Slowly but surely, time marched on. Within the Original Dawn Palace, seven beauties were awake and gathered into a group. They exchanged words, looks, and thoughts as they discussed cultivation.
Since residing in this precious palace saturated with the highest quality, purest, and thickest essence, the seven of them had long since come to terms with each other's existence, including their roles and duties. They decidedly, as a whole, to conduct sessions of cultivation together, especially since there was Lin Xianxian present, a genuine Mystic Ascendant Realm expert with a complete grasp on the Mortal Realms, who could assist them in their comprehensions.
Additionally, they needed time to refine the overbearing Yang Essence that Wei Wuyin released.
Mei Yang held a firm hand-seal while seated in the lotus position. Her hair and skin shone with a rich, glowing healthiness that highlighted her latent beauty. She exhaled a breath of sweet air, the turbidity within her body had long since been thoroughly expunged over the years. At the moment, her body was a treasure of innate energies without the slightest impurity.
She opened her eyes, seeing Lin Xianxian gesticulating profoundly to the others. "The Essence of Time is divided into multiple flows. To touch upon its enigmatic nature and imbue it into your power, you must grasp the flow of all things, sensing it with one's Sea of Consciousness where the Mind's Eye resides, using your mental energies as a guide. You can do so by…"
She was currently delving into the profound principles of Time Energy. The experiences of a Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivator at the Soul of Mysticism Phase were helpful to even Ai Yin, Si De, and Da Shan who've already entered the Temporal Eye Phase. They were acutely grasping concepts of time energy Infusion within various arts and spells.
One could tell they were thoroughly invested in Lin Xianxian's insightful words. Despite her role as a maid of the palace, no one disrespected her in the slightest. Not because of her cultivation base, but out of respect for her. Moreover, she was patient with her explanations, accepting all their questions and regurgitating proper answers.
Mei Yang smiled. It was often described that harems were chaotic palaces rife with competition and jealousy. And from her experience in the Myriad Yore Continent, this was true. It was even more likely to occur if the man in question was outstanding, having a high position such as an Emperor, as his affection and thoughts directly affected their standings and benefits, but since they've gathered over these years, there was a rare harmony formed.
In her mind, she thought about Wei Wuyin. An incomparably bright smile formed, infused with warmth and her purest emotions. Who would've thought that she, the Helios Witch that had to escape from her enemies into the Elven Forest, struggle for every resource, and bitterly suffer time and time again, was capable of ever feeling such contentment and happiness?
"You've finished refining?" Xiang Ling edged over to her, staring curiously.
Mei Yang kept her bright smile, "Uun." With a nod, she glanced at the faintly glowing skin of Xiang Ling, indicating that her refinement of Wei Wuyin's Yang Essence was ongoing.
Xiang Ling pouted, frustrated at her slow refinement speed.
Mei Yang chuckled heartily, using her two fingers to squeeze those puffed out cheeks. Xiang Ling huffed and blushed, turning away as she redoubled her efforts. Mei Yang saw her and couldn't help but find her cute. An intrusive thought blipped into her mind, and she acted as soon as she saw those unguarded plump peaks.
"Ah!" Xiang Ling shrieked softly in surprise. She held her arms over her chest, eyes shooting daggers toward Mei Yang who was snickering sinisterly. "What are you doing?!"
"Let me help. I give good cultivation massages!" Mei Yang looked like the poster child for mischief and suspicious intentions. She lunged towards Xiang Ling and they fell on the bed, rolling about on the satin sheets. Xiang Ling's cries went ignored by the rest, all too involved in Lin Xianxian's lecture. Even as the cries turned into blood-boiling moans of stimulated yin, they were ignored.
After 'assisting' Xiang Ling with her cultivation, Mei Yang deeply inhaled the sweet-smelling air that comforted the heart, body, and spirit. This was a life she thought she'd never have. If possible, she wouldn't mind staying in this moment forever, even with a hundred other women. Even a thousand. Would she finally have a real family?
Xiang Ling's bodily glow had faded. She lay there like a wet noodle, her eyes glossy, her cheeks painted a sensual pink, and her legs quivering slightly. As she stared at the ceiling, visualized that unearthly handsome visage staring smilingly at her.
"It's been seven months…do you think Wei Wuyin will come back soon?" Xiang Ling dazedly asked.
"Hu!" Xiang Ling jumped and landed beside her as the bed caused rippling waves. She looked at the ceiling too, her eyes smiling. "Miss him already?" She teased. Since coming here, this was certainly the longest they've been without seeing Wei Wuyin. This simply meant that what he was doing was important.
"Yeah," Xiang Ling said absentmindedly.
Mei Yang was a little startled by the direct response. This woman didn't know how to conceal her feelings at all. Reaching out to hold her hand, making sure it was firm, she said with a gentle voice: "Don't worry, we'll have thousands and thousands of years to miss him, together."
"...yeah."
"..."
