Paragon of Sin

"..."

The three Earthly Saints of the Ninestar Sainthall held their breaths as they observed the severed head floating within the Dark Void. The glints in their eyes were extremely abnormal. They were so stunned by the facial features of the unmasked head that none of them made any attempts to hinder the foreign Earthly Saint that had just launched a violent assault within their territory. 

They just remained silent for a solid few seconds while staring unblinkingly at the head. After a brief moment, the Soul Rising Saint's eyes sharply narrowed as she quietly clenched her fist. The head warped slightly before vanishing without warning. This development shocked the Soul Enlightening Saint and Soul Erupting Saint for a moment. The two exchanged glances, reading the intent and thoughts within each other's eyes. 

"...You should detain him," The Soul Enlightening Saint stated, staring in the direction where the foreign Earthly Saint fled. The fuel of his words wasn't due to their discovery but a matter of reputation. In truth, he was somewhat terrified by this foreigner. Fortunately, this was the Soul Rising Saint's Domain, so his responsibility and obligation to act was minimized. 

The Soul Erupting Saint frowned, but he didn't vocalize his thoughts on the matter. This foreign had just forced an Earthly Saint to escape frantically, then another to meet their untimely demise, and left after barely speaking two words. This haste was definitely due to injuries sustained during the clash, so if the Soul Rising Saint acted at this moment, with the Grand Mystic Domain Array within her control, there should be no way for him to safely escape. 

But there was an issue in doing this. If he was under orders, then who could command such a terrifying Earthly Saint? How strong must they be to have such a powerful and strange being under them? And what if that wasn't the Earthly Saint's true body but a peculiar clone art that carried a portion of their original strength? Will the Ninestar Sainthall willingly incur the wrath of such a terrifying expert or organization for the Tang Clan or Trueborn? 

Both were a hard: fuck no. 

Since that strange Earthly Saint seemingly deliberately held back, not damaging the Soul Rising Domain in the slightest, and hadn't acted against any of their people or territories, the Soul Erupting Saint was of the mind of letting this matter go. 

The Soul Rising Saint gave the Soul Enlightening Saint a brief glance and then ignored him. She wasn't stupid enough to not consider all the evidence before her, and she was certainly unwilling to place herself in front of unknown enemies to avenge the Tang Clan or those Trueborn scum.

Most had believed the Earthly Saint that assaulted the Shadow Egg belonged to one of the other Starfields, likely bearing a humongous grudge against Trueborn. However, this event proved that to not be the case. Perhaps it was a mere accident that the Shadow Egg crossed paths with the Fire Phoenix and whoever these strange existences were. Their activities might've just inadvertently generated such ill fortune. Still, they'll need to investigate further on their existence.

The thought of a second Trueborn emerging out of nowhere wasn't beneficial to them.

"He's left the Starfield," the Soul Rising Saint stated. The grey light had traveled at remarkable speeds, shifting through space and exited the boundaries of the Ninestar Starfield in the matter of three short minutes. With that, she no longer had to consider acting; he was far out of her jurisdiction. 

Unfortunately…

She slightly clenched her fists. That Ascended being had exposed her secret, and this will be impossible to hide any longer. She had to make preparations. With that, she turned to the Soul Erupting Saint and said: "I'll leave the reporting to you. If there's anything, send me a message to my Sainthall." The Soul Rising Saint vanished in an azure-colored flash of radiance.

The two remaining Earthly Saints exchanged glances once again. The Soul Enlightening Saint's eyes glowed slightly, "5th Runic Ascendant." After saying this, he faintly smiled and vanished shortly after a sword howl.

The Soul Erupting Saint sighed. But when he recalled the face of the severed head, he remembered the orders from the Ninestar Soul Saint. His complexion paled slightly, "So that's why." 

That face, that severed head, belonged to none other than the Ravenous Edge Starfield's Ravenous True King! They were ranked thirteenth out of the twenty-three Starfields of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, and the Ravenous True King is, no, was one of its two Earthly Saints. 

There was a ghastly theory that could never be proven, but that head was irrefutable evidence of corruption and collusion within the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, between the established Earthly Saints and Trueborn, an organization with extremely sinister practices. There was a high possibility that some of the Ninestar Sainthall's Soul Monarchs were members. This complicated things far, far too much. Yet strangely…

"It answers so many questions," the Soul Erupting Saint gave a wry smile and then vanished in a flash of golden light. 

