Chapter 663 - 658: Vanishing Planet
"…What do we do now?" The surveying inspectors and prepped miners found themselves befuddled by events, unable to muster a clue as to how to proceed. Their spiritual senses observed the devastatingly high-level fight above, including the bright and burning radiance that resembled a Solar Star that was created at its climax.
While most were unable to follow the speed of the battle properly, the outcome was as clear as day from the frantic retreat of their leading figures and voidships, abandoning them to unknown fates. They were now left stranded, unable to leave the celestial rogue without consequence.
This left them sullen and afraid of their futures, fearful that this expert that could solely drive away their leading figures would return, sweeping them clean of their lives with utter ease. Their fear was greatly warranted considering the planet they stood on.
Those whose cultivation base were beneath the Realmlord-level were terribly frightened, and those at or above were making considerations to escape into the Dark Void. However, with a brief measurement of distance, being present in the void-blank space between starfields, not even Timelords could reliably make it to the nearby starfield. This was not accounting for the unknown dangers of traversing a lightless, lifeless, and strange world that was the void-blank space.
The Starlords present, however, had far less concerns. With their Star Core formed, they possessed means to navigate the Dark Void with much greater ease, possessing powers that touch the pinnacle of the Mortal Limits. A few Starlords were exchanging details of their plans to escape. The only point of debate was whether to take the risk of bringing others along or leaving, but they were all pressed for time so the discussions were hectic.
While all this was ongoing, everyone was far too distracted to notice a gray-scaled, silver-eyed, humanoid figure analyzing the planet's surface. While others were trying to escape for their lives, not even thinking about taking a portion of this difficult-to-mine yet extremely valuable resource in the little time they perceived to have left, this young man with an unearthly handsome visage and a unique charismatic grin was deploying a way to take it all.
'My Karmic Fortune was an opportunity to seize a resource beyond Mortal Limits—that singular piece of rock. A discarded, forgotten piece that required acute senses and established patience to notice. I have no doubt that it's worth 210.1 Karmic Luck for a Gravity Emission Phase cultivator like myself. In fact, there might've been more just floating out there due to the reckless exploration of this planet's contents for me to seize. Yet how could I satisfy my appetite with such a small piece or just bits of the whole?' Wei Wuyin's eyes were brightly lit with an invigorated and ambitious radiance.
That surging light reflected from his irises wasn't greed, but something far more profound. When he claimed the entire Elementus Cache for himself, he held a similar light that was impassioned by a sheer force of will. It was this distinct belief, a pride in his own abilities to never suffer a loss, to maximize his gains wherever possible.
Of course, his Astral Souls were major factors in this change of belief. When he was younger, he cared more about being cautious and thriving with every little step taken only after careful consideration. As long as he could cultivate to a certain point safely, obtain loot with little cost or risk, he would seek that avenue and consider no other.
But as his Astral Souls developed further, their desire to maximize themselves and seize every opportunity had infected him as well. Perhaps it was always present within his heart and thoughts but unexplored because it felt too much like the dangerous and insatiable emotion of greed. He was all too familiar with the consequences and mental dilution of greed.
Wei Wuyin could feel the synchronized thrumming of his Astral Souls. Their attitudes were vibrant.
"Are you sure you can do this, Ori?" Wei Wuyin questioned one last time, seeking to ensure the confidence of Ori.
"Absolutely not! But I'm certain 'we' can!" Ori answered decisively. Her cheerful tone remained present while accompanied by an undertone of seriousness.
Forming a faint smirk on his expression, Wei Wuyin nodded. This was not a single soul's operation. Affirmed in his mission, Wei Wuyin considered the various aspects of this planet.
"This planet is around the same size as the Myriad Monarch Sect's Main Planet. That was relatively large-sized, but that was by the Imperial Dawn Starfield standards. I wonder if this is far smaller than I assume by a more developed civilization's standards," Wei Wuyin contemplated briefly. His spiritual sense had already delved deeply into the planet's crusted layer, including its gaseous skies to observe its qualities.
The surface area for the Myriad Yore Continent, a flat continental earth, was roughly three hundred thousand kilometers in size, capable of housing billions of cultivators. The Four Extreme Continent had 810,000 miles of known land from edge to edge on all sides.
In terms of surface area, this planet was roughly its equivalent. While it could be considered large-sized by that standard, its spherical design considerably lessened the space it occupied in comparison to its flat continental earth counterpart.
Wei Wuyin took a soft, soothing breath to settle any remaining nerves. He pressed his hands against the solid surface of the planet, feeling its lifeless aura and cold state. It lacked the warmth of a solar star. But as he kept his hands upon it, he felt the distinct vibrations emitting from its core.
"It's not hot," Wei Wuyin blurted out. This was the first planet he was on that didn't have a molten core. Its core was solid, not cold, not hot, just solid. If one didn't inspect closely, they might gloss over its existence.
As Wei Wuyin felt the planet in his hands, his silver eyes once again became white, including his iris and pupils. With his entire eyes drenched in white, the distinct Primary Light of Ori, the Shifting Elemental Primary Light, suffused outwards with a piercing ferocity.
