The Desolate Era

“After Fuxi was reincarnated as a human, he ended up mastering the Heavenly Daos of Yin and Yang, gaining inconceivable amounts of insight into the art of formations. To this very day, he remains the most skilled formations expert of the entire Three Realms,” Subhuti said. “However...although his power has reached an incomparably frightening level, he’s never been able to regain his memories, because he still has yet to comprehend the Heavenly Dao of Life.”

Ji Ning let out a sigh. The man had already mastered two Heavenly Daos, but he still wasn’t able to awaken his memories? The will of Heaven truly did toy with men and Immortals alike.

“In truth...since, he was once an Elder God with an incomparably powerful body, his current level of power is most likely roughly on par with his former level of power as an Elder God.” Subhuti said. “This reincarnation...I don’t know if it was a good thing for Fuxi or not.”

“In any event, the Primordial Era persisted for a very long period of time. Some focused on the Dao, while others focused on warfare and killing. The human race rose to sudden prominence, then began to face one war after another. Many major powers died, and even more Empyrean Gods died.” Subhuti shook his head and sighed, a look of sadness and pity in his eyes. “Because of ambition...multiple Elder Gods died as well. Even the most powerful force of the Primordial Era, the dragon race, fell into darkness due to the death of the Ancestor Dragon.”

“The Ancestor Dragon is dead?” Ning cried out in shock. The Ancestor Dragon was one of the ten great Elder Gods!

From what his master was saying, Elder Gods all had incomparably mighty bodies and were similar to the Human Sovereigns and the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism in power.

“Not just the Ancestor Dragon. The Elder God of Metal, Rushou, was killed in battle as well!” Subhuti shook his head. “That’s the nature of war...and when there are no outside threats, internal wars will become particularly vicious.”

“Internal wars?” Ning was startled. “Master, are you saying...?”

“Internal wars?” The nearby Empyrean God Redsnow, who had been listening quietly this entire time, was startled as well.

If the many battles that went on during this period of time were ‘internal wars’, then...

“During the Primordial Era, when Shennong wandered the primordial chaos in search of precious materials, he ended up discovering an alien lifeform within it,” Subhuti said solemnly.

“Alien lifeform?” Ning and Redsnow were both shocked.

“The primordial chaos is vast and infinite. You must understand that all the Elder Gods themselves were born from it...which means that it naturally is capable of giving birth to other creatures as well.” Subhuti let out a sigh. “The alien accidentally discovered us...but fortunately, Shennong discovered it as well and ensured it wouldn’t be able to infiltrate us.”

“The alien was incomparably vicious and frenzied in its assaults. It immediately launched a war against our primordial world,” Subhuti said. “I imagine both of you have heard of this alien’s name before. His name...was Rahu! He was the first Outsider who came to us from the primordial chaos.”

“The first?” Ning and Redsnow instantly understood. Most likely, more Outsiders had come from the primordial chaos as well.

“Rahu was absolutely berserk. He boasted to us, ‘I, Rahu, have roamed the primordial chaos for eons. Do you think I will fear the puny denizens of a backwaters chaosworld?’” Subhuti shook his head. “We instantly understood that there had to be other powerful creatures living within the primordial chaos as well. Rahu was just one of them. Rahu didn’t really get a full picture of our world’s power before launching a war against us. Thus, even though he was completely berserk, he was still defeated.”

“Back then...with but the wave of his hand, Rahu was able to manifest a vast, massive army.”

“He himself was a bit more powerful than even the likes of the Human Sovereigns or the Buddhist and Daoist leaders. Only Mother Nuwa was a match for him! However, we managed to win through sheer numbers, grinding him down and killing him,” Subhuti said. “After Rahu died, we used his shattered body as ingredients for forging many treasures. Your Rahu Bow, Ji Ning, was one of those treasures. Although most of them were initially just top-grade Pure Yang treasures when first created, more than 90% have evolved to become Protocosmic spirit-treasures by now.”

“Rahu’s arrival caused the entire primordial world to be shocked into wakefulness.”

“We thought to ourselves, ‘So, aside from us...there actually are other living creatures within the primordial chaos as well, some of whom possess tremendous power.’”

