Desolate Era

by RWX

  “As I thought. This hidden room is actually the energy source for the entire Jadefire Realm.” Ning revealed a smile. How was it that the many mechanisms of the Jadefire Realm had been maintained for so long? Where did that energy come from? Although the Jadefire Realm was able to absorb energy from the outside world, it must be remembered that the Jadefire Realm was once capable of unleashing unleashing a Decimatus Wave of terrifying power. There was no way that the amount of energy absorbed from the outside world alone would be enough to unleash such an attack; it had to have an internal energy source to do this.

  As soon as Ning discovered the second hidden room, he immediately surmised that it had to be the energy source for the Jadefire Realm. When he tested ‘turning’ the Jadefire Realm, he immediately discovered that energy began to flow out from that hidden room.

  “What sort of energy well is capable of unleashing a ‘Decimatus Wave’?” Ning was rather intrigued and curious about this.

  ……

  Ning’s realmship was parked peacefully in the air at the center of the Jadefire Realm’s prison region. The white-robed Ning was seated atop a prayer mat in the lotus position, silently meditating. As for Azurefiend, in his boredom he was drinking and eating by himself.

  “We’re going to make a short trip,” Ning said as he opened his eyes.

  “Have other Hegemons come?” Azurefiend asked, puzzled.

  “No. We’re going to another part of the prisons,” Ning said. He was going to go check out the hidden room first, then save Ninedust; Ninedust had already waited for quite some time, a few more minutes wouldn’t kill him.

  Swish. The realmship quickly began to descend through the prison region. After flying for a full hour, it reached a region of absolute empty darkness at the very bottom of the prison region.

  “Open up.” Ning was in control of the Seven Flaming Hells formation-diagram. With but a thought, he caused the hidden room to open up before him.

  Whoosh. A giant red copper gate suddenly appeared in the darkness and slowly began to open. As it did, a surge of blasting heat swept out from the other side, causing the void in the surrounding area to twist and distort like steam.

  Ning was able to see the blazing heat and fire on the other side of the red copper gate.

  “Ohoho!” Hegemon Azurefiend was quite excited. He said with a laugh, “I thought that the Jadefire Realm was already quite a hot place, given the many flames which fill its passageways… but there’s no way to compare those flames with this place. Let me out of the ship, I want to go take a look and see just how hot those flames are. They actually have caused space to twist and distort!”

  “Alright.” With but a thought, Ning put away the realmship. Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw all stood there in the emptiness of the void. The realmship gone, they could now directly sense the waves of heat which washed across them.

  “That’s hot.” Ning felt as though he had been dropped into a cauldron of fire. It was so hot that he couldn’t help but tense up, but his body was naturally capable of enduring this level of heat.

  “This heat wave alone would reduce Daolords of the Second Step to dust in a flash.” Hegemon Azurefiend smiled. “Let’s go in and take a look.”

  “Master, let me go inside first,” Whitethaw said.

  “Alright.” Ning nodded. In terms of survivability, the Sithe Protector was probably superior to even Hegemon Azurefiend.

  Swoosh. Whitethaw immediately flew through the giant red copper gate. Once he did, a look of disbelief appeared on his simple face. He then turned his head and called backwards, “Master, you can come inside. It’s very hot in here, but it won’t be of any danger to you.”

  “Alright, we’re coming in as well,” Ning said. Azurefiend, however, still took the lead in charging through the gate.

  Swoosh. Swoosh. The two passed through the giant red copper gate. With but a thought, Ning closed the gate behind them once more.

  “Eh?” As soon as Ning flew in, he was stunned by what he saw before him. The ground was pitch-black in color; Ning immediately recognized it as being deepfire blackstone. Far off in the distance, there was an enormous winged beast that was a hundred kilometers in size which was bathed in flames. The creature’s entire body was fiery red, and it had a pair of dazzling and enormous wings on its back. Its body looked somewhat similar to that of a fiery red bear’s, but it was completely covered with countless flaming scales.

  Boom! Whoosh! A deep sound rumbled across the area. It was the sound of this beast snoring in its slumber.

