1359 Chapter 1353: CKC, the Sky and the Heaven (3)
As the trio rushed Wu Yu with the purpose of sending him away, numerous Ascended beings' eyes watched the ongoing clash tensely. Without exception, the domains had all activated their various arrays at various levels, dispersing any destructive shockwaves of mystic power that might reach them, causing untold damage to their areas.
Zhang Ziyi floated at the edge of Neo-Origin's atmospheric layer, her hands clutched around a scepter of jade. Her eyes contained unusually complex emotions. Han Yuhei was beside her, his eyes glinting with spiritual light as he observed the fight intently, unwilling to miss a single thing.
"Do you think…do you think Wei Wuyin has decided to declare war?" Zhang Ziyi nervously asked.
Just as she did, a blasting boom erupted from afar as Wu Yu sat calmly in the Dark Void while facing indigo-colored seas of crushing force, manifestations of ten thousand dragons, and sharp, metallic scythe-heads spinning through space. The Grand Knight began to pulsate with a horrifying aura, crushing everything that was near, be it an attack or person, with his aura!
At the end of their clash, Tian Weilong unleashed a strange aura as well, seemingly contending against Wu Yu's violently. The clash left the two Sky Monarchs reeling with their bodies visibly shaking and their blood-leaking eyes flashing with sporadic bursts of spiritual light.
Han Yuhei's observing eyes brightened considerably from the sight. Zhang Ziyi's heart clenched tightly, pounding with anxiety.
The fight continued for three more exchanges whereby Wu Yu remained unmoved as the trio fought, roaring and launching ceaselessly powerful attacks. They were all rebuffed by that imposing, heaven-suppressing aura of his. Han Yuhei was extremely familiar with the Imperial Heaven Aura as it was what allowed Wu Yu to become the strongest Mystic Ascendant amongst the original King of Everlore's entourage in their home starfield.
With it, whether it was Divine King Han Xei, the inscrutable Demonic Abyss Mountain Lord, or the wondrous Sacred Elven Queen, they were all horrifically suppressed in terms of might and means by Wu Yu! Seeing him display his domineering power once again, Han Yuhei was met with flashbacks of his past when he was nothing more than a mortal who served them wine and handled chores.
"Guardian?" Zhang Ziyi called out as the clash intensified. She slightly tightened her grip on the jade scepter, increasing the starfield-wide array's power. While the fighting was far away, she was still unable to calm her unsettled heart and growing fears.
Han Yuhei noticed this as it caused his vision to blur slightly, causing him to miss a moment where Wu Yu slapped Kong Yi to the point his body began to break down, needing Tian Weilong to use his Aeternal Sky Aura to stabilize him before granting him time to recover by distracting Wu Yu with a bloodied Sky Monarch Bai by his side.
He frowned, dissatisfied. The fighting between Earthly Saints was like a spark from a flint, absurdly fast and easy to miss.
"If World-Saint Wei wanted to declare war, he'd do so openly, likely accompanied by his Fire Phoenix." Han Yuhei reasoned as he contemplated the matter, not fearful in the slightest that this would enter a full-fledged state of war. While he had confidence in the Imperial Clan, Wei Wuyin's revealed forces were horrifyingly terrifying, to say the least.
Just the Fire Phoenix, Wu Yu, and that armored, dragonhead Saint that led the other armored Saints was an indescribable amount of strength, not to mention the eighty-odd Earthly Saints that had randomly appeared and the Earthly Saints and Ascended beings that had joined Wei Wuyin's Neo-Dawn Starfield recently, all of which would love to stand out given the chance.
"..." Zhang Ziyi knew that what Han Yuhei said made some sense given how Wei Wuyin operated thus far, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy at Wu Yu's presence. This was especially so as the fighting grew more intense.
Wu Yu's eyes remained closed and his body hadn't been moved an inch, yet the trio sent by the Imperial Clan looked like raggedy wretches off the street, beaten and bruised with blood leaking from their orifices. The only existence that maintained some of their grace was Tian Weilong, who fought with such ferocity that the shockwaves felt like draconic roars piercing through the void. Sky Monarch Kong and Sky Monarch Bai both contributed to assisting Tian Weilong, but most of the time, the aged and frail-thin figure there would leap about to save them at the last minute, exhausting a portion of his mystic power and attention to do so.
