The Desolate Era

Book 23, Chapter 13 - The Battle Begins

“I really wonder what sort of damnable places World God Northrest entered when he fled. Even something as tough and precious as Violetjewel was damaged to such a degree!” Ji Ning couldn’t help but sigh. Those three Wujiao Godbeasts who had chased after World God Northrest were very famous amongst World Gods as well. When they attacked him, they did so with the goal of annihilating his truesoul.

If World God Northrest managed to send a message back to Vastheaven Palace, the three of them would be doomed! Thus, when World God Northrest had frantically fled, the three of them had chased just as frantically! All World God Northrest had left had been the remnants of his soul and his sword. For the sake of fleeing, he had fled into every dangerous area he encountered, including areas that were known to be utterly deadly even for World Gods! As for the three Wujiao Godbeasts, they had entered those places as well!

Cultivators, by their very nature, would often enter dangerous regions. The only places which the three Wujiao Godbeasts would not dare to enter were those places where death was absolutely guaranteed.

Teleporting through space, blinking through time, diving into danger zones...in the end, even Violetjewel had been badly damaged. Finally, he had managed to escape into the Three Realms, but he was no longer able to flee any further. As for Violetjewel, the only part of it that remained intact and undamaged was its core quintessence, which remained very stable.

Ning sat there quietly, meditating as he bound the swords.

The seals within the Triult Swords were clearly much more complicated. He was only able to bind and unlock both the first and the second levels of it.

“Excellent.” Ning was secretly delighted.

After unlocking the first level, he found that each sword could be used as he pleased. After unlocking the second level, he found that the three swords could be combined into one!

After another two days, he finally managed to bind and unlock the third level as well.

“I’m at the same level which Swordfather Triult was at.” Ning continued to proceed to the fourth level. The more levels he could unlock, the more powerful the swords would become! Swordfather Triult was a fairly powerful Ancestral Immortal of Pangaea, but when viewed in the context of the vast primordial chaos, he was nothing more than an average figure. Even the likes of the Lord of All Things was nothing more than a minor figure amongst the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals of the universe.

“The fourth level is quite difficult. Still, I should be able to master it, given time.” After working on it for half a day, Ning began to frown. He expected that it would take several years for him to master it.

“Best to finish the process in the Heavengazer Tower of Radiance.”

......

The Crescent world.

The black-robed Ning was fishing alongside his daughter Brightmoon.

His main true body and his main Primaltwin were both located in the prisonworld. Only his backup Primaltwin remained here in the Crescent world.

“The young master has already caught twelve. Brightmoon, you haven’t even caught a single one.” Autumn Leaf looked into the fish buckets, then smiled as she teased Brightmoon.

“How should I know what’s going on?” Brightmoon glared at her nearby father. “Father, are you cheating?”

Ning looked back at Brightmoon.

Brightmoon looked quite similar to Yu Wei, and she also liked to dress in black, just like her mother. Each time he saw his daughter, he couldn’t help but think of his senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei.

“Senior apprentice-sister...” Ning murmured to himself, “After the war, I’ll leave the Three Realms. The Three Realms is a small place, after all. There are no techniques here I can use to save you...but perhaps in the outside world there is.”

One reason he was going to leave the Three Realms was in order to find Vastheaven Palace. The other reason was because Ning still clung onto a thin strand of hope that he might one day find a way to rescue his wife. Saving his parents would be much easier, comparatively speaking; all he had to do was become a World God or Chaos Immortal. Rescuing his wife, however, would be incredibly difficult.

“Brightmoon, you’ve been watching me like a hawk. If I cheated, you would know, right?” Ning laughed as he spoke.

“You’ve mastered the Heavenly Dao of Water, Father. If you were cheating, how would a little girl like me be able to find out?” Brightmoon muttered.

“Ahaha...” Ning laughed. Whenever he was with his daughter, he couldn’t help but smile and laugh.

