Paragon of Sin

This scene was all too familiar with Wei Wuyin. He had raided various camps in his lifetime, not just hunting down the remnants of the Violet Moon Sect, but chasing down condemned families or clans. The cultivation world was cruel.

Even the Scarlet Solaris Sect was nearly besieged by the Elven Race and in that siege, he was decapitated. While this happened in an alternate future where the Black Skeleton hadn't intervened, it just went to show that actions can easily lead to the utter demise of even one of the Five Great Sects. 

Therefore, his heart was calm and even-paced in its beats. The violence in the hearts of the elites beside him, however, erupted in full-force. Their hands gripped their weapons intensely, and their eyes blazed with a fierce intent to commit atrocities to their fellow human.

"Go!" Dong Fa viciously shouted as he coldly swept his gaze at the people below, his spiritual sense wildly descended to inspect and locate strong targets. That was his objective, to eliminate the Mortal Gods that posed the greatest threat to his allies. 

The atmosphere that was serene and lively one second before was overturned into a gloom and murky at this very moment. Those below, within their homes and on the streets, soon realized the calamity that had been brought to their lives.

Woosh!

An arrow was the first weapon of death that claimed a life. It was aimed at a teenage boy whose clear and pure eyes still had a hint of confusion and uncertainty. The arrow was like the reaper's scythe as it approached, slicing through the air, and piercing into his skull. It was a truly spectacular long-range shot as it squarely hit his glabella.

His eyes instantly lost muscle restraint as they went in different directions, tinged with blood from blood vessels exploding from the impacting force of the arrow, and glaring crimson blood, brain matter, and bone pieces fell from the back of his skull.

Thud.

He fell backwards. Dead.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

This was the spark as a terrified shriek of the young woman beside him reached an insane octave range. Unfortunately, such an impressive scream was cut short by a blade of wind that sliced into her neck and the necks of three beside her. Blood gushed like a geyser, reaching the skies and dying the ground crimson.

It had begun.

The members of the Earth-Sky Alliance descended with their qi primed for slaughter. They executed decisive and swift acts of death dealing, ending anyone that had an ounce of Qi Condensation cultivation with extreme prejudice.

From where he stood, he realized the slaughter was truly two-fold as the northern side had commenced their actions. He could see figures descending from the walls, swords and various other weapons in hand as they struck with clear intent. 

Wei Wuyin didn't need to embroil himself in such simple slaughter. He was similarly trying to find an opponent. As an Imperial Clan, they must have Godlord level figures. After all, the majority of Godlords of Wu Country was a part of the Imperial Clan, and the Yuhei Country shouldn't be too different.

"Nooo! Stop!!! Argh!"

"I'll fight you with my life on t—"

"Don't hurt my boy! PLEASE!!!"

The slaughter below was accompanied by various reactions and voices, yet they all ended with an untimely and gruesome death. In the matter of a minute, hundreds of people were brutally killed with an extreme swiftness. Many ran away, seeking shelter at the residents of experts they knew. It was the safety they yearned for, but it collapsed as elites of war arrived and killed these idols of safety with ease.

A few fights broke out that lasted longer than a few seconds. The experts awoke and reacted, those at the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Phase. But they were cruelly crushed as Jian Daiyu and Dong Fa would act, giving support or directly killing these experts in conjunction with their allies.

Even Mortal Gods were ganged up on, killed by these elites. 

As they swept towards the central area, Wei Wuyin frowned as no Seventh or Eighth Phase expert had shown themselves yet. His brows furrowed as he felt a little out of place. He started to venture in and occasionally saw young women and children ensnared and restrained. 

They had eyes of burning fear and desperation as they saw him casually walk by. "Something's not right," this feeling continued to propagate in his heart. As he observed the battlefield that was more like a slaughter, he saw Dong Fa, Jian Daiyu, and Mei Yang killing to their hearts' content.

They seemed to be approaching the castle together, piercing their way forward while leaving a trail of bodies or captured individuals. 

It wasn't long before they swept through the streets and buildings, thousands dying beneath the swords of these members, yet the true experts hadn't taken action. Were they leaving or establishing a defensive front with the castle as the centerpiece. 

His eyes narrowed as he observed the castle. The four of them arrived nearly simultaneously, covering the four directions of the castle in perfect symmetry. Their qi primed and ready to act. This mission seemed too easy, so they were all on guard.

At this exact moment, in the castle, Yuhei Yan and Yuhei Chan were located in the main hall. Surrounding them was six figures, all Mortal Gods. They were solemn and somber. The merciless slaughter occurring outside caused their eyes to become bloodshot and their veins to nearly pop in frustration and hatred. From there, they witnessed all this with the support of observation spiritual formations. A screen was split into four and revealed four individuals: Jian Daiyu, Dong Fa, Mei Yang, and Wei Wuyin.

