1354 Chapter 1348: CKC, Everclash (2)
"Fools!" Bai Xiu spat contemptuously. Those that courted death often found it the coldest when their goal was achieved, yet these two hasty, greedy idiots' corpses couldn't even grow cold as they were here, here, and way over there.
"..." Wei Wuyin's actions were like a show of mind-tingling horror as flashes of fear, terror, shock, disbelief, and ashen white swiped across the expressions of those observing. What brutality!
Wei Wuyin stood out like a clean thumb amongst dirty fingers, and initially, countless pegged him as a strange unknown of incredible bearing, presence, and appearance. Hence, they held back their urge to move when Wei Wuyin brought out that unimaginably breathtaking cauldron of his. After all, he was clearly unordinary!
But many of them could barely maintain their self-restraint, cursing at being too slow or too distracted, but the fate of those two turned their minds into glacial tundras as their scalps chilled to the point of cataclysmic levels. Countless people sunk into a surreal daze; they were overwhelmed by their eyes, scarcely able to believe it all.
"MY HEAVENS!"
"..."
Those were the only two responses the witnesses could have: abject horror or utter silence. Wei Wuyin didn't care about any of their reactions as he kept the two Sea of Consciousnesses in his Saint Ring, using his Alchemic Eden Starforce to expertly extract the relevant memories from each of them. Sending those memories to his Second Mind for filtering and organization, he acquired their respective knowledge of the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone, their cultivation journeys, and their homes.
"Interesting." Wei Wuyin had gleaned quite a lot from their memories and thoughts, grasping greater insight into the World Beyond on top of what he'd already possessed from his alternative version self as the Void Voyage Sect's Sect Master.
One of the most interesting details within their memories were their respective cultivation methods, arts, spells, and insights into the various races, including the four 'inferior' races of the World Beyond.
"Master, do you need more?" Bai Xiu's tone was abnormally bloodthirsty. Wei Wuyin could feel the dripping contempt from her towards everyone here. She genuinely felt disdainful towards the lot of them. As she understood that Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Soul was mixed with the Mind Dao and had mystical extraction capabilities of the mind, she subtly urged Wei Wuyin to unleash a calamity onto these ignorant idiots that dared to jump before a master.
Fortunately for them, Wei Wuyin wasn't particularly inclined towards unreasonable, purposeless slaughter.
Bai Xiu acutely sensed Wei Wuyin's growing disinterest and went silent. She was a little disappointed inside, but when she thought about Wei Wuyin's status and power, it was a little beneath him to dirty his hands with their lowly blood. At times like this, she wondered if Wei Wuyin's fangs and claws she'd heard much about but hadn't seen would one day take up that responsibility.
Wei Wuyin slowly swept his gaze across the platform once more. This simple, understated, and effortless action, alongside his utterly calm demeanor after eradicating two Ascended beings, caused every guard and slayer present, whether arrogant, confident, or prideful, to take several steps back. They either averted their eyes, fearful of meeting Wei Wuyin's gaze, bowed their heads in acceptance of their undeniable inferiority or tensely bit their lower lip with a soft gulp.
Some of the female Ascended beings were observing Wei Wuyin with glinting eyes of clear interest. It was clear what was on their mind.
"Who is he?" A few who retained a fragment of their courage had sent inquiries to their neighbors, enemies, and allies. This silver-eyed handsome devil was an enigma, unexplained and horrifying. Despite their questions, the reply was fairly consistent: "I don't know!"
Wei Wuyin ignored them as he looked in his palm. Shortly after the minute concluded, a spatial cube of silvery sheen the size of a fingernail appeared there. It was the work of Wang Yutian, containing a single portion of concoction materials for the Rising Scorch Giant Pill.
The Rising Scorch Giant Pill was a fire-attributed cultivation pill suitable for fire cultivators, especially those with Spirits of Cultivation of the Fire or Yang Attributes. Wei Wuyin had concocted quite a few of these for Hong Ru and had placed them in the ring he had given her after she agreed to become a Valkyrie and one of his women.
The Rising Scorch Giant Pill wasn't a typical product; the pill was a 'giant' pill, exactly five times the size of a normal pill. It wasn't just larger; the difficulties in refining it were greater due to the higher requirements for control, growth, containment, and fusion than a normal eighth-grade pill.
"Alchemic Clashes usually avoid variant products," Wei Wuyin softly commented. Within the vast Alchemic Dao, pills were unique in their abnormally eerie consistency, while pellets were widely known for their wildly inconsistent sizes. Regardless if it was the Ever-Rebirth Pill or the Sharded God Pill, all pills from first to ninth grade were of the same size and shape, a sign of their success, with the only differences being weight, color, and radiance.
The most commonly seen difference was the two sizes: Mini and Giant, which respectively meant five times smaller and five times larger than standard. They both had their advantages and disadvantages, most notably the Mini-type pills often used as prenatal and postnatal pills. In contrast, Giant-type pills were often used for those intending to go through extended cultivation sessions uninterrupted.
Wei Wuyin didn't mind the assigned product, but it allowed him to understand that the Everclash was beyond ordinary and had fewer qualms about the variety of products. Well, to him, it was all the same regardless.
