Desolate Era

Boom! The door to a private room swung open, followed by the white-robed Ji Ning striding out.

“Father.”

“Young master.” Brightmoon and Autumn Leaf were the nearest, and they immediately came over to greet him.

Ning looked at his daughter and his ‘elder sister’, then turned to gaze at the world around him. His gaze saw past the walls of reality, allowing him to see all of the chaosworlds of the Three Realms at a glance.

“I hope that the flames of war will not scorch the Three Realms,” Ning murmured softly to himself.

“Nuwa,” Ning sent mentally. Whoosh! A figure warped through space and immediately appeared before him. It was Mother Nuwa.

“Darknorth, why have you summoned me?” Nuwa smiled.

“The war against the Sithe has already begun,” Ning said. Nuwa and Brightmoon both turned pale. Autumn Leaf, however, simply had a puzzled look on her face. She was at a very low level of power, and so there were many secrets which she simply didn’t need to know. Brightmoon was both a Daolord of the Fourth Step and Ning’s daughter. She was more or less considered a member of the Three Realms’ highest echelon, and so she was naturally informed of many secrets as well.

“Father, the war has begun?” Brightmoon looked very anxious. “Th-then…”

“The war has begun. The Sithe are targeting the various Hegemons of our realmverses,” Ning said. “As for the countless mortals, World-level cultivators, and Daolords? They don’t really care. They won’t even waste too much energy on hunting down the weaker Emperors. It’ll be safer for you to stay in the Three Realms.”

As one of the paramount leaders of the cultivators, Ning naturally had to lead the charge! He would go wherever there was the most danger. The Sithe had failed during their last attempt. Given that they dared to come again, they had most assuredly made ample preparations and adjustments based on their past experiences. The Annihilation Hive alone proved to Ning that the Sithe were to be dreaded! Most likely, even their Autarchs would be at risk of dying.

This meant it would be very dangerous for his friends and family members in the Three Realms to accompany him. It was actually far safer for them to remain behind in the Three Realms instead.

“Take good care of the Three Realms.” Ning looked at Brightmoon then instructed solemnly, “Do everything you can to keep it safe.”

“Yes, Father,” Brightmoon said hurriedly.

Ning nodded slowly. He had long ago fashioned many formations and other treasures which would ensure that the Three Realms was almost completely impregnable! Even Sithe Exalts would have a difficult time breaking into it.

“Nuwa, I’ll send you to the front lines,” Ning said. Mother Nuwa nodded. As a Hegemon, she had to take part in this war!

Before leaving, Ning gave a lingering final glance to the world behind him. This was the world he had loved and had roamed for so many years. He had spent many years here in secluded meditation, teaching his disciples, and even gardening…

“Let’s go.” Ning said nothing else, immediately leading Mother Nuwa in warping away from the Three Realms.

……

A vast, empty region outside the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance. This place had long ago been designated as a major battlefront, much like the Terror Starsea of the past.

“Here we are.” Ning only needed to warp through spacetime three times before arriving at the battlefront, Nuwa in tow. The dimensional ripples generated by their arrival meant that the two of them were almost instantly discovered, and the disheveled-looking ‘Realmslord Windgrace’ personally came to greet them.

“Emperor Darknorth,” Realmslord Windgrace said with incredible respect.

“Have you finished preparing the battlefront?” Ning asked.

“We finished long ago. The many treasures which Autarch Titanos gave us made the process quite quick.” Realmslord Windgrace was filled with confidence. “The battlefront before us is a first-class battlefront. The Hegemons and Emperors of the Sixteen Realmverses Alliance and many other nearby realmverses have all been gathered here. We have over 105 Hegemons alone, and many of them brought their avatars. If the Sithe dare come, we’ll wipe out as many as they send.”

Realmslord Windgrace was very confident because back during the Dawn War, the cultivators didn’t have nearly as many powerful weapons as they did right now. They had relied purely on formations, and as a result they had suffered incredibly heavy casualties.

They had won the Dawn War, and they had acquired many Sithe weapons as a result! Autarch Titanos had also spent countless aeons forging many similar weapons which were even more suitable for cultivators to use. Autarch Titanos normally kept them in reserve, because he didn’t want to let these super weapons throw the entire Chaosverse into a state of turmoil! However, ever since Ning and the others had begun to suspect that the seal over the Sithe heartlands had failed, they had immediately begun to make the necessary arrangements. They had started to prepare battlefronts in secret, with the Hegemons and Emperors all gathered there.

Nuwa was responsible for helping Ning protect the Three Realms. As a result, she was a bit of an outlier and was permitted to remain in the Three Realms. When the battle began, Ning sent her over in person.

