Paragon of Sin

Tian Yinwu calmly held his kite shield before him, tanking the misty yin sword light directly. A fizzling sound echoed out as the sword light was dispersed upon contact, harmlessly scattering into the air. The Seventh Prince perfectly defended against Na Xinyi's attack.

Tian Yinwu's hazel-golden eyes flashed with blazingly radiant spiritual light; the misty yin sword light contained unfathomable principles of yin that caused him to gain some immediate insights. He calmly put away his kite shield, looking at his right hand which was two fingers formed into a sword, exuding a golden sword radiance. Abruptly, the golden, sharp sword radiance grew misty, bearing a strong resemblance to the misty yin sword light.

"So that's it," Tian Yinwu thoughtfully nodded in satisfaction as he discovered many of the secrets of Na Xinyi's Extreme Yin Force. While this seemed to have taken long, the event lasted less than a quarter of a blink of an Ascended's eye. At this point, Na Xinyi and Zuhei were racing toward Lin Ming.

Surprised, Tian Yinwu was about to unleash an attack on Tang Xingyun once again, but when he looked toward their floating bodies in the sky, his expression changed very slightly. "What a tricky woman." He didn't give them a second glance as his eyes moved toward the afterimages of Na Xinyi, finding a faint ripple in space that lingered behind her like a tethered rope.

Others might not have noticed, but the two images of Tang Xingyun and Lin Ziyan were false! They, despite seeming to be incredibly real and substantial, were none other than illusions of extreme yin empowering latent lesser yang to grant incomparable realness. The true bodies of those two?

Na Xinyi was bringing them along! If Tian Xinyi had wasted a second or so on those two images and whatever traps laid within, the chances of accomplishing her goal would have greatly increased! Unfortunately...

Tian Yinwu kicked off, shooting off silently toward Na Xinyi.

Na Xinyi's excitement died down immediately after sensing Tian Yinwu following along, ignoring the two decoys. She inwardly groaned. This was her third time, but she felt incredibly exasperated by Lin Ming's idiocy, Zuhei's tyrannical strength, and Tian Yinwu's intelligence. Her vexation, however, was mostly targeted toward Tian Yinwu.

She no longer exhausted her power to maintain the illusion. The decoys fizzled out, and the yin force within traversed across time and space, gathering at her fist in an instant. The profound power of permanence allowed her to regather and reuse any force not destroyed!

The unseen tether to her slender waist shook. Na Xinyi's expression changed slightly as she felt a rippling wave course through fixed, chaotic, and stable space, causing Tang Xinyun and Lin Ziyan to be fully exposed. They were moving with rope-like yin mist at their waist, moving alongside her.

SNAP!

Suddenly, a ray of misty golden sword light sliced into the tether. It couldn't last as it snapped. Na Xinyi's expression changed as she brought forth her two hands, twisting her body, and slapping lightly toward Tang Xingyun.

Tang Xingyun was unable to follow most of the events, her eyes mostly glued to Lin Ming's flashing aura, trying to properly process his revival and her turbulent yet relieved feelings. Despite her ignorance, she had avoided calamity and death once more as her body became incredibly substantial, almost surreal in its solidness, exuding a type of imposing vitality, and a sea of misty golden sword light struck her.

She shook slightly, her eyes widening as she felt a prick at her neck. Taken aback, she absentmindedly touched her neck to find a small slit at her throat. There was no blood or liquid of any kind, but there were faint traces of broken misty golden light. The light absorbed into her skin.

Tian Yinwu's eyes brightened once again. This woman! She had used extreme yin to nourish and bring forth extreme yang, negating his newly conceived attack of yin. Her degree of foresight and speed of reaction was top-notch. Only after seeing her in action did Tian Yinwu understand why the cultivators of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region often talked about them in the same sentence.

What an astounding woman!

Of course, while Tian Yinwu had such thoughts, Na Xinyi was equally as shaken by the Seventh Prince's ability to find the vulnerabilities of her arts and spells so quickly. While her Extreme Yin Force could negate yang and be negated by yang, if one wanted to fight against it, one needed to use yin as the foundation. Otherwise, it'd be similar to an intangible ghost trying to fight a corporeal being-pointless.

Additionally, Na Xinyi had the means to forcefully integrate yang to nourish her yin, so using it as an offense was like feeding her. Using yang defensively was optimal, but using yin offensively was equally as optimal. In a few exchanges, Tian Yinwu had acutely determined her strengths and weaknesses. The level of insight and understanding of cultivation needed to do this in a few short exchanges was indescribably high!

What a freakish monster!

While the two were thoughtfully considering the others' terrifying means, Lin Ming fled!

