Paragon of Sin

A cyan-colored radiance had been born into existence. Its light was so bright, so brilliant that Wei Wuyin's silver irises, dark pupils, and white sclera were blanketed by its hue. Those vulgar words that he wanted to spit out were forcefully severed as he observed a phenomenon that he had never thought he'd see again in this life.

Uuuurrrrnnn!

A familiar sound etched into his heart resounded once more. It resembled the bellowing of a great aquatic beast, and that pounded against his heart, mind, and cells with thunderous waves. The world distorted, twisting, contorting, and changing in an unpredictable, nauseating manner that left one's mind stumbling.

The changes produced a visual imagery before him, a kaleidoscope-like effect of perfect symmetry was formed, split from his current perception. Yet before him was the object that emerged without reason, seemingly utterly impossible to appear.

A ring of cyan light.

SOUL PULSE RING!!!

Unlike before, his astral souls and himself were accustomed to the baffling visual and sensational changes, so they acclimated themselves swiftly, yet the intense shock from this event wasn't lessened the slightest.

"How is this even possible? Aren't they products of the Soul-Pulse Manifestation Tribulation?!" Wei Wuyin was completely thrown for a loop, unable to properly react to this heaven-defying event. According to conventional logic, a cultivator was unable to experience Astral Tribulations with the same Spirit of Cultivation twice. To experience an Astral Tribulation again, one had to shatter their Spirit of Cultivation and restart anew!

While Mystic Ascendants didn't seem to have this restriction, capable of challenging their respective Ascensions multiple times, those in the Astral Core Realm did!

This Soul Pulse Ring was as large as the first ring of his combined tribulation, exceeding hundreds of thousands of miles in circumference. Yet unlike before, the Ninestar Starfield was gargantuan in comparison to the Everlore Starfield, so it barely exceeded the Soul-Rising Domain. Still, it was massive!

However, Wei Wuyin's heart was unable to rest, because more Soul Pulse Rings were forming! He could see the second slowly gather and condense as the Manifested Spirit Energy coalesced into the ring shape.

The formation of the ring was slow, very slow in comparison to his original Soul Pulse Manifestation Tribulation. Back then, all nine had formed instantly and he was tasked with racing through them. These rings seemed to be somewhat different, but the thought of racing through them again caused his heart to throb.

"BELOW!" Eden shouted out.

Wei Wuyin felt his mind shake as he instinctively glanced below, and when his eyes once again reflected the cyan-colored brilliance, his thoughts almost came full-stop. He saw cyan-colored rings below, two in fact!

His head whipped back upwards and he saw the same image. His first thought was a mirror reflecting it, but then he heard two shouts within his mind.

"Behind us!" Kratos' voice resounded this time, causing his heartbeat to race uncontrollably. Wei Wuyin spun around to notice the Vanishing Colossus blocking his sight. With a soft breath, executing a spatial shift again, he appeared on the other side of the ship. The sight of two rings and a forming three was taking place!

When he reached this thought, he shot upwards until he could view all directions unobstructed. With a complete spin, the void trembled, and he saw it all. His pupils became needlepoints.

Four directions.

All were forming Soul Pulse Rings!

"Four Soul-Pulse Manifestation Tribulations...?" Wei Wuyin was astonished, bewildered by the current events. The transcendent Soul Deity Invoker Elixir was recreating four different tribulations? However, as he watched each grow and form further out, establishing their fourth rings, his heart pounded fiercely.

Each tribulation was as strong as his first! That previous tribulation was the result of all four of his Astral Souls merging their Astral Tribulations! It created a super Soul-Pulse Manifestation Tribulation! But now, there were four of the exact same degree forming simultaneously.

He was at a total loss. "Do you feel control over these rings?" Wei Wuyin asked his four astral souls. Before, they had some control over their tribulations, enough to always cause endless trouble. However, it seemed even they were taken by surprise by this.

"It feels the same, but it feels different," Kratos answered with a thought-filled hum. It seemed Kratos still spoke cryptically whenever it was stumped. He ignored Kratos, focused on Eden's understanding of events. The only reliable one.

"...The elixir is inducing changes in each of us. We're connected, like its affecting us, inspecting us, almost like it felt when we first underwent the tribulation. I think its replicating our tribulations based on our recorded experiences. Since we all overcame the same amplified tribulation, it was recreated four times. I don't think we have any control over it." Eden's thoughts were clearer, answering most of Wei Wuyin's questions.