Not too far away from this, two figures shimmered into existence after a translucent veil of crystalline design was torn away. One of them was a veiled woman garbed in silver-colored robes with a glistening crescent moon necklace hanging around her neck. She had a lithe and willowy figure, yet carried a proud and high-lifted twin peaks. 

The other was an extremely handsome and regal figure dressed in white imperial robes that had numerous stars of various colors on its surface. He had a smooth face, sharp chin, and sword-like eyebrows, and atop his head was a partial crown that hoisted an amethyst gem at its center.

"He's not one of yours?" The handsome man asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"No," the woman's voice was extremely indifferent, as if emotions had been siphoned thoroughly from existence. It would instill a sense of discomfort in anyone's heart.

The handsome man rubbed his chin contemplatively for a moment before asking, "Don't want to find out his origins?" 

"..." The woman didn't respond, her thoughts unfathomable. 

The handsome man gave a faint smile, "If he's not yours, then why did he arrive with your sect's Rainbow Bridge?" Clearly, there was a wisp of disbelief in his tone. 

"...I'll be sure to find out." The woman said, her voice carrying a hint of coldness within, causing a glacial sensation to permeate throughout space. Then, she just vanished without warning. 

The handsome man rubbed his chin some more, unbothered by the woman's disappearance. He murmured: "Not theirs, not Trueborn's, and not ours. That strange Soul of Mysticism expert, and now this even stranger Earthly Saint. Could it really be? Has he sent his descendant here…" A figure emerged in his thoughts and his expression instantly became sullen. A long time passed before he shook his head, regaining his faint smile and regal disposition. 

He vanished in a burst of starry lights.

-----

Within the Ninestar Starfield, the Soul Rising Domain. 

A large Voidship docked in the Dark Void, concealed by a quasi-mystic array. At the edge of this array, a figure rode atop a phoenix. They floated calmly through the Dark Void, just staying in close proximity to the Voidship. 

This was none other than the Vanishing Colossus, Wei Wuyin, and Bai Lin. 

"He's dissipated," Wei Wuyin frowningly said through mental transmissions. When they left, the Legion Commander had only four minutes remaining to stay manifested. The issue wasn't a matter of refueling, because supposedly, his essential soul power had been expended fighting three Earthly Saints.

This type of injury required Soul Light to restore, the Legion Commander couldn't be summoned until it was replenished. In truth, this was mostly Wei Wuyin's personal fault. The body that the Legion Commander's War Soul possessed was manifested from his energies and astral forces, but this restricted his power severely. According to the Legion Commander, he could only muster roughly three percent of his true power. But to fight against three Earthly Saints, he was essentially forced to do the equivalent of igniting one's Mystic Soul. 

So he was left with no choice but to depart. Wei Wuyin had him silently drop them off near the Vanishing Colossus while escaping out of the boundary of the Ninestar Starfield to give the impression of their departure. In truth, the Legion Commander had spontaneously reappeared within the Nexus War Flag after dissipating, but its star was extremely dim. 

"This should give us some room to breathe," Wei Wuyin judged. Bai Lin agreed with a nod. "But to think that Trueborn's Earthly Saints were truly waiting. And two of them got away!" 

The Legion Commander had killed one, but the other two were skilled in spatial arts and departed with terrified haste after his aura reached a temporary height with the usage of his essential soul power. One of them directly left through a unique Spatial Shifting shuttle, and the other could only escape by using a backdoor in their Shell World and fleeting into the outside world. 

The last was essentially trapped and didn't hold back fighting for his life, so the Legion Commander was left with no choice but to end his life. Still, the man self-detonated, attempting to escape with his Mystic Soul. He inevitably failed, but not before releasing one last-ditch attempt to bring the Legion Commander with him. 

If he had the means, Wei Wuyin would've loved to capture one of them alive. If he could find out the locations of other Shadow Eggs…

But these were genuine Earthly Saints. Killing them was far easier than capturing them without a vast difference in strength. 

"Haaa," Wei Wuyin softly sighed. It is what it is. He could only hope that this event was enough to afford him some hesitation when he made his true appearance on his own terms. 

"Let's go." Wei Wuyin and Bai Lin used a command talisman to produce an opening in the defensive and concealment formations on the Vanishing Colossus.. The two entered without incident.