The Desolate Era

Just a short while later.

Per Daofather Crimsonbright’s orders, all the Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and army commanders assembled at the main hall.

“What?”

“We’re going to go fight?”

“The Seamless Gate now has a Daofather golem. How are we supposed to beat that?” Once Daofather Crimsonbright said that he was going to launch a true, final battle against the Seamless Gate, everyone was completely speechless. They weren’t afraid of death, but no one would be willing to throw their lives away in a situation where they had no chance of winning at all.

Daofather Crimsonbright looked down at his subordinates, then turned his head to look towards a side door. “Ji Ning, come out.”

The Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and army commanders all felt puzzled.

Ji Ning?

“Let Ji Ning come out? After experiencing his Dao-companion’s betrayal...I imagine that he couldn’t have fully recovered yet.”

“I don’t understand what the Daofather is planning.”

“Are we supposed to entrust everything to Ji Ning, who is at the brink of absolute collapse?”

“He can’t be joking with us, can he?”

Some felt anger towards Ning, while others felt sympathy and pity. All of them, however, felt certain that this peerless genius must have been delivered a blow from which he would need time to recover.

Footsteps rang out.

“Eh?” Upon seeing Ji Ning walk out, virtually everyone was stunned.

“He...he...”

“Pure Yang?”

“Impossible!”

Almost all of the Immortals and Fiendgods within the main hall were stupefied. They knew exactly how heavy a blow Ji Ning had just suffered. In their private conversations, most of them secretly opined that Ji Ning would probably wallow in his misery as a result of this blow. None of them had imagined that Ji Ning would actually break through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal at such a critical point in time!

To break through into the Pure Yang level was no easy feat. To completely and thoroughly master a Grand Dao was no easy task. Given the blow he had suffered and the mental anguish he was in...it would have been incredibly, incredibly difficult for him to make a breakthrough in the Dao of the Sword.

But...

The truth was right before them. The dense Pure Yang aura surrounding Ji Ning was unmistakeably real!

“Ji Ning has broken through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal. His Heaven Punisher can now command much greater power.” Daofather Crimsonbright’s voice boomed down from his high throne. “I will put 9000 Celestial Immortals and 810,000 Loose Immortals under his command, allowing him to form and command a perfect Heaven Punisher! Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher, when working in concert with Redsnow’s Seven Planets God, will handle the Daofather golem.”

Daofather Crimsonbright continued, “All of you are to immediately summon your soldiers and prepare for the final battle! In this final battle, our goal is to completely shatter the forces of the Seamless Gate and to protect our Realm!”

“Yes!” All of the Immortals and Fiendgods awoke from their stupor. They were all incomparably delighted, and their eyes glowed with excitement.

Prior to this, they all seemed to have lost their souls. They had no morale to speak of...and even Daofather Crimsonbright himself had been surrounded by a melancholic aura. But now, upon seeing a chance to gain victory, all of them became filled with a desire to do battle. They were so excited that their hearts once more began to boil with hot blood.

“Formidable.”

“He was actually able to make a breakthrough to the Pure Yang level after suffering such a blow.”

“Incredible.”

“This Ji Ning truly is incredible!”

Previously, quite a few of them had felt resentment towards Ji Ning, but all of that dissipated like smoke. All they felt towards him was amazement and admiration! To be able to make a breakthrough and completely change the course of the war at such a critical moment...how could they not feel admiration?

The grand army began to mobilize.

Sinuous Raindragons and towering Pangu War-Formations once more took form, along with many Heaven Punishers.

The most astonishingly powerful aura, however, came from Ji Ning’s ‘Darknorth Army’.

At present, the Darknorth Army had a total of 9000 Celestial Immortals and 810,000 Loose Immortals! This was the most perfect form possible for the [Heaven Punisher Formation]. The amount of natural energy which this sea of Immortals could summon...it was at an absolutely incomprehensible level. However, even Xingtian himself had only created a ‘perfect’ version of his formation just for the sake of completeness; he himself felt that it was a waste for an Empyrean God or True Immortal to use it, as there was simply no way for them to use all that energy.

