Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Ensure that his homeland is protected. That’s all we can do for him now.”

  The Autarchs felt many mixed emotions. In their eyes, Daolord Darknorth was like a dazzling meteor who shone as radiantly as any Autarch, but it was destined for him to fall. And yet… the light of this meteor would illuminate a brand new path for all cultivators to walk! All they could do was take care of Daolord Darknorth as best they could… but at his level, there really were very few things he needed help with.

  For Ning, seizing an otherverse from someone else would be incredibly easy. At most it would cost him a bit of extra time.

  ……

  Autarch Ekong continued to flare his force field around Ning and Flamewing, allowing them to travel through the sea of prime essences at incredible speeds. In truth, Ning would’ve been able to do the same, but his truesoul probably would’ve fully disintegrated from the exertion before they had even made it out of the Quintessence. Autarch Ekong didn’t have this concern and so was able to move at maximum speed.

  Soon, they left the Quintessence. After travelling a great distance, they reappeared within the Blazesun Domain. Here, within an empty region of space, there was a realmship with Nuwa, Su Youji, Patriarch Treewind, Azurefiend, Hegemon Goodsong, Imperator Jade Rainbow, and a number of others inside it. They were all relaxing and discussing the Dao while waiting for Ning to return.

  “Master’s back!” Azurefiend, who was in control of the realmship, was the first to notice the three figures who had appeared outside.

  Whoosh! Those three figures instantly appeared inside of the realmship. When Nuwa and the others saw the muscular, horned man dressed in green robes who was by Ning’s side, they immediately fell silent.

  Ning smiled: “This is Autarch Ekong.”

  “The Autarch of Annihilation?” Patriarch Treewind turned slightly pale.

  “Respectful greetings, Autarch Annihilation.” Patriarch Treewind and Imperator Jade Rainbow were the first to speak out, quickly followed by the others. Ning was able to refer to the man by his name, ‘Ekong’, but most cultivators would respectfully address and refer to him as ‘Autarch Annihilation’. The Autarch of Annihilation was extremely famous, especially since he had arisen after the Dawn War. All learned figures like Patriarch Treewind knew of his name and title.

  Autarch Ekong said calmly, “No need to stand on ceremony. I’ll be coming with you for a time, so you can all relax.” But of course, no one present could possibly relax save for Ning himself. Even Flamewing was shifting from side to side.

  “Autarch Ekong, let’s go find that otherverse first,” Ning said.

  “Very well, let’s go.” Autarch Ekong sent out his will, generating a massive wave of power that scooped up the realmship and then sent it tearing through spacetime. Just a heartbeat later, they were out of the Blazesun Domain and within a region of darkness. A second spacetime warp, and they had arrived in an empty region within another one of the Eight Domains, the Roaring Elephant Domain.

  They moved so fast that Patriarch Treewind, Nuwa, and the others were all speechless. The many complicated spacetime obstacles within the Eight Domains were nothing to the Autarchs!

  “Is that an otherverse? An ownerless otherverse?” Patriarch Treewind, Hegemon Azurefiend, and the others all called out in surprise. They were able to clearly see an enormous globe off in the distance that looked as though it was merely a hundred billion kilometers in diameter. This globe was covered with a layer of light that distorted time, and it emanated ripples of unfathomable profundity.

  Otherverses were incredibly vast inside and were comparable to a realmverse… but from the outside, they weren’t necessarily all that large! When the Autarchs first created them, they were merely palm-sized. If no one was in control of them, they would grow to become a hundred billion kilometers in diameter, and their aura would be clearly visible for any to see. But once someone bound an otherverse, things would be completely different.

  BOOM!

  “We should be celebrating the fact that we discovered this otherverse. Why do we have to fight to the death? If this battle continues, both of you would probably die before winning this thing. How about this? Why don’t you let me take control over this otherverse. I promise I’ll give you the next one! I’m also willing to give you almost all of my treasures. Why must you be so stubborn?” Five figures were engaged in a furious battle off in the distance.