“Ji Ning, the final battle for karmic luck is about to again. Come to the Allclans Palace right away.” Subhuti’s voice suddenly rang out by Ning’s ears.

Next to Brightmoon, Ning suddenly froze mid-laughter.

“So...it has finally begun.” Ning’s breathing turned a bit ragged.

“Father?” Brightmoon looked towards Ning. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Let’s keep fishing,” Ning said with a smile.

......

The icy star located deep in the primordial chaos.

Whoosh. A white-robed Ning suddenly appeared in the skies above the icy star.

“It has finally begun.” Ning quickly flew teleported through the void and disappeared.

......

The Allclans Palace.

Swoosh.

A white-robed Ji Ning suddenly appeared at the gates of the Allclans Palace. As he appeared, all the major powers inside the palace turned to look at him. Because both his true body and his Primaltwin had entered the prisonworld and were completely separated from the outside world, there was no way for Ning to keep an incarnation present in the Allclans Palace.

“Ji Ning has arrived.” Daoist Three Purities rose to his feet. “Let us go. The Seamless Gate has already mobilized their army; let us mobilize ours.”

“Right.”

All the major powers had sent their true bodies, because they all knew that once the final battle for karmic luck began, the Endwar would definitely be nigh. Thus everyone, Fuxi and Shennong included, had all hastened back from the primordial chaos. In fact, even that stooped, masked figure dressed in gray robes had made his appearance.

Ning glanced at the masked, gray-robed figure. He mused to himself, “He should be Gonggong.”

Daoist Three Purities, Lord Tathagata the Buddha, Suiren, Fuxi, Shennong, Houyi, Ji Ning, and the gray-robed figure walked at the head of the pack. Behind them walked Subhuti and the rest of the major powers.

The awe-inspiring group of major powers flew out of the Allclans Palace and into the air.

Ning stared downwards. He immediately saw that the Humanworld of Yu the Great was filled with teeming masses of Immortal armies. The armies stretched off into the horizon, like so many countless dragons that lay coiled throughout the world.

“All of the Immortal armies and Fiendgod armies of the Nuwa Alliance in the Three Realms have been summoned.” Daoist Three Purities let out a soft sigh. “Xuan Yuan, give the order.”

“Yes.”

Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan had been standing behind him. He immediately sent the mental order. “Mobilize.”

Rumble...

Utterly titanic tears in the sky began to appear in front of them. One Immortal army after another began to flood forward and soar towards the tears in the sky. The battlefield for this final battle for karmic luck would be the vast Void itself!

During the previous Realmwars, the various major powers had acted to keep the major worlds stable, making it possible for them to endure the earth-shaking devastation wrought by each side.

This final battle for karmic luck, however, involved simply far too many Immortals and Fiendgods. This represented nearly all of the Immortals and Fiendgods that existed in the entire Three Realms. If they were to battle on a single major world, that major world would most likely be instantly annihilated.

The distant Solar Star could be seen glowing with light, illuminating the darkness of the Void. However, the Void still remained a dark, gray place. It was simply too far from the Solar Star, making it seem rather dim.

The armies of the Seamless Gate were beginning to appear in the distant parts of the Void, joining together into multiple giant formations that were spread out throughout the area.

The Immortal armies of the Nuwa Alliance continued to flood out through their spatial rifts, moving into formation as had been previous ordained. Both sides stared at their enemies, separated from them by tens of millions of kilometers.

Behind each side’s armies were their major powers.

Daoist Three Purities, Lord Tathagata, Suiren, Shennong, Fuxi, Houyi, the masked figure, and the rest of the major powers were all standing behind their armies, staring at the enemy forces ahead of them.

“We’ve flourished for countless years.” Fuxi murmured softly, “In terms of major powers, Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and even Celestial Immortals...far more exist in this era of the Three Realms than existed during the Primordial Era.”

“This war is also far larger in scale than the war which ended the Primordial Era.” Daoist Three Purities nodded slowly as well.

