The Desolate Era

“A place like this actually exists? Not even the Dao of the Heavens is present...then, this means that all of the mysteries and intricacies of the Dao are useless here.” Ning waved his hand, instantly producing a Darknorth sword. He immediately waved the sword out. Swish! Sword-light flashed...but nothing else happened. It must be understood that at Ning’s current level, any casual sword blow was capable of summoning the power and majesty of Heaven and Earth; for example, the ninth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword] could transform the sword into a divine black dragon!

But right now...no matter how Ning swung his sword and no matter what sword-arts he used, the only thing that accompanied his sword was a flash of sword-light...and the flash came from light reflecting off the Darknorth sword!

“It doesn’t matter how deep my insights into the Dao are?”

“What the hell sort of a place is this?” Ning was mystified...but then he had a thought. “Can this be the legendary...Primordial Ruinworld?”

Ning had heard of the Primordial Ruinworld when he had been at Mount Innerheart. It was the most dangerous place that he knew of, a place that existed within the Void that was beyond the Three Realms.

According to the legends...

After Pangu’s World shattered, the Three Realms were born...but the ‘skeleton’ of Pangu’s World remained. These remnants were known as the Primordial Ruinworld! The Primordial Ruinworld was not a complete world; it was a shattered world, making it even more terrifying. Space and time were in a state of chaos here, and dangers abounded.

Even True Gods and Daofathers risked death by coming here.

“Wait, that’s not right.” Ning shook his head. “The Primordial Ruinworld should be akin to a collection of shattered worlds; why is it that I’m within a region that is surrounded by voidwinds, as though I was within a completely empty area?”

“Senior bear, Rahu Bow,” Ning suddenly called out.

Whoosh! A black-robed youth appeared next to him; it was the Rahu Bow.

“Senior bear?” Ning called out again.

“It’s dangerous in the outside world; I cannot emerge.” The giant yellow bear’s voice rang out within Ning’s mind.

“Dangerous? Aren’t you the spirit of the underwater estate?” Ning was puzzled.

The black-robed youth said, surprised, “Master, don’t you know? Senior bear, through cultivation as the spirit of the underwater estate, has long since transcended being a mere treasure. He is now a true, living being.”

“What?!” Ning was stunned.

“You damned bow...I haven’t even told him yet, and you went and blurted it out,” the giant yellow bear sent mentally.

Ning called out in surprise, “Senior bear, you...you’ve already...” Ning had naturally heard that treasure-spirits could cultivate, and that spirits of Protocosmic spirit-treasures could even become Immortals, completely escaping the confines of their treasure-body and existing on their own!

“I wasn’t in a rush to tell you, but I didn’t expect this Rahu Bow to blurt it out. Yes...Master treated me with tremendous kindness. In the Three Realms, there have always been Protocosmic spirit-treasures who have trained to become Celestial Immortals; in fact, some have even become Daofathers! After forging me, Master taught me cultivation methods suitable for treasure-spirits. Over the passage of countless years, I’ve naturally been slowly training in these methods. I’ve long ago become a true, living creature. However...my level of cultivation isn’t high enough, and I cannot yet completely escape the Starseizing Manor,” the giant yellow bear said.

“Ah?!” Ning was speechless. Suddenly, he thought back to the first time he had met with Patriarch Subhuti. Patriarch Subhuti had said something, back then: “Go back to the Starseizing Manor. You cannot break away from the Starseizing Manor for now.” Back then, Ning had been confused by what the Daofather had meant by these words, and had also been puzzled by why the giant yellow bear was able to shed tears.

So this was the reason behind it all!

“The outside world is dangerous and can cause tremendous damage to me. I cannot go out,” the giant yellow bear sent mentally. “Ji Ning, you have the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art] protecting you, while the Rahu Bow has not cultivated and thus has nothing to worry about.”

“Senior bear, Rahu Bow...do you know where we are?” Ning asked.

