1356 Chapter 1350: CKC, Everclash (4)
Not a single Alchemist here was ordinary, regardless of their designated purpose, whether they were carefully selected and nurtured from birth to accompany others or cultivated to be defenders, slayers, disruptors, or alchemists themselves who strove to topple all the records in the Everclash! They were all remarkable individuals of outstanding talents, yet these exceptional juniors from the World Beyond had their jaws nearly on the floor, their eyes wide, their hearts beating fiercely in their chests, and their minds reeling! All because of a single individual: Wei Wuyin!
"..." Tian Xiaolu and Qingye Ying had prematurely ended their concoction preparations when they noticed the abnormal commotion outside, followed by the heaven-shaking, mind-trembling announcements given by Wang Yutian. The duo watched as Wei Wuyin moved further and further away in brilliantly gorgeous bursts of light. The princess of the Tian Clan was stunned stiff, her eyes flashing with erratic light of complete and utter disbelief while fascination and awe invaded Qingye Ying's pupils aggressively.
"Did you see his eyes?" Qingye Ying softly asked as she held her hands to her chest, only then feeling as if this situation was real, as her blood pumped fiercely in her heart.
"..." Tian Xiaolu was silent; the duo had ended their concoction preparations shortly after Wei Wuyin revealed his Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity, much like almost everyone else, feeling the unfathomably oppressive and majestic pressure erupt from the air. She bit her lips tensely, recalling how Wei Wuyin was a mere mortal at the Worldly Saint Alchemist level!
She had never felt inferior to anyone when it came to the Dao of Alchemy, not even to the King of Everlore, mostly because she reached such astonishing levels while not only cultivating other Daos but also maintaining her combat abilities. The King of Everlore was fully invested in the Dao of Alchemy, while she was partially invested in it, so how could she possibly feel inferior to him?
Wei Wuyin, however, was entirely different. Not only was he like her, but he was younger than her, his achievements were higher than hers, his talent was greater than hers, and his strength was impossibly terrifying for a mere mortal, capable of facing a near-mythological entity like The Serpent outside his starfield!
Tian Xiaolu could only admit her inferiority when she compared herself to Wei Wuyin, unable to muster any further excuse—a complete and total defeat on every conceivable level. Worse, if strictly judging based on their looks, Tian Xiaolu found herself objectively on the losing end of that too! If she wasn't a woman with features that Wei Wuyin could never have or compete against, who knew what her current state of thoughts would be like?
Without a single battle, Tian Xiaolu found herself wholeheartedly admitting defeat.
***
At the finish line of the Everclash, the eighty-first step.
Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity rescinded its power, slowly morphing into eight stars, then seven, reflecting the Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality. After a short while, his pupils once again morphed, manifesting an eighth alchemic star in each pupil as the nucleus of seven varied colored stars before merging into his pupils as one.
The nucleus of his Alchemic Stars, the Mystic Star that acted as its core, rapidly expanded, forming a four-pointed star-like existence that touched upon the edges of his irises, breaching the pupils' dark sea into an ocean of white. It exuded an aura of endless permutations and transformations of all things beneath the heavens!
Wei Wuyin had been rather busy as of the last two years, unable to fully explore the depths of the Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity. Moreover, besides concocting Mystic-Earth and Mystic-World products, he hadn't concocted any ninth-grade or lesser products, leaving the task of supplying top-tier, top-quality products curated for the Ascendants to the Hepta-Dawn Alchemic Corps.
"To think the Alchemic Stars are even more profound and fearsome than I had originally thought," a voice sighed in admiration, their tone slightly weak from labored breathing. It was clear that the owner of this voice was left shaken to their core.
Wei Wuyin lifted his gaze to see Wang Yutian with his bluish complexion slightly pale. He raised an eyebrow, "Are you alright?" There was a touch of sincerity and concern in his voice, absolutely genuine at every syllable. It was rare to find true companions in the world of cultivation as interests, generational gaps, cultivation, strength, status, varying goals, and more often made it extremely difficult to fully trust anyone other than oneself. Wang Yutian was among the few people in his life that Wei Wuyin knew had no ulterior motives and only pure, unfettered admiration and friendship. He wanted absolutely nothing from Wei Wuyin.
