Chapter 1832 Chapter 1825: ACT III (4) |
The seven Zeniths were all exceptional individuals who emanated exceptional demeanors and alchemical auras.
Their eyes were all naturally the Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity, allowing others to validate their phenomenal feats and alchemic ability with a mere glance.
They represented the peak Alchemic Dao of the Utmost Purity Galaxy's long-lived alchemical lineage that was, by both willing and reluctant admission of every lesser and greater galaxy within the cluster, the apex authority of alchemy. Undisputed elites without external equals.
While they weren't kings, queens, emperors, or empresses of their respective galactic zones, they were the unrivaled authority within by virtue of their Dao Enforcer and Alchemic Dao. In matters of alchemy, all disagreements were settled through clashes of the Dao, and who could confidently compete or outclass any of the Zeniths? This, by extension, granted them unquestioned authority.
The most interesting aspect of the Utmost Purity Galaxy's society was the premise of challenge, and even the Alchemic Edicts could be handled through the Alchemic Dao, even the abolishing of criminal offenses such as outright murder.
Alchemists were not only automatically protected and favored, but they could act almost imperiously as long as they had sufficient skill to support themselves. This ignited an incentive in the galaxy that made the path of alchemy amongst Creationists outrageously popular and, most importantly, COMPETITIVE!
This type of unfair societal alignment promoted a fierce competitive spirit to claim superiority. In normal societies, cultivation and the strength granted by it allowed for these things, fueling others to seek power and greater levels of cultivation. In the Utmost Purity Galaxy, this dog-eat-dog premise was focused on alchemists.
To state a recent example, not even a Supreme Sage dared to disturb an Alchemical Phenomenon regardless of the reason or circumstances, revering the Alchemic Dao despite their cultivation and strength.
The Zenith Extraction Alchemic Saint—Wei Wuyin had only ever heard his voice once. He was extraordinarily tall, standing at almost seven feet tall, with a slender physique that wasn't too skinny, just enough to not look like a bag of skin wrapped in loose bones. In terms of physical features defining his outward age, he appeared as a middle-aged man in the twilight of his prime with short dark hair with an elegant touch of ash grey at his temples. He wasn't ugly nor handsome by any conceivable metric, but his strong jawlines and sharp eyebrows granted him a dominating presence without being angry.
The Zenith Growth Alchemic Saint—at first glance, it wasn't easy to determine whether they were male or female, simply that they were utterly ancient with age-worn grey hair tied into a ponytail, with a severely hunched back and cane, its pommel a tawny miniature skull of a jackal with prismatic gems as its eyes. Wei Wuyin's Celestial Eyes couldn't sense any type of yin or yang within them.
They were devoid of any distinction, both physically and cultivation-wise, and this was certainly due to their cultivation method. They were by far the shortest of the seven, and largely due to their hunched back. Moreover, they were wearing an orange cloth mask hiding the majority of their face, from the bridge of their nose to their chest, exposing their thick brows, wrinkles, and Alchemic Stars within their unnaturally calm eyes.
This person had the highest cultivation amongst the Zeniths!
They were at the RESONANT SOUL REALM! A Supreme Sage-level Alchemist! However, this was a little strange as Wei Wuyin was informed that each of the Zeniths had Alchemic Souls, but…this person…lacked one?
'Do you sense an Alchemic Soul from them?' Wei Wuyin asked Eden.
"None," Eden succinctly replied.
Wei Wuyin also noticed that this particular Zenith was barefooted. The tawny and gold robes reminded him of the heavenly force unleashed earlier, yet his mind was rife with suspicion, wasn't that the color of the Zenith Containment Tower's heavenly force? There had to be a story there.
This person was rife with mystery.
Meanwhile, the Zenith Containment Alchemic Saint's aggressive beauty was a breathtaking sight. She was the only Alchemist present with an overtly terrifying physical presence. This made Wei Wuyin curious because the Novacore Lineage of the Refinement Zone's Zenith highlighted the cultivation of physicality, while the Containment Zone's current Zenith's lineage specialized in the tempering aspects of spirituality, such as Spiritual Sense, Spiritual Auras, and Spiritual Strength.
Naturally, Wei Wuyin looked toward the Zenith Refinement Alchemic Saint next. This green-and-gold-robed scholarly middle-aged man lacked any strong presence of physicality.
Faintly, Wei Wuyin sensed a high grade of Enlightened Scholarly Mist within him.
'What an odd contradiction of individuals. Perhaps they simply don't consume products that they concoct? Perhaps it is deliberate.' Noting this peculiarity, Wei Wuyin was already incredibly aware of Tianshi Zaoxuan, the Zenith Creation Alchemic Saint.
