Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Since it was nothing more than a psychic being which arose from the prime essences, it only understood the various Eternal Omega Daos. It didn’t understand what an Autarch Omega Dao was! However, it had the power of the entire continent behind it, and so it remained invincible.

  “More and more living beings arose within this continent. Omega Autarchs eventually began to rise, but even after reaching Omega Autarchy they were still unable to extricate themselves from that seal. One… two… three… more and more Omega Autarchs began to appear. Finally, an incredibly powerful Omega Autarch managed to devise a method to solve the seal, and he secretly passed it over to the other Omega Autarchs.”

  Ning continued to listen silently.

  “Look. That’s him over there.” The horned man pointed towards a white-haired man who was amongst the attackers. “His name was Grand Sovereign Crimson Wind, and he was one of nine Grand Sovereigns under the command of that black-robed emperor who was responsible for helping the emperor manage the entire landmass. He was the one who solved the seal.”

  “Later, the Omega Autarch of Formations known as Heavencloud managed to develop an absolutely terrifying formation, the ‘Grand Armageddon Formation’.” The horned man pointed at another man who was bald. “He was the black-robed emperor’s Sentinel for the seventh universe.”

  “Seventh universe?” Ning suddenly said.

  “You might not have noticed yet, but that landmass actually has a total of thirty-two universes circling around it. Each of them is roughly on par with our own Chaosverses in size,” the horned man said.

  Ning said, “You know quite a lot.”

  “Haha, I’ve inverted time to watch the history of this era before us on many an occasion. I’ve even learned their language,” the horned man chuckled. “By now, I’m familiar with all of these Omega Autarchs and their backgrounds. I even know how they each rose to power and what they experienced. I can’t help but sigh. The end result of that battle was the maddened emperor destroying the entire landmass and causing all of the Omega Autarchs to die with him.”

  Ning saw it as well. That final, great explosion… it had claimed the lives of that terrifying psychic being and all 129 Omega Autarchs. In fact, all the living beings on that landmass had died, while the thirty-two universes orbiting it had been annihilated as well. It had been an absolutely enormous explosion! The entire Infinite Void had been wiped clean of all life thanks to that explosion.

  As Ning listened to the horned man speak, he continued to watch the temporal inversion and see the history of this land. The great landmass had been around for far too long. As Ning continued to watch backwards he gradually began to learn and understand its language, and he also began to grow familiar with the deceased Omega Autarchs.

  For example, the black-robed emperor’s Sentinel for the nineteenth universe had been named Autarch Cloudsoar. He had also been an Autarch of the Omega Sword Dao.

  The black-robed emperor’s Sentinel for the third universe, ‘Autarch Yin-Yang’, had been an incomparably muscular old bull whose body was completely black.

  The various experts all had their own areas of expertise.

  “Thankfully, in my homeland the ‘will’ of the Quintessence simply acts on instinct, rather than gaining a sense of self and thus becoming a true living being.” The more Ning saw, the more frightened he became. All living beings on that continent had been slaves to the black-robed emperor, unable to extricate themselves until the day of the final battle.

  Time continued to flow backwards to the earliest days before life had even arisen. There, the temporal inversion came to a halt. It was impossible to go backwards any farther.

  “You’ve reached the end. Time can no longer move backwards,” the horned man said.

  Ning nodded. All the images before him vanished, and the space in front of him went back to normal.

  “Eh?” Ning stared in front of him, only to see that a universe had appeared in the location where that vast landmass had been. The universe was slowly draining energy and matter from the surrounding area. Clearly, it was still in the growing phase and had yet to truly form.

  Swish! The golden-robed Ning took a step forwards, appearing before that universe.

  “Ji Ning.” The horned man’s heart clenched as he immediately followed from behind.

  Ning’s godsense instantly swept out to enter the slowly-forming universe. Inside, he saw nothing but raw chaos. There was no life within it at all. “How odd. The old era ended long ago, while the other Chaosverses have all been formed. This one, however, has not.”

  “Everything is possible within the Infinite Void,” the horned man said.

