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 37, Flamewing God, Chapter 30 – Friends For Life

"Darknorth." Azurefiend had been seated in the lotus position, but he hurriedly jumped to his feet to pull Ji Ning back. The Flamewing God was capable of killing even Hegemons with ease; a puny Daolord would be nothing to it. How could Azurefiend not be worried?

Unfortunately, Ning moved far too fast. With a single step, he appeared right next to the Flamewing God, who turned to look at the tiny little speck that had just appeared next to it.

"Be careful!" Azurefiend and Whitethaw both held their breaths. Ning was now so close that they wouldn't be able to intervene in time!

"You want some too?" The Flamewing God looked at the tiny human before it, a happy look in its eyes.

"From this day forth, why don't you stick by my side?" Ning raised his head to stare at the titanic beast before him.

"Hm. Alright. But you have to give me food," the Flamewing God said.

"No one would be able to give you this much spirit-fruit every day. However, I promise that you'll have much more and much better food than you have in your estate-treasure," Ning said.

The Flamewing God felt delighted for a moment, but it then turned to look helplessly at the black chains behind it. "But I'm trapped here. I want to leave with you, but I'm unable to."

"Let me take a close look." Ning flew over as he spoke, landing on the Flamewing God's giant body and moving towards one of the black chains attached to its wings.

Azurefiend and Whitethaw both stared blankly at this sight. "B-but…" Azurefiend was dazed. "Flamewing is a Chaos Primordial. Why is it being so obedient? Aren't Chaos Primordials supposed to be easily angered and moved to eat anything that approaches them?"

Taming a Chaos Primordial was an incredibly difficult task. It had a child's intelligence and a child's temper. It was entirely possible that it would be happily jesting with a cultivator one moment, then devour that cultivator in the next. Not even the Sithe were able to tame it; the only thing they could do was send three Exalts to capture it with overwhelming power.

"I don't know. All I know is that it seems to be very obedient towards my master." Whitethaw felt puzzled as well. He transformed into a streak of light, wishing to move closer to Ning and protect him.

"Eh?" Flamewing had been squatting there while eating fruit, but now he raised his head to glare at the approaching Whitethaw in a baleful manner.

"Be good, Flamewing. He's my Protector while the other guy is my retainer. Don't hurt them," Ning said from his position atop Flamewing's back.

"Eh, alright." Flamewing immediately calmed down and ignored Whitethaw. The terrified Whitethaw finally landed on Flamewing's back as well.

"Master, you have to be careful. This Flamewing God might be playing nice now, but it might very well turn on you in the next moment," Whitethaw said hurriedly.

"That won't happen." Ning was very calm, and his gaze continued to be focused on the black chains.

"But this is a Chaos Primordial!" Whitethaw still didn't feel safe.

Ning shook his head. He turned to sweep Whitethaw and the distant Azurefiend with his gaze, then said: "Starting today, Flamewing shall be one of my followers as well."

"Master, you…?" Whitethaw instantly understood.

"Darknorth, are you saying that the Flamewing God has already submitted…" the distant Azurefiend sent a stunned mental message to Ning.

Ning nodded. No longer paying any further attention to their astonishment, he focused completely on analyzing the black chains.

Protector Whitethaw and Hegemon Azurefiend truly were stunned by this. Ning had tamed a Chaos Primordial? This was absolutely inconceivable. Chaos Primordials were incredibly rare, and not even Hegemons knew how to tame them. The Sithe weren't capable of it either. Most likely, only the supremely exalted Autarchs were capable of such a thing!

To tame a Chaos Primordial, one had to both be lucky enough to encounter one while also having a method of taming it. Clearly, their master 'Ji Ning' had one such method which had allowed him to tame it without anyone being the wiser.

"He's tamed the Flamewing God… absolutely incredible. Simply incredible! A pity that the Flamewing God is trapped here. If he could come up with a way to release it… haha, the Flamewing God would ensure that Darknorth's reputation would skyrocket to incredible heights. Who would dare cause trouble for him? He could simply order Flamewing to attack and wipe that person out." Hegemon Azurefiend sighed in awe.

Not even Realmslord Windgrace would be able to withstand Flamewing's retribution. No one would ever dare to antagonize a major power who commanded a Chaos Primordial.

Whoosh. Azurefiend flew over as well. Now that he knew that Flamewing had been tamed, he no longer felt as worried as he had previously. "How does it look, Darknorth? Are you able to break these chains?" Azurefiend asked. If Ning was unable to breach the chains, then this would all be for naught, and the tamed Chaos Primordial would not be able to overawe the outside world.

Ning frowned as he stared intently at the black chains. The chains were actually formed from countless black threads that were woven together, each of which was covered with countless tiny formations. The formations weren't that complicated; given Ning's current level of mastery in the Dao of Formations, he would be able to resolve them with ease. The problem was that the seeming-ordinary formations engraved upon the chains were all wrapped together and merged into a larger and even more complicated formation.

Every single chain had a suppressive effect as well as an energy absorption effect. The suppressive effect caused the Flamewing God to be completely tied down, preventing it from even changing in size.

"What marvelous formations." Ning suddenly moved. Swish! Swish! Swish! He flew to one black chain after another, this time moving quite quickly as he carried out his inspections.

"Mmm. As I thought, all six of the black chains are virtually identical, and they also work together." Countless thoughts flitted through Ning's mind as he sought to come up with a way to resolve this formation.

In truth, he already had certain ideas when he saw the chains from afar. Now that he was able to inspect them closely, he completely understood how all of the formations operated. However, understanding was one thing; resolving the formations was another.

"How does it look?" Azurefiend asked again. "Can you solve it?"

"Azurefiend, you are even more impatient than I am," Ning teased with a laugh.

"How can I not be? That's a Chaos Primordial! If you came bring this Chaos Primordial into the outside world, you can literally do whatever you want." Azurefiend was quite excited. "It'll belong to you, but as your retainer… ahaha! Hurry up and tell me if you can solve it or not!"

Ning nodded. "I can!"

Azurefiend was delighted. "Incredible! Impressive indeed. My head hurts just looking at those black chains and their formations… but you think you can solve them? There probably are very few Hegemons who are a match for you in the Dao of Formations."

Ning laughed. Of course! His mastery of the Dao of Formations had already reached the Archon level. Only someone who had relied on the Dao of Formations to complete the Daomerge and become a Hegemon would be able to surpass him in this regard! But to do that was no easy task. No one in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance had ever been able to do such a thing!

"How long would it take, approximately?" Azurefiend asked.

"Hard to say. A few chaos cycles, probably," Ning said.

"That's fast! You can complete it in just a few chaos cycles?" Azurefiend praised.

Ning secretly muttered to himself. It might be just a 'few' chaos cycles, but that was because his Primaltwin was under the affects of accelerated time. It would be equivalent to a few hundred 'accelerated' chaos cycles!

These chains and their formations were extremely complex. The only reason why he stood a chance at breaking them was because he had access to many other similar Sithe formations and a very high level of insight into the art of formations, as well as the assistance of the Autarch's stone dais. Despite that, it would still take him a few hundred chaos cycles!

Still, Ning didn't really mind. By now, he was finding it extremely difficult to make any breakthroughs in his Omega Sword Dao. The only step waiting for him was the Daomerge! Thus, his goal right now was to focus more on other Daos, including formations, water, fire, time, space, etc. The more insight he gained into these Daos, the more assistance they would be to him in the Daomerge. All Daos shared certain commonalities, after all.

"Flamewing, I'm going to leave for a short while. I'll be back soon," Ning said as he flew off its body.

"Oh?" The Flamewing God suddenly raised its head to stare at Ning's departing figure. "You aren't going to abandon me, are you?" For some strange reason, it truly wanted to stay by Ning's side.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon," Ning said. In his heart, he couldn't help but sigh. Flamewing was a Chaos Primordial, born with incredible strength but no true understanding of how to use it. It had never 'trained' before, and it didn't even notice that Autarch Bolin had used a technique to invisibly infiltrate its soul and truesoul. Still… to live a life of ignorant bliss was a form of joy as well.

Whoosh. The giant red copper gate appeared once more, with Ning, Whitethaw, and Azurefiend both flying through it.

"Why are we leaving?" Azurefiend asked while flying out.

"It'll take quite some time for me to breach those chains. Before beginning, I need to go release Ninedust," Ning said.

"Ninedust? Oh, that friend who you risked your life for in jumping into the Jadefire Realm?" Azurefiend laughed.

"Yes. We're friends for life." Ning nodded.

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Book 37, Flamewing God, Chapter 31 – Soon

Ji Ning sent the realmship flying towards Ninedust's location at high speeds. The silver-robed Ninedust was seated in the lotus position, surrounded by those whirling flames.

"Eh?" Ninedust noticed a streak of light moving towards him from afar. It quickly flew near him, resolving itself into the form of a rather tattered-looking realmship. Three figures emerged from the realmship, with the leader being a white-robed youth who bore a black sheath on his back. It was his good friend, Daolord Darknorth – Ji Ning.

"Darknorth." Ninedust was happy to see him, but felt mixed emotions as well. As the original instigator of all the events which had occurred in the Jadefire Realm, the Ancient cultivators had kept him up to date on everything which had happened since. Ji Ning had successfully slain Archon Silksnow in order to rescue him! Alas, he had fallen for Archon Silksnow's last act of revenge. Hegemons and Emperors from many other realmverses had come here, seeking to take his realmship.

Thankfully, the results weren't so bad; Ning had managed to take on Hegemon Azurefiend as his retainer and force everyone to retreat! In his heart, Ninedust felt tremendous gratitude towards Ning. He knew how much risk Ning had undertaken on his behalf. A single misplaced step would've resulted in Ning's death.

"Ninedust." Ning smiled as he walked over towards the man.

"Why have you suddenly come to see me? Have you gotten bored working away on that formation?" Ninedust laughed. Ning had told him many years ago that he would have to first completely disrupt the formation-diagram in order to take control over the prisons.

"I'm here out of success, not boredom," Ning said. "You can come out now."

"Come out?" Ninedust was stunned. Was he really going to be able to escape this nightmarish prison cell?

Ning gently waved a finger. Whoosh! The flames around the flaming cage instantly parted, revealing an exit. "Hurry up and come out… or are you planning to complete your Daomerge inside?" Ning smirked.

The stunned Ninedust immediately transformed into a streak of light and scurried out.

"I'm actually out." Ninedust stood within the empty space outside the cage. He stared at himself, then at the flaming cage by his side in disbelief. "It was actually as simple as that. I came out with no fuss at all."

"Yeah, it was simple for YOU. Breaking the formation wasn't simple at all for me," Ning immediately said. He had needed both the Autarch's stone dais as well as the many records regarding Sithe formation techniques. Both were absolutely critical to his success!

"I know you worked hard. Hey, your realmship is still missing some parts, right? Take it! Consider it your wages for the past few years. Don't even think about asking me for more." As he spoke, he tossed a realmship part over to Ning.

Seeing this, Ning didn't move to decline. They were good friends; he naturally understood how Ninedust felt right now.

Clack clack clack! The realmship immediately swallowed the entire part, and some of the superficial damage began to be repaired once more. Soon, the realmship was in a state where only a few small parts of it remained damaged.

"Master, I'm almost completely repaired now. My internals are in good shape, with just a few missing parts preventing me from fully repairing my exterior," the realmship-spirit sent mentally. "However, I should be able to teleport and blink just as effectively as if I was in 100% shape."

Ning nodded. He was planning to give the realmship to the Autarch. Ning had been worried that the Autarch would be unhappy if the damage to the realmship was too great.

"This gentleman here must be Hegemon Azurefiend." Ninedust turned to look at the skinny old man standing next to Ning. Not daring to be disrespectful, he said with a touch of respect, "Ninedust greets you, Hegemon Azurefiend."

"Mm. It seems Darknorth and you truly are very good friends. To be able to find a few true lifelong friends on the path of cultivation is worth any price." Hegemon Azurefiend had a rather complicated look on his face, but when he realized it he hurriedly smiled: "Darknorth kicked up quite a storm when he came here to rescue you. Quite a few Hegemons and Emperors came."

Ninedust felt rather moved by all this. He truly had been the cause of this great affair.

"Darknorth, now that I'm out, shall we leave the Jadefire Realm?" Ninedust asked.

"I still have some business here in the Jadefire Realm. I can't leave just yet," Ning said.

"Oh, then I'll leave on my own." Ninedust laughed. "My greatest goal right now is to complete my Daomerge. I need to go out and experience more things. If I stay here with you in the Jadefire Realm, it'll be detrimental to me with regards to the Daomerge."

Ning nodded. "Alright. Be careful out there."

"Don't worry, I won't be so unlucky as to need rescuing again." Ninedust suddenly walked forward and gave Ning a tight hug, then turend and left. "Train hard. I'm planning to start my Daomerge soon. We brothers must both succeed in our Daomerges!"

Ninedust's voice still echoed in the air, but he himself had already vanished. Ning could sense the determination in Ninedust's voice when the latter spoke of the Daomerge.

"Succeed in the Daomerge together, eh?" Ning turned and went back the way he came. Friends for life didn't need to actually be together for their entire lives; it was enough for them to keep each other in their hearts.

Time flowed on like water. Ninedust continued his adventures through the outside world, encountering quite a few strokes of karmic fortune. As for Ning, he remained within the Jadefire Realm and focused on analyzing those black chains and their formations. But of course, he had also swept the prison regions clean of all the treasures it held… and this time, he truly made a killing!

Although he had acquired a few treasures from threatening the Hegemons and Emperors of the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance, the combined value of those treasures was perhaps at best comparable to a single Hegemon's networth. The treasures within the prison regions, however, were far more numerous… and Ning had swept through all of them.

In the blink of an eye, another five chaos cycles went past.

Within a dark region in the Great Dark which was incomparably distant from the Flamedragon Realmverse. This was a dark void which held an enormous triangular region within it that was filled with dazzlingly beautiful palaces, each of which emanated blinding golden light. This was the residence of one of the truly supreme leaders of the cultivator civilizations… the home of Autarch Titanos.

Autarchs were extremely difficult to track down. Autarch Titanos was one of the easier ones to find, because he almost always resided within his estate.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. A howling sound could be heard coming from within a private room inside the largest, most towering palace in the region.

A skull-sized gray globe which was covered with countless runes was levitating up and down in the air, emitting a strange whooshing sound as its internals continuously changed.

"How beautiful. How lovely." The bald, black-robed old man next to the globe was staring at it greedily, his golden eyes filled with joy and the two fleshy antennae on his head quivering in excitement.

"It truly is perfect. Just a small amount of power is needed. Once the insides of the globe continuously guide the power and transform it, its able to unleash absolutely terrifying levels of destructive power. Sithe frabrication techniques were simply incredible. Although we had an overwhelming advantage in individual power during the Dawn War, we still nearly ended up being defeated by the Sithe. The Sithe truly were and are incredible. To this very day, I still don't fully understand their technologies." The bald old man stared greedily at the orb, as though he was staring at the person he loved the most.

"Heh heh… last time, I wasn't careful and put in too much power, wrecking this treasure. Thank goodness that I, Titanos, am awesome. Although I still don't fully understand this thing, I was still able to repair it! Ahahaha…" The bald old man stared at the continuously changing runes on the surface of the globe, feeling increasingly delighted as he did so. His gaze was able to see through everything, allowing him to observe the intricate transformations occurring within the gray globe.

These transformations were absolutely beautiful to him. Suddenly, the gray globe lifted up into the air and floated in front of him. The fleshy antennae on top of the bald old man's head reached out to gently stroke the globe.

"Although I managed to successfully repair one, I'm still not able to create them from scratch." The bald old man shook his head. "The Sithe's underlying foundation of knowledge remains far superior to that of our cultivator civilizations. I can't even imagine how long it would take for us to fully repair all of their shattered treasures."

The bald old man waved his hand, causing the gray orb to vanish into thin air. Whoosh. He pushed open the door to the private room, then strolled out with his long black robes dragging behind him.

"Master." When he reached the palace gates, an azure-robed youth immediately came to greet him. The youth said joyfully, "Master, you repaired it?"

"Of course! When have I ever failed? Don't you know who I am? I'm an Autarch!" the bald old man said smugly.

"Right, right," the azure-robed youth said hastily.

"Xian, my boy… that Daolord Darknorth from the Flamedragon Realmverse asked me to help out just a few dozen chaos cycles ago, yes? I told you I'd be done soon!" the bald old man said smugly.

"It was pretty quick, this time." The azure-robed youth nodded. This was one of the faster response times for Autarch Titanos.

"Well, I'm off to the Flamedragon Realmverse," the bald old man said, then waved his sleeves. Whoosh. Space rippled before him like water. The bald old man stepped into the rippling space, then disappeared without a trace.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 1 – First Autarch Meeting

Vastheaven Palace.

Ever since the Jadefire Realm affair had concluded, the disciples of Vastheaven Palace had returned to their headquarters. Vastheaven Palace was now even more bustling than it had been in the past.

"Ji Ning." Emperor Solesky called out as he hurried towards Ning's residence. Emperor Solesky's true body was now within the Dao Alliance's Palace of Immortals as one of their members, and he was on quite good terms with Emperor Goldisle and Emperor Blackcloud.

"Big brother Solesky, what has you in such a rush?" The golden-robed Ning was fishing relaxedly by himself.

"Something big just happened!" Emperor Solesky's eyes were huge and round as he whispered, "The Dao Alliance just received word and told me to inform you about this right away. Autarch Titanos has already left his estate and is heading towards the Flamedragon Realmverse. He could be arriving any moment now!"

"WHAT?!" Ning's entire body trembled for a moment before he came back to his senses. He tossed down the fishing rod, jumped to his feet, then said frantically: "When is Autarch Titanos arriving and where?"

"We can't be sure. His estate is extremely far away from us, but as an Autarch he moves incredibly fast. No one knows how long it would take him to get here!" Emperor Solesky continued, "He might appear in the next instant, but if he takes a few detours on the way it might take him a few chaos cycles."

Ning felt his entire body tense up. Even though his Dao-heart was tremendously resilient, he still felt extremely nervous. "He's finally coming." Ning let out a long breath, his eyes filled with excitement. "I've waited so long and fought so hard. Finally, this day has come."

Not even the Daomerge would've inspired such excitement in Ning. He truly was eager to be able to bring Yu Wei back to life and reunite with her. With his wife by his side, he would be more than satisfied with living a life of a hundred thousand chaos cycles. This would be far better than an endless life of loneliness.

"Right, right! The realmship." Ning suddenly came back to his senses. "I need to go bring the realmship back and be ready for him at any moment." Autarch Titanos needed Ning to give him the realmship in exchange for his help. It would be extremely awkward if Ning didn't have the realmship on him!

The Terror Starsea. The Jadefire Realm. The Flamewing God remained trapped within the second hidden room, while Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw were by its side.

"Flamewing," Ning called out.

"Master," Flamewing responded obediently. After spending five chaos cycles with Ning, it had grown accustomed to addressing Ning as 'master'.

"I need to go out and handle some business. It shouldn't take too long," Ning said.

"You are going to come back, right?" Flamewing felt a strong sense of attachment towards Ning.

Ning couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache. The legendary Chaos Primordial was like a child! All Ning could do was to say, "Don't worry, I'll definitely come back. Just take a quick nap. I'll be back by the time you wake up. The next time I see you, it'll be time for me to deal with those chains of yours."

"Alright." Flamewing nodded repeatedly.

"We're off." Ning immediately turned and left through the giant, ancient copper gate, with Azurefiend and Whitethaw flying out by his side.

Flamewing watched as Ning left. Once the great gate swung shut, it finally sat back down once again. However, it had long ago grown accustomed to loneliness, and so it quickly shut its eyes and entered a state of slumber once more.

A short while later, Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw reached the other hidden room within the Jadefire Realm.

"So this is the Jadefire Realm's formation-diagram?" Hegemon Azurefiend stared at the enormous flower-like formation-diagram on the altar.

"Yes. What, are you capable of understanding and mastering it?" Ning laughed.

"I don't understand it at all. This formation seems very odd; it's completely different from the other formations I've analyzed." Hegemon Azurefiend shook his head.

Ning smiled. The Sithe had indeed embarked upon a unique path with regards to the art of formations, a path that was very different from the ones which cultivators walked. Without knowing the proper techniques, it truly would be extremely difficult to even understand how these formations worked.

Whoosh. Ning waved his hand, causing a stream of fire to instantly descend from him and form into the body of an Emperor-class golem. This was one of the many golems which Ning had acquired from the Sithe ruins in the Stone Hellephant Wall.

"This is the control technique which governs the flaming passageways and the outermost areas in the Jadefire Realm." Ning tossed a jade slip over. "Hurry up and master it. Once you do, take control over the Jadefire Realm for me."

"Yes," the flaming Emperor-class golem said respectfully. Ning had only given it the most basic of control techniques. Now that Ning fully understood how the technique worked, it was easy for him to develop a new control techniques of his own. However, this technique could only be used to control the outer perimeter and the flaming passageways. The techniques governinig the prison regions were all quite complex. For now, not even Ning was able to tell them apart.

"Remember, there is a Hegemon within the flaming passageways." Ning pointed at a tiny little dot located in one of the countless passageways. "Keep a close watch on him! Once he starts to run around, immediately activate some of the most powerful mechanisms and kill him, or at least trap him and send him into the prison regions."

"Understood," the Emperor-class golem responded.

"But of course, he's so terrified of dying that I expect he won't move around." After making the necessary arrangements, Ning relaxed slightly. "This place is now in your hands. Azurefiend, Whitethaw, let's go."

Ning didn't feel the need to hold things back from Azurefiend, as the lifeblood oaths binding a retainer were quite strong. He had to go back to the Flamedragon Realmverse, which meant he couldn't continue to use a divine power clone to maintain the formation-diagram. As a result, his only option was to rely on his golems. Emperor-class golems were extremely intelligent, and it wouldn't be hard for them to control some basic formations. It must be remembered that when major powers died, they'd often use formation-spirits, treasure-spirits, or powerful golems to control their legacy sites and await their successors.

Golems had infinite lifespans and would never betray their master unless they were forcibly bound. Thus, both the Sithe and the cultivators delighted in using golems.

After having finished with his other arrangements, Ning led the two in flying in the realmship and departing from the flaming passageways. The Jadefire Realm simply had far too many of those flaming passageways, and they were all extremely long. Even though the realmship had been repaired and was able to fly quite quickly, it still took them two days to pass through the flaming passageways.

"There's the exit." Ning was quite familiar with the formation-diagram and thus knew where the breaches in the Jadefire Realm were. It had been thoroughly wrecked, after all. Ning was able to easily exit while following the breaches.

Swoosh. The realmship charged through the flames, quickly discovering a giant, cavernous gap which it was able to exit through. After flying for roughly an hour and repeatedly changing directions, they managed to leave the Jadefire Realm.

"We need to get back to the Flamedragon Realmverse as soon as possible. Autarch Titanos could come at any moment." Ning was so excited that his eyes were slightly bloodshot. This was the most important goal in his path of cultivation, after all.

"Hey kid! Calm down, there's no rush." A voice suddenly rang out by his ears.

Ning had just flown out of the Jadefire Realm. He couldn't help but turn his head, startled, only to see a bald black-robed elder standing in the void in front of him. This bald old man had a pair of golden eyes and two fleshy antennae growing out of his head. The antennae waved at him in an amused fashion, while the old man had a smile on his face as well. Anyone who saw him would feel the urge to laugh.

Whoosh. The bald old man suddenly vanished into thin air.

"Eh?" Ning was startled. "Where did he go?"

"I'm right here," the bald old man said merrily.

Ning turned his head, only to realize that the bald old man was standing right next to him. Ning couldn't help but feel speechless. The old man had been able to enter the realmship without him even realizing it… this was a level of ability that vastly outstripped Ning's imagination. It must be remembered that he was the master of the realmship, and that he was in complete control of it… and yet, this person had suddenly appeared right before him inside of it.

"Darknorth greets you, Autarch." Ning hurriedly bowed respectfully.

"Azurefiend greets you, Autarch," Hegemon Azurefiend said respectfully as well.

Whitethaw stood right next to Ning. He bowed respectfully as well, but he didn't say a word.

Both Ning and Azurefiend were major powers of extraordinary power ability. They had seen far more than most, and they naturally saw right away how terrifying this bald old man was. For example… they couldn't see any lines of karma binding this bald old man at all. It must be remembered that any cultivator who was alive would be linked to others by karma, but they weren't able to sense any karma lines at all on the old man. This was absolutely inconceivable.

"Quite clever." The bald old man chortled as he turned his gaze towards the Jadefire Realm. "The Seven Flaming Hells. Truly impressive. The Sithe truly were formidable, to be able to capture a Chaos Primordial and use it as their energy source for this facility and then absorb its power with such ease. Judging from that Chaos Primordial's truesoul… it should already have a master. Is it you, kid?" The bald old man looked at Ning.

Ning was stunned. He had always heard of how incredible Autarchs were, but he never would've imagined that an Autarch would be able to simply glance at the Jadefire Realm and immediately know that there was a Chaos Primordial there, AND know that Ning was its master. No wonder even the mighty Sithe had ended up falling before the Autarchs and the cultivator civilizations. The Autarchs were simply incredible. They had all reached utterly inconceivable levels of power.

To Autarchs, even Chaos Primordials were nothing. They were capable of slaying the creatures with ease.

"Yes, I am its master," Ning said.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 2 – Ning's Nervousness

"Chaos Primordials are born from within the prime essences of the vast Chaosverse. They are blessed by the prime essences and born with tremendous karmic luck. The vast majority of cultivators will never have a chance to even encounter one of these creatures." The bald old man looked at Ning, a smile on his face as he offered his congratulations: "Although you also have tremendous karmic luck, you still can't compare to that Chaos Primordial. I imagine it wasn't easy for you to run into it."

Ji Ning was briefly startled, but he quickly understood. It was indeed true that running into Chaos Primordials was incredibly rare, due to how much the prime essences of the Chaosverse doted upon them. Indeed, Ning himself had entered the Jadefire Realm many chaos cycles ago, but he had to undergo countless hardships before managing to solve the formation-diagram and thus have the chance to meet the Chaos Primordial.

However, from another perspective, this was also proof that in the long run, being 'blessed with karmic luck' and 'beloved by the prime essences' didn't count for THAT much. The Chaos Primordial had still been trapped by the Sithe for countless years, right?

"I had to solve the Jadefire Realm's formation-diagram before I was able to meet the Chaos Primordial," Ning said.

"Treat it well. It will be of great help to you. Come, let us go to your homeland," the bald old man said.

Whoosh. As soon as these words came out, spacetime twisted around them and everything became illusory and dreamlike. By the time spacetime went back to normal, Ning immediately saw a chaosworld off in the distance.

"We've already left the Terror Starsea?" Ning was immediately able to sense the location of his avatar and Primaltwin and thus knew where he was. He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe, but he was able to keep his expression calm.

"I'll take you to my homeland right away, senior," Ning said.

"Wait, wait. Not just yet. I teleported your realmship here because there's a young fellow that needs rescuing," the bald old man immediately called out. With a swoosh, he flew out of the realmship and towards that distant chaosworld.

"Needs rescuing? Needs rescuing by an exalted AUTARCH?!" Ning and Azurefiend shared a glance, both feeling rather puzzled.

Swoosh. Swoosh. Ning put away the realmship for now, then flew towards that chaosworld as well. Azurefiend and Whitethaw followed close behind. Once they flew into the chaosworld…

"Haha, Daolord Cleardust, you've been trapped with my formation and have nowhere to run. In a mere thirty thousand years, the power of my formation will have ground you into dust and wiped out your truesoul. Did you think, young fellow, that you would be able to defeat me just because you broke through to become a Samsara Daolord? This chaosworld shall remain mine. No one can violate my will!" A red-haired old man was seated at the peak of a mountain, staring downwards into a valley.

The valley was filled with rolling black clouds and billowing flames. Every so often, one could see a fragile-looking you seated in the air in the lotus position. He was suffering all sorts of torment. The youth sat there in the lotus position, murmuring a chant while completely ignoring the red-haired elder.

"I established this chaosworld as my estate, and thus all the living creatures within it are subject to my will. All shall be as I will it! I never would've imagined that this chaosworld would actually give birth to a freakishly talented genius like yourself. You actually managed to reach the Samsara Daolord level because of a few so-called legacies I left behind out of boredom." The red-haired elder was in a good mood, as victory was clearly at hand. "You, a Daolord of the First Step, actually managed to fight me to a standstill even though I am a Daolord of the Third Step. I truly admire you very much. In the outside world, someone as talented as you would probably be recruited by one of the major organizations. Unfortunately, you shall die here."

"Yes, you shall die here!" A voice suddenly rang out, followed by a giant foot descending from the heavens. Sploosh! The giant foot stomped down upon the red-haired old man, smushing him into the ground. The red-haired man instantly stopped moving.

The owner of the foot descended from the heavens. It was a merry-looking bald old man. Moments later, Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw all descended as well.

"No wonder this chaosworld was protected by so many barriers. I imagine most Daolords of the Second Step and even Daolords of the Third Step would be unable to pass through them," Ning sent mentally. "So this was the estate of that deceased Daolord over there."

"Autarch Titanos intervened for the sake of that kid?" Azurefiend glanced downwards at the valley.

The bald old man had already walked down into the valley, easily tearing apart and destroying the formations. He was chatting with that fragile-looking youth, whose gaze was calm and distant. It was as though the youth had long ago seen and suffered countless torments and had endured everything one could endure.

"Hahaha. That Daolord over there… just judging from his gaze, I can sense that he has experienced much pain," Azurefiend said.

"This chaosworld is an absolute hell." Ning swept the area with his gaze, seeing everything there was to see within this chaosworld. That demonic Daolord had clearly delighted in tormenting and abusing all the living creatures of this chaosworld, treating them as his playthings.

A short while later… "Time to go." The bald old man returned to Ning's side.

"Alright." Ning and Azurefiend cast a final glance to 'Daolord Cleardust', who remained within the gorge. Daolord Cleardust looked back at these foreign cultivators, a slightly confused look in his eyes. He had no idea who was before him. One was a terrifyingly powerful golem, one was a supremely talented Daolord, the third was a Hegemon, and the old man was an Autarch, supreme amongst the cultivator civilizations.

"Autarch." While flying away from the chaosworld, Azurefiend couldn't help but ask, "Why did you intervene to save a Daolord of the First Step?"

"Couldn't you sense how much karmic luck swirled around him? Of course I had to aid him," the bald old man said with a merry grin.

"You have to help him because of his karmic luck?" Ning was puzzled. Karmic luck was just a side benefit; personal power was what truly mattered. No amount of karmic luck would protect you in the face of overwhelming power!

"Of course!" The bald old man said hurriedly, "You clearly don't understand. Each time I help someone like him out, my own karmic luck increases as well. When I act in accordance with the will of the prime essences of the Chaosverse, my own karmic luck will continuously increase. Do you know what will happen once your karmic luck reaches an incredibly high level?"

"What will happen?" Ning was curious.

"All sorts of rare and incredible treasures will appear out of nowhere, almost as though they are throwing themselves at me. I could choose a random boulder to sit on, and then I'd find out that it was part of an incredibly rare ore vein. Any random tree I chose to take shade under could possibly be a spirit-fruit tree of great value." The bald old man sighed. "All sorts of treasures will throw themselves at me. It is quite the pleasant experience."

"Buuut… I've come here to help you reverse spacetime to revive a Celestial Immortal. That goes against the will of the Chaosverse." The bald old man sighed again. "Looks like my karmic luck is going to drop by quite a bit."

An awkward look appeared on Ning's face.

"Haha, I'm just teasing you. Honestly, karmic luck doesn't matter all that much. Once you've trained to my level, it really makes no difference at all. It's just a little game we play to keep score." The bald old man swept the area with his gaze. Boom! Suddenly, the space around them seemed to retreat as karma, spacetime, and luck all withdrew from them. A field of absolute void was formed around them, a region of complete stillness.

Ning and Azurefiend could both sense that they were completely unable to move. This invisible pressure had forced away even the prime essences of the Chaosverse, to say nothing of them.

"See this? This area is now devoid of the prime essences of the Chaosverse. This is now my absolute domain." The bald old man laughed.

Ning suddenly remembered how the area around the Azureflower Estate was similarly devoid of all outside types of energy. But of course, the effect wasn't as strong as it was right now, where Autarch Titanos was personally and actively maintaining the effect.

"In the end, personal power is what matters the most. Kid, as a practitioner of an Omega Dao, if you somehow manage to succeed in your Daomerge you'll probably understand." The bald old man continued, "Alright, hurry up and bring out your realmship. Lead me to your homeland."

"Alright." Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw could sense that they were able to move again. They immediately entered the realmship. Whoosh! After just a short spacetime blink, the realmship appeared within the void outside the new Three Realms.

The bald old man stared at the distant Three Realms, then let out a surprised breath: "What an impressive chaosworld! Just by looking at it, I can tell that it is extraordinary. No wonder it was able to produce a freak of a Daolord like yourself, someone who trains in an Omega Dao!"

"It has already been destroyed once." Ning pointed at the void next to the new Three Realms. "That place over there used to be my homeland, a world within the Three Realms which was known as the 'Grand Xia world'. My Dao-companion used to live by my side there."

The original Three Realms took up much more space than the new one, as it had been shattered and splintered into countless pieces. There had been a Celestial Realm, a Netherworld Kingdom, and three thousand major worlds that had been scattered across an enormous amount of space. The new Three Realms was a single complete entity which took up much less space. The location the Grand Xia had been in was now just an empty patch of psace.

"Oh. Over here, right?" The bald old man walked over and chuckled while spacetime churned around him and began to reverse at increasingly high speeds.

Whoooooosh. Spacetime continued to reverse, and they quickly reached the scene of the old Three Realms.

"Slow down a bit," Ning urged.

"Don't worry. I'll find the old you first," the bald old man said. "Oh. There you are." A projection of the Grand Xia had appeared, centered around the old Black-White College. The scene was that of Ning, who had just entered the Black-White College. He was about to begin his duel against Yu Wei.

"The Black-White College?" The bald old man pointed towards Yu Wei's image. "That should be your wife, yes?"

"Yes." Ning felt as though his blood was boiling from nervousness. It had been a long, long time since he had been this nervous.

"It seems she really did have a big impact on you." The bald old man laughed. "Wait for me to reverse the flows of spacetime and bring her back to life!"

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 3 – Origins

"Oh, right. Where's the realmship? I conduct business fairly. I have to take your realmship in payment for reviving your Dao-companion." The old man looked at Ning.

"Here it is." At a time like this, the realmship meant absolutely nothing to Ji Ning. He immediately waved his hand, sending the palm-sized realmship flying over. Hegemon Azurefiend watched with a rather agonized look in his eyes, but all he could do was sigh to himself: "Darknorth truly is willing to sacrifice anything in order to revive his Dao-companion. A realmship has been lost, just like that."

The bald old man cared as little about the realmship as Ning did. He waved his hand to accept it, then said solemnly: "None of you are to disturb me. Stay far away from me as well."

"Alright." Ning, Azurefiend, and White that all immediately retreated off into the distance.

"Chaosverse, I've come to steal yet another truesoul fragment from you." A hint of a smile appeared on the bald old man's lips. He then reached out with both hands, the fleshy antennae on his head wriggling as a terrifying amount of power began to spread out from him. He became the absolute master of this area of space.

"Condense." The bald old man waved a finger, causing the illusory phantom of the black-robed Yu Wei to begin to light up.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Countless specks of light began to appear deep within the incredibly distant prime essences of the Chaosverse. They flew into the illusory phantom of the black-robed Yu Wei, pulling at her.

"It has begun." Ning watched nervously. The illusory Yu Wei was nothing more than a phantom of the past. In order to make the phantom real, it had to have a truesoul within it! However, when the living beings of the Three Realms lost their truesouls, those truesouls would return to the where they came from – the prime essences of the Chaosverse.

"To reverse spacetime and revive someone who perished… this is my first time seeing an Autarch do such a thing," Hegemon Azurefiend sent mentally. "Look at how nervous your master is!"

Whitethaw looked at Ning, then nodded and sent back, "This is my master's deepest desire. Of course he is nervous."

