Paragon of Sin

Chapter 841: A Resounding Conclusion

It was unleashed!

Han Yuhei’s eyes, spiritual sense, and thoughts were all glued to the trapped Wu Yu. The image of Wu Yu’s dying in the violent, concentrated beam of power, ripped to shreds, and what was remaining eradicated by pure, concentrated power, manifested within his Sea of Consciousness. A subconscious smile of satisfaction, desire, and relief formed. A complex set of emotions, yet they were bombing him all at once.

However, in the depths of his heart, anxiety festered. All had gone perfectly to plan, with minor hiccups towards the Earthly Saints suffering varying injuries, and this was enough to kill any hostile Earthly Saint.

‘Just die.’

Gong Lau’s facial expression, on the other hand, was twisted as his arm was bent at the weirdest angle, refusing to regain any sense of normalcy. The pain was indescribable, enough to make him sweat and wish to cut it off himself. Yet when the beam of elemental origin light shot out of the planet, there was a tinge of regret manifesting in his heart.

That Fire Phoenix was currently within Wu Yu’s Internal World. Its death would cause their benefits to be considerably lower. The deals that could’ve been made with the Imperial Clan would’ve been deliciously profitable. How unfortunate.

‘We might be able to salvage bits of the Grand Knight’s, hopefully. If anything, the shattered dimensions of their spatial ring should contain some incredible things. A Grand Mortal Sovereign Alchemist and Earthly Saint! Hehe.’

Zhang Ziyi’s teeth were clenched as both of her arms had been destroyed. While the bleeding at their stumps had been stopped, her countenance was as pale as a ghost. She could only feel happy that everything had gone according to plan, and this nightmare of a development would soon come to an end.

The beam of concentrated elemental light generated by the Nine-Divine Elemental Star Array was enough to take down Earthly Saints. The relief washed over her heart, soothing the deep, throbbing headache she had since this all began.

‘Did we really have to do this?’

All three of their thoughts were different, their motivations and beliefs divergent, but the Earthly Saints of the True Element Sect had joined together to deal with a perceived enemy. If anything, this news will spread that the True Element Sect might be fractured internally and decaying externally, but they were still a World Sect that couldn’t be underestimated!

If…

If they had succeeded.

SZOOOOOOOM!!!

The speed of the elemental beam was abnormally swift. It locked onto the hundredth pearl that trapped Wu Yu in a Worldscape, intending to inundate it in a fiery brilliance. The wake of the fiery beam caused the Dark Void’s strange chill to crystallize! It was so powerful that its release sent Origin back ten thousand miles off orbit. If it wasn’t for the protective formations, the sheer speed of this blowback would’ve eviscerated all mortal-level life on the planet!

Crack! Crack! CRACK!

The pearl had been endlessly cracking under the intense pressure of Wu Yu’s aura, but Zhang Ziyi had reinforced it with the ninety-nine pearls in a last-ditch attempt to keep Wu Yu there. Her actions hadn’t just led to her arms being lost, her Mystic-graded scepter shattering, but the planets and two secret realms to suffer disastrous losses.

They were drained almost entirely dry. Those worlds experienced turmoil to which they’ve never known, suffering from a severely depleted core. The chaos there was hectic to say the least, some simple-minded cultivators even thought the world was ending as the Sky Layers thinned, the quality of refined essence dipped to the lowest level.

Was their world dying?!

Yes!

Wu Yu was trapped in a Worldscape empowered by several worlds! The cost was atrociously high. The objective? Completed.

The beam impacted the pearl. The crack was flooded with white elemental light, and it was instantly invaded, unable to hold on despite the external reinforcements. It breached any defenses, pushing through like an unstoppable force.

There was no explosion.

There was no unwilling scream of the enemy.

The beam enveloped the pearl entirely, only emitting the sounds of its existence. It took less than a fraction of a fraction of a second for the entire pearl to be annihilated. The beam passed through it, traveling until it reached the edge of the Elementus Domain. It smashed against the barrier as if it met an unbreakable force. It splashed, sending out white elemental radiance that scattered throughout the barrier. The lights coursed through the entire barrier, lightning up the Elementus Domain in a gorgeous sight in all directions.

