The geysering pillar of brilliant, strangely colored light caught the attention of every living being within the vast lands of the Evercrown Ceremony. They turned their heads, eyes glittering, eyes rife with greed, hearts filled with aspirations, and hopeful souls. For the briefest of seconds, the thought of becoming the 'Chosen King' flitted across their minds.
The signs of the inevitable end of the Chosen King Competition were finally here.
"Already..." The 'former' Overseer's expression changed drastically as she observed the uniquely colored light that represented the Aspect of Fusion, the finality of the alchemical concoction process. She couldn't resist using her sensory authority of the Ever-Key to observe Tian Yinwu.
This human from the Sealed Regions was visibly determined, only giving the pillar of light a mere glance before continuing as they broke the rules of the Evercrown Ceremony. He subtly placed down a crystalline flag, performing a few hand-seals that she had never seen before, infusing them with the power of several laws, and then taking his leave without looking back.
She speculated that whatever Mystic Overlord or beyond expert had intervened to strip her of her duties was doing so because of him. Unfortunately, she didn't dare to step onto the vast lands below and inspect the flags personally to determine their properties lest she be dealt with. She had always had a cautious personality, trusting her instincts, and she felt earlier that the voice contained a type of incisive killing intent. She knew that trying to reclaim her position and act upon her duties would only draw his ire and unleash that killing intent.
She anxiously bit the side of her lower lip with those pearly white teeth of hers, feeling increasingly complex. Suddenly, she thought about Wang Yutian. The spirit overseeing the Everclash and the Everpath Voyage had given her a warning. Was he also put in her position? Forced to be sidelined? She decided to ask.
With a flutter of her robes, she merged with space and approached Wang Yutian's subrealm.
-----
"Almost seventy percent completed," Tian Yinwu, the Seventh Prince of the Tian Clan, rubbed his hands together and then wiped the faint sweat accruing on his forehead. "This is really difficult to do while at the eighth stage," he casually complained but he didn't stop moving. He already determined his next location and his feet carried him there as his body was enveloped in an Environmental Integration Spiritual Art.
He couldn't help but recall the Everworld Venture and Everpath Voyage; during those two events, he had similarly taken a backseat except to complete certain tasks, spending the majority of his time setting down these flags. If not for needing to conserve his precious power, he definitely would not have allowed Tang Xingyun to escape, even in her disastrous state that could be regarded as semi-erased from existence.
Thinking about Tang Xingyun, he was slightly taken aback-very, very slightly-by how indifferent his heart felt. Considering they were engaged for so long and a large reason for many of his actions over the years, even his hasty return to the Sealed Regions using the Void Piercer, was mostly fueled by her existence. Yet today, he felt nothing for the young woman's fate.
Then again, he wasn't in the wrong; she had essentially cheated shortly after thinking he was dead with some noname individual who was later murdered brutally by Wei Wuyin's silver wolf and his fortune taken advantage of by Na Xinyi. The thought of Tang Xingyun and her adulterous and well-deserved fate melted away as he thought of that graceful, imposing, and remarkable figure of the Extreme Yin Saintess.
Surreptitiously, his eyes moved in a direction, piercing across time and space, landing firmly on that very figure.
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Na Xinyi walked through a grassland region with lush, vibrant green grass and small mountains. Her speed rivaled a true mortal, trailing the winding river that cut through the region. The waters were extremely clear, the energies within abnormally pure, and the smell within the air was oddly calming. This area was unstained with blood or corpses, giving it a serene, protected feeling.
Just a few hundred miles away, there was a valley of ravaged bodies depleted of all blood, essence, energy, lifeforce, and soul aura, stained with colorful blood. It was a place of nightmares.
Na Xinyi looked at the gushing light in the distance, her grey eyes reflecting its strange color. Her thoughts flowed smoothly as he considered certain things. With a faint whisper, she muttered: "I've used the Yin Pond to accelerate the refinement of the Spirit Core, so I no longer need to wait. But should I make my move now?"
She thoughtfully considered this when she felt a distant gaze. Her grey eyes moved, pinpointing the direction of its origin, and she frowned as she couldn't find anything. Moreover, the gaze vanished soon after. The person had moved. How fast.
She didn't dwell; the Chosen King Competition was rife with those with curiosity and high cultivations and she had experienced many such glances, especially like the ones she had just felt, infused with unreserved interest and heartfelt admiration. Inwardly, she was delighted by these emotions.
When she traveled with Long Chen, all she attracted was lustful gazes and jealousy-fueled scorn as women hated her, and felt her unworthy of the attention of men, of her breathtaking looks, either due to her complete lack of status, strength, or country-like background.
While the Myriad Monarch Sect was a great sect, not having the slightest trace of discrimination based on race or gender, it was brutally competitive and bred heavily opinionated cultivators who didn't mind speaking their minds due to the clearly marked differences in status and worth. Just the initial treatment of them versus Wei Wuyin despite joining at the same time, having similar cultivation, and coming from the same place was obvious.