  “You are completely shameless! Give me the next one? Who knows when that will be! We’ve all been cultivating for countless ages before encountering something like this! How can I possibly just let you take it? Either give me the otherverse or give me a comparable amount of treasures. Compared to the otherverse, the treasures you offered are a joke!”

  It was quite a furious battle, but the two sides were fairly evenly matched. In a situation like this, it would be difficult for either side to truly defeat or kill the other. This was why neither side was willing to give up. Generally speaking, the battle would only come to an end once one side had completely depleted their reserves of divine power and Immortal energy. In fact, for Hegemons to end up perishing was quite ordinary as well.

  “Flamewing, make them stop,” Ning said with a laugh. It would be rather excessive to ask Autarch Ekong to handle this, while the other experts probably wouldn’t be frightening enough to bring an immediate halt.

  “Yes, Master.” Flamewing immediately assented to the order, then turned towards the battling experts. “HEY! YOU FIVE! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!” A thunderous roar swept through spacetime as a giant winged bear who was bathed in flames suddenly appeared. Flamewing glowered down towards the five with unbridled arrogance, causing all of them to instantly turn pale with terror. “A Chaos Primordial?!”

  If a Chaos Primordial wanted to kill a Hegemon, it would be simplicity itself.

  Whoosh! Moments later, an entire host of cultivators came flying out of the realmship, with Ning and Autarch Ekong in the lead. Behind them were Nuwa, Patriarch Treewind, Imperator Jade Rainbow, Hegemon Goodsong, and the others.

  “W-what…”

  “Isn’t that Patriarch Treewind?”

  The Eight Domains were all located quite close to the Quintessence of the Chaosverse, and so these five Hegemons instantly recognized the incredibly famous Patriarch Treewind and equally famous Imperator Jade Rainbow. Both of them were Otherverse Lords! As for Hegemon Goodsong, they were able to immediately see that he was a Golden Emperor, which meant he also had the combat power of an Otherverse Lord. Any of the three would be able to slay them with ease, as could Flamewing.

  The scary thing was, none of these four were the leaders of this group. The two leaders… one was a white-robed youth with a black sheath on his back whose truesoul was disintegrating. A Daolord who had failed the Daomerge, then? The other was a horned, muscular, green-robed man whose aura, even when restrained, was enough to cause them to quiver in their boots. They had never felt terror like this before.

  “An Autarch!” Although they had never met an Autarch before, they instantly understood that it had to be an Autarch. Only an Autarch could bring them such a sense of utter terror.

  “A Daolord who failed the Daomerge but can stand alongside an Autarch… that has to be the legendary Daolord Darknorth.”

  The five Hegemons stood there, shaking with terror. They no longer even thought about fighting over the otherverse! They were stunned by this utterly terrifying squad that had appeared before them.

  Ning couldn’t help but secretly sigh. Each Autarch had a different way of dealing with things. Autarch Titanos would generally completely hide his aura, while Autarch Ekong clearly was more dominating and imperious in his actions.

  “Bah, Skyfeeder… the ownerless otherverse she picked out for us had actually been discovered by other cultivators already.” Autarch Ekong frowned and shook his head. Given his pride, he really didn’t want to earn a reputation for taking otherverses away from Hegemons. He immediately said, “Darknorth, have your friend g
o and bind that otherverse, I suppose.”

  “Go ahead, Nuwa,” Ning said.

  “Alright.” Nuwa didn’t hesitate, immediately flying towards that otherverse.

  “As for the five of you.” Autarch Ekong frowned. “This otherverse was never meant for you, so you can forget about it. However… since you managed to discover it, we are bound together by karma. I’ll give each of you some good fortune. You can go now.” He waved his hand, causing a surge of power to grab all five Hegemons and send them through a spacetime tunnel that led to a treasure cache which Autarch Ekong knew of.

  * * *

  Book 40, Chapter 16 - Return

  The light shimmering over the surface of the otherverse rippled with unfathomable, secretive mysteries.

  Nuwa entered it all by herself. Just a heartbeat later, the otherverse began to change and transform. The aura emanating from it began to retract, while the ripples were completely restrained as well… and at the same time, a flicker of green vitality appeared on its surface.

