Paragon of Sin

Eerie.

Silent.

The world once again descended into a strange pause that was far from the typical freezing of time, and more of an adaptation of complete and total stillness. Prior to Wei Xiaotian's explanation, Wei Wuyin had no idea as to its origins or purpose, but now he had a solid idea of both. It was a veil for the heavens to act against Su Mei, quietly and avoiding the truth-seeking gaze of others.

Wei Wuyin had a sneaky suspicion that those like Fuxi or beings similar might be unable to casually glance over, requiring a stronger 'focus' to do so. After all, his Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity that cfrom the Magi lineage, capable of seeing unseen divinities and the truths of the world, was ineffective against it, but the strength of the Alchemical Dao's Alchemic Stars was capable of piercing through and revealing all that was being done.

This caused Wei Wuyin to have an assumption that the power of Daos was significantly different than others. Moreover, he could test this theory of his. Unlike before, Kratos didn't need to shout urgently to awaken him nor was his body affected by the eerie still-imbuing force. The Belt of Mortal Virtue manifested around him as the aura of the Mortal Dao bellowed outwards and surged into his body.

The saura erupted from Little Defiant within his Mind's Eye, sending waves of this aura into his Sea of Consciousness and enveloping his mortal soul. In almost an instant, he extricated himself from the stillness and the false reality that was veiled over his eyes and his senses dissipated like scattered mist, far unlike before where it was a cataclysmic shattering.

With understated ease, Wei Wuyin had unleashed the power to resist and pierce through the veil of heaven. While he had an alternative method planned to counter this, this discovery left him feeling a little giddy and contemplative. A single-word character appeared on his glabella as Little Defiant's aura flowed.

The veil was pulled away and Wei Wuyin could see the sole inconsistency to the eerie silence-Su Mei. She looked at him and blinked. Upon her forehead was similarly a single-word character. He replied to her gaze with a grin, and he could see her complexion grow noticeably active as she saw that Wei Wuyin was here and not an illusion.

"It worked," she said with her hand on her hilt, a strand of readiness flowed actively within her heart and mind.

This was the first stage of his plan-free Su Mei!

Wei Wuyin swept his gaze across the world. Now for the second stage of his plan: Keep Su Mei alive!

"Go!" He urged Su Mei to enter the Seed Tribulation Gate which would inevitably lead her to escape the boundary of mortals and becan Ascendant being that transcends her original state! Su Mei didn't hesitate and observed her Seed Tribulation Gate, feeling the active Mystic Rune Seeds that she spent years refining and decades contemplating. She was familiar with the Ways of Mysticism at its fundamental level, and she felt confident in reaching the 9th Rune Ascension. However, she swiftly recalled Wei Wuyin's previous instructions and firmly recalled the method used by those demonically talented youths who wished to strive for further greatness.

After confirming her precise understanding of the method once again, she rushed toward the gate with a determined gaze and an indomitable will.

Wei Wuyin watched with mounting anxiety despite his grin and calm expression. Kratos was abnormally active as it pounded with the readiness to act, storing enough power to traverse the void, and hopefully bring them safely to the Prohibition of Heaven within the Sky Heart Galaxy. He originally intended to have the tribulation occur there, but he decided against it after scouring Wei Xiaotian's mortal-tier knowledge.

Looking back, he was absurdly stupid and frustratingly ignorant when he decided to do such a thing earlier. He was now aware that ascending in locations with prohibitions of heaven like that was rife with consequences. Most notably, and most importantly, one's Ascended Existential State would be heavily affected by the prohibition's power originating from those of the Resonant Soul Realm, and that power could sever one's resonance with the heavens.

This was no different than severing one's path to greater levels of cultivation beyond the Worldly Saint Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm without an alternative path, and entering the Resonant Soul Realm would becnothing more than a pipe dream.

When he thought about the ascension process, he realized why, how, and what would have happened if Su Mei had listened to him and undergone her ascension or even opened her tribulation gate in that restricted region of the soul's resonance with the heavens. Fortunately, Wei Xiaotian was there to save him considerable trouble.

BOOOOSH!!!

Without warning, a thunderous explosion erupted from the world. Wei Wuyin and Su Mei's bodies instinctively unleashed clear light. Then, without hesitating or inspecting the origin of the sound, they both tapped into their strongest power!

Idol of the Stellar Paragon!

Idol of the Stellar Rebel!

Su Mei's body swirled with the unrestrained, unstoppable brilliance of dawn and the inevitable, irresistible descent of dusk! She, too, had cultivated within the Samsara of Stars for the second time! Her World Bound Star Domain had nine belts, four unleashing blinding white light, and four were as pitch-black as a black hole! All eight released a faint mix of ethereal and material aura!