From the very beginning, Wei Wuyin got to live above the clouds while they had to struggle below.
By her own strength, now she could demand to live above the clouds. How could she not be proud and joyful of how far she has come? She was a mere Outer Disciple of the Violet Moon Sect with ordinary looks, no background, and could only envy others from afar, wanted to be like the Violet Moon Sect's top beauty that was desired by everyone, even despite it leading to the sect's ultimate demise, wished to be like the Violet Moon Sect's Sect Master with their command of respect and possession of power, and respect of the legendary Mortal Gods of the continent.
Now, Mystic Ascendants, beings she had once revered as if they were literal gods in her years in the Myriad Monarch Sect, envied her from afar, wanted her with all their hearts, wished to be her, and respected her in their souls.
She looked at the pillar in the distance. "I'm not done," her words were spoken from the innermost depths of her True Soul.
Slowly, her head turned to see a comet of starry light approaching. She would recognize that aura anywhere.
-----
Soaring through the sky enveloped in Imperial Heaven Aura, Wu Baozhai found Na Xinyi's aura. She occupied an area cleaned of any corpses and blood, a very rare sight after the recent slaughter. She flew down and arrived beside the Extreme Yin Saintess with a faint grin, but the solemn light lingering in her gaze remained. Clearly, she wasn't feeling as easy as she tried to showcase.
"Sister Xinyi," Wu Baozhai and Na Xinyi's relationship wasn't the closest out of their friend group, and there were even signs of animosity developing between them due to various factors, but they had traveled and fought together for years. When you fight alongside someone with life and death on the line, it was hard to not form a close bond that couldn't be easily removed.
Na Xinyi replied with her own faint smile.
The two women were definitely starfield-toppling-level beauties. While they've elevated in looks, bodily figures, auras, and temperament over the decades, granting them a type of uniquely possessed allure of their own, they could easily have caused the utter collapse of sects or even starfields in the right circumstances, just like the Violet Moon Sect.
Wu Baozhai decided not to delve into any perfunctory topics. Neither of them cared to discuss how their day was going. "Are you going to fight for the Seventh Fragment?"
Na Xinyi looked at Wu Baozhai for a short moment before moving her gaze toward the gushing pillar of radiant light. Eventually, she shook her head.
Wu Baozhai didn't think this was odd. But her follow-up question caused Na Xinyi's expression to change slightly, "Will you fight for the Crown?"
Na Xinyi's eyes returned to Wu Baozhai's valiant, monarch-worthy countenance, and those grey irises and dark pupils radiated an intense fighting spirit.
Wu Baozhai didn't need verbal confirmation. That single look was more than enough. "Me too," the Eternal Monarch Saintess strongly stated.
Na Xinyi's right hand moved slightly. The fighting spirit and competitive will was on the verge of erupting.
Wu Baozhai was utterly fearless, her breath steady, her heart beating without the slightest irregularity, but she shook her head in the end, causing Na Xinyi's right hand to halt. "Fighting here isn't necessary. In fact, I didn't find you to fight."
"Find me?" Na Xinyi had thought she was simply en route to the pillar, inadvertently locating her through her senses. After all, Na Xinyi wasn't hiding in the slightest. Did the Extreme Yin Saintess need to hide from others? Come. That was her one-word response to any who dared to challenge her.
Wu Baozhai nodded, her eyes looking towards the pillar, the profound intelligence that she was deeply known and shown on many occasions glowed beautifully in that gaze.
"You have something on your mind?" Na Xinyi knew that look. That look had saved their lives more times than she could count and led their enemies in life-claiming traps with a few actions after.
Before Wu Baozhai could answer, the two Saintesses turned their gazes to another aura, approaching them without any attempts to hide their presence. It was a mixture of violet and blood-red colors.
"..." They watched as it landed before them.
-----
Xue Yifei observed the two women before her after landing, gently caressing the head of Ernu. The Extreme Yin Saintess and the Eternal Monarch Saintess. With her included, there were now three renowned Saintesses from the Sealed Regions here.
She looked toward the fighting spirit lingering within Na Xinyi's gaze and Wu Baozhai's gaze, suffusing a profound light of intelligence and consideration.
"Seems like you both thought of it too," Xue Yifei smiled brightly, feeling better about her earlier hesitation.
"Thought of what?" Na Xinyi frowned slightly, realizing that these two women who were Royal Princesses, dealing with schemes and having to consider many angles to survive and thrive almost their whole lives, had thought of something that had eluded her.
Xue Yifei realized that Na Xinyi hadn't thought of it. She glanced at Wu Baozhai and inwardly thought that it made sense. Before she could reply, Wu Baozhai asked: "How's the Silver Wolf?"
Almost all of the Ascendants referred to Zuhei, the Claws and Fangs of the Ascendant Emperor, as the Silver Wolf of Neo-Dawn, much the same way as Wu Yu was titled the Grand Knight of Neo-Dawn. Therefore, both Xue Yifei and Na Xinyi understood who she was talking about.
