Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Once we leave the Sithelands, I’ll immediately ask the Autarchs to help out,” Ning said.

  “Darknorth.” The Paragon of Pills’ entire aura seemed to have transformed. In the past, she was incomparably cold and remote… but now, a hint of lively fire seemed to course through her.

  “Haha. Now, Mistress, can you go ahead and choose the treasures you want?” Ning said.

  “I already have multiple Sithe weapons. A few more won’t make much of a difference,” the Paragon refused. She felt that she had already taken too much advantage of Ning. She couldn’t accept any further gifts.

  Seeing this, Ning nodded. “Ah, but you don’t have a realmship yet, right?”

  The Paragon blinked.

  “Realmships make life much more convenient. Take this one.” Ning waved his hand, sending a realmship to float in front of the Paragon of Pills.

  The Paragon of Pills no longer held back. She immediately said, “Fine, I’ll accept this.” She truly did feel as though destiny was a marvelous thing. When she had led Ning to the Trileaf Realm, he was just a child… and now, this child had completely changed her destiny.

  “This suit of armor can be used to cover your entire body. It is highly defensive, but it’ll also increase your attack power dramatically. It’s quite multifunctional. With this by your side, you should be able to survive even an enraged Otherverse Lord.” Ning waved his hand, choosing a heavy suit of coppery red armor and sending it over to Azurefiend.

  Azurefiend was rather stunned. He truly did badly desire a Sithe treasure, but he himself felt that he had done too little for Ning to warrant one yet. He felt a bit embarrassed to be given one.

  “Master, I’ll accept it.” Azurefiend had a solemn look on his face. “I’ve been alive for so many years, but I never had a Sithe weapon to call my own. I, Azurefiend, shall never forget your benevolence, Master.”

  In his heart, Azurefiend silently decided that although his master would one day perish, he would continue to safeguard his master’s family and friends.

  “It is just a toy to me. No need to get too emotional.” Ning waved his hand, collecting all of the other treasures. He didn’t really care about them, because his original plan had been to wait until the later stages of his truesoul’s disintegration before doing a bit of adventuring in the Sithelands. Since he was already here, he was going to continue wandering through the Sithelands after asking the Autarchs to revive the Paragon of Pills’ three brothers.

  In other words, he would have plenty more treasures coming his way! Hegemons might have to risk their lives to acquire Sithe treasures, but Ning was able to acquire them with ease.

  ……

  After fully looting the Daoguard Tower, Ning turned to stare at the many dimensional hallways barring their path. “These dimensional hallways have been completely sealed off. For now, there’s no way out. If I used all my power, it would take me ten or twenty sword-strikes to carve a path open for us, but it really isn’t worth it. Now that the Daoguard Tower has been destroyed, they no longer have a power source and will quickly use up the little energy they have.”

  Rumble… his awesome Sword Dao Domain descended and began to furiously smash against the distant dimensional hallways. The criss-crossing hallways were able to endure the assault, but flickers of light began to appear on their surfaces. Clearly, they were using up a great deal of power to resist.

  “Master, how long will it take?” Azurefiend asked curiously.

  “How should I know?” Ning laughed. “Less than a chaos cycle.”

  Ning was able to keep his Sword Dao Domain continuously activated. It drew from the power of the Chaosverse itself; not one iota of Ning’s own energies were consumed. It would last for as long as he wanted it to last! While doing so, Ning began a period of silent meditation and cultivation, as did the Paragon of Pills and Azurefiend.

  Time flowed on, one year after another. The dimensional hallways continued to hold firm; clearly, they had been infused with quite a bit of power. Over eight million years went by in the blink of an eye.

  Rumble… a ripple suddenly spread out with Ning at its center. The Paragon of Pills and Azurefiend were seated in the lotus position atop boulders within the tower ruins, and they both opened their eyes as the ripple washed past them. They both felt a thrill of fear go down their spine, and both sighed at how incredible Darknorth was! One was Ning’s retainer, while the other was essentially one of Ning’s teachers, but both marveled at how unfathomably powerful he had become.

