A Mote of Common Dust

“Although many are unwilling to accept it, the gap is just too vast,” the Xia Emperor shook his head. “The Seamless Gate has a Daofather Puppet on their side, while the Divine Farmer’s Medicine that could have turned the tide on ours… now we just wait for the Daofather’s final order.”

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

He understood.

“The fault is mine,” Ji Ning said calmly.

“You can’t blame yourself for this. You never imagined that Yu Wei would be a member of the Seamless Gate. Don’t let your thoughts run wild. The Daofather personally instructed me to block people at your door—he still thinks highly of you,” the Xia Emperor looked at Ji Ning.

“Mn,” Ji Ning nodded.

The Xia Emperor recalled something, then said, “Oh, right, you probably can’t mobilize your ki right now. I’ll give you ten drops of the antidote.”

“Give me a hundred drops,” Ji Ning said.

“A hundred?” The Xia Emperor was startled, looking at Ji Ning in surprise. “You…”

Ji Ning didn’t explain further. What use was it to say he was a Pure Yang True Immortal? The strength of the Karmic Punishment Deity he commanded was still the same; it wouldn’t help the war situation. There was no point in giving them false hope.

“Alright, I’ll give it to you.” The Xia Emperor produced a small jade bottle, then took out a large gourd. One streak of flowing light after another flew out of the gourd and into the jade bottle, a full hundred drops in total. He then handed the bottle to Ji Ning.

After receiving it, Ji Ning turned and walked out.

…

“Isn’t that General Ji Ning?”

“That’s the Northmyth Immortal, Ji Ning!”

“I heard his Dao-companion was a spy sent by the Seamless Gate!”

“Right, I heard that too. We could have won this time, but this Ji Ning trusted his Dao-companion too much, giving her the chance to destroy the Divine Farmer’s Medicine. All hope of victory is gone. After all this fighting for so long, with so many casualties, it’s all been wasted. This Northmyth Immortal was just too careless, too trusting of his Dao-companion.”

“Brother Wangxiu, your words are too harsh! A Dao-companion is the most important partner on the path of cultivation, supporting each other. How many people suspect their own Dao-companion? If you did suspect, you could never become Dao-companions in the first place.”

“The Northmyth Immortal is truly pitiful, betrayed by his Dao-companion.”

“It’s a sad thing.”

Walking through the Eight Dragons Cloudcity, passing one camp after another, the immortals inside the camps all discussed Ji Ning when they saw him. The matter had already been spreading through each person’s retelling. In fact, there had already been some changes. But the tens of millions of Loose Immortals and all the Fiendgods were still talking about it, after all, it had changed the entire direction of this Realm War.

“I heard that Yu Wei took advantage of the Northmyth Immortal’s trust, destroyed the Divine Farmer’s Medicine, and then the Northmyth Immortal flew into a rage, was greatly disappointed, and afterwards personally slew Yu Wei, scattering her soul to the winds.”

“Right, I heard that too. It was the Northmyth Immortal himself who killed that spy.”

“She deserved death for being a spy.”

As he walked.

Ji Ning’s ears twitched. A trace of grief appeared in his eyes. He knew that some things changed as they spread. His senior apprentice-sister had not been killed by him—she had chosen to scatter her own soul to prevent the Seamless Gate from using her to restrain him! But now she was suffering endlessly in the Infinite Hells. Although the main culprit was the Godking, he had indeed been the one to send her into the Infinite Hells.

He walked for a long time…

Ji Ning arrived at the city wall of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. He sat down alone on the edge of the wall, silently gazing at the ruined wasteland outside the city. He also saw the giant black city floating in the distance—Seamless City.

Seamless City and the Eight Dragons Cloudcity still faced each other from afar. This war clearly had not truly ended yet.

…

“Ji Ning?” Dongyan True Immortal had just emerged from the great hall when he spotted the solitary figure sitting on the city wall. He could sense that Ji Ning now seemed withered, lacking the boundless vitality of the past. In the old days, Ji Ning was always wearing a smile, his eyes always bright. But now, he was like the perennial snow on a high mountain, radiating an endless coldness.

“This Ji Ning is a man of deep emotion; he is the most devoted,” another person walked over. It was Yunchen True Immortal. He sighed, “Of all things, love wounds the deepest.”

“Mn,” Dongyan True Immortal nodded. “Betrayed by his most beloved Dao-companion… this blow… alas, but none of us can help him. Right, Brother Yunchen, does our Crimsonbright Realmverse still have any hope of victory?”

Yunchen True Immortal was a follower of the Divine Farmer and should know some news.

Yunchen True Immortal shook his head. “The hope is slim. At this point in the war, unless we can transfer some of the most famous Heavenly Gods and True Immortals of the Three Realms, but those Heavenly Gods and True Immortals are all needed to suppress various places or deal with major threats. If we transfer them here, it would affect the overall arrangement of the Three Realms. After all, the Crimsonbright Realmverse is considered one of the weaker realmverses among the Three Realms.”

“It is weaker, but we have fought for years, and countless have died.” Dongyan True Immortal was unwilling.

As True Immortals and Heavenly Gods of the Crimsonbright Realmverse, they naturally had feelings for their homeland.

Nobody wanted their homeland to be taken by the Seamless Gate.

“Wait. The Daofather has already gone to consult the Divine Farmer,” Yunchen True Immortal said. “We’ll see what the Divine Farmer can do. But I think, if the Divine Farmer had a way, he would have sent word long ago.”

Dongyan True Immortal nodded.

