Paragon of Sin

The event occurred with stupendously mind-blowing speed. Neither Tian Yinwu nor Na Xinyi could react as the Aegis of the Elements that Lin Ming had carried with him nearly his entire life merged into his Divine Elemental Origin Soul clasped by a Spirit-Bound Lotus. It was as if time and space had been stifled and suppressed, causing both to feel a lethargic dissonance of the mind, body, and spirit.

The effects, however, lasted for an extremely short period as Yin Light radiated from Na Xinyi's captivating eyes and Tian Yinwu's body pulsed with a faint golden glow. When they regained control of themselves, the Spirit-Bound Lotus had already fused with the Astral Core, imprinting a cyan-colored image of a gorgeously blooming lotus on its surface. An aura of rich spiritual energy flowed violently from the Astral Core.

Both Na Xinyi and Tian Yinwu quietly observed this.

While they couldn't react to the initial merging, they had sufficient ability to act now, yet as if tactfully agreed upon, neither of them moved and simply observed the floating Astral Core with keen interest. Briefly, they exchanged gazes, seemingly aware that the other knew of their thoughts.

Tian Yinwu faintly smiled while Na Xinyi indifferently looked away.

Zuhei's bloody and hungry predation aura kept rushing outwards as his Ancestral Awakening pushed through, ignorant and uncaring of the abundant changes to Lin Ming's Astral Soul and Astral Core.

BURST!

A gushing blast of scintillating spiritual light flooded the sea of bitterness, sweeping across miles upon miles, washing across every Chosen present.

In the far distance, Yi Yun was carefully inspecting the 12th Wall as a Mark of Bitterness was formed on his forehead. He had a heavy expression as he contemplated. "Should I give it my all?" Just as this thought emerged in his heart, he turned to see a flood of spiritual flood rush toward him. Subconsciously, his body exuded a type of ward of pure, untainted Physical Force!

True Martial Ward!

His body instinctively acted as the slight washed over him. Despite its raging intensity, Yi Yun was astonished to realize that the light had no offensive or corroding properties. "It's not an attack?" As he assessed this a little more, he sensed the light with his Spiritual Sense and discovered a familiar aura. It was that grey-eyed senior! The Archaic Chosen of the True Element Sect!

With a frown, the image of his beautiful senior flashed across his mind, and he thought for only a split second before acting, rushing forward toward the origins of the flood!

Similar to Yi Yun, Qiao Shulin, Ming Yuling, and Chen Yangzi felt the flood of spiritual light and recognized its owner. As for Ye Zhi and Duan Ru, they felt it but remained where they were, cautious toward the abnormalities occurring, and having no real connection to Lin Ming, they unknowingly both decided to wait for further developments.

The four others rushed toward the source of the light, especially Qiao Shulin. Her beautiful expression was tainted with worry as she rapidly dashed toward the source, unable to properly fly due to the strange power in the air. Her steps were executed with her fastest, most profound movement art. Qiao Shulin moved as if she was skating across the marble ground.

Back at the epicenter of the flowing spiritual light, Lin Ming's Astral Soul and Astral Core began to undergo a series of rapid, unfathomable changes as the contents with, the qualities of its innate energies and Astral force, began to rapidly and mysteriously change. A soul-stirring spiritual aura gushed out, pulsing with thunderous beats that only the spirit could hear.

Whether it was Tang Xingyun, Lin Ziyan, Na Xinyi, or Tian Yinwu, they all felt their Spirits of Cultivations throb at varying intensities.

"What's happening?!" Lin Ziyan asked fearfully as she grasped her cracked bracelet tightly.

Na Xinyi didn't answer.

Shockingly, Tian Yinwu did! "A Spiritualism Conversion."

As his words rang through the air, Lin Ming's body began to rise. With lightning-quick speed, it jetted across the air and smashed against his Astral Soul and Astral Core! It, too, fused with the Astral Core! The image of a humanoid with no features emerged on its white, radiant surface.

BOOOM!!

A world-shaking, heaven-startling, sky-sundering explosion erupted! For a split second, the entire world was enveloped in Spiritual Aura! The aura bled through, reaching all of the seas of bitterness throughout the Black Path!

Na Xinyi and Tian Yinwu executed Mana Dominance, leveraging the latent power in the sea of bitterness to their defense, pushing the aura aside like a boulder in the middle of a raging river. Under Na Xinyi's protection, Lin Ziyan and Tang Xingyun were safe. However, the nearest cultivators were not so lucky!

Chen Yangzi, this disciple of the Boundless Martial Sect, was one of the dozens of Chosen that were nearest to the events.

He felt Lin Ming's aura and rushed forward in aid. They had fought together a few times, and while weaker than most, he was a figure with a staunch sense of reliability and responsibility.

Unfortunately, his good intentions were met with tragedy.

The gushing aura smashed against him violently, breaking every bone in his body! He was lifted and thrown back, and when he landed, his seven orifices were bleeding profusely while his Astral Core had cracks throughout. He was knocked unconscious instantly, half-crippled!

However, by the grace of the heavens, the Mark of Bitterness was not on his forehead. As he suffered this blow, his body was enveloped by a strange power of the sea of bitterness, and he sank into the floor of the marble as if he was a ghost.

Others, however, were not so lucky.

