The Desolate Era

Book 40, Chapter 16 - Return

The light shimmering over the surface of the otherverse rippled with unfathomable, secretive mysteries.

Nuwa entered it all by herself. Just a heartbeat later, the otherverse began to change and transform. The aura emanating from it began to retract, while the ripples were completely restrained as well... and at the same time, a flicker of green vitality appeared on its surface.

“This otherverse seems to have life in it,” Su Youji said with surprise as she stared at the otherverse.

“It is indeed filled with life,” Autarch Ekong said calmly. “Ownerless otherverses will operate in accordance with their intrinsic nature, but they won’t have a will of their own! Now that Nuwa has bound this one, Nuwa’s will shall become the will of this entire otherverse, and her life force shall become one with the otherverse. This otherverse shall become one of her incarnations.”

Moments later, the otherverse began to shrink in size before vanishing almost completely. Nuwa reappeared once more as the tiny little dot flew straight into her body.

“Disciple, where do you plan to station your otherverse?” Patriarch Treewind asked.

“Close to home,” Nuwa said. “That way, the people of my homeland will also be able to enter the otherverse and live there.”

Ning approved of this plan. Once an otherverse was affixed somewhere, it would become a foundation of power. Otherverses also had many uses; for example, one could use the power of an otherverse to warp through spacetime at the speed of a realmship. It could even be linked to the outside world via a stable spacetime tunnel! However, the longer the tunnel was the more difficult its creation would be. Nuwa was definitely going to establish a stable, permanent spacetime tunnel between her otherverse and the Three Realms, and so she had to keep it fairly close to the Flamedragon Realmverse.

Based on what Ning now knew, it seemed obvious that the Otherverse Lord of the ‘alternate universe’ which Ning had once visited, ‘the lord of the Church of Annihilation’, had to have a connection to Hegemon Brightshore! Otherverse Lords were in absolute control over their otherverses, as the otherverses served like their incarnations. There was no way that Hegemon Brightshore would’ve been able to ‘secretly’ establish a spacetime tunnel to it.

The reason why Hegemon Brightshore had claimed otherwise was because he wanted Ning, Skyfire, and the others to feel as though they were in a dangerous place. He wanted to ensure that they would be on their guard at all times; only then would this adventure serve its true purpose. Ning suspected that if the ‘protectors’ had died, nothing would happen... but if Skyfire Brightshore had been at the verge of dying, Hegemon Brightshore or the lord of the Church of Annihilation would’ve intervened to save him!

In other words, that seemingly dangerous adventure had actually been just a tempering experience for Skyfire Brightshore. There had been no real danger at all, and Ning’s group had merely served as his companions.

There had been no real danger... but of course, Hegemon Brightshore couldn’t let Skyfire know that! This was yet another testament to how much effort Hegemon Brightshore put into his race. He truly did pour his blood, sweat, and tears into making it prosper.

“Let’s go. We’re heading back to the Flamedragon Realmverse,” Ning said.

Autarch Ekong, Ning, and the others all boarded the realmship and tore through spacetime, once more warping towards the Flamedragon Realmverse.

Halfway there, Hegemon Goodsong, Patriarch Treewind, Imperator Jade Rainbow, and most of the others all departed. There was no way Ning would keep them around at all times, after all. Nuwa bade her own master farewell for now. She was going to go back home.

......

They continued to advance through spacetime, moving far more quickly than when they had left the Flamedragon Realmverse. The realmship tore through spacetime at frightening speeds, causing spacetime to twist into a dazzling rainbow tunnel around them.

“Darknorth.” Autarch Ekong and Ning were seated facing each other, sipping some wine and chatting casually. Su Youji, Azurefiend, and the others naturally didn’t dare to disturb them.

“What are your plans for after I deal with the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels?” Autarch Ekong asked.

“What CAN I plan? Haha. While I’m still alive, I’m going to wander around the Chaosverse for a while,” Ning said. “But of course, I’ll also analyze those Sithe techniques. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to create a complete technique that will allow me to somehow survive. If that happens, I’ll stand a good chance of becoming an Omega Autarch. Wouldn’t that be just perfect? Haha. I’m afraid to even imagine how wonderful that would be.”

“Who knows? It might just work.” Autarch Ekong laughed as well.

