Desolate Era

“Starting today… Skyfeeder, Mogg, Bolin, and Stonerule, the five of us must cease using our true bodies to hunt down Sithe warships,” Autarch Titanos sent to the others. “The cultivators across the various battlefronts are no longer under too much pressure. That means the hunt for Sithe Hegemons is no longer as pressing as it was previously! Let’s simply have our avatars engage in the hunt. Let’s not send our true bodies.”

“Right. Leave our true bodies in safety. Darknorth and Ekong have both been trapped; if two or three more of us are trapped, we might end up losing this war,” Autarch Skyfeeder sent back.

“Darknorth, be careful,” Mogg said.

“Solve it and escape as soon as you can. Too much time can result in new variables being introduced,” Autarch Bolin said.

Everyone understood that the longer one was trapped for, the more dangerous it would be. Even if Ning was able to temporarily survive the grayish-white temple thanks to his formidable abilities, it was just a matter of time before the Sithe sent even more reinforcements to attack him! Thus, the more time they wasted the uglier the situation would become. He had to escape as quickly as possible.

“If there’s anything you need us to do, just ask,” Autarch Skyfeeder said. “Of the seven of us, your life matters more than anyone else’s.”

“I understand.” Ning also understood that his fate no longer belonged to him alone; his death would have an impact on their entire Chaosverse and all the cultivators within it.

The white-robed Ning stared at the countless spacetime bubbles and the formation they had been arranged into. Spacetime continuously changed around him, and Ning simply watched while under the effects of 100x temporal acceleration. His every thought was focused on understanding how this grand spacetime formation actually worked.

……

Riiiiip. A spacetime rift suddenly appeared deep within the Great Dark, followed by a tall, gray-robed, barefoot man walking into it. His eyes were warm and gentle, seemingly filled with love towards all living beings.

“Hmph.” Iyerre stared into the void, letting out a slight snort as he frowned. A strange type of energy was circling around his body, preventing all forms of karma from touching him! This was the reason why no one from the local cultivator civilizations had ever been able to discover his existence, despite the passage of countless aeons. Given Iyerre’s power, if the prime essences of the Chaosverse were able to sense him it would’ve immediately ranked him as the most terrifying threat in all of existence and have warned the Autarchs long ago.

“Ugh. I can’t use even a sliver of the power of the Dao, and I’m constantly being suppressed. Even my travelling speed is slowed to a crawl,” Iyerre murmured anxiously to himself. Given his power, back in his own Chaosverse he was able to travel more than a hundred times faster than right now. Even in the Infinite Void, he travelled much faster than he did right now. In this Chaosverse, however, he was being constantly suppressed to the point where he moved roughly as fast as the native Autarchs.

“It will take me eighty-two days to reach the place where we’ve trapped Emperor Darknorth.” Cold light flashed through Iyerre’s warm eyes. “I hope nothing happens during this period of time. We’ve used the ‘Eight Revolutions Spacetime Temple’ to trap Emperor Darknorth. He shouldn’t be able to escape in such a short period of time.”

He had been waiting back in the heart of the Sithelands, which was very far away from the place Ning was trapped. And yet, he would still be able to reach Ning in just a bit over two months, despite being unable to use any of the power of the Dao and being suppressed by this Chaosverse. This was a testament to how truly formidable he was!

“Emperor Darknorth is the only variable which is outside my control. If I can get rid of him, the six remaining Autarchs will pose no danger.” Iyerre felt a tinge of worry. “He’s the most unpredictable variable, and he’s definitely in the highest of favor with the local Quintessence. The entire Chaosverse will concentrate virtually all of its luck onto him! This is what allows him to create one miracle after another… but in the end, going from being an Omega Emperor to being an Omega Autarch will still be incredibly difficult. Luck and favor alone will not be enough.”

In the end, karmic luck was just a form of external aid. It could be ridiculously helpful to ordinary mortals, allowing them (for example) to easily acquire various treasures which could allow them to become Immortals and understand the Dao. For Autarchs, however, luck was much less useful.

Autarch Titanos and the others didn’t care too much about karmic luck either. It was almost impossible for them to improve any further, no matter how lucky they were! Ning, however, was the only person in this entire Chaosverse who stood a chance of becoming an Omega Autarch. He would definitely be blessed with tremendous luck, but luck alone wouldn’t be enough to produce an Omega Autarch. It wasn’t even enough to allow him to come up with a technique like the ‘Truesoul Everlasting’; such a thing required many other factors, including personal insights and tremendous hard work!

