Urgency filled the room, stifling the air and aggressing the mind like a dark, thick, and cloudy gas. The game continued. While still at its earliest stages, Wei Wuyin skillfully maximized his Mystic Cards with unrivaled luck, creating an unsurpassable, enviable, and monumental advantage before year one. Just her cultivation base at the Elemental Birth Phase, the third stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, was the highest among all existing Chosen.
Jiang Ling's steps established whispers of a growing legend, known as a mother who carried an infant girl with an azure baby sling on her back and a silver-hilted steel saber at her waist. She had a penchant for righteousness, slaughtering villains and bandits. Still rapidly accelerated the propagation of her existence by word of mouth, drawing incredible interest from the human-centric superpowers of the Baiyou Kingdom, including the standing royal family.
By this point, Wei Wuyin had already led Jiang Ling to believe that she had collected a few 'fragments' of his, allowing him to recall information and grant her further stages of the Nascent-Paragonic Body Art and Defied of Constellation Creation Method. She was already set on following this mission. Her primary priority was the life and well-being of Jiang Qiangjue.
Her second priority was to collect these fragments to cultivate further. In her eyes, Wei Wuyin was an expert from beyond this world, having fallen on hard times, giving her an extraordinary opportunity as she seized advantages. That said, she was astounded by the difference between her cultivation base and those on the continent. The disparity was not small or easily missed.
It was disgustingly clear. She was vastly superior in every aspect to everyone she encountered, especially cultivators of her same cultivation base. In fact, she felt what Wei Wuyin had felt all those years ago when he cultivated four Spirits of Cultivation and could one-shot those so-called Mortal Gods—a desire for a greater challenge.
Her desire for a challenge was nurturing various personal aspirations as she often looked at the stars above, asking Wei Wuyin about the world beyond the skies. She was hooked on the idea of escaping the confines of mortality and reaching heights that could defy imagination. Wei Wuyin didn't delve into much, but just the little he did inform her of, the abilities of Astral Core Realm experts, such as the creation of continents, strange realms within space, and the ability to soar among the stars was enough to invigorate any cultivator's heart, especially hers.
She kept going, her path was also being faintly influenced by the Mystical Judges. Wei Wuyin didn't need to do much nor could he with just a Dao Card as the Mystical Judges acted in accordance with the rules, orchestrating an inevitable eventuality—the meeting of Chosen. Grand Seer Rippledark's facial complexion grew increasingly ashen as he observed and calculated the methods that these Mystical Judges were using.
He lacked any way to delay such a meeting, his heart pounding as he cursed his lack of options. The reason was solely on bastard Su Yi, who turned this game into a potential late-game fiesta that was being steamrolled by an early-game juggernaut. If he had nine cards...
He had roughly a month. That was thirty-odd seconds before his Chosen met Jiang Ling, the former of which was only at the External Flow Phase, rising within his clan with aggressive momentum, but even the clan leader wasn't close to the match of this abnormal mother! The others were all observing silently as they too realized this outcome. Hao Chengxue and Imentet did not keep those without keen perceptions or understanding of certain developments, despite the judges' actions being openly announced and freely observable, with much to speculate. They explained everything.
"Jiang Ling has just accepted a request to escort a young maiden to a nearby clan, an enemy clan of Grand Seer Rippledark's Chosen, placing her firmly within the vicinity. Through this, the judges will certainly orchestrate an encounter," Hao Chengxue explained.
"With World-Saint Neo-Dawn's Dao Card in effect, he can subtly, and within reason, paint a target on that Chosen's back. He has already established a mission-like structure related to achieving greater accomplishment in the Dao of the Mortal Realms. Jiang Ling, the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint's only Chosen, will certainly enter into a conflict. "Additionally, their cultivation is misaligned. Even under normal circumstances, a single stage of cultivation difference was insurmountable, yet Jiang Ling had received an unprecedentedly and utterly enviable alchemical products, both foundation and cultivation-types granting her a peerless foundation that few could match in the continent as is," Imentet added excitedly, then panning the spiritual focus to Grand Seer Rippledark, continuing: "With such differences, any negative conflict will likely result in an unfortunate outcome for this Chosen."
