The tiny flag was none other than the War Talisman that cost a grand total of 1,000,000 War Souls. Since acquiring it, Wei Wuyin had kept it within his Dantian where Ori and King's Astral Souls were refining it with their Primary Soul Light. This was the unique refinement method given to him by the War Spirit after purchasing it. Supposedly, it was a long, lengthy process of continuous infusion until one's soul aura thoroughly tainted the talisman.
For a normal cultivator, this might require an extremely long period of time, but Wei Wuyin had four Astral Souls with refined Primary Soul Light energies to the maximal limit of his cultivation stage. Still, it wasn't a swift process by any means, so he decided to rapidly speed up the process.
He was pouring copious amounts of King and Ori's Primary Soul Light into the War Talisman without reservation. This was a relatively dangerous endeavor, much akin to exhausting his bloodline energies, but it was the sole solution he had to overcome his current circumstances. Not only was he entrapped by multiple restrictive arrays, his only helper was severely injured with her bloodline energies thoroughly exhausted.
Communicating and asking reinforcements was not a viable option. Even if he could contact Wu Yu and the other three Ascendants under his command, there was no way for them to arrive in time nor was their strength remotely close to gain control of the situation. They would simply be giving their lives in a hostile situation. Furthermore, there were too many unknown variables beyond these restrictive arrays.
While he was powerful, his opponents were genuine Ascended unrestricted by the Battlefield. There was no hope of replicating his battle with 10,000 Ascended. A single genuine Ascended at the Soul of Mysticism Phase was far too great for him to handle, let alone multiple prepared Demi-Mortal Lords. However, he didn't dwell on his weakness because it wasn't weakness. A three-year-old child doesn't feel ashamed of himself because a fully grown adult bodybuilder was stronger. That was a ridiculous notion.
"…" He was on a time limit. Soon those outside will grow curious or inspect his circumstances. His spiritual sense was powerful, his spiritual strength unfathomable, but before mystic energies infused with spiritual energies, he was not going to be able to hold any of them off. There was just a quintessential difference between these two spiritual strengths.
"All of you," he urgently whispered. Eden and Kratos realized their situation and acted. From his glabella and heart, strands and strands of Seven Source Primary Soul Light and Formless Divinity Primary Soul Light were brought forth and integrated with the War Talisman at a speedy rate.
Wei Wuyin's teeth bit against each other. He gnashed them as immense pain started to emanate from each of his Astral Souls. This was a very difficult procedure and highly inadvisable for cultivators. Primary Light wasn't meant to be extracted and poured out so hectically, hence why the refinement method was slow and gentle. The current situation was even worse because his Primary Light was Soul Light, originating from his Astral Souls directly. This was agonizing to the limit, like extracting the hairs off the scalp of his soul.
Bai Lin's eyes emanated intense worry, but she remained at a fair distance as she observed the multicolored lights pour out of Wei Wuyin into the small flag.
Wei Wuyin's body shivered as he felt his spiritual sense being impacted by several other senses. They were currently probing the situation! It wouldn't be long now! He gritted his teeth with even greater intensity and urged his Soul Light to pour out more vigorously than before. The strands had become full-blown rivers of light.
"AH!" Unable to hold in the pain, he grunted outwards with a bestial sound that caused Bai Lin's heart to quiver. This was so, so, so freaking painful! He wasn't just feeling his own, but all four of his Astral Souls. It was compounded to an extreme. Yet none of them complained.
Boom!
A clash of spiritual sense occurred. Someone was breaching! His spiritual strength was reinforced, but he avoided using his astral force. If he did, they would instantly become fully aware that his cultivation base was merely within the Mortal Limits. This would prompt a hastier and likely violent reaction.
Boom! Boom!
Two explosive clashes occurred from different hemispheres of the planet. The auras were different! These experts were testing him. This was definitely signs of an imminent breach, and if their Spiritual Sense descended, his identity would be exposed, including his location. While some might think his identity might save him, he wasn't so naïve to believe or rely on such uncertainties.
