Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1790  Chapter 1783: Oath; A Game of Mystics (14)

Within the vast world of cultivation, across galaxies—lesser, greater, or of an even higher standard, there existed the concept and power of Oaths. Oaths existed as a regulatory device to keep cultivators honest or to restrict certain unwanted behaviors, such as traitorous acts or cowardly retreats, punished by varied yet devastating punishment.

They were:

Spirit Oath; Spiritual Consequence. 

Heavenly Oaths; Heavenly Tribulation. 

Mythical Oath; Mythical Punishment.

However, Spirit Oaths were far too weak and carried a strong risk of loopholes, all determined by the interpretation of the oath itself. For example, if a Knight swore to protect a princess, and he felt that protecting her from suitors was forcefully impregnating her, then his Spirit Oath would not activate. 

Meanwhile, Heavenly Oaths were too sporadic and random. It was difficult to determine why it would descend with a tribulation or not, and at times, even if the Knight swore to protect a princess, if she tripped and fell a thousand miles away from him, scraping her knee a little, tribulation could descend without any warning. Meanwhile, she could experience great danger and harm pursuing material wealth as a cultivator and the Knight would suffer no consequence.

Few dared to swear Oaths to the Heavenly Daos except during Dao Companionship Ceremonies, and this was mostly due to the power of forming karmic ties with the heavens as a witness. As for those who avoided it, they refused to submit themselves to the seemingly arbitrary decisions of the heavens.

Others might not know, but those in Wei Wuyinʼs position, knowledgeable of the Scripture of Sin and certain secrets, knew that this was because the heavenly judge was none other than the Heavenly Daos who placed their fairly inconsistent and sometimes unfair Three Thousand Commandments above all else! 

Mythical Punishment, however…

They were two words that inspired raw dread and horror. It was indifferent, impartial, and unforgiving. It scaled with oneʼs cultivation base. It was intelligent. It took intent into account. It took cause and effect into account. It took everything into account. It was the go-to for societies, especially fledgling ones such as the Ancient Sealed Region, to maintain a balance of honesty and control. 

The Arbiter. 

It was an entity that was known yet unknown. It was divinely omniscient. It was supremely powerful. It was disgustingly fair and neutral. Moreover, Mythical Punishment scaled with oneʼs cultivation base. It almost always kills. 

Almost always. 

The only exceptions were outliers of the cultivation world, those that far surpassed the base standard of cultivation that existed since the dawn of creation. These were Mystic Ascendant Realm experts who could wield Minor Authorities of Laws, a core facet of Resonant Soul Realm cultivation. After all, it should, theoretically, be nearly impossible without nurturing the Seed of Law with compatible Soul Light or comparable treasures of the Mystic-Heaven grade blessed with portions of the heavensʼ profoundly rare essence. 

However the path of cultivation has made significant leaps in advancements since its inception, all due to various evolutionary developments of cultivation by cultivatorsʼ ingenuity and unstoppable will for progression, such as Cultivation Methods, Treasures of Heaven and Earth, and Alchemical Products. 

Normally, the most Heavenly Saint Phase cultivators could draw from the heavens was a little bit of heavenly light. It was no different than enjoying the light of a Solar Star from millions of miles. They were undoubtedly powerful, but tapping into a Minor Authority was no different than harnessing the Solar Flares of a Solar Star at close proximity. The difference between them was like night and day, like dirt and clouds, like living as a plant and living as a meteorite that orbited a star. 

However, those outliers, those rare exceptions that defied conventions, were not ordinary even in the modern state of cultivation. As such, Mythical Punishment was still greatly feared by all. Furthermore, the greater a personʼs cultivation, the harder it was to become an outlier.

To put it lightly, if an Oathsworn Cultivator at the True Sage Phase, the eighth stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, a genuine One-Breath Sage, had broken their Mythical Oath and invoked Mythical Punishment, the punishment wouldnʼt consider their foundation. It would strike the Sage with the lethal force enough to eradicate a Sage that has birthed a single ninth-tier True Breath of a Sage. 

In its eyes, the only Sage that exists was the strongest at its level. There was no Mythical Punishment at the first-tier or second-tier level. This held true for the Astral Core Realm, as the scaling of lethal force should be able to kill a Ninth-Ripple Spatial Resonance Phase cultivator. 

This was the most horrendous aspect of Mythical Punishment and why very, very, very, very, VERY few cultivators survived without external interference. As societies have long since noticed, it did not take into account abnormalities of cultivation bases such as a Tenth-Ripple, armaments of a higher grade of standard, heavenly treasures, talismans, pellets, formations, arrays, or the like in your possession. Moreover, it was extraordinarily fair.

