Paragon of Sin

"Well…" Wei Wuyin sensed the oncoming Stellar Rain, at least those at the forefront. The sheer quantity of Stellar Rain was so outrageous that his spiritual sense had trouble grasping each of them, allowing him to only roughly count their numbers. 

Tens of trillions! 

If anyone else was in Wei Wuyin's situation, Ascended being or mortal, they would likely soil themselves in fear. However, Wei Wuyin was completely calm, and his focus honed onto the masked figure. 

"They're after you?" Wei Wuyin finally spoke to the masked figure, sending a spiritual transmission. 

The masked figure seemed similarly calm despite the ongoing situation. The danger of the Stellar Rain hadn't provoked any hasty moves. From their standing stance to the tension in their fingers, there wasn't a single indication of concern. 

"Me?" There was a hint of amusement in the masked figure's spiritual tone. The masked figure used their unoccupied hand to gesture towards the icy marbles with an open palm. "I'm not the one who attacked them." 

Wei Wuyin nodded in acceptance. He had assaulted them without understanding their abilities, habits, or numbers. This could be construed as an act of recklessness in the eyes of others. But to him? This was following along with his goals perfectly. He walked a little amidst the frozen bodies of these Stellar Rain lifeforms, waving his hand about as they began to float upwards. "So that strange sound of theirs was a call for help," he surmised. 

"You aren't wrong," The masked figure calmly replied.

GIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

GIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

GIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

From all directions, their unified cry resounded and shook the ground with a feral intensity. The bloodlust and killing intent within their faint mental fluctuations was abundantly clear to all who heard it, and for Wei Wuyin who cultivated the Mind Dao, these emotions were extremely noticeable. 

They hadn't attacked yet, all directions were being deliberately sealed by their numbers. They stacked themselves together, clustered and formed walls with their bodies, and their cries were signs of calling forth further reinforcements.

Wei Wuyin didn't delay after grasping the situation. The floating icy marbles that contained the unique bodies of the Stellar Rain lifeforms began to gather towards him. With another wave of his hand, interacting with the mystic-graded spatial ring of Cai Liuyang, a byproduct of a genuine Internal World refined, thode marbles distorted and started to vanish with remarkable swiftness.

In a matter of mere moments, tens of millions of frozen lifeforms vanished. The bodies of these Stellar Rain could be used for his own purposes, and that glittering starlight might be the quintessential solar essence that could be refined to strengthen Star Cores or as a material for Concoction Methods.

"Oh?" The masked figure seemed to have been preoccupied with something, but their attention was immediately brought back to Wei Wuyin after he kept the Stellar Rain. "You have a Microcosm Ring?" 

"Microcosm Ring?" Wei Wuyin's mind stirred. This was the official name for a mystic-graded spatial ring; however, Jing Jiu's memories suggested that the name was archaic. The only reason Jing Jiu had learned of it was because he found his own ring in an ancient tomb of an expert from over three hundred thousand years ago. In the Azure-Prime Galactic Region, due to advancements and progression of technology, after it was forged using genuinely forged Internal Worlds, they were later called Nth World Rings and presently referred to as Saint Rings.

When they were originally designed, their strength and quality was defined by the number of Internal Worlds properly merged and refined prior to the spatial ring's forging process. Because of this, the 'nth' was substituted with the number of Internal Worlds, such as the 3rd World Ring. This was later thrown away after a series of methods to post-expand a World Ring's space, strengthen its stability, create it without tremendous sacrifice, and redesign its structure to resemble sustainable worlds was created by elite cultivators and alchemists.

It was then termed just Saint Rings, from how only those who have both Awakened Mystic Intent and an Internal World, Earthly Saints or Alchemic Saints, were capable of producing or enhancing these rings that was far more effective than the previous iterations.

To hear those words spoken in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, Wei Wuyin's curiosity was ignited. 

GIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

The sound in the distance hadn't stopped. It only grew louder, containing heavier violence with each passing second. They seemed ready to pounce, only accumulating sufficient numbers. At this point, the horizon of this world was blocked off from view, and Wei Wuyin and the masked figure were thoroughly surrounded. These Stellar Rain lifeforms stayed at a consistent distance of eighty miles. It was menacing.

"Who are you?" The masked figure asked, clearly shaken that Wei Wuyin was in possession of a spatial ring of that quality. "Why would she allow you through?" It seemed the masked figure was now curious, no longer attributing the issue of the United Source True Queen's failure to uphold their original deal as distrust. 

Wei Wuyin didn't answer. He inspected his spatial ring and examined the Stellar Rain sealed by ice origin force. Despite being a ring designed with an Internal World, there were certain limitations to allowing lifeforms to exist within. While there were rings that allowed such things, Cai Liuyang and Jing Jiu's rings weren't designed with that in mind. While they could keep life within if sealed in a jade box or unique arts, if unsealed, the world would naturally reject it. 

He slowly dissolved an ice marble and discovered that the lifeform that was the Stellar Rain wasn't rejected despite squirming around actively. This verified a theory of his. These Stellar Rain lifeforms weren't true lifeforms, but artificially created avatar-like existences. 

But why? 

"You said she ruined everything before. What did you mean?" Wei Wuyin turned his attention back to the masked figure, sealing the stellar rain again after sending a wisp of his ice origin force within. 

