The Desolate Era

After he had mastered the [Five Treasures] sword-art, comprehending other Daos became a much faster process. However, if a major power was to train the [Five Treasures] but be unable to master it and instead be trapped at a bottleneck while being unable to master any other Daos...that would be utterly disastrous. The only reason why Ji Ning was willing to risk it was because he hadn’t possessed that high a level of attainment in other Daos to begin with.

Within Ning’s estate-treasure.

The black-robed Ji Ning waved his hand and a gourd appeared by his side. Staring at the gourd, Ning said to himself in a soft voice, “It’s time to bind the Envoy.”

Pop. He pulled the stopper out of the gourd, then pulled out the flame-wreathed, ape-shaped Envoy of All Things. It collapsed to the ground, still bound up by that Protocosmic spirit-rope.

The Envoy opened its eyes, glaring angrily at Ning. “You captured me...but you can forget about getting the Envoy.”

“Is that so?” The black-robed Ning replied coldly. action

“So what if you have me all tied up? You have no way of coming in.” The Envoy growled, “Nor can you deal any damage at all to this golem. Forget about you; even the most powerful figures of the Three Realms wouldn’t be able to damage it!”

Ning shook his head. “I simply can forcibly bind the Envoy, right?”

“Forcibly bind it? A Daofather, maybe. You?” The Envoy’s controller snorted angrily. “Come and try!”

In truth, the Envoy was essentially a magic treasure, and the owner of this magic treasure was Empyrean God Bloodwave, located in the heart of it! Bloodwave believed that since Ji Ning was also just an Empyrean God/True Immortal, their divine power and Immortal energy should be on the same level. There was no way Ji Ning would be able to bind the Envoy by force, because he would be constantly using his own energy to resist and counter Ji Ning’s binding efforts.

“Let’s try and see.” The black-robed Ning waved a finger. Instantly, a torrid flood of energy flowed into the Envoy. As soon as this happened, Ning could instantly sense the control which Bloodwave had over the Envoy. Bloodwave was already the master of the Envoy, and so he had the advantage of incumbency. There was no way that someone on a similar level of power to Bloodwave could possibly seize the golem from under his control. However...Daofather-level energy was clearly vastly beyond the ability of Bloodwave to counteract, and it began to seep into the golem.

Crackle, crackle, crackle. The energy continued to flow into the golem, taking over more and more parts of it.

“How can this be?” Bloodwave was stunned. “How could this Immortal energy be this powerful? How could...” He could clearly sense how powerful and pure the invading energy was. It was vastly beyond the Pure Yang True Immortal level.

“Y-y-you’ve become a Daofather?” Bloodwave didn’t dare believe it. “Impossible. If you became a Daofather, you would’ve had to first master a Heavenly Dao. If that had happened, there would’ve been no way to hide it at all.”

Ning just chuckled calmly.

Indeed, there was no way to hide gaining mastery over a Heavenly Dao. The resonance effect this would create with the Heavenly Daos would instantly be discovered by the Lord of the Demonheart, who was himself a part of the Heavenly Daos. However, Ning was ‘only’ a True Immortal who had a Jindan that was comparable to a first-tier Jindan. If his Jindan had actually been a real first-tier Jindan, then when he used the [Taowu Eighteen Fiendgods] and [One True Body] techniques, he would’ve become even more powerful than actual first-tier True Immortals.

Alas, the only way to gain such a Jindan was to manifest it during the Celestial Tribulation.

“Impossible. You must be a Daofather. How could you have become a Daofather?” Bloodwave simply couldn’t understand it, no matter how hard he tried. Suddenly, he thought of the fact that not even the major powers on his side knew that Ji Ning had become a Daofather. This definitely had to be an important secret.

Rumble...

Suddenly, a surge of coresense burst forth from the Envoy’s body, charging outwards and seeking to escape the estate-treasure.

“You wish to reveal my secret?” Ning laughed calmly. “Don’t even try it. There’s no way your coresense can make it out of this estate-treasure.”

Not even the coresenses of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals would be able to penetrate and scan this estate-treasure, to say nothing of Empyrean God Bloodwave’s coresense. So long as Ning did not permit it, there was no way his coresense would be able to escape to the outside world.

Ning wasn’t worried about Bloodwave revealing his secret.

Empyrean God Bloodwave...didn’t have a Primaltwin! And if did have incarnations in the outside world, it wouldn’t matter.

What was an ‘incarnation’? Even Void-level Fiendgods were capable of transforming a plucked bit of hair or a single drop of blood into an incarnation. At the Daofather level, incarnations could be manifested with but a thought. However, incarnations were only capable of surviving so long as the true body was alive. In fact, for Void-level Fiendgods, incarnations had to stay within a certain distance of the true body, as they would otherwise automatically dissipate.

Even Daofathers had to maintain a continuous connection to their incarnations to maintain them. This was because it was this hidden connection to and support from the true body that gave the incarnation a mind, a will, and the ability to speak and chat with others.

