Desolate Era

Ji Ning was now able to clearly see the true appearance of the entire Quintessence for the first time. The Quintessence was formed of countless Eternal Omega Daos, with the Eternal Omega Sword Dao merely being one of them. The other Eternal Omega Daos included the Eternal Omega Karma Dao, the Eternal Omega Time Dao, the Eternal Omega Space Dao, the Eternal Omega Spacetime Dao, the Eternal Omega Metal Dao, the Eternal Omega Water Dao, the Eternal Omega Samsara Dao, the Eternal Omega Five Elements Dao…

All of them were Eternal Omega Daos. They were all the same level, but some were stronger than the others. All of them were linked together and influenced each other, coming together to form an instinctive reaction which would cause the Chaosverse to function in accordance with certain rules!

“All things are linked, as are all Daos.” After understanding the Autarch Omega Sword Dao, Ning had reached the stage of the so-called ‘Daobirth’! Ning was now in control of the Eternal Omega Daos for all other Daos, including spacetime, life and death, and more. This was what had made Iyerre so very powerful. His expertise lay in the Dao of Light, but he had reached the Eternal Omega Dao level in all other Daos as well. This was why he had surpassed all of them in employing spacetime!

However, there was fairness in all things. If you wished to become a Lord of Chaos, you generally had to be the very first Omega Autarch within a Chaosverse. The first one would have no guidance from anyone else and have to fight through a thorn-laden path in order to succeed. His path would be harder than anyone else’s, and he was worthier than any others.

As for the second Omega Autarch? Now that a precursor had shown the way, the difficulty of becoming an Omega Autarch would drop tenfold or even more. If the second Omega Autarch wished to become a Chaoslord, he would have to invade another Chaosverse… but in doing so, he would be suppressed and rejected, unable to use even a sliver of the Dao’s power. This was an incredibly difficult task.

“The prime essences aren’t truly sentient, nor are the various Daos truly merged together.” Ning let out a sigh. The Quintessence was formed from multiple independent Eternal Omega Daos.

As for Ning? Not only did he control multiple Eternal Omega Daos, he was also in control of a truly complete and perfect Autarch Omega Sword Dao. In terms of insight, he surpassed the entire Quintessence. This was why he was qualified to bind it! The prime essences themselves were celebrating his rise. They didn’t reject him at all. In fact, they were looking forward to Ning binding them!

……

“What a huge disturbance.”

“What’s going on?”

Autarch Bolin and Autarch Ekong were off in the distance, training silently. Both turned to stare at the Grassland World, then traded glances. They quickly warped through spacetime towards the Grassland World.

Rumble… a boundless amount of energy was gathering around the Grassland World. The energy was transforming Ning’s body, causing his heartworld to expand.

Bolin and Ekong were unable to even see Ning, who was at the center of that absolute maelstrom of energy.

“I’ve never seen such an enormous flood of energy before. I feel as though the prime essences are pouring all of their power into this place.” Bolin let out a sigh of joy. “Darknorth seems to have broken through into Autarchy.”

“Haha, he must have become an Omega Autarch! Otherwise, why would there be such a huge disturbance?” Ekong was excited as well. “This is wonderful. Our civilization has finally given birth to our own Lord of Chaos! It seems as though we’ll never have to worry about being invaded again.” They had been under the constant threat of invasion for countless aeons. It had weighed upon them very, very heavily. Even though they had beaten back the Sithe twice, if they didn’t gain their own Lord of Chaos they would probably suffer more invasions in the future.

Only a Lord of Chaos would grant them true freedom.

“Finally, someone has succeeded. Brother Titanos, brother Mogg… Stonerule and Skyfeeder… can you see this?” Bolin murmured.

……

Ning’s mind gazed upon the entire Quintessence. He had become one with it, and he could sense every single thing within the entire vast Chaosverse. Thus, Ning was able to sense Iyerre as soon as he entered the Chaosverse and began to warp towards the Grassland World.

“Iyerre actually came back already? Judging from that look in his eyes and his posture, he looks like he’s ready to battle to the death. He must have something which he thinks gives him a shot at it.” Ning continued to watch carefully.

