Desolate Era

by RWX

  “What?!” The three were astonished and unable to believe this. A Daolord who had failed the Daomerge? They felt no regard at all for people like that… but one who was close to the Autarchs in power? They couldn’t even imagine how this was possible.

  “Hegemons are nothing more than ants to him. He doesn’t even need to strike them in order to kill them! Only someone like the Lonely King of the Icepeak Army is worthy of him attacking, but he only needed to strike a single time to slay the Lonely King,” the Paragon of Pills said. “He is on extremely good terms with the Autarchs, and he was the one who convinced Autarch Skyfeeder to come here.”

  Her three ‘brothers’ were truly flabbergasted by this. This Darknorth was truly an incredible figure!

  “In fact… big brother,” the Paragon of Pills said with a chortle, “He’s actually one of your honorary disciples.”

  “What? Mine?” The muscular man stared at her, his eyes popping wide. “My honorary disciple?”

  ……

  The hidden dimension.

  Ever since Ji Ning and the others had discovered that this dimension was divided up into six mortal realms, a ‘Sacred Realm’, and a ‘Purgatory’, they had begun to relax and wander through the mortal realms. The plan was to wait until the Paragon of Pills’ three brothers were revived before risking entry into the Realmgate.

  “Congratulations, Paragon of Pills.”

  “Congratulations, Mistress.” Ji Ning, Azurefiend, Tia, Flameleft, and Annihilation all offered their congratulations. They even prepared congratulatory gifts.

  All of them could clearly sense how the Paragon of Pills’ aura had changed. In the past, she had seemed so solitary, cold, and remote. Now, it was like winter had left and spring had come. She had an uncontrollable smile on her face, and her joy was absolutely infectious.

  “Now that I’ve met them again, I truly have no regrets left.” The Paragon looked at Ning. “Darknorth, I have to thank you for everything.”

  “If it wasn’t for the insights I gained in the Archaeus Region and the help you provided, Mistress, I might not necessarily have been able to embark upon the path of the Omega Dao,” Ning said. “I wouldn’t have reached my current level of power either.”

  If he was allowed to choose again between success in the Daomerge and becoming a Hegemon (via fused Supreme Daos) or failure in the Daomerge but mastering the Eternal Omega Dao, he would probably still choose the latter.

  Why? Because… if even the Autarchs were unable to revive Yu Wei, the Omega Dao was the only chance he had! Even though he failed, he would still be an incandescently dazzling figure for over ten thousand chaos cycles. As far as Ning was concerned, this was superior to an eternity of mediocrity.

  ……

  The Paragon of Pills had no further regrets in life. Now, she was able to face all dangers with complete calmness and equanimity, meeting even death with a smile on her face. Ning, however, was even more determined to ensure the Paragon’s safety! She had just reunited with her beloved brothers; if she was to die here, wouldn’t that be a truly painful farewell?

  Once Hegemons died, it would be virtually impossible to bring them back to life. Her big brother had only been revived because he had died within an otherverse. If the Paragon of Pills died here, there would be no way she could be brought back.

  Whoosh! They soared through the air and quickly reached the location of the Realmgate.

  “This here is the Realmgate.” They had spent several months scanning through the memories of many different Daolords. As a result, they were able to recognize it right away.

  “Master, we were teleported directly into this dimension. I imagine the true ruler of this dimension was made aware of our appearance long ago,” Azurefiend said. “Prior to this, we were in the mortal realm. There’s nothing in the mortal realm which can pose a threat to us, and so the controller of this dimension was unable to touch us from afar, nor would he dare to actually attack you directly. But once we go through the Realmgate and reach the Sacred Realm, things will be different. We’ll be surrounded by danger.”

  “Agreed.” Ning nodded. He had long ago prepared for the likelihood that the master of this place was aware of his presence.