“Thus...the Primordial Era began to stabilize. The many frenzied wars began to come to an end, and in fact we began to feel regret for what we did. So many major powers had been killed in our internal wars, all for the sake of foolish ambition. Because the human race had their three Sovereigns of Mankind, and because the various other races no longer wished to engage in internal squabbling...mankind ended up becoming the leader of the races.”

“Time flowed on, and countless eras went by.”

“Finally...yet another storm arrived.” Subhuti said solemnly, “Countless major powers, including both Mother Nuwa and myself, sensed an incomparably powerful force drawing close to our primordial world. Thus...we went into the primordial chaos, moving towards that force to investigate it.”

“After travelling through the primordial chaos for more than half a month...we finally discovered what that force was!” A hint of grief and pain could be seen in Subhuti’s eyes.

Ning and Redsnow both continued to listen carefully.

“It was an absolutely massive, ellipsoid world...a chaosworld that was almost the same as our Pangu’s World!” Subhuti said heavily.

“What?!”

“A chaosworld, just like Pangu’s World?!”

Ning and Redsnow both called out in shock.

Subhuti looked at the two of them. “Since Pangu was able to cleave apart the primordial chaos to establish Heaven and Earth in creating his Pangu’s World...why wouldn’t there be others within the infinite primordial chaos that could do the same?”

Ning and Redsnow were instantly rendered speechless.

“That other world also had its Elder Gods! However, in order to differentiate them from us, we referred to them as Fiends. We called them Elder Fiends, True Fiends, and Empyrean Fiends!” Subhuti said heavily, “As for that world itself..we referred to it as the Seamless Chaosworld.”

“Seamless Chaosworld?” Both Ning and Redsnow were stunned.

Seamless?

Seamless Gate?

“Right. The modern ‘Seamless Gate’ originated from the Seamless Chaosworld.” Subhuti nodded. “The Seamless Chaosworld and our Pangu’s Chaosworld...these two chaosworlds were continuing to move through the primordial chaos, drawing closer and closer to each other. There would come a day in which the two chaosworlds would smash into each other.”

“In fact, as our two worlds drew closer...the major powers of both sides could subconsciously sense that the hands of fate were working to fuse the two worlds together into a single, massive chaosworld.”

“The Seamless Chaosworld was different from our world,” Subhuti said. “In our Pangu’s Chaosworld...because Mother Nuwa was a transcendent figure who rarely got involved in worldly matters, we ended up having many internal wars and many casualties. The most powerful member of the Seamless Chaosworld, however, was the Elder Fiend of the Heart, Demonheart. This demon possessed tremendous ambition, and he had long ago taken over the entire Seamless Chaosworld with his unmatchable power.”

“Back then, they had five Elder Fiends of Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Heart! They also had two other Daofather-level figures who were as powerful as the likes of Daoist Three Purities! Patriarch Demonheart in particular...he was very close to Pangu’s level of power. Not even Mother Nuwa was a match for him.”

“Our side had suffered heavy losses due to our years of internal struggles.”

“They actually had even more True Gods than us. Too many of ours had died in our internal wars.”

“In truth, they were more powerful than us! Given Patriarch Demonheart’s ambitions...he naturally wanted to take control over the fused chaosworld, but those of us from Pangu’s Chaosworld naturally wouldn’t agree! And so...war began!”

“Pangu’s Chaosworld against the Seamless Chaosworld...a war that shattered the heavens!”

“However, right at this critical moment, a terrifying figure appeared...the Lord of All Things!” Subhuti was deathly serious now. “The Lord of All Things was and remains the most terrifyingly powerful Outsider from the primordial chaos that Pangu’s Chaosworld and the Seamless Chaosworld have ever encountered. In fact, the reason why our two chaosworlds were slowly moving closer to each other was because of his secret machinations.”

Ning and Redsnow felt their hearts clench.

“After both chaosworlds had suffered tremendous casualties during the war...the grand army of the Lord of All Things appeared.” Subhuti continued, “The reason why he was known as the ‘Lord of All Things’ was precisely because he had reached an unfathomable level of expertise in making use of the various materials of the universe. In fact, the entire Dao of Constructs originally stemmed from him!”

“The Lord of All Things had an enormous number of golems under his command, many of which were at the Daofather level of power.”

“In addition, he also had a large number of Queen Mothers under his command. These were the same as the creatures you encountered within the Nihilum Zone, capable of giving birth to countless powerful soldiers. When all of the soldiers joined together into armies, each of them had the combat power of a Daofather.”

