Paragon of Sin

Wei Wuyin's excited mood infected Bai Lin's own heart. She knew that gaze of his, having seen it many times in the past. The two stayed near the fragmented rock. 

Wei Wuyin furrowed his brows as he inspected his spatial ring. It was currently trembling vigorously. The dimensional space within it was also on the verge of collapse. Just a few seconds ago, Wei Wuyin tried to keep the fragmented rock within his spatial ring. In his senses, he didn't feel any overt volatile energies within, so he tested whether he could store it.

Unfortunately, he discovered that the unseen energies of the ore had adversely affected the spatial energies within his spatial ring, and even its internal structure and formations were harmed. 

"This mystic-grade ore can't be stored in spatial rings? Is it because of the limitations of the spatial ring's grade or the volatile nature of the ore? The Mystic Intent? The derived energies of it? Both?" He carefully considered this from a few angles, but he couldn't determine the exact reason behind it.

Trying to understand things beyond Mortal Limits as a mere mortal was difficult. His Celestial Eyes granted him outstanding perception, yet it was still held back by his own cultivation and mortal limitations. This was his first time interacting with objects that contained the will that ascended the Mortal Dao. The Elementus Cache had no mystic-grade materials, tools, or items. 

After seeing how this material reacted to his spatial ring, he understood why it didn't. This fragmented rock wasn't very large. 

"Let's see if Void Crystallization works." He hesitated after saying this, inspecting the surroundings. The Void Crystallization can cause fixed space to rumble. He didn't know if this would alert any cultivators nearby. The abilities of Mystic Ascendants still were far beyond his understanding. 

However, if a few of his plans were going to work, he needed to test if he could accomplish the feat of safely storing the mystic-grade ore. With a soft breath, he executed Void Crystallization. His bloodline energies and void force surged as he focused on the fragmented rock, slowly bringing his hands together.

RUMBLE!

The nearby fixed space started to shake vigorously. It was this move that sealed and shrunk the Myriad Yore Continent. However, this fragmented rock couldn't even be considered a millionth of its size. He tested it for a single second, then his expression drastically changed. 

With urgent haste, he halted his actions. A feeling of crisis overwhelmed him. "Bai Lin, dive!" He tightly held onto Bai Lin's feathers. Bai Lin started, but she reacted quickly. Without any hesitation and with complete trust, she started to plunge downwards at a rapid-speed. She didn't ignite her nirvanic flames, just swung her wings and used their natural momentum.

Wei Wuyin hastily formed a hand-seal, his spiritual force enveloped them swiftly. Then, he executed a concealment spell to hide their auras and life signs, using elemental earthen force to encase their bodies as they became a lifeless rock floating without any aura. They kept plunging. His heart was racing violently. 

They kept moving for several minutes.

Woosh!

Five figures arrived. They were dressed in various outfits, with three dressed in blue. They had the symbol of a golden cloud on their chest. The figure at the lead was a middle-aged man with a very thin body, his eyes sunken. He had a powerful aura. 

Wei Wuyin kept his Celestial Eyes active, observing those several miles above them. 'Four Timelords? A Starlord!' He realized that his actions had lured them over from wherever they were hiding. 

'Three different forces.' He noted three different insignias marked on them. However, this caused his heart to become heavy. If a Starlord is a part of an investigative team, then they must have Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivators in their line-up. While not completely verified, the five seemed like subordinates, not leaders. 

As a leader himself, he would never investigate abnormalities himself. Otherwise, why even have subordinates if you had to do everything yourself? Furthermore, if there was lethal danger present, then they acted as scouts. 

They were communicating using spiritual transmissions. They observed the fragmented rock with some surprise on their faces, then elation. The five discussed something, but the strongest shook his head with a dark expression. With a wave of his hand, he wrapped the fragmented rock in astral force and gave the area a sweep with his spiritual sense. 

Wei Wuyin held his breath. He wasn't afraid of these cultivators, but their leaders. If he alerted them, there would be too many variables to react to. 

The spiritual sense swept towards their false rock structure, masquerading as a lifeless rock. It lingered for a moment, as if to sense if there was any mystic-grade ore within it. After that brief moment, it kept going until it receded. The five experts left.

Wei Wuyin stayed quiet, not showing his inner frustration at losing his mountain. He observed their route until they reached a certain point, then their auras vanished as they disappeared behind a gaseous planet. The planet wasn't the only planet floating in the void-blank space, but all of them were lifeless and lacked any activity.

