Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1795  Chapter 1788: Royale; A Game of Mystics (19)

Ears perked. Eyes widened. Spiritual senses focused. The Spiritual Network was thriving with activity and hushed discussions within isolated regions with friends, allies, acquaintances, and more. Mystics were a critical part of the Utmost Purity Galaxyʼs society, and those observing, these Ascended beings with a few exceptionally outstanding mortals, were well aware of the various rule sets and variations of the game, yet whenever the game was explained, there was a natural showcase of irreproachable respect given. Moreover, quite a few spectators originated from these games, their worlds blessed by cultivators from above, and their lives enriched as they were brought out into the greater world, given an unimaginable opportunity, much like a mortal in a declining society given the right to pursue the path of cultivation. They were frogs, taken out of their wells, and shown the immensity of heaven and earth. Hao Chengxue began with the basics—the original game. ”You see, Lady Imentet, the game of Mysticsʼ origins are profoundly mysterious, said to have been conceived at the creation of all things, where ancient deities and divine manifestations of heaven and earth played. Whether true or not, no one knows; however, Mystics have been around since cultivators have touched upon the way of ascension, desiring to bless those like the former us, mortals struggling against heaven and earth to ascend. It was magnanimity actualized.

”All games, regardless of the format, begin with the selection of the ʼstage globeʼ. This is the platform, an isolated world or a location where the games will take place. Our seve—ahem, six players here have already decided to use a mortal-only, astral-grade continental flat earth that the Incandescent Star Palace has provided known as the Defiant Dragon Continent.”

Hao Chengxue gestured toward the center of the jade table. All viewpoints shifted to the center, revealing a globe shrouded in hazy white mist embedded in the table, equidistant from each seat, roughly the size of a fourth of the table. The mist cleared, exposing a continent—frozen in time.

At that time, within Wei Wuyinʼs Mindʼs Eye, the home of the first Defiant-sized Solar Star in existence, Little Defiant thrummed excitedly, pulsating with solar flares. The character for ʼDefiantʼ was written and spoken in the same way as the character for ʼDefiantʼ in its name. Simultaneously, Kratos roared, matching Little Defiantʼs excitement. They both felt uniquely connected. In fact, as if by some ungodly coincidence, the continent that sat upon a bed of water resembled Kratosʼ true form. It was uncanny. Wei Wuyin was initially taken aback by this discovery. It was almost like fate, yet it was simultaneously a subtle indication that the Heavenly Daos were present. After all, the continent was randomly cultivated by the Incandescent Star Palace in the last few days, placing various neutral mortals within, and subtly injecting cultivation and system in accordance with the basic rules of the game. This limited the level and number of Cultivation Methods given to the races to 3,000 with each only reaching the Astral Core Realmʼs first stage—the World Sea Phase, and quite a few were scattered deliberately into fragments. This inevitably fueled the curiosity and interest of those living on the continent. By allowing it to grow naturally for exactly 3,000 years, these stage globes often birthed a random type of cultivation society. Some might end up like the Devil War Realm, the Four Extreme Continent, and treat the Alchemic Dao as a tool and Alchemists could be disrespected, treated as subjects of abuse, means of cultivation, and underdeveloped. There were quite a few that would give birth to kingdoms, and empires, and hinged on imperialism, or even similar to the Sky Heart Galaxy, ruled by beasts.

The mortals in the stage globe, their aspirations, and timings of discoveries led to all sorts of myriad transformations and results that were all highly unpredictable despite the constant set of circumstances—3,000 Cultivation Methods, 3,000 Years of Development, and 3,000 Races. Hao Chengxue didnʼt pause, continuing: ”The Cultivation Methods and Races on the continent have not been altered from the normal standard, with the three core races initially seeded being: Humans, Beasts, and Demons. Meanwhile, the 3,000 Cultivation Methods include seven methods of the Alchemic Dao, each focusing on one of the seven aspects of alchemy.”

This was not exactly standard for all games of Mystics throughout the lesser or greater galaxies, but it was standard for the Utmost Purity Galaxy. You can call it a galaxy-specific tradition. Almost every society had certain differentiation, this included the game Su Nianzu and Jia Yang had played, whose rule was to include a greater abundance of Spatial Arts and Spells within these methods, including adding tokens that could find Destined—an Endless Voyage Realmʼs rule. As for the 2,997 other races, they almost exclusively included non-genesis beasts and plant life, such as a variety of trees, flowers, and the like, all imbued with some characteristic of potential growth that could give birth to essence or cultivate to higher levels, including giving birth to demons. Rarely did many survive at the end of the 3,000 years, shaping a unique ecological system. ”To win in the original game, the objective was to correctly guess future events of people, places, things, or the society. Each correct guess bestowed a specific number of points: things or objects grant ONE point, people grant TWO points, places or locations grant THREE points, and society grants SEVEN points. ”The goal is to reach NINE points before your opponent. Each player is allowed three initial guesses, and can only have up to four active at any given time, yet they can not guess the same as an existing player. Players can swap out their guess either by sacrificing a Mystic Card, which you receive nine of at the beginning of the game, a play often used when the guess could no longer be achieved, or when the playerʼs guess has been completed. ”As for Mystic Cards, they are the only ways for players to involve themselves in the developments of the stage globeʼs setting. They consist of five types: Blessing, Calamity, Life, Dao, and Nullification, and each type has unique properties. Each card has a grade as well—Man, Earth, and Heaven. ”Blessing Cards are generally fortune-bestowing cards that can be given out. The extent of which is limited both by the playerʼs capabilities and the grade of the card, which includes specific effects. For example, thereʼs a Man-Blessing Mystic Card that says: ʼFound Treasure—A person or group discovers a low-level cultivation equivalent treasure trove.ʼ And this could be useful or useless depending on what it is, and the state of affairs at the time, including the target itself, as a society might receive a greater gain than an individual, but an individual might be able to bring greater benefits in the long run by receiving this treasure trove. How it was orchestrated and given would be planned out by the player and then executed by the Mystical Judges or themselves. ”Calamity Cards are misfortune-bestowing cards that can be given out. These can include giving out plagues to societies or illnesses to a cultivator that weaken their cultivation base. These cards were often used on opponents but can be used to have a unique effect on your own guesses that have a negative outcome or to develop a personʼs willpower and focus. The most brilliant example was bestowing a calamity on an individualʼs family member or mentor, granting them motivation to seek out a cure or gather strength.

