Paragon of Sin

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" 

A shrieking scream filled with horror, confusion, and utter surprise sounded from Ming Shufeng. Her ocean-blue eyes were affixed to the sky, trembling hectically at the chaos above. The instability of her gaze was matched by the sky, with endless ripples and booming sounds erupting. 

Even her footing was disturbed, causing her to nearly fall. "The sky!" She shouted, pointing at the sky that started to crack like grass, fragmenting with clear-cut fissures between them. It was as if the falseness of the sky was being revealed.

The figure beside her was looking at the sky, her hands trembling beneath her robes and those crimson eyes of her reflected absolute shock and endless uncertainty. San Yongli's heart was racing a million miles a minute as she recalled a familiar scene from her past. 

Her past? This world's future?

Ming Shufeng was panicked more than she'd ever been before, feeling the leaking aura of world-devastating power from those crack-like fissures within the sky. "San Yongli! What is this?" 

"..." But San Yongli was even more shocked than her, as well as ignorant. The only thing she knew, the only thing she could say is: "We're all going to die." The tone was filled with a despondent emotion that contained endless desolation and hopelessness. A deep despair and pained agony flitted through her gaze.

"Wh-What?!" Ming Shufeng's heart violently clenched as she heard those words from San Yongli, a woman that seemed to know more than her, a Heavenly Seer. She refused to accept that! With some quick handseals, she brought out a golden token with strange inscriptions. The token levitated in the sky, rippling out endlessly with multicolored light that was tainted by a light gold shimmer. 

Her ocean-blue eyes became blank. She was using her strongest means to pierce the heavenly veil, seeking answers and solutions. 

BAM!

An explosion of air occurred directly before her glabella, sending her head backwards. Her head tilted until it seemed close to coming off her neck. When it reached that extreme point, a faint glow covered her body and protected her. The golden token shattered.

As if on rewind, her neck that almost separated from her shoulders returned to normal. Those blank eyes of hers regained color, but dimmer and warier than ever before. 

San Yongli was interrupted from her memories by this, turning to see Ming Shufeng's strange state. What did she do? Curious, she asked while the sky continued to fracture further: "What did you see?"

Ming Shufeng was quiet for a few seconds. Her soft lips quivered. She lost all strength in her legs as she fell to her knees, her hair in disarray as tears formed at the corner of her eyes. "The World Realm's Core is destroyed! We can't escape...we're…"

San Yongli took a deep breath with her eyes closed. The explosion of a World Realm's Core was equivalent to a supernova, but with far more devastating consequences. They were within the World Realm itself, they had no chance of living. As for breaching space to escape? 

That's not remotely impossible unless one can traverse the Void. Even an Ascended would only be able to ensure their survival. 'I can't believe I'm dying here the same way I died before. How poetic. What second chance? What changing my fate? I was delusional.'

Her tightened fist relaxed as she opened her eyes to observe the sky that seemed about to shatter in thousands of large pieces, collapse and fall upon the Four Extreme Continent. It truly resembled the stories of legend that depicted the falling of the sky. 

-----

He Yanglei was huffing and puffing, being carried by the skinny old man with a sharp pair of eyes. They traversed an expansive and twisting silvery tunnel alongside seven other comets of light. 

The anger within the youth's gaze was endless and violent. He turned to the skinny old man, "Why did you let him escape?!" The rage in his voice could barely be contained. 

The skinny old man merely glanced at He Yanglei for a moment before turning away. He didn't even deign to respond to such an idiotic question. They kept traveling through the silver tunnel at a consistent speed. But He Yanglei was unwilling to push this matter aside, "He had a Seed of Law! A SEED OF LAW?! Do you understand how valuable that is?! I was so close to extracting it, but you let him go! I deserve an explanation!!"

The skinny old man was tempted to push He Yanglei a little out of his protective barrier, having him fall into the spatial tunnel and be lost amongst the endless folds of space. But he kept his calm, resisting that terrifyingly exciting urge in the end. 

"How many times must I tell you this: I am not your servant. Your actions, your negligence, your decisions, that's all yours to make. The consequences of such are yours to bear." The skinny old man said. Then, he gave a sidelong glance at He Yanglei who was about to unleash a wave of frustration once again. A flicker of dense killing intent emerged in his eyes.

He Yanglei felt his throat tighten alongside a cold chill down his spine. With a large gulp, he huffed out a heavy breath and turned away. To think that little kid was able to escape his grasp. How was he able to do it?!

-----

From the Central Regions, two comets of light shot out. They vanished from the continent as they entered the folds of space, seeking survival in the unknown was better than waiting for death.

From the Noxious Seas, a third comet light shot out as well, but it stopped as it watched the other two lights forcefully breach space in hopes of surviving. This suicidal action caused a heavy, dreadful sigh to resound. 

"I much rather meet my end with my descendants than seek life in uncertain risk, abandoning everything to do so." Those words resounded as the light shot back into a city hidden beneath the Noxious Sea.

-----

Near the Sky Zephyr Temple, a beam of golden light cascaded from the sky. In mid-air, at the center of that beam, a figure was revealed holding a white spear.

Lin Ming returned to his original location. The emotions between his brow were twisted and heavy. To thought of Wei Wuyin claiming the entire Elementus Cache, the words of the spirit, and the inability to handle a single fist was revolving through his thoughts like a spiraling hurricane. 

He looked in the surroundings, finding that Tang Xingyun wasn't present, nor was her voidship. He clenched his spear and shot towards the Sky Zephyr City, arriving inside the Main Hall as he sent his spiritual sense through it all. He couldn't find Tang Xingyun or the other woman that wore a veil. 

He was still ignorant of the other woman's identity. Who was she? With a frown, he turned to notice Grand Priest Zi Gu arriving with a solemn expression. "Holy Son, the Holy Daughter left you this." 

Lin Ming saw Grand Priest Zi Gu carry a translucent spherical orb the size of a baby's fist. It emitted faint spiritual fluctuations that reminded him of spiritual transmissions. With a wave of his hand, the sphere was brought to him. He inspected it with his spiritual sense when it glowed and then softly erupted into bits of spiritual light!

Those lights entered his glabella and contained information. After a minute or so, a smile formed on his face. He looked at Grand Priest Zi Gu, "Thank you." 

Nodding in response, Grand Priest Zi Gu took his leave. He didn't like Lin Ming and felt him unworthy of the title Holy Son after his embarrassing surrender, but as he obtained the fully completed Badge of Divinity, this meant he was the true Holy Son of the Divinities. There was no gain in questioning his legitimacy. In the end, the victor reigns supreme.

Lin Ming didn't care about Grand Priest Zi Gu's thoughts. The message left by Tang Xingyun had revealed so much information that he needed. For example, he now had a clear understanding of the Eight Noble Clans, Three World Sects, Two Golden Pavilions, Two Mystic Associations and the Imperial Clan of the Aeternal Sky Starfield. The sixteen greatest established forces of the starfield, including their unique relationships and positions within them.

He knew she left this as a way to give him a head start after obtaining the Chosen title. Now that he was a Chosen of the True Element Sect, one of the Three World Sects of the Aeternal Sky Starfield, he would venture into this new platform for cultivation. He clenched his fist, excited at the prospects.

He also swore to regain everything he lost from Wei Wuyin, with interest.

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

The world-quaking explosions brought his thoughts to a stop. As a cultivator who sought the peak, he wasn't filled with fear of the unknown or disastrous. With a flicker of his body, he arrived outside.. But what he witnessed, what he felt from those fissures, caused his heart to sink into a chasm of fear.