He didn't conceal himself from the surrounding eyes, nor did he establish any defensive measures against the surrounding cultivators. His act earlier was enough, and the light of fear lingering in the eyes of those cautiously observing proved that. There was no need to hold back or put on airs; Wei Wuyin professionally and steadily withdrew the materials, befitting a Worldly Saint Alchemist. Just his handling of each material, his hands coated by pure mana and ever-changing energies, was enough to cause the hearts of these slayers and defenders to shake violently. Each material was touched with certain energies that nourished or grew them at explosively mind-boggling speeds. When they finally reached the cauldron, they seemed as if they were freshly harvested.
Some materials given were too young, too thin, too aged, too fragile, or too impure, they possessed subtle mutations that were difficult to notice or had flaws in their stems or quintessential energy, and Wei Wuyin was precisely isolating each of these issues and fixing them within seconds.
"My heavens…" While these slayers and defenders were planted to act against other contestants or protect their own, they instantly lost their original purpose as they watched Wei Wuyin work. While they were fighters, they had been thrust into the Dao of Alchemy by their respective forces, so they had a deep understanding of alchemy, sufficient enough to become Mortal Sovereign Alchemists approved by the Alchemic Dao!
"So many executed methods!" A young Celestial male exclaimed softly, his heart beating fiercely in his chest as his fluffy tail wagged. Wei Wuyin had executed at least a hundred different methods to fix the various issues within each material. When they finally reached the cauldron, it wouldn't be incorrect to say the materials were flawless.
Wei Wuyin was inwardly frowning as he brought out each material. He realized that these materials were deliberately infused with various flaws that would impact the concoction. This was quite brutal, testing an Alchemist's ability to notice and fix these mistakes or, at the very least, adjust for how these different changes will affect the concoction process.
"This mutation would cause the fusion phase to fail outright if one didn't increase the quantity of external fire energy during that phase," he murmured as he fixed the mutation and placed it in the cauldron. Normally, Alchemists would have to adapt, but Wei Wuyin was different.
"He's using techniques of an Alchemic Saint!" A female titan cried out as she gestured toward Wei Wuyin disbelievingly while looking at her partner. She saw his jaw was dropped, eyes wide, lips drooling, and fingers twitching. The sight caused her scalp to tingle as she hastily moved a few steps away.
She looked around her as if embarrassed that others might notice, and she realized that a few Ascended beings here were in similar states. What was going on?
"There's some good sprouts here! Too bad they've been ruined, haaa..." Bai Xiu sighed as she noted the changes in the surrounding Ascended beings. Those who reacted to Wei Wuyin's technique were in a state of surreptitious enlightenment, a sign that they were talented and greatly perceptive in the Alchemic Dao, but they had forcefully been cultivated to be slayers and defenders. If they had cultivated Alchemic Souls, they would have been great. It was a pity!
Wei Wuyin barely paid any attention to this. It took him forty-two seconds to fix all the issues from every material, placing them all in the cauldron.
Wei Wuyin formed a hand-seal. The Neo-Dawn Ascension Cauldron lit with a milky white radiance as seven-colored stars flew animated on its surface. Then, he performed a second hand-seal. The cauldron glowed. Then, another. The cauldron rumbled.
Wei Wuyin performed seven hand-seals in total, each six seconds after the other. At the thirty-six-second mark, the seventh hand-seal was accompanied by geysers of light from the cauldron's openings. The light show induced exclamations of awe and surprise.
Wasn't this the sign of fusion?! So quickly?!?!
The beautiful lights lasted until the forty-ninth-second mark! A sizzling giant-sized flaming pill slowly rose from the cauldron, exuding a heat that distorted the immediate air into a hazy sight, rotating as a flaming belt of energy revolved around it!
"WHAT?!" A few Ascended beings reacted as they noticed the belt's existence! It caused the pill's aura to intensify to something that caused their Mystic Souls to throb greedily!
"Isn't that a Transcendence Radiant Belt!!"
"OH, MY HEAVENS! WHO IS HE?!" The crowd felt that someone had to know! This was the third time that heaven's name was invoked by the crowd. How could Wei Wuyin possibly concoct a transcendent eighth-grade pill in less than two freaking minutes?!
Wei Wuyin slightly frowned as he observed the transcendent Rising Scorch Giant Pill exuding its signature aura of transcendence, but there was a tinge of power that contained a high-level Intent of Fire. He looked up and stared at Wang Yutian.
The Spiritform had a shocked expression on his face, instantly shattering his image of an unfeeling automaton. Fortunately, no one paid him any mind as Wei Wuyin stood at the center of attention. But after a few seconds of breathless surprise, Wang Yutian's expression changed drastically as abject disbelief and indescribable incredulity spread across his bluish features.
"Wait," a keen observer realized that Wei Wuyin's product was different from an eighth-grade product. It bore a remarkable resemblance to a ninth-grade product! But weren't they all given eighth-grade products?
Wei Wuyin's expression darkened. He followed the Concoction Method and used the materials given, but…
…the transcendent Rising Scorch Giant Pill…
…IT WASN'T AT THE EIGHTH GRADE!!
