Throughout the vast Evercrown Ceremony's lands, individuals were fighting, they were running, they were hiding, they were struggling, they were cultivating, they were scheming, and they were dying; the lands were drenched in chaos as the top-tier young elites from two worlds met. During which, the Evercrown was never forgotten by any part as eyes scoured these expansive lands.
It was hard to truly describe the sheer gargantuan size and variety that the Evercrown Ceremony possessed. There were regions of various environments, all reaching thousands of miles in every direction, and these environments each repeated a minimum of one hundred and eight times. The lands stretched for millions upon millions of miles due to this, seemingly without end.
If not for the power held within the bodies of these young Elites, often greatly exceeding Mortal Limits, capable of traversing thousands of miles within minutes or shifting even further by shuttling through space, the chances of any cultivator searching the entire world was an unrealistic reality.
Only Mystic Ascendants or those who possessed that degree of strength could navigate the treacherous distances filled with challenges and potential threats. Moreover, these same beings were freeing these same threats, creating lethal challenges for themselves.
Within a sea region filled with stormy skies and constant, never-ending rain a fabulously small-sized sea-fairing ship designed for water-based travel was moving along. On the ship were four human Chosen, two men and two women. They had astonishing auras, firmly within the Mystic Ascendant Realm. They were all centuries old, slightly over four hundred years, and possessed faintly exuded auras that were indicative of each being at the upper-stages of the Rune Ascension-the eighth and ninth, specifically.
The salty air and stormy winds splashed against their Mystic Wards. "Are you sure there's a container out here? The competition has been going on for ten days, and not a single fragment has shown itself yet, and strange mortals are roaming about with unclear origins, I don't want to waste my time here." One of the women skeptically complained as she ensured not a single drop of water touched her robes. She didn't want her body to be exposed to the elements or these two men's eyes.
"There is!" The other woman nodded firmly, her eyes were extremely cold and lacking any sign of emotions. She appeared very unapproachable, but her beauty tempted the heart with every glance. Her clothes were sensual, exposing great skin, especially her ample cleavage that seemed to be beckoning every soul formed from yang to touch.
"You said that it required two males and two women all at the eighth Rune Ascension or higher. I've heard of that container before," a tall, lanky man with a head full of green silky hair said thoughtfully. As he did, the other man, a rather overweight, white-robed young man gave a knowing smile as if he knew exactly what the man was thinking.
The containers often had strange conditions, even the active intermingling of Yin-Yang through dual cultivation. There was once rumored to be a container that required four men and four women to merge their yin and yang via a strange technique as a group, generating a unique Ultimate Yin-Yang Divinity Sphere. The container possessed an astonishing Alchemist. Unfortunately, the group broke down after the fragments of the Evercrown were found.
The woman who seemed unwilling to let a single drop of water touch her robes inwardly sneered. As if she would let either of them touch her body, but knowing that cold, indifferent woman, despite her outfit, it wasn't very likely for her to follow through with that. Still, she was on guard.
"We're almost there," the cold, indifferent woman flatly said without the slightest hint of emotions.
Shortly after that, the atmosphere grew awkward for obvious reasons and the party didn't continue to engage openly as the two men resorted to discrete Spiritual Transmissions.
They eventually got within visual range. The four finally saw a translucent pyramid container poking out of the raging seas. Excitement flashed across the two men's eyes. They surreptitiously looked at the figures of the two women before them, a tinge of heat swelled within their dangling extremities.
"Here it is," the cold woman announced.
"There it is!" The lanky man smiled. He flew over. He wanted to verify the conditions of the container, wanting to see a specific line that would make his day. As he reached the pyramid, using his right hand to reach out to touch it with an expectant pair of eyes, his eyes flashed with brilliant spiritual light as he abruptly thrust a palm to his direct right.
A torrential outpour of Water Power flowed out from his palm, seemingly attracting the rampant water energies in the sea, empowering it further to devastating levels as it smashed outwards!
From his right, a distortion of space and light twisted. A slender figure could be seen faintly, but the figure didn't retreat.
Right at that time, the cold, indifferent woman stomped her foot on the sea-fairing boat as a series of mystic runes flowed upwards into the air by tens of thousands, very closely resembling the Mystic Aura of an Earthly Saint.
The two on board were startled as they were already on guard against any threats. They shot upwards using powerful Ascension Arts of Movement, but they found themselves impeded fiercely by the flourish of Mystic Runes in the salty air.
