Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1998 1990: A Twilight’s Flash; Sanguine Pillar Breaks!

Exhausted as he was, Shui Fengbao was ecstatic at his fiery expression of power. By accessing the profound strength of Major Authority of Fire Law while intermixing and integrating his Domain of Mysticism and World Fire Intent into an Ascension Art, he was capable of unleashing a domain of heat and absolute flame that ravaged the area, simultaneously expanding his form into a fiery hellstorm of flames.

He called it the Final Spark Ignition Art.

It was downright tyrannical, yet equally as exhausting, as he relied on leveraging his soul energy to conjure a single iota of the Heavenly Realm of Fire within him. His expression of power, this extraordinary art, was inspired by His Majesty’s fight against Alchemic Knight Pakhet back then. She had harnessed the might of the Heavenly Realm of Metal through her body. Unlike Pakhet, however, it was his Intent that bordered on Void Intent and cultivated foundation that allowed him to execute that art without suffering existential assimilation.

As he reveled in his victory, a majestic voice echoed in his mind.

"Pass."

A single word brought an exceptional wave of satisfaction, joy, and pride from the depths of his True Soul. He smiled brightly, turning and waving excitedly at Yao Houyi before giving a thumbs-up.

The blindfolded archer’s lips, for the briefest of moments, upturned with admiration and pride. Unfortunately, it was replaced with a stern expression and a sharp voice, "Hurry back. Your turn is done."

"Hehe," Shui Fengbao chuckled, noticing that brief smile. However, as he took a step forward, he felt his knees buckle under its own weight. He staggered. With immense effort, he kept himself upright. The Final Spark Ignition Ascension Art used his entire strength, capable of not just threatening but genuinely killing Supreme Existences on an existential level. The Major Authority of any Law was extremely dangerous to Supreme Existences, containing the fundamental principles to damage their Microheaven, outright harming their Resonant Souls that carried their True Souls, Spirits of Cultivation, and Souls.

Without the ability to harm a Microheaven, Supreme Existences were unkillable, and with their Soulguard, especially the Soulguard Absconding, their life was secured against any enemy unable to breach it. Sovereign Abhorrent Sky surviving Wei Wuyin’s saber was an irrefutable testament to that fact.

While Sages had Soulguards as well, their Soulguards were strictly their only protection outside the standard body, arts, and treasures that could protect anyone from all cultivation. It was innately capable of resisting foreign Mystic Power and auras of Law, but the latter’s protection was solely based on the stage of that aura. Minor Authorities of Law and above could breach and execute a Soulguard of a Sage and their soul. Meanwhile, Seed of Laws and their subsequent benefits of possessing auras that could imbue their arts and spells were lacking.

This fundamental truth of survival was why almost all Mystic Overlords and Sages tried wielding Heavenly Treasures, where they could concentrate the aura of Laws until its killing potential rivaled the Minor Authority.

In the same vein, Supreme Existences wielded Supreme Heavenly Treasures to threaten their contemporaries, as their Microheavens rendered typical Heavenly Treasures relatively ineffective against their Soulguard, reinforcing the unspoken rule that Sages couldn’t threaten Supreme Existences and, in many cases, that Supreme Existences couldn’t kill Supreme Existences. While the situation only occurred during the early stages of the Microheaven Envoy, there have been tales of Microheaven Envoys fighting for countless years, unable to determine a victor for this exact reason, or where they’re forced to imprison and grind away their Resonant Souls due to extremely strong Soulguards, such as Kang Min-ji.

Su Yi was an example of using an ultimate treasure to brutally defy this rule, but few non-Supreme Existences could obtain, create, or wield true Supreme Heavenly Treasures with a unique soul or art. Pakhet tried to wield a Major Authority against Wei Wuyin back then and came close to being subjected to existential assimilation by the Heavenly Realms of Law. Su Yi relied on his Samsara Wheel to replace the necessary soul energy and power required to wield Mystic-Heaven graded items and Supreme Heavenly Treasures.

Tuo Bihan was also an example of a limited exception. As a Purist, he was akin to a Minor Envoy of Dao, and that afforded him the same leveraging strength that a Microheaven could grant Supreme Existences, while simultaneously lessening the requirements for utilizing armaments and treasures of certain levels. It was likely why the Heretical Berserk Godsword was drawn to him. That said, Tuo Bihan could never use a Supreme Heavenly Treasure, only Mystic Dao-affiliated items. If a Purist took the Material Dao or War Dao as their foundation, they could use Heavenly Treasures tied to them, but Heavenly Treasures were not Mystic Armaments or tools and did not rely on the Mystic Dao as their source of power.

Wei Wuyin was an abnormality of the highest degree due to his strengthened and tempered soul and soul energy, a result of his equally abnormal situation. However, as a mortal who had claimed and conquered levels of Hell itself, this was to be expected to some degree.

