Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1924: 1916 The Next State

”IS THAT?!”

”From outside the galaxy?! How?! WHEN?!”

”THATʼS HIM!!”

Voices from Supreme Existences and Ascended beings erupted out of shock, confusion, disbelief, and joy from all over the galaxy. Most were watching events unfold passively, allowing these Supreme Existences to play their games while maintaining a vigilant stance to ensure no backlash would strike them.

Those who were involved themselves had some stake or obligation that was absolute; their loyalties were ensured by familial situations or positional allegiance, or their greed was ignited by great interest despite the risk.

Of those unable to intervene yet feeling joy, they were Dongfang Yue, the Supreme Sage-level Dao Enforcer of the Zenith Refinement Tower. She was the only one who had an inkling of the truth. While rumors and accusations fell perfectly in place as an explanation, she fully believed that Wei Wuyin was not a body-possession expert, but a genuine heaven-defying Mystic Star Phase cultivator of unprecedented talent and strength.

However, her warnings weren’t heeded by any of the Zeniths. When she tried to issue her statement before them, she was dismissed as acting deliberately and exerting overt bias toward someone she intended to serve, attempting to assist in dire times to gain benefits from a Heavenly Saint Alchemist.

Despite not being imprisoned, she was in a situation no different than the Incandescent Star Palace Lord, held on the basis of a ʼdiscussionʼ by the other Dao Enforcers. She had tried to escape a few times, but was easily restrained by Superior Shizi and three others. The only exceptions amongst the Dao Enforcers were Superior Suo and Enforcer Maleficent-Chaos. They had remained neutral, ensuring that she wasn’t harmed excessively, which was outside of her expectations.

Because of this, all seven Dao Enforcers were gathered in a temporary subrealm space reinforced to prevent any escape or exertion of resonant qi. Unfortunately, she had no resonant qi refined within her, so she was solidly amongst the weakest of the seven.

Enforcer Bound-Spirit, Dao Enforcer of the Zenith Growth Tower, looked to Enforcer Precious-Heart, the Dao Enforcer of the Zenith Transformation Tower, and asked with an expression of pure shock: ”Is that him?!”

The mature, elderly-looking woman also known as World Prophetess Yan and the Gem-Siren Alchemic Saint, had a gloomy, cloudy, and grim facial expression. Unlike the others, her solemnity was a stark contrast to their disbelief and shock. A sign of being caught entirely off guard and understanding the meaning perfectly.

When she spoke, it was like thunder despite its softness: ”Yes.”

No fluff or staving off reality with unlikely possibilities. She directly admitted the truth that they all knew. They had all sensed his spiritual aura bleeding through every defense of the galaxy, entering their Spirits of Cultivation with tyrannical force and translating it into verbal words.

Just two.

And that voice.

The tone. The pitch. The cadence! The anger!! The authority!!! The presence!!!!

All of it was him. They had watched him extensively throughout his journey within the Utmost Purity Galaxy, including every attempt at pushing a Supreme Sage to act as a cautionary tale for his strength to establish himself as a powerful piece within the game of the Utmost Purity Galaxy.

”But how? Didnʼt you say that he hadnʼt left the Utmost Purity Galaxy? That he was likely within a Dominion? There was the Supreme Divination conducted that foretold his fate of being in a challenge against the heavens and the ways of mysticism! Arenʼt those the typical divination indicators of an internal calamity and that he was struggling against his bodyʼs original soul?” Enforcer Hulking-Titan, the Dao Enforcer of the Zenith Fusion Tower, inquired with rapid questions.

Based on all the information they had that was verified absolutely, it was impossible for there to be any other truth, no?

Yet the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperorʼs existence outside the galaxy was enough to lay the seed of doubt. While it didnʼt cover everything, it did little to refute any of these allegations. However, a single wrong could easily suggest an incorrect path of thinking as a whole.

Enforcer Precious-Heartʼs face grew increasingly darker, generating a stirring atmosphere. As her Soul Perception observed the Dark Void beyond the Utmost Purity Galaxy, that gigantic radiant mass of clear, mystical light was causing her heart to palpitate furiously. A bolt of realization struck her, her gaze lingered on Dongfang Yue, including the various actions of the Supreme Sage-level family of three and Superior Diʼs Avatar.

