Desolate Era

by RWX

  The Lonely King turned his golden gaze across the gray figure. “You are Lord Wulf’s retainer?”

  “I am,” the gray-robed figure said respectfully. “My true body has accompanied the general for many years now. Just now, I received orders from Lord Wulf to report some news of grave import to you, your Majesty.”

  “Speak,” the Lonely King commanded calmly, his gaze focused upon the infinite void once more.

  “This matter involves a Daolord known as Darknorth.” The gray-robed figure began to respectfully narrate the entire affair in detail, not exaggerating anything at all. He described things exactly as they had occurred.

  The Lonely King listened to the entire story without interrupting a single time. When he heard that Ji Ning had the power of a Hegemon, his only response was a blink. It wasn’t until he heard the words ‘Chaos Primordial’ that he turned to look at the gray-robed figure.

  “A Chaos Primordial?” The Lonely King murmured softly, “And who does it serve? Waveshift?”

  “No. Lord Wulf said that he saw Daolord Darknorth issue an order to the Chaos Primordial. He said, ‘Flamewing, kill them all’,” the gray-robed figure replied. “This Chaos Primordial should therefore be named ‘Flamewing’, and its master should be Daolord Darknorth.”

  “This Chaos Primordial’s master is Daolord Darknorth?” The Lonely King’s lips curved upwards slightly.

  He was smiling.

  This scene inspired terror in the gray-robed Emperor. Whenever he saw the Lonely King smile, he felt a sense of terror.

  “Good. It is good that he serves a Daolord.” The Lonely King nodded slowly, seeming to be quite pleased.

  “Lord Wulf said that he lost five Black Emperors,” the gray-robed figure said hurriedly. “What should we do? We’re waiting for your orders, Majesty.”

  “Let bygones be bygones. Let this matter come to an end,” the Lonely King said calmly.

  “Then what of our five slain Black Emperors?” the gray-robed figure asked.

  “If they died, they died.” The Lonely King remained quite calm and indifferent. “Let this matter come to an end. This ‘Daolord Darknorth’ deserves his reputation as an unbelievable genius. He now has a Chaos Primordial at his beck and call… and most Daolords are madmen! Best not to fight against this Daolord Darknorth. If we fight against him and he orders his Chaos Primordial to attack our base, who can withstand it?”

  The gray-robed figure continued to listen obediently.

  “Send my response to Lord Wulf. He and his subordinates are to be stationed permanently in the Flamedragon Realmverse!” A hint of anticipation was in the Lonely King’s eyes. “Let him wait and collect every bit of information he can find about Daolord Darknorth. Once he receives word that Daolord Darknorth has failed his Daomerge, have him notify me.”

  “Understood,” the gray-robed figure said respectfully.

  “Remember! From this day forth, you are not to antagonize Daolord Darknorth. Do not speak to me of him until he fails his Daomerge,” the Lonely King commanded. “Now go.”

  The gray-robed figure bowed respectfully, then immediately departed.

  The Lonely King continued to sit there atop his levitating silver throne, staring quietly into the void. A hint of anticipation was within his eyes. “So its master is a Daolord? Daolords have such short lives. Once the Daolord dies, it’ll be time for the creature to accept a new master.”

  ……

  The Hiddenfiend Realmverse. The Blacksun.

  Realmslord Windgrace had received the reports from Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, and Hegemon Netherlily.

  “A Chaos Primordial? And its master is Daolord Darknorth?” The disheveled-looking old man walked out of his little courtyard, his eyes brighter than ever.

  “So one of the legendary Chaos Primordials has appeared.” Realmslord Windgrace immediately barked, “On my orders, ensure that no news regarding the Chaos Primordial is divulged to outsiders. All Hegemons within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance, as well as the visiting Hegemons and Emperors, are all under strict orders to not spread this information to anyone.”

  “Yes, Master,” the two nearby disciples both said respectfully.

  Realmslord Windgrace mused softly, “Once word spreads, even more of those old fellows will be drawn over here. Daolords have such short lives. Once this Daolord dies… if he issued an order for the Chaos Primordial to follow another, it would quickly come to accept its new master.”