Generally speaking, the more powerful you became the better your karmic luck would also become. When Ning had been reborn via the Netherworld Kingdom, he had been an unremarkable little fellow in the vast chaosworld that was the Three Realms. It was only once he grew stronger that his luck truly improved. Iyerre, in contrast, wished to suppress the entire Chaosverse and then bind it to him. To an expert like him, only personal strength was worth putting your faith in.

“He might be a variable, but he still has far less than even a 10% chance of breaking through to becoming an Omega Autarch. I still stand a very good chance of winning this war. Eighty-two days… so long as they can hold him for eighty-two days, I’ll be able to make it in time and get rid of Emperor Darknorth.” Iyerre had an ironclad will, but he still couldn’t help but feel a bit of anxiousness. He knew that whether or not he was able to kill Emperor Darknorth was one of the biggest factors in determining if he could gain control over this Chaosverse or not.

Riiiip. He continued to tear through spacetime, warping at Autarch-like speeds towards Ning’s location.

……

Within the Eight Revolutions Spacetime Temple. Ever since Ning had been trapped here, he had spent all of his time analyzing the complicated formation around him. He had no idea that a terrifying figure like Iyerre was heading towards him, but he did know the more time he wasted, the more dangerous the situation would become.

On the fifth day of Ning’s imprisonment. Autarch Titanos and Autarch Ekong managed to break free of the hallway formation trapping them… but then, a new danger appeared before them.

On the ninth day of Ning’s imprisonment. The two Autarchs very nearly escaped, but all of a sudden the most terrifying danger of all descended upon them.

On the tenth day of Ning’s imprisonment. Autarch Titanos’ avatar was forced to use his own life to block the dangerous attack crashing towards them, resulting in him dying in battle! However, this allowed Autarch Ekong to escape unharmed. He was heavily wounded, but at least he managed to stay alive.

“I could feel death breathing down my neck. I could literally feel death’s icy grasp reaching for me! It was all thanks to you, Titanos. Otherwise, there’s no way I would’ve been able to escape. Even if I did escape the first hallway, the second trap would’ve done me in.” Autarch Ekong was extremely grateful. “I’m ashamed of having caused you to sacrifice an avatar.”

“It’s fine. I can make another one! For you to have escaped counts as a win in my book. Besides, it was my fault for being unable to fully divine all the dangers of that place,” Titanos said.

“Haha! Ekong, Titanos just saved your life. After this war is over, you need to offer him some of that fine wine you’ve been stockpiling.”

“No problem whatsoever,” Ekong agreed straightforwardly.

Ekong’s escape was something for the cultivators to celebrate. Of course, Titanos had to recreate an avatar, which would start off at 50% of his power at most. This avatar would now be the weakest of their Autarch-class combatants, which would have a negative impact on their total combat prowess, but it was still a much, much better outcome than Autarch Ekong dying.

Now, the only one trapped was Ning himself. Titanos, Skyfeeder, Mogg, and Bolin all offered advice and strategies based on what Ning had told them, and they also tried to help come up with ideas for solving the formation. Alas, they weren’t able to see the formation in person and so they could do nothing more than give general advice.

……

On the nineteenth day of Ning’s imprisonment. Ning was still unable to escape, but something else happened. Autarch Bolin’s avatar was also assaulted by a squad of Sithe Exalts. He had been very cautious, but he still ended up trapped within an evil black temple.

“The Sithe really do have more squads of Exalts roving around. Damn.” Autarch Ekong was furious.

“Thankfully, only his avatar has been trapped there. If Bolin’s real body was trapped, we’d be in much more trouble,” Titanos said. “Bolin, hurry up and try to solve the formation and escape as soon as possible. Even if you can’t escape, the sooner your avatar dies the sooner you can start working on a new one and making it stronger. Every extra day counts. Of course, I hope you can escape intact. That avatar is an Autarch-class combatant, after all.”

If they were continuously weakened like this, they might end up being defeated in the final battle. Small losses of strength could have a major impact on the outcome of the war.

“Darknorth, you be careful as well. Staying alive matters more than anything else,” Titanos said.

“Darknorth, my avatar’s remained fairly close to you this entire time. It can probably reach you in around ten days or so. If you ever need my help, just let me know,” Autarch Mogg sent. “Your life is extremely important to us. If I can sacrifice an avatar to keep you alive, that’s a worthwhile trade.”

“No need. I’m still analyzing the formation trapping me. You coming in wouldn’t really help me much. If I ever do need you, I’ll let you know.” Ning felt quite grateful for the offer, but he knew that Autarch Mogg coming wouldn’t make any difference.