Dongfang Yue could feel not only her gaze but all the others on her body, but her own was focused entirely on that furiously barreling source of mystical light coming toward the galaxy.

Superior Shizi spoke at this moment, his tone firm and powerful, ”Activate the Utmost-Heaven Guardian Array.”

”What?!” Dongfang Yue shouted in shock. The galactic-wide defensive array could prevent any Supreme Sage from entering, including protecting the galaxy from any extremely destructive force. While the Utmost Purity Galaxy was originally formed of multiple galaxies, they had long since merged into a single whole, and anything that could threaten multiple galaxies was divinely powerful.

The others were taken aback by this declaration. However, they didnʼt offer any resistance to its activation. They couldnʼt be certain if this radiant light was friendly or not, but they did no its intent contained murderous rage, and if it was the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor, the fact that his personal assistant, concubines, and wives were under immediate threat, there was bound to be an issue given his cultivation of the Imperial Dao.

At best, they could stop him at the galactic border and calm him down before discussing further. At worst, his attack against the galaxy would violate his rights to exist within the Utmost Purity Galaxy, and they had the authority to act against him. After all, the array was considered an alchemical manifestation of the Utmost Purity Galaxyʼs totality of its Alchemic Dao, no different than the Worldly Awakening safeguard used by the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor to protect his territory but on a grander scale.

While Suo Haoran didnʼt wish for this, he understood that Superior Shizi was seeking the second outcome. He could only hope that Wei Wuyin wouldnʼt fall for an obvious tactic in his fury----

A bubble of seven swirling colors formed around the entire galaxy. It was utterly huge. And despite its flimsy guard, it exuded the pinnacle power of the seven aspects of the Alchemic Dao, easily capable of containing, refining, transforming, fusing, extracting, growing, and creating offensive, defensive, or self-sustaining forces.

The Zenith Extraction Tower was at the center of this activation, and while the other towers had a role, they were far minor, with much of the expenditure for activation and continuous usage being borne by the Zenith Extraction Tower. This was why only a single tower needed to request its activation as they bore 96% of the total cost.

From an extremely far distance, the woman that Su Mei and Yao Houyi met in the Incinerated Dominion was observing, her lips twisted with a tinge of fear. This array was one of why she refused to enter with her real body or get remotely close. She could sense the Alchemic Daoʼs aura radiating off this bubble. She would rather not be refined by this dao-tier array.

Moreover, the activation was instant, making avoiding it almost impossible as a single thought from a Dao Enforcer was enough to seal her fate.

Enveloped in the gigantic radiant mass of clear, mystical light at its center was Wei Wuyin!

Flying to the Utmost Purity Galaxy from the ruins was highly ineffective. After all, with his Void Portal Creation Art could directly bring himself to his Neo Zenith Tower that was doubling as a Void Altar.

However, he was in a state of unconsolidation and disharmony of body, mind, spirit, and soul. Using this as an opportunity to familiarize himself with his newfound mystic power and synchronize his cultivation base into a functioning whole. That said, he couldnʼt allow those in the galaxy to continue to act unrestrained, so he needed to make his presence known.

Make his fury known.

”Your Spiritual Strength is insane!” Magus remarked in awe. This was its first time feeling a portion of its quintessential spirituality with Wei Wuyinʼs will. It could reach the Utmost Purity Galaxy from here. More shockingly, the qualities of his Saber Intent and Elemental Origin Intent transformed his Spiritual Strength. It could pierce through any obstacle and adapt to any environment.

The ways they shared each otherʼs powers yet stayed independent were wondrous to experience. As the fifth Astral Soul transformed from an existence that was almost strictly mental energy, Magus was continuously awed by its experiences.

Ori giggled, ”And thatʼs only you.”

Magus gasped, ”Only me? ONLY?” He was in utter disbelief. That level of Spiritual Strength felt godly, and it carried all their powers and qualities within. How could that be only itself? What would happen if they all combined under Wei Wuyinʼs command?!