If he were in their situation, he wouldn't let an absurdly talented alchemist and cultivator out of his sights without understanding everything. He wasn't so foolish to not realize these elite experts of an era were uncertain of his origins, even frightful of it. If he was captured and interrogated, all of his imaginary protections would fade. This would be fine if his safety was assured in such a situation, but it wasn't.
His strongest reliance was Bai Lin. In the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, this wasn't enough to run around freely without fear. The core issue was his talent and combat strength. It was why Ma Zheng, Venerable Higheater, every one of these Ascended, believed him to have lofty origins and were cautious towards him.
He wasn't the King of Everlore.
He was Wei Wuyin.
While these were his thoughts, he wasn't quite confident that everything wouldn't just work out for him due to the Heavenly Daos. He was a Blessed, right? Furthermore, he gained so much Karmic Luck Value!
Yet what Wei Wuyin didn't know was that if he had decided to rely on the Heavenly Daos, his end was literally right around the corner. The reason was very, very simple: the Heavenly Daos didn't intervene between conflicts of Blessed individuals! They or their subordinates!!!
Those self-reflections from earlier had served to sever his reliance on the Heavenly Daos entirely.
Dzzzzt!
The familiar sound of the Battlefield resounded out once again. Wei Wuyin's heart was elated despite feeling a surge of weakness overtake him. He hastily inspected the talisman, but when he observed it with his spiritual sense, his expression became distorted. According to the refinement method, the flag was only 1% refined.
A single percentage.
He had expended roughly 80% of his refined Soul Light originating from four Astral Souls, yet it was only enough for 1%! Fortunately, this was enough to settle the minimum requirement to use it.
Wei Wuyin didn't dare delay. With a series of specialized hand-seals, he used his spiritual strength to execute a unique activation spell named: The Call to War! When it fully activated, Wei Wuyin's Mark of Annihilation emerged on his palm.
He expected a grand spectacle to form, but what he received was a brief burst of white light. Then, without warning, the astral force of his World Seas were being rapidly drained.
His expression contorted as he felt his astral force deplete at an untold speed, causing his four eighty-one-centimeter-sized Astral Cores to grow dim. He was drained entirely of all four of his World Seas in a matter of two seconds. A bout of intense weakness enveloped him.
Wei Wuyin's expression and body language became lethargic. Even the color of his skin started to drain out uncontrollably. He realized his innate energies were being siphoned without warning, this included his physical, spiritual, mental, and essence energies. They were all vanishing!
He barely remained standing as he became as pale as a ghost, perhaps even paler than a true ghost. One must know that his World Seas contained enough astral force to blanket an entire Domain of the Ninestar Starfield. All of that power was taken in the matter of two extremely short seconds. To add, his innate energies were even more terrifying, but he was drained almost entirely from each and every facet of power within him.
Just as he was about to collapse, a strong hand grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, carrying him upwards like a fragile bunny. Wei Wuyin couldn't muster any strength in his limbs, and even his Astral Souls had become dormant.
"It's you?!" A heavy and deep voice filled with power resounded. To Wei Wuyin's ears, this voice was extremely familiar! He weakly turned his head to notice the Legion Commander with his Dragon-head helmet donned perfectly.
"I can't believe I lost my head to such a man," the Legion Commander said, but the eyes beneath his helmet betrayed his extreme shock and surprise rippling through his heart. 'To refine the Nexus War Flag as a mere mortal is one thing, but he actually summoned me purely with his own mortal-grade energies? How freakish! This shouldn't even be possible. Yet…' He inspected his hands as he sensed the lack of the slightest mystic intent within his manifested form.
No…wait! There was a minuscule amount! How curious…
Wei Wuyin was elated that he succeeded in his attempt. With an army of 10,000 Ascended beings, he would be able to escape this situation with complete ease! Yet as he glanced around to find other familiar faces who died at his hands, his heart shook!
Where were they?
The Legion Commander noticed Wei Wuyin's expression and softly snorted, "Mortal, you barely had enough power to activate the Nexus War Flag, yet you expect to summon an army of Ascended beings?" He mocked, grinning as he spoke. But in truth, he was still thoroughly shaken by Wei Wuyin's feat.
