1844 Chapter 1837: Final Act (11)
Suo Kai-Ming and the rest exchanged glances, their thoughts circulating wildly at the unexpected development of Wei Wuyin's selection. This was a heavily disadvantageous selection; Alchemical pills were the top-most common product concocted out of the four, and specialty products aside, each of the Heavenly Saint Alchemists present had great skill in pill concoction far outstripping the common Worldly Saint Alchemist, even a grand-tier one.
According to their prior discussion and careful planning, Wei Wuyin was bound to select pastes and pellets, forfeiting pills and potions to them. This was the best course of action to take for a potential tiebreaker, albeit the Zeniths didn't feel that was too likely given the one-against-seven nature of this All-Alchemic Clash.
It was his best choice to mitigate their advantages.
In their eyes, this arrogant foreigner was destined to lose the pills and potions category. He could only select Mystic-World graded concoction recipes for pellets and pastes to gain a chance to win against four of them through quality, time, and an abundance of heavenly luck. If he chose Mystic-World grade pills and potions, the two categories in which the Zeniths had the greatest experience and advantages in concocting, it was an almost guaranteed loss. A clear-cut losing strategy.
Yet he defied expectations through his second selection. Did this indicate that he had confidence in concocting a pill to clinch that category? If so, there was only one reasonable conclusion that they could come up with.
The announcers verbalized this entire thought process with Hao Chengxue and Mei Xiaoyang acting as explainers to the audience, enlightening the crowd with an understanding of the sudden shift in expression and atmosphere. They turned to Luo Ning, seeking answers.
Luo Ning could only remain indifferent, "I think it's best not to assume the most obvious path for my Lord. He has always defied expectations, and not once had I ever seen him suffer a loss that he hadn't orchestrated for the world to see, when in reality, it was his victory from the outset."
"..." That response was incredibly hard to muster a reply to. Hao Chengxue coughed awkwardly at the overly biased statement to the audience. "You may be right, Earth-Saint Luo. This only drives up my expectations of the clash! What type of momentous events will occur?!"
Luo Ning pursed her lips, 'Since Lord Wei has decided to enter this challenge, he's either already won or doesn't care if he loses.' This was her thought, solely based on her unshakeable belief in Wei Wuyin. The feats he'd accomplished en route to the Utmost Purity Galaxy were excessively tyrannical and superb.
Not only did he come from a small corner of a galaxy, but by relying solely on himself, did he not turn three galaxies into his vassals? Did he not defeat Sages, Enlightened Sages, and Supreme Sages in battle despite his cultivation base being far inferior? In the eyes of these so-called superpowers, they were playing 4-dimensional chess, while in her eyes, Wei Wuyin was the one who invented the game. To even play, they had to get Wei Wuyin's permission and pay a fee.
There was no losing. Only how much he could extract from the players. Her belief could be far too grandiose, placing Wei Wuyin on an impossible pedestal, but if she or anyone knew the truth of his journey thus far, they might think that so-called impossible pedestal was a little too low!
The Palace Lord verified Wei Wuyin's selection, leaving pellets the sole remaining option for the Zeniths. While their plans were somewhat disrupted, this was still greatly beneficial to them, far greater than their original plans. They soundlessly communicated with their gazes to continue onwards. The confidence radiating from their bodies only increased with the passing seconds.
The Palace Lord began with a clear, deep voice: "All types have been selected by the challenging and challenged parties. We will begin with the selection of Alchemical Concoction Recipes, beginning with the challenged party: World-Saint Neo-Dawn! The recipe must be a paste. The selector may choose the grade and tier of the product freely as it is only one level lower or higher than the highest rank of the participating alchemists."
Hao Chengxue elaborated to the audience: "As those from beyond might not know, our Utmost Purity Galaxy's Alchemical tradition abhors holding back. So we've established a rule that each party can only select a product between a single level higher or lower! This means that the Zeniths, genuine Heavenly Saint Alchemists recognized by the Alchemic Dao can only be challenged with Mystic-World or Mystic-Soul grade products!
"Additionally, if the selector of the product is unable to concoct even an impure version of the product for examination, they will receive an automatic loss for that round. So don't think of selecting a Mystic-Soul grade alchemical product and hope for a mutual loss.
"That said, you must publicize your recipe to all participating parties, so be careful of giving away your precious recipes to everyone present! This is usually why alchemical lineage-specific products such as the Novacore Lineage of Heaven-Saint Refining Skies will never emerge in an All-Alchemic Clash as no oath prevents widespread circulation after!"
Enlightened by his words, those who had some alchemical backgrounds and participated in a few Alchemical Clashes before winced at how brutal these rules were. Instantly, the crowd was salivating at the selection of products designated to be concocted. Not only could they witness masters at work, but they would gain access to these rare products.
Unfortunately, the first product was a paste. Wei Wuyin took center stage, and all spiritual perspectives were drawn to him. The Zeniths trained their gazes onto him as well, not blinking at all as if afraid to miss his mouth making a decision.
"Mystic-World grade. Peak-tier. Blooming-Spring Blossoming-Fields Paste of the Spring Lineage."
"..."
"What?"
"Enlightened Sage Springfield's alchemical lineage?! How does he have that?!"
The crowd native to the Utmost Purity Galaxy went wild. Enlightened Sage Springfield was not just a top-notch expert of the True Soul Phase, but part of the Spring Alchemical Lineage. It was one of the four ancient Cardinal Seasons Lineage, but its origins hadn't come from the Utmost Purity Galaxy but the Prosperous Ruin Galaxy. It fragmented into four after an incident far too many years ago.
