The Dawn of Oblivion

“What a pity, Nuwa is gone.”

“The Heartlord has merged with the Heavenly Dao.”

Fuxi shook his head. “I was born an Elder God, mastering the Heavenly Dao of Destruction. But after reincarnating… I cannot recover my memories until I comprehend the Heavenly Dao of Life.” He let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh. “I have now comprehended both the Yin and Yang Heavenly Daos, yet I still haven’t grasped the Heavenly Dao of Life. And so, I remain merely a True God.”

“Throughout the entire Three Realms, the only known Elder God is the Lord of All Demons of the Seamless Gate.”

“And now, Brightmoon, your protective divine ability is no weaker than Tathagata’s.” Fuxi looked at Ji Ning. “Your sword-arts are formidable enough to match that alien Grand Power… With your current strength, you need fear no one in the Three Realms. To have a general of your caliber at this critical juncture is a great fortune for our side.”

Tathagata also smiled at Ji Ning.

Though he had lost two incarnations, seeing Ji Ning’s strength made him feel relieved.

Ji Ning and the others did not press the attack immediately. They waited on standby for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Soon, Houyi and Suiren arrived, leading a group of True Gods and Daofathers.

Because the Nuwa Camp had very few Grand Powers stationed there, Tathagata, Suiren, and the others took some True Gods and Daofathers and returned.

Sword Immortal Brightmoon of the North, the Human Sovereign Fuxi, and Houyi then led twenty-nine True Gods and Daofathers to continue their campaign through the Ancient Ruins. The remaining regions of the Ruins were all exceptionally dangerous and difficult to crack. After this close call, Ji Ning and his team fought with even greater caution and a slower pace.

This time, the group was split into three teams, commanded respectively by Sword Immortal Brightmoon, Fuxi, and Houyi!

The three teams advanced simultaneously, maintaining a distance of no more than three million kilometers from one another, ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

The reason they had not concentrated into a single team was the fear of falling into an enemy trap. If they were all trapped in a formation together—like last time with Tathagata, Fuxi, and Ji Ning—it would be far harder for Fuxi to break it, and Ji Ning would be unable to tear the formation from within. Keeping a bit of distance ensured that even if danger struck, they wouldn’t all be caught.

A three-million-kilometer distance was very close. With Ji Ning’s Lightning-Serpent Teleportation technique, he could cover it in a single breath, allowing for rapid mutual support.

The years passed, one by one.

Wherever Ji Ning and his team went, they enacted massive destruction, annihilating everything.

The Demon-God Cixiu and the Seamless Gate likewise set traps and formations to deal with them. But with the far more cautious Ji Ning, Houyi, and Fuxi leading the way… they never again encountered a situation as perilous as Tathagata’s. Painstakingly, they dismantled every danger, destroying one Ancient Ruin world after another.

Destroying the Ancient Ruins meant destroying the soil that nourished those alien beings.

“The great war of the Three Realms is approaching. If these aliens live, they may one day invade and occupy the Three Realms.” Ji Ning showed no mercy. For the survival of their own race, no one would hesitate.

The Demon-God Cixiu and his ilk might have used their cave-worlds to save some living beings—but how much could a cave-world hold? Just a tiny fraction, perhaps one ten-thousandth of the alien population at most. The rest would all perish!

Ji Ning, Houyi, and Fuxi often helped one another, and in the process their bonds deepened.

In the thirty-ninth year of the Ancient Ruins campaign—and the nineteenth year since Tathagata’s calamity.

Outside the Ancient Ruins.

The woodcutter with his axe on his shoulder, the white-robed youth with his single sword, and the tall man in a formation-patterned Dao-robe stood together in the void, with a group of other Grand Powers behind them, all gazing at the distant Ancient Ruins.

“Rumble…”

A distant world was collapsing. Soon, the already shattered Ancient Ruins began a chain collapse.

A thunderous roar filled the void as massive spatial fragments swept outward.

The entire Ancient Ruins began a relentless cycle of annihilation. The ever-more-violent spatial fragments destroyed everything…

Within the void.

A dark-golden fortress floated, its surrounding space faintly rippling. It was completely invisible to the naked eye, and even heartforce could not detect it.

Inside the fortress.

“Truly magnificent,” murmured the Demon-God Cixiu, his gaze passing through the fortress and the endless void to fix on the distant Ancient Ruins. At this moment, the Ancient Ruins were like a colossal firework, sending massive spatial fragments in every direction.

“The Three Realms…”

Below, some of the alien True Gods ground their teeth in fury.

This had been their home!

They had originally followed the Lord of All Demons. When the Lord of All Demons was defeated, Lady Nuwa had not slaughtered them all. Instead, she had exiled them to the harsh, survival-crushing Ancient Ruins. They had struggled to propagate there, always hungering to counterattack the Three Realms, to enter that carefree, beautiful, safe world where space didn’t randomly tear apart and storms of spatial fragments didn’t rage.

Though they had loathed the brutal environment of the Ancient Ruins, it was still their home.

Now, even their last home was gone.

