Paragon of Sin

The life of a young expert met its untimely end at the hands of an old cultivator, truly a regrettable event. Unfortunately, life came with risk and risks came with rewards. The young man sought fate-changing recognition that would forever change his future, but he had to bet his life in turn. 

Unfortunately, he lost.

The young woman gnashed her white teeth in anger, frustrated at the carelessness of that young man. If he had conjured his Soul Idol, while it would consume an enormous amount of his spiritual energies, his spiritual strength, spiritual sense, and astral force would've increased manifold. This might've been enough to survive.

Wei Wuyin noticed this, but he didn't know why she was so invested in the outcome of that fight. "His defeat wasn't embarrassing; laying to rest at the hands of a Gravity Emission Phase expert who wields Saber Intent, he should have no regrets."

"..." The young woman turned her head towards Wei Wuyin, her eyes glaring at him with a steely edge. Was Wei Wuyin mocking her? 

Noticing her sharp stare, Wei Wuyin faintly smiled. He didn't feel that what he said was wrong. The young man was indeed a Soul Idol Phase cultivator, and the fact his corpse hadn't turned to dust from the edge of that woman's saber was already enough to receive resounding applause.

The crowd, however, merely clasped their hands together in unison, be it children or adults, and chanted a piece of scripture. From their pious expressions, the solemn light within their eyes, and bowed heads, they were clearly paying respect to the Holy Candidate's life. It was respectable.

Wei Wuyin joined in. Not because of religious principles, but out of respect. The young man faced nigh-impossible odds, and while he had acted careless, his death was determined from the moment he said 'yes'. He had the courage to agree to this risk, to fight for a better future, so he deserved the respect.

Grand Priestess Si De was also giving her chanting prayer, sending the soul of that young Holy Candidate off to the next world. From her peripheral vision, she saw Wei Wuyin chanting, paying respects and sending him off too. As for the young woman, she was too angry to care, ignoring Wei Wuyin and everyone else.

She didn't believe in the customs and traditions, clearly revealing herself as an outsider. 

The Grand Priestess was shocked by this discovery. She thought Wei Wuyin was an outsider as well, not one nestled in their customs and traditions. This caused her to grow absentminded as she inspected his solemn yet astonishingly handsome visage. 

After finishing his chant, Wei Wuyin lifted his silver eyes and noticed the Grand Priestess's absent stare of amazement. When their gazes met, she started and he responded with a warm smile. 

The Grand Priestess felt her heart race from that single exchange of looks, turning away with a quickness and faintly blushed cheeks. She admonished herself internally! She was too old to be entranced by a youngster, no matter how outstanding. 

Wei Wuyin softly chuckled. He found this Grand Priestess quite cute, especially how her eyes appeared sightless yet weren't. To excitingly add, she was clearly new to relations between men and women, her Primal Yin completely intact. He decided he'll court her after this. With the title of Holy Son, it might be easier too.

While his thoughts were elsewhere, Grand Priestess Si De continued forward with the ceremony. The Holy Candidate's corpse was brought off the platform and kept in a crystal coffin emitting faint white light. He'll be buried on sacred ground as a show of respect for his courage and talent.

Another cylindrical light erupted from the platform, crashing down and encapsulating the young woman's form. It was her turn now. The platform seemed to be deciding who went by the order they touched the mirror or perhaps the level of their spiritual strength. 

"Holy Candidate, you have been chosen! Shall you take the challenge to prove your worth or will you concede?" Grand Priestess Si De asked once again with a soft yet loud voice. This time that voice was directed at the young woman.

The young woman was still a little peeved, but she calmed herself down. She was about to speak, to accept the challenge, when she heard a spiritual transmission. Her expression instantly changed.

Within the spiritual transmission, there was a message from the old man. It said: "Your grandmother told me not to interfere in life and death matters that you decide to voluntarily participate in or court yourself, regardless of instructions. She forced me to swear a Heavenly Oath as well. If you agree, I won't be able to interfere. Think carefully." 

"..." She hesitated, gulping slightly. There was a safety net within her heart, so she was fully willing to test herself, but she wasn't certain now. She knew how fierce and strict her grandmother was, and the old man couldn't lie to her due to a similar Heavenly Oath, so she trusted his words unconditionally. This tempering experience would turn into a life and death struggle with a single word, her heart was seized by an icy-cold grip.

If it was against someone else at her realm of cultivation, she would be fearless, but a Realmlord was considered invincible beneath their realm by the majority of cultivators. While Chosen of those grand forces were capable of challenging beyond that conceived belief, she wasn't a Chosen. They were legendary figures with heaven-defying talents.

Worldly Domains were very difficult to overcome, nigh impossible. Furthermore, if she met a Realmlord with such swift and violent lethality like that middle-aged female elf, she might meet her demise in a few exchanges; her life ending with a whimper in the middle of some backwater world realm. All her dreams, desires, and plans would be kaput.

Wei Wuyin could feel the hesitation within the young woman's body language and eyes. 'She's not accepting?' He fully thought she would fearlessly accept. After all, she had the old man behind her. He also wished to see the level of strength and talent of those beyond his starfield, within higher cultivation civilizations. 

No one rushed the young woman. The gazes of everyone quietly lingered on her, awaiting her response with patience and respect. This wasn't a small matter, and it required risking one's life, one's everything, to overcome. They also understood her hesitation. After all, she had to face a Realmlord! 

