Paragon of Sin

"Impossible!" 

"How can this be?! It's a lie!" 

"IT'S AN ILLUSION!! IT'S AN ILLUSION!!"

The Ascended beings and mortal experts of the Unchained Heart Sect, and by extension—Trueborn, all had increasingly erratic reactions as they observed the Shadow Eggs on the giant screens of Spiritual Energy. 

The masked negotiator's breathing had sped so fast that their ample chest began to outline from under their cloak, revealing themselves as a woman. Her unintentional reveal of gender went unnoticed by herself and everyone else around her, and her eyes also followed the constellations to find a Shadow Egg in the far distance. 

"Those rogues…" She said dazedly, her voice breathy and quivering. The rogues! In the recent reports gathered by their intelligence network, they found out about Wei Wuyin's rallying of independent cultivators. They were vagabonds, Evil Cultivators, Void Pirates, Void Hunters, and Exiled Cultivators.

While the reports were rife with inconsistencies, they quickly intuited that someone was using counterintelligence tactics to try to hide the act, further confirming their assumptions.

In recent years, Wei Wuyin had remained relatively uninvolved in the politics and affairs of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, and after the Born True Starfield's establishment, this act was like a lighthouse signaling his intentions. Considering they were in their developmental stage, essentially at their weakest, it was obvious that Wei Wuyin was planning an assault.

They were prepared; however, they could never have guessed that Wei Wuyin's lone Fire Phoenix would press them so heavily that they needed additional reinforcements. If the Fire Phoenix breached the Unchained World Aegis Array, they would lose their foundation instantly. Thousands of years of effort and planning in the shadows, countless resources, and manpower invested, all ruined!

The thirty Earthly Saints were summoned not solely to teach Wei Wuyin a lesson but to protect their base in the ensuing fight, shield their lower-ranking members that couldn't be extracted, and preserve their interest that was the Born True Starfield. 

"Your vessels beyond this 'starfield' of yours have been dealt with. As you can see," Wei Wuyin gestured towards the spiritual screens with his hand. The Shadow Eggs were surrounded by Ascended beings cloaked in robes and wearing masks with the symbol of the Ascendants attached to the glabella area. The screens flashed from scene to scene, displaying dead or captured Trueborn members. 

"By now, you've learned that your Void Gates have all been rendered inactive. Your members in this glorified 'cage', I guess I should respectfully call it a base of yours, are trapped with nowhere to escape. Without your Earthly Saints, it's too easy to prevent any Spatial Shifting, so it's best not to try.

"As for your Earthly Saints, they've all been captured. No need to worry; they're alive. For now." Wei Wuyin seemed to be talking to the masked negotiator, but there was a type of strange distance in his eyes, as if he was speaking to the one behind the masked negotiator. "Your ploy to use the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region to press me into obedience failed, and it's also pointless to the current me." 

Suddenly, Wei Wuyin turned and saw the distant fleet of Voidships, his silver eyes instantly finding Empress Xiaocheng. She led this party, so his following words were targeted toward her. "I've devised a Concoction Method of an elixir, which can dissolve the Mythical Oath Seeds instilled within a Mortal Soul. While it's not effective for Ascended beings, like the miraculous work of the King of Everlore's Everlore Myth-Erasure Elixir within the Seven Wonders of Everlore, it's enough for me to remain unfettered for the coming years."

Many of the representatives gasped in shock; the Everlore Myth-Erasure Elixir was theorized as a Mystic-World grade product that could remove oaths. The existence of this product would outright change the climate of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region in an instant. Many feared that the Imperial Clan's Sky Zenith Alchemic Saint had, in recent years, neared a successful concoction of it. 

An unrestrained Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor was tantamount to a world-collapsing calamity for far too many organizations and was far more terrifying than an oathless Wei Wuyin.

"..." Empress Xiaocheng's eyebrows furrowed, unable to know if what Wei Wuyin said was merely a bluff or the truth. However, given his currently displayed means, subjecting him to any oaths by force would be hard. She had to remind herself of the Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor's strength before she calmed down. Regaining her dignified expression, she calmly returned Wei Wuyin's gaze. 

Wei Wuyin inwardly scoffed and looked away. His eyes returned to the masked negotiator, and he smilingly said: "You can remain hiding, but I suggest you come forward. If you don't want to, I'll just have to enter and kill you myself. I don't like kicking a cowardly dog, but I have no problem putting one down." 

"..." It was only then that the representatives realized that Wei Wuyin was talking to the leader of Trueborn, the grand hidden figure that no one knew the identity of. 

"..." The silence was stifling, continuing for several minutes. Eventually, Wei Wuyin sighed to himself. 

"Fine," Wei Wuyin prepared to unleash the Legion of War, reaching out and pulling out a silvery and grayish cube from the Void. It emanated an air of abnormal spatial power, causing fixed space to quiver. The battlefield that was the cube had ended with extreme swiftness, and all thirty-seven Earthly Saints had been thoroughly subdued, their physical bodies destroyed, and their Mystic Cores sealed. 

The world would be shocked to know that ten thousand and thirty-seven Earthly Saints had been in this tiny cube, and within was a world large enough to house planets and a Solar Star. It was a Realm World conjured by the joint efforts of ten thousand Earthly Saints!