  At their level, they couldn’t even truly understand how terrifying Ning’s Sword Dao was. Just the tiniest bit of leakage from its aura was enough to cause them to feel fear. When that invisible ripple washed past them, they felt as though invisible blades were slicing at their bodies.

  “The Space Sword Dao.” Ning opened his eyes, then reached out with his hand. Whoosh! An ethereal sword appeared above the palm of his hand, emanating ripples of dimensional power.

  Prior to coming here, Ning had spent three thousand chaos cycles wandering the Chaosverse with his daughter and had nearly finished infusing his Dao of Space into his Eternal Omega Sword Dao. After seeing the dimensional hallways, he gained new insights into the Dao of Space. This sped up the infusion process, allowing him to break through and master his Space Sword Dao.

  The Space Sword Dao was highly suited for dimensional travel, allowing him to tear through space like it was nothing more than tofu.

  From this day forth, the amount of distance he could travel when he used his sword to tear through space would skyrocket. The Autarch of Annihilation, ‘Autarch Ekong’, was not particularly skilled in the Dao of Space, and so he wouldn’t be able to travel as far or as fast as Ning!

  Ning had reached the Hegemonic level in the Dao of Space long ago, after all. Now, he had infused it all into his Sword Dao and formed the Space Sword Dao.

  “Mastering the Space Sword Dao clearly took much more time than the Lightning Sword Dao or the Five Elements Sword Dao.” Ning shook his head to himself. “But the further down this road I go, the more time will be needed. I just don’t have enough time.”

  With each improvement, Ning could sense that his foundation was broadening and that he was getting slightly closer to success. Ning felt certain that if he had enough time, he had a very good chance of reaching the ultimate pinnacle via this route.

  ……

  Another half-million years went by after Ning mastered the Space Sword Dao.

  Finally… Crack! Crack! Crack! The dimensional hallways that had been for many years just barely able to endure Ning’s sword-light finally began to twist, shudder, and crack.

  Looks of delight appeared on the faces of Ning, Azurefiend, and the Paragon of Pills.

  “Haha, we’ve finally broken through!” Azurefiend grinned. “I thought that we’d actually spend an entire chaos cycle here.”

  “I’m impressed it managed to last as long as it did. I kept my Sword Dao Domain active this entire time, assaulting them without pause, but they still managed to last for many years. Honestly, if I used the brute-force method, I don’t think twenty blows of the sword would’ve been enough. I probably would’ve had to kill myself,” Ning said with a laugh. As he spoke, some of the dimensional hallways began to completely break apart and collapse.

  Countless dimensional hallways began to break apart and crumble. The Dimensional Hallway Lock was an extremely complicated technique which not even Ning could solve, despite his mastery of the Space Sword Dao… but now that its energies had been exhausted, it was still going to crumble.

  Soon, all of the dimensional hallways vanished without a trace, leaving behind just a few pocket dimensions which hovered in the skies like lonely little islands.

  Thanks to the karmic lines tying them together, Ning knew exactly which pocket dimension Lord Annihilation was in.

  “Let’s see what the other dimensions hold,” Ning said with a laugh. With but a thought, he sent out countless streams of sword-li
ght to surround and assault the hundreds of pocket dimensions, piercing through them to reveal what lay within.

  * * *

  Book 41, Chapter 11 - Tamed

  Ji Ning, the Paragon of Pills, and Azurefiend all stared at the pocket dimensions as the streaks of sword-light pierced through them. They instantly saw that two of them held the two companions of the Paragon. One held Lord Annihilation, whose eyes were filled with murderous bloodlust. The other was filled with a gray-robed woman who had silvery hair.

  Lord Annihilation raised his head to stare at the outside world, a murderous look in his eyes. The gray-robed woman turned to stare at Ning as well.

  “Annihilation!” the Paragon of Pills barked coldly. “Wake up!”

