Paragon of Sin

A few minutes prior, Wei Wuyin was discussing with Wu Yu and Ma Zheng while traveling through the Dark Void. They sat atop Bai Lin, who was flying at high speeds, stretching her wings. Nearby, Star-Hex flew at similar speeds. Star-Hex housed a resting Huoyang Liulan, the first time she decided to leave Ma Zheng to act alone. That said, the old man wore a scarlet-red bracelet on his right wrist with six different colored Solar Stars blazed in flames, clearly an item of the Inferno Solaris Church.

Wei Wuyin was pondering on Wu Yu's cultivation discoveries, involving Ma Zheng as well. After successfully cultivating the Blood Origin Method to its final stage, the World-Heart Stage, Wu Yu developed a strange rune in his Secondary Dantian, his flesh and blood heart, and it emanated a feeling resembling World Heart Intent.

Wu Yu was well aware that Wei Wuyin wasn't very knowledgeable about the Ways of Mysticism or the Mystic Ascendant Realm; however, he had access to the cultivation method, so maybe he had some clue about its existence.

Wei Wuyin's first instinct was to ask the Heavenly War Spirit for information. Unfortunately, when it tried to explain, whether deliberate or not, it spoke in the language of Mysticism. Once again, he was stonewalled by this language of an Ascended being. When he asked the spirit to write it down like the methods, it merely said it couldn't!

Why?.

Because it was an egg! Before this, it had a complete body, possessing grand powers, and autonomy that could freely inscribe mystic characters. Now? It was restrained to solely communicating with Wei Wuyin and nothing else. As for trying to mimic the sounds of Mysticism, Wei Wuyin's mental, spiritual, or vocal cords lacked the necessary components to do so.

Left without a solution, Wei Wuyin called Ma Zheng over in the hopes of brainstorming an idea. Ma Zheng was deeply awed by the profundity of the Blood Origin Method, an urge to cultivate it swelled within his heart instantly upon reading it. It took a while to pry the plate from his aged fingers.

"It is strange," Wei Wuyin commented again. It was unknown how many times he said this, but Wu Yu and Ma Zheng both seemed equally helpless. How could they be Earthly Saints and unable to figure out this detail of a cultivation method within their realms? Yet, that was the cruel reality of cultivation, and why it was extremely difficult. Unless you had an experienced senior to guide your way of thinking through their success, you'd be lost scrambling for answers.

"I've come up with two possible conclusions," Wei Wuyin said with a solemn expression.

"Two?" Wu Yu's eyes lit with amazement. He couldn't even come up with one! He had tried accessing its power, extracting it from his heart, and all sorts of other things to no avail. It seemed as useless as an ornament.

Wei Wuyin nodded, "Two. First: It's acting as a pseudo-Spirit of Cultivation, stabilizing your heart. Second: It's a key."

The first conclusion was instantly rejected by both Wu Yu and Ma Zheng. As beings extremely familiar with Spirits of Cultivations, especially Wu Yu who was acutely aware of his own heart's situation, they knew there was no way that it was stabilizing his Secondary Dantian. Moreover, Wu Yu had even extracted it with no issues, and there were no destabilizing effects to doing so.

The second, however, was intriguing.

"A key?" They both asked in unison.

Wei Wuyin nodded again, his silver eyes blazing with mental energies. "I learned a while ago that there are certain cultivation methods dedicated to preparing certain aspects of cultivation to act as a key to greater stages," Wei Wuyin said, recalling the Forsaken Zenith, Unto Origin Cultivation Method he acquired from Jing Jiu's memories. Using this method, Jing Jiu sacrificed two hundred years to manifest an Origin State for his Spirit of Cultivation. It acted as a crucial step to surpassing the Worldly Saint Phase and entering the Heavenly Saint Phase, according to Jing Jiu's memories.

It was a key.

Wei Wuyin continued, "Cultivation is difficult; this saying isn't something any of us would refute, but that doesn't make it impossible. I've learned in my expeditions that World Heart Intent is an essential requirement to reaching the Worldly Saint Phase." When Wei Wuyin said this, Wu Yu and Ma Zheng's expressions drastically changed!

Especially Ma Zheng. His facial expression was extremely unsightly, painted by surprise, disbelief, and unwillingness, and even his complexion grew slightly pale. It was clear that he fully believed Wei Wuyin's words.

