Paragon of Sin

Despite the warning, few rescinded their right to participate; whether they were supreme young talents or lowly aged cultivators, they all saw this as the fifth fortune and wished to give it a try.

Within the first second, two-thirds of the participants fainted.

The roar of the Nine Dragons was like meteorites pounding upon the mindscape of everyone's Sea of Consciousness, inducing literal mind-collapsing explosions. Almost all of them only felt a faint prick between their brow and a loud sound before losing consciousness. They were fortunate, as those whose mind was too fragile or wrecked by mental demons and turbid, tainted waves of mental energy experienced a total collapse.Their minds fragmented into thousands of pieces, some even into hundreds of thousands, and their Sea of Consciousness began leaking out from their real bodies, spewing mental energy into the world. This mental energy was incredibly impure and distorted into wraith-like spectral beings, frightening and twisted, reflecting the mental state of those who possessed them.

"...!" The seniors of those juniors, both those who lost consciousness and those leaking, were deeply shaken by this development. They hastily tried to move, but within their vision, nine gargantuan dragons emerged, eyeing them with a malicious glint of vicious light. They knew that if they moved, the nine dragons would take action!

"What are you doing?!" Those who could still speak despite the rampaging fear roared as avatars of the World of Eden. They questioned Wei Wuyin's intent, yet they received no response. The limp bodies of their juniors caused cascading waves of horror and regret to batter their hearts.

They were warned.

Tian Muyang observed all this in shock. With the Projection Link, he could exert his will to monitor the countless juniors across various areas by shifting his focus. Almost all of the true experts had long since grasped the inner functions of the World of Eden and had become quite adept at utilizing them.

"Is Alchemic Sovereign Wei really going to kill them off?" Tian Lingyu asked softly as she noticed that countless had lost the light in their eyes both in the World of Eden and the real world, using her Spiritual Sense. She could feel the lifeforce of some being exhausted, so she knew they were dying!

"Just watch," Yang Chaoyue gently said with a solemn gaze. Even as an Earthly Saint, the thought of quintillions of lives being snuffed out, especially the young, made her feel extremely uneasy. She held out hope that Tian Xiaocheng's words were purely a tactic to cause cowards to retreat.

Despite their small exchange, less than two seconds had passed. By the second second, the two-third count had increased to three-fourths. Less than a quarter remained after two seconds!

"WHAT IS THIS?!?!" Lin Ming had conjured a Mental Incarnation within his Sea of Consciousness as he observed the endlessly falling asteroids from beyond the walls of his mind crash against it. They were engulfed in a strange flame that caused his entire mind to tremble with incredible fear.

He had decided to take the challenge and experience the fifth fortune, especially after his Senior Sister and the voice had advised him to do so despite the warning. However, facing these attacks on his Sea of Consciousness, Lin Ming felt a tinge of regret. How could Wei Wuyin make this remotely easy?

This was the third product of the Neo- Dawn Alchemic Expo, and its value had caused almost every expert and Ascended to go raving mad with excitement and disbelief. After hearing that it was essentially an opportunity to pursue the peak of the Astral Core Realm, how could anyone dare to refuse? Additionally, this was Wei Wuyin's Alchemic Expo; would he leave them to die like this?!

At the third second, the walls of his Sea of Consciousness began to experience minute cracks that leaked out faint illusory flames that lingered outside. He knew that if he allowed them to breach his Sea of Consciousness, the consequences would be catastrophic. As a Mental Incarnation, he formed a hand-seal and galvanized his mental energies to combat the flames.

His actions had some effect as this new power subdued the invading illusory flames and began to repair the walls. In terms of cultivation, the walls of his mind that protected his wellspring of thoughts and ocean of refined mental energies were known as Mental Fortitude. It was one of the three uniquely categorized talents of the Psyche. It assisted one against an invasion of foreign threats or when one's inner chaos generated chaotic and demonic thoughts that could cause a mental breakdown.

Mental Fortitude was one of the few talents that could be elevated naturally through experiences, often life and death or tragedies overcome by sheer will, focus, and commitment. Lin Ming had risen from the Myriad Yore Continent while fighting against endless opponents and faced several lethal encounters, all of which he defied by his willpower and strength, so his Mental Fortitude was incredibly strong.

Even then, by the fifth second, his walls were already cracking at a rate that his mental energies couldn't repair.

"AHHH!" He roared, causing his sea of mental energies to shake intensely.

"Maintain your calm!" A booming voice rippled in his head.

Lin Ming's Mental Incarnation began to experience a faint glowing shine of spiritual light. Suddenly, as if inspired, Lin Ming realized he had another wellspring of compatible energy to assist him against this outrageous assault. His Elemental Origin Astral Soul began to burst with vibrant spiritual light, sending copious amounts of Spiritual Energy carrying all of its refined Spiritual Strength into his Sea of Consciousness.

