Wei Wuyin had expected to be blown away by this location's origins, perhaps even be exposed to a strong hidden power within the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, but this was far beyond anything he had imagined!
Chaos Realm? Three Ascended Sovereigns? Galactic Zone?
Those three things sent his mind into a flurry of raging questions!
Fortunately, he recalled Captain Zun's earlier words and repressed these questions, allowing him to complete his explanation. Yet he had to verify some things.
Firstly, he began to absorb the ambient essence. Since it had become a habit of his to cultivate with alchemical products, his four Astral Souls had outright refused to absorb ambient essence within the world to cultivate. It was unrefined and carried faint traces of natural impurities. These were the same impurities that were within impure-quality products but in minute amounts.
This was why he hadn't noticed the thin essence right away, and he was typically used to visually perceiving essence, energies, and mana using his Celestial Eyes. While his spiritual sense had been spread out, the gravitational force and difficulty to extend it outwards had inadvertently distracted him. Knowing this detail, he had to investigate.
It took a brief moment for him to realize that the essence here was not just abnormally thin but downright low-quality. It was barely qualified to reach the levels of qi essence. This was not an environment conducive to cultivation at all. Just moving in this high gravity would exhaust one's physical energies. These energies couldn't be rapidly replenished through essence conversion either.
However, this wasn't an issue to those with strong physical bodies. The stronger one's body, the less physical energies needed to exert for movement in the environment. Considering some Starlords and all Ascended had refined their physiques, this issue would be minimized for them.
Secondly, he tried to interact with the ambient mana. He didn't utilize his Zenith Origin State immediately, wanting to test things slowly. He soon discovered that Captain Zun was right, the ambient mana was still, almost frozen. In this environment, flight via mana manipulation would be difficult for some, downright impossible for others.
Lastly, he felt the composition of the air, light, and heat. Captain Zun had stated that the environment was hazardous. With his True Dragon Bloodline and various cultivation base qualities, he didn't rely on the world to sustain himself. Even the air he breathed was created by his own wind energies.
After living in the Dark Void for six years, this became an unintentional habit. He relied on his fire energies for warmth, his water energies for moisture, and even replicated food production of plant life with wood and light energies. As he was, as long as his innate energies remained abundant, he could live anywhere.
After he removed his innate self-regulatory system, he experienced it. The dusky air he breathed was toxic. The impurities within were far too high. The moisture in the air was nearly absent, and the heat was scorching and uncomfortable, exacerbating the issue further. He couldn't see the characteristics of the solar light, but he knew there was a strange quality in its energies. When he tried to absorb it, he found his body retching slightly. This was an involuntary reaction induced by his four Astral Souls simultaneously.
Captain Zun noticed this and laughed, "Yeah. Most cultivators keep their bodily systems contained and functioning off their own innate energies. The toxic atmosphere, the filthy solar light, the lack of adequate moisture, absurdly high gravity, and stilled mana makes this Chaos Realm quite suitable for its designation."
Wei Wuyin hastily resumed his self-sustaining system, surviving off his own innate energies. Only then did he feel comfortable. This location wasn't as bad as the Dark Void's deadly conditions with chaos mana lingering about, but it was extremely close. If a cultivator stayed here for an extended period of time, they would suffer considerably to their health and cultivation base.
Wei Wuyin wanted to ask why the environment was like this, but he decided to wait. Until Captain Zun finished, he wouldn't interrupt. So he turned to Captain Zun and 'stared' at him with closed eyes, urging him to elaborate.
"You're truly ignorant of the Battlefield, huh? I guess the rumors were true…" Captain Zun remarked with a hint of melancholy within his voice, rubbing his chin in thought. After a brief silence, he continued: "The Battlefield isn't just a hazardous environment, a trial for cultivators, or competition amongst the Ascended Sovereigns, its also an extraordinary opportunity, should one be able to seize it.
"There are many materials, items, armaments, arts, spells, cultivation methods, alchemical products, and designs for formations and arrays that can be gained through exchanging War Souls. If you want to leave the Battlefield, you'll also need to accrue enough War Souls to do so. Now, there's far too much to explain and not enough time in this year, so I'll let you ask two questions. Then, I'll give you your Identity Rune and you can report in." Captain Zun had finally finished his rough overview of the Battlefield, but uncertain whether out of kindness or curiosity, decided to give Wei Wuyin two questions. Normally, he would limit it to one, but Wei Wuyin intrigued him.
Wei Wuyin firmly nodded, not finding it odd that the questions were limited in quantity. They might be speaking for days if he were to ask all his questions, seeking further elaborations and in-depth details. Thus, he understood and put considerable thought into his first question.
He eliminated basic questions that were easily answered later, such as what were War Souls. He removed questions that didn't have much relevance to his own situations, such as the scale of this Galactic Zone. Captain Zun shouldn't be the only individual who understood this, and he wasn't going to waste this opportunity on something that might be commonly known.