"You bitch!" The woman shrieked as she fought violently against the runes. Her resistance generated thunderous noises as her body flashed with rampant lightning power. She could ravish planets with such might, but despite her power, she couldn't expand her reach of power beyond ten feet. It was utterly suppressed!
"Hmph!" The overweight man bared his teeth as he angrily bellowed out a sneer. He clenched both his fist and two light hammers appeared. They resembled the hammers used by carpenters to nail things, but in his hands, it seemed as if they could smash stars and crush continents. He swung them around, smashing against the flying runes fiercely. He was crushing them with great efficiency.
The woman's eyes brightened as she looked towards him. "Together!" She sent spiritually.
The overweight man glanced her way, his expression utterly enraged, and he nodded. With that, he began to smash his way forward and assist in alleviating her restraints.
Suddenly, a voice echoed out: "Sisters, you brought our two sacrifices? Let us wrap this up quickly." The voice was instantly pinpointed as a tall, lithe woman appeared above adorned in purple robes.
"?!" The overweight man had already reached the woman who cultivated lightning as his expression changed. He seemed ready to abandon her.
The woman who cultivated lightning instantly realized their ploy and she cried out to the overweight man, "She's lying! They want to-"
Boom!
By this time, explosions echoed as three female figures engaged in combat with the lanky man who cultivated water. Despite being in his element, he found that his powers were being exquisitely absorbed by the seas via a strange formation that directly countered his water power. Whenever he launched an offensive or defensive, a portion of his strength was siphoned away instead of being empowered.
He roared violently as he launched a purely Mystic Power attack that caused the water to splash in every which way. His efforts to cause a distraction were futile as the three women worked in tandem to restrain him.
The woman was stunned by this, her eyes filled with panic.
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, two hammers arrived before her body with frightening speed that she couldn't react to. The two hammers crushed her spine in one fell swoop, and while she was an Ascended being and didn't need her mortal bodily functions to move, the power within the hammers instantly entered her body and sealed a large portion of her bodily strength. She spewed out yellowish blood that flickered with electricity.
Before she reached the water, two figures instantly arrived beside her and began to launch attacks. They were two cultivators she hadn't expected! The overweight man and the cold, emotionless woman were working together!
She was still a Chosen and an Ascended being, so she fought valiantly back and the two did not have a good time despite having sealed a large portion of bodily strength and Inflicting injuries. She blasted the two and caused them to cough up blood, sending waves rippling with electricity for hundreds of miles.
Eventually, she was captured. Similarly, the water cultivator found himself besieged on all sides, but his cultivation base was not something to scoff at, and he crushed an attacker's leg and dealt great damage to another's Mystic Soul. They had to fly off and prevent themselves from undergoing Cultivation Deviation right then and there.
Fortunately for the ambushes, the woman who cultivated lightning was defeated early, and the two joined in with the ship, assisting once again.
The lanky man roared as he pulled out a talisman, exuding a wisp of a Heavenly Saint's Aura. It was a talisman imbued with a Heavenly Saint's Mystic Rune! It was the Spatial-type Mystic Rune!
The overweight man's eyes flashed as he saw this, bringing out his own talisman that similarly possessed a Heavenly Saint's Mystic Rune! It was the Infusion-type Mystic Rune! When the lanky man activated the talisman, the overweight man did the same, and the two talismans oddly unleashed a torrential storm for a brief second before dissipating.
"You negated my talisman?!" The lanky man was stunned as he took a chopping blow to the right ribs. He spewed out blood as he felt the sharp metal sliced into his skin, trying to sever his body in two. He hurriedly resisted, saving himself from that fate, but the other strikes were too much.
He was overwhelmed.
After a few minutes, the lanky man and woman who cultivated lightning were sealed. The culprits soon revealed themselves. There were a total of six, a group of two men and four women.
The overweight man inspected his two hammers as he verified that it was undamaged. He sighed in relief.
The cold, emotionless woman looked at the two that were Unconscious but alive. They were thoroughly sealed. Given their status, chances were they had some life-saving talismans that would activate if they were on the verge of death.
The other man was dressed in a scholarly outfit, carrying a ruler and an abacus. He hadn't been seen earlier as he was maintaining the series of hidden formations beneath. The other three women were all beauties in their own right, dressed in different colors, and they each represented different forces.
"Took us four days, but we're done!" One of the women said tiredly. She had lost a leg. The cost of recovering it was quite expensive, costing over three decades of her life. She had the urge to spit on the lanky man but held it in.
