Desolate Era (Book 36 - Book 40)

“Yes I am,” Ning said. “Dare I ask why the three of you have come to Vastheaven Palace?”


“Haha, we’ve come to visit you on business, of course. Why else would we come all the way here to the Flamedragon Realmverse?” the muscular onyx humanoid said with a snicker.

“Darknorth, I hear you have a realmship,” the skinny onyx humanoid said.

Ning’s heart trembled. As he had suspected, this was about his realmship. Realmships were simply of tremendous interest to Hegemons, but he never would’ve expected them to attract three Black Emperors. Still… he hadn’t feared even an entire host of Hegemons from the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance. Why would he fear these three onyx humanoids?

“So what if I do? So what if I don’t?” Ning asked.

“You dare act with such arrogance to our face? Quite bold.” A cold light flashed through the skinny onyx humanoid’s eyes. “Hmph. If you do have it, hand it over and we’ll spare your life. If you don’t have it… then you are useless to us and shall die right now.”

“Hand over the realmship,” the cyclopean onyx humanoid commanded coldly.

“If you don’t hand it over, everyone connected to you will perish.”

Riiiiip. A tear in space appeared off in the distance. The three onyx humanoids all turned to look, only to see an ancient realmship fly out of the tear.

“The realmship.” They immediately revealed looks of delight.

“Haha, the kid’s pretty straightforward.”

“Not bad, not bad. You are a smart boy. Hand over the realmship and you can all survive.”

“Give us the realmship.” The three onyx humanoids nodded approvingly at this. They had acquired quite a bit of intelligence regarding Ning and knew that he wasn’t easy to deal with. If Daolord Darknorth had chosen to remain hidden within the Jadefire Realm, there would’ve been nothing they could do; their only option would’ve been to ask their general, Lord Wulf, to intervene. But if they did that, they wouldn’t have rendered any real merits to the organization.

Given that this Daolord had Hegemon Azurefiend by his side, if he wanted to flee and hide there really wouldn’t have been much they could do to him. If Ning was willing to hand it over, though, they would be so magnanimous as to spare his life.

Whoosh. A white-robed youth, an honest-looking white-furred golem, and a shriveled-up old man emerged from the realmship.

Ning’s avatar and Emperor Solesky’s avatar both retreated for now.

“And who are the three of you?” Ning asked. “Why have you immediately demanded my realmship?”

“The three of us are soldiers from the Icepeak Army,” the skinnier black humanoid said calmly. “While wandering through the various realmverses, we heard word of you and so came here as quickly as possible. We wish to take your realmship and offer it to our general, ‘Lord Wulf’. Kid, as a Daolord you will only live a short period of time. You probably haven’t even finished exploring the Flamedragon Realmverse. This realmship will be of little use to you. Hand it over to us, and you’ll have avoided calamity.”

“The Icepeak Army?” Ning frowned.

“It really is the Icepeak Army.” Hegemon Azurefiend’s face tightened slightly.

“Azurefiend, you’ve heard of the Icepeak Army before?” Ning sent mentally.

“Darknorth, as you might know, when we defeated the Sithe during the Dawn War the Sithe left behind many treasures which ended up falling into our hands,” Hegemon Azurefiend sent mentally. Ning just continued to listen.

“Some of the most powerful Sithe weapons of war, such as the ‘Blacksun’, ended up in the hands of people like Realmslord Windgrace. That is why Realmslord Windgrace is so famous and has such a higher status than other Otherverse Lords. Not even the Icepeak Army would go cause problems for him.”

“The leader of the Icepeak Army is generally referred to respectfully as the ‘Lonely King’. He was born an Ancient cultivator and has an eccentric personality. He always has a cold look on his face, and he delights in slaughter! It is said that he only ever smiles when he kills. The Lonely King once acquired a Sithe treasury which was filled with Sithe war machines and weapons. He is personally in control of the most powerful war machines, but he also acquired four ‘Golden Emperors’ and sixty-nine ‘Black Emperors’. He used one of them to undergo the Ritual Sacrificium to become a Golden Emperor, while allowing three Hegemons who joined him to do the same! Over the course of countless years, he allowed some of his Eternal Emperors to be transformed into Black Emperors. As a result, he now has a terrifyingly powerful army under his control, with him at the lead. This army is named the Icepeak Army.”

“Although the name sounds rather ordinary, it is legendary for its savagery. It will battle to the death anyone who offends the Lonely King! They’ve caused many great wars and have even destroyed an otherverse, causing three Otherverse Lords to die by their hands. But of course, they suffered certain losses during those wars as well. Supposedly, they now only have sixty-one Black Emperors left.”

Ning was stunned upon hearing this. Even three Otherverse Lords had died by their hands? “Aren’t Otherverse Lords able to hide within their alternate universes?” Ning couldn’t help but ask, “Doesn’t that mean they had to destroy the entire alternate universe?”

“There are two supremely powerful war machines publicly acknowledged to be under the Lonely King’s control. One of them can be instantly activated, which was why two of the Otherverse Lords were slain before they even had a chance to run,” Azurefiend sent mentally. “The third managed to hide within his otherverse, but the enraged Lonely King continued his pursuit into the otherverse. No one knows what exactly happened inside it, but the end result was that the otherverse was completely destroyed and the Otherverse Lord died. It was that battle which truly allowed the Lonely King to rise to fame and for the Icepeak Army to become known as one of the most terrifyingly powerful organizations in the Chaosverse.”





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Book 38, Chapter 8 - Ji Ning Battles Black Emperors


“An Otherverse Lord had escaped into his otherverse, yet had still been killed and his entire otherverse had been destroyed.” Azurefiend sent a mental sigh: “That is why everyone suspects that in addition to the two war machines the Lonely King has made public, he should also have a third Sithe war machine of incredible power. Thus, Darknorth… I really do urge you to reconsider how you wish to treat the Icepeak Army. They aren’t easy to deal with. I’m a solitary wanderer who doesn’t have that many treasures, and so the Icepeak Army won’t expend too much resources on hunting me down… but you, Darknorth, have a realmship. The Icepeak Army isn’t going to just give up.”

Azurefiend was quite a proud man, but he felt that Ji Ning had to consider what was best for his sect and his homeland.

“Azurefiend, aside from the Lonely King, do the other three Golden Emperors of the Icepeak Army have especially powerful war machines?” Ning asked.

“They do not.” Azurefiend’s response was quite succinct. “The Icepeak Army has caused quite a few wars, but I’ve never heard of the three Golden Emperors employing any war machines of repute.”

Ning let out a sigh secretly. Given how exalted the Lonely King was, he wouldn’t go so far as to act against a Daolord for the sake of a mere realmship.

“Oh, right. The Flamewing God vs the Lonely King… which should be stronger?” Ning asked mentally. He had his own thoughts, but Azurefiend had been alive for much longer and had seen many things.