Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1993 1985: Ten Thousand Marches Forward; The Purist

Despite Su Mei’s softly uttered words, the sense of hearing of each cultivator present was beyond the word ’extraordinary’. They heard every syllable, every emotion that hung on each letter, causing Shui Fengbao, the Child of Fire, to narrow his smoldering gaze with a firm resolution of blazing spirit. At the same time, the old-timer, Tuo Bihan, softly breathed a sigh of raw tension. The playfulness in him was eradicated, leaving behind a cultivator whose life was built in the trenches and then rebuilt through untold struggles and benevolent grace.

Yao Houyi subtly touched three fingers together, emulating the plucking of an arrow shape. The air and mana around him grew faint, gathering at his fingertips. The faint shape of a hazy arrow emerged.

The intensity of their readiness was no different from a bow pulled taut, the arrow of their vigilance pointed at a target, as their eyes all honed in on a single direction—a single target. In that direction were the vibrations of orderly footsteps that caused the very earth to tremble—a legion in full march!

BOOSH!

The thick, sky-piercing pillar of blood behind them shook violently in response, causing the sanguine light it radiated to quiver like an apex predator sensing another.

The unified steps rumbled closer, echoing like an army of death in their ears. No—an army of challenge. From afar, a gigantic war flag waved gloriously in the air, and the legion came into view. They drew closer and closer, only halting at about a hundred miles away from the sanguine pillar. At this distance, each cultivator could hear the synchronized breathing of every soldier. They didn’t breathe air but mana, and the lingering will of the battlefield forged by an unimaginable amount of valiant dead and Battle Intent.

They numbered ten thousand exactly, no more and definitely no less. Not a single one was beneath the Heavenly Saint Phase!

Su Mei’s eyes beheld the army as her breathing remained remarkably calm and steady, exhibiting a settled serenity in the face of an incoming threat that had devastated the battlefield in a way unmatched so far. She was, however, fully aware of the purpose of this legion, each exerting a billowing Intent of battle—a test.

This specific test was to verify their ability to take a step further and prove their efforts to the only opinion that mattered to any of them. Back then, a single man dared to challenge ten thousand with only a single saber, challenging the conventions of this world, and not just surpassing all expectations, but flawlessly conquering that challenge.

Now it was their turn.

”Shall I go first?” Tuo Bihan asked solemnly as he stepped forward, already volunteering himself. Standing before them were ten thousand Heavenly Saints, battle-tested Original Magistrates that wielded the aura of laws, if not an actual Authority of Law. However, he was unafraid. The item bandaged behind him released a very low-frequency hum that was difficult to grasp even with Spiritual Sense, yet the sediment beneath him quivered in response.

”Senior Tuo, how do you know it’s a single-person challenge?” Shui Fengbao’s fiery gaze burned even hotter. Despite his question, he leapt off his burnt boulder of a seat, taking two steps forward in thinly veiled anticipation as if he sought to be the first.

”If more go, he will surely increase the difficulty,” Yao Houyi assumed by virtue of an educated guess. None of them were unaware of Wei Wuyin’s personality and his expectations for each of them.

”So twenty thousand?” Shui Fengbao’s eyes blazed even hotter.

”More like two hundred thousand,” Tuo Bihan chortled as if the topic of discussion wasn’t a truly hellish difficulty.

”Likely adding Mystic Overlords into the mix,” Yao Houyi added lightly. Tuo Bihan nodded in agreement.

”Oh? You think we could bump that to all Sages instead?” Shui Fengbao’s lips curled into a grin as wisps of flames escaped his nostrils and fingertips.

”Don’t seek death,” Su Mei flatly advised. Her words immediately doused the wild fire within Shui Fengbao’s heart, who treated her words with the utmost respect. If she said it meant death, it would change the entire context of this challenge.

Only three words were said, yet the atmospheric tension created was enough to shift the expressions of a blindfolded archer, a fiery youth, and an old purist. Each gained an added darkness within their complexion.

After all, death was possible.

Worse even, failure was possible.

That was something none of them could afford, not if they wished to continue standing by his side as he faced the challenges he faced. They were not given the title of Prime Ascendants due to their early initiation, but because he believed in their extraordinary futures that could share his burden and glory.

Su Mei shifted her gaze away from the legion whose breathing was reminiscent of a divinity of war’s heartbeat, and observed the sanguine pillar of light with a look of silent inquiry. Without any words spoken between her and the existence within that pillar, the light pulsed vigorously in reply. She faintly nodded, shifting her focus to Tuo Bihan.

Tuo Bihan curtly nodded without a word, taking several steps forward that moved in miles with each step and placing himself between the army and the sanguine pillar. Even Shui Fengbao didn’t insist despite his eagerness to face this challenge, taking a single step back as a clear-cut sign of his silent acceptance; it was the old-timer’s stage to take.

