The Desolate Era

by S.H.A aifu

Fate had never been kind to Ji Ning. Wracked by illnesses and infirm his entire life on Earth, Ning knew early on that he would die as a teenager. What he didn’t know was that there really was such a thing as life after death, and that the universe was a far larger place than he thought. A lucky twist of fate (one of the few in Ning’s life) meant that Ning was reborn into a world o

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 16 – The Three Great Clans

Deep within the subterranean underground of this world. The three silver men were once again standing by the bubbling lake of lava, but they were no longer as calm as they were before this.

"This Daolord Darknorth not only managed to defeat six Emperor-class golems by himself, he actually captured three of them." The muscular silver man said seriously, "This level of power has completely surpassed that of any 'supreme Daolord' we have ever heard of. Something like this has never happened since our three great clans have started our joint rule over this planet."

"Yes. Even though a few supreme Daolords arise from time to time, all of them were completely crushed when facing six Emperor-class golems." The silver-haired man's eyes were filled with murder. "This Daolord Darknorth is definitely the most powerful Daolord our three clans have ever encountered."

"One on six, he managed to capture three Emperor-class golems…" The skinny silver man shook his head as well.

This man was powerful, more powerful than any 'Daolord' should be. Still… this was what they believed because their horizons were limited. In the Endless Territories, a vast horde of Daolords would arise every era of 108,000 chaos cycles, and there were occasionally one or two who were able to completely eclipse all other Daolords. In this era, those two were Winesage and Ji Ning.

"It seems we have to personally intervene if we wish to defeat Daolord Darknorth." The skinny silver man's eyes were filled with the desire to do battle. "How about this? I'll spar against this Daolord Darknorth first. If I'm able to kill him by myself, I will. If I'm not, you two can join in."

"We can't be the slightest bit overconfident against a foe like this. Let's use our full power immediately," the silver-haired man said.

"Agreed. We need to go to maximum power immediately. This Daolord Darknorth was actually able to defeat six Emperor-class golems… that means he is already on our level," the muscular silver man said. "We have to completely overwhelm and crush him in order to kill him. Not only should all three of us work together, all of the Emperor-class golems in our three clans which possess invulnerable forms should be activated as well."

"What?"

"We're going to activate all our golems with invulnerable forms?" The other two silver men were shocked by this. Any of the three were capable of fighting Darknorth; for all three to work together was already an incredible show of power. Were they really going to send an group of Emperor-class golems as well?"

"If we're going to go at him full-force, then let's make sure he has no chance at all," the muscular silver man said. "Daolord Darknorth is the most powerful enemy our three great clans have ever encountered in our history. Thus… let's give him the respect he deserves. All three clan leaders and all invulnerable Emperor-class golems are going to attack simultaneously. Hmph. He should be proud, even in death."

"Agreed."

"To die to such a force is indeed prideworthy." The other two both laughed.

"On my orders, activate all 156 clan-guarding formations and activate the Sithe disc. Be on maximum alert."

"On my orders, activate all 180 formations and activate the Sithe disc."

"Everyone is to be on maximum alert. Activate all formations and activate the Sithe disc." The three clan leaders send orders to their clans. Their first goal was to protect and ensure the safety of their clans. If their clans were doomed, their own survival wouldn't matter. After having undergone the Ritual Sacrificium they were no longer real 'cultivators' and were unable to have any progeny of their own. Thus, if the other members of the clan all perished it would represent the true and final destruction of their lineage… and once they reached their lifespan limits they would die as well.

Thus, the protection of the clan superseded everything.

"What's going on?"

"All clan-protecting formations have been activated? Even the Sithe disc is being activated? I've never heard of the clan entering such a state of readiness."

"Is the Daolord Darknorth who just challenged our three great clans truly that powerful?"

All three clans were thrown into a state of confusion, with the elites and high-level members of the clans feeling rather stunned. This was definitely the highest possible level of vigilance the three clans had ever activated!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!!! A total of elven figures shot through the skies, with the three silver men at the head. Behind them were a series of Emperor-class golems that all looked different, including the mist golem, fire golem, and lightning golem which had attacked Ning earlier. These eight Emperor-class golems were all of the invulnerable golems which the three great clans possessed.

"Daolord Darknorth's sword-arts are inscrutable and mysterious, and he's skilled at capturing golems. However, this time we've only brought golems with invulnerable forms with us; he won't have a chance to capture them at all," the skinny silver man said with a cold smile. "Eight Emperor-class golems and the three of us… hmph!"

"He's going to be absolutely demolished."

"After undergoing the Ritual Sacrificium, the three of us have become true members of the Sithe race and gained incredible power. Even though we are the lowliest, most ordinary members of the Sithe race, we're still far beyond these Emperor-class golems in power. Any of us three can fight Daolord Darknorth on equal footing and perhaps even kill him."

The three silver men were extremely confident in their chances. They had no equals in this world and so they only sparred against each other and the Emperor-class golems. As a result, they knew that any of them would be capable of easily defeating six Emperor-class golems.

They represented the true apex of combat power in this world.

The Cranesoar Mountains had long ago been reduced to rubble. The battle between Ning, Ninedust, and the six original Emperor-class golems had completely annihilated the area.

Atop the rubble was a temporal acceleration cabin. Within the cabin, Ning and Ninedust were busy binding the golems while accelerating the flow of time. Binding Emperor-class golems was no easy task, and they had no time to waste. Ning and Ninedust both knew that the next attack from the three great clans would come quite soon, and so they had to immediately work to learn more about the three great clans and thus prepare accordingly.

The three Emperor-class golems were all comparable to supreme Daolords. Fortunately, Ning and Ninedust were both strong enough to bind them by force.

"Success." Ning was the first to take command over an Emperor-class golem. A look of respect instantly appeared in the green eyes of the six-armed stone golem. "Master."

"You successfully bound one?" Ninedust turned to glance at Ning. He himself was still busy using all his power to try and bind his.

"Hah! I was faster than you," Ning grinned, then began to work on the swordsman golem. "I have some questions for you." Although Ning's full energy was focused on binding the swordsman golem, this wasn't too mentally taxing and so he began to question the stone golem. "How strong are the three great clans, exactly? How much hidden power do they have?"

"Master," the stone golem said respectfully, "All Emperor-class golems had their memories of life prior to joining the three great clans completely wiped! Or to be precise… the previous golem-spirits were eradicated while our souls were slowly nurtured and strengthened by the three great clans. Thus, we don't know much about their most important secrets. Over the course of countless years, however, we have learned a few things based on our observations."

"Speak," Ning urged. These Emperor-class golems had simply been living with the three great clans for far too long; no one in the clans themselves had been alive for as long as they had! Although some of the most important clan secrets would never be divulged, a few traces would inevitably spill out over the course of many years.

"Long, long ago, this world was in a state of chaos before the three great clans had risen," the stone golem began, "But then three people who referred to themselves as 'Sithe' established three mighty clans. They managed to capture one or two Emperor-class golems from a secret place, then wiped out the original golem-spirits…"

"In each generation, the strongest members of the three great clans have always been those three clan leaders. Each time, they start off as normal cultivators, but once they become clan leaders they will be transformed into silver men who will gain inconceivable power," the stone golem said. "And every so often, the three great clans are able to capture another Emperor-class golem or two from that secret place."

"Thus… over the course of countless years, every single one of the three great clans has gained a total of at least five Emperor-class golems. Emperor-class golems are what the three great clans usually use to tame their foes! But their greatest power lies in the clan leaders themselves. The clan leaders are all incredibly powerful, and each one of them is on par with you, Master," the stone golem said.

Ning turned pale when he heard this. "All three of the clan leaders are able to defeat six Emperor-class golems by themselves?"

"Yes!" The stone golem replied, "They often spar against us and so we know how powerful the clan leaders are."

Ning felt a sense of shock upon hearing this. Judging from the sound of things, the three clan leaders were what truly gave the three clans power! The successive generations of clan leaders would occasionally enter that mysterious place to capture a few Emperor-class golems, allowing them to build up quite a stockpile over the course of many years.

Since this mysterious place held Emperor-class golems within it, Ning suspected that it probably held the secrets of the Sithe within it.

"And where is this secret place?" Ning asked.

"I don't know. Although we were all captured from that place, our original golem-spirits were all wiped out," the stone golem said.

Ning nodded slowly. They really were being quite careful, wanting to ensure that no information leaked out.

Time continued to pass, one minute at a time. Ninedust managed to bind the eight-armed golem as well, while Ning completed the binding of the swordsman golem. The information they gained from these two golems was essentially the same.

Whoosh. Ning put away the temporal acceleration cabin. He stood next to Ninedust, the three Emperor-class golems behind them.

"Here they come." Ning stared towards the distant skies, where eleven streaks of light were flying towards them. Leading the group was indeed a trio of silver men.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 17 – The Silver Men

The three silver men all had very distinct auras. They weren't like actual living beings; rather, they seemed almost like golems. Their entire bodies were composed of silver, and Ji Ning couldn't help but feel as though he was looking at that onyx humanoid creature he had encountered in that cave within the Terror Starsea! That onyx humanoid had been 540,000 meters tall and pitch-black in color, and it had a giant hole in its chest which Ning and Ninedust had flown out of.

"These three silver men make me think of that onyx humanoid we encountered previously," Ning mused. "However, there's an enormous difference in the aura of power. The onyx humanoid had been able to slay a Hegemon on the spot and critically injure a second one, causing the second one to die later on. It was far, far more powerful than these silver men."

"Darknorth." The nearby Ninedust had a solemn look on his face as well as he sent mentally, "Those three silver men remind me of that black creature we found in the cave."

"Yes, they are quite similar," Ning sent back. "It seems these three clans truly do have a deep connection to the Sithe."

"They should be significantly more powerful than us. What should we do?" Ninedust asked.

"Let's follow the first plan for now," Ning said.

Boom! His awesome heartforce projection came crashing down, bringing with it its illusory mountains, rivers, and the dazzling sword mountain in the center! The giant heartworld projection pressed down furiously against the three silver men and the eight Emperor-class golems, causing the eight golems to instantly slow down. The three silver men, however, were still able to move at a hundred times the speed of light.

"The three of them weren't slowed down at all by the pressure of my heartworld projection?" Ning was secretly shocked. "Then take this as well!" Ning willed nine energy dragons to come thundering out of his body, coiling around each other.

In truth, Ninedust's Ripplewater art was incredibly powerful as well, especially now that Ninedust had reached an even higher level of expertise. Given his mastery of the Dao of Water, his Ripplewater art was on the same level as Ning's nine novessence arts. However, there was no way for him to 'fold' it over Ning's arts; if they tried, they would interfere with each other.

Boom! The nine energy dragons swept outwards. The three silver men could feel the pressure, but they were still able to maintain a speed of a hundred times the speed of light. The eight Emperor-class golems behind them, however, slowed down dramatically. They were now able to move at less than fifty times the speed of light; just flying through the skies was quite difficult for them.

"The eight of you should join forces," the silver man who was the leader of the Fumo clan said.

"Acknowledged."

"Acknowledged."

"Acknowledged." The eight Emperor-class golems were looking rather bedraggled, but they immediately transformed into streaks of energy that formed a five-colored rope and a tri-colored rope! For five Emperor-class golems to work together perfectly was the apex of coordination possible for them. The five-colored rope was extremely powerful in particular. Still, with the heartworld projection and the nine novessence arts weighing down on the two ropes, they still flew quite slowly. They held back the entire squad as a result.

"Are the three of you sure that you wish to take on such a dangerous task? I don't want you to be taken away right after I spent all that effort binding you," Ning sent mentally to the three Emperor-class golems behind him.

"Don't worry, Master. We can hold on," the swordsman golem said.

"Ninedust, if the situation looks grim you should immediately take the three away. Emperor-class golems aren't easily acquired, after all," Ning said.

"Leave it to me." Ninedust nodded.

Ning immediately manifested three heads and six arms. Six Northbow swords in hand, he immediately disappeared without a trace.

The three silver men flying through the skies were shocked by this.

"He suddenly vanished?"

"Daolord Darknorth just vanished." The three of them discovered, to their amazement, that they couldn't find any trace of Ning at all.

Ning was able to use his Shadowless evasion art to its full potential within the domain of his heartworld projection and his nine novessence arts.

"Careful. This Daolord Darknorth is even more powerful than we expected. He didn't use this strange evasion art earlier," the muscular silver man sent mentally in a serious voice. The other two clan leaders grew cautious as well. Although they remained extremely confident in their abilities, the fact that they couldn't find any trace of Ning caused them to feel a headache oncoming.

"Hurry over here. Let's force him to reveal himself," the silver-haired man sent mentally to the eight Emperor-class golems.

"Acknowledged." Whoosh! Instantly, the five-colored rope began to expand dramatically in size. Much like how Ninedust was able to transform into a sea-sized wave, the five-colored rope was able to transform into a five-colored ocean. With expanded size came lessened power, but only by covering enough of the surrounding area would they be able to force Daolord Darknorth to reveal himself.

Rumble… the five-colored sea furiously spread outwards to cover a million, ten million, a hundred million kilometers. It continuously expanded, quickly covering the area around the three silver men.

"Hmph." A cold snort rang out as a white-robed youth showed himself. He had three heads, six arms, and wielded six Northbow swords in his hands. His figure looked like a sword as he used the Blood Drop evasion art, tearing through the five-colored ocean as he shot towards the nearest silver man, the skinny one.

"Right on cue." The silver man revealed an excited look as he readied the silver spikes in his two hands.

Swish! Swish! The spikes released ear-piercing screeches as they stabbed towards Ning in an almost dreamlike manner.

"Sithe, eh?" Ning was filled with the intent to do battle. His six Northbow swords transformed into six streaks of mist-formed sword energy as he began to launch a furious assault against the silver men.

Clank! The mist-formed sword clashed directly against the sharp spike, the terrifying collision generating rippling shockwaves that could be seen with the naked eye and which spread out in every direction. A giant crater was blasted into the land beneath it, while the few remaining parts of the Cranesoar Mountains were smashed into dust by the shockwave.

As for the distant Tianello and Maji, they and the other cultivators who were watching were completely stunned.

"Utterly terrifying."

"This is t-t-terrif… is this the true power of the three great clans? So they had forces even more powerful than those Emperor-class golems!"

"Is this the power of the one named Daolord Darknorth?"

All of them felt stunned. They had already been amazed by how Ning had been able to defeat the six Emperor-class golems by himself, but that extended battle had only resulted in the partial destruction of the Cranesoar Mountains. In this battle between Ning and the three clan leaders, however, the very first exchange of blows had already completely destroyed what remained of the mountains. Even the ground around the mountain had begun to crack into a spiderweb of crevices!

This show of force was enough to terrify anyone. Even Daolords of the Fourth Step who dared to move in closer would be instantly annihilated.

In truth, others on this world aside from Tianello and Maji were paying attention to this battle! Ning's direct challenge to the three great clans had drawn quite a bit of attention, especially after he had defeated the first six Emperor-class golems that had been sent against him. This had stunned every clan in the world, causing all of them to hasten to the mountains and watch what would happen next.

"So this is the true power of the three great clans!" The other six 'great clans' and the weaker clans were all stunned as they watched from afar. They felt completely breathless. There was no way at all for them to fight back against the overwhelming power of the three great clans.

In their heart of hearts, many of they had dreamed of one day defeating the three great clans and becoming the rulers of this world… but now, they felt a sense of complete powerlessness. The difference in power was simply too vast!

"That Daolord Darknorth is ridiculously strong as well." They were amazed by the power of the three great clans, but they were also stunned by the strength of Daolord Darknorth. Daolord Darknorth was so strong that he was able to easily annihilate any of the clans in this world, aside from the three principal clans.

Ning and the skinny silver man began to furiously battle against each other, and the terrifying shockwaves generated by their blows blasted out in every direction.

"What incredible power… but what a low level of insight!" Ning and the skinny silver man exchanged over a hundred blows in that brief instant but only fought to a standstill.

In strength alone, Ning's opponent was actually quite a bit stronger than him; Ning was only able to match him through usage of the Heavenbreaker stance. In terms of speed, the silver man moved at a hundred times the speed of light! Even with Ning's nine novessence arts and heartworld projection active, the silver man was still able to maintain this speed. This was because the man was simply too powerful; he was completely capable of resisting the pressure and maintaining this level of speed.

However… the silver man's level of insight into the Dao was just too low! Ning felt that it was perhaps weaker than that of many second-tier Daolords. It was perhaps just barely on par with the likes of Patriarch Clearwind!

It must be understood that for cultivators who made it into the higher ranks, their power generally stemmed from their mastery of the Dao. Ning had an incredibly high level of insight into the Dao, the [Heartsword] art, and the Northbow swords… that was why he possessed such power! The silver men had a much lower level of insight into the Dao, but they were much like golems; their speed and strength were incredible, allowing them to fight Ning to a standstill.

"He has an overwhelming amount of power but is only able to put a fraction of it to good use. If I had such speed and strength, I'd be able to take down ten of them." Ning couldn't help but sigh. "No wonder those three Emperor-class golems we just bound said that so long as Ninedust helps them out while they are working together, they won't be captured.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 18 – All Abilities Unleashed

Ji Ning had been able to easily capture the Emperor-class golems because he had a high level of insight into the Dao. His Shadowless stance was completely unpredictable, while his Blood Drop stance was incredibly fast, making it hard for the golems to defend against them.

As for the silver men? Although they were strong and fast, their strikes were too direct and clumsy! Although these clumsy strikes were very forceful, it wasn't too hard to block them; at most, you would be knocked flying from the power. In a one-on-one fight, they might be able to capture an Emperor-class golem, but all three of them were working together and were being assisted by Ninedust and Ning. It was highly unlikely that any of them would be recaptured.

"I'm clearly stronger than him, but I'm unable to dominate him." The skinny silver man sent mentally, "Hurry over here. Surround him and kill him."

"Coming."

"Let's go." The other two silver men charged forwards as well.

Surrounded by the five-colored sea of energy, Ning was weakened and only able to unleash 80% of his full power! Despite that, his high level of insight into the Dao allowed him to fight the skinny silver man to a standstill.

"Attack!" The muscular silver man wielded two silver warhammers while the silver-haired man wielded a pair of long silver sabers. All three of the silver men began to surround and furiously attack Ning.

"Die."

"Die!"

"He's dead meat." The three silver men were brimming with killing intent. At the same time, the tri-colored rope snaked over towards Ning as well. However, the three Emperor-class golems and Ninedust immediately transformed into streaks of light that shot towards the tri-colored ropes.

"Your opponent is us!" Ninedust transformed into a vast wave that wrapped itself around the tri-colored rope, while the three Emperor-class golems launched repeated attacks that caused the tri-colored rope to break apart, reform, and break apart again repeatedly.

The tri-colored rope had been tied down by Ninedust and the three Emperor-class golems.

The five-colored rope had transformed into a five-color sea that was weakening Ning.

The three silver men were attacking Ning at the same time.

This was an utterly apocalyptic battle! Massive shockwaves blasted the surrounding area repeatedly. The nearby mountains had long ago been annihilated, while the earth itself had caved in. The other six great clans and the standard clans who were watching from afar were in a state of shock. This was a battle that engendered both admiration and despair in their hearts. They weren't even close to being able to fight against foes like this.

"Ahaha! You are too weak. You clearly possess tremendous power, but you are only able to put a fraction of it to good use." Ning was in his three-headed, six-armed form as he fought against the three by himself, but he wasn't at any disadvantage at all.

"How can this be?"

"How is this possible? Why can't we even suppress or dominate him?"

"How can he be this strong?" The three silver men were all stunned. Just one of them was enough to fight Ning to a standstill… so why was it that all three of them working together were only achieving the same effect?!

This was because when Ning was fighting against the six Emperor-class golems and the skinny silver man, his strategy was to fight them head-on and meet them attack for attack! Now that three silver men were fighting him at the same time, Ning primarily relied on his defensive sword-arts and only launched the occasional attack. His Soleheart stance and his Yin-Yang stance were simply too powerful, especially after the Northbow swords had absorbed all of that frozen ninesong pith. His defensive sword-arts had reached an incredible level of prowess.

Ning's defensive sword-arts were so perfect that he would be able to hold out against anything save for an utterly overwhelmingly superior level of power. Given how clumsy these silver men's attacks were and how low a level of insight into the Dao they had, Ning found it very easy to defend against them.

"Forget about three; I'd probably be able to defend against six of these silver men," Ning mused.

"Take rope form and bind him!" the muscular silver Fumo clan leader sent mentally to the five-colored sea. Instantly, the five-colored sea began to rapidly shrink in size. It once more transformed into the five-colored rope and coiled towards Ning.

"Rope?" Ning immediately moved. Whoosh! The five-colored rope was only able to move at less than fifty times the speed of light due to the heartworld projection and the nine novessence arts, while Ning was able to move much faster. He was able to effortlessly dodge the five-colored rope and immediately used his Shadowless evasion art to disappear without a trace.

"Damn."

"Once our golems take rope form and shrink in size, Daolord Darknorth is able to easily avoid it." The three silver men were beginning to grow anxious. Ning was no fool; he wasn't just going to stand there like an idiot and allow the five-colored rope to bind him. The reason why he had done so against the tri-colored rope in his first battle against the six golems was because he was so completely sure in his chances that he didn't even want to bother with dodging, instead choosing to exchange attacks. Now, however, Ning didn't dare to act with such arrogance.

"Golems, maintain a size of ten million kilometers," the silver-haired man was forced to order.

At a size of ten million kilometers, the combined attacks of the three silver men ensured that there was nowhere for Ning to run. This size was enough to keep Ning at just 70% of his maximum power.

"There's just nothing we can do to him." The three silver men furiously assaulted Ning, but even at 70% power Ning's defenses were airtight, even though he was now forced to completely focus on defense and was only able to launch the occasional attack.

Even if another silver man came, Ning would still be able to hold on.

"Nonti clan leader and Juwah clan leader, the three of us have done everything we can. This Daolord Darknorth's defensive sword-arts are even more formidable than his offensive sword-arts. There is nothing we can do to him," the muscular silver man sent mentally. "The three of us and these golems are completely unable to kill him. There's nothing else we can do."

"Yes, we're out of other options."

"I really didn't want to do this… but we'll have to use it."

The three silver men exchanged a glance. This Daolord Darknorth was the most dangerous disaster to ever befall their three great clans! All three of them were on par with him, but even working together with the assistance of the five-colored rope they were still unable to do anything to him. Their failure to kill him was already shaking their control over this world. They absolutely could not permit this to continue.

"Die." The muscular silver man produced a deep-blue oval treasure that was covered with layers of wriggling runes.

"Daolord Darknorth, you should feel proud to die to this Sithe treasure." The skinny silver man produced an ancient banner that was blood-red and covered with a strange, evil-looking beast diagram.

"Die." The silver-haired man took out a black bottle.

Ning immediately felt a sense of danger. "Not good. Come forth!" Ning produced a snow-white lotus flower in his hands. The lotus instantly bloomed, with Ning standing at the very center. The layers of lotus leaves which appeared around Ning began to swivel, while Ning was within the bud at the very center which was completely covered by the first layer of petals. Ning was able to see through the semi-translucent petals and sense what was happening outside.

It must be remembered that Ning and Ninedust had acquired Winesage's vast hoard of treasures as well as the treasures owned by Timedream, Kingfreak, and numerous second-tier Daolords. Some of the weaker ones that weren't very useful, he had left behind for the Three Realms or to Su Youji and the others, but the useful ones he had kept on him. This one was one of the three most supreme defensive treasures in Ning's possession.

Screeeech! The layers of wriggly runes on the deep blue oval disc in the hands of the muscular silver man suddenly began to light up, emanating an ear-piercing screech as they did so. At the same time, a light blue sonic wave burst forth from the treasure and shot towards Ning.

The light blue sonic wave easily pierced straight through the snow-white lotus; the lotus wasn't able to defend against it at all. Ning struck out with his sword, but it didn't make any contact with the sonic wave at all.

Rumble…

The sound dove into his body, smashing straight against Ning's soul and truesoul. Ning's truesoul and soul were protected by the azureflower mist energy; although both trembled slightly, they didn't suffer any harm at all and managed to endure the hit head-on.

"What a strange attack. It struck at the soul and truesoul?" Ning was secretly stunned. He stared intently at his foes.

Whooosh. The attacks from the other two silver men arrived as well. The black bottle had already shattered, a black flame erupting from it which quickly 'glued' itself over the snow-white lotus flower. Hissing crackles could be heard as the snow-white flower immediately began to tremble, but then the lotus began to swivel once more. Although the black fire which had been 'pasted' on the petals were enough to cause them to tremble, the other petals helped spread the pressure and thus the flower withstood the attack.

Finally, the power of the black flames was completely used up. The snow-white lotus flower had dimmed considerably as well and was rather wobbly.

The strange beast depicted on the ancient blood banner suddenly let out a furious bellow. Boom! A blood-red beast came flying out from the banner, which evaporated in its wake. The blood-red beast's eyes gleamed with brutal, murderous red light. It seemed to represent the incarnation of slaughter itself as it charged straight towards the snow-white lotus.

Boom! The snow-white lotus continued to swivel as it strove to hold on, but in the end it was still broken apart. After shattering the lotus, the blood-red beast charged straight towards Ning.

"Hmph." Ning no longer sensed much danger, and so he struck out with his sword to defend. Boom! A terrifying explosion rang out.

The blood-red beast repeatedly struck out with its sharp claws while Ning used his swords to defend. In the end, Ning was able to survive thanks to his powerful defensive sword-arts, with the Hegemon armor also having helped him endure the many blows.

"AWOOO!" The blood-red beast grew dimmer and dimmer, first turning an ordinary red, then turning pink. Finally, it unhappily raised its head to let out a resentful howl before completely vanishing.

Ning landed on the ground, a hint of blood on the corner of his lips. He glanced at the three silver men in the distance, looks of shock on their faces.

"Come, let's do that again," Ning growled. "Let's see if you have more treasures or if I have more treasures." As Ning spoke he waved his hand and caused one treasure after another to appear in front of him, not suppressing their auras in the slightest.

"B-but…" The three silver men exchanged glances. They weren't able to beat Darknorth in a straight fight. Now, it seemed as though Daolord Darknorth had quite a few treasures of his own. Every single treasure they possessed had been laboriously acquired from that secret place and had been left behind by the Sithe. There were very few of them, and each one they used up represented a permanent loss.

"What should we do?" The three silver men felt rather lost. They suddenly realized that there was nothing at all they could do to this Daolord Darknorth.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 19 – Darknorth Palace

"Haha, treasures? We brothers have plenty of'm!" Ninedust had transformed into a vast wave, but he now manifested his upper body and sent out one powerful treasure after another to appear in front of him. The Daolords of this world didn't have that many treasures, but Ninedust and Ji Ning came from the Endless Territories. As a result, they had quite a few.

"What?!" The three silver men saw the many treasures hovering in front of the distant Ninedust and could sense the terrifying ripples of power emanating from them.

"Even the weaker Daolord has that many treasures on him?"

"Where the hell did they find so many treasures? Isn't the secret location accessible to our three clans alone? We've completely searched through every corner of this entire world; the only place with many treasures secreted within it is that secret place. The other places shouldn't have that many treasures. Where did these two Daolords find so many?"

The three silver men were extremely anxious. They exchanged glances at each other. "Fall back for now," the muscular silver man commanded. Whoosh. Whoosh. The five-colored rope and the tri-colored rope began to retreat, moving towards the three silver men.

Ninedust and the three golems flew towards Ning. The two sides stared at each other from afar.

"If you want to fight, let's fight," Ninedust called out loudly. "What's the point of just standing there blankly? It's gonna be a war of attrition via treasures, right? Come on! You use one, I use one… let's see who has more. I want to see if you end up dead or if we end up dead!"

"Damn." The three silver men were absolutely enraged. They were exalted figures who were the absolute rulers over this world. They have never been challenged and mocked like this before! They were enraged, but after this battle they realized that there was nothing they could do in battle to this Daolord Darknorth. His defenses were incredibly tough and airtight, giving them no chance to win at all; if they wanted to win, they would have to use the treasures the Sithe had left behind. Unfortunately, they had extremely few of those treasures! Their treasures possessed great power… but it seemed as though these two Daolords also had quite a few treasures of similar power.

"If we really do compete against them in treasures, once we clean out their stockpile we might be able to kill… but what if we're the ones who are cleaned out instead? What should we do?" the skinny silver man sent mentally.

"If we use up all the treasures, we won't be able to pose any threat to Daolord Darknorth at all." The silver-haired man sent back mentally, "By then, he'll have nothing to fear at all and will become even more of a problem."

"Agreed."

The many treasures they had accumulated were the final cards they had to play. They weren't willing to use them all up. If they did, they might win… but they might also lose! They weren't willing to accept what losing would entail.

"Daolord Darknorth… let's just wait and see who has the last laugh." The muscular silver man let out a cold snort. "Let's go."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The three silver men led the eight Emperor-class golems soaring through the skies as they departed.

Ning watched from afar as they left, a hint of a smile playing around his lips.

"Darknorth, what should we do next?" Ninedust began to worry. "They are more powerful than us, after all. Your sword-arts are defensively strong enough to ensure they can't do anything to us, but we can't do anything to them either. If this stalemate continues, there's no way we'll be able to find the treasures hidden within this Stone Hellephant Wall."

Ning nodded. The reason why they were fighting and risking their lives was to gain the treasures of the Sithe! Just from the Emperor-class golems and the three silver men alone, both Ning and Ninedust felt absolutely certain that there was definitely a Sithe treasure trove here!

"Let's establish ourselves in this world first," Ning said. "Then we'll search for that secret place."

"That's our only choice." Ninedust nodded.

"Arise." Ning turned to glance at the land behind him. The Cranesoar Mountains had been leveled long ago, but with but a thought Ning caused his heartworld projection to descend, using it to take control over the local earth and stones to establish a new, towering mountain that was ten thousand kilometers tall. At the very peak of the mountain, a top-grade Eternal estate descended in the form of an Immortal's palace. At the very top of the palace gates, two characters could be seen: 'DARK' 'NORTH'!

"I, Daolord Darknorth, on this day do establish the Darknorth Palace here. I do not seek hegemony; I only seek to cultivate the Dao. Those who stand in the way of my Dao shall end up like the mountains and rivers around the three great clans… destroyed!" Ning flew towards the entrance of the Darknorth Palace, sending his voice out to fill every single inch of this entire world. At the same time, he enveloped the entire planet with his heartworld projection, sending it smashing downwards towards the three great clans.

The three great clans were protected by layers of formations and barriers, but the surrounding mountains and rivers were instantly annihilated by the tremendous force of Ning's heartworld projection, strong enough to slay even Daolords of the Fourth Step with ease. The area around the three great clans was instantly obliterated and rendered incredibly unsightly.

Everyone in the world from ordinary mortals to the three great clans all heard his voice.

"H-he actually dares to trample over our…" the silver-haired silver man's face was ugly to behold.

"Damn him. Damn him!" The skinny silver man was enraged as well.

Ning was trampling over the three great clan's dignity, so as to establish his own power. This was a way for him to show that the Darknorth Palace didn't give a damn about the three great clans at all!

"He claims that he doesn't seek hegemony and only seeks to cultivate the Dao?" The muscular silver man sent puzzledly to the others, "If he only seeks to cultivate the Dao, why has he chosen to challenge our clans?"

"I think his true goal lies with that secret place of ours," the skinny silver man said with a cold smile.

"Yes, that has to be it." The silver-haired man's voice was equally cold. The secret place was what the three great clans relied upon and was for their use only. There was no way any other cultivators would be permitted to so much as find it. As they saw it, given how Daolord Darknorth already stood at the very apex of power in this world and had nothing to fear, he definitely was coveting their secret place.

Ning's voice echoed throughout this entire world, with even mortal children able to hear it clearly. Everyone knew that this 'Daolord Darknorth' was incredibly powerful and had established a place known as the Darknorth Palace. He didn't even hold the three great clans in any regard at all.

"I can't believe this was the end result of it all."

"The three great clans are transcendent, supreme entities that have governed this world since time immemorial. The three clan leaders in particular are unfathomably powerful; supposedly, they are far more terrifying than even Emperor-class golems. They can cause hurricanes with a flick of their fingers that can annihilate even Daolords of the Fourth Step… but they actually weren't able to do anything to this Daolord Darknorth."

"He established Darknorth Palace… that means our world is no longer completely under the control of the three great clans."

"The heavens themselves are changing before our very eyes!"

The many clans in this world all understood exactly what was happening… and just as they expected, the rise of Darknorth Palace really did symbolize that there were now two supreme powers within this world! This was now a bipolar world. On one side were the three great clans; on the other, Darknorth Palace.

The advantage of the three great clans lay in the fact that they had extremely deep resources and tremendous power. Darknorth Palace, however, had an advantage in that Ning's heartworld projection was able to instantly encompass this entire planet… in other words, if he wanted to attack, he had the power to annihilate everything outside the headquarters of the three great clans!

This power of absolute, instantly annihilation caused quite a few clans to fear Darknorth Palace even more. Some particularly ambitious clans chose to make a rather risky bet… they chose to submit to the rule of Darknorth Palace. Ning didn't refuse any comers.

"Haha, leave these matters to me. I used to command the Ninedust Sect; organizing and commanding these minor clans is simplicity itself." Ninedust was quite eager to take on this task. "If we can't find the secret place ourselves, we might be able to learn some information about it from these clans."

Under Ninedust's leadership and with more and more clans joining their ranks, Darknorth Palace began to grow in power at an exponential rate. This was quite a troubling matter for the three great clans.