“Assemble the formation.” Ning gave the order.

The 9000 Celestial Immortals were spread out around Ning, protecting him like a hive of hornets protecting their queen.

As for the 810,000 Loose Immortals, they were like countless stars or grains of sand that were spread out throughout the formation. As the incomparably marvelous formation began to be activated, an absolutely shocking whirlpool of energy was formed around the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. This was the very first time the Crimsonbright Realm had truly, completely unleashed the full power of a Heaven Punisher. Once the number of Immortals had reached the target number, the amount of natural energy they could command was similarly astonishing.

Rumble...

The natural energy had become completely solidified, seeming to have transformed into enormous pillars of water that surged towards Ning.

The massive water pillars, many tens of thousands of meters in length, swirled around Ning’s army before rapidly condensing around it. Slowly...the bones, the flesh, and the skin began to take form as an unprecedently enormous Heaven Punisher appeared.

“What a powerful aura.”

“This is too powerful.”

“I feel as though...he’s roughly on the same level as True Gods or Daofathers.”

When the perfect Heaven Punisher appeared, all of the Immortals and Fiendgods of the Crimsonbright Realm were stunned. However...they also all knew that if the commander of the formation was unable to command and control all of that massive power, the power would completely go to waste! Even amongst Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, there were many who couldn’t fully control 100% of the power of the simplest types of Heaven Punishers, much less the perfect ones!

“Whew.” Ning felt absolutely inconceivable power coming from the perfect Heaven Punisher he commanded.

“Arise.” Ning began to take control over the power of the Heaven Punisher. He applied heartforce to his soul, then used his Pure Yang energy to go all-out in taking control over the energy within the formation! More and more power began to enter the Heaven Punisher through the formation. Ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty percent. An absolutely unbelievable amount of energy was coming under Ning’s command.

Only the energy that he could control was ‘his’; anything he could not control would be just wasted energy.

Finally, Ning reached his limit.

“Ninety percent! I can vaguely sense that I’m controlling ninety percent of the power of this perfect Heaven Punisher.” Ning felt stunned as well...because he could sense that just ten percent of the power of the perfect Heaven Punisher was already vastly more powerful than the full power of his old Heaven Punisher, which had merely been powered by three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals.

Fortunately, his heartforce had reached the fourth stage. Otherwise...with just third-stage heartforce, even if he used his soul heartforce technique he would probably only be able to just barely command a tenth of the power of this perfect Heaven Punisher.

No one could tell from the surface as to how much control Ning had over the Heaven Punisher Formation. Not even the primordial wargod who created this great formation, Xingtian, would dare to believe that a mere Empyrean God or True Immortal would be able to take almost complete control over a perfect Heaven Punisher.

“Excellent.” Daofather Crimsonbright’s voice boomed out, his eyes filled with a desire to battle. “It’s time for the final battle. Let’s completely wipe out the Seamless Gate!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

The countless Immortals and Fiendgods turned frenzied with their desire to kill.

“Head out!” Daofather Crimsonbright pointed towards the distant Seamless City.

Instantly, a series of booms could be heard as the entire grand army charged towards the distant Seamless City, blotting out the very skies themselves as they moved.

......

Within the vast world of darkness.

“What?!”

The Godking, seated upon his massive throne, was stunned and enraged. “He actually broke through? Broke through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal?”

“He suffered such a mental blow, then actually made a breakthrough?”

“His soul heartforce technique had already reached the stage of mastery. Now that he’s become a Pure Yang True Immortal and has a perfect Heaven Punisher under his command...I imagine that his Heaven Punisher, all by itself, is comparable to the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater. I predicted that he would be would become a threat, but I was always just one step too slow. One step!” The Godking felt furious, stunned, and regretful.

