Desolate Era

Daofather Crimsonbright stared at the Immortal wine, drinking instruments, and shattered pieces of black jade that were on the table. He then looked towards the numb, unmoving Ji Ning. The look in Ning’s eyes caused Daofather Crimsonbright to shake his head.

“Ugh!” He flourished his sleeves and left.

“Master.”

Just as Daofather Crimsonbright was leaving the room, the Xia Emperor came in.

The Eight Dragons Cloudcity was the Xia Emperor’s treasure. Thus, he was the second to find out about what had happened.

“Master!” The Xia Emperor called out repeatedly.

“We lost…we lost.” Daofather Crimsonbright shook his head and sighed. “Our Crimsonbright Realm has already suffered heavy casualties during this Realmwar. I had thought that with Human Sovereign Shennong’s help, we would be able to win, but…who would’ve thought that Ji Ning’s Dao-companion, Yu Wei, a disciple of Lu Dongbin…was actually a spy for the Seamless Gate as well. All our plans have come to nothing!”

“Don’t we have another bottle of Shennong’s medicine?” The Xia Emperor asked frantically.

“It’s useless.” Daofather Crimsonbright sighed. “Those Empyrean God golems of the Seamless Gate require a hundred Celestial Immortals, but the Daofather golem only requires a single Pure Yang True Immortal. This is because the core formation-diagrams of the Daofather golem can be powered by essence chaostones. The power of the essence chaostones can be converted directly into the power of primordial chaos, giving the Daofather golem endless amounts of power. The Daofather golem, however, is protected by layers of defenses. Even if I were to personally intervene, I wouldn’t be able to penetrate it. Not with a coresense attack, not with any other attacks. Shennong’s medicine is unable to penetrate the Daofather golem as well.”

“Now that Ji Ning’s portion of the medicine is gone, leaving only one portion behind…the Daofather golem of the Seamless Gate will completely focus on the holder of that portion. When it strikes, the rest of us will be completely unable to keep that portion safe.”

Daofather Crimsonbright felt quite resigned.

“Can’t we split up that portion into two smaller portions?” The Xia Emperor asked.

“What do you take it for? It’s a perfect, complete concoction; you can’t just split it up. Its power comes from its perfection and its completeness.” Daofather Crimsonbright shook his head. “If it could be split apart, I would’ve split it into a hundred parts long ago.”

“Is there really nothing left to us?” The Xia Emperor simply couldn’t accept this. He truly could not. The world of the Grand Xia which he had commanded and toiled over for countless years…the homeland of his Xiamang clan…it was now gone, just like that?

“There’s nothing left.” Daofather Crimsonbright shook his head. “Our only choice is to seek out Human Sovereign Shennong once more and see if he has any ideas. However, the Human Sovereign has already done much for us. Alas…”

“The antidote is with Ji Ning. Go and spread it out to the others. Rescue the Pure Yang True Immortals and Celestial Immortals first.”

“Yes.” The Xia Emperor nodded, then hurriedly said, “Master, don’t take your anger out on Ji Ning. I saw him through the door just now. He’s completely dazed by this blow. His Dao-companion was actually a spy that had been inserted by the Seamless Gate. This has been a tremendous mental blow to him. His most beloved Dao-companion was a spy, an enemy…” The Xia Emperor sighed.

“Of course I won’t take it out on him. Yu Wei was a spy, but Ji Ning is one of our warriors.” Daofather Crimsonbright turned his head to stare through the doorway as well, looking at Ji Ning. “I hope that this won’t do too much lasting damage to him. Snowdance was killed by the person she loved. While Ji Ning didn’t die…I imagine the amount of pain he feels right now isn’t much less than the amount which Snowdance felt. Help out and ensure that others don’t come here to berate him either. He’s only trained for a short period of time, after all.”

“Yes,” the Xia Emperor acknowledged respectfully.

……

“What? Yu Wei was a traitor?”

“She actually harmed so many fellow Immortals.”

“Pity our fellow Daoist Darknorth…his most beloved Dao-companion was actually an enemy spy.”

