Chapter 358 - 354: All-Alchemic Clash, Transcendent?
Wei Wuyin didn’t hesitate either, lifting his vial and sending it to them. He didn’t try to swap it out for an older or lesser quality elixir to hide anything. This was nearly impossible to accomplish without prior preparation. Therefore, without any qualms, he sent forward the peak-quality elixir.
When it floated to Yi Yun and the others, they inspected it just like before, but after some discussions, Li Che and Yi Yun had awkward expressions. This only became more awkward as the other three continued to exchange their thoughts on the matter.
In the end, Yi Yun produced a bitter smile, which gave the watching crowd a strange feeling. Was something wrong? Did Wei Wuyin generate an impure-quality product? These thoughts swirled endlessly as doubts started to emerge. Due to Qingye Ying’s display of patience and carefulness, there were expectations in their hearts.
To some, Qingye Ying having a higher quality product was expected. The strange expressions of Yi Yun and Li Che seemed to reinforce this point in their imagination. But if they truly knew what was being transmitted, they might fall out of their chair.
Yi Yun transmitted to the other four, "I don’t know what quality this elixir is." His helpless admission left the others lost.
Li Che echoed his words, "Neither do I. I’ve never heard of mirror-like liquid before when describing the Refraction World-Light Elixir. At least, I’ve never heard of an elixir that looked like this."
To these experienced alchemists, they were extremely familiar with the appearances of elixirs. But as they inspected this elixir, they were uncertain.
Gao Zi snorted in disbelief, "How could you two not know? What about its grade? Is it even the right elixir?"
"We all saw the process," Yi Yun said with a pause, "We all saw the end result. Ascendant Emperor Wei used the exact same materials and standard process to produce this elixir. While it is certainly the eighth-grade Refraction World-Light Elixir, we can’t determine its quality."
Lin Ruyan asked, "Is it impure-quality?"
Li Che shook his head, "It lacks any hint of impurities, so no."
Gao Zi added, "But it’s not low-quality?"
Yi Yun nodded, "It’s not. Low-quality elixir gives off shifting light of the spectrum while high-quality elixir gives off simultaneous light of the spectrum. We can see that from Princess Ying’s. And I’m sure Jiang Feilan can vouch for the low-quality elixir."
"..." Jiang Feilan nodded.
"...Then is it peak-quality?" Lin Ruyan asked, uncertainty in her voice. If it was so easily determined as such, then why the need to deliberate?
Yi Yun and Li Che looked at each other in dismay, a hint of uncertainty within their eyes as well. A peak-quality elixir wasn’t mirror-like but completely white, absorbing all the colors of the spectrum into a single source. This was what was recorded and determined by ancient alchemists. When they looked at the glass-like liquid once more, their expressions became slightly unsightly.
This was an issue.
If they couldn’t determine the quality, then what was even next?
In truth, Wei Wuyin hadn’t known about this either. He believed that it was peak-quality by default, attributing his conflicting knowledge to inconsistent reports. But what he hadn’t realized was that the elixir had a unique quality to it.
For minutes, they tried to determine what this was. In the end, they were helpless, turning to Wei Wuyin. When Yi Yun’s expression revealed his helplessness, Wei Wuyin and Qingye Ying were shocked. Why the long face?
Yi Yun announced, more like speaking to Wei Wuyin: "After discussion, we are unable to come to a conclusive decision on the product quality."
Everyone, "..."
WHAT?!
Even Wei Wuyin was taken aback, his eyes slightly widening. After a brief moment, he thought about this and his silver eyes gleamed with light. He realized the issue. The records never specifically mentioned the mirror-like vial of liquid before. This caused him to wryly smile.
But, why?
He was sent into a silence as he pondered on this matter.
Qingye Ying couldn’t help but ask, "What do you mean? Did he fail?" She was confused, as confused as the audience. How could two renowned Emperor Alchemists and three hegemonic leaders come to no conclusion on the results?
Yi Yun helpless smile became even more helpless, "While Ascendant Emperor Wei certainly concocted the Refraction World-Light Elixir, a fact that everyone here bore witness to, but the visual appearance of the elixir doesn’t match any of the inherent qualities listed on any records. Be it impure to peak-quality."
"...!"
A confused yet shocked collective gasp resounded.
While the crowd was stunned, Wei Wuyin finally recalled the process of his concoction. His eyes brightened.
...is it possible?
When he concocted the elixir, he had used his Zenith Origin State Mana Control to bring forth boundless mana into the elixir. During that time, a bit of his personalized mana leaked into the essences and energies. It was so extremely brief, so extremely small, that he hadn’t even registered it.