Those with the Mark of Bitterness exploded. They all underwent Cultivation Deviation!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The explosions caused Yi Yun, Qiao Shulin, and Ming Yuling who were much further away to be battered by raging power, and forced to defend themselves. Ming Yuling instantly recognized this was far beyond her, retreating as she brought out her talisman of her grandmother, exerting its power to protect herself in a violet-colored bubble of mystic Power.

Yi Yun and Qiao Shulin instantly realized the situation was reaching an intensity, and they braved it. Qiao Shulin's gritted teeth and expression of determination were enough to inspire admiration as the feelings and worries that she had hidden in her heart began to surface. She didn't want Lin Ming to die!

A series of profound, indescribable changes had taken place at unimaginable speeds. What remained amidst the explosion was a young, handsome man, his pupils grey, but his irises were as white as could be, carrying with them the essence and flow of Elemental Origin. His body was perfectly intact while his robes, both front and back, had gaping holes in them, revealing a toned body of lean muscles.

Tian Yinwu and Na Xinyi's gazes both brightened!

Lin Ziyan1 s eyes widened as she observed Lin Ming; he looked entirely different from before-his entire body was wreathed in a layer of white misty light and beyond that was a near- translucent aura of pulsating spiritual light! He was standing in the sky, floating without any signs of Mana Dominance, as if the mana had no need to be commanded to do his bidding, while all his hair was colored pure white as if flowing with the profound power of elemental origin.

The aura around him bathed the world in a spiritual light!

"This is...?" Lin Ming was utterly astounded as he felt life in his once-dying body. When he moved his hands, a faint glow of spiritual runes flickered across his skin, showcasing a translucent view that pierced through his veins, arteries, and bones, which also had etchings of spiritual runes in greater quantities. Curious to the utmost, he touched his Dantian to inspect it.

Just as he barely touched it, a gush of radiant spiritual light emanated from his heart area, outlining a white spherical object that shone similar to a Solar Star, seemingly having replaced his heart. It wasn't an Astral Core. "It looks like my Astral Soul," Lin Ming softly remarked as he realized he couldn't feel his Astral Core any longer in his Dantian, the shell of his cultivation base!

"Lin Ming!" A faint, weak voice echoed in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Senior?" Lin Ming recognized that voice with earnest joy in his eyes.

"You bastard! You trashy, useless thing!" The voice, while weak, spewed out expletives and insults without holding back.

Hearing this voice, while it was scolding him for the first time, Lin Ming didn't take it to heart as he smiled in glee. He was alive! If it wasn't for this senior, he didn't think it would be possible.

"Idiot! Stop smiling!!" The voice raged. In the end, it sighed heavily, its voice weakening a level more. "Your crisis isn't over yet!"

"...!" Lin Ming's eyebrows furrowed.

"Your Spirit Core isn't stable! Right now, your aura is too unbalanced, but those two brats are currently waiting for it to stabilize so as not to damage the core." The voice said.

"Spirit Core?" Lin Ming was stunned. Then, he turned to see Na Xinyi and Tian Yinwu floating in the sky, watching him silently from afar, the former of which had Tang Xinyun and another woman held by her power.

The voice didn't have much time left so it spoke incredibly fast, "Alright! Listen up: I've sacrificed a portion of my cultivated Divine Origin for you, used the Spirit-Bound Lotus you've acquired, and broken down the Aegis of the Elements to forcefully initiate the Spiritualism Conversion process. You're very, very, very lucky it worked! But it's not complete. You haven't cultivated a Divine Origin yet, so your Sea of Consciousness, World-Bound Star Domain, and Astral Physique haven't completely merged and become a single entity.

"But you're strong; my Divine Origin is being used to uphold your current Spiritualist state, so you have access to a portion of my cultivated strength as your own. This won't last forever though. You have, at most, thirty-two minutes!" The voice kept getting quieter. Lin Ming had to strain his senses to hear at the end.

"Your Spirit Core is an incomparably precious treasure! If anyone acquires it right now, they'll be able to refine your lifetime of cultivation to gain a Divine Origin! My Divine Origin! So you better not lose it! The value is enough to put the Heaven Relic to shame, so don't-" the voice abruptly ended, vanishing entirely.

Lin Ming felt a sinking feeling in his heart as the voice vanished, especially when he mentioned that his Spirit Core could be acquired by others. His gaze looked at Tian Yinwu and Na Xinyi, and he could feel that they hadn't made a move yet for a reason.

They were waiting for his Spirit Core to stabilize!

HOWL!!!

Zuhei's howl shook the world!

The bloody, devouring will of predation and Sirius, the Silver Wolf, began to recede like a tide, all returning to Zuhei!

Within two blinks of a mortal's eye, the aura returned entirely. Zuhei stood there, his body upright, his head tilted to the sky, his breath misty and his scarlet eyes exuding a savage, terrifyingly vicious primal light.Tian Yinwu furrowed his brows.

Na Xinyi's eyes widened slightly.

They both felt their hairs stand up on their skin, goosebumps forming endlessly across it.

"I knew it," Tian Yinwu said as he clenched his left hand into a fist, exuding a ray of silvery light, and extended two fingers of his right hand, forming a golden sword.

Na Xinyi felt it too. "Has he...?" She waved her right hand, and a beguiling yin mist enveloped her fist.

Lin Ming was unable to sense anything due to his unstable, raging spiritual aura, but his white-colored pupils constricted as Zuhei's apex predator gaze seemed to shift ever-so-slightly in his direction.

Suddenly, a ripple formed beside Lin Ming, crossing through space and time to deliver one last message!

"You need to get your heart's quintessential energies back!"