Paragon of Sin

Given orders, the True Element Sect now moved! The observers here to witness the events were startled as their ship descended towards Ever-Sky, shocked at their belated entry. After all, the True Element Sect was first and foremost a mystic-tier sect, a World Sect of great renown, and yet it had entered after some of the more obscure mortal-tier organizations.

The remaining mortal-tier forces were astounded that the True Element Sect was only now approaching, fearful as they hesitantly urged their vessels to a complete stop. The sight of all the incoming ships coming to a halt with the greatest of urgency was a sign of their respect towards the World Sect. Also, they feared that further movements might result in some of the Ascended beings onboard taking action, disabling their formations and arrays. 

Lin Xianxian didn't bother with these organizations. She, alongside the rest, arrived at the cusp of the atmospheric layer of Ever-Sky. An area occupied by many other Voidships with various occupants, typically aged Starlords at the helm. They were left behind to guard their organization's vessels. Shockingly, no Ascended level cultivators were onboard any of these ships, not even a Mystic Star Phase expert. 

The courage required to attempt to enter the summit was both confusing and praiseworthy. 

"Shall we, Sect Master?" The Demi-Mortal Lord Elder incited Lin Xianxian to take action, not giving her time to think too deeply on the subject. Since this was the case, she looked at the group that had prepared themselves to enter, and it was abundantly clear that she wasn't the only one to notice the abnormality. 

All those at the Mystic Ascendant Realm, from Mystic Star to Demi-Mortal Lord, felt inspired by the slightest possibility of entering the venue. They, like most, had initially assumed only Earthly Saints, Mortal Sovereign Alchemists, Chosen, and those on the Immortal Heroes and Immortal Saintesses rankings had sufficient qualifications to enter. Now, the lack of any Ascended presence told otherwise.

Excited, they were antsy as they wished to fly into the pillar of light. 

Lin Xianxian felt helpless, knowing that any word of caution would likely enter one ear and out the other, only breeding animosity for preventing their entry. Still, as Sect Master, she could only say with a heavy tone, "Be careful. This might not be so simple." Those warning words carried heavy weight, yet it was unable to prevent them from wanting to climb atop the mountain that was the summit.

She helplessly heaved an internal sigh, gesturing and commanding them to move out. She took the lead, with the three Chosen behind her, including Lin Ming and two youngsters, a young woman and a young man. These two youths were Zhang Yin and Zhang Yang, two identical twins, and descendants of the Zhang Clan.

After the Parasitic Clans met calamity, they left with their heads low, escaping with their two Chosen to prevent them from being schemed against or killed by Zhang Ziyi. Unfortunately, they were too late. One of the Chosen had mysteriously died. All signs pointed to suicide, but it was unquestionably by Zhang Ziyi's hand. No one doubted this. She always disliked the little dipshits that were too arrogant for their boots, especially that one, dying in a horrifically, indescribably painful manner—ingesting powerful acidic material.

A strange way to kill yourself.

Without Gong Lau or Nansi Yuangu's protection, it was extremely easy for an Earthly Saint to play with them to death. The other, while there wasn't much word from them, they were rumored to have been poisoned, crippled in body and spirit, only having an active mind left.

A quadriplegic. Such a horrific fate.

Yet, it didn't stop there. Many of the Parasitic Clan's elders suffered unexplainable deaths during closed-door cultivation via Cultivation Deviation or random accidents. It became so devastatingly common that the clans sealed their grounds and erected their defensive array. It did little good, so they scattered like frightened mice.

It was clear that someone was extremely vengeful.

In the place of those two Chosen, two Zhang Clan descendants were rightfully promoted from prospective to genuine Chosen. They were both twins, brother and sister, and they were quite the attractive duo. They dressed in opposite colors, with the young man dressed in azure and the young woman in crimson. 

Lin Ming gave them a look, and Zhang Yin felt his gaze, turning and giving him an amicable smile that accentuated herself as a gentle beauty. When Zhang Yang turned his head to notice his sister's smile, his eyes shot towards Lin Ming and revealed a threatening light.