“His personal power, however, was actually just on par with the likes of Daoist Three Purities or Tathagata. However, the Lord of All Things had even altered his own body. It was quite unique, because it was simply unbreakable!”

“The sudden arrival of the Lord of All Things, along with his grand army that was comparable to the total power of either chaosworld...it was a calamity.”

“However, right at that critical moment, Mother Nuwa made her breakthrough.”

“A qualitative breakthrough!”

“She broke through to Pangu’s level, and she instantly began to massacre our enemies. The Lord of All Things was slain, while Patriarch Demonheart was forced to hide by merging his body into the Heavenly Daos. The Seamless Gate had already suffered enormous casualties during the war, and the survivors were absolutely butchered by Mother Nuwa. The only one who managed to escape from her hands was Patriarch Windfiend, who was second in power only to Patriarch Demonheart. He even managed to rescue many of the major powers of the Seamless Gate as well. Fortunately, the first person Mother Nuwa acted against was Patriarch Demonheart; otherwise, Patriarch Windfiend probably would’ve been able to rescue him and save him as well. His fleeing abilities truly were incredible.”

“Patriarch Windfiend?” Ning and Redsnow both memorized this name. action

Anyone who could flee from Mother Nuwa and save so many other major powers as well was worth of them memorizing.

“Patriarch Windfiend is now respectfully referred to by the Seamless Gate as the Lord of All Fiends. His power is truly unfathomable!” Subhuti exclaimed.

“That apocalyptic war...it caused the two chaosworlds that were about to fuse together to instead completely shatter apart. The largest remnant piece is now known as the ‘Primordial Ruinworld’, while the other pieces became the Celestial Realm, the Netherworld Kingdom, the three thousand major worlds, and the trillion minor worlds,” Subhuti said. “As for the soldiers and the army left behind by the Outsider, the Lord of All Things...some of them were slain by Mother Nuwa, but most of them ended up being driven into the Primordial Ruinworld.”

“The remnants of his army didn’t pose a major threat to us. Rather than get rid of them, we left them there as a warning and a reminder,” Subhuti said solemnly. “We were to never forget that the primordial chaos still contains other living creatures. We simply can’t afford to engage in internal wars of attrition any longer.”

“The Three Realms were formed.”

“Later on, for an extremely urgent reason, Mother Nuwa left us and entered the primordial chaos, never to return.”

“After Mother Nuwa left...Patriarch Windfiend came back, bringing the many major powers of the Seamless Chaosworld with him.” Subhuti shook his head. “He was simply too difficult to deal with, and his forces weren’t weak. Since we were worried about the threat which Outsiders posed, and since Patriarch Windfiend wasn’t confident that he could defeat us...our two sides came to an accord.”

“Ever since then, we have had no further quarrels with the Seamless.”

“There are many living creatures within the Three Realms which have the blood of gods in them, while others have the blood of fiends within them. In truth, since both our world and the Seamless world were both chaosworlds, there wasn’t that much of a difference between us. Thus, we simply referred to these creatures as ‘Fiendgods’.”

“As for those who were born from Primordial Chaos? They were jointly referred to as Fiendgods of Primordial Chaos.”

“Strictly speaking, though...those of us from Pangu’s World should be referred to as Empyrean Gods and True Gods of Primordial Chaos, while those of the Seamless Gate should be referred to as Empyrean Fiends and True Fiends of Primordial Chaos.”

Subhuti continued, “Countless years passed. The Three Realms gave birth to many more major powers, and the Three Realms once more began to flourish and grow. However...not too long ago, all the major powers began to subconsciously sense that an unavoidable war was going to erupt between our side and the Seamless side.”

“All major powers possess fairly formidable subconscious senses towards fate, as you know. We could sense that if we tried to avoid the war...the result would be death!”

Ning and Redsnow now completely understood.

So the Seamless Gate had originated from a separate chaosworld.

“The whispers of fate and destiny are never wrong.” Subhuti shook his head. “Although all of us have many suspicions...we can clearly sense that the Nuwa Alliance will only be able to survive if we annihilate the Seamless Gate.”

