Paragon of Sin

Aquaguise Domain, Aeternal Sky Starfield.

"My liege! My liege!" A skinny, tall, blue-robed middle-aged man hectically stumbled as he frantically shouted. He reached a tall aquamarine-colored double door with quick steps, pressing against it and heaving a grunt to push it open. Countless watery ripples emerged on the surface, emitting a glistening beauty, and then the door began to open.

"My liege!" The man shouted, squeezing through the gap, slightly tumbling through, and almost losing balance. If others saw this scene, they would be astonished to realize that this middle-aged man was an Ascended being, and by the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, he was by no means a weak one. As a prestigious Highlord, few in the Stellar Region could match his strength. 

The room inside the door was a large spherically-shaped body of water, clear and fresh, exuding an enriched air of purity. The mystic-graded water energies were extremely dense. At the center of this sphere of water was a lone cross-legged figure, his hands folded in a hand-seal as three Mystic Runes cycled his body. 

It was He Bojing! 

When the middle-aged man stumbled in, He Bojing opened his imposing eyes. He didn't bother leaving his sphere of water, continuously absorbing strands of refined water energy to replenish the Mystic Power he had exhausted during the Bing Clan incident. Despite holding back his strength against the two perpetrators, a fact that he deeply regretted, he had exhausted much of his precious Mystic Power by reviving those insignificant insects on Ice Jade and bringing back Bing Tian's soulless body. 

A full three months had passed since, and he was in the process of recovering his spent power. This was the reason why Earthly Saints rarely took action; each iota of refined Mystic Power at the Earthly Saint level was absurdly difficult to cultivate, requiring four different types of mystic-graded energies. Yet that same iota could crush entire planets, allow them to traverse Domains in a single step, or bring back a hundred thousand deceased mortals in a single breath. 

"My liege!" By this point, the Highlord was at the base of the sphere of water, his breathing heavy and his eyes anxious. 

"Speak." Before others, He Bojing exuded a god-like dignity. The members of his clan understood his might, authority, and means, treating him as a divinity. They even referred to him as 'liege' and 'Majesty' in the Aquaguise Domain. Within his Domain, he was the Divine Emperor!

"Yes!" The middle-aged Highlord composed himself, taking a deep breath, and began his report: "We've just gotten information about the whereabouts of another Heaven Relic!" 

"Another?" He Bojing's left eyebrow twitched. He had held a Heaven Relic in his hands—quite literally and lost it to two inferior cultivators in a skirmish. It was a memory of unbearable shame, almost enough to contemplate ending it out of embarrassment. But he also understood the precious value of a Heaven Relic.

After the Golden Life Pavilion had more or less openly stated they obtained it, which was later revealed to be given to Wei Wuyin, all the hubbub of a greed-fueled hunt ceased with eerie suddenness. While there were some rumors of the Imperial Clan taking action, after the announcement of the Alchemic Expo of the Neo-Dawn Alchemic Sovereign, and the promise of unveiling a product where the Heaven Relic would be a crucial component, they went completely silent. 

"Yes! We've received multiple reports through various channels, including reputable information agencies, that there wasn't simply a single Heaven Relic!" 

"Multiple reports?" He Bojing frowned. There was always doubt if a single Heaven Relic existed or more. Unfortunately, unlike his battle, the site of the Chaosnova was so distorted that no Heavenly Seers, not even the Golden Gate Pavilion, could scour through that mess to grasp what had happened. The only evidence they had was the aura of Highlord Spiritwalker and Highlord Frostwind, and it was post-confirmed that the third aura belonged to the Evil Assassin.

Clearly, they fought and competed for the Heaven Relic, and Highlord Frostwind had gained the advantage, leaving as the victor of the three. This was the predominant assumption because Highlord Spiritwalker had gone underground, and so had the Evil Assassin, so they were likely recovering from the incident and plotting revenge. Since Highlord Spiritwalker was a recent Demi-Mortal Lord, her being weaker than Highlord Frostwind made sense. 

Moreover, keen senses showed that much of Highlord Spiritwalker's vital blood was spilled, so her injuries were not light. She had to have escaped while the other two fought for the Heaven Relic, ignoring her. 

The general belief was a fierce battle between three Ascended beings, not a two versus one. 

Unfortunately, this was far from the truth. Incomplete information often came to incorrect conclusions, and every conclusion afterward was likely equally as wrong. For example, Bing Tian was the sole victor, and a single Heaven Relic existed. 

"Yes! We have accounts from a group of vagrant star-gazers that the battle wasn't as we originally believed. It was likely that Highlord Spiritwalker and Highlord Frostwind were facing the imprisoned assailant as a team! Moreover, they spotted a spatially anchored lone Voidship at the edge of the Chaosnova. Before the event, they saw three figures together on the Voidship." The Highlord's report spurred He Bojing to narrow his eyes. It's been over a decade—why now? 

His suspicions, however, abated as he realized the news of the Heaven Relic and the fact that Bing Tian was at the edge of the Chaosnova had formed some links. It wouldn't be hard to assume that Bing Tian, who had the Heaven Relic, had obtained it shortly before she went missing and unreachable, just after the Chaosnova incident. 

"Go on!" He Bojing wanted to hear the full report. It was wordy, so he filtered out most of it. It was only at the end that he heard the most crucial bit! 

"It's been reported that Highlord Spiritwalker is currently within the Ancient Sky Realm with a Heaven Relic! Moreover, Grand Secretariat San Luoyang might have a third Heaven Relic! As reports said, there were three orbs during the battle! They must have evenly split the loot after haphazardly finding the imprisoned assailant, your liege." The Highlord had added his perceptions of events as well, so his report contained some bias. If he wasn't a Highlord, this act of tainting the information would be highly disrespectful. But the greed in his eyes was rampant, and the greed in his heart was painful! 