Anyone would hesitate.

The young woman felt her lips become dry, her heart starting to beat a little bit faster, and her mind recalling the violent and abrupt scene of her pawn's death. Her delicate fingers twitched slightly, a piercing feeling pricked the edge of her throat, and her spine shivered with an icy-cold jolt. 

Wei Wuyin could see the fierce mental struggle. It wasn't an easy decision. He awaited her decision alongside everyone else in silence. He had deduced that the old man wouldn't save her, so she was genuinely considering this. The only issue was...why did she ponder it now? The details of the tests were extremely well-known long before.

He looked towards the crowd below, finding the old man with slightly furrowed brows. Those aged eyes of his noticed Wei Wuyin's gaze and turned to meet it. After a brief moment, he turned away and understood. The girl was under the premise that she was protected before, but she had just realized she wouldn't be.

"Will you be fighting?" A soft voice resounded, directed solely at Wei Wuyin in spiritual transmission. Wei Wuyin turned to see the young woman looking at him, her gaze a little awkward and uncertain. Wei Wuyin instantly realized she was looking for an excuse. 

She wanted Wei Wuyin to say something along the lines of: "Yes, I will. You don't have to participate. Even if both of us win, I'll likely be selected as the Holy Child due to my previous results. Stay back, let me show you my strength." Those words would comfort her, relieve her of the heavy tension she felt, and she might pout, might make a scolding remark to see if he could actually achieve it, or something of that asinine nature to justify her rejection, removing any fear or damage to her ego.

She grossly miscalculated, however. Because Wei Wuyin wasn't that type of person. He wasn't the person to be the white knight to the fairer sex, alleviating any mysterious or pretty woman's struggles with his actions or words for the sake of it.

He wasn't even the one to remind her that her mental state likely already determined her loss, her death. If you have fear in your heart, especially facing an expert of a higher cultivation level and stable mentality, then death was the only thing awaiting you unless you had external support. The fear bred a desire to live which would subconsciously restrict one's proactivity in battle.

Instead, he remained absolutely silent, looking at her expressionlessly.

The young woman paled, unsure how to respond to that. She closed her eyes, bit her lips, and clenched her fists until they trembled. After a very long while, she seemed to have reasoned with herself. 

"I don't accept the challenge," She indifferently declared. After, the cylindrical light retracted and re-entered the platform. She no longer had the face to remain here, flying down from the mountain and towards the old man. She wanted to leave; the embarrassment she felt was the greatest she'd ever experienced.

The old man sighed with relief. He transmitted a few consoling words with traces of wisdom, clearly wanting to ensure she doesn't form a stain on her heart from this.

Wei Wuyin watched her leave, soon he was engulfed by the cylindrical light. The crowd cared little about the young woman's preemptive surrender. She wasn't the first Holy Candidate to do so and they knew she wouldn't be the last. No one thought of her in an ill-manner, but they also didn't show any respect.

The lack of contempt, disdain, disappointment, or schadenfreude shocked Wei Wuyin. These people were truly different from what he was familiar with. Most wanted to see blood, an innate bloodlust in their hearts, or see others humiliated or failing at a task impossible for themselves to perform, verifying its difficulties and alleviating their sense of inferiority. 

"Fascinating," he quietly muttered.

"Holy Candidate, you have been chosen! Shall you take the challenge to prove your worth, or will you concede?" Grand Priestess Si De asked again, but her voice contained a faintly strange tone within. 

Wei Wuyin turned to her, smiling brightly. "I accept."

A burst of light descended, shining upon a particular hooded figure behind the Grand Priestess. This person was quiet, being relatively tall and bulky in build. This was a Realmlord!

The two vanished!

Their figures reemerged on the platform, a countdown beginning just like before. The hooded figure removed his hood and cloak, revealing a hardened body of muscle and flesh. Wei Wuyin's eyes constricted.

This person was slouching! When he fully stood up, no longer hunching forward, he exceeded eight feet in height, rivaling Da Shan. He was an elf as well, with two particularly sharp ears on the sides of his head!

This man's muscles had sharp contours reminiscent of a bodybuilder of the mortal world, not a single shred of clothing concealed his astonishing upper body. His breath was subdued earlier, but as he revealed himself, his intense breathing was fully released. Each breath was like the surging bellows of a raging volcano, filled with mighty sounds and powerful air. 

Wei Wuyin felt buffeted by the man's physical presence, his clothes stuck to his flesh from the pressuring air. His dark hair wildly fluttered and his robe flapped endlessly. 

There was a darkness within the elf's eyes, filled with a vicious power that Wei Wuyin couldn't place. Regardless, it terrified the spectators who watched from the projected screens. The dreadful feeling that Wei Wuyin felt was several hundred times greater, but he merely smiled in the face of it all.

This smile was incredibly joyful, completely and utterly fearless. "Do you hear that?" Wei Wuyin rhetorically asked the elf.

The muscular elf shrugged, ignoring Wei Wuyin's nonsense. He was bound by a duty, so he had no intentions of being distracted by Wei Wuyin's tactics. One of them will live and one of them will die. And he had no intention of dying today.

But Wei Wuyin didn't mind, touching his chest. He gave a faint grin, "You're exciting it."

ba-dum…

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum!

BA-DUM!

ROAR!