Desolate Era (Book 19 - Book 21)

“Killed himself?!” Ning was stunned.

The nearby Redsnow, however, simply smiled. Although this was a secret, Redsnow had been born when Pangu’s World had been created, and had followed Daoist Threelives for many years. He knew many things, including this story.

“Daoist Three Purities set down a seal upon his own truesoul, a seal that would lock away his former memories unless he mastered either the Heavenly Dao of Yin or the Heavenly Dao of Life,” Subhuti said. “And then, Daoist Three Purities entered the paths of reincarnation, then killed himself. Because he died within the paths of reincarnation, his truesoul was naturally sent straight into the cycle of reincarnation.”

“This was a huge gamble.”

“If Daoist Three Purities’ soul was shattered in his next life, then his truesoul would be sent to the River of Destiny. He would be finished,” Subhuti said.

Ning nodded.

To seal away one’s memories unless one mastered either the Heavenly Dao of Yin or the Heavenly Dao of Life. In other words…unless he became a Daofather once more, there would be no way for him to reawaken his memories from the past. But how incredibly difficult would it have to be for one to become a Daofather once more, without any past memories at all? Even though one might be incredibly talented due to the quality of one’s truesoul, the path of cultivation was an incredibly dangerous one.

Once one was killed and one’s soul was shattered, everything would be oever.

“He failed numerous times. He was reincarnated a total of nine times,” Subhuti said. “Of his nine reincarnations, six of them were as ordinary mortals who didn’t even embark on the patho f cultivation. Thus, upon dying he was naturally sent to be reincarnated once more. In two other lives, he died at the Zifu level and was once more sent to be reincarnated. Finally, during his ninth life, he was reborn as a member of the primordial human clan…Laozi!”

In this life, he was an absolutely dazzling figure. He advanced at an absolutely breakneck pace, and because his memories of his past life were unable to disturb him, he was able to train all the way to become a Daofather through mastering the Heavenly Dao of Yin. Only then did were his former memories awakened…and both the Heavenly Daos of Yin and Yang were now under his control. His power instantly exploded!”

“He then devised the Three Pure Ones technique, becoming so powerful that even Mother Nuwa might not have been a match for him at that point in time. He essentially became the number one leader of the entire Primordial Era. Because Yuanshi had devised the Three Pure Ones technique, he gave himself the title ‘Daoist Three Purities’. He then established the Daoist Path, passing down many Daoist techniques and becoming the leader of the Daoist Path.”

Ning was stunned by what he heard.

“Because his memories were masked during the reincarnation process, he was able to gain insights into a complimentary Heavenly Dao without being impacted by his original Heavenly Dao. But this was a gamble. If his soul was shattered, he would have truly perished.” Subhuti sighed. “Because of Daoist Three Purities, there were a total of six Daofathers who also committed suicide after setting down seals upon their truesouls.”

“But…there has never been any word of them since. From the Primordial Era to the modern day, there has never been any traces of them,” Subhuti said. “Perhaps they have died…or perhaps they are continuing to pass through the endless cycle of reincarnation.”

Ning sighed to himself.

Nonstop reincarnation?

Those Daofathers who committed suicide all had extraordinary truesouls; their talent had to be extraordinary as well. As long as they had a chance to embark on the Immortal path, they undoubtedly would…but the Immortal path was an extremely deadly one. One might be slain by an enemy, resulting in one’s soul being shattered and dispersed! An extremely long period of time had passed since the Primordial Era. Those six Daofathers were most likely long deceased, their souls having entered the endless River of Destiny.

“After the six of them disappeared, a very long period of time passed with no other major powers deciding to reincarnate themselves. However…all the major powers had hearts that were focused on the Dao, and all of them wished to grow more powerful.” Subhuti sighed. “And so, Buddha Tathagata, then an ordinary figure amongst major powers, sent himself into the paths of reincarnation, killing himself and being reincarnated anew. Back then, Tathagata had already mastered four of the Heavenly Daos of the Five Elements. All he needed to do was master the Heavenly Dao of Earth, but he could not; whenever he tried, the other four Heavenly Daos would disturb him.”

“A crazy man can get crazy results.” Subhuti shook his head and sighed. “On Tathagata’s third reincarnation, he became the prince of a small human kingdom. His name was Sakyamuni. He was naturally a brilliant, dazzling figure…and in the end, he mastered the Heavenly Dao of Earth and became a Daofather. His former memories were awakened, and the Buddhists, previously just one of many organizations within Pangu’s World, instantly skyrocketed in power. Tathagata thus became the leader of the Buddhist Sangha.”

“You have now heard the tales of how the leaders of the Daoist Path and the Buddhist Sangha rose to power. What do you think?” Subhuti looked towards Ning.

“Incredible determination. Incredible willpower.” Ning sighed in amazement.

Those two had already been Daofathers to begin with. They could live eternal, careless lives of freedom…but both of them had hearts that were extremely focused upon the Dao. For the sake of gaining a higher level of enlightenment, they were willing to wager their eternal lives!

They had won their bets…but many other Daofathers had lost.

To train in the Dao to a higher level…it was far, far too difficult.

“Back then, the Primordial Era was an era of nonstop war,” Subhuti said. “The most powerful actors were the kingdoms that were controlled by a few of the Elder Gods.”

“Once, a war erupted between the kingdoms led by the Elder God of Water, Gonggong, and the Elder God of Fire, Zhurong. These two Elder Gods began to battle with reckless abandon atop Pangu’s World. Gonggong, seeing that his forces were about to be defeated, went completely berserk. The crazed Gongong, in his madness and fury, actually rammed against and shattered Mount Buzhou, which Pangu had used as a pillar to hold up the heavens.”

“As a result…the heavens themselves were shattered. The very foundation of Pangu’s World was in danger.”

“Heaven and Earth began to tremble, as though the end times had come.”