The Sprouting Stage!
Only those who've turned their gazes to the sky, desiring to ascend to the heights of the heavens and beyond, to genuinely ascend and enter the Ascendant Saint Phase, the Seventh Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, fully understood the significance of the Sprouting Stage of a Seed of Law!
The Seed of Law's development path was divided into three categories before actualizing into a profound authority in this world. They were the Conception Phase, the Nurturing Phase, and the Sprouting Phase! They were also referred to as stages by many would-be Original Magistrates, those talented and aspiring World Emperors!
The Conception Phase established the creation, artificially or naturally, of a Seed of Law. When successful in manifesting a Seed of Law through various methods, the Nurturing Phase was naturally and automatically entered as the seed had to be watered and nourished for it to develop healthily and with resiliency, and then, and only then, could it sprout!
The Nurturing Phase was of the greatest significance to World Emperors, as the Seed of Law acts as a bridge to the Mystic Dao, enabling them to extract, maintain, and cultivate Heavenly Radiance. This required a 9% nurturing rate at a minimum. Only 9%! However, to take a step further, to fully become a Mystic Overlord, an Ascendant Saint of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, one must reach 81%!
Just this was enough to fully understand the gravity of Tian Taizong reaching the Sprouting Phase of the Seed of Law! This could only happen if, and only if, he had reached 100% in the Nurturing Phase!!
Su Nianzu and Jia Yang wasted no time as they brought out their weapons. Su Nianzu wielded a violet-colored long lance with a small umbrella hand guard, his Mystic Aura was piercing as his steps resembled the thunderous sounds of tens of thousands of horse hooves, and violet lightning erupted around his armored figure!
Jia Yang's withered skin tightened; his muscular body expanded slightly as a large, erupting boom shattered space and time, distorting light and generating an incredible degree of gravity, and he resembled a planet barreling through the Dark Void as his body exuded a rejuvenating and youthful look. He seemed to de-age by thirty years! Within his hand was a morning star, its metal sphere forged by a sinister mystic-graded iron possessed vicious spikes etched with mystic runes that firmly sat at the top of its length. He wielded it with menacing momentum as the sphere exuded a baleful light.
They were both true Mystic-World graded armaments!
The Violet Cloud Heart Piercer!
The Worldbane Mace!
They didn't need to communicate prior through any sort of transmission. Instead, they respectively unleashed their Ascension Arts.
Ninth Way, Ascension Art: Call Lightning, Pierce Void!
Ninth Way, Ascension Art: Bloodied Shatter!
They were Ascension Arts that summoned forth the profound principles of all nine runes of the Way of Mysticism. True top-tier Mystic Arts! Despite using the same runes, their effects were widely different as their Mystic World Rune formed the basis of their Mystic Power!
Violet-Rising Qi World Rune!
Baleful Destruction World Rune!
The Night's Sky Undying Stars reacted to the intensification of their power, instinctively activating its defenses as the oval-shaped sky of stars enveloping the Aeternal Sky Starfield began to rapidly brighten, dim, and rotate!
"Pierce!" Su Nianzu roared.
"Shatter!" Jia Yang bellowed.
BOOM!!!
Like glass, the oval-shaped sky shattered into fragments! The undying stars...faded one by one! They died! With a single move, the duo destroyed the Domain-wide Array in a single move!
CRACK!
Tian Taizong's eyebrows lifted as he snapped the Yin Vein Severing Sword with a single command. Anxiously, Zhen Yang abandoned his fracturing sword, and then interfaced with his Mystic Core, hurriedly circulating his cultivation!
SPLUSH! SPLUSH!
A gush of blood erupted as both of his arms were severed at the base. He didn't so much as grimace as he opened his mouth, sending out an inch-sized illusory sword that stabbed at Tian Taizong's glabella with soul-chilling light. Then, without looking at the result, he pushed his Mystic Core to its limits, executing a hasty Ascension Movement Art that caused his figure to blur into a hazy mass of sword light.
Within this sword light was a vibrant lifeforce! Self-harming Art! Zhen Yang lost three thousand years in a moment, yet he wasn't depressed at all as he flitted toward Jia Yang and Su Nianzu's auras at speeds that would astonish ordinary World Emperors to the point of speechlessness!
