As the Chosen King Competition gradually shifted to the second stage, the focus of the various Chosen shifted as well. The intense battles slowly decreased in occurrence as information regarding various containers began to spread, especially with the newfound variable that was the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint.
There were a few astute Chosen who were told by their seniors of the mysterious 'differences' and 'importance' that this Chosen King Competition would have relative to the others. They strongly believed that the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint was a deliberate plant by the King of Everlore to ensure the crowning of a Chosen King.
The sudden, inexplicable arrival of terrifyingly strong Mortals from the mysterious Sealed Regions and the release of stronger, viler Evil Sentinels alongside this new Alchemic Saint that defied common logic were great indicators of this being true! As word spread, the search for Wei Wuyin's container increased.
By the 35th day, thousands of Mortal Sovereign Alchemists had been released alongside thousands of Evil Sentinels. However, Wei Wuyin's container remained undiscovered. While disappointing, an interesting realization was slowly dawning on those who've extracted these Mortal Sovereign Alchemists.
A large number of them were non-humans, non-titans, and non-celestials! In fact, they saw hybrids with lineages of demons from various races, mostly intermixed with the Elven race, the Human race, and the Beastmen race.
The discovery of these 'inferior' races as Mortal Sovereign Alchemists caused quite a commotion. Furthermore, as their skills were largely put into question, these Chosen from the World Beyond discovered that these 'inferior' races had greater skill than those from the World Beyond, stunning them outright.
Further delving into their origins found that these demonic spawns, bestial mutants, and 'inferior' races were all a part of the Hepta-Dawn Alchemic Corps of the Sealed Regions and studied under the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint's Alchemic Lineage. It was hard to accept that these races that were labeled as 'forbidden' in quite a few territories were showcasing greater talents than home-bred Alchemists. This left many Chosen from the World Beyond with strange, disgusting tastes in their mouths.
Moreover, whenever any of these Chosen tried to retaliate and forcefully interrogate these Alchemists for their lineage, concoction methods, or cultivation methods, the Overseer would swiftly punish them. Some outright died on the spot. While the Overseer had never killed Chosen before in any iteration of the Chosen King Competition, this caused word to widely spread like wildfire, and none were willing to exchange their precious lives for a few harsh actions or words to these races without any gains.
But that wasn't the only peculiar event. After the 40th day, the Evil Sentinels that were silently and deviously roaming about, claiming lives, and being a hindrance began to rapidly disappear. Besides the Evil Sentinels newly released, there were no signs of any of the Evil Sentinels in the vast lands. Additionally, those that were newly released would often vanish after a few hours as well.
It was only due to this that the Chosen from the World Beyond could act freely and at a much quicker pace than ever before. The Chosen from the World Beyond largely attributed this to a righteous Chosen at the level of an Earthly Saint or a group that was directly responsible for the swift eradication of these Evil Sentinels. This was a joyous development!
On the 42nd day, the mood abruptly shifted; the search for Alchemists had largely brought great gains, and quite a few groups were fully equipped with the means to merge fragments. These groups had now decided to hunt down the fragments, exchange information, or combine alchemists, while offering great rewards or the ability to enjoy the wondrous benefits of merged fragments should they offer or reveal information leading to a fragment.
"Young Lord Tambu, the information has been repeatedly verified by several sources; there are two fragments within one of the barren regions, specifically the northeastern region between two desert regions."
Within a group of thirteen members of the Titan Race, a slender male Titan standing thirteen feet in height calmly said with a tinge of reverence within his voice.
Three of these titans had similar clothing, clearly Chosen from the same organization, while the rest had differing attires that indicated they all belonged to other organizations. They floated in the sky, and beneath them were roughly seven individuals in Alchemist robes of varying races. If one looked closely, there were two Alchemists with multicolored robes etched with the embroidered symbol of the Hepta-Dawn Alchemic Corps - seven golden cauldrons encapsulated by seven silver stars.
"Two?" The titan named Tambu Ma lifted his sword-like brow. Tambu Ma was a pale-skinned Titan with a height of eighteen feet, easily taller than any of the other Titans. He wasn't slender yet he wasn't overly muscular either, giving him a sense of normalism comparable to humans despite his great height among the rest of the titans. Despite this, he had an exceptional demeanor that was difficult to encounter. It was clear he was of a great background, and his cultivation base placed him firmly on the same stage as the 76th Noble Prince.
Earthly Saint!
"Yes," the slender Titan verified.
"How did you verify this information?" Tambu Ma asked curiously as he eyed the northeastern horizon, hands behind their back, breathing steady, and the radiance of the starless sky shone just right, granting his visage an added dash of charm.