“This Ji Ning character really is an idiot. This was a critical moment, and Shennong’s medicine was so absolutely precious to us…how could he be so careless?”

Soon, all the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals within the Eight Dragons Cloudcity learned of this matter. They all found it hard to accept this outcome, and some even were furious with Ning. Most of them, however, felt pity for him.

“Everyone, it’s best if you don’t bother Ji Ning.” The Xia Emperor prevented many from going in to speak to Ning. Only those who had extremely close relationships with Ning were allowed to go in.

True Immortal Dongyan came as well. He just stood outside the door, looking at Ning.

“For something like this to happen to him…” True Immortal Dongyan let out a soft sigh. “However…based on what I know, generally speaking when the spies of the Seamless Gate reveal themselves, they will go berserk and show no mercy at all. Yu Wei actually didn’t kill Ji Ning…”

“It doesn’t matter. Yu Wei’s dead now.” The Xia Emperor nodded. “Ji Ning is definitely going to hate the Seamless Gate even more now. The Seamless Gate…they truly are willing to make use of anything and anyone. They truly will stoop to nothing at all. They all deserve to die.”

……

Within the skies of the Grand Xia.

An azure-robed figure with an Immortal sword on his back stood there, gazing at the distant Eight Dragons Cloudcity, his eyes filled with grief and pain. He let out a soft sigh. “Foolish child.”

“She always kept everything hidden away. Although I could tell that she was hiding something, I didn’t imagine that she was actually a spy for the Seamless Gate. But…she’s not a bad person by nature.” Grief and pain were apparent in Lu Dongbin’s eyes. “Given how much trust Ning placed in her over the years, she could’ve slain him long ago. And in the end…she only destroyed the black jade bottle. She didn’t hurt Ji Ning at all.”

“She shattered her own soul?”

“She would rather shatter her own soul than let it return to the Seamless Gate?” Lu Dongbin shook his head.

The Godking of the Seamless Gate was capable of forcibly carrying off the souls of those he had imprinted…but Yu Wei had instead chosen to shatter her own soul than to let that happen.

“The reason why she decided to shatter that black jade bottle was probably to repay the Godking for his ‘benevolence’.”

“I heard long ago that the Seamless Gate has many spies, all of whom are extremely devoted to their Godking and willing to die for him if needed. He truly lives up to his reputation as the disciple of the Lord of the Demonheart…his ability to manipulate the hearts of men is indeed impressive. That foolish child shattered the jade black bottle to repay the Godking. As for suicide…she didn’t want to cause Ji Ning any more problems in the future?”

Lu Dongbin loved to roam the mortal worlds, and had seen many scenes of grief, joy, parting, and gathering. He naturally understood what Yu Wei was thinking.

She…was simply a silly girl.

She had truly believed that the Godking had been extremely kind and benevolent towards her.

“To the Godking, she was nothing more than a slave, a weapon.” Lu Dongbin shook his head. “But Ji Ning…alas…”

Lu Dongbin felt helpless as well.

Ji Ning was indeed a peerless talent. The storm had just barely begun, but he had already started shine and dazzle…but now, the person he cared about the most had died and left him. This blow…there was nothing Lu Dongbin could do to soften it. The only person who could help Ji Ning right now was Ji Ning himself.

……

Outside the Three Realms. At the end of the vast Void, there was the even-vaster primordial chaos.

Within the primordial chaos, all things were possible.

It was the primordial chaos that had given birth to many powerful Fiendgods, to Pangu, to Nuwa, to the Ancestor Dragon, to the Phoenix, to the Torch Dragon, to Daoist Threelives, to Subhuti, to Crimsonbright...to all of them. The most powerful Fiendgod, Pangu, had established Heaven and Earth, creating the utterly massive Pangu’s Primordial World and perishing after his labors.

If yet another Pangu-like presence was born, he would absolutely be capable of establishing yet another world within the primordial chaos.

The primordial chaos was truly infinite and limitless, after all…after Mother Nuwa had entered the primordial chaos, she had never returned from it.