......

The Seamless City. Daofather Ink Bamboo convened all the Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and army commanders to meet with him.

Daofather Ink Bamboo stared down at his soldiers, his voice low. “I trust you can see that the Crimsonbright Realm’s army is calling us out to do battle! The reason why they have dared to emerge is because their ‘Ji Ning’...has already broken through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal.”

“Pure Yang True Immortal?”

“He’s reached the Pure Yang level? Wasn’t his Dao-companion Yu Wei one of us? He was betrayed by his Dao-companion...but was actually able to break through to become a True Immortal?”

The Immortals and Fiendgods of the Seamless Gate were all stunned and baffled.

The Great Sage Who Swallows the Mountains narrowed his eyes, then said, “Ji Ning is extremely skilled in commanding Heaven Punishers. Even before this, he was extraordinarily powerful. Now that he’s broken through, I’m afraid that his Heaven Punisher, just by itself...will be on par with our Three-Eyed Demon.”

“Right.” The seventh fairy of the Nine Cloudmist Fairies frowned. “Last time, our army collapsed and fled due to the appearance of that Seven Planets God. Quite a few of us were slaughtered. If it wasn’t for the Daofather golem, we would be at a decided disadvantage against them in forces. If Ji Ning and Redsnow use their Heaven Punisher and Seven Planets God to tie down our Daofather golem...we are probably going to lose!”

“Right.”

Daofather Ink Bamboo, seated above them, nodded. “Yes. The main issue in this battle revolves around the question of whether or not Ji Ning and Redsnow, when fighting together, can tie down our Daofather golem.”

“If they can tie it down...they also have another portion of Shennong’s medicine! They outnumber us as well. Although we have the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater...we will probably still lose.” Daofather Ink Bamboo looked towards Sword Immortal Evergreen. “Evergreen, we’ll be counting on you in this battle.”

“Don’t worry, Daofather.” Sword Immortal Evergreen’s eyes flashed with fierce light, and his voice was icy but confident. “The Daofather golem possesses inconceivable power. Even if a true Daofather comes, it will still probably remain undamaged. Under my command, the Daofather golem will be exceptionally nimble and agile. The two probably won’t be able to join forces against me; instead, I’ll break them down one by one.”

“Right. The Daofather golem won’t be so easily dealt with.”

“They definitely won’t be able to stop it.”

The Seamless Alliance wouldn’t easily admit defeat either.

The Daofather golem...

Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher and Redsnow’s Seven Planets God...

Which would be more powerful?

Neither side could be completely certain.

“Evergreen, your mission in this upcoming battle will be the most important one.” Daofather Ink Bamboo looked towards Sword Immortal Evergreen. “No matter what, don’t disappoint me or the Godking.”

“Daofather, don’t worry at all. I’ll definitely bring back the heads of Ji Ning and Redsnow and offer them to you and the Godking.” A sharp, sword-like aura could be seen within Evergreen’s eyes. He was completely confident in himself.

“Alright.”

Daofather Ink Bamboo swept the main hall with his gaze. He growled, “Then...let us go out and fight! This will be the final battle. Break apart the Crimsonbright Realm’s forces and sweep them out like trash!”

“Yes!” The Immortals and Fiendgods all acknowledged to the order.

Soon, the air above the Seamless City became filled with White-Faced Flood Dragons, Bifang Cranes, Zhuyan Apes, and other Terrorbeasts, as well as many Empyrean God golems and other powerful figures such as the Three-Eyed Demon. The most dazzling of all figures...was the titanic, crimson-gold figure that hovered in the skies. It looked just like an enormous spider...and it emanated an aura that was no weaker than the aura of a True God or Daofather!

The two massive armies stared against each other from afar.

“KILL!” Following an earth-shattering roar, the army of the Seamless Gate charged through the skies, blotting out the sun as they swept towards the Crimsonbright Realm’s forces.

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