Chapter 1640 1633: An Unprecedented Step (2)

Four!

FOUR!

Wei Wuyin's body flowed with mystical light exuding an air of unfathomability beyond mortality and beneath immortality. It was a bridge of understanding and realization, profound far beyond mere words, yet as humble and knowable as one's birth name. Exquisite.

Within his body, specifically the Sea of Consciousness, Dantian, and True Dragon-formed Heart, Mystic Rune Seeds thrummed and vibrated with a frequency that called forth a great dao-the Mystic Dao! Typically, a cultivator creates eighty-one Mystic Rune Seeds out of Mystic Essence extracted from the world, slowly establis.h.i.+ng the basis and fundamentals of the Mystic Dao. In a way, this was the beginning of a greater resonance forming with a great dao, the gateway to Mysticism.

Nine sets of Seeds formed nine Ways of Mysticism; very early on, Ori, King, Eden, and Kratos had formed eighty-one Mystic Rune Seeds each. Each! This was when their plan began, but not when it was conceived. Their plan spanned decades of acc.u.mulative effort and started upon the initial learnings from Wu Yu regarding the Mystic Ascendant Realm.

It was a seed. A mere idea. Simply a small possibility with only a raw concept, not a clear aligned path. However, they forged that path step by step with meticulous and laborious effort and cataclysmic levels of risk. They came across challenges far beyond their expectations and overcame each with remarkable cunning and manipulation.

This was their cultivation path.

However, they were faced with their greatest obstacle to their goal: Natural Amalgamation; the Ninth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, Star Core Phase, the peak of the three Mortal Realms and the final step of the Mortal Dao dictated that all four of them must be merged into one, alongside the entirety of Wei Wuyin's cultivation base, from his Intents, Seeds of Laws, Domain Seed, Soul Idol, Spatial Ripples, Primary Light Source, Gravitational Central Ma.s.s, Temporal Eye-all of it! This included the spirits.

Whether it was the Multi-World Clan's innate ability, the Haven Heart Qi Method, or similar methods, if cultivated during the Mortal Realms, the divided spirits would always merge into a single Spirit of Cultivation. At best, the resulting Spirit of Cultivation would be significantly stronger than average, enhancing a cultivator's foundation several-fold. This was a matter that the Mortal Dao insisted on as well, unleas.h.i.+ng an irresistible merging force.

They faced this merging force and it was undefeatable. They had externalized after Ori believed simply that after merging they could simply segregate, directly tricking the Mortal Dao. This was vetoed instantly by the other three. How could a great dao be so easily tricked? But they were left with no other choice after severely underestimating the merging force.

Then, Eden conceived a plan at the clutch moment: Externalization! They hid within Wei Wuyin's border between his soul and mind, the Mind's Eye, alongside Little Defiant! The four of them etched out a path to defy that! And they barely, just barely, SUCCEEDED!

The four of them defied natural amalgamation and maintained their independence by relying on Ori's principle power-the Law of Origin-and Eden's decisive decision. It was profoundly difficult. By all rights, it was heavily completed by sheer luck and unyielding willpower. Within the tiniest potential window, Ori relied on her understanding of augmentation, permutations, transformations, segregation, and amalgamation to separate the combined Astral Core after it was merged entirely from four.

This created the phenomenon of Wei Wuyin having a fourth of a whole, and shortly after advancing, the cultivation limits for each Astral Core were the cultivation limit of the merged Astral Core, multiplied by four. Inexplicably, Wei Wuyin had gained a cultivation base of four complete Astral Cores, each carrying four times the potential of their merged Astral Core due to their 1/4th division. This inevitably made cultivating insidiously difficult as his cultivation requirements for a single Astral Core was already insanity itself, and he required copious amounts of Mystic-World graded products and nearly two dozen years to simply maximize each Astral Core.

It was no different than cultivating sixteen completely merged Astral Cores! Perhaps even greater in terms of difficulty.