"We have no choice but to bear it for now. Those weaker clans are nothing; if and when we choose to attack, we can wipe them out with ease. Our greatest foe remains Daolord Darknorth." The three clan leaders forebore from taking action.

"From this day forth, once our clans enter the secret place we need to spare no expense in finding a treasure that can be used against Daolord Darknorth."

Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, two thousand years passed after Ning had established Darknorth Palace in this world. He had continuously searched for the secret place this entire time, while Ninedust had coordinated the many clans under the banner of Darknorth Palace to do the same.

Nightfall. A cold wind was howling through the skies. Ning was seated atop a dais within Darknorth Palace, staring at the vast world before him as he trained in the [Heartsword] art.

"Palace Lord, the Hallmaster of the First Southern Hall has something important to report," an attendant said respectfully.

"Something important?" Ning opened his eyes.

In recent years, Ninedust had divided Darknorth Palace up into many different branches, with the First Southern Hall being one of them.

"Have him come see me," Ning instructed.

"Yes, Palace Lord." The attendant immediately left.

A short while later, a black-armored man walked in, then fell to his knees and said respectfully, "Your subordinate greets you, Palace Lord."

"You may rise. Speak. What is it?" Ning asked.

The black-armored man rose to his feet, a hint of eagerness in his eyes as he looked at Ning. It was Palace Lord Darknorth who was able to ensure that the three great clans were helpless against them, after all.

"Your subordinate has come into possession of certain information… and I think there is at least an 80% chance that it has to do with that secret place," the black-armored man said respectfully.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 20 – The Secret Place

"An 80% chance?" Ji Ning stared at the black-armored man. For a subordinate to dare claim an 80% chance of being correct meant that he was almost virtually certain; he had to factor in a bit of modesty, after all. "Go ahead and tell me."

"Palace Lord, please take a look." The black-armored man produced a scroll in his hands which he offered respectfully to Ning. Ning waved his hand, causing the scroll to fly over towards him.

Ning unfurled the scroll, which was covered with dense clusters of tiny characters. These were the last words of a free-spirited Daolord whose lifespan was coming to an end. It included some of his supreme legacies as well as the secrets he knew about.

"Eh?" Ning's face tightened. "This Daolord actually entered the borders of a mysterious place by accident. He was almost discovered but thankfully was lucky enough to escape detection… and that place had an incredibly powerful garrison stationed there?" Ning nodded. This information the deceased Daolord had written down almost certainly referred to the secret place Ning was searching for! Aside from the three great clans, there were no other forces capable of stationing such a tremendously powerful garrison.

"So it is in a standalone dimension. No wonder my heartworld projection filled every inch of this planet but still was unable to find it." Ning revealed a trace of a smile. He had finally found it. After two thousand years here on this planet, he had finally found information regarding the secret location.

It made sense. No matter how careful the three great clans were, a few traces would eventually slip through over the course of countless years.

"Excellent." Ning looked at the black-armored man, then smiled. "You've done quite well, and I certainly need to reward you for your great accomplishment." As Ning spoke, he waved a finger, sending a stream of light into the black-armored man's body. The black-armored man instantly felt his sea of consciousness tremble as an enormous amount of information began to flood into him.

Ning had taken many precious items away from Sectlord Timedream and the other Daolords, including good cultivation techniques. He casually chose a decent one which would guide this man to becoming a Daolord of the Fourth Step.

Once the black-armored man came back to his senses, he was so excited he immediately fell to his knees. "Thank you, Palace Lord."

The three great clans were so exalted precisely because they maintained an extremely strict level of control over their cultivation techniques. Lesser clans would never have access to the knowledge of the ancestors, and so they were forced to train blindly. This made becoming a Daolord extremely difficult, much less one capable of reaching the fourth step.

Now that he had this technique from Ning, not only would he become a Daolord, even his other clansmen would stand a good chance at it.

"Go," Ning instructed. When searching for information regarding the secret place, these subordinates had sworn lifeblood oaths in advance that they were only able to divulge this information to their superiors and not to any outsiders at all.

"Ninedust." Ning sat there atop the dais, staring into the dark night sky as he sent a mental message to Ninedust.

Whoosh. A figure manifested next to him. It was the Ninedust Sectlord. Ninedust said with some surprise, "It's past midnight. Why did you suddenly call for me? Want to grab a drink?"

"Take a look at this." Ning tossed the scroll to him.

Ninedust accepted it and gave it a read. A look of delight instantly appeared on his face. "Haha, we brothers have finally found this so-called 'secret place'! But from the looks of it, the three great clans guard it very tightly."

"The Daolord who wrote down this scroll only entered the outermost border regions by accident," Ning said. "I believe that the three great clans must have set up layers of protective mechanisms and defenses; there's no way an outsider would be able to easily penetrate it."

"Agreed." Ninedust nodded. The secret place was most likely what allowed the three great clans to rise to prominence!

"I'm planning to head out tonight to inspect this location," Ning said. "I'll used the Shadowless evasion art and avoid discovery as best as I can! As for you, if you wish to join me you'll have to enter my estate-world treasure for now."

"Of course I'm going with you. The entire reason why I'm in this world is because I'm interested in the Sithe's local treasury," Ninedust said hurriedly. "Those three clan leaders are at a lower level of insight than me, but they are incredibly strong in battle and have all those Emperor-class golems… how could I give up a chance to acquire such a fortune?"

"Haha, I knew you'd come. Let's go." As Ning spoke, he sent mental messages to his four highest-ranking subordinates to temporarily take control over Darknorth Palace.

Swoosh. Swoosh. Ning and Ninedust quietly slipped away from Darknorth Palace that very night.

Ning had scanned this world many times with his heartworld projection, and so he knew its geography very well! Now that he had that scroll, Ning was able to guess as to approximately where this place was located.

In the end, this planet was still a few billion kilometers in diameter. If Ning had been forced to search through every inch of it, ten million years wouldn't have been enough. This place was something which even a heartworld projection was unable to discover… even if he was just a meter away from it, he probably wouldn't be able to recognize it for what it was.

"There's a tree roughly nine meters thick. Once you touch it, you'll immediately be able to enter that secret place." After pulling Ninedust into his estate-world, Ning immediately activated the Shadowless evasion art.

Whoosh. Ning silently and soundless arrived in the rough location mentioned by the Daolord. He quickly eliminated the more slender trees from consideration. He was looking for something at least nine meters thick… as Ning saw it, this so called tree which held the secret location within it probably wasn't an actual tree, just something disguised as one. It probably would never change in appearance.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Ning silently reached out to tap one tree after the other. His fingers were very gentle, ensuring that he generated no sound at all. He ended up spending two full days within the general region.

Tap. Ning casually tepped on the trunk of yet another large and leafy green tree in front of him… but his finger went straight through it. A sucking power was suddenly applied to his entire body as well. Ning was overjoyed and didn't seek to resist, allowing himself to be drawn inside of the great tree.

Space twisted and turned around him. He was surrounded by emptiness, with only a giant towering mountain in front of him. Ning had appeared at the base of the mountain.

"Eh?" Ning kept the Shadowless evasion art active as he carefully scanned his surroundings. "This massive mountain is actually hanging in empty space… was this done by the Sithe?" He was able to vaguely gaze through the void around him and see the forest outside. Clearly, outsiders weren't able to discover this place but those inside were able to see who was outside at any time. In fact, just a single step was needed to leave this place and return to the forest in the outside world.

"Hmph. The garrison stationed here really is powerful." Ning immediately saw an garrison stationed roughly a thousand kilometers away from him. This garrison had two Emperor-class golems, six Samsara Daolords, and a very large number of World-level cultivators. There was also a giant cave entrance halfway up the mountain which led deep into its heart.

The mountain cave was dark and unfathomably deep, and it was covered by layers of ancient formations that glowed with hazy light. When Ning saw the barriers, he felt a vague sense of danger from them.

"These barriers are meant to prevent people from going inside the mountain," Ning mused "Most likely, the Sithe treasury is located within it."

"The barriers protecting the three great clans were already quite strong. There's no way this place isn't just as well protected. I probably won't be able to force my way through the barriers." Ning knew this to be true; logically speaking, he shouldn't be able to breach the barriers. The vague sense of danger he sensed from the barriers had already testified to that.

Forcing his way through wouldn't work. It seemed that the only option was to play a few tricks.

"Eh?" Ning turned, his gaze falling upon an enormous tower-shaped formation next to the garrison. At his current level power, he was able to recognize it right away. "A spacetime transfer array? It seems so intricate and marvelous."

"No wonder I kept watch over the three great clans for so many years without discovering how the three great clans entered this place. So this spacetime transfer array is directly linked to the headquarters of the three great clans." Ning couldn't help but shake his head. This world was a vast one; the chances of one stumbling upon this particular tree were incredibly low. Even if someone did enter, the garrison stationed here would be able to easily slaughter that person. In the event of failure, the barriers surrounding the mountain cave would prevent any entry.

However… time grinds away at all things. Eventually, there will be a leak. The Daolord who had left that scroll behind had been able to enter through a lucky streak of fortune, and he had immediately left carefully. He had only survived because his luck really was incredible.

"What should we do? How are we supposed to go inside? Going inside by force isn't an option. It seems we will have no choice but to wait." Ning stared at the spacetime transfer array, then secretly shook his head. "Yes, just wait."

Waiting was a clumsy method, but sometimes the simplest methods were quite effective!

"Darknorth, did you go inside yet?" Ninedust asked from within the estate-world. A white-robed incarnation of Ning appeared next to him.

"Don't be impatient. I've already entered the secret area, but I'm in the outer regions of it. The entrance leading into the heart of this region has been blocked off by a barrier. It should've been the three great clans who set this barrier up; I really doubt I can breach it by force." Ning shook his head. "Our only choice for now is to wait. Once the Daolords enter the heart of the region, I might be able to come up with a way to sneak through as well.

"They really are quite carefully. They actually set up a formation of barriers inside the secret area's passageways as well?" Ninedust was speechless.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 21 – The Sithe Disk

Time continued to flow on. Ji Ning kept the Shadowless evasion art active the entire time and patiently waited outside for more than fifty thousand years. When it came to acquiring a Sithe treasury, he had patience in abundance.

Within the Nonti clan.

Creaaak. A stone door swung open and a grim-faced Daolord of the Third Step walked out from within it.

"Daolord!" The armored soldier outside the door said respectfully, "The clan leader has send orders. All Daolords must immediately head to the ancestral grounds whenever they leave their secluded meditations."

"Oh?" This Daolord of the Third Step, Daolord Joyquill, narrowed his eyes. "What's with the urgency? Don't you normally have to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step before being able to visit the ancestral grounds?"

"Daolord, the clan leader has now changed the rules. Even Daolords of the Second Step are allowed entry," the armored soldier said hurriedly.

"Even Daolords of the Second Step are allowed in?" Daolord Joyquill was shocked. "How can this be? The ancestral grounds are incredibly dangerous. Success brings great rewards, but the weak will most likely perish. Although some Daolords of the Second Step have succeeded in the past, this is just too dangerous."

"Daolord, you've been in secluded meditation for many years so you don't know what has happened. Our three great clans have encountered a deadly opponent," the armored soldier said. "Over fifty thousand years ago, a Daolord named Darknorth suddenly rose to power. His might was unmatched and he challenged our three clans all by himself. The Emperor-class golems we sent out were all defeated, with him capturing three of them. The three clan leaders then led a force of eight golems to attack him, but in the end they still weren't able to subdue him."

"What?!" Daolord Joyquill was astonished. "Impossible."

"Daolord Darknorth then established the Darknorth Palace. By now, he is in control of quite a few clans. He has set himself up in opposition to our three clans!" The armored soldier continued, "The three clan leaders have already sent word that we are to charge deep into the ancestral grounds, regardless of the risk! We need to find as many treasures as we can from the ancestral lands, so that we can deal with Daolord Darknorth."

After gaining a more thorough understanding of what had happened recently, Daolord Joyquill felt even more stunned. He never would've imagined that the clan would've fallen into such dire straits during this session of secluded meditation.

Rumble… Daolord Joyquill stood there within a spacetime transfer array. He mumbled to himself with a frown as the array started to light up, "Where the hell did this Daolord Darknorth come from? How did he become this powerful?"

Whoosh. Space and time twisted around him. By the time everything was clear, he found himself within the ancestral lands.

"The ancestral lands." Daolord Joyquill stared at the area around him. Next to him was a great garrison, while outside was the vast emptiness of space. Beyond even that was the great forest in the real world outside.

"Brother Joyquill."

"Daolord Joyquill, you came as well?" The six Daolords stationed here walked out to welcome him.

"Yes." Daolord Joyquill nodded. "I received the order right after I left my meditations and so I immediately came here."

"Ugh. I wonder how Daolord Darknorth trained and how he became so powerful. All of the Daolords of the three great clans are now risking their lives inside." The six Daolords in charge of the garrison sighed.

"Most of them will probably end up dead soon."

"How could someone like Daolord Darknorth have suddenly emerged from those other lowly clans?"

They all shook their heads. They had grown accustomed to feeling superior to all others, and they didn't even hold the other six 'great clans' in any regard. As they saw it, all others who were not members of the three great clans were lowly figures. They were the absolute rulers of this world, and they had ruled it fearlessly since time out of mind. How could they not feel enraged at how Daolord Darknorth had suddenly shaken their positions?

However, they could do nothing but sigh and lament at his appearance. The difference in power between them was simply too great; they weren't capable of doing anything to him at all.

"I'll head on in," Daolord Joyquill said.

"Be careful, brother Joyquill."

"Hopefully, brother Joyquill will reap great rewards from this." The six Daolords all said a few words of encouragement.

Swoosh! A silent figure moved close towards Daolord Joyquill.

"Finally, a new Daolord has arrived. And, from the looks of things, he's about to enter the inner regions." Ning watched as Daolord Joyquill moved towards the mountain cave. Ning quickly moved closer to Joyquill, with no one discovering his presence.

"Soulthrall." By now, even the Kingfreak would be affected by his soul-mesmerizing abilities, to say nothing of a weak Daolord of the Third Step like this. Joyquill was instantly swept into a state of unconsciousness.

While doing this, Ning set up a thirty meter barrier around them which warped and distorted light. If anyone glanced towards them, they would see Daolord Joyquill continuing to walk normally.

"Get in here." Ning instantly drew Daolord Joyquill into his estate-world. "And… here I go." Ning appeared out of nowhere, but he now looked just like Daolord Joyquill. No… not just looked alike. Even his soul and truesoul were identical to Joyquill's.

Ning immediately released the barrier around the surrounding area, then glanced around him before letting out a sigh of relief. The process of setting up the barrier, catching Daolord Joyquill, then replacing him had happened almost instantaneously, but if there was a Daolord specifically keeping a careful watch on this area then it would've still been possible for his actions to be noticed. Thankfully, he hadn't been.

After having put away Daolord Joyquill, Ning immediately released a small amount of his energy into his estate-world to question the man. Alas, Daolord Joyquill had long ago sworn a lifeblood oath regarding this 'secret place'; even though his soul had been mesmerized, he wasn't able to say a thing.

Ning questioned Joyquill for quite some time but didn't gain much from it. "There's nothing for it." He had no choice but to grit his teeth and walk forwards! Ning quickly reached the region covered by layers of barriers.

"Brother Joyquill, I've already taken control over the Sithe disk. You can come in," a voice rang out from behind the layers of blue barriers of light.

The 'Sithe disk'? Ning silently memorized this term. On the surface, he just nodded slightly as he continued forwards. Indeed, the layers of blue light were like curtains of water. Ning was able to easily walk in without the slightest disturbance at all. This barrier-filled region was tens of thousands of kilometers long, but Ning walked incredibly fast and was able to quickly bypass it.

"Daolord Joyquill has arrived."

"It is Daolord Joyquill."

The three Daolords in charge of the Sithe disk all laughed. They carefully inspected every person who came in, but they did so primarily through inspection of the truesoul aura. They weren't worried about Daolord Joyquill secretly bringing anyone else inside, because every single Daolord of the three great clans had long ago sworn lengthy lifeblood oaths. The part of the oath pertaining to the ancestral lands were particularly severe and exacting.

For example, even though Ning had used a soul-mesmerizing technique on the man, he still wasn't able to learn any secrets regarding this place!

"Daolord Joyquill." The three seated Daolords looked at him. One of them, an old man with a large beard, called out in a loud voice, "Be careful after you go inside. This place is filled with danger, and many of the golems are filled with enmity towards our clans. All of them are Emperor-class golems; if they manage to ambush you, you'll be doomed."

"Thank you." Ning nodded, many thoughts flashing through his mind. He absolutely had to acquire the Sithe treasury! However, it seemed as though there was only one way inside this mountain… and it had been protected by layers of barriers.

"If I wish to take the treasury for myself, I'll probably end up revealing myself! They will be able to use these barriers to ensure that I'm unable to leave." Ning stared at the three Daolords who were controlling the distant Sithe disk. "I won't feel secure unless and until I get rid of them first."

"Daolord Songfloat," Ning said while walking towards the three. As the lord of Darknorth Palace, he held a very high status and thus knew almost all of the Daolords within this world.

"What is it?" The bearded elder smiled as Ning walked towards him, completely unafraid.

Whoosh. Ning cracked a smile as well, sending an invisible wave of power towards them. Instantly, the three seated Daolords felt a wave of pressure come crashing down towards them, causing them to go dizzy. Their bodies slumped to the ground, powerless. Ning instantly moved to stand next to them, grabbing the strange disk which had been rotating around the three. The round disk was a deep brown color and covered with many extremely complex runes.

The ripples emanating from the disk spread out to cover tens of thousands of kilometers. The surrounding formations and barriers all had this Sithe disk as their core.

"Arise." Ning reached out to take a firm grip over the round disk, clasping his hands around it. Rumble… instantly, the layers of formations and barriers for tens of thousands of kilometers around them began to rumble.

The guards stationed at the garrison outside the cave couldn't help but turn their heads to look backwards.

"What's going on?" Some of the Daolords stationed inside the mountain were able to sense the ripple as well.

"Not good."

"That was the Sithe disk!" The three silver men immediately transformed into streaks of light that shot out from the mountain and charged towards Ning.

Ning had grabbed at the Sithe disk twice without being able to pull it to him. He immediately waved his hand and produced the Northbow sword, executing his Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop. This was his most penetrating attack, and it was the best attack he had for disrupting formations. Slash! Slash! Slash! It was hard to defeat a formation from the outside, but breaking it through when you were already inside it was much easier.

One streak of mist-formed sword energy after another stabbed into the Sithe disk, causing some of the supportive formations to immediately break apart.

Rumble… Ning finally managed to dislodge the Sithe disk from its orbit, breaking it free from the many mysterious formation-runes that had been binding it. Ning then sent the Northbow sword in his hands to deliver furious chops towards the world around him, destroying all the formations one by one.

"Get in here." When Ning saw the three silver men fly towards him, he immediately drew the Sithe disk into his estate-world.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 22 – Ancestral Proscriptions

Only after putting away the Sithe disk did Ji Ning feel marginally at ease. Otherwise, the many barriers it served as the focal point for would've been very problematic for him. Even if he did acquire treasures from within the mountain, there would've been no way out for him.

"It's you!"

"Daolord Darknorth!"

"How were you able to disguise yourself as Joyquill? You even managed to emulate his truesoul's aura!"

The three silver men flew towards Ning. They had been shocked when they saw Daolord Joyquill seize the Sithe disk, but when they saw the Northbow sword appear in Ning's hand they immediately knew who he was. They certainly wouldn't believe that Daolord Joyquill had the power to seize a Northbow sword from Daolord Darknorth!

"Haha…" Ning laughed as he transformed back into his own appearance. "You found out too late," Ning said as he summoned his awe-inspiring heartworld projection to cover both this tunnel as well as the garrison outside. Even the inner depths of the mountain were completely covered by it… and as it descended, the other Daolords of the three great clans were stunned.

"What's going on?"

"W-w-what's happening?"

"Is this the legendary 'heartworld projection'? Could it be Daolord Darknorth?"

"This place is our ancestral grounds, a place hidden from all others and which is protected by the Sithe disk. How could the heartworld projection have invaded it?" They all began to panic.

Ning just frowned slightly. He could sense that although his heartworld projection covered an extremely large region, there was some sort of energy deep within the mountain which was able to resist and block his heartworld projection, making it unable to penetrate any deeper.

"Soulthrall." A wave of heartforce swept outwards. This was Ning's soul-hypnosis technique, and it instantly struck all of the Daolords within the range of his heartworld projection. None of them were able to resist it at all! Even the Daolords of the Fourth Step were instantly drawn into a dazed state.

"What are you doing!" The three silver men were shocked and enraged.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Ning looked back at the three silver men. "Don't worry, I'm not planning to kill them. If I wanted to do so, I would've been able to easily eradicate them through my heartworld projection alone. I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of putting them under my control instead…"

"You…!" The three silver men were enraged and anxious. The vast majority of the Daolords of their three clans were all located here! There were one or two standing guard over their clan, and a few had ventured so deep into the mountain that they weren't covered by the heartworld projection. However, Ning had at least thirty-one Samsara Daolords under his control.

"Don't worry. If you can agree to my requests, I'll release all of them completely unharmed." A cold light flashed through Ning's eyes. "But if you refuse, then don't blame me for what I'll be forced to do."

The three great clans viewed themselves as the absolute rulers of this world, believing all other living creatures to be beneath them. They viewed themselves as the ultimate arbiters of life and death for the others. This mentality was pervasive in the three great clans, shared by the clan leaders and clansmen alike. They had always believed this, and after becoming Samsara Daolords they had only become even more fearless and lawless. And in truth, they were indeed the rulers of this world. No one had ever been able to challenge or shake their authority! Only, the descent of Daolord Darknorth upon this world had shaken their status.

"Speak!" the muscular silver man commanded with a growl.

"Speak. Don't ask for too much," the silver-haired man said, teeth clenched.

"My conditions are simple," Ning said. "First, you are not permitted to attack me… but of course, I won't do anything further to you either. We shall coexist peacefully. Second, you must tell me all the secrets you know pertaining to the Sithe, including everything you know about this mountain. If you agree to both conditions… we still won't be friends, but at least we won't be enemies any longer."

The world of cultivators was a world of slaughter and strife. The three great clans were protected by many formations and barriers; there was no way for Ning to wipe them out at all. Even if he did, the only result would be a different organization would rise to rule over this world.

As a result, Ning couldn't even be bothered to get into a real war against these people. His ultimate goal was to obtain the Sithe treasury! Once he did, he would immediately leave this place. There really was no need for him to become enemies with these three clan leaders. They were far too strong, after all; he wasn't able to defeat any of them. Right now, he knew nothing about the depths of this mountain whatsoever. The three great clans, however, had spent countless aeons searching and exploring the place. They definitely knew a great deal about it.

His enemies knew a great deal regarding this mountain, while he knew nothing at all. His enemies were also stronger than him; if they wanted to scheme against him here, he would probably be in a great deal of danger.

The three clan leaders exchanged glances as they secretly conversed mentally. Soon, they clenched their teeth and came to a decision.

"That's a nice little fantasy you you." The muscular silver man, the clan leader of the Fumo clan, growled out: "Daolord Darknorth, we aren't able to accept your conditions due to our ancestral proscriptions. Every single member of the clan was long ago forced to swear lifeblood oaths regarding this."

Ning's face tightened. Ancestral proscriptions?

"But we'll make it up to you in other ways." The Fumo clan leader suppressed his rage as he spoke: "First, as you've requested, we agree to live in peace with you. Second, you must leave our ancestral lands. We will never allow anyone who is not a member of our three clans to enter this place. Third, we'll give you a gift of three Emperor-class golems in compensation. In return, we wish to regain our clansmen."

"How generous," Ning said dryly. "Three Emperor-class golems."

"Our three great clans have only acquired a few of these golems despite having spent countless eras scouring this place. To trade you three golems for the lives of our clansmen is a show of great sincerity," the skinny silver man, the Juwah clan leader, said in a sharp and shrill voice.

"I agree that you are being quite sincere… but unfortunately, my goal is the Sithe treasury." Ning shook his head. "Emperor-class golems? I really don't care too much about them."

His ultimate goal was a treasure that could intrigue even an Autarch; only then would he have a chance at reviving Yu Wei. He needed treasures on par with Crimsonwave Temple in value. Emperor-class golems weren't even close! It must be remembered that the two overseers who had stood guard over Crimsonwave Temple were Hegemon-class figures!

"There is no way we'll permit anyone outside of our three clans to enter the ancestral grounds," the silver-haired man said in a cold voice.

"Absolutely not." The muscular silver man's voice was ice-cold as well. "I strongly recommend that you accept our conditions…"

"So I should go ahead and kill them?" Ning asked.

"Kill them."

"Go ahead."

"They are just Daolords; even if all of them died, we'd be able to raise a new generation of them in time." The three silver men didn't hesitate at all.

The ancestral grounds served as the foundation for the entire clan. There was an enormous treasury here, and despite having spent countless years scouring the place they had only acquired a fraction of the treasures in the outermost layer. If Daolord Darknorth entered, he might find things that were even better than what they had acquired. He might've sworn an oath not to kill them, but his descendants might use those treasures to wipe out the three great clans.

Why were the three great clans so formidable? It was because of the three silver men, right? But the treasury held things that were even more terrifying and powerful than the silver men! If Ning acquired them, he would be able to establish a clan that was even more terrifyingly powerful than theirs.

"So I really should go ahead and kill them?" Ning's voice was cold as well. Swish! The Daolord who was located closest to the three clan leaders instantly had his truesoul snuffed out. His eyes turned completely blank and dead.

"You-!" The three clan leaders were instantly driven into a state of fury.

"The two of us will hold him back. You go and rescue as many of our clansmen as you can." The muscular silver man and the skinny silver man howled with rage as they charged towards Ning, while the silver-haired man turned to fly deep into the mountain, seeking to pull away the Daolords.

"Too late." A flicker of something baleful flashed through Ning's eyes. If their negotiations had fallen through… then so be it. Let them die. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! One truesoul after another was extinguished by Ning's [Heartforce Eradicator]. Not a single person was able to withstand this attack.

In the blink of an eye, every single one of the Daolords had perished.

"Daolord Darknorth, you are dead meat!"

"Die, Darknorth! Die!" The two clan leaders went berserk. In the past, they had always been the ones to hold the power of life and death over others. There had never been a situation where so many Daolords of their clans had been instantly annihilated by others.

"Even all three of you working together weren't able to do anything to me. What's the point of even trying with two?" Ning manifested three heads and six arms as he drew his six Northbow swords. With his heartworld projection and his nine novessence arts swirling around him, he was able to defend against the attacks of the two clan leaders while moving deeper and deeper into the mountain. Although the two clan leaders managed to slow him down greatly, he was still able to move deeper within.

"Hm. The Nonti clan leader flew out of the range of my heartworld projection?" Ning frowned. His heartworld projection merely covered part of the mountain; deep within the mountain, there was some sort of unknown energy which was able to resist his heartworld projection. The third silver man had flown deeper into the mountain and outside of the range of Ning's scans.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 23 – Another Onyx Humanoid

The silver-haired Nonti clan leader ventured deep into the mountain by himself. When he flew beyond the range of the heartworld projection, he roared angrily, "All of you, come back! Come to me and stay away from the heartworld projection!"

"Understood."

"Coming."

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Five figures flew straight towards him, moving quite fast as they retreated from the depths of the mountain.

The silver-haired man looked at the five Daolords in front of him, sighing secretly to himself. These five were the only Daolords left of the many who had entered the ancestral grounds… and that was counting all three clans! Even if they factored in the ones standing guard over their clans, each clan now had just two or three Daolords left.

"What happened, clan leader?"

"What's going on with that heartworld projection?" They couldn't help but query him.

"It's Daolord Darknorth. He's already wiped out all of the other Daolords in the ancestral grounds." The silver-haired man's voice was cold as ice. "Enough, there's no time for questions. The other two clan leaders and I will join forces to kill him inside the ancestral grounds. Since he came here, he has only himself to blame for his death."

"Understood." The other five Daolords were shocked and enraged. They all ground their teeth and nodded, filled with hatred towards Daolord Darknorth and faith in their clan leader. This was because the ancestral grounds truly were terrifyingly dangerous.

The silver-haired man waved his hand, collecting all five of them. As of right now, the three great clans had almost no Daolords left; every single one of them was a precious resource.

Ning continuously moved deeper and deeper into the mountain. Soon, the silver-haired man returned and joined forces with the other two clan leaders in attacking Ning. Alas, it was useless; they hadn't been able to do anything to Ning even when they had eight Emperor-class golems assisting them. Their chances were even slimmer now!

"They are more familiar with this place than me. I can't let them trick me." Ning was secretly on maximum alert as he slowly delved deeper into the mountain. Palaces and other buildings gradually began to appear within the mountains, a mixture of black and gold elegance. However, the buildings were all completely shattered and destroyed, with giant claw marks occasionally seen. It was as though a single sharp set of claws had been used to tear through these buildings.

"We saw these claw marks in the outer layer of the Stone Hellephant Wall as well," Ning mused. "It seems as though the same person fought his way all the way here. This should be the true core of the Stone Hellephant Wall."

Those elegant palaces had some treasures floating in the air above them. Although the treasures and the palaces had both been wrecked, they still emanated auras of incredible power.

The three clan leaders had originally been launching attacks nonstop against Ning. They gradually began to slow their attacks, but they continued to circle around him with smirks on their faces as they looked at him.

"We have visited the ancestral grounds countless times over the course of countless generations. This Daolord Darknorth truly is courting death, for him to dare barge into this place."

"We have to kill him as soon as we can. Once more time passes and he grows familiar with this place, it'll become much harder to scheme against him."

"Yes, let us kill him quickly." The three clan leaders secretly planned out their next stratagem, allowing Ning to advance as he pleased in the meantime. As for Ning, he remained vigilant; he wouldn't dare to be overconfident here in a Sithe relic site!

Boom! Boom! Ning used his nine novessence arts to attack the surrounding area with wild abandon. If there were any traps here, he wanted to use his nine novessence arts to activate them at a distance!

Boom! Whoosh! Some barriers did indeed flare with power, but Ning's nine novessence arts had activated them from ten million kilometers away and so they didn't harm Ning in the slightest.

"Daolord Darknorth is being quite careful. By relying on his secret arts, he's able to avoid many dangerous places." The three clan leaders were so angry their teeth hurt.

"It's fine. Once he goes deeper inside, his heartworld projection and his secret arts will be useless," the skinny silver man said through clenched teeth.

"What's this?" Ning suddenly saw a corpse that had been split in half. The corpse was so large, it was like a pair of mountains lay there amidst the palatial rubble.

He saw a pitch-black humanoid figure whose midsection had been sliced in half. Judging from how the wound had been torn open, the person had clearly been torn in half by a pair of sharp claws. Ning could even see the many countless stone passageways located deep within the body itself. He could immediately recognize that this bisected onyx humanoid was the same as the onyx humanoid he had seen in the Terror Starsea, the one which had caused the deaths of two Hegemons of the Endless Territories in the Dawn War. Their auras were absolutely identical and gave Ning the same sense of pressure and might.

"He was a-actually torn in half?" Ning was stunned. "This creature was capable of bringing down Hegemons with it! Even the Ancient Hegemon was only able to just barely pierce a hole through that onyx humanoid's chest… but this one was actually torn in half?"

Ning clearly remembered just how terrifyingly powerful the first one had been. The golden sand from the planet within its body had been enough to cause his Northbow swords to evolve and transform!

Whoosh. Ning reached out to grab at the upper half of the black humanoid's corpse.

"Hmph." The three clan leaders circling around him didn't move to stop him. They just watched with cold smiles.

Ning felt like he was an ordinary mortal seeking to move a mountain; there was no way for him to budge the corpse in the slightest.

"This thing is dead; perhaps its core regions are damaged as well. Last time I encountered one of these things, my Northbow swords were able to drink from the golden sand to evolve. This corpse might have a similar effect on my swords." This was the thought that flashed through Ning's mind… but a heartbeat later, he understood that with the three clan leaders present, there was simply no way he'd be able to slowly upgrade his Northbow swords and let them feed.

"When I have a better opportunity, I should come back and explore the insides of this corpse." Ning continued his advance, leaving it behind.

The vast, palatial ruins must have had many living creatures within it in the past, but all of that was gone now. Ning wasn't sure as to how many corpses had been destroyed and how many had been carted off by the three great clans. Perhaps the only immovable one was this onyx humanoid corpse.

After spending half a day, Ning finally reached the core regions of this enormous palace complex.

Rumble… a surge of unkwown power was flowing through this place. It completely blocked off Ning's secret arts and heartworld projection, making it impossible for them to spread out.

"Eh?" Ning could vaguely see a few golems flickering around in front of him. Clearly, they had retreated into this place.

"The Emperor-class golems are all here?" Ning stared at the unknown power flowing through this area. He could sense, however, that the power was quite weak. He stared off into the distance, where a series of enormous pillars could be seen generating waves of power that fed this unknown energy. Many of the pillars had toppled or been destroyed, and many more were damaged as well. Only a tiny fraction were undamaged.

"They are of no threat to me. They shouldn't be able to harm me." After testing things out, Ning stepped straight into the region.

The three clan leaders exchanged a glance, then followed Ning in. They didn't even attack Ning, just followed him from behind. As for Ning, he ignored them. There was no point in fighting them, as he was always on the defensive.

"This Daolord Darknorth is quite a cautious man."

"All the caution in the world won't do a damn thing for him."

"He'll be dying soon enough." The three clan leaders continued to plot against Ning.

