Desolate Era, page 826
“These three hundred-plus Hegemonic legacies were left behind for all cultivators, not just you Aeonians. By what right do you demand an oath from us?” Ning replied coldly. Not even the Hegemons themselves had demanded Ning swear a lifeblood oath; what made the Aeonians think they had that right?
“Damn them.”
“They are courting death.” The nearby Emperor Duug and Emperor Islehide were infuriated as well.
Emperor Anchen said furiously, “This is your final warning. Hand over the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree and swear the lifeblood oath! Otherwise, we Aeonians will use everything at our disposal to hunt down and kill you two. We won’t stop until you are dead!!!”
Whoosh.
Ning vanished into thin air. As for Ninedust, he lifted the Autarch’s medallion up and activated the power within it. A ripple of might surrounded him… and a heartbeat later, he vanished without a trace, having left this estate-world.
* * *
Book 35, Chapter 14 - Secluded Cultivation
Emperor Anchen, Emperor Duug, and Emperor Islehide were all stunned. They had just issued a dire threat to pursue Darknorth and Ninedust until they were dead… but they had left without even saying a word in response? This attitude indicated that they truly felt no fear towards the Aeonians at all.
“Estate-spirit, how could they have just left like that? Did you let them out?” Emperor Anchen turned to glare furiously at the distant white-haired woman. When Aeonians wished to leave this estate-world, the estate-spirit had to teleport them through spacetime out of it.
The white-haired woman said calmly, “I already stated that they came in via the Autarch’s medallion. They left using the same method! It had nothing to do with me at all. Besides, even if I did send them away I would at most be able to send them to another world within the domain of the Aeonian Kingdom! However, they used the Autarch’s medallion to flee far, far away.”
“The Autarch’s medallion?” Emperor Anchen and the others felt both enraged and helpless. They had never heard of this medallion before, but the estate-spirit’s words were beyond question. They couldn’t help but sigh to themselves. Oh, Autarch… since you made this world, you should’ve just left it to us, your children. Why did you have to leave behind a medallion for outsiders to use?
In truth, however… Autarch Bolin had first created the medallions, and only then had created the Aeonian race!
“Please send us out,” Emperor Anchen said.
“Very well.” The white-haired woman nodded. “You still have over one million chaos cycles left. Your branch still has a chance at absorbing the Autarch’s blood. When this realmverse is destroyed, it’ll be time for me to leave.”
“We understand,” Emperor Anchen said, although in his heart he was unwilling to accept this. Whoosh. The white-haired woman waved her arm, causing a dimensional ripple to spread out and cover all three Emperors. They were teleported through spacetime to the planet outside of this estate-world.
……
The three Emperors reappeared within the ancient temple.
“Eh?” Emperor Anchen closed his eyes, sending out an invisible ripple of power which completely merged into every part of the Aeonian Kingdom.
“The Aeonian Kingdom just informed me,” Emperor Anchen said as he opened his eyes, “That no living beings have entered it via the first ancestral ground. It seems as though the estate-spirit was right; Darknorth and Ninedust have already teleported away to an extremely distant place thanks to their Autarch’s medallion.”
“Damn.”
“I’ve never heard of this medallion. They’re able to enter and exit our first ancestral ground by using it?” The other two Emperors didn’t want to accept this either.
“The Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels are going to destroy the Flamedragon Realmverse soon. To successfully absorb the Autarch’s blood in the next million or so chaos cycles… our chances are quite low,” Emperor Anchen said. “We’ve harvested many fruits over the years, but we’ve used up many of them to help rear all of those Daolords. We absolutely have to acquire the large amount of Autarch’s blood essence which was distilled into the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree.”
“Agreed.” The other two Emperors nodded as well. The Autarch’s blood was the wellspring for the Aeonian bloodline, and the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree had drawn upon the essence of that blood for over thirty million chaos cycles. This had caused the tree to undergo a fundamental transformation. When they fully absorbed all of the essence within it, it would be of tremendous benefit to them. This mattered to the Aeonians more than anything else.
