Paragon of Sin

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

Several comets of light soared across the Dark Void in a colorful display of power and speed, arriving at the edge of the Aeternal Sky Starfield's border where the remnant chaos of rampaging space existed. The Chaosnovas explosions had caused fixed space to become a monsoon of spatial energies, so they could only cautiously fly over to avoid unexpected consequences for Spatial Shifting.

These lights soon dispersed to reveal the dignified appearance of dozens upon dozens of Earthly Saints, eventually totaling over two hundred. Their joint unfathomable auras unintentionally stirred the chaos mana in unpredictable ways. 

At the forefront of this group were the Soul Saint King, Boundless Martial High King, Empress Xiaocheng, and Pope Huoyan. They were preeminent figures recognized for their authority or power. The Imperial Advisor, Grand Seer, and Evergod were notably absent. 

However, there were subordinates of theirs there, such as the Ever-Knights and Imperial Monarchs. These Earthly Saints were using various recording tools to gather information regarding the ongoing scene in an open manner.

"What caused that explosion?" An Earthly Saint of the Twisted Earth Starfield's(13th) pinnacle force asked with deeply furrowed brows. Over two hundred pairs of eyes were glowing brilliantly with spiritual lights, some radiant while others were dim, but they all scoured the area before them with a type of scrutinizing intensity that would leave one deeply uncomfortable. 

Before their mighty gazes, it felt as if all the secrets of the world bled through the hidden folds, allowing them to see all of it. Unfortunately, the Mobile Spatial Pathways had all collapsed and been eviscerated. There was nothing remaining of them or anyone within them.

"..." There was a clear silence that caused the atmosphere to feel awkward. No one answered. 

He Bojing's eyes glinted slightly, "The presence of three auras lingers here." The reason he pointed this out was that he felt familiar with one of these auras. There were faint traces of icy crystals of chaos mana dispersed throughout the Dark Void. The other two auras were foreign to his memory, but one of them felt terrifying. 

He Bojing was stunned to find that the more he investigated this particular aura, goosebumps emerged on his forearms while his heart sped up slightly in its pace. This was highly irregular. 

Soul Saint King frowned for a brief moment. But he swiftly rectified his expression, not giving away his thoughts. Internally, however, he was contemplating why he felt the aura of Highlord Spiritwalker and what she could possibly be doing here.

Was she unintentionally caught up in the destruction? Was she dead? 

"One of them belongs to the Bing Clan's Highlord Frostwind, the other belongs to the recently Demi-Mortal Lord, the Ninestar Sainthall's Highlord Spiritwalker." Empress Xiaocheng, however, didn't have any misgivings at ousting those auras' origins. The eyes of many Earthly Saints lit with a burning light of curiosity. 

It was abundantly clear that a manhunt will be performed on those two cultivators to find out what they were doing and what they witnessed, should they be alive. Many gave the Soul Saint King and his Soul Monarchs glances. There were too many unknowns here.

While some might have theories as to what happened here, they didn't offer up their theories, so most were left ignorant of the Chaosnova, a power of a Heavenly Saint. Moreover, the chaotic space was too dangerous to explore.

Unfortunately, not everyone was intelligent enough to stay calm and stifle their curiosity. A middle-aged female with a calming aura garbed in ocean blue robes stepped toward, her eyes as gorgeous as sapphires of the sea. She was the Earthly Saint of the Great Blue Starfield(20th), also known as the Great Sea Oceanic Queen. 

She looked at two other Earthly Saints, communicating with spiritual transmissions before she exerted her Mystic Power, an intermixture of her Mystic Power and Innate mystic-graded Spatial Energies formed through the Spatial-type Mystic Rune, and she breached the fixed space obstacles of chaotic power.

She vanished before the eyes of everyone present, leaving behind a rainbow-colored scar rupture that flashed with light. 

"..."

The two Earthly Saints that had communicated with her stared at the scar intensely. 

Fifty-two seconds later.

The two Earthly Saint's expressions drastically changed as the radiance emanating from the scar intensified, growing chaos like a swirled whirlpool of light and energy. They shot forward like fierce lions! They pounced towards the scar, exerting their Spatial Power to breach too.

BOOOM!!

They were blown back as the scar explosively expanded and shrunk equally as fast, vanishing before their very eyes. 

"No!" One of them screamed violently, his Mystic Aura roared to life. The other uninvolved Earthly Saints flashed backward, observing intriguingly at this series of events. They all had curious expressions, but they didn't take the slightest action to help.

The two Earthly Saints pressed forward again, arriving at the location where the Great Sea Oceanic Queen had vanished. They jointly merged their Spatial Power as they tried to rip through fixed space, but found it as difficult as a mortal trying to split hardened concrete with their bare hands—unimaginably difficult.