Suddenly, a strong wind without a source sprung up, lifting all their hair, rustling their robes, and causing them to stop their discussions and cultivation. The seven women all looked around, confused by the feeling they'd just had.
"What was that?" Da Shan asked, her eyes vigilant as she leaped up from her seated position, her aura seething beneath the surface. The others rose too, their eyes searching all over.
"&^%#$@*!"
Lin Xianxian's heart began to race. "Did anyone hear that?!" A voice swept through her mind. She twisted and turned, agitated by that voice. She couldn't understand it. It was as incomprehensible as the Language of Mysticism to a Mortal but felt as eternal as the heavens.
"Hear what?" Ai Yin questioned. She hadn't heard anything, only felt a surging wind.
Lin Xianxian's spiritual sense flowed out to inspect the surroundings, but she noticed that every last one of their heartbeats was quickening, but also…strangely, they were all throbbing at the same cadence.
"What's this?!" Nyla Shur cried out. The others stared at her, finding that her hair was standing up and her arms were littered with goosebumps. Her feline pupils grew abnormally focused as her fangs were bared.
"Ah?" Da Shan's eyes grew dazed as her golden irises became entirely violet in color, the signature color of demons. She stared absentmindedly in a direction. "My love" she called out with a voice that contained a ghastly tone that made the others shiver.
"Ugh!" Ai Yin held her stomach as she bowled over, her knees thudding to the floor. She grunted in pain, clutching at her chest and dantian with both hands. If one looked closely, tears fell from the corner of her eyes.
"What's happening?!" Mei Yang panicked, grabbing Xiang Ling and placing herself before her. While the latter was more powerful than her, she still acted instinctively and tried to protect Xiang Ling. It didn't take long to realize that humans weren't affected, excluding Lin Xianxian who heard something strange.
"I…don't know." Lin Xianxian tried to use her spiritual sense to understand the situation but found nothing besides elevated heart rates. She even tried to inspect Wei Wuyin's room to no avail. Eventually, she sent him a transmission. She could only hope that he knew what was happening.
What the humans noticed was that their faint shadows were disconnected from their movements, moving just a little bit off.
-----
Inside the Original Dawn Palace's Alchemic Chambers, Wei Wuyin was forming impossibly fast hand-seals as he stared intently at the Neo-Dawn Ascension Cauldron that spun before him. Both were levitating off the ground. Surging wind currents without any discernible source were madly flowing within the chambers, causing Wei Wuyin's robes to violently flutter.
His facial expression was one of unprecedented concentration.
"YOU NEED TO STOP!" The panicked voice of the Heavenly War Spirit erupted as loud as thunder. But Wei Wuyin's eyes only grew sharper, an unyielding will flashed within his gaze.
"Master! Master!!" Bai Xiu cried out, her voice suffused with anxiety and trepidation. She wasn't anywhere in the room, but if one looked closely, one would find her image within Wei Wuyin's dark pupils. She was surrounded by eight stars that glinted brightly!
Much like how Element merged with sabers, Bai Xiu had merged with Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Stars! They profoundly orbited her, releasing bursts of light sporadically.
"You have to stop!" She pleaded.
Wei Wuyin's hands never stopped, the Mark of Eden's unrefined lifeforce kept pouring into the cauldron. With a low roar, "No! Continue!" Two words, but they carried his biting unwillingness to back down.
Bai Xiu drastically paled. She had experienced this sensation before, and it was during her memories of concocting the Mystic-Refined Divinity-Forging Pill! "But Master! This is what happened during that time! We can't…we can't! You said-"
"I know what I said! DON'T STOP!" Wei Wuyin ordered as his Alchemic Eden Force poured endlessly into the Neo-Dawn Ascension Cauldron, drawing upon the reserve astral force of his other three Astral Souls. Bai Xiu didn't wasn't simply the spirit of a cauldron, but she had the ability to integrate with her master and elevate their Alchemic Energies by half a level.
It was half as effective as the benefits of an Alchemic Soul. At the moment, his Alchemic Eden Astral Force bolstered by her power elevated it to levels that only Earthly Saints could possess! Moreover, with the Alchemic Stars of Spiritual Transcendence, the Mystic Alchemic Star present infused it with a unique Mystic Intent that the Dao of Alchemy possessed.
Wei Wuyin's astral force was no less effective than the Alchemic Mystic Power of a bonafide Earthly Saint!
Bai Xiu was absolutely right; Wei Wuyin with her help could concoct a Mystic-Earth grade pill! At the very least, he possessed the minimum qualifications to do so. She was the key! She drew out the greater potential of the Alchemic Stars of Spiritual Transcendence!
"Are you being a hypocrite?! You want to ruin your future?!?!" The Heavenly War Spirit raged. She didn't want Wei Wuyin to suffer the rejection of the Mortal Dao or the refusal of the Mystic Dao. This would sever his outstanding potential.
"..." Wei Wuyin's brows tensed, but he didn't stop. In his heart, he knew he couldn't stop. It wasn't the Bloodline of Sin or the Heavenly Daos or the enigmatic Fuxi or the urgings of his reckless Astral Souls. It wasn't a feeling from his heart, soul, or mind.
