The Desolate Era - Volume 38 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Book 38, 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 .