Desolate Era

by RWX

  Another person Ning went to visit was Ninelotus.

  Ninelotus was the first woman Ning had ever romantically loved. Ning’s status was so incredibly high that after they broke up, no one else ever dared to pursue Ninelotus! Ninelotus herself set up her own school long ago, and she only accepted female cultivators who swore to be forever single.

  Ninelotus had vanished for many years after establishing her sect, but then she had suddenly skyrocketed in power. She had first reached the World level of power, then became a Samsara Daolord during the period of time that Ning was secluded in meditation. This caused many people in the Three Realms to feel quite speechless… and many secretly whispered that Fairy Ninelotus had to have reached this level thanks to Daolord Darknorth’s help. Otherwise, how could she have been ordinary for so long, then suddenly risen to power?

  Ning himself, however, knew that he hadn’t helped Ninelotus at all!

  Below a giant tree within a courtyard. Ning and Ninelotus were seated facing each other, with Ninelotus pouring Ning some tea.

  “I grew this tea tree myself and personally harvested the leaves,” Ninelotus said. “Have a taste.”

  “Senior apprentice-sister Ninelotus.” Ning smiled. “You truly amaze me.”

  Ning had seen many things. By now, he knew that there were indeed some cultivators who rose to prominence late in life! Common sense dictated that they shouldn’t be able to make any further breakthroughs, given how long they had been alive for, but they somehow did. They just slowly advanced at their own pace.

  “For a long time, you cast a deep shadow over my heart.” Ninelotus looked at Ning. She could sense his truesoul crumbling away, and she felt sorrow for him. He had been an extremely important man in her life, after all. “I eventually set up my own female-only school and strictly forbade my disciples from falling in love… but that’s not something a mere rule can prevent. In the end, quite a few of my disciples ended up becoming Dao-companions with men from the outside world. After teaching many of them and seeing many things, the shadow over my heart began to gradually dissipate. I began to get over the past.”

  “I simply taught my disciples and tended to my garden, planting trees and weeding weeds. Every so often, I’d read a few treatises on the Dao.” Ninelotus smiled. “Honestly, it was quite strange. For some reason, cultivation became easier and easier for me, and I began to improve faster and faster.”

  Ning could sense that Ninelotus’ Dao-heart had reached incredible heights after she had managed to dispel the shadow that had bedeviled her heart for so many years. In the end, the Dao-heart was what mattered the most to cultivators!

  Long ago, Ning had established a Dao-repository filled with countless techniques which all talented cultivators of the Three Realms were given access to. Many of those techniques had been written down by Hegemons and included a detailed explanation from start to finish. This had allowed the Three Realms to produce more and more major powers.

  “Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, the brightest star of the Black-White College… I felt certain that you would continue to dazzle long after I died,” Ninelotus said. “I never thought that I’d still be alive while you…”

  “That’s why I had to come visit you, old friend.” Ning smiled.

  “Is there hope?” Ninelotus suddenly asked.

  Although the love between them had vanished long ago, she still cared deeply about Ning. Many failed Daolords refused to give up hope. Daolord Allgod, for example, had tried all sorts of methods to extend his life! The law of the universe was that the heavens always gave a chance, no matter how slim… and it was true! There was, in fact, a way for those who failed the Daomerge to survive. Alas, to this very day not even the Autarchs had been able to truly grasp it.

  “I’ll enter terminal seclusion soon to find out,” Ning said with a smile. “If you ever see me again, you’ll know that I succeeded.”

  “Then I’ll wait for you to come back. I’ll make sure to have some more tea ready for you,” Ninelotus said hopefully.

  ……

  Ning felt quite happy after leaving Ninelotus’ residence. He could tell from her breakthroughs that she had gotten over her previous issues. This was why he had been willing to visit her. If she was still entangled by the demons of the past, he wouldn’t have disturbed her.