  Lord Annihilation’s gaze slowly returned to his normal calm. Swoosh! Swoosh! Both he and the gray-robed woman immediately flew out of their pocket dimensions.

  “Thank you, Paragon of Pills. Thank you, Daolord Darknorth.” Lord Annihilation had a delighted look on his face and behaved with tremendous respect.

  “What was going on just now?” Ning was rather surprised.

  “Annihilation was being constantly assaulted by illusions. Every so often, he’d be drawn into a berserk state,” the Paragon said. “However, each time he would eventually regain his clarity of mind after giving vent to his rage.”

  Lord Annihilation said in a rather embarrassed manner, “But the amount of time I was able to remain clear-minded was slowly shrinking. If I was trapped for a few hundred more chaos cycles, I probably would’ve completely lost myself to the madness. I only escaped that fate because you saved me, Daolord Darknorth.”

  Ning continued to keep his Sword Dao Domain active, using it to scan through the secrets of that dimensional pocket. He couldn’t help but secretly sigh in amazement at what he found. The illusions had been set up in a truly intricate and marvelous way which would allow them to silently and soundlessly penetrate a prisoner’s defenses, then affect his mind. However, Ning suspected that many of the formations in this Daoguard Tower had not been personally set down by the master of the tower.

  The Sithe had major powers who specialized in formations or artificing. They would mass produce these things, then auction them off. The ‘Dimensional Hallway Lock’, for example, was something which only a Sithe Exalt could create.

  “Tia greets you, Daolord Darknorth.” The silvery-haired gray-robed woman flew over and bowed respectfully.

  Ning knew that this woman was viewed by many as being just as ‘crazy’ as the Paragon of Pills. She often went adventuring in the Sithelands. However, she was different from the Paragon, who was more distant and cold. Hegemon Tia was calm and tranquil, as though nothing could cause a stir in her soul. She was someone who would react calmly to anything and everything. Even if she herself was about to die, she would respond with this calm equanimity.

  “Master, look over there.” Azurefiend pointed towards a distant pocket dimension.

  Ning, the Paragon, Tia, and Lord Annihilation all turned to look. This was a dimension filled with black mist. Inside, there was a towering mountain that had a beautiful palace located at the very peak. There were even a few servants in front of the palace.

  “It seems rather lavish. I imagine that’s where the Sithe normally resided,” Ning said. “Come, let’s go take a look.” Ning’s group quickly flew through the air towards that floating pocket dimension.

  The palace was quite beautiful. Some servants were busy keeping it clean, while others were standing watch. As soon as Ning’s group landed, they all bowed respectfully and called out: “Masters.” All of them, however, seemed rather puzzled.

  “They are all Daolords.” The Paragon of Pills was rather startled. She asked, “You’ve never met any of us. Why do you call us ‘Masters’?”

  The servants exchanged glances, rather nervous. The Paragon of Pills frowned. “You were able to become Daolords. How is it that you are this spineless?” She pointed at the old Daolord who seemed to be the most powerful. “You. Answer my question.”

  The old man said respectfully, “Everyone who comes here is a ‘Master’. We are eternal servants.”

  Ning stared intently at them, scrying the pasts of these servants. These Daolords all felt rather terrified when they saw Ning staring at them like this. They felt as though this white-robed Daolord was able to completely see through them. This sensation caused their hearts to quiver.

  “They all used to live within the estate-world.” Ning sighed. “Afterwards, they were chosen by the Sithe to come here and serve. All of them have been trained to be incredibly obedient.”

  “Since when were Daolords so easily tamed?” Azurefiend was rather surprised. Most Samsara Daolords would rather die than submit.

  “Not just Daolords. Even Hegemons have been tamed.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh. When he scried the pasts of these Daolords, he was also able to see some other information regarding this palace.

  “All of you, come out!” Ning barked, sending out his Sword Dao Domain to press down upon every inch of the palace. The formerly-quiet palace suddenly changed, with five figures flying out of it like streaks of light. All of them had awesome auras of power. They were all either Hegemons or Otherverse Lords, and their eyes were completely dead and devoid of all emotion.