The Zenith Transformation Alchemic Saint—the leading alchemical figure of the Transformation Zone which housed the #2 pavilion across the galaxy, the Primal Peerless Pavilion founded by Long Shiya, the Abhorrent Sky Sovereign, was a rather young man, a little short—about five feet and four inches, resembling a teenager at the end of puberty, garbed in indigo and gold robes.
He had a lively pair of eyes, curious and observant. There was an abundance of youthfulness within his aura, and his cultivation was by far the lowest here, only at the Heavenly Saint Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm.
According to what Wei Wuyin had learned from White Sky and Enlightened Sage Springfield's memories, Zenith Transformation was the youngest Zenith in recent history, which could be debated to be either a million or two years depending on who you asked. Moreover, he had stupendously outrageous alchemic talent, a bonafide genius of the Alchemic Dao, and an even greater cultivation talent.
He had become an Ascended being at the age of fifty-five, during which he achieved incredible feats such as defeating cultivators two or three stages above him with dominating fashion with an Alchemic Soul, an unbelievably difficult feat without relying on a strong physicality like Zenith Containment.
Before the age of a hundred, he became an official Earthly Saint Alchemist by the Utmost Purity Galaxy's standards.
Since then, every step has been awe-inspiring and record-breaking. He was only twelve thousand years old yet he was a Heavenly Alchemic Saint!
ONLY TWELVE THOUSAND YEARS OLD!!!
To add, Wei Wuyin could sense a Blessed presence about him. He wasn't exactly a Blessed, but he surely had firm tethers to one. Wei Wuyin had only faintly sensed these things in individuals like Qingye Ying and Shang Wanqing.
The former was just a strange feeling at the time, but with his cultivation and growth in the breadth of knowledge, he could sense Shang Wanqing's karmic connection to Su Yi.
This was likely a united development of his conquest of Hells and the evolution of the Celestial Eyes.
At their platforms, their Dao Enforcers stood or sat at full alert, their attention focused on Wei Wuyin's every move or gesture. Each of them was Supreme Sages, exuding a terrifying forbidding pressure as if intent on informing Wei Wuyin to not dare to act recklessly. He dismissed their warnings without the slightest reaction.
"How about this—you all can decide. What do you think I should obtain should my Alchemic Dao prove superior to yours?" Wei Wuyin's earlier words lingered in their ears. This was an outrageous sentence, and it attacked their very sense of worth with a single move.
Suo Haoran's eyes glinted. This was why he hated Imperial Cultivators, who naturally attacked one's Heart of Cultivation and spirit whenever they acted, intent on crushing individuals through overwhelming superiority and oppression to validate themselves. While not all cultivators that follow the Imperial Dao do so, most of them do. They were peerlessly aggressive and arrogant with inflated senses of self-worth solely because they've conquered or ruled over others.
Even if he understood why.
There was a silence that engulfed the table. Tianshi Zaoxuan gave it a bit before he cleared his throat, and just as he was about to speak, the scholarly Zenith Refinement brazenly looked at Wei Wuyin with a smile on his lips as if he was looking at a clown.
"Do we get to decide the details of the clash?"
Wei Wuyin returned his gaze and smiled, almost as if Zenith Refinement was the most entertaining baboon of the lot. "Of course. Wouldn't do much if I won under my own rules, would It? At that point, you all—" he swept his eyes across the seven of them, laughing softly, continuing: "—might as well surrender early, save us all some time."
"..."
"..."
"Preposterous!" Zenith Fusion spat coldly, his eyes containing hints of murder, far unbefitting his elderly and kind features. One of the Dao Enforcers unleashed a wave of mental pressure, yet Wei Wuyin's laughter remained unhindered. In fact, it grew louder by the second.
He was a Magi.
How could he possibly fear mental attacks?!
"Enough!" Suo Kai-Ming's beautiful pair of eyes narrowed sharply, staring at Wei Wuyin with her Alchemic Stars illuminating the room with alchemical light. Bathed in seven colors, Wei Wuyin's laughter only grew increasingly exaggerated as his Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity, which was actually the Alchemic Stars of Unparalleled Creation emulating its appearance, remained unaffected.
However, in the next second, Wei Wuyin's laughter was abruptly severed as his unearthly handsome features flashed with surprise and disbelief. The Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity regressed to the Alchemic Stars of Spiritual Transcendence.
"HAHAHA!" Zenith Refinement's resounding laughter laced with mockery replaced Wei Wuyin's almost immediately.
"Behave yourselves. We're not like him," Zenith Growth tapped her cane on the ground, sending a wave of alchemical light across the room, instantly dispelling Suo Kai-Ming's seven-colored light washing over Wei Wuyin.
