Paragon of Sin

After exploring the Warring States Pagoda, their next destination was the Wu Central Lands, the capital territory of the Imperial Clan. Within the Wu Central Lands was Heavenly Wu City, and above that magnificent city was the sky phenomena known as the Wu Astral Tower.

It was a construct widely known as being mystical, attracting all sorts of myths and legends to it. Furthermore, it was a symbol of the Wu Clan. It signified that, as long as the construct was steadily within the sky, the Wu Clan would forever exist within the Myriad Yore Continent.

There were countless youths and geniuses who wished to claim it for their clan, or create their own clan-defining symbol that would be regarded as a legend in the hearts of the civilians. Those with ambition in the cultivation world were practically endless. Even Wei Wuyin, once upon a time, wished to do the same.

Unfortunately, due to the awkward route he decided to take to make the Jade Pearl Lake his first priority, they had to enter the Sky Sword Domain. It should take only a few days to a week before they left the Domain, entering the Wu Central Lands. Hopefully, without incident.

Kree!

Bai Lin transmitted her thoughts to Wei Wuyin. It was incredibly clear, startling Wei Wuyin. His eyes brightened a considerable degree as he pressed his palm on her broad back. Those thoughts weren't mental transmissions, but his spirit felt it. She revealed her hunger.

"Are you...developing Spiritual Strength?" Bai Lin's transformations were endless, still beginning. He pondered for a moment and extracted an ancient leather tome titled: "Treasures of the Phoenix & Dragon."

This book listed all sorts of mystical materials found within the vast heaven and earth, including the Golden Phoenix Fruit Bai Lin inadvertently consumed all those years ago. It was obtained from the Beast-Taming Sect's secure vault that stored most of their knowledge. 

"According to this, the Golden Phoenix Fruit is incredibly rare, and is created from a drop of ancient phoenix blood that infected a fruit. Its subsequently produced seeds can germinate to produce this fruit. However, the chances are astonishingly low and required at least ten thousand years of continuous passing before the blood is refined by natural means to be consumed. 

"Furthermore, it can only benefit creatures with an ancestral lineage to the phoenix." Wei Wuyin deeply frowned. Since dragons could exist, phoenixs definitely did as well. The true question was how?

But, when he thought about drops of blood, the Alchemic Heart of Eden Qi started to thrum oddly. A flashback took Wei Wuyin to a different time. It was a time of a small sprout being crushed, a drop of blood touching it. Wei Wuyin had always felt that it was because of those drops of blood that the Tree of Eden grew to what it was.

A large, gargantuan mammoth of a tree that had mental awareness and emotions. 

The book foretold that creatures that consume the fruit can touch upon their ancestry, awakening a world-shaking level of power. They would also develop from being basic creatures to gaining bloodline powers and even spiritual capabilities.

When he first came across this, he felt confused as to how beasts can develop spiritual abilities without a Spirit condensed from their mind, body, essence, and soul. It was only after delving deep that he found that beasts' spiritual abilities were innate and natural-born. All of them had a spirit within their heart at birth, and it centered around their bloodline.

It was exactly like his new Heart of Blood Qi. His spirit was centered and manifested as his Mortal Mark of Myth, the source of his draconic bloodline. It was this very same spirit that allowed beasts to control their bloodline powers and racial traits.

Therefore, Bai Lin always had a spirit within her heart, but she lacked energies and forces that could strengthen it. The Golden Phoenix Fruit contained dense bloodline energies that enhanced her spirit.

He kept the tome and said, "Everyday, you grow." Imagining Bai Lin reaching the strength of Anu excited him. 

Kree!

Bai Lin cried with likewise excitement. Despite not visibly seeing him, she could truly extrapolate his emotions from just his tone. Before long, perhaps Bai Lin would be more intelligent than some humans.

Su Mei was quietly sightseeing the world, taking a brief break from her cultivation. She had ascended to the Fifth Stage of Qi Condensation, the Yang Growth Phase, and needed to calmly consolidate her cultivation base. Her yang energies were vibrant, causing her normally pure, black eyes to be unreasonably bright. 

