"Ki-kill y-you?" Venerable Bluecloud stumbled over his words as his expression grew animated and disbelieving. Venerable Slayingsword and Kun Yiming both shook; they hurriedly took a step back as their thoughts rapidly circulated into why this was being brought up. They were both keen individuals, especially Kun Yiming whose expression underwent a drastic change as dreadful fear flashed across her face.
Thud!
She fell to her knees urgently, her body trembling as she asserted with her chest, "My Lord! We would never!" Her cry was met with shock by her husband, Venerable Slayingsword, for a brief second until his mind took hold of Kun Yiming's line of thought. Suddenly, panic swelled within his heart. His eyes uneasily went to the disdainful Bai Lin, this ancient beast that could eradicate him in a blink of an eye, and his heart grew extremely cold as if it was dipped in liquid nitrogen.
Thud!
He kneeled, following Kun Yiming with his head down. "Lord Wei, we have never been disloyal to you! Not even in a single day of my life have I thought of harming you in any way!" Venerable Slayingsword was trembling as he begged for his life, deathly afraid that Wei Wuyin was handing judgment here.
"..." Venerable Bluecloud was equally as intelligent, but he was pragmatic and had not conceived even the slightest ill-intended thought since joining Wei Wuyin. It had never once come across his mind that Wei Wuyin was mockingly suggesting that they were traitors or that one of them was intending to kill him through their actions. So when this husband and wife pair fell to their knees, exclaiming their loyalty, he was caught entirely off-guard, simply standing there dumbfounded without words.
The thought process of an Ascended being was much faster than sound, so Wei Wuyin hadn't even gotten a chance to verbally explain before those two acted, and even if he had predicted this, he wouldn't have stopped them. It was clear that out of the three, Kun Yiming had thoughts of escaping control or was tempted by others. While it might not have been a full-blown betrayal with the intention to kill, there was something there.
Unlike those who practiced the holistic oath culture of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, Wei Wuyin believed that this was ineffective to cultivate loyal and extraordinary subordinates. Moreover, there were always loopholes to these oaths, requiring long, very long, oaths that covered a lot of bases. For example, if Venerable Slayingsword swore to never reveal Wei Wuyin's location to any person, he could simply bring along a servant when meeting and reveal that person's location.
If he added a clause to prevent bringing a living person with him when they meet, then they could do the same with a non-living object. The issue with broadness was that it left gaps, and the issue with specific oaths is that they never covered enough, often giving glimpses on how to circumvent those oaths.
Wei Wuyin's eyes flashed as the crew began to process the situation, fear seeping into their eyes, facial expressions, and bodies. If their leaders were proven to be disloyal, wouldn't Wei Wuyin casually clean them up as well?
Wei Wuyin's vocal tone deepened, "Rise."
The order caused both Kun Yiming and Venerable Slayingsword to shiver; they didn't dare to rise. They were both hanging their heads down, fearful that Bai Lin was going to spew out a burst of flames and cause them to vanish from the face of this world.
"Rise!" Wei Wuyin ordered; the two let loose one last shake before they lifted their heads, finding two silver eyes exuding a forceful light, and they slowly rose with their waist low and their postures showing deferential behavior. In those eyes, Kun Yiming saw herself reflected with another. As for Venerable Slayingsword, he saw himself and Kun Yiming in bed, talking about various matters. They both thought it was an illusion.
Venerable Bluecloud finally had time to process what just happened, and his expression grew dark, increasingly becoming livid with rage. "WHAT DID Y-" Just as he was about to inquire into their guilt, Wei Wuyin interrupted him.
"Enough," as Wei Wuyin spoke, Bai Lin's aura flared and Venerable Bluecloud went silent instantly. The urge to kneel and beg for forgiveness for his stupid descendant of his was suppressed. "I already know about your dealings with the Everlore Association and contact with Trueborn. You've both done little wrong; I wouldn't stop you from seizing advantages from other forces. But if you need resources, simply ask me."
"...!" Kun Yiming and Venerable Slayingsword's eyes contracted to needlepoints. They felt naked and exposed before Wei Wuyin's silvery gaze, as if it was reflecting the events of their guilt, and they couldn't hide the slightest secrets from him.
Venerable Slayingsword turned to his wife, "Contact with Trueborn?" He was stunned; she had never told him about that, only that she made certain deals with the Everlore Association by offering products made by Wei Wuyin in an underground deal for nearly thirty times their worth. Supposedly, the Everlore Association was quietly seeking out products made by Wei Wuyin to investigate. They weren't the only ones, but they certainly gave the best offer.
Wei Wuyin coldly laughed in his heart. Evergod must be struggling to replicate the same success, wanting to figure out what type of alchemical methods Wei Wuyin used to bring the greatest effects and purity out of his pills. This was mostly because most self-created Product Concoction Methods were forged through the basis of specific methods, and it was easier to find success if you replicated using the same original steps.
