Chapter 1631 1624: Sacrifice (4)

Chapter 1631 1624: Sacrifice (4)

Eerie.

Silent.

The world once again descended into a strange pause that was far from the typical freezing of time, and more of an adaptation of complete and total stillness. Prior to Wei Xiaotian's explanation, Wei Wuyin had no idea as to its origins or purpose, but now he had a solid idea of both. It was a veil for the heavens to act against Su Mei, quietly and avoiding the truth-seeking gaze of others.

Wei Wuyin had a sneaky suspicion that those like Fuxi or beings similar might be unable to casually glance over, requiring a stronger 'focus' to do so. After all, his Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity that came from the Magi lineage, capable of seeing unseen divinities and the truths of the world, was ineffective against it, but the strength of the Alchemical Dao's Alchemic Stars was capable of piercing through and revealing all that was being done.

This caused Wei Wuyin to have an assumption that the power of Daos was significantly different than others. Moreover, he could test this theory of his. Unlike before, Kratos didn't need to shout urgently to awaken him nor was his body affected by the eerie still-imbuing force. The Belt of Mortal Virtue manifested around him as the aura of the Mortal Dao bellowed outwards and surged into his body.

The same aura erupted from Little Defiant within his Mind's Eye, sending waves of this aura into his Sea of Consciousness and enveloping his mortal soul. In almost an instant, he extricated himself from the stillness and the false reality that was veiled over his eyes and his senses dissipated like scattered mist, far unlike before where it was a cataclysmic shattering.

With understated ease, Wei Wuyin had unleashed the power to resist and pierce through the veil of heaven. While he had an alternative method planned to counter this, this discovery left him feeling a little giddy and contemplative. A single-word character appeared on his glabella as Little Defiant's aura flowed.

The veil was pulled away and Wei Wuyin could see the sole inconsistency to the eerie silence-Su Mei. She looked at him and blinked. Upon her forehead was similarly a single-word character. He replied to her gaze with a grin, and he could see her complexion grow noticeably active as she saw that Wei Wuyin was here and not an illusion.

"It worked," she said with her hand on her hilt, a strand of readiness flowed actively within her heart and mind.

This was the first stage of his plan-free Su Mei!

Wei Wuyin swept his gaze across the world. Now for the second stage of his plan: Keep Su Mei alive!

"Go!" He urged Su Mei to enter the Seed Tribulation Gate which would inevitably lead her to escape the boundary of mortals and become an Ascendant being that transcends her original state! Su Mei didn't hesitate and observed her Seed Tribulation Gate, feeling the active Mystic Rune Seeds that she spent years refining and decades contemplating. She was familiar with the Ways of Mysticism at its fundamental level, and she felt confident in reaching the 9th Rune Ascension. However, she swiftly recalled Wei Wuyin's previous instructions and firmly recalled the method used by those demonically talented youths who wished to strive for further greatness.

After confirming her precise understanding of the method once again, she rushed toward the gate with a determined gaze and an indomitable will.

Wei Wuyin watched with mounting anxiety despite his grin and calm expression. Kratos was abnormally active as it pounded with the readiness to act, storing enough power to traverse the void, and hopefully bring them safely to the Prohibition of Heaven within the Sky Heart Galaxy. He originally intended to have the tribulation occur there, but he decided against it after scouring Wei Xiaotian's mortal-tier knowledge.

Looking back, he was absurdly stupid and frustratingly ignorant when he decided to do such a thing earlier. He was now aware that ascending in locations with prohibitions of heaven like that was rife with consequences. Most notably, and most importantly, one's Ascended Existential State would be heavily affected by the prohibition's power originating from those of the Resonant Soul Realm, and that power could sever one's resonance with the heavens.

This was no different than severing one's path to greater levels of cultivation beyond the Worldly Saint Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm without an alternative path, and entering the Resonant Soul Realm would become nothing more than a pipe dream.

When he thought about the ascension process, he realized why, how, and what would have happened if Su Mei had listened to him and undergone her ascension or even opened her tribulation gate in that restricted region of the soul's resonance with the heavens. Fortunately, Wei Xiaotian was there to save him considerable trouble.

BOOOOSH!!!

Without warning, a thunderous explosion erupted from the world. Wei Wuyin and Su Mei's bodies instinctively unleashed clear light. Then, without hesitating or inspecting the origin of the sound, they both tapped into their strongest power!

Idol of the Stellar Paragon!

Idol of the Stellar Rebel!

Su Mei's body swirled with the unrestrained, unstoppable brilliance of dawn and the inevitable, irresistible descent of dusk! She, too, had cultivated within the Samsara of Stars for the second time! Her World Bound Star Domain had nine belts, four unleashing blinding white light, and four were as pitch-black as a black hole! All eight released a faint mix of ethereal and material aura!

