed Godking sent mentally.

Have Ning reveal an opening?

Intentionally allow the Envoy to wound him?

That was no easy task. If he wasn’t careful, the Rahu Formation might completely crumble..

“Your sword-art vastly surpasses his in technique. You’ll definitely be able to control the degree to which he injures you.” The black-robed Godking sent mentally, “Hurry up. I want you to it right now. I don’t care what method you use, I want you to immediately leave this field of battle. Otherwise, Yu Wei will die immediately! Her soul will be shattered and her truesoul extinguished.”

“You...really are quite shameless.” For the first time, Ning replied to him.

“Shameless? For the sake of achieving victory, I don’t care if I’m forced to act in such a way. I walk the path of the demonheart to begin with. I’m a demon, Ji Ning. Your side already has a huge advantage in this battle because of you, and you’ve already slaughtered enough of our Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. You should be satisfied. So long as you retreat, I’ll immediately return your senior apprentice-sister to you. I absolutely guarantee that I’ll give her to you. But you need to leave this battlefield. Right now!” The black-robed Godking frantically urged him.

Every moment that was being wasted, the two Pangu Gods were massacring more and more members of the Seamless Gate. Although many formations and golems were being used to tie them down, the great army of the Nuwa Alliance was drawing closer and closer. Without the assistance of the Envoy of All Things, their losses would be utterly devastating.”

“Quick. Quick! Quick!!” The Godking was frantic. He watched with nervousness and eagerness from atop the walls of the Seamless Citadel. He was like a terminally ill man who, in his desperation, would consult with any doctor who claimed to have a cure. He knew that after he had toyed with Ji Ning last time, the chances of Ji Ning trusting him a second time were virtually nil. However...the Godking truly had no other options left to him. In addition, he could sense that Ji Ning truly did have extremely deep feelings for Yu Wei.

Once one’s truesoul was extinguished, there would no longer even be a way for one to recover it from the River of Destiny. He believed that Ji Ning absolutely would not be willing to allow Yu Wei’s truesoul to be extinguished.

Whoosh.

“He’s moving.” The black-robed Godking’s eyes lit up. The distant Ji Ning had suddenly exploded with power, his six arms wielding six divine swords in a wild, frenetic assault upon the Envoy of All Things.

The Envoy had just a set of two claws, while Ning had six arms. Ning’s sword-arts were far too terrifying, and so for a time the Envoy was covered, surrounded, and completely suppressed by countless sword-shadows.

“Why have his attacks only grown more berserk?” At first, the Godking was angered, but he then turned calm, as though he had thought of something.

“This Ji Ning really is clever.” The Godking’s eyes lit up again. “He’s using his six arms to furiously attack, which means his defense is naturally weaker now. No matter how powerful his attacks are, there is no way he can wound the Envoy...but his lowered defense means that there is a chance that the Envoy might wound him. So long as he is wounded, Ji Ning would naturally have an excuse to quit the field of battle. He would be able to excuse his failure to the rest of the Nuwa Alliance as caused by his desire to gain a quick victory, which was why the Envoy had a chance to wound him.

“He really is clever.” The black-robed Godking waited eagerly.

“Still...his attacks are a bit too berserk. He’s completely suppressed the Envoy. Even the Envoy’s attacks are being shut down.” The Godking frowned, then immediately sent another mental message. “Ji Ning, you have to give the Envoy a chance.”

And right at this moment...

A sudden boom could be heard from the Envoy of All Things, which had been completely surrounded and bombarded by those countless sword-shadows. Ning was wielding six Darknorth swords, and the one that had reached the Chaos treasure level had just unleashed a sword-stance that was filled with seemingly infinite power. This could be described as the most fierce and most dominating attack he possessed, and it was the stance that he had origally used to send those two violet-light golems flying far backwards, past the entire army of the Seamless Gate.

[Brightmoon] sword-art, Heavenbreaker stance!

BOOM!!!!

An incomparably savage stroke. The sword smashed down upon the back of the right knee of the Envoy. Its power was like that of the divine axe which Pangu had used to cleave apart Heaven from Earth. A thunderous boom could be heard as the Envoy was knocked off balance and fell to the ground.

To knock down the Envoy was actually extremely difficult, because its two legs were extremely powerful and stable. Even if it was knocked flying, it would be very hard to make it actually fall down onto the ground. Experts at this level of skill all were extremely good at keeping their balance and remaining stable. To cause someone to lose his balance was far, far too hard. The many sword-strikes which Ning had blanketed the Envoy in seemed useless, but in truth they were meant to keep the Envoy off its balance.

By relying on his absolute advantage in technique, he had managed to destabilize the Envoy...and then he had sent the Heavenbreaker stance to smash at the back of the knee. And with a boom! The Envoy had fallen to the ground.

“No!” The Envoy’s controller began to panic...but what greeted his protestation was a fierce, sharp streak of sword-light that smashed away at the Envoy’s twin claws, giving them no chance to resist.

Whooooosh! Four of the six arms of the Rahu-Ning were currently wielding swords. The other two arms were holding onto a rope that glowed with black light. The rope quickly wrapped itself around the Envoy’s body. The Envoy had been knocked to the ground and its arms had been completely suppressed by Ning’s nonstop attacks. The rope instantly and completely wrapped itself in circles around the Envoy.

Any golem, no matter powerful, would be able to do nothing once it had been completely bound. Although the Envoy roared furiously and tried to struggle, it still wasn’t able to break free from the Protocosmic spirit-rope.

Everyone across the entire battlefield turned silent.

Even the two battling Pangu Gods. Even the seven smiling major powers of the Nuwa Alliance. Even the panicking black-robed Godking. Even the ashen-faced Daomother Devilhand. All of them fell silent. All of them were stunned.

They just stared blankly at what had just happened.

The Envoy of All Things...had been tightly bound by a Protocosmic spirit-rope. It was like a zongzi [1. This is a type of Chinese sticky rice cake that is usually wrapped up in banana leaves, then tied with string.] that had fallen to the ground. It was completely unable to break free whatsoever.

The Rahu-Ning raised his head, staring towards the Seamless Citadel. Staring towards the black-robed Godking standing atop the citadel walls.

“Y-you...” The black-robed Godking was dazed.

Daomother Devilhand was rather dazed as well.

All the Immortals and Fiendgods on the entire battlefield were dazed.

Even the seven major powers of the Nuwa Alliance were dazed.

Captured?

The Envoy of All Things...had been captured?

This was an incredibly valuable and precious military asset. If a Daofather was in command of it, it would instantly possess utterly earth-shaking levels of power. The Seamless Gate had paid an incalculably vast price to create each of the Envoys. The only reason they had even sent one of them to take part in this Realmwar was because this one was an incredibly important one!

Right at this moment...

An azure-skinned gourd suddenly appeared in the Rahu-Ning’s hands. The stopper was pulled open.

“Come in.”

Ning gently murmured these words...and with a whoosh, the tightly bound Envoy that lay on the ground was transformed to a tiny size, then sucked straight into the mouth of the gourd.

Then...

Ning gently plugged the gourd with the stopper once more.