Paragon of Sin

"Yi!" The young female attendant started, aghast at Wei Wuyin's abrupt and bloody display. It was just her, but Tang Xingyun and Bai Yuxi were thunderstruck by Wei Wuyin's expulsion of blood and violent coughs. They both had the same thought: 'He's really injured!'

Their minds had always been honed into this belief that Wei Wuyin's astounding powers had been attributed to a self-harming method, so witnessing the consequences of this only reinforced that thought. It furthered their belief that Lin Ming was the right choice, and Bai Yuxi's hidden guilt of helping a particular candidate, likely going against her faction, had dissipated into air.

Wei Wuyin stopped his body short of a full-on kneel, hoisting himself up seemingly out of sheer willpower as his knees trembled. It took a long moment before he regained himself, coughing once more as if to remove the congested blood and relieve some pressure in his lungs. With a pale expression, he lifted his eyes and observed Lin Ming.

At this moment, Lin Ming was aware of all the events occurring before him. He had held great animosity towards Wei Wuyin, desiring to kill him, so when he observed his wretched state with his spiritual sense, he felt schadenfreude. It felt as if the heavens were fair, dishing out consequences to those who sought quick benefits. It reinforced his Heart of Cultivation, firming his will to take step by step with no shortcuts for power.

"Is he alive?" Wei Wuyin asked, putting on a confused expression as he observed Lin Ming's stationary body. He was currently being sent Primary Light energies, but the formation isolated his life signs and aura. While Wei Wuyin could see the traces of life with his Celestial Eyes, they were currently affected by his injuries.

Bai Yuxi scoffed, not even deigning to answer Wei Wuyin. She regained herself and realized the situation. "You came alone?" This discovery caused her to have some thoughts.

Wei Wuyin warily smiled, having already considered this point. He calmly answered between light coughs, "Even though I'm injured, I have my means. If I wanted, I could use 'it' again, even if the cost is a little higher than before. And in this environment, no one is my match." When he spoke, there was a wisp of boundless confidence within his tone.

Bai Yuxi frowned. She knew what 'it' meant: the self-harming method that would amplify his strength. As for the environment, the current Season of Emptiness was a result of a Chosen Candidate Battlefield, meant for Chosen Candidates, wielders of the Elemental Origin Intent, to battle it out without the interference of external powers. Even Timelords were just empowered World Sea Phase Cultivators now.

Considering this, her ill-intended thoughts dissipated. She couldn't act and neither would Venerable Spiritwalker, so Wei Wuyin still held an invincible condition until Lin Ming regained his strength, establishing a False Worldly Domain by unorthodox methods. But at that point, Lin Ming would fulfil the condition to be crowned Chosen.

But when she recalled the words of Venerable Spiritwalker, that 30% chance, her heart became gripped with hesitation. What if it fails? If Wei Wuyin used that method again, while he might suffer, he'd still obtain the Chosen title! If that happened, while he'd suffer unimaginable consequences, Lin Ming would lose his only qualification to enter the sect with a highly regarded status. If he entered normally, the climb would be merciless, and his future might be impeded by others.

She was well aware of the sect's internal struggles and difficulties.

After a brief moment of silence, she asked: "You came to bargain? What bargain?" Since Wei Wuyin was here, she was willing to hear him out. Just at this moment, the energies expelling from Tang Xingyun dwindled in quantity. The change was accompanied by whirling sounds.

Everyone focused their gazes on Tang Xingyun and watched as her body went limp, her forehead covered in sweat, and her fingers trembling from time to time. With those short, heavy, and clearly exhausted breaths, she laid there for a long while. If it wasn't for the heaving of her chest, others might consider her a recently deceased corpse from how she flopped on the ground.

Lin Ming absorbed the last bits of her Primary Light energies mixed alongside bits of her soul. Those energies gave him faint qualities as a Light Reflection Phase Cultivator despite his cultivation being at the Spatial Resonance Phase. This made determining his cultivation base extremely difficult.

After that, his grey eyes released radiant white light. Clearly, Tang Xingyun's Primary Light was of the white-level, at the highest standard that could be regarded the same as a Nine-Ringed Soul Idol and Nine-Ripple Spatial Resonance. Her foundation was impeccable.

With a sharp inhale, Lin Ming absorbed the lingering light energies in the air. With a sharp exhale, a burst of power sent everyone's clothes flapping flurry. It was as if they were facing a raging storm.