As for Ning himself, he carefully inspected the surrounding area. From the looks of it, this was once an enormous Sithe palace complex! The residences of the highest-ranking members should've been in the centermost area, and that was where the defenses should've been tightest. Only, everything along the way had been destroyed by that claw-attacking figure.

Soon, Ning reached the very center of this palace complex.

"What's that?" Ning stared off into the distance, through a number of shattered walls. He was able to see a hill-sized onyx humanoid corpse lying slumped on the ground… in fact, Ning saw a total of three of them.

"Three more onyx humanoid corpses?" Ning was awestruck. This place was definitely an extremely important place for the Sithe!

Suddenly… swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!!! Four figures suddenly flew towards him at high speed from afar. Each of the four moved faster than a hundred times the speed of light, causing Ning to turn pale! It must be remembered that the three clan leaders themselves merely moved at a hundred times the speed of light. Ning himself had yet to breach this limit! Even amongst Eternal Emperors, moving faster than a hundred times the speed of light was incredibly difficult.

However, the four figures attacking Ning had each surpassed this limit. Ning immediately sensed his subconscious screaming at him about the danger he was in. He understood that these four figures were far more powerful than the three clan leaders.

"Any outsiders who barge into Sithe lands shall be slain without exception!"

"Kill!"

"The three of you, help us stop this intruder!" The four figures called out commands as they flew towards Ning at high speeds.

"Yes, milords!" the three silver men called back. They had become members of the Sithe race after undergoing the Ritual Sacrificium and thus had been acknowledged by the Sithe; this was why they weren't attacked.

"Kill!" One of the figures was completely gray in color, and he wielded a short spear in his hands. Swirls of gray light manifested at the tip of the spear as he arched his entire body backwards, then threw it forwards furiously.

Swoosh! The short spear shot through the air, moving far faster than the four figures themselves and carrying a terrifying level of power within it as it shot straight towards Ning. Ning instantly understood that if he allowed himself to be surrounded by these foes, he would definitely die.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 24 – Invitation

"Here's our chance." The three clan leaders had been following Ji Ning this entire time, never letting him get too far away from them. Now, they all excitedly charged straight towards him.

"Slow him down."

"If we can tie him down for a short period of time, he'll be doomed." The three clan leaders were filled with confidence, because it was quite easy for them to tie down Daolord Darknorth.

Boom! The short spear had already arrived in front of Ning. Ning produced a golden gem in his hand. The golden gem had strands of golden silk within it. He instantly crushed it, causing a wave of awesome power to spread out and cover his entire body as it was surrounded by layers of silken gold light. This was one of Ning's life-preserving treasures, and it was designed to allow one's speed to skyrocket!

"Die!" The skinny silver man shot straight towards Ning with his sharp spike in hand.

Whoosh. Ning moved in a ghostly manner, instantly skyrocketing beyond a hundred times the speed of light and only leaving a golden streak of light behind him. He was simply too fast! With the treasure supporting him, he was able to move even faster than the Radiant King.

The short spear still arrived in front of Ning; it had actually been able to change direction mid-flight. Clang! Ning didn't dare to take it lightly. He used all six Northbow swords to block simultaneously, only to sense a powerful surge of might transmit to him from the strike. Ning couldn't help but stumble a few steps backwards as he hurriedly retreated, transforming into a streak of golden lightning that fled.

As for the short spear, the collision knocked it to one side. It went flying straight towards the Fumo clan leader, forcing the muscular silver man to hurriedly dodge to one side.

"Don't let him escape!"

"Slow him down."

"How can he be this fast?" Although the three clan leaders were extremely anxious, they could do nothing but watch as Ning transformed into an incomprehensibly fast speed of golden light that seemed to be even faster than the four figures chasing behind it.

Swoosh! Ning pulled farther and farther away as he flew off into the distance.

"He actually escaped." The three clan leaders exchanged glances, feeling anxious, angry, and helpless. They knew that given their own speed, they stood no chance of catching Ning at all.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. The four figures flew towards them and came to a halt, watching with ugly looks on their faces as Ning fled off into the distance.

"You three useless pieces of trash." One of the figures glanced disdainfully at the three clan leaders. "You couldn't even handle such a simple task. If you were able to slow him down for just a few seconds, we would've been able to surround and kill him for sure! Hmph. Any of the Silver Daolords of the old, true Sithe were far more powerful than you. You are the weakest Silver Daolords we brothers have ever encountered.

Not just every Sithe was permitted to become a Silver Daolord. One had to first reach the supreme Daolord level. Given Sithe training methods, they proportionally had far more supreme Daolords than the cultivators. The three clan leaders' weakness was their low level of understanding of the Dao. If they were at the supreme Daolord level, Ning would've been finished long ago.

The three clan leaders smiled ingratiatingly and didn't argue, but in their hearts they secretly grumbled. These four were nothing more than golems. By what right did they act so arrogantly?

Indeed. These four figures were all Emperor-class golems, but they were noticeably much more powerful than the others. Every single one of them was on par with a lord of the Sacred Cities! Although Ning had just barely reached that level as well, he was still lacking in many respects; if he was to actually fight against a real lord of a Sacred City, he would be completely dominated. These four golems, however, were each capable of fighting a Sacred City lord to a standstill.

"Four seniors, Daolord Darknorth has barged into our forbidden grounds and should be killed," the silver-haired man said. "We should hunt him down and kill him."

"Our responsibility is to watch over and guard this forbidden region. Since he has already escaped and left this region, we naturally will not pursue him any further. If you wish to do so, that is your business." The four figures glanced coldly at the three clan leaders, then turned and flew away. They truly did look down upon these three clan leaders. Although they were members of the Sithe thanks to having undergone the Ritual Sacrificium, they were really far too weak when compared to true Sithe experts!

"Those four idiots." The three clan leaders ground their teeth in rage.

"They are nothing more than golems. They shall forever do nothing more than obey the orders of the Sithe race. This area has clearly been completely destroyed, but they continue to guard it and regard it as a restricted area. Why bother getting angry with golems?" The three clan leaders turned and left.

The Emperor-class golems they had caught in recent years were all fairly weak ones that were comparable to supreme Daolords. They wouldn't dare to even fight against the four strongest golems, much less capture them and bind them by force.

Thanks to the speed boost provided by the treasure, Ning quickly outstripped his pursuers.

"Oh, they actually didn't chase?" After fleeing quite a distance, Ning turned to see the four figures chatting with the three clan leaders, followed by the four figures returning to the core areas.

"Judging from what I saw, those four figures should've been golems." Ning nodded. "Golems actually managed to become this powerful… the Sithe's mastery over golems far surpassed ours." Based on the golems the six powers in the Endless Territories had acquired, it seemed as though there were different levels of power amongst Emperor-class golems. The ones he had fought had all been weak, while this time he had finally stumbled across strong ones.

"I've already found four of those onyx humanoid corpses here. These things held an advantage over Hegemons in single combat!" Ning sighed with amazement. "Even Crimsonwave Temple merely had two of these Hegemon overseers protecting it, but I count four dead ones here already!"

"That means this place is probably even more important than Crimsonwave Temple!" Ning was intrigued. Given how much combat power had been focused on this place by the Sithe, it probably held treasures which were far more valuable than the treasures inside Crimsonwave Temple!

"However… this place seems to have been wrecked by that claw-attacker. He butchered countless Sithe and probably took away the most valuable treasures," Ning mused privately. "I hope he left a few things behind." He didn't even consider the possibility that the claw-attacker had died, as anyone capable of easily ripping those onyx humanoids in half had reached a level of power that was far beyond his imagination.

Hegemons definitely weren't capable of thus. Then… Otherverse Lords, perhaps? Or even… the legendary Autarchs?

Whoooosh. The three clan leaders flew towards Ning from afar. "Those three fellows have come to cause trouble again." Ning frowned, then began to dart forwards while maintaining as much distance from the three clan leaders as he could.

While flying, Ning continuously scanned through the towering palace ruins around him. He didn't dare to fly about randomly, for fear of accidentally activating some traps or mechanisms the Sithe had left behind. Thus, the three clan leaders were able to quickly catch up to him.

Ning gave them a sidelongs glance.

"Count yourself lucky for having escaped that," the muscular silver man said with a cold laugh.

"You survived once, but you won't survive every time. I urge you to leave our ancestral grounds immediately. Otherwise, you'll probably die here. The Sithe left behind many terrifying barriers and guardians. Although the vast majority were ruined and only a few survived, any of them would be enough to claim your puny life. Leave the ancestral grounds and live for a bit longer," the skinny silver man said.

Ning completely ignored them. He might not be able to beat them, but they weren't able to do anything to him either. "I just need to stay careful at all times. Can't give them any opportunities." Ning carefully scrutinized his surroundings, visualizing how the palace ruins must've looked in the past and thus predicting where certain treasures might lay.

"Judging from the layout, there should've been a secondary nexus over there." Ning continued his search, quickly discovering a bestial stone statue within a pile of rubble. This stone statue looked rather similar to a three-headed lion!

"Eh? The style of this statue seems rather different from that of the Sithe buildings." Ning was puzzled. He stared carefully and cautiously at the stone statue as he slowly moved towards it.

Whooosh. The central head of the three-headed lion statue suddenly opened its mouth. Its mouth seemed to be filled with an infinite universe in it, and an awe-inspiring amount of power suddenly swept out from the lion's mouth.

Boom! A terrifying sucking power was applied to Ning, who was shocked to find that he couldn't resist it at all. He felt like an ordinary mortal who had been trapped in an ocean whirlpool as he was drawn inexorably into the lion's mouth. Ning shrank in size as he was drawn in closer and closer before finally becoming ant-sized as he entered the lion's mouth.

"He went inside." The three clan leaders who had been following Ning were shocked, and they hurriedly went over to inspect the lion.

"Such incredible power. There has to be a major treasure inside."

"The Sithe left many hidden rooms with countless treasures. This place has to be one of them."

"Daolord Darknorth didn't seem to be attacked; it looks as though he's just flying deeper inside." They could clearly see from outside the lion's mouth how Ning was continuously flying deeper and deeper.

"We can't let Daolord Darknorth acquire those treasures. He's already incredibly powerful; if he acquires even better treasures, we're going to be doomed."

"We're the Sithe! Sithe treasures belong to us."

"Come, let us go inside." The three hesitated for a while outside before transforming into streaks of light that flew towards the lion. They did this partially because they naturally felt the need to prevent Ning from acquiring any more treasures, and partially because they didn't really worry about danger. They were Sithe! Even if they entered some incredibly important restricted areas, they would at most be unceremoniously kicked out. Over the course of all these years, not a single clan leader had perished within the ancestral grounds.

"Where am I?" Ning stared at the rainbow region around him. The aura emanating from this region was incredibly exalted, and the power flowed everywhere. Clearly, this truly was an exceptional place.

"Eh?" Ning's face suddenly tightened as he glanced backwards. "They came inside as well."

The three silver men flew over, excited looks on their faces. As soon as they sensed the aura and power held within this region, they understood that this was an extraordinary place.

"Daolord Darknorth, all thanks to you!"

"If it wasn't for you, we never would've discovered this place." The three clan leaders were quite smug.

Right at this moment, a humanoid figure suddenly coalesced in the center of this bright ranbow region. This figure was dressed in long black robes, was pale-faced, had blood-red eyes, and looked both handsome and evil. He stared at the three clan leaders, an icy look on his face as his voice boomed out, shaking the entire world: "I invited this cultivator to come in, but how dare you three Sithe barge in as well! Do you think you are worthy of entering an Autarch's territory? Die."

Boom! Suddenly, a ripple of spatial power swept across the three silver men. They instantly turned pale, but before they could so much as say a word their bodies were split in half at the waist. A heartbeat later, their eyes turned dull as they perished.

The six parts of the three silver men's corpses just hung there in midair.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 25 – Autarch Bolin

Ji Ning was rather stunned when he saw this. Those three silver men had been incredibly strong… how had they been so easily slain?

Still, when he thought of the three words 'an Autarch's territory' he began to understand. Anything that had even the most tenuous of connections to an Autarch was guaranteed to be extraordinary. Autarchs were the most supreme leaders of the entire cultivator civilization! They were even able to create those alternate universes which Eternal Emperors fought over like rabid dogs, seeking to take control over them and become Otherverse Lords!

Those otherverses were nothing more than constructs devised by the Autarchs. This was a testament to how mighty the Autarchs were.

"Senior." Ning stared at the wicked black-robed figure. He couldn't help but ask, "This place is an Autarch's territory? Are you saying that one of the legendary Autarchs set this place up?"

"Correct." The black-robed man revealed a hint of a smile as a flicker of pride appeared in his eyes. "My master was named Bolin. The countless cultivators of the Chaosverse reverentially refer to him as Autarch Bolin. Aside from the few other Autarchs who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him, there is no one in all the Chaosverse who is his equal. Young fellow, you are currently just a Daolord; you can't even imagine just how powerful an Autarch is."

Ning could since the benevolent intentions radiating from this man. In truth, when he heard the words 'I invited this cultivator to come in' Ning immediately realized that this person was a friend, not a foe. Given how he was able to annihilate the three clan leaders with ease, there was no need for him to deceive Ning.

Ning couldn't help but ask, "Senior, are Autarchs capable of reversing the flows of spacetime within a chaosworld to revive a Celestial Immortal whose truesoul was destroyed?"

"Of course! Forget about Celestial Immortals, even World-level cultivators can be rescued if the Autarch was willing." The black-robed man shook his head. "However, being 'able' to do so is one thing; being 'willing' to do so is another. Reversing spacetime to revive someone will cause the Autarch to endure a backlash from the prime essences of the entire Chaosverse. Not even an Autarch would suffer something like this lightly. You would have to pay a high price, a price which would sway even an Autarch."

Ning nodded slowly.

"Come with me," the black-robed man instructed. He glanced sideways at the corpses of the three silver men. "Right, go ahead and collect those corpses. They probably have a few treasures on them."

"Alright." Ning waved his hand, collecting all three corpses.

"Instead of being actual cultivators, they chose to undergo the Ritual Sacrificium and serve as the pawns of the Sithe." The black-robed man shook his head. "And the most unsightly Sithe pawns I've ever seen."

"The most unsightly?" Ning was surprised.

The black-robed man nodded. "True Sithe are extremely powerful! Generally speaking, the stronger a Sithe is, the more unwilling he is to undergo the Ritual Sacrificium. Although the ritual will allow them to rapidly increase in strength within a short period of time, they lose all hope of making any further breakthroughs. This is why strong Sithe disdain such an act."

"As for these three fools? They can't even compare to real Silver Daolords in power, while Silver Daolords represented the most common footsoldiers in the Sithe army. During that great war, Hegemons served as the mainstays in each army! Long ago, our five Autarchs united the forces of all cultivators in the entire Chaosverse to fight that great war. The Autarchs served as the vanguard, the edge of the blade that tore through all of the important Sithe locations," the black-robed man said. "For example, this entire thing was once a Sithe warship."

"Warship?" Ning had never imagined that the 'Stone Hellephant Wall' was actually a warship!

"Well, I suppose it would be more appropriate to describe it as a terrifying war-fortress! It was capable of easily tearing through spacetime and going from realmverse to realmverse. This warship was so powerful that it was able to slay Hegemons in the blink of an eye," the black-robed man said.

"Not even a squad of ten Hegemons working together were able to fight this thing to a standstill. Thus, when my master discovered this thing he continued to pursue it without pause. It fled at high speed, tearing through spacetime repeatedly as it tried to escape, but my master was able to enter it and then slaughter a path through it. He ruined this entire warship, slaying more than thirty thousand Sithe and destroying all of the golems. He destroyed everything, leaving nothing behind!"

Ning was breathless upon hearing this. So this was how powerful an Autarch was?! "All the golems were destroyed?" Ning was puzzled. "But I still saw plenty of Emperor-class golems outside."

"To my master, those golems posed no conceivable threat at all. He let out a casual strike, destroying all the golems and then immediately departing this place. He had to hurry off to a different battlefield and continue the war against the Sithe," the black-robed man said. "In truth, however, these Sithe golems all possessed self-repair mechanisms."

"They looked like they had been destroyed, but some were able to regenerate. As more time passed, some slowly were able to rebuild themselves. Some actually scavenged for parts from other golems that had been destroyed. Thus, a fraction of the golems are still alive, but they pose no real danger at all."

Ning was speechless. 'No real danger at all'? He had been forced to flee in pathetic fashion by those four Emperor-class golems which were comparable to the eight lords of the Sacred Cities. Still, it made sense; to Autarch Bolin, those creatures were nothing more than ants. Any Hegemon would've been able to destroy them with ease. They really didn't pose any danger to the cultivator civilization in general.

"Follow me," the black-robed man instructed as he flew forwards.

"Yes." Ning followed from behind.

By now, the three great clans were in a state of utter panic. Although they had been extremely stunned by the deaths of so many Daolords, they still felt fairly calm because they knew that the Silver Daolords were the true foundation of power for them! Every single clan leader was able to inherit the legacy of a Silver Daolord.

But now…

"How is this possible?"

"The clan leaders died?"

"How could they have died? How could the clan leaders have died?"

"Impossible. No clan leader has ever been killed since the establishment of the three great clans."

They were all completely dumbfounded. The three great clans didn't even know what they should do next, because they had never encountered a situation like this since they had been created. Clan leaders always died when their lifespans came to an end! None had ever been killed. Now that they had been killed, the 'Silver Daolord' legacy had clearly been lost as well. How would they be able to protect themselves without any Silver Daolords?

"What should we do? The entire Fumo clan only has a single Daolord left!" They were all utterly terrified.

"Go to the ancestral grounds! Go now and seize back the Silver Daolord legacy!"

"You idiot! Seize it? Seize it how?! All three clan leaders were slain; if I went, I would be instantly annihilated by Daolord Darknorth!"

"We can't afford any further losses at all."

"Everyone… the three great clans have been defeated. Defeated! The only thing we can do is protect our clan as best we can, using the Sithe disks and the many barriers left behind by our ancestors! So long as Daolord Darknorth can't breach our barriers, he won't be able to enter. All we can do is delay as long as we can. Once Daolord Darknorth lifespan comes to an end and he dies, we'll use our Emperor-class golems to rise to power once more."

"Yes, delaying is all we can do."

The three great clans simultaneously came to this same decision. Right now, they each only had one or two Daolords left. It must be remembered that only Daolords were capable of syncing with the Sithe disks that maintained the clan barriers. Once the clans lost their Daolords, they would be completely doomed!

The black-robed man flew into the sky, leading Ning behind him.

"During that great war, the Autarchs made contingency plans in the event of defeat," the black-robed man said. "If they were defeated, we would need to be able to raise a new 'crop' of experts who would continue the struggle against the Sithe. Thus, my master Autarch Bolin set up many beastworlds. He put estate-worlds in every single beast statue, and the Daos he put into them were Daos which could lead to Autarchy!"

"Lead towards Autarchy?" Ning's heart trembled.

"Don't get too excited. It only 'leads' towards Autarchy, but actually reaching the Autarch level is far too difficult." The black-robed man laughed. "Although the Sithe were extremely powerful as a group, they didn't have any individuals who could match our Autarchs in power, which was why they were defeated in the end. Autarchs are just too powerful. Just look at this warship! It was incredibly powerful, but it was viewed as nothing more but a plaything by the Autarchs."

"Generally speaking, only Eternal Emperors are qualified to enter these beastworlds. I generally have no interest in Daolords at all, and they aren't qualified to enter." The black-robed man smiled. "But just now, I noticed that you were actually able to battle those three pathetic Silver Daolords to a standstill. I was quite surprised by this. You were just a Daolord, after all, and I can tell that you aren't wielding a Universe treasure. For you to be able to unleash such might is quite rare indeed, which was why I permitted you to enter. I hope you will not disappoint me."

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 26 – Daobirth

"Here we are." The black-robed man pointed off into the distance. Ji Ning followed his gaze, only to see a Daoist altar hanging in the air with nine pillars above it.

"How odd. This region is enormous, but it is completely empty. This Daoist altar is the only thing here." Ning was rather puzzled, but he still followed the black-robed man as they flew towards the altar.

Whoosh. As soon as they landed atop the altar, Ning immediately smelled a certain fragrance pervade his nostrils. His mind grew sharper, and even his thinking speed began to quickly skyrocket. This was a marvelous effect that seemed quite similar to the Stone Censer of Reunion.

"This altar has the effect of helping you focus your mind and meditate on the Dao," the black-robed man said. "An Autarch's Dao is unfathomably profound and mysterious, after all. It would be extremely difficult for Eternal Emperors to even memorize it without help."

"Sit here in the lotus position within the center of that circle." The black-robed man pointed towards a circle that was roughly nine meters in diameter. "Sit in the lotus position there and view the surrounding area. There you shall find the Autarch's Dao."

"Yes, senior." Ning felt his heartrate speed up. There were very, very few things which could make him feel so nervous and so eager. He walked into the circle, sat down in the lotus position, then stared at his surroundings.

"Eh?" Ning turned pale. The vast region around him, which had formerly been empty and devoid of all things, suddenly began to manifest traces and vestiges of a Dao.

Boom! A fiery red bird suddenly appeared in the empty void in front of him, spreading its wings and soaring towards the skies. Its Dao was vast and awe-inspiring, burning through all things and reducing them to ash. Nothing could withstand such a thing! This was a physical manifestation of a Dao.

In the past, Ning had once seen something similar when he had seen Daolord Windsource's 'Hundred Streams of the Windsource'. Compared to this firebird manifestation of the Dao, however, it was unfathomably punier. If the visualization of the 'Hundred Streams of the Windsource' was like a stream, then the fiery bird was like an endlessly vast sea!

"What's that?" Ning turned his head slightly to glance towards a different direction. There he saw a pitch-black long saber that was extremely thin and sharp. The blade was aimed towards the heavens, and the saber was so vast that it was on par with that giant fiery bird. Its power was stately and reserved, but the edge of the blade seemed to be brimming with explosive power. This was a Saber Dao which inspired utter terror in Ning, a Dao that was just as capable of annihilating all in its path.

"The Sword Dao?" Next to the 'Saber Dao' hanging in the air, Ning also saw a similarly massive sword. This was a strange rapier-like sword that had had no blade at all, just an incredibly sharp tip. This rapier was massive and also pointed straight towards the heavens. This was a Sword Dao that focused on one aspect of the sword to the extreme. Given Ning's mastery of the Dao of the Sword, he was immediately able to recognize that this 'Rapier Dao' was a path that represented the fusion of his Blood Drop stance and his Soleheart stance, and in both the wielder had completely eclipsed Ning's current level of mastery. It represented an absolutely incomparable level of might.

A giant flaming bird, a long black saber, a rapier, a black mist, a feather, a blood-colored stream, a golden sun, a vast gray sky, a dazzling rainbow… these were the nine manifestations of the Daos that appeared in the vast void. All of these Daos were on par with each other.

"This is…" Ning raised his head to stare towards the skies above him.

In the heavens above him, he saw an incomparably massive hand. The fingers on this hand were extremely slender, while the fingernails were extremely sharp. The hand was formed into a claw-stance! This great claw was filled with an incomparably exalted and absolutely tyrannical aura that filled the heavens themselves. Ning could feel his very truesoul shuddering when he simply looked at the thing. Compared to that single massive hand, the other nine Daos were unfathomably weaker.

If those nine great Daos were like vast oceans, then that great hand was like the countless stars of the cosmos themselves. It truly was incomprehensibly more powerful.

"Do you understand now?" The black-robed man spoke out when he saw Ning raise his head upwards.

"I do not." Ning suppressed the excitement he felt and halted his viewings. These Dao manifestations were of tremendous benefit to him. "However, this junior can tell that Autarch Bolin's claw-arts were so powerful as to be completely unfathomable."

"Ehehe." The black-robed man laughed, "Long ago, my master Autarch Bolin relied on his claw-arts to become a Hegemon! However, he remained trapped at the Hegemon level for many years, unable to make a breakthrough, and so he began to meditate on other Daos as well. The Dao of Space, the Dao of Time, the Dao of the Sword, the Dao of the Saber, the Dao of Darkness… he mastered nine Daos in total on his own, reaching the Hegemon level in all of them."

Ning was awestruck upon hearing this. To be able to reach the Hegemon level in a single Dao was already terrifyingly impressive. Autarch Bolin had done that for nine other Daos as well?!

"All Daos are linked; the more Daos he mastered, the deeper Master's insights into the Dao of the Claw grew. Finally, all of those insights burst forth like water crashing through a shattered dam, and my master reached the Daobirth level, the level where 'one Dao births many Daos'. He became an Autarch," the black-robed man explained.

"One Dao births many Daos?" Ning was puzzled.

"Eternal Emperors must gain eternal Daos for themselves. As for Autarchs, they must reach the level where 'one Dao births many Daos', what we call the 'Daobirth' level," the black-robed man explained. "At the apex, all Daos are linked together, which is why once you reach the Autarch level you will naturally gain insight into many Daos you had never even trained in before."

"My master, for example, managed to reach the 'Daobirth' level through his Dao of the Claw. He established an alternate universe with the Dao of the Claw as its original prime essence, which then unfolded through the form of countless other Daos," the black-robed man explained.

Ning now understood. How incredible. Did this mean that once he reached the apex of his Omega Sword Dao, it would be able to give birth to many other Daos, such as the Daos of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, spacetime, darkness, and light? The mere thought of it stunned him. How strong would his Omega Sword Dao have to become, for it to naturally give birth to countless other Daos?

"To go from the Hegemon level to the Autarch level is far, far too difficult," the black-robed figure said. "Enough. I've already told you everything you need to know. Calm your mind and go back to your viewings. Memorize all of this as quickly as you can. That way, even after you leave this place you can still meditate on what you have seen."

"Alright." Ning nodded. He did indeed have to memorize all of this, but doing so would be extremely difficult. The Dao of an Autarch was truly inconceivable; just memorizing its appearance was as difficult as asking an ordinary mortal to memorize a language with hundreds of millions of characters. Still, Ning understood that he had to memorize it despite its difficulty, because he couldn't stay here for the rest of his life. Only by memorizing it would he be able to train in it whenever he wished.

"Senior," Ning couldn't help but add, "This junior does have a request."

"A request?" The black-robed man was puzzled. "Go ahead."

"This junior has an extremely good friend who is also a supreme Daolord. Can he come out and view this Dao and be guided by it as well?" Ning asked.

This Dao might not be of tremendous use to him in meditating on the Dao, but there was another aspect to it. The path of a cultivation was an extremely long one, and there were many hidden pitfalls and problems which cultivators could fall into. This Dao would serve as a lamp post which would illuminate the path to Autarchy, resolving the questions cultivators would have. Ning and Ninedust were lifelong friends; he naturally wanted to help Ninedust out.

"A supreme Daolord?" The black-robed man chuckled. "Listen, kid… I already told you that I really don't have any interest in Daolords at all. I'm generally only interested in particularly powerful Eternal Emperors! You, however, are far stronger than other supreme Daolords despite not even having a Universe treasure. This is why I've given you a special chance. As for 'ordinary' supreme Daolords, they can forget about it."

"Forget about it?" Ning was rather anxious but he didn't know what to say to persuade the man.

"It's not that I'm stingy." The black-robed man shook his head. "The greatest barrier any and all cultivators shall face is the Daomerge!"

"To advance from Hegemony to Autarchy is perhaps just as difficult as the Daomerge, but at least there isn't a danger of dying," the black-robed man said. "But the Daomerge is not only difficult, it is also fatal when failed. If you fail, you are destined to die and your Dao shall vanish."

"Thus… the cultivator civilization as a whole doesn't care that much about Daolords. New crops of Daolords arise in every generation, with the previous crop of Daolords having perished. Far, far too few supreme Daolords are able to skyrocket to the Hegemon level of power," the black-robed man said. "Thus, it really isn't worth us wasting too much time or energy on supreme Daolords."

Ning was speechless. He had to admit that the man made sense. To this very day, the Endless Territories only had three Hegemons! One could already imagine how this current crop of supreme Daolords, including Winesage, Dawnstar, the Radiant King, and even Ning himself would eventually perish. For even one Hegemon to emerge from their ranks would be a stroke of incredible luck. The most likely outcome was that all of them would fail and all of them would die."

"You, however, are a bit special. If you really do succeed in the Daomerge, you will definitely be more powerful than most Hegemons," the black-robed man said. "That's the only reason why I'm giving you a chance. There's no need for me to waste my time on other 'supreme' Daolords."

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 27 – 120 Million Years

"All things and all beings are given a chance," Ji Ning couldn't help but rebut.

The black-robed man paused slightly. These words had indeed moved him, as they were a bedrock of faith which all cultivators believed in. There were no absolutes in the world; there was always a chance, no matter how slim.

"Hah! What you say makes sense." Intrigued, the black-robed man turned to grin at Ning. "Then I'll give that friend of yours a chance."

"Truly?" Ning was delighted.

"All he has to do is capture an Emperor-class golem without relying on any outside sources of help or a Universe treasure If he can do that, I'll let him meditate here," the black-robed man said.

Ning was stunned upon hearing this. Capture an Emperor-class golem? All of the golems within these Sithe ruins were at least at the supreme Daolord level. It would be incredibly hard for the Ninedust Sectlord to capture one of them.

"There lies his chance and his opportunity," the black-robed man said. "I've given him the chance. If he can seize it, I'll give him the opportunity to train here. If he cannot… then there's nothing for it. I really have no interest in ordinary, unremarkable Daolords at all."

"Understood. Thank you, senior." Ning didn't dare to press his luck. He immediately said, "My friend is within my personal estate-treasure. Should I…?"

"I'll send you out. Make some arrangements for your friend, them re-enter," the black-robed man said.

"Acknowledged," Ning assented.

The black-robed man waved his sleeves. Whoosh. Ning immediately was sent flying backwards as space twisted around him.

The ant-sized Ning came flying out from the mouth of that stone lion statue, regaining his normal size once he exited. The lion's mouth, however, remained open. He would be able to re-enter whenever he chosen.

Whoosh. Ning waved his hand, allowing Ninedust to come out.

"How did it go, Darknorth?" Ninedust immediately queried Ning upon exiting, scanning the surrounding area as he did so. He was instantly stunned by what he saw. "What is this place? What's with the rubble? Wait, I see a few statues over there; they seem absolutely incredible! Is this the secret place you were talking about? Why isn't there anyone around here? Where are the three clan leaders?"

"Calm down and relax," Ning said. "One question at a time. Listen to me explain." Ning started to narrate the situation from the beginning, even telling Ninedust everything about the Autarch's territory.

"The senior has said that if you can capture an Emperor-class golem by yourself without needing to resort to a Universe treasure or outside sources of power, he'll let you train as well." Ning said helplessly, "That's the only way he'll let you in."

"Autarch? One Dao births many Daos? Just thinking about it is inconceivable." Ninedust said excitedly, "Haha, I was wondering who would be incredible enough to cause this sort of damage. So it was an Autarch who ruined this place! Thank you so much, Darknorth; helping me get this slim chance was already a blessing. I'll do my absolute best. Given my current level of power, I should still have a chance to capture one of those Emperor-class golems."

"Right." Ning nodded. Still, he knew that Ninedust was significantly weaker than any of the three clan leaders had been! The three clan leaders were generally able to capture Emperor-class golems in solo fights. Still, Ninedust did have advantages of his own. His Dao was far more profound than theirs had been; their attacks were extremely clumsy and straightforward. Ning was merely on par with the three clan leaders, but he had been able to easily capture three Emperor-class golems when surrounded by six. This was precisely because Ning vastly outstripped those golems in both power and insight into the Dao.

"Go ahead. Don't worry about me. Haha, now that the three clan leaders have died, there's no one capable of threatening me," Ninedust said.

"Remember, don't get too close to the core regions," Ning said.

"Don't worry. You have escape-type treasures, so do I." Ninedust smirked. "And I won't go too far; I only need to find one of the ordinary Emperor-class golems, after all."

"Alright. You have to be careful." After speaking, Ning walked towards the mouth of that stone lion. As he did, his body shrank in size before being drawn into the lion's mouth.

"Alright, kid. Your friend won you a chance to earn yourself a shot at entering this place. The rest is up to you. Let's see if you are able to capture an Emperor-class golem. The most talented of supreme Daolords are generally capable of this." A rumbling voice rang out from the lion's mouth. Moments later, the lion's mouth shut.

Ninedust immediately said respectfully, "Yes, senior." His eyes gleamed with light. He knew that this person's words were correct; extremely talented first-tier Daolords all were capable of succeeding in this task.

The Radiant King, for example, would be able to rely on his overwhelming superiority in speed to capture an Emperor-class golem, while Palace Lord Dawnstar would be able to use his raw power. "I'll be able to do it as well." Ninedust immediately began to search for those Emperor-class golems who were in hiding.

Ninedust remained outside, beginning his hunt for an Emperor-class golem. As for Ning, after entering the beastworld he began to once more view the Autarch's Daos. Ning only had a shot at memorizing these Daos because of the incredible effects of the altar, and so he had to remain inside of it. If he was anywhere else, these Daos would completely eclipse the bounds of Ning's memorization abilities. Thus, Ning didn't use any temporal acceleration treasure; if he entered his cottage, he would be unable to make full use of the effects of the altar.

"How absolutely incredible. Nine incredible Daos and that awesome Dao of the Claw. As a Hegemon, Autarch Bolin was able to master a total of ten Daos to the Hegemon level. No wonder he was able to become an Autarch in the end." The more Ning learned and memorized, the more awe he felt.

The 'impressions' of the ten Daos began to grow clearer and clearer within his memories. What he needed to do was to perfectly engrave all of them into his mind.

