Paragon of Sin

Yun Che reacted appropriately, pushing forward and then turning around with sword in hand, his expression solemn, his eyes radiant, and his heart pounding from the slight fright. As he turned to face this sneaky foe, his vigilant eyes immediately lit with the light of recognition.

"You?!" The shock in his heart was utterly mind-shaking! He had used the Void Tear to escape! This was a heaven-sent, priceless artifact of ancient times that he'd found off the corpse of a titan within a ruined secret realm. His exploration not only allowed him to obtain the Void Tear, a crystallized substance that contained refined Void Energy, but he learned that it was created using Void Piercer, a treasure that belonged to the wife of the ancient Emperor of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region more than a hundred thousand years ago!

It had saved him from all sorts of dire situations of life and death and even escaped from the clutches of Ascended beings while he was a mere mortal, and now evaded even Earthly Saints!

Moreover, the Void Tear's power was difficult to control, so besides the distance, he was unable to determine direction. The empowered Spatial Shift interfaced with the Void, and the spatial fluctuations were absorbed, leaving little to absolutely no trace to be followed. Only those who possessed specialized means could find any traces remaining, and solely because of his Mystic Power left behind the tiniest of trails.

Yun Che tightly gripped the Heretical Berserk Godsword in his hand. The urge to ask questions was hurriedly suppressed in his heart, and he readied himself for an intense battle yet again. He could only hope that He Bojing hadn't followed as well.

However, Wei Wuyin was entirely nonchalant facing Yun Che's vigilance, seemingly showing no indication of attacking. He coolly said, "If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead." Those words were like stinging bells pounding against Yun Che's ears.

In truth, Wei Wuyin had thoughts of slaying Yun Che for a brief moment.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.

Fourth Calamity: Suppressed - 48 Years.

Karmic Luck Value: 212,732.5.

Forty-eight years remaining—Wei Wuyin refused to sabotage his time to cultivate and prepare for Yun Che's life; the eighteen Calamities of Hell was an ever-present guillotine at the ready to drop. If he could delay it by another second, he would.

Furthermore, he was curious how Yun Che's existence could benefit him. What machinations had the Heavenly Daos' prepared for him to exploit? Thinking up to here, his curiosity bloomed.

"..." The two Blessed faced off for a long while. After determining that He Bojing or the other Earthly Saints hadn't followed this masked figure, Yun Che's heart relaxed a little.

"Evil Daoist," Wei Wuyin calmly said, breaking the building tension, and causing Yun Che's brows to furrow. The audacity to call him evil took him by surprise. Despite Yun Che's surprise, the Evil Blessed did cultivate a variety of Evil Cultivation Methods, so his aura similarly possessed a type of madness and a vile presence to it. It was hard to refute, so Yun Che didn't even try. "For now, hand it over."

Yun Che's hand tightened upon the hilt of his sword as he sneered, "If you want me dead, I'd be dead? Do you think I'm a fool to capsize at the first sign of mercy? That I'll simply believe you?" Yun Che didn't know how this masked figure had followed him, but it was likely that he possessed a treasure also formed from the legendary Void Piercer of ancient times.

As for killing him? He was initially shaken, but when he recalled his Heretical Berserk Godsword's secret function and his recent clash with this masked cultivator, all thoughts of such a claim's validity were shattered. If this cultivator could've killed him, he would. Why spare him? Especially since he actively tried to slaughter Xiao Bing, caused the devastation of Ice Jade, and killed the Bing Clan's Matriarch.

It simply didn't add up.

Regardless of the reason for the masked cultivator's interference or He Bojing's, none of them would let him be free if they could restrain him. He Bojing's attempt to capture him had been muddied by the masked cultivator's interference and the presence of the Heavenly World Core, so he was unable to fully unleash his power. Moreover, he likely feared Yun Che dying to a true attack.

As for this masked cultivator…

"Fine," Wei Wuyin calmly said. Then, his Infinite Void Wings unfurled!

Yun Che's heart clenched! He was about to launch an attack when his Heretical Berserk Godsword moved like a bolt of lightning, and it defended to his right.

BOOSH!

A terrifying force pushed him away, his arms shook slightly, but he was capable of skidding across fixed space with practiced ease to halt his momentum. His eyes widened as his Spiritual Sense began to spread, but before it could get far, his sword twisted his arm into a frontal defense!

BOOSH!

He was once again pushed back. What type of speed was this?! He couldn't even sense his opponent's attacks! If it wasn't for the Heretical Berserk Godsword's autonomous defensive function, he would've been hit twice!

BOOSH! BOOSH! BOOSH!

Yet Yun Che was surprised to find that the attacks kept coming, and he was unable to pinpoint Wei Wuyin's figure, even after the attack hit, it was as if an invisible force had crashed against the sword again and again. As a newly Ascended Demi-Mortal Lord, while his mystic-graded energies were at the Soul of Mysticism-level, he still possessed the enhanced Spiritual Sense, refined Mystic Physique, and overbearing vitality of a Highlord! Yet, as he faced this assault, he was unable to use any of it!

"No wonder He Bojing was ruthlessly suppressed! What type of speed and attack was this?"

Suddenly, his eyes caught a glimpse of a seven-colored light sparking off the Heretical Berserk Godsword. For some indescribable reason, when he felt it, his heart and mind were sending him blaring warnings. The result led to a pressing sensation of crisis, and he roared violently as his Mystic Aura erupted.