"I'm fine," Wang Yutian bitterly smiled. Wei Wuyin had told him the profundities behind why his Alchemic Stars of Transcendent Purity had elevated the properties of its grade despite no difference in concoction method or materials, and that led to his Sea of Consciousness being thunderously shaken to the point that he nearly exhausted almost all of his energy simply by listening.
Wei Wuyin sighed inwardly. After giving Wang Yutian a good look to determine his condition was stable, he said: "While you've saved me some trouble, you didn't need to rush me along like this." Regardless of how or when, Wei Wuyin would've eventually made it to the eighty-first step.
Wang Yutian's already bitter smile became helpless as well, "I didn't do it for your sake, but for mine. You see, your condition makes this competition extremely difficult to handle. While not everything was considered when the rules were established, there's one that would've led to an unimaginable number of deaths." After saying this, Wang Yutian looked back at the youthful generation from the World Beyond, Tian Xiaolu, Qingye Ying, and Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Corp members.
"Oh?" Wei Wuyin's eyebrow lifted.
Wang Yutian chuckled softly, "If anything happened to your allies, I'm sure you would've destroyed this entire place without any qualms." He recalled Wei Wuyin's usage of his power to merge two fields of competition as one, and there was very little he could do if Wei Wuyin went on a rampage, given his strength. He added, "My True Spirit Source is located here; if you destroyed it or caused it to be damaged, I might as well get my affairs in order and say goodbye."
Wei Wuyin was taken aback. His True Spirit Source was here? Thinking about it, Wei Wuyin was curious about many things regarding Wang Yutian and the King of Everlore, but he was restricted by various oaths. Unfortunately, the oath-breaking product he acquired from the Everlore Vault wasn't effective on Spiritforms, Original Demons, or Beasts.
He didn't know why exactly, at least not yet, but he speculated it had to do with how it interacts with one's Existential Framework and how these three beings were fundamentally different from humans, elves, demon-hybrids, beastmen, celestials, and titans.
"I wouldn't do that," Wei Wuyin calmly stated. Now that he knew that Wang Yutian's True Spirit Source was here, he wouldn't carelessly affect things.
Wang Yutian saw how clear Wei Wuyin's silver eyes were and felt relieved. "There's an oddity in the rules when it comes to changing products. There's not a limitless amount in each iteration of Everclash, but changes are permanent and reflect everyone's standards. There's a possibility that someone in the competition could receive the ninth-grade Rising Scorch Giant Pill with the same materials and concoction method."
"..." Wei Wuyin immediately realized the sheer dangerous implications of that and fully understood why Wang Yutian decided to send him through by hook and crook. Now it was Wei Wuyin's turn to smile bitterly as he realized the implications.
"How many sets of product grade each iteration?"
"Fourteen of each grade from seventh to ninth, for a total of forty-two. If you went through the stage, every non-ninth-graded product would be forcefully elevated to ninth-grade, which would have been eighteen at least. Eventually, there would be five seventh and eighth-grade products with thirty-two ninth-grade products." Wang Yutian still plainly explained, simply so that Wei Wuyin would understand how royally screwed everyone else would've been.
However, Wei Wuyin laughed with amusement. "You're underestimating my alchemists." These alchemists received his instruction and tutelage; even the Everclash current rules felt a bit restrictive. In truth, the competition for his alchemists wasn't even those from the World Beyond but against each other. These were his honest thoughts! Similar to the other stages, Wei Wuyin had set goals to reach for each of them.
"..." Wang Yutian could feel the extreme confidence radiating from Wei Wuyin, realizing that those in the Everclash were likely about to experience a hectic blow to their confidence from those he had brought. He looked back subconsciously, a wisp of pity in his eyes.
"So, do I have to wait to receive the rewards?" Wei Wuyin lifted his brow. He knew that there were incredible rewards for the Everclash, so much so that the Sky-Zenith Alchemic Saint was scheming to have Tian Xiaolu receive it, and the competition in the World Beyond was so brutal that deaths were prevalent.