"For an ordinary mortal to train to such heights and then be able to ask an Autarch to help him out… I truly do feel a great deal of admiration for him." Azurefiend sighed.

Both Azurefiend and Whitethaw were fairly calm. They watched this rare sight with interest and appreciation, but the only thing Ning felt was nervousness.

In that empty region of space, the bald old Autarch Titanos had already completely unleashed his power. The black-robed Yu Wei was glimmering with countless specks of light, and she was becoming increasingly 'real'. However… gradually, the gathering of the light seemed to slow down. Some of the light actually started to disappear.

"Eh?!" The bald old man's face tightened, while Ning's heart shuddered.

"Get over here!" A hint of anger flashed past the bald old man's face, and more light instantly began to gather around Yu Wei's phantom once more. The bald old man's face became increasingly ugly to behold, but Yu Wei's body began to become more and more real. Slowly, the light that gathered over her eyes caused a look of sentience to appear within her eyes.

"Senior apprentice-sister." Ning looked at Yu Wei.

The light-bathed Yu Wei looked back at Ning. A hint of life flashed through her eyes. She was no longer a phantom of the past; it was as though a real person was looking back at Ning. Their gazes met… and in that instant, Ning suddenly felt as though it was all worth it. Anything was worth it, so long as she could come back to life.

"Ugh!" The bald old man suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was ashen, and Yu Wei's phantom immediately began to crumble apart as the countless specks of light began to dissipate.

"No…!" Ning frantically reached out, wanting to claw back the dissipating light. Alas, the power of the prime essences of the Chaosverse caused all the specks of light to disappear into nothingness.

"DAMNIT!" The bald old man's face was ashen. He was so angry that even the two fleshy antennae on his head were quivering with rage. He howled furiously, "Prime essences of the Chaosverse, the truesoul fragments of countless living beings have returned to you upon death. All I want is to bring a single one of them back! A single truesoul is nothing to you! Why must you fight me to the death like this? Why must you seize it back!"

The binding power of the prime essences of the Chaosverse was simply too great. Normally, Hegemons and even Otherverse Lords did not have the power to try and resist it. Only Autarchs were qualified to make the attempt.

"Is it worth it?! Is it worth it for you to spend so much effort in fighting me?!" The old man's entire body was trembling from rage. The area around him, however, remained completely silence. The prime essences of the Chaosverse made no response at all.

The bald old man forced down his rage, then turned to look at Ning.

"Autarch." Ning looked at Autarch Titanos.

"Where did your Dao-companion come from? I should be able to revive even a World God with ease, to say nothing of a Celestial Immortal like her." The bald old man stared at Ning. "Just now, when I tried to reverse spacetime and revive your wife, the prime essences of the Chaosverse fought me so hard, I felt as though I was trying to revive a Hegemon! Even if I killed myself trying to bring her back, I still wouldn't stand much of a chance."

Ning's face turned ashen as well. What?! An Autarch could kill himself trying to revive Yu Wei? Ning knew that there was no need for Autarch Titanos to lie to someone like him. In fact, Autarch Titanos had tried so hard that he had suffered an injury because of it, vomiting blood as a result.

"How is this possible? She's nothing more than an ordinary Celestial Immortal of the Three Realms. There was nothing special about her." Ning couldn't understand either. "Why can't you revive her? This makes no sense."

"Let me take a closer look at things." The bald old man turned to stare at the surrounding void. Rumble… countless images began to flicker through the void. These images included what had happened in the new Three Realms, the events of the old Three Realms, the collision between the Pangu Chaosworld and the Seamless Chaosworld, and even the images of what had happened prior to the Pangu Chaosworld being born.

Countless images flashed through the void around him…

"So that's how it is." The bald old man nodded slowly.

"Autarch?" Ning looked at the bald old man.

"During the Dawn War, when we fought against the Sithe… we had a number of Autarchs on our side," the bald old man said. "One of them was named Autarch Awakener."

"Autarch Awakener?" Hegemon Azurefiend had a puzzled look on his face.

Ning, however, turned pale. He naturally knew that Autarch Awakener had been the master of the Azureflower Estate. He immediately said, "This has something to do with Autarch Awakener?"

"You seem to have heard of Awakener before." The bald old man laughed. "The number of people in the vast Chaosverse who were able to become Autarchs can be counted on just two hands! Autarch Awakener died long ago. It could be considered a form of suicide."

"He died? Suicided?" Azurefiend became increasingly confused. Ning, however, had heard this long ago and thus simply continued to listen attentively.

"Darknorth, kid… Worldhearts can be naturally birthed from the primordial chaos, but there is also a second way a chaosworld's Worldheart can be formed. Do you know what that way is?" The bald old man looked at Ning.

"An Eternal Emperor's godgems," Ning said. This was a secret, but Ning had studied the countless techniques Autarch Awakener had acquired from the Sithe and the cultivator civilizations. Thus, he knew these secrets long ago.

A Samsara Daolord could have at most a total of 108,000 godgems in his divine body. Once he completed hisDaomerge, those godgems would become Eternal godgems and be filled with miraculous powers.

If an Eternal Emperor perished, each of his godgems could give birth to a new chaosworld. The living beings in this chaosworld would generally be fairly special, and it would give birth to experts at a slightly higher rate. However, the difference between these chaosworlds and ordinary chaosworlds wasn't all that great. However, the godgems left behind by a deceased Hegemon could give birth to extremely special chaosworlds.

"Correct." The bald old man nodded. "As you may know, your Three Realms was born from a collision between the Pangu Chaosworld and the Seamless Chaosworld… but what you didn't know was that each was formed from a godgem."

"A godgem?" Ning immediately thought back to the fused and dazzlingly beautiful Worldheart he had seen when the old Three Realms had been destroyed.

"Yes. Godgems from Autarch Awakener!" the bald old man said.

"What?!" Azurefiend called out in shock.

"An Autarch's godgems?!" Ning was stunned as well.

"Autarch Awakener died, but he made preparations prior to his death. He made arrangements for all 108,000 of his godgems," the bald old man said. "Two of them were sent into the void and ended up becoming a chaosworld."

"The living beings in these two chaosworlds were all blessed with incredible talent. These two chaosworlds vastly outstripped all other chaosworlds, and each of them gave birth to as many geniuses as an entire territory might," the bald old man said.

Ning was starting to understand. No wonder the Pangu Chaosworld and Seamless Chaosworld had so many freakishly talented people! They didn't have any good techniques or legacies, but they were still so talented that they were able to fight at a higher level of power than they were at. Once they were given good techniques, they skyrocketed in power.

"Later on, these two chaosworlds collided against each other. Their Worldhearts smashed together as well, and parts of their Worldhearts were actually broken off and splintered," the bald old man said. "The shattered Worldheart bits were completely melted away and their power was dispersed upon the countless living beings of the new world."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 4 – A Graceful Departure

Ji Ning immediately remembered that the Worldheart of the Three Realms was indeed composed of two damaged crystals that had somehow managed to fuse together. Both were indeed incomplete, but they had managed to come together and form a perfect whole.

"In other words… small parts of an Autarch's godgems were completely dispersed into energy which was bestowed upon the living beings of that era. That was why all of the living beings in that first era underwent certain changes," the bald old man said. "This was why the woman known as 'Nuwa' was able to suddenly break through to become a World God during that war. She had no techniques and no teachers, but she was still able to break through! The one known as Windfiend was also dramatically strengthened during the course of that battle!"

"All living creatures below the World-level in that chaosworld were blessed by the Autarch's energies," the bald old man said. "This was why your master Subhuti, as well as many of those other major powers, continued to slowly grow more and more powerful. Their potential continued to deepen as well."

"As for the countless ordinary mortals of the Three Realms, all of them possess tremendous talent. You used to be nothing more than an ordinary mortal. Back then, the amount of karmic luck you had was vastly inferior to the amount your master Subhuti and the others had."

"Eventually, you rose to sudden prominence! As your power skyrocketed, you gained more karmic luck and thus many of the blessings of the Three Realms became focused upon you. During that battle against the Seamless Alliance, you finally broke through to a new level of power, draining away a large amount of karmic luck from the Three Realms." The bald old man looked at Ning. "You were blessed with tremendous potential, becoming the most powerful figure of the Three Realms Era."

"However… in the end, karmic luck is secondary. It was primarily your own hard work which brought you to this point," the bald old man said.

Ning was beginning to slowly understand. He had indeed been blessed by luck, which was why he was able to make it this far… but every single powerful cultivator had his own lucky encounters! Take Archon Silksnow as an example. Although he was a fiendish figure, he had also experienced many lucky encounters in his life… but in the end, he had still been forced by Ning to commit suicide.

The more powerful you became, the less of an impact the prime essences of the Chaosverse would have upon you. There were evil figures who had butchered entire territories, but they were still living happy lives, yes? The prime essences of the Chaosverse weren't able to do anything to them.

"The Three Realms Era ended, and the new Three Realms began. By now, the Worldheart is in good shape. There are no longer any godgem fragments, and so it is impossible for the generations to come in the new Three Realms to be quite as monstrously talented as the generation of the Three Realms Era." The bald old man laughed. "Your era was a special one which gave birth to special figures. If you missed it, you missed it."

Ning nodded. That era was an era where two Autarch's godgems had collided and given birth to a brand new world. It had indeed given birth to many major powers, including over ten thousand World-level cultivators and numerous Samsara Daolords, with Ning himself being the strongest of them. But of course, the vast majority of the living beings continued to live and die in an unending cycle of life and death.

"Every single living being born from a chaosworld formed by an Autarch's godgem is unique," the bald old man said. "This is because they all have a tiny amount of the Autarch's own essence within them. Once their souls and truesouls are destroyed, their truesoul fragments will be immediately taken away by the prime essences of the Chaosverse and hidden within its depths."

"You must understand, long long ago the vast Chaosverse didn't have that many living beings within it. It was the prime essences themselves who gave birth to all things. However… after doing so, as the living creatures grew stronger the prime essences themselves grew weaker."

"This is because, when we cultivator and grow stronger, what we do is draw upon the energy of the prime essences of the Chaosverse," the old man explained. "And when an Autarch rises to power? This is an incredible event. The rise of every single Autarch is a momentous occasion for the prime essences of the Chaosverse. Once an Autarch dies, the prime essences will immediately do their best to absorb as much of the Autarch's power as possible.

"Thus, although it is very easy to revive a living being from an ordinary chaosworld, to revive a living being from a chaosworld formed by an Autarch's godgem is far more difficult. The problem facing us is that the Three Realms Era was an era where the living beings were blessed with the energies of TWO fragmented godgems. Every single living being of that era is incredibly special.

"Your Dao-companion was a Celestial Immortal of that era. To revive her truly will be even more difficult than reviving a Hegemon!" the bald old man said. "The prime essences have already swallowed her truesoul fragments; there's no way they will spit it back out again. They will never agree to release your Dao-companion's truesoul fragments. They'll use their full power to oppose anyone who tries."

Ning now completely understood. He was a major power himself, and he had seen the countless techniques of two mighty civilizations. He knew far more than the vast majority of Hegemons.

When living beings were born, they would draw upon the energy of the primordial chaos to grow more powerful. If this process continued unabated, giving birth to more and more powerful experts… where would all of that energy come from? From the Chaosverse itself! Thus, the Chaosverse needed to reclaim its energies as well, and one of the most basic ways to do that was to draw upon truesoul fragments. The so-called destruction of the truesoul was nothing more than completely shattering a truesoul into fragments which would then be swallowed up by the Chaosverse.

It was akin to the cycle of reincarnation. New experts would rise to power, while dead ones would see their truesouls swallowed up by the Chaosverse. It formed a complete cycle.

Everworlds had their own basic essences, which was why when living beings died in an everworld their truesoul fragments would remain within the everworld. Reviving them would be quite easy.

Individuals who lived in otherverses would see their truesouls remain within the otherverse when they died. For example, the 'Sword Hegemon' who was the big brother of the Paragon of Pills – when he died, his truesoul was taken away by the prime essences of that alternate universe. To revive him would be comparatively easier, but he was still a Hegemon; the prime essences of that otherverse would fight tooth-and-claw to keep his truesoul fragments. Only an Autarch would be able to bring him back, but an Autarch would not casually revive a Hegemon. The price for such a thing would be far more than a mere realmship.

Chaosworlds were the most problematic! Alas, Yu Wei was a Celestial Immortal who had been born and died within a chaosworld birthed by one of Autarch Awakener's godgems.

"There's nothing I can do." The bald old man looked at Ning, then waved his hand and tossed the realmship back to Ning. "I wasn't able to carry out your request. Here's your realmship."

"If not even an Autarch can accomplish this, who can?" Ning was rather frantic.

"Hmph! If an Autarch can't do it, no one can. Duh!" The bald old man let out a laugh, but then he suddenly noticed the look on Ning's face. He instantly understood that reviving this woman had been this talented Daolord's strongest desire, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh. "It is just too difficult. If even I would risk my life in the attempt but still probably fail… who else could possibly succeed?"

Ning was rather dazed.

"Ehhh…" the bald old man looked at Ning, then suddenly laughed. "There IS one possibility."

Ning's eyes lit up as he immediately stared at Autarch Titanos.

"All of us Autarchs were originally Hegemons who broke through to the next step and became Autarchs." The bald old man looked at Ning. "You, however, train in an Omega Dao. If you can succeed in the Daomerge, you'll become a completely unprecedented Eternal Emperor who will vastly outstrip other Hegemons in power! Not even I would dare claim to understand the level of power you would reach."

"If you can succeed in the Daomerge to gain eternity, then make another break through to reach Autarchy…! An Omega Dao Autarch would probably be far more powerful than the rest of us. I suspect that such a person would be capable of reviving your Dao-companion without any difficulties," the bald old man said.

Ning was speechless. He now felt a tremendous to succeed in the Daomerge and then advance from Eternity to Autarchy.

"Haha, but that's just a hypothetical possibility. There's never been anyone to succeed in the Daomerge in an Omega Dao, to say nothing of reaching Autarchy." The bald old man began to walk away into the void as he spoke. "Foolish child… sometimes, you have to learn when to let go. On the path of cultivation, excessive obsession can sometimes result in self-destruction." As he spoke, he disappeared into the distance.

Just like that… Autarch Titanos was gone.

Ning stood there, completely unmoving.

"What should we do?" Whitethaw sent mentally to Azurefiend.

"How should I know? Reversing spacetime to revive his Dao-companion was his most ardent desire. Now that he's lost all hope… who knows what will happen?" Hegemon Azurefiend shook his head. "Autarch Titanos was worried that his Dao-heart would collapse, which was why he gave Darknorth one final glimmer of hope… but Omega Daos are incredibly difficult! Even the Autarch himself stated that there has never been anyone to succeed in the Daomerge for an Omega Dao, much less reach Autarchy with it!"

"He has to first become an Emperor, then become an Autarch. Every step is so difficult as to be completely impossible." Azurefiend shook his head. The Hegemons of the various territories and realmverses all dreamed of becoming Autarchs, but it was all for naught.

Ning wished to use his Omega Dao to become an Autarch? Did he think all the other Hegemons were fools who didn't just 'want it enough'? Becoming an Autarch was no easy feat!

"Actually, there's no need for him to waste too much time thinking about this stuff. Right now, the greatest problem facing him is still the Daomerge!" Azurefiend said, "Only if he succeeds in the Daomerge shall he have a future! Tell me, do you think your master will succeed in it?"

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 5 – Remorseless Unto Death

"He can," Whitethaw said solemnly. "I have faith in my master." He knew that Ji Ning had been blessed with tremendous good fortune within the Azureflower Estate, and also that his master had only been training for an extremely short period of time. Ning had a chance to succeed at the Daomerge.

"Bah, I don't even know why I'm wasting time talking to a golem like you." Azurefiend shook his head and turned to stare at the distant Ning. "But of course, I personally hope that he succeeds as well. An Emperor who completed the Daomerge with an Omega Dao… how powerful would he become? I can't even imagine it. He'd probably be far more powerful than even Otherverse Lords. He might even approach the Autarchs themselves in power!"

The distant Ning suddenly sent a hoarse mental message to them: "Whitethaw, Azurefiend, I wish to be alone for a time. Do not disturb me."

"Yes, Master," Whitethaw said.

"Some alone time would do you good. Think things over. Cultivation is a way of life; if your Dao-heart is not resolute enough, you won't be able to make it far along this path, much less master the Omega Dao," Azurefiend said.

Ning didn't respond. He simply strode away into the skies. Rumble… the void around him suddenly began to change. The primordial chaos flexed and trembled as a new world began to be born. Mountains rose, rivers appeared, and an indescribably vast sea took shape as well. Earth appeared, forming continents which were then covered with grasslands and marshes. Even cities and forests began to appear, causing the world to becoming increasingly beautiful.

Soon, a completely new world had been created around Ning… the world of the Grand Xia.

All it took was a single thought from Ning and the Grand Xia world was quickly remade.

"Stillwater City." Ning strode through the skies, surrounded by clouds. He stared off into the distance, where a great city had appeared. This was Stillwater City, a place of many memories for Ning. This Stillwater City even had a Black-White College within it.

"The Dao Debate Palace of the Black-White College." Ning walked into the Black-White College. It was just as it had been in his memories, except there were no living creatures within it at all. He soon reached the Dao Debate Palace. Ning sat down at the entranceway to the Dao Debate Palace, then picked up a gourd of wine and began to drink, his gaze distant as he stared into the palace.

He still remembered what had happened that year. He had been very young and had joined the Black-White College alongside Mu Northson. He had been a dazzling figure, and had defeated many senior apprentice-brothers during the Dao Debates. In the end, it had been Yu Wei who had intervened and defeated him effortlessly. He still remembered what the wager for their fight had been – a hundred black-white pellets and five kilograms of liquid essence.

"A hundred black-white pellets and five kilograms of liquid essence. Senior apprentice-sister, why is it that the path to our reunion is such a difficult one?!" Ning murmured to himself, then raised his head and drank some more wine. He drank too quickly, causing himself to cough. The wine splattered all over him, but he didn't care. He wanted to give vent to his pain.

He felt a sense of rage and resentment in his heart, a sense of pain which he had suppressed for too long. Why? He had clearly succeeded and had even seen her coming back to life. When they had shared gazes, he had known that everything was going to be perfect. He was about to embrace her again at long last… but in the end, it had been a failure!

Why!?

"I'll keep walking down this path for as long as I must." Ning stared into the Dao Debate Palace as he murmured to himself. He felt as though he could see those duels he had fought against Yu Wei and the others.

He had never hesitated, never given up. If the Autarch said that this would only be possible if he completed his Daomerge with his Omega Dao and then became an Autarch… then that would be what Ning's goal would become!

This would be an extremely difficult path to take. Ning wouldn't shirk back from it, but he did understand how low his chances of success were.

"Perhaps I shall one day collapse on this path." Ning smiled. "When I collapse, my truesoul will scatter and then return to the prime essences of the Chaosverse. There, the two of us shall be together once more."

There was still wine left in the gourd, but Ning was already drunk. Not from the wine; from his hopes. Ning rose to his feet and began to walk outside.

Whoooosh. Suddenly, large plumes of snow began to fly through the air. Ning walked through the snow, carrying the wine gourd in one hand while using a Northbow sword to train in sword-arts with the other. It wasn't an intentional display of sword-arts, it was just a way for his spirit to give vent.

All he wanted to do was to remain drunk. He continued to drink while executing his sword-arts. Ning felt himself growing drunker and drunker.

The vague outline of a person appeared before his eyes. It was Yu Wei. She was as beautiful as ever. It felt as though they were meeting again for the first time.

"Overwhelming sorrow from farewells… but it is naught but one parting of many." Ning smiled.

Whoosh. Ning's sword suddenly manifested a blood-colored light that shot out through the skies. He had just unconsciously and naturally executed the thirteenth stance of the [Heartsword, 'Snowland Blood'.

This sense of overwhelming sorrow, of the heart transcending all mortal concerns… when Ning struck out with his sword, he felt as though his sword was his lover. It was different from the eleventh stance, 'Teardrop', or the twelfth stance, 'Swordtide'. Those were frenzied attacks of overwhelming power. This attack had a sense of melancholy to it, a sense of pain stemming from heartache.

The melancholy had caused him to pour all of his heart into the sword, and thus the thirteenth stance had been mastered.

"Emperor Heartsword… I wonder what sort of mental state you were in when you first created this thirteenth stance of the Heartsword, 'Snowland Blood'." Ning smiled as he waved his sword about. "The fourteenth stance of the Heartsword is 'Remorseless Unto Death'." Ning raised his head to take another gulp of wine, then let out a loud cry as he struck out with a new, changed streak of sword-light.

When his sword struck out, it became ephemeral and transcendant. It was hard to even see his sword; it was as though the sword itself had vanished. However, a few vague traces could be seen. Those hard-to-see traces were indistinct but completely unblockable. It would continue to advance, and if anyone tried to stand in its path then that person would be slaughtered. The traces of this sword were enough to inspire utter terror in any who saw it.

This was the fourteenth stance of the Heartsword – Remorseless Unto Death.

In the Flamedragon Realmverse, there had only ever been a total of two cultivators who had mastered the fourteenth stance of the [Heartsword] art, including Emperor Heartsword himself. Now, Ning had become the third!

The thirteenth stance of the Heartsword, 'Snowland Blood'. The fourteenth stance of the Heartsword, 'Remorseless Unto Death'. These two were on the same general 'level'. So long as one could learn the thirteenth stance, it wouldn't take too long for the fourteenth stance to be mastered as well.

Emperor Heartsword's experiences truly had been remarkable. Although he had different experiences than Ning, they had reached a very similar mental state. Ning felt a similar sense of sorrow and melancholy; he knew that the chances of reversing spacetime and reviving his wife were impossibly low. And yet… he would have no regrets at all for pursuing this path, even in the face of death! No matter how low the chances were, he would still continue on this path.

Ning danced with the sword as snow flew around him. Slowly, the skies turned dark. Ning lay down on the snowy ground and went to sleep. It had been a long, long time since he had slumbered.

The 'snow' and the 'darkness'… these were nothing more than reflections of his mental state. He had created this world, and so its weather was invisibly influenced by his state of mind.

He slept for a long period of time before finally reopening his eyes. By now, a morning sun was rising from the horizon, bathing the world with its warm rays of light. There was some fog, but it was unable to block out the sunlight which pierced through everything as it illuminated the world.

Ning glanced at the gourd and the Northbow sword, both of which lay fallen next to him. He smiled, then picked them up.

"I've woken up. The Daomerge, eh?" Ning stared at the distant dawn sun, then murmured to himself: "Then I'll deal with the Daomerge first! I'll take things one step at a time. After the Daomerge, I'll then become an Autarch."

"Senior apprentice-sister… don't blame me if I fail." Ning chuckled, then soared into the skies. Rumble… the Black-White College and the city of Stillwater both began to break apart. The entire Grand Xia began to break apart, quickly dissipating into nothingness.

Ning stared the two figures waiting for him in the distant void.

"Master," Whitethaw called out respectfully.

"Darknorth." Hegemon Azurefiend was slightly startled. He could sense that Daolord Darknorth seemed to have undergone a tremendous transformation. His very aura had changed. In the past, Ning had a certain radiant dynamism to him. He had been a dazzling figure who was filled with hope… but now, his gaze was much calmer and more distant. It was like an endlessly deep sea. There was nothing which could shake his heart.

Reversing spacetime to revive Yu Wei had been a failure. All of that was over now, and he only had one thought in his mind… to continue walking his path of cultivation with no remorse and no regrets, unto death itself.

Either he would succeed in reuniting with Yu Wei, or he would fail and die, reuniting with her in the prime essences of the Chaosverse.

"Azurefiend, do you think I'll succeed in the Daomerge?" Ning laughed.

Azurefiend was startled upon seeing Ning's smile. He immediately said, "It'll be extremely hard… but then again, the number of people who became Daolords of the Fourth Step via an Omega Dao is miniscule. The fact that they failed doesn't mean you will fail as well, Darknorth."

"Just so." Ning laughed.

"But you are too stubborn and attached. Remember what Autarch Titanos said; excessive obsession can result in self-destruction," Azurefiend said.

Ning nodded and smiled. "But you know, he left out part of the saying. The full saying is, excessive obsession can result in great accomplishments, but it can also result in self-destruction. I have the feeling… that I'm the type who will have great accomplishments."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 6 – Icepeak Army

"Haha, I also believe that you'll accomplish great things!" Azurefiend looked at Ji Ning approvingly. He knew that some cultivators with deep obsessions who suffered setbacks would be so damaged by them that their Dao-hearts could crumble. This wasn't rare! Even Autarch Titanos had been worried that this dazzlingly talented Daolord would perish out of despair, which was why he voiced that final possibility of using an Omega Dao to become an Autarch. However, everyone knew how remote those chances were.

"I wish to remain in the Three Realms for a period of time," Ning said. "After I have fully mastered those formations, I'll return to the Jadefire Realm." The Flamewing God was in a state of slumber; to such a creature, a nap lasting one or two chaos cycles was nothing special at all. In the end, Ning would have to rely on his Primaltwin in the Azureflower Estate to unlock those formations.

"As you desire," Azurefiend smiled. "I'm going to spend some time wandering your homeland as well. It has been quite some time since I've experienced the mortal life."

Ning nodded. "Remember, you are not permitted to kill."

"Then what if someone tries to bully me?" Azurefiend stared.

"Capture them first. You can kill them if I give the nod," Ning said. He refused to allow a Hegemon to run wild within his homeland.

"Fine. As you insist." Azurefiend felt quite helpless. As a retainer, he had to obey orders.

Ning chuckled, then began to walk towards the 'Three Realms Domain' with Whitethaw behind him. The Three Realms Domain referred to the region of 3900 chaosworlds which had been established by Ning, Subhuti, Windfiend, and the other major powers.

"How beautiful." Ning stared at the thousands of chaosworlds that were organized into that enormous triangular formation. They were like a host of flickering stars in the sky, glowing with dazzling light. Ning nodded slowly. "Later, it'll be time to further perfect this formation." Stabilizing the Three Realms Domain was a long-term endeavor.

A territory that was extremely far away from the Flamedragon Realmverse.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. An endless black fog had spread out to cover a deep chasm, and at the bottom of the chasm was the residence of a famed Otherverse Lord known as 'Lord Skyjade'.

Swoosh. Swoosh. An enormous tear in space appeared above the abyss, with three towering figures exiting the tear.

They were all onyx humanoids with icy expressions on their faces. Unlike 'ordinary' humanoids, their bodies were covered with strange silver-white diagrams. Just standing in the air above the abyss, they emanated an endless aura of cold that swept out and caused even the endless black mist below them to freeze over.

"We finally arrived." The three onyx humanoids all smiled slightly.

"Lord Skyjade, come out and meet with us," one of the onyx humanoids called out loudly. His voice boomed out, echoing into the abyss deep within them.

Swoosh. A man dressed in dark golden robes walked out from the abyss, emanating an aura of endless might which suppressed the freezing cold. Lord Skyjade had handsome features and an extraordinary aura. He was the master of this realmverse and a nearby otherverse, making him far superior to ordinary Otherverse Lords.

"Hmph. Why have you sought me out?" Lord Skyjade's voice held a tinge of distaste, but he managed to suppress much of his anger as he spoke.

"What's wrong, Lord Skyjade? Do you detest the Icepeak Army?" one of the onyx humanoids mocked.

"If you don't wish to speak with us and wish to put on airs in front of us, we can have our general, 'Lord Wulf', come and speak to you instead," another onyx humanoid said.

Lord Skyjade frowned. He did feel a great deal of trepidation when dealing with the legendary Icepeak Army. "Cut the crap. What do you want, exactly?"

"While the three of us were out adventuring, we suddenly heard word of a distance place known as the Flamedragon Realmverse. Supposedly, an incredibly talented Daolord has managed to procure a realmship. Alas… as you might know, our Icepeak Army is extremely powerful and has multiple realmships, but our general Lord Wulf doesn't have one despite his incredible power. Now, a Daolord does. Isn't this quite irritating? Thus, we are planning to head to the Flamedragon Realmverse and force that Daolord to hand the realmship over," a skinny onyx humanoid said.

"I heard that the Icepeak Army has a total of five realmships, while your general Lord Wulf is incredibly strong. Why doesn't he have a realmship to call his own?" Lord Skkyjade feigned surprise.

"Hmph." The three onyx humanoids snorted, not wanting to explain. Clearly, even the mighty Icepeak Army had its own internal squabbles.

"Lord Skyjade, we've come here to ask you to help send us to the Flamedragon Realmverse," a muscular onyx humanoid said. "The Flamedragon Realmverse is too far away. It would take us far longer than tens of millions of chaos cycles to reach it if we were to fly towards it. Daolords have short lives; we don't have the time to waste."

"The Flamedragon Realmverse? I don't have a realmship." Lord Skyjade shook his head. "Are you actually expecting me to use up the energy of my otherverse to send you there?"

"We'll compensate you appropriately, Lord Skyjade," the cyclopean onyx humanoid said. Although they were extraordinary figures of great power, they still had to show a basic level of courtesy to an Otherverse Lord.

"You wish for me to take you all the way to the distant Flamedragon Realmverse? That's far too exhausting." Lord Skyjade shook his head. "How about this? I'll ask one of my friends who has a realmship to help you out and take you to the Flamedragon Realmverse, but of course you'll have to compensate him as well."

"Naturally."

"Understood," the three onyx humanoids said.

Lord Skyjade remained quite displeased. He was an exalted Otherverse Lords; normal Hegemons had to treat him with great respect. These three were nothing more than minor soldiers in the Icepeak Army, yet they dared to behave so insolently towards him!

Alas, when he thought of the supreme leader of the Icepeak Army, that towering figure seated upon that mighty throne, Lord Skyjade couldn't help but shudder. He couldn't help but let out a sigh for Daolord Darknorth, who he had never met. "A minor Daolord was able to convince a Hegemon to become his retainer. News has spread throughout the Chaosverse. Even the Icepeak Army has heard of him."

"Remember, that place is under the sway of the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance. That is Realmslord Windgrace's territory," Lord Skyjade said. "Realmslord Windgrace's 'Blacksun' is not easy to deal with."

There were differences in status amongst Otherverse Lords as well. Realmslord Windgrace, as the master of the Blacksun, was definitely a terrifying figure even amongst Otherverse Lords.

"We know. We're only there for Daolord Darknorth, not to cause a war. I don't think Realmslord Windgrace would choose to make an enemy out of the Icepeak Army for such a matter," the three onyx humanoids said.

"Fine. Wait a while. Roughly a hundred thousand years from now, my friend shall arrive and take you towards the Flamedragon Realmverse." Lord Skyjade turned and flew back into the deep abyss.

The three watched him leave. "Hmph. Lord Skyjade is quite a prideful figure."

"The three of us are Black Emperors. If we worked together, he wouldn't be able to do anything to us even though he is an Otherverse Lord. The only reason he dares to behave so arrogantly before the Icepeak Army is because he can hide within his otherverse whenever he pleases." All three of them were rather disdainful towards him.

"Oh, right. Realmslord Windgrace of the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance is not a man to be trifled with. This won't be a problem, will it?" the muscular onyx humanoid frowned as he spoke.

"Don't worry! Old man Windgrace is a clever fellow. He wouldn't dare launch an actual war against the Icepeak Army. He's all by himself, while we have an entire host of Hegemons on our side, as well as his Majesty! Hmph. So long as we don't go too far and merely act against that Daolord, this won't cause too much of a stir. Realmslord Windgrace knows his limits."

"Agreed."

Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, a ten million years had gone by, and a realmship finally reached the Flamedragon Realmverse.

"Thank you, Hegemon Thunderstar. Wait for us here, just in case… but we don't think a mere Daolord would dare to go against our will. He'll probably hand the realmship over to us, and so we'll probably just fly back in the realmship without needing to trouble you again." The three onyx humanoids flew towards the Flamedragon Realmverse.

Hegemon Thunderstar had become a Hegemon via the Dao of Thunder. He was terrifyingly fast and an extremely famous figure.

"Emperors will bide their time, but Daolords are different. They have such short lives that they are usually quite temperamental," Hegemon Thunderstar said with a laugh. "Given that he has Hegemon Azurefiend as a retainer… if he really does fight back and chooses to hide within Hegemon Azurefiend's estate-world, you won't necessarily be able to win the realmship from him."

"We trust he wouldn't dare to make enemies out of us." The three onyx humanoids were quite confident in their chances. As for Hegemon Thunderstar, he secretly smirked.

The vast majority of the supreme powers of the Chaosverse all disliked the Icepeak Army! It was, however, an extremely formidable force, and so even Otherverse Lords were forced to give way before them.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 7 – The Lonely King

The Flamedragon Realmverse. Vastheaven Territory. Within the Vastheaven Everworld.

Whoooosh. An enormous tear in space appeared, with three towering onyx humanoids emerging from within it. Each of them radiated auras of tremendous power that showed them to be at the Hegemon level.

"That is Vastheaven Palace," one of the onyx humanoids said.

"Thankfully, Hegemon Winterflame has long ago spread word regarding Daolord Darknorth. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to acquire such detailed information regarding him with such ease," the skinny onyx humanoid said with a laugh.

"I hear that Hegemon Winterflame remains trapped within the Jadefire Realm."

"That's why he hates Daolord Darknorth so much. However… the Jadefire Realm truly is a terrifying place. Not even the three of us would dare to barge into it; only the general himself would dare to do such a thing! However, I trust Daolord Darknorth will be wise enough not to fight us head-on." The three onyx humanoids flew through the skies towards Vastheaven Palace.

Within Vastheaven Palace.

Daolord Pillsaint was working on his alchemy, while Su Youji, Ji Ning, and Solesky were both watching.

"I can smell the fragrance of the pill," Su Youji said eagerly.

Crack. Sizzle. Pop. The flames continued to sizzle away at the alchemy pot as Pillsaint focused all of his efforts on controlling the fire.

"Not bad." The nearby Ning nodded. "Pillsaint is getting to be increasingly impressive in the Dao of Alchemy. He can now be considered a legendary grandmaster in alchemy in the Endless Territories. I have to admit, I'm far from being a match for him."

"Master, that's because you didn't put any effort into alchemy," Su Youji immediately rebutted. In her mind, Ning was the most talented in every aspect.

In truth, Ning was at such a high level of enlightenment with regards to the Dao that he had reached incredible heights in both the Dao of Formations and the Dao of Fire. In truth, he was better at controlling the alchemical flame than Pillsaint, but he lacked experience with regards to understanding how the medicinal properties of the various materials were mixed together. This required countless trials and experience.

Boom! Suddenly, a terrifying wave of power swept across the area. Bang! Startled by this, Pillsaint lost control over the fire, causing the alchemy pot to explode and the pill within to be destroyed.

"What's going on?" Su Youji and Emperor Solesky both stared towards the outside, stunned.

"Such power… a Hegemon's aura? Since when did Hegemons become this commonplace?" Ning frowned. Hegemons were extremely rare; they were supreme within their realmverses. For Hegemon Winterflame to attack was one thing; it had only been a few dozen chaos cycles, but yet another Hegemon had come. Judging from the way the Hegemon had flared his aura, he clearly had come with bad intentions.

"Let's go take a look." Ning remained quite calm. With a swoosh, he flew into the skies with Emperor Solesky flying right behind him.

The two flew into the air of Vastheaven Palace and stared outside. Ning's face immediately turned solemn. There were three towering figures standing in the air… and their bodies were not of cultivators but the onyx humanoids he had encountered in the past. There were three of them! However, they were different from the Sithe onyx humanoids which Ning had encountered in the past. These three onyx humanoids were all covered with silver diagrams and emanated an aura of endless cold.

"Black Emperors of the Sithe?" Ning was shocked. "Three of them?" Black Emperors were terrifyingly strong. Their bodies were much tougher than the bodies of most Hegemons, which was why they had an advantage in combat. In the cave which Ning and Ninedust had visited all those years ago, they had found a Black Emperor who had perished in battle while taking two Hegemons with it.

"You are Darknorth?" the skinny onyx humanoid said.

"Yes I am," Ning said. "Dare I ask why the three of you have come to Vastheaven Palace?"

"Haha, we've come to visit you on business, of course. Why else would we come all the way here to the Flamedragon Realmverse?" the muscular onyx humanoid said with a snicker.

