Paragon of Sin

Awakened Spear Intent! 

Wu Yu's spear intent was as domineering as his Imperial Heaven Aura, suppressing the entire world with a single swing! Just unleashing it had reduced all the torrentially violent sword storms conjured by Nansi Yuangu's aura to weaken, going from ten miles to three.

In response, Nansi Yuangu's right eye experienced a subtle twitch. They were tens of thousands of miles apart still, yet Wu Yu's aura was extremely oppressive. The fighting spirit in his eyes experienced a slight weakening alongside his sword storms. 

Nansi Yuangu, however, did not retreat. He slowly trudged forward through Wu Yu's Spear Intent infused with Mystic Aura, and he brought out the fullest extent of his own Mystic Aura! The tens of thousands of Mystic Runes that swirled around him, dancing beautifully, began to brighten. He was revving up, his sword brightening considerably as sword light erupted from its tip!

Wu Yu sensed Nansi Yuangu's incredible Mystic Aura, and the roiling momentum he was gathering for an assault. With his eyes glinting with spiritual light, he obtained Nansi Yuangu's Mystic Ascendant State, determining it by the number of varied Mystic Runes within his Mystic Aura. 

1…2…3…4…

Mana, Radiant, Oceanic, and Spatial!

Four of the nine Ways of Mysticism, Nansi Yuangu had comprehended them fully, granting him tremendous power. In terms of foundation, he was no weaker than Han Yuhei. This placed him amongst the strong-tier of Earthly Saints in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. Yet Wu Yu wasn't intimidated. In fact, he was a little disappointed. 

Nansi Yuangu, with sword in hand, took a single step! The space he occupied distorted, his body strangely phasing out, then he abruptly vanished! The only remnant of his presence was the sword storms raging all around. A faint sword light that had gathered at the tip of his sword! 

Wu Yu gripped his halberd tighter. A surge of power was unleashed from his body like a tsunami that sieged every direction for tens of miles. Imperial Heaven Aura! It flooded the surroundings with mind-boggling swiftness. 

"Ugh!" A grunt of pain resounded. From a few miles to Wu Yu's left, a figure tumbled out of fixed space. With sword in hand, Nansi Yuangu slashed it forward as he continuously split the encroaching Imperial Heaven Aura. 

Wu Yu didn't hesitate.

1st Grand Transformation!

The Grand Knight unleashed his first empowered form, unleashing his Imperial Pressure that threatened to crush the world to its knees! The sword storms fizzled out instantly, subjugated under its immense might. They were replaced by an ever-present, crushing force. 

Nansi Yuangu's expression changed as he combated the Imperial Heaven Aura that sieged him. He was startled by how solid this aura was. It was as if he was fighting against the ocean itself. Shockingly, it fettered him out of his spatial movement art, forcing him to face it head-on.

His three-colored eyes were unleashing beautiful spiritual light, inspecting this Imperial Heaven Aura that refused to split entirely. When he noticed the eight varied mystic runes within, empowering it, alongside a sharp, forceful intent, his eyes didn't just contract, they shrunk to complete needlepoints!

Eight…

EIGHT?!

There was Oceanic, which explained its vast and encompassing might. There was Spatial, which explained its ability to yank him from fixed space. There was Permanence, which explained its unyielding existence that refused to dissipate. To destroy it, he must exceed its power with an even greater one, exerting much more energy in turn!

This placed him in a difficult position. Without the Mystic Rune of Permanence, his powers weren't able to remain stable in the face of Wu Yu's Imperial Heaven Aura. With each clash, he lost a portion of his power, yet Wu Yu's power remained exceptionally strong and present. It kept sieging him relentlessly. 

Whether it was split apart, grinded into dust, or viciously crushed, if it wasn't completely destroyed, it could regather and strike without losing any of its strength. He felt an urge to roar out loud, but deeply suppressed it. With a step back, he commenced his retreat. 