The last one was an overarching halo that surrounded the other belts and the star. It was difficult to determine what it was, but the aura it released was undeniably unique and unfathomable. If it was before, this belt would be unidentifiable by even Su Mei. With Wei Xiaotian's explanation, including Wei Wuyin's experience with these belts' manifestations and properties, was aware that this belt was almost certainly the manifestation of heaven that she had absorbed due to her origins!

A Belt of Heaven!

Surrounding her slender, valiant, and nigh-flawless body were these nine vaguely transparent belts. Her body bellowed out an unseen force that fought against an unseen force. The two caused a second explosion to erupt and distort the Dark Void to the point it resembled a hazy mirage!

BOOOOSH!!!

Wei Wuyin's Idol of the Stellar Paragon allowed his body to tap into its strongest strength that exceeded an Enlightened Sage, and with the Belt of Mortal Virtue spinning with extractivity, he didn't blink from either explosion. He observed the fierce confrontation including the descent of a hazy humanoid figure.

The figure had only just descended with heavenly presence before Su Mei when it was blasted away a few hundred feet from her. Then, his hand grasped Element's hilt. Su Mei's hand and arm matched Wei Wuyin's cadence perfectly, and her black eyes stared at the new existence. Was this an enforcer or a manifestation of heaven like The World manifesting from earlier?

Regardless of this, Wei Wuyin drew upon his experience of facing The World's avatar, and didn't hold back as he decided to draw his blade against this manifestation.

SHIIING!

Su Mei drew her saber too, but she didn't swing it toward the figure. Instead, she executed an art that Wei Wuyin had taught her. Her entire power was poured into her saber as she drew upon every last ounce of her strength, directed it toward her Seed Tribulation Gate, and swung! Her body flew at speeds approaching light itself!

TWILIGHT SABER LIFE SECURING ART!

She released a deep, low roar!

This was her twist to the Element Saber Life Securing Art.

While all this took tto describe, the actions between the explosions and their two actions were in a literal instant. The arrival of the manifestation was enough to verify to Wei Wuyin his earlier hypothesis, and that the heavens were descending personally to prevent Su Mei from entering her tribulation gate! This was how these unfathomable forces worked, even the River of Tand The World was no different, and that acting within the world required an avatar that could properly contain their authority and might.

Without one, they were as passive as could be.

Thanks to Wei Xiaotian's warning and Wei Wuyin's experience with dealing with these avatars, he easily planned around this exact scenario! Moreover, he had asked Su Mei to wait until he was here to take any movement toward the gate even if she was freed by relying on a drop of his quintessential power. The single step Su Mei took was enough to bring forth the avatar, clearly indicating its intentions!

Wei Wuyin drew upon his fullest strength and swung. He had long since gathered the strength of a galaxy once again and stored it into his edge in this swing! It was still hard to wield! But he did so with greater ease and proficiency than before! He condensed it to its absolute limits to prevent any untoward damage to the Mortal Dao or Mystic Dao. Since it could cause the Mortal and Mystic Dao to escape for the sake of avoiding damage, he didn't hesitate to unleash this void-splitting attack on this avatar!

The avatar couldn't even react before it was engulfed by saber light.

Su Mei's speed was faster than the imagination as her body, wreathed in saber light, flowed into the Seed Tribulation Gate in an instant!

She vanished!

"..."

Wei Wuyin huffed slightly as he observed the gate closing with his Celestial Eyes imbued with the blessing of the Mystic Dao. He didn't dare to relax here despite her seemingly attained success. He expected far more to occur!

And he was right!

And he was wrong!

As Su Mei's body vanished, her Seed Tribulation Gate under the Mystic Dao's control operated normally; it faintly glowed, unleashing an aura of unfathomability that was the signature of Mysticism. She was currently undergoing the transitional process as her Mortal Existential Framework was being evolved into an Ascended Existential Framework!

Her starforce would transform into Mystic Force, and if she obtained the verification of her knowledge and qualifications of the Ways of Mysticism, her Astral Souls would evolve a step further as well, becoming Mystic Souls, and her Mystic Force would fully escape the boundary of mortality and ascend into Mystic Power. The true energy source of Mysticism.

However, she would stop short here and beca Mystic Star for the sake of pursuing greater foundations!

He was wrong about Su Mei's tribulation being interfered with! Their fast reaction and pre-planned movements were perfectly done, executed with precision and preparation that would leave any shaken, and they acted without the slightest hesitation or fear that could seize one's soul. They channeled all that fear towards the heavens into the desire for conquest, breaking away and charging forward!