  “It is developing quite slowly,” Ning said with a smile. “Judging from what I saw when I inverted time, this place must have begun to accumulate matter ever since that great explosion had occurred. However… despite all that time having passed, it still can’t even come close to comparing to our Chaosverses. In my homeland, generally speaking the slower something grows, the more terrifying it will become when it finally matures.”

  The horned man’s heart trembled, but his face remained calm. “Oh?”

  “I’m not lying to you,” Ning smiled. Indeed. The legends of ‘Nezha’ had him in his mother’s womb for three years and six months before being born. Ning’s own daughter, Brightmoon, had been in the womb for five years and two months before emerging.

  “I have the feeling that this universe is taking shape far too slowly… and it is located exactly where the original landmass was.” Ning chuckled. “It might grow to become even more powerful than our Chaosverses.” Ning was connecting all the dots together.

  “Impossible. That landmass completely blew apart. Most of its matter came to form our nine Chaosverses. The remaining amount of matter couldn’t possibly form a stronger universe,” the horned man said confidently.

  “Makes sense.” Ning glanced at the horned man, then drew a Northmoon sword from his back.

  Clink! The sword sliced through the Infinite Void, radiating a sharp light as it chopped down at the slowly-growing universe.

  “Stop that!” The horned man immediately reached out, his arm expanding tremendously as he blocked Ning’s sword-light.

  The two attacks collided. The horned man’s robes tore apart, revealing a skinny but incomparably tough right arm which was completely undamaged.

  “What are you doing, Ji Ning?” the horned man asked angrily.

  “Destroying it, of course,” Ning said.

  “It is a perfectly fine universe which poses no threat to us at all. Why are you going to destroy it?” the horned man asked.

  “At first, I was just curious about it, since it was located where the original landmass was and grew very slowly. As I said, in own homeland, the slower something develops the more powerful it becomes… but when you kept on rebutting what I said, I had the feeling that something was wrong. I thought I’d give it a try, and as I thought, you moved to block me.” Ning chuckled.

  The horned man instantly felt regret upon hearing this. He wanted Ning to feel that this was nothing more than an ordinary universe, but instead he had put Ning on his guard. It must be remembered that Ning’s avatar had exited his Chaosverse filled with suspicion towards anything and everything which could be a threat to it. He had the feeling that this small universe was rather unusual; testing it out was a very normal reaction. For the horned man to stop him meant that something was afoot. If the horned man didn’t stop him? Well, destroying a celestial object which held no life didn’t really matter.

  Whoosh! The golden-robed Ning once more charged towards that Chaosverse, chopping out with his divine sword.

  “Don’t! I’ll tell you the secret!” the horned man called out hurriedly while blocking. “I discovered this by accident over many years of observation. If any other Chaoslords arise in the future, don’t tell them this secret! This universe is very unique in many ways. Although it isn’t that large, it is quite marvelous. Let me explain!”


  No amount of honeyed words could dissuade Ning!

  “BREAK!” Ning’s eyes flickered with destructive light. He manifested three heads and six arms, each of his hands holding onto a Northmoon sword. Sword-light flashed in an utterly indomitable matter as he summoned the vast power of his entire Chaosverse. The horned man grew quite desperate. Darknorth was an Omega Autarch of the Sword, the most offensive type of Omega Autarch. Alphan would be able to withstand Ning’s attack, but there was no way he could completely negate it and prevent any of it from harming the small universe.

  “Gwaaaar!” The horned man suddenly changed form, becoming an incomparably vast and muscular black bull. Beneath the bull’s hooves appeared the enormous diagram of a Yin-Yang.

  “It is you? The Sentinel for the third universe, ‘Autarch Yin-Yang’?” Ning recognized this form. So the horned man was actually one of the 129 Omega Autarchs who had surrounded and assaulted the black-robed emperor! “You didn’t die?”

  The bull had clearly died in the images Ning had seen during the temporal inversion. Ning instantly realized that a grand secret had to be connected to this.

  “Damnit!” The old black bull grew even more panicked and angry. “So long as I’m here, you can forget about destroying it!”