“Duug,” Emperor Anchen commanded, “Immediately mobilize all the forces we have available to find as much information as we can regarding Daolord Darknorth and the Ninedust Sectlord. Once we find any trace of them, move to kill them and take that tree back.”
“Agreed.” Emperor Duug said seriously, “I’ll oversee this matter personally!”
“Islehide,” Emperor Anchen instructed, “You’ve made quite a few friends amongst the Emperors of the various races. Come up with a way to convince them to help us track down Darknorth.”
“Very well.” Emperor Islehide nodded. Although the Aeonians and the Dao Alliance were mortal enemies, the Aeonians were still the weakest of the six powers. The Brightshore Kingdom, the Aberrants, and the Ancient cultivators each had a Hegemon, while the Dark Kingdom consisted of many cultivators from another realmverse who had all gathered together, allowing them to survive despite being ostracized by all five of the other organizations. This was a testament to how deep the Dark Kingdom’s foundation was.
Winesage, Daolord Skyshatter, Daolord Owlblack… they all belonged to the Dark Kingdom. The number of elite Daolords they had was another testament to their power.
As for the Dao Alliance? That went without saying. 99% of the Endless Territories was under their control, and they had countless Daolords and many publicly acknowledged Emperors, with even more being in seclusion. The Dao Alliance didn’t care about the other powers at all.
The Aeonians were different. At the top end, they had no Hegemonic cultivators. In terms of raw numbers, they had very few people! It was all thanks to the Aeonian Kingdom that they hadn’t been wiped out. But of course, if a particularly incredible figure arose within their ranks who succeeded in the Daomerge and became a Hegemon, that person could absorb the Autarch’s blood and vault the entire Aeonian race to become the pre-eminent power in the Flamedragon Realmverse. Alas, the Aeonians had never been able to produce a Hegemon.
As a result, the Aeonians were the weakest of the six major powers… and the enmity between them and the Dao Alliance was deep and unabiding. As a result, the high-level Aeonians did their best to try and befriend high-level members of the Dao Alliance, trading them treasures and so forth. This was one of the reasons why the Dao Alliance hadn’t declared an all-out war against the Aeonian race.
In fact, the high-level members of the Dao Alliance held a certain belief; they viewed the existence of the Aeonians as a good way to help temper the countless Daolords under their rule.
Emperor Islehide was the primary point of contact for making friends with the Emperors of the other races and organizations.
“Legacies from over three hundred Hegemons, and the essence of the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree! Both things are supremely important to our Aeonian race.” Emperor Anchen’s eyes flashed with sharp light. “From this day forth, Darknorth and Ninedust shall be the greatest enemies of the Aeonian race. We have to find them.”
“We won’t let them escape,” Emperor Duug said.
“Sooner or later, they’ll fall into our hands.” Emperor Islehide narrowed his eyes as well.
……
Whoosh. Ninedust appeared out of nowhere within an empty patch of space which was incredibly far away from the Aeonian Kingdom. He then waved his hand, allowing Ning to appear next to him.
Crack. The medallion in Ninedust’s hand began to break apart. “The power’s been used up.” Ninedust shook his head helplessly. “A pity. Even if we weren’t able to use it to re-enter the Aeonian Kingdom, it still would’ve been an excellent escape mechanism. It’s gone now though.”
“Yes, it is indeed an incredible treasure for escape. Not even a host of Hegemons would be able to stop it,” Ning said. “And it really does allow one to teleport quite a long distance through spacetime.” If Ning had to rely on his own powers to traverse spacetime, it would probably take him half a year to travel such a great distance.
“Darknorth, what are you planning to do next?” Ninedust asked.
“We’ve really won quite a few things for ourselves,” Ning said with a laugh. “Those three hundred-plus Hegemonic legacies are particularly important! The Aeonians are going to go all-out in searching for us, be it for the sake of those legacies or for the sake of that omnigeddon bloodfruit tree. In the end, they are still one of the six top organizations in the Endless Territories, and they’ve been around for a very long time. They’ll probably have quite a few methods they can use to search for us.”
