The Desolate Era

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 cultivate 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 breakthrough 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 desire 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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