  “This otherverse seems to have life in it,” Su Youji said with surprise as she stared at the otherverse.

  “It is indeed filled with life,” Autarch Ekong said calmly. “Ownerless otherverses will operate in accordance with their intrinsic nature, but they won’t have a will of their own! Now that Nuwa has bound this one, Nuwa’s will shall become the will of this entire otherverse, and her life force shall become one with the otherverse. This otherverse shall become one of her incarnations.”

  Moments later, the otherverse began to shrink in size before vanishing almost completely. Nuwa reappeared once more as the tiny little dot flew straight into her body.

  “Disciple, where do you plan to station your otherverse?” Patriarch Treewind asked.

  “Close to home,” Nuwa said. “That way, the people of my homeland will also be able to enter the otherverse and live there.”

  Ning approved of this plan. Once an otherverse was affixed somewhere, it would become a foundation of power. Otherverses also had many uses; for example, one could use the power of an otherverse to warp through spacetime at the speed of a realmship. It could even be linked to the outside world via a stable spacetime tunnel! However, the longer the tunnel was the more difficult its creation would be. Nuwa was definitely going to establish a stable, permanent spacetime tunnel between her otherverse and the Three Realms, and so she had to keep it fairly close to the Flamedragon Realmverse.

  Based on what Ning now knew, it seemed obvious that the Otherverse Lord of the ‘alternate universe’ which Ning had once visited, ‘the lord of the Church of Annihilation’, had to have a connection to Hegemon Brightshore! Otherverse Lords were in absolute control over their otherverses, as the otherverses served like their incarnations. There was no way that Hegemon Brightshore would’ve been able to ‘secretly’ establish a spacetime tunnel to it.

  The reason why Hegemon Brightshore had claimed otherwise was because he wanted Ning, Skyfire, and the others to feel as though they were in a dangerous place. He wanted to ensure that they would be on their guard at all times; only then would this adventure serve its true purpose. Ning suspected that if the ‘protectors’ had died, nothing would happen… but if Skyfire Brightshore had been at the verge of dying, Hegemon Brightshore or the lord of the Church of Annihilation would’ve intervened to save him!

  In other words, that seemingly dangerous adventure had actually been just a tempering experience for Skyfire Brightshore. There had been no real danger at all, and Ning’s group had merely served as his companions.

  There had been no real danger… but of course, Hegemon Brightshore couldn’t let Skyfire know that! This was yet another testament to how much effort Hegemon Brightshore put into his race. He truly did pour his blood, sweat, and tears into making it prosper.

  “Let’s go. We’re heading back to the Flamedragon Realmverse,” Ning said.

  Autarch Ekong, Ning, and the others all boarded the realmship and tore through spacetime, once more warping towards the Flamedragon Realmverse.

  Halfway there, Hegemon Goodsong, Patriarch Treewind, Imperator Jade Rainbow, and most of the others all departed. There was no way Ning would keep them around at all times, after all. Nuwa bade her own master farewell for now. She was going to go back home.

  ……

  They continued to advance through spacetime, moving far more quickly than when they had left the Flamedragon Realmverse. The realmship tore through spacetime at frightening speeds, causing spacetime to twist into a dazzling rainbow tunnel around them.

  “Darknorth.” Autarch Ekong and Ning were seated facing each other, sipping some wine and chatting casually. Su Youji, Azurefiend, and the others naturally didn’t dare to disturb them.

  “What are your plans for after I deal with the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels?” Autarch Ekong asked.

  “What CAN I plan? Haha. While I’m still alive, I’m going to wander around the Chaosverse for a while,” Ning said. “But of course, I’ll also analyze those Sithe techniques. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to create a complete technique that will allow me to somehow survive. If that happens, I’ll stand a good chance of becoming an Omega Autarch. Wouldn’t that be just perfect? Haha. I’m afraid to even imagine how wonderful that would be.”

  “Who knows? It might just work.” Autarch Ekong laughed as well.