The panic that those worlds felt. When they looked at the sky, seeing those white lights swimming across their skies like an artistic lightshow accompanied by the flickering of ninety-nine gorgeous pearls. They calmed down. They pointed. They felt awed. It was truly, undeniably beautiful.

“It’s over…” Han Yuhei felt those memories of his begin to ease his thoughts. All the pain, the hatred, and all that fear…it was gone in but a single moment. While the beam was only at seventy percent, it was enough to kill every Earthly Saint in the stellar region.

Zhang Ziyi’s back slouched. An exhaustion overwhelmed her. “…” She couldn’t say anything. Her emotions were overly complex. Wei Wuyin was a figure with boundless potential, and had the visage of a literal god in myth, even her aged heart had moved with a single sight. A talented young man like that…dead.

A woe for the entire world.

Gong Lau sighed depressingly. The Fire Phoenix! If only Wu Yu had just sent them to the side. Wei Wuyin would’ve still died, but the fire phoenix would still be alive. He could only hope one of their shattered spatial dimensions contained a bottle of its blood essence.

“Wow.”

“…!” All three Earthly Saints. Their eyes widened, lifting their heads at such speeds that they almost snapped off their necks. Han Yuhei’s eyes contracted to the utmost limits, revisited and bombarded by all of his greatest fears.

“Mhm,” the voice cleared their throat, it sounded dry and pissed. Absolutely pissed.

“Impossible!” Han Yuhei shouted aloud, his fingers trembling and his eyes quaking so intensely that they seemed to become two pupils in one eye.

“I told you when you were younger not to say impossible, it’ll only limit your future,” the voice sneered. “But I guess you never listen, do you?”

Above the three Earthly Saints, Wu Yu stood with arms folded. His irises and pupils had become black, reflecting the endless void as it swirled about animatedly as if watching the passing of endless time. It was as if the heavens itself aged through his gaze.

His skin had a healthy, rosy glow, his body was slimmer, yet every muscle seemed to contain an abnormal, outrageous amount of power. His hair had changed, growing so long that it exceeded his feet. Every strand was like his eyes, reflecting the endless night sky and boundless stars that littered it.

Fortunately, his royale moustache remained unchanged.

Around his body, mana condensed to such an intense state that Sky World Lightning circulated around him like electricity. It was golden and chaotic. The crackling sound instilled the heart and Spirit of Cultivation with an irregular rhythm.

This was his 3rd Grand Transformation!

The full extent of the Imperial Heaven Physique!

There wasn’t a single Mystic Rune surrounding Wu Yu. They had been entirely absorbed, coursing through his physical body. It was almost as if he embodied the Mystic Dao!

“How?!” Han Yuhei demanded to know. The Nine-Divine Elemental Array and Paramount Jade, Ultimate Elementus Array were both extremely powerful, incredibly compatible. They sensed Wu Yu was still trapped when the pearl was hit by its power! How did he escape?

Wu Yu’s stellar eyes flashed with derision as he revealed an abused grin. But inside his body, his heart trembled with concealed despair from remembering that outrageous power.

Zhang Ziyi and Gong Lau were rendered absolutely speechless. The fights between experts at any level rarely lasted long, with most going all out to deal with their opponent using their maximal amount of power, and this was true here. They had exhausted a lot of their power handling the various arrays, directing its power, executing its means, yet they were a spent force so swiftly.

This was why the Blood Origin Method’s second dantian was so advantageous. Unfortunately, none of them cultivated a method similar to that. They only had their life-preserving means.

Gong Lau brought out a vial of high Mystic-Earth grade elixir meant for recovery, imbibing it immediately. He was just about to make a move to retreat, but a flash of multicolored starlight appeared before him, accompanied by the crackling of electricity that caused his entire being to tense.

“You, I-” Gong Lau was about to send a spiritual transmission to the man before him, but he couldn’t. A wave of aggressively stifling Imperial Pressure restricted his spiritual strength. Aghast, he felt a hand clasp around his throat. In his vision, it felt slow. So incredibly slow…

But it still grasped his throat with unerring accuracy. He felt his body lift, his eyes bulged as his airways were constricted. He saw those eyes that reflected the endless aging of the world, as if showing him the heavens and its movements. He could feel a power, like molten lead, enter his body without mercy.