"Darknorth, I hear you have a realmship," the skinny onyx humanoid said.

Ning's heart trembled. As he had suspected, this was about his realmship. Realmships were simply of tremendous interest to Hegemons, but he never would've expected them to attract three Black Emperors. Still… he hadn't feared even an entire host of Hegemons from the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance. Why would he fear these three onyx humanoids?

"So what if I do? So what if I don't?" Ning asked.

"You dare act with such arrogance to our face? Quite bold." A cold light flashed through the skinny onyx humanoid's eyes. "Hmph. If you do have it, hand it over and we'll spare your life. If you don't have it… then you are useless to us and shall die right now."

"Hand over the realmship," the cyclopean onyx humanoid commanded coldly.

"If you don't hand it over, everyone connected to you will perish."

Riiiiip. A tear in space appeared off in the distance. The three onyx humanoids all turned to look, only to see an ancient realmship fly out of the tear.

"The realmship." They immediately revealed looks of delight.

"Haha, the kid's pretty straightforward."

"Not bad, not bad. You are a smart boy. Hand over the realmship and you can all survive."

"Give us the realmship." The three onyx humanoids nodded approvingly at this. They had acquired quite a bit of intelligence regarding Ning and knew that he wasn't easy to deal with. If Daolord Darknorth had chosen to remain hidden within the Jadefire Realm, there would've been nothing they could do; their only option would've been to ask their general, Lord Wulf, to intervene. But if they did that, they wouldn't have rendered any real merits to the organization.

Given that this Daolord had Hegemon Azurefiend by his side, if he wanted to flee and hide there really wouldn't have been much they could do to him. If Ning was willing nto hand it over, though, they would be so magnanimous as to spare his life.

Whoosh. A white-robed youth, an honest-looking white-furred golem, and a shriveled-up old man emerged from the realmship.

Ning's avatar and Emperor Solesky's avatar both retreated for now.

"And who are the three of you?" Ning asked. "Why have you immediately demanded my realmship?"

"The three of us are soldiers from the Icepeak Army," the skinnier black humanoid said calmly. "While wandering through the various realmverses, we heard word of you and so came here as quickly as possible. We wish to take your realmship and offer it to our general, 'Lord Wulf'. Kid, as a Daolord you will only live a short period of time. You probably haven't even finished exploring the Flamedragon Realmverse. This realmship will be of little use to you. Hand it over to us, and you'll have avoided calamity."

"The Icepeak Army?" Ning frowned.

"It really is the Icepeak Army." Hegemon Azurefiend's face tightened slightly.

"Azurefiend, you've heard of the Icepeak Army before?" Ning sent mentally.

"Darknorth, as you might know, when we defeated the Sithe during the Dawn War the Sithe left behind many treasures which ended up falling into our hands," Hegemon Azurefiend sent mentally. Ning just continued to listen.

"Some of the most powerful Sithe weapons of war, such as the 'Blacksun', ended up in the hands of people like Realmslord Windgrace. That is why Realmslord Windgrace is so famous and has such a higher status than other Otherverse Lords. Not even the Icepeak Army would go cause problems for him."

"The leader of the Icepeak Army is generally referred to respectfully as the 'Lonely King'. He was born an Ancient cultivator and has an eccentric personality. He always has a cold look on his face, and he delights in slaughter! It is said that he only ever smiles when he kills. The Lonely King once acquired a Sithe treasury which was filled with Sithe war machines and weapons. He is personally in control of the most powerful war machines, but he also acquired four 'Golden Emperors' and sixty-nine 'Black Emperors'. He used one of them to undergo the Ritual Sacrificium to become a Golden Emperor, while allowing three Hegemons who joined him to do the same! Over the course of countless years, he allowed some of his Eternal Emperors to be transformed into Black Emperors. As a result, he now has a terrifyingly powerful army under his control, with him at the lead. This army is named the Icepeak Army."

"Although the name sounds rather ordinary, it is legendary for its savagery. It will battle ot the death anyone who offends the Lonely King! They've caused many great wars and have even destroyed an otherverse, causing three Otherverse Lords to die by their hands. But of course, they suffered certain losses during those wars as well. Supposedly, they now only have sixty-one Black Emperors left."

Ning was stunned upon hearing this. Even three Otherverse Lords had died by their hands? "Aren't Otherverse Lords able to hide within their alternate universes?" Ning couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't that mean they had to destroy the entire alternate universe?"

"There are two supremely powerful war machines publicly acknowledged to be under the Lonely King's control. One of them can be instantly activated, which was why two of the Otherverse Lords were slain before they even had a chance to run," Azurefiend sent mentally. "The third managed to hide within his otherverse, but the enraged Lonely King continued his pursuit into the otherverse. No one knows what exactly happened inside it, but the end result was that the otherverse was completely destroyed and the Otherverse Lord died. It was that battle which truly allowed the Lonely King to rise to fame and for the Icepeak Army to become known as one of the most terrifyingly powerful organizations in the Chaosverse."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 8 – Ji Ning Battles Black Emperors

"An Otherverse Lord had escaped into his otherverse, yet had still been killed and his entire otherverse had been destroyed." Azurefiend sent a mental sigh: "That is why everyone suspects that in addition to the two war machines the Lonely King has made public, he should also have a third Sithe war machine of incredible power. Thus, Darknorth… I really do urge you to reconsider how you wish to treat the Icepeak Army. They aren't easy to deal with. I'm a solitary wanderer who doesn't have that many treasures, and so the Icepeak Army won't expend too much resources on hunting me down… but you, Darknorth, have a realmship. The Icepeak Army isn't going to just give up."

Azurefiend was quite a proud man, but he felt that Ji Ning had to consider what was best for his sect and his homeland.

"Azurefiend, aside from the Lonely King, do the other three Golden Emperors of the Icepeak Army have especially powerful war machines?" Ning asked.

"They do not." Azurefiend's response was quite succinct. "The Icepeak Army has caused quite a few wars, but I've never heard of the three Golden Emperors employing any war machines of repute."

Ning let out a sigh secretly. Given how exalted the Lonely King was, he wouldn't go so far as to act against a Daolord for the sake of a mere realmship.

"Oh, right. The Flamewing God vs the Lonely King… which should be stronger?" Ning asked mentally. He had his own thoughts, but Azurefiend had been alive for much longer and had seen many things.

"Hard to say who is stronger. Flamewing is just a bit too dumb. It was born with tremendous vitality and has a virtually indestructible body, but Otherverse Lords should be able to stay alive against him," Azurefiend said. "The Lonely King, however, is different; he's able to use war machines and is thus a greater threat."

"What if Flamewing fights the Lonely King?" Ning asked mentally.

"Flamewing won't be able to kill the Lonely King, but there's no way the Lonely King would be able to kill Flamewing. I've been alive for an extremely long period of time, but I've never heard of any major power who was capable of subduing a Chaos Primordial, save for the Autarchs themselves. Kill one? Impossible," Azurefiend sent mentally. "Darknorth, as you know, the most powerful members of the Sithe race were their Exalts, and it took three of them in order to capture Flamewing… and it remained completely unharmed. Amongst cultivators, everyone knows that only Autarchs are capable of killing Chaos Primordials!"

"Good to know." Ning came to a decision. Based on the information he had, he also felt confident that no one save for an Autarch would be able to kill Flamewing. Perhaps the Sithe during their glory days were capable of capturing Chaos Primordials when they sent out their most powerful members, and perhaps they might even be able to kill Chaos Primordials via their unique technology… but the Sithe were dust. Although the Lonely King was terrifyingly strong, he had merely gained access to a single war machine treasury the Sithe had left behind.

"What do you plan to do?" Azurefiend sent back.

"Azurefiend, will you be frightened if I refuse them?" Ning sent mentally.

Azurefiend glanced at Ning, rather surprised. "I'm a solitary Hegemon who wanders alone. What do I have to be afraid of? Have you really decided?"

"Yes. I'm confident in my chances." Ning nodded.

The three onyx humanoids simply stood there and waited as Ning and Hegemon Azurefiend spoke mentally to each other. They were in no rush. They could tell that Darknorth and Azurefiend were discussing this matter. They felt that once this weak Daolord learned the truth of the Icepeak Army's might, he would make the wise choice.

"So do you know a bit more about the Icepeak Army now?" the skinny onyx humanoid looked at Ning.

"I'm a Daolord who is unlearned compared to my Hegemonic peers. I've only heard of you for the first time today. Impressive, truly impressive," Ning said.

"Cut the crap." The cyclopean onyx humanoid was growing a bit impatient. Frowning, he barked out, "Hurry up and hand over the realmship. Otherwise, we're going to attack. When that happens, both you and your sect shall both perish." He had long ago grown accustomed to acting as he pleased. He had originally been a fairly powerful Eternal Emperor, and after he underwent the Ritual Sacrificium to become a member of the Icepeak Army he had received deference from even Hegemons and Otherverse Lords, all of whom feared the Icepeak Army's reputation.

Originally, his greatest worry was that this Daolord would cause trouble due to the Daolord's ignorance of the Icpeeak Army's might. That was why he had held back. But now? Now, he was naturally going to press hard.

Ning stood there, flanked by Azurefiend and Whitethaw. "I don't wish to make an enemy out of the Icepeak Army, and I'm not qualified to do that either. However, realmships are incredibly precious. You wish for me to simply hand it over for nothing? I might be a mere Daolord, but I have my pride." Ning smiled. "I have a simple, mutually beneficial solution which will result in me handing over the realmship willingly."

"A mutually beneficial solution?"

"Speak." The three onyx humanoids were rather irritated. The Icepeak Army was so incredibly famous that even Hegemons were terrified of them. Only a few solitary Hegemons who wandered alone would dare act so arrogantly before them.

"Simple. The Icepeak Army can buy the realmship from me," Ning said.

"Buy?" The three onyx humanoids exchanged a glance. "Very well. This estate-world of mine has quite a few treasures inside. I'll give it to you in exchange for the realmship." The skinny onyx humanoid casually handed over a golden palm-sized disc which was actually an estate-treasure. The two onyx humanoids were quite calm as well; they felt certain that this Daolord simply wanted a way to save face. It didn't really matter if they tossed out a few treasures.

Ning shook his head. "The value has to be on par with the realmship."

"On par?" Finally, the looks on the faces of the three onyx humanoids changed. For the first time, they began to realize that this Daolord wasn't looking for a way to save face; he was going to be a tough nut to crack! Realmships were incredibly valuable; not even treasures like Crimsonwave Temple were even close in value to a realmship. Even if the three onyx humanoids pooled all of their treasures together, they still wouldn't be able to afford one. Most likely, their general Lord Wulf would have to trade all of his treasures to just barely afford a realmship.

Trade for something of equivalent value? This would be a fairly good deal if it was between two figures who were on par with each other, such as the Lonely King and Realmslord Windgrace. This was because generally speaking people were completely unwilling to sell realmships; to merely ask for treasures of equivalent value was already a good bargain.

However… Realmslord Windgrace was in command of the Blacksun. He was on the same level as the Lonely King. How was it that a mere Daolord dared to demand treasures of equivalent value?

"Are you looking to die?" the skinny onyx humanoid's eyes flashed with cold light.

"I've already taken a step back and given face. If you accept, we'll carry out the trade. If you refuse? I can't just hand over my realmship for nothing." Ning's own aura began to sharpen as well.

"You…!" The three onyx humanoids stared at the Daolord before them, stunned. He actually was going to face them head-on?

"He's courting death."

"Kill him." The cyclopean onyx humanoid was the first to attack. He instantly transformed into a streak of light who shot towards Ning. He struck out with his right hand, sending it piercing towards Ning like a long spear, with his fingernails being the tip! Black Emperors all had incredibly powerful bodies; every single part of them was like a weapon.

The arm-spear pierced straight through the void, so powerful as to cause Ning's eyebrows to rise slightly. "Hmph." Whitethaw, by Ning's side, let out an angry snort and immediately charged forwards. While charging, he transformed into an enormous white cloth that swept out towards his foe.

"A mere golem seeks to block me?" The cyclopean onyx humanoid felt some disdain. He was at the Hegemon level of power! Although his insights into the Dao were a bit inferior to true Hegemons, his Black Emperor body gave him tremendous power and allowed him to match Hegemons in battle. His body was so incredibly tough and resilient that in a real battle of life and death, he actually had an advantage.

Bang! This terrifying Hegemonic strike stabbed straight into the enormous white cloth, but the white cloth was incredibly resilient and dispersed all of the attacking energy.

"What?!" The cyclopean onyx humanoid was shocked. The golem had actually blocked his attack?

"Kill them all."

"Kill them and take the realmship." The two other onyx humanoids began to attack as well. Whoosh! Whoosh! Both moved with incredible speed. Although Whitethaw had blocked one of them, that was already his limit; there was no way he could block the other two.

"Hahaha…" Azurefiend laughed loudly as he transformed into his bestial form. His entire body became covered with azure scales, and his head became triangular in shape. His scale-covered tail waved menacingly like a whip, and his entire body glimmered with dark light. He let out a furious howl as he charged through the air, moving to engage.

"The Daolord actually isn't hiding in Hegemon Azurefiend's estate-world." The skinny onyx humanoid was delighted by this and sent mentally, "I'll tie down Azurefiend. You go kill the Daolord."

"Alright." The muscular onyx humanoid was delighted as well. Neither of them had imagined that the Daolord wouldn't go into hiding.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 9 – A Tough Nut

The skinny onyx humanoid was skilled with the saber, but for the sake of tying down Azurefiend he didn't use any weapons at all. He used his bare hands, and since every part of his body was akin to a weapon he was able to tie down Azurefiend as best he could.

Whoosh. He sent his right palm out, his arm stretching to become more than ten thousand kilometers long.

Whap! Azurefiend, in his true form, struck out with his tail against the incoming black palm.

Crack! The vast black arm suddenly changed directions, lashing out in a strange whip-like manner as the arm seemed to transform into an arc that built up power and then struck out once more. The skinny onyx humanoid's entire body seemed to have transformed into a bow-like shape.

"This Black Emperor really is tough to deal with." Hegemon Azurefiend had a complete advantage in power, and was significantly superior to his opponent in terms of insights into the Dao, but his attacks were doing absolutely nothing when being landed upon the Black Emperor's body. This allowed the Black Emperor to continuously tie him down.

"Darknorth has chosen to fight the other Black Emperor by himself. He should be able to keep himself safe, right?" Azurefiend cast a sideways glance at the distant Ning as he battled. A look of shock suddenly appeared on his face.

"Puny Daolord, you truly are arrogant. However, your arrogance has given us a chance to deal with you. Otherwise, we'd probably have to massacre everyone here to coerce you into complying, starting with all the disciples of Vastheaven Palace. And yet, that might not be enough." The muscular Black Emperor was clearly in a good mood. "Now, we simply have to kill you and we'll have won the realmship."

"You might be celebrating just a bit too early." Ning stood there in the air, staring calmly at the onyx humanoid before him.

"If you are in such a hurry to die, then die you shall." The muscular onyx humanoid suddenly struck out with a giant black palm that blotted out the skies as it swept out towards Ning. Whoosh! Ning suddenly moved, disappearing from the onyx humanoid's field of vision.

"He disappeared?" The muscular onyx humanoid's palm-strike missed. He immediately struck out in every direction with his palms. As he saw it, even if Ning did vanish he would only be able to hide with his evasion-arts. There was no way he would've been able to escape too far.

"I'm over here." A voice rang out from behind him. The muscular onyx humanoid stared backwards in astonishment, only to see the white-robed youth with the black sheath on his back standing far behind him.

"He's fast." A feeling of trepidation appeared within the onyx humanoid's heart.

"The Black Emperor's body is a waste on you. Your insights into the Dao are too low. You have some innate advantages in a life-or-death battle, but if I wanted to leave you wouldn't be able to stop me at all." Ning slowly shook his head. He suddenly couldn't help but sigh a bit in his heart. When he had first seen that onyx humanoid's corpse, he had felt absolutely stunned. He never would've imagined that he would have reached that same level of power as well.

In terms of the Dao of the Sword, Ning was on a full level higher than Emperor Heartsword had been. Now that Ning had mastered the fourteenth stance of the [Heartsword] art, he was just a single stance behind Emperor Heartsword, who had created just fifteen stances in total. On the whole, Ning was now far more powerful than Emperor Heartsword. He truly had reached the Hegemon level of combat power.

"Puny Daolord, you are far too arrogant. Die for me!" The muscular onyx humanoid was rather embarrassed and angered as he charged through the air at Ning. Each step he took caused the void around him to shudder as he once more struck out furiously with his giant palms.

Swoosh. Ning moved again. This time, he transformed into a streak of sword-light that dodged hundreds of thousands of kilometers to one side. "You can't even touch me." Ning shook his head slowly. This was far too easy.

When he had first relied on his Omega Sword Dao to become a Daolord of the Fourth Step, he hadn't been this fast. However, it had been more than ten chaos cycles since then. He had reached the Archon level in the Dao of Thunder, giving him an even more terrifying level of speed. He had also reached the Archon level in the Dao of Space, giving him a tremendous amount of skill in manipulating space.

Thus, Ning had now reached a brand new level of speed. Only a Hegemon who was completely focused on speed would be able to catch up to Ning.

"You can't even capture a Daolord?!" the distant skinny onyx humanoid sent a frantic message message.

"Puny Daolord!" This time, the muscular onyx humanoid truly was angry and embarrassed. He raised his head, letting out a furious roar. Boom! A thick black fog spread out from him to cover an area of nearly ten million kilometers around him. Everything in this area was mired as if in quicksand, causing Ning's speed to dramatically lessen.

"Ah, I knew Black Emperors of the Sithe couldn't possibly be THIS week." Ning's body flickered as he transformed into his three-headed, six-armed mode. All six of the Northbow swords flew out from the sheath on his back and into his hands. "Come on." Ning cracked a smile.

Slash! Slash! Slash! The onyx humanoid struck out with extraordinary strength, delivering one furious palm after another in an effort to slay Ning as quickly as possible. Alas, he had merely reached the Archon level in terms of insights into the Dao. His weaknesses were quite apparent.

Ning was still able to easily maneuver around the onyx humanoid despite the black fog. Ning didn't even use his own secret arts! Although his speed was lessened, his sword remained incredibly fast.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Ning's sword-light pierced through the skies, each streak of sword-light being ephemeral and nigh-invisible. The hints of sword-light were hard to detect, but they carried a terrifying amount of power and seemed capable of chopping through anything which stood in their path. This was a terrifying level of power that came from the combination of the fourteenth stance of the [Heartsword] art and a fourth-stage Daolord's Omega Sword Dao. Each strike was ghostly and unpredictable. The onyx humanoid felt as though the blows were drilling straight through its body.

Slash! Slash! Slash! In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged more than a hundred blows against each other. The onyx humanoid wasn't able to land a single attack against Ning; in short, he was being utterly dominated! However, Ning couldn't help but frown as well: "His body really is incredibly tough. Even when I use my full power, I remain unable to injure him."

"What the hell? He's no Daolord, he's clearly a Hegemon!" The muscular onyx humanoid suddenly pulled away as he shouted furiously, "I can't do anything to him!"

"Go all out and burn your essence. End it quickly!" the skinny onyx humanoid, pressured by Hegemon Azurefiend, sent a frantic mental message.

"You try! I haven't been able to even touch him a single time. His sword-arts are completely flawless. Even if I really did go all out, he could just flee over to Azurefiend." The Black Emperor wasn't willing to go all-out. Unlike normal cultivators, they healed and recovered quite slowly. Once they went all-out, they would be at risk of energy exhaustion. Once they exhausted their energy reserves, their bodies would grow weak and they could even be defeated and then destroyed.

"Withdraw!" The muscular onyx humanoid issued an order to withdraw, and the three quickly rejoined each other.

Azurefiend and Whitethat moved to stand by Ning's side. The two sides stared at each other from afar.

The three onyx humanoids were all rather angry, but they also felt stunned. How was it that a Daolord had actually reached such a level of power? He definitely had the power of a Hegemon! Thankfully, the three onyx humanoids all had extremely tough bodies; ordinary Emperors would've been slain with ease by Ning's current level of sword-arts.

"Formidable. I truly do admire you, for a Daolord like yourself to have reached such a level of power." The skinny onyx humanoid stared at Ning. "However… are you absolutely sure that you wish to become an enemy of the Icepeak Army?"

"I do not wish to become an enemy of the Icepeak Army. However, there is no way I'll hand over a realmship for nothing." Ning shook his head.

"Bold. These actions, however, are tantamount to declaring us your enemy!" The skinny onyx humanoid laughed coldly, "I'll give you one more chance! Hand over the realmship. Otherwise, we'll have no choice but to go ahead to report to our superiors that you are being defiant. In the end, the result shall be your death."

Ning just smiled.

"Very well then." They saw the look on Ning's face. The skinny onyx humanoid barked, "Let's go! Next time we come, we'll kill them all."

"Let's go." The three onyx humanoids immediately entered the spatial rift, vanishing without a trace and leaving just Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw behind.

Azurefiend glanced at the white-robed youth by his side. He could sense that Ning had grown tremendously more powerful since their battle in the Jadefire Realm. By now, Ning truly had reached the Hegemon level of power.

"Darknorth, you have now become an enemy of the Icepeak Army," Azurefiend said softly. "The Icepeak Army is not an easy foe to deal with. Given their disposition, they will definitely launch a war against you."

"They aren't easy to deal with, but neither am I." A flicker of killing intent appeared in Ning's eyes.

"You?" Azurefiend was stunned.

"Soon, I'll have solved the formations and freed Flamewing," Ning said.

"You are confident in being able to resolve the formations soon?" Azurefiend was overjoyed.

"More or less. Even if I end up taking longer than I expected, I should be able to buy myself the time needed via the Jadefire Realm. If necessary, I can also run around in the realmship and buy myself some more time," Ning said. "However… I don't think we'll need to go to all that trouble. By the time they come back, the Flamewing God will be waiting for them."

"Hahaha! If the Flamewing God comes out…" Azurefiend was absolutely overjoyed and excited by this prospect. "You really will be able to do whatever the hell you want. That is a Chaos Primordial! Hahaha! With a Chaos Primordial at your beck and call, who would dare cause trouble for you? If you gave the order, the Chaos Primordial would charge straight into the Icepeak Army's base and wreck it. The Lonely King would be able to do nothing but stare, dumbstruck, as it happened. There's nothing he can do to the Flamewing God. Why didn't you tell me earlier?! I was so afraid that I thought we'd have to go wandering through the cosmos." Azurefiend stared at Ning.

"Without Flamewing, I wouldn't have dared to take such a tough line against them." Ning smiled as well. "Let's cut the chit-chat. Starting today, I'm going to put all of my time and effort into solving the formations and breaking them as soon as possible."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 10 – Lord Wulf

An area at the borders of the Flamedragon Realmverse. Countless bolts of thunder were crackling throughout this region. Suddenly, three onyx humanoids appeared and moved towards that area at high speeds. "Hegemon Thunderstar," the skinny onyx humanoid called out.

Whoosh. The countless bolts of thunder merged together into a humanoid shape, finally resolving into a violet-robed man. This was Hegemon Thunderstar, who had brought them here via the realmship.

"So do you have the realmship?" Hegemon Thunderstar smiled at them.

The three onyx humanoids had no traces of amusement on their faces. Previously, they had spoken so confidently… but who would've thought that they'd come slinking back in disgrace? They had to once again ask Hegemon Thunderstar to bring them back.

In truth, Hegemon Thunderstar had asked them that question on purpose. He could clearly tell that they didn't have the realmship! He was quite pleased, however, to have the chance to mock a few Black Emperors of the Icepeak Army.

"We do not." The skinny onyx humanoid said coldly, "Hegemon Thunderstar, your guesses were spot-on. That puny Daolord truly is fearless. He actually dared to defy our will."

The cyclopean onyx humanoid growled, "Daolord Darknorth is far too arrogant. He actually dares to make an enemy out of the Icepeak Army! I'll definitely report this to the general. Hmph. We ran all the way for nothing. In the end, we'll need to ask the general to personally intervene. He's definitely going to die, and that Vastheaven-whatever will be annihilated as well!"

"We have to make sure that he regrets this." The muscular onyx humanoid was filled with a killing rage as well.

Hegemon Thunderstar couldn't help but mutter beneath his breath. You failed in your attempts to take it by force, but you still act with such bravado. The Icepeak Army really did live up to its reputation. Who would've thought that Daolord Darknorth truly was made of such stern stuff?

"Where to next?" Hegemon Thunderstar asked.

"To the general's residence, Mount Doom," the skinny onyx humanoid said.

"And where is Mount Doom?" Hegemon Thunderstar was puzzled.

"It is the general's estate within the Skywolf Realmverse." The skinny onyx humanoid said rather unhappily, "Hegemon Thunderstar, don't you know already?"

Hegemon Thunderstar didn't argue. He truly hadn't been to the Skywolf Realmverse before, but he had heard that 'Lord Wulf's mountain' was within the Skywolf Realmverse. However, the true name of the place was 'Mount Doom'; 'Lord Wulf's mountain' was nothing more than a nickname for it.

"Come, I'll send you over there." Hegemon Thunderstar waved his hand, causing the realmship to appear.

"We need to travel quickly. We need to report this to the general as soon as possible. Otherwise, I don't know how I'm going to get this taste out of my mouth," the muscular onyx humanoid said rather angrily. They had long ago grown accustomed to acting as they pleased. As a result, when they occasionally encountered someone who resisted them they couldn't help but feel annoyed. In this case, the person in question was a mere Daolord! This made them feel truly insulted.

Alas, the Flamedragon Realmverse was incredibly far away from the Skywolf Realmverse. There was no way for them to contact the Skywolf Realmverse directly! Not even a Daolord's true body and Primaltwin would be able to sense each other from such a vast difference. One had to at least be an Archon-class Eternal Emperor with an incredibly powerful soul in order for your true body and Primaltwin to be able to sense each other from such a great distance.

Alas, it was far too difficult to convince an Archon-class figure to follow them like a retainer. Most would prefer death to such a life of servitude.

Whoosh. The realmship tore through spacetime, departing at high speeds towards the Skywolf Realmverse.

18 million years later. Hegemon Thunderstar's realmship had finally reached the Skywolf Teritory.

"That over there is Mount Doom." The three Black Emperors stared from afar at the towering mountain that jutted within the void. Looks of delight were on their face. This was their base.

Mount Doom was completely gray and covered with countless runes and patterns. At the very tip of Mount Doom was an area that glowed with blurry silver light. The silver light illuminated the beautiful palaces below. This was where Lord Wulf resided with his subordinates.

"General."

"General."

"General." The three Black Emperors called out loudly after exiting the realmship, their voices echoing in the air above Mount Doom.

"Ah, Sealaw and the others are back."

"It is brother Sealaw and the others." Figures began to fly out of Mount Doom. All of them were onyx humanoids, their bodies covered with silver diagrams and emanating auras of boundless cold.

Hegemon Thunderstar couldn't help but mutter to himself. They had all been ordinary cultivators, but they had all chosen to undergo the Ritual Sacrificium. They had abandoned their bodies, becoming freakish creatures. Still, he understood that these Black Emperors had originally been fairly mediocre Eternal Emperors. Now that they were Black Emperors, they at least had Hegemonic levels of power.

"What's that? Is that a realmship?"

"Is that our new realmship?" The onyx figures all turned to stare at the distant realmship. Realmships were incredibly valuable; not even their general, Lord Wulf, had access to one. Hegemon Thunderstar had dared to come here because the three onyx humanoids had long ago sworn lifeblood oaths guaranteeing his security. If they did not, all three of them would die! Hegemon Thunderstar was also certain that he would be able to escape safely.

"Cut the crap. Hurry up and take us to the general! Where is he? There's something important we need to report to him."

"What do you need to speak to me about?" A cold voice rang out, followed by a golden figure emerging from the peak of Mount Doom. His entire body seemed to have been composed out of gold, and his body was similarly covered with silver diagrams. The aura emanating from him was so powerful that it vastly outstripped the auras of the Black Emperors serving him. He was one of the legendary Golden Emperors, someone who had undergone the most powerful Ritual Sacrificium the Sithe had to offer.

As for the so-called 'Exalts'? That level could only be reached through a mixture of cultivation and look. They were supreme amongst the Sithe and were the most powerful members of the entire race. Hegemons could become transformed into Golden Emperors with ease and 'manufactured' in large numbers; there was naturally no way they could be compared to the Exalts. Despite that, Golden Emperors still had a level of power that was comparable to that of Otherverse Lords, and their bodies were even tougher. To destroy their bodies was nearly impossible.

"General." The three Black Emperors who had just arrived immediately bowed respectfully.

"Speak. You actually rushed over here in a realmship. What is this all about?" Lord Wulf's gaze was icy-cold. He glanced at the distant realmship, then at his three subordinates.

"General, we were on patrol as ordered," the skinny onyx humanoid said respectfully, "And we suddenly heard that in the Flamedragon Realmverse, there was a Daolord named Darknorth who somehow managed to take control over a Sithe site known as the Jadefire Realm. He even managed to convince a Hegemon to serve him as his retainer."

"A Daolord with a Hegemon as a retainer?" Lord Wulf was quite shocked, as were the Black Emperors by his side. Although this news had spread quite far, it hadn't quite made it to the Skywolf Territory. These two territories were simply too far away.

"More importantly, Daolord Darknorth actually has a realmship!" The skinny Black Emperor said hurriedly, "The Hegemons of the surrounding territories all wanted to take it from him, but in the end, he actually managed to use the Jadefire Realm to take one of them under his control. Once we heard the news, we immediately travelled to the Flamedragon Realmverse. We wanted to force him to hand it over so that we could offer it to you, General."

Lord Wulf narrowed his eyes as he continued to listen.

"But… he actually refused!" The skinny Black Emperor gritted his teeth and growled, "He actually dared to refuse! We attacked him, but he was so incredibly powerful that he was at the Hegemonic level of might."

"A Daolord comparable to Hegemons?" No matter how calm Lord Wulf normally was, he couldn't help but feel stunned. He nodded slowly. "It seems he must have mastered one of the legendary Omega Daos, and has had some other lucky experiences as well. Hmph… even if he is a Daolord who is comparable to a Hegemon, he is still nothing compared to our Icepeak Army. Are you sure that he dares to make an enemy out of us?"

"Yes." The skinny Black Emperor nodded, as did the other two. The cyclopean Black Emperor explained, "He holds us in no regard at all. He actually dared to say that he was willing to give us the realmship, but only for treasures of equivalent value."

"Does he have some sort of special status?" Lord Wulf frowned. "For example, is he an Autarch's disciple? The Flamedragon Realmverse should be under Realmslord Windgrace's command. Could it be that he has some sort of connection to Realmslord Windgrace?"

"We haven't heard of him having any special status. He shouldn't be connected to Realmslord Windgrace at all! Previously, he attracted an entire host of Hegemons and Emperors who attempted to kill him and take his realmship, but Realmslord Windgrace didn't intervene. Clearly, there isn't much of a relationship there. In the end, he only survived because he took control over the Jadefire Realm," the skinny Black Emperor said.

"If he doesn't have some sort of special background… no Daolord, no matter how monstrously talented, is anything more than an ant in the face of our Icepeak Army." Lord Wulf swept the three with his icy golden gaze, then turned to stare at the distant realmship. "If my guess is correct, it should be Hegemon Thunderstar in command of that realmship."

"Thunderstar greets you, Lord Wulf." Hegemon Thunderstar flew out of the realmship and bowed.

"I wish to lead my Black Emperors to the Flamedragon Realmverse. I'd like to trouble you to send us over there," Lord Wulf said. "Of course, we'll make it worth your while."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 11 – Chain Weapons

"Helping you make a trip is a minor matter," Hegemon Thunderstar said. The Hegemons and Emperors of the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance had been in a race against time to reach the Flamedragon Realmverse first, which was why they had all been forced to pay exorbitant prices! Going by normal prices, travelling the great distance from the Skywolf Territory to the Flamedragon Realmverse was still going to be quite expensive, but it was nothing to someone like Lord Wulf, who had massacred and looted countless people.

"All Black Emperors, assemble and move out alongside me!" Lord Wulf ordered. "We are going to the Flamedragon Realmverse to take that realmship."

"Acknowledged!"

"Let's take that realmship." A total of nine onyx humanoids flew out from Mount Doom by his side.

Aside from their supreme leader, the Lonely King, the Icepeak Army only had a total of three generals! These three generals each commanded a total of twelve Black Emperors. Normally, they would each have six Black Emperors accompanying them. The other six would be assigned into two squads responsible for patrolling the Chaosverse. Once they heard anything important, they were to immediately come and report it to their general!

The three generals and the Lonely King operated in the same way. They would have part of their soldiers with them, with the rest patrolling the Chaosverse on a long-term basis. This ensured that the Icepeak Army had a strong information network and was able to get involved in any of the momentous events within the Chaosverse on short notice.

This time, Lord Wulf had the three returned patrolling Black Emperors and his six personal Black Emperors with him, making for a total of nine Black Emperors.

"One Golden Emperor and nine Black Emperors. A force like this is enough to massacre the Flamedragon Realmverse ten times over." Hegemon Thunderstar mumbled to himself, "All I'm doing is earning a bit of treasure by sending them over. Even if I declined, there would be other Hegemons willing to help out. Daolord Darknorth, you are nothing more than a Daolord but you dare to make an enemy out of the Icepeak Army. I admire you for your courage… but the reason why the other major powers were unwilling to act as you do is because the consequences are too terrifying to bear."

Hegemon Thunderstar couldn't help but sigh a bit. He felt as though he could see the end of the line for this genius Daolord. Golden Emperors all were at the Otherverse Lord level of power! Nine Black Emperors working in concert were equivalent in power to an Otherverse Lord as well! How could the Flamedragon Realmverse possibly withstand this level of power?

The Flamedragon Realmverse remained as calm as always. Ning didn't make public the fact that he had faced off against three Black Emperors belonging to the Icepeak Army. There was no point. Hegemon Brightshore and the others wouldn't be of any use, and so it was best not to bother them about it.

The Terror Starsea. The Jadefire Realm.

"Darknorth, it's been twenty million years. The Icepeak Army could arrive at any moment. How much longer is it going to take for you to break these formations?" The skinny old man, Hegemon Azurefiend, was seated in the lotus position on the deepfire blackstone floor, a frantic look on his face.

"I was just estimating the time earlier!" Ning was standing atop the Flamewing God's back, focusing his efforts on the black chains in front of him. "I wasn't exactly sure as to how long it would take for me to break these formations. I thought it would be quite fast, but I ran into a few problems. Don't be impatient and relax! The Icepeak Army hasn't even arrived yet. By the time they do arrive at the Jadefire Realm, I'll first use its defenses to tie them down for quite some time."

"This is Lord Wulf we are talking about! He's supposedly a Golden Emperor with an entire group of Black Emperors serving him. Your flaming passageways won't be able to withstand a force like his," Hegemon Azurefiend said hurriedly. "Why don't we leave the Jadefire Realm for now? Once you've fully mastered the formations, we can return here. Otherwise, we'll be caught here with nowhere to run."

"Just look at how freaked out you are. You are a Hegemon!" Ning raised his head to glance sideways at Hegemon Azurefiend. "You look scared out of your mind!"

"I'm just trying to be cautious," Azurefiend immediately rebutted.

"Don't worry. The flaming passageways might not be able to kill them, but they'll definitely be able to slow them down." Ning smiled. "When I'm in the flaming passageways, I'll be able to travel unimpeded. I can shake them off with ease and escape as I please."

Ning no longer paid any further attention to Auzrefiend, focusing all of his efforts on the countless formations covering the black chains before him. Although he had memorized them all long ago, when he viewed them in person and saw how the formations changed and flowed, it was still of some help to him.

Time continued to flow on. Azurefiend could do nothing but wait. The feeling that the Icepeak Army was about to arrive at any moment was quite an uncomfortable one. "Actually fighting to the death would be better than just waiting here like this," Azurefiend muttered.

"Not even my master is as worried as you," the nearby Whitethaw said.

"You…!" Azurefiend glared at him. "H-he's completely focused on his formations, while I have nothing to do. Of course I'm going to be miserable!"

