The Desolate Era - Volume 43 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Book 43, Final Fate, Chapter 6 – Old Friends (part 1)

Ji Ning was in an excellent mood today . “Tell me about how all my other disciples are doing, one by one . ”

“Very well . ” Brightmoon was rather surprised at her father inquiring in such detail, but she began to narrate without giving it much thought .

Ning had left his secluded meditations to wrap up all his worldly affairs . Of course he needed to get a good idea as to how his personal disciples were doing! While listening to his daughter speak, he also carefully inspected how they were doing through his karmic ties to them .

His first disciple, ‘Bluecliff Xiaoyu’, was even less talented than Brightmoon . To this very day, she remained just a World-level cultivator! Still, her life was a carefree one . Perhaps Xiaoyu preferred this sort of peaceful, quiet life .

His second disciple, ‘Green Bamboo’ Yang Quding, had become a Hegemon .

His third disciple, Skywind, had become a resoundingly famous figure within the Flamedragon Realmverse . He had caused quite a deal of trouble, and was stubborn to an extreme . He made many enemies, and for the sake of a female Immortal he had actually assaulted a major sect and slain two of its Emperors! He was now publicly acclaimed as the number one Daolord of the Flamedragon Realmverse . Ning, of course, had long ago transcendent such silly rankings .

“Oh, Skywind… I was able to sense long ago that your future would be fraught with troubles . You’ve always been the one I’ve been the most worried about . ” Ning shook his head, then decided, “I have to visit him one final time, it seems . ”

The position of ‘fourth disciple’ remained vacant .

His fifth and sixth disciples, ‘Boundless’ and ‘Muse’, lived a romantic, heavenly life together as a pair of Immortal lovers . They remained happily in love, and together they wandered the various territories of the Flamedragon Realmverse . This pleased Ning greatly .

His seventh disciple, ‘Great Immortal Almonder’, had a childlike disposition and loved to wander about . His current whereabouts were unknown .

His eight disciple, ‘Stonepool’, was a solid and reliable figure who had ended up together with Ning’s daughter Brightmoon .

……

After spending two years in the Three Realms, Ning departed with Azurefiend, Youji, Pillsaint, and his favored descendant Dawnjade . They left the Three Realms and began to wander through the world outside . They were going to visit his friends and disciples .

The very first person Ning went to visit was Ninedust, whom he had shared so many life-and-death adventures with .

Vast, billowing waves could be seen sweeping through this entire world . At the very center of the waves was a towering, silver-robed god who was 540,000 meters tall . He stood atop the endless waves, practicing a set of fist-arts . Every single punch and strike caused the waves around him to rumble and roil about .

A ship appeared far off in the distance, but it quickly came to a halt and did not interrupt .

Roughly an hour later, the training appeared to come to an end . Only then did the white-robed Ning call from next to the hovering realmship, “Ninedust!”

The Ninedust Sectlord turned to stare at Ning, a delighted look instantly appearing on his face: “Hah! Darknorth, my big shot Daolord friend! You surely are a sight for sore eyes . You actually came to visit me?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I know I didn’t visit you a single time in many years . I’ve been in secluded meditation the entire time . ” Ning strolled over, with Su Youji and the others staying behind .

“As it should be . You are working on something important . ” Ninedust looked at Ning . He could sense how Ning’s truesoul was crumbling at a very fast pace, and he couldn’t help but feel sorrow for his old friend . He knew that Ning wouldn’t last for much longer . “Darknorth… have you come to bid me a final farewell?”

“Perhaps . ” Ning smiled . “I’m about to go into terminal seclusion and make one final push . If I succeed, I’ll be able to reverse my truesoul’s decay . If I fail… then yes, this will be the last time we two brothers have a chance to meet . ”

“Reverse your truesoul’s decay?” Ninedust instantly became filled with hope .

“Death has always been the only outcome for anyone who fails the Daomerge,” Ning said . “No cultivators in our Chaosverse have ever been able to change this! The Sithe are able to do so, but they are different from us on a fundamental level . Not even Autarchs are able to reverse a truesoul’s decay . All I can do is try my best and then pray . ”

Ninedust patted Ning on the shoulder . “I’m sure you can do it . ”

“Enough about me . How have you been?” Ning smiled . “When are you planning to attempt the Daomerge? I can tell that you’ve reached an incredibly high level in the Dao of Water . From what I can see, you should be the one ranked at the top of the Daolord listings for the Flamedragon Realmverse . How did my disciple end up taking the position instead?”

Ning had passed on both the Incense Spirit-Fruit and several water-related techniques to Ninedust to help him out . Ninedust had trained assiduously and had reached an extremely high level of insight into the Dao of Water . It could be said that his defensive prowess surpassed that of all other Daolords in the Flamedragon Realmverse, save for Ning himself . He was absolutely strong enough to be ranked number one, but his actual ranking was fairly low .

