The bright sky above had two stars. They hung in glorious harmony, cycling about, not only creating hotter summers, but their lack of presence as they sunk together gave birth to colder nights. When night inevitably arrived, the sky had a single dull moon, emanating a silvery-white luster across the vast landscape, reflected on the surface of the oceanic edges and serpentine rivers.
The dance of grass, flowers, and trees was halted. The flow of water, the waves caused by the winds and trembling of the earth, the innumerable ripples originating from droplets, and the cascading fall of rivers atop cliffs, were all paused. Whether there was the despair in the eyes of a thief who was about to get executed before a crowd, the hunger of a starving orphan as they hid in the shadows observing a smiling child with loving parents, or the intimate passion of two lovers, there was nothing that escaped from the cessation of time.
The entire continent was frozen in a state of static time flow. All life was subjected to this restriction. The only exceptions were foreign streams of Spiritual Sense, originating from beyond the sky, as if they were divinities unseen yet ever-present. There were three forms of Spiritual Senses present. The first and strongest of the three, the one presiding over things with an irrefutable authority belonged to none other than the Mystical Judges sworn to impartiality and to uphold all rules.
The second and weakest of the three were divided into nine different streams, the amalgamation of hundreds of billions of wills, constantly changing as the streams were intimately interconnected with abundant and non-disruptive freedom, with individual wills leaping from one to the other sporadically. Some particularly powerful ones linked two or more of the nine streams at once, spreading themselves thin, yet observing more.
They were the furthest out, controlled by the Commentator Duo. The third and most pervasive belonged to six Spiritual Streams, all unconnected, and their observations were concealed from the others, and unless they were within three miles of each other, isolated from noticing anything. The six players of this game and these Spiritual Senses scoured the world at an incredible speed.
The Defiant Dragon Continent was the stage of a game with lethal implications. By an extraordinary twist of events, what should have become a minor lesson to harm a single arrogant foreigner that had flipped the entire board against all warnings, had turned into a desperate fight and hunt for their lives. The Zenith Refinement Tower hadn't just lost many allies, but their Mystic-Heaven grade tower that possessed profound powers had been thoroughly exhausted of its powers, deprived of its ability to link with the heavens, and turned into an ordinary tower.
A gargantuan loss. Meanwhile, one of their Dao Enforcers, a Supreme Sage of unfathomable might and prestige, suffered significant damage and nearly lost their life. None wished to follow in their footsteps. None of them intended to.
From the onset, they all had some degree of confidence in winning this game, even against a suspected Resonant Soul Realm expert from beyond their galaxy. This confidence existed in many forms, either due to certain skills or schemes, perhaps due to trust in another. Regardless, none of them thought their chances of victory were low. This was a genuine game.
In a way, the game of Mystics was genuinely equal. Regardless of one's cultivation base, all players started on the same field. What differentiated them was not their cultivation bases, but their individualistic skills, their decision-making ability, and their ability to adapt. Su Yi would dare to challenge gods, devils, and ghosts. In his past life, he had never lost a single game of Mystics.
Not a single one. Regardless of the variation. The frozen state of time of the stage globe was a crucial phase for any variation of Mystics. Since they all originated from the original game, where the purpose was to decipher clues and make accurate guesses on the state of affairs, they all required adequate skill and understanding in this particular phase.
Su Yi was methodical. He learned about the 3,000 years of progressed history through observation and contextual clues of the frozen inhabitants and landscape. Unfortunately, the usage of the Temporal Eye to acquire in-depth information and details of the world was a Dao Card he hadn't drawn. This would have given him a great advantage. Only after doing this, after gaining an understanding that the Defiant Dragon Continent was a human-centric continent with diverse Daos was he able to relax.
A human-centric continent was far better than a bestial world, emulating the Sky Heart Galaxy, and this was largely due to the flexible habits of humans while beasts thrived on innate instincts and had bloodline hierarchies that were difficult to change without extensive effort. This bestial setting might seem easy in a Mystic: Royale game, where the goal is to cause the death of your opponents' Chosen, but that made choosing Chosen a headache.
This type of setting made it easier to direct the flow, nurture an astounding Chosen, and prematurely kill off Chosen of your enemies. Within the Defiant Dragon Continent, he discovered three archetypes of core civilization dynamics. The first was the Imperial-aligned civilization, and this almost always existed in human-centric settings. There were six established kingdoms, and three developing ones, all either in states of ruin or prosperity, if not that, there were indications of these kingdoms verging into one of the other.
