Beyond your blue sky, Influencing your will and heart, I remain unseen and watching.
Wei Wuyin's Second Mind recalled a relatively unknown poem that it had digested from studying the libraries of the Endless Voyage Realm, finding it quite fitting in this situation as Jiang Ling unleashed a blood-soaked and riveting slaughter fueled by merciless revenge. The infant on her shoulder was quiet, its soul baptized by the howling wails of her family's murderers and the righteous gathering of souls both known and unknown.
Nostalgia besieged both minds as they observed, recalling their own act of slaughter all those years ago. "Unlike me back then, she carries her reason for living on her back. Nothing can stop her," Wei Wuyin quietly muttered. It was loud enough for the cultivators present to hear every syllable, sensing the melancholy and grief within. Back then, Wei Wuyin had stood at the foot of his family's grave, ready to join them in an eternal slumber.
If not for Mei Mei all those years ago, his life's story would have inevitably been cut short. His eternal smile didn't fade, because beneath all that grief, sadness, and despair laced in those words were hope, happiness, excitement, and a staunch, forged will to cultivate and continue on, even if it meant facing all eighteen floors of Hell. While Wei Wuyin was caught in a swirl of memories, the rest of the players were panicking.
Grand Seer Rippledark was unable to hide his unseemly heavy breathing as he observed Jiang Ling exhibit peerless strength, forged by the Dao-led path of a Supreme Sage-level expert with disgustingly perfect insights into the Mortal Dao that made him feel vastly inferior with every lecturing sentence, supported by fourteen transcendent alchemical products, while simultaneously having no issue slaughtering her targets.
A sensation of great crisis invaded his innate talent of Heavenly Observation. This instinct was derived from the will of the heavens! It was telling him...that his life was in great, unprecedented danger! The Mythical Punishment!
The need to cripple his cultivation!
While the others didn't have his observation talent bolstered by his Blackened Fate Mystic Soul, a unique path of Darkness-refined Spirit of Cultivation, they had their own form of instincts and discernment, and they saw defeat in their eyes, all of which manifested as a single individual—Jiang Ling! The Blackened Hydromancy Mirror Method refined Grand Seer Rippledark's Spirit of Cultivation, originally his Heart of Qi with a unique mixture of Darkness, Life, and Water Intent, and when mixed with Fate Qi granted him an extraordinary ability to observe, predict, and direct calamities of the Heavenly Daos, especially effective using bodies of water of higher graded quality.
He pulled out a tiny, shallow bowl. The bowl was golden. If it was placed on a mortal's table, they would think it was an outrageously luxurious dip bowl used for sauces. Within it seemed like an endless abyssal swirl of darkness. However, this bowl was a Heavenly Treasure, assiduously refined by fate aura, linked to the Darkness Realm of Heaven's Laws, similar to the Rod of Absolution.
He hastily took out a beast skin waterskin. The beast skin wasn't from a typical beast, but a Star-Devourer of some type. He poured the contents of the waterskin without hiding anything from the players and directly executed a hand-seal. The bowl, surprisingly, lost its endless darkness as it filled with clear water in an instant. The water within the bowl rippled as a soft golden glow was unleashed, painting the jade table in its hue.
As it did so, Grand Seer Rippledark's eyes grew increasingly bloodshot by every passing microsecond. The impending sensation of a deadly crisis ballooned within his soul to the point it hurt. He hurriedly sent a soul message to the outside using his unique transmission method, disregarding everything else.
"FIND THE CONTRACT!" Three urgent words were sent pulsating through at speeds faster than light, hoping to reach the spiritual relay tower that could transmit it to the woman in voluminous black robes. Wei Wuyin didn't try to interfere either, despite being fully capable of doing so. He simply watched on as the atmosphere grew heavy, eyes veering from Jiang Ling to their Chosen. They were already plotting to navigate themselves. Suddenly, this game they had absolute confidence in, whatever their trump cards were, began to collapse their fighting spirits, breaking their calm visage as their thoughts surged. Grand Seer Rippledark was already in full panic mode. He had kept his 3-point Chosen within the Hongli Kingdom alongside Yue Baoyue's Chosen, but two of his 1-point Chosen were in the Baiyou Kingdom, the same as Qin Yingyin's 3-point Chosen—Lady Nightshade!