  “Travelling to the Sacred Realm is our only hope,” the Paragon of Pills said. “Darknorth, you are so very strong that the Sithe experts hiding in this place would never dare to challenge you to a fair fight. That’s why they haven’t attacked yet! Our records indicate that when Daolords dare to disobey orders from the Sacred Realm, powerful experts will descend to seize and punish them. This means it is possible for Sithe experts to descend upon this place… but they have not! Why? Because they fear you, Darknorth. But you failed your Daomerge, which means that you will eventually die from your truesoul crumbling away. Once that happens, the Sithe will probably attack and kill the rest of us.”

  “I’m not willing to spend the rest of my life in these mortal realms either,” Ning said with a chuckle. In a fair fight, not even Sithe Exalts were a match for him. Even if four or five Exalts attacked him, given his speed and agility, if he focused on dodging then they wouldn’t even be able to touch his clothes. The difference in ability between them was enormous!

  But if their opponents were aided by Daoguard Towers? That would make this extremely difficult.

  “Let’s advance via realmship,” Ning said as he produced his realmship. All six of them entered the realmship. They did this not because they needed it to travel, but because they wanted to benefit from the extra layer of protection it provided. Realmships were extremely sturdy, after all; breaching them was no easy task.

  The Realmgate was a hundred thousand kilometers high and utterly massive. It emanated dazzling light and was shaped like a giant door, and around it space was twisted and distorted into multiple folds.

  Swoosh. Ning and the others flew forwards via realmship, protected and surrounded by Ning’s Sword Dao Domain. As they moved closer to the gate, they could sense that the twisted dimensional folds were impeding their advance. To Ning, however, they were like nothing more than a spring breeze, incapable of barring his path in the slightest.

  “We’re heading in. Be careful, everyone.” Ning could sense his subconscious warning him of danger, but there was nothing he could do. This was their only chance to escape and survive this place. Delay and buy time? There was no way he could out-delay the Sithe.

  The realmship finally flew into the iridescent Realmgate. It quickly made its way completely inside the gate, only to see an extremely stable tunnel which was formed through many layers of folded dimensional space.

  Whoosh. The realmship flew through this stable dimensional tunnel at high speeds. Given Ning’s current level of power, he was able to see past all obstacles and make out the awesome aura of the world off in the distance… the ‘Sacred Realm’. The aura of the Sacred Realm was noticeably vaster and more powerful, and it held far more experts as well.

  Crack! Crack! Crack! Suddenly, the formerly-stable tunnel began to shatter apart as two strange triangular weapons appeared in the sides of the dimensional folds off in the distance. Two more appeared within the sides of the dimensional tunnel behind Ning as well. It was their appearance which caused the dimensional tunnel to begin to crack.

  “Not good.” Ning’s face tightened. He didn’t hesitate at all, immediately expanding his Sword Dao Domain dramatically in size, causing a large amount of sword-light to appear and furiously assault the four triangular weapons.

  The four triangular weapons all had sharp edges which shot out rays of light. These rays of light were extremely thin and allowed them to easily tear through space. There was no way Ning’s Sword Dao Domain could resist the four streaks of light; each streak of light represented an enormous amount of energy and power, and all four of them shot out to Ning’s realmship.

  “What a terrifying weapon.” Ning immediately willed the realmship to move in an erratic pattern as it flowed through the crumbling and chaotic tunnel, moving
from one position to another. The realmship itself was like a sword which was being used to display a truly marvelous sword-art.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! All four rays of light shot past the realmship, not able to touch it at all. “Thank goodness I mastered the Space Sword Dao.” Ning let out a sigh of relief.

  They were within a dimensional tunnel; as the tunnel crumbled, space here became increasingly chaotic. Those four triangular weapons had just launched attacks with extremely thin dimensional blades, and by all rights it should’ve been nearly impossible for someone to dodge them unharmed in such a chaotic environment. Ning, however, had achieved just that thanks to his Space Sword Dao.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Those four triangular weapons suddenly expanded dramatically in size as they charged towards Ning’s realmship. Ning could sense the enormous threat they posed. As for Azurefiend, the Paragon of Pills, and the others within the realmship, they could do nothing save watch. They wouldn’t even able to react in time against attacks of this level!