The two arms that had been severed began to collapse, reduced to crumbling dust. They broke! As instructed by the Imperial Law's aura! If not for Zhen Yang's decisive actions, it would not only be his arms that would have crumbled!
While the tiny sword caused Tian Taizong's gaze to flicker with a tinge of surprise, he reacted promptly. The bridge he'd established earlier was strode upon, dodging the sword but placing him back in his original location. His act of moving forward while preparing a retreat was indicative of his exceptional foresight and readiness!
Unfortunately, this action caused Jia Yang and Su Nianzu to reach Zhen Yang.
"He's achieved the Sprouting Stage!" Zhen Yang informed them as he conjured arms forged of intricate Mystic Runes. He didn't dare to be careless in relaying this news just in case they were unaware or tried to return his arms using Temporal Reversion. Those arms were permanently lost. If he were to reverse the damage, the Imperial Law aura would still exist. It was fundamentally on a different level far beyond a simple Temporal Reversion of a World Emperor!
This was the terror of laws!
Even now, all those who were slayed by Zhen Yang could be revived through Temporal Reversion at a cost, but those who were killed by Tian Taizong would have to face the resistance of a Law! It would be no different than fighting against the heavens, to a certain extent.
Jia Yang didn't reply and neither did Su Nianzu. They knew. Oh, they knew. Their expressions were dignified. If a half-second ago, they were comfortable and unworried, then the reveal of a World Emperor with a Sprouting Stage cultivation base was enough to make them solemn and cautious.
They knew Tian Taizong had to have been a recently ascended World Emperor given the Ancient Sealed Region's unique environment, and that he had advantages set deeply into the local geography, such as the Night's Sky Undying Stars Array or the Domain of Mysticism, either through a formation or through himself given how Liu Yinlan had heavily regarded Tian Taizong's abnormal strength and world-shaking talent. However, this was something they could and would have dealt with after exhausting all of his cards and baiting him out with the threat of his starfield.
When all was said and done, they would proceed to systematically revive those fallen Venerables, Highlords, and Rune Kings, ensuring that they obtained ample rewards and promises from their respective forces or the Ascended beings themselves after their greedy death. This could pay unimaginable dividends later, and was a common practice in the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone!
But all that changed the moment Tian Taizong revealed his strength and expectedly abnormal heaven-shaking talent!
The Crimson Moon-robed Librarian was far, far away, yet she was observing everything through an Ocular Spell. "How did he nurture a Sprouted Seed of Law?" The difficulty of doing so was mind-blowingly insane! Even World Emperors in the Azure-Prime Galactic Region's top forces would fail to successfully nurture a Seed of Law to the Sprouting Phase even if they invested heavily into them!
If the Nurturing Phase allowed cultivators to leverage it to push their cultivation beyond natural limits, such as Long Chen invoking a higher transformation of the Imperial Heaven Qi Method's Grand Transformations, then the Sprouting Phase allowed cultivators to truly use the aura of Laws! While it was merely its aura, the effect was not to be underestimated!
The fate of Zhen Yang was enough to realize that!
Zhen Yang panted heavily, countenance as pale as white ash. His aura was weakening gradually with no signs of halting. Peng Yue, who resided in his Internal World, continuously coughed up copious amounts of refined blood. Weakness overwhelmed her as she lost consciousness!
Now, the three remaining World Emperors of the Endless Voyage Realm were left with a choice!
Flee! Or! Fight!!
Jia Yang and Su Nianzu exchanged a glance.
BOOSH!
The two simultaneously unleashed an invisible force that expanded wildly from their bodies, contesting against another invisible, unfathomable force within the environment. The surrounding space warped and twisted, chaos mana churned, and light intertwined against each other, as if at war with itself!
Domains of Mysticism!
Both of their auras skyrocketed!
Neither Jia Yang nor Su Nianzu were 'ordinary' World Emperors! If Zhen Yang and Peng Yue could be classified as first-rate Worldly Saints, then Xu You and Su Nianzu could be classified as top-tier Worldly Saints! Jia Yang was not inferior to either of the City Lords! If not for the unique requirement for Liu Yinlan's position to be held by a native of the Ancient Sealed Region, the minimum requirement for her strength would be equally as terrifying!