Unfortunately for Evergod, Wei Wuyin was a freestyle Alchemist, using the Freestyle Process, not the Predetermined Process, changing his methods with each product and concoction based on material quality, age, and amount. One of the core reasons for his phenomenal success rate in his concoctions, while simultaneously being unimaginably consistent in quality. While those with Predetermined Process might perform the exact same methods on the same set of materials, because of their environmental growth differences or age, they could produce different quality products or outright fail altogether.
Despite Wei Wuyin's outward nonchalance after learning about Kun Yiming's greedy actions with the Everlore Association, and Venerable Slayingsword being complicit in not reporting their dealings, two types of actions that didn't exactly inspire confidence in their capabilities as loyal subordinates, Wei Wuyin had no intention of leaving it at a verbally dismissive warning even if they would never do again out of fear of being discovered.
°While they only capitalized on the situation, benefiting as cultivators do, I'll be sure to teach them a little lesson later and remind them of the consequences that could happen.° Wei Wuyin thought, already satisfied by how terrified they looked from being exposed. But that was only the start.
Wei Wuyin's Temporal Eye receded, no longer glancing at the unprotected past of these two Ascended beings. This was a unique ability that he obtained by exerting the Eye of Truth with the Temporal Eye, channeling his Minor Time Law to glimpse into a cultivator's brief past. As long as it didn't involve the hands of the Heavenly Daos and there wasn't a high-level Mystic-grade Spiritual Spell guarding against Heavenly Seers, Oracles, and those with exceptional sight.
Cultivators like Ma Sujiang and Chosen talents were given these by powerful Ascended beings to protect them from others wishing to know their movements, especially with the Golden Gate Pavilion stationed in the Aeternal Sky Starfield. It brought everyone a sense of unease, but those from other starfields oftentimes forgo such precautions or go through with such complicated efforts that could cost them years of training and practice, typically purchasing low Mystic-Earth graded tools that functioned similarly. Unfortunately, those external treasures couldn't protect them from Wei Wuyin's Temporal Eye, not even if they were Ascended beings.
Wei Wuyin was slightly amused that they thought this was a betrayal; moreover, they had refused to join Trueborn. Kun Yiming was stronger than the average Venerable, so it made sense they would attempt to recruit her. Considering she was forced to swear an oath to not reveal their attempt, Wei Wuyin found no fault with her actions. She might have told Wei Wuyin immediately if not for that since there were rumors that Trueborn was at war with Wei Wuyin.
Fortunately, it was all exposed by Wei Wuyin.
Kun Yiming subtly sighed with relief. If Wei Wuyin already knew, then her breathing still was a sign that he didn't give it much thought.
"Back to the topic at hand; I need you to try and kill me. What I meant by that was I want you three to fight against me." Wei Wuyin explained without letting them overthink the situation.
Kun Yiming's eyebrows shot up, "Fight you?"
Venerable Slayingsword's emotions calmed after being exposed and pardoned, like a child that found out their parent always knew of their indiscretions yet didn't care to punish them, and he said disbelievingly: "But, you're…Lord Wei, you're at the Astral Core Realm."
"..." Venerable Bluecloud remained silent.
It wasn't wrong to say that Ascended beings were invincible to all mortals. Furthermore, they were genuine Ascended beings, not Mystic Stars Phase cultivators. Some Exalted have suffered defeat at those older Chosen that reached the Starlord level. It was this possibility that led most to consider it the tenth stage of the Astral Core Realm!
But for the Soul of Mysticism Phase? There have been countless elite Chosen and former Chosen that aged out of their qualifications at the Star Core Phase who've tried to break this feat. Yet…they all failed.
Entirely.
Completely.
Undeniably.
The strength of true Mystic Power could not be underestimated, and couldn't even be compared in the same breath or sentence. Wait, as Mystic Force of Mystic Star Phase cultivators, let alone Astral Force.
"I'm aware," Wei Wuyin replied with a hint of a smile.
"..." The husband and wife pair exchanged glances, clearly seeing the uncertainty in each other's gazes.
"Okay," Venerable Bluecloud outright said and accepted Wei Wuyin's order. "We can spar, let you understand the difference between Ascended beings and Mortals." His words enlightened the pair as their eyes brightened. So that's what it was! Countless geniuses wanted to test their limits against overwhelmingly powerful cultivators.
Wei Wuyin shook his head, "I don't want you to approach this as a fight—come at me, as if to kill. No, with the intent to kill. I have no protections, and my Alchemic Knights are all in seclusion. Without Bai Lin, I'm simply on my own. So if you attack me with an attack to kill, then I'll die."
"...Lord?" Venerable Slayingsword was stupefied, unable to believe what Wei Wuyin was saying.
Wei Wuyin's eyes sharpened. "I have no safety net. I'm at my most vulnerable right here and right now. But make no mistake," Wei Wuyin's aura flared, "I'll also be trying to kill you. And if I'm unable to do so in three hours, or if you hold back in the slightest, I can promise you this—you won't live after."