Chapter 1690: A Solo Game
Within a six-planetary starfield with a small-sized blue, luminous, and young Solar Star burning blazingly and beautifully at its center was a black and silver robed figure walking lazily through the near-empty s.p.a.ce filled with tiny meteoroids, just barely on the outskirts of a luscious, water-rich planet. The figure looked the epitome of relaxed and at-home.
Since obtaining his True Void Dragon Bloodline and the ability to soar through s.p.a.ce, exceeding the boundaries of continental flat earths and planets, Wei Wuyin had always found the vast expanse of s.p.a.ce comfortable and familiar. The Original Dawn Palace was often established within the empty void of s.p.a.ce, acting on its own like a roaming dragon within the void.
After concocting the Sky Origin of the Nine Waves using the Thirty-Three Heavenly Concoction Method, fully confirming his status as a Senior Worldly Saint Alchemist. In the Mystic-Rank of the Alchemic Dao, the skill cla.s.sifying t.i.tles were: Junior, Senior, and Exalted! By Wei Wuyin"s standards, he had just entered the stage as a Senior Worldly Saint Alchemist.
If other Alchemists learned that his absurd standard taught by his late and first Alchemical Master had been upheld through his career and cultivation, they would certainly gawk in horror and disbelief for several years, remaining speechless throughout. If his current age was considered, it might kill some seniors then and there out of sheer frustration.
"Do you want to take that boy as a disciple?" The Heavenly War Spirit asked curiously, her attention focused on the planet that Wei Wuyin lazily orbited. A short while ago, Wei Wuyin had left behind an opportunity for a young boy by burying a Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill at the transcendent-quality. While it was an exceedingly short period of time, mostly for cultivators at their level, for that young boy the Soul Idol Phase, was enough for him to overturn his entire course in life.
Wei Wuyin had taken a light interest in his activities. It wasn"t anything too attentive, but he sent his gaze over from time to time. The young boy"s cultivation soared. With a Transcendent Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, he had a genuine Domain Seed that was already larger than the genius-level talent on his planet, had the innate ability to convert light energies into pseudo-Soul Light energies, and a greater grasp of spatial energies.
By sheer virtue of the pill, he rapidly tempered his physique and ascended to the Spatial Resonance Phase, the fourth stage of the Astral Core Realm with nine ripples, and his grasp and insights of pseudo-Soul Light Energies was enough for him to acquire the Primary Violet Light Source, the highest form of natural occurring Primary Light Source beneath True Light and Soul Light. With the transcendent Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, when he reaches the World Realm Phase, the Seventh Stage of the Astral Core Realm, and forms a Domain Seed, not only would the Neo-Dawn Domain Seed merge with this one, but his Primary Light Source will likely evolve into True Light, and if he was lucky, Soul Light.
A single pill had established heaven-blessed foundations for an ordinary young boy, allowing him to leap two stages in the already difficult Astral Core Realm, and become a growing star within his world.
"Disciple?" Wei Wuyin asked with a flat tone, completely disinterested in taking one. The young boy might be considered "young" by the Astral Core Realm"s average standards, but he was already over two hundred years in age, and by the logic of a mortal, he was in his late teens to early twenties. He was a young man if anything. Even then, Wei Wuyin was far too young to take in a disciple.
"..." The Heavenly War Spirit silently thought for a while. "Are you…are you playing a solo game of Mystics?"
Wei Wuyin revealed the smallest of smiles with his eyes closed shut. The game of Mystics was an ancient one designed around selecting a piece and calmly navigating around and manipulating its fate for a specific goal, often competing with others. Su Nianzu and Jia Yang had competed to see which could reach the Yin Form Phase, the fourth stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, first with multiple selections.
Jia Yang had lost back then.
The goal then was for one of the selections to reach the Yin Form Phase before the other person, categorized as a subcategory of Mystics referred to as "Mystics: Cultivation" and both sides had positive and negative interference options that could lead to the partic.i.p.ants experiencing fortunes or suffering calamities. Jia Yang"s most invested piece had died due to a love-rival plot established by Su Nianzu and she died to a compet.i.tor.