Time flowed on. During the very first year, Ning was able to fully memorize the Dao of the Sword. In fact, because the Sword Dao which Autarch Bolin had devised felt similar to a fusion of the Blood Drop stance and the Soleheart stance, the memorization process caused Ning to accidentally break through to the fourth stage with his Blood Drop stance!

This was primarily because his Blood Drop stance had already made incredible gains in Crimsonwave Temple, more gains than any of the rest of the five stances of his Omega Sword Dao. In this place, the influence of the Autarch's Daos and Sword Dao resulted in Ning shooting to the fourth stage almost immediately.

After another thirty years, Ning finished memorizing the other eight Daos as well. With that, all nine of the Hegemon-level Daos had been memorized.

Ning raised his head to look upwards, finally beginning to stare at the vast claw-stanced hand which hung in the heavens above him. This hand seemed to blot out the skies themselves and were as vast and endless as the cosmos. It was supremely exalted, a Dao which birthed many other Daos. Just staring at the palm and the Dao of the Claw, Ning was able to vaguely make out a quietly gurgling stream of water, a roaring blaze of fire, saber-light and sword-shadows, as well as the threads of karma…

Daobirth.

The core of it remained the Dao of the Claw… but actually memorizing it was incredibly difficult for Ning.

When meditating on the Dao, one would not notice the passage of time. Ning was completely absorbed in silently meditating on the enormous claw-hand which hung in the skies above him. He continuously memorized everything he saw, not stopping for a single instant as he borrowed from the power of the altar. Not just him; even his Primaltwin and his avatar were completely focused on the memorization process. The Primaltwin used the Stone Censer of Reunion and thus was able to memorize at 30% the speed of his true body.

Clearly, this altar was purpose-designed and thus was incredibly effective in helping one memorize things.

The white-robed youth sat there within the levitating altar, those nine stone pillars slowly revolving around him. The passage of years hadn't left the slightest of marks behind on him.

"I've finished memorizing it." Ning opened his eyes. Within his mind appeared perfectly clear images of the nine Hegemon-level Daos and the awesome Autarch-level Dao of the Claw. Their forms had been fully engraved into his mind… but of course, this was just their form alone. Thus, they could only serve as guideposts!

In truth, this was already enough. Ning knew that every cultivator had a different path to follow; to have guideposts was sufficient. If he tried to force himself to master the Autarch's Dao, it would probably actually hinder his own path.

Ning rose to his feet.

"Hahaha… just 120 million years. Your comprehension abilities aren't bad. You managed to memorize it quite quickly." The black-robed man suddenly appeared next to Ning.

"Ninedust…?" Ning glanced around, only to find that he was still alone.

"Your friend? He's still outside battling against those Emperor-class golems. He looks as though he's improved quite a bit; a few more breakthroughs and he might actually be able to capture one of them." The black-robed man smiled. "Darknorth, per my master's instructions, every single person who came in here to meditate will be given a treasure based on how well they performed."

"Bestowed a treasure?" Ning's eyes lit up.

"My master, Autarch Bolin, did this because he was worried about being defeated. As a result, he spared no expense in arranging for later generations of cultivators to rise to power," the black-robed man said. "Go ahead into the outside world and battle against those golems the Sithe left behind. Let me see how strong you have grown. The better your performance is, the better a treasure I will give you."

Ning began to feel rather excited.

"Go. Show me just how powerful a 'mere' Daolord can become," the black-robed man said quite eagerly. After a person forcibly memorized the physical manifestation of an Autarch's Dao, he would be able to rapidly make actual use of those insights in combat. After 120 million years of memorization, it was time for an explosive period of growth in power.

Still… as the black-robed man saw it, given how strong Daolord Darknorth was, the man was most likely extremely close to his lifespan limit. He probably wouldn't have grown all that much.

"I'll definitely do my absolute best," Ning said.

Whoosh. The black-robed man waved his arm, causing a spatial ripple to surround Ning and deliver him out of this beastworld and into the Sithe ruins outside.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 28 – The Emperor Golems

The palace ruins stretched far off into the horizon. There seemed to be no end to them.

"More than thirty thousand true Sithe once lived here." Ji Ning stared at the ruins, rather moved. "I really wonder how different the Sithe civilization was from our cultivator civilization."

"Darknorth." A delight cry rang out from far away as a streak of light quickly shot towards Ning and descended. It was Ninedust.

"You finally came out. I've been fighting like an idiot for millions of years, all by myself," Ninedust said with an overjoyed look on his face.

"You really disappoint me. All this time, and you haven't caught a single Emperor-class golem?" Ning said.

"Hey, don't blame me for that. I managed to make some improvements after inspecting those claw-marks left behind in the palace ruins, but…" Ninedust said anxiously, "But there are more than a hundred of those Emperor-class golems, and they all hide behind the remaining barriers set up by the Sithe. There's no way for me to force them out at all. My only choice is to wait for a chance. One time, I damn near caught one of those things, but the other golems jumped into help the first one out."

Ning now understood. The golems weren't so foolish as to fight in solo combat! When the situation turned grim for one of them, the others would step in to help out! This was why the three great clans had labored for so long to capture Emperor-class golems, and yet only had a few in each clan.

"I have an idea." Ning mentally transmitted his suggestion to Ninedust.

Ninedust's eyes lit up when he heard this. "Haha…"

"That's the only real thing I can do. If you STILL cannot capture an Emperor-class golem, there's nothing else I can do," Ning sent mentally.

"Don't worry." Ninedust suddenly thought of something. He said hurriedly, "Oh, right. I almost forgot! I've been battling in these ruins for countless years and have discovered quite a few dangerous regions within it. Fortunately, I have an invulnerable aquaform; otherwise, I would've died long ago. Here's a map of all the danger zones I've discovered thus far. I prepared it for you long ago; I was just waiting for you to come out." As Ninedust spoke, he tossed a rolled map to Ning.

Ning accepted it and gave it a glance. There was a detailed map of the palace ruins here, with markings for the various danger zones. Ning revealed a delighted smile. Without this map, he would have to carefully explore for a very long period of time if he wanted to get a sense of what dangers lay here.

"Come, let's go catch us some golems," Ning said.

"Let's go." Ninedust was filled with eagerness as well.

After a full month, Ninedust found another chance to engage an Emperor-class golem in a battle.

Whoosh. A vast wave swept out to encompass an area of over a million kilometers. The Ninedust Sectlord's upper body was visible and utterly massive. He wielded that longstaff in his hands, smashing it outwards like a stream of water that completely embodied the essence of the word 'entangle'.

No matter how the golem struggled, Ninedust's longstaff continued to circle around it, preventing it from fleeing no matter how it tried.

"In the past, Ninestaff's staff-arts were more explosive and dominating; now, they are much softer." Ning was hiding off in the distance using his Shadowless evasion-art, and he nodded at what he saw. If one was capable of both hard and soft techniques, one would be able to unleash still-greater power in combat.

"Although he's not able to completely defeat that golem, he can at least ensure the golem won't be able to flee. After enough time passes, the golem's energy reserves will run low. That's when it will be defeated." Ning could already guess what was about to happen.

A short while later… "Help!" The Emperor-class golem finally let out a furious call for aid.

Swoosh. Swoosh. The battle had long ago attracted the attention of quite a few golems. Upon hearing their comrade plea for aid, two Emperor-class golems immediately charged over towards Ninedust.

Ning cracked a smile. "Here they come." Ning transformed into a streak of light, clearly moving faster than a hundred times the speed of light as he flew towards the two golems. Prior to receiving the guidance of the Autarch's Dao, Ning had already been at the limit of a hundred times of speed of light. Ever since his Blood Drop stance broke through to the fourth level, the power of his Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop had doubled. This upgrading of his Dao resulted in Ning understanding many new things, and so his flying speed was also able to break past the bottleneck of a hundred times the speed of light.

"Who is that?"

"Where did he suddenly come from?" The two Emperor-class golem reinforcements were shocked. Ning had been maintaining the Shadowless evasion art the entire time and thus they hadn't noticed him.

"Fight!" "Attack!"

"Friends, come and help out." Although the two Emperor-class golems were shocked at first, they quickly calmed down. It was hard for even the three clan leaders to catch them when all three were working together; what did they have to fear? Instantly, all of the other watching golems charged towards them as well.

Whoosh. Ning had already reached the two Emperor-class golems, [Three Heads, Six Arms] active and six Northbow swords at the ready.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Streaks of mist-formed sword energy struck out with terrifying speed. Now that the Blood Drop stance's power had doubled yet again, the attack was even faster than it had been before! The two Emperor-class golems frantically tried to defend, but they weren't even able to touch Ning's sword before it gently coiled around them and bound them in multiple layers.

"In you go, and you too." These two Emperor-class golems didn't have invulnerable aquaforms, and so they were easily taken away forcibly by Ning.

"What?!" "How is this possible?!" The other five Emperor-class golems who had been charging over to reinforce their comrades were all terrified, as was the golem which was battling against Ninedust.

This newcomer had instantly captured two Emperor-class golems? How could he be so terrifyingly strong?

What they didn't understand was that although the three clan leaders were extremely powerful, their attacks were clumsy and limited in speed to a hundred times the speed of light. Blocking their attacks was naturally quite easy! Ning, however, was different; his sword-arts were so incredibly fast that he far outstripped the Emperor-class golems in speed. Given how unpredictable his attacks were, he naturally was able to defeat and capture the golems in just a single clash.

Forget about two; even if five or six golems were attacking him, he would be able to easily defeat and capture at least half of them in a twinkling, then in the next twinkling catch the rest. This was what made Ning so dangerous!

Swoosh. After putting away the two golems, Ning turned to charge straight towards the reinforcement golems.

"Not good!"

"Hide."

"Don't fight him head-on!" The golems were all terrified. These golems were all roughly on the same level of power; if two of them had been captured in just a single clash, how could the others possibly dare to engage? They naturally were terrified into a hasty retreat.

"This Daolord is too powerful. He's absolutely terrifying! Even worse than the three clan leaders."

"What should we do?"

"Even if there were ten of us working together, we still wouldn't be a match for him. He'd just capture us all, one after the other! I think we need at least thirty working together if we want to kill him."

The golems quickly retreated behind some of the few remaining barriers. Neither Ning nor Ninedust dared to touch them, but since the golems belonged to the Sithe side they wouldn't be attacked.

"Everyone, we have to hurry up and join forces against him," the golems discussed internally.

The main problem was that the palace ruins were simply far, far too vast. The golems were all scattered across it by a distance of tens or even hundreds of millions of kilometers. To gather them all together would take time. If they tried to hastily gather together in smaller numbers, the end result would just be that Ning would defeat them one-by-one.

And so… the sixteen Emperor-class golems that were close to Ninedust's battlefield were all so terrified that they didn't dare to come and reinforce their 'comrade'. After spending the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, Ninedust finally managed to deplete the Emperor-class golem's energy reserves and caught it.

Actually, this was the exact same method the three great clans had used to capture those Emperor-class golems with invulnerable forms. This was why they had quite a few of them. All combat consumed energy, and golems didn't have spirit-pills. Their regenerative speed was also far lower than that of cultivators! A short battle was fine, but a long battle they couldn't escape from would result in capture once their energy stores were depleted.

"I finally caught one!" Ninedust was ecstatic.

"Congratulations." Ning flew over.

"I only managed to catch one because you blocked the others. Does this even count?" Ninedust was still a bit worried.

Ning said with a laugh, "That senior only said that you aren't allowed to use Universe treasures or outside sources of help; you had to capture an Emperor-class golem on your own. And… that's exactly what you did! Me fighting a few others is a separate issue entirely. It should be fine. Let's go and ask."

"Alright." Ninedust rather nervously flew towards the lion statue. Thankfully, the treasure-spirit within that beastworld didn't stop him. Instead, it granted Ninedust entry.

"Haha…" Ning started to laugh. "With this bit of luck under his belt, brother Ninedust's chances at the Daomerge shall be a bit better now."

The Daomerge was far too difficult. If one wished to succeed in it, one needed to fight for every scrap of karmic fortune available. Ning wasn't confident in his own Daomerge chances, but he wished for his best friends to succeed in theirs.

"Emperor-class golems, eh? C'mere." Eager to do battle, Ning once more charged towards the golems. Wanting to capture them was part of his eagerness, but he also had the feeling that he was gaining new insights into the five stances of his Omega Sword Dao through combat. His Soleheart stance in particular felt as though it was just one step away from the fourth stage. Clearly, the 120 million years he had spent memorizing the Autarch's Dao had given Ning a wealth of experience to draw upon.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 29 – The Plan

Within the beastworld. Ninedust was seated in the lotus position within the altar, staring at the giant claw-hand hanging in the heavens that surpassed and transcended everything else that was here.

"Whew." Ninedust let out a long breath, then closed his eyes and revealed a smile. "Success. Finally, I see a glimmer of hope for myself regarding the Daomerge."

When Ninedust had used up the Voidsea Jadeseal, he had been able to simulate a Daomerge. Although the simulation was partial and incomplete, he had still benefited from it enormously… but alas, he still didn't feel good about his chances at the Daomerge. Now, however, he felt as though he had a shot.

"Autarchs… they truly are incredible." Ninedust couldn't help but let out a sigh of praise as he rose to his feet.

"Eh? You've memorized everything already? It's only been five hundred million years. Not bad at all." The black-robed figure materialized right next to him.

"Yes." Ninedust smiled. "Not too shabby, but I wasn't as fast as Darknorth." He was an Ancient cultivator; when he was a Daolord of the First Step, his divine body and soul were already comparable to those of most Daolords of the Third Step. Now that he had reached the fourth step, his body and soul were unimaginably powerful. This was why he had managed to memorize it all in just five hundred million years.

"Ah, right. Master once instructed that every single cultivator who was able to memorize these Daos would be given a treasure based on their performance; the better they perform, the better a treasure they receive. Darknorth, for example, has improved significantly! Once he comes back here, I'll definitely give him a superb treasure. Ninedust, go out and pick a few fights. Show me how much you've improved."

"Treasure?" Ninedust grew excited.

"Yes, treasures the Autarch gave me to hand out." The black-robed man had an enigmatic smile on his face. "An Autarch's treasures are naturally extraordinary."

"Alright, then let me leave right away." Ninedust was eager to do battle. The black-robed man waved his hand, causing a spatial bubble to encompass Ninedust and teleport him outside the beastworld.

As soon as Ninedust emerged, he saw the white-robed youth seated in the lotus position next to a shattered wall that was within the ruined palaces.

"Darknorth!" Ninedust called out.

The distant Ji Ning opened his eyes and smiled. "You finally came out. I've been waiting forever for you."

"You call that 'forever'? Verge-level Daolords have all spent tens of thousands of chaos cycles training before they go attempt their Daomerge. In comparison, the amount of time I just spent was absolutely nothing." Ninedust transformed into a streak of light that flew over towards Ning, landing right before the shattered wall. He asked, "You must've improved quite a bit in recent years, eh?"

"Not bad." Ning grinned. His improvements weren't exactly minor, but neither were they extravagant. More than five hundred million years had just gone past! During this period of time, Ning had slowly absorbed the insights he had gained from memorizing the teachings of the Autarch. He had broken through to the fourth stage with the Blood Drop stance early on, but now he had done the same with the Soleheart, Yin-Yang, and Shadowless stances. However, the Heavenbreaker stance had yet to make the breakthrough.

Going from being a Daolord of the Third Step to being a Daolord of the Fourth Step was incredibly difficult to begin with. Ninedust and Badlands had both spent many chaos cycles doing just that, with Ninedust only succeeding thanks to the legacy he had gained from that ancestral Hegemon of the Ancient cultivators. As for Badlands, he still had yet to reach the fourth step. As for Ning? His path was that of the Omega Sword Dao; it wa far more difficult than Ninedust's.

To be able to make so many breakthroughs in just a few hundred million years was already terrifyingly fast, much faster than Ning had originally anticipated. It was all thanks to the Stone Censer of Reunion as well as the Autarch's guidance.

"Based on this level of speed… if I'm lucky, I might be able to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step after a chaos cycle." Ning felt quite eager. "If I'm not lucky, though, I could well be bottlenecked for a ten or a hundred chaos cycles."

Once heh did take that final step and became a Daolord of the Fourth Step, the last great barrier awaiting Ning would be the Daomerge. That would be the true test, the deadly trial which he felt he had less than a 0.01% chance of passing.

"Darknorth," Ninedust said excitedly, "That senior said that he would give each of us a treasure based on how well we perform. He also said that you've improved quite a bit. You'll definitely get one extraordinary treasure!"

"He praised my improvements as being significant?" Ning revealed an excited look.

"Yes, that's exactly what he said." Ninedust nodded.

Ning grew excited. He himself didn't know if his improvements counted as 'major' or 'minor' in the eyes of the treasure-spirit! Prior to memorizing the Autarch's guidance, he had yet to break through in any of the five stances of his Omega Sword Dao. Now, however, he had reached the fourth stage in four of those five stances. Was this 'major'? He wasn't sure, but upon hearing Ninedust's words Ning felt greatly relieved. He now eagerly awaited what would be coming next.

In truth, the spirit of the beastworld had believed that Ning had long ago reached the apex of power as a Daolord and that Ning thus had very little room for improvement. Given how much stronger Ning had become, of course he viewed Ning's improvements as being incredible!

"Haha, good! Ninedust, you need to make your breakthroughs as soon as possible as well," Ning said hurriedly. "The Autarch's guidance truly is of incredible help in cultivation."

"Yes, after seeing the Autarch's Dao, I finally understood what petty, irrelevant figures we are," Ninedust said. "I've already gained many new insights, and I trust I should be able to make a breakthrough soon. Haha, I've fully memorized the Autarch's Dao-guidance! If I still can't beat the likes of Dawnstar, the Radiant King, or Dreamlore, even I would feel ashamed of myself."

"Haha, that's the spirit!" Ning laughed as well.

"My improvements are nothing. I imagine even Eternal Emperors and Hegemons would love to have a chance to gaze into the Dao-teachings of an Autarch." Ninedust shook his head. "Alas, blessings like this can only be hoped for, not counted on. I've always felt that I'm incredibly talented… if even this blessing isn't enough to propel me past the Radiant King and the others, I would view myself as nothing more than a joke."

"Hurry up and train," Ning urged. "Improve as much as you can. After we pick up our treasures, we're going to leave this world and return to the Endless Territories."

"Alright." Ninedust nodded. "I'm gonna go find those Emperor-class golems and fight them again."

"You should probably stay away from me. Otherwise, those golems will refuse to engage with you," Ning said with a laugh.

"What? Why?" Ninedust was surprised. "Did you beat them up that badly?"

"Kind of," Ning said.

"Darknorth… how many golems have you caught, exactly?" Ninedust asked rather excitedly. Emperor-class golems were definitely quite valuable; only the Sithe had them in fairly large numbers.

Ning shook his head. "I caught a few early on, but all of them are quite clever; once they saw they couldn't beat me, they refused to battle me any further."

"So how many have you captured, exactly?" Ninedust asked again.

"When you first entered the beastworld, the Emperor-class golems began to assemble. A total of thirty-two of them joined forces against me." Ning shook his head. "They really were quite cautious. Even I was put in rather dire straits by their combined powers! However, I intentionally held back some of my power, using them to temper my sword-arts. After I managed to make a new breakthrough, I suddenly struck out with full power and caught them offguard, capturing eight of them in a row. The others were frightened off at that point… and ever since then, they haven't dared to approach me."

"Eight?! If we factor in the two you caught when helping me out, then add in the two you took when we captured three from the three great clans… that means you have a total of twelve Emperor-class golems?!" Ninedust had a state of disbelief on his face. "I only have two!"

"Getting envious?" Ning smirked.

"No wonder they don't dare to approach you any further." Ninedust shook his head. "Fine, I'll go hunt them down and fight with them. When I feel I've improved as much as I can, I'll come find you."

"Alright." Ning nodded. Swoosh! Ninedust quickly soared into the distance, flying hundreds of kilometers away into an ruin-filled region. The golems knew exactly how strong Ninedust was; as a result, they feared Ning but not Ninedust! Three of the Emperor-class golems immediately appeared and surrounded the Ninedust Sectlord.

Ning watched this all happen from before. A few seconds later, he leapt forwards and transformed into a streak of light that shot towards the core Sithe residential zone.

"This is the place." Ning immediately came to a halt when he reached the borders of the core region.

"You again?"

"You actually dare to invate the Sithe grounds yet again?" Four figures appeared in the distance, roaring furiously at Ning as they transformed into streaks of light and moved towards him faster than a hundred times the limits of the Heavenly Daos.

Ning just stood three, watching from afar. Ever since the weaker Emperor-class golems had refused to battle against him, Ning began to harbor designs upon these four stronger golems, each of which was on par with the eight lords of the Sacred Cities. Over the course of five hundred million years, Ning had already battled against them countless times.

Each time he would go to the very margins of the core residences. Once the battle started to go against him, he would quickly retreat. So long as he left the core residential region, these four golems would cease their pursuit. They were golems, after all; now that their original masters were died, they would forever carry out the final tasks their masters had ordered them to do without any deviations. Only if they were forcibly bound would they follow a new master.

"The Sithe must've hidden quite a few treasures in the core regions, but these four won't let me get even close to them. I can see some of them but I can't acquire them," Ning mused to himself. "I'll see if I can get Ninedust to come up with a way to capture a few more of those Emperor-class golems. He can lead them and assist me in assaulting the core regions.

The Sithe truly had left quite a few treasures here. Almost all of them had been shattered, but over the course of time they had slowly healed and recovered. All of them were under guard.

Ning was quite intrigued by them, but he just wasn't strong enough to take them; he needed help! Alas, the Emperor-class golems refused to even go near him, giving him no chance at all. The rest was up to Ninedust. Ninedust was viewed much less dangerous, which meant he actually had a shot as he was able to lure the Emperor-class golems out of hiding. He might actually be able to capture a few more.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 30 – Attack

Within the Sithe ruins.

"That 'Ninedust' fellow is much weaker than Darknorth. Its been a few million years, but he hasn't been able to catch any of us."

"That's normal! Did you think that every Daolord was as much of a freak as Daolord Darknorth is?"

The Emperor-class golems were excited to battle against Ninedust. Ninedust had indeed improved, and quite a bit at that! But with the Emperor-class golems all helping each other out, Ninedust had not been able to catch any of them during the past few million years.

"Endless." Ninedust spun the longstaff in his hands, his staff surrounded by thousands of whirlpools as it furiously swept towards the four Emperor-class golems attacking him. Two of them had assumed invisible forms which tied NInedust down, whiel the other two fought Ninedust head-on.

"Traceless!" Ninedust let out a furious shot, his longstaff dramatically expanding in length as he lashed downwards at the warhammer-wielding golem in front of them. The golem hurriedly lifted its warhammer up above its head, seeking to block the attack.

Boom! The longstaff twisted slightly in an almost whip-like fashion as it smashed towards the warhammer. An invisible ripple of power was transmitted from the longstaff to the warhammer, slamming directly into the golem's body. Instantly, the golem's entire body trembled as it was sent stumbling backwards, then fell into a seated position on the ground.

"Careful, Warsky!" Another one of the Emperor-class golems hurriedly ran over to help.

It was one against four, but Ninedust wasn't at any disadvantage at all! The two sides had battled evenly for quite some time, with Ninedust clearly being much more powerful than before.

"Haha…" Ninedust suddenly began to laugh loudly as a formation-diagram suddenly appeared with his palm. The formation-diagram quickly flew out and expanded in size to cover an area of ten million kilometers!

"What?!"

"We've been trapped."

"A formation?"

The four Emperor-class golems were all shocked. As for the distant golems who were just watching, they were stunned as well. Ninedust had battled against them for many years, but he had never used such an insidious technique like this before! It was rare for them to encounter a worthy opponent, and so they quite enjoyed the chance to battle against Ninedust… but who would've thought that they'd suddenly fall into a trap?

"Daolord Ninedust, I didn't realize you were such a despicable person."

"Damnit." The four golems were incomparably enraged. In the past, they had heard Ning address the Ninedust Sectlord as 'Ninedust', and so they naturally believed that Daolord Ninedust was his proper title. Ninedust himself naturally didn't bother to explain or correct the misunderstanding.

"Despicable? Hah! How am I despicable? Because of the orders the Sithe gave you, you've been stuck here guarding this rubble for countless aeons. Aren't you bored out of your minds yet? When the three clan leaders caught your comrades, they would wipe out your golem-spirits and instill new ones. I, however, can guarantee that I won't wipe your spirits out when I take you out of here," Ninesoul said loudly. "You'll be able to see a much more colorful world. It'll be a helluva lot better than guarding this place for sure!"

"Don't waste time talking to him."

"Come on then."

"Get ready to die!" The golems were blindly loyal and devoted; although they were curious about the outside world, as golems they would never think to disobey the orders of their masters. This was the tragedy of golem lifeforms… and if their new masters chose to wipe out their souls, their end would only become even more tragic. It was a form of death, with the new golem-spirit representing a completely different and new sentience.

"Darknorth!" Ninedust called out loudly. Swoosh! The distant Ning had already transformed into a streak of light that was flying towards this place at high speed. Although he was hundreds of millions of kilometers away, he moved faster than a hundred times the speed of light and thus was quickly able to reach and move into the formation area, passing through the barriers with ease.

"You finally made your move," Ning said with a laugh.

"Hurry up and help me catch them!" Ninedust urged.

The two would naturally be able to capture these four Emperor-class golems much more quickly if they worked together. Two of the golems had invulnerable forms and would be a bit tougher to deal with, but Ning's attacks were now so powerful that he was able to deplete their energy stores quite quickly. Before the formation even had a chance to dissipate, they had already been exhausted and captured 'alive.'

After putting away the golems, Ninedust willed the formation around them to dissipate.

"Look at those golems over there." Ning pointed off into the distance, where a number of golems were hiding behind a barrier. The golems were staring towards the two of them with mixed looks in their eyes; their gazes were filled with eagerness, anger, and indifference.

"In their heart of hearts, they would love to leave this place with us." Ninedust nodded as well. "But they are not only afraid of having their spirits wiped out, they are also bound by their original orders to stay this place. Alas…"

"If they continue to hide inside, there's certainly no way for us to take them out of here." Ning shook his head. As Ning and Ninedust saw it, they were helping these golems out by taking them away from this place! Eventually, Ning and Ninedust would die after they most likely failed their Daomerges, but the golems possessed perpetual life; they would be given to new masters and would continue to live exciting lives. To be trapped here within the Sithe ruins was far too meaningless an existence.

"We aren't strong enough yet." Ning shook his head. "We can't help them." Ning had tested himself against the barriers long ago, but even though only a few fragmented barriers remained, the likes of him remained unable to damage them in the slightest.

"Right. I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on finally mastering those ultimate attacks of yours," Ning said. The plan he and Ninedust had settled upon was for Ninedust to first use these golems to temper his staff-arts. Only after truly mastering his new ultimate attack would Ninedust actually move to capture them.

"I came up with a few killer attacks back in Crimsonwave Temple, but each had their own flaws. After having a chance to view the Autarch's Daos, I was able to perfect those killer attacks and then come up with my three ultimate attacks: 'Boundless', 'Endless', and 'Traceless'. These three ultimate attacks of mine are just as strong as the three ultimate attacks used by the Radiant King… and perhaps they are stronger!" Ninedust said confidently, "Who knows? I might be able to defeat Daolord Dreamlore and be ranked as the third Daolord in all the Endless Territories."

Ning nodded. He agreed with this assessment. Ninedust definitely was on the same level as Dawnstar and Dreamlore by now. As for who would win in an actual fight? That could only be determined on the field of battle.

"Rest for a bit. After your formation-treasure has regenerated its power, we're going to go attack the core regions of the ruins," Ning said.

"Agreed." Ninedust turned solemn. Attacking the core region would be extremely dangerous, the entire reason they had come here was in search of a Sithe fortune to claim. They had gained quite a bit from the Autarch's Dao, but that wasn't the reason they had come here.

Another three days went past. Finally, Ning and Ninedust simultaneously arrived at the outer borders to the region which held the core Sithe residential ruins.

"No one is permitted to trespass within Sithe territory! Daolord Darknorth, you've already trespassed repeatedly… and now, you are bringing another Daolord with you?" The four figures flew over, eyes filled with murder. These were the four golems comparable to the lords of the Sacred Cities. These were the four most powerful golems in all the Sithe ruins.

However, this wasn't always the case. Long ago, these four golems were nothing more than ordinary guard-golems stationed to the core regions. Those onyx humanoids had Hegemon levels of power and were the mainstays in battle! Alas, the strongest had been either completely destroyed or taken away by the Autarch. In the end, only four of the ordinary guard-golems were able to slowly repair themselves and recover. These four 'ordinary' golems, however, posed an enormous degree of danger to Ning and Ninedust. They were on the level of the lords of the Sacred Cities, after all!

"Daolord Darknorth, you've always been quite careful."

"You've never dared to truly risk it all."

"How about this? Only two of us four will participate in this battle. You can fight us in a two-on-one fight, but we're going to fight over there, rather than here in the border areas," the four golems said. By now, they knew Ning far too well.

Ning just shouted back, "The four of you are extraordinarily strong. I really need to act with more caution instead." The four golems were truly strong; even when Ning was focusing on defensive sword-arts, he could easily die from their blows. Thus, he only challenged them in the outer regions where he could immediately retreat once things started to go south.

"Attack!"

"Kill Darknorth's companion first."

"Darknorth's been here countless times. Let's remind him of just how fearsome we can be." The four figures had been thoroughly pissed off by Ning quite some time ago.

Ning and Ninedust stood shoulder-to-shoulder. "You ready?" Ning sent mentally.

"No worries," Ninedust replied. "I'm more than ready." In truth, Ninedust was feeling quite nervous as well.

"We'll succeed," Ning said. He was a bit anxious as well.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The four golems howled through the air, moving at different speeds but all surpassing a hundred times the speed of light.

"This is the perfect moment. Attack!" Ning shouted mentally. A black rune-diagram suddenly appeared within Ning and Ninedust's palms. This was a single-use formation treasure! An enormous black whirlpool appeared and rapidly expanded, with over a thousand layers of energy swirling around it. Every single layer of energy was filled with countless complicated formations, and the entire black whirlpool quickly covered the two golems who were the fastest and had charged closest to them.

Ning and Ninedust both used one of the black formation-diagrams, which meant two of the black whirlpools had appeared. One was aimed inwards while the other was aimed outwards, simultaneously trapping and repelling their foes.

"Go!" Ninedust then took out normal formation-diagram treasure, the single-use one he had acquired from the ancestral Hegemon of the Ancients which could only be used after charging.

Boom! An enormous formation that was round within and square without suddenly appeared, filled with countless layers of dense barriers. This formation immediately surrounded the outermost black whirlpool barried.

A total of three formations were being used to trap these two Emperor-class golems!

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 31 – The Estate-Spirit's Treasures

"Damn!"

"Formations?"

"Break! Break! Break for me!" The two trapped golems bellowed with rage as they furiously assaulted the formation. Multiple layers of formations began to tremble, with a few of the innermost layers actually beginning to split apart. However, they quickly managed to regenerate.

Ninedust was stunned by what he saw. He sent mentally, "They really are strong. Darknorth, these two golems are way too strong."

"That's why I came up with the idea of using a trifecta of formations against them. We need to trap them there as long as we can. Speed is the name of the game here!" Ji Ning stared at the two slower golems who were charging straight towards them. He certainly didn't dare to trap all four golems at once, because they had a way to merge their power together. In that situation, the formation would probably last only ten to twenty percent as long as it should!

"Let's go!" Ning roared angrily. Swoosh! He charged forwards by himself, moving towards the tall, skinny golem wielding a pair of enormous scimitars.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Ning immediately began to battle against the tall, skinny golem. Saber-light flashed everywhere, and each blow was incredibly heavy. Ning couldn't help but feel a sense of extreme pressure.

"You won't be able to stop us, Daolord Darknorth!" The fourth and slowest golem was a muscular golem who wielded an enormous greataxe, and he came charging straight towards Ning.

"Go!" Ning willed it. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! A total of twelve Emperor-class golems suddenly appeared in the empty void next to him. These were all the Emperor-class golems Ning currently owned. As for Ninedust, he also let out a furious shout as he released his four Emperor-class golems. Although he had six total, two of them had other assignments to take care of.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Ning's twelve golems and Ninedust's four launched a simultaneous attack against the greataxe-wielding golem. Swoosh! Five of the sixteen golems had invulnerable forms, and they transformed into a five-colored rope that began to coil around the greataxe-wielding golem. As for the other eleven, they began to surround and attack as well.

Ning was able to fight against thirty-two Emperor-class golems simultaneously thanks to his Shadowless evasion art, his Soleheart stance, and his Yin-Yang defenses. This greataxe golem, however, relied primarily on brute force! Thus, the sixteen Emperor-class golems were actually able to tie it down once they entered battle against it.

"Ninedust, hurry up and go get those treasures!" Ning sent mentally.

"Leave it to me." Ninedust immediately charged towards the core regions with his two remaining golems by his side.

"Stop! STOP!" The two golems trapped within the formation-diagram were enraged.

"You won't be able to escape." Ning continued to battle against the tall, skinny golems. These golems all had their own strengths and weaknesses, and Ning had incorporated them into his calculations for this plan! The slow, greataxe-wielding golem was the strongest, and thus Ning left it up to his sixteen golems to fight against it. This was because all Emperor-class golems had incredibly tough bodies and didn't fear brute-force attacks; what they truly feared were sly, crafty attacks.