As a sword cultivator, he was proficient in offense, but in offense, he could easily initiate defense. His movements were steady, every step causing him to traverse miles, and with a swipe of his sword, he consistently beat back the encroaching aura. He stored up and pulsed with intermittent eruptions of Mystic Pressure, resisting the Imperial Pressure as well. A sign of tremendous skill and proficiency in battle, handling this variant pressure with his own method.

Despite his calmness on the surface, the fighting spirit in his eyes had severely depleted. Wu Yu was an 8th Runic Ascendant! What type of freaking monster was that?! Even Han Yuhei was only at the 4th Runic Ascendant level, but Wu Yu, someone who was rumored to have failed his Third Ascension, had become an 8th Runic Ascendant?! 

The crowd watched all this, with Sheng Jizi on the other side absolutely stunned by this revelation. The only cultivators that knew of Wu Yu's strength were the Everlore Association's Ever-Knights and True Element Sect, and no one had shared this information before. They were deeply, incredibly shaken by this reveal.

Yangzi Yanshi's eyes were bulging from their sockets. The hope for revenge had twisted in his heart, and Wu Yu had ruthlessly stomped on it with his strength. He didn't even need to say anything for Yangzi Yanshi to know that Wu Yu was at a level that exceeded his own talent. Absolutely floored by this revelation, he ground his teeth with burning frustration. 

It wasn't just the side of Sheng Jizi that was astonished by this reveal, but Ma Zheng, Huoyan Liulan, Sun Li, and Ma Sujiang were spiraling with shock! An 8th Runic Ascendant! Ma Sujiang was the most affected because half a decade ago, Wu Yu was just at the Soul of Mysticism Phase. She knew he became an Earthly Saint, that he fought off the Ever-Knights, escaped the Everlore Association's cage, but this was absurd!

Sun Li gave Ma Zheng an odd look. Wu Yu was your first selection?! That's usually meant for the weakest cultivator! Ma Zheng understood her thought process, but he merely kept observing the fight. Wu Yu's strength was a huge and pleasant surprise for him.

Sheng Jizi's expression was neutral. He observed the fight, watching Nansi Yuangu weave through the battlefield. When he closely inspected the fight, he saw droplets of liquid sword energy drip at certain points onto the ground, almost unnoticeable. If someone wasn't aware of Nansi Yuangu's goal, they would easily miss it through the explosive surges of sword storms accompanied by his every swing.

A slight, imperceptible smile formed on his face. Even if Wu Yu was at the 8th, or even the 9th Ascendant State, it mattered not. The Nine Springs Sword Formation, alongside the detonation of the Godfall Storm Sword, a peak Mystic-Earth grade Armament, could kill ordinary Earthly Saints. When coupled with Nansi Yuangu's Awakened Sword Intent and a Mystic World Stone, even the Aeternal Sky Divine Emperor might suffer slight injuries, let alone an Earthly Saint.

That said, the cost for all this was unimaginably high. Yet it was where his confidence lay. 

'Soon, they will all understand the might of the Golden Life Pavilion.' A gleeful surge of emotion grew in Sheng Jizi's confident heart.

Wu Yu silently watched Nansi Yuangu retreat while fighting, exerting proper skill and response to resist his Imperial Heaven Aura and Imperial Pressure. He formed a slight frown. 

Nansi Yuangu's current actions weren't signs of a surrender. The man was clearly intending to see this match through, bringing him some surprise. While the fighting spirit in his eyes had dwindled, the killing intent within his gaze remained entirely unchanged. 

A stable, strong, and unyielding swordsman. Wu Yu felt some respect swell within his heart.

'Alright then,' Wu Yu said in his heart. He hefted his halberd, infusing a gargantuan amount of mystic power into it. This halberd wasn't empowered or etched with any formation, forged by the unique properties of Wei Wuyin's strange essence that he called the Essence of War. When he infused his Awakened Mystic Intent and Awakened Spear Intent, shaped its image, it became a low-level Mystic-World grade weapon. 

