Paragon of Sin

The dragons were unbelievably swift. The ambient mana of the world fueled their movements, making them travel at lightning speed!

"Defend!" Grand Priest Zi Gu ordered, trying to keep his calm despite the horror and confusion he felt. The other ten Realmlords were also terrified, but they steeled their wills and stayed their grounds. They manifested their Worldly Domains, working in coordinated effort as they fought with numbers, two against each incoming dragon!

Those hidden experts watched from afar with gaped expressions and quivering hearts as the Realmlords resisted the elemental dragons! What was this?! A single Holy Son was fighting against ten Realmlords!

Grand Priest Zi Gu was calmly watching Wei Wuyin, observing the idle four dragons that swarmed around him protectively. He noted that they each breathed out mist with the four basic elements: fire, water, earth, and wind. The five that were attacking embodied the five advanced elements: metal, lightning, wood, magma, and ice!

He was-

"ARGHHH!" A sudden scream of panic erupted followed by a cry for help as a Realmlord's Worldly Domain was engulfed by a dragon's thick, coiling body, grinding against its scales. If it wasn't for his Worldly Domain pushing the dragon's body away, he would've been viciously crushed.

His partner launched violent attacks at its head, hoping to dissipate the dragon with her might, yet the dragon remained seemingly unfazed. At times, it would open its mouth and breath out gushes of cold mist. The female Realmlord felt her heart shiver from the cold, feeling a power that might be able to instantly claim her life. She hurriedly dodged with ample caution, unable to spare an ounce of attention for her partner.

Grand Priest Zi Gu was about to act to save the Realmlord, but two dragons twisted in excitement, their breaths of mist grew heavier as if waiting for him to move. He wasn't a fool. By all means, he needed to deal with Wei Wuyin and kill the controller of the array, but those five dragons protectively shielded him.

If he acted to save others, they might launch attacks on the other members. Right now, he was forcing Wei Wuyin to protect himself against his terrifying might and possible assault, keeping him at bay. But it was double-sided. While he kept Wei Wuyin at bay, Wei Wuyin caused him to be unable to support the others.

"Resist a little longer! I've called for reinfor-" Was all he could say spiritually to both Realmlords before their spiritual connection was abruptly severed. Shocked, he turned to see a twisted, deformed body falling after being crushed into a nearly flat surface. As for the female Realmlord that was assaulting the dragon, the dragon's teeth moved in an animated fashion, clearly chewing a hard object.

There was a frozen forearm that had fractured, falling downwards to the city below. As for the rest of the body? The violent crunching sound was evident of its fate.

He gulped heavily, his adam's apple bouncing vigorously.

"Nooo…" this shouldn't be possible! Realmlords were powerful, nearly invincible existences! How could they just die? Three deaths in the matter of seconds?

But he felt it again. The mana of the world was at the control of these dragons, unleashing unfettered amounts of extremely high Sky Pressure! Unlike spiritual pressure, Sky Pressure was a unique characteristic of the Sky Ruler Phase. It was rarely a decider in fights, at least against those at higher cultivation. It was an ability to control ambient mana to weaken your opponent's astral force, pressure their physical bodies, and grind away at their mental focus.

The Worldly Domain can convert ambient mana into one's own power, amplifying Sky Pressure and transforming it into World Pressure. While within a Realmlord's Worldly Domain, enemies would be subjected to this type of pressure to an extreme. Even other Realmlords wouldn't dare casually enter another's Worldly Domain for fear of this terrifying force.

Unfortunately, during the Season of Regression, a Realmlord's Worldly Domain was considerably weakened, unable to draw upon ambient energies or mana for their own strength, completely removing this quality from their  repertoire, but only during.

"This Sky Pressure...this ambient mana...it's at the level of World Pressure!" The Grand Priest Zi Gu finally gauged the strength of this pressure, feeling absolutely appalled and terrified at this discovery. How was this possible?! The Season of Regression sealed ambient mana!

He tried to connect to the ambient mana and unleash Sky Pressure, but to no avail. Even his Worldly Domain was useless, unable to seize the ambient mana. He couldn't fathom what was happening, but he could see Worldly Pressure restrain these Realmlords mercilessly. His only guess was that it was a result of the extremely powerful array somehow releasing its own.

A Realmlord was negligent, his mind blanked for a second as a dragon roared, unleashing a spiritual assault that shook his Sea of Consciousness. In a blink, he was devoured by this dragon, unleashing lifeforce from its misty breath, yet it claimed the Realmlord's life with its sharp, piercing teeth and crushing maw. There wasn't time to even cry out for help!

Four!

Grand Priest Zi Gu nearly lost his mind. He shot towards the other Realmlord that now fought the dragon alone, seeking to save him. But as he shot forward, two dragons from Wei Wuyin's side, the fire breathing and wind breathing dragon shot off explosively with incredible speeds towards the others, this included the frost breathing dragon that dealt with its enemies.

Grand Priest Zi Gu saved the Realmlord from the jaws of a dragon as that Realmlord was horribly suppressed from all angles, from the Worldly Pressure and Spiritual Assaults from these terrifying roars. But as he sighed in relief and satisfaction, receiving the ever-thankful looks from the Realmlord, his mind felt two shattering talismans in his possession. His heart sank in the depths of despair.

With rage, he shot off towards Wei Wuyin with the Realmlord in tow, deciding to end this! But as he approached, he was buffeted by vast World Pressure, causing his expression to change drastically! In moments, his power went into disarray, feeling weaker than when he was a Gravity Emission Phase Cultivator!