He was right about it not being over yet!

The galactic saber slash that was unleashed dissipated in an instant. Shockingly, there was no damage to the Mystic or Mortal Daos, only the veil that the heavens had summoned. Moreover, the avatar itself was hazy and completely unharmed. However, one could tell that it had expended seffort as the unseen force it released was swirling viciously around its body. Perhaps if it hadn't been delayed by that microsecond, it could have interfered with Su Mei's tribulation!

Wei Wuyin could feel the gaze of that hazy figure staring at him.

"Sorry?" Wei Wuyin revealed a wry smile. "She's my wife, y'know. Even if it's against divinities, I still have to draw my saber."

Wei Wuyin tried to transmit spiritually, unsure if it was received or not. He just wanted to buy tanyway.

The hazy figure stared at Wei Wuyin without moving. It was only a few hundred feet away, only the force that Su Mei released was enough to blow it back, and it seemed to be fixed to that location. It was as if it was tethered to Su Mei.

Suddenly, the warm and tender aura of the Mortal Dao echoed through Wei Wuyin's cells. Without hesitation, he interfaced with his previously gathered and stored Draconic Void Starforce meant to assist in their escape and potential relocation to the Sky Heart Galaxy if desperate and conjured a Void Portal right atop himself. He was swallowed by the jet-black void with the portal itself on the verge of dissipating.

Almost an instant later, the void portal was crushed out of existence by an unseen force.

A few million miles out, Wei Wuyin stumbled out of the void as clear light shrouded his body in a protected ward, and his complexion was as ashen pale as a ghost. He turned to see the hazy figure vanishing, its eyes stayed upon him until it disappeared entirely.

"Did it try to kill me?" Wei Wuyin questioned this as he wasn't too surprised given that he sent a galaxy-splitting saber slash at it. However, his instincts were telling him that it wasn't trying to kill him.

Ohn!

Wei Wuyin felt a harsh sting at the back of his neck and head, and he visibly grimaced with teeth gnashed. This was the first tthat the pain was so intense to the point where he reacted. He felt as if this was a prelude as an empty feeling enveloped his heart. He lifted his right sleeve with urgency. The black and golden tattoo signifying him as an Empyrean remained, but the characters on it were rapidly changing.

[RIGHT ARM: Pride]

Karmic Luck Value: 333,801.3 ⌜†’ 333,763.1.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.

Fourth Calamity: Suppressed - 1 Year.

And it didn't stop.

Karmic Luck Value: 333,763.1 ⌜†’ 321,337.0.

Karmic Luck Value: 321,337.0 ⌜†’ 272.088.5.

And it descended faster and faster. Wei Wuyin's heart shook.

Karmic Luck Value: 272.088.5 ⌜†’ 99,999.9.

Karmic Luck Value: 99,999.9 ⌜†’ 0.

Within a few blinks of a mortal's eye, his Karmic Luck Value dropped to zero.

His heart's pounds rang in his ears as he hurriedly lifted his left arm. There was no scene of rapidly changing descent as the damage had already been done!

[LEFT ARM: Lust]

Karmic Luck Value: 0.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.

Fourth Calamity: Suppressed - 1 Year.

"..."

The signs of his Empyrean status remained, he was still an Inheritor of Sin and a Blessed, but all of his karmic fortune was...gone...

Was this the sacrificial cost of that single strike against the heavens?

If so...

Wei Wuyin smiled brightly as he eyed the Seed Tribulation Gate.

If this was all, he would do it again without any hesitation.

As he was excited, the voice of the Heavenly War Spirit echoed in his mind.

"All your preparations and yet your first plan succeeds once again. Sometimes, I wonder..."

"Hahaha!" Wei Wuyin laughed gleefully. "You go with your first plan because it has the highest chance of success! I would be rather disheartened if it didn't work and without making back-up plans and contingencies, how could I confidently put my all into the first plan? I rather have an exhausted mind that is always over-preparing than a fresh mind in despair and doubt."

Unbeknownst to Wei Wuyin, dodging that unseen attack using his stored void force had allowed him to retain something that would have been lost, and that wasn't just Karmic Luck.

On another stream within the vast river ...

An unearthly handsfigure swathed in golden robes with alchemist and martial artist flair, sporting a seven-colored crown stared at both of his arms.

On both of his arms, there was nothing.

No tattoos.

No golden marks.

Only flesh and skin.

"...Am I free? AM I FINALLY FREE?!"