Desolate Era

by RWX

  “The Flamedragon Realmverse has been saved!”

  “We won’t have to evacuate after all.” Everyone present felt tremendously excited. Even Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Netherlily, and Hegemon Windrain were besides themselves with joy. As for the Aeonians… Emperor Islehide and Emperor Anchen felt rather awkward when facing Ning. Although there were a few grudges between them, the difference in power was now so vast that they had long ago admitted defeat. As for Ning, given that Autarch Bolin had been the creator of the Aeonians, he wasn’t going to quibble over ancient matters.

  “Once this matter is resolved, we can all relax.” Ning smiled as well. After this was finished, he would be at ease as well.

  “Youji, watch closely. Events like this are quite rare,” Ning said with a sigh.

  The distant Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels consisted of two enormous symbiotic vortexes that were so vast, each of them was comparable to a hundred Badlands Territories in size!

  The enormous green vortex was like a vast and verdant world, bathing the area around it with green light that looked like the surface of the sea. As for the black vortex, it formed a world of light around it as well. As the two vortexes slowly drew closer to each other, all the laws of spacetime began to twist and break apart. It had already reached an inconceivable level of power, allowing it to shatter apart the natural laws governing the universe.

  In fact… it was extremely close to Autarchs in power! However, it was just a celestial body. It wasn’t alive, and so it could only passively ‘stand’ there and be beaten down. This was why Autarchs could destroy them, if the Autarch was willing to pay the necessary price.

  Rumble…

  Autarch Ekong transformed into a giant, but compared to the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels he was still a tiny little figure. He devoured an enormous amount of energy from the surrounding area, then produced a greataxe in his hands.

  He first delivered a furious blow with the greataxe towards the green vortex. BOOM! The power of this blow was so tremendous that even the distant Ning sighed in amazement. This truly was an impressive display of power.

  * * *

  Book 40, Chapter 17 - Back to the Three Realms

  Autarch Ekong furiously slammed his greataxe down again and again, each strike filled with dominating power. BOOM! The Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels seemed to sense that they were in danger, and they began to instinctively react and defend themselves. The green vortex and the black vortex simultaneously began to expand in size, almost instantly expanding to become many times greater than they were previously. A moment later, they instantly shrank to become less than half of their original size.

  This sudden expansion and contraction resulted in the power of both vortexes skyrocketing. Ji Ning and the others were watching from very far away, but even so Hegemon Brightshore and the others felt their hearts tremble with fear.

  A while later, Ning’s eyes lit up: “It’s almost done.”

  “Break!” Autarch Ekong roared furiously as he smote down his greataxe. The axe actually transformed into an enormous black shadow that was as large as the green vortex itself!

  The green vortex let out a strange, almost ‘groaning’ sound as the greataxe caved its center in, but it quickly managed to repair itself.

  “Break! Break! BREAK!” Autarch Ekong attacked with extraordinary ferocity, each strike filled with the power of annihilation. After the Autarch let out twelve furious shouts, the green vortex was beginning to tremble violently. The nearby black vortex was doing its best to devour and tear apart all of the energies around it, but it was unable to shake the Autarch at all. In the end, it could only ‘watch’ helplessly as its companion was annihilated!

  BOOM! The green vortex finally disintegrated, resulting in an awesome wave of boundless life energy spreading out in every direction.

  The black vortex could not survive on its own. It instantly began to collapse in on itself, with the process causing a tremendous amount of destruction to its surroundings. Even Autarch Ekong had to generate an aura of flowing black light to protect himself against the final, suicidal burst of the black vortex.

  Finally, the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels were destroyed. The only things left were a few ripples of power where they had existed.

  “Hahaha!”

  “The Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels have finally been destroyed. The Flamedragon Realmverse is saved!”

  “This is absolutely wonderful!”

  “The Flamedragon Realmverse shall be able to last for countless more aeons. We won’t have to evacuate!” The Hegemons and Emperors of the six powers of the Flamedragon Realmverse had all been watching nervously. Now, they shook with excitement and their faces were covered with joy.

