The Desolate Era

Book 23, Chapter 31 - The Destiny of the Three Realms

When the distant incarnation of Godfiend Witherspike saw those enormous suns erupt one after the other, even he was moved by the grief he could sense radiating from them. Some of his most ancient memories were stirred, and he couldn’t help but sigh softly, “Even I hope that they can kill the Mindlord. Perhaps the Mindlord really will end up falling by the hands of these locals.”

Keeper Everwood, dead.

Daoist Three Purities and his 3600 True Immortals, dead.

The black-robed Ji Ning, dead.

“Die, you yokels! All of you, die!” Old Man Yuan was utterly enraged. Even if he won this battle, his soul would have been so heavily injured that even he didn’t know how long it would take for it to heal. He sent three of his enormous arms reaching out towards Lord Tathagata the Buddha.

Lord Buddha murmured in a soft voice, “If I do not go to Hell, who shall? My friends, are you willing to venture into Hell alongside me?” [1. This is a very famous Buddhist saying which was actually attributed to Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha, who swore that he would not allow himself to become a Buddha until he rescued all living things who were trapped in Hell. When asked by others why he was doing this, he countered with the question, ‘If I do not go to hell (to rescue those people), who shall?”]

“I am willing.”

“I am willing.”

The Empyrean Gods by his side were all extremely calm as the most unforgettable memories of their lives slowly drifted through their minds. They all had things they had once sworn to protect, and they would not shirk back from their duty, not even it cost them their lives.

The three enormous palms descended upon them.

Lord Buddha and his 5800 Empyrean Gods were all completely calm and peaceful.

BOOM!!!

A blindingly brilliant sun erupted once more.

Although Lord Tathagata had an indestructible golden body, he knew very well that he was still just a True God. If he didn’t self-detonate, Old Man Yuan would end up suppressing him and then sealing him away. The end result would still be death, and he wouldn’t even be able to harm Old Man Yuan! Thus, Lord Buddha didn’t hesitate at all. He immediately self-detonated, the shock of the explosion causing Old Man Yuan’s hands to shudder and quickly draw backwards.

Old Man Yuan’s face turned even uglier to behold.

“Kill!” Old Man Yuan had already made up his mind to wipe them all out. His next target was Buddha Jueming. Buddha Jueming’s protective divine ability was incredibly formidable. Given that he was also an Elder God...he made Old Man Yuan rather uncomfortable.

“Amitabha. Northrest, my benefactor...this monk won’t be able to travel to Vastheaven Palace.” Buddha Jueming silently murmured these words to himself, smiling as he watched those three massive palms descend towards him.

BOOM!!!

Buddha Jueming also transformed into a dazzlingly bright sun, the power of the explosion furiously draining away Old Man Yuan’s divine power. However, given that Old Man Yuan was a Heartforce Cultivator, he’d still be able to survive even if the only part of him left was his truesoul! When World God Northrest had fled, he had lost both his body and his soul. The only part of him left was his truesoul, and his truesoul was actually beginning to dissipate as well. Despite all that, he had managed to stay alive for a long period of time.

Obviously, Old Man Yuan wasn’t as formidable as Northrest. However, although quite a bit of his divine power and soul had been consumed, he was still able to continue to launch attacks of tremendous power.

This was the difference between himself and Lord Demonheart. He was one of the Nine Divine Generals of God Emperor Blacklotus!

“He’s still not dead?”

“How is he not dead?!”

The major powers of the Nuwa Alliance and the Seamless Gate all felt heartbroken over their losses, and yet somehow Old Man Yuan was still alive!

“Ji Ning, die.” Old Man Yuan next sent five of his arms to strike at Ji Ning. Ji Ning’s true body had mastered the [Ninehorn Lightning Serpent], making it extremely hard for Old Man Yuan to kill him with just one or two arms. However, Old Man Yuan’s arms were all capable of attacking as fast as the limits of the Heavenly Daos. When five of those arms attacked simultaneously, there really was no way for Ji Ning to dodge, especially since he had been fighting in close combat to begin with.

In addition...Ji Ning never even considered fleeing.

None of the other major powers had additional clones like he did, yet they had all decided to self-detonate in the hopes of exhausting more of Old Man Yuan’s divine power. Ning had clones. How could he flee?

In this moment, he threw all other thoughts to the back of his mind. He focused on just one thing...to injure Old Man Yuan as best he could. Perhaps he might be the straw that broke the camel’s back, causing Old Man Yuan to die.

Keeper Everwood had died.

Daoist Three Purities and his 3600 True Immortals had died.

The black-robed Primaltwin Ning had died.

Lord Tathagata the Buddha and his 5800 Empyrean Gods had died.

Buddha Jueming had died.

Now, even Ning’s true body was going to die.

“My fellow Daoists...I’m not afraid of death, but I have to ensure that the Seamless Gate will live on. If all of us were to die here, the Immortals and Fiendgods who died for our sake would have died for nothing.” The Lord of All Fiends finally decided to flee.

“Let’s go.”

“We’re leaving the Three Realms.”

The Lord of All Fiends began to collect the major powers of the Seamless Gate mid-battle.

Before this Endwar had begun, these major powers had all handed their closest friends and loved ones over to the Lord of All Fiends for safekeeping. They all had faith in the escaping abilities of the Lord of All Fiends. The reason why they were willing to risk or even to give up their lives was to ensure that the ones they cared about would be able to continue living.

“Let’s go. All of you, let’s go.” Subhuti appeared next to the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance as well.