”Rarely does he use all our spirituality,” Eden explained. ”Only a few times has that happened. The last time was…”

”The fight against Zhan Dichun!” Ori pounced excitedly. Zhan Dichun was the name of Enlightened Sage Springfieldʼs Spirit of War.

”Focus! I need to synchronize my cultivation base, so work with me!” Wei Wuyinʼs words ignited their focus, digesting the sixteen Unity Threading Pills, and to accelerate the process, he had them refine Unity Essence directly alongside other materials known for accelerating the consolidation and synchronization process.

”Estimated Time of Arrival?” Wei Wuyin asked Kratos as he pushed his Mana Dominance and Mystic Power to fly at his current top speed, soaring across the Dark Void with an invincible momentum. He was incredibly far from the Utmost Purity Galaxy. It was a blip where he was, usually requiring months to a year with Stellar Transit Light of a Void Vessel like Minor Elysium.

Kratos groaned with complaint, ”Approximately four months.” As a True Void Dragon, the concept of distance was keenly aware of, and it cared about it very, very little. Whether it was Spatial Shifting, Void Shifting, or Void Portal Establishment, distance was rendered meaningless in its heart.

And this was its truest feelings as a Mortal-tier existence. Even then, it was easy to travel across galaxies in minutes.

MINUTES!!

Not months…

”So long?” Wei Wuyin was taken aback to the point he just…stopped. A harsh screech resounded throughout the immediate Dark Void as space and chaos mana groaned from his abrupt cessation of forward momentum.

”What did you think? Youʼre not even using our Infinite Void Wings!” Kratos had a genuine complaint. They were moving under pure Mystic Power and Mana Dominance. This was embarrassingly slow, not even a Movement Art was utilized.

”...” Wei Wuyin glanced at his side. The galaxy-toppling Celestial beauty masquerading as an elderly human woman who called herself Kang Min-ji was blankly following along a few miles away. She didnʼt seem strained in the slightest or pressed to keep up. She looked his way, curious about what he wanted.

Wei Wuyin set aside his internal frustration at her constant lies, deciding to ask her something. ”Kang Min-ji, do you have any art, spell, or method that can rapidly consolidate oneʼs foundation, riding one of any dissonance, in the Soul of Mysticism Phase?”

He had never once asked a Supreme Sage for arts, spells, or methods despite his constant exposure to them. He was focused on other things, not expecting that he would have a time crunch or that the transformation of his body would vastly exceed his every expectation that not even sixteen peak-perfection Unity Threading Pills wouldnʼt suffice for his needs.

”Consolidation Method?” Kang Min-ji blinked. She inspected the location of her Quintessential Threads of Existential Self, verifying that they were firmly held by Heavenly Sources of Major Authorities, and upon doing so, she subtly investigated the clear mystic light they were enveloped by and the illusory Mystic Runes that composed its existence.

Then, she looked into Wei Wuyinʼs eyes that were silver, radiant, and piercing.

This person before her was a grand enigma that she couldnʼt wrap her head around, especially regarding that question that was exceptionally low-level.

”I do.” She admitted without lying.

Wei Wuyinʼs eyes lit with excitement. ”Allow me to study your greatest method of consolidation.”

Kang Min-ji thought for a short moment before flourishing her fingers. A spiritual jade was created. She tossed it over.

Wei Wuyin received the jade and inspected its contents:

[Name]: Paramount-Divine Unification Method.

[Description]: Created by Prime Premier Divinity, the Creator of the Divine Heart Cultivation Method.

Synchronize spirituality with the qualities of the flawless divine…

Wei Wuyinʼs heart began to race rapidly. The Divine Heart Cultivation Method? Wasnʼt that…

As he read on, he realized the foundation of this method shared great similarities to the Divine Element Form Qi Method he had acquired from the Scarlet Solaris Sect, the very same method used to create Ori and King!!

It was due to this method that Wei Wuyin firmly believed King and Ori could evolve when Eden and Kratos could not. It was their unique divine-like spirituality that could grant them unprecedented adaptability, allowing them to become an Omega Saber Mystic Soul and an Alpha Genesis Mystic Soul! The basis of the method was used by Magus as well, but not in its entirety.