  Boom! Boom! Boom! The golden-robed Ning began to battle against the old black bull next to that new universe. The shockwaves from this battle blasted out in every direction. The old black bull had been alive since the ancient era, and his body had been tempered and forged to become the most terrifying machine warbeast possible.

  As for Ning, he was an Omega Autarch of the Sword, well-suited to combat and slaughter. More importantly, he wasn’t trying to attack the black bull. He was trying to destroy the universe. The Sithe Chaoslord had been willing to reveal his identity in order to protect that universe, which made Ning all the more aware of its importance.

  “Don’t destroy it! It will bring many benefits!” the black bull tried to dissuade Ning.

  “Break for me!” Ning continued to launch berserk attacks. He poured an enormous amount of energy into his Northmoon swords. Now that they had been reforged, they had a function akin to the Stele of Mountains and Rivers, allowing him to unleash desperation attacks of tremendous power.

  The old black bull suddenly felt a sense of danger which caused him to blanche. He had been the one to give Iyerre the Stele of Mountains and Rivers. Now, it was coming back to bite him!

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Six absolutely horrifying streaks of destructive sword-light pierced through the void. The old black bull was unable to completely block them, and so he could do nothing but watch in agony.

  Five streaks of sword-light tore into that universe. The universe was quite weak and not yet fully-formed. This desperation attack from a Lord of Chaos caused its incomplete Quintessence to be completely torn apart, resulting in the universe shuddering and beginning to crumble.

  “N-no…!” the old black howled angrily. He returned to his first, azure-robed form and stared at the scene before him in despair. “Why? Why did you have to destroy it?!” the horned man stared at Ning.

  “I don’t care how ‘marvelous’ it will become in the future. Now that I’ve destroyed it, it will never pose a threat,” Ning said. “There’s no need for you to say too many things to me. I won’t trust you no matter what you say. Who knows if you are telling the truth or not? The only thing I know is that I will destroy any and all threats to my home. That way, there won’t be another senseless war in the future. I’m satisfied with being a Lord of Chaos. I don’t have any ambition of invading other Chaosverses and conquering them. All I want to do is safeguard my own home.”

  After speaking, Ning turned and departed.

  The horned man stared as the golden-robed Ning left, filled with utter agony. Back within the Sithe Chaosverse, his true body was holding onto a stone tablet which had the words ‘World’ and ‘Set’ on them.

  “During the last era, we failed at the very end. The entire landmass was destroyed, but I was lucky enough to acquire the deceased emperor’s ‘Worldsetter Stele’. I hid a fragment of my truesoul within it, and as a result I managed to survive. I was delivered into a Chaosverse and ended up becoming its Lord of Chaos.” The horned bull was in a state of utter agony. “Once that growing universe became truly complete, it could become one with the Worldsetter Stele. When that happened, I would have a chance of ascending to…”

  “It’s gone. It’s all gone.” The horned man gradually began to calm down. What was done was done. There was no way to reverse it.

  “Perhaps I was being too stubborn. I am a Lord of Chaos and completely invincible in the Infinite Void. Why do I have to become even more powerful?” The horned man gradually came to his senses. He had been enslaved for so long during the previous era that he had an almost maniacal desire to become stronger, to stand at the top and rule others so that none would ever rule him again.

  But this was a new era, an era that was different from the previous era. When Ning destroyed that budding universe, it meant that the old landmass would never be reborn. He had lost his chance… but as a result, he was now truly free.

  “I’m free now. There’s nothing left to fight over.” The horned man began to fly back towards his own Chaosverse. “No ambition… only wishes to safeguard his own home… Desolate… Ji Ning? Mm. A Chaoslord like him is decent company.”

  ……

  Ning’s golden-robed avatar established an estate within the Infinite Void. It would permanently reside here, occasionally going out and wandering about. He couldn’t guarantee that no dangers would appear, but he would do his utmost to protect his home.

  Within the Desolate Chaosverse.

  The white-robed Ning stood there within empty space, flanked by Autarch Bolin and Autarch Ekong.