  He continued to wander the Three Realms, visiting all of his old friends. Finally, he hosted a family banquet in Brightheart Island. The only ones invited to the banquet included his parents, Brightmoon, Uncle White, Autumn Leaf, and other extremely close friends and family. Youji, Pillsaint, and Azurefiend were also permitted to attend as his retainers. Even the slumbering Flamewing God was awakened by Ning and called over to take part.

  After the banquet ended, Ning was going to enter terminal seclusion.

  “Flamewing,” Ning instructed, “Stay for a few hundred thousand more chaos cycles in the Flamedragon Realmverse. After that, you can go where you please.”

  “You’ll definitely make it back, Master!” Flamewing truly couldn’t bear to part with Ning.

  “Haha…” Ning chuckled, then turned to look at everyone else present.

  “Ning. Son.” Yuchi Snow’s eyes were filled with worry.

  “Young master.” Autumn Leaf looked at Ning as well.

  Ji Yichuan and Uncle White looked at Ning. Both were able to remain fairly calm.

  “Master.” Su Youji’s eyes were filled with anxiousness.

  Ning looked at this gathering of the friends and family who meant the most to him, then smiled. “Relax, everyone. I’m going into terminal seclusion, not certain death. Besides, I’ve already lived a far longer life than ordinary mortals are granted. I’m an old fart by now! Alright. I’m off!”

  As he turned to leave, he cast Su Youji a final glance and nodded towards her.

  How could he not understand the feelings Su Youji bore him? Su Youji, in turn, knew how Ning felt and so she continued to ‘hide’ her feelings, never giving voice to them.

  Ning had no answer for this, no solution. Mortals might be easily moved to love, but someone like Ning? At most, he could care about her as he would a beloved family member. As far as romantic love went… he truly felt nothing for her at all.

  Whoosh. As Ning took a single step forwards, a dimensional tunnel appeared before him. He stepped into the dimensional tunnel, then vanished.

  Everyone on Brightheart Island watched as Ning departed, their hearts filled with many emotions.

  ……

  “Master. Nuwa. If I truly do fail in my terminal seclusion, the security of the Three Realms will be up to the two of you.” Ning’s voice suddenly rang out in the minds of Subhuti and Nuwa.

  Subhuti had been meditating, while Nuwa had been teaching students. Both were startled by Ning’s sudden message.

  Ning hadn’t met with them before going into secluded meditation. He only sent them this single, simple mental message.

  “Disciple,” Subhuti murmured softly.

  “There is still hope.” Nuwa turned to stare into the void beyond the Three Realms.

  ……

  The Azureflower Estate was as same as it always was as the white-robed Ning stepped inside.

  “Daolord Darknorth.” The white-haired elder had been waiting at the gates for quite some time now. He immediately bowed respectfully as Ning entered.

  “Haha. You get to be the last one by my side as I enter terminal seclusion,” Ning teased.

  “To accompany you in this is my honor,” the white-haired elder chuckled.

  Ning turned to glance at the world behind him. He felt as though he could see the images of those who he cared about appearing outside.

  “Close the gates,” Ning instructed.

  With a rumble, the towering gates to the Azureflower Estate swung shut.

  Book 43, Chapter 9 - The Only Path: Void Everlasting

  Far, far away, in the outer perimeter of the Sithelands. There was a floating island here which had an ancient temple o
n it. Inside were Autarch Mogg and the avatars of the other Autarchs.

  “Autarchs, I wanted to let you know that I, Darknorth, am preparing to enter terminal seclusion. Let our various conversations and sharing of insights be paused for now! But of course, if you gain any extremely important insights, you can still go ahead and share them with me,” Ji Ning sent via the Autarch talisman to the other six Autarchs.

  “Terminal seclusion?” Titanos, Ekong, Bolin, Skyfeeder, Stonerule, and Mogg all stiffened. They all felt a mixture of complex emotions in their heart, as well as a sense of sorrow. They knew just how difficult creating a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique would be. The six of them had spent a great deal of time in recent years on this technique, but they actually made much less progress than Ning. There were no important insights they could share with him.

  “If we have any important insights, we’ll definitely notify you.” Autarch Bolin was the first to reply.