“Agreed.” Ninedust nodded solemnly as well. “Right. We have to be careful. We shouldn’t tell anyone at all where we are.”
Ning agreed: “Only the two of us can know where we are. We can’t tell anyone at all. As for those legacies… we didn’t have enough time in the estate-world to really meditate on them properly. We should find a suitable place to go into seclusion and train.”
“Very well.” Ninedust laughed. “I also feel that we need more time to train.”
The two quickly departed. After traveling for another ten-plus years they were deep within the Dao Alliance’s territory, at which point they chose a planet to go into.
“Let’s pick that planet.” Swoosh. Swoosh. Ning and Ninedust descended upon the surface of that planet.
“Clouds, come!” Ninedust stood at the top of that planet, letting out a loud shout. Instantly, a thick layer of clouds began to manifest over the planet, with a series of runic seals beginning to appear within the clouds. This separated them from the outside world, creating an independent local realm. Ning and Ninedust wanted to avoid their auras from leaking outsides. Powerful World-level cultivators and Daolords would often do something similar when they established an estate within a particular planet.
Fogstone, one of the planets Ning had visited when he had first entered the Badlands Territory, was a good example.
“Rain, descend!” Ninedust let out another loud shout. Instantly, a large amount of rain began to cascade downwards. Soon, lakes and even oceans began to form atop the formerly parched planet.
Given Ning and Ninedust’s abilities, it took them just three days to completely transform this planet. It now had an atmosphere, clouds, lakes, oceans, countless types of vegetation, and even some simple insects and bugs were beginning to take form.
“Go.” Ninedust waved his hand, instantly causing some of the living beings he carried within his estate-realm to emerge into this new world. This included tens of thousands of ordinary humans, as well as many types of animals, fish, and birds.
Now, this planet truly was suitable for them to reside within.
“We didn’t spend enough time within the Autarch’s estate-world; we didn’t really analyze many of those Hegemonic techniques in detail.” Ninedust said eagerly, “After we do so, we might make great gains. Perhaps my chances at the Daomerge can be improved even further.”
“I might be able to make some breakthroughs as well once I meditate on these Hegemonic legacies.” Ning was stuck at the final step and had been unable to break through to the last stage. Once he did, he would become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, at which point he truly would be able to roam the Endless Territories with impunity. Most likely, only the three mighty Hegemons would be stronger than him… but that final step was incredibly hard to take.
They were now being pursued by the Aeonians. As a result, they decided to thoroughly study all of the three hundred-plus Hegemonic legacies and entered secluded meditation.
* * *
Book 35, Chapter 15 - The Modern Three Realms
Shortly after Ji Ning entered secluded meditation, he received word that his master Patriarch Subhuti had returned to the Three Realms alongside Windfiend. The two were planning to break through to the Samsara Daolord level.
The Three Realms. Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island.
The black-robed Ning, Subhuti, and Windfiend were seated close to each other, drinking wine and chatting.
“Brother Windfiend and I have spent hundreds of millions of years wandering the outside world. We have benefited greatly from our experiences and feel that it is time for us to break through to become Samsara Daolords,” Subhuti said with a laugh.
“Haha… we’ve wandered the Badlands Territory and even a number of the nearby territories. I don’t want to brag, but it is quite hard for us to find any World-level cultivators who are our equals.” Windfiend seemed quite smug as well.
“Oh?” Ning was surprised. “Windfiend, Master… can the two of you give me a demonstration and show me the level you have reached?”
“Very well.” Windfiend smiled as a series of additional Windfiends began to appear in the area around them. Dozens of them appeared, all with different expressions and postures.
Seeing this, Ning nodded slowly. “For you to have reached such a level in the Dao of Wind… you must have mastered a Supreme Dao.”