His eyes swam within his eye sockets; he hoped that the other two Earthly Saints would come to his aid. The pleading look was unbefitting of an Earthly Saint, but he didn’t care. He felt like his life was ripped out of his hands, no longer his to decide. A fear that he hadn’t felt since he was a mortal emerged in his heart.

He wanted to wail. He wanted to scream. He wanted to beg, fight, or just resist. But his Mystic Soul’s rebellious attempts were viciously halted by that foreign power. He could feel it being sealed off, his Mystic Runes dissipating from the world as his thoughts slowed to a crawl.

Soon, his Sea of Consciousness met a foreign force that pounded from outside, invading without mercy. His own consciousness began to grow dark. Gong Lau’s fleeting memories of his life flashed wildly as he tried to drum up some last minute resistance to no avail.

CRACK!

Wu Yu’s grip twisted Gong Lau’s neck in an abnormal, unnatural angle as he recalled this man’s killing intent towards Wei Wuyin. While he wouldn’t die from such wounds, he would certainly feel that sting of horrendous pain at the end. With that, Gong Lau’s legs and arms became like wet noodles. In the eyes of a mortal, this Earthly Saint would be as dead as a doormat.

While this took time to describe, it happened in less than a second.

Zhang Ziyi helplessly watched this all go on. She was frozen with surprise, shock, and incredulity. She didn’t need to breathe as an Ascended being, but she felt her lungs constrict and her breath was caught in her chest. It was incredibly uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, Wu Yu’s Imperial Pressure had enveloped her entirely. In her exhausted state, she was worse than a live fish on a cutting board. At least the fish could flop about in defiance.

Wu Yu gave her a brief look, but swiftly turned his attention towards Han Yuhei. The man was currently gathering his remaining power, seemingly ready to put his life on the line and bet it all. He still had the support of two secret realms, an entire array of planets, and Origin. If he decided to, he could bring Wu Yu down with him.

He could bring this entire Elementus Domain down with him!

But Wu Yu shook his head, causing Han Yuhei’s eyes to uncontrollably widen. “If I wanted to kill you little Yu, you’d have died a few times over. You’ve always been a child, reckless and thoughtless. Seems like your cousin hasn’t taught you anything.”

“…” Han Yuhei gritted his teeth, the animosity rippled through his gaze. “I’ll kill you!” He roared thunderously, forming a hand-seal. The ninety-nine pearls, Origin, and the planets began to experience aggressive changes. The Dark Void began to rumble. Suddenly, streams of various forces and energies began to funnel into Han Yuhei, engulfing his figure in multicolor brilliance.

The Mystic Aura of his increased far beyond his original power, enhanced by nine Elemental Intents. But when compared to the current Wu Yu, there was a severe disparity that couldn’t be closed so simply.

Wu Yu sighed softly.

The distance between him and Han Yuhei wasn’t great, roughly a few dozen meters, so with a single movement, Wu Yu arrived in front of Han Yuhei with an open palm.

POW!

A resounding slap rippled through the Dark Void. Even those in the secret realms heard it. The growing power within Han Yuhei ceased instantly. His eyes bulged, one side of his face reddened, and his expression revealed his confusion, he looked at Wu Yu with total disbelief.

Han Yuhei felt his power slipping away from his control, a wave of mystic power had invaded him alongside the Imperial Heaven Aura, enveloping his Mystic Soul and sealing it outright.

Was the difference between them so great?

Was it always so massive?

At the sides of his eyes was some wetness. He felt like time had reversed all those years ago, when he was just a prideful youth with his cousin’s backing. He felt invincible and his future was boundless, but at every turn, he was reminded of his inferiority from Wu Yu. A scolding comment here, a punishment there, and a lot more.

He thought he’d left that young version of himself behind, exceeded all standards, and became one of the strongest in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. He commanded respect with his own power, not his cousin’s! Why did he feel like this?

Han Yuhei lost consciousness.

Wu Yu looked at the youngster that he watched grow from a toddler to an Ascended being, all under the cuddled protection of his selfish cousin. If he knew the truth…

Wu Yu kept his thoughts from running down memory lane, turning to the last remaining Earthly Saint—Zhang Ziyi. Her armless form seemed particularly helpless. She hadn’t even tried to run. Her spatial ring was destroyed too, so she couldn’t even pull out any life-preserving items.

Wu Yu faintly smiled, “How about we talk?”