Paragon of Sin

The translucent walls erected, shielding the outsiders while simultaneously enclosing the battlefield. A prelude to a grand, marvelous, and spectacular battle had begun. The breathing rate of everyone who witnessed these two figures shout, for some unknown reason, had slowed down. It was as if the world was slowly building up in the empty space of these moments. The proverbial calm before the epic storm.

Lin Ming's spear moved slightly, and with it, the world. A display of Elemental Origin Intent, bending the ambient elemental essences to his will. It allowed one to immerse themselves into the world in the most natural and complete fashion, embodying the world's basic compositional structure. 

Earth; Wind; Water; Fire—the four foundational elements signifying the core essences of the physical world. 

Metal; Lightning; Wood; Ice; Magma—the five advanced elements signifying the intermixing complexities of the physical world. Its extremes, its fusion, and its flexibility. 

These nine elements embodied the world's elements of physical force. While elements such as darkness, light, shadow, and such signified the world's external influences that impact or influence these elements. They were produced by others, their existence reliant on the world's natural forces and entities. Stars, living beings, and such.

Therefore, Lin Ming had seemingly entered a state of Elemental Origin, merging with the genesis and purest state of the world. 

Zuhei, however, lifted his lips slightly as his protruding canines were slightly revealed. A savage, feral, vicious, and bloody aura effused from his body, from every single cell within his body, and encapsulated the world in its horrifying pressure. It was as if the apex predator of the world had set its sight on all existence. 

The will to clash with, rip, shred, and eviscerate all things in existence was emanated, fiercely engaging the will of the physical world. 

This wasn't a preluding clash of just three Intents, but a total of twelve. Each element had an intent, and this intent had been perfectly merged to produce its truest form. That was ten. While the raging force of will that was Battle Intent and the bloody devastation that was Slaughter Intent was two.

Despite this battle of ten vs two, the Battle and Slaughter Intent of Zuhei was unfathomably pure and dense. They were of a higher level than each individual Elemental Intent. When working in cooperation, they weren't the slightest bit inferior.

The clash of intents lasted for merely a second, yet a winner couldn't be determined. 

'Dual Intents, of both Battle and Slaughter. He's truly a genius. I'm getting goosebumps! I'm excited!' Lin Ming's thoughts were filled with sincere praise, his own fighting will was prodded into a state of excitement. 

'How come his Elemental Origin Intent is so, so, so weak? Master's like a boulder to his pebble...' While Zuhei's thoughts were filled with a trace of confusion and disappointment. When he clashed with Wei Wuyin during their three moves, their first clash had too been Intent, and he had indisputably lost. 

And it wasn't even close.

While Wei Wuyin had said he could merge his two Intents to strengthen it, that was a task no less difficult than exceeding the Astral Core Realm. It was far, far harder than forming Elemental Origin Intent. After all, the nine elements originally belonged to Elemental Origin to begin with, but the two Intents of his were fiercely independent.

In truth, Wei Wuyin had used six high-level elemental intents to form that Elemental Origin Intent, including his Zenith Origin State Mana Control to exert that immense pressure. But Lin Ming's Elemental Origin Intent merely had three high-level Intents. The comparison was…

Thus, their clash of Intent was far less intense to Zuhei. 

After realizing that neither side was claiming victory over the other's Intent, their actions changed. 

BOOM!

Zuhei made the first move. His legs went from a neutral motion to a vicious and speedy dash that broke the sound barrier. The gushing gust buffeted the crystal walls that caused them to tremble slightly. The sheer force of his movement was simply that powerful. 

He almost instantly arrived before Lin Ming like a silver shadow. His scarlet eyes emanated intense ferocity that seemed to stem from the most primal force. It released a vibrant spiritual quality. Alongside this, he attacked. With his right hand formed into a claw, it clawed at Lin Ming in a sharp uppercut.

Lin Ming wasn't the run-of-the-mill cultivator. His reactions were exceedingly swift, following Zuhei's explosive movement with his spiritual sense. He took a single step back, shifting almost three meters instantly. With a tightening of his spear, he similarly struck with a ferocious counterattack. He pierced the very air and his white spear seemingly vanished as if it became one with the wind. It aimed for Zuhei's throat.

