The Desolate Era

Book 21, Chapter 5 - Daomother Devilhand

Of the disciples under Subhuti’s tutelage, Silvermoon’s battles against the Seamless Gate were the most savage of them all.

At first, Ji Ning didn’t understand why. Later, he learned that Silvermoon had once had a Dao-companion. However, during the war that destroyed the Primordial Era, his Dao-companion had died...and it was as though Silvermoon had lost his soul.

Later on, the Lord of All Fiends had brought back the survivors of the Seamless Gate to the Three Realms, and the Nuwa Alliance had been unable to do anything to him. Thus, the two sides had made peace, resulting in the Seamless Gate being allowed back into the Three Realms.

But Silvermoon had attacked. He started a wild massacre of the Seamless Gate’s forces. He was even willing to kill Celestial Immortals! As for Empyrean Gods and True Immortals? Nearly twenty of them died by Silvermoon’s hands! He had fought in such a berserk fashion that he had accidentally killed many weak cultivators as well. He had fought like a man possessed, causing the True Gods and the Daofathers of the Seamless Gate to be both shocked and enraged.

Back then, the Seamless Gate wanted to live a peaceful life in the Three Realms. Because Silvermoon was the disciple of Subhuti, they didn’t kill him; instead, they negotiated this matter with the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance. In the end, Silvermoon’s master had forcibly ordered him back to Mount Innerheart, where he was given the low-key position of overseeing the Divinities Palace.

He had slaughtered and murdered so many that he, too, suffered the effects of karmic sinflames. Back at Mount Innerheart, he talked and laughed as though nothing had ever happened, and his life within the Divinities Palace was a relaxed, leisurely one. No one knew, however, that the hatred and fury in his heart had never subsided. When the storm had descended, he had been willing to follow Ji Ning and kill alongside him, as he could see that Ji Ning was as berserk as he was. However, who would’ve thought that Ji Ning would suddenly stop fighting? He had thus ventured out on his own to fight alone. He didn’t blame Ji Ning at all. He knew very well that if it was his Dao-companion, he probably would’ve made the same choice as Ji Ning had.

“Alright.” Subhuti nodded. “Who else?”

“Me.”

“I’ll go.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve fought in a war.”

The many disciples actually all began to call out. Of the many disciples present, the only two not to speak out were actually Ji Ning and Redsnow. Ning hesitated a moment, then said, “Master, let me go. This Realmwar is different from the others.”

“There’s no need for you to go.” Subhuti shook his head. “A Realmwar on this level...your participation won’t have much of an effect.”

Ning was stunned.

His master’s words were correct. A grand formation created by just 200-300 Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would be comparable to a true Daofather in power! His own Rahu God was actually probably a bit weaker than those formations. In this war, each side was mobilizing 2000-3000 Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, who would be using some truly powerful formations. Even ordinary Daofathers would die if they intervened. Whether Ning participated or not really wouldn’t make much of a difference.

In a war like this, massed power was what really made the difference.

“Redsnow? How about you?” Subhuti looked towards Redsnow. Redsnow had been the follower of Daoist Threelives, and was legendary for his warmaking abilities.

“I won’t go.” Redsnow shook his head. “Your disciple has gained some insights lately and is at a critical moment.”

“Oh?” Subhuti’s eyes lit up. He didn’t believe Redsnow was lying about this.

Ning wasn’t surprised. Ever since he had given a bottle of chaos nectar to Redsnow, allowing Redsnow to train to the second stage of the [Taowu Eighteen Fiendgods], Redsnow had entered secluded meditation for some reason! The only reason Ning had reached out to him was due to Subhuti’s summons; otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered Redsnow.

“If that’s the case, focus on your training. It would be wonderful if you can break through to become a Daofather before the Endwar,” Subhuti said with a smile. He knew that Ning had given a bottle of chaos nectar to Redsnow, as Ning had actually discussed this with him before doing so.

To Subhuti, a single bottle of chaos nectar wasn’t enough. Any True God or Daofather would need at least a hundred such bottles in order to train to the second level of the [Taowu Eighteen Fiendgods]. A single bottle? It would only be of use when given to Empyrean Gods and True Immortals.

Two days later, Subhuti led his disciples to the Deerchaser major world of the Yellow Emperor Realm. The Deerchaser major world was the world where the Yellow Emperor, Xuan Yuan, lived.

Within the imperial palace of the Deerchaser world.

Subhuti and Xuan Yuan were both seated, with Ji Ning and the rest of the disciples all standing to one side. Ning carefully inspected this legendary figure, this Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan who had once defeated even Shennong in their battle for dominance over the world. In terms of appearance, Xuan Yuan was an immaculately handsome man. His gaze seemed to bring an aura of the spring wind with it, causing others to unconsciously feel well-disposed towards them.

It must be understood that when they fought long ago, Xuan Yuan was merely a elite Daofather. Although it was true that Shennong’s mind wasn’t really focused on leading his armies, he was still someone on the same level of power as the leaders of the Daoism and Buddhism. For Xuan Yuan to be able to achieve victory was testament to his military prowess.

In all the Three Realms, Xuan Yuan was most likely the number one military mastermind.

