Chapter 1923 -1915: He's Coming
"Wait!" The shout was hesitant, uncertain, yet loud enough to jolt everyone to a halt. Sovereign Skyfather and Sovereign Dual-Lotus turned to the owner of the voice! And it was none other than...Sovereign Earthmother! A Dao Companion and a mother.
"Mother, what is it?" Sovereign Dual-Lotus asked with a furrow of her slender brows, impatience riddled her question. She had gathered the requirements to shatter this infuriating safeguard, and then their purpose here could be concluded swiftly. At best, they could directly intervene in the conflict of bodily control, assisting and potentially liberating the alchemical genius inhabited by that tyrant of the Imperial Dao.
"..." Sovereign Skyfather observed his Dao Companion. He was fully committed to aiding his daughter, especially given the gracious rewards they had been offered to act by that organization. A single step to exert the will of the galaxy and they could ascend further up the difficult path of cultivation, and even improve their alchemical prowess in the long run.
However, seeing his beloved's expression, his heart and mind began to grow cloudy, infected by the emotions within her gaze.
Sovereign Earthmother gathered her breath, thoughts, and clarity of mind. She glanced briefly at the manifestation shielding the Neo Zenith Tower and consequently the Blank Dominion that the Neo Dawn Ascendant Emperor was believed to reside in, struggling to contend against the will of an unprecedented alchemical genius after his ascension as a Heavenly Saint Alchemist. "Let's stop here," she firmly said.
"Stop?" Sovereign Dual-Lotus's left eyebrow raised with disbelief and a tinge of annoyance. "We can't stop, Mother. Not now."
Sovereign Earthmother opened her mouth to speak when the voice of Sovereign Steelguard lanced toward them as a spiritual pulse, "Hurry it along, Heaven-Saints."
Unlike the expected disrespect that residents of the Utmost Purity Galaxy showed, Sovereign Steelguard remained respectful by referring to them by their titles. To cultivators of their level, a Heavenly Saint Alchemist was a Heavenly Saint Alchemist, and therefore they were all immensely valuable to their path of cultivation, worthy of gaining their favor and equally as frustrating to acquire their ire.
Sovereign Dual-Lotus gave him a passive glance, and then turned to her mother, "We don't have time for this. We will disperse this manifestation first."
"..." Sovereign Earthmother was besieged with hesitation. She didn't know why. She just...did.
"We won't continue," Sovereign Skyfather stated. Then, he waved his hand, keeping the five alchemists within his Internal World. The act caused Sovereign Dual-Lotus to start in shock.
"Father!" She shouted furiously. "We—"
"No." Sovereign Skyfather cut her off with the authority of a parent, his aura rising. "We're leaving." Sovereign Dual-Lotus wanted to protest, "But-"
"Hao Lianlian!" Sovereign Skyfather shouted with thunderous force, causing the ambient chaos mana to ripple. Hearing her real name uttered by her father, Sovereign Dual-Lotus was stunned. He continued with an unquestionable declaration, "This matter with the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor will not involve our family any longer."
Then, he turned to Sovereign Steelguard and Superior Di: "We're renouncing our involvement. You may do as you please." He didn't hesitate to grab his wife and daughter. Despite his daughter's strength being one or two notches higher, the weight and force of her father's hand was stronger than a divinity grip in her heart. All her rebellious thoughts were dispersed upon feeling that firm hand. She could only pout.
Sovereign Skyfather utilized his Resonant Qi of the Heavens directly, engulfing all three in resplendent light. They became a comet of light, soaring across the void with speed that easily exceeded the speed of light. Within the blink of a True Sage's eye, they were gone.
"..." Sovereign Steelguard and Superior Di were taken aback. Their first instincts were to exert their Soul Perception to its limits, trying to gauge the presence of a powerful cultivator descending, but there was no fluctuation. They were, however, aware of the content of the three Supreme Sages' conversation. Did Sovereign Skyfather depart due to his Dao Companion's hesitation without hesitating himself? Why? Superior Di's eyes narrowed sharply.
"What is this?!" Sovereign Steelguard shouted with fury and indignation. They hadn't broken the manifestation! So what were they to do? Wait? WAIT?! Find other alchemists? How infuriating!!
The urge to just unleash an attack swelled within his heart, but he stayed his hand in the end. Under the agreement, he couldn't act against the galaxy's rules. Only after the manifestation vanished could they blaze their way in with a world-crushing siege, not disrespecting the Alchemic Dao.
Superior Di silently considered the situation, continuously exerting his Soul Perception, observing every little detail in the Utmost Purity Galaxy to its finest detail. He wanted to sense any hidden threats. But none exposed themselves. According to his information network, Hong Xuannu was currently imprisoned by the joint effort of himself, Sovereign Steelguard, and another. Even if she wasn't, Hong Xuannu wasn't a match for Sovereign Dual-Lotus or even himself, an Avatar of a Superior Sage.
Could it be Su Yi? The suspected reincarnation of the Tyrant Sword Sage of the Extreme Edge? Or the Primal Star Sovereign? Even if he were to appear, he was fully confident in retreating or defeating him with Sovereign Steelguard. After all, Su Yi struggled to defeat Sage Yushi's Avatar. What about a real Supreme Sage with a true Microheaven and ample Resonant Qi of the Heavens?
The Incandescent Star Palace Master was being held for a 'discussion' by the Talisman Star Palace Master and Shattered Star Palace Master.
Considering there was no spiritual transmission that preempted their departure, then Sovereign Skyfather had decisively chosen to withdraw from the simplest act of hesitation by his Dao Companion. But as a Supreme Sage, how could their wills be so easily swayed by hesitation? Decisiveness was a must, but the willingness to take risks for the sake of profit coincided with that decisiveness.
