Paragon of Sin

Cling!

Swish!

Woosh! Boosh! 

Cling!

Beneath the bleak, greyed clouds of the Scorched Skies, sounds of weapons and fighting resounded. Raging astral and elemental force twisted and clashed against each other violently. Even the dark clouds scattered and the ash-filled ground was torn asunder.

A handsome youth with grey eyes and a nine-colored dot situated nicely between his brows valiantly fought over two dozen cultivators. He was alone, with merely his white spear in his hand, facing them all. And these three dozen cultivators all exuded spatial auras of various degrees! They were all at the Spatial Resonance Phase!

"Die!" A male expert amongst the over two dozen shouted with a ferocious, grievance-filled roar. Their eyes were bloodshot, clearly emotional and reflecting a wisp of grieving. But that wisp was wildly overtaken by raging hatred and aggressive madness. 

The male expert swung their fist, unleashing a serpent-shaped attack that whipped towards the handsome youth! 

The handsome youth was Lin Ming, and he frowned as he blocked another assault from his left with a pulse of elemental force, thrusting his Origin Spear to collide with the serpent-shaped manifestation. The manifestation shattered into countless fragments, blasting the maddened expert away until he dug a gully through the black earth with his body.

Lin Ming's eyes erupted with white light as he took this opportunity to use two fingers, forming a spear, and pierced it towards the fallen expert. A ray of sharp elemental force was conjured, piercing through the void alongside a gust of torrential wind. 

"NO!" A flash of brilliance and a raging wail of despair resounded as the rising male expert was engulfed by a storm of white wind. His body was completely and totally eviscerated by that attack.

The auras of the other experts grew turbulent from the death of their ally.

Lin Ming wasn't a simple expert, and this fluctuation of aura and attention hadn't evaded his notice. With a swift gathering of his elemental force, he swept his Origin Spear horizontally, producing a vast quantity of elemental force that collided with the bodies of these experts! This wasn't a killing blow, but it caught them by surprise.

With that, he executed a movement art that turned him into a comet of white wind and lightning, his Origin Spear stabbed out three times with unerring accuracy. 

Pu! Pu! Pu!

Three bodies were given new holes, all at the center of their brows. They were no longer bodies but corpses as they fell lifeless to the ground. When the heavy thud of three corpses redounded, a female expert turned her gaze downwards and saw the identity of one of these experts. She shrieked in absolute horror and heart-rending pain, her emotions extremely chaotic.

Unfortunately, this opened her up for a swipe of a spear to remove her head, gushing blood geysering out alongside the abrupt ending of her shriek. Whether the one that evoked her to scream was a lover, a family member, or a friend, none of it mattered. She was distracted. In a battle of life and death, that was a costly mistake no one could afford.

Lin Ming took this opportunity to soar away from their encirclement, twisting to face them with his Origin Spear in hand. With another corpse thudding to the blackened ground, the now-two dozen experts were shocked and cautious.

"You murderer!" A male cultivator spat hatefully, his aura flaring wildly with aggression.

"You hypocrite," Lin Ming indifferently replied. He found it funny that they were attempting to kill him yet called him a murderer. If he was weak, wouldn't he have been a corpse long ago? He wanted to scoff, but he thought these idiots didn't deserve the emotional response. 

"You killed Zhang Yu! You killed Zhang Wuye! Did you think we would simply allow you to do such a thing? You deserve death by ten thousand cuts." A female expert roared. Her hatred was even stronger than the other male expert.

Lin Ming glanced at her for a brief moment, turning away with utter disregard. These people were utter trash. Selfish individuals vying for pity and acting the victim. It was truly embarrassing. Since you're weaker, you use your mouth? Before, weren't you wielding blades to claim his life? 

"I've already killed thirty-six of you; I can kill twenty-four more." Lin Ming declared indifferently, his spiritual aura rising by the second. Despite his cultivation being at the Soul Idol Phase, he was extremely powerful and even fifty Spatial Resonance Phase experts weren't his match. 

"...!" Intimidated, the twenty-four retreated with protective wards. They held icy fear in their eyes alongside burning hatred. They gnashed their teeth, surged their auras, and growled as if they wanted to eat Lin Ming whole. 

Lin Ming stepped forward one step in mid-air, and the twenty-four experts retreated in unison. Lin Ming sneered, "Pathetic." After he said that, he turned into a gust of white wind and shot off into the horizon.