The last one was an overarching halo that surrounded the other belts and the star. It was difficult to determine what it was, but the aura it released was undeniably unique and unfathomable. If it was before, this belt would be unidentifiable by even Su Mei. With Wei Xiaotian's explanation, including Wei Wuyin's experience with these belts' manifestations and properties, was aware that this belt was almost certainly the manifestation of heaven that she had absorbed due to her origins!

A Belt of Heaven!

Surrounding her slender, valiant, and nigh-flawless body were these nine vaguely transparent belts. Her body bellowed out an unseen force that fought against an unseen force. The two caused a second explosion to erupt and distort the Dark Void to the point it resembled a hazy mirage!

BOOOOSH!!!

Wei Wuyin's Idol of the Stellar Paragon allowed his body to tap into its strongest strength that exceeded an Enlightened Sage, and with the Belt of Mortal Virtue spinning with extreme activity, he didn't blink from either explosion. He observed the fierce confrontation including the descent of a hazy humanoid figure.

The figure had only just descended with heavenly presence before Su Mei when it was blasted away a few hundred feet from her. Then, his hand grasped Element's hilt. Su Mei's hand and arm matched Wei Wuyin's cadence perfectly, and her black eyes stared at the new existence. Was this an enforcer or a manifestation of heaven like The World manifesting from earlier?

Regardless of this, Wei Wuyin drew upon his experience of facing The World's avatar, and didn't hold back as he decided to draw his blade against this manifestation.

SHIIING!

Su Mei drew her saber too, but she didn't swing it toward the figure. Instead, she executed an art that Wei Wuyin had taught her. Her entire power was poured into her saber as she drew upon every last ounce of her strength, directed it toward her Seed Tribulation Gate, and swung! Her body flew at speeds approaching light itself!

TWILIGHT SABER LIFE SECURING ART!

She released a deep, low roar!

This was her twist to the Element Saber Life Securing Art.

Karmic Luck Value: 333,763.1 ⌜†’ 321,337.0.

Karmic Luck Value: 321,337.0 ⌜†’ 272.088.5.

And it descended faster and faster. Wei Wuyin's heart shook.

Karmic Luck Value: 272.088.5 ⌜†’ 99,999.9.

Karmic Luck Value: 99,999.9 ⌜†’ 0.

Within a few blinks of a mortal's eye, his Karmic Luck Value dropped to zero.

His heart's pounds rang in his ears as he hurriedly lifted his left arm. There was no scene of rapidly changing descent as the damage had already been done!

[LEFT ARM: Lust]

Karmic Luck Value: 0.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.

Fourth Calamity: Suppressed - 1 Year.

"..."

The signs of his Empyrean status remained, he was still an Inheritor of Sin and a Blessed, but all of his karmic fortune was...gone...

Was this the sacrificial cost of that single strike against the heavens?

If so...

Wei Wuyin smiled brightly as he eyed the Seed Tribulation Gate.

If this was all, he would do it again without any hesitation.

As he was excited, the voice of the Heavenly War Spirit echoed in his mind.

"All your preparations and yet your first plan succeeds once again. Sometimes, I wonder..."

"Hahaha!" Wei Wuyin laughed gleefully. "You go with your first plan because it has the highest chance of success! I would be rather disheartened if it didn't work and without making back-up plans and contingencies, how could I confidently put my all into the first plan? I rather have an exhausted mind that is always over-preparing than a fresh mind in despair and doubt."

Unbeknownst to Wei Wuyin, dodging that unseen attack using his stored void force had allowed him to retain something that would have been lost, and that wasn't just Karmic Luck.

-----

On another stream within the vast river ...

An unearthly handsome figure swathed in golden robes with alchemist and martial artist flair, sporting a seven-colored crown stared at both of his arms.

On both of his arms, there was nothing.

No tattoos.

No golden marks.

Only flesh and skin.

"...Am I free? AM I FINALLY FREE?!"

-----

Erdiul's Note: You might be free brother, but you're also free to be abused by the Heavenly Daos. Also main WW's loss of Karmic luck doesn't even matter, he's about to do the 4th Calamity anyway, and will receive Karmic luck if he conquers it. He received 652.5 on his first calamity, 16,667.0 on his second and 95,372.3 on his third. Looking at how much it increases by calamity, he's probably gonna receive a fuck ton from the 4th, not forgetting he now owns two seeds.

Main WW is chilling, Alternate WW is probably fucked, but who knows, maybe being free is a good thing? There are many disadvantages, but what do you guys think?