  “Get in here.” Ning instantly emerged from the realmship, then drew it back into his estate-world. There was no way he could simply rely on the realmship to deal with those triangular weapons.

  Snick. Ning drew a Northbow sword from the sheath on his back. “Hm. I can’t let them get close to me. They seem to possess the ability to self-detonate.” At Ning’s current level, he was able to vaguely see what some future possibilities would be. Thus, Ning suddenly tossed his sword out.

  Whooosh! Ning tossed the sword out like a whip, sending a gentle stream of sword-light sweeping out like a beautiful creek. The water glowed in a dazzling manner as it lashed through the air, gently rapping against the surface of one of the triangular weapons. That triangular weapon couldn’t help but be nudged off-course to one side, clashing against one of the other triangular weapons.

  “No more playing around.” Ning glanced at the nearly-collapsed dimensional tunnel around him. Ahead of them was the end of the tunnel and the Sacred Realm. He immediately used his sword-arts to forcibly charge through all opposition and make it outside.

  * * *

  Book 41, Chapter 18 - Dimensional Seams

  “Seal!” A cold voice suddenly rang out from the Sacred Realm in front of them. A streak of light shot out from the Sacred Realm, forming a membrane in front of it that denied entry. A moment later, the four triangular weapons surrounding Ji Ning suddenly unleashed a blast of utterly terrifying power.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  The four triangular weapons released all of the power held within them in a final explosion, blasting apart and sending shrapnel in every direction and creating a zone of death around them! There was no way one could avoid this zone attack, as the entire area was filled with explosive waves of power. Even the Blazesun Ruler would’ve been reduced to dust if enveloped by such powerful explosions.

  “They actually detonated such incredibly valuable treasures?” Ning held a single Northbow sword at the ready. Swoosh! He suddenly sent out a swirl of sword-light that chopped through the space surrounding him like tofu, causing it to ripple and form into a dimensional barrier which surrounded and protected him.

  “Time to go.” Ning wasn’t going to just stand there like a fool. Swish! Using his Dao of Space, Ning transformed himself into a dimensional shard that fled off into the distance! When any of the explosive power struck him, the dimensional barrier surrounding Ning would simply deflect it with a slight ripple. This level of power might be able to easily breach the defenses of a Sithe Exalt or the Blazesun Ruler, but the defensive power of Ning’s Space Sword Dao was far too great.

  However… given enough time, the power would still be depleted and exhausted.

  Rumble… the dimensional tunnel had been completely disintegrated, while the four terrifying triangular weapons had exploded apart into countless little shards. Ning rapidly flew away from this region, ensuring that the detonations were unable to harm him in the slightest.

  A short while later, Ning came to a halt. Northbow sword in hand and Sword Dao Domain surrounding him, Ning scanned the nearby area.

  “So this is the seam between the eight realms, eh?” Ning mused to himself. Now that the dimensional tunnel had been destroyed, Ning was trapped within the seam between the realms. Space was incredibly chaotic and twisted here, but given Ning’s level of mastery he wasn’t impeded by it at all.

  Whoosh. Ning used his Sword Dao Domain to separate the surrounding dangers from himself, then quickly advanced towards the front. A short while later, he saw an enormous membrane. Behind it, he could vaguely make out a vast world filled with incredible amounts of power.

  “The Sacred Realm.” Ning immediately knew that the world beyond the membrane had to be the ‘Sacred Realm’, but the dimensional membrane was incredibly tough; Ning didn’t even need to test it with his Sword Dao Domain to know that there was no chance of using it to punch through.

  “Even the membranes surrounding the six mortal realms of this hidden dimension were incredibly tough and durable. If I couldn’t break through them, I have no chance at all at this one around the Sacred Realm,” Ning mused. “The six mortal realms, the Sacred Realm, and Purgatory have all been completely sealed off. Does that mean I’ve been trapped here permanently?”

  “No, that can’t be right. The Sithe wouldn’t do such a thing.” Ning quickly came to this realization. If the Sithe had merely wanted to trap him, they could’ve simply sealed off the Realmgate and kept Ning permanently trapped within the ordinary realm he was in.

