Paragon of Sin

"..." Ma Zheng considered the possibility of their ignorance. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to confirm this. If Wei Wuyin was right, interrogation might lead to an automatic activation. Suddenly, his eyes unleashed a surge of flowing light. With haste, he flickered before Wei Wuyin, dividing Wei Wuyin from the captives.

The others all reacted instinctively, their Mystic Auras flaring slightly in preparation. After coming out of an intense battle and discovering this strange occurrence of the dead rising, they were all on edge. Ma Zheng's sudden movements only dialed that vigilance to eleven. 

Wei Wuyin felt himself enveloped by an invisible barrier. His Celestial Eyes instantly realized the distortions in the surrounding space indicated a usage of Mystic Power. As a Mortal, he still couldn't acutely sense this type of power in any of his senses, especially not visual.

Ma Zheng cautiously asked spiritually, "Can these talismans be remotely activated?" 

Wei Wuyin's eyes contracted. A wave of explosive fear erupted in his heart. 

Fortunately, the recently loquacious Heavenly War Spirit's helpful nature hadn't ended, answering promptly: "They can't." 

A wave of cool relief flowed through Wei Wuyin's body. The concept of weaponizing Earthly Saints' self-detonations as destructive tools was far too terrifying. However, with his newfound calmness, he realized that it made sense. If it could be remotely activated, then if he were holding the controls, he would've long since used it.

Wei Wuyin shook his head. Ma Zheng was a little confused because he felt the abrupt fear swell within Wei Wuyin's eyes before subsiding almost instantly. However, he concluded it was just his own sense of urgent panic that had riled him up, calming down soon after. 

"What is it?" Han Yuhei's spiritual sense was expanding madly, on the lookout for any suspicious movement. Could it be reinforcements of Trueborn? As they were all extra vigilant, the death of Liao Shuyu was instantly thought of as a trigger to something else. They all were readying themselves. 

"Just taking precautions," Ma Zheng calmly stated. 

The gazes of everyone were subconsciously drawn to the corpse-holding Huoyan Liulan whose expression was a little bit unsightly at the moment. She harrumphed despite her misty eyes, "I'm not so stupid to risk myself for a long-dead person that died again. This could be her body, but I'm not delusional to believe that she actually was my Aunt." 

Her words reflected the assumptions of many Earthly Saints as well. If Liao Shuyu died nine thousand years ago, there was definitely a possibility that her body was possessed. These Earthly Saints couldn't find a more tangible explanation. There were rumors of body possession from Evil Cultivators, and they all understood that body snatching was a possibility. After all, they could all do it to some extent. There were heavy consequences, though, but who's to say there wasn't a Cultivation Method or Spiritual Spell to alleviate or remove these issues?

"Just taking precautions," Ma Zheng succinctly repeated. Since Wei Wuyin hadn't told everyone of the talismans, he wasn't willing to explain it yet. After all, there was no solution to this in his eyes. 

He wanted to ask these individuals if they knew of the talisman's purpose or if they were independent, but they hadn't spoken a single word since their capture. In fact, they seemed abnormally calm and relaxed before Liao Shuyu's death. However, would that be considered interrogation? Could their act of voluntary talking trigger the talismans?

He definitely wouldn't risk it. 

Wei Wuyin was also forced to face the lack of a solution. If the Heavenly War Spirit was right, wasn't he just holding hot potatoes? There was no way he could leave them as captives. These were Ascended beings! He had no idea if there would be drastic efforts to free them later, leading to a major catastrophe in the future.

The Demi-Mortal Lords could be killed. Their detonations could be easily suppressed by Earthly Saints if prepared for, and the other four Demi-Mortal Lords' detonations had been taken care of by the Spirits of War, an effort of hundreds of elites.

The four Earthly Saints were the problem. The intensity of these explosions couldn't be settled unless he also had hundreds of elites, mostly Demi-Mortal Lords and quite a few Earthly Saints skilled in subjugation tactics like the Spirits of War.

