Paragon of Sin

"What?" Stunned by what she heard, Huoyan Liulan subconsciously glanced at Ma Zheng as if to catch a glimpse of a joking smile. This was a joke, right? A reasonable price? Bringing the dead back to life? This was a reasonable price?! 

Han Yuhei and Ma Zheng's hearts thumped after Wei Wuyin agreed to Huoyan Liulan's condition. They both simultaneously sent their spiritual sense towards the cold, bereft of life, energy, and essence of a corpse in Huoyan Liulan's arms. They both sensed that Liao Shuyu was deader than dead. There wasn't a hint of any residual energy within her, nor her Mystic Soul was present. There was, however, a lingering aura of death coursing through the corpse.

Ba-dum.

Wei Wuyin didn't want to let this be a long, stretched-out interaction of ongoing disbelief and demands for proof. He had things to do, so he directly said: "Primal Flame Hex Queen, this opportunity won't last for long. You have sixty seconds to decide. If you refuse to accept, then I'll have to say that your Auntie Liao will be truly dead." 

Huoyan Liulan's expression was vibrantly painted with conflict, disbelief, and uncertainty. This silver-eyed mortal youth before her suddenly became a thousand times more mystifying. Her heart began to race when Wei Wuyin set a deadline for her decision.

She once again looked towards Ma Zheng, who had a slight frown as his eyes emitted a contemplating light. He seemed to be trying to grasp the validity of Wei Wuyin's statement with his knowledge. Han Yuhei's heart was pounding as he stared intently at the cold corpse. 

After fourteen seconds, Huoyan Liulan finally regained her train of thought. She closed her eyes shut. Her eyelashes fluttered while her eyebrows quivered. When she opened them, she saw the corpse's peaceful expression. All her memories of the past came rushing in, reminding her of all the times they spent together while she was growing up. 

On the path of cultivation, the loss of loved ones was inevitable. Whether it was an issue of lifespan, talent, or conflict, death would always accompany cultivators. How many individuals has she, an Earthly Saint of over ten thousand years old, lost during those years? How many failed to become Ascended beings? Died in fighting wars or seeking resources? Schemes? Or just met the end of their lifespan? 

While she had grasped bits of power regarding the Mystic Dao, exceeding mortal limits, she was still subjected to restrictions and governed by natural laws. 

But that feather was a great treasure given to her by her grandfather, refined through thousands of years of effort to revitalize its astonishing latent power, harnessing it as a trump card that could trounce other Earthly Saints. She was reluctant to give this up for anything, and her earlier words were merely an impossible joke born out of her frustration. 

She was now met with a choice that she never expected to face.

After thirty-two seconds, she calmly lifted her eyes to look at Wei Wuyin. The youth didn't seem stressed one bit. "It's not enough," she directly told Wei Wuyin. Liao Shuyu was a member of Trueborn. If reborn somehow, it was unlikely that she would be able to abandon the clandestine organization with mysterious piled-on abnormalities out of her own will. Moreover, she had last seen Liao Shuyu nine thousand years ago. It would be foolish to think she would be the same individual she remembered if she wasn't an entirely different person.

If it was possession, whose to say Liao Shuyu was the Liao Shuyu she knew? Huoyan Liulan calmly, smartly, and ultimately considered this possibility and refused the deal she had proposed herself.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Wei Wuyin wasn't stressed by her refusal. Instead, he calmly offered more. "I understand. How about this: I'll add a dozen varied Mystic-Earth grade alchemical products, of low-quality at a minimum, including three thousand mystic stones and ten tons of peak Mystic-Earth grade Terra-Mystic Ore. You have about twenty seconds left." Wei Wuyin reminded her at the end that her deadline was fast approaching, but Huoyan Liulan's eyes already widened to a considerable degree in heart-pounding disbelief. 

Mystic-Earth grade alchemical products? A dozen? All low-quality at least? That aside, three thousand mystic stones was stupendously high, sufficient to buy high-tier, Mystic-Earth grade Mystic-Will Convergence Pills. These pills were used during the Golden Auction, worth 300 mystic stones each.