Both of these figures had existed since the Primordial Era.

“Where we are...?” The giant bear was puzzled.

“I don’t know either...” The Rahu Bow was similarly puzzled.

Ning suddenly remembered that when Pangu’s World had been destroyed, one had been sealed away within the Crescent world while the other had hidden within the world of the Grand Xia. Most likely, they knew very little about the outside worlds.

“I’ve heard that the skeletal remnants of the shattered Primordial World, also known as the Primordial Ruinworld, still exist. Within that place, space and time are in a state of chaos. In some places, not even the Dao of the Heavens exist, and even True Gods or Daofathers who go there might perish,” Ning said. “The Dao of the Heavens does not exist in this place, so my guess is that this is the Primordial Ruinworld. However...the only thing around me is an endless void. I can even sense a voidwind, but there are no continents whatsoever. So what do you two think? Where are we?”

“Who told you that the Primordial Ruinworld consists of the skeletal remnants of Pangu’s World?” The Rahu Bow asked.

“Isn’t this public knowledge?” Ning asked.

Ning did indeed know that the destruction of Pangu’s World involved many secrets...but aside from the skeletal remnants of Pangu’s World, what else could the Primordial Ruinworld be?

“What the public knows is wrong!” The black-robed youth was disdainful.

“It is indeed wrong,” the giant yellow bear sent mentally. “In fact, even I’m not too sure about the true truth behind the birth of the Primordial Ruinworld.”

“Eh?” Ning was startled. “Senior bear, what do you know?”

“Ask your master in the future,” the giant yellow bear said. “The Rahu Bow and I are merely treasures, and Rahu’s master, Qi, was merely an Empyrean God. Although the master I followed was more powerful, Master hid me away long before he went to participate in the final battle, and so I know very little. Your master’s status is even higher than my master’s; he definitely knows far more than me.”

Ning nodded lightly.

“However...I can tell you with certainty that the Primordial Ruinworld isn’t as simple a matter as you have described it to be. If it truly was merely the remnants of Pangu’s World, how could it be such a terrifying place? You need to understand that Pangu’s World was an extremely normal world, whereas the Primordial Ruinworld you have described is far too terrifying. Not even the Dao of the Heavens exists within it...it truly is bizarre!” The giant yellow bear continued, “As for this place where you are right now...I’ve given it some thought, and I believe that it should be the region where the Void meets the Primordial Ruinworld...the Nihilum Zone!”

“Nihilum Zone?” Ning’s eyes instantly lit up.

He naturally knew about nihilum zones.

A major world was like an island that existed within the vast, infinite Void! At the borders where the Void met the island, stormy voidwaves would emerge and crash against the world. This region would commonly be referred to as a nihilum zone. However, because major worlds were ‘tiny’, the voidwaves around them would be very weak, and so the nihilum zones around the likes of the Grand Xia world were quite safe. For people like Ning, at least, they were like tiny little ripples.

“Right. Everyone says that the Primordial Ruinworld is comparable to Pangu’s World in size; it is infinitely vaster than ordinary major worlds,” Ning immediately said. “Then the place where the Primordial Ruinworld meets with the Void will naturally have far more powerful voidstorms.”

“Right!”

“This should indeed be the Nihilum Zone outside the Primordial Ruinworld,” Ning said. “Only a place as mysterious as the Primordial Ruinworld can possibly result in a place where even the Dao of the Heavens cannot be sensed.”

“Ji Ning, no matter what, you absolutely must not enter the Primordial Ruinworld. The Primordial Ruinworld probably still has remnants of dangerous power within it,” the giant yellow bear sent hurriedly. “A huge number of True Gods and Daofathers died in the past within this place; even if it’s no longer as dangerous as it was before, for someone like you to enter might result in instant disintegration.”

“Right, right, right. Don’t go in!” The Rahu Bow hurriedly agreed.