  Hegemon Brightshore turned to look at Ning, who was standing next to him. He never would’ve imagined that the gravest peril the Flamedragon Realmverse faced, the unstoppable apocalypse of the Samsara Wheels, would eventually be resolved thanks to the then-World God he had abducted all those years ago. It all seemed like a marvel, a miracle. That World-level kid had skyrocketed in power at an inconceivable speed, reaching a level where everyone looked up to him.

  “Thank you, Darknorth,” Hegemon Brightshore said.

  “If you want to thank anyone, go thank Autarch Ekong.” Ning looked at Autarch Ekong, who was flying back with a rather tired look on his face.

  “Don’t downplay your role. The entire Flamedragon Realmverse owes you a debt of gratitude. If it wasn’t for you, almost all of the weaker beings in the entire realmverse would’ve died once the apocalypse came! Very, very few would’ve been evacuated and given the dubious honor of wandering homeless through the cosmos. In fact, most of the evacuees probably would’ve died during the wandering… and the few who survived would be hated as outsiders once they reached their new home.” Hegemon Brightshore sighed. “It’s hard for me to even imagine it.”

  “My own homeland is located in the Flamedragon Realmverse. I was acting on my own behalf as well,” Ning said. He could sense the tremendous gratitude the leaders of the six powers of the Flamedragon Realmverse felt towards him. Even the Aeonians who had once held a grudge against him such as Emperor Anchen and Emperor Islehide were staring towards him with gratitude. Now that the realmverse was not going to be destroyed, the Aeonians would be able to continually benefit from the estate-world which Autarch Bolin had left behind for them.

  Whoosh. Autarch Ekong came flying over, looking rather exhausted. “These Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels really were a pain to deal with. If they had been allowed to grow for another million chaos cycles, even I would’ve been gravely injured in the process of destroying them,” Autarch Ekong said with a sigh.

  Ning nodded. The Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels were similar to the Wellspring Sea of the enormous Blazesun Domain. They were all bodies of natural energy that actually surpassed the Autarchs in terms of raw power. However, because they lacked true sentience, it wasn’t too hard to deal with them.

  “Alright, now that I’ve dealt with the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels, I’ll be off,” Autarch Ekong said. “If there’s anything you need, just give me a call.”

  “Come to my estate and have some wine first?” Ning felt as though he was being a bad host to let the Autarch leave right away; the man had come all this way to help him out, after all.

  “Haha, no need. Honestly, I have much more and much better wine than you.” Autarch Ekong bade Ning farewell, then stepped through spacetime and departed from the Flamedragon Realmverse.

  The only person he spoke to this entire time was Ning. He didn’t say so much as a single word to the others. He was by nature a solitary and arrogant person. Those he respected, he’d view as friends and brothers; those he didn’t, he wouldn’t so much as glance at.

  ……

  Word of the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels’ destruction quickly spread across almost all of the supreme figures of the Flamedragon Realmverse. Everyone felt incredibly excited; finally, the looming, creeping apocalypse that had been a threat to all of them had been dea
lt with!

  As for Ning, he led Su Youji, Azurefiend, and Nuwa back to the Three Realms.

  “Mother Nuwa!”

  “Nuwa!”

  “Mother!” The entire Three Realms was thrown into a state of excitement. By now, the ‘Three Realms’ actually consisted of an enormous field of space that held a total of 8100 chaosworlds within it! Ning’s Primaltwin was here, and so he had already spread the word that Mother Nuwa was coming back. Subhuti, Maitreya, Kuafu, and the other major powers who had arisen during the first age were all incomparably excited.

  Finally, Mother Nuwa was coming home!

  Subhuti, Windfiend, Kuafu, Jade Cauldron, Lu Dongbin, and tens of thousands of other cultivators were all waiting in the emptiness of space in front of the Three Realms Region, staring off into the distance.

  Finally, a dimensional ripple appeared, followed by a realmship appearing within it. Several figures flew out of the realmship, led by a white-robed Ning and a silver-robed Mother Nuwa who bore a blood diamond in the center of her forehead. After binding the otherverse she had been given, Mother Nuwa’s aura had become even vaster than ever before, as it whispered of the limitless power of the otherverse itself.