Wei Wuyin silently observed his hands as his Alchemic Stars returned to their fullest potential. From the eyes of everyone here, it was clear he was deeply shaken by what just happened, potentially ignorant of what just occurred.
It was often forgotten that the Alchemic Stars were mere representations of the Alchemic Dao's unique brand of Intent, and Intent translated to cultivated will that could interact with things relating to said Dao. For example, the Material Dao had the nine elements, light, darkness, jade, and scarlet under its domain, and their respective Intents can control them to varying degrees based on their level.
If two cultivators wielding Intent clashed, the superior Intent would be able to suppress the inferior Intent. This was basic knowledge, but few Alchemists unleashed such a barbaric tactic as it didn't do much, since the Alchemic Dao wasn't suitable for combat. Only in specific clashes or instances of Alchemists overwriting some abilities such as Mortal Eradication that turned the entire world against you was it useful. But when it was useful—it was useful.
When they saw Suo Kai-Ming suppress Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Stars with such ease, they all subconsciously relaxed. The regression of one's Alchemic Dao could harm your Alchemic Dao with long-lasting consequences, even if it was only for a moment. Most Alchemists wouldn't be able to determine how either unless they concocted for a while.
But this event proved one thing: the quality of Suo Kai-Ming's Alchemic Stars exceeded this foreigner's!
Wei Wuyin seemed lost for a moment, questioning life.
"How about this—" Zenith Refinement used the same arrogant tone that Wei Wuyin had before, almost a perfect copy in cadence and tone, "—If you defeat any of us in a clash, you deserve to acquire the loser's Heavenly-level Alchemical Lineages."
"Hold on," Zenith Fusion jumped in, "This won't be a clash of a single one of us. This will include all of us. Otherwise, how can we properly represent the complete Alchemic Dao of the Utmost Purity Galaxy?"
Suddenly, a hazy image exuding A hazy figure shrouded in darkness manifested with a shimmer, appearing just above the jade table. None of the Zeniths were shaken or shocked by this appearance. This was a Supreme Seer!
The leader of the Seers of the Night!
"I concur," and with just those two words uttered, he vanished without any lingering aura.
"..." Suo Haoran and Tianshi Zaoxuan were stunned to their very souls, subconsciously glancing at each other.
Were the lines in their scripts just…stolen from them?
In the end, they could only accept this, remaining increasingly suspicious that Wei Wuyin had set unnecessary contingencies. Just as Suo Haoran was about ready to put the cherry on top, he was too slow as Suo Kai-Ming spoke.
"Seems like a full clash involving us all is unavoidable then. In that case, I propose a wager." Her words elicited immediate interest. "Should you lose, all the Alchemical Lineages of your Neo-Dawn Empire become ours. Moreover, each of us gains the right to establish a branch of our lineage within your empire."
Instantly, every single pair of eyes amongst the Zeniths and Dao Enforcers lit with a vibrant glow.
"I…" Wei Wuyin finally seemed to regain some clarity as he looked at Suo Kai-Ming with a hint of very rare hesitation.
They hadn't been able to sense his Imperial Law, but they sensed the Imperial Heaven Aura that Wei Wuyin consciously emanated from his Mental Incarnation, which was diminishing in strength by the second. They expected that his Imperial Law would be experiencing drastic changes on the verge of collapse after Suo Kai-Ming's suppression.
After all, hesitation halts momentum.
"I…I—" Wei Wuyin halted his stuttering words, breathing deeply. "You want to establish a branch in my empire?!"
Suddenly, he regained his vigor and imperial demeanor, exuding the kingly aura that all monarchs rightfully cultivated.
"Seven branches," Zenith Refinement clarified with a smirk.
"Of course, if you're scared and lack confidence. Then we can give you a handicap to make it fair. Don't want to take too much advantage of you."
"..." Everyone silently observed Wei Wuyin. Those words were incisive, aiming straight for his ego like a heart-seeking missile.
After a long moment, Wei Wuyin's eyes narrowed as he glared at Suo Kai-Ming. "One of these days, I'll have you beneath me. Moaning in unrestrained ecstasy. Begging me NOT to stop."
Those words were spoken via mental transmission but the Dao Enforcers and Zenith Growth caught it, their expressions a mixture of rage and amusement. The Dao Enforcers informed their Zeniths, causing a sequence of colorful expressions.
Suo Kai-Ming also grinned dismissively. How small.
"You want to wager this? So be it. Then let's see if you're willing to wager the equivalent!" Wei Wuyin spat, clearly having lost some composure. "If I defeat your alchemy, I, the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint, can establish a tower. MY tower.
The Neo-Dawn Zenith Tower and I will seize a piece of galactic territory for my empire. A new Galactic Zone.
Anywhere I want!"
"..."
"..."
"..."