A Heaven Relic!

As news of the Heaven Relic's existence spread, the knowledge of its potential was similarly released. In fact, about a month ago, a series of organizations simultaneously spread the gifts a Heaven Relic could bestow.

The name—Origin State—became a hot topic amongst cultivators. This was a wildly unknown cultivation secret, but it has just been spread. The evolution of a Mortal State, capable of granting a higher degree of Mana control, which was the glue of the world, and the ability to deepen one's connection with the Mystic Dao! Moreover, those with it were estimated to have a 50% increased chance of ascending to the Earthly Saint Phase! This was an arbitrary, unconfirmed percentage, yet it did little to diminish its spread.

Furthermore, it was said that with a Spirit of Cultivation at the Origin State level, failing one's Mystic Ascendant Realm's Second Ascension, reaching the Soul of Mysticism Phase, was as difficult as a Gravity Emission Phase cultivator failing the Realm World Astral Tribulation with a peak-quality Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill! 

INCONCEIVABLE!

The more this spread, the greater the ruckus amongst the elite talents. Even Heroes, Saintesses, Chosen, and descendants of Earthly Saints often failed their Mystic Ascension! They were left on the cusp of being regarded as true Ascended beings and gaining at least 9,000 years of additional life. But they were doomed to die a relatively short life, shortened by their failure, especially given the eight hundred years of life lost in the attempt. 

An absolute frenzy erupted, but since Wei Wuyin firmly possessed the Heaven Relic, there was very little chaos. In fact, the hype surrounding the future product Wei Wuyin would create using the Heaven Relic was at an all-time high! What if it could grant an Origin State?! 

WHAT IF?!

"Everlore Association?" He Bojing frown deepened. While this Highlord was spurred by greed, he was cool-headed and realized that the report indicated the Everlore Association might be in possession of two Heaven Relics. Normally, the Everlore Association's reputation would've been enough to suppress any thoughts of obtaining this Heaven Relic or at least a piece of the pie, but recently, the Golden Life Pavilion had begun to show that its Alchemic Dao was steadily exceeding or already exceeded the Everlore Association.

Additionally, Alchemic Sovereign Wei was continuously demonstrating his superiority, supporting the idea that he would become the next King of Everlore. EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY! The Everlore Association and Alchemic Sovereign Wei were enemies without a shadow of a doubt.

After all, while Evergod had disguised it as an unfortunate incident, an Ever-Knight had used their full might to destroy an entire planet, annihilating billions upon billions of lives simply to kill him. And because an Earthly Saint had done such a thing, and they had deliberately delayed any interference with the planet, not a single soul could be revived through Temporal Reversion.

It was evident that they were scared that Wei Wuyin, a mere mortal at the time, would be revived by Grand Knight Wu Yu. It was rumored that they had unleashed their expensive Earth-Sky-Heaven Mystic Array and deliberately made it difficult to exert Time and Spatial Power for these possibilities. It was brutal and openly revealed their stance, regardless of their public decrees. 

With the bet from the contest of the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill, the Everlore Association no longer seemed as large as before. They were losing on all fronts, especially when it came to quality, consistency, and cost. In recent days, they were starting to lose in quantity too. 

The Golden Life Pavilion's Alchemic Division seemed to have been boosted somehow…

Given all this, the Everlore Association and Wei Wuyin's clash was bound to occur, and in a thousand years, it was unlikely that the Everlore Association would continue to exist unless the King of Everlore returned. Now, He Bojing's greedy thoughts were no longer impossible to form regarding the Everlore Association. 

"My liege!" The Highlord cried out urgently, causing He Bojing's focus to shift.

"What?" He Bojing was already contemplating how to verify this and extract a portion for himself. He just hadn't thought of how yet. 

"They're on the move!" The Highlord exclaimed, his eyes flashing with greed. 

"On the move? Who?" 

The Highlord grasped the Spiritual Transmission Jade in his sweaty palm; he breathed out unsteadily: 

"EVERYONE!" 

-----

The He Clan was not the first to receive the news, and the haste of the messenger was because of this fact. However, within the Aeternal Sky Starfield, activity was wild.

From all Domains, countless Voidships began to move! Soaring through the Dark Void! 

They included Void Element, the vessel of the True Element Sect.

They included Soaring Sword, the vessel of the Jiang Clan.

They included Boundless, the vessel of the Boundless Martial Sect.

They included the Sky Destroyers, the vessels of the Imperial Clan!

Countless Voidships were moving toward the Everlore Domain. Before long, Aquashadow, the Vessel of the He Clan, joined in the procession. 

If before, these forces had once joined together to pressure Wei Wuyin into swearing oaths, only halted by their inadequate might and gross underestimation of Wei Wuyin's commanded power, these forces were now joining together without the slightest coordination, moving toward the Everlore Domain! 

-----

Outside of the Aeternal Sky Domain, nine gorgeous Voidships of large size emerged from the Void-Blank Space amidst silvery fluctuations. They glowed with nine different colors, all of which exuded a brilliance no less than a Solar Star.

Within the lead ship, four figures stood, with a single one standing at the head. If Ma Zheng were here, he would recognize each of them, especially one of the women! She was now free!

Soul-Rising Saint!

As for the leader, his identity was unmistakable.

The Soul Saint King!

"Like wild animals," the Soul Saint King commented with a grin. "Let's go find this subordinate of yours, Monarch Faye." 

The Earthly Saint, formerly known as the Soul-Rising Saint, nodded her head! 

-----

In the vastness of the Heptasage Pillar Stellar Region, Wu Yu was resting on planetary debris. He looked at the gigantic supermassive Solar Star in the far-off distance shining brighter than the other stars, the Aeternal Sky Star. He grinned excitedly.