Paragon of Sin

"You have a Purist's Worldly Domain? How is this possible?" Timelord Duhan furrowed his brows, his eyes revealed a heavy source of suspicion. He was well-aware that Lin Ming comprehended Elemental Origin Intent, his Domain should've been white-colored, if not nine-colored in form. But it lacked a hint of Intent within, being pure as a Purist's Cultivation Base.

After a moment, his eyes brightened. "You're established an artificial Domain Seed?" After seeing Lin Ming's expression change slightly, he nodded to himself that his guess was right. The concept wasn't foreign. There were False Realmlords and even an alchemical product that can make them, but they were highly ineffective and unstable.

They required the refinement of a naturally formed planet or an artificially-created planet that had been in existence for over a hundred thousand years. It was essentially not worth it to refine a planet for a False Realmlord. Not to mention the success rate for this product was abysmal, so using several planets of that level for one was utterly not worth it.

Moreover, one's cultivation path would be severed. It was just a horrendously flawed alchemical product.

But he didn't understand how Lin Ming had done it. But after their clash of worldly control, he realized that Lin Ming"s Worldly Domain lacked the means to control ambient mana and astronomical forces, only energies. This meant the Worldly Domain wasn't even a tenth of the appropriate strength.

There was also a trace of instability and connectivity issues within, evidenced by Lin Ming's inability to instantly manifest his Worldly Domain. Clearly, his Domain Seed wasn't thoroughly connected to his Spirit of Cultivation, hence his mind and soul.

After analyzing this, he realized it wasn't that impressive. In fact, it was highly flawed and nearly caused Lin Ming's defeat. His attempt to interface with the Domain Seed delayed his other thoughts and reactions, resulting in Lin Ming being smacked by his spiritual spell without any defenses.

Still, it was an anomaly. The existence of it will certainly qualify him as a Chosen, and fighting a normal Realmlord with his foundation shouldn't be difficult.

Lin Ming didn't answer Timelord Duhan's question. This was his secret and he couldn't divulge it carelessly, especially to someone that wasn't very important to the sect. Furthermore, he'll likely earn the ire of the Tang Clan and who knows what else.

Timelord Duhan's expression darkened, but he understood that everyone had their secrets. With a soft breath, he realigned his thinking and released a pulse of spiritual force that flooded the entire platform.

Lin Ming gripped his Origin Spear and exerted the maximum amount of World Pressure from his Worldly Domain, keeping the spiritual force at bay.

BOOM! BOOM!

A series of explosions from the clash caused his body to fly backwards. He hastily used his astral force and mana control to halt his flight. When he did, his eyes narrowed as he saw a white-armored figure flying towards him with startling speed. There was a series of afterimages behind his figure, and before he could process what was happening, he felt his senses become disorientated.

At this moment, his nine-colored dot on his glabella roared to light and brightly lit in retaliation! The world he saw shattered, and he was met by the sight of a halberd-wielding figure stabbing at his abdomen. The blade was just five feet away!

Temporal Dissonance!

With his greatest strength, he moved his Origin Spear in retaliation. This elicited a shocked exclamation from Timelord Duhan, and the spear met the halberd, clashing in an explosive boom that sent Lin Ming flying to the other side of the coliseum.

Woosh!

Bam!

He heavily slammed into the walls of the coliseum, with copious amounts of blood gushing out of his mouth. Lin Ming's sea of consciousness felt like it was on fire as a nine-colored light invaded it, clearing out the spiritual force infused with time energies. It hurt like someone was scooping out his brain with a spoon.

Timelord Duhan was truly not holding back at all! Temporal Dissonance was the unique ability of Timelords, capable of infusing their time energies into their spiritual force and affecting the senses of their opponents. It can result in delayed reactions or the senses or thoughts halting entirely, making it an extremely deadly move!

The slam made Lin Ming's entire body feel like it had shattered, but besides some fractures on his bones, some splits on his skin, he was relatively fine. While Timelord Duhan hadn't held back in pushing his advantages, he didn't unleash lethal moves that would kill those of his equal.

In fact, if it wasn't for the peak-Astral Armament, the Aegis of the Elements, he would've long since met defeat. Lin Xianxei's gift had saved him twice, covering his weaknesses. Yet he still survived because of his refined body, quick reactions, and swift actions. It couldn't all be attributed to the Aegis of the Elements.

He spat out another gushing surge of blood before he shot out of the wall, leaving the faint imprint of his physical body. Hovering in the air, his eyes remained vibrant.

"Second move."

Timelord Duhan noticed that the Aegis of the Elements was present. He glanced at Lin Xianxei, his eyes a little heavy.

Lin Xianxei gave a faint smile. This was the real Aegis of the Elements, not a replica like what Lin Ming had in his fight with Zuhei. That belonged to her, and it was how she survived the attempt on her life all those years before. It was gifted to her by the Divine King Han Xei. It was this armament that allowed her status as his disciple to be known, allowing her more freedom than other Saintess' before her.

Timelord Duhan felt this was a little unfair. He wasn't allowed to use lethal moves in this tribulation, for obvious reasons. The most notable was the fact that, even if a Chosen was no longer qualified to be a Chosen, that didn't mean their talent and abilities were just erased. They were still top-notch geniuses that could become vital members of the sect.

This was an invisible restraint. He could use his cultivation advantages, but he couldn't unleash astral-grade arts or spells that required Realmlord or higher cultivation base to fully unleash. With a sigh, he looked at Lin Ming with a bitter light in his eyes.