“It’s a pity. If only the Divine Farmer’s Medicine hadn’t been shattered, if only Ji Ning hadn’t given it to Yu Wei,” Yunchen True Immortal sighed.

“Alas, Ji Ning trusted his Dao-companion too much,” Dongyan True Immortal shook his head.

…

At this point in the war, nearly all of the Heavenly Gods and True Immortals of the Grand Xia side had lost hope. Initially, many Heavenly Gods and True Immortals were furious, even wanting to curse Ji Ning, but gradually, they calmed down. They stopped shifting the blame. They all knew that when something like this happened, Ji Ning himself certainly didn’t want it.

“Where is Ji Ning?”

“Still on the city wall.”

“It’s been several days now. I saw him sitting there without moving at all. I wonder what he’s looking at.”

Some Heavenly Gods and True Immortals chatted.

“News from the Divine Farmer has already come. There’s no other way. The Divine Farmer’s Medicine is too difficult to refine. Even the Divine Farmer only sent some antidote to let the other immortals recover.”

“The Divine Farmer has given up?”

“So he’s given up…”

“My elder brother died in battle. Did he die for nothing?”

“The Karmic Punishment Deity of my Tianqu lineage was shattered. Only I was lucky enough to escape from my lineage’s twelve Celestial Immortals. I was hoping that after the great victory, I could let my sect recuperate. But now…”

Grief, heartbreak.

To them, the Crimsonbright Realmverse was their homeland, their foundation, and the place where countless years—even generations of ancestors—had poured their hearts. They were willing to fight to the death for this homeland. Even if they lost brothers, masters, and disciples, as long as they could win, it would be worth it! But now, they couldn’t win. They were going to lose.

Ji Ning sat alone on the city wall.

“Ji Ning.” The red-haired Scarlet Snow Heavenly God came over and gently patted Ji Ning on the shoulder. “Buck up. Emotion is just one obstacle on the path of cultivation.”

“I understand,” Ji Ning nodded.

“Walk through it, and everything will open up to a vast sky,” the Scarlet Snow Heavenly God looked at Ji Ning, his eyes filled with hope.

“Let me think a bit more alone,” Ji Ning said.

“Alright.”

The Scarlet Snow Heavenly God didn’t press. He was very clear on Ji Ning’s character. That was why he liked and supported Ji Ning so much, believing that Ji Ning was the most suitable master of the Starseizing Manor. A man of deep emotion and loyalty was one whom comrades could trust. Someone like the Evergreen Sword Immortal, who was selfish to the core… how many would be willing to open their hearts to him?

But a man of deep emotion and loyalty could also be wounded deeply.

Even some of the major powers of the Three Realms had been wounded before, and the scars in their hearts had never healed throughout endless years.

The Scarlet Snow Heavenly God left.

“Walk through it?” Ji Ning murmured to himself. “How can I walk through it?”

Watching Yu Wei die, Ji Ning had already been plunged into despair.

But then he discovered Yu Wei wasn’t dead. Just as he felt a surge of joy, he was faced with a choice, and he himself had sent Yu Wei into the Infinite Hells. That was what hurt him even more.

His body was still in the mortal world, but his heart had already fallen into hell.

Guilt.

Heartache.

Ji Ning wanted to suppress it, wanted to walk through it, but how could he suppress it?

“I thought I was a favored son of Heaven, thought my talent was extraordinary, full of confidence. But I was wrong, so wrong. My senior apprentice-sister suffers endlessly in the Infinite Hells, and I can do nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Ji Ning looked at the wasteland outside the city, ruined by the immortal-demonic war. “Like that wasteland, like the countless weeds on that wasteland—in the face of an immortal-demonic war, they can only be trampled and destroyed, because they have no power to resist.”

“Weak.”

“I am still weak.”

“High talent? No matter how high, it only means that a long, long time from now I might be a match for the Godking. Right now, I am still weak. Before the Godking, I can only accept everything that happens. I have no way to resist or obstruct.”

That feeling of despair—once personally experienced—sank into his bones and into his very soul.

The Godking gave Ji Ning a choice.

Ji Ning could only choose.

The Godking wanted to send Yu Wei into the Infinite Hells, and Ji Ning could only watch!

The only thing he could do was kneel down and beg, hoping to move the other party… but it was useless.

Powerless.

Everything was in the other’s hands. He could only accept it.

…

Ji Ning looked at the weeds on the wasteland, feeling as if he were just like those weeds—trampled by the immortals and demons, caught in the collateral damage of their attacks, destroyed. All he could do was endure!

Floating, drifting…

Ji Ning’s heart wandered, growing ethereal and empty, drifting and elusive…

The countless weeds, the dust and dirt, all seemed to become extensions of Ji Ning’s heart. His heart expanded and expanded, extending even into the sky. Gradually, the entire Baiji Prefecture was within Ji Ning’s heart, and his heart continued to extend…

The heart was boundless and vast.

The infinite heavens and earth—everything existed within the heart.

Drifting through the void, the three thousand six hundred prefectures were all covered by Ji Ning’s heart. Even the vast ocean was covered. The entire Grand Xia world, protected by the world membrane, was like an enormous oval sphere. And now, this oval sphere had become one with Ji Ning’s heart.

In fact, his heart still struggled to extend further, reaching out into the void…

It was an intense longing.

“I was once a mote of common dust, yet my heart yearns for the heavens.” Sitting on the city wall, Ji Ning said softly.

PS1: Tomato has returned from Beijing. I have just posted photos taken in Beijing with some web novel authors on my WeChat. Add me on WeChat to see them. Public WeChat account: fanqie34. You can also search for '我吃西红柿'.

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(To be continued…)