“Xuan Yuan. It is now up to you.” Lord Buddha looked towards the nearby Yellow Emperor.

“Alright.” Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan nodded.

It was the Yellow Emperor’s responsibility for directing their armies in this battle.

As for Ning, he stared at their vast allied armies. As he scanned through their ranks, he saw so many faces he recognized. They included his fellow apprentices, such as senior apprentice-sister Empyrean Phoenix, Junwu, and Goldcrow. They also included Ning’s own subordinates, such as Ninefangs, Primelight, and Sunblaze. He also saw the Xia Emperor as well as the Empyrean Gods he had rescued from Undermoon Lake, such as the Seven Dragon Gods, Oddwitch, Eastvoid, Buyou, and Sin...

Ning’s eyes blazed with torch-light as he turned to stare at the vast army of the Seamless Gate.

He immediately saw Sword Immortal Evergreen...the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater...Fairy Deadgrass...True Immortal Gaudy...

“Darknorth, do you still remember him?” Lord Tathagata suddenly spoke out to Ning while pointing towards a distant figure.

Ning followed Tathagata’s finger and saw one of their formation commanders. This was a barefoot Bodhisattva who was dressed in yellow robes and whose face was pale and handsome.

“He is...?” Ning immediately felt that this person looked quite familiar.

“Bodhisattva Eastluck,” Lord Buddha said with a laugh.

“Eastluck?” Ning immediately remembered the man. No wonder he had looked familiar! When Ning had first gone to learn the [Five Treasures] sword-art which Daofather Fuju had left behind, he had encountered this spoiled prince, Eastluck. Ning had ordered Prince Eastluck to become a servant at an innhouse for three hundred years, and had commanded that he allow others to hit him and berate him without fighting back or talking back.

“Right. You sent him to work as a servant in the mortal world for three hundred years with the goal of tempering his arrogance. Instead, he came to truly understand his own heart! He ended up understanding the Dao and becoming a Celestial Immortal, then joined my Buddhist Sangha. His rate of advancement was simply astonishing...” Lord Buddha sighed with praise. “He truly has the heart of a Buddha, and my Buddhist techniques were perfect for him. If he was given enough time, he would stand a very good chance of becoming a major power as well. Alas, the war has already arrived.”

“Mm.” Ning felt quite pleased as well. He had never imagined that the spoiled Prince Eastluck who had provoked him would become Bodhisattva Eastluck.

Ning continued to stare at their forces.

There were quite a few people who he had ties to. There were also quite a few who had grudges against him. They were all scattered throughout the various Immortal and Fiendgod armies. At this point in time, they were nothing more than minor chess pieces in the Endwar. Ning, however, had carved out a path for himself via his cultivation. He had also been blessed by luck and opportunity, and as a result he now stood at the very peak of power. He was capable of truly influencing the entire course of the war.

“I wonder how many of them will be alive after the war.” Ning continued to quietly look at them all.

“Seamless Gate!”

Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan’s voice echoed through the endless Void, reverberating by the ears of every single Immortal and Fiendgod. “We once permitted you to enter our Three Realms and live amongst us. It’s one thing for you to be ungrateful, but how dare you once more stir up trouble and cause such a great war? You were even so despicable and shameless as to assassinate the family and friends of our major powers, Empyrean Gods, and True Immortals. Now...you wish to fight? Do you think our side is afraid of you? Hah! You lost the war all those years ago, and you’ll lose the war this time as well!”

“Cut the crap.” A cold laugh rang out from amongst the major powers of the distant Seamless Gate. “The victors pronounce themselves kings while the losers are derided as bandits. If we win, we’ll become the masters of the Three Realms. Only one of us will be able to survive!”

“Then all of you can die.” Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan’s cold voice echoed through the Void.

“Kill!” Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan gave the order.

“Kill!” “Kill!” “Kill!”

The entire Void seemed to be filled with these cries. The hundreds of millions of Immortals and Fiendgods in the many armies all roared furiously, causing the entire Three Realms to tremble.