1485 Chapter 1478: The Aeternal Sky Falls
Three sounds. As they echoed out, the vast world fell profoundly silent. Concurrently, those weak-willed, whose images of the Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor existed wholeheartedly within their souls, began to feel their minds fracture and wane in vitality and awareness. The voice of Wei Wuyin echoed out incessantly within their pounding hearts.
"Today is the last day of the Aeternal Sky Era."
"Today's the end of the Tian Clan."
"Today's the end of your legend."
"Today marks the beginning of the Neo-Dawn Defiance Era!"
One man, two eras, three slaps, and four declarations signified the grandest initiation of change the eighteen stellar regions have ever experienced!
"..." Su Nianzu, Jia Yang, Zhen Yang, Tian Muyang, Tian Weilong, Tian Lingyu, Yang Chaoyue, the female Sky Monarch—Xiong Yimu, the Imperial Advisor, Tian Xiaocheng, the Crimson Moon-robed Librarian, and every last Ascended being watching were unimaginably wide-eyed and indescribably shaken.
Whoosh! Tian Taizong felt each slap as if he was a mere mortal, hot and stinging, and the force of it without any leverage left him spinning. He hadn't spun from the first slap, only losing some saliva. He hadn't spun from the second slap, only losing a wisdom tooth. He had spun from the third slap, losing his sense of reality as he observed the entire eighteen stellar regions with a complete spin.
By the time he was finished, he was properly positioned with his body facing Wei Wuyin, who stood there with his arms behind his back as those silver eyes exuded calm brilliance on an intrinsic level. They were no more than a few meters apart, yet it felt as if the gap between them was a heavenly chasm that nestled all of Hell within.
"Did you just…slap me?"
Tian Taizong wasn't slow. He was a recently ascended World Emperor who acquired the Imperial Law at the Sprouting Phase during his cultivation journey, having once led the eighteen stellar regions out of a vicious cycle of brutality, darkness, and death with an iron fist and keen leadership, simultaneously possessing the breadth of mind and knowledge to plot against the world's top figures on many different levels. He could be considered marvelously brilliant and swift in wit and possessing deft cunning instincts.
However, the slaps were something that his over twenty thousand years of life was unable to properly process as reality. Moreover, as a cultivator of the Imperial Law, while he hadn't broadcasted these events spiritually, on an instinctive and unfathomable level, all those who worshiped him throughout the eighteen stellar regions, and even those who were currently invading, those who wished or were reluctant to witness his outstanding brilliance, had some knowledge of the events unfolding, including his dominance of four invading World Emperors upon his first genuine move in twenty thousand years.
He was magnificent! He was invincible!
Yet now, that slap, his feelings, the realization he was slowly coming to, it was all transmitted through an inscrutable law of the heavens, through those he considered his citizens and to those whom he considered his enemies. This was law. Without true authority over it, it was indiscriminate and uncontrollable. Similar to how Tian Taizong couldn't directly 'break' Zhen Yang and Peng Yue's swords and bodies at once and how Tian Taizong couldn't directly control the Temporal Reversion of Peng Yue despite commanding its usage, reviving enemy and ally alike.
While he'd grasped the aura of the Imperial Law, he could only use it loosely and it was in usage passively without his ability to alter its power. There was no true commanding will behind it.
Wei Wuyin lifted his right hand, showing three fingers—his index, middle, and ring finger. "Three times."
While only two softly spoken words, they were like thunderous booms to Tian Taizong. His soul shook. His mind rumbled. His heart skipped a few beats. Within his soul, slowly circulating about, the Seed of Imperial Law vibrated with the intensity of a thousand earthquakes, faint cracks formed on its surface, seemingly on the verge of collapse!
The foundation of his Seed of Law was shattering!
BOOM! A burst of Aeternal Sky Mystic Power surged outwards from Tian Taizong's body, towering into sixty-four directions, releasing a specular sight of starry light!
Wei Wuyin's outer robes fluttered from the surging outflow of wind-like force. The eighteen dragons, while not animated naturally, moved alongside it and granted them the feeling of roaring in defiance and disdain. Those who saw his back felt as if these eighteen dragons were unnaturally arrogant and dismissive.
Moreover, despite the raging flow, the body of Wei Wuyin remained unmoved. Meanwhile, the World Emperors and Rune Kings of both worlds were blown back wildly. Even Su Nianzu was sent hurtling backward! Zhen Yang who was in Tian Taizong's grip was a loose leaf, he was let go and chaotically flew while bleeding from his orifices.
The aura of Tian Taizong left everyone breathless! Within it was the power of the Imperial Law! The boundless majesty of a true Emperor! A ruler of tens of thousands of years. A figure synonymous with invincibility and command!
Exalted Transformation: Aeternal Imperialism!