  “Master, the Lonely King should be aware of this matter as well,” Hegemon Wuye said.

  “I know the Lonely King. He would never divulge this information to others.” Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. “As for what happens when Darknorth fails his Daomerge… if the Lonely King tries to fight with me over it, he’ll learn that he cannot beat me. Hmph!”

  * * *

  Book 38, Chapter 19 - All Grows Calm Again

  “Master, what should we do next?” Hegemon Wuye said softly. He had once been one of Realmslord Windgrace’s least remarkable students, but in the end he had become the most successful. Hegemon Wuye looked rather foolish, but how could a Hegemon who devoted his life to analyzing Sithe golems possibly be foolish? At critical times like this, he was able to maintain a level of incredible calm. Wuye knew that the question of who the Chaos Primordial belonged to was a question which would impact his own master’s status.

  Unlike Daolord Darknorth, his master was going to be around for an extremely long period of time. Daolord Darknorth had a limited lifespan, while his master had won eternity for himself. If he could also tame a Chaos Primordial, then his status in the vast Chaosverse would rise up once more to new heights. The Lonely King would no longer be on the same level as him.

  “Do nothing at all.” Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. “There’s no need for us to try and force things. Daolord Darknorth is an intelligent man. He has his own plans.”

  “Alright.” Wuye nodded.

  “The more you try to force something, the less likely it will work out as you hoped. The only result would be that Daolord Darknorth might feel a sense of enmity towards us. The Lonely King’s subordinates have already caused the seeds of enmity to be sown between him and Darknorth. Based on my understanding of his personality, he’s definitely going to try and force things…” Realmslord Windgrace smiled. “We cannot try to rush this matter. We must be patient. Daolord Darknorth has to willingly hand over control. Once he fails his Daomerge, he’s eventually going to have to come to a decision about what he will do.”

  The nearby Emperor Skylight asked, “Master, what if Daolord Darknorth succeeds in his Daomerge?”

  “Succeeds?” Realmslord Windgrace laughed. “He trains in an Omega Dao. I once heard from an Autarch that there has never been a Daolord who has successfully completed the Daomerge for an Omega Dao! If he does succeed, he’ll reach such a terrifyingly high level of power that he’ll probably be far stronger than even the Chaos Primordial. By then, the Chaos Primordial won’t matter; what would matter would be Darknorth himself.”

  Hegemon Wuye and Hegemon Skylight couldn’t help but begin to silently speculate as to how powerful an Omega Dao Emperor would be!

  “Stop thinking about it. The cultivator civilizations of the vast Chaosverse have given birth to a number of Autarchs, but it has never given birth to so much as a single Omega Dao Emperor.” Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. “His chances of success are very, very low.”

  ……

  Since Realmslord Windgrace had issued orders, everyone in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance immediately moved to obey.

  In truth, realmverses were all extremely distant from each other. It was quite difficult for news to spread across multiple realmverses, and the only ones within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance who were capable of contacting the outside world were the Hegemon-class Emperors. So long as they kept their mouths shut, there was no way word would spread.

  But as for within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance? Word had alre
ady spread! Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, and Hegemon Netherlily had only managed to contact Realmslord Windgrace by going through several other Hegemons and Emperors! They didn’t have Primaltwins or avatars in the Blacksun, and so they had to convey their messages through others, who then conveyed the message to Emperor Skylight to give to Realmslord Windgrace.

  Given how many had been informed, word naturally began to spread within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance.

  ……

  A realmship suddenly appeared at the borders between the Flamedragon Realmverse and the Great Dark. This was the realmship which Hegemon Thunderstar commanded. Within it were a total of six figures. One was a golden humanoid, four were onyx humanoids, and the final figure was a violet-robed, violet-haired man.

  They were Lord Wulf of the Icepeak Army, four Black Emperors, and Hegemon Thunderstar, respectively.

  “Swear the oath right away.” Lord Wulf cast the violet-robed, violet-haired man a cold look.