"RETREAT TO THE TEMPLE!" He shouted in fear, blazing through the sky towards the temple at his fastest speed, moving even faster than when he rushed forward. He hadn't realized this before, but the dragons were unleashing separate Worldly Pressure! This meant it was like facing nine Realmlords!

Even though Wei Wuyin was less protected, if he was delayed for a few seconds, then…

He felt the shattering of the other talismans almost simultaneously…

Nine...

He didn't look back, blitzing through the skies and entering the temple.

"..." The world was silent as they bore witness to the deaths of nine Realmlords. Was this happening?!

Wei Wuyin coldly watched Grand Priest Zi Gu desperately retreat, recalling his Nine Dragons of Origin. They swiftly swirled around him protectively, with the metal dragon obediently offering its head as a platform. Riding it, Wei Wuyin slowly floated as he inspected the temple with narrowed eyes.

He had the Zenith Origin State, a strange and uniquely powerful Astral Soul State that allowed him to shatter the bindings and restrictions of ambient mana. It was less controlling the ambient mana, but more the ambient mana was begging to act to his will. They escaped their bindings force because he was willing to connect with it, giving him some thoughts about mana.

Unlike Realmlords that needed their Worldly Domain to release World Pressure, he could do so freely. When he discovered this power, he never got a chance to use it, never needed to. In fact, he had multiple powers that allowed him to contend with Realmlords or those of higher cultivation, such as Kratos's Draconic Void Force, but he never needed to use it.

Until now.

Lin Ming had assumed he would stay his hand, hide in his temple and passively wait until an opportunity presented itself. But he didn't need to wait, because this was the Season of Regression! During this suppressed environment, Realmlords and Timelords weren't even remotely as scary as they should be!

To him? They were weaklings.

Without their Worldly Domains and Temporal Dissonance, they were just Gravity Emission Phase experts with stronger astral force. But could their quantity or quality of astral force hope to match his four thirty-two centimeter-sized Astral Cores?!

Wei Wuyin glanced at the nearby Voidships, his eyes narrowed even further with leaking killing intent. These Holy Children had ruined his desire to weaken the Realmlords and Timelords of this World Realm, to whittle away at them with their own power, create hatred and animosity amongst them, and now they were more peaceful and unwilling to deal with each other.

If so, then he'd have to take matters into own hands to ensure that his starfield doesn't descend into ruin if they ever escaped. If they were divided, there might not be an issue, but if they united, how disastrous would that be?

So he had to act!

All those who refused to submit?

They had to die!

As for those members of the temple? They were too religiously devoted to rely on! He needed to cull them all to ensure his future plans remained completely unhindered, especially after the Season of Regression ended.

ROAR!

The dragons turned their large, domineering eyes towards the Voidships. Their multi-colored breathing synchronized, giving them a strange, united feeling. With a slither of their long bodies, they swiftly moved towards the Voidship that carried the Holy Daughter of Absolute Hot Fire!

"Stop!" A voice filled with heroic might resounded. A figure shot out of the temple, wielding a white spear, flying like a flash of wind towards the Voidship. He hovered above the Voidship, watching Wei Wuyin approach with a glint in his eyes.

Wei Wuyin halted the dragons, looking at this newly arrived figure, handsome and valiant in disposition. It was Lin Ming!

"Using external power to slaughter, isn't that beneath you, beneath the Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn? You're here for me, aren't you? So here I am. You want these, right? The only way is by direct challenge, and you know it!" Lin Ming brought out four badges, causing numerous figures to gasp in shock at this reveal.

Four Badges of Divinity! That's three more than they were aware of! Where did they come from?! The questions were endless as these experts stared at Lin Ming, this Holy Son of Quad-Elementus, in confusion!

Wei Wuyin silently stared at Lin Ming, confusion in his eyes, but as he saw the four badges, his silver eyes glowed radiantly with excitement. He dismissed Lin Ming's idiocy, thinking the array was an external power he unleashed, focusing on those badges instead. According to the rules of the trial, it was true: he could only obtain the badges via challenges.

If he just killed the Holy Child, the badges would return to their respective temples, and he'd have to wait until someone else claimed it via the rightful way and challenged them. The only exception is if the Holy Child killed themselves.

After all, this was a trial for Chosen Candidates. Not a trial for "using the powers of others to kill" trial. Of course, this wouldn't stop those from using other's powers to their advantage.

"What do you say?" Lin Ming indifferently asked, glancing at the nine dragons that moved the world's mana at will. How could he not think that Wei Wuyin was using some extremely expensive and magical array to achieve this feat? At this rate, Wei Wuyin was invincible during the Season of Regression with those dragons present. The killing of nine Realmlords proved this.

While he knew that the one he cared about on this voidship was protected by an extraordinary expert, his mind didn't want the tiniest of risks that she would be harmed. Who knows if the Overseer won't suppress these Mystic Ascendants if they interfere too heavily?

Wei Wuyin stared at Lin Ming with an odd gaze, somewhat intrigued by the fearless proposition. While he might be a Blessed, his cultivation base was still at the Spatial Resonance Phase. Did he not hear about his strength? Or was Lin Ming blinded by his achievements in the Alchemic Dao, truly believing he was lacking in battle prowess somehow?

"Okay," Wei Wuyin unhesitatingly agreed.