The other woman had it worse; she had her Mystic Soul damaged and she had to pop a variety of Mystic-Earth grade products just to retain her current cultivation. She grumbled off to the side, downing an elixir to recover some expended energy.
"We are," the indifferent woman calmly stated as she swished her sleeves, causing two other figures to appear, similarly restrained and sealed. They were also male and female. She grabbed the four and moved toward the pyramid.
The others merely watched as they recovered in their own ways.
"Finding four virgins with diametrically opposing Mystic Souls of opposing genders would likely be far too difficult in the outside world, but here, even the males like to cultivate their Primal Yang to better create a talented progeny. Thankfully, I long since lost mine." The overweight man said as he chuckled with a hefty pound of schadenfreude. Dying a virgin-couldn't be him.
The other two individuals possessed an Ice Mystic Soul and a Fire Mystic Soul.
Two of the women revealed flashes of disdain and contempt. If about 90% of men were non-virgins in this competition, then 90% of the women were all virgins. The impactfulness of a Primal Yin for women was considerably higher at higher stages of cultivation. The only ones who could afford to not possess their Primal Yin were those who found exceeding talented Dao Companions early on or cultivated Yin-Nourishing Methods that required copious amounts of Yang.
There was a saying that said: "Talented women often left the world without seeds or the knowledge of worldly purpose."
This was a true saying that often echoed in every cultivation society. The mysterious woman at the Demi-Mortal Lord stage that Wei Wuyin met in the Nexus Battlefield and Cai Liuyang in the Battlefield were prime examples of what often occurred to talented women who waited in a perilous world of cultivation.
"Should we wait until we recover? What if the container has an Evil Sentinel?" The woman who suffered damage to her foundation cautiously asked as she frowned heavily.
The indifferent woman who was bringing the four over stopped. She didn't seem against the idea as she asked, "How long?"
"..." The group looked to each other and after a briefly held discussion, a single day was decided.
The eleventh day of the Evercrown Ceremony.
The indifferent woman and woman who had lost her leg brought over the four. Shockingly, the four were conscious. They struggled fiercely with some flaring with blazing hatred and others pleading eyes. The Ice-attributed woman even tried to send begging gazes full of meaning, as if acting to save her meant she'd devote herself to him entirely.
The overweight man teased her a little, cruelly dangling hope before spitting in her face. He actually spat in her face with a phlegm-filled wad of saliva, laughing as he did. The others were entirely unbothered by his behavior as if they didn't see any of it.
Finally, they brought the four to the pyramid and the indifferent woman executed a set of hand-seals given by the pyramid. A strange power lifted the four cultivators and sent them into the pyramid. The sounds of heart-wrenching crunching resounded as their soul auras faded instantly.
Dead.
BRRR!!
An odd droning sound echoed out as the pyramid lit with seven-colored light dense with Alchemic Energy. The eyes of the six were all similarly lit with excited brilliance of elation. A sign of a powerful Alchemist!
Kekekekekekeke!
An odd, ear-splitting cackle filled with mania and vile rang through the salty air and stormy winds, greatly stirring up the world even further as - BOOM!!
Thunder boomed above the skies and clouds of dark grey formed instantly.
"I can't believe it! I'M FREE!!" The voice that resounded could be likened to nails on a chalkboard, like screeching ghosts or roars of hellish demons, extremely spine-chilling.
The six Chosen instantly realized the situation.
"RUN!"
The first to flee was the cold woman; she was incredibly fast as she exerted terrifying Wind Power that faintly sparkled with purple dust. Her Ascension Art of Movement was far stronger than what she displayed earlier.
The scholarly Chosen hurriedly activated his pre-established formations before backing away while performing a sequence of rapid hand-seals.
The overweight man's eyes bulged as his body trembled. He saw hundreds of thousands of Mystic Runes erupt into the air like a volcanic eruption. He hurriedly tried to circulate his Earthen Power as he sought to escape by sinking into the sea like a gigantic rock.
The others used all sorts of methods, even with the one whose foundation was damaged bringing out a talisman with a terrifying Mystic Intent that carried traces of worldly strength.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the air grew heavy as a terrifying will permeated the world, causing the six cultivators to feel their Mystic Auras and Mystic Power screech to a stop, causing each of them to spew copious amounts of blood and instantly stop in place.
The scholarly Chosen roared out in violent disbelief, "Mystic Heart Intent!"