Witnessing Shui Fengbao’s weakness, Yao Houyi acted this time, using his two fingers to pull as if drawing a bow toward Shui Fengbao’s position. A hazy distortion flared into existence around him, and his body was gently yanked by his side.

Shui Fengbao didn’t resist the pull. A big smile was plastered on his face as he sat down. He had passed his trial, so there was little else to do. Feeling the vibration of the ground, a familiar sign of an incoming legion, he silently wished them both good luck.

Yao Houyi glanced at Su Mei. Then, he took a step forward. Before he could conjure his bow, a hand was placed on his shoulder. ’Looking’ at the owner of that hand, he saw Su Mei, who said: "Go last."

This sentence surprised Yao Houyi a little, but he didn’t reject her suggestion. If he was last, then so be it. However, he couldn’t fathom why she was suggesting that order. Instead, his focus was turned to the ten thousand Soldiers of War that were marching forward. At the lead was a familiar figure as well: Zhan Jianshi!

Formerly, Jiang Jianshi!

He was once the Clan Head of the Jiang Clan of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, and was regarded as one of its strongest experts. He was killed by a single Wei Wuyin all those years ago and transformed into a Legion Commander with an extraordinarily high cultivation base. In truth, almost all of the Earthly Saints of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region were all abnormally talented. If not for their environment, rather than say they could have reached a certain cultivation level, it was best to say that they were individuals that would have thrived to the peak that their environment allowed.

In the White Abyssal Galaxy, they could have become Mystic Overlords; in the Resolute Dusk Galaxy, they could have become True Sages; in the greater galaxies, they could have become Resonant Soul Realm experts, true Supreme Existences!

In Wei Wuyin’s hands, they developed appropriately. And now, he stood here as a Mystic Overlord that could bring fear and dominance across lesser galaxies, a true showcase of his soul’s potential.

Su Mei glanced at this familiar figure with indifference. She roughly calculated their distance from her. More accurately, from her saber.

The ten thousand soldiers were as vigorous and powerful as the other two, seeking to execute tactics with great, impeccable coordination to push their target to the limits. And Zhan Jingshi was ready to do just that.

Su Mei took a step forward. The distance between her and the legion was roughly a thousand or so miles, and the legion were marching with startling speeds, closing the gap with every passing second.

Yao Houyi, Tuo Bihan, and Shui Fengbao all focused on Su Mei’s figure. This was the First Valkyrie, the Prime Ascendant they all feared and revered to an extreme. In their eyes and memory, she had never suffered defeat. And they all knew why...

Su Mei touched the hilt of her saber as a dusky light shone in her eyes, slowly tainting her figure and outlining her shape. She lightly took a breath. Like Shui Fengbao, she was a Mystic Overlord! Her cultivation speed had always been stupidly fast, and if Wei Wuyin disregarded his foundation and abused the Neo-Dawn Vortex-Zone Pellets as she had, he could match her speed, perhaps even exceed it.

She gently slid her saber out of its scabbard.

Then, a glimmer flashed within the world. It was like the flickering shadow of a faint flame, slowly erupting for the briefest of moments against the backdrop of the world. The feeling that was evoked in their hearts was unfathomably indescribable, best described as unforgettable without rhyme or reason.

She was like light itself, always present yet untouchable.

Click.

A saber was firmly returned to its scabbard.

When the flicker ended, Su Mei’s valiant form was standing tall, holding in her hand was a familiar head carrying a fierce, readied expression to fight to the death, eyes still brimming with the vivid light of calculation and resolve.

It was ZHAN JINGSHI!!!

Shui Fengbao’s eyes widened.

Tuo Bihan’s jaw gaped.

Yao Houyi hurriedly focused on the legion of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine soldiers marching onwards. They oddly stopped in unison. And then, like a tower of cards, their heads seemed to topple downwards from their shoulders in synchronicity.

A single saber.

Ten thousand heads.

Su Mei tossed Zhan Jingshi’s head to the ground. Then, she turned to the pillar. "Do not disappoint," she said strongly.

A-WOOOOOOOO!!!

A thunder howl of an apex predator resounded, causing the entirety of the Ascendant Battlefield, from edge to edge, to quiver just a little!!

"Pass."

The obligatory sentence was given, yet not a single Prime Ascendant here had any disagreements with that decision.

’Her speed is like light itself...’ Yao Houyi’s brow contained faint sweat, not out of fear, but from the overexertion of his perception to barely follow Su Mei’s movements.

Su Mei turned to Yao Houyi, staring at his blindfold. Out of everyone here, besides the existence in the sanguine pillar, he was an abnormality that even she had to take into consideration. After all, he could follow her speed!

BOOM!!

The pillar erupted with sanguine light, sending out a deluge of bloody radiance that tainted the very sky and earth, dying it in a stark blood-red. It had shattered! And the existence within was no longer inactive.

His legion, his trial, was here.