Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1995 1987: Intensity Amidst Brutality

With sword in hand, a single thin figure barreled downward towards a legion of charging soldiers, imbued with momentum, order, and murderous will. A united front faced true berserking madness. An explosion that could rupture eardrums and plunge vision into eternal darkness gradually bloomed into existence, ravaging the battlefield with merciless power.

A massive indent was impressed onto the earth, and at its center was none other than the Purist himself—Tuo Bihan! Breathing as heavy and beastly as an abyssal dragon of hell’s deepest depths, the old-yet-young man was crouched with both hands tightly holding the lump of savage iron. Beneath its blunt edge was a single soldier, eyes wide and hands pressed heavily against both sides, holding it back from crushing them despite the humanoid-shaped depression in the ground beneath them.

It was a female soldier; her tempered muscles bulged ferociously in defiance, teeth gritted to the point of cracks forming on their surface, and tears of spirit blood leaking from her mouth, eyes, and nose. She stood with her lower body deeply imbued within the ground, her spine slightly bent from holding the blunt blade. Within her fiercely defiant gaze was the valiant light of war, the ardent refusal of death.

Her cultivation base was only at the Heavenly Saint Phase, yet her heart of war was unparalleled.

Tuo Bihan’s eyes, rife with madness, saw a familiarity within. It resembled the hidden ferocity of that young lad back then, of his now-emperor. Training that afforded no surrender was suffused in her eyes, bones, and flesh.

’Extraordinary,’ Tuo Bihan thought in an instant, genuine awe striking his heart. However, that awe was swiftly overtaken by a sensation of deadly crisis to an utmost extreme. Without taking action himself, the godsword within his hands flickered and appeared to his right.

CLANG!

It intercepted a spear, repelling the soldier behind it with absurd power. The soldier roared as they were sent flying for half a mile. With skillful precision, they landed on their feet, and then adjusted their position and center of gravity before watching the unfolding savagery.

A tide of metal, flesh, and weapons of war rushed toward Tuo Bihan with unpredictable rhythm from every direction, yet their coordination was impeccable. Tuo Bihan’s godsword acted independently, guarding against every assault with lightspeed-like response. It almost felt as if the godsword possessed the awareness and processing speed of a Spirit of Cultivation—unreal!

Tuo Bihan himself was not lacking either. Tides of men launched at him, arrows piercing at tricky angles with flawless timing affording little to no time to react, spears flung without warning, even swords flew with unreasonable intensity. At the same time, shields and bodies fortified every conceivable opening.

The spear-wielding soldier, like the others beaten back, channeled their will and might before charging forward. Each step took them a tenth of a mile in a great leap. When they reached a few dozen feet, they grabbed a wounded soldier and assisted their retreat with a yanking pull. Sent back, the soldiers collected themselves, then took a position that was either disrupted by Tuo Bihan or open to take. A never-ending flow of soldiers rushed him with precision, in formation, and with proper tactics, unlike untrained men.

Tuo Bihan’s powers were mystifying to an extreme; despite facing a deluge of flesh and metal seeking to tear him asunder, he kept himself mobile while unleashing a near-irresistible offense. Calmness settled within his mind as a swung sword cut near his cheek, nearly slicing his head in two.

As a Purist within the Mystic Realms, Tuo Bihan was akin to a Minor Envoy of the Dao. While others couldn’t effectively execute the various powers of Mysticism within the Battlefield without extensive effort and cost, he could deploy them with frightening ease.

Radiant—his movements were as swift as light itself, allowing him to dodge almost inconceivable attacks.

Spirit—his Spiritual Aspects were usable, capable of executing wide-range, disruptive spells and perceiving the external world in a limited range using his Spiritual Sense.

Spatial—compounding with his Spiritual Sense, he could sense every movement and action in his immediate vicinity. When an attack was undodgeable, he executed Spatial Shift to the most extreme limits he could, only jumping a few feet.

These three Ways of Mysticism not only provided a sensory domain that allowed him to react to attacks without seeing them, but he could also reposition himself at a moment’s notice. The limited Spatial Shifts were utterly crucial, as the soldiers’ coordination was impeccably precise, forcing openings despite his adept combat skill. They covered each other’s weaknesses and amplified each other’s strengths.

SHIIING!!

Tuo Bihan’s godsword was delayed for the briefest of moments. This opening forced him to be mobile as more than a dozen soldiers acted in unison, both close-range and far, aiming arrows, spears, and other weapons of war at his vitals. A group erupted with Spiritual Pressure via a united effort, temporarily sealing his light-like movements—radiantly sealed.

Then, a squad of Spiritual Cultivators joined forces, numbering over thirty, as they bore down upon him with dispersion spells, burning their quintessential energies to do so within the Battlefield. The act was brutal to themselves, yet they didn’t hesitate at all—spiritually suppressed.

With the auras of law, every soldier in unison made a scant amount to obstruct the immediate fixed space within Tuo Bihan’s region—spatially blocked.

