Chapter 1687: No-Name (17)
Chapter 1687: No-Name (17)
Sage Khonshu had skillfully taken Sage Amunet's responsibilities, yet his predictive divination was coming up repeatedly useless after being delayed, unable to follow Wei Wuyin's movements by process of irregular discernment. Yet he received urgent messages from Sage Nepit and Sage Khepri. The former was shouting in fear through their network, and then—there was no then. Sage Nepit's connection was severed.
The latter was being engulfed by a growing Solar Star that began as a Star Seed and seemed to be feasting on his Mystic Power to grow, absorbing him as if he were a part of the Solar Star's birth. The feeling was familiar to the ruler of the Rising-Solar Scarab Major Region.
'I need assistance!'
He was calmer than Sage Nepit, but his situation was increasingly worsening by the picosecond. It only took the time for Wei Wuyin to look away and complete his hand-seal that his entire body was consumed by the Solar Star.
The Star Seed was a result of an experimentation of Alpha Origin Mystic Force's principles and application, and an extremely sinister and exquisite Minor Ascension Art that Wei Wuyin had devised by studying the assimilation of the concoction process with various energies, essence, and materials. He referred to it as the Solar-Submerging Prison Art, and Sage Khepri, a cultivator with a cultivation base aligned toward Yang Light Energies, was a perfect test subject.
The Star Seed would first adhere to the target, and then synchronize with their innate energies, before slowly fueling itself with its target. Eventually—
'I can't stop this thing!'
Sage Khepri sent through the network, maintaining a heart of complete calm as he informed his teammates just as his body was completely submerged by the Solar Star, becoming the Star Seed. Just before, he tossed Sage Nepit a million miles away with a harsh push. He tried to move beyond that, but doing so under the weight of the Solar Star required him to expend power, and that would be absorbed and inadvertently expand, strengthen, and intensify the Solar Star in both pressure, heat, and gravity.
Within the blink of an Enlightened Sage's eye, Sage Khepri was already at the center of a ten thousand-mile Solar Star, completely trapped. The Solar Star no longer expanded, and instead began to rapidly heighten in qualities such as gravitational emission and solar radiance, becoming blinding.
Sage Khepri wanted to Spatial Shift out using an Ascension Art, but the Solar Star siphoned out the energy he tried to use to execute the art, only serving to increase the pressure he felt. In every direction, all he saw was light. He had become…a Solar Star's core!
But he wasn't slow on the uptake after testing out several things and failing in succession. He forcefully sealed his cultivation base. And this…caused the Solar Star to slow down its growth considerably!
'I have to end the connection. I'll wait for assistance.'
Only when he sealed himself entirely, even his soul fluctuations, did the Solar Star halt entirely. But just before, a burst of solar flare erupted from the Solar Star and a comet of solar light darted toward Sage Hathor. Then, the Solar Star soared upwards within the Battlefield of the Fallen Divine and took the place of an extremely tiny Solar Star, raining down gorgeous solar radiance and essence formed from a Sage's Mystic Power downwards, blessing the lands below and transforming it into an incredible cultivation ground. Sage Khepri was forced to seal himself!
Wei Wuyin was once again reminded that the metaphysical energies of a cultivator that was natural were truly flexible and perfect. The Heavenly War Spirit's warning was right; if he relied on the Laws of the Heavens as his main focus, he would never discover the miraculous ability to insert principles of other aspects of powers into the power of Origin and Genesis.
While his Law of Origin was terrifyingly powerful, his Alpha Origin Mystic Force could apply different tactics in diverse scenarios, furthering his potential strength and capabilities outside of just manipulating things under the Law of Origin. Exploring those abilities was needed. Whether it was his Draconic Void Mystic Force or his Alpha Origin Mystic Force, both could perform feats of a lesser yet highly intricate scale that the Laws couldn't perform normally either alone or at all.
'But my true power will be when I use my Mystic Forces fueled by the aura of Laws. This was the power of Sages, after all.' Wei Wuyin thought as he spread his hands toward Sage Khonshu.