Furthermore, they maintained their separate eighty-one Mystic Rune Seeds uniquely refined by themselves!

When Ori first noticed this change, it was filled with deep grief and self-blame, thinking that the process had failed because of its recklessness. The others had to repeatedly console Ori, and only after Wei Wuyin verified that they were independent yet intimately connected did it finally relax and regain its cheerful excitement, raring to challenge further tribulations.

It hadn't failed.

It didn't screw up their plans!

So all they had to do was complete their next phase-continuing this exact route during Mystic Ascension!

Wei Wuyin often said to himself that their cultivation path was their own. Meanwhile, his cultivation path was also his own. It was similar to their relations with each other, fully independent yet profoundly intimate. It was no exaggeration or secret that Kratos considered Wei Wuyin as a father, and this was not limited to just it. All of them felt the same.

A proper parental figure as well! He never enslaved them or demanded anything of them one-sidedly. He treated them with respect and gave them proper autonomy, asked for their opinions, and considered their advice, only asking to be included so that they could rely on him if needed and vice versa.

"Are you all sure about this?" Wei Wuyin was shrouded by mystical light as four Seed Tribulation Gates manifested around him. They slowly began to swirl, circling his figure as if moved by his will. This was due to his Astral Souls acting within him, similar to how if Su Mei had moved across galaxies, the tribulation gates would have followed her!

"We're finally here," Eden voiced.

"ROAR!!!" Kratos roared.

"Tch," King replied.

"We got this! We got this! WE GOT THIS!!!" Ori's infectious energy was running rampant as it repeated three times, clearly hyping itself up and dispersing all of its nervousness.

Wei Wuyin didn't ask a second time. There was no need. They were about to commit a potential taboo and this could bring about his end. They were going to ascend into the Mystic Ascendant Realm separately!

All of the mortal tribulations had been performed together. Additionally, while they overlapped tribulations, this was natural and meant to occur for dual, triple, or quadruple Astral Souls formed independently from a single soul. The main difference was that these four maniacs often merged their tribulations or repeatedly triggered the tribulations after doing so, multiplying their gains and creating unfathomably unique situations. For example, attaining the Zenith Origin States at the Sky Ruler Astral Tribulation, otherwise known as the Sky-World Lightning Tribulation.

The four spirits remained in motion, causing the four Seed Tribulation Gates to continue their swirling around his form swathed in mystic light. They were the personification of daring and defying.

"This might hurt," Eden warned.

"..." Wei Wuyin silently acknowledged with a steady, surging breath, readying himself. The void for tens of thousands of miles quivered in response.

The Haven Heart Qi Method! The fundamental principle of this method was protecting the spirit when split, and then acting as a medium to merge mind (mental), matter (physical), and essence (energy) to produce a second Heart of Qi. Wei Wuyin had modified the method, using his soul to do so instead, creating a completely independent, non-deficient Spirit of Cultivation. In a way, he restarted the cultivation process.

Upon Kratos' birth, his body was unable to be changed, and while he hadn't learned until after that four was the limit of splitting one's soul equally, his established True Void Dragon Bloodline prevented a fifth.

However, the four spirits had always been quite ambitious and they've never forgotten their origins. In fact, it was this very method that inspired them during their cultivation to reach here. They leveraged the difference between normal Spirits of Cultivation born from each other and themselves, Spirits of Cultivation born from their cultivator. They used this to layer tribulations and more, and now they used this to trigger four Seed Tribulation Gates!

But the method wasn't discarded by them. It was improved upon, expanded, and endlessly transformed by their unique understandings of themselves. They were the only ones while mortals that could ever rival a Resonant Soul Realm expert in terms of depths of knowledge and experience of manipulating souls. After all, they were souls!

And they intended to apply that method one last time!

The target?

Wei Wuyin gritted his teeth as he opened his Mind's Eye with complete and total trust. Ori, King, Eden, and Kratos flowed into his Mind's Eye, similar to how they hid during the Mortal Star Eradication Tribulation, allowing them to maintain their independence!

