The Intent Aura within the Earth Element Badge of Divinity was extraordinary, to say the least. When Wei Wuyin had first obtained those marks that resemble thicker versions of the Earth Element Badge, he had noticed the pure earthen energies within. The energies were so pure that they rivaled the wood energies within the Mark of Eden.
When the badge was given to him, he found out the pure energies had transferred into the badge and seemed to awaken an Earth Intent. This Earth Intent was vast, boundless, and heavy. The strength of it gave similar feelings as the Absolute Zero Ice Intent, what he suspected as the strongest Ice Intent within the Mortal Limits.
He didn't use Ice Force often, as his fighting style was more direct, forceful, and violent, but it heightened his Elemental Origin Intent and energies to a higher level due to its high quality. He was well-aware that the greater the level of Elemental Intent infused into Elemental Origin Intent, the greater the Intent strength and produced energies.
He didn't have Ori immediately absorb the Intent Aura for fear that the aura within was interconnected to some grand formation within the badge, but after inspecting it thus far, he realized that the Intent Aura was separate from everything that was the badge. The badge only emits the Intent Aura and doesn't rely on it.
"The Earth Intent has to be a benefit of the Holy Son. But what type of Earth Intent is it?" Wei Wuyin questioned. Ori excitedly trembled as it externalized. It was an orb of white elemental light. With a swiftness, a strand of its light engulfed the badge. After a short period, the strand of light retracted and Ori returned to his dantian.
"Done! Done! Done!" Ori shouted with a hint of pride.
"Done?" Wei Wuyin was stunned for a moment. This Intent Aura was extremely profound, and he had studied it for a week, yet was utterly unable to comprehend it. And he had extremely high comprehension supported by high-level mental energies. If he was given a few years, he felt confident in doing so.
But Ori was done?
Suddenly, a wealth of information carried by spiritual energy shot from Ori into Eden, and Eden dispersed and converted this spiritual energy into mental energy, sending it into his Sea of Consciousness. In mere moments, he felt an incredible amount of information integrate into his mind.
A short while later, Wei Wuyin's silver eyes became light brown, emitting boundless earthen power. The power was boundless, infinite, heavy, and pure. It exploded outwards, sending an invisible wave of force with him as the epicenter.
The entire world started to tremble! Not just the Desolate Lands, but the entire continent! As long as there was earth, it quaked!
This lasted for a few seconds, the wave of force was so fast that the entire continent was affected in the blink of an eye.
When it ended, Wei Wuyin's eyes regained its silver color, no longer effusing earthen power. He had an awed expression, looking at his hands in disbelief. "Grand Earth Intent?!" He exclaimed with a heavy breath.
This wasn't the first time he'd experienced this type of Intent comprehension. Long ago, the Absolute Zero Ice Essence was absorbed by his Spirits in the Myriad Yore Continent, and from that, he was able to comprehend Absolute Zero Ice Intent. But he had taken a period of time to organize all the bits of information and comprehend it.
He had also comprehended Desolate Intent in a similar manner.
Wei Wuyin laughingly sighed, "You guys are truly a heaven-defying shortcut. If others knew this, they might die from envy. Those already dead might revive just to die from envy again." While he still had to rely on his own comprehension, and these Astral Souls of his were unable to comprehend or directly use Intent, it was the difference between solving a complex picture puzzle with or without its original image.
There's just a world of difference.
Grand Earth Intent was an Intent that encapsulated all things earth-based, exuding a sense of boundlessness, heaviness, and infinite potential. With it, he could crush worlds or make them. Of course, he needed a level of cultivation to enable this, but the potential was there.
He still had much to excavate from it, unable to truly grasp all its capabilities yet. It wasn't as direct as Absolute Zero Ice Intent, but it was definitely at the same level. When he integrates Grand Earth Intent into his Elemental Origin Intent, the transformations and permutations of elements would greatly change.
After a moment of thought, Wei Wuyin said in uncertainty, "Does every Badge of Divinity contain the highest quality of Intent of its respective elements?" When these words left his lips, his heart trembled with explosive excitement. If Elemental Origin Intent with five high-level and one apex-level Intents were already so powerful, what about nine apex-level Intents? Would that be the greatest Elemental Origin Intent possible?!