Within an area in the primordial chaos that was very close to the Three Realms.

There was a medicine field within the primordial chaos, and next to it was a thatched cottage. Two people were seated by the side of the cottage. One was the white-bearded Patriarch Subhuti, while the other was dressed in plain clothes and had unkempt hair and a tousled beard. He looked like an old farmer…but his eyes contained eternity within them, an ancientness that brought peace to the hearts of those who saw him.

He…was one of the Three Sovereigns of Mankind. Shennong!

Of the Three Sovereigns, Suiren was the most ancient, while Fuxi was always dressed in his Eight Trigram robes. Both had extraordinary appearances. Only Shennong dressed very simply, as though he was naught but an old farmer toiling away in his fields.

“This event is most likely going to cast a shadow over your disciple’s heart.” Shennong personally poured Subhuti a cup of tea. The tea bubbled and hissed, but it emanated a soothing, intoxicating fragrance.

“The Seamless Gate’s subterfuge abilities are indeed unparalleled. There’s no way to investigate them at all.” Subhuti shook his head. “I’ve been thinking carefully about Yu Wei’s past life and present life. I think it must be due to the fact that she suffered too much in her past life. She transformed into a demon and massacred countless people. In the midst of her massacres, she was probably influenced by Demonheart. She was naturally guided towards their side, and in the end became a chess piece for their ‘Godking’.”

“Yes.” Shennong nodded.

Now that they knew for a fact that Yu Wei was a spy, it wasn’t too hard for them to spot the reason as to why she had joined the Seamless Gate.

However, if they didn’t already know this, there was no way to find out. There were far, far too many Immortal cultivators who descended into madness and slaughter, after all. Some might have become truly filled with bloodlust and the desire to kill, while others had been driven crazy by the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. There was no way to tell on the surface, no way at all.

“This time…Crimsonbright is going to lose.” Shennong shook his head. “I just finished creating those two portions of Immortal medicine. Both were created using some unique herbs that I located in the primordial chaos that are incredibly rare. I can grow more of those herbs in my farm…but even if I change the flow of time to make them grow faster, I’ll still need at least another century before I can finish another batch.”

“If Crimsonbright loses, he’ll naturally lead his army away from the Grand Xia. This disciple of yours…what are you planning to do about him?” Shennong asked.

Neither side had reached the point of entering a truly life-and-death struggle against the other yet. Both sides could easily retreat if they chose to. They could simply tear a hole through space and easily leave.

“Ji Ning has the [Starseizing Hand] of Threelives, and he’s quite talented in heartforce as well. I feel, however, that his talent with the sword is even higher.” Subhuti sighed. “He absolutely has the potential to become yet another ‘Houyi’.”

“Houyi?” Shennong gently nodded.

Houyi was someone who, as an Empyrean God, had slain a Daofather! He was an absolute legend.

“But this truly was a heavy blow for him. Still…fortune and disaster ride together. Perhaps this will serve to help him temper his heart.” Patriarch Subhuti shook his head. “Emotional matters like this…he’ll have to rely on himself to overcome it. There’s nothing I can do.”

……

The Eight Dragons Cloudcity. Ji Ning’s residence.

Ning was finally on his feet. He began to collect the table, the Immortal wine, and the drinking utensils in an extremely careful manner. He even picked up all the shattered pieces of black jade.

“Ji Ning.”

“Eighth brother.”

Celestial Immortals Unity, Allbeasts, Whacko, and the others had all arrived.

“Don’t let yourself hurt too much.” Celestial Immortal Allbeasts patted Ning on the shoulder and said, “Something like this is completely unpredictable. Since Yu Wei was a spy…then you should just forget about her, eighth brother. Don’t let this misery and unhappiness fester away in your heart.”

“Forget her,” Celestial Immortal Whacko exhorted softly as well. “When Thousand Needles died, I felt so much pain that I wanted to die…but what can you do? We have to look forward, move forward. Forget her. It’ll make things easier for you.”

Ning raised his head to look at Whacko. His voice was slightly hoarse. “Seventh brother…have you been able to forget her?”

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