Both of their Domains of Mysticism were extremely hard to observe from any angle or method, unseen as divinities of myth as if it wasn't a Worldly Domain, but as if the domains themselves were a part of the Mystic Dao! Emanating from them was an aura of Divinities of the Mystic Dao, emulating the strength and commanding presence of Mysticism! Within their sphere of control, every ounce of the Mystic Dao was under their explicit control!
Su Nianzu's domain unfurled for thirteen thousand meters!
Jia Yang's domain unfurled for twelve-thousand and six hundred meters!
Su Nianzu's armor glowed as runic markings etched all over its surface emerged, exuding an aura of worldly dominance! The invisible aura from him expanded! He gained four thousand meters!
Tian Taizong wasn't the only one who could tap into methods to amplify their Domain of Mysticism!
Tian Taizong was slightly taken aback by the scene, his brow lifted as he observed the duo's changes. To think...they both grasped a Domain of Mysticism!
A Domain of Mysticism could be grasped very early on within the Mystic Ascendant Realm, the Earthly Saint Phase specifically, and it was a sign of a true Rune King who had thoroughly grasped the Ways of Mysticism, forging an incomparably sturdy foundation within the Mortal Realms! Among the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, Tian Taizong was one of the few who was capable of accomplishing this task. However, the effective range of a Domain of Mysticism for Rune Kings was restricted to the self, rarely ever being able to be invoked into the expansive world like this, acting more like a Soul Idol than a Worldly Domain.
Only with Mystic World Intent could the Worldly Power and World Pressure affect the external Mystic Dao, and only then could its true strength be revealed! It was this very reason why Liu Yinlan wasn't too concerned after hearing Zhangjie Wushu's assessment of Tian Taizong's Domain of Mysticism! Her words fueled by the unwillingness to retreat were: "If he's only at the Earthly Saint Phase, the situation is still salvageable."
However, Tian Taizong, the Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor, wasn't just someone who grasped a Domain of Mysticism, he wasn't just someone who ascended successfully to the Worldly Saint Phase, and he wasn't just someone who had home-field advantages-he was someone that reached the Sprouting Phase of a Seed of Law!
Tian Taizong's Domain of Mysticism was amplified greatly, reaching a range of two hundred and forty-three thousand meters! It greatly exceeded Zhangjie Wushu's estimations! This could only mean the foundation of Tian Taizong's Domain of Mysticism was horrifying!
Su Nianzu and Jia Yang could sense this.
Zhen Yang took a deep breath, "Fight!"
His words were incisive and direct.
Su Nianzu gripped the hilt of his violet lance tighter. He couldn't abandon Zhangjie Wushu.
Jia Yang's eyes glinted with a barely noticeable light of gloom and vexation. He couldn't abandon Hu Meifang.
While they both wished they could, now seeing Tian Taizong's true strength, sit down and negotiate peacefully, cursing Lin Yiulan for their predicament, neither of them could be considered fools. They had long since ridden the tiger, and their people had been trapped and were likely held hostage. If they want to discuss this in any meaningful way, they'll first have to change the situation and exert themselves as superior. Only then will they have the leverage to discuss!
Tian Taizong smiled faintly, his voluminous imperial robes flapped without wind, "Come."
EXALTED TRANSFORMATION!
Tian Taizong's hair grew, his eyes became a canvass of infinite stars roaming the vast night sky, uninhibited and mighty to an extreme, and his skin morphed into a dark golden color with colorfully vibrant stars strewn across its surface. Tian Taizong felt as if he was a divinity of the night sky, incomparably immense and equally as unfathomable.
Yang Zhen roared.
Sword Song Transformation-Yang Form!
Jia Yang's body released a rumbling sound reminiscent of a world-ending explosion, and his muscular body immediately enlarged by four times, strongly resembling an eight-meter-tall giant! From his eyes was a glow of baleful light that could taint all things on a physical spectrum. Utterly viscous!
Baleful Mountain Transformation!
Su Nianzu didn't outright change, given his armored appearance, but the violet light around him grew into clear, translucent lightning that raged for tens of thousands of miles!
True Lightning Transformation!
None of them lacked transformations!
BOOSH! BOOSH! BOOSH!
The trio launched themselves toward Tian Taizong!
A great battle of the ages immediately unfolded!
"Why are they so weak?" A white feathered avian of elegance and beauty flapped her wings lightly from afar. Atop her, her only partner in the sky for life, Wei Wuyin sat while eating some cyan-colored berries from a brown paper bag. He had gotten these from a little vendor on Imperial Sky. They were quite delicious.
