Paragon of Sin

A solemn silence overwhelmed the world. The Myriad Monarch Sect members all had wide expressions, filled with disbelief and utter shock. While they had been present when both sides had declared their intent to end the other's lives, they expected an outrageous battle with all sorts of trump cards unleashed. They expected the continent to be ravaged, with the intensity no less than Tuo Bihan and Huang Boqing's battle.

The planet should be threatened!

Yet, it was over in two swings of a saber. 

Wu Baozhai clenched her fist as she sensed Long Chen's life fade away. She held back her tears. While she wanted Long Chen to die, to actually see it brought up endless memories of their adventures together. They shared joys and sorrows. 

While she was always a background character to Long Chen's life, destined to be a foil to his brilliance, it was not all bad. Besides being tricked into losing her virginity so that he could cultivate the Imperial Heaven Qi Method, Long Chen wasn't entirely hateful. 

Perhaps at one point, she thought she loved him. This was why her tears came, why she couldn't hold back her emotions. But she knew that it wasn't true love, so she wiped the tears from her eyes and remained outwardly strong. This was the true beginning of her future.

Qing Qiumu, however, felt strange as she sensed with abundant awareness that Long Chen's life was ending. She didn't feel sad. She didn't feel angry. She only saw Wei Wuyin and felt relieved that this was all over. Did this make her a vile person?

She didn't know, but her respect and concern for Long Chen had long faded, only remaining as a faint mark in her memories. While Long Chen had been with her during the early stages of her life, she had a long life ahead of her to live. 

Wu Yu remained silent within the unassuming black ring. He didn't try to reclaim Long Chen's soul like Hong Ru. This would just offend Wei Wuyin for no good reason. It was best that Long Chen, the one who descended into madness and delusions just rested. It was for the best.

Wei Wuyin stared at Long Chen's corpse. There was a faint emotion contained within his gaze. 'Your death will be the beginning of the proof that one can overcome the impossible.' Lifting his eyes towards the sky, he awaited the response from the Heavenly Daos.

The action of killing a Blessed was not without consequence. If it was a normal cultivator, they would experience an accumulation of Karmic Sin that would influence their lives and cause them to descend to the greater depths of Hell as a result. However, as an Inheritor of Sin, this didn't directly apply to him.

Karmic Luck Value: 944.6.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Suppressed - 4 Years.

After a few seconds, there was no change to his value. Moreover, the dark-grey clouds that crackled with lightning and thunderous booms were absent. The world remained in motion, and he was unable to feel the slightest chaotic change in the environment.

Confusion painted his expression as he lifted his sleeves to investigate the Karmic Luck Value again.

Karmic Luck Value: 944.6.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Suppressed - 4 Years.

No change.

'Is it possible that Long Chen's Karmic Luck Value had reached zero? That there is no retribution or reaction from the Heavenly Daos?' Thinking this, he felt a surging wave of disbelief batter his beating heart. This couldn't be the case...right?

It did make some logical sense, however. Lian Yu's death was a sign and Long Chen's talent and cultivation was continuously lacking in terms of speed and foundation in comparison to Lin Ming and Yuan Longshi. Was this a sign of Karmic Luck Value depletion? He had always thought it was just his existence in close proximity that caused this.

"No. That's not it." Wei Wuyin concluded. This just wasn't likely. He didn't know how but he was almost certain that Blessed can obtain Karmic Luck Value by interacting with those with Karmic Sin Value accumulated throughout their life, likely sending them off to Hell and receiving a reward. If not this, there was some other way.

Furthermore, even if he had 0.1 Karmic Luck Value remaining, he should've plundered it. With a suspecting gaze, he glanced at Long Chen's corpse. It completely lacked any form of life or mental fluctuations. 

By all accounts, he was completely dead.

Karmic Luck Value: 944.6.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Suppressed - 4 Years.