  Its fort short legs were covered with black chains, while its wings were wrapped in chains as well. These six black chains extended off into the void, while a large amount of flames was being slowly drawn through the chains into the void.

  The flames covering its body formed a rhythmic series of heat waves that swept out in every direction.

  “The flames it is generating unconsciously while it sleeps is hot enough to cause the temperature in the area to be so high as to instantly wipe out Daolords of the Second Step.” Hegemon Azurefiend was rather stunned. “The actual flames themselves have to be several levels higher in power; they could probably wipe out ordinary Eternal Emperors.”

  “Even in slumber, its flames possess such power? What type of beast is this?!” Ning was rather stunned as well. He had thought that the energy well for the Jadefire Realm would be something akin to a sparrowfiend gem. Who would’ve thought that it would actually be a living creature?

  “Can that be a Chaos Primordial?” Hegemon Azurefiend suddenly said.

  “A Chaos Primordial?” Ning was stunned. Chaos Primordials were the most terrifying lifeforms of the Chaosverse, birthed from the prime essences of the Chaosverse themselves. They were born with virtually indestructible bodies, and they possessed inconceivable levels of power. However, they were rather unintelligent, perhaps comparable to ordinary mortal children at best. They wandered the Chaosverse alone, and when they occasionally ran into a realmverse they would devour the entire realmverse whole.

  As a result, quite a few realmverses had been destroyed by Chaos Primordials over the course of aeons! Alas, there was nothing that could be done; even terrifying Otherverse Lords would only at best be able to stay alive in the face of a Chaos Primordial attack. There was nothing which could stop them save the Autarchs.

  Even if a major power like Realmslord Windgrace ran into a Chaos Primordial which was devouring a realmverse, he would have no choice but to just watch powerlessly as it all happened.

  “Chaos Primordials love to eat verdant azuresouls.” This thought suddenly came to Ning’s mind. He had acquired a verdant azuresoul from that beastworld, one which Autarch Bolin had transformed into a magic treasure. So long as a Chaos Primordial ate it, it would fall under Ning’s control and become his servant.

  “It has to be a Chaos Primordial, right? I can’t think of any other creature that would be this powerful.” Hegemon Azurefiend wasn’t certain either, because he had never encountered a Chaos Primordial before either.

  “Yes, that is a Chaos Primordial. It called itself the ‘Flamewing God’,” the nearby Protector Whitethaw suddenly said.

  “Flamewing God?” Ning and Azurefiend both turned to look at Whitethaw.

  “Yes.” Whitethaw nodded. “Prior to the Dawn War, when the Sithe were in the prime of their power, they discovered this Chaos Primordial. Some of the most terrifying and powerful Sithe experts set off to capture it, then imprisoned it within an enormous Sithe prison that was meant for imprisoning major powers. I once entered that place with my master and saw the ‘Flamewing God’ myself. Back then, one of the prison gaolers introduced it to us and said that it was incredibly strong. Three Sithe Exalts had to work together in order to capture it.”

  Ning nodded. Having chatted with Whitethaw in the past, he knew that the most powerful members of the Sithe race had been the ones known as the ‘Exalts’. They were far more powerful than even the Otherverse Lords of the cultivator civiliz
ations! But of course, they still were far from being a match for the Autarchs.

  The most powerful experts on the side of the cultivators had been the Autarchs, and it was the Autarchs who had led them to victory in exterminating the Sithe and their Exalts.

  “I didn’t expect for the Flamewing God to have been brought here,” Whitethaw said.

  Ning sighed in approval. To use a Chaos Primordial as an energy source… no wonder the Jadefire Realm had been so terrifying in its prime! Every single Decimatus Wave was capable of annihilating anything below the Autarch level of power with ease. This was something that was even more terrifying than a Chaos Primordial itself, and it was thanks to the power of the formation that drew from its energies.

  “Then the six chains binding it…” Ning stared from afar. The six chains ensured that this powerful Chaos Primordial was unable to fight back, and it also drew energy from it.