Lin Ming faintly smiled, ignoring Zhang Yang. Lin Xianxei was behind them; as the Saintess, she was a member of the older generation and of minor importance for the summit. While invited due to her position as a Saintess, she felt it was a tactic meant to drum up discussion and participation. 

How many wished they could snag a Saintess as their wife or a Hero as their husband? Far too many, that's how many. In fact, these Ascended beings and prospective Chosen following along were mostly here to see the Saintesses and Heroes, men and women alike!

The group began to enter the light, with various Worldly Domains unfurling as they soared into it. There were nearly a thousand from the True Element Sect; almost all of them were Ascended beings at the Mystic Star Phase or Soul of Mysticism Phase. 

When Lin Xianxei entered the light after her mother and the three Chosen, she felt her entire body get tugged by a gentle force. The force pulled her in a direction. She felt as if she was descending downward. It felt oddly like spatial shifting but not exactly. Curious, she patiently waited as she tried to sense the intricacies of this light. Unfortunately, she swiftly discovered her Spiritual Senses were pressed against her body, unable to expand an inch.

Left with no choice, Lin Xianxei could only wait until the tugging force ended. 

Thud. 

She soon felt her feet touch a marble floor. The sound was quite distinct. And then, her senses began to clear up as the light diminished. As her sense of sight returned, she saw an astonishing view. Before her was a gigantic four-dimensional spiritual projection, it was a wheel with nine spokes. The wheel was white and constructed of white jade, but the spokes were the manifestation of the nine elements: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Metal, Lightning, Wood, Magma, and Ice. 

They were extremely animated.

"The Elementus Wheel!" This was the symbol of the True Element Sect! While most of the disciples didn't wear it, this was it! Lin Xianxei was in total awe at how detailed and realistic the wheel was. She faintly felt the pure elemental energies it emitted, a genuine spiritual manifestation of the Elementus Wheel. Instinctively, she knew she could absorb this wheel to improve her cultivation base significantly. 

A few Mystic Star cultivators gulped, and even the Soul of Mysticism experts had their eyes widen at the sight of the Elementus Wheel. They felt an urge to cultivate! 

Lin Xianxian was just as shocked by the Elementus Wheel, and at the lead, she was feeling its rich energies the most. Her appetite rose, not from her stomach but from her physique and Mystic Soul. This thing contained pure mystic energies! 

The rim of the wheel exuded an aura of Jade Intent, clearly forged using Jade Energies. 

Suddenly, Lin Xianxei heard an exclamation from her left. She turned to see a few cultivators from the Jiang Clan exuding sword auras as they sat cross-legged. Wisps of sword light were being siphoned away from a similarly gigantic solitary greatsword, the Jiang Clan's symbol!

They were cultivating! 

A young female cultivator, likely a prospective Chosen based on her young age, erupted with a nascent Sword Intent Aura! They had awakened their Sword Intent! A grand achievement! 

Astonished by this breakthrough, the others soon saw that in front of them were various organizations of premier standing! There was a group of gathered cultivators seated before a scarlet-red flaming star, absorbing the flames with religious fervor, even chanting piously after properly refining each wisp of fire.

Inferno Solaris Church! 

Lin Xianxei swiftly noticed that the number of cultivators from the Hexaflame Starfield was severely lacking! It was only when she looked around did she discover that the starfield had splintered into different organizations and groups. She swiftly found the other forces that belonged to the Hexaflame Starfield behind them! These were Mystic-tier forces, led by Highlords or Venerables! 

They all had their organization's core symbols in front of them, so they were easily recognizable to someone as well-read of the various forces as she. 

"Grand Sea Sect…True Meadow Pavilion…Darkness Falls, the Void Hunter organization…"

After finding quite a few, Lin Xianxei realized there were lines on the floor that segregated these parties. It was square-shaped and fit them all inside, approximately five hundred meters in size. 

Barely any of the forces noticed their arrival, focused entirely on absorbing the pure, enriched energies that these symbols emitted. Furthermore, they carried a refined essence prone to invigorating Intent. A rare, no, exceptionally rare material!