Each of these alien True Gods carried a cave-world holding a few clans and tribes, but that was only a tiny fraction. The vast majority could not be saved and could only perish with the Ancient Ruins.

“Brightmoon of the North… Fuxi… Houyi… Tathagata.” The alien True Gods engraved these names of hatred into their memories.

But even if Ji Ning and Houyi had known, they wouldn’t have cared. Given the chance, they would have annihilated every last one of these alien True Gods.

These aliens had always been enemies of the Three Realms, seeking to invade it.

The more of such enemies killed, the better!

“Master.” The red-bearded elder beside him quickly asked, “What now?”

“What now?” The Demon-God Cixiu said softly, “We have sacrificed enough. My territory is completely destroyed. But Fuxi, Brightmoon, and Houyi are simply too strong together… I can do nothing about it. That can’t be blamed on me. Now we wait and see what the Seamless Gate does.”

“Everyone, rest. It won’t be long. The final battle is coming soon.” The Demon-God Cixiu smiled. “That will be our true battlefield. Mm… It’s been so long since I’ve had a good, fierce slaughter. The last time was in the mountain valley… These natives don’t even have decent formations or treasures. In the final battle, they will have to trade their lives. They will all become my delicious prey, mm…” He licked his lips with his long tongue.

“The final battle.” The golden-armored, one-armed man nodded lightly.

On the path of cultivation, they had roamed the chaos, always fighting.

This Three Realms’ ‘Worldheart’ was something the Demon-God Cixiu was determined to obtain, even risking death. Once he repaid his debt of gratitude, he would be free to leave and walk his own path of cultivation.

The other five great servants were true slaves.

He was merely repaying a debt—barely a servant, but not a ‘slave.’

“Rumble…”

The Ancient Ruins were vast. The destruction lasted a full three months.

Houyi, Ji Ning, Fuxi, and the group of True Gods and Daofathers watched for those three months. When all was finally still, Fuxi examined the scene carefully and nodded. “All the worlds are destroyed. What remains of the Ancient Ruins are just some terrifying special environments—places like the Roaring Mountain, the Endless Sea, and so on. They are too stable, too sturdy to be destroyed even by the force of the Ancient Ruins’ collapse.”

Ji Ning swept his gaze across the scene and saw over a dozen such locations.

All were dreadfully stable, dangerous zones.

“The Ancient Ruins have been destroyed. Those aliens are now water without a source,” Houyi said calmly. “They cannot reproduce. If they show themselves in the final battle, we will fight them then.”

“Yes.” Fuxi nodded.

The Ancient Ruins were a harsh environment.

The Nuwa Camp had always worried that if the Seamless Gate lost, they and the remaining aliens would hide in the Ancient Ruins and pose a constant, lurking threat. That would mean the Three Realms would never know peace.

Now, the Ancient Ruins were gone.

If the Seamless Gate was defeated in the future… even if the Lord of All Demons was powerful enough to take some remnants and flee, without a place large enough to live and reproduce, the Seamless Gate would never grow strong again. It would only weaken. Meanwhile, the Nuwa Camp had the Three Realms, where they could propagate and produce new experts endlessly.

“Ji Ning.” Fuxi suddenly sent a mental transmission.

Ji Ning was startled. Everyone around was an ally—why was Fuxi using telepathy?

“What is it?” Ji Ning asked.

“Your strength now stands at the peak of the Three Realms—you are among the most elite. There are many secrets of the Nuwa Camp that you haven’t been told before. It is time I revealed them all. Perhaps… it might even help you increase your power further.” Fuxi looked at Ji Ning.

“Secrets of the Nuwa Camp?” Ji Ning’s heart stirred.

“Let’s return to the Allclans Hall first. Then you will come with me,” Fuxi said.

Fuxi was originally an Elder God, extremely close to Nuwa. He naturally knew every secret of the Nuwa Camp.

“Alright.” Ji Ning nodded.

Fuxi smiled. “Everyone, we have campaigned in the Ancient Ruins for thirty-nine years and destroyed the enemy’s nest. Now we can face them in open battle without worry. In a head-on fight, we have never feared anyone. Let’s go—back to the Allclans Hall.”

“Return to the Allclans Hall.”

The gathered Grand Powers tore through the void, stepping into a spatial passage leading back to the Allclans Hall in the Three Realms.

(End of this volume)

Preview—Next volume: ‘Final Battle’.

All the secrets of the Three Realms, the source of this great calamity—everything will be revealed in the twenty-third volume, ‘Final Battle’. Tomato has been gathering the clues the past few days. This volume will bring everything to light, so the writing has been a little slow. I ask for your understanding. I still owe you all one chapter (originally two; I repaid one on Friday). That remaining chapter will be made up next week.

Tomorrow begins the twenty-third volume, ‘Final Battle’!

It’s surreal. I remember Ji Ning stepping out of the Yan Mountains, and now we have reached the final battle of the Three Realms’ great calamity. Mm… I’ll also make one last plea for monthly votes—looks like it’s double-monthly-vote time. I hope you’ll all keep supporting Tomato. I will do my best to write well.