"Damnit!" The Archaic Chosen viciously cursed in his heart as he realized that he was in a disadvantageous position. While he blitzed toward the wall, he thought: "If it was simply one versus one, I could fight them! But they're together, and it's hard for me to adapt to this new form." Lin Ming reasoned, contributing his current situation to three against one.

However, when he thought of Na Xinyi's beautiful figure, his heart pounded vigorously as a subconscious heat swelled there. She had left a concealed spell inside his body without him noticing, and when he was nearly attacked by Tian Yinwu's sword light, he had phased through it after its activation, outright avoiding it! He was a little terrified, shaken, and confused by Na Xinyi's role in this fight. But when he saw her save Tang Xingyun, and then push him aside and block Zuhei's strike, he couldn't help but consider that she was on his side.

He had heard from Tang Xingyun during the Everworld Venture stage that she had relied on the Extreme Yin Saintess to hide their illicit act from the prying eyes of the Imperial Clan. Relieved that he wasn't alone, he decided to draw Zuhei and Tian Yinwu away by escaping, relying on Na Xinyi to protect Tang Xingyun.

Howl!

His Spirit Core throbbed as his white pupils shrank. Clasping his Origin Spear, Lin Ming felt the aura through his newly acquired Spiritual Sense of Zuhei arriving above him, pouncing at him with claws and fangs gleaming with a bloody, savage light.

With a heavy breath, he twisted his flying body to face Zuhei's dropping figure, about to launch a counterattack. His Divine Origin circulated as Spiritual Force erupted, surging into the Origin Spear, and exuding a profoundly spirit-shaking aura!

A sword howl erupted, tainting the sea of bitterness with a hue of golden light. Zuhei's claws slammed toward Lin Ming with tyrannically godly strength, but just as it was about to clash with Lin Ming's Origin Spear, a soft, gentle, and misty golden sword light swept toward Zuhei at mind-bogglingly speeds, engulfing him entirely.

Whoosh!

Lin Ming only saw a brief flash and Zuhei vanished from his perception. It was only after extending his Spiritual Sense that he discovered Zuhei was tens of miles away, rushing back with a scarlet blaze in his bloodthirsty eyes. Turning his senses, he saw Tian Yinwu and Na Xinyi fighting as the former sent streaks of sword light toward Tang Xingyun while the latter defended against it.

Lin Ming sighed in relief, but he was unsure why Tian Yinwu was fighting against Zuhei. Is it because he didn't want Zuhei to kill him? Did he want to do it himself? If so, then he'd have to disappoint the Seventh Prince on both fronts! Invigorated, he pushed his movement art to its limits, blitzing across the sea of bitterness as a bolt of lightning.

Lin Ming's thought process wasn't entirely wrong, but it certainly wasn't right.

Tian Yinwu could acutely sense the power levels between Zuhei and Lin Ming, and while the latter had reached a profound state of a Spiritualist, it was very clear that he lacked proper control and understanding of his Divine Origin and Spirit Core, not even using Spiritual Spells.

Whoever taught him the path to becoming a Spiritualist had ill intentions or simply taught him ignorantly. Why wouldn't they teach him to become a cultivator that focused on Spiritual Spells and Spiritual Arts? Every movement of Lin Ming was showcasing Astral Arts and Martial Arts, not the slightest trace of Spiritual Spells was part of his main strength.

If they clashed, even briefly, Zuhei would instantly slaughter Lin Ming in his recently ascended Spiritualist state, and he'd certainly lose the ability to claim an intact Spirit Core or the Divine Origin he formed. This was both Na Xinyi and Tian Yinwu's thought process and concerns, which was why they both didn't try to halt the other's attempt to stop Zuhei, even giving each other breathing room to do so.

The scene of Zuhei chasing after Lin Ming while Na Xinyi and Tian Yinwu clashed with the latter targeting Tang Xingyun and the former defending was unimaginable! It was swift and intense! From time to time, the Extreme Yin Saintess and Seventh Prince launched hindering attacks against Zuhei, who ignored them entirely.

However, this speedy clash caused them to slow down as they inched toward the 12th Wall.

Qiao Shulin was barely capable of catching a glimpse of their fight, her breathing heavy and her mind flaring as she tried to think of what to do. She followed along, trying to push her movement art to its limits! But her Temporal Eye cultivation base was severely lacking to interfere in this fight of four Starlords.

Still, she gritted her teeth and moved!

Yi Yun tried to reach her, but the shockwaves from Zuhei's raw movements were so extremely intense! Every time he kicked off, the world shook and the Dark Chosen was pushed back. With his refined body, he tried to push through, but the force was intense. It was less intense on Qiao Shulin's side as the other two kept pushing Zuhei his way.The piercing winds cut into his skin and his eyes shed some tears. He tried to push through as he saw Qiao Shulin's hazy figure.

