Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

Ning arose from the altar. Even before the Daomerge had began, he had already prepared himself for the possibility of failure.

“For one who has found the Dao in the morning, death in the evening is nothing. I may have failed, but my failure has allowed me to find the true Eternal Omega Sword Dao. Compared to many other cultivators, I’m quite lucky. Nothing in the universe will go exactly as one hopes.” Ning’s gaze was distant. He murmured, “Yu Wei… sorry. I still failed in the end…”

Ning didn’t care too much that he had failed the Daomerge and would perish. Given how long he had cultivated for, why would he fear death? As for his family, he had already spent an extremely long period of time by the side of his parents and his daughter. The only one he felt a debt towards was his wife, Yu Wei.

“I thought that I was invincible, that I could do anything and everything. But in the end, there was a limit to what I could accomplish. My road has come to an end.” Ning waved his hand, causing a black jade stone to appear before him. This jade stone had already been cut to be roughly as tall as Ning himself.

Ning stretched out his right hand, gently stroking the surface of the jade. Sword-light appeared from the tips of his fingers, and as it swept past the jade, tiny bits of jade dust flew everywhere.

Slowly, the figure of a black-robed maiden became formed from the jade stone. Her features truly were dazzlingly beautiful, and her aura was quite extraordinary.

A hint of a smile appeared around Ning’s lips. His wife, Yu Wei, truly had been a dazzling and beautiful person. She had been the most beautiful member of the Black-White College.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Ning’s fingers continued to flicker across the jade stone, causing the sculpture to become more and more distinct. The jade Yu Wei’s hair seemed to flutter, and her eyes stared lovingly at Ning.

Suddenly, Ning came to a halt and stepped back.

The white-robed Ning and the black-robed Yu Wei stared at each other, their gazes meeting in the air. It was almost as though she was still alive.

Moments later, Ning regained his composure. With but a thought, he caused the sculpture of the black-robed Yu Wei to fly towards him while shrinking to become palm-sized. As it flew towards Ning’s chest, a string suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pierced through it. It hung inside Ning’s clothes like a necklace, pressed against his bosom.

Ning gently stroked his chest. “Yu Wei… accompany me on the final steps of my journey.” Ning then waved his hand, causing all six Northbow swords to appear before him.

“Quintessences, arise!” With but a thought, Ning transformed the quintessences within his six Lifeblood weapons, upgrading them from the fourth-step Daolord-level Omega Sword Dao to the Eternal Omega Sword Dao.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The six Northbow swords all emitted a keening sound as sword-light flared around them, revealing a terrifying sharpness. The light circulated across them, revealing that each and every one of them was changing and evolving from inside out. They immediately skyrocketed to the Universe treasure level! A good while later, the light completely vanished from them. Their power was now so reserved that they were like ordinary pieces of wood… but in truth, they had already become the deadliest weapons in all the Chaosverse.

This was because the quintessence cores within them had been created by the Eternal Omega Sword Dao, something which had never existed before. The Dao of the Sword was a Dao meant for battle and slaughter. In terms of killing power, these six swords had already vastly outstripped all other Universe treasures.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! All six swords flew back into the sheath on Ning’s back.

……

Vastheaven Palace.

“That aura of might is weakening.”

“How can this be?”

“But…” Emperor Solesky, Hegemon Azurefiend, the Flamewing God, Pillsaint, and the others were all shocked. Su Youji’s face was completely ashen and devoid of all color.

“Master.”

“Senior apprentice-brother.” Ning’s students and ‘fellow disciples’ were all frantic as well.

In the air outside Vastheaven Palace were Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, Hegemon Netherlily, Lord Wulf, the Black Emperors, Daoist Bluestone, Emperor Goldisle, and the other Eternal Emperors. Some sighed. Some shook their heads. Some smiled with delight. Some had ugly looks on their faces.

All of them had their own thoughts and considerations… but all of them knew that Daolord Darknorth had just failed the Daomerge.

They had seen far too many Daolords attempt the Daomerge. If a Daolord succeeded, there was no way his aura would plummet like that. In addition, they would also sense an aura of true eternity about that cultivator.

“Darknorth, a dazzling and peerless Daolord, has come to an end just like that.” Hegemon Brightshore shook his head and sighed.

“Daomerges for Omega Daos are simply too difficult,” Hegemon Windrain said.

“Go ahead and report it to Realmslord Windgrace,” Hegemon Netherlily said.

The three of them had long ago received orders from Realmslord Windgrace to monitor the situation, and so they all began to send word back.

“Hurry up and inform his Majesty that Daolord Darknorth has already failed the Daomerge.” The distant Lord Wulf could already foresee the grand war that was about to erupt, but he didn’t dare to delay in the slightest.

……

The Hiddenfiend Realmverse. The Blacksun.

A bearded, disheveled-looking old man walked out of a courtyard. He raised his head to stare into the void, his eyes filled with light. “Daolord Darknorth… he was such an incredibly talented figure, but he still failed. The war against the Lonely King shall come next.”

……

The endless Great Dark.

A large group of onyx humanoids were clustered together within a realmship. Alongside them were two golden humanoids who were standing to each side of a silver throne… and a third golden humanoid dressed in silver robes who was seated on that throne.

His gaze was as cold as ice, and the blood-red diamond in his forehead was beginning to change.

In truth, this man had long ago led the entire Icepeak Army to a place within the Great Dark that was extremely close to the Flamedragon Realmverse. He had been silently waiting for the signal, as he knew that if he was to fight against Realmslord Windgrace he couldn’t afford to get there late.

“Your Majesty, Lord Wulf sends word. Daolord Darknorth has failed the Daomerge!” a gray-robed Emperor said respectfully.

“As expected, he failed.” The Lonely King rested his arms on the armrests of his throne, then said softly, “Windgrace… let’s see if you win or if I win.”

“Head out!”

BOOM! The realmship tore through spacetime and immediately began to warp towards the Flamedragon Realmverse.





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Book 39, Chapter 1 - A Daolord Who Failed the Daomerge


Vastheaven Palace. The Darknorth Estate.

Emperor Solesky, Su Youji, Hegemon Azurefiend, and the Flamewing God were all staring at the sealed gates to Ji Ning’s estate.

Rumble… the gates to the estate swung open, followed by a white-robed youth with a black sheath on his back emerging from within.

Everything seemed so ordinary, as though nothing at all had happened… but Solesky, Azurefiend, and the others all sighed silently. All powerful experts were able to sense the tiny ripples generated by a decaying truesoul. Even though the ripples were incredibly minute, they were constant and continuous. Even though Ning’s truesoul was unfathomably more powerful than an ordinary mortal’s, given enough time it would still be extinguished.

“Master.” Flamewing raised its giant head to stare at Ning rather desperately.