Regardless of age or gender, whether you were a Blessed or a Sinner, there was no change to its ferociously deadly intensity. That said, the Heavenly Daos often devised a well-timed interference to either assist or destroy you if given the opportunity, but this and that were separate things. 
Moreover, if requested to enhance the power of Mythical Punishment, as long as it didnʼt defy the intent of the oath sworn, such as the previously agreed upon Special Rules and Conditions of a game of Mystics, then it had absolutely zero issue doing so!

If a pair of Qi Condensation Cultivators wanted to amp their Mythical Punishment to the Resonant Soul Realm?

IT WOULD DO SO! 

Of course, this would only matter if the oath sworn had been broken, as there was no expended energy prior. But if it was broken, there was absolutely no doubt that the Arbiter would send down Mythical Punishment on the level of a Resonant Soul Realmʼs power! 

Wei Wuyinʼs outrageous condition provoked an urgent rush for the Mythical Contract, not just because of fear of the Mythical Punishment, but due to the power it held over all the organizations. None of them were fools; Wei Wuyin was deliberately using this game to establish himself, likely to blackmail the various organizations that dared to participate, but couldnʼt they do the same?!

There were many times when Mythical Contracts that were sent out into the Void were destroyed or seized by those with devious intentions. Normally, it wouldnʼt require Supreme Sages to navigate its chaotic flows of time and boundless space and only need a few Mystic Overlords to act, but since Wei Wuyin, a suspected-to-be Supreme Sage was present, they couldnʼt hold back in the race to obtain it!

Wei Wuyinʼs eternal smile remained despite the incessant flickering of light within his starry eyes, observing the Arbiterʼs enormity that overlooked the entirety of the Utmost Purity Galaxy, scanning it with divine-like senses. 

Order!

The Arbiter had ties to Order! 

He didnʼt know if this was an embodiment of Order, like the River of Time was the embodiment and sentient will of Time. This was an Unseen Divinity. He knew that, at the very least. 

However, he was a little taken aback. Mythical Oaths were rarely broken, but his senses extended an unsettling distance. How could he have never noticed it before?

Wait.

Was the Arbiter always outside the galaxy? 

If so, then this made sense. As a living resident of the Ancient Sealed Region, the starry skies beyond were not the true galactic sights. Additionally, only recently did his cultivation base ascend to the Mystic Ascendant Realm, enhancing his powers to greater levels. 

Mythical Oaths were sacred and respected. Few would break it, and even fewer would use them to kill unless an undying, unresolvable grudge was formed. It was easier to scheme and kill them directly than to use a game of Mystics to do so. The only reason those organizations dared to rely on this was due to their heavy caution. After all, since arriving here, his every move has been deliberate and his words were combative and challenging. Moreover, did he not take down three galaxies prior to this?

They would never risk themselves by openly fighting someone looking for a fight. This showed their level of restraint and intelligence but also the shrewd mindset of these forces. 

”I feel it,” Qin Yingyinʼs pupils constricted. 

Su Yi gave her a side-eyed glance. Her sensing the incoming descent of the Arbiter was expected given her unique Sea of Consciousness, but this was only the beginning.

Guo Heng could feel something entirely different. It was a sensation of deadly crisis building within his soul, continuously and endlessly as if being judged by a pair of divine eyes.

Briefly, the Mythical Contract was exposed as a glimmer of profoundly ancient yet equally nascent aura, not the slightest bit inferior to the aura of eternity, pulsed from its written words, causing the ink to shine intensely. It was only a single page with four sharp corners and a flimsy texture, yet the power within made it impossible to destroy by any power less than a Mystic Overlord.

Suo Haoranʼs eyes widened as his divination treasure sparked to life. 

The voluminous-robed pale-skinned woman with her twin Grand Seers reacted just as intensely.

There were others in the Void. Some were opportunists who sought to find the Mythical Contract and use it as leverage to sell it to the highest bidder or find it on behalf of the players, such as Su Yiʼs helpful spirits. 

They all noticed it simultaneously. 

On the upper-right corner of the page which was no more than thirty-three inches in length and height, a perfect square, was a tiny grey dragon that resembled Anu shrouded in a cloudy void mist. It was playfully biting at the edge. It, too, sensed the changes within the page. It was being inspected by the Arbiter, determining all karmic ties, and deciding whether the oath was broken and who should be punished. 

The tiny dragon blinked. 

