Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)

“Daolord Darknorth… you didn’t die?”


“It is all your fault. Why did you have to come here?! We grew tired of the war long ago and were enjoying a peaceful life in this dimension. You had to come and ruin everything!” Some of the true Sithe were howling angrily at Ning.

“My fault?” Ning shook his head. “You know the secrets behind this hidden dimension. Do you really think I would’ve been able to enter on my own? Clearly, it was the controller of this hidden dimension, Bowenya, who forcibly teleported me here.”

The formerly-howling Sithe suddenly fell silent. Right. It had to have been Bowenya who teleported Ning here… but he did so because he wanted to render great merits to the Sithe and be rewarded for it. This was on the standing instructions of the supreme Sithe leader. Who could blame him?

“You wanted to kill me, so I had to fight back,” Ning said. He then expanded his Sword Dao Domain to cover all of the Hegemons and Emperors.

“Get in here.” He instantly teleported them into his estate-world. Now, the only figures left in the Daoguard Tower were the two Autarchs and Ning.

Next, Ning willed the Paragon of Pills, Hegemon Tia, Hegemon Flameleft, and Lord Annihilation to appear.

“Darknorth.” The Paragon and the others turned to look at the two Autarchs, both of whom radiated auras of ineffable power, then at Ning. Ning’s truesoul was clearly disintegrating at a very, very slow pace. They all revealed looks of delight.

“Respectful greetings, Autarch!” All four of them bowed respectfully.

Autarch Titanos and Autarch Mogg both nodded slightly, but their gazes flickered a little when they glanced at the Paragon of Pills, who Ning clearly cared about deeply. It was for this woman’s sake that Ning had lost his life.

Ning continued to maintain the illusory effect around his Sword Dao Domain, ensuring so that his truesoul appeared to be crumbling faster than it actually was. He didn’t wish for the Paragon of Pills and the others to be able to see any flaws in his pretense.

His Primaltwin had never engaged in battle after the Daomerge, and so its truesoul was crumbling at a pace which was slower than his true body’s prior to his true body entering the Sithelands. This was an obvious problem, and so Ning quickly masked it.

He didn’t wish for the Paragon of Pills to feel too much guilt. He had already accomplished his goal and saved her; there was no point in making her feel guilty about it.

“I’m glad you are safe.” The Paragon of Pills was all smiles.

“I knew that Daolord Darknorth would be able to defeat those Sithe with ease!” Lord Annihilation said flatteringly.

“I was just lucky. I also have to thank these two Autarchs for managing to get here in the nick of time. Otherwise, I would’ve been in serious trouble,” Ning said. “Mistress, since you have realmships you can head off on your own. I have a few things to discuss with the Autarchs.”

“Very well.” The Paragon and the others all nodded.

“Autarch Mogg, please help send them outside the Sithelands,” Ning said.

“That’s easy. Let’s leave this dimension first.” Autarch Mogg sent out a powerful wave of dimensional might which captured all of them. Swish! They instantly reappeared in the black void of space outside.

A surprised look appeared on Ning’s face. “We left? As easy as that?”

“When we broke into this place, I went ahead and bound the core of this Daoguard Tower to myself. I can now control it with ease,” Autarch Mogg said. “That’s why we were able to leave so easily.”

“The rest of you can be off now.” Autarch Mogg waved his hand, cutting through space with ease. Riiiip! An iridescent dimensional tunnel appeared before him, leading out of the Sithelands.

The Sithelands was quite a dangerous place, after all. Who knew what would happen if they had to fly out? Given how strong the Paragon was, once they made it outside the Sithelands they would definitely be safe.

“Darknorth, I really have to thank you for everything.” The Paragon looked at Ning. She felt extremely grateful towards him. Not only had Ning ensured that her three ‘brothers’ were brought back to life, he had also helped her survive this place, allowing her to reunite with them in person. She had no idea how she was supposed to repay him. Thankfully, Ning didn’t suffer any serious injuries during their time in this dangerous dimension. Otherwise, she truly would’ve been wracked by guilt.

“Off with you. Shoo.” Ning smiled at her.

The Paragon of Pills and the others quickly entered the dimensional tunnel and disappeared. Autarch Mogg and Autarch Titanos glanced at each other, then sighed.

Clearly, the Paragon of Pills had no idea that Ning’s true body had already died within this hidden dimension. She would probably never know the truth.





Book 43, Chapter 1 - Sealed Away?


A dazzlingly beautiful and fragrant meadow. A barefoot, gray-robed man was seated in the lotus position here. He reached out to gently pluck a flower, then closed his eyes to sniff it. A gentle yet infectious smile appeared on his face which affected even the nearby Exalt Bowenya. This caused the latter to feel an even-greater sense of awe.

“You handled this matter very poorly,” Iyerre said while continuing to enjoy the flower’s fragrance.

“I made a mistake. I was too desperate for glory,” Bowenya said rather nervously.

Iyerre stared raptly at the flower before him, as though he wanted to memorize every millimeter of it. “Your hunger for glory and your unwillingness to share it resulted in you not notifying me about this until the very last moment, when the Daoguard Tower itself was about to be destroyed. In other words, you only reported it when you were out of options. You didn’t give me enough time at all.”

Bowenya was silent. He didn’t dare to say a word, especially since Iyerre was correct. He had indeed waited until the situation was quite grim, with Ning ripping his way through spacetime and charging towards the heart of the tower.

Iyerre didn’t have enough time to fully prepare a counter-plan, and so his only choice had been to send in a servitor who he thought would have the highest chance for success.

“Losing a servant is a minor matter,” Iyerre continued, “But I’m concerned that the local Autarchs will discover that our heartlands have not been truly sealed by them.”

“Impossible. They won’t be able to discover anything. We didn’t make any mistakes at all,” Bowenya said hurriedly.

“I sent over a servant and tore a dimensional tunnel for it and you to traverse. This created a dimensional ripple,” Iyerre said. “It was thanks to this ripple that Autarch Titanos and Autarch Mogg were able to enter the dimension and slay my servitor.”

“I acted to mislead Daolord Darknorth,” Bowenya said. “I made sure that he thought I fled out of fear while unleashing the creature being suppressed by my Daoguard Tower. It all fits together perfectly. There were no mistakes made at all.”

Iyerre nodded slightly. If certain secrets were revealed, their chances at victory during the final battle would be lessened. The most important secret, of course, was the existence of himself – Iyerre! Thankfully, this wouldn’t be a problem so long as he didn’t accidentally reveal himself. Everyone who had met him and knew of his identity had been forced to swear lifeblood oaths. They couldn’t even mention him in the most oblique of ways!