Desolate Era (Book 28 - Book 30)

……

Ning became a fisherman’s child. When he was young, he would accompany his father in fishing on the sea. He eventually fell in love with a rich man’s daughter, but her family looked down upon him. On one seafaring voyage, his father ended up perishing, resulting in Ning braving the oceans by himself. Slowly, the clever Ning learned more and more tricks for catching fish. He gradually accumulated a fortune, then purchased a large ship for himself. As his fishing skills continued to improve, he became a legend amongst fisherman. He eventually had over a hundred sails within his fleet, and the rich girl’s family actually came to him to make amends.

This was a world without cultivation. His life was an ordinary one, and it started with him being a youth who slowly grew up, becoming a towering figure by his middle years and the patriarch of an incredibly strong and stable clan in his late years.

……

Ning became a peerless swordsman. His sword was the number one sword of the world, and his speed surpassed everyone’s imaginations.

The reason why he had returned from his drifting adventures on the oceans was because he wished to find his birth parents. Thanks to a medallion he had carried with him his entire life, he finally discovered his parents. When he was young, they had been pursued by a group of enemies and so they were forced to abandon him in front of a rich family’s doorstep. Eventually, his parents had found a place to hide. They had quietly trained until they became incredibly powerful. They killed their foes, then established a mountain villa and had many other children and even grandchildren.

And right at this moment, Ning finally came back to them as well…

……

Ning became a physician’s apprentice, earnestly following his master in the practice of medicine. He lived a very ordinary life, and the physician’s daughter ended up marrying him. His skill in medicine eventually surpassed his master’s, and his fame and reputation quickly spread throughout the world. Although he suffered the occasional setback, with other physicians occasionally slandering him, his influence within the world continued to only grow greater and greater…

……

Ning was a fiend, a true demon. His only ambition was to rule the entire world and force all of its many denizens to prostrate themselves at his feet. All schools and all sects had to bow before him… and those who refused would perish!

The fiendish Ning set up his own organization, and within its domain he was the master of all. No one dared to violate his command! Slowly, his area of influence began to spread as he wiped out the various other schools and sects nearby. His reputation grew greater and greater, as did his power. He became the undisputed hegemon amongst the countless evil figures of the world, and in the final battle he slew the three grandmasters of the righteous path. From that day forth, the entire world fell under his demonic, despotic might. No one dared to disobey him.

……

One life after another. Each time, Ning lived a wonderful live. Even when he became a demonic despot or a viledoer, he would end up becoming an invincible figure, a leader amongst devils who none could shake.

The righteous path? The evil path? An ordinary mortal? A rural nobleman? A robber baron? A low-key sect farmer who was actually the number one expert in his sect? A brilliant scholar who won the imperial exams and was given the title of ‘zhuangyuan’? A down-on-his-luck scholar who encountered a fox-fairy spirit?

Each illusory life was like a form of rebirth. In truth, all of the illusory worlds were created by the Allworld Tribulation based on Ning’s own memories. For example, becoming a ‘zhuangyuan’ was something exclusive to the world of Earth in the Three Realms. Precisely because these worlds were all created based on Ning’s own memories, they all seemed very comfortable and familiar to Ning, making it easier for him to be drawn deeper into them.

……

It was all so real. Too real. Not only was it comparable to reincarnation, it was dimming his Dao-heart and his will! An ordinary Samsara Daolord’s mind would’ve long ago been fogged over by the endless illusions, and they would’ve forgotten who they were and be forever trapped by the illusions.

If Ning had come here shortly after leaving the Three Realms, even he wouldn’t have been able to withstand it. However, his will and his soul had been tempered and shaped to be even more unshakeable than before. He was always able to maintain at least a modicum of clarity. Although these illusory worlds were very real and held both love and hate, family and ambition and madness… Ning was always able to keep himself at arm’s length. He wasn’t seduced or led astray by the illusions, and his soul and his will watched in a detached manner as this all proceeded.

……

“Flamefairy, Master has spent far too much time in those illusions. It’s been nearly a hundred thousand years. You’ve already become a Daolord of the Third Step, but he’s still in the illusions!” Pillsaint and Su Youji were next to each other within the cave, staring towards the white-robed Hegemon’s corpse and the still-seated Ning.

Su Youji gazed towards Ning. “Master was able to make it all the way to the Hegemon’s corpse. Clearly, these illusions aren’t able to do anything to him. There’s no need for you to worry. Everything will be fine. Let us wait a while longer. If something really does seem to be wrong, I’ll go over there and pull him out.”

Su Youji had broken through as well. Her path had been that of the Dao of Charm and illusions to begin with, and the white-robed Hegemon’s mastery over illusions had indeed given her new insights and epiphanies. She had gained a deeper understanding of the legacy of Feixian the Exalted, and thus her rate of improvement began to accelerate rapidly. Thanks to a temporal acceleration treasure, she finally managed to break through to become a Daolord of the Third Step after nearly ten million accelerated years.

If it hadn’t been for the insights she had gained from the white-robed Hegemon’s illusions, she probably would’ve taken ten times as long in order to make this breakthrough.

Pillsaint remained a Daolord of the Second Step. The battle-scars on the cave walls were of very limited benefit to him. He was at a fairly low level of insight, and as such the intent of a Hegemon’s Dao was mostly inscrutable to him.

As for Daolord Naia and Daolord Bruteflame, they were both Daolords of the Fourth Step. Both of them continued to ardently study those Hegemonic battle-scars, as they were of tremendous help to them.

“After becoming a Daolord of the Third Step, my soul has continuously increased in power. Given my mastery over the art of illusions, I should be more or less able to resist the remnant energy unleashed by the Hegemon’s corpse,” Su Youji said.

“Eh?” Pillsaint’s eyebrows suddenly lifted upwards.

“Master…” Su Youji was startled as well.

A strange aura suddenly shot out from the distant, seated Ning. It was as though something had just been given birth to.

……

One life after another. He threw himself into each life, allowing himself to experience love and hate, life and death. Each life was a wonderful one, as the illusions sought to drag Ning fully into that world and drown him within its lies.

However, each time Ning was always able to extricate himself. In the blink of an eye, thousands of worlds and lifetimes had gone by.

“Master, I’ve grown weary of the red dust of the mortal world. I wish to dedicate myself to the monastic life. Please accept me.” A white-robed youth was kneeling in front of an old monk within a monastery. But right at this moment…