The Desolate Era

“Subhuti...” Daofather Crimsonbright stared at Subhuti. He couldn’t resist from saying, “Is this really true?”

“Do you think I’d lie to you about something like this?” Subhuti sat there, calmly drinking his wine. “You shouldn’t be so shocked. We’ve already had multiple Realmwars against the Seamless Gate within the Three Realms. It isn’t odd for one to have begun within your Crimsonbright realm.”

Daofather Crimsonbright nodded slowly. Only now did he sit down, then sigh, “Right. Sooner or later, a Realmwar was going to come to my Crimsonbright Realm. But now that it really is happening...I still feel pained. My disciples...my students...they’ve been by my side for countless ages. They are all like my own children. But now, I’m going to watch them fight within a Realmwar...watch them die, one by one...”

Subhuti nodded slowly.

He, too, had many disciples; he knew exactly how Crimsonbright felt.

They were all born as True Gods of Primordial Chaos, and as such had no actual children. Their cherished disciples were as important to them as actual children were to ordinary mortals. This was amplified by the fact that they would often spend countless ages training and accompanying their disciples, resulting in extremely deep relationships.

Perhaps, as major powers, they would have the mental fortitude to watch one of their disciples die without interfering...but when nearly all of their disciples were facing possible death, of course they would truly feel heartache and panic. How many of them were truly willing to suddenly become alone and bereft of all their loved ones?

“Subhuti.” Daofather Crimsonbright nodded solemnly. “Thank you for your warning. If it wasn’t for you...Xiamang’s side would’ve been doomed.”

Subhuti just chuckled, lifting his cup of wine and continuing to drink in a leisurely fashion.

“Right. Since they plan to ambush Xiamang’s forces,” Crimsonbright suddenly said, “Should I do the same? I can openly send some limited reinforcements, while secretly prepare a vicious little trap for them. Shall we give them a taste of their own medicine?”

“Impossible.” Subhuti shook his head. “You know exactly how formidable the Seamless Gate’s intelligence network is. It is far too difficult for you to mobilize your forces without the Seamless Gate finding out! Even if we really were so lucky as to avoid discovery...do you have any idea as to how many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals the Seamless Gate has actually sent?”

“How many?” Crimsonbright immediately asked.

“Sixty-six,” Subhuti said calmly. “They include the six Diremonster Gods of Mount Tonglian, and the Nine Cloudmist Fairies...”

Crimsonbright’s face instantly became ugly to behold.

“They also number amongst the ranks the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater, who recently caused the Buddhists to suffer catastrophic losses,” Subhuti said.

“What? They came as well?” The look on Crimsonbright’s face completely changed. “But...but...this is merely a war against my Crimsonbright Realm. For the Seamless Gate to summon the six from Mount Tonglian and the nine from the Cloudmist Creek is one thing...but they even summoned the three from Mount Dragoneater?”

Unless a Daofather acted against them, it could be said that those three mighty Diremonster Gods were nigh-invincible.

“How should I know?” Subhuti shook his head. “No matter what, the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater have indeed gone to the Grand Xia.”

What Subhuti didn’t realize...

Was that the reason why the Godking had sent the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater was because he wanted to neatly and cleanly get rid of the troublesome Ji Ning. As the Godking saw it, Ji Ning had already mastered a soul heartforce technique; once he became a Pure Yang True Immortal, his Heaven Punisher would probably be a match for those three Diremonster Gods, all by itself.

In truth, the Godking had guessed wrongly; the number of figures within the Three Realms who had truly mastered a soul heartforce technique could be counted on two hands. No matter how monstrously talented Ji Ning was, and despite him having been taught the [Heart Sutra] of Old Man Yuan, he had only been able to just barely gain a basic level of skill in the technique. He couldn’t even be considered as being an expert in it, much less have mastered it!

However, this decision to get rid of Ji Ning was indeed the right decision for the Seamless Gate. This was because, although Ning had only just reached a basic level of skill, as time went on his skills in the soul heartforce technique would only grow more and more profound, and he would prove to be a greater and greater threat.

“I’ve said everything I came to say,” Subhuti said. “Crimsonbright, deal with this information as you see fit.” After speaking, Subhuti disappeared into thin air, and the distorted field of space once more went back to normal.

