Chapter 925: Setting the Stage
Amidst the rising tensions, a woman hovered in the Dark Void with an ashen face, unleashing a gargantuan, moon-encompassing Mystic Ward with all her might. The woman actively protected the Shattered World Moon, ensuring no harm came to it or the living beings that inhabited it—including her daughter, the original cause for all this ensuing chaos.
Yue Lixiang was currently speechless. The entire event had begun with an abrupt and unexpected assault by Trueborn fielding several Earthly Saints, all masked, all powerful, and all determined. She was driven to a corner immediately, injured and desperate. While she fought valiantly to protect Yue Songli, unwilling to lose her daughter again, it was only a matter of time until she collapsed in defeat.
It was far beyond her expectations.
By the grace of the heavens, the enigmatic youth that had shaken the stellar region recently, Wei Wuyin, heroically arrived with fierce reinforcements that were beyond reproach. As a mere mortal, he showed astonishing rallying strength, fielding seven Earthly Saints and maybe more to dominate these would-be kidnappers in spectacularly swift fashion.
The situation reversed instantly.
Those vile Earthly Saints lost, killed or captured. It was clear that Yue Songli was used as bait, a realization that made her aware that this young man's actions wasn't fueled solely by a single-minded desire of love to protect her. However, Yue Lixiang felt she wasn't in a position to complain.
Yet the situation hadn't ended then. The Soul Saint King himself descended onto the scene, initiating the starfield-wide array, establishing unquestionable dominance before all those present. But even that was overturned swiftly by the youth's forces.
An unexpected conflict began between the enigmatic youth of ever-rising reputation and the elected leader of the Ninestar Sainthall! A face-off between a mortal and an Earthly Saint was unimaginable. The former stayed abnormally calm, insisting here and there, giving very little to no face to the other, while the latter was uncompromising and forceful.
The situation continued to develop and Wei Wuyin was forced to escape, leaving behind his army of a 1,000, a strange Earthly Saint, and the captives. That was sudden but an expected result. The true unexpected occurrence was his successful attempt, a tale of the ages—a mortal escaping an Earthly Saint.
Now, two unbelievably powerful Earthly Saints from both sides were facing off, seemingly about to clash to unleash their strongest strength! Yue Lixiang didn't know what to do. She should, by all rights and obligations, assist the Soul Saint King in subduing all dissidents and threats.
The very act of fighting against the Soul Saint King in their territory was against the laws established by the Ninestar Sainthall. She was only able to remain pseudo-neutral due to the Soul Saint King not giving out any direct orders.
However, it was hard to decide what she would do should those orders come in. On one hand, Wei Wuyin had acted with incomparable swiftness, subduing the assailants before she suffered fatal harm or her daughter was snatched away. A feat that should make him a staunch ally of their Ninestar Sainthall and herself. If the Soul Saint King was relied on, her life might've been forfeit and her daughter in the clutches of others before he could even arrive. Moreover, who knew what other cards Trueborn had yet to play knowing this possible outcome?
On the other hand, the Soul Saint King was her direct superior. She wasn't disloyal by any means, and her concealment of her cultivation was solely born out of self-preservation. She couldn't leak out this information through any channel or medium. If she had, it was possible certain Heavenly Seers could find a chink in her protective spells, figuring out her breakthrough.
Although it was the slightest of chances, if she was discovered, Trueborn surely would've fielded even stronger forces, and she wouldn't have been able to delay them for any period of time. The consequences would've been unimaginable. She had made the right choice.
Conflicted, she was only able to observe like the rest. She could only hope that the ongoing situation would de-escalate soon. Yet as it continued into the six hundredth exchange, a peaceful resolution felt increasingly unlikely.
Unfortunately, her indecision couldn't last! The Soul Saint King had sent her a spiritual transmission, her eyes widening as a result. She slightly clenched her two fists, but replied nonetheless with a nod of assent.
The message? An order.
The order? To activate the hidden protective planetary formations that would ensure no casualties in the case of an internal conflict or civil war! A drastic action highly indicative of the Soul Saint King's intentions.
As an established force with beings that could crumble entire starfields, the Ennea Hall Alchemic Saint had hiddenly invested a significant amount of wealth to install protective formations within the planetary core of each planet, lunar satellite, Secret Realm, and World Realm. It was only meant to be unleashed in a few cases.
An invasion by the Aeternal Sky Starfield.
A betrayal leading to internal conflict by a single, powerful member. A coup d'etat.
Or a full-blown Civil War.
The Ennea Hall Alchemic Saint's foresight ensured that an event like Rainbow Sky wouldn't ever happen. Not everyone was aware of these hidden formations, only the sitting leader of the Ninestar Sainthall, elected by all, and his most trusted subordinates. It was clear that the latter was solely due to the Soul Saint King's intentions, and showed how heavily he trusted her.
Even at a time like this, where her cultivation base had been hidden from him, he still trusted her enough to give her this task. She knew the result, but she wasn't able to refuse. Yue Lixiang was obligated to protect the starfield and the Soul-Saint Domain she served.
With a calming breath, the two Earthly Saints had already launched their eight hundredth blow at this point. She looked at her World Shattered Moon, her emotions roiling in her heart. She could only hope that Wei Wuyin was adequately prepared to secure his forces.
In her eyes, she already felt that Wei Wuyin was a suitable candidate to marry her daughter, becoming her husband after entering the Mystic Ascendant Realm. Considering how Yue Songli always measured him with the others, and how he'd always come out ahead in these comparisons, despite only meeting a single time, it was quite clear her feelings. The mark left behind by his existence was recognizable from a billion miles away.