He directly contacted Wu Yu, "Was there a quality beyond the peak?" Wu Yu was an existence that exceeded the Astral Core Realm, surpassing the Mortal Dao, entering into the Realm of Mystics, so his knowledge was beyond his own. Furthermore, he lived in the era of the King of Everlore himself. Regardless of how they were compared, the King of Everlore’s experience and journey far surpassed his own.
"..." Wu Yu had remained silent since the incident with Long Chen. He was somewhat sullen at how Long Chen was becoming. It was concerning, but he similarly knew that it wasn’t something he could help with. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Long Chen was becoming less like a Grand Monarch and more like a deranged and paranoid ruler-to-be.
After hearing what Wei Wuyin said, he broke out of his thoughts. "Beyond? Uhm...No. Well..." He paused for a moment as a particular memory was brought to the forefront of his mind.
"There was something he mentioned before he left," he recalled that distinctive memory. It was so incredibly brief that it took him a bit. "He once mentioned that Intent heavily defined the upper limits of the Mortal Dao and Laws heavily defined the upper limits of the Mystic Dao, but Mystic Intent allowed the Mortal Dao to exceed its limits, to transcend beyond normality."
"..." Wei Wuyin was immediately confused. What?! Laws? What the hell were Laws?! While he understood Intent, he didn’t understand Laws. Was that a higher form of it? Also, Mystic Dao?! What was Mystic Intent?!
"Hahaha," Wu Yu uncharacteristically laughed with a hint of joy.
"What’s so funny?" Wei Wuyin felt a wisp of displeasure and a hint of annoyance.
Wu Yu didn’t stop for a while, but when he did, he became unprecedentedly serious. "To break the limits of the Mortal Dao isn’t an easy feat. One has to first comprehend Mystic Intent. As for Laws, I’m even confused about what they are. After all, it defined the ’upper’ limits of the Mystic Dao. If one considers it carefully, the Mortal Star Astral Tribulation, the first tribulation of the Astral Core Realm, is the true gateway to Intent.
"And the Astral Core Realm could be considered the upper limits of the Mortal Dao, preceded by two other Mortal Realms. Who knows what laws are, but I do know what Mystic Intent is. It is not something I can describe. In a similar way as it’s nearly impossible to describe the False Reality Phase of Qi Condensation to anyone effectively."
Wei Wuyin frowned heavily. This was useless.
"But," Wu Yu continued, "At the time, he also said the reason he sought to leave was due to the scarce quantities of Mysticism inhabiting the starfield. If he had this, he could transcend the limits of the Mortal Dao, bring higher quality to his products and reach the Mystic-Rank as an Alchemist."
Wei Wuyin’s eyes brightened. This wasn’t useless. In fact, it answered his question.
Since he underwent the Zenith Origin State, he was always curious about how it differed. Was the leaking of his personalized mana carried traces of Mystic Intent or something similar? Something that could evolve a product beyond the peak?! Regardless, he felt the likely scenario was chance.
The scarce quantities of this Mysticism might’ve been drawn in by chance! It was the only answer!
When he considered this, his eyes looked to the vial of mirror-like liquid. With a confident smile, he stepped forward. "Judges, I’ll have to apologize."
"...Hm?" The five turned their eyes to Wei Wuyin, including the screens of the starfield. He was magnified, his unearthly handsome face revealed clearly to all. Many were curious what he would say.
"The elixir I concocted is not peak-quality," he stated.
A slight clamor started to surge, slowly intensifying upwards to an eventual uproar. But before that uproar could be reached, Wei Wuyin continued.
"Nor is it high. Or low. Or even impure." Wei Wuyin revealed a faint grin, and this grin shook the hearts of everyone watching. Qingye Ying’s heart started to pound, unable to calm herself down for some reason.
"It is of a quality beyond anything else, it is Transcendent-Quality!" He announced with explosive excitement. He would be the first to usher in this quality into the history books, so how could he not be incredibly excited to reveal it!
Everyone, "...?"
There was a silence after, a clear silence filled with uncertainty and skepticism.
For tens of thousands of years, there were only ever four qualities, and this was determined by grand sages and seers of old, fortifying the belief that only these four qualities existed. To suddenly declare that there was a fifth was like a random person on the street declaring that the starfield was just a large ocean, how could they believe it?
This was even before the King of Everlore ever made his appearance, so how could this be?
Wei Wuyin frowned.
He sighed.
Fortunately for him, he didn’t need to have them randomly believe him. He instead adopted a bright smile, "Give me a few minutes. I’ll prove it." When he said that, he turned back to his alchemical table and brought out his cauldron.
The best way to prove it?
Well, didn’t he just need to make the other qualities and compare?!