The thought of it fueled his desire to collect all the Badges of Divinity, hoping to verify this possibility! If he didn't have Ori and Eden, this might be just a pipedream, but he did!
—–
Four days later, totalling fifteen days since Wei Wuyin's ascension as the Holy Son, a piece of news that shook the entire continent was revealed. This piece of news moved the hearts of countless cultivators, bringing forth questions and hopes for many.
The Divine Caches left behind by the Gods the natives of the Four Extreme Continent worshipped were well-known by many, considered the backbone of a Holy Child's rise to become a grand expert. It was envied by many, with numerous cultivators wishing to stumble upon it and receive the Divine Blessing of the Gods, obtaining access!
"Is he for real?!" A young woman sitting at a bench in True Desolate exclaimed with disbelief quivering in her voice. "Is he insane or stupid?!"
"Hahaha! I wouldn't call someone like that stupid," an old man next to her rubbed his rugged beard with a knowing smile.
The young woman looked to the old man, realizing there was a little glimmer in his eyes. "You know something I don't?" She questioned with a glare.
"I know a lot of things you don't. Haha," the old man quipped, causing the young woman to hmph and pout. When did this old man become so wilful and mysterious?
She said with a little annoyance in her tone, "Why would he publicize the opening of the cache? He'll be allowing the items and materials inside to be bought and traded for! What is this? Who would do this?! That cache contains items that even Star Lords would kill for!"
The old man chuckled, not minding the young woman's temper tantrum. He said one word: "Chaos."
The young woman blinked, "Chaos?"
With a stretch of his arms, the old man sighed as he glanced at the young woman. "The cache isn't some hidden secret and its contents and abilities are extremely well-known among the entire populace. You think others would simply allow him to obtain it? Those outside of the Desolate Lands don't need the Holy Son to live, they have their already established safety. They've likely placed experts to wait for the opening of the cache, threatening to plunder it in one go.
"Did you really think nearly two weeks of peace was given to him because they're afraid? No, they're waiting for him to open the cache cause only he can. He threatens their interests, evoking jealousy. War was on the horizon, but this move shattered that. Do you know why?" The old man explained with a dark flicker in his eyes.
The young woman was shocked by this. She didn't think things were so tense beneath the surface. And who were waiting? The other natives humans of the other three territories? The other Elven Tribes? Were it those from the Central Region? The Holy Clans? Or was it all of them?!
Her heart started to beat fiercely at the thought of this.
She shook her head, unable to fathom how publicly making the cache available shatters the possibility of war. It completely exceeded her understanding.
The old man sighed, "If you've ever fought a battle with your life on the line, hunted by multiple predators with their own goals, then you would know that those predators are easily distracted, fearful of risk, and seeking any weakness in their prey and the other predators. Well, maybe that's too profound of an analogy. Think about auctions in the starfields we've visited, why don't they devolve into a killing contest? Is it because the auctioneers have absolute strength?"
The young woman thought for a moment, thinking of those merchants. "No. At most, they barely rival a single top power. Sometimes, they're weaker."
The old man nodded, "Yet no one harms the auctions or plunders it openly, why?"
"I…I don't know." She was confused by this, feeling lost and uncertain. She was feeling stupid.
The old man chuckled softly, consoling her with a pat and said, "Because they'll be the new target."
"…!" The young woman's eyes brightened. She now understood. If the force acted against the auction, the other forces with interests in obtaining certain things would target them. Wei Wuyin had shifted and divided the tension with this move, creating a bit of chaos and removing his own target. There was no way to plunder the cache in secret anymore. Now, he wasn't their only enemy, but everyone else suddenly became their competition as well.
But the old man added with a serious gaze, "This is only temporary peace. While the conflict for the cache is no longer possible because no one wishes to risk their lives for profit that might not be theirs in the end, his existence still threatens others, particularly those Inherited Holy Children and Clans. Let's see how he navigates this issue."
The young woman went silent.
