The Desolate Era

“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.”

“Let’s meet at Skyfeeder’s place.”

“See you all at Skyfeeder’s.” The six Autarchs were all in a wonderful mood. Their civilization had just gained another protector who could battle by their side as an equal. This meant their entire Chaosverse had just risen considerably in power... and Ning might one day advance to become an Omega Autarch!

......

A short while later, Ning re-initiated the Daomerge process. This time, things were completely different. Ning didn’t need to make any preparations at all, he just sat there by his table, drinking his wine as he initiated the Daomerge.

His body was perfect, as were the Jindan chaos region and the Dao-tree inside. Once again, the Flower of Eternity began to bloom.

“The Flower of Eternity.” The aura of the Daomerge began to flood outwards, but the seals protecting the Azureflower Estate were able to mask it all and keep it contained.

The thick, towering Dao-tree was 540,000 meters tall. It gave birth to a dazzlingly beautiful flower bud which glistened with beads of dew formed by countless flashing illusions of sword-stances. This was a Flower of Eternity which was born from the Eternal Omega Sword Dao, a flower which was far more beautiful than the ones which ordinary Emperors and Hegemons could produce.

Rumble... the prime essences of the Chaosverse descended upon Ning, whispering in joy and delight. Ning could sense their happiness, which contrasted with the sorrow they ‘felt’ the last time they descended upon him.

“It seems I’ll have to make a visit to the Quintessence if I wish to make a breakthrough with my heartworld,” Ning mused. His Immortal energy could easily evolve from Daolord-level energy to Emperor-level energy, as the amount of energy needed could be provided by the Azureflower Estate, even though Ning’s Immortal energy was far purer than that of ordinary Hegemon’s. It was on the level of the Autarchs! His heartworld, however, would be another matter.

The next breakthrough he made in heartforce would result in his heartworld becoming incredibly realistic! In addition, it would expand once more to become the size of an entire realmverse.

A realmverse-sized heartworld that was semi-real... to form such a thing would require an absolutely enormous amount of energy. If Ning simply sat here in the Azureflower Estate and tried to draw in enough energy from the surrounding area, it would probably result in destruction on a vast scale that would damage even the Three Realms. In fact, the entire Flamedragon Realmverse would probably be shaken! If that happened, there would be no way he could hide his breakthrough.

His only choice was to go to the Quintessence, where energy was so plentiful as to be nearly limitless. Only then would Ning be able to form his heartworld with ease.

“So this is what it feels like to be an Emperor?” Ning’s godsense had evolved as well, gaining a whiff of eternity about it. His godsense was now as stable and far-reaching as an Autarch’s.

Whoosh. Ning’s godsense spread out silently and soundlessly, easily reaching out past the Azureflower Estate and almost instantly reaching out through space and time to cover the entire Flamedragon Realmverse!

He was now able to monitor an entire realmverse with but a thought. The Brightshore Kingdom, the Dao Alliance, Vastheaven Palace, the Three Realms... all of it was under Ning’s watchful gaze.

Ning was also able to see his friends, his family, and his disciples.

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