Chapter 1617 1610: The Day the Stars Vanished
Chapter 1617 1610: The Day the Stars Vanished
Decades later.
A young girl no more than fourteen or fifteen years in age, dainty and adorable, sporting twin pigtails and a green sundress frolicked across a grassy, sun-drenched plain as fresh air and rich astral essence permeated the area. She danced and spun, her mood was absent of suffering, sadness, or danger. She was immersed in genuine joy as she laughed with youthful exuberance.
"Big Brother Vern, look at my new dance!" She spun and moved with light feet and a lighter heart.
Her words caused a young man lying on a bed of grass to let loose a whistle acknowledging her words. He seemed to be young in appearance, roughly in his early twenties with an airy demeanor with a touch of brilliance between his thick brows. Dressed in fine white robes, he exuded a carefree temperament.
And so she danced her dance. She danced until nightfall and her legs grew tired. Her body soaked in the ambient astral essence with extreme thirst, clearly her dance was not an ordinary one but something that facilitated her cultivation. Soon, she found her tired body lying beside the young man with heavy, labored breathing.
"Done already?" The young man softly remarked with a shadow of a smile.
"I can only execute this new Swaying Earth, Amusing Sky Cultivation Method this much. Any more and I'll find myself bedridden, hmph!" The young girl pouted as her words came between short, rapid breaths. She stared directly upward.
They laid down on their backs and watched the stars shining dazzling in the sky on a bed of comfortable grass. There were no clouds and everything was abundantly clear to see. Every last star was extremely beautiful creating a picturesque starry sky.
"Can you tell me the story?" The girl suddenly asked, her eyes reflecting the alluring and calming image of the starry skies. She was in awe at the beauty that the world beyond theirs held.
"Again?" The young man lifted his eyebrows curiously.
"Again!" The girl demanded. Yet despite her shout, her cute and tired expression was elevated by a smile.
"Okay, okay!" The young man relented, yet his tone was only falsely reluctant. He gazed at the starry sky of their small region of the greater Sky Heart Galaxy.
"Decades ago, during the time when beasts reigned supreme and all members of other life-humans, hybrids, and demons-were far inferior and little more than savages, unlike today, where we are, where we are equals under the authority of His Majesty, his Majesty came across a villainous existence that was disrupting the cycle of yin-yang, severing life and death, and cultivated an extremely vile Dark Art."
"The Dark Sage Springfield!" The girl interrupted.
"Yes, yes. The Dark Sage Springfield. When he discovered his vile actions, his Majesty gathered the strength of the entire Sky Heart Galaxy to seek retribution. He freed the suffering of those in the Sky Heart Galaxy, bestowing bliss, prosperity, and happiness across the skies." The young man spoke with animated hands and a tone filled with unrestrained and pure awe in his bright green eyes.
"In the life-deciding battle that shook the very heavens, the resolve of the people of the Sky Heart Galaxy manifested into a single moment."
The young girl's excitement bubbled to its limit as it reached this point and her exhausted breath vanished, leaving only renewed energy. She exclaimed as her hands reached for the skies.
"That was the day!" Her eyes brightened as the stars reflected within seemed to grow increasingly resplendent and gorgeous.
The young man nodded slightly, a nostalgic light blazing within his eyes.
"Yep. That day was forever remembered by those of our Sky Heart Galaxy as...The Day the Stars Vanished. I will never forget that day."
The young girl's hands grasped the stars as if she could hold them in her hand.
"One day, I want to be able to slay vile villains and protect the world from the wicked and strong. No-I will slay villains and protect the world! Just like His Majesty!"
As those words rang in the air, unbeknownst to the young girl or young man, the ripples of karmic light surged in the sky.
-----
Returning to the present.
Sky Heart Galaxy, a liberated Almiraj human farm.
A young boy gazed at the sky with his bright green eyes as vibrant light flashed in the skies. His eyes were fixated on these lights with an unnatural fixation. Surrounding him were numerous humans who were dirt-covered and thinly clothed, primitive in attire and cultivation. A red-haired young man quietly stood beside the young boy. The red-haired young man had a tiny leveret with a faint pointy protrusion at its head sitting on his shoulder, silently chewing a tuft of grass.
The planet had been blown out of the Almiraj territory. It was during his cultivation attempt after the explosion and he exerted a little attention to protect the lives on the planet. Shui Fengbao's eyes flashed with blazing spiritual light and flames at the center of his pupils.
Just a few moments ago, the entire world's energies and essence became saber energies, manifestations of tiny sabers, and then they vanished without any indication of where they went as if they bypassed all of time and space within an instant.
Then, they saw it.
They felt it.
From their angle, they bore witness to it all.
The void was split.
And the sky...the boundless stars representing the various galaxies, vanished without warning. Only the faint howl of a saber echoed in their hearts. Only that faint howl.
-----
All across the Sky Heart Galaxy, at specific angles, to the fortunate ones, they bore witness to a phenomenal scene. Within a single moment, all the glittering stars, all the alluring lights representing far galaxies and more, all vanished.
Cao Cuifen was one of those fortunate enough to witness this and her Heart of Cultivation experienced a superb state of sublimation. She recognized the howl as if it was her lover's scent. In a way, it was! Her heart pounded furiously and awe overwhelmed her.
She wanted that type of impossible, inconceivable strength!
But more than that, she felt indescribable happiness that her man, her lover who cared about her with exceptional attention and respect, wielded such godly strength! She didn't know who he was fighting or even why, but she knew that after...after a great battle, every man needed to 'relax'. The thought caused an alluring blush to emerge on her beautiful countenance.