  “Darknorth, you are the first and only master of an Eternal Omega Dao our Chaosverse has produced. I know you can succeed, no matter how hard the task,” Autarch Titanos said.

  “There’s always a chance, no matter how slim. I know that you will seize it,” Autarch Skyfeeder said.

  They all replied supportively, but although their words were filled with encouragement and they spoke of their faith in Ning, deep in their hearts they knew how slim Ning’s chances were. That was why they had to speak so supportively! Over the course of the past 15,000 chaos cycles, they had often exchanged insights with Ning regarding the [Deathless Chapter]. At first, they had been able to provide Ning with some new ideas, but later on their rate of advancement became far slower than Ning’s.

  “Yes. I’ll definitely find and seize that chance. I’m going into seclusion now.” Ning sent one final reply, then fell silent.

  The six Autarchs exchanged glances, then sighed.

  “Ugh.”

  “Just like that, one of our good friends has…”

  “Perhaps a miracle will happen.” All of them felt saddened, and the atmosphere quickly turned heavy. Darknorth had been a dazzling figure, the first master of an Eternal Omega Dao their Chaosverse had produced. He had established a new path for future generations to follow, and now… all by himself… he was preparing to go out in a blaze of glory, fighting a battle which no one had ever won in a bid for survival. He had so many unfinished hopes and dreams… but alas, nothing in life would ever be exactly as one wished it to be.

  The six Autarchs could do nothing but wait silently.

  ……

  Within a silent hallway. The white-robed Ning first drew all six of his Northbow swords from their sheaths, then placed them atop a nearby table. The elderly white-haired spirit of the estate watched silently from one side.

  Ning then walked to the Autarch’s stone dais, sat down in the lotus position, then slowly closed his eyes.

  He had already settled as many affairs as he could. There was no point in worrying about the rest. He was now able to truly empty his mind of all extraneous thoughts and focus everything on creating the complete [Truesoul Everlasting] technique!

  Creation of this technique was his one and only chance to survive. Of course, successfully becoming an Autarch via the Omega Dao was also possible, but by all rights that would require an enormous amount of work and time. He simply didn’t have that much time left to him!

  Rely on an epiphany? Epiphanies could only be hoped for, not counted on. Hoping for an epiphany that would propel him into Omega Autarchy was nothing more than a foolish pipe dream. He at least had a slim chance at surviving with a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique, but his chances of surviving due to becoming an Omega Autarch were next to nil. If he had a million chaos cycles or more, he might be able to accomplish it with some luck and an epiphany, but as of right now? Forget it!

  Besides… when entering terminal seclusion, one had to put everything at stake. The worst thing he could do was to allow himself to be distracted by other possibilities!

  Ning knew that becoming an Omega Autarch in such a short period of time was far less likely than successfully developing the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’ technique. Thus, he didn’t hesitate at all in choosing the latter option! He had made this choice 15,000 chaos cycles ago, and he didn’t hesitate at all as he entered terminal seclusion.

  This path was illuminated by the [Deathless Chapter] of the [Five Truncheon Chapters], which in turn represented Hawkfang’s distillation of the Sithe Chaoslord’s insights as represented by the nine techniques he had created. Ning had joined them together with all of the insights pertaining to this Chaosverse which he had gained over countless years, as well as the insights of Autarch Awakener. Without question, it was the path most likely to succeed!

  “A ‘Truesoul Everlasting’… there are two paths to success which I can take. The first is that of the ‘Void Everlasting’, while the second is that of the ‘Chaos Everlasting’.”

  Ning began to ponder this most important of questions. “What should I choose? Once I make the decision, I’ll have to follow it to the bitter end.”

  During previous aeons, he had pursued multiple paths at the same time. Autarch Awakener had believed that the two most likely paths were those of ‘Void Everlasting’ and ‘Infinity Everlasting’. The latter followed the most fundamental principles of Daoist cultivation, and was based on the principle of how ‘one begat two, two begat three, and three begat all things.’ The principle was basic, but actualizing it was difficult. Ning had finally abandoned this approach by chaos cycle 12,000. As for the other paths, he had abandoned them at other intervals as well.