Despite this, these liabilities were the saving grace as they offered timely assistance and often extricated Tian Weilong from some difficult positions as he tried to force his way toward Wu Yu.
Off in the Aeternal Sky Domain, several figures all floated above various planets, observing the ongoing fight with bright, spiritually lit eyes. Among them was Yang Chaoyue, who received a lot of side-eyed glances from her compatriots.
Tian Lingyu and Tian Shangyang flew toward her, stopping when they arrived within a few miles, the latter's countenance was slightly pale and solemn. The look Tian Shangyang gave Yang Chaoyue demanded answers.
Yang Chaoyue was stone-faced, her thoughts and emotions entirely unreadable, but she still acknowledged Tian Lingyu. They were more than just acquaintances now, given they shared a bed in the most intimate way imaginable.
"What is—" Tian Shangyang began, but was interrupted by Yang Chaoyue's indifferent gaze that glinted with coldness.
"If he wanted to declare war, do you think he'd send a single man?" Her words prompted Tian Shangyang's expression to change as he glanced toward Tian Lingyu, who gave him a similar answer. It was relatively known that these two women had gone to Wei Wuyin, especially Tian Lingyu as her chastity as a main member of the Imperial Clan was of the utmost importance, especially her marriage, and would've caused a hectic scandal if Wei Wuyin wasn't involved.
While some old codgers and sly foxes wanted to stir up trouble, when Wei Wuyin's name was invoked in discussions, they all went disturbingly quiet and simply pushed the matter aside. Just that alone was enough to realize that Wei Wuyin's influence was so entrenched that the state of the Imperial Clan was in total internal disarray.
He even suspected that a few had been…bribed?
Especially as a few even tried to justify the relationship as being 'good' for the Imperial Clan! While he had no evidence to support his suspicions, their actions of stalling all attempts at war and conflict before Wei Wuyin revealed his true strength and potential was a little telling.
Given that many of them were on the cusp of ascending to the Earthly Saint Phase but couldn't quite do so meant they had vulnerabilities, especially to a Worldly Saint Alchemist! Moreover, who didn't have talented descendants and disciples who needed high-graded or Mystic-Earth products? Even Tian Muyang, an Imperial Monarch of the Tian Clan bloodline, hadn't received a single Mystic-Earth product throughout the thousands of years since the Sky-Zenith Alchemic Saint's ascension.
"Then why is his Alchemic Knight here?" Tian Shangyang wasn't willing to simply accept Yang Chaoyue's explanation, questioning strongly. At this point, a world-shaking shriek echoed through the Dark Void, hurting their ears as their gazes shot toward the fight of four.
Wu Yu had just released a cold snort, unleashing a Spiritual Spell that caused Kong Yi to scream as his eyes exploded as if they were crushed, spewing out copious amounts of blood, and wreathing in the Dark Void like a twitching worm. He was dealt a severe blow to his Sea of Consciousness!
Tian Weilong engulfed Kong Yi in his Aeternal Sky Aura before sending the Sky Monarch retreating as he amped up his offensive, summoning a single crimson-colored, dual-horned dragon the size of a small-sized planet, utterly lifelike and tyrannical as it roaringly chomped at Wu Yu.
Taking this moment of respite earned by Tian Weilong's attack, Sky Monarch Bai used an art to intensify his Mystic Aura as he caught Kong Yi. Just as he did, his body shook as he resisted the latent Imperial Heaven Aura that was like an infectious toxin on contact. He didn't delay as he made a full retreat, his expression solemn and haggard.
"What a freaking monster!" He spat under his breath as he jetted into the Aeternal Sky Domain in full retreat with Kong Yi. Kong Yi lapsed in and out of consciousness as his aura grew increasingly frantic.
"I…fight…go…" he tried to formulate a sentence but his breathy-sounding spiritual transmission was completely confusing. Sky Monarch Bai completely ignored Kong Yi's fighting spirit.
"Oh, my heavens!" Tian Shangyang's eyes bulged as Yang Chaoyue, Tian Lingyi, Zhang Ziyi, Han Yuhei, and the other Ascended beings all saw Wu Yu lift his hand, summoning forth a partizan that was the size of a large-sized planet, completely dwarfing Tian Weilong's manifested dragon! Its bladed edge flashed with a tyrannically ungodly sharpness and might, inspiring awe and amazement in all that watched it.