They countered his advantages within a few exchanges. Sweat was already covering his brow as Tuo Bihan watched a sword cleave into his arm at his soldier, cutting it off directly. A geyser of hot blood spewed out.

Temporal & Mana came into play, allowing him to push enemies away in a single shout, take flight to reposition, and then use Temporal Reversion on only himself to reverse the severing of his arm. The sight caused the soldiers to intensify their assault. They rushed like stampeding demons, eyes rife with murder.

Tuo Bihan’s stamina reserves—the expression of his physical energy—seemed inexhaustible as he moved with agile speed, without slowing or seeming tired in the slightest—Oceanic.

The legion didn’t let up for a second. And whenever an opening for Tuo Bihan to kill even a single soldier arrived, that soldier would change tactics, offering their very lives in a suicidal assault, seeking to exchange life for life, forcing him to pull back and allowing another to secure that soldier’s life, allowing them to reposition. Additionally, it was never the target that only launched a suicidal assault, as at least two or three other Soldiers of War acted with reckless abandon, further adding difficulties in Tuo Bihan’s ability to exchange wounds for a kill.

They refused to let him leverage his usage of Temporal Reversion and vast reserves of stamina to whittle them down. Their attacks now aimed only at vitals or insta-kills, no longer targeting crippling strikes such as arms- or leg-severing blows.

Tuo Bihan breathed out a bloody mist as he was struck by narrow blows aimed at his life, relying on his reinforced body at times, while the godsword’s automated protection mechanism guarded him from indefensible blows. Especially attacks from Zhan You!

The commander was directly participating; his spear imbued with the profound authority of wind law was hard to see, and the godsword focused on blocking all of his attacks with utmost priority. If not for his godsword, those thrusting strikes would have long since pierced into his heart. Each thrust was precise, as fast as a gale, and as ferocious as a storm!

From afar, it seemed unfair. A single man facing ten thousand coordinated soldiers, yet none of the spectators thought about intervening in the slightest. Every moment was a crisis of life and death, where a single mistake brought one to the depths of Hell, and only one’s unparalleled will and training as a Prime Ascendant could claw out any hope.

Su Mei’s pupils shifted rapidly, reflecting Tuo Bihan’s swift movements and his constant clashes with soldiers. When he found the timing to injure a single soldier, that soldier would be saved, pushed back, healed by the Medical Squad, and always replaced by an equally effective soldier.

It was a never-ending brutality of relentless assaults. He was a lone man facing such ferocity that would make experienced soldiers drop their weapons with hopelessness and defeat.

Yet...

YET!!

This thin Purist’s eyes never once flashed with defeat or surrender. His Heart of Cultivation remained strong, and his will to fight stood tall in his heart!

The sanguine pillar was oddly quiet. The individual seemed hyperfocused on every attack, every injury, and even every movement.

Shui Fengbao and Yao Houyi were equally as focused. Not the slightest trace of complacency could be seen on their expressions; even the hot-headed red-head, the Child of Fire himself, was unable to muster the slightest feelings of arrogance. The Legion of War under Zhan You was the very personification of a unified army fortified by complete trust and flawless tactics. It was almost as if each Soldier of War was of one mind, understanding what each needed.

Additionally, each squad amongst the ten thousand had roles that were not only fluid and interchangeable but necessary and beneficial, whether they were the Spiritual Cultivators who could gather their strength in an extreme suppressive environment such as the Battlefield, or the Medical Sages.

Tuo Bihan had even tried to push his way towards them, yet when he arrived, not only was he caught in a trap that cost him a leg and half a hand, but the Medical Sages in the group were far from helpless as they launched ferocious attacks no less violent and heavy than the vanguard. The sight was heart-pounding.

Then, another group took their place. It was clear that the squads were not limited to their primary functions, as a unit of archers had swiftly transformed into Medical Sages taking their original roles, while a squad of infantry that had fallen behind due to Tuo Bihan’s rushing approach to the outer squads rapidly became archers as they shot arrows with eerie precision.

One of them even caught him in the side, nearly causing his neck to be sliced through, almost decapitating him in a single strike. If not for his Temporal Reversion that they couldn’t effectively restrict except by pressuring him relentlessly, he would have long since become a cold corpse.

These spectators couldn’t even imagine how horrifying these Soldiers of War were to the other squads and armies, especially since they faced them with an added caveat—Wei Wuyin could revive them with a slight cost of his energies after they were killed. For this campaign, Wei Wuyin took a backseat, not imbuing them with his own Laws.

Even then, Tuo Bihan felt as if he was facing the most hellish army in existence. Every breath was a gift, and every movement danced upon the edge of death, quite literally!

Su Mei’s eyes narrowed. It was time for Tuo Bihan, this Purist, to tap into everything he possessed, lest it be his final day as a Prime Ascendant.

And as she thought this, a berserking howl of madness and cruelty boomed across the skies, sending the sanguine sky twisting violently in response!