Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

Celestial Immortals Arcanum, Infatuation, and the others were using their coresense to watch the battle. Upon seeing Old Demon Windraiser appear, they all hurriedly sent mental messages, calling out to him.

“He killed my disciple and destroyed my true body. I cannot live under the same heavens as him!” Old Demon Windraiser suddenly waved his hand, causing a dense cluster of hundreds of spots of starlight to appear. The air above him was also filled with the enormous illusion of the Solar Star, and all these things flew straight towards Ning.

Ning was cold and uncaring. “You, Old Demon, had a Primaltwin? I didn’t go kill you, but you came to throw your life away.”

How could Ning possibly hold Old Demon Windraiser in any regard? He immediately swept out with his own palm to attack. His golden palm smashed apart everything that came before him. Bang! Bang! Bang! The hundreds of miniature stars were instantly knocked flying away.

Crack!

A very peculiar sound rang out.

It was like…an egg cracking.

But those hundreds of star-grains were a set of Immortal-ranked magic treasures; how could Ning have shattered Immortal-ranked magic treasures with a single palm?

“AHHHHHH!!!”

“NOOO!”

“NOOOOO!”

Countless miserable screams rang out.

Within a special region. Countless mortals and cultivators were all squeezed together. These were the evacuated cultivators and mortals…but this region was beginning to crumble and break apart. Although this was merely a small pocket dimension…with the dimensional walls crumbling, how could mortals possibly survive? All of them were ground apart and killed. Only some of the more powerful cultivators were able to survive.

A few people suddenly appeared in the region before Ning’s giant golden palm. These were the Immortal cultivators who had survived the collapse of that pocket dimension…but the power of Ning’s earlier blow was simply too great. Even the mere aftershock from his blow was enough to cause these newly emerged Immortal cultivators to be instantly blown into dust.

Infinite despair…despair that filled the skies…it all swept towards Ning.

Infinite resentment!

Infinite hate!

“No…I don’t want to die!”

“Oh gods…”

“Who…who…”

“Who killed us?!”

Countless voices rang out in Ning’s mind, assailing his heart.

“Ahahahaha!” The distant Old Demon Windraiser was absolutely berserk in his laughter. “You’ve killed ten billion mortals…what a sinner…what a tremendous sinner!!!”

Rumble…

Rumble…

The skies instantly turned blood red, so red that it was utterly terrifying to behold, so densely red that it caused everyone’s heart to tremble. The terrifying redness appeared out of nowhere, and it appeared simultaneously in the skies above Ji Ning and Old Demon Windraiser. These were the legendary…karmic sinflames!

The two clouds of bloody red karmic sinflames reflected and resonated with each other.

The karmic sinflames…descended!





* * *





Book 15, Chapter 32 - Ill Send You On Your Way


The red karmic sinflames were terrifying to behold…but they also had a strange, holy aura about them.

They existed purely for the sake of burning away all sin!

“AHHHH!”

In midair, Ji Ning’s eyes turned completely red. He frantically clutched at his head as he fell down from the skies.

Within the Still Room of the underwater estate.

The black-robed Primaltwin Ning had originally been seated in the lotus position atop the netherwater jade bed, but his body was now blazing with red karmic sinflames as well. The black-robed Primaltwin Ning was now kneeling on the netherwater jade bed, letting out howls of utter agony and misery. He crawled forward in utter pain, falling down from the bed.

“No…no…” The black-robed Primaltwin Ning let out an agonized howl.

……

In the outside world, Ning fell down from the skies. As he fell, he clutched at his head, letting out terrifying, frenzied, throat-tearing howls.

“He didn’t die?” The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan was extremely shocked. The other six Celestial Immortals had joined him outside, atop the flying shuttle. They, too, looked with shock and delight upon this scene. They said in amazement, “He actually didn’t instantly die from burning?”

“Ahahaha…”

The distant Old Demon Windraiser continued to hover in midair. Surrounded by karmic sinflames, he actually let out laughter that caused one’s heart to shudder. His face was utterly contorted, and his eyes were blood-red. Pain wracked every single cell of his body, but he continued to laugh wildly. “It really is…really is…even more fun…than the million-year Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations…ahahaha…ahahahaha!!!”

Old Demon Windraiser was filled with the agony of being burned by karmic sinflames as well.

“Windraiser’s Dao-heart is no weaker than my own,” Celestial Immortal Infatuation said. “For even him to be in such agony…it’s utterly inconceivable for this Ji Ning, who has trained for less than a century, to actually stay alive and not perish instantly from the descent of karmic sinflames.”

“Right. He’s trained for less than a century, but his Dao-heart is actually this strong…”

“When karmic sinflames descend, they shall unleash multiple layers of punishment. This is but the start.” The Ancestor of the Youngflame clan said in a low voice, “I refuse to believe Ji Ning will be able to survive it.”

Karmic sinflames…

They were the holy flames that burned away sin. They represented the umost limits of sin.

These flames were the flames of the void, flames that burned away at the soul, at the heart!

They actually weren’t that harmful to the physical body; after all, the heavens always gave one at least a slight chance for survival. If karmic sinflames were to burn away at the body as well, then Fiendgod sinners would have too much of an unfair advantage compared to Ki Refiner sinners.

But although it didn’t harm the body that much…it was utterly terrifying in turns of the damage it did when burning the soul! Even someone like Ning, who had trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], had no advantages whatsoever in facing these karmic sinflames…

When facing karmic sinflames, all cultivators were treated absolutely equally. The only test right now was of one’s Dao-heart. Would one’s Dao-heart be able to survive while being incinerated by karmic sinflames?

Once one’s Dao-heart crumbled, the soul would be unprotected and would be instantly burnt to ashes and dissipated.

Luckily enough, Ning had just come up with the tenth stance of the [Three-Foot Sword]. His Dao-heart now contained the resolve that was embodied in the lines, ‘Where the Dao is, though ten million soldiers bar my path, I shall relentlessly advance!’ This allowed Ning’s Dao-heart to survive the first round of punishment unleashed by the karmic sinflames; ‘Agony’.

“He actually…hasn’t…hasn’t died…what a monster!” Old Demon Windraiser’s entire body was wracked by pain as he stared downwards at the fallen Ji Ning.

Old Demon Windraiser’s Dao-heart was extremely strong.

He had already lived for a million years. Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations…every three hundred years, a calamity; every nine hundred years, a tribulation. He had endured countless cycles of the Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations over the past million years. Under this sort of constant pressure, his Dao-heart had actually transformed and grown incredibly powerful, with the result being that he had found even the Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations at the million-year mark to be quite easy to overcome.

Clearly, his Dao-heart was far more powerful than Immortal Northwalker’s had been. It was comparable to that of many Celestial Immortals…and even amongst Celestial Immortals, he would probably be ranked at the very top.

Although the first round of punishment brought by karmic sinflames, ‘Agony’, was extremely painful…he was still able to maintain consciousness. He was even able to open his mouth and speak, albeit haltingly; clearly, he was far more powerful than Ning in this regard.

……