He was speechless at first, but soon grew increasingly delighted since he gave away the Mystic Monarch Canon, his main tool. Strangely enough, this spear rivaled the Myriad Monarch Canon purely off its structural quality. It was exceptional. Moreover, it conformed with his Intent and cultivation base, generating a level of compatibility that he'd never seen before. 

It was made for war. 

And it was made for him to wield. 

WOO! WOO! WOO!

The halberd pulsed with power. He eyed Nansi Yuangu's movements, seeing him fight off his offensive. Wu Yu wasn't a fool; Nansi Yuangu was deliberately fighting at a distance. At the current pace, Nansi Yuangu was on a certain path to defeat through exhaustion. The lack of permanence was too obvious, and Nansi Yuangu had no chance at a long, drawn-out fight. 

In fact, he was a Sword Cultivator. In a way, he should, in this situation, engage in a fierce melee to eke out a chance for an opening. A sword can overcome stronger enemies. He had tutored Long Chen, and witnessed his means. Nansi Yuangu was clearly more skilled, knowledgeable, yet he decided to resist.

He gave away a sign of his schemes. Either he was waiting for Wu Yu to approach to unleash a single assault or this was part of some ploy. So Wu Yu decided to do what Wu Yu does: decimate.

With a tighter grip, holding the pulsating partizan, he focused on Nansi Yuangu's figure.

"Huuu…." Wu Yu breathed in.

The world went silent.

A Nansi Yuangu who had just discreetly placed his fifth Sword Spring felt a tingle in his senses. His heart began to race, his Sea of Consciousness roiled violently, and his Mystic Soul throbbed a single time. 

"Haaa…" Wu Yu breathed out. 

The sound of his exhale was loudly heard by Nansi Yuangu. His eyes widened as he saw Wu Yu with his halberd lifted, his stance leaned back, the halberd pointed diagonally upwards, and his legs bent slightly.

THIRD GRAND TRANSFORMATION!

An unfathomably profound, exceptionally oppressive, and outright terrifying aura was unleashed! Wu Yu entered his strongest state! With his hair growing out, his power and aura grow alongside it! 

Nansi Yuangu's world stopped.

WOOOOOOOOSH!!!

SCREEEEEEEECH!!!

A long, screeching, ear-splitting sound resounded! The partizan split air, heat, light, and space. It was like light itself, glowing with a blinding brilliance, clearly empowered by Radiant Mystic Rune! Like an arrow of light threatening to slaughter the world, Wu Yu's halberd pierced the void with no mercy! 

Nansi Yuangu wanted to move. Nansi Yuangu wanted to dodge. Nansi Yuangu wanted to brandish his sword, deflect, face in head on, or block! 

Nansi Yuangu wanted to do anything, everything, all for the sake of buying himself a pursuit of life! 

The distance between them was still in the hundred thousand miles, yet this halberd seemingly ignored the concept of distance. No! It was too, too, too fucking fast!

With a panicked footing, he tried to exert his power to escape. This was a mistake. The last mistake he'd make. 

The Third Grand Transformation increased the might of the Imperial Heaven Aura and Imperial Pressure, his focus towards the incoming halberd meant his power had been diverted from the ever-pressing forces he had fought off so strongly. With this lapse of judgment, he was impacted by it all, and his mystic energy flow was hindered, his body froze, and his injuries that had been suppressed erupted explosively!

It was a brief moment.

Not even a microsecond.

Yet it was enough. 

PSHHHH!

"...!" Countless watched the scene unfold. The halberd's blade entered Nansi Yuangu's skull, directly at the bridge of his nose. When it penetrated half way through, his defense crumbled, and his body followed its trajectory until it impacted the spatial wall! 

A long silence unfolded as Nansi Yuangu's body hung lifelessly there, pinned by Wu Yu's halberd.

Drip…

Drip…

Drip…

Drops of blood fell from the tip of the halberd, tainting the floor with three-colored blood.