Paragon of Sin

Chapter 1682: No-Name (12)

Incomprehensible.

As Wei Wuyin's aura as a Mystic Star Phase cultivator diffused into the air, rippling outwards gently, twisting the air, uplifting his dark hair, and illuminating his steady figure in a clear, distinctly mystical light, the entire Battlefield of the Fallen Divine went utterly silent.

"I'll be your only opponent," were five words that the eight Sages of the No-Name Galaxy had never expected to hear!

Sage Nepit's pupils constricted; Sage Khepri's gut twisted with an uncomfortable feeling; Sage Amunet's thoughts quieted down; Sage Imentet pursued her lips; Sage Shattered Sphinx's hands clenched into two tight, bone-crunching fists; Sage Khonshu felt goosebumps arise on his skin; Sage Pakhet's eyes sharply narrowed; Sage Hathor's lips and eyelids quivered slightly.

Amidst this silence, all eight Sages had subtle changes to their facial expressions, clearly reflecting an array of emotions, both simple and complex.

"I see," Sage Pakhet broke the tense, stifling silence, her voice and tone containing the realization of the situation as if she had relived each situation and finally landed here, where the eight Sages were facing a Worldly Saint Alchemist and founding emperor of a nascent empire. For the first time in her life, she felt genuinely shaken, yet at the same time, completely enlightened.

Unable to fully understand, Sage Khonshu asked as he lightly stroked his crescent-shaped mirror, his personal Heavenly Treasure named the Reflecting Moon of the Night Sky:

"Are you suppressing your cultivation to fight us? Was this your plan all along?"

Cao Cuifen's words echoed in his mind, yet he was unable to accept such a ridiculous situation so easily. Wei Wuyin was an established and proven Worldly Saint Alchemist by the Alchemic Dao, which by typical conventional logic, his cultivation should have long since exceeded the Mystic Star Phase, the first stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, and either reached the levels of an Original Magistrate, Mystic Overlord, or a Sage. Even an Enlightened Sage wasn't too unexpected!

This wasn't solely his own assumption or baffled thoughts, but the thoughts that confused the hearts of every last Sage present. As for being a Supreme Sage, a Resonant Soul Realm cultivator, the No-Name Galaxy's Divine Guardian would have long acted to repel him, or worse if that was a possibility.

Additionally, Wei Wuyin had conquered two galaxies in the shortest period imaginable with the least amount of bloodshed. It wouldn't be surprising if he had an Alchemic Knight or Dao Protector at the Supreme Sage level, staying outside of the No-Name Galaxy due to their Divine Guardian's presence!

But this…

This was a situation most of them couldn't quite comprehend! A situation they had never, ever, and would never be able to expect! While Sage Pakhet was enlightened, her thoughts weren't too overly complex. She just understood the trap they had walked themselves into and Wei Wuyin's gamble.

Sage Pakhet wasn't a complex thinker, so her thoughts were quite simple, so she grasped it easily after accepting the facts presented. She was also even simpler when it came to the process, and her golden khopesh, the sickle-shaped bone sword forged from her own bones, found itself tightly gripped within her left hand. The aura of Law exuded outwards! A Heavenly Treasure!

It was called the Path Opener of the Storm and Rain.

The others felt the intense fluctuations and instinctively readied their Heavenly Treasures. Whether they wanted to or not, they each felt as if they were staring at a great enemy despite their opposing thoughts, unable to underestimate this extraordinarily handsome and unparalleled man of his generation.

Wei Wuyin shook his head.

"This is my cultivation base," he admitted with no further explanation, following it with an airy voice: "Shall we begin?"

The other seven, that were placeholders, had already retreated a considerable distance and enveloped themselves in a hazy barrier exuding a distinct presence of void energy.

"Yes," Sage Shattered Sphinx flatly responded.

The others didn't refute his words, yet the tension in the air intensified severalfold. Disregarding this shocking revelation of Wei Wuyin's true cultivation base, the fact remains that external methods and tools had been outlawed by mutual agreement, and he wouldn't be able to elevate his cultivation using any terrifying esoteric methods beyond their knowledge.

The facts remain—Wei Wuyin was an Exalted, a cultivator only at the Mystic Star Phase, while they, the eight Sages and leaders of a large majority of a galaxy, were at the True Sage Phase of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, and the difference between the two cultivation stages within the same realm couldn't even be described as comparable to blackened mud and the white clouds, but so, so much greater.