This meant, from Yue Lixiang's standpoint, those loyal forces of his were also hers. An exciting prospect. A little selfish thinking, but she was confident that her daughter's beauty wouldn't lose out to anyone, and her talent was desirable. A man like Wei Wuyin wouldn't be able to resist.
With those beliefs in mind, she acted!
By the 700th shockwave of catastrophic power, only stymied by both sides unwillingness to involve innocents, the planetary arrays were slowly revving up. The usage of 'slowly' was very loose, as the exchanges of these Earthly Saints occupied in milliseconds. When it reached 1,300, the two separated, and the planetary formations were primed to be fully activated.
The Soul Saint King then gave out his offer! Leave, take your men, leave the captives, and be gone from here! He was taking a step back despite already having prepared a suitable battlefield. Yue Lixiang found this quite shocking. The Soul Saint King rarely compromised.
Perhaps it was Wei Wuyin's means or the War Commander's frightening strength that could match him in a melee, but he had decided to do so! A sign of cautious respect.
Alas, the War Commander's response was not positive or negative, not considering his offer at all! Left with no choice, the Soul Saint King could only set his preparations into effect.
Whirr! Whirr!
A strange whirring sound began to emanate throughout the Dark Void. All present, all living beings, everyone could feel the faintest of vibrations emitting outwards from their surroundings! All the protective formations were activated! Spheres and domes of condensed mystic-grade energies that would shock Earthly Saints began to encompass these planets, lunar satellites, Secret Realms, and World Realms.
These bodies of masses or settlements of fixed space hadn't moved away, but their movements had all perfectly stilled. Set in place, they became unmoving objects that Earthly Saints would find immensely difficult to move or penetrate. It was quite clear that the amount of wealth invested in these formations was absolutely disgustingly high, yet it was being used here!
Amidst this whirring sound, the army of 1,000 kept and protected their captives and retreated in an organized formation with an even pace that lacked in trace of panic. They didn't escape far, but left the two Earthly Saints a vast expanse of hundreds of thousands of miles of territory. United, they formed a strange cubic barrier of Mystic Power. Together, this barrier would be equally or even stronger than those planetary formations.
The observers were in shock seeing the planets, lunar satellites, and areas of fixed space begin to emit exuberant mystic-graded energies.
"What's this?!" Faye Liying was actually startled by this reveal, her heart raced at the reveal.
"The Soul Saint King is going to get serious," Sun Li dazedly said.
Woosh!
Yue Lixiang arrived before them, giving them and the captive temporal rat of an Earthly Saint a look before waving her hands and shooting off into the Shattered World Moon's protective formation with them all in tow! She was frighteningly swift and gave them no time to seek answers.
Safe and sound, the battlefield was totally clear!
While the Soul Saint King readied his various protections, the War Commander Zhan Zheng was in his own thoughts. No one knew that he was actively cursing Wei Wuyin to the limits. Not just him, the skeletal warhorse beside him was even more harsh in its selection of words.
'Unnecessarily troublesome; that mortal should've just summoned all my men at once. This could've been dealt with and over with minimal casualties. In a battlefield, what were planets or realms? But no, no innocent casualties, he says. Don't reveal all your trump cards without reason, he says. Don't cause wanton destruction, he says. Mortals.' Zhan Zheng was a full sentient Spirit of War, and he was filled with boundless experience and his own opinions. In his head, Wei Wuyin would have launched an immediate assault summoning all 10,000, and subduing the Soul Saint King while acting with extreme prejudice.
After all, it was clear the little mortal was questioning his loyalties and allegiance.
Unfortunately, he could only advise. He knew his place in the hierarchy of their relationship and would never overstep his bounds, a true general that was loyal to the one who wielded his soul. Even if he wanted to rebel, Wei Wuyin's Primary Soul Light had refined him. While he couldn't or wouldn't truly die from being destroyed by anything less than an Ascended Saint, if Wei Wuyin died, he would inevitably perish as well after a period. A fail-safe to ensure his continued loyalty to the one who wielded the Nexus War Flag.
Wanting to sigh, yet finding it not in his nature, he could only agree with Wei Wuyin's plans. After Wei Wuyin had escaped, negotiations not even kicking off, he only had to wait until the Soul Saint King compromised or set a battlefield for them.
Witnessing the protective formations activate, he no longer needed to hold back. It was extremely tiring using low-levels of his mystic power and his raw physical strength and prowess to match an 8th Runic Ascendant. And this mystic power was mostly used to ensure the minimization of shockwave fallout. How annoying.
If the group of Earthly Saints learned of this, specifically Lady Clearwind and Huoyan Liulan, the strange feeling of theirs would have a disgustingly horrific answer! The War Commander was simply using his physical strength!!
The Soul Saint King was unaware. He began to act.
With a wave of his hand, from his Internal World, he summoned a golden long sword with nine silver solar stars etched on its blade from top to bottom. It was gorgeous, elegant, and emitted an aura that faintly pierced through the limits of Mystic-Earth grade.
A quasi Mystic-World grade Armament!
An unbearably sharp sword light emanated from its edges! It could instill awe in the hearts of countless experts!
Yet strangely enough, neither the War Commander or Skeletal Warhorse seemed impressed. He didn't bring out any weapon, merely clenched his two armored fists, and began to exude his true, unrestrained Mystic Aura!!!
The entire world stilled.