And he did.

The bandaged item on Tuo Bihan’s back thrummed as if in anticipation of a worthy battle. Facing the legion, whose attention focused solely on him, Tuo Bihan’s battle spirit remained strong and unwavering. Meanwhile, his Mystic Soul pulsed with greater intensity, eager to exert its power against a real challenge.

As his cultivation was roused to the maximum extent spiritually possible, his cultivation base was exposed to the world: WORLDLY SAINT!

The Fifth Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm! A World Emperor!!

After all these years of training under Wei Wuyin’s guidance, Tuo Bihan’s cultivation base experienced a dramatic advancement, leveraging the countless environmental advantages and outrageously numerous peak-tier resources given to him to take a grand step on the path of cultivation, surpassing the Mortal Realm and soaring across the Mystic Realm!

At first glance, some may think his cultivation base was a little low given the circumstances and the extraordinary resources at his disposal, which included temporal acceleration, especially after Wei Wuyin’s dao-recognized ascension as a Heavenly Saint Alchemist. Yet this very reason was also why his cultivation base was at the fifth stage—Wei Wuyin’s standards!

Standards he held exclusively for his Prime Ascendants!

Every step taken was laden with unrivaled firmness and superiority, defying conventions on every scale of the Greater Galactic Standard! The mere fact his cultivation base was capable of reaching his current height was a testament to his inherent talent that was thoroughly excavated by Wei Wuyin’s hands.

And the legion showed no carelessness as his aura, as pure as an infant’s first breath outside the womb, erupted without holding back! They, in unison, unleashed a deep, low, and earthquaking battle cry. The land splattered with blood, tainted by the hue of the sanguine pillar, shook with tense fury. A thunderous gale roared toward Tuo Bihan with ferocious momentum.

The once-considered old man, now a Prime Ascendant forged by trials and tribulations, replied with a swish of his long sleeve. The bandaged item soared from his back, levitating by his side before taking his front—the surging gale was halted as the bandage’s surface rippled violently. Solemn in heart and soul, Tuo Bihan formed a hand-seal with two hands before his chest. His gaze focused on a single figure standing behind the legion, dressed uniquely different from the others.

Moreover, this one’s aura was significantly different; unlike the others whose cultivation stages were solidly at the Heavenly Saint Phase, this particular Soldier of War was a level higher—Mystic Overlord!

COMMANDER!!!

The individual standing aloft, confident, and secure was familiar. After Wei Wuyin unified the Ancient Sealed Regions, he had studied on known figures of greatness, and this person resembled the portrait of a once extraordinary World Emperor of the Endless Void Realm—Xu You!

Now, his name was Zhan You, the Legion Commander of the Galeforce Legion. One of Wei Wuyin’s earliest claims with the talisman of war, and the very first Worldly Saint claimed during his younger years. If not for his inadvertent waltz into a death trap, Xu You’s future might have been astounding given his position and connection to the world beyond the Endless Void Mirror.

After blocking the violent gale wind, Tuo Bihan held his hand-seal as he kicked off.

BOOSH!

With an explosive boom, he launched himself directly at the enemy, the bandaged item stayed close at hand, following with little issue. In fact, it was slightly ahead of him as it thrummed with a vile, distorted vibration. From his body, a pure energy poured out. It lacked any semblance of an attribute, even distinctly absent of the four elemental energies.

It was pure, refined Mystic Force. As it flowed around him, cycloning protectively, it felt as if the Mystic Dao itself was generating power. The purity was unimaginable.

The confidence in Zhan You’s gaze, clouded by calm murderous intent, faded slightly as the auras of each soldier of war under his authority quivered ever so slightly. The response was one-of-a-kind, almost as if they were facing an Envoy of Mysticism! The sluggish feeling was harsh.

Yet.

”Men!” A single, meaning-laden command caused the aura of Law to pulse outwards, seizing control of their sluggish mystic force and innate mystic energies.

Tuo Bihan was unconcerned by their deft usage of Laws to avoid his suppression art, staying the course as the distance between them shrunk; only a few dozen miles remained between them at this point.

The Legion’s response wasn’t slow, nor were they inactive despite the unexpected suppression. Already prepared, four squads of heavy bow-wielding soldiers readied themselves, flanking the right and left of the army as they aimed their bows at the incoming figure. These bows were not true items, but the amalgamation of their collective strength in the form of a manifested bow roughly the size of a house. They all held the pulled-bow position, funneling their mystic force into it via thick streams of white-silvery light.

”Archers!” Zhan You shouted as he raised a hand, ”LOOSE!!!”l