"To put it plainly, you are a coward. You are scared." Whitethaw glanced sideways at Azurefiend.

"Puny golem, how dare you mock me!" Azurefiend glared at him. Whitethaw just shut his mouth, paying Azurefiend no heed. Azurefiend was so angry that his teeth hurt. Whitethaw only obeyed Ning's orders and didn't seem to care about Azurefiend at all. There really was nothing Azurefiend could do to the golem. He might be able to completely dominate Whitethaw in a fight, but he wasn't able to actually injure Whitethaw.

Ning's true body and Primaltwin were both consumed with their meditations. Countless formations were flashing through their minds, circulating nonstop and merging together. Some of the formations would then vanish, replaced by other formations.

The art of formations relied heavily upon visualizations and divinations! This was why the Dao of Formations was a legendarily complex one. Anyone capable of becoming a Hegemon via the Dao of Formations would definitely have a far higher level of status than ordinary Hegemons.

Whoosh. The countless formations were tweaked again and again. Suddenly, the black-robed Ning in the Azureflower Estate and the white-robed Ning within the hidden room in the Jadefire Realm both opened their eyes. Their eyes were gleaming with shocking levels of light.

"I understand!" Ning murmured softly, his voice filled with suppressed excitement. "These Sithe elders truly were incredible. They actually managed to use formations in such a manner! Even though I had all those Sithe techniques to serve as references, it still took me an incredibly long period of time to understand and solve these formations." The more Ning researched the Sithe, the more impressed he felt, even though he was currently just focusing on formations. No wonder the Sithe had been so daring as to try and enslave all the cultivator civilizations!

"How is it?" The distant Azurefiend had been taking a nap while seated. He opened his eyes to look at Ning, a hint of excitement in his gaze. "Have you solved it?"

"Master?" Whitethaw looked at Ning as well.

"I think I have." Ning nodded.

"What do you mean, you THINK you have?" Azurefiend stared at him.

"My mental visualizations should be correct, but I need to actually try them out." Ning took a deep breath, manifesting three heads and six arms as his aura grew markedly more powerful. All six of his arms expanded in size as they simultaneously reached out to the six black chains.

Each of the fingers on Ning's six hands turned crystalline in color as he drew hand-seals with them. His fingers began to naturally come together into a series of formations. The formations around his six palms began to naturally merge together, almost like a marvelous mechanism that was coming together in layers. Then, Ning's six hands separated to touch the black chains on six different spots. Some moved slowly, some moved quickly, but there was a certain natural beauty to the cadence.

Clack! One of the black chains let out a series of clattering as it began to move. The black chains began to undergo certain changes, transforming to become significantly thicker in size. The thickened black chains began to reach out towards one direction, moving alongside the Flamewing God's leg.

Clack! The black chain covering the leg suddenly expanded and then naturally separated from the others. Once this happened, the second black chain began to stretch out as well…

All six black chains seemed to be influencing each other. In the end, all six of the chains imprisoning the Flamewing God began to naturally separate from each other.

"Get over here." Ning reached out with all six hands, his crystalline fingers once more tapping the six chains on six different locations. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. All six black chains were released from their void anchors and flew over towards Ning. Ning dispelled the [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique. He reached out with his right hand, causing all six chains to become very fine and delicate as they coiled obediently around his arm like a bracelet.

"This is a fine treasure, a unique weapon which the Sithe used in war." Ning smiled. "Once these chains coil around someone, they can fully suppress it. Even Chaos Primordials can be suppressed by them! Most likely, anyone below the Autarch level of power who is trapped by them would be unable to break free." However, Ning also knew that no one would be so stupid as to allow the chains to just coil around them.

"Flamewing. Flamewing!" Ning lept off the Flamewing God's back and moved to stand in front of it, then gave one of its paws a little kick.

"Eh?" The slumbering Flamewing God opened its gigantic bleary eyes, then stared downwards at the tiny white-robed figure standing in front of it. Rather unhappy, it said, "Master, I'm still sleeping! Call me once you break the formations."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 12 – The Flamewing God Descends

Ji Ning secretly smirked. You are a Chaos Primordial! But all you do is eat and sleep. You have no gravitas whatsoever. "Hurry up and get up. Haven't you noticed that the chains are gone?" Ning shook his head.

"The chains are gone?" The Flamewing God's eyes turned huge. He hurriedly turned his head to stare at his two wings, then stared downwards from his flank to look at his four stubby legs.

"Hahaha! They're gone! They're really gone! Those damnable chains are finally gone!" The Flamewing God jumped to its feet, its giant body quivering in excitement. "I've been trapped here forever. I couldn't even change my size or appearance, or find anything good to eat! I didn't have a good meal until you came, Master! That was absolutely agonizing. Now? Ahahahaha!"

Flamewing raised his head and let out a delighted laugh. His laughter echoed within the hidden room, forcing Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw to all press their hands over their ears. The laughter was simply far too large.

"Change!" Flamewing boomed loudly. Whoosh! His large and winged frame instantly transformed to become the same size as Ning and Azurefiend. He was just slightly taller and very chubby. His skin was ruddy, and his eyes were rather vacant-looking, as though he wasn't all that clever. His aura was completely reserved; he didn't look like he posed the slightest threat to anyone at all.

"Whoah. It's been ages since I've taken human form. This feels nice! None of those cultivators or Sithe would be able to recognize me like this." Flamewing smugly shook his rear a few times. In his normal form, he was like a giant winged giant bear who loved to stretch his wings. In human form, he naturally liked to shake his rear.

"Human form?" Intrigued, Ning asked, "Flamewing, can it be that you normally spent the majority of your time in human form?"

"That's right!" Flamewing nodded. "I only use my true form when I was wandering in the Great Dark. That allowed me to travel faster. When I reached a realmverse, I'd occasionally feel so hungry that I'd eat the entire thing. The vast majority of the time, however, I wouldn't want to do that. That's because there are a lot of things in realmverses which are unappetizing."

A thought suddenly entered Ning's mind. Birth and death, destruction and creation… this was a form of natural rhythm the Chaosverse went through. Chaos Primordials had the intelligence levels of children… that made them perfect tools for the prime essences of the Chaosverse to exert their will. Powerful cultivators had incredibly strong Dao-hearts, making it very hard for the Chaosverse to guide them. However, guiding a Chaos Primordial was far simpler. When they felt a sudden, powerful desire to eat, they'd eat entire realmverses!

Natural destructive celestial bodies like Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels were terrifying, but they took time to be born. Even the Chaosverse needed time to create them, as well as many other factors.

"No wonder the Flamedragon Realmverse is threatened by the 'Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels', but the Autarchs won't intervene. If they intervene, they'll suffer a backlash from the Chaosverse." Ning couldn't help but sigh.

Flamewing continued, "When I'm not in the mood to eat the realmverse, I'll secretly take human form. No one will be able to discover my true entity, and I can just relax and wander through the various places within that realmverse, searching for delicacies to eat. Eheheh… when I accidentally reveal my true identity, I'll immediately slip away!"

"I'm able to sense when powerful cultivators appear nearby. It is a form of precognition, and I'll immediately slip away to ensure they cannot find me," Flamewing said smugly.

Ning nodded. No wonder so few had ever encountered a Chaos Primordial!

"Unfortunately… the last time, I sensed danger coming and immediately fled, but the Sithe were still able to catch up to me. After that, they caught me." The Flamewing God ground its teeth. "If I ever see another Sithe, I'll eat him alive."

"The Sithe were wiped out long ago. Even if a few of them are still around, you wouldn't have a chance to kill them. The Autarchs would've intervened long ago," Ning said. "Alright, now that the formations have been disrupted, you are free to leave. Come, accompany me in a visit to my homeland."

"Alright!" Flamewing's ruddy face was covered in excitement. "I wanna go right now! It's been so long since I've visited a realmverse."

The nearby Azurefiend and Whitethaw both felt rather embarrassed. It really was like talking to a child.

Flamewing glanced sideways at Azurefiend and Whitethaw. Suddenly, Flamewing narrowed his eyes and sauntered over to them. He soon reached Azurefiend, who stared at him, rather puzzled. "Eh?"

"Burp." Flamewing suddenly used his rear to shove Hegemon Azurefiend to one side. "Starting today…" Flamewing slapped his chest with a pudgy hand. "I'm the boss of Master's servants. Whitethaw, you are second. As for you, you ugly old man? You are ranked third?"

"What the hell?" Azurefiend was instantly irritated by this. The Flamewing God was like a child but was terrifyingly strong. For it to be 'above' him was one thing… but why the hell was the Sithe Protector golem also ranked above him?

"Because I said so, and because I don't like you!" Flamewing glanced sideways at Azurefiend. "Don't think I'm too stupid to notice. I can tell just from the way you look at me that you look down at me. Hmph! I've visited countless realmverses and seen countless cultivators. I can tell at a glance who likes me and who dislikes me. Whitethaw's much better than you!"

The nearby Ning let out a startled laugh. At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh. Flamewing wasn't very smart, but he had the pure heart of a child. He could immediately tell who was good to him and who wasn't.

"Did you hear me? I'm the boss, Whitethaw's second, and you are third! If you don't agree, I'll beat you up until you do." Flamewing tapped his pudgy white finger against Azurefiend's chest.

"I hear you." Azurefiend was speechless. "Fine. You are the boss, Whitethaw's second, I'm third." There was no point squabbling with a Chaos Primordial.

"That's more like it." Flamewing walked over to Ning, then said in a very fond manner, "Let's go, Master."

Ning rubbed his head. He felt as though he had suddenly adopted a child. "Alright. Let's go back to the Flamedragon Realmverse," Ning said.

"Darknorth, should we finish off Winterflame first?" Azurefiend suddenly said.

"No rush. Winterflame is like meat that's already on the chopping block, but we would need Flamewing to actually kill him. One Flamewing attacks, Winterflame would definitely spread the news to everyone before he dies." Ning shook his head. "Best not to introduce too many variables into the mix for now. I'm planning to use Flamewing against the Icepeak Army."

"The Icepeak Army dares to attack you, Master? Hmph. Leave them to me. I'll eat them all." Flamewing held the Icepeak Army in no regard at all. Aside from the Autarchs and the Sithe Exalts, Flamewing truly feared nothing and no one whatsoever.

The Flamedragon Realmverse. An empty region within the imperial palace of the Brightshore Kingdom. Hegemon Brightshore's vast form was located here.

"Eh?" Hegemon Brightshore slowly opened his eyes, a hint of confusion in them. "Why do I suddenly have a strange premonition that something major has just happened within the Flamedragon Realmverse? The last time I felt something like this was when Crimsonwave Temple appeared. The fruits within it were quite useful to Hegemons and Emperors, and the temple itself is tremendously important."

"This time… it doesn't feel as though a treasure has emerged. Rather, I can sense a strange sort of pressure." Hegemon Brightshore was puzzled. It was as though something had just happened which caused a wave of invisible pressure that pressed down on his heart, causing him alarm.

When one had reached certain heights in cultivation, one would be able to sense when something incredibly important to them had just happened! Hegemons were second only to Autarchs when it came to actual insights into the Dao. The so-called 'Otherverse Lords' were nothing more than Hegemons who had managed to take control over an otherverse. With regards to the Dao, Hegemons and Otherverse Lords were on the same level. This was true even for figures like Realmslord Windgrace or the Lonely King, who had managed to take control of terrifyingly powerful Sithe war machines.

"Eh? What just happened in the Flamedragon Realmverse? I feel my heart clenching for no reason, as though something terrifying just happened." Hegemon Windrain of the Aberrant special lifeforms was awoken from his meditations. He began to worry.

"My senses can't be deceiving me. Something has to have happened in the Flamedragon Realmverse. I'll go talk to Brightshore and Windrain and see if they know what just happened." Hegemon Netherlily of the Ancient cultivators felt rather uneasy. In the past, the truly supreme powers of the Flamedragon Realmverse had always been the three of them. They would always discuss any major events that happened.

Ning had successfully resolved the formations, unshackling the Flamewing God and bringing it to the Flamedragon Realmverse with him into Vastheaven Palace. The only ones in the Flamedragon Realmverse who could sense that this had happened were the three Hegemons.

The major powers of other realmverses were simply too far away, and this matter was of negligible impact to them. They naturally couldn't sense anything at all. However… there was one major power in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance outside the Flamedragon Realmverse who was able to sense something. This was the true leader and most powerful member of the alliance… Realmslord Windgrace!

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 13 – Emperor Waveshift Returns

The Hiddenfiend Realmverse. The Blacksun.

An old man was seated atop an extremely slick boulder within a secluded courtyard. This old man had a large, tousled beard and mussed-up hair. His eyebrows were so messy that they were growing into a unibrow, giving him a very unkempt appearance. However, his face was extremely calm. His eyes were closed, and he just sat there silently in the lotus position. Each time he entered this form of silent meditation, it would last for varying amount of times. Sometimes, he could sit there for more than ten thousand chaos cycles.

Realmslord Windgrace enjoyed sitting quietly like this. When meditating, his spirit felt free and unencumbered. All sorts of thoughts and insights flowed through him. It was like both thinking and not-thinking at the same time.

At his level of insight, treasures which assisted in cultivation were of no further use. He had simply been for training for far too long; he had already made breakthroughs in everything he possibly could. Right now, what he needed was a true epiphany… but true epiphanies could not be achieved via any treasures at all. The Autarch's stone dais which Ning used simply allowed him to emulate a quasi-ephiphany state that allowed him to train at incredibly faster speeds, but there was nothing it could do to allow him to breach a true bottleneck.

Once one had reached a bottleneck, no treasures would be of any use in assisting you in the breakthrough. Only insights and epiphanies would suffice.

"Eh?" An invisible tendril of power suddenly snaked its way through his empty spirit like a premonition. Realmslord Windgrace suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of surprise within them. Moments later, he regained his usual calm, but he frowned in thought: "I have the feeling that a terrifying force has just emerged, one which even I am incapable of controlling. And yet, I can sense that it should be connected to me. Is it within the Hiddenfiend Realm? Or is it elsewhere in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance?"

The Sixteen Realmverses Alliance was his territory. Even a force as arrogant as the Icepeak Army wanted to first verify that Daolord Darknorth didn't have a connection to Realmslord Windgrace before taking action. Even then, they chose to sneak into the Flamedragon Realmverse and would only act against Ji Ning and Ji Ning alone! They didn't want to cause too much trouble. This was a testament to what a preeminent power Realmslord Windgrace was.

Generally speaking, the likes of Realmslord Windgrace or the Lonely King wouldn't get involved in minor squabbles. Avoiding causing too much trouble was the key!

"If even I am incapable of controlling it… what could it be?" Realmslord Windgrace was puzzled. He immediately began to engage in some Numerancy divinations.

He had been a Hegemon for far, far too long; he was far more ancient that even Hegemon Brightshore. He had been a legendary figure even during the Dawn War, and he had been given guidance by more than one Autarch. He had reached an incredibly high level of insight into multiple Daos, and had mastered three Hegemonic Daos! However, the Dao of Numerancy was simply far too difficult to master. He had yet to reach even the Archon level in Numerancy; in fact, he was far from it. Most likely, he was merely on par with the level which Daolord Badlands would reach once the latter became a Daolord of the Fourth Step. Still, he was able to divine a few things.

"It is connected to me, and it is indeed something within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance. However, no further details can be divined." Realmslord Windgrace frowned. The uneasy feeling in his heart made it impossible him to meditate calmly any further.

"I have no idea where Emperor Waveshift is. My only choice is to ask Blackwood to help out," Realmslord Windgrace mused. Emperor Waveshift had obviously reached terrifying heights in the Dao of Numerancy; he had actually reached the Hegemon level in this Dao! Although he was a bit weak in actual combat, he had reached the apex of Numerancy for anyone aside from the Autarchs! Thus, not even the likes of Realmslord Windgrace or the Lonely King were willing to offend Waveshift. Everyone treated him with the utmost of respect.

Realmslord Windgrace's first reaction was to seek out Waveshift… but alas, he was unable to find him and thus could only ask Blackwood for assistance. Although Hegemon Blackwood only trained in Numerancy as a secondary Dao, he had at least reached the Archon level in Numerancy and thus was still incredibly skilled.

A planet that was 900 million kilometers in diameter. This planet was surrounded by eight gigantic azure wooden boards, each of which was 1.8 billion kilometers tall, 36,000 kilometers wide, and 9000 kilometers thick.

There were no living creatures on this planet, just a single bearded man who was seated on the vast earth. This was Hegemon Blackwood.

Rumble… the eight titanic wooden boards slowly swiveled around the planet. They moved like the functioning of the cosmos itself, carrying a strange, unique cadence to them.

Whoosh. Hegemon Blackwood suddenly opened his eyes. His face was a bit ashen. The eight azure wooden boards surrounding the planet quickly flew towards him and landed on his back.

"My calculations are complete. It happened in the Flamedragon Realmverse." Hegemon Blackwood nodded slowly. "A terrifying new power has emerged, so strong as to be completely impossible. My subconscious is warning me that it is even more dominating than Realmslord Windgrace himself."

"Who does this new force represent? Can it be that a Hegemon has discovered yet another Sithe war machine?" Hegemon Blackwood couldn't help but come to this conclusion. Terrifying Sithe war machines were capable of terrifying amounts of power. Some were stronger, some were weaker; for example, although Ning's chain weapons had incredible suppressive and absorptive powers, they had to first be wrapped around a cultivator successfully. This meant that they were fairly unique, but of limited use in combat.

The Blacksun, however… it was just a single item, but it was capable of changing the results of an entire battlefield during the Dawn War. Realmslord Windgrace had just one Sithe war machine while the Lonely King had several, but the two were equal in status. This was why.

"The Flamedragon Realmverse?" After Realmslord Windgrace received Hegemon Blackwood's response, he immediately sent a message: "Brightshore, Netherlily, Windrain, I believe a terrifying new force has emerged with your Flamedragon Realmverse, one which is beyond my abilities to control. You need to keep a close eye on your realmverse. Once anything unusual happens, you need to immediately inform me and I'll head there right away."

"Understood."

"We sensed something as well, a terrifying sense of pressure."

"We're already searching for it." After receiving the word from Realmslord Windgrace, all three Hegemons felt slightly more confident. If even Realmslord Windgrace was able to sense it, then that meant that they could ask him to intervene and help out if something happened.

And so Brightshore, Netherlily, and Windrain, alongside the Dao Alliance (which also received orders from Realmslord Windgrace), began to scour the Flamedragon Realmverse in an attempt to find any hints about what the premonitions entailed. Alas, the Flamedragon Realmverse remained extremely peaceful. Nothing happened at all.

Time flowed on. More than six million years went by after the Flamewing God's release.

Whoosh. A realmship suddenly appeared at the borders of the Flamedragon Realmverse. Just one person was within the realmship. This person was dressed in azure robes and stood tall. He didn't have any weapons on him at all, and his gaze was warm and calm, seemingly capable of seeing through to the truth of everything. When he saw the Flamedragon Realmverse appear before him, he revealed a hint of a smile: "I'm back. Flamedragon Realmverse… I, Waveshift, am back!"

This was the legendary Emperor Waveshift! In the vast Chaosverse, his web of connections was far superior to even Realmslord Windgrace. Although Windgrace was much stronger than him, the major powers located in distant realmverses and otherverses didn't care about Windgrace at all because they would probably never meet the man! There would never be anything they would need from Realmslord Windgrace… but there were many who needed favors from Emperor Waveshift.

"The feeling of coming home…" Emperor Waveshift commanded his realmship forwards, joy in his heart as he stared at the Flamedragon Realmverse.

Emperor Waveshift had a very unique aura. It was quite transcendent, almost as though he was a spectator viewing the vast Chaosverse from a lofty height.

"I never would've imagined that my homeland, the Flamedragon Realmverse, would've produced such an incredible figure that even I would sense it from afar." Emperor Waveshift had a smile on his face. He had reached such incredible heights in the Dao of Numerancy that he would have premonitions whenever anything momentous happened in his homeland, the Flamedragon Realmverse. He could sense when a new Hegemon was born, and could also sense when the Flamewing God came out alongside Ning.

"Time for me to visit this incredible newcomer." Emperor Waveshift smiled. Swoosh! His realmship tore through spacetime and began to advance towards Vastheaven Palace.

Given Emperor Waveshift's skills in Numerancy, he was able to divine where the terrifying new force was currently located. Thus, he was able to continuously move closer towards it with ease! He couldn't even be bothered to engage in repeated divinations. Instead, he tore through spacetime and went straight to the Vastheaven Everworld. He used the information he knew regarding the entire Flamedragon Realmverse to engage in reverse-divination, skimming through the countless lines of karma to find what he wanted to know.

"It is highly probable that this incredible newcomer is that genius Daolord, Daolord Darknorth, who has managed to develop an Omega Dao." Upon reaching the Flamedragon Realmverse, Emperor Waveshift quickly came to a few rough conclusions. If his conclusions were wrong, he would then engage in a few more divinations to come to a more detailed level of understanding.

Emperor Waveshift stood there within the void outside the Vastheaven Everworld, staring at everything within it. "Ah. My guesses were correct." Emperor Waveshift nodded slowly.

The Chaosverse was filled with countless lines of karma. Although Ning was able to 'see' karma, it must be remembered that even ordinary mortals were bound by countless lines of karma. Think about how many people lived in everworlds! Everworlds were filled with so much karma, they were like seas of smoke; there was simply no way to make anything out clearly. Emperor Waveshift, however, was different. When he viewed the Waveshift Everworld, he knew that his guesses were correct.

"This new power is indeed within the Vastheaven Everworld. Daolord Darknorth, eh? I want to see just how terrifyingly powerful this new force is." Emperor Waveshift took a single step forwards and entered the Vastheaven Everworld.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 14 – Ji Ning and Emperor Waveshift

Within the Vastheaven Everworld.

Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position next to a bridge, a few swirls of sword-light flowing around him. Not too far away, a chubby man was lying on the ground within a patch of flowers, crushing quite a few of them beneath his bulk. The chubby man had a haunch of meat in his hands, and he was enjoying a wonderful meal. He continuously rolled right and left while he ate, almost as though he was in a rocking cradle.

Hegemon Azurefiend was eating and drinking in a distant pavilion while occasionally casting extremely unhappy looks towards the ruddy-skinned fat man. As for Protector Whitethaw, he quietly sat in a corner. He would always be on guard for Ning.

"Life is great!" the chubby Flamewing mumbled while eating.

"Bastard Flamewing. He keeps taking my food. If it wasn't for the fact that I can't outfight him… bah!" Azurefiend muttered to himself as he ate, but made sure to keep up a barrier of Immortal energy to ensure that his voice did not carry. Azurefiend really was irritated. He was a glutton as well, but whenever he brought out any good food it would be taken away by Flamewing.

He was unable to outfight Flamewing. All he could do was to privately insult the Chaos Primordial, but he had to ensure that Flamewing didn't hear it.

"Fellow Daoist Darknorth." A voice suddenly rang out.

"Eh?" Ning opened his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist, your formations certainly are formidable. Ordinary sect formations are unable to bar my path, and I'm able to bypass them with ease. The formations you set up, however, are inscrutable and unfathomable. I'm not able to breach them yet." A voice rang out from outside Vastheaven Palace.

Ning turned to look, only to see an azure-robed man standing in the air outside the formations. Ning couldn't help but feel shocked when he saw this man, who gave Ning a very unique feeling. The man radiated a transcendent aura, almost as though he was beyond all worldly concerns. Ning could even 'see' that the karma surrounding this person was extremely calm and warm. The karma lines were all neat and orderly, as though they were under the azure-robed man's complete control. This was because this azure-robed man was not bound by his karma; instead, he used it as a form of tool.

Of all the people Ning had ever encountered, only Autarch Titanos surpassed this man. Autarch Titanos had completely surpassed karma itself, which didn't even touch him.

"Please come in, fellow Daoist." Ning immediately opened up the formations and invited the azure-robed man in. The azure-robed man walked through the air to come in, then entered Ning's estate.

"A Hegemon… the legends said, Daolord Darknorth, that you have a Hegemonic retainer by your side. This must be Hegemon Azurefiend." The azure-robed man cast a sidelong glance at the distant Hegemon Azurefiend, then turned his gaze to the still-feasting chubby man who was rolling around within the flowers. A hint of surprise finally appeared in the azure-robed man's eyes, and he let out a shocked laugh: "So it is a Chaos Primordial! Impressive, truly impressive! Judging from its karma lines… Daolord Darknorth, you actually managed to tame a Chaos Primordial? I truly do admire you."

Ning was speechless. The karma lines connecting him and Flamewing were indeed quite thick, but how was it that this person was able to immediately recognize Flamewing as a Chaos Primordial? It must be remembered that Flamewing's transformation ability was an innate gift; not even Ning himself was able to see any flaws in it.

"And who are you?" The skinny old Hegemon Azurefiend walked over, an unhappy frown on his face. This newcomer had immediately called him a 'Hegemonic retainer' and didn't seem to have much respect for him. This naturally displeased Azurefiend greatly… and he didn't feel as though this person was much of a threat to him.

"My name is Waveshift," the azure-robed man said. Ignoring the shocked look which appeared on Hegemon Azurefiend's face, he turned to look at Ning. "I was previously wandering the outside world when I suddenly sensed that a new power had emerged within my homeland. Thus, I immediately hastened back. I was able to divine that the new power was within the Vastheaven Everworld and thus came to your residence, Daolord Darknorth. I never would've imagined that this new power would be a Chaos Primordial! Truly praiseworthy, Daolord… with a Chaos Primordial at your command, you are now an incredible figure of the Chaosverse."

Ning felt rather stunned, but was able to maintain an outwards appearance of calm. "Emperor Waveshift, you truly do surprise me. I never would've imagined that I'd be able to meet you today. Come, come! Please have a seat. Let us chat."

"Very well." Emperor Waveshift nodded.

Ning was filled with admiration and curiosity towards the legendary Emperor Waveshift, while Emperor Waveshift also viewed Ji Ning as a truly legendary Daolord.

Anyone capable of becoming a Daolord of the Fourth Step via an Omega Dao could be described as a legendary figure. Incredibly few had ever accomplished this; there were far more Otherverse Lords than Omega Daolords. As for a Daolord capable of convincing a Hegemon to become a retainer? That was even rarer… and now, this Daolord had even tamed a Chaos Primordial! Emperor Waveshift truly did feel admiration towards Ning.

The two chatted and laughed together, quickly finding out that they were birds of a feather.

"Ah, so that's how it is." Emperor Waveshift nodded. "The Icepeak Army truly is famous for its arrogance and overbearing behavior. As they see it, you are a Daolord with a limited lifespan. Once you fail your Daomerge, people will end up fighting over the realmship anyhow. It only makes sense for them to want to get a head start on it. Given that you also embarrassed them… there's no way the Icepeak Army is going to let things rest. Still, this time they should merely be sending one of their Golden Emperors, 'Lord Wulf', and the Black Emperors under his command. Given that you have a Chaos Primordial, they are of no threat to you whatsoever."

Ning nodded in agreement.

"Oh, right. When I arrived at Vastheaven Palace, I saw that the formations protecting it truly are marvelous," Emperor Waveshift said. "Although the Dao of Formations is a secondary Dao for me, I've still reached the Archon level in it. Given my skills in Numerancy, I'm usually quite skilled in dissecting formations, but I found your formations to be quite difficult and complex."

Ning laughed. "Big brother Waveshift, you truly are formidable. You were able to recognize them as being set down by me with just one glance."

"A minor parlor trick. Divination is the only thing I am good at," Emperor Waveshift said. By now, the two were already on such good terms that they were referring to each other as 'brother'.

"My formations primarily stem from two completely different schools of thought which belong to the Sithe lineage. Their power stems from the combination of these two schools of thought," Ning said.

"No wonder." Emperor Waveshift nodded, then said, "You've only trained for a brief period of time, but you've reached such heights in the art of formations. You truly are a genius who has mastered an Omega Dao! Although we've only known each other for a short period of time, I feel that we are quite similar. I must remind you, now that you have a Chaos Primordial there is no one capable of posing a threat to you. You need to focus on your cultivating. To you, the greatest problem shall be the Daomerge! If you fail the Daomerge… ugh. Well. But if you succeed, you'll gain eternal life and we'll be able to meet often."

Cultivators each had their own unique personalities. Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, Hegemon Netherlily… they all had their own unique temperaments. Ning was on fairly good terms with them, but he wasn't exactly close friends with them.

The experiences he had shared with Ninedust had resulted in them slowly becoming friends for life. As for Emperor Waveshift? They shared extremely similar personalities, resulting in both taking a liking to the other right away. As a result, they became friends as well. It wasn't easy for major powers to become friends with each other. Now that they were friends, Emperor Waveshift couldn't help but worry about Darknorth's chances at the Daomerge.

"The Daomerge… all I can do is try my utmost with no looking back. As for whether I succeed or not… so long as I do my best, I'll have no regrets," Ning said.

Time flowed on. To Emperors, two chaos cycles was a very short period of time. Thus, Emperor Waveshift decided to temporarily take up residence in Vastheaven Palace. Later on, when Emperor Solesky learned that the legendary Emperor Waveshift was actually within his own palace, he was scared silly. He only kept it secret after being requested to do so by Ning and Waveshift.

Emperor Waveshift would only meet those he wanted to meet. There were many he did not wish to meet; they would just bring too much trouble.

Ten million years after Emperor Waveshift's arrival.

"Darknorth." Emperor Waveshift and Ning were seated next to each other, playing a game of chess. As a master of formations, Ning was quite skilled in chess, while Emperor Waveshift was naturally even better. It was rare for them to encounter such excellent opponents and so they often played chess against each other.

"Hm?" Ning glanced over at Emperor Waveshift.

"The Icepeak Army should be arriving soon," Emperor Waveshift said. "Let us go and welcome them."

"They've arrived?" Ning's eyes lit up.

"The Icepeak Army?" Hegemon Azurefiend and the chubby Flamewing were eating and drinking together off in the distance. Both turned to look at Ning.

Ning immediately rose to his feet and called out, "Let's head out and give the Icepeak Army a proper welcome."

"They've finally come. Grrr… I'm going to eat them all!" Flamewing was quite excited. He had been waiting for this day for quite some time.

Whoosh. Ning, Emperor Waveshift, Flamewing, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw all boarded Ning's realmship, then flew out to the margins of the Flamedragon Realmverse.

"Let's wait for them here." The azure-robed Emperor Waveshift stared off into the endless Great Dark. "In roughly the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, the Icepeak Army shall arrive."

Ning felt a sense of absolute reverence for this level of Numerancy-fueled precognitive foresight.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 15 – Kill!

"Here they come," Emperor Waveshift suddenly said.

Ji Ning also saw how a series of ripples began to appear at the margins of the Great Dark. Moments later an enormous spacetime tear appeared within the darkness, followed by a realmship flying out of it.

"Hmph!" An angered snort rang out from within the realmship as an aura of tremendous might swept outwards, causing Ning, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw to turn slightly pale. Emperor Waveshift and the Flamewing God remained as composed as ever.

Emperor Waveshift wasn't all that powerful, but he had experienced many, many things. He had met some truly terrifying figures and had been to many mysterious places, far more than even the Lonely King or Realmslord Windgrace. He truly was the embodiment of the term 'highly experienced'; naturally, he was able to maintain his equanimity when encountering a single Golden Emperor.

As for Flamewing? Most likely, only Sithe Exalts or the Autarchs were capable of inspiring dread in him.

"How bold. You actually dare to appear before me." A series of figures began to fly out of the realmship, with a humanoid figure that glittered like gold at their head. Behind him was a total of nine black humanoids, each of whom had auras of transcendent power.

A single Golden Emperor was equivalent to an Otherverse Lord in power! Nine Black Emperors fighting in concert were also a match for an Otherverse Lord! The amount of pressure they brought to their foes was truly incredible.

"Waveshift?" The Golden Emperor, Lord Wulf, turned to look at Emperor Waveshift. A hint of astonishment flashed past his eyes. He snorted coldly, "No wonder Daolord Darknorth just so happened to be waiting for us right here. So he has you standing behind him, Emperor Waveshift! I've heard of you long ago, but today is the first time we've met. Are you here to stop me?"

Emperor Waveshift laughed. "If I asked you to leave, would you actually leave?"

"Of course not." Lord Wulf had a more baleful and more dominating aura than anyone Ning had ever encountered, and he held Emperor Waveshift in no regard at all. "Those who like you, Emperor Waveshift, will flatter you… but to those who don't like you, you aren't worth half a damn!"

Lord Wulf was an incredibly proud figure. There was nothing he wanted from Emperor Waveshift, and this was actually the very first time the two had met despite both having lived for countless years. He naturally felt no respect for Waveshift, an Emperor who didn't even have the combat power of a Hegemon.

"Yes, I'm quite weak; my talents lie in Numerancy and Numerancy alone. My friends flatter me, but to those who have no need of my talents I truly am worth very little." Emperor Waveshift remained quite calm and composed.

Lord Wulf's face was a mask of icy arrogance, but many thoughts flitted through his mind. "Emperor Waveshift is actually here… can this be a scheme of some kind? But as a Golden Emperor, I'm even better at staying alive than actual Otherverse Lords. Given my power and the power of the nine Black Emperors who serve me, the only person in this area who would pose a threat to me should be Realmslord Windgrace! Even if Emperor Waveshift is plotting against me, he won't be able to do anything to me at all."

"I'll overwhelm them with raw power. In front of absolute power, all schemes are nothing more than jokes." Lord Wulf was extremely confident in his abilities.

"Daolord Darknorth." Lord Wulf stared at the distant white-robed youth who bore that black sheath on his back. Ning was looking at him as well, and their gazes met in the air.

"General Wulf," Ning responded.

"You are an impressive Daolord. Truly, you are incredible," Lord Wulf said. "I've been alive for a very long time, but you are the only Daolord I have any respect for."

"You praise me too much, General," Ning said.

"Don't be modest. A Daolord who can reach Hegemonic levels of power and even command a Hegemon retainer truly is incredible." Lord Wulf glanced sideways at Azurefiend, who was by Ning's side. "However… your retainer is a bit too cowardly. I would've committed suicide long ago."

Cold light flickered through Azurefiend's eyes.

"My contempt is reserved for those who commit suicide," Ning said.

"Hm?" Lord Wulf frowned as he looked at the white-robed youth, then said coldly, "You really don't know what's good for you. No wonder you dared to make an enemy out of our Icepeak Army! Daolord Darknorth, as a Daolord you shall merely live for 108,000 chaos cycles. This is an incredibly short period of time! Once your lifespan comes to an end, you shall perish and your realmship will fall into the hands of others. In fact, there might even be a great battle over it. Emperors like myself who possess limitless lifespans can use it to wander the many realmverses and see more things… but for you to hold a realmship is an absolute waste! I urge you to hand it over. That way, you'll at least remain alive," Lord Wulf said.

He had been planning to attack immediately, but when he saw Emperor Waveshift… he still felt extremely confident in his chances, but he chose to be just a bit more cautious than he otherwise would have been.

"Hand it over?" Ning shook his head. "Why should I just hand my treasures over to you?"

"Are you sure you are going to refuse me?" The baleful aura surrounding Lord Wulf began to froth and churn. The hint of caution he had felt upon seeing Emperor Waveshift was beginning to dissipate, and his innate brutal disposition was beginning to reveal itself once more.

"I refuse." Ning shook his head.

"You are courting death." Lord Wulf's gaze turned cold. He pointed angrily at Ning as his voice echoed throughout the surrounding area: "Kill them all, and exterminate Vastheaven Palace! Let everyone know what happens when they make enemies out of our Icepeak Army!"

"Acknowledged," the nine onyx humanoids simultaneous said respectfully. "Kill them all!"

"Kill!" Murderous looks appeared on the faces of the nine Black Emperors, and their auras began to flare with awesome power. They were like nine streaks of black light that split apart the void as they shot forward. They had long ago grown accustomed to warfare and conquest! They had completely uprooted and destroyed quite a few powerful organizations; to them, an organization that was merely headed by a Daolord was nothing worth mentioning at all.

"Flamewing, kill them all!" Ning pointed towards his foes and issued an order as well.