"Unless Grand Seer Rippledark has a card to play, maybe his hidden card will come into effect," Hao Chengxue teased, upping the excitement as few dared to underestimate a Grand Seer, let alone a Grand Seer of the Seers of the Night.
The ashen complexion of Grand Seer Rippledark was hard to hide, his heart pounding as time ticked on. Meanwhile, Wei Wuyin remained calm with a smile, observing as Jiang Ling fought off some desperate citizens who had to resort to banditry to survive. She was aware enough to not wield her saber, blessing them with mercy, and a second chance at life. Her righteous attitude wasn't wrong nor right, but something that Wei Wuyin appreciated as she hadn't fallen into the path of emotionless murder to all who wronged her in any sense.
She was developing her Heart of Cultivation with an understanding and appreciation for life. Wei Wuyin's regard for the lives of others wasn't very strong, he wasn't outrageously merciless to an extreme, slaughtering all his enemies and eliminating roots without compassion or consideration. If so, many of those Blessed that he had encountered would have died out of self-interest, especially those he recruited into the Ascendants, such as Yi Yun.
He had restraint. If he didn't, his Saber Intent that sought to bring the conflict to an end with its edge wouldn't have been nearly as potent or ferocious. This restraint was why drawing his saber bestowed such strength and carried incredibly profound meaning, backed by an unshakeable will to end all with its edge, and fueled by an unfettered and arrogant soul.
Even King's personality was sculpted by the selective and only-when-needed will. It never complained about not being drawn, yet never hesitated to stand out when it was required, and when it did, the strength it pushed through was always 100% of everything it could bring. This was reflected also in how it spoke, treating every word as gold and only saying things that truly mattered.
Meanwhile, Kratos was arrogant to an extreme and threw a few tantrums for being either too weak or unused, not putting the heavens or Hell in its eyes, while simultaneously speaking in a way that was as confounding as time and space, barely able to say anything coherent. That said, it was always as reliable as it needed to be, never letting anyone down but itself.
'The next time I draw my saber...' Wei Wuyin recalled that feeling as his imagination was distracted. In the background, Kratos was using mini-False God Avatars in a draconic form to play with Supreme Sages and peak Ascended beings. The Temporal Apparitions that appeared were an unexpected yet welcomed obstacle, further selling the difficulties of acquiring these contracts as Seers were sent to their deaths.
The truth, however, was simple: The Mythical Contracts, ALL of them, were in his hands.
Excluding the Zenith Refinement Tower which was destroyed by Su Yi to save it. The Void was Kratos' home, especially as a True Void Dragon! If it was only that, then certain things might be difficult given Kratos' current cultivation at the First Level of the Mark of Mystic Myth, but when combined with his mutated Laws of Space and Time and everything else, this was its most advantageous environment.
A gulp resounded. It was heavy, tense.
The other players were all silent, casting their senses into the stage globe. The Defiant Dragon Continent was frozen in a state of stasis at the moment. Grand Seer Rippledark's hands were clutched tightly, sweat dripping from his back. It was hard to genuinely understand his feelings, but it was no different than looking at death itself, frozen within a tiny world. An agonizing experience.
The stasis was executed on the Defiant Dragon Continent because two Chosen within this Mystics: Royale had made their encounter. It was called the 'Input Period', established so that the judges could ask a single question to the players.
"The Input Period has been initiated; does any player wish to use a Mystic Card? You will have fifteen minutes to decide," Sun Jiazhen announced, his voice loud and explosive, utterly jeering to the ears of Grand Seer Rippledark. For the first time in his life, he felt the enveloping pressure of having hundreds of billions of eyes on him. All waiting. All watching.
His breathing grew increasingly heavy while his eyes became increasingly bloodshot. This fifteen-minute reprieve was heaven-sent and hell-raising. He sent furiously urgent messages to the Seers of the Night. It was both a warning and an update. Simply put, it could be paraphrased as: "Now or it's over."
