After three long yet exceptionally active months for the Seal Region, the eve of the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Expo had finally arrived!
Since Wei Wuyin's unexpected declaration of the Neo-Dawn Starfield's founding, few had been able to take a breath and digest the news because it was immediately followed by one of the grandest events since the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit, Wei Wuyin's solo Alchemic Expo! The announcement had instigated a grand journey for countless souls in the Sealed Region, especially as it was an all-inclusive, all-invitation event! And true to his name, Wei Wuyin had ensured that his words were as legitimate as possible!
Tens of thousands-no, hundreds of thousands of Voidships took to the Dark Void, carrying anywhere from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions of passengers, ranging from experts at the Mystic Ascendant Realm to those at the Qi Condensation Realm. Even the poor farmers with little cultivation talent that might never leave their continent or city were given the opportunity to participate; it was an unprecedented event!
With the assistance and deployment of top-tier experts such as the Sanguine Ghosts and Golden Life Pavilion, those under Wei Wuyin protected and escorted almost everyone at little to no cost, depending on their family size, cultivation base, origins, and wealth. The act itself went far beyond the concept of philanthropy!
The sheer chost was avidly discussed among the scholars and financial managers of various regions, and they quickly discovered that the cost-to-profit ratio was indescribably lopsided; taking the first month of operation, the slowest month as many were hesitant, the cost reached nearly seven thousand Mystic Essence Stones!
To put this into a proper perspective, two small-sized, astral-graded planets were roughly priced at seven mystic essence stones! Seven! The cost was worth two thousand small-sized, astral-graded planets, and all of it was purely expended on transportation and protection. This wasn't even accounting for the environmental factors, as each starfield ensured that cultivation was possible for each traveler!
But this grew even more insane as the second month arrived, as more than ten times the number of initial participants hopped on the Voidships, so much so that the Golden Life Pavilion and other organizations had to rent Voidships from various organizations with irresistible deals. The number of people was so great that Boundless, the signature Voidship of the Boundless Martial Sect, which possessed ninety-nine internalized Secret Realms, had to be rented out!
By this point, the act of calculating cost of such an endeavor was too difficult and jumbled that scholars could only issue rough estimates. When released out into the world, it shook so many hearts that it only fueled the desire to take this chance to explore the vast cosmos beyond their reach. The third month was for those who were hesitant, and it made use of the fastest known Voidships, alongside several Void gates due to the sheer distance and limited time.
While the Void Gates didn't directly transport the Voidships to the Neo-Dawn Starfield, they did ensure that the third month's ships caught up to the second month's ships.
Since profit was to be made, there were bound to be those that turned this philanthropic display into a potential earner for themselves, providing experiences that Wei Wuyin and his cohorts were simply unable to deliver effectively. Regardless of how wealthy Wei Wuyin was, there was no way he could provide the best environments for cultivation and luxurious experiences to everyone.
The Everlore Association, however, had! During the first month, they launched their own brand of luxury ships. At this time, Void Gates weren't being used and were simply too expensive to deploy, and many hadn't even thought that Wei Wuyin would use them given their heavy costs. They instead resorted to using the fastest Voidships, installing the greatest environments for the limited month of cultivation, targeted toward forces with Chosen or potential Chosen.
It served to hook quite a few cultivators. This was even before they announced they would exclusively be offering certain alchemical products on these ships. While the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Expo was the main event, those forces couldn't ignore the Chosen King Competition at the periphery.
The business model was swiftly copied by other organizations and associations, from merchant to alchemy, and dozens of forces began to seek profit by offering various luxurious experiences, deals, and uniquely concocted signature products that wouldn't necessarily be sold without a heavy cost. This lure helped them bring in much profit from those who were hooked and haughty, draining them dry with a bright smile.
Some refused to travel under Wei Wuyin's arrangements because it meant being shuttled with cultivators of lesser socioeconomic and cultivation status.
Others refused to do so because they believed the environment would hinder their geniuses during those three months of cultivation. Similarly, they were unwilling to miss out on the Alchemic Expo of a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist, because these were opportunities for Alchemists to show off their wealth, and typically, everyone present would experience some untold levels of good fortune. Considering the rumored Neo-Dawn Defiant Star's unique solar essence that was praised by various intelligence organizations, no one wanted to miss experiencing it!