"I..." The slender Titan named Yazu Ma hesitated, but after feeling an ounce of impatience from Tambu Ma, he hurriedly explained: "It's been circulating for the last few weeks. The individual with the fragments hasn't made any attempts at hiding from scrying spells or locating arts. All signs repeatedly show that this individual hasn't even moved."
"An individual with the fragments?" Tambu Ma immediately honed in on this abnormality. He added, "A single person?"
Yazu Ma nodded firmly, his expression slightly solemn. "A single individual."
"Mortal?" If anyone heard Tambu Ma ask this before the Chosen King Competition, to even ask for verification of their Existential Framework, they would ridicule him without holding back, but after the reveal of the Ascendants and their connections to the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint rumored to be a mortal Worldly Saint Alchemist, this was instead a question that the others felt was incomparably natural.
"I...I couldn't tell," Yazu Ma answered honestly. "Their aura is exceptionally odd. While they can be freely scryed or located, whenever any Spiritual Spell tried to probe their Existential Framework, it was like inspecting a long-deceased corpse. There's nothing there."
"Necro Intent?" Tambu Ma was thoroughly experienced and greatly knowledgeable as a Chosen from the World Beyond and instantly recognized the characteristics of Necro Intent.
"Likely," Yazu Ma voiced. A few others also added their opinions, simultaneously throwing out other possibilities, but none of them was very consistent.
"No one else has taken action?" Tambu's brow lifted inquisitively. Yazu Ma had said that whenever any Spiritual Spell tried to probe, it indicated that this person had been located and many different methods were tried to probe them in failure throughout the days. But no one took action?
"I've looked into it as well. This person hasn't moved and no one has taken action in the last couple of weeks. It seems everyone is waiting for someone to be the first." Another titan chimed in, a female titan that stood at twelve feet, with an outstanding beauty that easily matched the common Saintesses of the Sealed Regions, yet even Yazu Ma was visibly apprehensive when she spoke out. She was known as Tula Yi.
"The recent changes in the Chosen King Competition with the various Mortals has forced a cautionary heart on many," Tambu Ma deduced as he thought of those incomparably arrogant figures from before. Perhaps it was the fact that this figure simply stayed where they were and made no attempts at hiding their presence that further instigated such a degree of overly cautionary behavior.
"What about the other fragments?" Tambu Ma asked.
"The Aspect of Transformation belongs to the Celestial Race's Brightlight Empire's Ka Song-Ho and his group. He's currently scouring for a second fragment. From what I understand, he's looking to ally with another group and share the benefits. His attitude made him a low priority. In fact, most are scouring for a fragment simply to merge with him and share.
"The Aspect of Creation was taken by a mysterious light figure that we've yet to locate. We couldn't determine their gender, but all attempts at scrying or locating them led to disastrous results with those who cast their spells or executed these arts losing their lives at worst and a portion of their cultivation base at best due to backlash.
"The Human Race's Exalted Republic's Young Duke Lin Kang has seized the Aspect of Growth from a mortal from the Sealed Regions. Supposedly, the Young Duke had to spend three days before capturing this rat-like mortal child, but he didn't kill him and instead decided to enlist him to join their camp with his unnaturally innate sensory skill that he used to evade them."
Tula Yi added, "There's no chance the Exalted Republic's Lin Kang and the Brightlight Empire's Ka Song-Ho will ever agree to share their fragment or its benefits with each other."
Tambu Ma already understood the dynamic between the Celestial Race's Three Radiant Empires and the Exalted Republic, so he didn't need further explanation as he nodded to Tula Yi.
Yazu Ma continued after clearing his throat, stifling his displeasure at being interrupted. "The Aspect of Extraction has been spotted with two human mortal women. Likely, one of them is a fairly talented Heavenly Seer or they have some strange treasure in their possession. All our attempts at locating them had ended in abject failure. While there's no obvious backlash, the goose chases the other groups faced was enough to madden even saints." At the end of his sentence, he couldn't hold back from heaving a sigh. How are these mortals so strange? They were Ascended beings, transcending their Mortal Limits, yet it was these mortals who kept gaining an advantage.
This Chosen King Competition was drastically different than before! He couldn't help but glance downwards and found the two multicolored-robed Alchemists that were standing about, discussing casual topics among each other with a few chuckles between. Moreover, there were two outstanding women as well, one human with navy blue hair and one elf with golden hair and eyes. If it wasn't for the reveal that any untoward action against Alchemists was punished severely, even with death in this iteration of Evercrown Ceremony, he would've indulged a little.