As for using them as genuine Prisoners of War, the main issue preventing this was location. There was no secure space to keep them sealed. The thought of using Internal Worlds or Secret Realms were thrown out immediately. Whoever or wherever they were in would be at risk for a rescue operation launched by Trueborn.

Exchange?

Interrogation?

Hostages?

Wei Wuyin thought for a long time. As for the allied Earthly Saints, none of them left. They were all curious about Wei Wuyin's next decision. Since Liao Shuyu was a dead person, were the others one too? Could they meet someone that they once knew? How did Trueborn accomplish this exactly? They were all steaming with questions. 

"..." Wei Wuyin's silver eyes began to release intermittent bursts of spiritual light. A sign of his thoughts functioning at absurdly high speeds, exhausting a vast quantity of mental energies while doing so. 

Bai Lin flew towards Wei Wuyin. Ma Zheng gave her a look and expanded the barrier, allowing her to enter without issue. This Fire Phoenix was a Demi-Mortal Lord and Wei Wuyin's protective mount, so it would be better if she was by his side, is what Ma Zheng thought. 

Bai Lin arrived beside Wei Wuyin, looking at him with her golden eyes. She could tell his thoughts were firing off like bolts of lightning. This wasn't the first time she had seen this state. Whenever Wei Wuyin would comprehend various methods, arts, spells, or prepare himself by running calculations and simulations of concoctions, he would fall into this state. 

Her gaze shifted to Huoyan Liulan. Those golden eyes of hers blazed with an intense desire. She hadn't forgotten about the feather and panicked when Huoyan Liulan said she would be taking the corpse away. This was why she felt an urge to remind Wei Wuyin before she left. But his current state made it so she couldn't say anything. She refused to be the one that broke his train of thought if it was important.

Wei Wuyin's hands instinctively reached out to caress Bai Lin's neck, feeling the soft feathers and gentle warmth of her body. When he did this, he turned his bright eyes to Bai Lin's majestic and gorgeous form.

"Wait." Those silver eyes of his widened. Like lightning, they shifted towards the burnt corpse floating in the Dark Void and then towards Liao Shuyu. "They're dead." With the softest of whispers, he instantly came to a miraculous realization. 

The burnt corpse!

The Earthly Saint had died! But it hadn't exploded in a violent flurry of death and devastation. 

Why?

His eyes dimmed back to normal, revealing a faint frown as he moved towards the burnt corpse and inspected it with his Celestial Eyes. Ma Zheng and Bai Lin followed along, and the others kept their full attention on this mortal. What was he planning to do next? The question of the hour.

Wei Wuyin saw that the burnt corpse had no traces of a Mystic Soul; all of its innate energies and forces were incinerated. The only reason it was a burnt corpse was that it had the refined physique of an Earthly Saint, an extremely durable physique. The energies within it weren't so durable. 

"There's no Mystic Soul to detonate. Was it instantly incinerated?" There was a concept by mortals that was called 'instantaneous death'. It was when a mortal suffered a devastating blow to their vitals, mainly the brain. This led to an instance of death where the body or mind had no hope of survival or reaction.

Did the Nirvanic Flames cause a similar situation? 

Did the Nirvanic Flames instantly kill the Mystic Soul? 

Replicate!

"Bai Lin," Wei Wuyin pointed at the Demi-Mortal Lord with the greatest Karmic Sin. The person's sinful aura felt abnormally intense. The 'crimes' against the Heavenly Daos committed must've been tremendous in number. "Burn." 

The Demi-Mortal Lord was shaken, clearly evident by their shivering body, yet they didn't speak or plead. Bai Lin didn't hesitate to release a clarion cry, opening its mouth and blasting out Nirvanic Flames to envelop the Demi-Mortal Lord entirely. In their sealed state, they couldn't even muster the slightest defense.

There wasn't a single sound emitted before the Demi-Mortal Lord vanished from this word. The sight was spine-chilling. So quick! So brutal! They hadn't expected the order of immediate execution! Not the masked figures or the allied Earthly Saints.