In the Void, the voluminous-robed woman in black, the Seers of the Night's Supreme Sage tasked with finding the Mythical Contract, halted her movements, attracting the attention of Suo Haoran and the skinny female Supreme Sage. They could hear her heart and soul pounding despite the Void. "Already?" Suo Haoran's breathing was ragged as he asked. Despite their cultivation bases being godly, the Void was a domain that rivaled their strength, like a mortal attempting to brave the great seas, so while they had the tools to navigate, it was still a daunting task. If they were stronger, just a single stage higher, this locating of the contract would be an easy matter that could be completed with a single snap of their finger.
Unfortunately... Cultivation was difficult.
Just trying to ascend beyond the Microheaven Envoy Phase was roughly a thousand times harder than reaching it. Whether it was foundational flaws of their early years rearing their ugly heads or the lack of resources, this was simply their fate. It was the fate of most cultivators after reaching the peak of their cultivation society.
While there were over ten Heavenly Saint Alchemists within the Utmost Purity Galaxy, to be exact—twenty-four known Heavenly Saint Alchemists of native status and confirmed alive, the majority were Heavenly Saint Alchemists with inferior alchemical lineages, such as the lineage that was sold to the Sages of the Resolute Dusk Galaxy's ambassador, Sage River Oasis.
Meanwhile, concoctions reached unprecedented levels of difficulty and required time at this stage. The common Mystic-Heaven grade products available were mostly only that in public grade, not alchemical effect, either having little to no use to Supreme Sages or just not cultivation-type products to begin with. After all, there were four types of products and countless subtypes, not all designed for the cultivation of cultivators, some assisted in the development of planets or blessed regions, and others were designed for healing the soul or extending lifespan, and that wasn't even beginning to delve into the variety.
Guo Heng was a specialist in poison concoction. His poisonous elixirs could cause an entire planet or star to decay, ruining its prospects and destroying all chances of developing a World Soul or Star Soul. Despite his status as a candidate as a potential future Heavenly Alchemic Saint, if he created a Mystic-Heaven alchemical lineage, it would be poisonous elixirs. This only exacerbated their struggles and highlighted the difficulties of cultivation. The skinny female Supreme Sage had been one for over three hundred thousand years yet hadn't consolidated her supremely powerful Resonant Soul Realm cultivation base!
Why? Because the Zenith Refinement Alchemic Saint didn't specialize in cultivation progression products! That's why!!
"I don't have much time left. The Input Period has begun," the woman replied to Suo Haoran. They could sense the traces of fear lingering in her voice, including her aggressive light on the verge of erupting as she stared at these Seers. In truth, the Seers weren't useless, and they had found traces of Mythical Contracts repeated, yet the environment made them elusive and these so-called Supreme Sages were too weak to grab it in time! They felt deeply aggrieved after sensing her gaze, but what could they do?
The skinny female Supreme Sage felt both pity and schadenfreude at her predicament. She had just faced a single Mythical Punishment and lost all her accumulated cultivated effort of hundreds of thousands of years in one go, simultaneously being injured. Furthermore, just like her, this black-robed woman wouldn't dare to take the Mythical Punishment while in the Void.
That would be no different than facing a violent storm on the sea with only a tiny, leaky boat while bloodthirst sharks waited beneath the raging waves. The Seers of the Night should have means, and just like she did, they could face this storm together with their fortress, stalling for time and seeking hope. Suo Haoran could only sigh. "When the punishment begins, the Mythical Contract will make itself known. We'll acquire it on your behalf," while he spoke these comforting words, the black-robed woman knew Suo Haoran was spouting horseshit, and even if they found the contract, they would extort the ever-living shit out of them without hesitation.
Just as they did the Zenith Refinement Tower... Yet, this had dispersed a large portion of her fear. She nodded. Then, she decided to leave ahead of time and make preparations to face Mythical Punishment. She rather faced the incoming calamity with a fortress.