"Is it there?" Wei Wuyin realized that there were concealment formations somewhere near the planet and around it. He couldn't observe anything within the planet, just its gaseous surface. There should be individuals moving on its surface.

"They took my food!" Bai Lin scowled. The mystic-grade ore was delicious to her. She wanted more. Unfortunately, those bastards snatched it. Burn them! Her scorching rage was reflecting in her blazing gold eyes. 

Wei Wuyin was startled. "Can you sense them?" They were currently encased in earthen force, further surrounded by spiritual force, so it was shocking that Bai Lin could sense them.

"They're really bright," Bai Lin stated innocently. Wei Wuyin's eyes brightened. He hurriedly asked, "You can see life auras?" 

Bai Lin thought for a moment, and then she hesitatingly nodded. "I think I can. I haven't seen any other living beings besides you and the Tiangou since my transformation was completed, so I don't really know." 

Wei Wuyin understandingly nodded. Cultivation was all about self-exploration and discovery. There were many abilities that even he wasn't aware of until he tested them. Even when he gained his bloodline abilities, he only roughly knew of their abilities. Cultivators often cultivated methods of others with detailed explanations of limitations and abilities, explicit guidelines to follow, tested by the creator and others, so this was often avoided. 

"Can you see my life aura?" Wei Wuyin asked curiously. But Bai Lin shook her head, "I just see you." 

Wei Wuyin pondered for a moment and understood. His Void Dragon Bloodline was likely blocking his aura from being emitted out, so his life aura concealed within him. This was likely why Bai Lin never discovered her newfound ability.

Unbeknownst to Wei Wuyin, even some genuine Ascended couldn't peer into his body without extraordinary means. At least, only Demi-Mortal Lords would even have a chance to do so as he was. Venerable Higheater had this issue after he restored his Bloodline Source. 

"Can you see that planet? Are there any life auras there?" Wei Wuyin asked. He kept them concealed with his spiritual force. He couldn't allow others to notice them if they were suspicious. If he was a leader that learned of the possibility of losing profit because of blown out mystic-grade ore, the next action was to scour the immediate area to find anything else that could escape his grasp. 

Bai Lin turned her gaze towards the direction that Wei Wuyin pointed at. Her golden-colored eyes had nirvanic flames flickering within. "Yes! There's a lot. Like, a lot!" Her voice was filled with surprise and joy. This was an amazing ability! Was she always this awesome?

Wei Wuyin realized her eyes even exceeded his Celestial Eyes in some ways, such as sensing life auras, even through powerful formations that exceeded his mortal limits. After some back and forth exchanges of information, Wei Wuyin determined there were roughly 12,000 cultivators present on the planet's surface. According to Bai Lin, some were stationary while others were actively moving.

"Surveying? Guarding? Were they protecting the entire planet? Was…" The thought that an entire planet was a mine was outrageously baffling, but he felt that from Bai Lin's words, this was a real possibility. If so, his original simulations and plans could all be thrown out. 

Earlier, he tried to use Void Crystallization on just a piece of fragmented rock that contained mystic-grade ore, but his estimated consumption would exceed the Myriad Yore Continent. A planet this size filled with mystic-grade material?

This planet was roughly the same size as the Myriad Monarch's Main Planet. Screw that! He would be killing himself in the attempt. Unable to bring such a gigantic object with him, he felt a little bitter in his heart. Did he just lose his karmic fortune? 

Three forces; planet-sized mine; possible Mystic Ascendant Realm cultivators. 

He couldn't seal and shrink it to fit inside his spatial ring. So plan A, B and C were depressingly discarded. The idea of moving a planet or mining it wasn't very feasible. He didn't have that power yet nor the appropriate subordinates. 

Yet the value of this planet was likely massive. There wasn't any way to obtain the entire planet without...without…

Wei Wuyin's eyes lit with radiance as he brought out a normal, non-mystic ore piece that came from the fragmented rock. Bai Lin shifted her head to see Wei Wuyin's expression, and her heart thumped. She knew that expression. A fierce glint roared to life in her eyes. 

"Let's hope he's not useless." Wei Wuyin remarked as he waved his hand, shattering the earthen shell around them. The two started to move towards the planet. Wei Wuyin hurriedly brought out a few astral force recovery pills.. He comsumed them.