'I'll make my way to Nepit first!'
Sage Hathor was the octet's primary healer and fuel tank. She didn't rely on Temporal Reversion, which made the common tactics of preventing healing ineffective, making her existence of paramount importance to any organization or combat squad.
While Wei Wuyin had always known of the existence of Medicinal Sages, his relatively short lifetime meant this was his first exposure outside of reading vivid memories where he could see the true advantages of a healer in battle. The idea of a combat healer inspired Wei Wuyin.
The Legion of War didn't have this unique position. He could use the appropriate Spirits of War to take that position within squads, battalions, and the legion as a whole. His mind was already allocating Zhan Haruta as the Main Commander of a Healer's Corps within the Legion, who was also known as Enlightened Sage Springfield in his former life.
This will greatly benefit his potential warfare strength and sustainability. If he coupled these with a few pellets, pills, and elixirs, the Spirits of War would become a nigh-unkillable force to be reckoned with.
Wei Wuyin's spread hand suddenly clapped as his Alpha Origin Mystic Force flowed explosively out of his sleeves as clear light, zipping across the void in an instant, traversing the distance between himself and Sage Khonshu
"...!"
Sage Hathor was already finding it difficult to keep track of events and fear stabbed her heart as three of her allies lost their connection one right after the other. The first was losing track of their target and sending incorrect information that was incredibly inconsistent, the second was screaming that he, a genuine Sage, was unable to escape heavy water, and lastly, the calm words of Sage Khepri of cutting off his connection himself.
Sage Imentet was already by her side, wielding her shield, and rapidly spiraling around Sage Hathor protectively.
Sage Pakhet was still silent after being flung into the depths of the world, but her faint fluctuations indicated that she was alive and slowly accumulating strength.
Sage Khonshu replied to Sage Hathor's message, 'I'll send my Reflecting Moon of the Night Sky over to you, Imentet! I'll be fine.' He tossed his item over with a flick of his white sleeves, sending a ray of moonlight toward Sage Imentet. Her Heavenly Treasure was on the verge of collapse and Sage Khonshu's current role no longer needed it considering the other's predicament. He wanted to assist Sage Hathor in getting to Sage Nepit and the others.
However, this was also an instinctive response as he felt a feeling of danger numb his scalp.
When Wei Wuyin clapped his hands, Sage Khonshu felt a sudden descent of exceedingly heavy gravitational force. His cloudy eyes widened before he felt something. He tried to execute a few evasive arts, but he found that his body was unable to escape more than a mile from his current location, always pulled viciously back to a certain point despite his struggles. He didn't regret sending away his Heavenly Treasure. Instead, he decidedly sent all of his available mystic energies to Sage Imentet.
Then, he sat cross-legged and didn't resist.
Wei Wuyin's eyes shone with admiration at the sight. But he didn't halt his usage of supreme gravitational powers when his uniquely improved Gravitational Central Mass was deployed with Sage Khonshu at the center. The Alpha Origin. Mystic Force began to create celestial rock all around him, causing tens of thousands of mountain-like rocks to form, and they gathered together with Sage Khonshu at the center.
Each rock was inscribed with fragmented runes numbering in the millions. They were broken yet exerting incredible mystic principles that were the Way of Mysticism.
BOOM! BANG! BAM!
The rocks collided, shattering and exploding into fragments and dust, yet they all gathered around Sage Khonshu and adhered to his body like an adhesive. They kept piling on and on. Within a few milliseconds, the gravity that he was layered with acted, rapidly condensing the rocks and causing them to spin profoundly. Within the blink of an eye, a Celestial Pearl was formed that was hundreds of miles in diameter.
It was…
…a Moon!
Wei Wuyin clasped his hands together, interlocking his fingers as he quietly muttered: "Lunar-Creation Prison Art."
