Within the Neo-Dawn Starfield, several designated safe zones engulfed the entirety of a Dark Void spatial region, the folds of fixed space where Secret Realms or World Realms were interconnected to form Defiant Dawn-a vast Realm Region, or planets. These areas had Ascendant established buildings and regions that were designed for cultivation or nourishment as well as civilian-occupied land that was used for agricultural, mining, or residential purposes.
Within Defiant Dawn's network of realms, there was a World Realm with seven glowing moons. They reflected rays of solar light of Baby Defiant, enriching the environment as they each notably glowed one of the seven colors of the Alchemic Dao. Despite their glowing and varied colors, the light cascading upon the land was as white and pure as Baby Defiant.
There were several skyscraping towers erected throughout the World Realm. They each had a large cauldron affixed on their peak that dispersed Utmost Purity Mist into the air and sky, creating Utmost Purity Clouds that assisted in the Sky Layers refinement of solar essence, allowing alchemical energies and astral energies to sweep the lands in abnormally high qualities.
This was but one of the Hepta-Dawn Alchemic Corps designated World Realms within Defiant Dawn, the expansive Realm Region that was continuing to grow past the former Heptasage Pillar Stellar Region of old's borders. It was referred to as the Central Hepta-Dawn Realm.
"Hehe! Hehe!"
Within one of the towers, half a dozen alchemists looked extremely tense as they silently observed a little girl standing on a stool, waving her hand over a cauldron several times larger than her tiny body, and laughing sillily as if she wasn't currently leading a major alchemical project. These alchemists' tense looks were entirely justified as they were pouring their alchemical forces into the cauldron, handling the intense expenditure of power to cover the deficit of the young girl's cultivation base.
"Almost done!" Bei Yinyin's little body tip-toed as she weaved her hands into hand-seals. Her hands sent pulsating waves of Spiritual Strength as she controlled the external alchemical forces like a great puppeteer. No one would think that this little girl was a leading figure of a joint alchemical concoction session, nor could they imagine that these other alchemists who were older than her by hundreds of years were her assistants, lower in status and skill in the Alchemic Dao.
"Hehe! I'm almost there!" She was totally unlike the gloomy, stoic alchemists who devoted their entire attention to the concoction process silently as she had time to freely laugh and shake her little body from side to side. Despite her antics, her hand-seals were impeccable and well-timed as if she was drawing upon the insights and knowledge of a former Mortal Saint Alchemist.
After several additional minutes, the alchemists who were sweating bullets into their robes, drenched by their nervousness, finally felt a lifting of indescribable pressure as Bei Yinyin no longer actively siphoned their strength or demanded more.
Boom!
A soft explosion erupted in the cauldron. The six Alchemists all tumbled to the ground in exhaustion. They were all Emperor Alchemists of the Hepta-Dawn Alchemic Corps, their cultivation bases sturdy and their alchemical energies extremely pure as they cultivated the Alchemic Spirit of Cultivation, forming an Alchemic Soul at the Astral Core Realm. They could be considered true-blue alchemists who took the purest path of the Alchemic Dao.
They were also prospective Mortal Sovereign Alchemists and potentially future Alchemic Saints. They were a mixture of men and women of various races, and they all had outstanding alchemic talent.
Bei Yinyin held the edge of the cauldron and peaked over. She wasn't even sweating, but her eyes glistened with a youthful pleasant light that could ease the heart and soothe the soul. The liquid within the cauldron was multicolored and fluid-like water. "Hehe! I did it! I did it!" She announced as she turned to the fallen alchemists with a proud smile.
They all replied with bitter smiles.
Bei Yinyin was a monster.
They were concocting a high-tier, ninth-grade elixir-the Astral Elevation Elixir. It was a simple recipe that could assist in the growth and nourishment of one's Astral Physique. To those who cultivated Astral Physiques from High-Earth Cultivation Methods, if they didn't wish to spend an enormous time refining specific materials, this elixir was a suitable substitution for almost anything.
She and the others had completed the elixir in the last three days, an absurdly ridiculous time that would leave the Neo-Dawn Stellar Region non-Hepta-Dawn Alchemic Corps alchemists in utter shame and feeling inferiority down to their souls. While concocting with a group often reduced the concoction times and shared the burdens of the concoction, three days for a ninth-grade product was indescribable.
Moreover, this cauldron of elixir had a total of thirty-three portions. It was absurd.
"I've completed the tri-monthly quota! Hehe! I can go play now!" She didn't bother to give the elixir that was at the high-quality another look as she jumped off the stool with a huff and started dashing toward the door. She was unnaturally quick. The other alchemists couldn't even react before she opened the door and was about to escape to god knows where.
