Book 21, The Bloodlotus Blooms, Chapter 2 – Understanding the Heart
In truth, the general of the Mystice Knights had taken a dislike towards Transheaven Palace for quite some time now. This was nothing more than a final, motivating spark. The general really did like his disciple, ‘Bloodfeud’; he felt that Bloodfeud was his perfect successor. Bloodfeud was extremely talented, but had been held back by his hatred. Once he gained his vengeance, Bloodfeud would probably undergo a true transformation, rising like a phoenix from a pile of ashes. Thus, he decided to wipe out Transheaven Palace at one blow.
“Flee! Flee!”
“So long as I survive, the Li clan will remain.” Upon seeing what was happening, the white-bearded old man no longer had any more will to fight, and he immediately began to flee.
The silver-armored knight, in turn, slaughtered through all who attempted to oppose him, doing his very best to close the range. Morale began to plummet as the guardians of Castle Tianxun saw their lord begin to flee, and they began to flee as well.
The Mystice Knights began an absolute ma.s.sacre of the survivors. Bloodfeud’s order was for them to kill everyone here, leaving none behind.
“Li Tianxun, stop fighting.” An ancient voice rang out.
Two streaks of light flew towards him from far away. It was the two elders…and behind them, the corpse of Immortal Omniscient fell towards the ground.
“No…”
The white-bearded old man stared in despair at the two armored elders who had appeared in the air in front of him.
“Bloodfeud, he’s yours,” one of the elders said.
“Thank you, Elder.” The silver-armored knight walked forward, filled with a murderous aura.
But right at this moment…
The world suddenly turned silent.
All the cries, the shouts, the screams, the begs for mercy, the sobs…they all vanished. It was completely silent now.
The Mystice Knight stabbing a spear through the air…the mother crouched in front of her child, blocking sabers and swords for him…the silver-armored knight whose eyes were filled with hatred…the two calm elders in the air…all of them had looks of utter shock in their eyes.
They realized…that they were completely unable to move.
Not even the two elders in midair could move.
“Alas.” A single sigh echoed within the world.
A black-robed youth suddenly appeared in the distance. He had been watching from far away, but with a single step he arrived in the air above Castle Tianxun.
Everyone present was utterly terrified, including the silver-armored knight and the two elders. Not even their general, who was said to be one of the top three experts of the entire world, was even close to being as terrifying as this black-robed youth. The black-robed youth stood there, and it seemed as though he had become the center of this entire world. The world itself seemed to shudder at his presence, as though he could effortlessly destroy it.
“You are the leader of these knights?” The black-robed Ji Ning stood in front of the white-bearded old man and the silver-armored knight, aiming his question at the knight.
The knight suddenly realized that he could now speak. He nodded. “Yes.”
“You are the leader of this castle?” Ning looked at the white-bearded old man.
The white-bearded old man also realized that he could now speak. He immediately said, “Senior, the Mystice Knights destroyed my clan and murdered countless innocents. Please give me justice, senior!”
Ning looked towards the silver-armored knight.
“Him? He wants ‘justice’? The entirety of Castle Tianxun is a den of devils. All of them deserve to die.” The silver-armored knight’s eyes were filled with hatred.
Ning did a quick scan of their souls, quickly sorting through the memories of the silver-armored knight and the white-bearded old man. He now completely understood the istuation, as well as how much hatred this silver-armored knight held in his heart.
“Our Castle Tianxun has brought blessings to many. Although we are many in number, resulting in the occasional evildoer appearing, you can ask anyone you like about our reputation, senior.” The white-bearded old man knew that this youth before him was his only hope for survival, and tears began to flow out of his eyes. “d.a.m.n these Mystice Knights. They didn’t even spare the children.”
“There’s no need to discuss your ‘reputation’.” Ning glanced at the white-bearded old man, his gaze very calm. “Lord of Castle Tianxun…leader of Blackwind Cave.”
The white-bearded old man’s face turned ashen.
It was true. Blackwind Cave was indeed a secret ident.i.ty of Castle Tianxun. Every single male child would be trained, and in fact from the age of three they would be taught to kill. However, as the saying goes, a rabbit doesn’t eat the gra.s.s around his hole. It was true that in the surrounding area, Castle Tianxun’s reputation was sterling, and they had indeed done many good deeds. But in other places…they were the utterly vile and rapacious Blackwind Cave! They had robbed and murdered countless people, which was why Castle Tianxun was so wealthy.
But very few knew this secret!
The only reason Bloodfeud knew the secret was because he was one of their victims. After he became a Mystice Knight, he learned the full truth.