"But why? Does it strengthen existing Soul Rings?" Wei Wuyin furrowed his brows. At this time, six rings had formed for each, causing the entire space between the rings to tremble faintly. When the Soul Pulse Rings were created before, a spiritual pressure enshrouded and descended heavily upon the Everlore Starfield. He wondered if something similar would happen here.

"...Perhaps its to create another ring?" Eden guessed, but it had no clue. The effects of transcendent products were extremely unpredictable as they were. It could be to give one a second chance to overcome the Soul Idol Astral Tribulation should a cultivator fail, or to strengthen the rings, or to create another ring, or to temper one's Spiritual Strength.

It had no idea what developments or outcome to expect.

Wei Wuyin realized that Eden reached the limits of its knowledge, pushing any further would only create wild conjectures without any evidence to support it. The only concerning detail was: will the rings pull him into four different directions? He didn't want to die due to this, and being ripped apart by a pseudo-tribulation was not how he imagined his death would happen.

The seventh ring was created, the cyan-colored brilliance was massive, and the expanse of the seventh ring was utterly gigantic. By the fifth ring, the entire Ninestar Starfield was engulfed, so the seventh reached far beyond.

"Can people see it?" Before, no one could see the Manifested Spirit Energy, only the physical, mental, and spiritual beings of a similar wavelength. However, he wasn't certain now. In fact, there were several Realmlords and stronger cultivators of the Vanishing Colossus and nearby planets that were soaring into the Dark Void with their spiritual senses fanning out.

They had their Worldly Domains erected, and they were searching in every direction. While Wei Wuyin was only able to see the nearby planets, what he didn't realize was that this was happening in almost every location in the entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Region!

While these experts couldn't see it, they could feel it!!!

They were astonished by the faint spiritual pressure exerted by the rings building up with the passing time, trying to locate it. Some were even able to arrive directly beside the rings themselves, especially Ascended whose cultivations were beyond Mortal Limits.

-----

Wu Yu was seated on the huge cluster of Terra-Mystic Ore, but his eyes were spinning around wildly. "What the hell is this?" While the spiritual pressure wasn't intense, it engulfed him entirely. It felt somewhat uncomfortable. "Reminds me of a tribulation'¦"

-----

In the Aeternal Sky Starfield, the Elementus Domain. A small-sized planet controlled by the parasitic existences of the True Element Sect, an area belonging to a relatively independent Silver-tier force with connections was there. The entire area was ravaged by signs of an intense battle, elemental origin energies littered throughout.

"Junior!" An aged, thunderously malicious male voice exploded out with a raging momentum. "DO! YOU! DARE?!"

Somewhere, there was a grey-eyed youth with a smirk of confidence. With a white spear in hand, he thrusted it to pierce the flesh of a young handsome man, plucking out their heart with that single thrust.

"YOU!!" With a ferocious rage, the aura of a Timelord erupted out, and shot directly towards the grey-eyed youth. However, he suddenly stopped as a strange, unfathomable spiritual pressure engulfed them.

"...What is that?"

-----

In the Elven Sanctuary, within a certain secret realm, there was an archaic palace that was dilapidated and had ninety-nine steps leading to its doors. A young halfling, both human and elf, was within a crowd of elves ready to challenge its trials. While the other elves didn't notice, the halfling felt his hairs stand, his senses incredibly sensitive.

"What's happening?"

-----

In an isolated location within a strange, unfathomable secret realm, a white-haired female figure's crimson eyes as gorgeous as treasured rubies opened with a wisp of confusion within. "Spiritual Pressure?"

A faint glimmer sparkled within her crimson eyes alongside a golden glow at her glabella. "Nothing?"

-----

Wei Wuyin watched as the rings completely formed. All nine rings in four directions. The spiritual pressure was far too weak. If the current him had to undergo the same tribulation, as long as he wasn't split into four directions, he felt it would be too easy to overcome. A small smile of absolute confidence formed on his face.

Yet'¦

Wei Wuyin's eyes widened. He felt his astral souls start to move about suspiciously.

"no'¦"

They started sharing their energies.

"No."

Their auras soon became indistinguishable.

"NO!"

And they started to brightly glow!

Three different no's said in three different tones, each deeper than the last, backed by an increasingly forbidding volume.

Wei Wuyin could swear that he heard laughing'¦

The thirty-six rings trembled and started to fracture.