Someone was designated to watch over her but they could barely lift their butts off the comfortably cold floor. They stammered as they helplessly reached for Bei Yinyin's little figure. "Wait! Wait!"
"Bye-bye!" She mischievously smiled back as she opened the door. Her expression made the others realize that she might have overtaxed their energies for this exact scenario.
However, the moment she opened the door and stepped out, her little body bumped into a solid pair of legs. She fell on her buttocks, "Ow!" She rubbed her nose as tears appeared in her eyes and she slowly looked up.
She saw a familiar face that caused her expression to drastically change. "Au-Auntie Luo!"
"Tower Master Luo!"
Luo Ning stood at the door, glaring down at this playful little girl. She had just gotten back from the Chosen King Competition that she wasn't permitted to join and then was punished with an assignment. Luo Ning looked at the 'babysitter' who was useless and drained. Falling for the schemes of a child? How ridiculous.
She picked up Bei Yinyin like a kitten by the neck, dragging her to the cauldron, and inspecting the contents. After verifying that the concoction was a success, she sighed inwardly as she glanced at this absurd little monster. To concoct thirty-three portions of elixir in three days was incredible.
"Didn't I tell you not to leave until I said so? You little mouse," Luo Ning scolded. Bei Yinyin was guilty as one could imagine, but she pursed her lips and her big eyes grew wet as if on the verge of tears. She said in a quivering, pleading voice, "Auntie Luo! I! I! I just wanted to play with Big Sister!"
Her expression was enough to move everyone present and they had the urge to hug her. Even Luo Ning's expression softened. She was about to relent, no longer having the heart to scold this little monster.
"You shouldn't let her fool you, she already paid the Void Gate Overseer of this tower off to send her to the Paradise Waters Realm and had him swear an oath of secrecy. Bei Weiwei is currently cultivating elsewhere," a voice resounded that caused both Bei Yinyin and Luo Ning to start. They both turned alongside the alchemists whose eyes were already as wide as they could be.
"Your Majesty!"
The Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn had just walked through the door!
Bei Yinyin, however, didn't seem to be shaken by being exposed. Instead, her teary eyes vanished as she wiggled skillfully out of Luo Ning's grip with unnatural ability, and she already jumped into Wei Wuyin's arms.
Wei Wuyin held her tightly as she pressed her soft cheeks against his face. She giggled, "Royal Father!"
Wei Wuyin chuckled helplessly, "I told you not to call me that." He poked her nose. The Ascendants knew that this little monster was his goddaughter and he cared for her deeply. Because of his status as her godfather, she took the habit of referring to him as Royal Father. However, Wei Wuyin was helpless in changing her opinion on the matter.
There were some Ascendants who thought that Bei Yinyin might be Wei Wuyin's illegitimate child given how they were both stupidly talented in the Alchemic Dao. Before the age of ten, this little girl was already a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist in all but the Alchemic Dao's acknowledgment. This was solely because she didn't have the cultivation base to concoct ninth-grade products on her own without external assistance, but by all other accounts, she was an extraordinary Mortal Sovereign Alchemist. Meanwhile, Wei Wuyin before the age of a hundred was a Worldly Saint Alchemist, which was even more absurd when one truly thought about it.
Luo Ning's eyes radiated intense reverence at the man who changed her destiny and allowed her the honor of becoming an Earthly Alchemic Saint.
Wei Wuyin gave them all a smile that was mind-dazzling. "You all did a good job here. Consider your annual obligations completed; cultivate or concoct as you wish for the remainder of this year. I've added Dao Merits to each of your tablets." After rewarding them for this, Wei Wuyin brought Bei Yinyin out.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The sounds of earnest thanks echoed from behind him as Bei Yinyin chuckled happily. "Royal Father, are we going to see Big Sister?"
"Just going on a walk," Wei Wuyin answered as he continued to play with Bei Yinyin's puffy cheeks.
"Luo Ning, come with me." His words instantly caused Luo Ning to straighten her spine and she followed along. Her heart was racing uncontrollably, far beyond what she felt when they first met all those years ago. It was incredible how much has changed since Xun Yicao's ill-intended selection.
She was now publicly recognized and revered as the fifth Alchemic Saint of the Neo-Dawn Stellar Region. She was eternally a part of the ushering of the Neo-Dawn Defiance Era. She would be remembered for all of written history for time to come. Her cultivation had advanced and her Alchemic Dao had progressed with steady, incredible steps.
Wei Wuyin continued to play with Bei Yinyin and Luo Ning's heart softened to the greatest extent. She subconsciously thought about how amazing it would be to have a daughter with a father who treated both of them so well. Her eyes grew hazy and indistinct as her cheeks blushed almost naturally. It was like she was daydreaming of a particular future.
