Desolate Era

by RWX

  The Terror Starsea. The Jadefire Realm. The Flamewing God remained trapped within the second hidden room, while Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw were by its side.

  “Flamewing,” Ning called out.

  “Master,” Flamewing responded obediently. After spending five chaos cycles with Ning, it had grown accustomed to addressing Ning as ‘master’.

  “I need to go out and handle some business. It shouldn’t take too long,” Ning said.

  “You are going to come back, right?” Flamewing felt a strong sense of attachment towards Ning.

  Ning couldn’t help but feel a bit of a headache. The legendary Chaos Primordial was like a child! All Ning could do was to say, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely come back. Just take a quick nap. I’ll be back by the time you wake up. The next time I see you, it’ll be time for me to deal with those chains of yours.”

  “Alright.” Flamewing nodded repeatedly.

  “We’re off.” Ning immediately turned and left through the giant, ancient copper gate, with Azurefiend and Whitethaw flying out by his side.

  Flamewing watched as Ning left. Once the great gate swung shut, it finally sat back down once again. However, it had long ago grown accustomed to loneliness, and so it quickly shut its eyes and entered a state of slumber once more.

  A short while later, Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw reached the other hidden room within the Jadefire Realm.

  “So this is the Jadefire Realm’s formation-diagram?” Hegemon Azurefiend stared at the enormous flower-like formation-diagram on the altar.

  “Yes. What, are you capable of understanding and mastering it?” Ning laughed.

  “I don’t understand it at all. This formation seems very odd; it’s completely different from the other formations I’ve analyzed.” Hegemon Azurefiend shook his head.

  Ning smiled. The Sithe had indeed embarked upon a unique path with regards to the art of formations, a path that was very different from the ones which cultivators walked. Without knowing the proper techniques, it truly would be extremely difficult to even understand how these formations worked.

  Whoosh. Ning waved his hand, causing a stream of fire to instantly descend from him and form into the body of an Emperor-class golem. This was one of the many golems which Ning had acquired from the Sithe ruins in the Stone Hellephant Wall.

  “This is the control technique which governs the flaming passageways and the outermost areas in the Jadefire Realm.” Ning tossed a jade slip over. “Hurry up and master it. Once you do, take control over the Jadefire Realm for me.”

  “Yes,” the flaming Emperor-class golem said respectfully. Ning had only given it the most basic of control techniques. Now that Ning fully understood how the technique worked, it was easy for him to develop a new control techniques of his own. However, this technique could only be used to control the outer perimeter and the flaming passageways. The techniques governing the prison regions were all quite complex. For now, not even Ning was able to tell them apart.

  “Remember, there is a Hegemon within the flaming passageways.” Ning pointed at a tiny little dot located in one of the countless passageways. “Keep a close watch on him! Once he starts to run around, immediately activate some of the most powerful mechanisms and kill him, or at least trap him and send him into the prison regions.”

  “Understood,” the Emperor-class golem responded.

  “But of course, he’s so terrified of dying that I expect he won’t move around.” After making the necessary arrangements, Ning relaxed slightly. “This place is now in your hands. Azurefiend, Whitethaw, let’s go.”

  Ning didn’t feel the need to hold things back from Azurefiend, as the lifeblood oaths binding a retainer were quite strong. He had to go back to the Flamedragon Realmverse, which meant he couldn’t continue to use a divine power clone to maintain the formation-diagram. As a result, his only option was to rely on his golems. Emperor-class golems were extremely intelligent, and it wouldn’t be hard for them to control some basic formations. It must be remembered that when major powers died, they’d often use formation-spirits, treasure-spirits, or powerful golems to control their legacy sites and await their successors.

  Golems had infinite lifespans and would never betray their master unless they were forcibly bound. Thus, both the Sithe and the cultivators delighted in using golems.

  ……

  After having finished with his other arrangements, Ning led the two in flying in the realmship and departing from the flaming passageways. The Jadefire Realm simply had far too many of those flaming passageways, and they were all extremely long. Even though the realmship had been repaired and was able to fly quite quickly, it still took them two days to pass through the flaming passageways.