Ning, for example, was dealing with just that as he fought against the golem wielding two giant scimitars. Saber-light was flying everywhere in an unpredictable manner! Sixteen golems probably wouldn't be enough to tie it down, and so Ning had taken on that responsibility fearlessly.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Sword-light and saber-light clashed against each other repeatedly. Ning's sword was faster and more unpredictable, but it was slightly weaker. However… he was using a total of six swords! Thus, he was able to tie this tall, skinny golem down and ensure that it was tied down as well and unable to escape.

With the formation-diagrams, Ji Ning, and the sixteen Emperor-class golems working in harmony, all four guardian golems were temporarily tied down. Right at this moment, Ninedust led his two golems in search of treasures.

"Go over there!"

"Try over here."

"Smash that apart!" Ninedust gave out one order after another, sending his golems into the more dangerous areas he encountered. The golems were all top-grade Eternal treasures and weren't easy to damage.

"Haha! Nice treasure."

"This treasure is actually able to affect spacetime?"

"Take this one with us." The central residences were littered with formation-diagrams, strange gemstones inlaid in stone pillars, and strange mechanisms which had unknown purposes. The Ninedust Sectlord took every single thing he saw! It didn't matter if he saw an immediate use for them or not; he'd worry about that once they got out of this place. For now, his goal was to take away everything he could.

After just twenty seconds, Ninedust had swept away virtually all of the items in the territory protected by the four golems, with the exception of two places which were protected by residual barriers and which couldn't be entered.

Swoosh! Ninedust immediately fled at maximum speed. "Darknorth, let's go!" Ninedust's voice echoed within the ruins.

"Haha, thanks for everything!" Ning led his sixteen golems in a rapid retreat. Although the two golems attacking him tried to pursue him, there was simply no way for them to catch up. After Ning fled out of the central regions, the golems immediately halted their attacks and went to help their other comrades break free from the three layers of formations.

By now, the formations had already been mostly destroyed. With all four golems working together, it took merely five seconds to completely wreck it.

"Daolord Darknorth ended up getting what he wanted." The four golems all sighed amongst themselves.

"The Sithe in this place died out long ago; those treasures weren't doing any good. If he took them, he took them."

"Ugh. We're supposed to guard this place, but what are we guarding? Our masters died long ago…"

The four golems had to guard this place and follow the final orders they were given, which was why they had repeatedly intervened to stop Ning. In truth, they personally didn't care about the treasures at all. In fact, they had long ago felt that their solitary life was boring and pointless.

"Life had been much more interesting lately with Darknorth around."

"Agreed."

"Now that he has the treasures he wants, he's probably going to leave. We're about to go back to our normal, boring life."

"I thought that we'd be able to hold him back and we'd fight each other for a couple thousand chaos cycles. Who would've thought he'd get the treasures so soon?" The guardian golems all felt rather regretful. It had been a long, long time since they had felt challenged.

The Sithe who had been living in the ruins had died long ago, with the golems bound by the final orders they had given before dying. Only if someone was able to forcibly abduct and bind the golems would their destinies be changed.

The lion statue's mouth suddenly opened. Ning and Ninedust flew into the mouth, entering the beastworld within.

"Greetings, senior." Both Ning and Ninedust bowed respectfully towards the black-robed man standing in the void before them.

"You've both improved quite a bit, especially you Darknorth. There's a limit to how strong Daolords can be, and you had already reached an extremely high level of power… and now, you've made great gains yet again. Impressive," the black-robed man nodded in praise. Although he had been left behind by the Autarch to safeguard this beastworld, he had never heard of an Omega Sword Dao and thus had reached a wrong estimation of Ning's abilities.

Once Ning became a Daolord of the Fourth Step, he would become truly powerful.

"I'll give each of you a treasure." The black-robed elder waved his hand, causing a blood-red medallion with the imprint of a claw atop it to appear.

"Ninedust, this is for you." The black-robed elder handed the item to the Ninedust Sectlord.

"Thank you, senior." Ninedust excitedly accepted the strange blood claw-medallion, but once he gained it he couldn't find anything special about it no matter how he scanned it. He glanced at the black-robed man with some confusion: "Senior, might I ask what this treasure…?"

"Haha, I'll also give you a copy of a chaos star map." The black-robed man waved his hand, causing an astral scroll to appear. He unfurled the astral scroll, which mapped out an enormous region of darkness as well as three realmverses around it.

"Here are the three closest realmverses," the black-robed man said. "This is the Multilight Realmverse. This is the Redcastle Realmverse. And this is the Flamedragon Realmverse. This Sithe warship we're in has been drifting through the Great Dark for endless ages. Based on the trajectory and speed at which we were moving, I imagine we should be close to these three realmverse by now. The two of you should be from one of these three realmverses, right?"

"Senior, how is it that you know we are from the outside and are not cultivators local to this planet?" Ninedust asked curiously.

"Haha, as soon as you broke through the outermost layer of deepfire blackstone surrounding the vessel, I was able to sense you." The black-robed man nodded and smiled.

Ning and Ninedust now understood. "We came from the Flamedragon Realmverse; this place is fairly close to the Flamedragon Realvmerse," Ninedust said.

"What a coincidence. The Flamedragon Realmverse has a special place within it that was created and left behind by my master." The black-robed man continued, "If you bear this medallion… so long as you are close enough to that place, you'll be able to sense it through this medallion. You'll be able to use it to teleport yourself directly inside."

"Where is it?" Ning and Ninedust were both curious.

"Around here." The astral map rapidly zoomed in on the Flamedragon Realmverse, revealing a specific place.

"Is that…?" Ning and Ninedust were both shocked. "Inside the Aeonian Kingdom?!"

Both of them had extraordinarily high statuses within the Endless Territories. Thus, they naturally knew where the headquarters of the Aeonians, one of the six great powers of the Endless Territories, was located! The place the black-robed man had just marked out was within the Aeonian Kingdom. The Aeonian Kingdom was an incredibly mysterious place; although there were very few Aeonians, especially strong ones, the Aeonian Kingdom allowed them to sit securely as one of the six major powers of the Endless Territories.

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Book 34, The Stone Hellephant Wall, Chapter 32 – Verdant Azuresoul

Ninedust said helplessly, "Senior, you might not know this, but the place you just pointed out is within an inconceivably powerful treasure known as the 'Aeonian Kingdom'! The Aeonian Kingdom is an extremely dangerous place; not even Hegemons dare to charge into that place."

The Dao Alliance and the Aeonians were mortal enemies; Aeonians relied on devouring countless Daolords to awaken the Aeonian blood within their veins! The more they devoured, the more powerful they would become! If it wasn't for the fact that they could take shelter within the Aeonian Kingdom, the Aeonians would've been completely genocided by the Dao Alliance long ago!

"Haha…" the black-robed elder laughed. "It doesn't matter how dangerous it is; you don't need to worry at all. This medallion will tear straight through spacetime and teleport you directly inside. If the situation turns grim, you can use it to immediately tear through spacetime and leave again. This medallion was personally forged by my master, Autarch Bolin. Not even Hegemons would be able to trap you."

Ninedust let out a sigh of relief, then immediately asked, "Would I be able to bring Darknorth with me?"

"The medallion can only be used by one person," the black-robed man said. "It can also only be used to bring one person in escaping from that place."

"Ah?!" Ninedust was startled.

"Buuut, you can pull Darknorth into your estate-world before using the medallion. That solves, it yes?" The black-robed man laughed.

Ninedust immediately looked at Ning. "Darknorth, things are going to be quite dangerous inside the Aeonian Kingdom. Accompany me?"

"For sure." Ning knew that in truth, Ninedust was actually helping him out rather than vice versa. With that medallion in hand, Ninedust wouldn't need to even fear an entire host of Hegemons. What sort of 'danger' would he be afraid of?

"Right. You must remember this." The black-robed man said sseriously, "The power contained within this medallion is only enough to activate it twice in a row; after that, the power will be used up and it'll shatter. Thus, the medallion is only good for a single entry and exit. Treasure this opportunity and do not waste it."

"It'll be exhausted after just two uses?" Ninedust was started, but he then let out an uncaring smile. "A single such opportunity and blessing is already more than enough."

The black-robed man nodded slightly. He was quite approving of Ninedust's attitude. He then turned to look at Ning. "I didn't expect for you to be able to improve so dramatically, given how powerful you already were. Even I am now eager to see what you will be like if you succeed in your Daomerge. Given your power, once you suceeed in the Daomerge you will definitely surpass any 'ordinary' Hegemon. You'll probably be on par with Otherverse Lords."

"Are Otherverse Lords very powerful?" Ning asked curiously.

"Yes. They are in control of alternate universes and are assisted by the prime essences of those universes. How can they NOT be strong?" The black-robed man continued, "And you helped me out as well. Given how much you improved… let me think about what I should give you…"

"Helped you out?" Ninedust glanced at Ning, puzzled. Ning was puzzled as well; since when did he help this estate-spirit out?

"You didn't know this," the black-robed man explained, "But when my master Autarch Bolin entered this place, he used an evasion art to directly bypass the deepfire blackstone and enter the vessel. He furiously massacred all of the Sithe, wrecking all of their defenses and destroying everyone and everything here. Afterwards, he tossed me here and then immediately tore through spacetime to depart. He was hurrying off to other regions to take part in the battles there."

"But… Master forgot that the entire vessel was encased in a shell of deepfire blackstone. There was no way for me to leave!" The black-robed man said helplessly, "Ugh… master created so many beastworlds and he scattered them casually throughout the Chaosverse. He probably didn't think too much of it when he tossed me here, and he had to seize every moment because war had spread throughout the realms. He didn't take the time needed to actually break through the deepfire blackstone, as it would take some time even for someone as strong as him to tear through it by force."

Ning and Ninedust now both understood. Deepfire blackstone was almost indestructible; even Hegemons like Hegemon Welkin were completely unable to do anything to it. It would take even an Autarch some time to forcibly break through the outer 'wall' protecting this Sithe warship. Autarch Bolin wasn't willing to waste any time and so had used an evasion art to teleport straight inside.

"Darknorth, when you used your lifeblood weapon to drain away the deepfire blackstone, you also gave me the chance to leave." The black-robed man smiled. "That naturally means you helped me out. I'll now be able to move through spacetime to visit other places and search for other lucky people to bestow good fortune upon."

"Mm…" The black-robed man was silent for a moment. "And you really have improved dramatically. I suppose giving you that treasure would be a decent choice."

Whoosh. A round, fist-sized object suddenly appeared out of nowhere within the black-robed man's hands. It looked like a giant egg, and it emanated strange ripples that caused both Ning and Ninedust to feel entranced by it. Their Dao-hearts were both influenced by this effect, causing them to feel the urge to devour the thing.

"My master, Autarch Bolin, has left behind some treasures in each beastworld… and this is the most valuable of the treasures I have." The black-robed man looked at Ning. "This is known as a 'verdant azuresoul'! Any and every Hegemon would go absolutely crazy over this."

Ning and Ninedust were both startled.

"Later, both of you must swear oaths not to divulge any information about what has happened here," the black-robed man said solemnly.

"Understood."

"Don't worry, senior." Ning and Ninedust both hurriedly assented, while Ning stared at the egg-shaped object with an eager look in his eyes.

"The various realmverses of the vast Chaosverse are not truly eternal. There are certain destructive forces of nature within the Chaoseverse," the black-robed man said. "There are certain terrifying celestial bodies, such as the 'Ship of Mirrors', the 'Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels', the 'Apocalypse Star', and more. Even Hegemons are helpless in the face of these naturally occurring celestial bodies, and they can easily annihilate entire realmverses. Even Autarchs need to pay enormous prices if they wish to be able to deal with them."

Ning and Ninedust were both surprised. They knew that the Flamedragon Realmverse was facing a grave danger from the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels, but who would've thought there were multiple celestial bodies in the Chaosverse akin to the Wheels?

"The Ship of Mirrors, the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels, the Apocalypse Star… they are not living entities," the black-robed man said. "However, the Chaosverse can also give birth to supremely terrifying creatures known as 'Chaos Primordials' that are just as deadly. Supposedly, these great beasts are born from the prime essences of the Chaosverse. Once they leave the prime essences, they'll voyage through the Chaosverse… and they love to eat the realmverses they encounter."

"Chaos Primordials are born with nigh-indestructible bodies and are incredibly few in number. They are also fairly unintelligent, perhaps on par with mortal children. However, they are so incredibly strong that only Autarchs are capable of killing them. Even Otherverse Lords are only able to just barely fend them off."

"This 'verdant azuresoul' is what Chaos Primordials love to eat beyond all other types of food." The black-robed man looked at Ning and Ninedust. "My master, Autarch Bolin, has made some special modifications to this one, converting it into a magic treasure. Darknorth, you'll be able to bind it with ease just by dripping your blood onto it. After doing so, if you ever manage to encounter a Chaos Primordial, you can toss the verdant azuresoul over to it and let the beast eat it… and once it does so, the modified verdant azuresoul will take control over the Chaos Primordial and make it a servant that obeys your commands."

Ning and Ninedust were both speechless upon hearing this. "Can I use the 'verdant azuresoul' as payment to have an Autarch reverse the flows of spacetime to revive a Celestial Immortal?" Ning couldn't help but ask.

"You cannot. A single verdant azuresoul isn't valuable enough," the black-robed man explained. "However, if you can find a Chaos Primordial and have it eat the verdant azuresoul, then give that Chaos Primordial to an Autarch? That would be enough to convince the Autarch to intervene."

"Chaos Primordials are simply too rare, while the endless Chaosverse is far too vast. Finding one is a matter of luck," the black-robed man said. "Alright. I've already given you each what you deserve. Remember – you are not permitted to tell others of what you encountered here," the black-robed man instructed.

"Understood."

Ning and Ninedust both immediately swore lifeblood oaths. Ning and Ninedust then felt space twist around them, followed by them reappearing within the Sithe ruins.

"I'm leaving now," the statue said. Suddenly, it transformed into an actual three-headed leonine beast that transformed into a streak of light that flew out of the mountains. "If you can succeed in your Daomerges, perhaps we might meet again."

Ning and Ninedust both watched as the statue flew away.

A short while later, Ning and Ninedust left the Sithe ruins as well, returning to the surface of the planet.

Hundreds of millions of years had gone by. By now, Darknorth Palace had reached an utterly towering level of strength, while the three great clans remained hidden within their headquarters and not daring to come out.

The three great clans were simply terrified. They had always relied on their clan leaders, who had been completely wiped out. They naturally didn't dare to take any further risks, and thus they had come to a decision: "After 108,000 chaos cycles, our three great clans will once more make our presence known within the world. By then, Daolord Darknorth would've definitely died. I refuse to believe that such a freakishly strong Daolord can succeed in the Daomerge."

Ning and Ninedust secretly inspected the world for a period of time, then quietly slipped away without causing any damage to the barriers or wards surrounding the three great clans.

"Time to leave."

"Let's go back to the Endless Territories." With the treasures they had acquired from the Sithe lands in tow, Ning and Ninedust embarked upon their return journey.

By now, Ning had reached an even more profound level in his Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop. It was now much more powerful, and thus as the two tore through spacetime in the Great Dark they only had to spend a total of a bit over three hundred years before they reached the Endless Territories again.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 1 – Realmship

Within the Endless Territories.

A dimensional gateway was suddenly torn in the empty void open next to an enormous, blazing star. A white-robed youth and a silver-robed man stepped out from within it.

"We're back! Haha, we're back in the Endless Territories." Ninedust laughed jubilantly, "We travelled through the Great Dark for so long without seeing any other living creatures at all. We didn't even see any stars or chaosworlds. That sense of loneliness was truly stifling and oppressing. I can't help but shiver when I think about how those Eternal Emperors choose to spend a million years traversing the Great Dark enroute to another realmverse."

"Once we succeed in our Daomerges and gain eternal life, perhaps we might come to the same decision." Ji Ning smiled.

"Yes… we have to succeed in the Daomerge. We have to! We made a killing off our visit to the Stone Hellephant Wall; to me, this place was just as beneficial as the Waveshift Realm was." Ninedust was in high spirits.

Ning nodded as well. He had indeed gained greatly from this trip. The greatest benefit lay in how they had the chance to memorize the Dao-guidance left behind by that Autarch. Next came the verdant azuresoul Ning had acquired and those six Emperor-class golems… and then there were the various Sithe relics they had swept out of the Sithe ruins.

"Unfortunately, that realmship we found was damaged. Otherwise, we really would've won a fortune," Ninedust sighed.

"It wasn't just damaged, it was in pieces. It would've been wonderful if Autarch Bolin had held back just a little bit and didn't destroy the shuttle." Ning sighed as well. "Still… if he really hadn't destroyed it, he probably would've taken it with him when he left."

"Yes." Ninedust felt resigned as well.

Realmships… according to what the golems Ning had captured and bound had told them, these were flying shuttles that had been created by the Sithe which allowed them to travel between realmverses. Using these vessels, it was possible to spend less than a hundred thousand years in travelling from one realmverse to another! To powerful cultivators, this was a negligibly short period of time.

Even Hegemons found the trip from one realmverse to another a taxing one which required an extremely long period of time. Realmships, however, were able to accomplish it in a fraction of the time. They truly were incredibly fast, which meant they were incredibly precious as well!

There had been more than thirty thousand Sithe within the Stone Hellephant Wall, but only the two highest-ranking Sithe owned realmships, one each. One had been taken away by Autarch Bolin, while the other had been destroyed in the fierce fighting. Because realmships possessed regenerative capabilities, some of its parts had managed to slowly recover… but alas, the other parts were so totally trashed that they were completely unable to heal.

There were two parts of the shuttle which were in fairly good shape. Ning and Ninedust had each taken one of the two parts.

"A pity how severe the damage was. Less than half of it was remaining. There's no way to use it at all." Ning shook his head.

"We would've struck it rich if it was usable," Ninedust sighed.

"Let's not get too greedy," Ning replied. The two continued to chat while separating themselves from the surrounding area, ensuring that no one was able to hear their conversation.

The golems they had bound had all existed since the days of the Sithe. They naturally knew a great deal about the Sithe race! Ning and Ninedust learned a great deal after interrogating the golems, including many Sithe secrets. At first, they hadn't really even understood how important the realmship fragments they had collected were; it was only after the golems helped them sort through the treasures that they knew what a realmship was.

"Darknorth, didn't we agree to go to the Aeonian Kingdom? This doesn't seem to be the right way," Ninedust said with some surprise.

"We're taking a slight detour," Ning said. "It'll only take a day or two."

"Something you need to take care of?" Ninedust asked.

"The two of us have been visiting some truly extraordinary places recently. Although we're both confident in our skills, it's also true that we can die at any moment." Ning sighed. "I'm planning to leave a few of these Emperor-class golems behind in my homeland. That way, even if I do fail my Daomerge and perish, my homeland will be at least somewhat protected with those Emperor-class golems present."

Ninedust felt a mixed bag of emotions upon hearing this. He asked, "Darknorth, is your homeland very weak?"

"Yes. I can be considered the strongest person from my homeland, I suppose," Ning said.

The Three Realms… hundreds of millions of years had gone past, and it had grown quite a bit… but it was still quite young in the grand scheme of things. Thus far, it didn't even have any other Samsara Daolords aside from Ning himself! How could Ning not focus his attention on it?

"That's quite a heavy burden to bear." Ninedust sighed. "I've never had that sort of experience before. Although I acquired six Emperor-class golems, they really don't mean that much to the Ancient cultivators as a race. These are all fairly weak Emperor-class golems, after all."

"The Ancients are one of the six major powers of the Endless Territories. If you had to be responsible for the entire Ancient race, you would have to at least be a Hegemon," Ning teased. "If the Three Realms could ever rise to become one of the top organizations of the Endless Territories, I would feel plenty proud."

Whoosh. Ning and Ninedust emerged from yet another void tunnel, with a black-robed Ning standing at the other end of it.

"What's this?" Ninedust stared at the distant black-robed Ning with surprise.

"My Primaltwin," Ning explained. Not even the Dao Alliance or the Brightshore Kingdom knew that he had a Primaltwin; Ning had never made it public before! However, Ninedust was his friend for life; why should he hide it from Ninedust?

"Primaltwin?" Ninedust was stunned. "You have a Primaltwin? I've never heard of this before." Moments later, he felt extremely moved; the existence of a Primaltwin was definitely a huge secret which generally wouldn't be made public.

"You hid this very well indeed! I really can't help but envy you. We Ancient cultivators are never able to have a Primaltwin," Ninedust said.

"Primaltwins can only be created when you start cultivating as a mortal. All of you Ancient cultivators are born at the World level; how could you possibly have one?" Ning sighed. "Countless mortal cultivators would dream of one day reaching the World level, but you start off being born at this level with bodies comparable to Daolords… and you complain about envying us?"

As Ning spoke, he flew towards his black-robed Primaltwin. He sent a jade gourd flying out towards the Primaltwin. His Primaltwin accepted it, turned and tore open a spacetime tunnel, then departed.

The jade bottle held a total of six Emperor-class golems, the Sithe disk, and some other treasures. Emperor-class golems were of some use to Ning, after all, which was why he kept half for himself and gave half to the Three Realms.

After spending thirty more years traversing through the Brightshore Kingdom's pathways, Ning and Ninedust finally reached the Aeonian Kingdom.

"The Aeonian Kingdom."

Ning and Ninedust stood atop a chaos planet, staring off into the distance. At the opposite end of the vast void was an enormous, roling sea of blood. Above the sea of blood was an enormous citadel that glowed with dazzlingly beautiful golden light. This castle had to be trillions of kilometers in size and emanated an aura of unspeakable power that washed out in every direction. Even at Ning and Ninedust's current level of power, they felt a breathtaking sense of pressure.

This… this was the Aeonian Kingdom! It was this great castle which had kept the Aeonians alive for so long. Not even Hegemons would dare to barge into the Aeonian Kingdom, the homeland of the Aeonians!

"I've always heard of how mysterious the Aeonian Kingdom is, but I've never had a chance to actually enter it," Ninedust snickered. "I now finally have a chance."

"Is the Autarch's medallion resonating with anything?" Ning asked.

"It started to do so half a year ago," Ninedust laughed.

"Why didn't you tell me? I kept on pulling you closer and closer through spacetime teleportation."

"I wanted to get an up-close view of the Aeonian Kingdom with my own eyes. It really is rather stunning." Ninedust stared at the view before him contentedly.

"So I spent the past half year doing all that for nothing, eh?" Ning enjoyed the view as well. The Aeonian Kingdom truly was a stunning and beautiful site to behold. The two viewed it carefully for quite some time before deciding to go inside.

Swoosh. Ninedust waved his hand, pulling Ning into his estate-world. He then held the Autarch's medallion up high as he activated the power within it.

Boom! An exalted aura of blood-colored power covered Ninedust. Swoosh! It tore straight through spacetime, causing him to instantly disappear.

The Aeonian Kingdom was a place filled with many secrets. The most mysterious, secretive place was within a certain world. This was a place which even the Aeonians found difficult to enter… and each time they did manage to enter, they had to first pay an enormous price.

A rift suddenly appeared in the void above this mysterious world. Swoosh! The Ninedust Sectlord's figure flew out from the rift.

"We arrived." Ninedust scanned his surroundings, rather puzzled. His face suddenly tightened. He waved his hand, causing a white-robed youth to appear next to him. "We've already been teleported inside, Darknorth. Look over there, quick!" Ninedust pointed off into the distance.

Ning followed his gaze, only to see an absolutely enormous and dazzling astral river. There was a flying vessel within the flows of the astral river, and in front of the vessel was a strange tower-shaped flying object. At the very tip of the tower there were three royal thrones and three onyx humanoids seated atop them. The tower had a total of nine levels, and each level had silver-robed Daolords standing on them.

A total of three hundred of those silver-robed Daolords could be seen!

"The Sithe?" Ning was rather surprised.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 2 – Bazu

The flying vessel and the strange tower were facing each other. Atop the tower were three onyx figures and three silver-robed Daolords?

"Wait, something's wrong." Ji Ning and Ninedust quickly noticed how something was off.

"Their auras seem off. They don't seem like the Sithe we saw before," Ning said softly.

"Let's go take a look," Ninedust said. Ning agreed, and the two began to quietly creep forwards.

As they moved closer and closer, the two were able to see the stone stele hanging right next to the flying vessel. "That stele…?" Ning and Ninedust hurriedly inspected it, quickly recognizing and reading the characters on the stone stele. The stele said:

I am Bolin.

I had five personal disciples. My fifth disciple, Bazu, was the most talented and the strongest of the five, far surpassing ordinary Hegemons. However, he was the first to die by the hands of the Sithe, and he was actually the third Hegemon to perish after the Sithe revealed their fangs and claws. In that battle, the Sithe sent out an entire regiment commanded by three of their Black Emperors to ambush and kill my disciple.

In that battle, my disciple Bazu slew a hundred and twenty-six Silver Daolords and a Black Emperor, but in the end he was surrounded and slain as well.

Although I hurried to him as fast as I could, I still arrived just a bit too late.

By now… war has begun! If our cultivator civilizations are defeated in this war, my hope is that our many worlds will continue to give birth to more and more cultivators, who can test themselves against the Silver Daolords and the Black Emperors here. That way, they can gain a sense for just how strong the Sithe are. Remember, these are just common footsoldiers of the Sithe race; they cannot be considered the true Sithe elites. You absolutely must not be overconfident against the Sithe; when you fight, you must go all-out.

The 318 nearby planets within the astral river next to us each hold a legacy within them which was left behind by one of the Hegemons who follow me. None of us know how many of them will survive this war, and it is possible that all of them will be doomed, representing an end to the cream of the crop of the cultivator civilizations and an end to a force that was built up over countless aeons. They have all left their legacies here in the hopes that our cultivator civilizations shall never fully perish.

Even if we cultivators end up losing this battle, I still believe that our worlds shall give birth to an endless stream of resistance fighters. One day, the Sithe shall be eliminated.

These are the words of Bolin!

Ning and Ninedust were stunned for quite some time after reading the characters on the stone stele. They could sense the stately yet determined fighting will which was inherent within those words; although Autarch Bolin had been in great pain upon seeing his disciple perish, when he wrote upon this stone stele he was completely focused on preserving the cultivator civilizations as a whole.

"Fortunately, we ended up winning that war," Ning murmured.

"Yes. For Autarch Bolin to leave behind so many precautions… I really can't imagine just how powerful the Sithe once were," Ninedust sighed.

"The Autarch said that we can spar against these 'Silver Daolords' and these 'Black Emperors'," Ning said.

"Are they capable of fighting?" Ninedust glanced at the distant tower. "I'll give it a try first." As he spoke, he immediately flew over.

Once Ninedust moved closer towards the flying tower, one of the Black Emperors standing atop the tower suddenly glanced downwards and said coldly, "Go and kill that enemy."

"Yes, Emperor!" Instantly, one of the Silver Daolords on the bottommost levels of the tower immediately acknowledged the order. His aura of power quickly expanded and grew in might as he flew towards the Ninedust Sectlord.

As for Ning, he just watched from afar. He wasn't too worried; Ninedust was much better than him at staying alive.

Whoosh. The Silver Daolord charged straight towards Ninedust with a longspear in its hands.

"I want to see just how strong a 'real' Sithe Silver Daolord is!" Ninedust was eager to do battle, and he sent his longstaff towards the oncoming attack, causing a seemingly endless series of ripples to appear around it.

Boom! The tip of the spear clashed head-on against the longstaff. Ninedust immediately could feel his longstaff tremble to the point where he nearly lost control of it. As for the longspear, it continued its downwards stab towards him. Slash – it stabbed Ninedust on his chest! Ninedust's eyes widened in disbelief. With a whoosh, he transformed into a vast wave that quickly retreated backwards.

"You want to run?" The Silver Daolord pressed the attack, his longspear striking at more than a hundred times the speed of light.

Ninedust immediately transformed into water once more as he continued his hurried retreat. Slash! Slash! Slash! The Silver Daolord launched one attack after another, the tip of his longspear gleaming with incomparably sharp light. Ninedust let out a miserable cry, "I can feel the pain even through my invulnerable aquaform! This is terrifying." While howling, he continued to flee.

"Need my help?" Ning shouted to him.

"Not yet, not yet!" Ninedust immediately replied. However, after Ninedust fled a certain distance away the Silver Daolord suddenly came to a halt. The Silver Daolord glanced coldly at Ninedust, then flew back to the tower and returned to its original position on the bottom level. Its aura of incredible power quickly dissipated as it seemed to go back to normal.

Ninedust fled over next to Ning, transforming back into human form. "Whew." Ninedust let out a sigh of relief.

"You were beaten in just one clash?" Ning smirked.

"They were definitely much more powerful than the three clan leaders," Ninedust said quickly. "That Silver Daolord had extremely formidable spear-arts; I imagine he was on par with me! Given that he had also undergone the Ritual Sacrificium to become a Silver Daolord, he naturally is much stronger than I am."

"So this is what true Silver Daolords are like. Those three clan leaders were at far too low a level of insight." Ning nodded. "Those three Black Emperors are in charge of a total of three hundred Silver Daolords… how terrifying. These Silver Daolords are all comparable to the eight Archons, the lords of the Sacred Cities. Three hundred of them working together… not even a Hegemon would be able to withstand them." Three hundred Silver Daolords truly was a terrifyingly strong force!

"Autarch Bolin's personal disciple, Hegemon Bazu, was quite strong; even though he was surrounded, he was able to kill 126 Silver Daolords and a Black Emperor." Ninedust sighed in amazement.

Ning felt admiration towards Hegemon Bazu as well. During the Dawn War, both of the Hegemons of the Endless Territories had perished in order to take down that Black Emperor. Clearly, Hegemon Bazu was much more powerful than they had been… but alas, he had still died."

"I'll go try it as well." Ning manifested three heads and six arms, then charged forwards with six Northbow swords at the ready.

The flying tower continued to hover there in the void. Once Ning moved closer to it, one of the Black Emperors at the top of the tower glanced down at Ning and then ordered, "Go and kill the invader."

Instantly, the spear-wielding Silver Daolord at the very bottom of the tower acknowledged: "Yes, Emperor." As it spoke, it flew towards Ning.

"These aren't actual living beings; they are nothing more than simulacra." Ning could tell that they weren't alive, but he still couldn't help but feel admiration for the Autarch; to be able to create simulacra of three Black Emperors and three hundred Silver Daolords was absolutely incredible. Autarchs truly were unfathomably strong! It was thanks to the leadership of the Autarchs and countless cultivators sacrificing themselves that they had been able to eliminate the Sithe in the end, albeit at enormous cost."

"Hah!" The Silver Daolord swept out with his longspear, spinning it in a circular arc as he swept it towards Ning in an indomitable fashion.

Clang! Ning moved to dodge while gently striking out with his sword using the Omega Sword Dao – Soleheart to affect the Silver Daolord's attacks.

Although the Silver Daolord's was on par with Ninedust's staff-arts, Ning was still slightly superior to him. However, the difference wasn't that great, and the Silver Daolord's other advantages more than compensated for it.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Boom! The two continued to fight, causing shockwaves to blast out in every direction which caused the void to tremble.

Ning and the Silver Daolord were evenly matched in the fight.

"Eh?" One of the Black Emperors at the top of the tower frowned. "Even after this much time has passed, he still has yet to be captured? Another one of you, go and kill him!"

"Yes, Emperor!" Instantly, a Silver Daolord wielding a pair of hatchets charged out as well, forcing Ning to slowly begin to withdraw.

"Don't even think about fleeing!" the spear-wielding Daolord and the hatchet-wielding Daolord shouted in unison. The two had surrounded Ning and were attacking him from a pincer position. Ning immediately was at a disadvantage, but thanks to his defensive prowess and his six Northbow swords he was able to hold on. While defending, he continued to retreat at high speed.

"Eh? Another one, go." The Black Emperor at the top of the tower issued the order yet again, causing a third Silver Daolord to charge forwards. This one bore a giant warblade on its back. However, before it managed to arrive Ning had already moved beyond the critical distance, at which point all of the Silver Daolords withdrew as well. This was something which Autarch Bolin had implemented; he had done all this to help temper and train these juniors, not kill them after all.

"What a tough challenge. If one doesn't do the job, send two. If two can't hack it, send three…" Ning shook his head.

"If we're ever able to force all three hundred Silver Daolords and all three Black Emperors to attack in unison… now that would be truly something," Ninedust said eagerly.

"Haha, that'll have to wait for after you complete your Daomerge," Ning said. "Oh, right. Autarch Bolin said that the 318 planets nearest to us all have legacies left behind by the various Hegemons. Let's go take a look."

"Right." Ninedust was curious as well.

Swoosh! Swoosh! The two quickly flew towards the planet located closest to the stone stele.

This planet wasn't all that large, just ten thousand kilometers in circumference. As soon as they landed atop the planet, they immediately sensed a ripple of power transmit into their minds. They could vaguely 'see' the mental image of a four-legged beast towering before them, its voice booming within their minds.

"I am Hegemon Thousand Rhinos, a retainer of Autarch Bolin! The war against the Sithe has already begun, and all of us Hegemons are following Autarch Bolin into battle against the Sithe. No one knows what the end result will be, and so I have left all of my insights and supreme techniques behind in this place. The cultivator civilizations shall not perish! The Sithe shall one day be exterminated!"

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 3 – A Heavy Feeling

Ji Ning felt rather moved and inspired. He could sense how Hegemon Thousand Rhinos had been completely determined to battle the Sithe to the death, and could also sense how much hope the Hegemon had placed towards the cultivator civilizations as a whole.

