Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)

……

Ji Ning was feeling increasingly anxious. He killed at a very fast pace, but the majority of his time was spent traveling. The Chaosverse was simply too vast! The Sixteen Realmverses Alliance was only possible because those sixteen realmverses were quite close to each other. There were many realmverses which were extremely far from each other, which was why the empty space between realmverses was known as the ‘Great Dark’ to many. Ning would usually need anywhere from half a day to two days to travel from realmverse to realmverse.

The more he and his six peers slew, the fewer of their own Hegemons and Emperors would die. But if things continued the way they currently were, they were going to suffer enormous losses in Hegemons and Emperors on their own side as well.

“The Skywitch battlefront is in desperate need of assistance.”

“The Ninelamps battlefront is in desperate need of assistance.”

“The Dragoncaller battlefront is in desperate need of assistance.”

One report came after another. A total of twenty-six battlefronts were in dire straits right now. They had achieved great successes in some battlefronts, but these twenty-six were in grave danger! The Sithe had their own ‘elite squads’, and these squads were extraordinarily powerful.

There was nothing Ning could do. All twenty-six of these battlefronts were very far away from him. It would take him over half a month to reach even the nearest one.

“I’ll go to the Dragoncaller battlefront,” Autarch Skyfeeder replied. “I’ll need three days to get there.” She was the only one who could go respond. None of the other Autarchs would get there in time.

‘Desperate need of assistance’ meant that the situation was so grim, they wouldn’t be able to last much longer without help. In the end, they were only able to preserve half their forces in the Dragoncaller battlefront. They lost everyone else in all twenty-five of the other battlefronts! Clearly, while the Autarchs were busy massacring the Sithe they found, their own Hegemons and Emperors were being slain on the field of battle as well. This was a truly ruinous war of attrition.

Many Sithe died, but at least they would have a chance at being brought back to life! Those native cultivators who had been slain, however, could never be brought back if the soul-eater technique was used after their deaths. They became true martyrs for this war.

Ning had no choice but to suppress the rage he felt. Early on, he imprisoned as many of the Sithe as he could… but now, he was beginning to kill more and more of them!





Book 44, Chapter 4 - Powerless


A giant black warship hovered in the empty silence of space, completely unmoving. A white-robed figure was standing directly above the giant black warship. He seemed tiny in comparison, but his aura was utterly overwhelming and his eyes were ice-cold.

“It’s just too big. The Chaosverse is too damn big.” Ji Ning felt a sense of powerlessness.

More than half a year had gone past since the war had erupted. During this half year, all seven of the most powerful leaders of the cultivators civilizations had been scouring the Chaosverse for any and all traces of the Sithe, but the Chaosverse was simply enormous! Usually, battlefronts would consist of groupings of at least ten different realmverses, sometimes even more! Every single battlefront was very far away from the others, and the Sithe warships were just as sparse and hard to find.

The Sithe were constantly making adjustments as well. Each time Ning and the other Autarchs attacked a location, the Sithe would adjust for it and make it even harder for the Autarchs to find their other warships.

The warships were doing their best to avoid the Autarchs, while Ning and the others were doing their best to find them!

“The Tongwu battlefront is in desperate need of assistance.” Yet another report came flying in.

“The Tongwu battlefront?” Ning sighed to himself. “It is too far away. It would take me twenty days at maximum speed to get there!”

“Time to continue.” Ning waved his hand, collecting the warship and then continuing to warp through space and search for the Sithe. It was like searching for a needle in the bottom of the sea. This was a very robotic and numbing process; the Autarchs were relying on their overwhelming strength to scan large areas and ‘fish’ out a warship or two! This process was clumsy, yet it was also the most efficient process available.

“Have you noticed? This war has been quite odd,” Autarch Titanos sent to the other six. “The war has gone on for over half a year and the battles have been fierce. Now that the Sithe know where we are, it has become harder and harder for us to find their warships. All of this is expected, but… we haven’t encountered any Sithe Exalts at all!”

While hunting and killing, the Autarchs continued to exchange messages with each other. The hunting process wasn’t all that mentally taxing, after all.

“Right. I haven’t found any Sithe Exalts,” Autarch Ekong agreed.

“I haven’t found a single one of them either. Judging from the various reports which have been sent by cultivators throughout our Chaosverse, no Sithe Exalts have appeared at all,” Autarch Stonerule said.

“I haven’t found any either. Logically speaking, the Sithe should have many Exalts ready to fight,” Ning replied.

“They’ve lain dormant for aeons… I wouldn’t be surprised if they had dozens of Exalts ready to take part in this battle. But, they haven’t deployed a single one. This is extremely odd. Everyone, while hunting down the Sithe you need to constantly stay on your guard! I’m worried that there’s some sort of a plot behind the Sithe Exalts remaining in hiding,” Autarch Titanos sent mentally.

Autarch Skyfeeder agreed, “Perhaps they don’t know that Darknorth has become an Emperor, but they know that we have an Eternal Omega Sword Dao! Thus, the Sithe should know very well that this war against us is their final chance. If they lose, we’ll only grow even more powerful in the future and they won’t stand any chance against us. By all rights, they should be throwing everything they have against us! As soon as that behemoth hive appeared, I could tell that the Sithe had made extraordinary preparations for this war. For no Exalts to have appeared a full half-year after the war began… we really do need to be careful.”

“Agreed.”

“Stay on your guard.”

“Keep scanning at all times. Don’t let yourself fall into a trap.”

The six Autarchs and Ning were all quite confident in their abilities. They weren’t like the Sithe, who suffered from rejection by the Chaosverse and were unable to use the Dao! Ning and the Autarchs had access to virtually limitless amounts of power. During the previous war, not a single Autarch had fallen.

“The Purejade battlefront is in desperate need of assistance!” Suddenly, another report arrived.

“The Purejade battlefront?” Ning was startled. He reflexively scanned his mental map of the Chaosverse, mentally placing the Purejade battlefront. It was fairly close to him. “I need two days. I’ll go right away.”

“Alright, Darknorth. I’ll leave it to you. I’ll tell them to hold on until you arrive,” Autarch Stonerule said.

Swoosh! Ning began to fly at maximum speed towards the Purejade battlefront.