"Don't insult them," Wei Wuyin playfully chastised, but he continued with a sentence that would make those fighting grit their teeth with indignation: "They're trying their best."
The fighting was explosive and perilous as Spiritual Spells and Ascension Arts were unleashed perfectly and with killing intent.
"Tian Taizong is going to win if they don't use any of those Heavenly Saint-level trump cards," Wei Wuyin commented lightly. While Su Nianzu and Jia Yang were incredibly strong, their cultivated foundations were top-notch. Against Tian Taizong's Imperial Law aura, their weapons, spells, and arts crumbled with a single word. He was gathering momentum and weakening them gradually. Even Su Nianzu's runic armor was fragmenting, slowly shrinking his Domain of Mysticism's range.
"I heard from that mouthy woman who needed to be taught how to properly fan that the one in those flappy robes is considered invincible. I don't see it." Bai Lin's words had absolutely no filter, and Wei Wuyin couldn't help but chuckle. He tossed out dozens of thumb-sized berries, and Bai Lin snapped her beak, consuming them in one gulp.
"Invincible?" Wei Wuyin grinned. "He was certainly once known as invincible.
"Are we going to wait until they exhaust themselves?" Bai Lin inquired. Since before the fight, the two had been just sitting here. At times, Wei Wuyin would reach out and bring forth food as they waited. Like that, they ate and observed like true spectators. Meanwhile, the rest of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region's chaos had mostly been quelled or halted due to the rampant fluctuations of power from the Aeternal Sky Starfield. All eyes were on them, and the outcome of this fight would determine many things for the Endless Voyage Realm's denizens.
They all knew this.
"Waiting for them to exhaust themselves?" Wei Wuyin couldn't resist helplessly smiling at the thought. Bai Lin might seem arrogant and reckless at a glance, but she had a tactical mind. After all, she had ventured with him to many battles during their early years and picked some things up.
The battle was swift to an extreme, and Zhen Yang was immediately dealt another heavy blow, losing his makeshift arms of runes and mystic power, and he spewed out blood with every mile he was sent back. As he staggered, he was unyielding and valiant to the limit.
Without a single grunt of pain, he rushed back into the foray with his Yang Sword Power slicing viciously at Tian Taizong, forcing the latter to miss out on an opportunity to attack Jia Yang. Su Nianzu was by far the most troublesome, unleashing the strongest attacks that Tian Taizong had to rely on his entire strength to repel. Meanwhile, Jia Yang's menacing attacks were far less difficult to deal with than his sturdy body. Even Tian Taizong Aeternal Sky Exalted Power was shrugged off with only a thud bang. It was only attacks infused with the Imperial Law aura that could harm him.
By this point, the planets, lunar satellites, voidships, and Ascended beings had already moved far away from the conflict, exiting the Aeternal Sky Starfield entirely. Only four World Emperors and the Aeternal Sky Star remained.
And none of them held back with their cultivation bases!
Despite facing three against one, Tian Taizong was at an absolute advantage!
"Tian Taizong's cunning planning and patient accumulation is wondrous, for sure." Wei Wuyin couldn't help but cluck his tongue. He could sense that the Imperial Law aura was rife with a soulful aura. Did he spend twenty thousand years on that throne slowly accumulating Primary Soul Light, waiting for an opportune moment for him to escape and refine his Seed of Law? Falsely giving the impression of just under 9%?
Was the purpose so that his enemies would consider him terrifying yet not too overwhelmingly strong? How sinister.
Moreover, whether it was luck or planning was in effect, Tian Taizong had prevented Su Nianzu from deploying means beyond the Worldly Saint level. After all, he, as a City Lord, could circumvent certain limitations by using them once or twice given the command talisman of the Endless Void Mirror in his possession. Liu Yinlan was the same. While not all the functions were working at the moment, he could mitigate some of the considerable backlash caused by using them.
Suddenly, the situation changed!
"It's about time. Let's go," Wei Wuyin patted Bai Lin lightly.
The Fire Phoenix's eyes glowed a radiantly blazing light. Finally! Let's see how invincible this flappy man truly was!
She moved her wings in a magnificent flourish and rushed toward the Aeternal Sky Starfield!
KREE!