”Life Cards have various effects with the common ones including saving a life or securing a location. They could be used to dispel calamity cards if deployed properly and in a timely fashion. They can grant both fortune and misfortune. For example, in Mystics: Cultivation or Mystics: Royale, they can assist an opponentʼs enemy, even if they arenʼt a Chosen, to survive a lethal encounter.

”Dao Cards are random in effect and the most numerous out of all the cards, including 3,000 different effects. Itʼs hard to know what they can include, but the most exceptional example was the personal interference of the player via Incarnation. Su Nianzu had deployed the ʼLove Rivalʼ Dao Card, leading to Jia Yangʼs defeat during their game as that ʼLove Rivalʼ had killed his Chosen before they could cultivate to the necessary level. ”Lastly, Nullification Cards were used to either negate an opponentʼs Mystic Card or prevent a player or even all players from acting within a certain time frame. If used properly, this card could have great implications that could decide games.

”All these Mystic Cards are drawn after the stage globeʼs temporal progress resumes, normally after the Chosen selection and guessing stages have been completed, depending on the game type. Moreover, you can only use a single Mystic Card per stage globe year! Iʼll remind everyone that in this game, Daoist Su has established this rule: ʼPlayers receive only three Mystic Cards initially, all of varying types, and receive an additional card, at random, after their Chosen reaches the various defining points of cultivation: ”First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, Sixth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, First Stage of the Astral Core Realm, and Seventh Stage of the Astral Core Realm.ʼ

”As such, the maximum number of Mystic Cards allowed will be fifteen for each player due to the three Chosen selection, and all Mystic Cards of the same type drawn during the first drawing will have to be returned and the player will draw another card which MUST be of a different type. This process will repeat until each player has three cards of three different types.”

Su Yi was calm while Tianshi Ya frowned. ”Within the Mystic Card deck, the Utmost Purity Galaxyʼs rules add Alchemic Dao, Alchemic Life, and Alchemic Blessing Cards. Meanwhile, there are External Calamity Cards. You may or may not see these cards played. But if you do, youʼre bound to be shaken!

”World-Saint Dazzling Jewel has established this rule: ʼAll Chosen must be selected only if they possess no cultivation base.ʼ Players, please keep this in mind when choosing your Chosen.”

Yue Baoyue glanced at Su Yi, her heart pounding. Despite her outward calm, she was concerned about this rule despite having previously discussed this with Su Yi. While others might see this as a balanced rule, this gave some great advantages or a considerable disadvantage. ”The original game of Mystics is amazing! Moreover, the rules of this galaxy will surely bring about a unique experience!” Imentet excitedly said, eliciting endless invigorated hearts filled with pride.

”With the common rules and special rules said, Iʼll begin with the variant rules for Mystics: Royale. The selection process is not made of guesses, but during this state of temporal stasis of the Defiant Dragon Continent, the players will be able to scour the continent and choose up to three Chosen. I say up to three because the players can choose to select a Chosen now or later, but they must wait for an entire stage globe year to pass before doing so. ”As for the victory condition, thereʼs only two: Acquire NINE points within a single Chosen or be the only player whose Chosen set remains undefeated or alive. To acquire points, players earn them through their Chosen defeating or killing the Chosen of other players, which is only given to and accumulated by the victorious Chosen. ”Each Chosen is given a value; regardless of how many, theyʼre designated with a ONE or THREE point mark, with only a single Chosen of each set given a THREE while the rest are given ONE. If, by an absurd rarity, the players chose only one Chosen at the beginning of their game, then each Chosen would be worth FOUR points.

”To put it simply, the easiest way to win is to slaughter your enemies with invincible momentum! But, given the size of the continent, youʼd think this would be somewhat difficult! However, no worries. The Mystical Judges will guide the Chosen to their destined battles, fairly and openly. How the players adapt to these changes will test their intelligence, skill, and luck!

”Additionally, the early stages of Mystics: Royale comes with a single request for a Chosenʼs direction! An example would be to request the judges to direct them to a specific cultivation method or to join a regional organization! They will accommodate, but whether fate smiles kindly on the result is unknown.” This was the minimum of influence players had. Normally, without Mystic Judges, the players themselves would act as that guiding hand with very restrictive rules on what they could do, but with the presence of Mystical Judges, there was no need to involve themselves in that process. While this might be seen as fair and balanced given the disparity in abilities, this was an advantage to Seers, Oracles, and Fortune Tellers!

”Is that all?” Imentet blinked. Hao Chengxue chuckled heartily, ”Thatʼs it! Mystics: Royale is one of the simplest variant games there is. But which player will win? Thatʼs the question! Thatʼs not so simple!”

”THEYʼRE STARTING!!” Hm...