“Let’s go.” Sun Wukong’s eyes turned red, as did the eyes of many others.

“Let’s go.”

They all understood that continuing to fight like this would be pointless. The whole point of them fighting was to keep the soulslaves occupied, preventing them from assisting Old Man Yuan! Now, however, there was no point. It was all up to Ji Ning.

These other True Gods and Daofathers were too weak to make a difference; they simply couldn’t keep Old Man Yuan tied down. If Old Man Yuan wanted to flee, he could do so whenever he wished to. Only the likes of Ji Ning, the Lord of All Fiends, and the other overlords were capable of forcing Old Man Yuan to stay and fight.

The Lord of All Fiends evacuated the Seamless Gate, while Subhuti evacuated the Nuwa Alliance. Both sides had already made their preparations.

If Ji Ning’s self-detonation failed to slay Old Man Yuan, then they would leave the Three Realms and enter the endless primordial chaos.

If Ji Ning’s self-detonation succeeded in exhausting Old Man Yuan’s store of divine power, rendering him helpless...then they would counter-attack and win!

It was all up to Ji Ning!

Those five massive palms reached out for Ning from five different directions, covering the Void like five massive stormclouds. All of them moved as fast as the speed of light, giving Ning’s true body no chance to run.

“Is the Three Realms about to be destroyed?”

“No...”

“We still have a slight chance.”

Ning was calmer than he ever had been before. The reason why all of those overlords had sacrificed themselves was because they saw that same slight chance as well.

“Come, then.” Ning’s heart was as still as water.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Old Man Yuan’s five palms slammed down with no mercy whatsoever towards Ning’s true body. With the Lord of All Fiends having fled, the Three Realms no longer posed any threat to him whatsoever. As for the likes of Buddha Maitreya or Sun Wukong, those major powers were too weak in comparison. If he wanted to fight them, he would; if he wanted to flee from them, he could.

Ji Ning was the last one who could pose a threat to him.

“Die, then.” Old Man Yuan’s eyes were filled with cold savagery as he mentally steeled himself for Ji Ning’s self-detonation. “I can take another blast. I can still hold.”

The Lord of All Fiends had fled far off into the distance and was watching through his senses.

Patriarch Subhuti was also far away by now, and by his side stood Buddha Maitreya, Buddha Amitabha, Sun Wukong, Jade Cauldron, and the others. They, too, were watching.

Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation was also watching from afar.

The destiny of the Three Realms itself hung in the balance, and everyone was waiting to see how the scales would be tipped. Even the Heavenly Daos were shuddering. They understood that a critical moment had arrived...but there was nothing they could do.

As for the countless living creatures of the Three Realms, they continued to peacefully live their ordinary lives. Some struggled for political power, some wooed their lovers, some chanted poems, some focused on their studies, and some were fighting in their own wars...

They had no idea...that the fate of the entire Three Realms would be decided in this next instant.

“...What’s going on?” The Lord of All Fiends, Patriarch Subhuti, Godfiend Witherspike, and the others all grew puzzled.

This was because Old Man Yuan’s giant palms had descended upon Ji Ning, clutching him in their grasp.

But...

There was no detonation!

“He didn’t self-detonate?!” The Lord of All Fiends boggled.

Subhuti and the rest of the Nuwa Alliance were all stunned as well. Even Godfiend Witherspike’s incarnation was stunned.

None of them believed that this was because Ji Ning was afraid to die. Ji Ning had to know that if Old Man Yuan captured him and sealed him away, the end result would still be death, and a pointless one at that. He wouldn’t even be able to injure Old Man Yuan.

They were shocked. Old Man Yuan himself was shocked. He had already mentally prepared himself to deal with Ji Ning’s self-detonation, but even as he finally wrapped his fingers around Ji Ning, Ji Ning still did not self-detonate.

“The destiny of the Three Realms shall be decided in this instant.”

When Ning saw the palms draw near him, he had decided to self-detonate.

In this moment, his heart was calmer than it ever had been before. He stood there all by himself, his friends and allies all far away, his spirit in a state of complete silence...and suddenly, he found that spark of insight within his divine body.

“A spark of insight that can only be found in endless solitude...” As death descended, Ning suddenly gave up his plans of self-detonation. Instead, he immediately activated the [Solitary World God] technique.

In order to advance through the [Solitary World God], one had to find a spark of insight hidden within one’s divine body.

Last time, when he had broken through to become a True God, he had succeeded because of the effort he had spent on mastering the Goldstar Beads of the Heavens. This time, however, it was because in this moment where the entire destiny of the Three Realms hung in the balance, his soul had become so extraordinarily calm and silent that he was able to sense that tiny little spark inside himself.

Whoosh. Old Man Yuan’s fingers clenched around Ji Ning.

Ji Ning did not self-detonate.

“It’s over.” The Lord of All Fiends shook his head.

“It’s finished.” The major powers of the Nuwa Alliance all shook their heads, despair written plainly on their faces. They had tried so hard...but for some reason, Ji Ning had refused to self-detonate. The last hope of the Three Realms was gone.

“No.” Patriarch Subhuti continued to watch. He wouldn’t believe it. He refused to believe that his disciple was a craven man who feared death.

Rumble...

Boundless amounts of chaos energy suddenly began to appear in a great flood, forming an enormous chaos vortex that was centered...directly above Ji Ning.

“It’s not finished. The Three Realms isn’t finished.” When Subhuti saw the chaos vortex suddenly appear, he let out a hoarse cry. “The Three Realms is not finished!”