Chapter 1856: Three Victories, Nine Failures
Chapter 1856: Three Victories, Nine Failures
[AN: I am sick and having a hard time concentrating to write, which is why this arc is proceeding more slowly than I originally planned. I’ll try to pick things up.]
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"What do you suggest we do?" Madam Chu asked.
"I think our focus should be on the Three Sovereigns," the Romantic Scholar replied. "These three realms do not have much room for ingenuity, so we should be able to acquire them easily. Once we have all three titles, we can focus on the remaining kings."
"Is this really necessary? I understand that we need to be careful, but this seems too much. We have countless Saints on our side, and the enemy does not. What are we afraid of?"
"If violence and brute strength could solve the issue, then it would have been solved already," the Romantic Scholar shook her head.
"I know that. I just feel like we are walking on a tightrope when that’s not necessary."
A small argument ensued, with one side favoring a more direct, forceful approach, while the other advocated caution. The debate lasted a few seconds before everybody quieted down. Ultimately, the choice was Madam Chu’s, so they waited for her to decide on their next course of action. Madam Chu mulled over everybody’s opinion before declaring, "The path of destiny is our only option, and we should acquire the King’s cultivation method, but there is no need to attack them. Let’s do it quietly."
Everybody understood her intention, so they agreed this was the best choice in the scenario. As long as they can amass enough destiny without disturbing the entire world, the chances of negotiating with the Infinite Divine Court will increase.
By deploying Saint-tier scouts, the Sovereigns and Kings of this world stood no chance. It’s true that they were unique existences in the world; after all, as long as they hold that position, they are immortal, and not in the sense that their lifespan is infinite, but in the aspect that they can be revived infinitely as long as this Chaos Source Realm exists.
Such a system means that nine [Mortal] cultivators will be granted [Eternal Attributes] and three [Immortals] will be forever [Undying] even by using means such as True Will or Will Manifestation. However, in the face of a Saint, all these powers or blessings mean nothing. A few hours later, the scouts returned, holding in their hands an information talisman with all the information about the Three Sovereigns and Nine Kings.
Madam Chu received the talisman and immediately sank her teeth into the content. The First King created a technique called [Towering Heaven True Qi]. The first stage of this world’s cultivation system involved condensing an energy called true qi, then filling the dantian. Once it is full, the cultivator will use a unique method to break the Dantian’s limit so it can hold even more energy. The process must be repeated 9 times, each time representing one of the levels of the True Qi Realm.
The First King’s method not only used the Dantian to store Qi. Instead, he turned all 12,960 Acupoints in the body into Dantian, and each of them also experiences nine expansions. As a result, the amount of true qi in his body is astonishing, capable of suppressing anyone in the same realm as him.
The second realm is the [Qi Sea Realm]. The process is simple: condense the true qi into a liquid form, which is a more concentrated and purer form of energy. The Second King was not happy with such a straightforward approach. Instead, he wanted a literal sea as his energy source. He connected his Dantian and Qi Sea with the world’s natural rivers and oceans through an imprint, and whenever he needs it, he can convert water into liquid true qi. Technically speaking, as long as these rivers and oceans are destroyed, the Second King will become a regular cultivator, so that’s a way to deal with him.
The third realm is the True Core Realm, and the process is another sublimation of True Qi from the liquid state to the solid state. But of course, things cannot be so simple. According to the information the scouts brought, the Third King was recently crowned, less than a million years ago.
The previous Third King refined every bone in his body into a True Core, providing endless energy and a terrifying physical body. For countless yuan epochs, he was invincible, and no one thought he would ever be dethroned. However, the current Third King was even more brilliant. He fused his True Core with an entire star, turning into an endless source of energy and a potent killing weapon.
"The people of this world are truly brilliant," Madam Chu thought as she continued reading. The environment molds the people. In the Primordial Timeline, the Emperor Path reigns supreme, forcing all cultivators who wish to achieve immortality to become invincible and suppress everybody in their generation. This world does not have a Heaven Will Battle, but it does have the competition for the Three Sovereigns and Nine Kings, which forced all cultivators to innovate.
Madam Chu finished reading the talisman’s content and frowned while she looked at the crowd. Their assumption was wrong: the Three Sovereigns did not rely only on their strength. Each of them had something unique, which is why they received their titles in the first place.
"Here is the plan," Madam Chu stated. "Everybody needs to choose a King to challenge and cultivate a vessel. We will then have a competition to select our champion."
"Madam, there are a lot of talented Paragons. Do you want them to participate in the battle for the Third Sovereign?" the Romantic Scholar asked.
"Really? So many of us here, and you want to call Paragons to replace us?"
"Many of those Paragons hold Grand Dao Position," the Romantic Scholar replied, immediately shutting up everybody.
"No need to use them unless we have to," Madam Chu stated, choosing to side with the Saints while also putting pressure on them. Now that they had everything needed for the plan, Madam Chu dismissed the meeting so that everybody could prepare. With their ability to break the hidden time rules, these Saints should have no issue raising their vessels to the desired level.
Madam Chu was also participating in this plan, as she was intrigued by the world’s unique Karmic Positions. And for her vessels, she didn’t choose to follow the cultivation technique of one of the Kings. Instead, she created her own unique True Core Method, fusing her Dragon-Phoenix Rings into the core.
Since a star can be fused with a core, so can a powerful artifact. In fact, there are plenty of cultivation systems or unique methods that involve fusing materials or weapons into the body, and Madam Chu has seen plenty of them. Depending on the system, a Tier 6 weapon is more powerful than a star, let alone a Saint Artifact. Although Madam Chu knew she couldn’t fuse the true artifact and only a projection, it was more than enough to guarantee her victory.
A few months later, the expeditioners held their competition, and thirteen of the best vessels were chosen. Then, these individuals left the snowy mountain to challenge the sovereigns and kings. The challenge process had two steps: the first was to defeat the King’s projection in the Ascension Tower. Once that is done, the Kings will then enter the tower to face their enemy in their true form, except that they will lose all the blessings and boosts from their positions.
Boom!
A vision manifested between Heaven and Earth, depicting a woman seated on an ice throne. A new king was born in this era, and everybody was shocked. Such a rare event that may not occur after a million-year epoch has now occurred twice in the past few million years. This was a sensation worldwide — except for the expeditioners. They had recognized Saint Frozen Hells’ vessel from the vision, and they were not the least surprised, since she had taken the position of the Second King, who had a fatal flaw. By removing his imprint, his access to the endless True Qi Sea will be cut off, drastically weakening him.
The expeditioners did not utter another word nor react; they understood that this was just the beginning. And they were correct. A few minutes later, a new announcement or vision appeared in the sky, and the winner this time was Madam Chu’s vessel.
The world was in chaos: two new kings on the same day — that was unheard of. Meanwhile, the expeditioners only smiled; this result was to be expected, and there would be even more to come. Unfortunately for them, their smiles did not last long. Besides one more success in the form of the 8th King, no one else had succeeded.
Everybody was shocked and embarrassed, especially those who were confident of winning the Three Sovereigns Positions. This failure reminded these Saints that there is a difference between strength from a high realm and invincibility within the same realm. While many of them were powerful during the [Immortal Stage], not a single one of them can claim they were invincible in the same realm. This truth is even more evident for those Old Saints who were sanctified before the Paragon Age.