“Who cares about those stupid lists? Look at you, Darknorth; you transcended that very concept long ago!” Ninedust chuckled . “Besides… as your brother, Skywind should be considered one of my juniors . How could I compete with him over something like this?”

“Skywind… he’s a bit too much of a showoff . ” Ning shook his head slowly .

“But he has plenty to show off . I once sparred with him when he first became a Daolord of the Fourth Step . He truly did amaze me . ” Ninedust let out a sigh .

“Excessive hardness leads to brittleness . He’s too extreme… but perhaps that’s also what made him so special . ” Ning shook his head . Of his many disciples, his third disciple had been given the hardest path . The man had experienced numerous difficulties as a mortal, and hadn’t ended after becoming a Daolord .

“When are you planning to begin your Daomerge?” Ning asked .

“Soon . Thanks to the techniques you gave me, I can sense that my Dao is growing even more perfect than before . ” Ninedust smiled . “Once I feel it has reached full perfection, I’ll use the Incense Spirit-Fruit and begin the Daomerge . It’ll be anywhere between 10,000 chaos cycles and 50,000 chaos cycles from now . ”

“I’ll have to come to offer my congratulations once you succeed,” Ning said with a laugh .

“You must,” Ninedust agreed .

Both had their own tribulations to overcome . Ninedust had to deal with the tribulation known as the Daomerge, while Ning had to deal with the crumbling of his truesoul . Both of these two brothers had to succeed if they wished to meet again .

By comparison, Ninedust stood a very good chance; he had already used a Voidsea Jadeseal and been given both techniques and an Incense Spirit-Fruit by Ning . Ning’s chances were much lower .

……

After spending quite some time chatting with his old friend Ninedust, Ning finally bade the Ancient cultivator farewell .

A short while later, Ning headed off to an ordinary chaosworld within the Flamedragon Realmverse . He had come here to meet his third disciple, Skywind .

Ning found Skywind in the corner of an alehouse . Skywind was dressed in ordinary gray robes . The robes were not magic in any manner; these truly were cheap hemp robes which mortal peasants might wear . He was caked in filth, and his hair was disheveled . He sat there in the corner, drinking wine by himself . He was never able to get drunk, but he still came here to drink quite often .

No one in the alehouse dared to bother him… because half a year ago, this filthy-looking man had killed the governor of this city with a pair of chopsticks .

“Drinking by yourself?” a voice rang out .

Startled, Skywind looked up . Someone had actually been able to approach him without him even noticing it? And this person clearly hadn’t hidden his aura either; Skywind could clearly sense the aura of the sword about him .  How did I not notice him approaching? This was so strange that Skywind could hardly believe it .

When he turned around, he saw a white-robed Ning seated at a nearby bench . Ning poured himself a cup of wine .

“Master!” When Skywind saw Ning, he immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed . He respected and revered his master more than anyone else .

Ning simply watched as his disciple kowtowed, not moving to stop him .

“You can get up,” Ning said a moment later .

“Alright . ” Skywind rose to his feet .

Ning picked up his wine cup . “Come . Let the two of us, master and disciple, share a cup of wine . ”

Skywind immediately lifted up his own wine cup and offered Ning a respectful toast . None of the ordinary mortals within this alehouse were able to notice or sense Ning’s presence .

After finishing the wine, Skywind said in a guilty manner: “I’ve disappointed you, Master . ”

“There’s nothing to be disappointed about . Cultivation can lead to countless different paths,” Ning said . “A shadow was cast over your heart back in your homeland, long before you ever entered the Flamedragon Realmverse . For you to end up in your current situation… I blame myself as your master for not having helped you more . ”

“It isn’t your fault, Master . This is the path I chose for myself,” Skywind said hastily . He himself knew that he had gone too far in his murderous actions . If it hadn’t been for the fact that his master was Daolord Darknorth, the Archons of the Sacred Cities probably would’ve wiped him out long ago .

“So are you planning to just spend your final years here?” Ning asked .

“I’m tired,” Skywind said softly . “I don’t want to run around any longer, and I don’t want to go back home either . I suppose I’ll just keep living here in this mortal world . ”

“You might as well . ” Ning didn’t try to dissuade him . “This will most likely be our final meeting . Let’s just share some wine with each other . I’ll only give you one final piece of advice – In cultivation, you must always follow your heart . The only thing you need to do is stay true to yourself . If you can do that, then there will be no need to feel any fear, nor will you need to feel guilt . ”

Skywind’s eyes reddened . He could sense how quickly his master’s truesoul was disintegrating . His master probably wouldn’t be able to survive for much longer .

“Now, enough of all that . Let’s drink . ” Ning smiled as he lifted up his wine cup once more .

After a lengthy drinking session with his disciple, Ning departed . He could not interfere in someone else’s path of cultivation; he couldn’t even interfere in his own daughter’s Daomerge, save to provide her with as many resources as he could . The only thing he could do was to try and guide Skywind in following, strengthening, and perfecting his own Dao-heart . As for what Skywind would do afterwards? That would be up to him .