Chapter 1630 1623: Sacrifice (3)
The trio of mortals, each with greater origin than the last, held a long-lasting conversation for several hours. They talked about memories. They talked about nonsense. They talked about philosophy. They simply talked.
Minor Elysium glided idly within the Dark Void, not moving very far during the last few days. The Sky Heart Galaxy was busy as beasts and humans alike adjusted to Wei Wuyin's intentions. The entire galactic hierarchy was noticeably changing as Cao Cuifen took charge as overseer with Grey Rose by her side. She didn't originally have a strong penchant for leadership, but as her drive shifted from a dedicated alchemist to a strong cultivator so did her preferences.
Cao Cuifen handled the initial stages of the transition well. She proved herself a capable woman and coordinator.
Within an obscure rogue planet, buried deep, surrounded by an intricate and profoundly exquisite concealment array that was certainly worth an absurd amount, World Prophetess Bai Pan, who had come along with Sage Springfield and survived till this day, remained hidden anxiously. She had watched the battle above unfold and knew she was in grave danger, so she left before the conclusion and hid away.
'Even If I have to stay here for ten thousand years, I will survive. I can't die here. Not here!' World Prophetess Baj held a hand-seal as she kept the array active. Not even an Enlightened Sage with Soul Perception wouldn't be able to find her easily, so she was ready to stay here for as long as necessary until it was safe. Unbeknownst to her, the location of her hiding spot had been discovered long ago by a pair of celestial eyes.
"..." Su Mei suddenly went silent and her faint smile laced with joy and mirth slowly evened out, becoming increasingly solemn. Her emotional shift was noticed by Wei Xiaotian and she softly asked, "It's time?"
She was acutely aware of 'forced ascensions'. It was reserved for those with overwhelmingly outstanding talent and a sign of being regarded highly by the Mystic Dao as having reached a certain limit. While she was unaware of the implications it had on other cultivation societies, forced ascension was seen as the most ideal ascension. It was recognized as only something demonically monstrous talents would experience. Moreover, it came with verifiable benefits that were incredibly good.
Wei Wuyin also felt such a calling by the Mystic Dao; his Stellar-Paragon Physique had many hidden, effective abilities, and control over various phenomena such as this was among them. If he wanted to, he could suppress the calling indefinitely as the Mortal Dao would never urge him forward. Similarly, his ascension will have the benefits of a forced ascension.
However, Su Mei was different from him. She didn't have a Stellar-Paragon Physique, and her call was due to her reaching her literal limits long ago. Among the Ascendants, especially the Valkyrie, Su Mei had Wei Wuyin's support from the very beginnings of her cultivation path in the Mortal Realms. Quite literally.
Among everyone else, she had embarked on the path of cultivation solely because of him, reaching the Qi Condensation Realm and her initial Cultivation Method from his spoils gained during his aggressive rise in the sect. While he may have vanished for ten years, she hadn't reached very far in the Qi Condensation Realm. Since then, Wei Wuyin had been giving her products no inferior to his regiment.
While she wasn't able to emulate his feats of maintaining four Astral Souls after ascension or bestowing each with spirituality on the level of sentience and sapience, her journey was filled with exceptional achievements. It was simply often unseen or unknown. Furthermore, it was no less unprecedented and odd than Wei Wuyin's.
For example, she, too, had a Zenith Origin State. She had cultivated the revised Haven Heart Qi Method, creating two additional Natal Souls early on, yet her primary Natal Soul devoured one of them as it formed and the other vanished without warning. She also discovered that she couldn't reach the soul limit of four, only two attempts.
This miraculously had the effect of bolstering her Natal Soul's potential by two. She had reached thirteen Soul Rings, Grand Convergence Spatial Resonance, developed Primary Soul Light, and even generated a Cosmic Dual-Singularity. While it was only a single one, she had achieved it nonetheless!
Every step she took was not inferior to Wei Wuyin's at a fundamental level. She was an early refiner to the Neo-Dawn Star-Seed Pill and received continuous support from peak-level and peak-quality resources to reach the pinnacle of an Absolute-sized Solar Star while relying on the Neo-Dawn Vortex-Zone Pellet, absorbing an Astralis Root to obtain the ability to absorb Solar Essence from others. She was now older than Wei Wuyin.
While Wei Wuyin was just slightly over a hundred years old, she was nearly two hundred years old. She used decades upon decades to attain her cultivation base with great effort.
She cultivated an Astral Physique that was slightly abnormal. Unlike most Astral Physiques, hers was natural, not cultivated by any specific method. This often happened to those with remarkable, curated talents such as those like Qing Qiumu, who was destined to attain a wood-attributed Astral Physique with wild powers. The Astral Physique was simply called the Awakened Twilight Astral Physique because it had qualities of Darkness and Light properties and greatly boosted her already extraordinary talents. Knowing what she knew now, she decided to change the name to the Stellar-Rebellion Astral Physique.
