Ji Ning picked up the three black dolls, sending his godsense into them to inspect them. He couldn’t help but feel rather shocked at the marvelous artifice used to make them. It must be remembered that not even Iyerre himself was able to create these things; they were even more arcane than the Grassland World or the Annihilation Hive.

“I’m actually unable to bind them.” Ning tested out binding them, but much like how the Autarch message-talismans could only be used by specific Autarchs, these black dolls could only be used by a preapproved ‘list’ of people. Iyerre was able to temporarily grant ‘usage rights’ to the Grassland World to his three allies, but as soon he arrived he was able to take back that right. The same was true for these black dolls!

“Although I can’t bind them, I’ll still benefit from studying them.” Ning waved his hand, putting them away. He stared at the vast Grassland World and at the Golden Bridges which lay fallen within the clouds, his heart rather heavy.

They had won, but the cost had been far, far too great. Iyerre had managed to escape as well. Ning didn’t chase after him, because he knew that engaging in a long-distance pursuit was pointless. Iyerre was no fool; the man had undoubtedly fled out of this entire Chaosverse. Besides, as soon as Ning closed in on Iyerre, the latter would undoubtedly notice and would immediately warp through spacetime again, giving Ning no chance to attack at all.

Whoosh. Ning waved a hand, causing two figures to appear next to him. It was Autarch Ekong and Autarch Bolin.

“How did it go, Darknorth?” Ekong and Bolin scanned the area around them.

Ning said rather unhappily, “The other Sithe are all dead, but Iyerre ended up escaping. I was so close! Ugh.”

“If he escaped, he escaped.” Bolin and Ekong didn’t care that much. Bolin said, “His level of insight is simply too high. Killing him will be far, far too difficult. Although we paid a heavy price to just barely win this battle… we were still the victors! Iyerre has already used up everything he has prepared over all these years. He’ll never have the chance to overcome us again.”

Autarch Ekong said worriedly, “What if he comes back and tries again?”

“We have the advantage of time. As more time passes, our accumulated power shall increase more and more. We’ll even give birth to new Autarchs,” Bolin said. “So… if he wishes to come back, he’ll need to do so as soon as possible. But the very fact that he chose to flee this critical battle is proof that he’s already used up everything he has! Come back? With what!”

Ning agreed with this assessment. If Iyerre was to return, he had to do so with a new source of power! Iyerre had been supported by both the Grassland World and those three black warbeasts which had joined into a formation to support him, but in the end he had still lost both the battle and his allies. What would he use to launch another attack?

“I grieve for Titanos and the others,” Ning sighed.

“None of us were afraid of death. So long as we won, death holds no fear for us.” Bolin sighed as well. “Our only fear was of losing. Now that we have won, it is enough.”

“Hurry up and try to bind the Grassland World,” Ning said. “I’m worried that if Iyerre comes back, he’ll come straight for the Grassland World first. It probably won’t be easy for anyone else to bind.”

“Alright.” Bolin and Ekong both agreed. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The three immediately flew downwards and began to surveil the entire Grassland World.

……

Just as Ning had predicted, it was impossible for them to bind the Grassland World. “If we cannot bind it, then let us destroy its quintessence core.”

Ning, Bolin, and Ekong stood next to each other within that castle located deep within the depths of the Grassland World, staring at an indigo globe before them. This indigo globe had returned to its normal state, now that nothing was trying to ‘squeeze’ more power out of it. Although it was very small, all three could sense the enormous amount of power contained within it.

This quintessence core was extremely important to the Sithe, but it wasn’t of much use to the three of them. In their own homeland, they had access to the unlimited power of the Chaosverse itself. There was no need for a puny quintessence core like this.

“Destroy it.” Ning struck out with a Northbow sword, sending black sword-light slicing through the air and chopping apart everything in its path. This severing sword-light sliced straight at the distant indigo globe. Although there was some resistance, the sword managed to hack through it. Once the sword reached the very core of that indigo globe, the Oblivion-infused sword-light dramatically flared. The indigo globe first split in half, then suddenly exploded completely due to the power of the sword-light.

Boom! Power swept out in every direction, but thanks to the suppressive effect of the Oblivion Sword Dao, by the time the shockwave reached Ning and the other two it had already weakened down to 1%. The enormous barrier of sword-light circling around them was able to defend against the shockwave with ase.

“I can sense that the prime essences have become considerably stronger after absorbing this power,” Ekong said suddenly. “In fact, the prime essences are stronger than ever before.”