Qin Yingyin had already deployed a card early on, adding a directive that led to Lady Nightshade traversing out of the country. This move was rather sly and quick, using a Calamity-type Mystic Card on her own Chosen for the sake of doing so. It was unconventional, but she had the forethought and the tools to do so, so she had.
Unfortunately, none of Grand Seer Rippledark's cards had such means, and he couldn't issue directives without rhyme or reason, so he was out of luck unless he drew additional cards. But the next stage of the draw, the Sixth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, the False Reality Phase, was not an easy feat to accomplish at all. If he was lucky to reach that at all.
Grand Seer Rippledark's facial complexion was pallid and worsening by the second. After all, an entire stage globe year was only six minutes. Each second was literally a day! Jiang Ling had not only slaughtered her enemies, but she was growing in battle experience as Wei Wuyin applied to godly benefits of that Dao Card, sending her into various conflicts for the sake of cultivation, growing her in knowledge and willpower. She was an unpolished gem being refined by a godly expert. What should have been a relief, with Wei Wuyin limited to giving only specific stage-relevant knowledge, given the absurd depth of Wei Wuyin's knowledge of the Mortal Dao left him feeling absolutely no comfort. Moreover, she was approaching his Chosen.
A middle-aged military man with a late-blooming talent. His eyes widened as he viciously glared at Su Yi! THAT FREAKING BASTARD! Because of his condition and Yue Baoyue's catastrophic requirements limiting them to ONLY no-cultivation base Chosen candidates, this game was designed with late-game tactics and strategy in mind. However, these two idiots had damned them all!!
By all logic, their conditions were enough to dictate the game, and while Yue Baoyue had chosen reasonable talents, Su Yi fully leaned into the late-game victory path he had set himself up to establish, similarly finding a young boy with a disguised late-blooming talent with a firm, early-age willpower and resolve to perform difficult tasks without complaint.
Wei Wuyin and Grand Seer Rippledark had the insight to understand Su Yi's choice, as only those who could gleam into the Heavenly Daos' will or had a Soul Perception rivaling a Resonant Soul Realm expert would note the natural and innate Edict of a Sage, which was known as a Soul of Sagehood. Grand Seer Rippledark only noticed it after Su Yi had chosen it.
He wasn't able to divine a Soul of Sagehood despite his skills, only a Supreme Seer would have such abilities, much in the same vein as only a Supreme Sage could notice such grand innate talent. But even if he had known, he would have avoided that boy like the plague.
This was certainly a blessing by the heavens, or rather the Heavenly Daos, and enabled mortals to grasp Seeds of Law. Long Chen, for example, would be a possessor of such a soul because his Seed of Law formed naturally without any indication of an expert placing an Artificial Edict of a Sage within him. It also enabled the rapid development of Intent.
In the society of cultivation, it had many names, and one of them was a Sageborn Physique. After all, Seeds of Law were entry-level Resonant Soul Realm aspects that had evolved into the new standards of cultivation since the dawn of its inception, where Seeds of Law were used to assist the ascension in the Mystic Ascendant Realm. However, Grand Seer Rippledark knew that those with this type of physique either were unfathomably blessed by the heavens or destined for incredible hardship and misfortune and even he didn't know why the latter occurred.
He had once listened to the Supreme Seer of Night expound on the Fate Dao and the will of the Heavenly Daos that others mistook for the heavens and told him that there were secrets that even he didn't carelessly delve into details regarding those blessed by misfortune, so he avoided trying to find any Soul of Sagehood even if they could skyrocket his fortune.
The Supreme Seer of Night did speculate that day, however, that those blessed by misfortune might be a mere smokescreen to disguise the genuine blessed souls from certain violators of their will, confounding their attempts.
