Chapter 871: Mortal Saint Alchemist, Trauma of the Souls
Wei Wuyin was deeply familiar with the process by now, changing methods to adapt to certain materials ages, even their nurturing methods needed certain changes in extraction process to best draw out their greatest, purest essences and energies. The variation of the Alchemic Dao was one of the largest reasons for issues to rise during the concoction process, but his Celestial Eyes allowed him to see it all.
Without the need to cause changes due to his Spiritual Sense and exertion of Spiritual Strength, he befitted greatly. There were certain cases where using one's spiritual strength could produce unnatural reactions that could severely affect the process.
For example, the Absolute Yin-Creation Pill that used various yin-attributed materials was almost impossible to concoct by male alchemists. Their Spiritual Strength often contained their latent yang aura, inadvertently affecting the materials and the process itself. With products of extreme yin, this was lethal to any process.
This stayed true for yang-based products. This was one of the main reasons why demons avoided becoming alchemists. Their Spiritual Strength carried the innate erosion and tainting effects of their Demonic Energies.
Wei Wuyin's lack of usage of Spiritual Strength contributed greatly to his successes, especially his lack of failures. It also enabled him to concoct any and every product, even demonic products that most wouldn't dare to try and concoct.
During his Myriad Monarch Sect days, he had gained the connections of countless hybrid-demons due to this fact. In fact, they were the first amongst the four races that was the easiest to bribe. Out of the Grand Sages, Yao Zhen, the youngest demonic Grand Imperial Sage, had been the first and easiest to bribe.
"Those times were quite fun," Wei Wuyin reminisced as he began the process. Bai Lin sent embers of her Nirvanic Flames into the cauldron as Terra-Mystic Ore was broken apart, melted, and manipulated through Wei Wuyin's alchemical eden forces. The latent mystic energies and essences within wasn't something Wei Wuyin could actively manipulate, so he guided the melted portons to mix in periodically throughout the concoction.
Wei Wuyin had always been remarkably fast with all seven aspects of alchemy. It only took five minutes for the entire process to be completed, bright rays of light erupted, smashing against the walls that blocked and destroyed it with various saber light. The Utmost Purity Mist thickened again.
While Wei Wuyin hadn't regained the Utmost Purity Mist he expended during the Eighth Source Transcendence Spell used for the World Genesis Elixir and Essential Forging Elixir, he realized that each successful concoction was thickening the Utmost Purity Mist by a bit. The success of a single ninth-grade product at the transcendent-quality was extremely beneficial to growing Utmost Purity Mist, not in size, but in quality, and Wei Wuyin had already completed over a hundred over the last month.
It was very likely that the Utmost Purity Mist would evolve when Mystic-grade products were included. If so, then his Eighth Source Transcendence Spell will certainly be many, many times more effective.
Soon, thirty-three more Astral World-Deluge Pills were generated. With the Thirty-Three Heavenly Concoction Method, the time it took to make one equaled the same as concocting thirty-three.
Wei Wuyin was an absolute monster of a production factory! While transcendent products originally took longer, after familizing himself with the process of using the melted Terra-Mystic Ore, he had brought his time to roughly the same as before. It was extremely gratifying to see his progression.
"Alright, go on!" Wei Wuyin deeply prepared himself, awaiting another fierce clash between Astral Souls. But after a long while, there was no movement. He checked his Astral Souls and saw that they were strangely obedient.
"What's wrong?" Since he learned of the requirements and details to ascend, these Astral Souls were urging him to concoct these products to reach the limit. Now, they were all silent?
"..." King, Kratos, and Eden released solemn emissions of energy. It was dreary, uncertain, and a little fearful. They showed no sign of exiting his dantian, heart, or Sea of Consciousness.
Wei Wuyin frowned at their gloomy displays, "What happened?"
"What...what if it happens again?" Ori eked out a soft voice. It was clearly just as afraid.
"..." It instantly dawned on Wei Wuyin why they were bundles of worries, no longer as playful and energetic as before. Even King, who had always been someone who faced all problems with its edge, had to take this seriously.
They were concerned about his strength!
He felt it, so they definitely felt it. When all eighty-one runes formed in their World Seas, changes were bound to happen. These changes could elevate their strength greatly, and thus his Spiritual Strength might experience a sharp leap that once again overloads his Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity.
Wei Wuyin didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or give them all hugs. Since they joined together, they had been rushing forward and manipulating Astral Tribulations, pushing their foundation to the limit, unrelenting in their desire to touch the peak of their potential before taking the next step.
They were now suffering from heavy trauma. Their desires had led to Wei Wuyin losing a vital aspect of his cultivation to survive, and without his Celestial Eyes, he had suffered greatly and stepped on the edge of death many times due to it.
The events of the original Battlefield, such as the fights and Cai Liuyang's deadly pursuit, and the Nexus Battlefield's fight against ten thousand, even the near-death at the hands of an Ever-Knight, his Celestial Eyes would've greatly helped him.
