Paragon of Sin

As a golden glow basked Everworld in its radiance, the Chosen of the eighteen regions all could feel the heavy sensation of silvery spatial swell within their bodies. The first stage of tne chosen King Competition, the Everworld Venture was coming to an end! No one resisted; the light properly did its job as the warm bodies of talented cultivators began to vanish in a stream of dazzling multicolored light as if sucked away by Stellar Transit Light! The cold, lifeless, dreary bodies of the dead, at least those fully intact, were jolted out with a tremor, spit out by Everworld to be sent to the Dark Void that Everworld had once occupied when it first arrived.

Those corpses, incomplete, dirty, pale, and filled with unwillingness, floated in the Dark Void awaiting the Everlore Association's timely retrieval. For the seniors, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, children, grandchildren, friends, and lovers of those who lost their lives in this incomparably dangerous venture, today was going to be a sad, unforgettable day...

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

Multicolored pillars numbering beyond a million descended from the sky, lightly smashing into the new area before rapidly dissipating, leaving behind all sorts of cultivators behind. Shockingly, as the appearances of the various Chosen became clear, tens of thousands of cultivators tightly held onto the Astralis Tree's leaves as if they were the most precious treasures.

Woosh!

A young woman garbed in white- colored robes with a youthful glow and traces of lingering awe on her expression was amongst them. Her pupils were spiritually active, remembering details of that sword of Yin that nearly ruined all creation. The tips of her fingers felt numb as she liked her lips with a deep inhale.

Ma Luling!

She was still reveling in Na Xinyi's beautifully profound attack that seemingly tried to erase the world itself! It was only then that she realized that there were existences that could be THAT terrifying! She finally knew why the Imperial Clan was intent on having such a godly beauty as theirs.

"Sister Luling!" Zeng Xiaohui descended beside Ma Luling, giving out a rather intimate form of address. Since arriving in Everworld, despite being older, she had tagged along as a reverential party. She was completely awed by Ma Luling's strength and means, and she had more or less accepted herself in the role of a maidservant. She was being of any use she could think of for Ma Luling, and that role seemed to have naturally developed.

Ma Luling finally broke out of her daze as she noted Zeng Xiaohui's presence. She acknowledged her with a smile, and then looked around. The world in her view was flat; all the Chosen were standing upon a large disk, very resembling a Flat Continental Earth in design.

The surface material that formed the ground looked like light-grey marble segmented in clear-cut squares that could fit an entire person. The entire world likely had trillions of these squares all laid together, each exuding a comforting, earthy air. The tension within Ma Luling's body felt as if it was dissipating with a single whiff.

In the sky, there was a single, dwarfsized, white-colored Solar Star with the most mundane solar essence imaginable. It was much further away than Everworld was, causing its radiant light to be dimmer than before. It caused the ambiance to grow a little more solemn as if telling these Chosen they were further away from home than before.

"Is this the Everpath Voyage Stage?" Zeng Xiaohui asked Ma Luling as she marveled at the surroundings. She was fairly ignorant of the stages when she first came, only having been told the bulk of it by Ma Luling during their time together. Still, she was taken aback by the setting despite preparing her heart.

Ma Luling adjusted her mental condition, settling herself as she nodded. "This is the Everpath Voyage's Dock. The beginning of the second stage. It hasn't started yet," she mentioned as she swept her gaze across the other Chosen, "this is the reward stage."

"Reward stage!" Zeng Xiaohui seemingly recalled this detail as her expression grew excitedly. As she said this, as if on cue, rays of white light cascaded down forcefully from above, instantly enveloping several figures throughout the Chosen. Before Zeng Xiaohui could do anything but exclaim aloud, one of these rays crashed into Ma Luling and segregated her from the Ma Clan's Chosen with a heavy resonating thudding sound.

She was sent stumbling, falling on her buttocks with widened eyes as Ma Luling, her emotional and spiritual pillar in this deadly competition, was drowned by the gushing white light that was seemingly solid. Panicked, she scrambled up as she tried to assess the situation. She saw tens of thousands of lights similar to this one swallow other Chosen.

She thoroughly tried recalling Ma Luling's earlier description of the second stage, including this reward stage. According to Ma Luling, the second stage was named the Everpath Voyage, and after the Everworld Venture, one enters the Everpath Voyage's Dock, the location where one takes before proceeding onwards.

In her words, it was as if one was traveling the deadly Everworld to arrive at a strange, unfathomable sea that one must overcome. The purpose of doing so was to get to the other side of the vast sea! To conclude the voyage! But in the thousands of years since the Chosen King Competition, not a single person, Dark Chosen or otherwise, was known to have reached the end.

It was this reason why no one had the right to even remotely claim themselves as Chosen King of their generation!When one claims a Fortune Zone or a token from an Evil Sentinel, they gain an invisible award of points that are calculated after they survive the Everworld. These unseen points could then be used to obtain various materials and alchemical products from the Chosen King Competition. They were mostly useful for cultivators in the Mortal Realms.

At the end of the second stage, as the clock tilts to zero, depending on how far one's voyage went, and provided they remained alive, the Chosen would gain another set of unseen points that could be used to the benefit of Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivators or preparation for Starlords to ascend! It was this reward that the Ascended beings had used to establish themselves!

