Paragon of Sin

"Was Senior Sister Lin exaggerating the dangers within the world realm?" A youthful young man garbed in white robes wadded through a rain of dark-grey ash, protected by a thin film of astral force. When the dark-grey ash touched his astral ward, a faint sizzling sound of burning emanated from it. Fortunately, the ward was sufficient to protect him from the strange material.

Lin Ming had randomly arrived just like the others in a new environment. It was surrounded by an uncountable number of volcanoes that extended into the distance with a perpetual falling of burning ash. The sky was completely dark, without a faint ray of sunshine invading it. It seemed there was a congregation of numerous thick clouds up above, covering horizon to horizon, so as far as the eye could see.

Lifting his head, he could witness the bleak skies shift about, spewing out volcanic ash, not liquid. "This world is quite troublesome though," Lin Ming remarked as he kept trekking in a singular direction. When he first arrived, he learned that the ambient mana was extremely thin and contained an absurdly restrictive power within, making it nigh impossible to fly via Mana Manipulation.

As for using astral force, that was very dangerous due to the hazardous environment. The consumption of astral force was extremely high, especially with the constant falling of burning ash that threatened your safety. It had already been several hours since he started walking, yet he saw nothing but grey skies, volcanoes, and falling ash. 

This left him helpless. He looked at his right hand, clenched within was a light green badge that emitted faint airy aura. It was currently emitting faint light, with a side of it protruding light into a certain direction. It was shaped like a thin triangle with esoteric characters and markings on its surface. On its surface was a depictions of a twister. This was one of the nine tokens of the trial, a Token of Elementus. 

This was also the first token, the Zephyr Badge, that he'd obtained from his Senior Sister Lin after meeting her. It initiated his start onto the path of cultivation and brought him to such great heights with a promising future. 

As he ensured the direction was the correct one, he once more recalled the troublesome aspects of this world. The volcanic ash wasn't very dangerous, but the ambient essence was similarly thin and lacking in substance. It made it very difficult to recover one's expended energies, like alone cultivate. 

He wasn't sure why this was the case, especially when the environment was quite rich in quality. Regardless of whether it was the sizzling ash, the volcanoes, or the earth beneath his feet, they were byproducts of an enriched environment that surpassed the planets of their starfield. Despite that, the ambient essence was far too thin to support this type of hazardously rich environment.

It was a contradiction that left him stunned, unsure of where the issue lay. 

"Oh?" Lin Ming's grey-colored brightened as he saw a large silhouette in the distance, seemingly to take the sharpness of tall towers and possibly a fortified wall. These were signs of civilization! His heart raced, feeling excited at the prospect of living beings existing in this world. Without hesitation, he sped up.

-----

In that very area of civilization, walking amongst a crowd of tightly garbed humans, two figures cloaked by dark clothing were sitting within an eatery, with piping out tea placed before them. The sky was absent of falling ash. Instead, there were various tower-like buildings that acted as lanterns, brightening the bleak and grey environment.

There were hundreds of individuals walking the wide streets, and numerous individuals that seemed to be peddling unique and exotic wares that were unseen in the starfield. 

One of these figures was quietly moving their mouth while the other was observing the crowd, running their thin, delicate, and jade-like index finger across the rim of their teacup. After a few rotations, that finger left the teacup and was placed into that figure's mouth, as if savoring the flavor that lingered.

Those nearby were all humans, lacking a single elf, demon, or beastman in sight. 

The cloaked figure that was moving her mouth with a strange rhythm ceased, lifting their eyes to reveal a pair of blue eyes with bewitchingly feminine guile. As she moved, faint strands of blonde hair revealed itself, causing her to move them aside, hidden from view with a practiced motion.

"There's so much interference within this environment. The product of a Mystic Ascendant truly pushes my sight to its limits." The cloaked woman complained, pouting her soft lips as she brought the cup of tea to her lips to sip. The refreshing taste and warmth eased her frustration.

The other cloaked figure stopped her movements, turning their head to 'stare' at the cloaked woman. 

The cloaked woman pouted her lips more, "It's not my fault. This environment is quite dastardly. Its already fortunate that I even calculated the two closest spatial tunnels and timings to transport so that we arrived a few miles away from each other." 

If Wei Wuyin heard this voice, he would instantly recognize it as Ming Shufeng! The Heavenly Seer!

The cloaked figure looked away, finally speaking. When it did, it revealed their gender! A soft, strong, and feminine voice sounded out, "I don't blame you. I don't know much about this world either. I can't believe it's so massive, and the cultivation society is extremely advanced." She regarded the citizens, the merchants, the guards that patrolled the area, feeling their cultivation bases and feeling disturbed.

As long as they were mature of age, they were at the Astral Core Realm. Only some juniors and children were at the Qi Condensation, and there wasn't a single individual beneath the Sixth Stage. If this was revealed in the starfield, this location could mimic the environment of some elite organizations, high-tier clans, and the four hegemonic forces.

But even they didn't have so many Astral Core Realm experts walking about. Just from a casual glance, there were already a hundred, and this city was extremely large to begin with.

Ming Shufeng, too, felt a wave of disbelief within her heart. "Even I hadn't seen this. There must be over a hundred thousand Astral Core Realm cultivators in the city, and who knows what the city lord's strength is at." She sighed, realizing their goal will be somewhat difficult. 

But the cloaked woman remained silent, merely looking at the crowd. Without warning, she stood up. "We need to move," the cloaked woman said suddenly as she started to leave the eatery after placing an astral stone on the table. Ming Shufeng was startled, but her eyes abruptly flared with bright golden light. It seemed she had obtained a faint glimmer of insight, her expression turned ash pale as she hastily followed along.

The cloaked woman looked at the sky, she murmured to herself in a voice only she could hear: "According to those journals, this should be the True Elemental Emperor's first stop, and his first deadly challenge that will test his limits. If what's mentioned is true, this will be my best opportunity to act."

Beneath her hood, a bright crimson light shone from both her eyes.