Chapter 879: Calm Before The Storm, Aeternal Sky
Beyond Origin, beyond the Elementus Domain, the entire Aeternal Sky Starfield was unusually active, making preparations for the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit, and in a cultivation frenzy as those of the old lineage of Chosen refused to lose their positions.
The tease of the Everlore Association and invitation that extended to the Immortal Saintesses and Immortal Heroes of the Golden Gate Pavilion's rankings had stimulated many of their hot-blooded, competitive natures. The youngsters of this generation were fired up, to say the least.
The production of alchemical products was heavily increased, with many customs orders being sent through by various silver-tier, gold-tier forces and independent cultivators. The alchemy industry received a rapid inflation, with products experiencing drastic price increases as scarcity and need continued to rise.
Fear embroiled the hearts of numerous cultivators and forces, mostly towards these new possible standards of cultivation talent. While the greatly available Ever-Domain Pill was bought as a substitute by many, countless knew that the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill was a massively better alternative, with the Ever-Domain Pill having almost none of its cultivation benefits.
While the Chosen King Trial was a heavy test, these new qualified minimal standards would draw into question their right to occupy a spot. The King of Everlore left the discretion of what it meant to be a 'Chosen' to the Everlore Association. If their Chosen were no longer at the correct standards, they wouldn't even receive an invitation.
Some forces and talents might be outright disqualified from gaining rewards from the Chosen King Trial. While most knew this, it had to be stated that the King of Everlore's products left behind had always been of incredibly high-quality, and many Ascended beings of great talent, these former Chosen, greatly attributed their success to those awarded products in the trial.
Furthermore, the invitation of many Earthly Saints and Mortal Sovereign Alchemists alluded to a greater change, far beyond what it meant to be Chosen. The true fear was the redesign of what it meant to be classified as a force, silver, gold, and mystic. There was a possibility that mystic-tier forces might be divided further.
The title of silver, gold, mystic force was accompanied by a limited number of entry slots. Silver-tiered forces were determined by their strongest cultivator, requiring those at the Star Core Phase, the ninth stage of the Astral Core Realm, to be at the helm. They were given a single slot for Chosen to enter the Chosen King Trial.
Gold-tiered forces had Mystic Star Phase cultivators, those at the first stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm or tenth stage of the Astral Core Realm, and were given two slots. While mystic-tiered forces, those with 'genuine' Ascended, were given three slots.
That said, it was changed long ago by the Everlore Association that only Earthly Saints were allowed three. This wasn't officially determined by the King of Everlore, but the greatest forces agreed. This was why they felt fear. A change of rules could outright deny Chosen their right to enter. Most independent cultivators and clans gained their Ascended beings through the Chosen King Trial's rewards.
Those up and coming clans and rogue cultivators didn't wish to see their futures stripped from them! Unable to fight for a better life!
The most popular speculation was that those at the 'genuine' Ascended stage, the Soul of Mysticism Phase, will be given a single slot, scaling upwards to an Earthly Saint having three. This was horrifying, and it wasn't something that was just brought up now. The idea had been surfing through the networks of cultivators for a long, long time, yet the Everlore Association had never listened.
With the standards of Chosen rising, this could happen! How could they not panic?!
Furthermore, the Everlore Association refused to comment on these developments. They simply stated that the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit will have the voices of top cultivators, talents, and alchemists. And it seemed they were honest about lending them a voice, allowing existing Chosen in accordance to current standards and their 'Dharma Protectors' to participate.
If they wished to affect the summit, they needed to be there, and their Chosen needed to justify their position, showing off that they were no lessers! Despite being at the Starlord level or Mystic Star Phase, they could nurture genuine talents of any standard! They deserved their slots! Their forces deserved their rankings!
As such, the silver and gold-tier forces caused this cultivation frenzy, and those top-tier forces refused to be beaten, so they sought greater resources, and had the means to purchase it. The fight for any advantage was hectic and brutal, and the Everlore Association benefited the most with the Ever-Domain Pills being sold in absurd amounts at inflated prices.
-----
In the Aeternal Sky Domain, the central location of the Aeternal Sky Starfield, home to the Imperial Clan of the starfield, the Tian Clan, there was tremendous activity.
Amongst the upper-echelon members of the Imperial Clan, there was a specific term that was spoken extremely frequently. It was: "Saintmaker."
The term was rampant following the return of Tian Muyang and the rest, the details of how Ma Zheng was pulled out of death's door, given a Mystic-World graded product, and entered the Earthly Saint Phase in less than three hours, was rapidly spread.
Saintmaker…
Saintmaker.
Saintmaker!
The term wasn't unknown, but it was mostly designated to Prime or Grand Mortal Sovereign Alchemists, only given to those who brought up their Alchemic Knights to the Earthly Saint Phase. While there were some contentious beliefs in regards to Ma Zheng's situation, there were two Earthly Saints likely made by Wei Wuyin! And one of them was his Alchemic Knight!
However, Wei Wuyin was the first mortal cultivator that could accept this title! And that was incredibly significant. While it was almost guaranteed that Wei Wuyin used his backing resources to elevate their cultivation, it was more towards having the means rather than producing the resources yourself. There were no Saintmakers that relied solely on themselves, especially Prime and Grand Mortal Sovereign Alchemists, to promote their Alchemic Knight to the Earthly Saint level.
The practice of using assistants to reduce concoction time, strain on yourself, and increase success rates was incredibly common, even the Everlore Association used these tactics, gathering Official Mortal Sovereign Alchemists and Prime Mortal Sovereign Alchemists to work together to concoct a Mystic-Earth grade alchemical product with a help of a mystic-graded Alchemic Cauldron.