It was as if he conjured a weapon of divinity, containing the essence of origin and indescribable strength.
Tian Weilong's pupils constricted violently as the sharpness glided across his skin, making small incisive cuts that leaked blood, ripping his robes further. However, he didn't retreat! With his aura bellowing from his body, his eyes grew incomparably determined as he tapped into his Mystic Core's quintessential energies.
Wu Yu's brows furrowed. There was a hint of solemnity between, an emotion that hadn't been shown since the beginning!
Tian Weilong was touching the quintessential power of the Aeternal Sky Aura…it was similar to…
"Exalted Transformation!" Tian Weilong roared to the heavens! Shockingly, his entire body began to undergo incredible changes! His hair grew longer, his hazel-gold eyes became the canvas for countless stars of various colors, and his skin turned dark golden, littered with stars across, giving it a feeling of being a darkly gold-colored night sky! Despite the color, the stars were prominent throughout and extremely lively, each seemingly possessing its own orbit that rapidly moved with Tian Weilong at its center.
It was unfathomably odd yet equally terrifying!
Wu Yu's eyes finally opened; his pupils reflected the grand transformation that Tian Weilong underwent, and he finally understood why it was extremely difficult to determine if the Imperial Heaven Qi Method and theirs had any relation. It could be said that while their composing structure was similar, their foundation itself was fundamentally different, which was very common in the cultivation world as many methods, arts, spells, and even products were inspired by pre-existing versions.
If Wu Yu's Imperial Heaven Qi Method used the Imperial Heaven Ignition Essence that was derived from the bloodline, the quintessence of their Imperial Heaven Aura present since birth, then the Tian Clan's method forged their own Aeternal Sky Ignition Essence and merged it with their souls!
The bloodline and the soul, born with and cultivated for, at the very first stage of their cultivated paths, there was a notably fundamental foundational divergence!
Tian Weilong's transformation was heaven-shaking as he seemed like a gold-skinned divinity, imposing and awe-inspiring with every movement. His Mystic Aura intensified to levels that matched Wu Yu's third Grand Transformation!
Wu Yu finally stood up, his body rippling with Imperial Heaven Aura that caused the surrounding space to shimmer with beautiful starry light.
1st Grand Transformation!
Then, his Mystic Power began to vibrate within him, transforming miraculously as it seamlessly merged with his Imperial Heaven Aura. His once-regarded Mystic Power had changed to Imperial Power! The mana around him exploded!
2nd Grand Transformation!
"Your transformation is a single whole…" Wu Yu faintly remarked as Tian Weilong began to pulsate with golden waves of god-like Power.
The difference was easily seen now!
Wu Yu's Imperial Heaven Method was divided into stages, much like how bloodline powers could be segmented into different categories, while Tian Weilong's method from the Aeternal Sky Scripture was cultivated and infused into their souls, so when invoked, it was a single whole. It was clear that in terms of control, Wu Yu's Imperial Heaven Qi Method was far greater! It was far more useful for those pre-Ascended!
If Long Chen or Wu Baozhai cultivated the Aeternal Sky Scripture, they wouldn't have been able to evoke their transformation until they entered a certain stage regardless! It could be considered a flaw, but it was hard to determine without knowing the benefits of consolidating the transformation as a whole! Or in the soul.
Tian Weilong's eyes focused on Wu Yu's rapidly changing aura, a little content that he had caused the Grand Knight of Neo-Dawn to grow somewhat serious. He also realized why Wu Yu's cultivation was so starkly different yet eerily similar from theirs and how it could easily be mistaken by bystanders, but this only greatly increased his number of questions. Still, before all that, he was going to fulfill his Divine Emperor's order!
Wu Yu's eyes finally began to change, becoming a host of endless stars amongst a nightly sky as black as the Dark Void. Then, his skin reflected such change, including his hair as it elongated, rapidly growing with a sharpness to their edges. As his body grew slightly thicker, pumped with power, his entire state evolved!
3rd Grand Transformation!
The two stood tall, one dark as the night sky and the other golden and dazzling, like royal gods as they stared at each other in harsh opposition.
Wu Yu wanted to know which transformation was stronger!
Erdiul's Notes: We're back, enjoy the ''mass'' release. Support the author if you can.