“Of course not. After all, according to the legends...not even True Gods or Daofathers are willing to recklessly enter the Primordial Ruinworld.” Ning nodded.

......

An hour later.

Boom...

The voidwaves were growing increasingly powerful, sending Ning flipping more than ten thousand kilometers away before he was able to come to a halt.

“...That’s way too much power. The harder I press forward, the more powerful the waves become.” Ning felt helpless. “How am I supposed to get out of here?”

“You are so stupid.” The black-robed youth stood next to him, completely ignoring the voidwaves. He roared with laughter, “The voidwaves will naturally weaken once they grow close to a major world...but the farther away they are, the more savage they become, until they reach a certain limit! If this Primordial Ruinworld is comparable to Pangu’s World in size, then most likely only a True God or Daofather will be able to force their way out of the Nihilum Zone. Not even Empyrean Gods or True Immortals will be able to accomplish it. Given your power...there’s no way you can possibly force your way out past the waves.”

“Then am I supposed to just go along with the waves?” Ning asked.

“If you go with the waves, you’ll end up in the Primordial Ruinworld. That’s death,” the Rahu Bow said.

“Then what should I do?” Ning was helpless.

He couldn’t force his way against the waves, but if he went along with them into the Primordial Ruinworld, that would be suicide.

“What else can you do? Try your best to stay alive,” the Rahu Bow said. “Just slowly train within this Nihilum Zone. The power of the Solar Star and Lunar Star cover this place; you can continue to train in divine power.”

“That’s my only choice, I suppose.” Ning couldn’t come up with any ideas, no matter what he did.

So...he might as well as just wander.

He’d slowly drift about on the voidwaves. As long as he didn’t go too close to the Primordial Ruinworld, it didn’t matter where he went.

He would train on his journey.

......

As Ning was drifting about within the Nihilum Zone outside the Primordial Ruinworld. Within the Youngflame clan’s tower.

Whoosh! A streak of light flew into the tower; it was the horned, golden-robed man.

“Ancestor.”

“Master.”

Everyone called out to him.

“I’ve already sent Windraiser to the mini-Netherworld.” The Youngflame Ancestor nodded, then said, “The Ten Yama-Kings of Hell of the mini-Netherworld gave me face, but Windraiser’s sin was simply too deep; he’s currently being tormented and tortured within the endless depths of Hell. After his torture ends and his sin has dissipated, he’ll be reborn into your Youngflame clan. However...that will be more than eight million years from now.”

Celestial Immortals Infatuation, Sunfish, and the others all nodded.

Tremendous sinners who entered the Netherworld would indeed suffer mightily; there was nothing that could be done about this.

“Ji Ning and Windraiser both suffered the descent of karmic sinflames.” The Youngflame Ancestor’s face turned grim and sinister. “Now that more than seven days has passed...he is either dead or alive. Come up with a way to have some of our people go investigate Ji Ning’s school, the Black-White College. If he is dead, his life-tablet within the Black-White College will shatter. Investigate in detail; we absolutely must find out if his life-tablet is intact or not.”

“Alright.” Each of them assented.

“I’ll make the arrangements,” Celestial Immortal Arcanum said. He carried out the most miscellaneous tasks amongst their group; after all, he was the weakest of the Celestial Immortals.

“Fine. Arcanum, you can hanldle it. Remember, you have to investigate this in detail; you have to verify whether or not his life-tablet is intact. You can’t just listen to some wild rumors or speculations.” The Youngflame Ancestor’s eyes narrowed. “Until I know for sure that he is dead...I will find it hard to rest at ease.”

All six of them had solemn looks on their faces.

If Ning didn’t die, they would feel uneasy.

After all...it was incredibly difficult for a Celestial Immortal to be born, but they had lost two of them to Ji Ning! In addition, if Ning truly had managed to survive...that calamitous fiend would most likely cause the Youngflame clan to continue to suffer terrifying losses in the future.