'After I reveal the Legion of War, I have to act against a few organizations in a blitzkrieg fashion. The Empress must be captured as my priority.' Wei Wuyin steeled his mind with resolve. After his 10,000 Spirits of War were exposed, he would have to act with thunderous explosiveness against several forces of the Stellar Region, such as the Imperial Clan.

At the moment, cultivators would at most assume that Wei Wuyin had a unique spatial treasure like the Shell World Pearl and had captured the Earthly Saints, keeping them contained for an indeterminate amount of time. Why? Because the great power of an Earthly Saint, in their eyes, was nigh-invincible and the thought that thirty were so easily dealt with was beyond their reasonable belief. 

Empress Xiaocheng's heart began to race inexplicably; she felt a sense of danger swell within her heart; she couldn't determine where this feeling was coming from, but she instantly raised her guard against everything around her. Her eyes darkened slightly, and she glanced at the baffled Xun Yicao. 

Tian Muyang saw her changing expression and knew that Wei Wuyin was about to finalize his plans and deal with Trueborn once and for all. When that happens, his threat from before will likely take effect. 

Xun Yicao's date of death was today.

Her choice of segregating the Imperial Clan from the ongoing feud had left her with a bumbling fool with a heavy grudge against the exceptionally talented mortal that could very well become the next King of Everlore. No, if he could seal away thirty Earthly Saints in one go, then he was far more terrifying than the King of Everlore!

After all, Wei Wuyin, in a few decades, was in a far, far greater position than the King of Everlore ever was. But he didn't pity Empress Xiaocheng in the slightest and merely felt that this was an excellent opportunity for him.

Just as Wei Wuyin was about to summon the readied corps of war, about to unleash a wave of death and slaughter, a booming, majestic sound shook the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, and it caused everyone to instantly become still, almost paralyzed.

Those who were Ascended beings felt their Mystic Souls thrum with abnormal activity!

Tian Muyang's eyes widened uncontrollably as he was instantly dragged into remembering a recent event, and he remembered…

It was during the Chaosnova!

Mystic Heart Intent! 

His chest felt suffocated, and his breathing was stifled. This Intent grasped the power to control the entire world's Mystic Properties. To Ascended beings, grasping Mystic Heart Intent was like having authority over the Mystic Dao, becoming Lords of the World!

While it wasn't so exaggerated, the powers of Mystic Heart Intent were unfathomable and terrifying, signs of the greatest cultivation stage of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region—Worldly Saint! 

Just thinking the word caused Tian Muyang's eyes to tremble and his heart to skip a few beats. Was the Emperor here? If so, this situation will change unpredictably! 

But…

…this Mystic Heart Intent felt different! 

"It's not him!" Tian Muyang exclaimed with his greatest strength, struggling to move his eyes to glance at the similarly suppressed Empress Xiaocheng. If it was him, she would never be affected by his overwhelming will! 

While the Ascended beings felt stifled and paralyzed, the Mortals experienced a greater plight, with Da Shan, who had been energetically roaring for Wei Wuyin, dropping unconscious. Before this descending will, her Sea of Consciousness instinctually shut down to protect itself! It was hard to determine which situation was better!

While all this was happening, the one who was given the most suppression was contemptuously smiling. Wei Wuyin's Saber Heart Intent and Elemental Heart Intent erupted! In direct contention, the area around him was surging explosively as the three Intents clashed, backed by their respective Spiritual Strengths! 

Around Wei Wuyin, saber howls and the elements manifested into existence by using the ambient solar essence.

The two Intents united against the Mystic Heart Intent, and neither seemed to be losing! Or winning! 

Bai Lin watched this all unfold, and her eyes flared with disdain. She was unaffected, but she could see that the Mystic Heart Intent was struggling against Wei Wuyin's dual Intent.

"You only destroyed two nodes; your Mystic Heart Intent isn't genuine yet, so you should reel it in before you exhaust your lifespan to nothing." Wei Wuyin remarked quietly through his will, only releasing his voice so the owner of the Mystic Heart Intent could hear and no one else. 

The Mystic Heart Intent represented the will of the owner, and Wei Wuyin could feel the shock from it as they clashed. Perhaps it was startled that Wei Wuyin was aware of the nodes or capable of contending against him or knew the truth of its Mystic Heart Intent. Regardless of which, it began to recede gradually. 

"HA!" 

The Ascended beings all expelled a breath of stifled air from their lungs, their foreheads covered in sweat, and their hearts beating violently in their chests, threatening to shatter their bones from each explosive beat. 

Wei Wuyin receded his Intents; the brief clash wasn't taxing to him at all, but if it continued, Da Shan might have fallen in danger, given how uncontrolled the Mystic Heart Intent was.

"You can't scare me with such an unstable cultivation base, so I'll give you one last chance to surrender yourself. If I'm in a good mood, I just might spare your life." Wei Wuyin openly stated, and his eyes flared brilliantly with threatening light. 

But after three seconds and no response, Wei Wuyin decided to use brute force to settle this once and for all.

"The World Between the Fold!" A voice resounded that only Wei Wuyin could hear, a targeted transmission, and he frowned slightly. Unfortunately for the voice, he was fully aware of the World Between the Fold and had visited it, even escaped it, and gained great benefits from it. He dismissively shook his head, but the voice didn't stop, and its following words left Wei Wuyin speechless. 

"The Endless Void Realm will descend into the Sealed Regions!"

"..."

"Soon!"

"..."