Wei Wuyin noticed this, asking: "What is it?"

Ma Zheng's intense reaction was abnormal. After a long while, Ma Zheng finally responded: "World Heart Intent is the requirement? Are you sure?" While he fully believed Wei Wuyin, he also wanted Wei Wuyin to pedal back on his words from the bottom of his heart. However, Wei Wuyin confidently nodded, bringing a wisp of dejection to Ma Zheng's eyes.

Wei Wuyin had learned this from Guan Yu, who existed outside of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, and he was certain at the time. He was speaking as if it was common knowledge.

Ma Zheng sighed, nodding. "Heart of the World, World of the Intent is the next step after Awakened Intent, but do you know how many cultivators comprehend this level of Intent?"

Wei Wuyin was taken aback, but he genuinely didn't know. He only knew that besides Yao Houyi, he had never met anyone else who comprehended World Heart Intent. Even Long Chen, who developed a Seed of Law, hadn't reached that level.

Ma Zheng continued, "There are countless cultivators throughout the stellar region. However, in my entire lifetime, there's only been a recorded instance of 1,022 cultivators who comprehended World Heart Intent. Of course, these are only those recorded and known. Some weren't very talented and lived in obscurity, even after comprehending World Heart Intent, they reached the end of their lifespan, dying in the Astral Core Realm. Those who made it to the Mystic Ascendant Realm met similar ends, dying either due to their enemies or lifespan depletion.

"Regardless, World Heart Intent was not indicative of extreme talent or intelligence as many originally believed, simply aligned fortune. So it hadn't been given much importance in our society, except special intents such as Elemental Heart Intent that can create natural Solar Stars, but that's solely due to how history unfolded and the relevance placed on it."

"..." Wei Wuyin's outward expression didn't change, but his heart was battered by turbulent waves. He already knew that some Earthly Saints could spend entire lifetimes seeking World Heart Intent and fail. This was from Guan Yu's lips. He still remembered how envious Guan Yu had been, and how that mysterious woman from the Nexus Battlefield considered him a genius worthy of conquering her.

It was clear that the standards of those in the Nexus Battlefield vastly exceeded the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. To think it would be this exaggerated.

Wu Yu, however, fixated on Wei Wuyin's previous assumption. "You said it could be a key to cultivation? Are you saying that Mystic Rune might be the key to successfully reaching the Worldly Saint Phase? Becoming a Worldly Saint?"

It was only then that Ma Zheng's complexion grew healthier with surprise and interest, fully focused on hearing this possibility. After knowing that World Heart Intent was required, he'd given up in his heart, mind, and soul, contemplating how to help Ma Sujiang have a chance at it after his death.

Wei Wuyin thought for a long while and nodded solemnly, "Cultivation is difficult, but not impossible. There are bound to be other paths one could take to ascend to the next stage, either through cultivation methods or alchemical products. Since this is true for the Mortal Realms, why not beyond?"

As a cultivator of the 'Divine' spirit modifier, Wei Wuyin directly bypassed the Seventh Stage of the Qi Condensation, Infused Spirituality Phase, so he was extremely aware that cultivation methods can help one through certain stages.

Both Earthly Saints agreed with this.

"The Blood Origin Method is a Low-World graded method, right?" Wei Wuyin asked.

Both Earthly Saints nodded, having read the plate.

"What if 'world' is a substitute for World Heart Intent, and completely cultivating it creates a key, granting one a chance to succeed?" Of course, all of this was merely Wei Wuyin's assumptions based on loosely connected wordings and characters, but to the Earthly Saints, they felt his words could release an air of truth.

"So I could ascend to the Worldly Saint Phase?" Wu Yu's eyes brightened considerably at the prospect. At the same moment that the thought of ascending entering his Sea of Consciousness, his Mystic Soul shook slightly, and the mystic rune within his heart showed activity for the first time, vibrating every so slightly. If one looked closely, cracks were surfacing on the rune!

Instantly undulated by a sense of fear and danger, Wu Yu hastily calmed his growing thoughts. Only then did the sensation dissipate, the mystic rune began to repair itself using his unique Blood Origin Essence in a matter of milliseconds.

Ma Zheng turned to inspect Wu Yu's ever-changing aura, frowning deeply. "What was that? Are you okay?"