The others hesitated. An middle-aged male expert decided to gather his courage, flying after Lin Ming. But suddenly, the white wind turned around, and the Origin Spear was thrown like a thunderous arrow.

The shrieking of the air resounded as the Origin Spear flashed, reaching the middle-aged expert instantly. In shock and horror, he tried to lock down the spear with Spatial Prison, but it didn't halt its momentum for a single millisecond. The white spear entered his head, exiting out and leaving a gaping whole in his skull. With detached eyes dripping out of his sockets and leaking intracranial fluids, it was a ghastly sight that gave everyone pause.

The Origin Spear screeched to a halt, flying back to Lin Ming in the distance. "Thirty-seven," was all he said before he flew away. No one dared to follow.

A minute later, a figure arrived engulfed in green flames. "Where is he?" The voice of that existence was extremely imposing and violent, causing stuffy coughs to resound from just the ripples of sound. 

The female expert pointed with a stabbing emotion of utmost hatred. "There!" She viciously spat.

The figure in green flame flashed into the distance, chasing after Lin Ming. 

-----

Traveling the grassy plains, two figures trekked. They were both beauties in their own right. One was valiant and fierce, the other gentle and reliable. 

Hong Chunhua and Lian Yu were traveling the Zephyr Plains, one of the five regions in the Four Extreme Continent. They were both floating from the faint wind energies produced by the grass, not touching it with their shoes. 

Lian Yu was well accustomed to Zephyr Power within the grass, and while it might seem gentle, if provoked, it was extremely violent and sharp. Like the Desolate Lands where the Desolate Power was within the grey sands and air, Zephyr Power permeated the entirety of the Zephyr Plains. 

"Where are we going?" Lian Yu asked. Since Hong Chunhua saved her from the life of a slave, they had stayed together. She was happy for this because her cultivation was extremely low, at the First Stage of the Astral Core Realm, the World Sea Phase, but Hong Chunhua was at the Fourth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, Spatial Resonance Phase, and not of the ordinary variety.

Her weakness and innate talent had left her a target for Seekers to peddle to slave traders to make her an Energy Converter. When she learned what that was, she turned pale with fear, falling into despair. Every night she prayed to be saved by Long Chen, hoping she would at least be able to say goodbye before her death, but she never thought Hong Chunhua would save her.

Hong Chunhua brushed her auburn hair to the side, inspecting a compass tool in her hand. "To allies," was all she replied with. 

"..." Lian Yu didn't understand what that meant. She hesitatingly asked, "We're not going to meet up with Wei Wuyin?" 

Hong Chunhua paused. She looked at Lian Yu, frowning. "You address his Majesty far too casually. Do you have no understanding of status and respect? Are you, someone else's woman, allowed to call his Majesty by his true name?" A faint glimmer of anger flashed within her eyes, alongside annoyance. This woman was so bothersome. 

There were only a few reasons she decided to save her. One, she thought she was pitiful. Two, since his Majesty had decided to save her once, his effort would be wasted if she died as a Energy Converter. Three, she might be of some use since they belonged from the same sect.

The last one was an impossible possibility as she was of very little use. In fact, Hong Chunhua had to use her own astral force to lift Lian Yu and shield her lest she suffer from the ambient hazardous power. To add, to depressingly add, Lian Yu's beauty had forced her to send a few perverted men to an early grave.

Lian Yu shrinked back. She didn't know how to answer that question, but she knew any response would only enrage this woman further. So she tactfully remained silent. 

Ding!

Hong Chunhua's eyes brightened as she hurriedly inspected the compass in her hand. With an urge of her astral force, she and Lian Yu sped up and flew faster. A figure could soon be seen in the distance, around his neck were numerous spatial rings. When the figure's eyes noticed the approaching duo, their aura surged for a moment before trembling.

"First Commander!" The figure shouted, filled with disbelief, glee, and astonishment. 

Hong Chunhua smiled for a moment and then was stunned, "You ascended to Spatial Resonance?" Her eyes brightened considerably with gleeful excitement, increasing her flight speed towards the figure.

Lian Yu watched quietly in silence as she was carried along. It seemed these allies Hong Chunhua spoke of were members of Wei Wuyin's Ascendants Faction. Were they going to find them all?