Paragon of Sin

The explosively destructive developments exceeded everyone's expectations. The battle platform that had been constructed with exceptionally sturdy material that even Astral Core Realm experts at the Fourth Stage, Spatial Resonance Phase, would find difficult to so much as dent had been utterly decimated. The debris and torrents or raging wind sent the situation into even more chaos as the elite youth, these star-studded participants, had to duck and dodge with their lives on the line.

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

The continuous eruption of air and power was like a symphony of war.

"Woah!" An elegant figure fluttered in midair, swaying beside another while dodging the rapid and loose debris. The other was a young man, with black hair and black eyes. They were Qing Qiumu and Long Chen. When the unexpected destruction began, they sought each other's combined strength to avoid both the spiritual strength and the speeding debris.

They had fought together during their time in the Myriad Yore Continent for nearly a decade, so their response and combination of forces were extremely well-done.

They soon stabilized themselves hundreds of miles away from the sonic booms that tore the clouds and sundered the forests beneath. Their eyes radiated dense spiritual light as they observed with solemnly astonished expressions.

Qing Qiumu had exclaimed previously. Her heart was shook by this display of insane power. The two fighters had exchanged over three hundred close-range blows, using their Astral Force and physical bodies to clash with their enemies.

"How is this possible?!" Her question that had been held in her heart couldn't help but erupt as she turned to Long Chen. Seeing his facial expression that seemed to don the utmost seriousness, she realized even Long Chen was startled by the battle.

"They're really, really strong." Long Chen's voice was exceptionally low in tone. He had just reached the Sky Ruler Phase, yet this level of power exceeded his limits by a large amount. While he had some trump cards and means to fight both these opponents for a short period, he couldn't calculate a path of victory. This caused his heart to fall into an abyss.

Zuhei was simply Wei Wuyin's dog in his eyes. Su Mei, to him, was of a higher level. If Zuhei was this strong, what about her? He couldn't help but glance around at an attempt to locate that figure that plagued his thoughts, but to no avail. The spiritual strength that circulated within the air made scanning the area an extremely difficult feat.

"Long Chen...how are they fighting for so long? The amount of Astral Force they must be using...it's…" This was the question that her heart carried. Qing Qiumu couldn't conceive how these two were exchanging hundreds of blows in a short period of time. Even if they had a hundred times the amount of Astral Force as an ordinary expert at the Soul Idol Phase, they shouldn't be able to last this long. And if they were only using a small fraction of their power in each blow…

Well, that would be so extremely terrifying.

Long Chen's expression darkened slightly. He took a deep breath and said, "Permanence; their Astral Souls have entered the Zenith Mortal State. Each clash is with their greatest strength, and they're trying to slowly whittle away at their opponent's astral force."

In the average conflict of cultivators, the battle time and number of exchanges were unfathomably low. Oftentimes ending in a few moves, some even ending in one. This had to do with the triple concept of maintaining peak state, fighting with their utmost power, and limited energy reserves.

If in battle you held back a portion of your power, if your opponent used their greatest strength, then it was obvious who had the highest chance of claiming victory. Hence, probing attacks were ultimately eliminated from the battle standard amongst equal stage cultivators.

Of course, this was the norm due to limited energy reserves. Every attack, ward, or spell uses up energy that couldn't be contained, and must use up energy to maintain.

Then, introduce 'permanence' into the equation. If any attack at 100% could be reused for a defense or offense with the same strength, whether the attack missed, blocked an attack, or even if it hit the opponent, then it was an extremely unfair advantage. An attack that doesn't need any additional energy to maintain and can be redirected or reclaimed with most, if not all, of its strength was godly in a world with limited reserves.

But if two people had this ability, then they could fight at the peak state for longer than most, and unless their astral force is obliterated until nothing was left, then the fight would continue indefinitely.

The dawning realization finally struck Qing Qiumu as she understood. Her expression paled. These two had achieved Zenith Mortal State?! Furthermore, they were absolutely terrifying!

Long Chen had also achieved Zenith Mortal State, so he deeply understood this advantage. It was how he overwhelmed and claimed victory against many of his opponents, especially when he was fighting a group of cultivators at the same phase.

Qing Qiumu was struck with a thought, "Why aren't they using spells?" The clash of astral force seemed obvious, but if they were fighting with near equal ability, would using other methods to claim victory be better? After all, Spiritual Spells attacked in different ways than frontal attacks.

Long Chen stared at the increasingly intensifying explosive sonic booms from afar. He waved his hand, grasping the air slightly. The air seemed tense as it bent around his fingers. "They are using spells," Long Chen stated.

Qing Qiumu was startled for a moment as she glanced at Long Chen's finger. Then, her pale expression became even paler, like ash. Is this SPIRITUAL FORCE?! WERE THEY FLOATING IN SPIRITUAL FORCE?! Her heart quaked as she felt unsafe and vulnerable. If this was true, weren't they immersed in their powers? Not to mention, how much spiritual force must they have to achieve this?

Long Chen continued, "Since the very beginning, they're been using Spiritual Spells to attack the other. That...Zuhei's eyes and Lin Ming's eyes, they are releasing endless spiritual light empowered by their vast spiritual strength. The deflected power is seeping into the air and trying to quietly obliterate the other. They are fighting on two fronts." As he explained, he truly felt an appreciation for this fight. He was a cultivator that sought the peak of the Martial Dao, so seeing this degree of competent fighting left him excited.