"Oh?" Those eyes of hers had spotted something. She sent her spiritual sense to investigate, catching a faint glimpse of an abnormal event. "Lord Wei," Su Mei called out.

Wei Wuyin retrieved his palm and turned to Su Mei. Her eyes were truly bright and beautiful. Even he was slightly in awe as to the extent of her vibrant yang energies. After five Yang Blazing Elixirs, it's to be expected. Her entire body must be adapting to the fierce energies circulating through her body.

His eyes were drawn away by her gesture. His eyes were far more powerful than Su Mei, and thus he saw more. A slight furrow of his brows later caused his spiritual sense to descend. 

His eyes sharply narrowed as a familiar figure emerged in his sense. Furthermore, that figure had noticed his spiritual sense arrive and was currently observing them in the sky.

A few kilometers away, a group of individuals were gathered. They were divided into a clear set of three groups. One was clothed in scarlet robes, sporting the Scarlet Solaris Sect's insignia upon their shoulders, chests, or back in full-view of all.

The second group was mixed and matched, but tightly gathered. They seemed like a group of unaffiliated cultivators that were held together by an alliance and a promise of something greater. 

The last group were all crisp and clean, sharp auras emanated from every last one. Their demeanors were aloft and calm, exuding an Immortal-like bearing as if they were above all common mortals. It was both awe-inspiring and anger-inducing.

They all carried swords kept in white sheathes. From these swords, faint Sword Qi lingered that seemed to release low-humming sharp keens. At times, one would feel as if a sword was right before their ears, waiting to pierce through and reach their most crucial organ, seeking to end their life. It was quite vivid.

This was a coalescing effect of Sword Intent developed by sword cultivators. They definitely belonged to the number one sect of Wu Country and leader of the Five Great Sects—Sky Sword Sect.

At each group was a single leader that stood out. At the alliance of cultivators was a white-haired middle-aged man with narrow, chilly eyes that seemed to contain the world's most harshest blizzard. He was tall yet slim, and despite his cold facial features, he was handsome. His white hair and dark skin gave him an impressive look that was unconventional yet attractive.

His tall stature and aura that seemed to be seething with grand strength helped compliment his looks. 

On the Sky Sword Sect side, it was a young woman that Wei Wuyin would notice a mile away. She seemed to be about twenty-five to twenty-six with breathtaking features. Her thin eyebrows, impeccably jade-like skin and long, lustrous black hair that stretched until it barely tapped that round ass of hers were endlessly attractive. 

She didn't lack in height, being just above six feet, and those legs of hers that barely revealed themselves behind her white hanfu with an icy-blue trim was tantalizing. Despite her attractive looks, such as those plump cherry lips that seemed as soft as water, she carried herself with a fearsome moment.

Her sword that hung at her waist was emitting the highest degree of Sword Qi in terms of purity, and her every being seemed like a sharp sword. Until others who may only have a Sword Seed Intent, her Sword Intent had fully developed.

The last figure was amongst the Scarlet Solaris Sect. And this figure was the one both Su Mei and Wei Wuyin noticed from afar. Her golden eyes could snatch all color from the surroundings. Her jade skin, slim figure with alluring curves, gentle aura, and pearly white smile, made her seem like an Immortal Fairy descending to the mortal world.

She still donned a short-sleeved white cheongsam with golden images of the sun and vines embroidered on its surface, tight-fitting and perfectly accentuating her feminine assets.

When she spotted Wei Wuyin, her eyes brightened as she brushed her pale-white hair behind her ear, a heavenly smile on her lips. She used her voice that was like curated music of the highest level that perfectly suited one's tastes. A heavenly hymn in its own right. 

"Come here, please." While she was merely speaking vocally to Wei Wuyin's spiritual sense, her voice caused almost all the men present with weak-wills to turn soft.

It was Mei Yang.

Otherwise known as The Helios Witch.