From all over the Void, piercing through time streams and unfathomable spatial distance were several supreme auras. They were unmistakable. Meanwhile, Sage and Mystic Overlordʼs auras also pulsed from afar and sliced through the unending chaos of finite past, boundless present, and infinite future.

The tiny dragon licked the page with a grin. Then, it leaped off, fading into the Void as if it was one and the same. 

Immediately, the Mythical Contract shifted into an incidental location that was equidistant to almost every incoming aura, except it was slightly closer to those pesky spirits of Su Yi. 

Just a little closer.

Guo Heng was despondent to an extreme. He seemed to have lost his will to live and all measure of hope within his heart. 

”Are we in danger?” Yue Baoyue asked with fear in her voice as she asked Su Yi. She felt an abnormal sensation of anxiety build within her chest, and it was inexplicable. 

Su Yi eyed Guo Heng, ”Mythical Punishment is fair—only those subjected to its agreed-upon oath will be subjected to it. We could be an inch away and it will not affect us.” 

Unlike Heavenly Tribulation, Mythical Punishment only affected those it had deemed to have broken the oath. If not, the strength of Sages could shatter large swaths of galaxies. It was difficult to gauge how devastating that was. 

That said, there were times when Heavenly Tribulation wiped out entire stellar regions from the galactic map with indiscriminate fury, this was especially so if the oathbreaker could resist its power. This wasnʼt due to the Heavenly Daos deliberately attacking those around if, but the oathbreaker clashing with the power would result in the subsequent shockwaves.

This was why cultivators of the Mystic Ascendant Realm took their battles into Shell Worlds or isolated portions of space. An example of the consequence was two Demi-Mortal Lords fought across the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region once and devastated celestial arrangements and celestial objects, causing an unimaginable amount of deaths. 

While likely not their intention, it was hard to think about others when your life was threatened by a strong opponent. 

That said, resisting Mythical Punishment could often have dangerous implications as well. 

Wei Wuyin looked at Guo Heng, ”Do you want me to send you to your tower?” 

Suddenly, it was as if he was a man dying of thirst, offered a cool glass of water, and Guo Hengʼs spirits rose. ”You can do that?” He had forgotten that someone had schemed against him, likely Wei Wuyin himself, pushing him off the cliff to certain death with a vicious kick as if from a Spartan. 

Even Su Yi was taken aback by this offer.

Wei Wuyin nodded. ”Iʼll send you back to your tower. There, you can rely on your Dao Enforcer to have a chance at survival. In exchange…” He sent his demands, and Guo Hengʼs expression drastically changed for a brief moment. Those demands were excessive! He wanted his…entire Alchemical Lineage and every method within his possession?! Moreover, every secret and history he knew of the Utmost Purity Galaxy?! 

”I donʼt…keep those things on me and we donʼt have time,” Guo Heng said cautiously. Few kept their Alchemical Concoction Methods on their persons, especially if they belonged to an organization that valued it. It simply wasnʼt realistic to keep your legacy on your person. You could die in any number of ways without reason. 

”Thatʼs fine. As long as you agree, Iʼll have ways.” Wei Wuyin said this as he kept his smile, rising from his seat.

Guo Heng didnʼt need to think deeper into this or care about the Mythical Punishment that would unfold if he told Wei Wuyin certain Heaven-Bound Mythical Oath secrets. ”DEAL!” If he was sent to the Zenith Refinement Tower, he had a chance of survival! That was all that mattered!

Wei Wuyin nodded. Then, he vanished abruptly. It was unknown when, but Guo Heng had also vanished. In accordance with the Mythical Contract, Wei Wuyin couldnʼt act or harm Guo Heng against his will or be subjected to a loss. Even if he already lost. 

If he agreed, however…

Wei Wuyin extracted every last memory from his Sea of Consciousness, taking everything there was and sending it to his Second Mind for filtering while traveling through fixed space. When he got far enough out into the Void-Blank Space of the Armored Boon Stellar Region, he conjured a Void Portal and tossed Guo Heng in like he was a sack of potatoes.

”You got what you wanted?” The Heavenly War Spirit asked excitedly. 

Wei Wuyin looked out into the starry vastness of the Utmost Purity Galaxy, gazing at the Refinement Zone, and then all the other galactic zones.

”Not yet,” Wei Wuyin said after a little while and then he vanished. He returned to his seat, calm and smiling as if he hadnʼt just acted. 

Meanwhile, the Zenith Refinement Tower was abnormally active; they were readying themselves for punishment!