  “This is Master’s estate. How dare you trespass here?” The five figures were filled with malevolence.

  “Are you… Lord Starbearer?” The Paragon of Pills was able to recognize one of the Otherverse Lords.

  “Brother Skypillar?” Hegemon Azurefiend called out in shock, “Y-you… do you recognize me?”

  “Azurefiend?” A red-haired man replied coldly, “Of course I recognize you. However, this is my master’s territory. Now that you have come here, you must die.”

  “Kill!” All five figures quickly charged forwards, seeking to slay Ning and the others.

  “Freeze!” Ning commanded softly. Instantly, four of the five charging figures were completely paralyzed by the suppressive might of Ning’s Sword Dao Domain. Only the Otherverse Lord who the Paragon had called ‘Lord Starbearer’ was able to continue his charge towards Ning, thanks to his entire body being covered by the power of his otherverse. However, Ning was able to send out incredibly powerful blows of sword-light to keep him at bay with ease.

  “Azurefiend, chain him down,” Ning commanded.

  “Yes, Master!” Azurefiend had been patiently waiting for a good opportunity. When he saw Ning knock down Lord Starbearer with a streak of sword-light, Azurefiend immediately attacked with all six black chains. He quickly bound Lord Starbearer in layers of chains, ensuring that he was no longer able to move at all.

  “Brother Skypillar, what’s wrong with you? We journeyed together and adventured together. Have you forgotten?” Hegemon Azurefiend couldn’t believe that this good friend of his would attack him. He had wandered through many places, and Hegemon Skypillar was someone he counted amongst his life-and-death friends.

  “All who offend Master must die!” the bound Hegemon Skypillar said through clenched teeth, a frenzied look on his face. As for the others… their eyes remained completely dead, but they also had berserk looks on their faces. They truly wanted to kill Ning and his team.

  Ning suddenly understood what was going on. He let out a sigh. “Although they kept their memories, they’ve already lost their sense of self. They’ve been tamed and transformed into a type of special Sithe golem.”

  “Golem?” The Paragon of Pills and the others didn’t understand.

  “Their bodies were unchanged and they kept all their powers and memories… but they’ve completely lost their id, their ego, their sense of self. They are like golems in that they will simply do whatever their master commands. They will obey any order their master gives them,” Ning explained. “They might be ‘alive’, but in reality they are like golems. Those two stone pythons who attacked me earlier were also living creatures who were transformed into golems.”

  Most go
lems were created via magic treasures. The Sithe, however… they were able to convert living beings into golems.

  “For all intents and purposes, they died long ago.” Ning looked at the five powerful cultivators, sighing at the savage, murderous look on their faces. “Let us grant them rest at long last.”

  Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.

  All five were ground to dust by Ning’s sword-light. Even Lord Starbearer was slain, due to the black chains suppressing his power and preventing him from fighting back.

  A look of heart-ache and grief was on Azurefiend’s old face.

  “Hegemons and Otherverse Lords can be transformed into golems?” The Paragon of Pills shook her head.

  “It is extremely difficult to convert powerful creatures into golems, and the stronger their Dao-heart is the better. For these five to have been converted is a sign that their Dao-hearts simply weren’t strong enough. In addition, the conversion process requires an extremely long period of time. The process has to be slow and gradual, without the cultivators even noticing anything. If the cultivators knew that their terrifying fate was to be transformed into golems, they would probably commit suicide instead. That’s why the process has to be gradual; not the slightest bit of haste is acceptable! By the time the cultivator realizes what has happened, it is already too late,” Ning said. This was part of the information which the Autarchs had provided to him.

  Lord Annihilation was greatly shocked by this. “Then when I was being repeatedly assaulted by those illusions… was that part of the taming and transforming process?”

  “Most likely, yes.” Ning nodded.

  “I could sense some charming spells aimed at me in my pocket dimension as well,” the Paragon of Pills said. “But I just stayed there without daring to move anywhere. It didn’t seem to affect me much.”