Ning nodded. “I previously slew five Sithe Exalts and three incredibly strong Sithe. The Chaosverse and the prime essences absorbed all of their energies.”

Although the deaths of Titanos and the others had weakened the Chaosverse, the three incredibly strong Sithe killed by Ning had truesouls which were equivalent in ‘value’ to those of ten Autarchs! Their gains had completely surpasses their losses.

……

After they destroyed the quintessence core of the Grassland World, they then headed off to do the same to the sphere of annihilation within the Annihilation Hive.

Bolin and Ekong were both worried that Ning might not be able to accomplish it, but Ning proved them wrong. A single sword infused with the Oblivion Sword Dao was all it took to tear the sphere of annihilation open, destroying all of the mysteries of Oblivion contained within it. In the end, the entire sphere of annihilation collapsed. When it broke apart, it no longer looked like a shadowy orb. It revealed its true appearance, transforming into a tiny, solid-looking ball of light. The ball of light completely exploded, sending a limitless amount of energy blasting in every direction.

When the shockwave spread out, it seemed to cause the Five Elements, spacetime, and more to transform… but in the end, it disappeared without a trace.

“Eh?” Ning murmured softly, “Everything in the sphere of annihilation actually collapsed into a singularity, then exploded… and then it gave birth to one, which gave birth to two, which gave birth to three, which gave birth to all things?”

“The next step to my Sword Dao should be ‘Creation’.”

The Omega Sword Dao. At first, Ning had fused multiple other Daos into his Sword Dao, creating the many other so-called Sword Daos such as the Spacetime Sword Dao, the Cycle Sword Dao, the Karma Sword Dao, etc. Later on, after he meditated on ‘Oblivion’, Ning finally managed to bring the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, the Cycle of Light and Dark, Karma, and Spacetime together, using his will of obliteration to fuse them into a single Dao known as the Oblivion Sword Dao! This was why the Oblivion Sword Dao was so incredibly powerful.

When Ning had used the Oblivion Sword Dao to slay those Sithe, he discovered that after killing them they would transform into pure energy which nourished the Chaosverse. This had instantly intrigued Ning – could it be that the purpose of destruction was actually to provide nourishment and create new life? However, during the battle Ning didn’t have time to really ruminate over this.

Upon seeing the sphere of annihilation collapse, Ning began to gain an even deeper understanding.

“The Dao is split into Yin and Yang. There are two sides to all things. In order for the Omega Sword Dao to reach Autarchy, simply fusing all the other Sword Daos together to create ‘Oblivion’ isn’t enough; that will only display a single facet of the true Autarch Omega Sword Dao. The other face of destruction is the creation of new life. One begats two, two begatss three, and three begats all things.” [1. The one/two/three thing is deeply embedded in actual Daoism and is far too complicated to explain here.]

Ning exited the Annihilation Hive, then came to the Grassland World once more. The Grassland World had returned to its normal appearance and no longer had a threatening aura.

The nine layers of clouds atop the Grassland World had vanished. Even the grass had vanished, leaving behind a slick, black metal construct. Ning first fashioned a new avatar, then sat down in the lotus position atop the Grassland World and began to meditate.

He was going to wait here. If Iyerre came once more, he would probably head to the Grassland World first. “Bolin. Ekong. I need to meditate silently,” Ning said. “As for Iyerre… if he comes, leave him to me.”

“Alright.” Bolin andn Ekong didn’t disturb him.

Ning closed his eyes, beginning to ruminate upon the profound mysteries of the Dao of the Sword. All his other Sword Daos had come together to form a single whole, the Oblivion Sword Dao… but now, the Oblivion Sword Dao was changing and transforming to reveal its other ‘face’. The diametric opposite of the Oblivion Sword Dao appeared as the power of destruction slowly began to nurture life. It was as though a ‘shell’ of utter destruction pervaded this entire Dao, but at its very heart life was slowly being nurtured…

……

The Infinite Void. Here, spacetime was far more twisted and distorted than any Chaosverse could ever be. It was filled with enormous celestial objects and countless marvelous species.

Iyerre was hastening through this great void. The first time he had travelled to Ning’s Chaosverse he had moved slowly and with great care, but now that he had made multiple round trips he had become quite familiar with the (still-dangerous) path.

Every so often, Iyerre would turn to stare backwards. Although he had travelled a very great distance, the vast Chaosverse behind him still looked endless beyond measure. Only by taking control over it could one truly stand at the very pinnacle of existence within the Infinite Void.

He had spent nine days after exiting the Grassland World before managing to escape that Chaosverse, then two full months before he finally reached the estate where his master’s avatar resided.