Wang Wei’s reaction to the Heaven Opening Emperor has everything to do with trust. He can trust his ancestors to some extent after analyzing their deeds, interacting, and his wife’s personal experience with them. Nevertheless, he would never completely trust them since the number of people he trusts completely can be counted on one hand.
As for the Heaven Opening Emperor, he is in the category of people Wang Wei can “trust” once he is on the same level as them, with no overwhelming power disparity. Once that happens, he has no trouble reuniting the Wang Clan for his benefit.
He looked in the distance before disappearing and returning home. He first went to check on Li Jun and the others. He did show them the memories of what happened in the Science and Technology World since he did not want them to be affected by the taboo.
Wang Wei did not know the extent of Hongjun’s protection, which would probably not extend to the people he loved. So, he would only show his wife since she might be safe from the taboo.
“How did it go?” asked Li Jun as he handed him some tea.
“Pretty well,” replied Wang Wei before explaining his Mortal Dust. “What about yours?”
“Pretty standard. I became a murderous psychopath, a mighty general, a conqueror, and a battle-addicted martial artist. The only interesting aspect was when I was a corpse and worked in Samsara for your Life-Death Incarnation.”
“That should have been quite the experience. What about the Eight Extremity Foundation?”
“It worked. I did what you told me and sent all my clones to the Space-Time Incarnation. They are now all Quasi-Emperors after cultivating in a parallel timeline.”
“What did Liling decide?”
“She said she wants to take at least try.”
Wang Wei nodded. Yan Liling’s talent is better than Li Jun despite being way weaker than him. So, she wanted Wang Wei to preach [Existence] to her and see if she could walk the Nine Extremity Foundation.
Wang Wei also plans to do the same for his mother. He wants his mother to have the strength of 7-Leaf before proving the Dao; she has to have the power of a failed Nine Extremity Foundation. And he’s prepared to go to extreme means if necessary.
He chatted with Li Jun for a while before seeing his father. Once he reached the Wang Clan’s mountain, he saw the latter fishing before a small pond with a dazed look.
“Are you alright?” he asked as he sat next to him.
“Oh, you’re here,” replied Wang Tian. “I’m fine, just thinking about something.”
“Where’s mom?”
“She went back to her clan.”
“Is everything alright?”
“No, just a normal visit.”
“I see. So, what’s on your mind that you did not even go with her?”
Wang Tian sighed before explaining the situation with the Sword Empress’ talisman.
“In other words, you’re conflicted about tempering your body despite the Ancestor giving you her wisdom that the body is necessary for the future path of cultivation?”
Wang Wei wanted to curse: these swordsmen were too stubborn.
“I know you think I’m inflexible, but things are not simple. I am now over 900,000 years and, and for all my life, I’ve held the belief that swordsmanship is all about giving up everything for offensive capabilities. How can I easily change?”
“You should also understand that the Ancestor spent innumerable Yuan Epochs to learn this lesson and shares that wisdom with you. Shouldn’t that count as something?”
“It does, hence, why I’m conflicted.”
Wang Wei took out a wine jar from his space ring and took a big sip, not hiding the frustration on his face.
“Did she leave her consciousness in the talisman?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask her the question?”
“You were right. Ancestor Qiyuan did preach [Existence] to her, and she achieved Nine Extremity.”
“What level?”
“2-Root?”
“The reason for failure?”
“Her body was too weak,” Wang Tian replied with a bigger sigh.
“So, are you prepared to walk the same path as her? With your talent and my guidance, achieving 5-Root should not be a problem.”
“I-I don’t know.”
“Well, figure it out,” Wang Wei disappeared and returned home to see his wife.
“These pure swordsmen are truly the most stubborn people I’ve met.”
“The older and more powerful they are, the worse they become,” Wu Hong replied. She also suffered this frustration when she tried to convince Sword Empress to temper her body. The latter did not change even after losing to her.