"So besides the Aspect of Containment and the Aspect of Refinement, which are known to all, the others will likely be difficult to locate or obtain without a fierce battle," Tula Yi thoughtfully muttered.
"What should we do?" A male Titan standing at eleven feet asked from the side. His attire was similar to Tambu Ma and Yazu Ma. They currently had zero fragments! It's already more than halfway through the Evercrown Ceremony! They couldn't wait around and just let someone else be crowned as the Chosen King? Right?
"Should we make a move on the two fragments?" Yazu Ma asked.
"The one who does so will be the target of everyone else, especially if they succeed, but more so if they fail." Tula Yi's words resonated with all of their hearts, and they knew that the first to act, whether successful or not, would be subjected to all sorts of attacks. To hit a man while they were down was the dog-eat-dog way!
"Have you guys asked?" A voice resounded from beneath them. The titans all looked down to notice a navy blue-haired young beauty. Her eyes looked at them with not the slightest wisp of respect.
"What?" Tula Yi narrowed her eyes, her voice leaking with ill intent. She wasn't jealous of this woman's looks, but she was rather disdainful toward humans as a whole.
The woman pouted as if being unjustly berated, "You said this person is just standing there without moving, holding two fragments. That doesn't conform well with the rules and purpose of the Chosen King Competition, no? Has anyone tried to ask them to merge the fragments? What if they simply couldn't be bothered to search for Alchemists? Unlike all of you, a single person would find it difficult to meet each condition, especially if there's a chance they'll find an Evil Sentinel causing them to waste all their effort."
"..." A silence descended across the titans. Those words sounded utterly ludicrous yet oddly enough...
The golden-eyed elf shook her head with a sigh, seemingly looking down on these titans. "Even if this person is waiting for the others to approach them with the other fragments, why would they be aggressive against those who want to combine the fragments if it's to their benefit?"
Considering the idea was there, it made sense to at least test the theory. They had enough Alchemists to conduct the merging process.
All eyes turned to Tambu Ma.
The decision maker of their group.
Will they listen to the tiny human and elf?
Tambu Ma looked contemplatively as he rubbed his chin as if considering the situation from all angles. He then said: "The stalemate will likely continue into the third stage of the Evercrown Ceremony at this rate. Moreover, no one is foolish enough to try to take the fragments and be subjected to the assault from all sides with all eyes on them.
"Let's sound out their intentions. If possible, we'll be able to at least merge the fragments."
Tula Yi frowned and asked, "What if we combine the fragments and the others try to claim it after?"
"..." Tambu Ma was briefly stunned as he had almost forgotten that possibility. He didn't show any of his embarrassment, however, seemingly having already considered it, and he didn't feel the need to answer. "Let's go." Since he made a decision, he didn't intend to go back on it before the others.
However, the navy-blue-haired woman spoke up at this moment, staring at Tula Yi with a little bit of disdain in her eyes, matching the titan's own. "Isn't that simple? If we ally with this person, just let them handle it. It's their fragments, right? What? Will they not protect them?"
"..." Killing intent flashed in Tula Yi's eyes as she turned toward the navy-blue-haired mortal. If looks could kill, this mortal would have died by a thousand cuts. But she didn't act out as she had directly witnessed a Celestial Chosen trying to forcefully interrogate a beastman Alchemist of the tortoise lineage and was struck by white flames that seemed to originate from Hell itself, burning them in body and soul. The horrific screams still haunted her to this day. She ignored the tiny mortal human.
The group departed.
As they did, two women quietly stared at a hazy figure engulfed in light in a valley region. Directly beneath this light were a dozen Alchemists wearing multicolored robes and an eight-foot-tall, violent-skinned, titan beauty.
"Let's merge the fragments." The hazy figure in light suggested in a light, airy voice.
One of the women had eyes like treasured rubies, and she cautiously looked at the hazy figure, then turned to the other woman beside her whose eyes flashed with a faint glimmer of golden light. The woman with a glimmer of gold in her eyes slightly nodded to indicate that this was a good exchange to do, eliciting a sigh of relief from the other.
"Let's do that then."
While this was going on, a barefooted beastman with silver hair sat lazily on a dirt mound in a barren region. Within his two hands were two fragments, and surrounding him in the area of hundreds of thousands of miles were tens of thousands of Chosen from the World Beyond. They all waited for a change in the situation.
"Sometimes the best way to hunt is simply to wait for them to come to you," Zuhei softly whispered as his nose sniffed out two auras bearing a strong resemblance to the two fragments in his hand. Four were here!