How strong could he possibly be?

The eight Sages exchanged subtle glances. Then, they instantly separated in the sky, soaring with extreme speeds that resembled teleportation to the common eye.

Wei Wuyin silently observed as they surrounded him in a strange, irregular formation, yet he was still somehow within the middle of it all. This was his first fight since entering the Mystic Ascension Realm, obtaining a portion of his Magi's inheritance, and unlocking the full potential of his True Void Dragon Bloodline.

What level of strength had he achieved now?

Sage Amunet swiftly sent to the other seven, her entire body glowing with the misty light of divination,

"No matter what, we must not lose focus or underestimate him."

Her reminder was met with a universal silent agreement. Sage Khonshu's grip on the Reflecting Moon of the Night Sky tightened.

Sage Nepit was the second furthest in the battle formation from Wei Wuyin in terms of distance, only losing out to Sage Shattered Sphinx, whose robes, the Heavenly Treasure known by the galaxy as the Infinite Sands Garment, animatedly flowed with rapid, river-like fine sand on its surface. The former was a Spiritual Cultivator, so his position was appropriate and expected, while the latter…

Wei Wuyin's gaze shifted to Sage Shattered Sphinx's hovering figure.

The closest of the eight was Sage Imentet. She wielded her wooden shield with the vivid depiction of a black sandy desert and a setting white solar star before her chest, held by two hands, and covering more than half of her exquisitely seductive body. The Aegis of the Underworld and Overworld was her most precious Heavenly Treasure, and it had mostly been repaired after taking several fists of an asura, but there were still faint signs of cracks on its surface.

Sage Pakhet was to her right, slightly behind Sage Imentet, as her golden khopesh was brandished with her body within a lower, pouncing stance of a huntress. Her sharp gaze focused on Wei Wuyin.

The other Sages were in the middle of the formation, each holding their own Heavenly Treasures.

"Before we begin," Wei Wuyin decided to say just prior to their actions, giving each one of them a look, and they seemed to afford him the right to speak another sentence. He continued, "Fight with your lives at stake, or you will die pathetic deaths."

BOOSH!

Clear, resplendent mystic light erupted from his tall, domineering figure!

BOOM!!!

The air, heat, and moisture within the world exploded into a flourish of violent spiritual strength as the eight Sages worked in tandem, unleashing their Spiritual Strength to exert a formless, devastatingly weighty pressure upon Wei Wuyin. The ground beneath Wei Wuyin's feet cracked into numerous spiderwebs, yet it didn't shatter or erupt.

The combined spiritual aura was enough to crush any ordinary Mystic Overlord in an instant. However, as a result, Wei Wuyin's robes and hair barely moved as clear light swirled protectively around him.

'Spiritual Aura suppression?' Wei Wuyin faintly smiled, unable to resist the urge as his four Astral Souls were unshaken by the pressure, while his Stellar-Paragon Astral Physique felt minimal pressure. When it came to matters of Spiritual Strength, Wei Wuyin was supremely confident.

The tactic of spiritual aura suppression was direct and simple, and when the eight Sages all witnessed Wei Wuyin's at-ease bearing after their violently unleashed spiritual suppression, they came to assess the situation with a clear mind and a determined heart. This wasn't going to be easy.

Not at all.

WHOOSH!

BOOSH!

Sage Pakhet and Sage Imentet took the lead, just as before against Zhan Jiangwen, with Sage Imentet following closely behind while Sage Pakhet blitzed toward Wei Wuyin by dashing through space and time, arriving directly before Wei Wuyin in a flash.

Melee!

With her khopesh, she swung it with her Mystic Power at full strength. Sage Amunet's words echoed in her soul, and she didn't dare to hold back in the slightest; she unleashed an Ascension Art that turned the very sky a golden hue! A sharp, slicing sound that seemed to rip apart the fabric of space, time, principle of gravity, and essence of light in two resounded!

Wei Wuyin's first move was just as simple. With a step back, his body slid back smoothly. In the blink of an Enlightened Sage's eye, he had already broken out of the battle formation. The invisible layered wards of Mystic Aura they had established to restrict Wei Wuyin might as well have not existed, as he phased through the wards as if they belonged to him.