Wei Wuyin hadn't felt anything abnormal, unable to sense mystic auras, unlike Ma Zheng. Wu Yu gulped slightly, "I think you're right, Young Lord; I felt it. The Mystic Rune inside my heart should be a key to initiating my next ascension. This is something I've never felt before."

"..." The trio went silent immediately after Wu Yu finished explaining his experiences. His words carried a vastly different type of weight than Wei Wuyin's initial assumption. The 'Key' that Wei Wuyin described was the key to success, but in Wu Yu's words, it was a key to a chance. It was similar to how Wei Wuyin invoked Ma Zheng's Earthly Ascension as if he reached Awakened Mystic Intent, similar to how Wu Yu's Earthly Ascension. As such, Wu Yu felt a wave of different emotions, including trepidation and uncertainty.

What if he challenged it and failed? What if he wasn't prepared?

End up just like before…

Thinking about it, Wu Yu felt all sorts of negative emotions. While Wei Wuyin had helped him greatly alleviate his inner demons regarding challenging Ascensions of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, it wasn't enough to disperse it entirely or erase the thousands of years slumbering in a ring. Furthermore, he had just broken through; he didn't feel that he was remotely ready to succeed. And Wei Wuyin echoed those thoughts openly: "Good. You have the key, so all we have to do is ensure that you will succeed. That'll take some time, but having a future Worldly Saint by my side is comforting."

Those words pulled Wu Yu out of his mind, feeling as if there was a lot less pressure on his chest. He didn't need to rush it.

Ohn!

Within Wei Wuyin's mind, a familiar sensation resounded once again. It was extremely familiar! He looked at his right arm, thinking his Karmic Luck had been deducted, but when no change was there, he looked around and he sensed it.

'A Karmic Surge!' The Heavenly Daos was taking 1,000 or more Karmic Luck Value from a Blessed, trying to give them opportunities for amazing fortune. The last time he felt such intensity, it was Lin Ming's in the War Devil Realm during the Elementus Chosen Trial, and the aura here felt extremely similar.

Was it Lin Ming again? Was he experiencing a second Karmic Surge? Curiosity burned in his eyes as he stared in the direction of the Everlore Domain.

"Yes!"

On the main stage of the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit's qualifications proving grounds, Lin Ming had just valiantly agreed to the Lesser Starlord level entity! The entire crowd was thunderstruck! Some were awed, others filled with boundless interest, and a sadistic few were excited to see another genius experience crushing death.

The nine-colored mark at the center of Lin Ming's head, the Aegis of Elements, began to release an indiscernible glow of elemental origin light infused with spirituality.

A voice resounded in Lin Ming's mind at this moment. "It seems that little girl knows how to pick them—foolish and brave. I admire it." The voice was husky and richly deep, carrying a level of prestige befitting monarchs, yet there was an innate kindness within that comforted the heart and spirit. It belonged to a male.

"...!" Lin Ming started. His eyes widened as he looked around, trying to discern where the voice originated from.

"I'm here," the voice said with a hint of a smile in his tone. "On your head."

Lin Ming touched his forehead with vigilance, feeling the Aegis of the Elements that Lin Xianxei had given him. It was a peak astral-graded defensive treasure that had helped him an untold number of times, surviving countless near-death experiences or overcoming heaven-defying challenges. It was one of the items that gave him the greatest sense of confidence. "...You are?"

"There's no time for introductions. You have a fight ahead of you, and the entire relevant world is watching. I wasn't planning on lending you assistance yet, but…let's say that I'm moved by your unyielding character. Ah, it reminds me of myself." As the voice spoke, the entity formed from the jet-black obelisk.

A gargantuan male figure standing at three meters tall with bulging muscles and a short battle-axe with two crescent moon sides, emitting a sharp light that felt as if it could cleave all of creation.

The voice was right! Lin Ming's eyes shrunk as he felt the passive aura from this entity. It was TOO strong! An urge to retreat swelled within his heart. Suddenly, a wave of cooling spiritual energy entered his body through the Aegis of the Elements, calming him down, and allowing him to resist the urge to shout in defeat.

"Since I've decided to help, there's no longer a need to retreat. Fight! Fight to your heart's content."

WOOSH!

The Lesser Starlord entity manifested their Worldly Domain!