The stage for this game was performed by a newly created World Realm that was actively sped upwards by Temporal Acceleration so that a few days was several years. A feature only possible in low-level games of Mystics with Qi Condensation Realm cultivators or mortals by those who were Ascended beings. The game itself was created by Heavenly Seers to emulate the vague influences of heaven and fabled divinities.
The failed partic.i.p.ant was then revived and given the blessed opportunity of gaining Jia Yang"s recognition for her efforts, becoming his maidservant, and might later have the chance for significantly greater heights. Whether this would exceed her former destiny or not was unable to be calculated, but becoming the maidservant of a World King was no small accomplishment.
The Northfrost Royal Duke had notoriously once been a partic.i.p.ant in the game and had exceeded one of the most difficult challenges and overcame a lengthy game of Mystics and became a Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivator. Within the Onestar Galaxy, he was one of its most prominent figures now, with a greatly recognized status, on the verge or potentially at the Mystic Overlord level despite his origins.
Wei Wuyin"s alternative self had been interested in practicing the game of Mystics to better understand the Heavenly Daos and emulate its commonly used strategies and tactics. To that version of himself, it was a mere pastime that was more akin to idle interest, but Wei Wuyin had taken the term "exploitative" to the limits of what"s acquirable at every opportunity, and his understanding wasn"t just deeper but the game itself delivered far greater benefits.
His prediction of Bai Xiu"s origins linked to some continued fortune within the Utmost Purity Galaxy was a showcase of how effective his knowledge was. As for this current solo game of Mystics, it was purely out of testing.
The young man below was ordinary in all respects except his personality, which was staunch and witty, a genuine stalwart cultivator. Within a few months, his entire life had experienced a rapid change in terms of its eventual upper limits as a cultivator and potential access. The transcendent Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill was far greater than most Mystic-Earth treasures and opportunities, especially for a young Soul Idol.
At the moment, the young boy was currently testing his mettle against others in a compet.i.tion under the watchful gazes of senior experts at the Temporal Eye Phase, true Timelords. The current cultivation limit of the starfield was the Star Core Phase, Starlords!
Already, he was exhibiting his talents at the top stage before interested eyes. It was mystical how fast he escalated. Unlike Mystic Ascendant Realm micro-societies within the galaxy, the timeline of events was remarkably short. After all, they didn"t have lifespans of 10,000 years or longer, and most Astral Core Realms never lived to their full lifespan, so the average living lifespan was roughly 700 to 800 years.
"You"re going to give him another fortuitous encounter?" The Heavenly War Spirit observed for a few hours and had somehow gotten interested. The boy had just defeated a genius cultivator at the Light Reflection Phase, the fifth stage of the Astral Core Realm, in the closest of margins, showcasing his talents and being accepted by a Timelord-led faction.
However, due to offending someone, they disrupted his opportunity, and the Timelord-led faction pulled back their invitation while the others were calculating whether it was worth offending that person for him. The development was quite surprising, but jealousy and envy, as well as a few questionable points of his recent successes, made others hesitant.
At the end of the contest, a Realmlord elder, an aging old man at the end of his lifespan with a declining force didn"t care and accepted him. While the difference in cultivation might just be a single phase, in reality, the contrast between factions in terms of opportunities and value they could provide was unquestionable.
It was akin to an Original Magistrate and Mystic Overlord in terms of mortal realms, and a Mystic Overlord could rule over a galaxy while the former would find it difficult to extend their reach across the galaxy. Additionally, access to resources and legacies was limited too.
The young boy accepted the elderly, dying elder"s invitation despite understanding the difference, mostly because he was weak and injured, but also because the elderly man was trying to protect him. A glance and Wei Wuyin determined the elder had good intentions. This was unlike the Divine King Han Xei.
"What do you think is suitable?" Wei Wuyin asked as he slowly floated upright. The defining event of his future, the culmination of many events that began to unfold after receiving the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill had all but finished. Using his Eye of Truth, the young boy"s fortune had mostly concluded. At best, even with the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, he would simply end up becoming a prominent and powerful Timelord who would repay the elderly man"s kindness by continuing his sect"s history.
