Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

A mere two days later, Ning had reached the Hegemonic level in the Dao of Water!

This was primarily because his Eternal Omega Sword Dao had propelled him to simply incredible heights of insight. It was like a towering skyscraper, allowing him to understand other Daos with far more ease. In recent years, he had continuously improved in many other Daos. This time, he was able to break through to the Hegemonic level in the Dao of Water with just one ‘blow’. However… even though he had reached the Hegemonic level, it still couldn’t compare to his Eternal Omega Sword Dao.

“The Blazesun Domain is filled with the power of the element of fire. Who would’ve thought that its wellspring is actually able to form a liquid stream which holds so many secrets of the Dao of Water? The way it has naturally formed has resulted in it completely merging the secrets of the Dao of Fire and the Dao of Water into itself. There’s no way to tell them apart.” Ning laughed, then his eyes suddenly lit up: “Why do I have the sudden feeling that I can merge the Dao of Water into my Sword Dao as well?”

Ning immediately sat down in the lotus position. His Sword Dao domain once more spread out to three hundred meters, pushing aside the liquid fire.

After Ning had reached Hegemony in the Dao of Water, he suddenly had the feeling that he was completely capable of infusing it into his Omega Sword Dao. This was something which happened as a matter of course, and as soon as he spent a bit of time meditating on it he immediately knew why.

“So… my path to Autarchy is actually different from that of the other Autarchs.” Ning was stunned. For the first time, he understood how he should break through to Autarchy. His lifespan was now limited, which meant he probably wouldn’t have the chance to do it… but he now knew what he should do!

From Hegemony to Autarchy… the paths which Autarch Bolin, Autarch Awakener, and all other Autarchs had taken were identical. They had first become Hegemons, then reached the Hegemonic level of understanding in other Daos as well! After gaining enough insight into Hegemonic Daos, they would finally and naturally break through to become Autarchs. At that point in time, they would reach the Daobirth level of ‘one Dao births many Daos’. It would naturally form a ‘Daobirth Essence’ which was capable of forming the prime essences of a universe.

Using this ‘Daobirth Essence’, the Autarchs were able to create alternate universes which would have prime essences that came from the ‘Daobirth Essence’ which the Autarch had devised.

“But I’m different from them,” Ning murmured. “Autarch Bolin… for him, his ‘one Dao’ which was the Dao of the Claw, while his ‘many Daos’ referred to all other Daos. They came to form a ‘Daobirth Essence’ which could also be referred to as a ‘Claw Daobirth Essence’. As for Autarch Awakener, his Dao was the Dao of Wind. He used it to reach the Daobirth level, and his ‘Daobirth Essence’ was the ‘Wind Daobirth Essence’.”

Ning had received Autarch Awakener’s legacy and had seen the Dao-guidance of Autarch Bolin. Thus, he knew that Autarchs were strongest in their own specific Daos. Autarch Bolin’s had been that of the ‘Claw Daobirth Essence’ as he was strongest in the Dao of the Claw; his ‘many Daos’ were only at the Hegemonic level. As for Autarch Awakener, he was most powerful in the Dao of the Wind, whereas all his other Daos were merely at the Hegemonic level.

“When they were Hegemons, all the Hegemonic Daos they mastered were all on equal footing. I, however, am different!”

Ning took a deep breath. “My Eternal Omega Sword Dao is simply overwhelmingly powerful. It far surpasses all other Daos, to the point where Daos such as a Hegemonic Dao of Water can be infused into it, making the Dao of Water part of my Eternal Omega Sword Dao! The more Hegemonic Daos I infuse into my Eternal Omega Sword Dao, the more massive and powerful it will become. After it accumulates enough, it will then undergo a fundamental evolution and catapult to a new level… an Autarch-level Omega Dao.”

Ning finally understood. If he became an Autarch, he would be an Omega Dao Autarch, the most powerful of all Autarchs! Alas… Ning knew that this would be an extremely difficult path to walk. The other Autarchs ‘only’ had to master multiple Hegemonic Daos, then gain an epiphany and then break through. He not only needed to master those Daos, he also needed to figure out how to fully infuse them into his Eternal Omega Sword Dao! The process of infusion would be far more difficult than merely mastering those Hegemonic Daos.

If he wanted to infuse those other Daos and then evolve his Eternal Omega Dao, it would take time, luck, and many insights. The problem was, his lifespan was extremely limited; he only had a few thousand chaos cycles left. This wasn’t going to be even close to enough!

“Although I know how I can become an Autarch, I don’t have enough time. What a pity.” Ning slowly shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll first completely fuse the Dao of Water into my Eternal Omega Sword Dao.”

Ning immediately closed his eyes and focused all of his efforts into this task.





* * *





Book 39, Chapter 22 - Arrival


Time flowed on one day at a time.

“How long is Daolord Darknorth going to be training for?” Patriarch Treewind stared at the wellspring of fire at the very center of that giant flaming sea. There was an absolutely enormous vortex there, and at the center of the vortex there was a white-robed figure seated in the lotus position a few hundred meters deep.

“As I see it,” Imperator Jade Rainbow sent mentally, “Given that Daolord Darknorth has failed the Daomerge and has a limited lifespan, what’s the point of training? By now, he’s probably second to only the Autarchs themselves in power. If I was Daolord Darknorth, I’d spend the rest of my days wandering about and visiting all of those places of legend. I’d especially want to visit the legendary Sithelands. I’d definitely wander through that entire place. After doing so, I would be able to die contentedly.”

“Hmph. That’s why you aren’t Daolord Darknorth,” Patriarch Treewind snickered.

Imperator Jade Rainbow was startled by this comment, but moments later he nodded in agreement: “That’s true. He’s already failed his Daomerge, but he’s still intoxicated by cultivation… no wonder he was able to reach such heights.”

“Woohoo! Master, this place is awesome! C’mon, let’s have fun together!” The Flamewing God was happily rolling around in the sea of fire. Every so often, it would swim over to Ning, but when it saw how Ning was still meditating silently it didn’t dare to actually disturb Ning. Instead, it turned to wander through the other parts of the great sea.

Azurefiend, Hegemon Goodsong, Nuwa, Su Youji, and the others all watched this marvelous scene from afar.

“Such an awesome amount of power. If someone was able to take full control over it, most likely not even an Autarch would be able to withstand him,” Hegemon Goodsong said with a sigh.

“There’s no way it can be controlled. That’s the natural energy of the Chaosverse itself,” Su Youji said.

“Darknorth truly is formidable,” Nuwa praised. “He’s able to force the ‘water’ of the flaming sea to a distance of three hundred meters, just by using his Sword Dao domain.”

“But three hundred meters is nothing,” Azurefiend said, “Nothing more than a tiny little part of the entire flaming sea.”

……

They also benefited from their observations, but only Ning was at a high enough level of insight that he could understand the functioning and the mysteries of this place, the wellspring of the Blazesun Domain. Thanks to this place, it had taken him merely two days to improve his mastery of the Dao of Water to the Hegemonic level.