Daofather Crimsonbright waved his hand, collecting the table of wine in front of him, then glanced downwards.

The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals seated below him could now see him again. They were all very puzzled, but none of them dared to ask.

“You’ve all seen the Winesun Realm’s Realmwar,” Daofather Crimsonbright said, pointing towards the round mirror of light.

Everyone present was puzzled.

What of it? Were they about to be sent as reinforcements?

“Your peaceful, relaxed days have come to an end. Our Crimsonbright Realm’s Realmwar has begun!” Daofather Crimsonbright continued calmly, “The major powers of the Seamless Gate have already sent a large group of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to descend upon the Grand Xia. They include the six Diremonster Gods of Mount Tonglian, but we can discuss those details later. All you need to know for now is that their reinforcements include more than just the Twin Jueming Immortals; rather, their reinforcements include a total of sixty-six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, including the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater!”

Everyone’s faces changed.

Sixty-six?

Including the forces that the Seamless Gate already had within the Grand Xia, such as True Immortal Whitepole and Azurefox...didn’t that mean a total of nearly eighty would take part in the war? Eighty Empyrean Gods and True Immortals...what a terrifying force that was!

Could it be...

“This is now a Realmwar!” Daofather Crimsonbright looked downwards. “No one can escape it. Go and make your preparations for your various worlds. Protect them all securely. Any remaining forces are to be pooled together and sent to the Grand Xia.”

“Yes!” The Immortals and Fiendgods all assented solemnly.

The Xia Emperor’s body was covered in cold sweat. The Twin Jueming Immortals were actually...actually just a façade for the sixty-six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals? The Xia Emperor felt terrified just thinking about what would’ve happened.

“Those who do not need to go summon their armies or arrange for various logistics should head out immediately.” Daofather Crimsonbright began to give orders. “Head straight to Xiamang’s ‘Eight Dragons Cloudcity’ in an open, aboveboard manner. Put an end to the Seamless Gate’s fantasies of ambushing us!”

“Yes!”

......

Daofather Crimsonbright did have more than a hundred Empyrean Gods and True Immortals under his command, but battles were currently occurring on various other major worlds as well; he had to leave some of them behind to protect his other major worlds. If he left none behind, the Seamless Gate would be able to effortlessly take them over. Thus, the number of individuals which Daofather Crimsonbright could employ was actually limited.

Of course, there were also lone wanderers such as Sword Immortal Evergreen, Fairy Snowdance, True Immortal Riverstar, and Empyrean God Fufang. The figures from the fairly stable major worlds could also be sent to the Grand Xia.

That very day, twenty-six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were sent to the Grand Xia as part of the first wave.

The Grand Xia. Whitepole Commandery. Outside the Seamless City, the black chains continued to rustle as they anchored the city into the void. Inside was a hubbub of noise.

To prevent the Xia Emperor from growing suspicious, True Immortal Whitepole and the others didn’t launch an immediate attack. Instead, they had done what they would normally do; they first held a welcoming banquet for the Twin Jueming Immortals. The plan was to call out the Xia Emperor’s forces after they finished the banquet! If they were too impatient, they wouldn’t achieve their desired goals. The more critical things were, the steadier one had to be in handling them!

“Come, drink!” True Immortal Whitepole laughed loudly. “Now that the Twin Jueming Immortals have arrived, we’ll be able to suppress the Xia Emperor’s side in terms of supportive spells. The power of our Empyrean God golems and Bloodcloud golems will improve greatly, giving us a chance to win!”

“Right. Spells and enchantments can have a huge impact on golems. We have far more golems than them; we were in desperate need of the Twin Jueming Immortals.”

“We can definitely win this battle.”

The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were laughing and jesting about while drinking. Then, suddenly...

“Eh?” action

All of their faces changed. They could clearly sense the enormous ripples that were being generated through a spatial rift being opened. The spatial rift in question was very close to them, after all.

“Let’s go take a look.” True Immortal Whitepole remained quite calm. Winecup still in hand, he chortled as he rose to his feet. He took a single step and appeared outside of the banquet hall.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! One after another, the experts all left the banquet hall and flew into the air above the Seamless City. They stared towards the distance.

And in the distance...