But what really shook her was the Terra-Mystic Ore! More importantly, it wasn't the typical low-quality Mystic-Earth grade Terra-Mystic Ore circulating throughout the stellar region, but peak! She was utterly stupefied by the absurdity of Wei Wuyin's wealth. 

A ton of this stuff could be roughly estimated at 80 mystic stones! 

Wei Wuyin faintly smiled. According to his surveying of the ore he possessed, he had gained roughly ten thousand tons of this ore. It wasn't much to give ten tons. While its actual raw value was beneath its potential value, so were most ores and materials in the world. If used correctly, in the hands of a skilled Forger or Alchemist, then even millions of mystic stones wouldn't be near its actual worth.

The celestial rogue was definitely Wei Wuyin's second most remarkable discovery and haul, only slightly lesser in potential value than the Stellar Nest. 

"Yo-you're serious?" Huoyan Liulan asked amid her shock. 

"You have a few seconds left. Primal Flame Hex Queen, please decide." Wei Wuyin urged her with a frown developing on his face. He wasn't doing this solely to pressure Huoyan Liulan into agreeing—she was genuinely on a clock. They both were.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Huoyan Liulan's inner conflict intensified. She didn't know what to do, but when she thought about what was offered, she couldn't help but feel that she wouldn't be losing out. With that Terra-Mystic Ore, she could forge a permanent quasi Mystic-World grade armament suited to her. With the Mystic Stones and alchemical products added, she just needed to scour for the necessary materials and find the Godforge Association. 

The degree of strength that she would gain would be far greater than the feather could muster. Eventually, the feather's latent power in the feather will dissipate and crumble into dust, while an armament of that quality will last her entire lifetime. 

She didn't need a reminder of the time. It would be foolish for her to refuse. After looking at Ma Zheng, who nodded with a look that said: "You can trust him." She decided upon her choice, "Okay." A single word of confirmation and Wei Wuyin heaved a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he unfurled his Worldly Domain a little larger and then shot towards Huoyan Liulan, his silver eyes emanating a soul-snaring light as he glanced at the corpse. 

But when Wei Wuyin arrived before Huoyan Liulan, who pushed Liao Shuyu's corpse out a bit, curiosity burning in her gaze, Wei Wuyin's expression became odd, as if he had been told about something. The Necro Energy within Liao Shuyu's body had metastasized throughout her flesh, blood, bone, and meridians like a cancer. Its spread was unnaturally swift.

While she seemed perfectly fine outwardly aside from the thick veins of blackness on her face, she wasn't like that inwardly. Her body was dead. 

She couldn't be revived like this. 

Wei Wuyin closed his eyes as he manifested in his Sea of Consciousness, looking at the faint, nearly intangible halo of Mystic Energy that was Liao Shuyu's Mystic Soul and innate energies siphoned by the Heavenly War Spirit. It was bordering on dissipating. 

Wei Wuyin knew that Liao Shuyu was still alive. Her actual soul was tethered to her Mystic Soul, similar to how Wu Yu was stored in that unassuming black ring of Long Chen, given to him by the King of Everlore, a disembodied soul sustained via their Mystic Soul. When her Mystic Soul was completely absorbed, her soul would be forcefully introduced into the Heavenly Daos' cycle of reincarnation, processed through Hell, cleansed, and reused to become a new existence.

Considering how sinful she was, Liao Shuyu would likely be cleansed at the higher levels of Hell. 

It was the Heavenly War Spirit who had told Wei Wuyin that Liao Shuyu's life was still intact. Of course, he knew that since he hadn't received the recognition and reward of Karmic Luck for slaying her yet. So when Huoyan Liulan jokingly mocked his words earlier, suggesting that not every price can be afforded, the Heavenly War Spirit scoffed and told him to do it.

"This Mystic Soul is incomparably weak. Even if she's revived, it'll be lucky if she recovers her Mystic Strength in a thousand or so years. She's no longer a threat to you," the Heavenly War Spirit said. She was unaware that Wei Wuyin wanted to kill Liao Shuyu for Karmic Luck, but Bai Lin was more important anyways. However, Necro Energy presented him with a problem. 

Her body was immersed in a negative life and soul force, whatever that meant, and according to the Heavenly War Spirit, introducing her weak Mystic Soul inside that body would only be like dipping a gentle flame into a pool of water—her Mystic Soul would dissipate on its own. 

