Paragon of Sin

"It was waiting for a signal!" One of the half-masked Ascended shouted in realization. That weak, far and away aura had changed the circumstances of everything. In a mere moment, the Fire Phoenix had rapidly accelerated and mercilessly swallowed the female Ascended into it. 

She was now entrapped in its flaming body, unable to escape while within its domain. Her shrill screams and pleas for help resounded, sent out in the form of pulsating spiritual transmissions. Even those prisoners locked away for decades or centuries, tortured and abused, was able to hear the pain and suffering carried in it. 

A few recognized that voice. Those were high-level experts, mostly Mystic Star Phase experts, the so-called false Ascended. These experts had either personally met or suffered at the hands of that female Ascended. They hollered and howled in undisguised joy! 

The half-masked man shrouded by a gold glow visibly trembled. With clenched teeth, he tried to rally the others in haste: "We're not going to suppress this beast without Lady Holysign and the Shadow Star-End Array active! If we do, the benefits will be immeasurable!" His powerful, beyond Mortal Limits aura erupted as if he was about to launch himself into the fire. His tone was courageous and fierce.

However, the other two men engulfed by a blue glow exchanged glances. They could see the doubt and concern within each other's eyes. They were experts who lived for thousands of years, not easily manipulated cultivators.

One of the half-masked men sneered, "Go on then. Save your lover." After he said this, he added: "I'll send a message for reinforcements." At this moment, he had no feeling of camaraderie. That woman wasn't his. Screw her. His life was far, far more valuable in his mind. And while he was greedy, he wasn't an idiot to risk himself to save her or face an unknown threat. Who knew if this beast was the only one?

Considering the hasty escape of one of them already, it was enough to suggest that this beast, whose aura and strength they were unable to gauge or determine due to its unique cultivation path, wasn't to be underestimated. He didn't even want to be severely injured, let alone die for a damaged base or a woman that wasn't his.

After saying this, the half-masked man shot off into the distance, escaping with a trail of blue light. The other man engulfed in a blue glow sighed, "She never accepted you. You shouldn't risk yourself." After saying those words, the half-masked man shot off in the same direction. They escaped at top speed. 

The man shrouded by a golden glow let loose a low, primal growl. He was indubitably conflicted, unable to make a choice while awashed by the spiritual screams of Lady Holysign. Memories of their interactions flashed in his mind, all his attempts at courting her, all her rejections and dismissals. Even the thought of lending his hand at this moment, earning her favor, nursing her back to health, and achieving his dreams of being with her pounded his mind.

As for reinforcements? He'd be a fool to rely on that, especially since the Shadow Egg was being exposed. It wouldn't take long before others noticed it and investigated. If that happened, the base would be abandoned without hesitation by the higher-ups.

Through violently clenched teeth, he looked at Lady Holysign's burnt body, her skin boiling with blistering bubbles, and her eyes being roasted with every passing millisecond. She was trapped without an escape.

"...PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!!" Lady Holysign was resisting with all her might, but the flames were relentless. They burned away her mystic energy and incinerated her arts. She had to protect herself at all times to prevent being forcefully infused by the flames seeking to incinerate her, while warding off the heat the best she could. If it wasn't for her refined body that exceeded Mortal Limits, she would've become ash by now.

If she wanted to escape, she'd need outside help to distract the beast, allowing her to gather enough power to break free. 

She didn't want to die. 

Not here. 

Not now.

She used one last trump card in her arsenal, knowing that the others would leave her behind in a single breath without a moment's hesitation. There was only one man who'd struggle and could be persuaded. 

"Tan Guangting!" 

The half-masked man's entire body trembled. The glint within his eyes became firm, brilliant, and strong. He formulated a plan, his thoughts focused on the present, and hopeful of the future. If he saved her now, so many paths would be opened!

With a renewed vigor, his aura that had been accumulating thus far fully exploded. He shot towards Bai Lin with a terrifying determination and speed. 

Bai Lin twisted her body around, seeing the comet of gold shot towards her with its aura fluctuating as if preparing a frightening move. However, all this consideration...all this drama, none of it factored in the one variable that mattered. 