The title was geared towards Alchemic Knights and subordinates, and Ma Zheng was Wei Wuyin's sole connection in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region for some time, so they believed he was already one or the other, and if he wasn't before, he certainly was now.
Tian Muyang was within a grand hall, expansive and decorated in gold and silver, extremely luxurious. It was situated in a World Realm, the Grand Sky Realm, and Tian Muyang's own territory as an Imperial Monarch.
He sat in a large, throne-like seat with eight miniaturized Solar Stars the size of a baby's fist above. They rotated in a strange orbit, releasing gorgeous starlight that only highlighted the beauty of the design of the hall.
His posture was lazy, his eyes cloudy as his thoughts were occupied. He held in his hand a spiritual jade that contained a message from the Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor's Imperial Advisor. It denoted the profoundness of the Imperial Heaven Qi Method, including its origins, and value.
According to the Imperial Advisor, it was…
It didn't matter.
He crushed the jade in his palm, turning it into dust. Those cloudy eyes of his cleared up slightly.
"Another King of Everlore," Tian Muyang softly muttered to himself. He looked slightly down to see a head full of black hair bobbing up and down in a rhythmic manner, wet and suckling sounds coming from a young woman. She was one of his concubines.
Tian Muyang knew the significance of Wei Wuyin's existence, and he knew that the Imperial Heaven Qi Method wasn't as profound as this so-called Imperial Advisor, wise and sage-like as she might be, would suggest.
When he recalled the dismissive attitude of Wei Wuyin, all his pride was washed away. With a single product, Ma Zheng had become an Earthly Saint. A previous failure like Wu Yu, who failed his Third Ascension, had become an Earthly Saint that could treat the respected and feared Ever-Knights like nothing after just ascending.
He destroyed the body of one and forced another to ignite their Mystic Soul, then escaped unscathed. How fucking laughable was his pride?
He didn't have confidence in achieving any of these feats when he had just ascended to an Earthly Saint.
Wu Yu's disdain was all too apparent as well. It seemed, from the bottom of his heart, the Imperial Heaven Qi Method was truly a little too inferior. What did he know? What has he cultivated? What did Wei Wuyin provide him?
A wisp of frustration emerged in his heart as he grabbed the head of his concubine, being a little rough and forcing himself deeper. While he was talented, he knew his own limitations. The Worldly Saint Phase was definitely far beyond him.
Each step was unimaginably difficult. Even if he obtained the qualifications to challenge his Fifth Ascension, he didn't believe he could conquer it in a thousand years, no, ten thousand years.
He wasn't that young either. He had Ascended before the King of Everlore ever arrived, before the Tian Clan had ever become the leader of this starfield. He was older than his brother, the Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor! While he was younger than Ma Zheng, his Earthly Ascension only blessed him with roughly three thousand additional years. The jump wasn't nearly as massive as Soul of Mysticism to Demi-Mortal Lord.
The heavens were fair yet cruel. The Demi-Mortal Lord Phase was the border to the difficult, all-powerful Earthly Saint Phase, so much time was given to accommodate its difficulty, but afterward, the soulspan increase was downright pitiful.
He had about 33,000 years of soulspan, and he had lived 28,000 of those years out.
This was likely the same for Ma Zheng, but with his newfound backing, he had a great chance of becoming a Worldly Saint in his three or so thousand years left. A greater chance than him!
This was especially so considering how selfish the Saint Alchemists were, and how busy the Mortal Saint Alchemists were. The Sky Zenith Alchemic Saint had never made any products for himself. He hadn't even tasted a single peak-tier Mystic-Earth grade product from his own force in twenty thousand years of devoted service. If it wasn't for the King of Everlore, he might have never become an Earthly Saint or enjoyed peak-tier Mystic-Earth products.
A series of surprised throat sounds resounded, alongside a little bit of choking, and Tian Muyang's eyes brightened. His body visibly relaxed, his head lifted to look at the gorgeous starlight ceiling.
"Saintmaker…" He softly whispered as the image of Wei Wuyin emerged in his thoughts.
Tian Muyang wasn't the only one with various thoughts of Wei Wuyin's potential. The Sky Monarch Yang Chaoyue, Imperial Monarch Tian Lingyu, and almost everyone who bore witness to that day was brewing with wild ambition. Some were far more outrageous than the others.
But Tian Muyang might've been the most intense, his eyes exploding with intense fire. "Divine Emperor Tian Muyang…"
At this moment, Tian Muyang felt the shake of fixed space. His head snapped forward, his eyebrows lifting.
"Realm World Astral Tribulation? Why is it so strong?" Typically, Realm World Astral Tribulations were minor, not nearly as intense as an Earthly Ascension, yet this type of tribulation had an intensity that was only slightly lost in comparison to that!
"Wei Wuyin?" His eyes brightened, standing abruptly, causing the young woman to fall over. He didn't hesitate to move, vanishing instantly.
It wasn't just him who moved. All those who knew that Wei Wuyin was in the Gravity Emission Phase connected the dots, leaving the Aeternal Sky Domain, flying towards the tribulation's aura!
Why?
Because none of them could find where Wei Wuyin was after he reportedly left the Elementus Domain! There were only brief mentions of Wu Yu appearing with Ma Zheng, but nothing on Wei Wuyin! There was a reason so many forces resorted to trying to lure Wei Wuyin out.
When the King of Everlore arrived, rising to prominence, they were too late to ride along on that fat dragon's lap, with only a few individuals benefiting before he left. Now, there was a new figure that might very well be his second coming! They couldn't afford to lose this chance!
Tian Muyang was already flying towards the source of that aura, and he spotted two other lights blazing forward as well. He immediately recognized Sky Monarch Yang Chaoyue and Tian Lingyu!