Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)

Ning nodded somberly. The Sithelands was indeed extremely dangerous! Even the Autarchs had merely sealed it away, not daring to trespass too deeply within it. If they did, even they would be at risk of perishing.

Even the outer perimeter held a number of extremely dangerous areas which had simply been sealed off rather than penetrated and destroyed. Thus, even if Lord Annihilation was to ask an Autarch for help, the Autarch would probably be unwilling to assist. There were some unexplored places which even the Autarchs were unfamiliar with; it just wouldn’t be worth it for them to risk themselves like that.

“Wait. You came here to ask Darknorth to go into the Sithelands to rescue you?” Hegemon Brightshore glared at him, hard. “Annihilation, that’s not what you told me earlier.”

“I was afraid that if I told you too much, you wouldn’t help me.” Lord Annihilation hurriedly apologized, “Brightshore, I’m sorry about this.”

“You son of a…” Hegemon Brightshore was absolutely livid. “The Paragon of Pills is crazy, and you yourself said the third person is also a madman. I don’t really approve of their behavior in general, but I have to admit that all of them are extremely well-versed in the dangers of the Sithelands. If both of them are trapped with no way out, then the area you were in was definitely an incredibly dangerous one.”

“Yes.” Lord Annihilation nodded shamefacedly. It was indeed incredibly dangerous. He could still remember that nightmarish battle which had claimed the life of their fourth party member. The other three had been lucky enough to survive, but had ended up being separated. Even when they had been together, progress had been arduous. Now that they were separated, their chances were exceedingly grim. That was why he had come to beg Darknorth for aid.

All of them were much weaker than Daolord Darknorth, who had slain even the Lonely King with a single swipe of the sword.

“Daolord, I really was out of options,” Lord Annihilation said, rather embarrassed.

“Tell me where you are in the Sithelands,” Ning said. “I’ll go there as soon as possible. Also… do everything you can to protect the Mistress. Otherwise… when I see you, you are still going to die.”

“The Mistress?” Lord Annihilation was stunned. He knew that Ning had a very special relationship with the Paragon of Pills, but he had no idea that Ning would refer to her using such a close and familial term.

“Star map.” Ning looked at him.

“Here’s the star map, Daolord.” Lord Annihilation waved his hand, causing a star map to appear before them. The only parts of the star map which were detailed were the parts involving the Sithelands.

Ning gave it a glance. The five Autarchs had long ago provided Ning with a highly detailed star map of the entire Chaosverse, and they had taken especially detailed notes on the Sithelands, the only place which was a threat to them. Ning had a far more detailed map of the Sithelands than Lord Annihilation, and as a result he immediately knew where they were.

“Alright. I understand.” Ning nodded, then turned and went back into the spacetime tunnel with Hegemon Brightshore.

The two returned to the Brightshore Kingdom of the Flamedragon realmverse. Hegemon Brightshore’s wizened old face was covered with embarrassment: “Darknorth, I had no idea that Annihilation was going to make a request like this one. We’ve known each other forever. I can’t believe he pulled something like this on me.”

Ning shook his head. “His life was at stake. Playing a little trick on you is nothing.”

……

The Wildsky Realmverse. The Greatland Planet.

Ning’s true body was there alongside his eighth disciple Stonepool, Ji Brightmoon, Ji Yichuan, Yuchi Snow, Subhuti, Windfiend, Su Youji, Azurefiend, Protector Whitethaw, and the Flamewing God.

“I’m not going to lie. This trip to the Sithelands will be a bit risky,” Ning said. “I’m not sure I’d be able to keep you all safe, and so all of you shall wait here. I’ve already sent word to Realmslord Windgrace to come and pick you up.”

They only had just a single realmship, and Ning needed it to visit the Sithelands. Thus, he asked Windgrace to come and pick them up. The sooner he went off to rescue the Paragon of Pills, the better his chances would be. His family wouldn’t be in any danger here in the Wildsky Realmverse either.

They originally had two realmships, but Ning had already given the one he had taken from the Lonely King to Nuwa.

“Master, let me go with you,” Su Youji said hurriedly. “I’m not afraid of any danger.”

“Ning, my son…” Yuchi Snow was rather worried.

Ning shook his head. “None of you are to follow me! Flamewing, protect them all.”

“Don’t worry, Master… but make sure you are careful in there,” Flamewing said.

“I will.” Ning glanced at Azurefiend. “Azurefiend, you are more detail-oriented than him. Take good care of my family and my master. Your avatar can come by my side.”

“Understood.” Hegemon Azurefiend revealed a look of delight. A place which even Ning felt was dangerous was a place Hegemon Azurefiend would never dare to visit in person, but his avatar was a different story. Being able to experience a dangerous place like this would be of benefit to him in cultivation. He knew that Ning was trying to help him out.

As for Su Youji and Brightmoon? They also had avatars, but those were back in the Flamedragon Realmverse. More importantly, they were far too weak. Even if they did create new avatars, the distance between this place and the Sithelands was simply too far. There was no way their true body would be able to sense and connect to the avatar at such a distance, which meant that the tiny bit of godsense within the avatar would eventually disappear and dissipate from the lack of reinforcement.

Thus, the only person who was lucky enough to take part in this adventure would be Hegemon Azurefiend.

“Brightmoon, I have a task for you.” Ning looked at his daughter. “This new disciple of mine, Stonepool, has yet to truly embark upon the path of cultivation. I’ll temporarily leave his tutelage up to you. Teach him until you are back at the Flamedragon Realmverse.”

“Don’t worry. I’m a Daolord. Teaching him will be no problem.” Brightmoon was extremely confident. She glanced at Stonepool and said, “Junior apprentice-brother Stonepool, I’ll train you well.”

“Alright,” Stonepool said obediently. Everyone here was at an unfathomably more profound level of the Dao than he was.

……

That very day, Ning led Azurefiend’s avatar in travelling towards the Sithelands via realmship.





* * *





Book 41, Chapter 3 - Entry


After spending over 12 million years travelling a great distance via realmship, Ji Ning and Azurefiend’s avatar finally reached the outer perimeters of the Sithelands.

“So this is the Sithelands?” Ning stared at the titanic glowing sphere that lay amidst the endless darkness.

They were still quite far away from this sphere, and it was roughly comparable to twenty or so realmverses in size! This was the enormous base which the Sithe had secretly constructed after infiltrating the local Chaosverse. The process had been very fast, too fast to stop, because the Sithe had constructed the main parts outside of the Chaosverse, then brought them inside and assembled them together.

It was like a nail which the Sithe had driven into the body of the Chaosverse, a nail which the cultivators were completely helpless against.