When they arrived together, the four Seed Tribulation Gates flickered in and out of existence as if borderline threatening to disperse. They worked quickly. When they arrived, they each took their respective duties.

Eden located Wei Wuyin's soul. Then, they delved deeper as one. A soul-piercing pain, quite literally, erupted from Wei Wuyin's entire existence! His gritted teeth contained a howl that would have shaken the heavens!

His existence! They weren't looking for his soul. They were delving into the very depths of his being, the very foundation of his existence-they found his True Soul!

Wei Wuyin felt his consciousness waver. With his entire willpower, he remained somewhat conscious!

s.h.i.+NG! ????????????.???

A saber howl erupted!

The sound of cutting resounded.

ROAR!

A draconic roar erupted!

The sound of flesh being ripped away from each other resounded!

BANG!

A primordial explosion erupted!

The sound of genesis, the beginning of all creation, resounded!

WHOOs.h.!.+

The sound of whoos.h.i.+ng roots and fluttering leaves against a turbulent wind, releasing harmonizing music of the most naturalistic origins, resounded throughout his body!

Wei Wuyin could feel his mind split. He could feel his body split. He could feel his EVERYTHING split into four!

Hanging on by the thinnest thread of consciousness, he felt a radiant warmth envelop him with a snug pressure. In the embrace of this warmth, Wei Wuyin felt as if death was approaching as his lifespan was extracted and replenished four times over.

'Was this the end? If it was like this, so comfortable and so warm, then perhaps that was okay. Just okay.' His thoughts were a haze. When it came to innate lifespan, the extraction was instant, and if the amount of lifespan required to initiate the tribulation exceeded your limited amount remaining, death was instant.

Wei Wuyin had cultivated an unprecedented path of cultivation in the Mortal Realms and had broken the fetters of lifespan limitations far beyond the typical life or wood-attributed cultivators. The average lifespan and soulspan of an Astral Core Realm cultivator was 1,500 years. For a few select cultivators that cultivated yang, wood, life, or energies very similar, their lifespans can increase to 2,000 or higher depending on the quality.

Wei Wuyin cultivated Elemental Origin and the True Dragon Path, both were outstanding enhancers of lifespan. Furthermore, King and Eden were no slouches, especially when soulspan was regarded! If calculated in terms of total potential soulspan as a mortal, Wei Wuyin could live for roughly 4,000 to 5,000 years as a mere mortal!

The 3,200-year price for his four Mystic Ascension attempts was easily paid!

Suddenly, he felt as if he stood before nine unfathomably tall heaven-piercing pillars with the thickness of an oak tree, but like a kaleidoscope, he saw nine of them in four different perspectives, totaling thirty-six pillars! They released a soft mystical hum.

He knew they wanted to be understood. They beckoned for answers and completion. These were the Adjudication Pillars of Mysticism! They judged one's comprehension and insight of the Mystic Dao, slowly bestowing rewards in the form of Mystic Runes. Countless fragments of Mystic Runes swirled about the thirty-six pillars, demanding to be pieced together and placed onto each pillar correctly.

Wei Wuyin could faintly feel his control over each rune fragment. These were the rune fragments that he had cultivated that were shattered into hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of pieces!

Cultivators faced these pillars that validated their comprehension of the Mystic Dao. They simply needed to complete a single pillar entirely to reach the Soul of Mysticism Phase, but even if one was short 99.9%, they would ascend to the Mystic Star Phase-if they survived!

Wei Wuyin's thoughts were too much of a haze to think clearly. The splitting of his True Soul was pus.h.i.+ng him to the verge of death and dissipation with each pa.s.sing millisecond. If not for his abnormal soul, he might have died immediately upon the attempt!

Then, in a blink of an eye.

The four Astral Souls synchronized their intent.

They failed!

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Erdiul's Note: I'm free today, so I'll post today's chapter few minutes after it's uploaded. This cliffhanger is kinda f.u.c.ked up.