Paragon of Sin

Chapter 1661 Chapter 1654: Aftermath of an Impoverished Galaxy (4)

The Land of Manu was a treasured land, a forbidden land, and an ancient palace all in one that was mired by legendary stories and extraordinary origins. Not only was it richly abundant in legends, but its atmosphere generated the purest qi, astral, and mystic essence throughout the entirety of the No-Name Galaxy. It was often said to be the premier land for cultivation across the galaxy, suitable for every cultivator beneath the Resonant Soul Realm.

Countless cultivators desired entry. However, it was sealed off by the eight Sages in a combined agreement without any exceptions on entry, transforming the greatest treasure land known galaxy-wide into the most forbidden, restricted area within the galaxy that no one could enter. Furthermore, during the early years, the eight Sages that ruled over eight major regions had allowed specific generations of cultivators to enter for cultivation, and countless geniuses were born as a result of entering the Land of Manu. But after that, the eight Sages had a disagreement that shattered their original agreement, and they could never agree on when to open the Land of Manu again.

The specific origins of the Land of Manu were shrouded in myth and mystery, with some of the strongest theories being that it was an abode of a Supreme Sage millions of years ago, or that it was created using the world's first Solar Star. There were widely believed rumors that the Land of Manu was the birthplace of the eight Sages and only those who entered the Land of Manu had the slightest chance of becoming a Sage within the galaxy. While this was certainly untrue, for the natives of the regions, it justified the difficulty of cultivation.

Now, that treasured, forbidden, and ancient land was being opened by the unanimous agreement of the eight Sages for the first time in tens of thousands of years! It would be the designated location of the galactic discussion!

Numerous top-tier cultivators of the leading regional forces began to travel across the Dark Void at incredible speeds on Void Vessels or Void Gates, expending an enormous amount of cultivated energy to compensate. Initially, the Land of Manu, an ancient palace with no defined owner, was the most suitable location to house the top forces and their expert cultivators, yet it was clear that trouble had begun almost immediately.

The issue was...resources.

Whether it was Void Vessels or Void Gates, all of them used an astonishing amount of energy to travel across the galaxy. A few forces had it easy given their closer proximity to the Land of Manu but for those further away, after having their vaults cleaned out and their resources depleted by the various formations, arrays, and conflicts recently, they had to rely on their cultivation to make their way down within the short three days.

This was a feat that was not easy.

In fact, many found it impossible to bring enough individuals with them, and some likely couldn't afford to send a single individual via Void Gate. The eight Sages were immediately sent inquiries regarding the situation. Were those who were now too poor to attend going to be left out? Will the date be extended?

The issue was a matter of a lapse of foresight after never having encountered such an issue. While Sages were terrifyingly powerful beings, the urgency to handle this matter had blinded them to the overarching issues that plagued each of the forces:

They were poor.

Some of the Void Vessels were marooned out in the Dark Void after exhausting their remaining essence stones and pushing their cultivation bases to the limits to drive, yet realizing that the relative cost of using your cultivated energies and external essence stones that were once in abnormal abundance that fuel was never an issue, only the quality, maximum mileage, and speed of the Void Vessel.

While Void Gates, which had largely been pushed out of usage due to the practicality of Void Vessels such as Voidships that could transport large quantities of mystic-graded materials without elevating the cost, were even more egregious. Some tried to establish Void Gates between two locations, yet they used too little and caused the connection between the two Void Gates to sputter halfway.

A few went missing entirely. These were those who had just enough to connect the two gates yet not enough to sustain it during transport after the number of entries and their high-level possessions were calculated.

Most were unable to do anything but watch as their Void Gates tried to establish a spatial connection yet consumed their already limited materials in the effort with no results. They were left speechless.

The distance was simply too far!

The issue was immediately noticed on the first day after the announcement.

While Sage Nepri and Sage Imentet were otherwise occupied, either tending to their excessive injuries or attending to foreign guests, the other six Sages gathered to discuss this concerning development with exasperated hearts. It was as if a wealthy group of people now had to consider the cost of gas and transportation for thousands of people who couldn't afford it. It was hard to come up with an immediate solution.

Sage Khepri suggested taking matters into their own hands and flying across the galaxy, picking up specific individuals, and then returning to the Land of Manu. This was an exhausting method but practical given their strength. They could deploy Mystic Overlords to do so as well to alleviate the time.

