Paragon of Sin

"..."

The Black Skeleton's white robes fluttered within the Dark Void as it hovered just a few meters away from Wei Wuyin, following him with flawless momentum as he was carried by the subtle, nearly imperceptible force of gravity of the surrounding galaxies enforcing itself upon the Void-Blank Space. Her black bones of a female humanoid glistened within his eyes alongside a faint transparency to her form. With but one look, Wei Wuyin determined that the Black Skeleton was not here herself but as a pre-recorded projection with traces of spirituality, likely born from his Bloodline of Sin's tattoo hidden functions.

She had once descended in this way as San Yongli's Temporal Reincarnation was unleashed, and the Bloodline of Sin actively worked to free him from its horrifyingly dreadful restraints.

This was the second time.

After many meetings of this strange being with black bones and white robes, Wei Wuyin no longer felt that faint chill from her empty gaze. After a brief moment, the Black Skeleton's jaws moved.

"The Heavenly Daos are fair, yet unfair. Those it favors are Blessed, able to live far and long, thrive in all worlds, topple all obstacles, and are gifted with the right to become rulers beneath the endless stars. However, for those who act against it, for those that sin, it delivers misfortune and injustice, forced to grovel and struggle for life. Its rules are its rules. It is NOT our rules, NOT our Dao!"

Those words she spoke were word-for-word the same as before. This confirmed his instinctual guess-this, whatever this was for, was pre-recorded for Bloodline of Sin Inheritors.

"But amongst the blessed, unfairness runs rampant as well. Some are rewarded for their efforts in resisting, twisting the cleansing cycle of the Heavenly Daos, causing it to taint their soul and gain positive karmic fortune upon rebirth. Then, some accumulate karmic blessings in their past life through either actively or inadvertently adhering to the Heavenly Daos' arbitrary rules.

"Who is superior? Who is inferior? Neither. In the end, they all acquire the status of a Blessed in the Heavenly Daos' indifferent gaze, indistinguishable from each other. But not all of them. Inheritor of Sin, you may have encountered in your journey conflicts between Blessed. You may have believed that the Heavenly Daos are justifiably fair, and doubtful as it remains indifferent and passive even if one has a greater fortune.

"If so, then you will understand the word 'unfairness' soon. I will tell you what you've obtained by acquiring sufficient karmic fortune during your exploits of seizing fortune from the heavens. Upon reaching 333,333 Karmic Luck Value, your status as a Blessed has evolved, and so has your title and your existence within the eye of the Heavenly Daos.

"You, Inheritor of Sin, have acquired the right to be a Virtue of the Heavenly Daos known as-Blessed Virtue. To the heavens and earth, you will be known henceforth as an Empyrean. The depths of the unfairness and inequality extend further and further and will continue to do so.

"The right to be an Empyrean is only obtainable by Blessed who have either earned through acts of abiding by the Heavenly Daos in your past life, achieving significant contribution in upholding its order as a Blessed in your current life, or as an Inheritor of Sin," the Black Skeleton seemed to faintly grin at this moment, "you seize such right from the heavens themselves."

Wei Wuyin found that his heart, mind, and soul were palpitating uncontrollably.

"You'll have to explore what it means, but be careful Inheritor of Sin, the further you tread upon this path, the greater the danger in the pursuit of the pinnacle of all sin. But know this: When Blessed and Empyreans are weighted in terms of importance, if given the choice of who to save and who will die, the Heavenly Daos will always-ALWAYS-choose an Empyrean. If two Empyreans fought for the same fortune, the greater of the two would receive every ounce of assistance that the Heavenly Daos can provide, while the other would receive nothing, and the degree of it would be extremely difficult for your Bloodline of Sin to resist. You must rely on your True Soul of Sin, so before seizing further from the heavens, I recommend cultivating the third stage.

"Be wary, Inheritor. Your journey of sin has only just started." The Black Skeleton's semi-transparent figure vanished immediately after her last syllable was uttered.

The world resumed.

Wei Wuyin slowly closed his eyes as he let the flow of the natural universe carry him, digesting all of this information. Blessed Virtue? Empyrean? Unfairness of the Heavenly Daos? Ineffectiveness of his Bloodline of Sin?

Was San Yongli an Empyrean?

Also, those implications the Black Skeleton left behind left him uncertain.

[RIGHT ARM: Pride]

Karmic Luck Value: 333,801.3.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.

Fourth Calamity: Suppressed - 1 Year.

"Haaa..." Wei Wuyin eventually heaved an elongated and wistful sigh. All of these developments and he hadn't even reached the so-called Realm of Sages and still couldn't cultivate his True Soul. Considering the circumstances, the Realm of Sages was either the Resonant Soul Realm or True Soul Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, but he still couldn't confirm either of these situations.