  “Nuwa.” Subhuti was so excited that his eyes were starting to fill up with unshed tears.

  “Nuwa.” Windfiend revealed a smile. She had been an old enemy of his, but he had never been able to best her. She had been the undisputed leader of the Nuwa Alliance.

  “Mother Nuwa.” Kuafu and the others were all incredibly excited.

  “Subhuti, Kuafu, Jade Cauldron, Maitreya…” When Nuwa saw all of these old friends, she felt emotions surging through her breast. Many of her oldest friends were already gone, such as Daoist Three Purities, Lord Tathagata the Buddha, or the Three Sovereigns of Mankind. The dazzling Houyi had also perished, as had many of the younger cultivators she had held high hopes for.

  However, a few of her old friends were still alive, as were some of the ‘children’.

  “Nuwa.” Sun Wukong was incredibly excited.

  “Silly monkey.” Nuwa smiled happily. When she saw some of these familiar young faces, she couldn’t help but feel overjoyed. This was her home! This was the place where she had been born from the primordial chaos, and these were the friends she had slowly grown to know. She had been born out of chaos, and so these friends were like her family members.

  When she had left the Three Realms, she had wished to see the wider world outside before coming back and using what she had learned to strengthen the Three Realms, making it better than ever. Alas, destiny makes fools of mortals and Gods alike; she was actually teleported to the indescribably distant Blazefire Domain and had only survived thanks to Patriarch Treewind saving her. Now, thanks to Ning locating her, she had finally come back home.

  Mother Nuwa’s return was an event of great joy. They naturally held an enormous celebratory banquet for her. The many Immortals and Fiendgods of the Three Realms all came to take part. Not only did even the World-level cultivators come, even many of their Elder God and Ancestral Immortal disciples were permitted to take part. Millions of Immortals and Fiendgods took part in this grand banquet.

  Seated at the highest positions within this banquet were Mother Nuwa, Subhuti, Ji Ning, Windfiend, Kuafu, and the other ancient figures. By now, Ji Brightmoon, Ji Yichuan, and Yuchi Snow had all reached the World level, and they were all seated quite high up. They were very happy to be able to see the legendary Mother Nuwa herself.

  This was a congregation of countless Immortals and Fiendgods, and Immortal wine flowed liberally. Ning was very happy, and he naturally wouldn’t be stingy with his resources. He naturally had far more treasures than anyone else by now.

  “The Three Realms are truly flourishing.” Ning felt a sense of joy when he saw all the cultivators present, and he couldn’t help but sigh in praise.

  The Three Realms were flourishing far more than in previous years. Now that an Otherverse Lord like Mother Nuwa was standing guard over it with the assistance of many powerful Sithe treasures, the Three Realms truly had reached an incredibly high level of power. Given even the Autarchs had promised to help watch over it, Ning finally felt completely satisfied with its chances.

  “It really is flourishing. Only… a few of our old friends are missing,” Subhuti said from next to Ning.

  Ning nodded. “Yes, a few people are missing.” Many of the true, original leaders of the Three Realms were missing, as were some of his friends and his wife.

  “If they could all come back and be reunited, how wonderful would that be?” Ning closed his eyes, just imagining the scene.

  * * *

  Book 40, Chapter 18 - A Wandering Life

  After the banquet came to an end, Ji Ning led Nuwa and Subhuti out to begin assembling the formation! Ning’s Primaltwin had already assembled roughly 90% of the formation, and it only really needed the powerful castle to merge together with the formation and become its core and command center. This would allow the power of the formation to skyrocket.

  No one save for the Autarchs would stand a chance at breaking apart a formation like this. Even the most powerful Sourcewalkers like the Blazesun Ruler would probably find it very difficult to breach this formation. It could be described as truly impregnable!

  Clack clack clack… the castle slowly slid into position, moving to become the very center of the entire Three Realms Region. The leaves at its bottom layer began to manifest green ley-lines that looked like the veins of a tree leaf. These green ley-lines reached out of the leaves themselves, stretching out into empty space and then completely disappearing. They had completely linked up to the rest of the grand formation.