Before she was about to find the proper spatial stream to depart, her eyes flickered as she profoundly said: "A single foreigner came with great fanfare and unknown intentions, yet it was us who led ourselves to our doom."
Indeed. INDEED!
If the respective forces never agreed to allow those representatives to act on their behalf, there would be very little karmic tie or authority to link them, making the foreigner's condition largely irrelevant. At most, the amount of Mythical Punishment would be mostly directed toward the oath-takers. But each was there acting as representatives, and the Arbiter was indifferent to all but karmic ties, all-seeing, and all-knowing.
This was why a person who hated the world couldn't just make an oath using their enemies as leverage and then break it purposefully to inflict mutual destruction. That said, there have been stories of spies doing something similar when trusted too much and given authority to represent their infiltrated factions but never to this extent. "..." Suo Haoran.
"..." The skinny female Supreme Sage.
"..." The Seers.
She took her leave. Vanishing as she entered a different flow of time and space, soaring back to her 'present'. Suo Haoran shook his head, and an image of Tianshi Ya rose within his mind, comforting as he recalled her gentle touch, and redirecting his focus back to the task at hand. "Let's hurry!"
Within a recently created isolated world, strangely formed and anchored in the Void, a figure with voluminous black robes appeared, her resonant qi of the heavens established a thin, dark shadowy ward around her form. She was instantly on guard. "...Show yourself."
Her words thundered despite being tiny, causing the realm's walls to ripple on the verge of collapse. A little more strength and she determined that it would be destroyed. This realm wasn't strong nor did her probe discover any hidden array or formation.
It was a simple spatial realm, the only difference was that it was somehow anchored in the Void. Her Temporal Eye guarded its age, determining that it was a few days old, slightly older than the foreigner's challenge to Su Yi, that mysterious existence. "Here I am," a figure faded into existence, abnormally so, as if it was always there. The unearthly handsome visage and starry eyes of Transcendent Purity were unmistakable signs of the figure's identity—Wei Wuyin, the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint! The black-robed woman's eyes widened slightly and then narrowed sharply. She could tell that this was a strange avatar art, almost indiscernible from the original in every way if not for its absence of a True Soul.
"Do you carry a soul-will avatar of your Supreme Seer of the Night? If he's half as decent as I hope, he should have seen this coming." Suddenly, from the black-robed woman's chest, between her two proud womanly peaks, a soulful light carrying the aura of extreme darkness flared outwards into a cascading surge of liquid-like, jet-black light, forming a humanoid outline that was blacker than night and as fathomless as an endless abyss. "..."
"Good. You're not useless," Wei Wuyin said with a chuckle. "Let's talk."
Fifteen minutes later.
The conflict between Jiang Ling and Grand Seer Rippledark's Chosen began. Jiang Ling talked, unreasonably requesting access to his Sea of Consciousness to retrieve a 'fragment', essentially demanding he exposes all his potential secrets and allows his life and death to be in her hands.
Of course, he refused. As did the others. She knew doing so forcefully would kill him during the extraction process, so she had always asked others to willingly do so and improve their chances of surviving. Only one agreed. That person inevitably ended up dying, their Sea of Consciousness collapsing entirety.
She was then faced with a conflict: to continue or to stop. Jiang Ling decided the former, reinforcing her Heart of Cultivation above all else, excluding the life of her daughter. She couldn't stop.
Despite calling forth his clan to help, they sold him out after a few deaths, leaving the Chosen alone and without any family. They all watched as he was cut down after one last defiant roar, attempting to detonate his spirit to bring about mutual destruction. Unfortunately, Jiang Ling was too fast.
He lost his head. Decapitation. The hundreds of billions all watched as the first Chosen died.
And billions upon billions of eyes moved to Grand Seer Rippledark. Wonder what Jiang Ling's emotions going to be when revealed, ya know?
In a way, Wei Wuyin was in that EXACT spot for several volumes. If not for the Calamity's being more of a pressing issue, it would be a greater focus to learn that your life for the sake of a game.

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