Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)

“Let’s go.” The awesome army of over three thousand Hegemons and Emperors quickly flew away, beginning a large-scale evacuation of this realm. Although the six mortal realms in this dimension held many living beings, over three thousand Emperors were working together to evacuate them. They gave the mortals some time to prepare for their departure, but it still only took them just half a day before completing the evacuation process.

Ning then led the Sithe descendants in departing from the Sithelands. He brought them to an extremely distant, out-of-the-way location within the Great Dark.

Rumble… a massive otherverse suddenly appeared within the darkness.

“Go ahead and bind it, Hawkfang,” Ning said, glancing at the three thousand-plus Emperors before him. All of the Emperors were filled with excitement. If given a chance to live in peace, who would choose to serve as cannon fodder instead? This was doubly true when they would only be repaid for their sacrifices with contempt and belittlement.

“Alright.” Hawkfang’s eyes were shining brightly. He could sense that the life he had been longing for was finally at hand.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. After Hawkfang bound the otherverse to himself, the thousands of Emperors all began to fly inside it. Ning, Mogg, and Titanos all smiled at the sight.

“This is a secluded place where I once trained. If any Sithe come here, I will be alerted instantly,” Autarch Mogg said.

“Let these Sithe descendants live a peaceful life here,” Ning said.

“Once we defeat the Sithe, the entire Chaosverse will be at peace as well,” Titanos said with a smile.

All three of them were looking forward to that day.

“Gentlemen, now that everything has been taken care of, it’s time for me to depart,” Ning said.

“I’ll send you back,” Autarch Mogg volunteered.

“Haha, no need.” Ning shook his head and smiled. “I’m not exactly busy. The only thing I’m concerned with is creating a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique. Although the journey back to my homeland is a long one, I’ll take this opportunity to do some sightseeing. Who knows, I might even find something which inspires me.”

“Very well.” Mogg and Titanos didn’t try to press the issue.

Ning re-entered his realmship. Azurefiend’s avatar once more began to pilot it, sending it disappearing into the Great Dark under the watchful gazes of Mogg and Titanos.





Book 43, Chapter 3 - Meeting Autarch Stonerule


Within the realmship. Ji Ning sat in the lotus position, staring at the dazzling prismatic spacetime tunnel as marvelous realmverses flickered past them, but his mind was occupied on the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique.

“A Truesoul Everlasting… if I can create a technique like this, it would allow even the damage caused by a failed Daomerge to be reversed, with the truesoul being healed.” Ning was keenly attuned to the sensations of his truesoul crumbling away.

His Immortal energy, his godsense, his azureflower mist energy… all of it was filled with his truesoul. But now, every speck of his soul was beginning to crack apart, with tiny flakes of it slowly drifting off and disappearing…

“This crumbling is taking part in every part of my truesoul. Not a single inch of it remains intact,” Ning mused. “How should I reverse it?”

When Ning had been a Daolord of the Third Step, he had ‘died’ once but been revived thanks to the Lifeblood Dao-seal. The Lifeblood Dao-seal was filled with a portion of Ning’s undamaged truesoul, making revival a simple process. But now that Ning’s truesoul had already begun to crumble… there was no known technique which could be used to stop it.

“How to reverse it? How do you reverse that which has already crumbled apart?” Ning mentally reviewed the mysteries of the [Deathless Chapter] while comparing it to his own crumbling process, and as he did so he would occasionally make a few changes and improvements to the chapter.

After five million years of non-stop meditation, Ning finally woke up. “Azurefiend, where are we?” Ning asked.

“We’re halfway there. Give us another six million years and we’ll reach the Flamedragon Realmverse,” Azurefiend’s avatar said.

“No need for us to rush. Let’s explore the surrounding realms while we are here,” Ning said.

“Yes, Master,” Azurefiend’s avatar said hurriedly. The time he had spent following Ning had shown him far more stunning sights than everything he had experienced in the past. They had captured over two thousand Hegemons and Emperors, fought against a Sithe Daoguard Tower, seen strange creatures which came from beyond the Chaosverse, and more. He had never seen such incredible things in the past! Ning also treated him very well, and he in turn would silently pray: “I hope Master can remain alive forever. That would be wonderful.”

So long as Ning remained alive, he would have a powerful backer supporting him.

They continued to wander through the cosmos, visiting the marvelous sights the Chasoverse had to offer as well as the many unique lifeforms it had birthed. Every so often, Ning would enter periods of silent meditation to reflect on what he saw.

……

A vast planet which was teeming with life.

Ning was seated at the peak of a mountain, silently meditating with Azurefiend’s avatar standing guard next to him. Ning had been training here for billions of years now, and ever since he started there had been no creatures who could move near this peak. A maze formation had been established halfway up the mountain, and those who escaped the maze would find themselves back at the base of the mountain.

“Young fellow, the destiny that brought us together must come to an end today. Your future accomplishments will be up to your own efforts. I accepted a total of six disciples before you. If you ever meet them, you’ll know it right away. Remember – you must not battle amongst yourselves.” Azurefiend’s avatar remained by Ning’s side, while he had created an incarnation to chat with a youth at the base of the mountain.

“Your disciple understands, Master.” The youth’s eyes were brimming with tears. The past year he had spent with his master had been a truly transformative one for him.

“Go,” Azurefiend’s avatar said, then vanished without a trace. The youth repeatedly kowtowed before departing as well.

At the peak of the mountain.

“Azurefiend, you actually took on seven disciples during the years I was training?” Ning’s voice rang out.

Azurefiend was badly startled. He turned to glance at Ning, who had already risen to his feet, then let out a deep chortle: “Don’t tease me, Master. I was bored and had nothing to do. I spent my time just watching the countless people who lived in this world, and every so often I would find one I liked and take him or her on as a disciple.”

“Hahaha! Well, it is time for us to return to the Flamedragon Realmverse,” Ning said. “We’ll be leaving soon, so go ahead and finish making any arrangements necessary for your disciples.”

“No need. I’ve made those arrangements long ago and have given them everything they should be given. The rest will be up to them. The path of cultivation is a path of self-reliance, after all,” Azurefiend said.

“Very well. Let’s head off.”

Whoosh. The realmship flew away from the snowy peak, and the maze formation which had surrounded it for so many years finally vanished as well, becoming nothing more than a mystery and a legend to this planet.

Ning ended up spending nearly half a chaos cycle on the return trip back to the Three Realms. He had gained quite a few insights into the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique, but he also gained a better understanding of how difficult it would be.