Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

Ning returned to sit in the lotus position atop his cloud, with Hegemon Netherlily, Hegemon Windrain, and Hegemon Brightshore by his side. The four of them were seated the highest.

“B-but…” Boundless and Muse continued to stand behind Ning. They stared at the three awesome Hegemons next to them, then at the many Eternal Emperors below them. Every single person here emanated an aura of eternity. Even the most foolish of World-level cultivators would immediately understand that the many major powers standing subserviently before them were all Eternal Emperors… and so, Boundless and Muse instantly understood that they had just become apprenticed to the legendary Daolord Darknorth.

“W-we…” Boundless and Muse exchanged a glance. Both felt rather light-headed. The auras of the Hegemons and the many Eternal Emperors present were simply too oppressive.

“Master,” Boundless whispered softly.

“From this day forth, you shall be the fifth and sixth disciples under my tutelage,” Ning said.

Boundless and Muse instantly felt excited. Boundless asked, “Master, I heard you are taking on ten disciples in total?”

“No. Misinformation certainly spreads quickly.” Ning shook his head.

“All of you young fellows have been spreading all sorts of wild rumors around.” Hegemon Brightshore laughed merrily, “For this event, Darknorth is accepting disciples on behalf of his own teacher, which means those ten are technically just his junior apprentice brothers and sisters who he will teach in his teacher’s stead. As for the two of you? You are Daolord Darknorth’s personal disciples.”

Boundless and Muse turned to stare at the white-robed, white-haired old man next to them. They felt a sense of closeness and warmth radiating from him.

“Darknorth, how many disciples do you plan on selecting?” Brightshore asked. “If you are done picking, I’m going to start.”

“I’m done.” Ning nodded. “I’ll only choose these two from this event. I’ll pick ten junior apprentice-brothers and sisters at the very end.”

Although quite a few geniuses had taken part in this event, the only ones who had truly moved and intrigued Ning were Boundless and Muse. He felt as though he saw himself and Yu Wei in them, and so he had taken them on as his disciples! At Ning’s level, taking on a disciple was more a matter of personal feelings than anything else. For example, his second disciple ‘Green Bamboo’ Yang Quding had been nothing more than an ordinary mortal.

Ning didn’t keep his words private at all, allowing everyone to hear them. All the Emperors below him turned to stare towards Boundless and Muse with changed looks in their eyes. These two lucky kids! They don’t even know how lucky they are. Their master was someone who no one in all the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance would dare to offend, a peerless Daolord who caused even Hegemons to feel dread. He had set up this great tournament which covered the entire Flamedragon Realmverse… and in the end, the only two disciples he had chosen were the two of them.





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Book 38, Chapter 31 - A Distant Journey


Finally, this great Flamedragon Realmverse event came to an end. The Hegemons and Emperors all departed one by one, with the Vastheaven Everworld regaining its usual calm.

Within Vastheaven Palace.

“Greetings to you, senior apprentice-brother Darknorth.” Ten World-level cultivators were present. There were youths, elders, aliens, Aberrant special lifeforms, and even an Ancient cultivator. They all bowed respectfully, their gazes filled with unabashed excitement. They had finally been selected! It must be remembered that there were some geniuses who took part in this competition that were just as talented as them. A few were even more talented!

“From this day forth, you are now honorary disciples of Emperor Mirrorsnow,” Ning said. “Our master, Emperor Mirrorsnow, has long ago departed from the Flamedragon Realmverse and gone off adventuring, which is why I shall teach you in his stead. However, in the end cultivation must come from the self. Thus, I will only provide each of you with ten sessions of individualized guidance. After the ten sessions are over, I will not provide you with any further guidance until you become Daolords. Understood?”

“Understood.” Although these World-level cultivators were all secretly surprised, they remained quite calm. They were all geniuses and all quite proud. They usually weren’t all that impressed by most major powers, but they were filled with almost fanatical devotion towards Daolord Darknorth. This was why they had striven so hard to become apprenticed to him. It certainly wasn’t because of ‘Emperor Mirrorsnow’! Not even the chance to become Emperor Mirrorsnow’s personal disciples, rather than just honorary disciples, was nearly as attractive as the chance to have Daolord Darknorth personally instruct them.

Ten sessions? They felt certain that there was a reason why Daolord Darknorth had said this!

“Good.” Ning smiled upon seeing their reactions. “The ten of you are all extremely talented in the Dao of the Sword. Three of you have fused Supreme Daos together, while the other seven have all mastered multiple individual Supreme Daos. All I really need to do is provide you with some guidance. In the end, it will be up to you to walk the path between life and death as you become Samsara Daolords.”

Disciples weren’t necessarily capable of learning everything a teacher had to offer; in life, you had to make do with what materials you had to work with. Every single Samsara Daolord had to find his or her own Dao. Ning felt that it would be quite incredible if even a single one of his personal disciples or ‘junior apprentice-brothers’ and ‘junior apprentice-sisters’ ended up embarking on the path of an Omega Dao. The far more likely result would be that none of them would find that path.

The Omega Dao simply couldn’t be taught. You had to go find it on your own! As a wise teacher, Ning knew that all he could do was guide them on their paths. Fortunately for them, Ning’s own path was that of the Omega Sword Dao. His Dao was like a tall, sturdily-built house, and his guidance was the best guidance possible.

“This is the world of the Sword Shack.” Ning waved his hand, causing ten black loops that glowed with runic lines to fly towards the ten.

“The Sword Shack is filled with countless sword-arts. Aside from the [Heartseal] sword-art of our master, Emperor Mirrorsnow, it also includes all foundations for the Dao of the Sword,” Ning said. In other words… it contained the foundations for his own Omega Dao. This was why he dared to make the claim that it contained ‘all foundations for the Dao of the Sword’.

“You can train in seclusion within the Sword Shack, but you must be tempered via adventuring through the outside world. Perhaps you will then be able to understand and find a path which truly belongs to you.”

“Thank you, senior apprentice-brother.” The ten disciples were all delighted.

“You are the only ones permitted inside the Sword Shack. If anyone else tries to bind it, the estate-world inside will be automatically destroyed,” Ning said. “Thus, you must not give it to anyone else.”

“Understood.” Many of the ten mused that only a fool would give something like this to another!