“This is certainly a great deal of memories.” Ning began to review Hawkfang’s memories. Hawkfang’s Dao-heart was flawed, and so he wasn’t able to resist Ning’s illusions.
Ning couldn’t help but sigh as he flipped through Hawkfang’s memories. Hawkfang was a rather tragic figure. If he had been born amongst the cultivators, he probably would’ve already become an Autarch.
“What?! He also swore a lifeblood oath not to transmit the nine techniques to anyone?” Ning felt rather speechless when he saw the thought-bubbles surrounding those nine techniques. He had expected this, but he had still been hoping that Hawkfang would be different. In truth, however… every single Sithe given access to these techniques had been forced to swear lifeblood oaths. Hawkfang was no exception.
“Ugh.” Ning felt rather disappointed after being unable to access the nine techniques, but he continued to flip through Hawkfang’s other memories.
Time slowly flowed on. Two hours. Four hours…
“What’s this?” Ning’s eyes slowly began to light up as he began to flip through the memories faster and faster. The more he saw, the more excited he became… and towards the end, he was so excited that his entire body was quivering.
“The [Five Truncheon Chapters]!”
* * *
Book 42, Chapter 12 - The [Five Truncheon Chapters]
“Now this is an unexpected surprise!” Due to his repeated failures, Ji Ning was already at the verge of abandoning all hope of finding the nine special techniques. He was simply rifling through the rest of Hawkfang’s memories out of a sense of caution. Who would’ve thought that such an unexpected surprise would pop out!
Hawkfang was the creator of the [Five Truncheon Chapters]. He truly was a genius!
After Hawkfang’s father had accompanied the Sithe army in their first invasion of the Chaosverse, he began to live here within this hidden dimension. Later on, the supreme Sithe leaders sent orders for the Sithe to begin to propagate within this land. As for Hawkfang’s father, he was an Exalt, but the one and only child he had upon reaching this level was Hawkfang. He began to put all of his efforts into rearing his son.
Hawkfang was incredibly talented in every respect, and he skyrocketed in power with no pause at all! However… he was still just a Sithe descendant. The true Sithe couldn’t help but feel a sense of caution towards these descendants, and so they weren’t willing to pass down any information or guidance regarding Omega Daos! If one of their children managed to reach Autarchy via an Omega Dao, it would be their children who would become the rulers of this Chaosverse… which meant that it would still be suited for the current cultivators, not the Sithe.
The Sithe descendants were much like the local cultivators, after all. They were born and bred under the current conditions.
In addition, if someone reached Autarchy via an Omega Dao, not even a lifeblood oath would be able to restrain or affect him. The Sithe were afraid that they would no longer be able to control such a person, and so they didn’t pass down any Omega daos.
Hawkfang was incredibly talented. Guided by the Sithe away from the Omega Daos, he succeeded in the Daomerge and became a mere Hegemon.
In truth, this was perhaps a lucky thing for Hawkfang. Ning didn’t have any guidance as he walked the path of the Omega Sword Dao, but the difficulty of the Daomerge resulted in him failing at it.
Becoming a Hegemon… it was hard to say if it was a ‘good’ thing or a ‘bad’ thing for Hawkfang. After becoming a Hegemon, he had quickly reached Hegemony in five other Daos. His speed of advancement was so shockingly fast that it had amazed the entire Sithe race! Even the highest ranking members of the Sithe paid close attention to him.
Later on, the Dawn War began! Hawkfang’s father, as an Exalt, was required to lead the Sithe forces into battle! Hawkfang insisted on accompanying his father into battle. As one of the most favored Sithe descendants, he had a somewhat special status, and so the highest level Sithe reluctantly agreed to his request. However, they only agreed to let him send his avatar, as they knew the war would be so fierce that Hawkfang could very well die in it.
The entire Sithe race was eagerly awaiting an Autarch arising from within the ranks of their children!
During the war, Hawkfang’s avatar accompanied his father in battling against the cultivators. He saw many things… and slowly, he began to realize the truth!
“You imbeciles! Can’t you feel it? Can’t you sense the difference between you and the Sithe? It was this vast Chaosverse which gave birth to you, nurtured you, supported you! The primordial chaos of this universe accepts you but rejects the Sithe, because the Sithe are foreign invaders and enemies. You are helping your own enemies!
“You are cultivators! Why do you willingly serve the Sithe?!”
Autarch Bolin had charged towards them, roaring with accusation and fury. Hawkfang had long ago suspected the truth… and on that day, he became certain of it.
“Fang, my son.” His father had sought him out that day. “We’re quite unlucky to have run into one of the cultivator Autarchs so soon. We’re going to die today. I’ll destroy your avatar to ensure that this Autarch won’t be able to kill you. Every single one of his strikes is filled with the binding power of karma. If he kills you, he’ll use karma to destroy your true body as well.”
“Father… I am a cultivator, not a Sithe. Right?” Hawkfang asked.
Ning was looking through Hawkfang’s memories and could see through Hawkfang’s eyes. He saw the look on the face of Hawkfang’s father… and that look shook even Ning’s own heart.
Hawkfang’s father had fallen silent for a moment. He then looked at his son, his eyes filled with mixed emotions. Heartache, love, worry, hope…
These were the pure emotions a dying father would feel when gazing at his son.
Hawkfang’s father had then said softly, “I might as well tell you. I was bound by oaths not to reveal this to you, but now you already know the truth. I… I didn’t have a choice. I had to take part in this war and just hope for the best. You don’t have a choice either. The two of us, father and son… we certainly share a sorry fate.”
When Hawkfang’s father had said these words, his eyes had become filled with resentment. He had then let out a sigh: “If you can become an Autarch, the Sithe wouldn’t dare to mistreat you. You’d be considered one of their important thugs… but if you fail to make that breakthrough and remain a mere Hegemon, you wouldn’t even be considered a thug, just a disposable pawn. I was able to protect you, but I’m going to die soon. I won’t be able to protect you any longer. If you ever have the chance… flee. Escape and go to the cultivator civilizations.”
Hawkfang had been stunned. He never would have imagined that his father would tell him to go flee to the cultivators.
“Alright. We’re out of time.” Hawkfang’s father had then reached out and pressed his hand against Hawkfang’s chest, destroying Hawkfang’s avatar with one blow… and that was the last memory Hawkfang had of his father.
The end result of that battle… was Autarch Bolin exterminating the entire squad led by Hawkfang’s father.
……
Eventually, the Dawn War came to an end. Hawkfang continued to live within the Sacred Realm inside the hidden dimension. At first, the Sithe continued to pay close attention to him… but the shadow that had been cast over his heart made it so that he would be unable to cleanse his Dao-heart of all flaws.
He was a cultivator, but he was also a descendant of the Sithe. If the Sithe had treated him with sincerity, he wouldn’t feel so torn… but in reality, he now knew that they were nothing more than cannon fodder and pawns. Even if he worked extremely hard and became an Autarch, he’d be viewed as nothing more than a useful thug.
Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)
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