Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)

The crumbling of the truesoul involved countless tiny little flakes disappearing and returning to the Quintessence of the Chaosverse. To reverse this process by seizing those truesoul fragments back from the Quintessence was impossible! Not even Autarchs could succeed in this.

The only other possibility was to use the remaining fragments to somehow remake a complete, undamaged truesoul anew! This was very similar to the concept of ‘Blood-Drop Rebirth’, wherein Fiendgods who had reached the Zifu Disciple stage of cultivation would be able completely remake their entire bodies from a single drop of blood, if they had enough divine power to do so. This was because that single drop of blood contained the essence and foundation for the entire body! Now, however, Ning was trying to accomplish this with something that was even more fundamental… the truesoul.

His goal was to allow a powerful cultivator whose soul had shattered and whose truesoul was breaking apart to be able to remake the truesoul anew. So long as just one scrap of truesoul was remaining, the cultivator would be able to use the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ to recreate the entire truesoul, then reconstitute the spirit and the body.

A very familiar realmverse appeared before them. “We reached the Flamedragon Realmverse.” Ning revealed a delighted look from within the realmship. Finally, they had returned. Home was home, and the feeling of being home was unlike any other.

“Eh?” Ning turned to look in a different direction. He could sense through karma that another powerful figure, Autarch Stonerule, was located within the Flamedragon Realmverse.

Just one second later… whoosh! Space rippled around Ning, followed by the dazzlingly handsome Autarch Stonerule appearing.

“Autarch Stonerule.” Ning flew out of the realmship to greet him, with Azurefiend’s avatar following obediently from behind.

“Darknorth.” Autarch Stonerule smiled.

“Why have you come here, Autarch?” Ning asked curiously.

“Because of you, obviously!” Autarch Stonerule said with a laugh. “I’ve been waiting for quite some time.”

“Sorry, sorry. I wasn’t in a rush so I took the scenic route while taking the occasional cultivation break,” Ning explained. “That’s why it took me a while to come back. If I had known you were here, I would’ve immediately returned.”

“I’m just teasing you. I’m not in a rush either,” Autarch Stonerule said. “I came here because there are a few things I need to tell you.”

“Hm?” Ning looked at Autarch Stonerule.

“All of us have been analyzing the [Five Truncheon Chapters] you gave us. We’re in the process of completing the [Daolord Chapter], but as for the most important [Deathless Chapter]… I’m sorry to say we probably won’t be able to help you much,” Autarch Stonerule said helplessly.

“There’s nothing you can do?” Ning felt rather anxious. Although he had made some improvements in recent years, he knew just how difficult it would be to create a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique. He had been counting on the Autarchs being able to help him out with it.

“We want to help you, but the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique revolves around reversing the process of a truesoul’s decay,” Autarch Stonerlue said. “The problem was… all of us Autarchs have perfectly intact truesouls. We’ve never experienced the crumbling process ourselves! We’ve seen the truesouls of quite a few failed Daolords break apart, yes, but just watching it as an outsider doesn’t really mean much. We don’t know what it is like to have the truesoul break apart, so we have no idea where we should even begin to fix it.”

“What?” Ning was stunned. The Autarchs had never experienced their truesouls breaking apart, which meant that they were unable to make any headway with regards to the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique?

“But the Sithe’s Lord of Chaos…?” Ning said.

“He’s at a much higher level of insight than us, which was why he was able to come up with a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique,” Autarch Stonerule explained. “The six of us are merely on par with you, and we’ve never truly experienced our truesouls breaking apart. Our chances of being able to reverse the truesoul process via a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique are extremely slim. I came to tell you this in person because I don’t want you to place too much hope on us being able to help you.”

Ning nodded. “I understand.” This had always been a path which would likely result in failure. Autarch Stonerule’s words were a bit discouraging, but Ning was able to accept them calmly.

“But of course, we’re still going to keep working at it,” Autarch Stonerule said. “There’s something else I wanted to discuss with you.”

“Something else?” Ning was puzzled.

“The Sithe are desperate to kill you. We believe that the Sithe are paying close attention to whether you are dead or not,” Autarch Stonerule said. “That’s why I came in person to take a look at the Flamedragon Realmverse. I followed up on quite a few clues, and in the end I managed to find a few Sithe spies.”

Autarch Stonerule waved his hand, causing a total of six individuals to appear before him. All of them simply stood there, their gazes vacant. One was a Hegemon, while five were Emperors.

“Spies?” Ning frowned.

“They’ve infiltrated the Brightshore Kingdom and Vastheaven Palace, hoping to be able to keep track of your status via your heartlamp and similar items,” Autarch Stonerule said.





Book 43, Chapter 4 - Solving the Heart of Eternity


Ji Ning stared at the six captured Sithe spies, then chuckled: “I’m a failed Daolord. Why would the Sithe be willing to expend this much effort on me?”

“It’s best if we keep your status a secret,” Autarch Stonerule said seriously. “The Sithe have never given up on their efforts to keep our entire Chaosverse under surveillance. In the past, we didn’t really care as we were sure their army remained permanently sealed within the Sithe heartlands, but it now appears highly probable that they long ago found out a way to slip out undetected. They’ve been biding their time, waiting to deliver a fatal blow to us. We’re quietly making arrangements for our forces throughout the Chaosverse to prepare for war, but this will take time. So long as you are still alive, the Sithe will be hesitant to start the war.”

“Right.” Ning nodded. The Sithe would naturally be unwilling to start the war while Ning was alive. Not because they feared him; rather, because they worried that the high-pressure life-and-death environment created by the war would result in Ning suddenly making a breakthrough and mastering an Autarch-level Dao! If that happened, Ning would be able to easily take control over the entire Chaosverse, and the problem with his crumbling truesoul would disappear.

Although chances of this happening were remote, the Sithe were unwilling to take this risk. Anyone who was able to master an Eternal Omega Dao on his own, without any guidance at all, was without question an incredibly talented figure who would have the blessing of the entire Chaosverse itself. It was entirely possible that a ‘miracle’ would happen, resulting in him gaining Autarchy.

Thus, it was best for the Sithe to play it safe. They would wait for Ning’s truesoul to completely break apart before launching the war! By then, the cultivators wouldn’t have even a single Eternal Omega Dao wielder at all, much less an Omega Autarch. The greatest fear of the Sithe would’ve been avoided.

“With your Eternal Omega Sword Dao serving as the guide, we’ve already begun to lead some of the most talented geniuses of the entire Chaosverse onto the path of the Omega Dao. However, the birth of a new Omega Emperor will take time! We might need millions of chaos cycles or even longer. I’m afraid the Sithe won’t give us the time we need,” Autarch Stonerule said. “But so long as you remain alive? They’ll have something to fear, something which holds them back.”

“I understand. I know what to do.” Ning smiled.