  “There’s the exit.” Ning was quite familiar with the formation-diagram and thus knew where the breaches in the Jadefire Realm were. It had been thoroughly wrecked, after all. Ning was able to easily exit while following the breaches.

  Swoosh. The realmship charged through the flames, quickly discovering a giant, cavernous gap which it was able to exit through. After flying for roughly an hour and repeatedly changing directions, they managed to leave the Jadefire Realm.

  “We need to get back to the Flamedragon Realmverse as soon as possible. Autarch Titanos could come at any moment.” Ning was so excited that his eyes were slightly bloodshot. This was the most important goal in his path of cultivation, after all.

  “Hey kid! Calm down, there’s no rush.” A voice suddenly rang out by his ears.

  Ning had just flown out of the Jadefire Realm. He couldn’t help but turn his head, startled, only to see a bald black-robed elder standing in the void in front of him. This bald old man had a pair of golden eyes and two fleshy antennae growing out of his head. The antennae waved at him in an amused fashion, while the old man had a smile on his face as well. Anyone who saw him would feel the urge to laugh.

  Whoosh. The bald old man suddenly vanished into thin air.

  “Eh?” Ning was startled. “Where did he go?”

  “I’m right here,” the bald old man said merrily.

  Ning turned his head, only to realize that the bald old man was standing right next to him. Ning couldn’t help but feel speechless. The old man had been able to enter the realmship without him even realizing it… this was a level of ability that vastly outstripped Ning’s imagination. It must be remembered that he was the master of the realmship, and that he was in complete control of it… and yet, this person had suddenly appeared right before him inside of it.

  “Darknorth greets you, Autarch.” Ning hurriedly bowed respectfully.

  “Azurefiend greets you, Autarch,” Hegemon Azurefiend said respectfully as well.

  Whitethaw stood right next to Ning. He bowed respectfully as well, but he didn’t say a word.

  Both Ning and Azurefiend were major powers of extraordinary power ability. They had seen far more than most, and they naturally saw right away how terrifying this bald old man was. For example… they couldn’t see any lines of karma binding this bald old man at all. It must be remembered that any cultivator who was alive would be linked to others by karma, but they weren’t able to sense any karma lines at all on the old man. This was absolutely inconceivable.

  “Quite clever.” The bald old man chortled as he turned his gaze towards the Jadefire Realm. “The Seven Flaming Hells. Truly impressive. The Sithe truly were formidable, to be able to capture a Chaos Primordial and use it as their energy source for this facility and then absorb its power with such ease. Judging from that Chaos Primordial’s truesoul… it should already have a master. Is it you, kid?” The bald old man looked at Ning.

  Ning was stunned. He had always heard of how incredible Autarchs were, but he never would’ve imagined that an Autarch would be able to simply glance at the Jadefire Realm and immediately know that there was a Chaos Primordial there, AND know that Ning was its master. No wonder even the mighty Sithe had ended up falling before the Autarchs and the cultivator civiliza
tions. The Autarchs were simply incredible. They had all reached utterly inconceivable levels of power.

  To Autarchs, even Chaos Primordials were nothing. They were capable of slaying the creatures with ease.

  “Yes, I am its master,” Ning said.

  * * *

  Book 38, Chapter 2 - Nings Nervousness

  “Chaos Primordials are born from within the prime essences of the vast Chaosverse. They are blessed by the prime essences and born with tremendous karmic luck. The vast majority of cultivators will never have a chance to even encounter one of these creatures.” The bald old man looked at Ning, a smile on his face as he offered his congratulations: “Although you also have tremendous karmic luck, you still can’t compare to that Chaos Primordial. I imagine it wasn’t easy for you to run into it.”

  Ji Ning was briefly startled, but he quickly understood. It was indeed true that running into Chaos Primordials was incredibly rare, due to how much the prime essences of the Chaosverse doted upon them. Indeed, Ning himself had entered the Jadefire Realm many chaos cycles ago, but he had to undergo countless hardships before managing to solve the formation-diagram and thus have the chance to meet the Chaos Primordial.