"What is this?" Zhang Yang asked, baffled by this scene. As far as the eyes could see, cultivators littered this space, confined in square boxes, and almost all of them were cultivating before their sect's symbol. 

From Mortals to Ascended, from Chosen to Saintesses, they were seriously cultivating! 

Why?

"Look!" Zhang Yin called out as she pointed at the sky. The eyes of everyone followed her slender finger. Their hearts shook! A stage! A vast, thick grey stage! It stretched their entire vision, going for hundreds of miles, but what shook their hearts fiercely was that it was inverted! 

They were merely at the edge of the stage's staircase. The stage kept going far beyond all the cultivators here, and since they were third, with two rows ahead of them, the Trihex Unity Sect and then the Boundless Martial Sect, it was clear this was deliberate.

Opposite of them, on the inverted stage, was a gorgeously designed circular gate. An active Void Gate! By its side were two obelisks; one was of an indistinct color that only Ascended beings could determine, while the other was black. They were both etched with shining runes.

"There's no Earthly Saints here…" A perceptive Elder noted, not feeling that unfathomable aura amongst any of them. The rest, however, was here! From Chosen to Saintess, Sect Masters, Pavilion Masters, Association Heads, to Highlords! 

The only other exception, still unnoticed, was that the Mortal Sovereign Alchemists were missing too! 

The True Element Sect's curiosity was as massive as the vessel Boundless! What was this? 

Bzzzt!

A spiritual buzzing sound erupted from the projection, sending out splashes of pure energies that made some of them outright salivate. The urge to cultivate was becoming irresistible, but before they did anything, they heard a voice!

"True Element Sect Members, welcome!" The voice wasn't Evergod's, but a very familiar one!

Lin Ming instantly recognized it as the voice that had brought them to the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region from the Desolate Dragnet Stellar Region! 

San Luoyang!

With a calming tone that snagged one's attention, he continued: "The Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit is in session. The Earthly Saints and Mortal Sovereign Alchemists of our world are all in the Main Hall, currently discussing drafting revisions for the conceptual identity: Chosen."

"...!" Everyone was startled. The summit had started? Those at that level were already discussing how to redefine Chosen? What about them? Weren't the voices of leaders and levels of current Chosen an active factor for this decision? Their questions brought pounding to their hearts.

They were missing it!

The history-defining moment! 

"Do not fret," San Luoyang's voice transitioned into a comforting tone, soothing their restless hearts. "You all have been invited to the summit, either to witness or to voice your own experiences and beliefs, pouring them into the preliminary draft. None of you will be neglected, should you arrive at the Main Hall. That said, you must first prove that you possess the qualifications to do so."

Qualifications!

Lin Xianxei and Lin Xianxian's eyes simultaneously grew solemn. This was it! Of course, they wouldn't allow the hundreds of thousands of experts here to enter freely! Too many cooks in the kitchen was never a good thing.

"Up above is your stage. When you reach a certain height, the artificial gravity will disappear. You'll descend onto the stage and challenge the entity there. As long as you can slay the entity, you'll be granted entry into the Main Hall. But beware, there's a chance your life will be forfeited should you reveal inadequate ability.

"To give you all a greater chance to obtain a voice and other precious benefits beyond the gate, the Everlore Association has established cultivation arrays, condensing them into symbols that belong to your organization. A carefully curated cocktail that defines your organization. You may cultivate up to six months before the Void Gate permanently closes, you'll be expelled from the Entry Hall, and the preliminary discussions will then enter its final stage." 

San Luoyang's words surprised of everyone in the True Element Sect! A test to weed out the unqualified! And there was a chance of death?!

Gloomy darkness shrouded their minds.

Lin Ming's expression was equally solemn, but within the depths of his grey eyes was a radiance of determination. This was his chance! 

SHATTER!

An explosive sound of shattering thundered, drawing everyone's attention, cultivating or not, to a figure that descended onto the inverted stage!