“Now watch Master’s abilities.” Subhuti put down his wine cup. Instantly, spacetime in the surrounding area began to ripple. Space itself seemed to transform as though this area was severed from the rest of the universe, and the speed of time began to change as well. It was like the three of them were aboard a small vessel, with the outside world being a river of spacetime.
“Given Master’s mastery over the Dao of Spacetime, he probably mastered a Supreme Dao as well.” Ning was rather stunned. It must be remembered that he had only left quite ordinary techniques to the Three Realms in the past. Those were all techniques he had acquired from Vastheaven Palace, and there was nothing particularly impressive. For example, there were no Hegemonic legacies! How was it that his master and Windfiend had both mastered a Supreme Dao each?
It must be remembered that Ning had only gained his Omega Sword Dao thanks to his experiences in Vastheaven Palace, in the Archaeus Region, and many other places. If it hadn’t been for all of those things, he probably would be just slightly superior to Subhuti and Windfiend.
“Master and Windfiend truly are monstrously talented,” Ning sighed secretly in amazement. In truth, all of the Immortals and Fiendgods of the Three Realm were freakishly talented. Originally, they had no legacies at all… but they had managed to develop their own incredible techniques. Three Purities, Tathagata, the Three Sovereigns of Mankind, Houyi, Subhuti… they had all developed techniques that allowed them to fight those at a higher level, which meant that they vastly surpassed those on the same level in terms of insight into the Dao. Even the slightly weaker ones like Sun Wukong, Daoist Jade Cauldron, or Maitreya were still at a higher level of enlightenment than those in the outside world.
“Windfiend, Master… do not be in a rush to break through just yet,” Ning said solemnly. “I have just left a few truly top-tier techniques within the Three Realms Archives! Go and check them out first.”
“Truly top-tier techniques?” Subhuti and Windfiend were both startled.
“The techniques you gave us previously were already quite good.”
“Are there even better ones now?” The two both looked at Ning. The two were incredibly talented, and as soon as they reached the World level they immediately reached a level of power where very few of their peers were able to defeat them. However, their experiences simply weren’t as incredible as Ning’s, nor did they have as many fortuitous encounters. Thankfully, Ning had gifted the Three Realms with many techniques; otherwise, their talents would’ve gone to waste.
“You’ll know once you go take a look,” Ning said with a laugh. He didn’t explain in detail.
“Alright.”
“We’ll go take a look first.” Both of them were deeply intrigued by Ning’s secretive attitude, and they both hurried over to the Three Realms Archives to take a look.
The new additions Ning had just added into the Three Realms Archives… included the World-level parts of the Hegemonic legacies which Ning had gained!
Ning watched as his master Subhuti and Windfiend departed. His body flickered. Whoosh! He arrived in the void outside the Three Realms, where he stood by himself.
“More and more, I’m beginning to get the feeling that the Three Realms is an extraordinary place.” Ning stared at the many spread-out planets in the Three Realms, including the three thousand major worlds and the trillions of minor worlds.
“When I was out adventuring through the outside world, I began to understand how unique the Three Realms are… but I didn’t realize just how amazing it was. After a few hundred million years, though… the Three Realms have completely changed,” Ning sighed in amazement.
The Three Realms had undergone a gradual transformation, which was why Ning hadn’t noticed anything at first. After hundreds of millions of years, however, the difference was quite drastic and apparent.
Many years ago the most dazzling figures of the earlier eras, such as Daoist Three Purities, the Three Sovereigns of Mankind, Lord Tathagata the Buddha, Houyi, and Demonheart had all perished in battle. The survivors who were on par with them, Subhuti and Windfiend, were now close to becoming Samsara Daolords… and extraordinary ones at that!
As for the many elite figures like Sun Wukong, Buddha Maitreya, or Yang Jie? After hundreds of millions of years of cultivation, they had all broken through to the World level as well. Even Brightmoon had improved! Although she wasn’t quite that talented, she had still been able to break through to become a Celestial Immortal thanks to her own efforts. Under Ning’s guidance, she had actually reached the Elder God level.