Wife, I miss you.” He hugged her
“Did you not see me in your last Mortal Dust?”
“I did, but it was only a projection. Speaking of which, will it be a problem if you know what happened in the Science World?”
“It’ll be fine.” She herself is an anomaly. Although her powers and memories are limited, she still has some privileges. Wang Wei then shared everything that occurred.
“Your game analogy is quite the perfect way of looking at things,” commented Wu Hong. “However, you underestimate the players who condense Fate Star.”
“Oh, is there something I don’t know?”
“After condensing the Fate Star, they will undergo an Awakening where they experience the ‘essence’ of the universe or the essence of the Dao. The result of this process is a terrifying ability that you would refer to as Cheat-ability or Golden Finger back on Earth.”
Wang Wei’s mouth twitched. “Is it that bad?”
“It varies based on the individual. But I remember one of the scariest Fate Stars I met,” continued Wu Hong. “Heavenly Book Paragon, a peak Paragon and controller of the Heaven Grand Dao Source.”
She squinted her eyes. “He is one of the few people I’ve never defeated in my life. And honestly, during our fight, I don’t think he fought me with all his strength during our fight, yet we tied.”
“He’s that good? Do you know what his ability was?”
“It was a novel.”
“You have to give me more than this.”
“Let me finish,” replied Wu Hong before pinching him. “Imagine your life was a story written from birth until you become a Paragon and beyond. Then, the author of that novel reincarnated in his own book. What would it be like?”
“The author would know all the secrets of the universe: all the best scriptures, talents, fortunate encounters, etc. He could use them to rise to the top in a quick, efficient, and terrifying manner.”
“That’s what his ability was. He had a novel that contained all the knowledge of his Chaos World, and he used it to his advantage.”
Wang Wei wanted to curse. People are often jealous of his talent and background. But compared to someone like that, he was nothing but dirt.
“Don’t be jealous; he earned his ability.”
“Even so,” replied Wang Wei with gritted teeth. “Is it too late for me to become a Fate Star?”
“It’s impossible for you.”
“Why?”
‘You were never a mortal.”
“What does that mean?”
“Think about it for a moment. The moment you were born, you had many great destinies–including becoming a cultivator.”
“That means, the moment I was born, I was destined to slowly lose the tethers of fate.”
“Yes. Albeit contradictory, that’s how it is for all cultivation geniuses and Heaven Chosens: they were never truly mortals. Meanwhile, Fate Stars are true NPCs, people essentially created to embellish the game and make it more realistic. Then, they successfully escaped the restriction of the source code and became players. No destiny, no luck or help.”
“So, If I wanted to condense a Fate Star, I would have to abandon everything. All my luck, destinies, and karma, including my family and you, turn from a player into an NPC. Then, I would have one opportunity to succeed without any aid.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, it’s not worth it. I have pretty decent stats for this game; I’ll use what I have.”
“Wise choice,” said Wu Hong with a brilliant smile as she caressed under his chin.
“By the way, what happened to Heavenly Book Paragon? Is he also in Limbo?”
“Probably not, since he refused to participate at the last minute.”
Wang Wei squinted his eyes.
“What are you going to do next?”
“The Cleanup should start soon,” replied Wang Wei. He guessed most Heaven Chosens were now using Time Acceleration to the limit to catch up and be prepared for the Clean Up.
“You should prepare that things will not be as simple as it seems.”
“Indeed. Are you coming with me?”
“No. My presence might make things more complicated.”
She had an inkling of the reason for the Clean Up, but she was unsure of the detail, nor did she care to inquire. And she also felt things might become more complicated if she appeared.
Wang Wei checked on Wang Ju to prepare for the upcoming events. He then checked the alliance with the Demon Race and ensured no problems. He did his duty as sect master. A little over 200 years later, Heavenly Dao announced the beginning of the Clean Up.
So, he flew to the Lifeless Domain along with everyone else.