Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1814: The Path Ahead (1)

Yue Baoyue prepared a cup of tea that diffused a calming aroma into the air, beckoning feelings of comfort and relaxation. Her complexion had regained some of its ruddiness, exhibiting a recovery of vitality and essence. She was the picture-perfect representation of a diligent and pleasant beauty of the current age.

Su Yi meditated cross-legged on a prayer mat laced with glistening glows of silky threads. From time to time, a volcanic-like eruption resounded like an ancient dragon belching out storms of flames and death as he expelled the Mythical Punishmentʼs corrupting energies. After six or seven times, his eyes gradually opened, exposing a renewed vitality, and to his delight, was welcomed by Yue Baoyueʼs gentle smile and fragrant tea.

”Thank you,” he accepted it without hesitation.

Yue Baoyueʼs smile deepened, gaining a moving charm that was unforgettable. She waited for him to take a sip, hoping it wasnʼt too hot or too cold.

”Good tea!” Su Yi exclaimed, appeasing all of Yue Baoyueʼs appreciation-seeking thoughts. He couldnʼt help but chuckle in response, feeling rather appreciative of her efforts, and he didnʼt try hiding his sincere belief. The last few days had been rather peaceful, almost unnaturally so. After all, he had exposed his greatest secret of power to the galaxyʼs powerhouses, and he fully expected hellish consequences, long since preparing himself mentally to handle any issues that arose.

However, it was as calm as the eye of a storm. It was abundantly clear that every powerhouse was respecting Wei Wuyinʼs act of protection without fail. Even if something was happening, the foreigner was handling it without much disturbance, begging so many questions to be asked.

ʼWho is this man?ʼ Su Yi had asked himself this more than once over the course of these days, even before he fought in the Knightly Dao Pavilionʼs trifecta stage, and yet he still hadnʼt found any useful information to properly answer that question. Just the utter disinterest in his heart was baffling.

Even in his past life, Su Yi would have slaughtered until planets were dyed red and moved heaven and earth to acquire the secrets within his possession. But this foreigner seemed more interested in Yue Baoyue than himself.

Moreover, he was keenly aware that Yue Baoyueʼs innate talents were severely lacking, only obtaining her current achievements due to the Pure Utmost Cauldron tethered to her soul blessing her with extraordinary gifts toward alchemical concoction. Without it, she was just another beauty that could move the hearts of starfields, nothing more.

At the very least, she didnʼt have anything over those like Xi Ning and Shang Wanqing, those who possessed Catalyst Bodies, with outstanding beauty that was one or two tiers higher, especially in regards to their well-endowed physicalities and innate charm. Regardless of his intentions, Su Yi wouldnʼt allow anything untoward to happen to Yue Baoyue; he quite literally owed her his life.

A debt of that magnitude had to be repaid properly.

ʼShang Wanqing,ʼ his thoughts recalled that unforgettable figure with excessive beauty that could turn heaven and earth colorless, take the taste of a manʼs tongue with her smile, and sway souls with her voice. She had none of those charms yet, but she did—long, long ago.

He had lost the initial bet. However, he had an instinctual feeling that Shang Wanqing would retain her autonomy.

From what he could hear, Yue Songli, another Catalyst Body, and a high-level one at that, was treated with the enviable respect that was genuinely befitting of a wife.

He couldnʼt help but feel conflicted initially, believing that this foreigner was merely giving Yue Songli temporary treatment to permanently siphon everything when it was ripe, but when he met Wei Wuyin, and saw those starry eyes, he felt that there was no vicious maliciousness or disrespect and ridicule toward the fairer sex.

Additionally, his Imperial Law lacked a certain ruthlessness that treated lives as ants or less than. In fact, his Imperial Law felt sharp and absolute. Unknowingly, Su Yi had glimpsed into Wei Wuyinʼs path as he used his strange Imperial Lawʼs murky multi-derived forces to sharpen his saberʼs edge.

Wei Wuyinʼs Imperial Law was incisive and direct, all moving towards a purposeful goal to an eventful end. His idea was novel, and Su Yi would love to delve further into it in a Dao Discussion. Unfortunately, he was uncertain where he stood with Wei Wuyin.

Suddenly, Su Yi recalled something. ”Did you ask?” He asked Yue Baoyue. Earlier, he had inquired about the situation of the wagers, including how the various organizations were going to pay, but he was unable to leave or move easily, so Yue Baoyue had used her newfound lavish bodyguard—Sage Pakhet—to gain information.

