Paragon of Sin

The stiff air began to stir from Wei Wuyin's rising aura. The bits and pieces of the cage swirled around him forming a glinting twister. The rising aura continued its ascent, causing the ground to rumble and the immediate surroundings to quake.

Those captives nearby were enshrouded by this aura, feeling their breaths caught in their throats as they disbelievingly watched Wei Wuyin's tall backside, revealing his powerful broad shoulders and exquisite musculature from his flapping clothes. 

The elderly man gawked, his heart racing a thousand beats a second. What was happening?! This youth, this seemingly naive young man, had suddenly released a spiritual aura so terrifying that he felt his own Astral Soul vibrate with fear. Fortunately, this spiritual aura wasn't aggressive towards him, feeling safe and protected instead.

The guards nearby started, immediately readying their astral force as they erected wards. They had pensive expressions on their faces as they acted instinctively, pointing their withdrawn weapons towards Wei Wuyin. A guard shouted in questioning with a fierce, aggressive tone: "Halt! Any further actions will prompt us to use lethal force!" 

The guard threatened, but it was in the elven language, causing Wei Wuyin to have absolutely no idea what was said, but it wouldn't have mattered regardless. He inspected his hands, feeling the immense power swelling within him. 

"Its been a while since I've fought. I hope I'm not too rusty," he laughingly commented with a grin. Since entering the Astral Core Realm, the number of fights he'd been a part of had been severely lacking. With his extraordinary status in the starfield, he was widely unchallenged and there was never a legitimate reason to unleash his might. The Grand Spirit Trials was the only opportunity, and the contestants were unwilling to offend him besides his own subordinate. 

How laughable.

Recalling his bloody, violent days in the Scarlet Solaris Sect where he fought off forces from enemies, competitors, and false allies alike, he felt invigorated to the utmost. 

"Surrender!" The courageous guard demanded with a fierce shout, but upon being ignored for a second later, he grasped his spear-like weapon in his hand and pounced. The spear thrust was frighteningly powerful, wading through Wei Wuyin's spiritual aura with a slicing-air sound. 

"Soul Idol?" Wei Wuyin realized this guard was a Soul Idol Phase expert, unleashing a spiritual aura that countered his own. While Wei Wuyin hadn't unleashed a percentage of his spiritual might within this aura, it was still impressive for a Soul Idol Phase expert to attack unhindered.

The spear soon reached a few inches from his chest, threatening to puncture him thoroughly. 

"Ah!" The elderly man exclaimed in panic, his mind circulating swiftly as he tried to act. Unfortunately, when he tried to circulate his cultivation base, he found himself restricted by the shackles. He violently cursed, watching as the spear that was about to touch Wei Wuyin's clothes.

This was an instinctive reaction from him, drawing upon his innate instincts to protect a younger generation member of his race from enemies, and while valiant, it was fully unnecessary.

Bang!

Wei Wuyin's hand was like lightning, intercepting the tip of the spear with incredible accuracy with his index finger, the very edge of it. The spear relentlessly stabbed at his finger, causing the air to explode. But after touching his fingertip, the spear was unable to venture a single iota of distance more.

The guard released a grunt of confusion for a moment before he felt a surge of power enter his spear, a flash of panic in his eyes. He tried to let go and retreat, but the power moved far too quickly and entered his body. 

"Gah!" The spear shattered into thousands of fragments, and the guard spewed out torrents of blood from his mouth, staining his clothes and ground in its crimson brilliance. 

Thud!

He fell to his knees, his eyes widened in disbelief and horror. With his hands at his side, unable to move, he used his full strength to lift his drooping head to see Wei Wuyin looking down at him with those radiant silver eyes. When he saw the light of indifference, he felt a wave of torrential fear erupt from his heart and cascade his mind endlessly.

He soon lost consciousness, flopping to the ground in a sickening thud of solid ground meeting heavy flesh. His pale face and bloody mouth was evidence of his absolute defeat. The other guard paled at this unexpected sight, immediately withdrawing a red tube-like item and throwing it into the sky.

It erupted into a burning blaze that was similar to phosphorus being ignited in the air, creating a red flame that brightly lit the surroundings. It was a clear call for help.

Wei Wuyin calmly looked onwards, not halting the signal for help. In fact, he ignored this and turned to the captives who had gaped mouths and widened eyes. "You're going to have to wait a while. I'll be back," Wei Wuyin said as he waved his hand towards them. Abruptly, a ward of white energy formed around the human captives. 

While he wasn't a saint, helping those simply because they needed it, the elderly man and bald man had informed him about this world realm, and the rest was just fortunate to be present at the time. 