Zuhei was briefly, very briefly at Lin Ming's quick reaction and even quicker speed, but he too wasn't ordinary. With a shift of his arm, he met the edge of the spear with his claw, intercepting it.

BOOM!

A loud, extremely explosive sound erupted as if wind itself had exploded. The two were sent further back. Both nearly touched the edge of their respective side of the platform. The sheer force of their clash had distorted the platform below. 

Zuhei opened his mouth and released a faint growl from his throat. As he did, his body seemed to expand for a moment before decompressing. The scarlet light within his eyes became even more intense.

Lin Ming skidded to a stop, a long line dug a few centimeters into the platform from his legs. The hand that gripped his spear was bloody. The skin of his palm seemed to have been ripped apart. But he clutched his spear even harder as wood energies began to regrow his shredded skin. 

They both had extremely solemn expressions with a serious glare. A single clash had caused them to recognize that the other person was exceptionally strong. Similarly, their battle wills were completely ignited at this moment. 

WOOSH!

Lin Ming and Zuhei vanished from their positions. When they reappeared at the center of the platform, claw and spear met. The explosive result caused the platform to tremble. Then, they vanished again. 

They flitted about like shadows, exhibiting extreme speed exceeding their cultivation level. One was like the rushing and endless wind while the other was like a ferocious predator chasing after its prey. The sonic booms that resounded were without a set pattern yet continuous and numerous.

In the matter of a few dozen seconds, several hundred exchanges had occurred. 

BOOOOSH!!!

BOOOOSH!!!

Two figures crushingly smashed down onto the platform, causing this incomparably hard platform made from extremely sturdy material to ripple about like jello. The entire platform deformed, and the faintest sound of surprise resounded. Clearly, it originated from the Fifth Stage Astral Core Realm overseer. 

When the dust settled, the two figures were revealed. Zuhei and Lin Ming were looking at each other, but their respective states were somewhat shocking. Lin Ming's upper clothes were entirely shredded, revealing his lean and muscular figure that contained faint scratch marks. This coupled with his handsome appearance could cause numerous females to lose themselves.

Zuhei's clothes, which were constructed from insanely expensive materials, were relatively undamaged. But his hands were bloody, with his sharp nails glinted with a bloody and silver light. His mouth was slightly opened revealing two sharp canines, his nose scrunched up, and eyes revealed an unbelievable sharpness. 

Splatter!

With a flourish, all the blood splattered and left his hands. It was as if there was no damage to his hands, no origin of the blood, and his skin felt as new as a newborn. 

Lin Ming quietly observed his opponent. This person's physical strength was incredibly high, having the strongest physical body that he'd ever seen. His hands were as durable and sharp as his high-grade Astral Armament. If it wasn't for his body that had been refined by the nine elements including numerous rare treasures, he might've been turned into spaghetti strings already.

Furthermore, his spear wasn't inferior to Qing Qiumu's Nine Meadows Astral Swords. It was called the Origin Spear and was refined by pure Elemental Essence. It was perfectly compatible with his powers.

Zuhei was similarly observing Lin Ming. During their clash, Lin Ming's every movement was as agile as wind, swift as lightning, and flexible like wood. It was extremely difficult to deal with. Moreover, his astral armament was of an high-grade, capable of matching his physical body and blocking his every assault. 

This was the strongest opponent he'd faced, aside from Wei Wuyin. A faint trace of uncertainty emerged in his heart, nearly breeding vigilance and fear, but when he thought of Wei Wuyin, that trace instantly vanished. If he compared Wei Wuyin to Lin Ming, in his mind, he would've been severely injured if Wei Wuyin wanted to suppress him with Intent alone.

What was there to fear?!

"Shall we get serious?" Lin Ming spun his spear in an elegant arc as he asked.

Zuhei's ferocious expression revealed a similarly fierce smile, "Let's!" 

AHWOO!!!

SHOOSH!!!

Behind the two, faint manifestations started to emerge!