"We've locked on to all peak-Mortal Gods and above, father." Yuhei Chen spoke through clenched teeth. His utter hatred and anger caused his voice to reverberate with a sharp tone.

Yuhei Yan sighed in his heart. It took too long to prepare, and this resulted in the deaths of their clanmates. It was unjust and his failure. He had to take several breaths before he said, "Activate the Array. After, we'll take action and kill the rest. Be ready." His words were cold and carried the burning blaze of rage within.

"Yes!" The six Mortal Gods roared.

Outside, Wei Wuyin and the others frowned at the silent response. "I don't sense a Qi Array, so I don't understand their actions." This thought flitted through not only Wei Wuyin but the others. A Qi Array usually had faint fluctuations of circulation, constantly primed for the ready in a moment's notice. Therefore, it was easy to spot the existence of one.

As for spiritual formations, they leaked minute traces of spiritual energy that gave away their existence. It was this very reason why long ago Wei Wuyin noticed the Alert Formation of the Task Force all those years ago, and even the layered and concealed assault formation too.

However, sometimes it was the methods that broke convention that posed the greatest threat to elite experts such as themselves. After all, the Yuhei Clan was under the rule of an expert that exceeded the Qi Condensation Realm, and even if you prepared for the unexpected, if it was outside of your realm of belief or understanding, what preparations could be made?

「Astral Array: Nine Heavenly Waves」

"All of you shall perish!" Yuhei Yan's voice resounded like epic thunder unleashed in the annals of myth. It brought about terrifying horror in the hearts of the invaders, their eyes lifted.

An astrological phenomena had occurred. The world that was originally bright and beloved by sunlight disappeared, followed by a dark-green and scarlet-colored aurora borealis. It shimmered into existence that blocked the sunlight from piercing through, causing absolute night to descend for a moment.

Their hearts quivered as they observed this.

"What the hell?!" Wei Wuyin's heart raced as he realized the power and existence above was far beyond his comprehension. It seemed to draw its strength from the world, not materials set at key locations with connecting spiritual formations.

Mei Yang's expression darkened, "An array in the sky?!" She had never witnessed this before. Her own heart shook with the feeling of inevitable crisis. Her eyes flashed, without any hesitation her spiritual qi erupted. Her body was wreathed in a bright fiery qi that seemed to originate from sunlight. She became a miniature sun that brightened the world from its dusky and abrupt darkness.

「Helios Fire Art: Enscounding Sun to Another World」

This was an advanced Movement Art that ignited her Spirit of Qi, drawing out its most epic and vital energies stored throughout her cultivation journey. She was incredibly decisive, not hesitating to execute a self-harming art. Her speed was exceptional as she blazed a path, ignoring the other Scarlet Solaris Sect members that were gawking at the sky.

Wei Wuyin's eyes shifted as Mei Yang had already traversed outside the valley in a blink. Yet, when he saw the phenomenon above, it vastly exceeded a mere few miles, likely covering hundreds of miles. He didn't take her route. Instead, he settled down and executed a three-layered ward of Elemental Qi, Saber Qi, and Draconic Qi.

He summoned Element within his grasp and calmly waited for the assault. This array exceeded imagination, so using your energy to run felt as if you'll only delay the inevitable in his heart. Surprisingly, he was calm and ready.

However, the other two saw Mei Yang depart and felt a pressing crisis. They hastily followed suit, executing movement arts to split into different directions in hopes it'll divide the array's focus. 

Then, it arrived.

Ssssssshhhhhhhh!! Swish! 

It was like the sound of ocean waves crashing with the world, low pitched and irregular like the thundering stomach of a god. It was terrifying.

From the skies, a pulsating wave blasted forth and targeted four locations. It was exceptionally fast and in the literal blink of a mortal eye, it was already before Jian Baiyu, Dong Fa, Mei Yang, and Wei Wuyin.

When it was truly unleashed, they didn't even travel more than a few feet as it arrived before each of them. Even Mei Yang's far figure was caught. She was aghast as she realized her folly and situation, despairing fear flashing in those usually charming eyes. The power in this wave of green and scarlet energy was far beyond her limits, but she was a fighter.

She executed several layers of wards and defended as best she could, but these hasty defenses were insufficient before these waves. 

Crack! Shatter!!

The wave decimated her wards easily and engulfed her entire body. A heart-rending scream escaped her powerful lungs as the wave battered her flesh, tearing skin from meat and meat from bone. Her clothes were obliterated as her naked body was revealed, yet the inconsistent proportions and mangled pieces of flesh left only one shying away in horror.

Fortunately for her, her powerful body refined by spiritual qi allowed her flesh and blood to reach astonishing levels of durability, forcefully resisting the wave enough for her to survive with breath in her lungs. She blasted away, igniting her Spirit of Qi to the maximum as she once more executed her movement art.

In seconds, she left.

