Wei Wuyin's thoughts were far too complex at the moment, his eyes reflected a truth that he had understood before but not directly known.
Whatever he did, however he acted, his fate seemed to be interwoven with surrounding Blessed of the starfield. It wasn't simply Long Chen, Lin Ming, or Yuan Longshi.
He had met and killed his first Blessed on the Myriad Yore Continent. He was some unnamed commander who demonstrated exceptional arts and spells, but was beheaded by him. It was his first instance of obtaining Karmic Luck Value from killing, plundering not only that but the Spatial Jade Crystal that would later help birth his Draconic Void Soul.
It was too coincidental.
From Long Chen, he seemed to be in continuous contention regarding his female companions, these companions that were definitely a direct link to his own karmic luck.
From Lin Ming, he had a similar Elemental Origin Intent and cultivated the same method from Divine King Han Xei. He knew that there would likely be more interactions between them in the future, probably a conflict over something important linked to Divine King Han Xei's legacy.
From Yuan Longshi, he obtained his cultivation method and Xue Yifei. These two were the most brilliant representations of his karmic luck.
From the unnamed Commander, he had obtained the Spatial Jade Crystal and a necklace that seemed to be a key to activating an Ancient Void Gate. Perhaps more of that Commander's karmic luck was located beyond the Ancient Void Gate.
He was slowly but surely extracting all the benefits that the others would or could obtain, and while everything wasn't exactly clearly outlined, he could sense this being the case. It was almost as if he was hijacking their karmic fortune.
When he looked at Lin Ziyan, this gorgeous woman with a history that exceeded the starfield, he realized that she might've been the route Long Chen was originally supposed to take to escape the starfield. Or at the very least, it embroiled him into whatever scheme or intentions the Sacred Elven Queen wanted. After all, none of her actions made any sense, and placing them on the Myriad Yore Continent seemed to be extremely deliberate.
Of course, these were merely theories. He couldn't verify if any of this was true. One of the major things about the Heavenly Daos and Bloodline of Sinners were the concept of free will and choice. It was why a Blessed, despite having a high level of Karmic Luck, could still suffer an untimely demise that wasn't done by a Sinner.
If he hadn't saved Lin Ziyan, which was a decision influenced by his foreknowledge of the Blessed Reincarnator, he wouldn't be holding her, wouldn't have kissed her, nor learned of her unique bloodline. None of this would've happened.
In that case, then in the timeline before the Temporal Reincarnation, would it mean that he never knew of these things?
His thoughts were far too complex and complicated, unable to ascertain anything for certain.
"What about Long Chen?" Wei Wuyin asked.
Lin Ziyan's body faintly trembled but quickly stopped. "When I first met Long Chen, I thought that he was too immature and weak. I had left the Haven Heart Qi Method to him out of pity. He wasn't a part of any sect nor had any background to speak of. Even his cultivation was horrendous in comparison to his age. I told him that if he could successfully cultivate the method, he could come find me.
"He did and he found me years later. At that time, I wasn't aware that he had successfully cultivated the Method. Just like how I couldn't tell that you had. But just like you, he remained quiet about it all. I grew fond of him, realizing his talent and potential was slowly blooming. But it was only fondness.
"Later, the incident with the wedding happened and I realized he had successfully cultivated the Haven Heart Qi Method. I thought that he was the savior of my clan and the…person I've been waiting for. But I was wrong, clearly wrong.
"You have four Astral Souls. This is a greater expression of my clan's bloodline legacy than what was recorded. At most, my clan was capable of forging three Natal Souls, and then merged those Natal Souls into an extremely powerful Astral Soul. Only the greatest of bloodline possessed at least two Astral Souls, and that was by exceeding the limit. That required a perfect twin set of cultivators to achieve, and one of them died achieving it.
"But you have four! Furthermore, each Astral Soul is incredibly complete and extremely powerful. You've truly cultivated the method beyond its limits, you're clearly the one foretold in the prophecy."
Wei Wuyin took all this in, frowning slightly. He could sense a little bit of resentment within her eyes when she mentioned Long Chen. But considering she was placed into a comatose-like state because of his pride, it made sense for there to be just a little.