The ability to determine a kingdom's future direction would usually net THREE points in an original game for location while determining if a single kingdom would become a sole standing kingdom within the world was worth SEVEN points. The difference between location and society. The other dynamic was tribal, linked to the worship of what they referred to as 'Divine Beasts', which were guardian beasts that have claimed a region, allowing humans to live there, and while offering protection from their enemies, receive offerings and worship.
These were Genesis Beasts, all at the Star Beast-grade, equivalent to Astral Core Realm experts. They had faith in their guardians, and they developed in accordance with that, able to resist the conquest by the early stages of imperial reign. The last was none other than sects. They were organizations that were built by ambitious individuals who wanted to develop their forces, creating lineages that would exist far beyond their deaths.
These sects often used one of the 3,000 Cultivation Methods as their foundation. These inevitably spawned familial clans, alliances, and stronger, diverse organizations with specialties other than cultivated strength. None of this was particularly unordinary, perhaps only the prevalent existence of tribes worshipping beasts was a little shocking, but not by too much.
This was especially so since the ratio of Genesis Beasts at the Astral Core Realm level was extraordinarily low, roughly only a few dozen, and even then, the number of beasts who could access their ancestral lineage was too lacking. Su Yi accepted the state of continental affairs. This type of environment was like a powder keg that could explode in many different directions with some nudging and influencing, so this was suitable for players like himself, who considered themselves flexible in terms of play style.
He deliberately avoided kingdoms at war with tribes or other kingdoms. There were already two neighboring kingdoms fighting aggressively against each other, and the strongest one had to resist the northern tribe that would often come to pillage for resources, especially during the winter. This was also a very common dynamic and a foolish trap for any Chosen to be placed in.
While it seemed ripe for growth, the conflict was easy for accidental mishaps and the unnatural death of your Chosen. This was especially so given Yue Baoyue's condition—Chosen couldn't have a cultivation base. This typically meant they weren't at the Qi Condensation Realm, not the Foundation Establishment Realm because technically, all existences born with the ability to cultivate begin at that realm.
Meanwhile, in this world, cultivation was profoundly difficult. Not a single kingdom in three years had given birth to an Astral Core Realm expert, hence why the tribes were capable of maintaining their autonomy, while simultaneously being unable to be wiped out due to the protection of the Genesis Beasts. The Genesis Beasts also had an instinct for territorial limits and location, so they seldom expanded into the territory of others unless challenged.
Those tribes had also been reduced to worshippers, so they couldn't even ask the long-living Genesis Beasts to assist them in conquering the world. Not unless they had equivalent strength or a special relationship, which none of them had. In the Genesis Beasts' eyes, the humans fighting were like ants scavenging for food, unaware of the sheer potential these ants had for growth, one day becoming a star that might consume them.
Su Yi sighed. If humans didn't navigate this properly, And the beasts were aware of their threat, it almost always led to the global destruction of humans, reduced to mere animals struggling to survive. But as long as cultivation existed, as long as there was a will for power, if the beasts ever let their guard down, which many had in his games, they would be usurped yet again, and reduced to pets and partners.
Su Yi looked at his three Mystic Cards: (Sky) Life Nullification, Cessation - Negate a Man OR Sky-grade Life Card's effect of a Player; They're unable to play another Life Card for (3 Years). (Sky) Ancient Trove, War Blessing - Conjures a suitable Treasure Trove equivalent to the world's strongest cultivation base with an ancient history[Current: World Sea Phase].
Grants a Chosen of your choice and opportunity to seize amidst conflict; all other Chosen not selected by the player within 500 miles will be given a lesser opportunity. (Man) Marriage Calamity, Hidden - Bestow a Chosen of another player with an opportunity to bind with another. Ensures conflict; when used, the card becomes blank, appearing as unused by other players.
Looking at these three Mystic Cards, Su Yi was already contemplative of his options. None of these were particularly useful. However, he could potentially draw three others. Moreover, he did acquire two Sky-grade cards, which were rare. The 'Life Nullification, Cessation' card was extremely strong, and could lead to a cascading effect that might cause the player to lose all of their Chosen without recourse.
It could be brutal. As for the 'Ancient Trove, War Blessing' Card, this had to be carefully used. The term 'conjure' meant that the Mystic Judges would craft a setting, and this allowed other players during that downtime to plan a way to send their Chosen there. This could lead to a double loss, losing the treasure trove and his Chosen.
