1396 Chapter 1390: CKC, Face-To-Face

The gathering of Chosen was a natural occurrence throughout every iteration of the Chosen King Competition, but usually, it occurred at the edge of the third stage, roughly around day seventy-eight rather than now, on day forty-two. Generally, each Evercrown Ceremony would be rife with battle and casualties, akin to the hectic and explosive battle for the Aspect of Transformation that took place. Usually, all six fragments would be at the center of these bloody battles instead of one. It was incredibly rare, if not unheard of, for two fragments to be difficult to discover and two held in the hands of a single cultivator.

It was due to this expectation that the Aspect of Transformation hadn't garnered greater chaos. Besides the fragments in Zuhei's hands which were openly known for the last few weeks, three had been in the wind and countless were rushing to find it. Alas, two of the fragments were ever-elusive while the other two had been seized by a top Celestial Race's Chosen of one of the Three Radiant Empires, the Brightlight Empire's Ka Song-Ho, and a top Human Race's Chosen of the Exalted Republic, Young Duke Lin Kang of the Lin Clan.

This led to many waiting on the sidelines and conserving their power to fight for other fragments. Unfortunately, the other fragments never showed themselves while this allowed the other two fragment-possessing Chosen of the World Beyond to solidify their hold on the fragments and recover their strength through all sorts of methods. This left them with very little choice but to gather toward the two openly known fragments.

Zuhei lazily sat on a dirt mound as he fiddled with two fragments of the Evercrown. With all eyes on him, he calmly waited for as the prey believed themselves predators.

-----

Within a rainforest region, the cubical container that countless Chosen were looking for yet were unable to find was currently welcoming a particular visitor.

Step. Step. Step.

Their stride was steady and even, each step filled with a profound spiritual fluctuation that gently resonated with the ambient spatial energies, flow of temporal energies, and strangely interwoven mana. The figure breached an extremely thin layer of solidified air, entering an entirely new space.

A beautifully handsome visage sufficient to inspire awe in gods and shock in ghosts appeared. Tian Yinwu! He had a faint smile adorned on his face, enough to swoon the hearts of an uncountable number of individuals. Those hazel-gold eyes of his reflected the translucent cube before him as he halted his steps at roughly three meters, almost face-to-face.

"To generate an isolated space and time so naturally weaved into the world's mana, what wondrous means. Not even Mystic Emperors would be able to locate this location easily unless they paid a heavy cost." Tian Yinwu calmly appraised. The term 'Mystic Emperors' was an extremely archaic and underused term used to refer to Worldly Saints.

This appellation was no longer used due to the connotation of 'King' and 'Emperor' when compounding it with the Ways of Mysticism. It was similar to referring to upper-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivators as Mortal Gods. Only beings at the Ascended Saint Phase who've attained a form of dominion over the general aspects of the Way of Mysticism can be referred to as Overlords of Mysticism, or Mystic Overlords.

The officially used term for the World Beyond since the last several hundred thousand years had unanimously shifted to Rune Kings for Earthly Saints and World Emperors for Worldly Saint. They were still referred to as King or Emperor by title, but the implication was more in alignment with their actual domains of power.

Throughout the numerous societies of cultivation, Earthly Saints, Worldly Saints, Heavenly Saints, and Ascended Saints have had various titles, but their form of address had always been King, Emperor, Magistrate, and Overlord.

Tian Yinwu inspected the cube, seemingly trying to peer within as his hazel-gold eyes glazed with richly white light. After a few seconds, as the white light receded, he slightly frowned. "What an impeccable concealment. I can only vaguely see through it."

As if indicating something, Tian Yinwu's gaze moved from looking at something to the lower right corner of the cube. "So it was you who saved her back then? That makes sense. You sure have a talent for saving beautiful women. But I'm sure you don't discriminate. After all—"

Tian Yinwu turned his head to the left, his eyes piercing through distance and space as the image of a silver-haired, bare-footed beastman sat lazily on a dirt mound, surrounded by tens of thousands of Chosen from the World Beyond. Suddenly, Zuhei's gaze shifted to his exact direction, to his exact location, and the bloody, carnage-filled color of scarlet reflected Tian Yinwu's image. Gently pawing the dirt mound, Zuhei was on the verge of moving.

But unexpectedly, Zuhei's movements halted mid-way as he seamlessly shifted his gaze away, resuming his lazy sitting position on the dirt mound as if nothing had transpired nor caught his interest.

Tian Yinwu's smile grew a little larger, "—You've saved men as well." The history of Zuhei wasn't too hard to discover nor was it hidden. Despite receiving no response, Tian Yinwu didn't seem dejected at all. He returned his gaze toward the cube and as he did, his eyes shrunk slightly.

On the other side of the cube, only a few inches from the wall, a figure of unreasonable looks and extraordinary silver-colored eyes were staring directly at him. Those silvery irises of his seemed to see all things.

Step.

Tian Yinwu took a single stride forward. He, too, stood a few inches away from the cube, staring back unflinchingly. From the side, two young mortal men faced each other, separated only by a wall of a translucent cube.

"..."

"..."

The air grew increasingly stifled. The sight of two men on opposing sides of the spectrum of unearthly, otherworldly looks that could awe gods and shake hearts was unfortunately something few were aware of.

"Are you going to interfere?" Tian Yinwu slowly asked after several seconds of tense silence, his facial expression solemn and his eyes piercing.

"If I did?" Three words were his reply.