”Mhm,” Yue Baoyue nodded as she prepared some vegetables with a knife, chopping them with great precision. ”Lady Pakhet had informed me a while ago. The first organization that delivered their wager was the Seers of the Night. She didnʼt hide that they were trying to bribe her master to send you to a favorable location. She said that her master accepted the original wager, but then he crippled the cultivation of the messenger, a powerful Original Magistrate, with a single glare, turning him into an idiot, and spat him out of the palace back to the Dark Void.

”...!” Su Yi was taken aback by the drastic act. Unbeknownst to Su Yi—

[RIGHT ARM: Pride]

Karmic Luck Value: 262,471.1 → 263,776.3.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.

Fourth Calamity: Claimed - 18/18.

Fifth Calamity: Suppressed - 47 Years.

[LEFT ARM: Lust]

Karmic Luck Value: 262,471.1 → 263,776.3.

First Calamity: Claimed - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.

Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.

Fourth Calamity: Claimed - 18/18.

Fifth Calamity: Suppressed - 47 Years.

—that Original Magistrate was a juicy snack hand delivered, ready for the taking, and personally delivered to him by the Seers of the Night. The person wasnʼt even a part of the Seers of the Night, but a trashy rat that was a tool to throw away. Since they decided to send him there to test his stance on matters of bribery, how could he resist and not make himself abundantly clear?

Su Yi, for seven whole days, would be under his protection!

Anyone who wanted to circumvent such things with bribery or threats needed to rethink their lives lest they lose them.

”Heʼs so aggressive,” Yue Baoyue had the slightest grin on her lips, facing away from Su Yi, and she paused her cutting as idyllic thoughts swirled within her mind. It was unknown exactly what type of thoughts these were, but her heart raced just having them.

”Offending the Seers of the Night is a move for sure,” Su Yi muttered as he rubbed his cheeks. He was fearless against the Seers of the Night, but Seers were sinister, the type to hold a grudge for twenty thousand years biding their time until a clear-cut moment of weakness was exposed to unravel you at the seams, destroying everyone and

everything you hold dear.

Was Grand Seer Rippledark not like this? He had just killed a bloodthirsty, violent, and viciously wicked woman who deserved death from every conceivable angle, yet this seer was hell-bent on acting against him to the point he plotted from the get-go to ruin him. Who knows how he achieved such a position to push him to such a corner? If not for that Seer, would he have exposed his secrets or suffered such devastatingly grievous internal injuries?

Yue Baoyue continued, ”The next was Shadow Veil. A descendant of the All-Viewing Sky Sovereign was sent to deliver the wager.”

”All-Viewing Sky?!” Su Yi was taken aback. If the Seven Utmost Towers had Dao Enforcers as titled non-alchemists cultivators who defended and guarded their autonomy, authority, and secrets while projecting unfathomably supreme strength across the galaxy, then those forces such as the Incandescent Star Palace, Seer of the Night, Shadow Veil, and the rest had their own.

They were known as Sovereign Knights, Sovereign

Protectors, Sovereign Enforcers, and lastly, Supreme Sovereigns!

The last title, Supreme Sovereigns, was the foundation as to why all Resonant Soul Realm cultivators of the Realm of Sages were referred to as Supreme Sages.

Supreme Sages were the only cultivators that could have ʼSovereignʼ in their titled names be granted indescribable power across time and space without severe consequences— mysterious and mystical power that can KILL!

In fact, the character for ʼSovereignʼ written in Mysticism was profoundly powerful, and not even Mystic Overlords dared to carelessly inscribe the character anywhere beneath the heavens lest they attract great attention. Attention that might not be wholesome or merciful.

Speaking it, however, wasnʼt difficult. Similarly, the mortal character was significantly less important, and most cultivators even interchangeably used the word ʼSovereignʼ

in the blanguage Mortal and Mysticism as if they were expertly bilingual.

All-Viewing Sky was a prominent, ancient Supreme Sage that Su Yi was familiar with in both of his lives, this one and his past one. He was incredibly long-lived. More importantly, his life-or-death was a huge question that was hotly debated, and it would bring the number of Supreme Sages within Shadow Veil from the two to a grand total of three if he was.

This was monstrous.

Unfortunately, no one knew if he was dead or not.

”Lady Pakhet said that the descendant was trying to speak to World-Saint Neo-Dawn with great civility, but he was casually dismissed as he was tossed out of the palace and into the Dark Void. Then, a shadowy veil shrouded the Armored Boon Stellar Region entirely. It only lasted for thirty-eight seconds, but World-Saint Neo-Dawn left laughing. Then, he teased the Elephant-Tigress Sovereign of the Zenith Refinement Tower openly, inviting her in for a drink and a Dao Discussion.

”Lady Pakhet said that for an entire hour the Refinement Zone shook from her rage. It only stopped when her master came out and threatened to drag her back to the Original Dawn Palace for a proper Dao Discussion that would leave her wanting more if she continued disturbing the peace a single second more.”

”...” Su Yi was flabbergasted repeatedly. What was aggressive?

THIS WAS AGGRESSIVE!

”I think he was serious too,” Yue Baoyue recalled the way Pakhet transmitted the images of that day, and she felt her heart pounding at the sight.

Su Yi wanted to find fault with those actions, but given what was happening, from an underhanded bribery attempt to undermine his word to being sent a little fledgling with no true power or reputation except nepotistic origins to accumulate experience, all of it was subtle snubs at World-Saint Neo-Dawn.

ʼAre they probing him?ʼ Su Yi felt that the events were strange, mysteriously so. Perhaps they were testing him somehow?

”The two towers offered their wager together, and sent Incarnations of their Dao Enforcers. While the actual Dao Enforcers didnʼt show themselves, and the Zenith Creation Alchemic Saint or Zenith Refinement Alchemic Saint didnʼt reveal themselves either, they sent alchemical products.

But…” Yue Baoyue could barely contain her grin, hiding a boisterous laughter threatening to escape, ”...do you know what happened next?”

Su Yiʼs eyes shone intensely, drawn further into what Wei Wuyin would do.

”The Zenith Creation Tower was treated respectfully, but the Zenith Refinement Towerʼs wager…World-Saint Neo-Dawn exposed every product offered to match the 795 Mystic-Heaven Essence Stones valuation, and they included all sorts of products, most of which were Mystic-Earth low-quality products or Mystic-World impure products.

These impure-products, however, were all like in the 7% to 1% impurity rating, so almost perfect, yet he said a single word in response.

”...?!”

Yue Baoyue clenched the handle of her knife, ”He called every last one of them: Unacceptable!”

”...!!!”

To any cultivator of the world, they were an astonishing blessing that could overwrite their entire future.

”Then, you wouldnʼt believe what he did next!”

”What?!” Su Yi was hooked.

”With a wave of his hand, he constructed an isolated secret realm. Tethered to the Armored Boon Stellar Regionʼs celestial orbit with four Gateway Doors, he publicly established the Trial by Fire known as the Knightly Neo-Forge Realm, and he sent all of the products of the Zenith Refinement Tower inside! YES—ALL!!!”

Yue Baoyue was in awe as she saw through Pakhetʼs perception of Wei Wuyin creating a secret realm with cultivation limits, allowing any cultivator that can enter to participate in various trials to win various alchemical products. There were even some high-tier and high-quality Mystic-World grade products inside. He ruthlessly sent them all inside!

Only keeping the Zenith Creation Towerʼs wager, seemingly out of respect. Moreover, these products were things Heavenly Saints would kill for, and Mystic Overlords would undoubtedly fight over. However, with four Gateway Doors set for four different levels of cultivation—Star Core Phase of the Astral Core Realm, Mystic Star Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, Earthly Saint Phase, and the Heavenly Saint Phase, it was a significant challenge for all comers, and it didnʼt restrict lower-stage cultivators from participating in higher limits. Highlords could fight Earthly Saints!

This pushed Mystic Overlords out.

But left fortune for the rest!

Su Yi was unable to hide his surprise. What was this foreigner doing? Establishing a secret realm like this?

Moreover, publicly sending 795 Mystic-Heaven Essence Stones worth of valued alchemical products into it? No single power would dare to argue against or contest its establishment if they could vie for that!

It would be no different than gaining endless hatred from hopeful cultivators!

”He let the Knightly Dao Pavilion oversee the Knightly Neo-Forge Realm to an extent, not preventing entry from anyone, but ensuring proper regulation of internalized rules for the trials and upholding fairness within by preventing those ill-scheming rats,” Yue Baoyue sighed in amazement.

Every move Wei Wuyin was making was shocking. She couldnʼt understand him.

”So only two wagers are left…you and I…” Yue Baoyue finished with a lowered gaze and soft voice.

”Thereʼs only a day left…” Su Yi thought as he took a deep breath. It was time to talk to this foreigner!