Moreover, there were bound to be external factors, such as the nearby organizations or kingdoms. If the news spread out about the treasure trove, he could be sending his Chosen to his death if not adequately prepared. If only he had a Life Card but that's fine. He would make it work. After analyzing the state of the continent, and his arsenal of tools, he began to search for a Chosen. There were other rules that the commentary team hadn't fully explained and was only revealing things excitingly as they happened.
For example, the specific usage of the Temporal Eye was allowed on specific targets, allowing one to view their actualized past. This was only allowed during Chosen selecting variations of the game, and it made ascertaining the personality and demeanor of a potential Chosen a lot easier. However, each person could only use this a total of nine times.
So it was best to use other means for deciphering personality before examining a target's past. Su Yi found a young boy, no more than six years old, who had calluses on his hands, handmade sandals, and legs covered in scars made by thorny plants. His clothes were clean yet shabby in quality, even a little faded in color. They weren't made by himself and there was a delicate care to its design, as if made by a mother's hand.
He was holding a basket that had seen many repairs while picking at medicinal plants. By his side was a small dog with a big head that had a hind leg that was recently healed with a clean bandage, hobbling along protectively of the young boy. Tracking his path, he found a humble home that was almost just a small shack with a bed. There, a sick young woman lay with a slight fever.
She read a book with a faded cover, her eyes ripe with interest. Moreover, there was a warmth in her eyes. She was poor in wealth and health but not in love.
The young boy had a tiny sack of copper coins in his pocket. They seemed well maintained, treasured even. Su Yi decided to use one of his nine chances to inspect the actualized past of a person. He learned that this young boy was trying to learn to read while working hard to take care of his mother. They sold sandals and quilts together as a living, depending on the time of year. The money in his pocket was savings that he was going to use. There was an old apothecary in his village known for making superb medicine, and he had just made an agreement to use raw medicinal ingredients as a way to obtain a discount since all the savings in his pocket were unable to buy a single bottle.
The woman in the shack wasn't his mother. He was an orphan at the tender age of three, and this woman was a former lady of the night who was forcefully retired after contracting, rather publicly, a sexually transmitted disease. The two only had each other. She loved to read.
And he loved not starving. While the dog was a rescue that had been bitten by a snake, abandoned by her former owner, and left to die. After stumbling upon her, he used some of the tricks he picked up from his father at the age of two to save her life. Since then, the dog has refused to leave his side. Su Yi calculated a few things and nodded. The boy had a good foundation of fighting spirit and will. Additionally, his innate talent for cultivation wasn't too horrible, and he was born within one of the Imperial Societies—the Suxi Kingdom. But as someone who's experienced a myriad of things, Su Yi knew that the best talent for cultivation was a person's Heart of Cultivation.
This was something no Resonant Soul Realm expert would deny as a paramount requirement. He made his choice.
Simultaneously, the three Mystic Judges' Spiritual Sense descended here. They waited for Su Yi's instructions on the one-time request he could give. "Immediate acquisition of an Inherited Legacy—the Horizon Sword Cultivation Method, via will imprint or treasure. No initial struggle. Staggered bestowal." "..." the three Mystic Judges all deliberated briefly, and then they nodded.
This request didn't necessarily require specifics, and the finer details were left for the Mystical Judges to decide. For this one, Shang Liu created a tiny black sword no larger than a pinky, and embedded it within the soft soil near some medicinal plants. It glinted brightly from the solar light, directly in the young boy's visual range. The tiny sword had no spirit automaton within, yet it had a Spiritual Space that was divided by four gates.
The first gate would expose the Foundation Establishment Realm portion of the legacy, allowing him to cultivate to the Qi Condensation Realm, unlocking the next gate, allowing the lower-stage Qi Condensation Realm methods—Qi Creation, External Flow, and Elemental Birth, to be explained and revealed. This would continue until the last gate, which contained the upper-stages—Sublime Qi, Infused Spirituality, and Qi Essence, and lastly, the way to ascend to the Astral Core Realm.
This was what 'staggered bestowal' meant. It was a minor challenge and allowed Chosen to take one step at a time. Unless they discard the method sometime later. But that was hard to predict. Su Yi didn't ask for a Spirit Automaton like the one Wang Yutian had masqueraded as all those years ago in the Myriad War Dao Palaces, which may or may not have been accepted, but this meant there was no guidance given.
After deciding this, Su Yi felt comforted by his choice and scoured for another.
MC things. KevinAscending

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