Xue Yifei couldn't help but give Wu Baozhai a look. It was clear that she was poking slightly at the fact she surrendered her fragment to Zuhei, a fact that everyone pretty much knew by now, all while disguising it as a genuine question. She didn't show her emotions regarding the incident, saying: "He's out."
"Out?" Na Xinyi was taken aback. She actually wanted to face Zuhei in battle, expecting it too after he claimed multiple fragments.
Wu Baozhai nodded as if anticipating that answer. Albeit, she also knew her tiny arrow struck Xue Yifei's nerves despite her attempts to hide it, and that brought her a little bit of satisfaction. "He absorbed far too much like a glutton," she explained to Na Xinyi, "the Silver Wolf has to digest all of that. If my calculations are correct, 'he' will likely bring Silver Wolf out of the competition after that meal."
They all watched Zuhei's savage actions including the predation of the World Beyond Chosen. While they didn't know the exact principles of Zuhei's power of devouring, the sight was extremely clear to anyone familiar with various Cultivation Methods that did the same, particularly Evil Methods. The extent of his devouring was quite excessive.
"He already has," Xue Yifei confirmed. She had ways to sense Zuhei's location, one of the things she asked Wei Wuyin to prepare. The man was like a ghost of death itself. Since most can't sense death, how can one expect to sense its ghost?! Even if he stood directly in front of you, it was almost impossible to sense him. That ability was utterly baffling and horrifying.
How did that Earthly Saint die at the beginning of his bloody slaughter? The person simply could not sense him or feel the slightest sensation of an incoming crisis, a supernatural sense that cultivators heavily relied on. He was a terrifying Apex Predator, the most fearsome-the one you simply can't see coming.
Subtly, Wu Baozhai breathed out an inward sigh of relief. Zuhei was Wei Wuyin's bloody weapon meant to unleash Unrestrained and brutal slaughter on his enemies, cultivated and designed for that very reason, and she didn't wish to fight that person if she had a choice. That said, if he was standing before her and her goal, she wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to attack. As a Grand Monarch, if she didn't have at least a will strong enough to face the powerful and terrifying, she would be undeserving of the title.
Na Xinyi didn't doubt their words because they matched her own assumptions, but she had hoped Zuhei would've fully refined the energy or stored it for later, not take him out of the competition altogether. After all, she had found ways to refine the Spirit Core faster.
Normally, Na Xinyi's thoughts wouldn't be wrong. The issue would be that Wei Wuyin would have to personally step in to expedite the digestion within the period before the competition's end. The Silver Wolf had truly consumed far, far too much as a mere mortal, and he needed incredible levels of assistance to process all of it.
Since Wei Wuyin would have to interfere directly, this would dilute the fairness of the competition since it would lead to a direct increase in his strength. He had only helped Wen Mingna early because she didn't intend to fight for the Evercrown and was mostly here to seek out her own opportunities in these vast lands...alongside a few other things he asked of her.
Therefore, Wei Wuyin decided to send Zuhei away, allowing her to assist in the digestion process. He was effectively out.
"Shall we discuss the actual purpose of this gathering?" Xue Yifei chimed in after confirming Zuhei's departure. Wu Baozhai nodded and Na Xinyi's focus concentrated.
Xue Yifei seriously began: "We should t-"
-----
As the three Saintesses discussed amongst themselves, Wen Mingna looked at the geysering pillar with golden eyes suffused with the light of fate.
"What do you see?" A woman stood beside her, using her eyes that were like treasured rubies to observe, her hair as white as snow fluttered with the increasing winds, all originating from the pillar's continuously erupting force. San Yongli's expression was serene and thoughtful.
"I see a great fight coming. A fight that will lead to the collapse of this world." Wen Mingna stated in a soft voice.
San Yongli gave Wen Mingna a sidelong glance. She checked with the Book of Heaven's Path, finding the updated versions of the Blessed pair's destinies, she felt verified that Wen Mingna was the real thing, as effective of a Heavenly Seer as Ming Shufeng.
The book also foretold a great fortune that would lead the pair to gain an unimaginable opportunity. This Chosen King Competition was rumored to be different in the Sealed Regions and the World Beyond, but no one knew that this would be the last competition...
Wen Mingna's golden eyes dimmed they regained their color. "Will you fight for the Evercrown?" She asked.
San Yongli frowned as she gazed at the geysering pillar, her thoughts hard to read.
A little distance away, a figure of light, sometimes bright and hot, other times dark and cold, sat down as a single fragment formed from two different fragments unleashed lights that cascaded down upon them. Despite being unable to see their identity, one could tell that they were looking at the pillar.
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[Author's Note: This will be a very long arc from the typical (1, 2, 3) or the longer (4, 5) with long and short chapters. And I know that Zuhei being out sucks! ;( But hear me out-it makes sense. <3 Forgive me. We still have more epic things to come! Trust me. >=D]

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