Given his current power as an Omega Autarch, even if he didn’t bind the Chaosverse he was still able to summon enough power from the Dao to kill Iyerre with ease!

“I’ll bind it first.” Since Iyerre had entered the Chaosverse, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Whoosh. Ning’s mind entered the Quintessence and began to bind it to himself. He didn’t suffer any pushback at all. Everything happened smoothly.

Rumble… the various Daos that had been functioning automatically within the Quintessence suddenly began to transform. Previously, they had functioned in accordance with how the other Daos influenced them. Now that Ning had bound them, they changed in accordance with Ning’s will. All of the other Eternal Omega Daos began to swirl around the newly-emerged and towering ‘Autarch Omega Sword Dao’ that had appeared within their midst.

Rumble… the Autarch Omega Sword Dao became the new foundation of this entire Chaosverse, with all other Daos serving to support and reinforce it. In this instance, the Chaosverse gained a new ‘soul’.

The white-robed Ning arose from his position within the Grassland World. He took a single step forwards, appearing within the center of the Quintessence.

……

Far away, atop an enormous boulder that hovered within the Infinite Void. A skinny figure suddenly pushed open the door to the wooden room atop the boulder, emerging from it. His skin was dark, he had a pair of horns on his head, and he was dressed in azure robes. His unfathomably deep eyes gazed towards the direction of Ning’s Chaosverse, a stunned look on his face.

“This…” He could clearly sense what had just happened. The vast aura of that incomparably massive Chaosverse had suddenly changed. Its previously expansive aura had suddenly condensed and stabilized, in the end transforming into a terrifying sword-intent. This was the aura of an Autarch Omega Sword Dao! It was supremely venerable and peerlessly offensive. That Chaosverse was like an honest, amiable person who had turned into a terrifying killer swordsman.

“Autarch Omega Sword Dao. The Dao of the Sword is a Dao meant for attacking.” The azure-robed horned man frowned. “I never would’ve thought that the second Lord of Chaos would be such a troublesome figure. Iyerre truly is a fool.”

There were differences amongst Eternal Omega Daos. The same was true for Autarch Omega Daos.

Ning’s Dao of the Sword was meant for combat. It was not a Dao to be taken lightly! This was why the azure-robed man had immediately bestowed his own protective treasure, the ‘Stele of Mountains and Rivers’, to Iyerre upon learning that Ning had already mastered the power of Oblivion. He himself knew that he had been the one who had aided Iyerre in forging the Annihilation Hive and the Grassland World. Given that so many Exalts had perished, with even the Sourcewalker Autarchs dying, he knew that sending in more forces would be useless!

“In the end, we weren’t able to forestall his rise.” The horned, azure-robed figure shook his head. “And Darknorth truly is crafty. He only began the binding process after Iyerre entered his Chaosverse.”

The horned figure stared at the towering Chaosverse, now emanating an awesome aura of the Dao of the Sword. He felt a headache coming.

……

Ning had been able to easily bind the Quintessence of the Chaosverse without encountering any resistance at all. After becoming an Omega Autarch, Ning had restructured his mana in accordance with his Autarch Omega Sword Dao, while his soul had undergone a qualitative transformation. There had been a bit of pressure when he began to bind the Chaosverse, but Ning was able to endure that pressure with ease. After he completed the binding, the pressure disappeared.

The vast Chaosverse was now like his own body, with all of its Daos available for him to command. Everything within the Chaosverse was under his control, including all of space and time.

Ning turned to gaze off into the distance. His gaze pierced through space and time, allowing him to see every single creature who had ever lived within this Chaosverse, including recently-deceased figures like Autarch Titanos and Autarch Mogg and even long-dead figures like Autarch Awakener and Autarch Entropos. He also saw figures from the Three Realms like Lord Tathagata the Buddha, Daoist Three Purities, Shennong, Suiren, Fuxi, and also his beloved Yu Wei.

Some of their truesouls had been shattered, while others had even their truesoul fragments destroyed. Ning, however, was capable of reviving them all.

