The Desolate Era

“You succeeded?” Subhuti sat down in the lotus position, facing Ji Ning. “Sit.”

Ning sat down in the lotus position as well. Nodding, he said, “Still, it’s just an outline for now.”

“What’s the name of this sword-art?” Subhuti asked.

“The [Brightmoon] sword-art,” Ning replied.

Subhuti nodded. “The sword-art you created isn’t bad. It has a certain quality about it, as though a school can be founded around it. Although its still quite new and young, its future potential is limitless. Haha...the method you used to come up with this sword-art was quite amusing. You actually suppressed your own power to go spar against Zifu Disciples, Wanxiang Adepts, and Primal Daoists...and you actually succeeded in developing a set of sword-arts. Before you, all we would ever see was major powers of the Three Realms occasionally providing some guidance to young cultivators through sparring. There has never been anyone who actually sparred against them in earnest and thus developed a peerless sword-art.”

“I’m a bit embarrassed,” Ning said.

“I thought about it carefully, actually. Weak cultivators do indeed have slow, weak swords. When you suppressed yourself to make yourself even weaker to spar with them, you were forced to constantly ponder ways to improve your sword-arts, given the disparity in strength and speed.” Subhuti nodded. “However...in the end, you won’t be able to accomplish great things solely by sparring against weaklings. Your future opponents won’t be as weak as them.”

Ning said, “Your disciple understands. I only competed against them for the sake of creating a rough outline for my sword-arts.”

When two experts competed, it was easier for both sides to see what their strengths and weaknesses were. Ning had discarded swordforce, heartforce, Immortal energy, and all other sources of power in his quest to find a sword-art that belonged to him. Now that the rough outlines of the sword-art had taken shape, in the future he would compete against true experts. That would be how he would perfect his sword-arts.

“Haha, I have to say, you were quite patient.” Subhuti nodded. “Mm. It’s good that you understand this principle. Now, I’ve come here today because of Fuxi.”

Ning instantly felt a surge of joy. Fuxi? When he had offered up those seven mighty techniques, Fuxi had promised to create a special formation just for him. However, he had said that it would be done within ten years.

“You’ve been meditating on the sword all this time, and so I didn’t wish to disturb you.” Subhuti pulled out a bamboo scroll. “This was created just for you. It’s a formation that is very suited to you. Study it carefully.”

“Yes.” Ning reverently accepted the scroll, then sent his coresense into it. All the information regarding the formation was rapidly transmitted into his mind.

This was a formation that was far more complicated and profound than the Heaven Punisher Formation. It was based on some of the mysteries behind the divine body of the deceased alien invader, Rahu. When executed, the formation would allow for the creation of a Rahu-body! And so, this formation was known as the Rahu Formation.

The Rahu Formation had a total of three levels.

The first level allowed one to command 6000 Celestial Immortals and 360,000 Loose Immortals. This level alone was already comparable to the perfect Heaven Punisher; the wielder would have just barely reached the Daofather level.

The second level allowed one to command 30,000 Celestial Immortals and 2.1 million Loose Immortals. At this level, the Rahu’s strength and divine body would be comparable to that of an actual True God or Daofather.

The third level allowed one to command 90,000 Celestial Immortals and 8 million Loose Immortals. At this level, the Rahu would actually be a bit stronger than most True Gods and Daofathers. But of course, Ning himself had a lower level of insight into the Dao than True Gods and Daofathers had. Thus, if Ning was in command, the strengths of the formation would counteract Ning’s weaknesses in the Dao...and in turn, that meant that Ning would be able to battle against actual True Gods and Daofathers without being at any disadvantage.

But of course, that was only if he could command and control the power of 90,000 Celestial Immortals and 8 million Loose Immortals!

This was incredibly difficult, a hundred times more difficult than controlling the perfect Heaven Punisher! Even amongst True Gods and Daofathers, there weren’t many who could succeed.

“So many Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals...” Ning was rather dazed. “I-I...how am I supposed to command so many?”

“Take it slow,” Subhuti advised. “Oh, right. At present, you don’t even have that many Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals under your command.”

Ning nodded.

“As Fuxi developed this formation for you, he also arranged for an Immortal army to be placed under your command,” Subhuti said. “You can head to the Humanworld of Yu the Great and go speak with Daofather Hasbear. Fuxi has already notified Daofather Hasbear; if you go see him, you will be given an Immortal army of 90,000 Celestial Immortals and 8 million Loose Immortals.”

“Aaaaa?!” Ning was shocked and delighted. Fuxi’s gifts truly were extraordinary...but it made sense. Even Daofather Crimsonbright had nearly 1 million Celestial Immortals and countless Loose Immortals under his command, and he was considered one of the weaker Daofathers. The likes of the Five Emperors had far, far more soldiers under their command.

As for the Humanworld of Yu the Great...that was the central headquarters of the Primordial Imperial Clan! Yu the Great was also known as Xia Yu; he was the founder and ancestor of the Xia clan, also known as the imperial clan of the human race! His world was thus the place where the Primordial Imperial Clan was based in. This world, the Humanworld of Yu the Great, was essentially an enormous military base for the Primordial Imperial Clan, and so it possessed tremendous power.

To the Primordial Imperial Clan, Fuxi giving Ning an army of this size was like him giving away a single strand of hair from a yoke of nine oxen!