  “Come back, brother Titanos.” Ning smiled. Instantly, countless specks of light began to appear. Ning was virtually omnipotent within his own Chaosverse. He had been able to see everything within Autarch Titanos’ truesoul, and thus he was able to remake it out of the void and call it back.

  An old man with two fleshy antennae on his head slowly began to appear.

  “What just happened to me?!” Autarch Titanos stared at Ning, Ekong, and Bolin in shock. “Darknorth, y-you… didn’t I die? Wasn’t my truesoul devoured?”

  “Calm down,” Bolin laughed.

  “Wait a while,” Ekong said.

  Ning smiled as well. “Give me just a few moments, brother Titanos.” As he spoke, countless flecks of light began to assemble next to him yet again. This time, they resolved into Autarch Mogg. Next came Autarch Stonerule and Autarch Skyfeeder. After that came the refined, relaxed Autarch Awakener… and last came the ancient-looking Autarch Entropos.

  All eight Autarchs had been gathered together. The eight Autarchs who had arisen within the Desolate Chaosverse had finally been reunited.

  “This is Darknorth.” Autarch Bolin made the introductions, a smile on his face. “He trained in the Omega Sword Dao and used it to reach Omega Autarchy, binding our entire Chaosverse to himself. As a result, he was able to bring you all back.”

  “Brother Darknorth?” Autarch Entropos stared at Ning, wide-eyed. Autarch Awakener felt rather curious, as he felt a close connection between himself and Ning.

  “Actually, it can be said that Autarch Awakener helped guide me on my path,” Ning laughed.

  They began to chat amongst themselves. All of them were amazed at the twists and turns of fate. They had died, and yet they were now back! The guidance which Autarch Awakener has provided to Ning had been critically important. Without his guidance, Ning probably wouldn’t have been able to understand the Eternal Omega Sword Dao. And now, after becoming a Lord of Chaos, Ning was able to revive Autarch Awakener. It was all so interesting.

  “Gentlemen, far too many of our Hegemons and Emperors have died during the two wars we fought. They fought to the death for the sake of our entire Chaosverse. I have to
bring them all back as well,” Ning laughed.

  Boom! The entire Chaosverse seemed to tremble.

  “W-what just happened to me?”

  “Didn’t I die?”

  “Where am I?”

  Hegemons and Emperors began to come back to life throughout the Chaosverse, all of them rather stunned. Their final memories were of the moments before their deaths. Ning had viewed the past of this entire Chaosverse and knew each and every Hegemon and Emperor. He revived everyone who had died in battle, including the ones he recognized such as his own disciple, ‘Green Bamboo’ Yang Quding. He also revived some of the friends he had encountered when wandering the Chaosverse after failing his Daomerge.

  Many powerful experts had all been brought back.

  “Darknorth… will such a large-scale resurrection be bad for this Chaosverse?” Autarch Titanos asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Ning laughed. “Even after being revived, they remain a part of the Chaosverse. The actual amount of energy which has been permanently lost due to the revival process is quite low. For example, reviving the six of you cost roughly the amount of energy a single Autarch contains within him. Reviving all these Hegemons and Emperors didn’t cost too much at all. I can handle it with ease.”

  It really mattered very little. Iyerre’s death alone had granted their Chaosverse more than a hundred Autarchs worth of power.

  ……

  After chatting with the eight Autarchs, Ning departed and went back to the Three Realms. Ning’s emotions towards the Three Realms were the deepest of all.

  Nuwa, Subhuti, Maitreya, Kuafu, Crazy Ji… all of them had received mental messages from Ning. They were his old friends, and now all of them were standing by his side.

  “Return to us.” With but a thought, Ning brought back the Three Realms of old. Countless specks of light began to gather, resulting in countless figures emerging within it. These were the Immortals and Fiendgods of the Three Realms who had died in the Endwar against Old Man Yuan and the Seamless Gate, as well as those who had died even earlier. Daoist Three Purities, Lord Tathagata the Buddha, Buddha Jueming, Suiren, Shennong, Fuxi, Lord Everwood, senior apprentice-brother Houyi, Gonggong, Daoist Threelives…