She would die.

Fortunately, this wasn't much of an issue for Wei Wuyin. He brought out an Ever-Rebirth Pill. This pill was invented by the King of Everlore to construct a new body that conforms with the soul, copied off the information within one's Spirit of Cultivation to form a perfect substitute. A perfectly compatible body without rejection. It was an exceptional pill with heaven-defying effects. 

However, Wei Wuyin didn't try to reconstruct the body himself. He didn't have the power or means, still requiring either the person themself to do so or an Ascended being to oversee the process. Wu Yu had been able to maintain his consciousness and wisps of Mystic Power, so he could fully reconstitute his own body.

Liao Shuyu was not in that position.

Wei Wuyin held his hand out, palm upwards, and he allowed the Heavenly War Spirit to do the rest. A gush of mystic light poured out of his glabella and into his open palm, slowly forming into a levitating halo of mystic light. It was delicate and beautiful, but Wei Wuyin couldn't see it. 

The others looked in disbelief at the mystic light halo, and Huoyan Liulan felt an incomparably familiar aura emanating from it. Her eyes grew misty as her memories flashed in her thoughts, recalling her happy times with her Auntie Liao. 

This was her!

THIS WAS HER!

She knew it from her aura. She absolutely knew it! 

Wei Wuyin pushed out the halo and Ever-Rebirth Pill. "Use this to revive her. Her body is unusable, and she'll die if she's placed back in, so she needs another one." After explaining this, he brought out the stones, ore, and alchemical containers from his Saint Ring. He couldn't transfer it to another Saint Ring and give it to Huoyan Liulan. They were far too valuable, and he only had three.

"..." Huoyan Liulan was astonished, left speechless for a long moment. 

"Hurry and guard her Mystic Soul before she dissipates," Wei Wuyin urged cause he didn't know if it'll dissipate. Panicked, Huoyan Liulan hastily acted to secure the halo of mystic light with her own mystic power. She couldn't take her eyes off the halo, reflecting beautifully through her pupils. 

BA-DUM. BA-DUM.

"The feather," Wei Wuyin demanded. For some reason, he felt a sense of urgency swell within him at this moment. 

Huoyan Liulan gave Wei Wuyin another shocked look. She had so, so, so many questions. Just the storage of the mystic-graded materials, the existence of these products, and all these mystic stones…But she couldn't even speak a single word. She eventually brought out the golden feather and gave it an emotional look. It emanated a majestic glow of life and fire. 

Kree!

Bai Lin excitedly stared at the feather, her eyes blazing with ardent desire. Wei Wuyin didn't grab it personally. He gestured for Bai Lin, who flew over, fearlessly sucking in the feather and taking it into her mouth. She ate it!

"..." Wei Wuyin's sense of urgency continued to intensify. He glanced at the surroundings and felt as if something was building up to warn him of something. Suddenly, his pupils shrunk as he realized what the feeling originated from.

BA-DUM! BA-DUM!!

Wei Wuyin's heart pounded in his chest, and his eyes darted towards the far-off distance of the Dark Void.

"It's coming!" Kratos roared. 

"GO!" Wei Wuyin explosively shouted, shocking Ma Zheng, Han Yuhei, and Huoyan Liulan. Without hesitating, he instantly rode Bai Lin, who felt all his emotions instantly. A surge of fear swept her heart as she recalled a feeling she had before, just before they came to the Ninestar Starfield.

Ma Zheng immediately realized the urgency, trusting Wei Wuyin's decision instantly. To him, Trueborn was likely about to act. He fully unleashed his 9th Runic Ascendant Earthly Saint Phase cultivation, surging with exceptionally terrifying power. He grabbed Han Yuhei, Huoyan Liulan, Bai Lin, and Wei Wuyin, brought them to his side, and executed Spatial Shift. 

Woosh!

They vanished as they became a streak of silver light that merged with fixed space.

A few minutes later, gargantuan ripples emerged in the Dark Void where they once were. It persisted for a while, growing more and more active before vanishing without a trace. 

There was a series of strange, serpentine sounds emanating from those ripples. A hint of vexation could be heard from them.