Then what else? What could it be?! ...boom... A gentle fluctuation rippled across the void, sweeping across their skin like the softest blow of a wind.
"Eh?" Sovereign Steelguard was equally as sensitive towards hidden threats after the strange departure of three Supreme Sages. "A Spiritquake?" Observing beyond the Utmost Purity Galaxy, there were faint fluctuations of a spiritually seismic activity similar to a Spiritquake.
However, it was extremely far from the Utmost Purity Galaxy. Despite his perception, he was unable to determine the cause. But considering that it was so far, the cause must be extraordinary. He made a mental note to investigate after this.
Superior Di, however, was more familiar with the types of Spiritquakes. He was a treasure hunter by trade, an exceptional one who was a part of a top Void Hunter organization. Spiritquakes had many causes, from the clash of Spiritual Strength, a true Worldly Awakening of a True Saint, and the awakening of a Spirit-Bound treasure being the common causes.
However, the distance of this Spiritquake and how it felt upon his skin suggested that it was not a Worldly Awakening or a Spirit-Bound treasure. Not even a Soul-Bound treasure would reach him here if it had strong spirituality. As for Dao-Bound, they didn't generate Spiritquakes.
As for a clash of Spiritual Strength, these were rarely one-offs. Typically, they would be a continuous creation of Spiritquakes with rising or weakening momentum. Eliminating the common causes, Superior Di could only frown. If he had to guess based on experience alone, he would say that it was an eruption of a Spiritual Transmission Spell designed to communicate beyond the boundary of space and time.
A message to the future? A message received from the past? A message to the present with an instantaneous effect, reaching any place within a certain range instantly?
A message received from the future? A message to the past? These were stupendously rare to occur, but they were within the means of a Cardinal Sage to perform. And given the intensity and fluctuations, he could decipher two faint words: "I" & "Like".
"I'll lend you this," a voice echoed out, only perceivable via Soul Perception. The two Supreme Sages looked at each other. Sovereign Steelguard waved his hand and then went silent for a few seconds before jumping off his Void Vessel.
"I'll do it myself," the Pirate Devil publicly said before arriving at the Worldly Awakening in an instant. He brought out an ostrich egg-sized seven-colored pearl that exuded a strong and pure alchemical qi. This pearl was created by an Alchemic Soul True Sage with the joint efforts of a Resonant Soul Realm cultivator who was also an elite alchemist.
He didn't do much, only activated the pearl, allowing an outpouring of seven-colored radiance to dye the Neo Zenith Tower's spatial territory. The hollow Worldly Awakening of a True Saint's visual manifestation began to quiver and grow faint. It was weakening!
Superior Di observed with sharper eyes. He had always been overly cautious in nature. The timing of this tool's bestowal, even if it was out of necessity given the circumstances, was overly suspect. He gazed at Sovereign Steelguard, this Pirate Devil feared across the galaxy, and then observed the world around him.
There were no changes. No further unexpected developments.
But his instincts were alerting him that something was amiss. He silently thought for a moment as the pearl began to weaken the manifestation, soon to cause it to falter and disperse. Then, he took a deep inhale, closing his eyes, and allowing his thoughts to settle.
He recalled the entire spiritual conversation of the family of three. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing at
all. Shockingly, when he opened his eyes, he grabbed the earthen brown gourd the size of a person on his back and brought it in front of him. His movements caught Sovereign Steelguard's attention.
"What are you doing with that?" He questioned with a severe tone.
"This gourd contains the imprisoned Sovereign She-Devil Sword," he said without cause or reason, exposing a truth that few knew. The shock caused those observing to be taken aback. The questions they had about where Hong Xuannu went as the Neo Zenith Tower was suffering from continuous conflict and issues, especially Luo Ning's own imprisoned circumstances that needed Supreme Sage-level strength to extricate herself from.
"What...are YOU doing, Di Yun?!" Sovereign Steelguard explosively shouted at Superior Di, even resorting
to his real name.
Superior Di was someone who could take risks for great benefits. He was a Void Hunter, after all. However, his actions were far outside of anyone's expectations. He tapped the gourd. It was pushed with such force that it transformed into a blazing comet traveling towards the Neo Zenith Tower. Under disbelieving gazes, it entered the manifestation and vanished.
"My Avatar was the result of several tens of thousands of years of effort and many valuable materials. I ask that it isn't destroyed," Superior Di glanced all around, sending out a Spiritual Transmission to all who
can hear it.
'If that was a message across time and space, what could it be?' Superior Di thought to himself, justifying his actions by pleading for leniency. Even if it wasn't what he thought, when the Neo Zenith Tower was besieged later and destroyed, then it would be easy to retrieve the weakened and restrained Hong
Xuannu. This was a safety net without any real tangible disadvantages, like trying to bluff stalkers by talking to yourself about knowing their presence without sensing anything.
"..." Superior Di and Sovereign Steelguard waited for something to happen. A few seconds-nothing. A
few minutes-nothing.
Meanwhile, the seven-colored pearl kept trying to disperse the manifestation, but besides its initial weakening which was immediately rejuvenated, there was nothing else despite its continuous flow of light. In the end, the pearl shrank in size until it was nothing but a marble. It experienced expensive
cracks...and exploded into faint dust! The manifestation held strong! By this point, Wei Wuyin had just begun to inspect his messages, learning of all that had happened within
three months. And a Spiritquake that was larger than before erupted. Throughout the entire galaxy, two viciously murderous words reverberated through every living
existence's spirit:
"YOU DARE?!"
Superior Di's head snapped in a direction, observing an Absolute-sized monstrosity of clear mystic light barreling across the Dark Void toward the Utmost Purity Galaxy from countless miles away! And it was
growing!!

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