"I've been waiting for you to say that." Flamewing had been standing restlessly by Ning's side. Upon hearing the order, he wagged his big butt excitedly, then let out an excited roar. This ordinary-looking fatty suddenly transformed into a dazzling ball of blazing fire which had a strange creature inside of it, a creature that looked like a fiery-winged bear.

The nine attacking Black Emperors all revealed looks of nervousness and puzzlement. They could sense incredible danger, but they had no idea what it was they were looking at.

"Eh?" The distant Lord Wulf suddenly turned pale.

"GWAAAAR!" Flamewing let out a shocking roar, and as he did so he belched forth a torrent of dark-red flames from his mouth. It almost instantly covered the surrounding void, including the nine Black Emperors who were charging in their direction.

"What's that?!"

"ARGH! Not good, those flames are too powerful. Quick, run!"

The nine Black Emperors felt tremendous pain as soon as those dark-red flames touched them. Even their black skin began to slowly melt away! Although they were a bit more powerful than Whitethaw, they were still just Black Emperors; in other words, they were living beings who had used the Ritual Sacrificium to inherit a certain level of power. In contrast, Whitethaw was a 'pure' golem who was designed for defense; his survival abilities were far superior to theirs.

"What terrifying flames. These flames are far more powerful than even a Hegemon's flames," Waveshift said with an amazed sigh.

"Ordinary Hegemons would be burned to death by those flames," the nearby Azurefiend said. "These Black Emperors have incredibly tough bodies; they are just melting slightly from the heat."

Whoosh. As Flamewing belched out those terrifying dark-red flames, his wings fluttered and sent him streaking forwards like a bolt of terrifying light.

"That's fast!" Ning was shocked. Flamewing was flying far faster than even a realmship!

"That creature is far too fast!" Hegemon Thunderstar, hiding off in the distance within his own realmship, was shocked by this as well. He had become a Hegemon via the Dao of Thunder and could be described as having reached the very apex of speed amongst cultivators, but he still felt astonishment. "He's far, far faster than me. How can he be this fast?!"

Why was Flamewing known as the Flamewing God? It was precisely because of how incredibly fast he flew. This was why many classified him as a bird, as his prowess lay in his flight speed. Attacking techniques were of secondary importance.

Riiiip. Flamewing transformed into a streak of light and almost instantly shot towards a Black Emperor. He reached out with one of his chubby paws and swiped at the Black Emperor with it, causing the Black Emperor's arm to twist unnaturally. A large wound appeared on the Black Emperor's chest as well, so deep as to expose the countless stone passageways located within his chest. One of the planets inside his body completely exploded. This was a lethal blow for the Black Emperor, who instantly lost his life as a result.

Slash! Yet another paw-strike, this time aimed at the head of a Black Emperor. Although Black Emperors had incredibly sturdy heads, it was still possible for one to shatter those heads with enough power. As a result, this second Black Emperor died as well.

"Retreat, quick!" Lord Wulf could do nothing but watch as this all happened, his eyes threatening to leave their sockets. As soon as he had seen those dark-red flames, he knew something was wrong and so he immediately charged forwards to rescue his subordinate… but compared to Flamewing, his flying speed was far, far slower. They were on completely different levels.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 16 – The Shocking Chaos Primordial

These Black Emperors moved far more slowly than the Flamewing God, and the terrifying dark-red flames had only caused them to slow down even further.

As for Lord Wulf coming to reinforce them? They immediately gave up that notion. Given his speed, by the time he flew over, the Flamewing God would've pretty much killed them all. Thus… they had to take care of themselves!

"Join forces."

"Work together to buy some time."

"We only need to hold on for an instant." The onyx humanoids were all absolutely terrified. It was as though they had met their natural predator! Fortunately, the nine of them had charged over together and thus were quite close to each other. By the time the Flamewing God had killed two of them, the other seven had already quickly gathered together.

"Hide inside this estate-treasure first." One of the Black Emperors tossed out an estate-type treasure.

Crack! The dark-red flames were powerful enough to kill even Hegemons. This top-grade Eternal estate-treasure instantly began to crack apart, followed by the treasure being completely destroyed.

Whoooosh! Bathed in flames, the Flamewing God's wings fluttered a single time, sending it straight towards the seven Black Emperors.

"Block!" The seven Black Emperors simultaneously swept out with their palms as the silver diagrams covering their bodies began to light up. An awesomely cold aura swept out from them as ice began to form over their gigantic black palms, sweeping towards the attacking Flamewing God.

"Grrr… die!" Flamewing was a dominating force of nature; it naturally chose to meet their attacks head-on! It flew straight towards its opponents, its giant bear-like paws smashing downwards with such power that even Ning and Azurefiend felt their hearts tremble as they watched from afar. Its attack collided head-on against the giant black palms of the seven Black Emperors.

BOOM! This was a collision of incredible power, and it instantly caused space around them to completely collapse and crumble.

When the seven Black Emperors joined forces, they were able to unleash an amount of power that was equal to that of an Otherverse Lord's. Although they were clearly at a disadvantage when battling the Flamewing God, they were at least able to briefly pause it in its tracks.

As for the seven Black Emperors themselves, they were knocked flying backwards, their bodies trembling and crackling as a large amount of tears and injuries appeared on them. They had suffered incredibly heavy injuries; even they would need quite a long period of time to completely recover.

Whoosh. The Flamewing God was enraged at having been briefly stopped in its tracks. It once more fluttered its wings. Swoosh! It instantly swept through the void and charged at the Black Emperors, who were still in the process of being blasted in each direction. They didn't have the chance to recover yet.

"Not good."

"Flee separately."

"Save yourselves!" The Black Emperors had all suffered heavy injuries, and they had been blasted backwards with such force that they had lost control over themselves. It was impossible for them to once more join forces to block the Flamewing God, and so they simply followed the momentum of the previous blast and began to flee for their lives.

Riiiiip! The Flamewing God was able to move at incredible speeds. Its claws swept past the body of one of the fleeing Black Emperors, instantly tearing the Black Emperor's chest open. Quite a number of critical systems lay within the chest, and so this strike was a lethal one.

"GWAAAAR!" Flamewing opened its giant maw and bit down, crushing a Black Emperor to bits with its teeth, then crunching through the remains and swallowing them.

This was one of the most terrifying beasts in existence in the Chaosverse… a Chaos Primordial! They would often eat entire realmverses when hungry. In comparison, these onyx humanoids were devoured with ease by Flamewing. In fact, Flamewing rather enjoyed the chewiness.

"Stop that immediately!" Lord Wulf had finally arrive. Slash! Lord Wulf had moved to bar Flamewing's path, but Flamewing was still able to land a clawing blow to a Black Emperor's back, causing his spine to completely cave in and a series of crackling sounds to emanate from his body. The Black Emperor's aura instantly whittled away into nothingness.

"DIE, damn you!" The enraged Lord Wulf suddenly drew a saber in each of his two hands. SLASH! SLASH! A pair of rainbow-like streaks of saber-light chopped through the skies, filled with Lord Wulf's boundless rage and murderous will. The twin blows chopped straight towards the Flamewing God, who simply fluttered its wings and used them to block the two strikes like a shield. BOOM! The shockwave from this collision was even more powerful than the one generated by the clash between Flamewing and the seven Black Emperors.

Lord Wulf was sent flying backwards, while Flamewing came to a halt as well. It glanced at Lord Wulf, slightly surprised.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Lord Wulf glanced behind himself, only to see the four heavily wounded surviving Black Emperors fleeing towards the distant realmship. This caused Lord Wulf to feel a sense of pain in his heart. "I had nine Black Emperors… and now, I've suddenly lost five of them. The Icepeak Army has never, in all its history, suffered such catastrophic losses before!"

The Icepeak Army had conquered all within its path, stirring up one war after another, but even then its total losses had merely been eight Black Emperors. This time, they had been planning to slay this puny Daolord with ease… and yet they had instantly lost five of their Black Emperors?!

"You are pretty strong. You should be on par with those Otherverse Lords. I probably won't be able to kill you," Flamewing growled. "So you can go ahead and fuck off. Can't be bothered to fight you! If it wasn't for the fact that those seven were able to block me briefly, I would've wiped them all out by now."

Indeed. Given the Flamewing God's terrifying speed, he was in fact capable of killing all of the onyx humanoids before Lord Wulf had arrived. However, that extra moment of time the seven Black Emperors had bought themselves by joining forces had caused the Flamewing God to briefly slow down, resulting in 'just' five perishing and four escaping.

"Y-you…!" Lord Wulf felt even angrier. He had never suffered such catastrophic losses before, and felt as though he was about to go crazy. "DIE!"

"I can't beat you to death so I was planning on not beating you up at all… but you insist on attacking ME?" Flamewing let out a furious roar as he charged over.

Space for ten billion kilometers around them completely collapsed, with the void itself having been ground up into countless tiny scorching pieces of space-sand as the titanic Flamewing battled furiously against that golden figure.

This was combat on a completely different level, a clash of the titans. Flamewing had the advantage and was completely dominating the golden figure, smashing it backwards over and over again! However, Golden Emperors simply had incredibly durable bodies; not a single scratch could be seen on Lord Wulf's golden form, and so Lord Wulf continued to attack again and again with his indescribably exquisite Hegemonic saber-arts.

The terrifying clashes caused Ning and Azurefiend to both tremble.

"So this is what a battle between Otherverse Lords looks like?" Ning nodded slowly. Flamewing was indeed quite a bit stronger than an Otherverse Lord, but it was still incapable of actually killing them. In the end, its insights into the Dao were simply too weak. It completely relied on its innate gifts to do battle, and thus Otherverse Lords were able to stay alive in the face of its onslaught. However, there was no way they could actually overpower Flamewing in a frontal clash.

Even someone whose body was as durable as Lord Wulf, a Golden Emperor, was sent flying backwards with every single clash. However, rage caused Lord Wulf to continue to press the futile attack.

It truly was a scene of apocalyptic might. Even Hegemons would perish before attacks like these! "And this is just one of the Icepeak Army's generals…" Azurefiend let out an amazed sigh.

"He is a Golden Emperor. Even the Lonely King himself is just a Golden Emperor," the nearby Emperor Waveshift said. "The Lonely King's advantage lies in his war machines, but those war machines would barely tickle your Flamewing God; there's no way they can damage the Flamewing God's nigh-indestructible body. Thus, even if the Lonely King came he would still be dominated and abused by your Chaos Primordial. This is what makes those creatures so terrifying."

Ning nodded. Suddenly, a spacetime ripple appeared off in the distance, followed by a white-robed, white-bearded elder with six curved horns on his head emerging from a spacetime rift. It was Hegemon Brightshore.

"What terrifying shockwaves!" Hegemon Brightshore stared ashen-faced at the apocalyptic scene before him. This was a level of combat which was vastly beyond him, and these shockwaves were on a completely different level as well.

"Such power! Is this the terrifying force which Realmslord Windgrace spoke of, the force which is beyond even his ability to control?" Yet another figure appeared in the distance. It was Hegemon Windrain.

"A Golden Emperor? One of the legendary Golden Emperors, who are supposedly on par with Otherverse Lords, is being completely dominated in battle? Where the hell did this beast come from?!" Hegemon Netherlily appeared as well. The terrifying shockwaves from this battle had been sensed by all three of the mighty Hegemons of the Flamedragon Realmverse, and so they had all hastened over here.

On one side was Hegemon Thunderstar and his realmship, along with the four surviving Black Emperors. On the other side was Ning's party and the three newly arrived Hegemons. All of them stared, stunned, as the battle progressed between Flamewing and the crazed Lord Wulf.

"Damn, damn, DAMN! AAAAAAARGH!" Lord Wulf let out an infuriated bellow which rang out in every direction, his voice filled with rage, resentment, and humiliation. He had never been as angry as he was right now! He had launched countless attacks, but he wouldn't be able to continue fighting like this. This was because the energy stores in his body would begin to be exhausted if he kept this up, at which point he would be in mortal danger.

"Daolord Darknorth, I won't forget this. I won't forget this!" Lord Wulf turned to glare at the distant white-robed youth, his eyes filled with terrifying hatred and malice.

"Let's go!" Lord Wulf immediately began to flee.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 17 – Pursuit

"Oh, NOW you want to flee?" By now, the Flamewing God had been thoroughly enraged by Lord Wulf as well. Its wings fluttered, sending it soaring through the void at terrifying speeds as it instantly caught up to the fleeing Lord Wulf. Flamewing once more sent its clawed paws against Lord Wulf: "So you think you can just attack and run as you please?"

BOOM! A titanic explosion rang out. Lord Wulf remained undamaged, and the warblades in his hands seemed to spin like circles of light. He himself arced outwards, borrowing from the momentum of the shockwave to continue fleeing. His body was so tough that it was completely undamaged.

Lord Wulf continued to flee, while Flamewing pressed the attack.

"Chase him down, Flamewing!" Ning ordered mentally.

"Leave it to me. This guy thinks he can just flee whenever he wants? It wont be that easy!" Flamewing chased furiously, giving vent to his rage.

"Let's follow them!" Ning waved his hand, producing his realmship. Ning, Azurefiend, Emperor Waveshift, and Whitethaw all flew into it.

"Darknorth, let us watch as well!" Hegemon Brightshore flew over, followed by Hegemon Netherlily and Hegemon Windrain. They were extremely interested in watching a battle between Otherverse Lord-level combatants, especially since they themselves were in no danger. The brief part of the battle they had seen earlier had already caused them to learn a few things. Without question, the mysterious and terrifying beast which had completely dominated the Golden Emperor had to be on Ning's side.

"Alright, let's go together." Ning didn't refuse them. And so Ning, Emperor Waveshift, Azurefiend, Brightshore, Windrain, Netherlily, and Whitethaw all rode the realmship as it chased after the two combatants. Although in raw speed alone Ning was unable to make the realmship move as fast as the Flamewing God, Lord Wulf was much much slower than both of them. As the Flamewing God continued to hunt after and beat down upon Lord Wulf, Ning and the others were able to keep up with ease.

"Waveshift!"

"Long time no see, Waveshift." Hegemon Brightshore and the other two Hegemons all greeted Emperor Waveshift. Like them, Emperor Waveshift was a native of the Flamedragon Realmverse; he had naturally met all three of them long ago. They chatted amongs t themselves as they watched the distant, high-level battle occurring before them.

"Darknorth, is this creature one of those legendary 'Chaos Primordials'?" Hegemon Brightshore soon asked the question he wanted to ask the most. The nearby Hegemon Windrain and Hegemon Netherlily were both curious as well.

Ning nodded. "It is indeed a Chaos Primordial. Its name is the 'Flamewing God'."

"No wonder."

"I knew it. Only the legendary Chaos Primordials could possibly possess such a level of power." Hegemon Brightshore and the others were enlightened. Although they had their guesses, they had never actually seen a Chaos Primordial before. Those were legendary creatures which were never seen.

"Incredibly, simply incredible! Flamewing God, a Chaos Primordial, is battling against the Icepeak Army. It must have been tamed, right?" Hegemon Windrain asked.

Hegemon Netherlily turned to look at Emperor Waveshift. A smile on her face, she said, "Waveshift, did you tame this Chaos Primordial?"

All of them felt amazement and awe. The legendary Chaos Primordials were incredibly rare, and taming one of the creatures was something out of the myths! Still, for Emperor Waveshift to accomplish this was shocking but believable to them. Emperor Waveshift was often invited and feted by the most supreme of major powers, who asked them to accompany them to some incredibly mysterious places. It was believable for him to have been lucky enough to tame a Chaos Primordial on one of those trips.

"I don't have that sort of ability." Emperor Waveshift shook his head. "It was Darknorth who tamed it."

"Darknorth?" Hegemon Brightshore and the others all turned to stare at Ning in disbelief. For a moment, none of them knew what to say.

Daolord Darknorth was an absolute monster! They had never heard of such a terrifying Daolord. It would be understandable if a power Emperor like the Lonely King or Hegemon Windrain had tamed a Chaos Primordial, but a Daolord?! This was truly miraculous.

"Nothing more than lucky." Ning calmly watched as the battle proceed, his gaze focused on the enemy realmship that was following from behind like a streak of lightning. "That realmship really is fast. It flies far more quickly than even my own realmship. I can sense from its sudden bursts of speed that its even faster than Flamewing."

"Hegemon Thunderstar became a Hegemon via the Dao of Thunder. He's extremely skilled in speed, and when he is in command of a realmship he's able to more perfectly draw out its full power than many, allowing it to move much faster," the nearby Emperor Waveshift said. "Thus, personal insights truly do matter. Different treasures in the hands of different major powers will be capable of unleashing different levels of might."

Ning nodded.

Whoosh. Hegemon Thunderstar kept his realmship at the margins of the battle, hiding far away and watching as the Flamewing God continued its pursuit.

"Thunderstar, hurry up and go rescue our general!" the other four Black Emperors urged desperately.

"There's no way for me to save him." Hegemon Thunderstar shook his head. "That Chaos Primordial is too fast. Although I'm skilled in flying, my speed still isn't even close to being on par with that creature's. Even though I'm in command of a realmship which is famous for its speed, I'm still just slightly faster than it. The problem is, your general Lord Wulf is far too slow, even slower than me flying normally! The Chaos Primordial continues to circle around him. Once I go nearby, I'll probably be captured by it as well… and once it captures us, we're doomed."

"Ugh."

"Damn." The four Black Emperors were utterly enraged as well. They had suffered severe mental and physical blows from this, but they knew just how terrifying the Flamewing God was. It had slain five of their comrades in the blink of an eye, after all! If they had been just a heartbeat slower, they would've died as well.

"Don't worry. I can tell that Lord Wulf is more than capable of keeping himself alive," Hegemon Thunderstar said.

"Yes, the general has stopped launching all those crazy attacks. If all he needs to do is keep himself alive, he's able to dramatically lessen the amount of energy he uses up. He'll be able to keep fighting for an extremely long period of time."

"Although that Chaos Primordial is very strong, its insights are too weak. Its attacks are all quite clumsy, making it easy for the general to stay alive." All four of the Black Emperors nodded.

However, they also knew that Lord Wulf was only able to keep himself safe thanks to the fact that he had an Otherverse Lord's combat prowess! Black Emperors like them? Yes, the Chaos Primordial might have an extremely low level of insight into the Dao, but it would still crush them with contemptuous ease. No amount of insights would be enough in the face of such an overwhelming disparity in power.

Boom!

Slash!

Whoosh!

Lord Wulf was being battered around like a ball. Each time, he was able to exquisitely time his defenses to make use of the momentum generated by the Flamewing God's attacks to flee, allowing him to use up just a small amount of his energy even though he was sent flying repeatedly. Lord Wulf remained quite calm, and he continued to pay close attention to the realmship following behind them. "Daolord Darknorth. I won't forget about this. Just wait and see."

Time flowed on, with the pursuit lasting for tens of thousands of years. Ning continued to pursue the two in his realmship, but the frown on his face was beginning to deepen.

He was continuing the pursuit because he didn't wish to give up the chance to kill a Golden Emperor. His Chaos Primordial was born with tremendous karmic blessings and had a virtually indestructible body as well as unearthly amounts of strength with it replenished incredibly fast. This was why the Sithe had chosen to use it as a power source for the Jadefire Realm! Golden Emperors, however, replenished their energy stores much more slowly. Ning had been eagerly awaiting the sight of Lord Wulf exhausting his energy stores, at which point he would probably perish.

Alas, his foe was no fool. Lord Wulf had ceased his frenzied attacks and was instead borrowing from the momentum of Flamewing's own strikes. As a result, he was keeping energy expenditures low enough that he was able to replenish whatever he used up, allowing him to resist for an extremely long period of time.

"Its been tens of thousands of years, but Lord Wulf remains able to defend with ease." Ning frowned. "It seems clear that his energy expenditure rates are below his replenishment rates."

"Come back, Flamewing." Ning finally issued the order.

"GWAR!" Flamewing let out a final, proud roar within the Great Dark. For it, pursuing an opponent for tens of thousands of years was nothing. It could spend an entire chaos cycle just taking a nap!

The fleeing Lord Wulf was briefly startled. Moments later, he realized that the Flamewing God had finally ceased its pursuit. Only then did Lord Wulf turn to fly towards Hegemon Thunderstar's realmship.

Swoosh. He quickly flew into the realmship, which then sped up dramatically and transformed into a dazzling streak of electric light and disappeared into the Great Dark.

Ning quietly stared into the darkness. The nearby Emperor Waveshift said, "In terms of energy stores, Chaos Primordials vastly outstrip Otherverse Lords. Alas, its insights into the Dao are too low-level. It is like a child, capable of just the most basic forms of combat! Thus, all of its overwhelming power is of no use; it's only able to suppress, not kill, Otherverse Lords in combat. The legends say that there has never been an Otherverse Lord or a Golden Emperor who has perished to a Chaos Primordial."

Ning nodded. "It does not make efficient use of its power. The Sithe were able to take all of its terrifying energy to set up the Jadefire Realm, then transform it into a 'Decimatus Wave' which could kill Otherverse Lords with ease."

If Flamewing had reached Ning's level of insights into the Dao, it would be able to kill Golden Emperors with ease. Alas, its insights into the Dao were negligibly low, and it possessed just the most basic of animalistic instincts. All it knew was the most basic forms of attack.

"A pity that we had to let that Golden Emperor escape," Azurefiend mumbled.

"We can't chase after it any longer. If we did, then we'd be in trouble once the Lonely King commanded the rest of the Icepeak Army to come and reinforce them," Emperor Waveshift said. "By then, we'd have no choice but to hide behind the Flamewing God's protection."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 18 – Two Competing Sides

Ji Ning nodded. The entire Icepeak Army had a total of four Golden Emperors, with the most powerful being the Lonely King due to his possession of multiple Sithe war machines. He had destroyed even otherverses with those machines! The Flamewing God was all by itself, after all; it would be very hard for it to fight that many people at once. If it had to protect others as well, the only way for it to do so would be for them to hide within its estate-world as it fought.

Of course, Ning could've ordered for the Flamewing God to charge straight into the Lonely King's base. In other words, if this battle truly got out of hand it wouldn't be good for anyone involved.

Whoosh. Flamewing transformed back into a ruddy-faced fatty and re-entered the realmship. "That was a good fight! Its been ages since I've had the chance to fight like that. Whew!" Flamewing was quite delighted with itself. "That Lord Wolf or Wolfe or whatever, he sure can take a beating! I can't even count the number of times I whacked him, but I just couldn't put him down."

Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Netherlily, Hegemon Windrain, and Azurefiend all stared at the fatty with a look of some dread. This harmless-looking man was capable of butchering Hegemons with ease when he fought. Even Otherverse Lords would be completely dominated, albeit still capable of staying alive.

"And who are these three?" Flamewing glanced at Hegemon Brightshore and the other two, then licked its lips. "Master, should I eat them?"

"Don't!" Hegemon Brightshore and the others were badly frightened by that offhand comment.

"They are my friends, Flamewing. Stop causing trouble," Ning immediately said.

"Oh." Flamewing nodded, then casually slouched over a nearby chair. It then waved its hand, causing some food to appear which it began to munch down on.

"Chaos Primordials truly are exceptional!" Hegemon Brightshore let out a relieved breath. All of them unconsciously moved closer towards Ning, wanting to keep a safe distance away from the Flamewing God.

"My horizons have been expanded after seeing that battle," Hegemon Windrain said with a sigh. "I've often heard of how terrifying the battles between Otherverse Lords can be, but I've never witnessed one myself. Experts on that level rarely fight, after all! This was the very first time, and it truly was an incredible sight. They really do completely surpass us in power."

Ning nodded. He had also been stunned by this recent fight. The Flamewing God's flames alone would've been enough to roast him to death, while the Golden Emperors lived up to their reputation; Flamewing had unleashed everything it had but remained unable to harm Lord Wulf.

Ning was slowly beginning to understand that Flamewing had slightly more attack power than Otherverse Lords, but wasn't capable of actually killing them! In terms of defensive strength, however, Flamewing was completely indestructible, and its strength was nearly limitless as well.

The Lonely King's Sithe war machines allowed him to actually slay Otherverse Lords! And yet, he still wouldn't be able to harm Flamewing in the slightest, and his defensive strength was merely on par with other Golden Emperors. Most importantly of all, he was unable to fight an extended battle. Much like how Realmslord Windgrace would expend an enormous amount of energy with each activation of the Blacksun, the Lonely King's Sithe war machines also consumed a terrifying amount of energy.

Thus… even though some major powers clearly had greater attack power than a Chaos Primordial, they still remained completely unable to harm those creatures. Flamewing could slaughter all of the Lonely King's subordinates with impunity, and the Lonely King would be able to do nothing but watch.

This battle truly had been quite stunning for everyone involved. Ji Ning, Azurefiend, Brightshore, Windrain, Netherlily… they were all Hegemonic figures, and today they realized how terrifying the higher-level Otherverse Lords were. The others were also envious of the fact that Ning had actually managed to tame a Chaos Primordial.

"Damnit."

Multiple figures were scattered throughout the realmship. All of them were silent, and the golden humanoid was the first to speak and disrupt the deathly silence.

Lord Wulf stood there, his eyes cold and filled with murder. The air around him seemed to have frozen solid. He had never suffered a humiliating defeat like today's.

"General?" The other four looked at Lord Wulf.

"We definitely cannot just let things end here." Lord Wulf gritted his teeth. "We have to invite his Majesty to help out."

Whoooooosh. An endless aura of cold emanated out to cover the surrounding void.

A giant iceberg was hanging in the middle of the void, and the iceberg was filled with frozen mountain peaks. A figure was levitating in the air above the peak of one of those mountains.

This figure was seated on a giant levitating silver throne and dressed in beautiful silver robes. His hands, his neck, his face, and the other exposed parts of his body were all golden! The silver-robed golden humanoid sat there atop his throne, his arms resting against the throne's armrest. A blood-red gemstone was affixed to the middle of his forehead like a third eye, and it brimmed with might.

This man was staring into the distant void silently.

Everyone in the Icepeak Army knew that the Lonely King would often sit there by himself and stare off into the void. The Lonely King always had a cold look on his face, a look that inspired terror in those who saw him. With but a thought, he could rescind the Golden Emperor and Black Emperor bodies of his subordinates, then give them over to others. Thus, all of the soldiers of the Icepeak Army were filled with dread towards him. They were terrified of incurring his displeasure.

The only time he ever revealed the hint of a smile was when he was engaged in battle and slaughter.

"Majesty." A gray-robed figure flew over, then bowed respectfully.

The Lonely King turned his golden gaze across the gray figure. "You are Lord Wulf's retainer?"

"I am," the gray-robed figure said respectfully. "My true body has accompanied the general for many years now. Just now, I received orders from Lord Wulf to report some news of grave import to you, your Majesty."

"Speak," the Lonely King commanded calmly, his gaze focused upon the infinite void once more.

"This matter involves a Daolord known as Darknorth." The gray-robed figure began to respectfully narrate the entire affair in detail, not exaggerating anything at all. He described things exactly as they had occurred.

The Lonely King listened to the entire story without interrupting a single time. When he heard that Ji Ning had the power of a Hegemon, his only response was a blink. It wasn't until he heard the words 'Chaos Primordial' that he turned to look at the gray-robed figure.

"A Chaos Primordial?" The Lonely King murmured softly, "And who does it serve? Waveshift?"

"No. Lord Wulf said that he saw Daolord Darknorth issue an order to the Chaos Primordial. He said, 'Flamewing, kill them all'," the gray-robed figure replied. "This Chaos Primordial should therefore be named 'Flamewing', and its master should be Daolord Darknorth."

"This Chaos Primordial's master is Daolord Darknorth?" The Lonely King's lips curved upwards slightly.

He was smiling.

This scene inspired terror in the gray-robed Emperor. Whenever he saw the Lonely King smile, he felt a sense of terror.

"Good. It is good that he serves a Daolord." The Lonely King nodded slowly, seeming to be quite pleased.

"Lord Wulf said that he lost five Black Emperors," the gray-robed figure said hurriedly. "What should we do? We're waiting for your orders, Majesty."

"Let bygones be bygones. Let this matter come to an end," the Lonely King said calmly.

"Then what of our five slain Black Emperors?" the gray-robed figure asked.

"If they died, they died." The Lonely King remained quite calm and indifferent. "Let this matter come to an end. This 'Daolord Darknorth' deserves his reputation as an unbelievable genius. He now has a Chaos Primordial at his beck and call… and most Daolords are madmen! Best not to fight against this Daolord Darknorth. If we fight against him and he orders his Chaos Primordial to attack our base, who can withstand it?"

The gray-robed figure continued to listen obediently.

"Send my response to Lord Wulf. He and his subordinates are to be stationed permanently in the Flamedragon Realmverse!" A hint of anticipation was in the Lonely King's eyes. "Let him wait and collect every bit of information he can find about Daolord Darknorth. Once he receives word that Daolord Darknorth has failed his Daomerge, have him notify me."

"Understood," the gray-robed figure said respectfully.

"Remember! From this day forth, you are not to antagonize Daolord Darknorth. Do not speak to me of him until he fails his Daomerge," the Lonely King commanded. "Now go."

The gray-robed figure bowed respectfully, then immediately departed.

The Lonely King continued to sit there atop his levitating silver throne, staring quietly into the void. A hint of anticipation was within his eyes. "So its master is a Daolord? Daolords have such short lives. Once the Daolord dies, it'll be time for the creature to accept a new master."

The Hiddenfiend Realmverse. The Blacksun.

Realmslord Windgrace had received the reports from Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, and Hegemon Netherlily.

"A Chaos Primordial? And its master is Daolord Darknorth?" The disheveled-looking old man walked out of his little courtyard, his eyes brighter than ever.

"So one of the legendary Chaos Primordials has appeared." Realmslord Windgrace immediately barked, "On my orders, ensure that no news regarding the Chaos Primordial is divulged to outsiders. All Hegemons within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance, as well as the visiting Hegemons and Emperors, are all under strict orders to not spread this information to anyone."

"Yes, Master," the two nearby disciples both said respectfully.

Realmslord Windgrace mused softly, "Once word spreads, even more of those old fellows will be drawn over here. Daolords have such short lives. Once this Daolord dies… if he issued an order for the Chaos Primordial to follow another, it would quickly come to accept its new master."

"Master, the Lonely King should be aware of this matter as well," Hegemon Wuye said.

"I know the Lonely King. He would never divulge this information to others." Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. "As for what happens when Darknorth fails his Daomerge… if the Lonely King tries to fight with me over it, he'll learn that he cannot beat me. Hmph!"

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 19 – All Grows Calm Again

"Master, what should we do next?" Hegemon Wuye said softly. He had once been one of Realmslord Windgrace's least remarkable students, but in the end he had become the most successful. Hegemon Wuye looked rather foolish, but how could a Hegemon who devoted to his life to analyzing Sithe golems possibly be foolish? At critical times like this, he was able to maintain a level of incredible calm. Wuye knew that the question of who the Chaos Primordial belonged to was a question which would impact his own master's status.

Unlike Daolord Darknorth, his master was going to be around for an extremely long period of time. Daolord Darknorth had a limited lifespan, while his master had won eternity for himself. If he could also tame a Chaos Primordial, then his status in the vast Chaosverse would rise up once more to new heights. The Lonely King would no longer be on the same level as him.

"Do nothing at all." Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. "There's no need for us to try and force things. Daolord Darknorth is an intelligent man. He has his own plans."

"Alright." Wuye nodded.

"The more you try to force something, the less likely it will work out as you hoped. The only result would be that Daolord Darknorth might feel a sense of enmity towards us. The Lonely King's subordinates have already caused the seeds of enmity to be sown between him and Darknorth. Based on my understanding of his personality, he's definitely going to try and force things…" Realmslord Windgrace smiled. "We cannot try to rush this matter. We must be patient. Daolord Darknorth has to willingly hand over control. Once he fails his Daomerge, he's eventually going to have to come to a decision about what he will do."

The nearby Emperor Skylight asked, "Master, what if Daolord Darknorth succeeds in his Daomerge?"

"Succeeds?" Realmslord Windgrace laughed. "He trains in an Omega Dao. I once heard from an Autarch that there has never been a Daolord who has successfully completed the Daomerge for an Omega Dao! If he does succeed, he'll reach such a terrifyingly high level of power that he'll probably be far stronger than even the Chaos Primordial. By then, the Chaos Primordial won't matter; what would matter would be Darknorth himself."

Hegemon Wuye and Hegemon Skylight couldn't help but begin to silently speculate as to how powerful an Omega Dao Emperor would be!

"Stop thinking about it. The cultivator civilizations of the vast Chaosverse have given birth to a number of Autarchs, but it has never given birth to so much as a single Omega Dao Emperor." Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. "His chances of success are very, very low."

Since Realmslord Windgrace had issued orders, everyone in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance immediately moved to obey.

In truth, realmverses were all extremely distant from each other. It was quite difficult for news to spread across multiple realmverses, and the only ones within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance who were capable of contacting the outside world were the Hegemon-class Emperors. So long as they kept their mouths shut, there was no way word would spread.

But as for within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance? Word had already spread! Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Windrain, and Hegemon Netherlily had only managed to contact Realmslord Windgrace by going through several other Hegemons and Emperors! They didn't have Primaltwins or avatars in the Blacksun, and so they had to convey their messages through others, who then conveyed the message to Emperor Skylight to give to Realmslord Windgrace.

Given how many had been informed, word naturally began to spread within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance.

A realmship suddenly appeared at the borders between the Flamedragon Realmverse and the Great Dark. This was the realmship which Hegemon Thunderstar commanded. Within it were a total of six figures. One was a golden humanoid, four were onyx humanoids, and the final figure was a violet-robed, violet-haired man.

They were Lord Wulf of the Icepeak Army, four Black Emperors, and Hegemon Thunderstar, respectively.

"Swear the oath right away." Lord Wulf cast the violet-robed, violet-haired man a cold look.

"Sure, sure." Hegemon Thunderstar immediately smiled. "I would never dare to go against the Lonely King's orders. I, Thunderstar, swear on my very life itself…" Hegemon Thunderstar had been forced to swear an oath not to divulge any information regarding the Chaos Primordial known as the Flamewing God.

"You can leave now." Lord Wulf tossed out a storage-type magic treasure, then left alongside his four Black Emperors.

Whoosh. The realmship quickly departed, leaving Lord Wulf and his four Black Emperors at the borders of the Great Dark.

"General?"

"Are we really supposed to just swallow this crap?" The four Black Emperors remained unwilling to accept this. They had just suffered a huge loss; were they to take this lying down? The Icepeak Army would generally launch frenzied reprisals against any who dared to challenge them! This was why the Lonely King had gone so far as to kill three Otherverse Lords.

"You already know what his Majesty has commanded," Lord Wulf said coldly. "What his Majesty commands, we shall carry out! Right now, his Majesty doesn't care about this 'Daolord Darknorth'; the only thing he cares about is that Chaos Primordial. If he can take control of it in the future, then our Icepeak Army shall become far more powerful than it is right now."

When the four Black Emperors thought back to how terrifying the Flamewing God had been, they couldn't help but shudder.

"In the coming days, we shall remain hidden within the Flamedragon Realmverse and keep a close watch on Daolord Darknorth. We shall wait for him to fail his Daomerge."

The news that a Chaos Primordial had appeared was like a bomb exploding within the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance! It shocked all of the Hegemons and Emperors. As for the Lonely King and Realmslord Windgrace, they just waited quietly. Both of them were waiting for Ning to fail his Daomerge.

"Let's go." A vile, blood-robed elder who radiated a reeking aura of blood stood there in the air. He let out a sigh. Behind him was an entire host of evil Emperors.

"Are we… are we really going to just leave like this?" The Emperors were rather unwilling to go.

"We lost." The blood-robed Emperor shook his head. "Daolord Darknorth has survived many attempts against his life, and he now has both a Hegemon retainer and a Chaos Primordial. There's no way we can possibly be a match for him. If we stay in the Flamedragon Realmverse… given his influence and power, we'll probably be wiped out soon."

"Now… our only chance for survival lies in departing from the Flamedragon Realmverse," the blood-robed elder said.

"Let us go our separate ways and begin to wander through the Great Dark. Only by leaving can we survive." The blood-robed elder let out a sigh. "I, Bloodcloud, simply am not strong enough. I feel ashamed."