  “Sure, sure.” Hegemon Thunderstar immediately smiled. “I would never dare to go against the Lonely King’s orders. I, Thunderstar, swear on my very life itself…” Hegemon Thunderstar had been forced to swear an oath not to divulge any information regarding the Chaos Primordial known as the Flamewing God.

  “You can leave now.” Lord Wulf tossed out a storage-type magic treasure, then left alongside his four Black Emperors.

  Whoosh. The realmship quickly departed, leaving Lord Wulf and his four Black Emperors at the borders of the Great Dark.

  “General?”

  “Are we really supposed to just swallow this crap?” The four Black Emperors remained unwilling to accept this. They had just suffered a huge loss; were they to take this lying down? The Icepeak Army would generally launch frenzied reprisals against any who dared to challenge them! This was why the Lonely King had gone so far as to kill three Otherverse Lords.

  “You already know what his Majesty has commanded,” Lord Wulf said coldly. “What his Majesty commands, we shall carry out! Right now, his Majesty doesn’t care about this ‘Daolord Darknorth’; the only thing he cares about is that Chaos Primordial. If he can take control of it in the future, then our Icepeak Army shall become far more powerful than it is right now.”

  When the four Black Emperors thought back to how terrifying the Flamewing God had been, they couldn’t help but shudder.

  “In the coming days, we shall remain hidden within the Flamedragon Realmverse and keep a close watch on Daolord Darknorth. We shall wait for him to fail his Daomerge.”

  ……

  The news that a Chaos Primordial had appeared was like a bomb exploding within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance! It shocked all of the Hegemons and Emperors. As for the Lonely King and Realmslord Windgrace, they just waited quietly. Both of them were waiting for Ning to fail his Daomerge.

  “Let’s go.” A vile, blood-robed elder who radiated a reeking aura of blood stood there in the air. He let out a sigh. Behind him was an entire host of evil Emperors.

  “Are we… are we really going to just leave like this?” The Emperors were rather unwilling to go.

  “We lost.” The blood-robed Emperor shook his head. “Daolord Darknorth has survived many attempts against his life, and he now has both a Hegemon retainer and a Chaos Primordial. There’s no way we can possibly be a match for him. If we stay in the Flamedragon Realmverse… given his influence and power, we’ll probably be wiped out soon.”

  “Now… our only chance for survival lies in departing from the Flamedragon Realmverse,” the blood-robed elder said.

  “Let us go our separate ways and begin to wander through the Great Dark. Only by leaving can we survive.” The blood-robed elder let out a sigh. “I, Bloodcloud, simply am not strong enough. I feel ashamed.”

  Whoosh. The legendary Emperor Bloodcloud, a man who had reached the Archon level of power, tore through spacetime and departed on his own.

  The other Emperors traded glances with each other. All of them were truly unwilling to accept this. It would take them at least a million chaos cycles to travel another realmverse, after all. This would take an incredibly long period of time!

  “In the end, there shall be other places in the chaosverse where we can live and thrive. Let us go.” The Emperors quickly came to the decision to depart. Singly and in small groups, they began to depart from the Flamedragon Realmverse and begin to wander through the Great Dark. Ji Ning had once sworn to slay every single one of the demons of Silksnow Palace. How could they possibly dare to remain here any longer?

  ……

  Vastheaven Palace.

  By now, Hegemon Brightshore and the others had departed. Now, Emperor Waveshift had come to bid Ning farewell as well.

  “Big brother Waveshift, you are leaving as well?” Ning was rather surprised and unwilling to part from him.

  “The main reason I came back was to see just what new power has arisen within my homeland. Now that I know it is the Flamewing God and have met with you, Darknorth, I’m satisfied.” Emperor Waveshift smiled. “I have other business to attend to in the outside world.”

  Ning nodded.

  “Now that you have Flamewing under your control, the only ones you need to keep an eye out for are two people. One is the Lonely King of the Icepeak Army, and the other is Realmslord Windgrace.” Emperor Waveshift smiled. “The Lonely King’s temperament is a bit too bloodthirsty, and in comparison he isn’t quite as experienced as the Realmslord. He was simply someone who was lucky enough to find a Sithe armory and thus rose to power! Realmslord Windgrace is different. He rendered great merits during the Dawn War and has been guided by multiple Autarchs. He has seen far more things, and as a result he has chosen to be low-key.”