The only issue was that despite the knowledge of his alternate life, he had no idea what the rewards were. Even the two sets of memories he acquired from those who courted death earlier were indescribably vague yet equally as grand by their seniors. To them, the final reward was a dragon's gate for all carp-like alchemists.
rewards for the final step one reaches at the end of the Everclash. Those rewards were absolutely wild; just the thirtieth step achievement had these organizations offering Mystic-World grade resources in ample quantity to these juniors. Some organizations offered elder positions and various Chosen statuses in their alchemy divisions. Moreover, they didn't even need to give their rewards, they simply had to reach that particular step, as if it was indicative of their future potential.
The clash was disgustingly fierce.
"You can end your run at any time and receive your rewards. An option for those who simply believe they can go no further or may die should they fail. The Everclash isn't too violent. That said…you do need to complete a certain number of steps to be given that right." Wang Yutian explained, essentially allowing Wei Wuyin to choose to end it here. But his ears perked, realizing that explanation was a little strange.
"There's more?" In all the memories he'd acquired, the eighty-first step was the end-all-be-all of the competition with godly benefits attached to it, but Wang Yutian seemingly suggested there was more to it.
"There is. Just one more step, actually. But it's absurdly difficult to complete. Additionally, should you fail, you lose all qualifications to participate and your rewards." Wang Yutian solemnly warned.
Wei Wuyin's eyes brightened. It was clear that this was a godly challenge, so how could he ever refuse? "Let's have it."
Wang Yutian gave Wei Wuyin a deep stare and then smiled. "Since you've decided to cross the final step, then I'll tell you the rules. You can back out after, but I guess you wouldn't. The rules are simple—" Wang Yutian waved his hand, and a light of pure, beautiful gold cascaded before Wei Wuyin.
As it vanished in a flutter of mote-like lights, a spatial pouch and an ordinary cauldron were sitting atop a wooden table. Wei Wuyin frowned slightly.
"Create a ninth-grade pill. The materials inside the spatial pouch are entirely random, all at the peak astral-grade. You have to use every material at least once, in whatever quantity you wish, using whatever material you want." Wang Yutian said. Anyone else who heard this opening rule set would have had their scalps turn numbs, their backs drenched in a cold sweat, and their eyes widened in disbelief.
Wei Wuyin merely arched an eyebrow, "That's it?" While this might be unfathomably difficult for some, Wei Wuyin was quite experienced in product invention. The Neo-Dawn alchemical product line was a prime example of this. While this was restricted to a single type, a pill, Wei Wuyin had the most experience with pills.
Wang Yutian chuckled, shaking his head. "The product has to have a specific effect. Moreover, this effect is entirely random regardless of the given materials." He paused for a second and then said: "You can choose to reject this challenge, but you'll be sent out without any rewards. Also, you'll have to swear an oath to never reveal details of the final step."
"What's the effect?" Wei Wuyin was unaffected by the randomness of the challenge, but he did find it extremely interesting. This type of challenge was indicative of the King of Everlore's own path; the man had concocted products to pave his path of cultivation, and he wanted someone to be able to emulate his feat.
Seeing Wei Wuyin accept unhesitatingly, Wang Yutian once again felt a heartfelt admiration for this young mortal who seemingly defied the heavens themselves. With a wave of his hand, a silver light cascaded from the sky, smashing upon the wooden table. Then, it dissipated, leaving behind a small strip of paper with black letters written on it.
When Wang Yutian saw the paper, his eyes bulged with shock. He had no control over the selection, so this was entirely random!
Wei Wuyin's expression was incredibly odd.
It said: "Purify a Star Seed."
"Haha! How simple!" Wei Wuyin couldn't help but think that his Neo-Dawn Alchemical Lineage was about to grow a little bigger, and it'll work perfectly with his other products too. Whatever this challenge rewarded, Wei Wuyin had already determined it was his.
***
At the edge of the Aeternal Sky Starfield's border, the Grand Knight of Neo-Dawn stood calmly in the Void-Blank Space, his eyes closed, his aura extremely quiet, yet his presence could be felt by all those of a certain level within the starfield without a shadow of a doubt!
After a long time, several comets of radiant light soared across the Aeternal Sky Starfield. Their momentum was fierce, with faint wisps of killing intent permeating the world. Their target?
Wu Yu!