But a tool or armament was sufficient to warrant a person's strength, developed or otherwise. After all, this was a renewal tribulation not a deciding one. In the Elementus Chosen Trial, external forces of strength were restricted from usage, except armaments that befit one's level.

Not here.

With that in mind, he decided to forgo his own dissatisfaction and proceed forward. Even if he was restricted, he still wouldn't hold back. He just needed to bypass the characteristics of the Aegis of the Elements and deliver a decisive blow.

Lin Ming could feel the pressure mount on his shoulders. With a fierce wipe of his hand, he removed the waterfall-like blood from his chin.

"Last move! Careful!" Timelord Duhan said, his entire body started to float into the sky. His Worldly Domain was fully unleashed and the ambient energies and mana started to tremble as his Worldly Pressure snatched their might, transforming it into his own. With a heavy breath that rumbled out like thunder, the astronomical forces, light, gravity, and other forces started to twist and distort, circling his floating form.

Lin Ming's expression darkened as he lifted his head to see Timelord Duhan's ascent. The ambient forces of the world were being snatched by him, conquered and converted to his power. This was a horrifying experience. It resembled the arrival of a god in myth.

It felt unbeatable!

But his heart remained firm, and so was his will to do battle. He couldn't fall here. Just one more move and he would earn his qualifications to become an officially recognized Chosen, having the right to establish his own personal forces within the sect.

It was the beginning of his path to the apex!

Timelord Duhan grasped his halberd with two hands and pointed it towards Lin Ming. The tip glinted with clear light, glistening like the ocean floor to radiant rays of light. It was beautiful, but its beauty was eclipsed by the shivering space that seemed utterly fragile as it affected it.

Lin Ming could only resist. With every last ounce of his will, he brought out everything!

His Worldly Domain was manifested to its limits!

His Elemental Origin Intent chaotically exploded outwards, affecting the ambient elemental energies, stripping a portion of Timelord Duhan's power! While he hadn't reached Element Heart Intent, this application of his Intent alluded to his comprehension nearing it!

With a low roar, his Astral Core completely revealed itself! When he fought Wei Wuyin, his Astral Core was eight centimeters in size, roughly sixteen times larger than the average Gravity Emission Phase expert of the Everlore Starfield! Now?

It had grown by two centimeters! A full ten centimeters in size, reflective of his outstanding growth since!

"Ten centimeters?" Timelord Duhan was quite surprised, but he didn't stop his galvanizing of ambient powers. He kept building up his own strength, turning the world into his own might.

Lin Ming, however, didn't stop there! Behind him, a nine hundred meters in size! It was of a white spherical existence that seemed both like a Solar Star and a Planet, with the ever-changing environments on its surface! Surrounding this sphere were nine spiritually cyan-colored rings!

At the moment it appeared, Lin Ming's entire existence elevated as his spiritual strength reached its limits, and his astral force was empowered by several folds. With another roar, the world trembled as he pointed the Origin Spear at Timelord Duhan.

Lin Xianxei felt her heart clench up, and every breath was heavy and slow. Those eyes of hers remained unblinking. The situation was at its finality and all Lin Ming had was a single more move to survive!

Timelord Duhan no longer charged his power. He wanted to test Lin Ming's upper-limits, and with his Soul Idol manifested, his strongest state was achieved. There was no need to delay his actions any further. With a cold snort, he kicked off in the air.

The entire world's forces followed him like an army entering into war! He had turbulent waves of cascading energies, forces, and mana trailing him! With his white armor, he was absolutely beautiful.

Lin Ming shot forward. He couldn't remain passive in this, and held his Origin Spear to the point his hand was bleeding. With a heroic thrust with all his power, every last ounce of his elemental origin force infused within, he unleashed his strongest attack.

「Divine Elemental Way: Strike of the Nine Worlds!」

He became a streak of white encased in nine-colored glow, as beautiful as a rainbow, as gorgeous as the stars. Within that white glow reflected the infinite variations of the world! All things in the world seemed entranced, following this streak to meet its greatest challenge! They were called, and they heeded this call!

Tinelord Duhan's eyes released a ferocious light and he stabbed harder, unleashing more of his power into the strike. No expert liked to face a challenge, and their Heart of Cultivation would be unintentionally stimulated. While he hadn't unleashed any spell or art, he released his greatest blow possible!

The two blades met.

The world exploded in an array of nine colors.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"..."

"..."

"..."

The stadium below was covered in cracks and a resounding silence followed such a hectic collision. But the two causes of this collision were nowhere to be seen, especially with the world covered in a multi-colored spiritual mist from their fallout.

Lin Xianxei shouted out, "Lin Ming!" Her heart was beset with worry so much that she launched herself forward, entering the multicolored mist.

"Lin Ming! Lin Ming!" A sense of dread enveloped her heart. Was it too premature? Did she rush him too much? She bit her lower lip in anxiety, but her spiritual sense couldn't make out anything in this mist of power. Wading through the mist she heard a familiar cough from her right.

She sped forward with excitement in her eyes, and she saw the armored Timelord Duhan holding Lin Ming by the neck like a little chick. Her heart stopped at that moment. Lin Ming's clothes were ravaged but his eyes were still brightly lit with a fierce spirit. While Timelord Duhan was unharmed.

"Lin...Ming..." Did he fail? Was it all over? She felt a little bit of her world collapse, but that collapse only lasted for a few moments as a bright glow filled it.

Lin Ming chuckled with heart, excitement and triumphant:"No moves!"

Timelord Duhan sighed, "No moves."

Lin Xianxei's eyes lit, her world brightened considerably! He did it? He did it!

HE DID IT!