However, it was instantly brought to Sage Khepri that the galaxy was enormous. Stupidly enormous! Even if they deployed every Mystic Overlord and Sage they could, not counting their already exhausted energies that hadn't recovered as they didn't have peak-quality, low-tier Mystic-World products to waste or use like Sage Imentet, but planning logistics would be difficult beyond imagination.

After all, the galactic forces weren't limited to just a few thousand or tens of thousands. They also wanted to bring forth everyone's minds to conceive a solution, so leaving behind intelligent leaders or hand-picking a few wouldn't serve their interests, but limit their abilities.

Sage Khepri was still reluctant to drop the idea.

They discussed for an hour without coming up with any solution.

Sage Amunet suddenly proposed to the group of six,

"How about we ask those foreigners?"

"Foreigners?" Sage Khonshu's handsome face was distorted by a growing frown. Those foreigners had aided the galaxy in recent days and their existence was being swiftly known by the people.

"Those who come from the Neo-Dawn Empire," Sage Nepit softly voiced. There was doubt laced in his voice when he spoke of those foreigners.

"Have you discovered any additional information about them?" Sage Hathor asked, mostly looking at Sage Amunet whose information network was extensive and incredibly precise. She was, after all, an Oracle.

"..." Sage Amunet's shrouded figure prevented others from discerning her expression, but they could feel her hesitance from afar.

"Are they that protected?" Many top-tier forces protected their information from scryers of the world and heavens such as Oracles and Seers, and it was almost common sense to establish your defenses lest your secrets be exposed completely. No one enjoyed the feeling of being naked. Given the feats of this Neo-Dawn Empire by sporting quasi-Heavenly Treasures empowered by pure Void Energy, an exceedingly rare type of energy, it was likely their protections were solid.

Sage Khonshu's frown deepened. He had investigated the origins of these foreigners as well using his own team of Heavenly Seers and Oracles, yet they discovered very little about the Neo-Dawn Empire that felt very unrealistic for their recent feats.

Sage Amunet finally said after a lengthy silence,

"The Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor established his empire in a galaxy far, far away from here as a mortal. We've discovered that he's an Alchemist. Additionally, we discovered that he has an extensive alchemical lineage that goes from the mortal-rank to the mystic-rank, specifically the Mystic-World grade. Furthermore, they all possess the Neo-Dawn lineage name and have astonishing effects."

Using methods such as divination arts has always been a way to gather information. It was exactly how those within the Everlore Starfield excavated the secrets beyond their cultivation, by relying on Heavenly Seers and Oracles. But unfortunately, extracting things such as concoction methods and detailed information regarding the process was abnormally difficult to nigh-impossible without significant sacrifice.

World Prophetess Bai used only herself to extract information about the Neo-Dawn Alchemical Lineage, so what she gathered was significantly less than Sage Amunet. While their skills were relatively equal in terms of their status and position as Oracles, they had drastically different cultivation bases, and Sage Amunet had additional support from other Oracles to assist her divination attempts.

"Astonishing effects?" Sage Pakhet was curious. By Sage Amunet's information, this Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor was a bonafide Worldly Alchemic Saint. If his lineage extends to the Mystic-World tier, then he must be skilled within his tier, and if his products had astonishing effects, he wasn't just skilled but prodigious.

"I've determined the effects of a few of his products, its..." She began to explain the Neo-Dawn Alchemical Lineage's eighth and ninth-grade products such as the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, Neo-Dawn Star-Seed Pill, Neo-Dawn Soul-Sea Elixir, Neo-Dawn Heavenly-Origin Paste, Neo-Dawn Vortex-Zone Pellet, etc.

With each explanation of their effects, the eyes of the six Sages grew wider with shock. The Star-Seed Pill allowed one to establish a firm foundation for a World-Bound Star Domain, something that even geniuses struggle to have today given the need for a natural Solar Star, and Heavenly-Origin Paste was incredible! Origin State?!

The difficulty in reaching the Origin State was not to be underestimated, but it remains a mandatory requirement to become a Heavenly Saint, a genuine Original Magistrate! How many World Emperors are unable to take that step simply because they didn't have an Origin State?! Having an Origin State at the Worldly Saint Phase was almost a definite sign of a future Original Magistrate as long as they weren't killed, such as Aziza Al-Masri, the woman who acted as a guide to the Hidden Desert Major Region and No-Name Galaxy for the group initially.

