The abrupt transformations of the constellations above were unexpected to both parties. Within an instant, Su Mei and Zuhei had somehow defied common sense, grasping this opportunity meant for eight, and seizing the profound mysteries within their respective doors. The third door, engulfed by a shadowy aura, almost made Wei Wuyin laugh out loud.
The mental fluctuations of the one named Horus, the Guardian of the Lands of Manu, Protector of the Duat, and self-proclaimed Divinity of the Endless Sky were rampant with disbelief and uncertainty as waves upon waves of soul-crushing pressure descended unintentionally upon the vast sandy desert.
'Lands?' A small, almost insignificant detail within that introduction caused him to ponder when the fourth door began to spark wildly with blisteringly hot flames. The still air was scorched by the latent, uncontrolled Minor Fire Law. The Child of Fire had taken action!
Shui Fengbao did not lose out as a Prime Ascendant, but from the blazing gate, it seemed his tactic and approach toward the eight doors differed greatly from Su Mei and Zuhei. It was more direct, far more forceful, and inherently tyrannical that the constellation of one of the doors just seemed to have transformed into a blazing star of flames with barely an outline of a door remaining visible.
Meanwhile, the door enveloped by that shadowy aura had all but vanished from every sense except Soul Perception or Wei Wuyin's Celestial Eyes. It seemed to be disappearing, melding with the shadowy aura in an impeccably flawless fashion.
Only after this did Wei Wuyin's eyes brighten as Zuhei seemed to have been inspired by something, and the scarlet light began to feed on the door, causing it to visibly shrink within the chaotic sky. Observing as a constellation began to be devoured-no, preyed upon was a sight that Wei Wuyin hadn't expected to see.
Shui Fengbao treated a door as kindling to his flames, burning through it ruthlessly. The shadowy aura slowly assimilated a door into itself, seemingly about to have it vanish from existence altogether. Zuhei devoured the door like prey caught within his claws and fangs, consuming every last bit to ensure nothing went to waste.
Su Mei felt like the most normal, initially. Then, Wei Wuyin saw how the twilight aura was receding as the door itself was bereft of radiance and energy. If Zuhei had treated the door as a meal, then Su Mei had taken everything and allowed the door to fall into a silent dusk after a radiant dawn.
Every last one of them was viciously seizing the opportunity for themselves using their very own methods! Moreover, there were signs of a fifth door exuding a subtle light with a piercing aura. It was Yao Houyi who was taking action next!
"STOP!!" The so-called Divinity of the Endless Sky commanded with fierce dignity and ferocious spiritual strength, aiming at the four doors, yet Wei Wuyin couldn't simply allow this interference so easily.
"How about we just wait here? Have a peaceful discussion?" Wei Wuyin's Spiritual Aura was as if a divinity had awakened from its slumber, and the entirety of the vast sandy desert fine sand gained a silvery hue while the chaotic sky was suppressed, becoming as beautifully flawless as the starry sky as time, life, and death was drawn into order.
It bellowed out like a tempestuous storm that scattered energy and laws! It rushed toward the eight doors with frightening momentum. It was undefined in shape, purely a cluster of spiritual aura, yet it caused the voice to release a startled yelp that was uncharacteristic of a divinity. The sand beneath Wei Wuyin's feet was blasted away, creating a crater thousands of feet deep and tens of thousands of feet wide! He floated with his feet flat, standing upon solid mana, and his silver irises glowing with an unsettling spiritual brilliance.
Since Wei Wuyin had entered the Soul Idol Phase, his Spiritual Strength had always been far beyond the ordinary, and each step he took in cultivation elevated his physical, mental, and essence energies within him to absurdly higher levels, thereby increasing his Spiritual Energies as well. Now that his cultivation base had reached the Mystic Ascendant Realm, regardless of whether he was at the first stage or not, his Spiritual Strength was at a level that few Sages could ever hope to match.
Intercepting Horus' attempt to interfere with Yao Houyi's opportunity, a divinity-deafening explosion resounded as the two clashed with their Spiritual Strength! The skies lost their chaos yet gained endless rippling waves that were mesmerizing to observe, while the vast sandy desert's coloring had changed to almost entirely silver. With a single glance, one could tell that Wei Wuyin hadn't just succeeded in halting Horus, but he was dominating without any sign of defeat!
"WHO IN THE HEAVENS ARE YOU?!" The questioning tone of those six words no longer contained the same meaning as the other questions, originating from a different place within the speaker's heart and soul!
"Haha," Wei Wuyin heartily laughed as his Spiritual Aura settled protectively against the eight doors. Since his Prime Ascendants wanted to seize this opportunity themselves, his only duty was to ensure nothing, not even gods, could interfere. That was his sole responsibility as their emperor, for now.
Wei Wuyin felt joy, pride, and approval for his Prime Ascendants and the one who likely convinced these Sages to willingly surrender their secrets. It was unexpected but certainly brought about a pleasant surprise.
"Do you understand what you're doing?!" The voice injured, slowly calming down after trying to repeatedly breach Wei Wuyin's spiritual obstruction to no avail. The thunderous bangs echoing throughout the Land, still ongoing between each of its spoken syllables, was evident that it was giving its best.