'Is this what they're trying to do?' Wei Wuyin inspected the formation, glanced at each individual's position, and seemed to think of something. This wasn't a simple recovery formation, but it was reminiscent of highly evolved Evil Methods. After the briefest of moments, despite his Sea of Consciousness suffering damage, he didn't halt his fear and surprise that showed on his face in a vivid and apparent manner.

"What the hell is that? How is his cultivation rising? Did he...what's happening?" Wei Wuyin fumbled over his words, fear lingering within every strained breath, between every stuffy cough. His actions resulted in a sneer from Bai Yuxi.

Lin Ming faint smiled, feeling the immense power circulating through his body. He turned to Tang Xingyun, a delicately soft and gentle gaze revealed itself. Those emotions were deep and simple. "Thank you," he said.

Tang Xingyun struggled to lift herself, nodding with a smile. If she wasn't concealed behind the guise of an ordinary-looking girl, perhaps the very heavens might be bewitched by such a genuine smile accompanied by outstanding beauty.

Lin Ming wanted to help her up, but couldn't move. So he turned his gaze towards Wei Wuyin, knowing they had a few minutes of prep time before the attendant's turn began. "You've used despicable methods for power, and even disgusting illusions that play upon people's emotions to achieve your desire. Why do you think I'll ever agree to bargaining with you?" With his renewed sense of strength, he was exuding boundless confidence and regained his normally heroic demeanor.

Wei Wuyin coughed a few times, looking at Lin Ming. "I'll be direct: Even if you became a genuine Realmlord today, you won't win against me if I bet it all. Unless you're willing to die as well." When he said those words, the fear went away, once more revealing a look of absolute confidence, the demeanor that the starfield was familiar with, the disposition of the Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn!

Lin Ming frowned. He felt confident in himself, but he knew there were some issues he hadn't noticed before. Firstly, Wei Wuyin never used those nine white dragons despite them entering the battle platform unhindered. This meant, while using that method of his, he could use those terrifying dragons that could exude World Pressure. In a way, he had seven Realmlords at his disposal.

There's no way these few hours would be enough to gain enough power to face such a devastating line-up.

"What do you want?" Lin Ming spat. He was clearly dissatisfied, but he understood the reality of the situation. Bai Yuxi took a backseat to the conversion, allowing Lin Ming to speak.

Wei Wuyin nodded, he withdrew the Octa-Elementus Token. "Even if I become a Chosen of this sect, my current...condition isn't suitable for it. I can imagine the competition will certainly be fierce, and I'm more renowned as an alchemist than a fighter, as you well know."

Lin Ming nodded.

Wei Wuyin was known as the Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn, an outstanding talent in alchemy. It was incredibly unfortunate that he lacked an Alchemic Astral Soul. Despite beating the nubile Princess of Everlore, he had barely any chance of exceeding her after a few dozen years. This was what his Senior Sister Lin had informed him. Unless Wei Wuyin ascended, entering into the Mystic Ascendant Realm, his Alchemic Energies will never be on par with the Princess of Everlore's Alchemic Astral Soul at the Astral Core Realm.

The difference between them will only widen with time, and talent in concoction wasn't capable of carrying one very far for too long in the Alchemic Dao.

Wei Wuyin continued, ignoring Lin Ming's thoughts, "I didn't want to suffer such intense damage from my own actions. I'll need decades, if not a century, to recover even with products. But what I'm concerned about is my mind and bodily condition's rate of deterioration. I might not live for a decade if it isn't solved. Even if I did, I'll essentially be considered a cripple in my current state. So I'm hoping the final cache has an item or material or product that could help me in my goal; fighting you will only act against my interests, forcing me to use…it."

As his words flowed, everyone's ears perked. Even Lin Ming felt various emotions at the honest reveal, but seeing his state, sensing it, it truly was horrible. Even his Astral Core's seemed to have stability issues, crumbling with each passing second. What type of method did he use?

Wei Wuyin sighed, a hint of defeat within, "If I used it again, and its cost is just a little bit higher, I don't know if..." While he spoke, he made sure to inspect and carefully say every word. He ensured there weren't any lies, and the vagueness was sufficient to pass as truth. He was aware that the guardian who acted before was present, he can't be caught in a lie.

All that was left was for the bait to be taken.

And it was.

"So the token for a chance at life?"