"Was that so difficult?" A voice resounded behind him that seemed utterly relaxed, seemingly satisfied. When Yun Che turned, he saw the masked figure appraising the Heavenly World Core floating above his palm. Instinctively, Yun Che glanced to his side and realized the core enveloped in a shadowy mist had vanished! His heart sank.

"You!" Yun Che immediately activated the Heavenly Saint's Mana Rune! He was going to have it explode with power, ripping Wei Wuyin's hands to shreds, and then reclaim the Heavenly World Core!

However, as he tried to interface with the Heavenly World Core through Mana Dominance, he received no feedback from the rune. "What?" He tried again, his palm glistening with gorgeous light, yet no changes followed!

Wei Wuyin twisted the Heavenly World Core in his palm, checking it out from multiple angles. At the moment, the Heavenly World Core no longer existed in this layer of space. It was within the Void! The current Heavenly World Core was a visual replica of its existence, an anchor of itself to this space, but it was no longer here!

"Wha-what did you do?" Yun Che realized that he couldn't sense the Heavenly World Core's aura anymore, and his Mystic Soul's feedback towards it proved that, while this looked like the Heavenly World Core, it wasn't it! He was entirely baffled, and his eyes darted to search for the real Heavenly World Core!

Even if it was sealed in a Spatial Ring or a legendary Internal World, he should be able to connect with the core and cause it to forcefully breach any restraints or seals! In the worst case of being unable to obtain it, he could induce a minor Chaosnova with the rune!

"So I was right," Wei Wuyin said while his heart was brimming with joy. Yun Che's Mana Rune was incredibly problematic as shown during their skirmish. His abnormal control of it was why he was able to escape with it among the three.

After seizing the Heavenly World Core, Wei Wuyin obtained one of the greatest benefits of this Karmic Luck encounter, regardless if it was the Heavenly Daos' intentions or not. According to his memories, this Heavenly World Core was a product of a Heavenly Saint, and it belonged to Trueborn. They had used this to destroy a node in both of his lives, producing a Chaosnova, and causing indescribable levels of destruction.

It was also evidence that Trueborn was receiving sizable support from the outside. The Void Voyage Sect was trying its hardest to prevent any illegal smuggling of resources from the World Beyond the Fold into the Sealed Regions.

They, of course, failed.

"WHERE IS IT?!" Yun Che howled, madness swelling within his eyes, and his thoughts became muddled with rage and violence. The Heretical Berserk Godsword responded to his emotions, amplifying these negative feelings by several degrees, and Yun Che's aura was going wild.

Wei Wuyin frowned at this sight. This Evil Blessed was lighting a signal flare to the world, no? While they had escaped He Bojing and the other Earthly Saints, they were still in their range of perception. He already knew that, right about now, this activity had alerted many experts and they were Spatial Shifting toward their location.

"Calm," Wei Wuyin activated the latent Seven Source Soul Light within the Heretical Berserk Godsword! Earlier, he had infused Soul Light into his attacks, infiltrating and trying to grasp the sword's identity, and he was able to make several verifications! The most important was that its internal formation structure bore similarities to the Nexus War Flag!

Suddenly, Yun Che's intense emotions died down. The Heretical Berserk Godsword's emotion amplification was being suppressed!

"..." Yun Che was utterly stupefied.

"Come," Wei Wuyin beckoned. The Heretical Berserk Godsword trembled within Yun Che's hands, and then, it released a burst of explosive light that caused Yun Che's grip to break, and his hold of the sword to be released! His eyes widened as the sword shot toward Wei Wuyin, and while enveloped in seven-colored light, spun at his side like an obedient toy!

"You should never enter a battle with a tool you haven't fully refined. To think you're using your Cultivation Method to control a sword's latent Soul Light instead of using your own. It is an exquisite bypass of a method, using your Seed of Law's aura to leverage control and recognize you as its previous owner, but it has far too many flaws." Wei Wuyin perfectly analyzed Yun Che's situation, and the gaped expression of the Evil Blessed reflecting the endlessly ravaging shock he was feeling indicated the truth in Wei Wuyin's words.

Wei Wuyin looked to the distance, his Infinite Void Wings unfurled once more, and he sighed in his heart. He wasn't done! Unfortunately, Yun Che's recklessness gave him little time to act. After all, the Skyrend Domain's Domain-wide Array was activating!

"If you want your sword, follow." Wei Wuyin could no longer dither here, and he emulated the Void Tear's power, using his wings to slice open a spatial tear that erupted with multi-colored light. With the sword by his side, he shot into the spatial tear.

"...!" Yun Che was barely able to process what just happened. In a blink, he'd lost the Heavenly World Core and the Heretical Berserk Godsword. Who was this cultivator?! Now, when he recalled the cultivator's earlier words of sparing him from death, he firmly believed it.

"Is he like that Old Ghost?" Suddenly, a wisp of confusion, vigilance, and excitement surged in his heart. Meeting an unfathomable expert like this had launched him from a nobody to a cultivator that could fight against and escape Earthly Saints. Was this another opportunity?!

He gritted his teeth, praying that this was an opportunity.

Suddenly, the Skyrend Domain's Domain-wide Array was activated! Yun Che was stunned as he finally noticed that several spatial fluctuations were approaching, and he realized that he'd given them his location in his fit of madness! The Void Tear needed to accumulate energy once again to activate, so he was left with no choice!

He clenched his fist and flew into the spatial tear!