The Alpha Origin Mystic Force and gravitational forces of his Gravitational Central Mass were perfectly merged, creating a quick-acting prison of a Celestial Body. The theme was no different than the Solar-Submerging Prison Art, but the gravitational forces disrupted Spiritual Aura emissions, limiting Spiritual Sense and Spiritual Spells while distorting space and temporal arts and preventing easy escape. Without a strong physical body, escaping the Lunar-Creation Prison was exceedingly difficult.
Furthermore, his theory was proven; Sage Khonshu's connection to their network was severed. He was perfectly isolated. This was an incredible art to segregate powerful enemies, either permanently or temporarily. The added Mystic Runes, be it fragmented or whole, was enough to seal off all external connections with the target, even down to the soul level.
If used properly, Wei Wuyin could imagine the different strategies this enabled if used on a large scale or by a Legion. His eyes glowed brilliantly.
Meanwhile, Sage Imentet freed both of her hands as she hurriedly caught the rays of moonlight and solar light that were sent by her allies, holding an object in each hand as her wooden shield guarded her as if it were sentient. She now wielded three Heavenly Treasures!
Wei Wuyin looked at her rising aura in shock. With those three Heavenly Treasures, there was a compatibility he hadn't expected, and her Mystic Aura faintly exceeded Enlightened Sage Springfield in terms of presence, and he was a top-tier Enlightened Sage.
Suddenly, Wei Wuyin merged into the void.
An oceanic wave of raw, destructive sound slammed into the area he was in, inducing an ear-splitting explosion. The explosion was enough to shatter starfields, grinding the stars and planets into dust.
He reappeared after the wave of sound had passed in the same location as before. His expression was a picture of calm. Then, he turned to Sage Shattered Sphinx. With four down, there were only four left.
Sage Hathor, Sage Imentet, Sage Pakhet, and…Sage Shattered Sphinx.
"..."
Sage Shattered Sphinx was shaken and while his facial expression couldn't be seen under the guise of his sand robes, his shaky aura was enough of an indicator of his shock and surprise. His attack struck all three dimensions of space yet…he missed. His mind circulated with all sorts of theories when an idea sprung into existence.
'He's traversing through a separate dimension!'
While he was unsure if Wei Wuyin was using an artificial spatial dimension or the Void, he knew he was avoiding attacks and common sensing methods by hiding elsewhere.
'Understood!'
Sage Imentet changed tact as she gazed at Wei Wuyin while wielding three Heavenly Treasures.
Wei Wuyin was astonished. Did they have a way to bypass his Void Shifting and Void Concealment? Were the methods of Sages so extensive?
Then, his eyes darted toward a certain location as he followed the air. Sage Imentet's eyes shrunk as she acted with haste.
"No you don't,"
Wei Wuyin gathered his Draconic Void Mystic Force into his right hand, formed a tight fist, and threw it toward the air. If one looked at the path of his eyes, it was a space between Sage Hathor and Sage Nepit.
Sage Imentet's movements resembled light-speed travel as she galvanized both Heavenly Treasures with light affinities and went directly into the path of the fist. She positioned her shield before her as it was impacted by the clear light of demonic might!
BOOM!!
"Guh!"
A pained groan erupted as a figure tumbled out of chaotic space with blood leaking violently from their mouth. It was Sage Hathor! The other Sage Hathor standing in her original location grew hazy and dissipated into mist.
Sage Imentet, oddly enough, was able to withstand the blow! She was only slightly paler, but her expression was firm and her fighting spirit hadn't waned a single bit.
"..."
The three of them realized that their tactic of distraction hadn't worked. Sage Hathor couldn't get more than a few thousand miles before Wei Wuyin halted her, seeing through her decoy in an instant.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous boom resounded that shook the entire realm. An aura that exceeded both Sage Imentet and every Sage present unfolded. Wei Wuyin's gaze flashed as his eyes darted toward a particular area.
A single hand had come out of a large crater, yet the sheer physical strength it was exerting by touching the edge of the crater caused fissures to form in space and time.
Wei Wuyin's heart pounded with rare excitement. Sage Pakhet wasn't down yet!