Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)

Boom! The divine sword came crashing down, shattering spacetime and splintering the Five Elements. It destroyed all in its path as it came crashing down with absolutely terrifying power towards the surface of the Annihilation Hive.

Boom! A massive explosion occurred, causing even the enormous behemoth hive to tremble. As for Ning’s Sword Titan? A powerful counter-force pushed back against him, sending it stumbling a few steps backwards in space.

It was simply too powerful. Not even Ning’s Sword Dao was able to completely deflect this counter-force, and so the Sword Titan had to endure much of it.

“How does it look? Any cracks?”

“Did we cause any damage to it?” Ning and the others carefully inspected the behemoth hive while asking each other the same question. They were all hoping that the thing had been at least slightly damaged. Even the tiniest of cracks would symbolize that if they continued to hammer away at it, they would be able to completely destroy it in time. Alas, none of them could discover any cracks at all, which was why they were all asking the others if they saw anything.

“Nothing.”

“I can’t find any. I don’t see any damage at all.” Their hearts all began to sink.

“Let’s try a few more attacks and see if that does anything,” Autarch Titanos said.

“Alright.” Ning and the others nodded. They once more joined forces, having the Sword Titan raise its sword up high for the Skycleaver stance once more.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The Sword Titan delivered the terrifying Skycleaver stance again and again, furiously smoting the Annihilation Hive and causing it to shudder and even fly backwards.

……

Deep within a three-hundred meter hidden space inside the Annihilation Hive, there was a formation-base with a long-haired man seated in the lotus position atop it. The long-haired man’s hair was half black and half white, and he was nervously keeping track of the hive’s status.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Every single explosion caused the entire Annihilation Hive to shudder.

“Who is attacking the Annihilation Hive from outside?” Exalt Anitya was rather startled and nervous. He was only able to see what was happening within the hive; he was unable to see the outside world. “The entire Annihilation Hive is actually trembling. This level of power far surpasses what Emperor Darknorth can accomplish. Can it be that the cultivator leaders have joined forces?”

Exalt Anitya was rather nervous, but a short while later the attacks came to a halt.

“They dealt over a thousand strikes, but they weren’t able to even scratch the Annihilation Hive.” Exalt Anitya let out a sigh of relief. The Annihilation Hive was one of the most important Sithe trump cards, and it had been just as expensive to create as the Grassland World. It was far more powerful than the various temples. It wouldn’t be easy to destroy it!

“Hm. Outsiders have just come inside.” Exalt Anitya stared at the images which appeared before him. They displayed a stream of power that flew inside the hive and towards its core hive. The light and power surrounding the figure was so blinding that Exalt Anitya was unable to see who it was.

“I have to report this.” Exalt Anitya immediately contacted Iyerre. The formation-base below him slowly began to swivel as a pillar of light appeared. A figure appeared within the pillar of light which solidified into the seated form of Iyerre.

Exalt Anitya rose and bowed respectfully: “Almighty Iyerre, new invaders have entered the Annihilation Hive. They tried to assault the hive from outside, and they attacked over a thousand times with shocking levels of power. However, they still weren’t able to even scratch the Annihilation Hive!”

“Mm.” Iyerre’s eyes flashed coldly. “Someone actually dared to assault the Annihilation Hive? It must haver been those cultivator leaders working together.”

“They are moving closer and closer towards the core. They’ll reach the sphere of annihilation soon. Will they be able to destroy it?” Exalt Anitya was worried.

“Just keep watching. Don’t take any other action,” Iyerre said.

“Alright,” Exalt Anitya said respectfully.

Whoosh. The pillar of light vanished.

……

Within the behemoth hive. Ning and the other Autarchs had already reached the black pyramid located at the center of the vortex of astral clouds, reuniting with Ning’s avatar.

“So this is the sphere of annihilation?” Autarch Ekong stared at the nearby shadowy black orb, which continued to devour everything surrounding it. It was like an endless hole that swallowed and destroyed all things! It embodied the essence of ‘Oblivion’, causing the Autarchs to feel a sense of trepidation when they looked at it.

“What type of profound mysteries does this thing hold, for it to be able to destroy all things? It seems as though there is nothing whatsoever which surpasses it,” Autarch Stonerule said softly.

They had attuned to many different Daos before, but the mysteries embodied by this sphere of annihilation were more profound than any they had ever studied. It eclipsed all Daos they had seen. The so-called ‘Omega Daos’ and ‘Daobirth Essences’… they would all be devoured and destroyed by this power of ‘Oblivion’.

“My avatar has been meditating here for many years and is able to replicate a bit of Oblivion’s power.” Ning shook his head. “But I still do not understand its true nature.”

“My Destruction Daobirth Essence is shallow and crude in comparison,” Autarch Ekong sighed.

“Iyerre might be at the same level of insight as this ‘Oblivion’ Dao,” Autarch Mogg said. “But maybe not. He’s so far above us that we cannot judge him accurately.”

Omega Autarchs had extremely profound levels of insight, perhaps as profound as the mysteries of Oblivion. Both were far beyond the likes of these seven to comprehend.

“In the end, it is simply a naturally-occuring quintessence core. It’s unable to fight back against us. The seven of us, when working together, can summon the power of the Chaosverse itself. We should be able to destroy it,” Autarch Ekong said.





Book 45, Chapter 5 - Laughter


Ji Ning and the rest of the seven stared at the shadowy black orb. There was utter stillness. Even their auras seemed to have frozen. All of them had experienced countless things as they had ascended the path of cultivation to reach their current heights, but they now felt a sense of tremendous pressure.

This sphere of annihilation was an inimical threat to their entire Chaosverse. If they could destroy it then things would be much simpler… but if they failed, they would have no choice but to begin the final, deadly battle.

The seven of them exchanged a glance, nodding silently to each other. They were out of options. They had already tried to destroy both the behemoth hive and the black tower, but they were unable to do so! Now, their last chance lay in attacking the ‘sphere of annihilation’ at the center of the tower.

Rumble… an awesome amount of the Dao’s power was being gathered here, with Ning and the rest of the seven guiding it to form the towering, loincloth-clad titan. They simply didn’t have enough time to set up the full formation, as the Sithe would be arriving in nearly half a month. Using the second mode of the Sword Titan was the best they could do.

“Destroy the sphere of annihilation!” The Sword Titan strode through the air, a greatsword appearing within his hands.

“Attack!” Ning ordered. Within the Sword Titan, the six Autarchs immediately began to unleash their most powerful attacks. Six massive streams of energy quickly began to course through the Sword Titan’s body, then slowly began to coalesce into one. The Sword Titan lifted up its arms, double-gripping a massive greatsword and then delivering a furious blow towards the shadowy orb before it.

As the sword chopped out, it destroyed all the different types of energy that were in its path, reducing them to nothingness. This was the Skycleaver stance!