Paragon of Sin

An outburst of torrential power exploded following Lady Clearwind's voice. The protective barrier securing the safety of Wei Wuyin and the others shook violently, rippling without end. This caused the trio of Ascended to experience changes in expression. They looked at the barrier with quivering hearts, giving Wei Wuyin a look to soothe their growing concerns. When they observed his serene close-eyed face, their hearts settled.

Bai Lin stared at the barrier with golden eyes, Wei Wuyin touched the nape of her neck and connected her Sea of Consciousness with his Alchemic Eden Force, gaining a grasp of the events that were happening above. Unlike the rest, Bai Lin was able to view the ongoing clash with startling clarity.

Wen Mingna didn't even bother. She held a hand-seal, her breathing steadied as she seemed to be performing a divination of the heavens. There was no glow, but her aura was growing increasingly profound that it startled the Ascended beings as they gave her a baffled look.

'A Heavenly Seer?' They were quite familiar with the occupation. The Golden Gate Pavilion might be the foremost power of Seers and Oracles, but almost every force developed their own Seers and Oracles to grasp situations beyond their reach and obtain forewarning of threats. While they weren't too reliable, and their cultivation was relatively difficult to upkeep, they were still heavily wanted cultivators.

Up above, Wu Yu floated imperiously in the Dark Void, his Mystic Aura unfurled as tens of thousands of Mystic Runes swirled around him in a ten meter distance. The sheer density of it was quite startling. Furthermore, his body emitted an aura of Origin Essence, a sign of creation and growth. The benefits of the Heart of Origin were already leaking through. At the moment, his physical energies were on an entirely different level than before.

Lady Clearwind had confronted Wu Yu. She stood at the bow of her Voidship, her Mystic Aura flared, and tens of thousands of Mystic Runes clashed towards Wu Yu in waves, clearly trying to suppress him. But the handsome Wu Yu was like a great rock in the middle of a raging river, embedded into the earth and unmovable. His jagged edge split the river forcefully. She wondered who this good-looking intruder was.

Wu Yu calmly inspected the Mystic Runes besieging him, a manifestation of mystic power of an Earthly Saint. His eyes revealed a sign of surprise. He had believed the standard of Earthly Saints in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region was somewhat low, especially as an 8th Runic Ascendant himself.

The Ever-Knight's rumor of being nurtured by the King of Everlore might be false, but their backing of the greatest Alchemist Association wasn't fake. They still had the backing of an Alchemic Saint—the Evergod Pill Alchemic Saint, their foundation couldn't be horrendous.

He had just taken a single Mystic-Earth grade product and realized how incredible they were, so having a relatively steady supply should've put them leagues ahead of non-supported Earthly Saints. This belief was overturned as Lady Clearwind revealed herself as a 4th Runic Ascendant!

While it didn't say much about her foundation in terms of physical, mental, spiritual, and essence energies, she certainly had greater talent. This allowed him to refresh his understanding that Alchemy might be boundless, but talent still mattered. He was the best example of this.

Lady Clearwind's valiant expression became dignified as she felt Wu Yu's resistance. She looked at his rapidly moving Mystic Runes, counting them with some difficulty, and her heart began to shake intensely. Wu Yu's mystic runes were engulfed by a strange aura that made it difficult to perceive, but she eventually waded through the smoke and counted upwards to six, maybe even seven.

Wu Yu felt an urge to dominate. Eventually, he held back. Wei Wuyin's orders weren't to fight, but to obtain the information about everything from the source—the United Source True Queen.

He unhesitatingly announced himself: "Grand Knight of Neo-Dawn, Wu Yu." The air of imperial superiority exuded naturally from his entire being, and it caused Lady Clearwind's expression to immediately change. It wasn't just her. Her subordinates on the Voidship all gawked in shock.

The name Wu Yu had circulated widely amongst the top-tier forces of the world in the last two months, as infectious as Wei Wuyin's had. In fact, it was even greater. Wu Yu had half-killed one Ever-Knight and escaped the Everlore Association's pursuit.

Lady Clearwind inspected the ripple first with her spiritual sense, and then looked back at her starfield. Her eyes glinted with frustration. They were currently outside the influence of the United Source Starfield, so her starfield-wide, multi-planetary array would be entirely useless. All the time, energy, and wealth invested into it, and when it mattered, it was out-of-reach. How vexing!

She didn't believe she would be able to defeat Wu Yu with ease despite his recently ascended, non-consolidated state. While she was confident in her strength amongst Earthly Saints, considering herself amongst the upper-tier of Earthly Saints in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, she wasn't foolish enough to fight this fight without being certain of a desired outcome. Even if she succeeded, she'll have offended that mysterious Wei Wuyin, and that wasn't worth it.

When that thought emerged, she directed her gaze towards her shattered barrier, replaced by Wu Yu's. Her expression minutely shifted. Was Wei Wuyin there? She tried to peer into the barrier, but was reflected by a coating of Imperial Heaven Aura. Her brows twitched slightly.

Her calm demeanor regained itself, giving Wu Yu a steady gaze. She was fearless. Her attitude reassured her subordinates. They stared at Wu Yu with pride, all stemming from their Earthly Saint.

Wu Yu was amused.

"What do you want, Grand Knight Wu?" Similar to how some called her Lady Clearwind, the official title and title of address was often dissimilar. She floated upwards and her Mystic Aura gathered towards her, condensing in much the same way as Wu Yu.

Wu Yu didn't waste time, "What is that?" He pointed towards the ripples of space that the ships surrounded.

"..." Lady Clearwind was momentarily silent, replying: "It's a distorted point of space, an opening to a Realm World. It was discovered by my United Source Clear Palace. Don't tell me that Mortal Sovereign Wei is interested in this small Realm World?"