She was impressively decisive and demonstrated incredible force of will to push through.

As for Dong Fa and Jian Daiyu...they weren't so lucky.

They lacked spiritual qi and the ability to react appropriately. They couldn't even muster up wards to defend before the wave of energy smashed into them without mercy. 

Dong Fa's icy body erupted in light, but the continuous battering caused his body to simply explode on the spot. Blood mist and mangled flesh was all that was left of his existence. 

Wei Wuyin's eyes sharpened as he turned his gaze towards Jian Daiyu, his heart aching. This was a woman he wanted to bed in this lifetime, a high-level beauty waiting to be conquered yet…

In the last moments of her life, she was fierce and unyielding. As a sword cultivator, she never conceded without putting up a last fight, making all sword cultivators proud. With her sword in hand, she turned and faced the wave. While she couldn't formulate a ward or even execute a Qi Art, she resisted the wave with her sword, will, and intent.

It bought her exactly 0.31 seconds beyond Dong Fa. She brandished her sword with vigor, slicing twice in small horizontal movements. The wave first hit her sword, shattering it into dust and fragments and entered her mouth and body. However, she was relentless.

Her clothes were the next to go as her body lasted a tad bit longer. Wei Wuyin was capable of seeing her perfect, soft, and impressive body for less than a tenth of a second before her skin was blasted off revealing toned muscles and traces of blood. 

She seemed to want to roar defiantly, as if to fight against fate. Yet no voice was heard as her flesh was ripped off, a tearing sound reminiscent of removing wax from skin resounded as her flesh exploded backwards into mist. At this point, she was completely dead.

Her skeletal frame was the only thing that remained that glimmered with sharp energies. It seemed the reason her bones lasted just a tad bit longer was due to them being refined by sword energies for an exceptionally long period of time. 

In Wei Wuyin's mind, he now realized why she seemed like a literal sword. But in the end that skeleton was turned into dust by the pressing and vicious wave.

She was no more.

Wei Wuyin's heart bled as he watched a beauty snuffed out of existence. A beauty he had made plans for and had his eye on. How unfortunate, but such was the path of cultivation and death could be the result of a single mistake.

As for him, the wave smacked into his wards yet failed to penetrate through the first layer. His Elemental Qi was borne from a Divine Heart of Elemental Qi and nine high-level elemental essences combined, this coupled with the spiritual qi base of two Spirits of Qi and two Sixth Phase Hearts of Qi made his qi exceptional beyond belief.

It was incredibly easy, barely an inconvenience to block this deadly wave.

When he was a mere Sixth Phase expert with only two Hearts of Qi and Eight Elements, he one-shot a Mortal God with a single strike. Now, he was an Eighth Phase expert with two Spirits of Qi and two Hearts of Qi with Elemental Qi. The 'Divine' aspects of his Divine Spirits of Qi denoted its exceptional spiritual qualities—Spiritual Strength, Aura, and Energies—that vastly exceeded the norm for its cultivation.

Since Spiritual Qi was defined by these traits, his strength was at an entirely different level.

"This wave strikes nine times consecutively; no wonder its so strong." Wei Wuyin calmly commented as he lifted his gaze to observe the astrological phenomenon that was dissipating in the sky. It seemed that the array was a one-time counterassault.

From the castle, eight figures shot out with vigorous movements. They held weapons of war and emanated boundless killing intent. Yuhei Yan was at the lead, but him and the rest halted as they paused in disbelief. 

Wei Wuyin was still here?

No, Wei Wuyin was still alive?!

Wei Wuyin's silver eyes roamed slowly on these figures, focusing on Yuhei Yan. He thought for a moment. His desire to do battle was slowly dwindling as he realized that this individual likely couldn't last a single blow from his saber. After all, even Mei Yang was nearly killed by that astonishing wave yet his simple Elemental Qi Ward had completely blocked it.

How could a measly Godlord rival his current cultivation? It would be laughable to think he would be able to fight to his fullest here.

Instead, he brandished Element and calmly said while rubbing the back of his neck, "In truth, I'm just a last minute add-on. How about we come to a deal and I'll just step aside?" 

These people sacrificed their people's lives for a chance to overturn the situation and succeeded. If he hadn't shown up, they would've ran out already and slaughtered the remnant forces left behind. If he decided, he could kill them and let the plundering happen. To be honest, he held a heart-felt respect for their decisive actions.

But, why was he doing this?

Benefits!

If he could get things that plundering them whole couldn't get him, then why wouldn't he extort them instead? Why did he need to get his hands bloody if he could obtain everything without spilling a single drop of blood?

Yuhei Yan was a smart man, excluding his blind trust in family. He quickly realized that Wei Wuyin's cultivation was insurmountable and his will would determine their fate. With a grave voice, he spoke solemnly, "What do you want?"

Wei Wuyin placed his Element on his shoulder and grinned.