A few simply believed they deserved the best and refused to go along with Wei Wuyin after receiving no special privileges. It could be said that the Everlore Association was quite keen when it came to this type of action, and they certainly tried to push a narrative that Wei Wuyin might be 'for everyone', but they were 'for elites'. After all, they had two Alchemic Saints in their ranks!
When the Golden Life Pavilion learned of this, many were unable to hold in their laughter. This attempt to rebrand itself was quite amusing, considering it had been losing the lower-tiered and graded product battles at almost all levels, in terms of quantity and quality.
During the last few years, there was a price battle where both sides competitively lowered their prices to compete in the market of certain products. It was a thrilling event that the various forces loved to see; it was on the lips and minds of everyone at the time, but after a fierce round of markdowns, the Everlore Association was unable to keep up with the pace of production!
Moreover, the Golden Life Pavilion was ruthless; they put the products at cost, not taking into account labor, processing, or transporation. They could do this because, unlike the Everlore Association, the Golden Life Pavillion didn't need to sell through third-party vendors. After a certain point, even the third-party vendors started suffering a loss.
In the end, the Everlore Association could not take the loss of profits or keep up with the quantity and folded like a broken lawn chair. They then began to move away from the 'low-graded market, beginning to focus on seventh, eighth, and ninth-grade products. These products were suited for Astral Core Realm experts, so they targeted the experts of the world.
Meanwhile, despite being occupied with transporting trillions of souls, the Golden Life Pavilion began to absorb the various vendors or make deals with those that once peddled the Everlore Association's products with locking deals. This was especially so for Astral Core Realm's ran organizations, which were the vast majority. The oaths that had previously been sword seemed entirely ineffective as vendors broke their contracts without consequence.
The rumor of Wei Wuyin's Mortal Realms Oath-Breaking Products, a lesser form of the King of Everlore's Oath-Breaking Product at the Mystic-Rank, was beginning to spread. His words at the edge of the Born True Starfield hadn't been taken seriously until then. Unfortunately, this product was not for sale!
If it was, the sheer pandemonium that would arise might be unprecedented and unstoppable given the oath-sword nature of the world's cultivation society.
The Everlore Association's traveling business was recouping losses effectively. They even shamelessly used the cleared travel routes of the Golden Life Pavilion's fastest ships, allowing them to obtain better safety. Their shameless actions led many of the other businesses to ride on their coattails and mimic them, following along the Golden Life Pavilion!
Shockingly, however, not a single word was said in response by the Golden Life Pavilion. They allowed it! This sparked another change as cultivators realized they could take their extremely small-sized or tiny-sized private Voidships to follow behind the Golden Life Pavilion's travel routes or shadow their ships to obtain a solitary experience without a high cost.
After all, be it the Everlore Association's pricey model or Wei Wuyin's low-priced, all-inclusive model, they both had their flaws that most would rather avoid. The only reason they couldn't was either they were unable to do so, or they were terrified of traversing the dangers of the Dark Void!
Unfortunately, cleared routes did not mean safe routes.
Forty-odd days before the eve of the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Expo...
In the vast Void-Blank Space, a luxurious large-sized Voidship was carrying thousands of cultivators despite having the capacity for millions. Some among them were Chosen, others were Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the newly defined Gold-tier forces, and at the helm was an Ever-Knight. If Wu Yu was here, he would recognize this Ever-Knight as the one who had lost their physical body to his ruthless hands after this Earthly Ascension.
They were trailing about a few hours behind one of the Golden Life Pavilion's largest ships.
The Ever-Knight's eyes stared at the far distance where the Neo-Dawn Starfield was situated. His eyes narrowed sharply, a glint of hatred emerging, and his palms twisted the control talisman of the Voidship. He wanted nothing more than to exert his strongest might to destroy the Neo-Dawn Starfield alongside that damned Grand Knight.
''One day...'' He whispered. One day, he swore to himself, he'll have his revenge.
Suddenly, the Neo-Dawn Starfield began to burst into radiant light. The Ever-Knight was stunned, but the event only lasted a few minutes. By the time he tried to use his Ocular-type Spiritual Spell to gather more information, he was unaware of the rippling in the void nearby.
When a cold, chilling sensation of deadly crisis emerged in his mind, stinging his Spiritual senses, it was too late.
He barely got to see the void ripples before him, alongside various top-tier elites, and Chosen was...
Bloop.