"..." The masked figure remained silent as the environment kept piling up with strange sounds, and soon, the faint batting of wings began to be heard. The Stellar Rains had accumulated such a vast number that their winged flight that was typically soft was not converging into a sound loud enough to hear. 

Even if the two wanted to speak using their voice, it would be drowned out by the hectic sounds. 

The masked figure shook their head, pointing towards the area behind Wei Wuyin. That was the direction where Wei Wuyin came from, now engulfed by the background of innumerable glitters of starlight. 

"You entered. The backdoor of the Stellar Nest might be stable outside, but here, it moves after entry or exit. I had used a method to determine its location. Unfortunately…" The masked figure no longer explained. The rest was abundantly clear.

Wei Wuyin felt enlightened. No wonder he felt incredibly strange when he arrived, the backdoor began to move the moment he entered. He would be as if he had just jumped off a flying vehicle immediately after it went from still to top speed without warning. The residual spatial wake it generated caused him to be shaken. Perhaps if one didn't have a strong physical body, they'd be ripped to shreds immediately.

If this was true, then the United Source True Queen truly failed at her job allowing him to enter. The escape plan was ruined by his desire to enter and her failure to prevent it.

"You wanted an Earthly Saint to act as a guard dog for you to secure a safe return? How courageous," Wei Wuyin commented with genuine praise. It seemed his original theory that the United Source True Queen was being used was mostly true. But if so, then the United Source True Queen certainly didn't know about this, otherwise she wouldn't have held back in telling him.

As he thought about it, he came to a realization. He 'looked' behind where the exit should've been. "Determined? Not affixed?" 

"..." The masked figure didn't respond. 

"A thousand and one," Wei Wuyin said, returning his 'look' to the masked figure. "You determined the location?" It soon became clear. The Stellar Nest wasn't subject to divination, a commonly known fact, but everything had set principles, even spatial entrances and gateway doors. 

If the backdoor moved, then there had to be a logic to this movement. Distance, direction, timing, and more, all of which likely can form a reliable pattern. The masked figure running directly towards him suggested he had known the rough location of the backdoor. 

"Did you use a thousand guinea pigs to calculate the location of where the backdoor would be? Is it the reset principle, to move it to where it originally was? Or was it to manipulate it to be right where you wanted? Where are those Starlords?" Wei Wuyin couldn't help but ask. 

GIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

"Somewhere," the masked figure responded. 

"Ruthless," Wei Wuyin stated. If the backdoor was the only entry and exit for cultivators, then those Starlords will have to either be incredibly lucky to find the next location or die here of old age or from the Stellar Rain. To not only use an Earthly Saint as a line of defense to secure your exit, but to sacrifice a thousand Starlords to ensure that it'll be in a convenient location! That sounded like something he might conceive.

But he couldn't understand something, "You're under oath to return. How will you explain yourself?" 

"..." The masked figure lifted the miniaturized solar star slightly. This seemed to be an unintentional movement, a sign of confidence. 

Wei Wuyin looked at the miniaturized Solar Star of endless colors in the masked figure's hand, then the Stellar Rain, and then recalled the Zenith Stellar Source. He didn't know the details of the oath, but chances were the oaths weren't airtight enough. Perhaps a stipulation was deviously included. 

What would he have done? 

GIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

'I'd swear if I obtained Stellar Rain or the Zenith Stellar Source, that I'll come back through that entrance. But only if that wasn't my goal. If the backdoor can be moved outside, it's possible it can be manipulated to jump elsewhere. It's almost impossible to find a Stellar Nest backdoor, even as an Earthly Saint.' Wei Wuyin thoughtfully concluded, putting himself in the masked figure's shoes to generate a reliable, deceptive loophole.

Greed blinded all; time was likely not on the United Source True Queen's side when the oaths were considered. She saw what she wanted to see: a payday or bust with calculated sacrifice and risk. 

He felt that he understood 80% of what happened, including that Stellar Rain or the so-called Zenith Stellar Source wasn't the goal here. Perhaps like bees in a hive, there was honey here that was far more valuable than the queen. 

"I guess she's lucky I'm here," Wei Wuyin chuckled. Who knew how much thought and planning went into this. 

The masked figure looked at Wei Wuyin throughout it all, but then they gave off an androgynous laugh. They said in praise, "She's smarter than I originally thought; sending a restrained Ascended being here to secure her interests. It was my fault for underestimating her intelligence and means, I won't lower my guard against an Earthly Saint again."

"..." Wei Wuyin was inwardly surprised by their statement.

"But if you think a restrained Ascended being is enough to stop me, you're underestimating me." The masked figure began to slowly walk towards Wei Wuyin. T

GIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

BOOOOOOOOSH!!!

From the masked figure's body, a torrential explosion of spiritual strength erupted that flooded the entire world in mere milliseconds. It was a heavy deluge of spiritual aura that engulfed the world.

GIIIiiiizzzz…

The strange sound emitted from the Stellar Rain lifeforms gradually ceased. Their bloodlust and killing intent was replaced with fear, a similar, if not greater fear than when Wei Wuyin unleashed his own spiritual strength against those Stellar Rain from earlier. 

Wei Wuyin's eyebrows lifted in abject shock. That spiritual aura…

That was entirely within Mortal Limits, tainted by the Mortal Dao! 

Furthermore, it felt stronger than his!

Who in the hell was this masked figure?!