Chapter 774: Spirit Pictures
It was as if the weight of an entire planet had been brought to bear upon these True Immortal projections.
Had their original bodies been present, they might have collectively managed to withstand such planetary might, becoming the very ones to shoulder the "Heavenly Abyss."
But these were mere projections; how could they endure such an invisible, world-collapsing pressure?
There was nowhere to escape; it was as though the very world itself was rejecting them.
In a mere few seconds, cracks began to appear on the surfaces of the many True Immortal projections, which had been forced out of concealment, making them appear on the verge of collapse.
...
"What exactly do you intend to do?!" Seeing their projections on the brink of destruction from this bizarre attack, their True Immortal main bodies, originally stationed in their distant strongholds, were forced to reveal themselves and intervene.
Several streaks of light shot forth from the Federation flagship fleet, streaking like comets across the void, descending upon the battlefield at near-light speed to block the all-encompassing blow.
It took the combined effort of the eight True Immortals to barely quell the upheaval caused by that single "Suppress" character.
It was simply that the moment such a thought arose, rationality dismissed it in the very next millisecond.
Because there was a high probability they would receive the answer they least wished to hear.
Although none of them possessed prophetic abilities, no one lacked basic analytical skills.
...
At the same moment, the four Ghost Immortals, who had been constantly moving through the void as intelligence couriers, were also forced to reveal themselves before others.
To be fair, Ghost Immortals were the least fond of exposing their true forms to other cultivators of the same tier.
Because their direct combat capabilities were the weakest among the Five Immortal Paths, specializing in various auxiliary abilities. Unless they cultivated other paths concurrently, they would simply be bullied in one-on-one combat. Though unkillable, it was still a blow to their pride, much like a two-meter-tall person standing next to one who is 1.6 meters tall...
"Good, everyone's mostly here." Bai Mo did not directly answer the eight immortals' question but instead spoke to himself.
"..."
Of the twenty-five True Immortals in the entire Federation, five were currently undergoing the Reincarnation Tribulation, their fates unknown. The remaining twenty, after the final eight who had been spectating were forcibly summoned, were now all gathered on the Execution Star.
The officers and soldiers on the Federation fleet, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, witnessed a spectacle they might never have the chance to see a second time.
Including the Four Holy Beasts, over twenty awe-inspiring True Immortal existences stood majestically in space, each occupying a corner of the sky. The invisible pressure they radiated forced even distant cultivators to strain with all their might just to open their eyes and glance in their direction.
All the various spectating secret arts that had been effective moments ago were now shattered. Cultivators who practiced special eye arts and perception arts, who had been remotely observing the sermon, were now, without exception, clutching their eyes, from which blood and tears flowed...
That was the backlash from their techniques being broken and from peeking into heavenly secrets.
...
Bai Mo stood at the center of the twenty-four individuals, yet he was the most serene of them all.
"Which of you intends to be the first Emperor of the Divine Terra Empire?" His question came as a surprise to everyone present.
"What do you want to do?" Federation Speaker Ji Er Ke Fu stepped forward proactively, meeting his gaze without fear.
He wished to overcome the inner demon from his past.
Over a hundred years ago, he had been personally captured by Bai Mo and forced into years of hard labor in the Land of White before finally gaining release. This incident had left a lingering thorn in Ji Er Ke Fu's heart.
Of course, the greater thorn resided in the hearts of the Four Holy Beasts, who had lived in the Land of White for over a hundred years. However, under such long-term influence, they couldn't even muster the courage to resist, choosing only to flee.
"Give the Imperial Seal of the Hua-Ya Federation to him." Bai Mo casually pointed, and the Immortal Artifact Imperial Seal, which had just now awed the assembled immortals, slowly floated into mid-air.
A deathly silence fell.
On one hand, they had just witnessed the power of the Imperial Seal's decree; a mere "Suppress" character had required eight True Immortals to nullify. Holding such an Immortal Artifact could at least double one's combat power, so who wouldn't be tempted?
On the other hand, Bai Mo's infamous reputation for setting traps and schemes preceded him.
Many present were figures from his era and naturally knew what Bai Mo had done in the past. As for the Xuanhuang Fruit's pitfall, whether it was intentional or accidental, no one could say for certain even now.
Of course, many immortals who reached the pinnacle had done similar things in terms of laying down contingencies; it was merely that their positions differed, and thus their perspectives differed.
Take the Xuanhuang Fruit, for example: objectively, it greatly expanded the number of cultivators, giving many ordinary people who originally lacked cultivation aptitude a chance to touch the transcendent world.
However, those who began their cultivation path using the Xuanhuang Fruit could never cultivate Spirit Pictures.
After over a hundred years of development, the Federation had successfully combined over two thousand different Spirit Hubs into more than four hundred effective Spirit Pictures.
Some of these Spirit Pictures emphasized combat power enhancement; once perfected, one could easily fight four opponents of the same tier.
Others focused on cultivation assistance, accelerating cultivation progress, or, even more remarkably, reducing the difficulty of breaking through realms.
Although there were cases of individuals cultivating a single Spirit Hub to an extremely profound level, most elite cultivators within the Federation now concurrently cultivated one to two Spirit Pictures.
However, the exorbitant price of an entire set of Spirit Pictures was simply beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators.
Under the Federation's current circumstances, a second-tier cultivator's average annual income was about two million Federation dollars, but a single set of the lowest-grade Yellow-grade Spirit Pictures cost nearly one hundred million.
A second-tier cultivator without a strong background, unless they possessed immune Qi Luck and encountered a fortuitable opportunity during the space-time wars, would most likely toil their entire lives and still be unable to afford one.
Better Mystic-grade Spirit Pictures retailed for approximately five hundred million.
As for the top-tier Earth-grade and Heaven-grade Spirit Pictures, they were virtually priceless due to their scarcity. To gather the many rare Spirit Hubs and acquire them required immense luck, not just money.
After all, those who possessed rare Spirit Hubs were usually not easily manipulated. Opportunities like the ability user competition Bai Mo held back then, where he could easily "harvest" them, would never arise again.
The Federation possessed a total of eight Heaven-grade Spirit Pictures. The Dongtian Kongxuan and Divine Wind Clear Moon, which Bai Mo had once transplanted, were among them. Unfortunately, later generations, perhaps due to certain taboos, were unwilling to follow his path.
...
"You want to give away the Immortal Artifact Imperial Seal? What are your conditions?" Ji Er Ke Fu clearly understood that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Every gain required a cost, and giving away something as valuable as the Imperial Seal, which was comparable to the combat power of a True Immortal, would undoubtedly come with a hefty price.
"Reserve an Elector position."
"For you?"
Upon hearing this, a dark cloud invariably settled in everyone's hearts. Bai Mo had only recently declared that he would no longer interfere much with Federation affairs, yet in the blink of an eye, he was stirring things up again...
"No."
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