Desolate Era

The essence of the Autarch’s blood would greatly benefit the Aeonian bloodlines of the Aeonian race. To normal cultivators, this tree which Ji Ning had just taken away was nothing more than a tree that would allow for larger-than-normal harvests of fruit. To the Aeonians, however, the Autarch’s blood essence within it was worth more than ten million chaos cycles worth of fruit! It was something they absolutely could not afford to lose.

“No point talking too much. Our young friend Darknorth has passed the trials, which means we shall protect him. If you want to act against him, you can simply attempt the trials as well,” the sea dragon leader said coldly.

“If you want to fight, let’s start. Otherwise, hurry up and beat it,” the flaming equine leader roared as well.

Emperor Anchen and the others were enraged, but there was nothing they could do. Ning and Ninedust both let out sighs of relief when they saw this.

“It seems there’s nothing they can do to us,” Ninedust said with a laugh.

“Once we leave, they’ll probably do everything they can to hunt us down,” Ning said.

“The Endless Territories are vast, while the Aeonians are mortal enemies of the Dao Alliance! These three Emperors wouldn’t dare to act too rashly.” Ninedust was quite relaxed.

Ning nodded. Once they left this place, they would be like wild geese disappearing into the skies. Given that the two of them had access to the [Vitalis] art, they could easily mimic the truesoul auras of others. They could literally go anywhere they pleased; there was no need for them to fear these three Emperors at all.

Suddenly…

“Good, good… good!” An utterly enraged laugh rang out, echoing in the heavens.

Ning and Ninedust both raised their heads, surprised, to stare at the three leading Emperors of the Aeonian race. The leader of the three, Emperor Anchen, was so enraged he was laughing. He let out a furious growl, “If that’s the case… estate-spirit, come out immediately!”action

Whoosh. A ripple of power manifested, causing the light in the skies to coalesce into the form of a white-haired woman with an extraordinary aura. An enigmatic smile on her face, she asked, “What is it?”

“The spirit of the estate?” Ning and Ninedust were both shocked. Suddenly, they remembered that when they had been in the beastworld with the Autarch’s Dao, that world held an estate-spirit within it. It wasn’t unreasonable for this world to have an estate-spirit of its own as well.

“Spirit of the estate, this was a world created for us by our ancestor. These are our ancestral lands! But these two outsider Daolords have not only stolen away our omnigeddon bloodfruit tree, they even seek to steal the Autarch’s blood. Please intervene and slay these two interloper Daolords, estate-spirit!” Emperor Anchen said loudly.

“Ancestor?” Ning was surprised.

“Emperor Anchen, did you just say ‘ancestor’? Wasn't this place created by Autarch Bolin?” Ninedust called out loudly with surprise.

The distant Emperor Anchen glanced downwards, a hint of a cold smile on his lips. “The members of the mighty Aeonian race are the descendants of Autarch Bolin!”

Ning and Ninedust were both rather stunned. The descendants of Autarch Bolin? Were the Aeonians really this incredible?

“Any member of the Aeonian race who has been Awakened shall possess the bloodlines of our almighty ancestor, Autarch Bolin!” Emperor Anchen said proudly, “The Aeonian bloodline is special… because it is the bloodline of an Autarch! This is a world which Autarch Bolin created for us; it is our ancestral lands. The Autarch’s blood was left behind for us by the Autarch as well.”

Ning and Ninedust were both stunned. It made sense. The Aeonians did possess an incredible bloodline; supposedly, after becoming Eternal Emperors they could use their bloodline to slowly improve in power even further. It must be understood that for most Emperors, improving in power was incredibly difficult.

“Spirit of the estate, you can go ahead and slay these two interlopers.” Emperor Anchen looked anxiously at the estate-spirit.

The white-haired woman let out a cold snort. “I am unable to intervene.”

“Unable to intervene? How can you be unable to intervene?” Emperor Anchen was starting to grow frantic. He knew just how powerful the estate-spirit was; within this estate-world, the estate-spirit was virtually invincible! Even Hegemons would probably be weaker than it in power.

“I must inform you that this world was not, in fact, created for you Aeonians,” the white-haired woman said. “During the Dawn War against the Sithe, Autarch Bolin was worried about our side being defeated and so he left behind many backup plans to help the cultivators rise to power again in the future. He created this estate-world for that purpose, and those three hundred-plus Hegemons willingly passed down their legacies as well. This was all for the sake of the countless cultivators who would be born in the future. It wasn’t just for you Aeonians!”

Emperor Anchen was stunned.

“Afterwards, we won the war. Autarch Bolin’s life grew peaceful once more, but he eventually grew lonely and so developed the Aeonian bloodline, creating your Aeonian race. The Autarch left behind a single undiluted drop of the original Aeonian blood in this place, hoping that some of the many descendants of the Aeonian race would be able to grow powerful enough to absorb it. Alas… this branch here in the Flamedragon Realmverse is far too weak. Despite the passage of countless years, none of you have been able to absorb this blood.” The estate-spirit chuckled.

Emperor Anchen, Emperor Islehide, and Emperor Duug all felt rather ashamed.

“Are you saying this isn’t the Autarch’s blood?” the distant sea dragon leader asked, puzzled.