“Right...you still wish to act against the Seamless Gate, yes?” Subhuti looked at Ning. “Why haven’t you done anything for so long?”

“After I ambushed them last time, the Seamless Gate became incredibly careful. While I was roaming the Three Realms, they kept a continuous watch on me through coresense. Even if I did try to ambush them again, it would be hard for me to succeed,” Ning said.

Of course Ning wanted to attack them again! In truth, he felt very impatient...but he knew that being impatient would do him no good. If he made a single misstep, he would pay a calamitous price.

“Mm.” Subhuti nodded. “It seems you are still cool-headed. Good. Take it slow. To force the Seamless Gate to bow its head before you won’t be an easy task. Work hard on your sword-arts, especially the [Five Treasures] sword-art. If you can completely master the entire [Five Treasures], then you’ll be able to receive Fuju’s legacy. Fuju was always a secretive, mysterious man. I have no idea what he left behind. Both our side and the Seamless Gate has tried to find out, but we weren’t able to reach it at all. It seems that the only method really is for a Fiendgod Body Refiner to master the [Five Treasures] sword-art.”

Ning nodded. He, too, was curious as to what Daofather Fuju had left behind. Daofather Fuju’s death made no sense, after all...and it was as though he had actually arranged for everything to be taken care of perfectly.

A while later, Subhuti left. As for Ning, he first had Empyrean God Ninefangs return to the Starseizer world, then travelled by himself to the main headquarters of the Primordial Imperial Clan...the Humanworld of Yu the Great.

Whoosh. Seated upon his Voidboat, Ning traversed through the void, heading towards the Humanworld.

By now, Ning wouldn’t even be able to teleport if it wasn’t for the Voidboat. This was because he had already completely forgotten everything he had learned regarding the Grand Dao of Qiankun, due to the effects of training in the [Five Treasures] sword-art.

“What an imposing aura it has.” Standing atop his Voidboat, Ning stared at the distant, vast world.

As far as the eye could see, there were interconnected cities that were spread out throughout the world. Some of the cities were even levitating in midair! All of the cities were drawing in enormous amounts of natural energy, so much so that one could see with the naked eye a vortex of energy swirling around each city. Clearly, the number of Immortals within those cities was simply massive, resulting in a storm of energy that testified as to the stupendous level of consumption of natural enegy here.

“After the Primordial Era ended, the Primordial Imperial Clan moved to this place. Now that the storm has arrived, this has become an enormous military camp.” Ning sighed with emotion.

“So it’s fellow Daoist Darknorth.” A distant figure suddenly appeared via teleportation, then flew towards Ning’s direction. It was a muscular, fur-clad man who had a bare chest. This particular expert of the Primordial Imperial Clan had gotten used to dressed in animal furs when he was young, and so even after he became a divinity, he continued to dress in this manner.

“Empyrean God Fuqu,” Ning called out to him. This was the headquarters of the Primordial Imperial Clan; he didn’t dare act rashly here. After appearing here, Ning had been waiting for someone to welcome him. Whenever anyone entered this world, the Primordial Imperial Clan would immediately know.

“I’ve already received Daofather Hasbear’s command. Fellow Daoist Darknorth, come. Let’s go meet Daofather Hasbear,” Empyrean God Fuqu said.

Ning nodded.

Daofather Hasbear...

He had quite a high level of status amongst the human race. Although he rarely engaged in battle, he was one of the truly ancient figures of the Primordial Imperial Clan. When Mother Nuwa had created the human race, Daofather Hasbear was one of the first humans who she had personally created. He had been born in an area which had wild bears, and so he was given the name ‘Hasbear’. In that era, the human race had been incredibly weak and primitive, and so they had chosen names for themselves in a very casual manner. [1. This comes from actual Chinese quasi-history; there was once a tribe named Youxiong, ‘Has Bears’, because the tribe was located in a region that had bears. This was the tribe that gave birth to a very, very important figure in Chinese history...]

Back then, Daofather Hasbear was an ordinary mortal, but he still founded a small tribe of his own, the Hasbear tribe. In fact, an incredible figure actually ended up emerging from Daofather Hasbear’s tribe...Huangdi the Yellow Emperor, one of the Five Emperors of the human race. The Yellow Emperor came from the Hasbear tribe, and after his rose to prominence, he actually unified the human race for a time. Hasbear thus supported the Yellow Emperor, allowing him to stabilize the world. [2. The Yellow Emperor is arguably one of the most important figures in Chinese history/mythology. There are many stories about him, but in short, he is regarded as the founder of Chinese civilization and the ancestor of all Chinese people. To this very day, Chinese people waxing poetic will refer to themselves as the ‘descendants of Yan and Huang’, with Yan being another famous Emperor.]

Whoooooosh. A wild wind howled, and the distant army banners fluttered in the wind.

There were citadels scattered everywhere, each of which had armies of Immortals and Fiendgods stationed within them. Some of these armies had existed since the Primordial Era, while some had recently been moved here from other major worlds.

The Humanworld of Yu the Great didn’t just have many Immortal and Fiendgod soldiers; it also more than twenty True Gods and Daofathers who were permanently stationed here, with Daofather Hasbear being one of them.

“This is Daofather Hasbear’s territory. These armies are all under Daofather Hasbear’s command,” Fuqu said with a chuckle. “Daofather Hasbear himself is located inside the largest city over there.”