Desolate Era (Book 41 - Book 45)

Once again, the white-robed Ning appeared within the room. He carefully inspected everything around him, then gently reached out to touch the table next of him. The cool, slick touch of the table made him smile.

The white-haired elder and the six sword-spirits were all unspeakably excited. His truesoul was now Everlasting… which meant that ‘Daolord Darknorth’ was about to become ‘Emperor Darknorth’!





Book 43, Chapter 11 - Emperor Darknorth


“What’s with those silly looks on your faces?” Ji Ning glanced at the six sword-spirits and the white-haired elder: “Come, let’s drink!”

Ning wasn’t in a rush to connect with the outside world just yet. He wanted to be by himself for a while.

“Alright,” the white-haired elder said excitedly.

“Woohoo!” The six sword-spirits were quite excited as well. Treasure-spirits at their level all possessed keen senses of sight, smell, and taste. It was quite common for powerful treasures to transform themselves into human form and live in the mortal world.

Wine was quickly poured for all. Ning’s smile only broadened as he lifted up his wine cup and gave it a sniff, letting the pleasing aroma of the wine seep into his soul. He glanced at the crystalline liquid within his cup, then murmured softly, “Being alive feels wonderful.”

He looked very calm, but inside he was unspeakably excited. He had succeeded! He had actually succeeded in overcoming the greatest tribulation he faced. Although he had behaved quite placidly before others, he knew just how tiny his chances of successfully creating the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique were. He had mentally prepared himself for death, which was why he had gone to visit so many of his old friends and even Ninelotus. He wanted to empty his mind of all distractions and leave nothing behind.

“Now that I’ve created the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique, I can make repeated attempts at the Daomerge.” Ning smiled. “However… I personally don’t need to. I can easily succeed in the Daomerge and become an Emperor.”

“An Emperor with an Eternal Omega Dao… I can reach this level whenever I want to. Now, it’ll be much easier for me to deal with the Sithe.”

He had always been extremely strong thanks to his Eternal Omega Dao, but he had never dared to truly launch a wild barrage of attacks! Autarch Mogg and the other autarchs could launch tens of thousands of attacks in a split second, allowing them to overpower and crush everything in their path. The only place which made them a bit nervous was the heart of the Sithelands, but they were able to handle it by pouring a large amount of energy in casting a seal over that place.

Dangerous, eh? Then I’ll seal you inside and make it impossible for you to leave. Just rot there!

Autarchs were unimaginably powerful. The only problem was that there simply were not enough of them. If they had dozens of Autarchs, the Sithe would’ve been defeated long ago!

“Once I become an Omega Autarch, I’ll be able to bring her back to life.” Ning lifted up his wine cup, his gaze distant. He could still remember with absolute clarity the life they had enjoyed together. Having the chance to bring Yu Wei back to life was the greatest source of joy he felt.

He knew that actually becoming an Omega Autarch would be extremely difficult, but at least there wouldn’t be any fatal roadblocks in the way that could derail him. So long as he was given enough time and continued to slowly build up his experiences, with a bit of luck he would sooner or later suddenly gain an epiphany and break through.

“I’m willing to wait as long as it takes. As long as we’re able to meet again, it’ll all have been worth it.” Ning began to blissfully fantasize about their reunion. It had been a long time since he was this happy.

Suddenly… beep! “Eh?” Ning sensed something happen. He waved his hand, producing a dark-red jade talisman within it. This was the Autarch message-talisman. He was able to sense the location of the other six through it, and even sense their very auras.

“Darknorth, just now we sensed that your talisman suddenly lost its aura… but now, the aura is back. Have you created the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique?” Autarch Titanos asked. All six of them had thought that Ning was dead… but now, Ning’s talisman had suddenly regained its aura. This caused them to feel rather stunned.

It must be remembered that very few of these talismans had ever been made. Only the Autarchs were in possession of them! No one else but Ning would be able to bind the one he had been given, which meant that if the talisman had Ning’s aura about it, the only explanation was that Ning had to have created the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique.

But… they had to ask. Just to be sure.

“I succeeded,” Ning replied.

“Ahahaha! Darknorth, I knew you would succeed!” Autarch Ekong said excitedly.

“Darknorth, from this day forth, you must join the six of us in bearing responsibility for overseeing and safeguarding all cultivator civilizations as well as the very Chaosverse itself.” Autarch Bolin was fairly calm, but his words and his meaning were clear. Now that Ning was no longer in danger of losing his truesoul, there would no longer be any limits on his power. For all intents and purposes, he was now a true peer of the Autarchs.

“Congratulations, Darknorth! Our civilization has finally given birth to an Omega Dao Emperor. You know, I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time. In the past, the most powerful Emperors were always called ‘Hegemons’, but you became an Emperor through an Omega Dao. What should we title you?” Autarch Skyfeeder teased in a relaxed manner. She was in a wonderful mood as well.

Before Ning’s sudden rise to power, she had been planning to follow Autarch Awakener’s path and try to take control over the Quintessence of the Chaosverse, but she knew that her chances were slim and that she was almost guaranteed to perish in the attempt. Now? Now, there was no need for her to take that risk.

“I think we should call him Autarch Darknorth!” Autarch Ekong said immediately.

“But… he’s only an Emperor. If we call him Autarch Darknorth now, what are we supposed to call him once he actually becomes an Autarch?” Autarch Stonerule jested.

“Well, by then he’ll be the Lord of Chaos!” Autarch Ekong laughed loudly. “Hey, Darknorth? Get a move on it! You are the first creator of an Eternal Omega Dao this Chaosverse has ever seen, and you were also the first to create a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique. The rest of us would submit to you if you became the one to bind the Chaosverse, but what if it ends up being someone else? In the future, there will be many juniors who will make use of your experiences in treading the path of the Omega Dao. If one of them ends up becoming an Omega Autarch before you do and then takes control over our Chaosverse, we’ll be annoyed and you’ll be embarrassed! But of course, there’ll be nothing we could do by then.”

Ning was speechless for a moment, then snorted in laughter. The Autarchs were bombarding him with messages. He didn’t even know how he was supposed to respond!

“The title doesn’t really matter. We don’t need to worry about it too much.” Finally, Ning was able to compose a reply. “And… I think it is best if we kept this a secret for now. That way, we can deal the Sithe a nasty, unexpected blow at just the right moment.”

“Right.”

“I agree. Let’s keep this a secret for now.” Autarch Titanos and the others all agreed with this proposal.

“Then that means you have to keep staying in hiding for now, Darknorth. Ugh. You made such a huge breakthrough, but you still have to be so low-key about it. That’s no fun,” Autarch Ekong muttered.

“I wouldn’t say I have to be ‘in hiding’. Given my mastery over the art of illusions, the Sithe Exalts wouldn’t be able to recognize me even if I stood right in front of them,” Ning said. “Later on, I’ll pay a visit to the Quintessence. Let’s chat a bit then.”

“Alright.”