"I wonder if this senior was able to survive the Dawn War or not." Ning knew just how brutal the Dawn War had been, because all of the Hegemons of the Endless Territories during that era had perished in the Dawn War. "No matter what… in the end, our side won. The sacrifices of all those slain cultivators were not in vain."

Boom! A wave of power shot out as a large amount of information flooded into Ning's mind. This was the legacy of Hegemon Thousand Rhinos.

Ning trained in the Omega Sword Dao and had received guidance from the Autarch's Daos; by now, he had a far broader vision than many. These Hegemon-level legacies were of use to him in comparing to his own Dao, but the secret arts were of more help to him.

Some time later, Ning and Ninedust woke up from their reverie atop the small planet. They exchanged a glance.

"Incredible." Ninedust's voice was rather hoarse.

"Yes, quite incredible." Ning nodded. "For the sake of ensuring that the cultivator civilizations will continue, he held nothing back at all. He didn't even require us to swear any lifeblood oaths when learning these legacies."

"Yes." Ninedust nodded. It was true; neither had been forced to swear lifeblood oaths! It must be understood that the more valuable a legacy was, the more likely it was that the successor would have to swear a lifeblood oath in order to learn it.

The Sword Hegemon in the alternate universe, the Paragon of Pills, the Brightshore Hegemon… they had all required lifeblood oaths that their teachings would not be taught to outsiders. Even fairly ordinary sects like Vastheaven Palace required these oaths. Ning had been forced to pay a significant price just to transmit those fairly ordinary techniques and divine abilities of Vastheaven Palace back to the Three Realms.

But… Thousand Rhinos had been an exalted Hegemon! And yet, he had unstintingly passed down all of the legacies he had developed over the course of countless aeons to Ning and Ninedust without even requiring them to swear lifeblood oaths.

"Let's go to that other planet," Ning said.

"Let's go." Ninedust nodded.

Swoosh! Swoosh! The two flew next to each other like streaks of light as they moved to the planet closest to them. This planet was also fairly small, just ten thousand kilometers in size. When their feet landed atop the planet, they once more sensed that ripple of power be transmitted into their minds. This time, Ning felt as though he could see a snowy-winged man who emanated a halo of white light.

"I am God Emperor Helong, a retainer of Autarch Bolin and a master of an otherverse. I established my own church, and over the course of countless years I spread my organization across three entire realmverses. I had thought that I would be able to continue my campaign of conquest… but the appearance of the Sithe brought me back to my senses. Only then did I understand that to the Sithe, I was nothing more than an easily crushed ant.

"The Sithe seek to enslave all cultivators. Those like us who refuse to submit are all subject to death. Although I have been alive for countless years and have conquered for countless years, when I think of how all cultivator civilizations might one day be enslaved by the Sithe, I have only one thought in my mind… to exterminate them!

"I, God Emperor Helong, shall do everything in my power to slay all Sithe. Future cultivators, if we fail in our task, you must take it up in our stead. Kill, kill, kill! You must exterminate every single Sithe!"

The lofty, noble voice of the snowy-winged man was filled with murderous malice that was so strong it shook even Ning's Dao-heart. Moments later, a large amount of information began to flood into his mind. This was all the legacies which God Emperor Helong had to offer.

A long time later, Ning and Ninedust opened their eyes and exchanged a glance.

"Such power." Ninedust was stunned.

"I thought that the [Heartsword] art was quite unique, but who would've thought that God Emperor Helong would've come up with a similar technique, the [God Emperor's Apocalypse] art?" Ning nodded. This was another technique that allowed for the perfect fusion of heartforce with divine power; thanks to this technique, God Emperor Helong had reached a level of power that surpassed that of ordinary Hegemons! This was what gave him the strength needed to take control of an otherverse and then spread his organization across three separate realmverses. His church had a total of eight Hegemons within it!

"I wonder if this mighty figure was able to survive," Ninedust said.

"Given how strong he was? It is entirely possible that he did." Still, Ning didn't feel confident in this guess. The information they had learned regarding the Sithe from the Emperor-class golems they had bound had completely shocked them… and that was probably just the tip of the iceberg!

God Emperor Helong had been very strong, yes. But compared to the Sithe? Just as the God Emperor had said; he was nothing more than an ant.

They visited one planet after another, flying from legacy to legacy and collecting them all. This vast astral river contained trillions of planets and stars, but only the 318 planets closest to the flying vessel had legacies.

A grand total of 318 Hegemonic legacies!

They listened to the exhortations these Hegemons had left behind for posterity. They could sense the boundless wisdom and indescribable hard work which permeated each and every legacy… and in every case, neither Ning nor Ninedust were forced to swear lifeblood oaths.

"Whew." Ning let out a long sigh. He felt as though he was releasing a pent-up sense of pressure which had been weighing on his heart.

"None of them required lifeblood oaths. In other words, we are allowed to transmit all 318 Hegemonic legacies as we please." Ninedust sighed in amazement. "We're actually given free reign."

Ning was excited as well. So many techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts… and they were allowed to transmit them as they pleased! His homeland, the Three Realms, would now have a true foundation for it to grow to incredible heights!

"These seniors probably WANTED us to transmit them," Ning said. "If the cultivator civilizations were truly defeated in that great war, there would naturally be a need to produce more cultivators of great power. For the sake of this war, they had already cast off even their fear of death; they naturally wouldn't mind others transmitting their legacies."

"But in the end, our side won the war." Ninedust sighed with emotion. "Thus, every single modern-day organization is extremely protective of its precious legacies and absolutely refuse to transmit them casually to others."

"In the past, the cultivator civilizations were facing a total war against the Sithe. The Sithe have been destroyed long ago, and so the cultivator civilizations naturally turned against each other instead." Ning shook his head. An outside threat would prompt internal unity, but once the threat was dealt with? The internal strife would appear once more.

Even a place as small as the Three Realms had fierce civil wars. Hell, even tiny clans had internal strife, to say nothing of a place as vast as the Endless Territories! The various realmverses most likely battled against each other as well. For example, the Dark Kingdom consisted of refugees who had fled from another realmverse. As a result, they were ostracized and oppressed by the locals of the Endless Territories.

"Darknorth," Ninedust said solemnly.

"Eh?" Ninedust looked at him.

"We absolutely cannot just hand out these legacies willy-nilly," Ninedust said. "Once a major power realizes what we have, we'll be in serious trouble."

"Agreed. Every single organization's foundation rests upon its powerful experts and its precious legacies." Ning nodded solemnly.

"After we leave, I'm planning to take a trip back home," Ninedust said seriously. "I'm going to write down and transcribe all of the legacies we've acquired. I'll let my avatar hold onto them, and I won't make them public. Only if I die or after I complete my Daomerge attempt will I transmit these things to the rest of the Ancients."

Ninedust let out a sigh. "These legacies will have an absolutely enormous impact. If I make them public too soon, it'll probably have certain repercussions for me. After I complete my Daomerge, I'll have nothing else to worry about… and if I die, I also won't have anything to worry about."

"I won't be in a hurry to transmit them either." Ning nodded. "My homeland is still far too weak." In the end, he was going to give these legacies to the Three Realms, but it couldn't be rushed. Ning was preparing to first slowly introduce to the Three Realms the more shallow techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts that were suitable for Daolords of the First Step! As for the more profound ones? He would take it slow. If he died, then he would naturally arrange for the full transmission.

Legacies from over three hundred Hegemons… this brought an enormous sense of pressure to both Ning and Ninedust. Neither dared to transmit them casually. In the end, they were still too weak; only if they reached Hegemony themselves would they have nothing to fear.

Atop a planet. Ning and Ninedust were in secluded meditation within a temporal thatched cottage and a temporal log cabin. Both needed time to properly 'digest' these legacies.

The towering battle-intent which the Hegemons had infused into their messages was actually a form of tempering for them as well, causing both of their Dao-hearts to change slightly.

"With these things, my chances of succeeding in the Daomerge have increased once again." Ninedust walked out of the temporal log cabin, a smile on his face.

A Voidsea Jadeseal, an Autarch's Dao-guidance, and over three hundred Hegemonic legacies. Ninedust was starting to feel more and more confident.

"Eh? Darknorth is still meditating? He's quite a bit slower than me." Ninedust chuckled, then turned to glance at the flying tower. "Time to test out those Silver Daolords again."

Swoosh. Ninedust soared into the skies. Although he was still far weaker than a Silver Daolord, he would at least be able to keep himself safe. This was a good opportunity for him to temper himself.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 4 – The Strange Planet

Ji Ning needed much more time to 'digest' these legacies than Ninedust, because Ninedust had already reached the Verge as a Daolord. All he needed to do was to perfect his Dao and accumulate more experience so as to improve his odds of succeeding at the Daomerge. Ning, however, was different. He was just a Daolord of the Third Step, which meant he needed many more insights. He naturally had to carefully immerse himself in these Hegemonic legacies.

"We really have gained tremendously from this visit." Ning emerged from his temporal cottage, then stared at the flying tower off in the distance. "Legacies from over three hundred Hegemons… this will be of enormous help to both me and the Three Realms."

The divine abilities were useless to Ning, but the secrets arts were extremely useful. Although he did have a secret art bestowed by that dead Sword Hegemon from the otherverse, these three hundred-plus Hegemons bestowed far more. In fact, there were four who were focused on the Dao of the Sword! Ning ended up choosing a secret art that suited him the most.

"Once I become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, I'll simultaneously train in both of these secret arts! Once I use the two of them via my Yin-Yang Sword Domain, they'll mutually reinforce and support each other…" Ning was quite eager to see what would happen. There was a certain finesse to choosing secret arts, and the more powerful a secret art was the more requirements it had with regards to the level of the wielder's insights into the Dao.

The nine novessence arts, for example, needed one to be able to perfectly master and merge together nine types of Dao lightning. Ninedust's Ripplewater art required incredible insight into the Dao of Water. The Sword Hegemon's secret art and this new secret art which Ning had chosen were both focused on the Dao of the Sword. Both required the wielder to know a great deal regarding that Dao.

"Ninedust," Ning called out loudly. His voice traversed the flows of space and passed into the ears of the distant Ninedust, who was battling more than a hundred million kilometers off in the distance.

"Haha…" Ninedust hurriedly retreated, pulling away from the Silver Daolord as he glanced backwards. "Darknorth, you finally came out."

"Judging from the way you just fought, you've perfected your ultimate attacks even further. That supremely aggressive staff-stance, you executed with water-like fluidity. This shows that your mastery of the Dao of Water has improved." Ning flew over like a streak of light, quickly arriving next to Ninedust as he spoke in praise.

"Twenty-five out of those hundreds of Hegemons were skilled in the Dao of Water, allowing me to benefit greatly from their insights. I feel as though my chances at the Daomerge are growing better and better," Ninedust said smugly. "I feel as though I have a ten percent chance."

Ten percent. It sounded puny, but Daolords normally had less than a hundredth of a percent at completing the Daomerge!

"Congratulations!" Ning revealed a delighted look. He truly did feel happy for Ninedust. As for himself, although he had gained the Autarch's Dao-guidance and also reviewed the many legacies of the Hegemons, his path was still that of the Omega Sword Dao; it was a path that was untold times more difficult than the one which Ninedust had chosen! There was a limit to how much benefit these other legacies would be to him. None of those Hegemons had chosen an Omega Dao, and so his chances at the Daomerge still remained as infinitesimally small as ever.

If he failed his Daomerge while Ninedust succeeded, he would ask Ninedust to help take care of the Three Realms. If a Hegemon watched over it, its inhabitants would have a much easier life.

"How about you? You must've gained even more insights than me," Ninedust said.

"I'm not quite there yet, but I feel close to a breakthrough," Ning said. After distilling the experiences of over three hundred Hegemons, Ning had gained quite a few new insights into his Heavenbreaker stance. He wasn't too far away from reaching the fourth stage of it.

"That's enough chatting. I'm gonna go spar a bit against those Silver Daolords." Ning immediately manifested three heads and six arms, then charged towards the flying tower with six Northbow swords at the ready.

A few moments later, an onyx humanoid standing at the top of the flying tower ordered for three silver Daolords to attack.

"He dares to come again?"

"Kill him."

"Kill this Daolord." The three Silver Daolords charged towards Ning, with Ning coming to a halt close to the outer perimeter and engaging them in a battle there. When he sensed that he wasn't able to hold on any longer, he would immediately retreat outside of the perimeter. That way, the Silver Daolords would withdraw as well.

Ning and Ninedust both understood what Autarch Bolin's intentions were. Autarch Bolin had created this world, then had his hundreds of Hegemon retainers leave down their legacies, precisely so that he could ensure the future cultivators would have access to good Immortal techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts.

He had even gone so far as to make simulacra of the Sithe's Black Emperors and Silver Daolords… all of this was for the sake of improving the combat power of the cultivators!

"He truly poured his heart into this," Ning sighed with emotion.

"Darknorth! Darknorth!" After several years of battling, Ninedust suddenly called out, "We haven't paid that flying vessel a visit yet. Shouldn't we go inside and take a look?"

"Autarch Bolin didn't say that the vessel held any treasures within it," Ning said. The stone stele had only mentioned that one could spar against the simulated Sithe and acquire legacies from the Hegemons.

"We should still go take a look. Doing nothing but sparring against Silver Daolords is kind of boring anyhow; by now, I understand every single technique they use," Ninedust said.

"True. Battling is rather pointless by now." Ning agreed with this assessment. When fighting against three Silver Daolords, he often found himself unable to hold on and thus was forced to retreat! But this wasn't due to him being at a lower level of insight; in fact, he was on a higher level than all three of them. The problem was that his foes were incredibly fast and strong, and there was no answer for that. This made sparring against them of limited use to Ning.

"Let's be careful," Ning warned.

"It should be fine. Autarch Bolin wouldn't have set up traps for us," Ninedust said. Still, he chose to send one of his Emperor-class golems to scout first.

The flying vessel was completely empty inside. There were no traps inside, nor were there any treasures. There was just a line of words left behind on the inner walls:

"The only way to break through from Hegemony and reach Autarchy is to accumulate sufficient experience. Aside from this, there are no other paths."

This line of words was filled with stately majesty. Clearly, they had been left behind by Autarch Bolin himself.

"Accumulate sufficient experience?" Ning and Ninedust stared at the line of words for a long time.

"Let's not dwell on it too much. The greatest challenge standing in front of us is the Daomerge." Ning smiled. "Let's worry about this after succeeding in the Daomerge."

"Agreed." Ninedust nodded. "Oh, right. Darknorth, we've spent this entire time in the area around the flying vessel; we haven't explored the other parts of this world. To tell you the truth, there's a limit to how much this place is going to be use to us. I'm planning to explore this area a bit; if there's nothing else here, I'm going to leave! But of course, if you want to dally here a bit longer I can wait on a nearby planet and train there until you are ready to go."

"This place isn't of much use to me either." Ning agreed. "Come, let's walk around and see what there is to see. After that, we'll leave."

This world which the Autarch had created was extremely large. Ning and Ninedust stood within the void above it.

"Heartworld, descend!" With but a thought, Ning send his vast heartworld projection rumbling downwards. It quickly spread out in every direction to encompass the entire planet.

"And?" Ninedust asked.

"The other parts of this world are completely empty and devoid of all things." Ning pointed off into the distance. "The only exception is over there. The astral river seems to pass through this entire world, and there's something inside it that radiates an aura of incredible power. Not even my heartworld projection is able to infiltrate it at all."

"Oh? It seems we need to spend a bit of time looking into this astral river." Ninedust was filled with excitement.

"Let's go." Swoosh! Swoosh! The two immediately entered the astral river and began to fly through it. The flying vessel, the flying tower, and the 318 small planets had been nothing more than a small part of this vast astral river which permeated the enormous world they were in.

"There are countless stars here, but they all seem quite ordinary." Ninedust was rather disappointed by what he found. By now, they had already been flying for more than three months and had searched through nearly half the astral river.

Rumble…

Far away, there was an enormous planet that was slowly revolving in place, emanating an aura of oppressive majesty. Ning and Ninedust were able to vaguely sense it even from a great distance, causing their eyes to narrow. It must be remembered that all of the other planets were tiny, merely ten thousand kilometers or so in size. The vast planet they could vaguely see off in the distance, however, had to be at least ten billion kilometers in diameter.

"What an enormous planet, and what a powerful aura! So the astral river actually has such a special locale inside of it?" Ning and Ninedust exchanged a glance, then immediately flew towards it. As they moved closer, they were able to see it with increasing clarity.

This planet was quite unique. On one side, it had a blazing red sea of flames that emanated an aura of incredible heat. The flamewaves which roiled that side were actually filled with the ripples of the Dao itself, with every single wave containing an amount of force comparable to a full-strength strike from a Daolord of the Fourth Step. This caused Ning and Ninedust to feel shocked.

The other side of the planet was an endless stream of deep-blue water that emanated an aura of infinite cold. This cold similarly radiated Dao-ripples of equal power to the other side.

"What an unusual planet." Ning was rather surprised. One side was filled with a sea of flames, the other was filled with an icy sea of water. Both sides emanated the profound mysteries of the Dao. As for the hemispheric intersection where the hot and cold energies met and clashed against each other, an endless dense line of mist appeared.

Deep within the mist, they could vaguely make out the crown of a massive tree, as well as see a few long, skinny, fiery-red fruits hanging from the top.

"Judging from those leaves… that should be one of the eight types of sacred bloodfruit, the 'omnigeddon bloodfruit'. But… these fruits look rather strange. And, generally speaking, a single omnigeddon bloodfruit tree should have just three fruits per harvest. I can already see roughly six of those fruits sprouting from the crown of the tree, and that's with the rest of it shrouded by mist." Ning was puzzled. "Is it some other type of fruit? Ninedust, can you recognize this fruit tree?"

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 5 – Surrounded by Observers

"Judging from the trunk, the branches, the leaves, and the aura of the fruit…" Ninedust frowned in puzzlement as well. "Yeah, that should definitely be an omnigeddon bloodfruit tree." He was an Ancient cultivator who had a very high level of status within the race; as a result, he knew most of the precious materials and ingredients in the Chaosverse.

"But something feels off." Ji Ning frowned.

"Yes, omnigeddon bloodfruits are round and slick; they don't look long and skinny like that. In addition, there's way too many fruits… and the tree itself seems to be a bit too large," Ninedust said.

Ning blinked. Right. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but ordinary omnigeddon bloodfruit trees were roughly just thirty meters tall. The crown of the mist-shrouded tree off in the distance, however, had to be over three million meters tall!

"Although it does look a bit odd, this tree is definitely a priceless treasure." Ninedust's gaze turned heated with eagerness. "Judging from the auras of those bloodfruits, they have to be quite extraordinary."

"Let's go take a look," Ning said. The two didn't hesitate, immediately flying carefully into the deep mist. Soon, they descended upon the area just outside the fog-shrouded region, the place where blazing heat met scorching cold and produced that mist. Ning and Ninedust were still able to see several tens of thousands of kilometers into the fog-shrouded region.

Whoooosh. Scorching waves of flaming heat washed over them from one side, while frigid waves of icy energy swept towards them from the other side. Ning and Ninedust descended upon the thin, narrow strip of land where the two elemental seas met and collided.

"Oh, a few more kids have come to test their luck." A hoarse, grating voice that sounded like knives and swords grinding against each other suddenly rang out.

Ning and Ninedust were both badly startled. They hurriedly turned to look towards the direction of the voice, only to see the distant fog quickly begin to dissipate. A streak of deep blue light which was even denser than the fog came surging out of it, tearing the fog apart. Ning and Ninedust soon saw a strange deep blue creature that looked like a sea dragon crawl onto the thin 'bank' between the two sides of the world. It stared straight at Ning and Ninedust with its dark-gold eyes.

This dark blue dragon seemed to have been completely sculpted out of freezing ice, and it radiated a cold aura of incredible power. Most likely, even second-tier Daolords would end up having their truesouls frozen solid and then shattered, resulting in their deaths, unless they had particularly powerful life-preserving methods.

"Haha, intriguing. Two young fellows, come to play. Things are finally getting interesting." A deep, rumbling laugh rang out from other side as well, and Ning and Ninedust both hurriedly turned to look.

The dense mist split apart once more, and from the other side of the bank appeared a muscular, four-hooved equine of fire which began to walk towards Ning and Ninedust.

The deep blue dragon and the fiery equine looked at Ning and Ninedust with some curiosity.

"Darknorth, this place definitely holds some secrets." Ninedust grew rather nervous as he sent mentally, "These two are incredibly strong and pose an incredible threat. I'm worried that I won't be a match for them at all."

"We'll match them blow for blow." Ning remained quite calm. These two strange beasts brought a sense of pressure to him as well, but he still felt confident in his abilities to stay alive.

Ninedust suddenly called out loudly, "Greetings, seniors."

"Oh, how nice. A junior who understands the proper way to behave." The deep blue dragon lowered its giant draconic head to peer downwards at Ning and Ninedust. "After all these chaos cycles, the Aeonians have finally sent another Daolord over! But… you two don't look like Aeonians. Have the Aeonians realized that they are outmatched and elected to ask outsiders for help?"

"The Aeonians truly are useless." The flaming equine said with a snicker, "They have this world all to themselves, but they haven't been able to produce so much as a single truly powerful expert. As far as Emperors go? They don't even have a Hegemon! As for Daolords, all of theirs are mediocre."

"Since the two of you are Daolords, we'll follow the same rules as always. If you can defeat the two of us, we won't bar your path," the deep blue sea dragon said.

"You only have to defeat the two of us." The flaming equine was quite eager as well.

Ning and Ninedust both were intrigued by this. They were starting to understand. "Seniors," Ning said, "Do we have to defeat you individually, or shall we fight in a group?"

"You two kids can come against us, one at a time." The sea dragon let out a chuckle. "Fight me first, then against the fiery guy over there. If you can defeat the two of us separately, you'll be allowed to do as you please."

"AWOOO! Stop sleeping! All of you, get over here!" The flaming equine lifted its head up and let out a mighty howl which echoed throughout every inch of this planet.

Whoooooosh. The entire vast planet suddenly began to tremble and rumble as the two great seas on both sides began to shake.

One deep blue sea dragon after another began to fly out of the deep blue seas, while more and more flaming equines flew out of the sea of flames. They differed in size and strength, with the large ones having auras that were even more terrifying than the two in front of Ning. The smaller ones were a bit weaker.

Nearly a hundred of the sea dragons and the flaming equines ended up appearing. They all looked over to this area, watching rather excitedly.

"This is utterly terrifying." Ninedust was badly frightened by this. He immediately sent to Ning, "There were actually this many creatures hidden within this planet? If they were all to attack in unison… I'm afraid that only Hegemons would be able to survive."

"Yes." Ning sensed the terrifying danger the two groups posed. These beasts were simply too strong; neither he nor Ninedust could possibly resist them.

To be surrounded and watched by so many of those beasts… Ning and Ninedust both felt a sense of great pressure.

"These are members of our race," the deep blue sea dragon in front of Ning said. "Don't worry. Since you two are merely Daolords, they will only stand off to one side and watch. If an Emperor came, they would have to defeat both of our races in order to proceed! As mere Daolords, beating the two of us will suffice. Otherwise, you can forget about leaving with any of the treasures on this planet."

"Which of you two will be the first to attack?" The flaming equine was starting to grow impatient.

Ning and Ninedust both felt rather stunned. Ninedust sent mentally, "The Aeonians do not have any Hegemons. It seems as though they are not able to defeat these two races, and I can't even imagine how long it would take before they are able to give birth to a Daolord capable of defeating these two beasts without assistance."

"Yes. I'll go first and see just how tough these beasts are," Ning said.

"It'll be up to you. I have no shot at all," Ninedust said helplessly. His subconscious was screaming danger at him, ensuring that he understood that he was no match whatsoever for these two beasts.

The two massive beasts standing at each end of the thin strip of land squinted at the tiny little dot in front of them. Far away, within the two vast seas, the two races of nearly two hundred terrifying beasts all watched with interest.

"I'll go first," Ning said aloud.

"Good." The deep blue sea dragon grinned widely. "Come forward, young fellow."

Ning instantly manifested three heads and six arms, bringing his six Northbow swords to the ready. Swoosh! Ning instantly charged into the skies, moving far faster than a hundred times the speed of light.

"Heeey. Pretty fast!" The sea dragon's eyes lit up. It instantly and excitedly waved its right paw, sending it striking towards Ning at more than a hundred times the speed of light. This claw-strike emanated a bone-chilling cold that pierced towards Ning's tiny little frame.

Ning moved in an almost ghostly manner. He merely had to gently rap the flat of his blade against the right claw to force it aside, then charged straight towards the sea dragon's flank.

"This Daolord isn't bad."

"He's pretty tough."

"The Aeonian Daolords themselves are far too weak. I wonder where they managed to find such a formidable young fellow to help them out?" The two races of beasts watched from the distant seas with interest, commenting as the battle proceed.

"Break!" Ning stabbed straight towards the sea dragon's flank, his Northbow sword immediately executing his Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop. A mist-formed sword tore through the skies, stabbing straight at the deep blue flank. The sea dragon didn't just look as though it had been sculpted out of an enormous piece of ice, it actually WAS covered by layers of thick, dense ice.

Slash! The tip of the sword stabbed into the ice, just barely managing to leave behind a tiny little wound on the outermost layer of the ice. Moments later, cold energy flowed forwards and quickly restored the damage down.

Whooosh. The deep blue sea dragon's vast body suddenly flew backwards, coiling like a whip then snapping forward through the skies as it caused a vast illusory wave to appear in the skies.

It was simply too fast and too massive. There was no chance for Ning to dodge at all. He immediately used his six Northbow swords to defend as the sea dragon slammed its massive bulk straight against Ning.

BOOM! It was like using a giant whip to swat a tiny mosquito. Ning felt an enormous amount of power spread throughout his entire body, sending him flying backwards uncontrollably. He smashed into the distant ground, creating a giant crevice that was more than a thousand kilometers long.

"Eh? He didn't die, did he?" The deep blue sea dragon hovered there in the skies, peering downwards with concern. Only when he could sense that Ning was still unharmed did he relax slightly.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 6 – Understood

Ji Ning had already flown out of the long crevice and landed next to it. Naturally, he was completely unharmed; after spending hundreds of millions of years within the Sithe ruine inside the Stone Hellephant Wall, he had long ago trained his body to make it comparable to high-grade Eternal weapons. On top of that, he also had his Hegemon armor! Even if he didn't use sword-arts to block, he'd still be able to take this hit. When you factored in how powerful his defensive sword-arts were… the only reason he had even been sent flying was because the sea dragon had snapped its body like a whip, generating such enormous momentum that he couldn't help but fly backwards.

"Such power." Ning raised his head to stare seriously at the deep blue sea dragon in the skies.

"Haha, I'm glad you didn't die. I was afraid I would've beaten you to death with a single whap. That would've been boring." The sea dragon coiling in the air peered downwards at Ning, its voice booming.

"Darknorth, can you beat it?" Ninedust asked mentally.

Ning had a solemn look on his face. "It'll be a bit difficult. It's not so bad when it stays still, but when it starts to move its entire body strikes like a supple, long whip. Its movements are extremely unpredictable, and I wasn't able to dodge in time. That's why I was knocked flying." He had reached the fourth stage of his Shadowless stance long ago, and his movements were extremely unpredictable… but he had still been knocked flying by the sea dragon. Ning understood that this meant the sea dragon's movements were every bit as ghostly and unpredictable as his own!

"Grow!" Ning roared loudly. Whoosh! Ning's divine body began to dramatically grow in size, towering to become a titanic mountain-sized giant with three heads and six arms. Each of the six Northbow swords in his hands transformed to become utterly massive as well.

"Oh, he grew bigger?" The sea dragon watched curiously.

"We're too close to each other at my normal size; I don't have enough time to dodge." Ning's voice boomed out, "My only choice is to grow bigger and stay a good distance away from you; that way, I might be able to avoid some attacks."

The farther away they were from each other, the more space Ning would have to maneuver in.

"You know, young fellow, I'm most confident in my agility and in my unpredictability. Come, let's dance again." The sea dragon suddenly charged downwards. Whoosh! Its sinuous body lashed out like a whip, leaving behind an arc in the skies as it charged straight towards Ning.

Ning hurriedly moved backwards while using one of his mist-formed swords in a ghostly block. Clank! The sword-light clashed against the sea dragon's claws.

Whoosh! The sea dragon's tail came lashing towards Ning with shadowy speed! Space itself seemed to be torn apart by this strike, which was so fast as to render Ning speechless.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Ning hurriedly retreated while executing his Omega Sword Dao – Soleheart. Fortunately, he himself was also quite unpredictably agile and he also moved more than a hundred times faster than the speed of light.

The sea dragon let out a mighty roar as it coiled around itself. Is tail swept outwards as its upper body dove downwards, sending its fierce draconic claws straight towards Ning.

Boom! Boom! Fortunately, Ning had three heads and six arms, allowing him to just barely block this draconic strike. However, the sea dragon suddenly opened its massive draconic maws and then bit down towards Ning! Ning hurriedly retreated backwards to avoid this terrifying bite. Boom! The sea dragon charged headfirst-towards Ning, delivering a headbutt against the fleeing Ning and sending him flying even further backwards. He only came to a halt after flying a great distance, at which point Ning flew back to the field of battle.

"Too fast and too slippery." Ning's head was starting to hurt. The sea dragon's entire body was covered with extremely thick layers of frozen ice, which meant that there were no weaknesses to exploit at all. Every single part of its body could be used as a weapon! It was also incredibly fast and slippery, capable of unleashing consecutive combination attacks without pause.

"I've always relied on my speed and unpredictable attacks to achieve victory, but this sea dragon just so happens to be superior to me in these areas…" Ning frowned. "It seems my only choice is to break through using raw power. I suppose I'll give it a try."

Break through with overwhelming, raw power in a frontal strike! It didn't matter how unpredictable the enemy's attacks were if you could just barrel straight forwards with an unstoppable strike; so long as the attack landed, the enemy would be defeated!

The reason why Ning had yet to use his Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker was because of what had happened during his first clash against the deep blue sea dragon. His Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop had only been able to drill a tiny wound into the thick layers of ice covering the sea dragon's body. Ning had gotten a vague sense of how terrifyingly tough that armor of ice was, and thus he didn't feel confident in his Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker and its chances.

However, he was out of options. He had to give it a try.

"This kid is pretty fast, and his sword-arts are also quite ghostly. Although he's at a disadvantage, at least he's able to put up a good fight."

"It's quite rare for us to encounter such a formidable Daolord."

"Interesting, interesting."

"It seems as though his protective divine ability is also quite formidable. He has yet to take any injuries at all."

The nearly two hundred beasts who were watching in the two vast seas were all quite interested in this battle, and they chatted while watching.

"Darknorth's been shut down." Ninedust was starting to grow anxious. "We actually ran into something that has even weirder attacks than him and which is just as fast as him."

"Again!" Ning bellowed. This time, his demeanor was completely different. He put away his other five Northbow swords, leaving just one sword behind. All six of his arms tightly clenched the sole remaining sword.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Ning began to run across the ground. His speed wans't that fast, less than a hundred times the speed of light, but as he ran his aura seemed to grow increasingly powerful. The most important aspect to the Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker lay in the accumulation of power! Only after accumulating enough power could you then unleash it in a terrifying blow; only then could Ning unleash his true, most powerful strike.

"Eh?" The airborne sea dragon was slightly startled upon seeing this, then grew excited: "His aura seems to have become quite savage! But I'll have to test it out myself to see just how strong he is. I hope he doesn't disappoint." The sea dragon let out an excited roar, then swooped downwards and charged straight towards Ning. It didn't move to dodge, nor did it feel the need to.

Ning continued to bound forwards, his momentum and aura having reached an apex. Riiiiiip! The sea dragon struck out with a pair of draconic claws, tearing downwards through the sky at Ning.

"Now… BREAK for me!" Ning roared loudly. All six of his hands were clenched tightly around his sword as he raised it up high, pouring more and more energy into it. It had already transformed into a thick, blurry pillar of mist-formed sword energy of incredible weight and density. Ning then delivered a furious downwards chop, causing the thick pillar of mist to suddenly explode! It was like the bursting of a volcano, with all of his power and might exploding forth from the strike.

The stately thick pillar of mist-formed sword energy seemed to have suddenly exploded and transformed into a dazzling star that had gone supernova. All of its power was unleashed in an instant as it smashed directly against the draconic claws.

BOOOOM! A terrifying shockwave of force blasted out, causing Ning to be knocked backwards. This time, he was sent flying even faster than before!

The sea dragon had previously been quite excited, but the terrifying collision caused even its body to tremble. The mighty shockwave swept across its entire body, flipping it upside down and sending it flying backwards as well. Moments later, a series of cracking sounds could be heard as the ice over its body began to splinter and crack, making it look almost like a turtle shell. Some of the shattered pieces of ice actually began to fall off of it!

Alas, the creature quickly righted itself and brought itself to a halt in the skies. Its body had previously glistened beautifully, but it was now covered with countless ugly cracks and scars that spanned its entire body. However, a dense aura of cold energy quickly spread out to cover its body, causing the cracks and tears to quickly heal. In less time than was needed to take a single breath, the many ugly wounds had been completely healed.

"It healed that fast?" The spectating Ninedust was speechless. "This is going to be trouble."

"Haha, again!" Ning had been blown backwards, but he charged straight forwards with an indomitable aura, roaring with high-spirited laughter.

He still held just a single sword in his six arms, and like Pangu cleaving apart Heaven from Earth he once more delivered a furious frontal chop with endless might!