"Hm?" Wei Wuyin's thoughts were roused as his bodily cells became abnormally stimulated. The Stellar-Paragon Physique alerted him to the imminent return of the two great daos, Mortal and Mystic. Due to his attack earlier, evoking the power of King's uniquely destructive Saber Intent, they both departed without a single word.

Due to this, the world had become fragile and even now the void hadn't been repaired as from certain angles, a flat line that his saber light pierced through split off the stars entirely from view. When they returned, they were abnormally effective as the void and the three layers of space were repaired after an hour.

Wei Wuyin didn't move throughout this period as he silently observed their work. He had far too much going through his mind at the moment that he decided to simply think things through in the meantime. Due to the severance of the void, he couldn't receive or send messages even while using the Saint Ring's void-transmitting spiritual function. So for the first time in a long, long time, he was disconnected from everything else.

After that hour of unobstructed and uninterrupted thoughts, two of the three belts within Little Defiant's inner layer of belts began to rotate slightly faster. Wei Wuyin and Little Defiant could feel the attention placed on him by the Mortal and Mystic Dao. He expected a scolding from both, especially the Mortal Dao.

His power vastly exceeded the limits of the Mortal Dao's domain. Even when he used significantly less power before, the Mortal Dao had given him a gentle warning to restrain himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold back against an Enlightened Sage. Fortunately, the Mortal Dao had understood and given tacit approval earlier.

'Well, I won't be your issue any longer. And I won't have to worry about harming you in any way, so I'm rather relieved.' In Wei Wuyin's current lifetime, he had only tread upon the domain of the Mortal Dao and after receiving its blessing, he felt incomparably familiar with it. He didn't want to hurt it in any way after all the help it's given him.

It was a little daunting when he thought about his upcoming ascension. However, it was inevitable. He had reached the peak of the Mortal Dao and there was no other path to take but forward and beyond. After all, he was already using Mystic-World grade products to further his cultivation at the ninth-stage of the Astral Core Realm, the Star Core Phase, and every aspect had reached a pinnacle that couldn't be increased further even with the Stellar-Paragon Physique.

The hard limit wasn't even regarding his Astral Soul or Astral Cores limit, but any further, even an iota of improvement would automatically invoke his Mystic Ascension. This was the 'limit' he referred to. Even now, his Astral Souls were holding back the urge to ascend, which was different from Su Mei's situation.

"Su Mei..." Wei Wuyin's eyes darted around his closed eyelids as he huffed out a heavy breath. Su Mei's situation was on the verge of erupting. Fortunately, he had already made his preparations. Moreover, he couldn't predict his ascension circumstances, so he didn't dare take that step and miss Su Mei's ascension. He had lost her one too many times in other lifetimes.

Not this one. Never this one.

Unbeknownst to Wei Wuyin, the two great daos had been engaged in a type of formless, imperceptible discussion between each other. When it was completed, the Mortal Dao and Mystic Dao turned their full attention to Wei Wuyin and his Stellar-Paragon Physique tensed as his hair stood up, causing his eyes to snap open.

"Hm?"

Idol of the Stellar Paragon!!!

Immediately, his entire existence entered its strongest state-Evocation of an Astral Idol! The seven belts and two halos rotated as clear light flowed majestically around him, sending pulsating waves across the Dark Void. He stared at the empty void with a curious, uplifted left brow.

"What is it?" He asked as one of the three belts of the inner layer began to glow faintly. Its weak aura began to rapidly strengthen. Wei Wuyin sensed the aura of the Mortal Dao from the belt. Little Defiant was releasing solar flares of excitement and a welcoming emotion.

He quietly stood there as a second blessing of the Mortal Dao was received. This time the blessing was abnormally strong! If before it was a drop of water tainting his body, then this was the entire body being dropped into a small lake. The difference was extraordinarily massive!

His body and Little Defiant soaked this blessing and its aura up as a portion was funneled into the belt until it solidified with a strange rune and a single-word character that appeared incessantly flowing within alongside exuding a mysterious radiance. Wei Wuyin received a soft androgynous voice that leaned closer to feminine warmth-Belt of Mortal Virtue.

"Virtue?" Wei Wuyin was taken aback by this bestowed name.

After causing this change in his belt and leaving its blessing, the Mortal Dao retreated and returned to its original state of a silent observer. An expectant feeling emerged from the Mystic Dao before it, too, regained the normalcy of a silent observer. However, there was a triumphant hint within that feeling just now as if...it had just won.

"Huh?" Wei Wuyin was confused.

[Author's Note:Time for our girl Su Mei to take the stage!]