According to ancient and unsubstantial records based mostly on speculation, the Cardinal Seasons Lineage was a Mystic-Soul grade lineage that assisted an ascension into that great dao of eternity. However, it failed in the end, and due to uncertain reasons, the leading alchemists and their founder suffered catastrophic fates and died shortly after.
The Cardinal Seasons Lineage was named such as they were a group of highly combat-competent alchemists with their founder possessing the might of a Cardinal Sage. There were three titles of a Sage: Superior Sage, Cardinal Sage, and Prime Sage. It was unclear what these Sages' titles correlated in terms of cultivation base, but a Cardinal Sage was borderline godly in the eyes of ordinary Supreme Sages.
The Holy Void of Fortune's four greater galaxies had one lineage denoting a season. The Utmost Purity Galaxy was the Season of Spring, and it was fragmented and lacking, only possessing a legacy reaching to the peak Mystic-World. According to legend, each primary successor of the lineages had a key that could be combined to acquire more of their respective lineages, but due to some unforeseen reason, Supreme Seers and Sovereign Knights alike ensured that day never came. This latter bit was known only to true experts of the galaxy.
It was taboo! But how did Wei Wuyin acquire the Season of Spring Lineage?!
The Zeniths were stunned into silence, but Wei Wuyin only calmly withdrew a verdant green ring brimming with vitality. They all recognized the ring!
The successor ring of Cardinal Spring! He casually used a spell to activate the ring. It was so mystifyingly complex that even Supreme Sages couldn't immediately figure out how to execute it. Then, the ring bloomed with life that enveloped the hundred-mile zone!
"How?!" Suo Kai-Ming exclaimed in shock. That was a sign of a true successor!
"Springfield gave you his successor rights?!" She had been trying to acquire the lineage for millennia. "Wait...there's..."
Slowly, she grew silent. So did the crowd.
If Enlightened Sage Springfield's successor ring was in Wei Wuyin's possession, then that meant that he was likely dead. As for acquiring it forcefully, that was utterly impossible given the requirement to execute a specific spell to activate the ring, and its escape function that even Supreme Sages couldn't stop if tampered with.
So was Enlightened Sage Springfield dead or did he simply join Wei Wuyin's camp long ago? The thought shook them to the core.
However, Wei Wuyin didn't mind. Instead, he proposed this paste for the challenge, and each of the seven Zeniths had colorful expressions, some twisted and others with dark expressions. They exchanged glances immediately, the urge to curse brimming from their eyes.
The Cardinal Seasons lineage was a series of disgustingly vicious products that required extraordinary sacrificial offerings to concoct, typically from one's self. Spring requires lifespan. True, genuine, and irreversible lifespan offering that skims from one's soulspan. It was a self-mutilating alchemical lineage!
That was, of course, if they didn't have ALL of the requirements: Minor Wood Law or equivalent Heavenly Treasure, a specific Cultivation Method, and a unique treasure. For example, the Successor Ring of the Cardinal Spring!
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Wei Wuyin smiled brightly.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The longest string of silence unfolded which seemed like it took hours. Not even the Incandescent Star Palace Lord interrupted, his eyes gleaming with understanding and a wisp of pity.
Heaven-Saint Fusing Souls spoke, breaking this silence: "I surrender this round."
His words were said slowly and softly yet they were like thunderbolts to the ears.
"I surrender this round," Heaven-Saint Containing Creation, Tianshi Zaoxuan, immediately announced. He had an unabashed expression. In his eyes, it simply wasn't worth losing thousands upon thousands of years of his life attempting to concoct this paste to the best of his ability!
"I surrender this round," Suo Kai-Ming spat with the rancor of a thousand curses on her tongue. Her indifferent eyes contained infinite coldness as she glared at Wei Wuyin.
Heaven-Saint Transforming Worlds was confused as to why they were surrendering, but among the seven, he was the only one with years to spare. Most of those present were incredibly ancient. Heaven-Saint Fusing Souls was capable of sensing his soulspan coming to an end, already making preparations to be succeeded.
He refused to croak trying to concoct a bullshit product that required quintessential lifespan from the concocting alchemist without arbitrary items or abilities. Screw that.
The audience was shocked! Three out of seven had surrendered! Wei Wuyin only needed four wins to claim the round!
"I surrender this round," Heaven-Saint Refining Skies joined in. Even though he was willing to try, winning this round was incredibly unlikely given that he only needed to beat out one of the remaining four. He didn't trust the others, so it was best to forfeit this round entirely.
"I surrender this round," the other two—Heaven-Saint Growing Immortality and Heaven-Saint Extracting Divinity followed suit, leaving only a single Zenith remaining. Regardless of whether he participated or not, they would lose this round.
Left as the only challenging party, Heaven-Saint Transforming Worlds was left dumbstruck for a while. It was only after he saw Heaven-Saint Growing Immortality gesture with her eyes did he realize what was happening. "I surrender this round."
Wei Wuyin stood there, all manner of perceptions on him, with a straight spine and a broad smile. With a single stroke, the match was decided.
Springfield was a massive sinner, and he often violated the taboo of affecting souls, and during his younger years, he had drained the quintessential lifespan of many to act as proxies for his methods. Sometimes willing, other times unwilling. There was no way the Zeniths present would resort to such a method.
His first move shook the entire event! The Incandescent Star Palace Lord was left with no choice but to announce after Wei Wuyin refused to surrender the round: "By overcoming four or more Zeniths, the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint has claimed this round!
"1st Round: Paste—1-0, Neo-Dawn!"

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