A single pill, even a transcendent product, can only generate so much momentum. Further examining the situation would realize that, while his fortune had been elevated, the fortune was also an exceedingly horrific curse. The foundations he established similarly meant his future cultivation efforts and subsequent tribulations would need corresponding higher grades.
This was the misfortune of receiving a single fortune. This was why the Heavenly Daos" machinations were multifaceted and refused to simply give a single opportunity, often planning for future opportunities that could be missed or grasped based on circ.u.mstances such as Bai Xiu"s origins or Bai Lin"s phoenix fruit. The fortune was far more open-ended and could either be taken by or used for someone else later down the line.
The Heavenly Daos were not simple.
Wei Wuyin understood this, and the Heavenly War Spirit had asked if Wei Wuyin was going to continue acting as the hand of fortune for this young man.
Suddenly, the Heavenly War Spirit had a thought. "Are you practicing for something?"
Wei Wuyin didn"t hide his intentions as he directly nodded while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The Utmost Purity Galaxy"s highest echelon of Alchemists and Heavenly Seers have a habit of handling things using direct and indirect compet.i.tions. Alchemic Clashes like the Swift Dao Clashes and accelerated games of Mystics, especially the Cultivation Variant of the game, were abnormally popular.
"I plan to mingle with them, and while confident, I need to test some things I couldn"t properly verify without tests in the actualized present." After admitting his intentions, Wei Wuyin sighed. His other self, that debonair and suave version of himself, hadn"t taken the game seriously and lacked a critical understanding of some basics despite being a Blessed and Inheritor of Sin.
One of the most critical aspects of the game: Momentum.
The Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill could only give the young boy a limited amount of momentum and his environment, innate talents, allies, and previously established cultivation foundations were harshly gatekeeping him from further fortune. Furthermore, while his personality was likable, he lacked ambition and a forthrightness toward seizing opportunities. He was traveling down a path paved by his planet"s history rather than exploring further.
Using the mutated Minor Law of Time, Wei Wuyin glimpsed into a potential future of the young boy, and while it was simply one of his unsubstantiated futures, he could only sigh with disappointment. Looking at five other alternative futures, they led to similar ends.
The boy never once travels outside his starfield or seeks out opportunities in the unknown. If fortune wasn"t laid at his feet, he simply wouldn"t try to grab it. It was incredibly disappointing.
The Heavenly War Spirit exclaimed in understanding, her little girl voice pouting slightly. "So you"ll leave him like that?"
Wei Wuyin chuckled at her judgmental att.i.tude. She clearly wanted him to follow through with a little more, curious about his developments, unaware of that critical personality flaw of his.
"How do you suggest I continue his fortune? A trial? Find him a cultivation master to learn from? Or should I leave him another ancient treasure, material, or alchemical product?" Wei Wuyin mused how this Spirit of the Dao of War would try to nurture a cultivator. Perhaps send him to the Battlefield without any safe net and see how he develops? If he survives, of course.
"..." She remained silent for a long while. Clearly, she didn"t know herself. She knew of the game of Mystics, formerly known as Heaven, but she wasn"t adept at how to win or play a solo game. "What"s your purpose?"
"I"ve already completed it," Wei Wuyin replied.
"Mm," the Heavenly War Spirit thought long and hard before her golden ma.s.s form glistened and sparkled. "Let"s give him a scavenger hunt! You gave him a Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, now leave him clues to a greater fortune out there. Who knows how he"ll develop?"
"That requires extensive planning, you know? I have to ensure he has the tools to survive certain situations, and each location had to be either increasingly perilous or require a test of wit, will, strength, or intelligence to overcome. There needed to be hints at certain points to progress to the next hunt. I"ll also need actors to…" As Wei Wuyin thought about this, a spark flared within his mind as ideas conjured with each syllable.
That"s right!
He could develop…a Blessed!
What type of Blessed?
Let"s see the end result!
"Let"s do it!" Wei Wuyin, for the first, felt incredibly excited. The game of Mystics revolved around using Heavenly Daos tactics, but the extension of which was limited. What if he decided to…
The mere thought of it was insane! But he was willing to do it!