What if, just what if, the next time he didn't have Wen Mingna by his side, and they instantly died without knowing how or why.
It terrified them.
Wei Wuyin deeply understood; It scared him too.
"If it happens, then we'll find a solution. I know, there's a risk, a great risk, but we can't be scared of it. We can't afford to." He honestly said, mustering up the courage to speak these words despite his own internal fears. He hoped his Astral Souls would take the role of pushing forward recklessly as always, allowing him to follow along, but it seemed that his hopes were a little too optimistic.
He was still needed as the lighthouse.
"We can't be scared to pursue our greatest limits, our greatest strength, even if we have to risk death or loss. The Eighteen Calamities of Hell still lingers like an executioner's blade at our necks. If we don't fortify it to the greatest extent, we might as well kill ourselves right now." Wei Wuyin clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles becoming white as ash.
"..." The four Astral Souls intensely shook.
"Even if we set that aside, we know there are beings out there that could determine our life and death at any moment. If we decide to slack off, avoid grasping any and every opportunity, the Celestial Eyes might not be enough to save us."
The Tiangou was the best example of beings that exceeded his limits of comprehension. Or that Void Creature that slithered by them, capable of snuffing out their lives instantly. If Kratos wasn't as strong as it was, its own senses elevated to the limits, what if they hadn't noticed it?
They needed every ounce of potential power to tackle any problem.
"..." The four Astral Souls remained quiet.
"Haaaa…" Wei Wuyin heaved a heavy sigh. It was difficult to convince them. After all, they were parts of him. They knew what he knew. They faced what he faced. They experienced what he experienced. Those words did little to justify their continued risk.
If they lose the Celestial Eyes again, their concoctions will come to a stop, for who knows how long. This will prevent them from reaching their greatest potential limit anyways. It was a flawed reasoning. But with it, they could skirt the maximum. This gave them the greatest chance of survival, without wasting their already limited time to face the Calamities of Hell.
Moreover, chances are there will always be beings that could instantly snuff out their lives. When will that cease?
What argument was there to refute this?
What reasoning could he possibly give?
"Fuck it." Wei Wuyin decided to just not try. He knew what needed to be done. He grabbed the pills, opened his mouth wide, and stuffed them inside! If they refuse to take that risk, he'll take the wheel!
They had taken the wheel to push their cultivation to the limits before, and now it was his turn! He interfaced with each Astral Soul, his mouth, throat, and chest was completely azure in color. The bright, scintillating light emitted from the pills caused his throat to feel as if they were being scorched.
This was his first time directly consuming transcendent-quality products!
'OH MY HEAVENS!' Wei Wuyin's eyes bulged almost out of his sockets. The power within the pills were permeating throughout his body, and it was tremendously painful! It felt as if he had just swallowed thirty-three solar stars that were melting inside him! It was scorching but it didn't burn!
What the flying hell was this?!
Wei Wuyin instantly realized that he never directly refined these pills or products before, always being refined by his Astral Souls externally, and dealt with after. All he felt was the burst of growth they experienced, but this was actually hell! Was this why cultivators took so freaking long to refine ninth-grade products?!
The pain was unbearable. He felt an urge to shed tears, his entire body drenched in azure light at this point, and his meridians and organs were clearly outlined.
"Screw this! Take it!" Wei Wuyin shouted at the four Astral Souls. They didn't allow Wei Wuyin to suffer, swiftly externalizing while dragging the thirty-three pills out of his body. They began to share the burden, splitting the products amongst themselves.
They were extremely quick at refining, far more efficient than Wei Wuyin's physical body.
Wei Wuyin breathed heavily in horror. Why do cultivators even try to refine these products with their meridians and physical bodies? They were deadly! While he knew it was extremely unlikely for him to die, the process of breaking down and assimilating the energies of these products would definitely take far too long. He was relieved to have devised the Eighth Source Transcendence Spell to ease this process.
As for the searing pain, that was solely due to consuming thirty-three at once. If he didn't have his abnormally strong body, he would've exploded on the spot. Seeing the four Astral Souls refine it, their emotions far less gloomy than before, he gave a soft smile.
'It's always the first step after trauma that's the hardest to take.' This was their cultivation path, and he was along for the road. They're the only ones that can take the risk to do things such as manipulate Astral Tribulations, obtaining benefits far exceeding the Astral Core Realm, such as the Zenith Origin State. If they lost their will for risk due to the Celestial Eyes, they would never be able to pursue cultivation to their fullest.
Who knew how many opportunities they would miss?
The Astral Souls hastily returned to their homes, their World Seas began to thrum as the Mystic Rune Seeds began to generate, forming eighty-one in total!
Wei Wuyin's eyes glowed. 'We can't be afraid to reach beyond the peak. Let's see what this brings.'