  Nuwa maintained control over the fort while Ning made the necessary adjustments. After three days, they finally completed the great project.

  Boom! The entire castle itself vanished into thin air, as did the formations surrounding the Three Realms. They had all turned invisible, but their power had just skyrocketed to a brand new level.

  “I’ll arrange for a golem to stand here and keep watch, ensuring that nothing within the range of the formation’s scanners can avoid detection,” Nuwa said. “If it finds anything, I’ll instantly enter the castle and take control over it.”

  Ning revealed a smile. The nearby Subhuti couldn’t help but turn to glance at Ning. He knew just how much this disciple of his had done for the Three Realms. Ning wanted to do everything he could before he passed away.

  “Oh, right. Master,” Ning suddenly said, “I’m planning to spend some time with Brightmoon and my parents. I’m going to wander about the Chaosverse with them, seeing the many marvels of the cosmos and allowing them to better understand the Dao. Master, Windfiend, would you like to join me?”

  “Wonderful!” Subhuti revealed a delighted look, then asked, “But wouldn’t we be disturbing your family trip?”

  “Haha, it’s fine. My retainers will be taking part as well. It’ll make this trip more fun,” Ning said with a laugh. He was planning to spend his remaining years cultivating, but just staying in seclusion and training in isolation was pointless. He didn’t have much time left; he was going to spend at least some of it visiting the marvelous sights of the Chaosverse. Many of those places might be ‘dangerous’, but there were no dangers that concerned him in the slightest!

  In the Chaosverse, any naturally-occurring dangers were no longer any threat to him at all; he was on the same level of power as the Autarchs, after all! Even the Eight Domains and the prime essence sea were nothing to him. The only place that Ning felt any true dread of was the Sithelands. There were numerous locations even in the outer perimeter of the Sithelands, which had already been breached by the Autarchs, which were capable of posing a threat to him.

  This was because even the Autarchs had to put tremendous effort into breaching the outer perimeter. There were a number of places the Autarchs didn’t actually go inside and had instead simply sealed off. Thus, there were many cultivators who would go exp
loring the outer reaches of the Sithelands! That was a truly dangerous place, and it was filled with all sorts of Sithe relics, treasures, and traps. Ning didn’t feel that it was a suitable choice for his parents and his daughter to visit.

  He’d go take a look when his life was nearing its end. For now, he was going to engage in cultivation instead. He had to infuse all the other Daos into his Eternal Omega Sword Dao, and he was also going to view many of the natural wonders of the Chaosverse! This would actually be helpful for him in comprehending the Dao. Besides, this was a good chance for him to show his daughter and his parents some truly dangerous places. There were some places where not even Otherverse Lords would dare tread, but for him it wouldn’t be a problem.

  “Perhaps Brightmoon will be able to make a breakthrough as a result,” Ning mused. There was no chance his parents would improve any further on the path of cultivation, as they had to rely on pills just to reach the World level. Brightmoon had spent 5 years and 2 months in Yu Wei’s belly before being born, and she was born with such incredible talent that she reached the Celestial Immortal level with ease. Although her path to the World level had been rather bumpy, Ning had patiently and attentively instructed her, ensuring that she was able to succeed without needing to use any pills. Ning had certain expectations of his daughter; he wasn’t going to just let her take the easy way.

  ……

  Ning’s final decision was to bring his family members, his retainers, and the duo of Subhuti and Windfiend! Windfiend was rather hesitant about this, as his relationship with Ning couldn’t quite compare to that of Subhuti’s. However, he was now a member of the Three Realms. The future of the Three Realms would be up to Nuwa, Subhuti, and Windfiend. Ning wanted to help his master and Windfiend as best he could.

  “Haha, we’ve finally left the Flamedragon Realmverse!” Brightmoon was quite excited as she stared from within the realmship. Everyone in this realmship was like an elder family member, and so she was able to act in a much more relaxed manner. “I’ve never left the Flamedragon Realmverse before. I hear that realmverses are all extremely far from each other.”