Whoosh. The legendary Emperor Bloodcloud, a man who had reached the Archon level of power, tore through spacetime and departed on his own.

The other Emperors traded glances with each other. All of them were truly unwilling to accept this. It would take them at least a million chaos cycles to travel another realmverse, after all. This would take an incredibly long period of time!

"In the end, there shall be other places in the chaosverse where we can live and thrive. Let us go." The Emperors quickly came to the decision to depart. Singly and in small groups, they began to depart from the Flamedragon Realmverse and begin to wander through the Great Dark. Ji Ning had once sworn to slay every single one of the demons of Silksnow Palace. How could they possibly dare to remain here any longer?

Vastheaven Palace.

By now, Hegemon Brightshore and the others had departed. Now, Emperor Waveshift had come to bid Ning farewell as well.

"Big brother Waveshift, you are leaving as well?" Ning was rather surprised and unwilling to part from him.

"The main reason I came back was to see just what new power has arisen within my homeland. Now that I know it is the Flamewing God and have met with you, Darknorth, I'm satisfied." Emperor Waveshift smiled. "I have other business to attend to in the outside world."

Ning nodded.

"Now that you have Flamewing under your control, the only ones you need to keep an eye out for are two people. One is the Lonely King of the Icepeak Army, and the other is Realmslord Windgrace." Emperor Waveshift smiled. "The Lonely King's temperament is a bit too bloodthirsty, and in comparison he isn't quite as experienced as the Realmslord. He was simply someone who was lucky enough to find a Sithe armory and thus rose to power! Realmslord Windgrace is different. He rendered great merits during the Dawn War and has been guided by multiple Autarchs. He has seen far more things, and as a result he has chosen to be low-key."

"It's hard to predict what Realmslord Windgrace will do. If you do fail the Daomerge, you can entrust your final wishes to Realmslord Windgrace. That old man is quite trustworthy," Emperor Waveshift said.

Ning was slightly startled by this.

"Of course, I hope you succeed in the Daomerge." Emperor Waveshift let out a long sigh. "You've only seen a tiny fraction of what the Chaosverse holds; you haven't even left the Flamedragon Realmverse! Countless marvels are waiting for you, and there are countless secrets waiting for you to uncover them. Darknorth, I truly do hope that you succeed in the Daomerge. When you do, I'll ride your coat-tails and have you take me to some places I would never dare to visit on my own."

Ning said with some surprise, "Countless marvels are waiting me?"

"You've barely visited any places." Emperor Waveshift shook his head.

"I've visited an alternate universe before!" Ning said. "And also many places here in the Flamedragon Realmverse."

"As I said, you've barely visited any places. Otherverses are created by Autarchs for amusement, and they hold nothing special within them," Emperor Waveshift said. "The Chaosverse… now THAT is truly something. Even the Sithe were nothing more than part of the Chaosverse. Only those who truly understand how marvelous the Chaosverse is will know how tiny they themselves are!

"This is why Realmslord Windgrace, who has served and followed Autarchs in the past, is such a low-key figure, while the short-sighted and ignorant Lonely King is so arrogant and brash. His only claim to fame stems from those Sithe war machines. In terms of real power, those Otherverse Lords who managed to merge their heartforce, divine power, and Immortal energy together are the truly terrifying figures of the Chaosverse. They truly do stand at the very peak of power, save for the Autarchs."

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 20 – Regret

Ji Ning nodded as well. If an Otherverse Lord managed to merge all of his types of energy together, he would truly become a force to reckoned with.

Ning had received legacies from over three hundred Hegemons, with God Emperor Helong being one of them. God Emperor Helong had been an Otherverse Lord who had created the [God Emperor's Apocalypse] technique, a technique akin to the [Heartsword] art. As a result, he had been far more powerful than most Otherverse Lords, and was strong enough to fight Chaos Primordials head-on with his own power.

"However… on the other hand, Sithe war machines come in varying levels of power as well. The Lonely King has multiple war machines and is capable of slaying ordinary Otherverse Lords and destroy entire otherverses." Emperor Waveshift nodded. "Although he is rather short-sighted, he's still not someone to trifle with. Sithe war machines are simply terrifying to behold. You need to be wary of him."

"I understand." Ning nodded.

"Train hard and succeed in the Daomerge." Emperor Waveshift looked at Ning. "The Chaosverse holds far too many marvels which you have yet to see. For example, the most stunning sight I've ever seen is a Sithe Exalt who is kept in perpetual imprisonment. That terrifying presence he had… even though I only saw his blurred outlines from afar, I still felt completely shaken. Well, that's enough of that. Here's a treasure for you."

Emperor Waveshift suddenly waved his hand, causing a cube-shaped treasure to appear within it. He gently flicked this crystalline cube over towards Ning. "All you have to do is shatter it, and I'll be able to sense it." Emperor Waveshift looked at Ning. "I'll then head back to the Flamedragon Realmverse at top speed."

"Thank you." Ning felt rather moved.

"I feel like we are old friends, even though we have just met." Emperor Waveshift let out a sigh. He scanned the area with his gaze, then used his Immortal energy to block the sound of their voices from the outside world. "Before I leave, there's one more thing I need to tell you."

When Ning saw how cautious Emperor Waveshift was, to the point of not even wanting Flamewing or Azurefiend to overheard the conversation, Ning couldn't help but feel rather surprised.

"In recent days, I secretly used all the power and skill I had to engage in Numerancy divination on your behalf," Emperor Waveshift said.

Ning's heart lurched.

"Your Daomerge… it will have a tremendous impact on the world. Even though I did everything I could, I was still only able to see a tiny amount." Emperor Waveshift looked at Ning. He elected not to mention the fact that he had used up an incredibly important treasure to carry out this divination; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to see anything at all.

"You saw a tiny amount?" Ning listened carefully.

"A tiny, blurry amount." Emperor Waveshift nodded. "All I can say is… I saw nothing but darkness!"

"What do you mean?" Ning's face paled slightly.

"It means that there was no life at all!" Emperor Waveshift shook his head. "Based on what I saw just now… you will definitely fail your Daomerge!"

"Are you absolutely certain?" Ning found it hard to accept this.

"Don't be hasty or disheartened. Remember… the Dao of Numerancy involves divination and probability, not ironclad prophecy; nothing is fixed! The future is always filled with infinite possibilities," Emperor Waveshift said. "Thus… you need to seize every single possibility, every single bit of karmic luck. You have to fight for every scrap of every chance, for every treasure and every legacy you can find. Do everything you can to improve your chances… because if you do not, you will fail."

"If you do your utmost, perhaps you may stand a chance." Emperor Waveshift looked at Ning. "That's all I have to say. I'm going to leave now." After speaking, Emperor Waveshift turned and departed into the skies.

Waves of emotion were rocking through Ning's heart. He had felt certain that he had reached a sufficiently high level of insight into the Dao. He never would've imagined that Emperor Waveshift's divinations would suggest that he had no chance whatsoever at succeeding.

"He's right. If I want to succeed in the Daomerge for an Omega Dao, I truly do have to do everything I can. I can't let myself relax in the slightest." Ning nodded slowly.

"Master, has Waveshift departed?" Flamewing sauntered over lazily.

"He left." Ning nodded. "Life shall become rather peaceful and uneventful for a time. No one will come to disturb us."

Ning was planning to continue his training. He had multiple other Daos he needed to train to the Archon level, so as to fulfill the requirements Autarch Awakener had laid down. That would allow him to gain a treasure which the Autarch had left behind, a treasure which the Autarch had believed to be supremely useful for the Daomerge. He absolutely had to acquire that treasure.

"So there's nothing else to do for now?" Azurefiend asked. "Darknorth, are you planning to remain in secluded meditation here at Vastheaven Palace?"

"Yes." Ning nodded. "However, before I go into secluded meditation, I'm planning to pay a visit to the Jadefire Realm. There's still a Hegemon imprisoned there."

"Winterflame!" Azurefiend's eyes lit up.

By now, the only person remaining in the flaming passageways of the Jadefire Realm was Hegemon Winterflame.

The silver-robed and devilishly handsome Hegemon Winterflame was seated in the lotus position within a flaming passageway. He was quite patient, and ever since he had ended negotiations with Daolord Darknorth he had begun to wait. He was waiting for Daolord Darknorth to fail his Daomerge, at which time he would stand a chance at surviving and escaping.

"What?! A Chaos Primordial?!" Hegemon Winterflame's face turned completely pale. "Impossible! That's absolutely impossible." A look of terror was in his eyes. He finally began to panic, and it was impossible for him to remain calm any further.

By now, the entire Sixteen Realmverses Alliance was frothing after receive word that Daolord Darknorth had tamed a Chaos Primordial. Hegemon Winterflame's avatar was in the outside world and he thus received word of it as well. To the other Hegemons and Daolords, this was nothing more than a bit of entertaining news… but to Hegemon Winterflame, it was a sudden pronouncement of doom!

He had always been a vicious and unscrupulous man, which was why he had planned on kidnapping everyone in Vastheaven Palace to threaten Ning. He had even battled against Ning's avatar, and Hegemon Brightshore had to intervene to stop him.

In the end, he had been unwilling to completely accede to Ning's demands within the flaming passageway. He wanted to await for the day that Daolord Darknorth failed his Daomerge and perished, and so he had been waiting… but who would've imagined that this terrifying news of a Chaos Primordial would suddenly descend upon him?

"Is this real? The Chaos Primordial is named the 'Flamewing God', and he easily butchered five Black Emperors of the Icepeak Army? Lord Wulf of the Icepeak Army was beaten so badly he had to flee in terror?" The more Hegemon Winterflame heard, the more terrified he became. If even Black Emperors had been slain, how could he, Winterflame, pose any threat to the creature at all?

"How could this have happened? He's just a Daolord! H-how is this possible? I-I… I've always been so careful." Hegemon Winterflame was rather dazed. He had never been so foolish as to make an enemy out of any truly formidable figures. Although he was unscrupulous and capable of anything, causing many to hate him, he had still been able to remain alive.

Alas… if one always walks by the riverside, sooner or later one's shoes would get wet! Daolords were usually nothing more than bugs to be crushed… but this time, one of them had just given him a huge 'surprise'.

"N-no… I can't accept this…" Hegemon Winterflame's face turned completely red as countless thoughts flitted through his mind. He asked for more and more information from those in the outside world before, finally, he gave up.

"Flee!" Hegemon Winterflame's eyes were bloodshot. "I have to flee! Since Daolord Darknorth is now fighting against the Icepeak Army, his true body isn't present. Perhaps the Jadefire Realm is unguarded for now." Hegemon Winterflame felt a thin tendril of hope.

Swoosh! He immediately transformed into a streak of white fire and began to flee.

"It really is safe now." Hegemon Winterflame flew for several seconds without activating any traps. He immediately felt a sense of delight. "Daolord Darknorth must have left. There's no one in control of the Jadefire Realm."

BOOM! Right at this moment, a wave of terrifying power swept towards him with terrifying destructive power. Hegemon Winterflame immediately retreated in a blind panic, but the flame still split his body in half.

Slash! After putting up a struggle, half of his flaming body was completely destroyed by that wave of power. The other half quickly reformed into Hegemon Winterflame's appearance. His face was ashen, and a look of horror was in his eyes. He had very nearly died just now.

"Hegemon Winterflame. On Master's commands, I've been watching over you." A voice boomed out, echoing within every part of the surrounding area.

Hegemon Winterflame lifted up his head to scan the surrounding area, a feeling of dread in his heart.

"You were pretty lucky this time, but next time you are dead meat. The flaming passageways are quite long. You'll have to fly for very, very long before you can escape them. You survived the first time, but I refuse to believe you'll survive a second and third time," the cold voice said. This was the Emperor-class golem which Ning had ordered to remain here and watch over this place.

"Y-you…" Hegemon Winterflame was panicking. He called out loudly, "Is your master Daolord Darknorth? Hurry up and help me send word to him. Let him know that I'll accept his terms. I'll give him all of my treasures, including my armor and my Universe weapon. I'm willing to offer all of them to Daolord Darknorth, so long as he is willing to let me go and spare my life."

"Hmph. So NOW you choose to beg for your life?" the cold voice boomed out.

"Just hurry up and tell your master!" Hegemon Winterflame said frantically. "I don't want to be enemies with him!"

"Just wait. He will be arriving soon," the cold voice replied.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 21 – Of Little Use

A realmship appeared within a spatial tear outside the Jadefire Realm.

"And here we are." Ji Ning stared at the vast blazing whirlpool of blazing flames and smiled: "Hegemon Winterflame has probably heard the news by now."

"He definitely has." A look of excitement was on Azurefiend's old face, and his eyes were gleaming. "Based on my understanding of him… he's probably scared out of his mind. He might immediately beg for mercy once you arrive, Darknorth."

"Let's go and take a look." Ning was looking forward to seeing that panicked look on Hegemon Winterflame's face. In the past, Winterflame had always behaved in an arrogant and domineering manner.

Whoosh. The realmship flew into the Jadefire Realm at high speeds, descending into the flaming passageways.

"Master." A voice rang out from the surrounding area. This was the voice of the Emperor-class golem in control of the flaming passageways.

"Is Winterflame still in the same old position?" Ning asked.

"Master," the voice rang out, "Hegemon Winterflame attempted to flee, but I took control over the mechanisms in accordance with your orders and nearly killed him. This frightened Hegemon Winterflame so badly that he no longer dared to flee again, and he's very close to where he originally started."

"He actually tried to flee?" Azurefiend grinned and said, "He finally knows the meaning of fear. He has an invulnerable form, which means that even though I am a bit stronger than him I cannot kill him… but now that we have Flamewing, killing him will be simplicity itself. If he tries to run, the mechanisms in the flaming passageways are also capable of claiming his life! Both fleeing and not-fleeing will both spell doom. Haha, I'm looking forward to seeing that look on his stupid face!"

Ning laughed as well. He also felt delighted! After they flew for a period of time, they finally saw Hegemon Winterflame. Hegemon Winterflame was seated in the lotus position in the void. He still looked as devilishly handsome as ever, but his aura was rather chaotic.

"Eh?" Hegemon Winterflame turned his head as the distant realmship approached him. He hurriedly rose to his feet.

Four figures flew out of the realmship, with the leader being the white-robed youth with a black sheath on his back. Next to him was the chubby Flamewing and Hegemon Azurefiend, with Protector Whitethaw standing behind them all.

"I greet you, Daolord Darknorth," Hegemon Winterflame said. His attitude was very humble, and he cast Flamewing a glance as he spoke. Flamewing was chomping through some food he was holding as he glanced sideways at Winterflame as well. Winterflame couldn't help but feel as though he himself was being devoured bit-by-bit, and his mental state grew even more chaotic.

"Hah! Look at how respectful our dear Hegemon Winterflame is being." Azurefiend roared with laughter as he clutched his sides: "He's being as humble as a servant! Last time we saw him, he was quite arrogant and proud, no? Winterflame, do you remember the final words you said to us when we last met?"

Hegemon Winterflame's face was ashen as Azurefiend continued to speak: "I think you've forgotten, but I haven't. I recall it all quite clearly. Watch, Winterflame!" Azurefiend waved his hand, causing an illusory image to appear next to them. This was the scene of their previous meeting, and in the illusory images Winterflame was snarling with hatred as he roared, "Let's see if you die first or if I die first!"

Winterflame gritted his teeth.

"Enough, Azurefiend," Ning said.

"Fine." Azurefiend fell silent as instructed.

Winterflame relaxed slightly. Although he was completely unscrupulous, as a Hegemon he still cared about face. He felt miserable suffering such mockery from Azurefiend. Upon hearing Ning order Azurefiend to halt, he was suddenly filled with hope. Perhaps Daolord Darknorth wasn't going to hold a grudge and would release him?

"He's about to die soon. There's no need to go too far." Ning's voice rang out once more, and Winterflame's face instantly turned bone-white.

"DAOLORD DARKNORTH!!!" Hegemon Winterflame let out a throat-rending howl. Even Ning was badly startled by the grief and rage in Hegemon Winterflame's voice.

"Daolord Darknorth, I was wrong! It was all my fault! I was being too arrogant and ruthless." Hegemon Winterflame stared at Ning, then said in a begging manner, "I know I made a huge mistake. I beg you to give me a chance, Daolord Darknorth. Everyone should be given a chance. Give me one!"

"In your dreams," Azurefiend muttered.

Hegemon Winterflame gritted his teeth. "I'm willing to be your retainer. So long as you spare my life, I'll serve you."

Ning just watched quietly, while Azurefiend chuckled: "Didn't you look down at me for becoming his retainer?"

"I'd be honored to be given the chance to serve Daolord Darknorth as his retainer," Hegemon Winterflame said hurriedly. Upon seeing that Ning appeared completely unmoved, he began to panic even further. "I'm willing to be an eternal retainer. Even if you fail your Daomerge and die, Daolord Darknorth, I'd be willing to swear an oath to follow your orders to the end of my days. Uh, I don't mean to suggest that I hope you will fail the Daomerge, Daolord Darknorth. I obviously hope that you will succ-"

Halfway through his babbling, Ning suddenly shook his head. "Flamewing, get rid of him."

"Haha, I was waiting for you to say that!" Flamewing let out a strange howl, transforming into his normal form of a giant blazing winged bear as he charged straight towards Hegemon Winterflame.

Hegemon Winterflame had a terrified look on his face, but moments later it was replaced by a look of savagery. He glared at the distant Ning with a hate-filled look in his eyes, then howled, "Daolord Darknorth, you'll die too! You'll die too!"

Riiiiiip. Flamewing destroyed everything in its path with its overwhelming power. Even though Hegemon Winterflame was able to transform into a sea of fire, he was still extinguished by the Chaos Primordial's might. Nothing was left save a few scattered treasures.

Azurefiend shook his head when he saw this. "Darknorth, Winterflame was still a Hegemon. Taking him on as a retainer wasn't a bad idea. I thought you'd choose to accept him in the end."

Ning stared at the scattered treasures floating in the air. "I did briefly consider taking him on as a retainer, but… for some reason, he just disgusted me far too much. I already have the three of you; an extra Hegemon retainer really wouldn't make much of a difference. Better to keep my surroundings clear of such filth."

Azurefiend was speechless. He never would've imagined that Ning would have declined a Hegemonic retainer for a reason like this.

"Let's go." Ning had already made certain plans for the Three Realms. By now, Hegemon Winterflame truly was of little use to him, as Ning simply wouldn't trust a Hegemon like Winterflame to watch over the Three Realms.

Hegemon Winterflame died, and his avatar perished alongside him. This news quickly spread throughout the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance.

The Hegemons and Emperors of the alliance all knew long ago that Hegemon Winterflame had been trapped within the flaming passageways. They all suspected that the killer was Daolord Darknorth, the controller of the Jadefire Realm! All of them couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of dread towards him. They knew that Daolord Darknorth was not the benevolent, merciful type… and they secretly celebrated the fact that they handed over their treasures and had been able to leave the Jadefire Realm safely.

And so, the Hegemons and Emperors of the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance now feared a total of two people. The first was Realmslord Windgrace, while the second was the monstrously talented Daolord who had tamed the Flamewing God – Daolord Darknorth. These two people were mighty enough to cause even Hegemons to fear the approach of death.

Ning didn't really care about what was happening in the outside world. His focus was on cultivation. He had to come up with those ten Archon-class techniques as soon as possible, so that he could earn the precious reward which Autarch Awakener had left behind. Even the Autarch viewed that treasure as valuable and not to be casually handed over to others.

According to the estate-spirit, this treasure was the number one most helpful cultivation treasure in all the Chaosverse, and it was number one in assisting during Daomerges as well!

Ning absolutely had to acquire such a supreme treasure. The Daomerge for the Omega Dao would be incredibly difficult; even Emperor Waveshift said that he saw no hope at all for Ning in attempting it. In addition, the path of the Omega Dao was the only path available for Ning if he wished to revive Yu Wei. Only through this path would he have a chance to surpass the Autarchs and take back Yu Wei's truesoul fragments from the prime essences of the Chaosverse.

Of course, it was highly likely that he would fail and perish… but he still had to do his absolute utmost!

Time flowed on.

Vastheaven Palace. Within Darknorth's estate. Ning was seated by himself in quiet meditation atop a mountain. Next to him was a hot stove that had a flagon of wine atop it, while there was some snow on the boulder nearby.

Ning's Primaltwin remained in secluded meditation atop the Autarch's stone dais, while Ning's true body lived a fairly relaxed life. This dichotomy of harsh training and relaxedness actually caused many insights to flicker through Ning's mind. He broke through a number of bottlenecks in this way.

"I've finally reached the Archon level in the final Dao, the Dao of Earth." The white-robed Ning's eyebrows were covered in snow. He suddenly opened his eyes to stare at the nearby flagon of wine. This wine had been kept warm for an extremely long period of time, because Ning only permitted himself a single drink of wine when he finished completing a Dao. Thus, it had been countless years since he had last drank from the wine.

"Now, all ten techniques have been developed." An eager look was in Ning's eyes. "I wonder what sort of precious treasure Autarch Awakener has left behind for me?"

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 22 – Stonefire Pearl

Within the Azureflower Estate.

The black-robed Ji Ning was seated in the lotus position atop the stone dais. He had already been in this position for more than ten chaos cycles without moving at all.

"Success." The black-robed Ning suddenly opened his eyes and smiled. He waved his hand, causing a series of jade slips to appear next to him. Ning had filled every sigle one of the jade slips with all sorts of techniques which he had devised over the course of many years. Although only ten chaos cycles had gone past in the real world, he had spent that entire period of time under 100x temporal acceleration. In other words, for him over a thousand chaos cycles had already gone by.

Ning had come up with a total of ten Archon-class techniques. These techniques were based on his Omega Sword Dao, his heartforce illusions, the Dao of Fire, the Dao of Water, the Dao of Thunder, the Dao of Space, the Dao of Formations, the Dao of Metal, the Dao of Wood, and the Dao of Earth. There were ten Daos in total.

After slaughtering Hegemon Winterflame, Ning had chosen to work in simpler Daos such as that of Metal, Wood, and Earth, so that he would more quickly acquire the treasure reward. He personally wanted to study the Dao of Time, but judging from how he had spent more than two hundred chaos cycles working on the Dao of Space, he felt likely that he would need to spend even more time on Time.

In the end, he was a sword cultivator. As a result, he was quite quick with the Dao of Metal, making his breakthrough in just twenty or so chaos cycles. He wasn't very talented in the Dao of Wood, and so he spent more than fifty chaos cycles on it. As for the final member of the Five Elements, 'Earth'? Thanks to the fact that he had already mastered the first four, he had actually managed to complete his mastery of it in just ten or so chaos cycles.

In just ninety 'real' chaos cycles (900 chaos cycles for him), he had actually managed to create three Archon-class techniques.

"Senior," the black-robed Ning called out. The distant white-haired elder, also seated in the lotus position, slowly opened his eyes.

"Senior, you already know about my Omega Sword Dao and my illusions. Here are the other eight techniques." Ning pointed at the eight slips levitating in the air behind him. "Please take a look at them." The eight jade slips all floated over to the white-haired man.

"That fast?" The white-haired old man's eyes lit up as he immediately stared at the eight slips. After analyzing them, he nodded: "Not bad. You've mastered all five of the Five Elements, and you actually made tremendous progress in even the Dao of Formations. You truly do have an incredibly high level of comprehension of the Dao. In truth, just judging from how quickly you were able to create your Omega Sword Dao and then reach the Fourth Step as a Daolord, I felt certain that your comprehension skills were exceptional. However, I still had to obey my master's orders."

"Of course." Ning nodded. In truth, one's comprehension skills could change. For example, even the most 'talented' of newborns wouldn't be able to comprehend much. The many experiences you went through in life would mold you like metal in a forge, either breaking you or making you stronger, harder, and more dazzling. Ning's heart had been completely focused on the Dao of the Sword, and he had experienced many exceptional things before reaching his current heights. Now that he had reached the fourteenth stance of the [Heartsword, his heart and his will were both incredibly pure, allowing him to train even more quickly than before.

"You've created ten techniques, which means I can give that treasure which Master left behind." The white-haired old man waved his hand. Whoosh. The hall suddenly seemed to ripple as rays of light appeared, causing a tiny fist-sized space to appear at the very center of the room. After this tiny space appeared, one could vaguely make out two objects levitating within it.

The first object was a completely round and slick pearl. It looked to be roughly the size of an egg, and it emanated incorporeal ripples that could be seen with the naked eye. Ning could sense the waves of power sweeping across him, causing him to feel more relaxed and comfortable than he ever had before. He felt almost like a child in his mother's embrace; that was how incredibly warm and soothing this felt.

The second object was also round, but it was covered with countless lines and runes.

"Come here." The white-haired man waved his hand, causing both objects to float over towards him. "Darknorth." The white-haired elder looked at Ning. "This first treasure was named by my master and the Autarchs as the 'Stonefire Pearl'. All of them concur that it had to be a naturally-occuring treasure manifested by the Chaosverse, and that it is the number one most helpful cultivation treasure. Master focused all of his efforts on completing the Nine Chaos Seals, and so he found these types of treasures to be invaluable. As a result, he paid a fairly significant price to convince the other Autarchs to let him have it."

Ning was shocked. So Autarch Awakener had personally used this treasure in the past?

"Let me tell you about its history." The white-haired elder laughed. "Our story begins when the Sithe were at the prime of their power. They had yet to launch the great war against the cultivator civilizations, but my master and the others were already secretly on guard against them, keeping a vigilant eye on them at all times. One time, Master and the others suddenly sensed a hint of danger appear and so they hurriedly joined forces to go to that location. They discovered that the Sithe had captured and were escorting a strange stone lifeform who was completely covered in flames. My Master and the others did not hesitate at all; they immediately attacked! The Sithe either fled or died. As for the 'stonefire' lifeform? It was actually on par with my Master and the other Autarchs in might!"

"On par with Autarchs?!" Ning was amazed. "The Sithe are actually in control of creatures with such power?"

"That creature probably wasn't a Sithe. None of us know where the Sithe found the thing and how they took control over it," the white-haired elder said. "Master and his peers spent tens of thousands of years battling it before it finally ran out of energy and died. As soon as the strange stonefire creature died, its body crumbled apart and revealed this pearl within it."

"This pearl has marvelous properties and is of tremendous use to cultivators when training," the white-haired elder said. "We found a total of just two creatures which had reached this level of power. One was this stonefire creature, the other was an iceberg creature that was also controlled by the Sithe and fought for them during the Dawn War. The Autarchs killed both of these creatures. I imagine they should know more about where these creatures came from, but they've never discussed it with me."

Ning sighed in amazement. Living creatures who were on par with Autarchs in power? "Can the Sithe have created them?" Ning asked.

"Impossible. They were actual living beings," the white-haired elder.

"Autarch Awakener didn't provide any additional information about them?" Ning asked.

"No. He did once say that with the Sithe having been annihilated, these creatures will no longer be seen ever again," the white-haired elder said.

Ning nodded, but he was still completely puzzled. Why was it that these terrifying creatures would no longer appear now that the Sithe were gone? Ning couldn't help but sigh to himself. In the end, he simply hadn't visited enough places. He hadn't even seen a fraction of what Emperor Waveshift had seen, to say nothing of the Autarchs. He knew far too little about the vast Chaosverse.

"This Stonefire Pearl is now yours." The white-haired elder handed it over to Ning while saying, "But of course, you are not allowed to give it to others. If you die in the future, it'll fly back to the estate and await its next destined owner."

"Fly back?" After accepting the pearl, Ning at first felt as though it was rather cool. Soon, however, the warmth of his hand began to heat it up.

Ning sent his divine power into the pearl to investigate it. "Eh, it's not a magic treasure?" Ning was surprised. This was just an ordinary item, not a magic treasure; how was he supposed to bind and use it?

"This is a natural treasure. All you need to do is to send a strand of your godsense into it and you'll be able to activate it," the white-haired elder said. "This estate also holds the stonefire creature's corpse within it. If no one is in control of the pearl, it'll pass through spacetime and then come back."

"How incredible." Ning was shocked.

"The Autarchs destroyed the stonefire creature and shattered its bodies into tiny bits, but the Stonefire Pearl would fly back towards the shattered bits of its body and quickly bring it back to life." The white-haired elder laughed. "In the end, Master and the others had to destroy its soul and truesoul before it stopped trying to revive itself. By now, the corpse has been ensorcered by Master and remains suppressed in here, and so once you die, Darknorth, the Stonefire Pearl will come back to this place."

Ning nodded. As soon as he had sent a strand of his godsense into the pearl, he was able to sense that it seemed to have become part of himself and had become completely one with him.

"Come in." Ning willed the Stonefire Pearl to enter his body. A faint warmth spread throughout every part of him, and his soul and truesoul both felt incredibly at ease. When Ning attempted to meditate on the Dao of Time in this state, he immediately felt as though a wellspring of insights began to flow through his mind.

"This is incredibly useful for cultivation." The white-haired elder smiled. "It is the number one cultivation treasure, which means it is naturally also the number one Daomerge treasure."

Ning felt a sense of excitement in his heart. Hegemon Brightshore and the others had actively contested over Crimsonwave Temple's fruits. Why? Because those fruits could be used to forge spirit-pills which when eaten would be of tremendous use for cultivation.

The Stonefire Pearl was the supreme cultivation treasure which had been used by Autarch Awakener himself, and the same was true for the stone dais. Now… both had been inherited by Ning.

"I'm sure you know what Master was hoping for when he left these things to you." The white-haired elder looked at Ning.

"I understand. Autarch Awakener's greatest wish was for the Nine Chaos Seals to be perfected," Ning said.

"Yes. This was his greatest regret in life."

The white-haired elder nodded, then gently waved a finger and caused the second floating sphere to fly over towards Ning as well.

Ning saw that this sphere was covered with countless runes and patterned lines which flowed across its surface. He immediately had the feeling that it was connected to the Nine Chaos Seals somehow. The white-haired elder explained, "This is the Heart of Eternity. It is covered with layers of runes, all of which must be deciphered and resolved. Darknorth, you should continuously work at solving these layers of runes. Once you've completely mastered all ninety-nine layers of runes which cover the Heart of Eternity, you will have reached Master's level of insight into the Nine Chaos Seals."

"But solving and comprehending the Heart of Eternity merely means you have reached his level in just a single aspect!" The white-haired elder looked at Ning. "My master's hope is that someone can improve this technique to the Eternal Emperor level, which was why he named this sphere the Heart of Eternity. Learning to solve it will be of some assistance to you in the Daomerge. Although the assistance will be fairly minimal, Master left behind a final treasure within the core of the Heart of Eternity. If you can fully solve it then the treasure inside it will be yours, and I can promise you that it is just as valuable as the Stonefire Pearl."

Ning felt both joy and sorrow. Autarch Awakener truly had spared no expense in trying to ensure that his 'heirs' would complete the Nine Chaos Seals. He had even gone so far as to seal away a treasure inside the Heart of Eternity! If someone wanted to acquire it, they would have to first completely deconstruct the Heart of Eternity and reach Autarch Awakener's level of insight in the Nine Chaos Seals. This would truly require an enormous amount of effort.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 23 – Difference

"Senior," Ji Ning asked, "Might I ask what other external treasures exist in the Chaosverse which are of major benefit to someone attempting the Daomerge?"

Success in the Daomerge was a combination of two factors; internal and external. Internal referred to one's self and one's insights! Only if one reached a sufficiently high level of comprehension would one's chances increase.

External factors referred to special treasures which would improve one's chances, such as the Autarch's stone dais or the Stonefire Pearl.

What Ning was attempting was something which had never been successfully carried out… a Daomerge in an Omega Dao! No one in the history of the entire Chaosverse had ever successfully done such a thing, and so he naturally had to both perfect himself as well as acquire all external sources of help he could find. That way, his chances at the Daomerge would improve slightly.

"External treasures?" The white-haired elder glanced at Ning in surprise, then pointed at the Autarch's stone dais beneath Ning. "This serves as the core for the estate, and Master spent countless amounts of effort in forging it. You've already acquired a Stonefire Pearl as well, which is the essence core of a creature which was comparable to an Autarch in might. These were treasures which my master himself used to assist him in cultivation. With them, what other external treasures could you possibly want?!"

"I understand," Ning said hurriedly. "The Autarch's stone dais and the Stonefire Pearl are both tremendously helpful in cultivation. They will provide me with sustained, long-term benefits while I am training. What I was referring to just now is another type of external treasure, something akin to the 'Voidsea Jadeseal' or the 'Nine Orifices Void Pill', treasures which can generate an astonishing effect for a brief period of time."

"Ahh." The white-haired elder nodded. Many talented Daolords would create magic altars and seek out special spirit-pills in preparation for their Daomerge. Those spirit-pills, when eaten, would cause the truesoul to be tremendously stimulated. As for the Voidsea Jadeseal, it actually allowed for a complete Daomerge simulation.

"You walk the path of the Omega Dao, and so there is no way to simulate your Daomerge," the white-haired elder said. "As for special spirit-pills… they probably wouldn't even be as useful as the state you are normally in when using the Autarch's stone dais and the Stonefire Pearl."

Ning immediately asked, "Isn't there something particularly special which I could use?" Ning would go for anything and everything which was of use to him.

The white-haired old man pondered for a while, then said, "If you absolutely HAVE to have something… I do remember an incredible single-use Daomerge treasure which can instantly unleash a tremendous amount of power for an extremely brief period of time. Master once mentioned it briefly to me and described it as one of the top three treasures in its class!"

Ning's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

"The number one treasure is known as the 'Daomerge Firecloud Flower'. The second-ranked treasure is known as the 'Incense Spirit-Fruit'. The third is known as the 'Cloudworld Jade'." The white-haired elder said resignedly, "But I've only heard of them because my master once chatted casually about them with other Autarchs. They didn't speak in detail and so I know very little about them."

"But Darknorth, these are all limited-time objects. Once you use them up, they are gone. They aren't even close to being comparable to the stone dais or the Stonefire Pearl in value." The white-haired elder shook his head. "And, I recall my master once saying that the Cloudworld Jade's effect only lasts for roughly three months or so, but the effect is merely as strong as the Stonefire Pearl's constant effect."

"It can only be used for three months, while the Stonefire Pearl is constant and can be used long-term." The white-haired elder looked at Ning. "Finding the Cloudworld Jade would be enormously difficult. Why bother?"

Ning just silently memorized all of this information. There clearly was no reason to seek out the third-ranked treasure, the 'Cloudworld Jade'. The other two, however, were worth searching for. Anything that might increase his chances at the Daomerge by even a smidgeon was worth hunting for.

"Senior, where should I go to find these things?" Ning asked.

"No idea." The white-haired elder shook his head. "I never asked Master about them."

"Oh." Ning pondered for a moment. In the past, he had never even heard of 'Incense Spirit-Fruit' or 'Daomerge Firecloud Flower'. It seemed as though only truly experienced and worldly figures would know of them. A pity that he hadn't asked his big brother Waveshift about them! In all the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance, perhaps the most worldly figure outside of Emperor Waveshift was Realmslord Windgrace.

Realmslord Windgrace had served and been taught by more than one Autarch!

"Darknorth. I have to warn you," the white-haired elder said solemnly, "Treasures of such rarity are all extremely hard to find. Not even the Autarchs know everything there is to know about the vast Chaosverse! The technology of the Sithe, the two slain Autarch-level creatures… they are all testament to the fact that the Chaosverse holds many terrifying secrets within it. You are still just a Daolord; so what if you are strong? There are some truly dangerous places which would cause even Hegemons to fall, to say nothing of you."

"I understand." Ning nodded. However, since he had the Flamewing God he felt that he was still able to give it a good shot. Chaos Primordials were famous for its virtually indestructible body, after all.

"The Flamedragon Realmverse is nothing more than a tiny part of the Chaosverse. It is best for you to harbor a healthy fear of the universe," the white-haired elder said with a sigh. "I hope that you won't overestimate yourself prior to completing your Daomerge. If you succeed in it, you'll probably become far more powerful than even an Otherverse Lord. You can go and wander the Chaosverse them; only then will you be assured of staying alive."

"Thank you, senior." Ning could sense that the estate-spirit remained worried, and so he quickly explained, "Actually, I've already tamed a Chaos Primordial."