Tian Yinwu seemed to have expected this answer, replying with a faint smile that dispersed a large portion of the developed tension in the air. "I owe you my thanks," Tian Yinwu stepped back, and his body moved with airy grace. He didn't hesitate to turn around and walk away. But as he reached a few dozen feet away, keeping his back to the cube, he halted his steps entirely.

"I should warn you: the woman right there is a heap of trouble on a galactic scale. Be careful of the Exalted Republic's Northfrost Royal Duke, especially if you decide to…" Tian Yinwu didn't finish his last words, only continuing his steps as pulses of profound force erupted from each, soon causing him to vanish from the isolated space and time entirely.

Wei Wuyin calmly observed Tian Yinwu leave, not acting to halt him at all. Tian Yinwu's intelligence was quite high, even having a good understanding of his personality.

As for that exchange, Wei Wuyin wouldn't have thrown him that three-word reply if he intended to interfere with his plans. Why hide his intentions from Tian Yinwu or anyone if it's unnecessary? If Wei Wuyin was going to interfere, a simple yes would have sufficed or outright not answer. Why even care to respond?

This was the 'second' time he'd met the Imperial Prince, and he could tell that unlike before, the Imperial Prince had made great leaps in his cultivation base. Unfortunately…

Wei Wuyin couldn't resist frowning. Despite his Celestial Eyes, he had been unable to see through Tian Yinwu's strangeness. The only thing he could gather was that Tian Yinwu's soul felt…odd. Moreover, his senses once again confirmed that Tian Yinwu wasn't a Blessed.

At least…maybe?

Wei Wuyin thought heavily about his first contact with Tian Yinwu; the interaction wasn't very long, but Wei Wuyin never got a similar sensation that he'd received from those like Long Chen, Lin Ming, Jing Jiu, and Yuan Longshi, but after grasping greater mysteries of the Heavenly Daos, Wei Wuyin felt 'something'.

It was incredibly hard to describe.

Almost impossible to describe.

But he was certain that Tian Yinwu's soul was not attuned to the Heavenly Daos the same way a Blessed was. If it weren't for Tian Yinwu's exceptional life from the age of thirteen, he might have been considered in a similar category of abnormal oddities such as Yao Houyi and Shui Fengbao, but even then…it doesn't seem to fit. This was purely a feeling unsubstantiated by anything.

The feeling that caused Wei Wuyin to initially form doubt as to whether Tian Yinwu was a Blessed or not was that his thoughts of acting against Tian Yinwu felt as if there was slight pushback from the Heavenly Daos, stemming from his own Blessed lineage, but there was no reaction from the Bloodline of Sin. An oddity that Wei Wuyin couldn't quite understand since Tian Yinwu wasn't a Blessed, so the Heavenly Daos shouldn't try to avoid confrontation. The only thing that Wei Wuyin could confirm was that Tian Yinwu wasn't ordinary.

The fact that the Imperial Prince could breach into his isolated space and even see through his concealment, while he hadn't devoted much effort to either, was a clear sign that he had extraordinary means and profound comprehension of various aspects of cultivation. When Wei Wuyin recalled their first exchange where he used hammer-like methods against a scalpel's precision and skill, he felt that Tian Yinwu was abnormally gifted in cultivation and comprehension.

"Even so, can you pull it off?" Wei Wuyin thought as he watched Tian Yinwu soar away. The Imperial Prince arrived a few tens of miles away and firmly placed a formation flag into the region. Throughout the vast lands of the Evercrown Ceremony, countless tiny crystalline flags littered throughout the world's myriad regions, set by none other than the Imperial Prince.

"If you do, this will be a great opportunity for the Ascendants. Why would I stop you?" Wei Wuyin grinned. While Wei Wuyin had exceptional talents and incredible power, some opportunities needed a scalpel to be seized—not a hammer.

-----

After several hours, those surrounding Zuhei were growing increasingly restless. The days of the Evercrown Ceremony were not endless. At this point, the Chosen from the World Beyond began to send transmissions. Tambu Ma and his group finally arrived. As they did, the Titan Race's Earthly Saint attracted countless gazes of vigilance, fear, and excitement. He was a part of the group that should've aged out of the Chosen King Competition a few decades ago, much like the 76th Noble Prince!

Tambu Ma swept his gaze around, his spine tall, and his eyes utterly indifferent as he exuded an exceptional temperament befitting a highborn member of the society. He spotted the other Earthly Saints—two humans, two titans, and three celestials. With him added, there were eight Earthly Saints present. It was clear that only nine Earthly Saints, three of each 'Superior' race, were somehow allowed to enter this Chosen King Competition. The sight caused those of keen minds to realize that there was an underlying agreement between racial factions.

Unfortunately, the Human Race lost an Earthly Saint Phase, but the Titan Race didn't have a fragment! It was quite clear the Celestial Race was currently in the lead with three Earthly Saints and a fragment. Of course, factions and organizations weren't so simple in structure and alignment, but the organizations that these Earthly Saints originated from were exclusively of a single dominant race, such as the Exalted Republic having only those of the Human Race as proper citizens or the Three Radiant Empires having only members of the Celestial Race as proper citizens.

Tambu Ma didn't showcase any fear before the eyes of all these Chosen. He brought his group toward the lone dirt mound that Zuhei sat on. The Silver Wolf seemed entirely uninterested as his scarlet eyes didn't even bother to turn their way.

The sight caused Tambu Ma's eyebrows to furrow, but he didn't let that get to him. He said openly, not trying to hide his intentions through transmission, "I've gathered a set of capable Alchemists with me. What do you say we merge the fragments? In exchange, we can share the benefits."

"...!" Several exclamations resounded as Tambu Ma made his proposal! This was likely the impetus needed to change the stale situation!

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