While she was engrossed in her thoughts, Bei Yinyin's shadow wiggled as it unnoticeably merged with Wei Wuyin's.
"Are you leaving?" Bei Yinyin had the preternatural instincts of a child and she instantly could tell from Wei Wuyin's tone and words of continuous reminders of certain things while teasing and joking with her that he was likely about to venture somewhere for a while. He had done something similar before he faced the Void Wyrm before the world.
"As perceptive as always. I am. For a few years. However, I'll always be with you. And if you ever need to talk to me, or simply get bored, don't hesitate to activate this necklace. I'll be here for you. Just don't exhaust too much of its energy or Weiwei might scold you."
Hearing 'Weiwei', Bei Yinyin immediately straightened her expression and a flicker of fear appeared in her eyes. Her older sister was the scariest when mad. She nodded as Wei Wuyin gently placed a crystal necklace around her neck. "Don't lose it. Okay?"
She gently caressed it as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. "I won't! I promise!" Her expression was urgent as if she needed Wei Wuyin to believe her show of staunch determination to keep this with her at all times.
"You promised. So I know you won't," Wei Wuyin smiled brightly and rubbed his cheeks against Bei Yinyin's tender cheeks. When she was a baby, she would often grab Wei Wuyin's face and rub hers against him for minutes on end. Sometimes, she would refuse to let him go until she fell asleep as they exchanged warmth.
"Hehe!" She loved it.
Wei Wuyin spoke to Luo Ning while Bei Yinyin was distracted by inserting her spiritual sense into the miniature Internal World within the Void Crystal. "I'll leave behind an itinerary for your cultivation. I also have some prospective Earthly Alchemic Saints I've picked out that I want you to assist in training. I've left behind a neo-fruit of the Alchemic Dao in their minds. Have them slowly digest it without being too hasty. They each contain different paths of specialization according to their preference."
Luo Ning snapped out of her stupor, and her eyes brightened. "Yes!"
Wei Wuyin nodded. He wanted at least four additional Earthly Saint Alchemists, each specializing in one of the four products by his return. Moreover, with the usage of the Neo-Dawn Vortex-Zone Pellet, there were chances for more. During his absence, they would need to assist in providing the cultivation resources for the Ascendants.
Fortunately, "I'll lend Zhan Yicao and a few others to you. They are no different than Earthly Alchemic Saints in some regards to concocting ninth-grade and lower products, and you can instruct them as you would slaves. Don't worry about treating them with decency. In fact, cover any lacking areas with them."
Wei Wuyin was planning to leave behind a few of the Spirits of War specializing in the Alchemic Dao that he'd acquired over the years with them. With the seizing of the Endless Void Mirror, the entire Ancient Sealed Region was like his Internal World, he could leave behind any Spirits of War regardless of distance as long as he remained in control of the Endless Void Mirror.
This was one of the reasons he was confident in leaving. He could easily leave behind reinforcements. Despite this insurance, he refused to allow the Endless Voyage Realm's World Emperors to freely roam with certain restrictions if they chose to stay.
After spending some time with Bei Yinyin, Wei Wuyin handed her off to the Void Gate Overseer she bribed. "Go with her for two days. Two days only-ONLY." Wei Wuyin eyed Bai Yinyin and her big eyes nodded intently.
"Fifty-four, uh, Forty-eight hours!" Bei Yinyin replied. Wei Wuyin smilingly nodded with warmth in his eyes. She was just like him in some ways. Didn't he also bribe a Void Gate Overseer before entering the Bloodforge Continent? But he was more thorough, he paid off the Grand Imperial Sages as well without any of them knowing that the others were already in his pocket.
"Okay." Luo Ning didn't dare disobey. She took Bei Yinyin and left. Bei Yinyin cheerily laughed as she began talking about all the things her Big Sisters told her about the Paradise Waters Realm to Luo Ning while holding her hand. She was extremely excited.
Wei Wuyin watched all this with a soft heart. His child would've been...this year...they...
After thinking about this for a while, he sighed and shook his head. His shadow rippled.
"We'll be venturing into an unknown empire. Unfortunately, Wen Mingna has already left. That's fine."
His shadow rippled once again.
"Of course, I can't leave without my fang and claws," with a smirk, he opened a Void Portal with the ease of breathing.
Zuhei was cultivating diligently atop a scarlet moon surrounded by a ring of sanguine blood. His breathing exuded a type of primal savagery that was unprecedented. His silvery hair cascaded down beautifully and his facial features were extraordinary. There was a savage handsomeness about him hidden behind his sharp, applause-worthy features. When he opened his scarlet eyes, Wei Wuyin stood before him with a faint smile. He walked into the Void Portal that brought him here.
Zuhei stood up on his bare feet and followed.
Words were unnecessary!