His Mental Incarnation started to merge with the incoming Spiritual Light and began to display a newfound strength. With a heavy roar, he pushed out his hands, and the mental energy began to fuse with the spiritual energy, clinging and soaring across his mind's walls as the illusory flames were viciously snuffed out and the walls were reinforced by a layer of spiritual strength.

After the ninth second passed, Lin Ming finally regained his serenity and revealed a smile laced with relieved confidence. "Thank you," he said.

''...''

Are you there?" Lin Ming asked.

"Yeah..." The voice resounded throughout the Sea of Consciousness like an ambient sound of a godly being. But Lin Ming didn't feel fear or reverence; he was simply thankful for the assistance. But he sensed a bit of uncertainty within the voice's tone, so he asked: "Did something happen?"

''...''

-----

By this point, San Yongli was in an equally precarious position. Her Mental Fortitude had experienced death and the regression of most of her life, and she faced loss at an unimaginable level, as she had lost not just time but those she loved in that other timeline. Her mental stability was peerless amongst those of her age.

However, she had also come across a similar fault of relying solely on her mental energies to resist the crashing asteroids and the illusory flames that were trying to invade her mind. At this point, her mindwas on its last legs. There were cracks everywhere in her mind's wall, thick and horrifying, with outbursts of illusory flames that resembled tongues of torrential fire.

Her mind had become a hellscape from all sides. She even exerted complete and impeccable control over her mental energy as she condensed it all, protecting her Well of Thoughts and assaulting the threats at the same time.

Eventually, she started to reach her limits.

"Is this supposed to even be possible?!" She spat. Unlike the Everlore Association's younger generation, who were forced by Evergod into not participating, she was independent and a member of the San Clan, not the Everlore Association, so she could act as she wished as long as her adopted father had no qualms. She would never forgo the opportunity to seize fortune, especially after obtaining a Neo-Dawn Soul-Sea Elixir earlier.

The soul contained in her Sea of Consciousness had also said that the product had no issues, except that it contained Alchemic Spirit Remnants, which there were countless methods to expel with sufficient time, so how could she not strive to obtain this fortune?

"It is." The soul-containing, mind-nurturing jade floated within her condensed mental energy sphere, releasing a faint glow of astonishingly beautiful light. "You're not defending properly," the woman's voice flatly stated.

What does that even mean?!" San Yongli shouted back at how calm the woman seemed despite her dangerous predicament. But then her voice was caught in her throat halfway, and she instantly realized her folly!

Instantly, she summoned her spiritual energy to reinforce her. When she began using her Astral Soul's strength, the feeling of danger quickly receded, and she obtained breathing room after the thirteenth second.

"See," the woman's voice pointed out with a mocking scoff.

San Yongli felt the urge to gnash her teeth, but she held it in. "...Thanks," was all she could muster after a second. If it wasn't for the woman's reminder, she would've likely failed this test.

Hearing her genuine appreciation, the woman chuckled softly. "It's not your fault; this cultivation society of yours is severely lacking in the practice of the Mind Dao."

"Mind Dao?" San Yongli had read about this before, but besides a few mentions here and there, there wasn't much detail about it.

The voice didn't alleviate her curiosity with a detailed explanation as one might expect of a mentor. Instead, she said: "At least, that's what I thought. Who knew that someone had developed their Incantations to this extent."

"Mental Incantations?" San Yongli felt as if a new world was opening before her, yet she was unable to open the door.

"...Well, neither is the Martial Arts of this society. In truth, besides Spells, this cultivation society severely lacks the fundamentals. I blame those who were too obsessed with reaching the next stage instead of excavating the full potential of each." The voice was simply speaking to herself at this point, and San Yongli patiently listened as she withstood the continuous collisions of projectiles from beyond her Sea of Consciousness.

However, she deduced that Incantations were equivalent to Spiritual Spells and Martial Arts, likely relating to the proper usage of mental energy. If Cultivation Methods were the techniques with the foundation of Essence, then Martial Arts used the Body as its core, Mental Incantations utilized the Mind, and Spiritual Spells revolved around the Spirit- capable of affecting and emulating all three.

Only after she felt that her hypothesis was correct did she finally realize that the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region was severely lacking in the basics of cultivation. It wasn't simply the lack of the World-Bound Star Domain.

She couldn't help but wonder...

...how strong were true cultivators from the World Beyond?Her thoughts came to an abrupt end after the thirty-seventh second. From outside of her mind's walls, the siege intensified, and she felt extremely pressured. She had to redouble her efforts, draw further strength from her spirit, and resist!

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