She wasn't trying to act cute, but her words provoked a slight smile from Wu Yu. "I was sent here to investigate. Make this easier for both of us; tell me what's inside and why its valuable. I'll leave the decision if my Young Lord decides if its interesting or not."

Lady Clearwind looked to the barrier, "I can give him the explanation in person, if he wants."

Wu Yu chortled, "Threats?" He lifted a single eyebrow as his Mystic Aura reached its peak, causing the Voidships to quake as if in a grand storm. They all activated their various formations to steady themselves to no avail.

Wu Yu found it hilarious that this United Source True Queen believed she could reveal Wei Wuyin's location and believed it was enough to grasp some initiative. How bold!

"If I made a threat, you'd know." Lady Clearwind unleashed her own aura, not retreating a single inch as she faced Wu Yu's domineering display. She wasn't stupid to back down at this moment. A passive position was the hardest to break free from.

Their Mystic Aura tousled and wrestled against each other, and her position was showing signs of weakness. Her eyes glinted as she felt that Wu Yu wasn't like how a newly ascended Earthly Saint should be; his mystic power felt consolidated entirely at the level of an Earthly Saint. This startled her deeply. It was an extremely arduous task to refine one's mental, physical, and spiritual energies to the Earthly Saint level. It took her ninety years to do so!

She was struggling to resist this clash, feeling as if she could be overwhelmed if she lost focus for a split second. She held in her emotions, keeping her eyes firm and unyielding before all suppression. Wu Yu saw her strong attitude and his eyes widened slightly, seeing her action had triggered nostalgic memories.

There was a time when a young woman hadn't yielded to him. She challenged him at every corner, strong-willed to the limits. While she wasn't a beauty by general standards, that attitude of hers, that unyieldingness in the face of his Imperial Heaven Aura, was enough to make her extremely beautiful to him.

After a few seconds, a spiritual voice exploded from the barrier. "Wu Yu, stand down."

Those four words caused Wu Yu to instantly recede his aura that was on the verge of overwhelming Lady Clearwind. While her outward appearance seemed unsettled, her heart was pounding and protruding veins from exertion could be seen on her clenched fist.

Wu Yu hadn't even attacked, just a clash of auras, and she felt that she had unquestionably lost. A feeling of being dominated, something that hadn't developed in such a long, long time had spurred in her heart. She couldn't help but give Wu Yu a heavy stare.

'Why is he willing to be a subordinate?' Her thoughts were wild, interrupted by Wei Wuyin exiting the barrier with Wen Mingna and Bai Lin. Wen Mingna's Worldly Domain was erected, allowing Wei Wuyin to appear in his non-draconic transformation form while in the Dark Void.

When Lady Clearwind saw the closed-eyed, unearthly handsome visage of Wei Wuyin, her thoughts halted instantly. She hadn't seen a handsome man like this in such a long time! Even Wu Yu paled by a notch or two, causing her mind to stir as she realized that Wei Wuyin's reputation might not be exaggerated.

When she realized that she couldn't inspect Wei Wuyin's cultivation level, and that he wore Mystic-Earth grade clothes, she was once again surprised. Despite that, he was certainly a mortal, and this caused her to give Wu Yu another glance. Did a mortal truly nurture an Earthly Saint?!

"United Source True Queen, do you mind telling me now?" Wei Wuyin calmly smiled. Bai Lin was fully revealed, her appearance matching the description of a phoenix, and it caused Lady Clearwind to pause. The gazes of everyone also followed, their hearts throbbing intensely.

"Th-that's…" Her unsettled state crumbled slightly, revealing a flaw from her shock and surprise. The events of the Fire Phoenix were public. Moreover, many details were recorded by some brave souls. When the Tang Clan cleared out Blueglow of living beings, only Bai Lin remained and as an avian creature, she was honed on and recorded with startling clarity.

Kree!

Bai Lin unleashed a clarion cry that shook the Dark Void.

Lady Clearwind's mind was abnormally quick as an Ascended being, and she instantly began to make several connections. The unknown Earthly Saint, Wu Yu's ascension, his escape, the clash with the Everlore Association, Bai Lin's existence, and Wei Wuyin's resounding reputation.

'He has two Earthly Saints! And a beast that rivals Demi-Mortal Lords?! As a mortal? What…no, no. This might not be all there is. Oh my heavens…' Her eyes jolted back to Wu Yu, and when she thought about that dragon-head figure garbed in armor, she instantly realized there was a genuine reason why Wu Yu would follow Wei Wuyin.

"Who are y-" She was about to ask this question by impulse, wanting to know everything about Wei Wuyin, but that faint smile of his caused her words to be caught in her throat. In a split second her attitude changed and she gave off a faint, greeting smile.

She lowered her Mystic Aura. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mortal Sovereign Wei."

Wu Yu realized this woman was as intelligent and adaptable as she was unyielding and fearless. An inkling of an urge surged in his heart, staring at her uniquely alluring countenance.

Wei Wuyin returned her greeting politely, his impression of her elevating, and confirming that Bai Lin's existence elevated his identity once again. While the Legion Commander was out-of-commission at the moment, his feats and existence couldn't be ignored.

As for the entire world learning of this, that's what he wanted most of all. Especially so for a certain group of cultivators.

Lady Clearwind looked at the spatial ripples that constituted the entrance of the Stellar Nest. She decided in her heart a choice: she will use this to gain the favor of this character.

The masked figure? The roughly loose Mythical Oaths?

Irrelevant.

Lady Clearwind: "Mortal Sovereign Wei, this is…"