"Excellent, excellent! It's been so long since I've had this much fun." The deep blue sea dragon charged forwards as well. This time, it lashed out with its massive tail in a swatting blow at Ning, smashing it straight against Ning's sword. BOOM! The two were once more sent flying backwards. This time, the sea dragon was prepared and thus it suffered slightly fewer wounds and cracks to its body. The ones that did appear once more healed quite quickly.

"Again."

"Yes, again!"

Ning was filled with the desire to do battle. He charged forwards repeatedly, using raw, overwhelming force to clash straight against the deep blue sea dragon. The sea dragon started off quite excited by this fight, but it quickly grew resigned and bored… it didn't want to fight head-on against Ning, but it simply had no way to avoid Ning's straightforward and dominating Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker. Ning was far less agile than it was, after all.

"I want to see just how long your divine power and Immortal energy will be able to hold on for!" The deep blue sea dragon started to grow angry, and it rammed straight against Ning time and time again.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The two clashed repeatedly, causing the two groups of beasts watching from the two seas to become rather puzzled.

"What's going on with that Daolord? He knows there's no way to win like this, so why is he doing this?"

"It does seem rather odd."

"He won't be able to win like this. He won't be able to win unless he can smash open the frozen ice with a single blow."

Ning was no fool, of course. However, when he had first used his Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker to clash head-on against the deep blue sea dragon, the furious yet exhilarating feelings had caused him to gain a spark of insight! He began to gain more and more insights, which was why he continued to furiously unleash his Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker against the sea dragon, hoping to be able to finally catapault his Heavenbreaker stance to the fourth stage.

BOOM! With the ninety-eighth collision, Ning's face lit up with excitement as he flew backwards. "I understand now! I finally understand!"

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 7 – Autarch's Decree

Ji Ning finally saw the light, and his Heavenbreaker stance broke through to the fourth stance. Now… his Blood Drop stance, Shadowless stance, Heavenbreaker stance, Yin-Yang stance, and Soleheart stance had all broken through to the fourth stage. These five stances were linked together and reinforced each other, giving Ning a sense of perfection and completeness. However… he knew that this sense of perfection wasn't the true apex! Only when he perfectly fused these five stances into his Omega Sword Dao – Stage Four would they undergo a qualitative breakthrough.

"I'm just one step away… once I take that step, I'll be a Daolord of the Fourth Step! When that happens, my only consideration shall be whether or not I should engage in the Daomerge." Ning was filled with excitement.

The Daomerge? He felt as though his chances were slim; he didn't dare put too much hope into that! But once he became a Daolord of the Fourth Step, he'd become dramatically more powerful. As his understanding of the [Heartsword] art slowly improved, he'd probably surpass the level of the Archons of the Sacred Cities and close in on the Hegemon level! Emperor Heartsword had been inferior to Ning in his mastery of the Dao of the Sword, but thanks to his full mastery of all fifteen stances of the [Heartsword] art he had been extremely close to the Hegemon level.

Ning had a much greater grasp of the Dao of the Sword, and he had also reached an extremely high level in the [Heartsword] art; it was entirely possible for him to one day become equal to Hegemons in power!

With that level of power, he would be able to go off adventuring… and perhaps he might be able to find something that he could use to convince an Autarch to reverse the flows of spacetime and revive Yu Wei.

"Once I take that final step and become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, I'll go and challenge the Azureflower Estate once more! The destiny which awaits me there is definitely an extraordinary one." Ning eagerly anticipated the coming of that day… but everything had to wait for him to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step first! Although he had already reached the fourth stage in all five of his stances, he had to merge them together into his final Omega Sword Dao.

How long would this step take? It could be as fast as the next instant… but could also be as slow as a chaos cycle or even a hundred chaos cycles!

"Eh?" The airborne sea dragon peered downwards at the white-robed youth, realizing that the youth had come to a halt. It let out a rumbling shout, "Kid, you tired from all the fighting? You were fighting me head-on like crazy. I imagine you must've used up a great deal of your divine power and Immortal energy."

The distant Ning smiled slightly. "Let's do it again. If you can still withstand my strike, I'll stop the fight." His voice echoed throughout the air.

"Darknorth… did he…?" The distant Ninedust was truly shocked as he watched this.

"Why is this young fellow suddenly saying something so bold?"

"Did he come up with a way to gain victory?"

"Let's see just what he's planning."

The two races of beasts in the two seas watched curiously from afar. They wanted to see just what technique Daolord Darknorth would use in this final clash.

Boom! Ning suddenly moved with incomparable savagery, transforming into a streak of light that shot straight towards the distant deep blue sea dragon. The three-headed, six-armed Ning once more wrapped all six hands around the hilt of the Northbow sword, filling it with an aura of overwhelming might as he transformed it into a dominating mist-formed sword.

"This technique again?"

"Isn't that what he used previously?"

Everyone was puzzled. Even the sea dragon fighting against Ning was confused, but it didn't hesitate; it let out an enraged howl and charged forwards. Ning's own agility and sword-arts made it hard for it to dodge, and so it chose to meet the attack head-on.

Whoosh! As the sea dragon charged towards Ning, it suddenly swept out with its tail, using it to lash out at Ning like an enormous long whip. Crack!

Ning suddenly let out an earth-shaking howl! The ethereal, mist-formed sword in his hand suddenly exploded with power, instantly becoming millions of times brighter as it exploded against the sea dragon's tail.

BOOM!

As soon as the sea dragon collided against Ning's sword, it immediately knew that something was wrong! The power of the Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker was only evident in the very last instant, when it released its stored power. A slumbering volcano was very ordinary and unremarkable; one could only understand how truly terrifying it was in the moment of its explosion. The sea dragon could sense a terrifying surge of power instantly spread out to cover his entire body.

Bang! Its entire icy carapace was only able to withstand the force for a brief instant. A heartbeat later, the entire carapace shattered apart. No… more than just the icy carapace, the body inside cracked apart as well! The entire deep blue sea dragon shattered apart like a piece of ice, instantly breaking apart into countless little pieces.

As for Ning, he stumbled just thirty meters backwards. He stared intently at the shattered bits of eyes, watching as a stream of energy flew out from the freezing ice region and gathered into a blurry figure which looked much like that of the sea dragon. The illusory sea dragon looked at Ning, then let out a laugh: "My frozen form was built up over the course of countless years, but you broke it apart just like that? Impressive, impressive. You've won!"

Ning let out a sigh of relief. He watched as the illusory sea dragon continued to draw upon the icy energy of the area, slowly rebuilding its body. However, the full recovery process would take at least ten thousand years. The creature continued, "Still… even though that stance of yours was useful against me, it'll be useless against the fiery fellow over there. My forte lay in agility and unpredictability, but the fiery fellow's skills lie in overwhelmingly fierce attacks."

After speaking, the creature retreated into the deep blue seas, flying into it and then hovering above its surface. A large amount of watery energy swirled around its body, which it constantly drew upon and absorbed.

"Won."

"He actually won."

"That sword-strike was quite ferocious. He smashed the frozen form apart." The hundreds of spectator beasts were all quite surprised.

Ninedust was extremely excited. He flew straight towards Ning: "Darknorth, Darknorth, you won! Haha! These two beasts should be two matching pairs; one emanates an aura of endless cold, the other is formed from endless flames. They should be on par with each other in power! Since you were able to beat one, you should be able to beat the second one as well. I can already see your victory!"

"We can't get careless." Ning stared at the distant flaming equine, then said in a low voice, "They might be on par with each other, but one might be much easier to defeat than the other."

For example, defeating Ning would be extremely difficult. Anyone skilled in defense or who had extremely formidable protective divine abilities would all be quite difficult to defeat. Given that the sea dragon came first and the flaming equine was the second challenge, it seemed likely that in some way, shape, or form, the flaming equine would be even tougher to deal with.

"If you can defeat me, then our two races will no longer move to bar your path." The flaming equine's voice was deep and dominating. "But I'm not as easy to deal with as the frozen fellow; although those beasts have extremely hard bodies that can be used as weapons, their bodies are too easily shattered. Excessive hardness can result in brittleness. To create bodies formed from frozen ice was a fool's choice to begin with."

"No, you fire beasts are the true fools." Instantly, one of the many spectating sea dragons in the air bellowed in disagreement: "Every part of our frozen bodiescan be used as weapons. We only sent out one of the most common members of our race to spar against that young fellow. If our clan leader entered the fray, his sword wouldn't be able to leave as much as a mark behind on our leader's body!"

"Defeat is defeat." The flaming equine glanced sideways at the sea dragon, not even wanting to bother with him.

"You idiot."

"No, you guys are the idiots."

"You wanna start a fight? You wanna fight again?"

"Bitch, let's go!" The two races quickly began to squabble against each other. Both sides were boiling with the eagerness to do battle, a sight which stupefied both Ning and Ninedust.

What Ning and Ninedust didn't understand was that this planet had no other living beings, and so the two races which lived on it had nothing better than to do when bored than to battle against each other! They'd fight until the skies themselves turned dark and the world itself turned old. To them, fighting against each other was as normal as eating or drinking.

"Let's not be too hasty." An ancient voice rang out from one of the deep blue sea dragons in the skies. This sea dragon looked quite ordinary, but its aura was so reserved and stately that Ning hadn't even noticed it earlier. The sea dragon continued, "The Autarch's decree was that we were to live here and prevent cultivators from entering that place! If you want to fight, you can fight later; we have business to finish first."

"Agreed. We have business to finish first." A similar order came from a stately flaming equine on the other side of the planet.

The two races quickly calmed down and fell silent. As for Ning and Ninedust, they were intrigued; the 'Autarch's decree'? It seemed as though this place had also been set up in accordance with an Autarch's plans… but why had none of it been written down on the stone stele?

"Come, then." The flaming equine stood in the air above that narrow strip of land, its body blazing with flames so hot that the air around it was bubbling.

"Let's." Ning instantly transformed into a streak of light as he shot over towards the flaming equine.

The flaming equine moved as well, its four hooves galloping across the air itself as it suddenly sped up. It immediately moved more than a hundred times the speed of light… and in fact, it was even faster than the sea dragon. Its flying speed was absolutely ferocious! It lowered its head slightly, pointing its horns straight at its foe.

BOOM! Ning once more used his most savage strike, the Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker. His sword shot out, smoting furiously upon the flaming equine's skull! As for the equine, it didn't dodge at all; it just continued its headlong charge.

An enormous explosion rang out! The flaming equine trembled slightly as it staggered more than three hundred meters backwards, while Ning was actually blasted more than a thousand kilometers away before Ning came to a halt. Ning was secretly shocked: "Just like the sea dragon said… this beast specializes in overwhelmingly ferocious attacks. It really is ferocious; it's even stronger than my Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker! Perfect! Only foes like this are strong enough for me to temper my sword-arts."

What he needed to do was to take that one final step and become a Daolord of the Fourth Step. To do that, he needed sufficient challenges to face!

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 8 – Daolord Coldsky

"Gwaaaaaar!" The flaming equine's entire body was covered in flames as it galloped across the skies towards Ji Ning with frenetic momentum.

BOOM! Ning transformed into a streak of light, clashing against the flaming equine time and time again in midair. Sometimes he fought it head-on, sometimes he used unpredictable movements, and sometimes he completely disappeared into thin air… but once he moved closer to the creature, he was forced to show himself by its blazing flames!

This was an incredibly exciting battle. The shockwaves generated by the repeated collisions blasted out in every direction, causing Ninedust to repeatedly move backwards as he watched.

"Such power! Darknorth is growing stronger and stronger." Ninedust was excited by what he saw.

"Interesting."

"They've fought to a standstill?"

"The flame beast holds an advantage in power, while the kid holds an advantage in unpredictability. Still… based on what I can tell, this battle should be depleting quite a bit of the kid's divine power and Immortal energy. Once a bit more time passes, it'll be hard for the kid to stay in top fighting form, whereas his opponent can draw from the energy of the endless sea of flames. It'd be easy for him to stay in battle for ten years or even a hundred years without resting. If things proceed like this, the kid's probably going to die."

"Yes, if the young fellow wishes to win, he needs to win as soon as possible. The longer this drags out, the greater his chances of losing will be." The two races of beasts watching from the sidelines all commented with interest.

One day… two days… three days… Ning continued to battle against the flaming equine in midair, the two landing on the ground every so often to continue the battle there.

"He's definitely going to lose."

"Look! His sword-arts aren't able to maintain that mist-form from before."

"He probably has depleted too much divine power and Immortal energy. He's unable to maintain it."

"It's been too long. He's lost." The majority of the watching beasts all came to this conclusion.

The battle between Ning and the flaming equine lasted for an extremely long period of time. By the third day, Ning gave up on using the [Heartsword] art! This was because the [Heartsword] art allowed Ning to fight the flaming equine to a standstill… and Ning had quickly discovered the flaming equine's flaws! Whenever Ning wished it, he would be able to quickly defeat the creature.

However… Ning's greatest goal was to break through to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step. What he needed was a good opponent to temper himself against! This was why, after the third day, he pretended to be exhausted and stopped using the [Heartsword] art. Without it strengthening him, his power instantly dropped by half! This caused him to immediately be at a disadvantage and be suppressed by the flaming equine.

"This is perfect. Now, I can truly test out my sword-arts. Mm… yes, I see many more flaws in my sword-arts that I previously had not discovered. I need to perfectly master and merge the mysteries of these five stances into a whole. Only then will my sword-arts be truly flawless and complete."

Ning was being dominated and beaten down, but this only showed him more clearly the weaknesses in his sword-arts. His mind was now filled with many new insights… but these insights weren't enough! He would need far more if he wished to merge his five stances into the fourth stage of the Omega Sword Dao and then become a Daolord of the Fourth Step.

In the blink of an eye, nineteen days had passed with Ning and the flaming equine locked in combat. This caused the many watching beasts to feel puzzled: "The kid's actually been able to hang on for nineteen days?"

"That couldn't have been easy. He's clearly much weaker now, but he's still been able to hold on… not bad at all."

"This will end in defeat, but an honorable one."

Ning continued to dodge and stumble about while defending with his six swords. Suddenly, his movements changed as a sharp light flashed through his eyes. "Time to bring it to an end."

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sword-light once more formed into streams of mist as the power of his strikes increased twofold! With a boom, Ning's strikes collided against the flaming equine, catching it off-guard and sending it stumbling.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Slash! Slash! Slash! Ning's six swords suddenly disappeared without a trace, reappearing much closer to the equine when its flames forced them to manifest. The six swords were like a peacock unfurling its plumage. They were absolutely incandescent yet completely ghostly in their movements.

Although the flaming equine was quite valiant and doughty, Ning had used the Heavenbreaker stance and the Blood Drop stance to break through its guard, then used the Shadowless stance to quickly wrap his swords around its bodies. The divine swords transformed to become long and flexible, coiling around the flaming beast and quickly tying the entire thing up securely.

"Impossible." The trussled flame beast had a look of disbelief on its face. "How could this have happened?"

It clearly recalled what had just happened. It had endured the Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop, Heavenbreaker, and Shadowless multiple times by now; those techniques were of no threat to it. How was it that this time, it had been defeated?

In truth, if Ning had merely used those three stances by themselves, he wouldn't have been able to pose a threat to the creature at all. However, when he used all three together in a manner where they reinforced each other, he was able to capitalize on a weakness in the flaming equine's movements and thus capture and bind it.

An effective combination of attacks could cause one to become quite a bit more dangerous.

"Again! Let's do it again! I can't accept this outcome." The flaming equine was furiously struggling against its bonds, twisting and turning while it roared angrily, "You got lucky just now! I was over-confident. Let's fight again!"

"Hmph." When Ning saw the uncowed look on the flaming equine's face, Ning silently muttered to himself, "If I didn't want to use you to temper my sword-arts, I would've captured you on the very first day."

"A defeat is a defeat," an ancient voice rang out. The stately clan leader flew out from within the ranks of the hundred or so flaming equines.

"Clan leader." The tied-up equine was still rather unwilling to accept this outcome. "I-I…"

"Just look at yourself. You've been tied up like a baby." The flaming equine turned to look at Ning. "This young fellow's sword-arts can switch between being supremely hard and supremely soft, between being fast and being slow, and is defensively impenetrable. It truly has no weaknesses at all. As soon as he unleashed his full power, he instantly captured you. Although it was partially because of your own over-confidence, even if you were careful you still probably wouldn't have been able to hold out too long."

Ning was secretly startled. The clan leader really had good judgment. It was true that part of the reason why he had been able to instantly capture the flaming equine was because he hadn't used the [Heartsword] art during the past ten-plus days. His sudden usage of it and the corresponding increase in power had caught the flaming equine off-guard, allowing him to catch it with ease. If his foe was prepared, Ning still would've been able to capture him, but it wouldn't have been nearly this easy.

"Alright." The captured equine nodded submissively. The clan leader's prestige was quite high and had a suppressive effect on it.

"Young fellow, you won. From this moment forth, our two clans will no longer stand in your path." The flaming equine leader looked at Ning.

Ning waved his hand, retracting the Northbow swords which had been wrapped around the flaming equine and drawing them back into his hands.

"These two battles have benefited me tremendously," Ning said with a respectful bow.

Whoosh. The similarly stately and reserved leader of the sea dragons flew out of deep blue sea and towards Ning. It landed next to Ning, then let out a laugh: "Hah! It has been a very, very long time since a Daolord has passed the trials."

"When was the last time a Daolord passed the trials?" Ning asked curiously.

"Very long ago, more than nine hundred thousand chaos cycles ago." The sea dragon leader peered at Ning. "I think his name was Daolord Coldsky."

"Coldsky?" Ning was puzzled.

"Daolord Coldsky? Who?" Ninedust was puzzled as well.

Anyone capable of passing this trial had to be just as strong as the current Ning. By all rights, he should've been an incredibly famous figure. Even though nearly a million chaos cycles had gone by and very few would've remembered him, people like Ning and Ninedust who had access to many historical records and secrets should've heard of him. They knew all of the most dazzling and most talented Daolords in history. Neither, however, had ever heard of an incredibly talented Daolord by the name of Daolord Coldsky.

"Back then, Daolord Coldsky said that he belonged to a different branch of the Aeonian race. He had been invited here to help out the Flamedragon branch," the sea dragon leader said.

"A different branch?" Ning and Ninedust were both shocked.

"Other realmverses also have Aeonians?" Ning was puzzled.

"The Aeonian race has quite an extraordinary background." The sea dragon leader smiled. "The ones in the Flamedragon Realmverse represent nothing more than a single branch of that race. Otherwise, how could they possibly have acquired a treasure like this 'Aeonian Kingdom'?"

Ning and Ninedust were both enlightened. Indeed, the Aeonian Kingdom was a place which not even Hegemons dared to trespass within. It really wasn't a treasure which the local Aeonians, a race which merely had a few Eternal Emperors, would'fe been able to create on their own. Ning had always believed that the Aeonians must've acquired it somewhere when adventuring. Now, it seemed, it was actually created.

"Daolord Coldsky had already failed his Daomerge, but before his death he was invited to come here to the Flamedragon Realmverse. Ignoring the cost to his vitality, he consecutively defeated two of the younger members of our two races. By the time the battles concluded, his truesoul's collapsed had been hastened to the point where he only had less than a hundred thousand years to live." The sea dragon leader shook its head and sighed. "The more monstrously talented a Daolord, the more difficult the Daomerge. A pity, what a pity."

Ning felt mixed emotions in his heart. If he failed his Daomerge, he would probably do everything he could to help the Three Realms.

Once the Daomerge was failed, one's truesoul would slowly crumble apart. If one actively avoided using divine power and Immortal energy, one might be able to live for a bit longer… but engaging in combat would result in hastening the truesoul's collapse! The more times one fought, the more quickly one's truesoul would decay and the shorter one's lifespan would become. When the truesoul finally, truly collapsed… one would die.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 9 – Omnigeddon Bloodfruit Tree

"The Flamedragon branch of the Aeonian race will generally send people once every million chaos cycles to harvest some fruit from this omnigeddon bloodfruit tree." The sea dragon leader's voice was quite calm: "That's because every million chaos cycles, this omnigeddon bloodfruit tree will be filled with a complete harvest of fruit. They'll either send their own Daolords or ask some extremely powerful Daolords to help out."

Ji Ning and Ninedust both nodded. Generally speaking, every two or three 'eras' there would be a Daolord on par with the current Ning. Some would have techniques like the [Heartsword] art, some would have Universe treasures, some would have other special weapons. Daolord Dreamlore, for example, had a very unique 'bloodblade', while Ning had an incredibly powerful Hegemon armor which was on par with the bloodblade in might. However, the Hegemon armor was obviously meant for defense. Another good example would be the six lifeblood weapons which Ning wielded; all of them had been raised to incredibly high levels.

Powerful Eternal Emperors lived extremely long lives and generally were able to raise their lifeblood weapons to extremely high levels, but Daolords had short lives. It was generally very hard for them to upgrade their lifeblood weapons significantly… but every so often, there would be a freak like Ning. Ning's Northbow swords were incredibly powerful weapons; by now, they made his Heavenbreaker stance and Blood Drop stance five times more powerful than normal! If the Daolord himself was also quite powerful, it was entirely possible for the Daolord to reach the same level as the Archons of the eight Sacred Cities.

"If my guess is correct… you weren't invited here by the Aeonians, were you?" The sea dragon leader smiled.

"What?"

"They weren't invited by the Aeonians?"

"How is this possible?" Quite a few of the airborne beasts were astonished. Most of them had assumed that Ning and Ninedust had to have been invited here by the Aeonians.

Ning and Ninedust felt their hearts lurch.

"From the moment you arrived," the flaming equine leader added, "I could tell that you know almost nothing about this place. If the Aeonians invited you here, you should be quite familiar with this place and its rules… but you didn't even know the basics about the trials and its rules."

Ning and Ninedust felt resigned. They really didn't know anything about this place. Ninedust sent mentally, "Darknorth, if these beasts attack us I'll lead you in an immediate escape."

"Don't worry, you two. We're here on the Autarch's orders to protect this place and will bar any Daolords or Emperors who seek to approach," the sea dragon leader said with a laugh. "We won't stop any who pass our trials. Whether you are an Aeonian or not is none of our business."

"Don't worry, if we wanted to kill you, we would've done so long ago." The flaming equine leader could also tell that Ning and Ninedust both had misgivings.

Ning and Ninedust were confident in their abilities. They were carrying the treasures they had acquired from the Sithe ruins, and they had the Autarch's medallion on them; their chances of fleeing were quite good.

"As juniors, we naturally will believe your words, seniors. Dare I ask… is that fruit tree over there truly an omnigeddon bloodfruit tree?" Ning asked.

"Of course it is," the flaming equine leader said.

"But… why does it seem different from the ones I'm aware of?" Ning was puzzled. "I've heard that omnigeddon bloodfruit trees are much smaller and only have three fruits at most."

"This omnigeddon bloodfruit tree is a hundred times more precious than ordinary ones," the flaming equine leader said. "Every single fruit is also far more marvelous than the ones from ordinary trees in the outside world. Haha… words don't suffice. Once you harvest the fruit and give it a close examination, you will understand."

Ning and Ninedust were speechless. Moments later, Ning grew excited. A hundred times as valuable? A single true omnigeddon bloodfruit tree was a priceless treasure that even Hegemons would go crazy over! Something a hundred times more valuable… Ning estimated that it had to approach the value of Crimsonwave Temple in worth. Even if it wasn't quite that much, it wouldn't be too far off.

"This tree is probably worth more than the networth of most Hegemons, right?" Ning couldn't help but ask.

"Of course! The Aeonian race in the Flamedragon Realmverse treat this fruit tree as something more valuable than their very lives," the flaming equine leader said.

Ning immediately came to the decision that he not only was going to harvest the fruit, he was going to uproot this tree! He was going to uproot this mysterious, unique omnigeddon bloodfruit tree and take it away with him at all costs! This mysterious tree might be enough to ask an Autarch to revive his wife. His goal was within his sight; there was no way he wasn't going to give it his all.

"Darknorth, are you thinking of uprooting the tree to save your Dao-companion?" Ninedust sent mentally.

The fact that Ning wished to rescue his lover wasn't exactly a secret. When Ning had met the leaders of the six major organizations after exiting Crimsonwave Temple, he had already asked about the price needed to reverse the flows of spacetime and revive his beloved Dao-companion. Ninedust had been present and had heard everything.

"Yes. This omnigeddon bloodfruit tree sounds as though it is quite valuable; I should be able to use it to ask an Autarch to help out! I have to take this risk!" Ning sent mentally, "Let's keep this a secret for now. If I mention taking the tree away, these two races might move to stop us. I'm planning on uprooting it at the very end. After doing so, we'll leave right away."

"Alright, I'll listen to you!" Ninedust felt happy for his friend. The omnigeddon bloodfruit tree might be quite valuable, but Ninedust really didn't care that much about it.

Ning and Ninedust began to walk towards the tree. The two clan leaders led the way in front of them, with the sea dragon leader rumbling, "We won't move to stop Daolord Darknorth, but Daolord Ninedust, you haven't passed our trials yet. We'll only permit you to stand next to him and watch. You are forbidden from taking part, much less harvesting any of the fruit. If you dare to do so, don't blame us from moving to exterminate you."

"I understand," Ninedust acknowledged. In his heart, he felt quite resigned… because his title was Daolord Redwater, not Daolord Ninedust! Alas, he didn't want to argue over it. They were going to leave soon and most likely would never meet again. Why even bother?

Soon, Ning and Ninedust arrived before the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree. "Whoah." Both of them felt quite stunned. The entire tree had to be over three million meters high, and its trunk was as thick as the pillars of heaven. As for its twisted branches, they were like sinuous dragons that were covered with glowing, vitality-filled leaves. And the fruits? It must be understood that the two of them were able to sense the rippling auras of the fruits from far away. Now that they were much closer, those ripples surged straight into their hearts and minds. Even their breathing was affected by it.

"What a fine treasure," Ning said with a praiseful sigh.

"This is far more stunning than the fruit trees we saw in Crimsonwave Temple." Ninedust sighed in amazement as well. The feeling this mysterious fruit tree gave him surpassed even the majestic aura of Hegemons!

"Only by combining all of those trees would you have something which surpassed this one. Of course it is stunning!" Ning's heart was surging with excitement.

The nearby sea dragon leader said, "The Aeonians have set up many layers of barriers around this tree. Do you have a technique to open those barriers up?"

Ning and Ninedust were startled. Ning waved his hand, sending a wave of Immortal energy out and causing the formerly invisible and hidden barriers to immediately light up. Countless runes flowed on the surfaces of those barriers, causing Ning's face to tighten. They weren't invited here by the Aeonians; they naturally had no method for opening it up.

"But they don't seem to be too strong," Ning suddenly realized with surprise. Based on what he just saw, he should be able to destroy these barriers within a short period of time with his sword-arts.

"Of course they aren't. Only Daolords have come here, and so these were personally set up by the Daolords who did make it inside," the sea dragon leader said. "They brought many formations and barriers, but unfortunately they are on automatic mode. No one is actively managing them, which weakens them even further."

Both Ning and Ninedust nodded. Formations which were actively controlled would be far more powerful. Without a controller present, they would be set to automatic and would thus naturally be much weaker.

There was nothing the Aeonians could do. Were they supposed to send Daolords to guard this place? Daolords only lived for 108,000 chaos cycles at most! Send Emperors? Eternal Emperors had zero chance of passing the trials.

"Although they aren't all that strong, there are quite a number of them. Based on what I know, the Aeonians have set up a total of over 80,000 formations here," the sea dragon leader said. "If you know the technique for unlocking the barriers, you can go through with ease. If not, you'll have to break through all 80,000 barriers before you can move next to the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree."

"If you can't break through the formations, you won't be able to harvest so much as a single fruit," the flaming equine leader said with a laugh.

Both the clan leaders smiled as they looked at Ning. They wanted to see just what this young fellow would do.

"More than 80,000?" Ning's face tightened. Just now, he was able to sense that the outermost formation was quite weak. He would probably be able to destroy it with his sword-arts, but… 80,000? How long would that take? If some of the inner barriers were tougher, things would be even more difficult.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 10 – Uprooting the Tree

The nearby Ninedust sent mentally, "Darknorth, should we use our Hegemonic treasures?"

"No, we don't have that many of them to begin with. Once we use them up, we'll be out," Ji Ning refused mentally. "We're keeping those to keep ourselves alive at critical moments. I'll try a few things out first. Even if it takes me a million years or a hundred million years, that'll be better than wasting a Hegemonic treasure. Besides… even if we did use it, it wouldn't be of that much use to us!"

Ning knew that by now, he might be at a disadvantage when fighting against an actual Archon of the Sacred Cities but he was definitely on their overall level! His Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker was capable of unleashing enormous power with a full-strength spike… and yet, it still probably wouldn't be able to burst open one of those barriers instantly. Although the Hegemonic treasures were formidable and on a higher level of power than Ning, and they would most likely be able to shatter through a number of barriers, it was likely that they would at most be able to shatter through just a thousand barriers with each go. Unfortunately, there were over 80,000 barriers here!

"Let me try first." Ning's body blurred as he transformed into his three-headed, six-armed form and drew his six Northbow swords. Ninedust stepped back to watch from the side; all he could do was watch and wait. There was nothing he could do to assist.

"Omega Sword Dao – Blood Drop!" A cold light flashed through Ning's eyes as he immediately executed his most penetrating attack.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Six streams of mist-formed energy consecutively stabbed against the exact same spot upon the barrier in front of Ning. The powerful piercing force instantly caused the outermost layer of formations to flicker with light as countless runes began to flow over its surface.

"Omega Sword Dao – Heavenbreaker!" Next, Ning switched to a different stance. There were differences amongst barriers as well; some were extremely flexible and soft, making brute force useless and requiring penetrative power to break through. Others were extremely rigid and unyielding; in this case, the overwhelming power of the Heavenbreaker stance would be the most appropriate and effective. Some barriers were actually illusory!

This was very different from when he had to defeat the formations at Crimsonwave Temple. Those formations were there as part of a test! The formations here, however, had been set down by the Aeonians as a defensive measure to prevent others from stealing their treasures. They naturally poured everything they had into these formations.

"Haha, without anyone controlling these formations, they won't be able to heal as quickly as I deplete their power. The end result will definitely be their destruction." Ning quickly discovered a weakness in the formation, then immediately used his Blood Drop stance as the primary attack to break through it.

Just a single hour later, the barrier fell. Although it was able to automatically regenerate, it wasn't able to keep up with the rate at which its power was being depleted. After breaking through the formation, Ning casually destroyed one of its formation-bases! If he didn't do so, the formation would quickly regenerate and trap Ning inside of it.

One formation after another. Some were actually linked together, making it very hard for Ning to break through them. He was actually forced to use his Immortal energy to control the Northbow swords in attacking different formations in different regions simultaneously.

Break, break, break… one layer of barriers after another was breached by Ning's attacks. Although the Aeonians had paid enormous prices to set up these barriers, they were weakened by the fact that they were unmanned.

Time slowly passed on. One year, two years, three years… ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years…

While breaking through the formations, Ning continuously worked on his sword-arts. He felt as though he was virtually sparring with these many generations of departed formations masters. Some of these formations had been set up by the Aeonians themselves, while others they had purchased from the outside. Every single formation was difficult to breach, and while doing so Ning gained more and more insights into his sword-arts.

"A pity that my [Heartsword] art has yet to make a breakthrough. It seems as though going from the tenth stance to the eleventh stance truly is difficult," Ning sighed.

Every single strike of his was reinforced by the [Heartsword] art, which showed itself as a mist-formed layer of sword energy. It must be remembered that when one truly trained in the [Heartsword] art, the eighth to tenth stances were considered part of the first stage. The eleventh and twelfth stances were part of the second stage, the thirteenth and fourteenth stances were part of the third stage, and the fifteenth stance was the final stage.

Ning was still stuck in the first stage, and breaking through to the second stage was very, very difficult. Although the three hundred-plus Hegemonic legacies he had gained included a few similar techniques which also involved fusing heartforce with divine power and Immortal energy, in the end Ning was an expert of the Dao of the Sword; studying through this Dao was the fastest solution, making the [Heartsword] art the most appropriate art for him. The others could at most be used as references to use.

After reviewing the other techniques, Ning understood that gaining true mastery of the [Heartsword] art was possible only through one way – true and utter devotion to this Dao!

However, knowing and doing are two completely separate concepts. He knew what he had to do, but he still was unable to make the necessary breakthroughs. If breaking through was that easy, Emperor Heartsword wouldn't have been the only person in all of history to have been able to truly master this [Heartsword] art.

More than eighteen million years went by.

The six Northbow swords were hanging in the air, furiously stabbing downwards in an illusory manner. Finally, with a popping sound, the last barrier was broken through by Ning.

"Success." The distant Ninedust revealed a delighted look.

"He was actually able to break through over 80,000 barriers with just sword-arts." The two clan leaders were both rather startled. These formations encompassed every type of barrier possible, including bewildering and illusory ones. Thankfully, Ning was a Heartforce Cultivator and thus wouldn't be misled by them. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to resolve those formations.

The white-robed Ning just stood there, his six Northbow swords hanging in the air. The swords descended in unison, flying back into the sheath on his back.

"Whew." Ning let out a sigh of relief. He could sense that the past eighteen million years of formation-breaking had been a form of tempering for his sword-arts. He now had gained quite a few new insights into them.

"But I still have no clue as to how I am going to reach the fourth stage with the Omega Sword Dao. Becoming a Daolord of the Fourth Step truly is difficult," Ning sighed to himself. He really didn't have much hope; all he could do was to continuously advance. Sooner or later, he would break through.

"My young friend Darknorth, these fruits are all quite extraordinary. They are far more valuable than ordinary omnigeddon bloodfruits," the sea dragon leader said.