Grand Seer Rippledark was entirely unaware that this bit of information was exactly the things Wei Wuyin sought to know yet eluded him continuously. After all, he knew of two—Shui Yangbao and Yao Houyi, both Prime Ascendants. The former had a life of misfortune, found randomly in the Spiritual Network of the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Expo and the latter was subjected to extreme torture at the hands of Trueborn, his mind stunted as a birth defect.
They were both tragedies, not blessed by the heavens at all. There was no challenge, only hardship without a reward. Unaware of these things, Su Yi wore an externally calm visage, yet his eyes couldn't resist moving to Jiang Ling, this fortunate soul. Originally, he planned to play for the late game, but he discovered a miraculous individual that suited his intentions.
It was almost as if it was fate, but he contributed it to his discernment and vast experience, something this foreigner might lack. Still, his plans were going well until now. Given the age of his Chosen, it would take years to grow into a competent individual, perhaps decades that could conquer the continent after many trials and tribulations. Now, not so much.
His plan was going awry immediately. Wei Wuyin shattered expectations, receiving a Dao Card and back-to-back Heaven-grade Alchemic Blessing Cards. That was utterly disgusting to witness, causing him to feel queasy with detection. Su Yi was trying to contemplate an escape, a different route. Even if he chose a different Chosen, it would be a single year late.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ling at nine months had a peerless foundation that exceeded even his own, excluding the vast knowledge and combat experience he possessed.
In fact, not just him, everyone present, even those watching who numbered in the hundreds of billions, had NEVER seen a cultivator with such a prestigious foundation before. She was in an underdeveloped continent, so the standards were vastly inferior, but this was considered in regard to the greater galaxies' standards! While she had an outward cultivation of the Elemental Birth Phase with all nine elements, Wei Wuyin's cultivation method gave birth to Elemental Origin Qi in a miraculous cycle, nourishing her body, while she had a Seed of Saber Intent that was pulsating with an unrivaled sharpness! Her overall, comprehensive battle power, regarding the standard of greater galaxies, already exceeded most Seventh Stage Qi Condensation Realm experts.
This was four whole stages! Moreover, she had only been cultivating for nine months, her actual battle experience was tiny, and her mastery of arts and spells needed refinement, yet she was already approaching the peak of human strength in the continent at a peak lower-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.
They were afraid!
Tianshi Ya's body and mind were tense to an extreme, her nails biting into her hands as they drew blood, and her thoughts pounding with chaotic, frightful intensity that induced a scalp-crushing headache. Coming in, none of them lacked confidence. But how could they possibly be so unlucky? Moreover, this foreigner waved his mark of oath with a smile that refused to fall! She was both panicked and seething. She...she didn't want to die.
Guo Heng's fate flashed in her mind. She had already sent Suo Haoran a similar urgent-sounding message to find the Mythical Contract with haste.
The game had changed. It went from winning... ...to stalling... ...and this was unanimously agreed on without a single word exchanged between players!
Wei Wuyin was internally amused at their shift in mentalities. Only Su Yi still had faint vestiges of victory, backed by a fascinating willpower, while Yue Baoyue was on the verge of a mental breakdown, only finding reprieve and stability by looking at Su Yi. Within the Neo-Dawn Original Dawn observation subspace, Cao Cuifen's smile was slight yet leaked with supremacy.
"This game is over," she declared with absolute certainty. Did they really think they could win against her husband? The fools. The whole lot of them! Funnily enough, this game would have just been a galactic introduction to establishing Wei Wuyin's name yet they had, just had, to add in those vicious conditions. They didn't just kick a steel plate. They carefully built the steel plate, forged it into a blade, stabbed themselves in the gut with it, took it out, and then kicked the sharp edge for good measure!
There, Xi Ning and Shang Wanqing were observing with glittering eyes fascinated by it all, especially the former. She was in a state of pseudo-death just a few days ago, and now she was alive, enjoying delicious food meant for Sages, no longer having to concern herself with the dangers of her Catalyst Body, all while finding herself an outstanding partner.