Hegemon Brightshore and the others had long ago travelled to this battlefront. Most of them had only left behind weak, newly-created avatars behind in their respective realmverses. Once the war actually began, they would immediately discard those avatars and focus on maintaining and strengthening a single mighty avatar.

“Very good.” Ning smiled. “This is going to be a long-lasting war. We need to conserve as much of our power as possible, even as we try to slay as many enemies as is possible. The Sithe have been lying in wait for many, many years. Now that they have arisen anew, you absolutely must not be complacent or underestimate them.”

“Understood,” Realmslord Windgrace responded.

“I’m off then.” Ning gave Nuwa a final glance, then turned and disappeared without a trace.

Mother Nuwa and Realmslord Windgrace both watched as Ning disappeared. They knew that as an Autarch-class combatant, Ning was responsible for many battlefronts throughout the entire Chaosverse.

……

Swoosh! Ning appeared at the margins of a different realmverse. His godsense was so great that it was able to cover an area a hundred times vaster than a single realmverse. As a result, he was able to investigate everything within this realmverse with ease.

“There are no Sithe here.” Ning immediately warped away once more.

The war had already begun. The six Autarchs and Ning had long ago prepared their strategy for fighting this war! Countless Hegemons and Emperors had long ago been gathered in various prepared battlefronts which were spread throughout the Chaosverse! Every single battlefront varied in size, based on how many Hegemons and Emperors resided in the surrounding area. The region around the Flamedragon Realmverse didn’t actually have all that many Hegemons and thus probably wouldn’t be a high-priority target, but since it was his homeland Ning was going to do a wide-ranging inspection of it before leaving. As a result, there was no need for any other battlefronts to be prepared anywhere near the Flamedragon Realmverse!

The reason why the battlefront Mother Nuwa and Realmslord Windgrace were in was actually located extremely far away. Ning had to warp through spacetime three times before he could reach it! The sheer number of experts they had gathered there was why it was classified as a first-class battlefront.

“Hm.” The white-robed Ning appeared out of nowhere above a grayish planet. His godsense stretched out once more as he scanned for any traces of the Sithe.

“Nothing.” Ning disappeared once more.

Starting from the Flamedragon Realmverse, Ning began an inspection of all the nearby realmverses. If he found any hint of the Sithe at all, he would immediately be able to trace them and then slay them!

The six Autarchs and Ning, along with their respective avatars, were all responsible for watching over different regions. They began to ‘sweep’ through their assigned locations. However, each ‘zone’ was so incredibly vast that it would take time. It must be remembered that it would usually take them months traveling in a straight line at top speed to pass through these zones! This was a testament to how truly vast the Chaosverse was.

Right now, they had to carefully inspect every single part of their zones in detail. The only reason they dared to do this was because they were so much faster than everyone else. They would get rid of the Sithe they encountered as soon as possible, so as to relieve the pressure on the Hegemons and Emperors on their side.

“Darknorth, six of our battlefronts have discovered Sithe warships and moved to engage them,” Autarch Titanos sent through the message-talisman. “The Sithe have already sent out their grand army. More and more Sithe warships will begin to launch attacks throughout our Chaosverse. We need to destroy as many of them as possible, since we have fewer Hegemons, Emperors, and treasures than the Sithe.”

“Alright.” Ning nodded. He also knew that the Sithe were better at producing Hegemons and Emperors. Given how much time had passed, they had probably also sent many new Hegemons from their homeland. Without a doubt, the Sithe had a significant advantage in cultivators and treasures. It was up to the six Autarchs and Ning to make up for that advantage!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Ning continued to sweep through one realmverse after another. Thankfully, he was able to scan at extremely great distances. His techniques were also so incredible that he could detect even remnant auras left behind by already-departed warships. Thus… after the time needed to boil a kettle of tea, Ning found what he was looking for.

“An aura?” Ning’s godsense quickly discovered a faint rippling aura from somewhere far away in the Great Dark. This was an aura which the Chaosverse itself was pushing back against.

“Sithe!” Ning immediately recognized the aura and began to charge towards it.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Just a few short warps later, Ning was able to see an enormous warship cruising through space in front of him. This warship was so large, it was on par with the Tigerhill warship Ning had discovered all those years ago.

The person responsible for inspecting spacetime instantly discovered Ning warping through spacetime towards them. They detected Ning’s entire body blazing with such dazzling, luminescent power that the Sithe couldn’t even look at him directly.

“That’s one of the native Autarchs!” The Sithe Hegemons and Emperors within the warship instantly felt despair. Encountering one of the native Autarchs midflight… this was their worst nightmare.

“Flee! Flee, everyone! Let as many escape as is possible!” None of the Sithe believed they could possibly resist one of the Autarchs.