Chapter 828: Stellar Nest, Scalpel Versus Hammer
「Tenth World Origin Art: Seals of the Prime Elemental」
As a combatant, Wei Wuyin had never been a passive opponent, taught by his older brother to always seize the initiative, disrupt momentum, and utilize every available time to act. It was these defining reasons that Wei Wuyin had ingrained in his soul to never distract himself with dialogue in a battle unless for the sake of an advantage.
During this very brief exchange, he was startled by the speed, cunning, and usage of timing that the enemy exhibited. The masked figure had only acted when he established a momentary yet safe period for his actions to follow-through. From disrupting his spiritual force flow, pushing him away and delaying him with a spiritual seal, or using the chains to force him to dodge, gaining distance.
One action flowed to the next and the next and the next, seamless and impeccably performed. He had even been distracted for an extremely short period by the serenity of the opponent's voice, causing him to increase his guard and hasten his actions, leading to a prime opportunity for his spiritual force flow to be halted.
It was a brief exchange yet it was enough for Wei Wuyin to realize that this masked figure was extremely adept in battle, intelligent, and devious to the utmost. His thoughts, however, only served to establish a baseline of what he was dealing with.
The battle had only just begun.
And Wei Wuyin understood the opponent's game plan, to utilize a variety of means to seal his strength, wear him down with calculated jabs until a lethal strike could be dealt. A measured, intelligent, and thoughtful approach to this battle.
Because this was what he would use. At this point, they might proceed to engage in an exchange of techniques, arts, and spells, even compete at their skill. In truth, he wanted to explore this option. Every being, talented or not, had their own pride, and Wei Wuyin had his own, but Wei Wuyin was also different from most.
Because he knew for certain that he'll lose.
Beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Since meeting that Black Skeleton, having his entire life upended onto a new path that forced his survival, he strove to improve his raw foundations to better survive the Eighteen Calamities of Hell as a mere mortal. It was his best and only alternative, because cultivation was just far, far too difficult. Not even counting those reckless spirits of his that squeezed out every ounce of benefit despite the danger involved. This had helped him greatly during the Second Calamity, enough to 'claim' it.
Without rest, he's been focusing on the Dao of Alchemy and cultivating his foundation, but his time to do so had been extremely little, barely three decades. Furthermore, the last time he'd received personal instructions from an expert regarding cultivation was Wu Yu, whose cultivation method was incompatible with his spirits, and knowledge was just as low due to their starting points.
He had been slowly exploring into various legacies left behind by ancient experts that had a high compatibility with his own, but it wasn't enough to bestow upon him a high-level of skill. Aware of himself and his limitations, Wei Wuyin wasn't foolish enough to compare arts, spells, and methods against this type of opponent.
Considering how skilled this masked figure was, it'll be like using the minuscule knowledge of the Myriad Monarch Sect against the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region's, if that. This masked figure could belong to the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone or greater, his foundation and means was definitely beyond the conventional standards of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region.
And his thoughts were right.
The elemental chains began to vibrate intensely, releasing an ear-bleeding sound to the world. Wei Wuyin's spiritual senses were strong, yet he had lost track of the chains instantly as his senses distorted. The vibration and the frequency released had impacted his spiritual sense, causing it to grow foggy for the briefest of moments.
This tactic of sensory distortion was executed well. Despite his immensely powerful spiritual sense, the spiritual vibration seemed to directly target the Spirit Units at their connective weakness, destabilizing them and forcing a reset. It was brief, and the stronger the sense, the less time needed to recover, but this window was capitalized perfectly.
The chains had vanished! They weren't tethered to the masked figure or slithering through the air seeking a victim to ensnare.
A normal cultivator might be sent into a panic, but Wei Wuyin's speed of thought was swift, detailed, and organized. The disappearance lacked any spatial fluctuation, so he immediately realized that the elemental chains had merged with the environment, a form of Environmental Integration.
Unfortunately, Wei Wuyin lacked his Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity; he was unable to perceive things that exceeded the limits of his mortal-level spiritual sense.
'Elemental Origin Intent.' Wei Wuyin immediately deduced, spreading his spiritual sense towards the superheated environment, the air and gases, and rays of light. While Wei Wuyin lacked advanced arts, spells, and methods that appropriately used Elemental Origin Intent, he had reached the Elemental Heart Intent and birthed Shifting Elemental Soul Light.
His foundational knowledge could not be disputed.
'A different medium.' Wei Wuyin concluded that the chains had been broken down, integrated with the air and heat, likely attempting to surround him at this very moment, and waiting for the right moment to act. A cultivator might never link this to Elemental Origin Intent, likely believing it was hidden within fixed space. Their actions to defend would be wrong at the jump, leaving them exposed.