Qing Qiumu projected a spiritual ward, pushing away the spiritual force lingering in the air. Only then did she feel safe and in control of her own life. The only reason she hadn't sensed the spiritual force was due to the battle. Each clash sent forth chaotic spiritual strength into the air that caused pain and disruption to spiritual sense, making it nearly impossible to project it outwards.

She returned her attention to the battle. The two were rising higher and higher. Sooner or later, they'll reach the platform that surrounds the planet.

"Wh-who's winning?" Qing Qiumu asked, unable to see what was happening clearly. But she knew that Long Chen definitely had the means to sense and observe the fight.

Long Chen's brows furrowed slightly. In an exceptionally serious tone, he replied: "I don't know. If they continue to fight like this, a winner might never be decided."

"..."

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

Not too far away, Su Mei and Wei Wuyin were attentively watching the fight. After he had taken action to save those who were facing death due to the fallout of the fight, he had turned his attention fully onto the ongoing epic battle.

"...He has a Zenith Mortal State Astral Soul." Su Mei was somewhat shocked by this event as reaching this level was an exceptionally difficult feat requiring vast resources and high-level talent. She and Zuhei had reached it due to Wei Wuyin's absurd level of nurturing.

Wei Wuyin's expression was relatively relaxed, not a hint of solemn or seriousness between his brow. In fact, he seemed to be excited by something. Su Mei noticed this and felt there was more to this.

Wei Wuyin felt her gaze and smilingly said, "You might not believe this, but Lin Ming's opportunities and fortune originates from the Divine King Han Xei. Or at least a large portion of it does. Likely, he's a descendant or obtained a legacy left behind from him."

"Wah!" Su Mei was instantly surprised. Divine King Han Xei? That was a figure that rivaled the Grand Monarch! He had obtained the blessing of the King of Everlore, rising to levels beyond the Astral Core Realm! This Lin Ming had obtained his legacy? Or was he a descendant of him?!

Her surprise was to be expected. Wei Wuyin said, "The preserved legacy of Divine King Han Xei produced this figure." He held a proud smile on his face.

Su Mei was still a little shocked, but she couldn't quite understand why Wei Wuyin seemed happy. For a moment, she was lost.

Then it struck.

She understood.

Wei Wuyin nodded, chuckling with joy. If the Divine King Han Xei's legacy produced Lin Ming, then that meant his own means and methods rivaled or very likely exceeded the greatest possible inheritance in the starfield. He hadn't even explored his ninth-grade products yet, and there were some truly heaven-defying products.

For example, a product that can allow a Soul Idol to exceed nine-rings! Truly heaven-defying!

Su Mei smiled, feeling Wei Wuyin's excitement and happiness as if it were her own.

In truth, she hadn't understood the true essence of his excitement. A Blessed's luck might not rival his ability to nurture his own experts. He had a distinct feeling that the Bloodline of Sin contained a hint of animosity towards those Blessed, even seeking to kill and obtain their fortune. He didn't know if there would be a figure amongst these Blessed that similarly sought his life, his fortune. If he kept training, then as long as he could obtain sufficient strength, he could overcome these obstacles.

As long as he survived the Calamities of Hell…

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

In the Alchemist Association's Abode, they were all gathered and watching the screen shown with intense focus. The battle between Zuhei and Lin Ming felt hopeless in the beginning, as many had assumed that Zuhei would instantly claim victory. But alas, fate seemed to reveal a frightening dark horse!

This was their hope of not paying an outrageously expensive bet, allowing them to take back some of their initiative.

That being said, many felt disheartened. Their genius that had been fully nurtured with all their efforts had lost long ago, but even if he made it to this stage, which one of these figures could he match? This caused many of them to become disheartened.

While Zuhei could be understood. He had the full attention of a King Alchemist and support from an Emperor Alchemist(Tuo Bihan), but Lin Ming? Who was this character? He had just appeared out of thin air and revealed a prowess that exceeded numerous senior experts with ease!

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

The two clashing figures separated after an explosive collision. They were at the edge of the platform, preventing them from ascending. They both simultaneously looked upwards, then turned to each other.

Zuhei's hands and forearms were drenched in blood. His silver hair was obscenely messy and wild like a feral animal, but his scarlet eyes released endless bloody radiance.

Lin Ming's clothing had been utterly destroyed. He was currently donning conjured white-colored battle armor of his astral force. The battle armor had deep claw marks on its surface that were slowly filling in as it expelled a crimson glow. At the edge of his lips, a line of crimson blood leaked.

Behind them were nine hundred meter sized manifestations of their Soul Idol. They were still as lifelike and powerful as when they were originally summoned.

Both of them returned their gazes to their opponent at the same time. Their eyes emanated a faint flicker of light.

Lin Ming and Zuhei simultaneously said, "One move."

After that, they both nodded.

They both understood that their relative strength was very close, and it made it nearly impossible to successfully breach their opponent's defenses. The damage to Zuhei's arms and hands were extremely superficial while Lin Ming's defensive methods were far too difficult to break. Therefore, they decided to end this with a single move.

It was very likely that one of them might even die.

Or maybe...both of them.

But the outcome will be decided here!