The light exuded the essence of endless permutations and transitions of the material elements of the world. At times, the white light shifted its colors for the briefest of moments, yet would always regain its white brilliance. The light lasered into the planet's crust, containing a penetrative power that permeated thoroughly.
Wei Wuyin's plan was simple yet outrageous to even conceive. After finding the mystic-graded ore and the earth it inhibited, he realized that it was impossible to seal it using Void Crystallization, and considering other factors, the act of mining it would be extremely difficult.
He didn't have that much time. However, thanks to Bai Lin's act of confidently consuming the unknown without much qualms or fear, he inadvertently discovered that the ore and earth weren't the same—the earth was mortal-grade, the ore was mystic-grade.
After taking a piece, he analyzed that normal earth closely, and while he was unable to sense the existence of the ore, finding it beyond his means as an Astral Core Cultivator, he was capable of interfacing with the mortal-grade earth surrounding it. In fact, it contained the natural earthen energies of any planet.
While slightly denser, a little more durable, earth was earth in his eyes. And there laid the idea. After using his senses to perceive the qualities of the layers of earth, he discovered a network of absence by elimination. While the ore contained earthen energies, the quality of such was still beyond him to exert any sort of control. This was likely due to the Mystic Essence or Mystic Intent infused heavily within, a power he hadn't yet grasped.
After a series of tests, he further discovered that he was unable to affect the mystic-grade ore with his Grand Earth Intent, an Apex-level Intent! So he tested his Elemental Origin Intent, but met the same obstacle, yet found out what he needed to know.
He had confirmation.
Now, he was going to put his idea into practice.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!!!
The inhabitants on the planet had their discussions cut short, their bodies noticing the increased vibrational activity beneath them. The experts flew upwards, sending their spiritual senses to the planet.
"What's this?!" A Timelord expert shouted, discovering that a light source was being spread widely throughout the surface of the planet. Its once lifeless, lightless surface was becoming brighter.
"Escape the planet!" A Realmlord shouted in panic. They grabbed their lesser allied cultivators nearby, as many as possible, and shot into the vast Dark Void in a hurry. The cultivator felt that the Mystic Ascendant had returned, acting on the planet itself.
It wasn't just him. The others still contemplating their plans were rushed into action. They grabbed whoever they could and took them out of the atmosphere, their Worldly Domains invoked to produce a sustainable environment for the others. They didn't even stop after breaking the atmospheric layer, shooting far off into the distance in a hurry.
Who would dare to stay on a planet that could be subjected to any form of change or punishment by those who exceeded the Mortal Limits of cultivation?! Fear and panic overwhelmed them and their survival instincts kicked in. Some were even planning on begging for their lives, willing to swear extremely restrictive oaths if it meant being able to return to their families, bed their wives, and see their children again.
However, what they saw after traveling for hundreds of miles, turning around out of just curiosity, shook them to their core. The entire planet was painted in white with multicolored flares. What was happening?
While they safely observed the changes, Wei Wuyin was clenching his teeth as his eyes shot forth rays of Elemental Origin Intent infused Elemental Shifting Primary Light. At the moment, Ori was stressed to its limits!
He wasn't just coating the surface of the planet in his Elemental Origin Intent, but the entire planet from its core to its surface. There wasn't the slightest gap! He was exerting his entire cultivation base that he could.
With a thunderous grunt, the light from his eyes thickened as it erupted into a beam of compressed power. He was shooting his elemental force into the planet now, pushing it all into the planet.
There were many times where individuals would say that a certain World Sea was enough to engulf a planet many times over, but that was solely via a very thin layer, stretched to its limits. It was in the same manner that the skin of a human could stretch an unimaginable distance.
But to actually fill an entire planet with astral force was an unimaginable feat that required an obscene amount of astral force. And with his four Astral Souls, he was pouring everything he had into it! With Ori as the central unit, the others provided it with all of their astral force.
"Argh!" Wei Wuyin shouted out. The act of pouring so much power out so quickly was extremely painful, his meridians had to withstand the continuous surge of astral force. If it wasn't for their reinforced state by countless alchemical products, he would certainly explode numerous times over. And if his draconic transformation wasn't evoked, his flesh wouldn't bear such an outpour of power.
In the matter of seconds, the entire planet was tainted by his astral force, permeated in every nook and cranny imaginable.
"Now!" All four Astral Souls shouted out in a perfectly synchronized manner.
Reminded by them, Wei Wuyin explosively shouted and infused every last portion of his Elemental Origin Intent throughout the entirety of his astral force. With it spread everywhere, to every location through this power, he activated the unique aspect of the Elemental Origin Intent!
Elemental Shifting!
"EARTH BECOME WIND!!!"
BOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!
The planet of earth had exploded out into a torrential tempest of gusting wind, spawning into a series of gigantic spiraling currents!
But Wei Wuyin didn't stop there. His Celestial Eyes noted the still solid material present, about to be thrown wildly away by the torrents of wind. The job wasn't done yet.
He interacted with his Centralized Gravitational Mass, the Black Hole! The gravitational force within his body went into full effect! Those bits of ore were drawn to him at mind-blowing speeds!
The others were unable to even understand what was happening before they were sent tumbling chaotically by the vicious windcurrents. When they regained their sense of balance and reorient themselves, they were shocked to discover that the planet…
Was gone…