Shocked. Uncertain. Contemplative.
Wei Wuyun's mind was twisting and bending around the previous events, performing mental gymnastics and computation to adjust to this new knowledge. There were far too much information that had been confirmed, so many questions that had been raised. Unfortunately, the Black Skeleton hadn't elaborated.
But…
Reincarnation exists!
Heavenly Daos can be wounded!
Time-Travel was possible!
This…this changed everything on the most fundamental level. He had experienced a bit of time travel himself, having been sent to experience the 'firsts' of his life after the Mortal Star Astral Tribulation of Kratos, his Draconic Void Soul. At the time, he had felt as if everything had been the most surreal dream. Even when Kratos had informed him otherwise, in the depths of his mind and heart, he didn't fully believe the possibilities.
At the moment, his silver eyes were extremely intense, even frightening as he processed everything. A smile, faint but there, formed on his face and it leaked a mysterious, nearly obsessive emotion.
It took Wei Wuyin a long while before he finally calmed himself down. It took his entire willpower and mental strength to refocus himself. There was now a variable in the equation: A Temporal Reincarnator.
What was that exactly? He didn't quite understand. A second chance? Did it reincarnate a Blessed into a new body? Their own body? Did it send their entire body into the past? Was there two of them or one in the current present? Why was it called Reincarnation?
Did the Heavenly Daos somehow eradicate their past soul to rebirth their future soul? No…that shouldn't be possible, right? If the past soul was fused, eradicated, or trapped, then the future soul should be affected, right? What happens to their future if it was changed in the present?
The more deeply he ruminated about the topic, the more the questions started to hurt his brain and sea of consciousness. It wasn't something that could be determined unless he had this Temporal Reincarnator directly before him, prying open their minds and finding out the answers himself.
"…Heavenly King Wei?" A hesitant voice resounded behind Wei Wuyin, causing him to sharply start. His jump elicited a frightened and surprised yelp from the owner of that voice. He, nor did anyone, expect that Wei Wuyin would abruptly jump like a poked cat.
Wei Wuyin had truly been startled. The stillness had ended while he was in deep thought, and it seemed the Blessed Reincarnator had completed their transitioning journey back to the past.
He swept his gaze at the yelper and found out that it was an elder from the Myriad Monarch Sect. Furthermore, that elder was an alchemist. He recalled his identity: Hu Yan. He was a decorated King Alchemist and held an exceptional status within the sect. So Wei Wuyin remembered him.
He was also one of the first people he had…well, bribed to enter into the social circle of the Myriad Monarch Sect. From his lips, he learned a lot about how the Alchemist-side of the sect and world worked. Since then, he'd been acting as his eyes and ears from the inside of those closed social circles and reported any developments that could help or pose as a detriment to him.
He calmed himself down as he swept his gaze around and noticed he was the center of everyone's focus.
"What the hell just happened?!" Wu Yu immediately exclaimed.
"…?!" Wei Wuyin was shocked. Wu Yu noticed? While he had an exceptional cultivation base when he was alive, it surely wasn't even close to being at the Realm of Sages, and he considered that level of power the initial requirement to truly be involved in the secrets of the Heavenly Daos. Unless you were like him.
Wait, wasn't his Bloodline of Sin awakened prematurely?
When he thought about that, he was shocked how this had never occurred to him before. But before he could explore this line of thinking, Wu Yu continued.
"Your entire body seemed to have shifted an entirely different position swifter than I could perceive…" Wu Yu's strong voice was suffused with confusion and uncertainty. He had been near Wei Wuyin this entire time, his senses fixed on him, and yet something extremely abnormal happened.
"…Oh." Wei Wuyin realized he observed the inconsistency of his body's position. To others, it might be slight, probably something they might not register, but the Grand Monarch of yesteryear clearly did. In the end, he ignored Wu Yu. Even if he wanted to speak about the Heavenly Daos, he knew he was being observed and any admittance might attract its attention to knowing his true status.
Wei Wuyin did not feel like dying today.
"Apologies, I lost my train of thought." He turned to face the shocked and confused crowd with an apologetic smile. So many things had happened so swiftly that he had forgotten that this gorgeous nation-toppling beauty, Qingye Ying, had challenged him to an All-Alchemic Clash.
"Alchemist Wei, do you accept?" Qingye Ying's expression behind the veil was unable to be seen through conventional means, but Wei Wuyin could sense the faint smirk and vigorous confidence. It seemed his lapse of thought due to the incredible event had been misconstrued as fear or uncertainty.
It's not like she was hiding her identity as the Princess of Everlore, a character that had taken an official step onto the path of the King of Everlore. In the eyes of those watching and those who were aware of both their existences, Qingye Ying was the rightful successor to his legacy. For those in the higher echelons, those who understood more about ninth-grade products, they knew only an Alchemic Astral Soul can create ninth-grade products. Any attempt by an Alchemist lacking this could only produce an impure-grade product.
Wei Wuyin felt this girl was quite interesting, but he was more interested in the motive for this. Since the very beginning of his ascent to prominence, the Alchemist Association's actions have been incredibly baffling. In fact, it seemed they had tried to lure him in and defeat him in some way to achieve this goal.
That seemingly bait-and-switch where his inability to pay would result in a single request. Moreover, it was as if they tried to play upon his rumoured ego to enter into an extremely unfavorable bet. They had even tried to capitalize on this again, having him challenged in front of all these young elites and leaders. It was a stage he couldn't possibly say no to nor did he feel like he needed to.
"Do I accept? I don't know," Wei Wuyin responded with a smile. His response caused these so-called young elites and leaders to be shocked, even Qingye Yun eyebrows twitched slightly before he tried to once more embody the picture of calm.
Qingye Ying frowned, "You don't know?"
"That's right. I don't know."
"…"
"…"
That smile of his turned a little teasing as he finally followed up with, "I don't know why I should. I also don't know why you want to challenge me. In truth, I don't even know why you think you possess the qualifications to challenge me without prior warning in front of all these people." Wei Wuyin instantly flipped the switch, not directly agreeing or allowing others to prey on his ego.
While he did have one, a clash with Qingye Yun wasn't what he wanted at the moment. Because…because he knew he would win with absolute certainty. He didn't know what Qingye Yun, Qingye Ying, or the Alchemist Association wanted with him, and he truly didn't want to be a part of their game of 'try, try again' until they finally got what they wanted.
He disliked being passive unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, he was mulling over doing something he wasn't planning on doing: not accepting. If it was before the Blessed Reincarnator arrived, he might've, no, he would've immediately accepted. But now, he wasn't so keen on following his original plans to the exactness.
"Qualifications?" Qingye Ying was startled. Qualifications?! She had an Alchemic Astral Soul, she was raised by the Alchemist Association, the greatest force of the Dao of Alchemy within the entire Tri-Vision Starfield! It shouldn't be a question whether she had the qualifications to challenge anyone she wanted. It should be an absolute honor. In fact, the challenged party should ask themselves whether they had the qualifications!
Thus, beneath her veil, her nostrils flared slightly. It was so unbearably cute when a gorgeous woman became angry in a way that wasn't outright insanity or vile. It was that honest, righteous anger born from indignant emotions they release that made them so huggable.
Just as Wei Wuyin was about to continue, he paused for a moment. His eyes brightened considerably, "I'll consider your challenge. We can discuss it at a later date. What do you say?" This was clearly his attempt to keep the proceedings a little private and the details a secret from the world.
Just as he had expected, right before Qingye Ying could respond, Qingye Yun intervened!
