Paragon of Sin

Four days left…

After experiencing one of the greatest and unexplainable vanishing acts since recorded history, the starfield's inhabitants were met with colorful skies that had seemingly manifested without rhyme or reason. The fear, panic, and terror that most felt was unimaginable, but it didn't erupt into chaos, depression, and death. Instead, the flat continental earths, the planets, the warring clans, and feuding organizations set aside their differences to face it all.

Unaware of the Tiangou's inevitable descent or the Aeternal Sky Starfield's intentions, a strange sense of unity formed in the hearts of countless experts in the Imperial Dawn Starfield. A few brave experts banded together to form coalitions to fight against this unknown.

Lin Ming, Bai Yuxi, and Senior Sister Lin were staring at the net that surrounded the entirety of the starfield, emitting gorgeous lights that brightened the Dark Void.

"What's the World-Shifting Net?" Lin Ming asked, baffled by the sheer enormity of this net. He couldn't see its end. What type of power was this?

Bai Yuxi's astonishment was high, and she wanted to answer, however, her head surprisingly went blank as she tried to speak. "Uh...I...its-" From behind her veil, her eyes lost a lot of light and her face winced as a sharp pain originated from the center of her brow.

Senior Sister Lin turned to Bai Yuxi, her eyes constricted. "Your soul's damaged?!" She hurriedly arrived by Bai Yuxi's side and pressed her delicate and long index finger against her glabella. A flicker of spiritual light emitted from Senior Sister Lin's finger. It burst into a smoky cyan-colored light that infused itself into Bai Yuxi's head.

Lin Ming was broken out of his amazement, turning to Bai Yuxi with a panicked expression.

Bai Yuxi's pained expression eased as her eyelids slowly closed, and she gradually descended into a peaceful sleep. Her body went soft and Senior Sister Lin grabbed her by the legs, lifting her up in a bridal carry as she kept her eyes focused on Bai Yuxi.

Lin Ming hurriedly inquired, "Is she okay?" He was mostly ignorant of the consequences of the Engorging Foundation Method, just that it was inherently dangerous. After all, that young girl lost her life for it. If he had known that could've happened, he wouldn't have agreed to it all.

"Her soul is heavily damaged. How did this happen?" Senior Sister Lin's voice was icy, like a frozen tundra manifesting out of nowhere. The soul was very difficult to damage by Mortals. In fact, it was almost impossible without special means that exceeded Mortal Limits.

To her, the only ones that can cause this degree of damage was an Ascended. And she was well aware that there were Ascended that stayed in the Elementus Chosen Trial, using the trial as their own personal training ground. Yet none of them should act against Bai Yuxi for no reason. The inner rage in her heart was rising to explosive limits.

"I…" Lin Ming was speechless. He didn't know what to say. That she suffered such terrifying injuries because of him? That he lost the elixir meant to heal such damage? Lost, he could only gawk on as he stayed there, stiffened and petrified.

After a long while, Senior Sister Lin calmed her raging tempest of emotions. "We're leaving soon. Be sure to prepare yourself. The World-Shifting Net is a special spatial treasure forged by the Void Voyage Sect that can transport a large number of lifeforms across space. Its often used to move flat continental earths and planets to World Realms.

"In a few hours, it should activate and bring all of the lifeforms away that fits a certain criteria." Senior Sister Lin explained as she walked off, wanting to find a bedding to place the unconscious Bai Yuxi. She didn't specify that the 'certain criteria' will exclude beasts and beastmen.

Fortunately, the beasts and beastmen had already been sent elsewhere.

-----

In a lone mountain within the Desolate Lands, a cave was filled to the brim with Utmost Purity Mist. A figure within had messy hair and a slightly haggard expression, but a bright and excited smile. At the moment the World-Shifting Net emerged, that figure lifted their exhausted yet radiant eyes to the ceiling.

"Time's up, I guess."

Wei Wuyin had decided to use his time efficiently, concocting as many eighth-grade and ninth-grade alchemical products in a mad rush. Of course, not before he devised his recipe for his new alchemical product.

Fortunately, his concoction speed was unimaginably swift. In these seven days, he had concocted products without rest and nearly produced eighty thousand alchemical products of varied types, all suitable for cultivation or recovery. There were no pellets.

After reaching the Light Reflection Phase, obtaining four unique Primary Light Sources, the speed that his astral force flowed was incredible, absolutely mind-blowing. The sheer fact that he concocted eighty thousand products, all of which were low-quality or higher, in seven days was clear evidence of his accelerated growth as an alchemist. The benefits of a rising cultivation base could not be underestimated.