It was inexplicable.
"They'll hate you for this!" The Heavenly War Spirit shouted. The 'they' were the Mortal Dao and Mystic Dao, especially after just receiving their forgiveness. It'll be the worst stab in their backs
"Oh no!" Bai Xiu cried as she looked up. Beyond the Original Dawn Palace, invisible to most, the Dark Void was trembling endlessly. She recalled this exact moment in her memories.
Dao Punishment!
Wei Wuyin's Celestial Eyes erupted with spiritual light, yet he didn't dare to look up to see the turbulent world beyond. It wasn't out of fear. It was out of pure, unequivocal concentration! It was impregnable and driven by an inner, unrelenting pride.
This was the greatest invention in his life, summoned forth by using the entirety of his life's fortunes thus far, each step of his life brought him here, and he refused to take a single step back. If it fails, it'll be because he failed, not because he gave up!
Wei Wuyin violently howled as a flood of Alchemic Eden Force flowed into the cauldron, causing its surface to become thousands of mini stars that formed and exploded at a rapid pace.
"They're here!" The Heavenly War Spirit exclaimed, growing more and more despondent. Was Wei Wuyin trying to ask for forgiveness and not permission? After everything he said! She could acutely feel the auras of those two Daos approaching. It took them little effort to breach the formations of the Original Dawn Palace despite it being reinforced by a dozen Earthly Saints.
"HA!" Wei Wuyin slammed his palm against the cauldron, inducing a uniquely harmonizing sound. The two Dao Auras flowed in, and then without any hesitation or fear, Wei Wuyin lifted his gaze.
Suddenly, a faint smile surfaced on his face. "Both of you came!" There was a light of incomparable excitement in his eyes as the two surging auras of light, one Mortal Light and one Mystic Light, entered the chambers.
"What?!" The Heavenly War Spirit and Bai Xiu were thunderstruck by the scene. The two lights swirled around Wei Wuyin, thrumming slightly as if communicating, and then they flowed like a seamless stream into the cauldron!
The two Daos were…helping?! What?!?!
Wei Wuyin's product wasn't like the Mystic-Refined Divinity-Forging Pill that abandoned the Mortal Dao to forcefully breach the Mystic Dao. It was one that brought harmony to both Mortal and Mystic, joining them together in a type of mutual augmentation and suppression that they innately possessed.
"&^%#$@*!"
"...!" Wei Wuyin's head lifted in shock, hearing an exceptionally strange voice. It was indecipherable by the mind, but he felt an aura of eternity. What was that? It was brief, but he felt a wind creep against him as the Mortal and Mystic Lights kept entering the cauldron.
Wei Wuyin didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but he could've sworn he saw a third type of light enter. It was very insignificant in comparison to the deluge-like qualities of the other two but felt not the slightest bit inferior.
"Master!" Bai Xiu shouted urgently. Wei Wuyin's heart sank as he found himself almost losing control of the situation. He no longer had the strength to regain control! The product inside was simply too terrifying, and its final step was unimaginably difficult.
"Ignite us!" All four Astral Souls roared.
Wei Wuyin didn't hesitate! All four Astral Cores ignited as he was flooded with latent power that sent him to an absurd limit!
With one last howling roar, he formed the last hand-seal, and smashed his palm against the cauldron!
BOOOOOM!!!
A thunderous sound resounded but no explosion occurred. Instead, the light of the Daos faded, the glow of Alchemic Eden Force was sucked away into the cauldron, and the sourceless wind vanished. Slowly, the cauldron and Wei Wuyin descended to the table and ground respectively.
"Haa!" Wei Wuyin deeply exhaled, sweat covering his brow, and his eyes brimming with power that could shake Earthly Saints. The power of four ignited maximized Astral Souls!
Wei Wuyin took a few minutes to compose himself, ceasing the igniting power as minute cracks on his skin, bones, and muscles healed as the Mark of Eden's lifeforce flooded him. Satisfied that he still had more than enough for the Third Calamity, Wei Wuyin finally looked into the cauldron.
"There you are," Wei Wuyin softly said as he put his hand into the cauldron, slowly taking a single round object out. It was a pill! The pill was clear like glass, with not a single imperfection or impurity. It didn't seem to be a ninth-grade pill at all, lacking the Solar Light, but neither did it seem to resemble a Mystic-Earth Pill, lacking Mystic Runes.
Looking at it, Wei Wuyin smiled with contentment. While it was only low-quality, it was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Then, Wei Wuyin touched the cauldron with his free hand. The remaining Utmost Purity Mist, the entirety of his decades of efforts in continuous concoctions, originating from his first seventh-grade pill, was quietly flowing within.
"Come on," Wei Wuyin emotionally said as he summoned all the Utmost Purity Mist, executing the Eighth Source Transcendence Spell! The spell that could allow a pill to transcend its limits post-concoction!