This was due to neither having comprehended the Spatial-type Mystic Rune, their Spatial Power even together lacked in comparison to the Great Sea Oceanic Queen. After two minutes of effort, they had expended large quantities of their Mystic Power to no avail.

"Useless," the Soul Saint King commented openly. The two Earthly Saints' expressions distorted instantly, and one was considerably uglier than the other. That Earthly Saint stared at the Soul Saint King with vehement eyes, rage and madness in his eyes.

But the Soul Saint King felt neither impressed nor concerned, not even glancing at him. There were weak Earthly Saints and strong Earthly Saints amongst these two hundred-plus powerhouses. These two were part of the weak, only possessing two Mystic Runes despite cultivating for thousands and thousands of years. 

As for him, he was terrifyingly strong. The Great Blue Oceanic Queen could be considered equally as weak, only having two Mystic Runes under her belt—Oceanic & Spatial. She wasn't the Eighth Sea Grand King; In fact, the Eighth Sea Grand King was quietly staring at the area she vanished, not moving a single inch. The apathy in his eyes was chilling to behold.

Despite being ranked 20th, the Great Blue Starfield had two Starfields, but due to the type of hierarchy they had, the Great Blue Oceanic Queen was a competitor for him, and it was said she refused marriage during his ascension, even going as far as refusing to concede territory, resources, and refuse to acquiesce to his authority.

Despite his status and authority, he wasn't capable of dealing with the Great Sea Oceanic Queen due to having two dogs that chased her skirt—these useless baboons. She contested for resources, and because of their division, this type of civil struggle, they were unable to rise in ranking as a starfield, forced to be classified as 20th among twenty-two starfields. If they joined together, they could easily enter twelfth or thirteenth after a few centuries.

Their complicated relationship ripe with internal rife aside, the Earthly Saints all had the same thought coursing through their minds: What happened to her? 

"Do you dare enter?" The Soul Saint King glanced at the Boundless Martial High King who seemed to be filled to the brim with an adventurous and competitive spirit. There was a hint of mocking and urging in his tone.

The Boundless Martial High King's eyes brightened, seemingly ready to try his hands at it, but he eventually relented. He shook his head, "I'm not an idiot." That explosion had disrupted fixed space and immersed it in chaos, the situation was largely one he was ignorant of, and while there were often benefits in danger, he refused to risk his life stupidly without knowing the possible benefits.

Of course, if it was known about the Heavenly World Cores and their effects, there wouldn't be a single Earthly Saint here that wouldn't force their way through at any cost. The scramble might lead to a culling if it wasn't for the oath in place.

The two Earthly Saints verged on madness. Their repeated attempts continued to fail without any sign of change. The desperation in their faces grew by the second. A feeling of growing unease surfaced in their hearts. They could feel if they didn't bring her out soon, she would die! 

"Pavilion Master Ma! Please assist! Please save her!" The Earthly Saint that was the most subdued in his response cried out pleasingly. He was a vagabond Earthly Saint with his World Realm, not governing any starfield. The Great Blue Oceanic Queen was his lover, and they had three children together. The other Earthly Saint was another lover of hers, but unlike the vagabond, he was one of the weaker Earthly Saints of the Star Sanctum Starfield(7th), managing his clan within. Among those in the clan, the two had secret descendants together.

Ma Zheng sighed in his heart. The eyes of many turned his way with curiosity. Was he going to help?

"Don't." Huoyan Liulan sent. The unknown was the scariest, and even Pope Huoyan, her grandfather, had told her not to recklessly act. Amongst Earthly Saints, he could firmly be considered as 'strong'. If he said to not be reckless, then the danger was likely lethal to her! 

The two Earthly Saints sent tempting messages offering countless treasures they've accumulated over their long cultivation, including exclusive contracts to establish Golden Life Pavilion branches in his territory, even offering to get others in the Star Sanctum Starfield to agree. 

Ma Zheng was a renowned Spatial Cultivator, widely considered as the best, and even an ambush of Earthly Saints when he was a Demi-Mortal Lord was unable to kill him, and he safely escaped. It was clear his prowess was unimaginably high. Now that he was an Earthly Saint, no one doubted his expertise in Spatial Arts given his vast experience blessed by age. 

"I'll do my best," Ma Zheng eventually relented. He didn't recklessly enter, sending Wei Wuyin a spiritual transmission first. Only after knowing that it was received after twenty-eight seconds, twenty-eight very intense seconds to the two Earthly Saints, did he fly forward. With his Nexus Spatial Mystic Soul, he galvanized his refined and vast quantities of Spatial Power and produced a rift once more. With a steady breath, he entered.

"..."

The rift vanished immediately after. 

The Earthly Saints all waited with bated breaths.