“It is the Autarch’s blood, but it was formed after countless unique processes were applied to it. This blood was part of the original blood which gave birth to the Aeonian bloodlines and race, which was why I referred to it as the ‘original Aeonian blood’,” the white-haired woman said. “If any of the Aeonians were able to reach Hegemony, he would more or less be able to absorb this drop of Aeonian blood. Once he did so, he would finally and truly be qualified to refer to himself as a true child of Autarch Bolin, and he would be far stronger than ordinary Hegemons in power.”

“Unfortunately… this lot here is completely useless.” The white-haired woman shook her head, then turned to look at the still-stunned Ning and Ninedust.

“As for you two? You came into my estate-world using the Autarch’s medallion,” the white-haired woman said. “This naturally counts as being here with the Autarch’s commission. I won’t act against you two! However, the Autarch’s blood was the font for the entire Aeonian race. Ordinary cultivators like yourselves cannot absorb it, no matter how hard you try. Also… Daolord Darknorth, there’s no need for you to waste your efforts trying to move it. I am in control of this estate-world, and I absolutely will not permit anyone to take it away!”

“If someone wishes to take it away, the only method permissible is absorption… but only Aeonians can accomplish it. Hegemon-level Aeonians, at that.” The white-haired woman glanced sideways at Emperor Anchen. “You were given every advantage in the world, but you made nothing of it. The exalted Aeonians actually ended up having such useless progeny… what a pity. Hmph.” As she spoke, she began to vanish.

“Wait! This realmverse is about to be destroyed soon!” Emperor Anchen called out frantically, “When that happens there will be no way for this estate-world to exist by itself.”

“Relax. An estate-world which was laboriously created by Autarch Bolin will not be so easily destroyed,” the white-haired woman said. “However… when the Yin-Yang Samsara Wheels destroy this area, this estate-world shall vanish from it. The ties of destiny which link us together shall have come to an end, and I will go search for a different branch. Hmph… Autarch Bolin left behind many branches throughout the vast Chaosverse, and many of those branches were given no chance to absorb any of the Autarch’s blood. I gave you more than thirty million chaos cycles, but you weren’t able to make the best of this opportunity. Don’t blame anyone but yourself.”

Emperor Anchen and the others began to grow frantic. Become a Hegemon? Easier said than done! There had been quite a few supreme Daolords in the history of the Aeonian race in this realmverse, but their chances of succeeding in the Daomerge were absolutely miniscule. Thus far, not a single one of them had ever succeeded in the Daomerge and becoming a Hegemon.

As for existing Emperors who were at the Archon level to reach the Hegemon level? That was even harder. The Aeonians knew a great many things, but they had only heard of a single Hegemon known as the ‘Paragon of Pills’ who had started off as an ordinary Eternal Emperor but then managed to train all the way up to the Hegemon level.

“Haha, the beastworld we visited previously ended up flying away as well. It seems as though this estate-world is also capable of independent movement,” Ninedust sent mentally. “The Autarch’s blood truly is terrifying, though… apparently, only Aeonian Hegemons are capable of absorbing it. How powerful would they become upon doing so?”

“So this is what an Autarch is capable of.” Ning stared at the swirling globe of blood inside the massive crater. Its aura dwarfed that of any Hegemon; how strong would one become after absorbing it? Alas, Autarch Bolin had left it behind for the Aeonians alone.

“So what should we do next?” Ninedust sent mentally.

“What can we do? Since we cannot earn the Autarch’s blood, we might as well leave,” Ning sent mentally.

Right at this moment, Emperor Anchen’s voice rang down from the skies above: “Daolord Darknorth, Ninedust Sectlord… all you need to do is leave behind the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree and swear a lifeblood oath not to divulge any of those three hundred-plus Hegemonic legacies to outsiders! If you are willing to do this, then the three of us would also be willing to swear oaths to never attack or pursue you through any means at all.”

“The Hegemonic legacies? Haha, I’m a member of the Ancients! For the sake of all these legacies, the Ancients would definitely do everything in their power to protect me. Do you really think I’m afraid of you Aeonians?” Ninedust snickered.

Ning raised his head to stare into the skies as well. If he eventually failed in his Daomerge, these Hegemonic legacies were the most important thing he could leave behind for the Three Realms in the future.

“Darknorth, are you going to reject our offer as well?” Emperor Anchen growled.

“These three hundred-plus Hegemonic legacies were left behind for all cultivators, not just you Aeonians. By what right do you demand an oath from us?” Ning replied coldly. Not even the Hegemons themselves had demanded Ning swear a lifeblood oath; what made the Aeonians think they had that right?

“Damn them.”

“They are courting death.” The nearby Emperor Duug and Emperor Islehide were infuriated as well.

Emperor Anchen said furiously, “This is your final warning. Hand over the omnigeddon bloodfruit tree and swear the lifeblood oath! Otherwise, we Aeonians will use everything at our disposal to hunt down and kill you two. We won’t stop until you are dead!!!”

Whoosh.

Ning vanished into thin air. As for Ninedust, he lifted the Autarch’s medallion up and activated the power within it. A ripple of might surrounded him… and a heartbeat later, he vanished without a trace, having left this estate-world.