Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

“I’ve woken up. The Daomerge, eh?” Ning stared at the distant dawn sun, then murmured to himself: “Then I’ll deal with the Daomerge first! I’ll take things one step at a time. After the Daomerge, I’ll then become an Autarch.”


“Senior apprentice-sister… don’t blame me if I fail.” Ning chuckled, then soared into the skies. Rumble… the Black-White College and the city of Stillwater both began to break apart. The entire Grand Xia began to break apart, quickly dissipating into nothingness.

Ning stared at the two figures waiting for him in the distant void.

“Master,” Whitethaw called out respectfully.

“Darknorth.” Hegemon Azurefiend was slightly startled. He could sense that Daolord Darknorth seemed to have undergone a tremendous transformation. His very aura had changed. In the past, Ning had a certain radiant dynamism to him. He had been a dazzling figure who was filled with hope… but now, his gaze was much calmer and more distant. It was like an endlessly deep sea. There was nothing which could shake his heart.

Reversing spacetime to revive Yu Wei had been a failure. All of that was over now, and he only had one thought in his mind… to continue walking his path of cultivation with no remorse and no regrets, unto death itself.

Either he would succeed in reuniting with Yu Wei, or he would fail and die, reuniting with her in the prime essences of the Chaosverse.

“Azurefiend, do you think I’ll succeed in the Daomerge?” Ning laughed.

Azurefiend was startled upon seeing Ning’s smile. He immediately said, “It’ll be extremely hard… but then again, the number of people who became Daolords of the Fourth Step via an Omega Dao is miniscule. The fact that they failed doesn’t mean you will fail as well, Darknorth.”

“Just so.” Ning laughed.

“But you are too stubborn and attached. Remember what Autarch Titanos said; excessive obsession can result in self-destruction,” Azurefiend said.

Ning nodded and smiled. “But you know, he left out part of the saying. The full saying is, excessive obsession can result in great accomplishments, but it can also result in self-destruction. I have the feeling… that I’m the type who will have great accomplishments.”





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Book 38, Chapter 6 - Icepeak Army


“Haha, I also believe that you’ll accomplish great things!” Azurefiend looked at Ji Ning approvingly. He knew that some cultivators with deep obsessions who suffered setbacks would be so damaged by them that their Dao-hearts could crumble. This wasn’t rare! Even Autarch Titanos had been worried that this dazzlingly talented Daolord would perish out of despair, which was why he voiced that final possibility of using an Omega Dao to become an Autarch. However, everyone knew how remote those chances were.

“I wish to remain in the Three Realms for a period of time,” Ning said. “After I have fully mastered those formations, I’ll return to the Jadefire Realm.” The Flamewing God was in a state of slumber; to such a creature, a nap lasting one or two chaos cycles was nothing special at all. In the end, Ning would have to rely on his Primaltwin in the Azureflower Estate to unlock those formations.

“As you desire,” Azurefiend smiled. “I’m going to spend some time wandering your homeland as well. It has been quite some time since I’ve experienced the mortal life.”

Ning nodded. “Remember, you are not permitted to kill.”

“Then what if someone tries to bully me?” Azurefiend stared.

“Capture them first. You can kill them if I give the nod,” Ning said. He refused to allow a Hegemon to run wild within his homeland.

“Fine. As you insist.” Azurefiend felt quite helpless. As a retainer, he had to obey orders.

Ning chuckled, then began to walk towards the ‘Three Realms Domain’ with Whitethaw behind him. The Three Realms Domain referred to the region of 3900 chaosworlds which had been established by Ning, Subhuti, Windfiend, and the other major powers.

“How beautiful.” Ning stared at the thousands of chaosworlds that were organized into that enormous triangular formation. They were like a host of flickering stars in the sky, glowing with dazzling light. Ning nodded slowly. “Later, it’ll be time to further perfect this formation.” Stabilizing the Three Realms Domain was a long-term endeavor.

……

A territory that was extremely far away from the Flamedragon Realmverse.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. An endless black fog had spread out to cover a deep chasm, and at the bottom of the chasm was the residence of a famed Otherverse Lord known as ‘Lord Skyjade’.

Swoosh. Swoosh. An enormous tear in space appeared above the abyss, with three towering figures exiting the tear.

They were all onyx humanoids with icy expressions on their faces. Unlike ‘ordinary’ humanoids, their bodies were covered with strange silver-white diagrams. Just standing in the air above the abyss, they emanated an endless aura of cold that swept out and caused even the endless black mist below them to freeze over.

“We finally arrived.” The three onyx humanoids all smiled slightly.

“Lord Skyjade, come out and meet with us,” one of the onyx humanoids called out loudly. His voice boomed out, echoing into the abyss deep within them.

Swoosh. A man dressed in dark golden robes walked out from the abyss, emanating an aura of endless might which suppressed the freezing cold. Lord Skyjade had handsome features and an extraordinary aura. He was the master of this realmverse and a nearby otherverse, making him far superior to ordinary Otherverse Lords.

“Hmph. Why have you sought me out?” Lord Skyjade’s voice held a tinge of distaste, but he managed to suppress much of his anger as he spoke.

“What’s wrong, Lord Skyjade? Do you detest the Icepeak Army?” one of the onyx humanoids mocked.

“If you don’t wish to speak with us and wish to put on airs in front of us, we can have our general, ‘Lord Wulf’, come and speak to you instead,” another onyx humanoid said.

Lord Skyjade frowned. He did feel a great deal of trepidation when dealing with the legendary Icepeak Army. “Cut the crap. What do you want, exactly?”

“While the three of us were out adventuring, we suddenly heard word of a distance place known as the Flamedragon Realmverse. Supposedly, an incredibly talented Daolord has managed to procure a realmship. Alas… as you might know, our Icepeak Army is extremely powerful and has multiple realmships, but our general Lord Wulf doesn’t have one despite his incredible power. Now, a Daolord does. Isn’t this quite irritating? Thus, we are planning to head to the Flamedragon Realmverse and force that Daolord to hand the realmship over,” a skinny onyx humanoid said.

“I heard that the Icepeak Army has a total of five realmships, while your general Lord Wulf is incredibly strong. Why doesn’t he have a realmship to call his own?” Lord Skyjade feigned surprise.

“Hmph.” The three onyx humanoids snorted, not wanting to explain. Clearly, even the mighty Icepeak Army had its own internal squabbles.

“Lord Skyjade, we’ve come here to ask you to help send us to the Flamedragon Realmverse,” a muscular onyx humanoid said. “The Flamedragon Realmverse is too far away. It would take us far longer than tens of millions of chaos cycles to reach it if we were to fly towards it. Daolords have short lives; we don’t have the time to waste.”

“The Flamedragon Realmverse? I don’t have a realmship.” Lord Skyjade shook his head. “Are you actually expecting me to use up the energy of my otherverse to send you there?”

“We’ll compensate you appropriately, Lord Skyjade,” the cyclopean onyx humanoid said. Although they were extraordinary figures of great power, they still had to show a basic level of courtesy to an Otherverse Lord.

“You wish for me to take you all the way to the distant Flamedragon Realmverse? That’s far too exhausting.” Lord Skyjade shook his head. “How about this? I’ll ask one of my friends who has a realmship to help you out and take you to the Flamedragon Realmverse, but of course you’ll have to compensate him as well.”

“Naturally.”