  “It’s hard to predict what Realmslord Windgrace will do. If you do fail the Daomerge, you can entrust your final wishes to Realmslord Windgrace. That old man is quite trustworthy,” Emperor Waveshift said.

  Ning was slightly startled by this.

  “Of course, I hope you succeed in the Daomerge.” Emperor Waveshift let out a long sigh. “You’ve only seen a tiny fraction of what the Chaosverse holds; you haven’t even left the Flamedragon Realmverse! Countless marvels are waiting for you, and there are countless secrets waiting for you to uncover them. Darknorth, I truly do hope that you succeed in the Daomerge. When you do, I’ll ride your coat-tails and have you take me to some places I would never dare to visit on my own.”

  Ning said with some surprise, “Countless marvels are awaiting me?”

  “You’ve barely visited any places.” Emperor Waveshift shook his head.

  “I’ve visited an alternate universe before!” Ning said. “And also many places here in the Flamedragon Realmverse.”

  “As I said, you’ve barely visited any places. Otherverses are created by Autarchs for amusement, and they hold nothing special within them,” Emperor Waveshift said. “The Chaosverse… now THAT is truly something. Even the Sithe were nothing more than part of the Chaosverse. Only those who truly understand how marvelous the Chaosverse is will know how tiny they themselves are!

  “This is why Realmslord Windgrace, who has served and followed Autarchs in the past, is such a low-key figure, while the short-sighted and ignorant Lonely King is so arrogant and brash. His only claim to fame stems from those Sithe war machines. In terms of real power, those Otherverse Lords who managed to merge their heartforce, divine power, and Immortal energy together are the truly terrifying figures of the Chaosverse. They truly do stand at the very peak of power, save for the Autarchs.”

  * * *

  Book 38, Chapter 20 - Regret

  Ji Ning nodded as well. If an Otherverse Lord managed to merge all of his types of energy together, he would truly become a force to reckoned with.

  Ning had received legacies from over three hundred Hegemons, with God Emperor Helong being one of them. God Emperor Helong had been an Otherverse Lord who had created the [God Emperor’s Apocalypse] technique, a technique akin to the [Heartsword] art
. As a result, he had been far more powerful than most Otherverse Lords, and was strong enough to fight Chaos Primordials head-on with his own power.

  “However… on the other hand, Sithe war machines come in varying levels of power as well. The Lonely King has multiple war machines and is capable of slaying ordinary Otherverse Lords and destroy entire otherverses.” Emperor Waveshift nodded. “Although he is rather short-sighted, he’s still not someone to trifle with. Sithe war machines are simply terrifying to behold. You need to be wary of him.”

  “I understand.” Ning nodded.

  “Train hard and succeed in the Daomerge.” Emperor Waveshift looked at Ning. “The Chaosverse holds far too many marvels which you have yet to see. For example, the most stunning sight I’ve ever seen is a Sithe Exalt who is kept in perpetual imprisonment. That terrifying presence he had… even though I only saw his blurred outlines from afar, I still felt completely shaken. Well, that’s enough of that. Here’s a treasure for you.”

  Emperor Waveshift suddenly waved his hand, causing a cube-shaped treasure to appear within it. He gently flicked this crystalline cube over towards Ning. “All you have to do is shatter it, and I’ll be able to sense it.” Emperor Waveshift looked at Ning. “I’ll then head back to the Flamedragon Realmverse at top speed.”

  “Thank you.” Ning felt rather moved.

  “I feel like we are old friends, even though we have just met.” Emperor Waveshift let out a sigh. He scanned the area with his gaze, then used his Immortal energy to block the sound of their voices from the outside world. “Before I leave, there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

  When Ning saw how cautious Emperor Waveshift was, to the point of not even wanting Flamewing or Azurefiend to overheard the conversation, Ning couldn’t help but feel rather surprised.

  “In recent days, I secretly used all the power and skill I had to engage in Numerancy divination on your behalf,” Emperor Waveshift said.

  Ning’s heart lurched.