“All of them deserve to die. All of them!” The silver-armored knight said demonically.
“But the children? The women who have never killed a single soul? Those infants who are still dressed in swaddling clothes?” Ning looked at him.
“Pull up gra.s.s by the roots.” The silver-armored knight looked at Ning. “I know you are strong, senior. I’ve already taken my revenge. If you wish to kill me or punish me, that’s entirely up to you. I only ask that the others not be implicated as a result. My brothers in the Mystice Knights only attacked because of my orders. I’ve been gripped by hatred for countless years. Now that I’ve taken revenge…I’m satisfied.” The silver-armored knight stood there resolutely.
Ning shook his head.
Whoosh. Ning waved his hand, and all of the children and women within Castle Tianxun were drawn into a minor world estate-treasure which Ning kept with him.
And then, Ning himself vanished as well.
“Eh?” Everyone sensed that they were now able to move again.
“He didn’t kill me?” The silver-armored knight was momentarily stunned, but he then fell to his knees and kowtowed solemnly thrice.
As for the white-bearded old man, he was completely and truly stunned.
The two elders had solemn looks on their faces. They hurriedly urged the silver-armored knight, “Bloodfeud, hurry up and deal with Li Tianxun. We need to leave this place right away and report today’s events to the general.”
“Right.” The silver-armored knight nodded, then immediately strode forward. The white-bearded old man closed his eyes.
Sssssshnk. The spear stabbed forward, piercing through the white-bearded old man’s chest, then retracted. As it did, blood spurted out. The white-bearded old man opened his eyes as his body fell powerlessly to the ground…and then he began to laugh wildly. Moments later…all signs of life fled his body.
A short while later, the three thousand Mystice Knights immediately departed from this place under cover of night.
“The amount of hatred and evil within the Three Realms is becoming greater and greater.”
As Ning wandered this world, he could sense that this entire world was filled with hatred and vileness.
His two clones had already spent more than 160 years in Undermoon Lake. He had no way of finding out or sensing what had happened within Undermoon Lake, but he was still certain that they were alive. If one died, the other clones would immediately sense it and be able to recreate it.
“Ji Ning, your priority is rescuing your wife. There’s no need for you to take part in the Realmwars for now.”
“Master, my wife is my wife, while the war is the war. These are two separate things.”
“Don’t worry. When the final war for karmic luck begins, we’ll have you take part. As for now? You won’t have much of an impact on the overall situation, so you should focus on your training. f.u.xi, Suiren, and the others all view you with great favor. If you can become a True G.o.d or Daofather before the Endwar, you’ll be of true a.s.sistance.”
“Alright.”
These were the words which Subhuti had said to Ning. Ever since then, Ning had roamed the Three Realms. He had seen many things in his travels. The Realmwars came one after the other, and the Seamless Gate grew increasingly berserk in his actions. Due to their increasing degree of influence, even the mortals were greatly impacted as all sorts of murders, feuds, and unjust acts grew increasingly common.
Ning had seen too many things. He understood that in truth, all of this was due to the provocations of the Seamless Gate, which sought to transform the previous days of peace into utter chaos.
The Seamless Gate delighted in chaos. But in a time of chaos, the lives of ordinary mortals were like gra.s.s to be trampled upon!
In addition, Ning had always felt that children were innocent. When he had been young, he had tortured to death a member of the Riverside clan for the sake of avenging Spring Gra.s.s, but he had spared the man’s child, ‘Riverside Cai’. Want revenge? Grow powerful and come after me! But in the end, that child Cai had only been able to become a Zifu Disciple…and then, Cai had died in the chaos the Seamless Gate had created.
He saw mortals in all their states. He saw through their small kindnesses and their petty feuds, their grudges and their gratefulness.
Ning couldn’t explain how it made him feel, but he could sense that his heart was slowly transforming.
Night.
The black-robed Ning was seated in the lotus position atop a stone that was located at the very peak of an ordinary mountain. In front of him hovered a Goldstar Bead of the Heavens, divine runes flickering atop its surface. Ning spent most of his time a.n.a.lyzing the [Five Treasures] and the Nine Chaos Seals. By comparing and contrasting the two, he was able to gain insights faster. In order to study the Nine Chaos Seals, he had to view the goldstar beads.
“Eh?” Suddenly, Ning sensed something.
“Come out.”
Instantly, a dazzling horde of stars seemed to appear in the air as all 3600 goldstar beads emerged. As Ning sent out his Immortal energy, they began to glow brightly, the divine runes on their surface changing nonstop. Slowly, arcane auras began to manifest above each of the goldstar beads, causing them to emit auras of incredible profundity.