  “It seems to be some sort of suppressive formation that also has energy absorption effects.” Ning scrutinized the six chains intently, studying the countless runes and patterns that covered them. He was now a grandmaster of the Dao of Formations, but he still found this formation to be quite complicated. This was because Ning’s path was that of the Seven Flaming Hells formation-diagram, while these chains belonged to a completely different school of formations.

  “It’ll be a bit tough to break these chains and release this Chaos Primordial… but given my skills in the Dao of Formations as well as the records regarding Sithe formations which Autarch Awakener left behind, I still have a chance to succeed,” Ning mused. “However… prior to releasing this creature, I should first have it eat the verdant azuresoul.”

  He only had a single verdant azuresoul. Ning was worried that if he tossed it out, the Flamewing God might just slap it apart into dust. That would be troublesome.

  Rumble… the slumbering Flamewing God suddenly stretched its wings, causing the black chains covering it to clatter. It opened its fiery red eyes, staring angrily at the distant trio.

  Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw all felt a sense of invisible pressure. They hurriedly retreated, while Whitethaw moved to stand in front of Ning.

  “You three keep on babbling on and on in front of me. This is starting to piss me off. How am I supposed to sleep like this?” The Flamewing God’s ursine face was filled with rage.

  * * *

  Book 37, Chapter 28 - Flames

  The Flamewing God’s entire body was rippling with flames, but its gaze was a bit distant, almost as though it hadn’t completely woken up yet.

  “Fuck off and don’t bother me,” the Flamewing God barked irritably. But then, its blurry gaze suddenly focused and narrowed as it glared intently at the Sithe Protector, Whitethaw, standing in front of Ji Ning. The scales on the creature’s body seemed to stand up, and its gaze became filled with rage as it ground out the word: “SITHE!”

  “Not good.” Azurefiend paled as he hurriedly moved to stand in front of Ning as well.

  “Be careful, Master!” Whitethaw had a solemn look on his face.

  Boom! The Flamewing God moved to charge forwards, sweeping out with its giant paws. Its massive bear-shaped body was filled with such power that a wave of terrifying pressure was generated by the most basic of movements. All spacetime ripples came to a complete, frozen halt. Ning even felt as though his thinking speed had turned sluggish, and an inexplicable sense of fear filled his heart.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! The six black chains around the Flamewing God instantly began to tighten from the strain. The charging Flamewing God was instantly pulled back into its original position by the power of the chains.

  “GRWAAAAAH!” The Flamewing God let out a frustrated howl, furiously struggling to break free. Its wings were fluttering, and its entire body was trembling. The six black chains clanked furiously, but no matter how hard the creature tried to struggle the chains didn’t suffer the slightest bit of damage. The Sithe had put quite a bit of effort into building these chains and ensuring that this place would be able to draw from this Chaos Primordial’s energy.

  “Damn you, Sithe! Damn you! Damn you! You’ve once more appeared before me, you damned Sithe!” The Flamewing God’s eyes were bloodshot with absolutely berserk rage.

  Ning and Azurefiend both let out sighs of relief. “Thank goodness those chains are binding it. Otherwise, we would’ve been in serious danger.” Ning still felt a sense of fear. Chaos Primordials were terrifying creatures that were capable of devouring entire realmverses with ease. Even Otherverse Lords were unable to defeat them; they would at most be able to survive the creatures with difficulty. If Hegemon Azurefiend was to actually attempt to battle one, the end result would be him being smashed to death.

  “Too terrifying. A mere wave of its claws caused me to feel as though I was in mortal danger,” Hegemon Azurefiend said with some lingering fear. “In the past, I’ve only heard of these creatures; I’ve never seen one of them in person. Now, I finally understand just how terrifying Chaos Primordials are.”

  “Don’t let your guard down, Master.” The Sithe Protector continued to stand protectively in front of Ning.

  The furious howls of the still-struggling Flamewing God echoed throughout the entire hidden region. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and spat out a ball of dark-red fire. The fire shot through the air and swept out to encompass all three of them.