  Now, only two paths remained which Ning felt would have the highest chances of success.

  “The Void Everlasting… it involves using my will as the core. I would need to be able to maintain my will and consciousness in the emptiness of space itself. Even after my truesoul shatters apart, I would still be able to remain conscious and could then use the empty void of space itself to serve as the medium for remaking my truesoul anew.”

  “The Chaos Everlasting… it involves trusting my will to the prime essences of the Chaosverse themselves. I would borrow from the power of the Quintessence, asking it to halt its instinctual desire to swallow my truesoul. If I can do that, my truesoul will naturally stop crumbling.”

  Ning continued to ponder this decision. The ‘Void Everlasting’ required him to rely on himself, while the ‘Chaos Everlasting’ involved him swaying the prime essences and convincing them to ease drawing upon his truesoul.

  Why did the truesoul continuously shatter and break apart? Because the prime essences would begin pulling at it after the first cracks appeared during the Daomerge.

  “The Void Everlasting technique works in theory, but I haven’t sensed it actually function in practice,” Ning mused. “As for Chaos Everlasting, I can sense its effects. I’ve tried numerous times to link my will to the prime essences and have been able to use this technique to slow down the rate at which it absorbs my truesoul… but as soon as I halt the technique, the prime essences will continue to swallow my truesoul at the normal rate once more.”

  The first technique seemed ineffective, while the second one did have some effects. Which one should he choose?

  Ning gritted his teeth. “To completely prevent the prime essences from devouring my truesoul fragments would be to go against the natural order of the Chaosverse! The only reason why my technique seems to be effective is because right now, this Chaosverse has no Lord governing it.” Ning shook his head. “However, my chances of completely halting this process remain very low.”

  He understood this point from the very beginning. To go against the natural order of the Chaosverse was not a wise option. The only reason he had yet to abandon it was because it did seem to at least have some effect.

  “I can’t leave things to luck, nor can I try and have ‘backup’ options. Void Everlasting it is!” Ning made his final decision, deciding to focus all of his efforts on e
mbarking upon the path of the Void Everlasting.

  ……

  The [Void Everlasting] technique was a completely self-reliant technique. It required him to be able to maintain a ‘void will’. Only then would he have successfully acquired a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’!

  What did the phrase ‘void will’ mean? The word ‘will’ referred to his mind, to his consciousness! For ordinary mortals, possessing a soul meant possessing consciousness. Powerful cultivators understood that only possessing a complete truesoul represented having consciousness and the capability for true thought.

  As for the most supreme of major powers? Even if their truesouls were fragmented and shattered, they would still be able to maintain consciousness! A major power’s mind and consciousness would only come to a halt when the final fragments of his truesoul completely collapsed. When Ning’s original body had perished, he had experienced this process of his truesoul breaking apart and his consciousness dimming away. The reason that consciousness vanished was because its most fundamental vessel, the ‘truesoul’, had completely broken apart.

  To have a ‘void will’ meant that even after your truesoul completely broke apart, you would still be able to maintain consciousness, housing it within the emptiness of the void itself! Imagine what a powerful will one would need in order to be able to accomplish such a thing!

  If his will was sufficiently powerful, he would be able to play tug-of-war with his truesoul fragments, forcibly latching onto them even after his truesoul had broken apart and preventing them from dissipating. He would draw them together into a new whole! In order to accomplish this, the power of his will would have to surpass the absorptive power of the Chaosverse itself. Only then would one have a ‘Truesoul Everlasting’!

  Chaos Everlasting required one to be able to convince the Chaosverse to temporarily halt the absorption process, while Void Everlasting required one to use one’s will to overpower the energy-sucking strength of the Chaosverse.

  “Willpower strong enough to exist independently of body and soul… to accomplish this, I will need to truly perfect the [Void Everlasting] technique,” Ning mused to himself.