A mere mortal shouldn't be able to activate the Nexus War Flag without external sacrifices of War Souls. However, it was impossible to substitute War Souls for one's own power unless a cultivator fully refined the Nexus War Flag, so that wasn't even an option.
Wei Wuyin was taken aback for a moment before he wryly smiled. This was an unfortunate event. He wanted to speak, but he didn't even muster up the strength to talk.
Kree!
Bai Lin cried out as she opened her wings, prepared to fight. She didn't know who this dragon-head helmet wearing man was, so she was vigilant. However, the man emitted Wei Wuyin's aura, confusing her thoroughly. Was this man an Avatar?
Wei Wuyin couldn't even send a spiritual transmission, so he could only give a brief gaze that carried his intent. She swiftly caught on, lowering her wings and inspecting the strange man dressed in full-body armor with a curious light in her eyes.
The Legion Commander kept Wei Wuyin hoisted by his hand, saying: "To answer your question, I'm the only one manifested because you've only refined my War Soul with your aura. As the Commander of the Nexus Legion, I'm obviously the first to be refined by you. The others would instinctively reject your orders without me."
Wei Wuyin was shocked. He opened his mouth slightly…
The Legion Commander instantly continued: "Yes, I can hear your thoughts, but only the thoughts towards me such as your desires or orders for me or my army; the rest is restricted and filtered out through the Nexus War Flag."
Wei Wuyin slightly frowned.
"You're right. YOUR army. How embarrassing. To be a subordinate to a mere mortal, what a strange fate this is." It was quite clear the Legion Commander was thoroughly under Wei Wuyin's command, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
"…" Wei Wuyin thought of something. The Legion Commander sighed, moving his hand to interact with Wei Wuyin's spatial ring. There was no rejection from the established formations as if he was Wei Wuyin. This caused Wei Wuyin's thoughts to stir as a series of jade bottles and boxes were taken out filled with ninth-grade alchemical products.
"…" Wei Wuyin.
"I am you, an extension. Use me as you would your saber," the Legion Commander clarified his existence and position. His purpose was to act according to Wei Wuyin's will, refined by his Soul Light and being like a segregated limb!
"…" Wei Wuyin.
"I don't have an infinite amount of energy, nor can I sustain this form indefinitely. I can only exist until the energy you've bestowed me is depleted. That said, the energy you've provided is abnormally pure and refined. If I use alternative means, I should be able to last quite a while." The Legion Commander praised, unable to keep the surprise from leaking out of his voice.
"…" Wei Wuyin.
"Fourth Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, Earthly Saint Phase; that's my limit until my soul core is refined by War Souls or your Soul Light." The Legion Commander fed Wei Wuyin the products while answering his questions in a strangely patient manner. It was an odd scene for a fully grown armored figure to feed a young man whose limbs were hanging in midair without any power to them.
BOOM!
Abruptly, the space shattered as a powerful spiritual sense descended onto the planet. The Legion Commander formed a concealment spell with little thought, enveloping Bai Lin, Wei Wuyin, and himself. The spiritual sense swept past them and missed them entirely.
"Why are we hiding?" The Legion Commander found this a little humiliating to do, only easing his ego after reminding himself of Wei Wuyin's fragile state. This was all for the mortal, not himself.
"…" Wei Wuyin.
The Legion Commander frowned behind his Dragon-head helmet, moving his armored hand towards his chin in contemplation. After a short while, he asked: "What are my orders, Mortal?"
"…" Wei Wuyin emitted faint killing intent. This killing intent was matched by Bai Lin. She had suffered heavily against the fleet of ships, forced to ignite her blood essence to escape! She wanted vengeance!
The Legion Commander briskly nodded, "Understood." He kept the concealment barrier intact, adding a defensive barrier to it, and carefully giving Wei Wuyin's limp form to Bai Lin. Then, he turned his intense eyes upwards towards the Dark Void.
When his gaze turned towards the Dark Void, every Ascended felt their heart pounding.
The black-robed figure's killing intent intensified: "He's here!"