“Master.” Ning couldn’t but interject, “The Nuwa Alliance belongs to Pangu’s Chaosworld, while the Seamless Alliance comes from a separate one. Why, then, are people like Old Man Yuan hesitant?”

“Hmph.”

Suhbuti said coldly, “They are a pack of fools! Both of our sides have shared the Three Realms for countless years now, and many of the major powers on both sides have become very close friends with each other. There are countless ‘Fiendgods’ amongst the many races. In truth, both sides all but merged together long ago...and so Old Man Yuan and his ilk still wish for both sides to peacefully coexist. They view the Seamless as being brothers and are unwilling to become enemies to them.”

“But the whispers of fate definitely can’t be wrong.”

“I am absolutely certain that we can only survive if we wipe out the Seamless Gate. In turn, the Seamless Gate is also absolutely certain that they can only survive if they wipe us out. Although there are many things we do not understand with regards to this great tribulation...fate always points and guides us towards the correct path.”

Subhuti looked at the two men before him. “Ji Ning. Redsnow. The two of you are still weak; you need to continue training for now. After all...even if we manage to survive this storm, it’s very possible than yet another Outsider like the Lord of All Things will appear, causing yet another tribulation to descend.”

“Understood.” Both Ning and Redsnow were very solemn.

Outsiders from the primordial chaos?

Other chaosworlds?

Why had Mother Nuwa entered the primordial chaos, never to return?

These questions caused Ning and Redsnow to understand that in the past, they had been like frogs within a well, unable to see the greater world outside. In truth...the heavens were far vaster than they had imagined them to be!

Having concluded his tale of the secret history of the Three Realms, Subhuti let out a smile. “Right. Ji Ning, I understand you have a daughter with you. Show her to me.”

“Yes, Master.” When Ning thought of his daughter, his heart instantly turned warm. He immediately willed for his daughter Brightmoon to emerge from the world of the Violetdawn Pearl.

“Eh?!”

The barefoot Brightmoon nibbled on her fingers as she curiously stared at her surroundings.

“Father.” Brightmoon instantly wrapped her arms around Ning’s thigh.

“Brightmoon, come here. Kowtow and show your respects to the Old Patriarch,” Ning instructed.

Brightmoon’s eyes instantly turned huge. She stared carefully at the ruddy-faced, white-bearded old man, then obediently fell to her knees and kowtowed. “Brightmoon greets you, Old Patriarch.”

“Hahaha...” Subhuti was greatly pleased by what he saw. Laughing, he said, “Your father is my disciple, and so you can be considered a member of Mount Innerheart as well. Thus, I shall transmit Fiendgod Body Refining techniques and Ki Refining techniques to you.”

He pointed towards her. Swish! Instantly, a streak of light flew straight into Brightmoon’s forehead.

“Thank you, Master!” Ning was overjoyed. At present, there were very few things capable of making Ning happy, and the person he cared most about was this precious daughter of his. Mount Innerheart’s rules were very strict, so Ning didn’t dare to casually teach her any of the techniques he had learned here, but the other techniques he had weren’t particularly elite.

“If your daughter can overcome her tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal or Empyrean God, I’ll give her another give. Alright, you can leave now.” Subhuti waved his arm. “Redsnow, you stay for now.”

“Yes.” Both Ning and Redsnow assented.

Ning immediately picked up his daughter, who had fallen into a dazed, sleep-like state. Subhuti had transmitted a veritable ocean of techniques to her, and there was a limit to how much she could process.

In the following days, they remained at Mount Innerheart. Ning lived a peaceful life here, along with his daughter. Only when he was with his daughter would the pain in his heart be slightly alleviated. Slowly, Ning’s heart grew calmer and calmer. He was quietly preparing, because he could sense that the day of his tribulation was drawing closer and closer.

“Father.” Brightmoon came running towards him.

“Brightmoon.” Ning smiled at her.

“Father, I heard you are about to undergo your Empyrean Tribulation?” Brightmoon raised her head to look at the nearby Uncle White. “Grandpa White, my father is going to undergo his Empyrean Tribulation?”

“Who told you?!” Ning asked.

“Everyone in Mount Innerheart knows about it,” Brightmoon immediately said.

“My fellow disciples really are blabbermouths.” Ning shook his head helplessly, then looked at Brightmoon and nodded. “Yes. Tomorrow, I shall undergo the Empyrean Tribulation.”