Wei Wuyin calmly smiled. Truthfully, Wei Wuyin wanted to fight. He wanted to test his abilities against a potential Supreme Sage-level existence for the sake of understanding his current abilities. After his breakthrough, which led to unprecedented changes in every aspect of his cultivation, he genuinely had no idea of his strength.
His intense battle against Enlightened Sage Springfield was satisfying to calculate his rough limitations at the peak of the Mortal Realms, yet after entering the Mystic Ascendant Realm, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Mystic Force, which Astral Soul created power by using mystic-grade innate energies, and his Existential Framework brought about indescribable changes that he couldn't calculate.
Normally, an ordinary Starlord, by the standards of the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone and Ancient Sealed Regions, was dozens of times stronger when they ascended to the Mystic Star Phase after 'failing' their ascension. While they weren't impossible to defeat by the top-tier Chosen of the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone, the gap between cultivation realms was chasm-like.
Unfortunately, this metric wasn't useful to Wei Wuyin. He didn't just ascend normally, and his transformation was further supplemented by his soul energy elevating, affecting the mobilization of his Minor Laws, which had also split, reinforced, and fused into one whole.
All he was certain of was that he could slaughter Sage Springfield with far greater ease, and even that was considerably lacking in understanding his depths.
Yet he was disappointed by this so-called Divinity's quite obvious restriction. It seemed the legends and stories of an existence protecting the galaxy from other Resonant Soul Realm cultivators, genuine Supreme Sages, weren't all bluster. Wei Wuyin had initially thought the existence here was only restricted by location, so he felt confident fighting and then departing should things turn disastrous, or that it gathered its strength from a grand array or special formation, which he planned to seize for himself if that was the case.
This was only backed up by the recent, unanswered rampage of Zhan Jiangwen. Wei Wuyin was unaware of Cao Cuifen and Sage Khonshu's conversation. But it seemed akin to an oath-bound existence rather than either of those factors. But what type of oath could restrict an existence at the level of a Supreme Sage? And what could force an existence at that level to stay here?
More importantly, what was this place?
The furious bangs continued fruitlessly. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Wei Wuyin's Spiritual Strength was impenetrable by ordinary methods. Horus' attempts to crush it out of existence and breach through was simple and direct, yet it didn't have the absolute power to crush all things absolutely.
Shockingly, a change occurred. Yao Houyi's gate was nearly enveloped by a subtle yet piercing light...the light began to recede of its own accord. When that happened, a cascade of changes occurred as well. Shui Fengbao, Su Mei, Zuhei, and the shadowy aura began to retract their respective powers.
Frowning, Wei Wuyin inspected their conditions and used his Celestial Eyes to peer through all layers of obstruction, landing solidly on Su Mei. Her valiant figure was exemplified by a contemplative expression with her hand on her chin, while her other hand was only an inch off the door. She had removed herself from the door willingly. Then, her pure black eyes moved. Wei Wuyin felt her look directly at him, a hint of a smile forming. This was an inexplicable ability that Su Mei had, and Wei Wuyin could never get away from looking at her, but this also allowed him to relax.
With a quick sweep, he realized that Zuhei was spewing out bloody mist back into the door. Shui Fengbao had split into two flames. The larger flame was being reabsorbed into the door while the smaller flame was his humanoid form with a disgruntled expression that was filled with dissatisfaction and the urge to curse. The shadowy aura had simply vanished. The door was untouched after it was once again revealed to the world. There were no traces of it that could be found through ordinary senses.
"..." Even Horus was shaken by this sudden development.
"They unanimously decided to retreat?" Wei Wuyin mutter to himself. Then, he received a transmitted message directly from Su Mei.
"The door infects souls," Su Mei relayed succinctly. Since Wei Wuyin was observing from afar, she didn't feel the need to elaborate on her report further. And she didn't need to. Moreover, she was already sending cautionary messages to the others.
Wei Wuyin's Celestial Eyes moved to the eight doors, and some of its mysteries were exposed shortly after those few words acted as the cipher. Originally, Wei Wuyin had assumed the Prime Ascendants were trying to seize the rumored Ascension Arts on the doors, but after looking far more intently at things, he discovered that they weren't trying to seize the mysteries, but reclaim their soul energy that was being seized and infected!
Shui Fengbao had decided to burn his soul energy entirely. When he sent his soul energy into the door, he realized it was split apart, while a portion of it was held back, the other part was slyly replenished and imbued with what could be considered 'Guidance of the Soul' on the path of cultivation.
The door retained that portion and those guided would have thought nothing of it. After all, it made sense that their soul energy would be different if it carried guidance of their cultivation path! The door retained that portion and those guided would have thought nothing of it. After all, it made sense that their soul energy would be different if it carried guidance of their cultivation path!
But who were the Prime Ascendants?! While they all took different approaches to reach a similar conclusion, they inevitably realized that the soul energy was equal parts given and equal parts returned, which didn't add up with the fact that something was added to it! This could only mean...a portion was taken!
While they were unaware of whether it was sinister or beneficial, the act itself caused each of them to respond forcefully.
After Su Mei sent the messages to the others, she sent another to Wei Wuyin:
"I've acquired the Ascension Art. There's something strange about it."
Wei Wuyin's eyes brightened.

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