The Eight Dragons Cloudcity had appeared. Eight divine dragons were roving around it, giving it an aura that was even mightier than that of the Seamless City. A spatial rift had already appeared above it, and one Empyrean God and True Immortal after another began to emerge from the rift and fly towards the Eight Dragons Cloudcity below. These Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were chatting and jesting with each other, appearing to be quite relaxed.

“Empyrean Gods and True Immortals?”

“Those are the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals under Daofather Crimsonbright.”

“So many...”

“How many have already entered the Eight Dragons Cloudcity? From the looks of it, there must be at least twenty of them. As to how many will arrive...hard to say.” They all had completely different looks on their faces as well.

The two chubby Jueming Immortals, who had been beaming merrily in a very amiable way, now had flat looks on their faces.

Flames of rage blazed in Azurefox’s eyes as well.

As the field marshal...True Immortal Whitepole, who had managed to remain calm up till now, could no longer remain calm.

Crack! The winecup in his hand shattered, breaking apart into tiny dust-like pieces. The wine splashed out, but before the wine even drew close to him, it froze into pieces of ice and fell to the ground.

“Damn! DAMN!!!” True Immortal Whitepole couldn’t refrain from cursing.

As the field marshal, the fact that he had been forced to request reinforcements had already deeply disappointed the Godking.

This ambush was extremely important. In an head-on fight in a Realmwar, killing ten Empyrean Gods and True Immortals was incredibly difficult and required an enormous cost to be paid. Their ambush, however, would’ve allowed them to easily and effortlessly wipe out the Xia Emperor’s forces. But now...they could all tell that their plot had failed.”

“How could it have failed?!” True Immortal Whitepole gritted his teeth. Almost. Almost! He had almost wiped out the Xia Emperor and all his forces.

......

“What’s going on?”

Within the military camps of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity, quite a few Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals had emerged from their respective residences to stare up into the sky.

Ji Ning and Yu Wei actually flew out of the entire camp. They stood there in midair, watching.

Celestial Immortals Unity, Dustfloat, Whacko, Rainsoar, and Allbeasts were standing in midair and watching as well.

“This is...?”

An enormous rift had appeared in the skies, and one figure after another was flying out from it, each possessing auras of incredible power.

They had to be Empyrean Gods or True Immortals.

“So many of them?” Ning was somewhat stunned.

“Come to the main palace right away.” The Xia Emperor’s voice rang out within the minds of Ji Ning, Celestial Immortal Unity, and the others.

“I need to go to the main palace,” Ning said to Yu Wei.

“Go.” Yu Wei nodded. Ning was a commander; he naturally had to participate in the discussions involving this momentous event.

Moments later...

The main palace. Xiamang was seated atop his throne in the principal position, while more than thirty Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, along with Ning and the rest of the five, were seated before him.

“We actually just gained twenty-six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. What in the world has happened, for us to suddenly gain so many? If we are to launch an ambush, why didn’t they come secretly? The entire region of a million kilometers around us is under the Xia Emperor’s control; he could’ve had them come in secret, then launch a sneak attack against the Seamless Gate.” Ning’s heart was filled with questions.

The Xia Emperor, seated up high on his throne, explained: “I imagine that none of you know what is going on. The reason why Master has sent so many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to reinforce us...is because the Seamless Gate is about to launch a Realmwar against our Crimsonbright Realm, and the location shall be our Grand Xia.”

“Realmwar?” Ning and the others were all stunned.

“True Immortal Whitepole hasn’t merely invited the Twin Jueming Immortals; he’s actually gained a total of sixty-six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals,” the Xia Emperor said solemnly. He paused for a moment, giving Ning and the others some time to digest this stunning information, then continued. “However, our side has discovered their plot, and so Master has first sent a vanguard of twenty-six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, with the main army arriving later.”

“My fellow disciples already know about all of you,” the Xia Emperor said with a laugh. “However, I imagine that most of you don’t recognize them.”

Ning and the others all nodded.

“Let me make the introductions. This is my senior apprentice-brother, Hiddenvoid. Senior apprentice-brother Hiddenvoid was the first to follow Master, and the Hiddenvoid Formation he created is quite incredible,” the Xia Emperor said. “This is my junior apprentice-sister Snowdance...”

However, the gazes of these twenty-plus Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were focused on and shifted between Sword Immortal Evergreen and Ji Ning.