Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

Ning rubbed his head. He felt as though he had suddenly adopted a child. “Alright. Let’s go back to the Flamedragon Realmverse,” Ning said.

“Darknorth, should we finish off Winterflame first?” Azurefiend suddenly said.

“No rush. Winterflame is like meat that’s already on the chopping block, but we would need Flamewing to actually kill him. Once Flamewing attacks, Winterflame would definitely spread the news to everyone before he dies.” Ning shook his head. “Best not to introduce too many variables into the mix for now. I’m planning to use Flamewing against the Icepeak Army.”

“The Icepeak Army dares to attack you, Master? Hmph. Leave them to me. I’ll eat them all.” Flamewing held the Icepeak Army in no regard at all. Aside from the Autarchs and the Sithe Exalts, Flamewing truly feared nothing and no one whatsoever.

……

The Flamedragon Realmverse. An empty region within the imperial palace of the Brightshore Kingdom. Hegemon Brightshore’s vast form was located here.

“Eh?” Hegemon Brightshore slowly opened his eyes, a hint of confusion in them. “Why do I suddenly have a strange premonition that something major has just happened within the Flamedragon Realmverse? The last time I felt something like this was when Crimsonwave Temple appeared. The fruits within it were quite useful to Hegemons and Emperors, and the temple itself is tremendously important.”

“This time… it doesn’t feel as though a treasure has emerged. Rather, I can sense a strange sort of pressure.” Hegemon Brightshore was puzzled. It was as though something had just happened which caused a wave of invisible pressure that pressed down on his heart, causing him alarm.

……

When one had reached certain heights in cultivation, one would be able to sense when something incredibly important to them had just happened! Hegemons were second only to Autarchs when it came to actual insights into the Dao. The so-called ‘Otherverse Lords’ were nothing more than Hegemons who had managed to take control over an otherverse. With regards to the Dao, Hegemons and Otherverse Lords were on the same level. This was true even for figures like Realmslord Windgrace or the Lonely King, who had managed to take control of terrifyingly powerful Sithe war machines.

“Eh? What just happened in the Flamedragon Realmverse? I feel my heart clenching for no reason, as though something terrifying just happened.” Hegemon Windrain of the Aberrant special lifeforms was awoken from his meditations. He began to worry.

……

“My senses can’t be deceiving me. Something has to have happened in the Flamedragon Realmverse. I’ll go talk to Brightshore and Windrain and see if they know what just happened.” Hegemon Netherlily of the Ancient cultivators felt rather uneasy. In the past, the truly supreme powers of the Flamedragon Realmverse had always been the three of them. They would always discuss any major events that happened.

……

Ning had successfully resolved the formations, unshackling the Flamewing God and bringing it to the Flamedragon Realmverse with him into Vastheaven Palace. The only ones in the Flamedragon Realmverse who could sense that this had happened were the three Hegemons.

The major powers of other realmverses were simply too far away, and this matter was of negligible impact to them. They naturally couldn’t sense anything at all. However… there was one major power in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance outside the Flamedragon Realmverse who was able to sense something. This was the true leader and most powerful member of the alliance… Realmslord Windgrace!





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Book 38, Chapter 13 - Emperor Waveshift Returns


The Hiddenfiend Realmverse. The Blacksun.

An old man was seated atop an extremely slick boulder within a secluded courtyard. This old man had a large, tousled beard and mussed-up hair. His eyebrows were so messy that they were growing into a unibrow, giving him a very unkempt appearance. However, his face was extremely calm. His eyes were closed, and he just sat there silently in the lotus position. Each time he entered this form of silent meditation, it would last for varying amount of times. Sometimes, he could sit there for more than ten thousand chaos cycles.

Realmslord Windgrace enjoyed sitting quietly like this. When meditating, his spirit felt free and unencumbered. All sorts of thoughts and insights flowed through him. It was like both thinking and not-thinking at the same time.

At his level of insight, treasures which assisted in cultivation were of no further use. He had simply been training for far too long; he had already made breakthroughs in everything he possibly could. Right now, what he needed was a true epiphany… but true epiphanies could not be achieved via any treasures at all. The Autarch’s stone dais which Ning used simply allowed him to emulate a quasi-epiphany state that allowed him to train at incredibly faster speeds, but there was nothing it could do to allow him to breach a true bottleneck.

Once one had reached a bottleneck, no treasures would be of any use in assisting you in the breakthrough. Only insights and epiphanies would suffice.

“Eh?” An invisible tendril of power suddenly snaked its way through his empty spirit like a premonition. Realmslord Windgrace suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of surprise within them. Moments later, he regained his usual calm, but he frowned in thought: “I have the feeling that a terrifying force has just emerged, one which even I am incapable of controlling. And yet, I can sense that it should be connected to me. Is it within the Hiddenfiend Realm? Or is it elsewhere in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance?”

The Sixteen Realmverses Alliance was his territory. Even a force as arrogant as the Icepeak Army wanted to first verify that Daolord Darknorth didn’t have a connection to Realmslord Windgrace before taking action. Even then, they chose to sneak into the Flamedragon Realmverse and would only act against Ji Ning and Ji Ning alone! They didn’t want to cause too much trouble. This was a testament to what a preeminent power Realmslord Windgrace was.

Generally speaking, the likes of Realmslord Windgrace or the Lonely King wouldn’t get involved in minor squabbles. Avoiding causing too much trouble was the key!

“If even I am incapable of controlling it… what could it be?” Realmslord Windgrace was puzzled. He immediately began to engage in some Numerancy divinations.

He had been a Hegemon for far, far too long; he was far more ancient that even Hegemon Brightshore. He had been a legendary figure even during the Dawn War, and he had been given guidance by more than one Autarch. He had reached an incredibly high level of insight into multiple Daos, and had mastered three Hegemonic Daos! However, the Dao of Numerancy was simply far too difficult to master. He had yet to reach even the Archon level in Numerancy; in fact, he was far from it. Most likely, he was merely on par with the level which Daolord Badlands would reach once the latter became a Daolord of the Fourth Step. Still, he was able to divine a few things.

“It is connected to me, and it is indeed something within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance. However, no further details can be divined.” Realmslord Windgrace frowned. The uneasy feeling in his heart made it impossible for him to meditate calmly any further.