Wei Wuyin's eyes brightened. He touched Bai Lin. 

The world froze. 

A scene he was extremely familiar with occurred as the Heavenly Daos bestowed him Karmic Luck. 

Karmic Luck Value: 44,659.9.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Suppressed - 15 Years.

-

Karmic Luck Value: 44,834.2.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Suppressed - 15 Years.

"173.3…" 

Time resumed. 

This was close to three times less than Gong Lau. Considering the difference in cultivation base and the Sinful Aura of that Demi-Mortal Lord, Wei Wuyin could all but confirm that the cultivation base of the sinner, killer, and recipient factored into the complex equation for Karmic Luck. 

"So, it is the case!" Wei Wuyin's eyes brightly lit. 

Nirvanic Flames could bypass the talisman! He was about to urge Bai Lin to clean up. There was no need to further speculate until he could figure out a way to unravel their identities without the Heavenly War Spirit. 

"Don't!" An urgent voice sounded in his mind, originating from none other than the Heavenly War Spirit. Wei Wuyin manifested his mental incarnation once again into his Sea of Consciousness. He could see that Liao Shuyu's halo had shrunken by a third. So fast!

The Heavenly War Spirit didn't wait to amplify the mystery, and she explained: "The Nexus War Flag you possess can convert Prisoners of War into soldiers. Don't waste their worth."

"What?!" Wei Wuyin's mental incarnation received a jolt of surprise. The Nexus War Flag could convert Prisoners of War into soldiers? When? How? 

"Kill them yourself, and, by the Law of War beneath the heavens, you can rightfully claim all obtainable spoils. Since beings like cultivators at the Mystic Ascendant Realm refine the essence of heaven and earth, only their souls are theirs forever. Claim this. It's your right as the victor." The Heavenly War Spirit stated. An icy chill coursed through Wei Wuyin's spine.

He suddenly thought about how much emphasis the Heavenly War Spirit was claiming that Prisoners of War were tasty. Did she claim his spoils of war? Claim their entirety? When he recalled the totally drained corpse, his heart violently throbbed. 

The temptation was…unimaginable. 

How profound was the Nexus War Flag? What other abilities did it have? What abilities does the Heavenly War Spirit have? 

Without hesitation, Wei Wuyin decided to claim his spoils of war. He wasn't exactly sure how all this worked, though.

"You have to kill them. Never forget this: You keep what you kill. You must kill them, not your soldiers. YOU." The Heavenly War Spirit drilled this into Wei Wuyin's mind. If Wei Wuyin had killed others before this, he might have discovered this feature. However, this now presented Wei Wuyin with a problematic issue. 

The talisman would make them go boom if he went stab! 

Kree! 

Bai Lin released a prideful cry as she eyed the shocked Huoyan Liulan. Within the depths of her eyes reflected her greatest desire: the golden feather! 

Wei Wuyin's eyes flickered as he turned to Ma Zheng, recalling all their conversations about Unique Intents and the Tang Clan's assault on Bai Lin.

He transmitted spiritually, "Old Ma, I need you to set up a meeting with the Tang Clan's leadership." Wei Wuyin intended to establish a trade despite their contentious relationship. 

"Why?" Ma Zheng asked.

Wei Wuyin didn't hide it, "To cultivate Nirvanic Flames." The reason why the Tang Clan had attacked Bai Lin, seeking to capture her for her blood essence, wasn't a hidden fact from Earthly Saints. Wei Wuyin learned of all of it, including their unique cultivation method that allowed them to have the greatest number of Demi-Mortal Lords of the Aeternal Sky Starfield—Blazing Unity of Twin Flames.

Ma Zheng's expression immediately grew odd, and then he revealed a rare grin. "Just that? No need. I already have the method." Seeing how powerful Nirvanic Flames were, anyone would wish to cultivate it.

Stunned for a brief moment, Wei Wuyin couldn't resist the urge to smile. 

"Perfect."