“Aside from Ji Ning, all of these disciples will take part in the battle,” Subhuti said with a smile.

“Ah?!” Xuan Yuan was overjoyed. He immediately said, “That’s wonderful! I was worrying about this just before you came. The more powerful a formation, the more requirements are placed upon the centers of the formation. Before Mother Nuwa departed, she left us with three mighty formations meant to protect our entire race. Logically speaking, we should have Daofathers assume central command, but since neither side has deployed Daofathers yet, we are forced to use Empyrean Gods and True Immortals...and the more powerful, the better! I was worrying about not having enough powerful Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. Subhuti, you came just in the nick of time. This is like delivering warm coals to a freezing man in the midst of winter!”

“This war will be different from the previous ones. The previous Realmwars were all small-scale battles; this one is going to be far greater,” Subhuti said seriously. “After this Realmwar ends, the other large-scale Realmwars shall begin as well. The Realmwar for your Yellow Emperor Realm will be the very first of the large-scale battles; we have to make sure that the outcome is a beautiful one. Let’s deal the Seamless Gate a heavy blow!”

“Right.” Xuan Yuan nodded. “If we can seize the advantage, we’ll be able to keep the advantage. This war will indeed be very important.”

As the saying went, a thousand-kilometer canal could be collapsed by a single errant anthole!

This battle would be a critical one. If they were to lose, the upcoming battles would become more difficult as well.

Time flowed on.

Aside from Subhuti’s forces, the other major powers of the Three Realms sent reinforcements of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals as well. In fact, quite a few came by themselves! Within the span of a single short month, the number of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals who had gathered here within the Deerchaser world numbered more than 2800. All of them were focused on learning the foundational parts of these mighty formations.

Nine Empyrean Gods/True Immortals including Goldcrow and Empyrean Phoenix, who were ranked amongst the most powerful of experts and were also indisputably loyal, were permitted to learn the core techniques to these ancient, powerful formations.

Rumble...

Suddely, one day, the entire Deerchaser world trembled. Ning hurriedly emerged from his residence, raising his head to stare towards the outside, his eyes blazing with torch-light. He was able to clearly see the sky split apart tens of millions of kilometers away, as a castle that was radiating limitless amounts of bloody light came flying out from within that giant crack in the skies. The aura that emanated from the castle quickly swept through the entire Deerchaser world.

The castle was ten thousand kilometers long. It slowly descended, then came to a halt in midair. Above the castle was a glowing streak of bloody light that rose high into the heavens.

“Daomother Devilhand.” Subhuti, Xuan Yuan, and Suiren stood shoulder to shoulder, staring towards the distance. Subhuti frowned as he made this statement.

“Devilhand actually came? And she came in person, in her true form.” Suiren frowned as well. He had merely sent one of his clones here, while Subhuti and Xuan Yuan were both here in person.

The Lord of All Fiends was the most mysterious figure within the Seamless Gate, and he had incredible escaping techniques. Not even Mother Nuwa had been able to do anything to him when he had chosen to flee.

The Lord of the Everwood was someone that the Nuwa Alliance did not wish to make an enemy out of. He was skilled in countless techniques and spells.

Daomother Devilhand was the most berserk member of the Seamless Gate, and her power was absolutely astonishing. She was so berserk that during the war that ended the Primordial Era, she had actually dared to duel Mother Nuwa one-on-one for a long period of time. In fact, she had even dared to go battle the two leaders of Buddhism and Daoism all by herself! In the end, she had been heavily wounded by Daoist Three Purities’ ‘Immortal Slaying Sword Formation’.

She was an absolute madwoman. When gripped by bloodlust, she wouldn’t even care about her own life. However, no one dared to deny that she was powerful. Even during the war that ended the Primordial Era, the only ones who could be described as unquestionably more powerful than her were Mother Nuwa and the Lord of the Demonheart. No others!

“It seems the Seamless Gate really wishes to win this battle,” Subhuti said. “They actually sent Daomother Devilhand to guard their forces.”

“We want to win, but so do they,” Xuan Yuan said. “In the end...victory will be determined on the field of battle.”

“Have all our preparations been made?” Suiren asked.

“Yes.” Xuan Yuan nodded.

Everyone in the Deerchaser world was jittery right now.

Two mighty castles, one surrounded by bloody light, the other surrounded by golden light. Both hung there in midair, facing each other from several hundred thousand kilometers away.

Both armies were gathering within their respective castles, prepared to launch the war at any moment.

“This war...it’ll be the largest war that we will fight before the final battle for karmic luck.” Silvermoon stood alongside Ning atop the city walls, staring at the distant Seamless City as it glowed with bloody light. “The total number of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals on our side for this war number nearly three thousand. The Realmwars that come after this one in the Realms of the various elite Daofathers will generally involve just a few hundred, maybe a thousand at most.”

“There are many Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. As for Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals, it feels as though there is an infinite number of them,” Ning said with a soft sigh.

In his heart, he felt a bit of regret.

Regret that he wouldn’t be able to take part.

Keep waiting. Bide your time.

Even if he took part in this battle...given how vast it was, he really wouldn’t make much of a difference. He really wondered...

How much longer were those two clones of his going to remain within Undermoon Lake?