But the tattoo hadn't activated! This meant Long Chen hadn't died! Even if only a certain level of Karmic Luck Value provoked the dark-grey clouds of lightning and thunder, he should obtain a small amount from the Bloodline of Sin's plundering powers. The Commander in the Myriad Yore Continent was proof of this!

'But how is he alive? A second soul? A second body? Is he going to undergo Temporal Reincarnation?' Using his Celestial Eyes, he inspected Long Chen yet found nothing of note. He was as dead as any other corpse. His body kneeled with his head shifted to the side, barely holding together and not sliding off his shoulders.

'No! You need to die!' Wei Wuyin frowned as he grabbed Long Chen's head by the hair and pulled, removing it from his neck and causing blood to gush out wildly. This caused Wu Baozhai to look away in shock. Seeing Long Chen's decapitated head was a little too much for her.

Yet Wei Wuyin ignored the shocked gazes as he desecrated Long Chen's corpse. After sending his spiritual sense into his head, he found nothing. With a deeper frown, he waved his hand towards Long Chen's headless corpse and it flew before him. With a few pats of his fingers on the dantian, he saw that Long Chen's Astral Soul had dissipated.

The dissipation of Astral Soul was remarkably quick. It was as if the worldly law instantly dragged all things soul related of the deceased with it. Long Chen's soul wasn't complete without the portion that belonged to his Spirit of Cultivation, so it was to be expected.

He inspected his Bloodline of Sin tattoo once more.

Karmic Luck Value: 944.6.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Suppressed - 4 Years.

It remained unchanged, much to his frustration. 

'How are you still alive? Why is nothing happening? Was your karmic luck value truly zero? No! Even if it was, I refuse to believe there wouldn't be a retribution just for your death.' Wei Wuyin kept inspecting Long Chen's corpse but found nothing after a full three minutes. There was no stone left unturned, even his spatial ring was thoroughly searched. 

Wei Wuyin turned his eyes and saw Wu Yu's ring nestling between Wu Baozhai's ample bosom. After the first minute of his search, Wu Baozhai had regained her stomach and heart to look at him in curiosity. 

'Could Wu Yu have kept his soul alive?' A fearsome killing intent flared within his eyes for a moment, causing Wu Baozhai to experience a vicious chill so terrifying that she almost lost control of herself. But when she noted his gaze was locked onto her ring, her entire body relaxed.

Wu Baozhai was about to remove the entire ring, but Wei Wuyin looked away and went back to inspect Long Chen's body with other methods. This causes her to feel greatly co fused. She asked Wu Yu, "What was that about?"

Wu Yu responded briefly, "He thought I kept Long Chen's soul."

Kept his soul?! Wu Baozhai was shocked, but then she thought about Hong Ru. The girl had been killed before everyone, eaten in half by a beast and crunched into nothing, yet she was resurrected by Wei Wuyin. 

"Did you?" 

"No. He's dead." Wu Yu said, and then his aura receded completely into the ring. The grief contained in his voice was not false, so Wu Baozhai believed him. If so, why would Wei Wuyin think that Long Chen's soul still remained? 

Qing Qiumu walked towards Wei Wuyin. Seeing the strange actions of Wei Wuyin bewildered her. "Are you looking for something?" When she asked this, her eyes turned to Long Chen's dripping head that was held casually by Wei Wuyin. She gulped a little.

Wei Wuyin glanced at Qing Qiumu. He wasn't in the mood to talk or joke around as usual, finding this entire situation outrageous! Did a Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivator arrive in the starfield and act without his notice? Was Long Chen's soul taken away?!

"All of you leave. I've taken control of the Grandquake Array. For now, rest in the city and await further orders." Wei Wuyin directly ordered Tuo Bihan. With a flick of his finger, a grey-colored square-shaped emblem with concentric rings at the center was sent to Tuo Bihan. It was the Commanding Array Key for the Grandquake Array. 

After saying this, he gave Qing Qiumu a comforting smile, glancing at Xue Yifei and Wu Baozhai. With a step, he vanished from everyone's sight like a ghost. After using Spatial Shift to travel for roughly a thousand miles, Wei Wuyin held up Long Chen's headless corpse and head.