Ning turned to glance at it. The two clan leaders were both staring at Ning, as were the nearly two hundred beasts off in the distance. To them, the past eighteen million years had been nothing at all.

Ning and Ninedust exchanged a glance. Both of them knew what had to be done.

"Be careful," Ninedust sent mentally.

"Don't worry," Ning replied mentally.

Boom! Ning's body blurred as it suddenly expanded dramatically in size. He instantly became the size of a towering mountain that was three million meters tall, the same height as the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree itself.

"You grew pretty big," the flaming equine leader said with a laugh.

"It makes harvesting easier." Ning reached out with his hand, easily plucking one of the flame-colored fruits at the very crown of the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, then putting it away.

There were some fruits which could only be harvested in certain ways; for example, there were certain fruits which would vanish when touched by the hand. The omnigeddon bloodfruit, however, could only grow if they underwent ten thousand tribulations during their growing process! It was fine to harvest them by hand; they weren't delicate at all.

Soon, the thirty-six fruits growing throughout the tree were completely harvested. Ning lowered his head to harvest the final fruit located at the base of the tree. He pulled the fruit into his estate-world with a thought, then reached out with both hands to grasp the trunk of the omnigeddoon bloodfruit tree. He immediately sent out his divine power to cover every inch of the tree, protecting its roots and branches.

"Get up." Ning exerted his power, allowing his full might to be unleashed. Boom! In the end, the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree was nothing more than a tree; the Azureflower Estate world's fruit trees had been warded by the master of the estate, which was why Ning was unable to damage them. In fact, he had been restricted to harvesting just a single fruit. The omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, however, was 'only' protected by those 80,000 barriers. By now, Ning had long since destroyed those barriers, and without them blocking his path he was able to easily harvest all of the fruit from the tree.

Whoosh! The entire massive omnigeddon bloodfruit tree was uprooted from the earthy ground. Countless roots began to rise up out of the earth, but the layer of divine power covering the tree ensured that it was completely undamaged.

"Ah?"

"This…"

"He's…" the two clan leaders and all of the spectating beasts stared in amazement at this sight. The massive tree had just been uprooted by the similarly massive Ji Ning, who moved so fast that they weren't even able to react in time.

"In you go." With but a thought, Ning easily drew the uprooted omnigeddon bloodfruit tree into his estate-world.

"Ah?!" After putting away the tree, Ning had been feeling quite excited and planning to flee alongside Ninedust. In fact, Ninedust had already flown towards him like a streak of light… but the look on Ning's face had changed.

Boom! After he uprooted the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, an enormous crevice had revealed itself underneath him. This enormous crevice was extremely deep, and at the very bottom of it there was a small pool of red liquid! This small pool of what looked like congealed blood was also thirty thousand meters in size! It rolled about like a miniature red sun.

Previously, the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree had been blocking it out, with Ning not having sensed its aura at all. Now that Ning had already uprooted the tree, he could sense a stately and ancient power instantly emanate outwards.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 11 – Autarch's Blood

Ji Ning felt as though he was an ant who was facing the vast, starry night sky. Ning instantly turned pale, finding it hard to breathe as that aura of power swept outwards. It was simply terrifying. The aura of that glob of blood… it vastly surpassed the auras of any of the Hegemons Ning had met thus far! Although Hegemons had incredible auras, they couldn't even compare to the blood-red 'sun' that was glowing before him.

At Ning's current level of power, he was strong enough to smile and jest in the presence of Hegemons. But when faced with this pool of red blood, he felt utter terror from every fiber of his very being!

"What is that?!" Ninedust came charging over. He had been planning to take Ning away and flee, but he was instantly dazed when he saw that large pool of blood-red liquid, roughly thirty thousand meters in size.

"Darknorth, my young friend… it is useless for you to take away that omnigeddon bloodfruit tree." The sea dragon leader began to laugh. "The reason why that tree was so marvelous was all due to this drop of blood."

Ning and Ninedust stood next to each other. They could leave this world whenever they wished, and so they were in no haste to flee just yet.

"I uprooted the bloodfruit tree. Don't you care?" Ning asked.

"Why should we care?" The sea dragon leader laughed, "Long ago, this world didn't even have the bloodfruit tree in it. For you to uproot it does nothing to us at all."

"If this world originally didn't have a bloodfruit tree in it… where did it come from?" The nearby Ninedust asked, "And… did you just say that this giant pool of liquid is a drop of blood?"

"Yes, a drop of blood. This is a drop of blood which Autarch Bolin created after pouring tremendous amounts of work and essence into it, and it is filled with boundless mysteries," the sea dragon leader said.

"An Autarch's blood?" Ning and Ninedust were enlightened. This wasn't just a random drop of blood from Autarch Bolin; it was something which Autarch Bolin had spent tremendous effort in refining. No wonder it was so terrifying!

"Long, long ago, Autarch Bolin left behind this drop of blood. We have been here on the Autarch's orders, and we are to prevent all cultivators from reaching it. Daolords, Emperors… everyone must pass the trials before gaining access to this drop of blood," the sea dragon leader said. "Later on, the Aeonians discovered this place and came here."

"They realized that the Autarch's blood was simply too powerful! Thus, they came up with a way to graft the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, a tree with tremendously strong vital energy, on top of it. The tree naturally rooted itself around the Autarch's blood, and over the course of many years it began to slowly evolve and transform before it finally managed to draw some of the essence from the blood."

"After absorbing some of the Autarch's blood, it began to grow larger and larger while giving birth to more and more fruit. Now, it has finally reached a size of three million kilometers and can give birth to a crop of thirty-six fruit at a time," the sea dragon leader said. "Every single fruit is far more special than ordinary omnigeddon bloodfruit, because they were grown from an Autarch's blood."

"This tree has spent more than thirty million chaos cycles absorbing the blood and has already transformed. It shall always produce thirty-six fruits with each harvest. However, now that you have uprooted it, it no longer has access to the Autarcvh's blood and so the fruit it produces shall most likely be nothing more than ordinary omnigeddon bloodfruits. That makes the value of this tree much lower than before."

Ning's face tightened. True. Ordinary omnigeddon bloodfruit trees produced three fruits per harvest, while this one produced thirty-six! This made it comparable to twelve 'ordinary' bloodfruit trees. However, the fruit only possessed miraculous properties due to having absorbed blood from the Autarch. That was the reason why the tree could be described as having a hundred times the value of an ordinary tree!

"Just ten or so times?" Ning knew that he couldn't be too greedy, but he still felt rather disappointed. This sort of treasure was not nearly enough to ask an Autarch to help out.

The sea dragon leader suddenly said, "The Autarch said that if one day, someone arrives who is capable of taking away this drop of blood, our two races shall regain our freedom. Darknorth, my young friend, you can try for yourself whether or not you can take the Autarch's blood away."

"Yes, if you can take it away, we shall regain our freedom." The flaming equine leader grew excited as well, as did the hundreds of beasts within the world. Life here was simply too boring. Many of them had been born here, but the oldest ones had been sent here by Autarch Bolin himself. They knew just how lively the outside world was, whereas this place was incredibly dull and lonely.

"Take it away?" Ning and Ninedust were intrigued.

"It was created by the Autarch, who poured all of his effort into its creation. It is incomparably precious, far more than a hundred times more valuable than the tree you just uprooted. Most likely, even other Autarchs would very much desire to acquire this drop of blood and learn some of Autarch Bolin's secrets from it." The sea dragon leader continued to describe how valuable this drop of blood was, causing Ning to feel even more eager.

"Darknorth, give it a shot." Ninedust looked at Ning and sent mentally, "You'd definitely be able to revive your Dao-companion if you acquire this drop of special Autarch's blood."

"I'll give it a shot." Ning didn't hesitate at all, immediately flying into that enormous crevice. As he moved closer to it, he saw that the round pool of blood was beginning to swivel and emanate auras of increasing power. Ning had to clamp down upon his fear.

Although he couldn't prevent himself from feeling terrified, he didn't feel any sense of danger at all. This meant that this blood drop wouldn't cause any harm to him. Autarch Bolin had left it behind for future generations of cultivators to benefit from, not die from.

Whoosh. Ning exerted his will, causing a divine power clone to appear next to the pool. The clone reached out with its right hand to touch the giant pool of blood. Ning wanted to be careful; this way, he would at most lose a bit of his divine power rather than his own life.

"Eh?" The drop of blood was incredibly cold, but it didn't cause Ning's clone any harm at all. "Arise." The divine power clone tested out applying a bit of power to it.

Rumble… the drop of blood immediately began to shake and shudder. Silken lines began to appear all across this entire vast planet, with all of the lines converging upon the drop of blood. Ning's divine clone was completely unable to move it at all.

"Arise!" Seeing this, Ning moved his true body over to the pool. He manifested three heads and six arms, then reached out with all six arms while using his Hegemon armor to cover and protect his hands as they delved into the pool of blood.

Ning pulled, hard. Boom! It was like an ant trying to shake a tree; the countless lines across the world connecting to this blood drop fought against him. If Ning wanted to move this blood drop, he would have to be able to overcome the might of this entire planet.

"Lift it up! Move it away!" The two clan leaders and the hundreds of beasts all watched eagerly. The day this drop of blood was taken would be the day they completed their responsibility to test the cultivators who came to this place. Only then would they be able to leave.

"Arise. Arise. Arise!" Ning did his utmost, but there was no way he could overcome the full power of this entire planet. This was an estate-world which had been created by an Autarch, after all; it was incredibly stable and not something which the likes of him could shake.

Inside the Aeonian Kingdom. There was a beautiful, ancient palace here which served as the central temple for the entire kingdom.

A handsome youth was seated atop the royal throne within the temple, dressed in elegant black robes. His aura was awe-inspiring and remote. He was the true supreme leader of the Aeonian race… Emperor Anchen. He had been protecting this place since time out of mind, because this temple was connected to the five most important ancestral grounds of the Aeonian race. Every single one of the five was extremely important… but of course, the most important was the 'first ancestral ground'. This was because it had been left behind by Autarch Bolin himself.

Rumble… suddenly, a tremor swept through the palace. Emperor Anchen was connected to all five ancestral grounds as their protector; he naturally noticed it and immediately turned pale. "The first ancestral ground! Its shaking!?" This was a world which had been created by Autarch Bolin, and the Aeonians knew it well; the only thing which could cause that entire world to shake was if someone was acting against the Autarch's blood, the most important treasure of all.

"Emperor Islehide, Emperor Duug, there may be invaders within the first ancestral ground. Come right away!" Emperor Anchen sent frantically.

Just a few seconds later… swoosh! Swoosh! Two figures simultaneously appeared. One was the handsome, red-haired Emperor Islehide; the other was the tall, skinny, and pale-faced Emperor Duug. The two had been shocked by what they had just heard and had immediately hastened over.

These three were the three most powerful Emperors of the Aeonian race here in the 'Endless Territories'.

"There are invaders in the first ancestral ground?" Emperor Islehide and Emperor Duug were both anxious and filled with murderous intent.

"Yes, go in right away," Emperor Anchen shouted.

"Let's go."

"Let's go." The bodies of the three Emperors began to blaze with flames. These flames were generated by the igniting of the Aeonian blood. To open the link to the first ancestral ground was extremely difficult; an enormous price would have to first be paid. However, now that something strange was going on inside they could no longer afford to worry about it.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 12 – Devastating Rage

The three most powerful Emperors of the Aeonian race were all covered in blazing flames which began to reach out and connect to each other, slowly forming a strange diagram of a giant claw-shaped hand. This looked like the technique which Autarch Bolin had left behind in that beastworld.

Rumble. The flames from the ignited Aeonian blood instantly reached out to cover all three Emperors. Swoosh! They were teleported straight into the estate-world.

"Let's move as fast as we can." The three Emperors stared at the void around them, then turned to look at the astral river. They knew that they had already arrived, and Emperor Anchen shouted anxiously, "If we're late, things will be even more difficult."

"Let's go." Whoosh! Emperor Anchen generated a dimensional wave and led the other two Emperors with him as he instantly vanished.

This world was extremely stable; not even Hegemons would be able to forcibly tear through spacetime, much less them! However, mere dimensional teleportation was much simpler, as it was merely an evasion-art which rode dimensional waves across fairly short distances.

"There we are." After the third dimensional wave, they appeared in the skies above that enormous, strange planet within the astral river.

"No…!" Emperor Islehide's face instantly turned pale, and his scarlet eyes instantly turned blood-red. "The tree! Our omnigeddon bloodfruit tree has vanished!"

Emperor Anchen and Emperor Duug stared as well. They saw that off in the distance, there were ripples of energy spreading outwards and pushing aside the surrounding mist. The three of them were able to see that nothing more than a giant crater was left where the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree had been, and within the crater was a giant figure which was holding onto the Autarch's blood and seeking to take it away.

"Not only did he take away our omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, he also wants to take away the Autarch's blood?" Emperor Anchen was so enraged that he ground his teeth to the point of shattering.

"That's Daolord Darknorth and the Ninedust Sectlord!" Emperor Islehide immediately recognized that Ji Ning was the one holding onto the Autarch's blood, while the figure next to the crater was that of Ninedust. Emperor Islehide had met the two of them after the Waveshift Realm adventure, and he had even purchased some fruit from Ning. Now, however, they had become mortal enemies!

"These two are nothing more than Daolords… yet they dare to try and steal one of the foundations of our Aeonian race?" Emperor Anchen only grew even angrier. "Kill!"

"Kill them both," Emperor Duug growled as well.

"Kill." Emperor Islehide felt just as murderous as the others. They held these two Daolords in no regard at all. They were the three most powerful Emperors of the Aeonian race! They normally viewed Daolords as young children; they were so powerful that eating Daolords was of very little help to them. Weaker Emperors like Melobo, however, did like to eat the Daolords of the Dao Alliance, as did the other Daolords of the Aeonian race. This was why the Dao Alliance and the Aeonians were mortal enemies.

Ning had transformed to become utterly titanic, and his six arms had reached out to grab the drop of Autarch's blood as he sought to seize it. With each attempt, he saw those countless connecting lines appear throughout this entire world.

"These threads?" Ning stared at them carefully. He wanted to try and discern just how this drop of Autarch's blood was connected to the rest of the world and how he could separate them. If he could come up with a way to sever the connection, it would be much easier for him to take away that drop of Autarch's blood.

Ning had spent over 10 million years breaking through those 80,000 formations. He had already grown accustomed to analyzing and dissecting his problems.

"The Aeonians!" Ninedust let out a startled cry from the skies above Ning.

Ning was startled upon hearing this. He turned his head, only to see three figures charging through the skies towards him with looks of absolute murder on their faces. Ning immediately recognized one of the three as Emperor Islehide, who had negotiated with him previously. Although he had never met the other two before, he had learned of them long ago and knew them to be extremely powerful Emperors of the Aeonian race named Emperor Anchen and Emperor Duug.

Emperor Islehide, Emperor Anchen, and Emperor Duug. These three were all comparable to the eight Archons of the Sacred Cities. But of course, much like 'first-tier' Daolords there were differences in power within this general stratum and amongst these three Aeonian Emperors.

Different weapons, different secret arts, different ultimate attacks… in short, there were many things that could cause a difference in power. Thanks to their Aeonian bloodlines, all three of these Aeonian Emperors were extremely strong. The youthful-looking black-robed Emperor Anchen was the strongest of the three, the most powerful member of the Aeonian race! Supposedly, his techniques were incredibly frightening and he had access to a Universe treasure. He probably wasn't much weaker than a Hegemon in might.

"Clan leaders," Ninedust sent anxiously, "You said that any cultivators who come here must pass your trials. The three Emperors of the Aeonian race should also have to pass the trials, right?"

"Of course." The sea dragon leader nodded.

"Agreed." The flaming equine leader nodded its massive head as well.

The sea dragon leader flew into the skies, coiling around itself in midair as it let out a deep, rumbling bellow: "Halt, Emperors."

"If you do not halt, you shall be attacked by both of our races at the same time." The flaming equine stood there on the ground, its entire body blazing with flames as it let out a furious, awesome roar.

"HALT!" There were nearly two hundred beasts in this area, and they roared out this word in unison with unstoppable majesty.

Swish! Swish! Swish! The three Emperors who had been diving downwards through the skies came to a screeching halt, ugly looks on their faces.

"He's uprooted our omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, and now he wants to take away the Autarch's blood!" Emperor Anchen stood there in the skies, staring angrily at the distant sea dragon leader as he bellowed, "We Aeonians are definitely going to kill these two thieves! Daolord Darknorth, Ninedust Sectlord… the two of you really are quite bold! How DARE you steal treasures from the ancestral grounds of the Aeonian race?!"

"Ancestral grounds?" Ning flew over to Ninedust, and the two stared back at the three Emperors. With the two races of beasts standing guard over them, they didn't panic.

"Our two clans are here on the Autarch's orders to protect this place. Anyone who wishes to benefit from the Autarch's blood must first pass our trials. Our young friend Darknorth has done so, which means that we are in compliance with the Autarch's orders. Even if he wishes to take the blood away, there's nothing wrong with that," the sea dragon leader said. "But you three? If you also pass the trials, we won't interfere if you want to kill these two… but if you cannot, we have no choice but to protect our young friends."

"B-but…" Emperor Islehide spluttered furiously.

"Just pass the trials. Easy, right? Come one at a time and defeat both of our races, that's all you have to do," the sea dragon leader said.

Emperor Anchen and the others had ugly looks on their faces. Defeat the two races in succession? Every single one of the flaming equines and sea dragons had reached the Archon level, with the clan leaders being even stronger. Only a true Hegemon would have a chance at surviving an assault from so many of these creatures. Emperor Anchen had already given it a try long ago, but he wasn't even close to being able to succeed.

"But we are the Aeonians. This is our territory!" Emperor Anchen said furiously.

"No, this is the AUTARCH'S territory. The only thing we know and care about is the Autarch's command," the sea dragon leader said.

"B-b-but… but that omnigeddon bloodfruit tree belongs to our Aeonian race!" Emperor Anchen said.

"Hahaha! You were all too weak and unable to make much use of the Autarch's blood, which was why you planted that omnigeddon bloodfruit tree here all those years ago. Over the course of countless aeons, you have harvested countless fruits from this tree… and the value of those fruits vastly exceeded the value of the original tree itself." The sea dragon leader continued, "You've earned enough. Since our young friend Darknorth has passed our trials, he gets to decide what to do with the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, not you."

"But its ours! It belongs to the Aeonians!" Emperor Islehide was growing anxious as well. The omnigeddon bloodfruit tree had undergone a thorough transformation. Even if it lost access to the Autarch's blood, it was still comparable in value to twelve ordinary trees. It truly was a marvelous treasure.

Most importantly of all… when it was able to absorb essence from the Autarch's blood, the unique fruits it gave birth to were more than ten times more valuable than normal ones, making the tree close in value to Crimsonwave Temple! The Aeonians absolutely viewed it as important as life itself. Once they lost this tree, they'd have to wait millions of chaos cycles before any new tree they planted over the blood would have absorbed enough essence to transform.

But… in roughly a million chaos cycles, the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels would destroy the Endless Territories! There was no way they could rear a second tree. This marvelous tree was literally one of a kind. They had already started to accumulate fruits long ago, as once the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels destroyed everything this entire world would probably be devoured and destroyed as well. They would no longer have access to any more fruits! In the final million chaos cycles, they were planning to absorb as much of the essence from the Autarch's blood as they could… and they were even planning to shatter the tree apart and drain the essence the tree had taken in from the Atuarch's blood.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, Chapter 13 – Mortal Enemies

The essence of the Autarch's blood would greatly benefit the Aeonian bloodlines of the Aeonian race. To normal cultivators, this tree which Ji Ning had just taken away was nothing more than a tree that would allow for larger-than-normal harvests of fruit. To the Aeonians, however, the Autarch's blood essence within it was worth more than ten million chaos cycles worth of fruit! It was something they absolutely could not afford to lose.

"No point talking too much. Our young friend Darknorth has passed the trials, which means we shall protect him. If you want to act against him, you can simply attempt the trials as well," the sea dragon leader said coldly.

"If you want to fight, let's start. Otherwise, hurry up and beat it," the flaming equine leader roared as well.

Emperor Anchen and the others were enraged, but there was nothing they could do. Ning and Ninedust both let out sighs of relief when they saw this.

"It seems there's nothing they can do to us," Ninedust said with a laugh.

"Once we leave, they'll probably do everything they can to hunt us down," Ning said.

"The Endless Territories are vast, while the Aeonians are mortal enemies of the Dao Alliance! These three Emperors wouldn't dare to act too rashly." Ninedust was quite relaxed.

Ning nodded. Once they left this place, they would be like wild geese disappearing into the skies. Given that the two of them had access to the [Vitalis] art, they could easily mimic the truesoul auras of others. They could literally go anywhere they pleased; there was no need for them to fear these three Emperors at all.

Suddenly…

"Good, good… good!" An utterly enraged laugh rang out, echoing in the heavens.

Ning and Ninedust both raised their heads, surprised, to stare at the three leading Emperors of the Aeonian race. The leader of the three, Emperor Anchen, was so enraged he was laughing. He let out a furious growl, "If that's the case… estate-spirit, come out immediately!"

Whoosh. A ripple of power manifested, causing the light in the skies to coalesce into the form of a white-haired woman with an extraordinary aura. An enigmatic smile on her face, she asked, "What is it?"

"The spirit of the estate?" Ning and Ninedust were both shocked. Suddenly, they remembered that when they had been in the beastworld with the Autarch's Dao, that world held an estate-spirit within it. It wasn't unreasonable for this world to have an estate-spirit of its own as well.

"Spirit of the estate, this was a world for us created by our ancestor. These are our ancestral lands! But these two outsider Daolords have not only stolen away our omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, they even seek to steal the Autarch's blood. Please intervene and slay these two interloper Daolords, estate-spirit!" Emperor Anchen said loudly.

"Ancestor?" Ning was surprised.

"Emperor Anchen, did you just say 'ancestor'? Was this place created by Autarch Bolin?" Ninedust called out loudly with surprise.

The distant Emperor Anchen glanced downwards, a hint of a cold smile on his lips. "The members of the mighty Aeonian race are the descendants of Autarch Bolin!"

Ning and Ninedust were both rather stunned. The descendants of Autarch Bolin? Were the Aeonians really this incredible?

"Any member of the Aeonian race who has been Awakened shall possess the bloodlines of our almighty ancestor, Autarch Bolin!" Emperor Anchen said proudly, "The Aeonian bloodline is special… because it is the bloodline of an Autarch! This is a world which Autarch Bolin created for us; it is our ancestral lands. The Autarch's blood was left behind for us by the Autarch as well."

Ning and Ninedust were both stunned. It made sense. The Aeonians did possess an incredible bloodline; supposedly, after becoming Eternal Emperors they could use their bloodline to slowly improve in power even further. It must be understood that for most Emperors, improving in power was incredibly difficult.

"Spirit of the estate, you can go ahead and slay these two interlopers." Emperor Anchen looked anxiously at the estate-spirit.

The white-haired woman let out a cold snort. "I am unable to intervene."

"Unable to intervene? How can you be unable to intervene?" Emperor Anchen was starting to grow frantic. He knew just how powerful the estate-spirit was; within this estate-world, the estate-spirit was virtually invincible! Even Hegemons would probably be weaker than it in power.

"I must inform you that this world was not, in fact, created for you Aeonians," the white-haired woman said. "During the Dawn War against the Sithe, Autarch Bolin was worried about our side being defeated and so he left behind many backup plans to help the cultivators rise to power again in the future. He created this estate-world for that purpose, and those three hundred-plus Hegemons willingly passed down their legacies as well. This was all for the sake of the countless cultivators who would be born in the future. It wasn't just for you Aeonians!"

Emperor Anchen was stunned.

"Afterwards, we won the war. Autarch Bolin's life grew peaceful once more, but he eventually grew lonely and so developed the Aeonian bloodline, creating your Aeonian race. The Autarch left behind a single undiluted drop of the original Aeonian blood in this place, hoping that some of the many descendants of the Aeonian race would be able to grow powerful enough to absorb it. Alas… this branch here in the Flamedragon Realmverse is far too weak. Despite the passage of countless years, none of you have been able to absorb this blood." The estate-spirit chuckled.

Emperor Anchen, Emperor Islehide, and Emperor Duug all felt rather ashamed.

"Are you saying this isn't the Autarch's blood?" the distant sea dragon leader asked, puzzled.

"It is the Autarch's blood, but it was formed after countless unique processes were applied to it. This blood was part of the original blood which gave birth to the Aeonian bloodlines and race, which was why I referred to it as the 'original Aeonian blood'," the white-haired woman said. "If any of the Aeonians were able to reach Hegemony, he would more or less be able to absorb this drop of Aeonian blood. Once he did so, he would finally and truly be qualified to refer to himself as a true child of Autarch Bolin, and he would be far stronger than ordinary Hegemons in power."

"Unfortunately… this lot here is completely useless." The white-haired woman shook her head, then turned to look at the still-stunned Ning and Ninedust.

"As for you two? You came into my estate-world using the Autarch's medallion," the white-haired woman said. "This naturally counts as being here with the Autarch's commission. I won't act against you two! However, the Autarch's blood was the font for the entire Aeonian race. Ordinary cultivators like yourselves cannot absorb it, no matter how hard you try. Also… Daolord Darknorth, there's no need for you to waste your efforts trying to move it. I am in control of this estate-world, and I absolutely will not permit anyone to take it away!"

"If someone wishes to take it away, the only method permissible is absorption… but only Aeonians can accomplish it. Hegemon-level Aeonians, at that." The white-haired woman glanced sideways at Emperor Anchen. "You were given every advantage in the world, but you made nothing of it. The exalted Aeonians actually ended up having such useless progeny… what a pity. Hmph." As she spoke, she began to vanish.

"Wait! This realmverse is about to be destroyed soon!" Emperor Anchen called out frantically, "When that happens there will be no way for this estate-world to exist by itself."

"Relax. An estate-world which was laboriously created by Autarch Bolin will not be so easily destroyed," the white-haired woman said. "However… when the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels destroy this area, this estate-world shall vanish from it. The ties of destiny which link us together shall have come to an end, and I will go search for a different branch. Hmph… Autarch Bolin left behind many branches throughout the vast Chaosverse, and many of those branches were given no chance to absorb any of the Autarch's blood. I gave you more than thirty million chaos cycles, but you weren't able to make the best of this opportunity. Don't blame anyone but yourself."

Emperor Anchen and the others began to grow frantic. Become a Hegemon? Easier said than done! There had been quite a few supreme Daolords in the history of the Aeonian race in this realmverse, but their chances of succeeding in the Daomerge were absolutely miniscule. Thus far, not a single one of them had ever succeeded in the Daomerge and becoming a Hegemon.

As for existing Emperors who were at the Archon level to reach the Hegemon level? That was even harder. The Aeonians knew a great many things, but they had only heard of a single Hegemon known as the 'Paragon of Pills' who had started off as an ordinary Eternal Emperor but then managed to train all the way up to the Hegemon level.

"Haha, the beastworld we visited previously ended up flying away as well. It seems as though this estate-world is also capable of independent movement," Ninedust sent mentally. "The Autarch's blood truly is terrifying, though… apparently, only Aeonian Hegemons are capable of absorbing it. How powerful would they become upon doing so?"

"So this is what an Autarch is capable of." Ning stared at the swirling globe of blood inside the massive crater. Its aura dwarfed that of any Hegemon; how strong would one become after absorbing it? Alas, Autarch Bolin had left it behind for the Aeonians alone.

"So what should we do next?" Ninedust sent mentally.

"What can we do? Since we cannot earn the Autarch's blood, we might as well leave," Ning sent mentally.

Right at this moment, Emperor Anchen's voice rang down from the skies above: "Daolord Darknorth, Ninedust Sectlord… all you need to do is leave behind the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree and swear a lifeblood oath not to divulge any of those three hundred-plus Hegemonic legacies to outsiders! If you are willing to do this, then the three of us would also be willing to swear oaths to never attack or pursue you through any means at all."

"The Hegemonic legacies? Haha, I'm a member of the Ancients! For the sake of all these legacies, the Ancients would definitely do everything in their power to protect me. Do you really think I'm afraid of you Aeonians?" Ninedust snickered.

Ning raised his head to stare into the skies as well. If he eventually failed in his Daomerge, these Hegemonic legacies were the most important thing he could leave behind for the Three Realms in the future.

"Darknorth, are you going to reject our offer as well?" Emperor Anchen growled.

"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.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, 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 improve 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.

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Book 35, The Aeonian Race, 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 abegan 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, 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.

What's more… the success rates for Immortals and Fiendgods of the Three Realms breaking through to become Celestial Immortals was skyrocketing! Although some would fail and become Loose Immortals, many would reincarnate and eventually succeed in becoming Celestial Immortals. Only a small percentage were unlucky enough to actually perish to the Celestial Tribulation!

The change was all-encompassing. Celestial Immortals, True Immortals, Ancestral Immortals, Chaos Immortals… after the Three Realms gained so many legacies, the breakthrough rates at every single level had skyrocketed.

"Everyone in the Three Realms is much talented than in the outside world," Ning sighed. "The same was true for the Seamless Chaosworld. The Immortals and Fiendgods from the Seamless Chaosworld were on par with that of the Pangu Chaosworld." Ning grew increasingly curious. "What made them so special?"

By now, Ning was definitely one of the major powers in the Endless Territories. He had reached the Archon level of power, and thus had a much broader vision than many. He knew that there were some chaosworlds, including the ones which Hegemons had labored over or ones like the Sithe worlds, which were quite special and which gave birth to living beings who were noticeably more talented than those in the rest of the world.

What made the Three Realms so special?

"Perhaps it has something to do with the Azureflower Estate," Ning mused. He then shook his head and chuckled. Only with enough strength could one act with confidence. Only when he took the final step and became a Daolord of the Fourth Step would he have reached the apex. When that happened, in all the Flamedragon Realmverse the only ones more powerful than him would be the three Hegemons!

Windfiend had been the Lord of All Fiends of the Three Realms, the supreme leader of the Seamless Gate. He was the fastest person in all the Three Realms.

Subhuti was a master of the Dao of Spacetime. His mastery of it had been supreme within the Three Realms.

These two were exceedingly talented figures. After studying the World-level parts of the Hegemonic legacies, they immediately began to seek to merge multiple Supreme Daos together!

After training for 120 million years (which translated into 10 billion 'accelerated' years within his temporal acceleration treasure), Windfiend finally managed to merge three Supreme Daos together… and he broke through to become a Samsara Daolord at one go!

Subhuti was a bit slower. He had to train for over 300 million years, also using a temporal acceleration treasure. Finally, he also succeeded in merging multiple Supreme Daos and became a Samsara Daolord.

But of course… only the two of them reached such heights. The other Immortals and Fiendgods of the Three Realm were a bit weaker.

"Windfiend, Master… these legacies are critically important. I shall personally watch over these legacies, and anyone who wishes to study them must swear lifeblood oaths. If I perish, I will entrust them to you and Windfiend to watch over," Ning said solemnly. These were the copies of the hundreds of Hegemonic legacies, and his Primaltwin had spent an extremely long period of time memorizing them.

"These legacies…" Subhuti and Windfiend were absolutely stunned by the enormous repository of legacies in front of them. These legacies were of limited use to Ning, who trained in the Omega Sword Dao, but they would be of tremendous use to all other cultivators. This was far more valuable than anything Ning had acquired in the Brightshore Kingdom or the Archaeus Region.

"The existences of these legacies cannot be divulged in the slightest." Subhuti looked at Ning, his heart aching for his disciple. "Disciple, don't put yourself under too much pressure when adventuring. Take things slowly, one step at a time. You've already done enough for the Three Realms."

"Darknorth, be careful when out adventuring. Subhuti and I are still too weak; the Three Realms needs you standing guard over it," Windfiend said. After seeing the legacies, he understood just how weak he was. He was still just a Daolord of the First Step; in the Endless Territories, he counted for absolutely nothing.

All of Ning's loved ones were in the Three Realms. His father, Ji Yichuan… his mother, Yuchi Snow… his daughter, Ji Brightmoon… Subhuti, Uncle White, Little Qing, Immortal Diancai, Mu Northson, Sun Wukong, and more were all here.

Although Ning was often adventuring with the hope of reversing the flows of spacetime and reviving his wife, he also cared tremendously about his other loved ones. Only if he could absolutely ensure their safety would he be able to truly lay rest to his concerns and go out adventuring!

"Brightmoond." A black-robed Ning was standing on the surface of Serpentwing Lake.

"Father." The white-robed Brightmoon was standing on the surface of the lake as well. Her life truly was relaxed and leisurely; with a peerless master of the Dao of the Sword like Ji Ning being her tutor and guide, everything was so simple. In fact, Ning even occasionally arranged for her to go out and explore the Badlands Territory. Given Ning's current level of power, a single step was all it took for them to reach the Badlands Territory.

"Let me see if your sword-arts have improved or not," Ning said.

"Yes, Father." Brightmoon smiled, followed by her sword-light lighting up. A total of 3600 Immortal swords hung in the air around her. This was a terrifyingly powerful sword-formation technique which Ning had passed down to her. For some reason, Brightmoon simply had no talent for training as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and so she was focused on being a Ki Refiner.

Whooooosh. Sword-light covered the entire world.

Ning began to spar against his daughter. He had been at the side of his daughter and his parents for hundreds of millions of years now. He had always dreamed of having Yu Wei by their side one day as well, accompanying him and watching as he taught their daughter swordplay. If that day ever came, he truly would be able to die with no regrets.

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