Sitting upon the head of the gigantic hyena, Yue Songli's eyes were fixated on the fight above as she bore witness to a fight that far transcended her level, and while she barely caught even the roughest of glimpses in the short period it was happening given the unfathomably far distance that it was occurring, she could feel that familiar aura that she hadn't forgotten since that day.
Her eyes widened excitedly as the stars vanished and the saber howl lingered. It was as if she knew the outcome already, and her body slightly jumped up with excitement, her fearsome mountain peaks rippling with a tantalizing arc. Any man who was lucky enough to bear witness to such a sight might find themselves enamored for a lifetime and a half. Fortunately, no soul was ensnared.
Wei Xiaotian was still a mere mortal, yet her perception was indescribably profound, and while she couldn't follow the events above or the epic clash between Mortal and Mystic, she could feel the heavens split. And then, the stars vanished.
Her knowledge was vast, so she fully understood the implications as the stars vanished from sight. The heavens had been split via the void! What type of divine power was needed for that?
And that saber howl that echoed in her ears, heart, and soul was the sound of the Dao. It was ethereal as thought itself, as malleable as imagination, and just as limitless-the Ethereal Dao.
Before then, she could have sworn that the Material Dao aura had emerged alongside a strong worldly pressure. But how? This Wei Wuyin that she obtained her name from...
Who was he?
Those across the stars bore witness to the phenomenon of Wei Wuyin splitting the void. Meanwhile, the target of this terrifying attack had been obliterated in body and soul. However, by the Law of War, even the obliterated body and soul were not able to remain gone.
Wei Wuyin didn't resist the attempts of the Nexus War Flag and dispelled the Omega Saber Light's annihilative properties carrying the interlinked laws of Annihilation, Imperial, and Saber, allowing the Nexus War Flag to tap into the Heaven's Realm of War, gathering sufficient power to reconstitution the soul and cultivation of the Enlightened Sage-Sage Springfield.
While his soul was seized, Sage Springfield's True Soul was dragged to Hell by the Heavenly Daos. Wei Wuyin didn't stop this either. It was quick as well. There was no great phenomenon of claiming a great sinner or entering the Samsara. There was still a procedure that had to be followed before the soul itself was properly cleansed for its 'crimes' against the Heavenly Daos by breaking its Three Thousand Commandments.
The Heavenly War Spirit was unable to contain her jubilation as she hurriedly interfaced with the Nexus War Flag and replaced Teng Jiangwen's soul with Sage Springfield's without hesitation.
This was much better material for her future evolution. Moreover, after bearing witness to Wei Wuyin's strength, she no longer held the slightest doubt of his success. Even if she missed her optimal time, she had a feeling that Wei Wuyin would defy her expectations and find a way. This was a degree of trust and belief cultivated by her long-time exposure to his undeniable brilliance!
In fact, there was likely no Heavenly War Spirit that used a True Sage as their foundation for transformation! Considering that they were very, very, very difficult to kill, how could those lofty youngsters not use the bare minimum or at best a single stage beyond the minimum?
Regardless, her completion would certainly be beyond anyone's expectations when wielded by a mortal!
Wei Wuyin could feel the joy from the Heavenly War Spirit. But a wave of exhaustion swelled within her soul as his Idol of the Stellar Paragon state came to an end, causing his Worldly Domain that was seemingly stretching without end to snap back to a defined limit in an instant. It was nowhere nearly as exaggerated as before.
Just before he withdrew his combined Worldly Domain, not just a single one, but four superimposed together without the slightest disharmony, he gauged the distance to be roughly 69,000,000 kilometers, about 42,000,000 miles.
Certainly incredible.
With a relieved sigh, the Worldly Domains of four Astral Souls retracted entirely. Wei Wuyin did not doubt that without his Stellar Paragon Physique, capable of accommodating seemingly endless energy by design, even his draconic form couldn't hold in such immense power nor swing that saber in the slightest without exploding.
However, the profound qualities of the Stellar Paragon Physique seemed to contain qualities of the Eye of Immortality as a wisp of eternity flowed smoothly within, causing it to subtly and swiftly begin to heal the excessive strain on the Existential Framework of his soul.
That fight forced him to use every last ounce of his power, from every law to every Astral Soul, even the Mark of Eden and Element was pushed to the brink. If even a single one was missing and he might have perished today. That said, he definitely would have resorted to his other ideas.
With a heavy breath, he took out a Void Crystal from the depths of his saber-wielding palm. Within was a countless number of Mystic-Earth graded Pellets, all fire-attributed, all peak-tier, all peak-quality alongside a few Mystic-World graded pellets. He looked at it momentarily before sighing with relief, carefully returning this object of mass destruction into his Saint Ring before floating calmly in the Dark Void without the slightest exertion of energy.
"You're so incredible, Master!" Bai Xiu's voice finally resounded as she congratulated excitedly. She had a front-row seat to the conflict, beginning to end. It was exhibiting and unthinkable for a mere mortal to slay an Enlightened Sage.
This likely never happened in the history of existence. It was genuinely inconceivable. They weren't even on the same existential level, yet somehow...Wei Wuyin had achieved this feat! She was extremely happy that she decided to follow Wei Wuyin and not that stupid navy-blue-haired woman and naive elf.
"You didn't have to drag him into the Prohibition of Heaven and use it to get rid of him either, you used your own strength! Really Incredible!" Bai Xiu exposed another plan of Wei Wuyin's, but only one with a small chance of success.
"Thanks," Wei Wuyin said, visibly distracted as he felt it coming-the Heavenly Daos rewards.