If this was a normal cultivator, their initial action would be to hunker down and establish several astral wards to defend against any external threat, using spatial-warding arts to defend against invisible strikes. However, this delay would inevitably buy the masked figure more time, allowing him to maintain the initiative. He'll slowly push his opponent into a corner, dissecting their tactics, controlling the pace of the battle, and then end them with calculated moves. Perhaps those chains would come into play at a crucial moment after being forgotten ten moves later, and end up being the deciding factor.
Strength wasn't everything, huh?
Unfortunately, this was said by the scalpel to the hammer.
'Let's see if that's true,' Wei Wuyin wasn't going to play according to his game. He didn't need to. He took a step forward, the crackling of white lightning ceased, returning to his body, and his spiritual aura began to change. It embodied the essence of endless transmutations and permutations!
Wei Wuyin released his Elemental Origin Intent! A wave of Elemental Origin Spiritual Aura flowed outwards like a monsoon, crashing against the world, and then tens of thousands of tiny flexible needles of white light shimmered into being. These were the seals hidden by the masked figure's Elemental Origin Intent!
They were all pointed at Wei Wuyin. The nearest one was roughly five feet away! And the furthest was roughly thirty meters away. His spiritual sense was flooded with needles!
"Elemental Origin Intent?!" The masked figure was deeply shocked by this reveal. [ f r e e w e b n o v e l. c o m ]
Wei Wuyin didn't reply to such a pointless question, but he gave a grin. Not only did he possess Elemental Origin Intent, it was structured by nine Apex-level Intents. The masked figure had tried to conceal his Elemental Origin Intent and Elemental Origin Force, using a moment of sensory distortion, but facing someone who similarly birthed Elemental Origin Intent, this was bound to fail.
Wei Wuyin lifted his hands and then clenched them into fists. The needles began to vibrate once again, and the masked figure's body staggered slightly. With a soft pull of those fists, the needles gathered directly before Wei Wuyun's chest and formed nine long chains of white light.
Wei Wuyin's grin intensified; he kept the chains with a wave of his hand, storing it inside his Saint Ring. The masked figure's stance was already unsteady, but now, his spiritual aura became unstable. Those chains weren't byproducts of his astral force, but legitimate armaments at the pinnacle of the astral-grade!
"How?!" The masked figure was taken aback by how his chains were wrestled away from his control and then kept without issue. But shortly after he said those things, as if told the reason, he released a soft breath of resignation. "Heart of the World Intent? I guess that's the flaw of using Intent as the central power of an art."
Awakened Intent allowed one to infuse their will into their own energies, interacting with and commanding uncontrolled energies and essences of the ambient world, but Heart of the World, World of the Intent can instill one's will into ambient essences of any type, directly changing their properties or overwriting the will of others.
This was why Awakened Intent was of a lower level than Heart of the World Intent.
"Guess I can't hold back here," the masked figure stated plainly. He formed a hand-seal.
Wei Wuyin matched this, forming his own.
From both of their bodies, an expansion of power erupted! The masked figure unleashed his Worldly Domain! Wei Wuyin unleashed copious, tremendous, outrageous amounts of elemental origin force!
The masked figure had unfurled his Worldly Domain. It had the wisps of purity, resembling Tuo Bihan's translucent Worldly Domain, untainted by any attributed power. Clearly, it was structured from an external method, likely a Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill or something similar. It reached 900 meters in diameter! A range of 450 meters in every direction was directly encapsulated in its power!
However, it did little as the masked figure's body was pushed backwards for nearly a dozen miles by the surge of elemental origin force released by Wei Wuyin! It flooded the entire scenery and the Stellar Rain lifeforms hastily retreated further back.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
Nine draconic roars in concert reverberated throughout the world! The space of the Stellar Nest was incredibly stable, but when those nine dominating roars met the world, the world shook violently in response!
Wei Wuyin's figure was revealed as milky white mist began to scatter.
Nine long, slithering white forms danced around him. They were ten thousand meters long, their massive bodies made Wei Wuyin extremely tiny, yet he dominated the senses of all who dared to look. With his arms folded against his chest, he stood atop the white-scaled head of one of these beings. These dragons!
Their eyes were as spiritually active and aware as any sentient creature, reflecting the elemental brilliance of their respective domains. The nine elements could be seen, and their breaths contained multi-colored mist defining each and every one of them.
Their five-clawed limbs rent fixed space, and their bodies distorted light itself. They were overbearing, subjugating all the available mana with unquestionable authority.
And at their lead, a young man garbed in black observed the world with a cold expression. It was as if he was the emperor of all dragons, unmatched and unchained.
The nine dragons turned their attention simultaneously to the unstable masked figure, releasing a pulse of spiritual aura that crushed air, light, and energy.
ROAR!!!
Wei Wuyin was curious if a scalpel could handle these nine hammers.