After keeping his cauldron, Wei Wuyin brought out a jade bottle that contained a single pill. It was perfectly spherical and silver in color. It contained a similar, if not exact, shade as Wei Wuyin's irises. Its size was roughly that of an adult eyeball, so it truly seemed like it was Wei Wuyin's eye.

The pill was brimming with energy flares that gave it a similar appearance as a solar star, with solar flares and bursts of higher radiance in certain areas. It floated at the center of the bottle as if under its own power, not touching the edges at all.

Wei Wuyin took a deep breath as he looked at this silver pill with deep, quivering emotion. It was a low-quality pill, at least from what he could gather as its fullest potential had yet to be excavated, and it belonged to his first ever self-created recipe!

"All those years ago, in the Qi Condensation Realm, the King of Everlore forged his own unique recipe and named it after himself—the Everlore Ascension Pill. Its abilities overturn convention, allowing cultivators to reach the Astral Core Realm perfectly! I never thought that one day, I, Wei Wuyin, would be able to create my own.

"And it's of a greater tier with a greater effect. With the ability of bestowing cultivators a False Worldly Domain, giving them the ability to forge a Domain Seed prior to the Realm World Phase, infusing them with the essential powers of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Stages, that even Soul Idol Phase cultivators can comfortably take it. With this, cultivators will be able to ponder upon the powers within the Domain Seed and accelerate their cultivation speed to the utmost limits!

"This pill will redefine the limits of talent and fortune, changing the convention of cultivation as well! A ninth-grade, peak-tier alchemical pill! I'll name you:

"NEO-DAWN ECLIPSE PILL!"

Wei Wuyin's words seemed to speak into existence an unfathomable force, and the silver pill trembled as its radiance erupted into an enchanting brilliance. "If the Everlore Ascension Pill is named after allowing one to ascend past their limits perfectly, then this pill will be named because it will eclipse all conventions with its effects. It will forever represent: Cultivation has no limits, and a New Dawn can always Eclipse old conventions."

Wei Wuyin felt his heart invested into this pill, feeling one with it. The Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill was a unique pill that had never been concocted before, and while the concept wasn't new, with even Lin Ming achieving it, the way it was forged was fresh and utterly costless. There were only benefits, no detriments. There was no flaw.

Wei Wuyin took several breaths as he calmed his surging emotions, keeping the Neo-Dawn Eclipse Pill alongside the others. After cleaning up the mountain, he left and was immediately greeted by the aurora-like net that blanketed the sky.

Amazed, he was about to inspect it when a flash of light came from the horizon. He turned around, his eyes exuding a faint light of vigilance. The flash of light belonged to an approaching comet of energy that arrived before him, halting abruptly and floating in front of him.

It was a letter.

It had golden embroidery with a white design that contained various flora patterns. It was quite beautiful, and even gave off a faint fragrant scent. Wei Wuyin was doubtless as to who this belonged to.

With a wave of his hand, he caught the letter and found that it was marked by a seal that carried a strange looking golden rose that looked like a blooming lotus, a mixture of the two. The seal was easily broken as he opened the letter and found a firm rectangular-shaped card inside.

The card read:

"I, Third Manager of the Golden Life Pavilion, Ma Zheng, invites you to the Golden Life Pavilion in the Aeternal Sky Starfield as our honored guest to discuss the matter of the destruction of our 5th World Realm, the Devil War Realm."

Wei Wuyin's expression didn't darken or even show any sign of surprise. Instead, he faintly smiled. And even as he looked at the back of the letter, he didn't react much but chuckled softly in amusement.

"To ensure your timely and certain arrival, the dragons and other beasts of this starfield will be our honored guests until then. Please retrieve them at your leisure."

Others might construe this as a threat, but Wei Wuyin didn't. If the Ascended sought him or his allies harm, this was the most horrible way to go about it. It reeked of good intentions.

Wei Wuyin had already received transmissions about their strange disappearances. He had the sneaky suspicion that a force that was shaped or influenced by the likes of Divine King Han Xei might not act to save beasts, beastmen, or demons. The total absence of them in the Four Extreme Continent was very telling. If so, this might be an expression of his karmic luck saving the others. While not a certainty, it was a possibility.

'But what about the demons? Or is it not the True Element Sect taking action?' Wei Wuyin pondered this question for a moment before he set that aside. He didn't have time to consider these things, all that mattered was getting everyone out, in whatever way possible.

With a step, he transformed into a blazing comet that streaked across the sky.