"Sen-senior! Senior Sis-" Yi Yun was forcefully pushing through as he tried to call out, his voice muffled by the explosions of Zuhei's movements. Unfortunately, Lin Ming's rampant Spiritual Force was raging, preventing him from sending any spiritual transmissions.

Boosh!

Zuhei slammed a few dozen meters besides him after being carried away by grey and golden sword light, both misty. He was sent flying!

Tian Yinwu and Na Xinyi both frowned as the latter blocked off a murderous strike toward Tang Xingyun's heart with her longsword. They had to work together to send Zuhei back just now! He was extremely close to Lin Ming, and while the Archaic Chosen had turned to defend just in case, Zuhei's fangs, his literal bloody maw, were about six inches from Lin Ming's throat!

It was disgustingly close!

"He's getting stronger!" They both began to realize this truth in their hearts. They had to accommodate by increasing their power output too.

Tian Yinwu thoughtfully looked at Lin Ming while Na Xinyi focused on Zuhei, their eyes flickering with the light of calculation.

Suddenly, the air grew intense.

The two exchanged glances.

While this happened, Lin Ming finally reached a mile from the 12th Wall. With a tight grip on his Origin Spear, he got into throwing position, then explosively halted his position before launching the Origin Spear toward the 12th Wall with Spiritual Force!

WOOSH!!

BOOM!!!

The spear entered the 12th Wall with the durability of the 96th Wall! It was unable to withstand Lin Ming's power, shattering entirely. Lin Ming was going to use the unique teleportation power of the Everpath Voyage to escape from this predicament!

Just as he expected the spatial power to flow-

Nothing happened!

"What?!" Bewildered, Lin Ming's white pupils shone with frightening light! "Shit!" He immediately realized that something was impeding the Everpath Voyage's spatial powers. What type of existence could do that?! He was deeply taken aback, unable to not have Wei Wuyin flash across his mind.

Lin Ming gritted his teeth as he thought that man sent Zuhei, his freaking dog, after him! That fucking bastard! Rage aside, Lin Ming could only roar inwardly as he called back his Origin Spear.

"WATCH OUT!"

A familiar voice resounded. Lin Ming turned to the origin of the voice, "Shulin?" His mind was rapidly turning, but alas, he hadn't realized that Zuhei was directly behind him.

Zuhei was a predator of the highest degree, but fundamentally, he was of the canine lineage, the Silver Wolf! The wolf learned their tactics and ways from their Ancestor, and among those was the ability to conceal themselves and stalk their prey!

Wreathed in Necros Intent, Predation Intent, and the Ancestral Will of his Ancestor, Zuhei had inexplicably merged with the world! Not even the Spiritualist state could detect him! When Lin Ming was distracted, he struck instinctively!

It was as if it was timed perfectly, planned down to the millisecond. All the other times were merely distractions, decoys for the senses, and this was Zuhei's first time truly attacking!

No...HUNTING!

Twang!

A resounding sound of an arrow leaving a bow echoed in the air, carrying the entire power of a Timelord. Within this arrow was conviction and killing intent! The intent to kill to protect!

Lin Ming felt Qiao Shulin's aura as the arrow pierced through time and space, arriving a few feet from him as he turned around curiously, his eyes bulging as he saw Zuhei's savagery in full view, not expecting such a bloodthirsty and vicious expression.

The arrow flew true! It hit Zuhei in the neck!

While it struck true, it did nothing to stop him!

However, this was enough for Lin Ming to feel the sensation of an incomparable crisis!

BURN!

He directly ignited his Spirit Core! The sudden burst of power sent Zuhei flying!

Lin Ming was a blazing figure of spiritual aura, his presence kept rising as he grew considerably stronger. If before, he could kill Venerables, he was confident in facing even Earthly Saints! This type of power was indescribably majestic, leaving him feeling invincible.

"NO!" He heard a distorted and panicked shout.

Tian Yinwu and Na Xinyi rushed toward Lin Ming! They seemed intensely focused as if this was a good opportunity. Meanwhile, the two ignored the woman who had attacked.

One important thing to note, throughout the entire skirmish, the two had never once attacked Zuhei; not one of their attacks carried any intent to harm, so the wild, feral-like Zuhei ignored them as if they were invisible!

Unfortunately, there was someone who had launched an attack with killing intent...

HOWL!!!

Zuhei's ferocious eyes turned to the ashen pale Qiao Shulin, her breathing heavy and her legs trembling. She felt her entire body grow cold.

Yi Yun had shouted earlier, but he was simply too far to reach Qiao Shulin.

BOOSH!!!

Zuhei explosively shot toward Qiao Shulin!

Lin Ming's eyes bulged. "Stop!"