Moreover, the grade of these materials and products were enough to cause world-shaking ripples throughout the eighteen regions' foundation time and time again, having greatly impacted the society's hierarchy of this era. Most Venerable. Highlords, and Earthly Saints had either gained products from here through their Chosen or by themselves long ago, allowing them to cross that threshold and ascend!

Zeng Xiaohui was envious; she had stayed with Ma Luling had hadn't captured any Fortune Zones herself or killed any Evil Sentinel, so she was left without any rewards. This was true for the vast majority of Chosen as well. While they may have obtained fortune zones of the first or second grade, it was well- documented and verified that those fortune zones simply didn't gain any points.

Therefore, only a few tens of thousands of Chosen out of the over million present were able to gain any rewards. She wasn't the only one filled with envy. The dewy eyes of these Chosen were wet with unwillingness, frustration, anger, and sadness. They may have survived, but that was it...they survived! The rewards for a successful venture were not theirs to have.

The reward only lasted an hour. Uniformly, the cascading light vanished across the world, revealing those outstanding Chosen that had seized fortune, fought evils, and earned their gains.

When Ma Luling came back, Zeng Xiaohui instantly called out to her. She, however, was shocked by Ma Luling's exasperated expression as she slightly rubbed her spatial ring.

"Sister...Luling?" Zeng Xiaohui gently called out again.

"Hm?" Ma Luling's thoughts and feelings were brought back to normal as she regarded Zeng Xiaohui, smiling soon after. Before she could say anything, a thunderous boom erupted from above!

81 Days : 00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 00 Seconds.

80 Days : 23 Hours : 59 Minutes : 59 Seconds.

80 Days : 23 Hours : 59 Minutes : 58 Seconds.

Up above, a large, impossible-to-miss timer decorated the sky.

The two Imperial Princes looked to the sky, both having just returned from obtaining their respective rewards. The Fifth Prince, Tian Jianghan, had a considerably pale expression, resembling a ghost, as he spoke hoarsely. Tian Yinwu, however, was the picture of serenity, coolly staring at the sky.

"Seventh Brother..." Tian Jianghan saw the timer, but ignored it as the question that hung at his lips remained unsaid for the last hour: "Why did you give them the fruit?" Despite his weakened state of health, he was a naturally curious existence, and he felt that Tian Yinwu was not inferior to Na Xinyi. In truth, in his heart of hearts, he felt that Tian Yinwu was several tiers higher!

However, after being suppressed by a single move, he felt the horror of the true elite Chosen of this era. They were terrifying! His Sword Heart Intent and Star Core Phase cultivation base which may have been enough to reign supreme across the previous younger generation was only slightly good in this upcoming era.

While he normally had a lazy countenance, pride was burned into his bone cells, and he was unwilling to admit defeat so easily nor suffer any losses. He knew Tian Yinwu, while seemingly the Paragon of Calm at all times, was equally, if not even more unwilling, to suffer any losses.

If not for that, he wouldn't have tried to slaughter Tang Xingyun and her adulterous partner at the first chance he got!

How could this person who climbed his way by clawing at any and every opportunity he could give up anything?Tian Yinwu's eyes were utterly calm. He quietly sent via spiritual transmission, "I never wanted the fruit." His answer baffled Tian Jianghan. Didn't he use some mystical spatial art to retrieve them from a distance?

"What?"

Tian Yinwu brought out his fruit, and then he pointed at it with a smile. "Every five thousand years, the Astralis Tree will give birth to a single fruit that contains just one seed of life. It could give birth to millions of other Astralis Fruits, but only one will give birth to this type of seed."

"S-seed?" Tian Jianghan weakly stuttered as his eyes started to become increasingly bright with realization.

Tian Yinwu, however, slightly furrowed his swordlike brows. "It's not as valuable as the main root, but I believe Earth-Saint Tri-Vision had acted the moment the Astralis Tree showed up, even before the barrier fell because I couldn't sense it." From his tone, while it was minuscule and barely perceptible, the frustration was there.

"Earth-Saint Tri-Vision acted?" Instantly, Tian Jianghan realized that Tian Yinwu had multi-layered goals. He never cared about the fruit itself. He might have not even wanted to take the fruit, but had done so because the main root was missing!

Tian Jianghan was wrong! Tian Yinwu intended to take both the seed and the main root in one swoop!

"Haaa..." Tian Jianghan sighed heavily as he relaxed. While he had suffered a loss here, Tian Yinwu had allowed him to regain some of his pride by taking the seed!

"..." Tian Yinwu turned his gaze toward Xue Yifei's clustered entourage of loyalists. While he had gained the seed in the end, he knew that neither the Extreme Yin Saintess nor the Dragonborn Saintess cared about either. They cared more about the public prestige of obtaining the fruit than the fruit itself. As for the seed, was it even worth it in their eyes?

Especially the Dragonborn Saintess. When he recalled her knowing smile, he felt that she knew his intentions and simply said nothing. When he remembered that the fruit with the seed of life was Xue Yifei's, he couldn't help but ponder deeply on the scene.

Both of these breathtakingly outstanding women intrigued him as an irresistible smile tugged at his lips forming a picturesque scene that could outshine the world.