  “Not good!” Ning instantly felt a sense of nervousness. His subconscious was screaming to him that he was in danger, letting him know that even a supremely talented Daolord like himself would immediately perish if he let that dark-red fire touch him! Not even his invulnerable form would be able to save him.

  Whoosh. Whitethaw’s body suddenly expanded dramatically in size as his body seemed to liquefy, allowing him to transform to become a giant metal barrier that completely covered Ning and Hegemon Azurefiend.

  Whoooosh! The dark-red flames swept over every inch of the golem, but the barrier-shaped Whitethaw was able to block out every single flame. The fire continued to blaze away against him, but he was able to endure it.

  “Whitethaw,” Azurefiend called out, “Are you going to be able to hold on?”

  “Don’t worry. These flames cannot harm me.” Whitethaw’s voice echoed inside the protected region.

  “Impressive, impressive!” Azurefiend sighed in amazement. “Sithe Protectors truly are incredible. There’s no way we cultivators can compare to you golems in terms of toughness. Although I have a formidable divine body, I wouldn’t dare to make the claim that I could face those flames and be completely unscathed.”

  Ning nodded and smiled. “Any halfway-decent golem is comparable to top-grade Eternal treasures, while my own body is currently only comparable to high-grade Eternal treasures at best. As for Whitethaw… he is a Protector golem designed and created by the Sithe, an extraordinary golem that is both tough and flexible. It is very difficult to damage him.”

  “Master.” Whitethaw’s voice echoed within the barrier once more. “If the Flamewing God wasn’t chained down, it’d probably be able to rip me apart with ease, given how strong it is. But since it thankfully is chained down… if all it has is these flames, it won’t be able to harm me at all.”

  Ning stared through the semi-translucent metallic barrier towards the distant Flamewing God. The Flamewing God was clearly still in a berserk state as it continued to furiously belch out those terrifying flames.

  This creature had the power to annihilate entire realmverses with ease, and even its flaming breath was enough to inspire dread in Hegemons. It took three Sithe Exalts, the most powerful members of the Sithe race, working together to capture it.

  “What an irritable creature. It seems it truly does hate the Sithe,” Ning mused.

  The Flamewing God continued to belch fire for a full hour before coming to a halt after realizing that it wasn’t damaging the barrier in the slightest.

  Whoosh. Whitethaw returned to his normal form and reappeared next to Ning.

  “
I remember you, you Sithe!” The Flamewing God bellowed once more as it glared intently at Whitethaw.

  “Wait a moment!” Ning hurriedly called out.

  “Eh?” Only then did the Flamewing God turn its attention towards Ning and Hegemon Azurefiend. “A cultivator? A cultivator who serves the Sithe?” The Flamewing God seemed to grow even angrier.

  “Flamewing God, the Sithe were wiped out countless aeons ago,” Ning said hurriedly. “After the Sithe were defeated, their treasures and relics fell into the hands of our cultivator civilizations. As for this Protector golem, it fell into my hands and is now my servant. I have no connection to the Sithe at all.”

  “The Sithe? Wiped out?” The Flamewing God was startled, a look of puzzlement within its narrowed eyes.

  Once, it had lived a carefree life of freedom… but then a nightmare had descended out of nowhere. Three Sithe experts had appeared, and they were simply far too powerful. The Flamewing God had sought to fight back, but the three worked together to capture it. From that day forth, it had lost its freedom! In the end, it had been imprisoned here and every so often its energy would be extracted. Although it was not very intelligent, it would never forget the hatred it felt towards the Sithe. When it saw Whitethaw, it immediately recognized the golem. Its intelligence level was low, but its memory was perfect.

  “Yes, wiped out. The Sithe have already been wiped out,” Ning said hurriedly.

  “Wiped out ages ago. Haven’t you noticed that you’ve been sleeping for an extremely long period of time without any Sithe bothering you?” Hegemon Azurefiend said.

  “Uh…” The Flamewing God blinked. “I really did take a very, very long nap this time.”

  “It’s been a long time since those six chains have drained a significant amount of your flames, right?” Ning said.