While those other titans might not be as forthright with answering, it's not like he couldn't scan the memories of others. With that capability, he should limit questions to those that only Ascended were aware of. They were beings he couldn't access.
However, while he was contemplating, a strange question invigorated his thoughts. While it wasn't ideal, he couldn't help but ask: "Is the King of Everlore alive?" It was an odd question, considering the scope of this Battlefield. In fact, it went against the parameters of his intended questions. He should've asked the details about racial differences or aspects about cultivation. He had no intention to ask details specifically about the Battlefield, as all of these questions will be answered as they become obstacles.
"King of Everlore?" Captain Zun's eyes widened considerably. He wasn't just taken aback by Wei Wuyin's question, he was outright brought a thunderous surprise that caused him to visibly move backwards. He couldn't help but stammer, both confused and filled with disbelief. With animated hand gestures, he seemingly lost himself in his astonishment.
From this somewhat extreme reaction, Wei Wuyin realized that while his question was left-field, the King of Everlore wasn't an unknown existence. This question wasn't prompted by anything but a thought regarding the King of Everlore's disappearance. It might not even be linked. And if it was a useless inquiry that couldn't be answered, he hoped to recoup his limited questions on that basis.
"You want to know about the King of Everlore? Why?" Captain Zun was losing himself as time went on, just utterly shocked by this question and why it was even brought up.
Wei Wuyin's heart raced slightly. 'It seems the King of Everlore really left the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region for a greater world. I wonder...'
It took a long moment before Captain Zun regained his composure, giving Wei Wuyin a firmly fixed stare. "...Alive? Yes, of course the King of Everlore is very much alive. How could he not be? Haha."
Wei Wuyin deeply contemplated this simple confirmation and how it was conveyed. The King of Everlore was clearly not an ordinary figure to the Ascended of this greater world. Wei Wuyin probed, "Can I ask you to elaborate on the King of Everlore's situation, like current location and status? I don't wish to waste another question on it."
"Oh? You don't know?" This time, Captain Zun was baffled. It wasn't too strange that Wei Wuyin might ask if a prominent figure was alive, but to not know of their general circumstances despite asking if they were alive felt strange and out-of-place. He wondered if he should elaborate, but considering the King of Everlore's information was quite well-known amongst cultivators, and Wei Wuyin was taking this seriously, he decided to oblige.
"The King of Everlore should be situated in his own stellar region, the Everlore Stellar Region. As for his status, he's still a Heavenly Saint Alchemist of our Azure-Prime Galactic Zone. If you're asking if he made a breakthrough in his cultivation or the Alchemic Dao recently, I can't answer that. However, I did hear he was in deep research regarding a new pill."
Wei Wuyin's outward expression was unfathomably calm, but his heart and mind was throbbing intensely.
Since he was born, the King of Everlore had always been a man of myth, forging his path ahead one step at a time in incredible fashion. Wei Wuyin kept finding marks of his existence littered across every path he'd walk thus far. Even here, from the sheer tone filled with reverence and awe at the mere mention of his situation, the King of Everlore wasn't any less of an astonishing existence in this Azure-Prime Galactic Zone than in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region.
Furthermore, Heavenly Saint Alchemist? If the grades of the Mystic-Rank alchemical products are to be believed, the King of Everlore had exceeded Mystic-World products and was concocting Mystic-Heaven products!
With a heavy exhale, he regulated his stirring thoughts and calmed his beating heart. He pondered on his last question, wondering if he should ask about the language called Mysticism and its purpose. He was curious why Wang Yutian or any other Ascended like Wu Yu never spoke of it. However, before he could make further deliberations on this topic, a spiritual light and ringing sound resounded from Captain Zun's tablet.
"...Aya! We're out of time, the 49th Unit is being deployed." Captain Zun inspected his tablet and shouted in shock, hurriedly tapping away. With a few taps, a spiritual light condensed atop the tablet and rapidly spun until it congealed into a finger-sized ring.
"Here's your Identity Rune. When you find the time, refine it with your spiritual force. It'll record your earned War Souls and loss of life, if you were to lose yours." Captain Zun hastily spoke, thrusting the object to Wei Wuyin.
Catching it, Wei Wuyin discovered it was jet-black with clear white characters internally consisting of runic markings that bore a faint resemblance to the compositional structure of the Seeds of Mystic Intent in his World Seas. Runes forming characters? Wei Wuyin was unable to understand either, but he knew those characters detailed his information. "Is this Mysticism in written form?"
Before he got an answer, he felt his body lightening. A spiritual light engulfed him, filled with mystic power. Captain Zun gave an apologetic smile, "This'll hurt a little. Don't break too many bones."
Wei Wuyin sensed Captain Zun forming a hand-seal, emitting out spiritual light in spades.
Wooosh!
Wei Wuyin couldn't even react before he was rocketed into the sky, encapsulated by a thick bubble composed of spiritual light at incredible speeds!