With his Exalted Transformation as the basis, formed using his soul as the core, unlike Wu Yu who relied on bloodline, the Seed of Imperial Law that circulated within his soul was perfectly melded within his cultivation base, bringing forth incredible, irresistible might!
His hair grew longer by two feet and strangely sleeker, his body noticeably slimmed as if compressing all of his cultivated power, and his skin was a dark golden color with countless vibrant stars strewn across changed as all the stars converged onto his glabella, directly before his Mind's Eye—the gateway to the soul, and formed a single star that shone with a greater radiance than any star shown before! Within his eyes, his pupils and iris vanished as only an illusory reflection of the night starless sky existed, immortal, vacant, yet unfathomably deep and indescribably limitless.
If before, he resembled a divinity of the night sky, now, Tian Taizong's divine domain expanded to encompass all skies! The eternal sky! He emitted boundless worldly radiance that was peerless and flawless.
Every last Exalted, Venerables, Highlords, Rune Kings, and World Emperors in all eighteen stellar regions all felt their minds rumbling. Not even the Neo-Dawn Starfield cultivators were an exception!
Su Nianzu was in the process of pulling on a rope, having tossed it after being blown away and seeing Zhen Yang let go, despite his own spinning momentum, snagging Zhen Yang and Peng Yue with skillful precision. However, when he felt Tian Taizong's stormy and insane aura erupt, he was distracted.
"Worldly Radiance?!" Su Nianzu was in abject disbelief. Jia Yang was right along with him, unable to believe what he was seeing. Worldly Radiance was a lesser form of Heavenly Radiance! It was profoundly rare, and only the top of the top of the demonically top of World Emperors of the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone could hope to grasp such power!
Additionally, it was a sign of a destined Ascended Saint! It was famous solely because the three Ascended Sovereigns had used this power during their Worldly Saint days! Each one! This Tian Taizong still had this card to play?!
Liu Yinlan! This man was a monster among monsters and they provoked him because of her! They cursed her to a thousand lashes in their minds. Not even Su Nianzu felt confident that his trump cards could slaughter this man in his current state!
Before the Endless Voyage Realm duo could properly assess or process the situation, the situation was still developing regardless!
"..." Tian Taizong stood upright like a peerlessly unrivaled god. The imagery and projected presence were enough to reinforce his Seed of Imperial Law, not just rejected yet! Since the others still believed in his invincibility, so did the heavens that governed the Imperial Law!
With a voice as majestic as the heavens, as heavy as the earth, as boundless as the sky, and as unforgiving as the eighteen hells, Tian Taizong spoke: "I originally planned to use you. Your talents in the Alchemic Dao are unquestionably peerless. Not even the King of Everlore himself could match you, especially since he'd inadvertently helped trailblaze a path for you to follow much easier than the one he was forced to take.
"However, it's clear your ambitions know no bounds and you have no idea of true might. Did you think that because you assisted me you could dominate me?" Tian Taizong scoffed, continuing: "I had thirteen different ways. They were all in motion, and one was already close to completion. You just sped up the process a little."
"..." Wei Wuyin's eyes narrowed slightly, remaining silent. Tian Taizong's aura was blasting initially, but he hadn't sent any of it his way, as if he was terrified that Wei Wuyin would have been instantly blown to atom-sized pieces with his mortal body.
Tian Taizong's divine gaze loomed over the vast world, seemingly lost in thought. "I've long since beaten this middling game of theirs. I've just been waiting for an opportunity." Only a few understood his words, yet they were shocking to everyone who heard them, and felt as if Tian Taizong was extraordinary beyond anyone. As long as he breathed, he could do anything!
With each syllable, his momentum was rising!
With each word, those three slaps were gradually erased from everyone's minds!
"Every step in the last twenty thousand years! All of it is within my grasp." Tian Taizong emotionally breathed out, feeling content. He inclined his head slightly, as if he was capable of, at a single moment, ending this game with ease.
"I know." Wei Wuyin finally spoke! And it was only two words.
Tian Taizong's eyes of the night sky turned to Wei Wuyin. His lips twisted into a smile, and then, as if by an irresistible urge, he couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha! You know? You know!"
The laugh was like heavenly music to some, thunderous lightning to others, and a chilling hell to a few.
"YOU! Know! Nothing!" Tian Taizong's eyes indescribably revealed a wisp of pity. "You're nothing more than a pawn sent by the King of Everlore. I don't know why he decided to place you here to play this sadistic game, but you nor he ever had a chance."
"..." Wei Wuyin stared at Tian Taizong, his gaze utterly calm. He was not a game piece of the King of Everlore—this wasn't his opinion but fact. But it was perfectly understandable and reasonable to think so. After all, they cultivated similar paths, Wei Wuyin's power seemed far beyond his means to nurture, his alchemic talent alongside his silver eyes seemed uniquely inherited like a descendant, and he was born in the Myriad Yore Continent.