  However, from another perspective, this was also proof that in the long run, being ‘blessed with karmic luck’ and ‘beloved by the prime essences’ didn’t count for THAT much. The Chaos Primordial had still been trapped by the Sithe for countless years, right?

  “I had to solve the Jadefire Realm’s formation-diagram before I was able to meet the Chaos Primordial,” Ning said.

  “Treat it well. It will be of great help to you. Come, let us go to your homeland,” the bald old man said.

  Whoosh. As soon as these words came out, spacetime twisted around them and everything became illusory and dreamlike. By the time spacetime went back to normal, Ning immediately saw a chaosworld off in the distance.

  “We’ve already left the Terror Starsea?” Ning was immediately able to sense the location of his avatar and Primaltwin and thus knew where he was. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe, but he was able to keep his expression calm.

  “I’ll take you to my homeland right away, senior,” Ning said.

  “Wait, wait. Not just yet. I teleported your realmship here because there’s a young fellow that needs rescuing,” the bald old man immediately called out. With a swoosh, he flew out of the realmship and towards that distant chaosworld.

  “Needs rescuing? Needs rescuing by an exalted AUTARCH?!” Ning and Azurefiend shared a glance, both feeling rather puzzled.

  Swoosh. Swoosh. Ning put away the realmship for now, then flew towards that chaosworld as well. Azurefiend and Whitethaw followed close behind. Once they flew into the chaosworld…

  “Haha, Daolord Cleardust, you’ve been trapped with my formation and have nowhere to run. In a mere thirty thousand years, the power of my formation will have ground you into dust and wiped out your truesoul. Did you think, young fellow, that you would be able to defeat me just because you broke through to become a Samsara Daolord? This chaosworld shall remain mine. No one can violate my will!” A red-haired old man was seated at the peak of a mountain, staring downwards into a valley.

  The valley was filled with rolling black clouds and billowing flames. Every so often, one could see a fragile-looking youth seated in the air in the lotus position. He was suffering all sorts of torment. The youth sat there in the lotus position, murmuring a chant while completely ignoring the red-haired elder.

  “I established this chaosworld as my estate, and thus all the living creatures within it are subject to my will. All shall be as I will it! I never would’ve imagined that this chaosworld would actually give birth to a freakishly talented genius like yourself. You actually managed to reach the Samsara Daolord level because of a few so-called legacies I left behind out of boredom.” The red-haired elder was in a good mood, as victory was clearly at hand. “You, a Daolord of the First Step, actually managed to fight me to a standstill even though I am a Daolord of the Third Step. I truly admire you very much. In the outside world, someone as talented as you would probably be recruited by one of the major organizations. Unfortunately, you shall die here.”

  “Yes, you shall die here!” A voice suddenly rang out, followed by a giant foot descending from the heavens. Sploosh! The giant foot stomped down upon the red-haired old man, smushing him into the ground. The red-haired man instantly stopped moving.

  The owner of the foot descended from the heavens. It was a merry-looking bald old man. Moments later, Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw all descended as well.

  “No wonder this chaosworld was protected by so many barriers. I imagine most Daolords of the Second Step and even Daolords of the Third Step would be unable to pass through them,” Ning sent mentally. “So this was the estate of that deceased Daolord over there.”

  “Autarch Titanos intervened for the sake of that kid?” Azurefiend glanced downwards at the valley.

  The bald old man had already walked down into the valley, easily tearing apart and destroying the formations. He was chatting with that fragile-looking youth, whose gaze was calm and distant. It was as though the youth had long ago seen and suffered countless torments and had endured everything one could endure.

  “Hahaha. That Daolord over there… just judging from his gaze, I can sense that he has experienced much pain,” Azurefiend said.

  “This chaosworld is an absolute hell.” Ning swept the area with his gaze, seeing everything there was to see within this chaosworld. That demonic Daolord had clearly delighted in tormenting and abusing all the living creatures of this chaosworld, treating them as his playthings.