Turning to the building that Ai Juling was within, observing their swift movements as they were about to exit to investigate, he faintly smiled. Wei Wuyin had only allowed himself to be captured out of curiosity and experience. He wanted to know the 'why' and whether the approaching cultivators were enemies or linked to the trial somehow.

When he was brought into this underground city, he felt his decision was correct. He wanted to see what this city was about, feel its civilization, and find any clues to the trial. He hadn't expected to meet other human captives and receive an overview of the entire continent from them, nor did he expect to meet Ai Juling who provoked his interest. 

But he now knew a little bit about the layout of the world, and he had his own assumptions. For example, from the revelation of four extreme lands and four guardians of the trial, he knew that there was likely a trial in each of those extremely dangerous lands. 

This was a clue to the trial. As long as he could find this guardian, claim that token, he could begin collecting the rest. He knew three belonged to Lin Ming, and there were two other internal competitors on the continent. He didn't know where they were, but considering this was a trial, as long as he obtained a token, how to collect the rest should be made clear.

Considering the sheer size of the continent, the deadly environment, there was no way those tokens didn't contain a locator function of sorts or else the trial could last decades or centuries. That was highly inefficient.

If he found Lin Ming, that would be for the best. 

Several powerful auras finally erupted nearby, not just from the building that housed Ai Juling and her companions, but several locations nearby. This was a stronghold, so there were numerous experts. The clamor was huge, and numerous voices were heard approaching with rapid speeds.

Wei Wuyin directed his Celestial Eyes downwards, a faint frown formed between his brows. Then, he relaxed. He brought his leg up, and then, STOMP!

He fiercely crashed it into the ground!

BOOM!!

The entire city's foundation quaked intensely, several spider web-like cracks with the thickness of adult tree trunks formed beneath him, causing the earth to lift slightly. Wei Wuyin released a faint sound of surprise, "This earth is as powerful as one would expect. Incredible!" 

As he said this, his stomping leg glowed with seven-colored light that flashed into the newly established cracks and crevices of the ground. It disappeared after a split second, whereby Wei Wuyin heard an explosive shout from a man.

"Who are you?!" The man was an elf, his skin a little dark yet still within the realm of white. He was middle-aged and had long grey hair despite his youthful skin. Dressed in an ash-colored uniform, he approached with explosive steps from a distance.

Wei Wuyin realized it was taking a little too long for experts to arrive, almost forgetting that mana was extremely restricted during this Season of Regression; they couldn't fly. Using astral force for flight was possible, but moving at rapid speeds consumed an absurd amount of astral force. 

They seemed ready for a fight, making conservation decisions already. 

Wei Wuyin didn't wait or answer, looking at the building as Ai Juling and her companions had now left, arriving at the scene as their spiritual sense investigated the situation. 

A middle-aged elven woman standing beside Ai Juling, who seemed somewhat similar to her in appearance, exclaimed. "Soul Idol Phase?" The tone of her voice was marked with confusion, uncertainty, and a little relief. 

Ai Juling immediately saw Wei Wuyin, shocked at his freed state. Her senses wildly inspected the surroundings to find the expert who freed him, yet found no other auras nearby. But then she saw Wei Wuyin's figure blur suddenly, causing her to react as a surge of crisis emerged in her heart. She erected her protective astral ward and tried to withdraw her weapon, but Wei Wuyin was already in front of her in the blink of an eye.

"Ah!" The middle-aged woman yelped, immediately unleashing her cultivation in full! The immediate space started to ripple ceaselessly and torrential outflow of light erupted! She directly launched a palm at Wei Wuyin, attempting to force his retreat. 

She was at the Light Reflection Phase! A cultivator at the Fifth Stage of the Astral Core Realm!

Wei Wuyin's pupils constricted a little, briefly shocked before he used his arm to retaliate in defense.

Bang!

An explosive sound erupted as Ai Juling was sent back, smashing into the entrance of the building while the other companions spewed blood and were blown far away. Even Wei Wuyin was somewhat shocked by this woman's cultivation base, finding it extremely high and refined.

His arm felt somewhat numb as light energies and spatial energies tried to invade and decimate its insides. With a slight clench of his fist, his astral force crushed the foreign power. 

The woman's expression changed, immediately pulling back her palm and launching another with even more power. She didn't believe a Soul Idol Phase junior could resist her strength, attacking with her refined astral force. 

Wei Wuyin found that the space surrounding him was congealing at an extremely rapid speed, causing his eyes to constrict slightly. "Spatial Prison!" He instantly realized this was going to be a tad bit more difficult than he originally assumed. 

Ba-Dum! Ba-Dum! Ba-Dum!

His heart was thunderously pounding with explosive excitement.