It must be understood that when one lost a large part of one’s soul, roughly seventy or eighty percent, the surviving portion would eventually crumble apart and die. If the loss was even more significant, one could die on the spot. The incarnation of a Daofather didn’t have any part of the Daofather’s soul within it at all. Why, then, was it able to ‘live’? Precisely because it relied on the true body for its survival.

And now, Bloodwave was trapped within the estate-world. This estate-world treasure was one which Ning had specially chosen out of the many estate-world treasures he had acquired from the prisoners of Pangaea. It was the most mysterious of all estate-worlds, capable of refusing even the senses of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals. It was capable of severing all contact between its insides and the outside world!

Once the connection was severed, any incarnations that Bloodwave might’ve had in the outside world would dissipated due to its inability to connect to the true body.

No matter how angry and resentful Bloodwave was, all he could do was stare as Ning continued the binding process. And after spending roughly an hour, Ning finally succeeded.

“Come out.” This was the only thing Ning commanded.

Whoosh.

Bloodwave was forcibly teleported out. Eyes completely bloodshot, he charged towards Ji Ning in a berserk manner.

“Hmph.” The black-robed Ning’s gaze turned cold. The Thirty-Six Heavens instantly appeared around him in the form of flags, and they linked together to instantly and complete surround Bloodwave. Slash! Slash! Slash! Bloodwave cried out miserably and furiously as he was ground to death.

The difference between a Daofather and an Empyrean God was simply far too great. Unless there was some incredibly special circumstances involved, it would be extremely hard to overcome such a vast gulf in power.

“The Envoy of All Things.” The black-robed Ning first willed the Thirty-Six Heavens to disappear, and then he blinked inside of the ‘body’ of the Envoy.

“What a marvelous, intricate golem.” As Ning entered, he continued to explore the Envoy with his senses. Even he, the controller, was not capable of discovering a way to damage the golem in the slightest.

“Fortunately, this golem is in perfect shape.” Ning secretly rejoiced to himself.

During the war that ended the Primordial Era, the Lord of All Things had commanded an entire host of Envoys. When he had died, the critical mechanisms inside the Envoys had actually initiated self-destruct sequences. Although Mother Nuwa had defeated him and won his Envoys, they were in reality nothing more than completely useless, shattered bits of metal.

What Ning didn’t understand was that the Envoys which the Lord of All Things used were completely different from the Envoys which Grandmaster Blackheaven had created.

The Lord of All Things had used cruel, brutal methods to capture souls of Daofathers, then smelt them into the Envoys, ensuring that every single Envoy was absolutely loyal to him. An unwaveringly loyal army was what the Lord of All Things required, and as soon as he died his loyal Envoys self-destructed, ensuring that their enemies would never have a chance to acquire them. Grandmaster Blackheaven certainly didn’t have the ability to capture a Daofather’s soul or smelt it into an Envoy; all he was able to do was have a living Daofather command it.

“What a powerful golem...and is this part here the core? These five chaos jewels?” Ning discovered the energy source of the Envoy.

Empyrean Gods were able to use the Envoy to unleash the power of a elite Daofather. The energy source of an Envoy, however, was of course not the Empyrean God himself. Its power came from these five chaos jewels, which each contained unique attributes stemming from the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Joined together, they were able to unleash absolutely shocking amounts of power. There was simply no way for an Empyrean God to completely control such power. A Daofather, however, would be able to do so, and a Daofather in control would result in the Envoy having even more power.

“I feel powerful, even more powerful than when I am in control of a Rahu God. No wonder it is capable of unleashing a level of power close to that of the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism.” Ning was truly stunned. Mostly likely, ten of his Rahu Gods would be needed to match up with this Envoy.

The difference in power between a Empyrean God controlling it and a Daofather controlling it was simply enormous.

......

The enormous imperial palace. Ji Ning’s residence.

“Brother Darknorth.”

“Only now did I have a chance to meet with you, Darknorth. I’m quite embarrassed.” Empyrean God Owldragon and a host of other Empyrean Gods and True Immortals had come to visit.

The white-robed Ning received them with a smile on his face. He could sense the gratitude, respect, and excitement these visiting Empyrean Gods and True Immortals felt. All of them understood that Ning had been the greatest contributor to their victory in the battle for the Deerchaser world! The greatest hero of them all! In addition, given the power which Ning had put on display today, he would definitely be able to unleash utterly astonishing levels of power during the upcoming final battles in the war for karmic luck.

Ji Ning’s formidableness meant that their side would have a better chance of winning.

Of course these Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would feel excited and grateful!

“They’ve entrusted me with their hopes...but in truth, it doesn’t change anything. Seamless Gate...no matter what, I will use all my strength to fight against it.” After sending these Empyrean Gods and True Immortals away, Ning walked by himself along the railing, staring at the endless, starry skies. “And the Godking.”

“I’m definitely going to kill him.”