When he gazed into the past he was able to see their truesouls with clarity, even if their truesouls were shattered. He would be able to reform them from the void itself, recreating them.

“I’m even able to revive those whose truesoul fragments were destroyed?” Ning was absolutely delighted. “I’m virtually omnipotent in my own Chaosverse.”

Previously Ning and the others had all believed that those who had lost their truesoul could not be revived, but that was because none of them had any experience actually being a Lord of Chaos. They had no idea as to just how truly incredible a Chaoslord was.

Within their own Chaosverses, Lords of Chaos were able to connect past, present, and future together. There was almost nothing they could not do.

“Oh. I’m not truly omnipotent.” Ning suddenly came to this realization. “I still can’t see through Iyerre’s soul and truesoul.”

He was able to see through the souls and truesouls of all other living beings, which meant he was able to understand and replicate them… but Iyerre’s truesoul was constructed based on the Autarch Omega Light Dao. Ning didn’t understand the Autarch Omega Light Dao, and so he wouldn’t be able to create a soul based off of it. By the same principle, the Sithe Lord of Chaos was also incapable of recreating Iyerre’s truesoul.

“If I killed Iyerre… the Sithe Chaoslord wouldn’t be able to bring him back?” A cold, murderous look flashed through Ning’s eyes.

Whoosh! Ning took a step forwards, immediately appearing within Iyerre’s region.

……

Iyerre was still in the process of warping through spacetime at maximum speed, his heart burning with impatience.

“If I win, I’ll be the master of this Chaosverse.” Iyerre was filled with eagerness. Suddenly… “Eh? What’s going on? W-why can’t I warp through spacetime any longer?” Iyerre turned pale. Spacetime had suddenly turned incredibly stable around him, making it impossible for him to tear through it.

A white-robed youth with a black sheath on his back suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He said in a cold voice, “Iyerre!”

A terrifying aura of might descended, completely surrounding and freezing Iyerre in his tracks. Iyerre could no longer even move a finger. He stared at the distant Ning in horror: “Y-you already…”

“Yes. I’ve already bound my homeland to myself. From this day forward, I shall be the one to protect it,” Ning said coldly.

“Fellow Daoist!” A voice suddenly rang out from afar, traversing past spacetime and reaching out all the way to Ning’s Chaosverse.

Now that Ning had already bound this Chaosverse, he was able to sense this voice. He turned to stare off into the distance, the ‘membrane’ surrounding the Chaosverse no longer able to bar his gaze. He stared through spacetime and deep into the Infinite Void, following the reverberations of the voice to find its source. He saw a skinny, horned, azure-robed figure standing atop a giant boulder. The horned figure had a warm gaze and a smile on his face. “Fellow Daoist, please spare my disciple’s life.”

Within Ning’s Chaosverse. Ning turned his cold gaze back to Iyerre, his endless aura of might having completely suppressed the Omega Autarch. Iyerre wasn’t able to move so much as a finger. He couldn’t even blink or speak.

“Die,” Ning said coldly.

Whoosh! Iyerre was still staring fixedly at Ning, but his body began to completely break apart. Even his soul was completely disintegrated, transforming into pure energy which was absorbed by the Chaosverse. This surge of energy was so tremendous that it surpassed the combined energies of a hundred ordinary Autarchs. The entire Chaosverse’s aura strengthened noticeably.

Omega Autarch Iyerre. Dead!

“Fellow Daoist!” The distant horned man atop the giant boulder in the Infinite Void could sense his Chaosverse weakening dramatically. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “Was that really necessary? You are already a Lord of Chaos and can revive all those who died. Why did you have to…”

“You wanted to save him?” Ning remained within his Chaosverse, and his own voice echoed out into the Infinite Void and into the ears of the horned man. The horned man could sense the icy hostility in Ning’s voice.

“You wanted to save him? But if he had won, all living creatures in our entire civilization would have perished. Who would have come to save us?” Ning’s icy, hostile voice continued to echo within the horned man’s ears. “And, Sithe Chaoslord… are you going to tell me that you didn’t help him with his schemes? Don’t try to play innocent in front of me.”