With a clench of his hands, he infused a bit of power within them.

BOOM!

The head and body exploded into pieces of flesh and bones. The scattered pieces floated before him as he used his Celestial Eyes to observe every trace of Long Chen's body. Yet after this, he found nothing. "My instincts are rarely wrong. Whatever is preventing you from truly dying is here. I know it." 

He scoured for an entire hour, yet he found absolutely nothing. 

Karmic Luck Value: 944.6.

First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.

Second Calamity: Suppressed - 4 Years.

"You're definitely dead! I need you to speed up! I NEED TO KNOW!" Wei Wuyin roared in anger, a very rare sight. His eyes lifted to observe the Worldly Trend. There was only eleven days until the statfield met the cause of its eventual demise! 

This eventuality was unstoppable, even Wang Yutian had said those words. In terms of cultivation, he likely exceeded even those Ascended guardians. 

The reason for killing Long Chen was threefold. Firstly, while he wasn't a threat to him, his deranged mentality and status was dangerous to his Valkyries. If he decided to seek revenge by attempting to harm or kill a lover of his, it would be too late to regret. 

Secondly, Long Chen had the aura of an Ascendant on him. He had certainly killed a subordinate of his during the trial. While he didn't know who, it didn't matter. He was a man of fierce principle, and anyone who acted against his subordinates would not get to enjoy their lives as they pleased.

These first two reasons were sufficient to kill Long Chen. However, the third was the most crucial: he needed to see if he could defy and perform the otherwise impossible or extremely improbable. The Calamities of Hell were not meant to be accomplished with a Mortal Soul, this was a fact he was extremely clear of. 

He had only succeeded last time due to coincidence. After having his mind sealed after his injury, the other 'him' was forced to experience unending torture of losing his loved ones to seeing horrifying futures as realisitic as one's breath in a frosty day. Yet the other him was nascent and untethered by emotional memories, so those events were as if they were movies or a play. 

How could that 'him' be affected? 

When he recalled that Calamity of Hell, he knew he would have completely failed it. He was an emotional and sentimental individual, and lived his life based on principles and morals taught to him by those he respected to the utmost.

The First Calamity held within the first floor of Hell was far too much for him. This was the truth, so how could he hope to survive the second floor of Hell? The Second Calamity that was considered to be far worse than the first? Was all his efforts pointless?

Now, faced with everyone and everything telling him its impossible to stop this ruin, feeling this deeply within his soul, he refused to accept it! 

Passing the Second Calamity with his Mortal Soul! Not as a member of the Realm of Sages or with a Soul of True Sin! This should be utterly impossible, but if he could do so, then even facing the eventual destruction of the starfield could be overcome! 

"Wait!" At this moment, his turbulent thoughts were struck by a shocking realization. He turned to the floating pieces of flesh and bone that was originally Long Chen's body and head. His silver eyes glowed faintly as seven stars emerged in each eye, each exuded a different color that highlighted and represented the Alchemic Dao!

The Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality! This was the Intent infused in his eyes after concocting a Ninth-Grade Alchemical Product successfully! They were the signs of a Mortal Sovereign Alchemist, an individual that reached the peak of the mortal-tier of the Alchemic Dao!

The things it could see exceeded his Celestial Eyes. He realized this was because his Celestial Eyes grew in power as he ascended the Astral Core Realm, the last stages of the Mortal-tier in cultivation. Even though his cultivation foundation was outstanding, the Gaze of a Celestial within the Celestial Eyes of Spiritual Divinity Method seemed to grow solely from his cultivation base.

When Su Mei was struck by that strange event, his Celestial Eyes was unable to see what was happening, but the Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality infused within his gaze revealed the truth of what was happening. 

With the Alchemic Stars of Mortal Spirituality within his eyes, he finally saw something different!

"Is that Long Chen's Soul Aura?!"