”Whoa. Itʼs this easy?” Ori absentmindedly said as the contents of the Paramount-Divine Unification Method were etched into its memory.

Suddenly, the disorganized and disjointed sources of his cultivation base began to rapidly consolidate and unify as a single, functioning whole.

King and Ori took the lead, directing Kratos, Eden, and Magus to execute the method.

BOOM!!!

Kang Min-jiʼs eyes widened with extreme shock as her body projected a ward of resonant qi. Even then, she was blown away!

The Absolute-sized radiant mass explosively increased to the Defiant-size!!

Immediately, in the starry skies, Wei Wuyin occupied a definitive existence that could be seen from all thirty-three galaxies within the cluster!

All his energies unified at once. Then, the radiance that illuminated the starry skies for a second second vanished.

Wei Wuyin stood upon a solid platform of chaos mana, observing his hands that were clenching and unclenching. The feeling of complete control of his entire existence was unrivaled.

”Mortal. Origin. Divine.” Wei Wuyin sensed what had just happened in the most inexplicably swift moment upon the execution of the method.

Ori, King, Eden, Kratos, and Magus had leapt into a new unknown state.

The 1st Divine State.

Surrounding their Mystic Forms was a thin layer of Divine Mist. It was similar yet fundamentally different from the divine mist he had formed when he executed Draconic Embodiment to Suppress Humanity, Evoke Divinity for the True-Nirvana Duality Method.

If a comparison could be made, his first instinct was the difference between Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy.

The difference…Primordial Divine Mist and Spiritual Divine Mist?

As he settled upon the name classification, he felt a sensation of unprecedented power swell within his veins, accompanied by a flow of divine spiritual light, unifying his physical, mental, and essence energies with flawless precision.

His cultivation base was fully consolidated!

What an unexpected windfall! He looked at the extremely shaken Kang Min-ji, sensing from her mental fluctuations that this was not what she expected to happen, and while she had no malicious intent, she was definitely conniving at something in the shadows by giving him a Prime Sageʼs Cultivation Method. However, he was the one to ask for it.

With his cultivation consolidated, there was no need to delay further. With a wave of his hand, a Void Portal was conjured.

”Letʼs go.”

The severe, tyrannical, and questioning spiritual shout that rang across the galaxy had awakened every Supreme Existence within the Utmost Purity Galaxy. All eyes observed the incoming mass of radiant light that was gradually approaching. They had, more or less, in a few minutes of calculation, deduced the arrival time of this gargantuan light, verifying that the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor had been off-galaxy since his absence, likely utilizing a similar Void Shifting Formation that Su Yi had back then to abscond unnoticed.

Four months.

That was the estimated time of the lightʼs descent upon the galaxy. For mortals, this was a significant amount of time, but for Ascended beings, and especially Saint-tier alchemists, even a Soul of Mysticism Phase cultivator, this was an insignificant amount of time. However, it established a timeline within the minds of these Supreme Existences.

”Should we cease circulation of the Utmost-Heaven Guardian Array?” Enforcer Bound-Spirit questioned aloud. Every second of its activated state consumed a significant amount of resources. Moreover, it interfered with external relations while drawing attention.

”No,” Superior Shizi refused outright. ”The Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor has access to highly advanced Void Treasures and Void Formations. If he wanted, he could reduce that time to essentially nothing.” The primary goal for the array was to halt the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperorʼs tyrannical descent of fury and might at the border. It would also serve as a reminder for him to not push things too far.

The secondary goal was to allow those scheming against him to take action outside the galaxy, ensuring they suffered little to no damage from their inevitable clash. Of course, this was something only Suo Haoran and himself was clearly aware of.

”...” The others didnʼt chime in with their opinion. It was unneeded. However, Dongfang Yueʼs excitement was still present in her eyes.

Sovereign Maleficent-Chaos calmly reminded: ”If the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor was off-galaxy to overcome the will of his bodyʼs original owner, then his current appearance…”

”...” The thought had slipped into each of their minds, but only she was disruptive enough to voice it. If their theory was correct, there was likely a chance that the original ownerʼs will and existence were intact. At best, it might have suffered severe damage in the contest of wills after losing. And that spiritual shout indicated that the one at the helm was none other than the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor!