Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1909: Chapter 1901: The Ongoing Current

Neo Zenith Tower.

Behind a desk within a spacious room, piled high with organized arrays of scrolls and tomes, Luo Ning sat quietly while diligently reading the contents of a palm-sized tome. Recently, her duties kept her busy. She was publicly recognized as Wei Wuyinʼs assistant, while given the grand title of Manager of Affairs.

Her duties were numerous and important to the setting of the Neo-Dawn Alchemical Lineageʼs presence within the Utmost Purity Galaxy, as well as maintaining active lines of communication with the three galactic vassals of the Neo-Dawn Empire. Normally, the broader strokes were decided by Wei Wuyin, while she and a select few others were given tasks on a micro-level to handle.

However, roughly a week ago, this brilliant emperor of hers had informed her of his decision to enter reclusive seclusion. Unlike the people of the Utmost Purity Galaxy or the three galactic vassals, excluding the Nine Sages of the Resolute Dusk Galaxy, Wei Wuyin was only at the first stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, the Mystic Star Phase.

His exceptional feats thus far had even made her question the validity of this possibility numerous times, but the countless reports and spiritual recordings of his concoction revealed a clear usage of Mystic Force, regardless of how strong it was, the intermixing of Mortal and Mystic Energies was as clear as day.

After all, the core difference between Mystic Force and Mystic Power was the astral- grade Spiritual Energy of the Astral Soul imbued with Mystic Coreʼs mystic-grade Physical, Mental, and Essence Energies. This was dismissed by those grand powerhouses as a unique cultivation method emulating Mystic Force due to its overwhelmingly terrifying power that could rival Resonant Qi of the Heavens in terms of raw intensity, but she knew the truth—Wei Wuyin had only recently ascended.

Lesser known fact, this unearthly handsome emperor of hers had a strange aversion to using Temporal Acceleration Zones unless necessary, usually only doing so when lengthy alchemical concoctions were needed! Despite this, his creation of perfected alchemical products was unmatched by all conceivable standards.

She finished reading the last line of the tome in her hand. It was the financial detailing of recent dealings, especially Mortal-Rank proudly products. She touched her Void Ring subconsciously. Shortly before that outrageously young emperor of hers left, he had given her a Void Ring containing millions of Mortal-Rank products, alongside tens of thousands of Mystic-Rank products. All perfect-quality, either low, high, or peak!

Every. Last. One!

She was in disbelief initially, and then accepted it. Since then, Luo Ning has had to regulate the dispersion of these products to prospective talents, and then made dealings to purchase materials, talismans, tools designed for travel, defense, offense, support, and cultivation assistance, and further distribute these to the appropriate parties. She was shaken by how immense Wei Wuyinʼs imperial duties were.

Her admiration for this unbelievably diligent emperor of hers was fascinating. Even more so, he had cultivated lower management well. It was to the point where, even if he vanished for decades, the Neo-Dawn Empire would experience no stagnation of growth. As for its vassals, even they would operate without issue.

It was both strange and miraculous that this world-defying emperor of hers had devised several systems and implemented them so stealthily, selecting trusted members across galaxies that were both competent and well-motivated.

Fortunately for her, the Prime Ascendants were extraordinary in their duties, alongside the secondary Seer, Ming Shufeng. The most important was someone that Luo Ning communicated with frequently. A figure that traversed the galaxies via Wei Wuyinʼs Void Altars freely.

He was an ambassador for ambassadors, and an inspector well-equipped to root out corruption and incompetence through infiltration and investigation.

According to Su Mei, this personʼs name was Yun Che. However, this person went by many names in the reports. Only a special symbol was etched in the report of those names, a symbol that could only be seen by those who cultivated the Neo-Dawn Visualization Incantation—three masks with different emotions.

There were also various disturbing reports from all over, they embodied secrets that few would ever expose, and they belonged to small sects and organizations to grand superpowers. The two worked in indirect tandem, yet their concerted efforts in execution, espionage, and intelligence gathering were unrivaled.

Even some of the reports sent chills down her spine. There was a symbol on those reports handled by this person as well, an inky blot that resembled a person or beast. It was hard to tell at first, second, or tenth glance. She was familiar with this name, having seen it a few times while she handled alchemical reports of competitors and alchemists of interest to recruit into the Hepta-Dawn Alchemic Corps.

Shadow.

There was no true name.

Just: Shadow.

Then, Ming Shufeng was ever diligent. She would often accompany Su Mei on missions and expeditions. It was a little unfortunate that her cultivation base was still quite lacking for the scale of their operation. She was still effective, but the others had to compensate by relying on their abilities to establish networks of information.

Placing the small tome down, Luo Ning heaved a relieved sigh. All things were following predictable trajectories. The most important was the open channels for trade, establishing connections with many chambers of commerce across the Utmost Purity Galaxy. And the swift way to do so was quite effective: Bribery.

Luo Ning took a page from that sly emperor of hers playbook with glee. Why scheme and perform tedious negotiations when you can outright buy loyalty and permits? Every wheel can be greased with ease with enough capital. She realized that any society was vulnerable to such things.

While those under specific oaths canʼt be leveraged, it was easy to acquire pawns with gross levels of wealth. She looked at her Void Ring. She had finished bribing a Mystic Overlord overseeing several small, medium, and large-sized stellar regions with just ten high-tier, high-perfection Mystic-World products to agree to a ten-thousand-year contract of business.

This was only one example of many. She was becoming quite practiced in the art of bribery via temptation.

She was once again reminded that, despite the Utmost Purity Galaxy having the greatest degree of wealth among the Holy Void of Fortune, it was largely concentrated in the Zenith Towers, and cultivation remained difficult. In fact, she had looked into this.

Nearly 93% of the entire greater wealth of the Utmost Purity Galaxy was within the Zenith Towers and their direct subordinates.

93%!

And of those products, this included semi-acceptable impure-quality products of the Mystic-World and Mystic-Heaven grade, which likely covered 20% or more of that wealth.

They were the ones with the most Mystic-World and Mystic-Heaven graded alchemical products and materials, so it made some sense. The more important and shocking detail was that over 60% of all their wealth comes from outside the galaxy, gained through trades and contracts.

Luo Ning was also taken aback by how even Supreme Sages began to willingly involve themselves with the Neo Zenith Tower. She didnʼt know the details, but Hong Xuannu had become an Enforcer for the Neo Zenith Tower, discarding her identity as a bloodthirsty Void Pirate.

Not a single superpower was overly shaken by this news. It was completely expected given that her life was saved by that benevolent emperor of hers. The strange thing was that Wei Wuyin hadnʼt given her any instructions to do this. This happened about five days ago, two days after Wei Wuyin left. Hing Xuannu asked for a job, so she was inducted by Luo Ning as a Dao Enforcer, having her swear the requisite oaths.

After this news spread, the Neo Zenith Towerʼs legitimacy as a Zenith Tower grew. While Wei Wuyin was a mysterious existence of great means and power to all, Hong Xuannu was a galactically recognized Supreme Sage and a native of the Utmost Purity Galaxy. Luo Ning couldnʼt help but think about how her life had changed so drastically after the Alchemic Clash back then. Being selected by Wei Wuyin then was a grand blessing unmatched in the world.

Closing her eyes, she wondered how this heaven-piercing emperor of hers was doing. Unbeknownst to her, that thought perfectly described Wei Wuyinʼs predicament, having pierced the heavens with his soul!

-----

Heavenly Realm of War.

Wei Wuyin held his chipped saber with both hands, tip pointed downwards, and the hilt pressed against his chin as he squatted contemplatively, gazing intently at the recently deceased corpse of the spearman he had captured.

“Learning a language makes my brain hurt,” Ori complained.

“You donʼt have a brain,” Kratos commented thoughtlessly.

“I have a brain! Eden! Kratos said I donʼt have a brain” Ori snitched.

”...” Eden sighed with exhaustion. ”Kratos...”

“Fine! Fine!” Kratos folded under zero pressure, unwilling to deal with either of them, “You have a brain. A big, beautiful, white brain!”

“Thatʼs right! I DO HAVE A BRAIN!” Ori triumphantly declared, ”And it hurts.”

Wei Wuyin heaved out a deep breath, expelling all his confusion. ”The Heavenly Realm of War, huh?” According to the soldier, this place was known as the Proving Field of Battle by an innate understanding of each being born here. It was a never-ending, ceaseless region of violent conflict spanning an unknown distance. At the very least, they didnʼt know if there was an end.

Since they couldnʼt cultivate in accordance with the normal path of the Foundation Establishment, Qi Condensation, Astral Core, Mystic Ascendant, Resonant Soul, and so on, they were very limited in their ability. Moreover, every active region was overwhelmed by bloody battles of the 3,000 different factions.

Thatʼs right...

3,000!

3,000 FACTIONS!!!

By his understanding, each represented an Intent, an expression of will that was intimately connected with the Dao of War.

Wei Wuyin finally understood where the term Dao of War came from when described in The Battlefieldʼs reward lists’ descriptions. It wasnʼt a great dao on the level of Mortal, Mystic, or the eternal, but it existed as a true dao of the world.

There was cultivation here. It was the cultivation of Intent, the development of oneʼs will to unify with the world around them—with the Heavenly Realm.

instantly, Wei Wuyin understood why, excluding the nine elements, all other forms of Intent were explicitly separated from the Mortal Dao and Mystic Dao. The enlightenment struck with immense force.

No wonder Shui Fengbao and Yao Houyi were so abnormal and had developed their intents in a way beyond their cultivation base. They were innately gifted in the cultivation of an entirely different dao.

This might explain why those like Shui Fengbao were granted great misfortune in their lifetime by an unseen force, and likely why the mysterious lady who met Su Mei and Yao Houyi referred to the latter as either a Daoseeking Child or a Lesser-Heaven Primeval Sprout.

The Heavenly Realms must have great ties with him.

Beastmen had trouble ascending due to this very conflict of the Primordial Dao and the Mortal, Mystic, and eternal dao. It was truly as if lightning had struck him, clarifying many of his doubts, and verifying many of his theories made in the past in an instant. Wei Wuyin touched his pauldron, feeling the indentation that was formed upon its surface. It was a saber.

He belonged to the Saber Faction.

But when he asked about the Saber Faction, the spearman said sabers donʼt exist. Blades and Swords do. Not sabers. According to him, the Saber Faction was the Blade Faction, and Wei Wuyin misunderstood. However, Wei Wuyin could sense that his faction after touching it and familiarizing himself with the rules of this realm was the Saber Faction.

This was the cause of his great contemplative state. This was a mystery that baffled even him.

But most importantly: ”How can I maximize my gains here?” An ambitious glint flared within his silver eyes.

This was a Heavenly Realm, a genuine HEAVENLY REALM! He was here in soul, not body, and this was an unimaginable opportunity.

According to the spearman, to whom he felt was akin to a Spirit of War, those here had to earn the recognition of a path of war to ascend. He was familiar with three of these paths: Soldier, Commander, and Champion. However, there were nine paths: Soldier, Elite, Undefeated, Commander, Tactician, Champion, Conqueror, Slaughter, and lastly, Peace-Maker.

The easiest paths were Soldier, Commander, and Champion.

The hardest paths were Undefeated, Conqueror, and Peace-Maker.

“If I had to guess, ascending any path was equivalent to acquiring...” Wei Wuyinʼs eyes narrowed.

“...Authority!” Eden completed his thought.

If so, then this so-called Proving Field of Battle was likely the initiation requirement to acquire a Seed of Law at the Conceptual Level. Since the ordinary Edict Potion connects the soul with this level, allowing a cultivator a chance to form a Seed of Law, this was a logically sound theory.

And that...made things VERY interesting!