"The fifth. Liu Clan. Endless Void Mirror. Bloodline. Calculated killing. Imprisoned. Tian Xiaolu. Victory. Rainbow. Marriage. Beyond the Azure-Prime. Return." Wei Wuyin said each word carefully, slowly, and deliberately.
"..." Tian Taizong, for the briefest of moments, faltered as extreme shock was revealed in his eyes.
"But maybe you're right, maybe I know nothing." Wei Wuyin faintly smiled. After that, Wei Wuyin placed his hands behind his back, his movements unrestrained. He took a step forward.
BOOM! The surging aura dissipated into crumbling dust.
"I would love to fight you with my full strength. After all, I've cultivated to this extent and finally consolidated my cultivation base at the Star Core Phase." Wei Wuyin took a step forward.
BOOM! The air surrounding over one hundred thousand meters shattered! Tian Taizong's body bent forward slightly, spewing out starry blood. His Domain of Mysticism was shattered!
"I would love to test your Domain of Mysticism against my Domains of Mortality." Wei Wuyin took another step forward.
The air surrounding over one hundred thousand meters shattered! Tian Taizong's body bent forward slightly, spewing out starry blood. His Domain of Mysticism was shattered!
"I would love to test the strength of our comprehension of spells and arts, the quality of our mystical armaments, and usage of world-shaking trump cards to decide it all. A battle that would surely be remembered for ages as epic beyond measure." Wei Wuyin took another step forward.
Tian Taizong's glabella fractured! The Seed of Imperial Law escaped! Then, in all its bright, starry glory, it hovered obediently around Wei Wuyin as if in wholehearted devotion. A showcase of loyalty. A sign of displaying true respect to those with genuine authority!
Exalted Transformation: Aeternal Imperialism!
GONE! Tian Taizong's hair shortened and his body grew bigger. He was immediately returned to his original Exalted Transformation state! His eyes bulged out as bloody lines bulged in his starry eyes, tainting the stars a fiendish red.
"YOU?!"
"Unfortunately…" Wei Wuyin didn't speak out the following words that hung on his lips, but Tian Taizong felt it in his soul as his Mystic Rune began to fissure and crumble. The Aeternal Sky Aura formed by the essence of the quintessence of the imperial path was dissipating rapidly. He knew that Wei Wuyin had complete control over his cultivation base!
It was only at this moment, a moment of true helplessness, that Tian Taizong felt as if he was enlightened. Was this…all part of his plan? He couldn't help but recall Wu Yu's words. He couldn't help but think about the timing, the moment of interference, and the location.
He couldn't help but think about these invaders!
He couldn't help but think about being freed when Wei Wuyin wanted him, not falling at all to any of his or Tian Xiaocheng's ploys!
He couldn't help but think about EVERYTHING! Wei Wuyin took one final step, arriving within reaching distance of Tian Taizong. At this point, Tian Taizong had resumed his normal appearance, blood leaking from the sides of his lips, and his body bowed as if in readied servitude.
"This will be remembered just as well."
Wei Wuyin slowly reached out and touched Tian Taizong's head, pushing it downward, and with a resounding thud, he was forced to kneel! Both his knees smashed against the Dark Void's fixed space as if it were solid ground.
The moment that happened, the Temporal Reversion ceased altogether. Those who were on the verge of returning to life among the Imperial Clan's forces and the colossal Sky Destroyers on the verge of returning began to rapidly return to their original states of demise. Some even vanished entirely out of existence.
Only those who were on the planets, lunar satellites, and unintended victims of the battle, those caught in shockwaves and died due to low cultivation bases, and the ones that had undergone the full process due to their circumstances being so weak and easily regressed, remained alive under the effects of the Temporal Reversion.
"...!" Yang Chaoyue's eyes were stupendously bright, brighter than they had ever been in her entire life, as the image of Wei Wuyin standing before a bowed and kneeling Tian Taizong was etched into her true soul. And she wasn't the only one!
"From henceforth, I, the Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn, strip the Tian Clan of their imperial title, and abolish the Imperial Clan designation from the Neo-Dawn Defiance Era!" Those words reached the entire eighteen stellar regions and every realm within. Countless souls shook. Countless hearts quivered. Countless minds rumbled!
"From henceforth, the entirety of the eighteen stellar regions, from one end to the other end, as the Neo-Dawn Stellar Region!"
Wei Wuyin's eyes illuminated with spiritual radiance. Despite looking into a single direction, his image emerged in the minds of every living being present. It was as if he was asking them a single question: "Any objections?"
And the world was silent.
Wei Wuyin took in a subtle breath. He remembered his first thought when he saw the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region from afar all those years ago. To be more accurate, when he saw the expansive world beyond his own.
The new era, the Neo-Dawn Defiance Era, began today. And for years to come, this will be a day that could never be forgotten.