  “Let’s go check out the other places.” Ning flew through the vast realm-seam, moving towards some of the other realms.

  ……

  The Sacred Realm.

  This was the supreme world which was used to control this hidden dimension. Many powerful Sithe were located here, and at the center of this world was a trio of towering mountains. Each mountain had a pagoda at the peak, and each pagoda was exactly twelve stories tall! They all emanated auras of dazzling light that caused spacetime to ripple and twist within the area of their illumination.

  These were the three Elder Palaces which the most mysterious and most exalted denizens of the Sacred Realm dwelt. However, the auras of two Elder Palaces were rather dim and weak; only one of them continued to radiate an aura of incandescent splendor.

  Within the brightest Elder Palace. A large group of experts were standing within it, staring through the palace gates to the world outside. At their head stood a youth dressed in deep blue robes. His hair was deep blue while his was face grim and cold. He held his hands behind his back, standing ramrod-straight and emanating an awesome aura.

  “We failed.” The blue-haired youth frowned. “It really is hard to get rid of someone in control of an Eternal Omega Dao.”

  “Exalt.” Some of the Hegemons and Emperors standing behind him had undergone the Ritual Sacrificium, and one of the Hegemons spoke out: “Exalt, where did this white-robed Daolord come from? We detonated four Calamity-class weapons but still were unable to do anything to him.”

  “Enough.” The blue-haired youth waved his hand, then turned to stare at the Hegemons and Emperors behind him. He said in a calm voice, “We failed our first attempt, which means it is now up to Purgatory to act! If Purgatory succeeds, this matter shall be at an end. If Purgatory fails, we’ll have no choice but to draw him into the Sacred Realm and resolve this through battle!”

  “Master, why? He’s a Daolord who failed the Daomerge. His truesoul is crumbling away! So long as we keep him completely sealed within these eight realms and ensure that he is trapped within the realm-seam, he’ll die of natural causes,” a red-robed youth said.

  “If he really did die of natural causes, that would be an absolute waste.” The blue-haired youth shook his head. “I’m not going to explain any further. We have to do everything in our power to kill him, even if it costs us our very lives! No price is too great to pay if it means killing him. This is our responsibility as Sithe.”
/>   “Understood,” the red-robed youth said.

  “Send word to Purgatory,” the blue-haired youth said. “Once the white-robed Daolord reaches Purgatory, Purgatory is to send all of the exiles against him. If they can kill the white-robed Daolord, they’ll not only be allowed to come back to the Sacred Realm, they’ll also be heavily rewarded. As for the person who actually managed to kill the Daolord… I’ll give him control over one of the two Elder Halls.”

  “Control over an Elder Hall?”

  “T-that’s not appropriate.”

  “How can an exile be worthy of controlling an Elder Hall?” Everyone in the hall began to speak out in shock.

  The blue-haired youth swept them with his icy gaze, quickly silencing them all. He explained calmly, “Tell them that the white-robed Daolord is incredibly powerful; their only option is to kill him through exhaustion and attrition. They also need to remember to keep the Soul-Eating Mantra active at all times! They need to make sure that they swallow all of the truesoul fragments that are breaking off of him.”

  Exalts were not to be questioned or challenged. Long ago, this hidden dimension actually had a total of three Exalts. Later on, this dimension had sent out a grand army to take part in the war, with two of the Exalts personally leading that army. This Exalt had been left behind to guard the hidden dimension… but alas, those two departed Exalts had never returned.

  The blue-haired youth turned and departed. With his departure, the Hegemons and Emperors left in the hall quickly scattered as well.

  After leaving the hall, two Sithe Hegemons began to quietly whisper amongst themselves while they walked out side-by-side. “This is a Daolord in control of an Eternal Omega Dao. If we can somehow kill him, we’ll be given unimaginable rewards.” These two Hegemons were extremely excited. “This is doubly true for the Exalt. Even if he dies, once his truesoul returns home, he’ll be rewarded by being brought back to life via spacetime reversal. No wonder the Exalt is so excited over this.”