In truth, both of them knew that this was far too difficult. Even Autarchs would feel despair when they saw the marvelous, perfect techniques the Sithe used. Ning felt the same. He himself had the feeling that if he truly did devote all of his attention to analyzing those techniques, he might have a chance at surviving... but the amount of time needed would be measured in the hundreds of millions of chaos cycles, if not longer.

The short amount of time left to him wasn’t even close to being enough for him to accomplish this. Not even Autarchs could accomplish this! Autarch Awakener had been the most stubborn and had poured the most effort into it, but in the end he had still failed.

“I was joking just now. However... even though I’m going to die, I’m still going to advance along the path of the Dao,” Ning said. “Ekong, the five of you have already given me your techniques, along with the techniques of Autarch Entropos and Autarch Mogg. I’m going to wander the universe and learn as much as I can. I’ll make as many breakthroughs as I can. Even if I am to die, I shall die on the path I have chosen.”

When Ning had recorded his Eternal Omega Dao technique, the various Autarchs had handed over all of their own Daos to Ning as well, hoping that they might inspire him somehow. But of course, Ning wasn’t to transmit them to any others; he was the only one permitted to examine them.

In the Blazesun Domain, Ning had mastered the mysteries of water and then created the Water Sword Dao, which had benefited him quite a bit. Ning was planning to continue along this path and upgrade his other Daos to the Hegemon level, then slowly infuse them all into his Eternal Omega Sword Dao. This was a path towards Autarchy that would require an extremely long period of time. Ning didn’t have enough time, but he would still continue along this path.

“Haha... to be honest, I’m just bored. If I don’t cultivate, what WOULD I do?” Ning smirked.

“Now that’s more like it! When you have as much time to burn as we do, meditating on the Dao is a great idea. Come, let’s drink!” Autarch Ekong lifted his wine cup in a toast.

......

The Flamedragon Realmverse. The Terror Starsea.

A group of cultivators were gathered here. Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, Hegemon Netherlily, Daoist Bluestone, Emperor Goldisle, Emperor Anchen, Emperor Islehide, Emperor Severfive... all of them were present. Ning’s Primaltwin was located in the Flamedragon Realmverse, and so he had notified the Emperors and Hegemons early on.

Once they heard that an Autarch was going to intervene and destroy the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels, they became incredibly excited. They quickly spread the word far and wide, allowing all of the six major powers within the Flamedragon Realmverse to know what was about to happen!

Everyone was incredibly excited by this news, because the destruction of the Flamedragon Realmverse would result in them being forced to wander the Chaosverse as refugees. Almost all creatures within the realmverse would perish, with only a tiny fraction of creatures who were protected by the major powers and drawn into their estate-treasures being able to survive. Even if they made it to other realmverses, they would be viewed with disdain by the original inhabitants of those realmverses. This was exactly how the Dark Kingdom had been treated by the rest of the Flamedragon Realmverse!

There were also some races who actually lived in the Terror Starsea itself! Thus, everyone hoped for the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels to be destroyed. They all hoped that their homeland would be preserved. To wander as refugees and then be rejected as outsiders was not a good life to live!

Whoosh. A spacetime tunnel appeared out of nowhere, followed by a realmship flying out of it.

“That’s Daolord Darknorth’s realmship.” Hegemon Brightshore and the leaders of the six powers all stared over excitedly.

A group of people flew out of the realmship, led by Ning and a muscular, horned man. Behind them were Su Youji, Protector Whitethaw, Flamewing, and Azurefiend.

“This is Autarch Ekong,” Ning introduced.

“Respectful greetings, Autarch Annihilation.” Hegemon Brightshore led the various cultivators in a deep, respectful bow.

Autarch Ekong nodded. “I’ve been asked to come here by Daolord Darknorth. No need to stand on ceremony. I’ll go and destroy the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels right now.” As he spoke, he glanced at Ning and nodded.

“Sorry for the trouble,” Ning said with a smile.

“Haha, a minor matter... but the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels are rather troublesome to deal with. It’ll take me a bit of time.” Autarch Ekong flew off into the distance, moving through the void towards the distant Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels.

“That really was an Autarch!”

“An Autarch really has come to destroy the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels.”

“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.