"Oh?" A bewitching sight unfolded as a young, excessively gorgeous woman with her body lacking the slightest thread of clothing, only comfortably concealed by a finely-made satin sheet, revealed a nose-bleeding scene; she restlessly opened her hazel eyes, azure flecks prominently glowing within, observing the vast distance from her floating rock, nestled within her fiancée embrace.
"World Emperors..." Xue Yifei whispered. Despite being so far away, her senses were acute, especially her bestial instincts enhanced greatly by her dragon bloodline. She intimately felt the disturbance of space and fluctuations of incredibly intense, genuinely pure, exceedingly unfathomable Mystic Heart Intent. Only true World Emperors, also known as Worldly Saints, could possess such power.
Wei Wuyin laid down with content written across his expression, embracing the peerless beauty regarded as the Dragonborn Saintess by the world. He was thoroughly satisfied. However, he felt Xue Yifei's uneasy gaze shift to his closed-eyed visage. He could only chuckle with a lackadaisical air, entirely befitting of an Ascendant Emperor, "Seems like they've reached this stage."
Xue Yifei rose slightly upwards, barely covering her bountiful, ravishing, sculpted-by-the-heavens peaks with the sheet, "Do you have to leave?" Despite her attempts at keeping Wei Wuyin for a little longer, holding onto this precious moment for just a little more, she knew that the chaos that World Emperors could unleash was inestimable. Moreover, she was one of the few individuals throughout the eighteen stellar regions who knew of Wei Wuyin's goals.
Wei Wuyin gently smiled, caressing the palm of Xue Yifei's worried hand with his fingers, slowly answering her with a gentle, warm tone: "If you want me to stay, I'll stay." Those words contained his heart. They could still do more than just this. They could travel the eighteen stellar regions, visit certain extraordinarily mysterious locations, observe some strange Void Creatures, or simply cultivate together with arts and spells.
As for the brewing chaos? He could let it develop freely, come in after, clean up the mess, and figure things out. He had options. That's what he'd worked towards since his Heart of Cultivation was fully established, the ability to possess options aside from dying to a Hell-borne calamity or a Heaven-blessed cultivator.
"..." Xue Yifei fell silent. Her brows furrowed as she eventually looked toward the vast starry sky for a while. Then, she shook her head with great strength mustered from her heart. "Go. I can wait."
Wei Wuyin gazed at Xue Yifei's eyes that carried dense reluctance yet a strong, unyielding presence. He could only resonate with that version of himself in his Temporal Eye Tribulation, the scarred variant that indulged in extraordinarily talented and extremely precious women until his inevitable downfall. He had always sworn to be mindful of their flawed paths, yet he deeply understood why this happened to him. The growing seed of indifference, carelessness, and sky-piercing desire to cultivate solely for oneself, ignoring the trend of the world itself, forgetting the Calamities of Hell, neglecting the limited time, and living for the sake of indulgence.
"If he had you, ambitious and mindful, perhaps 'he' wouldn't have fallen," Wei Wuyin slowly opened his eyes, his silver eyes glistening with eternally radiant spiritual light, Illuminating the world and vying for dominance. Reflected in his dark pupils was the determined visage of Xue Yifei.
"..." Xue Yifei felt that Wei Wuyin's words were strange. She felt that he was talking about someone else, yet similarly, talking about himself. The feeling was surreal. "I'll watch over our empire until you return," her words were natural, smooth like water, as hardy and reliable as earth, and Wei Wuyin couldn't resist smiling brightly.
"I know you will," Wei Wuyin slowly rose to his feet as his body was enveloped in rich dark light, emanating profound principles of Creation intermixed with Permanence and the Essence of War. Immediately, his attire was fully formed. His robes were a mixture of an alchemist and a martial artist, bearing the flowy, prestigious presence of an alchemist defined by light and dark silver outlines and the valiant, dark as night, domineering as the heavens presence of the Martial Dao. Outer robes of the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint, Inner robes of the Ascendant Emperor.
Wei Wuyin's arms and legs shone brightly as light-grey metallic vambraces and greaves formed. The vambraces had eight inlaid jewels in each, designed in a similar pattern as the Alchemic Stars, with the nuclei containing an unfathomable, intangible presence of the Mystic Dao, while the outer seven jewels were deeply etched with seven unique Alchemic Runes. Each vambrace had seven runes and a nucleus.
The outer robes majestically fluttered without wind and had eighteen dragons as lifelike, vibrant, and stunning as could be. While they weren't animatedly active, they exuded an indescribable presence. The dragons existed in harmony, yet they vied for the heavens with an unyielding, unbreakable will that even the daunting existence of Hell itself was unable to shake. At his waist, a saber within a jet-black scabbard decorated with those eighteen dragons appeared so naturally as it was always there, and that only now could it be seen by the world itself.
Wei Wuyin's figure cut an indomitable image, and Xue Yifei's eyes widened as she felt her heart race rapidly with pride. Wei Wuyin was already handsome to an unearthly extent, yet this sight was enough to rouse the hearts of immortal fairies and drown the will of immortal heroes alike.
The Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn!The Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint!Two identities, perfectly melded into a single entity.
Xue Yifei's heart was pounding as she thought of a ridiculous notion, seeing Wei Wuyin's unforgettable demeanor, she asked faintly: "Will you be using your Soldiers of War or Grand Knight Wu?" She knew this was an immaculate mixture of his martial combat outfit and his alchemist robes, usually indicative of entering a battle. She was also aware that Wei Wuyin had a treasure that could conjure Earthly Saints by the handful, and she didn't quite know the depths of its potential, knowing her limits about asking so much as a concubine.
Wei Wuyin turned to her, and smilingly said: "For this? No need. I'm more than enough." As those words left his lips, Wei Wuyin's cultivation base circulated openly, unleashing for the first time in his lifetime a completely consolidated set of four Star Cores!
Xue Yifei was rendered breathless!
"Let's go down the list," Wei Wuyin chuckled as he casually said, his figure floating slightly as a faint clarion cry shook the isolated, concealed space they were in. "First, let's deal with-"
KREE!
"Haha! I didn't forget about you!" Wei Wuyin laughed as he heard the cry, seemingly hearing the words of excitement within his mind. Moreover, the intent on finding a particular someone who had offended them earlier!
"Unfortunately," Wei Wuyin glanced at the distant starry sky, "He's left already. Still, you'll see him again one day." After saying this, observing the Aeternal Sky Starfield through his Celestial Eyes, the situation had developed strangely through these few dozen seconds since the reveal of the World Emperors.
"Who's this?" Wei Wuyin's voice was rife with curiosity as his left brow lifted with a tinge of surprise. Reflected within his gaze was a pristinely white ship, including two figures. Then, he gave Xue Yifei a gentle wave. "Act freely; the Neo-Dawn Starfield and its forces are yours to command as well, my future Empress."
A breath later, his body melded with the void. The faint clarion cry followed, and Xue Yifei could have sworn she felt a serenely vibrant flame fluttering within the space that Wei Wuyin had just occupied. It was wondrous to an extreme.
After a long moment, Xue Yifei softly prayed: "Return safely." She rose, her attire similarly changing as she bore the symbol of eighteen dragons, bearing a strong resemblance to imperial dressing, and a violet crown with a yin-yang gem that resembled a dragon's eye. Her entire demeanor changed, from bewitching and enticing to dignified and illustriously dominant.
"Let's go," she said. Ernu released a low roar, and she turned, heading toward Little Defiant and the palace of the Ascendant Emperor in the heart of the Neo-Dawn Starfield!