Since she was regarded as an error, she might as well follow that path and defy till the very end as a rebel of heaven's way! It was symbolic yet it felt right.
Her comprehension was extraordinary as she had grasped the Law of Yang, Law of Yin, Law of Light, and Light of Darkness in Seed form. She also felt them merge into an intricate law no less profound than the Law of Origin. While she was talking with Wei Xiaotian and Wei Wuyin here, silently...they merged completely, becoming The Law of Dusk and Law of Dawn before elevating to the next stage.
The Law Seed of Twilight was born; she felt as if she could control the very orientation of the stars and moons, give birth and bring an end to celestial objects with a mere thought, control the celestial cycle of worlds' flow, and strip a stretch of heaven of all light while granting the darkest of areas an indescribable yet unforgettable brilliance. Her cultivation base changed alongside it as her Darklight Energy morphed into the profound Twilight Energy.
Her cultivation base had long since reached a literal peak. As for attaining a Defiant-sized World-Bound Star Domain, the potential was established, and that was enough. Most mortals didn't need to cultivate their World-Bound Star Domains to their fullest to be at the peak of the Mortal Realms, and not even Wei Wuyin had achieved that limit. In a way, his will was the limit of Solar Stars. The only requirement for mortals was potential, like how Tian Yinwu and San Yongli were satisfied with the potential to reach Absolute-sized, which Su Mei had. This held true for Laws as well as they weren't a part of the Mortal Realms' 'limit'.
In every aspect of the Mortal Realms' cultivation path, Su Mei had reached the 'pinnacle'. Nothing was missing or left to do. She had heaven-rivaling talent, but her body and soul were still within mortal limitations, so her Spiritual Strength, her Sea of Consciousness' size, sea, durability, and her body's physical cells had long since reached the limits her physique could hold and soul can control.
These were the conditions for a 'forced ascension'. While not all cultivators had the same ceiling to determine their limits, Su Mei's limit was achieved flawlessly.
Moreover, there were aspects of her cultivation that were still in development, such as the Law of Duality. However, like all Laws, the way it is conceived largely determines its strength. Forming the Law Seed of Duality amid battle and necessity would rival developing a Seed of War as a Soldier rather than a Champion or using the Law Seed of Imperial to reign over territory or others, the simplest way to do so, and in Wei Wuyin's eyes, he would designate such a path as impure.
Strangely enough, she did not develop a Law Seed of Saber.
"It's here," Su Mei nodded as she rose to her full height. Her aura was reaching an uncontrollable level, inducing a small tempest of wind that uplifted her hair and caused her figure to faintly glow with darklight.
Wei Wuyin cleared his throat. With a huff, he similarly rose to his full height. Wei Xiaotian felt the ambiance grow tense and remained silent as a Void Portal formed before them.
Su Mei and Wei Wuyin exchanged a glance, and the latter revealed a calm smile and nodded. Seeing this confirmation, she followed Wei Wuyin's plan and walked into the Void Portal.
When Su Mei entered completely, Wei Xiaotian could no longer stay silent. Over this period of a few days, she had grown to like Su Mei on a much higher level, and she had even acted as a catalyst to the basis of her Heart of Cultivation, inspiring her to see the real difficult path of cultivation, gaining newfound respect for all cultivators who dared to tread it.
"Do you have a way to save her?" Wei Xiaotian asked. She couldn't conceal the anxiety in her tone and eyes. Even her heart was racing slightly. Would this be the last time she ever saw Su Mei?
"..." Wei Wuyin didn't immediately answer. He had found a path forward, a solution that would end it all for Su Mei, but as he was now, he couldn't use it. After studying in accelerated time, he concluded there was no feasible way to achieve it as he was. This didn't mean he didn't have a way to save her. He had already made numerous plans before and learned additional information. So he built another set of plans and contingencies far greater than before.
However, if everything worked out well, he could only hope they wouldn't be needed.
Hopefully.
"When we return, let's have dinner together. Then, we'll all journey to the No-Name Galaxy next." After leaving behind that verbal promise, Wei Wuyin walked into the Void Portal.
Wei Xiaotian watched him disappear with an unblinking gaze. Only after a long time did she say, "You both have to come back."
Galactic Void-Blank Space, between Sky Heart Galaxy and White Abyssal Galaxy.
When he arrived in this vast expanse, it was as if it was properly timed as Su Mei's Seed Tribulation Gate finished forming, and the world immediately fell silent.