Where Wei Wuyin formerly stood, a sword fissure of chaotic space and distorted time, twisted gravity, and exploding light was created that would have obliterated everything in its path. The savagery of that sword was enough to terrify any ordinary Sage, especially the raw strength and aura of the Law behind it!

Wei Wuyin had escaped.

Sage Khepri was quick to react; he expected Wei Wuyin to attempt to escape, and while he hadn't expected him to essentially avoid all their restrictive measures, he hastily followed with a series of hand-seals as the one tasked with dealing with that outcome.

Wei Wuyin landed on the ground with soft steps, yet just as he landed, his eyes gently lowered to the ground as a depiction of a golden Solar Star releasing faint heat manifested without warning. The Solar Star was composed of tiny, perhaps a million mystic runes, reminding him of the phenomenon that Ascended beings have when they unleash their Mystic Aura. These runes congregated as a complete while, establishing an unprecedented art that connected the Yang-attributed Mystic Dao with the Heaven's Realm of Light.

The very next moment, a cylindrical pillar of light was erected into the sky and beyond, at the center of which was Wei Wuyin's trapped figure. Seeing him captured, Sage Nepit followed with a series of hand-seals of his own, vibrations of Spiritual Strength shook the ambient space as he unleashed a Spiritual Art.

A single millimeter from Wei Wuyin's forehead, a swirl of three grainy colors formed that threatened to burrow into his Sea of Consciousness. However, a thin layer of skin, nothing else, blocked off its attempts to invade.

Sage Pakhet moved. Sage Imentet followed.

Sage Amunet kept releasing spiritual fluctuations of rapid transmissions. Suddenly, her body shuddered.

Wei Wuyin had glanced at Sage Amunet just then for a brief moment before Sage Khonshu positioned himself before her protectively unleashing his Mystic Aura, his crescent-shaped mirror expanding to reflect Wei Wuyin's image and blocking both of their figures from view. Seeing his own reflection, Wei Wuyin had no choice but to look away and swipe at his forehead with a heavy motion.

A shattering sound reminiscent of cracked and crumbling glass resounded. Sage Nepit coughed lightly, his expression growing a tad bit pale. It did little to stop him from forming a second set of hand-seals as the light in his eyes became exceedingly grim.

Wei Wuyin was delayed for a moment, but he eventually stomped his foot lightly against the runic collage of the Solar Star. It dimmed instantly. By sheer virtue of raw, draconic strength, Wei Wuyin harmed the very foundation of each rune. Then, he used that opening to take a step forward.

With a flicker, his body moved as if it was being shifted by the world itself, swimming as if he was perfectly in sync with it. But when he arrived, just as he halted his movements to assess the situation, two Sages were already on him as if they had predicted his movements!

"HA!" Sage Pakhet sliced forward with the same Ascension Art, not caring in the slightest about Mystic Power exhaustion. Her attack wanted to slice apart the world!

Wei Wuyin's expression was curious yet calm, but he responded without hesitation. A single fist was sent forward, carrying the star-destroying might of a true dragon, and Sage Pakhet felt the very air around her explode into nothingness, yet she didn't retreat as she pushed forward.

Promptly, as if practiced a million times, and perhaps even in this exact space, Sage Imentet spatially warped before Sage Pakhet as if to defy death and control causation. She took the fist using her shield, and she was blasted violently back as a thin line of blood followed her.

Wei Wuyin eyed Sage Imentet's injured but tactically departing figure as he was forced to take Sage Pakhet's slicing strike. With a wave of his left hand, Wei Wuyin used his bare hand to take the slash. The Stellar Paragon Astral Physique and True Void Draconic Body were remarkable when it came to defensive strength and recovery. Faint scales formed on his palms, and his left hand directly caught Sage Pakhet's blade.

With a heavy boom, Wei Wuyin blocked the blow without taking a single step back! Sage Pakhet's eyes finally constricted slightly. Wei Wuyin unleashed a fierce midsection kick within a flash. The strike induced the sound of ribs cracking as Sage Pakhet was blown back.

Her figure was caught by a white, large cloud-shaped palm as Sage Hathor reacted, diffusing the ferocious momentum of the kick while releasing Life Power, the power of Medicinal Sages and healing-specialized Alchemists, healing her injuries in the blink of an eye.

"…"

For a moment, the eight Sages all stared at Wei Wuyin in disbelief. Who was this Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor?!