Desolate Era (Book 1 - Book 5)

Grandma Meng was a seemingly very ordinary old grandmother. She held a bowl of water in her hands, handing it over to each soul to allow them to drink from it. After drinking it, the souls would become sluggish and seem to be in a trance, as they automatically began to walk towards one of the six tunnels of rebirth behind Grandma Meng.

“Deva. Asura. Mortal. Animal. Preta Ghost. Hell.” Ji Ning stared at the unfathomably deep tunnels behind Grandma Meng.

“I won’t drink, I won’t drink, I don’t want to forget, I don’t want to forget…”

Many ghosts struggled.

But no matter how much they struggled, they were forced by an invisible, inexorable force to move forwards. When they arrived next to Grandma Meng, they were forced by the invisible force to drink Grandma Meng’s Elixir. No matter how they screamed or howled, they still drank it… and after drinking it, no matter how strong their emotions were or how deep their memories were, they forgot it all. By then, they were no longer themselves.

“I’m entering the Heaven Realm. Although I’ll recover my memories at age sixteen, but by then, will my memories of the sixteen years of life in the Heaven Realm take precedence, or would the memories of my previous life take precedence? By then, would I still be me?” Ji Ning felt a hint of grief.

He understood.

In this life, he only lived eighteen years. In the Heaven Realm, during those sixteen years, he would be far more powerful than in this life. Most likely, his current memories would be secondary.

“But what can I do?” Ji Ning was already bound, and he moved forward under that force’s control.

The ghosts ahead of him all drank from Grandma Meng’s Elixir. In six more ghosts, it would be his turn.

“Grandma Meng’s Elixir.” Ji Ning stared at Grandma Meng.

Grandma Meng suddenly raised her head.

This was the first time Ji Ning had seen Grandma Meng raise her head. Grandma Meng stared far away into the skies, and then her ancient voice said in fury, “Impudent!”

Boom!

The skies seemed to shatter and the earth seemed to break. The surrounding skies suddenly began to fracture, and the surrounding mist began to break down and dissipate, exposing the countless ghosts in line in the outside world. The fractures in space transformed a large number of ghosts into dust. Like bubbles that were popping, countless souls began to disappear, all of them screaming in misery.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” In mid-air, countless black dragons could be seen flying about, each one of them seeming as enormous as a massive, sinuous mountain chain. Ji Ning seemed to be able to see even those heart-freezing dragon scales. The countless dragons were wandering about, having fun in the skies, and then each of the black dragons vomited forth multiple streams of black lightning. Instantly, trillions of bolts of black lightning slashed down, every single one of them causing the heavens and the earth to break apart.

“The Life and Death Formation of the Twin Realm Calamity Dragons? How dare you attack the Six Paths of Reincarnation? This is a grave sin!” Grandma Meng shouted with unbridled fury. Transforming into a beam of light, she flew towards the tens of millions of black dragons in the sky. Instantly, those countless black dragons surrounded Grandma Meng.

Rumble…

The world was fracturing, and the muddied waters of the River of Forgetfulness began to form waves. Any ghosts that touched those waters were instantly dissipated. The Bridge of Despair shattered, and the ghosts atop the Bridge of Despair fell directly into the River of Forgetfulness. As for the Six Paths of Reincarnation, those immeasurably deep tunnels were beginning to shake as well, and light was gleaming from within their depths.

“Uh oh.” Ji Ning stared in terror at the calamity he was witnessing. At the same time, he could sense that invisible binding force dissipate.

“I’ll risk it!” When the binding force dissipated, Ji Ning was both surprised and pleased. Half hopping, half-flying, he jumped directly towards the ‘Mortal Realm’ tunnel. The Six Paths of Reincarnation each were located in different places. Because most people entered the Mortal Realm, the Mortal Realm’s tunnel was directly behind Grandma Meng and was the closest one to Ji Ning. Naturally, Ji Ning chose to jump down into that tunnel.

The surrounding ghosts were all jumping down into the various reincarnation tunnels.

One ghost dared to try and rush towards the most distant, Heaven Realm tunnel.

Boom…

A bolt of black lightning struck down. That ghost, who hadn’t managed to dodge in time, instantly dissipated, along with several other nearby ghosts.

……

What exactly had happened in the Netherworld Kingdom? Those countless black dragons that had been circling about in the air, those trillions of black lightning bolts that had wildly struck downwards… that terrifying scene had shocked Ji Ning. But he understood that as an ordinary ghost, there was no point in worrying too much about it. In addition, right now, he didn’t have any time to worry about it, because his head hurt!

Ji Ning sensed that his head was in tremendous pain, as though something was frantically grabbing onto and tearing at it.

His neck hurt, and his body was suffering tremendous pressure.

Hua!

Suddenly, he felt at ease, and then, he felt a bone-piercing cold. At the same time, a breath of fresh air entered his mouth. This was the first ‘breath’ which Ji Ning had taken since dying.

“Wow!” After taking a deep breath, Ji Ning immediately let out a cry.

The cry of an infant.

“A son! It’s a son!” Although his hearing was a bit distorted, he could still understand what was just said.

“Oh. I’ve been reborn.” Ji Ning instantly understood.





* * *





Book 1, Chapter 3 - Birth


Ji Ning opened his eyes and saw that he was being held by a giant who wore a set of white fur clothes. Ji Ning instantly understood that this person was a ‘giant’, only because right now, he was an infant being held by this man.

“You can leave now,” the man said.

“Yes,” the three maids said respectfully.

The man holding Ji Ning in his arms should be his father. Although he had just gotten a son, he still seemed like a piece of glacial ice, very hard to get close to. He wore a set of beautiful fur clothes, while those three maids also were dressed in animal fur. Clearly, they were of much poorer quality.

The room was quite empty. The wall, the dresser, the seats, the bed, all of them were carved from marble. The carvings were quite exquisite and gave off an ancient, beautiful nobility. Atop the bed was a six or seven meter long enormous beast fur, with the fur hanging down to the floor. At a glance, one could tell that this fur was no doubt extremely expensive. Atop that bed, there was a red-faced young woman.

“Even the chairs and the dressers were carved from marble. The room itself should be made from marble as well. Father and those three women are all dressed in animal fur. It seems this world doesn’t have a high level of civilization,” Ji Ning secretly said to himself.

“Son.” Despite holding his infant son in his arms, that man still seemed very cold, without a hint of a smile on his face. Only, his eyes betrayed his excitement.

Ji Ning suddenly had the feeling that a mysterious cold energy entered his body. It was very comfortable, and then, quickly, it passed away.

“Yichuan, how is my son doing?” the woman on the bed hurriedly asked.

“As expected, his body’s quality is ordinary,” Ji Yichuan said softly.

The woman on the bed had faint tears in her eyes. “Let me hold him.”

The man carried the child over in his arms.

“Be good.” The young woman looked at the infant, her eyes filled with love. “Yichuan, our child was injured in the womb. Although he ate those natural treasures, it only repaired some of the damage. We haven’t done right by our child.”

He had been injured in the womb?

Natural treasures?

It seemed as though his parents in this world weren’t ordinary people.

……