Maybe Lin Ziyan might've not blamed Long Chen if he had allowed her to fully recover, and if Wei Wuyin didn't exist, because she needed him.
"Does he know about the prophecy?" Wei Wuyin was curious about this detail. But directly after he asked, he received a response from someone else.
"She never told him, but I did. At least, he knew about her bloodline origins, and the actions of the Sacred Elven Queen. He definitely isn't aware of this so-called prophecy. Even I'm not certain of it." It was Wu Yu! He had been listening, observing the entire event in silence. The Founding Ancestor was rather shocked by what he heard, especially learning about this prophecy.
Just as Wu Yu said, Lin Ziyan answered: "No. I never told him. I didn't think it mattered. It could only be achieved by someone in the Mystic Ascendant Realm anyhow, just like the Sacred Elven Queen, and Long Chen had too much to worry about already."
Witnessing her considerate behavior, Wei Wuyin pouted slightly.
He sent a message to Wu Yu, "You have any idea why the Sacred Elven Queen did all this, what she's planning?"
"She's always been the most mysterious of the four of us. She was a cultivation maniac and a mad researcher that did anything and everything to complete her goals. I never liked her. I'm certain she used her body to coax the King of Everlore for resources. The little slut." Wu Yu clearly had an axe to grind with the Sacred Elven Queen as he spouted unrelated nonsense.
"Tch! She was the one that the Ever-Rebirth Pill was originally made for. She was always rash, always relying heavily on the King of Everlore to fix her mistakes. She had convinced that stupid fellow, a subordinate of the King of Everlore, to ascend the Mystic Ascendant Realm for her experiments. He horrendously failed and she kept his soul alive. The King of Everlore toiled for twenty years to correct her wrong." If Wei Wuyin could see Wu Yu's spiritual form, he would see him flaring his nostrils in anger.
'Well, if she hadn't done that, you wouldn't have this opportunity to revive so thoroughly, you know?' Wei Wuyin amusedly thought. Wu Yu had tried to ascend to the next phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm and similarly failed horrendously. The only reason he survived was because the King of Everlore had crafted that ring he inhabited. It was somewhat hypocritical to suggest that the Sacred Elven Queen was rash, always relying on the King of Everlore to fix everything.
He ignored Wu Yu for now.
He sighed, pushing Lin Ziyan away from his embrace. He fixed her with a steel-like gaze, "I don't reject women that I like. I don't know about this so-called prophecy, I don't know if I'll be able to unseal your bloodline or help your clan return home, and I don't think I'm the destined lover you're waiting for."
Lin Ziyan, "…!" She faintly exclaimed, realizing that Wei Wuyin knew.
Wei Wuyin clearly explained his position: "If you want to enter into a relationship with me, I won't decline. But you should know that I don't intend to take you as a wife for now, and if I help you reach the Astral Core Realm, then I'm not going to foolishly wait until your heart is ready. I don't have the time for that. You should be absolutely sure that this is what you want, because I won't hesitate to kill you if you decide to betray me in any way or reveal my secrets to others."
Considering she had caught a glimpse of his four Astral Souls, she was the only one alive that was concretely aware of it. Even Su Mei wasn't entirely certain, but that's only because she never asked. Furthermore, he was on a clock.
Lin Ziyan's body grew still. She felt the bone-chilling killing intent in his words. In her heart, she wasn't certain that Wei Wuyin wouldn't kill her if she said no, simply to keep his secrets a secret. But she had long since believed and trusted in Ming Shufeng, so she steeled her resolve. Moreover, in the depths of her heart, she felt that Wei Wuyin was a man that met her every critiera, and a desire was set aflame in her heart. Even a hint of expectation as she regarded his unearthly handsome face.
She heavily nodded her head.
Wei Wuyin saw the resolve in her beautiful eyes, and couldn't help but wonder what she went through to believe this. Perhaps it wasn't because of this belief of a prophecy, or maybe she wanted him. When this thought flashed through his mind, he considered the numerous women that likely sought his attention but couldn't receive it, he couldn't help but feel interestingly odd.