  In truth, both of them knew that this was far too difficult. Even Autarchs would feel despair when they saw the marvelous, perfect techniques the Sithe used. Ning felt the same. He himself had the feeling that if he truly did devote all of his attention to analyzing those techniques, he might have a chance at surviving… but the amount of time needed would be measured in the hundreds of millions of chaos cycles, if not longer.

  The short amount of time left to him wasn’t even close to being enough for him to accomplish this. Not even Autarchs could accomplish this! Autarch Awakener had been the most stubborn and had poured the most effort into it, but in the end he had still failed.

  “I was joking just now. However… even though I’m going to die, I’m still going to advance along the path of the Dao,” Ning said. “Ekong, the five of you have already given me your techniques, along with the techniques of Autarch Entropos and Autarch Mogg. I’m going to wander the universe and learn as much as I can. I’ll make as many breakthroughs as I can. Even if I am to die, I shall die on the path I have chosen.”

  When Ning had recorded his Eternal Omega Dao technique, the various Autarchs had handed over all of their own Daos to Ning as well, hoping that they might inspire him somehow. But of course, Ning wasn’t to transmit them to any others; he was the only one permitted to examine them.

  In the Blazesun Domain, Ning had mastered the mysteries of water and then created the Water Sword Dao, which had benefited him quite a bit. Ning was planning to continue along this path and upgrade his other Daos to the Hegemon level, then slowly infuse them all into his Eternal Omega Sword Dao. This was a path towards Autarchy that would require an extremely long period of time. Ning didn’t have enough time, but he would still continue along this path.

  “Haha… to be honest, I’m just bored. If I don’t cultivate, what WOULD I do?” Ning smirked.

  “Now that’s more like it! When you have as much time to burn as we do, meditating on the Dao is a great idea. Come, let’s drink!” Autarch Ekong lifted his wine cup in a toast.

  ……

  The Flamedragon Realmverse. The Terror Starsea.

  A group of cultivators were gathered here. Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, Hegemon Netherlily, Daoist Bluestone, Emperor Goldisle, Emperor Anchen, Emperor Islehide, Emperor Severfive… all of them were present. Ning’s Primaltwin was located in the Flamedragon Realmverse, and so he had notified the Emperors and Hegemons early on.

  Once they heard that an Autarch was going to intervene and destroy the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels, they became incredibly excited. They quickly spread the word far and wide, allowing all of the six major powers within the Flamedrago
n Realmverse to know what was about to happen!

  Everyone was incredibly excited by this news, because the destruction of the Flamedragon Realmverse would result in them being forced to wander the Chaosverse as refugees. Almost all creatures within the realmverse would perish, with only a tiny fraction of creatures who were protected by the major powers and drawn into their estate-treasures being able to survive. Even if they made it to other realmverses, they would be viewed with disdain by the original inhabitants of those realmverses. This was exactly how the Dark Kingdom had been treated by the rest of the Flamedragon Realmverse!

  There were also some races who actually lived in the Terror Starsea itself! Thus, everyone hoped for the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels to be destroyed. They all hoped that their homeland would be preserved. To wander as refugees and then be rejected as outsiders was not a good life to live!

  Whoosh. A spacetime tunnel appeared out of nowhere, followed by a realmship flying out of it.

  “That’s Daolord Darknorth’s realmship.” Hegemon Brightshore and the leaders of the six powers all stared over excitedly.

  A group of people flew out of the realmship, led by Ning and a muscular, horned man. Behind them were Su Youji, Protector Whitethaw, Flamewing, and Azurefiend.

  “This is Autarch Ekong,” Ning introduced.

  “Respectful greetings, Autarch Annihilation.” Hegemon Brightshore led the various cultivators in a deep, respectful bow.

  Autarch Ekong nodded. “I’ve been asked to come here by Daolord Darknorth. No need to stand on ceremony. I’ll go and destroy the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels right now.” As he spoke, he glanced at Ning and nodded.

  “Sorry for the trouble,” Ning said with a smile.

  “Haha, a minor matter… but the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels are rather troublesome to deal with. It’ll take me a bit of time.” Autarch Ekong flew off into the distance, moving through the void towards the distant Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels.

  “That really was an Autarch!”

  “An Autarch really has come to destroy the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels.”