The white-haired elder instantly turned speechless. "You… wha…? Ahem. Well, enough of that." The white-haired elder didn't seem to know what to say, and so he immediately began to vanish into thin air. His voice echoed for one final time within the second hall: "Remember, for you to solve the Heart of Eternity is the one final wish my Master had. It will be of tremendous benefit to all cultivator civilizations as well."

"I understand." Ning nodded.

The black-robed Ning was seated atop the Autarch's stone dais, toying with the runed Heart of Eternity with his hands.

"Oh, Autarch Awakener…" Ning looked at the Heart of Eternity. "So this is your final wish, eh? But… my only wish is to complete the Daomerge and then become an Autarch in the future." Ning's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

His wish and Autarch Awakener's wish… they involved heading down two different paths. Ever since they had gained victory in the Dawn War, the Autarchs had stood at the very apex of the universe and were without equal. As a result they were quite lonely, and they often searched for things to do. Autarch Bolin had created the Aeonians, while Autarch Awakener had spent his efforts on analyzing the Nine Chaos Seals and creating a type of cultivation technique similar to what the Sithe used.

The cultivation technique the Sithe used created something similar to the azureflower mist energy, but it was clearly even more profound. Alas, they were completely different types of living creatures than cultivators, and thus there was no way for cultivators to use their cultivation techniques.

Autarch Awakener put all of his efforts in creating something similar. If he truly succeeded, it would've benefited all cultivator civilizations. Alas, he was only able to at most create something which allowed for Daolords of the Fourth Step to convert their divine power and Immortal energy. There was no way to transform Emperor-class energy.

"Autarch Awakener, I'll give it a try. If I turn out to have incredible talent for this, I might be able to help you." Ning remained quite clear-minded. As a Daolord, his time was limited. There was no way he could spend all of it on researching the Nine Chaos Seals. But if it looked like he might somehow managed to succeed in a short period of time due to having an incredible affinity for it, he didn't mind spending that time.

"Break." Ning looked at the runes covering the sphere. Ning was able to break through the first layer of runes with ease.

"Break again." Ning was at an incredibly high level of insight and had trained in the Nine Chaos Seals before. Thus, he found it quite simple to break the second layer of runes.

He broke through one layer after another, but the difficulty level began to gradually increase. Ning began to need more and more time for each layer. In the blink of an eye, over a hundred million years went by.

"Time to give it a rest." Ning suddenly came to a halt. The Heart of Eternity had a total of ninety-nine layers, and solving all of them would represent having reached the same level of insight into the Nine Chaos Seals as Autarch Awakener had reached.

"I've only solved nineteen layers." Ning felt a sense of misery in his heart; the difference between the two of them was simply too great. Things would only grow more difficult as he progressed, and for now nineteen layers was his limit. If he spent an extremely long period of time, he would at most be able to just barely solve the twentieth and twenty-first levels. Ninety-nine? Far too hard!

"Autarch Awakener, you created your stone dais and procured the Stonefire Pearl, yet still spent countless years to reach your final level of insight into the Nine Chaos Seals. How can I possibly compare?" Ning shook his head. "Even if I spent another hundred thousand chaos cycles on this, my chances of successfully breaking through all ninety-nine levels are still very low."

"I need to complete the Daomerge. Even if I did manage to somehow create this technique, it would be of no use to me in the Daomerge." Ning secretly sighed to himself. "I'm sorry, Autarch Awakener."

He had no choice but to put aside this mission of solving the Heart of Eternity for now. To occasionally spend some time on solving the Heart of Eternity to balance out the time spent on other things, but if he focused all of his efforts on it it would make the already-difficult Daomerge completely impossible. The end result would most likely be what big brother Waveshift had divined… certain doom.

"Ninety-nine levels… nineteen levels…" Ning could only laugh at the difference between the two. He then waved his hand, putting the Heart of Eternity away.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 24 – Life Training

Ji Ning didn't hesitate at all. He was completely focused on his own path… the path of the Daomerge! With regards to the Daomerge, all external sources of help were still of secondary use. In the end, his own insights were what counted for the most!

Ning was unable to make further strides with his Omega Sword Dao. Even though he occasionally gained a few insights, they were scattered rather than systemized. This was why he had decided to emulate Autarch Bolin. Back when Autarch Bolin had been a Hegemon, he had gone out of his way to train in many other Daos. As he had raised nine different Daos to the Hegemonic level, he had gained so many scattered insights into the Dao of the Claw that in the end, they had allowed him to suddenly burst through his bottleneck and reach Autarchy, becoming one of the paramount leaders of the cultivator civilizations.

"I am quite similar to how Autarch Bolin was. I'm unable to make any further advancements in my Omega Sword Dao, and it's also quite difficult to gain even scattered insights. However, all Daos are linked together. The more I train in other Daos, the better my chances of succeeding in the Daomerge for my Omega Sword Dao." Ning calmed his mind and began to train in other Daos.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Formations, Space, Thunder, Illusions… he was quite accomplished in all of them already. Ning's next target was the Dao of Wind.

Amongst Daos, there were certain groupings. For example, the Five Elements were viewed as one group, while 'Wind Earth Fire Water' was yet another grouping. Ning found it quite simple to train in Wind, especially after having acquired the Stonefire Pearl. He needed merely a single Chaos Cycle to train the Dao of Wind to the Archon level. Time, however, was even more difficult than Space.

Time flowed on like water. Ning's black-robed Primaltwin constantly trained, while Ning's true body began to rove the universe alongside Azurefiend, Whitethaw, and Flamewing. He had visited fairly few places within even just the Flamedragon Realmverse, after all. There were many dangerous places he had yet to visit. By visiting more places and seeing more things, he would be stimulated and have a better chance at an epiphany.

Ning had a realmship, was at the Hegemonic level of power, and also had Flamewing for protection. He only needed to spend around eighteen chaos cycles to completely go through all of the special 'danger zones' of the Flamedragon Realmverse. However, he had yet to truly traverse the Terror Starsea, which was filled with far too many dangers. That had been a battlefield of the Dawn War, after all. Even Flamewing would find itself easily caught by some of the dire traps located there.

After finishing his wanderings through the danger zones of the Flamedragon Realmverse, Ning began to wander through some ordinary chaosworlds and everworlds, living amongst ordinary mortals and countless aliens. Ning viewed them all from afar and up close.

Within an ordinary chaosworld. Thirty thousand years ago, a tremendous calamity had descended upon this world, causing its denizens to suffer countless casualties. This world had lost virtually all of its experts and many of its clans, and it was now thousands of times more difficult for mortals to cultivate to become Immortals.

"Old man, what do you think you can do? You are merely at the Houtian level, while I am as well. I'm just twenty years old but still couldn't make the cutoff. Look at how old you are! What makes you think you can succeed?" A young man dressed in brocade who was within a teahouse was laughing and teasing an older man.

"The age cutoff this time is just fifty years, and one has to have reached the Xiantian level. You don't fit either of the two criteria," some of the longtime customers teased the teahouse owner.

"I heard that countless unaffiliated cultivators have been gathering within Pureplume City, located at the base of the mountain which houses the Pureplume Sect. By now, there are hundreds of thousands of them present. Just a few months remain before the great ceremony… most likely, by then nearly a million cultivators will have arrived to fight over the slots."

"A million Xiantian experts fighting over a thousand honorary disciple slots? Uh… I can count the number of Xiantian experts in our little city on two hands. It is truly unfathomable that the Pureplume Sect can attract nearly a million cultivators when it openly recruits for new disciples."

They all shook their heads and discussed this topic eagerly.

Several figures were seated in the corner of this teahouse. One was a white-robed youth, one was a chubby man, one was a skinny old man, and another was a muscular, honest-looking man who was clearly the bodyguard. The skinny old man looked like a steward, while the chubby man had to be a retainer. As for the white-robed youth, he had to be a young master of a clan. However, judging from how they dressed they had to be quite ordinary. It seemed unlikely that they were from a major clan or family.

The four were Ning and his three followers. Ning continued to eat while listening attentively.

"Don't go, big brother." A young man and woman were seated at a nearby table. The maiden was lively and dressed in green robes, and she was begging the man: "Big brother, you just broke through to the Xiantian level a short while ago and are merely at the early stage of it. Didn't you hear? Nearly a million Xiantian experts have gathered there and all of them want to enter the Pureplume Sect! Peak-level Xiantian experts might stand a chance, while late-stage Xiantian experts can at least give it a try, but you are just an early-stage Xiantian cultivator! Going will be suicide!"

"Even if I risk my life, I have to go." The youth gritted his teeth. "If I go, at least I have a chance at one day clearing the names of our parents and clan. If I don't go, I'll probably never be strong enough to gain revenge, and our clan shall forever bear the infamy of those lies. Father… mother… all the seniors of the clan… none of them will be able to rest in ease."

"Big brother…" the green-robed maiden begged, "Let's just find a quiet little place and live a peaceful life. What's wrong with that?"

"You want me to swallow this feud and live a peaceful life? I can't endure it." The youth shook his head. "Give it up, little sister. We're already quite close to Pureplume City. We've already spent three years on the road, and we're finally about to reach our destination. You know you won't change my mind."

The green-robed maiden gnawed at her lips. "I… I only have you left, big brother." The youth's eyes reddened in response.

The two of them were also in a corner, and they spoke in hushed whispers. The people next to them were unable to hear what they were saying.

"Live a good life. If I can enter the Pureplume Sect, I'll come find you one day." The youth rose to his feet, then walked over to Ning's table and said, "Brother Ning, we've travelled together for half a month. Today, we must part ways. Today's drinks are on me! If fate wills it, we will meet again."

"If fate wills it, we will meet again." Ning smiled as he lifted up his own cup. "Brother Qu, I hope you will succeed in joining the Pureplume Sect."

"I definitely will." The youth's eyes shone with great determination.

"Come, let me offer you a final toast prior to our parting." As Ning spoke, he picked up two cups of wine and offered one to the youth.

The youth was slightly startled, but he still accepted it. "Cheers." The youth immediately raised his head and drank the wine. As he did, a faint stream of light within the wine flowed into his body, invisibly and naturally coming to nest within his sea of consciousness.

"Time to go." The youth put down the cup of wine, then turned and left.

Ning revealed a hint of a smile as 'brother Qu' left. He had spent nearly twenty chaos cycles wandering through various ordinary chaosworlds, and he rarely revealed his power. He chose to act just like an ordinary mortal. Ning had met this youth previously while riding a ship alongside him. The two had shared a spirited conversation while drinking one night on the ship, and thus they had travelled together until today.

"Little sister Qu." Ning walked over to the young maiden's table. The young maiden's eyes were rather red and wet.

"Big brother Ning," the green-robed maiden said.

"Your big brother will definitely join the Pureplume Sect, and he might become one of the most incredible cultivators in their history. He'll definitely come back and find you," Ning said. "I want to offer you a toast as well."

"Alright." The green-robed maiden shared a cup with Ning as well, and once more that invisible essence of light slipped into her body via the wine.

A short while later, the green-robed maiden bade Ning farewell as she departed from the teanhouse. She was going to Pureplume City as well to watch what happened. She was worried about her big brother.

"Darknorth." Azurefiend watched as the green-robed maiden departed, then walked over to Ning. Puzzled, he asked, "You've spent nearly twenty chaos cycles wandering through various ordinary worlds. You rarely show your power, and even when you do choose to help someone you merely provide them with a tiny bit of guidance. Why did you go out of your way to help these two so much? Not only did you begin an invisible process of completely transforming their bodies, you even bequeathed each of them them with a legacy."

Ning laughed. In the past, he had merely provided a bit of guidance through karmic magic, using it to change a few mortal destinies. This time, however, he had indeed provided the two with an enormous amount of help. The help he had just provided was enough to allow these two to reach the absolute apex of this chaosworld with ease, and they would even have a chance to reach the World level.

"Haha, this is because today is the final day of my twenty chaos cycles of voyaging," Ning said with a laugh. "Why can't I have a bit of fun on my last day?"

"Last day?" Azurefiend, Whitethaw, and Flamewing all stared at Ning in surprise. They had spent nearly twenty chaos cycles wandering through mortal worlds. Why was today suddenly the final day?

"Yes. I've more or less finished my training." Ning nodded.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 25 – The Dao of Karma

"Let's go." Ji Ning rose to his feet, departing the teahouse with Azurefiend, Whitethaw, and Flamewing by his side. As they walked, their forms gradually dissipated into nothingness. None of the ordinary mortals in the teahouse noticed a thing at all. They continued to live their ordinary lives.

Whoosh. Ning and the other three appeared out of nowhere in the void outside this chaosworld.

"So it's all over? You don't need to train any further?" Azurefiend asked.

"Yes." Ning nodded. "I've already succeeded in training in the Dao of Karma. Everything has been completed, and at my current level of mastery of the Dao of Karma I can subconsciously sense that even if I trained in other Daos, it would be of no use in attempting the Daomerge for my Omega Dao."

Ning had trained for nearly 38 chaos cycles after acquiring the Stonefire Pearl. Given that his Primaltwin had constantly been under 100x temporal acceleration, he had actually spent over 3000 chaos cycles training.

The Dao of Wind had been completed incredibly fast, while the Dao of Time had cost him over 300 chaos cycles. The rest of the 3000-plus chaos cycles had all been spent on the Dao of Karma.

The Dao of Karma was legendary for its complexity. Generally speaking, Eternal Emperors would at most learn how to follow karma lines to slay all of an enemy's clones and avatars. Their mastery of karma would be limited to simply that. Of all the Hegemons and Emperors which Ning had met, Emperor Waveshift had reached the highest level of insight into 'karma'. Emperor Waveshift had organized all of the karma lines surrounding him in a very neat and orderly way, ensuring that he was no longer bound by it and instead was in control of it and able to make use of it. However, Emperor Waveshift had actually merely reached the Archon level of mastery in the Dao of Karma.

Ning had the Autarch's stone dais and the Stonefire Pearl, as well as incredible powers of comprehension, but it had still taken him nearly 3000 chaos cycles in order to reach the Archon level. This was a testament to how difficult this Dao was.

Once one mastered the Dao of Karma, one would surpass even Hegemons in understanding how all living things were connected to each other.

"Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth… the Five Elements. They are supported by the Storm of wind and thunder, while Spacetime envelopes them all. Formations and Illusions merge them into one whole, while Karma serves as the heart." Ning nodded. Nine represented the apex of numbers, while ten represented perfection. After mastering the Dao of Karma, Ning understood this concept. Now that he had reached the apex in these ten paths, he had already reached the level of full perfection.

He could train more in other Daos, such as the Dao of the Saber, Dao of Snow, or the Dao of Ice, but it would be of no use. They wouldn't allow Ning to gain any more fragmentary insights into the Omega Sword Dao at all.

"Karma." Ning stood there in the void outside the chaosworld, gazing at everything around him. He had just mastered the Dao of Karma, and he was attuning to the many new insights into the universe it was bringing him. He was gaining many new ideas into the Omega Sword Dao. Although they weren't systemized, they would be of use to him when the Daomerge came.

Ning turned to scan the surrounding area. Spacetime could no longer bar his gaze, and he saw countless distant chaosworlds, planets, and even everworlds. He was able to see through over a hundred territories around them.

He saw the grass emerge from the dirt of a distant world…

He saw how a mortal lived for a hundred years, then returned to the embrace of the earth…

He saw a mortal embark upon the path of cultivation, completely focused on becoming an Immortal…

He saw monsters struggling in terror, fearing that they would be found and slain by cultivators…

He saw Diremonsters claim hegemony over a region, devouring and massacring countless humans within it…

He saw aliens propagate to become legion in number, becoming the rulers of a land…

These were all things which Ning had personally experienced and witnessed at close range during the past twenty chaos cycles.

He had seen many powerful Fiendgods and Immortals wander the lands unimpeded. He had seen 'mighty' World-level cultivators who rose to dominate their respective chaosworlds and become the undisputed overlords of them. He also saw them battle against other World-level cultivators for supremacy, with some dying in those battles.

He saw World-level cultivators focus on their cultivation. He saw Samsara Daolords experience all sorts of tempering experiences. Some fearlessly went out adventuring and finally attempted the Daomerge. Even though they all perished, they continued to charge towards the Daomerge like moths towards the flame. Every so often, a few would succeed and gain Eternity for themselves, but perhaps 99,999 out of every 100,000 would fail the Daomerge and perish.

"Everyone from ordinary mortals to Samsara Daolords have their own paths," Ning murmured softly. "This is the nature of the cultivator civilizations."

"How wonderful." This was how Ning summarized it all. He liked how the cultivator civilizations worked. Thank goodness they had won the Dawn War! Otherwise, all living beings would've been enslaved by the Sithe.

"All living beings within the cultivator civilizations should feel gratitude towards the Autarchs." When Ning thought of this, he could immediately but subconsciously sense that all living beings were connected to the Autarchs by karma. They all owed the Autarchs. However, the Autarchs were so overwhelmingly powerful that karma had no power over them any longer.

"I hope the cultivator civilizations will be able to survive and thrive unto eternity. I hope we won't be destroyed by the Sithe or other similarly terrifying groups." Ning then smiled. "Not really for me to worry about, though. I'm not even as strong as Flamewing right now."

Ning put this out of his mind and began to make the karma lines around him more orderly. He hadn't been alive for too long, and so although the karma lines around him seemed complicated he was able to realign them and smooth them out in short order.

"Eh? Two knots?" Ning frowned upon realizing that there were two 'knots' in his karma. If he didn't solve these knots, he would definitely fail his Daomerge!

The first knot was the lifeblood oath he had once sworn. Prior to attempting his Daomerge, he had to accept ten honorary disciples on behalf of Emperor Mirrorsnow. This was something he was bound to do by his lifeblood oath, and Ning knew of it.

The second knot was what truly surprised Ning. It was his promise to slay Emperor Melobo.

When Ning had first left the Three Realms and was merely an Elder God, he had visited the Allgod Estate. He had been bestowed with the [Novessence Thunder] technique by the formation-spirit, which was one of the nine novessence arts. As the formation-spirit had put it, it was 'sowing the seeds of good karma' with Ning. It had said to Ning: "I won't force you to do it; I merely hope that you can help," and had also said that "I'm just planting seeds to sprout in the future. I don't expect all of them to blossom."

Back then, the formation-spirit would never have dared to imagine that one of its many seeds would blossom in such a manner. It only hoped that if Ning did become powerful in the future, that he would slay Emperor Melobo.

Ning had felt this to be an impossible and impossibly distant task, but he had still been rewarded the [Novessence Thunder] technique.

"I've now reached the Hegemonic level of power; killing Emperor Melobo would be extremely simple," Ning mused. "Indeed, now that I think back to it, I do owe both the formation-spirit and Daolord Allgod! During my Daomerge, even the slightest of karmic debts can cause me to be negatively impacted. An Omega Daomerge cannot accept even the slightest of such impacts. It would definitely cause me to fail."

"Right. I absolutely must complete these two tasks before the Daomerge." Ning nodded. "It'll take time for me to track down Emperor Melobo, and it'll also take time for me to accept ten honorary disciples," Ning mused. "I'll go visit Realmslord Windgrace first, then take care of these two matters."

"Sorry for the trouble, Hegemon Brightshore." Ning had come to ask Hegemon Brightshore to assist him in tracking down Emperor Melobo. Hegemon Brightshore was the number one Hegemon of the Flamedragon Realmverse, after all, and he was skilled in the Dao of Spacetime. He also had a strong web of relationships. It would be easy for him to locate Melobo.

"A minor matter," Hegemon Brightshore replied casually.

"Please keep this secret. Don't let Melobo find out and then flee the realmverse," Ning said.

"Don't worry. I'll handle this matter personally and will ensure that no mistakes happen. If you don't mind, I can help you kill him," Hegemon Brightshore said.

"It would be best if I did it personally," Ning said.

"Mm, very well. Go ahead and visit Realmslord Windgrace. By the time you are back, I'll have handled everything." Hegemon Brightshore was quite confident. He knew that Emperor Melobo was definitely within the Flamedragon Realmverse. Where, exactly? He didn't know, as it was difficult to find where an Emperor was hiding… but if Hegemon Brightshore personally investigated this matter, he would definitely be able to find Melobo within a hundred thousand years.

After having asked Hegemon Brightshore for help, Ning, Flamewing, Azurefiend, and Whitethaw rode the realmship out of the Flamedragon Realmverse and towards the Hiddenfiend Realmverse.

These two realmverses were fairly far away from each other. The realmship needed to engage in extremely long-distance spacetime teleports, and it needed as much time as was needed to boil a kettle of tea in order to build up energy between each teleport.

Sixty thousand years later. Whoosh. A realmship suddenly appeared from a spatial tear within the void outside the Hiddenfiend Realmverse.

"And here we are." Ning stared at the world outside the realmship, his eyes lighting up. This was his first time visiting another realmverse. In contrast, Whitethaw, Azurefiend, and Flamewing were all quite calm. They had all visited many places; Ning was the only inexperienced one present.

"Mm. This place is fairly close to the Blacksun. A single teleport will take us there." Ning had already acquired a star map of the Hiddenfiend Realmverse prior to arriving.

One more spacetime teleport later, Ning found himself staring at a beautiful and distant star. To be precise, it was an absolutely enormous war machine that was riddled with channels and canals that made up complicated rune-paths. The Blacksun was a terrifying war machine that was capable of changing the destiny of entire realmverse sectors. Just by looking at it, Ning felt an ancient aura of power sweep across him, pressing down upon him like an invisible threat.

"Fellow Daoist Darknorth." A voice rang out, followed by a chubby youth appearing on the Blacksun who stared in Ning's direction. Although they were over a hundred billion kilometers away, the two were able to see each other with ease.

"Hegemon Wuye." Ning put away his realmship.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 26 – Jade Slip

Prior to visiting Realmslord Windgrace, Ji Ning had long ago sent word via the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance that he would be coming. Realmslord Windgrace was quite willing to meet with Ning as well.

The Blacksun. Ning's group of four was led to a courtyard within it.

Hegemon Wuye smiled: "Master has been waiting for quite some time. When he heard that you were coming, he was quite excited. I felt quite eager as well. I've heard of your illustrious reputation long ago, Darknorth, and I've also heard of Flamewing God the Chaos Primordial. Today, I've finally met you two." He was unable to disguise his interested glance towards the nearby Flamewing.

Flamewing was quite chubby, but was much larger than Wuye. When he saw Wuye, he mumbled, "He looks yummy."

Hegemon Wuye's face turned pale and he hurriedly pushed the door open and called, "Master!"

There was a withered tree inside the courtyard. Below it was a prayer mat, with a disheveled-looking old man seated atop it. The old man's eyebrows looked quite messy, but his gaze was extremely calm. He had a smile on his face, and he pointed to the prayer mats next to him. "Darknorth, my young friend. Sit."

"Thank you, Realmslord Windgrace." Ning walked over and sat down on a prayer mat. Azurefiend and Whitethaw did the same, while Flamewing lazily sauntered over to a boulder and lay down on it while shaking his rump.

"Chaos Primordials truly are extraordinary," Realmslord Windgrace praised. He then glanced at Ning. "Darknorth, my young friend… I'm sure you didn't come to visit me just to show off your Chaos Primordial."

"There is indeed something I wish for you to help me with, Realmslord," Ning said.

"Go ahead and explain." Realmslord Windgrace was quite willing to help Ning out; the more he helped Ning out, the greater his chances of acquiring the Flamewing God after Ning failed the Daomerge would be.

"I've heard legends of two marvelous items that are of tremendous use during the Daomerge. One is known as the Daomerge Firecloud Flower, while the other is known as the Incense Spirit-Fruit," Ning said. "Are you aware of them, Realmslord?"

Realmslord Windgrace looked at Ning in astonishment, then sighed. "Impressive, truly impressive. Daolord Darknorth, how is it that you know of such incredibly rare items? Even I only learned of them due to a lucky encounter."

Ning was delighted. He immediately asked, "Realmslord, do you know where they can be found?"

"Daomerge Firecloud Flowers and Incense Spirit-Fruits should be considered legendary treasures for Daolords attempting the Daomerge," Realmslord Windgrace said. "When I served Autarch Titanos, we once discussed Daomerge treasures, with the topic focusing on the treasures that provided incredibly marvelous effects for short periods of time. Autarch Titanos praised the Daomerge Firecloud Flower as being best, with the Incense Spirit-Fruit being second."

"Both of these two items vastly surpass the Voidsea Jadeseals. During the Daomerge, someone who has eaten an Incense Spirit-Fruit will enter a truly profound state where his body is divided into nine different incarnations. All nine of them can test out a simulated Daomerge while the true body undergoes the real Daomerge. So long as one of the nine incarnations succeeds, the true body can succeed in the Daomerge as well," Realmslord Windgrace said. "As for the Daomerge Firecloud Flower, it's even more remarkable. It can allow for the creation of eighty-one incarnations that will all simulate the Daomerge at the same time!"

"But of course, what I'm saying only stands true for ordinary Daolords. The more talented a Daolord is, the more energy each incarnation consumes from an Incense Spirit-Fruit or a Daomerge Firecloud Flower. Those who have fused multiple Supreme Daos will only be able to create a single incarnation after eating an Incense Spirit-Fruit, while a Daomerge Firecloud Flower can at most maintain a total of nine incarnations. These two treasures have a similar function, which means you can only choose to use one of them. You can't mix and match… and they only have these marvelous effects when you use them during your actual Daomerge."

Realmslord Windgrace looked at Ning and smiled. "What, Darknorth… do you need the Daomerge Firecloud Flower?"

Ning was amazed. So this was the effect these items had? The Voidsea Jadeseal allowed for just a single simulated Daomerge, but it didn't have to be used during the actual Daomerge! The problem with it was that it just wasn't all that powerful in comparison. For supreme Daolords who had fused multiple Supreme Daos, it would only allow for a small part of the Daomerge to be simulated.

In comparison, the Incense Spirit-Fruit was clearly far more powerful, while the Daomerge Firecloud Flower was ridiculously effective. The problem was, they could only be used during the actual Daomerge!

"So someone who has fused multiple Supreme Daos can have nine incarnations assisting him when he uses the Daomerge Firecloud Flower?" Ning mused to himself, "Then my Omega Dao… I wonder if I'll have even a single incarnation." As for the Incense Spirit-Fruit, Ning had already mentally discarded it.

"You train in an Omega Dao, yes?" Realmslord Windgrace asked.

"Yes." Ning acknowledged it.

"Daomerges for Omega Daos are incredibly difficult. I imagine only the top Daomerge treasure, the Daomerge Firecloud Flower, will be of some use to you." Realmslord Windgrace shook his head. "And its use will probably be highly limited. I've heard of Omega Daolords who have used it but still failed. There has just never been anyone successful in an Omega Daomerge." Realmslord Windgrace let out a sigh.

Every single realmverse had a few Hegemons, which meant that the vast Chaosverse had a large number of them… but it had never seen so much as a single successful Omega Daomerge!

"As long as it helps out, I'll take it." Ning laughed. "Anything that can increase my chances by even a sliver is a good thing. Perhaps that'll be the sliver that pushes me over to success during the Daomerge."

"That's a nice way to view it. You need that sort of attitude when you attempt the Daomerge. If you are panicking, you'll have lost half the battle before it even starts," Realmslord Windgrace said.

"Realmslord, do you know where Daomerge Firecloud Flowers can be found?" Ning asked.

"I do. They can be found in several places," Realmslord Windgrace said. "Daomerge Firecloud Flowers are incredibly valuable to Daolords, but to us they are nothing more than fairly unusual treasures that are generally used to create pills."

Ning was overjoyed. His eyes lit up as he asked, "If the Daomerge Firecloud Flowers are used to create pills, will they perhaps be of even greater assistance during the Daomerge?"

"No, no! If you use them to make pills, you'll actually waste the special effect they have during the Daomerge," Realmslord Windgrace said hurriedly. "Daomerge Firecloud Flowers are naturally endowed with those unique properties, but once you use it to create a pill the properties are lost. In addition, they can only be used within a thousand years after they first bloom! After a thousand years go by, their aura will completely vanish and their medicinal value will drop by over 90% as well."

Ning nodded. "Then where can they be harvested?"

Realmslord Windgrace frowned. "Are you still going to go for one? The place they are located is incredibly dangerous. I know where they can be found, but even I wouldn't dare to go there without a good reason. Generally speaking, several of my friends would join forces in venturing there."

"The place is that dangerous?" Ning was surprised.

"The Chaosverse is filled with countless marvels as well as many incredibly dangerous places. However, the Chaosverse is so fast that it's hard to even locate those places unless you know exactly where they are," Realmslord Windgrace said. "Ordinary realmverses and otherverses would never be able to give birth to something like a Daomerge Firecloud Flower. Only some of the truly marvelous places of the Chaosverse, places which gather together countless different types of universal essence, can possibly give birth to such remarkable treasures."

"All of these places, however, are tightly protected by the prime essences of the Chaosverse," Realmslord Windgrace said. "The Sithe attempted to invade and conquer many of these places and take their contents by force, but the result was that they suffered tremendously heavy casualties."

"So what type of dangers do those places hold?" Ning asked.

"A type of being known as a 'Sourcewalker'," Realmslord Windgrace said. "Let me put it to you like this. Normally, the Chaosverse can give birth to two extremely perfect types of beings. The first are known as the 'Chaos Godbeasts', while the second are known as the 'Ancients'."

Ning nodded slowly. Hegemon Brightshore was a Chaos Godbeast, while Ninedust was a member of the Ancients. They were born at the World level and had incredibly perfect divine bodies.

"Chaos Godbeasts have comparatively lower levels of comprehension, while Ancients take human form and have much higher comprehension skills," Realmslord Windgrace said.

Ning smiled. The only member of the Brightshore Imperials to succeed in the Daomerge was Hegemon Brightshore himself. It was incredibly difficult for Chaos Godbeasts as a race to succeed in the Daomerge. Azurefiend and Welkin were both Chaos Godbeasts, but they were the only Hegemons to have ever arisen from their race. They had no colleagues at all. They were unable or unwilling to spend their entire lives taking care of weaker Chaos Godbeasts as Hegemon Brightshore did, and so they wandered by themselves through the Chaosverse. This was something they had been accustomed to since youth. In contrast, Ancients were far more intelligent and thus had far more Eternal Emperors in comparison.

"Chaos Godbeasts and Ancients… they are present in virtually every realmverse. They are quite common," Realmslord Windgrace said. "However… two types of living beings are born within the prime essences of the Chaosverse, and they are even more elite. One type is fairly unintelligent, and they are known as the 'Chaos Primordials'. The other is fairly intelligent and also has human form, and they are known as 'Chaos Essence Walkers', or 'Sourcewalkers' for short."

"Chaos Primordials and Sourcewalkers are born with far more exalted bloodlines than Chaos Godbeasts and Ancients," Realmslord Windgrace said. "However… they represent even greater extremes as well."

"Chaos Primordials are as unintelligent as mortal children, but are born with virtually indestructible bodies. In contrast, Sourcewalkers are very intelligent and have incredible comprehension skills. They are incredibly solitary and proud figures who do not dwell in ordinary places. They delight in dwelling in treasured places where countless streams of essence from the Chaosverse gather together, and they treat those places as their own territories," Realmslord Windgrace said. "Unlike Chaos Primordials, they cannot be 'tamed'; they are simply far too intelligent. There is no way one can force them to submit."

"If you wish to go to one of those sacred places where Daomerge Firecloud Flowers can be harvested, that means you are going to steal treasures from a Sourcewalker's territory. You will enrage them." Realmslord Windgrace shook his head.

Ning pondered this matter. He wasn't surprised at all. Although this was his first time hearing of 'Sourcewalkers', he had already heard of strange beings that were on par with the Autarchs themselves. Why would he be shocked to hear that there were certain creatures on par with Chaos Primordials in might?

"Sourcewalkers are all extremely intelligent, which means they do have a weakness; their bodies aren't nearly as indestructible as that of the Chaos Primordials, and they are born with much lower levels of strength. However, they can slowly cultivate and grow with time! Thus, there are varying levels of power amongst Sourcewalkers. The weaker ones are perhaps merely at the Hegemonic level, while the most powerful were supposedly on par with the Sithe Exalts, capable of killing us in an instant," Realmslord Windgrace said.

Ning relaxed slightly. If even the most powerful were 'merely' on par with Sith Exalts, that meant they were still much weaker than the Autarchs. It must be remembered that it took three Sithe Exalts working together to capture the Flamewing God; a single one wasn't able to do the trick. Plus, he wouldn't be so unlucky as to run into literally the most powerful type of Sourcewalker in existence, right?

"When the Sithe furiously invaded those sacred places to loot the treasures, they enraged the prime essences of the Chaosverse with their greed. The prime essences allowed the Sourcewalkers to borrow from the inherent power of those sacred places, resulting in them becoming much more powerful. This was why the Sithe suffered greatly for their actions," Realmslord Windgrace said. "However… you must be cautious if you do go."

Realmslord Windgrace suddenly waved his hand, causing a jade slip to appear. He then filled it with his godsense, imprinting it with a great deal of information.

"This is one of the closer locations. If you ride on your realmship, you should reach it in just a few hundred thousand years. As I recall, this place has Daomerge Firecloud Flowers within it. This slip now contains all of the information I know regarding that place." As Realmslord Windgrace spoke, he delivered the jade slip to Ning. "Remember, the information I provided covers just the vast majority of situations, not all situations. I didn't delve too deeply into that place either. You really must be careful."

"Thank you, Realmslord." Ning accepted the slip.

After having received the intelligence he needed, that very day Ning bade Realmslord Windgrace farewell and embarked on a return journey.

He had to first deal with Emperor Melobo, then take on ten honorary disciples for Emperor Mirrorsnow. Only then could he go adventuring with a calm heart. Anything was possible while out adventuring, after all. He might be forced to initiate the Daomerge for some reason, which would be disastrous if these karmic knots were not resolved.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 27 – Emperor Melobo

After sixty thousand years, Ji Ning returned from the Hiddenfiend Realmverse to his homeland in the Flamedragon Realmverse, at which point his first course of action was to go meet with Hegemon Brightshore.

Whoosh. Hegemon Brightshore noticed right away when Ning and the others entered the Brightshore Kingdom. He appeared at the peak of a tall mountain, having set a banquet in welcome.

"Darknorth!" Hegemon Brightshore called out loudly. Ning and the others turned to look, then all flew over and landed. They sat down, with Flamewing naturally beginning to eat and drink with delight.

"I'm embarrassed to say this…" Hegemon Brightshore shook his head, stroking his beard after downing two cups of wine, "I thought I'd definitely be able to find Emperor Melobo within a hundred thousand years, but this Aeonian Emperor truly is slippery. I've been tracking him in secret, but I haven't been able to find his true body. Recently, I asked Netherlily to help out as well. Only when the two of us worked together did we managed to find him roughly ten thousand years ago."

Ning let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the words 'managed to find him'. "I'll have to thank Hegemon Netherlily," Ning said.

"A minor matter. The three of us are usually quite bored," Hegemon Brightshore said with a laugh. "Honestly though, Emperor Melobo really did hide his tracks quite carefully. He's afraid that the Dao Alliance will discover him devouring some of their Daolords of the Fourth Step, and so he has been cautious to the extreme. Not even the other Aeonians know his whereabouts."

"If you truly wish to go into hiding, you need to ensure that not even your allies know where you are. That's the safest way to handle it." Ning asked, "Oh, right. So where is Emperor Melobo currently?"

"The Orchidfall Everworld of the Orchidfall Territory," Hegemon Brightshore said.

"The Orchidfall Territory?" Ning nodded slowly.

The Orchidfall Territory was an ordinary territory located within the Dao Alliance. Inside the Orchidfall Everworld was a powerful sect known as the Sacred Orchidfall, with the most powerful member being a Daolord of the Fourth Step who had quite a few disciples.

"You aren't Daolord Orchidfall. Who are you?" An alluringly beautiful woman stared angrily at the plainly dressed man before her.

"Haha… my aura is Daolord Orchidfall's aura, and my appearance is his appearance. How could I possibly not be him?" The man's voice seemed quite strange and sinister.

"Daolord Orchidfall isn't as powerful as you are. There's no way he could've destroyed my avatar in just one strike, then caught me with such ease." The woman's forehead was creased in anger. "Who are you?!"