Bai Lin's golden eyes were forever suffused with rage and violence. She opened her flaming beak, and with a faint wave of heat, a tsunami of gushing nirvanic flames, enough to engulf a tiny-sized planet, was sent barreling towards Tan Guangting.

Tang Guangting's entire body grew cold as regret filled his mind, sea of consciousness, and very soul. The rushing flames were too big, too fast, and the heat distorted fixed space. Instinctively, he tried to tap into his means to traverse space in a hasty attempt to escape, but his formerly impressive momentum and the destabilized space meant he had selected his own end. 

With his thoughts on escape, his body wasn't suitably protected. In less than a moment, he met the breath of flames that engulfed him whole. Unlike Lady Holysign that was being refined, Tang Guangting's Ascended body and Mystic Soul was incinerated…

Instantly…

"..." Fairy Holysign's heart stopped. Her last fleeing hope had been vanquished by a fearsome assault.

"DIE!" Bai Lin sent a mental message carrying her anger to the one within her flaming body, and the heat of her nirvanic flames rose by several times. The Fairy Holysign couldn't even scream out again, her body burned and refined into nothing but ash in almost an instant.

While all this took time to describe, from the moment Bai Lin captured Fairy Holysign to now, less than three seconds had passed. 

Bai Lin glanced at the Shadow Egg, then a mournful look appeared on her eyes, before changing into one of outraged intent of murder. She flapped her wings and chased after the two blue lights. If before, she was both the hunted and hunter, now she's only the hunter. 

After a few seconds, Bai Lin realized that the speed that Ascended could move was terrifyingly fast. She couldn't catch up, and the distance grew greater and greater with every passing second. 

If a genuine Ascended focused on purely escaping, it was incredibly difficult to catch up. Wu Yu, a quasi Demi-Mortal Lord, proved this when he was chased by a Demi-Mortal Lord and having escaped across multiple domains without being captured. While there were other factors considered, such as Grand Transformation, the difference between phases were massive. Just the feat alone demonstrated the difficulty.

Bai Lin suffered even worse. She had no access to spatial energies, relying solely on her physical body to soar through the Dark Void by force. While she could fly for longer with a more consistent speed, the short-term burst potential of Mystic Ascendants was far, far too high. 

The only reason she captured Fairy Holysign was due to her carelessness and the element of surprise, while Tan Guangting ran head first into the fire, and her own Nirvanic Flames destabilized spatial movement arts. If not, even as a Fire Phoenix at the Second Stage of the Nirvanic Rebirth Realm, she wouldn't be able to deal with them so easily. 

That being said, her Nirvanic Flames offensive power was terrifyingly high, absurd even. Most Demi-Mortal Lords would avoid meeting any outburst of fire from her with extreme caution. 

The more she chased, the more she realized a cold, harsh fact: She wasn't fully developed or understood all her powers. Still young, she hadn't refined her own physical energies to their limits or unlocked all her bloodline powers. This was not the limit of the Second Stage of the Nirvanic Rebirth Realm, not even close. 

POP!

Just as her heart wavered, filled with unwillingness, a Void Portal appeared before her. Her golden eyes widened slightly, and then was suffused with joy. If there was one person that was reliable, that knew her heart, it was Wei Wuyin!

She deactivated her Fire Phoenix Transformation, returning to her small, twenty-two meter form, and shot into the Void Portal without hesitation. When she reappeared, she didn't even hesitate to reactivate her Fire Phoenix Transformation, returning to her glorious form of twenty-two thousand meters!

"KREE!"

"WHAT?!" Two simultaneous outbursts resounded, belonging to the two half-masked, blue glowing men from before. They had momentarily stopped to investigate the Void Portal that had abruptly emerged before them. They had never seen a Void Portal surface without a Void Gate, and even when they had seen Void Portals, usually the other side, the location in which one exited, never revealed a Void Portal. 

It was typically as if someone exited out of thin air. 

But something exited out of the Void Portal! How could they not be shocked? Furthermore, it was the Fire Phoenix!

Bai Lin was too close. 

They were too close! 

The two were aghast as they tried to escape, but the heat radiating from the Nirvanic Flames was hellishly fierce! They were forced to establish defenses to prevent themselves from being melted or combusting, their hearts pounded in abject fear. What was this?! 

"Kree!" Bai Li unleashed her planet-sized tsunami of flames at them both!