She was blessed. Completely and utterly. -----
In the Void, Suo Haoran and the two other Supreme Sages had a retinue of Seers, all executing fascinate divination spells, their expressions deathly pale with cold sweat dripping from various points of their bodies.
The now-skinny Supreme Sage of the Zenith Refinement Tower was injured while the aura of the voluminous black-robed female of the Seer of the Night was unstable. Suo Haoran's held an icy white spear that emanated a heavenly frosty mist of white and gold, his eyes sharp and fierce.
They had encountered a strange elusive shadowy figure that had engulfed half their allocated Seers. It was still following them. Hunting them. They knew it was a Paradox Apparition, but were unsure of the type. These beings dragged you into the past, feeding off the paradoxical energy your existence produces there, and leaving you to die via Paradoxical Correction.
They had searched intensely, only finding a Mythical Contract, but just as they neared it, it vanished into the myriad streams of the Void, endless and unpredictable. This wasn't only their experience. Two other groups met the same. As they got near, the Mythical Contracts would vanish abruptly, shifting across the Void without warning. This was an expected result but exceedingly frustrating, especially as the Void had endless dangers that could kill Supreme Sages at the Minorheaven Envoy Phase with ease.
For example, those Temporal Apparitions relied on the River of Time's Paradoxical Correction to kill and feed on what was left. They were sinister, and difficult to observe and fight against. The skinny female Supreme Sage had been pulled into a paradoxical shift, and she had to sever her arm and torso at the left breast, discarding a significant amount of effort of hundreds of thousands of years of physique refinement to survive...just like that.
Only a Major Authority of Time that has grasped the intricacies of Paradoxes or even a Minor Authority of Time that has gleaned into it could fight these things reliably. They needed to act faster. They needed to find those contracts!
The black-robed female Supreme Sage and Suo Haoran were feeling incredibly urgent despite their cultivation base! THEY HAD TO FIND THESE CONTRACTS!
-----
Meanwhile, Pakhet, Nepri, and Nepit were navigating the Void, avoiding entering into conflict with any other party, leisurely and relaxed as if they were taking a stroll through a park. In fact, Nepit yawned out of boredom. She was originally extremely tense, but after seeing the power of the Void Treasure that Wei Wuyin gave them, which possessed abnormal Spatial and Temporal Auras of Law and pure Void Energy that was domineering to an extreme, obliterating a Void Apparition that had dared to near with ease, she was unable to muster any fear.
Meanwhile, Pakhet, Nepri, and Nepit were navigating the Void, avoiding entering into conflict with any other party, leisurely and relaxed as if they were taking a stroll through a park. In fact, Nepit yawned out of boredom. She was originally extremely tense, but after seeing the power of the Void Treasure that Wei Wuyin gave them, which possessed abnormal Spatial and Temporal Auras of Law and pure Void Energy that was domineering to an extreme, obliterating a Void Apparition that had dared to near with ease, she was unable to muster any fear.
They were only instructed to fly in the Void, so they did. Nepri observed the Void and cultivated his insights into space and time through the Void Treasure, not wasting this opportunity. Pakhet's eyes were narrowed. She had witnessed the tragedy of Suo Haoran's party. Nepri suddenly spoke, "His Majesty's intentions are unfathomable. What do you think he's planning exactly?" While he admitted it was unfathomable, he still sought Pakhet's insights. "Both short and long," after responding with this, her gaze moved as another group neared a Mythical Contract. A tiny grey dragon clutched its edges. Then, with a flap of its tiny wings, the contract vanished just as it entered the sensory range of that group, sending pulses of temporal waves that attracted those apparitions.
The vicious sight was enough to freeze the heart and soul, but Pakhet didn't feel any pity. "..." Nepri could only accept such a vague, indirect answer with a bitter smile. If he had to guess, everyone was playing right into the palm of his hands. And the sad reality was...they entered his game still having yet to realize it.
Wasn't that exactly like them? Time to dominate.

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