The man laughed, his laughter becoming even more evil and piercing to the ear. It echoed within the vast palace, but there was no one else in the entire palace aside from the two of them. "Who am I?" The man's appearance slowly began to change, as did his aura. Soon, he had transformed into a evil-looking man with long red hair. His eyes were staring greedily at the woman in front of him, as though he was caressing her with his gaze.

"You…" A puzzled look appeared on the woman's face. "An Emperor?"

"Oh, it seems you do not recognize me." The long red-haired man let out a smile. "I am an Aeonian, the mighty Emperor Melobo. I am your savior, the one who shall rescue you from your doomed path as a Samsara Daolord."

"What do you want?" The woman was rather nervous. Her power had been completely sealed away, making it impossible for her to fight back.

"You are absolutely beautiful. Whew. Such beauty…" the long red-haired man said, a blissful look on his face, "I have to say, Emperor Waveshift has truly been a blessing to the Flamedragon Realmverse. He gave us Crimsonwave Temple, and even techniques like [Vitalis]. As a result, I can now easily simulate the auras of others, allowing me to infiltrate the Dao Alliance and catch beautiful Daolords like yourself with increasing ease."

"Y-you… you are an Aeonian. Are you…." the woman began to panic.

"Daolord Yu, do your best to fight back and struggle against me. That'll make things more fun." Emperor Melobo walked towards her one step at a time, licking his lips.

Aeonians were a very special race. They devoured cultivators like food, which allowed their Aeonian bloodline to evolve. However, after completing the Daomerge and becoming an Eternal Emperor, eating Daolords became of negligible assistance no matter how many they ate. Alas, there were some Aeonians who simply liked to eat cultivators. Not for the sake of growing stronger, but just for the taste; it was just an intrinsic hunger they had! Emperor Melobo was one who delighted in devouring surpassingly beautiful female Daolords. Their auras made him feel extremely comfortable, which was why he viewed them as perfectly delicious morsels.

Long ago, Emperor Melobo had devoured Daolord Allgod's Dao-companion. Daolord Allgod had gone completely crazy, with killing Emperor Melobo becoming his strongest desire.

"Aeonians…" the woman felt shock, horror, and anger. And yet, there was nothing she could do.

"We view you cultivators the same way you might view wild animals! You, however, are the most delicious of morsels." Emperor Melobo enjoyed the horrified look on the woman's face. "Don't worry. More and more female Daolords will accompany you in my belly."

"The Dao Alliance will definitely discover you. You'll definitely die!" The woman was filled with hatred.

"Impossible." Emperor Melobo shook his head. "Prior to acquiring the [Vitalis] technique, I already moved with great care for fear of the Dao Alliance… and now that I have it and can disguise myself? It'll be completely impossible for them to find me. I only act when all factors are completely under my control, and I never make any mistakes. Even if they try to reverse spacetime to scan for what had happened, they won't find me."

Emperor Melobo was very confident in his own cautious nature. He felt certain that although a Hegemon who whole-heartedly searched for him via multiple channels might be able to find him, it was virtually impossible for anyone else. Only the most supreme powers of the realmverse would be able to find him, and that only if they were using all of their resources.

"Y-you…" Daolord Yu felt a sense of sorrow and grief in her heart. There had to be a reason why Emperor Melobo had been able to stay alive for so long. How much longer would it be before he died?

"That look of despair on your face is simply delicious." Emperor Melobo continued to slowly walk towards her, extending a hand to gently stroke her face. Daolord Yu wanted to dodge, but her power had been completely sealed away; how could she possibly avoid him? A twisted, excited look appeared on Emperor Melobo's face, and he began to open his mouth.

Right at this moment, a foot was suddenly planted right in his face. This kick was lightning fast, giving him no time to dodge at all. A muffled boom could be heard as Emperor Melobo was knocked flying backwards, smashing into the distant dais at the end of the palace. He bounced off the dais, then smashed into an enormous pillar before finally falling to the ground. He was bleeding from every orifice, and his face had been completely wrecked.

"Who?!" Emperor Melobo stared forwards in shock and horror.

"Who is this?" Moments ago, Daolord Yu had been gripped by despair. Now, her eyes lit up as she saw that white-robed youth who had a black scabbard on his back had appeared in front of her. Next to him were four figures. The first was a white-bearded, white-robed old man who had six curved horns on his head. The second was a wizened old man. The third was a muscular, white-furred creature. The fourth was a fat man who was eating some meat.

Daolord Yu didn't recognize any of the other four, but she instantly recognized the white-robed youth who had kicked Emperor Melobo. "Daolord Darknorth!" she cried out in delight. This was the most legendary Daolord to have ever existed in the Endless Territories.

Ning turned to glance at her. He recognized her as well. Long ago, when he had first gone out exploring, he had acquired information on all of the known Daolords of the Flamedragon Realmverse. He immediately smiled and said, "Daolord Yu, everything has come to an end. There will no longer be an Emperor Melobo in this world."

Daolord Yu immediately understood what this meant. She said with grateful excitement, "Thank you, Daolord Darknorth." When she looked at him, she felt for some unknown reason that his aura truly was special. In fact, she couldn't help but begin to feel stirred by him. She was a female Daolord of the Fourth Step, but she had never had a Dao-companion in her life. This was her first time meeting Ning, and she could feel her heart stirring.

"NO!" The heavily-bleeding Emperor Melobo hurriedly crawled to his feet, frantically smiling and bowing. "Daolord Darknorth, Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Azurefiend, Flamewing God… I've never offended any of you! Daolord Darknorth, please spare me. I'll never dare to enter the Dao Alliance's territory again. Never again!"

Just now, when Ning had said that there would 'no longer be an Emperor Melobo in this world', Melobo had felt truly terrified. In truth, Daolord Darknorth's very appearance had terrified him. Daolord Darknorth was now an exalted figure who had a Hegemon as his retainer and a Chaos Primordial as his servant. Even the other Hegemons dreaded him. Who would dare to antagonize him? There were now two transcendent figures in the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance. One was Realmslord Windgrace, the other was this monstrously talented Daolord, Darknorth.

"Hegemon Brightshore? Hegemon Azurefiend?" Daolord Yu was stunned. She didn't know the secret identity of the Flamewing God, but she was shocked to hear that there were actually two Hegemons standing before her.

"Darknorth." Hegemon Brightshore chuckled and said, "Don't waste words on Melobo. Just go ahead and kill him."

"Don't kill me!" Emperor Melobo was at the verge of tears. He was an ordinary Emperor and didn't have all that much courage. He begged, "I've never caused trouble for any of you. If there's something you want, just tell me, Daolord Darknorth! I'll definitely obey you."

Ning said, "Melobo, there's a reason I didn't just kill you with that earlier kick. There's something I need to tell you first."

Melobo's face turned pale. And indeed, Ning was telling the truth. Given his Hegemonic power, he was easily capable of annihilating Emperor Melobo with a single kick.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 28 – Daolord Darknorth's Era

"I-I…" Emperor Melobo really did begin to cry. Begging was useless. What was he to do?

Ji Ning continued, "The reason why I'm going to kill you… is because of Daolord Allgod."

"Daolord Allgod?" Emperor Melobo's already-pale face turned completely ashen. Of course he remembered that madman! Daolord Allgod had been willing to pay any price in his efforts to kill Melobo, and he had nearly succeeded. Emperor Melobo had only been able to escape by the skin of his teeth.

"He died! He died long ago! There's no way you could've ever met him." Emperor Melobo was panicking.

"True. I never met him. When I was an Elder God, however, I received a bit of kindness from him. His formation-spirit bestowed me with a secret art," Ning said, "And then expressed the hope that if I ever grew strong enough, I would help Daolord Allgod exact revenge upon you and kill you. Although this was nothing more than the dying will of a man who had already lost himself to despair… since I have benefited from him, I'm naturally going to help him carry out his wishes."

"The reason I'm telling you this is so that you'll understand that you… are now dying because of Daolord Allgod," Ning said.

"I-I…" Emperor Melobo now understood everything, and his mind was in a state of chaos. Daolord Allgod had once been an extraordinarily talented figure, and he and his Dao-companion had been like a pair of truly divine lovers. Alas, Emperor Melobo's devouring of his Dao-companion had driven him completely mad. Daolord Allgod had been filled with resentment and hatred until the day he died, and even when he died his eyes remained open and filled with rage.

Neither Emperor Melobo nor Allgod ever would've imagined that the Allgod Estate he casually set up before dying would result in an Elder God, Ji Ning, owing him a debt… and then coming to repay it. Today, Emperor Melobo would die!

Slash. Ning waved his hand, causing a streak of sword-light to appear in the air. The sword-light was ephemeral and indistinct, hard to see with the naked eye. It instantly slashed across Emperor Melobo's body, and as it did so it spread out alongside the Aeonian's karma lines. Everything which had any of his soul or truesoul within it was completely severed!

Emperor Melobo's gaze grew dim. His soul was shattered, and he perished on the part. Now that Ning had reached such incredible heights in the Dao of Karma, he had learned some new and truly terrifying ways of killing people.

"Fine sword-arts," Hegemon Brightshore said in praise.

"A pity." Ning glanced at Emperor Melobo's corpse, then murmured softly, "Daolord Allgod was a true genius, but he spent most of his life a madman because of this Aeonian. Not even death was an escape for him."

"If Daolord Allgod knew what you did for him, he would feel relieved," Hegemon Brightshore said.

"But he has died and his Dao has vanished. There's no way for him to know." Ning sighed, then turned to leave.

Daolord Yu continued to stare at Ning, her eyes shining. Ning gently waved a finger at her, causing a stream of Immortal energy to fly into her body. It easily undid the seals that were inside of her. Given Ning's current level of mastery of the Dao of Formations, unlocking seals like these was incredibly simple.

"Let's go," Ning said. Hegemon Brightshore and Hegemon Azurefiend both glanced at Daolord Yu, and then they followed Ning in stepping into the void and vanishing.

Daolord Yu stared as Ning vanished before her very eyes. "Daolord Darknorth… Daolord Darknorth…" she murmured repeatedly. He had appeared in her hour of need, when she had been gripped by complete despair. Then, with unbelievable power, he had killed Emperor Melobo as easily as squishing an ant. All of this had intoxicated her. Even Hegemon Brightshore and Hegemon Azurefiend, two mighty Hegemons, had clearly accepted Ning as their leader in this affair.

His power, his voice, his sword-light… all of these things stirred her heart. However, she also knew that this was nothing more than a bit of infatuation. "It feels like a dream." Daolord Yu smiled. A dream was enough for her.

She suddenly turned and saw the various treasures which Emperor Melobo had left behind. A long-lived Emperor like Melobo had many treasures, but Daolord Darknorth and the others had left without touching them. Clearly, they had left the treasures for her.

"For me?" Daolord Yu rose to her feet. "Daolord Darknorth left them behind for me?" She felt a surge of joy in her heart.

In truth, Ning had already swept through the Jadefire Realm's prisons and possessed an incredible amount of treasures. Emperor Melobo wasn't even at the Archon level; how could Ning feel any interest towards his treasures? Ning didn't even want to bother going through them, and the same was doubly true for Azurefiend and Brightshore.

Within the Aeonian Kingdom. An avatar was lying within an ancient palace. This was Emperor Melobo's avatar. Moments ago, he had been begging for help. Now, his aura had vanished.

Emperor Anchen, Emperor Islehide, and Emperor Duug all stared at his avatar's corpse. "It was Daolord Darknorth who did the deed," Emperor Islehide said softly.

"What can we do?" Emperor Duug said helplessly.

"Nothing but just stare." Emperor Anchen laughed bitterly. "We should feel thankful that Daolord Darknorth has chosen not to cause trouble for us Aeonians. There's no way we would ever dare to go find him! All we can do is hide here in the Aeonian Kingdom and keep ourselves alive."

All three of them felt quite resigned. Emperor Melobo had begged them for help, but who were they supposed to beg? It was Daolord Darknorth who had killed Melobo! Who in the entire Sixteen Realmverses Alliance would dare stand in his path? Realmslord Windgrace, perhaps… but if he knew of this matter, he'd probably come help Darknorth out!

All of the Hegemons and Emperors were quite intelligent. By now, they could all guess that Realmslord Windgrace and the Lonely King, two truly terrifying figures, were both waiting for the day Daolord Darknorth failed his Daomerge! Neither of them wished to make an enemy out of Darknorth at a time like this. If they pressed him too hard, it would be of no benefit to them but could possibly bring disaster upon themselves. Nobody could stop a rampaging Flamewing, after all!

"I told them all long ago, given that we aren't on good terms with Daolord Darknorth, we Aeonians need to stay low-key during this era, the era of Daolord Darknorth. Don't cause trouble!" Emperor Anchen muttered, "Melobo actually dared to secretly infiltrate the Dao Alliance. He has no one to blame for his death but himself. Send word once more to all the elders that they need to be good boys! Daolord Darknorth isn't as reasonable as the other major powers, and there's no one who can stop him if he attacks."

"Agreed." All of them understood that so long as Daolord Darknorth was alive, this era would belong to him. He was the most dazzling figure in all the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance, and even Realmslord Windgrace would stand on his side.

"Darknorth, if my visions serves, that female Daolord seems to be a bit smitten with you." After leaving the Orchidfall Everworld, Hegemon Brightshore began to tease Ning a bit.

"Haha…" Ning laughed. "Nothing more than a bit of infatuation. It doesn't count for much." By now, the only person in all the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance who was on par with Ning in the Dao of Karma was Emperor Waveshift himself. Ning had naturally been able to discern Daolord Yu's interest in him through his mastery of karma. But it was nothing more than a bit of interest; it wouldn't have any true impact on her at all.

"Hegemon Brightshore, next I plan to scour the entire Flamedragon Realmverse to accept disciples on behalf of my master," Ning said.

"Accept disciples on behalf of your master?" Hegemon Brightshore was puzzled.

"Yes, on behalf of my master, Emperor Mirrorsnow," Ning said. "I need to accept ten! Although I'm technically accepting on his behalf, given that he is adventuring in the outside world I'll naturally have to teach them myself." He would be their senior apprentice-brother in name, but their teacher in truth.

"I might be taking on disciples on his behalf, but I still cannot be casual about this," Ning said. "I'm planning to divide the Flamedragon Realmverse into nine 'regions', and will pick out ten World-level cultivators from each region. I'll then select ten disciples from those ninety World-level cultivators. If I meet a few I'm truly interested in, I might even accept them as my own personal disciple."

Only after this concluded would he go out adventuring. He would be fully prepared for the Daomerge by then, and so he would also have to select a few more heirs in the event of his failure.

The Three Realms was simply too small of a place. Although he was leaving his Omega Sword Dao behind in the Three Realms, he had yet to find anyone he felt truly worthy of passing his technique down to.

"You accepting a disciple would be a momentous occasion." Hegemon Brightshore grew a bit excited. "Haha, a Daolord who has the power of a Hegemon… this is truly unprecedented. Your Dao has to be far stronger than ours! Perhaps I'll send a few geniuses from the Brightshore Kingdom to take part as well."

"That's fine." Ning nodded. "Everyone in the Flamedragon Realmverse is invited, save for the Aeonians."

Ning didn't feel any enmity towards the Dark Kingdom. In truth, it consisted of cultivators who had escaped a destroyed realmverse. There was no need to truly treat them as enemies. As Ning had grown more powerful, his view of the universe had changed as well. The only ones he continued to harbor enmity towards were the Aeonians.

Aeonians treated cultivators as food. Ning felt a tremendous amount of distaste towards them. However, since he knew that Autarch Bolin had been the one to create the Aeonians, Ning elected to simply ignore them. There was no way he would go accept one of them as his disciple.

Ning also told Hegemon Windrain, Hegemon Netherlily, and the Dao Alliance about his plans to accept disciples on behalf of his master! He informed them that he would be accepting ten disciples and could possibly even choose a few personal disciples. However, all candidates had to be skilled in the sword and be at the World level of cultivation!

The entire Flamedragon Realmverse was thrown into a state of chaos by this news. It must be understood that Ning would never casually transmit his Omega Sword Dao to others; to date, the only one he had shown it to was Daoist Bluestone. Everyone knew how incredibly powerful Ning was, and every organization hoped that one of their geniuses of the Dao of the Sword would have the chance to inherit Daolord Darknorth's supreme technique.

And so, word of how the Flamedragon Realmverse was being divided into nine 'regions' quickly began to spread. Even many of the independent cultivators heard of this, and they all began to hasten towards the region closest to them.

The countless World-level cultivators all wished to become apprenticed to the most peerless Daolord to have ever existed, Daolord Darknorth.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 29 – Sword Shack

Within a private room inside Vastheaven Palace. The white-robed Ji Ning was seated alone. Waving his hand, he caused ten stones to fly towards him and then hang there in the air before him.

Crackle, crackle, crackle. Ning waved his finger gently, causing flames to appear around the ten levitating stones and blaze away against them. The stones slowly began to melt, with runic patterns beginning to gradually appear on their surfaces. Everything was Ning willed it, and so the runic patterns joined together into a complex runic formation that caused the ten stones to transform into ten black loops. Ning then picked out a few other precious materials and infused them into the loops.

Ning had reached incredible heights in both the Dao of Fire and the Dao of Formations. As a result, creating simple Eternal treasures like these was incredibly easy for him. As for the materials he used, they were valuable enough to drive many Eternal Emperors mad with greed… but to Ning, he had literal mountains of them.

"Success." Ning smiled. All ten bracelets glimmered with golden, silver, and violet lines that emanated strange ripples of power.

"Top-grade Eternal treasures. Given the ingredients I put into them, only Hegemons should be able to destroy them." Ning then took control over the ten loops, sending his godsense into one of them.

Whoosh. A space that was ten thousand kilometers in size appeared before him. These loops were all estate-type treasures! However, they were limited in size to 'just' ten thousand kilometers because they were exceptionally stable.

"Let the earth form." A vast earth began to emerge from the bottom of the space, quickly covering up all ten thousand kilometers of the estate-treasure.

"Let the mountains arise!" Soon, a vast mountain range thundered up from the earth, stretching upwards for nearly ten thousand kilometers.

In accordance with Ning's will, this ten thousand kilometer world became primarily filled with mountain ranges as well as a few rivers.

"The Sword Shack." Ning's godsense incarnation waved a finger, causing an ordinary looking thatched cottage to appear within the largest mountain valley.

Another hour went past. By now, Ning's true body had created a prayer mat which he put within the Sword Shack. The most valuable item in this entire estate-treasure was this prayer mat, something which even many Eternal Emperors would pine for as they cultivated. Cultivators would find that their hearts and minds would grow very calm as they sat there, and they would be able to train and meditate much more quickly than normally. Ning had emulated the Autarch's stone dais in his creation of this prayer mat.

Although he wasn't even close to the Autarch's level of insight, his prayer mats still had roughly 5% of the effectiveness of the Stone Censor of Reunion; thus, they could be considered rare and valuable treasures.

"This world shall be a world of the Dao of the Sword." Ning's godsense incarnation swept the world with his gaze. Rumble… every single part of this world, including the mountains and the deep crevices, all became filled with sword-arts. There were many of them, all of them varied and complex.

These were the various sword-arts which could be discovered once one researched and dissected Emperor Mirrorsnow's [Heartseal] sword-art. By now, Ning had reached a higher level of insight into the Dao of the Sword than Emperor Mirrorsnow ever had. He had first dissected all of the many sword-arts which were the underpinnings of the [Heartseal] sword-art, and then used the [Heartseal] sword-art as the basis for formulating eight even more profound sword-arts that were focused in different areas. Ning had now reached a high level of mastery over karma, giving him even greater powers of deduction reasoning. Given that he already had the Omega Sword Dao as his foundation, it was quite simple for him to formulate multiple Archon-class sword-arts.

If Ning merely wished to attempt the Daomerge via a single Supreme Dao, he would probably find the Daomerge to be much easier. However, his path was already set. Once it was set, there was no way to go back, no room for regret.

Besides… all things were relative. Ning's path was that of the Omega Sword Dao. He had seen and experienced many things, and had also created multiple Archon-class techniques for the Daos of Space, Formations, Space, Time, Karma, and more. This was why he was able to create so many Archon-class sword-arts with ease. If he had chosen to embark upon a simpler path, he would've been much more limited in his abilities and would never have reached his current heights.

"The Sword Shack is perfect for meditation, allowing one to train quite quickly." Ning nodded. "Within the world of the Sword Shack, those who wish to acquire rare and exceptional sword-arts must first pass a few tests."

"Alright. The Sword Shack will be more than enough to guide them on their paths." Ning revealed a smile. Since he had chosen to accept disciples on behalf of his teacher, he naturally had to give these 'fellow disciples' some treasures.

It was guaranteed that he wouldn't have much time to personally teach them, which was why he had put all this effort into creating the Sword Shack. This was a treasure that was far more valuable than the godsense legacy which Emperor Mirrorsnow had provided him when Mirrorsnow had taken him on as a disciple. Ning had a higher level of insight into the Dao of the Sword, after all, which meant that he also had better ways of teaching. He truly did hope that these ten 'junior apprentice-brothers' or 'junior apprentice-sisters' would be able to surpass what he was able to offer them.

It took Ning half a day to create these ten Sword Shack worlds, then another eighty-plus years creating five more Silver Sword Shacks. Thanks to his mastery of the Dao of Karma, Ning had the vague feeling that he would at most take on a maximum of nine disciples.

He had previously already taken on Bluecliff Xiaoyu, 'Green Bamboo' Yang Quding, and young master Skywind; three disciples in total! If he factored in the legacy he had left behind after becoming a Daolord of the Fourth Step, it was guaranteed that he would have a fourth disciple as well.

Ning had the feeling that he would at most take on five more disciples. This time, he would see if there was anyone who interested and intrigued him enough so that he would take them on as a personal disciple instead of an honorary disciple on behalf of his master. He wouldn't try to force things; it would all be left up to luck and fate. If he found someone interesting, he would accept them.

These five Silver Sword Shacks were meant for his personal disciples. Thus, Ning spent much more effort on them. They were quite similar to the other sword shacks, but Ning used even more precious ingredients on the prayer mats, and also put much more effort into the creation of the formations. Every single one of the prayer mats was almost 20% as effective as the Stone Censer of Reunion! More importantly, the Silver Sword Shacks were not centered around Emperor Mirrorsnow's [Heartseal] sword-art; rather, they were centered around Ning's own [Omega Sword Dao].

But of course, he couldn't simply transmit his Dao to them. Rather, he used many different sword-techniques to serve as guides, and also left behind imprints of the sword-intent of the five stances of his Omega Sword Dao.

"I'll have given them all I can give. Even the ten ordinary Sword Shacks have been filled with all the foundations they need; with those foundations, they have enough to develop the Omega Sword Dao on their own if they have the talent." Ning nodded. He himself had slowly gained bits and pieces of insights which he had gradually used to make up for the deficiencies in his foundations, then finally been tempered into developing his Omega Sword Dao.

After finishing the creation of his gifts, Ning waited for another nine million years before the grand event which spanned the entire Flamedragon Realmverse began! Everyone was filled with excitement.

"It's said that many powerful Daolords of the Fourth Step have come to watch the competitions. Even if we cannot end up being apprenticed to Daolord Darknorth, we might be able to become apprenticed to other powerful Daolords."

"There are even some legendary Eternal Emperors and other ancient figures who have come to watch. They might take the opportunity to accept a disciple as well."

"That's nothing! All three of the almighty Hegemons have come alongside Daolord Darknorth! To be apprenticed to one of the three Hegemons or Daolord Darknorth would be truly incredible."

This event was simply on far too vast of a scale. The six major organizations in the Flamedragon Realmverse were normally in a state of balance, and so it was impossible for anyone save Ning to cause the entire realmverse to be thrown into such a state of upheaval. This sort of tournament and selection process was far grander than the ones which the Brightshore Kingdom utilized! But of course, there were many major powers and Emperors who were watching intently, wanting to take advantage of Ning's event to perhaps choose a few genius disciples for themselves.

The nine major regions were each governed by Archon-class major powers as well as their subordinate Emperors. There was an orderly process that had been implemented.

However, the number of independent cultivators who came was simply enormous. Thus, the first year was just the pre-selection competition, where all those who didn't reach a certain minimum level of power were washed out. Ning was naturally the one who set the 'minimum threshold', which was simply the 'supreme World God' level. This alone washed out 99% of the cultivators.

Next, he teleported the remaining elites into the Vastheaven Everworld, to a place Ning had personally created… the Stairway to Heaven! The next trial would be the process of ascending the Stairway to Heaven.

The Stairway to Heaven were unfathomably high. If you wished to advance farther along the Stairway to Heaven, you would have to go through one contest after another. One side had to be killed or surrender before the other side could advance.

The Emperors, Hegemons, and Ning all watched intently as the battles in the Stairway to Heaven proceeded.

"This kid isn't bad. I want him." One of the Eternal Emperors in the Dao Alliance laughed, then waved a finger gently as he caused a strand of Eternal power to reach out and evelope the World-level cultivator who had nearly died just now.

Ning and the three Hegemons sat upon the highest thrones, watching from afar. They didn't move to interfere. Only Emperors were qualified to select disciples from those who were on the Stairway to Heaven… but even then, they could only choose those who had failed! Only Ning and the three Hegemons were permitted to choose successful competitors.

"Interesting." Ning's gaze pierced through the void, coming to a rest atop of two figures who were walking side-by-side through the titanic Stairway to Heaven.

"Darknorth, have you taken an interest in those two kids?" Hegemon Brightshore asked.

"I want to watch for a bit longer and see how they perform. I do quite like the two of them, though." Ning revealed a smile, causing Hegemon Brightshore, Hegemon Netherlily, and Hegemon Windrain to all laugh. It must be remembered that there were several peerless geniuses on the Stairway to Heaven who had fused multiple Supreme Daos together. The two Ning were staring at had each mastered just a single Supreme Dao.

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Book 38, Daomerge, Chapter 30 – Fifth Disciple, Sixth Disciple

A young man and woman were standing side-by-side upon the Stairway to Heaven. The stairways were incredibly vast and covered with vague sword-scars. Ji Ning had left them here in order to benefit the World-level cultivators who were selected to take part in the tournament. As for how much benefit they would gain from it, that would be up to their own comprehension abilities.

"Absolutely incredible." The youth and the maiden were staring upwards at the sword-scars above the stairs.

"Boundless, even the sword-scars which Daolord Darknorth left behind in a casual manner are filled with unfathomable profundity. Even if we don't manage to become apprenticed to him or the other major powers, just having viewed them here at the Stairway to Heaven means it was all worth it," the white-robed maiden said.

The youth nodded. Both of them knew their own limits. Although they were excellent figures in the world at large, here at the Stairway to Heaven they were ranked close to the bottom. However, as they ascended the Stairway to Heaven and viewed more and more of the sword-scars they were beginning to skyrocket in power.

As the controller of the Stairway to Heaven, Ning made sure that they weren't given ridiculously powerful opponents. Only the weakest would be washed out, while the strongest would be able to walk farther and farther. Ning wanted to make sure that the strongest wouldn't run into each other and then be washed out early.

Time passed on, one year after another. The World-level cultivators all moved quite slowly up the Stairway to Heaven, as all of them wished to meditate on the mysteries hidden within the sword-scars. Each battle meant that they might lose and be forced to leave, and so they were all quite slow and cautious.

Ten thousand years had passed since their arrival at the Stairway to Heaven.

"Boundless, you've now mastered two Supreme Daos? You were faster than me!" the maiden said jubilantly.

"Muse, you were one step ahead of me in mastering the first Supreme Dao." The youth smiled as he looked at the maiden. Everyone could easily tell how deeply they loved each other.

The two had arisen together step-by-step from the mortal world. The maiden had once been young master Boundless' maidservant, and she had been given the name of 'Muse'. Muse had been born with an incredible soul-physique and had been selected and taken away by an Immortal to a so-called 'Immortal Realm'. As for young master Boundless, he continued to struggle his way through the mortal world, eventually clambering into the path of Immortal cultivation as well.

After countless battles and tempering experiences, he managed to dazzle everyone as he ascended into the Immortal realm, where he finally met his former maidservant 'Muse' once more. The two even had a child together! Eventually, the two ascended to the World-level almost simultaneously, and to this very day they were the only World-level cultivators their homeland had ever produced.

Muse was a Chaos Immortal, while young master Boundless was a dual refiner; both a Ki Refiner and a Fiendgod Body Refiner. As a result, both had Primaltwins which they had left behind in their homelands.

They were a pair of divine lovers, and together they departed from their homeland to wander the Chaosverse, encountering quite a few fortuitous events in the process. The story of how the legendary Daolord Darknorth was going to accept disciples on behalf of his master was an earth-shattering piece of news, resulting in them deciding to take part as well.

"I admit defeat!" Muse's sword-formation had been overcome by her opponent. She knew that she no longer had any chance, and so she immediately and voluntarily admitted defeat.

After the battle. "Boundless, I lost. Be careful as you proceed up the Stairway. If you are unable to win, just admit defeat." Muse could sense how the Stairway to Heaven was becoming increasingly difficult, and so she wanted to admonish her Dao-companion.

"I know." Boundless nodded.

Half a month later, Boundless and Muse reunited at the base of the Stairway. "He was just too powerful. Not only was he an Ancient cultivator, he had even reached a higher level of comprehension than I did. I was thoroughly convinced by my defeat." Boundless shook his head, then said helplessly, "I thought that the two of us could be considered quite talented and would attract some attention from one of the major powers watching, or perhaps a Daolord of the Fourth Step… but who would've thought that not a single one would reach out to us?"

"I waited for half a month at the base of the Stairway without anyone coming to meet me either." Muse nodded.

Both were proud and talented figures, the only World-level cultivators their homeland had ever produced. They had benefited greatly from this experience, but in the end no major powers had come to take them on as disciples.

"Let's wait for a while longer. Perhaps there will be a Daolord who takes interest in us," Boundless said.

"Alright, let's wait." Muse held onto hope as well. Having a good master could make all the difference in the world. Neither Boundless nor Muse had received any guidance from a Daolord, and thus they knew almost nothing at all about the Endless Territories as a whole.

"Hey there, kids." A voice suddenly rang out. Boundless and Muse both turned to look, rather excited and eager. Had a major power just chosen them? Who was it? Was it a Daolord of the Fourth Step, or perhaps even an Eternal Emperor? Or could it be a Hegemon… or perhaps even Daolord Darknorth? Although they knew rationally that it was unlikely someone particularly powerful had chosen them, they still clung onto their hopes and dreams.

They saw a white-robed youth walking towards them from afar. His aura was quite unique, and he didn't give them any sense of pressure at all. He seemed quite… ordinary.

"A Daolord?" Both Boundless and Muse felt rather disappointed. It was still fairly easy to distinguish a Daolord's aura from an Eternal Emperor's aura. Every single Eternal Emperor emanated an aura that had the scent of 'eternity' about it, an aura that whispered that time had no hold over this person.

Moments later, they quickly regained their usual calm. They were still quite pleased, to tell the truth; perhaps the Daolords who chose disciples here were the weakest masters available, but at least the two of them had been chosen! If no one had chosen them at all, they really would've felt saddened.

"You two have superb comprehension of the sword," Ning congratulated with a smile. Indeed, they were quite impressive.

As far as growth went, Boundless and Muse could actually be ranked in the top ten amongst the World-level cultivators who had come here and learned from the sword-scars. It must be remembered that he knew that the other powers would also be interested in taking on disciples, which was why he had merely required all of the World-level cultivators be 'skilled in the sword', rather than exclusively focus on the Dao of the Sword. Thus, there were (for example) some incredibly talented figures who were skilled in swordplay, but whose true forte lay in the Dao of Spacetime, in the Dao of the Saber, or even heartforce!

Of those who focused on the Dao of the Sword, Muse and Boundless had grown and improved faster than everyone else. Ning was able to tell at a glance that the two hadn't received the proper tutelage, which was why they had improved at such a rapid pace. When Ning saw them, he felt like he saw the mirror images of himself when he had first left the Three Realms.

It was only after Ning had joined the Twelve Palaces of Brightshore that he developed a Supreme Dao, and it wasn't until he had entered the alternate universe that he had mastered fused Supreme Daos.

In addition, Boundless and Muse were so close to each other that Ning couldn't help but think back to the feelings he and Yu Wei had shared for each other. "What a pity," Ning sighed to himself. If she was still alive, perhaps the two of them could adventure the Chaosverse together, just like Boundless and Muse.

"Are the two of you willing to enter my tutelage?" Ning asked.

"Senior, are you skilled in the Dao of the Sword?" Muse asked.

Ning nodded. As he did so, he caused a terrifyingly powerful aura of sword-intent to emanate from his body, an aura so strong that both Boundless and Muse felt their hearts quiver. However, they didn't truly understand what this aura entailed. They were merely a pair of inexperienced World-level cultivators, after all; in their eyes, all Daolords of the Fourth Step were terrifyingly powerful. They only felt that Ning was terrifyingly strong, capable of wiping them out with just a fraction of his might.

Boundless and Muse exchanged a glance, then immediately knelt down: "Your disciples greet you, Master."

"Mm." Ning nodded. "Follow me, then." An invisible dimensional ripple swept across the two of them. Ning took a single step forwards, shuttling through spacetime and arriving back at the place where the Hegemons and the Emperors were all gathered together.

"Daolord Darknorth."

"Darknorth."

"Congratulations, Daolord Darknorth, on having accepted some fine disciples." The Hegemons and Emperors were all laughing and congratulating Ning as they glanced at the two young fellows standing behind them. They couldn't help but secretly sigh at how incredibly lucky those two young fellows were! Instead of choosing more powerful cultivators, Ning had actually ended up choosing this pair of Dao-companions.

Ning returned to sit in the lotus position atop his cloud, with Hegemon Netherlily, Hegemon Windrain, and Hegemon Brightshore by his side. The four of them were seated the highest.

"B-but…" Boundless and Muse continued to stand behind Ning. They stared at the three awesome Hegemons next to them, then at the many Eternal Emperors below them. Every single person here emanated an aura of eternity. Even the most foolish of World-level cultivators would immediately understand that the many major powers standing subserviently before them were all Eternal Emperors… and so, Boundless and Muse instantly understood that they had just become apprenticed to the legendary Daolord Darknorth.

"W-we…" Boundless and Muse exchanged a glance. Both felt rather light-headed. The auras of the Hegemons and the many Eternal Emperors present were simply too oppressive.

"Master," Boundless whispered softly.

"From this day forth, you shall be the fifth and sixth disciples under my tutelage," Ning said.

Boundless and Muse instantly felt excited. Boundless asked, "Master, I heard you are taking on ten disciples in total?"

"No. Misinformation certainly spreads quickly." Ning shook his head.

"All of you young fellows have been spreading all sorts of wild rumors around." Hegemon Brightshore laughed merrily, "For this event, Darknorth is accepting disciples on behalf of his own teacher, which means those ten are technically just his junior apprentice brothers and sisters who he will teach in his teacher's stead. As for the two of you? You are Daolord Darknorth's personal disciples."

Boundless and Muse turned to stare at the white-robed, white-haired old man next to them. They felt a sense of closeness and warmth radiating from him.

"Darknorth, how many disciples do you plan on selecting?" Brightshore asked. "If you are done picking, I'm going to start."

"I'm done." Ning nodded. "I'll only choose these two from this event. I'll pick ten junior apprentice-brothers and sisters at the very end."

Although quite a few geniuses had taken part in this event, the only ones who had truly moved and intrigued Ning were Boundless and Muse. He felt as though he saw himself and Yu Wei in them, and so he had taken them on as his disciples! At Ning's level, taking on a disciple was more a matter of personal feelings than anything else. For example, his second example 'Green Bamboo' Yang Quding had been nothing more than an ordinary mortal.

Ning didn't keep his words private at all, allowing everyone to hear them. All the Emperors below him turned to stare towards Boundless and Muse with changed looks in their eyes. These two lucky kids! They don't even know how lucky they are. Their master was someone who no one in all the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance would dare to offend, a peerless Daolord who caused even Hegemons to feel dread. He had set up this great tournament which covered the entire Flamedragon Realmverse… and in the end, the only two disciples he had chosen were the two of them.

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