But a ninth-grade paste allowed the cultivation of that? PASTE?!

"According to what I've gathered, it's considered a part of an Exceed-tier of Mortal-graded Alchemical Products." Sage Amunet voiced with a hint of shock still in her voice.

"Exceed-tier? If it can do what you said, and it's still only ninth-grade, then that makes total sense!" Sage Hathor said with an astonished expression. Her reaction was shared by the others. Moreover, they hadn't even gotten to the Mystic-Earth and Mystic-World graded products of the Neo-Dawn Alchemical Lineage!

The information Sage Amunet provided was less yet still enough to shake their hearts. The Mystic-Earth graded Neo-Dawn Dual-Dao Elixir and Neo-Dawn Blood-Howl Paste, and the Mystic-World graded Neo-Dawn Eclipsing-World Pill! This included the Neo-Dawn Vortex-Zone derivative, which was also Mystic-Earth!

"So versatile..." Sage Pakhet was unable to hide her disbelief. Usually, Alchemic Saints were devoted to a single product type and specialized in a specific field of advancement, yet this Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor hadn't just invented each type of product at the Mystic-Earth grade but a Mystic-World graded pill!

Given the norm of Alchemists, this suggested that his knowledge of Mystic-World graded products was peerless and he was potentially...a Heavenly Saint Alchemist! Or at the very least, on the cusp of becoming one!

"..." The Sages were all sent into a silent thought, each with their considerations. How had these individuals gone under the radar? Were they just idle visitors?

"We should," Sage Nepit suddenly said.

"Should? Should what?" Sage Khonshu broke out of his ruminative thoughts.

"We should seek the assistance of this Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor and invite him to the discussion," Sage Khepri answered instead, yet no one leaped out to object. They were all considering the implications of allowing a foreigner to participate in their domestic affairs. Furthermore, none of them had met him before.

"He has three wives that we know of," Sage Amunet explained. "One of them is a mortal girl who seemed to have incredible innate talent, already possessing the aura of Wood Law within her. Another is a young Ascended woman-a Pure Catalyst, but I couldn't determine what type as she's guarded by a beast that rivals a Mystic Overlord and seems to be protecting her information with its aura. The last is an Earthly Alchemic Saint who has the protection of a Mystic Overlord as her maidservant from the White Abyssal Galaxy."

"Wives? Wait! That woman whose hyena ate half a star?!" Sage Khepri was flabbergasted. That woman caused quite a commotion within his Rising-Solar Scarab Major Region that he had been alerted and almost talked to. However, the situation was overly exaggerated and the ones who suffered a loss suddenly changed their tune, and asked for forgiveness for disturbing him needlessly.

No wonder they switched their tone so freaking fast! The woman must have compensated them generously thanks to her husband, and they refused to allow him to know about it, purposefully sealing that information from him. Those bastards!

"A Pure Catalyst?" Sage Nepit's eyes shone with ravenous greed.

"Mind your thoughts, Sage Nepit. Need I remind you that these two women have Mystic Overlord-level guards and his assistant, Alchemic Saint Luo Ning, had recently used some mystical art to gain the strength of an Enlightened Sage. The strength of this Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor..." Each syllable dimmed Sage Nepit's eyes until his face turned solemnly dark.

"Yeah, yeah. I understand." He cherished his life, and offending an Alchemist wasn't just offending him, but everyone he could potentially purchase. Given his Worldly Saint Alchemist status, likely top-tier, it wouldn't be difficult to hire Enlightened Sages to hunt him down and skin him alive.

"Then, are we in agreement?" Sage Nepit still wanted this Neo-Dawn Alchemic Saint to participate and assist them. If anything, forming a connection certainly wouldn't hurt.

"I have no disagreements with seeking assistance," Sage Pakhet was normally fierce and prideful yet her ferocity yielded at this moment, but her swift words caused each of them to give her a knowing look. It didn't take an idiot to consider what Sage Nepit or Sage Pakhet was thinking!

After all, they were thinking it too!

Eventually, it was decided: They would seek the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor's assistance.

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The next two days were filled with great activity as a White Vessel blinked across the galaxy mysteriously and began sending individuals into a large, accommodating Secret Realm.