  A short while later… “Time to go.” The bald old man returned to Ning’s side.

  “Alright.” Ning and Azurefiend cast a final glance to ‘Daolord Cleardust’, who remained within the gorge. Daolord Cleardust looked back at these foreign cultivators, a slightly confused look in his eyes. He had no idea who was before him. One was a terrifyingly powerful golem, one was a supremely talented Daolord, the third was a Hegemon, and the old man was an Autarch, supreme amongst the cultivator civilizations.

  “Autarch.” While flying away from the chaosworld, Azurefiend couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you intervene to save a Daolord of the First Step?”

  “Couldn’t you sense how much karmic luck swirled around him? Of course I had to aid him,” the bald old man said with a merry grin.

  “You have to help him because of his karmic luck?” Ning was puzzled. Karmic luck was just a side benefit; personal power was what truly mattered. No amount of karmic luck would protect you in the face of overwhelming power!

  “Of course!” The bald old man said hurriedly, “You clearly don’t understand. Each time I help someone like him out, my own karmic luck increases as well. When I act in accordance with the will of the prime essences of the Chaosverse, my own karmic luck will continuously increase. Do you know what will happen once your karmic luck reaches an incredibly high level?”

  “What will happen?” Ning was curious.

  “All sorts of rare and incredible treasures will appear out of nowhere, almost as though they are throwing themselves at me. I could choose a random boulder to sit on, and then I’d find out that it was part of an incredibly rare ore vein. Any random tree I chose to take shade under could possibly be a spirit-fruit tree of great value.” The bald old man sighed. “All sorts of treasures will throw themselves at me. It is quite the pleasant experience.”

  “Buuut… I’ve come here to help you reverse spacetime to revive a Celestial Immortal. That goes against the will of the Chaosverse.” The bald old man sighed again. “Looks like my karmic luck is going to drop by quite a bit.”

  An awkward look appeared on Ning’s face.

  “Haha, I’m just teasing you. Honestly, karmic luck doesn’t matter all that much. Once you’ve trained to my level, it really makes no difference at all. It’s just a little game we play to keep score.” The bald old man swe
pt the area with his gaze. Boom! Suddenly, the space around them seemed to retreat as karma, spacetime, and luck all withdrew from them. A field of absolute void was formed around them, a region of complete stillness.

  Ning and Azurefiend could both sense that they were completely unable to move. This invisible pressure had forced away even the prime essences of the Chaosverse, to say nothing of them.

  “See this? This area is now devoid of the prime essences of the Chaosverse. This is now my absolute domain.” The bald old man laughed.

  Ning suddenly remembered how the area around the Azureflower Estate was similarly devoid of all outside types of energy. But of course, the effect wasn’t as strong as it was right now, where Autarch Titanos was personally and actively maintaining the effect.

  “In the end, personal power is what matters the most. Kid, as a practitioner of an Omega Dao, if you somehow manage to succeed in your Daomerge you’ll probably understand.” The bald old man continued, “Alright, hurry up and bring out your realmship. Lead me to your homeland.”

  “Alright.” Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw could sense that they were able to move again. They immediately entered the realmship. Whoosh! After just a short spacetime blink, the realmship appeared within the void outside the new Three Realms.

  The bald old man stared at the distant Three Realms, then let out a surprised breath: “What an impressive chaosworld! Just by looking at it, I can tell that it is extraordinary. No wonder it was able to produce a freak of a Daolord like yourself, someone who trains in an Omega Dao!”

  “It has already been destroyed once.” Ning pointed at the void next to the new Three Realms. “That place over there used to be my homeland, a world within the Three Realms which was known as the ‘Grand Xia world’. My Dao-companion used to live by my side there.”

  The original Three Realms took up much more space than the new one, as it had been shattered and splintered into countless pieces. There had been a Celestial Realm, a Netherworld Kingdom, and three thousand major worlds that had been scattered across an enormous amount of space. The new Three Realms was a single complete entity which took up much less space. The location the Grand Xia had been in was now just an empty patch of space.